Neuroscientists continue to explore the neural pathways that allow music to bring back memories, tell stories, and change hearts. Music influences us to buy stuff we don’t need. It can bring us together or create social distancing. It has reduced the odds in David vs. Goliath struggles. It does all this and more by connecting with feelings — and feelings, not thoughts, drive action.

Music innovators fall into two categories: redwoods, who create unique styles and spend their lives perfecting and selling them; and chameleons, who imprint their creative personalities onto multiple styles. Redwoods Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven laid the groundwork for string quartets and symphonies on which other musicians continue to build. James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Smoky Robinson, Marvin Gaye, and others laid down the R&B foundation in the 1960s which continues to influence artists and listeners today. As for musical chameleons, consider the Beatles, who morphed from 1950s rock and roll to experimental music in seven years without losing their identity.

I am a baby boomer who has spent much of my life with one foot in the European classical music tradition and the other in the American Top Forty tradition. My blind spots? Opera ennui, spotty knowledge of jazz history, and an ambivalent connection with rap and hip-hop music. I wish I knew more about music from South America, Asia, and Africa.

Below are lists of redwoods and chameleons that have most influenced me.

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Redwoods

James Brown
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Aretha Franklin
Alanis Morissett
Stevie Wonder
Giuseppe Verdi
U2
Garth Brooks
Bob Marley
Ludwig Van Beethoven
B.B. King
Michael McDonald
Phillip Glass
Marvin Gaye
Johan Sebastian Bach
Smoky Robinson
Jimi Hendrix
Richard Wagner
Duke Ellington
The Who
Nirvana
Franz Joseph Haydn
Count Basie
John Philip Sousa
Pearl Jam
Caroline Shaw
Earth, Wind and Fire

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Chameleons

The Beatles
Igor Stravinsky
Prince
Charles Ives
The Rolling Stones
Ray Charles
Imagine Dragons
Led Zeppelin
Johny Cash
John Lennon
Johannes Brahms
Grateful Dead
Stephen Sondheim
Steely Dan
Dave Matthews Band
Billy Joel
Billie Eilish
Leonard Bernstein
Paul McCartney
Taylor Swift
Miles Davis
George Gershwin
Bruce Springsteen
Bob Dylan
Paul Simon
George Harrison
Eric Clapton
Quincy Jones

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I hope these lists move us towards a deeper enjoyment of music’s styles, colors, and dimensions. I hope they spawn spirited discussions that strengthen relationships. I pray that each of us allows music — any music — to tap into our redwood or chameleon creativity while influencing us towards inner harmony and outer peace.

And what is creativity?

Putting together puzzle pieces while fanning a spark.