Detroit Session Alert - March 2008

Finally, the wheels are in motion for a March recording session in Detroit. We fly out next week for a short vacation then into Detroit where co producer, writer and guitarist, the legendary Dennis Coffey, will help me achieve the dreams of recording my compositions with that all important 'Detroit' vibe. Some of the musicians on the session have amazing pedigrees and a respected status in the business. These people are the ones who breathe life into the words and music that originate on a piece of paper or demo recording. Just a few of the names read like the cream of Detroit’s finest - Dennis Coffey on guitar, Spyder Turner on vocals, George Katsakis (The Royaltones) on sax, Ray Monette (Cool Jerk, all Invictus recording, hundreds of soul records etc and Rare Earth member) on guitar, Gil Bridges (Rare Earth) on sax, members of The Funk Brothers and John Trudell and the Motown horn section. In addition legendary arranger David van de Pitte is involved and I am thrilled that all agreed to come on board and contribute to the session.

There will be a day cutting the band tracks and horns, another for the vocals and backing, and a day mixing. I will be able to see how the songs are crafted into final mixes by the experts. I must admit I have been a little ambitious with my notion of future proofing the songs. With today’s technology I see a demand for alternative mixes and solo instrumentals. With that in mind there may be a chance to lay down some arrangements to give extra potential revenue streams should I decide to go down the route of making the songs available for purchase. That was never the intention all those years ago when I first realised I wanted to emulate and pay homage to these musicians. But now I realise these artists have to be seen and heard with fresh new songs and recordings because of their outstanding contribution to the music business over the years. I am starting to feel a resurgence of decent music which employs the phenomenal talents of those who have perfected their instruments over the years. And retro soul grooves seem to be appearing in a number of chart releases these days so why not use the real deal on the sessions rather than a sample off a CD, for example?

More news soon…..