Did I chase that som'bish off? Do that sh*t to me again, and I'll do it to you again.

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I was relaxing at my computer this afternoon when I heard loud and bad sounds coming from the parking lot, to my left. It was rap "music," musically simplistic, with racist and sexist lyrics. I got to hear about "white man" this and "rich white boy" that, and "b*tch" and how much "pus*y" the "artist" gets. I grabbed my .22 and said, "Get off my lawn." Just kidding. I fired up Miles Davis's classic 1959 album, "Kind of Blue," loud, and I fired up my bass amplifier, loud, and started playing along with Miles on bass. In my mind, I was saying, "This is music, b*tch! Do you get it?" In reality, I was practicing along with a jazz album to which I want to know all of the bass lines. Jazz has always intimidated me, but as I challenge myself in my "old age," I realize that it follows "rules," just as all forms of music do. My music friend Michael has shown me "Western swing" chords on guitar, and I'm learning to play jazz bass by playing along with classic albums, like "Kind of Blue" and Dave Brubeck's "Time Out." When I finished playing along with Miles's "So What" and "Freddie Freeloader," the offending musical idiot was gone. I had won. Music is a force that brings us all together.. Music can be described as "counting without knowing it." All cultures have music. There are differences between cultures, and between musical cultures, but the similarities outweigh the differences. I want to see music as something that brings us together as human beings. In my college classes, I encourage students not to deny their prejudices, but to "analyze" where they came from. Can music be a force that brings us all together? Or have I simply consumed too much wine?