I did a little exploring tonight into the world of music and the Creative Commons Copyright.  I found a gold mine.  As one of the artists that I have become a #1 fan of said, “the sweetest fruit is not always on the top of the bowl.”

Andy Orozco is a musician that if you must classify him, would fall into the Electronica/Ambient genre.  I would call his music something that arises from the soul.  His music definitely falls into the “Soundtrack of My Life,” category and I don’t let a lot of musicians into that group.

What attracted me to him as I was trying to figure out how this particular Internet music player worked, was the name of one of his songs, “Synchronicity.”  It’s one of my favorite words so I had to hear the song.  I only wish it was one of those pieces of music that went on for hours! 

The next track I listened to was “Forbidden Love.”  A name like that, anyone would listen to!  It too was a wonderful piece of music.  And I still couldn’t believe I was listening to the entire track of this for free!

“An Angel’s Cry,” was the last one I listed tonight.  He describes this work as haunting.  And I would have to agree.  I could close my eyes and visualize the movement of angel’s wings and hear the sorrow in their heart.  I wonder… what do angels have to be sad about and if they are indeed sad, what made them that way?  Was it our fault?  Something people have done to break their hearts?

Please take some time to surf on over to Soundclick.  The player is free and you can set it up for your Internet connection speed.  Then visit Andy Orozco.  Listen to his music.  You can save it on your own personal Soundclick radio station - you won’t lose it.  This is really a neat player - I am impressed and the fact it is free, makes it that much better!

Andy Orozco Official Web Site

SoundClick

Andy Orozco Playlist for Soundclick

I cheated - I listened to one more.  I just had to.  It is called, “Awaken,” and is hard to describe but I enjoyed it.  It is one of those compositions that took over my world while I was listening to it - that is the quality in music I look for and I found it tonight.  I found myself listening to it over and over again and added it to my playlist at Soundclick.  I bet you will too!

 

It is impossible to talk about neoclassical music without talking about Yanni.  Although he rejects the label of “new age,” preferring to call his style contemporary instrumental, his fans wouldn’t care what it was called, as long as it was available. 

Yanni began his career in rock and roll but changed to a solo instrumental style that he was more comfortable with.  His first “big break,” was in 1993 with the album, “Live at the Acropolis.”  PBS picked up the rights for broadcast, and it remains one of their most popular programs.  The album also has remained a huge success with fans to this day.

I found it interesting in my research that Yanni is not a music theory expert.  In fact, he doesn’t really read or write music in the normal notes that we expect to see in music.  He has developed his own system and writes his music in that manner.  Yanni has perfect pitch, also known as absolute pitch.

My personal favorite Yanni composition is, “One Man’s Dream,” which is on the album, “In My Time.”  It is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I have ever heard.  I also love “Adagio in C Minor,” which can be found on the album, “Tribute.”

If you are not familiar with Yanni’s music, take some time to listen. The official Web site has a great feature called, “Yanni Radio,” and it plays a selection of his music.  I can promise that it will only be a matter of time until some Yanni CDs are added to your collection.

Official Yanni Web Site