The art of island dreaming is something most of us do.  I must admit, I probably do that more than most people because for me it started as a boy and just got stronger each year.  Eventually, sailing to these dreamed-about places became a reality and, of course, living the dreams becomes a reality.  It is not easy to explain how and what these feelings inside are about, but it all comes out of me in my music, and I’ve been told numerous times that while playing the music I reveal much more of my inner self.

When sailing to an exciting place on a small craft, you put yourself into nature’s realm.  Nature is rather indifferent about you out there in its environment.  The constantly changing yin-yang cycle carries on regardless of who, why, weak or strong that you are.  There is no one that can help you when you are hundreds of miles offshore, so you are on your own.  You are stripped of all facades, pretenses and there is nowhere to hide.  Sometimes you plead for it to stop and let you go, but it can last for many hours and you can’t believe the boat is holding together.  Suddenly it changes and you feel like you’ve been taken to paradise.  The beauty is boundlessly deep and beyond recognition, with schools of porpoise and long-distance sea birds, sunsets and endless clusters of stars horizon to horizon.  What this does is strip you of all pretenses and bares your inner self so that you feel totally exposed and reliant only on yourself and your boat.

When you step ashore in another place in this state of being, you are totally open to the different culture, philosophy of living and style of music.  When you take a relatively quick plane trip to these places, you carry your old self buried inside the shell your life built for you.  So, the new things have a difficult time breaking through to you and often the differences appall you rather than amaze, delight and teach you.

The music of “First Light” comes from a tough night at sea and suddenly the beauty of new surroundings shines through as the sea changes its face.  Other songs, such as “Under a Spanish Moon,” “Inner Beauty,” “Color of Blue,” “Groovy Bossa Nova” and “Begin the Beguine” reflect this beautiful awakening while in an open state of mind.  “Mozambique,” “Trip to Rio,” “Don’t Squeeze Me Tomatoes” (a vegetable vendor song in an open market near the city square), and “Red Hot Mambo” are let’s dance and so happy to be alive songs after a hard and dangerous ocean voyage.  “Gitanos” is music derived from a Gypsy part of a town that was a total shift and surprise in the style of music on one of our trips.

Listen to Snippets from this Album