 So one day we were playing on the beach, swimming everyday, eating the most incredible food, enjoying an amazing idyllic childhood. One great big beach holiday! And the next thing we were at Heathrow airport on a chilly early Saturday morning in the UK. I remember I was holding my Mum’s hand and thinking, ‘What are we doing here Mum?’It’s cold, and there are so many people here, and there's no jungle! Its all concrete! You see my Father emigrated from India to Tanzania in his early twenties with his younger brother seeking a new life, new opportunities. His Father was already in Tanga so it was a little easier for him. The trip in those days was hazardous, to say the least. The journey was by sea and the ‘Ships' were a little dubious, as some of them didn't quite make it to their final destination. My lovely dear Mother stayed behind with my elder brother whilst he made preparations for their arrival. A few years down the line, My Sister Rani arrived followed by someone named Harvinder, the wildest, naughtiest child in Africa! ‘Mowgli’ would have been a pretty good description. My musical journey began at a very early age. We used to have tickets booked at the local cinema every Saturday evening where they showed all the latest Bollywood films. These were three hours long with the most amazing musical scores you could imagine. You could hear everything from the traditional Indian Bollywood tunes to some of the most incredible Jazzy, Funky tunes with elements of Latin, Brazilian, and Afro themed music packed into those three hours. This is where my musical journey of inspiration started. As I grew into my teens, my interest in collecting music began, so I used to frequent many of the famous and not-so-famous shops that you could find in London in the late 1970's , 1980's, and 1990's. It was in the late 1980's that I discovered Honest Jons Records on the famous Portobello Road in Ladbroke Grove. One day, the owner Mark asked if I would like to work there on the weekends and of course I said ‘yes!’ I used to be in there so much I think he thought he might as well offer me a job as I kind of knew my stuff, musically speaking. To cut a long story short, this is where I came across this incredible record which had a picture of a man creating some pottery and, on the other side, a beautiful young lady doing something artistic that I didn't really understand! Anyway, I put the needle on the record and POW! INCREDIBLE! Tune after tune, Mesmerizing, Energizing, Hypnotic in some cases, composed, arranged and produced by someone named Jeff Resnick, whom I had never come across in my record collecting days.  Anyway, there went my week’s wages! Money well-spent for some amazing music! Thank You, Honest Jons Records. This record now is a Holy Grail record amongst the vinyl collectors across the world. Fast forward many, many years later and ‘Mowgli’ has now decided finally to set up his very own record label called Outernational Sounds. I had already been a DJ, Record Producer, Vinyl Collector, and Radio Show Host for many years. My first release was an Indo Jazz album from the 1960's called Raga Jazz Style By Shankar Jaikishan.   I have always said to myself that if I ever got a chance to reissue Jeff Resnick's SAC, School For American Craftsmen, I would jump at the chance. I managed to track Jeff down and lo and behold a wish, a dream came true. Thank You, Jeff, for this amazing piece of work. The Concept, The Titles, The Incredible Story of how it just all came together, and last but not least, the Music itself. Just Incredible! I would like to think Jeff and I have made a connection, although we have only spoken on the telephone, but I was lucky enough to get some Positive vibes from Jeff. I won't spoil the surprise by telling you too much about the individual tracks. It’s impossible to do, as every time I listen to this album It takes me on a different journey. Go forth and discover what’s in store. Recorded from original masters on heavy duty 180-gram vinyl only, with everything reproduced as close as possible to the original release. Come with an open mind!   Now available on Outernational Sounds with Jeff's blessings! Exclusive Worldwide Distribution by Honest Jons Records. Thank You, Peace, Love, & Music Always! Harv Nagi
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  Who could have imagined that something that happened in 1977 would result in a new vinyl LP in 2017? It all started when a young college professor was invited to compose the music for a film promoting the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. His task? Compose a Tone Poem for each of the five departments within R.I.T.’s School for American Craftsmen: Wood, Metal, Weaving, Glass, & Clay. There’s quite a story behind-the-scenes, so let’s begin at the beginning, shall we?  The young professor had just produced an LP of the student Jazz ensemble he directed at Genesee Community College, on a hilltop in farm country outside the small town of Batavia, New York. The ensemble was performing a concert for the local community. As luck would have it, which luck always does, a film-maker from Chicago was in attendance. After the concert, she enthusiastically approached the young professor and asked if he would consider composing original music to accompany the afore-mentioned promotional film. “Love to,” he answered simply. “I’m afraid there’s a very limited budget, though,” she warned. “Actually, there’s no budget!” “Sounds like fun! As long as I can cover the cost of a few local musicians I know and some recording studio time, that’s all we’ll need.” “Really? But what about your fee?” “Hey, I do it for the love of composing and recording.” “How soon could you do this?” she asked, raised eyebrow baiting the hook. “I can start tomorrow,” the hook already buried deep in his beard-covered chin. “I need a finished score delivered in two weeks! Is that even possible?” “Sure. Wanna grab lunch tomorrow to talk about it?”  So, they met the next day, and she described the mood she envisioned for each of the five Tone Poems: Wood, Metal, Weaving, Glass, and Clay. They agreed on a minimalist budget to cover costs for the project. By that afternoon, she had begged the required approval from the Dean, along with advance payment for the musicians and studio time, and they agreed to meet two weeks later, when the young professor would deliver the master tape of his finished score. Alas, he was soon to suffer a series of behind-the-scenes events that no one could have dreamed possible! Now for the story-within-the-story! The smartest thing the young professor did was to call Jeff Tyzik, a marvelously gifted trumpet player the professor had worked with several years prior. Jeff agreed to bring along three of his Eastman School of Music faculty band mates, woodwind specialist Ramon Ricker, drummer Dave Mancini, and bassist Aleck Brinkman. The professor’s second call went to the great pianist Sonny Kompanek. The final call went to Tom Rizzo, an acclaimed Rochester guitarist who had worked with the professor in the recording studio. Of course, they all coveted studio work, as their collective music careers would demonstrate all too well. True to form, all agreed to a minimalist fee to accommodate the available budget.        The next smart thing the professor did was to book an eight-hour recording session at the $150/hour recording studio in Rochester where he had produced the college ensemble’s album. Admittedly, completing even one Tone Poem in eight hours was a stretch. But five? That’s all the budget would allow, so they would simply have to make do. With that in mind, the last smart thing he did was to compose the music the first week, sending the performance charts to the musicians in advance. He knew he didn’t need to ask them to master the music beforehand. He already knew they would. And that turned out to be a life-saver! The recording session was scheduled for a Saturday morning at nine o’clock. Naturally, all the musicians had gigs that night, so 5 o’clock was the latest they could stay. As with all his sessions, the professor arrived with sealed envelopes, containing payment in full for the day’s recording. No surprise, everyone showed up early, eager to get started on time. All except the recording engineer, that is! So, they sat outside on the stoop, awaiting his arrival. 10 o’clock. No engineer. 11 o’clock. Still no engineer. The professor was in a panic, pressured by the Monday due date of the completed master tape for the film. No cell phones in the 1970’s, so dozens of phone calls were dialed from nearby telephone booths. You know, like in Superman movies? The engineer was nowhere to be found, and voice messages went unanswered. At noon, Jeff Tyzik came running from his phone booth waving his arms frantically, out of breath but smiling. “We’re in luck! I just got ahold of Mick Guzauski. He got home this morning from a European concert tour. He has a key to the studio, and he’s on his way!” “Man, no way he’s gonna make it here before 1,” Dave bemoaned. “And we gotta be outa here by 5!” They all looked at each other. And at the professor. And at the envelopes in their pockets. “I can stay ’til 7, maybe 7:30,” Ray offered. They all looked at each other again. And at the professor. And at the envelopes in their pockets. They took a vote. Without exception, all agreed to stay and work until 8 o’clock, but that would have to be the limit. The professor smiled. “Thanks, guys.”  Mick arrived at 12:45, looking none the worse for wear, studio key in hand. The musicians filed in with their gear. Normally, it takes the typical engineer hours to set up a studio for recording. But Mick was far from typical! He had everything ready to roll in 20-minutes, the professor marveling at his calm and cool demeanor, despite his lack of sleep. Glass was the first Tone Poem they recorded. No rehearsal. One take. Done! The creative juices were flowing. Jeff assumed the duties of organizing everything from that point on, devising innovative solutions for all the tricky overdubs the professor’s music required in order to make seven players sound like a much bigger band. True to their promises, they managed to wrap up the session at 7:59 P.M. Mick and the professor remained until midnight to edit and master the score. As promised, he handed the magical master tape to the film-maker on Monday, and the young professor departed, assuming his obligation was complete. Not so fast! A week later, the professor answered his ringing phone. It was the film-maker. ‘Uh-oh,’ he thought to himself. “The Dean loves the music!” she gushed. “In fact, he wants to know if you can create four newTone Poems for the School of Art & Design: Painting, Printmaking, Foundations, and Communications Design. These would be added to the film, already near completion.” “Wow, that’s great! Same approach as before? Same budget?” Silence. “…uhhh…well…there’s no money available,” she winced. “I’m afraid we spent everything we had on the School for American Craftsmen project. Do you think you might…uhhh…youknow…”  He scratched his head, thought about it, and an idea came to him in mid-scratch. “You know,” he mused, “I’ve got my own little project studio in a 9’x11’ space I rent for $50-a-month in an old industrial warehouse in town. Nothing even close to a professionalrecording studio. But I’ve got an eight-track tape deck for multi-tracking, a small mixing board, a two-track deck for mastering, and a synthesizer. So, if you’re game, I’ve always wanted to jump into the one-man-band genre. A real challenge, for sure. So, yeah, I think I could give you exactly what you need.” “Let’s do it!” “Let me guess…you need it in two weeks, right?” “…uhhh…well…I actually need it in a week…can you do that?” “Yep. I can. And I will.”   The young professor spent the next week, day and night, in his little make-shift project studio in the Batavia Industrial Center. Of course, back in those days, there were no personal computers, no MIDI sequencers and the like. So he performed every part on every instrument himself. He persuaded another musician friend to play on two of the tracks. That musician was saxophonist Dick Griffo, a fellow alum from the University of Buffalo music department. He also invited one of his community college students, percussionist Mitch Grant, to join in on a track. Sure enough, the exhausted professor delivered his second master tape a week later. He had a good feeling that something good might come from all of this. Once again, he assumed he had fulfilled his obligation, and his search for a new project was already underway. The phone rang! Yes, it was the film-maker. “Uh-oh…you didn’t like it?” he asked. “Like it? The Dean loves it so much that he’s decided he would like you to produce all nine Tone Poems on a long play record album!” Silence. “You’re kidding, right?” “He thinks an LP of your music scores would be a great recruiting tool for the School for American Craftsmen and School of Art & Design. They’re going to mail copies to high school guidance counselors and promising students across the country, and Europe, too, I believe. What do you think about that?” “I think the Dean is a very wise man with a vision for the future. Okay, how’s this gonna work, financially?” “First, he insists that you register the music copyrights in your name to protect your legal rights. Second, you’ll be given full credit for the music on the album cover, along with contact information for anyone who wants to reach you. R.I.T. will pay for everything. The Dean wants you to oversee the whole project to completion.” “I can handle that. I hate to even ask, but when do you need it done?” “Surprise! Take whatever time you need! The film is already doing its job, that’s for sure, so the LP is just icing on the cake,” she explained. “Speaking of the film, what kind of response are you getting?” “To quote the Dean, ‘viewer response to the professor’s innovative Jazz-Fusion music has been immediate and overwhelming.’ ” “Count me in. I’ll get everything rolling on my end. By the way, what are we going to use for the album cover?” “The Dean invited one of the faculty members to design the cover, which will have four-color art work on both sides. Side-A will be SAC, for the School for American Craftsmen. Side-B will be A&D, for the School of Art & Design."  “This is exciting stuff, for sure! Thank you for involving me in such an innovative project. I’ve really enjoyed it, every step of the way.”
“All I can tell you is that the Dean isn’t easily satisfied. This is all happening because of your passion for your work,” she complimented. Six months later, the LPs were mailed across the globe. In the meantime, the young professor left teaching…another story for another time…and opened a music production company in his 9’x11’ studio in the decrepit old industrial complex. With a film score to his credit, he ventured into advertising by composing and producing jingles for ad agencies. That little production company eventually morphed into a full service national ad agency, yet another story for another time and place! But before we conclude this story, the young professor has a confession to make: he is me. And I am him. But you already knew that…didn’t you? I can only wonder how that LP could have become a favorite of rare-LP collectors around the globe, bought and sold who-knows-how-many-times? And for how much money! Yes, I did the required research, contacting the rare-LP collectors who had been following my music for all those years, unbeknownst to me. When they heard I had a few unopened LPs in my attic…well, you can guess the rest!  Growing up in the west of Ireland was a long way from the world of rock music, even though my parents had the first bar to feature live music in Tralee. The music played was traditional Irish, folk and pop music of the ‘60s. Not like today, it was difficult to source music and one time I had to get a train to Cork city to buy a John Mayall album. The round trip was approximately five hours, but worth every second. When CBS Records released the compilation album 'Fill Your Head With Rock', it opened up a whole new exciting world and introduced me to the British band Argent with the song 'Hold Your Head Up'. Little did I realize at the time that through a chance encounter, Chris White (The Zombies) who wrote the song would become one of my best friends and we would have a lifelong musical association. Chris introduced me to RCA Records in London and our first recordings were with members of Argent: Russ Ballard, John Verity, Jim Rodford, Bob Henrit, and Tim Renwick, who later went on to record a classic album with Pink Floyd.  They say ‘’you should never meet your heroes'' but I guess I was blessed to play with mine: Argent, The Fureys, Jan Akkerman from Focus, Ronnie Drew from The Dubliners, and David Richards, producer of David Bowie and Queen. The music of Queen was played a lot in our house and my youngest son Rory fell in love with the song ‘We Will Rock You’. He drove everyone mad by playing it fifteen to twenty times a day, not bad for a two-year-old. Sadly, my son contracted meningitis before his third birthday and had eight brain operations. We constantly played familiar music at Rory’s bedside, as they say people in a coma know what goes on around them. Weeks went into months, so you can imagine our incredible delight when one day I put on ‘We Will Rock You’ in the hospital and Rory’s face lit up. We had made contact.  Our little boy survived and is now a very special young man. Rory will never live independently but has a great quality of life and brightens up every room and company he enters. The following summer of ’99, Dom Torche from Relief Studio, Switzerland, invited our family over for a holiday. The day we were leaving Dublin for our flight to Geneva, we cut flowers from our garden to place at the statue of Freddy Mercury in Montreux, the home of Mountain Studio, Queen and David Richards, our way to say thank you.  Brian May, Rodger Taylor, Claude Nobs (Funky Claude), Freddie Mercury, David Richards, John Deacon In 2009 I received a random phone call from David Richards asking “Got any unfinished songs mate, come out to Montreux and let’s see what will happen.” Who would turn down an offer like that to go to Mountain Studio? We wrote and recorded together for the following few years and I was joined by my son Rory for a few of the recording sessions. How incredible it was to see Rory sitting at the recording desk with David in his total comfort zone, a long way from the hospital in Dublin. David often spoke about how difficult it was to finish the Queen album ‘Made In Heaven’ after Freddie passed away. Little did I ever imagine that I would be in the same heartbroken situation as David sadly passed away in December, 2013. One of the songs we recorded together was ‘Smoke On The Water’, a tribute to Montreux and Claude Nobs (Funky Claude) founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival.  Our music files are now in Tempo Studio, Dublin, with Matt Kelleghan of Moving Hearts, and to finish the album I am also joined by Vivienne Boucherat, Chris White, and John Verity. Our aim is to share the gift of Peace, Love, and Rock’n’Roll in David’s memory.  Editor’s Note: Shortly before the final deadline for publication of this story, I received an email update from Francie. Check out this wonderful news!   by Jennifer Resnick 19 years ago today I was working at my store, helping women buy beautiful clothes, trying to focus on my business, because thinking about my scheduled C-section the next day felt too scary. I remember eating dinner and going to bed that night, telling myself to get a good night’s sleep because I wouldn’t get one for awhile. Flash forward to the next afternoon.  Flash forward again to today- 19 years… and still the same Fierce Love, growing exponentially with each passing moment. Happy Birthday to my sweet girl, Chelsea Miranda.  You Make My Life Complete!  © Jeff Resnick 2022
All Rights Reserved  The Bills were also without safety Micah Hyde who was placed on injured reserve (IR). For Ed OIiver, this marked the second-consecutive game he will sit out with an ankle injury. Jordan Poyer injured his foot in Week Two against the Titans and missed practice on Thursday with a limited practice session on Friday; this was the first game Poyer has missed in 2022. Dane Jackson remained out with a neck injury that he sustained in the first half against Tennessee. Jordan Phillips missed the game with a hamstring injury. WR Gabe Davis (ankle), TE Dawson Knox (foot) and DT Tim Settle (calf) were listed as ACTIVE vs. the Dolphins.   The Bills were relegated to 100% of playing time in-the-sun-side of the stadium. Is that legal? Or fair? In 115-degree heat, no less. How did Miami stay in the shady side for the entire game? What's wrong with that picture, anyway? Home field advantage? Or maybe just unfair advantage? The Officiating sucked! So many obvious Penalties were ignored or overlooked. Again, home field advantage? Lots of dirty play said it all. Sour grapes on Buffalo's part? Nope, it's all part of the game.  This Says It All: Josh Allen's stats were awesome. In the end, a few "hiccups" ended in the final seconds of play, resulting in a two-point loss, 21 - 19!
So close, yet so far. Guess what! Next week is another game. And just think: MIAMI PLAYS THE BILLS AGAIN ON DECEMBER 17! BLIZZARD TIME!  Yeah, the Bills came so close to a super bowl last year! But, as you recall, "Won Not Done" became a recognized promise for 2022-23. Did you watch the first game of this season on Thursday night? What a team! They destroyed the Super Bowl Champion Los Angeles Rams in a rout. The first half looked pretty good. The second half? BLOWOUT! GO BILLS!!!
Have you been following the Bills along their journey to the Super Bowl? Last night, they absolutely destroyed the New England Patriots! 7 touchdowns courtesy of Josh Allen and his incredible team mates. 47-17 final score says it all. Super Bowl awaits!   Well, I'm afraid the Bills won't be in the Super Bowl this year! Bummer. Last night, the Kansas City Chiefs managed to beat the Bills in overtime, knocking them out of the race. No question, it might just be remembered as the most exciting game ever played. Okay, you know the saying, "there's always next year." I can't wait!
In 1965, my first year as a music student at the University of Buffalo, I met John Hill, another music student. We became not only good friends, but over the years performed together in a variety of professional bands. Below is a pic from around 1971 of “The 8 of Us.” John is third from the left, I’m second from the right. (Yep, we were hippies!)  We also performed in the UB Jazz Ensemble, which I directed. John is on the far left, playing the Baritone Sax. I’m waving my arms as director.  All these years later, I had lost track of John. Until I received an obituary announcement from a funeral home in Buffalo. John had passed away. I can’t begin to tell you the emotional impact of that email. Suddenly, all of us in our mid-seventies understand what faces us all too soon.
Advertising is the life-blood or your business, intended to motivate potential consumers to shop and buy at your business rather than someone else’s. Go to the library and do some research, only to find shelves of books about how to prepare a business plan, how to get a business license, how to hire a lawyer, and how to hire a lawyer to sue your lawyer! These books will fall into one of two categories. One, the book will be so general as to be irrelevant. If you're lucky, it might have a chapter on Advertising, the sum and substance being that you really should Advertise. Gee, thanks. Second, the book will be so overburdened with useless statistics and number crunching that it'll be of little use or interest to anyone except a Ph.D. in Advertising. Is there such an animal? Sooner or later, you'll come to the unpleasant realization that you're knee deep in KaKa!  There’s an old wives tale that Teachers teach because they’re not capable of Performing! As for me, I began Performing at a very early age.  My first performance was on stage as a fourth grader at Francis Parker School #23 in Rochester, NY. I was hooked early in life!  By eighth grade at Monroe H.S., I was performing professionally 3 nights-a-week with musicians in their 50’s and 60’s. Smartly, I banked the money quickly!  Throughout high school, I was performing regularly throughout Rochester at night clubs and concert halls.  As soon as I enrolled in the University of Buffalo, performance opportunities opened a new world of Jazz-Rock at places like “The Mug,” not to mention bars and frat parties galore.  It didn’t take long for me to compose original music and direct the UB Jazz Orchestra, attracting the attention of the UB faculty! They immediately offered me a Graduate Teaching Fellowship, with free tuition and a monetary stipend to boot!  By now an accomplished performer, I was eager to be a Teacher, paying no attention to that old wives tale! I chronicle my career in education with a rollicking memoir, reminding myself that Life’s Lessons are certainly not taught in the classroom!  My first teaching job fresh out of college came my way in North Haven, CT. This is where I realized that this a teacher could perform along with the student musicians under my direction.  The Jazz Workshop toured towns throughout Connecticut, earning a reputation for excellence, despite the long hair, beards, etc.!  In the years that followed, I enjoyed teaching (and performing) in Rochester, Palmyra and Batavia, NY, Morgantown, WV . . . on and on. Teaching is all about unselfishly Learning and Sharing, precisely what makes teaching a worthwhile profession, despite the many challenges we surely encounter. My thoughts all these years later are for teachers, administrators, student teachers, college education students, parents, and the general population looking for a few good laughs along the way. Enjoy the ride!
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AuthorHello there! Jeff here, happy to share true stories with you! 
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