Maria Schneider and Cerulean Skies

Millions of migratory birds are winging their way north. In her jazz composition Cerulean Skies, American jazz composer Maria Schneider, celebrates their return. She says, “What really inspires me when I’m looking at the birds in Central Park is imagining the journey that they’ve been on.” She pictures the birds, like this Black-and-white Warbler, on their wintering grounds in the tropics, until it's time to migrate north again. “All these birds are going up into the air … then navigating and flying by the light of the stars."

BirdNote^®

Maria Schneider and Cerulean Skies

Interview by Chris Peterson

This is BirdNote!
   [Begin selection from Cerulean Skies]
   Millions of birds are winging their way north, some, over thousands of miles. In her jazz composition, Cerulean Skies, composer Maria Schneider and her band celebrate their return!
[Fade up to new selection from Cerulean Skies]

   “What really inspires me when I’m looking at the birds that I see in Central Park is imagining the journey that they’ve been on.”

   [Selection from Cerulean Skies]

“All these birds – thousands of birds — are going up into the air and
disappearing…a little pinprick into the sky. [Selection from tenor solo] And then we go into the mind’s eye of one little warbler that’s navigating and flying by the light of the stars…[selection from accordion solo]

“They’re so delicate! And you think about the mystery of it all! And you
just think, ‘Wow, we’re so small in what we can do.’ And this is just – it’s so big. And then you feel completely insignificant and at the same time, it makes you feel more significant because you’re a part of it. That’s what I love about getting out in nature and taking those things in.”

To hear more of our interview with Maria Schneider, join us at birdnote.org.
   [Full band sound from Cerulean Skies]

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Selections from “Cerulean Skies” on the Sky Blue CD, 2007, composer Maria Schneider, mariaschneider.com.
BirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2014 Tune In to Nature.org    May 2017/2019 Narrator: Michael Stein   Marantz VI Tracks 7,11,16
ID#    schneiderm-02-2014-05-05 (subject to change)     schneiderm-02