pianogonzology

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Providing. . .

. . . the Piano Prelude

Courtesy of Eric Willison

at the Brewer’s Alley Songwriters showcase

Monday, June 22, 2015 @ 7:15PM

Brewer’s Alley Songwriters Showcase

124 North Market Street Frederick, MD 21701 Telephone: 301-631-0089 Fax: 301-631-1874

http://www.brewers-alley.com/

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“. . . his unique and cutting edge jazz style in spades. Although very difficult to pigeon-hole and self-admittedly unique to any genre, his style is at once esoteric yet melodic and demands the listener to really pay attention. His writing takes you on jazz journeys that take you to places you never expected to go and make Ray an interesting listen. I like to call this “Brandy Music”, cause it goes so well with a snifter in hand. . . 3 of 4 Martinis!!”

Steve Lambert, The Green Lounge

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(For Ray's complete recordings please visit http://cdbaby.com/all/rjozwiak)

Also, please visit: http://www.rayjozwiak.com

http://pianogonzology.blogspot.com/

http://cdbaby.com/all/rjozwiak

http://www.myspace.com/gonzopiano

http://www.sonicbids.com/RayJozwiakGonzoPiano

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

Hopeless . . .

. . . Romantic . . .

I guess I really used to be much more of a romantic than I am now. That's not to say that I still don't harbor some romantic notions. The thought only crossed my mind recently while watching some episodes of the 'old' (I say with much reservation) television series 'Ally McBeal'. Now THERE (the character Ally McBeal) is a 'hopeless romantic' who feels that a potential romantic ideal exists for everyone and she is bound and determined to find hers. In the last episode I watched, one of two founding partners (it's still early in the show's run) of the law firm where she is employed, tells Ally (I'm paraphrasing) that she should never lose her 'romantic' notions. And I think maybe there is something inspirational about that. Pragmatism, divorced of all hope of something greater; something that transcends our mundane everyday existence, is woefully inadequate if one is to find meaning in life. Life offers us so much more . . .

. . . like music . . .

Third-Hand Intelligence
vocal, guitar and piano tracks by OHO (Jay Graboski, David Reeve & Ray Jozwiak) with Bill Pratt at Bratt Studios, Baltimore May 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 is now available at - Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Unplugged. . .

. . . kind of . . .

OHO's Jay Graboski and Ray Jozwiak performing Jay's composition entitled 'Plunge' live at Bourbon Street On The Beach in Ocean City (O-C-E-A-N C-I. . . T!Y!) Maryland recently.

And Yes . . . you've GOTTA eat there!

Plunge
OHO Duo (Jay Graboski and Ray Jozwiak) live at Bourbon Street On the Beach, June 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 is now available at - Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak

Friday, June 19, 2015

Passwords . . .

. . . in this cyber-culture are becoming a burden . . . to say the least. . .

IF you happen to lose you password list for some reason, you'll be asked if you "Forgot your UserName" and/or "Forgot Your Password which will inevitably draw you into a cat-and-mouse game of either having an email sent to you which provides instructions for re-setting your password, or answering security question(S) [yes, that's a BIG "S"] which you may or may not have actually setup yourself or which may also have been included on that list of passwords or, worse yet, a different list of security questions which, for some odd reason, you have ALSO lost!!!

Did I use the word FRUSTRATING????

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Blog . . .

. . . yourself silly. . .

. . . if you CAN . . .

(from http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/saudi-arabia-could-resume-flogging-raif-badawi-human-rights-watch-n373541)“. . . Saudi Arabia could resume flogging an activist as early as Friday after the country's Supreme Court upheld its sentence of 1,000 lashings and 10 years in prison, according to a human-rights group. Raif Badawi, 31, was convicted in 2013 of setting up a liberal website that Saudi officials said insulted religious authorities in the deeply conservative Muslim kingdom. The blogger's sentence was condemned by the United States, the United Nations and others. The State Department called it a "brutal punishment" and said Badawi had merely been "exercising his rights to freedom of expression and religion.". . . ”

The State Department seems to have overlooked the fact that in Saudi Arabia, no one has rights to freedom of expression and religion. Couldn't they (we) have said (done) MORE!!????

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Grow Up . . .

Why don't you grow up
just as fast as you can
All of your innocence
Is a flash in the pan
It's overrated you say
Tryin' to be a nice guy
It's so much easier this way
So why even try
Too many cowboys

Everyone's watching
So you think all the time
Maintain the image
But it's all in your mind
What's so damned special about
Being hard as a nail
Banishing subtlety
Sets yourself up to fail
Too many cowboys

Just too many cowboys
Not quite enough men
Who will listen
Rather learn than
Only just pretend

You wear a big hat
It's a Stetson of course
Chew some tobacco
Take a ride on your horse
You've got some buddies I see
Just a little hard-boiled
They've got some dirt on their hands
They all dabble in oil
Too many cowboys

Can't say you're sorry
Can't say you're wrong
God is on your side
He's been there all along
It doesn't matter to you
If they're hurt or they're dead
You've been above it so long
I'll stick by what I said
too many cowboys

Just too many cowboys
Not quite enough men
Who will listen
Rather learn than
Only just pretend

Only if we knew back then
The things that we know now
You'd have stayed back there
And we'd be better off and how

Get in your big truck
And just drive away
You have no interest
in the things that I say
Nor did you ever
Listen that much at all
You set yourself up
For some big kind of fall
Too many cowboys

And just like a cowboy
Just the kind that you are
Virile and macho
But without a guitar
Into the sunset you rode
And the credits did roll
Not a regret did you feel
But you've taken your toll
Too Many Cowboys

Just too many cowboys
Not quite enough men
Who will listen
Rather learn than
Only just pretend

Too Many Cowboys
from Just More Music by Ray Jozwiak
©2007 & 2014 Raymond M. Jozwiak

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

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Tunnel . . .

. . . Joe . . .

(source: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1997-03-09/features/1997068134_1_cell-holmes-dig)
The recent escape of two convicted killers from Clinton Correctional Facility brought to mind a story I had read years ago about an equally resourceful but less threatening inmate who earned the distinction of the 'only resident of the Maryland Penitentiary to ever dig his way to freedom."Tunnel Joe" Holmes, who on July 8, 1949 was in the eighth of a 20-year sentence for burglary, decided to dig for his freedom. His major motivation was as he feared that his long imprisonment would cause him to "blow up -- as he'd seen others do in nearby cells," said The Sun. After 20 months of steady labor chipping at the slate cell floor under his cot, he completed a narrow, muddy tube 70 feet long that carried him 26 feet down and under the prison's walls to a grassy plot to nearby East Eager and Forrest streets, from which he made his escape. It took Joe 40 days to complete the project and taste freedom. The tunnel, dug with only a nail attached to a stick and bare hands, was only wide enough for him to wiggle through. As he dug, Jo packed the dirt in hand-sewn bags to bring to the surface and flush away in his toilet. He even designed a 9 foot deep by 6 wide drain to dispose of 140 gallons of water nightly. In the early hours of Feb. 18, 1951, Joe packed his clothes and $152 in numbers winnings took forty five minutes to make his way through the tunnel. Upon emerging, he changed into dry pants and shirt and cleared the 7-foot picket fence near the warden's house and dropped into Eager Street. He wisely high-tailed it through Wilmington, Del., Philadelphia, Pa., and New Haven, Conn., returning to Baltimore. Joe was eventually apprehended by police during a Howard Street shootout in a bowling alley after he pulled a $5 holdup the cook in wealthy home on Mount Vernon Place. Joe passed away in 1973. Not sure whether he was 'out' or 'in' at the time.

The case of Matt and Sweat in New York may be every bit as dazzling, but in the present climate of fantastic feats, unconscionable acts and extremely bad people, Joe's story somehow holds a bit of atmospheric romance and harmlessness. . . at least for me.