RAY KORONA BAND: The Safe Thing To Do

Ray Korona Band

The Safe Thing To Do

© 2005 Ray Korona (096109623332)

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features acoustic musical stories of people making a difference in the world--mothers on a peace mission, community garden organizers, a wiz kid with a computer--plus some catchy fight-back songs on today's social justice issues

tracks

1 Toys for Peace
2 Listen to the Earth
3 Trimming the Fat Right Off the Budget
4 Tommy - the Computer Kid
5 Meant to Be
6 Social Security Rag
7 The Safe Thing
8 Too Many Acoustic Guitars
9 Not My Kind
10 Long Live Our Community Garden!
11 What Can You Say to the Rain?
12 People Will Be Dancing

notes

This CD begins with TOYS FOR PEACE, a new song that Ray and Pete Seeger wrote about a powerful peace-making initiative that touched the lives of many US soldiers and Iraqi families in Iraq. Ray sings the lyrics that tell the story and Pete joins band members Ivice and Ellen Davidson who energize the chorus with strong vocal harmonies. Pete provides a spirited banjo accompaniment backed by Barry Kornhauser on bass and Ray on acoustic guitar.

LISTEN TO THE EARTH follows with a beautiful folk-style melody and musical arrangement. Its lyrics expose the hammering our planet is getting from horrendous environmental practices and policies. At one point, Ray sings: "When I go outside at night, I really want to see stars, not the blur of deadly smog around a planet full of scars." The band asks: "Did they ever hear of solar power? Ever see a windmill go? Feel the pull of an ocean wave? The heat from a volcano? There's so much we could do. There's so much we could know, if we listen to the earth." Gina's flute and Ivice's dulcimer greatly enhance the song's lyrical musicality.

TRIMMING THE FAT RIGHT OFF THE BUDGET, performed at demonstrations and major labor rallies, uses biting humor and rock solid percussion from African hand drum players Lara Gonzalez and Yael Shacham to make its points. This is followed by T0MMY-The COMPUTER KID, a satirical send-up of a familiar character found in many households around the world today.

Mandolin wizard Barry Mitterhoff (A Mighty Wind; Hot Tuna tour, etc.) weighs in on TOMMY and then offers some gorgeous sounds to join fiddle impresario Sharon Abreu in providing the musical landscape for the compelling human portrait in the reflective MEANT TO BE.

The CD contains twelve songs--all written by Ray, except for TOYS as noted earlier. Among them, the CD includes a haunting and memorable grand piano rendition of WHAT CAN YOU SAY TO THE RAIN? This heartfelt ballad features the playing of the late world class concert musician, Andrea Goodzeit. The CD carries us out with the joyful peace song, PEOPLE WILL BE DANCING that overflows into a musical jam session sparked by fiddle, mandolin, bass, shekere, djembe and guitar.

THE SAFE THING TO DO CD contains a colorful booklet complete with all the lyrics and lots of photos of the band in action. For a preview of the lyrics, more about the band, a newsletter, photos and lots of musical activist links, visit the artist website.

reviews

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  • GREAT
    author: 凉凉鱼

    我很喜欢 希望有一天能拥有这张CD

  • It is so great that Pete Seeger got together with Ray Korona to write this new p
    author: Fran Hill

    It is so great that Pete Seeger got together with Ray Korona to write this new peace song. I remember the Pete Seeger song, "Where Have All the Flowers Gone" from the time of the Vietnam war. Now I don't just hear it sung by people of my generation, but by high school teens. The "Toys" song on this CD and the "Flowers" song are very different, but this new song is exactly what we need to hear now. And the environmental message in the song about the Earth is every bit as important. Just as we have to stop killing each other, we also have to stop destroying the planet we live on if we ever expect to survive.

  • Man, are these songs needed today!
    author: Vic Morrison

    I just listened to an advance copy of this CD. Man, are these songs needed today! They're very savvy about political realities, but upbeat--hopeful. It actually makes you feel better about our chances of survival and even of somehow making this crazy planet actually work for its inhabitants. To describe the music, I'd say it's acoustic sounding, but in a hip kind of way--interesting chords and some catchy solos. There are touches from many different genres here. The lyrics are funny and serious and often very clever. My copy's staying in my CD player for a long time.

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