Well, dear readers, what a fun and great day we had in the studio yesterday with Kay Cole and John Boswell doing Kay’s debut CD. Both are so easy to work with and when everyone is on the same page, which we all are, then things go smoothly and effortlessly. We’re in a strange space – upstairs – the piano in a kind of ballroom all by itself, and Kay in a little vocal booth off the control booth. I can see Kay from the control booth, although I have to take a little walk to actually go in there and talk, and we can all see John (and he us) via video. But the sound of the piano in that ballroom is really lovely and Kay was very comfortable in her booth. Usually I can tell how the day will go right from the first song. We did a take and I had her and John come in and listen and as she did I gave her notes about which parts worked and which didn’t and why. She “got” it immediately, went back in and suddenly things were much better and right because she was simplifying everything and not putting too much sauce on it – in other words, interpreting, but also letting the song itself do its job and to let it breathe. We did a couple of full takes and then got some random lines and we had the first song in thirty-five minutes. Kay’s ever-lovin’ Michael Lamont was there, taking photos, and just enjoying the whole process.
As you probably know (especially if you’ve read Album Produced By) I love working with singers, especially great singers and especially great singers who can act. We got the second song pretty quickly and it was easy sailing. My notes were always small, and Kay was great about taking them, making them her own, and coming up with magic. And there are some high belt notes where you sit there and just marvel at that voice that got to sing one of the greatest money notes ever written for the musical theater in At the Ballet. We just took our time, got what we needed, and kept moving forward. She trusts my ears and never asks to hear anything – we just do it and go on to the next. We took a thirty-minute lunch break and got stuff from the California Chicken Café or whatever it’s called. We all had chicken breasts except John Adams, our ace engineer – he had a Chinese chicken salad. For my side, I had a little pasta salad that was very good and the chicken breast was perfect. I’d actually ordered the half-chicken, which is too breasts, but they screwed up John Boswell’s order and he only got one breast, so I gave him my second one as I was full and fine. Then we went back and did the final two songs of the day. The final one we did several takes of because I felt the first half of it wasn’t quite working as well as it could – we talked about it briefly (I only have to say like three words to her and she instantly understands) and we got a great take right after that. In fact, we wrapped almost two hours early so she saved some money, too. We were all very happy.
She went right home to rest her voice and relax, and I decided since I’d only had one breast and a little pasta salad, and since I knew I didn’t want any more substantial food, I thought I deserved a little donut for my snack, since my calorie count was very reasonable, so I stopped at K’s Donuts and got me a chocolate peanut butter thing. I came home and ate it all up and it was incredibly incredible. Then I sat on my couch like so much fish.
I didn’t have the energy to watch anything, so instead I did something interesting – I played the Charles Dutoit The Planets on the den speakers. I did have to crank up the volume a few notches but when I found a comfortable listening level I could get a much better sense of the performance and playing and at that volume level (which I can’t do on the computer speakers because I’m too close to them) it was better than I thought. Steinberg remains my favorite, but Dutoit is smooth and polished and the orchestra acquits itself very well. Why they mastered it at so obviously a low level is anyone’s guess.
Then I went back to the computer and listened to more Samuel Barber, some amazing pieces, actually, and whilst doing so I edited and made some fixes to Kay’s liner notes, basically just reordering some stuff for clarity, and making them read a bit smoother. They’re fun and personal, the way we like ‘em. She and Michael had come up with a title they liked, but I wasn’t crazy about it and I suggested one of the songs as our title and she kind of really liked what it said and how evocative it was – but I told her to think on it and if she ends up preferring hers I’m happy to go with it.
Today, I’ll be up at eight-thirty again, I’ll shave and get ready, and then I’ll mosey on over to the studio around ten-fifteen. One can never predict the traffic – yesterday it was quite irritating. You know, they spent six YEARS and millions of dollars to widen the 405, which was supposed to work wonders to alleviate the awful traffic. Well, guess what? It didn’t work. Traffic sucks as it’s always sucked, both coming and going, and on a Saturday. We did seven songs yesterday so we have seven more to do and we’re hoping the day will go as smoothly as yesterday. We won’t take a lunch break, but we’ll go out after we wrap and grab a bite to eat somewhere in the neighborhood. Then I’ll come home and relax.
Tomorrow I have a telephonic meeting at ten in the morning, and then, dear readers, I am saying it loud and clear, we need strong most excellent vibes and xylophones for Major Miracles and a nice Thanksgiving week, so send ‘em ‘cause we need ‘em. Otherwise the week is filled with meetings and meals, and then I guess I’ll be spending Thanksgiving here with some take-out food, I guess, as I don’t know that a lot of jernts are open for business. I suppose I could go to Gelson’s tomorrow and get stuff to cook. And then I’ll relax and get ready for the big Kritzerland rehearsals week, which also has a couple of rehearsals for the little An Evening with Richard Sherman fundraiser we’re doing for Calabasas High a few days after the Kritzerland show. And, of course, it’s a new month, the final month of the year, and that week is also my birthday, and I have one more year before reaching a new first number in my birthday. Yikes.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do our second session, eat, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had a fun first session.