John Paul Davis

My name is John Paul Davis. I write poetry, build things on the web with code, make music and visual art. I love making things. This website is mostly about the things I make and do.

  1. testing the url shortener

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  2. Graceful evocative piano, perfect chord progressions, luxurious horns, cadent, swaying melodies.

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  3. Two crooked trees lean toward each other over a path in Van Cortlandt Park
    Who says trees can't be friends?
    Posted on in Photography
  4. The sunrise peeking up from behind the treeline in Van Cortlandt Park
    Spring insists
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  5. Geese and ducks on Van Cortlandt Lake at sunrise.
    Silhouettes on sunlight
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  6. New yellow buds on a tree on the first morning of spring, 2025, Van Cortlandt Park
    First Day Of Spring, 2025
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  7. Endlessly inventive arrangements, operatic in scope, these songs celebrate the birth of a child & new love with idiosyncratic brainy lyrics.

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  8. Rainy, psychedelic, haunted, questioning, questing songs, lushly-arranged, tenderly sung.

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  9. Vibrant arrangements & spectacular melodies support the reflective, pastoral lyrics that meditate on aging, longing & love.

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  10. The band cements their longevity with these finely-crafted, mature tunes that retain all their early-career energy. Searing guitars, spidery bass, thundering drums & a whole lot of heart.

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  11. Hassell defies expectations of what sounds a trumpet can make, gliding, soaring, soothing over polyrhythms, synth pads & stuttering pulsing bass lines. Brian Eno & Michael Brook sit in on some songs.

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  12. His first with a full band, exploring themes central to his 55 year career: spirituality, love, progressive politics. Lush arrangements, tender melodies & his intricate guitar picking abound.

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  13. Adroit & lively lyricism set to compelling, dynamic melodies over mostly solo acoustic guitar played energetically.

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  14. Without deviating from their warm melange of soul, R&B, disco & hip-hop Jungle expand their sonic palette for a richer, more spacious sound.

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  15. Groovy, skittery percussion & funky basslines over string ensembles as Byrne's quirky, metaphoric lyrics capture the paranoias & anxieties of post-9/11 America.

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  16. Washington's spacious, glimmering electric funk never looses its way, thanks in large part to bassist Louis Johnson's nimble grooves & Washington's always-ascending soprano sax.

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  17. Soulful & spare, this album of mostly ballads evokes the almost monastic 3 year period Rollins spent alone, honing his technique by playing on the Williamsburg Bridge.

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  18. 25 years in, the indie band delivers a brooding collection of songs that sound like soundtracks to films that don't exist. Gritty, rapturous, cutting, this quiet music should be played loud.

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  19. Clouds, a treeline, and cattails pushed down by the wind in Van Cortlandt Park
    Winter Textures
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  20. The Dublin rock band expands their sound while staying true to the elements that made their first 2 albums so compelling. Still hard to believe these lads are 25 & under given how well they write & play.

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  21. Breakup songs that celebrate moving away from unhealthy love & find joy in the music itself which ranges from R&B, soul, psychedelia, rock & jazz that comes together as a unified whole guided by Howard's genius.

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  22. Gabriel fronts an all-star cast of musicians from around the world, blending alt-rock & subtle electronica to house his plaintive, incisive, musing explorations of love, grief, reconciliation & healing.

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  23. A Canadian goose standing on the partially-frozen Van Cortlandt Lake, with its reflection showing in a patch of unfrozen lake.
    Posted on in Photography
  24. The band evolves their alt-country Mexo-Americana, focusing here on intimate examinations of love & self-exploration. Fetching melodies & disarming, quietly poetic lyrics, tenderly sung.

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  25. The quartet Redman assembled for his solo debut reunites 25 years later. 4 giants of contemporary jazz deliver a set of lively, masterful interplay, deeply felt.

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