Episode 518
Making Music, Not War: How Jazz is Changing Lives with Rick DellaRatta
Rick DellaRatta is here to drop some serious wisdom on how music can be a total game changer for peace and connection. This dude's not just any ol' jazz artist; he’s the founder of Jazz for Peace and a real-life peace expert. We dive into his wild journey from sneaking peeks at Santa to accidentally becoming a musician, and trust me, the stories are as good as they sound. He talks about how music transcends borders and brings folks together in ways that words just can’t. So, if you’re ready for a blend of jazz, heartfelt anecdotes, and a sprinkle of sarcasm, buckle up because this episode’s about to hit all the right notes!
This episode features Rick DellaRatta, a dynamic jazz artist and founder of Jazz for Peace, as he chats with Ashley on the Black Sheep Christian Podcast. Rick opens up about his childhood, recounting how he first stumbled upon a piano on Christmas Eve, a moment that set the stage for his lifelong love of music. It’s a classic tale of curiosity leading to unexpected adventures, and he reflects on the importance of family influence, particularly how his parents instilled a love for music that resonated throughout his life.
The conversation soon shifts gears as Rick discusses the role of music in promoting peace and understanding among different cultures. He passionately argues that music serves as a universal connector, capable of breaking down barriers and fostering empathy. With humor and sarcasm, he highlights the absurdity of how society sometimes undervalues the arts, particularly in education. The two delve into the idea that music not only enriches lives but is crucial for developing critical thinking and emotional intelligence in children.
As the episode draws to a close, Rick shares a captivating story about how he founded Jazz for Peace in the aftermath of 9/11, driven by a desire to unite people through the power of music. His hilarious and insightful anecdotes illuminate the journey of creating an impactful organization that has hosted numerous benefit concerts and provided support for essential causes. Wrapping up, Rick leaves listeners with a thought-provoking parable about perspective and the unpredictable nature of life, reminding us all to embrace the chaos with a sense of humor and creativity.
Takeaways:
- Rick DellaRatta's wild journey into music began when he caught a glimpse of Santa bringing in a piano on Christmas Eve; talk about a holiday miracle!
- The importance of music in education can't be overstated; it's not just about notes, it's about raising human consciousness!
- Jazz for Peace is not just a catchy name; it's a movement where music is used to bridge gaps and promote peace—who knew jazz could be so revolutionary?
- You think you know what good news is? Well, the old man and his horse story teaches us that sometimes what seems bad can actually save your life; life is a rollercoaster of ironies!
- DellaRatta believes that if you have the will to pursue music or any passion, you're already halfway there—so let’s all get off our couches and jam!
- The podcast beautifully highlights that music transcends cultures and languages, making it a universal tool for connection—so why aren't we all playing more music?
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Toys R Us
- Club Med
- Jazz for Peace
Transcript
Welcome back.
Speaker A:My name is Ashley, and this is the Black Sheep Christian Podcast.
Speaker A:I have.
Speaker A:I'm really excited about this, but I have Rick Delarata with us today.
Speaker A:Welcome.
Speaker B:Hey, Ashley.
Speaker B:So glad to be here with you today.
Speaker B:Definitely.
Speaker A:I am excited for you to reach out for a couple of reasons when you did.
Speaker A:I'm not the music one in the family.
Speaker A:My daughter is piano, bassoon, marching band.
Speaker A:So for you to be able to join me today, for my daughter, it's really exciting.
Speaker A:So for a family music standpoint, that's.
Speaker B:So good to know.
Speaker B:That's so cool.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's great to hear.
Speaker B:That's really good that she's doing all that stuff.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So what has.
Speaker A:Everybody's journey is different as far as going into the music and everything.
Speaker A:What.
Speaker A:What was yours?
Speaker B:Mine started out when I was six years old because it was Christmas Eve and something large was coming into the house, and I wasn't really supposed to know about it because I was trying to step in, kind of catch Santa Claus.
Speaker B:And my parents weren't wild about the idea, but I did, like, keep my eyes open long enough to see that somebody big was moving something large into the door, which obviously couldn't fit down the chimney.
Speaker B:And without getting in any trouble, I figured I would just figure, hey, that was Santa Claus.
Speaker B:You saw him.
Speaker B:Now go to bed, because your parents, you know, because I didn't get caught.
Speaker B:So the next morning, I did see something really big in the living room, and I'm like, wow, Santa Claus.
Speaker B:Probably that all the way in here.
Speaker B:There must have be some kind of good.
Speaker B:There must be something going on with this contraption.
Speaker B:So I started, you know, so that was where I started all by myself.
Speaker B:I didn't want anyone to catch me, and I was trying to be very secretive and learn this thing all on my own.
Speaker B:But of course, you know, that only lasted so long.
Speaker B:Somebody obviously told on me, and I ended up in piano lessons, and one thing led to another.
Speaker A:That's beautiful.
Speaker A:What made them decide to even get in the first place?
Speaker B:The piano.
Speaker B:You know, my father was a French horn player, and he was a classical musician before he decided to go into law practice.
Speaker B:And at that time, he was starting his practice.
Speaker B:So this is just me guessing, but when you're starting a business or you're starting a practice, it's possible that people pay you in goods and services, barter, things like that.
Speaker B:So it could have been that somebody at a piano company owed him money, and he was like, hey, you know, to help, you know, maybe he Was quibbling about the bill and he was like, well look, why don't you give me this amount and a piano or something like that, that's my guess.
Speaker B:But my mother also did play the piano, so I didn't know that either.
Speaker B:So this was all a good thing when this piano showed up because I got to see my mother accompany my father on Mozart and horn concertos, which to this day astounds me.
Speaker B:I mean, what a magnificent impression that is to see your parents playing this magnificent music and your father playing the lead and your mother.
Speaker B:Oh, can't even begin to tell you the memories.
Speaker A:I can only imagine.
Speaker B:I was shocked.
Speaker B:I had no idea that my mother could play the piano at all.
Speaker B:And she was the church organist as well.
Speaker B:So like I said, it wasn't long after I started playing, playing the piano and then taking lessons, that one, you know, my homeroom teacher wanted me to play in his son's band that played at the dances.
Speaker B:Grown ups approached my mother like, hey, can we borrow your son to play at some things?
Speaker B:We'll get him, you know, they're grown up things but we'll get them in, we'll get them out, we'll give you a rug, you pick them up, bring them home, stuff like that.
Speaker B:And then my mother finally did ask me to take over for her at the church.
Speaker B:So I, at that point I had to quit my paper route.
Speaker B:Ashley.
Speaker B:And that was the end of my, you know, what do you call it, the other kind of jobs.
Speaker B:Yeah, I was a musician from that day forward.
Speaker B:I did have that paper route.
Speaker B:So I can say I did something else at one time.
Speaker A:Wow, that's so amazing how like something so simple can just really change his trajectory.
Speaker B:Well, it really does and I would love to see everyone experience that.
Speaker B:So that's why I'm so happy for you, your daughter.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:It's interesting because it, I don't even.
Speaker A:Oh, I, I remember because for, for them it was a keyboard that actually it kind of goes way back because my parents had a keyboard, a really great keyboard that ended up going to my aunt, uncle.
Speaker A:I was kind of disappointed in that in a way.
Speaker A:And then my parents bought a keyboard that you can get like at Toys R Us or something.
Speaker A:At the time, you know, it wasn't, it wasn't that but at least.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:It was something.
Speaker A:And so I kind of was self teaching myself to play.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:I wasn't successful at it, but since it lived in my parents basement for so long and then pulled it out, I, I saw as a Kid, when you look back, you're like, man, I was really trying.
Speaker A:Like, I had some probably dry erase marker and tape, and I like wrote on the keys and I put tape on top of what key was what, just so I can figure out how to use what key when.
Speaker A:But that's how my daughter ended up starting with the music bug.
Speaker A:Like, it just lived in the basement and brought it out.
Speaker A:And then they started having interest in it, but they went a lot further than I did when it came musically.
Speaker B:You know, there's a place everywhere for music.
Speaker B:I have people say, oh, I always wanted to play the piano, but I didn't, and blah, blah, blah.
Speaker B:And I'm like, hey, we need you in the audience.
Speaker B:You know, everybody can't be on the stage.
Speaker B:I mean, as long as you embrace music, you're good.
Speaker B:You know, as far as I'm concerned, if you want to play, play, because it does stimulate your intellect.
Speaker B:And I think it's great for kids for that reason.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Does stimulate their intellect.
Speaker B:And be honest with you.
Speaker B:Improv, improvising and playing high quality music raises your level of human consciousness.
Speaker B:I didn't know that, but I learned it.
Speaker B:I'm learning it now.
Speaker B:And that's a really good thing for a kid to do.
Speaker B:Raises, you know, be able to be thrown up to a higher level of human consciousness, even if it's for a short period of time.
Speaker A:And, you know, I shouldn't even be surprised by that because music statistically is.
Speaker A:It does so much for Alzheimer's, dementia, even memories.
Speaker A:And we're supposed to praise and worship.
Speaker A:So I don't even.
Speaker A:I mean, that doesn't even surprise me.
Speaker A:But for some reason it does.
Speaker B:It goes back a long way.
Speaker B:And the whole idea of removing arts and culture from the school is a very, very crazy one, you know, I mean, it's.
Speaker B:It's a real backwards idea.
Speaker B:I would call that an oxymoron, but without any oxygen.
Speaker B:The jokes get better as we go along, by the way.
Speaker A:I got that.
Speaker A:I didn't even think about that.
Speaker A:Yeah, real quick.
Speaker B:Stuck on a joke.
Speaker B:I don't know that many.
Speaker B:That's probably the problem.
Speaker A:It's okay.
Speaker A:Oh, goodness gracious.
Speaker A:I. I hadn't thought and I just lost it.
Speaker A:That quick.
Speaker A:Oh, the simple things of life.
Speaker B:Yeah, it didn't have the desired effect.
Speaker B:I was hoping to catch you.
Speaker B:I'll catch you just like I did.
Speaker B:So that was really fun.
Speaker A:I mean, I'm.
Speaker A:I'm such a silly person.
Speaker A:Like it, like anything could just.
Speaker A:It just doesn't Take me much.
Speaker A:That's good.
Speaker B:Sense of humor is always a good thing.
Speaker A:Oh, so your musical journey, I mean, obviously, you know, your parents bought this beautiful piece of instrument, this beautiful piece of instrument that doesn't even make any sense.
Speaker A:Like, that's not even a sentence.
Speaker B:People do look at, you know, pianos as furniture, and it's kind of unfortunate.
Speaker B:I had a person who's involved in piano as a piano technician, and he told me that he works, you know, he spent a lot of time working in big piano, like, stores, and he said that they were listed in the furniture department, apartment, and, you know, yellow pages in certain towns, maybe a lot of sounds, I don't know.
Speaker B:So, you know, it does have that, you know, because sometimes it is a nice piece of furniture.
Speaker B:It does make the.
Speaker B:It does make your living room.
Speaker B:Room look kind of, you know, elegant.
Speaker B:But, you know, to call it furniture is kind of crazy.
Speaker B:But it is listed that way.
Speaker B:You told me I was right.
Speaker A:It does.
Speaker A:And sadly.
Speaker A:And this can be just many things.
Speaker A:I mean, it's really complex when you think about it.
Speaker A:But a piano, out of all the instruments, the piano is really one of the most important simplistic piece of instruments that unfortunately, the American home just isn't accommodating anymore for, you know, several reasons.
Speaker A:Cost, size.
Speaker A:I mean, it's one thing to have a keyboard, but it's not like a piano.
Speaker B:It's true.
Speaker B:That's very true.
Speaker B:That's very true.
Speaker B:But I'm still of the belief that, hey, a keyboard is still a lot better than nothing.
Speaker B:So I think it's a really good idea.
Speaker B:I mean, my.
Speaker B:My thing is, if you.
Speaker B:Is expose the kids to music because they love it.
Speaker B:I mean, I've been all over the world, and these kids go absolutely crazy over music.
Speaker B:And so all people.
Speaker B:So I think all of us do.
Speaker B:We just get overwhelmed with life, and we, you know, have to deal with all these things.
Speaker B:But if you look at people at the beginning of life and at the end of life, when they have a lot of time.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Absolutely love music.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And to move into a different subject with your career, your music career, what now?
Speaker A:Music is big.
Speaker A:And, you know, my daughter graduated, so it's kind of like once high school happens, that's a lot of musical involvement can just stop right there.
Speaker A:But for you.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:How'd you keep going?
Speaker B:Well, I am so glad you brought that up, because for some reason or other, that question was in my mind before this interview.
Speaker B:So I was.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:Why is that in My mind.
Speaker B:And sure enough, you asked it.
Speaker B:So I was somehow, I don't know how, I was telepathically anticipating this question and I, and I was thinking about what I would say is the crazy thing.
Speaker B:And so I already have my answer.
Speaker B:Even though I just heard the question because I already had this answer.
Speaker B:I was like, what would I say if she asked me that?
Speaker B:And why do I think she's going to ask me that?
Speaker B:Like, where am I getting this from?
Speaker B:It's the craziest thing.
Speaker B:But you did ask it.
Speaker B:And I did answer it before, earlier, which is, you know, what I did was I kind of was like, I've got to make a deal with growing up here, you know what I mean?
Speaker B:Like, growing up, it looks to me like these grown ups, they do two things a lot less than us kids do.
Speaker B:One, they're not skiing.
Speaker B:I love to snow ski at the time and I used to ski in the mountains of Vermont and I would ski, my family would ski and stuff on the weekends here and there, and I would go separately with my friends.
Speaker B:And I loved being in the mountains skiing, you know, And I'm like, this is amazing.
Speaker B:This is so much fun.
Speaker B:We're having a blast.
Speaker B:And I would go to the ski ski mountains.
Speaker B:I'm like, everybody's in a good mood here.
Speaker B:Like everybody's happy.
Speaker B:Like there's not one person that I can find that's not happy on this mountain.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:So I'm like, this is something that works for me.
Speaker B:Like I'm going to be a kid as long as they're going to let me do this or I'm going to have to find a way to bring this.
Speaker B:The same thing happened with music.
Speaker B:I'm like, wait a minute, you know, you're not, I'm not.
Speaker B:But I noticed the grown ups, you know, they weren't doing as much music as me and they weren't as doing as much skiing as me.
Speaker B:And I was like, if you want me to grow up, you got to gonna give me some music and some mountains, you know what I mean?
Speaker B:I gotta have, I gotta be able to do some of these things that I love or I, maybe I'm just gonna be a kid my whole life.
Speaker B:I was thinking I might not, I might not even go into grown up if they're gonna take that stuff away.
Speaker B:So I was like, I gotta figure this out.
Speaker B:And what I figured out was you could, they, you could get paid to play music, you could function as a musician, you could be a musician.
Speaker B:So I mean, the only way to really keep playing music was to actually be a musician.
Speaker B:So I'll jump into that.
Speaker B:I'll be a musician.
Speaker B:And then I realized I was on an island somewhere playing music.
Speaker B:And the head of the, of the resort was.
Speaker B:Loved the music that I was playing in this band.
Speaker B:And so he's walking on the beach with me.
Speaker B:And I was like, you know, it's too bad you don't have these things that ski areas.
Speaker B:And he said, oh, well, we do.
Speaker B:And I said, yeah, but in, in Europe, because it was, it was Club Med, it was called.
Speaker B:It was a big.
Speaker B:I said, in Europe?
Speaker B:No, no, no, we have one in the United States.
Speaker B:And I said, are you kidding me?
Speaker B:Are you sure?
Speaker B:It's like probably some little hill, right?
Speaker B:No, I think it's a really good place.
Speaker B:Blah, blah.
Speaker B:He said, I'll send you a. I said, are you sure?
Speaker B:Because I'm really into skiing.
Speaker B:I mean, I'm a good skier.
Speaker B:I'm an expert skier.
Speaker B:I ski.
Speaker B:Like, I'm not just going to go there and just, you know, putz around.
Speaker B:I need a serious mountain.
Speaker B:So I'll send a trail map to your room.
Speaker B:I'll send it over your.
Speaker B:Next morning, someone knocks on the door.
Speaker B:The chef du village wanted you to have this.
Speaker B:I opened up his trail map.
Speaker B:I'm like, oh my God.
Speaker B:I'm like, you can send me to this place in Colorado.
Speaker B:Yeah, we'll ship you right over there.
Speaker B:Boom.
Speaker B:And now I'm skiing.
Speaker B:I'm playing music and skiing at a ski, at a ski resort.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:And I was like, whoa, this is working now.
Speaker B:I'm.
Speaker B:You know what?
Speaker B:I'm gonna, I'm gonna take this grown up deal.
Speaker B:I'm gonna, I'm gonna go ahead and be a grown up here.
Speaker B:Otherwise, because I was gonna be a kid my whole life.
Speaker B:I was worried.
Speaker B:But you know, I'll do grown up if you don't, if you give me, if you don't take those two things away, I will be a grown up if that's what you want me to be, because of my age and whatever.
Speaker B:So I was, I would go there, they fly me out there, I'd play for play and ski for 30 days and I'd be a musician all the other months.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:And then.
Speaker B:So the bottom line is I basically never grew up in a couple of different areas because I loved being a kid and skiing and, and being a musician.
Speaker B:And I think people if, listen, if you love music, don't Just don't stop doing it.
Speaker B:Just you decide.
Speaker B:You make a decision.
Speaker B:I'm not going to stop doing music.
Speaker B:In fact, I would say call Jazz for Peace.
Speaker B:We provide the way to people who have the will.
Speaker B:That's all Jazz repeats does.
Speaker B:If you ever look into our organization, we basically provide a way for those who have the will.
Speaker B:And if someone calls us up and says, hey, man, I want to keep playing music, I'm in high school, I love it.
Speaker B:What do you got going?
Speaker B:We'll do everything we can to guide you and help you continue your musical journey throughout.
Speaker A:Well, that's a beautiful segue to talk about your Jasper piece, which is a really beautiful organization, and with what's going on today, a needed organization more now than probably five, 10 years ago.
Speaker B:You know, if we had just embraced it in the first place, I think we'd be a lot better off.
Speaker B:But what happens is our world waits until it's almost too late.
Speaker B:You know?
Speaker B:I mean, are you guys gonna, like, you know, am I gonna hear from these world leaders, like.
Speaker B:Or the doomsday.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:Like, what are you waiting for that doomsday clock to get all the way to the last tick?
Speaker B:Okay, rick, you've got 20 minutes to save the planet, you know, But I.
Speaker B:It was founded on 911 because I watched the events of 911 from a rooftop in New York City.
Speaker B:And basically I just thought, music cuts through all these barriers.
Speaker B:I had seen it done that traveling around the world and playing music.
Speaker B:Music.
Speaker B:I told you one time in Dayton, Ohio, with the Artie Shaw orchest, but all over the world with all kinds of crazy bands, including my own.
Speaker B:And I was like, this music thing, I can reach anybody.
Speaker B:I could reach a Pakistani I could reach and a person in India.
Speaker B:I could reach it.
Speaker B:I could reach anybody with music.
Speaker B:And I doubt I could reach most of them without it, you know, I mean, I have to be armed with a piano or something.
Speaker B:You know, for me, that's my.
Speaker A:That's.
Speaker B:That.
Speaker B:That's how I feel.
Speaker B:I'm armed, you know, that's my army.
Speaker B:If I feel like you're giving me.
Speaker B:If I have a way to reach you musically, I feel like I'm fully armed.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:The Armed Forces of Instrument Donation.
Speaker B:So I noticed that, and I was like, I wonder what would the world.
Speaker B:What if the world knew.
Speaker B:Knew about this, you know?
Speaker B:And I was also playing music with so many different kinds of people because New York City is a melting pot, and people come from all over the world.
Speaker B:To learn jazz.
Speaker B:That I would tell people, you know, you're.
Speaker B:You wouldn't believe.
Speaker B:I do a session I had earlier today.
Speaker B:I said I was playing with an Israeli and a Palestinian in someone's home, you know, a jam session.
Speaker B:And they were like, wow.
Speaker B:You experience things that nobody experiences.
Speaker B:The world needs to.
Speaker B:It would be great if people knew about this stuff, you know.
Speaker B:So when Jasper piece happened, I was like, man, I gotta do something.
Speaker B:I don't know what.
Speaker B:And at the end of the day, I did have a poem.
Speaker B:And that's all I had was a poem.
Speaker B:And I'm like, I'm going to do something with this poem.
Speaker B:Live up to the words, probably.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:But I have been trying to live up to the words of a poem every day.
Speaker B:Ever.
Speaker B:Every day since.
Speaker A:That's beautiful.
Speaker A:We actually, me and my daughter did listen.
Speaker A:Well, for me, I'm not.
Speaker A:Music is music, you know, I mean, there's good music and bad music, but, you know, with my daughter being more.
Speaker A:She's my expert.
Speaker B:Cool.
Speaker A:Thought was really getting into.
Speaker A:What did they say?
Speaker A:And I don't even have my phone because I put it on my notes page.
Speaker A:But it was about the notes and the octaves and how one instrument was on one octave and another instrument was on another octave, and they were just.
Speaker A:And how the.
Speaker A:How the beats were quite different from each other, but yet how it came together.
Speaker A:Yeah, they were just.
Speaker A:They were digesting it.
Speaker A:They were digesting that piece of music.
Speaker A:So when you wrote that, what.
Speaker A:What effect did you see?
Speaker A:That was your calling.
Speaker A:So what effect did you receive?
Speaker B:Well, you know, when I wrote it, I just had a bunch of words on a piece of paper, and I didn't know what to do with them.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So I call.
Speaker B:I read the words at the end of the day, because I would write down four or five words here, four or five words there, because they'd be swirling around inside me as I was watching the twin towers from less than a quarter of a mile away and watching all this crazy stuff going on in New York City.
Speaker B:And at the.
Speaker B:I. I just looked at the words.
Speaker B:I was like, man, I could call this jazz for peace, you know?
Speaker B:And then now what am I gonna do?
Speaker B:I have no idea what to do.
Speaker B:So I didn't do anything.
Speaker B:But then the.
Speaker B:The country opened up about two weeks later, and I was like, wow, are you.
Speaker B:We are.
Speaker B:We're open.
Speaker B:And I'm here.
Speaker B:Yeah, everything's open.
Speaker B:I'm like, well, I have this jazz festival in.
Speaker B:In Savannah, Georgia, and I called the festival and I said, like, is this gonna happen?
Speaker B:And they're like, okay, you gotta get down here, man.
Speaker B:You gotta hurry up, Rick.
Speaker B:This is tomorrow.
Speaker B:Or whatever it was.
Speaker B:And I was like, wow.
Speaker B:Okay, let me.
Speaker B:Let me just head over to the airport, like, with my band.
Speaker B:I said.
Speaker B:And I said, how many people are going to be there?
Speaker B:And they said, over 8, 500.
Speaker B:And you're the headliner, so they're all gonna hear you.
Speaker B:Everyone's gonna hear you, they said.
Speaker B:I was like, wow.
Speaker B:Holy Jesus.
Speaker B:So I get down there and it was really kind of fun because I remember our roadie was the son of Jimi Hendrix drummer.
Speaker B:Jimi Hendrix drummer, I think his name was Mitch Mitchell, had a son and his son lived in Savannah, and he had just decided to, like, be the roadie for our band.
Speaker B:He, like, volunteered for that or something.
Speaker B:So this guy picked us up, telling me stories about his father playing with Jimi Henders.
Speaker B:Anyway, we get.
Speaker B:I never told anybody this on a podcast, by the way, so this is new.
Speaker B:New information, but Mitch Mitchell's son was.
Speaker B:Picked us up at the airport, I think, and then picked us up for the.
Speaker B:The hotel and all that stuff.
Speaker B:And it was a big festival.
Speaker B:And I'm on stage now and I got this thing in my pocket.
Speaker B:I don't know what I'm gonna do.
Speaker B:I really, like.
Speaker B:I have just.
Speaker B:I'm.
Speaker B:Put this.
Speaker B:I'll put the poem in.
Speaker B:I just.
Speaker B:I have it.
Speaker B:I don't know what's gonna happen.
Speaker B:And midway through the show just came this moment where I, like, took this peach paper and out.
Speaker B:And I said, ladies and gentlemen, I hope you don't mind, but I watched the blah, blah, blah.
Speaker B:And I wrote this.
Speaker B:And these are.
Speaker B:This is what I wrote.
Speaker B:And I read the poem.
Speaker B:So that was the next thing I did was I read that poem, but to 8,500 people.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, I felt so sorry for every great poet that ever lived because I wrote one poem, and here it is being heard by 8,500 people, right?
Speaker B:And Edgar Allan Poe and all these other people, you know, slit their wrist and die, you know, horrible deaths, you know what I mean?
Speaker B:Never.
Speaker B:No one hears them till hundreds of years later.
Speaker B:And I'm getting, like.
Speaker B:My first poem is like a grand slam, you know.
Speaker B:So anyway, this poem worked its way.
Speaker B:I mean, it was.
Speaker B:It was crazy.
Speaker B:And it just reverberated, you know, it started working its way north, you know, I don't know if you know the story of the Civil War, but the.
Speaker B:I guess it was General Sherman worked his way south, but this poem went north from Savannah.
Speaker B:You know, he went.
Speaker B:He tried to get to Savannah from wherever he was starting.
Speaker B:This was the reverse of the Civil War.
Speaker B:This thing was started in Savannah.
Speaker B:And by the time I got back, I was getting phone calls.
Speaker B:What the heck did you do at that?
Speaker B:What this, you know, and can you do that for our show that's come.
Speaker B:Are you going to put that to music?
Speaker B:And then they wanted to interview me.
Speaker B:They want me to recite the poem in the interview, and they would print it in the.
Speaker B:You know, so, you know, that's the things.
Speaker B:Jazz for Peace was just launched from one thing after another after another after another.
Speaker B:Just one step at a time.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:I was.
Speaker A:My next question.
Speaker A:I was doing my hair yesterday because, you know, I need a new hair just for you.
Speaker B:You're having a very good hair, James.
Speaker B:First thing.
Speaker A:I need new hair just for you.
Speaker A:And I was.
Speaker A:As I was doing my hair, I was watching Netflix and it was called Train Wreck.
Speaker A:And then this one was on Woodstock 99 and how it was tried.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:The purpose of it was to try to bring back what with woodstock of 69, the peace, love and everything.
Speaker A:But 99 just hence train Wreck.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:And I was thinking about this because 911 was very unique in many ways.
Speaker A:First of all, it was something that happened on U.S. soil.
Speaker A:And when you think about it at that time, I don't remember how many years, but when you think about the Civil War was really the last thing that really happened on America's soil.
Speaker A:No, I'm sorry.
Speaker A:Not the Civil War.
Speaker A:Pearl Harbor.
Speaker A:I apologize.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:But even that was in.
Speaker B:Even that was in Hawaii.
Speaker A:Correct.
Speaker B:Nobody really, in any of.
Speaker B:No one where the Civil War was fought had to really experience Pearl Harbor.
Speaker B:Correct?
Speaker A:Yeah, correct.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So it made me think, because Woods Stock was really great for what it was.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:The time how people came together, the.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:The meaning of the movement and how we were in 9 11.
Speaker A:And with your justice for justice, for peace, Jazz for peace, justice is a.
Speaker B:Good thing as well.
Speaker A:I'm thinking about protest now.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:With your Jasper piece.
Speaker A:It was a beautiful mom time.
Speaker A:And what I'm trying to connect with the two is there are things that are great, great messages, but sometimes it just doesn't reach out.
Speaker A:I mean, would do you think if you did something similar today, would it have the same effect?
Speaker B:You know, I grew up watching a documentary called Eye on the Prize, which was about the Civil Rights movement.
Speaker B:And that deeply affected me.
Speaker B:When I was a very young kid, I could have only been 7 or 8 or 9 years old watching those movies because my parents, they had little things that you could watch.
Speaker B:And I found them and I was like, just mesmerized by that movement, you know.
Speaker B:You know, basically we can do anything where there is a will.
Speaker B:I am serious.
Speaker B:If you give me a will will, I will show you a way.
Speaker B:Because We've done over 850 contests for the world's most outstanding causes.
Speaker B:And I have a lot of answers that I don't see in the mainstream media.
Speaker B:And I'll give you example.
Speaker B:It was only a year later, by the way, after 9 11, that I brought Israeli, Palestinian and American musicians into the United Nations.
Speaker B:And it was only a couple years after that that I was doing a second concert for, for a facility that provided assistance to Holocaust survivors.
Speaker B:And they were trying to expand their services to other elderly people and stuff.
Speaker B:And the concert was so successful, they were like, could you please do another one for us?
Speaker B:I know you really do, you know, one for everybody, but could you do another one for us?
Speaker B:And I did another concert for the Holocaust survivors because I, I was interested in them and I wanted to get to know them and know their story story and know what they were all about.
Speaker B:And I went, I went to that second concert and there was a letter there from Michael Bloomberg.
Speaker B:And we have that letter available online.
Speaker B:And by the way, I'll just give this to your listeners.
Speaker B:It's, it's a website and if they type it in, you could find anything I'm talking about.
Speaker B:And it's our website's jazz for peace.org but this is a archive site, jazz for peace.WordPress.com jazz for peace.WordPress.com then forward slash about to get to the exact page and you can find this letter from Michael Bloomberg talking about our assistance to the Holocaust survivors and all that stuff.
Speaker B:Well, I got to know the Holocaust survivors and guess what?
Speaker B:They are completely against anything related to killing and genocide and all that stuff.
Speaker B:And so they were, they're like, these people say they're pro Israel, but if you're not, if you left those Holocaust survivors behind, if you are bypassing their wishes and their interest, you're not pro Israel.
Speaker B:Because pro Israel starts, to me, it starts with the Holocaust and those survivors and their families and their victims.
Speaker B:That's the true Israel.
Speaker B:So if you do go to the real Israel, guess what?
Speaker B:We have a lot of people that are very much against war.
Speaker B:If you're pro Israel, you are, you are pro Holocaust survivors.
Speaker B:The Holocaust survivors.
Speaker B:Are a against war at all costs.
Speaker B:They love the mission of Jazz for peace.
Speaker B:And I'm telling you, I can.
Speaker B:If you.
Speaker B:If you have the will, I could bring.
Speaker B:I mean, you could ask me anything.
Speaker B:I mean, I've worked with people from Iran, all kinds of stuff.
Speaker B:I mean, I've worked with people from every walk of life nine times to Africa.
Speaker B:So I can bring anybody together.
Speaker B:If you just want to.
Speaker B:If you have the will, just.
Speaker B:You have the will, call me up and we'll do it.
Speaker A:All right?
Speaker A:I had to put myself on me just.
Speaker A:My.
Speaker A:My mic is kind of acting funny, but anyways.
Speaker A:All right, guys.
Speaker A:If somebody has a Now, it can't be me, because I. I can't play nothing, but I know.
Speaker B:Do you have the will to help an outstanding cause in Dayton, Ohio?
Speaker B:Oh, no.
Speaker A:I was thinking about our viewers.
Speaker B:I'm serious.
Speaker B:There isn't a person who can't work with us because we've worked with so many people.
Speaker B:You would.
Speaker B:If you would be shocked.
Speaker B:I mean, little kids, we worked.
Speaker B:There was a little kid in Uganda.
Speaker B:I swear to God, I got there, I'm like, you're the person we've been working with all this time.
Speaker B:This little guy named Moses Kagozi.
Speaker B:That's his name.
Speaker B:He's this little kid, and he was following our steps.
Speaker B:And I ended up in Uganda at the beginning of the Nile River River.
Speaker B:A little teenage kid brought us all the way to Uganda.
Speaker B:So what I'm saying is anybody with the will, he had the will, and he followed our steps and we worked with him.
Speaker B:I had no idea he was a little kid.
Speaker B:I had no idea he was this little kid.
Speaker B:I swear to God.
Speaker B:So what I'm saying is if you.
Speaker B:If there was an outstanding cause in Dayton and you shared this podcast and said, hey, do you guys want, you know, these Jazz or peace is trying to take world peace from zero where it is now and why we have all these problems, because we're funding piece at 0 to 100 where it should be.
Speaker B:And there were.
Speaker B:Well, mostly I think all of them will be solved at 100 for world peace.
Speaker B:But we're at zero now.
Speaker B:And in order to.
Speaker B:In order to help, in order to get from 0 to 100, he's got to get funds in your hands.
Speaker B:So will you guys take his money, please?
Speaker B:And know.
Speaker B:And it's.
Speaker B:It's not like I hand you money, but what we do is we empower people.
Speaker B:So we.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:The event that we do for them not only gets them funds, but also makes them more Prestigious.
Speaker B:It makes them more sponsored, it makes them more publicized, etc.
Speaker B:Etc.
Speaker B:Branches of an empowerment tree.
Speaker B:But like I said, we just need the will.
Speaker B:That's all.
Speaker B:Because without the will, we can't.
Speaker B:Why would we want to do, you know, why would we want to do something for somebody who doesn't even, you know, doesn't even have the will, but you have.
Speaker B:If you have that, you're.
Speaker B:You're pretty much all set.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:Yeah, I couldn't have said it better myself.
Speaker A:You know when you have a thought and you're like, why, why?
Speaker A:Oh my goodness now when it comes to.
Speaker A:Because you said you, you got to have the will, when now my brain just went flat like I had.
Speaker B:You know, everybody has the will.
Speaker B:They just have to like sit down for a second and say, what would I like to see better off in this world?
Speaker B:You know?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:That's all they have to do.
Speaker B:I mean, you have it inside you.
Speaker B:Everyone is my point.
Speaker B:Every person has that will.
Speaker B:Somewhere there's something that they're passionate about somewhere or other.
Speaker B:And then it's just a matter of working together with us because maybe there's an outstanding cause in their community that addresses that and we could do something for that call.
Speaker B:Etc.
Speaker B:We'll figure it out.
Speaker B:You contact us and you say, this is what I want.
Speaker B:This is what I think would make our world better.
Speaker B:And we'll work with you from there.
Speaker A:And you know what, to use the example of Moses, I know Moses was a young person, but even Moses in the Bible, God was like, I need for you to do this, Moses.
Speaker A:Like, I can't speak.
Speaker A:I murdered somebody.
Speaker A:Like, he's just given everything so.
Speaker B:Well, now you really opened up a book of a big book, right?
Speaker B:You know, all of everything.
Speaker B:I understand the Bible so much better because of what Jazzerpeace does, because it all comes from that.
Speaker B:It can all come from the.
Speaker B:You know, they say, oh, he, he.
Speaker B:What is it?
Speaker B:He.
Speaker B:He made from nothing.
Speaker B:You know, he made from nothing.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:But we do it from nothing.
Speaker B:Jasper piece does it from nothing.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:We create an event.
Speaker B:The event creates, you know, funds, it creates publicity where it's all from a little seed.
Speaker B:A tree comes from nothing.
Speaker B:A tiny little seedling, you know what I mean?
Speaker B:And for us, it's a comment.
Speaker B:So not only do I understand Christianity, but all religions and you know what they're all have in common.
Speaker B:All religions are trying to tap.
Speaker B:They're.
Speaker B:They're trying to tap our species in.
Speaker B:To a higher level of human consciousness.
Speaker B:All of them go back to Egypt and look at these things.
Speaker B:How the heck did you build those?
Speaker B:Well, you know, come on, these people were in flunkies.
Speaker B:I mean, you can't create stuff like that.
Speaker B:You know, you go back to Aristotle, Plato, thousands of years ago.
Speaker B:They're mind boggling how the level of human consciousness.
Speaker B:Look at a, a Leonardo da Vinci.
Speaker B:I mean, come on, this guy was operating on a high level.
Speaker B:So all these religions are trying to.
Speaker B:Because at a higher level of human consciousness is where you get qualities such as peace, you know, human.
Speaker B:And that, that boils.
Speaker B:That brings us to a famous quote that I have, which again is totally off the top of my head.
Speaker B:In that very first interview, I was alluding to you back when I got back from Savannah, Georgia.
Speaker B:This guy calls me up, hey, you got to talk to me with this poem, blah blah, blah.
Speaker B:And I just start saying stuff.
Speaker B:And he's recording it.
Speaker B:I didn't know he was recording it, but he's recording it for.
Speaker B:Because I had another concert coming up in his, in his area.
Speaker B:It was in Troy, New York and upstate New York.
Speaker B:And I just set off the top of my head, I said, listen, if we just as a species, if we just embrace our greatest qualities, if we just embrace humanity, creativity, artistry, intellectuality, if embrace our crate collectively, we will have a much better chance at avoiding the behavior that leads to destruction.
Speaker B:I didn't even know I said it because it was so random.
Speaker B:That gets printed in an article and lifted by famous quotes websites.
Speaker B:But what was I really saying?
Speaker B:As I reflect on it 20 some years later, what I was really saying was if we raise our level of human consciousness, we will have a better chance.
Speaker B:You know what I mean?
Speaker B:So that's what Christianity was doing.
Speaker B:I mean, you know that man of the first four letters of that word, Christian, that man, that's what he was doing, right?
Speaker B:He was at a super high level of human consciousness.
Speaker B:That's what it's all about.
Speaker B:And that's where we all have something in common.
Speaker B:I don't care who thinks they're fighting or doesn't get along or whatever.
Speaker B:All of us at a higher level in of human consciousness find commonality.
Speaker A:Yeah, I couldn't have said it better myself.
Speaker A:I just feel like the words of wisdom that you're giving us today, you.
Speaker B:Know, I could if I didn't learn.
Speaker B:If, if you ever saw my journey, I'd have to learn it.
Speaker B:I mean, if I didn't get the memo after 850 benefit concerts, you know, I might as well, check myself in, you know.
Speaker A:Oh, what I have a question.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:Because you 800 that.
Speaker A:That's a lot of benefit concerts for that to be.
Speaker A:What is the one thing that you find the hardest thing to crack with?
Speaker A:Doing these benefit concerts and sharing this message.
Speaker B:The hardest thing to crack for for me is every single time I do something with jazz trapeze.
Speaker B:I'm like, oh my God, maybe the world is gonna not quite look so upside down, you know.
Speaker B:But if you go to that page and you read all the letters from those organizations, you will see a right side side up world.
Speaker B:But the problem is it's like a rubber band, like Bing Point, you know, you let go of the rubber band, it goes right back down, you know.
Speaker B:So a lot of times I would even come back even before a jazz for piece.
Speaker B:I would do this.
Speaker B:I would play some amazing events somewhere.
Speaker B:Everybody be so happy.
Speaker B:This amazing thing.
Speaker B:And we'd all be on the same page and we'd all feel this communion and this, you know, all of this commonality.
Speaker B:And then I get back to, you know, home and everybody's the same way.
Speaker B:I get back to the streets of New York and I see the same thing.
Speaker B:So I feel like I'm change, I'm doing my little part to change it.
Speaker B:But it's a slow process.
Speaker B:However I.
Speaker B:These people contacting me now are like these psychic people and medians and astrologers and they're telling me that we are.
Speaker B:This process is going to start going much faster.
Speaker B:So if the process was were to speed up, maybe we would all.
Speaker B:Maybe we could lift all boats somehow, you know.
Speaker B:But that's what we have to do.
Speaker B:Everyone's listen, I walked into a movie when I opened my.
Speaker B:The roof, my little trap door to the roof and I walked up on my roof on 9 11.
Speaker B:I walked into a movie.
Speaker B:But on this deal we all have to that are in the movie.
Speaker B:We all are starring in a human consciousness raising movie though it's rolling.
Speaker B:So let's all get it together.
Speaker B:I mean what, you know, what do you have to lose?
Speaker B:Let's.
Speaker B:Let's gravitate towards that which can raise our human consciousness.
Speaker A:That's interesting.
Speaker A:I had another question and then my mind has stopped.
Speaker A:When you were talking about how people reach out to you that the process will be sped up.
Speaker B:Well, that's what they say now.
Speaker B:It's also because we're getting close to the 25th anniversary of certain things.
Speaker B:Like I had a guy call me, he wanted to know the date and the time of that poem on 9 11, like, not the day, but you know, what time, worry, blah, blah.
Speaker B:He also wanted to know that the United nations concert.
Speaker B:What.
Speaker B:What date was that, what time?
Speaker B:You know, because he does all this chart work and he's, he does.
Speaker B:He looks at the charts and he's like, whoa.
Speaker B:Everything's pulling to these, to these moments.
Speaker B:The 25th anniversary to the moment.
Speaker B:So I don't know.
Speaker B:You know what, Listen, I. I don't know.
Speaker B:But he's saying energy is pulling to these, like, you know, 25th year anniversary sort of thing.
Speaker B:So I don't know.
Speaker B:That could be a reason.
Speaker A:I can't believe it's been almost 25 years.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:So that's the thing.
Speaker B: ,: Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And so the year after that will be the 25th anniversary of the United nations concert, which, that took a long time, but after a while I started getting letters from people talking about that event and saying what a great thing it was and how important it was and how monumental it was in their eyes.
Speaker B:So it took a long time, but like I said, according to this astrologer, you know, and people could check out that the guy's name is Peter Michael Deeds.
Speaker B:If ever you put Peter Michael D's, Rick Dollarada, probably, and get to that interview.
Speaker B:It's wild.
Speaker B:It's a wild interview because he's really pulls out those charts and everything.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:Is that something that you're into astrology?
Speaker B:You know, I, I am not an astrologist at all.
Speaker B:I mean, I, I couldn't probably.
Speaker B:Yeah, I couldn't tell you what's going to happen tomorrow.
Speaker B:But this guy is.
Speaker B:And he was fascinating me.
Speaker B:I believe that these psychic mediums and astrologists and all that, I think they're onto something.
Speaker B:It's just, you know, I don't know.
Speaker B:They're the experts.
Speaker B:I don't, I have to defer to.
Speaker B:To their expertise in that area.
Speaker B:You know, like, I wouldn't ask them to play a song, but, you know.
Speaker A:Oh, the same vein.
Speaker B:I wouldn't, I wouldn't be able to the, you know, go into their world and, you know, predict something that they're predicting.
Speaker B:But they are saying this stuff.
Speaker B:So that's interesting.
Speaker B:It's fascinating.
Speaker A:That is fascinating in a way.
Speaker A:One day I probably will explore that avenue because, you know, scripture does talk about it, but in different ways.
Speaker A:I do see that you do have a piano.
Speaker A:And one of the things that I said, I reached back Out.
Speaker A:I was like, I'm excited for some music.
Speaker B:Well, you know, we do get.
Speaker B:I do get.
Speaker B:Because people see me on podcasts and they're like, could you play my favorite song on your podcast?
Speaker B:Blah, blah, blah, blah.
Speaker B:How far is Memphis for?
Speaker B:You're kind of in the.
Speaker B:You're almost Midwest, right?
Speaker B:Yeah, a little bit more Midwest.
Speaker B:When Tennessee is what next?
Speaker B:Two states over.
Speaker B:Where?
Speaker B:A couple states over.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:All right, well, someone.
Speaker B:Okay, this is a crazy thing, but someone who has a very serious affliction.
Speaker B:A very serious.
Speaker B:It's actually for someone who's been diagnosed with cancer.
Speaker B:The woman's favorite song is by Leon Russell, who is a great singer songwriter from Memphis.
Speaker B:And she just asked me if I could play her song and I.
Speaker B:How could I turn that down?
Speaker B:And someone else has also recommended that also came in was wanted this amazing song by Barry Manilow called Could It Be Magic?
Speaker B:Amazing song.
Speaker B:So I mean I could play either one of those, you know, or whatever.
Speaker A:Whatever is on your heart.
Speaker A:I'm just.
Speaker A:I'm just grateful.
Speaker A:I. I didn't even think about choosing a song.
Speaker A:I was just like, cool.
Speaker B:Well, you know, sometimes I'll do that.
Speaker B:I'll ask the podcaster what, what they mean, you know, what's their favorite song?
Speaker A:I didn't even think about it.
Speaker B:I was what.
Speaker B:Do you have any specific styles of music that you like or anything?
Speaker A:Oh my goodness.
Speaker A:I mean, I'm just all over the place when it comes to music.
Speaker A:And I say that because of my daughter.
Speaker A:Like, what is she like?
Speaker A:So they're listening to.
Speaker A:Well, just today they were cooking and so they were listening to some Japanese music and some South Korean music.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker A:I know.
Speaker A:They were all over the place.
Speaker A:And then this one, I think if I remember correctly, this particular song that they were listening to was like from the 80s because of the type of style.
Speaker A:So my daughter is so diverse in music, it's just not even funny.
Speaker A:I think the only thing we really don't.
Speaker A:They don't really listen to too much as country, but they are just all over the place like anime, some music from MAD and you know, ah, it left my mind.
Speaker A:Studio jubilee music.
Speaker A:What else do we listen to in the house?
Speaker A:Jazz, R B, you know, Christian, soft rock.
Speaker A:Like we are just all over the place.
Speaker A:And really if it wasn't for my daughter, I would have probably been listening to.
Speaker B:To what?
Speaker B:To who?
Speaker A:Listening to two types of genres.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:You know, there is a Japanese folk song on the Jazz for Peace cd because I performed in Japan a lot.
Speaker B:I've been to Japan seven times.
Speaker A:Oh, okay.
Speaker B:And there's a.
Speaker B:The one time Japanese people came and they gave me this folk song.
Speaker B:They said, could you play our folk song?
Speaker B:And I said, okay.
Speaker B:And it's called Kojo Notsuki.
Speaker B:It's a Japanese folk song.
Speaker B:So maybe your daughter, you get her to watch this.
Speaker B:Maybe you can use that as bait to get her to watch this podcast.
Speaker B:I will start out with this.
Speaker B:I don't even know if I remember it, but I'll try to play this little Japanese folk song and then I'll go into this song for this woman, Ellen.
Speaker B:That's like I said, I really want to do something special for.
Speaker B:And hopefully maybe, I don't know, maybe see if I can just bring something out of her that maybe she, who knows, maybe try to turn her situation around, her health related situation.
Speaker B:But this is for Ellen and the.
Speaker B:The intros for your daughter.
Speaker B:It's called Kojo Notsuk.
Speaker B:I've been so many places in my.
Speaker A:Life and time.
Speaker B:Sung a lot of songs I made some bad ride I've acted on my loving stages with 10,000 people watching but we're alone now and I'm singing this song to, you know your image of me Me is what I hope to be.
Speaker A:I treated you.
Speaker B:Unkindly but darling, can you see no one more important to me Darling, can't you please see through me Alone now and I'm singing this song.
Speaker A:Sam.
Speaker B:When my life is together.
Speaker A:We were.
Speaker B:Alone and I was singing this song for you.
Speaker B:Al.
Speaker A:That was beautiful.
Speaker B:Thank you so much.
Speaker A:That was really beautiful.
Speaker A:I'm.
Speaker A:I'm so grateful for you to play those two pieces.
Speaker B:You know, she told me it was her favorite song in the world, so I was like, man, this is an offer I cannot.
Speaker B:Amazing song.
Speaker B:And so is the song for your daughter.
Speaker B:I mean, that's a beautiful folk song.
Speaker B:I remember them giving it to me and I was like, this is a beautiful song.
Speaker B:This is from your country.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Very old.
Speaker B:It's hundreds of years old, that song.
Speaker A:Well, you played it beautifully.
Speaker B:Thank you so much.
Speaker A:I think they'll be really grateful to hear that.
Speaker A:They.
Speaker A:They're so.
Speaker A:Their culture.
Speaker A:I know this is probably off tangent, but Japanese culture, culture is very beautiful, rich, and very centered, you know, if I'm saying the right words.
Speaker A:So to be able to play that piece, it is very calming that, that boat song.
Speaker A:It's very calming.
Speaker B:Yes, it absolutely is.
Speaker B:And that's again, that brings back to my thesis that all of these countries and cultures, they all have the Same thing.
Speaker B:And they're all using the arts and culture and music and other things to bring calmness, to bring peace, to bring celebration level of human consciousness and our, you know, our.
Speaker B:I don't know, they call it a sequence.
Speaker B:I forget what they call it, but it just, you know, our, our overall chi, they have all those different words.
Speaker B:I mean, all that stuff.
Speaker A:I'm learning too.
Speaker A:I gotcha.
Speaker A:I'm learning too.
Speaker B:Everyone has different words.
Speaker B:But it all results in the same thing, you know, raising us up to our potential.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:And in the end, I mean that is the main goal with following a purpose with God is to reach to a potential that is really higher than we can ever imagine.
Speaker B:There's no question about it.
Speaker B:I mean there's example after example after example and the bottom line on it and nurture it and grow it and try to align with others who are willing to support that growth inside.
Speaker A:You said something very important to support the growth because that, that is very key in order to achieve.
Speaker B:Absolutely, absolutely key.
Speaker B:You know, the wrong energy, the wrong kind of, you know, agenda, all that stuff, you know, and unfortunately, and do not so good things and there's.
Speaker B:And that's all over the place.
Speaker B:But if you look at the level of human consciousness that that activity is, it's not very high.
Speaker B:And so we don't need to.
Speaker B:We don't need to aspire to, you know, we don't need to aspire in the wrong direction.
Speaker A:Yeah, I completely agree.
Speaker A:Well, we're almost at time and I just want to say I am grateful that we had this conversation today.
Speaker A:I'm blessed.
Speaker A:And the music that you play, I am just.
Speaker A:I'll just forever hold that in my heart.
Speaker A:That, that was beautiful.
Speaker A:And the fact that just.
Speaker A:Just remembering your story of dad and your father bringing in that piano like the, the way that he acquired the piano to bring in errands.
Speaker A:I can only imagine what the story is to be able to learn to play.
Speaker A:And I. I'm just imagining this in my head, but just.
Speaker A:It sounds like a beautiful love story of them playing together.
Speaker B:Yes, it was.
Speaker B:It.
Speaker B:It had a profoundly positive effect.
Speaker B:You know, see, I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
Speaker B:You know, my mother and father making music from.
Speaker B:And it was really a Mozart concerto.
Speaker B:So they're playing this masterpiece.
Speaker B:And actually my book which is called Paving the Path for Peace through Music, I wrote the forward to.
Speaker B:And the forward is about Mozart, but it's from coming from an as fellow artist.
Speaker B:So it's an.
Speaker B:It's a unique perspective on Mozart.
Speaker B:If.
Speaker B:And you can read the Forward.
Speaker B:If you go to Amazon, they'll let you read the Forward for free and just read those two pages, and it's phenomenal.
Speaker B:But that book is very important because, again, that has a lot of fundraising tips and a lot of information that can really help people along this journey that we're all hopefully headed for, which is a higher level of human consciousness.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Collectively.
Speaker A:Beautiful.
Speaker A:Any last words of wisdom?
Speaker A:You gave so much, but I feel like I just want to end it with your last words of wisdom, because I don't think I can end it properly.
Speaker B:Well, this also comes from Asia.
Speaker B:It's an old story, and it's called the Old man and his Horse.
Speaker B:And it's like 2, 000 years old.
Speaker B:And apparently this old man had a horse somewhere.
Speaker B:I don't know, in the Mongolian empire, who knows?
Speaker B:In the, the.
Speaker B:In the.
Speaker B:The dynasty, the Ming's dynasty, I have no idea.
Speaker B:But he's got a horse.
Speaker B:Horse takes off on him.
Speaker B:One day the neighbor comes by and says, old man, I've got.
Speaker B:Just came over to console you on the news.
Speaker B:And the old man said, what news?
Speaker B:Your horse took off and you need that horse.
Speaker B:And this is terrible.
Speaker B:The horrible news is horrible.
Speaker B:I'm so sorry.
Speaker B:And the old man said, who knows what is good news and what is bad.
Speaker B:He said, well, that's a good outlook.
Speaker B:I appreciate that.
Speaker B:I just wanted to, you know, go do my, you know, do my good deed.
Speaker B:Okay, no problem.
Speaker B:So now, three days later, the horse comes back with three other horses.
Speaker B:So he's got four horses.
Speaker B:The horse had found some other horses and they decided to come back to the guy.
Speaker B:So he puts him in the stable.
Speaker B:Oh, he's got four horses.
Speaker B:Neighbor comes over.
Speaker B:Oh.
Speaker B:Oh, man.
Speaker B:What?
Speaker B:What, What.
Speaker B:What do you want?
Speaker B:I want to congratulate you on the great news.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:What great news?
Speaker B:The horde looked at where you got four horses.
Speaker B:Who knows what is good news and what is bad?
Speaker B:Well, okay, if that's what you say.
Speaker B:So now his son, the old man's son, gets on the horse to break one of them in or whatever.
Speaker B:Horse throws him off, smashes him into a fence, whatever.
Speaker B:He breaks his leg in three places of disaster.
Speaker B:He's can't.
Speaker B:Can't move, can't walk.
Speaker B:Neighbor comes over again, I'm just.
Speaker B:Old man, I'm sorry.
Speaker B:It's terrible.
Speaker B:I'm just.
Speaker B:I need to console you on the bad news.
Speaker B:What bad news?
Speaker B:Your son over there, he can't walk, blah, blah.
Speaker B:Again, the old man who Knows what is good news and what is bad.
Speaker B:This guy's like, all right, I give up.
Speaker B:This guy.
Speaker B:I can't make him.
Speaker B:I can't make him feel good when he should be happy.
Speaker B:I can't make him feel bad when, you know, I can't.
Speaker B:I can't.
Speaker B:This guy has his own thing.
Speaker B:I'm gonna go home.
Speaker B:Three days later, the government knocks on the door, and the old man answers.
Speaker B:And they said, old man, I'm very sorry, but we have to take all of the young boys.
Speaker B:The war has started, so there's nothing we can do about it.
Speaker B:Just go pack up your son and let's get on with the show here.
Speaker B:We got to go off to the front lines.
Speaker B:Well, there's my son.
Speaker B:Oh, my God.
Speaker B:This guy ready.
Speaker B:I don't know if he'll ever walk it.
Speaker B:We can't take him.
Speaker B:Well, we're gonna take all the other boys.
Speaker B:I'm so sorry we can't take your son, but good luck.
Speaker B:Hope he gets better someday.
Speaker B:And they go, and of course, all those young boys die, and this boy is saved because of the bad news.
Speaker B:So my point is, you know, who knows what is good news and what is bad?
Speaker B:And once you get that perspective, things change a lot because we just don't know.
Speaker B:You know, there's a lot of people that they've trying to get rich, right?
Speaker B:And, oh, it's going to be the greatest news in the world if I just make $10 million.
Speaker B:Well, they make $10 million.
Speaker B:Next thing you know, you know, people are targeting them.
Speaker B:Some woman, right, gets him to fall in love with her, and she drags him into court, takes half of it.
Speaker B:You know, this, that, you know, all these crazy things.
Speaker B:So was it really good news?
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:But follow your dreams and passions, and I'll tell you what's good news.
Speaker B:Music has never let me down.
Speaker B:So there's a little message for your daughter there.
Speaker B:It has never let me down.
Speaker B:So that's kind of good to embrace things that never let you down.
Speaker B:That's a high percentage play, right?
Speaker A:It is.
Speaker A:It is.
Speaker A:And that's a great way to end it at the end of the day, especially with what we've talked about today with what your jazz for peace did.
Speaker A:You know, a 9 11, what we're facing today, I think that's a really fitting end to.
Speaker A:To this is that story.
Speaker A:That's beautiful.
Speaker A:Rick.
Speaker A:I. I'm so grateful.
Speaker A:Thanks for joining me today.
Speaker B:It's a great pleasure.
Speaker B:Ashley, thank you so much for inviting me.
Speaker A:All right, guys.
Speaker A:And I'll see you guys later.
