Burning . . .

. . . Grey



Do you mean you were just lying there?

Out of reach of anyone who cares

They have bound you with their loving arms

In the distance I still hear you sound the alarm



Can you see yourself more clearly now?

As if you stepped out of a cloud

Beginning when it seems to end

Above below merging



Your mind doesn't feel

Your fingers don't think

Your eyes do not touch

While the heartbeat goes skipping away



It's now and then you're living

While you wait start the giving

Prove it it's always there

Burning grey without its flare



Obligated but one hand is tied

Constant chattering within your mind

How to leave it no one cares

To hear the silly language spoken there



There's a love that empties its own veins

As they spend they fill up again

The flow traffics through eternity

Carries on in all purity



Now you feel and you think

You see and you touch

With a matrix that springs from your heart

To your hands through your head

Burning grey

(Burning Grey performed by OHO at Pleasant Valley Golf Club, 

October 2016;  

Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak)

What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html  or at
http://www.ohomusic.com 

My latest solo offering, No Frills, is now available at - No Frills

(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)

Get your copy of OHO's  Where Words Do Not Reach now!
The Ocean City Ditty Video is now on YouTube
Also, be sure to visit: www.rayjozwiak.com and www.ohomusic.com

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Left Out . . .

. . . among many other 'issues' that Lucy had . . .



(from https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Peanuts)
I'm frustrated and inhibited, and no one understands me.

These five fingers: individually they're nothing, but when I curl them together like this into a single unit (making a fist), they form a weapon that is terrible to behold!

Can I help it if I was born with crabby genes?!?

By the time I've grown up, we'll probably have a woman president. You know what that means, don't you? It means I won't get to be the first one. BOY, THAT MAKES ME MAD!!

Watching your graceful movements on the pitcher's mound lulled me to sleep!

When the sun reflects off the bright yellow dandelions, I can't see the ball.

What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html  or at
http://www.ohomusic.com 


OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD) OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak.  Please Visit http://www.ohomusic.com 


My latest solo offering, Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak, featuring original, instrumental piano music is now available at - Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak

(To Access all Ray Jozwiak - Gonzo Piano music you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/RayJozwiak)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

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We Complain . . .

 . . . the floor's uneven . . .

. . . When we simply don't know how to dance

In a sentimental treason

Each word is charged as every glance



My foes approach and I start singing

How do I defend against my friends?

The treasure buried where I fumbled

The ball into the tiger's den



Maddened fingers spar

With the laughing strings

I was very close but no cigar



We were on the corner with our cup

The lad with light feet made the girl light up

Putting the pep back into the step

Where you would leap is now where I have leapt



I'm an easy victim of nostalgia

I was making friends among the blind

The filament was bright at high noon

Radiating from the signs



Maddened fingers spar

With the laughing strings

It was very close but no cigar



Find the low denominator

With a hundred pairs of eyes

Leaning on an arm that failed us

Against the grain it's common life



I was choking on imagination

Still I know I get the gist

Sifting through a tired memory

In Paris turning with the twist


Close But No Cigar
by John P. Graboski
(Oho [Jay Graboski, David Reeve, Ray Jozwiak]
recorded at Band Bash 2014 - “You’re With the Band!” -May 24, 2014)





What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html 

OHO's "Ocean City Ditty," the CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD)

My latest solo release, '2014', can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

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Black & White. . .

(from wikipedia.com)
Black-and-white as a description may be considered a misnomer in that the images are not ordinarily starkly contrasted black and white but combine black and white in a continuum producing a range of shades of gray. Further, many prints, especially those produced earlier in the development of photography, were in sepia (mainly for archival stability), which yielded richer, more subtle shading than reproductions in plain black-and-white. Color photography provides a much greater range of shade, but part of the appeal of black and white photography is its more subdued monochromatic character.

Black & White (then Back) is also the name of my latest solo piano release and describes the range of colors experienced by my very own fingers on the keyboard as I attempt to express my innermost emotions through acoustic grand pianoforte compositions and improvisations, captured digitally and included in this collection.

See what I mean . . .

Always You
from Black & White Then Back
©2012 Raymond M. Jozwiak




What do you think?
Tell me at
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html

My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

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Burning Grey. . .

. . . Oho working hard. . .

Do you mean you were just lying there?
Out of reach of anyone who cares
They have bound you with their loving arms
In the distance I still hear you sound the alarm

Can you see yourself more clearly now?
As if you stepped out of a cloud
Beginning when it seems to end
Above below merging

Your mind doesn't feel
Your fingers don't think
Your eyes do not touch
While the heartbeat goes skipping away

It's now and then you're living
While you wait start the giving
Prove it it's always there
Burning grey without its flare

Obligated but one hand is tied
Constant chattering within your mind
How to leave it no one cares
To hear the silly language spoken there

Your mind doesn't feel
Your fingers don't think
Your eyes do not touch
While the heartbeat goes skipping away

It's now and then you're living
While you wait start the giving
Prove it it's always there
Burning grey without its flare

There's a love that empties its own veins
As they spend they fill up again
The flow traffics through eternity
Carries on in all purity

Now you feel and you think
You see and you touch
With a matrix that springs from your heart
To your hands through your head
Burning grey

It's now and then you're living
While you wait start the giving
Prove it it's always there
Burning grey without its flare

  

BURNING GREY by John P. Graboski
Performed by Oho:  Jay Graboski, David Reeve and
Ray Jozwiak (from an April 2013 rehearsal recording)




What do you think? 
Tell me at  
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html

My latest release, Black & White Then Back,
can be downloaded digitally at:

(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser:  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak3)

Also, be sure to visit:
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

Tweet

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program. . .

. . . This break from over five years of regular performance was welcome, and for more reasons than one. During that period I was listening to music that I loved and that inspired me to want to make music of my own. Well, at least music more like what I was getting into than what was popular to sing along with, dance to in a drunken stupor or simply ignore while you ate, talked and generally celebrated some special occasion in your life or just a Saturday night's social event. This I was not getting. And I have myself to blame primarily. I had the freedom to leave my musical situation at the time and seek something more to what I envisioned. But alas, freedom is one thing and drive, determination and action are three others. These, quite sadly for my then musical disposition, I lacked. It really comes down to the fact that I really didn't want it badly enough.

In addition, while thoroughly enjoying the sonic antics of my art/prog/jazz-rock favorites and desiring to play things like those they played, I simply did not have the ability to create like they did. At least not on any substantial or meaningful scale. I wrote things sporadically before my retirement (my Sonata In No Particular Key is appropriate to mention here) but there was no consistent force, or inspiration for that matter, fueling the creation of much original material. I would have loved for a million new, creative musical ideas to flow freely and bountifully from my heart, mind and fingers, but it just didn't happen.

So I went happily and peacefully about building a new, married life together with my bride. My Farfisa Fast Four and Leslie 145 were setup in a prominent location in the den of our apartment for quick and easy access. Truth is, I'm not sure if I even played once a week at that time. But I was building my vinyl record album collection of my favorite jazz cats during the period and joyfully and effortlessly soaking in their music as often as I could. My Coltrane, Dolphy, Adderly and McLean collections grew with much less reliance on the old Tull, Gentle Giant and Yes for musical satisfaction. This too combined with sounds exemplifying the musical tastes of my significant other, sometimes not so willingly or graciously.

What do YOU think?

http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html


Download your
very own copy of
ANOTHER SHOT
by Ray Jozwiak

Please Visit
http://www.rayjozwiak.com

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Yesterday. . .

. . . my fingers were faster than the eye
never left my hands

but, nevertheless, pushed 'go' a little before I actually intended.

Great video though. Funny how many comments posted against this video on YouTube were by folks who had no idea that the clip came from a talk show parody called FERNDALE TONIGHT and the co-hosts (Mull & Willard) were INTENTIONALLY acting like idiots. Furthermore, the laughs were more a result of Martin Mull's facial expressions in reaction to the lyrics. And I'll go a step further, although Waits lived the life to write the songs, the act was still THE ACT, and he well knew why they were laughing and he played his part briliantly. (Of course he is an actor as well.)

Do you suppose the reactions posted on YouTube are, as an indication of the sophistication level of the general public, a direct correlation to the quality of popular entertainment today?

(Hear my music at http://www.rayjozwiak.com)