I’m so excited to share with you my second new release, a ballad called ‘Missing You’.  The inspiration for this song came from different sources for me, my husband who travels quite often and also a close friend who passed on 2 years ago.  Some friends who heard the song before it was released shared that it affected them very personally and reminded them of someone special in their lives.  I’m so glad that the song has meaning for those who have heard it and has moved them in some way.

Once again, Eric Harper wields his talent in adding his beautiful guitar compositions to this piece.  This song required great emotional expression in the vocals.  I was hoping to capture that in the recording but found it quite challenging to bring out the deep emotions of the song at first.  After reflecting on the words and with some encouragement from my producer, I was finally able to let go and allow the emotion to come through.

You may be surprised to hear that the lyrics are quite a departure from my previous songs that I’ve sung.  I’ve enjoyed experimenting with different topics and the subject of love is one that inspires me.  I would love to hear your thoughts and what memories the song evokes for you?

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Missing You and my other 2 new songs, Edge of Forever, and Listen are available to download from your favorite online music stores now.
More links will be posted on my Music page soon.

I’ve been waiting for this moment for awhile now….
In my last blog I shared that we are about to release some new material and I’m excited to share my 3 new songs which are now available online!
I’ve added a full length version of one of the songs for you in this blog entitled, ‘Edge of Forever’.  This song is about the struggle between our spiritual nature and our attachments to this world. It is so easy in this life to become distracted with all sorts of things and forget our spiritual existence.  We become paralyzed and entrenched in our daily lives in a web of busyness and neglect our true selves.  We wanted to create a song that shows this struggle between these opposing forces and how our desires can taunt and misguide us. Hopefully you will get a sense of that in the lyrics:

“Like a vapour in a desert
This world is so fleeting
The realm of eternity is everlasting

Feel the eternal flame
Drawing you into the edge of forever
It calls your name
Raising you up from this mortal world”

These lyrics as well as the rhythm, and the flamenco guitar which is one of my favorite live instruments, make me excited about this song.  Eric Harper plays the guitar infusing the song with gorgeous rhythms on top of Jarome’s vibrant composition. It has been a thrilling journey exploring this new style of music, writing original lyrics and incorporating harmonies and rhythm. I’ve been so looking forward to adding more percussion to my music as I’ve been hesitant in the past despite being raised surrounded by African rhythms! Despite a progressive Latin feel, the melodies ended up with a bit of Middle Eastern flavor which I felt added to the diversity.

Listen to the title song, ‘Edge Of Forever’:

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This song as well as the 2 other new songs are now available on iTunes internationally, Amazon MP3, and most other stores online.
I’ll be posting more about the other songs, and adding them to my music page with links soon.

Can’t wait to hear what you think of my new music venture!

Last night, I helped organize a concert for Eric Harper which also turned out to be very successful, enjoyable and lots of fun.  It was held at the Green T. Living just next to a lovely pond overlooking an elegant pagoda. Eric started out by playing classical guitar pieces in the pagoda and later moved closer to the audience where I joined him on 2 of his songs.  One of them was called ‘Say God sufficeth’ which he wrote with a flamenco style and the other was a healing prayer entitled, ‘Cura’ on his Portuguese CD, ‘Romper a madrugada’.  Eric sang it in Portuguese and I sang in English.  Just the night before (after Cheng Lin’s concert) I had mentioned to Eric how wonderful it would be to sing that piece in both languages and as we were jamming we came up with a lovely melody to suit the song.  Half way through the piece, we sing both the Portuguese and English parts together – it was so enjoyable creating that together.  It definitely took some courage to sing that piece for everyone at the concert considering we had just composed the English melody the night before and practiced singing it only several times.

KC Porter also sang one of the songs he had composed for Santana called ‘Primavera’ with Eric on the guitar and he also played his second piece on the keyboard called ‘Night hath succeeded day’.  It was superb listening to him with Eric’s accompaniment on Primavera.  One of my highlights of the night (besides singing with Eric of course) was singing one of  Nabil Huening’s compositions with Eric on the guitar and KC on the keyboard.  It was the first time that the four of us had actually performed the song together and the spontineity made it all the more thrilling.  The energy on stage was wonderful and so exciting to be able to participate with such talented musicians.

It truly is a gift to be able to share music with others especially when it inspires souls and moves people.  I can’t help but call this beautiful quotation to mind from Baha’u'llah, “We, verily, have made music as a ladder for your souls, a means whereby they may be lifted up unto the realm on high.”

What an amazing past few days I have had!  First of all, I must share with you that Cheng Lin’s Peony Festival concert was a huge success on so many levels.  By the night of the big event, I felt so comfortable singing all the songs in Chinese with the other backup singers and so enjoyed the whole process of watching how the concert was put together.  So much work went into putting on such a high quality and professional production and the results were evident.  Lin looked superb in her glamorous dresses (she had 4 dress changes which depicted the colors of the Peony flowers in Luo Yang) and her voice sounded so powerful yet angelic!  She definitely has a wonderful way of charming her audience.  They absolutely loved her and cheered her on throughout the concert.

During the evening, I was moved to tears several times.  Cheng Lin’s 85 year old vocal teacher had specially flown in from Beijing to Luo Yang just to see the performance.  Even though she’s not in the best of health and uses a wheelchair, she attended the concert.  Lin was so moved that she came all the way and we were all so touched by how Lin introduced her with such love, dignity and honor.  Lin has known her since her early childhood!  Another very touching part of the concert was watching a short but powerful visual presentation of the Sichuan earthquake and the devastation that it caused there.  In commemoration for that event, Lin sang one of her songs ‘The road to heaven’ which is about the children who have gone to heaven and tells them not to cry or be afraid.

Lin had flown in KC Porter, her producer, who is also a talented composer and vocalist and a 3 time Grammy award winner, for the concert to perform three of his compositions.  He sang ‘Greater than Gold‘ – a duet with Lin, ‘Night hath succeeded day’ – a solo on the piano and ‘Canto’ with the whole band which electrified the crowd as well as the band members!  He didn’t have time to practise with the band except for the day before the concert.  I am amazed how naturally KC blended in with the band without much preparation at all!  A gorgeous large, black grand piano was shipped over from Shanghai just for the concert for KC to play on!  Eric Harper, a talented guitarist, composer and vocalist was also invited to participate in the concert from the US.  He brought a lovely flamenco flavor to the concert on some of the songs.  The talent in the room was overwhelming!

Bringing together musicians from the East and West, overcoming language barriers and playing inspirational music together was such a highlight.  By the end of the concert, the whole band had bonded and it was hard to say goodbye.  Luckily most of them live in Beijing, so we’ll have a chance to get together and jam once again. Below are some photos of the concert in Luo Yang.

I’ve had the pleasure of having Eric Harper stay with us for the last 10 days.  He was invited to China to participate in Cheng Lin’s Peony Festival concert in Luo Yang.  During his stay we’ve had some opportunities to work on some music together and have come up with a lovely new song for my new original album which I look forward to sharing (he also plays on a couple other pieces on the CD).  More on that later…

Last night as we were consulting, we decided to have a house concert for Eric to share his wonderful music with friends.  After some thought we felt we would be limiting the number of people who could attend if it were held in our home.   So I felt inspired to ask Jin R whether she would agree to have the concert at the Green T. Living where I performed for my debut ‘Fire and Gold’ concert last year. Of course Jin R graciously accepted.  

Eric describes himself as being like a chameleon.  He is a talented composer and vocalist and what makes him unique is that he can create any style of music when asked.  He is highly entertaining as he can charm and move his listener with his soft ballads or classical pieces as well as bringing an edge with his music when he plays rock or flamenco.  He will be playing varied pieces at the concert and I’m thrilled to be able to join him singing on one of his compositions called ‘Say God sufficeth’.  KC Porter may also make a special appearance at the concert.  Click here to listen to some of Eric’s music. 

The concert will be held in the Tea Reflection Room at the Green T. House Living overlooking the Black Mirror Pond and pagoda. (The Tea Reflection Room is located directly behind the White Pavilion).

Cost: Your contribution is most appreciated.

Date: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 7:30pm

Please invite your friends and RSVP to 13601137132 or events@green-t-house.com  All are welcome!  Click here to see the map to the Green T. Living

We have finished rehearsals in Beijing for Cheng Lin’s upcoming Spring Festival Peony Concert.  On Saturday I will be travelling to Luo Yang to join the band and Lin for final rehearsals for the concert on April 13.  We’ve had several practices and I feel confident with the Chinese songs that I’ll be singing with the chorus.  In the last couple of weeks, I feel like I’ve been a sponge soaking up the whole process of creating a full concert and what that entails.  I see how hard Lin has been working to put it all together while consulting with the engineers, director of the concert, lighting engineers, musicians, media and more!

Lin has also invited KC Porter and Eric Harper from the US to join her in concert which has brought a lovely feeling of unity in diversity among the musicians.  Even though not everyone speaks the same language, I still see the bonding of the hearts through performing music together and everyone working hard perfecting the songs.  We will be performing one of my favorite songs composed by KC Porter called ‘Canto’ which was performed on the Embrace the World Tour.  I’m so excited about the concert as it’ll be an electrifying evening with lots of wonderful music including a repertoire from Lin’s older songs, some from her new ones from her upcoming album, Greater than Gold and two compositions from KC Porter.

Here are some photos of our sessions in the rehearsal studio with all the talented musicians.