Natural Vibe @ Gyspsy Café
4.16.00

In my short and humble other life as a singer in Natural Vibe, my favorite performance of ours was at this quaint little stage in the back of Gypsy Café in Downtown Ann Arbor. At this point in time, we were in a zone, we’d been together long enough for our harmonies to simmer and meld. Our band was outstanding and we were practicing 3 times a week for 3 hours each. Throw in Ryan on the sound board and Lynn and Steve on the violins and you’ve got a moment in time that was organic. The sun was shining but it wasn’t too hot. The winds supplied a slight breeze. The day was beautiful. It was Palm Sunday. Friends and family filled that small back room with support and love. The laughter, clapping, and woo’s in the recordings are just as audibly satisfying to my soul as the music.


Dream – To me, this was a significant song because it is actually the first song the guys let me help write. The piano was next to the large windows at the McKinley house where we all lived together. It really was my first taste of the song creation process. G played what he felt inside. Felipe sang what he felt inside. I was excited and nervous and unsure. They were really encouraging which resulted in my contribution, “Dream again, dream with me again.” Now that I think about it, I’m not surprised those are the words that came from me first. I consider myself a dreamer and encourager. Someone who has visions of how things should be. But dreams are no good alone. If we dream together, it makes it that much better.

Token – “It’s 5 in the morning and I can’t sleep.” I love this first line. This song had a cult following. I loved how Felipe wrote. It was dark with a sense of hope. Vibe sang this song to Annalisa for me as a favor at a FASA meeting because I wanted to get back together with her. Let’s just say that it worked out.

How Deep is Your Love? – A standard Bee Gees cover. Vibe’s first performance was at the NAC on South U. on 11.18.95. This song was part of that original set.

Do I Feel – Arguably one of the most recognizable Vibe originals. Sweet and sincere and smooth, Do I Feel captures the romantic in us who is giddy with the beginning stages of relationships. This song used to woo the womenz.

Freedom – Belt out a song in your car or in the shower. Don’t you sound good? Isn’t it a beautiful day? That’s how singing this song felt. I remember the practice when Dave (our bassist) came up with the Hey Jude overlay. Genius. So awesome. So fun. I loved that it felt like a family when the whole room was singing so loud.

Superstitious – Annalisa and I took a philosophy class. Our TA’s name was Steve Martin. Steve Martin was teaching me philosophy. Not surprising it was in his class I developed this intro that started a song and introduced our band. Funky. Our manager and percussionist, his name is J Soliman.

Wonderful Tonight – G always worked so hard to try and make my voice sound better. Since I didn’t have the strongest voice, he recommended a song that might suit me. Clapton doesn’t have an amazing voice either. But his songs are touching and beautiful. I always used to wish that my voice would develop to a point where I could really contribute to the group in the sense of being another excellent lead singer or soloist. I don’t feel I ever got to that point. I contributed in other ways, but not in arguably the most important way. For the longest time, my voice has been a piece of unfinished business.

Please Don’t Go - Ah, Boyz II Men. Cooleyhighharmony. Nothing like it. G said he really liked how powerful a song can be with one phrase repeated. This song always takes me back to those crazy grade school days of singing in my mom’s Chrysler New Yorker on the way to school. It also carries a certain desperation with it which is nice because life feels desperate sometimes.

Intermission

Smooth - One thing I can remember about Smooth is performing it at Dance Marathon. It was cool to get the guiro man Chris Lum in there too. Um, sexy Rex is in rare form on this track too. It felt good to be part of something that rocked.

Angel - If you listen closely, you can actually hear the manifestation of a dog without a bone. I’m not sure how much people knew that G and Felipe were influenced a lot by the old big hair rock ballads. I love singing this song.

I Wander
Magical - Okay, these renditions of I Wander and Magical might be the most beautiful musical performances I’ve ever been a part of . I think G got it in his head that we needed strings for these songs. Madeleine, his wife now and girlfriend at the time, is also a gifted strings composer. She banged out these ridiculously gorgeous arrangements. Now all we needed were strings. Fortunately, Lynn Chen and Steve Kang were both first chair violinists in high school. Lynn is this beautiful talented Taiwanese movie nut who was at the heart of Groove Mode Squad when hip-hop was building on campus. Steve is a fellow founder of FunKtion with insane vocal and arranging talent that he brought to 58 Greene. He is in Boston now getting a degree from Berkley school of music. Lynn graduated B-School and is killing now in marketing for Fiji water. Never mind all that though. That day they were instruments in a beautiful and poignant soundtrack symphony that helped tell the story of lost and enchanting love.

If I Could Change the World - One time I heard somebody say to Gary, “Nobody wakes up every day wanting to be a pioneer.” Gary replied, “I do.” He said it with such simplicity that I actually believed him. Can you imagine waking up every day believing you could actually change the world for the better? I can.

Love - Another song with a secret cult following. The truth is, this song might never be officially recorded with the voices and instruments that the creators envisioned. This makes some people sad. I’m just glad we had this recording.

One More Day - People thought that this medley is actually how the original song went. It’s actually a joint track of New Edition’s One More Day and Human League’s I’m Only Human. G did such a good job melding the two together seamlessly, it’s as if it were as it should have always been. I also love how the end of the song reminds humans that failure is part of the process of success.

Lord I’ve Come - We brought out palms and sang what every heart wants to sing on Palm Sunday. A beautiful ending to a beautiful moment in time.