Mountain hopping
Waves of Leaves
“The Mermaid” (Child No. 289) from the Ballad Book by John Jacob Niles
Oh the stormy winds do blow,
with the landlubbers down below,
And the sailor-men a-climbing to the top,
To haul in the riggin’-o.
T’was Sunday night, our sails were set
We hardly cleared the land-o,
When we spied a mermaid a-swimming by,
A comb and a glass in her hand-o.
The captain plumbed with a lead and a line,
He plumbed for to reach the sand-o,
While the winds and the waves did toss and roar,
We knew we’d never see land-o.
Then three times ’round went our gallant ship,
And three times more went she,
And the mate and the cabin boy said goodbye,
As we sank in the salt, salt sea.
Two dancing pigs
“Two Dancing Pigs” was improvised by playing harmonica and guitar simultaneously. Any discomfort in physically managing two instruments was alleviated through closed-eye visualization of two dancing pigs squealing with delight in each other’s company. The artwork is a detail of the pastel drawing used in my previous post, “The Listening Drum.” Looking closer allows one to see two dark pig-like shapes appear (among other creatures such as a spider, a bat, or a raven’s tail). Perhaps, rainbow colored waves are perceived as dancing while the pig duo floats and soars overhead in sea spray and thermal undulations. A colorful drawing appearing to depict a single slice in time awakens and sequentially shape-shifts to melodic rhythms of musical joy.
You can find “Two Dancing Pigs” and other pieces on Sandy Bender’s album Terrain.
The Listening Drum
Moon Cats outside my Window
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” is composed and performed in three tracks for acoustic guitar, acoustic slide guitar, and harmonica by Sanford Bender.
Riding into the Starlit Night
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.