In the Morning
Originally recorded for a ukulele album of Bee Gees songs released in Japan. Exquisite playing & production by my longtime collaborator, Daniel Ho.

God Is…
Last year during my class at Agape for Spiritual Practices, I had a chance to sing for Agape's Music goddess, Rickie Byars-Beckwith, who acknowledged my talent then said she knew I could sing & write from an even deeper, more connected space. God Is... was my final project assignment & definitely inspired by my meeting with Rickie.

Morning Intentions
An instrumental song I wrote around '96. I always loved the melody but couldn't ever find the "right" lyrics to go with it. For my album it eventually became this instrumental song with light airy "ahs" to serve as a backdrop for setting your intentions for the day. If you saw "What the Bleep" the movie, you'll remember that one great interview with Dr. Joe Dispenza talking about consciously creating his day. There's definitely something to it...check it out here:  www.whatthebleep.com/create

Suncatcher
Written originally for Daniel Ho's album - he did a beautiful acoustic treatment of this song on his album entitled Suncatcher. I tweaked it lyrically to reflect the life-changing experience of embracing meditation into my daily practice. Suncatcher reflects the deep joy & sense of home & oneness that I'm growing deeper into with meditation.

According to Me
My musical soul-mate, Ted Jacobs, gave me this unique bubbly track earlier this year. It was the same time that we were considering writing specific music for colorful author, SARK. I was at rehearsal one day & looked down at my feet. In my head I screamed "Oh no...not again" when I saw that I had somehow put on two different tennis shoes (one dark brown with a lil' pink lining & one black with a lil' trim of white). I had done this one other time when I was a kid & I remember being so embarrassed that my mom made me walk to church like that. There are so worse ways to humiliate yourself & it caught me off-guard with how big I made that silly situation. One thought I had was, if it happened to SARK - she would've owned that moment, she would've said yippeee I got a brown shoe on the left & a black shoe on the right...this crazy story led to this bouncy pop song about living an exuberant, fun-filled life!

Come See Her Smile
Daniel & I wrote this beautiful song a few years ago. It's funny...his inspiration was a girl the enchanted him & mine was writing about that best woman in me that I could be. I sung it for my Mom-in-law's 60th B-day party & mostly had the men crying. Daniel was flown to Hawaii to perform it with the Honolulu Symphony in honor of one of their most generous supporters ~ of course a wonderful lady! I've used it since to honor my sister at her wedding and a special friend who serves the community night & day, and a friend used it as a goodbye gift for a girlfriend moving to a different city. It's just a great song to highlight that special female figure/mentor/teacher in your life.

Vision
I started this song in 1999. I was stuck at the 2nd verse & it didn't fully come together until I was invited last year to be the special music presenter at a graduation for Ministers & Practitioners at Seaside Church in Encinitas. Their theme had something to do with the sun rising & shining...that's really all I needed & the entire song flowed out as a tribute to those dreamers, those forging ahead into unknown spaces led by passion & a drive to shine their light in their unique, impactful way. This song has been used at ordinations, graduations & to honor folks on a recent success or those choosing new adventures in their lives.

Song of One
I wrote the original version of this song in college...maybe '90 or '91. It was an instrumental then. Ted was integral in the shaping of this song to become this trippy chanty spacey piece that it is now. I can't remember now how all the ideas came together but I know for sure that I had such a passion to create a song that reflected the belief of oneness especially in the wisdom from each religious/cultural tradition that stands true despite seeming differences. The Hawaiian Chant is used to set the tone for healings. My buddhist friend, Shane, got the Japanese Sutra chant though we tweaked it a bit with repetitions of certain phrases. The Alleluias were just natural to me since I went to 12 yrs of an all-girls Catholic school. And the beautiful Muslim chant was contributed by my producer/collaborator friend Zuriani ~ who is on the same path as me as far as her work to honor & respect all religions. Her 6 year old daughter, Jasmine, is also featured on the Muslim prayer. The end result of this song is something that just formed itself through the process. I had no clue what this song would ultimately sound & feel like and I'm pleasantly happy by the synchronistic magic of it all! Oh & my sweet hubby got to chant with Shane on the low Japanese Sutra chant.

Instrument of Peace
Ted came upon this haunting chord progression & gave it to me to see if I felt like writing to it. Again, no rhyme or reason why I had this thought, but the popular Prayer of St. Francis poem (which we sung alot at church as a kid) popped up in my mind. I started putting the poem to Ted's music & it fit perfectly. I contributed the chord structure in the chorus & the words came easily for this section: "Lord make me an instrument of your peace" This song was used to close a beautiful Interfaith Service in Upstate NY where we had speakers from so many traditions: Native American, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, Brahma Kumaris & more.

Women of Today
Originally written with & for Beth Eichel's Women of Spirit CD. Beth gave me some lyrics & the first words were "We are mothers. We are daughters. We are sisters. We are friends." I immediately had a melody & groove & the song pretty much wrote itself instanteously. Nafeesa Monroe adds power with her spoken word piece "The World's Bond" which is featured in the middle of the song in the re-mix (which is not on the album but on the single). I had eight other wonderful ladies join me on the vocals & adlibs to add that dynamic women vibe! It's been sung & sold at a number of women's retreats & meetings already...can't wait to share it with more laides!