Mr. Seley's Songs for Kids

This week I'll be in the recording studio contributing cello tracks to a CD produced by children's entertainer "Mr. Seley". The album is called "Cupcakeasaurus" and it's got some great songs for kids. Some are funny, some serious and thought-provoking. Tom Seley is an elementary school teacher in Birmingham MI. He leads kids in sing-a-long programs after school. When he had a hard time finding songs for kids in the upper elementary grades, he started writing his own. This is his second CD of songs for kids. The first one is called "Eat Your Books (and Read Your Vegetables)". For more info, check out www.mrseley.com.

Sunday Show at the Goldfish

I am really looking forward to my show at the Goldfish Tea Room this Sunday 3/7 “Cello-bella and Friends”. I was invited to do a 2 hour set, and I decided to ask some of the best local talent I’ve met around town to join me. I will have 3 poets and another musician sharing the time. Mike can’t make the date, but he will be there in spirit, as he’s providing me with a guitar track for one of my songs.

The line-up for the evening includes Patrick O’Leary (http://web.mac.com/paddybon/Site/Patrick_O%E2%80%99Leary_-_Books.html ), a nationally recognized poet/author who will be reading his work and playing guitar on a couple of tunes with me. Carmel (www.youtube.com/carmelon721), is a young singer/songwriter who is only in high school, but with a musical sensibility beyond her years. She will do a short set of original songs. Sparrow is a local poet who has a wonderful wry wit and great way of communicating her unique observations about life. Poet/musician Cat Listening (http://www.myspace.com/catlistening) has been active and popular on the local scene for a number of years, will make his contribution through music and poetry. We will do a duet where he recites a poem about his cat (coincidentally named Schubert) as I play Schubert’s Ave Maria on the cello. To this mix, I’ll be adding my cello jazz and vocals for a short sets in between the others. All in all, it should be an entertaining evening with something for everyone.

Throughout the week leading up to the show, I will be posting videos of each performer on my Facebook page, so feel free to check them out. These videos are also posted at www.youtube.com/cellobelladotcom .

Recording with the Candy Band

I am looking forward to contributing a few cello tracks on the Candy Band's new CD, due out this year. The Candy Band is four Detroit moms who live in my neighborhood. Back in 2003, they were "sick to death of wimpy music for children" so they formed their own band and they play music that really rocks--punk versions of kid's nursery rhymes, movie themes and other fun songs. They have appeared on the NBC Today Show, and even got a spread in People Magazine...and here they are right in my zip code! Lucky for me, they managed to fit a cello into the mix for a few of these songs--including a rockin' version of "Ode to Joy"--with a string section--that's where I come in...

Recording for Tracy Kash Thomas' CD

Over the holidays I had great fun recording cello tracks for Tracy Kash Thomas' new CD. She wrote a song about a lover running off with a cellist ("If You'd Only Picked Me"), so I got to do a little cello riff on that (Homage to "The Swan"), plus another song that has a wonderful violin/cello duo. (Violin tracks were added later). Tracy won the Detroit Music Award for Best Jazz Singer last year. She is an amazingly talented musician who can compose, arrange, and perform as vocalist, flutist and pianist. She also engineers the recording on the CD (prior to mastering). It was an honor to play on her album and I can't wait to hear the final mix. Happy New Year everyone!

Alison

Cello-bella New Song for Sale on itunes!

Our 10-song digital CD is finally available on itunes, Amazon.com, and other online retailers. I took some time today writing emails to everyone who sent us a request for info on the CD release date. We received some wonderful support and great encouragement in those CD request emails. I made an attempt to answer many of them with a personal touch, but I am just learning our email management program, so I hope those who receive them will forgive any mis-steps in terms of name spelling, etc. Or, for example, if you are Dave, and I called you Cheryl, please blame it on the email software :)! The software I'm using is set-up to do email blasts to thousands of fans, and we are trying to write personal notes to around 100. Not quite ready for the arena scene yet!

I have been having a great time playing with poets and storytellers in the last couple of months, and I hope to continue that work next year, in addition to continuing gigs with Cello-bella.

Hope everyone has a great holiday season!

Best wishes,
Alison

Jazz Cafe at the Music Hall

We had a great time playing at the Jazz Cafe in the Music Hall in Detroit recently. There was another band in the line-up (Bogden Vasquaf) and we sat in on each other's sets. This is what I love about music, you meet people for the first time, you already have a common language.

The lead singer in the band was a mailman by day and inventor by night. He has created an upright string bass made out of a cardboard box! This is serious business! He collaborated with engineers to come up with a great sounding, affordable solution for those who don't have ready cash for the real thing. In fact he has sold over 1000 of these world-wide in stores and on the Internet! There is a thriving cottage industry out there of folkie musicians who make instruments out of everything from cigar boxes to gourds. It's amazing what they come up with. This is the kind of ingenuity we need to see more of to combat this brutal economy! You can find out more about the "box bass" at http://www.edencompanies.com/bogdon/.

Music for the last journey

I did something earlier this week that I’ve done before, but this time it finally had a different meaning. First, here’s a little background. I play the cello for patients in the “No One Dies Alone” program at St. Joe’s Hospital in Pontiac MI. I learned from the staff at the hospital that death, like birth, can be a process with stages. When someone is dying naturally, it takes time for the body to shut down. Most of the people I visit are very old and are “actively dying”, meaning they only have a little time left--maybe days or hours. They have no family or friends to be at bedside, so volunteers come to sit with them. We are trying to help them travel through the last stages of life comfortably and peacefully. That’s where music comes in.

The patients are always lying there unconscious, but I’m told they can still hear. That’s one of the last senses to go. I quietly set up my cello next to the bed and start playing. No songs, just bowing the low strings of the cello at first. These low strings really vibrate, and the sound fills the room. After a little time passes, I start playing simple folk songs or hymns. I watch the person lying in bed to see how they are breathing. Sometimes when I first come into the room, the person’s breathing is very labored and shallow. I have learned that this is a sign of stress. I keep playing these simple, soothing melodies and after a while, I notice that the person lying there is breathing more calmly and deeply. Sometimes I hear quiet snoring. They’ve fallen asleep and gotten a little respite from the work of dying.

Those who are out on the floor often stop in to say hi and chat with me. They hear the music in the hall and it draws them in. There’s always a story about a relative who plays the cello, or just gratitude for the music. Somehow, those mellow sounds of the cello have a way of softening the rough edges of their day. In the past, these were the people who motivated me to come and play. I liked the encouragement, compliments, etc. from the people who were walking around (and talking to me!). The person I came to see would “just lie there”. But with more experience, I’ve gotten better at noticing the subtle reactions of the dying person. When I left, the man was breathing so softly and calmly. Completely different from when I came in. Noticing this change made me feel that the music had made a difference.

Music makes life so much richer. How many people can say, “Today I helped make someone’s last journey a little easier”. I’m glad I have this gift to give.

Playing for these patients also reminds me to reflect on the decisions I make in my own life. Why are they dying alone? Is it because they’ve driven away everyone who tried to love them, or just have the bad luck of outliving those who cared. I don’t know the answer and it doesn’t matter. I’m there to give, not to judge. If life is made up of small gestures, let me take time to consider my own actions, while I still can.