My two new recordings for Innova Records are moving ahead as planned!
Poet’s Cabaret is set to go into Fantasy Studios this November 2011, to record a collection of new works focusing on a mix of short vocal songs balanced with short instrumental numbers.  I’m approaching it as a collection of scenes and short stories told through music and lyrics. The performers are Amie Penwell, Jordan Carp, David Arend, Jason Slota and myself.
I wrote the music and lyrics for seven of the songs. The other lyrics are by Canadian writer David Brock (who also wrote the libretto for Pretty Boy, my project for the Paul Dresher Group), William Taylor, a wonderful, emotionally powerful San Francisco writer, and…Walt Whitman. The songs touch on love, loss, success, aging, grace, grimace, information, overload, quiet and the need for quiet. It’s a very personal project, as all the songs came directly from key experiences – the birth of my daughter in ’07, the death of my mom last summer, and so on. Poet’s is also about my romance with the three minute song form – all the songs land under 4 minutes in length, mostly around 3. It has been a joy to work on these songs, and learn more about composing by taking away….cutting to the core of the material. The fantastic Ben Yonas of Yonas Media will produce this effort.
We filmed a promotional video that is in the editing phase now to launch my first Kickstarter campaign to support the project. More details to come!
The Bastard Wind, my CD of chamber and vocal music, is two thirds ready – we mixed with the famous Leslie Ann Jones at Skywalker Sound and mastered with Michael Romanowski early this summer.  Soon we will be wrapping up the recording sessions with soprano Melody Moore.
Melody Moore, one of America’s exciting new talents, has recently had the honor of portraying Susan Rescorla in the World Premiere of Christopher Theofanidis’ Heart of a Soldier at San Francisco Opera, which opened on the eve of the ten year anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center.
Michael Romanowski is President of the NARAS Board of Governors, and is the Chairman of the chapter’s Producers & Engineers wing. In addition to his service in music community, Michael teaches at San Francisco State University, and is an active panelist at conferences such as TapeOp, AES, CES, VSAC and NAMM .
Leslie Ann Jones is a multiple Grammy Award-winning recording engineer working as Director of Music Recording and Scoring at Skywalker Sound, a Lucasfilm, Ltd. company. She is a past Chair of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Board of Trustees, the organization that awards Grammys.