16 Years Ago This Performance Blew My Mind Apart

In 2006 I watched the greatest single-song performance I’d ever seen in my life — Raul Midón singing State of Mind.

I’m sharing this so everyone can witness true mastery of instrumentalism and voice. It’s an old and low-fidelity clip — legal driving-age old — but the strength of the performance shines through the dust.

This performance didn’t happen at the Grammys or any other award show charged with celebrating artists of quality. No, this was on David Letterman’s former late night show of all places. A show I didn’t watch regularly at 17 years old. I can’t remember how I found myself watching it (maybe the remote was too far away). Chalk it up to serendipity. Late shows have always platformed big or up-and-coming artists, but it blows my mind I caught such a masterpiece on accident.

Raul Midón you first notice has a unique style of guitar playing. Slap guitar. A simultaneous blend of literal slapping, strumming, and picking. It’s rare technique on a six string and it produces a bold, logic-defying sound. His strum fingers are a constant blur, almost like they never make contact with the guitar. I can’t wrap my head around the dexterity needed to do this.

You also notice his voice. Robust and melismatic. He elongates words into an array of notes like any trained singer, but towards the end he takes a moment to belt out with power and soul.

His trumpet…or lack their of. I don’t even know how to describe what he does, but it comes out of nowhere. I’d never seen a mouthed trumpet before, and I’ve never seen it since. The command he has of his vocals to produce not just the trumpet sound but a spectrum of notes in exact coordination with lightning speed guitar picking. WHAT THE HELL. I feel talentless watching such sorcery.

Another fact is amazing: Raul Midón is blind. Blindness is not defining, and his demonstrable musical genius proves it. The half African-American, half-Argentine musical savant has a twenty-plus year career and has contributed to names as large as Queen Latifah and Snoop Dogg.

His talent reinforces the truth that underestimating anyone with a disability is foolish. Just like the legendary José Feliciano established before him, and I’m sure others even before Jose.

Admittedly, I haven’t followed Raul Midón’s career much since then. I enjoy jazz, but I’m not an avid follower of the genre. I remember running out and buying the State of Mind CD, because the performance was tattooed on my mind, but I’m not caught up on his later work. Rewatching this video makes me feel like I should remedy that.

***(If you’re interested in more music conversation, check out my page La Melaza where I hone in on Latin American music and culture.)***