Grant Lee Phillips- Little Moon
Tracking ‘Little Moon’. Jay Bellerose- drums, PB- bass
Photos by Ellen Tunney
copyright 2009
Master Take of Older Now: Caught on video
produced by Paul Bryan
The Little Moon sessions excerpted from Grant’s blog at:
“...There's nothing like that feeling when a band locks in and the mics are on. It's an old idea that's almost been lost in modern recording. Overdubs, such as the pump organ, backing vocals, banjo and baritone guitar were done as we went along. Some parts, such as the brass and string quartet were added to the mix on the final days. An undertaking like this would seem daunting, had it not been in such capable hands.
To begin with, let's meet the band. Jay Bellerose on drums. He's a one-man drum orchestra whose sensitivity to what a song needs is unmatched. At Jay's urging, we also brought in drummer Sebastian Aymanns to play percussion. The result was groove for days. Nuclear groove actually -- the kind that lasts for thousands of years. Then there is Paul Bryan who played bass and produced the album. As with Jay, Paul plays with a sense purpose and feeling. He's always coming at it as an arranger – taking in the song in as a whole. It's little wonder that his producer sensibilities are so finely tuned. He gets inside the songs yet is always conscious of the big picture as well. He's an awesome producer. The three of us, Paul, Jay and myself, did a short tour together in 2007, on the heels of Strangelet. It was then we all agreed there was something special there. We waited a few years before the stars aligned before we could record together. Jay's a highly sought after musician, who among his many recent projects, has been recording and touring with Robert Plant and Alison Kraus. Paul has been an integral part of Aimee Mann's group and even produced her latest CD. I was so impressed by his work that I asked him to produce a song of mine called Winterglow as a holiday single for '08. I loved the way the track turned out and how we clicked in the studio. Naturally, I asked him to produce the album.
What a great call that was. Paul brought so much focus to the album. Rounding out the lineup is Jamie Edwards who plays everything from piano, organ, Wurlitzer and moog on the album. The two us did The Ballad Tour in Europe last year. Jamie is also a member of Aimee's group. He's one the finest musicians I've had the pleasure of working with. Some of the songs, we were tossing into the set during The Ballad Tour. The ground for this album was being tilled all along. I've never felt so close to the songs as I do on this one. I supposed it's because I've lived with them longer but also raising kids has a way of keeping you in the moment. I really didn't have the luxury of over-thinking things this time around. There's a point where you just go "Geronimo..." and then you jump. Other guests include
The Section Quartet, sounding majestic as ever. Paul Bryan, wrote several string arrangements in addition to parts for trombone and tuba, I'm guessing some kind of musical image is beginning to swirl in your mind's ear at this point. Little Moon represents the coming together of so many things. The songs, the players, production, the sound, state of mind – all of those seemingly simple things you can chase after for years. I also have to thank engineer Ryan Freeland who recorded and mixed the album. We did the whole thing at his facility, Stampede Origin. He did such a superb job capturing the whole thing and dialing it in. I'm thoroughly blown away by the sound he got.
Presently we are getting into the art phase, something I always enjoy. My wife, Denise Siegel, is a fine artist/photographer. She and I are putting our heads together. As the release of Little Moon draws near I'll be sure to keep you abreast of the process. Meanwhile I'll be continuing to perform solo acoustically at Largo in Los Angeles this summer. In addition, selected dates abroad are in the midst of being booked. Please the check concert listings at this site. For those of you in the Los Angeles area, I'll be at Largo at the Coronet come Saturday May 23rd. I hope this spring finds you blooming with possibility.
All the best,
Grant-Lee
Jamie Edwards-keys
Listen to songs from Moon
We were lucky to have The Section Quartet come in and add their great playing to mix:
Eric Gorfain- vln
Daphne Chen- vln
Alma Fernandez- vla
Richard Dodd- vcl
Rehearsing The Section Quartet on ‘Older Now’
Behind The Scenes: Making Little Moon
support the
artist
photo by Ken Scott 2009
This is a re-recording we did in Jay’s living room one afternoon. We were quite jet-lagged from a 24 hour flight home from Norway and while it may not seem like it, we are actually playing live here; the music you hear is not pre-recorded.
***Geeky Gear Note: Dig Jay’s cool ‘New Hampshire-Chic’ light up bass drum. Patrick is playing my tiny Tom Thumb piano.
Hotel Cafe Aug 20 2009: Grant Lee Phillips and band: (l to r) Sebastian Aymanns, Grant Lee Phillips, Jay Bellerose, Paul Bryan and Jebin Bruni.
Best Singer Songwriter Record 2009