Sipping my secret concoction of healthy hot cocoa, reciting Sinatra lyrics in the dark, as the Cascade Mountains and my first Jazz Cabbage show in Seattle at Ohana Belltown stand before me.
I worked hard memorizing all these lyrics. It has yet to be my forte, but it must be. This is next curve I must beat. I can write a song a day, but can I learn a song a day?
A year from now will I be crooning the lyrics of my family’s great hero, our tio, Daniel Santos?
Not if I don’t try a lot harder. I’m trying to retrain my mind in an era of distraction upon distractions inside the abstractions and the decline of The Western World.
All the shadows. All the signs;
All the best, of the rest of time.If this be the Twenties, and this be my 40s, so it goes. The world is so ubsurd why shouldn’t I sing Sinatra tunes hanging on the side of this Soul United Allstars Train? My grandfather’s hero, his first cousin was The Frank Sinatra of Latin America. He holds the undisputed title.
Santos and Sinatra were equals vocally. Maybe they met in Cuba, where Santos was the bigger star, and Sinatra’s associates milked the city like a sacred cow. Where Santos was pardoned by a President and then wrote the theme song for The Revolution.
Cuba was the pulse, and the Bariqua, Senor Santos was its voice.
Now back to this cocoa and the dark, and the neon signs below.
– Musician and writer Davin Michael Stedman has many ventures, such as the AMAZING blog, 100milesofmusic.com. Davin’s recent song has become a global earworm and Caribbean dancehall hit. Listen here on Reggaeville: DAVIN MICHAEL STEDMAN & ANTHONY RED ROSE – FREE YOUR MIND FEAT. SLY & ROBBIE WITH LENKY MARSDEN. The video is now available on Youtube: Tuff Gong Television. His single with British band Sherlock Soul is available here.
