Happy New Year 2022!

You’ve probably noticed I haven’t been active much over the last 2 years. I can’t quite put my finger on it, and I’m loath to admit it, but I think this pandemic nonsense has taken a bit of a toll on me creatively, and I’m just starting to come out of it. 

I’ve always believed and tried to embody the notion that living in fear is not what we’re all here for, even during a dangerous time like this rampant virus. And while I haven’t felt particularly fearful, I think there’s been what I would call a worldwide fear vibe that I’ve been affected by.

But, not this year. I think it’s time for me to grab on to things that give me joy and run with them; one of those joyous things is making and sharing art, and hopefully adding something positive to what I like to call the “global pool of goodness.”

I hope each of you find and hold on to the things that bring you joy in this new year.

Happy new Year 2019!

Here’s to a great new year. But before we get there, here’s a final track from 2018 to set an upbeat and happy mood for the new year.

This is my fifth respray of a Mannheim Steamroller track, called Four Rows of Jacks (M31 Winter Solstice Respray). I pre-released this on December 21st, 2018’s Winter Solstice; it’s now available on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, and CDBaby.

If you are a Mannheim Steamroller fan, you know that Four Rows of Jacks is from their winter-themed album Fresh Aire IV.

Ever since I heard this album (back in the mid ‘80s) it seemed odd to me to have such an upbeat and energetic track on an album about winter. However, for me, even though winter can often be bleak and cold and depressing, this track is well-placed, since I believe it captures the essence of playing out in freshly-fallen snow, which really does bring out the child in all of us.

You may be wondering about the title — Four Rows of Jacks. It is a reference (I believe) to the component of a harpsichord (the main instrument in this track) called a "jack", which is part of the mechanism that plucks the string to make the instrument's distinctive sound.

My hope is this track will provide you some energy and excitement to get you through the post-holiday doldrums and the dark days of midwinter.

Out Now: An M31 Christmas

I love Christmas music. For the last 8 years, I’ve produced a Christmas track each year and sent it to family and friends, as a “musical Christmas card” of sorts, and I’ve also shared them on my Soundcloud account. This year, I’m excited to announce that I’m releasing all of them, together with three new tracks, on November 23rd, as an album titled An M31 Christmas.

An M31 Christmas has been 8 years in the making. There are unique stories behind each of the tracks that I’ve included on the album, and I’ll be sharing some of those stories on my blog

You can find the album on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon Music, etc. If you’d like a CD, you can get them from CDBaby.

I hope that you enjoy this Christmas music as much as I enjoyed making it.

September 21, 2018: Omnia Vanitas

My fourth respray of a Mannheim Steamroller track is “Omnia Vanitas (Aequinoctium Autumni Respray),” and it’s out on the day of Fall (Autumnal) Equinox 2018.

While Prelude & Chocolate Fudge were the first two Mannheim Steamroller songs I learned to play when I was 14, The Ugly Head of Greed and Pride (Doors 2 and 3 in the Fresh Aire II Fantasia) were the next ones.

But, my original cover of these two songs was released with my first album “The Mighty Have Fallen”, and the cover’s full title is Omnia Vanitas (Superbia Exercitus Reducere). On that album, which is about the seven deadly sins, Omnia Vanitas represented the deadly sin of Pride.

This track is a respray of that first cover I did; a respray of the respray I guess you could say...if you know what I mean. My intent for this latest respray was to simplify the track’s arrangement, shorten it up, and improve the overall mix quality. And, I also wanted to add the vocals that were in Mannheim Steamroller’s original. It is me you’re hearing, for the first time. And I will say, singing vocals is really hard; I have much respect for you vocalists out there.

The vocals are in the style of a Latin medieval chant, and the lyrics are take from Psalm 94:2 and the last part of that same Psalm,
verse 13:

Exaltare, qui judicas terram; redde retributionem superbis.
...donec fodiatur peccatori fovea.

Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud.
...Until the pit be digged for the wicked.

Here’s a Spotify playlist with my respray/mashup, together with the two Fresh Aire II tracks that are it’s inspiration: The Ugly Head of Greed, and Pride.

July 2018: Midnight On a Full Moon

July 27, 2018

My re-spray of another Mannheim Steamroller classic, Midnight On a Full Moon, is out now. It was appropriately and officially released at midnight on July 27th, 2018.

Many years ago, when I was much younger, I was an avid water skier (notice I said avid, but not expert; I was never really good but I enjoyed the sport). We used to go at least once a week after I finished my day job, to a local reservoir, and at least once a year to Lake Powell.

At one such trip to Lake Powell, a full moon lit the perfectly smooth water. Even though we weren’t supposed to, we went out and skied on the glass. What a rush!

The perfect soundtrack for that experience was Mannheim Steamroller’s Midnight On a Full Moon; lots of energy to add to the adrenaline of water skiing on glass illuminated by a full moon.  

As the third re-spray, I originally did this one back in 2012. In MS’s original, the track ends with a lot of night sounds: crickets and other creatures. I decided I wanted to start the re-spray off with that, and I also added the cricket from Fresh Aire III’s The Cricket, as a rhythmic motif. And, since I worked on much of this during the height of the Dubstep craze, the the toy piano break seemed like it could be re-imagined in a dubstepp-y sort of way, so that’s what I did. I also added an original post-break section just to give the re-spray an additional M31 touch.

Here’s a spotify playlist with my re-spray of Midnight On a Full Moon, and Mannheim Steamroller’s original recording.

June 2018: Toccata

June 21, 2018

This is the one. Mannheim Steamroller’s Toccata is the track that hooked me. When I was 13, sitting in the dentist’s chair, he asked me if I wanted to listen to some music while I got my teeth cleaned. Being the music lover that I was, I said yes, and the dentist put on some tunes.

What I heard next: mind blown. Up until this time, most of the music I listened to was classical. I had not been exposed to any electronic keyboards/synthesizers at all. The beginning arpeggio sequence, the phat bassline, the rock drums, and the hard-panned lead synthesizers all had me. But what was totally unexpected but completely awesome was the baroque harpsichord and recorder that came in after all the wonderful electronica.

It is that juxtaposition of modern and classical that made me a fan for life. And when I started to produce music, Toccata was the first MS track I wanted to cover.

I started working on Toccata in 2011. At that time I finally figured out the time signature of the main sections: 5/4! (I’d tried to figure the song out when I was in high school, but I couldn’t ever quite put my finger on the time signature.)

This, of course, poses a problem if you’re wanting to produce a traditional House/Trance rendition, since tracks in those genres are always in 4/4. And to complicate that, the recorder/harpsichord section is in 6/8!

I decided I wanted to really preserve the essence of Steamroller’s original recording, so I bookended it with straight-ahead 4/4 intro and outro.

So here it is: a Spotify playlist with my cover of Toccata, and also Mannheim Steamroller’s original recording.

March 2018: Preludium & Chocolat Mousse

March 15, 2018

The first Mannheim Steamroller song I ever heard was when I was 13. It was Toccata from Fresh Aire III, while I was in the dentist’s office chair. But, when I heard Prelude & Chocolate Fudge from their first album, I was really hooked. I loved the classical feel of Prelude, and then was blown away by the rock-influenced rock feel of Chocolate Fudge.

After listening to Fresh Aire I and II almost exclusively for several months, I wondered if there was sheet music for this. I really really wanted to play this stuff. I wrote to Mannheim Steamroller’s label, American Gramaphone, and in a couple of weeks, I had the sheet music, and that was the beginning of it all.

Since getting back into music in 2010, after a many-year hiatus, one of the first things I wanted to do was create my own takes on these classic Mannheim Steamroller tracks, really for two reasons: first, in honor of their influence on me as an artist and musician, and second, I really wanted to provide some sort of way to draw current music listeners back to Mannheim Steamroller’s timeless and singular works.

Preludium & Chocolat Mousse is actually the fourth re-spray I’ve done of Mannheim Steamroller music, but the first one I’ve formally released. This one, after a proper rendition (with some electronic instrumentation enhancements) of Prelude, is a drum ‘n bass take on Chocolate Fudge.

Here's a Spotify playlist with my re-spray Preludium & Chocolat Mousse, and Mannheim Steamroller's originals, Prelude & Chocolate Fudge.

Christmas 2017: Pat-A-Pan

My interest in this Christmas carol started when I heard Mannheim Steamroller’s version on their third Christmas Album "Christmas in the Aire." The main melody is very catchy, and I love the renaissance feel of their arrangement, and in fact, I’ve included a bit of it as a tribute to their take.

Pat-A-Pan was composed and lyrics written by a French lawyer and poet named Bernard de la Monnoye, in 1720. Its story revolves around the nativity of Jesus Christ from the perspective of shepherds, playing flutes and drums, the lyrical sound of the latter being where this carol gets its name, Pat-A-Pan.

(There is another carol about drums, "The Little Drummer Boy," which, I must confess, is not one of my favorites. However, since my mom does like "Drummer Boy," I’ve included melodic motifs from it: see if you can find them.)

The original lyrics to Pat-A-Pan were written in Burgundian, a dialect of French. Here, I’ve included the English translation:

"Willie, take your little drum, Robin take your flute and come!
When we hear the right we will sing Noel this night,
When we hear the fife and drum, Christmas should be frolicsome."

"Thus the men of olden days for the King of Kings to praise,
When they heard the fife and drum, ture-lure-lu, pata-pata-pan,
When they hear the fife and drum, sure, our children won't be dumb."

"God and man are now become more at one than fife and drum.
When you hear the fife and drum, ture-lure-lu, pata-pata-pan,
When you hear the fife and drum, dance and make the village hum."

Christmas 2016: Born on a new day

I first saw The King’s Singers in 2008 where they performed a Christmas concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I was so blown away by their performance, particularly their performance of a song called Born On A New Day, that the next day I bought their album titled Christmas.

Born On A New Day was originally written in 1992 and titled You Are The New Day. This original version didn’t really have any connection to Christmas. In 2000, Philip Lawson, one of the baritones for The King’s Singers, rewrote the lyrics as a Christmas song, and it became one of the King’s Singers’ biggest successes.

When I started my tradition of doing Christmas songs back in 2011, I made a list of the dozen or so that I wanted to do, and this song was one of the first I added. In this arrangement, I wanted to preserve the tight harmonies that exist in the original version by the King’s Singers. And because of the ethereal nature of my arrangement, I slowed the tempo down from the original a bit so I could preserve the rich chord structure and progressions.

Born On A New Day has become one of my favorite modern-era Christmas songs. The lyrics capture the essence of what Christmas is and what Christ has done for humankind, and its all set on a wonderfully lush tonal foundation.
 

You are the new day,
You are the new day.
Meekness, love, humility

Come down to us this day:
Christ, your birth has proved to me
You are the new day.

Quiet in a stall you lie,
Angels watching in the sky
Whisper to you from on high
"You are the new day".

When our life is darkest night,
Hope has burned away;
Love, your ray of guiding light,
Show us the new day.

Love of all things great and small
Leaving none, embracing all,
Fold around me where I fall,
Bring in the new day.

This new day will be
A turning point for everyone.
If we let the Christ-child in, and
Reach for the new day.

Christ the Way, the Truth, the Life;
Healing sadness, ending strife;
You we welcome, Lord of life,
Born on a new day.
You are the new day

Christmas 2015:
Gloucestershire Wassail

December 12, 2015

I'm early this year! This year's Christmas remix is a bit different....

I find that Gloucestershire Wassail perfectly captures many of the elements of the Christmas season; the feelings of excitement and joy, the time to gather as family and friends to celebrate the joyous event that is the birth of Jesus Christ.

The English custom of “wassailing,” or visiting the leading households in the village on Christmas Eve with a decorated wooden bowl, and singing a wassailing song, apparently began in early 19th Century England. (The “wassail” custom actually has a much earlier origin, but doing it at Christmastime began in the 1800s.) Different villages in Gloucestershire used different tunes with various different lyrics. However, the most well-known version (the one we hear today) was popularized by Ralph Vaughn Williams in 1928. He used the tune from the version popular in Pembroke, Heretfordshire, and gathered the lyrics from William Bayless and Isaac Bennett, both residents of Gloucestershire. There are many variations to the lyrics, and traditionally there are ten verses. Here are the first four:

Wassail! wassail! all over the town,
Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown;
Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree;
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee.

Here's to our horse, and to his right ear,
God send our master a happy new year:
A happy new year as e'er he did see,
With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee.

So here is to Cherry and to his right cheek
Pray God send our master a good piece of beef
And a good piece of beef that may we all see
With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee.

Here's to our mare, and to her right eye,
God send our mistress a good Christmas pie;
A good Christmas pie as e'er I did see,
With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee.

This year’s song is my take on this traditional English carol, inspired by the joy and energy of original, with a modern-day electronic twist.

Christmas 2014:
Some Children See Him

December 23, 2014

This year's Christmas carol remix is Some Children See Him, by Alfred Burt. 

Listen and Download

I first heard Some Children See Him on George Winston’s album December. His version is without lyrics, so for years I was unaware that it actually had words, and unaware of this Christmas song’s history.

Some Children See Him was written in 1951 by Alfred Burt, with words by Wilha Hutson. Years earlier, Burt’s father, a pastor of an Episcopal church in Michigan, started a tradition of writing a musical Christmas card to family and friends, the words and music written by himself. Soon however, he asked his son to provide the musical settings for his words.

After Burt’s father died, Alfred asked friend Wilha Hutson to provide the words, and the tradition continued in his father’s honor, but the carols were unknown outside the Burt’s mailing list.

The carols were finally recorded in 1954. Some Children See Him appeared on that first recording, and since then, several musicians have recorded their own version. George Winston, Kenny Loggins, and James Taylor have all provided their renditions of this carol.

M-THEORY PART II: HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY

March 1, 2014

The second M-Theory EP is now available on CDBaby, iTunes, Amazon, and other online music retailers.

This EP is, obviously, inspired by the hilarious Douglas Adams series Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Any project that purports to be inspired by science fiction literature would not be complete without a wink and nod at Hitchhiker's Guide.

Adams' humor is so delightfully bizarre, and there are so many bits in the books that I wanted to make a song about, that I had a really hard time narrowing it down to three or four moments. Whales and petunias, dolphins, flying by throwing yourself at the ground and missing, tea towels, bank managers...you can see what kind of tall task it might be.

But here's what I ended up with.

The tracks on this EP are:

• Dont Panic

• 42

• Restaurant At The End Of The Universe

The series started out as a BBC radio program in 1979. Adams eventually developed this into a 5-book series (a sixth book, And Another Thing... was something Adams had always intended to write, since he felt Mostly Harmless was too bleak. Eoin Colfer was commissioned to write And Another Thing... in 2009).

The BBC also aired a television series in 1981, and in 2005, a major motion picture was released, with the title character of Arthur Dent played by Martin Freeman (of Sherlock and The Hobbit fame).

M-Theory: Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy is my tribute to this fantastic science fiction series.