Jam Band

Bishop Berkeley was this dude in Ireland that came up with Solipsism, which is complete junk unfalsifiable philosophy that claims everything just exists in your own mind.  He experimented with Pine Tar a lot and died of paralytic stroke, likely due to ingesting the Pine Tar (my guess).  What's funny is when he died, we kept existing, so we must not have been a figment of his mind.  Multi-layer improvisation (improvised train of thought lyrics), harmonica, old Yamaha keyboard, shaker egg, clay whistle.

Here is the lyric video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7lN7L_b2Yc&list=PLvy_KXTNqcQeCK6_NNdtkBSxG_oWeuYEb&index=7

Bishop Berkeley Died

This song is about camping and worrying about gas prices.  The lyrics are completely improvised, and I added in some weird cat noises.  Multi-layer improvisation with Yamaha keyboard, guitar, and vocals through an echo pedal.

Gas Prices

Multi-layer improvised song with me playing my old Yamaha keyboard, and me singing multiple voice parts (lead and backup).  Let me also say that the lyrics were COMPLETELY improvised.  I was cooking some chicken in my old apartment in Williamsburg, VA.

I Cook My Chicken

I love the organ melody progression in this song at the beginning.  This is number 5 in my "Nullanon" series which is depression stuff, mixed with some funk organ.  The lyrics for this song is mostly about accepting what happened already and moving forward (stoic philosophy).

LYRICS:
Everything that was is now undone.
Every time we lost, we thought we won.
Everywhere we went is just a memory that fades,
Everything we said was just a promise that we'd made,
And now those promises are broken.
It took us way too long to figure out.
We didn't seem to start,
When we did, we never carried through.
We had a chance, but didn't try.
Pick up our mess, and collect ourselves,
Gather some hope, move forward again.
Rusted old tools in the dust on the shelf,
Moments before it's the end.
Might as well give it our all,
Nothing to lose,
One final attempt.
Maybe we're spent,
But that's how it went.
Might as well give it our all,
Nothing to lose.
One final attempt.
Maybe we're spent,
But that's how it went.

That's How It Went

This is number 6 in my "Nullanon" series, which is about a depression period in my life.  Trying to figure out if there is still motivation to do things, or to just become a drone.

LYRICS:
Where did it go?
Why did it go?
Are we to know?
Is it still here?
Nothing is here.
Nothing is still here.
Where did it go?
Why did it go?
Are we to know?
Is it still here?
Nothing is here.
Nothing is still here.
Nothing is here.
Nothing is still here.
Nothing is here.
Nothing is still here.

Nothing Is Still Here

Acid jazz with some quality syncopation between the bass guitar and keys.  This is a tribute song to my old band - this is the kind of stuff we used to play in Williamsburg, VA.  I'd normally switch between playing alto sax or Akai EWI4000s, or my old Yamaha keyboard.

Burned Down Ordinary

sitar killer

Existential  Pop...written 2020 during Covid Lockdowns

"I only want to be"...the wish of everyone and everything .....in this absurd universe  life is still precious... sometimes it helps to forget the questions and answers and just enjoy the ride while it lasts...

(intro sound clip is the lovely Geena Davis from David Cronenberg's The Fly)

The Chosen One 

That luncheon lady she's so Ubermensch preachy   
Always quoting Herr Friedrich Nietzsche   
Thus spake this and thus spake that 
 I'm kind of fearful of her nihilistic moan                                                                        
I'm a soon to be victim of her deinfestation
A subject not wanted in a hundred nations
Passport check, I'm a fly, a dust speck
I was born into this hostile home

I just want to roam                                                    
I only want to be                                                        
Escape this shell, the world is wide                     
All these ruminations ruining me                            
I just want to sail                                                       
Through the sand and sun                                       
Asking too many questions                                     
I don't know the answers                                          
I thought I was the chosen one                                 
The chosen one                                                           

That lady's talking to walls, she got an outsider view
She's been writing, she been reading some Celine and Camus
Debating this, disregarding that
In our unholy, existential zone

I'm an insect man buzzed on hope and glory
Fablizing, fairytaling all of these stories 
With Kafka creep and doublespeak 
It's untranslatable, my twisted tone

I just want to roam
I only want to be
Escape that swatter splat
My world is flat
Got a wordy woman chasing me
I just want to bail
Out  the window and run
Asking too many questions 
I don't know the answers
I thought I was the chosen one
The chosen one

She said Don't try                         
This is a NO FLY zone                
God is dead                                
Your life is mine, time to recall the loan 
She said Don't fly                         
This is a NO TRY zone               
God is Dead, like Nietzsche said, time to disconnect yer phone 









The Chosen One

In collaboration with Francess Harris. She played the piano composition and I did the composition of the orchestral arrangement. Thank you for listening and enjoy. Any comment is appreciated always.

Collaboration Timothy McGuire / Francess Harris

Twilight Serenade

Twilight Serenade (feat. Fr. Harris)

My dear friend and brilliant composer, Frank Mehl,  gave it the title "Elegy", because of its serious and mournful reflection of loss... not just loss of life but of any loss.  The opening of the piece is mournful with a sense of impending doom, but in the end I added a very hopeful melody of deep feelings and gratitude.  A full circle of life.  Thank you for listening!
Jennifer L. Jones
Music Dreams Productions
July 2025

Elegy

miss begotten notions packing her knapsack for a lark of a weekend in the countryside

miss begotten notions (cover art by my friend Lyndsay Kelly) ❤️

A song i wrote and asked #SarahParadise-Brown to record , to my joy she agreed and re-wrote the melody , adding strings  and she has given the song a new feel and direction . I am amazed !! 
Sarah's voice is a JEWEL and i am so pleased with what she has done to give the song new melodies, harmonies and strings . I actually said to her 'you've made it your own' :-)
            Thank you so much Sarah . Peace . :-)
lyric >
Saw a photograph of you
smiling like you used to
you'll sail the waters
and reach the other side
still smiling .
got a feeling deep for you
something no one else can feel
i'll wait for sunrise
to shed a little light on things

all you need now
is a hand to hold
all you need now
is a friend
is a friend ..

Got a feeling you could be
all i'll ever need to see
the sun on the waters
chasing the screams
that taint my dreams

got a feeling deep for you
something no one else can feel
i'll wait for sunrise
to shed a little light on things

all you need now
is a hand to hold
all you need now
is a friend
is a friend ..

instrumental ..

i saw a photograph of you
smiling like you used to
you'll sail the waters
and reach the other side
still smiling .
got a feeling deep for you
something no one else can steal
i'll wait for sunrise
to shed a little light on things

all i need right now  
is a hand to hold
all i need now  
is a friend
is a friend
all i need now is a friend
photo by Lady Maple Leaf 2025

Friend

This song is a new one written this year and it's about how we've all become Broken Mirrors in some way. All of us, we were a loving people, not a cruel people, we were a caring people, not a hateful people, we were a hard working and strong people but also a very fragile people and I feel we've become a little bit more shattered in recent years. Our beliefs and hopes have diminished somewhat and this song reflects that broken mirror in us all. It's harder and harder to stay positive in this crazy hateful world today. I sang this one since Charlie was not available. I think the mix was too loud but I'm having problems with my computer and couldn't adjust the sound in my film editor like I usually do. 

VIDEO - https://youtu.be/CUpzZLL-xJc

I worked hard on the video and tried to follow the lyrics as close as possible. It will drop on August 1st on YouTube. It's about our lack of empathy as of late and this constant hatred for other people that I now sense in this great country of ours!.  So I asked myself, how did we get here? When a country starts depriving its citizens of basic needs like healthcare and not helping our senior citizens and ignoring the less fortunate among us and stop assistance for veterans (like me) that risked our lives for this country, then we're on a road to destruction and our government has failed us.  All I can do is write songs, so songs I shall write. I still believe in love, love is always the answer!  Take care & God bless!🙏😎✌🏼

“BROKEN MIRRORS"

WE LIVE INSIDE OUR CASTLES,
WE HIDE BEHIND OUR WALLS,
WARM AND SECURE, NEVER ENDURE,  
HARDSHIPS THAT BEFALL,             
THE CRESTFALLEN AMONG US,
THE ONES THAT WE IGNORE,      

PRETEND THEY DON’T EXIST,
PERHAPS THEY’LL MELT AWAY, 
THEY’LL DISAPPEAR, ALONG WITH FEARS, 
WE MAY BE THEM ONE DAY,
THEY REALLY NEVER MATTERED,
THE WRETCHED WE DEPLORE, 

BROKEN MIRRORS, BROKEN MINDS,
SOMETIMES WE CHOOSE TO BE BLIND,
CONVINCE OURSELVES, WE’RE MILES ABOVE,  
THOSE THAT BEG AND CRAWL,
 BROKEN MIRROR ALWAYS REFLECT, 
 WHAT’S BROKEN IN US ALL,

MAN IS A STRANGE CREATURE,
SO CRUEL BUT YET SO KIND, 
OUR TAPESTRY IS OUR ARTISTRY,
OUR HEART SOMETIMES SUBLIME,    
YET SOME HAVE A DARKER SIDE,
THEY LURK BEHIND SATAN'S DOOR,  

     BROKEN MIRRORS, BROKEN MINDS,
     SOMETIMES WE CHOOSE TO BE BLIND,
     CONVINCE OURSELVES, WE’RE MILES ABOVE,  
     THOSE THAT BEG AND CRAWL,
     BROKEN MIRROR ALWAYS REFLECT, 
     WHAT’S BROKEN IN US ALL.

 BY JIM VALDES © 2025

"BROKEN MIRRORS" (Video - https://youtu.be/CUpzZLL-xJc)

31-7-2025 - classic rock

"New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings." - Lao Tzu

"It's strange, but true, that the most important turning points of life often come at the most unexpected times and in the most unexpected ways." - Napoleon Hill

A weekend improvisation, dedicated to the turning points in our lives that often show up unexpectedly, after heavy, difficult times.  As you listen to this piece, you will hear the "turning point" emerge in the music around the 3:22 mark.

A companion piece to "Starting Again."

The Turning Point

This was a bit of a personal struggle. As a beginner cellist (1.5 years into playing) I decided to push the boundaries and perform the cello part of my piece myself. After many takes, a bit of post-processing and a lot of self-doubt this is the final result.
It‘s probably the most vulnerable piece of music I‘ve ever released and it was quite hard to let it go. So may it serve you well as consolation in times you need it and be shared among those who might need it.

The Wound That Time Won't Heal

For reasons unknown but time will tell...
Multi-instrumentalist, all types of music, all types of methods.
Occasional collaborations with other artists.
Sometimes I post the sheet music if it's piano.
Lately, my favorite instrument is a TE OP-1 Field keyboard.

Burned Down Ordinary

NOSTRUMUVA

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