No Sleep ‘Til Brooklyn

Hey, another music rant since there is no new band news to report – Mixing starts December 3rd.

I reside in Oak Cliff, one of the oldest suburbs of Dallas. If you are a native North Texan you may automatically conjure images of poverty, crime, gangs and general seediness when you hear the words ‘Oak Cliff’. While parts of the town do contain these things, the majority does not. I live in a nice big ’20s Craftsman house I could never afford anywhere else. The neighbors are friendly, there are trees everywhere and I’m only 5 minutes away from downtown Dallas with no need to get on a freeway if I so choose.

Oak Cliff is undergoing something of a renaissance these days and actually has a hip area called Bishop Arts District. Its contains wannabe-chic restaurants, nightclubs and shops. One of my favorite clubs is called Brooklyn. Unfortunately due to ‘noise complaints’ (READ: subtle racism) Brooklyn will be moving soon and I’ll be left without a cool place to relax nearby. Brooklyn’s patrons are mostly affluent or middle-class blacks. OMG there are Black people ruining our nice white pseudo-cool area. Vomit. I’ve stepped outside for a smoke on numerous occasions when things are in full swing and can’t hear a thing 20 paces from the club. Hell, there are 2 businesses open only during the day on either side that pad them from the two restaurants that complained about the noise. I’ve been in both restaurants and could never hear a thing. Urgh, what stupidity.

While Brooklyn was voted ‘Best Jazz Club’ by the Dallas Observer and the club is always packed with people, it is still widely overlooked by the mainstream. Maybe this is good, but what surprises me is that not many really know just how great the musical talent this club brings in – for free – each weekend.

My favorite act, Martha Burks and Her Band is a staple each friday night and I’ve seen her several times. Simply mind-blowing yet unrecognized talent. Oh, she’s known in the jazz circles I’m sure, but sheesh – she should be a mega-star in Dallas or nationwide for that matter. The band usually starts off with some warm up standards, and then Martha steps in to finish out the first set. By the second set she’s wailing or scatting with such precision and passion I usually just stare with mouth agape. Seriously the woman could sing without a mic and everyone would hear her. I’m not enough of an aficionado to properly compare her to other jazz vocalists. She’s a mix of Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday IMO. You simply have to see her (2nd set for sure) and you’ll agree, she’s the best in town. She’s incredibly friendly and has the audience going crazy by the third set.

Her rotating backing band, usually consists of Lawrence Robinson on Trumpet,
Jerome Allen on bass, James Kings on Keys and Eric Morgan on drums. Eric’s drumming just wows me. He sounds like he’s banging the shit out of his kit, but makes it look like its completely effortless, which I’m sure it is. I asked him how he gets such a loud, tight snare sound and he shrugged and said ‘Heavy hands I guess’. Too modest.

Since Brooklyn usually fills up fast, you always end up sharing a table with someone, which is great. I’ve met the nicest folks this way. More clubs should do this – force you to interact with people outside of your party. But be sure to get there by 8pm (yes, very early) or you’ll just be standing at the bar. Perhaps when they move to their new digs on the southside, this won’t be a problem. I just hope they still fill the place up enough to pair up strangers. God, I feel like Marge Simpson in ‘Oh, Streetcar’. “A stranger’s just a friend you haven’t met”. Ok not that cheesy, but you get the gist.

Weekend Music Medley

This past week I saw several great bands. Thursday night, I stopped by the Cavern Club and listened to Kristy Kruger. I admire her fans – they actually refrain from chattering up the place and give her their full attention. I guess when the performer is good enough, that will happen. I hadn’t seen her in at least a year and she brought several new tunes to my attention. Some traditional folk numbers and a few german circus sounding tunes. High quality material. She had a guitarist named Eric Neal who played with her. A great bassist too!

The Lonelies followed her with a really solid set. Bandleader Doug Burr is a top-notch songwriter with a unique voice – something really haunting about it – need to hear more. They had a guitarist, Chris Holt, who added a ton of ambiance to the otherwise straightforward instrumentation. I hadn’t seen these guys in a long time either – they’ve really moved in a different direction from what I remember hearing before.

Friday was more Greenville Avenue goodness. Saw this band called Olospo at the Granada Theater. They are an extremely popular band with the Dallas kids. Everyone was dancing and grooving. Perfect venue for these guys – though the guy in charge of the smoke machine must have forgot how to turn the thing off hehe. My friend Trey and I hung out on the balcony as the sound was much cleaner up there.

Olospo knows how to perform. The years of touring really show. Moving from a Red Hot Chili Peppers cover to their own hit ‘Step Up’ was no problem whatsoever. I doubt any genre or song would trouble them. Lots of extended solos and jams. I forgot how fun it was to watch them, especially keyboardist Britt Morris. Everyone is way too talented and I feel like a hack every time I see them. One of the few bands that can rock hard, feel loose, but still be perfectly in sync and tighter than whatever metaphor you’d like to insert here. I’m glad they decided to continue on – the fans demand it.

I left the show early to catch Oliver’s Army – the Elvis Costello Tribute Band – at of all places, Stan’s Blue Note. I can never get enough Costello. Joe and Mark were having a great time. I wish Russell would slick his hair back and put on some fake glasses like he used to. Still never hear enough keyboard in the mix. But despite these nitpicks, I had a ton of fun smokin’ and drinkin’. So many of the songs are flawlessly represented. I always enjoy the segue from ‘Less than Zero’ to Bowie’s ‘Rebel Rebel’. ‘You Belong to Me’ is greatness.

Alas, there was no Sorta show to round out the early portion of the weekend. Still need to get Trey to play me some of the forthcoming cd. Their new stuff on myspace sounds like the sorta everyone knows and loves.

Enough gushing – smoke break.

New Blog Version – with Temp Template!

Ok, I decided to switch everything over to WordPress since this is an easier way to update the site (ftp limited at work) as well as present mindless ramblings about whatever. Also, since we don’t play out that much, I think I’ll borrow from several other artists out there and use the blog to show ya new tunes, demos and other audio as it becomes available. Of course if you’d like to book us, feel free to send an email to joneserooni.

I’m hesitant to upload any of the new material, ‘cos I want you to hear it properly first. I’ll let you see the transition from idea to demo to rough mix to final version one of these days – Thanks to Lindsey for the idea. I need to pester him about being on his show when the new cd is ready. the new cd,the new cd, the new cd – jesus Jeef, shut the f-up about it.

Final thoughts on tracking

Doh! Thought I had already posted this last entry.

Ok – tracking complete! Mixing to begin December 5th. Overall, I’m really happy about what we accomplished. There were no loose ends.

I’ve compiled a list of minor tweaks needed before actually mixing the songs. A few keyboard and guitar parts to edit or fix. A few ending phrases to remove or edit down to make the song a bit shorter and less jammy. Several vocal comps need to be redone. I also set up a closed, mini forum for the band to make additional comments too. I think Holt is gonna modify a few piano parts during his studio visit while he’s working on his own project.

The rough mixes are um rough of course. the auditory experience varies greatly from place to place. Sounds terrible in the car, ok on the stereo alarm clock, flat on headphones. Some songs sound a lot better than others. “little doll” sounds the best IMO.

I’ll letcha know more details when mixing begins. We aren’t slated to play anywhere. If you’d like to book us, email me

Monday Notes from Artisan

Every ‘required’ part has been tracked and now we get to goof off and make all sorts of noise and experimental nonsense today. You might ask, “why don’t you just book a few more days and have even more fun?” Well, I set a goal of tracking 11 songs in 7 days and we’ve done it! If I booked more time, I’d want to spend it on vocals and other instrument takes. We got in, did what we needed to do and got out. I just can’t justify spending more of my own money on something that already sounds so good. By the time mixing is done in December, we should have something we’ll all be proud of.

Last night was kinda quick – finished all vocals and backing vocals. Tye layed down some really steady percussion. We organized the ‘Anymore’ loops and tracks together too.

Joe’s coming in later this evening to help create some guitar effects and noises. We’ll have Tye do some more percussion stuff and drink lots of beer.

I’ll sum up our tracking exploits tomorrow. We’ll have a rough mix of everthing then too.

Oh – here are some quick pics…

The ’50s amp that decimated the room.

Nice old org.

yer Rhodes

Charting progress mess (click for larger version if you care)
click for larger version if you care

Sunday Sunday Sunday!

Long long day. Got up early to finish some lyrics for a song called ‘Anymore’. I had several different lines and finally was able to shape the best ones into a good bridge. Got to the studio at Noon and started with backing vox. Paul and I had some fun overdoing or ‘YES-afying’ some of them for ‘The World’s Ventriloquist’. 4 part harmony staccato, falsetto punches. I doubt they will make the cut, but I’ll make sure I burn a copy of the song with them for a bonus track on this site. Mark Pittman will shoot me if I leave them on the final version.

Eric stopped by to finish his last lead guitars for the remaining coupla songs and sang backing ‘bahs’ for ‘Anymore’. We then took a late lunch break and consumed massive doses of cholesterol in the form of mexican food from Blue Goose. Even though the studio is a long drive away, the number of restaurants in nearby Addison is staggering.

We returned a bit too sated. My next batch of backing vocal flubs caused me to meltdown a bit. Was unable to sing a part on ‘Little Doll’ correctly. I eventually settled down and nailed it – but the self-deprication was in full effect by that point. I think Paul has grown weary of my repeated requests for God to damn me. Thank goodness Holt came in to relieve me of my recording duties.

Chris took care of about 5 keyboard parts, playing on a beautiful grand piano, rhodes and a vintage Hmmond B3. The songs are coming together and we’ll have a ton of parts to choose from during mxdown. ‘Little Doll’ in particular was quite nice and I got all goose-bumpy during his rendition. I think he broke his wrists during ‘Ventriloquist’ – a lot of bang bang bang bang bang bang chords to play.

Just a couple more days remain to finish about 3 backing vox, one guitar part, percussion and hopefully a few cool science experiments!