N is for Nature of My Culture

The nature of my culture exercises influence in me.

The nature of my culture gives me the security of knowing my own beauty.

The nature of my culture makes me know that I am a fine work of art.

The nature of my culture gives me enough confidence and strength to be myself.

I feel at ease in my own skin.

I am glowing in melanin.

The Haitian in me is woven in the script.

I have all this culture, music and creativity built within.

The nature of my culture makes me want to be bold in the face of a blank sheet.

The nature of my culture makes me want to share my identity brusque authority.

The nature of my culture takes you on a journey over land and sea.

The nature of my culture makes me want to share a piece of my beauty.

I want to make you see why I have romantic gestures about the land.

I want to ease out the stigmas of this culture if I can.

And psyched that Chokarella gave me the opportunity

To share a piece of my cultural identity.

Thank you Prrrl for helping me out with this interview/performance.

Thank you Tadia for the call

and for having me on this Chokarella New York Takeover.

Such a dope event.

Thank you for checking out my blogpost!

K is for Keeping Your Sanity

I will admit it. There are times when I am not my best because stress has got me all discombobulated and the best thing for me to do, is take time away from the very things that are causing me to be less than 100% to clear my mind. 

Gotta Go

I was sitting at home at my desk one day and I received a plethora of phone calls, both good and bad. The bad ones seemed to hit a chord that instantly warped me into a dronish mood. The saying goes when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.  And so I did!

I needed to relieve the stresses of some of the things that tried to steal my joy and so, I packed my bags and was on the next morning flight out of there to visit one of my favorite places where all I experience there is a wealth of inspiration and recharging for the road ahead. Talk about lemonade. I think it was flavored so well that I could not help but put my words into a song. It is entitled "Gotta Go." 

All lyrics are my lyrics. Music by Paul Garrod. Please check out the full length video here: 
https://youtu.be/vnsqyqGqpJU 

If you are like me, then you might be someone who goes and takes a walk to prevent an outburst or maybe you get into your car and drive two hours away to your favorite park where you can enjoy moments of peacefulness and solitude. 

One of the places that calms me is the beach. Once I am on the sand and the sun kisses my skin all over, I am in this happy zone that feels simply beautiful. And then I dip my body into the ocean and for a moment, all that matters is how refreshing the water really is. 

The other place is the nail salon. These are just some of the few ways that I have found that help me to cope with the world and all that comes with it, so that I can be back at 100% without losing too much of myself while on this journey called life.  What is your favorite place to be refreshed & renewed?

E is for Everybody

E is for “Everybody screws up, including me” (Ken Burns)

But 

Everybody is given 24 hours in a day and 525600 minutes in a year. 

Everybody has access to oxygen to keep them going. 

Everybody decides for themselves if they forgive themselves for their past, love themselves where they are and if they can hold on to the mustard seed of faith.

And so, everybody needs a word of encouragement sometimes.  

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence” (Helen Keller).

Even though we fall and make mistakes, God is such a gentleman and still opens doors for us and loves us with a love that has no borders. We never have to labor too hard for God to gain the result of love because God is love and everything that comes from him is love.

If that is true, then we know that we can go to him and have dialogue with him and lay your burdens in his ear and know that there is nothing too hard for God to handle. And so while we are here within the confines of the melting pot of people of this earth, let us remember the cries from the sea in the face of their struggles. 

I am moved by the force of their fight. I get lit up when I see people in hopeless situations walking around with more faith in God’s grace. I am encouraged by my culture. I get moved by all the many vision of the sun sinking and the plethora of sunrises that God kept me. And I feel bittersweet happiness because I can paint a better picture of what I am talking about. So even though I may screw up, there is hope for tomorrow. 

A family member of mine always says, “I am better than the day before, and worse than the day tomorrow.” Makes sense to have faith in every step of the way. And I am definitely ready for my Breakthrough that is on the way! I hope this song lends some positive energy into your day. 

Check out the official video for the Breakthrough Remix by Stephanie Jeannot (featuring Jazz E Matt). Here: https://youtu.be/XMd1prZUHrU

Lyrics by Stephanie Jeannot

Produced by Prrrl

Co-produced by Stephanie Jeannot & Jazz E Matt

Charles Bartlett . . . Trumpet

Clyde Bermingham . . . Guitar

Jazz e Matt . . . Vocals

Stephanie Jeannot . . . Vocals

Richie Johnson . . . Drums

Herb Lewis . . Saxophone

Mark Payne . . . Bass

Who knew that trying to write on a daily basis would lead to video editing projects like this one. A Melodiaz Creation. Check out more of my Melodiaz Creations here: https://melodstephie.wixsite.com/melodiazcreations/home

A Heart of Love for Culture and Music

I fall into the arms of love every time music fills the air and I am blessed with the opportunity to enjoy it. I am left with a cheerful disposition and a sunny temperament; especially when I can experience the great reward of performing songs that I wrote.

It is not every day that I am bursting in creativity. There are times when I have writer’s block and it kills me in so many ways. I can make up a cacophony of excuses for the days when trying to put words to the paper does not happen in the manner I would like, but at those moments when a flood of good thoughts just doesn’t seem to push through, there is nothing I can do to change that. It just happens. 

But then in that season of your life, someone comes along and inspires you with an idea and boom, there you go with a feeling of empowerment that allows you to once again, regain control of the writing process and productivity happens. I guess such was the case with the song my mom asked me to write. 

She had this confident expectation that a song would come out of her mere request. I guess the intention and hope that I had of being able to fulfill it was all I needed to be able to write Saut D’eau Song, a song about a region in Haiti where one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the world lives. 

The words came like an army of love, marching with intention to tear down the mountain that once blocked the free flow of words and at that particular moment, had a burning need to be released. If you are interested, you can check out the original tune here: https://open.spotify.com/track/6OgJmDcNvmBdnQzoNwOkp7?si=bILPJgF3SiObfMI92URzUw

I will admit that it was a bit different for me to write a song like this and I still can’t say why I had never intentionally written about the Haitian culture that was introduced to me as a child and that I grew up coming to know. But this tune gave me a reason to go deeper into my thoughts, share my own experiences about a place I had seen with my own eyes and confidently share a bit of my identity and story. And so, you can say it was a spirited event to actually perform this song live with my band for the first time. 

To grow up in the margins of cross-culturalization is to know a bit of more than one cultural background, practice the mores and behavioral patterns from a bit of each yet to dance to the beat of where you are, because you are there. But to be able to share a piece of what makes you different with people from all walks of life in the atmosphere of a musical gathering, and without fearing being exactly who you are, feels good. 

All I can say is that if you see a beatific smile across my face, it is because the other evening, under the brilliant sparkle of the moon, I turned the musical focus of interest to Haiti and shared a glamorized view of my ancestor’s home through song and had appreciable results. Drums by Richie Johnson echoed through the room as Kenny Alston plucked his bass with fierceness, Prrrl tickled the ivories with peculiar phraseology and Herb Lewis added a nice shaft of light with his saxophone which made me sing my lyrics with a heart of love. Together we performed this song for the first time at Silvana which is located in the Harlem section of New York and I would so love it if you would check it out here.The song is called Saut D’Eau Song and this is the live version that I was telling you about: https://youtu.be/Lls4VddAe_8

Thank you for allowing me to enthrall your attention to the detailed content of my story for just a bit. I admit that I can be a bit dramatic when reporting the good things that happened to me in my daily life, but such is the art of conversation. 

I hope my words did not meet you with a frozen silence, a blank gaze or find you determined to reach to the end of this post without any interest for what was being discussed but rather, that it reproduced a blossom of joy through your mental boundary in some way or another. Everybody is full of opinions which is something that cannot be avoided, I know. Yet still I hope that yours of me, based on this post was a good one. 

I must thank you for allowing this interlude from your song and dance, to waltz into the seductive tempo that is my life. Much love and respect to you!

A Broader Musical Repertoire

Moving right along on this musical journey, 

I have been working hard on applying my streams of consciousness to new songs, 

and am excited to share with you, a broader musical repertoire of my own

that has been in the making all year. 

 “As an artist, you hope to create something everyone can identify with” 

(– Gina Prince-Bythewood)

This year has been a pretty interesting one so far, and with so many things seen and experienced, it truly feels good to have found a source of inspiration welling in me, where I was able to water new seeds for lyrical melodies to blossom. And now that the year is coming to an end, I have some new music that I am excited about and want to share.

My hope is that you will be able to identify with these songs, 

featured on my latest project entitled 

"We Are People United."

https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/stephaniejeannot1

Please head on over to CDBaby and take a listen here: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/stephaniejeannot1

And please, if you do listen, please let me know what you think.

The album consists of 13 tracks. 

All lyrics were written by Stephanie Jeannot. 

All soundtracks produced by Paul Garrod. 

Our chemistry has been amazing where the music was concerned 

and we were able to harmonize our uniqueness into this project to make it what it is. 

Please head on over to CDBaby and take a listen here: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/stephaniejeannot1

If you like the tracks, please download it. 

And please, if you do listen, please let me know what you think.

My favorite on this work is "People United." What is yours? Let me know. 

Thank you for your help everyone and thank you so much for supporting independent artists! 

Y is for Youtube.com/sj1and0

As we cluster together, I want to invite you to see me in my essence. With my feet firmly planted on earth, I come to you in hope that you might take the time to water my seed of destiny a bit. May I invite you to drift into the arms of my video feed on Youtube to watch at least one video+, and hopefully subscribe to my channel at http://www.youtube.com/sj1and0 .

I think I have flourished a lot since I put up my first video and it is great to see my own growth and transformation. 

I have original videos on there. I have cover songs performed in a live setting on there and lots of other things. I have band videos on there.

Maybe I can get your undivided attention for at least one minute and maybe you can take me at full value and check me out.  My Youtube channel is sj1and0 and I not only post but also watch lots of cool videos as well. Let’s vibe, if you don’t mind.

https://youtu.be/NjjRlsX8aH8

So! Are you on Youtube? I’d love to catch a glimpse of who you are. What is your Youtube channel? Can we follow each other? Hope so! Drop me your handle.

Alright then, hope that this post invokes good thoughts that knock on the doorstep of your mind. Have a great day. Peace and love everybody! 

T is for Thank you

“The blessings of the Lord bring wealth 

without painful toil for it” 

(Proverbs 10:22)

David A Powell Photography

Blessings overflow in my life too numerous to describe. This life has been a journey and though I know that God is not through with me yet, I want to take the time to say thank you to each and every one of you for being patient with me. 

David A Powell Photography

Thank you for indulging in all that I share about my life, music and musical directing, reading my posts about my radio show, songs and traveling episodes. Thank you for commenting with more than just the word "interesting."  Thank you for watching my live performance and original music videos, listening to my songs and for simply embracing who I am. 

It is never easy to embrace somebody else's ego when we have our own. It is not that simple to give yourself fully to someone else's thoughts and interest that might not be your own. You don't know how you bless someone else when you decide that it is okay to try to embrace someone else's writing that might be different from the way that you may word something. And thank you for  being open-minded. Again, I say that we all have our own songs and dances. Our experiences and journeys may be different but we share the idea that we all have our own paths and stories and are all striving in our own way, the same, but different. 

Blessings continue to fall and I am grateful. 

Thankful for it all! God bless!

P.S.

Let's Connect

Facebook    http://www.facebook.com/jnotemusic

Instagram  htttp://www.instagram.com/musiqal1

Website    http://www.jnotemusic.com

Youtube    http://www.youtube.com/sj1and0

Twitter    http://www.twitter.com/musiqal1

All Night Long by Stephanie Jeannot & Derrick Smith

Check out the full length video to my original song for my tune

"All Night Long" 

written by me, Stephanie Jeannot

and

music by Derrick Smith; 

on Youtube. 

https://youtu.be/jC8Y8A6S6Nc

Stephanie Jeannot Performing Live This Thursday, August 13th, 2015 at Harlem Summer Stage Jazz Night

Hey friends.

This coming Thursday, August 13, 2015, I am excited to be performing live at the Harlem Summer Stage Jazz Night event happening in front of the Adam Clayton Powell Jr State Bldg on 125th Street and Adam Clayton Powell in Harlem, NY at 5PM

I will be doing a mixture of originals and vocal jazz covers and am very happy that I will be on stage with Michael Collins, George Gray, JazzEMatt, Daltheanette Munlin, Mark Payne, & Alvin Rogers performing promptly at 5pm. Say you'll be there! I truly hope to see you there friends. Until then, peace! ‬ ‪

The Many Hats We Wear to Breakthrough

"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." - Philippans 4:7

I'm guilty of letting my doubts take over my body and killing my spirit and motivation, almost like a disease. But sometimes, it is the human way, when we forget to acknowledge all the goodness God has already done in our lives. 

We as a people wear so many hats. 

We are our gender, our children's parents, our parent's children, our sibling's sibling, our friend's friends, our spouse's spouse, our 9 to 5, our responsibilities, and our passions. With so many things, we often have little time to remember how strong we have been built and often tend to break under pressure. 

I'm inviting you today to understanding. Here are some things  to consider. 

- Broken crayons still color. 

- The fish could not handle Jonah's praying and spit him out

- Even a bud must face the sun to take root

- God is not through with me yet

- Faith is the most powerful weapon you can carry and utilize

- No matter what you are going through, God can fix it for you

With that in mind, I wrote this song entitled "Breakthrough" which is an inspirational tune about the wonderful grace of God. Here are a few links to the audio version and/or live footage. If you are interested, please feel free to check them out and enjoy. 

Soundcloud Studio Recording

https://soundcloud.com/stephanay-jnote/breakthrough

YouTube live footage with Ladeez in the House Band 

http://youtu.be/dmNCdoHp-Lc

Thank you for checking out my blogpost everyone. 

Stephanie Jeannot