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The Sand Dollar

“The Sand Dollar” collected and photographed by Sanford Bender on June 15, 2021.
“The Sand Dollar”, a poem written on July 10, 2010, with music sung and accompanied with acoustic guitar by Sanford Bender on June 25, 2015

The Sand Dollar

Walking around the curve of beach

The light house still far to the west

Out over seemingly endless dunes

An infinite distance reminding me

Of the poet who observed that

Beyond mountains

Were more mountains,

Soon after my companion turned back

I accepted the futility of continuing

But in my turning around

Circumventing the ocean’s horizon

Looked down upon a treasure trove of shells

Glittering beneath my feet,

There in the curls of seaweed

I found a sand dollar

Smooth and round

Ten pine like needles radiating

The image of the moon

Which would soon appear

Over the darkening sea

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Not from where I came

“Not from where I came” was painted with watercolor and gouache by Sanford Bender in 1985.

I played banjo more than guitar for a while since I especially enjoyed its mirthful and spontaneous independence. This instrument could provide enlightened commentaries on the most tragic and haunting occurrences of lost love, betrayal, revenge, murder, and perhaps even evoke valor and the emergence of integrity.

“Not from where I came” was played and recorded on May 5, 2021 with one track of acoustic guitar with metal slide, and then improvised over with a second track of five-string banjo.

This music for guitar with slide and five-string banjo is reminiscent of traditional ballads travelling from place to place like fairy tales with subtly changing variations over a common theme; only to alight into my own imagination as another powerful resource fueling my creativity.

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The Soul of an Elephant

The “Soul of an Elephant” drawn with pencil in a travel sketchbook by Sanford Bender in the summer of 2017.

This gestural sketch of an elephant was one of a series that I drew during a trip to an elephant resort in Thailand. After learning about Asian elephants and their symbiotic relationship with humans, our small group was led to an athletic field where the elephants would play soccer. Not only could I ride atop an elephant beforehand and feel its lumbering but graceful rhythms; I could even experience its earnest attempt to perform successfully for human entertainment, and then even perceive its ultimate humiliation. Otherwise, the elephants were treated well, and when left to roam in the jungle at night, could retain their integrity and be wild.

The “Soul of an Elephant” composed and played with two guitar tracks by Sanford Bender in May 10, 2020.

This improvised instrumental for two guitars with its changing rhythms, recurring melodies, pause, and cascading cadence to a major seventh chordal resolution reached perfection in its understatement and brevity. It seemed appropriate to accompany the sketch delineating an elephant’s triumph over any perceived fallibility in a game devised by humans.

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Moon Cats outside my Window

“Moon Cats from outside my Window” was painted by Sanford Bender with acrylic paint and colored pencil on canvas board on May 29, 2021.

I awoke just after midnight to a most supernatural music outside my window as cats appeared singing under a full moon. That is what I imagined when I listened back to the music I was composing with tracks of guitar, slide guitar and harmonica. The painting of the nocturnal scene was finally realized two and a half months later from drawings in my sketch book. Whereas an irate neighbor may react to this lunar concert by lunging for a garden hose to spray amidst a torrent of profanities, I was drawn deeply into this feline world of sensory agility and mindfulness for which the music was my portal.

“Moon Cats from outside my Window” – Music by Sanford Bender composed on March 13, 2021.

“Moon Cats from outside my Window” is composed and performed in three tracks for acoustic guitar, acoustic slide guitar, and harmonica by Sanford Bender.

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All is well

Barred Owl – Drawing by Sanford Bender 2014

The declaration that “All is well” would pertain to a specific event since it certainly cannot apply as a universal world perspective at all times. I composed this music as a mantra to emerge out of a difficult dilemma for which I could not change the outcome. The guitar duet brought to me a sense of peace in recognition of life’s inevitable flow. Once, I drew a barred owl in less than a minute’s time as the nature rescue center bell was heralding its imminent closing. In that moment, I sensed that the owl and I were both “well” despite previous traumas that had limited our abilities to fly gracefully in the twilight.

All is Well” composed and performed by Sanford Bender

“All is well” composed and performed with two acoustic guitar tracks by Sanford Bender

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Riding into the Starlit Night

Darkening evening on the ride home -Sanford Bender

Since I don’t go to the park until later in the afternoon, I am often there riding my yellow bicycle back to the car as dusk sets in. I quicken my pace as the inky blackness settles around me, and the few farmhouses and barns are left behind. Gazing up into the lofty pines upon hearing the distant hoot of a great horned owl, I begin to perceive myriads of stars glittering above me. The music in my mind that I hear that evening may not arrive until another day. But, the melodies and rhythms have already embellished my soul, and like the stars, will gradually reveal themselves in their delicate splendor.

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Polar Ardor

I am excited to share news about the short film Polar Ardor, my musical collaboration with animator Camille Wainer.

POLAR ARDOR

A short animation about polar life and love.

Inspired by the paper cut style of early animator Lotte Reiniger, Polar Ardor incorporates the additive techniques of woodblock stamping and Chine-collé printmaking to recreate a delicate landscape threatened by division and deterioration. The whimsical music of composer/architect Sanford Bender accompanies each stage of the polar bear’s journey through a varied composition using only two symbolic forms (the heart and the puzzle piece). Simply and subtly, Polar Ardor offers an optimistic message about the importance of collaboration and compassion in the face of an uncertain future.

Release: 2021

Length: 1.33 minutes

ANIMATION BY : Camille Wainer

MUSIC BY: Sanford Bender

PRODUCED BY: Documinute Productions LLC

You can watch the trailer below and check out Camille’s other films on her website.

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Music: Be Your Own Best Friend

I could hear the music in my mind as I was driving home from a disappointing meeting with an art group to which I belonged. The night was cold and clear and the sky glittered with stars. I reached for my guitar as soon as I arrived home and recorded a track. I followed by recording a second guitar track, and after listening to my improvisation was lifted out of my despair.

Conchs
Two Colorful Conchs by Sandy Bender
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Gone, a musical poem

This poem with guitar accompaniment is about an unruly cat who did not come home one night. We had not really connected, but I don’t know what can be expected of a cat. I was committed to him even to the point of tumbling down the stairs when I heard his encounter with a shrieking fox.

My cat appeared to be grinning at me that morning when I returned from the hospital. I suppose that he had worked out his differences with Reynardine the fox. Now, he was meowing for a more domestic meal and a fresh bowl of water.

“Bobcats” by Sandy Bender