Carlsville III -- Notes
It’s been a little over a year since Rusty, Nick, Curt and I recorded Carlsville Encore. From the feedback I believe that the concept behind our music is on the right track. We create some swinging jazz that (hopefully) captures the subtlety and beauty of so-called “standards”. We use sophisticated chords with extensions that (hopefully) enrich the character of a particular tune. Some are a bit silly, like “Noodles”. But even then, notice how that very simple structure leads to some wonderfully inventive and humorous improvisations.
I’m fortunate to be joined by great musicians, Rusty Jones (drums), Nick Tountas (bass) and Curt Morrison (guitar, harmonica). All three have (excellent) international reputations, have made numerous recordings and are in constant demand. For an extra treat, Scott VanWagner (tenor saxophone) puts in an almost cameo appearance playing interesting counter melodies on two tunes and a very sensitive solo on Thad Jones’ haunting “A Child is Born”.
The entire recording was done in my (fairly large) living room. We used 10 microphones. Two each on the piano, guitar/harmonica, and bass, and 4 on the drums. Because we were all in the same room there is lots of cross feeding. (Drums record on the piano tracks, Piano on the guitar tracks, etc.) Thus, it was not possible to re-record a specific instrument and plug it in later. So what you are hearing was a "live" performance, albeit with the ability for a full or partial "do-over". All of the tunes were recorded in three 4 hour sessions. Being all together in the same room helps create energy and excitement from each player. That, and some resulting humor hopefully comes through on the recording.
Most of the tunes are old standards that may be familiar. We treat some in slightly non-standard ways, such as playing "All of Nothing at All" as an (almost) bossa nova. "Alice in Wonderland" might surprise you also. One track is a piano solo, "You’ll Never Walk Alone", a famous Richard Rogers show tune that has become a virtual hymn. The harmonic structures are definitely non-standard. The chords were carefully chosen over the last year to compliment the majesty of the melody -- I hope you agree. In addition, it gives you a real close up "look" at my 9'2" Bosendorfer, a great piano that I rescued from Orchestra Hall (after Previn, Barenboim and others had concertized with it.) Truly an amazing instrument, babied monthly by John Esposito, techician extraordinaire and good friend.
Derrick Stout (owner of Darwin Records) an artist in his own right, and Danny McMurray, did all of the recording and mixing -- very tricky because of all the previously mentioned cross-feeding. The mixing was followed by Dan Stout, owner of Colossal Mastering, who expertly put the final touches adjusting the mix for the final master.
How lucky to be a part of all this. Hope you enjoy our result.
Cheers,
Carl Noble, piano player