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Being an Oakland Public School  teacher and a citizen of this great world of ours, I have the  opportunity to know and love lots of folks. Sometimes I meet somebody  who takes a whole lot of contemplation to get to a place where that love  can flow. Gemini Blues comes from a place of real dissonance &  upset. But like music so often does, it heals as it comes up, and in the  container that is this song, I found space for all of it - all the  feelings from the friction to the love. Are you bad or full of grace?  Yes. Like all of us.
 

Creating  music is how I process things. Often a song will work its way into the  world way after the event. I am always amazed by consciousness and how  so much goes on, often seemingly without my realizing it. My song  "Poncho" is a perfect example of this. It was a year after it happened  and it was quarantine time. Life got really quiet and all of a sudden,  this song leapt to the forefront in all of its post traumatic, humorous  glory.

This  story is 100% true. It tells the story of a day when I was on tour in  New Orleans. We had a day off to explore, and the band met up with some  friends to go on an adventure. One of those friends did something so  unexpected that later the experience bubbled back up, I put myself in  her shoes and wrote this song.

Tarika and I had a flash of inspiration one day after teaching at West  Oakland Middle School. We were really happy with the rehearsal we’d just  had with the Big Band because, well, teaching is awesome. Don’t let  anyone tell you differently. It rocks. People can live long, happy lives  being teachers. But I digress. Umbrella People is a celebration of  those people in our world who love and shelter others. People who  provide safety, and create spaces where others can thrive. These people  are everywhere. Good people doing good things and looking out for other  people. This song was created for the Earth Day Celebration at Mosswood  Park on April 22, 2023.
 

The very first band I ever played in was way back when I was 11 or 12. I played violin in a quartet with my friends A'da and her brothers Aaron and Kimara. This song came over me when  A'da passed away and I realized I'd never get to hang with her again. Only A' Dream Away had the great joy of being featured as the soundtrack for the film of A'da's life shown at Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland, Ca. 

I hope you enjoy this song of magic, remembering and love. 

Making music with my friend Rachel is one of my favorite things in life.  On a recent trip up to Portland we got down to the business of Nightsky Mind. Fresh off our gig creating the soundtrack to "Venus Underwater" we were ready to create something new. Something from scratch. And here it is...In The Roux!  I hope you enjoy this swampy sonic brew of bubbling dreams, wooden spoons, and swirling incantation. "Agent of thickening heals the world’s sickening." Oh yeah! From us to you, In The Roux is  our wish for a better world. 

During the quarantine I fell in love with with Thomas Merton. 

Truly, madly, head over heels in love. I read, watched, listened to everything that I could find.  I even traveled  to Kentucky to visit the places where he lived, taught, and  had his epiphany. Something about Thomas Merton struck chord a chord in me that is still ringing. And in the ringing of this chord, came this song....

Welcome to my song of personal triumph! This tune comes from back when I was in college getting my BA in music. The music department was largely focused on Classical music. I had a violin teacher who really loved the student who had her lesson before me, and he always told me all about her amazingly fast trill and her precocious adventures in classical repertoire. One day as he went on and on about her working on a piece by Paganini, I remember feeling defeated. I heard myself thinking, "I can't even play a song written by Paganini's fetus." But instead of letting myself get knocked down, this song bubbled up and became my anthem. Maybe I'm not fired up to play the classics...but I'm definitely all about creating and becoming, and supporting the people around me by not comparing them to others. We are all beautiful flowers in the garden of life! Enjoy this track that comes from the album "Blips of Lucidity."

Rachel says it best herself: "I'm  very proud to share with you today, marking another year around the Sun  for me, this new 5- track album. Not just because I think it’s a  fabulous collection of songs, but also because as a new mother of a  freshly turned 1 year old, it celebrates honoring and continuing the  flow. It celebrates that, even when exhausted or unsure, accepting the  challenge and saying, “yes, I will continue to create”. These tracks  have grown with me as I continue to grow and process and become  better every day, musically and spiritually. In my experience, living  within the feeling of regret can be a very heavy and lonely place. But  we are not unique nor alone in these feelings, and I think there’s a  healing power in recognizing that. Hence the title, “Common Regrets”."

I loved adding strings to her amazing solo work. Rachel rocks.

I woke up today thinking about the world and how things feel really crazy in lots of ways. And then I remembered reading "One Hundred Years of Solitude." I was so moved by the story that I wrote the song "Tied To The Madness Tree." The song is about how madness exists but sometimes, within the madness there are things we can do to help ourselves. And in my case, way back when, when I wrote the song - I realized that not only did I plant my own madness tree, I tied myself to it. And so here's to all of us finding ways to untie ourselves from uncomfortable binds.