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1. Mysterious
Late Lunch Liner Notes:
There was not much room inside our new CD, Late Lunch, for text, and even if there had been, there would not be enough room for me to say as much as I’d like to say about all of the songs and the wonderful players that worked together to do the project. I thought that by putting this information on the web, interested listeners would have an opportunity to learn more about the album and how it came about.
Let me start by saying that the recording took over two years to complete. Some of the songs were recorded before hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc upon the inhabitants of New Orleans and her music industry. Some of the musicians from the earlier sessions left town and I didn’t know if they would return or not. Now, as the album is finally finished, I can say that all of the musicians are back in town and the music scene is improving constantly.
Secondly, I can’t say enough nice things about the two guys who have been with me on this thing from the beginning. Bassist John Lutz and violinist Matt Rhody are some of the most talented musicians I have had the privilege of working with. They have such positive creative energies, and I am always stupefied by the great music these guys come up with.
The first piece, only a minute or two long, is called the Pirates Alley Introduction. It opens with an improvised cadenza by Matt Rhody, meant to depict the old-world charm and mystique of the alley, nicknamed the “Broken Heart of the French Quarter”. They say that local pirates used to hide from the authorities in this passageway between Chartres and Royal Streets. It seemed fitting to begin the album with a tribute to this sacred place, for this is where I first dared to open my accordion case in New Orleans. More significantly, it is where I played with the violinist Camille Collins-Lovell. We never made much money, but she taught me all kinds of wonderful songs and I learned about the beautiful marriage of violin and accordion. Camille is now living in Honduras with her husband Oscar and they have a beautiful boy named Owen. The café is still there, and is now operated by a local musician named Tony Seville. The charm is still there, and the place is still sought after for its Absinthe, but sadly there is no music anymore. The clergy of the nearby St. Louis Cathedral has outlawed live music at this venue.
The second track is called El Bombita and I heard it first on a CD of French Musette given to me by the great New Orleans pianist Tom McDermott. He brought it back from France after playing a gig there. The recording features a solo accordionist named Médard Ferrero in 1932. I transcribed the piece and arranged it for the trio. This is one of the few moments on the CD in which we employed some electronic effects just for fun. I told Tim Stambaugh that I wanted the improvised sections to sound like they were recorded in a truck stop parking lot. Can you hear it? I know I do!
Track 3 is sort of a tribute to my musician friends in Virginia. While I was in high school, I was taken in by some of the musicians in my hometown of Staunton. We played in a band called the St. Clair Street Band, and I played tuba. The accordionist was Jim Harrington and he taught me the Flowers of Edinburgh and The Dancing Bear. The first is a few hundred years old, and nobody knows who did it first. People think the second is Eastern European, but it was actually composed by a New England contradance tycoon named Bob McQuillen. I don’t know Bob well, but he was gracious to let me record his song on this CD. When I hear it I remember Jim playing along with Richard Adams on soprano saxophone. I think this tune sounds best when it is on the edge of being out of control. For this reason, this recording may not be appropriate for contradancing along with! I added the foot stomping later, just for fun.
I wrote the Potted Hibiscus as a ragtime piece. There are a couple of more modern musical moments written into it, which ragtime purists would frown upon. They were inspired by ragtime recordings by New Orleans clarinetist Tony Parenti in the 1940’s, and by the pianist James P. Johnson. This is the first of many songs on the album to feature additional musicians. I sat in on the piano and Seva Venet is playing his national steel guitar. He performs that fantastic slide solo in the third strain. In a true ragtime piece, there would be no improvised solos, but I don’t think anyone would mind.
Amelia’s Waltz was a dance I learned while taking a ballroom dance class years ago. To do the dance, everyone makes a big circle with his or her partners. The dance is designed so that after every sixteen bars or so you switch to a new partner. I heard a recording of the piece many times as the class learned the routine. I think it has a beautiful and unforgettable melody and I was surprised to learn that the piece is not very old. The composer, Bob McQuillen, is still around and I was able to get him on the phone. When I asked him if he knew who wrote The Dancing Bear, he laughed and said that he had written that one, too! He certainly has a gift for writing catchy melodies!
I wrote Camille’s Wedding as a gift to the talented violinist Camille Collins-Lovell and her husband, Oscar Estrada. It was a beautiful and musical wedding indeed, certainly worthy of its own piece. I called upon Beth Patterson to help me with this rendition of it. Beth plays around the New Orleans area on her bouzouki, which is an eight-stringed mandolin-like instrument native to Greece. She is an authority on Celtic music and is a gifted songwriter herself. If you enjoyed this song, I highly recommend that you look her up and listen to her stuff. She plays the electric bass on this track, and her partner Ron Keller also participates, playing on a fascinating electronic percussion instrument called the HandSonic. They work together regularly, traveling and also recording in their own studio.
You will find the Café Amelie in the 900 block of Royal Street in New Orleans. It is in the back of a luscious courtyard. When I see the place I hear music and imagine myself playing there. When I visited and approached the management with such a suggestion I was disrespected and sent on my way. I have no hard feelings and I hope that one day they might hear my song about the place and change their minds. The piece is written in the style of a French Musette. Jo Privot is my favorite musette writer and accordionist, in case you are interested in the subject.
I wrote the Back Door Stomp for a Dixieland band. I play piano with lots of Dixieland and traditional jazz groups around New Orleans. Seva Venet plays guitar on this number, and I invited Richard Taylor to play drums. Mike Fulton plays trumpet as well. In addition to playing the accordion on this number, I played the piano and the trombone.
Para Mi Hermanita (for my little sister) is my attempt at writing a Tango piece. I learned what I know about Tango music from the bassist John Lutz. He leads a tango band called Milonga here in New Orleans and sometimes I have had the privilege of occupying the accordion or pianist’s chair with them. John is really a great bassist, and his dedication to performing musical styles correctly is admirable. I met the talented cellist Helen Gillet while playing with Milonga and knew that her music would be a great addition to this track. This one is written for my sister, Sarah, who lives in Virginia and teaches Spanish at Montevideo Middle School.
I have John Lutz to thank for teaching me about Tango, and Tony Green is the one who introduced me to French Musette. Tony is a guitarist in New Orleans who is dedicated to the style of music known as “Gypsy Jazz”. I have played with Tony’s group at parties, picnics, festivals, and clubs. Tony plays a number of musette waltzes and I learned a handful of them to play with him. Jo Privat’s Mystérieuse is one of my favorites and it was fitting to invite Tony to join us on this piece.
I first heard Baym Rebyn in Palesteena on an album by a group called 3 Leg Torso. It is a traditional Yiddish piece, arranged for their group by Béla Balough. He was kind enough to allow me to use his arrangement. Just for fun, I invited Michael Skinkus to play with us. He is a fantastic percussionist here in New Orleans and works with everybody, in any musical style. Helen Gillet also joins in with her cello, filling out the piece nicely. One last thing I want to say about this piece is that when I wrote it out, I felt as if I was unearthing some forgotten treasure. Later I learned that there are at least two other bands in town who play it all the time! New Orleans is a pretty cool place like that.
The Shakin’s o’the Pocky is another fossil of a tune, but it can still bring a tear to your eye. This is the only cut on the CD featuring just two musicians, and it was the only song not recorded in a studio. I recorded this one my apartment in 2001 along with Camille Collins-Lovell. I remember we recorded in the kitchen to avoid the noise from Decatur Street traffic and we were covered with sweat because I had turned off the noisy air-conditioner. Camille is the first violinist I ever played with, and so I was extremely glad that she could appear on this album.
Facing West was written by the great Jazz Trumpeter Dave Douglas. His album called Charms of the Night Sky had a powerful impact on me. No other album flows so smoothly or stimulates my imagination like this one. I think that anyone who has a predetermined idea of what Jazz sounds like should check out this album out. I have always enjoyed listening to this song and it is also really fun to play. Thanks to Dave for letting me record it.
Jedlicka Tarantella is my attempt at writing a tarantella. The tarantella is a dance in which the participant mimics the crazy way a person behaves after confronting a tarantula. I learned some tarantellas when I played at the Italian Show at Busch Gardens Theme Park in Williamsburg, Virginia. I was also inspired by the style of the great composer and pianist Tom McDermott. He is a master at using repeating musical phrases to achieve a musical cycle. The result is a musical line that grows and grows to a climax, only to surprise you by ending up right where it should.
All sorts of musicians join me for this one. Every time the chorus comes around I add another one into the mix. The sound engineer, Tim Stambaugh, plays tuba and Earl Bonie sat in on clarinet. Mike Fulton played trumpet. There are two great violinists, David Rebeck and Marcy Jedlicka, my friend from Tennessee to whom this song is dedicated.
Tom McDermott wrote Insouciance in the French Musette style. I arranged it for this group to play. I took the unfinished recording over to Tom’s house and he loved it. He must have listened to it four times in a row! He loved it so much that he included the cut on his own release, “Live in Paris” as a hidden track (oops- I just told you!). Later, Tom and I went in the studio together and we recorded this song as a duet. It hasn’t come out yet, but that’s going to be a great album, too.
Al Bernard plays bass sometimes with 3manisha and so I invited him to come and play on this track an others. You can also enjoy his music at the Court of Two Sisters regularly. Marcy plays violin on this cut, too.
David Seats the Bride (Dovid’l bazetzt die kalleh) is an old Klezmer piece written by Dave Terras. I am just now discovering this style of music and how fun it is to play. (This happens to be the song we are playing on the album cover) I heard it on a CD by Sandy Weltman. Sandy plays banjo and harmonica in St. Louis and all the musicians I know from St. Louis speak well of him. I took this arrangement from his CD (with his permission) and then all kinds of stuff happened. Beth Patterson was hanging out at a rehearsal and started playing her bouzouki on the piece and we decided that it sounded freakin’ great in there. It was her idea to bring in her partner, Ron Keller, with his electronic percussion machine, and a good idea it was! I decided later to invite the great musician Tony Dagradi to play soprano sax. He is well known around town for his work with the group Astral Project. The last time I heard him, he was leading a saxophone quintet at the Columns Hotel on St. Charles. It was awesome!
Everyone asks me what Shockhoe Slip is. People in Virginia know that Shockhoe Slip is a section of old Richmond. This title has nothing to do with this piece in the Brazilian Choro style. I invited a large number of local musicians to share their talents on this number. Seva Venet plays guitar and takes a solo. John Rodli (of the New Orleans Jazz Vipers) is also playing guitar, and Bruce O’Neil is playing mandolin.
Everyone knows You Are My Sunshine and it is a nice way to lighten up the end of the record. This tune was supposed to be on my first CD, the Gypsy Drag. Chris Sharkey is playing bass and Ronnie Magri is on drums. Seva Venet once again shares a nice slide guitar solo, and we added violin and accordion parts. The biggest thrill was inviting the Pfister Sisters in to sing. Holley Bendtsen, Debbie Davis, and Yvette M. Voelker sing regularly around town, and sometimes I have the opportunity to play with them. They perform at the Marigny Brasserie for Sunday Brunches, but we have played all over town and all over the country as well. They are delightful people and I am proud to have them on the album.
I decided to end the album with the beautiful waltz Song d’Automne. I was hired to play this song at a Titanic-themed dinner party when I was in high school and it has remained in my head ever since. Tony Green is the only other musician I have met who knows the piece. He joins us on this track with his distinctive and beautiful sound.
This album was a joy to make and I hope that it comes out in the product. The truth is that I am a bit sad that it is done! This will just motivate me to start planning my next project! Remember that if you enjoy this album, you will not reproduce it yourself! This is not a big operation, and every album I sell helps cover the sizeable costs for hiring all of these musicians. With your cooperation we can help support live music everywhere.
1. Mysterious