Good evening to all the world travelers out there. Welcome to another program of East to West world music songbook. Hey, and this is Eitan Battat.

Many of you will be celebrating the Passover holiday just in a few days. And if you look very closely into the Jewish tradition, so much of it is actually built around one single event: the exile of the Israelites out of Egypt. There are many traditions associated with the Passover holiday—what we eat, how we sit, what we pray, and more. But all of it is focused on one event: the journey from being a slave to being a free person.

But when you take a step back, you realize that this tradition is not only a commemoration of breaking away, but it’s also a way to celebrate the idea of freedom itself. Here’s the thing: even though we don’t live in ancient Egypt anymore, we are still very good at creating our own chain and slavery. We might not be in a physical exile or in a jail, but we find ways to chain ourselves in our ordinary lives. We become slaves to our habits, doing the same things over and over, expect different results, and it makes us miserable. We get stuck in a bad relationship or marriage that we just can’t seem to walk away from. We deal with addiction—alcohol, substance abuse—or we become slaves of our own fears and worries that keep us awake at night. I know I am a slave to that at times.

You see, music has the power to set you free, for a moment, and transform you somewhere else. Music has the ability to break those chains just for a little bit. When you’re in a bad situation, or you feel completely stuck or in a bad mood, the right song can just come along and lift you up, break those chains, and transform you, at least for just a short moment. It is the music that will give you that bit of breathing room that you need to remember that, hey, I have the power to break the habit. I have the power to save myself.

I can’t tell you how many times I have felt stuck, feeling heavy and trapped, and then a certain track, a certain melody, hit the speakers right here in my studio, and everything changes. It’s like somebody handing me the keys to the handcuffs. And a good song and a good melody can truly unstuck me.

So tonight, I hope that the lineup will energize you and get you moving, set you free in a way. Along with great music from around the world to help you unwind the day and the week, I will be hosting an incredible, phenomenal jazz bass player from New York City, Harvey S.