New Album in Progress
New album in Progress
I recorded 3 new songs last Saturday with my longtime friend and producer Peter Gallway. Peter more or less discovered me, playing in a bar in Portland, Maine many years ago. I am indebted to him for connecting me with the people who led to many of my early successes in Los Angeles. Like me, he is a singer/songwriter with a deep love of R&B and jazz.
Here's a list of the 5 songs we've recorded towards a 10-song album to be titled "Mustang":
"I Think it's Gonna Rain"
"Oklahoma"
"Sweet Tooth"
"Billie Holiday"
"Cutting Down Flowers With a Chain Saw"
The next 3 will be
"Thelonious Monk/All in Love is Fair"
"Orphan Boy"
and "Mustang"
I haven't decided yet which other of my new songs will be included on this album. This will be the 3rd of a trio of albums I have recorded with Peter starting with "I Rise Up" in 2021, and "Black Swan" in 2023.
I plan on releasing them all on vinyl. "I Rise Up" will have to be a double album, because of the length.
I have a very big collection of vinyl and looking through them the other day I noticed that many old school LPs have as few as 8 or 9 songs per album. I recall that in that era the record companies would only pay on 10 songs per album, otherwise the royalty rate was diminished equal to the amount of songs exceeding 10.
The method I use with Peter is that we put down a click (metronome) and I sing and play guitar at the same time for a few takes, from which we have a few choices for a final track. It has a performance feeling versus overdubbing the guitar and vocal separately.
I have a circle of musical friends, mostly in Los Angeles, who add their parts which I plug in and play with. David and Lucy Schwartz, Michael Ruff, and others have become a part of my sound. I love layering my own vocal harmonies to my songs. I'm hoping to have my friend Katie Matzell and her horn section play on a few songs. My friend Lee Curreri in L.A. is adding to my song Billie Holiday this week. We have a long history together. He is a brilliant musician and a lovely person. His son Joey will be adding his contribution as well. He’s a beautiful player currently active on the New York jazz scene.
There are a lot of unreleased songs I've recorded with Lee that will be part of this album:
