A fully improvised song by Jascha Hoffman.

Sisters - Open Song #61

A tribute to John Prine, recorded on the night that he died.
John Prine (Oct 10, 1946 - April 7, 2020)

Christmas in Prison - a tribute to John Prine

An improvised song by Jascha Hoffman, with electric guitars by Cameron Greider.

Rain All Week - Open Song #62

Bob Dylan's classic spiritual ballad—with a new verse, improvised live on the spot.

Performed by Jascha Hoffman with Cameron Greider on electric guitar. 
Live at Acme Hall Studios in Brooklyn, NY in July 2021.

Every Grain Of Sand - Bob Dylan Cover

An improvised song by Jascha Hoffman, recorded spontaneously on a phone in Hawaii.

Guitar and bass overdubs by Cameron Greider, mixed at home by Jascha.

Understudies - Open Song #63

To honor the 80th birthday of the great Brazilian songwriter Caetano Veloso, here is a loving rendition of his eternal anthem "Canto de Um Povo de Um Lugar." 

Jascha Hoffman (vocals & guitar), Cameron Greider (electric guitar).
Performed live at Acme Hall Studios in Brooklyn in July 2021.

Canto do Povo

A song about waking up early on the Big Island to watch the full cosmos fade into dawn.

Voice, kalimba and synthesizer by Jascha Hoffman. 

https://JaschaMusic.com

Behind The Blue - Open Song #64

Here's a solo acoustic version of Joni Mitchell's classic song "Borderline." It's a tribute to the human drive to split the world into two camps: right and wrong, good and bad, us and them.

Released in 1994, just as America was entering a new era of polarization, the song is a bitter ode to the all-too-common urge to protect ourselves by building walls to keep the world out.

On Joni's 79th birthday, and on the eve of another divisive American election, it seems like a good moment to feel into the borderlines in our own hearts and minds. 

Voice, guitar and keyboards by Jascha Hoffman.
Video by Vanessa Gould.

---

Everybody looks so ill at ease
So distrustful so displeased
Running down the table
I see a borderline
Like a barbed wire fence
Strung tight strung tense
Prickling with pretense
A borderline

Why are you smirking at your friend?
Is this to be the night when
All well-wishing ends?
All credibility revoked?
Thin skin thick jokes!
Can we blame it on the smoke,
This borderline?

Every bristling shaft of pride
Church or nation
Team or tribe
Every notion we subscribe to
Is just a borderline
Good or bad we think we know
As if thinking makes things so!
All convictions grow along a borderline

Smug in your jaded expertise
You scathe the wonder world
And you praise barbarity
In this illusionary place
This scared hard-edged rat race
All liberty is laced with
Borderlines

Every income every age
Every fashion-plated rage
Every measure every gauge
Creates a borderline
Every stone thrown through glass
Every mean-streets-kick ass
Every swan caught on the grass
Will draw a borderline

You snipe so steady
You snub so snide
So ripe and ready
To diminish and deride!
You're so quick to condescend
My opinionated friend
All you deface all you defend
Is just a borderline
Just a borderline
Another borderline
Just a borderline

—Joni Mitchell, "Borderline" (from Turbulent Indigo, 1994)

Borderline - Joni Mitchell Cover

A little song improvised live at Acme Hall Music Studios in Brooklyn in the summer of 2021.

Parking Lot - Open Song #65

So I just turned 35. I am going to post a loop every day until I turn 36. And this is the first one. 

I'm singing through a condenser mic into a Boss RC-505 looper.  That's it.

For this excerpt, I was making things up as I went, building a groove first, then choosing a pop melody at random and singing it over. 

(This is an adaptation of a group exercise called "Mystery Band" from Rhiannon's wonderful book The Vocal River.)

Thanks for listening!

Coming in from the Cold (Mystery Cover)

When I was at California Brazil Camp in August, I got to study Northeastern percussion with a wonderful teacher, Cleber Almeida.

Cleber said to me: "The first name in Northeastern Brazilian music is Luiz Gonzaga. And there is no second name."

Obrigado Cleber, for showing us the right way to *sing* the triangle and zabumba parts to get the rhythmic feel in our bodies.

This rendition of Luiz Gonzaga's Assum Preto is for you.

Assum Preto (Luiz Gonzaga cover, for Cleber Almeida)

This one goes out to Tobin Ludwig on the eve of his bachelor party in the wilds of Colorado.

I'll arrive about 48 hours late -- but I will be ready to make up for lost time -- with plenty of beats and rhymes.


The Rappin' Room (for Tobin the bachelor)

The painter Vann Nath was arrested by the Khmer Rouge in 1978, and was one of only seven survivors of his prison camp. He later became a human rights activist who worked for justice for victims of the Cambodian genocide.

I learned about Vann Nath from his obituary in the New York Times, which I turned into a song, The Freezer, on my album The Afterneath (which you can hear at http://afterneath.org).

I have been deeply moved by Vann Nath's artworks, which depict the physical, moral and emotional damage worked on both victims and perpetrators.

You can learn more about Vann Nath and his legacy, and see his paintings and drawings, at http://www.vannnath.com/

Freedom for Vann Nath (1946-2011)

 This one goes out to Maynard Hill, who designed radio-controlled model airplanes all his life, but only succeeded in getting one across the Atlantic ocean when he was in his 80s. 

He was the inspiration for the song "The Little Airplane" on my album The Afterneath: 

Jascha Hoffman -- The Little Airplane 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXDHguHIJuk 

Fly on, Mr. Hill!

Flight for Maynard Hill (1926-2011)

The Swedish Chef has a right to sing the hits. Enough said.

Pumped Up Kicks (Swedish Chef covers Foster the People)

This little extemporaneous hymn is for Joan Hinton, who worked as a young physicist at Los Alamos, then moved to China, where she worked and lived on a farm for the rest of her life.

Her story is also the inspiration for "The Atom Bomb", a song from my album based on obituaries, The Afterneath:

http://www.afterneath.org/#/the-atom-bomb/

Here is the obituary that inspired the original song:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/12/science/12hinton.html

Peace for Joan Hinton (1921-2010)

In the future, we will all wear sound like perfume. So here is a "subtle personal mobile score" —of the Afro-Caribbean variety. 

Sources:  Sacred Afro-Caribbean music by the group Abbilona y Tambor Yoruba, including songs for the gods Eleggua, Oggun and Ochosi.

More on this 150th Disquiet Junto project — “Record a subtle personal mobile score” — at: http://disquiet.com/2014/11/13/disquiet0150-sonicperfume/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:
http://disquiet.com/junto

Join the Disquiet Junto at:
http://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

Disquiet Junto general discussion takes place at:
http://disquiet.com/forums/


Eau De Yoruba (disquiet0150-sonicperfume)

This song goes out to ... paper towels. You know who you are.

Paper Towels

Here's a classic of Northeastern Brazilian music, by the master songwriter and accordionist Luiz Gonzaga. 

It's about hard times, famine and drought — and the long-awaited return of a great white bird who will bring rain to the hinterlands.

Asa Branca (by Luiz Gonzaga )

This week I'll be posting some vulnerable solo renditions of my favorite Leonard Cohen ballads. Here's one of his deepest hymns.

"If It Be Your Will"
by Leonard Cohen

If it be your will
That I speak no more
And my voice be still
As it was before

I will speak no more
I shall abide until
I am spoken for
If it be your will

If it be your will
That a voice be true
From this broken hill
I will sing to you

From this broken hill
All your praises they shall ring
If it be your will
To let me sing

If it be your will
If there is a choice
Let the rivers fill
Let the hills rejoice

Let your mercy spill
On all these burning hearts in hell
If it be your will
To make us well

And draw us near
And bind us tight
All your children here
In their rags of light

In our rags of light
All dressed to kill
And end this night
If it be your will
If it be your will. 

If It Be Your Will (Leonard Cohen cover)

This is one of the most cryptic of Cohen's later ballads. It has a story-like feel, but the thread keeps twisting.

The Traitor
by Leonard Cohen

Now the Swan it floated on the English river 
Ah the Rose of High Romance it opened wide 
A sun tanned woman yearned me through the summer 
and the judges watched us from the other side 

I told my mother "Mother I must leave you 
preserve my room but do not shed a tear 
Should rumour of a shabby ending reach you 
it was half my fault and half the atmosphere" 

But the Rose I sickened with a scarlet fever 
and the Swan I tempted with a sense of shame 
She said at last I was her finest lover 
and if she withered I would be to blame 

The judges said you missed it by a fraction 
rise up and brace your troops for the attack 
Ah the dreamers ride against the men of action 
Oh see the men of action falling back 

But I lingered on her thighs a fatal moment 
I kissed her lips as though I thirsted still 
My falsity had stung me like a hornet 
The poison sank and it paralysed my will 

I could not move to warn all the younger soldiers 
that they had been deserted from above 
So on battlefields from here to Barcelona 
I'm listed with the enemies of love 

And long ago she said "I must be leaving, 
Ah but keep my body here to lie upon 
You can move it up and down and when I'm sleeping 
Run some wire through that Rose and wind the Swan" 

So daily I renew my idle duty 
I touch her here and there -- I know my place 
I kiss her open mouth and I praise her beauty 
and people call me traitor to my face.

The Traitor (Leonard Cohen cover)

At the close of his vocal workshop this summer, Bobby McFerrin told us: "Sing every day. Never give up."

I've drawn so much joy, wonder, technique and inspiration from your music, Bobby. I haven't given up. This song is for you. 

Image Credit: http://bobbymcferrin.com

Never Give Up (for Bobby McFerrin)

When Leo Sidran had me on his podcast, The Third Story, he asked me to sing a verse of "The Cat Came Back." 

Well here it is, Leo, just for you. With a little Tom Waits swagger.

The Third Story, with Leo Sidran
http://www.third-story.com/episodes/

The Cat Came Back (as sung by Tom Waits)

This hymn is for the healing of Christina Walker, 12, who was shot by her father this morning in Queens. 

May all the women and girls in this country be safe and secure tonight.

From the New York Times: 

"In the predawn darkness, Christina Walker, 12, lifted herself off her blood-soaked bedroom floor and went to the phone. Three generations of her family — her 7-year-old sister, her mother and her grandmother — lay nearby, fatally shot in the head by her father, the authorities said.

"Christina had been shot in the head, too. A bullet had exited near her eye. Her speech was muddled, her words a bit difficult to make out... But the girl pressed on, dialing 911 and even trudging downstairs to pull the door open for police officers.

"In a storm of violence in Queens early Saturday, Jonathon Walker killed his younger daughter, Kayla, along with the girls’ mother, Shantai Hale, 31, and Ms. Hale’s mother, Viola Warren, 62, the authorities said. Mr. Walker, 34, then drove to a desolate area six miles away, where he fatally shot himself.

"Christina, the only survivor, was taken to Long Island Jewish Medical Center, where she was in critical but stable condition..."

Hymn for the Healing of Christina Walker

This is one of my favorites songs from childhood. And of the longest. Singing a version here for my beloved niece Mirabelle. Spring is around the corner!

And the Green Grass Grew All Around (for Mirabelle)

A solo rendition o fThe Swimming Song by Loudon Wainwright III. To keep us warm through this long winter.

The Swimming Song (Loudon Wainwright cover)

Daylight is coming, and I'm about to head home for New York City. Here is a famous Jamaican folk song as sung by Harry Belafonte.

The Banana Boat Song (Harry Belafonte cover)

Mildred Quain was my grandmother's best friend. Today we buried her in Queens. She was a kind and gentle person who felt like family to me. Her daughters and friends feel her loss deeply. This song is for you, Mildred.

A Blessing For Mildred Quain

This is a lullaby for my baby niece Mirabelle.

It was recorded after a vocal improv session with Christopher and Diana.

Sweet dreams, Mirabelle!

Lullaby for Mirabelle [sss-lullaby]

Five Minutes of Freedom at [sss-fivemin]

A friend is missing in Berlin. Please help to bring her home. Thank you. With love to the whole family.

Bring Her Home

Yesterday I sang for children at a hospital. It made me stronger and more flexible as a musician, and maybe as a person.

The Children's Hospital (a story about singing)

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A fugitive who had been on the lam since walking away from a prison farm in 1959 won't fight his extradition back to Ohio after his arrest in Florida.

Authorities along Florida's Space Coast said Wednesday that 79-year-old Frank Freshwater had waived his right to formal extradition proceedings and won't resist efforts to return him to Ohio.

Freshwater was arrested Monday about a week after sheriff's deputies used a ruse to get his fingerprints, which matched those from his decades-old arrest. He was being held without bond at the Brevard County Jail.

He originally pleaded guilty to manslaughter back in 1957.

— by MIKE SCHNEIDER, May. 6, 2015



Back to the Farm (for Frank Freshwater)

An all-vocal cover of the 1930s jazz song "Willow Weep for Me" by Ann Ronell. The arrangement was improvised on a looper.

Willow Weep For Me (by Ann Ronnell)

At a recent party, we sang Songs in the Key of Life from top to bottom. Here's what I learned.

A Stevie Wonder Singalong Barbecue

Postcard for Laurie

Jascha Hoffman - The Weather - Shipwreck

Jascha Hoffman is a singer and songwriter living in Brooklyn. With a background in journalism, his concept-driven albums mine dark themes to produce subtle and bittersweet songs that span genres from indie folk to classic pop. Drawing comparisons to independent artists like Sufjan Stevens and Josh Ritter, as well as masters like Paul Simon and Leonard Cohen, critic Paul Zollo has praised his "beautiful gift for the telling detail, the small use of language that lets us see humans at their most human.”

Jascha Hoffman

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