"Ojo is shamanism” – T Bone Burnett 
"Vince Bell is a poet" - Townes Van Zandt
 
Vince Bell was on the ground floor of the Houston/Montrose music scene in the 70s, that produced some of the greatest artist of our time. He opened shows for Townes Van Zandt that grew into a friendship; Guy Clark, Nancy Griffiths, and the younger ranks like Lyle Lovett. A near-fatal accident, hit by a drunk driver, as he left the studio where he was recording his first album, sidelined Bell for 10+ years of recovery of broken bones and a brain injury.  Once he re-learned how to play the guitar, he continued to create.

Bell's songs have been performed and recorded by all these talents and both a ballet and musical have been set to his work. Along with five critically acclaimed CDs and a live performance DVD, he is the author of an autobiography, One Man’s Music: The Life and Times of Texas Songwriter Vince Bell and one-man performance piece, One Man’s Music: A Monologue with Song. Bell's recent work Ojo is an improv; Bell’s poetry realized by the notes of stellar avant garde, jazz, and Americana musicians. Ojo creates a dreamscape: bewitching the conscious and unconscious mind. “Vince Bell is a writer”, says producer Bob Neuwirth, who also produced Bell’s first record, “Phoenix.” Together with producers Dave Soldier (Soldier String Quartet, owner of Ojo’s Mulatta Records) and Patrick Derivaz (engineer) brought 40 years of Vince’s words and the vision of Ojo to life.  Ojo was recorded in three days New York City in an abandoned bank on Wall Street,  music and vocal harmonies set to poems, verses, words from Vince’s collection creating one performance piece.  They assembled a group of nine accomplished musicians from across the musical spectrum: Americana chanteuse Laura Cantrell, Flamenco master guitarist Pedro Cortes, SNL percussionist Valerie Dee Naranjo, jazz great Ratzo B. Harris on bass,  Rob Schwimmer on keyboards and continuum, composer Renaud-Gabriel Pion on piano and clarinet, flute maestro Robert Dick,  David Mansfield on strings and Satoshi Takeishi, drums and percussion.

Girl Rock Ltd