Jamendo : handmade

handmade

by Bruce H. McCosar

jazz instrumental smooth melodic guitar notfrench conga

14 tracks

56:40

1	Patterns in the Sky	4:06
2	Abandon in Place	4:06
3	Like the Ocean Needs the Moon	3:39
4	The Outer Banks of Love	3:45
5	Nothing Left but the Sea	4:22
6	City in Flight	3:58
7	Night’s Bridge	4:30
8	Volcanology	3:31
9	A Dream of Flying	4:16
10	In Search of Forgotten Names	3:21
11	Pinelands	3:32
12	Harriet Tubman Lives	4:53
13	A Spy in the House of Pancakes	4:25
14	Rafting Down the Lethe	4:16

Album description

handmade -- conga jazz!

I named this album handmade because all the rhythms were performed using hand percussion instruments: three conga drums, two maracas, and a cowbell. Against this background I have highly melodic improvisation, jazzy chords, and of course a groovin bass line.

I play every instrument you hear on this album--guitar, bass, Hammond organ, keys, and drums.

If you want to know more about the music, have a look at my Wordpress blog. From February 3 to March 7, 2007, I wrote detailed “liner notes” for each of the songs on this album. Here they are, indexed according to track number:

Patterns in the Sky: part 1, part 2
Abandon in Place: part 1, part 2, part 3
Like the Ocean Needs the Moon: part 1, part 2
The Outer Banks of Love: part 1, part 2
Nothing Left but the Sea: part 1, part 2
City in Flight: part 1, part 2, part 3
Night’s Bridge: part 1, part 2
Volcanology: part 1, part 2
A Dream of Flying: part 1, part 2
In Search of Forgotten Names: part 1, part 2
Pinelands
Harriet Tubman Lives: part 1, part 2
A Spy in the House of Pancakes
Rafting Down the Lethe

The Album Cover

My wife gave me a wonderful present for Christmas this year: a quilt she had made for me. Each of the sections of the quilt is a pattern that tells something about me--musical notes, chili peppers, stars and planets, mad scientist cats doing chemistry.

When I saw it, I knew it was the perfect symbol for this album--it was, literally, handmade. It was something put together with care, performed with love, given with joy. I feel the same way about this album, and I hope you enjoy listening to it.

Reviews

umbriel rising

inspired melodies

14/10/07

Nice production, totally disagree with SaReGaMa who it seems has some kind of inferiority complex and likes to put down other's music, which is a pity as his own music is often nice and he doesn't need to belittle others to have credit for his own work.

I especially like the clean and clear sound, the bass playing is especially stellar with some great improvisational sounds on guitar and piano. I agree that it sometimes has that Santana influence with the latin percussion but Bruce makes this work his own. Very relaxing music that is great to put on after a hard day at work with a cool beer and a comfy chair.

SaReGaMa

Disarranged

19/03/07

If you take every instrument separately - it sounds ok, but mixed all together they create somewhat messy sound. This is because they don't live space to each other and they're not well-balanced. Imagine an orchestra without conductor or bunch of people that just speaking but not listening. The real disadvantage of this album were the congas. More practice is required.
There's certainly a great potential in this album, the musician is very gifted, but alas - he ain't no sound engineer or recording producer. Some assistance from outside could be very beneficial.