The news that our seas and rivers are being totally contaminated by the detritus approved by a Governmentseeking to cut corners and award corporate greed is not to my liking. So I wrote this prayer:
We pray for the missing thought The lost particle of caring That must be found And will be found… Because we pray With all our hearts… Together
We pray that this newfound particle of caring Restores our air, our water, our earth, Returning them to health Our animals, fish, insects, plankton and people So that it comes to be Because we have prayed With all our hearts, our minds and souls Together
We pray for an end to the power of the self-serving For connection, peace and healing in a ravaged land: May kindness and the wisdom of nature prevail So that in the light of life and love We witness the return of trees and plants Birds, fish and wild animals That come to be In this place and beyond Because we have prayed… then and now With all our hearts, our minds and souls Together
And we offer up thanks, Together and together Knowing that our prayers will be answered
One of the saddest things about Brexit is that we will have fewer and fewer skilled musicians coming to this country. Whether this applies to EU musicians only, I don’t know, but I am told that it will affect performers world-wide as to whether they feel welcome here, or can navigate their way around the UK’s idiotic visas and silly paperwork.
I cannot help notice that my favourite jazz pianist, composer and singer – Eliane Elias – visits the UK measurably less than other bits of Europe, and right now I don’t think she is even moving outside the US. Resident in the US and born in Brazil, she brings a magical, mellifluous brilliance to jazz piano. Her technique is perfect. Her compositions are sublime. Listening to her is always a pleasure, and in the summer the Brazilian harmonies seem particularly resonant.
In the extraordinary heat of this summer, the song that is haunting me is Kissed by Nature. Made in 2002, it’s jazz hymn to the beauty of nature, captured in an album that just takes you to Brazil and back again. At a time when we are so insecure about the environment and the horrors of global warming it is so perfect to be serenaded about the beauty of nature itself…
“Sea and sand and stone, nature’s watching you and I alone; kissed by the sun… touched by the stars…”
Sentiment apart… this has to be the most sublime of summer sounds… Kissed by Nature
