There are many of you reading this who have known for years that alongside healing work comes a deep love of music. When I’m not listening to music, I’m playing. I’m a multi-instrumentalist, playing bass, guitar, keyboards, drums, trumpet and flugelhorn (in no particular order). I’ve been making music for more than 35 years. On this page, I wish to present some of the music I’ve made. Some of the music I’ve made I can’t make available here, e.g., Canada’s theme song for International Youth Year 1985, on which I played all 3 trumpet parts. (Paul Hoffert, a founding member of the Canadian rock band, Lighthouse, was the composer and engineer for the session; something I shall remember till the day I die, as Paul was an icon for me as a youth.) What I can make available here, however, I intend to. Music, you see, is something that I believe wants to be free. And while I have no misconceptions that the music I’ve made will resonate with everybody, I hope that it touches enough of you to make it worth sharing.
Small Light
The cover of the Life After Failing CD “Small Light”
First off, I’d like to offer what I consider to be my personal accomplishment to date: Small Light. Small Light is an instrumental jam band album, which is to say there are a dearth of vocals. You won’t find any lyrics here. You’ll also find it decidedly NOT New Age as a genre. It rocks and, at times, rocks pretty hard. The first eight links are for the individual songs. The last link shown is for a zip file of the entire album. Choose whichever tickles your fancy. The music here is free. Should you wish to express thanks with a donation, I can but express my heartfelt thanks.
Life After Failing “Small Light” (Complete Album)
I hope you enjoy the album. I positively loved recording, mixing and mastering it. I do hope to outdo it someday, but for now, it is the pinnacle of my achievements musically. For those who are interested in the gear side of things, I recorded the album using a CIJ Fender ’62 Reissue Fretless Jazz Bass through a UK-made Ashdown EB12-150.
Summit
Summit is a song that Life After Failing recorded at a rehearsal back on November 11, 2005. This was an interesting piece of music for us and I think it does an excellent job of capturing how the band played with sonic textures in a free-form jam setting. The bass I used recording this track was my 1977 Fender Fretless Precision Bass (blank-plank maple fingerboard). Download Summit.
Second Ascension
I spent much of today (Sunday, Oct. 31, 2010) working on a new piece of music that I call Second Ascension. The idea of this piece is to give the listener a look into what it’s like to experience a deep “core point” meditation that takes one to the very edge of reality. It’s a long piece (21:04) that touches on both the peace and the discordance once can experience when venturing to places one has not been before. While it’s definitely of a new-age flavour, I think it’s also trippy enough that it could be interesting for other voyagers, too. Download Second Ascension.