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 ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
10/06/2026
DAZN-owned digital-media company launches three fan-first series leaning into cr...
10/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced the appointment of Jason Dino as Southwest Regional Sales Manager USA, covering Southern California and the Southwest region. Dino joins...
10/06/2026
An 11% decrease in number of global broadcast deals reflects the organization...
10/06/2026
The Women Without Boundaries Awards recognize women whose work is advancing the future of media, broadcast, AV, workplace technology, digital experience, and re...
10/06/2026
Today is match day minus two for FIFA and HBS. On Thursday, there will be two ma...
10/06/2026
SES is supporting broadcast distribution of the world's biggest football tou...
10/06/2026
NDI has announced that BirdDog has become the first hardware manufacturer to achieve full NDI 6.3 compatibility across its complete lineup of cameras, encoders,...
10/06/2026
Vince Caputo and Scott Carter, winners of the 2026 Sports Emmy for Outstanding Post Produced Audio have been announced as presenters for the 2026 SVG Advanced A...
10/06/2026
FOX One today unveiled a slate of new product features and enhancements designed to elevate the viewing experience for fans on the official streaming platform o...
10/06/2026
Primary production partners Dome Productions and Raycom Sports once again played...
10/06/2026
The Women in Sports Filmmaking Experienceship is an immersive professional devel...
10/06/2026
The league has expanded its HSAN architecture for the NBA Finals to manage more ...
10/06/2026
The inaugural MoonPay X Games League (XGL) Winter Draft will take place Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at Cosm Los Angeles from 7-9 p.m. PT. The event will strea...
10/06/2026
The University of Oklahoma (OU) Athletics Department and Learfield have announce...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has released TR-06-4 Part 8, a new specification for RIST Satellite-Hybrid: Out-of-Band Method. The specification creates a mecha...
10/06/2026
Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, supporting live medical proc...
10/06/2026
A still from The Doom Generation by Gregg Araki (Courtesy of Sundance Institute)
By Lucy Spicer
Have you checked out our Sundance Film Festival 101 list yet...
10/06/2026
Get Hands-On with Interfaces & Mic Preamp Brands
If youre after a new interface or preamp, then GearExpo UK is the place to be! Well have a whole host of au...
10/06/2026
November 13-14 2026, The Midway, San Francisco
Following their recent rebranding, MONO Music Conference (formerly Music Expo) have officially announced thei...
10/06/2026
Debut instrument free for limited time
deFORM is the debut release from newly founded developer ebbandflow, and it's being offered as a free download fo...
10/06/2026
Alone Australia Season 4: Meet the Cast
10 June, 2026
Media releases
WATCH THE TRAILER
Smash-hit survival series Alone Australia drops its highly anticipa...
10/06/2026
DEADLY THEN, DEADLY NOW, DEADLY ALWAYS: SBS & NITV IGNITE NAIDOC WEEK 2026 WITH ...
10/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and TRUMPF advance laser-based drone defense with THORIS LCS Rohde & Schwarz is showcasing THORIS at ILA 2026: A sovereign, end to end counter...
10/06/2026
MAHLE and Rohde & Schwarz develop application for sensor testing of modern drive...
10/06/2026
Production and Development Funding supports the creation of compelling, commercially viable, artistic and culturally relevant South African screen content. Deve...
10/06/2026
Media buyers and sellers can now compare YouTube reach from computer, mobile, an...
10/06/2026
Accedo, Humans not Robots, and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) have announced the launch of Ecoflow X. Formerly an IBC Accelerator project, ...
10/06/2026
Frequency, the engine powering the world's leading streaming television channels, today announced that James Smith has joined the company as General Manager...
10/06/2026
At the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Lisbon, Riedel Communications provided the communications infrastructure for live medical procedures s...
10/06/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media, and entertainment managed services, today announced the launch of its Content Exchange platform powered by Or...
10/06/2026
Klvr will showcase how venues, integrators and production teams are rethinking disposable battery usage at InfoComm 2026 (Las Vegas, June 17-19, booth #N6311). ...
10/06/2026
The Video Services Forum (VSF) has further enhanced the Reliable Internet Streaming Transport (RIST) protocol by incorporating a new feature, RIST Satellite-Hyb...
10/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/06/2026
10 Jun 2026
VEON's Banglalink Brings Every World Cup 2026 Match to Football...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
How to watch every ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 match live on Sky Sports
Where is the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 availabl...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
P RLA brings first-ever Beautifully Clean Oral Care'...
10/06/2026
Wednesday 10 June 2026
Sky reveals pulse-pounding first teaser trailer for upco...
10/06/2026
Wuppertal June 10, 2026
Riedel Artist at the Heart of the 14th World Live Neurovascular ConferenceAt the 14th World Live Neurovascular Conference (WLNC) in Li...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Showcases New Mobile Experience, Collections and Games Vision in APAC
Product
10 June 2026
GlobalSouth KoreaJapan
Link copied to c...
10/06/2026
Back to All News
Ready to Join? The Netflix Fan Club Arrives at Cannes Lions
Business
10 June 2026
Global
Link copied to clipboard
Download all assets
N...
10/06/2026
Chemists snap together complex 3D molecules from highly reactive radicals-without losing their shape Scripps Research team develops stereoretentive radical-radi...
09/06/2026
Kiswe announces an expanded long-term partnership with ONE Championship (ONE), t...
09/06/2026
SiriusXM will broadcast FOX Sports' English-language commentary for all 104 FIFA World Cup 2026 matches from June 11 through July 19, available to subscribe...
09/06/2026
EVS has announced it is changing its corporate name from EVS Broadcast Equipment to EVS, reflecting the company's expanded portfolio beyond broadcast equipm...
09/06/2026
Fox Corporation and the NFL have announced a multi-year agreement to bring NFL c...
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.
