The Dark Prince

The first album by Miles Davis that I bought was The Man With The Horn in 1981; little did I know what I'd be getting myself into! Over the years, Miles, especially his Electric Period, has been a foundation and reference point of The Soundtrack Of My Life. I've been pretty busy the last few weeks, but I've got a load of stories to share; until then, I hope you enjoy this review I did of the latest Miles tribute - Miles From India.

Guitarist

I was a fan of Kevin Eubanks ever since I picked up his first release, Guitarist, on Elektra-Musician, but of all his releases to date, the one that has had the greatest effect upon The Soundtrack Of My Life is Shadow Prophets. In 1988, I played this CD constantly, in fact, in the Summer of '88, I used the disc to profile a new set of high-end speakers, which I eventually purchased along with the requisite audiophile gear to power them. Over the years I've read bits of interviews from Eubanks, who said he wasn't that proud of his GRP output - I don't know, looking back and listening, those GRP albums hold up well, and the material is everything that in my opinion, contemporary jazz ought to be; he certainly wasn't playing anything 'smooth'! I had a chance to catch Eubanks in 1989, soon after the release of The Searcher, which I've always felt was just as strong as Shadow Prophets. He was performing at the Tralfamadore Cafe, and his group was smokin'; Gene Jackson on drums, Rael Wesley Grant on bass, who was just as amazing to watch as Kevin was live, the keyboard player's name escapes me - funny thing was, they never played any selections from The Searcher?! Years later, I caught Eubanks in 2004 performing with Billy Pierce, Smitty Smith and the great Charnett Moffett; his intensity was incredible. From 1989 to 2004, full circle, The Soundtrack Of My Life.
Listen to 'Mice Mobsters' and 'Shadow Prophets' from Shadow Prophets, 'The Story Teller' and 'Cookin'' from The Searcher and 'Spider Monkeys' from Live.
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Arrived 'Full Circle'

It was 2001, not really Fall yet, more like Indian Summer, it was early evening, I was waiting for my dinner date to arrive, the night air blowing through the window was cool. I had Alexander Zonjic's Reach For The Sky in the CD player, when the Bob James composition 'Angela' came on; it struck me - after 21 years, I had come 'full circle'. I was back in the same town where The Soundtrack Of My Life had begun, listening to a song, that I had first listened to (on All Around Town), in another small apartment 21 years earlier - wow, that's some powerful shit. Whoever doesn't believe that everything happens for a reason, has no clue what life, passion and desire are all about.
Listen to 'Angela' and 'Bellavia'
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Full Circle

It was 1988, no I hadn't yet come 'full circle', that would come later in 2001; but I remember distinctly the day I purchased the Columbia debut release of Full Circle. It was a beautiful late summer day, a Sunday, cruised over to the record store in my Saab 900 Turbo with my girlfriend. On the way we stopped for breakfast, at a pancake place, then went to the record store. Somewhere along the way we got into a heated argument over something, she jumped out of the car at a red light, refused to get back in; I left, went home, popped my new find into the CD player and enjoyed an awesome young group out of Boston's Berklee College. I had a great afternoon; she made it back at some point, welcome to The Soundtrack Of My Life.
Listen to 'Sorcerer's Appearance'
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Little Sunflower

It was 1982, still in college, when I came across Milt Jackson's Sunflower; already a huge fan of CTI and Freddie Hubbard's output for the storied label, but for some reason, I had never heard of his composition 'Sunflower' until stumbling across Jackson's album, with it's beautiful cover art. There was a local record company that also had this huge national distribution business, that decided to open the doors to it's warehouse and blow out it's stock of vinyl, cassettes and eight-tracks - which was like opening the door to Fort Knox as far as I was concerned. Needless to say, I think over two days I came home with over 100 Lp's! Sunflower was one of them. Talk about turbo-charging The Soundtrack Of My Life!
Listen to 'Sunflower' and 'People Make The World Go Round'

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Hope

Early 1988 was a tough time for me; it was full of change, which was exciting; yet The Soundtrack Of My Life was facing the new and unknown. I didn't know who Basia was, but I caught her on the Today Show and she was incredible! Why was music like this predominately coming out of the UK at this time? What were the young artists on this side of the Atlantic thinking? In any event, 'New Day For You' really struck a chord with where I was, it still does, especially when I'm faced with the unknown. Enjoy!

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Hot Dog!

It wasn't until I bought All Around Town in 1980, that I knew who Bob James was......the guy who wrote the theme to Taxi, 'Angela'! Well, it didn't take long to the rest of James' catalog to find it's way into The Soundtrack Of My Life; I purchased H in early 1981, I love the cover as much today as I did that cold February day when I first saw it. This is my definitive Bob James album, which I've judged all his releases by, to this day; maybe it was the cover, maybe it was Grover, probably it was the excellent compositions and arrangements and the emotion with which they were played. If you don't have this one, go get it, pour yourself a cocktail, put it on and close your eyes; the journey will be excellent!

Listen to 'Snowbird Fantasy' and 'Brighton By The Sea'

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Wish List

I'm looking for any Japanese Bonus Tracks from Spyro Gyra, Lee Ritenour, Yellowjackets, Chick Corea's Elektric Band, Larry Carlton, or any other Contemporary Jazz Artists that had imports released in Japan. If you can help me out, please contact me, thanks.

New Vistas

Although Carnaval was the fourth release by Spyro Gyra, it was my third; for some reason, I had skipped picking up Morning Dance until the summer of 1981. In the fall of 1980, I found myself living with two roommates in Skytop; living on the South Campus sucked - might as well have been Siberia, one of my roommates was this Jordache Jean wearing bag of donuts from Jersey, the other guy was ok, until he started having sex with his girl - in my bed??! Needless to say, I was out of there and in an off campus apartment, by myself, before that fall semester was over. But, I do remember cueing up Carnaval daily; can you imagine a group today, releasing two albums in the same year - unheard of! In 1980, SG released Catching The Sun and Carnaval; which was like winning the lottery, as far as I was concerned! Those that know me could argue that Spyro Gyra is The Soundtrack Of My Life (does the album cover look familiar? remind you of something?), at the very least, they are and have continued to be the foundation and entry for all things musical in my life. It's been a few years since I've seen these guys, but I'll be catching them soon!
Listen to 'Cachaca' and 'Bittersweet'

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Ooh...Babe

It was 1990, I had been waiting two years for a new release from this powerhouse fusion outfit, especially after hearing them play 'songs from the upcoming record'. I'd go to CPG, where they had a standing weekly gig, and endure the cigarette smoke, to hear them play - always checking for the 'new release'. Sure, Gamalon did release a recording, between their self-titled debut and Aerial View, but it was with Ernie Watts, it was good, but I was looking for the straight-no-chaser version. It finally came, in early summer of 1990 - Ooh...Babe (to quote one of their earlier songs), what a scorcher of a CD! Gamalon's Aerial View has made it's way into the top 10 of The Soundtrack Of My Life - no easy task. When I feel like rockin' out or I need an attitude adjustment, this is the soundtrack and these are the guys. It's amazing what you take for granted when it's right in your own backyard.......then realize you need it after it's no longer accessible; I haven't had the chance or the opportunity to see this group, probably since 1994 or 1995. They're still going strong, albeit in a different incarnation - and since I just happen to 'be in town', I'm catching them tomorrow night!

Listen and drool over 'Beat The Heat' and 'The Rift'

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Master Of His Universe

Early on, Marcus Miller supplied the low-end to The Soundtrack Of My Life, ever present on records by Tom Browne, Dave Valentin, Dave Grusin, David Sanborn, Bobby Broom and Sadao Watanabe. I'll have more down the road, but for now, check out my interview.