The whole trip was energizing and relaxing at the same time.  We learned about the history of Sedona and the vortexes from a local Native American as well as a yoga instructor.  We also discovered some local wineries and did some wine tasting. We took a trip up to the historic town of Jerome that is now an artist's haven and admired the abundance of unique art in the shops and galleries there. Most importantly, I was able to decompress from my regularly hectic life and take some time to reflect on where I have been and contemplate where I am headed.  

We also experienced a lot of synchronicity while we were there - as always seems to happen when I slow down and "tap in."  It just so happened that our friend Kim Manning was wrapping up a Southwest tour and had a show in Sedona at the same time we were there. We were fortunate enough to be able to catch her and Lantz Lazwell perform with their new band, WahnderLust. They even called me up on stage to play keys on a couple of songs with them which was a lot of fun. Then, on our last day there, we took a 2 hour ride on the Grand Canyon Railway... to the Grand Canyon, of course.  The journey included live musicians strolling through the cars and staged train robbery, which was quite amusing.  Our train car service attendant turned out to be a pianist and composer as well.  What are the chances?  He announced that he would be playing piano at the El Tovar hotel at the Grand Canyon on his lunch break.  After hiking down into the Canyon, which was beyond amazing, we headed over to the hotel to have a drink and listen to him play.

After listening to him for a bit, we got to talking and then I jumped on to play.  I played Clair de Lune, Dust in the Wind, Imagine, Fly Me to the Moon as well as some originals: Confessions, April, August and December. After I finished, a couple of sisters who had been listening approached me to let me know how much they enjoyed my playing and particularly my rendition of Clair de Lune. With tears in their eyes, they told me that listening to me play had been the highlight of their trip. I was humbled and astounded to hear such a compliment considering that they had just visited one of the most incredible sights on earth. It was an incredibly touching moment with Kim and I both fighting back the tears as well. The experience left me feeling grateful for the gifts that I've been given and my ability to touch people deeply.

It was quite an experience playing there at the Grand Canyon.  I felt so inspired playing the piano at one of the most breathtaking places I have ever seen - the photos just don't do it justice.  It started to occur to me that since I had just completed Odyssey which was inspired by "time" or 12 Months, maybe my next composition project could be about "space," or 7 Wonders of the World!  I am also thinking of featuring a variety of instruments aside from piano and strings.  Just a thought for now.  Also, I will need to decide on which wondrous places on this planet I will write about.  It turns out that "The Seven Wonders of the World" are not exactly agreed upon.  There are several versions of the list that include modern, ancient, natural or man-made criteria.  I guess I will get to make up my own list at some point.

For now, we are back in the swing of things in LA. Refreshed, inspired, and ready for greatness!

I made it to April that year when something changed for me.  Up until then, I was heavily focused on trying to “out-do” myself, or finding a new complex structure or clever harmony to use in my next composition.  After all the continual deadlines and vigorous schedule of writing during college, it seemed that I had run out of steam.  I remember wishing that I had called the first four months “seasons” rather than “months.”  For the first time I can recall, I decided that I desired something else to focus on other than music: more life experience and new inspiration. I began to seek out new experiences and dive into my new post-college life in Los Angeles. During this time I also joined the band, Ballentine, and we put a lot of energy into trying to make it big in the pop/rock world. We recorded an album, toured all around the world and performed in nearly every nightclub in Los Angeles. Before I knew it, a four year break from my Odyssey project had ensued.

My greatest inspiration came unexpectedly into my life on my birthday in April of 2005.  That was the night I met Kim, the woman whom I would eventually marry in August 2008.  We embarked on our journey together exploring nature, spirituality, personal growth, traveling and developing many new friendships.  I took time to reflect on those experiences and grow from them. I was seeing the world through a new lens and best of all, I had someone to share it with!  The inspiration to write was triggered within me once again and the music began to flow out of my heart, but this time with deeper passion than I had ever known before.

By October 2008, I had every month completed except October and the finale of December. October was an extremely important part in the flow of the twelve months.  The entire Odyssey had to reach its peak here.  All I had thus far was one melodic idea and I knew it was going to be in A minor. 

On October 29, 2008 I was playing the meditation music for the congregation at Agape as I had done for many years on a regular basis.  Since I improvise the music during the meditation, and the space is so powerful, it has often times given rise to wonderful new creations in the moment. As we were coming out of the meditation, I thought this would be the perfect time for me to play around with my idea for October.  Then, right as I was about to begin, a guy I had never met before approached me on stage holding a violin and whispered, “Hey, do you mind if I play along with you?”  All I could think was that if he was asking me right now, in front of hundreds of people, then he must be pretty good with that violin.  I said “ok sure, just follow me in A minor.”  We began delicately to bring the room back from their silence. The music flowed out so naturally into a fantastic improvised crescendo of melodies and harmonies that filled the entire hall.  When we finished, Rickie Byars Beckwith came on stage and introduced us… “Jeremy Weinglass and Chris Woods everyone! Isn’t it fantastic to witness spirit creating magic like that?”  During and after the applause, people enthusiastically asked what we were playing and how long we had been working together.  They could hardly believe that we had met moments before on stage and that almost all of it was improvised.  Afterward, I took my seat next to Kim in the congregation and she said, “That was amazing! You should work with that guy and rewrite Odyssey for piano AND violin.” I felt the same way and over the course of the next year I went back and began to re-write the entire Odyssey adding the violin part!

The task of rewriting Odyssey to include violin gave me a whole new set of choices to make. Throughout each piece, I would decide whether to give the melody to the violin, leave the melody with the piano while extracting counter melodies and harmonies, or writing a completely new part in conjunction with the piano. In the final recorded version, I kept the finale of October as an improvised section which is the signature climax of the whole Odyssey!

I brought Chris Woods on board with the project as we began rehearsing together near the end of 2009. We recorded the album now entitled ODYSSEY: A Twelve-Month Revolution in February 2010.  When I started this back in 2001, I never would have thought that this was how this project would have unfolded, but that’s the beauty of it. In my experiences, one of the things I have learned is that being open to serendipity can create magical results and things come together in ways that could never have been planned. 

As I continue to open myself up to working with more people to create something much bigger out of this musical piece, I am now embarking on a new creative process of scripting an interpretative dance performance to go along with the music! 

I have many people to thank for their help in making this project what it has and will become:

Chris Woods for partnering with me on this project. David Bergeaud for producing and mixing the album. Lonnie Parker for shooting the photos of Chris and me for the album. Robin Huber for the graphic design of the album. William Henshall for inspiring me to think bigger. Agape for providing me with the opportunity to play and meet Chris Woods. My Mastermind team: Lesa Bergeaud, Travis Lea, Paula Kelley, and Aaron Tap for their ideas, encouragement and support. Chris Ramsey for offering me the opportunity to perform at Fuente Eterno thus allowing me to show the potential of what I want to create with the performance aspect of Odyssey. Michelle "Star" LaVon for expanding the vision of the performance with me through the story and the choreography.  My wife, Kim Weinglass, for her incredible dedication and work on this project and our business in general. All of these people have provided teaching, support and inspiration that continues to impact me greatly! THANK YOU!!!

Since in the time leading up to this trip I was also working on rehearsing and recording the Odyssey album, there was not a lot of time for rehearsing and working on choreography with 8 different dancers. I did the best I could and got the music to the dancers and gave them some guidance with some key music cues, but it was really up to them to come up with what they were going to do and how they would interpret the music.

It wasn't until an hour before show time when we all managed to be together for the first time to run through some of the cues, transitions and the finale that brought everyone back on stage together. I guess you could say I was nervous and excited to see how this would all unfold!

Once I was on stage, I took a deep breath and decided to close my eyes through most of the performance so that I would not be distracted by the dancing going on in front of me. I just made a decision to let it all go, to let it be as it was, and to just play my music!

This trick worked for a little while. But then, about half way through the second song, "February," it occurred to me that I could not pause between songs like I am used to doing - I don't even have enough time to take a sip of water between songs or I run the risk of disrupting the flow of the dancers. It started to dawn on me that this wasn't a 12 song, 45 minute performance; this was one continuous 45 minute marathon!

Now, the tables had turned and the pressure was on me... I had been so busy worrying about the dancers and how that element would come together that I hadn't even practiced playing through the entire Odyssey without stopping before. Oh, no! What if I was the one who messed up this performance? Now I was in my head and that always spells trouble. I started to get sloppy; I was making mistakes that I don't usually make. I was falling into a zone of marveling at my fingers move and hoping they don't mess up. My anxiety began to grow and I almost panicked.

Then there was a moment, as I was starting "July" and the second half was now underway. Before I stumbled and made another mistake, I went deep inside myself and I remembered that I created this moment to play my music right now! All of the preparation had been for this moment. All of a sudden, it seemed so simple. It was a choice I could consciously make right then to just be present and play; play like I never had before. And that's exactly what I did as my music echoed throughout the entire canyon!

In the end, there were definitely hiccups along the way, learning experiences to be had and lots of room for improvement; but my intention had been achieved. I wanted to create a performance that would allow people to see the potential of my concept and get them excited about it. The show did exactly that. After the show I was greeted with lots of enthusiasm and feedback from people who were interested in helping me take the show to the next level.

I am excited to say that we are now in the process of creating a full visual scripted show which we plan to debut in Los Angeles sometime in June!

After getting some much needed sleep, I drove downtown to go play for a wedding at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Since this was booked at the last minute, I didn’t have any info about what music they wanted played until I got there. Luckily, they had looked at my wedding repertoire list on my website and marked which songs they wanted me to play, so they just gave me the list and I was off and running. The couple was very nice and wonderful to work with, but it was still a lot of pressure to play for the ceremony, cocktail hour and dinner! In the end, everything went well and the Bride, Groom and guests were all quite pleased with my performance. And, they thanked me with a very generous tip!

From there, I drove back to our dear friends’ house where my wife and other friends had been carrying on in their celebration. It was a relaxed and joyous gathering of friends, food, drinks, music and dancing into the night! I was so happy to be in the company of good friends and my darling wife, as we enjoyed the first night of 2010 together.

A good friend once told me that he believes that whatever you do for the first 24 hours of the New Year will set the tone for the rest of your year. That sounds like a reasonable belief to me. So with that in mind, I am looking forward to a year filled with many piano performances, love, well-paying gigs, and really wonderful friends!

Some of the scenes reminded me of my days in high school and college working really hard on musical productions.  Everyone is practicing their butts off every day and night, coming together as a family, with the purpose of creating something so awe inspiring and magical for the world to see!  But, this show never got to relish in it's opening night.  My heart goes out to all the people that made it through the auditions and had their hearts fully in this production: the dancers, singers, musicians, and all the behind the scenes artists and crew; just imagining all the hours they put in to this.  Not just for the "what could have been" potential for their careers, but for falling one week short of being part of something so ground-breaking and amazing that the world never got to see!

What I am left with is a sense of Michael Jackson's mission of spreading peace and love through art and music so that we may all be united as one. The "what could have been" feeling can easily evolve into "what can still be" if we all hold this mission in our hearts and participate.  Despite our differences, I believe more than ever that we all have the potential to inspire each other and collectively ascend to a higher vibration on this planet! 

I vow to do my part to uphold Michael's vision of peace on earth through expressing my creativity and imagination. 

And now, on to what we have coming up in the next couple weeks.  We have been relentless in pursuing lots of new opportunities.  We are excited and optimistic about the fruits that our labor is beginning to produce.  I have two shows in particular on the horizon that are sure to be fun-filled evenings of music and I would love to see you there.

First up, I am putting together a show with violinist Chris Woods and singer Natalie Wilde on Friday, September 25 at Nic's in Beverly Hills.  Nic's is a hip, lively restaurant/bar with a huge selection of specialty martinis and tasty nibbles.  This show is going to be a different vibe from my last two concerts.  Less formal, still lots of fun.  It's Friday night, grab some friends and come out and enjoy yourself!

Next, I am very excited to announce that I have secured a spot in the Indie Thursday Music Showcase at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel on Thursday, October 1.  I will be competing against other musicians and, if I win, I will land a paying gig playing at the hotel the following month.  I would love to have your support to help cheer me on and impress the judges.  It should be a lot of fun, plus it is a free night of live music, can't beat that!

But wait, there's more!  I am going to be performing at the ISES JAM at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday, September 23.  This is a huge networking event and trade show for professionals in the event industry and I am honored to be the only live musician performing this evening.  I look forward to seeing my colleagues in the industry there!

And, finally, I am happy to be back at Agape International Spiritual Center on Wednesday, September 30.  I will be playing during the meditation that precedes the service starting promptly at 6:45pm.  I suggest arriving early to get a good seat and because they close the doors once the meditation starts.

The first half of the show, I played a range of great covers including The Beatles, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sinatra, and of course, Michael Jackson.  I also had a special guest opera singer, Nick Roblee, join me for a song from Phantom of the Opera!  The second half was the long-awaited debut of my project: "The Piano Odyssey; A Journey Through the Months of the Year." So far I am hearing that "August" and "October" were the favorites. 

Because of the success of this show, we are planning to do a concert like this every 6 weeks or so. Therefore, I am very excited to announce that we have booked my second solo piano concert!  If you missed the last one, you won't want to miss this. And, if you came the last time, you should come again because it is going to be a totally new show! So, mark your calendars now for Wednesday, August 19.   We are trying out another location this time. Our goal is to find a few good venues to work with and rotate around to different locations.

The next concert will be held at the M Bar in Hollywood on Wednesday August 19 at 9:30pm. We are trying a later show time in order to please those of you who can't make it out early. The M Bar serves food that includes salads, pasta, pizza, chicken, steak and fish. You are welcome to order dinner, but it is not required. The cover charge for the evening is $10 and will be collected in cash at the door. The show will be 90 minutes long and will be over by 11:30pm. I'm not going to give away too many details about the show, but you can be assured that there will be some great surprises! 

If you are wondering why you haven’t seen a newsletter from me lately, it is because we have been traveling quite a bit this year including trips to New York, Sydney, Mexico and Houston. The travel has been primarily for fun to visit friends, but it has helped inspire me creatively and I find myself more motivated to expand my contacts and aim for better gigs and bigger projects.

One exciting piece of news I would love to share with you is that I recently entered a piano contest called The David Lanz Contest. David is an accomplished pianist and composer whose success I aspire to emulate. I had to select one of his songs to learn and get a video up on YouTube of me playing it. There were over 30 entries, and I am happy to report that I won 1st Place! The prize is that I will be joining David on a scholarship to his Music Retreat at the LaFond Conservatory of Music in Washington. I am so excited about what I will learn and the opportunities this will bring!

I would like to thank several people for helping me with this project. My friend, David Bergeaud, for loaning me his video camera; my brother, Matt Weinglass, for filming me; and my friend, Peter Smith, for editing the footage. Thanks guys, I couldn't have done it without you!

You can watch the winning video of me playing David’s piece: Valencia along with other recent videos of my own compositions: August, September, and Perfection on YouTube. I always appreciate your ratings and comments on my videos. You can also subscribe to my YouTube channel as well! http://www.youtube.com/user/jweinglass