Creative
musician, Baltimore-based Ray Jozwiak offers recordings and
performances of eclectic, instrumental solo piano (and piano-based)
compositions that have been referred to as 'Fractured Jazz' laced with
generous amounts of 'Improvisational Terror Tactics' . In addition to
his solo activities, Ray contributes keyboard to the iconic Baltimore
mainstay band OHO, with long-time musical collaborators Jay Graboski and
Dave Reeve.
Ray has been nominated for a WAMMIE Award in the Jazz Instrumentalist
category, named Baltimore Magazine's BEST LOUNGE PIANIST and was a
finalist in the Mid-Atlantic Song Contest for the composition ALWAYS
YOU.
Performances in and around Baltimore include the 13th Floor Lounge - The
Belvedere, The Kiss Cafe, Gardel's Supper Club, The Full Moon Saloon,
The Baltimore Songwriters Association, Border's Books and Music, GBMC,
Tyson's Tavern, Elk Run Vineyard and Brewer's Alley.
Ray's CDs (CHROMATOSE, CRITIC'S CHOICE, PUT A FINGER ON IT, FOR THE RIDE
and digital downloads-only ANOTHER SHOT, AMBIENCE & WINE and BLACK
& WHITE THEN BACK [release April 2, 2013]) are available for
purchase at http://www.cdbaby.com/all/rjozwiak as well as a host of cyber-outlets for download (cdbaby has a list).
(Composition with Woman and Chair by Jason J. Loya)
I, personally, could not paint my way out of a paper bag. (Nor have I found myself inside a paper bag with a paint brush recently.) But, I will be playing my original, jazz-inflected, solo piano compositions [with a few covers of well, and not-so-well known tunes] this Saturday, March 30th at Towson's Bread and Circuses Bistro. Music starts at 6PM.
And this as a prelude to the release of my newest collection of original music as a digital download- only album on Tuesday, April 2nd at www.cdbaby.com entitled "Black & White Then Back".
[from http://www.truthdig.com/report/item
the_crucifixion_of_tomas_young_20130310/]
. . . "(Thomas)Young will die for our sins. He will die for a war that should never have been fought. He will die for the lies of politicians. He will die for war profiteers. He will die for the careers of generals. He will die for a cheerleader press. He will die for a complacent public that made war possible. He bore all this upon his body. He was crucified. And there are hundreds of thousands of other crucified bodies like his in Baghdad and Kandahar and Peshawar and Walter Reed medical center. Mangled bodies and corpses, broken dreams, unending grief, betrayal, corporate profit, these are the true products of war. Tomas Young is the face of war they do not want you to see. . . "
Yet Bush, Chaney and Rumsfeld are free, and wealthy men.
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
After so much talk about guns, school shootings, deaths, children, the constitution, 2nd amendment, rights, militia, concealed carry, assault guns, automatic and semi-automatic, I've come to a conclusion.
Anyone who takes either side of the debate, but refuses to engage in meaningful discussion about, is clearly part of the problem. They are part of the problem because they do not even want to begin to think about a solution. (And if they do not think a problem exists. . . well, that's an entirely different story.)
This rant is honestly inspired by the existence of too many cutesy, Fox-news-y, tough-guy, on-line posts on social media regarding the issue.
Personally, I find gratification in facts. Granted, one must always bear in mind the accuracy of the 'facts' they have received (in this on-line age this is all-too-easy) and verify same before actually BELIEVING them, let alone try to force them on all their social-networks 'friends.'
We spin on an axis as bold as love round a sun that’s alight with fire
It’s true our time is marked by the man in the moon
Don’t walk ahead, don’t walk behind, just be my friend and walk by my side
It's real, this life is by in the blink of an eye.
I live and I long to be Latin as beauty rebels against time
I live and I long to be Latin
The cardinal wish for the scent of the red summer rose.
We have walked the dream palace of yesterday
Where myth is truth and the proof’s hearsay
Memories disguised by the ways that we wish they could be
The drives and input are well defined
Lies rolling off dying tongues chill the soul
Chained in gold we walk a lifelong line.
I live and I long to be Latin. I’m waiting to see my own eyes
I live and I long to be Latin
But what will I wear to the end of the world, my demise?
Upon the chipped dish the rich and pure fare of the love feast, kissing the sky
As we hold hands in a ring, the night to morning link
Contacts with the light
Be my friend, we can walk side by side
Don’t walk ahead you know I won’t walk behind
Though we stumble through our fears and tears
To the cadence and the tune of the spheres.
I live and I long to be Latin to live the fool and die the sage
I reach and intend to be Latin
To make vision real in the face of chance and circumstance
I live and I long to be Latin to take my stand against routine
I live and I long to be Latin
Where living at risk means I can see what others don’t see.
So I said
I've got a roof o'er my head
Some people can't even say the same thing
But it's still not a fact
I can take any comfort in
I want more to make up my legacy
I'm not poor but everybody's telling me
Money can't buy everything
You've heard it time again
No money can't buy happiness
When will you learn this fact of life my friend
So I said
I've got my very own bed
I don't give it much thought
When I lay down my head
But it's cold and it's lonely
In December on the street
Why do you tell me these kinds of things
I still crave the luxuries that wealth can bring
Money can't buy everything
You've heard it time again
No money can't buy happiness
When will you learn this fact of life my friend
I want to be a squire a king a country gentleman
If I can if I can
I want to get respect for what I have
And not for what I am
Just a man just a man
So I said
It's more than daily bread
That I'm talking about can you hear what I said
You see everyone tells me to accept my own fate
Why should I take what is handed me
Can't even try my way
It wasn't meant to be
Money can't buy everything
You've heard it time again
No money can't buy happiness
When will you learn this fact of life my friend
(from http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200501/happy-hour by Carlin Flora)
". . . The things we expect will bring us lasting joy rarely do. Whether it's losing 25 pounds, getting a major promotion or watching a troupe of perennial losers finally win the big one, long-anticipated events give us a swell of glee... and then we settle back into being just about as happy as we've always been. Most of us have a happiness "set point," fixed by temperament and early life experience, which is very difficult to shift. Whether you win the lottery or wind up in a wheelchair, within a year or two you generally end up just about as happy (or unhappy) as you started out.
Yet the quest for happiness isn't futile. Psychologists now believe that many of us can turn the well-being thermostat up or down a few notches by changing how we think about anticipation, memory, and the present moment. Our sense of well-being is intimately tied into our perception of time. The problem is that we usually get it wrong. Memory tricks us—we don't remember our experiences properly, and that leaves us unable to accurately imagine the way we'll feel in the future. At the same time, expectations mislead us: We never learn to predict what will make us happy, or how to anticipate the impact of major life experiences. . . "
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
Creative
musician, Baltimore-based Ray Jozwiak offers recordings and
performances of eclectic, instrumental solo piano (and piano-based)
compositions that have been referred to as 'Fractured Jazz' laced with
generous amounts of 'Improvisational Terror Tactics' . In addition to
his solo activities, Ray contributes keyboard to the iconic Baltimore
mainstay band OHO, with long-time musical collaborators Jay Graboski and
Dave Reeve.
(
