Sparks from the Fire

I’ve always loved Christmas songs.  Who hasn’t?  They are iconic references and symbols of one of, for most of us, one of the real highlights of childhood – and then we get to repeat it all in a slightly different fashion as parents years later.  These songs take us through these enchanting times and play in the background like a movie score.

Previous to this month I had only ever written one Christmas song – a song recorded by the Jenny Burton Experience called Christmas In My Soul.  They say, in the music business, that the month of June is the month to write and begin one’s Christmas album, the preparation of such to be around 5-6 months.  Who can write Christmas songs in June?  What a silly notion.

This year the Missus has come up short in her search for the perfect Christmas song for her Christmas Day performance in church.  She had decided to employ a terrific Boston harpist and together with her organist, Bryan Ashley, keep it small and delicate in accordance with the spiritual implications of the morning.  Last year she used a brass quintet plus the church four manual pipe organ and blew the roof off, so this year she wanted to do something completely different.

But no song came to mind to fit the criteria.

While watching her go through her turmoil, I happened to mention one day several weeks ago that perhaps I could write one for her.  This was said in a fit of compassion for her plight while I was in the middle of the mad dash of the final throes of my own CD, Goin’ Home.

Seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, she grabbed at the offer and signed me up.  At first I thought, “Oh no, what have I gotten myself into?”  Where would I ever find the time to do this? (more…)

NOTE: THE WFM LISTENING ROOM SERIES III CONCERTS HAVE BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL THE FALL OF 2011.  STAY TUNED AND WE’LL KEEP YOU POSTED AS TO THE COMING DATES.

Series III of the Watchfire Music Listening Room begins Sunday afternoon, July 17^th at 4:00 PM with Classical Crossover Sunday Afternoon – something a little different – something very special.  Inspirational music has never had it so good as to be presented most elegantly and professionally at 583 Park Avenue by a whole raft of world-class talent.

International artists such as Osceola Davis, Julia Wade, Gregory Emanuel Rahming and Marianne Moore will be joined by violinist, Alan Grubner and pianist, William Lewis, to present an afternoon of classic musical delights ranging from the works of Beethoven, to Ellington, to Billy Joel.  Don’t know how we can possibly fit such disparity into one afternoon?  Join us and experience for yourself!

The July 17^th Sunday Afternoon concert will be followed by three others this coming summer.  One is still in the assembling process, but others will feature WFMLR regulars Julia Wade, Chieli Minucci, Jenny Burton, Alan Grubner and newcomer to the WFM Listening Room experience, South American string quartet, Sweet Plantain, blending Jazz, Latin and Classic styles. (more…)

The findings of quantum physics are startling to us all.  Well, maybe not to all of us, but certainly to the way the world now perceives matter.  These findings impact the material world dramatically as well as corroborate the truths of the spiritual world that have been labeled as “miracles” for centuries.  These findings are the fodder for an inspirational song I have written these past few days that is being orchestrated now in my recording studio for WFM vocalist, Julia Wade’s new CD, Silk Road.

As American physicist, Barbara Brennan, states in her book ‘The Hands of Light‘: “Through experiments over the past few decades physicists have discovered matter to be completely mutable into other particles or energy and vice-versa and on a subatomic level, matter does not exist with certainty in definite places, but rather shows ‘tendencies’ to exist.  Quantum physics is beginning to realize that the Universe appears to be a dynamic web of interconnected and inseparable energy patterns.  If the universe is indeed composed of such a web, there is logically no such thing as a part.  This implies we are not separated parts of a whole but rather we are the Whole.”

This is just the beginning of a whole series of articles, comments, theories and scientific findings on the non-existence of matter.  If you are a regular reader of this blog, you already know what I think about all this.  Here’s just a bit more thought on the subject – not necessarily a scientific approach, but certainly a more poetic or lyrical approach to the subject. (more…)

The WFM Listening Room played to the largest crowd in its history last night as both Jimmy Roberts and Julia Wade spun their magic.  This continuous Inspirational music event is beginning to pay off great dividends to both audiences and producers – for audiences, a trusted destination in NYC where one can go see and hear great talent on a consistent basis and not have waiters in your face all night, not be forced to eat and drink and pay for watered down drinks and over-priced food that you don’t want — and all at a vastly less expensive price.

For the producers, Watchfire Music, the evening has already paid back its initial investment in superb sound system and other ancillaries and is moving rapidly towards a day when the shows will be webcast across the world.  A T1 line (the technology one needs for webcasting large content like music and video) has recently been installed in the venue and now we are just organizing the future towards the implementation of a permanent 3-camera shoot.

People have spoken to me about franchising the WFM Listening Room – the idea of having one in every large city in America, but my feeling is, “Why do this when through the webcast we can reach everyone in the world with a computer?”  I know, there’s nothing like live music and I’m a great appreciator of that fact, but the costs, at this point, of franchising are truly enormous.  Let’s let nature take its course and see how the webcasts, a much more economical approach, will work.

In the meantime, the webcasts are still a lot to get together and require still further investment into additional equipment and staffing.  We’re on our way, but not there yet.  The prognosis is good! (more…)

For those yet unable to attend, we’ll try to bring the Watchfire Music Listening Room to you through the wondrous pictures taken this past concert by friend and follower, John Johnson, photographer extraordinaire – an evening of Inspirational music both inspiring to the ear and eye.

With its graceful arches and most expressive lighting, the two-story space was home this past Friday night to both Chieli Minucci, world-class guitarist and Jenny Burton, a chanteuse of heart-stopping abilities, and their devoted fans.

Located at Park Avenue and 63^rd Street, NYC, even the outside of this gorgeous building promises a rare experience of visual and aural delights.

As the concert begins, the first thing one notices is that they’re not barraged by waiters serving drinks or food, but instead sit in comfortable seats with excess legroom and not a bad seat in the intimate, but packed space.  The ever-changing atmospheric colors of the evening reflect the multifarious moods of the music as light and sound coordinate to present a concentrated music listening experience. (more…)

Albert Einstein

Down in the dumps?  Out of work?  Out of money?  Suffering?  Fighting the matter model?  What you need is to be inspired – inspired to change your thought.  Inspirational music can literally change your life.  An inspirational song can lift you up and rummage around in your mind for days reminding you of the truth even when the material picture around you looks bleak.

When things seem at their worst, they’re not really.  That’s the great thing about goodness.  It’s like light.  It’s always there waiting to be turned on.  You just have to throw the switch.

Buddha

One thing for sure:  Turn on the light and the darkness disappears.  Darkness is just the absence of light.  It’s not some thing; it’s no thing – it’s simply an absence.  You can’t turn on the darkness.  There’s no switch for that.

The same goes for goodness.  It’s just there ready to be goodness.  The turn-on switch is your thinking.  Just throw the switch and the goodness that sits waiting to be appreciated will be there instantly, just like light.  We just have to change our minds. Change our thinking.

“The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” — Albert Einstein

(more…)

For me in life there’s nothing more exciting than starting the production of a new album.  It means an immersion into Inspirational music and the ideas surrounding the project.  It is always a time of inspiration, for if I don’t get inspired, neither will you when you hear the CD.

It’s also always a time when I have a great excuse to pull away from the craziness of this world into a higher minded process of thought.  It’s a time of great creativity and consequently, a time of great satisfaction.

It is what I live for.

Now is such a time.  Why not?  It’s spring!  Time for the buds to blossom.  Time to grow.  Each experience holds within it the possibility and the opportunity to grow, to get better, to dig deeper, to flower.

And so we begin Julia Wade’s sixth CD, a departure of sorts, an expansion really.  I like the word “expansion” because it implies maintaining the old while exploring the new.  This CD will mark Julia’s foray into songs of issue, a deeper consideration of the world around her, its problems and the healing of the kinds of issues that we hear on the news every day.

(more…)

Julia Wade

Last night it was business as usual at the WFM Listening Room.  Both La Tanya Hall and Julia Wade and their Inspirational music ended our week on the perfect notes – notes that soared, notes that calmed and notes that enlivened the soul.

These Fridays are crazy busy for me.  I wake up in the morning on show day and immediately know I’m in for it.  It’s a day of go, go, go until I flop down in my chair at the end of the day.  I won’t bore you with the details, but rather assure you that that’s just what it is – a day of endless detail.  It never stops.

When I get home at night, it’s all I can do to just crawl off to bed.

I’ve been doing this all my life, but it doesn’t get any easier.  Thank God for a great staff and a most professional venue.

(more…)