Composition inspired by haiku by Sôen Nakagawa

Disappearing

Disappearing
snow on mountain peak
unfurls a rainbow

Sôen Nakagawa was a key figure in the transmission of Zen Buddhism from Japan to the Western world. Author Sean Murphy, in his “One Bird, One Stone: 108 Contemporary Zen Stories”, tells us an interesting story about the Zen Buddhist master during his time in the U.S.:

“Soen loved to walk around New York City. He’d stare at the lighted skyscrapers, at their tops, he claimed he saw Buddha figures in the lights. “Look at the Buddha,” he’d point, “Shining Buddha!” He’d fill the sleeves of his robes with nuts and berries from Central Park or herbs growing in the sidewalk cracks, and add them to his bowl at the next meal. He loved the musical Fiddler on the Roof, and when asked a question about why some particular point of ceremony needed to be performed in a certain way, he might burst into song, responding “Tradition…!”

Unfurling

Unfurling - (naviarhaiku509)

James is a multi-instrumentalist creator of music as well as a contemporary artist. He plays stringed instruments (guitars, cello, ukulele, bass, etc.) and uses a midi controller for any instruments he doesn't have access to; such as a timpani or a glockenspiel.

James creates music that is inspired by the pure love and joy of making music. The style of music he creates varies from piece to piece. He will go from songs that are accompanied by guitar or ukulele to full arrangements of a traditional North American band to orchestral scores that you could easily hear backing a film or video. 

By browsing his music you're likely to come across traditional pieces of music sounding as old as time and other pieces sounding as new as yesterday's jingle. 

Instruments inspire him to make new sounds come together to form music and combining old and new sounds is something he very much enjoys exploring.

While music and sounds are a big part of James' personality so is making art, graphics, and videos. James has worked professionally as a technical illustrator/graphics specialist since 1991. So James almost always creates art specifically for each piece of music he puts out into the world. The art may or may not be directly related to the piece of music in context but it will definitely give you another perspective on how the music has inspired him or makes him feel.

To learn more about James and/or see his art seek him out on Instagram.com and YouTube.com; he’s easy to find if you spell his name correctly.  A pseudonym also being used by James is Mildred Stain.

If you are interested in collaborating in any way, contact him!

Unfurling - (naviarhaiku509)

jamesbrynildsen