Organic Acoustic Music

Jinjee's Take:

I grew up in a musical household. My Father was a professional music arranger, composer, and pianist. I grew up studying classical piano. When Storm and I met at music school I had been studying jazz music for many years but I was seeking a new kind of music. I experimented with many different genres including avant garde jazz, world music of different cultures from Brazilian to Celtic, new age, alternative, and folk. One day I was playing piano in the practice rooms at SBCC when Storm walked in and put some music in front of me. We played. I was puzzled because his timing was totally bizarre. It turned out he had taught himself to read notes but not the timing of the notes and he had actually learned many standard songs dead wrong because of this. I was in "snob mode" for sure. I tolerated Storm only because one of my teachers had admonished me to take every opportunity to play music with all different kinds of musicians. But one day we started playing music without paper infront of us, just improvising, and the most amazing music came out. It was like our energies just matched in harmony and it was as if something very special was literally being birthed between us.

I was playing with several other groups but I had never in my life played any music that felt so unique, so real, and so special. Although this man was no Berkeley graduate he was transmuting his feelings through music and it sounded just the way his artwork looked! It was a humbling experience through which I have learned that music is more than notes, theory, knowledge, and chops. It is possible to be a totally competent musician yet never to actually create art. But somehow Storm was able to pull the artist in me out. We were literally communicating through music, letting the sounds and tones and feelings tell stories of each of our hearts' desires. And there was definitely magic there. It was as though something other than our own spirits, some muse or deity was there playing with us. But this was our courtship. This was how we fell in love. This was how we got to know eachother. This was the thing that pulled us together. Every time it was different, never the same notes, yet always the same vibration. I lost the desire to play any other kind of music. I had found my voice, my niche, my joy in music. But it wasn't "I", it was "we".

We recently played for some people for the first time in many years, in our living room, and I almost had to stop because the energy of our music was so personal and real. I think this is how Storm and I are meant to communicate, first with eachother, and then with others. Our words are often misinterpreted - after all we are different cultures, different races, different generations, different genders and different religions! But we understand eachother perfectly when we play music together. Then there is no doubt as to what a person is feeling, what they feel towards you, and how you are together. You can take the music to levels of excitement, playfulness, peace, exploration, beauty, warmth, energy, vitality, communion, interaction. You can be supportive or supported. I think being on the raw-vegan diet, living in nature, having children, playing music, doing art, being entrepreneurs, being in a long-term relationship, all these things have contributed to becoming more sensitive and understanding, able to know what the other person is thinking, feeling, hearing, and desiring.

I believe the raw vegan diet and creativity go hand in hand. At some point you gain so much energy on the raw-vegan diet that you really need a creative outlet to focus your energy. Otherwise the energy can turn on you and drive you mad.

It is our goal to make lots more music. I'd like to make several CDs every year. We have everything now that we need to do it. We just need to give ourselves permission. And so we are sharing this CD to inspire ourselves to do more music!!

Storm's Take:

If I had to use just one word to describe Jinjee's music I would say
haunting. Even though she is a highly trained piano player she has the
ability to go beyond just playing music the way it is written and create in
the moment music that she has never played before. She says that it comes
from listening and feeling what I'm playing. So I in turn try to do the same
for her.

When we composed Pale Winter Sun we did not start out to create healing
music. We just wanted to create music that reflected our lifestyle. We
live deep in the heart of the national forest and since the beginning of our
relationship we have always lived either in the forest, or in the mountains.
And I think that this more so than any other factor has shaped the way that
we both create music. In deep nature I have found that there is both great
beauty and peace. Most of us only get to experience nature for short periods
of time but with the shift to home businesses that are run from the
internet some of us are now able to transition from an urban dwelling
concept to one that is surrounded by nature.

I think that it is nature and being in harmony with nature that is the
healing factor. And I feel that with our music we have but caught a
small amount of the nature energy that we are now living with. But even to
do that we in our own limited way had to undergo a huge revolution in the
way that we expressed ourselves musically.

We did release our music in a limited format over the internet and the feed
back that we got was really heartfelt. People were telling us that they
were playing our music while they were sitting in rush hour traffic and it
helped to relax them. Someone else told us that they played our music while
their wife was giving birth. It was comments like this that caused us to
probe deeper into what we felt might be the potential for expressing and
sharing healing energy on a new level.

The music is just two instruments (strings and flute) which are like voices
to me because I feel as though I'm having a conversation with Jinjee on a
level that I could never talk to her with words. I feel that she truly
understands what I'm trying to say and is able to reply in a way that I
understand. Even though we have been playing together for 13 years I feel
as though we are just really starting out. A journey like this one takes a
lifetime.

"Pale Winter Sun" Music CD By Paradox ~ Buy album ($9.95, free shipping included)

Featuring Storm on Bass Recorder and Jinjee on Grand Piano

Songs:

Etchings 9:18 ~ Listen to clip
Never 9:18 ~ Listen to clip
Woodwind 6:25 ~ Listen to clip
Inverness 1:33 ~ Listen to clip
Pale Winter Sun 2:35 ~ Listen to clip

"Pale Winter Sun" Music CD By Paradox ~ Buy album ($9.95, free shipping included)