Recital: Kaoruko Pilkington '22 MM, Jazz Voice

Jimmy Eaton/Terry Shand | I’m Gonna Lock My Heart (and Throw Away the Key)

Kaoruko Pilkington | Cherry Blossom Trees

arranged by Dave Holland

Text

Cherry Blossom Trees

Cherry blossom trees
Give us the hope for spring
Clouds of hazy pink, millions of petals bring
Celebrate but stay awake
While you wait they might be fade
Snow may still return,
Could need your coat to wear
If you still believe in spring, don’t you despair
‘Tho it may not be warm sunny day
It’s the cherry blossom trees tell us that spring’s on its way

 

Benny Golson | Along Came Betty

Oscar Brown Jr. | Dat Dere

Ricahrd Rodgers | The Sweetest Sounds

Kaoruko Pilkington | Happiness in This World

Program note

Happiness in This World
from “Happiness In This World”,  Writing of Nichiren Daishonin, vol.1, p.681

There is no true happiness for human beings other than chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. The sutra reads, “…where living beings enjoy themselves at ease.” How could this passage mean anything but the boundless joy of the Law? Surely you are included among the “living beings.” “Where” means Jambudvīpa, and Japan lies within Jambudvīpa. Could “enjoy themselves at ease” mean anything but that both our bodies and minds, lives and environments, are entities of three thousand realms in a single moment of life and Buddhas of limitless joy? There is no true happiness other than upholding faith in the Lotus Sutra. This is what is meant by “peace and security in their present existence and good circumstances in future existences.”3 Though worldly troubles may arise, never let them disturb you. No one can avoid problems, not even sages or worthies.
                Drink sake only at home with your wife, and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Suffer what there is to suffer, enjoy what there is to enjoy. Regard both suffering and joy as facts of life, and continue chanting Nammyoho-renge-kyo, no matter what happens. How could this be anything other than the boundless joy of the Law? Strengthen your power of faith more than ever.

With my deep respect,
Nichiren
 

Carlos Lyra | Influencia do Jazz

arr. Kaoruko Pilkington

Text

Influencia do Jazz (The Influence of Jazz)
English lyrics translated and adapted by Paul Sonnenbergfrom the original Portuguese lyrics by Carlos Lyra

My poor samba’s lost.
Mixed up like a salad
with modern influences and tossed.
With no rebolado tell me what it has
Without any gingado to make you go crazy,
What makes a samba wretched and limpid and lazy?
The influence of jazz.

They’ve left it for dead.
And as it was dying they
Never quite got it into their head.
The way samba balances this with that
But jazz is never happy with what it has
Until what’s good is stood upon its hat
That’s the influence of jazz.

Bop isn’t samba. Pop isn’t samba. No!
Chopped isn’t samba, cropped isn’t samba…
Bip! Bap! Bop! Not with samba…

Milton Nascimento | Bridges

Text

Bridges (Travessia)

I have crossed a thousand bridges
In my search for something real
There are great suspension brigdes
Made like spider webs of steel
There are tiny wooden trestles
And there are bridges made of stone
I have always been a stranger
And I've always been alone

There's a bridge to tomorrow
There's a bridge from the past
There's a bridge made of sorrow
That I pray will not last
There's a bridge made of colors
In the sky high above
And I think that there must be
Bridges made out of love

When the bridge is between us
We'll have nothing to say
We will run through the sunlight
And I'll meet him halfway
There's a bridge made of colors
In the sky high above
And I'm certain that somewhere
There's a bridge made of love

I can see her in the distance
On the river's other shore
And her hands reach out longing
As my own have done before
And I call across to tell her
Where I believe the bridge must lie
And I'll find it, yes I'll find it
If I search until I die