Luminotes

“I want to hear Cuban music!” The taxi driver looked back at me and just shook his head, “No.” Pulling out of Havana, my companions and I were beginning to […]

“It was spontaneous…..believe me!” I had asked Vedran Smalolivic how he had obtained the courage to sit down and play the cello amidst the threat of sniper fire in the […]

I drove up to Beacon, NY to chat with legendary songwriter/social activist Pete Seeger at his house in the foothills overlooking the beautiful Hudson River. It was a crisp fall […]

Can music explain a place or a situation? We all know the experience of looking for the right music at a point in time and inadvertently setting the wrong mood. […]

“We have 45 minutes of free time in Philadelphia. Should we try to fit in the Art Museum before Soundcheck?” These are the kind of conversations my traveling partners and […]

Sunday mornings in Harlem. Saturday night trash lines the sidewalks and streets. People wait in line outside the churches. A car speeds by playing reggaeton. A couple argues two streets […]

“Daddy, can we watch Falstaff again tonight?” There’s something about the large man’s folly that makes my 7 and 8 year old laugh and ask for this opera. Do they […]

Dear Aaron, many years ago, 15 to be exact, I was the opening act on a Christmas tour you did with the Blind Boys of Alabama, Mavis Staples, Chrissie Hynde, […]

How does one actually feel the presence of the Holy Spirit? This is something I’ve grappled with since I was a young child regularly attending church in rural Ohio. I […]