Four years ago, I recorded ‘Voice = Power’
Years of work went into this album. Writing, planning, rehearsing, performing, editing, and FINALLY I had the backing of a real-life, NYC based, jazz record label!
‘Voice = Power’ was my most ambitious project yet…
It was a celebration of the city and nature. The first work in which I wrote songs with lyrics, sung and spoken by vocalist V. Shayne Frederick.
This was to be my moment, but mother nature had other plans.
Covid-19 crushed the album’s release and cancelled its subsequent tour.
However, I do not despair about how this all played out, because now I get to share this work properly, with you!
Below is a little bit about the journey…
Chances are you’ve seen this
mini-documentary before, but I’d like to share with you a little more detail about how it came about.
A few years before work began on ‘Voice = Power’, some friends of mine started a series called ‘Opaque Philly’, where they made mini-documentaries about local Philadelphia artists. They reached out to my wife Jenny and made one about her work … which you can watch below!
Soon afterward, they asked me to do one, but I was too busy with graduate school and ‘Voice = Power’ was still in the very early stages. I asked them to wait a year.
By then, we had started rock-climbing and when I talked to the Opaque crew, we decided that would be an interesting aspect of the music creation story to share, and we set out to do so.
Filming the climbing was a blast! We did it in two sessions and at two locations. The first session was at a place called Kelly Boulder, right along the Schuylkill River. It is a popular place for runners and cyclists, but there is also a large overhanging rock face there that makes for a nice climb.
The second location was Livesey Rock in the Wissahickon Park. This is a large rock outcropping (about 2 stories tall) that has top-rope bolts on the top of each route. Our friend Matt (a much more experienced climber) came with us that day to enjoy the beautiful, crisp autumn day.
As for the live music footage … that was actual footage of the album being recorded.
We recorded live with a studio audience, so we only had one take to get it right! Also, Opaque’s camera man, barely made the show, having flown in from a project in LA just hours before.
The songs featured in the video are ‘Providence’ and ‘Speaking Back Through Time’
‘Providence’ is an older tune of mine that appears on my album ‘Expedition’ as well. I wrote it by setting a letter from an old sea-captain to music. I removed the words and was left with the music. The song structure is simple: start small and quiet, build to a climax, play the melody, song is over. It is unique in that the melody only happens at the end of the song and features a collective improvisation. Perhaps a ‘modern’ take on the older style of improvisation so popular in jazz’s early days.
‘Speaking Back Through Time’ is a spoken word piece with a subtle meditative musical texture underneath. It is a letter to my younger self. A reminder to slow down, be patient, a reminder that I need from time to time. It was originally called ‘Interlude 4’, as you can see in the chart below.
I hope that you enjoyed this stroll down memory lane with me!
In the coming weeks, I have a few more surprises in store for you … perhaps something never heard before …
Stay tuned and as always: feel free to drop me a line!