OurStage

A FAN PICKS SPECIAL FEATURE WITH TRABUE Published by Rainy on August 5, 2009 “You Be The Judge” has a bit of a twist to it this week. Usually, when we look for a fan to feature, the first thing we check is their judging history, Predictor awards and Connector badges—things that immediately tell us the user likes to listen to a lot of music. This time, the first thing we noticed about our featured user was his affinity for writing reviews. We found Trabue in the comments section of Daniel Palmer’s Fanclub page, and asked him right away if he’d like to review a couple of his favorite OurStage tracks. Rather than the usual quick picks, we had Trabue share some more in-depth accounts of why he likes the songs he chose. Trabue: a man of many words... Bio: Trabue Gentry began his musical career writing music at the age of 13 and has since penned over 150 musical compositions. He started out as an apprentice engineer at Kings Studio in 1965 and eventually received an artist contract by producer Pete Drake (George Harrison, Ringo Starr, et al) in 1977. Today, Gentry continues to write and produce music, and advise and collaborate with artists around the world. Deepest Water by Mikle Krizanovski for All Instrumental “Admittedly, I am biased since I featured Mikle’s awe-inspiring guitar work on my composition ‘Lost In The Wax’ But my bias goes well beyond that. Quite simply, Mikle is a brilliant composer, arranger, musician and engineer. His genius in all of these areas is no more evident than in his haunting beautiful composition ‘Deepest Water.’ Mikle is best known for his OurStage contest-winning ‘TeeAKKee‘ which personified what we all expected from him as an extraordinarily talented rock guitarist. Recently, Mikle expressed to me his concern that his yet-unheard classical compositions might not be well received by OurStage audiences and sent me an advance copy of ‘Deepest Water’ for my opinion. Naturally, I was caught completely off guard. This is perhaps the most beautifully written, orchestrated and executed classical rock masterpiece I have ever heard. The complexities and intricacies of ‘Deepest Water’ may well be the topic for heated discussion and debate among the most accredited academic music theorists for many years to come. No matter what genre you prefer, everyone should experience the lesser-known and perhaps more brilliant side of Mike Krizanovski in ‘Deepest Water’.”

President Obama calls for improved social relations between Russian and American people. American composer Trabue Gentry and Russian composer Mikle Krizanovski deliver. - Cindy Shanks. In his address to graduates of the New Economic School in Moscow on July 7, 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama called for improved social relations between Russian and American people, "...I have called for a reset in relations between the United States and Russia...This must be more than a fresh start between the Kremlin and the White House...It must be a sustained effort among American and Russian people to identify mutual interests and expand dialog and cooperation that can pave the way to progress.". President Obama went on to say "When new connections are forged among people, all of us are enriched.". July 4, 2009 marked the 233rd anniversary of The United State's Declaration of Independence. By pure coincidence, on that same day, just three days prior to President Obama's address, American composer Trabue Gentry and Russian composer Mikle Krizanovski uploaded their ground breaking musical collaboration, "Lost In The Wax", to the popular Internet music venue, OurStage.com, in almost intuitive deference to President Obama's plea. Said Gentry, "The social climate between America and Russia has changed dramatically since the days of U.S. chess champion Bobby Fischer and Russian chess champion Boris Spassky in 1972. Then, it was a colder climate of competition and friendly rivalry. Today we live in a warmer climate of collaboration and mutual respect as individuals. Political climates always seems to be on the heels of and commensurate with social change.". Trabue Gentry, age 57, a once time protйgй of famed music producer Pete Drake, began composing music in 1964 at the age of 12 and has since penned over 150 musical compositions. Gentry currently lives in Springfield, Illinois, capitol of President Obama's senatorial state. Mikle Krizanovski, age 43, began playing at the age of nine and has an academic background in classical music. Krizanovski won first place in OurStage's January and May 2009 Guitar Solo competitions. He combines the science of music from his professional musical training with his vision and passion to innovate. Krizanovski currently lives in Krasnodar, Russia. Written by Gentry in 1974, "Lost In The Wax" was originally recorded that same year with Gentry on rhythm guitar and vocals along with fellow Americans Kevin Sterner on bass guitar and vocals and Joe Hogan on drums. Unfortunately, the unfinished work was devoid of the style of lead guitar Gentry wanted which simply wasn't available to him at the time. Being the very particular producer that he is, Gentry shelved the project indefinitely. Several months ago, Gentry heard Krizanovski on OurStage and immediately knew that this unique stylist offered exactly what he had originally envisioned for "Lost In The Wax". Gentry contacted Krizanovski and asked if he would be interested in collaborating with him to finish the song. Krizanovski enthusiastically agreed. Now, 35 years later, Krizanovski completed the piece with his award-winning guitar work. Said Gentry, "Neither of us ever gave a thought as to our respective country's political differences. The only things we ever discussed during this project were the song and our desire to learn more about our different cultures. Despite language barriers and never having met or spoken to each other, we have succeeded by using the Internet and digital technology throughout the entire collaboration process. And, we have since become very close friends and brothers. I now have family in Russia and Miki now has family in America. In fact, we jokingly put our residences on the internet's OurStage and MySpace as between each other's countries.". To hear Lost In The Wax: http://www.ourstage.com/play/track/OWUYGDDMKWQL-lost-in-the-wax To Lean more about Trabue Gentry: http://www.ourstage.com/fanclub/trabue To Lean more about Mikle Krizanovski: http://www.ourstage.com/fanclub/miklekrizanovski