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Interview With Producer Arif Mardin -- Part 2

© Janie Ross Coulter

JC: How do you see the music business changing in the next five years?

MARDIN: Technology. We’re seeing it happen, with the Internet, web sites. There are going to be monumental changes. Every engineer talks about all the new things that are going to happen. There was a sci-fi short story in the 60s, where instead of buying records, people buy a pill. When they swallow the pill, they hear the music; it’s a biological record. They hear the music through their entire body. If they drink a little wine, the music becomes faster. If they eat spicy food…who knows? There’s going to be incredible stuff happening.

JC: Is there any music in particular that inspires you?

MARDIN: I’m a true jazz fan – of the actual, real jazz. Also I’m a fan of extremely modern music-- 20th century music, all kinds of dissonances. I love that. At the same time, I work with people like Willie Nelson, because that’s honest American music. My tastes go from one end to the other, and I love every aspect of it.

JC: Do you have certain recordings that you prize above all others?

MARDIN: Yes, I do, I do. Some of the Aretha Franklin records; some of my arrangements. Chaka Khan, especially “I Feel For You” and “A Night In Tunisia.” Bette Midler, “Wind Beneath My Wings.’’ The list goes on, I guess…

In the case of Arif Mardin, how can it not?