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| New CD Coming Soon
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Posted: Jan 27, 2010
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The new album is finally finishing up and will be called "A Brand New Situation". Just a great collection of musicians helped me on this. Contributions from Mike Garson and Mark Zonder really elevate the songs. German film composer Volker Barber totally reworked Cry to Heaven and gave it wings. Christian Martirano, Oscar Garza, George Radai and Nikki Adams all provided stellar performances.
I've posted several of the new songs; Walking on a Saturday Night; Cry to Heaven; Sweet Potato Pie in the Summertime; and Cowboy in Babylon. The CD will also include a piano interlude from Mike Garson entitled More Love Now as the introduction to Walking on a Saturday Night.
My friend and wonderful songwriter Chris Gubish took photos for the new CD in the Hollywood & Vine Metro Station last Sunday, and captured the vibe perfectly.
Hope to have the new CD released by Valentines Day!
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| Back in the Studio Part 2
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Posted: Sep 4, 2009
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Good news & bad news on the studio front since the last posting on this subject.
The bad news is that the studio where I am recording had a fire and in trying to save the backup hard drives they dropped the one with all of my work for 5 new songs. Starting over.
The good news is that I have enlisted two incredible musicians to help with my new project. Mark Zonder is a phenominal drummer having played for years with the band Fates Warning and now with Slavior. I can't believe the difference with Mark driving the songs. Within the past couple of weeks Mike Garson from David Bowie's band and Nine Inch Nails has recorded piano tracks for two new songs. Mike is just a fantastic musician with great ideas for every song.
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| Woody On Regular Rotation On Jango Radio
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Posted: Aug 6, 2009
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Just a quick follow up to the earlier posting. Thank you to everyone who gave me a thumbs up on Jango.com and put me into regular rotation with Tu-Toned Stranger. You can always put me in as your artist request and you will hear some great tunes from all of my musical influences.
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| Woody Plays Dallas, TX House Concert
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Posted: Aug 6, 2009
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I played a wonderful event in Colleyville, TX at the home of Dave & Jimmie Mayfield in June. (I know, I'm a little slow getting this posted.) The Concert At The Mayfield House was actually held outside. They lit up the patio for me as a "stage" and told the attendees to BYOLC (Bring your own lawn chair). My good friend and fellow guitarist Ed Proctor brought over a small PA that was loud enough, but didn't upset any neighbors. We started a little late to try and let it cool down, but it was still 93F and humid at 9pm. Knowing both the crowd and weather, the Mayfields got a frozen margarita machine hooked up and by the 2nd set everyone was toasty and into the groove. What a great time.
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| Profiled in Music & Sound Retailer Magazine
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Posted: Jul 20, 2009
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Was just included in a profile in a July 2009 article in Music & Sound Retailer magazine called "What A Gig! Manufacturers Employees Who Moonlight As Musicians".
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| Hear Woody On Jango Internet Radio
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Posted: Apr 15, 2009
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Jango Radio is challenging Pandora by actively reaching out to find the best independent artists to play alongside your favorites. Create your own radio station based on the music that you love. If you happen to love the music of Don Henley or Steely Dan or Train, Woody's "Tu-Toned Stranger" may show up on your radio station as well.
Woody only needs 50 more folks to tell Jango that they like Woody's music to move him into regular rotation with the "big label boys".
Please check out Jango Radio and become a Woody fan at www.jango.com/music/woody+moran
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| Back In The Studio
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Posted: Apr 4, 2009
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Woody is back at Santa Fe Tracking Station in Los Angeles doing basic tracks on a new batch of songs. You can preview a rough mix of one of the new songs, "She's Ready To Play", which is the first song on the player. Much thanks to Christian Martirano for the keyboards and cool marimba vibe as well as a great piano solo.
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| Visit Woody On NumberOneMusic
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Posted: Dec 18, 2008
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I now have a profile on NumberOneMusic, which is a promotional vehicle for artists and bands. One of the best things that I like about the website is that they help you manage your fan mailing list (which is now an email address list).
Please go to http://www.numberonemusic.com/woodymoran/ and sign up on my mailing list, and I'll try to keep you up to date on gigs, new music, etc.
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| Woody Nominee for 2008 Independent Singer Songwriters Award Contest
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Posted: Sep 26, 2008
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Woody has been selected as a nominee for the 2008 Independent Singer Songwriters Award Contest. Woody's name will be listed on www.issa-music.org as a nominee. Look for it by Monday October 13th, 2008.
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| Introduction To House Concerts
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Posted: Jun 5, 2008
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I saw this video the other day that explains the idea behind House Concerts and thought that I would share it to encourage anyone with some space and some friends to try something a little different and host a House Concert. Check out this video, copy & paste: http://youtube.com/watch?v=iC-9Xbn5Smo
And yes... I would love to come and play at your House Concert!
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| Woody Featured Interview on www.YouRockRadio.com
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Posted: Apr 21, 2008
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Woody will be the featured guest for Dennis Logan's internet radio show on www.yourockradio.com for the week of Mon., April 21 - April 28th. Woody talks with Dennis about the recording of his debut CD, "Tu-Toned Stranger", and the state of the music business. Woody also shows off a sneak preview of his new song, "She's Ready To Play."
The interview is now in their archive but can still be accessed. Copy and paste the link at http://yourockradio.com/show/download.php?view.42
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| Exclusive Alternative Version Of WITNESS
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Posted: Mar 3, 2008
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I have had such a heartwarming response to my song WITNESS, including people wanting to use the song for weddings (I can think of nothing more appropriate). So I have made available for download purchase the alternative version of the song using a band, which is labeled Witness (country version).
It's not really very country other than the drums go to double time at the end of the song. In fact, the vocals, guitars and piano are all the same as the album version. This version of Witness is exclusive to my website, so if you want the band version, this is the only place that you can find it.
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| Tu-Toned Stranger Available On iTunes
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Posted: Mar 3, 2008
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The Tu-Toned Stranger album is now available for individual song download via iTunes.
This is in addition to digital distribution via Broadjam, BuyMusic,Inprodicon, MusicIsHere, PayPlay, Napster, GreatIndieMusic, Muze and Tradebit. The physical CD is available online thru CD Baby and CD Universe.
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| Woody Launchs MySpace Site
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Posted: Mar 3, 2008
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I decided that it was time to get with the program and start networking with the largest collection of musicians in cyberspace. So I'm happy to announce that I now have a MySpace presence at www.myspace.com/woodymoran, and the “friends network” is really taking off. The coolest part of this is that I have reconnected with a lot of folks that I had simply lost touch with over the years. It's good to be your friend.
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| Tu-Toned Stranger CD Release Party
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Posted: Jan 15, 2008
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A great crowd of family, friends & supporters showed up at Cafe 322 in Sierra Madre, CA on January 12th for Woody Moran's CD Release Party of Tu-Toned Stranger.
Woody took the story-teller role to heart, as he provided behind the scenes background stories about most of the songs. As promised, the band was well rehearsed and Woody put on a fedora hat (costumes) for the performance of Tu-Toned Stranger.
View the party photos in the Photo section of the website.
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| WOODY'S DEBUT ALBUM NOW SHIPPING!
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Posted: Dec 25, 2007
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Woody Moran's debut CD, entitled Tu-Toned Stranger, is now available for immediate sales and shipment. The CD sells for only $11.97 and quantity discounts are available.
To purchase the CD:
Follow the BUY button link in the Album category of this website;
or go to www.cdbaby.com/cd/woodymoran.
Individual songs are available for download purchase:in the Songs category of this website;or go to www.broadjam.com/woodymoran.
In addition to his original songs, Woody covered Secret Smile by SemiSonic, Rocket Man by Elton John and After Midnight by J.J. Cale with amazing performances on the CD. These songs are not available for download, but are included on the CD.
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| Where Are The Song Lyrics?
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Posted: Dec 11, 2007
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Please click on the song title for the link to lyrics, background story, credits and other info.
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| Tu-Toned Stranger Charts #1
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Posted: Nov 18, 2007
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After many weeks of Tu-Toned Stranger charting in Broadjam.com's Top Ten Folk-Rock, the song is now #1 and has broken onto other charts:
Top Ten Western US - #5
Top Ten California - #3
Top Ten Production Male Vocal - #5
Top Ten Folk-Rock - #1
Top Ten All Folk - #1
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| Broadjam.com Reviews of TU-TONED STRANGER
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Posted: Nov 13, 2007
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"Nice mood right off the top. Very nice arrangement. Are you related to Glen Frey? or Donald Fagen? I love the song, the feel, the groove, and influences. Real talent here."
"I could hear this on the Adult Contemporary on XM. "
"This is a master work of a contemporary blues genre - utterly spectacular work in all instrumentation, and a vocal that is delicious for the music. You create a tension between the soft vocal and that wonderful sax - especially around your "demons at the door" line. The piano work etc etc - what can I say - all done with a sensitive discretion that keeps the song focused on the lyrical outcomes of every, single passage. This is a fantastic, tantalizing work of art - right down to the highly detailed (complex) lyrics. "Two-toned stranger French from St-Croix" is purely brilliant. Thank you for giving this great, great song to the world!"
"Great song! Great job. Kinda Neil Young like, I like it."
"Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! Would've been a major hit for Glen Frey! Super vocal, great music, great lyrics and story! Off the charts! Hope you can get this into the right hands. It's a hit! Tres bien, mon ami!"
"Vocalist is non-plussed and narrative; sax is defiant and a little bold; guitar is there for the ride. Sax is even a little creepy and mesmerizing, like the two-toned stranger. This song is evidence of extremely well-designed arrangement, process and performance of your creative vision. Congratulations!"
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| Letter From Musician To Dear Abby
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Posted: Oct 30, 2007
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Dear Abby...
I think my wife is cheating on me. I am a working musician and, as you would expect, travel a lot. I have been noticing strange things happening when I get home. Her mobile phone rings and she steps outside to answer it or she says, "I'll call you back later". When I ask her who called she gets evasive. Sometimes she goes out with friends but comes home late, getting dropped off around the corner and walking the rest of the way. I once picked up the extension while she was on the phone and she got very angry.
A buddy of mine plays guitar in a band. He told me that my wife and some guy have been to his gigs. He wanted to borrow my guitar amp. That's when I got the idea to find out for myself what was really happening. I said "Sure, you can use my amp but I want to hide behind it at the gig and see if she comes into the venue and who she comes in with." He agreed.
Saturday night came and I slipped behind my Marshall JCM800 half stack to get a good view. I could feel the heat coming off the back of the amp. It was at that moment, crouching down behind the amp, that I noticed that one of the power tubes was not glowing as bright as the other 3.
Is this something I can fix myself or do need to take it to a technician?
Thanks
Very Concerned
(thank you to Jeffrey Paul Burger for sending this my way. too funny not to share.)
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| How To Find Great CD Artwork in Argentina
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Posted: Oct 24, 2007
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I found myself on a quest, walking up Florida Street in Buenos Aires, Argentina with my good friend Russ Jones, who also happens to own audioMIDI.com (www.audiomidi.com), the best online computer music store on the planet. (That should be good for a big discount on my next software purchase.) Florida Street is a pedestrian shopping street that stretches over one mile long. Actually it wasn’t my quest, we were on a quest to find a leather jacket for Russ, and it seemed like every 4th store was a leather goods store and Russ had to stop in each one to find The Perfect Leather Coat. Not that I minded; it was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, and the girls were lovely.
Florida Street also has a unique collection of talented street musicians, entertainers and artists and as we strolled from leather shop to leather shop, one artist’s street display caught my eye. We went over to examine his paintings and met the artist, Viktor Smolik, a Russian who had immigrated to Argentina about eight years ago. Although his paintings were the best of the street, there was nothing that grabbed us, and Viktor admitted that his street exhibit was to capture the attention of the tourist. Viktor suggested that Russ and I return the next day and meet him in his studio where he would show us his serious paintings.
Russ and I returned the next day at the appointed hour with a bottle of red wine in hand and Viktor greeted us warmly, opened and poured the wine all around, and we got down to the business of viewing his art. We discovered that Viktor’s studio held a wonderful collection of art, and whereas his street exhibit was full of sunny, happy images, his studio gallery housed darker, and to my eye more interesting, paintings of Buenos Aires and its people.
So I purchased two paintings, one of Florida Street in the rain (seen here) and the other of a mysterious stranger holding an umbrella with two tango dancers in the rain outside the famous jazz club, Café Tortoni (www.cafetortoni.com.ar). This later painting seemed to perfectly fit the vibe of my song Tu-Toned Stranger, of a dangerous shadow stranger who would dance the tango until dawn.
By the way, Russ never found The Perfect Leather Coat, but I wound up purchasing a cool jacket. So Russ’ quest got me two great paintings and MY Perfect Leather Coat.
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| Broadjam.com Reviews of DON'T FADE AWAY
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Posted: Oct 16, 2007
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"Great, haunting song. Definitely worth a second listen"
"Enjoyed the harmonies. Nice laid back feel."
"Nice acoustic guitar picking with sparse production which is a plus. ...this song was a breath of fresh air."
"Nicely done! Really nice voice too..sort of comforting and gives a warmth....I like that you put in a second voice to create the fullness in the chorus."
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| AES & Syntheticmess NYC
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Posted: Oct 11, 2007
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I just returned to California from the AES (Audio Engineering Society) show in sunny NYC. That’s right, the first weekend of October and the good folks of New York City were enjoying beautiful, sunny days in the mid-80’s F.
AES ROCKS!
AES was a perfect show for seeing old friends and renewing acquaintances. Dave Hill & Huston Singletary were showing off Version 7 of Ableton Live and I also spent some time with Mark Either of iZotope and Neil RiCharde of Cakewalk. I saw Larry the O of EM magazine fame who has now joined the cool guys at Bias software and got to hang a bit with Jan, Todd, Martin & Daniel from Native Instruments. I was also able to hook up with my great friend and Grammy-winning producer Jason Miles (www.jasonmilesmusic.com), and get caught up on his latest projects.
GRIFFIN WORKS HIS MAGIC
The best part of the trip was ”the hang” with J. Chris Griffin and his lovely wife Janet… dinner at The Mercer Kitchen with desert at Max Brenner’s. It doesn’t get much better. I also got a little work done with Chris on completing the mixes for three more tunes. Chris’ mixing studio, Syntheticmess, is housed within The Cutting Room Studios on East 4th Street. I have to say that it was an amazing and educational experience for me to sit beside Chris while he worked his magic on my songs. The photo is of Chris & me in the Syntheticmess mixing room in New York City.
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| Broadjam.com Reviews of WITNESS
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Posted: Sep 29, 2007
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"Solid song with a great message - very well done all the way around."
"Wonderful music support for a positive sensitive vocal message. Male vocal pulls it off nicely. Great dynamic instrument and arrangement build at the end."
"I enjoyed the mix. I thought the uses of different instruments complemented the vocals. A pretty strong song."
"Great lyrics! I've been married 37 years....you nailed it! Very heartfelt vocal, nice acoustic work....."
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| One Crazy AC/DC Fan
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Posted: Sep 19, 2007
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I was attending the Frankfurt Musik Messe (Music Fair) with a business associate. After a couple of days at the trade show, and having tired of the traditional German food (pork; not that there is anything wrong with that), we decided to try and find an Indian restaurant for our dinner.
We went to the taxi stand and were fortunate to find that our driver spoke a little English. We told him that we wanted to find a really good Indian restaurant and he assured us that he knew the best place in Frankfurt, and that he even took his family to this restaurant. Great, off we went.
As we entered the packed Indian restaurant, the smell of the curries and spices convinced us that we had indeed found the Promised Land. Traditional Indian decorations and the soft sound of sitar music completed the ambiance. The owner of the restaurant, dressed in white with a white turban came over to take our order.
Probably because our hair was a little longer (my associate’s hair was in a ponytail), the owner asked if we were musicians. We told him that we were in town for the Musik Messe and were certainly in the music business. That was all it took.
Excitedly, the owner asked if we liked AC/DC. We both replied sure, they are a great rock band. Now the owner launched into an excited and animated description of the AC/DC concert in Munich that he had attended; how hard AC/DC rocked; how great their show was; etc. We tried to bring him back to the menu and our order of food, but now that he knew he had found some “fellow believers”, he dismissed our attempts and just said that he would serve us the special for a big discount. OK, that sounded good.
The owner left and was gone about 3 minutes when we noticed that the sitar music had been turned off. 30 seconds later… Highway to Hell blasted through the speakers at what had to be close to the maximum volume. The owner appeared from the kitchen in time to do a headbanger’s impersonation of a lead guitar player. This was just an amazing sight as we witnessed an Indian headbanger’s turban wildly bouncing to the beat. The restaurant cleared of customers and within 10 minutes of AC/DC’s music along with the entertainment of the bouncing headbanger’s turban, we were literally the only customers left in the place.
We made great friends with the owner, who seemed oblivious to the fact that he had just run off all of his regular customers. And yes, we listened to AC/DC for our dinner music (although at a lower volume) and the food was indeed fantastic.
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| My First Samba
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Posted: Sep 8, 2007
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A couple of years ago I visited Rio de Janeiro along with my friends and great musicians Chris "Fingers" Adams and Scott Wilkie (www.scottwilkie.com). On Saturday night we grabbed a taxi and went to an old samba club in the Lapa area of Rio called Bar Carioca da Gema (www.barcariocadagema.com.br). The club occupied an old house that had been turned into a club and held about 250 people. “Cariocas” are what the native Rio de Janeirans call themselves. The expression da gema means “very best” or “genuine article”.
The club was packed; there were more than 350 people in the place and everyone was moving to the rhythm of the beat. It was infectious. You couldn’t help yourself as the room throbbed and your body started to move of its own volition.
It was a traditional 7-piece samba band with the players ranging in age from about 20 - 65 years old. From left to right: 1) flute/percussion/background vocals, 2) tambourine (never heard anyone play a tambourine like this – he was like the snare, toms, hi-hat and cymbals of a drum kit), 3) bass drum called the surdo (the 65 year old, played like a floor tom with mallet and hand to muffle), 4) Brazilian cavaquinho, a 4-string petite guitar (the 20 year old), 5) mandola (the “rock star” of the band with great facial expressions worthy of any lead guitar player), 6) Brazilian 7-string classical guitar (alternated bass lines and rhythmic chords), 7) center stage vocals (female vocalist that could give you a sexy purr or nail you with her voice.) It was also a tribute night to one of Brazil’s well-known samba composers.
The band kicked into high gear and the musicianship was incredible. This form of traditional samba is multivoiced and heavily, hugely rhythmic. The surdo thudding out its bass rhythm was palpable. Everyone in the crowd knew the songs of the famous composer, so the entire club of 350 people sang along on the chorus of every song. As the set progressed, the singer showed the crowd an intricate syncopated beat to clap to, and they all did it! (You can’t even get most Americans to clap on 2 & 4).
The entire room was dancing; everyone was singing; everyone was clapping; and best of all, everyone had a great big shitty grin on their faces! I have never felt so full of music, so full of joy and so much a part of the tribe, as in this place.
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| Remembering Michael Brecker
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Posted: Aug 29, 2007
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This is more of a blog than news or reviews. I was telling this story about the late Michael Brecker to a friend and he suggested that I share it so that it didn't get lost. I am fortunate that I could count among my friendly acquaintances the late, great jazz saxophonist, Michael Brecker. Although Michael recorded many solo albums as well as jazz albums with his brother Randy (The Brecker Brothers), he was also one of New York's first call session players.
At the time of this story, Michael had just released a solo album when Paul Simon asked him to join his Rhythm of the Saints tour. Michael told him no, because he wanted to promote his own music, but when Paul promised him a 15-minute solo spot in the middle of his concert, playing in front of 20,000 people each night, Michael couldn't turn it down.
I saw the show at the Forum in LA, and after Paul introduced Michael for his solo, Paul Simon and the entire 11 piece band exited the stage leaving Michael all alone. Michael picked up his horn and started playing, then using a foot switch, he triggered some pre-recorded rhythm samples that he then played against. Slowly, one by one, the band members rejoined Michael on stage and started playing. the song built and crescendoed to a spectacular finish as eventually everyone was back on stage, including the six drummers and percussionists.
Now I told you about that show in order to tell you about the next show. Two weeks later, Michael invited me to bring my wife Lisa and attend the Dallas performance at Reunion Arena. What a treat - the S. African accapella group Black Mambazo, who sang on the Graceland recording, were in town performing at SMU and they rushed over and joined Paul for the 40 minute encore. Michael's solo seemed inspired that night, and if possible was even better than in LA. The song went from a very dizzy, jazzy disjointed feel to a really tight ending.
After the show, Lisa and I went backstage to thank Michael for the tickets. I told him how impressed I was with his solo and congratulated him on the off-beat syncopated style that I thought was so much better than the last time I heard his tune. He seemed to get a little embarrassed, as he told me it was a mistake. It seems that he was truly inspired, he closed his eyes, got totally involved with the music and just let it soar. As far as he knew, he could have been levitating. It wasn't until he heard drummer Steve Gadd give him an "end the song" cue that he turned around to face the band and realized that this totally grooving engine of a band had no idea where "one" was, much less the turnaround to end the song. He said, "I saw this large group of musicians, all playing away, all looking at me with big round eyes, trying to get a clue where I was going next. The question on everyone's lips was, where's one? I showed them the downbeat by moving my sax and punctuating the notes and when I did that Steve was right on top of it. Which is how we all mangaged to wind up together at the end."
There is probably a lesson here about how listening to the other members of the band can even make a mistake turn out alright, but I'll leave it for now as my small contribution to the life story of Mr. Brecker.
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