
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
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
11/05/2025
Berklee Honors Andr 3000 and Sara Bareilles at 2025 Commencement This years honorary doctorate recipients were recognized for their profound influence as art...
10/05/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
10/05/2025
NEW YORK During the IAB NewFronts 2025, Samsung Ads announced the debut of STN, the Samsung Television Network, a FAST channel with live content that will be av...
10/05/2025
SEATTLE T-Mobile has announced that it set a new uplink speed record of 550 Mbps in sub-6 GHz spectrum using cutting-edge 5G Advanced tech....
10/05/2025
WASHINGTON Twenty-two U.S. Senators have sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr urging him to modernize ownership caps that are...
10/05/2025
Meet Graduates from Berklees Class of 2025 Members of this years graduating class reflect on their proudest moments at Berklee and look ahead to whats next.
...
09/05/2025
At the Frontline Club in London, a venue long associated with media freedom and ...
09/05/2025
As excitement builds for the annual Eurovision Song Contest, Spotify data offers...
09/05/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
09/05/2025
In our latest blog, Laura Rognoni dives into the shifting currents of change in the digital entertainment landscape, revealing the trends that will keep viewers...
09/05/2025
LOS GATOS, Calif. Netflix has announced that starting May 19 it will begin rolling out a major upgrade to its user interface and the TV experience it offers str...
09/05/2025
The Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger told analysts the direct-to-consumer ESPN app often referred to as ESPN Flagship will be available to the linear channel'...
09/05/2025
Berklee Online Signs Transfer Articulation with Conservatorio Nacional de M sica The new agreement allows CNM students in the Dominican Republic to transfer i...
09/05/2025
Wooden Camera, a leading innovator in camera accessories, is proud to announce the launch of a new line of products for the Blackmagic URSA Cine Cameras. These ...
09/05/2025
LYNX Technik, provider of modular signal processing solutions is expanding its popular Series 5000 platform with three new 12G-SDI cards. The new cards provide ...
09/05/2025
Pebble, the leading automation, content management and integrated channel specialist, has completed a project to migrate ON TV, the major independent broadcaste...
09/05/2025
NUGEN Audio launches its new speech intelligibility plug-in, DialogCheck. A mono, stereo and multichannel dialog clarity meter, the software provides an objecti...
09/05/2025
Disguise the technology platform and solutions provider that powered MDL Beast Soundstorm 2024, Dubai Expo's Al Wasl Dome and visual displays at the Burj ...
09/05/2025
CVP has announced it will demonstrate its cutting-edge broadcast, live production and studio solutions at MPTS 2025. Taking place at Olympia London from 14th - ...
09/05/2025
Mediagenix, a global leader in smart content solutions to profitably connect the right content to the right audience, and White Peaks Solutions, the prominent e...
09/05/2025
SportsEngine Play, the first-of-its-kind streaming service for youth sports, has agreed to a multi-year extension with AI-automated sports content leader, Pixel...
09/05/2025
Friend MTS, a leading global provider of content protection services, today announced that TOD, the premier sports and entertainment OTT subscription service fo...
09/05/2025
ZEISS announces that it is in development on a new virtual lens technology that will allow visual effects and compositing artists to apply an authentic lens loo...
09/05/2025
At the 2025 Media Production & Technology Show (MPTS), Cerberus Tech will showcase the latest major enhancement to its Livelink IP video delivery platform the...
09/05/2025
Capitol Broadcasting Company welcomed Warren Thomas as the new Vice President an...
09/05/2025
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Studio Technologies said the Harvard University athletics department has integrated Dante-enabled equipment from the vendor into its broadcast ...
09/05/2025
NEW YORK ITN, a provider of a local linear supply side platform, and Magnite, a independent sell-side advertising company, have announced that they working toge...
09/05/2025
LEEDS, U.K. Nugen Audio has launched a new speech intelligibility plug-in, DialogCheck and offered up quotes from technologists working at places like Netflix p...
09/05/2025
AJA I/O Gear: The Heart of Broadcast Solutions' VEGO Mobile Editing Solution
Brie Clayton May 8, 2025
0 Comments
When working remotely on broadcas...
09/05/2025
What do they teach in an Advanced Adobe After Effects Course?
Roland Kahlenberg May 8, 2025
0 Comments
There aren't many advanced After Effects co...
09/05/2025
Larry Jordan Sits with Trevor Morgan of OpenDrives at NAB 2025
Brie Clayton May 8, 2025
0 Comments
Trevor Morgan, COO of OpenDrives, shares how the co...
09/05/2025
Berklee Popular Music Institute Announces UK Festival Debut and Tour Dates For the first time, BPMI will bring Berklee-affiliated artists and students to the ...
09/05/2025
MLB Sunday Leadoff' 2025: MLB Local Media Pulls the Production, Operational ...
09/05/2025
LTN, Pro Volleyball Federation To Wrap Second Season With Championship Weekend PVF's broadcast coverage has risen 350% from its debut season By Mark J Burn...
09/05/2025
Evertz's Ray Kasprzyk on Meeting the Unique Technological Needs of Massive L...
09/05/2025
With Real Madrid-FC Barcelona, ESPN Preps for Most Ambitious LaLiga Match Covera...
09/05/2025
Friday 9 May 2025
Download images HERE
Episodes are available on Sky Media Vil...
09/05/2025
Back to All News
SO JI-SUB Returns With Cold and Intense Noir Action Series Me...
09/05/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Announces Our First-Ever Nordic Medical Drama Starring...
09/05/2025
New beta programme for Avid Pro Tools users provides versioned backup/archive
M...
09/05/2025
Further to the comments from RT Director-General, Kevin Bakhurst on Wednesday 7th May included below in which he asked the EBU for a discusion on Israel...
09/05/2025
Here is your host, Patrick Kielty!
In the season finale of The Late Late Show, ...
09/05/2025
My Eurovision Party 2025 - join in on the fun with RT Kids!
Eurovision launche...
08/05/2025
A sinister fairy infiltrates a desperate family in Kenneth Dagatan's In My Mother's Skin, which premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Photo co...
08/05/2025
As expected, continued weak demand from key sales markets and declining economic...
08/05/2025
A new three-part series is coming to BBC iPlayer and BBC One
(Image: The Christie Archive Trust)
The BBC has announced Agatha Christie's Endless Night, a...
08/05/2025
For skyward-bound operators, training focuses on the unique aspects of flying ISR missions, including the management of onboard surveillance equipment and the e...
08/05/2025
The cable industry has told the Federal Communications Commission it supports the National Association of Broadcasters' proposal to allow broadcasters to us...
08/05/2025
WASHINGTON The Consumer Technology Association has continued its opposition to mandates requiring that NextGen TV/ATSC 3.0 tuners be included in new TV sets, sa...