One of the first of my works to sound like merry-go-round music. Still, there you have it. Hope you like it!!!

Snow In The Fields

Inspired on this one by all the great jazz trumpters of the past, like Bix Biederderdecke and Louis Armstrong.

Fairy Tale Existence

British Invasion

Another of my earlier works. Please forgive the naivetee!!!

Don't Rain On My Parade

Outer Reaches Of Space

An earlier piece. As an artist who started off on the piano, I wanted to create something truly monumental but strictly for the piano.

American ("the Stuttering") Sonata

An earlier piece of my mine - c. 2010. Inspired by a love of the great jazz trumpeters and cornetists like Bix Biederbecke.

Rollerball-2

Garden Of Earthly Delights

This album contains the best of the music I've managed to create and produce totally on my own. at least in the opinion of this humble artist himself. as such I hope it will withstand the test of time. But, there's never any guarantee of anything in this life. all that anybody can do is to do his best.

Rollerball

One of my earliest compositions, c. 2003.

Home For The Holidays

The "Haunted Presence", or RJ Nelson, his real name, is a pianist/keyboardist/composer/songwriter with over 30 years of experience. He started off at age 10, being privately tutored on the piano by various  musicians who taught him how to read and play music. Although American, RJ Nelson grew up abroad, his father being in the petroleum industry. He has lived ten years abroad in North Africa (Tripoli, Libya) - as a child I played upon the ruins of Sabratha and Leptis Magna, no joke - , Holland (The Hague), London, and Norway (Stavanger), where he attended american schools in all of these places. as a child, RJ Nelson actively strove both to engage with the culture around him and absorb as much of it as possible. 30+ years later, and RJ Nelson found himself wishing to contribute what little he could to it. Thus, while all of his works are original (in the sense of never having been written or composed before), they are also traditional (in the sense of having developed as a result of much study of the past and immersion in foreign cultures - mainly European).

RJ Nelson holds a B.a. in Historical Studies and an M.S. in accounting from the University of Texas. He does not hold a degree in Music, but intends to study Music Theory from the University of North Texas in the future. He will be taking these courses as electives and hopes what he has produced and generously shared for free on this website will indicate not only an interest but an ability in this field. He desires to earn a. M.a. in History there and teach part-time at a community college in some small college town somewhere in Texas or the West of the U.S. These are his ambitions and dreams for the future, but he feels that they are also within his reach and within the realm of possibility. He realises the challenges ahead, but also realises that nothing in life is free but must be earned. and he hopes to some day be given the opportunity to earn it.

One other thing. It is RJ Nelson's personal opinion that too much of today's popular music is dominated by vocal artists. Even though RJ Nelson cannot sing worth a damn (neither can he mix or master, for that matter), he swears that he is not jealous of those who can. (Well, maybe just a little bit). In any case, he wonders why so much of the music of today has to be "carried" by the singer, when for most of music's history. it was the instrumentalist who ruled. In any case, he just wishes you to ponder this thought. If you do not agree with him, then, as he always likes to say - "Suit yourself".

Today, RJ Nelson enjoys volunteering a couple of hours a week at his local library, attending his local Catholic Church (he is part Polish after all), attending weekly Bible Study, contributing writings to a local Writers' Group, and lifting weights at his local gymnasium. He believes that the "best" life is one that is fully balanced. For this reason, he also enjoys the occasional party - where anything, and everything, "goes".