Dawning

There's a river that is sacred to and named after the ancient Yoruba deity Oshun, in Southwest Nigeria. Almost 20 years ago, I was blessed to receive initiation to her mysteries. Oshun the divinity or orisha, has the attributes of arts, creativity, beauty, tenacity, sensuality, heightened spirituality, and activism. She embodies all of the strongest of feminine attributes. Metaphysically, water captures emotions. Rivers can embody all of the emotions, depending on how full they are, the weather, what has fallen into them, and what part of the river you're in. Dawning acknowledges the emotional, watery aspects of life: tears, laughter, the struggles, sadness, the longing, hope, and the triumphs. It begins with a sense of sinking and drowning in the remix prayer to Oshun, MoBeYin Iyalode ('I beg of you Great Mother') symbolizing 'troubled waters', and ends with receding waters, or what I like to define as a recovery period. Dawning has been birthed over several years of transition; from being in a lengthy marriage to being single, and going from being recognized as that nurse who sings sometimes to that singer songwriter who used to be a full-time nurse. Dawning is faithfully stepping out and returning to my first love, singing and writing. Public school music programs; the world-class Cleveland Orchestra Choruses; public and private jazz, soul, and R&B venues around Northeast Ohio, New York City, and Las Vegas; faith-based church music ministry; the world music scene of reggae and bata rhythms and more, have contributed to the feeding of my passion, and have lead to the creation of Dawning. Dawning also gives recognition to the concept of range. It's a range of wonderful lifetime possibilities. It's a range of genres, sounds, vocal capacity and energies in music. Dawning is the beginning of a new day....