tag:kaymartinmusic.com,2005:/blogs/blog?p=10blog2023-08-03T16:25:55-07:00kay martinfalsetag:kaymartinmusic.com,2005:Post/72517032023-08-03T16:25:55-07:002023-10-16T07:55:54-07:00Rewind to the Run-up<p><span>I’m afraid I’ll have to write a book to tell you of my travels in Europe and Morocco during 2022 & beyond—but for now I’ll just </span><i><span>thank you</span></i><span> for your interest, especially the many of you who followed my adventures on Facebook and Instagram (& the pics are still there!)~ </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>The headlines now are: I’m (re-) integrating into my (previous & new) life in Santa Cruz (Aptos), moved back into my “big” house, and am working to get my life balanced and functioning and my creative projects moving forward. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>I did do 9 concerts over the 13+ months I was traveling—in Sicily (Punta Secca), Cordoba, Aveiro (Portugal), Wales, Dijon (FR), Poggibonsi (IT), Bari (IT), Assilah (Morocco), and Essaouira (Morocco). I have some (phone!) video for 6 of these. The others just floated out into the ether surrounding those who heard and enjoyed~</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Now I mainly want to tell you about the overarching music project since 2020 (oh yeah) that fueled all these. Covid did trigger some amazing growth for me as a singer. (Btw I had it for the first time two weeks ago, uuooof! . . . all okay so far!)</span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>So my thinking was, Sola and Safe—at first recording at home alone, my then-accompanist Fefe Lee in his garage studio, and me in friends’ & family’s cottages & garages. But I had the lightbulb idea that Fefe’s tracks could become backing tracks for me to take it to the streets live, an ancient fantasy—and that then shaped my magical traveling experiences. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p><span>Here’s the video my friend Jeff De Lucia put together of my first two pop-up concerts—daughter Manjula insisted I couldn’t perform on the streets of Europe without trying it at home first!— in Santa Monica, fall of 2021. </span></p><p><span>Thanks for watching, & let me know!</span></p><p><a class="no-pjax" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym7x8eoEwF0"><span>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym7x8eoEwF0</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p> </p>kay martintag:kaymartinmusic.com,2005:Post/70728712022-10-02T01:53:25-07:002022-10-09T09:24:53-07:00My Kind of Tour<p>I can no longer say I’ve done a concert every place I’ve lived on this trip—but for the first four months after leaving California mid-January, I could!~ </p>
<p>Some context: the Schengen (a European alliance) law is that a traveler like me, legally a tourist, must be 90 days out of it for every 90 days in, so after three months in Schengen countries (Sicily, Spain, and Portugal), I moved to Wales for three months—and I only did one concert there. And then France for six weeks visiting four areas, with one concert in Dijon, and now I am in Italy for six weeks, giving a concert in each of two locations (Poggibonsi and Bari). And then I have to leave the Schengen countries again—this time for Morocco!! </p>
<p>My concerts have been pretty much of two types: regular performing engagements; and pop-up concerts in public places. The former, of course, feel better in many ways—but it’s entirely possible the pop-up concerts actually have greater effect, reaching more and more different people~ </p>
<p>In my previous (long-ago) blog I told you about Sicily and Spain (Cordoba); then I went to Portugal, to Sao Jacinto, a small semi-resort (Not wealthy!) town on the tip of the coastal peninsula across the vast estuary from Aveiro. So, my intuition was telling me, do the concert in Aveiro—an historic, aspiring-&-chic medium-sized city, very into their public areas and shopping and the good life. Aveiro is called the Venice of Portugal for its canals, which are charming, adorable. So I did my necessary reconnaissance ahead (ferry & bus & walking) & picked a gorgeous grassy spot in front of some fantastic giant plaster white shell sculptures, near the turnaround basin for the biggest canal—and voila! </p>
<p>The afternoon of the concert was beautiful, everything went great, the folks in the boats passing in the canal went wild, clapping & cheering, and many folks hung around, listening for a while or the whole time. And I have absolutely NO record of this! Here’s to LIVE performance!~</p>
<p>Then in Wales I did a pub gig, two full hours (whew, I’m used to one!), well paid, and with a bunch of wonderful new friends there to warm the heart. Of course we had that usual low-level tension between the folks wanting to hear me sing and regulars mainly there to drink. But those latter were pretty responsive too!~ I’ve got a little footage from that, which I’ll work into a video for you all somehow sometime . . </p>
<p>Next time I’ll tell you about Dijon, France and Poggibonsi, Italy (Tuscany)~~ Friday night I gave my concert here in Bari! In a pleasant & very livable & lived in nearby park. . . It went great!~</p>kay martintag:kaymartinmusic.com,2005:Post/69136952022-03-04T08:25:17-08:002022-03-13T10:00:00-07:00Wandering Minstrel<p>Please forgive me for not better chronicling this astounding European exploration. My last blog left off back in the states, when I was about to do my first street concert—really a concert in the park, by the beach—and I did two, one in August and September. They were lovely—such a setting! People seemed to enjoy: many people stopped to listen for a song or two, or to the end.</p>
<p>I missed live musicians, but the sound was very good~ singing to recorded sound came off much better than I expected. Thanks to all who have supported (bailed) me through it, especially with the tech~</p>
<p>But then my whole world cracked apart—I mean, I cracked it. I finally put in play my longtime dream to perform in Europe. In so many ways, Covid has been the necessity that fostered the invention of this trip. In January I left my beloved Santa Monica apartment after 17 years, 19 total in LA, including shepherding the mom gently into that good night and helping raise two tornado grandsons in the hip city/ So Cal sun. </p>
<p>I spent my first month in southeastern Sicily and gave a pop-up concert by the little harbor at Punta Seca (near Montalbano’s house if you’re a fan~). I loved Sicily. My people there, my place by the ever-changing, colorful Mediterranean, the ancient Baroque cities of the southeast, the ruins, the ceramics, the food! Palermo! I must say, they have their values on straight there, and they are very well-organized. </p>
<p>I confess to you, I was and am humbled by my ignorance. </p>
<p>Now I’m nearing the end of my month in Cordoba, Spain, an astonishing city, teaching me so much. I did my (patio!) concert last Sunday, a more formal affair than I’d done yet with my sound rig. I also performed (after the break) fully live for the 1st time since before Covid, yes!, with Baris Yavuz, a wonderful Turkish guitarist living and working here. It went really really well!~ Cordoba is an extremely appealing little city and culture. You can't beat the history, the culture, the buildings and design and aesthetics—and circulation of the cultural/social here in the historic core. I've also been fortunate to meet some wonderful sustainable-living-type folks, and do my road-tripping to see some of beautiful, endlessly varied Andalucia.</p>
<p>The people here love their city and country and cultures and enjoy it all to the max. I don't wanta leave. Love it!!~</p>
<p>In subsequent blogs I promise to give more vivid tastes of the cultures I’m experiencing—culture 2 culture. But for the pictures worth 1000 words, see my FB page or on Instagram, kaymartinvis. Also I posted live videos from Punta Seca on my regular FB page, and also on my music biz page, https://www.facebook.com/kaymartinjazz</p>
<p>I would dearly love to hear from you! You can email me through this site. . . scroll all the way down.</p>
<p>Stay tuned—and thanks for your time~ ~ </p>
<p>Ps. I did record the vocals to the tracks Fefe recorded (see previous blog—they're most of what I’ve been singing to) before I left. To Be Continued. . .</p>kay martintag:kaymartinmusic.com,2005:Post/67049232021-08-02T15:08:03-07:002021-08-10T15:37:15-07:00Takin' It to the Streets! [Songs from the Year (s) of Covid]<p><span style="color:null;">None of us has to think very hard about what Covid has done to live performing—we know. For me as a performer, it was a catalyst for Huge change—honestly, a letting go of my purism, of playing only with live musicians. During Covid, one thing led /leads to another: I am propelled outside, to connect with people in the street where Real Life teems, to sing for people even if I do it alone. </span></p>
<p><span style="color:null;">When I was younger (& a theatre person) I marveled at street performers—the San Francisco Mime Troupe, the Del Norte Players—guerrilla theatre they called it. It reaches a broad range of people, performing more universally, you could say more democratically. </span></p>
<p><span style="color:null;">When Covid hit, I wasn’t thinking about any of this. I just knew I had to make music, so I started to prepare for home recording. I engaged my latest & wonderful accompanist Fefe Lee (whose band Los Pinguos started in the US in the streets here~) to record a number of songs for me in his garage studio and I bought some gear for myself to record. </span></p>
<p><span style="color:null;">Then, with people around the world sharing music, on their balconies. . . (remember that?) performing outside started to look like a way to beat the virus, to triumph, and to connect. </span></p>
<p><span style="color:null;">Street performing! I’d always admired—idolized—Moliere for touring the French countryside for 12 years in wagons—!!—and Shakespeare for playing to “the rabble” as they said then, to all kinds of people. My heroes—they did it all!~ </span></p>
<p><span style="color:null;">This is a deep, long, old connection—between performers and the streets. My grandfather gave me a gold (relief) medallion of St. Genesius with his arms in chains, the patron saint of actors, musicians, dancers, whores, thieves, lawyers—the list goes on but you get the idea~ </span></p>
<p><span style="color:null;">So, here goes! This is a sort of karaoke, & a far stretch from trios or duos in tasteful clubs with LA's finest knocking my socks off (I've been so lucky~)—!!</span></p>
<p><span style="color:null;">Bottom line: I want to share this wonderful music I've been working on since Covid started. Recordings are still to come, but Covid is still with us, <em>and </em>we need community <em>and </em>we need music, so I'm going to put on a show for you outside, distanced, and—still—sola. There's space outside. I have my new little rig :) I’ll be singing to Fefe’s wonderful tracks and other treats from my Brazilian/ soulful/ & rockin repertoire. You might even feel like dancing! </span></p>
<p><span style="color:null;"> I’ll show you that medallion at my concert. Space out!! Masks on!! August 15th at 11 am, South Beach Park: <strong>Click on “calendar” above for pkng info.</strong> Songs from the Year (s) of Covid.</span></p>kay martintag:kaymartinmusic.com,2005:Post/65491872021-02-14T08:00:00-08:002021-03-28T10:35:23-07:00Loss of Live<p><span class="font_large">One of the (innumerable, reflective but less fraught) questions Covid has raised—with all our Zooming and isolation, and trying to do things alone on our own at home: I’ve been thinking a lot about the relationship between live, online, and recorded. Working on my own recording process at home (with my new gear!), I'm thinking of projects differently during Covid. </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">It's like I'm starting from live. (And wanting to keep it simple!) How many takes, how much editing? Where does this come down, somewhere between professional edited and live? How many steps away from live and into recorded should I take? Should I use the first half of one take, the second half of another? Does more editing somehow damage the integrity, the authenticity of the recording? </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Am I trying to replace live? Because live is not an option, I want to stay closer to it. I do think a single take transmits a kind of magic, a coherency, a unity? Dunno. . but something . . . [More on this in re. this Tre-Re, A Felicidade: go to Tre-Re under Music, above~] </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">Friends who are theatre people have been so brave, putting together readings and shows on Zoom, magically lining up the boxes so it looks like the actors are looking at and speaking to each other! And of course, performers and audience are live in real time, just not in contiguous space (mm nice word:). </span></p>
<p><span class="font_large">For a performer, the loss of live is sort of like an amputation, where what’s gone remains still very much in awareness, like ghosts & shadows of what was part of you before. Even now, with all these losses, life (which is creativity) holds on tight all the same, weirdly persistent and sometimes infinitely worthy.</span></p>
<p> </p>kay martintag:kaymartinmusic.com,2005:Post/64435982020-09-26T12:30:25-07:002021-03-28T10:22:32-07:00Releasing<p><span style="color:null;">Boy, do we need it, but with this atmosphere [lit. & fig.]—this air—it just doesn’t seem possible. We’re all holding our breath, afraid of what will come in if we let it out. </span></p>
<p><span style="color:null;">But we have to keep on keeping on, which is why I've returned to my Tre-Re, Retrospective Re-Release of my recorded music, where I left off when Covid came. </span></p>
<p><span style="color:null;">Chega de Saudade, by epic duo Antonio Carlos Jobim & Vinicius de Moraes, literally means “full of missing,” or longing (although I translate it differently, you’ll see). </span></p>
<p><span style="color:null;">Saudade is a unique, profound word, referring to the ache of missing someone, of longing for something—that hole inside that cries out to be filled by someone or some thing. Sound familiar? </span></p>
<p><span style="color:null;">In my experience, creativity (in this case music) fills it just about best. </span></p>
<p>Here's the fuller story I wrote about Chega de Saudade~ for its re-release:</p>
<p>Although Covid knocks us all sideways (some more seriously than others), forward movement persists—and so I keep on with my Tre-Re, Retrospective Re-Release, of my recordings where I left off. Most important to say: I am so, so sorry for all the losses for so many of us. </p>
<p>Not yet released publicly online, Chega de Saudade is in several ways the central “suite” on the Four Sweets CD. Percussionist Kirk Brundage and I both thought of Chega as our foundation, like the anchor of the album, both as a core Jobim/Vinicius de Moraes composition and also because the feels of the song fit so well with rhythms we wanted & developed. It moves from Samba Reggae—the key Bahian Afro-Brazilian beat—to traditional Rio de Janeiro samba, blending those traditions (of north and south). It’s also closest to Bahian Carnaval group performance, or batucada— in his signal at the beginning, initiating the beat. And I think we both hoped the opening, with just percussion & vocal, might suggest ancient antecedents of music~ </p>
<p>But for me Chega came to be about the lyrics, my literal English translation of the original Portugese, here the opening chorus. The story is—and it’s completely true!—that I performed it at Jazz Camp in 2004 with Ricardo Peixoto accompanying, and I sang the Jon Hendricks English (No More Blues) as well as the original version. Afterwards, several Brazilians teaching at the camp approached me and were very complimentary (I was thrilled of course) but every one of them disparaged the Hendricks’ English version—a perfectly good version btw, but yeah, I got it—the spirit of that Hendricks lyric story is different from that of the original, </p>
<p>So I set out to do an accurate and faithful translation, albeit poetic and fitting the melody. I was thrilled that Corcovado Music gave me permission to release it— </p>
<p>Immeasurable kudos to this band, these musicians!! Thank you!! I love you! Liz Kinnon keys & direction; Hussain Jiffry bass; Enzo Todesco drums (RIP our dear brother); Roberto Montero guitar; and Kirk Brundage percussion—and a special shout-out to Liz and Roberto for their solos~ </p>
<p>and Thanks <em>you</em> all for listening</p>
<p><span style="color:null;">I’m hoping you’re okay, that this finds you relatively healthy and stable! Really. </span></p>
<p><span style="color:null;">Sending my best to you~</span></p>kay martintag:kaymartinmusic.com,2005:Post/62442862020-03-10T14:00:45-07:002020-03-10T14:00:45-07:00Coming Out<p>So, I got the first streak of gray in my hair when I was 20 years old. It could’ve been from running away to Paris when I was 19 and getting mono that turned into pneumonia with pleurisy and a “collapsed lung” on the side. . . </p>
<p>Or it coulda been because I tried ironing it—my hair was always “naturally curly,” and for a time only straight hair was cool~ </p>
<p>Or it coulda just been my Irish side’s propensity to go prematurely gray. </p>
<p>In any case by the time I started dyeing it, when I was 38, it was fully streaked with gray, even as it came most of the way down my back. It may well have been—probably was—beautiful, but I couldn’t see it, thought it aged me. </p>
<p>Fast-forward to now... Well, it was time! And I’ve been enjoying the new clean, no-nonsense authenticity of it. </p>
<p>We know how persona is important—and especially for performers. Performing live, I feel it as something I inhabit and convey to you, somewhere—someone—between who I really am and the story of the song I’m singing. Persona to you—outside of me—is part your projecting back onto me, part like looking in through a window: we want it there, we need it there, but you want to see through it—in the case of my “image,” to my true colors. In the case of this new true-blue site, to my music. </p>
<p>For the music is the important thing here, and this new website makes it more easily accessible to you. </p>
<p>Poke around a bit, see what you think. I rewrote my “Bio” & several choice descriptions of the music. </p>
<p>And now I can get back to Re-Releasing my recordings! </p>kay martintag:kaymartinmusic.com,2005:Post/60975292019-09-10T17:40:00-07:002020-01-14T10:46:27-08:00In Memory <p>The truth is, I can´t move forward with any more re-releases of the tunes on the Four Sweets CD without writing this piece—at least something—one of the more difficult of a lifetime of writing—about Enzo. </p>
<p>In fact I can´t even find all the different bits I´ve written about him, scattered over years and hundreds of journal pages, never to be resurrected. </p>
<p>I first met Enzo (Todesco, who played drums on my Four Sweets CD) at a gig down at one of the hotels near the airport, where they used to have jazz regularly. I went to see Liz playing (Kinnon, who directed and played keys on Four Sweets) and Hussain was playing (Jiffry, bassist on it), and I knew immediately and finally that those two men were the rhythm people I wanted to work with. I went up to both of them and asked, would you like to record with me? and I told them I was working with Liz, and was familiar with their work from her recent CD (Ms. Behavin´). <br>They both said yes, just like that~ </p>
<p>Enzo was quiet, polite, deeply professional. Gracious, open, but also kind of reserved, always very focused on the work. He was also strikingly handsome. But the stunning effect was indeed his drumming: I think it´s fair to say that both he and I were deeply enamored of sixteenths, rhythm-wise. </p>
<p>Over the years of occasional rehearsals and finally recording, he made it clear that he loved my singing, was totally there for me, as the saying goes. </p>
<p>He once came to an extra rehearsal at my apartment to "fine-tune" the rhythms we had developed, that had evolved from Kirk´s (Brundage) Afro-Brasilian cache. </p>
<p>His energy was always palpable, like a live wire, or coiled, ready to release or to fire his beats. </p>
<p>When the CD was done and I sent him a copy, he listened to it immediately and texted me how much he liked it. I took note of what he said and kept it in my mind, for when I got discouraged. </p>
<p>The last time I saw him, I think, was at the Big Getty, probably in 2014. I had my mom in her wheelchair; he was with his girlfriend—it was lovely to see them. Delightful to see him so totally out of context! <br>He died of cancer less than two months after my mom died, end of 2016. </p>
<p>I haven´t reached out to anyone in his family. I didn´t know him personally really, although it felt like I did. </p>
<p>If I could, I would open up Chega de Saudade and A Felicidade and turn him way up now. <br>Enzo, you were a consummate artist, and you are so sorely missed.</p>kay martintag:kaymartinmusic.com,2005:Post/60975352018-11-15T17:40:00-08:002020-01-14T10:47:05-08:00 Fall Back <p>Happens this time of year, fall, and I am falling back—back into the past:-)—I said I would do this and I am. I’m launching my “Tre-Re,” a Retrospective Re-Release of my recordings~ </p>
<p>The plan is to start with my earliest recorded songs, and release one each month for a year. I have 11, and then for that last month I’ll release a beautiful song with original lyrics to a monster jazz tune, never before released publicly, a recording that took me many years to complete~ as a final surprise! </p>
<p>Many of you have never heard my CD Softly, which continues to get a surprising number of plays worldwide. The CD is named for the tune Softly As In A Morning Sunrise, but in truth it speaks for me very personally, because my whole life I always sang very softly, until I started performing publicly and had to learn how to sing out, in every sense. (I thought everyone could sing, and no-one wants to hear anyone else singing loudly to him/her-self, right?) The rest of that story, of how my singing career was so very late-breaking, will wait until a day together under a crisp sky. . . on the sand, or on a river, or over a glass of wine. . . </p>
<p>Meanwhile, enjoy the first song--You Go To My Head! You can have a quick listen on the sidebar to the right, or get the lowdown and hear it by clicking here to see my new Tre-Re page! <br> http://kaymartinmusic.com/music/index.php </p>
<p>But you know what happens when you fall backwards? When you get up again, it's Thanksgiving! Am grateful every day for music and for you. Have a good one! </p>
<p>and please keep in touch? <br>xo </p>kay martintag:kaymartinmusic.com,2005:Post/60991112018-05-13T08:45:00-07:002020-01-14T10:47:27-08:00Singing for Seniors <p>Last fall I was hired by a non-profit group that provides music—live performances—for seniors, in community groups or in facilities. I bet you're thinking that’s nice, but not very cool. Think again. </p>
<p>I started singing in facilities when my mom moved into her first caregiving home in Santa Monica in September 2011. She was immediately launched into her own saga of injuries, hospitalizations, moves and other elderly parent horror stories but we did settle (her) for good right before Thanksgiving that year, installed in her sweet corner room at Dimitri’s down the street :), until her death in October 2016. </p>
<p>But when she had first arrived that fall 2011, at Sunrise, I was getting to know the staff and they were happy to book me; then I called other facilities and it became kind of a regular thing. And then with Three of Diamonds over those years, we had a number of facilities in regular rotation, and of course I always spontaneously sang karaoke for everyone at Dimitri’s, including my mom. Our mom had severe Alzheimer’s, as did most of the residents in that little home-and-care facility. She didn’t really like it when I sang, in fact she would get agitated sometimes, because then my attention wasn’t exclusively hers. But everyone else did. “Happy Together” (the Turtles) was a special fave. </p>
<p>It’s often steady work, and it can be extremely rewarding—and I’m not just saying that. These shows can be truly profound. In facilities folks are often severely ill—and of course many severely ill people are not old. Their smiles light up their beds. Or they are memory-impaired, in which case they often have the sweetest, wildest responses that just pierce your heart. The purity and authenticity are palpable. When I played a “Halloween Party” this fall, one sweet lady smiled ecstatically and conducted us the whole time, her gravity-defying hands just floating up, keeping time. </p>
<p>In facilities people are outside the usual social circles, marginalized—not unlike prisoners, even, like Johnny Cash performed for. Those shows are for people who have almost no choice anymore. </p>
<p>But many seniors are as vital as they come, as we know! Just before Christmas I had a bunch of performances: One was for the Griffith Park Senior Community group. There were hundreds of folks there for the holiday party, and did they ever want to dance! I put together a high-energy soul set—and we rocked that stage and old auditorium. Many danced the whole time. Nothing like it! Talk about hip! </p>
<p>I love doing the shows, especially because it reminds me of mom. And here it is Mother’s Day again, a year and a half after she left us. </p>
<p>For me, this is a really good example of how an idea we have—an image of something, like singing in facilities, which we think of as grim (and don’t get me wrong, sometimes it is), depressing (never), uncool (maybe)—can be so wrong. The truth can be opposite to expectations, and produce moments that live in your heart forever. Bring ‘em on! </p>kay martintag:kaymartinmusic.com,2005:Post/60991292017-04-14T08:45:00-07:002020-01-14T10:48:17-08:00Easter farewells <p>Easter / Passover 2017 <br>Good (bye) Friday: A good time for farewells of different sorts, for releasing. </p>
<p>And a going-away present (because some things are)—for all of you here! <br>To say farewell is more hopeful, more forward looking, than to say goodbye. But they are the same thing, and I’m not sure there really is a good time for it—for saying goodbye—just a necessary one. </p>
<p>In my mothers' Catholicism, today honors Jesus’s physical death, so seems a good day to say some farewells not yet said in public. So here goes. </p>
<p>My mother, Mary Alice Wareham Cline, died this year, in October (b.1927.) She had severe Alzheimer’s (is there another kind?), and had been in my charge since 2006. </p>
<p> I recently came across this “Poem” I transcribed from my mom last year—on Easter—I had taken down in writing her Alzheimer’s-mind–chatter, when she was still talking freely, actually non-stop! I was happy to come across it so I could share it with you: it hadn’t surfaced for her memorial gathering in December. </p>
<p>I offer it as a farewell to my mom, honoring her creativity and charm, and as a teaching in Alzheimer’s.. which is a teaching in humanity, the way a human incarnated on this planet is built in a psyche, and likewise is broken down. </p>
<p>Easter, 2016 was during the stretch when Mom was chatting (and singing!) most of the time, even when she was alone. But when I was there it became a wonderful performance, as she employed all the charms of her beauty and personality and humor in expressing herself in story-telling, facial expression, gesture, language, and sounds. When this stage had passed and she withdrew, no longer chatting—I so wished I had spent much more time with her when she was loquacious! </p>
<p>Her death was a peaceful one, in her own sweet southeast corner room down the street at Dimitri’s little facility, with her regular caregivers. My two sisters Barb and Ibby made it out and were with her, and I’m grateful she wasn’t suffering (as she had been for a bad stretch) and that she took off safely on her journey. </p>
<p>I originally called this MomPoetry because I thought she did, using the word “poen.” Imagine it slow, expressive, by the Great Lady our mother was!: </p>
<p>A Poen, transcribed from my mother, Easter 2016 </p>
<p> I thought it was your eyes <br>And it was <br>One-two-three <br>[in answer to, “are you hungry”?:] <br>probably <br>I said I’ve got a couple of them <br>& what’s her name now <br>it... it... it... <br>I’ve seen you probably on the wall <br>And that’s all right now <br>And we have ww uuuuwwww <br>But she had <br>And she... spay... <br>And spec and spec <br>& our eye <br>so she wrote the banees <br>been really porgues <br>and I thought to myself <br>I don’t think I would think <br>A dog or a baby and I <br>Ee touching this poen <br>It would be nice <br>I’ll... I’ll... I’ll... <br> I wan <br>I do and I do <br>All the poeps <br>He’s mipping, but he wasn’t back <br>Easy to get my gal through the trees <br>I ate – you ate <br>We had all we had <br>Yeah... I know that <br>[after burping:] <br>Did you hear that? <br>I want to get it, but <br>Oooh, I can’t help it <br>Well I don’t like that <br>Doing ay very <br>Once.. once... I amernnn I... <br>I wanta go and see you <br>Wanta go <br>And now I’m a mission. </p>
<p>You were a mission, Mom, a missive, and off you went. I love you! </p>
<p>Besides saying goodbye to my mom, I wanted to give you all a gift, and that’s also as another goodbye, not comparably huge of course but still surprisingly hard, in this recent bumpy fall season of losses: </p>
<p>A fond farewell to Three of Diamonds, the pop vocal group I sang in for three & a half years, from spring 2013 until this fall when Eric (Gruchalski, stage name Vincent) moved back to Milwaukee—to take care of his mom! And the third member Tony Perez, is pursuing his own directions down La Mirada way. . . </p>
<p>I miss you both, and especially the music—working on the songs, rehearsing, performing far and wide. It was a swell run guys— Thanks! and Good Luck! </p>
<p>In their honor, here’s a little memorial offering (very different from what I usually do!) & my first release for my releasing fest this spring—put sound up/in your earbuds: </p>
<p>https://soundcloud.com/user-189288788/harvest-moon-by-three-of-diamonds </p>
<p>I’d love to hear from any of you (let me know if you enjoy the tune?)—email would be great, & through this site works too. <br>xoxoxoxox </p>kay martintag:kaymartinmusic.com,2005:Post/60992112017-02-24T08:50:00-08:002020-01-14T10:50:04-08:00Breaking Silence for music in the desert <p>No, nothing about that man, except by way of immersing in Mexican culture this last week, where I’ve felt comfortable and safe since my childhood in Riverside. <br>Some of why I haven’t written will find its way in here—I will be writing more again now—but for now I just want to tell you about the Riverside County Fair/National Date Festival—mainly about the Voz De Mando concert Sunday night. </p>
<p>I’ve been poking around finding out more about their music—want to translate the lyrics, some are very radical: I confess I couldn’t make out most of it. But they’re really, really good—brothers, the main vocalist is the accordion player (small instruments and he can and does roam that stage). He’s very charismatic live—dark and handsome, not tall—a chunky guy, beautiful, very Mexican I mean this was Mexican from Mexico culture as much as local. Still haven’t found “officially” how many people the Fantasy Springs Concert Pavilion holds (on the grass at the Fair)—two thousand? These are the people’s concerts, included with admission to the Fair, sponsored by the booming Fantasy Springs Casino Resort. </p>
<p>The Casino clearly overshadows the Indio area (much like the giant jail going up next to the fairgrounds)—that’s where the big names play: Mary J Blige tonight, just missed Bonnie Raitt!! Kenny G, Brian Wilson, Frankie Valli, Paul Anka, Paul Rodgers Smash Moth and DJ Doc upcoming. </p>
<p>But this people’s concert was my kind of night. Great musicians—tight! Just four instruments: drums (Adrian Gonzalez, wow), guitar instrument called bajo quinto ("fifth bass"), 10 strings in 5 double courses—played by one of the two brothers, Miquel Gaxiola, who writes their originals. A tuba for bass!! Delightful performer (that tuba doesn’t keep him from prancing around the stage) Eduardo “El Chino” Gonzalez. But the star is the other Gaxiola brother Jorge, accordian player and main vocalist, and he is irresistible. Needless to say his fans are madly in love with him. </p>
<p>Honestly, I never thought I would love traditional Mexican music like this, but I can’t get it out of my head. It did have that Mexican promotion-style flavor (with dedications!) which made me chuckle, & oom-pa-pa (tuba!) for sure—corridos, correos, cumbia—fabulous rhythms not just in ¾ of course, & even in 5! What joy. Beautiful ballads too. </p>
<p>This gives a taste—Muchacho de Campo—though much tamer than our show. <br>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EzFnsVQwN4 </p>
<p>This below was their breakout hit, and gives some sense of the audience, but without the fancy light show. <br>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKUIBJStl_U </p>
<p>And then there was the fair—memories foremost, for I rode in the horseshow there several years. No more horseshow sadly, and for a silly minute I thought no more animals besides the camels and ostriches (the Thousand Nights theme still) but I found them: children raising goats, sheep, pigs, cows, chickens. The midway is superb. And all that barbecue & rich food—ruffle cakes, oh my! I didn’t try them. </p>
<p>Topped this off last night by seeing Zoot Suit at the Mark Taper Forum. <br>A 2017 remount of a 1978 production about a horrible series of events during the war, 1942-44. And the racism still runs, and the culture of music and dancing is still our salvation. </p>kay martintag:kaymartinmusic.com,2005:Post/60992142015-10-01T08:55:00-07:002020-01-14T10:52:53-08:00French rap revisited <p>After releasing the video for My Man.. <br>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FWwZtCww8I <br> I'm getting requests for the lyrics to the French (archetype) rap, so here they are (reposted from an earlier blog) in French and then in English translation, with an explanation after (if you really want to know!) </p>
<p>Thanks for your interest,... and feedback more than welcome!! </p>
<p>C’est le saboteur <br>Qui me fait peur </p>
<p>Mais pas la pionnierre, qui, <br>Toujours me nourrit </p>
<p>Puis la prostituée <br>Se ballade dans la journée </p>
<p>L’amant, lui, me fâche <br>Il est toujours si lâche ! </p>
<p>La rebelle en moi s’éclate <br>Alors nous prenons date </p>
<p>J’suis donc une artiste <br>Ca éclaire mes pistes </p>
<p>Oh-là-là, la mère ! <br>Me fait payer bien cher ! </p>
<p>Meme la professeure <br>Peut-etre c’est un leurre </p>
<p>Surtout c’est l’enfant <br>Qui me guide maintenant </p>
<p>La victime partout <br>Les prend tous jusqu’au bout </p>
<p>Le délivreur est la <br>C’est mieux quand il s’en va </p>
<p>En fin la déesse <br>Est la source de ma sagesse </p>
<p>And here’s a translation: </p>
<p>It’s the saboteur who causes me fear </p>
<p>But not the pioneer, who always nourishes me </p>
<p>Then the prostitute… she strolls in the daytime </p>
<p>The lover— he makes me mad—he’s always so lax </p>
<p>The rebel in me strikes—and then we make a date </p>
<p>Therefore I’m an artist—and that lights my paths </p>
<p>Oh-la-la the mother—costs me dearly </p>
<p>Ditto the professeur—maybe he’s a lure </p>
<p>Mainly it’s the child who guides me now </p>
<p>The victim everywhere—takes every one to the limit </p>
<p>The rescuer is there—it’s better when he leaves </p>
<p>Finally, the goddess is the source of my wisdom </p>
<p>But it sounds better in French!! </p>
<p>The French rap is about my archetypes, the way they feel in my life right now, only in French. Got the idea from one of my influences: medical intuitive/mystic Carolyn Myss, who says we all have twelve archetypes. Archetypes like Jung’s—generalized patterns like story characters that we enact in our individuated incarnation in order to learn the lessons (or not) that it’s our lot to learn: we learn through acting them out—acting out through them—in our life narratives. </p>
<p>The archetypes are neutral—they have a golden side and a dark side. We all share four: the child, the victim, the saboteur, and the prostitute. The rest are up for grabs. What are yours? </p>
<p>But initially I just set out to write a French rap, and I had one line, “C’est le saboteur…qui me fait peur…” (because the saboteur sabotages through fear). </p>
<p>And I had some other, lamer, ideas, and then suddenly I realized, maybe I could use all my archetypes and make simple couplets! But I would need help. My girlfriend Marina lives in France & creative work together is something we have done and will do :) </p>
<p>So I explained the archetypes and how mine are working in my life right now and wallah!— Marina & I came up with more cool couplets that just fit and we worked on them. </p>
<p>And the thing is, the 12 French couplets all just fit, in the ending we had recorded, the twelfth one just ends on the end of the song: magic! :) </p>
<p>You’ll see it’s a bit tongue-in-cheek—but archetypes are pretty fun and very cool… and helpful, you bet. Any effort at consciousness is helpful doncha think? </p>
<p>Most important of course, is the song! </p>kay martintag:kaymartinmusic.com,2005:Post/60992692015-09-11T08:55:00-07:002020-01-14T10:54:21-08:00Death, Coming Out, & Magical Music <p>On June 29th, as I was driving north to oversee a tenancy change and construction on my longtime home in Aptos, I got the call from my cousin that my aunt had died. I know—we are all going through these changes now—but the process is still so mysterious and vast. This one hit particularly hard, and not only because we had been close since I was in college and she took me into their home for school breaks. She became a model for me then—a high achiever, a woman who really could do it all—home & family, work & self-sufficiency, creativity. </p>
<p>But more immediately, now, Joan was the one person who never wavered an instant in her devotion to and solicitousness for her big sister, my mom Mary Alice, whose Alzheimer’s has grown very severe over these long years of the illness, and who is solely my charge now, albeit in a small home facility down the street here in Santa Monica. (That’s the coming out part, for those of you who didn’t know this.) </p>
<p>But there it is, and so, along with my sister Ibby Cline who lives near Boulder, I planned to perform at my aunt’s memorial service in Vail in August. </p>
<p>The magical part was that, while looking through old emails to see what songs I had sung at a memorial a few years ago, I spontaneously fired off an email to my friend & former accompanist Dan Andersen, to see how he was faring in Austin, where he moved two years ago. He wrote back that he had moved to Boulder a couple months ago—!! So it turned out he could come and play with me at the memorial service! </p>
<p>And the other magical thing was that the tunes Yesterdays and How Deep Is The Ocean are in the same key for me, so we could make a perfect medley. And less miraculously but equally wonderfully, my sister and I had time to work out and practice harmonies on another tune, Today. A video of that performance didn’t come out... but just as well to keep the farewells within the family. </p>
<p>But just for fun, here is a video of me and Dan performing The Man I Love at the (hot!) reception afterward. </p>
<p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVKBqcEfc5U </p>
<p>In other music news, am still performing regularly with our pop vocal trio, Three of Diamonds with Eric Vincent and Tony Perez, and I assure you my friends, it won’t be too too long before I perform again publicly in LA... </p>
<p>Was able to see a few of you up north when I performed last-minute at the cool new wine/piano bar Zizzo’s in Capitola with Greg Powers on keys—thanks so much for coming out—it was wonderful to see you! </p>
<p>And Most Importantly, the new CD! I know, it seems like crying wolf, but I am rolling out tunes and videos starting September 15th, and you can get it via paypal on this site—just click on the music link at the top. xoxoxoxoxo </p>kay martintag:kaymartinmusic.com,2005:Post/60992702015-02-01T08:55:00-08:002020-01-14T10:57:28-08:00My First New Song <p> Either on the home or music page, you can click on If These Walls Could Speak, the first song I've sent out to my music people. </p>
<p>I first heard If These Walls from Barbara Gerry and Mark Chetkovich when I was singing with their band Playtime in Santa Cruz. One of the many wonderful songs Barb found to do! I fell deeply in love with it. </p>
<p>It’s by Jimmy Webb, and the version we loved and modeled after was Shawn Colvin’s. </p>
<p>To me it’s about forgiveness, I call it late-breaking forgiveness. It’s about family, and children, and zest for life, and love and loss. I hope you enjoy it! </p>
<p>This was a country tune, I have Jimmy Webb’s version: you can say ours is jazz mainly in the harmonics/ arrangement by exquisite jazz pianist Liz Kinnon—and in the complexity & sophistication of how these guys play this—its orchestration. </p>
<p>You could also say Roberto plays a jazz solo but that’s exactly where genre breaks down, which is one thing I’m trying to do—genre busting. Roberto’s solo is killer and/but in that respect it’s also like good ‘ol rock—and it is! </p>
<p>The way we worked was—I had an idea of a particular Brazilian rhythm I thought would fit a given song, from among the many Kirk Brundage had/has taught me (or tried!) over my years of loving and studying Bahian Brazilian rhythms—Afro-Brazilian / Samba Reggae music from Bahia—with his guidance. </p>
<p>Then Kirk and I got together with Liz to work on it, and soon after, Hussain Jiffry, the stellar bassist. And Liz & I would work on the arrangements. And in our 3rd or 4th group sessions, super drummer Enzo Todesco as well as virtuoso guitarist Roberto Montero joined us & we all worked on the song. Also on my first four tunes for this upcoming recording, I did a session separately with Kirk and Enzo to work out the feels. </p>
<p>Another thing I wanted to do was find where music from different cultures, geographies, times, is the same. </p>
<p>The rhythm I started with for If These Walls was Brazilian merengue (not at all the same as the Carribean/Mexican) but it evolved, changed with the song—but the metre of the song changes so it’s very composed- and jazz-like. And then that rhythm in the 1st part changes to rock, except that Roberto also plays reggae guitar in the second part, which makes it more a rock-reggae blend, and a blend it is. </p>
<p>So we adapted the rhythms, merengue into rock—and it’s faster than either Jimmy Webb’s or Shawn Colvin’s version. </p>
<p>Who are these guys? <br>Liz Kinnon, besides arranging (and directing everything musical!) plays both piano and keyboards/synth. Liz used to work, among all her other gigs, as the last person to check the charts for the Academy Awards—now she teaches at Colburn and privately, and I hope to work with her again more soon! Her husband Dick plays horns with shows at The Pantages (and on a couple of my songs) and they have two brilliant and lovely sons in college. She’s an LA girl, but would be right at home in Santa Cruz. She’s also a wonderful composer: check out her CD Ms. Behavin’—it's all-around gorgeous, great, satisfying music. I wrote more about Liz below, in May 7, 2011 and especially in a Thanksgiving blog! Nov. 24, 2012. </p>
<p>Kirk Brundage is a classically trained, now world music percussionist currently playing with Olodum again in Carnaval in Bahia (only white guy ever to do). His two new percussion CDs are amazing, I swear—and if you’re a musician, get his books on Afro-Brazilian Percussion (which I edited for him:). He’s from upstate New York, we met right after we both moved here (see below Blog of July 20, 2011) and had the same idea at the same time to do this project. </p>
<p>Hussain Jiffry is from Sri Lanka, as is his lovely wife Marita, and I once met his lovely daughter when she came to Liz’s for a rehearsal—a treat to have her there! And Hussain—like for these other players—just listen! Hussain is also a wonderful recording producer and engineer, besides regularly going out with Sergio Mendez, Herb Alpert & all. </p>
<p>Enzo Todesco is Swiss, another 1st-call player & drummer. He goes out with artists from all over the world. </p>
<p>Roberto Montero is Brasileiro, from the south, and again, just listen. From a musical family, he was born to play. He has also played with Sergio Mendez and a long list of worldwide and LA artists. I wrote about Roberto in a blog below, Jan. 25, 2013. </p>
<p>So that is my (international!) band for this song, and the ones to come soon! I'm so honored, grateful, and thrilled to have completed this amazing project! </p>
<p>There's more on the general concept for the recording on my "Story" page, under the "About" heading. </p>
<p>Other blog entries about this music, below: January 25, 2013; November 24, 2012; August 13, 2012; July 20, 2012; and May 7, 2011. </p>
<p>If These Walls Could Speak is dedicated to everyone who has ever gone through a divorce with children. </p>kay martin