There are times in the life of every artist when the artist's journey takes a leap towards an unknown destiny. It is a destiny forged from so many years of practice and study, tears and elation. It is a destiny of situation and fortune. At its deepest levels, it is a destiny borne of the heart. When an artist finds a deep resonance with purpose, the art expressed becomes a transcendent expression of that which cannot be voiced in words, sound, or image.
In this beautiful CD, we hear that quality, that essence that makes music great. Each song is like a Rosetta Stone to understand The Language of Sound and Spirit. Each composition offers a different view of the human heart as it stretches out to the infinite.
John Coltrane's music in the last part of his life, reflected a sense of urgency, a sense of wonder, and a deep connection to Sound and Spirit. Surprisingly, since his death in July of 1967, few artists have embraced that sense of urgency, or dedication of purpose. It seems that it is more comfortable to rest in the many interpolations of the mind and express "art" without a deep connection consciously to Spirit. Many modern musicians may be likened to great actors who act in a play, without knowing or understanding the theme of the play of the intention of the writer.
I have dedicated my life and journey in music to plumbing the depths of the Sound, the sounds behind the music. I have sought to discover what is the origin of the audible sounds? This has led me to many beautiful landscapes and journeys. This CD is one such journey. I hear in this CD the genesis of an amazing story that wants to be told.
This music, when listened to with an open mind and heart, can shift the awareness from the temporal to the eternal. It is both a window, and a mirror into that deepest part of what it is to be fully human, and fully divine.
The music is warm, swings, grooves, is bluesy, melodic, and yet it is not these things that define it. It is the purpose from which it was created and the clues hidden in plain sight that make it the wonderful recording that it is.
I invite you to listen to it deeply as I have. You may find yourself transported to a place within the heart where you experience The Language of Sound and Spirit again, and know it for the first time.
Love always...always love,
Rodney Jones
NYC March 2012
credits
released March 12, 2012
Josh Maxey, guitar
Brian Charette, organ
Chase Baird, Saxophones
Jeremy Noller, drums
Michael Cioffero, Acoustic guitar, Part II and Part IV, and singing bowls
David Nicholson, Acoustic guitar, Part I and Rehearsal and singing bowls
Jessica Martinez Maxey, NA Flute, Part IV and Rehearsal
David Parnell, Vocal, Part IV
Produced by Rodney Jones
Recorded at SeaSide Lounge Recording Studios, Brooklyn, NY on December
11th, 2011.
Engineered by Danielle Depalma
Mixed by David Parnell and Andy Gabrys
Mastered by Andy Gabrys andygabrys.com
Photography by Jessica Martinez Maxey
Digital Cover Artwork by Carl Gambrell
Celebration of Soul is the 10th album recorded in 3 years documenting 50 original compositions with 20 musicians. It has
been released on Miles High Records and is the first of the series on a label. Check out all the music here! Play it loud and enjoy!...more