Jongleur

2011-06-05T12:15:00.000-07:00

April 29th, 2011 I said Goodbye to my male cat Bazil. He was a handsome guy, and good friend. I wrote a song to honor his passing and to help myself get through making such a horrible decision to say goodbye.

I have heard from many people that have also lost beloved pets - and shared tears and stories. My heart goes out to everyone in this situation.

Here are the lyrics, I hope to be posting a recording soon.

When You're Ready You'll Know
by Daniel Mandel

You can say goodbye
Don't say goodbye
You can say goodbye
Don't say goodbye
You can say goodbye

When you're ready you'll know
Lay your head down
Close your eyes
Set your worries free
The end of suffering
When you're ready you'll know

I am so, so sorry
For any times that I have let you down
Any times that I have done you wrong
Put you out in the rain

I can show you your food
Your water is good
But I cannot show you how to die
Or where you might go
What you might do
How it might be
What you may find
Could be nothing at all

I can no longer comfort you

You can say goodbye
Don't say goodbye
You can say goodbye
Don't say goodbye
You can say goodbye

When you're ready you'll know

A Promise for a Promise! Happy New Year 2011

2011-01-04T12:51:00.000-08:00

I received a request for the lyrics to my song The Promise, from my 2nd CD Jongleur, and wanted to share this with everyone.

THE PROMISE

I kept the promise, at least to myself

I’m still a child in spite of myself

I always wanted to live life this way

to have this adventure, discover this place

Aren’t we in love?

Why don’t we just dance?

Why don’t we just fly?

When we get the chance?

What’s on the other side

That scares us half to death?

Aren’t we the love

That won’t allow itself?

You kept the promise, at least you’re still here

still with this child inside of this fear

You made your way along this same road

made this a place to call this your own

Here we are so why?

Why not take that chance?

To walk into the air

Have ourselves that dance

The ground is where we were

It’s Not so far to fall

Not so much to lose

Aren’t we love after all?

I'll Let You Go - SongVault listener's have voted!

2010-09-21T07:14:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since my last entry. I guess I should learn to balance my communications and "marketing" better. The truth is I've really felt engaged by life and I've been very productive, so now I need to shift gears and tell you all about my activities!

First off - I just received an exciting announcement about my song, "I'll Let You Go". SongVault.fm is especially interesting to me because it is a very open and fair proposition. Anyone can enter and post songs that get played on the SongVault internet radio station and then listeners can vote on what they like! Not all of my songs have passed all four rounds and been permanently placed into rotation, but a few have and I'm so grateful for the opportunity. It's also a fascinating opportunity to get a glimpse and see what listener's consider worth voting for... or dare I say, "popular".

Although in terms of popularity I really resonate with a lyric from Bernie Taupin from Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirty Cowboy: "just someone his mother might know"...

Check out my artist page on SongVault.fm to listen to "I'll Let You Go" from my 2nd CD Jongleur. Take a listen and cast your vote for this song to promote it to the SongVault.fm radio station!

Stay tuned and I'll be sharing lots more about my band. We've got a FULL line up, conga, bass, keyboards, sax/flute and backing vocals. We're playing September 25th for the 1st time with this full line up at Sue's Coffee Roasting in Gilroy starting at 1:00 p.m.!

thanks for listening!

- Daniel

Asking for the Rain

2010-04-04T17:05:00.000-07:00

... you'd think I'd be writing rain songs with all these rainy days! This is a song ASKING for the rain...

Here are the lyrics to a cowrite from a year ago with John Lansner called RAIN DANCE

I feel the earth beneath my system of tears
passed by a restless early bloom
walking circles around myself
Imagine the life of trees

Breathing the sunshine into my leaves
Watching the saplings pushing up from the seeds
Reaching my branches to grow where I need
Grasping the earth, roots pull the life into me

I’m gonna RainDance ‘till the break of dawn
Daring the sky to fall down

I feel the earth beneath my frozen fears
It seems the rain was NEVER here
walking circles around myself
Imagine the life of trees

Two hundred winters before I must sleep
Back to the earth I pull my covers over me

I’m gonna RainDance ‘till the break of dawn
Daring the sky to fall down
I’m gonna RainDance ‘till the break of dawn
Daring the sky to fall down
Daring the sky to fall down

Hide

2010-03-30T06:44:00.000-07:00

I just received a notice from the website SongVault that my song Hide was placed in their SongVault Directory and on the play list on the SongVault Radio Network.

This is quite an accomplishment and something I am proud of, considering that this song has been up against hundreds of other songs and has taken several months in order to pass through all the tiered stations.

On SongVault the listeners vote and decide which songs are in or out and which songs ultimately move on to get a placement in the directory. This is my second song to make it into the directory. My 1st song was "Train My Heart" both from my Jongleur CD.

HIDE is a song that was born out of a simple observation. I was participating in a men's group. One night while sitting in a circle one of the guys in the group turned to me and asked me a simple question: "Are you hiding behind your humor?" As I recall it wasn't a particularly shaming question. In fact I think I had just thrown out a particularly funny comment. But his question stuck with me for a few years until I managed to figure out what I wanted to say in a song. So in many ways this is a song to myself to remind me to not hide. I found a surprise as I was writing this — that the opposite of hiding is love...

Give a listen to Hide.

HIDE

I hide from you

inside a conversation

these words I use

avoid a confrontation

I’m in plain view

but in this situation

my slight of tongue

just like a magician

If I act as Shame

If I think as Fear

If I live as doubt

would you still be here?

If I Live as love

If I am as love

If I act as Love?

I don’t reveal

my truthful aspect

because if you knew

then I might be suspect

I hide from you

behind a witty comment

I dodge your glance with a smile

to conceal me in this moment

If I act as Shame

If I think as Fear

If I live as doubt

would you still be here?

If I Live as love

If I am as love

If I act as Love?

The String and Bowing Road

2010-03-28T10:42:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share my journey of learning to play my new GuitViol! For those of you just tuning in this is a brand new instrument. In fact it is a brand new type of instrument. For more information about this you can link to TogaMan Guitars. If you've been exposed to renaissance music you may have heard of an instrument called the Viola da Gamba.

There is an interesting movie Tous les matins du monde with Gérard Depardieu which features viols.

My initial foray into learning the instrument has been far less cinematic. I had initially gotten interested in this when I was considering getting a cello — because I so love music that combines guitar and cello. When I read that this hybrid guitar/cello was available I couldn't resist. The body is very cello like and about the size of a small guitar. The fretboard, neck and head stock are very much like a guitar.

I find that for picking and strumming the GuitViol has a tight almost banjo like sound while the bowing sounds like other stringed instruments, viola and cello. But I would also be clear - I have not been around violas and cellos very much, so that is just my impression.

I only recently found a teacher — which is so great! I've been taking voice lessons for a while and I know the value of having a coach and mentor to continually guide me towards a better and better sound. I've been so happy to get some new exercises. Some of them are so simple, I am surprised I didn't think of them when I was trying to learn things on my own.

To be sure there are a lot of frustrations. I have been taking a leadership course through my work and they've been drilling us on how people learn new skills. The 1st level is filled with enthusiasm. I'm almost finished with this level and moving into the 2nd level which can be filled with disappointment and frustration, as well as hard work and discipline. If I can get past this level, I'll be playing, but not quite as confident in the 3rd level and then hopefully I'll reach a 4th level of confident competency. But back at the 1st level heading into the 2nd level that's just a lot of theoretical analysis from where I sit with this foreign creature nestled between my knees.

There are some real "YES" moments where I draw out a superbly rich note and think, "Oh how very cool, this is why I bought this divine instrument." These are often eclipsed by some "OH NO" moments where I think, "That was truly a nasty sound — how can I make sure I never screech like that again?!"

My goal is to be able to begin recording and performing with the GuitViol and even writing new songs on this new instrument!

One Dark Night

2010-01-03T07:21:00.000-08:00

<a href="http://danielmandel.bandcamp.com/track/one-dark-night">One Dark Night by Daniel Mandel</a>

I found a new way to deliver new songs — I'm excited that this will be a better way to get new music out to listeners. Thanks for listening!

Treasure of Pleasure

2009-12-27T13:51:00.000-08:00

This song features a poem written by my brother Mark with music and melody I added.

<a href="http://danielmandel.bandcamp.com/track/treasure-of-pleasure">Treasure of Pleasure by Daniel Mandel</a>

Here's some info he gave me:

Here's a poem I wrote for a creative writing class I'm taking. We had to pick one of three poetic forms (sonnet, ghazal, or villanelle). I chose the villanelle. It's a Renaissance form of poetry that was sometimes sung as simple ballads. The most famous villanelle these days is probably Dylan Thomas’s "Do not go gentle into that good night." Mine uses an extra bit of internal rhyme that's not part of a traditional villanelle.

This song also features my first fledgling attempts to record with my brand new GuitViol pictured above (a.k.a. Viola da gamba).

The Treasure of Pleasure

I tether you, dear, with a pleasure so near

so deeply within it can't be ignored

a treasure that weathers all that I fear

I never that treasure with everything mere

and bury my hope with passions restored

I tether you, dear, with a pleasure so near

I measure my pleasure in how I adhere

to a life that I live while hoping to hoard

a treasure that weathers all that I fear

but whether that treasure for me is right here

there's much that I find that I cannot afford

I tether you, dear, with a pleasure so near

my pleasure is feathered by what I revere

and haunted by what I haven't explored

a treasure that weathers all that I fear

in my leisure I treasure your every tear

and wonder, my love, if you're my reward

I tether you, dear, with a pleasure so near

a treasure that weathers all that I fear

Plastic Wings from Jongleur - GB song of the week!

2009-07-31T11:13:00.000-07:00

Plastic Wings, one of my songs posted on Garageband has been awarded song of the week!

This song features an interesting combination of bongos and bass, CSN style harmonies and a Peter Gabrielesque bridge!

This song is the story of a young boy who finds a pair of plastic wings and thinking this is destiny he attempts to fly only to learn the hard way how he will soar and be free!

Available from DanielRMandel.com, CDBaby, and iTunes.

My 1st Radio Interview - KALW 'Out in the Bay'

2009-07-24T22:25:00.000-07:00

Huge Thanks to Eric Jansen, Senior Host and Producer of 'Out in the Bay' on KALW 91.7 for having me as his guest on his show 'Out in the Bay'.

If you'd like to go back in time and listen to the interview, you can find it HERE.

I do have to say that this was a very fun experience. I was very flattered and humbled when I Eric notified me after I had been shameless self promoting my music to him, I had all but forgotten that I'd given him my CDs.

Eric and I had talked about me playing a song or two live. After I arrived the engineer JoAnn set me up perched on a high bar stool like a kid on a pony so I could do a quick sound check given that they didn't have a lot of flexibility with positioning their mics for guitar and voice. So that's where I sat for the entire interview, towering over Eric, and guessing how all this would sound 'out there' in someone's living room or car.

I wondered if I would say the "right" things. If my answers would be the "best" and all that malarky. Happily when the interview started I was able to just speak from my heart without second guessing myself too much.

I'm not sure how many people listened, but I did get responses from a few people that it had gone well. If you're at all curious you can click the link at the beginning of this blog and listen for yourself! I was very glad for the opportunity and I hope to be able to share my music with more and more people.

KALW Radio Interview! 91.7 FM — July 23rd 2009 7pm

2009-07-17T13:26:00.000-07:00

Out in the Bay - gay radio from San Francisco
7:00 pm Thursdays (Pacific Time) July 23rd 2009
KALW, 91.7 FM, San Francisco

Senior Producer Eric Jansen will be interviewing me about my music and inspirations and my experience as a new singer songwriter. This is my first radio interview and will be quite a thrill for me. I would be honored if you'd join us for this opportunity!

Brave Open Love - images and affirmations

2009-06-20T08:54:00.000-07:00

This is a compilation of images and affirmations set to my song Brave Open Love from my Jongleur CD.

Find out more at my website DanielRMandel.com

My song Plastic Wings just got promoted on SongVault.fm

2009-02-03T06:49:00.000-08:00

What is the deal with SongVault? Well, it's really just an internet radio station - but it is a lot of unsigned artists. As you listen you can vote by simply hitting thumbs up or thumbs down. Very cool. For me the artist I can get a sense of what is resonating with folks because they are voting as they are listening. So it kind of works for unsigned artists like Pandora does.

I personally think this is a bit better than garageband.com where other artists are rating the music and giving feedback. Because on garageband the motive for providing feedback is to get your music reviewed and promoted. So while it is a fair process and the feedback is honest, it is a bit more brutal.

The other reason to check out SongVault.fm is to hear what music people are making right now — that you would never hear on radio. Oh and while you're there, look up my song and vote for me!

Three songs from my CD Jongleur are MOVING on SongVault.fm!

2008-12-23T08:07:00.000-08:00

SongVault.fm - The Best in Independent Music
Three of my songs from my new CD Jongleur are all being voted to move up to higher tiers.
Here are my songs statistics:
Brave Open Love - moved up to Tier 3 of 4
Plastic Wings - moved up to Tier 2 of 4
Remember Who I am - moved up to Tier 2 of 4

Please help me out by dropping by to vote for my tunes!

Holiday Blessings,

Daniel Mandel

My Online Music Store

2008-12-20T07:11:00.000-08:00

Song for Mom

2008-12-18T05:28:00.001-08:00

read to you in your room
Books by Sydney Poitier
share meals with you
and make sure you get coffee

help put puzzles together
and watch and wait
for minds and hands
to find the piece that fits

help from sitting to standing
from standing to sitting
guide your walking
prevent you from falling

be your penpal
write you letters
with pictures and stories
but no bad news

lay at your feet
every gift I can think of
and barter and trade
everything I own

remind you and tell
the story of your lover
How you came to be in this city
what happened to him

help put puzzles together
and watch and wait
for minds and hands
to find the piece that fits

Plastic Wings is moving up on SongVault.fm

2008-12-09T06:29:00.001-08:00

My song "Plastic Wings" from my new CD Jongleur has moved up to the next tiered station, SongVault Showcase on SongVault.fm.

This song is now just 2 tiers away from getting placed in the SongVault Directory and having a permanent placement on the SongVault radio network.

Please help me out - go to listen and vote for my song and others on SongVault.fm.

Brave Open Love,

Daniel Mandel
http://www.danielrmandel.com
http://www.songvault.fm

Brave Open Love moved up one tier on SongVault.FM

2008-11-25T02:58:00.000-08:00

My song "Brave Open Love" from my new release JONGLEUR has moved up to the next tiered station, SongVault Showcase on SongVault.fm.

My song is now just 2 tiers away from getting placed in the SongVault Directory and having a permanent placement on the SongVault radio network.

Check out this site listen and vote for my song on SongVault.fm.

Best Regards,

Daniel

Daniel Mandel's new CD - Jongleur is released!

2008-11-23T09:37:00.000-08:00

Jongleur (released November 2008) contains a collection of twelve pop folk rock songs.

For more info http://www.danielrmandel.com

These songs were written as recently as a few months prior to the release all the way back to several years ago. The title comes from an old French word meaning entertainer who sang songs, often of his own composition, and told stories. This seemed to be a good fit as I wrote many of these songs in an amazing place in Southwestern France. On this album I worked with a new mixing engineer and studio musicians as well as some new friends to create a great sound to enhance and expand on my original vision. There are some great additions such as horns, percussion, bass and mandolin. I have spent the years since my 2005 release of Might Be You honing and crafting these songs. I hope you enjoy them.