“One thing is to fall in love with a woman. Another thing is to fall in love with life. A woman might leave you. Life would never leave you. Because you can drop the body, but you can come back again, and you’re still… Life is eternal, forever. So, you know, to me, Sketches of Spainis that kind of eternal romance.”
The song “Trumpet Guitars” (from [cref mmix-2009-the-new-album mMix]) was originally called, “Post Sketches of Spain.” I’d had a beautiful first evening with a singer/actress. We played standards read from my first “Real Book” and laughed ourselves silly. (Yes, I know, not so rock ‘n’ rock.) Then we put on that album, Sketches of Spain, with Miles’ trumpet playing the guitar lines from Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez.” The rest is in the song. The woman is no longer in my life, but the album is eternal.
I also have set up a place for the Custom Songs work that I do right here on the site, rather than exclusively on Gift-of-Song.com. The new home for the custom songs has a much easier questionnaire to get your project started. It’s been a joy to create these songs for people and I hope you’ll be interested in hearing them. It’s a great way to give an extraordinarily unique and personal gift, while also supporting yours truly.
Check out the Custom Songs link in the right hand column to find out more and listen to the songs.
Photos so far. In Poona right now. Internet is slow, but I’ll post more when we get to the next stop and hopefully with more info. I also have some video of my joining the Indian classical musicians onstage in a concert in Kerala.
These are the acknowledgments for the new disc. All of you who bought CDs online by Monday are named on the package!
Thanks to Joanne Daly, Steven Simko, Mikel Healy, Dan Hersch, Kenny Burrell for way too much, Mom and Sis, Leo and Geri Branton, Buddy Collette, Lillian, Remy and all the Almirante-Pinzon-Manzella clan, my Leimert Park family, the folk music community across the country, especially the Kerrville and Kulak’s crowd.
My gratitude to Ruth, Amber, Betsy, Holly, Walter, James, Bob, Beth, Ginny, Ove, Valerie, Lola, John, Bili, CA, CAB and Alex for online support. Also to the audiences at the Neighborhood Cup & Mikel’s Studio for buying this before it was even done!
Thank you to my first few presale buyers: Ruth, Amber, Betsy, Holly, Walter and James! I’ve been sending the download after I get an order and Betsy emailed me this:
Jason, the new CD is absolutely FANTASTIC. Your best yet & that’s saying a lot. Your lyrics are so open, honest, joyful…….your lyrics are you, you are your lyrics. Your voice is so expressive – true to each song & an invitation to listen, mesmerizing. Each track is a gem……the music itself moves me, makes me feel like dancing in gratitude. Thanks for helping to meet those needs for mystery, wonder & love….thanks for you. I haven’t stopped listening since I downloaded it – looking forward to the actual copies & want to somehow tell others how great it is – how best to do that?
I thought that was pretty nice. I know it’s rather immodest to post notes of praise that people send me, but, honestly, as a one man operation, one has to let the positive show. And I like how she asked what she could do to spread the word. I’m a quarter of the way to my goal, so I’d like everyone’s help in reaching it by Monday, for CDs to be ready next Friday. Two dozen discs is not so audacious of a hope! :-) So please ask your friends to buy a copy or two. And I know there’s someone out there that would like to buy a dozen for gifts.
I heard this today.
