Sparks from the Fire

Inspirational music is a new category.  5-6 years ago it basically did not exist.  When Watchfire Music first began we googled the words “inspirational music” and up came 4 pages of references.  At about 10 references per Google page that’s about 40 in total.

Today, I just googled the term and up came over 65,000,000 references.  That’s an incredible growth over this short time.  For the past year this blog, Sparks From The Fire, has stood at #1 or #2 on page one of Google just about every time I’ve googled it.  That’s about once a month.  Watchfire Music is nearly always found among the first 3 pages.

It’s taken a lot of work and dedication by a talented staff here at Watchfire Music to keep us up on the top of those rankings.  It’s also taken a lot of writing on my part to stay high on the charts, so to speak.  I must say, I’ve enjoyed it.  Writing this blog has given me a great time to think deeply about life and the meanings of inspiration almost daily.

I sometimes wonder if I’m not writing a new kind of autobiography – like a diary of a lifetime of thoughts and stories.  It certainly has been an autobiography of the last 4-5 years.  This particular post is actually the 350^th that I’ve written these past several years.

Some bloggers write short, terse 1 paragraph posts.  I read several a day and they’re very popular.  Mine are more often 3 pages.  I ask myself why.  I know that nobody has time to read any more and figure that one look at one of my long posts can be daunting to most people.  I try to write short, but I guess that’s just not me.

I could never be a commercial writer as a composer either.  Writing 30-60 second commercial songs was always an area that did not interest me.  I guess I just like to stretch out and try to go a little deeper.

Call it style; call it a reflection of my deranged mind.  Whatever…

At any rate, I’ve enjoyed the ride.  It’s been a chance to think things out and talk to all who might be interested and create a dialogue of thought on the topic of all things inspirational.

Thanks for listening.

Two major productions, The Finale of WFM Listening Room Series II and Expanding Our Music – A Workshop On Church Solos both produced by yours truly and a major computer crash on my studio unfortunately coming right at the time of an album deadline have completely taken every moment of every day these past two weeks.

Consequently, I have not found the time to write and post.  For this, I am deeply sorry.  I’ve felt like a very special part of my life just went away.

But I’m back!  Productions over.  Computer problems contained.  Deadline within reach.  All is well.

Life of normalcy (whatever that is) returns.

I’ve missed talking with each of you.

Stay tuned…

Thrilling!  That’s the word that keeps coming up.  Absolutely thrilling!  Inspirational music took on new levels of inspiration last night as both Jenny Burton and Chieli Minucci and Friends closed out Series II in majestic form.

As I stood in the back of the room with the Missus and watched and listened and teared-up and danced, I was aware that we had reached, yet again, new heights.  This was an evening to be remembered.  (As if all the others weren’t?)  This was quickly becoming the new standard.

Here were four master musicians (Chieli Minucci, Philip Hamilton, Alan Grubner and Jenny Burton) taking us on rides of wonder, flights of daring, and journeys into the music of their minds revealing places never before visited.  Here was music pouring out of the minds and souls of master musicians – the kind of experiences that make us mere mortals sit in fascination and stand and scream in exhaustion when it’s over. (more…)

“Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.  So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.  Therefore is the name of it called Babel.” – Genesis 11

More and more I’m convinced these days that much of the world’s problems lie in language.  If we all spoke the same language, the world would be a better place.  As human beings we all want basically the same things – a full stomach, a roof over our head, love in our life, a chance to succeed and our freedoms of expression.  Most people who have these things are basically happy.  Happy people don’t make war.  There’s nothing to war about.

I’m trying to keep this simple without being simplistic.  But if this were true…

“And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.” – Genesis 11

…I think we’d be having a much better time of it.  Consider politics.  How many wars have started throughout history because of a misunderstanding of what was said?  My uneducated guess would have to be somewhere around 90%.

“War is what happens when language fails” – Margaret Atwood

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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…)

Tonight I’m speaking to myself as much as with you.  The Missus and I sat in shock last night and looked at each other dumbfounded remarking that something has broken yet again.

It seems like in the past 3 days we’ve gone from one mishap to another.  First this blog site broke – for two days no one could get on to read.  Then that got fixed, but I still couldn’t get on to the back end to post.  That’s been a week now.

Then I had a major disaster in my studio, a place where nothing ever breaks except on rare February 29^th full moons.  I keep a pristine workspace and since I’m the only one who ever engineers the room, everything stays put in its rightful place and the room simply works.  However, a pair of midi converters that were over 20 years old decided to give up the ghost.

I had to replace them and re-think the entire system of literally thousands of midi channels, a 23 hour job and I’m not done yet, but up and running.

Then last night one of our laptops went down.  I won’t bore you with the rest.  You probably got your own troubles.  It seems like all I’ve done for the past three days is to try and figure out technical solutions and my brain is fried.

So last night, two brains fried, the Missus and I sat in shock over a cup of hot chocolate and asked each other, “What’s really going on here?” (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…)

The Philadelphia Orchestra

“A Sad Day for Culture: Philadelphia Orchestra Declares Bankruptcy…“

From: Digital Music News
Monday, April 18, 2011

“There’s a serious debate over where classical music is headed, especially as audiences worldwide continue to gray. Well, cite this as evidence of a demise: over the weekend, the Philadelphia Orchestra decided to declare bankruptcy after years of audience declines.  ”We’re in a state of shock, really,” principal oboist Richard Woodhams told the Associated Press.  ”I think it’s a very, very sad day for culture in the United States and the world.”

A number of problems were cited, the biggest being less butts in symphony hall seats.   The Orchestra received an emotional standing ovation this weekend following the performance of Mahler’s 4th, though even that crowd was thinned.   Now, it’s off to the negotiating table and internal fighting, as unions, management, and even donors are likely to spar.

The big question is whether this 111-year old outfit finds a way to survive. And, what this means for orchestras and classical music worldwide.   The Philadelphia Orchestra is one of the big ones – in fact, it’s one of the “Big Five” in the US.   But it seems that audiences are shifting away from the seriousness and length of classical and operatic works, and simply lacking the patience and appetite from such full-length fare.

Indeed, the more common appetite these days is for bursts of multi-tasked enjoyment, and attention spans are quickly moving south.   Which is bad news for orchestras and their hours-long performances.”

I’m flabbergasted by this tragic news.  This is my favorite orchestra in the world – an orchestra that I’ve seen and heard play countless times and every time thrilled to their musicianship and inspired playing.

What is wrong with us as a human race that we are getting so small-minded that we can’t support one of the great music institutions in the world?  I blame it on television.  It’s dumbed us down until we cannot sit and pay attention to anything that doesn’t give us a commercial break.  It has taught us that we cannot hold our attention to anything longer than an hour.

It’s a sad day for American culture and just one more step down the ladder for American leadership in the arts, American civility and American maturity.

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