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about

Yall. I've been working on this song every day for at least 18 months, really since we went into lockdown in March of 2020. And I only finished up the vocal track this afternoon! I don't want to say tooooo much about it but, if you only listen to one Panorama recording this year, I hope it will be this one.

I call it a rant, more spiritual than political. It's influenced by events of last year, especially the pandemic, the presidential race and increased awareness of the shocking disregard for Black lives. All that in the context of a warming planet rapidly approaching the tipping point. I was moved as well by a book I happened to be reading at the same time, "The Power of Now," by Eckhart Tolle, which suggests that all the violence and dysfunction in the world is a result of our inability to fully inhabit the present moment.

"Turn on the Light" is set over a quasi James Brown-style funk groove but includes an expansive nod to the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest) in the middle section featuring modal improvisations by Charlie Halloran (trombone) and Aurora Nealand (alto saxophone).

Since I was a teenager, I have felt that the only real solution to the world's problems would be a spiritual quantum leap, the human species evolving to the next level. That has always seemed like a long-shot but still a possibility that I wouldn't want to discount. And with all the craziness, angst, death and decay shifting into high gear, I find myself praying for global enlightenment much more earnestly and thinking, "now would be a great time to turn on the Light, wake up the people and live!"

Also, big round of applause for the Green Taggers! They’re a youth climate action team founded by my daughter Ida and several of her friends. They make two appearances in your song-of-the-month and end the tune chanting, "I feel right in this moment, I feel good in this moment!"

Thanks for listening,

Ben Schenck
Clarinetist / Leader
Panorama Jazz Band
Panorama BRASS Band
New Orleans, LA

lyrics

People! Listen to me.
This whole damn situation lookin' pretty gloomy.
We got dead fish floatin' in the water,
Dead birds flyin' in the sky,
Dead trees goin' up in smoke
while dead people look you in the eye.
Collapsing ecosystems, dysfunctional economy,
All perpetuated by this illusion of autonomy.

It's time to turn on the Light,
wake up the people
And live.

We got a lotta problems people
But I believe that they can be solved!
(Help me out Green Taggers)
One!
Let's set aside our grievances,
Two!
Form new allegiances,
Three!
Roll up our sleeves
Four.
And get involved.

Turn on the Light!
Wake up the people
And live.
Yeah.

People! We're not awake.
Still livin' that nightmare 'bout bein' separate drops of water.
Ha! Lookin' for the Lake.
Dehumanizing others,
Abusing sisters, executing brothers.
I refuse to be smothered under plastic and lies!
Let's open our eyes, we better get wise.
Just gimme good air, water, food, shelter, community.
Every global crisis is a global opportunity.
For generations our mother has been under attack.
It's time to wake up y'all
And scale it back.

Turn on the Light!
Wake up, people
And live.

I mean really live!

I feel right in this moment,
I feel good in this moment.
I feel right in this moment,
I feel good in this moment!

(Green Taggers)

I feel right in this moment,
I feel good in this moment.
I feel right in this moment,
I feel good in this moment!

credits

from Song​-​of​-​the​-​Month Club: Good Music For You, track released October 1, 2021
Credits
Panorama Jazz Band
Ben Schenck - Vocal, Clarinet, Tambourine, Hand Claps
Aurora Nealand - Alto Saxophone
Charlie Halloran - Trombone
Michael Ward-Bergeman - Accordion
Mark Rubin - Tenor Banjo, Tenor Guitar
Matt Perrine - Tuba
Doug Garrison - Drum Set, cymbals, gong
Words and Music - Ben Schenck
Publisher - Snack Daddy Music
Instruments recorded by Rick Nelson Apr 16, 2021, at Marigny Recording Studios, New Orleans, LA
Vocal recorded, track mixed and mastered by Lu Rojas
Graphic design by Ben Schenck

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Panorama Jazz Band / Panorama Brass Band - New Orleans image

Panorama Jazz Band / Panorama Brass Band - New Orleans New Orleans, Louisiana

"New Orleans' genre fluid jazz band"

The Panorama Jazz Band and the Panorama Brass Band have been working steadily in New Orleans and beyond since 1995. Many hundreds of nightclub gigs, festivals, weddings, crawfish boils and Mardi Gras parades have added to this community of musicians' collective experience, all of which they bring to each of their recordings. ... more

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