Lullabies & Fireflies

About Lullabies & Fireflies... When I told my good friend Lori Lieberman I wanted her to sing on my Lullaby album, she immediately accepted. Then she had a great idea. "Make the album seamless," she said. "I always wanted to hear a lullaby album where the music doesn't stop and start." That was the beginning of Lullabies & Fireflies. I knew I wanted Lori, Molly Pasutti and Susan Joyce to sing. All three have remarkable, yet different voices. I thought their voices would complement each other beautifully and add texture and variety to the music. I couldn't be happier with each of their performances. I wanted the album to be lush, soothing and relaxing, yet not boring. The key was in the arrangements and instrumentation. I decided I absolutely had to have real piano, harp, flute, oboe, violins and cello. For something a little different I added the Chapman Stick to one of the songs. After being a freelance recording cellist in Los Angeles for the past twenty years, I am fortunate to know the best recording musicians in Los Angeles. All my friends readily agreed to help out, and I was set to go. This group of musicians, Tom Ranier, Carol Robbins, Larry Tuttle, Chris Bleth, Kirstin Fife, Roberto Cani, Philip Vaiman, John Wittenberg and myself on cello have collectively recorded for just about every musical legend in our careers. The short list includes Elton John, Barbara Streisand, Whitney Houston, Faith Hill, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Ritchie, Bon Jovi, Barry Manilow and Ray Charles. One would be hard pressed to find any area of music; the record industry, major motion pictures or television these fine musicians and singers haven't contributed to, and one can easily see why when listening to their beautiful performances in Lullabies & Fireflies. -Stefanie Fife