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I’ve written
down some personal notes on each song from “Grand
Central”. Overall, what I wanted to capture on
this CD was an organic, “musicians jamming together
vibe.” Tracks 2,3,6,8,10 and 11 were cut live in
the studio in New York on July 19th and 20th
2006 (with horn section and percussion added
later). The other tracks were cut at various times and
studios over the past year. Here’s a little bit about my
take on each song.
1.”Hello
Betty”
(J. Golub, R.
Braun)
Stephen Ferrone - drums
Freddy Washington -
Electric bass
Chris Palmaro - Keyboards
Luis Conte
- Percussion
Dave Woodford - Sax
Rick Braun -
Trumpet
Nick Lane – Trombone, Horn
Arrangement
Rick Braun and
I wrote this together. We just wanted to write something
fun. The title refers to a Dentine commercial that
played on TV when I was a kid. There are 2 brothers
sitting on the steps to their apartment, and the 10 year
old asked the 17 year old, “Why do you care so much
about chewing that gum that gives you fresh breath” and
the older boy says
“ You’ll learn about that in a few
years.”
Just as he says this a very attractive girl
about the same age as the older brother walks by,
and the 17 year old boy’s eyes follow her down the
street as he says,” Helloooo Betty” . He then pops a
stick of Dentine in his mouth and starts walking after
her.
Get the picture?
2. “Lulu’s
Back”
(J. Golub, C.
Palmaro)
Shawn Pelton - drums
Lincoln Goines -
Electric Bass
Chris Palmaro - Keyboards, Rhythm
guitar
Luis Conte - Percussion
Dave Woodford -
Sax
Rick Braun - Trumpet
Nick Lane -
Trombone
I was working
on this song one day before I had a title for it. My 4
year old son Matthew came into my studio and asked “
Dad, what’s this song called?” I said, “I
don’t know, what should I call it?” He said
“Lulu”
I used poetic licence and added the word
“Back”
3.”If You Want Me To Stay
“
(Sly Stone)
Shawn
Pelton - drums
Lincoln Goines - Acoustic
Bass
Chris Palmaro - Keyboards
Luis Conte -
Percussion
More than any
other song on here, I think this represents the spirit
of group improvisation I wanted to capture on this
recording.
We had been recording a few days with the
band in New York, and it was one of those rare occations
when everything was going right and we were getting a
lot done (equipment all worked, everyone played well
ect....).
We were making such good progress that we
had recorded all of the music I had prepared before the
studio time was up. The band still seemed up for playing
so I asked if they had ever heard this Sly and the
Family Stone song and were they up for recording a
version of it. The drummer, Shawn Pelton promptly asked
“Can they deliver Irish whisky to the studio” to which I
replied “most definitely” and that kind of set the tone
for the rest of the session. We didn’t really have an
arrangement when we recorded it. We were all set up in a
circle where we could see each other so I was just
giving cues for when we would change sections. I love
listening back to this track because it brings me back
to how much fun it was to
record.
4.”Mojito”
(J. Golub)
Philippe Saisse -
Piano
Stephen Ferrone - drums
Lincoln Goines -
Acoustic Bass
Roger Squitero - Percussion
Dave
Woodford - Sax
Rick Braun - Trumpet
Nick Lane -
Trombone
I was on the
Warren Hill "Smooth Jazz Cruise" in the Caribbean when I
wrote this song. There was a good bartender
onboard...... need I say more.
Yes, I made a rare
appearance here playing acoustic guitar. I thought the
sound of that instrument added to the “Bongo Beach
Party” vibe. I pictured Annette Funicello boogalooing in
a wild bikini on the beach by a bonfire (you’ve
seen that movie, right?) There is one more thing I need
to say. I think Philippe Saisse’s piano performance
really made this song come to life.
5.
“Something”
(George
Harrison)
David Palmer -
Drums
Mitchel Forman - Keyboards
Alex Al -
Bass
Nick Lane - Trombone
Dave Woodford -
Sax
Paul Brown - Percussion
I had such a great time working with Paul
Brown on the “Temptation” CD that I really wanted to
work on a track with him. It was his idea to record a
version of this song. We didn’t really plan much out in
advance. When we got in the studio, Mitch Forman started
playing the opening piano riff and the arrangement just
took off from there. This melody really lent itself well
to bending some notes on my Strat.
6.
“Shockwave”
(J. Golub, C.
Palmaro)
Shawn Pelton - drums
Lincoln Goines -
Acoustic Bass
Chris Palmaro - Keyboards
Luis Conte
- Percussion
I wrote
this song with Chris Palmaro with whom I’ve co-written
so many songs I’ve recorded. Chris lives in New
York and since I’ve recorded most of my records in L.A.
he rarely plays on the songs he writes with me. Chris is
a GREAT keyboard player as well as a great writer so it
was so cool to have him in the studio with us this
time.
7. 'Slinky'
(J. Golub)
Kirk Whalum – Tenor
Sax
Stephen Ferrone - drums
Lincoln Goines -
Acoustic Bass
Mitchel Forman - Keyboards
I wanted to write a
simple head that the band could improvise on. Not
that I would ever be so bold as to compare myself with
Miles Davis but a lot of his later work was based on
this kind of concept and I was kind of emulating
that.
Kirk Whalum’s sax track was actually cut
somewhere off of the coast of Mexico in my cabin
aboard the S.S. Oosterdam on the “Dave Koz Smooth Jazz
Cruise”. I had a portable digital recording machine with
me and I had just written this song. Kirk and I recorded
our tracks never knowing that it would actually make it
to the CD. Kirk’s track sounded SO great that I
decided to cut the rest of the band around it.
Sometimes you just know that you got it right the first
time. If we went into a professional recording
studio to recut this with more sophisticated equipment,
we’d always just be imitating this
performance.
8. “Grand
Central”
(J. Golub,
C. Palmaro)
Shawn Pelton - Drums
Lincoln Goines -
Electric Bass
Chris Palmaro - Keyboards
Luis Conte
- Percussion
Dave Woodford - Sax
Rick Braun -
Trumpet
Nick Lane – Trombone, Horn
Arrangement
This is an
exciting, active track, not unlike Grand Central Station
which is where the title comes from.
9. “Aint No
Woman Like The One I Got”
(Dennis Lambert, Brian
Potter)
Richard Elliot - Tenor Sax
Stephen
Ferrone - drums
Freddy Washington - Electric
bass
Mitchel Forman - Keyboards
Randy Jacobs -
Rhythm Guitar
Rick Braun - Flugle horn, trumpet and
programming
It was Rick
Braun’s idea to cut this song. Once Richard Eliott
agreed to play it as a duet with me I got really excited
because I just knew he’d kill it! I wasn’t
disappointed.
I also love the stuff Rick did with the
arrangement on this.
10. “ The Way I Feel
Tonight”
(J.
Golub)
Shawn Pelton - drums
Lincoln Goines -
Acoustic Bass
Kenny White - Piano
Chris Palmaro -
Hammond B3
Luis Conte - Tambourine
The title definitely sums up
the composition of this. I wrote it very quickly one
night to capture the mood I was in. As soon as I
wrote it I knew I wanted Kenny White to play piano on
it. Kenny is a really talented pianist, singer,
songwriter who’s got some great CD’s out under his own
name. I do a lot of playing around New York with Kenny
and I think his performance here is a good
representation of his unique musical
approach.
11. “Stuffin’
It”
(J. Golub, C.
Palmaro)
Shawn Pelton - drums
Lincoln Goines -
Electric Bass
Chris Palmaro - Keyboards
Luis Conte
- Tambourine
One thing
about New York musicians is that every one of us (only a
slight exaggeration) is a fan of the band “Stuff”. If
you’re not familiar with them they were a band that was
formed in the 70’s by a group of New York studio
musicians that included Eric Gale and Cornell Dupree-
guitars, Steve Gadd and Chris Parker- drums, Richard Tee
on keyboards and Gordon Edwards on bass. They had a
weekly gig at little club uptown called Mikells that was
a blueprint for the “busman’s holiday” gigs that make
New York such a great place to be a musician. We all
used to go check out their gigs-- in total awe. As a
rhythm section,they played together as one
egoless, singular voice that I’ve never heard
rivaled They had their own unique way of
approaching a bouncing gospel groove that we were
emulating here. The cool thing is that since we cut this
with all New York guys, the only instruction I had to
give the band (other than the chord changes) was that I
wanted to play a “Stuff groove”.
I think the extended
rideout of this song really captures the “live, everyone
in the band going for it” approach that I wanted
to achieve. For me, it’s the perfect way to end
the CD.
Well that’s it. I hope that you’ve
enjoyed listening to “Grand Central” as much as we
enjoyed recording
it.
Thanks,
Jeff
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