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Here is my new CD, Ascend.  I am very pleased to make this pre-release available to you, because I consider this project closest to my heart.  You can make your order here and I will send one to you, or you will get a download in your email.  Please note that one purchase button is for download with cover art, and one is for a CD to be mailed to you.  Thanks everyone.

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Liner notes:

Late afternoon and I am standing on the wooden platform of the old train station where I have stood many times before.  The shadows lengthen as the dust specks float almost motionlessly in the beams of sunlight.  The train tracks stretch into the distance, two lines converging, forming a glinting metaphor for infinity.

The tracks run west, the tracks run east, the tracks run north and south.  I have taken this train and that train and I have been here and there.   Today will be different.  Today I will listen to my heart, and my heart says, “It is time to ascend.  Today I will rise up, and I will leave the station below.  My destination is one where I stand patiently waiting for my own return”  

Roger Hatfield

Feb 16, 2010

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Here is what people are saying about Ascend:

Ascend - at times tranquil and at other times intense. But is this not the totality of what it means to be human? This spiritually deep album reflects the possibilities of the present moment and draws you inward to take a closer look. Though musically Ascend is quite beautiful, it is more than entertainment; it invites the listener into a journey of self-reflection and self-discovery." Trevor Harden RockOm.net

 

"Only a lifetime of thoughtful attention to small details could produce such a mature and deeply satisfying collection" - David Bohn - Guitarist

 

"What Roger Hatfield has done in Ascend, is comparable to what the Hubble telescope has done for mankind's perception of the universe...both are serenely  mind boggling "!  Dominic Testa – Actor, S

 

"I had to purchase "Ascend" as soon as I heard "Andrea's View!" I think that Mr.

Hatfield's music appeals to many different sides of my musical soul. The grooves

are in the pocket,  the vocals stimulating, but I have to single out the

beautiful sax parts. The horn speaks to me in a special way, telling a story

without words. In short, a master craftsman at work!" Dave Rader

 

Tommy McCoy  The tonal quality and content of Roger Hatfield's "Ascend" is nothing less than ascension itself. The mix is superb with all instrumentation equally sharing the range of frequency. Not too much effect and the musical integrity is matched by the level of composition. The mood sets your mind free to visualize the grace we all can experience. TM

 

 

"The new CD Ascend is another remarkable piece of Music that ONLY Roger Hatfield

can create.  We are ALL so BLESSED to have experienced his amazing MUSIC and his dedicated talent!  "A MUST HAVE"!!

 "Honored", Antoinette Manganas"

 

 

"Ascend not only soars with the birds, but taps into another way

of listening to instrumental music....sometimes, less is more"...RKcreen W

ASCEND:  The entire composition is exquisite! Your music takes me to a place of utter utopia. Bravo! A real cure for the stress of driving in Southern California traffic jams!

Beautiful, awesome music that makes my spirit dance<3"Dana P

 

Roger Hatfield's "Ascend" can make your soul sing and your heart takes flight." JN

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New Age?  Most music in this genre attaches itself to some Yoga discipline, Tai Chi moves, or psychic healing regimen.  Rarely does music like this get to have a life of its own.  The music makes no claims of healing, although healing may occur.  The music claims no ability to enlighten, but enlightenment can happen at the crack of a branch or the flap of a wing.  If this music facilitates your journey, I welcome you to take the trip.  

  The music is meant to be an expression of both time and timelessness.  I had been experiencing the phenomenon of time/timelessness long before I understood anything about the underlying philosophy.  (This helped to authenticate the "truthiness" of the experience.)   I remember having a record player that, if you left the arm to the side, would endlessly repeat the LP.  My mother was told that John Coltrane was a great saxophonist, so she bought me one of his records.  I looked forward to listening to it.

Saturday morning in 1960 and I was in sixth grade.  My mother and I lived in the projects known as Westlawn, in Warren, Ohio.  Saturday morning was my house-cleaning time.  Mr. Coltrane's music initially sounded to me like an extended train wreck.  Pure cacophony.  The record played over and over while I ran the sweeper.  Gradually, something in my perception changed.   I had quit listening and  I started hearing.  I had become suspended.  There was an inexplicable transcendence of consciousness, and I loved the experience.  I loved it because it was pure, unanticipated, and not contrived .  I had the experience again a few years later  taking a sax solo when I found myself literally observing myself, playing the solo.  

Throughout the next forty-five years I  sought the conditions that would repeat this fantastic and most desirable experience.  Elements of the experience occurred from time to time: playing music, hearing music,  skin-diving, dreaming, church service, making love, in the art of others, in prayer, in birth, and in death.   Slowly it began to sink in.  Those preciously illuminated timeless and ascended moments were not “out there” somewhere in time and space to be sought after. Nor, were they in the music; they were just illuminated by the music,  like the window is not really part of that which it reveals. And, like a window, a very good way to see what is on the other side of the wall.

This wonderful unnamed experience is always here and is always

now.  What’s more it is for everyone.  What a wondrous thing is that?  It is my prayer that "Persistence" provides you with a light filled window.

Boj Daddo 2009

My deepest heartfelt thanks to the contributors on this project:

Ronnie Marrone -Guitar

Wayne Cardarelli-Percussion

Joe “Hitman” Dunlap-Percussion

Tim Graziano-Basses

Samara-Vocal improv on Leonard's Glass

Mike Talanca-Engineer

Donny Thompson-Wise counsel and advice

Cynthia Hatfield-Photography

Frank J Miller-Videography

Cover photo-Hitman

All of my friends, known and unknown

I want to give very special thanks to my old friend, “The Soulcat”, Thomas

Chrisopoulos, for his sublime vocal contributions. Namaste.

 

I want to express my gratitude to all of my teachers for their wisdom, inspiration, and clarification.

 "Such stuff as dreams, dreams of all kind, are made of..."  Robert Saracina -Singer-Song Writer-Deli Slicer

In love and in service,

Boj Daddo

© 2009 Blues Cat Music, all songs BMI

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YES!  I mean like really back in the day!  Fifty years later they are still cranking it out.  With a touring schedule that would tax a young band, The Fabulous Edsel's found time to go into the studio with me and create this great new CD.  Full of favorites like "Up on the Roof" and "Rockin' Robin", not to mention the classic "Rama Lama Ding Dong", there are a couple of new Doo Wop tunes as well.  This all points to one true thing:  DOO WOP NEVER DIES!!!

Available on the Purchase CD's page.

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Contemplative music!