Gus Russell is a great piano player who is also an expert in recording, arranging and technology. More importantly, he's a dream to work with, easygoing and really good at what he does. He's got a big talent and a small ego, which is a great combination IMHO. Gus is the go-to guy when I think of starting a project.
I'm not entirely sure what the project is, but I do have the urge to record many of the songs which I wrote in Asia, so that's what we have begun. Gus has a small office with a nice keyboard/computer set up, and he's a whiz at navigating the technology and getting the music recorded and logged. He's a much better piano player than me, so what a treat to be more of a producer and less of a player (at this stage). I'll be laying in the bass parts at least, and likely more. But for now, I'm trying to get double value out of Gus, in that he's the pianist and the engineer. That's a very good use of $40/hr. And his playing is great!
So far we have begun 5 songs. Four are pretty jazzy, and one is a ballad. The jazz tunes are 'Happy Finnish Girls' (uptempo swing), 'Because I Want You' (Fats Waller style old time), 'One Little Glance' (Big Band, Tony Bennett style swing) and 'American Song' (almost barbershop). The ballad is a love song, 'All I Want This Holiday'.
That's the one song that Gus didn't particularly care for, his feedback was that the lyrics were kind of 'schmaltz'. Funny word from a goy, but nevertheless... He said that the melody was good, but he might have been trying to blow some smoke. He said it didn't sound like a Glauber tune. I'm not at all bothered by the critique, as I think it's a very commercial song, and as I've never actually marketed any of my material, this one strikes me as something to record and try to sell. To me it's almost like a Disney Channel love ballad, could be the background to an animated scene. I think I need to find a young female vocalist to record the lead. It seems like a girl song, or a girl/boy duet.
All I Want This Holiday
I don't need a flower, I don't need a sign
You don't have to ask me would I be your Valentine
But to have you love me just the way you do
All I want this holiday is you
I don't need a stocking hanging by the tree
You don't have to promise that one day you'll marry me
But to know your loving arms and that your heart is true
All I want this holiday is you
Leaves fall to the ground, seasons go round and round
In an hourglass of time
Winter is cold and rain, summer come sun again
To make the sweetest berry on the vine
I don't need a birthday card, I sure don't need a cake
There's no finer present than to see you when I wake
And hold you close to me when the day is through
All I want this holiday is you
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Tomorrow we'll spend another couple of hours cleaning up some keyboard parts before loading them onto a CD which I will import into Rob's studio. That's where I'll do vocals and bass parts, and it will go from there. This is certainly a positive sign, the fact that I made a good effort early in the return to Eugene. It feels especially essential to be creatively productive here and now. Vamos!
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