Takin’ it to the streets

…or “school,” as may be.

I am so excited, I’ve been invited to work with a group of kids (probably all girls) at Harmony School who want to do some a cappella music and have a Glee experience. I’d be working with the fabulous and talented Kathy Boone, who has a selection of songs picked out, most of which I don’t know (new music! yay!). One of the pieces is Bring Me Little Water, Sylvy and I’ve thought of some super-simple body percussion the girls could do. (If I can do it, surely they can!) We’d rehearse Nov-Dec, with a performance on Friday, 21 December.

My brain teeming with ideas for things we could do, most of which are probably too advanced, so I’m really looking forward to meeting with Kathy and brainstorming some ideas. I may be meeting with them up to three times a week, which would be so exhilarating. Have I mentioned I’m excited about this?? Can’t wait to see how it all plays out.

Lyrics: Not One More Day

Not One More Day
Melody based on Oh, Freedom 
© 2008 Cairril Adaire 

I.
Oh, freedom (2x)
Oh, freedom from bein’ ignored
We don’t want no more
Of this endless, pointless war
Not one more dollar, not one more death, not one more day 

II.
No more suffering
No more killing
No more pain in my name (in my name)
Can you look me in the eye
And say all those people deserve to die
Not one more dollar, not one more death, not one more day 

III.
No more sending our poor
To fight a rich man’s war
No more blood
Blood for oil (no more blood for oil)
I’d rather be poor
Than see my country fight this war
Not one more dollar, not one more death, not one more day   

IV.
No more spying
No more lying
No more secrets
No more shame (we are better than this)
We take to the streets and say
We are standing in your way
Not one more dollar, not one more death, not one more day 

V.
Not one more dollar
Not one more day
Not one cent of my money
Spent in this wicked way

Not one more death
Not one more day
Not one more of our children
Not one more of theirs

VI.
No more torture
We’re forced to pay for
No more torture in my name (we are better than this)
I still believe
In the land of liberty
Not one more dollar, not one more death, not one more day

Everybody Loves My Baby

SSAA. Based very closely on the Boswell Sisters’ classic rendition. Voicings are almost identical. All instrumentation has been stripped or converted, such as the bass line combining several of the rhythm instruments from the originals ’20s-era recording. I kept the scat, but simplified it to make it humanly possible to sing.

This took Kaia about a year to nail and it’s one of the most technically challenging pieces we’ve done. You’d have no idea it was so difficult when you just listen to the Boswells doing it! Phenomenal musicians. I prostrate myself in homage.

Everybody Loves My Baby sample by Kaia

Kaia

October 2004-present. A cappella vocal ensemble of 7-9 women singing world music, jazz, originals, and anything else we feel like. Repertoire ranges from the raucous to the sublime. I founded the group in 2004 and remain its Anxious Facilitator. Based in Bloomington, Indiana. See Kaia’s website for way more info and buy buy buy our merchandise!

Friday Sing

Late 1990s. An informal group of ever-shifting talent that got together on Fridays to sing whatever we felt like. Performed In Memory of Everything and at Windfall Dancers‘ Reflexions series. A lot of fun and taught me a lot about improv. Our complacency led to my eventual founding of Kaia.

Bloomington Feminist Chorus

1990s. Sang with the chorus for five years. Singing eventually lead to arranging, writing, and co-directing at times. While not a professional chorus, this group of women helped me remember the goodness of singing with others. They helped ease my transition from exploited child ham to self-obsessed adult ham. So really, you have them to thank.

Roots & Sass (limited edition)

2007. A collection of pieces from Kaia’s spring ’07 show, Roots & Sass. The recording quality is not as good as we or the sound engineers would like, so we made this a limited edition and sell it in person only. We’ll be including some of the tracks from this on our next CD, Get Down, Rise Up!