Grant Green was there

Wednesday night, after seeing the fantastic Ani diFranco play a great show at the Towne Crier in Beacon, I sat in with Art Labriola, Andy Stack & Otto Hauser at Quinn's. What a contrast! After the intense inspiring sounds of Ani, walking into the realm of 60's jazz organ at Quinn's and its lively mellow sound was really really cool. I piped "It Ain't Necessarily So", a tune that Art & I recorded a few years back just because. Revisiting that with Hammond was so engaging & relaxing. I want to pull all my Grant Green records out of storage and spend the weekend lost in that vinyl. Maybe a little Jack McDuff and Jimmy Smith, too.

Grant Green "It Ain't Necessarily So"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP1iyEUyHeI

Right Back in the Studio*

This time (originally the first time - see footnote), I'm recording a collection of sweet mellow ballads & Bossas, some of them standards and some originals. Almost all of the instrumental tracks are done, and a few of the vocals. It sounds really great already. So much sweetness and nuance, different from the first CD, though this is the core trio of about half the songs on Under A Spell.

T. Xiques on drums & Jim Curtin on bass 

Nine of eleven tunes on the new record feature Steve Raleigh on guitar, Jim Curtin on bass, and T. Xiques on drums. If there was ever a music where you would most want to hear Steve's guitar playing, I like to think this is it. It's so musical, so subtle and lacking in artifice or irrelevant muscle. It's just exquisite. Jim Curtin brings his buoyant vibe to even the sleepiest numbers lending them a humor and warmth that makes them irresistible, and T. Xiques' sticks and brushes are sometimes whispering, sometimes tempering time, soulful always.

The last two songs are going to be recorded with piano - a late-40's standard and an original tone poem. Art Labriola is stepping in for this pair and despite their marked differences he works equal magic with them. Art composes and plays with lots of people but lately has been doing a regular set on  Hammond organ Wednesday nights at Quinn's in Beacon, NY, with Andy Stack. I'm planning to get to the next one, June 10th. Maybe I'll see you there....

Getting ready to make tracks with Art Labriola.* 

The Footnote

* A couple of years ago I went to make a jazz record and wound up writing the one I made, Under A Spell, which isn't jazz but something like it, and at the same time I was still recording some of the one I thought I would record, and was already halfway through that when the unintentional first one (Under A Spell) was finished. So I'm finishing up the one that was supposed to be first.

YouTube

Some fun VIDEO from the release party - one of my favorites. It reminds me that for a while the working title for the record was Attitude.

  ~ "I'd Rather Not" ~

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx9aOsm6g5s

So much to say about the band. There's more in past posts, but a good source is the CD Baby page, where everyone gets a bio, and they're all darn good reading. Go on and check what this CD release party fuss was all about:     http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/margaretmcduffie

So much fun singing harmonies! Wish I could do it all the time, but Sara Milonovich is an accomplished and very busy fiddle player and singer with her own band Daisycutter (2nd CD soon on the way), and Esther Knudson has a life! I remember first hearing Esther at The Howland Cultural Center in Beacon with Michael Lowe in a ensemble called I think the New York Review. She's an incredible singer and improviser. Hoping someday I can rope her into some weird cool a'capella thing. Till then, keep an eye for her rare appearances and lovely huskey tones.

New Website -- as of about May 31st 2015

I finally upgraded a few digital realities and worked out a better site. Ta da...

https://www.margaretmcduffie.com

 It really does feel great to have some continuity starting to happen. I'm a visual person as well as other wacky stuff (like musical) and haste has forced me to be lax about graphics till now.

There may still be a couple of tics - send a message if you notice any. - thanks!

ReverbNation

Visit me there, play some tunes  >>  http://www.reverbnation.com/margaretmcduffie1  <<

& tell your friends!

Thank you!

to Everyone who made it possible, everyone who played, everyone who came, everyone who said hi or wished they could (mini mob scene), everyone who bought a cd on top of the expense of going out, and on a weekday to boot -- thank you!

Under A Spell is officially released and toasted!! What a great time at the Towne Crier Cafe in Beacon , NY with Steve Raleigh, Sara Milonovich, Mark Murphy, Esther Knudson, Jeremy Baum & T. Xiques.

>>  Thanks to Holly Bogdanffy for these great pictures!

There's some video coming up on YouTube - stay tuned.

CD Release Party -- Feb. 26th @ the Towne Crier Cafe in Beacon, NY  --  yes, indeed!!

Drums

Yeah, That Cover

The cover is by Randall Martin of Randall Martin Design. His website is the coolest things since anything ~ http://randallmartindesign.com ~ and he is brilliant to work with. Thank you Randall.

November, 2014 - we went to mastering, ahh...

After almost two years, and by the many skills of engineer Todd Giudice, reviewing material from different sessions and studios and recording more, listening, editing & mixing, there is a CD to master. We hit the road for Masterdisk.

Todd Giudice, Margaret McDuffie & Scott Hull

At Masterdisk >>


<< Big thanks to Scott Hull & Todd Giudice


First time around, lots of music education for me. A thrill seeing awards lining the walls here including Steely Dan, Garbage and John Mayer. Masterdisk also has a fully equipped vinyl mastering studio. Amazing machines ... and no wood dust.  mastering lathes @ wiki

About the Clarinets

...Then one day, when the engineer thought we were rounding things up, I decided to add horn sections to a couple of songs: "Walking Away" & "Shan't Go Home". One is funky 'advice of the day' jazz-rock, and the other is a Basin Street-meets Country blues. They both needed something and I needed to play for a change.

My clarinet is an old Selmer ('48) that always/still needs some work but has a nice mellow sound. For the longest time I thought I would turn my clarinet school-chops into sax-ablity, but the day I tested that theory, I walked into a shop where this Selmer was sitting up on a shelf. It cost a lot more than the sax. I could only just afford it. But I had to. There was no question in my mind. Actually, I don't think my mind participated.




Though I spend a lot of time on guitar & especially piano writing and trying new songs at open mics, picking up the clarinet is more challenging and fun and expressive. I can improvise, get into a little call-and-answer in a way I likely never will on guitar or piano. It's also a heck of a workout. If I get off-balance, playing through a few standards is a great way to mellow out.

I'm a great fan of David Rothenberg, a friend and brilliant player. A fan both of his playing and his adventurous contexts and partners, starting with Why Birds Sing. I've arrived at a remote enough place where I can step outside the back door and play a few notes and wait to hear how the birds react. I can hear them listening, and that they listen intently, even to just a few notes. I play a few more, a little at a time feeling out the conversation, finding my own way of being bird. Sonic tai chi. It is very cool about wind instruments that they have these neo-animal voices. It's a reminder there is a part of human/animal intelligence we don't experience in civilization.

Thaclarinets range is above mine by a few notes (not counting the extra high register) I can sing about four half tones lower than the low E and just up to about high G, though the more I play clarinet, the broader the vocal range gets. It's the best bellows stretcher I ever knew, no question. After a rousing turn with Cole Porter I can get around a lot more notes by vox I might usually shy of. One of these nights I'll open with the clarinet - really looking forward to that. So, what to play, what to play... hmm.

Meantime, there's the story of the clarinets on Under A Spell.  ~ Here's to 1948!

Spent 2013 & 2014 in the studio with some incredible players whipping up the debut CD...

Got some killer tracks at Dean Sharp's Elbow Room Studio in Kingston, and continued with some more at Roots Cellar Recording Studios in Cold Spring with Todd Giudice.

That was a great time! Played some funky stuff, including a vibey version of "Cry Me A River". This time: Steve Raleigh on guitar, Jim Curtin on bass, & the inimitable Dean Sharp on drums. Recording the debut CD of original bluesy tunes with these guys -- so excited!
Click here for VIDEO:   Cry Me A River

Back at The Falcon with the mighty Jim Campilongo, Feb. 28th 2013

November 29th, 2012 @ The Falcon in Marlboro, NY
Had a wonderful time with Art Labriola on piano performing some originals & covers in a mellow mood...

Thanks to a lovely audience and the ever-cool Tony Falco.