MP3 Musical Storytelling - FOLK: Alternative Folk

Musical storytelling from the heart of the peace jungle

10 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Alternative Folk, NEW AGE: Spiritual

Details:
This is a re-release of my very first CD (originally released in 2000). Jewel case graphics are a little different, but the recordings are the same. And here's what I've been up to since:

I describe myself as a musical storyteller, because I write and sing ballads that tell stories, and also tell stories that include ballads. I also describe myself as a griot or troubadour, dispensing a Peace Jungle of music, poetry and stories, addressing a comprehensive range of community needs and age groups, and overflowing traditional genre lines.

For adult gatherings in venues that range from coffee houses to art galleries, Boundless Gratitude is dreamy, romantic and nostalgic âbackground musicâ ranging from the Beatles, traditional and folk music, popular and jazz ballads and the Great American Songbook, to original compositions. For young adults and teen audiences in institutional as well as club settings, Boundless Gratitude is music, spoken-word and storytelling to stimulate critical thinking in turbulent times. For pre-teen and early teen audiences, Boundless Gratitude is educational and entertaining musical storytelling.

Thereâs a lot of overlap, of course, but the common denominator is a soothing baritone voice and meaningful words, sometimes humorous, always passionate, and the simple but elegant accompaniment of an acoustic guitar. Listeners often compliment my musical âarrangements,â even though I donât do arrangements. Billie Holliday didnât do arrangements, either. âIf you find a tune and it has something to do with you⦠you just feel it,â she wrote in Lady Sings the Blues. âAnd when you sing it, other people can feel something too.â

My first gig was a childrenâs storytime at a bookstore in Fremont, CA, in February of 2000. In the summer of that same year, I traveled to Washington D.C., to play during an interfaith peace vigil, and also traveled to Los Angeles, CA, to participate in a Children's Storytelling for Peace program. I also produced and released âMusical Storytellingâ, the first of several do-it-yourself (DIY) CDs, that year. In 2007, a final and much-enhanced version of the âBlack Inkâ musical story that I told in my first gig was released (after innumerable revisions) in a DIY 2-CD set entitled, âHow Paper and Ink Came Together and Survived to Sing About It.â Previously, my musical storytelling had consisted almost entirely of entertaining my children and their friends.

From 2000 to 2001, I also co-hosted a singer-songwriter open mic at the Freight and Salvage Coffee House in Berkeley, CA. And since 2003, I've co-hosted a poetry and music open mic at the Berkeley Art Center. In February 2008, I launched a new open mic for composers and performers of original music at the Frank Bette Center for the Arts in Alameda, CA. From 2003 through 2005, I provided musical storytelling at a number of community gatherings that included health and safety fairs and Black History Month and Kwanzaa celebrations, as well as several late evening performances for the staff at Harbin Hot Springs near Middletown, CA. A particularly memorable evening late in 2005, brought the opportunity for me to perform one of my signature songs, âA Black Manâs Prayerâ during a Katrina fundraiser at La Pena in Berkeley, CA.

2006 and 2007 brought a number of challenging and rewarding performance opportunities that included an outdoor wedding in Walnut Creek, an environmental fundraiser at a winery in Castro Valley, a program to address family violence in Richmond, CA, an outdoor âGreen Soulfestâ in West Oakland, and an elder care center in Daly City. Those years have also brought a flood of new music and innovative interpretations â early stages of which can be heard on my âStorming the Castle to Free My Ladyâ DIY CD released in 2007 â that continues today.

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