I define myself first and foremost as a family man.
I’m the proud father of 2 beautiful little girls named Eva Rose and Elisheba.
Them entering my life brought my music and my spirituality to a whole different level.
Life and as a result music, is more intense.
More life … More music.
At the essence of it all, I’m the ultimate dreamer, if dreamer was a high profiled job, I’d be a celebrity.
My great grand father was a professional painter, my great grand mother on the other side was an accomplished pianist, my two grand fathers were really good amateur painters. Everybody in my family loves art.
My grand mother, my father and my youngest daughter were/are taking the art of daydreaming to an Olympic level of intensity.
I decided to become a musician as it is one way to make a living while being a dreamer. It somehow puts a coat of paint or a filter on life. That’s why I can smile for no apparent reason in a moment that is sometimes even inappropriate.
I can always escape in my dream world. Sometimes, it’s a problem because I tuned out of the ordinary world and it might come over as if I wasn’t interested in what was happening in the present moment, which is sometimes the case.
As for the music I love, it is the music that takes me away, sounds that take me into an imaginary dream world.
A soundtrack to my life …
SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS ARE
My family, my wife Oya, my daughters, God, our planet & nature in general, food, Monty Python, nice watches, doing sport, hanging out with friends, playing music, walking in the rain, laying in the sun, practicing the bass (it cleanses my soul), reasoning with spiritual people (N.B. people who have spirit … funny people), play Bach on my basses, going new places, Ghandi, Bruce Lee, swim in the sea, Shaolin kung fu, photography, art, paintings, Triumph and old motorcycles, vintage Fender basses, good books, working out, shopping (yes, really), seeing friends feeling better than last year, people smiling in the train, people that give me hope, courteous people, incense, good movies, good series, nice clothes, hanging out home with my wife and my daughters for 4 day straight in between jobs, seeing people connect regardless of their age, race or religion, being silly, getting a big check, making people laugh, locking it down with a drummer (nothing like it), playing with a great female singer (nothing like that either) …
RECORDINGS THAT HAD A HUGE IMPACT ON ME
The Beatles (some double compilation album)
Chris Withley “Dirt floor”
Curtis Mayfield ”There’s no place like America today”
Al Jarreau “Jarreau”
Marvin Gaye “Here my dear’ “What’s going on?” “I want you”
Prince “Dirty mind”
Miles Davis “Kind of blue” ”Water babies” ”We want Miles””Ascenseur pour l’échafaud”
D’Angelo “Brown sugar”
Shirley Horn “Here is to life”
Wayne Shorter “Native dancer” “High life”
Anita Baker “Rapture”
Al Green “Greatest hits”
Burt Bacharach/Elvis Costello “Painted from memory”
Hank Jones ‘Here is love”
Hank Jones/ Abbey Lincoln “Where is the love”
Dino Lupatti plays J.S. Bach
John Scofield “Grace under pressure” “Still warm”
Paul Motian “ On broadway vol 1,2 3
Joe Lovano “Sounds of joy”
Michael Mc Donald “That’s what it takes”
Michael Jackson ”Off the wall”, “Thriller”
Me Shell N’Degeocello “Plantation lullabies”, “ Peace beyond passion” & ”Bitter”
Nick Drake “Pink moon”
Dwele – all of them
DJ Jazzy Jeff “The magnificent”
J Dilla “Shining”
Neil Yound “Harvest”
Monserrat Figueras; Jordi Savall: Hespèrion XXI
La fabulosa gitarra de Paco De Lucia
Skip James “The devil got my woman”
David Bowie “Heroes”
Peter Gabriel first 3 albums
Common “Like water for chocolate”
David Sanborn “Straight to the heart”
————————————-SOME THOUGHTS—————————-
I realize more everyday how much I’m constantly being influenced by people,events,music and little everyday things of life. Signs are there for us, at every moment of our life,every day.
Most of the time, we’re too caught up to read them.
Good musicians are good listeners,good observers, they’re good at reading the signs.
Every sign is a small miracle.
Experiences. I gathered them for as long as I have been here. Sometimes,just like a ghost from the past,they come from deep within my soul and,through my fingertips, flow out of me without having any conscious control over it.
Everything is a source of inspiration.
Music is where you find it
“the revolution wont de televised” Gil Scott Heron
« be the change you want to se in the world »Ghandi-I’m meditating a lot on this one lately
————-INFLUENCES——(SOME OF THEM & in no particular order)——————-
Gospel &Blues music, music from the soul(the only real one), the Beatles, Charles Mingus, John Coltrane, Stevie Wonder, Elvis Costello, Ray Charles, Earth,Wind and Fire,
the 3 B’s(Brams,Beethoven,Bach), Robert Johnson, Darryl Jones, Burt Bacharach, Camaron,
Chris Withley, Marcus Miller, Miles Davis ,Spirituals, Abe Laboriel, Mose Allison,
Randy Newman, D’angelo, Curtis Mayfield, Genesis, Mozart, music from Zaire,
central africa, Shuggie Otis, Me’shell N’degeocello, Michael Jackson, Stevie Winwood, Duke Ellington, Madness, Kassav, Bill Evans, James Brown, Keith Jarrett, Marvin Gaye, Mononeon, Junior Braguinha,
Nat King Cole, Walt Disney, Pixar movies, Wayne Shorter, the Gap band, Ornette Coleman, eighties funk /r’n’b, Milton Nascimento, Level 42, Paco de Lucia/Carlos benavent,
Bill Carrothers, J.DEE., Sufi music, Dave Holland, all the musicians i played with,
my father,my mother,the friends i grew up with musically,my wife,s my daughters, my familly, Charlie Haden, the Paul’s(Chambers, Mc Cartney, Jackson),
Hall and Oats, Priiiiiiince, Jimmy Blanton, the funk brothers/James Jamerson, Bird,
Hank Jones,and his brothers too, Augustus Pablo, Bob Marley,
Toots Thielemans, silence, wind, Kool & the Gang, laughter, Jocelyn Brown, Maze, &Frankie Beverly, Alex Blake, Louis Johnson, Abbey Lincoln, Shirley Horn, Monk, Weather Report,
Bill Withers, Supertramp, Chet Baker, Hair(the musical), Take 6,
Grand Master Flash and the Furious five, Heavy D & Public Enemy, Common, Al Green, Trojan Records, Stax, Impulse,”Despicable me” soundtrack,”
Brokeback Mountain” soundtrack, ”Treme”HBO serie,
Deep Purple, David Bowie, Jaco, Beethoven, Timbaland/Missy, Pablo Cassals, Django, Snoop Dog, Dr Dré, Notorious B.I.G., Dwele, Billy Strayhorn, Bud Powell, Oscar Pettiford, Skip James, Gnawa music, Brazilian music, Indian classical music, Arab music, Cuban & South American music,
Ibrahim Ferrer, Blues Brothers(1),the Clash, Elton John, Sonny Rollins, Larry Grenadier, Irish trad. music, Q tip, Mononeon, Ben Street, Eighties/Nineties hip hop, Rufus Wainwright,Gil Scott Heron,
My friends( Homies) Otti, Dré, Stéphane Galland, Kurt Van herck, Gorka Benitez,Bill Mc Henry, Chris Cheek,Jon Cowherd, Ryan Scott, Kris Defoort,Jeroen Van Herzeele, Bart Defoort, Ewout Pierruex, Tutu Puoane.
Many people I played with/heard in NYC during my stay left a deep and permanent print on my soul.
And you know what? Most probably you too(seriously J )——— this is fun ,i could go on forever……
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SONGS THAT MAKE
MY HEART MELT
“Here but I’m gone” Curtis Mayfield
“Monasterio del sal” Paco de Lucia/Carlos Benavent
“Picture in a frame” Tom Waits
“Brazilian wedding” Pedro Aznar
“Dead man walking” Bruce Spingsteen
“I cant help it” Stevie Wonder (Michael Jackson)
“Vietnam warsong” Bill Withers
“Brazilian rhyme” Earth, Wind & Fire
“Sweet soul” Peter Erskine
“The lady in my life” Michael Jackson
“Whats happening brother” Marvin Gaye
“Here comes the sun” George Harrisson
“Last train home” Pat Metheny
“I love you more than you’ll ever know” Donny Hattaway
“While you see a chance” Stevie Winwood
“Thank you” Gentle Giant
“Syracuse” Henry Salvador
“Blackbird”Lennon/Mc Cartney(by Paul or Carly Simon)
“I love you still” Chaka Khan
“Someday I’ll fly away”, “Endlessly” Randy Crawford
“Solsbury hill” Peter Gabriel
“Prism” Keith Jarrett
“Melancholia” Duke Ellington
And many others …