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What's there to say? Welcome to a new day
Yeah, what a day. New in a number of ways, too. Writing in the narrative is definitely interesting as well as a little odd. But it's as good a way as any so, here we go.


Born and raised on the streets of New York. Queens, to be exact
To be even more exact, I'm from the Saint Albans section of Queens. As a kid, my usual daytime activity went something like this: play the piano and watch cartoons in the morning, play the piano and run around outside in the afternoon, try to play piano and watch TV at the same time in the evening while fighting with the rest of my family. They didn't mind me making noise on the piano, of course. They just didn't wanna have to miss the TV show, "Good Times" because of it. Which was cool 'cause I didn't either.
I first started messin' around on the piano when I was 3 or 4 years old. The theme to the TV show "Batman" was the first recognizable melody I remember playing but around that same time, I was trying my best to play songs from the radio and from my parents' record collection.
There was always music and instruments around my home, as there should be in every home. My earliest memories are of James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, Mongo Santamaria, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Funkadelic, Tito Puente and Jimi Hendrix mainly because they were who my parents and uncles listened to. Years before I was born, my father played congas with his older brother on timbales in their own latin band. And throughout my childhood his two younger brothers, my uncles, played guitar and bass respectively in their own funk/rock band. On top of that my grandmother, Amy James, played piano and organ at churches all over Queens and Brooklyn for decades. So being around all kinds of music and all kinds of musicians was completely normal for me.
 


Where my dreams became vision like so many of the other cats
It was really something to be a musician in Queens. I was always aware we had a lot of great musicians around.What was interesting was, as time went on and I performed more and more outside my neighborhood and then New York and eventually the US, I realized that so many of the best musicians, writers and composers in the industry were from our area in Queens in particular. Over the years, my friends and I have come up with a theory as to why it works out this way. We have a lot of private homes in Queens. That means basements, garages and backyards. All of which are ideal for bands to rehearse. Occasionally, you even cramp into somebody's bedroom or living room, if their mother allowed it. All this meant that we had a whole lotta bands in Queens. This isn't to say that Brooklyn, Manhatten, the Bronx and Staten Island didn't have private homes as well. They did but as I said, for some reason we had a whole lotta bands and therefore, a whole lotta musicians.
 

Shout out to the crew to stay true because nobody's bad like you
At this point people all over the world have heard of the "Funkin' For Jamaica" area of Queens, thanks to jazz trumpeteer Tom Browne's hit record. This area is basically comprised of Hollis, Cambria Heights, Saint Albans, Jamaica, Ozone Park, South Ozone Park, Laurelton, Queens Village and other surrounding neighborhoods. If the names of these neighborhoods sound familiar, they should. They've all been sung about and mentioned in countless rap, R'n'B, jazz and hip hop songs for many years.
Probably the best way for musicians (Yes, singers are musicians too) to nurture their talent is through interaction with other musicians. There are so many challenges when you're around great artists. You'll either quit or grow. Most grew and many of them have left a positive mark on the music the world enjoys. Time and time again.

And you can believe, if it's coming from me, it's sincere.
Our roster is tremendous and proud and growing every day. I truly feel fortunate to have grown up, and consequently played, with such incredible talent.

So in this life and the next, from Kay, take care

"Strange, our situation here on earth. However, there is one thing that we do know. Man is here for the sake of other men. Above all, for those upon whose smile and well being our own happiness depends. And also for the countless unknown souls with whose faith we are connected by a bond of sympathy."

In El Pienel, Everyone





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