I just found out, that my single “Jump Start” was Smooth Jazz song of the year 2011.
This is the second time I had the biggest hit of the year in this Genre. The first time was of course 2005 with Pacific Coast Highway.

I was asked how I felt about it. Well, first of all I am of course very happy. I knew it was a big hit, but having the song of the year is always special. I put a lot of heart and soul into the “What The Funk” CD and it’s incredibly validating seeing it succeed in this way. I also must acknowledge that I had a great record label (Baja/TSR) behind me, who hired two great radio promoters (Roger Lifeset and Jason Gorov) tomake this happen.

According to Billboard I beat out David Benoit, Dave Koz, Brian Culbertson and Boney James. These are big names in Smooth Jazz who have been around longer.
But I certainly seem to have a feel for this Genre. This is funny to me, because I hardly ever listen to it. Maybe that’s what helps me stand out, because I don’t sound like the others and I certainly don’t want to. I much rather have people trying to copy me, than me trying to copy someone else. I draw from my influences, which are Funk, Rock, R&B, Fusion, Pop, Blues and lately also Electronica. I do write and produce in all these styles. I just like a good groove with a great, hooky melody.

Even “Jump Start” I wrote originally for someone else (fellow guitarist Matt Marshak). We had been introduced by my former agent and were talking about me
writing and producing a song for his CD. I forgot what happened, his budget did not allow hiring me or he didn’t feel it was right for him. Either way, he passed and I
ended up using it for my CD… the rest is history.

Reality Check:
Today is Sunday, the 11th, Christmas is in exactly 2 weeks. We recorded drums for David’s project at Ricky Lawson’s studio yesterday. I wanted to schedule the bass session for Monday , but David insisted to be present, and we had to move it to Wednesday. Two of the songs need still guitar (no problem) string and/or horn arrangements and all three need lead and Bg vocals. The thing that I can’t influence is the time it takes to get a good lead vocal. Once I have it, I know Clydene can do all the BG vocals in one afternoon. and I will also need 3 to 4 days to mix. So it’s still possible but it’s gonna be tight.

Michole came to me with a Jazz tune, but I am taking into the direction of Erikah Badu, Jill Scott and D’Angelo. However she is still not happy with the drum break, she wants a two bar drum solo. So I will have to go back to Ricky and ask him to do it and send it to me. Once that is finalized, I got Alex Al stand by to do the bass and Leon for the Fender Rhodes parts.

Oh and did I mention, my friend Kathryn (composer and artist) is coming in tomorrow and have me work on the documentary she is scoring. I will be playing guitars and then mix. This has to be finished by the end of the week.

There is plenty of work, but only very little time. My problem is: “When will I have time to go Christmas shopping?”

She was brought in to bring a unique flavor to the soundscape. And she sure did. Indian musicians have a whole different approach to time and especially to pitch. Western music is strongly rooted in a 12 note scale division of an octave with quarter tones being the smallest interval between pitches. Indian scales include a 22 division of an octave resulting in notes that sound somewhat “out of tune” to our ears. And this gives the melodic lines a very unique flavor. The challenge was that Kala who also performed with the London Symphony Orchestra is used to play over drones and open tonal centers. So we created beds of sound for her to play over and we did not have her play to picture. We then used her licks cut it up and wrote music around it. This was a somewhat tedious approach and was forced upon us due to scheduling constrains. We only had her for a few hours and the cues we wanted her on had not been written at that time. I had to use some time manipulation and to shift her runs and melodies a half step around to work with the key of the cues. (my special thanks to the guys from Celemony/Melodyne for the ingenious software) But the end result was certainly very unique and gives the score its own identity, which is what we were really after.

As a self-employed musician I have to take on work as it comes along. And sometimes it comes all at once. This week I have to start mixing 4 songs for the David Hunt CD, which I am producing. I am starting work on 2 movies and another record for New Age electric violinist DOV. And I just got a call from a singer/actress who wants to meet with me about producing a CD for her. In two weeks I am doing a show at the Hunt winery.

In a normal world I would say no, there is no way I’m just overloaded with work at the moment. But I learned over time that overbooking yourself is not a problem. For one I don’t mind working extra long days, because there were several months this summer, where I did not have enough work and I need to make up for it. Over the years I learned to cope with switching from long leisure days to 14 hour work days for extended periods of time.

Secondly, almost every project gets delayed and pushed back. So I was scheduled to start on the movie “The Tall Man” featuring Jessica Biel on Monday, but the session got pushed back to Wednesday. I used Monday to get an overview and a budget discussion with DOV. Tuesday I mixed one song for David’s CD. Now is Wednesday and I am waiting on the keyboardist and the Composer to arrive to start working on the score…..

4 days later
It’s now Sunday and I am about to start mixing the next David Hunt song. On Monday we are continuing scoring for “The Tall Man”. The second Movie has been delayed until end of next week. The singer/actress wasn’t sure if she could afford a full CD and needs time to think or look for alternatives. DOV is cool to wait for a few days before I start working on his song.
You see it’s dense, but it always works out….

So I am seriously thinking of buying a new laptop before this one dies in the middle of my show. I am considering a macbook pro, but I heard a new version is coming out by the end of the year. Or should I get a macbook air which just came out with a new version? The macbook air does not have a firewire connection which I need for my audio interface. So I would need a new audio interface as well. Hmm.. Oh here it goes again…. I am typing this on my laptop and it makes a sound like a stuck blender.

I have a show on Wednesday in Reno. It’s a track date ( just me and the computer) and I better prepare a backup in case the computer decides to die in the middle of the show. My iPod won’t allow me to control the show like I can with Logic using looped regions, but it will do in an emergency. I just hope the computer holds up until Christmas. Keep your fingers crossed…