New Words

Hey everyone,

As you all know, the last few months have been kind of rough for me. It's been 2 and a half months since my father died, however as my father always taught me, I've kept pushing forward and trying to push upward. I've been hinting for the last 2 months that I have a cool project coming up, and I'm about 3 days from telling you exactly what that is.

In a truncated nutshell, however, I've been working on a passion project of 10 recordings. They've been percolating in my head for a couple of years, and I really buckled down on getting them arranged and recorded starting last October. In February, when we made the decision to allow my father to pass away comfortably, I decided to add an 11th track to that list. 

This is the 11th track. It's an arrangement of "New Words" by Maury Yeston, from the musical "In the Beginning". This absolutely beautiful arrangement was made for me by my good friend Chris LaRosa whose work is unparalleled. We recorded it on the 27th of February, 3 and a half weeks after my father passed away, at Degraw Sound in Brooklyn. Harper James engineered the track and mixed it so beautifully. 

Thank you so very, very, very much to the incredible artists who contributed to this track/video. To the musicians, Marcus Thorne Bagala (Guitar), Samuel Thorne Bagala (Piano and Conducting Strings/Rhythm Sections), Erica Swindell (Violin1), Katrina Lenk (Viola), Christine Chen (Cello), Zoe Aqua (Violin 2), Will Melones (Bass), and Sebastian Chiriboga (Percussion).

Thanks to Garrett Kafchinski and Abner James for shooting such wonderful footage, and for helping me through this editing process.

And thanks to all of you guys, friends and family alike, without whom I would be lost in 2016. You guys keep my head up, you keep my spirits high, and you keep me lifted even at my lowest. You will never know how much you mean to me, and how much you have given me in the last 2 and a half months.

Dad, I love you, I miss you, thank you for teaching me to name the stars.
​
~ Ned