November 9, 2009
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Learning Guitar through songs method myth http://wp.me/pFoQS-44
How to meditate daily November 4, 2009
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“Learning to meditate is the best thing I’ve ever done”
How I did it: I’ve learned Transcendental Meditation, Kriya Yoga with Self Realization Fellowship (Paramahansa Yogananda) and Primordial Sound Meditation with Deepak Chopra. I found it important to set a 30 day goal to develop the habit of meditating twice a day to develop a habit. I use the RPM approach – Rise, Pee and Meditate. Works for me. My second session is around 3:30pm in the afternoon. I now meditate twice a day, everyday and consider it the single best habit I’ve ever developed.
Lessons & tips: I’ve created a 20 minute audio that has water sounds, Tibetan bells and subtle alpha pulses that help put one in a meditative state. It also serves as a meditation times with a bell to start and at the end. I use my iPod, but you could also use any MP3 player or the computer.
I would be willing to send you an MP3 of this for no charge along with basic meditation instructions. The key is to develop the habit. I suggest trying a 30 day experiment.
Resources: I recommend Deepak Chopra’s “Seduction Of The Spirit” workshop. Also the Holosync program on CD by Centerpointe. You can do a web search for both.
It took me 30 days.
It made me Peace and Joy! 
Kahlil Gibran On Marriage October 10, 2009
Posted by tomasm in Inspiration.Tags: Inspiration, Kahlil Gibran, love, marriage
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You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.
Light Of My Life – Solo Guitar October 6, 2009
Posted by tomasm in Uncategorized.Tags: fingerpicking guitar, guitar music, solo guitar
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This song I composed for solo guitar will probably be on a future CD.
September 17, 2009
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2 Days left to concert time – A Night Of Beauty And Fire http://ping.fm/A8Clo
My Dad and his new Tricycle September 9, 2009
Posted by tomasm in Uncategorized.Tags: dad age 90, dad and tricycle, tricycle
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My dad will be 90 in Feb. This is too wild – Inspiring! I do have a heck of a time getting him to wear his helmet. Any suggestions?
September 8, 2009
Posted by tomasm in Music.Tags: alameda, bassist, Beauty and Fire, concert, Flamenco, guitar, guitar music, music in alameda, new CD, ottmar liebert, rhythmix cultural center, santana, santana bassist, world music
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Alameda guitarist flaunts Flamenco tradition – and sales figures
Michaud and former Santana bassist reprise 2008 success in Sept. 19 concert
ALAMEDA, Calif. (Sept. 1, 2009) – When Tomas Michaud last took the stage a year ago, the volunteers at Alameda’s Rhythm
Tickets for A Night Of Beauty And Fire - CD Release Concert by Tomas Michaud
ix Cultural Works weren’t quite ready for the reception awaiting the Bay Area’s most unconventional Flamenco guitarist.
By the time the curtain was raised on Michaud and a cast that included former Santana bassist David Margen, the Rhythmix folks had long since conceded the aisle space along the venue’s windowed brick walls to a sold-out gathering.
“At the risk of damaging Alameda’s colloquial image, there are legions of insanely knowledgeable cosmopolitan music fans here,” said Michaud, who will team with Margen and three other well-traveled musicians in a Sept. 19 Rhythmix Cultural Works concert featuring music from Beauty And Fire, Michaud’s sixth and latest CD. “They just usually spend their money in San Francisco.”
Michaud’s previous CD, New World Flamenco Jazz (2004), sold more than 60,000 copies in a genre in which five-figure sales among U.S. artists are a rarity. But the longtime owner of Alameda’s largest musical teaching institution, Starland Music Center, has never been one to adhere to Flamenco customs.
“Traditional Flamenco has violent rhythms that you can dance to,” Michaud noted. “My music doesn’t fit that mold. It’s been infused with all these world sounds, like jazz, Middle Eastern percussion, that melodic Santana bass that David Margen patented and some really sultry cello. There’s still quite a bit of gypsy influence, but it comes in the form of violin.”
“You do a lot of traveling in an evening with Tomas,” said Margen, a longtime Michaud collaborator. “It’s fun to take the audience on that kind of journey.”
Don Turney mans keyboards for the Sept. 19 concert, which features two percussionists: Brian Andres on a traditional drum set and Katja Cooper – perhaps the Bay Area’s most renowned female practitioner of world percussions – on bongos and dumbek, an ancient goblet-shaped hand drum.
“After I first played with Tomas, I remember being hung up on words trying to describe the spirituality of his music to a friend,” Cooper said. “Then I read an online review of Beauty & Fire that said the CD delivered the kind of sensation you’d get if you heard Santana and the Gypsy Kings jamming with a Moroccan house band after a warm Turkish bath and massage. And I thought, ‘Wow – that pretty much captures it.’ So I stole it.”
What: A Night of Beauty And Fire, a CD release concert with Tomas Michaud
When: Saturday, September 19, 8 p.m.
Where: Rhythmix Cultural Center – 2513 Blanding Ave., Alameda CA 94501
Tickets: $15 advance, $20 at the door
Advance Tickets Online: www.worldmelodies.com
Advance Tickets Walk-Up: Starland Music Center – 1631 Park Street, Alameda CA 94501 (510) 523-4797
September 1, 2009
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20 days left to concert time – A Night Of Beauty And Fire http://ping.fm/CU3h3
Tomas Michaud CD Release Concert – Night of Beauty and Fire August 25, 2009
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Where: Rhythmix Cultural Works; 2513 Blanding Ave. in Alameda, CA
When: Saturday September 19th at 8pm
Tickets: Adults $15 adv./$20 @ door; Children (16 and under)/Seniors $7.50/$10
Back for another round of passionate guitar, smooth bass, world beat percussion, Alameda long-time resident and owner of Starland Music Center returns for his annual concert. Known for his seductive “New World Instrumental” sound, this will be Tomas’ first concert which features songs from his newly released CD “Beauty and Fire” along with highlights from 6 previous CDs. Along with Tomas Michaud on Flamenco guitar the band includes seasoned professionals including Don Turney on keyboard, David Margen (formerly of Santana) on bass, Katja Cooper playing a melange of world percussion and Brian Andres on drum set.
The band has been described as sounding like Santana and the Gipsy Kings jamming with the house band in a Moroccan Cafe – ” a mystical and sensual experience that will send tingles up your spine”. Beauty and Fire is an innovative excursion in Flamenco guitar fused with smooth jazz and world music flavorings – deeply soulful, softly passionate, with uplifting melodies that will take you on romantic or exotic adventure across the world and beyond.
Tomas Michaud is a master guitarist, composer and producer who was possessed by the muse of music early in childhood. Tomas developed his musical technique with the trumpet, electric bass and mandolin before he discovered his first love, guitar, at the age of fourteen. Soon he was performing throughout the San Francisco Bay Area developing a popular following which now numbers in the thousands. In addition to Beauty and Fire, Tomas has produced 6 CDs: Heart Coming Home, Passion Dance, I Must Be Dreaming, In The Presence Of Angels, New World Flamenco Jazz and The Magic Of Gayatri.
In addition to his concert and recording successes, Tomas has developed an innovative course in guitar instruction. He founded and operates the Starland Music Center in Alameda, California, which has a student enrollment of over 450, ranging in ages from four to seventy-four.
Ticket price includes entry into a drawing – grand prize is $350 gift certificate for music lessons at Starland Music Center in Alameda.
Recommendations from previous concerts:
“Thank you for such a wonderful show last night. Andy and I really appreciate world class musicians in such an intimate setting. Please keep me posted of coming events, we will sure plan to bring several friends to come along.
You were awesome as always! And it was great to see the full band. Don Turney, on keyboard, was phenomenal, as well as the drummer. The passion and synergy in the band reflected the excitement in the audience. The audience couldn’t have enough. I wanted more.”
Florida Gonzalez
- Campbell, CA
“Saturday night in Alameda was fabulous!!! The setting, composition of music and musicians and entire evening was delightful!!!! I’m so glad I made the trip over from Marin! I’m hoping that you can let me know your schedule for the next month or two.”
Marcia Nay
- Marin, CA
August 25, 2009
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Only 25 more days until my CD release concert A Night Of Beauty And Fire http://ping.fm/9LX5r
