Spark+Echo Arts: Music

Just something I cooked up for Christmas before going to bed. Goodnight.

Der Voghormya

"I'm Small" is from a song cycle, "Cities", personifying biblical cities. It is sung from the point of view of Bethlehem, specifically inspired by the passage in Micah 5:2, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

The bulk of this song was written a few years ago before my wife Emily and I had kids, imagining a small Bethlehem embracing this news, but it didn't come into focus until jamming with my then 20-month old Walter. I guess it takes playing with someone small to finish a song about smallness.

Jonathon Roberts: vocals, piano, drum programming 
Emily Clare Zempel: vocals
Ariana Rosen: violin
Kevin Gosa: soprano and alto saxophones, backing vocals
Meaghan Burke: cello, backing vocals
James Hall: Trombone, backing vocals
Walter Roberts: backing vocals

Music, lyrics, and production by Jonathon Roberts

Buy on Bandcamp

I'm Small

Actor and sound designer Matt Bittner presents an intriguing musical exploration of the meal Zacchaeus shared with Jesus, and the change it had upon his life. This work is in response to the theme of “meals” and was inspired by Luke 19:1-10 for Spark and Echo Arts' Bible Illumination Project.

ARTIST STATEMENT:
When I first began to think about this project, I was attempting to view modern day meal experiences through a biblical lens. For example, a question I asked myself early on: “How can I somehow extract the beauty of the gospel (or the trinity, or Love) through the picture of a shared meal?” Then I thought of a small portion of a sermon I had heard during Lent. The speaker, as part of a larger theme, briefly examined the significance of Jesus sharing meals with people. He spoke of the act not as some spiritual gesture (or as a physical gesture wherein the spiritual world was magically accessed) but as the real life, every day, human event of sitting down to talk and eat. That event is necessary. So, I imagine, because Jesus knew this, much of his time of uplifting, teaching, nurturing, and redeeming was spent sitting down to talk and eat with people. After all, when we eat, we truly rid ourselves of all pretense of being anything other than simple humans with needs. And only then (it seems) can we begin to practice the world-toppling exercise of seeing others as simple humans with needs too.
 
I then reinvested in the project with a different approach: to find a biblical example of a shared meal as it ought to be. Suddenly the story of Zaccheus, which I’d known seemingly forever, took on a new meaning. There is an embittered, unloved outcast working selfishly to fortify himself against a world of which he is so wholly terrified and with which he is so wholly angry. He hears tell of a man that selflessly gives himself to a world with which he is so wholly in love and by which he is so highly esteemed. The outcast pushes himself to his physical limits just to catch a glimpse of what it must be like to truly live in communion with others. When Jesus spots the lost soul alone in a tree, he calls him down. Not to offer a sermon, not to lay hands on him, but to ask if Zaccheus would like to experience true community through hosting a group of people and eating with them. (I understand that the text does not clearly state that food was part of the deal, but culturally it would have been implied.) Zaccheus finally experiences the wonderfully simple reality of communion. The result? He does not suddenly have friends thronging to his house. Nor does he begin to preach. He doesn’t even leave his home to follow Jesus as so many did at the time. He instead subverts a lifetime of fear with a brave leap into generosity. He begins a new life of love and community.
 
This is the story I hope to have captured with this song.

ARTIST BIO:
Matt Bittner is an actor and sound designer based out of Ridgewood, Queens. He has composed original music and designed sound for collegiate, regional, and NYC theatrical projects. He holds an MFA in acting from Rutgers University and his musical education comes primarily from church and participating in choral groups in school. He is currently performing in Much Ado About Nothing — the first of this year’s Free Shakespeare in the Park productions.

Fellowship, Food, and Redemption

Fellowship, Food, and Redemption - Matt Bittner

Banjo player Cameron DeWhitt joins us for a look at yeast in his new piece Leavener. The work is in response to the theme of “meals” and 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 for Spark and Echo Arts' Bible Illumination Project.

ARTIST STATEMENT:

Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch–as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
Recently I made the switch from commercial yeast (like, from the packet) to wild Philadelphia yeast. And boy, it’s sure made a big difference in my bread. I got my sourdough starter from my neighbors, who got theirs from a friend, so I like to think that all of our loaves and boules and baguettes are related.
I had a conversation with my good friend Jon Roberts about baking sourdough and maintaining a starter. Apparently some starters are very fragile; the yeast inside will die if they have any competition for the available sugars. He used to work at Sullivan Street bakery in Hell’s Kitchen, and when he’d try to bring home a lump of starter it would start producing acetic acid before he could use it. Once removed from its sheltered existence in one of America’s finest bakeries, it couldn’t handle the pressure of the real world, and allowed itself to be eaten up and turned to vinegar.
So, I’m proud to eat bread with the hearty and worldly yeasts of Kensington, Philadelphia. It’s yeast is like it’s people: determined to survive, willing to fight, and not deterred by a little pollution or systematic oppression. This is how the Kingdom of Heaven is spread. It’s a resilient culture, and it’s all around us, waiting to be fed.
If your culture is eating itself, and getting sour in all the wrong ways, throw it out, and start a new one. Maybe you need something a little less fragile, a little less pretentious. A culture that won’t disintegrate at the first sign of stress.  Chances are, you know someone who can help get you started.

Special thanks to Christian Guerrero for mixing this song. 

ARTIST BIO:

Cameron DeWhitt is an American clawhammer banjoist and songwriter born in Portland, Oregon. His live show is interactive, with sing-along sections, open discussions about song themes, and storytelling. His self-titled record is available on Bandcamp.

Cameron’s songs explore themes of love, death, marriage, judgment and forgiveness. His lyrics display a quick, profound wit, enriched throughout with weighty metaphors and literary cross-references. Through personal and biblical stories, he prompts the listener to contemplate the definition of love, the character of God, and the human struggle towards hope and redemption.

Cameron has developed a unique, melody-driven banjo style. While fluidly shifting modes and meters, he quotes popular melodies, improvises with other musicians, and makes musical jokes. His songs feature trumpet, string bass, drum set, complex vocal counterpoint and improvised solos.

Cameron lives with his wife, Rebecca, in the East Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, where he is a part of the Circle of Hope Community. He plays an Ome Jubilee banjo with a Moon bridge and a John Balch goat skin head.

Leavener

Leavener - Cameron DeWhitt

We are thrilled to welcome the band, Lowland Hum, to Spark and Echo Arts with a new song in response to the theme of poverty and 1 John 1:5; 2:4, 9-11 for Spark and Echo Arts' Bible Illumination Project.

ARTIST STATEMENT:

“The Father” was written on a day off during our first cross country tour. As we read through the scripture in 1 John, a few ideas struck and inspired us. The passage dramatically draws attention to the disparity between our identity as children of God and the way we treat one another. The subject that we were assigned by Spark and Echo was “poverty” and as we read the scripture we recognized our own poverty in a profound way. How can you say you love the father if you hate your brother who is made in His image? It is so easy for us to take a self-protective stance, putting others down, even if its just in our minds, to escape our own darkness and inadequacy. The story of this song is written in hopes of drawing attention to the lack inherent in our love for one another, especially in our families. At the end of the song, we hope to refocus on the freeing and glorious character of God, our only way toward wholeness. In the contrary way of Jesus, we aim to tear our eyes from our inadequacy and to dwell on His goodness and overabundance. In this act we are on the path toward healing, change and we are given the strength to love. In our poverty, He is rich.

ARTIST BIO:

Lowland Hum is Daniel Levi and Lauren (Plank) Goans. Hailing from Greensboro, North Carolina, the duo met in 2010. They married in 2012 and spent their first year of marriage touring the East Coast. During this time they began writing the songs that would become their first album, Native Air.

Since releasing Native Air in August 2013, Lowland Hum has performed for 70 audiences in 13 states. Combining Daniel’s musicianship and Lauren’s inclinations in visual art, Lowland Hum’s shows are a multi-sensory experience, engaging sight, sound, smell, and touch–inviting listeners to be fully present and reducing the space between artist and listener. During performances, Lowland Hum readily shares the stories behind their songs and invites listeners to offer real-time reflections.

Lowland Hum tours full time, playing house shows, listening rooms, colleges and universities, and other spaces conducive to an intimate listening experience.

The Father

The Father - Lowland Hum

Musician Aaron Kruziki brings us this beautiful and intricate song in response to the theme of “lies” and Ephesians 4:25 for Spark and Echo Arts' Bible Illumination Project.

ARTIST STATEMENT:

“When We Lie” is a piece based on Ephesians 4:25: “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.” Because we are all part of one body, we are part of one another. Humans are all part of a collective consciousness that bends and folds, opens and closes, much the same as a lotus flower. As a lotus flower opens at dawn, it’s neighbor  opens as well. At dusk, when the flower starts to close, it’s neighbor follows suit. Much in this manner,  humans open and close, often simultaneously with our neighbors, friends, lovers and strangers. When we close off, we don’t see others closing, and often assume we’re the only ones that are closing. This closing is the lie. This lie, whether it comes from family, friends, or ourselves, is this act of closing. We  are dishonest and go about our lives in a state of denial, making these lies sound true and be true. With  this new false-truth, we start to close, often not realizing how the lie affects those around us. When we  face the righteous truth within us, we start to open, and often find others open around us. Like the lotus flower opening with the sun and closing with the moon, we are all connected. The lies we tell neighbors and ourselves connect us, just as the inner-truth connects us. We have to make a choice: to choose the inner truth or the false-truth. We make the choice to either face our demons or to avoid them.

ARTIST BIO:

Wisconsin born and bred, Aaron Kruziki is a dynamic musician and composer, educator and producer.  Residing in New York City, Aaron’s training in jazz and classical music, his inherent ability to find good in all music (from David Bowie to American Barbershop), and his belief that every person may reinvent themselves to find happiness, sustains his artistic output.  As a saxophonist and clarinetist, Aaron has received consecutive degrees in Jazz Studies from the New England Conservatory and Western Michigan University, studying with George Garzone and Trent Kynaston respectively.  Aaron has received grants that include the Emerging Artist Grant from the Greater Kalamazoo Art’s Council, and in 2012, was commissioned by the Chelsea Music Festival to compose music based on John Cage’s “Lectures on Nothing”.  Aaron frequently performs with Andy Milne’s “Dapp Theory”, and is an active member of the Brooklyn D.I.Y. scene.  His voice moves fluidly from woodwinds to synths and vocals, performing in genres ranging from avant-pop to education reform rock and jazz.  Aaron has had the honor to perform at major music festivals in Canada, Europe, Africa and America.  In his spare time, Aaron likes to garden and practice yoga.

When We Lie

When We Lie - Aaron Kruziki

Acclaimed singer/songwriter Mara Measor explores the theme of dancing in 1 Chronicles 15, a section that describes the bringing of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Through my songs, I seek to gently transport people from where they are to where they might not have been before. Places of introspection, provocation, memory; places accessible only through melodies.

ARTIST BIO

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Mara Measor is half-British and half-Chinese but you wouldn’t guess it when you hear her. After high-school she spent a year working and singing in Ethiopia and now performs as an indie singer-songwriter in NYC.

She was featured as “One to Watch” in Audrey Magazine, and her bilingual song “I want to Love You” recorded live on a Hong Kong TV Channel RTHK was shortly selected as a Best of the Year performance in 2012. She has played in NYC venues including Joe’s Pub, the Bitter End, Caffe Vivaldi and the Museum of Chinese in America. She has also sang in Shanghai and South Korea.

Mara graduated with an acting degree from NYU Tisch. She has appeared on TV (Blue Bloods, CBS), off-Broadway shows and starred in numerous independent films.

She is currently a recording artist at Good Mood Records, where she works in collaboration with Emmy-Award winning producer and composer Jamie Lawrence. Her debut album “Mara” was released August 2013. www.marameasor.com

You Saw Me

You Saw Me - Mara Measor

By Kelley McRae In response to Psalm 93 for Spark and Echo Arts' Bible Illumination Project. 

Artist Statement:
I really love the language in Psalm 93 that 'the seas have lifted up their voice.’  And it's clear from the different translations that it's a raging sea. It’s a storm. 

The song obviously works in metaphor and (I hope) can be interpreted in different ways. But I mainly had in mind the storms we bring on ourselves and on our children. By what we have done and by what we have left undone. It's hard to see how we might find mercy for the destruction we cause. This song comes out of that struggle.

Photo Credit: Darin Back

RISING

The water's rising.
We don't have a choice.
The seas have lifted.
Lifted up their voice.

And it doesn't matter if you believe
That the punishment doesn't fit the crime.
Cause the sad sorry truth, that no one would choose
Is that our children will be doing the time.
Our children will be doing the time.

The waves are breaking.
Breaking on our shores.
The floods are rising.
Rising to our doors. 

CHORUS

Is there mercy enough for us?
I stand at the scene of the crime.
Is there mercy enough for us?
My children will be doing the time.
My children will be doing the time.
My children will be doing the time.

The water's rising.
We don't have a choice.
The seas have lifted.
Lifted up their voice.

Rising

Rising - Kelley McRae

Spark and Echo Arts 2013 Resident Artist Emily Ruth Hazel’s poem in response to the theme of Fools as explored through her experiences in Ghana. The poem is in response to:

Proverbs 1:8–9
Proverbs 10:14, 10:21
Proverbs 17:12, 17:28
Proverbs 19:13
Proverbs 29:20
Ecclesiastes 10:12

Learn more and read the text at:
http://www.sparkandecho.org/circling-the-waist-of-wisdom_emily-ruth-hazel/

Emily Ruth Hazel is a New York City-based poet and writer whose work
wrestles with themes of relationship and faith. As a believer in poetry that feels accessible and lived-in, she aims to capture the beauty, hope, and humor that can be found in everyday experiences.

From the Artist: 
Throughout the book of Proverbs, the foolish and the wise are defined by their contrast with each other—so writing about foolishness naturally led me to explore the tandem theme of wisdom. Proverbs are also an essential part of the rich oral tradition of African cultures. As the meanings almost always hinge on metaphors, proverbs lend themselves to poetic play and reinterpretation. As I learned from African friends in college—both in the United States and in Ghana and South Africa—there is a sense of humor that translates through many African proverbs as
well. (One of my personal favorites is, “A leopard is chasing us, and you are asking me, ‘Is it a male or a female?’”)
I was interested in creating a poem in which biblical and African proverbs could be in conversation with each other. Framing the poem partly around my own experiences as an American traveling in Ghana, I incorporated eight biblical proverbs, five common African proverbs, and eleven specifically Ghanaian proverbs—a bicultural exploration that deepened my appreciation for the universality of wisdom.

Notes on the Poem (Specific to Ghanaian Culture)
Asantehene: the highest traditional ruler of the Asante people of Ghana
Baobab: African tree with an extremely wide trunk—a symbol of wisdom
Batik: commonly worn fabric, dyed using a wax-resist method to create patterns
Cedis: Ghanaian currency
Harmattan: dry season during which the wind blows dust from the desert
Kente: traditional hand-woven cloth featuring bright colors and designs
Legon: suburb of Accra, the capital city of Ghana
Tro-tro: mode of public transportation—a van that operates similar to a bus

for Spark and Echo Arts

Circling the Waist of Wisdom - Emily Ruth Hazel

Division
80bpm
Piano, Basses, Cellos, Flutes, Clarinets, Oboes, English Horn, Percussion

This is an awesome theme tune. For ANYthing. You got a dark comedy about an inept biologist? This will work. A gritty fantasy dealing with fairy politics? A sci-fi dystopian future where everyone likes sardines? A reality show about bicycle thieves? A  slice-of-life serial about growing up in the Upper Peninsula? Seriously. Anything.

Division

Video available here: https://vimeo.com/206977800

For more information on this track, please visit: http://sleepfacingwest.com/sleepfacingwest/2017/3/7/gl022-seldom-spoken

This track was created for game and animation use. Though it's available for download here, I've posted it mainly for review purposes. There are high quality files with additional sections available on my site. (The review track here doesn't offer stinger endings, separated stems, etc.) If you would like to use this track or commission new work visit me at www.SleepFacingWest.com or contact SleepFacingWest@gmail.com

Game Loops

GL022 Seldom Spoken

A Prayer of Examen

Comedian Paul Schissler explores the unseen side of the comedian's life in response to Ecclesiastes 4:13-16 for Spark and Echo Arts' Bible Illumination project.

ARTIST STATEMENT
There's a side to comedy that the audience doesn't see. A side that's not filled with laughter. So often people question what it's like being a comedian-- how hard it is, what's the motivation, what's the goal? You work obsessively on something that results in mostly failures, setbacks and self-doubts. It's incredibly lucky to "make it" in comedy, and often feels futile. Like chasing the wind. This bedtime story is an honest look at the rollercoaster feelings inside a comedian-- hope, determination, joy, self-doubt, hopelessness.

ARTIST BIO:
Paul Schissler is a NYC comedian and co-founder of Comedywire.com. Paul's been part of the NY Comedy Festival and seen on The Steve Harvey.

A Comedian's Bedtime Story

A Comedian's Bedtime Story - Paul Schissler

Letting the text 'speak' to directly inspire his creative process, composer and musician Ezra Haugabrooks​ wrote, performed, and recorded this song in response to Joel 2:1-11 for Spark+Echo Arts Bible Illumination Project.

Read about his artistic process at: sparkandecho.org/illumination/joel_ezra-haugabrooks

Joel

Joel - Ezra Haugabrooks

BattleBlock Theater Music- Boss Stage

Spark and Echo Arts is creating or commissioning a work of art, music, theatre, poetry, dance, or film in response to every verse of the Bible.

Jonathon Roberts is a composer for games, film, theatre, and ensembles. He created the popular podcast/web series ComposerDad vs. Bible, in which ComposerDad accepts intense compositional challenges from mysterious Bible, while out with kids. He founded the long-standing NYC arts nonprofit Spark and Echo Arts. From Wisconsin, living in Beacon, NY, he used to write music for slot machines, tour the country in an RV as the Apostle Paul, and play in an absurdist comedy band. With his wife, actor Emily Clare Zempel, he collaborates on music and theater projects. He currently is on staff as an audio engineer for scripted podcasts at Gimlet/Spotify.

I'm Small

Jonathon Roberts

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