John Powers

Right. It's very foreboding. It has that sense.

No, no, it really, I speak about his music in that way because it's not that I was thinking about him directly or his music. It's more that his music represents something that is bigger than him in the way that all of that one percentile of greats, their work represents this thing that is a universal idea that no one had pulled down from the divine subconscious yet.

No, no, it really, I speak about his music in that way because it's not that I was thinking about him directly or his music. It's more that his music represents something that is bigger than him in the way that all of that one percentile of greats, their work represents this thing that is a universal idea that no one had pulled down from the divine subconscious yet.

No, no, it really, I speak about his music in that way because it's not that I was thinking about him directly or his music. It's more that his music represents something that is bigger than him in the way that all of that one percentile of greats, their work represents this thing that is a universal idea that no one had pulled down from the divine subconscious yet.

Well, there's a couple of things there. I think that I'm associated with joy because... i do it to a level that is is hard to come by it's i do it well and it's not something that you see often in particular when you think of performers who are in the mainstream there's there's this sense of um joy that i bring that is very very singular

Well, there's a couple of things there. I think that I'm associated with joy because... i do it to a level that is is hard to come by it's i do it well and it's not something that you see often in particular when you think of performers who are in the mainstream there's there's this sense of um joy that i bring that is very very singular

Well, there's a couple of things there. I think that I'm associated with joy because... i do it to a level that is is hard to come by it's i do it well and it's not something that you see often in particular when you think of performers who are in the mainstream there's there's this sense of um joy that i bring that is very very singular

And I enjoy that, and I think it's very important to have joy in your expression, in the expression of black American artists and artists across all cultures. But I also think that there's always been this... this underpin in my music that's coming from struggle and coming from many things that, you know, maybe transmute into joy later, but don't start that way.

And I enjoy that, and I think it's very important to have joy in your expression, in the expression of black American artists and artists across all cultures. But I also think that there's always been this... this underpin in my music that's coming from struggle and coming from many things that, you know, maybe transmute into joy later, but don't start that way.

And I enjoy that, and I think it's very important to have joy in your expression, in the expression of black American artists and artists across all cultures. But I also think that there's always been this... this underpin in my music that's coming from struggle and coming from many things that, you know, maybe transmute into joy later, but don't start that way.

And I think there's a lot of reasons why the choice to latch on to the joyous aspects of what I presented, me to continue to deliver that to the people as an antidote to the times that we're in

And I think there's a lot of reasons why the choice to latch on to the joyous aspects of what I presented, me to continue to deliver that to the people as an antidote to the times that we're in

And I think there's a lot of reasons why the choice to latch on to the joyous aspects of what I presented, me to continue to deliver that to the people as an antidote to the times that we're in

That's one example of something that certainly leads to joy but comes from deep, deep pain and unresolved duress that our country is founded upon and many of the things that we are in debate around and the the culture clashes of our time and the the shift that is occurring right before our eyes in our time and really just thinking about

That's one example of something that certainly leads to joy but comes from deep, deep pain and unresolved duress that our country is founded upon and many of the things that we are in debate around and the the culture clashes of our time and the the shift that is occurring right before our eyes in our time and really just thinking about

That's one example of something that certainly leads to joy but comes from deep, deep pain and unresolved duress that our country is founded upon and many of the things that we are in debate around and the the culture clashes of our time and the the shift that is occurring right before our eyes in our time and really just thinking about

a theme that cuts through all that and really speaks to it at the same time. This melody, it could be a chant, it could be a prayer, it can be a hymn, it can be a war cry. It's a theme that is using the pentatonic which is the scale that I mentioned earlier that has this sort of connection to so many other cultures around the world.

a theme that cuts through all that and really speaks to it at the same time. This melody, it could be a chant, it could be a prayer, it can be a hymn, it can be a war cry. It's a theme that is using the pentatonic which is the scale that I mentioned earlier that has this sort of connection to so many other cultures around the world.

a theme that cuts through all that and really speaks to it at the same time. This melody, it could be a chant, it could be a prayer, it can be a hymn, it can be a war cry. It's a theme that is using the pentatonic which is the scale that I mentioned earlier that has this sort of connection to so many other cultures around the world.

And I knew I wanted to have a sound that if I had the indigenous musicians sing it or if I had the kora players play it or if I had the slide guitar play it or if I had the violin section play it or whatever way that I wanted to orchestrate that theme, it would communicate a different layer of the story, a different part of this experience. And you hear this throughout the symphony.