For those of you who who remember “back in the day” when I used to sing in a folk trio Elias, Schritt and Bell, you may be pleased to know we are getting together for a set of music on June 14th at  the Pyramid Cabaret in Winnipeg.  

The event is sponsored my Marymound, which is is respected, multi-programed organization helping at-risk young women, and families navigate difficult days.  Extending from the vision of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, Marymound offers secure living units, foster care, group homes, independent living programs, crisis stabalization, clinical support etc.  All of the proceeds from the evening go to benefit Marymound’s essential work.

Kyla Cederwall

The evening will begin with Kyla Cederwall – a young singer/songwriter whom I don’t know personally, but from videos available on YouTube looks to be quite a promising talent.

Don Amero

Next up will be my friend Don Amero. Don’s a wonderful singer/songwriter and person.  I’ve had him up to sing songs at my concerts and he always captivates. When discussions of this evening started, I was the one who suggested we call Don, simply because I wanted to hear him again.

Elias, Schritt and Bell / 1980

Finally, I’ll do a set in which I’ll bring up my old bandmates Tim Elias and John Schritt for a half-dozen songs or so.  Elias,Schritt and Bell were a folk trio that performed relentlessly in (mostly) Manitoba from 1979-1983.  In 1982 we released our only record, Awakening,  which dominated sales in Winnipeg for about six weeks.  It really was a magical time and looms large in my memory not only as formative , but as one of those special, unrepeatable seasons of life.

So don’t miss it!  Tickets are $25 and can be purchased in advance at Into the Music (245 McDermot Ave. Winnipeg) or by calling directly: (204) 336-5293.

 

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Here, below, is an unreleased Elias, Schritt and Bell song that John dug up and sent to Tim and I  a couple of weeks ago – I had completely forgotten about this song.  Check out the crazy high vocals at the end! – not sure we could pull that off anymore

click song title to listen:

Moi!

I Feel Alright Again | Elias, Schritt and Bell
Music and Lyric Steve Bell (1980-ish)

SHOW details:

Thursday, June 14
Pyramid Cabaret
176 Fort St.
Doors: 7 p.m.
Show: 8 p.m.

6 AM Easter Morning.  There is a purple finch warbling ecstatically outside my window as the sun appears once again – as I knew it would.

He is Risen Indeed! This has been the confession of the Church now for over two millennia: that somehow, God has passed through the very life we know –  with all of its surprises, joys and profound pleasures; with its terrors, sorrows and real pain – gathering the whole lot of it into God’s own life, death and resurrection -  redeeming the days and the nights, the ebbs and the flows, the gains and the losses,  the bitters and the sweets… gathering all, redeeming all into a billowing, deafening YESSSS!

One doesn’t have to believe the Christian narrative to have experienced being blindsided by joy; sudden moments of grace pregnant with meaning. Life matters. Matter matters.  Our stories matter. I matter. You matter.  Every once in awhile, even if only for a moment, we know in the very marrow of  our bones that this is true.

And so, even in the midst of our very real disorientation and sufferings, it is good to have a day where we celebrate the “dearest freshness deep-down things… like  shining from shook foil…” (Poem: God’s Grandeur by Gerard Manley Hopkins)

Malcolm Guite. Photo: www.lanciaesmith.com

For my part I offer a sonnet and a song.  The sonnet is a gift of my friend Malcolm Guite who lives in Cambridge England.  I’d simply reprint it here for your convenience but I’d rather you find it on his site where you can listen to him recite it.  There’s a unique beauty hearing a poem in the author’s own voice. And for us North Americans, there’s a certain and undeniable charm to an English accent is there not?

If you don’t know the story behind the poem, scriptures tell that on Easter morning, Mary Magdalene, the prostitute who Jesus befriended and defended, was grieving the death of her friend. She comes across a man she assumes is the gardener, not recognizing him as Christ until she hears him say her name. It’s a very touching and tender story.

The song is one I recorded on my last CD but was written by my friend Jim Croegaert. Jim is a hospital chaplain in Chicago and one of my favorite songwriters. I’ve recorded many of his songs: Here by the Water, Why Do We Hunger for Beauty, The Angel Gabriel –  to name a few.  Was It A Morning Like This captures the erupting joy of all God’s creation which thrills at the  presence and touch of it’s maker.

Happy Easter!

Steve Bell

To read (and listen to) Malcolm Guite’s poem, Easter Dawn, click HERE…

To listen to the song, click on title below…

Was it a Morning Like This_ | Jim Croegaert

Was it a morning like this
When the sun still hid from Jerusalem
And Mary rose from her bed
To tend the Lord she thought was dead

Was it a morning like this
When Mary walked down from Jerusalem
And two angels stood at the tomb
Bearers of news she would hear soon

chorus:
Did the grass sing
Did the earth rejoice to feel you again
Over and over like a trumpet underground
Did the earth seem to pound He is risen!
Over and over like in a never ending round
He is risen! Alleluia!

Was it a morning like this
When Peter and John ran from Jerusalem
And as they raced for the tomb
Beneath their feet was there a tune

Was It A Morning Like This was recorded for my 2011 CD Kindness. To preview or purchase, click HERE…