Jesmax Music Screams “Hey Santa”


for Christmas 2006

 
Jesmax Music, BMI, owned by composer Gary Powell, is pleased to have placed two songs, “My Gift is You” and “The Laughing Song”, on the album “Disney’s Merry Little Christmas” for Walt Disney Records. Also sharing credit on this album is a third song written by Powell and Gates, “Hey Santa”, from the catalog of Wonderland Music and performed by Huey, Dewey and Louie. The loveable nephews of Donald Duck first made their appearance for Disney in 1938 and Mr. Powell is excited to have a song sung by such veteran performers. Amazing talent Russi Taylor, a long-time Hollywood voice actress, might deserve a little credit as well.

Please note that I sell no Disney products on my site. This CD can be purchased exclusively at Target stores across the country.

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Jesmax Music Screams “Hey Santa”

for Christmas 2006″

Ted Kryczko, VP at Walt Disney Records

by Gary Powell

The name, Ted Kryczko (pronounced Crisco), makes many appearances here on my site. I am pleased to have enjoyed Ted as a trusted colleague since our first album project together, Disney Babies – Playtime, in 1989. Please read the bio below to learn more about the successful career of Ted Kryczko.


Ted Kryczko, Vice-President
A&R Catalog Development at Walt Disney Records.

On staff since 1982, Ted has produced and developed over 500 products and programs for children and families through Disney Records. His work has received 14 Parent’s Choice Awards, more gold and platinum records than Elvis or the Beatles, and he has been nominated for 14 Grammy Awards, winning twice. His records have sold over 30 million copies in the US and over 60 million worldwide.

Ted’s list of record production credits includes titles such as Roger Rabbit, Beauty & the Beast, E.T., Fantasia, The Little Mermaid, Return of the Jedi, Indiana Jones, Winnie-the-Pooh, Dick Tracy, Aladdin, Willow, The Lion King, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Lilo and Stitch, The Incredibles, Bambi, Mousercise and Luv-a-byes.

In addition to record work, the product development group of Disney Records has been involved in the early development at Disney in TV animation, computer software, Radio programming, DVDs and the first Disney Corporate web sites.

On stage, film, television and radio, he has produced, directed or acted in over 100 productions in New York, Los Angeles and regional theaters. His classical theater training included study with members of the Royal Shakespeare Company and veterans of Stratford, Canada. Ted holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Theater from UC Irvine and has taught in numerous theater programs for children and adults at private and public institutions.

“My Gift is You” Jesmax Music, BMI

 
Merry Little Christmas CD ArtJesmax Music, BMI, is pleased to have placed a Gary Powell song, “My Gift is You”, on the album “Disney’s Merry Little Christmas” on Walt Disney Records.

The song is performed by singers Craig Hella Johnson, director of vocal ensemble Conspirare in Austin, and Leslie Whiteley, a Killeen, Texas school music teacher.

Album Producers: Gary Powell, Ted Kryczko, Ed Mitchell
Song Producer: Gary Powell
Piano: Gary Powell
Guitars: Larry Seyer

The Austin String Quartet
Violin 1: Richard Kilmer
Violin 2: Elise Winters
Viola: Bruce Williams
Cello: Douglas Harvey

Please note that I sell no Disney products on my site.
This CD can be purchased exclusively at Target stores across the country.

The “Pirates of the Black Tide” Record in Austin

with Gary Powell

Pirates come and go. Most are vicious, marauding theives, yet occasionally one pirate might have a kinder spirit. As a group, they are “deplorable and horrible” as stated in Gary Powell’s new song “Pirates of the Black Tide”. Powell’s music publishing company, Jesmax Music, BMI, is proud to have placed this song on Walt Disney Records’ new CD release entitled Disney’s Ultimate Swashbuckler 10-Song CD Collection, a new product inspired by the movie series Pirates of the Caribbean.

Six of the ten pirate song vocals were produced in Gary Powell’s Austin recording studio. Arranger Jerry Cleveland wrote the orchestral arrangements for many of the new songs except “Pirates of the Black Tide”, which was wholly produced and recorded in Austin.

“The Pirates of the Black Tide” are played by Austin session singers Craig Toungate, Larry Seyer, David Wise, David Breeding and PBS TV Stars of “The Biscuit Brothers”, Jerome Schoolar and Allen Robertson.

The string orchestra parts were performed by this wonderful group of players whom I hold in the highest regard: Bruce Williams, Lana Harris, Richard Kilmer, Elise Winters, Jamie Desautels, Elizabeth Blackerby, and Elizabeth Girko.

All songs on the album are listed below. Underlined song titles were recorded exclusively with Austin pirates. Please note that I sell no Disney products on my site. This CD can be purchased exclusively at Walmart stores across the country.

1. “A Pirate’s Life”
2. “The Legend of Davy Jones: Forty Fathoms Below”
3. “Shiver My Timbers”
4. “Yo Ho Ho! (And a Bottle of Rum)” Solo by Craig Toungate
5. “Sailing for Adventure”
6. “Blow the Man Down” Solo by Allen Robertson
7. “The Pirate King” Solo by David Wise
8. “Pirates of the Black Tide” Solos by Craig Toungate,
Jerome Schoolar, Allen Robertson
9. “A Whale of a Tail”
10. “Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life for Me)

Album Produced by Ted Kryczko and Jeff Sheridan

(Fortunately for you and as you might understand,
all pirates refused to be photographed)

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with Gary Powell

“

The Headliners Club of Austin


“It’s Not Who, but What You Are”

by Gary Powell

The Headliners Club of Austin celebrated its 50th Anniversary at an Austin gala event January 12th, 2006. I was proud to be a part of such an enormously successful Austin organization.

The photo at right is club chairman Tom Granger presenting me with a beautiful and unique piece of Waterford Crystal commemorating the club’s 50 year history.

                                       

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This music video is a part of a twelve minute historical video production which was played live at the 50th Anniversary Gala on two twelve foot screens. The song’s lyric was inspired by the club motto, “It’s Not Who You Are, but What You Are”. I took a little liberty with the exact wording to accommodate the rhythm of the language musically.

Some 700 still images used in the video were scanned from many photo albums and newsletters of club history. The video elements were shot during the gala event itself on January 12th, 2006. You will certainly recognize many of our state and national leaders from politics, business, education, science and the media who have been a part of this Austin press club since its inception in 1956.

My special thanks to Larry Seyer as usual for his talent and loyalty and also to Leslie Whiteley, a music teacher in Killeen, Texas, who is relatively new to my bank of session singers. Thank you, Leslie, for delivering the perfect vocal performance for this lyric.

MUSIC & LYRIC BY: Gary Powell
SONG PRODUCED BY: Gary Powell
SUNG BY: Leslie Whiteley
PIANO: Gary Powell
GUITARS: Larry Seyer
VIDEO PRODUCED BY: Gary Powell & Larry Seyer

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The Headliners Club of Austin

“It’s Not Who, but What You Are””

A Mindful and Reasonable Wish


“Aristotle’s Prayer” from Aristotle’s Prayer

by Gary Powell

The wonderment and monumental beauty of the earth can serve as a map for understanding the expansive nature of the human experience. Few of us “live” there, however. One terrible gift of maturity is no longer seeing my reflection in the popular culture where I actually do “live”. The chasm between these two places has compelled me to engage bigger ideas in order to stretch my capacity for understanding and hopefully not just finding but creating a reflection of my liking.

The theory of special relativity was first to introduce us to the concept of spacetime. Before Einstein, space and time were two different things. He not only imagined, but mapped a system so integrated that the parts could no longer be considered separate. That’s how we might be able to visualize Aristotle’s idea of integrating passion, desire and heart with aspiration, discipline and perfection. The heart and mind become a “whole” new thing and following Einstein’s lead I suggest a new word for it….. HEARTMIND.

“Heart and mind and soul are free and all desire is good by our decree. By nature all creation must agree.”
Lyric from the song “Aristotle’s Prayer”

Maybe it’s time to abandon judgmental designations and their restrictive phrases which label people as right-brained, left-brained, artistic, intellectual or spiritual. Surely, most successful people integrate all that they have and all that they understand and perceive in navigating their life’s course.

“…a pilot, in those days, was the only unfettered and entirely independent,
human being that lived in the earth.” – Mark Twain

In Life on the Mississippi, author Mark Twain used the term unfettered in describing the life of a steamboat pilot. Twain saw the “rank and dignity” of this profession as an ultimate choice of self-determination fueled by aspiration, guided by reason and agreed on by all concerned. Clearly this job description is a young man’s fantasy without regard for the encumbrances of relationships. However, just copy and paste this feeling of living without fear into a more mature understanding of the individual in context of others and we may get a grasp of Aristotle’s mindful and reasonable wish for humanity.

“The pattern of the possible is preferred above the rule.”
Lyric from the song “Aristotle’s Prayer”

A truly mature life lived without fear will not be “stuck” in destructive patterns. To arrive fearlessly, however, the rest of us, whenever possible and each at our own pace, will endeavor to break our patterns which no longer serve us. We now know that patterned entrenchment is not good for human beings. We think we’ve just now figured this out with modern psychology, but Aristotle understood this in 340 B.C.

Truly, “all the wonderment and beauty lay before us and the truth they speak I pray we will believe!”

All Content of Gary Powell’s Site is Licensed Under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License

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A Mindful and Reasonable Wish

“Aristotle’s Prayer” from Aristotle’s Prayer“