Dukkha's members continue to amaze audiences in their various musical careers - Guitarist Adam Agati recently appeared on the Jay Leno and Conan shows.
DN MISSION: to assuage suffering through the universal soul-speak of audible art.
100% of CD or downloads profits goes to Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to help fund CF research and education! CD Baby has joined with DN in contributing profits to CFF as well! Listen to Track #9, "65 Roses", for a peek at life with CF, and Track # 8 & 14 which prove having CF doesn't mean you can't sing! Get the whole CD with animated CD-Rom feature and full liner notes here. The whole CD is recommended, as the songs and artwork are connected by a central theme: turning life's finite energy to positive use to enhance everybody's earth experience. Individual songs available on itunes.
“Patty Morris is the epitome of blue-eyed soul. May your soul be saved!” – JD Steele
“I let the whole band listen on the way home from Bonnaroo…it’s cool…it’s time.” – Ric “jazguitar” Hall
This is an enhanced cd-rom; the Little Buddha animated feature is really cool and works on most, especially newer, computers (but not all, especially older, ones). Such is the nature of "dukkha".
Dukkha=suffering or impermanence
Samsara=cyclical existence
Annutarasambuddha=highest enlightenment
Pig=ignorance; rooster=greed; snake=malice
Dukkha's Nemesis=a jazzily bohemian collection of life-inspired songs that share the joy of ego-free collaboration and the theme that the world benefits all when all choose enlightenment over ignorance.
Currently located in New York, Boston, Portland, and Nashville, members of Dukkha’s Nemesis have shared the stage with legends including Wynton Marsalis, Bob Mintzer, the Yellowjackets, Cleo Lane and Johnny Dankworth, Hal Crook, Dave Zinno, Joe Lovano, Herbie Hancock, Dave Brubeck, JD Steele, and many more. The extensive influences of jazz, rock, hip hop, funk, blues, soul, R&B, reggae, alternative and other genres are evident in this unique cross-generational project.
THE BIRTH OF DUKKHA'S NEMESIS: Patty Morris, the lead singer, started writing songs (lyrics and melody) based on her observations of both beauty and misery in the world around her while still a child. Later, while her own children were growing up, she formulated the raw ideas for "Dukkha's Nemesis". She sang her ideas out loud in the kitchen, in the shower, in the car, and performed her own versions of popular blues and jazz songs with a number of bands; however, it wasn't until her son and his friends were studying jazz in superlative high school and college (Berklee College of Music & Brown University) jazz programs that she had the necessary collaborators to develop "Dukkha's" into full-blown audible art.
Recognizing opportunity when it knocked on her noggin, Patty came to her son James Donahue (trumpet/composition/arrangements) and his friend Adam Agati (guitar/composition/arrangements) with several of her musical brain-children in 2004. With only a cappella versions of the songs to work with, James and Adam transformed Patty’s long-held ideas, injecting youthful harmonic and rhythmic bodies into what started as blues/soul/R&B heads. The three of them sat down on countless occasions, brainstorming, arranging, and recording musical snippets to eventually be recorded by an all-star cast of old high school friends - together with "James's Mom" (Patty), and her daughters, Ali and Gabrielle.
Adam Agati (guitar, etc, etc, exponentially!), Nick Falk (drums), Bryan Ladd (bass), Chris Gagne (trombone), Chris Enright (keys), and Joe Albano (tenor sax) all graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston. They currently base their respective music careers out of Nashville, Boston, New York, Providence and Portland. James (trumpet and flugelhorn, muchos et ceterae!) performed with and composed/arranged for a number of groups at Brown University. James’s sisters/Patty’s daughters Ali and Gabrielle (17 and 13 at the time) also came into The Studio in Portland, ME to provide additional vocals on the socially conscious song "Blind", which comments on the pervasive problem of homelessness that afflicts so much of America’s urban population. (At the end of the CD, Ali and Gabe can be heard at younger ages covering the same verses in an earlier live version of "Blind").
Patty’s lyrics also touch upon international politics and the universal ability of human beings to opt for loving kindness over destructive behavior ("Do Some Good"), the difficulty of growing up in a low-income part of Portland with 9 siblings ("Jackie Was Cry’n"), the struggle to accomplish one's goals against the inevitable passage of time ("The Last Tollgate"), and the hope and gratitude for joyous life that comes from dealing with an as-yet-to-be-cured genetic disease ("65 Roses").
Patty’s daughter Ali was born with Cystic Fibrosis ("65 Roses" as it is sometimes pronounced by young children - hence, the name of Track #9 on the CD). CF causes lung dysfunction, food absorption issues, multiple hospitalizations, and early death. The median age is 37, meaning half die before that age, many in childhood. 100% OF DUKKHA’S CD OR MERCH PROCEEDS CONTRIBUTES TO CF RESEARCH (DN also occasionally donates CD's to other, non-profit, causes to help raise funds as the need arises). BETTER TREATMENTS ARE POSSIBLE AND EVENTUALLY A CURE, IF WE KEEP THE RESEARCH GOING! Check out WWW.CFF.ORG for more info and other ways to help. Thanks!!
In addition to dedicating "65 Roses" to Ali, Patty also wrote "Little Buddha" to capture the free-spiritedness of her daughter Gabe, and "Miles (Down the Road)," a play on words dedicated to her trumpet-playing son James as inspiration after leaving the nest.
Oh, and there's some cool stuff sprinkled in - like, the gleefully machiavellian little chubbyhead laugh at the end of "Little Buddha" from a 21-year-old cassette-tape-recording of James when he was still in smelly poopoo didie pants. Just thought James would appreciate me letting everyone know...And there's an animated feature (works on some but not all computers) that you should really check out, because fun is a fine thing. Hmmm, and some other little surprises, but I'm not telling, you'll have to listen to the whole cd!
A final note about the theme which winds its way throughout "Dukkha's Nemesis": despite and sometimes because of suffering, we possess the ability to choose enlightenment over ignorance. I find it kind of heartening to know, especially since it means that even those political leaders and just plain folk who opt to do chiefly harmful things may at any time choose instead to put that SAME energy toward helping themselves, other individuals and groups of people in need. The spillover effect is a more positive world for all of us. Check out the liner notes and illustrations on the CD package, and you’ll see the same theme visually mirroring that audible thread.
In fact, DN's singer/songwriter Patty put down her mic and picked up her colored pencils, scissors, and glue to create liner notes and a layout designed to mirror the spirit of the cd's audio (and animated feature). So, we strongly recommend getting the whole kit and kaboodle, not just because a hefty chunk of any proceeds goes toward curing Cystic Fibrosis (reason enough), but also because sometimes even a Van Gogh is more complete in a lovingly crafted frame. (Sorry, Vince...yes, yes, your creative genius remains unsurpassed...ok, drawing a comparison is a bit presumptuous...no, I KNOW I'm not worthy...Vince, c'mon man, a LITTLE slack, it took me 40 frickin' years around babies and corporate yoke-chokes to get this thing done, geez).
EPILOGUE:
Helping out with an illness, choosing enlightenment over greed or ignorance, channeling finite life energy toward the positive rather than wasting it on gossip, environmental destruction, or war – the gist comes to a head toward the end of the CD in “Believe in Peace”. (PLEASE...DO!). Joy! Patty Morris & Dukkha's Nemesis
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