Slow Walking

It is 1963. As you are walking in the lobby of a Holiday Inn you hear the band playing in the lounge. You slow walk in time with the music from the lobby to the lounge bar.

BiaB style : Humbling Slow MIDI Jazz Ballad
Tempo: 60 BPM

Bass - Ample bass - upright
Drums - Aria - jazz brushes
Piano - Lounge Lizard - Tined Based - 12 Warm Model V
Guitar - UVI Workstation - GM - jazz guitar
Strings - Kontakt - Amadeus - full string ensemble

I am playing the guitar (Jay Turser Jazz Box) and via my breath and keyboard controllers the Swam tenor sax.

As always all comments are welcomed.

Mario: tell the waiter to pour me a glass of champagne, please! Great atmosphere.
Laurent

Mario,

You set the mood perfectly with this piece... I could see all the mid-century furniture decorating the lobby and lounge.

Loved it!

Bob

Nice listen while sipping a beverage. Nice choice of instruments, the guitar break fits perfectly. Good work MarioD.

I would have loved to have walked into the lobby of a Holiday Inn and heard the band play in 1963.
But my little problem is that I wasn't born then.
But IF I had been born before 1963, I would probably have said "very cool and relaxing saxophone playing".

Lovely calming piece, Mario, and I really like the sax.. Though I didn't picture an indoor scene, but Jack O'Neil (of Stargate SG-1) sitting at the pond outside his home and fishing where there are no fish!

Mario, nice write, nicely played! That sax keeps sounds great, and I really like your jazz guitar tone on this one. Am guessing the "lounge lizard" piano is an EP...that sounds great, too. The "full string ensemble" broke the "Holiday Inn 1963" spell for me. I'd be happy to hear just the bass/drums/guitar/piano quartet cover this territory. But, hey...it's your lounge.

I've spent way too many nights in dark lounges (post 1963) but this style of jazz will just never go out of style. Always sounds exciting to me. THANKS for posting!

"It is 1963. As you are walking in the lobby of a Holiday Inn"

Rob says: "Is that from a Bogart movie?"
I say: "Of course not, that's way before your time, sweetheart".
Rob says: "Oh, well... might've fitted right in."
I say: "Sure! Mario can do these things."

Nice work Mario.
Anne-Marie

HI Mario,

1963 is when I made my first dollar (actually $8.00) playing out professionally.

There was a Holiday Inn about three miles from my home and they had a one-man band ( a gentleman named Mike) and he was really good. I couldn't get in the lounge then as I was only 16 years old. But I could hear the music from the lobby. Thanks for a great memory!

This is a gorgeous production! Everything is so suave and soothing. That sax just defines the ambiance so nicely. This is one of my favorites from you in quite some time - excellent!

You aced it!

Take care,

Alan

Beautiful and hypnotic Mario!
It all sounds wonderful!
My favorite part is when the guitar lead comes in around 1:45, it sound extra good to me!
Another fine piece of music from you!
Take care, TB

Thanx Laurent. I'm glad you enjoyed both the song and the champagne.


Thanx Bob. Yep the furniture sometimes made the place! Sometimes even more than the band!

You were not born prior to 1963? You're breaking my freaking heart!
Thanx so much for the kind review.

Thanx. I'm glad you liked it.
PS - you have seen me fish? I gave it up a long time ago as AFAIK the fish were allergic to my rod, reel, and bait!

Thanx Ron. Yes the lounge lizard is an EP:
https://www.applied-acoustics.com/lounge-lizard-ep-4/

I picked it up on a deal for $66 USD. I wanted it for a long time but wasn't about to buy it for $199.

Yea you are right the strings didn't fit the Holiday Day Inn in 1963. So to CYA the London Philharmonic was staying on the third for of this Holiday Inn. Thus they came down and jammed along with the band - ducking and running for cover.

I also like this genre and when I do another one I have to keep in mind the setting I am trying to emulate. Thanx for bringing it to my attention.

Thanx so much for the kind review and the chuckle!

Thanx Torrey. I recorded the guitar straight into my DAW with no amp sim. I thought it sounded better that way.

Doh! I should have KNOWN!!

THANKS for your gracious reply to a comment I should have internalized. My inside voice is SO untrainable...

One of my favorites of yours. I assume you used a Sax for the breath controller? The breaths were perfect and the Sax sounded like a real Sax player.

I truly loved the music AND ambiance that came through.

I could see Dean, Sammy and Frank walking into a Palm Springs restaurant while this played.

Trax

Hi, Mario.

This perfectly fits the title. Kudos on the convincing sax performance!

NO, YOU WERE CORRECT IN POINTING THIS OUT.
I didn't think about the actual setting I was trying to emulate and the instruments I was using. Please do not stop your inside voice when constructive criticizing my songs.
I was just trying to be funny and CYA with my London Philharmonic line.
Again thanx for pointing it out.

Thanx Trax, I'm glad you liked it. Yes, the Rat Pack came in a number of times while we were playing and in fact joined us on stage a couple of times

Thanx David, especially for that sax performance comment. I am trying to improve my emulations.

Well Mario, I always enjoy your creations and this one is no exception. is kind of early now, otherwise I would pour one for myself while listening
Cheers!

Mike B.

Thanx Mike. Just remember that it is 5 o'clock somewhere! But I'm like you in that if I have a beer it has to be after 5 PM.

Definitely has a late swing/big band era feel with the sax tone.
I've not tried walking in waltz time...I'll give it a go/
Love your guitar part too.

Oh, yeah, I do that all the time, Mario. Slow Walk, Fast Walk, and all of trhe styles in between. Music moves us. I really like the feel on this one. This is weird... I got up and walked around as I listened. Even now I am typing slowing. As I walk through the lobby, I slowly peek into the lounge and see the sax guy leaning on a PA speaker on the side of the stage.

Thanx Marty. My so called fast walk is about 1/2 the speed of my 40's fast walk. In fact my kids call my fast walk their slow walk! Thanx for the smiles!

Holiday Inn '63.
That's a picture.
This is its perfect Soundtrack.
Nice. Terrific job with that sax!!

fj

Thanx so much Floyd. I am slowly getting the hang of using the breath and keyboard controller combination.

Lovely and nostalgic. Sax and guitar are exquisitely woven into the upper layer of the instrumentation. It makes me want to dance with a lady with a bouffant do.
If I were in a Holiday Inn in 1963, I would have been a babe in my mother's arms.

Thanx so much for this very kind review.

That my friend is one sweet production. Your use of the breath controller is really paying off. Laid back vibe, perfect setup in the introductory comments and a fine mix. Well done, Tom

Thanx so much Tom for this very kind review. I like using the breath controller over the wind controller as I have more control over the nuances.

Hey Mario,
Torrey has it right . . . hypnotic indeed.
Nobody here has your style, love that sax
Great job.

Bud said that in 1963 he’d be walking in the beach pavilion at Panama City for some rock ’n roll.
However we love Jazz and most of its variants and on top of that we love the sax.
So yeah we would head right into the lounge to hear this band.

You never cease to amaze with these productions.
Smooth as butter but always engaging from the get go through the last note.

Great performances and we enjoyed it!

J&B

One of your very best, Mario. That sax melody is nothing short of hypnotic. Stunning stuff - wow.

Smooth as velvet on silk. You are very a talented composer and I have enjoyed your stuff a lot. Thank you for all the great tunes. Rick

Very cool and chilled Mario, lovely atmosphere - you love strings as I do, the world is full of frantic nonsense so we need relaxing music to slow us down a bit - well done!!!
Cheers, Carl

Thanx Steve. As I have said many times I really like those Swam saxes.

Thanx so much Janice and Bud. In 1963 I was playing in a rock n roll band.

Thanx James, I appreciate your kind words.


Thanx Rick. I'm glad you enjoy my little songs and especially thanx for that composer comment. I really appreciate it.

Thanx Carl. I really don' t need relaxing music to slow me down. Slow and stop are my two main speeds now!

Hi Mario,

You showed me/us a lot of your talent lately!
Whatever scene passes, you made a gorgious song about it.
This one is no exeption to that, well... in a way it is.
In 1963 I was 8 years and my father used to play these songs all the time.
That drove me mad!
But now, I have mixed feelings. I really like what you do, like that fantastic saxophone, and on the other hand it took me back to that time...
But you, you did a very good job again, Mario.
And I like how you manage to do that every time!

Hans

Thanx so much Hans for this wonderful review.