Listen up, folks …

That’s the title of this little gem…

It consists of a string of music videos and talks, all from TED, that is wonderful, inspiring, informative, music-oriented for people like us who love music, a healthy helping of creativity, etc. Break it into parts, or spend the evening, and by all means enjoy and pass it on.

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http://www.ted.com/talks/matthew_white_giv..._new_voice.html (short)

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http://www.ted.com/talks/eric_lewis_strike...jazz_world.html (10 minutes)

Eric Lewis, an astonishingly talented crossover jazz pianist -- seen by many for the first time at TED2009 -- sets fire to the keys with his shattering rendition of Evanescence's chart-topper, "Going Under." Eric Lewis channels the raw emotion of alternative rock into fiery, take-no-prisoners jazz piano arrangements.

http://www.ted.com/speakers/eric_lewis.html

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Benjamin Zander on music and passion (20 minutes)
http://www.ted.com/talks/benjamin_zander_o...nd_passion.html

Benjamin Zander has two infectious passions: classical music, and helping us all realize our untapped love for it -- and by extension, our untapped love for all new possibilities, new experiences, new connections. A leading interpreter of Mahler and Beethoven, Benjamin Zander is known for his charisma and unyielding energy -- and for his brilliant pre-concert talks.

http://www.ted.com/speakers/benjamin_zander.html

The opening bit was also used in the book (one of the best I’ve ever read) he co-wrote with his wife: The Art of Possibility, Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander, Harvard Business School Press, 2000. [A delicious little book for leaders that invites you to open the door to the full potential of what's happening around you.]

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Evelyn Glennie shows how to listen (15-20 minutes)
http://www.ted.com/talks/evelyn_glennie_sh..._to_listen.html

In this soaring demonstration, deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie illustrates how listening to music involves much more than simply letting sound waves hit your eardrums. Scottish percussionist and composer Evelyn Glennie lost nearly all of her hearing by age 12. Rather than isolating her, it has given her a unique connection to her music.

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http://www.ted.com/talks/tod_machover_and_..._new_music.html (20 Minutes)

Tod Machover of MIT's Media Lab is devoted to extending musical expression to everyone, from virtuosos to amateurs, and in the most diverse forms, from opera to video games. He and composer Dan Ellsey shed light on what's next. At MIT's Media Lab, Tod Machover creates boundary-breaking new music, often using new instruments and music technologies he has invented Dan Ellsey uses Hyperscore music software and a custom-tuned musical "hyperinstrument" to write, perform and conduct his music, and to help others learn how to compose.

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Natalie MacMaster fiddles in reel time
http://www.ted.com/talks/natalie_macmaster..._reel_time.html

Violinist Natalie MacMaster and TED Musical Director Thomas Dolby play Dolby’s original song “Blue Is a River” in this ethereal duet -- with a little dancing.
Natalie MacMaster is a star of Cape Breton fiddling, a Canadian tradition with Scottish roots. Her energetic style and virtuoso talent has brought her star billing on the international folk circuit.

TED Music Director Thomas Dolby has spent his career at the intersection of music and technology. From his beginnings in the London underground electronica scene, he rose to MTV stardom.


BLUE IS A RIVER

Blue remembers
Blue like a planet to a spaceman
Blue river of my tears
Like the heather on the hillside
As they drove us from the highlands
Like the iceflow from the Arctic
Where we landed in Newfoundland
There's a colour to my sorrow
There's a name for all this sadness
Like the ocean in between us,
I am blue.
Blue is a river
Blue remembers
Blue water running clear
Blue like a planet to a spaceman
Blue river of my tears
So I came here to the city
Where the dream burns like a furness
And I dazzled in these dark streets
Like a diamond in a coalface
Till the cold wind from the islands
Blew a storm cloud across the new moon
Like the gunsmoke above the houses
In my home.
Blue is a river
Blue remembers
Blue water running clear
Blue like a planet to a spaceman
Blue river of my tears
Blue river of my tears

And more McMaster, with Donnell Leahy (27:00)
http://www.ted.com/talks/natalie_macmaster...ton_fiddle.html

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Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity (20 minutes)
http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html

Elizabeth Gilbert muses on the impossible things we expect from artists and geniuses -- and shares the radical idea that, instead of the rare person "being" a genius, all of us "have" a genius. It's a funny, personal and surprisingly moving talk. The author of Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert has thought long and hard about some large topics. Her next fascination: genius, and how we ruin it.

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http://video.tiscali.it/canali/truveo/73838816.html
music video, The Who, Love Reign Over Me


Best to you all…