<![CDATA[Peter Daou]]>https://www.peterdaou.comhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rASu!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe3c7adc5-1422-4c74-80cd-bf738352d9be_500x500.pngPeter Daouhttps://www.peterdaou.comSubstackTue, 21 Apr 2026 08:51:21 GMT<![CDATA[Keyboard Variation 1]]>https://www.peterdaou.com/p/keyboard-variation-1https://www.peterdaou.com/p/keyboard-variation-1Thu, 01 Jan 2026 22:14:17 GMTEvery little measure of love, kindness, and beauty we put into the world tips the scales for peace over hate, good over evil.

With so much negativity everywhere, so much injustice, I decided this new year I’d return to what I spent two decades of my life doing: creating music, in the hope it provides just a small dose of positivity and healing.

Thank you for listening, and I wish you peace and blessings in the New Year.

]]><![CDATA[Empathy]]>https://www.peterdaou.com/p/empathyhttps://www.peterdaou.com/p/empathySun, 14 Apr 2024 18:19:42 GMTI wrote and played this piano meditation and called it Empathy — something we need much more of in this troubled world. Please know that I appreciate you and everything you do to spread kindness and love. - Peter

Empathy - Photo by Leela Daou

]]><![CDATA[Welcome]]>https://www.peterdaou.com/p/welcomehttps://www.peterdaou.com/p/welcomeMon, 01 Jan 2024 16:11:00 GMT

I first sat down at a piano in Beirut, Lebanon at the age of four. When the Lebanese Civil War broke out, my Yamaha upright doubled as a barricade at night. I played and practiced throughout the war, learning jazz tunes from Voice of America on a short wave radio and immersing myself in the music of Charlie Parker, John and Alice Coltrane, Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, and other jazz giants.

I enrolled at the American University of Beirut in the early 80s, but my first two years of college were marred by Lebanon’s ongoing strife and I transferred to NYU to escape the violence. Living in New York City was an opportunity to pursue my music career. I signed a recording contract with Columbia Records in 1992 and with Universal Music Group in 1995, co-writing and producing three #1 Billboard Club singles. I worked as a producer and keyboardist throughout the 90s, appearing on remixes for artists including Miles Davis, Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey, Diana Ross, and Björk.

At the turn of the millennium, I put my music career on hold to enter the political arena. I got my start as an activist and organizer, eventually becoming an adviser to organizations, campaigns, and presidential and congressional candidates. Still, music remains my passion, and I find spiritual comfort at the piano. I’ve recorded a number of solo improvisations and posted them here alongside contemplative quotes and my wife Leela’s beautiful photos. I hope they bring you peace and healing.

Click here for my piano meditations. Scroll down for a selection of my keyboard and remix work. Or browse Discogs for my full discography.

ARTIST: Miles Davis | REMIXER: David Shaw | KEYBOARDS: Peter Daou
ARTIST: Janet Jackson | REMIXER: Danny Tenaglia | KEYBOARDS: Peter Daou
ARTIST: Diana Ross | REMIXER: Frankie Knuckles | KEYBOARDS: Peter Daou
ARTIST: Ten City | REMIXER: David Morales | KEYBOARDS: Peter Daou
ARTIST: Björk | REMIXER: David Morales | KEYBOARDS: Peter Daou
ARTIST/PRODUCER: Bobby Konders | ENGINEER: Peter Daou | KEYBOARDS: Peter Daou
ARTIST: Mariah Carey | REMIXER: David Morales | KEYBOARDS: Peter Daou
ARTIST: Nuyorican Soul | PRODUCERS: Masters at Work | KEYBOARDS: Peter Daou
PRODUCER: Danny Tenaglia | REMIXER: Danny Tenaglia | KEYBOARDS: Peter Daou
ARTIST: Black Sheep | REMIXER: David Morales | KEYBOARDS: Peter Daou
]]><![CDATA[Gratitude]]>https://www.peterdaou.com/p/gratitude-1bahttps://www.peterdaou.com/p/gratitude-1baSun, 26 Mar 2023 14:24:04 GMTI came across this Meister Eckhart quote, “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough” — and I wanted to send you a note of gratitude for being part of my journey and allowing me to be part of yours.

Here’s something I sat at my piano and created for you.

-Peter

Gratitude - Photo by Leela Daou
]]><![CDATA[Remembrance]]>https://www.peterdaou.com/p/remembrancehttps://www.peterdaou.com/p/remembranceSun, 22 Jan 2023 19:22:00 GMTIn the joy of your heart may you feel the living joy that sang one spring morning, sending its glad voice across a hundred years.

―  Rabindranath Tagore

Remembrance - Photo by Leela Daou

This is a space for peace and personal reflection. Your presence here is appreciated.

]]><![CDATA[Change]]>https://www.peterdaou.com/p/change1https://www.peterdaou.com/p/change1Wed, 11 Jan 2023 12:32:00 GMTYesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.

― Rumi

Change - Photo by Leela Daou

This is a space for peace and personal reflection. Your presence here is appreciated.

]]><![CDATA[Grace]]>https://www.peterdaou.com/p/gracehttps://www.peterdaou.com/p/graceSat, 24 Dec 2022 16:11:00 GMTthe leaves believe
such letting go is love
such love is faith
such faith is grace
such grace is god
i agree with the leaves

―  Lucille Clifton

Grace - Photo by Leela Daou

This is a space for peace and personal reflection. Your presence here is appreciated.

]]><![CDATA[Reverie]]>https://www.peterdaou.com/p/reveriehttps://www.peterdaou.com/p/reverieFri, 23 Dec 2022 16:02:00 GMTBring me all of your dreams,
You dreamers,
Bring me all of your
Heart melodies
That I may wrap them
In a blue cloud-cloth
Away from the too-rough fingers
Of the world.

— Langston Hughes

Reverie - Photo by Leela Daou

This is a space for peace and personal reflection. Your presence here is appreciated.

]]><![CDATA[Simplicity]]>https://www.peterdaou.com/p/-simplicityhttps://www.peterdaou.com/p/-simplicityThu, 22 Dec 2022 13:33:36 GMTSimplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art.

―  Frédéric Chopin

Simplicity - Photo by Leela Daou

This is a space for peace and personal reflection. Your presence here is appreciated.

]]><![CDATA[Stillness ]]>https://www.peterdaou.com/p/-stillnesshttps://www.peterdaou.com/p/-stillnessFri, 05 Aug 2022 12:37:00 GMTBe still. Stillness reveals the secrets of eternity.

―  Tao Te Ching

Stillness - Photo by Leela Daou

This is a space for peace and personal reflection. Your presence here is appreciated.

]]><![CDATA[Hope]]>https://www.peterdaou.com/p/hopehttps://www.peterdaou.com/p/hopeSun, 12 Jun 2022 21:32:00 GMTRemember this: We be many and they be few. They need us more than we need them. Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.

— Arundhati Roy

Hope - Photo by Leela Daou

This is a space for peace and personal reflection. Your presence here is appreciated.

]]><![CDATA[Spirit]]>https://www.peterdaou.com/p/spirithttps://www.peterdaou.com/p/spiritSat, 11 Jun 2022 21:05:00 GMTMusic is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife.

— Kahlil Gibran

Spirit - Photo by Leela Daou

This is a space for peace and personal reflection. Your presence here is appreciated.

]]><![CDATA[Forgiveness]]>https://www.peterdaou.com/p/forgivenesshttps://www.peterdaou.com/p/forgivenessWed, 11 May 2022 22:11:00 GMTConfront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing.

―  August Wilson

Forgiveness - Photo by Leela Daou

This is a space for peace and personal reflection. Your presence here is appreciated.

]]><![CDATA[Reflection]]>https://www.peterdaou.com/p/reflectionhttps://www.peterdaou.com/p/reflectionSun, 08 May 2022 13:42:14 GMTTo light a candle is to cast a shadow.

― Ursula K. Le Guin

Reflection - Photo by Leela Daou

This is a space for peace and personal reflection. Your presence here is appreciated.

]]><![CDATA[Renewal]]>https://www.peterdaou.com/p/renewalhttps://www.peterdaou.com/p/renewalMon, 25 Apr 2022 20:41:01 GMTWhen we work with love we renew the spirit; that renewal is an act of self-love, it nurtures our growth.

―  bell hooks

Renewal - Photo by Leela Daou

This is a space for peace and personal reflection. Your presence here is appreciated.

]]><![CDATA[Solitude]]>https://www.peterdaou.com/p/solitudehttps://www.peterdaou.com/p/solitudeSat, 05 Mar 2022 16:12:33 GMTWhen life descends into the pit
I must become my own candle
Willingly burning my self
To light up the darkness around me.

 — Alice Walker

Solitude - Photo by Leela Daou

This is a space for peace and personal reflection. Your presence here is appreciated.

]]><![CDATA[Innocence]]>https://www.peterdaou.com/p/innocencehttps://www.peterdaou.com/p/innocenceSat, 26 Feb 2022 16:42:57 GMTThis piano meditation is dedicated to all children of conflict and war. May peace prevail.

Innocence - Photo by Leela Daou

This is a space for peace and personal reflection. Your presence here is appreciated.

]]><![CDATA[Return]]>https://www.peterdaou.com/p/-returnhttps://www.peterdaou.com/p/-returnFri, 18 Feb 2022 13:41:00 GMTThe ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.

― Maya Angelou

Return - Photo by Leela Daou

This is a space for peace and personal reflection. Your presence here is appreciated.

]]><![CDATA[Being]]>https://www.peterdaou.com/p/beinghttps://www.peterdaou.com/p/beingSun, 23 Jan 2022 16:21:16 GMTIn memory of peace activist and teacher Thích Nhất Hạnh (October 11, 1926 – January 22, 2022)

Tomorrow, I will continue to be. But you will have to be very attentive to see me. I will be a flower, or a leaf. I will be in these forms and I will say hello to you. If you are attentive enough, you will recognize me, and you may greet me. I will be very happy.

— Thích Nhất Hạnh

Being - Photo by Leela Daou

This is a space for peace and personal reflection. Your presence here is appreciated.

]]><![CDATA[Transience]]>https://www.peterdaou.com/p/transiencehttps://www.peterdaou.com/p/transienceSun, 23 Jan 2022 16:18:13 GMTInto this Universe, and Why not knowing
Nor Whence, like Water willy-nilly flowing;
And out of it, as Wind along the Waste,
I know not Whither, willy-nilly blowing.

— Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám

Transience - Photo by Leela Daou

This is a space for peace and personal reflection. Your presence here is appreciated.

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