Debbie adorns my playing once again in this smooth little jazz number.  The biggest challenge was naming it and we went through a list of possibilities.  The title came at the close of one her notes when she said, "I'm easy to please, unless I'm not".  There it was, the perfect title, which sums up both of us to a tee.
Hope you enjoy:) Hear more of Debbie's superb playing, writing, and arranging @debra_buesking

Easy To Please (Unless I'm Not!) Debra Buesking; piano, David Dunham; classical guitar

Stefano Manotti is an Italian singer-songwriter, composer, and guitarist. In March 2021, he released his
first single ("Scorte d'amore") under the Soulgem Records label. In the same month, he joined the
Innovatory of Music, an association and international exchange program created by Paolo Schianchi to
bring together the most promising young Italian talents. In September 2021, he released two singles,
"Cercarmi" and "Dove Andare," in collaboration with Giulio Carmassi (former member of the Pat Metheny
Group), who handled the arrangements and mixing.
In May 2022, his first EP "Ideale" was released, solidifying his previous collaborations with Giulio Carmassi
and Paolo Schianchi. In August 2022, he shared the stage with Enrico Ruggeri as part of the Innovatorio
Festival. In January 2023, he released the single "Borsanera," which climbed to the top positions in
independent and emerging web charts and received airplay on Mradio. In September 2023, he released
two singles, “Leap in the Dark” and “Endless Road,” receiving a favorable review on the A&R Factory blog
which describes him as “virtuoso”.
In April 2024, Leap in the Dark receives the Absolute First Prize and the Visionary Creativity Special Prize  at the international Vivaldi music competition, in the Film/Game music category. On April 25th “Fly and Fall” reaches number 2 in Los Angeles and number 3 in New York in Spotify's local pulse charts

Composer/Songwriter. Proficient performer of piano, bass guitar, double bass, cello, 6 string , 12 string , drums, triangle (shall I include tambourine too?🤣), vocals, lyrics. 99% of the tracks on this page are original songs. None of my performances on any of my tracks, whether solo work, or collaboration, have any editing whatsoever. Effects and equalization? Of course! But no editing, no software, etc. Quite a substantial amount of these tracks are with The Eclectic Collective. We are like family and have been playing together on a daily basis since approximately March of 2022 as the Eclectic Collective. Before the band bore it's name Eclectic Collective; Josh, Ken, Stephen, Tez, and  CG Maness were doing some occasional collabs. At any given time we are all simultaneously working on about 15 different songs. And when we feel they are done cooking in the oven we release them.  We release a song every week on Fridays at 4AM UTC

Members of The Eclectic Collective :
The Beautiful Dark 
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)
J.J. Terrell
Llanpsych
K2 and the Three [and the Four]
TexMex Shaman
Mistermark
CG Maness

I am a finger-style guitarist living on the Texas high plains.  At the core of my music is melody that is inspired and informed by my Christian faith, family, friends, and countless influences through the years from the great composers, to jazz, folk, rock, Latin, Celtic, and the many fine musicians I have come to love on the Cloud, some I have been privileged to collaborate with.  Thanks for stopping by to have a listen. Comments are always welcome. Feel free to click on the picture of any track to learn more about it.

Music is an international language and it's such fun to learn new perspectives on that way... Thank you all for listening and taking part in all these moments 🙏🎶♥️

Hello, welcome to my page.

I've been making music since 1972. At the time, with Pedro Castro, we created the alternative rock band Petrus Castrus. 

The music I'm placing here is mostly from the home recordings of my ongoing projects and ideas. I created a few playlists (Inéditos) according to language:
Portuguese: https://soundcloud.com/jfcpetruscastrus/sets/ineditos
English: https://soundcloud.com/jfcpetruscastrus/sets/ineditos-en 
Spanish: https://soundcloud.com/jfcpetruscastrus/sets/ineditos-sp
French: https://soundcloud.com/jfcpetruscastrus/sets/ineditos-fr
Italian: https://soundcloud.com/jfcpetruscastrus/sets/ineditos-it

I also placed the concept album "Três Jardins" in a playlist. There are two long tracks (Mediterrâneo and Isaías) for full concept albums, and corresponding playlists that gather some of their individual tracks. A playlist called Synergies gathers the collaboration projects with other musicians in the fantastic SoundCloud community

Petrus Castrus edited records can be found on Spotify and Soundcloud. See the Facebook Petrus Castrus page for more details, including comments about the recordings uploaded here. 

We are both amateur musicians, i.e. music lovers. As for me, I'm just an electrical engineer with a master in AI that really loves creating music and use it to share ideas. That is why all tracks include lyrics or texts.

By the way I'm not interested in third-party offers to boost the number of plays. I like it as it is, and I've always declined such offers. Thanks anyway. 

I don't repost much, just some tracks that I find outstanding and with very few plays, so I can help them to get better known. I believe that repost parsimony also makes life easier for those who follow me.

Enjoy!

*** UPDATE May 2025. Good news. The SC contractual terms have now been corrected, and our music will no longer be used for AI training. NOTE April 2025: It just came to my attention that, unless we do a separate contract, all our uploaded music in SC can be freely used for AI training. This is written down in the legal section, under the licensing paragraphs. What can (should) we do to change that? *** 

*** Note Dec 2024: Alas, AI generated content that is not disclosed as such is now being posted at an alarming rate, sometimes multiple tracks in a single day from fake artists that even write down fake introductions, saying how much they love music that comes from the heart. Please avoid reposting these deceptions, it only adds to the confusion.  And it encourages the algorithms to give them preference. ***

*** NOTE June 2024: Generative AI is becoming amazingly powerful. Nothing against it. Just to avoid the confusion and embarrassment of finding ourselves praising and encouraging mindless algorithms, I believe it would be nice for us to always disclose its usage in our tracks. What do you think?  ***

There's no doubt about it, Music animates my Soul, and as an enthusiastic student of Life as well as a passionate Improvisational Pianist &  Composer, as far as I'm concerned, our lives would be impoverished without it ! :)  Composing is all about 'Sharing the Joy, Passion and Angst' we experience in Life, as well as connecting with Musicians and 'Creatives' worldwide. This makes it even more wonderful!  That willingness to engage in whatever way makes SC an ever-expanding Movable Feast that nourishes and inspires on so many levels. 

Music Communicates the Emotional and Informational Content and Context of Heart, Mind, Spirit, and Soul. And 'Letting it Flow' is 'Where Its At' as I hear it!  

Over the past few years since becoming part of the SoundCloud Family, my 'Joy in and Passion for' Creative Musical Expression has increased exponentially as has my appreciation of all the wonderfully passionate Musicians and Creatives worldwide who have devoted themselves to Letting It Take Form! 

Here's a bit of a bio, if anyone is interested.  

Somehow, my MUSE got my attention at a tender age. About the time I was completing my Royal Conservatory training. 

My memory being poorer than most, I began improvising in the passages I had forgotten. And while the audience seemed unaware, my teacher chastised me indulgently, saying, "it appears I have a budding composer on my hands"!  And thus began my Odyssey into the wonderful Vibrational world of Sound!:-) In-deed, I have been an ardent, attentive and appreciative acolyte of my Muse ever since. 

During the early 1970s I had the pleasure and honour of a three year friendship and Master Class with the then Octogenarian Composer Manoah Leide-Tedesco , one of Tone Poem giant Richard Strauss` favorite pupils and friend of Maurice Ravel and other 20th century composers such as Stravinsky (whose music he helped popularize). Since then, whether Improvising, listening, studying composition or devoting myself wholly to the visual arts for years at a time, I have been deeply aware that sharing my musical insights , teaching, and or mentoring young aficionados came with the territory!   I love it, although I am afraid that as my consciousness expands...that I know less and less each year! :-)  

The Tonal Oasis called SoundCloud is a fine and wondrous place in oh so many ways.  And with your support and appreciation, I de-Light to share my music with an ever widening audience. I call what i upload ' Sound-Seeds'.  Most of these 'bed tracks' call out to be fleshed out by passionate soloists who somehow Resonate with my Soundz and Ideas.  So please drop me a line, as i am most interested in letting them bear more fruit through collaboration, interpretation, re-mixing or use in other media.    

And on a personal Note, a Huge Thank-You to each and all who listen, inJoy, and Re-Post onwards what finds it's way thru me! :) Bless y'all.  It's my Joy to simply 'Let' the Creative Spirit find expression through this instrument of Body, Mind, and Heart!  I hope you will find some peace, joy, and rest, in at least some of my improvisations, compositions, or soundz. 

Insofar as playing, and composing  ... as you continue on in Your journey into  the infinite 'Cave of Wonders' we call Music, I wish you all the very best in all Your creative endeavours. 

So Be Kind to yourSelves and one another. Be Audacious, Ready to Play, and above all, share the Joy of being able to express whatever you're feeling. 

In-deed, may The Muse continue to 'Sing on and Play on' through each of us !   For this is one way this 'ol world is lifted up, and Changed for the better - note by note, and smile by smile .  

 Yes, may we simply Let our Creativity flow forth without concern for results.
                                   Peace

                                    Gary *+*

Banner Pic- BLUE SKIES ON PLUTO
                       Pluto's atmosphere as seen recently by Horizon Spacecraft

Dear listener, Feel free to leave comments and I'll try to reply.

I've been making music for around 16 years now but because of the wonderfully generous community that is SC, I have learned so much in a short time. I look forward to learning even more by collaborating. 
I suppose my strengths are in lyric-writing and singing. I feel fortunate to have been able to work with some stunning compositions by some very talented SCers.

My very best to you, Mark

Some links to recent Continental Collision streaming sites, etc are available below:

Hanging out in the cloud forests of the Sierra Juárez mountains in Oaxaca, I’m tapping into the sounds of the universe like a mushroom-drunk nahual, reaching into the heart of nature to grasp at the mysteries of existence.

You’ll hear influences from deep time and across as many cultures as I can get my hands on. I get obsessed, man. Seriously, everything else melts away around me. I can spend days absorbed in an idea, like that stone statue guy—but with a stone guitar instead.

My approach to music? About as unpredictable as my ability to remember where I last saw my passport (pretty crucial when you live abroad all the time, right?). My unique way of processing the world often leads to an avant-garde approach to life. And yeah, maybe there’s been a mushroom-induced revelation or two along the way, but who’s counting? I don’t need a million-dollar studio—just a good instrument, a decent interface, a computer, and some monitors that hopefully survive my absent-minded chaos.

I’m a multi-instrumentalist who loves complexity, especially when it sneaks up on you through unexpected rhythms or harmonies from the far corners of the globe. From Carnatic ragas to garage rock grooves—why not just mix every cool sound and see what happens? Maybe I’ll start with a harmonic progression from Bach’s Goldberg Variations and slap it into a Hindustani 7/4 thaal (that’s rhythm, if you’re wondering). It’s a bit technical but, trust me, as cool as—well, let’s just say it’s the kind of vibe that might inspire a dream-like hallucination about nailing the perfect groove. (Music available for film, TV, and media licensing.)

Yeah, I am a Ph.D. trained evolutionary biologist, and... that sounds impressive until you find out I bailed on it the second I landed a good job. I was bored out of my mind. People look at me like a guy who won the lottery and then spent it all on the greatest collection of rare video games (I mean, I’m not that bad, right?). But switching from science back to music wasn’t just quitting—it was finally tuning into something deeper. Music and science might seem like distant cousins, but to me, they’re intertwined—both ways to unlock the secrets of the universe.

Now, I live in Capulálpam De Méndez, a mystical town in the Oaxacan mountains. The ancient Zapotec culture runs deep here, and creativity flows as freely as the mezcal at the fiestas (and trust me, there are plenty of fiestas).

Art is for everyone, and I’m always pushing to create something that connects—whether it’s a complex harmonic structure or just the right amount of groove to make you forget your troubles (or your keys, in my case).

So if you’re into music that teeters on the edge of chaos but mostly lands right where it needs to be—well, welcome. Just don’t expect me to remember how I got here, or where I left my bag. Seriously, my passport might’ve been in there… Was it the tuk-tuk? (sounds like a joke right... Err.. its not....)


--------------
Relajándome en los bosques nublados de la Sierra Juárez en Oaxaca, estoy sintonizando los sonidos del universo como un nahual borracho de hongos, llegando al corazón de la naturaleza para intentar comprender los misterios de la existencia.

Escucharás influencias de tiempos profundos y de tantas culturas como pueda explorar. Me obsesiono, hermano. En serio, todo lo demás desaparece a mi alrededor. Puedo pasar días absorbido en una idea, como ese tipo de las estatuas de piedra—pero con una guitarra de piedra en su lugar.

¿Mi enfoque hacia la música? Tan impredecible como mi habilidad para recordar dónde dejé mi pasaporte (bastante crucial cuando vives en el extranjero todo el tiempo, ¿verdad?). Mi forma única de procesar el mundo a menudo me lleva a un enfoque vanguardista de la vida. Y sí, tal vez haya habido una o dos revelaciones inducidas por hongos en el camino, pero ¿quién está contando? No necesito un estudio de millones de dólares—solo un buen instrumento, una interfaz decente, una computadora y unos monitores que, con suerte, sobrevivan a mi caos despistado.

Soy un multiinstrumentista que ama la complejidad, especialmente cuando te sorprende con ritmos o armonías inesperadas de los rincones más lejanos del mundo. Desde ragas carnáticas hasta los grooves del garage rock—¿por qué no mezclar todos los sonidos geniales y ver qué pasa? Quizás empiece con una progresión armónica de las Variaciones Goldberg de Bach y la meta en un thaal hindú de 7/4 (es decir, un ritmo, por si te lo preguntas). Es un poco técnico, pero créeme, es tan genial como—bueno, digamos que es del tipo de vibras que podrían inspirar una alucinación soñadora sobre encontrar el groove perfecto. (Música disponible para licenciamiento en cine, TV y medios.)

Sí, tengo un doctorado en biología evolutiva, y eso suena impresionante hasta que descubres que lo dejé en cuanto conseguí un buen trabajo. Estaba aburrido como una ostra. La gente me mira como a un tipo que ganó la lotería y luego lo gastó todo en Beanie Babies (no soy tan malo, ¿verdad?). Pero pasar de la ciencia de nuevo a la música no fue simplemente abandonar—fue finalmente sintonizar con algo más profundo. La música y la ciencia pueden parecer primos lejanos, pero para mí, están entrelazados—ambas son formas de desentrañar los secretos del universo.

Ahora vivo en Capulálpam De Méndez, un pueblo místico en las montañas de Oaxaca. La antigua cultura zapoteca corre profundo aquí, y la creatividad fluye tan libremente como el mezcal en las fiestas (y créeme, hay muchas fiestas).

El arte es para todos, y siempre busco crear algo que conecte—ya sea una estructura armónica compleja o solo la cantidad justa de groove para hacerte olvidar tus problemas (o tus llaves, en mi caso).

Así que si te gusta la música que oscila en el borde del caos pero que la mayoría de las veces aterriza justo donde debe estar—bienvenido. Solo no esperes que recuerde cómo llegué aquí, o dónde dejé mi bolsa. En serio, creo que mi pasaporte estaba allí... ¿Fue en el tuk-tuk? (suena como una broma, pero... ehh, no lo es...).