Tag: saxophone

People usually marvel at the speed at which I get things done –

• Fifty books in a few decades.
• Ten albums in three years.
• Thirteen movies in seven years.

I personally don’t think it’s such a big deal. It’s simply what I do.

But I’ve noticed that when people get close to me, they also begin to get things done faster than ever before.

Why?

How is this possible?

Why do some people never start a project, others take forever to complete them, and others never finish them – yet I and those close to me start and complete at warp speed?

For example, my wife, Nerissa, just completed her first book, a cookbook titled Bread-Free Bread. It consists of almost 80 recipes, all of them created from scratch. They reveal how to make “breads” out of vegetables, seeds and nuts. The book is already a bestseller.

But here’s the interesting part: she landed a publishing deal and began the book project before signing it, worked night and day for two months to create, develop, test and retest the recipes, as well as take color photos of each dish.

Nerissa has a bestselling cookbook

And she did it while having two surgeries, selling rental property of 17 years, buying a new home for her mother, having bathroom remodeling and construction workers interrupting her, losing our beloved cat of 15 years, and maintaining her activities in local politics.

Pretty impressive.

But how was this possible?

She’s not alone.

Guitar Monk Mathew Dixon is my partner on several music projects, such as Aligning to Zero.

When I told him I had an idea for more original healing music, created with my baritone clearing electric guitar, and with prayers read by me, we took action and broke the speed of sound.

We created all tracks, from zero, in about four weeks.

A few weeks later, we were selling the album.

It’s called Invoking Divinity.

Created at warp speed

Some musicians take years to get their first album done.

Some never do it at all.

How did we do it so fast?

These stories of time distortion and instant results don’t stop there.

As you may already know from a previous blog post, I heard a baritone saxophone for the first time in January of 2014.

I loved it.

I bought a vintage bari sax in February.

In March I started playing, improvising, and learning.

Thanks to my music producer’s belief in me – Daniel Barrett said I have a supernatural connection to the sax – I was in the studio recording an all sax album in October.

In November – yes, this month – barely ten months from first hearing the bari sax – I completed it.

It’s called Afflatus, which means “divine inspiration.”

Another Miracle

And by the way, that’s my tenth album — in just over three years.

How is this possible?

What’s my secret to instant productivity?

It’s this –

I move as if I am on fire.

I treat ideas as gifts from the universe.

When they arrive, I do my best to act fast, if not instantly.

I also watch my mind for any excuses or doubts, and remove them at once.

The more I am clear, the faster I can create.

That’s worth repeating —

“The more I am clear (of limiting beliefs about what is possible), the faster I can create.”

And I surround myself with people who encourage and believe in me.

The result is a win-win.

I get projects done, and others around me are inspired to get things done, too.

Inspiration is contagious.

It ignites fire in others too.

Click image to get both volumes free

I’ve often said, “Money likes speed.”

Well, the Universe likes it, too.

Inspired?

Take action.

The faster you do, the faster everyone benefits.

And lest you think I am producing mediocre work by moving so quickly, keep in mind that several of my songs have been nominated for the Posi Award (considered the Grammy’s of positive music), my music video called “Be Kind” has been seen (at recent count) over 90,000 times, my albums with Mathew are all best-sellers for us, and the team that helps me create my singer-songwriter music are celebrity musicians, award winning musicians, and even one musician in the legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I’ve even had three Grammy winners involved in one album.

And my books – such as The Attractor Factor and Zero Limits – are bestsellers around the world.

I am producing top quality at top speed.

You can do this, too.

One more example:

A few years ago I was invited to be on the cover of Austin All Natural magazine. I decided I would create my first album in three months, and feature it as the cover story. It would announce my debut as a musician.

But I also went to Mathew Dixon, and to singer Sarah Marie, and told them if they, too, completed new albums within three months, I’d see that they were included in the magazine.

We could support each other.

It’d be a win-win-win.

We all went to work.

Remember, we each started from nothing.

And we each had the same three months to get our albums done.

We did it, too.

We completed our albums and were featured in the issue.

Again, inspiration is contagious.

This is the secret of great productivity:

Light a fire in your heart and let the flames of passion drive you to completion.

Knowing that others have done this helps you erase any mental limitations that may have been slowing or stopping you.

Doing it with others, or with others who believe in you, also collapses time, excuses, and perceived limits.

Truth is, I don’t know that we have any real limitations.

But what fun it is to test the limits.

Light a fire and burn.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS — If you want help in achieving and attracting your desires, check out Miracles Coaching.

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You can achieve great things when someone believes in you.

I know this first hand.

Daniel Barret, my music producer, coauthor of The Remembering Process, and friend, urged me to create an album of all saxophone music before I felt ready to do so.

I even argued with him about it.

“You have a two year old son,” I began. “Getting me to record sax music right now is like my offering to train your son for the Olympics. He’s not ready. I’m not ready.”

But Daniel persisted.

My first all sax album

“You have a supernatural connection to the sax,” he said. “Every time I hear you play, I feel the power of it.”

Keep in mind that I had heard a baritone saxophone for the first time last January, when Thomas van der Brook came into the studio to add his bari sax to a track on my Reflection album.

I loved it.

I decided right then to buy a sax and learn how to play.

I did, too.

But that was only months ago.

I had a couple lessons to learn how to put the sax together, watched some YouTube videos on how to play the sax, bought 17 books on the sax, and a DVD course, and just kept trying.

Every week or so, I’d record my playing and send it to Daniel.

I was simply sharing.

But he used it as evidence.

He felt I was ready to record.

After a few months – and with Daniel’s polite but persistent encouragement – I took the jump.

I realized I had been arguing for my limitations.

Enough of that.

I agreed to create an album of all sax music.

Gulp.

That was a HUGE, BOLD, and SCARY move.

I didn’t feel confident.

I didn’t feel ready.

Yet I knew that one of the best ways to learn something is to simply dive in and create a project out of it. Recording an album of sax music would put me in a situation where I had to learn how to play, and fast.

I also knew that as soon as I stated an intention, and invited inspiration, that the Universe would rush in to help me.

And so the adventure began.

It helped that sax great Mindi Abair heard me play (during a Skype sax lesson with her) and said, “You have real talent.”

It helped that I went in the studio with Mathew Dixon and added some bari sax to the first track of our album, Invoking Divinity, which came out hauntingly beautiful.

But that wasn’t a whole album of sax music.

I still remember the first day in the studio with Daniel.

As he set up the mike, and I put together the mouthpiece and reed on my baritone sax, he looked at me and said, “On one level this is an insane thing to do, but let’s do it and see what occurs.”

The result?

Magic.

I played the baritone, tenor, and alto saxophones.

Back cover of sax album

Daniel mixed the music and added some tasty sounds.

I wrote and recorded some hypnotic odes, or prayers.

We ended up with ten tracks – the first five with the poems at an audible level, and the second five with the prayers at a subliminal, or below conscious, level.

I decided to call the album Afflatus, which means, “sudden Divine inspiration.”

And the album is done.

The miracle is complete.

When Mark Hallman, who mastered the album, heard it, he said, “This is the best music you’ve recorded yet. A masterpiece.”

When Mathew Dixon, my partner on several albums, heard it, he said, “It sounds fantastic! I just finished listening and it sounds incredible!”

I’m about as proud as any musician could be.

I’ll be selling the album in 2015 but I’ll be giving it away — yes, you read it right: giving it away for free — in December, as part of my birthday/end of year sale. (I’ll give you details later, of course.)

But I wanted to share this adventure with you today for the lesson it reveals.

It all started with someone who believed in me more than I believed in myself.

With encouragement, you can achieve virtually anything you can conceive.

What’s your dream?

I believe in you.

Go for it!

Ao Akua,

Saxman Joe

PS — If you want someone who believes in you, check out Miracles Coaching.

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At my recent presentation at Sundance in Utah, I invited everyone to think of a problem that they wish would go away — a nagging one that seemed to stick no matter what — one that they never even tell anyone about because it hurts so much…

I wanted them to feel the block — whether a block preventing them from attracting money, health, love, or anything else — so I could help them release it once and for all.

I then played just four of the eight tracks from the new healing album, “Invoking Divinity.”

My ninth album

I knew the inspired music, calming 432 Hz frequency, and clearing ho’oponopono prayers would help them melt anything in the way of their experiencing bliss right now and being free to have, do, or be virtually anything they could imagine.

Did it work?

Here’s what one person said..

“As I listened to Invoking Divinity for
the first time, in my mind I thought about
something recent that had happened to me
that was very painful emotionally.

“Each time I thought or talked about the painful
experience, I couldn’t help but cry.  Even though
I tried to let go of the emotions, it seemed like
I couldn’t.  When Joe Vitale asked me to think
about something that needed clearing, I immediately
thought of that event.

“As I listened to the first track, sure enough,
the tears streamed down my face. I felt the emotion
of the event very deeply.  Somehow, by the third track,
the pain was gone. After all this time, just sitting
and listening to your healing music soothed my pain,
and then completely healed me. As the fourth track
started, I began to have clear inspiration about what
I should do with my class (I’m an elementary school
teacher) and particularly with some of the students
that struggle for one reason or another.

“Not only did the music heal me, it opened up a portal
to inspiration for me.  I believe this shift from within
me will create miraculous positive influence on my
students and many others.  Thank you, from the bottom
of my heart, for the blessing of your healing music.
Now I have a deep desire to get the music translated
in Chinese so my Chinese-speaking family can benefit
like I did!”

Yang Yue
Huai Nan, China

And…

“Listening to your newest album Invoking Divinity was
profound for me, thank you for healing me, thank you
for inspiring me– again.

“That was probably the best 20 minutes I could ever
spend. Moving from track to track on the CD and just
feeling my energy shift was absolutely profound. Your
music is a blessing to humanity.”

Steve Gardner
www.discoveringlifenow.com

Thank you, Steve and Yang Yue.

The eight tracks (40 minutes total) on the album are a combination of subliminal and audible clearing prayers and Divine music.

All I played at the event were 20 minutes of audible sounds and prayers (just four tracks).

Imagine what all 40 minutes could do for you!

Please do yourself a favor and go discover the power of “Invoking Divinity.”

Story, photos, audio samples and more are at http://www.InvokingDivinity.com

Expect Miracles.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS — If you want to raise your vibration, relax, clean, clear, and experience heaven, just go see http://www.InvokingDivinity.com

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I’m in the recording studio with Grammy nominated legend Ruthie Foster and award-winning singer and producer Daniel Barrett. We have joined forces to create an album together.

I’m flattered beyond belief that these two superstars want me on an album. After all, I’m relatively new to being a musician. And I’ve been a long time fan of both of them. To be in the studio with them is mind boggling.

I was so excited to record with them that I showed up for our first session thirty days early. (!)

But what’s really interesting is how we are all stretching ourselves.

For example —

Daniel Barrett, Ruthie Foster, and me

Ruthie is famous for her singing but not her lead guitar.

On our album, she is playing lead electric guitar.

Daniel does everything, from engineering to singing and more, but he doesn’t play the drums. Or at least didn’t.

On this album, he does.

I’m a newbie to music and don’t have all that much experience doing anything (even though I’ve released eight albums in over three years). I certainly am brand new and uncomfortable on the saxophone.

On this album, I am playing a baritone saxophone.

What’s going on here?

Ruthie Foster stretching

Each of us is stretching out of our comfort zones.

Why?

How?

When you stretch your comfort zone, you reach a new level of comfort and confidence.

“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, Or what’s a heaven for?” – Robert Browning

When Daniel, Ruthie and I go into the studio, we talk, share, joke, and play. Out of our openness, we come up with songs. Out of our willingness to take risks, and exceed our comfort zones by pursing our desires, we create new possibilities.

The result is magic.

And some pretty cool music.

This is an important lesson for each of us.

You have “comfort zone limits,” too.

When you find them and nudge them a bit, you extend your power and attract new results.

We aren’t doing daredevil stuff in the studio.

When you look in the mirror, what do you hear?

We are taking what we haven’t done before but want to do, and focusing on making something happen by doing it.

We are simply following our inspiration and taking action to create something new.

Yes, there is often fear involved, but we feel the fear and do it, anyway.

We turn the fear into fuel.

Here’s an example —

One day, while Ruthie was playing lead electric guitar (and truly wowing me at it), I received an idea for a song.

I jotted it down.

As she kept playing, I started singing the song in my head.

The lyrics and her melody seemed to work together.

When she was done playing, I did something daring.

I said, “I want to sing!”

This was a huge move on my part.

Singing at all, any time, any place, has been a challenge for me.

I’m new at it.

I’ve been insecure about it.

And to sing for Ruthie Foster — one of the best singers I’ve ever heard in my entire life — was a courageous even outrageous thing to suggest.

Even though Ruthie had mentioned just the day before, “I like your singing, Joe. You can sing with me if you want,” I didn’t feel ready to leave my comfy mindset and step into her arena.

But.

But I wanted to push out of my comfort zone.

My heart was racing but I knew I had to do this.

Daniel and Ruthie are loving and supportive, and urged me on.

After all, each of us was doing something new.

We were all stretching.

So I took a deep breath, got in front of the mike, and belted out my tune.

After I sang, Daniel said, “That was some of the best singing I’ve ever heard out of you.”

Really?

Adding Bari Sax

I looked over at Ruthie and she was beaming a sunny smile and nodding her head in agreement.

It was amazing.

Daniel’s drumming, Ruthie’s lead guitar, my vocals — it was a stretch for each of us but it all came together into a powerful new song that will be on our forthcoming first album.

And that song will probably be titled, “Stretch Yourself!”

All I’m reminding you here is do what you fear.

If you have a dream but feel nervous about it, that’s good.

It means you care.

The next step is to get up and do something about it.

Your comfort zones are invisible lines in your mind.

You can melt them with a little stepping forth.

I’m packing up my baritone saxophone and heading back to the studio right now.

It’s time for Saxman Joe to do his thing.

What are you going to do today to stretch yourself?

Ao Akua,

Saxman Joe

PS — Ruthie Foster told me she got an “Aha!” from listening to my song, ‘Reflection,’ off my latest singer-songwriter album of the same name. You can hear samples of all the tracks on that album and grab the CD (which comes with a collectible, limited edition booklet, and with a surprise gift) over at http://www.ReflectionCD.com

BONUS: If you’ve never heard Ruthie Foster sing, watch this…

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I’ve written about signs before.

I’ve explained that there are “flags” in life that give you clues to move forward, pause, or stop.

Green signs or flags mean keep going, yellow signs mean slow down and reflect, and red flags mean stop.

I look for signs all the time, to confirm my direction, or to warn me to reconsider, or to come to a complete halt.

These signs can be anything, from a line in a book to a street sign with a double meaning to a dream to a statement by a friend or from a movie character, or anything else.

But what if the sign is you?

Yes, you.

Let me explain with a story…

Saxman Joe (Art by Mike Denning)

I’ve been practicing the saxophone this year and loving it.

So far I have three vintage saxes: an alto, tenor, and baritone.

I know that Selmer made some highly collectible horns for around twenty years. They are called Mark VI and the prized ones have serial numbers from 53201 to 236000. They are considered the Holy Grail of saxes.

While I have two Selmer vintage saxes, I don’t have a baritone sax (which is what I play) from that specific golden era.

But one showed up on eBay.

Collectible Selmer Mark VI Bari Sax

I stared at it, researched it, considered it, wrote the owner a few questions about it, and more.

I also double checked the serial number on the sax to be sure it was from that magical Selmer period.

It matched.

But I couldn’t bring myself to buy it.

That troubled me.

I kept meditating on the purchase, cleaning internally on any doubts or concerns or uncertainties, but I couldn’t get a resounding yes to actually buy it.

I constantly looked for signs to buy it.

Nothing.

And – believe it or not – I even tried to force a sign from the Universe by consulting an I Ching app, an angel app, and a Magic 8 Ball app.

All said no.

Those were silly apps, I thought, so I was willing to dismiss them.

But I couldn’t.

They were signs.

But the biggest and strongest sign I was getting was from me.

And that sign was also saying no.

I kept feeling — for some unexplained reason — that I shouldn’t get this saxophone.

But I wanted the sax.

I could afford the sax.

I knew the sax was pristine and collectible. Even at the seller’s opening asking price of $10,000 (and his appraised price of $15,000), I could rationalize investing in it. The horn would only go up in value.

But my whole body wouldn’t let me go there, to actually buying it.

First Sax Album Coming 2015

I even got to the point where I typed in my bid on eBay, trying to override all the signs, but as my finger hovered over the key to make the $10,000 bid a permanent contract to buy the sax, my body said “No.”

What!?

It was strange.

My mind said yes – at least part of my mind – but the rest of me said no.

I was confused.

But I knew to trust the signs.

When you don’t trust the early warning signs, you can end up regretting something.

Since the sign was me, and it/I was saying “red flag,” I passed on the sax.

I trusted that it wasn’t for me, for reasons I may never know.

The auction ended.

I watched someone buy it for $10,000.

Gone.

Sigh.

What happened?

I had attracted the sax into my life for a reason, but apparently the reason wasn’t to own it.

So what was the reason?

Over the next day, I reflected on why I wanted that sax.

My 1952 Selmer SBA Baritone

As I meditated on it, I knew that the case the sax came in was original and complete.

The case I have, for my vintage 1952 Super Balanced Action Selmer baritone, is missing the handle.

I want a handle.

So I wrote to Chadd Berry at Worldwide Sax and asked if he could get me one.

He said yes, and did.

Green light.

That was a great sign.

I also realized that the sax for sale came with a metal mouthpiece.

I’ve learned enough about the sax to know the sweet sound comes from the mouthpiece, the reed, and the player. The sax itself just amplifies the sound, which you manipulate mostly with the keys. Some sax players spend a fortune on collecting boxes of mouthpieces, desperately looking for the right one for them.

I wanted a metal mouthpiece.

I did some research, determined one that could work for me, and ordered a gold one.

Green light.

That felt great, too.

Getting the gold mouthpiece (as well as the case handle) was easy, effortless, and almost instantaneous.

That’s how this process is supposed to work when all the flags are green.

And guess what?

I now felt complete.

It’s almost as though I were drawn to the sax on eBay to more deeply connect to my inner compass, and to further my sax playing by getting a metal mouthpiece, not an entire sax, to improve my playing.

For the record, both pieces arrived and work perfectly.

The vintage case is easier to look at and carry with a new handle, and my sax playing is smoother and easier with the gold metal mouthpiece.

And rather than spending $10,000 (or more), I spent less than $1,000 and got everything I needed.

The lesson here, as I see it, is that you have to pay attention to your entire energy system.

If your mind says yes but most of the rest of you says no, that’s a sign.

Explore it.

What is it here for?

Question it.

What could it mean?

Trust it.

You are the sign.

Trust you.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS — A great way to fine tune your inner compass is with a trained objective person. Maybe see Miracles Coaching.

PPS — My favorite modern sax player is Mindi Abair. I’m going to have a private sax lesson with her tomorrow, which I am very excited about. She plays the alto sax rather than the baritone, but boy can she play! Her new album, Wild Heart, is a jazz-rock-sax masterpiece. Here’s a taste of her sound from a live performance a while back:

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