World Peace-what Sept 11th now means to me

I've just returned home from the church where I am the organist-Allwood Community Church-I went there to practice the organ for tomorrow and I forgot that they were keeping the sanctuary open for anyone who wanted to come in for prayer and reflection.
Two of our board members were there-and we talked a little bit about what today means for all of us.

I have to say that for the first time ever-I actually felt that-yeah-maybe it's possible for World Peace.
I know that sounds like a tall order-but here's how I started thinking about it....we need to break that tall order down into little pieces. Here's the analogy I came up with (probably because I'm involved with this right now in my studio)....organizing tasks into smaller groups-like trying to organize one corner of a room-and not be overwhelmed by the entire room.

What if we sat down and looked at every area in our lives-and broke it down into smaller tasks-for example-the environment. Can we visualize what a sustaining environment really means-clean rivers-lakes-oceans-healthy forests-healthy critters etc.. What would it take to do that? I can visualize that.

How about poverty? What would it take to eradicate poverty? Can we visualize all the ways that we can help those who have no where to sleep, very little food and clothing? I can visualize that.

I have always maintained that world peace is not a possibility-but today-I thought about it differently. Today I thought about everyone who died on Sept 11th, 2001-and then everyone who has died in a war-and then everyone who has died a violent death....just thinking about all of those people, from the beginning of time, I thought we can't give up on the idea of world peace-we just have to break it down into more manageable segments.

Hatred-yeah-that's a toughie-but I do believe that we can find a way to help people to give up their hatred, their bigotries, their racists views and so forth. How do we do that-I'm not quite sure-but I know that it's one person at a time-it takes being committed to that idea-that small gestures can open the doors of the heart.

I had a friend who died in the collapse of the towers and I had friends who narrowly escaped-so I will be thinking about them today-along with other friends who have died violently.
But I will mostly be thinking of ideas that will contribute peace to our world, because my friends gave up so much.

thanks Ed!

Ed LaDuca sent me a wonderful video of a demonstration on Tibetan singing bowls-from a presentation that he attended-I believe as a part of the Slow-Cooked Food movement-very inspiring!
I'm putting some ideas together for a concert-it won't happen for several months-but stay tuned-it's perculatin' ;-)

cat scan/chest xray today.....

Aside from drinking those nasty bottles of berry flavored barium and the havoc it bestows on my stomach and colon, I just got the call from Dr Forte-no tumors anywhere-yeah!!!!!! The Gleevec is doing it's job-Amen to that!

and speaking of birthdays......

Russ and Elzy gave me a Tibetan singing bowl-which I have been using. And then bought a book on the subject "How To Heal With Singing Bowls: Traditional Tibetan Healing Methods" by Suren Shrestha
The author is from Nepal, came to the US when he was 15, went to college, earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering. He talks about growing up in Nepal with herbalists and monks practising various healing techniques including sound and vibration. I really enjoyed the book-it's not too long-and he gets right to the point-very concise-easy to use. From the calendar on his website it looks like he is coming to New Jersey in October 21-24-and that might possibly be at Divine Inspirations Bookstore in Nutley. I'm very interested-so I'm hoping I can go.
Using the Tibetan Singing Bowl is an interesting experience. There is definitely a calming effect-but as an after affect I also found that it stirred up a lot of emotions. That's fine-I see that as an opportunity to let go of some old crud ;-)
I also found someone in Montclair-believe it or not-her name is Jessica Rasp-you can see a video of her playing a whole set of bowls. I will be contacting her as well. I see on her website that she likes "jazz" which is great because I would love to compose a piece that includes the singing bowls.
So thank you Russ and Elzy for the wonderful gift-and setting me off on another exploration!!!

Happy birthday, D-Mo

Diane's birthday is today, July 29. Hope it's a great one, D-Mo, and that this year brings you non-stop health, happiness, love and creativity.

Mark Dresser and me at Cornelia St

I had a fantastic time playing music with Mark Dresser at the Cornelia St Cafe on July 1st. Thank you to everyone who came out-especially to all of you from outside of NYC!
Mark and I also played a concert on Tues June 29th at the Allwood Community Church-as part of the Music for the Soul Concert Series-and that was very moving and wonderful. Thank you to everyone who attended-there was something special about that concert. One audience member told me that he and his wife had a transcendental experience-how beautiful!

Music for the Soul Concert Series

"Inside/Out"
Tim Ferguson-bass, Rob Henke-trumpet, Diane Moser-piano
"Music for the Soul Concert Series"
July 28th
8PM-9:30PM
$10 Donation
Light Refreshments
Allwood Community Church
100 Chelsea Rd
Clifton, NJ 07012
973.777.6360
http://www.allwoodcommunitychurch.com/

"Inside/Out" is a new trio consisting of Tim Ferguson (bass), Rob Henke (trumpet) and Diane Moser (piano). On this debut concert-they will perform a variety of jazz and improvised music ranging from classic jazz standards to compositions by the members of the group and completely improvised pieces. Friends and colleagues for many years, Tim Ferguson approached Rob and Diane with the idea of creating a new trio using an organic approach to jazz and new music. “I was interested in exploring some different ways of improvising" explained bassist Ferguson "and I knew that Rob and Diane both have the kind of musical openness and sensitivity that I was looking for."
"Music for the Soul" is a brand new concert series at the Allwood Community Church in Clifton, New Jersey. The series began in May 2010 with a Jazz Vespers tribute to Mary Lou Williams with Diane Moser (piano), Tom Colao (flute) Ron Naspo (bass) and Rudy Walker (drums), followed by The Muse String Quartet under the direction of violinist Gary Ianco in June, and most recently a duo concert by Mark Dresser (bass) and Diane Moser (piano) in late June.
Audience members have commented on the series with "electrifying"..... "transforming"..... " a welcoming and inviting space"... "beautiful acoustics"..."one of
the most beautifully transcendent musical experiences I've had in years"........
For more info contact Diane Moser cbbmo@flash.net