New Directions

As I was thinking about the past months I've realized that this have taken quite a radical turn as the events that unfolded baffled me at first but I went with it and now I know i made the right choices. I played the M3z, the Third Art Realm, Mastered show which was a total success. I also played at Eve and though it was a small crowd everyone held their breath as I played selections from "The Awakening". Recently though I started on a new project with my good friend Gipsy Alvarez. What I wanted to do was to write music in all style to submit for music soundtracks. So we started however Gipsy expressed interest in also performing and making this collaboration into a more than just two song writers working together. Thus was born the idea of calling this duo "Jerry and Gipsy". In the months that have followed we have come up with more than 20 songs, most of which ill be on our debut album which we are almost done writing. The album will have styles that will range from acoustic and romatic like Jason Mraz "I'm Yours" to the flamenco feel of the Gypsy Kings. Also in the album we will be doing a rendition of my song "Bluez Raga. However unlike the original, this one will have lyrics and vocal stylings of Gipsy. This will be a departure from my usual sitar based music and will focus on all my abilities as a musician that will be heard and seen not only in the studio but also live on stage. Guest musicians will also be part of the new album. Among them will be a string duo by Mariangely Diaz and Marysol Losada as well as Latin percussion by Keinny Merchan and many more. The album will be my most ambitions project to date as I will come out of my recording comfort zone and go to a studio for most of the tracks. The album doesn't have a release date as of yet, however as soon as it is available I will be posting it. you can follow Gipsy and Jerry at https://twitter.com/jerryandgipsy and watch videos of live performances and more at http://www.youtube.com/jerryandgipsy I leave you with the interview that me and Gipsy had at the F.A.M.E. event August 3rd 2012 which describes in few words what this new album will consist of.

New Horizons

It's been quite a while since my last post on June 7, 2009 and a lot has happened since then. I started a side project that ended up being scratched, as well as added numerous collaborations with such artists as Dealazer, Digital Fiend, Jonathan D. Shadel, Tim Chaplin and most recent Dushead. I finished my second album and released it on November 27, 2011 which happened to also be my 34th birthday. Since I have collaborating so much and playing I have had some thoughts on a 3rd album however I haven't come up with anything new as of yet. I've talked with several very talented musicians such as Jay Lone Wolf, Carla Cao among many musicians that I would like to collaborate with a s part of my third album. So far I just have a name: Cryptomusicology. In this album I want to keep on fusing different styles in order to come up with more creative ways of expanding on the idea of the Raga, the Classical Indian Music style/form that Indian Musicians have played for centuries. When I designed my custom sitar, 24 frets tuned to Equal Temperament so I could play with western musicians I wanted to ultimately create fusions that hadn't been done before or that had been explored only on the surface. I have come to realize that despite of my limited knowledge of Ragas I have come to understand that even within the Thaats or scales of the Northern Indian Music System there are combinations of these scales that form Ragas. It's like taking a blank canvas and not knowing anything about painting using the colors that attract you the most and letting the lines blend in becoming some shape of form that you won't recognize till it's done. And even then it might be up to interpretation but yet can be appreciated for what it is. that's the direction my music is currently going in. This month I will be performing this new blank canvas way of playing Friday May 25 at the M3z, the Third Art Realm, Mastered being held at the Karen Ledbetter & International Galleries at 760 NE 44th Street, Oakland Park, FL 33334. It will start at 8pm and go all the way to 12 midnight. That performance I will have the pleasure of performing with Carla Cao on Clarinet as Desi Love dances the night away. This event is free. Next month I will also be playing solo Jun 3rd at Eve which is located at 1306 N Miami Ave, Miami, FL 33132. Advance tickets are $11 and $13 at the door. To purchase advance tickets you can go to www.tickets.aftonshows.com/theflykingdom I will be updating the blog more often so come by and check it out! -Jerry

The Songs and Their Meanings...

Hello once again! I had recently thought of adding the explanations behind the album "Sweet Blue Thornless Rose". As I had explained in my interview with the Animate Tripe Chronicles I wrote the songs about a woman named Rose. What I didn't explain is the journey that the character took to get from Song 1 to Song 11. Yes, this is a story... It's not all in black in white, however this should clear some things up. Well, here it is:

Sweet Blue Thornless Rose (Intro)
He starts out his journey with
One thought in mind,
To get to the Sweet Blue Thornless Rosee,
A priceless find,
The new fountain of youth,
The answer to love and life itself

As he departs with image he knows
The journey will be long
And there will obstacles in the way
To stray him from his prize
But he doesn’t care
He knows that what’s in store
Will grater then all of the
Challenges that lie ahead

Served Kold
So he has arrived in a place,
A place that has all pleasures
And comforts he desires
But is this it?
Or is there more to it?
The mystery of this place
There’s an odd feelings
Something he can’t figure
Or shake off,
But is it all just in his head
Or is there more to it?
But the more he stays
The further he gets away from
His vision and so
He moves on…

Indian Saints Go Marching in
He walks the sands of time
And wonders around
Looking for the diamond,
The diamond in the wrath
The prize of all prizes
But now, for the first time
He questions it’s existence
Is it real or just a myth?
Something that children
Were told just to help
Them ease their pain
And so he keeps going no
Matter what the vision says
It’s all about the journey
The details that will make
The experience memorable
But how long will this
Philosophy remain part of him?
Only time will tell…

Bluez Raga
And now he gets this,
This feeling he’s been here,
Some other lifetime perhaps?
He sees seeing the seascape
He’s never been to,
But yet he can pick things
Out that remind him
Of memories he has yet to
Experience and see
And as he sees a figure moving
It dances to a beat he can’t hear
Yet he can feel every nuance
But why? How can this be possible?
Who wrote that in his mind?
Is this the God that people keep
Talking about?
This entity that supposedly knows
All that there was, is and will be?
And as the figure keeps dancing
It points to him…. The man,
The one that wants to find
What can’t be found
What is but also isn’t
The thing we desire
But can’t have
All the issues that are faced
When we ponder on the concept
The one that just can’t be…

Hope (My Thornless Rose) (Slight Return)
His walls are breaking,
Where they were once strong,
Now its beginning to tear,
But what could save him now?

Along comes the vision,
A Thornless Rose again he sees
But what is it?
Is there a picture?
No, it’s all just in his mind,
But regardless it is there,
The fantasy of making
His dreams come true,
And so he starts the search
For the impossible dream
Of finding his Thornless Rose…

Missing
And as he searches
He longs for what he sees,
All the visions in his mind,
A happiness that
Could be his everyday life,
But what if?
The question that lingers
As he wishes to see
More than a glimpse
Of this dream,

This vision that he wants
To make a reality,
But what if it’s all in his mind?
It doesn’t matter
Because what’s really missing
Is the love in his heart and mind…

Within Reach (Yet Moons Apart)
And as the search continues
He sees that it may all be due to his
Desire to find his truth,
The things that make him keep looking,
The things he is missing,
The things that will make him complete,
Such are the things that he once saw
In his mind but hasn’t actually touched yet,

So what is reality?
Is it everything we see?
Or everything we feel?
None of it makes sense
And yet everything else does,
Why do all the pieces fit together
When it really doesn’t matter?
Simple questions, which answers
Are too far away…
Too deep into the ocean…

Static Silence
As he wonders what she is thinking
What all the silence is about
Is she really there?
Or is it all just gone?
And as he wonders he starts to realize
That his life is all… just about her
But in reality if he really loves her
He must let go and let her find her way
Even if it’s not to him…

The Last Good-Bye
And as he writes his final good-bye,
The end has been written but why?
Why did it end so soon?
Was it me all along?
Or did it all just revolve around
Selfishness, the virus that makes
“Us” human?
Well, whatever the reason,
The reason is done and so is he,
And so he moves on

Sweet Blue Thornless Rose
So in the end
It was all going back to the Blue Rose
The unattainable piece that is not found in nature
The impossible dream that was just that
The effort made to realize this dream
To be able to hold a Sweet Blue Thornless Rose
All just a dream in the end… or was it?
Only you can answer that question now…

It's best to hear the album as you read these passages. In fact I was just listening to the album when I got inspired to write this story... You can check out the album on CD Baby and also on iTunes as well!!