Music Bio – Marco Girgenti

by marcog on January 4, 2020

Bridging a 10 year gap

With over 30 years of professional experience as a live and studio musical arranger, studio musician and composer, Marco Girgenti has conducted off Broadway musicals composed TV commercials and themes, collaborated on Juno Award winning albums and worked as a private music instructor for theory, composition, piano, bass and other instruments.

Whether arranging for an 80 piece choir, full orchestra, an East Indian percussion ensemble, kids records or a 4 piece R&B outfit, his experience has allowed for a diverse artist to emerge.

He was active as a music director in several churches in the Toronto area and has been worship producer for events at others in North America and abroad. Marco has been a guest on the nationally aired 100 Huntley Street on several occasions and collaborated with artists internationally from The USA to Germany.

He has worked as an arranger with A-list studio musicians regularly heard on recordings ranging from Michael W. Smith, Reba McEntire, Josh Groban, Amy Grant, Faith Hill, Garth Brooks, DC Talk, Madonna, the Jackson 5 and more. Along the way, Marco produced and cowrote music for what became known as b4-4, a pop trio signed to Sony Music (currently known as RyanDan) and became the most decorated composer in synchronized skating music, even lending his talents to the Winter Olympics, editing for skating legend Elvis Stojko.

His music has been described as “epic” by Mark Masri (international recording artist/David Foster/Olivia Newton John etc…) and “deeply passionate and moving” by world renowned film composer Ennio Morricone (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The Mission, the Untouchables, the Hateful 8) and over 500 other film scores.

His latest single, Amore É, sung by Mark Masri picked up immediate airplay on Italo-Canadian radio and was picked up, along with another piece for any upcoming series by celebrity chef – David Rocco.

After leaving the music business professionally for over 10 years, he virtually vanished from the music scene. In fact, the last time he worked as a music director, he had to prove people he was a musician, since he had been in the industry pre-Google!

Marco has been slowly but surely “pulled back in,” to his first love, which is the reason you see the website before.Marco has been working on releasing his first album some new material and well as songs that have “sat in the vault” as he puts it, nearly a quarter of a century.

Marco is slowly returning to music, but as many have recently said ; it is doubtful the music ever actually left him.

To listen to Amore É, please click here

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Stupidy is a Universal Vehicle – Whether 2 wheels or 4.

by marcog on May 25, 2020

There are as many crappy cyclists as there are crappy drivers. It’s a human thing as much as an attitude thing. If you are an idiot behind the wheel then you may just be an idiot ON your wheels.

I will be cycling at the crack of dawn and outside of the city going forward. I have cycled through 2 entire bitter winters without any concern for safety from other riders because we, the people who are out there in the snow at 20 below, are usually seasoned, experienced and soundly out of our minds.

The blown tire that took me down on a straightaway at about 25 km/h.

When the nice weather hits it’s a whole different situation and everyone at any skill level and competence, or lack thereof goes out. Then you have a parking lot on all the trails and people weave in and out of lanes and I sometimes think consciousness, as well as alternate realities.

Now, you add this situation with Covid and the congestion and incompetence hurtle into the stratosphere and now I do not feel safe at all.

If you are taking a selfie while driving, you are an idiot. If you take one on your bike, then you are an elevated and especially annoying idiot and you may have a gift in this area. You should run for office, you are destined for greatness.

LAST YEAR…
I was cycling back in from audition at about km 30 of a 56 km round trip. GORGEOUS DAY! I had stopped by the lakefront at our local Lavazza coffee shop

I got back on the trails which were congested. A guy looking into his cell phone laughing away stepped onto the trail and the cyclist coming towards him had no chance and he went over the handlebars.

I stopped to comfort the guy. Trust me, it’s traumatic to land on concrete like a slab of meat. After a while he was calmer and off I went.

GORGEOUS DAY! Suddenly, there he was, to my left, my “gift.” The miscreant narcissist with no helmet, his seat so low I thought it would rub against the tire. I could not make out which were wider; the crack of his butt or the ones on the sidewalk.

Gorgeous day on the road to Stupid Avenue

He had his mobile device on and wired earbuds, no, not wireless, which makes this VERY juicy and he had it up just a little higher than his head as he Face Timed…

… and then, it came time for him to face unadulterated, unabridged, absolute and ferocious stupidity as the phone slipped from his hand, the cable wrapped around the tire and the phone went flying and hit the ground like the cyclist I had seen just a few minutes earlier had.

He had to cycle back at least 15 feet to get his phone.

Of course, since I had stopped to help the other cyclist, I decided to laugh inside. It was a laugh of satisfaction, nay, of revenge in a way and yes, I admit it, I enjoyed it. Stupid is funny. You can’t fix stupid. Stupid at that level is a gift, a calling to excel at it like it’s a competitive sport.

I know. Save me a seat and tell Lucifer I said hi.

Obviously everyone has a right to be out there and it is beautiful to see people get out of their rolling metal coffins, but I have the right to protect my ass and get out of the way of those learning, God bless them and I really mean that.

Besides, history has proven that I generally fall in perfect weather and all by myself, I don’t need assistance from anyone in this regard 😜Ride safe.

Here’s what happens to your EXPENSIVE jacket when you wind up body surfing on concrete with an added 6 feet of drag for good measure.

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My Proviz Story and Review

by marcog on October 28, 2019

First of all, just for transparency’s sake, I am not employed by Proviz nor is anyone I know, nor is this a solicited testimonial. This is just something I wanted to do 🙂

Caught in Ice Rain 2020

Brief background for context:

As of last October 2018 I found myself without a car. 

I bought a beater bike (have since upgraded).

I fell head over heels – both figuratively and literally with biking, more on that in a moment, but I biked/commuted all winter. When it was snowing and 25 below, I was out there. Keep in mind, I am a commuter and my first real road experience came earlier this year at 86 km and then a 133 km trip. 

I clocked just over 1700km on city commutes in about 11 months. I bike to grocery shop, to auditions and meetings, this bike (a GT now) and my Proviz jacket and pants are my chariot and armour.

I cannot explain what happened to have me become so passionate with cycling at now 53 years of age, but I suspect it connected me to being born in and having grown up for the early part of my life in Italy where most of my beautiful memories had a bike nearby, either mine, my friends or even people nearby I did not know. Bikes were and are everywhere there, they are part of the cultural fabric.

The first time I cycled last year, it took me 1 hour and 40 minutes to trudge through 8 km/just under 5 miles in the Canadian winter. I was wearing Proviz Windproof/Waterproof pants and my Reflector 360 jacket. I was STUNNED that I was never cold. I can now cover that same 8 km in the city in under 30 minutes, but it wasn’t always pretty, well,at least the jacket was cool to look at. 🙂 

That “head over heels” experience I was speaking of earlier also alluded to a fairly serious accident I had thanks largely to my inexperience. As I lay on the ground after having vaulted off my bike for what seemed 6 feet, I looked up at the people who were forming a circle around me asking if I needed an ambulance. I opted to get up on my own. It took time, but I recovered. 

What did not recover was my Proviz jacket. Frankly, I don’t think space-age kevlar could have survived my 8-10 foot slide, the brunt of which was borne by my Proviz jacket. It was shredded and I was extremely sad. I knew what that Proviz jacket meant to me.

You see, that jacket came into my life at a pivotal moment. When my car was all of a sudden gone and when a lot of things were not going well in my life, like my bike, as many us I have realize do, I became attached to the jacket. This was a part of my independence.

The nicer weather was around the corner and I had to stay off my bike for a while. So I had some time to save to buy a new Proviz Reflector 360. 

Last week, my jacket arrived. I was so happy to hear that Proviz offers a crash replacement discount, upon meeting certain conditions of course, which was helpful.

I commute at night. I had noticed that even though I was wearing reflective bands etc… cars were still coming closer than I felt comfortable with. The first night I wore my Proviz I noticed some things that were unmistakeable:

First of all, yes, I “felt” safer. I had my cloak of light back on.

Next, I noticed ZERO close calls at intersections. Cars were noticing me far earlier than when I just had my strobe on and reflective wear that was nowhere near the Proviz standard luminescence.

Finally, and this was perhaps most notable, cars on the same streets that used to get too close for comfort, were not only slowing down, but they were often moving to the outside lane.

This is no fluke. This only happened after I put my Proviz back on for my first night time ride at about 1 degree celsius/33.8 Fahrenheit.

I was in cycling shorts and a t-shirt, and still had the front pocket vents open. I was completely comfortable.

I have been in downpours, even freezing rain in 40 k headwinds and my Proviz jacket and pants have never failed me.

This product gets my highest possible recommendation, but not just for visibility, for performance as well.

Here are 2 pictures I took after one of those rainfalls. The second image I had turned the flash of my camera phone on. If this is what drivers see hurtling along the roads, they must be stunned and asking themselves “what is that?”

It’s just a guy on a bike who feels like he has wings of light 🙂

Thank you Proviz.

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Spuntino

by marcog on October 16, 2019

A quick toss together on a fall day, before heading out to the apple orchard.

Day-old, or older, bread
Prosciutto Parma (DOP)
Tomatoes
Feta Cheese
Basil
Green Onions
Extra Virgin Olive Oil – cold pressed

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Amore E

by marcog on October 16, 2019

Words, Music and Arrangement: Marco Girgenti
Sung by: Mark Masri

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Tire Tube Replacement – with battery powered pump.

by marcog on October 16, 2019

2 flats last week. It was the first time I got to try my new battery-powered pump on the road. Here is a short video in case anyone is thinking about getting such a device. I listed a few pros and cons. I turned the volume down in the video when the machine runs.
Thanks! Enjoy.

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When Will It Hit You In the Face?

by marcog on October 13, 2019

Will it hit you in the face when you are in your 50’s?

It is very easy to create a life-long excuse based belief system that whatever happens to us is just fate, just our life, playing out its’ natural course.

This type of resignation is a great way to not take any action or make changes, albeit difficult ones at times.

It is a way of passing the buck – “well it isn’t my fault, what can you do, that’s life,” and it is something that if we do not correct it will serve to not only dismantle any chance of change in our lives, but we will also pass that on to our kids.
We may not see this behaviour in them right away, because we write it off as kids being kids, being immature… they will grow out of it, but it will hit us full in the face when they are in their 20’s, and we are perhaps in our 50’s – they are just like me/us.

At that point, there is nothing we can do and it is up to them to make the changes we were not willing to make in our thinking in order to avoid going down the same path.

As a now 53-year-old single father of a special needs “kid,” I could have let him settle so many years ago. Instead, today as he turns 27, I have a respectful, optimistic, thriving young man in my life. He is full of joy because he was taught to be grateful and to fight for everything he wanted in life. He overcame many challenges, but in all the lessons I taught him, at the top of the list was to NEVER EVER feel sorry for yourself or think you are helpless or without hope.

It is no fluke that Anthony turned out this way, I did not get “lucky.” There is no such thing. You either plant the seeds and water them for a harvest of good or bad fruit.

What are your kids seeing and hearing from you every day? Do they overhear you talking about how life sucks? Seed is often scattered unintentionally, watch what you are planting because the entire fruit is based on the seed, the soil and the care it gets and nature will work that law of growth, good or bad. It is a law.

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