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1.
Omnipotence 05:34
2.
So it is over. Lower, Cast against the dark. Hip atheist, take your mark: What do you need when you have disproven everything? What is the light? When it's born is when the body dies. The proof of life is when the living means anything. Right? Is when the living means anything.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Dolls 06:56
Hands tied, Cannot find the time Everything of mine Is spent to buy (read and rent agreement email sent bleed and bent to consent the meanings meant belabored penchant for entrenchment not to mention the dissention...) The wolf does cry an empty sigh. I try to find meaningful signs. Baptized, a sort of prayer, a type of sport that just feels right... The Tree of Life is for paper.... Life-sized Dolls which work the night Trinkets that we sexualize are Smart Design Immunize the dolls we idolize to suppress desire, all consuming fire. Immunize the dolls we idolize to suppress desire, all consuming light.
7.
Having Faith Alot some space to the taste of relaxation Spend days on end in a place of mental sin fell in to show myself some compassion And the wealth got me stealthy like shinobi 00 agent creating bonds I beg your pardon in the slums it gets real nasty never getting know my students would be a travesty call me "Your Majesty" as the impossible becomes easy Baby please me, don't tease meditate on that gratitude unless you want yourself in a sadder mood. Because the demon shrieks become more apparent the less I'm staring at my blessings Top chef opening the Kitchen top buttery sauce eating apples employing fiber optics Thank God I never have to stop this look to the sky and wonder how you ever top this? Metropolis, I'm Super Man 'till doomsday then look inside, get insight as to what the universe say cruise about my last lady and I show myself love and compassion After-life might be dashin' but flashin' It makes me happy that my passion might: reach and teach the masses, Keep my faith in the everlasting. What's happing is I'm ridding around like Aladdin with no Jasmine a bowl would be nice to sow more cashmir I can exercise more control in God we trust or faith we lacking. Got more taste in the Sunday After. Noon dinner, legumes with the blueberries mashed in, Basking in the light blastin'.
8.
One dream in my heart, One love to be livin' for, One love to be livin' for This nearly was mine. One girl for my dream, One partner in paradise, This promise of paradise This nearly was mine. Close to my heart she came Only to fly away, Only to fly as day flies from moonlight Now, now I'm alone, Still dreamin' of paradise, Still sayin' that paradise Once nearly was mine. I'll keep rememberin' kisses From lips I've never owned, And all that lovely adventures That we have never known. One dream in my heart, One love to be livin' for, One love to be livin' for This nearly was mine. Close to my heart she came Only to fly away, Only to fly as day flies from moonlight. Now, now I'm alone, Still a-dreamin' of paradise, Still sayin' that paradise Once nearly was mine!
9.
In the Smoke 07:06
In Egyptian fields, digging to be healed, touched the Rock twice. Fire by night, hope hides in the daylight, in the smoke. In my blithe conversion I can't find Si-a-ni Drunken mirth, gold and clay, is my curse all to take freely. Desert winds breathe cold dead serenity All are able to feast. Fatally unimpressed by smoke. The Chosen, Royal Identity so sure of life without hope. Unattended bread, remaining unfed, rushed, unrisen. Denizens, the land remains on lend, named by smoke. Why should I try converting when I can't find Si-a-ni? In my blithe conversion I can't find Si-a-ni.

about

"Faith" is many firsts for Chicago-based pianist, Jim Holman. First full release to stray from "straight ahead." (Holman's other two releases focus on jazz standards and feature legends Ira Sullivan, Richie Cole, and Roger Humphries.) Notably, Faith is the first documentation of Holman's compositional approach. He pulls heavily from modern BAM popular styles while remaining true to the spirit and voice shown in his previous engagements as a leader.


The electronic layering has allowed Holman to display more of his individuality and unique perspective. However, the brilliant contributions from Greg Ward II and Barrett Harmon have made a profound impact of the story being told over the course of the album. (Ward's alto sax on "Continuing Wisdom" and "Divine Company While Minnie's at the Circus," and Barrett Harmon's trumpet and rapping on "Nihilistic and Overwhelmed").

Musically, its thesis is a deconstruction of the concept of jazz as "art music." And as such, "Faith" is made to be a comprehensive work. During the 2020 lock-down, without his usual acoustic gigs to keep him occupied, Holman's thoughts turned to the space that jazz finds itself in our larger cultural consciousness. It seems that the American public does not value the spiritual practice that is jazz music. As a person who considers himself a man of faith, this does not surprise Holman.

These are his thoughts on the matter:

"Faith" speaks toward the spiritual starvation of modern society. In addition to my own personal sentiment, my influences include Michel Foucault's Berkeley lecture "The Culture of The Self" Carl Jung's essay "Approaching The Unconscious". Specifically, how the two thinkers discuss how the West deploys empiricism, and other forms of rationalism. Methodology in line with the historical evolution of rationalism have oddly become a new doctrine of the masses. This has de-legitimized one's personalized relationship to the divine.

In fact, the word "divine" has become less of a adjective reverently applied referring to our Creator's personality. Rather it seems as an effective way to distance ourselves from the notion that we have an intimate relationship to God--and so freeing ourselves from the burden of friendship and service to this holy Person.

"divine'--lowercase-- is reducible to it's mechanical and metaphysical components. And so we as a species, are called to a faux humility to not exalt ourselves beyond the station of soulless organizisms.

Physicalism is the fashionable view of academia. We are said to be no more than our "stuff." What has been described as the "soul" is only an after-thought. A shadow of the cause-and-effects of physics. An arbitrary collection of phenomena. Phenomena that mistakenly become anthropomorphized into holding some sort of Gestalt value that dissipates upon careful inspection. In intellectual discourse, the consensus seems to be that the concept of Personhood is a naive poetic turn.

Poetic because it is unscientific. It is impossible to measure the volume of humanity of a person. Naive because conventional wisdom dictates that true understanding requires a proof of measurement. Scientific culture posits that knowledge is that which survives a universal and standardized method. Subjective elements are dismissed as "magical thinking." This is our religion: a Theory Of Everything.

So we built a society made of interchangeable parts, and an economy populated and powered by unskilled proletariat. The value of the dollar seems more certain than its usefulness--an objective way to measure the Pleasure Principle. To survive is to avoid pain. To thrive is to imbibe.

No wonder people's hearts turn cold and the worldview becomes cynical. As we continually adopt this Theory Of Everything, there is a movement toward belief in Nothing. A way more extreme belief than a mere disbelief of everything. It is not an opinion or position. It is dogmatic.

credits

released September 4, 2022

Keyboards and piano and vocals, Jim Holman
Alto Sax, Greg Ward II
Trumpet and Vocals, Barrett Harmon

Compositions:
Omnipotence: Jim Holman
Continuing Wisdom: Jim Holman and Greg Ward II
Divine Company: Jim Holman
Proof of LIfe: Jim Holman
Dolls: Jim Holman
Nihilistic and Overwhelmed: Jim Holman and Barrett Harmon
In the Smoke: Jim Holman
Beginning Wisdom: Jim Holman
This Nearly was Mine: Richard Rogers

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Jim Holman Chicago, Illinois

Jim Holman is a pianist/composer based in Chicago

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