I Love Session Work!

Man, the recording session I did last Friday was great! I went to Cupertino to do a recording of 6 tunes for a company (I'll have more information soon on how they'll be released, etc). They fed me, paid me and -- most importantly, at least for achieving peak performance -- flattered me. We got it all done in four or five hours. At first I was nervous and hoping I wasn't going to flub too much. As it happened, we were able to get each tune in about three takes, max. Murray Low had written the arrangements and played piano; I told him this was a lot easier than recording my album (here's hoping that bodes well for my next album). David Belove and Paul Van Wageningen were on the recording as well.

By the last tune, which was a Cole Porter standard, Everytime We Say Goodbye, the producer asked me if I had a specific version in mind that I was going to think of when I sang it. I said no -- did he want me to listen to something? We went into the other room and as dusk deepened outside we listened to Ray Charles and Betty Carter do a duet of the tune with a lush orchestral setting. It was just gorgeous, slow and simple (vocally, at least). It could have been recorded in the 90s, except when the big session choir came in, which made us laugh; that was a glaring anachronism that placed it resoundingly in the 60s. When it was finished, I went back to my booth and he to his control room. I sang the tune down once.

"How was that?" I asked at the end after letting a few beats go by. "I think that might have been it. That was just great!" he said. Then there was more silence, followed by, "Oh no... you're going to kill me -- I didn't record that!" We did another take, but it had a few problems. On the third try, however, everything was golden: The emotion, the notes, the quiet intimacy of it. He didn't want me to change a thing, and after listening to it neither did I. Really, he deserved a lot of credit for setting up that moment by sharing such a nice, inspirational version of the tune with me. I wasn't imitating it, but it did give me some insights into the tone and feeling that the tune could have. I went home feeling absolutely great, and a little bit richer too!