First of all, it’s nice to meet you! It’s an honor and a pleasure to be featured in this article.

I find myself engaged in more than one playground these days. I’m producing an album for a Grammy-nominated band and that alone is employing my skills as a songwriter, arranger, vocal coach, and composer. It’s allowing me on-the-job training to improve my understanding of engineering as well. I’m also involved in writing underscores for scripts, and I’m collaborating with some really exciting songwriters on other people’s projects.

I’m loving the doors opening to me as a solo performer after having grown up performing in groups. I’ve come into my own, and feel empowered to be more dynamic and inspiring, now that I’m no longer held back from the struggles of my past. The possibilities are endless, and I’m tickled and excited about what that will mean in the future.

My music goals include being an artist and entrepreneur. I see myself making a mark with a substantial production catalog of album and film music and through my own chain of studios educating young and hungry artists who are open to a new kind of music culture, not stuck in the past. Together we create a community that helps to inspire and rally around those coming up, and our creations make us all better people creating a better world. I can see it. I can feel it coming. And I’m well on my way.

Oh, wow. This project was years in the making: quite unique, eight volumes long, full of original music and story. I had the challenge and pleasure of co-writing over fifty songs and additional cues. There are 500 internationally renowned artists on it and I got to work with many of them, including, Hall of Fame Blues Legend, and two-time Grammy winner, Bobby Rush, and musicians from all over Africa, Cuba, England, Haiti, and the United States. I got to write for Tàta Vega, Basekou Kouyate, Pedrito Martinez, Take 6, Darius McCrary, and Magatte Sow from the Black Panther Movie. I wish I could list them all.

It’s an exciting story, full of twists and turns, and the music I write reflects its many emotions through over fifty different music genres: Jazz, Blues, Funk, R&B, gospel, Country, and Bluegrass to name a few. It challenged me to think beyond my experience and open myself to new ways of channeling a story. Carl Gustafson, author, and lyricist in this project did exhaustive research on the music, and I did the same in order to do justice to the story.

I have been a student of film music for a few years now. My interest peaked after working on a composition in grad school at New England Conservatory for a Film Noir project. I’ve since been blessed with mentors who would pass along film scores or videos for me to review, give me a peek into their world, and allow me the space to grow;  composers like Raul Ferrando, to whom I’m forever grateful for staying true to himself without compromise while writing.

Two years ago, I took up learning the art of painting/drawing, and it changed my perspective on how I see my music skills, especially the process of composing cues and songwriting/production. I now view myself as a mixed media artist, using several mediums to create the music I hear and now see in my head. The painting has allowed me to imagine feelings and energy visually, and I translate that into motion pictures. It allows me to let go of expectations and give myself to instincts that help find the music that fits the visual. I am often surprised and delighted by the end result and it makes me feel like an artist of dimension, and even a better human being, and all of this is relevant to my goals.