are you with me, dr. wu?

cat's out!

this final chapter of a musical cd trilogy that began with "the nightfly" and followed by "kamakiriad", donald fagen's morph the cat is due to be released in the states on march 7, 2006.

according to fagen in a pre-release article in the new york times - http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/26/arts/music/26kapl.html - he apparently flexes his social commentary muscles on this cd, taking the opportunity to say what's on his political mind - already some are bristling, but that's a good thing. 

the cd's release will be supported by a spring/summer tour and i plan on attending the shows at the beacon in nyc and the wiltern in la ... let you know how that goes.

celestial theft

if the idea of stealing the moon ever struck me, the first two accomplices i’d recruit would be carolyn leonhart and rob bargad. their collaboration on the cd “steal the moon” blends a mix of five standard jazz songs and five bargad originals that take you on a polished, sensitive and tasty journey through the musical heavens.

two of bargad’s originals, the instrumental “juju knows” and the bluesy “little man”, are delivered delicately yet dynamically ... the former showcases bargad’s well-honed keyboard chops and the latter his well-measured voice ... both tunes also introduce you to the considerable talents of three of the cd’s musicians – bassist daniel sadownick and drummers jimmy cobb and billy drummond.

“all because of you”, “yesterday’s a dream” and the title tune “steal the moon” - featuring guitarist david gilmore - are also outstanding bargard compositions. these three songs show off leonhart’s ability to weave her finely tuned voice with a degree of control and phrasing that is rare in a young singer.

as you can read in his articulate liner notes in reference to leonhart's cd release "steal the moon", - sunnysidezone.com/Artists/Carolbio.html - award winning reviewer bob blumenthal writes that bargad never hesitated to give those songs to leonhart … and apparently doing so wasn’t much of a gamble for bargad as leonhart lets her jazz background take over to deliver on bargad’s originals in a way that reminds us of great singers past and present.

the selection of standards for "steal the moon" is presented in an equally impressive manner … “nature boy”, “it didn’t turn out that way” - you can listen to a sample of this song at carolynleonhart.com - and “sunday kind of love”, allow leonhart to highlight her vocal skills that can go in a new york second from a subtle and mellow mood to the definite domination of a phrase … yet in either case, she never loses the feel for the lyrics and somehow manages to let the song and music continue to be the stars. “i’ve grown accustomed to his face” is presented with interesting arrangement nuances to alter the familiar tune just enough to make you listen carefully to make sure it’s the song you thought it was … dare i say it is my favorite on the cd. finally “moonglow”, which coincidentally ends the cd, pairs up leonhart with her father jay on bass … and man are they locked in!

“steal the moon” is literally a steal … if you like jazz and enjoy standards, pick it up, confidently toss it into the cd player in a random mix along with other standard jazz cd's, stare up at the night sky, and you too will wonder if this bargard-leonhart musical match wasn’t made in heaven.

clear as glass

check out the tracks from the album reviewed below at lynleon.com

i will try to convey in words what it is i think i’ve found … a very fresh collection of music presented in a most unusual way emphasizing percussion and glass. 

in lyn leon’s cd “glass lounge”, swiss musicians and composers stephan diethelm and matthias eser collaborate with new york singer and composer carolyn leonhart to present a meticulously crafted collection of songs that take the listener on a soothing yet haunting musical journey. 

"glass lounge" features compositions penned by these three creative musicians who use an instrumentation ix of glass, rhodes keyboards, mallets and bass … resulting in mellow mood music which coaxes the listener into a relaxed state while making one wonder how and why it is that the unique sound just seems to gently get under the skin. 

lyrically, “glass lounge” is a vehicle for leonhart’s collection of love songs that run the emotional gamut from confusion and uncertainty to relationship definition and ecstasy.  combined with the gentleness of the sounds generated by the instrumentation, leonhart's lyrics express the myriad feelings evoked by the many phases of a love relationship ... and her soothing and finely controlled voice allows the lyrics to snuggle into the comfort of the musical cradle crafted by these sensitive musicians.

“never” opens the cd and immediately identifies the musical and lyrical intent of “glass lounge”.  once the concept is established, the frantic “stronger than that” comes along to introduce a protagonist that has been spun around in confusion following a failed love affair, and then eventually falls into acceptance and even defiance.  the mood remains in play as you reach “would you catch me”, a tune that skips along happily like the prospect of a new love relationship … then “66th street” lays back and takes a look at lost love.  the song sequence rolls into a definite head-bobbing blues groove which serves as the foundation for “childish".

then a hard and quick turn is on the horizon as the cd flows into “priquer” (co-written by leonhart and her brother michael, an accomplished trumpet player and jazz musician in his own right), the quirky tale of a young girl seemingly awed by the world around her …and leonhart handles the tricky vocal phrasing delightfully.  “glass lounge” continues with “marimba lounge”, a spicy and musical time challenging piece, “the answer”, “everywhere and nowhere”, “anytime” and “photo” … the cd concludes with “silver storm”, a mostly instrumental finale.

lyn leon is currently on tour in europe and apparently plans are in place for more from this unique group … we can only hope.  at lynleon.com you can hear the tracks from “glass lounge”, as well as the entire collection of songs from lyn leon's first cd release, “glass songs”.   

my thanks to stephan diethelm for making lyn leon’s “glass lounge” cd available to me by way of carolyn leonart, who i was fortunate to hear and meet at “smoke” in new york earlier this month.

"glass lounge" is a 2001 release produced by percords and recorded and mixed at luckymusic in luzern ... session credits for "glass lounge" also include bassist wolf zwiauer and drummer and percussionist kaspar rast, who leonhart, diethelm and eser thank for their creative and inspirational contributions.

kingpins - part 1

the band bopped onstage sans donald and walter to play an opening warm up instrumental ... as the tune was ending, the trusty angel girls smoothly glided onto their platform where they would perch for the evening, immediately followed by the main protagonists who jumped in as the band rolled into arguably one of the dan's signature tunes, "aja".  once the lofty and musically crafty piece concluded, donald fagen warmed up to his "dirty old man" image by greeting the crowd at "pine knob amphitheatre!", with the emphasis on the word knob.

it didn't take long.  with that bit of anticipated and expected sleaze, the evening was off to a rousing start.  it turned out to be most true.  the rumored promise of dusting off the old tunes was an understatement for sure, as the dan focused the evening on many of the 70's and 80's songs that probably were rarely played live, since the dan wasn't touring in those days.

with only five total songs from their two recent albums, "godwhacker", "janie runaway", "things i miss the most", "jack of speed" and "slang of ages", the modality for the 24 song, two-set evening was pretty much retro, but what a rocker! from "josie", "peg" and "don't take me alive" to "time out of mind", "parker's band", "black cow" and even a most rare becker vocal on "haitian divorce", the tunes colored the evening with a precise groove and funky-jazzy bounce like only the dan can deliver.  these are world class jazz, rock and blues musicians, not to be taken lightly ... so if they seem eccentric, they are!  they've earned it ... if anyone in the music biz paid their dues it was fagen and becker.  frankly, for a few moments during the show it dawned on me that i was experiencing showmanship and musical quality a la cab calloway and duke ellington, 21st century style.  the charts for these arrangements are not straightforward rock and blues my friends, but rather complicated yet very danceable jazz pieces ... no beginners here please.

- to be continued in kingpins, part 2

those trusty angel girls

if it's one thing steely dan has going for them 'lo these many years, it is their knack for selecting the most talented and visually stunning background singers ... they always absolutely rock!

tonight my fellow concertgoers and i will are in for a treat as cynthia calhoun, cindy mizell and carolyn leonhart will lend their considerable talents to the evening's musical proceedings.

cindy and cynthia have incredible, soulful voices and neverending energy onstage.  both have credits on the current emg cd.  cynthia was also on the 2vn cd and its accompanying tour last year, as well as the vhs and dvd releases of the "evening with steely dan" concert.

but then, there's carolyn leonhart.  hey, cindy and cynthia are truly awesome but i have become a huge carolyn leonhart fan since first becoming aware of her via steely dan, so please bear with me as i pour my soul out.  carolyn comes from solid jazz stock.  her dad is a bass player, mom a jazz singer, and brother michael a trumpet player who coincidentally also is on the stage tonight as part of the dan's blue note-like horn section.  carolyn is a jazz diva in the making ... a throwback if you will, somewhat in the diana krall vein.  her first cd "steal the moon" is excellent and on it she gives a serious hint of greater things to come by very adeptly handling a few recognizable standard jazz tunes ... my personal favorite is "sunday kind of love".  frankly she is something else, and, definitely like perhaps her counterpart in the green book, she has the mood and the moves!  at carolynleonhart.com you can get more information on this truly outstanding talent and order your very own copy of "steal the moon" on the sunnyside label. 

next, a little bit of a first look at tonight's venue, pine knob amphitheater.

high time for a walk on the live side

looking forward to tonight's steely dan concert at pine knob/dte.  i hear the tour is rolling very well and receiving rave reviews.  reading the local detroit area paper i caught a glimpse of a review of the dan's latest cd, "everything must go" (a.k.a. emg) ... the reviewer made a few respectful and positive comments about the group but ended the brief opinion by stating that the "catchy hooks" steely dan had been known for in the past were absent from this new cd ... the reviewer apparently hasn't listened to the new cd enough ... if those catchy hooks are absent, why am i and many of my steely dan friends hearing consistent replays in our heads?

motor city music

as the current steely dan EMG tour makes its way across the country, i will be heading to detroit to catch the dan's appearance at pine knob ... yeah, the tour stops in atlanta so why don't i just wait to see them here?  well, my nephew called recently and said he'd buy my concert ticket if i came up to visit him.  how could i pass up such a tempting concept? 

if the technological gods allow, i will be mo-blogging via my wireless blackberry during my detroit stay to share tidbits of my weekend in motown, and of course, as close to a note-by-note diary of concert evening ... at least as much as i can without becoming too distracted from the concert itself.  if for some reason i am not able to mo-blog, i will definitely post a "post" concert piece upon my return.

i haven't seen the dan since mid-90's when their tour brought them to atlanta.  previous to that, my only experience seeing them live was in the early 70's when the band played at pirates world in dania, florida.  my brother and i had no idea who steely dan was but about two minutes into the first tune we were quite mezmerized and stayed that way for the duration! 

needless to say, my relationship with steely dan over the years has far outweighed any kinship i may have had with chicago or pretty much any other band except the beatles and maybe earth, wind & fire.  yes, i am big time hooked ... from "thrill" to the fresh "EMG" release and everything in between, steely dan is been a constant musical thread in my life. 

so i look forward to sharing my detroit experience and welcome your comments about steely dan or music in general ... and by the way, if you plan on catching a steely dan concert near your hometown during this recent tour, let us know!