What an amazing last couple of weeks I have had!  Jarome Matthew, my producer, and his lovely wife Felisha were here visiting from Vancouver to help out with a Chinese CD project that we are working on.  We accomplished all that we set out to do and recorded several incredibly talented musicians in the studio.  The first artist we recorded was talented musician, Jin R, on her beautiful Yang Qin.  The Yang Qin is a Chinese hammered dulcimer originally from Persia and resembles the Persian Santur (I have included a photo of her playing it in the slideshow below).  Jin R played her own spontaneous composition with such fluidity and emotion.  It was so inspiring and moving to watch.  After the recording (which lasted over 10 minutes and was practically flawless), she confessed that she didn’t want to end playing for the recording.  It was definitely a magical session listening to her play and create music on the spot.  

A couple of days later, we had the privilege of recording Phil Morrison and Keith Williams, two extremely accomplished jazz musicians.  What a pleasure and a joy it was to spend time with them and Jarome in my studio.  So much talent all in one little room was quite overwhelming!  They recorded Blessed is the Spot (I had composed the music for this piece for the CD, Melodies of the Nightingale for the Family.  They also recorded God is sufficient Unto Me and their arrangement for these two pieces in a jazz style was amazing.  They play a lovely style that has not yet been heard on these devotional pieces.  I so look forward to sharing them with you when they’re ready.

We were also very blessed to record Cheng Lin who graciously accepted to sing the vocals for Blessed is the Spot in Chinese for the album.  Her vocals were simply stunning and so smooth.  What a gift it was to watch her singing with such emotion and talent and with such consistency.  I was so touched that despite Lin’s busy schedule, she was able to make time for recording for this album.  Her contribution to this CD is truly a gift.

One of Lin’s dear friends, Lily, is another talented vocalist on the project. Lily will be singing several of the songs from my most recent album, Fire and Gold, in Chinese for this CD. Her voice is so suited to the style of the music as it is heavenly and angelic.  I’m so excited to be able to share a few of the Fire and Gold songs in Chinese as many of the friends have requested it. 

We will do some more recording for the CD in the next couple of months and hope to complete it early next year.  I will definitely keep you posted.  Even with all the recording that we did, Felisha, Jarome and I managed to fit in some site-seeing in between sessions and had a fantastic day celebrating dear Felisha’s birthday in China!  I’m so grateful to Jarome and Felisha for coming all this way to assist with the recording of the CD!

One of my highlights last week was having Phil and Keith over to our home.  They are both such talented, sweet, charming and humble gentleman!  It is truly hard to find musicians of such caliber who remain down to earth, friendly and so open to working with other musicians.

Before they came over, Phil had encouraged me to find some jazz songs that I wanted to learn and sing so I started searching for my favorites to rehearse together.  When they arrived, we spent several hours singing, rehearsing and enjoying one another’s company.  Phil kindly wrote down the chords for the songs as Keith played them so fluidly on the piano.  They wanted to enable me to sing these songs wherever I have the opportunity in the future.  Such kindness and thoughtfulness!  I was amazed at how Keith so naturally transposed the keys to suit my vocal range.  We practised three of my favorite songs, I’ve never been in love before, Unforgettable and Autumn Leaves.  Phil and Keith also taught me one of Phil’s original songs called The Martyr’s Rose which is on their CD, China Skies.   It is such a beautiful song with a lovely melody and moving lyrics.

Phil gave me a treasured gift - a huge book of all the songs he has composed (some of Keith’s are in there too as well as a few other musicians).  I was amazed at how many songs are in there.  At the end of the book are some articles of Keith and Phil performing in different places around the world.  I was excited to learn that Phil and Keith had performed with Dizzy Gillespie in South Carolina in 1989 and Phil even composed a song about Dizzy called Remembering Dizzy.  I am very touched by their humility.  What is so unique about their music is that they take the sounds of a jazz combo and smooth vocals and blend it with traditional music instruments of China and Japan.  Truly inspiring and extremely creative!

Yesterday evening I had another treasured opportunity to watch Phil, Keith and Viva perform at the Hilton Hotel in Beijing.  I sang the three songs above that we had practised and it was such a joy to be accompanied by such accomplished and talented musicians.  Phil and Keith, we are honored that you are here in Beijing and look forward to many more opportunities to hear your wonderful music.  Thank you for sharing your talents with the world.  For more information about their beautiful music, please click here.

“Good luck Beijing!” is the title of one of the 30 songs chosen for the Beijing Olympics. It is a song written by two talented and professional musicians from Georgia, USA - Phil Morrison and Keith Williams. They are now performing almost nightly at the Hilton Hotel Wangfujing in Beijing and are a definite must-see! Phil and Keith were inverviewed by a news agency about their song for the Olympics. You can view the video below.

I had been in touch with Phil before he came to Beijing and was so looking forward to meeting the gifted duo. So a few nights ago I invited some friends to watch them perform and what a delightful evening it was! From the moment we met, there was such a warm connection! Phil was playing bass and Keith played a beautiful grand piano. They make such a wonderful combination. Viva, their vocalist, also a very talented musician, charmed us with her voice. Before the start of the performance, Keith and Phil had encouraged me to sing a song with them but I felt completely unprepared as we hadn’t rehearsed anything together. But after listening to Viva sing and watching them perform in such unison and spirit, I couldn’t help but acquiesce when Viva requested that I sing! I’m so glad that I did because it was one of the highlights of my evening. Performing with such talent is not a common occurrence in my life so I’m thrilled that I seized that opportunity.

At the end of the evening, the three of us agreed that we should definitely get together and perform again. I look forward to learning some new songs and exploring this new side of music that I haven’t experienced too much of before. I know I will love it!