Spencer Brewer Livestream

Parasols in Paris 

Picture yourself 120 years ago in Paris, it's dusk and its springtime and what did people do during that period of time at that time of day? They put on their fine clothes, women with their parasols, men in their top hats and they went out and walked - to be seen and to see other people with children scampering about. It was a much slower time of life. If you wrap yourself in this scenario, cue the music of "Parasols in Paris". 

And So It Goes… 

“And So It Goes…” was written on an old upright at a friend of mine's ranch house in the country. We had just finished with a game of horseshoes where he trounced me, and he was making dinner for us. I went to his old upright and the piece just came out. “And So It Goes” is really about the easiness, the laziness taking in life as it goes by. Oh, there goes a car right by us - And so it goes… My daughter today got a good grade in school - And so it goes… The dogs are barking once again at that cat on the roof - And so it goes... It's like witnessing life gently, with easy eyes listening to the soundtrack of it all. And so it goes... 

Portraits 

“Portraits” is a song I wrote for my father for his surprise 60th birthday party, and was the title track to the album Portraits in the mid 1980s. I wanted to bring it back as the just original composition. In many of my records, we surrounded the initial composition, the initial piano track with wonderful musicians, orchestrations and instrumentals. I wanted the songs on this album to reflect the essence of what the original composition was and what it was intended to convey. Portraits embodies the essence of that sentiment. 

Myths And Legends 

“Myths And Legends” embodies an old myth. Throughout life, stories and tales have been told around fires, in small gatherings before recorded sound was available. Over time these tales became myths. Give even more time away from the actual occurrence of the myth, they eventually became legends; things that happened a long time ago. In this song you can hear the beginning of the gentle myth being created which then turns into a heroic legend that people imbue the story with, and then it comes back eventually to be a myth in time. 

Together We Make One 

“Together We Make One” is one of the three dream songs on this record. Over my lifetime I've been asked how I compose, where does the music come from? Only seven times in my life, I've been able to dream a song and run to the piano and play it. “Together We Make One” was about a dream of a man and a woman coming together with the love they had between each other, feeling it throughout the dream. Together they made one. This song is the beauty and the love between them that I experienced and heard in the dream. Several people have used this song unknowingly as they came down the aisle or leaving the altar at their wedding. 

Legend of Rene Anguiano 

“Legend of Rene Anguiano” is my most recent dream song and my first in 17 years. The dream itself was a big film with lots of crashing waves, wind and turbulent waters. I kept hearing the main theme throughout the dream while it went through all kinds of transitions in the dream itself. Rene Anguiano was a dear friend of mine I lived in Austin, Texas in the 70’s. He had died during the time of this song coming to me. I decided to honor him with the title of the song since his life was such a dynamic one and had such an impact on me. 

Behind The Veil 

“Behind The Veil” is the most reflective song on the record next to “Walls That Move”. It is the newest song on the actual album, and is me going deep inside and listening. This song really touches me and who I am these days. The song came out before the title and so the title Behind The Veil really is the telling of what are the stories, what am I hearing behind the veil of life? 

It felt like the music was 'behind the veil' as one listens quietly. What is really the sound behind ‘Silence’? 

Eden 

“Eden” is originally from the album Portraits. It had a beautiful arrangement on the original recording, but I wanted to redo it for just for the original piano track itself. This is a sweet song in its solo version that lent itself beautifully to the record. 

Summertime 

“Summertime” is the only track on the record that features wind man Paul McCandless. This song is one that I wanted to do an unusual treatment of arrangement wise and then have Paul play over the top of it with his fantastic way of hearing melody and arranging solos. It's the only the second time that I've ever done someone else's music on one of my records. 

Remember When 

“Remember When” is a song that I rediscovered when I was flying to a convention in Chicago. I had a lot of time on the plane and so put on the headphones and was going through the hundreds of song ideas that I recorded over the years on my phone erasing most of them. This song showed up only once on my phone and I was so intrigued by the melody that I decided to open it up and develop the music and explore where it wanted to go. 

Usually in my music, I come back to a theme in a composition. On this song I did not do that… it just kept going from point A to point G so that the melody and the composition keeps unfolding instead of repeating itself in altered forms. It's like one continuous idea all the way to the end with no repeats. That's unusual for me how I compose. I wanted to honor exactly how it came out. 

Where we Used to Play 

‘Where we Used to Play’ is the third dream song on this record. In the dream there were children on a playground playing with this beautiful lilting sweet melody going throughout their day of playing. I woke up and went to the piano and almost the entire song was at my fingertips within a couple of days. It's a very sweet song about children enjoying one another on a playground. 

Walls that Move 

‘Walls that Move’ was written at Skywalker Sound when I was doing a production there. We put two concert grand pianos in the middle of the gigantic sound stage. With the room completely opened up there was an almost 5 second delay, hence the expansiveness of the composition. In the cavernous room itself, all the walls move so that you can deaden the room or make a completely live hall, hence the term walls that move. Like Behind the Veil, it is the most reflective piece compositionally on the record.