I just posted a new track, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".

Now a little info on this piece. 

I really cannot take the credit for the fabulousness of this piece.  Yes, I composed the arrangement and performed the piano part...but the orchestration? None other than my talented friend Jace Vek (in my top friends).  He really does do amazing work.  After I heard what he did with my song, I actually said outloud "Man, my orchestrations sound puny compared to his." LOL

Anyway I can't say enough how much I love what he did, and how talented he is.

Anyway, this is just a little sneak peek to my mother (Carolyn Southworth - in my top friends) and I's upcoming lullaby album coming out next month.  There will be 15 tracks all together.

Twilight

(Music by Carolyn Southworth)

Dream Weaver

(Music by Carolyn Southworth)

All the Pretty Horses

(Music traditional, arranged by Carolyn Southworth)

Scottish Lullaby

(Music by Carolyn Southworth)

Sweet Dreams

(Music by Carolyn Southworth, with additional vocals by Jillian Goldin)

All Through the Night

(Music traditional, arranged by Carolyn Southworth)

I Am a Child of God

(Music by Mildred Pettit, arranged by Carolyn Southworth)

Brahms Lullaby

(Music by Johannes Brahms, arranged by Jennifer Thomas)

Baby of Mine (Preston's Song)

(Music by Jennifer Thomas)

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

(Music traditional, arranged by Jennifer Thomas, additional orchestration by Jace Vek)

Baby's Dream Waltz

(Music by Jennifer Thomas)

Goodnight My Angel

(Music by Billy Joel, arrangement by Jennifer Thomas)

Dancing on the Clouds

(Music by Jennifer Thomas)

Two of these songs will be remixed and spruced up as bonus tracks. One is this one I posted today (Twinkle Twinkle) with the orchestration done by Jace Vek. The other being "Sweet Dreams" with vocals by the very talented Jillian Goldin (also in my top friends).  We've also got a Grammy award winning sound engineer working on the mixing and mastering, so no doubt it will sound fabulous.

Stay tuned for more clips soon.
- J
P.S. If you love this track, don't forget to hop on over to Jace's page and drop him a note. :)

The maestro slowly lifts his arms up high as he prepares to bring them down to the ivory keys to effortlessly play his grandioso concerto.

His audience waits in longing anticipation.

And BOOM the first note whisks away the hearts of listeners throughout the concert hall...

He looks over to his audience for loving approval of his musical creation...and to make sure they are still listening.

And then pauses as he holds one long, long, LONG note because he.....uh...because he got sidetracked and tired. 

The maestro will now interrupt this concerto to take a little snackie and a nap.

Yes, that is my little 7 and 1/2 month old, Preston. I just had to share what a little pianist he is.  Preston has been hearing the sound of a piano since he was in the womb - even shared the concert stage with me a few times while I was pregnant. 

And now he can't get enough of it. He knows exactly what to do with a piano.

This video was taken by my husband in my home studio with .Preston at one of my keyboards.  He's got some powerful chops.




My 7 and 1/2 month old playing on my keyboard.

Do you ever Google yourself and see what comes up? 

Will just introduced me to "Google Alerts" where you can have links emailed to you where your name is discussed.  For an artist, it's just a great way to read what is being said about your music.

Well today was the first time I used Google Alert.  Holy cow, I didn't realize how nervous I would be to click on some of these links.  I mean I realize as an artist I have had to develop a thick skin and take both good and bad comments about my music, but this Google Alert thing makes me feel like I am spying on people's secret conversations about me or something. Who knows what I will read!

Today's entertainment was stumbling across a blog where a gentleman said he had stumbled across my website and though he wasn't a fan of every song he loved "A Beautiful Storm" and encouraged others to check out my site.  And then underneath I saw the list of comments.

So I took a deep breath and decided to check out the comments too.

It was all very positive, one person even said I was drop dead gorgeous (thank you anonymous commenter!).  But the thing that really made me laugh was how some of this guy's commenters said they hated classical music...that it made them sick, or hurt their ears.  Another commented that "...though I don't enjoy Classical music, I really like John Tesh." 

Okay, John Tesh and Classical do not even belong in the same sentence.

And then I was like, "Since when has my music been Classical??"

Sorry to tease the undereducated music listeners out there, but just because music has accoustical piano in it does not mean it is "Classical".  I mean I could get really technical and point out that people generalize the term "Classical" so much that they don't even realize that true Classical music is music written between the years 1750 - 1820.  Beethoven?  Nope not a Classical composer.  He was a Classical Crossover as most of his music was written in the Romantic era.

I really hope that people are not not giving my music a chance because they fear it is "Classical".  LOL Is it because on my website I classify my music as "New Age Classical"? 

I think when I redo my website in 2009 I'm gunna have to come up with a better description of my genre/style.  Any ideas?

Anyway.  That is beside the point.  I don't even have a point.  Just Google yourself.  What have YOU learned about yourself on the web? LOL