Episode #53

This was another session that came together rather quickly. It was taped at SubCat Studios in Syracuse, New York – coincidently, my hometown. When I learned that an annual Syracuse Jazz Festival was going to take place there in July, with their outdoor performance venue but a few hundred yards from SubCat Studios, I decided to coordinate the taping of a couple episodes around the festival performances. I was also pleased to learn that contemporary jazz bassist Gerald Veasley – a friend and longtime supporter of Studio Jams – would be headlining the festival. So, long story short, with some help from Gerald, I put together a group of musicians – some from the festival and others from the Syracuse area – for an early Saturday morning session.

This episode features Gerald Veasley on bass, Wendell Sewell on guitar, Donald Robinson on keyboards and Andrew Neu on saxophones. Joining them were Evan Knight on saxophones, Mark Nanni on keyboards and drummer Dave Hanlon…all three from the Syracuse area. It was a thrill for me, as I have been a fan of Dave Hanlon for so many years. He was, in fact, the first “professional drummer” I worked with probably 35 years ago growing up when I started recording some of my own original tunes! So it was a great “trip down memory lane” for me. Loved it.

After arriving to the studio (at the ungodly hour of 8am I might add!), the guys got comfortable with the room and gear and in little time, we found ourselves ready to roll. Gerald suggested the song Sugar as that was somehow floating around in his head. They simply took a minute or so to talk through the arrangement and come up with an order of solos and off they went. We recorded but one terrific take of that song. Next, the guys started playing around with a spontaneous funky groove. Together they shaped it and gave it some form. They then recorded two takes of the tune, which is now called Funk Jam. Each take featured impressive solos from both saxophonists, Evan Knight and Andrew Neu, as well as from Donald Robinson on keys and guitarist Wendell Sewell. After this tune, Andrew suggested a the great standard Body & Soul – but with an unusual twist…as a samba. They took a few minutes to work through a nice arrangement with the tune starting out as a ballad, then working itself into a samba. It came together beautifully, with some great solo work from Andrew.

To wrap things up, they collectively thought it would be nice to play something with a bit of a “swampy” New Orleans groove. Dave loosely started playing a short drum groove. Upon hearing it, Andrew quickly said “how about this?” and began playing the melody to Yakety Sax. For those of you unfamiliar with the tune, it is a fun upbeat saxophone tune. (It also is known by many to be the theme song for the old “Benny Hill Show” television series.) And what a great suggestion it was. The guys quickly worked through an arrangement and recorded two takes of the song, with solo spots for all seven musicians. It was a great way to end the session.

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