Episode #51

This was a session that came together rather quickly, and was quite rewarding for me personally. First, a little background. Syracuse, New York is my hometown. I go back to visit two or three times a year – to see friends and visit my parent’s final resting place. On one such visit, I made it a point to visit a relatively new recording studio in the heart of the city…a place called SubCat Studios. Upon my arrival I was immediately impressed by both the facility and the owner/chief engineer, Ron Keck. I couldn’t help but think what an ideal place this would be to record new “On The Road” Studio Jams episodes. I bounced the idea by Ron who immediately supported it in every way possible. Well, a few months later, I noticed that an annual Syracuse Jazz Festival was taking place there in July, with their outdoor performance venue but a few hundred yards from SubCat Studios. So, that officially started the ball rolling, and we began making plans to record two different “back-to-back” sessions at SubCat…utilizing both musicians that would be coming into town to perform at the festival as well as with some others that are based there in the Syracuse area.

This was the second session we recorded that day. (Episode #53 was the first.) It features Donald Robinson on keyboards, drummer/vocalist Josh Dion, bassist Ron France and Mark Doyle on guitar. Mark Nanni also joined in on keyboards for one of the tunes. Donald came from Philadelphia and Josh arrived from Brooklyn. Ron and both Marks are from Syracuse. Taping this session was a thrill for me, as I have been a fan of Mark Doyle for many years. We last worked together probably 30 years ago on a rock album I was producing for my brother at the time. It felt so good to re-connect with him.

Well, it didn’t take long to get set-up and ready to roll as most of the set-up was complete from the morning session. Just a few personal tweaks with the gear was all that was required. Josh started things off by suggesting they play Stevie Wonder’s Superstition. Nice.

After Superstition, we took a short break to allow Mark Nanni some time to comfortably break down and quickly leave for another gig he had that day. After the break, Donald then suggested I Can’t Help It, another song written by Stevie Wonder but made popular by Michael Jackson. This was perhaps the most challenging tune of the day for everyone. Guitarist Mark Doyle had never heard of the song and, with help from Donald, had to basically learn the entire tune from scratch. But, like the consummate pro that he is, he rose to the occasion and nailed it in just one take…a performance that features nice solos from Mark, Donald and bassist Ron France.

Next, drummer Josh suggested an old Sam Cooke classic blues tune A Change Is Gonna Come. And boy did it ever. After a few minutes of working through the changes, we recorded a great soulful take of the tune, with some outstanding vocals from Josh and a tasty guitar solo from Mark. That was followed by a quick take on the Ellington classic Things Ain’t What They Used To Be and, to wrap things up, a loose open jam on the Bill Withers song(‘Till You ) Use Me (Up). Again, plenty of nice solos and a great vocal on Use Me from Josh.

Overall, to me this session had a bit more of a rock and less of a jazz feel to it…which was, in fact, a very welcome change. Once again, Ron and the crew at SubCat did an outstanding job both recording and mixing all of the tracks for us. They too were quite pleased with the session.

– Tom Emmi / Producer