It originally appeared on a CD entitled Ufonia. I wrote Chant for Peace in the early 90's. I remain exceedingly moved by their heart felt performances. At the outset, I asked hip hop artist Billy Dean Thomas and Chilean singer song writer Nano Stern to contribute their own lyric and vocal line. With all of the turmoil in our world I decided to re-record Chant for Peace changing the arrangement and instrumentation. I am one of the millions who believes every little bit of positive thought towards peace helps.
There can never be enough chants, prayers, songs, symphonies, poems, hopes and dreams for peace. Without them humanity cannot survive" His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. "Love and compassion are necessities not luxuries. Myself and Billy want to thank Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters, Frankie Turiano and crew, D’Addario strings, drummers Jared Shonig (audio) and Rob D’Addario (in the shoot), Jack Vees for his guitar and amp, David Veslocki for producing and mixing the track and all of our family and friends for being part of it.īenjamin Verdery: composer, guitars (Jeff Traugott 8 string Fender Jazz Bass and Fender Stratocaster)ĭancers: Belinda Adam, Anya Clarke, Nùria Martin Fandos, Crystal Rodriguez, Mitsuko Verdery I loved that concert experience and it inspired me to think that Billy could similarly give Hoochie her own powerful reading. Bill read the lyrics of Hoochie Coochie Man and I played fragments of the iconic motive as an accompaniment. The idea also occurred to me because a few years back I had accompanied one of America’s foremost poets and educators, William Corbett. Muddy made Hoochie famous in 1955 but it was actually written by one of the greatest Blues songwriters in history, Willie Dixon. His recording Fathers and Sons was on constant rotation for months! In addition, I was lucky enough to see him perform at the Fillmore East. Who doesn’t? I adored Muddy Waters from the moment I heard him. He introduced me to all 3 Kings, (B.B., Albert, Freddy) Buddy Guy, James Cotton, Paul Butterfield and Muddy Waters among others. My brother Don in his teenage years was a great lover of the blues. Truth be told, the blues was introduced to me early in my musical development because I had older brothers, and I lived on the campus of the Wooster School which at the time was a boarding school for high school boys. The legendary Blues classic Hoochie Coochie Man came immediately to mind. John's Episcopal Church, Kula, Maui HI for allowing to film in this magical church and setting.ĭirector, Videographer, Editor: Frankie Turianoīilly Dean Thomas: vocals and lyrics (after the first Willie Dixon verse)īilly Dean Thomas and I so enjoyed our collaboration on Black Bach and Start Now the question arose, what to do next? I thought we should record something that was the polar opposite of Black Bach and Start Now. Video Filmed by Scott Johnson and Sean Hower of Polyphonic Ind. Recorded at Elm City Records Speak Easy Studios At the core of Searching for a Chorale and it's interpretation lay two people's profound love and respect for music and friendship. He at the piano and me next to him with guitar in hand.
I had many coachings on the work similar to others I have had with Seymour for the past 30+ years. I already began to play around with the chorale." And so the journey began between composer and performer. You know how Britten resolves his masterpiece into a Dowland prayer? Well I have a favorite Bach chorale to dissolve your piece into.
Here is a quote from that email: "I am thinking of a piece for you. During the intermission of a gorgeous recital by our mutual dear friend David Leisner, I turned to him and said, " so, are you going to write a piece for me or what?" The next morning I received an email from Seymour. I had asked Seymour to write a piece for me several years ago. Written in November/December 2016 by my mentor Seymour Bernstein.