|
Musicians are magicians, but not all of us do magic for the same reason. I play music to project and effect a heightened state of consciousness, to the best of my somewhat limited technical ability. But, as one of my teachers observed, passion and enthusiasm can make up for the limits of skill and talent, and so I hope you will accept these humble musical offerings in the participatory spirit in which they have been created: that none of us should go to the grave with our songs unsung. May this music inspire you to express your own highest aspirations.
I have been playing piano ever since I was tall enough to reach the keys. I have always been totally fascinated with pianos, but have always been too lazy, intimidated, or busy to take lessons, so I have evolved a style that I would call folk piano. Imagine people sitting around a campfire, playing their pianos and singing songs.....
I took up saxophone in my teens from a love for the big band music of the thirties and forties, then got my mind blown by Ornette Coleman and Jerry Garcia. I have never played sax commercially, but have played informally with many guitarists and drum circles through the years. I also play hand drums, in part because it seems rude to play saxophone all the time in such contexts. As W.C. Fields once remarked, A gentleman is somebody who can play the saxophone and doesn't. So I am a gentleman some of the time.
I have always loved to sing but only recently, with the help of a voice instructor, have I figured out how to consistently sing at least passably. Before that, I had some horribly embarrassing moments.
Sometimes the electric keyboard is merely to provide the appearance of bass, drum, and organ accompaniment, but sometimes I do like to take full advantage of the possibilities of modern electronics.
So this band is called Brother Martin and the Intangibles, in part because I am the only tangible member of the band. I enjoy playing music with others but haven't been able to figure out how to play saxophone and piano and sing my best all at the same time! Someday, perhaps, a solution will present itself......
Meanwhile, I would be happy to play acoustic piano (and occasionally sing) in a tobacco-free Amsterdam-style coffeehouse...similar venues will be considered. Make me an offer!.
ABOUT THE MUSIC
hope you enjoy the new music!...the songs that were taken off, plus cover songs that can't be featured on Myspace, are available at my website
.
SANSKRIT BUBBLE GUM-- "What IS Sanskrit Bubblegum?" you ask--I must quote my favorite Muslim cleric, the renowned Mullah Nasruddin, who said, apropos something similar--"For those who understand, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not understand, no explanation will suffice."
FREE FROM YOU did not start out to be a political song...but...could it be that there's somebody who "won every argument/won every fight" that we're mostly mighty glad to be free from? Huh?
EYE PAINT THE BODY ELECTRIC is another installment on the Music For Body Painting" album...."something about you/you and infinity"--thank you, Robyn Hitchcock..You can find the rest of the finished tracks under "instrumentals" at my main website .
ECHOES OF A VASTER ERA recalls a time when this planet seemed much larger than it does now...i believe that time will come again, probably sooner than we might think.
NUMBER ONE WITH A BULLET has finally been retired from this website, and the "crazy blue-eyed clown" has been replaced by a reassuring mulatto, but ol' Number One can still be found at my main website. In its place, we have TERRORISTS IN THE HEARTLAND, which was inspired by the Kingston, TN coal ash spill. The photos of the spill that you can see in the slideshow were provided by United Mountain Defense Fund, which can be found on the web at www.unitedmountaindefensefund.org
MAGIC REVOLUTIONARY is an English-language song in the Qawwali tradition of Nusrat Fateh Khan, but with a Vajrayana Buddhist rather than Sufi orientation. Vajrapani, invoked in the chorus is a form of Buddha who purifies people through powerful jolts, which is my understanding of what was happening back in the sixties. Certainly those who have not taken their 60's lessons to heart have had to pay a steep price!
Since we can now have up to ten songs on Myspace, I have put PRETTY PEGGY back in the lineup. I like her too much not to show her off!
ALL THAT IS SOLID MELTS INTO LIGHT is the final track to be completed for "Music for Body Painting." Now all I gotta do is put 'em in the right order. This starts off as a moody blues (pun intended), then...melts into light, as best I can portray it musically. If it's never happened to you, I strongly suggest you try it....
GREAT OPENNESS (reggae version) I did a symphonic version of this, and started hearing it as reggae while i was working on that project, about five years ago. After a heart attack and a stroke, leaving me aware of how fragile my presence here actually is, i decided that i'd better do the reggae version while i still had the capability....i'm not crazy about my bass line on this, and am shopping for a better bass player to give it a better treatment, but meanwhile, here it is...if you think you can do a better job, please get in touch!
BAG OF SKIN (demo version) This jazzy little track goes with a shoutout to JWH, and I ain't talking John Wesley Harding...it's about leaving the world of an angry, unlaid, downright nutty single male deity for the greater sanity and stability of the union of skillful means and wisdom....longer version, with jams, to follow.
In addition to my Dmusic site, I now have an archive of original songs at Soundclick. Enjoy!
photo credits for pix of me, "how we live," and "you n'me" to my amazing wife, Cindy Moonrose aka "The Salad Gurette"
|
