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Raul Midn From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia(Authentic material)

Raul Midn

Raul Midn performing at the TED conference , March 7 , 2007 .

Background information

Born March 14, 1966 (age 43)

Origin New Mexico , United States

Genre(s) Soul , Flamenco , Latin

Instrument(s) Guitar , Vocals

Years active 2001 present

Label(s) Manhattan

Website www.raulmidon.com

BIO

Raul Midn (born March 14 , 1966 ) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from New Mexico , based in New York City . He combines his distinct voice,strumming, beats, and a cappella sounds to create a one-man performance. His uniquestyle shows influence of virtually every musical genre which came before him,including jazz , blues , R&B , and folk .

BIOGRAPHY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TED_(conference)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexicohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_genrehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_musichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamencohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_musichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_instrumenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocalshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_in_musichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Record_labelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Recordshttp://www.raulmidon.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_14http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1966http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singer-songwriterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitaristhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexicohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Cityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Cityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_cappellahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazzhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazzhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%26Bhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_musichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Raul_Mid%C3%B3n.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexicohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_genrehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_musichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamencohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_musichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_instrumenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocalshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_in_musichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Record_labelhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Recordshttp://www.raulmidon.com/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_14http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1966http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singer-songwriterhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitaristhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexicohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Cityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_cappellahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazzhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%26Bhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_musichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TED_(conference)

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Early life

Midn was born prematurely in a rural hospital in Embudo, New Mexico to parents of Argentine and African American descent. His father was a dancer from Argentina . Midn and his twin brother Marco (now a NASA engineer) were blinded as infants after

spending time in an incubator without adequate eye protection. The sounds of music became integral to Midn's life around age 4, when his father introduced him to thedrum. Midn became an avid music lover and learned how to play the guitar while

performing in rigorous educational programs, first at a school for the blind and then anelite Santa Fe academy while completing his last two years of high school. Midn thenattended the University of Miami , which he selected for its prestigious jazz curriculum.

Career

Midn began his career as a backup singer for several well known Top 40 acts,including Shakira , Jennifer Lopez , Christina Aguilera , Ricky Martin , Julio Iglesias andJose Feliciano . Having toured with Shakira, and recorded with Alejandro Sanz in 2002,he set aside this career to pursue a solo career and moved to New York City . Whilefocusing the majority of his time on his solo career, he has also worked with jazz legends Paquito DRivera , Dave Valentin , Dave Samuels , Herbie Hancock , and ClaudioRoditi .

Soon after the release of his independent album, Midn was signed by Grammy Award -winning producer Arif Mardin ( Norah Jones , Aretha Franklin ) to Manhattan Records , asubsidiary of Capitol Records owned by EMI . In Mardin's long career, Midn was hisfirst signing of an artist. Mardin, along with his son, Joe , produced the critically

acclaimed debut album of Midn entitled State of Mind .

Midn also did the theme song for Spike Lee's 2004 LGBT film, She Hate Me , titled"Adam n' Eve n' Eve".

Midn's album State of Mind was released on May 10 , 2005. The album features a guest performance with Stevie Wonder , one of his idols, another one with Jason Mraz , and asong written in tribute to Donny Hathaway entitled "Sittin' In The Middle." Midon is anavid amateur radio enthusiast, and in this song he also incorporates his call sign(KB5ZOT) by using Morse code . The title track was released on 12 September 2006 asthe free single of the week on the UK version of the iTunes Store .

Midn's national television debut was on Late Show with David Letterman on June 28 , 2005 . He later went on to appear on other late night television shows in the U.S. andabroad. On July 24 , 2007 , a single named "Pick Somebody Up" was released on theiTunes Store in the new iTunes Plus format. Midn's released the single "A WorldWithin A World" from his third album on September 25 , 2007 .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexicohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexicohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentinahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Americanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Americanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentinahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentinahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASAhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindnesshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Miamihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Miamihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_40http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_40http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakirahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakirahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Lopezhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_Aguilerahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricky_Martinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio_Iglesiashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Felicianohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alejandro_Sanzhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alejandro_Sanzhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Cityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Cityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_musichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paquito_D%E2%80%99Riverahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Valentinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Samuelshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbie_Hancockhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio_Roditihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio_Roditihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Awardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arif_Mardinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norah_Joneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aretha_Franklinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Recordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Recordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Mardinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_Leehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_Leehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBThttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBThttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She_Hate_Mehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Mind_(Raul_Mid%C3%B3n)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_10http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_10http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevie_Wonderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Mrazhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donny_Hathawayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_codehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_12http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_12http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes_Storehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Show_with_David_Lettermanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Show_with_David_Lettermanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_28http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_28http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_24http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_24http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes_Plushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_25http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_25http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexicohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentinahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Americanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentinahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASAhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindnesshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitarhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Miamihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_40http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakirahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Lopezhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina_Aguilerahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricky_Martinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julio_Iglesiashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Felicianohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alejandro_Sanzhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Cityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_musichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paquito_D%E2%80%99Riverahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Valentinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Samuelshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbie_Hancockhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio_Roditihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio_Roditihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammy_Awardhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arif_Mardinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norah_Joneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aretha_Franklinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Recordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Recordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Mardinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_Leehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBThttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She_Hate_Mehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Mind_(Raul_Mid%C3%B3n)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_10http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevie_Wonderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Mrazhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donny_Hathawayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_codehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_12http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes_Storehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Late_Show_with_David_Lettermanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_28http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_24http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes_Plushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_25http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007

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Discography

Albums

Gracias a la Vida (1999), RCA International State of Mind (2005), Manhattan Records A World Within a World (2007), Toshiba EMI

Compilations

Suddenly appears on the compilation He Sings The Blues (2005) State of Mind appears on the compilation Blue Note Trip 5: Mashed (Jazzanova)

(2006) Pick Somebody Up appears on the official album of 15th International Istanbul

Jazz Festival (2008)

References

1. ^ Arts and Entertainment News and Reviews - NY Daily News 2. ^ http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/313620p-268277c.html (New York

Daily News: Jazz soul gets happy)

External links Raul Midon: The Reason I Stand - interview Raul Midn's official website Raul Midn at MySpace Interview on BBC Radio 4, 2 January 2007 TED Talks: Raul Midon plays "All the Answers" and "Tembererana" at TED in

2007 TED Talks: Raul Midon plays "Everybody" and "Peace on Earth" at TED in

2007

Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raul_Mid%C3%B3n "Categories : Living people | American singer-songwriters | American jazz guitarists |Argentines of Black African descent | Argentine Americans | American rhythm and

blues guitarists | American soul guitarists | Blind musicians | Amateur radio peopleHidden categories: Unreferenced BLPs from November 2006 | All unreferenced BLPs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Mindhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Recordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshiba_EMIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbulhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raul_Mid%C3%B3n#cite_ref-0http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/313620p-268277c.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raul_Mid%C3%B3n#cite_ref-1http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/313620p-268277c.htmlhttp://www.orato.com/arts-entertainment/2007/10/29/raul-midon-reason-i-standhttp://www.raulmidon.com/http://www.myspace.com/raulmidonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySpacehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySpacehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/intouch_20070102.shtmlhttp://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/188http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TED_(conference)http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/298http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TED_(conference)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TED_(conference)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raul_Mid%C3%B3nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Categorieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Living_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_singer-songwritershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_jazz_guitaristshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Argentines_of_Black_African_descenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Argentines_of_Black_African_descenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Argentine_Americanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_rhythm_and_blues_guitaristshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_rhythm_and_blues_guitaristshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_soul_guitaristshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Blind_musicianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Blind_musicianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Amateur_radio_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Amateur_radio_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Unreferenced_BLPs_from_November_2006http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Unreferenced_BLPs_from_November_2006http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Unreferenced_BLPs_from_November_2006http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:All_unreferenced_BLPshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Mindhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Recordshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshiba_EMIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istanbulhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raul_Mid%C3%B3n#cite_ref-0http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/313620p-268277c.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raul_Mid%C3%B3n#cite_ref-1http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/story/313620p-268277c.htmlhttp://www.orato.com/arts-entertainment/2007/10/29/raul-midon-reason-i-standhttp://www.raulmidon.com/http://www.myspace.com/raulmidonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySpacehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/intouch_20070102.shtmlhttp://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/188http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TED_(conference)http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/298http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TED_(conference)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raul_Mid%C3%B3nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Categorieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Living_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_singer-songwritershttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_jazz_guitaristshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Argentines_of_Black_African_descenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Argentine_Americanshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_rhythm_and_blues_guitaristshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_rhythm_and_blues_guitaristshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:American_soul_guitaristshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Blind_musicianshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Amateur_radio_peoplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Unreferenced_BLPs_from_November_2006http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:All_unreferenced_BLPs

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ACTIVITIES

READING COMPREHENSION (about his biography)

1. SAY WHETHER THESE STATEMENTS ARE TRUE (T) OR FALSE

(F).

-Midn was born before his mother was 9 month pregnant. ___

-He was Mexican and his parents from Argentina and Africa. ___

-Him and his twin brother Marco were born blind. ___

-He played drum at an early age. ___

-He attended to a very prestigious music school in North America. ___

-Midn started his carreer as a guitar player for famous singers suchas Shakira, Julio Iglesias, Jos Feliciano, Alejandro Sanz, HerbieHancock and Dave Samuels, among others. ___

-Arif Mardin was the producer of Raul Midn as well as other famousartists such as Norah Jones and Aretha Franklin. ___

-Stevie Wonder participates in his album State of Mind. ___

-He includes Morse code in all his songs in this album. ___ -Midns first debut on TV was in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. ___

2.GIVE SYNONYMS TO THE WORDS/EXPRESSIONSBELOW:

-Prematurely -Guest performance

-Descent -Feature

-Incubator -Amateur

-Infant -Debut

-Elite -Release

-Backup singer -Track

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Watch Raul Midns video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI3E-NBh08s

(Play it for students; also encourage them to visit hiswebsite already provided above, on his backgroundinformation brochure).

ACTIVITIES about the song

1.Listen to the song and fill in the blank spaces: _______ _______ in world where there's no one else.Nobody anywhere.A moment ago there were voices and faces to ______ ______,Can't see them anywhere.Nothing more to say and _____ _____ ______ to say it to anyway.Please listen to what I say.

Everybody can be somebody.

Everybody is free to ______ ____ _______.Everybody can be somebody.Everybody is free to make a difference in this world.

Picture a world where the people all feel there worth.Children are everywhere.There is a reason for everyone's time _____ _________.Wondering why you should care.Nothing more to say.And only ______ can see us ________ anyway.Please listen to what I say.

Everybody can be somebody.Everybody is free to ______ ____ _______.Everybody can be somebody.Everybody is free to make a difference.

You _____ _____ ___ ___ a big celebrity.To feel the power, the power in your soulYou don't have to be a _____ _____ on MTVTo realize that in ____ _____ there's a viewThat only you can see.

Everybody can be somebody.Everybody is free to ______ ___ _________.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI3E-NBh08shttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI3E-NBh08shttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI3E-NBh08shttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI3E-NBh08s

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Everybody can be somebody.Everybody is free to make a difference in this world.

2.Explain the meaning of the following expressions

used in Midns song. You can either give your ownexplanation, provide a synomym or make up asentence with the expression.

-Picture yourself

-To look upon

-You dont have to be

-Make a difference

3. Discuss with your partner the following points:

A. How does this song apply to Raul Midns lifeexperience in relation to his disability, being a blindperson?

B. Are there any words or expressions in the text that

refer to the ability to see? How would you interpretthem?

C. Do you agree with his statement Everybody can besomebody? Or is it too positive and unrealistic in reallife?

D. Do you know any other people that have achievedtheir lives dreams and ambitions regardless theirdisabilities?

E. The author called the album State of Mind. Do yousee any relationship between this and the name of thesong?

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4. Whole class activity. Discussion. The previousfour points will be shared with the rest of classmatesand teacher.

5. Writing. Each student will write a 150 wordcomposition on the following topic:

Can everybody be somebody? ...Is it a State of Mind?