Rarely does life offer experiences of genuine certainty, when you say to yourself, "Yes, that's exactly it. How else could I interpret that?" Such moments are rare, but they do indeed occur. You just know they do. Take, for instance, a cold rainy night in London several years ago...
While arranging a 'dream experience' for terminally-ill children from Poland to visit England, the Coalition team was discussing the possibility of producing a charity record. During our cab ride to the airport, as the rain came down miserably, our driver asked what, at the time, seemed a completely random question: "Would you mind listening to some music?"
Needless to say, one of us answered "Sure," without any hesitation - that is, until the song began to play. From the very first notes, we were mesmerized by the tune and lyrics. (Poignantly, it was the story of a father who had just lost his young daughter to terminal illness.) Upon seeing our eyes fill with tears, the driver proudly announced, "I wrote that!"
The song? Flight of Angels. The writer? Musician and backup taxi driver Vincent Gene-Olseen, who had only been driving that night as a favour for a sick friend. Truly unbelievable.
Taking his business card and the tape, we contact several industry executives for their feedback. Many were as moved as we were, and a publishing agreement was quickly reached for the rights to the song. Meanwhile, respected independent record label producer Sean Tuohy was commissioned to produce Flight of Angels.
Soon after, the concept took flight. In London's Library Studios, a collection of fantastic recording artists, songwriters, musicians, engineers, cameramen, technicians and editors contributed their time, anonymously, to record and film the song.
By giving their hearts to the project, everyone helped our idea of a charity recording become a wonderful reality - ensuring that every time our teenage kids "take off" to participate in and share the dream experiences of terminally-ill children throughout the world, it is truly - a 'flight of angels.'
Call it fate. Or karma. Or serendipity. Or even mere coincidence. No matter, there are certain moments - even certain cab rides - when life seems so much bigger than us, when people and places line up perfectly.
Fortunately, some of these moments are actually recorded.
