I had the good fortune to meet Griff, one of the players in St. James Gate yesterday. He’s playing mandolin and singing in this clip, a song which he wrote for his kids. He also told me that one of the first things he taught his kids to say as they learned to talk was “Music is magic,” a truism from this song we would all be well served to remember. Griff’s main ax is the violin which he plays with St. James Gate and Mbrascatu, an interesting Portland-based jazzy rock combo which sings in Italian.
This is the title track from the 2019 album “Happy Life” from the Portland, OR band, St. James’s Gate. It was submitted for NPR’s Tiny Desk concerts, written by Griff “Bear” Ocker and arranged by St. James’s Gate. www.stjgate.com
