"All of us are made of many places"

     This past Friday evening I was graced by a wonderful soul, but kind of by a fluke.

My jazz improv professor had been raving about Meklit Hadero (see her website here) all week and how lucky we were to be able to see it at a reduced student rush ticket price. We were crazy not to go, he kept insisting.

So here I am Friday night, recuperating from eating at a dining hall- a place I try to avoid eating at. I sat down on a couch in the music building and started to think about doing my theory homework- yes, on a Friday night. I had decided that while I would have liked to go to the concert, I really shouldn't spend even the reduced price on a ticket. All of a sudden, this woman comes up to me and asks me if I need a ticket. Confused, I asked why she didn't want it for herself, this was great music, and she should hear it, after all, she had the ticket! "Oh, I am going- I just bought this ticket for one of my daughters who can't attend, and I wouldn't want it to go to waste, I'd love for you to see this concert," she explained to me.  I couldn't believe this wonderful soul, giving me a ticket for free which she had purchased at general admission price. World/ jazz music? Of course I'd see it! 

   Meklit was a lovely Ghanian girl, bubbly and kind- the kind of person you are just drawn to.  Some great quotes from her biography inside the program:

"I've always felt at home with movement"

and

"All of us are made of many places."

That was a pretty good clue as to how the show was going to be for me, and it served to be true. Incorporating her roots into her music, dancing as if she's really feeling the music, and not worried about what she looks like to the audience, having what seems to be the time of her life...this is what I am seeing when I watch this musician interacting with her band-comprised by the way of drum kit, upright bass, and trumpet. Meeklit is playing acoustic guitar and singing.

  Inside the program I was unable to find song titles or an order of the performance, but instead was met with "tonight's program will be announced from the stage". While I was expecting there to be a program of song titles and orders, this made me kind of excited as well- wondering what was coming next instead of reading a title and forming an idea of what the song would be like based off of it's title before hearing it. 

     I really liked that Meklit let her personality shine through the performance. She interacted with the audience, telling us short little stories, including quirky little side comments, and really, just having a ball.  Before intermission she introduced us to the idea of the star guitar, a project she had been working on with a scientist at NASA. (Bear with me as I try to explain this idea, and know it will probably not do justice...)

     You know that twinkling you see when you look up at a star? That twinkling is actually sound waves, and each and every star has a different sound, a different pulse. This scientist at NASA has duplicated the frequencies of these pulses of the stars to a frequency that is audible by the human ear! With her guitar and the stars, Meklit played a truly mesmerizing piece- and gave the audience a taste of the universe as well. Music truly is everywhere.

     One of the most connected moments I felt was at the end of the show when Meklit asked us-the audience- to sing with her. She taught us a simple melodic pattern which we were to sing on 'oh'.  This particular audience sing-along was so special to me. It felt as though everyone was wrapped into Meklit's song, and this was how we could all be in the same place at the same time- through her music. 

   I realize this post isn't particularly eloquent, but I'm not sure if I know how to properly put into words the experience I had at this show, and with this girl. I do know that I surely wish I had the money on me to buy her CD at the concert, but I think I may order it online!

I will leave you readers with this in case nothing else I have said has managed to speak to you about this wonderful soul:

“You may not have heard Meklit Hadero’s music before, but once you do, it’ll be tough to forget. Hadero’s sound is a unique blend of jazz, Ethiopia, the San Francisco art scene and visceral poetry; it paints pictures in your head as you listen.”- NPR’s Tell Me More   

And do check out her website!

Happy reading,

Becky