雲は流れる

Hello my friends, this is my new track....I hope you like it
free download

Fantastic World

'Double Down' A light Latin/Bossa feel featuring my good friend Andy Grossart on Bass. Also sharing composition.

Walking the Straight and Narrow

Double Down

Double Down ( Feat. Andy Grossart)

Music by Nick Rangel
From the album - Keep It Real
©Nick Rangel 2023

Balancing Point

A Portuguese Cyrano, how would he be?

I have an older version (not published here in SoundCloud) with a faster tempo. Here I tried to slow it down to see if it still works.


Nascido para vencer,
senhor do meu nariz.
Mas tu podes crer:
Nunca serei nada neste país
à beira-mar plantado.
Já não escapo do meu fado.
Só me resta ser feliz.

E as melodias, e os sonhos desta arte
seguem-nos,
seguem-nos por toda a parte.
E ao partirmos com as lembranças,
com o talento, com a esperança e o sentimento
de uma nova madrugada,
é um novo dia, cheio de versos, de poesia,
e a suave companhia de umas tágides anafadas.
E as doces brisas, e os furacões da sorte
levam-nos
levam-nos para além da morte.

Porque a vida eterna é esta:
Que te conheçam a ti só
por único Deus verdadeiro
e a teu filho, a quem enviaste.

E, ao repousar na terra,
os corpos unem-se às raízes
e as vidas áridas e estéreis
crescem lindas e felizes.

Nascido para vencer, senhor deste país.
Mas tu podes crer: Nunca serei dono do meu nariz
na face mal plantado.
Já não escapo do meu fado.
Só me resta ser feliz.

Nascido Para Vencer (2024)

Words and music By Roger Whittlesey. Saxophone arrangement by Georg Boehme. Boehme plays soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxes. He also plays the bass clarinet. Noel Barrett plays the bass guitar. All other sounds by Whittlesey. © 2024.

Dear Reader, 

In Shakespeare's play "Hamlet," Ophelia drowns herself in what is a terrible and tragic scene late in the play. 

The idea for this song came when I recognized that the grief of loss, missed opportunities, and mistakes compound as we age, and they don't leave us. Instead, these emotions seem to haunt us—often surprising us when we least expect it. And so, these feelings are akin to the tragic drowning of Ophelia, except that they seem to happen again and again—hence the title of the song. 

Georg Boehme, a brilliant arranger, composer, and horns player from Cologne, Germany, joined me on this piece. I sent Georg the basic tracks and gave him no instructions. He knows what to do, and he always exceeds my expectations. His playing on this piece is amazing. As you get to know Georg's music, you will begin to see that he has a unique style, and it shines through in all that he plays. Thank you, Georg, for lending me your immense creative talents. 

Last week, I sent what I believed was the finished version of this song to Noel Barrett, an outstanding bass player from Cork City, Ireland. I knew he would dig the work that Georg did on the track. And he did. Without any prompting, he replaced the bass part that I laid down—and improved the tune tenfold in the process. Noel has rock-solid time and brings a melodic sensibility to everything he plays on the bass. It is a great pleasure and honor to have him guesting on this song. 

Finally, I thank you, my devoted listeners, for your comments and for your repeated returns to my channel. 

I have much more music to write. This is only the beginning of the journey. 

Highest Regards, 

Roger Whittlesey
July 9, 2024

Ophelia Drowns Again

DRUMAX No. 51 // SOULFUL VIBES // Let the soulful vibrations carry you ...
@docfritz // Composition, Arrangement, Soundscapes, Rhythm Design, Congas, Artwork, Mix & Production
@joerxworx // Tenor Saxophone
© 2024 | DRUMAX PROJECT | All Rights Reserved

DRUMAX No. 51 // SOULFUL VIBES

He dreamed of writing the great American novel
But when he tried to write his wheels just spun and spun
So he started doing book reviews to pay the bills
He became the literary equivalent of Atilla the Hun
Brutally criticizing, trying to find things to hate
He became a critic because his work was second rate
It takes years of work to write hundreds of pages
Each author thinks they’ve written a book for the ages
He skims though each manuscript in less than ten minutes
Reviews don’t pay that much so he has to set time limits
He pushed himself to the limit, day after day
100 pages per hour going down motorway
Words, words, words, words, words, words
Words rebel – stretch and widen
they hide between the lines
they crowd, they crowd, they become too vague
darken him, irritate him, push him - out of the margin,
The words all swirl together and he mutters to himself
He sits at his desk for hours. It’s not good for his health
He says if you don’t like my reviews, you can tell me to go to hell
To hell, to hell, you can tell me to go to hell
Sometimes if a good book made him jealous and it got under his skin
He’d write a bad review, try to send it to the discount bin
And every day his reviews grew more and more over the top
Like a shark in bloody water, he was unable to stop
And then one day he was overrun by a train of syllables going counterclockwise
And question marks appeared as the words blurred before his eyes
The words on the page now felt empty
He’d expended all his rage
The meaning of words was inverted
He was trapped in a hopeless cage
He viciously pointed out the flaws
Of all his contemporary peers
He burned his bridges and when he fell
his victims erupted in cheers
Words, words, words, words, words, words
Words rebel – stretch and widen
He said if you don’t like my reviews, 
you can tell me to go to hell
Now he works as a door to door vacuum cleaner salesman and that’s not going well
To hell, to hell, he told them to go to hell
He saw the trainwreck coming but he ignored the warning bell

The Ballad Of The (former) Literary Critic [lyrical collaboration with Michele Ansani]

'facetious feces'

Insecure.
Sins a blur
when you're livin'
in the fast lane.
Feel no pain,
until you come 
crashing down.
Lasting frowns
seem to stick around 
endlessly. 
No retreat,
until you get
high again.
Bliss.
Heaven.
The cycle it
never ends.
Repeat. 
Repent.
Be careful or
you'll be dead.
Catchin' zeds,
stuck in a bed 
permanently. 
Germinate seeds
of love within yourself. 

Crashing down.
Masking frowns
until I get high again.
Will it end?
Or is this just life?

facetious feces

Copyright 2024 Joe Stroffolino

There’s day’s when you’re going through life
 And you’ve just gotta put a fake smile on your face
And go through the motions 
and pretend that everything is okay
People ask you how you’re doing 
you tell them
Hey I’m doing great
Even though
that’s not what you really want to say
There’s days when you wish that it was Halloween
So you could walk around looking like someone really mean
There’s days when you feel like you’re grasping for straws
You look at your hands and you wish you had claws
You’ve been walking around with a stiff upper lip
Trying not to let the mask slip
You’re going through life, trying to understand
Is this part of some master plan
You’ve been waiting for so long to strike when the iron’s hot
But lately you’re starting to feel like some kind of creature that time forgot

There’ve days when you just want to stay in bed  all day and watch TV
And eat lots of popcorn and potato chips
There’s days when you go to a fast food restaurant 
And they make you they make you pick up your food and and clean up the mess and you wonder why they ask you for tips
And there’s days when you realize that your milk’s past it’s expiration date 
But you drink it anyway, it’s the closest think you ever do to tempting fate
And there’s days when you’ve been sitting in your cubicle for way to long
And you wish you could stand up and sing a loud a rock and roll song.
You’re walking around all day and on your shoulder’s a really big chip.
You go through your day desperately trying to maintain your grip
You spent your entire life living in a self imposed cage
You kept your feeling bottled up, you never let out any rage
You’ve been walking around with a stiff upper lip
Trying not to let the mask slip
You’re going through life, trying to understand
Is this all part of some master plan
you’ve been waiting for so long to strike when the iron’s hot
But lately you’re starting to feel like some kind of creature that time forgot
Grasping for straws stumbling around sleep walking your way through life
Trying not to make any ripples , trying not to cause any strife
Sometimes you’ve just gotta do what’s right for you

Grasping For Straws

Many thanks to Eddie Harrison for his work on this new love song. Eddie gave it that 60's feel that I love.  (BMI)

Do You Know (Lyrics by Tony Harris - Featuring Eddie Harrison) Original

Songs with a twinge of humor (and some a bit more serious).  
I do not use AI to create my songs. 
Recently I have had the urge to pick up my guitars (Taylor 114ce and Fender Squire) and I have been trying to use more guitar in my songs.  
My go to .vst plug ins are  EZkeys 2, EZ Bass and  EZ drummer 3) and my DAW is Logic Pro 11. 
I welcome your comments and enjoy listening to all the great music on SoundCloud. 
All songs are originals and copyrighted.