Marina Raye Blissful Journey CD

With Druid's Hill (tracks 1 through 7), I tried to evoke a Medieval-Ancient Celtic atmosphere using Guitar, Mandolin, Strings & Percussion. A Small Place (tracks 8 through 13), is my first attempt at an 'Orchestral' piece. The remainder (a mix of New Age & Classical) were complete pieces so I included them here. The advent of computer-based recording has finally allowed me to realize the music I have always heard in my head.

These are all original compositions, but, in truth, its not me playing the instruments. I simply tell the computer what notes to play & on what instrument to play them. Don't get me wrong, I CAN play, just not very well.

The genesis for some of these compositions goes back as far as the mid 70s, when as a young adult, I listened to Yes, Genesis & ELP along others. Having taught myself to play AT the piano, I was at once mesmerized and confounded by the majesty of those groups, utterly unable to play any of their stuff. I have seen all these bands live & was amazed at the musicianship on display.

I started out as a drummer in a rock band, often teaching the guitar parts to our guitarist. He could play almost anything, but couldn't "hear" the notes. I could hear them just fine, but lacked the skill to play them. When I joined the Army the music took a back seat for a lot of years.

Sometimes we get knocked down in our life experiences;and to get back in the saddle is the beginning of personal growth. To climb up the ladder of spiritual work, we might fall back a rung in order to leap ahead to a totally higher level. The point being that, as we improve individually, we bring some kind of healing into our own personal lives and into the world at large.

I take on sensitive topics in my music. I hope you will be able to both experience and internalize my message in a positive light. For example in the song, "A Million Voices," the main character reveals his thoughts in the last moments of life atop the Twin Towers (9/11). Love and faith help us to carry on.

I try to let each song intuitively go where it needs to. Sometimes just vocal and guitar do the job; sometimes I need an orchestra to paint the picture. But as in all art forms, if the core essence is what comes through, then the message can go deep into your heart.

In his first album for NPC Audioworks, the incandescent young saxophonist Kola Ogunkoya offers a euphonious smorgasbord of world musical favorites. The enchantingly mysterious sound of the wind instrument, saxophone, clears the way for dundun, the talking drum, which in turn opens the way for the rattling piano, congas, maracas, and omele, which eventually introduce the overpowering, but melodious, vocal of Kola Ogunkoya himself. Popularly known as Gbedumaster, Kola Ogunkoya is a multi-instrumentalist who has a solid background in Afro Jazz, Afro Pop, Afro Beat, and World Beat; with this album, he combines all the genres.