Two weeks ago marks FIVE YEARS since I had completed recording my last album and this coming October will mark FIVE YEARS since my last album was commercially released! Last year I had geared up to do my sophomore album as a band leader, only to have to put the project on hold. What has been the hold up?
Life!
My original intent with this upcoming album was to call it "A Day in the Life of...", but with all of these delays, I feel like calling it "A Decade in the Life of..."! So anyway, at long last things are back on track, Tierra Records is happy, I'm happy, and the guys in my quartet are all ready to get going.
The music for this project will once again be a little more ecclectic than most jazz recordings. This time, it isn't because I'm trying to show off my versatility as a musician. Actually, the ecclectic collection of selections comes from the fact that (A) this album will be comprised by all original compositions of mine and (B) I did not try to force any of the songwriting to make it all sound like the same style of jazz or what have you. I simply wrote each song the way I heard it inside my head.
I don't know what that says about what's going on inside my head!
The actual recording date has not quite been set yet, but I can say that the recording will take place in October, 2011. In fact, I can narrow things down a little more for you and say that there is a 99% probability that the recording will take place sometime during the week of October 23rd. I just haven't decided on which day yet (we will be tracking the album all in one marathon recording session over the course of a 12 hour day).
Once the tracking is done, it will probably take anywhere between 2 and 4 months to mix the album, about another 2 or 3 weeks for it to be mastered and shipped to manufacturing, and finally about another 2 or 3 weeks for it to be available for ordering and download. So, with all of that said, the actual release will most likely be sometime within the first half of 2012. Who knows, maybe the release date will end up being on the anniversary of the recording date of my previous album...making it SIX YEARS since I recorded "Front and Center". There are a lot of variables in play, but the main thing is to get the tracking done.
By the way, the line up will be Art Hirahara on piano, Thomson Kneeland on bass, Kyle Struve holding down the drums, and of course me on saxophones. There might be a track with some guitar on it, and possibly one with mandolin, but I haven't made a final decision on those tracks yet.
In any case, all I can say is that I'm just real happy that things are back on track and that it looks like I will finally have a chance to follow through with this project!
Stay tuned for more news about "A Day in the Life of..."!
by Shenole Latimer
