New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The composer and performer known as Donald
Stuart Hay has released his new LP album, titled, "What Can I Do," to widespread and well-deserved applause. The record is comprised of 14 tracks for a total listening time that exceeds the standard 45 minutes. These songs are new Donald
Stuart Hay compositions with the exception of three inspirational classics, one of them being Arthur Sullivan's eternal masterpiece, "The Lost Chord," which Sullivan penned beside his brother's deathbed in 1877.
Of the 14 tracks on Hay's "What Can I Do," seven are warm, natural and untrammeled vocal renditions. The remaining septet showcase Hay's unsurpassed skill and tasteful keyboard playing, including jazz numbers, romantic melodies, and an inspired Hay original, "Death of a Queen," which true historical story he has based on the tragic 1587 execution of Mary,
Queen of Scots. These tracks are played with passion and class, never melodrama, and convey the artist's clear, vivid imagination through timely and intuitive chord progressions. His original pieces show a broad classical and contemporary understanding of music, and quickly convey his own character as a sympathetic, worldly humanist and true lover of the finest musical art.
Hay's interest in Mary I of Scotland is somewhat personal, himself having been born in Scotland where he spent the first 21 years of his life before relocating to Canada. His musical journey began with the violin at age five, but grew to include singing and guitar, he writes, "when the rock 'n' roll craze started." Bagpipes soon followed, and keyboards after that. Before long, he was ready for the stage.
Pubs in Scotland formed a proper beginning, followed by a season playing in Malta and later by club gigs in British Columbia, Canada. He rounded this global tour out by playing for cabaret on cruise liners: standards, folk, original compositions and arrangements of his personal favorites.
"When I do a musical arrangement of a piece of music," Hay writes, "I am influenced by a combination of both pop and classical music styles."
This is perhaps best exemplified by his inclusion of country and blues on "What Can I Do."
Speaking of his current pursuits in light of the completion of this new LP, he comments, "Now that I have the time to concentrate solely on my new music compositions, with my fantastic top-of-the-range keyboard, I am enjoying my music even more than when performing full-time, as I am able to reflect on the music and the emotions it brings."
"What Can I Do" by Donald
Stuart Hay is available online worldwide beginning early August of 2013.
The LP "What Can I Do" is distributed globally by MondoTunes (www.MondoTunes.com) and is available at iTunes or www.top40-charts.com for convenient purchase and download.
