Second Album Notes
These sessions began on a beautiful snowy morning, December 23rd, 2003, as a maiden voyage for a new studio space on the west side of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
To be honest, it was more akin to a trial by fire. Just the day before, the studio recording console arrived off the back of a Fed Ex truck in 19 separate cardboard boxes. I called my friend Dan and we slowly began assembling the pieces at about 4pm that afternoon, and knocked off at about 8 because I had a rehearsal to attend across town. At 11pm I resumed assembly until 2:30 in the morning. I shuffled off to bed late and awoke at 7:30 am to wire the console and make sure everything was functioning normally for an 11 a.m. session.
Miraculously, everything did indeed function electronically and by 11:30, some of the finest traditional jazz musicians in the country were filtering into the studio and asking for coffee. Among them, our own tenor guitarist/clarinetist Tom Bogardus, pianist James Dapogny, leader of his own Chicago Jazz band, et al, and freshly off a plane from N.Y.C and back in town for the Holidays, trumpeter par excellence Jon-Erik Kelso.
Within an hour Mike Karoub arrived, shivering and with cello in tow. After more coffee we worked through Mr. Dapogny's arrangements of some fairly obscure sides: "The Vipers' Dream" and "At The Jimmie's Bar". We all had interest in these odd tunes mainly because both had a certain exuberance and strange intensity. Neither song was exactly "A-list" repertoire for your typical contemporary Gypsy Swing band, but that didn't stop us. After a few takes, we smiled, calling it an afternoon then most of us ran off to do our last minute holiday shopping. Thus began this project.
But before any mic cable was plugged in or chart inked, Mike, Tom and I had thought about how to approach a second Royal Garden Trio recording. We all agreed that this time out we would make use of collaboration as a means to further hone and solidify RGT's sound. Whether or not we succeeded at that goal only you the listener can say.
In choosing collaborators we took a very organic approach and simply asked musicians with whom we had previously worked or admired musically. Gian Paulo had finally resurfaced after bugging out in the middle of the first record sessions. With Paul and Melissa King it was a no-brainer. While the trio played their wedding reception, the newlyweds opted to sing a couple duets, bringing down the house. Mike and I looked at each other and said right there on the bandstand simultaneously, "We need to get these people on an RGT recording!"
With Ms. Jo Serrapere it was equally musically spontaneous. While the trio waited to play Detroit's Comerica Taste Fest last July, I spied Ms. S out at the edge of the crowd. Wading thru the throng, I went over and said hello, and asked it she would like to rehearse "Undecided" with us in front of a few thousand people. She was all for it, gave our set a nice kick that afternoon and a few weeks later the side was waxed.
When thinking back on these sessions, I really enjoyed them from a few vantage points. These recordings show the band beginning to hit its stride creatively as well as stylistically. Tom Bogardus' original compositions have been a joy to play and we can only hope to track more of his tunes in the future. My only regret is that we ran out of time before we ran out of musical friends or tunes to fold into the mix.
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