Most High, Most High

In the music store on Tuesday (Other Music, NYC---great shop!), John Savlove recommended that I buy "Heart Food," a reissue CD by an artist from the 1970's, Judee Sill. He really talked it up, and I'm not one to look down my nose at such a resounding endorsement by this man with his deep knowledge of music, and also of me.... That's what friends are for, I'd say. So I bought it, along with some other Brazilian artists, and we returned to Sav's sublet (Billy D's place) for a little listening session. Hearing this record for the first time was like being made love to for the first time by the most amazing lover you've ever been with: It just redefines everything, from that moment on. I've listened to that CD at least 20 times since then, and it gets better and better. Co-produced by Sill and Henry Lewy (a close friend of my Mom's since the 50's, and a dear dear person, and amazing producer and engineer); composed, arranged, orchestrated and played by Judee Sill in Los Angeles, this is a stunning achievement in music. It is inspiring beyond words. It is unique beyond words. It is timeless music of a very high level, and like that lover who redefines the whole act of lovemaking, once you've listened to this music, you can't go back to what you were before. The melodies are Bach-like much of the time, underpinned by beautiful four-part Bach-chorale-type harmony with beautiful bass lines, suspensions, foreshadowings.... Songs such as "The Kiss" haunt me, and songs such as "Soldier of the Heart" rock me....

Last night, needing some major soul soothing (the wine I brought to a cutthroat wine tasting got voted down and I had to buy dinner!!) I stopped off at Amoeba a minute before closing and bought Sill's first album "Judee Sill" and the recently issued collection of unfinished/unreleased pieces called "Dreams Come True"... Listened until I couldn't stay awake any longer. God bless the people who decided that these three records, two of them obscure for nearly 30 years, and one never released, needed to be brought to people. How fortunate we are/I am/you will be to be bathed in the beauty, excellence, poetry, contour, force, intensity, depth, and focus of this singular music.

Say no to mediocre lovers, forever.

Vinhos

Some interesting new wines include the 2004 Pinot Noir-s from Dain Wines: "The Rebel, Rancho Ontiveros Vineyard" and "American Beauty, Amber Ridge Vineyard." Opulent and fun to drink.

Exemplary is the 2003 Achaval-Ferrer "Finca Altamira" Malbec. Awesome wine.

What's up for dinner in NYC this Tuesday? Let's get it crackin'.

Quadras

Quadras are verses sung in the Roda ("circle") of Capoeira. The music/tempo/feeling of which inspires the men playing the "joga" to do different moves.
Ivan Lins has a piece called "Quadras de Roda"... short verses, strung into one, making a piece.
Ivan Lins has had a tremendous influence for me this past 6 months.
In composing, that influence manifested in small musical/melodic "verses," which were thematically related. This was my loose interpretation of the "Quadras de Roda."
They can be played as a piece, or split--as invidual Quadras which tell individual stories.
For the Nonet, as is our custom, they will be springboards for open improvisation, programmed as interludes between other pieces on our upcoming CD, but which can also be played as their own separate playlist on one's CD player or Ipod, making one complete composition.

So I disappear into the Score. All but the most immediate relationships fade into a background tapestry. I know it's there, but somehow can't reach it. Bottom line is to compose and create. I'm sorry. Really. I can't come out of that spell.

We record directly after my vacation in Brasil. Two days of rehearsal, two nights (January 13 and 14) at Steamers, and three days in the studio will yield a great deal of music. We still have not recorded "Tokyo Wednesday" or the Cerritos-commissioned works such as "Hymn" or "Power of Nine". There is the Chico Buarque piece "Desalento" and possibly "O Que Sera Que Sera".... Something by Milton Nascimento FOR SURE, perhaps Ponta de Areia, or Lo Borges' "Ruas de Cidade." And at least two very special guests. Joe Harley will keep us focused, and he and Michael C. Ross will guarantee a beautiful sound.

Finishing the scores for the Quadras by next weekend, on to the other charts to be completed by Christmas... at least five new pieces to be introduced to the band before recording. Bringing some kind of sound recording capability to record friends, sounds, women, children, in Brasil.... all to be included.