Rachel had the opportunity last month to spend time with keyboardist extraordinaire Ryo Okumoto from the prog rock band Spock’s Beard. It is an ongoing great experience knowing Ryo – his musicality, creativity, and seemingly boundless positive energy have been an inspiration. Here is video from the day Rachel and Ryo met and he got pulled into a jam at Paul’s studio:

One result of having met Ryo is that we are focusing our energy on getting Rachel’s home computer system up and running. We are just a few steps away from Rachel having her own accessible system for composing her own music. Ryo is currently in the studio with Spock’s Beard as they record their 11th studio album, and then he is off to Japan for 3 weeks, but we look forward to spending more time with him when he returns!

As for the other big event… well… I think this video will tell you pretty much everything you need to know:

Yes, Rachel got to play Keith Emerson’s legendary Modular Moog, often referred to as “The Beast.” How this came about is one of those stories that has to be true because you just can’t make this stuff up. Rachel’s flute teacher Toby Caplan-Stonefield has a flute choir which Rachel sometimes performs with. One of the other members of the flute choir is married to Gene Stopp, who spends his spare time repairing and refurbishing keyboards. Two people who look to Gene for his keyboard repair and programming expertise are Ryo Okumoto, and Keith Emerson. As it happens, Keith decided it was time to have Gene give the Moog some upgrades, so it was at Gene’s house. Gene asked Keith if it would be all right for Rachel to play the Moog. Keith said yes, and the rest is YouTube history.

So in closing, I include here the complete video of Rachel performing the ELP classic “Trilogy” with Keith’s Moog:

So enjoy all the videos, and check my channel for new ones! At this point in time I have a backlog of material that I haven’t had time to edit yet, so more could show up any time!

Thank you for your interest in Rachel and for supporting her in all her musical endeavors!

Ever Yours – Rachel’s Number 1 Fan,
Jeanie