Geoffrey Mays, Soundscaper

Intro

Geoffrey down under

Geoffrey Down Unda 1998

for Jay & Deb's wedding

"Geoffrey Mays paints soundscapes......
Multitudinous and varied soundscapes...
Soothing, uplifting, grooving,
Ethereal, Down to the bone, and all shades of in between. And it's all original material straight from the heart. Some vocal, some instrumental, all of it impassioned with a deep love of music and of life in general." Martin P. Jawanehrul

Personal History

Geoffrey Mays was born and raised in Japan, land of the Rising Sun. (He often rises before the sun, to work in the quietude of the early morning hours). Of mixed heritage - his mother is Japanese, his father a New York descendant of forebearers of many nations- Geoffrey has the blood of of a true World Citizen. Having lived in Japan, Hawaii, Okinawa, Mexico, France, and various North American locations, he has developed a great appreciation and deep understanding of the many and diverse cultures of the world, resulting in his passionate yearning for world peace and harmony with nature, which shines through in his music and in his way of being.

The Big CD Release Party… (this was 2002)

Well I finally reached that elusive summit. After four years of effort waylaid by procrastination and distraction and retrieved by focus and determination, I have completed my first "official" CD. The album is called: Journeys - Within & Afar

The music is primarily instrumental with vocalisation on two cuts. I think of the pieces as emotional soundscapes depicting the wonderful people and places I have encountered in my travels.

Many of these "stories" were inspired by a 1997 tour of Southern Germany with The Muse - a group I co-founded with Jay Bishoff (now playing with his group The Houseprouds on the Australian circuit).

This one is shrinkwrapped, barcoded and supplemented by some of the best musicians in the Northwest - namely Don Latarski, Mark Schneider and Jason Palmer (all of the reknown Don Latarski Group). Special guest appearances are made by Elle Hatheway (some of you need no introduction, but for the others she is a fine musician in her own right in the varied fields of Classical, African marimba, Baroque, Folque and Jazz - and of course, my dear wife) and Ila Kriegh - a recent South Eugene graduate and beloved vocalist of the band Butterfly Blue (which we co-founded). Another South Eugene graduate and former Eugene luminary Ricky Sweum (now living and playing jazz in New York City) lends his lovely saxophone voice to several tracks as well. Overall, I'm very happy with this album and I hope you will be too. You can listen to clips online if you are web-connected. Try any of these links:

http://talentondisplay.com/geoffmays.html (this is my homepage created by Joe Ross)

http://www.amazingcds.com.

http://www.cdbaby.com/geoffrey

http://amazon.com (type in Geoffrey Mays on their page)

OR....Come on down and celebrate with us at Cafe Paradiso ! Friday, December 13th at 8 pm. Paradiso is located at the corner of Olive and Broadway and is an all-ages venue so the kids are welcome. They have a cover policy to pay for soundman and doorman, so it will cost 5 bucks to get in, but mention this email to the person selling CDs and get the new CD for only $7 (regularly $10 by direct sale......the web sales are more depending on the site and that money goes to repay one of my financers.

Hope to see you there, but if I don't I bid each of you lovely holidays and a wonderous continuing journey of this path called Life.

Blessings, Geoffrey

Musical Experience

I have been playing guitar and composing music for 35 years, and teaching the same for the last 20.

I came into music relatively late (picked it up in college) and purely as a hobby, but soon found my passion with it; and through the musical friends I encountered I was talked into performing on stage for the first time in 1978 in Poitiers, France. Since that time I founded or co-founded various groups and have played stages in Germany, Switzerland, Australia and across the United States.

In 1993 made the jump full-time into the professional music scene and between 1993 and 1995 I engaged in a 18 month apprenticeship with the Don Latarski group at the Oregon Electric Station playing gigs every weekend, and participated as a member of Don's group in three Eugene Celebrations (as well as various festivals around the state.

I am currently playing with two bands – Vega , a jazz-rock fusion group specializing in inter-galactic groove (check out http://www.myspace.som/vegatheband) ; and Spin One-Half , a rock n roll garage band doing originals and a few classic covers.

I teach from Soringhart Studio which I built from the ground up (with some help from my friends) and also engineer and produce recordings from here. It’s a cozy environment and the rates are very affordable. Some of the groups that have recorded here recently are:

Birds Love Filters, Sid N Fancy, Barbara Nelson, Rich Glauber, Atrial Flutter, and of course, Vega and Spin One-Half.

Picture of Geoffrey at
the Beach

This is but a sample of the music created from the mind of Geoffrey Mays. Please realize these files are in the MP3 format and will take some time to download. Also, after clicking on the song you want, and the "unknown file type" box appears, just click the "save file" button and pick a place to put the song. After the download, simply go to the place you put it, and play. How about a nice cup of tea in the meantime?
The Hats we Wear
No More Tears
A Rash of Midnights
High And Dry

For Bookings, contact: