Looking forward….

After 6 months, many ask…how’s Houston? After all, I did answer a calling to Houston Arts Alliance, which required uprooting from Silicon Valley, in the SF Bay area where I had lived since September of 1996.

The eagle has and continues to land on the fertile grounds of Houston. From assisting George Clinton on the Grand Marshall float at the Galveston Madi Gras, during my first week, to my recent recording session with Mary Griffin at the infamous Sugar Hill Studios with Chris Longwood as engineer, to the christening of my Neumann microphone in my home studio, to the launching of the Chronicles of Dr. H.M. Joy, I give thanks!….STAY TUNED FOR TUNES.

Oui Oui productions will be releasing a couple of new releases, on October 1, including a smashing remix of the lead single from a A Spirit of Oui: Everday featuring Mary Griffin. We will have some more goodies for your holiday gift bags, including more collaborations with; Mary, George Clinton, D. Baloti Lawrence, David Lee Spradley, JD Parran and more…

January, 2013 will mark the second annual VONA/Voices Writers Week at the University of Miami and June, at the University of California-Berkeley, will mark our 14th consecutive year of offering multi-genre creative writing workshops, exclusively for writers-of-color.

Stay tuned, and tuned into your heartbeat, as at the center of the Universe is YOU!

Hug-A-Mug-Of-Joy!

La Luz

Listen to the Spirit of Oui

You can nab the album digitally now on iTunes ; now also grab a physical CD at CD Baby stay tuned….

A few samples of the tracks

Love Bug (full track)

Spirit of Doo

Do Oui Do (sample)

Useless Education (sample)

A Spirit of Oui

March 20, 2011

Silicon Valley, CA

Hold the date to change your state of mind.

On Sunday, March 20-the first day of spring, Spirit Poet/Spoken Word Artist/Percussionist/Producer Diem Jones, aka Drs. H.M. Joy & Fladimir MS Woo will deliver “A Spirit Of Oui,” his third solo CD which is a musical mashup of Spoken Word, Jazz, Funk, Middle Eastern & techno primal percussion accompanied by a cast of multi-cultural musicians, poets & vocalists and “The Year of Oui,” a 220 page book of original daily affirmations.

A Spirit Of Oui

This poetry lead musical journey weaves through themes that promote cultural consciousness, self-awareness and love. Jones’s alter ego, Dr. H.M Joy, teamed with veteran producers David Spradley, D. Baloti Lawrence and Len Wood to co-produce the cd and collaborated with a cast of renowned vocalists; George Clinton, Sheila “Amuka” Brody, Garry Shider, Susanna Peredo, Zuri Universe Soul, Debra Barsha, Moy Eng, Linda Shider and poet; Suheir Hammad, accompanied by a team of internationally acclaimed musicians including; Ray Burton, Frank Colon, Michelle Djokic, Amp Fiddler, Chuck Fishman, Byard Lancaster, G Koop, JD Parran and Len Wood. This CD was recorded in studios located in California, New York, Pennsylvania, Detroit, Florida and Brazil over a 2-year period and is the first release since Jones’s Grammy-nominated cd Equanimity.

The Year of Oui

Released as an eBook, The Year of Oui is a supplement to the music CD A Spirit of Oui. This 220 page collection of original daily affirmations, complimented by photographic contributions from award winning photographers, is designed to inspire appreciation of life and approaches to the challenges of the day. The messages are built on the principle of A.L.L. (Alluring Light of Life) and promote self-reflection.

Love Bug -…the song, the message

Diem collaborated with writers Amp Fiddler, George Clinton, Debra Barsha, Sheila “Amuka” Brody and David Spradley to deliver a call to “stand up, so you can be up,” knowing that you must “stand for something or fall” and when you “get bit by the love bug” you will land with a charge to “hug a mug of joy’” on the sizzling first single Love Bug. Rock & Roll Hall of Fame legend George Clinton makes a cameo vocal contribution informing “every girl & boy (once bit by the Love Bug) know love is a place to throw down from and good when you’re on top.” Vocalists Sheila “Amuka” Brody and Susanna Peredo share lead vocal position with Jones on the English and Spanish versions respectively.

As 2011 springs forward, look for weekly announcements, from OuiOui Productions, of the “release” of singles from the CD beginning with Love Bug on the first day of spring. The entire cd and eBook will be available at iTunes, Tunecore and Soundcloud.com in digital formats as well as disks available at CD Baby or directly from diemjones.com. The book will be available at the iTunes

OuiOui Productions

OuiOui Entertainment is a multi-media company; its production unit, OuiOui Productions, produces music, literary, video products and is based in Silicon Valley, CA. For more information 510-421-3913 or http://www.ouiouiproductions.com

WELCOME …

WELCOME -

San Francisco Bay area based poet/musician Diem Jones is a multi-disciplinary producer and program designer, who has achieved critical acclaim for his professional work in the fields of photography, filmmaking, creative writing, philanthropy and music for over 30 years. His most recent musical spoken-word CD, Equanimity, was nominated for a Grammy and has been performed with the Equanimity Band at venues throughout the US including the San Jose Jazz Festival. His upcoming CD, A Spirit of Oui, and book, The Year of Oui, will be released in the second quarter of 2011. His debut book of poetry, Sufi Warrior, was received by audiences at readings in; Cairo, Egypt; Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Washington, DC and throughout the San Francisco Bay area. Diem is the Executive Director and co-founder of Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation and served as Deputy Director at Arts Council Silicon Valley for 81/2 years. In addition Diem Jones, aka Dr. Fladimir MS Woo/Dr. H.M. Joy was Creative Director and Photographer for George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic during the 70’s & 80’s.