N e w M u s i c a l H o r i z o n s
Writing songs happens in a flash or over many years. I've crafted several of my current works since I first started playing guitar. A pace of 1 album per year no longer feels voracious enough to satisfy my creative appetite and I find myself working on numerous projects simultaneously.
Little j will release Cosmosisgnosis (or Cosm for short) which features songs about the solar system, love of life, making the most of pleasure and pain, and other subjects reflecting my outlook on life and my process for dealing with this beautiful mystery.
Little j will also release Suite Sunshine, a collection of songs inspired by the beautiful Nikko Fujita. The first week we started seeing each other, songs started flowing out of me like water. These have been written, performed and arranged into a veritable suite.
In addition to this set of records expressing love for my lover and love for my current home planet, Little j will release a set of songs using the words of Shel Silverstein as lyrics. In a particularly lucid and inspiring moment, I found Where the Sidewalk Ends and read through some of my favorite old poems again. In doing this, I found rhythm and melody in certain poems. Shel wrote music and I believe he intended for his poems to inspire this sort of creative fervor. Currently I am working with an old friend to produce the tracks, and I anticipate much more collaboration with others on this project as we continue the production process.
SOLON (pronounced Soul On!)
Hesiod, an ancient Greek farmer, collected the poems, stories, ideas, gods and goddesses of all the peoples of his familiar world and retold them in a massive poem entitled The Epic of Gilgamesh. Thousands of years later, his poem gathers the attention of mythology students the world over. I intend to repeat this exercise in cultural stimulation, preservation and dissemination with SOLON.
*parts omitted*contact j to receive a pdf copy*
WWW DOT ESS ZERO ELL ZERO ENN DOT COM
So Loon (the might may be of the Loonyverse)
Nikko and I have so much fun together playing music, writing songs and goofing off that we eventually decided to take our act on the road. In this beginning we are scheming towards a worldwide conspiracy for bliss and lightness of being. We will bike, perform, play, share, Undo, write, photograph, document, create, explore, experience, live, love, transform and bliss out the whole planet one village at a time.
Beginning in America, we will pedal to every small town and village around spreading our music, magic and love. Our early shows will take place in schools everywhere. We will perform children's songs to get folks singing, instrumental music to get them dancing and teach the children and the teachers how to build a drum analogous to the Hang drum (more on that in a minute).
The Hank drum emerged as a response to the Hang drum. The Hank is crafted from a new and empty propane tank. Tongues are cut into the tank to make tone centers or notes. When played with the hands or mallets, the Hank drum sounds like a full-toned, pretty and simple xylophone. We will play these as well as teaching shop classes everywhere how to build them. Our mission involves music- singing, dancing and making.
An early stop on our worldwide journey will put us in Bern, Switzerland. Bern holds the Hangbau where Sabina and Felix live. They build steel drums and gongs of all kinds and have for decades. As recent as the year 2000, they started building a hand version of a steel drum called a Hang (hah-ng) drum. (Imagine a small flying saucer that sounds like a steel drum from another planet).
The magical effect of these instruments is evident in the expressions of wonder and joy worn by all who hear and see them played. This instrument captivates, mesmerizes, astounds, delights and instills a special magic in the air.
Our vision involves purchasing 8 of these Hang drums over the next 5 years to use in performance and the sharing of music. We will write, record and perform music of our own, utilizing these Hanghang (plural of Hang). At schools and in other public and private settings, we will create Hang circles to encourage others to play and sing freely.
Worldwide, we will bring these magical instruments on our bicycles and delight everyone with giving them the chance to play one of these difficult to acquire instruments (must purchase in person after snail-mailing Sabina and Felix requesting an invitation). We also hope to attract additional members to So Loon to play these Hanghang as an orchestra. Inspired by the Pleasant Revolution, we will perform mind-expanding music, touring on bicycles as individuals and a group.
We will continue carrying Hank drums around to demonstrate their simplicity, ease and fun until we acquire all 8 Hanghang from the Hangbau. A few imitators have started manufacturing in the United States but their craftsmanship and commitment lack the magic or the sound of Hanghang created by PANArt (Felix and Sabina's workshop).
In addition to performing these shows for schools, we will perform live concerts for families of these children at village meeting places and in homes. We will gather the town through their children to experience the magic of So Loon and the mysticism of SOLON. Much like Raffi's Beluga Grads (20-somethings who listened to Raffi when they were youngsters) we will influence entire generations of children and adults to play music, to play with their world and to know themselves as healthy, strong Selfs.
We will build a following so immense, it will cover the world. Our e-mail list will span every continent as we sell Hank drums, albums, art and musical performances to every culture that will invite us in and listen to us play and sing.
UnDoing
“Become who you are. There are no guarantees.” Christopher S. Hyatt
As the New Age movement ages past obscurity and into the subconscious of the entire world (ever heard of Karma? Know what it means?) one particular therapy stands out among the herd. UnDoing recognizes the entire body, muscular, nervous, digestive, respiratory and energetic body system and treats them all as a connected whole; the brain exists across the entire body so to speak. One can discover and heal memories or “past lives” stuck in muscle groups and hardwired into self-destructive action.
The therapy of UnDoing involves regular breathing and simple body movements that stimulate the energetic body and overwhelm the muscular body enabling old patterns to become clearly accessible (and thus able to heal) and awareness may spread throughout one's entire life. This therapy involves lifelong work that my companions, partner & I have spent countless hours cultivating the seeds thereof.
Simple exercises such as stretching the face around while breathing calmly and slowly have immensely powerful effects in freeing our Selfs from unwanted emotions and patterned responses. We can easily communicate these exercises to anyone willing to work through them for an hour. We will offer private sessions (which resemble more commonly accepted 'masseuse – client' relationships) and group sessions or workshops. These sessions will require a donation or contribution to our tour, the signing of a waiver and contract of Self-responsibility and (in the case of a private session) familiarity with the participant(s). These exercises will also make appearances in the literature of SOLON.
One must experience an UnDoing exercise to understand how simple and powerful these movements truly feel. Stretch your face out for 5 minutes, starting right now. Stretch out all your face muscles; move gently and firmly; stretch your jaw, scalp, eyebrows, lips. Move your eyes around, your tongue, ears, nose, and so on. Breathe smooth, calm and continuous. Exhaust all the muscles in your face.
Look at the clock and stretch your face for 5 minutes to experience UnDoing.
If you did it, you know the power. If you didn't, go back and do it! :)
This exercise works to interrupt any unwanted emotions or feelings at any time. Whenever you feel yourself becoming angry or sad or scared or crazy, or any feeling you want to escape, stretch your face for 5 minutes while you breathe calmly (dismiss yourself if you need to be in private). At the end of those 5 minutes you will feel more awake, alert, attentive and alive!
This experience, we desire to communicate and celebrate with individuals everywhere. We will first offer this experience for free. As demand increases for private consultations and instruction, we will obtain licenses and insurance in order that we may legally practice in places that require such papers.
Our goals, stated simply, involve teaching the world to Lighten Up! while we play, sing, share, document and heal at every new place and time we arrive.
