Master of Imagination: Prince

Ok before I write this Ill admit it- I was and always will be a huge fan of Prince and I am very saddened by his passing. He is the reason I learned how to play guitar, bass and piano. He is the reason I like to sing. With his passing I have stood back and once again I realise how imaginative this artist truly was. I've tried to capture some of the things that resonate with me about Prince- another one of my masters of imagination:

- He truly embraced 'experience'- if you have ever had an opportunity to see some of Prince's concert footage you will know what I am talking about here. His 'Lovesexy' tour features a full size Corvette and a 360 degree stage. That concert tour almost broke him but he stayed true to full on, big music experiences.

- He used all of the technologies (and instruments) available to him- most or Prince's albums use new sampling techniques, new forms of orchestration, and new types of arrangements. He wasn't afraid to mix old with new in creating new soundscapes and musical ideas. He was also a lead user of the internet in it's early days and realised before anyone else in the music industry the impact it would have a musicians ability to make money (good or bad) from it.

- He believed in true experimentation- if you have a chance to listen to something like his Parade you can see how Prince truly embraced experimentation and new definitions of what an album was. Sometimes his experiments didn't work and sometimes they did- but when they did they really stunned.

- He valued creative freedom- yes we all know about when Prince changed his name etc and it has been laughed and commented about in equal measure. But the reality he strove for and won his creative freedom. People will argue about the need for editorial and curating of music as a good thing but Prince did what he wanted when he wanted after his break with Warner Brothers

There is a lot more I could write about Prince but I think these four principles are the ones that have most resonated with me over the years. In a way this is blog is my own small tribute to the great man, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and singer.