MY CHERIE AMOUR

Few weeks ago, on a Saturday Night, I spent time listening to a live music in a small cafe in Ubud. The cafe is belonged to a Japanese musician, and I think it is really intended to accommodate the Jazz fans needs in listening to a live performance. If the cafe is intended for a real business the menu only have limited selections and considered as light meals only.

When I arrived there, the Jazz Band was playing some instrumental jazz selections. It was good, I did enjoy. After about 10 minutes break, a lady singer sung several songs of pop music that was sang in a jazzy way. I lost my appetite to continue watching the show.

Nothing wrong with the lady singer's voice, she sung nicely, but I was expecting to listen of heavier jazz repertoire like what they played before the lady sung.

One of the song she sung that day is My Cherie Amour, actually one of my favorite of Stevie Wonder's works.

Steveland Morris born in Saginaw, Michigan in 1950, Wonder enters his fifth decade as one of the most prolific artists in music history, delivering 35 U.S. albums - 28 major studio releases - with album sales totaling more than 72 million units. The singer/songwriter has scored more than 30 Top Ten Hits, 11 #1 Pop singles, winning 19 Grammys (and a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in '96) and a host of other awards, including, most recently, Billboard's 2004 Century Award. His contribution to worldwide social and political change is just as impressive, with Wonder championing the effort to make Martin Luther King's birthday a national holiday, as well as becoming a driving force behind 1985's USA For Africa campaign.
(copied from Stevie's official website: http://www.steviewonder.net/)

REQUIEM

I was looking of my file of pictures taken in 2007, when I noticed some I took with my Nokia Phone (I did not use it anymore! The function of the phone way behind my needs now, but the resolutions of the pictures taken with it amazingly, away up the quality of my old digital camera).

Those pictures I mentioned above were taken when I attended a funeral in Singaraja early 2007. The Balinese gamelan troops playing requiem songs had attracted my attention.




Seeing those pictures made me realized, it seems like every ethnics has their own requiem repertoire, reminded me of the famous Mozart’s requiem.

Talking about requiem, I still remember, in the first two years after my father passed away, I still could not hold my tears when incidentally listening again to repertoires that played during my father's funeral. Several songs being so touchy and attached to some people, and that was happened to myself.

So, I don't know if it is true that Mozart actually prepared those requiem for himself, how was his feeling upon composing? Only him could answer the question!

http://muziekmuziek.multiply.com/music/item/99/Requiem