Kolumbo :: The Warmth of the Sun (Brian Wilson & Mike Love) The harmony and melody are brilliant and it’s pleasing to play on piano.

That led me to an LP my friend Mack gifted me in high school, The Secret Life of Plants, which includes the single, “Send One Your Love”. I’m not completely sure it was “Send One Your Love”, but he sent me on a Stevie deep dive I hadn’t been down in a long time. This was the case one night before a show with Fruit Bats.

He’s one of the greatest musicians I know and as a huge fan of his, I’m naturally drawn into what he’s playing. Backstage before a show, he warms up just strumming tunes on his guitar, songs you’ve likely heard many times, but he has this special way revealing the genius and nuance of a composition. My good friend and bandmate, Josh Mease, has a way of making you fall in love with songs all over again. Kolumbo :: Send One Your Love (Stevie Wonder) I’ve been intending to do an arrangement of my own for ages so this was the perfect opportunity to finally dig in.

The song is adaptable and can be arranged for both a large ensemble or a small group (Sakamoto recorded a double piano version of it from his 2009 release, Playing The Piano). I became engaged with the squishy synths and pentatonic melodies. That of course brought me to Ryuichi Sakamoto’s debut album, Thousand Knives. I had never heard of the group before but I was drawn to the music, and style. In the early days of YouTube in 2005, I discovered a user whom uploaded several Yellow Magic Orchestra music videos and live concerts. Kolumbo :: Thousand Knives (Ryuichi Sakamoto)

touch down with their inaugural Lagniappe Session, sonically juxtaposing the works of Stevie Wonder, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Brian Wilson, Duke Ellington and more. On the heels of the project’s debut release, Gung Ho, LoCrasto and co. Strings, woodwinds, brass, keyboard and percussion all make an appearance, buoyed by an edge of psychedelia complete with synthesizers and loads of tape echo. The nom de tune of sonic chameleon Frank LoCrasto, Kolumbo features vast and intricate orchestrations reminiscent of the symphonic exotica and jazz-pop records birthed by Capital records in the 50s and 60s. Something given or obtained as a gratuity or bonus.

As long as you love me instrumental