Arise

Arise is something I wrote in 2020, during the pandemic, in an attempt to communicate a message of hope both to the world and also to myself. It was such a devastating time in so many ways, and this piece was very cathartic for me to write. The process of creating it reassured me that I hadn’t lost everything; I could still make something beautiful and put it into the world such as the world was then. It actually gave me confidence that I and we all could arise from the confusing abyss we were all in during that period.

I love the music of Ennio Morricone, especially his score for “The Mission” and Morten Lauridsen, especially his “O Magnum Mysterium.” I wrote and produced this with their styles in mind. So far, the only thing written out for Arise is a separate standalone piano arrangement that I play from time to time. Everything in this track is realized with sampled sounds. Rob Beaton’s mastering really made the track sparkle and gave it so much more depth. Someday, I may write an actual choir arrangement and full orchestration, but for now this piece exists as it is.

Posted on June 6, 2024 .

With Her

I wrote With Her in 1990 for my girlfriend when I lived in San Jose, California. I always loved The Pat Metheny Group and the aesthetic, sensibility and keyboard playing of Lyle Mays. I had been listening to their album “Travels” a lot during that period of my life and was trying to write a ballad in that style. I was also playing keyboards in a band with friends from college, and we were writing and playing music in a Metheny style and played this tune a few times on some local gigs.

I worked on it more at times in the Spring of 1991 while attending The Dick Grove School of Music in Los Angeles and recorded it for the first time there; a solo piano version in the 24-track studio they had at the school.

Life continued that year, the girlfriend and I got married, and two of my friends in that band played this as my then fiancé walked down the aisle and became my wife. She was effervescent; it was a lovely day and we’ve been married since. There she is in the photo looking out over The Seine.

This piece like many others I have in my vault (actually just a manilla file folder) has been thought of, worked on, put away, brought back, re-invorgorated, re-worked, re-conceived only for me to happily return it to mostly how I originally wrote it.

The trajectory of this piece to this point sort of mirrors a relationship and the myriad changes it can go through while still containing and preserving that original beautiful thing you started with. Musically over all that time, I’ve refined the voicings, added some new inner lines, molded the piano arrangement and added an ending I like.

So here it is, to join the world.

Posted on June 4, 2024 .