7PS: The Wrong Chord 🎹

7PS: The Wrong Chord 🎹

Read time: 1 minute, 380 words. During a concert, Herbie Hancock played the wrong chord behind Miles Davis. Not slightly wrong. “Completely, entirely wrong.” Hancock covered his ears in embarrassment. Miles took a breath. Then he played a phrase that made...
7PS: Go play baseball ⚾

7PS: Go play baseball ⚾

Read time: 1 minute, 285 words. At seven years old, Yo-Yo Ma performed for Pablo Casals, one of history’s greatest cellists. Ma was already a prodigy. His days revolved around lessons, rehearsals, and practice. Casals listened carefully. Then he offered...
7PS: How to invent a genre 💡

7PS: How to invent a genre 💡

Read time: 1 minute, 301 words. The best genres shouldn’t quite make sense. A few years ago, I visited Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol’s basement studio outside Boston. Charlie Parker on one wall. Turkish masters on another. Handmade instruments everywhere. This is where...
7PS: August 30

7PS: August 30

Read time: 1 minute, 338 words. One of the most important pieces in music history was booed so loudly the dancers couldn’t hear the orchestra. At the 1913 premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, people shouted, fought and caused enough chaos that the...
7PS: The enemy is the teacher 😈

7PS: The enemy is the teacher 😈

Read time: 1 minute, 390 words. I spent 100+ hours listening to, curating, and editing the Dalai Lama’s voice while making a meditation album. Someone asked me what the most useful thing I learned was. I answered immediately: “The enemy is your best...