Contemplating the Heavens

Collection Contents

#		Title	Length
1		Milky Way	4:10	Play
2		Moon	2:07	Play
3		Sun	5:09	Play
4		Stars	3:06	Play
5		Aurora	3:19	Play
6		Comet	3:11	Play
7		Mercury	2:20	Play
8		Venus	7:28	Play
9		The Earth From Space	10:10	Play
10		Mars	6:24	Play
11		Jupiter and His Moons	4:46	Play
12		Saturn and His Rings	1:44	Play
13		Uranus	4:09	Play
14		Neptune	2:37	Play
15		Pluto	2:22	Play
16		Planet X	2:13	Play

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Bitmunk Marketplace Service	USD $0.98
CD Baby Artist Royalty	USD $5.97
CD Baby 9% Digital Distribution Cost	USD $0.54
Bitmunk Download Service	USD $0.93
Bitmunk MicroPayment Service	USD $0.01
Total	USD $8.40

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Description

Pianist, composer and arranger Steve Talaga has been performing professionally for more than 25 years. He is co-leader of Minds Eye, a jazz quartet with four compact discs to its credit, Angst for the Spoiler, Seasons, Lucky Nine, and Children of the Glacier. Talaga has performed with Minds Eye at many venues and jazz festivals, including the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and the Montreux-Detroit Jazz Festival in Michigan. Music from Seasons has been featured on the nationally syndicated public radio program, Jazz After Hours.
Talaga has also released five compact discs under his own name: Mirage, Yin-Yang, Basement Alchemy (which was chosen as best release of 2000 by Lazaro Vega at WBLV-FM), "Two Worlds," and, most recently, Contemplating the Heavens (a companion to the poetry chapbook of the same title by Linda Nemec Foster). Talaga is also pianist for many other small and large jazz ensembles and is featured on recordings with some of them. He has performed with many jazz greats, including Kenny Wheeler, Terry Lynne Carrington, Wes Anderson, Marcus Printup, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Bob Berg, Adam Nussbaum, Wycliffe Gordon, Ric Margitza, Bobby Shew, Maria Schneider, Marvin Stamm, Denis DiBlazio, Jon Faddis, Claudio Roditi, Johnny Bassett, Greg Abate, Walt Weiskopf, Phil Woods, and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. Among the many composition commissions he has received are several from Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids' first Poet Laureate Linda Nemec Foster, and West Michigans Lakeshore Jazz Connection.
Talaga is currently an adjunct professor of music at Hope College in Holland, Michigan, and Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he teaches courses in jazz studies and music theory/composition. He has also taught music at Grand Valley State University, Cornerstone University, and Grace Bible College. Talaga has frequently been on the faculty at the Aquinas College Summer Jazz Camp and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp.
Talaga received a Bachelor of Music Degree in Jazz Studies, Magna Cum Laude, and a Master of Music Degree in Composition from Western Michigan University. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast and Cinematic Arts from Central Michigan University.
As a student in 1993, Talaga won a Downbeat Magazine award in the jazz composition category. He has won outstanding soloist awards from the Elmhurst, Aquinas, Ohio State University, and Notre Dame Jazz Festivals; and awards for jazz composition from the Notre Dame and Montreux-Detroit Jazz Festivals. He received honorable mention in the 1995 Billboard Magazine Song Writing Contest, Jazz Category. From 1982 1989, Talaga was a producer and on-air personality at CMU Public Radio in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.