On his debut recording, Stephen Katz sings his original songs and plays cello, guitar, bass, kalimba, percussion and more to create a work of breathtaking beauty.
"...an incredible debut album by a new and important artistâ
-Connecticut Songsmith

9 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Modern Folk, NEW AGE: New Age



Details:
REVIEWS

Stephen's musical talents are formidable! He has a distincive harmonic language, lovely sense of phrasing, chops and a beautiful voice.
- Eugene Friesen, cellist, composer, Grammy winner w/Paul Winter Consort

Stephen Katz makes some remarkably innovative music with the cello. While revering its traditions, he is on the cutting edge of liberating the instrument from being locked into the printed page.
- Paul Winter, Grammy Award winner, Paul Winter Consort

With a bow and fingers as light as feathers Stephen Katz makes a cello punctuate spoken lines, arias and choruses to bring out meanings you might not have suspected were there.
- New York Times

Stephen Katz is cellist whose name is almost synonymous with our festival. With First Person Singular he has created a work of breathtaking beauty.
- Chris White, Director, New Directions Cello Association

If you've never heard Stephen's music, then you are in for an amazing treat. Far beyond what you might think of as "cello" music, it breaches the ethereal and moves into deep mystical experience.
- Miles, The Warm Room, Northampton, MA


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BIO

Stephen Katz is a cellist, composer, guitarist and teacher. He premiered his cello compositions at Carnegie Recital Hall and frequently performs with the Paul Winter Consort. He has been a pioneer in the art of what he calls Counterpoint Strumming techniques for the cello and continues to develop a repertoire of rhythm-driven compositions which incorporate melody and accompaniment into a single, idiomatic cello part. As a solo performer who uses live looping electronics to generate full ensemble textures from a single instrument, Katz has also distinguished himself as a creator of seamlessly integrated pieces that unfold loop-by-loop in concert. He has worked extensively with dancers and choreographers, and is composer and music director of Wire Monkey Dance, has collaborated and performed with members of Pilobolus Dance Company, and has been a Visiting Artist at Amherst College. As a co-founder of the cello/movement/theater company Seen & Heard with the late dancer and monologist BJ Goodwin, Stephen literally danced with the cello while accompanying the dramas they played out on stage. His more recent releases (Looking Up and Earthdance) feature his looped compositions and improvisations. A native of San Francisco, Stephen received a Master of Music degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and lives in Haydenville, Massachusetts with his wife Beth and newborn son Olin.

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First Person Singular TRACKLIST/LYRICS

1 the crossing 6:42 (instrumental)


2 where have all the songs gone? 5:16

Where have all the songs gone? I cannot find one for the life of me,
Where have all the stars gone? I don't know, I'm lost at sea, at sea

Surely there's order in the universe,
How would it be were it up to me
to answer these questions with all of my heart and my soul?

Where have all the dreams gone? I can't recall a single one,
Where has all the love gone? Adrift upon an ocean, ocean full

Surely there's more than meets the eye,
What would I see, were it up to me to answer these questions with all of my heart and soul?

Where have all the songs gone? I cannot find one for the life of me


3 i wish i 3:53

I, I wish I, I could be with you. Oh but I, I know I can only dream of me and you
I, I wish I, I could stay with you. Oh but I, I know I can only let you go your way
I, I wish I, I could go with you. Oh but I, I know I can only make my way alone

(I) Or do I fail to see (I wish I) what is happening to me, (I could be) all alone in ecstacy? (with you)
(Oh but I) But can I be like the man, (I know I) lightning idling in his hands, fearing that he understands?


4 perfect person 3:24

I care so much about how I look, sometimes I think: if you don't like the cover you might not buy the book,
I care so much about how I act, I'm an undercover playwrite as a matter of fact,
You see, I'm not the perfect person that I someday hope to be,
Meanwhile I simply seem to worsten, living in...
I don't know, some sort of self-indulgent, post-modern, abstract, teenage purgatory

I think so much about who I want to be, I'm afraid to say, "I think I'm already me",
I think so much about what I say, sooner or later I got to win at one of these word games I play,
You see, I'm not the perfect person that I someday hope to be,
Meanwhile I simply seem to worsten, living in... I don't know, you tell me

I think so much about how I think, I wanna pull the plug and watch the kitchen sink,
Mirror, mirror in my head, how can you cope with all the shit you're fed?
I hear ya tell me "Some day soon you got to pull yourself together. As a perfect person you'll feel so much better",
You say, "Time will fly, and so will I, cause by and by, I'll forget that...

I'm not the perfect person that I someday hope to be, meanwhile I simply seem to worsten, living in...
Washington, CT of course.


5 father, father 4:03

Father, father, father me. Help me set my sails as far as I can see.
Mother, mother, mother me. Help me when the winds of time appear to be...
appear to be stronger than the strength I feel inside of me, appear to be stronger than the strength I feel inside.

Brother, brother, sail with me. Look upon the stars to guide us faithfully.
Sister, sister, see the shore. After all we turn to land once more,
And with an anchor to the rock of our new found land,
We are a family one step closer to our home.


6 the return 4:14 (instrumental)


7 offering 6:49

When I know just what I am feeling deep in my heart, I will tell you.
Yes, I must accept your offering in my life, how can I fail to?

But must I take you by the hand? Must I take you in my arms?
Could I not just close my eyes and dream again?
When will this dream end?

If I had the power to change one thing in this world, I would change you.
With a flash of lightning I'd strike at the core of your being,
Maybe then I would change, too

If I dare to look you in the eye, will I see myself reflected?
If I throw down the gauntlet of my pride, will I face myself exactly as denied?

If the spell that binds us together is broken too soon, you will haunt me,
Yet I sing my song unto you as an offering now, for I must invoke you

Something tells me not to look away...
If I have the strength for one more day at your side, I will join you,
When the dream that brought us together happily ends, I will tell you

Something tells me not to look away,
Something takes me by the hand to lead the way,
Something takes me by the hand to lead the way...


8 she's not crazy 4:57

Well, I'm in love with a sweet thing at school,
I, I think she's cool,
I think she might be my kind of gal, She just might be my kind a gal

Ever since my Mama told me all about the birds and the bees,
I only got one destination and that's somewhere down, down, down between her knees

I'm in love with a sweet thing at school,
She's about enough to make me drool,
I been wonderin, is she my kind of gal? But is she crazy nuff to be my kind of gal?

I had to know, so, I finally caught her in the hallway after class...Hi...
I tried to tell her that I love her but something told me it would not last

I can't get you out a my head, (hot, hots for you) can't get you off a my mind,
You got me makin my bed without a reason or rhyme,
Why can't ya be my kinda gal? How could ya be my kinda gal?

Play, Stephen, play (cello solo) yeah...

I had a dream that we was kissin and a makin out
But when we finally got down to doin it, all that I cauld do was pout:

I'm in love with a sweet thing at school,
But I'm no lovin fool,
Cause she's not crazy, she's not my kinda gal,
She's not crazy nuff to be my kind of gal, no, no, no, no, no,
She's not lazy nuff to be my, she's not spacey nuff to be my,
She's not crazy nuff to be my kinda gal


9 life is more than a dream 3:54

Things are more than they seem,
Life is more than a dream

I love you, I love you, I lo lo lo love you,
I hug you, I hug you, I hu, hu, hug you,
I kiss you, I kiss you, I ki, ki, kiss you

(Boris Katz says) Youâre on your own!


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CREDITS

Stephen composed, produced, and plays/sings everything but:
violin (track 1) Alan Busteed
flute/piccolo (five tracks) Frances Harmeyer
Connecticut Conservatory Singers (track 9)
Boris Katz shouts: "You're on your own!" (end of track 9)