Nothing separates the generations more than music. By the time a child is eight or nine, he has developed a passion for his own music that is even stronger than his passions for procrastination and weird clothes.

Bill Cosby (b. 1937), U.S. comedian, actor. Fatherhood, ch. 10 (1986).

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His interest in music as a whole has led to collaborations with many musicians and most of the major orchestras in the USA as well as Europe.

His peerless interpretation of Vivaldi's Four Seasons went to No. 3 in the UK pop charts and also charted in many other countries. It entered the UK classical chart directly at No. 1 and was still there as year later. This, and sales of one million copies, have earned it a place in the Guinness Book of Records.

Nigel Kennedy is best known for his achievement of taking classical music, and the violin in particular, to a greater audience than any other artist.

Releases from Kennedy dried up in 1992, a hiatus partly enforced by a painful neck condition requiring surgery but, more importantly, because he felt he had gone as far as he could go with classical music at the time.

Kennedy's search for fresh inspiration has resulted in his first album for four years and his debut as a composer. "It's like a debut in a way for Nigel," says Clive Black, managing director of EMI UK. "But it's a very accomplished one, quite diverse and with haunting melodies."

The album, Kafka, owes its genesis to Kennedy's infatuation with Jimi Hendrix (his attempt to release covers of Hendrix tracks was shelved because of disagreements with the guitar hero's estate) and his collaborations with artists such as Robert Plant and Kate Bush. "They certainly gave me confidence. I knew if musicians like that approved of what I was doing, I wasn't being purely self-indulgent," he says.

Writing and recording his own material seemed to be a natural progression of his development as an artist. "All the people I admire have started off interpreting music before going on to write their own. Miles Davis began with the classics, Beethoven began with Mozart. It seems totally normal to me when you look at the contemporary music world."

Kafka is a genre-defying work that broadly covers Celtic, classical, jazz and popular music. Its tracks swing from melodic interludes like the opener Autumn Regrets to the superb collision of vocal styles on From Adam To Eve.

Diverse and accomplished it may be but James Jolly, editor of Gramophone magazine, is sceptical about its chances of tapping into the classical market. "I think he will have to find a completely new market," he says, "but no-one has ever really managed to cross so extremely from one area to another. Nor is the violin an instrument readily associated with pop music." Black, however, points to the world market where Kennedy possesses great standing, particularly in Europe and South East Asia. Nevertheless, he adds, "We're taking a long-term view of this album and of Nigel as an artist in his new direction. This is an album for music lovers, it will appeal to anyone who loves music."
(488 words)

7. To gain especially for the performance of service, labor, or work; to acquire or deserve as a result of effort or action
8. To explain the meaning of; to conceive the significance of; construe; to present or conceptualize the meaning of by means of art or criticism; to translate orally.
9. To make a listing of best-selling recorded music or other items.
10. To be attractive or interesting
11. To succeed in doing; to reach the end of; complete.
12. To regard with pleasure, wonder, and approval; to have a high opinion of; esteem or respect.

Nigel Kennedy _ in Brighton, England, and now _ in Malvern.

His interest in _ as a whole has led to _ with many _ and most of the major _ in the USA as well as Europe.

Nigel Kennedy is best known for his _ of taking classical _, and the _ in particular, to a greater audience than any other _.

 Releases from Kennedy _ in 1992, a hiatus partly enforced by a painful _ condition requiring _ but, more importantly, because he felt he had gone as far as he could go with _ music at the time.

Writing and _ his own _ seemed to be a natural progression of his development as an _. "All the people I _ have started off _ music before going on to write their own."

cat - Slang. a. A person, especially a man. b. A player or devotee of jazz music.
none of those cats, album of cover versions of Hendrix songs

The 35-year-old millionaire who has become Britain’s most successful classical musician said he would consider taking hard drugs to find out more about music.
Kennedy, who lives in Malvern, Worcs, said: "At some point I’m going to have to consider my responsibility as a musician to get into heavier drugs simply to find out more about music. I think a lot of the great musicians I admire have benefited from being in touch with heavy drugs.

"The Beatles, Hendrix, Coltrane, Parker, none of those cats would have had that expanse of consciousness in their music without drugs". He attacked public health officials for spreading "simplistic" anti-drug messages and said youngsters should think about the subject for themselves.

"People tell so many lies about drugs. It is just too condescending to say: Don’t do drugs, they kill you". I think young people see that for the simplistic rubbish it is," he said.

But Health Minister Mr Tim Yeo attacked Kennedy for undermining the Government’s anti-drugs crusade.

Mr.Yeo said: "His statement is deplorable. It’s giving exactly the wrong message to young people if they are led to believe that experimenting with hard drugs is associated with success and glamour. It is a very stupid thing to say."

Medical experts also attacked Kennedy’s view that drugs were linked to creativity.

Prof Hamid Ghodse, who lectures in psychiatry and addictive behavior at London University said: "Drugs, particularly hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine, impair performance. Addicts soon find they cannot play without them."
"Jimi Hendrix and Charlie Parker died from drug abuse."
Kennedy is working on an album of cover versions of Hendrix songs.

1. A course of action that one intends to follow.
2. A young person; a child or youth.
3. Able to make moral or rational decisions on one's own and therefore answerable for one's behavior.
4. An very bright particle, especially one thrown off from a burning substance, resulting from friction, or remaining in an otherwise extinguished fire; an ember.
5. Quarrel; an uproar; a great noise
6. Something stated; a declaration.
7. The state, quality, or fact of being responsible
8. The tendency to oversimplify an issue or a problem by ignoring complexities or complications.
9. To cause to diminish, as in strength, value, or quality.
10. To descend to the level of one considered inferior; lower oneself; to deal with people in a patronizingly superior manner.
11. To give off sparks, to give off or reflect flashes of light; glitter
12. To salute or welcome in a friendly and respectful way with speech or writing, as upon meeting or in opening a letter.
13. To think carefully about.
14. To weaken, injure, or impair.
15. Violent anger; rage
16. Worthy of severe condemnation or reproach; lamentable; woeful

  Nigel Kennedy has _ a major row after declaring it was responsibility as a musician to experiment with _ _.
   The 35-year-old millionaire said he would _ taking hard drugs to find out more about music.
   "People _ so many _ about drugs. Don’t do drugs, they kill you". I think _ people see that it is _," he said.
   But _ Minister Mr Tim Yeo _ Kennedy: "His statement is _. It’s giving exactly the wrong _ to young people if they are led to _ that experimenting with _ is associated with _ and _. It is a very _ thing to say."

Is not the tremendous strength in men of the impulse to creative work in every field precisely due to their feeling of playing a relatively small part in the creation of living beings, which constantly impels them to an overcompensation in achievement?

Karen Horney
(1885-1952), U.S. psychiatrist. Feminine Psychology, "The Flight from Womanhood" (1926).

Rock singer-songwriter-guitarist Kurt Cobain of the Seattle group Nirvana recovers from a drug-induced coma in March but is found dead April 8 at age 27, having killed himself with a shotgun.
 

If you think you need stuff to play music or sing, you’re crazy. It can fix you so you can’t play nothing or sing nothing.

Billie Holiday
(1915-59), U.S. blues singer. Lady Sings the Blues, ch. 23 (1956; written with William Dufty; rev. 1975).

Holiday, Billie,
1915-59, African-American singer; b. Baltimore as Eleanora Fagan. She began singing in 1930 and earned a supreme position among modern jazz singers with her emotional impact and highly personal approach to a song. Her life was complicated by the drug addiction that eventually destroyed her career and hastened her death.

drug addiction and drug abuse, chronic or habitual use of any chemical substance to alter states of body or mind for other than medically warranted purposes. Among the drugs with potential for abuse are narcotics, including morphine, opium, heroin, and methadone; depressants such as alcohol, barbiturates, and sedatives; stimulants such as cocaine and amphetamines; hallucinogenic drugs; and marijuana. Nicotine and caffeine can also be abused, and anabolic steroids and human growth hormone are often abused by athletes and bodybuilders seeking to increase muscle mass. An individual is said to be addicted if a physical dependence on a given drug develops and if withdrawal symptoms are experienced when the drug is discontinued or its dose decreased. True physical addiction is known to occur with the narcotics and depressants; psychological dependence, with or without physical symptoms, can develop with many other drugs, such as tranquilizers. The hallucinogens can also cause traumatic experiences and trigger psychotic reactions, including paranoia. Treatment for drug addiction includes methadone programs and participation in therapeutic communities (e.g., Synanon and Phoenix House) with other addicts who are giving up drugs. The question of what constitutes drug abuse depends on the cultural and social context. In some countries, narcotic use in the form of opium smoking is common and not considered a serious drug problem; in others, hashish or related compounds are widely used. In most industrialized nations, however, the use of many of these drugs is illegal and associated with criminal behavior.

   Kurt Cobain Dead at Age 27 ѕ Kurt Cobain, the lead singer of the influential rock band Nirvana, was found dead in April of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. An electrician who had come to install a security system in Cobain's Seattle home discovered the singer's body in a greenhouse above the garage, Apr. 8. A 20-gauge shotgun and a note addressed to Cobain's wife, Courtney Love, and the couple's 19-month-old daughter, Frances Bean, was found near Cobain's body. The King County Medical Examiner's Office later reported that Cobain had died on Apr. 5. In an emotional taped message, Love read parts of Cobain's suicide note to the 5,000 grieving fans who had gathered, Apr. 10, outside the Seattle Center for a memorial service. Cobain had struggled with depression and drug addiction for years and had made a failed suicide attempt in early March while in Rome for a performance. The group's groundbreaking 1991 album Nevermind had thrust the band into the spotlight and sold more than 10 million copies. Cobain was said to be a founder of so-called grunge rock, a new musical genre that combined elements of punk, heavy metal, and contemporary alternative music.

What poet would not grieve to see
His brother write as well as he?
But rather than they should excel,
He’d wish his rivals all in Hell.

Jonathan Swift (1667-1745). Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift.

1. gauge
2. interlude
3. addict
4. wound
5. rival

a) An injury to the feelings.
b) A devoted believer or follower.
c) An entertainment between the acts of a play.
d) One who attempts to equal or surpass another
e) The interior diameter of a shotgun barrel