What a day! Monday, January 18th, 2010, was a fantastic day indeed, as I was thrilled to participate in a wonderful program celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC! I was privileged to share a new piece of music entitled “Dream of Freedom” which I composed specifically for the event, to which my wife choreographed an inspirational dance. She and the lovely Duncan Dancers performed this beautiful new dance in front of an audience of 2500+ people who had gathered together to honor Dr. King!

I can’t imagine a more beautiful venue for the event, with the soaring cathedral lifting the spirits of the entire audience, as we all reflected upon the profound legacy of Dr. King. The program was filled with inspirational music, dance and spoken word that helped capture the message of freedom and dignity of the human soul.

I have to admit, I was excited when the MC — the Godfather of Go-Go himself, Chuck Brown — announced our names before our segment of the program. His incredibly deep, signature voice was unforgettable to me, and put a huge grin on my face. And then the dancers performed the choreography with a lightness of step, beauty and hope that conveyed the message we wanted to share. Their majestic, spiraling motions and Isadora Duncan-inspired tunics and scarves recalled a sense of freedom and a dream-like quality I tried to capture in the music. The music and dance came together to hopefully uplift the audience and take them on a journey of reflection, into a dream of freedom.

The project was a collaboration with my wife, Valerie, and it had additional personal meaning for us. We’ve had several collaborations before, but this one was the most challenging so far, taking into account the short time for preparation, the audience, venue and desire to convey just the right message. I guess this one worked out, so I expect more collaborations to come in the future!

Finally, a word of thanks to the staff at the National Cathedral. They are a true class act and were consummate professionals. Thank you in particular to Cori and Mark for making our experience so seamless. It’s always a distinct pleasure to work with pros.

Below, you will find a link to the National Cathedral website, where you can view the performance. Skip ahead to 1:10 if you just want to see our segment.

http://www.nationalcathedral.org/webcasts/mlk2010.shtml

The streaming video above is low-resolution, so I’ll see if I can get a higher-resolution clip in the near future. The audio is also low-res, so below you can click on a better recording of the music. It’s not a perfect mix for sure, but given the time I had available, it was able to convey the essence of the message.

If you enjoy this music and dance, please feel free to share it!

Click below to listen to Dream of Freedom :

Download audio file: “Dream of Freedom” (11.4 MB)

Warm Regards,

James Durham

And now, for Episode 7 of FETIDUS: The Damned Heir! Please check out this thrilling episode! I didn’t have enough time before heading up to Balticon to announce it here on my personal website. I was literally scrambling at the very last minute before jumping in the car and cruising up to Baltimore (well, technically, Hunt Valley)! My wife and son were so patient with me as I wrapped up the finishing touches for Episode 7, but I think the extra effort was worth it.

Episode 7 is special in a couple of ways — first, because Matt Selznick finally makes his appearance as one of the characters, and he does a fantastic job. Second, because I actually sing in this episode. Yes, my singing voice! There’s a song near the end of the episode where I experimented and recorded my own voice, which is a FETIDUS first. I hope you enjoy it! I continue to experiment with the type of content and production I throw into FETIDUS, which is one of the reasons I love working on the project so much.

Finally, another bit of news: I finally released a 60-second verison of promo 1 of FETIDUS, which you can download here.

Check back soon, or subscribe for free via RSS or via email, since I’ve got some exciting developments cooking in both podcasting and film scoring!

Hello everyone! I just posted a “special music episode” of FETIDUS over at FETIDUS.org and it’s a wee bit relevant for this website as well. Visit the FETIDUS.org version of this page or feel free to download the music below. Here’s the text from the other page:

I have something special here for you, folks! I’ve taken some of the music I’ve written for FETIDUS and put together 13-14 minutes of excerpts for your listening pleasure. They’re not final versions, but they’re close enough to give you a good feel for how the soundtrack is shaping up, and to give you a tasty morsel of that special FETIDUS atmosphere. Enjoy! And let me know what you think! Please, download it, close your eyes, and enter into the world of Art Blanchard and FETIDUS.

Special Music Episode 1:
00:00 – Intro from James
Music Excerpts:
03:09 – Retribution
05:07 – Mahrud Movement #9
08:15 – Deathsquad Reaper
09:34 – Intense Cogitation
11:27 – Activation by 5
12:42 – KA Texture
13:45 – A Slow March Through Hell

Thanks for listening! If you enjoy this special music episode, please share it!

Click below to listen to FETIDUS: The Damned Heir – Music Excerpts 1:

Download audio file: “FETIDUS: The Damned Heir – Music Excerpts 1” (30.7 MB)

Damn you, Holyfield! Now you’ve done it! You’re on the verge of completing your podcast of Murder at Avedon Hill and I had to put a little something together for you in celebration! Consider it a thank you for not just your excellent podcast and novel, but also for being part of the group of cutting-edge podcast novelists that inspired me to launch my own podcast novel. You also took the time to share some of your wisdom with me many moons ago, and I appreciate it. Thank you, man! So, huge congrats for wrapping the podcast, and I join with many others who wish you the best success in the months ahead! And for those who don’t get the whole “Damn you, Holyfield” thing, well, then, I invite you to get to know P.G. Holyfield and listen to his podcast at www.pgholyfield.com. ‘Nuff said.

Click below to listen to “Damn You, Holyfield!”:

Download audio file: “Damn You, Holyfield!” (4.0 MB)

Yes! Episode 6 of FETIDUS: The Damned Heir is now posted over on the FETIDUS website! I’m very excited about this episode, especially because so many of the cast had parts in this one. Almost everyone is there… Prebble Ramswell, Jose de la Mar, Patrick Nugent, Liliana Ayende, Bob Holmcrans, Sara Barrack and Valerie Durham — so it was really fun to edit, and quite the learning experience as well. The whole cast did a great job! Thank you, guys! You can read about the cast on the FETIDUS cast page. They are a wonderful group of people to work with, and I can’t wait to bring you more of their performances. I’m having the best time working on FETIDUS, and if you haven’t checked it out yet, I invite you to give it a try. After all, FETIDUS is about making the world a better place, isn’t it? Well, you’ll see…

As I begin to repopulate this website with content, old and new, I had to post one of my favorite songs from my Aeolian May – Port of Embarkation album. This song is entitled Alexandria, and tells a passionate story of longing in a distant land and ancient time. I tried to capture the feeling of timeless, mythical love by taking you to the fabled shores of classical Alexandria, the bygone seat of mankind’s knowledge and culture. I hope you enjoy it!

Danan Healy sings beautifully with her trademark ethereal voice, and Matt Ellison provides superb, nostalgic guitar. Click here to visit the Aeolian May website.

Music written and produced by James Durham.

Click below to listen to “Alexandria” from Aeolian May – Port of Embarkation

Download audio file: “Alexandria” from Aeolian May – Port of Embarkation (7.2 MB)

On January 14, 2005, NASA/JPL/ESA landed the Huygens probe on Saturn’s moon, Titan, and to commemorate that historic and inspiring event, I wrote a piece of music entitled, Titan Descent. It was the first time mankind landed a probe on another planet’s moon (other than our own, of course), and its long-term significance is a milestone that cannot be understated. What an extraordinary event, and what an extraordinary success for the fantastic international team of scientists and engineers that accomplished their historic mission!

I was thrilled that the folks at NASA, ESA and JPL circulated the music around among the Cassini-Huygens team and posted it on their website, and I was overjoyed that my wife choreographed a modern dance piece for it, which she has performed numerous times to the enthusiastic response of her audiences.

The music opens with actual excerpts from the press conference announcing the success, and at about 3:14, I work in the actual alien sounds recorded by the probe as it descended into the Titan atmosphere. Yes, that’s some of the sound of what the probe sent back to us.

While I wrote the music, I tried to imagine the rapid spinning the probe engaged in, and its journey approaching, then travelling through the atmosphere of this strange new world.

You can read more about the Cassini-Huygens Mission at JPL’s Cassini site and a good summary can be found at Wikipedia here and here.

I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I did creating it!

Click below to listen to “Titan Descent”

Download audio file: “Titan Descent” (9.7 MB)

Originally posted back on March 20th, I would be remiss in my newly minted duties to this personal website if I didn’t announce that Episode 5 of FETIDUS: The Damned Heir is now LIVE over at www.fetidus.org.

But now that I have announced it here, the hungry appetite of this website is now satisfied, albeit temporarily. In fact, if you subscribe to this blog, you will get all sorts of interesting updates… not just about FETIDUS, but about all of my other creative mayhem, commentary and cognitive diversions. And there are some things I’m positively certain you will be absolutely thrilled to know about.

Here’s an early test track from Arothea: The First Attempt at Breaking the World. This one is called “Telsun’s Dirigible” and it is a little electronic piece with some sound design that acts as a quick portrait of the mythical thaumaturge Telsun, as he flies high over Arothea in his old beat-up dirigible. I can’t wait to bring you more about him and his story. But for now, here’s the first pass at his theme.

Click below to listen to “Telsun’s Dirigible” from Arothea: The First Attempt at Breaking the World

Download audio file: “Telsun’s Dirigible” (3.4 MB)