…Two years prior I released the I Wanna See Him Deluxe Ep (on CD and MP3 download). It is the bridge where contemporary instrumental jazz connects with soulful vocals. The songs are my arrangements of classic and new hymns, like: reggae-infused and Electric Bass-led: ‘In The New Jerusalem’, traditional gospel piano-led: ‘Is Thy Heart Right With God’, the contemporary jazz electric guitar-led: ‘O I Want To See Him’, traditional jazz guitar-led: ‘Only Jesus Can Satisfy Your Soul’ and my vocal and piano: ‘Path Of Life’ .
Mom had introduced and exposed me to many hymns when I was little, including Lanny Wolfe’s Only Jesus Can Satisfy Your Soul. We sang Is Thy Heart Right With God at Bible study services while I was growing up at Faith Aflame Ministry. Dad would often sing Path Of Life at Faith Aflame before he would preach, but it is only when I started searching for the publishing information while recording this ep that I discovered it had never been recorded or published before. Minister Mark Brown (1 of my music production mentors) remembered Dad singing it before he preached at PenTab in 2004, but he too was unaware of the publishing. I ended up asking mom and in her Jamaican dialect she said: “A yuh fadda write dat enuh”…meaning: your dad wrote that song. I was surprised, as I was now in my 30s and we sang this so many times and did not know that Dad wrote it! Then it made sense, because previously I saw him open the Bible and sing the scriptures on several occasions.
A bonus track – the One Family [Digital Unplugged Exclusive] accompanied that ep’s release. I originally started writing One Family for my Grandma Adlin Smith’s 75th birthday during 2004 or so, because I recognized family unity was something very important to her. Of course, I had not released any music since my parents sponsored the Changed Man album I completed in 2001. Fast forward to 2015, I was preparing my sophomore: I Wanna See Him album and I asked Meleisha Jocelyn to co-write the 2nd verse of One Family.
Then in April 2018, while visiting my parents, we received a telephone call that…at the time, I didn’t realize that there would be a frequency of similar calls, and a magnitude of downward spiraling events was about to happen. Grandma (my last grandma) passed away! Then within 3 months, Daddy. Six months later – Grandma Syl (Kanece’s last grandma), then 2 of her aunts, then by mid 2019 – Pop Miller, her Dad.
I went through a very very very dark season. Every event punched me in the gut and sent me deeper into the tunnel. It challenged me to my core! My faith was tested in ways unimaginable! It was so hard to get back up, but each time I got up. This season became another defining moment in my life. Imagine you’re standing in a dark tunnel and can see a glimmer of light that feels so near, but it is way beyond where your hands can reach. If I never wondered what if felt like to stare at the break of day, I sure do tonight, in this Night Season! The songs below became the reprising soundtrack, and prayers during my night season.
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-Kirby
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