Publishing a simple song that’s been sitting in my inbox for many weeks, as the fall flurry of activity has ruled out any attempt at quite creative time. Finally finished this one only by getting out of town for a few days!

 

 Flurry [3:36m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Jason and I will again be playing a half hour of music preceding Placer Nature Center’s great 4th Friday Lecture series.  It’s tomorrow, 23 October, music starting at 7PM followed at 7:30 by a speaker from the California Environmental Legacy Project.

Our set will include our eclectic selection of tunes spanning rock (from Jean-Luc Ponty), jazz (Pat Metheny), and contemporary bluegrass (Ira Stein, Darol Anger), but also will be heavy on our own material.  We’ll play a duet version of Off the Path from my album of the same name, and engage Jason’s new looping system for some unusual time-shifted improvisation on Girl That Broke My Heart and other spontaneous melodies.

I’ll contribute a copy of Off the Path to the raffle, so with luck you can fulfill your aural, environmental, and charitable senses all at one place.  Join us!

I realized as I was saving today’s podcast to a file that this date one year ago marked the first entry in my Spontaneous Reflections podcast.  Nice to look back and see regular progress and variety in the 35 improvisations I posted in the first year.  Off the Path, the album collecting the best of the fall 2008, continues to be dear to my heart, but I think there are some real gems since then as well.  You might detect a bit more rock influence lately in some of my favorites such as “Dry Hot Long Ago.”

I’m almost ready to start collecting them into album #2 – watch for it, and grab the free versions off my podcast while they are still available!

Most of my song names relate to a feeling or event in my life at the time I name and save the file (how’s that for a hard deadline!) and today’s was no exception - “A Year Gone By” fit both the occasion and the tone of the piece.  Enjoy!

P.S. keep those comments coming!  Each one motivates me to share more…

Choosing the simplest of chord progressions and melodies and challenging them to soar.

 

 A Year Gone By [2:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Experimental improvisation with looping, with guest artist Jason Marsh, using his new hardware/software system for multiplying the sonic presence of a solo violin into an orchestrated live performance.

 

 Spice Islands [5:09m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The whole family was scattered this year, each on their own summer adventure. Makes the homecoming all that more sweet!

 

 Coming Home [3:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Inspired by Independence Day and Mary Baker Eddy’s renewal of Paul’s call: “Citizens of the world, accept the ‘glorious liberty of the children of God,’ and be free!” (Recorded 5 July 2009)

 

 Children Of The Free World [2:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Think the long horizontal geographies of a meandering waterway, a view punctuated with multitudinous vertical manifestations of life.

 

 Grand Expanse [2:38m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Played on the first scorching day of summer, harking back to the sweltering days of years gone by, and to the hope of the heat breaking under a late August thunderstorm.

 

 Dry Hot Long Ago [3:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Off the Path is now available for retail sale at the High Hand Gallery in Loomis.  I had given them a copy to play in the gallery and apparently had a number of inquiries about it – so now they have a stock of albums for sale.  My first retail outlet!  Deanna is a member of the gallery cooperative, and there are some amazing other artists showing there as well – my current favorite is Foothills by Merle Serlin.  Drop by, stroll the amazing gardens, have a top-notch lunch in the conservatory, enjoy the gallery, and pick up one of my CDs as well.

Have a gallery or other outlet near you that you think would be an appropriate retail outlet?  Let me know, I’m looking for more ways to share!

Starts as a great conversation should - with a simple question.

 

 Do You Think So? [3:47m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

My first album Off the Path has been available from iTunes and Amazon for a while now, and I’m very pleased to finally be able to make CDs available as well!  My first shipment came in and looks pretty good – the printing on the CD and sleeve look great and of course the CD has slightly higher quality sound than a (compressed) MP3.  I’ve enabled Paypal payments, and look forward to filling my first orders!

I even have an introductory offer for you – for a limited time I’ll ship it anywhere in the US for a penny.  (That sounds generous but I really just have yet to determine my actual shipping and handling costs…)

Off the Path makes a great gift, especially in CD form.  Many people find it a more tangible, and more widely accessible format than MP3 downloads.

If you have any questions or problems, don’t hesitate to let me know!

Wrapped up alone in the sounds of the first warm summer nights.

 

 Solamente [4:51m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

At last, my album Off the Path has appeared for download sales on iTunes and Amazon stores!

If you purchase, or already have my album or podcast and like it, I strongly encourage you to leave a review or rating on one or both of these sites, which will help raise my profile and help me gain a larger audience.  And tell your friends too!

Still working on providing direct sales of CDs from this site – stay tuned.

I’ve volunteered to play some live music for the popular Loomis Art Loop, Sunday afternoon 10th May starting after noon sometime and continuing for a couple of hours.  A perfect time to bring a picnic, enjoy the music, acres of blooming iris gardens, and see some of the new work created by local artists (including new tapestries by Deanna Marsh and jewelry by Doug Horton).