Thankful for soul music...

Generally, I don't celebrate Thanksgiving. Not that I'm not thankful and grateful for many things but I consider Thanksgiving a strictly American holiday and even though I've spent thirty-two years in the U.S.A. , I seldom celebrate it the way most of my friends do - particularly since folks usually spend it with their families.

After not feeling so wonderful on Wednesday, I didn't expect I'd be doing much on Thursday. When I got up on Thanksgiving, I actually felt like stepping out so I took myself to my place of worship, a great place called Agape in Culver City.

To my delight, I sat at a table with some fun folks...Charles (with whom I share an interest in Ancient Egypt), Zee (a hip lady who had, as I had, lived in New York) and David, a musician from Chicago who had been around soul peeps like John Legend and Anthony Hamilton during his own stint in the Big Apple.

After a sumptuous meal, the sounds of Earth, Wind & Fire filled the sanctuary and if there's ever been music that lifts my spirit, it's the great recordings of EW&F. Before I knew it, Charles, Zee, David and I were on our feet singing along with "That's The Way Of The World" (deep lyrics, y'all), "Can't Hide Love" (till the dj took it off for some unknown reason!) and "Fantasy" which contains one of my all-time favorite lyric lines..."you will find other kind that has been in search of you, many lives have brought you to, recognize it's your life now in review..."

It's getting time to go and David offers me - a rare non-driving LA. resident - a ride home since I am en route to his own abode. I step into his car and he puts in a CD and asks me - knowing by now that I am a soul man - if I've heard the music he's putting on.

Within a bar or two, I recognize...Willie Hutch! I exclaim such and David says, "Oh you really know who this is!" Listening to "Get Down With The Get Down," I am transported back to the '70s, to years in London working at the Contempo record store that was my day-to-day liveliehood when Willie's music was frequently requested and purchased by avid soul fans, including my own sister who has been known to declare, 'I love some Willie 'utch!"

I really get into this CD and am completely blown away by Willie's transformation of the songs "The Way We Were" and "Stormy Weather" (for personal reasons, a tune I really don't care for). He has turned them into full blown production epics, strings, horns, brilliant bass lines, his own soulful vocals soaring above the superbly-created tracks.

I laugh as I share with David that I didn't expect to be listening to classic Willie Hutch on Thanksgiving, especially when it's being offered by a white man from Chicago! We both holler, realizing just how potent music can be in bringing folks together, beyond skin, beyond culture, beyond nationality. I promise I'll blog about the experience (which I am now doing) and go inside my apartment to see if I can locate the very songs I've just been listening to.

There among the couple of thousand CDs which are somehow stored in my one-bedroom place is The Very Best Of Willie Hutch CD, with both songs on it and the bonus of liner notes by my good friend Scott Galloway...

I chill out for much of the rest of the day, truly thankful (in the spirit of Thanksgiving), more grateful than ever for the gift of soul music in my life, knowing that Earth Wind & Fire's music once again lifted me up...and Willie Hutch, man, Willie Hutch brought it on home, have mercy!

David Nathan (aka The British Ambassador Of Soul)