First Fruits
Notes on the songs on “First Fruits":
[While this shows prices for the individual songs and for the whole CD, that is there because the website program had it. Feel free to fully listen to any/all of these songs as well as download any of them. Pay if you want - I will donate proceeds to charities such as our church youth group, Cross Roads Camp & Retreat Center (a joint operation of the ELCA and Episcopal churches in NJ), or the Franklin Food Bank (Franklin Two, NJ). Or you can decide to donate to a charity you like and just tell me what it is. Please - nothing political.].
Creed (I Believe) - This song was inspired by some discussions on our faith and is mostly based on the Apostle’s Creed. The initial recording was made at our church (Good Shepherd Lutheran, Somerville, NJ), with our Grace Alive! Praise Band, with some later overdubbing of vocal tracks. Keyboard: Charles German. Drums: Daniel Tenenbaum. Guitar: Deb Gelormine. Bass: Florindo Gallicchio. Cello: Eleanor Pillsbury. Vocals: Joyce Jonat, Jan Schnitzlein, Jill Weidner, Julia Sabella, Lisa Coddington.
Behold (Psalm 133) - This was probably the first ‘faith’ song that I wrote back in the 80s. It was inspired by a friend, Will Sol, who used the Psalms for many of his songs.
God’s Work - Our Hands - This is a theme that the ELCA has used for several years to encourage churches to do work that benefits others who are in need. Though a single day on the calendar, it is actually an all-time direction for us. I submitted this to the ELCA as part of a contest for an ‘official’ song for ELCA churches to use. Something more traditional got selected instead.
Luther’s Morning Prayer - Our friend, Karen Repka, was teaching her class using this prayer and couldn’t find a musical version that she liked, so she asked if I would write one.
We Are (Kumtukuza Mungu!) - Listening to an NPR show that featured a South African singer, I decided to try my hand at a song of praise sort of in the spirit of Ladysmith Black Mambazo. I got the Swahili phrase “Kumtakuza Mungu” by putting “Praise God” into Google Translate and trying it with several African languages. Swahili worked best here.
Wise Men - I wanted my own Christmas/Epiphany song that extended our view of hope to the empty tomb.
Come and Stand - When our young (now full - then associate) pastor was installed, our assistant to the bishop brought her into the middle of the congregation and told her to look all around. “Behold the people of God.” I used that moving image and the selected verses for the installation as the inspiration for this. I also was trying to channel my inner Chris Isaak...
I See Jesus - Trying to express how we see God “talking” to us through everything around us - people, the world, nature, our experiences, etc.