pianogonzology

Saturday, February 14, 2015

History . . .

. . . With members Jay (guitar/vocals), Jeff (drums)[later replaced by David], Greg (sax/vocals) and myself (keyboard/vocals), we undertook a string of private affairs and wedding receptions. Soon we decided to dedicate ourselves to the pursuit of a regular engagement, most desirably at a nightclub. Our one weak point however in pursuit of this lofty goal was our repertoire. Our rehearsals were few and far between. In fact, I now cannot remember an actual rehearsal with this incarnation of 'Ful Treatment.' To our chagrin, and self-deceiving disbelief, club owners actually wanted the bands they hired to play the current top-forty popular favorites to which the audience could dance. We, in our haughty laziness (or was it lazy haughtiness?) refused to do that. In fact we simply continued to play as much of our uptempo (and preferably 'newer') material instead of succumbing to the current trend of disco music brought about by the recent resurgent popularity of the Bee Gees thanks to the film Saturday Night Fever. In our defense, we did learn a new number or two, just simply not enough to market ourselves as a top-forty act. Another improvement that we opted not to pursue was the hiring of a fifth band member to play the bass guitar, a definite enhancement to a combo's authenticity when reproducing dance music (as well as rock music in general), and mainly for the reason that it would have resulted in another party with whom to share the money. . .

Three-quarters of which comprise the present day OHO!!! . . .

Blood Brother
by OHO (Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak) live at Belisimo's, Finksburg, February 2015

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 will be released April 7, 2014 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

Friday, February 13, 2015

Try . . .

Words are all that I have to express

All the things I would like to be able to tell you but don't quite know how

Couldn't before and still can't do it now

During all of this time that's transpired little's changed

But a lot has occurred in my thoughts and my feelings for you

Countless superior intellects have searched for answers

I never gave it a whole lot of thought

Until I tried to let you know how much I feel inside

Until I tried to let you know how much I feel inside

For you

I have always believed that it's true

Very few things I'll ever encounter will be quite as precious as you

The magic between us so rare and so new

Though I'm not one of those that you find

Who has always the need to express to so many exactly what he has in mind

I find I have this burning that's deep down inside me

For words I never needed before

Until I tried to let you know how much I feel inside

Until I tried to let you know how much I feel inside

for you

I can't imagine ever having my life depend upon eloquence

And maybe it doesn't

But after all this time together it seems long overdue

And in the end it probably doesn't make a difference in how you feel

If I never say it

Now I'm daily rehearsing the way

To articulate every syllable nuance and stress when I say

How much I need to have you here today

And I won't give it up easily

I suspect that it's just as important to you as it is now to me

The words we use themselves have no meaning

So all the more must I make them just right

Now that I try to let you know how much I feel inside

Until I tried to let you know how much I feel inside

for you

Until I Tried
from Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak ©2007 & 2014 Raymond M. Jozwiak, coming April 7, 2015

What do you think?

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Fail . . .

NPR, of all media outlets, the very one frequently held as the gold standard of electronic journalism, has failed us. . . and this is not the first time. According to NPR, Hilary Clinton is the only 'household' name Democrat considering a run for the presidency. There you have it. Case closed. Over-simplified? Yes! True though? Yes!

But there are other, (and yes, possibly BETTER-qualified) well-suited candidates which NPR has failed to tell us about. Not only have they failed, they have subliminally told their audience that there is virtually no choice. Is that what NPR is SUPPOSED to tell us???

One of the (many) problems with our electoral system is the media's heavy influence over it. A candidate is not serious if he can't afford the millions it takes to wage a campaign, which includes paying the media for the exposure it provides.

In spite of what NPR or any other 'news' outlet tells you, there truly ARE other potential Democratic candidates such as Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Luiz Gutierrez, Al Franken, Tim Kaine & John Kerry. . .and don't forget, independent ones either.

What do you think?

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Wearing Stripes . . .

(from http://www.politicususa.com/2015/02/08/israeli-official-boehner-netanyahu-conspired-to-defy-humiliate-president-obama.html)
". . . His action was also illegal according to 18 U.S.C. § 953. The Logan Act “forbids unauthorized citizens” like John Boehner “from negotiating with foreign governments.” The law expressly prohibits “Any citizen from directly or indirectly commencing or carrying on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence or defeat the measures of the United States.” Netanyahu, an anti-Obama foreigner, cannot be punished under federal law, but Boehner can be and should be charged, tried, convicted, and sentenced to serve time in a federal penitentiary. . . for breaking the law. . .

(from http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/01/24/fox-news-actually-expresses-shock-and-outrage-over-boehner-and-netanyahu-undermining-president-obama-video/)". . . Since the announcement, Beohner and Republicans have felt a major backlash. But the last place they thought they’d receive outrage from, if at all, is Fox News. Well, that shipped sailed on Friday. Shephard Smith began by reading a quote by former Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk. Indyk slammed Republicans for crossing the line and disrespecting the president. “Netanyahu is using the Republican Congress for a photo-op for his election campaign, and the Republicans are using Bibi for their campaign against Obama,” Indyk said. . . In response, Chris Wallace said he agreed “100 percent,” with the statement and proceeded to express his own disappointment with what Boehner and the Republicans did. . ."

. . . that smacks of “dicey politics.” . . ."

What do you think?

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Serene. . .

. . . conceived as a prayer, but remove 'God' and the wisdom remains. . .

(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_Prayer)
". . . Though clearly circulating in oral form earlier, the earliest established date for a written form of the prayer is various versions printed in newspaper articles in the early 1930s by or reporting on talks given by Winnifred Crane Wygal, a pupil and collaborator of Niebuhr's. Wygal included the following version of the prayer in her 1940 book, We Plan Our Own Worship Services, attributing it to Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971):

O God, give us the serenity to accept what cannot be changed,
The courage to change what can be changed,
and the wisdom to know the one from the other

Various other authors cited Niebuhr as the source of the prayer from 1937 on. Niebuhr included the prayer in a sermon at least as early as 1943, followed closely by its inclusion in a Federal Council of Churches (FCC) book for army chaplains and servicemen in 1944. Niebuhr himself did not publish the Serenity Prayer until 1951, in one of his magazine columns, although it had previously appeared under his name. The prayer is cited both by Niebuhr[4] and by Niebuhr's daughter, Elisabeth Sifton. Sifton thought that he had first written it in 1943, although Niebuhr's wife wrote in an unpublished memorandum that it had been written in 1941 or '42, adding that it may have been used in prayers as early as 1934. Niebuhr himself was quoted in the January 1950 Grapevine as saying the prayer "may have been spooking around for years, even centuries, but I don't think so. I honestly do believe that I wrote it myself." In his book Niebuhr recalls that his prayer was circulated by the FCC and later by the United States armed forces. Niebuhr's versions of the prayer were always printed as a single prose sentence; printings that set out the prayer as three lines of verse modify the author's original version. . .'

What do you think?

Monday, February 9, 2015

Wish . . .

. . . you'd been there . . .

. . . last Saturday at Belisimo's Comedy Night, OHO kicked off the show with musical performances of some original OHO classics, several newer OHO compositions and some sophisticated covers.

The hyperlink below will take you to our spirited rendition of Slough of Despond from the show.

Slough of Despond
OHO live at Belisimo's, February 2015. OHO is Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak.

What do you think?

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Richer . . .

from The Noonday Demon; An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Solomon) [James Ballenger said,]
". . . "We're eight inches taller than we were before the Second World War and much healthier, and we're living longer. No one complains about the change. When you remove a disability, people go out in life and find more, both good and bad.". . .

. . . And that, I think, is really the responses to the question that I was asked by almost everyone to whom I mentioned this book. "Don't these drugs blank out your life?" No. What they do is to allow you to have your pain in more important places, in better places, for richer reasons. . ."

What do you think?