Joy always wanted me to write a song in the style of one of her favourite artists, the great Brazilian jazz singer Flora Purim, who became prominent for her work on Return to Forever with Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke, after which her many solo albums featured her unique style.
It’s track six from our Evening from Hillcrest album.
This weeks poem, The Atmosphere Of Wood is from my collection, Horizon. It discusses the connection one can have with the natural world where I roamed; where life rises from earth and stone.
I dedicated this to the memory of John Muir.
Joy Brooks - Vocals
Fredrick Brooks - Acoustic Guitar
Jeff Brackett - Electric Guitar
Chris Pezzarello - Drums
Robbie Grunwald - Keyboards/Bass
Joseph Shabason - Flute
Katherine McKenzie - Harmonies
Caroline Brooks - Harmonies
Recorded and produced by Robbie Grunwald - Raven Tape Music Room and Union Sound - Chris Stringer
Mastered by Justin Gray - Immersive Mastering
<Click here to listen to So Near So Far>
SO NEAR - SO FAR
I gather stars this summer’s night
As I dream of you - my love
I watch the nightbirds fly away
To another day - my love
Chorus
So near - so far
You are forever in my heart
Until you return - someday
I feel your body next to mine
It’s silent touch - my love
With gently words I will call your name
Remember me - my love
Chorus
I watch the dawn return again
For you are near - my love
I feel a magic deep down in my soul
Hurry home - my love
Chorus
©Fredrick Brooks
Leon Zemitsky (leonzemitsky.com)
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The Atmosphere of Wood
In the quiet woods, I heard a seed fall,
Where life rises from earth and stone
It moved me, for it held the beauty of a newborn’s cry.
In the quiet woods, I felt the warm caress of wind on my face,
I inhaled the deep atmosphere of wood
Under towering stands of majestic white pine.
In the quiet woods through a sea of high grass
I walked a forest meadow,
Where juniper bushes lay laden with forgotten withered fruit
In the quiet woods, I stayed long,
Until the night turned a chestnut brown
And the pale moon’s arrow marked a distant chalk road.
In the quiet woods, pungent mint filled the air,
A copper creek quenched my thirst,
As I roamed where life rises from Earth and Stone
©Fredrick Brooks
Dedication to John Muir “I only went for a walk and finally concluded to stay out was really going in.”
