November 2022
When the pandemic hit in 2019 and all music work disappeared, John, Kendrick, and I were commiserating about the state of world and the state of the music industry. In one particularly doleful lament I stated that I wasn’t sure if I’d ever play again, and that was a shame, because I still had things on my musical bucket list that I wanted to accomplish. John and Kendrick said “What?” “Well”, says I, “I’ve got a pile of original tunes that have accumulated over the years, and I sure would like to record some of them. The last time I did such a thing was 1996.” As it happened, John’s JDog Studio was also less busy than normal due to Covid. This album, “Taking Time” is the result of two of my favorite people, who happen to be world class musicians to boot, being willing to work on my eclectic material. Their fingerprints are all over this thing.
My son, Sebastian Shader, supplied the amazing synthesizer work on “Shaken, Not Stirred” and I’ll go into that process a bit more below.
The recording itself was somewhat hampered by the pandemic. Basic tracks were recorded simultaneously, but we couldn’t be in the same room together. We had to rely on John’s studio magic, to be physically isolated and yet musically together. In the next part of the process I sang and recorded the lead vocals. I then wrote out the harmony parts (never knowing how they would really sound…), gave them to the guys, and when they were ready, first Kendrick and then John layered their vocal parts on top of mine. John then once again applied his magic to bring it all together.
When it came time for “post-production” John again stepped into the breach. Without his computer know how, artistic concept, and graphic skills the CD package would never have come together.
I also, as in all things, leaned heavily upon my wife, Gabi Shader, for technical expertise as well as artistic concept. She has shepherded me thorough this entire process. Gabi, along with our good friend Dan Nuebel, supplied the photographs.
I’m very grateful to all who have helped make this project a reality.
Tom
Recorded and mixed by John Simon at his JDog Studio,Sebastopol, CA 2020 – 2022
Mastered by Ken Lee, Ken Lee Mastering, El Cerrito, CA
1. “Happy” was written in 1998, just after I published my 1st original music CD, “Shadows and Dreams”, with the band Orbis, which performed the song but never recorded it. A rollicking 6/8 dedicated to my lovely wife Gabi.
Happy
Watching the river of life flow by,
witness a marvel, a man such as I who is happy.
I never imagined so frantic an age,
destiny definitely has turned a page, yet I’m happy.
And who could imagine with bills I can’t pay,
with the woes and the worries that won’t fade away, I’d be happy.
It has something to do with the way that you smile,
something reminding me all of the while that I’m happy.
Though there’s always a chance that the future is grim,
when I wake in the morn’ I thank God it begins, and I’m happy.
You are the reason if life is a song,
the lyric is sweet, the music is strong, and I’m happy.
Happy to be with you
All of life we share
You have my heart, my heart
I always will be there for you.
It still remains a hell of a deal,
to sort what I’m thinking, to sort what I feel, yet I’m happy.
It’s true nobody knows what tomorrow will bring,
why will I cry, what will I sing, yet I’m happy.
As long as I know that you’ll stay with me.
we’ll weather the storm and I know how we’ll be – we’ll be happy.
2. “Taking Time” is the most recent composition on this recording. It was finished in 2019 just before the pandemic hit. It is an ode to relaxation.
Taking Time
Sometimes my actions overwhelm me
And I don’t know what I’m going to do
I try to think and nothing happens
The Curley of the crew
Sometimes I seem to need a headrest
Something I can lean back on
Or perhaps I simply need a bedfast
Some kind of horizontal fun
So hey, I’m cutting back
Going to celebrate the slack
And try to relax the hours away
Nothing may get done
But at least I’m not someone
Who always defers fun ‘till another day
I’m taking time, Feeling fine
Sometimes there’s not much to hold on to
And I let my time somehow slip away
But sometimes I savor every moment
And these are my happiest days
3. “Shaken Not Stirred” is a straight 8ths instrumental that invokes images reminiscent of Ian Fleming’s work. It is the only composition on this CD that features a musician who is not a core member of Trimates. My son Sebastian plays a synthesizer of his own devise made from open source software and is triggered by a midi keyboard. He calls the synthesizer Datalogue. Sebastian says: “Datalogue is a digital synthesizer created in the visual programming environment Pure Data, with some external modules written in the programming language C. Its architecture is inspired by the analog polysynths of the 80s.” I wanted this composition to feature sounds not usually available in a typical piano, bass, drums trio. I feel that Sebastian nailed that concept with the perfect combination of ethereal sounds and melodic motifs.
4. The ballad “On My Mind, In My Heart” was recorded in 2006 by Philip Smith and the Gentlemen Of Jazz on the CD “Almost Live At Uva”. It did not have the verse at that time. The Gentlemen needed a ballad for the recording, and as I had been reading through a fake book of Irving Berlin tunes, I thought I’d see if I could do something similar and write Gabi a love song.
On My Mind, In My Heart
The internal dialogue
that guides my life
Is not about me
when you’re gone
I hold you close,
just not within my arms
It helps me carry on
You’re with me now, though we’re apart
You’re on my mind, you’re in my heart
You’ve set me dreaming of the future we’ll make
Dreaming, though I’m wide awake
I know change will come, as changes do
What will not change is my love fore you
I’ve been smitten by Cupid’s true dart
You’re on my mind, you’re in my heart
5. “With You” is an eccentric composition in 7/4 time that features 3 part vocals throughout. I have written many songs in “odd” time signatures, probably due to the influence of my ongoing collaboration with my dear friend and master percussionist Vince Delgado. I love the way that John and Kendrick fleshed this one out in a tasteful and surprising fashion.
With You
I don’t know why, I don’t know why that I try
I don’t know why I try, I think that it’s you
You turn me round, You turn me round upside down
You turn me round upside down, you know that it’s true
I think it’s you, I think it’s you
It’s you that I spend my whole life with
You that I learn to love
You are the one I was looking for
Faith says beyond because
With you, With you, With you
Always a touch, Always a touch too much
Always a touch too much, I think that it’s you
If magic there be, Then magic there be with thee
Magic there be with thee, you know that it’s true
I think it’s you, I think it’s you
It’s you that I spend my whole life with
You that I learn to love
You are the one I was looking for
Faith says beyond because
With you, With you, With you
6. The instrumental “Disjunction” was first recorded in the very early eighties by the band Hijaz on the album of the same name. It is a true 12/8, with a rhythm pattern of 2 3 2 3 2 beats per measure. The rhythm section features a Haitian drum ensemble multitracked by Kendrick. Kendrick says: “Disjunction immediately brought to mind an approach with percussion rather than drum set, at least for a recording. Part of my background includes Haitian traditional drumming, so the 12/8 meter common in the Rada rhythms from Haiti seemed like a natural way to arrange this piece. In a traditional form the percussion includes three drums, a bell, a shaker and a basse, or bassline of open tones played on three or four drums to provide a supporting melody. The support parts (shaker, bell, basse and bula, or small drum) are more repetitive and unchanging and the middle drum (segon) and the low lead drum (maman) engage in dialogue; they talk to each other over a phrase of one or two measures with open tones. These phrases are understood as language that comes from speech, movements from the dance, or simply interplay between the musicians based on the composition. Tom’s bass line and Disjunction’s sections were the elements that helped me make choices that would support the music with percussion. We added another shaker and some cymbals for some extra color.”
Disjunction has a unique voice.
7. “Yesterday’s Blues” was written during the recession of ’08, when a lot of the gigs just kind of evaporated. (Although that little financial disaster for professional musicians was eclipsed by the recent pandemic…) I was left thinking that I could have made better choices in life.
Yesterday’s Blues
Each second wasted, slipping through fingers
Nothing to hold on to, everything gone
Each second wasted, never comes back
You can’t fill in the empty, you can only move on
What’s the use, I’ve got Yesterday’s Blues
Where have my dreams fled, beyond comprehension
Hope evaporating in quiet despair
Where have my dreams led, to nowhere it seems
And nothing will change, so I pretend I don’t care
What’s the use, I’ve got Yesterday’s Blues
I’ve come to think I could have done more
To make myself a better man
I’ve come to think I should have done more
To plan
Limited options, a maze with no exit
Shoulder the burden, get through the day
Limited options, no where to turn
Why the problem is chronic, I really can’t say
What’s the use, I’ve got Yesterday’s Blues
No concentration, no power to change things
I find myself singing Yesterday’s Blues
It’s hard to imagine a brighter tomorrow
When today has been squandered on the same tired old news
What’s the use, I’ve got Yesterday’s Blues
8. I was reminiscing about all the people scattered in the wake of my past that I never get to interact with any longer (to quote the famous Lennon line “Some are dead and some are living…”) when I wrote “To Have Know You”. A tribute to space and time with calypso overtones.
To Have Known You
Like quantum entangled particles, locked in an eternal dance
You affect me from a distance, at better odds than would chance
Unexplained phenomenon in matters of the heart
Somehow bond us deep and certain that we will always share that spark
{CHROUS}
A pleasure to have known you
Oh, we did have fun
For so many dreams and happy schemes
You, you were the one
Like distant passing galaxies exchanging stellar mass
We’ll forever be connected, that will always last
For we carry deep within, part of the other’s being
No matter where each journey leads, we will shine with where we’ve been
{CHORUS}
There may be nowhere for us, in all of space and time
Where we can wait together while we face life’s slow decline
But know that somewhere out there, between quarks and the cosmos end
There is another wanderer who will always call you friend
{CHORUS}
9. A vocal version of “Do We Bop” was recorded by Orbis on the CD “Shadows and Dreams”. This instrumental version is included because I’ve always wanted to record a quicker take on this piece in the true “Be Bop” tradition.
Here’s the lyric we don’t sing:
Do We Bop
Oh, what a night, oh, what a scene
We’re changing to the rhythm, Yeah we’re living a dream
Jumping with Sid, Be Blue-bopping with Betty
And everyone is in who thinks they’re ready
Some blowin’ cool, some blowin’ hot
We’re changing to the rhythm, Yeah we’ll give what we’ve got
We’ll vibrate the air In a most peculiar fashion
You gotta be right there to pursue your passion
Do we bop, do we bop, do we bebop
Do we bop, do we bop
Do we bop, do we bop, do we be bop
Yeah we bebop, we be bop
We’ll generate joy with sophisticate jive
We’re changing to the rhythm, Yeah we’re coming alive
The message is clear, No, we never will be stopping
Year following year we will still be bopping
10. “Two Story House” is the closest thing on this recording to a rock tune and ruminates on the fact that we’re all so darn busy these days that you can live with your sweetie and still it seems you never get a chance to be together.
Two Story House
All of her stories I may never know, Seems I only see her sleeping
I watch her come, watch her go
Sharing as much as time will allow, She the sun I the moon
Together somehow
{CHORUS}
We live in a two story house
She’s got her story, I’ve got mine
We live in a two story house
Two stories what’re all about
It’s a one lever dwelling, no basement no loft, Yet somehow I never see her
Our timing simply off
Love holds us together, as love always will, We’ll write another chapter
Enduring still
{CHORUS}
Often hours beyond when night begins to fall
When everything’s a question and I wonder at it all
If she were here with me I know just what we’d do
We’d make our story fit the life we dreamed
The life we dreamed for two
{CHORUS}
Well… I hope you enjoy this recording. It was sure a blast making it!
Thanks,
Tom
