J.C. Sch�tz...... a corner of a smile

Beatriz

let me share this corner of heaven with you.

i just found this incredible live recording with MONICA SALMASO of one of the most beautiful songs ever composed (by CHICO BUARQUE and EDU LOBO).

performed by MONICA SALMASO - "BEATRIZ"

After all, we're watching the same sky, thinking the same thoughts.

isn't life a miracle?

=)

New forum

i've just created a new Forum where you can start topics about anything (well, almost). i'll be writing a bit there now to get it started, but i still barely know how it works hehehe.....

� forum.jcschutz.net

it's mainly because i want to have the opportunity to have more direct contact with those of you who wish. if you write there, i will reply. it's as simple as that....

so far i've been writing about the coming cd C'EST LA VIE, but there will of course be more in the near future. i'm also trying to change the default layout, because it's very ugly right now.

� forum.jcschutz.net

anyone can comment, but to start new topics and stuff, you'll need to sign up for an account. of course it's free and it just takes a minute.

hope to see you there, and get to know a little more about you!

� forum.jcschutz.net

=)

right now i added the background story to the CD cover of "Passion", with original images from the photo session, including the snow and ice in the background!

New website

i've just updated my website completely, with new images, new layout and everything.....

have a look, and let me know what you think:
� www.jcschutz.net

=)

And another

i prefer this one, it's darker, but the image is better and i look happier.... and i like the light from the door behind me.

=)

here's DJAVAN singing a song that i love, "DOIDICE":

=)

Another idea

here's another idea i've had for the album cover...... so far i'm sticking to the title "C'EST LA VIE", but it may still change. i'm kind of into black & white photos at the moment, so the cover may be completely in b/w.

=)

Passion in japanese

my song "Passion" has been translated into japanese and is included in a musical with the all-female ensemble TAKARAZUKA KAGEKIDAN!

the musical is released on both a live CD and DVD, including the japanese version of "Passion". even an instrumental piano CD has been released!

go to this page and listen to song number 15:
� hmv.co.jp/product/detail/2713099

read more on wikipedia:
� wikipedia.org/wiki/Takarazuka_Revue

=)

Por favor

while we all wait for my new cd to be finished i just want to share this song, "Por Favor" (Please) performed in the studio by the brasilian singer SIMONE. the song is written by Ivan Lins and Aldir Blanc, at first appearing to be simple. it's very effective and beautiful, and right now it makes my heart beat a little faster.

i really hope you like it!

=)

Mixing

the mixing is not completely done, so i will wait with posting the songs again. please enjoy these photos in the meantime, all taken during one of the days we were mixing, me and the highly talented mixing engineer Katarina Nilsson (who also was singing backing vocals on my BLISSA NOVA).

we also recorded a couple of minutes of video while we were mixing, and i have decided to add this to the documentary in the near future.

joy is important in work!

close up of the computer screen.

a concentrated katarina.

a worried j.c. =)

the speaker was pounding like a heart.

katarina during a coffee-break.

me during the same coffee-break.

the flowers in the grass during the same coffee-break.

=)

Photos

we've started to mix my new album now, but i spent the past weekend relaxing, taking long walks with Timmy the dog by the Baltic Sea. i also got a bit red in the sun, because the last few days have been steaming hot with blue skies and pouring sun!

please enjoy these photos from the east coast of �land:

=)

All samples

here are some new samples! please remember that the CD is not mixed yet, so this only shows roughly how it will be. all songs are included here, but not in any particular order.

#1
C'EST LA VIE

this is one of the four songs that will also be in english on the non-Swedish releases of the CD. this version has the piano part added.

#2
KAN VI HJ�LPA ATT VI �LSKAR ATT DANSA
(We can't help it if we love to dance)

now complete with backing vocals (sung by Helena Soluna), and organ (played by Roman Andr�n). i've also updated the drum tracks.

#3
JABUTICABA

now with nice backing vocals.

and here are the rest of the songs, but the samples are the same as before:

#4
SOM OM INGENTING HAR H�NT
(As if it's never taken place)

this is one of the songs that will also be in english.

#5
DU DET �R OKEJ
(Hey, it's gonna be okay)

this is one of the songs that will also be in english.

#6
SVAR
(Answer)

#7
HUR SKA MAN GL�MMA
(How do you forget?)

#8
BALANS
(Equilibrium)

#9
ALLT HAR SIN TID
(Everything has its time)

#10
SKUGGOR
(Shadows)

previously called "Ett enda liv" (one life only). i've changed the lyrics a bit in the chorus, but you don't hear it in this version that is the old one.

#11
DET G�R INGENTING - I GUESS IT'S OK
version in english =)

this is one of the four songs that will also be in english on the non-Swedish releases of the CD. it's the song i perform on the piano in the documentary.

oh yeah, same old advisory:

* vocals and some instruments are only Early Production Recordings and MAY CHANGE!
* this is only HALF-finished!
* several instruments are still missing!
* this is UN-mixed!
* this is only for you to follow the progress of the creation of my new album!
* this does not represent the sound quality of the album!

=)

On its way

during the last weeks i've worked to finish the new CD, and i'll post some samples here tonight. but not of all the songs, as i'd planned, and promised - i'm sorry!

we'll soon begin the mixing, and i'll keep you updated. i'll try to post some photos as well from the process!

in the meanwhile, here's the first idea for the CD cover. please note, it's just my first spontaneous idea, and it may not at all look like this!

i still haven't decided if the title will be "BALANS" or "C'EST LA VIE"..... maybe "c'est la vie" fits more into the overall feeling of the album.

is it only me, or do i look like a young CHICO BUARQUE in this picture?!? i wish hahahaha

=)

Ponto final

i just have to show you this song, written and performed by a new friend of mine, VANESSA PINHEIRO.

she's from brasil, so this amazingly beautiful song is in portuguese.

i'm very happy that our paths have crossed!

VANESSA PINHEIRO - "Ponto Final"

=)

about the new samples from my new CD, i'll post all songs during this week... just have to put the finishing touch... we'll mix the album in the beginning of july, and i'll of course post new samples again after that, so you can hear the difference!

i think i'll name my third album "C'EST LA VIE", but i still have a couple of months to change my mind hehehe so we'll see!

=)

Warmth

here's a beautiful poem by Thich Nhat-Hanh:

FOR WARMTH

I hold my face in my two hands.
No, I am not crying.
I hold my face in my two hands
to keep the loneliness warm:
two hands protecting,
two hands nourishing,
two hands preventing
my soul from leaving me
in anger!

=)

for those of you who wonder, i still haven't recorded any new vocals, but i'm building up courage and emotion to do this in the very close future. at the moment i'm very easily touched and moved, so maybe it's the right time to do some really emotional vocal recording.

i've also been taking some voice classes lately, to work with my voice and its strength and timbre, to help me express more of myself in my singing. this will improve my vocal expression very much, something i've already noticed.....

finally, but most important today:

a very close friend of mine had a heart surgery the other day. please help me pray for her quick recovery!

=)

Vocals

now there's not much left to be done with the new CD "BALANS".

i still have some vocals and backing vocals to record, and there are also piano/keyboard parts to be done, but that's about it.

the plan is to mix the album at the end of june.

by that time i also hope to have had time to make remixes of a couple of the songs. i think we'll also make remixes of some songs from BLISSA NOVA.... but one thing at the time!

i'm also working with english lyrics for a couple of songs. this was more difficult than i thought. even though swedish and english are a bit similar, the syllable stress is different, so i have to re-arrange a lot of the sentences to get it right. and then it also needs to have some rhymes..... and rhythm..... and it has to sound nice and be easy to sing..... etc......

unfortunately, i'm currently incredibly restless. i think it's the nice weather that brings out the wolf in me.

=)

Moon on the water

as you may have seen in the RECORDING DOCUMENTARY, i have lately been reading a book with collected writings of japanese Zen Master DOGEN, written in the 13th century.

buddhism has always interested me very much, even long before i knew what it was. now, let me show you one of my favourite passages from the book, which is called "Moon in a Dewdrop":
....................

enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. the moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken. although its light is wide and great, the moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide.

the whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in dewdrops on the grass, or even in one drop of water.

enlightenment does not divide you, just as the moon does not break the water. you cannot hinder enlightenment, just as a drop of water does not hinder the moon in the sky.

the depth of the drop is the height of the moon. each reflection, however long or short its duration, manifests the vastness of the dewdrop, and realizes the limitlessness of the moonlight in the sky.
....................

the imagery of how the moon and the whole sky are reflected in one dewdrop, is to me stunning. it shows not only how things are connected, but also as the whole world can be, and is, reflected in one single drop of water. this is how the whole world functions. it's a nice evoking image!

an atom, invisible to the naked eye, looks exactly the same as our solar system, only it's millions of times smaller.

that is a miracle, don't you think?

every winter is followed by spring. spring changes slowly into summer. it's never the other way around. winter is never followed by autumn or summer. spring is never followed by winter.

technically, this is because of Earth orbiting the Sun. And the orbit is because of gravity.

but isn't it a miracle?

i'm not going to get deeper into this, but the idea that something LARGE can be reflected identically in something SMALL is inherent in everything.

and it's part of the miracle we call LIFE.

=)

a close friend's grandmother passed away recently, and every time death approaches us and takes away someone we love, these kind of existential thoughts are asking to be thought.

i say that the purpose of DEATH is to remind us to LIVE.

let me try to explain.....

if everyone in every generation was born at the same day at the same year, and died at the same day at the same year, we would not be aware of death. we would not know about it until it struck us, with a surprising shock!

this would probably also make us incredibly selfish, un-caring, ignorant, and taking life, and the things we have, for granted.

still, some people live this way.

being reminded that everything passes, that nothing lasts, is an unescapable fact of life. it's not, as many people think, depressing or scaring.

fear is only a feeling that we use when we cannot love and trust properly. fear is a substitute, just like hate is a substitute for love. when we can't share the best thing, we take something else, regardless of how much it hurts us and the people around us.

death exists to remind us to live. to remind us to watch the swan in the pond, to see how the clouds change in the sky, to listen to the birds, to open our heart and make it playful, because only then you can understand. only when we stop stressing, pushing ourselves to the border of collapse, hunting quick pleasures to forget our pain inside, we can stop pretending that life should be a walk on rose petals. that's a stupid idea we've got from romanticism, something i'll talk about another time.....

sadness has to exist. pain has to exist. just as much as joy and happiness. but we have to understand that it's our attachment that makes us sad, and not another person or a thing we've actually lost.

death is a gateway. just like birth is a gateway. life is the walk between.

a walk which is sometimes on rose petals, but also sometimes on sharp, cutting stones, forcing us to leave heavy luggage along the way. it's pain that gives us the opportunity to get rid of the things we no longer need. the sharp stones cutting into the flesh of our feet only exist for this reason.

life goes on. time never stops (time as we know it). this walk is a long moment, seemingly never-ending, boundless, just like the seasons float into eachother, spring doesn't arrive on a fixed day every year!

we don't have to be afraid of death. winter always becomes spring always becomes summer always becomes autumn always becomes winter.

always becomes a new spring.

=)

IT'S ONLY WHEN WE'LL STOP LOOKING THAT WE WILL SEE.

New versions

any day now, i'm one year older, and the album is nearly finished, so it's kind of my present for myself! =)

i promised you these samples last week, but i didn't have the time to post them earlier. this time it's three songs that have been "updated", hope you'll like it:

"DU DET �R OK"
(hey, it's gonna be ok)

i've re-recorded the acoustic guitars and the toy glockenspiel, and i've also been working a bit with the drum tracks... i'll record new vocals, and then it's pretty much done..... here's a new translation for the chorus:
- it's not easy to let go
- when your dreams are all you know
- i know it's hard, but hey!
- it's gonna be OK

"JABUTICABA"

with new guitars, both acoustic and electric. just missing new vocals! i love the atmosphere of this song.

"ALLT HAR SIN TID"
(everything has its time)

have re-recorded the two electric guitars. just missing new vocals, AND backing vocals.

oh yeah, same old advisory:

* vocals and some instruments are only Early Production Recordings and MAY CHANGE!
* this is only HALF-finished!
* several instruments are still missing!
* this is UN-mixed!
* this is only for you to follow the progress of the creation of my new album!
* this does not represent the sound quality of the album!

=)

Pay for music!

would YOU stay at a job where someone takes 99% of your money, still asking you to work full-time?

making a CD takes months of hard work. it's like any other job.

and i'm like any other person, i need the money for my rent and the food on my table. it's really that simple - if i don't make any money, i will have to stop making music.

SO
if you have downloaded my music without paying
OR
if you're a kind person with lots of money
OR
if you like my music and would like to support me

THEN
please make a DONATION here. it only takes 2 minutes.
or i may not be able to continue recording music.

thank you for your understanding!

the background to this donation page is that i've just received the royalty check from iTunes/other pay websites, and it's a shockingly low amount

BECAUSE

the same day i also found my albums on a free [illegal] download site, and i discovered that the illegal downloads are 1000 times more popular. and this is only ONE website.

this means, that LESS than 1% of the people who download my music from the internet are paying. the rest is..... well, not paying.

and i can't afford to eat.

would you work for free?

=)

or see it like this - taking music without paying is comparable with raping a woman in a dark park.

just because she walks alone through the park, and nobody would see you, it doesn't give you the right to rape her.

With a blue guitar

am currently re-recording some guitars for the album, and i'll post some new samples during the week. i've been using the electric guitar a lot lately, as you've already heard, and as you will hear in the coming samples. playing electric now is like meeting an old friend from the past that suddenly turns up again, one crossroad later, both of you brimming with new experiences and insights, still being able to continue as if no time has passed.

i never believed in the beginning and end of things. it's all about continuation. everything is a continuation of something else.

maybe that's why i've forgiven my blue electric guitar and opened up my mind to my musical past and now let all my influences co-exist at the same time � folk, chanson, blues, pop, jazz, reggae, samba. they are all like different-coloured bricks in my musical foundation, and it doesn't feel strange at all, this explosion of colours.

i've tried to find the origin of this quote, but everywhere i find it, i also find a different source. so i guess lots of people have said it �

the mind is like an umbrella � it only works when it's open

the present is the moment where your past still lingers and where your future is constantly being reborn. come dwell with me below this open umbrella!!!!

isn't it wonderful, the sound of spring rain?

=)

Poem

please allow yourself to enter this four minute thought. it's written by THICH NHAT HANH from vietnam, and is called:

PLEASE CALL ME BY MY TRUE NAMES

=)

Nobody knows

yesterday i watched the japanese movie NOBODY KNOWS, directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda.

it's one of the ABSOLUTELY BEST MOVIES i've ever seen. ever.

it's incredibly strong and touching, inspired by a true story about a woman who abandons her four children in a tokyo apartment, to pursue her own "happiness" with a new man.

the movie follows the children, who have not been registered at birth and therefore do "not exist" and cannot leave the apartment. the oldest boy is left with the responsibility of the household and looking after his siblings. he's brilliantly played by Yuya Yagira, whose performance made him the youngest ever BEST ACTOR winner at the Cannes Film Festival.

this could have been such a sentimental, manipulative movie, if the story had ended up in the hands of a "western" director. and i read an american review that said this movie is boring. and it is in the hollywood sense: there is no obvious plot, no action or fast cuts, no hero. only the children trying to survive, day by day, week by week, month by month.

it's very realistic, often filmed from a documentary-like point-of-view, unsentimental but melancholic, sometimes painfully beautiful but never depressing. it's slow-paced, which to me is only emphasizing the situation of the children not being allowed to live normal children's lives. it's not a movie for restless people wanting 2� hours of braindead entertainment.

it's a movie that grasps your heart with the gentle fragility of a child's hand.

KORE-EDA is not looking for anyone to blame, and you could see the mother herself as a victim. the movie is more of an "attack" on a society where people don't want to know what's going on with their neighbours, than an "attack" on individuals.

as the japanese director said in an interview:

"I'm not interested in creating heroes, superheroes, or antiheroes. I simply want to look at people as they are."

here's the FRENCH movie trailer, because the english one has a horrible speaker-voice promising the "greatest adventure imaginable", which is very misleading and genuine bullshit. the french trailer has subtitles and no speaker-voice.

reviewers have called it "miraculously fresh", "absorbing, humane and deeply moving", "astonishing", "stunning" and "a delicate, casually heartbreaking film".

to quote a reviewer from IMDB, it shows the contrast between the courage, maturity and innocence of children, and the selfishness and childishness of adults.

please watch this movie. you will never forget it.

=)