Alphabet Tree

08/10/2025, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel Osho, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Zenju Earthlyn Manuel Osho discusses the reality that a human body will turn to dust and yet it is the body in which we carry the dharma and come to know it. As Dogen Zenji, founder of Soto Zen, taught, "To expound the dharma with this body is foremost."

To Expound the Dharma with This Body

08/13/2025, Anshi Zachary Smith, dharma talk at City Center. Anshi Zachary Smith examines case 96 from the Blue Cliff Record which holds suggestions about how to frame one’s practice and warnings about the many ways we can get it wrong.

Three Turning Phrases

07/12/2025, Kiku Christina Lehnherr, dharma talk at City Center.
Kiku Christina Lehnherr explores the dharma of living and practicing in a human body.

This Human Body

08/17/2025, Doshin Dan Gudgel, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Doshin Dan Gudgel explores how feeling the preciousness of life can support deep practice, kindness and gentleness.

Lucky to Be Alive

08/06/2025, Kristin Diggs, dharma talk at City Center.
Nyokai Kristin Diggs talks about the centrality of self-study in the context of Soto Zen, the interdependent nature of body-mind-self and all phenomena, and wise view within the context of Big Mind, which includes the whole universe.

Study the Self

09/14/2025, Sokaku Kathie Fischer, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm.
Sokaku Kathie Fischer examines the Xin Xin Ming (Faith in Mind, or Trusting the Mind), a text by the third Chinese Chan (Zen) ancestor, Jianzhi Sengcan.

How Can We Not Pick and Choose?

10/19/2025, Jiryu Rutschman-Byler, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm.
Abbot Jiryu Rutschman-Byler reflects on the “Finding Yourself” chapter of “Becoming Yourself,” in which Suzuki Roshi teaches that finding real freedom is not about overcoming the limitations of our life, but rather embracing them: “To find true joy under some limitation is the way to realize the whole universe."

Freedom in Limitation

10/25/2025, Dainin Marsha Angus, dharma talk at City Center. Dainin Marsha Angus teaches about cultivating and mental and physical capacity to settle into stillness.

Cultivating Stillness in Turbulent Times

11/02/2025, Gyokuden Stephanie Blank, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm. Gyokuden Steph Blank honors the effort and awakening of our ancestors and calls on us—the living—to rise up in support of Decency, Dignity and Awakening.

Awakening Together is APT

11/16/2025, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel Osho, dharma talk at Green Gulch Farm.
Zenju Earthlyn Manuel Osho teaches that sometimes it is necessary to be for or against but there is a broader context in which this is not always necessary.

Arising in Unimaginable Awareness

Born Antonio Vitale in Pescara (located on the Italian East Coast), Jester served as the lead vocalist in the infamous underground rock-blues band “The Warm Morning 616″ since the very late nineties. In the meantime he started scrapping his own songs from scratch using only an acoustic guitar and his aged cassette multitrack. After WM616 disbanded in early 2003 struggling on the way to the completion of a still unreleased album -which is intended to be resumed one of these days- he then put his solo project on hiatus too, eventually starting it over in 2008. His debut solo album “Lo-fi, back to tape” (Twelve Records, 2009) came out from a careful selection of previous material archived in those early cassette tapes, the songs being basically left as they were recorded except for very sparse overdubs: “Skip James wouldn’t have been Skip James if he stood in front of a computer monitor”, Vitale later told “Lost Highways” webzine, talking about the making of his first record. The reactions were surprisingly good, with some highlights like “Uncut” magazine starring the album 3 out of 5. Vitale’s vocals are undoubtly the centerpiece of the record, getting their way through the bare instrumentation.
This simple formula went straight to the subsequent album: “Magellano” (Twelve Records, 2012) is named from the road where Antonio resides in his hometown, nearby the seaside and quite close to the town’s own port. A port which obviously smells like both salt and petrol, dust and sand, cigarettes and alcohol, where the many boats get their long-awaited rest after spending over the night going fishing: a perfect place to start from, but at the same time a place not providing so many good reasons to really come back. A trip over the sea is the concept of the whole album, which by the way is not from a strict perspective a concept album at all. The mood is sensibly darker than the previous effort, with some drums, bass and percussion here and there, slide guitars and even a mandolin, while still keeping the essential structure and arrangements, which together with Vitale’s guitar and his deep, baritonal yet cutting voice set his distinctive trademark. The songs have been often described as similar to paintings or sculptures, true operates of art.
Later on, a special limited handmade cassette tape -containing a series of both previously released and unreleased cover versions- has been exclusively released for the 2014 italian edition of the International Cassette Store Day. More music is on the way, though: a six-track EP is scheduled for a web release with the option of a limited vinyl printing in summer 2015 (possibly followed by a split single, and even an old refurbished side-project). Finally, a brand new album will eventually pop out in 2016.
Some gigs have been performed with a full band over the years, including the big and crowded “Magellano” release party in the unusual location of a clothes’ manufacturing plant. But these days Jester At Work is mainly a duo including another guitar player, or sometimes a pure solo performance. It’s the nature of the artist claiming this formula, which is granted to achieve lots of attention despite maybe lacking a little bit of “rock”.

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