Thanks for introducing us to more art, Michael, and to your experience of it. As with previous posts of yours, I appreciate the way you bring together artworks in different media and discover a connection between them. The only one I can come close to appreciating in something like its original form is the Lancaster, and I'm enjoying that right now. A lovely piece.
Thank you, Richard. Art is on our walls, we love film & dance, and music is always playing in our house. I can't help but see, hear, and think about how interconnected all the arts are to the human spirit. I know that I approach my music writing with a different lens, but I am glad to hear you appreciate the journey. Cheers for reading & commenting.
I enjoyed your triptych, Michael, three distinct ways across time and space that artists express a sense of the spiritual in their works. I felt a deeper connection with the the last example. The music moved me in a way the others didn't. I loved that depth of feeling and longing in the singer's voice and the intricate interplay of the instruments, all of which combined to create a a space of reverence. Another one to add to my Playlist. Thank you.
Thank you, Deborah, for taking the time to read and listen to the song. I completely agree that Lancaster's voice projects profound emotion and works beautifully with the music. It really is a breathtaking composition.
It is significantly more difficult to make connections with visual art when they are on a digital screen or even in a book. It HAS to be seen and experienced in person. I remember walking in and seeing the Sistine Chapel for the first time and being completely floored by the magnitude of it. They had also just finished cleaning/restoring it, and the figures and colors exploded off the ceiling. No book, slide, or digital image can ever do it justice. I will say the same for the Nkisi Nkondi figure. To fully appreciate it and its fascinating yet mysterious power bestowed upon it, one has to see it in person.
Thanks for another wonderful piece Michael, I thoroughly enjoyed this one as I do with all of your writing.
I’m certainly not a religious person but am extremely spiritual. I have a well defined conception of, and a relationship with, a power greater than myself but these don’t correspond to the precepts any organized religious outside of perhaps some passing resemblance to elements of Buddhism.
I do see the divine reflected in the arts, both in the visual arts and in music and I enjoy religious/spiritual manifestations of both.
I love the Cloisters and just about anytime I speak about it, most people, many of whom are otherwise well traveled and well informed, have never even heard of it. I always recommend a visit up there. My wife and I will be in NYC for a few days next month and I’m hoping to get there. If I do, I’ll look out for the Mérode Altarpiece. Thanks for pointing out and explaining some of the symbolism, I appreciated it.
I’m a fan of the art of different cultures and religions and I’ve been lucky enough to see examples in my travels, primarily in museums, from the Musée du Quai Branly (indigenous art) in Paris to the David Collection (Islamic art) in Copenhagen to the Cloisters and the American Folk Art Museum in New York. Thank you for sharing the Nkisi Nkonda with us and explaining its significance. What a wonderful gift you made to the Museum of Anthropology!
Lastly, I’m a lover of religious and spiritual music, whether the muezzin calling Muslims to prayer I recently heard in Jordan or the choral music being performed when we visited the Grossmünster church in Zurich in 2020, there is something incredibly moving about devotional music. Which takes me, at last, to the Byard Lancaster track. What a stunning piece of work on so many levels! Thank you for sharing. I look forward to spending some time with the album which appears to be available on YouTube.
I’ll leave you with a link to one of my favorite devotional albums, the 2021 reissue collection “I Shall Wear a Crown” which compiles some of the work of Pastor T.L. Barrett and the Youth for Christ Choir. Based in Chicago in the 70s, their mix of gospel, funk and soul is some of the most uplifting music I’ve ever heard. I tasted it my #2 AOTY in 2021.
Thank you for your comment, Mark. I love and appreciate all of what you have shared. Cheers, for that!
When I was in Turkey in 2022 I loved visiting the various mosques and seeing how there was no representation of Allah or human figures to avoid idolatry. Instead, it is all about the intricate patterns and decoration of the tiles, the gorgeous geometric angles, shapes, and lines of the architecture, and the divine light streaming in from Mecca. It's a completely different perspective on the house of worship than the much darker churches in Europe, which are equally breathtaking to be in but can also be quite imposing.
I LOVE Pastor T.L. Barrett & his Youth Choir! I have all three of his albums, which the incredible Numero label put out. I, too, find his music very uplifting and so joyful that it can almost make a believer out of me every time I listen to his records! I also have other Gospel funk records that are equally as amazing. In the early '70s Gospel and Jazz needed to connect with a younger, hipper, funkier, and more turned-on generation, and many Gospel records really got down and dirty with a deep funk and soul sound.
I agree, Thea! When I first heard it I had goosebumps and was taken aback by its powerful, yet sublime beauty. I am deeply moved every time I listen to it.
One of my favorite triptychs is Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights. One, the idea that at the same time the not yet Italians are having the renaissance and deciding if the Virgin Mary should also be as muscled up as the mens or the very muscular Baby Jesus , this Dutch dude was painting LSD style religious art that was blowing that stuff out of the holy water. Two, the idea that rich people would have guest over for dinner, and once everyone had had their unseasoned fill, they’d go into the den where the host would present them a triptych to have a conversation over. First they’d be treated to the work as one closed whole and everyone would just sit there and hold in their boiled pheasant burps. Then the host would say “hold onto to your powdered wigs you landed fucks” and everyone would let out a fat girl giggle, even the men, especially the men, then the host would open up the triptych and fucken’ blow their stink back
Thanks for introducing us to more art, Michael, and to your experience of it. As with previous posts of yours, I appreciate the way you bring together artworks in different media and discover a connection between them. The only one I can come close to appreciating in something like its original form is the Lancaster, and I'm enjoying that right now. A lovely piece.
Thank you, Richard. Art is on our walls, we love film & dance, and music is always playing in our house. I can't help but see, hear, and think about how interconnected all the arts are to the human spirit. I know that I approach my music writing with a different lens, but I am glad to hear you appreciate the journey. Cheers for reading & commenting.
I enjoyed your triptych, Michael, three distinct ways across time and space that artists express a sense of the spiritual in their works. I felt a deeper connection with the the last example. The music moved me in a way the others didn't. I loved that depth of feeling and longing in the singer's voice and the intricate interplay of the instruments, all of which combined to create a a space of reverence. Another one to add to my Playlist. Thank you.
Thank you, Deborah, for taking the time to read and listen to the song. I completely agree that Lancaster's voice projects profound emotion and works beautifully with the music. It really is a breathtaking composition.
It is significantly more difficult to make connections with visual art when they are on a digital screen or even in a book. It HAS to be seen and experienced in person. I remember walking in and seeing the Sistine Chapel for the first time and being completely floored by the magnitude of it. They had also just finished cleaning/restoring it, and the figures and colors exploded off the ceiling. No book, slide, or digital image can ever do it justice. I will say the same for the Nkisi Nkondi figure. To fully appreciate it and its fascinating yet mysterious power bestowed upon it, one has to see it in person.
Thanks for another wonderful piece Michael, I thoroughly enjoyed this one as I do with all of your writing.
I’m certainly not a religious person but am extremely spiritual. I have a well defined conception of, and a relationship with, a power greater than myself but these don’t correspond to the precepts any organized religious outside of perhaps some passing resemblance to elements of Buddhism.
I do see the divine reflected in the arts, both in the visual arts and in music and I enjoy religious/spiritual manifestations of both.
I love the Cloisters and just about anytime I speak about it, most people, many of whom are otherwise well traveled and well informed, have never even heard of it. I always recommend a visit up there. My wife and I will be in NYC for a few days next month and I’m hoping to get there. If I do, I’ll look out for the Mérode Altarpiece. Thanks for pointing out and explaining some of the symbolism, I appreciated it.
I’m a fan of the art of different cultures and religions and I’ve been lucky enough to see examples in my travels, primarily in museums, from the Musée du Quai Branly (indigenous art) in Paris to the David Collection (Islamic art) in Copenhagen to the Cloisters and the American Folk Art Museum in New York. Thank you for sharing the Nkisi Nkonda with us and explaining its significance. What a wonderful gift you made to the Museum of Anthropology!
Lastly, I’m a lover of religious and spiritual music, whether the muezzin calling Muslims to prayer I recently heard in Jordan or the choral music being performed when we visited the Grossmünster church in Zurich in 2020, there is something incredibly moving about devotional music. Which takes me, at last, to the Byard Lancaster track. What a stunning piece of work on so many levels! Thank you for sharing. I look forward to spending some time with the album which appears to be available on YouTube.
I’ll leave you with a link to one of my favorite devotional albums, the 2021 reissue collection “I Shall Wear a Crown” which compiles some of the work of Pastor T.L. Barrett and the Youth for Christ Choir. Based in Chicago in the 70s, their mix of gospel, funk and soul is some of the most uplifting music I’ve ever heard. I tasted it my #2 AOTY in 2021.
https://open.spotify.com/album/7zTqWlDSYhK5mcbPMjYvHo?si=R9DzLwHRQv2qMNzTC2g3oQ
Thank you for your comment, Mark. I love and appreciate all of what you have shared. Cheers, for that!
When I was in Turkey in 2022 I loved visiting the various mosques and seeing how there was no representation of Allah or human figures to avoid idolatry. Instead, it is all about the intricate patterns and decoration of the tiles, the gorgeous geometric angles, shapes, and lines of the architecture, and the divine light streaming in from Mecca. It's a completely different perspective on the house of worship than the much darker churches in Europe, which are equally breathtaking to be in but can also be quite imposing.
I LOVE Pastor T.L. Barrett & his Youth Choir! I have all three of his albums, which the incredible Numero label put out. I, too, find his music very uplifting and so joyful that it can almost make a believer out of me every time I listen to his records! I also have other Gospel funk records that are equally as amazing. In the early '70s Gospel and Jazz needed to connect with a younger, hipper, funkier, and more turned-on generation, and many Gospel records really got down and dirty with a deep funk and soul sound.
Damn, that song is heavy. ❤️🔥
I agree, Thea! When I first heard it I had goosebumps and was taken aback by its powerful, yet sublime beauty. I am deeply moved every time I listen to it.
One of my favorite triptychs is Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights. One, the idea that at the same time the not yet Italians are having the renaissance and deciding if the Virgin Mary should also be as muscled up as the mens or the very muscular Baby Jesus , this Dutch dude was painting LSD style religious art that was blowing that stuff out of the holy water. Two, the idea that rich people would have guest over for dinner, and once everyone had had their unseasoned fill, they’d go into the den where the host would present them a triptych to have a conversation over. First they’d be treated to the work as one closed whole and everyone would just sit there and hold in their boiled pheasant burps. Then the host would say “hold onto to your powdered wigs you landed fucks” and everyone would let out a fat girl giggle, even the men, especially the men, then the host would open up the triptych and fucken’ blow their stink back
So yeah, great article