I was driving along this morning thinking about creating a new form of music, as one does, and remembering that the Beatles, and other British bands of that era took American black R’nB and played it to white audiences in Europe and America who’d never heard it before. With that thought in mind, I pulled up outside Garden Gourment on Broadway in the Bronx, and heard amazingly loud and fantastically wonderful music emanating from a white Acura parked across the street. (As an old boy with damaged hearing from playing saxophone in soul bands in London in the 60’s it never ceases to amaze me at the volumes young people listen to music within the confined space of the cabin of their cars – Ciaran McLaughlin of That Petrol Emotion told me that in their latter days they used to play with earplugs in and their audiences would listen to them similarly equipped.)

I walked over and from a distance of some 20 feet, used the SoundHound app on my iPhone to record the track, and it was Aventura’s Hermanita and Romeo Skit (live) from the album K.O.B. live. I asked the young man in the car, if my iPhone had picked up the track correctly and confirmed that it had. He said that Aventura were “like the Beatles” and told me that they were born in the Bronx in Dominican Republic families.

When I related the story to Alexei, my 25 year old son, he said, let me guess …… was it Aventura? Wikipedia says they were “self-taught and determined to break into the music industry, Aventura made their big break in 1999, with the hopes of breaking Dominican bachata music out from its traditional base and fuse it withmodern popular sounds like hip hop and R&B.” I hear reggae there too.

I laid out $20 for their album K.O.B. live on Amazon and it sounds great value for money.

Check them out.

Music Aventura, crossover

“Still Bill,” a Bill Withers documentary: newyorker.com.

Clear the mind, Music, Subtle knowledge

check it out: http://www.maniacworld.com/bird-loves-ray-charles.html

and why wouldn’t he?

Mood change through music, Music music appreciation, taste and discernment

any thoughts on this please? With good type it could work. On the other hand, is it to ‘in your face’?

Group logo, Music logo for The Cool Fire

Love adorns itself;

it seeks to prove inward joy by outward beauty.

~

Love does not claim possession,

but gives freedom.

Love is an endless mystery,

for it has nothing else to explain it.

~

Love’s gift cannot be given,

it waits to be accepted.

We’d love some music to go with this poem

Mood change through music, Music, request for music to accompany poem

I Wonder if I Know Him

by Rabindranath Tagore

I wonder if I know him
In whose speech is my voice,
In whose movement is my being,
Whose skill is in my lines,
Whose melody is in my songs
In joy and sorrow.

I thought he was chained within me,
Contained by tears and laughter,
Work and play.

I thought he was my very self
Coming to an end with my death.
Why then in a flood of joy do I feel him
In the sight and touch of my beloved?

This I beyond self I found
On the shores of the shining sea.
Therefore I know
This’I’ is not imprisoned within my bounds.

Losing myself, I find him
Beyond the borders of time and space.
Through the Ages
I come to know his Shining Self
In the Iife of the seeker,
In the voice of the poet.

From the dark clouds pour the rains.
I sit and think:
Bearing so many forms, so many names,
I come down, crossing the threshold
Of countless births and deaths.

The Supreme undivided, complete in himself,
Embracing past and present,
Dwells in Man.
Within Him I shall find myself -
The I that reaches everywhere.

Music, request for music to accompany poem

Go not to the temple to put flowers upon the feet of God,
First fill your own house with the Fragrance of love…

Go not to the temple to light candles before the altar of God,
First remove the darkness of sin from your heart…

Go not to the temple to bow down your head in prayer,
First learn to bow in humility before your fellowmen…

Go not to the temple to pray on bended knees,
First bend down to lift someone who is down-trodden. ..

Go not to the temple to ask for forgiveness for your sins,
First forgive from your heart those who have sinned against you.

The Cool Fire would love to put music to this, can anyone help please?

Mood change through music, Music, request for music to accompany poem

February 8, 2009

Words cannot express the joy that I felt on Wed night, how strong the vibrations were, how ‘magical’ the whole evening was.

Many miracles happened – we were set up and ready to shoot way before anyone ever normally is – with plenty of time to eat and enjoy the company before the actual shoot!  This was even with complicated audio! The ‘early’ crew – mainly Lonnie and Nive were amazing and just flowing – as was the QPTV staff.  And uniquely, I actually turned down crew – more people than needed showed up and a few even stayed behind to listen.

So thank you for the beautiful music and evening!

I so look forward to doing it again.

I will now book time in the next few weeks to do the editing. Once the show is complete I will have dvds made for you all to have.

Lots of love,
Stephanie (QPTV Producer)

Music, The Cool Fire gigs

Feb 7, 2009

Dear Stephanie,

Thank you very much for your very kind e-mail.

I would like to share with all of you that the music, the songs, the joy, inspiring, rithmic and very energetic songs, some of them different languages yet each of them reached my heart with overall wonderful performances by the musicians.

I had had to get up 5 a.m.,and had a very little sleep.. and it was the same for this morning.. and I was very tired when I arrived at the QPTV studio. In fact,  I dragged myself there because I’d promised you..

To make this short, on the way back home, I regained my energy, and when I arrived home, even my son was trying to go to sleep (12 years old), we played a little bit. And he turned to me: “Mom, usually when you come home around this time, you are very tired. What changed your mood this evening?”

I explained to him about the taping at QPTV, the content of the program and the joy and beauty of the music..

About 15-20 min. later, my son expressed this: “Mom, really this music has changed your mood.”

Overall, it was one of the joyful and inspirational taping as well as meeting with Canan, Arda, Jennier, Jane, and all other talents and guests was wonderful.. Thank you so much for such a program and I was pleased that I was part of its production.

Thanks again

Bircan

Mood change through music, Music