Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Victor Wooten Joins Panel on Music, Health, and Spirituality in the Black Community

23/03/2023

Victor Wooten Joins Panel on Music, Health, and Spirituality in the Black Community The Grammy-winning bassist and visiting scholar discussed how music transcends language barriers and institutional constructs.

By

Daniel Pesquera

March 22, 2023

From left: Mike Mason, John McGee, Kei Slaughter, and Victor Wooten

Victor Wooten, Grammy-winning bassist, songwriter, producer, and Berklee visiting scholar in performance studies, recently joined Berklee faculty for a webinar titled Music, Health, and Spirituality in the Black Community. The event also featured Kei Slaughter, associate professor of music therapy, John McGee, assistant chair of the Piano Department, and Mike Mason, chair of the Africana Studies Department and discussion moderator.

Cosponsored by Berklee's Music and Health Institute, Center for Music Therapy, and Africana Studies Department, the talk centered on the essential connection between music and the human spirit, particularly as it relates to Black communities, as well as the spiritual origins of Black music, which formed under the context of slavery. Panelists shared their experiences with church and worship music regarding its foundational influence on how they each engage with music.

Wooten talked about how music resonates on a deep, spiritual level, saying that it helps us forget everything else that we're told is important. It's another language . You don't really have to understand that language to get the message. It's something we use to connect to our oneness. That's incredibly powerful.

A longtime bass player for B la Fleck and the Flecktones, Wooten is also the author of the book The Music Lesson: A Spiritual Search for Growth Through Music, and its sequel, The Spirit of Music: The Lesson Continues, both of which delve into the healing and restorative power of creative expression for both creators and listeners.

Kei Slaughter spoke about their musical journey, and how the churches of New Orleans helped place them on a path to becoming a flutist, vocalist, songwriter, and music therapist. Slaughter recounted their struggles in reconciling their queer identity within a spiritual culture that often excluded and rejected those ideas. Through it all, their love of music remained a constant and guiding force that connected them to an idea of a higher spiritual energy.

I hold in my body and in my being a love for the Black church, and also a desire to see it continue to grow, said Slaughter. It is such a cultural influencer [in the Black community] for better or worse, and I love the parts that are good. For me, I'm not pushing it away. I hold it close.

One of my favorite theologians and activists Dr. Barbara Holmes [says] that anyone who's known those [church] walls and its energy, regardless of denomination-you can feel that, in a sense, beyond institutional walls, continued Slaughter. She describes that as the meta-actual form of the Black church. I really love that language, this meta-actualness of the Black church and Black spirituality and Black faith and Black life. The Black church should be lovingly critical of itself in the ways that it has treated some of its queer members.

A preacher, producer, published author, and educator, John McGee noted that music and spirituality have always gone hand in hand throughout his life. McGee's career in church music at Waters AME Church in Baltimore, where he became a full-time minister at the age of 12. He emphasized the healing potential of music, describing, by way of example, how a hospice minister played McGee's music for his patients because he said it helped them to peacefully transition.

Kei Slaughter and John McGee give an impromptu performance to demonstrate how music can empower the spirit.

Sound is the first offering of the spirit to the world, McGee said. When I think of the origin of spirituality in music and the Black church it was a therapeutic experience that occurred outside of a walled context. I find that post-Covid, we have been faced with our greatest opportunity in terms of [returning to that] origin. With all of these new technologies of streaming and other methods that we can engage the divine community people are choosing to go [to church] whenever they need that therapeutic experience, and we need to engage in the non-institutionalized dimensions of that therapeutic experience of coming together.

The conversation highlighted the significance of spiritual music and its origins within the framework of the Black experience amongst individuals and communities seeking a pathway to identity, spirituality, and survival in the midst of the horrific reality of slavery.

The power [of music] is deeper when you're playing it for real, when it's pure soul, said Wooten. For our culture in this country, [music] came from pure soul. It was life and death; it was who we are. It's in our DNA, and it comes through in whatever [instrument] we touch. That power comes through.

When you look at spirituality in the context of Blackness, that ancestral piece is not something we should gloss over, added McGee. ...[T]hese enslaved Africans who were forcibly transported from their homelands had to redevelop family-a sense of connection and kinship once they arrived on these shores. They used the sound and music to maintain connection to the motherland, but also as they developed [a] dialect of the English language. [It was] inherently spiritual in that they were both communicating this spiritual hope for freedom while communicating these very coded messages across various spheres it's inherently spiritual.

Viewers experienced the spiritual influence of music firsthand as McGee played a beautiful rendition of I Don't Feel Noways Tired by Rev. James Cleveland, accompanied by Slaughter, who gave a passionate vocal performance.
LINK: https://www.berklee.edu/berklee-now/news/victor-wooten-joins-berklee-p...
See more stories from berklee

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/09/2026

Net Insight to Launch Nimbra 1020G at 2026 IBC Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/09/2026

Disney, Optimum Renew Carriage Deal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/09/2026

ACEMAGIC First to Introduce Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 495 AI Mini Workstation at IFA 2026

ACEMAGIC First to Introduce Ryzen AI Max PRO 495 AI Mini Workstation at IFA 202...

04/09/2026

Krotos Brings Video to Sound Footsteps Directly into Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve

Krotos Brings Video to Sound Footsteps Directly into Premiere Pro and DaVinci Re...

04/09/2026

RED DIGITAL CINEMA Comes Out Swinging at IBC 2026 with Next-Generation Live Broadcast Technology

RED DIGITAL CINEMA Comes Out Swinging at IBC 2026 with Next-Generation Live Broa...

04/09/2026

Orty v2.0-web - the cold-outreach assistant moves to the web

Orty v2.0-web - the cold-outreach assistant moves to the web Brie Clayton September 4, 2026 0 Comments Orty today announced v2.0-web of its AI cold-ou...

04/09/2026

Lightware expands LARA capabilities with new GUDE driver

Lightware is expanding its LARA (Lightware Advanced Room Automation) platform with the GUDE Power Distribution Units (PDU) driver module. GUDE devices can now b...

04/09/2026

People Behind the Technology - How Lightware Invests in W...

Lightware shares the second release in its ESG communications series. Following the first piece, which focused on the companys environmental performance, this r...

04/09/2026

Big Blue Marble delivers record 10 Tbps for European publ...

Big Blue Marble supported a leading European public service broadcaster in delivering the Soccer World Cup 2026 streams, supplying more than 10 Tbps of bandwidt...

04/09/2026

Hitomi MatchBox Glass is honoured with Emmy Award

Outstanding achievement in engineering, science and technology Hitomi Broadcast has been recognised with an Engineering, Science & Technology Emmy from the Ac...

04/09/2026

California, Hollywood at a Crossroads

California, Hollywood at a Crossroads Andy Marken September 3, 2026 0 Comments I'm doing everything alone. Crossing roads alone. Seeing the Eiffe...

04/09/2026

Berklee Announces Winners of 2026 SongwritersdB Songwriting Contest

Berklee Announces Winners of 2026 SongwritersdB Songwriting Contest Students Luca Alexandru, Annika Wild, and Johanna James received the top prizes for origin...

04/09/2026

EVS, Matrox Partner on EBUs Dynamic Media Facility Initiative

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/09/2026

TAG Video Systems Unveils TAG Blue

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/09/2026

Orlando Magic and Gray Media Ink Full Season Broadcast Deal

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

04/09/2026

RT ANNOUNCE NEW DRAMA THE MURDER OF MR. MOONLIGHT BASED ON THE DISAPPEARANCE AND MURDER OF BOBBY RYAN

RT ANNOUNCE NEW DRAMA THE MURDER OF MR. MOONLIGHT BASED ON THE DISAPPEARANCE...

03/09/2026

Yospace releases new Ad Presentation solution, unlocking revenue opportunities with non-linear ad formats

Yospace will be at IBC from 11th - 14th September (booth 5.C78). For more inform...

03/09/2026

Creative Technology Group Announces Leadership Transition Effective January 2027

NEP Group has announced leadership changes at Creative Technology Group. Founder and CEO Graham Andrews will step away from day-to-day leadership at the end of ...

03/09/2026

NFL and TikTok Renew Multi-Year Partnership

The NFL and TikTok have announced a multi-year partnership renewal expanding the league's presence on the platform. NFL posts on TikTok increased more than ...

03/09/2026

Grass Valley Appoints Ronny Van Geel as Vice President, Cameras

Grass Valley has appointed Ronny Van Geel as Vice President, Cameras. Van Geel began his career in 1999 at Philips DVS and moved into product management in 2005...

03/09/2026

IBC 2026: Telestream to Preview Vantage Super Resolution

Telestream has announced Vantage Super Resolution, an AI-powered upscaling capability for the Vantage media workflow platform, developed in collaboration with N...

03/09/2026

IBC 2026: Solid State Logic TCA Tour

Solid State Logic (SSL) will debut the TCA Tour at IBC2026 (Hall 8, Stand 8.B45), a portable production system built from System T components in a desktop frame...

03/09/2026

IBC 2026: DPA Microphones Launches 6388 CORE+ Headset Microphone

DPA Microphones has announced the 6388 CORE Headset Microphone, making its debut at IBC2026 (Hall 8, Stand D60). The supercardioid headset features a physicall...

03/09/2026

IBC 2026: Qvest to Demonstrate Multi-Vendor Dynamic Media Facility Showcase

Qvest will present a multi-vendor Dynamic Media Facility (DMF) showcase at IBC2026 (Booth 10.C24), demonstrating how the EBU's DMF architecture can be imple...

03/09/2026

IBC 2026: Imagine Communications Debuts Magellan PanelFlex

Imagine Communications will showcase the Magellan PanelFlex control surface and other control portfolio updates at IBC2026 (Stand 1.B73, RAI Amsterdam, Septembe...

03/09/2026

IBC 2026: Bridge Technologies Launches Software-Based VB440 Deployment Option

Bridge Technologies will announce at IBC2026 (Booth 1.A71) that its VB440 production probe is now available as a software-based solution, deployable on commerci...

03/09/2026

Audio-Technica Launches BP350ST Mid-Side Stereo Microphone in Two Variants

Audio-Technica has unveiled the BP350ST MS (mid-side) microphone in two versions: the camera-mount BP350ST-UL and the boundary or gooseneck-mountable BP350ST-UB...

03/09/2026

IBC 2026: Jnger Audio flexAI Adds CastCompanion, 12G-SDI, NDI, and TVU MediaMesh Integration

Telos Alliance will introduce updates to the J nger Audio flexAI audio processin...

03/09/2026

DUNKMAN to Expand in 2027 with Team Competitions, Junior Division, and Global Qualifiers

DUNKMAN, the professional dunk league founded by Shaquille O'Neal in partner...

03/09/2026

Orlando Magic Tap DAZN as DTC Streaming Partner, Will Join OTA Distribution Plans for 2026-27 Season

Orlando's WRDQ TV 27, WFTV Channel 9 previously named over-the-air broadcast...

03/09/2026

EverPass Media Expands NFL Agreement with Netflix for Commercial Venues

EverPass Media has announced a multi-year commercial distribution agreement with Netflix, expanding on an existing partnership that has delivered NFL Christmas ...

03/09/2026

Yahoo Sports and Apple TV Partner on MLB and MLS Alternate Broadcasts

Yahoo Sports and Apple TV have announced a partnership to deliver alternate broadcasts of select Friday Night Baseball and MLS games on the Yahoo Sports website...

03/09/2026

BIG EAST's Scott Hecht on the Evolution of Campus Production and What Comes Next

With another academic year underway, college athletic departments across the cou...

03/09/2026

ESPN Debuts Revamped, Cutting-Edge Studio W in Bristol as New Home to NFL Live, College Football, and More

Facility becomes permanent home of NFL Live on Sept. 9; centerpiece studio for c...

03/09/2026

Anthony Marinelli launches Bass DNA course

Create musical synth bass sounds from scratch Anthony Marinelli Music have recently announced the launch of Bass DNA, a new online course that teaches music...

03/09/2026

IK Multimedia unveil the Tonex Board

Most powerful Tonex hardware to date IK Multimedia's latest release introduces their most advanced Tonex hardware unit to date, combining their AI Machi...

03/09/2026

Penteo Audio Plugins announce Penteo 8

Upmix & downmix software upgraded Penteo Audio Plugins have announced that the latest version of their powerful upmix and downmix software is now available....

03/09/2026

Young talents begin their training at SGL Carbon in Germany

With the start of the new apprenticeship year, young talent has once again begun their professional careers at SGL Carbon's sites in Germany. Recently, the ...

03/09/2026

Calrec advances EBU's Dynamic Media Facility vision at IBC 2026

With the industry increasingly embracing hybrid, software-defined production models, Calrec will preview a series of Argo and ImPulseV software enhancements at ...

03/09/2026

NAB Backs Most Proposed EAS Changes at FCC

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/09/2026

TiVo Expands FAST Channels, AI Discovery with Latest OS Update

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/09/2026

Eluvio Advances Content Fabric, AI at IBC 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/09/2026

Haivision Adds Bonded 5G Cellular Support to Makito ONE

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/09/2026

Alex Pannell Joins Gravity Media as Chief Business Officer

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/09/2026

AI-Media To Feature Multilingual AI Developments At IBC2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/09/2026

Tuxera and ATTO collaborate to deliver blistering macOS n...

Recognizing the ever-increasing demands for media throughput in challenging environments like post-production, two leaders in network technology have worked tog...

03/09/2026

EVS and Matrox Video Join Forces to Accelerate Dynamic Me...

EVS, a leader in live video technology and production infrastructure solutions, and Matrox Video, a leader in software-defined media technology and IP-based vid...