Song Notes

Original Songs

Here are notes on the songs we’re playing, in chronological order of when each song emerged.

Windows (1994)

A fast, syncopated song in minor tonality that is floating, surfing and gymnastic. Originally recorded in Boston with the Qwaynetet for an unreleased album as Latin Jazz. Now Salsified with added montunos.

Stomping Ground (1996)

An anthem written during my first visit to San Francicso. Cascades between Latin Jazz and Swing, now Salsified with added montunos.

Sixteen K Is A Lot Of Kim (1999)

A Second Line romp, as commentary on the ascii file length of an intimate, transatlantic email. Written while on tour in Prague with the funk band Raw Deluxe.

Presque Tire Sale in God’s Country (1999)

A Salsified ballad dedicated to the union of two dear friends.
Originally recorded with the Alt Tal trio on the unreleased album, tři.

A Classic Base (2000)

The vocal premiere of a song about the beginnings of intimacy. Initially released as an instrumental on Jazz Combustion Uprising’s album, Self-Immolation, our rendition is in a new key and features a cacophonous layering approach to the arrangement.

What better way
to finish an evening
than leaning
against a chilly blue Saturn?

Ignoring bus after roosting bus
allowing yourself
to feel and be felt
wanted.

After the brown-bagged tequila
has worn off
your pockets
are still damp from the lime.

So is her skirt
from the onset
of what will become
the cool morning dew.

Reaffirming
our most complex tensions,
no questions
are answered by our embrace.

Still, we are more complete.
We only want to know
how to proceed
with ourselves.

Scarlet-Rust Blouse (2002)

Written after a jam session in the Fillmore, intrigued by a personality and feeling exuberant.

Octagon Arbiter (2010)

A punk salute to the unheralded masters and matrixes of the mixed martial arts arena, the referees.

Herb Dean
Yves Lavigne
Kevin Mulhall
Josh Rosenthal
Steve Mazagatti
Mario Yamasake
Kim Winslow
Big John McCarthy

Octagon Arbiter
Est-ce que vous comprenez?
Mais, bien sur!

Hands off the cage!
Break the clinch, not enough intense rage.
A knee to the groin:
Five minutes for your loins.
If you don’t keep that mouthpiece in,
I’ll have to take a point.

Don’t Wait For Me (2012)

A breakup cocktail of poignancy and sadness mixed with compersion. Originally a Jazz ballad, this one has been mostly Salsified, with a few excursions in Jazz Waltz.

Bluesy Jump (2015)

Just another Monkish cartoon dramedy blues. Originally written for violin and clarinet as part of a film music library effort featuring violinist Michele Walther.

Cover Songs

Beautiful Moons Ago (1943) and It Only Happens Once (1945)

Of all the Jazz I’ve listened to, my favorite balance of taste, hipness, virtuosity, swing and beauty remains the Nat King Cole trio. These two songs are among my favorites and our renditions, scored in 2008, are a faithful tribute to the original interpretations.

Ngiculela – Es Una Historia – I Am Singing (1976)

This arrangement began in 2008, when I asked friend and collaborator Aeion what songs he wanted to sing, and this was on his super short list.  The arrangement remained as a sketch until I chose it to develop for this concert celebration. Yet another timeless track from Stevie Wonder’s album Songs In The Key Of Life.

Institutionalized (2015)

This arrangement is an immediate, in-process collaboration with guest artist Hungastryke. This ensemble provides the groove and progression of the 2015 Kendrick Lamar track from the grammy-winning album To Pimp A Butterfly and interprets the main vocal hooks instrumentally, providing a context for the original verse and freestyle of Hungastryke.