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Aaron Beaumont's new song explores the psychedelic nature of Peter's vision in connection to his introduction to Cornelius as described in Acts 10.

Acts 10

Narwhal and Ocelot (Dietary Restrictions)

Aaron Beaumont

Credits:

Written, Performed, and Produced By Aaron Beaumont. 2016
Backup Vocals: Amanda Wallace

Curated by:

Sarah Gregory

2016

Primary Scripture

Now there was a certain man in Caesarea, Cornelius by name, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment,
a devout man, and one who feared God with all his house, who gave gifts for the needy generously to the people, and always prayed to God.
At about the ninth hour of the day, he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God coming to him, and saying to him, “Cornelius!”
He, fastening his eyes on him, and being frightened, said, “What is it, Lord?”
He said to him, “Your prayers and your gifts to the needy have gone up for a memorial before God.
Now send men to Joppa, and get Simon, who is also called Peter.
He lodges with a tanner named Simon, whose house is by the seaside.

When the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier of those who waited on him continually.
Having explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.
Now on the next day as they were on their journey, and got close to the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray at about noon.
He became hungry and desired to eat, but while they were preparing, he fell into a trance.
He saw heaven opened and a certain container descending to him, like a great sheet let down by four corners on the earth,
in which were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, reptiles, and birds of the sky.
A voice came to him,
“Rise, Peter, kill and eat!”
But Peter said, “Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.”
A voice came to him again the second time,
“What God has cleansed, you must not call unclean.”
This was done three times, and immediately the vessel was received up into heaven.
Now while Peter was very perplexed in himself what the vision which he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon’s house, stood before the gate,
and called and asked whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was lodging there.
While Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three
men seek you.
But arise, get down, and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”
Peter went down to the men, and said, “Behold, I am he whom you seek. Why have you come?”
They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous man and one who fears God, and well spoken of by all the nation of the Jews, was directed by a holy angel to invite you to his house, and to listen to what you say.”
So he called them in and provided a place to stay. On the next day Peter arose and went out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.
On the next day they entered into Caesarea. Cornelius was waiting for them, having called together his relatives and his near friends.
When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell down at his feet, and worshiped him.
But Peter raised him up, saying, “Stand up! I myself am also a man.”
As he talked with him, he went in and found many gathered together.
He said to them, “You yourselves know how it is an unlawful thing for a man who is a Jew to join himself or come to one of another nation, but God has shown me that I shouldn’t call any man unholy or unclean.
Therefore also I came without complaint when I was sent for. I ask therefore, why did you send for me?”
Cornelius said, “Four days ago, I was fasting until this hour, and at the ninth hour, I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing,
and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer is heard, and your gifts to the needy are remembered in the sight of God.
Send therefore to Joppa, and summon Simon, who is also called Peter. He lodges in the house of a tanner named Simon, by the seaside. When he comes, he will speak to you.’
Therefore I sent to you at once, and it was good of you to come. Now therefore we are all here present in the sight of God to hear all things that have been commanded you by God.”
Peter opened his mouth and said, “Truly I perceive that God doesn’t show favoritism;
but in every nation he who fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.
The word which he sent to the children of Israel, preaching good news of peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all—
you yourselves know what happened, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;
even Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
We are witnesses of everything he did both in the country of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they also killed, hanging him on a tree.
God raised him up the third day, and gave him to be revealed,
not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen before by God, to us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that this is he who is appointed by God as the Judge of the living and the dead.
All the prophets testify about him, that through his name everyone who believes in him will receive remission of sins.”
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all those who heard the word.
They of the circumcision who believed were amazed, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was also poured out on the Gentiles.
For they heard them speaking in other languages and magnifying God.
Then Peter answered,
“Can anyone forbid these people from being baptized with water? They have received the Holy Spirit just like us.”
He commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay some days.

Acts 10

Share This Art:

Acts 10 is an incredible – and incredibly wacky – story. Intense heat, a meditation sesh on a seaside rooftop, culminating in a trance in which exotic animals appear out of thin air THREE times. It might be raving mad or psychedelic – either way, Peter definitely looks kind of like a person who, I confess, I would take pains not to sit by on the subway. This made me wonder, “What WOULD this story look like if it happened today? What would I have done in Peter’s shoes?” That’s the basis of Narwhal and Ocelot… that, plus, the irresistible opportunity to (as a theater writer and all around word-play dork) come up with a bunch of rhymes for “ocelot,” which I’ve never had an excuse to work into a lyric (and it was still a stretch) #lifegoals.

Here, Joppa becomes L.A., my beloved former home and a place not especially scared of a little casual afternoon rooftop meditation (possibly paired with hot yoga). Also, Peter’s dietary restrictions – so L.A.! Having grown up a vegetarian, I get it, and still dabble. For instance, I too would abstain from eating narwhal and ocelot, probably even if I thought it was the Lord’s bidding?

And therein lies the crux of this story for me: it isn’t simply that Peter gets this zany vision, but rather, that he also acts on it, traveling to a whole new city to rendezvous with an officer from foreign occupying forces. Highly taboo. And from what I understand, the outcome of all these absurd, weird decisions was (likely) the first non-Jewish Christian community. I, for one, as a healthy skeptic, given to perhaps excessive rationalization, would probably have dismissed this vision out of hand (perhaps even as a byproduct of the “shellfish that I ate”). But then, as an artist, and moreover, as a human, I’m constantly challenged to act on a tenuous vision – to organize my life around a conception of reality that is frequently at odds with the actual reality I’m confronted with.

In a recent interview, Todd Rundgren says something to the effect that he’s an idealist, and boldly believes in a bright future for humanity – and as a result, he often finds himself kind of angry at humanity for regularly challenging this organizing principle. To me, the Acts 10 story illustrates the conundrum perfectly: the problems of perception and apprehension, and the elusive, complicated, sometimes absurd, and often frustrating nature of chasing a vision. This time, it works out for Peter. But what do we do with all the days when the crazy, transcendent rooftop vision isn’t accompanied, and affirmed, by an ensuing knock at the door?

Spark Notes

The Artist's Reflection

Aaron Beaumont has toured the U.S. and Europe as a pianist and songwriter and been invited to share his work in wide-ranging venues from the Sziget Festival in Budapest to KCRW Santa Monica to the Tribeca Film Festival to off-Broadway Theatre 80 in the East Village to the main stage of the West Hollywood Carnaval. L.A. Weekly wrote that Aaron's music brings "a new life to the ancient music-hall/pop piano-man tradition, with clear-headed songs of genuinely witty lyrical oomph and, most of all, a historically informed musical depth – all delivered with style, grace, wit and elan, of course."

Aaron wrote one song, arranged two others, and served as a piano performance coach for the feature Permission (Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens, Jason Sudeikis, 2017 Tribeca Film Festival), which premieres worldwide February 2018. He also contributed two songs to the forthcoming series Dan is Dead (Drake Bell, Maker Studios) and two songs to the indie feature film Alex & Jaime (2017 Roxbury International Film Festival). Aaron contributed an original co-write (“17”) and several arrangements to Gil McKinney’s 2017 debut album, How Was I to Know, which reached #1 on the iTunes jazz chart and #8 on the Billboard jazz chart. He also co-wrote “Good Love” for Briana Buckmaster’s 2018 debut album (#1 iTunes blues, #3 Billboard blues). Other recent TV and film placements include original songs written for Cedar Cove (Andie McDowell) and Where Hope Grows (Billy Zabka, Danica McKellar; Dallas Film Festival, Roadside Attractions). Aaron has composed original scores for films and theatrical productions, including All the Lovely Wayside Things; Tall, Dark, and Handsome; Heart; Until We Have Faces; Shrew; The Fire Room; the Breakfast Show with Adam O; Companion; and Beyond Imagination, winning best score and sound design at the Hollywood Fringe Festival for his work on Fugitive Kind’s production of The Fire Room by Ovation Award-winning playwright Meghan Brown. In 2016, Aaron wrote a commissioned work for the Spark & Echo Arts project, and in 2017 Aaron created a larger scale work as an Artist in Residence. Aaron also works as an in-house arranger, producer, composer, and mix engineer for the Gregory Brothers / Schmoyoho, whose original music has earned them a gold and platinum record and nearly one billion views on YouTube, along with myriad collaborations on other platforms. Recent Gregory Brothers collabs include the Justice League film (ft. Gary Clark Jr.), Weird Al Yankovic, Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bassnectar, Alex Wassabi, LaurDIY, Markiplier, Slow Mo Guys, Todrick Hall, J. Fla, The Resident (Fox Network), and the International Olympic Channel. Songs Aaron has worked on with the Gregory Brothers have received over 175 million plays on YouTube.

In 2015, Aaron participated in the Ultraviolet Music and Arts Festival in Los Angeles as a featured artist and presenter, and performed with his band The Mots Nouveaux for the 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 Rockwood Music Festival in Frankfurt, Germany.

Aaron wrote the music and lyrics to the original musical, Behind Closed Doors, which sold out every performance at the historic Hayworth Theater, received multiple Broadway World L.A. Award nominations, and played for thousands of festival goers on the main stage of the West Hollywood Carnaval. Behind Closed Doors was selected to participate in the New York International Fringe Festival as a national show, enjoying a mostly oversold run at off-Broadway Theatre 80 in the East Village. Aaron was selected as a finalist as a composer and lyricist for the Fred Ebb Foundation / Roundabout Theatre Company Fred Ebb Award for musical theater songwriters, and received the Hal Gaba Scholarship for Excellence in Lyrics from UCLA/Concord Records.

Aaron is currently developing new musicals with playwrights Meghan Brown, Andrew Crabtree, Peter Berube, and Cassandra Christensen, and a one-woman show with soprano Lorelei Zarifian. Lorelei and Aaron’s first musical triptych, Midtown Antoinette, was featured on NPR-affiliate WFIT in March 2016 and debuted as part of the Florida Tech / Foosaner Museum French Film Festival. Aaron also occasionally helps produce the outrageous bingo raves phenomenon, Rebel Bingo, in New York and Los Angeles, as featured in the L.A. Times, Guardian, and BBC, and recently played a run of five capacity shows in the downtown L.A.’s Globe Theatre as part of 2016 Night on Broadway.

Aaron has collaborated as pianist, musical director, and/or co-writer with a panoply of music buddies, including Jason Manns, Gil McKinney, Sara Niemietz, Tim Omundsen, Dave Yaden, Nicholas Zork, Aaron Roche, Nick Bearden, Emma Fitzpatrick, Amanda Wallace, Shane Alexander, Ben Jaffe, Brett Young, Courtney Bassett, Eden Malyn, Luis Selgas, Aly French, Sam Heldt, Karma Jenkins, Emily Iaquinta, Lynette Williams, Meshach Jackson, Roy Mitchell-Cardenas, Kamasi Washington, Chad Doreck, J.T. Spangler, and Katrina Parker. He claimed several distinctions as a young classical pianist, including two-time Wisconsin Academy Musician of the Year, Andrews University Concerto Competition Finalist, and the British Royal Conservatory of Music Award of Highest Distinction for Piano Performance at the Newbold Creative Arts Festival. He currently serves as co-chair of the Carnegie Hill Concert Series in New York, featuring leading interpreters of classical and New Music from around the globe.

In 2015, Aaron founded SongLab, an online songwriting community for emerging songwriters. The inaugural SongLab Series welcomed GRAMMY-winner Dave Yaden as special guest.

In addition to working with other artists, Aaron performs as one-third of the pop trio, The Mots Nouveaux, alongside vocalists Emma Fitzpatrick and Amanda Wallace. The band celebrated their latest album release with a residency at Hotel Café, a six-month residency at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, and residencies at Rockwood Music Hall and Sidewalk Café in New York. They were invited to join the lineup for the Broke L.A. Music Festival in downtown Los Angeles, where Lyynks music hailed their set as the “greatest revelation” of the festival, one that “really thrilled the crowd” of thousands at the Lounge Stage (GroundSounds.com). The Mots Nouveaux recorded a new EP in Spring 2017 with co-producer Peter Barbee / Among Savages, with forthcoming tracks slated for 2018 release.

Aaron released his debut solo project, Nothing's Forever (Not Even Goodbye), featuring the first ten songs he wrote, on Milan Records (Warner-Ryko) in 2008.

In his spare time, Aaron enjoys playing the piano, traveling, eating, writing songs, making coffee, drinking coffee, collecting records, going for brisk walks, being near coffee, and composing extensive autobiographical sketches in the third person.