As a kid one of my fondest memories was going on trips with my parents during the weekend to local record stores to purchase albums. These of course were the halcyon days when an experience like going on a Saturday drive with your father to Fry’s Electronics (a local big-box store that had an incredibly vast collection of CD’s spread out over 12 massive aisles) felt like a grand adventure. I’ve written about those early experiences before and how much they shaped me— everything about them was special. The car ride to the store on a sunny California day, the act of walking in amongst the throngs of the crowd, the silent judgement of records based off how cool the cover looked, the discussions with my dad about what the music sounded like and any personal stories he had about listening to it when he was growing up, and of course the anticipation of putting it into the boombox when you got home to finally hear just what the music sounded like.
The thing about experiencing music in those days is that it wasn’t easy– you had to save up enough money to buy the physical CD and more often than not you’d have absolutely zero idea what the entire record was going to sound like. At best you’d have heard one single on the radio if it was a contemporary artist and that was all you had to go off. It was a shot in the dark, a leap of faith, and when you struck gold and made the right pick it felt like a tremendous accomplishment. It feels sort of like a dream reliving those days, especially because of the dichotomy with how we experience music today with the ease of access afforded to us by digital streaming services.
Which brings us to Mister Magic by Grover Washington Jr. This was one of those albums that my father and I picked out on one of those fateful Saturday afternoons so many years ago. And it’s certainly one where we struck gold. I still remember walking out of the store looking at the album cover and thinking to myself how cool Grover Washington Jr. looked in that swimming pool, like a man being baptized for the first time and coming up to take his first breath of fresh air as a brand new man. When we got home and hit that play button I felt the exact same way Grover looked– utterly transformed. It was my very first experience with jazz music and after experiencing the slow waltz of “Passion Flower” that ends with an eclectic chord progression that seemingly comes out of nowhere before morphing into the insatiable groove of “Mister Magic” on the next track, I felt like I’d been transported into a new dimension. It’s a moment I’ll never forget.
If you have kids hug em’ hard and tight tonight. There’s so much bullshit going on in the world nowadays and it’s hard to really predict what the future will hold for them– times aren’t easy, nor are they simple to navigate. But know that as a parent one of the greatest gifts you can give your kids is that of new experiences which transform the way they look at the world and see the magic found everywhere within it. Those little moments you give them have an impact that last for the rest of their lives. And whether you’re opening a door to music or some other equally important passion, it’s a beautiful thing to be handled with care.
Thanks again mom and dad for teaching me to see all the magic out there. I know I’m a better parent because of you.
Standout Songs: “Mister Magic”, “Passion Flower”, “Black Frost”, “Earth Tones”
