2nd Album in the works!
This past crazy year was filled with so much uncertainty, fear and depression - for all of us. With so many things out of our control, I took a hard look at what I did have control of and it actually turned out to be one of my more creative years, ironically. I’ve had a bunch of songs that had been in my wheelhouse for a long time. I was also doing some writing for a music underscore company called Bedheads Music - which is headed up by my dear friend/mega talent - Wendie Colter. Some of the songs I was writing for her ended up staying in my collection and sparked a lot of new ideas. I released my 1st album Travels in 2018, so I decided it was time now for album #2. My sophomore release, called Dialogues, is a collection of both very old songs and new ones, written this past year and we’re getting closer to finishing it up!
I’m co-producing and writing much of this, again as I did with my first record, with my amazing music partner and dear friend, Jonathan Clark. A great composer, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, producer and engineer, Jonathan and I have shared making music for over 20 years now and it just keeps getting better. This next record is proof of that. Also huge thanks to him for coaching me to sing again. I’ve been a singer all my life but as I’ve aged, I enjoy singing background vocals more than lead. Jonathan and I both played and sang backgrounds for Eagles founder, the late Glenn Frey, in his band. So, on three of the songs of this recording, he inspired me to sing the lead vocal and I’m so glad he gave me that push. A great producer does just that – helps us realize our full potential. Unless where noted, Jonathan plays all the bass and guitars on this record and we shared the keyboard and orchestration duties.
Some songs on this album are love letters to some very important people in my life. Like my 1st album, all the music on Dialogues reflects my various musical influences over my lifetime, from Rock to Pop, to Jazz to Funk and also my love for Film & TV soundtrack music. I titled this album Dialogues because it features intimate, musical conversations with some of my favorite fellow musicians that I’ve worked with over the years. I grateful to all of these guys and honored to have them on my 2nd album.
photo by Kristina Sado
Flight Of The Soul is extremely special to me. This song marks the first time that my cousin Bob Koch and I have written a song together…a long time coming. Bob is the brother I never had. I’m so proud of him as I’ve watched him develop into a serious songwriter and I played on and co-produced both of his solo albums, along with Jonathan. The lyrics for Flight Of The Soul were written in 1966 by Bob’s Uncle David, who passed away tragically over 40 years ago. We recently just found a book of his poems and lyrics and decided to write a song with him…so this is a collective family effort, making it even more special. This one’s a duet between Bob and I, sharing the lead vocal. Bob’s on guitar and I’m on piano.
Elegance In Motion is a love song to my beautiful wife, Carrie. This began over 10 years ago – the song’s main theme came to me on a gig in Pebble Beach, California. In our green room while waiting to perform, there was a grand piano and I sat down and the main theme just came to me very naturally. The song’s title was inspired by a friend of mine who once said, “your wife is so elegant”. She is just that...she’s graceful with everyone she meets and just the nicest person I’ve ever met. I’m a lucky man.
On Bouncing Back, I asked the amazing Tollak Ollestad to play the lead melody. I’ve always loved his playing from years back, when we toured in Holland with the Southern California band Venice, one of the best bands I’ve ever played with. If you don’t know about them, I highly recommend you check them out. So happy to have him on this tune, as he’s one of the best chromatic harp players on the planet and currently, he’s a finalist on the Dutch version of The Voice!
Flattening The Curve I wrote specifically with Mark Harris in mind and wanted his bass solo to close out this song. Mark and I toured for years with Venice and has always been one of my favorite bassists, as well as my coffee buddy! This one’s a duet between Mark and I…he on bass and I played all the keyboards, percussion and drums. He killed it as always, on this tune!
Prayer For Sister Mary (Amazing Grace) is my tribute to Louise Sferra, who we lost in 2020. Louise was my Aunt Mary’s sister and someone very special to my wife & I. Louise was our family’s spiritual center and a huge inspiration to us. When she was young, she was a Nun and called Sister Mary but eventually left the order after seeing things that went against her own beliefs. She went on to counsel hundreds of people of all denominations, spreading love, education and basic guidance on how to be a better human. She was the closest thing to a living saint in my lifetime. She was the one who married Carrie & I - on a hilltop in Ojai, California.
On Snail Chuggin’, master percussionist Pete Korpela plays my simple melody on vibes and marimba, with a great feel. I’ve loved watching Pete excel over the years to become one of LA’s top studio call percussionists and just a fantastic guy. One of my favorite percussionists, I’m honored to have him on this.
The saxophone parts on Snail Chuggin’ were played by one of my oldest lifetime friends, Joe Cafarchio. Joe and I have DEEP history. He & I were in our very first band together, in the early 70s – a 50s rock band which we formed together right when “Happy Days” first aired. (yep – dating myself here!) We played the old 50s stuff, kind of like Sha Na Na. We were hilarious. Joe’s appearance on this song marks the 1st time that we’re on a recording together, after all these years and it’s completely thrilling and fun to have him on my 2nd album. When I wrote this song, I had to have his grease on it, as he’s the funkiest banker I know!
Hills Of Arezzo is a song I wrote almost 10 years ago, after an amazing trip to Tuscany. It features one of my favorite guitarists-Mark Smith on nylon-string acoustic. Mark & I were in a band many years ago called The Clear. To this day, one of my favorite projects and he always blew me away. Mark plays a beautiful solo on this tune, with Jonathan playing an equally pretty contrapuntal piano part.
Ode To Papa Joe, my tribute to my mentor both in music and life, the late Joe Porcaro, features Frank Coglitore on upright bass. Scroll down to another blog post to see my story about this song and the video I created for it, now on YouTube.
Stay tuned here for news on the upcoming release date of “Dialogues”!