Posted March 20, 2011 at 10:25 am

scouting out Club Nokia!

Yesterday Missy Washington, my designer extraordinaire and I, scouted out Club Nokia where I am performing next weekend. Wow. This is the coolest venue yet. It is about the same size as El Rey Theater, but much newer and it's really beautiful inside. A grand piano also doesn't hurt…

Missy had me go on-stage to see the relative size and all that, because she is making a special something for the show. As you can see, I am standing there, holding up the best letter of the alphabet… well, something like that:

OK, now imagine a grand piano in the middle?

Posted March 20, 2011 at 7:04 am

Rain poetry

It is raining so, so hard today. I love it. Everything is muffled. I drove to get milk this morning. Normally I would ride my bike, but it was raining really hard. The streets were deserted, and the air was so fresh.

I am reading poetry in bed. There should be more poetry in the world, not iPads or iPods, gadgets, video games, TVs, computers. On an evening like this all that is needed is the sound of the rain and printed words on a page. Why does modern man occupy himself so and need to fill every single square inch of silence and solitude with digital and other content? Are we so afraid to be with ourselves for a minute and sense the world? Are we afraid the world is so separate from us, like some giant clock that keeps running regardless of whether our heartbeat is in the mix?

Perhaps.

To me, poetry is about decoding the world through language, but in a way which lets the gray spaces come forward and claim our attention. Poetry is language, movement (because it's rhythm, too), imagery (because our imagination engine revs up), but unless you sing it or speak it, there is no sound.

This is a poem for tonight:

I have been one acquainted with the night.
I have walked out in rain – and back in rain.
I have outwalked the furthest city light.
I have looked down the saddest city lane.
I have passed by the watchman on his beat
And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet
When far away an interrupted cry
Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-bye;
And further still at an unearthly height,
One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.
I have been one acquainted with the night.

(robert frost)

Posted March 16, 2011 at 4:23 am

Club Nokia March 26th

I am very fortunate to be opening for a great entertainer and pretty fab singer Seth MacFarlane this Saturday, March 26th at Club Nokia. And Sara Bareilles is a special guest.

He will be performing with a 36-piece orchestra.

Me? A grand piano. And a guest, too.

This concert will be recorded by Network LIVE in high definition and multi track audio for the HDTV, online, mobile and cinema release in September.

For all the info about this event, and to buy tickets, click HERE.

I am excited!

Posted March 15, 2011 at 10:02 am

good morning.

I woke up and saw the news over the weekend. And it just keeps getting worse. Earlier in the week I found out that my mom, back in Moscow, had a heart complication and is now in the hospital, undergoing some tests.

And here I am, today, working on some songs, as the record is nearing completion. I will be flying to Moscow soon, right after the mastering day. But I can't shut out reality. And so I sat this morning, and looked at some beautiful Japanese art books, and cried.

In the big picture, what I am doing, my record, my music: do they even matter?

But yes. I think it is on a day like today that I turn to one of my most favorite teachers: Joseph Campbell:

We're in a freefall into future. We don't know where we're going. Things are changing so fast, and always when you're going through a long tunnel, anxiety comes along. And all you have to do to transform your hell into a paradise is to turn your fall into a voluntary act. It's a very interesting shift of perspective and that's all it is… joyful participation in the sorrows and everything changes.

(Sukhavati)

It's a wonderful, wonderful opera, except that it hurts.

So I will drink some coffee, donate some money to Red Cross and their Japan effort, meditate and go on. It is a beautiful day outside – the flowers need watering and the songs want finishing, I can hear them.

And if you are reading this – I am so very proud of the music I have prepared for you. And I love you very much.

Posted March 6, 2011 at 11:35 am

Sunday thoughts, emotions… love this song and her. Fascinating how the same song, produced, with a professional video on YouTube has maybe 30% of the power the live performance holds. Production is a great force that can be used for good or evil. Judge for yourselves the two clips below. I am sorry, but whoever produced this song should maybe reconsider their job?