As a musician of smooth jazz music I've heard a lot of chat about the current state of smooth jazz. Many insiders claim a host of factors have caused the demise of smooth jazz in recent years. Lack of young listeners, tough economic times, limited commercial viability, repetition, etc. Indeed, many of these factors have affected the current state of smooth jazz compared to the 80s/90s.
However, I chose to view the situation from a more positive perspective. As big media groups swallow up terrestrial stations across the globe internet radio has risen to the forefront of the smooth jazz genre. These dedicated stations are passionately managed by smooth jazz enthusiasts providing devoted listeners with old and new sounds. They are the TRUE messengers of smooth jazz music. They are the ones who will keep smooth jazz alive today and tomorrow.
In my view, unless a popular pop artist produces a smooth jazz album to raise awareness to a younger audience we can expect the state of smooth jazz to remain the same for quite a while .... dedicated stations with devoted listeners.
Sounds perfect to me.
Besides, can you imagine what a Justin Bieber smooth jazz album would sound like?!?!?!
Forgot to mention late last year I did a Christmas album with my mother's dogs. I'm donating most of the sales to our local no-kill animal shelter. You can see the funny videos here ...
YESSSS! Finally finished the new album called "Lucid Dream." Check it out on iTunes, Amazon, Napster, Rhapsody or your favorite digital download store and let me know what you think!
We'll I'm just about finished my second smooth jazz release. The whole album is mixed and mastered with the exception of one song. I'm putting some finishing touches on this "must have" song. Hopefully the album will be ready by Christmas.
I haven't blogged here since last September so I thought I'd say something fresh (even though I don't think anyone reads this!).
Currently working on my second smooth jazz CD. Overall sound is modern to a very retro 70s kind of sound. Most of the tracks are very different from "Orient Bay." Some feature piano similar to "Orient Bay" but I mixed it up. I'll also have more vocal-oriented songs. I hope to have it ready by summer of 2009. We'll see.
I also just added a music video to my "Orient Bay" blog from May of 2008. Very sexy!
I would consider Orient Bay my first solo album. The motivation was to do an album of original music that showcased my talents as a composer, musician, producer and engineer. While I've done many recordings where I performed all four they never fully represented who I am musically. The music of "Orient Bay" represents everything I do in the studio. From composing the music to playing the notes to producing the direction to engineering the mix.
The project got its start around 2003 when I was preparing to go to the MIDEM conference in France (pictured below left). I started putting together various music projects to shop around for licensing deals. The songs "Cool Breeze" "Climbing Highs" and "Afternoon Sail" were among them. However, after working the floors at MIDEM I realized that at that time no one was interested in licensing. Everyone seemed more concerned about music piracy. If you recall around this time there were still a great deal of panic of Napster and its implications to the music world. I remember there were all these software companies trying to sell their programs that stop uploading or downloading! I always thought it was silly cause you can quite easily work around any software program. But that's another story!
Upon my return I felt it would be a shame to leave these songs forever stowed away in my hard-drive. So I decided that I was going put these songs out myself. I'll just compose some more songs, press up a CD and away we go! Easier said than done!
If you listen to "Cool Breeze" "Climbing Highs" and "Afternoon Sail" they sound a bit different from each other. Not that they should sound the same but the production was different cause they weren't produced for a specific album or concept. To provide a sense of continuity I needed to have the music revolve around a theme.
Around that time I vacationed down in St. Martin/Nether Antilles (Pictured below right). It was a gorgeous island full of wonderful views. Among them was a group of sailboats sitting in a bay. The view was so peaceful and calm I decided to use it as a cover for the CD. I decided to call it "Orient Bay" since that was the beach I was staying at. Also, because it was the best looking beach on the island in my opinion. However, that picture of the sailboats was not taken on Orient Bay. The sailboats were taken on Nettle Bay which is on the opposite side of Orient Bay. But to me, Nettle Bay doesn't sound as exotic as Orient Bay. So I stuck with that.
While I enjoy listening to smooth jazz I wouldn't necessarily call myself an avid listener. However, my writing style is very similar to smooth jazz. In fact, my earlier songs have a smooth jazz sound even though I wasn't trying to make it sound that way. If you listen to "Comfort My Heart" on my Chronicles 1992 -2008 release you can hear a bit of my early smooth jazz piano work.
There are lots of smooth jazz musicians out there. If you listen to smooth jazz it tends to have a very specific approach and sound. Saxophone or piano leads are most common. Since I'm a keyboardist I decided to use piano as my lead instrument. But I also wanted to use another lead to add color to the music. Being a big fan of progressive rock music I decided to add some analog synthesizer leads to the mix. And since analog synthesizers leads are rare in smooth jazz I was even more interested in using it. So I set off in the studio to do an album (Studio pictured below left).
When composing, I just ran through various chords often influenced from a beat or rhythm pattern. The beats were created using samples and other percussion I would add on top. Playing it back I would get a groove going on and build on top of that with other instruments like electric piano, strings, pads, bass, synthesizer leads, etc. Whatever seemed to work. However, I didn't want it over-produced with lots of sounds. Keep it simple and melodic. Once the foundation was in place I would add the piano leads last. I would play around with the song doing various piano leads and take the best ones.
The hardest part was mixing it all down. Since I was doing an album's worth of songs I needed to have them presented in a consistent manner. Meaning making sure all the instruments, EQ, volume levels, etc were in check. After that I needed to come up with the order. I decided "Cool Breeze" should be first since that was the song that started it all.
My Genesis remake of "Please Don't Ask" was really just for fun. I'm a big fan of Genesis. I thought it might be fun to remake one of their songs and fashion it in a smooth jazz way. I chose "Please Don't Ask" cause I thought it would translate well into a smooth jazz style. I knew die-hard Genesis would throw-up if they heard it! In fact, some of them did based on what I've read in various newsgroups. But it did get some praise for it's uniqueness and bold attempt. So touche!
The song "Prelude to a Kiss" was composed in two parts. The solo piano section in the front and end were taken from an instrumental I had. It was basically just piano and strings. I completely forgot about it then one day I found it on an old tape. I thought it would make a nice intro to a song. So I composed a jazzy song based on those chords. Musically, I kind of modeled the song from a Sting song called "The Pirate's Bride." A beautiful song that didn't make it on his Mercury Falling CD. Why is the big question cause it's so nicely done!
Originally, "Prelude to a Kiss" was going to have vocals. I started writing the lyrics but couldn't find the write words. I was going to have a guest female singer perform on it but I never finished the lyrics. Rather than wait for the muses I edited out the lyrical sections and just kept the piano solo in the middle. So the song in effect is missing 3 verses!
The music of Orient Bay was composed over a 3 year period. Why did it take so long you ask? To be honest I'm not sure why. I think as a musician you tend to go through creative moments and uninspired times. There were many occasions during those times where I sat down at the keys and tried to inspire moments. After a while you begin to loose interest in what your doing. Perhaps the song is not happening or you run out of ideas. When this happens I usually just scrap the song. I rarely ever go back to a song. I've learned over the that if I'm on to something good I got to keep at it or I'll never finish it. I've got a ton of those!
Overall I'm pretty happy with the album. There are some great moments like "Cool Breeze" "Cosmopolitan" and "Fountain Blue." Then there are songs that maybe I would have left off like "Afterimage." After I released Orient Bay I composed a song called "Smooth Nights." This song would have fit nicely on Orient Bay. So I've offered it as a free bonus song to anyone who purchases Orient Bay. The song can be previewed at my website.
Check out the videos I filmed for "Cool Breeze" "Prelude to a Kiss" and "Fountain Blue" Very sexy shots! More videos here: http://smoothjazzspace.ning.com/profile/Tomazz
