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.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
29/09/2026
Oak View Group (OVG) has announced Cisco as an Official Technology Partner, with plans to standardize infrastructure across its venue network on Cisco solutions...
29/09/2026
SportsNet Pittsburgh (SNP) won three honors at the 2026 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
Program awards went to Bucs BP in the Sports Program Live category (produced ...
29/09/2026
The Professional Women's Hockey League has announced home openers for all 12 teams for the 2026-27 season, along with a broadcast partnership with CBC under...
29/09/2026
Manifold technologies has been recognized as a contributor to the Media eXchange...
29/09/2026
FuboTV has announced My Local Sports, allowing subscribers in select markets to add their local regional sports network (RSN) as an add-on to a Fubo Sports subs...
29/09/2026
Asian News International (ANI), a wire agency and video news provider based in India, has deployed Grass Valley's AMPP Media Operating System and Framelight...
29/09/2026
South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has deployed Ikegami UHK-X600 cameras as part of an upgrade to IP-based production infrastructure. The deployment ...
29/09/2026
REMI, REMCO models will drive the bulk of the broadcaster's NHL productions ...
29/09/2026
Three years in, the facility is supporting more centralized race production, com...
29/09/2026
NBC, Peacock, and NBSN are carrying all four Wild Card series with a production ...
29/09/2026
19 Nonfiction Projects Across All Stages of Production to Receive More Than $1 million in Support as Documentary Film Program Approaches 25th Anniversary
LOS ...
29/09/2026
Two new plug-ins launch alongside updated bundles
Zynaptiq have just announced the launch of two new plug-ins, alongside new and improved versions of two of...
29/09/2026
All-in-one bus processor revealed
Wes Audio's ng product range has come a long way since it was first introduced, and now includes a tasty selection of ...
29/09/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Ikegami announces that the South African Broadcasting Corporation, SABC, has chosen Ikegami UHK-X600 camera systems as part of an advance to IP-based operation ...
29/09/2026
Blendkit Offers 20% Discount to Celebrate Crossing 150K Asset Milestone
Brie Clayton September 29, 2026
0 Comments
Blendkit, the largest 3D asset libr...
29/09/2026
Interactive streaming specialist Ease Live supported more than 76.5 million fan sessions across three major European media operators during this summers FIFA Wo...
29/09/2026
Ease Live has added support for VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) to its graphical overlay technology, opening up new ways for broadcasters, streamers and rights...
29/09/2026
Rise AV has announced the launch of the inaugural Rise AV Awards, a new global awards programme celebrating the women, advocates and organisations across the AV...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Clear-Com announced that First Baptist Nashville has upgraded its production communications with a Clear-Com intercom solution as part of a comprehensive sanct...
29/09/2026
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K Captured Action Shots for Sketch
Brie Clayton September 28, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's portable design and dynamic range...
29/09/2026
Kean Production Services Deploys AJA ColorBox to Deliver Consistent, Accurate Co...
29/09/2026
Berklee Alumni and Faculty Nominated for the 2026 Latin Grammy Awards A total of 28 Berklee alumni and faculty earned nominations across 20 categories this ye...
29/09/2026
Berklee's K-Pop & Beyond Explores Connections Between K-Pop and Hip-Hop Now in its fifth year, the series brings together artists, industry leaders, and s...
29/09/2026
We tend to think we live in a digital world, with hopes and fears around artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, data centres and the next big technolo...
29/09/2026
Today, in partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Apple relea...
29/09/2026
Final Cut Camera, the professional filming app for iPhone, receives a major upda...
29/09/2026
RT lyric fm is proud to announce the annual Choirs for Christmas competition callout. Warm up those vocal chords and join us on RT lyric fm for a celebration ...
28/09/2026
The NHL has announced Adobe as an Official Creative, Marketing and AI Partner beginning with the 2026-27 season. The partnership will provide the league and its...
28/09/2026
MultiDyne will exhibit at CABSAT 2026 (October 5-7, Dubai Exhibition Centre), showcasing an expanded technology portfolio following its June 2026 acquisition of...
28/09/2026
ARRI and HONOR have announced the HONOR Magic9 Pro Max, a flagship smartphone carrying ARRI branding on the device and packaging as the first product-level expr...
28/09/2026
Net Insight has added the Nimbra 1020G to its pan-Asian live media trial network, giving customers and partners in the region a way to evaluate ST 2110 and JPEG...
28/09/2026
Vindral has been named a recipient of a 2026 Technology and Engineering Emmy Award by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in the category of We...
28/09/2026
Interra Systems will exhibit at CABSAT 2026 (Stand B2-37, Dubai Exhibition Centre, October 5-7), demonstrating its BATON QC platform, ORION monitoring solutions...
28/09/2026
Two years into its new production facility, the TOUR is expanding centralized wo...
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.
