Episode #65

This session brought us back to the great SubCat Recording Studios in Syracuse, NY (USA). Engineers and co-owners Ron Keck and Jeremy Johnston consistently do such a fine job for us. They are both big supporters of Studio Jams. This would be the first of three back-to-back-to-back episodes of Studio Jams that we would tape that day. Fortunately, I am blessed with a terrific camera crew as well.

It was a little before 8am when all the musicians arrived at the studio…all a bit weary from having been up late the night before performing on the main stage at the Northeast Jazz & Wine Festival held in downtown Syracuse. Joining us that day were bassist Kip Sophos, guitarist Gil Parris, and pianist Marcus Johnson, along with Syracuse-based drummer Dave Hanlon and keyboardist Mark Nanni.

To start things off, the group just created a song on the spot, as part of an “Open Jam.” Marcus pretty much came up with a melody riffs and some general chord changes and off they went. It was a nice, loose way for everyone to get musically acquainted with one another. After that, Dave suggested the Horace Silver tune “Song For My Father” – as somewhat of a tribute to Horace, who had sadly passed away a few days prior to this session. With virtually no rehearsal at all, we recorded a beautiful single take of this song with wonderful solos from everyone. Unfortunately, Marcus could not stay for the entire session as he had a mid-morning flight out of Syracuse back home to Washington, DC. So, now we were down one musician, from 5 to 4. Mark Nanni took a quick minute to move his Nord keyboard alongside the grand piano so he could now, in Marcus’ absence, play both.

Next, Gil suggested a song that he had been playing in thought would be a nice and somewhat unconventional song for a jam session. It was the theme song for the old television show “Night Court.” Gil quickly talk through the changes and, after a short five-minute rehearsal, we recorded two nice takes of this track. Good call, Gil.

In the essence of time, and to keep things moving forward quickly, Gil then suggested the Freddie Hubbard standard “Little Sunflower.” Everyone knew the tune well, so no real rehearsal was needed on. We recorded a single take of this tune. Finally, but with a few minutes remaining, we opted to record a “Jam with the Band” segment. This is where I typically ask the band to simply play a 2- to 3-minute version of a 12-bar blues so that viewers can play along at home if they like. It has proven to be a popular segment in some prior episodes.

– Tom Emmi / Producer