Music and Film: Raising the Vibrations Through Song

Frank Fitzpatrick 06/26/2012

I am obviously already an advocate of using film as the pathway, and music as the carrier, to impact audiences in positive ways. I also find it extremely potent on a personal level when I have the opportunity to meet and hear directly from the messenger – the creator of the music that found its way into the depths of my very being. When I can connect that intimately familiar voice to the person, like hearing from an old friend, there is a kind of coming home, or completion of the circle.

I felt that way this past weekend at two intimate performances at the Grammy Museum Theatre in Los Angeles. The LA Film Festival hosted back to back evenings in areas close to my heart: Voices for Change and Music in Film. The first evening featured Gary Louris of the Jayhawks andBen Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie opening and holding court for the long-forgotten 70’s Detroit artist know as Rodriquez.

Rodriguez is the fascinating subject of an upcoming documentary called Searching for Sugar Man, which premiered at the festival. An amazing socially outspoken artist – his music came and went in Detroit in the early 70’s but became more popular than Elvis in South Africa. The odd bit is that he never knew he was popular anywhere. Some South African reporter declared him dead by suicide at the peak of his music’s popularity. Like his fame and successful record sales half-way across the world, that bit of news never made it back to Detroit or Rodriguez himself. Rodriguez spent the past 30 years in the dark about the massive impact in his music, slaving away in a factory in Detroit, until a young filmmaker from Sweden discovered the story and decided to share it with Rodriguez, and the world.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL5TffdOQ7g[/youtube]

With all the great music coming out of Detroit (my hometown) at that time – Marvin Gaye, Aretha, the Temptations, Smokey Robinson…a list that changed the sound and face of Pop music forever, it is not that surprising how Rodriquez’s records could have gotten lost in the mix. But when you hear the songs and the messages he was sharing, it is also clear how they moved an entire nation once they had a chance to be heard. The seed and roots were in Detroit, but the forest grew and bore fruit for another continent in need.

The next evening, hosted by local DJ hero Garth Trinidad, featured the feminine perspective with a collection of voices that would melt the ice from even the coldest of hearts. The intimate and acoustic evening opened with an old friend and familiar voice – a songwriter for many musical icons and a wonderful artist herself – Brenda Russell.

Brenda was probably best known for her mega-hit: Piano in The Dark, but wrote many other notable songs, as well as the music and lyrics for the Broadway musical version of The Color Purple. Brenda set the stage with grace and dignity and set the bar high for the next two artists – angelic voices from a new generation of global heart openers. The first of these was new to me: Malaysian born Yuna. New to the world stage, and a breath of fresh air with a tone that wraps your soul in silk, Yuna is a very special being just beginning to blossom and likely to create quite a ripple effect across the oceans far beyond Malaysia and her new home in America.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3PDj_BpSGk[/youtube]

The final performance of the series was from an astounding voice and social advocate out of Oakland, CA – one I had been longing to meet and work with for some time: Goapele. Goapele is as beautiful as a goddess, with the voice of an angel and a fierce dedication to community. She has clearly come onto this planet to make a difference – to use her gifts and talents to leave the world a better place. On top of that, this lady is smart, determined and forward thinking enough to forge her own path to a global audience, bypassing traditional record deals. Although relatively young herself, Goapele provides a great example for today’s aspiring artists by combining the ultimate in musical craft and hard work with utmost integrity and the desire to raise consciousness.

By the end of the 2nd evening, after bathing my ears and soul in their music, and sharing dialog and visions with each of these beautiful beings, I felt inspired, blessed and ultimately reaffirmed in the power of our collective mission to touch and lift the world through the vibrations of our intentions and the power of their expression through music and film.