Too many to list, but they include Buddy Guy, Led Zeppelin, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, Ella Fitzgerald, David Binney, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Aretha Franklin, The Temptations, Janis Joplin, Coltrane, Mos Def, Claudia Quintet, Steely Dan, Wayne Krantz, Ben Monder, Theo Bleckmann, Chris Potter, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Bela Fleck, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Radiohead, James Brown, Dave Holland, Brian Blade, Dave Douglas, John Lennon, Charlie Hunter, Mingus, Jamiroquai, our own unique experiences, and all great music
DN’s MISSION: to alleviate suffering through the universal soul-speak of audible art.
CYSTIC FIBROSIS SUCKS!
Kids with CF may spend weeks in the hospital each year. CF clogs their lungs, they struggle just to breathe, like drowning in the open air. Half DIE as KIDS or YOUNG ADULTS.
HELP DUKKHA'S be a NEMESIS to CF.
CLICK ABOVE for more about Dukkha's and to order. At least 50% of our CD or DOWNLOAD profits goes to CYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION to help end suffering and death by CF.
THE WHOLE CD IS RECOMMENDED, BECAUSE DUKKHA'S WEAVES SEVERAL RELATED THEMES THROUGHOUT THE SONGS, LINER NOTES, AND ARTWORK, AS WELL AS ON A CD-ROM ANIMATED FEATURE THAT CAN BE VIEWED ON MOST COMPUTERS.
If you DO want just a song or two, you can STILL HELP FIGHT CF BY DOWNLOADING YOUR FAVORITE DUKKHA'S TRACKS ON www.itunes.com/pattymorrisanddukkha'snemesis. EITHER WAY, ENJOY, AND THANKS, MERCI, GRAZIE, GRACIAS, DANKE, OBRIGADO, GO RAIBH MAITH AGAT!
"Patty Morris is the epitome of Blue-eyed Soul. May your soul be saved." - JD Steele"I let the whole band listen on the way home from Bonnaroo - it's cool! It's time." - Ric "jazguitar" HallABOUT DUKKHA'S NEMESIS: Currently located in New York, Boston, Portland, Providence, and Nashville, members of Dukkha's Nemesis have shared the stage with legends like Wynton Marsalis, Bob Mintzer, the Yellowjackets, Cleo Lane and Johnny Dankworth, Hal Crook, Dave Zinno, Joe Lovano, Herbie Hancock, Dave Brubeck, JD Steele, and many more. The extensive influences of jazz, rock, hip hop, funk, blues, soul, R&B, reggae, and other genres are evident in this unique cross-generational project. DUKKHA'S NEMESIS is the result of a musical collaboration that blends musical influences spanning several generations. Patty Morris, the lead singer, came to her son James Donahue and friend Adam Agati with several of her musical brain-children in 2004. With only a cappella versions of the songs to work with, James and Adam transformed Patty's long-held ideas, injecting youthful harmonic and rhythmic bodies into what started as blues/soul/R&B heads. The three of them sat down on countless occasions, brainstorming, arranging, and recording musical snippets to eventually be recorded by an all-star cast of old High School friends and aspiring musicians.
Adam Agati (guitar), Nick Falk (drums), Bryan Ladd (bass), Chris Gagne (trombone), Chris Enright (keys), and Joe Albano (tenor sax) all are recent graduates of the Berklee College of Music in Boston. James (trumpet and flugelhorn) opted for a different route, studying International Relations at Brown University, but always kept music close to heart, performing with and composing/arranging for a number of groups at Brown. James's sisters and Patty's daugthers Ali and Gabe (17 and 13 at the time) also came into The Studio in Portland, ME to provide additional vocals on the socially conscious song "Blind", which comments on the pervasive problem of homelessness that afflicts so much of America's urban population.
Patty's lyrics also touch upon such important issues as international politics ("Do Some Good" and "Believe in Peace"), the difficulty of growing up in a low-income part of Portland with 9 siblings ("Jackie Was Cry'n"), the time-stealing pathologies of corporate America ("The Last Tollgate"), and the incurable genetic disease Cystic Fibrosis ("65 Roses"), with which she also has personal experience: her daughter Ali was born with CF. In addition to dedicating "65 Roses" to Ali, Patty also wrote "Little Buddha" to capture the free-spiritedness of her daughter Gabe, and "Miles (Down the Road)," a play on words dedicated to her trumpeter son James as inspiration after leaving the nest.
A central theme to the music of Dukkha's Nemesis (as suggested by the band name) is introspection, both as individuals and as a society. Many of Patty's lyrics are commentaries on how much energy is (unncessarily) wasted on the negative, and how quickly that same energy can be diverted into positive projects. For example, the lyrics to "Sister Got a Bad Habit" were inspired by the visionary, sometimes ornery but always love-rooted work of Mother Teresa of Calcutta in mind, especially phrases like "Sister, give 'em wings to fly" and "MT pockets, MT bowls, MT wells, MT souls...she fill 'em...with an angel's love..."
Recently, "Sister" has gained additional meaning. Just prior to getting this cd off for production, 36 year old Hanley Denning died. In a car accident at the end of a long day of working with the poorest of Guatemala's poor children. "Angel del basuero" (the angel of the garbage dump). While in Guatemala to volunteer and hone Spanish language skills, Hanley was dismayed when she witnessed shoeless, dirty young children digging through the city's garbage dump. They were looking for recyclables to help their families earn $4 to $6 a day. So, instead of returning to the material comforts in the US to pursue a second professional degree in 1999, Hanley called her Dad in Yarmouth, Maine and had him sell her car and her computer to help purchase uniforms and school supplies. 90 children could now spend their days at school instead of remaining locked into a future picking trash. Hanley's organization, Safe Passage, now draws hundreds of volunteers from around the world and helps more than 500 children have a chance to climb out of poverty.
In Patty's Words:
"Hanley Denning exemplifies one of the overarching themes of the cd: people have a choice every step of the way to direct their energies and talents positively - or negatively. The same energy that could go into making someone feel bad, the world more polluted, or a nation at war could make a whole lot of people better off if the choice is made to direct it that way instead. In dukkha terms, ignorance/fear (pig) leads to greed (rooster) and destruction (snake). Choosing instead to live a life of awareness/love eventually leaves no room or desire to take from others or harm ourselves by harming the world in any way. It is a positive energy feedback system: Hanley Denning was perceived by those she was trying to help as a possible threat at first, maybe one of the "gringos" that were baby-stealers and organ-brokers, and her program's toys and furniture were stolen and building vandalized initially. But she acted with persistent and consistent love, and before long she became trusted and loved back by the same people, once they became aware, rather than ignorant, that her true motive was unselfish love."
Hanley Denning, like MT, had similar vision and passion which she put to use, working tirelessly on behalf of poverty-stricken individuals far away from the material comforts she could have chosen at home. We dedicate "Sister" to Hanley. You can help keep her positive energy growing by volunteering or donating to her non-profit organization at SAFE PASSAGE.
Also, remember that if you buy our music, at least 50% of profits will go to the CYSTIC FIBROSIS FOUNDATION. If you'd like, you can join Dukkha's Nemesis' very own fundraising team, the ALI KATZ.
CYSTIC FIBROSIS is a genetic disease that causes LUNG DYSFUNCTION (kind of like drowning in the open air at it's worst), FOOD ABSORPTION ISSUES (resulting in inability to thrive), MULTIPLE HOSPITALIZATIONS (for many CF patients, several times a year), AND A MEDIAN SURVIVAL OF 37 YEARS. MY DAUGHTER ALI IS 20 (you can hear her sing on DUKKHA'S in the second verse of "Blind" . SHE'S HEALTHY AND PRETTY MUCH LIVES A NORMAL LIFE MOST OF THE TIME, BUT WE'RE RACING THE CLOCK. MY FRIEND'S DAUGHTER WITH CF IS 19 AND STRUGGLING TO BREATHE MOST OF THE TIME. IF SHE CAN HANG IN LONG ENOUGH TO RECEIVE A LUNG TRANSPLANT IN THE NEAR FUTURE, SHE MAY REACH THAT CURRENT MEDIAN AGE OF 37 AND BEYOND. EVEN BETTER, IF RESEARCH CONTINUES ON SOME PROMISING TREATMENTS FUNDED THROUGH CFF, SHE MAY SOON HAVE A REAL SHOT AT REGAINING HER HEALTH AND THE NORMAL LIFE OF A COLLEGE STUDENT WITHOUT HAVING TO SURVIVE A LUNG TRANSPLANT.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO CFF ARE THE KEY TO MORE RESEARCH AND CF EDUCATION. THE GOAL IS FEWER KIDS IN HOSPITALS AND ON FEEDING TUBES, FEWER DIE BEFORE REACHING ADULTHOOD, MORE KIDS AND ADULTS ENJOY LIFE WITHOUT STRUGGLING TO BREATHE, AND EVENTUALLY CURING CF!
Our recent efforts: DUKKHA'S CD RELEASE party (and CYSTIC FIBROSIS FUNDRAISER) Friday, March 21 at THE BIG EASY in PORTLAND, ME raised $2500 TO CRUSH CF!
A big thanks to all my friends... I just went over 10,000 listens on my player. I've added a fifth tune to my player, an arrangement of Scott Henderson's "Harpoon", the leader and guitar player of Tribal Tech.
thanks for finding us. The music sounds great. We were just in Portland for a show. We should have let you know about it. Shit. Maybe we'll see you next time.
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