Ellen Robinson at Yoshi's

Here are some wonderful live photos from my sold out gig at Yoshi's taken by my friend and fabulous photographer Anna Kuperberg. It was such a blast...enjoy! Yoshi's, 5/12/2009

A lucky so & so...

I am a lucky woman! I get to do the thing I love and make my living at it. This fall 2009 I am starting my 29th year directing the Anything Goes Chorus, 11th year with Girfriendz, 8th year with Swingshift Singers, 7th year with Treble Makers, and finally my 2nd year with Stagebridge. In an economy that is struggling and floundering and laying off people right and left, my students and all those people who are hooked on singing understand the power of lifting your voice and your spirit in song with other like minded vocalists. It is magical alchemy that enables you to become more than just yourself---the harmony morphs you in to an integral part of a musical tapestry that only exists in that moment. Those who have experienced it just don't want to live without it in their lives. Bodies vibrating together in vocal ecstasy...OK, maybe that is a bit much, but we all do get high from singing, legally. It's just pretty great. Period.

In addition to that, I am so excited to continue to make fabulous music with my dream band consisting of Murray Low on piano, Sam Bevan on bass, Bud Spangler on drums, and Kristen Strom on sax. We have a new venue coming up in November: an intimate house concert setting that will bring the audience up close and personal---just the way I like it!

And last but hardly least, what literally gets me high is backpacking at 11,000+ feet surrounded by 13,000+ foot mountains. Yes, it's true: for my 60th birthday this summer I was able to hike up in to the Eastern Sierra again. Truly another blessing to be fit and strong and have good knees that will take me up...and down again. It nourishes my soul, renews my energy and shows me that anything is possible, so I can come back and lead hundreds of singers for yet another year.

And so it is.

Is it really January 2009?

OK. It's time.
A new year, a new President, new hope and a new perspective.
Time to start envisioning what we really desire,
what resources we need,
what we're willing to do to get there,
and who we can count as partners and collaborators
to go there with us.
Come with me.

In the midst of this current global economic nightmare,
banks failing and more & more people out of work,
and how many billions in bailouts?
and the ongoing and never-seeming-to-end
military retaliation and ancient antagonism between peoples
resulting in bloodshed and devastation,
as well as the environmental crises challenging this earth
and our ability to continue to thrive on this planet...
I see possibilities. I feel upbeat.
I see people opening their minds to new ways
of thinking and new ways of looking at situations.
Am I nuts?

It's clear - we have to try something new:
If we keep doing what we've been doing,
we'll keep getting what we've been getting.

I am thrilled to be starting off this year by singing at a new venue
with a truly outstanding band in the beautiful Julia Morgan Chapel
of the Chimes. The Chapel provides a wonderful visual backdrop
and acoustic listening venue for live music in a setting like no other.

It is Martin Luther King weekend.
It is two days before the inauguration of Barack Obama.
What a great way to come together in community and celebrate!

Read this Interview I did with my friend,
writer and musician Deborah Crooks.
It's about my upcoming show and prospects for 2009:
http://deborahcrooks.blogspot.com/2009/01/ellen-robinson-chapel-of-chimes

Let's go.
See you on the journey....please smile back.
(I'm the one on the right with the yellow and red pack.)