Elise Witt

Global, Local and Homemade Songs™

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Sebastopol CA
An Impromptu Glorious Chorus™

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Low Pressure ~ High Pleasure!

Elise leads sessions of glorious group singing, teaching in a style so easy that, before you know it, the room is in perfect harmony!

Drawing from her love of diverse melodies and rhythms, Elise may introduce a Brazilian samba, a Congolese storysong, an Italian round, or four-part harmonies from Zimbabwe.

There are lots of songs in English, including songs from the African American tradition, quirky rounds, food songs, Bobby McFerrin style Circle Songs, Elise originals, and lots more. All of the songs are broken down into easily learnable parts and become thrilling to sing in a group. Whether you’ve sung all your life or think you “can’t carry a tune in a bucket,” in no time at all, you’ll find yourself part of an Impromptu Glorious Chorus™.

Singers of all abilities, styles, and experience are welcome!

No music reading required!

Sun. Nov. 17

12:00 – 3:00 p.m.

@ Teresa’s

519 Grandview Rd.,Sebastopol, 95472

Space is limited, please pre-register!

Registration: $25-85 Sliding scale (please be affordable and generous)

Send check to: EMWorld Records, PO Box 148, Pine Lake GA 30072

Or register online:

Click to Register Online

Durham NC
An Impromptu Glorious Chorus™
@ Julie’s

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Elise leads sessions of glorious group singing, teaching in a style so easy that, before you know it, the room is in perfect harmony!

Drawing from her love of diverse melodies and rhythms, Elise may introduce a Brazilian samba, a Congolese storysong, an Italian round, or four-part harmonies from Zimbabwe.

There are lots of songs in English, including songs from the African American tradition, quirky rounds, food songs, Bobby McFerrin style Circle Songs, Elise originals, and lots more. All of the songs are broken down into easily learnable parts and become thrilling to sing in a group. Whether you’ve sung all your life or think you “can’t carry a tune in a bucket,” in no time at all, you’ll find yourself part of an Impromptu Glorious Chorus™.

Space is very limited!

Please pre-register.

Raleigh NC
A Concert of Global, Local & Homemade Songs™
@ Martin’s

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I love house concerts.

No technical complications.

Opportunities to improvise and experiment.

Intimate connection between artist and audience.

Join me for a concert at the house

where my parents used to live in Raleigh!

There will be some wonderful Special Guests including (but not limited to) ~

Tommy Goldsmith

Margaret Martin

Wayne Martin

and…

Space is very limited.
Buy Tickets Online Now

Admission by donation: $15-85 sliding scale (please be affordable & generous!)

Earbone The OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

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from Elise Witt’s We’re All BORN SINGING

Film directed, edited and filmed by Jessica Lily.

 

The first song on my new CD “We’re All BORN SINGING” explores my fascination with sound and language. Musings on how we hear, listen and learn, are sung over Vocables by the wonderful Becky Reardon, and interspersed with my take on Late Night Short Wave Radio segments featuring some of my Global Village Project students along with Rodger French on accordion (check out his wonderful new CD Che Accordeon!), Italian virtuoso Renato Pompilio on guitar, and the inimitable Mick Kinney on piano. Please check it out, leave me a comment and share far and wide – Thanks!

© Non Si Sa Mai Music ASCAP
Filmed, directed and edited by Jessica Lily. (www.Jessica-Lily.com)
In the video: Elise Witt, Julienne, Aline, Sifa, Zai, Siang, Par, Milly, and the Eliyah Sisters – Eliza, Rehema, Dina
Vocables: Becky Reardon
Late Night Short Wave Radio Segments:
– “I love to sing in…” Swahili, Lingala, Kirwanda, French
– Song fragments: Amani (Swahili), Baba Saidiasis (Swahili, Congo), Dicitencello Vuje (Napoletana)
– Voices: Eliza, Dina & Rehema Eliya, Par Tha Lem, Deborah Uwize, Glory Shay, Sophia Uwineza, Eh Soe Moo, Gaelia, Moudilou, Sifa Leta, Aline Lubala, Julienne Macumu, Elise Witt
– Instrumentalists: Rodger French (accordion), Renato Pompilio (guitar), Mick Kinney (piano)

EARBONE

The first bone in the body
The first human bone
The first bone to develop is the Earbone
Babies have all the sounds of the universe
We are born vibrating every sound on earth
Sound goes on forever

To learn the language you will speak
You eliminate the sounds you won’t need
What about those sounds no longer in play?
Are they stored somewhere deep
Or just thrown away?
Sound goes on forever

I like to think of my songs’ journeys
Flying to places I may never see
Finding your window, slipping on through
Tickling your earlobes
Curling up in bed with you
Sound goes on forever

If I forget to think will I remember it all
Maybe all sounds are at my beck and call
Once you make a sound
You can never take it back
It’s floating in the universe
Among the zodiac
Sound goes on forever

Spiral ~ New Music Video Release!

Spiral ~ New Music Video Release!

Check out our new music video for Spiral – we just entered it into NPR tiny desk contest! Spiral by Elise Witt © Non Si Sa Mai Music ASCAP Elise Witt, vocal Mick Kinney, piano Recorded on Elise’s CD “Open the Window” © EMWorld Records...

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Bees Make HoneyOFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

Bees Make Honey
OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

As a beekeeper, I had this little Bee Chant buzzing around my hive and my imagination. When I discovered the beautiful Wander Poem ascribed to the Buddha, I decided they were made for each other. Then they needed company, so I added the Bird, the Fish, and the Spider. May we all take the essence of life without destroying its beauty or ourselves.

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Earbone The OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

Earbone The OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

The first song on my new CD “We’re All BORN SINGING” explores my fascination with sound and language. Musings on how we hear, listen and learn, are sung over Vocables by the wonderful Becky Reardon, and interspersed with my take on Late Night Short Wave Radio segments featuring some of my Global Village Project students …

read more

CD & Book Release Concert

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CDitem-event-newsI’m so excited to introduce you to We’re All BORN SINGING, my new album of all original songs exploring the power of music, especially singing, to vibrate us body and soul, and to bring us together as community. Produced with one of my all-time musical heroines TERRY GARTHWAITE, this project is a huge stretch for me – musically, poetically, and personally. Downloading the music is certainly an option in this digital age, but I encourage you to buy the actual CD because it comes with a full color 16-page Book designed by Jessica Lily, with stories, poems, lyrics, and beautiful art!

GLASS HARP

Perhaps my favorite instrument on the CD is the Glass Harp. Brien Engel travels all over the world with 50 glasses sized from a giant brandy snifter to tiny shot glasses. The Glass Harp appears on Bees Make Honey and Amoeba, which also features jazz pianist extraordinaire Kevin Bales. By the way, Brien also plays Mbira (Zimbabwe thumb piano) which you can hear on I See You With My Heart one of several Musical Language Collages.

COLLABORATION

Collaboration has been the name of the game in recording these songs. Only Love Will Do and An Unlikely Love Affair were recorded in California at the legendary Studio E, with the original Joy of Cooking rhythm section, plus guitarist Nina Gerber and pianist Giovanna Imbesi. And we had 3 Garthwaites – David on bass, Oona on vocals, and Terry on guitar and vocals.

VOICES

Because the theme of the music is obviously centered around the human voice, there are some wonderful singers adding their voices to the mix. Gayanne Geurin, the Dean Brothers (Tommy, Britt & David), Sonia Osio, Sara Moylan, Ann Connor, Rebecca Keel, Sara Gregory, the Ooolation Singers (recorded live at Yosemite National Park!), and my wonderful students from the Global Village Project, a school for teenage refugee girls in Decatur GA, where I am the director of Music Programs.

UNEXPECTED SURPRISES

Sound designer Judy Munsen created wild and wonderful soundscapes for my songs Dust, Evolution of an Idea, and the poem A Singer.  Chelsea Gregory speaks her poem “Headphone Hopes” on the anthem Peace with Harmony. And Beverly Botsford‘s global percussion adds evocative and dancing rhythms throughout the CD.

ATLANTA CD & BOOK RELEASE CONCERT

I hope you can join us for the Atlanta CD & BOOK RELEASE CONCERT on Thursday, October 1st at Oakhurst Baptist Church (222 East Lake Dr, Decatur GA). Admission is by donation: $10-85 sliding scale at the door – please be affordable & generous. All proceeds from the concert go to pay the fabulous musicians!

BUY ONLINE

If you’re not going to be in Georgia on Oct. 1st, you can order your copy of the CD & Book online.

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