Watch video of "Hannah's Dream"
Celebrating the Inauguration
The new administration
&
A long standing dream
Watch video of "The Bottom of the Sea"
Play MP3 of "Smile To Pretend"
My song, "I Have a Dream" was written in February 2008 for a Barack Obama fundraiser in New York City and performed at that event for the first time.
What moved me to write this song was the changing tide I could see before my eyes that allowed a mixed-race man to run for President of the United States. I also decided to read Martin Luther King's 1963 speech which holds its weight in belief and power to this day. I am a mixed-race, first generation American and it was at that fundraiser that I acknowledged that I, too, have something in common with Mr. Obama. I had been hearing from New York City cab drivers and business people alike that everyone has something in common with Obama.
After rewriting one more draft of the song I performed it with groups of children, at my solo shows and finally on camera with the excellent musicians and camera crew you can witness on the music video. Over the 10 months since I wrote the song, I would repeatedly hear fans and campaigners for Obama quoting King's speech -- I knew we were all thinking along the same lines and there was a great feeling of hope growing. I noticed that Obama is extremely active with musicians, that he loves music and includes it in his life and work. The spirit of the music and musicians around him was another way with which he reached his voters, joyfully and without pretense. I wished to pay tribute to him and his peerless efforts of communication and idealism. I saw that his supporters thought along those lines, too, and that we all were of one mind wanting peace and unity.
By the time Obama was elected, listeners of "I Have a Dream" were encouraging me to offer it to be sung at the inauguration. My method to begin this quest is the music video presented on YouTube.com. It was created in the same spirit of viral, computer-driven distribution that I noticed from Obama's campaign. It was shot, recorded, edited and mastered in December 2008 in 7 days over the course of 14 and will be launched for sale on the Max3.com online music distribution network on February 2009 as an audio single and also available as a video for purchase.
I want to thank you for your kind attention to my words and my work, should you choose to go to the link below. If you do so, you will within seconds have access to my interpretation of the wish I witnessed coming from Obama for this country and the world. I have done my best to channel that wish into the words, melody, rhythms and harmonies you can hear.