dansjazzmusicdiskography

[dansjazzmusicdiskography]

In the 50’s and 60’s recording was accomplished by formal businesses that had the equipment and expertise to master and cut vinyl records. Most people know the story of SUN Records, and they know about the large recording juggernauts such as RCA or Columbia.

In 2009, I started dabbling with recording gear.  In 2010 Fort Calhoun was created. Since the spring of 2011, I have produced numerous solo albums to document my every changing approach to music.

Fort Calhoun happened because of an interesting synergism between Charlie Alley and myself. By the summer of 2010, we were playing around Omaha as Shades of Moiré. Gradually, we started writing the tunes found in Fort Calhoun built upon my chord patterns with leads created by Charlie. The CD became a modest hit amongst jazz lovers in the city. The music on this album presents a wide range of style including, traditional ’50s jazz, fusion, pop, and country. The component that tied the songs together was the improvisational nature of the leads from Charlie and my trademark rhythm guitar. The songs on Fort Calhoun include:

North Dakota Railroad

Oatmeal Cream Pie

Smiley Face

Wood Tones

Fort Calhoun

Summer Breeze

Prairie Sky

Paint Brush

Early Morning Rain

High River Blues

Gray Storms

 During the early summer of 2011, while playing at an outdoor arena, a Salsa manufacturer operating the Lost Texan Salsa Company approach me during my break. Les Georgetown wanted to place one of my songs on his web site (http://losttexansalsa.com). I named the song Lost in Texas.  Drawing from my roots in the blues, 50’s jazz, and Motown music from the 60’s, I started working on additional songs for this album.  I wanted to create a 50’s jazz album with walking bass parts punctuated by clear leads played on hollow body guitars and acoustics.  Then I acquired a mandolin and explored riffs using this new medium of sound.   In September 2011, I released Lost in Texas with the following songs:

Walking Tall

Looking for Rain

Cabana

Walk in the Park

Longing Hearts

Long Night Waiting

Dark Waves

El Paso Run

Wandering Eyes

Hill Country

Curvey Eyeballs

Overture of the Heart

Pushing the Line

Lost in Texas

Lunar Eclipse (2012) contains several soft, lingering ditties that present a brooding set of overtones and melodic leads. For me, the songs evoke thoughts of distant trouble, yet offer a platform of assurance that all will be well in the end.  The songs work sadness into the core of the music with a clear resolution at the end of the song that demonstrates my belief that the pursuit of good will lead to peace. The blending of the two forces (sadness and peace) into a single song is what keeps me coming back to the well. An additional feature of this album is the use of irregular signatures (5/4, 7/8, and 9/8) for some of the songs Lunar Eclipse is a hit with my regulars and new fans. The songs for this album include:

Lunar Eclipse

Twilight Eyes

Red Skies

56 Miles

Cross Country

Sleepy Hollow

Brazilian Sunrise

Morning Coffee

San Francisco Tears

Shade Tree

Afternoon Rose Petals

Monkey Business

The album (Signature, 2012) came about from numerous requests during my performances for a second CD that reflected my live performance.  In this recording, I pushed the boundaries of my improvisation.   As I worked the songs over and over, I gradually learned the boundaries of each song chord structure. When I first played this CD for my fans, they just smiled and asked to buy the album even before I had completed the printing and packaging. The album Signature includes:

Hot Water

Flatfeet

Rain Forest Wind

Certain Trouble

Saturday

White Shoes

Board Walk

Moon Rise

Too Much Work

High School

Omaha Nights

Joybell

Wild Orange Tea

Certain Trouble Reprise

One More Paragraph (2013) continued the model of providing songs that were very similar to my live performance. Each song in this project is a labor of love, every person who listens, tells me they enjoy the sonic musings. One More Paragraph includes:

Smiling Hands

Golden Rush

Roof Top Rain

Slippery Sidewalks

Black Tux

Heart of Stone

Blue River Street

Happy Toes

Unfettered Barking

Little Green Shoes

Heritage of Grace

Less Traveled Road

Tracks of Silver

True Memories

Looking Around

Difficult to Find

Beating Heart

Plastic Face

Three Miles

When I created Porch Club (2014),  I used the bass as a melodic driver for the song.  In this album the deep tones of the bass were not hidden behind the kick drum. The initial reviews for this CD have been most humbling, many listeners are saying this is my best work yet. The song list for Porch Club is:

 Coffee Time

Forward Look Back

Swing High

Eyes Too Close

Slippery Ice

Building Blocks

Echo Street

Sticky Pipes

Blue Goose

Good Day

Shark Circle

Clarkdale Pass

Loner

Walking South

Sunny Daze

Turning Point

Stormy Morning

Unspoken Words

Swamp Gas

The album, Going Home (2015), is a compilation of Blues, Appalachian, and Urban song structures I have learned to respect over the years.  The songs were built to showcase the stark beauty of the acoustic guitar. Resonator, and mandolin.  The foot starts tapping and the eyes begin to sparkle as the song paints a smile on the face of listeners.   This new collection includes:

Going Home

Blue Delphi

Old Paths

On the Move

Yellow Moon

Memories

Strawberry Delight

Little Big Eyes

No Fretting

Almost Noon

Wayward Walk

72 Miles To Go

Running from Truth

Sidewalk Hill

One Four Five

Gray Cloud

Twelve forty four

Brass Cylinder

This album (Gallery, 2016) was built from my favorite percussion patterns. I created songs with simple bass arrangements mapped over complex percussion patterns. The music took on a Rhythm & Blues feel consistent with the Muscle Shoals approach. Many of the songs demonstrated an older style of articulation that reminded me of my early band years. The Gallery includes:

London Fog

Push In

Revelator

Hot Belly Stove

Bandit

Semaphore

Staying Close

Bent Pin

Dry Snow

Sugar Cane

Gallery

Can’t Find You

Strutting Home

Oh My

Rose Buds

Wet Stones

Loco Lunar

Dresser Door

Slow Down

My intent from the beginning for Blue Highway (2017) was to create a Blues album that reflected the type of song I learned during my teen years in Shreveport, Louisiana and Omaha, Nebraska. I remember listening to Howling Wolf, BB King, Muddy Waters, Aretha Franklin, and Otis Reading on a small transistor radio in the middle of the night as a young bass player. I can still remember listening and playing music with local Bluesmen in Shreveport. My goal was to present a strong rich core of urban blues reflecting my influences from the Shreveport and Texarkana region.   Blue Highway includes:

Chilled Eyes

Road Noise

Thin Smile

Blue Highway

Tossed Aside

Too Lonesome

Knucklehead

Cold Hands

Heart Fidelity

True View

Anybody Knows

Deep Tears

Cash Poor

Pulling Weeds

Motor Mouth

Feelings Lost

Warm Water

Looking Ahead

End of the Line

Hiding Stuff