Freddie Ravel
Appearances
The Action Catalyst
Grammy Winners on The Action Catalyst
When they hired me, that was the golden age of keyboards. You would walk on stage with about five or six keyboards all around you. So I played synthesizers and organs and clavinets and string parts and electric piano and acoustic piano and all kinds of different sounds. And in addition to playing...
The Action Catalyst
Grammy Winners on The Action Catalyst
They asked me to compose, produce, and also serve as their musical director while I was doing these things. So I had the great honor to work with those horns, that rhythm section, those amazing vocals. I'd say that was definitely one of the highlights of my journey. Well, what does a musical director do during a concert, during a live performance?
The Action Catalyst
Grammy Winners on The Action Catalyst
A musical director during the concert may do some conducting, may hold out their hand to signal something. But at that level, when you're working with a band of that caliber, all the work already occurred at rehearsal. By the time you hit the stage, it's time to have fun. And the steps, the arrangements, the execution of all that has already been well rehearsed. Oh, OK.
The Action Catalyst
Grammy Winners on The Action Catalyst
It's a bit like being a conductor in an orchestra, but they call it musical directing when it's in the world of pop music.
The Action Catalyst
Grammy Winners on The Action Catalyst
Yeah, Deepak Chopra moved to the West Coast in 1992 as Dr. Deepak Chopra, and he wasn't as big and famous yet at that time. He was an endocrinologist who had moved in from Boston out to LA. And one of the people that serves as the PR person for another great thought leader, Marianne Williamson, invited me. She was representing Deepak as well.
The Action Catalyst
Grammy Winners on The Action Catalyst
And she suggested to Deepak that we get together and compose music. And we did meet, and Deepak and I connected immediately. And he was very interested in spreading the news of a piece called Slip in the Gap, which was a concept of meditation. Now, for me as a musician, I perceived it as the space between the notes, whereas in meditation, you would call it the space between thoughts.
The Action Catalyst
Grammy Winners on The Action Catalyst
And we decided that we would bridge these two worlds, the space between the notes and the space between thoughts, into this song called Slip in the Gap, which I co-wrote with a lady by the name of Anjani and Verdine White of Earth, Wind and Fire. So we all got together. We put this piece together. This was in 1993. And it came out on my second album, Soul to Soul, and did very, very well.
The Action Catalyst
Grammy Winners on The Action Catalyst
Touched people in a very different way. And that was the beginning for me, Dan, of starting to do speaking engagements and integrating the philosophies that I had been learning with Deepak and blending them with what I'd been learning with other artists. I also worked with Madonna and Prince as well.
The Action Catalyst
Grammy Winners on The Action Catalyst
So I was learning a lot from people in the pop world as well as people in the jazz and R&B and soul world. Well, best to you always and keep the music flowing. Thank you, Dan. Thank you for having me. It's been my joy.
The Action Catalyst
Grammy Winners on The Action Catalyst
Thanks for having me, Dan. It's great to be speaking to you and my friends in Music City.