Last year, my New Year's resolution was to try and record 1 song per week. I'm happy to announce that I was able to get that done.
I'm gonna keep it going in 2026.
This week... "Amira's Coffee Shop", by me, Steve Mohacey.
20 years ago, I was deployed with the 4th Infantry Division band to Iraq for OIF 5-7. While in Iraq, the band was tasked with many different duties and assignments. But the ONE assignment that kept us all going was this: we had a MUSICAL mission. Our little band of 37 (I believe that is correct... it's been a long time) musicians would head out to even the most remote Forward Operating Bases (FOB) and bring high quality, live musical entertainment, to our troops (the GREATEST audiences you could EVER play music for by the way). We wanted to bring them a few moments of peace, even if only for an hour. This was hazardous duty as we had to get from point A to point B. During my time in Iraq, we travelled more than 25,000 miles, through the most dangerous terrain on Earth at the time. But.. I did it with some of the most talented, and certainly most committed Soldier-Musicians ever assembled.
While many of our comrades were blogging about their time in Iraq, we decided to write music and create a musical blog of our experiences. My musical partners in jazz crimes, Joshua Distefano (keys), Chris Kerley (bass), Brian Archer (drums/sound), and I got busy writing music. We wrote so much music that we even recorded an album of Josh's music WHILE in Iraq during our scarce downtime.
I wrote "Amira's Coffee Shop" after we made a trip to Camp Prosperity. We went to Camp Prosperity for a 72-hour mission at the site of Saddam’s trial, but the war had other plans. When our return transport was diverted, 3 days stretched into 5. In the sudden, unexpected stillness of those extra days, we found Amira’s. It was a small coffee shop run by an Iraqi woman who, we were told, made the best Turkish coffee in the country. For the first time in nearly a 100 days, the clock stopped. We sat, breathed, and found gratitude in the steam of a cup of coffee. It wasn't just the best coffee I’ve ever had—it was the first time in months we felt human again.
I don't know what happened to Amira, but I truly hope she is alive and well.
I hope you enjoy, "Amira's Coffee Shop".
I REALLY wanted to use real tracks to create the entire recording. However, I wasn't able to find a bass track that would play what I wrote on the intro and head of the song. I did have Band in a Box play the bass part during the sax solo and right at the very end of the song. So, here is what I did:
I wrote the song and used Finale to save and engrave it. I saved the individual bass track from the arrangement in finale to .mid file. I recorded myself on Tenor sax throughout the song. I assigned the following sounds included in Logic Pro to cover bass on the intro, head on the way in and out: Punchy Bottom
The drum part came from this: Memo: This is a slow 50s pop 12/8 Style with acoustic piano & nylon guitar in triplets. Very simple bass & brushes. '!' smart guitar voicings, brushes. 5 instruments: piano, bass, brushes, guitar, strings. T=62 -Examples: Memories, Impossible Dream, Genre "Intensity" Score=70/100 -PERCY~.STY. Percy-Slow 12/8 50s Pop Real and MIDI. Quintet. Tempo=65 (50-85) Instruments: M-Acoustic String Bass, M-Ac.Piano, M-NylonGuitar, M-Strings, Drums RD: CountryShuffle: a: SideStick, HiHat b: Snare, HiHat :Shawn Soucy M33: Acoustic String Bass M1: Acoustic Piano M25: Nylon String Guitar M49: Strings
The saxophone was recorded using a Sennheiser 441 with the "FETHEAD" to boost the gain. The Sennheiser 441 is a dynamic mic. The Fethead gives it a 27db bump via the pre-amp built into my Focusrite Clarett++ 2pre. Dynamic mics do not require phantom power. The FETHEAD uses phantom power to boost the gain and just plugs into the XLR out on my mic.
Backing tracks via Band In A Box 2025 Ultrapak Plus for Mac.
Recorded in Logic Pro 11.
Selmer Reference 54 Tenor Saxophone. Mouthpiece- Dave Guardala Michael Brecker 1 (handmade). Boston Sax Shop Black Box 3 reeds (the BEST REEDS EVER!).
Greetings from France. That was really pleasant, Steve. What a nice song to listen to while having a coffee after a chilly morning dog walk with my 2 boys.
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Hi Steve! Thank you for sharing the background to this piece - that info brought a lot of humanity (human worth) to it. The piece does create a picture of normality in an otherwise abnormal situation. Great playing, and looking forward to your weekly instalments! Andrew
Greetings from France. That was really pleasant, Steve. What a nice song to listen to while having a coffee after a chilly morning dog walk with my 2 boys.
Thanks for giving my song a listen. Any walk with my dog and sons is pleasant. And when you add some coffee, it only gets better.
Hi Steve! Thank you for sharing the background to this piece - that info brought a lot of humanity (human worth) to it. The piece does create a picture of normality in an otherwise abnormal situation. Great playing, and looking forward to your weekly instalments! Andrew
Andrew- Thank you for the feedback. Band in a Box is such a great tool for making and recording music. I recorded a lot of jazz standards and some pop tunes (Stevie Wonder is an inspiration). But I could not post them here in the forum (not my songs). I guess I'll have to finish up a lot of my own songs this year.
Nice track indeed! Sax tone is primo! Good to hear you again.
It's good to be back. Last Fall was just crazy around here. Lot's of "life" happening. Let's hope the New Year brings some normality back. I've been recording, just not original songs (lot's of jazz standards, pop tunes, etc.). Just couldn't post them here. They are on my YouTube page though.
Good to hear you back, Steve. Very cool tune! Love your playing, and the arrangement is perfect.
The golden age of Army bands, before BRAC 2005 blew it all up, were awesome. Those were indeed the days...
DC Ron- I'm glad to be back. All of my assignments have been closed except 1st Cav at Ft. Hood and the Ft. Sam Band (and it's been on the chopping block twice since 2010 (sure hope it hasn't burned through all 9 lives yet).
Congrats, Steve. A song a week is impressive. But then again your time in Iraq is also VERY impressive. Good feel to this one (easy bass ). Your playing is stellar, sir.
Enjoy whatever happens! marty
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@babumusic51 SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/marty-straub Band in a Box, Reaper, Cakewalk, Ozone 12, EZDrummer
Yes, I agree with you. Some of the best audiences I've ever played for were military guys and gals. We never availed the opportunity to do a USO tour. However, we were looking into the possibility to go play at "Club Gitmo" for a one month stand. Things conspired against us. The agent for that tour said we didn't have enough pop and top 40 songs in our set lists. However we did play regularly on a military base, mostly in the enlisted clubs for the Marines.
So many funny stories.... one in particular.... We were just getting started in this club circuit. Our first time in the club and in the first set.... of course no body dances because it's 95% guys and the women know better than to say yes. They sat there just staring and drinking beer. Then, around the third song, they started throwing beer cans towards us which landed and started accumulating on the "dance floor" in front of the stage. We were thinking they must really think we are horrible and they hate us. So on the first break, we go outside and we're all down in the dumps. A couple of the Marines come out with us. One of the Marines says "Man, you guys are great!!!" To which we reply yeah, the rest of them in there think we s.u.c.k. To which he says, You guys must be new. ( we were ) Then he says we only throw beer cans at the good bands. You guys are at least a 3, maybe 4 barrel band. Then he explained that the barrels thing was how many 55 gallon barrels of beer cans were swept up off the floor at the end of the night. He said some bands only get 1 barrel, but the good ones get at least 3. He was right.... 4 barrels at the end of the night and we went back inside with a whole different POV and had a blast. There was even a good old bar fight when one guy knocked over the tower of beer cans 4 guys were building on their table. I guess he thought they should be throwing, and not stacking.
Then there was the Recon club where they drank beer, ate glass and beer cans........
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.com Add nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.
The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
Congrats, Steve. A song a week is impressive. But then again your time in Iraq is also VERY impressive. Good feel to this one (easy bass ). Your playing is stellar, sir.
I appreciate the compliments and feedback. It's a lot more simple than some of my other songs, but it just grooves and feels good. I wrote a big band version arrangement of it last year for one of the big bands I play with here in San Antonio (we have 7 working big bands here). It went over well. I'm gonna arrange the trumpet parts down in range a bit and might have my middle school big band (I teach middle school band) play it at a jazz festival later this year.
Yes, I agree with you. Some of the best audiences I've ever played for were military guys and gals. We never availed the opportunity to do a USO tour. However, we were looking into the possibility to go play at "Club Gitmo" for a one month stand. Things conspired against us. The agent for that tour said we didn't have enough pop and top 40 songs in our set lists. However we did play regularly on a military base, mostly in the enlisted clubs for the Marines.
So many funny stories.... one in particular.... We were just getting started in this club circuit. Our first time in the club and in the first set.... of course no body dances because it's 95% guys and the women know better than to say yes. They sat there just staring and drinking beer. Then, around the third song, they started throwing beer cans towards us which landed and started accumulating on the "dance floor" in front of the stage. We were thinking they must really think we are horrible and they hate us. So on the first break, we go outside and we're all down in the dumps. A couple of the Marines come out with us. One of the Marines says "Man, you guys are great!!!" To which we reply yeah, the rest of them in there think we s.u.c.k. To which he says, You guys must be new. ( we were ) Then he says we only throw beer cans at the good bands. You guys are at least a 3, maybe 4 barrel band. Then he explained that the barrels thing was how many 55 gallon barrels of beer cans were swept up off the floor at the end of the night. He said some bands only get 1 barrel, but the good ones get at least 3. He was right.... 4 barrels at the end of the night and we went back inside with a whole different POV and had a blast. There was even a good old bar fight when one guy knocked over the tower of beer cans 4 guys were building on their table. I guess he thought they should be throwing, and not stacking.
Then there was the Recon club where they drank beer, ate glass and beer cans........
Steve, that was fantastic. Your sax chops are second to none. Those in military service are not only the best audience they are the best people our country has. God bless them.
Dad, how will I know when I've become an adult.
When your day is ruined because they rearranged the grocery store.
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Steve, that was fantastic. Your sax chops are second to none. Those in military service are not only the best audience they are the best people our country has. God bless them.
MarioD- I appreciate the kind words. And yes... they are the best of every generation.
Beautiful instrumental! I was drawn to the title as I have an old friend called Almira - Amira with an l - and I'm sure she'd like it.
Some favourite Waoist Adages: #1: Play on the Way. #13: Ask not for whom the flower blooms, it blooms for you. #58: Bring consciousness to it. #63: On the road to effortlessness, effort must be made. #92: Be Love Now, the rest will come on its own.
That was absolutely wonderful. How very talented you are. Thanks for sharing the backstory. I have a lot of students from the Middle East and Asia, so your anecdote about Amira touched my heart.
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). Your playing is stellar, sir.
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