Boogsey Music

June 9, 2011 was exciting as well as monumental for me.  With my project coordinator/consultant Robert Barnes by my side, I managed to get into one of the most prestigious studios in LA with 2 days notice (Thank you Gerald Thompson).  What was my rush?  I decided (on a whim) that it was just time to record a second jazz album.  ALL JAZZED UP! was my first jazz recording since my epiphany that I really should be doing jazz!  Why?  Because when I opened my mouth to sing, a combination of jazz and Broadway just naturally poured out.  I suppose it’s no surprise since my biggest idols are Hubert Laws and Barbra Streisand.  Now here’s what was so magical about June 9.  I discovered that evening that Streisand’s people were recording in the next studio while I was there.  Glad I didn’t know it at the time.  But my own special room, studio D, was simply breathtaking and was a favorite of the late Michael Jackson.  The upstairs room was built exclusively for his pet Bubbles . . . remember him?  With the natural light streaming into the main sound room and the 9-foot Yamaha grand piano encased in its own glass booth, this session was pure utopia.

The personnel on MY MAN consists of some serious jazz professionals:  Pianist Vernell Brown, Jr. (Theolonius Monk Award, and worked with Herbie Hancock and others), bassist Del Atkins (Music Director for James Ingram and Jessica Simpson), drummer Cory Mason (worked with Ronnie Laws and others), and guitarist Mark Hammond (worked with D’Angelo, Jimmy Wyble, Bucket Head).  We laid nine tracks at Westlake Studio that day and will be completing the album by the end year.  Here are some of the songs that will be on MY MAN:  “My Man,” “Danny Boy,” “Take 5,” “Nature Boy,” “A Tisket a Tasket,” “So Nice,” “Blue Rondo a la Turk,” “Giant Steps,” “Smile,” “The Man I Love,”  and more.  MY MAN will be the first album where I actually feature a few tracks as just instrumentals and I am really celebrating ‘straight ahead’, a style that I simply go crazy for and I feel is under-appreciated in jazz today.

You may wonder why I picked the songs I did for this album.  I really wanted to do some songs that I’ve always respected and loved.  I’m a huge admirer of Ella Fitzgerald, and her very first cut in 1938 was “A Tisket a Tasket.”  “My Man” by Barbra Streisand was literally the song when performed on her movie FUNNY GIRL that forced me to become a singer! And “Blue Rondo a la Turk” is my absolute favorite Dave Brubeck tune.  But I just adore Billy Holiday (“The Man I Love”) and Astrud Gilberto (“So Nice”); and Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile” gets me every time.  I have yet to hear “Danny Boy” sung in a real jazz setting . . . ahem, just a special note on “Danny Boy.”  I will be wearing a kilt (just bought yesterday in Glasgow, Scotland) when doing that song!  I know it’s not a Scottish song, but it’s close enough, and what a fashion statement!  So stay tuned as I promise to keep you updated on the progress and release of MY MAN.

Check out the pictures from the recording session.  (Photographed by Arun Nevader)