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25.03.2008 -
First, I want
to say how happy I was to see Amy, Michelle and Anna in Orange County,
California while I was working with Peter Kater. My son Harley came
with me on this trip kind of as "hand luggage". It was a very creative
week with Peter. We recorded 11 tracks which are now in
post-production. The album is just acoustic guitar and piano. The only
other additions are some cello from the incredible player Jaques
Morelenbaum and some vocals from one of my favourite singers, Kenny
Loggins. What both of them contributed to this album is stunning. I am
hoping it will come out soon.
While I was in Orange County I felt like I had been transported into
the Sims. As if someone in Korea might have made a mistake with their
laptop or got a bug in the game, which was Harley and I: a British
musician and a teenager. It's like we came into the program just to
corrupt the general feel of things and challenge the user. The dogs
started barking erratically, two point two kids saw us and fell off
his bike, Mom bumped her SUV into the trash can (nothing new there),
Dad came home late from work and the garage door gets stuck, probably
meaning the remote needs a new battery etc.
The user freed us from the game and put us on a plane back to England.
Once again I was sitting at the back. I couldn't sleep, and I think I
played Tetris for about 9 hours straight. I can still feel the blocks
falling on me. I am getting used to this economy travel now. If ever I
write a memoir, this chapter will be titled "The Easyjet Years" or
"68K". Ok Sting, I give up. Haven't you had enough of the "ex" yet?
But to be fair, I am having quite good fun. I still love working with
Sarah Jane Morris. We have had some great shows, particularly in Milan
(Blue Note), London, Brighton and others. I had a fantastic time
working with Avitall in Berlin. It was great being given the
opportunity to arrange some very well known Jewish songs into my
style, with my band, and then perform them in one of the most
impressive synagogues in the world. I am sure I will work with her
more in the future. I certainly hope so. There are plans to try and do
a kind of synagogue tour, which would include New York, Buenos Aires,
Morocco, and other key cities. I will keep you posted. I have also
been to Madrid to work with the Fado singer Mariza. She really is an
incredible artist. The producer was Javier Limon who is a multi Grammy
award winner. He produced one of my favourite albums "Cositas Buenas"
by Paco de Lucia. Heavy duty modern flamenco. I was very happy to work
with Javier and really hope I do more with him. He is also a seriously
good flamenco guitar player. Check him out! I am planning to go back
to Madrid to study with one of these dudes for a week or so. I never
really had that style together and kind of fancy adding a new genre,
or weapon to the arsenal. A dangerous one at that.
William Topley has come over to France a few times for some
writing/recording. We have written three great songs (I think). We may
have the makings of an album which I will let you know about as it
develops. For now, I will post the roughs we recorded which are far
from complete, but will give you an idea of where we are coming from.
The first one is called "Water Taxi" which is inspired by the year he
spent living in the Bahamas.
I am in Paris now rehearsing for Yaron Herman's show at the New
Morning club tomorrow night. Words can't describe what an awesome
musician he is. So I won't try. I am really excited about doing this
show. Then I am off to Italy to join Sarah Jane for a show in Venice.
Then I am on a break and Harley and Misty come over to France. I will
be doing some recording with them which is always great fun.
You may have noticed we have posted some more dates on the site. There
will be many more to come. I really hope I see some of you there.
Love,
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