Music in My Life
Tremaine Parsons
11/18/06

I was born in 1951 and had the fortunate experience of being in grade school at a time when music instrument instruction was available to all students. I had weekly lessons in percussion during 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. During this time , my brother collected Elvis, and other, 45 RPM records which I would play. I even also remember having Stevie Wonder's 1st, 45rpm, singles "Fingertips 1 and 2".

Entering Junior High, the Beatles were just hitting the US and I remember learning guitar chords for "Please Please Me" and the other tunes getting regular airtime as well as learning how to tune a guitar. Junior High was also the time to be in a band attempting to play Beatles and Stones cover tunes and I suppose we did OK all things considered. We played a few Junior High dances and everyone screamed just like a Beatles concert. Moving into High School, my interests turned toward the piano and I started working the piano actively around 1967.

To date, my most prolific composition period was from around 1970 to 1990 and during this time I also played some Flute, Baritone and Tenor Sax. In 1992 I moved across country to California. During the 90's my creative side moved somewhat to my new family, computer programming (how unromantic), and internet related business opportunities.

I consider 1992 - 2020 to be sort of my music writing dormant stage but I feel an awakening drive stirring to revisit the many composition sketches that I never finished as well a new entities and ideas that have been simmering during this time.

At the end of the 80's, I cobbled together a midi studio with a very nice weighted Roland midi keyboard controller, a Roland synth piano sound module (MKS20 - Excellent Piano Module by the way), and an IBM PC running DOS with Roger Powell's Texture sequencing software. To this, I added some much lesser quality instrument sound modules (FB01 and TX81Z) so the below  six tunes do have a somewhat "canned" sound quality on the trumpets, guitars, and other instruments.

Using this equipment, I engineered a handful of my favorite compositions from the 70's and 80's. All of my composition archives are still packed in boxes from my 1992 cross country move so specific composition dates below are approximate.

Having traveled in Mexico during the 60's 70's and 80's, as well as a two month trip to South America (Colombia and Ecuador) in 1972, my writing is definitely influenced by "latin" music infrastructure. I can't help it, it just happened and I love it!! It is what moves my heart.

I would say that I have been most influenced by the following (in no particular order and not limited to): Horace Silver, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Bill Evans, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, The Doobie Brothers.

One of my goals in the future is to revisit some of these (and others) to re-engineer, slow down the tempo, and release as solo piano sketches. Or, for some (and others), re-release with better quality sound samples of other instruments. See New Project 2020 Below!

* = Some of My Favorites

Note: All songs are concept sketches so feel free to bail out midway through a tune.