(. . . to an internet NEAR YOU! - The new solo release of solo, acoustic, original creative piano music from Oho's keyboard man Ray Jozwiak . . . )
1957 Raymond Michael Jozwiak is born at Church Home & Hospital, Baltimore, MD
1962 Raymond Michael Jozwiak enters the 1st grade at Our Lady of Fatima School, Baltimore, MD
1963 Raymond Michael Jozwiak begins accordion lessons at the Accordion Institute of Maryland
1972 Raymond Michael Jozwiak joins the band Reflection to play part-time at private functions
1978 Raymond Michael Jozwiak earns his Bachelor of Science degree from Towson State University
1979 Raymond Michael Jozwiak and Pamela Ann Statter marry
1983 Raymond and Pamela buy their first house (in Towson)
1984 - 1990 Raymond and Pamela bring three, extraordinary young men into the world
1985
Raymond Michael Jozwiak trades in his Farfisa Fast 4 and Leslie 145
tone cabinet for his first, (a Wurlitzer, studio upright) piano
1998 Raymond Michael Jozwiak trades in his Wurlitzer, studio upright piano for a Kawai baby grand
2014
Raymond Michael Jozwiak releases 2014, a cumulative, musical
distillation of elements from every human, intellectual, emotional and
musical experience of his life to date, performed on acoustic, grand
pianoforte
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)
That's what I used to tell my kids when something occurred that reminded me of a song. Like one would complain about rainy weather, to which I would respond with a musical 'Here comes the sun. . . doo 'n doo doo. . . ' Or a younger one might be pestering his older sibling, a situation in which I would offer comfort to the older by singing, 'Mama said there'd be days like this. . .' Well, you get the picture.
Now mind you I'm not really a very big fan of the typical Broadway musical where characters frequently break into corny songs in the middle of the 'action.' Some are, of course, more appealing to me than others depending upon the composer, the subject matter etc. And I've even been told that some of my original music reminds various people of show-tunes, an observation to which I do NOT object. There are only 12 notes in our western musical system you know.
But back to life. . . waiting for one of life's most mundane, and to some even one of life's most feared experiences, my six-month dental checkup, its (life, that is) musical connection revisits me in all its unadulterated truth. My dentist is also, in fact, a musician. . .
Singer/Songwriter, folk, world, improvisation all coming together beautifully.
"Rishi's Garden", performed by Tom
Prasada-Rao (www.tomprasadarao.com) with Patty Prasada-Rao, Doug Alan
Wilcox & Todd Marcus in concert at the Institute of Musical
Traditions (www.imtfolk.org),Takoma Park, MD, USA on May 18, 2011.
Tom
Prasada-Rao is a singer-songwriter of breathtaking vision. His voice
belies his musicianship and his extraordinary songs. From Rishi's Garden
with it's homage to Ravi Shankar to the groove of Sleeping Beauty ,
Tom's music is melodic, ambitious, and reverent.
When not on
tour, Tom is at home, producing records, raising two stepdaughters, and
walking one rather large Golden Doodle named Thurman. In addition to
producing, he's a teacher, currently at White Rock Montessori in Dallas,
formerly of The University of Virginia's Young Writer's Workshops -
where he created the songwriting curriculum and taught for eight years.
. . . last Friday at Bread & Circuses Bistro's Patio in Towson. The clouds parted, the sun burst gloriously through. Three mysterious men with musical instruments plowed through three sets of driving, sophisticated and danceable cover tunes interspersed with thought-provoking originals well into the evening. . . all of which seemed to simply appear. . .
When I woke up today I had all that I want
Everything that I did brought desired results
How could this be? All the rules have been changed
In the pool where I drowned I am swimming again.
But of course I am wrong. How could I understand
When my society tells me how tall I stand?
Then I take it inside and wait for life’s kiss
Which is sure to arrive ‘cause I’m riding my bliss.
What did I do? The world holds me up
Invisible hands grant the nourishing cup
Have I found a way that has always been there?
It seems to me it came out of thin air.
The child waking up brings the old crone to tears
Pushing through my disguise see the tips of my ears
How could this be all the rules have been changed
In the pool where I drowned I am swimming again.
When I blindly reach out to what I cannot see
Grace reappears and it rescues me
I’m not what I feel, I’m not what you think
I’m only what is and what isn’t in sync.
Out of Thin Air
by John P. Graboski (live at Bread & Circuses August 9, 2013)
(from http://spookhandy.com/wp/biography/)
". . . Spook Handy was No Musical Genius As a Kid ~ He played no instrument, owned no records, and didn’t even have a radio until he was in high school. In fact, he didn’t make the first cut when he tried out for Glee Club in 5th grade.
But he Had a Dream ~ His love for music dates back to his first time watching the Beatles perform on TV. That day a seed was planted – a vision, a possibility of still being a fun loving person when he grew up. And little was anyone to know that one day that seed would sprout.
And The Dream Grew ~ It happened on a stiflingly humid New Jersey morning the summer after graduating Rutgers University (Phi Beta Kappa) with a major in Math and Business. Spook had been offered several lucrative jobs in the actuarial field. He had been groomed for this career by his parents and teachers because he was good at math as a child. He had three job interviews lined up for the day. But…
Spook Always Carried with him a Lust for Living “Outside the Box” ~ His “what if” and “why not” questions raised many eyebrows. His unorthodox religious perspectives got him kicked out of Catholic school after 1st grade. And somewhere in the back of his mind he never gave up on the dream he had when he first saw the Beatles. So, on that fateful morning as he stood in the mirror hopelessly trying to tie his tie, a sudden and unforgiving truth overwhelmed him. The world of convention was not his fate. Sure, math came easy. But his lessons were to be learned through his heart, not his mind. That day he gave his suit and tie to the local thrift shop, bought a used Yahama guitar for $50 and set out to follow his heart’s dream. . ."
During our semi-regular and all-too-frequent dinner-time discussions regarding our government, political parties, facts and the lack thereof, the tendency of the general population to latch onto the emotional aspect of an issue and cling to it like a dog with a bone to the detriment of the general population resulting in polarization and inaction, we inexplicably found ourselves discussing Radiohead. Logical, right?!
These primarily political discussions generally result in Russell or myself getting particularly boisterous, always a result of passion since we are always both sitting firmly on the same side of the issue.
But Radiohead!? Really???
Now talking about polarization, my perception is that one either loves or hates Radiohead, while Radiohead commands a large and fiercely loyal audience and for that I certainly give credit well deserved. My issue with Radiohead is strictly subjective, as matters of taste most certainly are, in that I find my scant experience with Radiohead takes me back to the 80s, a musical period that I perceive to be chock-full of heavy reverbed, emotional English crooners belting dirge-like, string-heavy and unintelligible ballads which I find neither intellectually challenging nor emotionally satisfying.
I'm just saying. . .
What
do YOU think?
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html
You can NOW download
your
very own copy of Ray Jozwiak's
newest release:
AMBIENCE & WINE
In the early 70s, the members of the wedding combo of which I was a member (Reflection, by name), thought our regeneration (after the comings and goings of members in different combos) would be more thorough with a name change and finally settled upon the catchy moniker FUL TREATMENT (yes, ONE 'L') which accurately captured our ability to navigate the crosscurrents of musical genre and essentially play ANYTHING that ANYBODY wanted. This gloriously selfless intention was more true in theory than practice, but our intentions were sincere, particularly at the start, although that facet of our existence did deteriorate somewhat in time.
Music, fun, abundant work and money were ours. Good times, as they now say. Our repertoire had evolved and developed during this period to include Bungle in the Jungle, You're So Vain, Games People Play (Jethro Tull, Carly Simon and The Spinners respectively). But then, in what seemed to be a not very long time later, Bruce (our drummer) resigned (abdicated his drum throne-pun intended). My sister, who at the time worked for the state government, had become acquainted with a young man at the office who, in addition to charming all the ladies there (including her), was a drummer. Not only was he a drummer, he was a drummer who was receptive to the idea of joining our little musical organization. His name was Jeff.
Jeff 'auditioned' and was quite impressive on many levels. He had a powerful touch, yet not without the ability to sensitively accompany a slow ballad. While not subtle, his drumming was strong, steady and something of a departure from his predecessor. We missed Bruce both personally and musically, but we welcomed Jeff and enjoyed the markedly different rhythm keeper and dynamic, debonair character that had become our drummer. I, more than the other members of the band, began spending additional amounts of personal time with Jeff, enjoying his captivating stories, his outrageous personality and his knowledge and appreciation of musical styles. Jeff and I visited many and varied drinking and eating places after gigs and I'd found that not only had the band acquired a fine new drummer, I had found a fun and fascinating new friend.
Keith, our guitarist and one of the founding members, had by this time decided to leave the band, an event that was somewhat bittersweet, as we sometimes longed for a guitarist with a different style. But he certainly possessed many good qualities, was reliable and added musicality not infrequently. Jeff had oft-times mentioned his seminary-educated, guitar-playing brother Jay who was also a founding member of a different, uniquely original music-playing organization called OHO. Jeff indicated that Jay would be interested in joining our combo in order to make some money because then, as now, local, original musicians weren't reaping great sums playing their own compositions. I had no inkling at the time that this event would influence both my music and a substantial portion of my life. But it has.
Charisma evidently ran in Jeff and Jay's family, as Jay possessed possibly even more of it than his younger, drummer brother. Jay somehow was more in control of the charisma with a certain maturity added to it, along with an additional self-confidence that may have been attributable to his age. Similar as they would appear from my description here, they were actually quite different from each other in reality. But the musical combination radically changed the performances of Ful Treatment much for the better. Jay rocked. [And still does] And following his lead, Ful Treatment rocked as well, at least on some of our repertoire, which at the time included 'You Really Got Me', 'Wild Thing', 'Needles and Pins' 'Twist and Shout' and 'Heat Wave'. We were all young and relatively carefree, and more frequently than was wise, a gig would turn into a party. . . for the band.
After a period, as always occurs in such mini-organizations, Jeff decided to leave the band. Jay was able to recruit alternate (with Jeff) OHO drummer David and, viola, the rest is history. At least it's a big part of MY musical history. Ful Treatment, in the ultimate configuration probably only played together for several years. But they were fun years.
I kept somewhat in touch with Jay in the intervening years. He always treated me to an LP or CD of things he was working on musically. Then about 2003, I read in the Baltimore CityPaper that OHO was performing at a local venue and I was determined that I would patronize same. Various associations between Jay and myself (musical showcases at Gallery G in Hampden, Mystic I) transpired. Then in early winter of 2011 Jay, David and myself (sans any saxophonist) began rehearsing for Schlongtasm 29 (a showcase of musical acts brought together each year to celebrate Airiad Records' Dan Long's birthday.) The ex-Ful Treatment rhythm section were reunited after 32 years as the latest incarnation of OHO, playing substantial amounts of original music and covers of far greater integrity . . . and of course, now infinitely wiser,
Good Times INDEED.
What
do YOU think?
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html
You can NOW download
your
very own copy of Ray Jozwiak's
newest release:
AMBIENCE & WINE
Before, during and after the American Legion gig, there were many dances, 'bull roasts', weddings and other affairs to keep us busy. Still, in spite of many requests for more 'current' material, we persisted in our same-old repertoire, rationalizing, being lazy, but having fun, doggedly tightening-up our musical simpatico until the question of marriage was broached.
No, I don't mean a a radial, unconventional partnership of some kind among the band members. I mean my fiance (now wife of many, many wonderful years) and I were planning our wedding. The date was to be October 6, 1979. It was sometime in the spring of '79 and I gave some serious thought to how to approach a musical life combined with married life. Options were to continue in the same vein with the group, make a little spending money, and leave my new wife home alone many weekend nights, or pursue a new band opportunity that may be more challenging, more lucrative or more aesthetically satisfying- but that would still leave the other partner in my new marriage to fend for herself as much, if not more, as staying with the original band would. Fact is, for all my love of music, I enjoyed spending personal time with this person to whom I was committing the rest of my life. I enjoyed it, and still do, so much, that the choice was not terribly difficult, I can honestly say. So I announced my decision to my band-mates well in advance, set a 'last' date target, and after a particularly satisfying Saturday night performance at the legion hall, we said goodbye. There was no animosity, no bad feelings. There was simply honesty. We had a fine time socializing during breaks, as usual, and after it ended, I had effectively, and for the time being, retired from music.
What
do YOU think?
http://www.rayjozwiak.com/guestbook.html
You can NOW download
your
very own copy of Ray Jozwiak's
newest release:
AMBIENCE & WINE
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