1984. I always loved that my friend and choir buddy, Anre, could play the piano--something I took lessons for in third grade but couldn't stick with. But I was seriously impressed when I learned that he couldn't read music! And, as if that wasn't enough, he also wrote original songs! Dude, that kind of creativity is amazing to someone who has to be taught a part to sing or taught a part to play. To be able to just make stuff up out of your own head is foreign territory to me. That was 35 years ago.
Ironically, turns out his first collaboration on any piece was with Yours Truly. He wrote a beautiful piece back then (Tell Me) that grabbed my heart so much that I asked to write lyrics to it. He let me.
That year was pretty much our last contact for quite some time, as I had graduated and life happened... Still, there was the occasional communication over the years, including a time when I asked him for a piece of music for a project I was working on. As I knew he would, he produced a most beautiful and moving piece for me. Several years later, (and only a couple of years ago) he messaged me while I was in Israel, telling me how he had been through various serious illnesses and that my life had inspired him to start writing music again, and he told me about a 4-movement composition he was working on, of which "Tell Me" was one. It blew me away.
Another year of life goes by and one day I heard that my choir buddy had been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. I in Idaho, and he in California, began talking more when that happened. I knew I had to come visit my friend during his hospital stay for chemo. I knew I wanted to encourage him to continue with his music in spite of his circumstances. I booked my tickets, and as we continued to talk in the ensuing days before the flight, we fell in love.
The two-day visit was no longer good enough, so as soon as I could, I went back. I pulled out the cds he had sent me years before and listened again to the music he had written. One in particular would come back to my mind, In Your Eyes. It was beautiful and pure, lovely and romantic. I asked him for a dance there in the hospital room and I played this piece of his.
He was inspired to re-record it, add things, enhance things... He wanted to work on more of his songs the same way, as well as get back to the 4-movement piece he had told me about earlier. During the home time in between chemo treatments, he worked on In Your Eyes, and I got to sit in on the process.
I had not realized until that time that his songwriting isn't just about writing a melody. He writes compositions. He can hear the bass line, the percussion, the strings, the pianos, guitars, his signature bells [get it? ;) ], and more... Mind blown again. When I hear a song, I hear a song. He hears all the parts. I see the forest, he sees the trees. Amazing.
As he was working on In Your Eyes, he asked for my opinion on how it was sounding. I gave him suggestions on certain parts that I felt were too loud or too soft, and at one point suggested using a saxophone for one of the verses. He bucked a little at this, but put it in anyway. I LOVED IT, and he came around to it as well. ;) Well, that began my new position as a music producer and general partner at Blue Piano Music.
This beautiful piece, and our first dance, will be the first single released from the upcoming album, Worth Waiting For. Look for "In Your Eyes (Day Mix)" to be released on April 19th.