On the Sept. 27 edition of Friday Class, Prof. Lay closes the observance of Suicide Prevention Month with a special interview with jazz bassist, producer and professor Ray Soul.
The program airs 6-9 a.m. Click here to listen live.
In this deeply personal and wide-ranging discussion, Soul reflects on the ways music can become a language when words fail us. He speaks openly about how his music has helped him navigate loss, silence, grief and the difficult spaces where communication seems impossible.
Soul lost his mother to suicide.
Sometimes, Soul says, there are no words adequate to express what we are experiencing. Music can offer another way to speak, listen, remember and connect.
Throughout his career, Soul — who is an assistant professor in the Professional Music Department at Berklee College of Music in Boston — has collaborated with an extraordinary range of artists, including: Jason Moran, Marta Gómez, Scott Robinson, Art Hirahara, and Takuya Kuroda.
He also participated in the Latin Grammy-nominated album Yeah Won, notable as the first Korean album recognized in the Música Popular Brasileira category.
The interview also explores Soul’s creative projects, including Seu Aprendiz and his newest project, The Prison of Language, which examines the possibilities and limitations of language itself.
For Soul, however, it goes beyond a discussion of his career.
It considers what happens when music becomes a means of confronting the loss of a loved one to suicide: an experience that is difficult, or even impossible, to articulate. How do we communicate grief? What do we do with silence? And what can music say when language reaches its limits?
As we close Suicide Prevention Month, this feature offers an opportunity to think about connection, expression, listening and the many ways people communicate what they cannot always say aloud.
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for individuals or their loved ones.