Album Notes

"Lesley's piano music gently moves you into a hypnotic and relaxed state. It's compelling movement and rhythmic flow takes you into a safe and peaceful place. It's great to use with relaxation skill instruction. I highly recommend it to clients and other therapists!"
DELLA CORIROSSI, L.C.S.W., Psycho-Therapist - Chicago, IL

"I find Secret Places Private Thoughts to be a very useful tool in my line of work as a massage therapist. It creates an environment that allows the client to relax and 'let go.' It has a calming effect, yet has an uplifting and energizing quality."
Susan Hoffman, Dancer/Choreographer, Certified Massage Therapist, Chicago

"Lesley's music is inspirational and a wonderful form of mood therapy. It is especially evocative in solitude and a great psychological rebalancer at the end of a stressful day."
Carol Burke, Executive in Chicago

"Lesley's music is so calming and uplifting. It is the perfect background music for my dinner parties!"
Linda Friedman, Owner - Joshua Antiques, New York City, NY

ARTIST BIO
LESLEY SPENCER (ASCAP) composer/pianist/arranger

Chicago based Lesley Spencer is a professional freelance producer, composer, and pianist who has worked with the San Francisco Opera, Victory Gardens Theater, Urban Gateways, Radio City Recording, and Celebrating Minds. To date she has written and produced 10 CD’s of her original music which can be frequently heard on NPR and hundreds of other public, community, satellite and internet radio stations in the US and abroad. Her music has a strong visual quality evoking a wide range of emotions from the listener and has been licensed for various media projects including commercials, motivational tapes, documentaries and film.

Her earlier recordings, INSIDE THE MELODY, & PASSIONATE JOURNEY, have established Lesley as an artist of unique talents. Ever evolving as an arranger, Lesley worked with some of the brightest lights in the Chicago music scene on her CDs, A MOVEABLE FEAST - her first Latin Chamber Pop Ensemble CD released in 1999, and the sequel THE BEST OF TIMES, released in 2000. Both CDs featured internationally acclaimed guitarist Fareed Haque.

In 2001 Lesley teamed up with Fareed Haque to produce AUTHENTIC FLAVORS - Lesley Spencer & The Latin Chamber Pop Ensemble - featuring Fareed Haque & guest soloist - Jim Gailloreto. Also joining the production team for AUTHENTIC FLAVORS were well known Chicago arrangers Pete Labella and Ricardo Lorenz. Recorded at STUDIOCHICAGO - AUTHENTIC FLAVORS was completed in May of 2002.

In the summer of 2002 - inspired by the thoughts, prayers, and sentiments of countless emails from people who were struggling to digest and put into perspective the tragic events of 9/11 - Lesley released an enhanced CD single/video of her SEPT 11TH ANTHEM. It captures in words & music the essence of that struggle and infuses it with hope - providing us with an ANTHEM truly appropriate for the 21st century. SEPT 11TH ANTHEM was the subject of an NBC CHANNEL 5 news story in Chicago by Mary Ann Ahern which was broadcast on 7/02/02 & 7/3/02. Co-produced by Lesley Spencer & Pete Labella, the ANTHEM features some of the finest professional choral singers & musicians in Chicago.

In 2003 Lesley wrote and produced a combination of orchestral, smaller ensemble & world music CD called CLASSICAL DELIGHT - Lesley Spencer & The Latin Chamber Pop Ensemble & Orchestra. Pete Labella was the head arranger, Ricardo Lorenz the guest arranger - and Fareed Haque the featured guitar soloist - with special guests Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus - Emily Ellsworth, Director. They were joined by additional top-notch studio jazz musicians and orchestral players from the Chicago Lyric Opera and Grant Park Symphony Orchestras. CLASSICAL DELIGHT received critical acclaim and significant radio play and is still frequently heard on NPR’s Morning Edition where “Lakeside Story” was chosen as one of the editor’s picks for favorite button of the year in 2004.

Two subsequent collections of Lesley‘s music, JOY GARDEN in 2004 & POSTCARDS FROM SPAIN in 2005 were also released to critical acclaim, the latter qualifying for New Age Reporter’s lifestyle best album of the year awards in 4 categories. Media highlights include a PBS documentary, “Stones From The Soil,” which aired nationally in 2005 and featured Lesley’s orchestral tour de force “Tribute” from her CLASSICAL DELIGHT album as its main theme - and a Walt Disney movie released nationally in 2006, called “STICK IT”, which features “The Battle of Marathon”, also from CLASSICAL DELIGHT. Lesley is currently producing two documentaries due to be released in 2008: “WHY THEY RUN“, about TNT charity runners, and “IT’S ABOUT LIVING”, about people living with chronic illness. She also has a new solo piano CD in the pipeline.