Ozzy!

On July 22, I shed tears for someone I never met for the 2nd time in my life. The 1st time was for Edward Van Halen (see previous posts). Of course, this most recent moment was for the passing of Ozzy Osbourne who was already on my mind with renewed, albeit nostalgic focus as a result of his very recent farewell concert on July 5th. I think many felt it was truly a farewell but were equally shocked that his death would be so soon afterwards.

I can’t do justice in memorializing Ozzy. Its clear by what has already been said by so many on Socials that I’m but one of many who feel like a dear friend has departed. I’ll just say that his life made a difference to mine. He wasn’t a saint, but he was inspirational.

God bless Ozzy Osbourne.

Update and Thoughts on Recent Music Listening

Hello:

I’m taking a brief break from tweaking a work-in-progress piece to let you know that….I’m working on a WIP piece and compiling music. Nothing firm but I’m thinking the next batch will be a Spotify/Pandora/Apple release in addition to Bandcamp. More to come…

Regarding some of the music I’ve been listening to, it’s been a combination of pleasant new (for me) discoveries mixed with nostalgic “rabbit holes”.

1st, the nostalgia. Two weeks ago, Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath bid farewell to performance with an amazing celebration in their hometown of Birmingham, England. It was an all-star affair which was fantastic, but the emotional weight was, of course, seeing Ozzy, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward take the stage one final time (and I do believe this is their farewell, especially Ozzy who is in failing health). I was reminded of all the great Sabbath and Ozzy albums that were so integral to my youth. I’ve been dialing up “Diary of a Madman”, “Bark at the Moon”, Volume 4, and other great albums that cause memories and emotions to rush into my mind. I’m grateful to have been of the generation to have experienced such greatness both live and recorded. God bless the Fathers of Heavy Metal.

As for the more recent discoveries:

JakoJako – Tết 41: A brilliant collection of music by a Berlin-based modular synthesist that I’ve really come to admire. She brings an emotional element to electronic music which is not common.

Caterina Barbieri – Patterns of Consciousness: An Italian electronic musician who also adds emotional elements to electronic music. There are some rhythmic elements to her music that don’t feel mechanically perfect or quantized to the nano-second, which I love.

In any case, thank you for your interest and check back for more updates. I wish you peace and every good.

Alan