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The main purpose of each arrangement is to bring out the meaning and depth of the lyrics, highlighting them in inventive accompaniment phrasings, shifting harmonic settings, etc. Please pay special attention to the piano.

Two tracks are hydrid songs, grafting lyrics from related songs by the artist that I thought worked well as textual implants. "Blue Tattoo" combines material from 5 Joni Mitchell songs under a single emotional concept, using the structure of her song, "Blue," as the organizing principle. The other hydrid, "I Have Been Decieved," combines 3 Elton John songs into a single story line, although the main framework is his 1969 "The King Must Die." My version of "Blackbird" integrates a moment from Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock," as well. In all cases, I'm trying to get at a deeper reading of specific lyrics, not merely trying to be clever. For those of you who know the originals, it will be a fun kind of audio treasure hunt. Also, I think my alterations of Jon Anderson's lyrics in "Let's Pretend" add an additoinal layer of meaning to his song (as well as make it more personal to my life), so I included his original lyrics for comparison when embedding the lyrics into the MP3 file (if viewed in iTunes).

I hope the simplicity of a weathered solo voice and warm acoustic piano lends to each song, each lyric, a special intimacy. (As an example, I sang "Frozen Man" while recovering from pneumonia, adding to it's authenticity.)

Track 11, a fantasy inspired by Harold Arlen's "Over the Rainbow," is an instrumental, a duet for piano and soprano sax (Woody Mankowski). A fitting final track. Plus, it was the first song I arranged on my new baby grand piano after it arrived.

After listening to the complete collection, I couldn't help but add, as a Bonus Track, an unreleased recording, "Before There Were Gods," made following Michael Hedges' untimely death, with the blessings of his estate. It encorporates his amazing guitar work from "Lenono," with additions by me, including layered vocals. Unlike the other songs in this collection that are all recorded during 2011/2012, it was recorded in 2004, when I was breathing freely.

Here are links to the songs with links to song pages that include lyrics and notes. I will announce here when the actual CD is available later this year. Text of lyrics are also embedded in each mp3 song file (see song pages):

1. Impossible Dream [Mitch Leigh/Joe Darion, from Man of la Mancha]
2. Dignity [Bob Dylan]
3. American Tune [Paul Simon]
4. Blue Tattoos [Joni Mitchell]
5. Blackbird [Paul McCartney]
6. Being Alive [Stephen Sondheim, from Company]
7. Frozen Man [James Taylor]
8. I Have Been Deceived [Elton John/Bernie Taupin]
9. Let's Pretend [Anderson/Wakeman/Bruford/Howe] (altered lyrics)
10. Oh Danny Boy [traditional, lyrics by Federic Weatherly]
11. No Place Like Home [Arlen/Mueller]
12. BONUS TRACK: Before There Were Gods [lyrics by Tobin Mueller, music by Mueller/Hedges]

VIDEOS on YouTube:
Impossible Dream (including many fascinating images of Don Quixote)
Dignity (including photos to illustrate the lyrics)
Blue Tattoos (with a slideshow of actual tattoos... which are astounding)
I Have Been Deceived (Elton John meets the Game Of Thrones)

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Tobin Mueller's grandfather was a violinist for silent films, his mother was a vocalist. He started his music career at age 14, arranging music for his mom. He grew up in Wisconsin, and attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Marquette University and UW Milwaukee. He moved to NYC in the 90's and had several shows produced off-Broadway. He now lives in Connecticut. A multi-talented songwriter, playwright, photographer, collaborative artist, Tobin's free spirited ways of artistic discovery are dedicated to creating new expressions of music and collaboration.

Tobin has journeyed through musical theater, classical, jazz, and progressive rock. He's written ballets, film scores, children's music, poetry, historical fiction, political essays, domestic humor, and video games. He has recorded with Dave Brubeck, Ken Schaphorst, Woody Mankowski, Donny McCaslin, Janet Planet, Entcho Todorov, Dane Richeson, and others.

Tobin was one of the volunteers who worked at Ground Zero following the attack on 9/11/2001 in Manhattan, where he lived at the time. He coordinated a distribution center effort at Chelsea Piers to supply the first responders, an effort the people working on The Pile dubbed "The Home Depot." His exposer to the toxic dust, during that time, has contributed to his lung problems. He sings about this experience in his collection The September 11 Project: Ten Years Later.

In London, Tobin was inducted into the United Nations 1994 Global 500 Roll of Honor for his work with youth and the environment. His theatre touring troupe CenterStage Productions won numerous awards performing his original musicals. RAIN BATHER album won ALBUM OF THE YEAR in 2009, from Jazz Chicago. THE MULLER'S WHEEL is currently spotlighted at JazzRadioDC.com and Orbert Davis' Chicago Jazz Philharmonic. Tobin's solo piano albums are full of music inventions. (See Recordings for available CDs, or email the artist.)

Member: ASCAP, Dramatists Guild (NYC).