Broadway Songs of the Spirit

Finding Inspiration in Every Turn

Broadway Songs of the Spirit was never about me. It was completely about bringing God glory through the gifts he's given me. I hope you feel inspired by these amazing songs.

Liner Notes

Genesis

My Facebook Page is a war zone where two different groups of friends attack each other continually: My "Entertainment Friends" and my "Christian Friends."

It's clear through numerous posts that my friends in show business have little tolerance/understanding of real Christianity outside of inflammatory media coverage of all things right wing that are immediately attributed to close-minded, conservative Evengelical Christians. (By the way, there is such a thing as a "liberal" Christian as well, and I consider myself one.) I wanted to bring to these friends a way to discover/explore their spirituality through a familiar and non-threatening means - the Broadway musical. I hope that, if nothing else, the album offers some new obscure Broadway songs and unusual medley choices that they may not have even heard. The album will also, hopefully, encourage my show biz friends to "go deeper" when they sing their own Broadway "songs of the spirit."

I've found some of my Christian friends judgmental about the arts and its significance. I hope to provide a crossroads where faith and art intersect. As a musician and one who cherishes musical depth, complexity and soaring melodies, I am often not satisfied singing "worship songs" with easy chords and structures. I crave something more - something that not only challenges me musically, but also something that helps me see/experience God in brand new (and surprising) ways. Once I started listening to Broadway songs with this in mind, I started gaining many more insights into the character of God - not just through the usual means of Sunday morning boiler plate contemporary Christian songs.

Ultimately, my vision is one of healing - bringing two great groups of people together - people who rarely understand each other and often don't even try. Sharing music is a time-tested recipe for greater understanding and growth. Will we all agree on politics? No. Religion? Definitely not. But hopefully we can all agree on great music - music that lifts the spirit. My hope and prayer is that Broadway Songs of the Spirit brings us all hope for a more unified and loving tomorrow.

QUOTES ON FAITH AND ARTS

Here are some wonderful quotes from authors and theologians about the intersection of faith and the arts. Enjoy!

“Metaphors can bring theology to life, pinning down abstract ideas into vivid pictures that we can comprehend by way of imagination. “ Lucy Shaw

“Our God is the God of plenty, who uses multiple word pictures throughout scripture to illuminate the minds of both writers and readers.” Lucy Shaw

“... much of the finest art and music of spiritual and theological import - whether popular or highly cultivated has been created without the church’s blessing, or indeed the church’s knowledge.” Frank Butch Brown

“Culture is what we make of the world, in both senses.” Ken Myers

“The beautiful is wholeness, harmony and radiance. Artists are obsessed with wholeness, harmony and radiance.” Thomas Aquinas

"You have made us for your yourself, O God, and our heart is restless until it rests in you. We yearn to cleave to the One, and when we experience completeness, we have a sense of being at home and at rest. So the beautiful gives us a sense of peace." St Augustine

“This is my God and I will beautify him with praises?" Exodus 15:2

“I saw everything as if for the first time, things I had looked at for so long that I had quit seeing them.” Eugene Peterson

“She did for me what artists do: saw the unseen in the seen, heard the no-longer-heard in the heard. She perceived forms and relations in what had become disjointed, broken into fragments by inattention." Eugene Peterson

"Artists PLAY and ENTER INTO PAIN" - David O. Taylor

“...even when people experience the very same artwork at the very same time they might well be having very different private experiences of that artwork…” David O. Taylor

“Our creator God is interested in extravagant, useless beauty, that God made beautiful things just for kicks.” - David O. Taylor

“Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation. They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life: they feed the soul. When writers make us shake our heads with the exactness of their prose and their truths, and even make us laugh about ourselves or life, our buoyancy is restored. We are given a shot at dancing with, or at least clapping along with, the absurdity of life, instead of being squashed by it over and over again. It's like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea. You can't stop the raging storm, but singing can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship.” Ann Lamott

“Let us risk boldly. Let us fail humbly. Let us make such works of artistic beauty- small and large, simple and complex – that the world around is will pause for one moment and say, “Truly there must be a God, and he must be here.” David O. Taylor

"David's first job as king was making music, attempting to re-establish the divine order in Saul's disordered mind and emotions. Establishing order in the midst of chaos is basic to kingwork. Music is probably our most elemental experience of this essential work. Music, bringing rhythm and harmony and tunefulness into being, is at the heart of all work. Kingworkers, whatever their jobs, whistle while they work." Eugene Peterson

"He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord." Psalm 40

"Let everything that has breath sing praises to the Lord!" Psalm 150

Some Quotes Highlighting the Intersection of Christianity and The Arts:

“Theology is the North Pole and art the South Pole of the Christian Life. Theology is the study of what God does and says; art is what people say and do in the entire context of what God says and does…. You can’t have one without the other…’” - Eugene Peterson

“Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually, so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve here, and reward you when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.” – John Wesley

“All art is a gift, not an achievement. Like the entire gospel, art establishes its purpose not in its utility but in something bigger than itself: grace. And like worship, it pulls us into something bigger than ourselves, pulling all our play and all our pain into a beautiful life of God in Christ.” Andy Crouch

“If we get beauty right, we will get the pastoring of artists right because that is their terrain. Their terrain is not propaganda or boosting people’s self-esteem.” Jeremy Begbie

“the artist is physical and embodied, set in the midst of a God given world vibrant with a dynamic beauty of its own, not simply “there” like a brute fact to be escaped or violently abused but there as a gift from God of overflowing beauty, a gift for us to interact with vigorously, shape and reshape, form and transform, and in this way fashion something as consistent and dazzlingly novel as Bach’s Goldberg’ Variations, art than can anticipate the beauty previewed and promised in Jesus Christ.” – Jeremy Begbie

‘liturgical artists should want to hear worshipers say: Truly your song, your poetry, your dance helped us to pray, to hear God, to know and love God.” David O. Taylor

“to attend to, to contemplate, to savor, to adore the sheer goodness of God, the FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT.’ David O.Taylor

“Through your work, we gained a new glimpse of God’s character, the person of Jesus, the work of the Holy Spirit.” David O. Taylor

“Every generation is called to do this: to respond to the cosmos of our triune God with a lasting act of Thanksgiving that will be a gift over which future generations can brood and be challenged and know they aren’t alone.” David O. Taylor

“Let him rip off the veils of habit that obscure the beauty of Christ in the faces we look at day after day. Let her restore color and texture and smell to the salvation that has become disembodied in a fog of abstraction.” Eugene Peterson

“These are good things always to be doing. What is dangerous is when we stubbornly close God off from refreshing, redirecting, or even replacing elements in our corporate practice of Christian faith” David O. Taylor

“In some Christian circles art must have a Bible verse attached to legitimize it. Others say that it is only good art if it is “Christian art,” that is if it is used as a vehicle for evangelism. But if we go down this road far enough, we will begin forcing Bach’s Violin Concerto in A minor to include vocal annunciations of Jesus’ name in order to be God-honoring classical music. If we believe that beautiful things cannot have their own justification for existing, then we might as well say that cherry tomatoes need to be used for evangelism in order to be worth producing.” David O. Taylor

“The danger of limiting art to its utilitarian value is that it belittles the God of creation. It also robs our artists of a vast terrain of human exploration, a terrain with deep sorrows and expansive laughter. The mundane and the mysterious belong to God originally and it is our duty to be good stewards of it.” David O. Taylor

“Is the art helping people encounter the living God with heart, mind and body or is it enabling them to become distracted from him?” David O. Taylor

“Our goal as Christians is not to be polished and impressive, but to be true.” David O. Taylor

“We see it when we insist God should grant everything in an instant matched by music where every tension is immediately resolved, no dissonance “lived through” David O. Taylor

Like to read/watch more?:

Jeremy Begbie: Theology Through the Arts

Andy Couch: Love and the Risk of Innovation

Anne Lamott: The Habit of Practice

David O. Taylor: For The Beauty of The Church: Casting a Vision for the Arts

Madeleine L'Engle: Walking On Water: Reflections on Faith and Art

Bono and Eugene Peterson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l40S5e90KY

Three Visions Necessary for the Christian Artist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im3J6K4ZlTs

Tim Keller: Creation and Creativity https://vimeo.com/173669479

Tim Keller: Where Imagination and Innovation Meet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmNW7EtP6Xk

Tim Keller: Worship https://gospelinlife.com/downloads/worship-7362/

Tim Keller: Adoration: Hallowed Be Thy Name https://gospelinlife.com/downloads/adoration-hallowed-be-thy-name-6387/

MY PERSONAL SONG REFLECTIONS

“The Spirit of Broadway”

As a writer myself, I place great value on the actual lyrics that Broadway lyricists so carefully and meticulously craft. I have not changed one word in any song without express written consent by these lyricists. (one exception: "sue" for "screw" in '"Til Him." Apologies to the late Mel Brooks.)

On a personal note, I've been fortunate enough to meet (and sometimes work with) many of these wonderful composers and lyricists. I am continually blessed and blown away by your words and music. Keep writing! Keep blessing us all with your brilliance! And I promise those Broadway friends whose songs are equally "spiritual" that I will hopefully have many more albums to come with some of your great songs as well.

Another thing: I've included Biblical references and my own commentary below as a means for further reflection/study. Take them or leave them. This is a window into how I personally experience the songs, but peeking into this window may not be for everyone. The great thing about music is that everyone will have their own unique experience with each song. I'd be excited to hear yours.

ROADSIDE (John 16:13, John 16:15, Romans 8:4, Romans 8:14, Romans 8:26 etc.)

As I listened to this gorgeous piece for the thousandth time, I realized why I liked this song so much – the unspoken truth that lies behind the beauty. The song IS the redemption story beginning with the first verse’s Garden of Eden – before ambition and other sins entered in. This is a place where you could just “relax, take it easy” and just “enjoy the road.” The second verse symbolizes “The Fall.” Everything gets complicated, there is always “something wrong” out of balance. The final verse is the freedom and joy we have in Jesus. “No one says ‘do or don’t do’" corresponds beautifully with the new covenant based on grace, not on works or strict obedience to commandments. The repeated “roadside” chorus reminds us that we are all on the road, following the leading of the Holy Spirit. The bucolic simplicity of this song has been a continual reminder for me “to relax, take it easy and just follow the road.” As I stand before a group of technologically savvy teenagers (as a high school teacher,) flipping out that the Apple TV and speakers aren’t working and that I’ll have to scrap my lesson plan once again, I just turn on this song and it instantly relaxes me. I hope it does the same for you in times of stress.

I WAS HERE (Genesis 11:4 – Tower of Babel)

It’s not about YOU! (or ME!) We are mortal! There’s something bigger. We try to fill the emptiness inside with something besides the only immortal thing within us – the Holy Spirit. We speak from our pride, our vanity, our self-centeredness. We all want to feel important. But GOD is the only one that can fill that deep desire.

A NEW WORLD/A QUIET THING (Lamentations 3:25-28, Philippeans 4:7-9, Acts 9:19)

The “New World” song takes us into the day that Paul becomes a brand new person with a brand new identity in God. This is the moment scales fall from Saul’s eyes – literally the “moment it all becomes clear.” I don’t know that there’s much Biblical evidence of “quiet” conversions. Usually the recipient of Jesus’ saving grace wants to shout it throughout the city like the blind man to whom Jesus restores sight. But I can personally attest to the lyrics in “A Quiet Thing.” Sometimes God whispers his invitation to follow and we respond not with shouts but with a quiet, wondrous joy. That’s the way I first met Jesus. No rooftop experience – just a quiet, settling truth where I finally felt I had found “home.”

POOR SWEET BABY (Luke 5:12-15, burden is heavy , Luke 7:11-16, Luke 8:40-56, Luke 12: 22-31, Luke 18:35-43)

In this song I picture Jesus the healer, the great physician, the miracle worker. I think of all the downcast, downtrodden, sick, diseased helpless people that came to Jesus for healing and how he met each one right where they were, giving them exactly what they needed.

Another way I hear this song is through the perspective of The Father. I love the last line of this song with a small, but incredibly significant word change. Instead of “Mama’s here,” I substitute the word “Papa’s here.” (I would also love the substitution of "Abba" which means Daddy.) That sums up the whole song for me: daddy holding me in his lap and shielding me from the world of pain and suffering. Picture sitting in the lap of our loving God the Father, and Him singing these words to you. This is one of my favorite melodies in this collection, unfortunately assigned to the character of Lucy to sing in the show SNOOPY, so the strident voice doesn’t capture this incredible melodic line.

TRAVEL (John 3:6-8, Philippeans 3:12, Philppeans 4:13, Acts 10:38, Romans 8:14)

I love this extended metaphor for living the Christian life. We must always seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance. All we are called to do is hoist our sails and the Holy Spirit will guide us throughout our life if we’re listening. The more we try to control our lives, the messier it all gets. We need to be aware of who’s in control of it all. It’s freeing to know that it’s not about our efforts – it’s only his grace that gives us everything. God opens and closes doors for us based on what HE knows we need, not what we think we need at the time. To me, this song is all about TRUST.

MUSIC THAT MAKES ME DANCE (Psalm 57:7-11, Psalm 92:1-5, Psalm 108:1-5, Psalm 150, Psalm 19:1-10, Psalm 119)

This song is incredibly rich in spiritual truths. The first thing that pops out to me is the joy one feels when reading scripture. The “music” that makes us dance is His Word and “HIS word alone.” In this song right off the bat we learn about the powerful creator God who can shake the earth and move mountains. But I think the line that hits me the most is “I need less of myself, I need more Him, more Him.” That’s the prayer I keep praying throughout the process of creating this album: "Please Lord, don’t let it ever be about me, but always, in every way bringing glory to YOU." This line is one that we can keep uttering to ourselves throughout each and every day. The difficult line theologically is “He’ll sleep and He’ll rise.” God doesn’t sleep – he is ALWAYS there, even when we do sleep. But “in the light of two eyes that adore him” is perfect – called to live our lives with only one goal: to glorify God.. We pray that our adoration towards God invades our whole day, even our sleep.

IT ALL FADES AWAY (Philppeans 4:7, John 4:13-15)

THERE IS ONE THING THAT'S ETERNAL,

THAT CANNOT BE TORN APART,

THERE IS ONE THING THAT REMAINS FOREVER TRUE.

PAST THE THINKING, PAST THE BREATHING,

PAST THE BEATING OF MY HEART,

IT WILL ALL FADE AWAY BUT YOU.

Enough said.

'TIL HIM (Romans 6)

Like Saul, we have a whole new identity in Christ. Our sins are forgiven, we have a new freedom in Christ. But Jesus is always a friend you can count on to be by your side. This is the antithesis of I Was Here. Yes, life wasn’t going anywhere, we were “stuck,” but Jesus has come along to redeem us all. Whereas the earlier song was all about hopelessness, this song replaces our deep longing with the only thing that can fill it - Jesus.

HOW GLORY GOES/ MY MAKER (Book of Revelation)

I like the juxtaposition between these two songs. In “How Glory Goes” we identify with our own questions about the nature of heaven – from the profound to the simple. “My Maker” gives us greater perspective – whatever our beliefs about what will and won’t be in heaven, we are sure to find there the only thing that really matters – our maker, the God of the Universe. We will behold Him in all His glory and now in direct relationship with Him, we will know the answers to all of our questions.

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I'd love to hear what Broadway songs have touched you in a deep spiritual way so I may include them in future albums. Please email me at clarksayrestudios@gmail.com

ARTIST CREDITS

Clark Sayre (singer)

Clark Sayre was in the original Broadway cast of Stephen Sondheim and Hal Prince's MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG and played the role of Anthony in the 2nd National Tour of SWEENEY TODD. He also appeared on Broadway in OLIVER! with Patti Lupone and Ron Moody as well as several readings, concerts and workshops in New York for writers Robert Freedman (GENTLEMAN'S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER), Winnie Holtzman (WICKED), and David Evans (BIRDS OF PARADISE). He's sung with Victoria Clark, Donna Bullock, George Rawlings, Kathleen Rowe McAllen and many others.

With Musical Director Shelly Markham, he has performed his one-man show INVENTURES in New York City as well as throughout Southern California.

Sayre is featured in the documentary “BEST/WORST THING THAT EVER COULD HAVE HAPPENED," directed by Lonny Price. He’s also appeared in the film FROM HOLLYWOOD TO DEADWOOD, and television episodes of IT'S THE GARRY SHANDLING SHOW, and THE EDUCATION OF MAX BICKFORD.

With over twenty years of church experience, Sayre was cantor at several Catholic churches including: Our Lady of Peace (Los Angeles), The Old Mission (Santa Barbara) and San Roque (Santa Barbara.) He's sung for dozens of weddings and funerals over the past forty years and has sung for numerous services at his home church, Santa Barbara Community Church.

As a playwright his many produced works include: LOOKING FOR THE GOOD OLD DAYS, LET'S TAKE A WALK AROUND THE BLOCK, and GROWNUPS AND OTHER COMPLICATIONS. Sayre worked with Delia Ephron and John Forster on the West Coast Premiere of HOW TO EAT LIKE A CHILD and with John Forster on Tom Chapin's FAMILY TREE.

Clark's many screenwriting projects include: LEAD, a horror/thriller, THE ART OF DECEPTION, a thriller, SANDWRITING (a short) and many others. To learn more about these please visit his screenwriting website: Screenwriting Hompage

Clark was the Founding Artistic Director of Santa Barbara Civic Light Opera’s Youth Theater as well as Founding Director for Young Playwrights’ Festivals for Rubicon Theatre and Ensemble Theatre. He has enjoyed teaching theater at Dos Pueblos High School for the past eighteen years where he staged Disney pilot productions of TARZAN, MARY POPPINS, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER and, most recently, NEWSIES (all under the marvelous musical direction of John Douglas.) Additionally Clark produced and directed the World premiere of Robert L. Freedman and John Bayless’ GRAND DUCHY and the West Coast premiere of Sammy Buck and Dan Aquisto’s LIKE YOU LIKE IT.

Clark is a Christian whose faith informs all the projects with which he’s involved. Since he and his wife studied at Recent College in Vancouver, he has felt moved to use the arts and education as his main "ministry." He cherishes his lovely wife Sharon, an avid ocean swimmer who loves anything water related and whose greeting card business of course started with writing in the sand. Clark's 21 year son Blaine is a jazz piano major and musical director at UC Irvine and is an active member of the campus Navigators club. Clark's 19 year old daughter Kailey, is a Sociology Major at University of Washington and participates in the Sojourn ministry. The Sayres attend Santa Barbara Community Church, a non-denominational Christian church.

In addition to continuing to produce albums like this, Clark hopes to record a Stephen Sondheim album, a Stephen Schwartz album and a collection of Psalms. ("Psalms of the Spirit?" - JK) A screenwriting goal is to write a biopic about a modern hero of mine Jim Wallis, a "rubber meets the road" Christian who founded Sojourners magazine and lives among the poor in Washington DC. Most importantly his goal is to try to daily live out the faith he professes.

Clark is most grateful to the musicians, lyricists, composers and engineers from a wide variety of faith backgrounds who contributed to this album.

He is uber-proud of his adult kids Blaine, an elementary school music teacher in Santa Barbara and Kailey, a Behavior Technician in Seattle. They are the "earthly" Music That Makes Me Dance!

John Enrico Douglas (Arranger, Musical Director)

John was born in Santa Barbara, California, but after growing up mainly in the Inland Empire, and lots of travel, eight years in Boston and twenty years in Los Angeles, he returned full circle to Santa Barbara in 2002. He studied music at UC Riverside and U Mass Boston in the 1970s. His performing experience includes gigs with jazz and latin music artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Stagnaro, Justo Almario, Luis Conte, Alex Acuna, Michito Sanchez, Nate Birkey and Cougar Estrada, and a concert with Aretha Franklin in 2005 in the Santa Barbara Bowl. John toured with artists such as the Pointer Sisters, Donald O'Connor, and Eddie Fisher in the 1970s and 80s.

John has recorded extensively in commercial and artistic settings, including original solo piano works, accompanying singers in original songs and songs by other composers, and albums by jazz and latin music artists, including Los Angeles bands Bongo Logic, the L.A. Salsa Society and Present Tense. He played piano and did arranging and orchestrations for the upcoming classical-latin fusion CD by Santa Barbara area soprano Stephanie Sivers. In the 1980s he worked and recorded with Salvadoran nueva cancion artists Chiltic Istac and Lolo of Cutamay Camones in the Central American solidarity movement, and in the 1990s with LA's popular Cuban charanga band, Charangoa.

John has extensive experience in musical theatre, including stints as musical director and/or pianist for school productions of Guys & Dolls, Kiss Me Kate, West Side Story and Most Happy Fella (Xaverian Brothers HS, Boston); Moby Dick the Musical, Kiss Me Kate, Beauty and the Beast and Annie (Dos Pueblos HS, Goleta); The Boyfriend, Fiddler on the Roof, Anything Goes and Pirates of Penzance (Goleta Valley JHS); Once on this Island (Laguna Blanca HS, Santa Barbara); West Side Story (La Cumbre JHS, SB); There's a Door in My Room, The Wiz, Alice in Wonderlandand Guys & Dolls (Performing & Visual Arts Camp, SB); Peter Pan, Seussical and The Wizard of Oz (Stage Left, Goleta); Hair, A Village Fable, Music of the Night, Footloose, Pinocchio (Santa Barbara HS). He traveled to Europe with SBHS's production of Hair, which was performed to sold out shows in the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh Scotland (summer 2008). He recorded solo piano and orchestrated tracks for Circle Bar B Dinner Theater's production of I Remember You (2008) and served as music director/pianist for Tony and the Soprano at Circle Bar B (summer 2009). Also this past summer John worked with PCPA, Santa Maria, as rehearsal pianist for their production of The Spitfire Grill, and with Ensemble Theatre as audition pianist for Gunmetal Blues. He is currently working as music director/orchestra conductor/rehearsal pianist for DPHS's production of Curtains, set to open March 12, 2010.

John's composing and songwriting credits include music for songs and scenes in A Village Fable(SBHS 2008), and music and songs for Otto Layman's original adaptation of Pinocchio (SBHS 2009). He wrote songs and scene music for There's a Door in My Room (PVAC 2006), Being Human (City at Peace 2007), Esperanza's Box: Stories of Hope (CAP 2008) and Suenos Sin Destinos (CAP 2009). He composed the music for two songs in Circle Bar B Dinner Theater's fall 2009 production of Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, and school songs for Brandon and Ellwood Schools, Goleta, and Harding Elementary School, Santa Barbara. He does arranging for jazz combos at DPHS and SBCC, and composes and arranges for elementary school band programs.

Since 2003 John has worked as a substitute teacher and music teacher in Santa Barbara and Goleta schools. He conducts a jazz seminar and teaches jazz piano at Westmont College, directs the Goleta Valley JHS jazz band, and accompanies the GVJHS performing arts class. He regularly accompanies the Dos Pueblos HS concert choir and theatre classes. He is on staff at SB City College as accompanist for Nathan Kreitzer's vocal performance classes and Ike Jenkins' jazz choir.

John plays regularly for Sunday morning and afternoon services at Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church in Goleta. He regularly performs as a solo pianist and with singers and bands in Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, and accompanies his teenage daughter, Fernanda, at retirement homes in the Santa Barbara area. Nanda is active in musical theatre and jazz choir, and plays piano, mallets, flute and guitar. John's teenage son John–Paul plays classical works on piano, and trumpet in his high school jazz, marching and concert bands, as well as in bands at SBCC.

John's older son Walter is program director/assistant station manager at KUCR, the University of California at Riverside radio station. http://kucr.org/. Walt is an inventive artist who creates electronic soundscapes which transcend their dance–trance/industrial music roots. He plays keyboards and drums, and records and performs under the name "Biomass." Some of his music can be heard at http://profile.myspace.com/biomass. Walt has been performing live regularly in the Riverside area progressive music scene. John's older daughter Lisa also lives in the Inland Empire. She loves music and geckos, and volunteers regularly helping patients in the VA Hospital in Loma Linda.

Tariqh Akoni (guitar, mandolin)

Tariqh Akoni has managed to pack an impressive and diverse array of experiences in his 25 years in the music industry. A perpetual student of the art, Tariqh has been a composer, producer, songwriter, studio musician, educator, musical director, multi-instrumentalist and clinician.

A native of Santa Barbara, Tariqh studied contemporary classical composition at the University of California at San Diego before pursuing a performance degree at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. A highlight of his experience at Berklee was his private studies with Jazz luminaries Jerry Bergonzi and Rick Peckham.

While Berklee occupied Tariqh’s days, his nights were spent earning his “10,000 hours” playing in the jazz clubs typically four sets a night, five days a week. During this period Tariqh first began touring internationally, living in Thailand, Indonesia and Korea before being introduced to legendary saxophonist Walter Beasley. Walter no only mentored Tariqh but encouraged him to expand his horizons and move out West to pursue his career.

Since moving to Los Angeles in 1997, Tariqh has amassed an extensive and eclectic resume. He has worked with such distinguished artists as: country singers LeAnn Rimes and Lee Ann Womack; jazz icons George Duke, Tom Scott, and Bobby Watson; pop artists Jennifer Lopez, Whitney Houston, Christina Aguilera and the Backstreet Boys; and classical artist Josh Groban. He has also appeared with a host of greats including Babyface, Al Jarreau, Herbie Hancock, Luther Vandross, Patti Labelle, Natalie Cole, Huey Lewis and the News, Nick Lachey, Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind and Fire and many others. Most recently, Tariqh worked as Musical Director for Rock Superstars Weezer and Josh Groban and completed highly successful tours with Bette Midler, Stevie Wonder (including a performance at the Silver Jubilee concert for the Queen of England) and super producer David Foster (appearing in his DVD “Hit Man Returns”).

As an educator and clinician, Tariqh served as Chairman of the Guitar Department at the LA College of Music for 5 years where he wrote 10 books including their pedagogical series ‘String Theory’. In addition, he has conducted master classes and clinics internationally at the Guildhall Academy in London, Fermatta Music Academy in Mexico, USC, CSUN and the Berklee College of Music.

After living in Pasadena for 15 years, Tariqh returned to Santa Barbara in 2011 and while still a sought after Musical Director, studio musician and accompanist Tariqh has began focusing his energy on production, composition and artist development.

Kevin Winard (drums, percussion, congos)

Ever since picking up his first pair of drumsticks at age ten, Drummer/Percussionist Kevin Winard has been fascinated with music—all types of music. Being raised in a musical family, he was introduced to all the greats, from Count Basie to James Brown. Growing up in Santa Barbara, CA he studied drums with Tony Cappiello who was then a student of the legendary teacher Freddie Gruber. At the age of 17 Kevin recorded his first album with the Matt Catingub Big Band featuring the legendary jazz singer Mavis Rivers. Over the next seven years he went on to record another five albums with this highly acclaimed Los Angeles based big band.

When he was just twenty years old he began touring the country backing up one of the most successful pop duos in musical history—The Captain & Tennille. He toured and recorded with them for over ten years. In the summer of 1988, Kevin traveled the United States with the pop group Times Two opening for Debbie Gibson on her Out Of The Blue tour. In 1991 Kevin was requested by French rock star David Hallyday for his European tour and live album. That same year he traveled the world playing with pop icon Paul Anka.

Still striving to broaden his musical horizons, Kevin soon found himself working with two of the greatest vocalist of our time: Vic Damone and Jack Jones. “Working with these great singers and performers taught me so much about music” he says, “to play for the song, to let the lyrics come through, these were some of the greatest lessons I could learn”. It was 1993 however, that brought about some of the biggest changes in Kevin’s career. He began working with singer/songwriter Kleber Jorge. Brazilian Jazz quickly became one of Kevin’s greatest loves. “It’s the perfect union of all the harmonic elements of jazz with the passionate rhythms of Brazil”, Kevin exclaims, “It was completely captivating”. As a result of his association with Kleber, he began touring extensively with Sergio Mendes performing in the US, Philippines, Japan, Malaysia, Canada and Europe.

From 1999-2005 he toured with world famous trumpet player Doc Severinsen (The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson), performing with symphony orchestras across the Country. "I had never worked with such an artist who was so dedicated to his craft. The consummate showman and performer, Doc always inspired me to play my best".

His drumming and percussion talents also led him to perform and/or record with artists such as Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra Jr., Rosemary Clooney, John Rowles, Delaney Bramlett, Roger Williams, Carol Burnett, Hal Linden, Ray Anthony, Les Brown, Billy Barty, Patty Andrews of The Andrew Sisters, Mavis Rivers, Jim Nabors, Téka, Joyce Partise, Dolores Scozzesi, Lauren White, Mark Winkler, Marylyn Horne, Marilyn Maye, Christine Ebersole, Gloria Loring, Debby Boone, Tom Scott and with the legendary Diane Schuur.

Since 2005 he has been the drummer for singer/producer Steve Tyrell. During the past eleven years Steve and the band have been to Japan, Europe, Singapore, the Philippines, South Korea and the US extensively. With Steve he has performed on the Today Show numerous times, The CBS Early Show, The Tonight Show, Michael Parkinson's show in London and Katarina Witt's Stars On Ice show in Germany. His tours have also taken Kevin to perform at many European Jazz Festivals: Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Istanbul Jazz Festival (Turkey), Vitoria Jazz Festival (Spain), San Javier Jazz Festival (Spain), Nairn Jazz Festival (Scotland), Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London and also to Buckingham Palace where they performed for The Prince Of Wales. Steve also has a residency at the world famous Cafe Carlyle in NYC where Kevin has performed with him for the past eleven years in a row. Kevin can be heard on several recordings of Steve’s: Live At The Cafe Carlyle, I’ll Take Romance, It's Magic-The Music Of Sammy Cahn, the live concert DVD Steve Tyrell-Coming Home and his latest CD That Lovin' Feeling. He is also involved in numerous projects which Steve has produced for different artists including Country Music star Neal McCoy's You Don't Know Meand famed Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth's highly successful The Art Of Elegance.

As a contributing writer, Kevin has published articles in Modern Drummer and Drum Business magazines. To view please them visit the ARTICLESpage. As an educator Kevin has performed master classes in the Chicago area for the Contemporary Music Project, the Milwaukee Conservatory of Music, UWM, and is currently the drums and percussion instructor at Santa Barbara City College. He has been on numerous recordings and continues to have an active studio career. A few of the CDs he’s been asked to play on are Lauren White’s Meant To Be, Carol Fredette’s No Sad Songs For Me, Tom Wopat's I've Got Your Number, Joyce Partise’s My Brazilian Heart, Jose Marino’s My Little Town and Mark Winkler’s The Company I Keep. For a complete list of recordings please refer to the DISCOGRAPHYpage. With the addition of his home studio Kevin has recorded both drums and percussion for many artists including Steve Tyrell, Tom Wopat, Téka and countless others.

As a producer he has been involved in projects such as, Camilla’s Swing ‘n’ Sassy, Mellonie Irvine’s debut release You’ve Changed, Margie Nelson’s Hungry Girl and most recently as co-producer for Brazilian singer/guitarist Téka’s latest CD So Many Stars.

His latest endeavor is a project that features him singing jazz standards and is aptly named Kevin Winard Sings. Produced by pianist, composer and arranger Peter Clark. this venture is an exciting diversion for him. Kevin explains, “It was a natural transition. Having worked with some of the greatest vocalists in the world It made complete sense. Many years ago my Mom was a professional singer performing on various radio stations in Mexico and here in the U.S. In addition to her live performances she was also a recording artist. My Dad was a drummer before WWII and loved the Jazz greats. When I was growing up, they were always playing a wide variety of music in our house. After all of these years I guess it was just in my blood to continue the tradition of being not only a drummer but also a singer.” Musical examples can be found on the MUSIC page.

With all of these projects and tours under his belt, what does the future hold for him? “I want to delve more into the producing. I love the process of taking on a project, working with an artist, and developing his/her vision into reality. As an entertainer, it is still very rewarding to perform live, but there is nothing like capturing a moment during a recording session; when the take is over and all the musicians stop and just smile at each other without saying a word...They just know that they have created something special. That to me is what it is all about.”

Santino Tafarella (bass)

Santino is an in demand upright and electric bassist who performs regularly on the west coast with some of the best musicians in Jazz. He has toured with the grammy award winning “Bob Mintzer Big Band” as well as with Los Angeles based hard bop guitarist Bruce Forman. In addition, santino has performed with Michael McDonald, Phil Ranelin, Russell Ferrante, Luis Conte, Peter Erskine, Ricky Woodard and many others. Santino was also the bassist of USC’s Thornton Jazz Orchestra, which won first place at the Monterey Jazz Festival multiple times. Santino honed his skills as a composer, arranger and instrumentalist at the USC Thornton School of Music, completing his bachelor’s degree in music. Santino attended Goleta Valley and Dos pueblos high school, where he met Clark as a teacher. He is excited to be part of such a unique project!

Dom Camardella - (Sound Engineer)

Born in Mount Vernon, New York and raised in the north Bronx, NY, Dom is a true New Yorker at heart. New Yorkers tend to 'wear their heart on their sleeves' which may seem like an overused cliché but in his case aptly describes his exuberance and passion for all things music and related to music recording and production. His motto is 'promise X and deliver at least 2X'!!!

His significant education by the Jesuits at the Fordham Prep High School on the campus of Fordham University benefitted him the opportunity to earn entry into the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As a young musician, as early as high school he began performing in bands as a self-taught bass player although he was a trained pianist since grammar school days. It was in his basement where he first became obsessed with recorded sound. Experimenting with consumer tape recorders and Radio Shack mixing devices he devised an eight-microphone system to record his band in the family basement, much to the chagrin of his neighbors.

However, this quickly evolved his musicianship and experience with popular music of that time to the point where he was recruited by an older husband and wife musical team to join their band. By that time he had purchased his first Hammond Organ and his first professional gig followed in a bar where he was snuck in the back door and required to 'wear shades and a hat and talk to no one' and stay in the dressing room on breaks (can you say under age?!? )

Once at MIT he continued his pursuit of his formal engineering studies, eventually studying with Amar Bose of Bose speaker fame while continuing to play and record music with a new crew of people that had entered his life in Boston, MA.

It was through these new affiliations that he met up with some Harvard students and formed several new performing units that played at frat parties and the like during his university years. Continually growing his skills both technically and musically he chose to stay in the Boston area after MIT and briefly studied jazz piano and theory at Berklee College of Music.

A few years later when some of his Harvard buddies called from Isla Vista, California and suggested he migrate to California, he and his wife Joan packed up the Ford Van (the Blue Spumoni) and with their animals and keyboards headed West. Once in California several new musical alliances followed and his writing, and keyboard playing afforded him the opportunity to become a sideman for one of his early musical idols, Jim Messina. This association lasted for several years until he was eventually replaced a mere six months before the band was dissolved. However, through the Messina connection he got to record at the studio he eventually went on to own.

Once he was let go from the band and having several children by then with his wife Joan he felt the need to secure a better financial basis for his family. It was then, through the backing of his father-in-law, Frank Fanelli and a grub stake of $10K that he created one of the first microcomputer sales and service companies in the Santa Barbara area. It was timely! DataBank was well established by the time the IBM PC was introduced in 1981 and the company grew quickly. But music was still integral to his life. In the back room of the storefront, Dom implemented the early capability of connecting a computer to music keyboards and utilizing the newly developed MIDI technology he began composing using this system.

Once Santa Barbara Sound heard of his newly developed skill, they requested he bring that service to the studio and make it available to artists recording there. Within four years he became comfortable working in that environment and what is now history purchased the studio building and studio operation from Dean Thompson and Santa Barbara Sound Design was born.

Not to assume he was a full-fledged audio engineer or producer as of yet, Dom was every client's assistant in his early years as owner. Eventually clients recognized his talent and valued his participation in their projects. It was the jazz great, trumpeter Maynard Ferguson that gave him his first break, installing him as his personal engineer (and on a few projects producer) beginning a relationship that delivered over ten titles to various record labels including Concord Jazz. This relationship continued until Maynard's passing.

In the late 1980's, Dom was working with and for the growing Los Angeles record label, Higher Octave Music. Based on the pop flamenco idiom catalyzed by the European band 'The Gypsy Kings' several US artists began to follow and imitate that trend. One such artist was Ottmar Liebert that had created the seminal US version of the idiom, Nouveau Flamenco in a small studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Now signed to Higher Octave Music, they introduced Ottmar and his brother Stefan to Dom and a five-year multi-award team was created.

Within two years of their introduction, Dom and Ottmar completed the contract with Higher Octave, earned the first Grammy nomination for Ottmar, Dom, and Higher Octave and were recognized by Sony Music as a developing force in this idiom and were signed to Sony's Epic Records division. Based upon the added instruments Dom's producing talents and piano skills brought to the ensemble, Epic connected them with Carlos Santana for two cameo performances and concert promoters around the globe contracted the now larger ensemble and several tours followed where Dom was away from Santa Barbara Sound Design for months traveling and performing in Ottmar's Luna Negra ensemble. Dom reflects on two performances on the Jay Leno Show and travels to Australia and Mexico City as highlights of his performing career.

Eventually the relationship with Ottmar came to a close and Dom once again focused his efforts on his studio in Santa Barbara. Projects with Blues Traveler, Yes, Live, Rascal Flatts, five CD's with Depeche Mode, several projects with Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, David Crosby, Joe Cocker, 6 CD's with Charles Lloyd, current Flamenco Lawson Rollins, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, John McEuen, numerous Brazilian jazz projects with Airto and Flora Purim, Christian Jacob are just a mention of a small assortment of music projects featured in his discography.

Film and Television and Audio books became another skill set and relationships with Jack Canfield, Fannie Flagg, TC Boyle, Rob Lowe, Kevin Costner, and Carol Burnett resulted in the Grammy award he received for Carol's book this past Spring. Applying his creativity in the new area for him of sound FX design for nature films established yet another realm to apply his skills. Several films are now in global release and he was one of three finalists for sound in a recent Jackson Hole Nature film festival losing out to Disney and the festival sponsor, Dolby Labs.

Relationships are at the heart of it and Dom is still working earnestly after all these years. Attention to detail and caring for the results he delivers for his clients are the cornerstone of these relationships. His discography keeps growing and his thirst for continued growth both technically and musically keeps open connections with every generation that makes music today. No 'one trick pony', Dom is comfortable in contemporary music, classical music, jazz, theater sound, film/television audio, well, basically 'everything audio'. His motto! Promise 'X' deliver at least '2X'!!!

Nicole McKenzie (Violin)

Nicole McKenzie has performed widely as soloist and chamber musician. The Santa Barbara Independent declared, "McKenzie made a splash in the luscious and exciting music - she performed with gorgeous musicality." Winner of the Sutton Chamber Music Award, she graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy, earned a BM Degree from Oberlin Conservatory, an MM Degree from Florida State University, and studied with Gary Kosloski at the Music Academy of the West. Ms. McKenzie maintains a private violin studio, is Concertmaster of the Santa Barbara Folk Orchestra, co-directs and teaches for Sandcastle Music Together, coaches chamber music at Santa Barbara Strings, is a member of the duo, Continental Cafe, directs and teaches at Allegro Violin Camp, was a founding member of the Nicole McKenzie Improv Group (an improvising group of dancers and musicians), was a founding member of the Klezmer/Jazz group, Kalinka, and regularly concertizes with renown pianist, Betty Oberacker. She performs on a violin created for her by Michel Eggimann of Rome, Italy.

Andrea DiMaggio (flute)

Andrea Di Maggio has been praised for her "stellar playing and social grace" by the Santa Barbara Independent. Studying with French Flutist Isabelle Chapuis, Andrea graduated from San Jose State University with her degree in flute performance and was granted a teaching and performing position at Arizona State University. As a graduate student of Jill Felber, Andrea graduated with her M.M. from the University of California Santa Barbara. Since settling in Santa Barbara, Andrea has been granted performance awards from the Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation, the Santa Barbara Foundation, the Santa Barbara Music Club, the Music Teacher's National Association, and the Leni Fe Bland Foundation.

Andrea is a regular performer for Westmont College, the Santa Barbara Music Club and the West Coast Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, as well as a participant in masterclasses and area orchestras. She is a founding member of Sonos5winds, the Woodwind Quintet-in-Residence at Westmont College, where she is the flute faculty. Additionally she is the flute instructor for the Westmont Academy of Young Artists and has been on the teaching faculty of Santa Barbara City College.

Andrea's private and college students have won awards from the National Flute Association, the Music Teacher's Association of California, the Santa Barbara Music Club, and the Santa Barbara Youth Symphony. She performs on a silver, gold, and platinum Miyazawa flute.

Tim Beccue (cello)

Tim Beccue is an avid cellist. He enjoys making music in almost any setting, especially with friends. Since moving to Santa Barbara to attend Westmont, Tim has performed with the Santa Barbara Symphony, won first place in the Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation, travelled internationally with the Westmont orchestra, and recently performed the Saint Saens cello concerto no. 1 with the West Coast Symphony. In his spare time, Tim enjoys taking pictures of the night sky. timspacepics.weebly.com

Andrew Martinez (saxophone)

A Santa Barbara native, Andrew started playing the saxophone at the age of 13. After being heavily influenced by his high school band director, Isaac Jenkins, he went on to study jazz performance at the University of North Texas and played in many of their prestigious Lab Bands. At UNT, Andrew studied with some of the best jazz educators in the business including Dan Haerle, James Riggs, Neil Slater, & Fred Hamilton. In August of 1999, Andrew decided to make Los Angeles his home where he performed in the bands of Engelbert Humperdinck, Sheena Easton, Jack Sheldon, Bob Florence, and Bill Holman to name a few. Andrew has also been lucky enough to perform beside some of the most talented musicians in the world including Pete Christlieb, Bobby Shew, Dan Higgins, Wayne Bergeron, Andy Martin, Rick Baptist, Sal Lozano, Doug Webb, and Kim Richmond. In September of 2008, Andrew returned to Santa Barbara where he currently teaches music at Santa Barbara City College, the Harmony Project by the New West Symphony, and Goleta Valley Junior High. Andrew currently performs across Southern California as a featured soloist, and with his current band “The Sax Collective”.

COMPOSER/LYRICIST CREDITS

Thank you for writing these wonderful songs with such spiritual depth!

"I Was Here" from The Glorious Ones - Stephen Flaherty/Lynn Ahrens

"A New World" from Songs For A New World - Jason Robert Brown

"A Quiet Thing" from Flora, The Red Menace - John Kander/Fred Ebb

"Poor Sweet Baby" from Snoopy - Larry Grossman/Hal Hackady

"Travel" from Starting Here, Starting Now - David Shire, Richard Maltby Jr.

"It All Fades Away" from Bridges of Madison County - Jason Robert Brown

"The Music That Makes Me Dance" from Funny Girl - Jule Styne/Bob Merrill

"Roadside" from Roadside - Harvey Schmidt/Tom Jones

"'Til Him" from The Producers - Mel Brooks

"How Glory Goes" from Flloyd Collins - Adam Guettel