...music historically, at least in my lifetime, has proven to be a unifying influence.  Surely, we've all been told by our parents to "Turn that crap down!"  But I'm sure we can all agree that our differences in musical preference have never been the cause of a war.  Cultural conflict, possibly.  Disagreement about lyrical or musical meaning, certainly.  But these are good things; anything that makes us think, discuss critically and civilly, smile, sing and dance, can't be bad for the human condition.

I've reached several levels of musical awareness in my lifetime.  Growing up with AM radio (remember WLS/Chicago and KAAY (Beeker Street)/Little Rock?) in the 1960's and 1970's, I and my generation were exposed to a full gamut of musical influences, which, in turn, were driven by the events of the day - Vietnam, the assassinations of the Kennedys and Dr. King, the evolution of the civil rights and women's movements.  Our experiences were inextricably interwoven with the music (Woodstock!).  It helped us to express our frustrations and fears, and helped to define our generation, just as WWII and the Great Depression forged the collective psyche of our parents and grandparents.

I was certainly enamored with the Beatles, although I distinctly recall resisting them, just to be non-comformist.  I never was much on Elvis or the sock-hop style of music of my contemporaries' older siblings, but I certainly enjoyed the musicians who comprised or were influenced by the British Invasion; groups like the Rolling Stones, The Byrds, The Who, Led Zeppelin.  I, too, thought Clapton was God.

I don't ever recall being discriminate in my musical tastes until I began to buy my own music.  I remember that the first (vinyl) album I actually purchased was "Thick as a Brick" by Jethro Tull.  My skull cracking music consisted of bands such as Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and Greg Lake's other loud gig, King Crimson.  I never got into the later long hair metal stuff.  Nothing original there.  Country rock appealed to me on some levels - The Eagles, Crosby,Stills & Nash (and later Neil Young), The Almond Brothers, and many others.  Phil Spector's bevy of artists who helped him develope the "Wall of Sound" were always in vogue.

But ever present, even after their divorce, were the Beatles - John, Paul, George and Ringo - perpetually pushing the limits of lyrical and musical sensibility, or revisiting old, tried and true stylings.

This continued until my daughter, Gwen, was about to turn five years old, in the summer of 1983.  As a summer activity, we enrolled her in a summer string program, during which she demonstrated the beginnings of a love for the violin.  To enhance her experience, we purchased a cassette tape that included a performance of Pachelbel's "Canon in D".  Neither she, nor I, have turned back since.  She went on to become a string teacher, touring and performing in Eastern Europe with her university orchestra along the way, and I became a shameless lover of classical music.

Today my collection of classical music consists of many genres, ranging from violin concerti (Beethoven and Mozart, my favorites), to symphoniae and symphonies (again, Beethoven and Mozart, along with Bach, Corelli and Vivaldi), to neo-classical adventures (Mahler, Gershwin and Bernstein), and musical showpieces by artists such as Joshua Bell, Nigel Kennedy, YoYo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, and even Chick Corea and Bela Fleck.

I've found classical music to be, in general, more accessible than most other genres.  We have a fine local symphony orchestra.  Our local venues draw many artists and performers, and nearby, in Appleton, Wisconsin, we have one of the finest musical conservatories in the world at Lawrence University.  These all provide wonderful opportunities to observe and listen to great performances of the finest music ever written.

More recently, beginning in the early 1990's, I developed another hopelessly insatiable appetite for another genre of music.  In 1993, my wife and I took our first real vacation since our marriage, visiting the island of Jamaica, and its western "Capital of Chill", Negril.  It was on the sands of its Seven Mile Beach that I really developed a taste for reggae music.  While I had heard of Bob Marley and his music, it wasn't until this visit that I truly began to appreciate where he came from artistically and what he was all about.  Today, my collection includes nearly everything he ever recorded, as well as music by many of his contemporaries and family who have carried on his tradition of meaningful story-telling through an irresistable rythm and artistic heritage.

Today, I find much to be appreciated in music.  I'm learning from my classical collection that music reaches across generational and geographic boundaries.  If you have any doubt, let me point out that on September 9, 2009, Apple Records issued the full, digitally remastered catalogue of the music of John, Paul, George and Ringo... The Beatles.  One week later, I heard a review of this collection on National Public Radio.  In it, the reviewer pointed out that in its first week, the collection had surpassed 600,000 copies, at a price of about US$200 per unit.  That's a lot dollars for a lot of plastic!  Its also a lot of people being exposed, or re-exposed, to music that was released in its original form (and format) from the years 1960 to 1973.  Think about that.  And sales continue to grow!

And so does my collection.  I'm very proud of the fact that there are very few genres that are not represented in my musical library... two glaring omittances are urban rap and opera.  I'll probably work on including one, but not the other.  Do you think you know which it will be?  However, I do have an open mind, and will continue to add to my growing library as the fancy, and the muse, call out to me.

If you want to see what I'm listening to lately, visit my Blog.