october

i just finished mixing the jazz album i did with joe shotwell. but i just upgraded my audio interface and i'm switching to 'logic', so i'm going to re-mix the jazz album.


after that i'm going to finish the album i started with alex vittum.

on the 24th i went back to sharkbite studios in oakland and tracked two albums worth of music. it was a bit of a long day. adam myatt engineered.
joe shotwell showed up around 11 am, we got some great sounds pretty quickly. the music could be categorized as jazz.
alex vittum came after joe, getting there around 4 pm. after swapping out some bass drums, things went quickly. this music was less swing-like. alex and i had done maybe one gig together in vermont, some sessions in ny and some playing sessions here. this was our first recording together.

most likely the first album (done with joe) will be done at the end of august, the second the end of october. i'll have to keep note of this to see how close i stay on this schedule.

i booked some time june 24th again at sharkbite studios. ryan - owner and adam are great people. the studio boasts a trident board that carried signal for steely dan's aja and the pink floyd's the wall. adam knows how to use it.

i'm recording two small projects- one with drummer joe shotwell early in the day, the other with alex vittum later in the day. these two projects will both consist of only bass and drums.

not that i don't want a guitarist- namely rob michael, it's just that i have all this guitar-istic playing that needs to be recorded. as a result, these will both be challenging projects. 80% of the material is new, the other 20% is music that i abandoned for lack of a proper recording situation.

look for the next album by mid-august, the second the end of september.

2 months later...

been working with robin lynn at a studio in venice beach, or at least a couple blocks away.
robin and i started working on some songs months ago and we've been getting together every 3-4 weeks trying to refine the arrangements and so some preliminary recordings. we'll continue this at the end of june.

i've continued to work with suzanna smith, making some videos at expressions in emeryville- a recording and video facility. this was with the atmos trio.

vox

i've been doing some rehearsing with suzanna smith
with a fine jazz guitarist named john klopotowski.

it's going well, we're just making our way through suzanna's arrangements, which include lyrics that she composes for some standards we play.

suzanna talked about this chet album, i'm going to have to check it out. probably order it this week. she also sang a piece called forgetful there is an excerpt at the bottom of the page.

i also wrote another piece, a blues, sort-of. there isn't a final arrangement, but it's close.

i have two more pieces to go. now i'm leaning towards writing for vocals using the aforementioned vocalist.

another piece

i just finished, well i should say 90% finished, another piece. it is essentially based on rhythm changes, the arrangement takes a couple of turns though- nothing risky. i'm using this piece as vehicle to explore bebop vocabulary.

similarly, i'm doing a recording of tristano's line up.

both of these pieces will move at a fast tempo- something i rarely do. for this very reason i decided to compose and work on two pieces that would offer a certain challenge.

writing the next album

i've started composing my next album. it's going to be more than a little different, especially in terms of style and compositional structures.

the entire album will largely be jazz influenced in terms of feel and harmony. naturally melodies and solos will reflect this as well.

i'm hoping to have it done in about two weeks, possibly three, then recorded by the end of may 08.

atmos plays waters

the album atmos plays waters is now available at:

drewwatersmusic.com

all of the liner notes can be found here

there are two samples posted, the whole album is available for download as well.
i can send hard copies to those that would like one.