When I was in New York City in December, I talked with the director of an opera production company and he said my Qualchan and Whistalks Opera was just what they were looking for and they would produce it in 2023 or 2024.  Last month I sent him a sample score and parts for Song/Scene 01.

Stealing Mona Lisa - I got a call from co-writer Claude Solnik, that he is going to attempt to produce this musical in December 2022 at the Theater for the New City in New York City. This theater produces and encourages new plays and musicals. Claude has already forwarded audition tapes from fantastic people singing some of the songs we wrote for this show. Let's put our thoughts together and visualize this project coming together and a good video resulting from Claude's efforts.

Las Vegas Food - I just got back from a 10 day trip to Las Vegas where we stayed with my son who was a great host, showing us the best restaurants in town. We had great Mexican food at the Lindo Michoacan. We had awesome Chinese food served family-style at the Mama China but be prepared for a wait line. We also had to wait a little bit for wonderful Italian food at the Battista Hole-In-The Wall where even the wine is included in the dinner. We had great lunches at Weiss's Deli and the Steamie Weenie in Henderson.

Las Vegas Music - For years I have been going to Las Vegas and making friends with great musicians. This time was no exception. First, I went back to the Dispensary Club on Tropicana that has been there for 46 years and listened to great jazz pianist and my friend Uli Geisendorfer. He plays there frequently with different guests. He's also very friendly and easy to talk with. As I was leaving, Uli ran out to the door and gave me an invitation to go to the Gatsby at the Gambit nightclub on Saturday night and listen to his show featuring the great jazz vocalist Joan Minor. I made reservations and got there early and had a great table right behind the piano so I felt like part of the show. The show was very pricy and the food was sub-par but the jazz made the cost worthwhile. The ambience was art-deco speak-easy. Joan put on a great show and Uli played fantastically as usual. I had a nice visit with Joan and her husband Paul Grayson who is a famous photographer. They live in Paris. As usual, I pitched my songs including Soulmates and told them I was available if they needed original songs for recording or performing. While in Las Vegas, I went to the Unity Church where I visited with my friend Johhn Jones, Music Director who I have seen performing in the best lounges in the city over the years. This time he invited me to go listen to his country music show at Gilley's Bar at the Treasure Island Casino and Hotel. The lead singer Ronnie Rose is not only a great crooner a la Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett style, he can belt out country songs like Friends in Low Places with the best of them and is also a great entertainer.

Other places I visited on this trip was the Txikiteo Basque Restaurant in Boise, Idaho where the food was very different from American food. I also went to a comedy show in Pocatello Idaho where the headliner Aaron Woodal, who has been on the Conan TV show, was fantastically funny and irreverent.

Brady Carson - I heard Brady sing and play piano and guitar at the Kootenai County Fair recently. He is a young, up and coming country and crooner singer and puts on a great show.  Our plan is for Brady to record some of my original Christmas songs in the studio and for us to write original songs together after he gets done touring. I also referred him to an agent in Las Vegas who I was told was the best agent in the Las Vegas area.

Please share this blog and join my fan club at my website to get the monthly updates about music and film projects I am working on.

Thanks,

Gary

Across Bank Street Dimensions ii - Contract signing for two Spanish CDs - Christmas Songs Project

Across Bank Street Dimensions ii Update – I finished  editing scenes 10 and 11 from this film by Nancy Hanks that we shot in June in Wallace, Idaho. Email me if you would like a private preview of this very funny scene including a song and dance sequence of a duet I wrote called Have Fun At Your Funeral, featuring myself and Disney Employee Penny Herman.

Contract signing for two Spanish CDs - I just signed a 5 year exclusive Contract with Mediterranean Sun Publishers (ASCAP) to place music from my Wataino CD that I co-wrote with Orlando Sanchez and my Amor, Life Y Chupacabra CD of bilingual songs (Span/Eng) for placement into TV and Video soundtracks.  I heard about this publisher through a website tip sheet to which I subscribe called Broadjam.com

Christmas Songs Project - By serendipity I met this great singer Diana Ruiz in the backwoods of North Idaho performing at the Country Lanes River Resort. We discussed working together on music projects recording my Christmas songs and writing songs together, and are actively communicating on this project.

Remember to like and share this post, then go to www.EdwardsMusicSite.com and sign up as a fan to get my blog updates, movie, books and restaurant reviews and entertainment news.     

Yours,     

Gary A. Edwards    

www.EdwardsMusicSite.com edwardsgaryallen@gmail.com

WaTaino CD – Across Bank Street Dimensions ii - Mistaken Move movie – Mildred Bailey music – Chun University Praise Heritage Opera and Night of A Miracle Christmas Cantata Car Wreck -   

Across Bank Street Dimensions ii – In 2021 I acted and wrote the music for this series of short films part i. Check it out on Facebook by searching for Across Bank Street. Now, Director/writer Nancy Hanks is working on the second episode. We shot one scene recently at an old mine near Wallace and are halfway finished shooting the rest of the film in Wallace this week starting June 18th. I am producing, composing, editing and acting in this film which is a lot of fun. Press the <Play> button at the bottom of this podcast to hear a funny song I wrote called Have Fun At Your Funeral featuring Penny Herman from Hollywood and I singing this comedic duet about death.

WaTaino CD Update- A famous Puerto Rican comedian and actor named Raulito Carbonell is filming a documentary on Puerto Rican landmark sites and is using the Wataino CD music created by me and co-writer Orlando Sanchez for the soundtrack. Here is a link to watch the short first clip: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JJq6ofExGXNV9jPqtdX_5MSsk_MdnBXo/view 

Mistaken Move movie – I talked with writer/director Jimmy Cullors who said the movie will be ready for release in two or three weeks. I wrote the music for the soundtrack for this full-length feature murder mystery movie called Mistaken Move that Jimmy shot in 2021in Las Vegas. 

Mildred Bailey Music –Cecilia Curtis of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe is singing songs made famous by Mildred Bailey, a member of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe at The Coeur d’Alene Tribal Casino. Contact the Casino for dates and times. I created the show, transcribed the music and conducted the band until my retirement from this project. Mildred Bailey died 70 years ago, but before that she had several number 1 hit songs with the Paul Whiteman Band and others on the radio.

Chun University – I answered an Indeed ad for a composer and was hired to arrange a hymn opera called Heritage of Praise that will be performed in June of 2023 in Charleton North Carolina. I just finished arranging the 21 songs for piano and voice and three orchestra pieces. It’s been hard work, but fun and satisfying. 

Chun University also agreed to perform the premiere of a Christmas Cantata called Night of A Miracle that I co-write with Sandra Lewis-Pringle. The piece will be performed December 20th, 2022 in Charlottte North Carolina. I will have a video of the performance on my website and on YouTube shortly afterwards. 

Car Wreck – Someone T-boned my car on November 15th and I suffered two brain bleeds and a stroke. My lawyer advised me to stay off Facebook until the case settled. The case was recently settled in my favor and so I am free to communicate again. Luckily, I can still walk and think even though I suffered a permanent disability. I did pay off my mortgage and we ended up with a new car, so there is a happy ending. 

Remember to like and share this post, then go to www.EdwardsMusicSite.com and sign up as a fan to get my blog updates, movie, books and restaurant reviews and entertainment news.    

Yours,    

Gary A. Edwards   

www.EdwardsMusicSite.com edwardsgaryallen@gmail.com

Hello, I've finished 10 songs for my bilingual English/Spanish CD. I'm trying to think of a title for it. I've thought of Spangish - but that sounds too humorous. I've thought of Canciones Bilngues with an umlaut over the u. I want to convey that it's a music CD sung in English and Spanish, that it's a serious CD although there are a couple of humorous songs in it about a Chupacabra and another one about a gabacho who understands Spanish, etc.  There's an uplifting positive song about Puerto Rico that could become an anthem for the state territory and another very romantic song called "Estaré Allí (I'll Be There.) Please help me name my next CD and if I choose your title I will put your name in the credits and send you a free copy.

Hello. I hope you’re enjoying fine spring weather. We are completely inoculated against the Coronavirus and have been resuming in-person activities such as going to church and occasional dining out. Here’s the latest news. 

Jimmy Cullors told me that he has finished shooting the movie Mistaken Moves in Las Vegas and will be editing it shortly. He had previously told me that he had tentatively accepted about 50 pieces of my original music for the soundtrack so I am very excited to see how that turns out. 

I received word from the Memphis Musicians Union that they are happy to hear that I am working with Paula Newberry as she establishes her Rainbow Opera Company and that we are going to premiere my opera Qualchan and Whistalks. The plan now is to get grants and donations and we are brainstorming when and where to produce the opera, depending on how the fundraising turns out. 

My new CD Spanglish is coming along quite well. My singer, Cuban-American Ivana Cespedes has recorded three of my original bilingual songs including Estaré Allí, Steppin’ Out and The Gypsy Tango Rock. She is currently getting ready to record a fourth song I wrote called El Gabacho Habla Español. This is a funny song about four instances when people made disparaging comments about me before they realized I could speak Spanish.  

For instance, I was flirting with a very pretty young girl on a bus in Chile one time when the conductor told me I had to move to my assigned seat. I told him “No comprendo.” He finally gave up and went away and I proceeded to flirt fluently with the young lady who appreciated my subterfuge. She told me she had been in a mass demonstration in Santiago, Chile the day before protesting Yankee imperialism. I made a date with her for later, but had to stand her up, so I’m sure that reinforced her hatred of gringos. 

Anyway, I have enough bilingual songs that I will probably make one CD that is serious and romantic and another CD that contains songs with Spanish jokes and puns. 

This Sunday is Mother’s Day and the Unity Church with Julie Croteau as music director will be featuring 11 year old Ellie singing two children’s songs I wrote; Happy Mother’s Day and God Is Everywhere. You can tune in the livestream service at UnityCenter.org and watch. 

Happy May everyone. 

Gary A. Edwards

We are in suspension and looking for a new co-host. When we return  Check us out on twitch!

You can also watch last week's episode here:

Here's a little story about that time my son and and I were eating at a Mexican Restaurant in Vegas. Gotta watch out for him, he's a real prankster.

Wade and I are back in action, just in time for 2021! Catch our Livestream here on twitch at 10am Pacific!

TUNE IN TO HEY BALDY

Now that we've aired all 4 segments from Christmas on the Concourse, it only seems right to give you the full spectacular today, as it is indeed Christmas. A very happy and heartfelt holiday to you, and I hope you and yours are safe and happy this holiday season!