來源：MJJCN.com / chicagotribune.com
2010年9月27日 - 邁克爾·傑克遜（Michael Jackson）是天才嗎？
毫無疑問。週末在芝加哥哈羅德·華盛頓圖書中心（Harold Washington Library Center）開會探討這個問題的專家們這樣回答。
會議無間斷地延續了整整3個小時，傑克遜愛好者們播音樂，放錄像，交換軼聞，同時也對這段美國音樂史上最富於創造力的職業生涯之一進行了分析，盡管這一生涯去年因這位歌手兼詞曲作家在50歲時的悲劇性離世而打斷。
週五晚上，傑克遜的崇拜者們就已經提前排隊歡呼了一個小時，專家們也加入了合唱，而且毫不吝惜使用“g”打頭的這個贊美之辭。“他是個天才（genius）！”再版製作人哈利·溫格（Harry Weinger）拒絕使用過去時態。
為了證明他的話，溫格播放了傑克遜早期的幾首歌曲錄音（其中許多尚未發行），這些歌來自溫格正在製作的即將發行的再版摩城（Motown）和傑克遜五兄弟（Jackson 5）目錄。一個又一個的專家和聽眾聆聽到了孩童時的傑克遜極其非凡的 演唱。
《永不說再見》的無伴奏合唱版
最令人震撼的一擊是一首無伴奏合唱《永不說再見》（Never Can Say goodbye）。正處于青春前期的傑克遜演繹得如同一位大師。沒有樂隊的伴奏和節奏的支持，傑克遜輕松地掌握著時長，但他也會想辦法延展發揮。他毫無瑕疵地保持著自己的高音，直到某處為了更富表現力，才決定可以降下來。他聲音中強烈的渴求，他在歌曲的重點部分即興加上的“哦”（oohs）與“啊”（aahs）這樣的感嘆詞，他高音中白銀般的清澈簡直挑戰著理性解釋：如果不是擁有超凡的天賦，沒有一個12歲以下的孩子能唱的如此精雕細琢、充滿激情，而又富於音樂智慧。
傑克遜的天才當然最終令他成為全球的崇拜偶像，而由此帶來的迫人關注也許可以解釋他個性中的某些特質。“他極度的靦腆。”曾經多次與傑克遜一起錄制唱片和巡演的鍵盤手葛雷格·菲林金斯(Greg Philinganes)說。
“你也許會想，他怎麼會這麼害羞？”菲林金斯指著臺上一個看起來毫無畏懼的表演者說，“如果你曾經被歌迷追逐得不得不跑著逃命，如果11歲時就有這樣的經歷，你也會變得有些不一樣。”
菲林金斯解釋說，真實的Michael Jackson是站在麥克風前的那個男人。尤其是在錄音房裏時，他毫無疑慮與保留，讓光輝燦爛的音樂從他身上流瀉而出。
傑克遜錄制《她離開了我》（She’s Out of My Life）時，菲林金斯是鍵盤手。這位琴師記得，他們一遍又一遍地工作，完善表演。“每一次錄制到最後，他都要哭。”菲林金斯說，“這是真事。”
這次活動由芝加哥哥倫比亞學院（Columbia College Chicago）的黑人音樂研究中心組織，所有參與研討的發言者一致認同，傑克遜是唱片時代的徹頭徹尾的實幹家。
盡管不演奏樂器（除了偶爾敲敲鼓），他循例“都會唱出打擊樂部分和貝司線”以及其他音樂細節，與傑克遜共同創作了《鏡中人》（Man In The Mirror），並和他共同演唱單曲《止不住的愛戀》（I Just Can't Stop Loving You）的歌手希亞達·蓋瑞特（Siedah Garrett）回憶說。
然而，除了在錄音中參與的音樂和製作的一面，傑克遜經常會開玩笑地在錄制過正中製造混亂。“邁克爾以捉弄其他人為己任。”蓋瑞特笑著回憶，“他唱完他的部分，然後我要唱我的部分，他就往我身上扔花生米或別的什麼東西。而Q（製作人昆西·瓊斯Quincy Jones）會對蓋瑞特說，你在浪費錄音室的時間！
所有這些知情人的回憶以及新近放出的歌曲所造成的越來越強烈的效果相當令人感動，尤其是對那些對傑克遜向來懷有敬意的人來說。“你們給予我生命之音。”一位觀察人告訴站在臺上的一排人，那裏面包括傑克遜的鼓手裏奇·羅森（Ricky Lawson）和前錄音執行人埃德·艾克斯坦（Ed Eckstein）。
聚會將要結束之前，79歲的芝加哥電視和廣播製作人小奧斯卡·瓦爾登（Oscar Walden Jr.）從人群中他的座位上站起來，倚著拐杖，準備誦讀一首他為傑克遜而作的詩：
“我愛你，邁克爾。”他告訴安靜下來的人群。
“他是個天才。”
Analyzing Michael Jackson: The genius behind the music
Analyzing Michael Jackson: The genius behind the musicSeptember 27, 2010|By Howard Reich | Arts critichttp://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-09-27/entertainment/ct-live-0928-jazz-michael-jackson-20100927_1_music-michael-jackson-genius
Was Michael Jackson a genius?
No doubt about it, according to experts who convened over the weekend at the Harold Washington Library Center to explore the topic.
For more than three uninterrupted hours, the Jackson aficionados played audio tracks, showed video, traded anecdotes and otherwise analyzed one of the most prolific careers in American music – albeit one cut short by the singer-songwriter's tragic death last year, at age 50.
With a throng of Jackson admirers queuing up an hour in advance on Friday night, the connoisseurs were preaching to the choir – and they did not shy away from the "g" word.
"He IS a genius," proclaimed reissues producer Harry Weinger, refusing to revert to past tense.
By way of proof, Weinger played tracks from early Jackson recordings – many still unreleased – drawing from Weinger's work on forthcoming Motown and Jackson 5 catalog reissues. In one excerpt after another, listeners heard Jackson as a child, singing with remarkable prodigiousness.
The most shattering cut was an a cappella version of "Never Can Say Goodbye," a pre-teen Jackson phrasing like a master. Without the benefits of instrumental or rhythmic support, Jackson easily keeps time, but he also finds ways to stretch it. He unerringly holds his pitch, until he decides to bend it, for expressive purposes.
The yearning intensity of Jackson 's tone, the disarming "oohs" and "aahs" he improvises at key moments in the song, the silvery clarity of his high-pitched voice simply defy rational explanation. No one under 12 can sing with such craft, ardor and musical wisdom without the benefit of extraordinary gifts.
Jackson 's talents, of course, eventually made him an object of adoration around the globe, the crushing attention perhaps explaining some idiosyncracies of his personality.
"The guy was painfully shy," said keyboardist Greg Phillinganes, who recorded and toured prolifically with Jackson .
"You may wonder, 'How could he be so shy?'" asked Phillinganes, pointing to a performer who appeared fearless on stage.
"If you were chased (by fans), and you had to run for your life, if that's what you experience from 11, you would be a little different, too."
The real Michael Jackson, explained Phillinganes, was the man who stood before the microphone – particularly in the recording studio – and let all that glorious music flow out of him, without qualm or inhibition.
When Jackson was recording "She's Out of My Life," with Phillinganes on keyboard, they kept reworking and refining the performance, the pianist remembered.
"And at the end of every take, he'd cry," said Phillinganes. "And it was real."
All the panelists in the symposium, which was organized by the Center for Black Music Research at Columbia College Chicago, concurred that Jackson was thoroughly "hands-on" in recording sessions.
Though he didn't play instruments – with the exception of a rare turn on drums – he routinely "would sing percussion parts and bass lines" and other musical details, recalled singer Siedah Garrett, who wrote "Man in the Mirror" with Jackson and duetted with him on the single "I Just Can't Stop Loving You."
Yet for all Jackson 's involvement with musical and production aspects of his recordings, he often would playfully wreak havoc in the midst of sessions.
"Michael would make it his business to make other artists mess up," recalled Garrett, with a laugh. "He would sing his part. Then when I would sing my part, he would throw peanuts or something at me.
"And Q (producer Quincy Jones) would say (to Garrett), 'You're wasting studio time!' "
The cumulative effect of all these insider recollections and newly unearthed recordings proved quite moving, especially to those in the audience who already revered Jackson .
"You gave me the soundtrack to my life," one observer told those on the stage, a lineup that included Jackson drummer Ricky Lawson and former record executive Ed Eckstein.
Toward the end of the evening, 79-year-old Oscar Walden Jr., a Chicago TV and radio producer, got up from his seat in the crowd and, leaning on his cane, prepared to read a poem he had written for Jackson .
"I love Michael," he told the crowd, which fell to a hush.
"He was a genius."
To read more from Howard Reich, go to chicagotribune.com/reich.hreich@tribune.com
Was Michael Jackson a genius?
No doubt about it, according to experts who convened over the weekend at the Harold Washington Library Center to explore the topic.
For more than three uninterrupted hours, the Jackson aficionados played audio tracks, showed video, traded anecdotes and otherwise analyzed one of the most prolific careers in American music – albeit one cut short by the singer-songwriter's tragic death last year, at age 50.
With a throng of Jackson admirers queuing up an hour in advance on Friday night, the connoisseurs were preaching to the choir – and they did not shy away from the "g" word.
"He IS a genius," proclaimed reissues producer Harry Weinger, refusing to revert to past tense.
By way of proof, Weinger played tracks from early Jackson recordings – many still unreleased – drawing from Weinger's work on forthcoming Motown and Jackson 5 catalog reissues. In one excerpt after another, listeners heard Jackson as a child, singing with remarkable prodigiousness.
The most shattering cut was an a cappella version of "Never Can Say Goodbye," a pre-teen Jackson phrasing like a master. Without the benefits of instrumental or rhythmic support, Jackson easily keeps time, but he also finds ways to stretch it. He unerringly holds his pitch, until he decides to bend it, for expressive purposes.
The yearning intensity of Jackson 's tone, the disarming "oohs" and "aahs" he improvises at key moments in the song, the silvery clarity of his high-pitched voice simply defy rational explanation. No one under 12 can sing with such craft, ardor and musical wisdom without the benefit of extraordinary gifts.
Jackson 's talents, of course, eventually made him an object of adoration around the globe, the crushing attention perhaps explaining some idiosyncracies of his personality.
"The guy was painfully shy," said keyboardist Greg Phillinganes, who recorded and toured prolifically with Jackson .
"You may wonder, 'How could he be so shy?'" asked Phillinganes, pointing to a performer who appeared fearless on stage.
"If you were chased (by fans), and you had to run for your life, if that's what you experience from 11, you would be a little different, too."
The real Michael Jackson, explained Phillinganes, was the man who stood before the microphone – particularly in the recording studio – and let all that glorious music flow out of him, without qualm or inhibition.
When Jackson was recording "She's Out of My Life," with Phillinganes on keyboard, they kept reworking and refining the performance, the pianist remembered.
"And at the end of every take, he'd cry," said Phillinganes. "And it was real."
All the panelists in the symposium, which was organized by the Center for Black Music Research at Columbia College Chicago, concurred that Jackson was thoroughly "hands-on" in recording sessions.
Though he didn't play instruments – with the exception of a rare turn on drums – he routinely "would sing percussion parts and bass lines" and other musical details, recalled singer Siedah Garrett, who wrote "Man in the Mirror" with Jackson and duetted with him on the single "I Just Can't Stop Loving You."
Yet for all Jackson 's involvement with musical and production aspects of his recordings, he often would playfully wreak havoc in the midst of sessions.
"Michael would make it his business to make other artists mess up," recalled Garrett, with a laugh. "He would sing his part. Then when I would sing my part, he would throw peanuts or something at me.
"And Q (producer Quincy Jones) would say (to Garrett), 'You're wasting studio time!' "
The cumulative effect of all these insider recollections and newly unearthed recordings proved quite moving, especially to those in the audience who already revered Jackson .
"You gave me the soundtrack to my life," one observer told those on the stage, a lineup that included Jackson drummer Ricky Lawson and former record executive Ed Eckstein.
Toward the end of the evening, 79-year-old Oscar Walden Jr., a Chicago TV and radio producer, got up from his seat in the crowd and, leaning on his cane, prepared to read a poem he had written for Jackson .
"I love Michael," he told the crowd, which fell to a hush.
"He was a genius."
To read more from Howard Reich, go to chicagotribune.com/reich.hreich@tribune.com
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