Good afternoon folks, The merits of working with the Merritts are many and varied.
I recently had the opportunity to write a song with Janice and here it is, fully formed and wonderfully informed by her voice & melodic sense, for your ears & eyes. It's a finished piece, mastered et al, but ANY feedback is most welcome.
RECORDING DETAILS: Janice tracked & treated by Bud. The vocal FX chain: Izotope Breath Control > Nectar EQ > Nectar Compression > Nectar Reverb The slight reverb is an EMT 140 Plate Reverb sim.
The band/instruments: 735 Piano Acoustic Rhythm Jazz ballad Hipass filter Real Drums Jazz Brushes - sticks 1065 Trumpet soloist smooth bluesy w slap back delay, quite a bit of Multiriffing as well as cut n paste work.
The additional stuff: Bass - Emperador semi acoustic flat wound strings BDI21 HEAVILY compressed Guitar - Bruno Royal Artist semi acoustic, neck pickup DI hipass + trem
Mastered by Fran Ashcroft at HappyBeat Studio.
Words (because they do matter to some folk) Back in your arms I'd Learn, listen & grow, There was purpose in the meaning I'd have to take it slow. I'd learn through living They'd teach me with pain. I'd take the experience They'd each leave a stain. Look around you and know where you stand. Be sure that the soil Is part of the land.
But be careful of The seed that you sow Be certain which fruit Is going to grow We want no death in the soil, No blood at the root, no!
Back on the farm they'd Reap, tend & sow, There was effort in the weeding But some would have to go. They'd avoid using poison As that'd taint the soil. They'd put in the hours They'd put in the toil. Look around you and Know where you stand. Be sure that the soil Is true to the land.
But be careful of The seed that you sow. Be certain which fruit You've chosen to grow We want no death in the soil, No blood at the root, no!
SOLO
Back in time they'd Learn, listen & grow. The fear on which they're feeding And their anger would glow. With their bread they were learning Old lies, oh so plain. Old newspapers said There'd be nothing but pain. They looked around and, Took up flame & gun. Assured that their victims Had no place to run.
But be careful of The seed that you sow. In choosing which fruit You've elected to grow We want no death in the soil, No blood at the root, no!
Last edited by rayc; 08/15/2311:41 AM.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
This is an exceptional piece of music... The writing, performance, video and production is of the highest caliber. The RTs sound tremendous - what a great jazz band.
I am truly blown away by the vocal - no one does this type of music like Janice. Her performance is superb - controlled, emotional and recorded perfectly.
AWESOME collaboration! Would also love to hear this in a SoundCloud link if possible.
Oh, I already told you how much I love this song. What a great sultry feel, and Janice is the perfect choice. Oh, man, it's all so good. It's a really good video, too. Such a good write, and the best band mixed so well. Very interesting changes with a strong Blues melody. Doesn't get any better.
This is an exceptional piece of music... The writing, performance, video and production is of the highest caliber. The RTs sound tremendous - what a great jazz band.
I am truly blown away by the vocal - no one does this type of music like Janice. Her performance is superb - controlled, emotional and recorded perfectly.
AWESOME collaboration! Would also love to hear this in a SoundCloud link if possible.
Bob
Bob, I truly appreciate your music and that makes your comments about my performance even more meaningful. Thank you, Janice
Dark and powerful lyrics, real nice chord changes and melody, well sung and produced. The video was interesting, I listened to it with and without watching.
Very interesting composition...very well arranged and performed...love the trumpet solos and Janice's vocal was spot on with the wandering melody and the bluesy feel of the entire piece...well done to all!
www.soundclick.com/firesong BiaB 2024, Steinberg Cubase Pro 13, Wavelab 11.2, SpetraLayers Pro 10, Audacity, Steinberg UR44 Interface, Yamaha Genos, Roland FP60 and FP10, Windows 10
You are who you are because you do what you do because of what you believe.
Talents collide! Haunting, dark and beautiful. Unusual, emotional music, double edged lyrics amplified by deep Janice's vocals. Cool experimental tune. Ray, bass is great, guitar a little quiet. It's done professionally and listens well. I am a fan of old time imagery, I found video interesting. Congrats to all participants and thank you for sharing.
Well, Ray. I must admit I never got Jazz but I can appreciate the work involved, lyrics and all. The only thing I found slightly irritating was the too up front, upright bass. Clever stuff.
I found there was a lot to process in the song. I wasn't sure if the song was meant to be more metaphor than actual event, but kept wondering what event that might be. So when I heard "they", I kept wondering who that could be referring to.
I figured it was likely metaphor because you generally don't sow fruit. Then it mentioned a newspaper and victims having nowhere to run, which sounds far too specific to be metaphor.
Bouncing between those two was just confusing to me.
The use of jazz also threw me, since that particular style is usually for an entirely different subject matter.
So while it was well done it didn't draw me in emotionally because I kept thinking about the form and content.
But there's nothing the matter with music that makes me think, so I can't really complain.
My only real nit is that Janice's voice feels a bit muffled, like someone cut the high end off. It's not the plate reverb, since I can hear that.
Ray, Janice & Bud, This is an exceptional piece of music... The writing, performance, video and production is of the highest caliber. The RTs sound tremendous - what a great jazz band. I am truly blown away by the vocal - no one does this type of music like Janice. Her performance is superb - controlled, emotional and recorded perfectly. AWESOME collaboration! Would also love to hear this in a SoundCloud link if possible. Bob
Thank you Bob, a very generous appraisal and one I'll bank any day. Soundcloud link added as per your request.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
Oh, I already told you how much I love this song. What a great sultry feel, and Janice is the perfect choice. Oh, man, it's all so good. It's a really good video, too. Such a good write, and the best band mixed so well. Very interesting changes with a strong Blues melody. Doesn't get any better.
Thank you Marty, the changes are me shuffling around in A again though with some influence from God Bless The Child. Yes sir, Janice is as you describe.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
I hear your writing style in there. I hear Janice singing the way she does the best. Nicely done to both of you and everyone else involved in this project.
Thanks, Yes, my stain is hard to miss but Janice's top coat makes up for an awful lot of my bad brush work.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
Dark and powerful lyrics, real nice chord changes and melody, well sung and produced. The video was interesting, I listened to it with and without watching.
Thanks for going the extra kilometre Elliott. There's an audio link in the O.P. now.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
Very interesting composition...very well arranged and performed...love the trumpet solos and Janice's vocal was spot on with the wandering melody and the bluesy feel of the entire piece...well done to all!
Why, thank you sir.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
Janice, Ray, and Bud, this is one outstanding collaboration. Janice's vocals are always top shelf. The mix is spot on. Fantastic trumpet leads. All I can add is WOW!
Ta Mario, I had the trumpet in mind from the get go - given the major influence on this song is Elvis Costello's Shipbuilding and Lady Day's Strange Fruit.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
Talents collide! Haunting, dark and beautiful. Unusual, emotional music, double edged lyrics amplified by deep Janice's vocals. Cool experimental tune. Ray, bass is great, guitar a little quiet. It's done professionally and listens well. I am a fan of old time imagery, I found video interesting. Congrats to all participants and thank you for sharing. Misha.
Thanks Misha, My guitar playing isn't really up to the standard the RT & Janice set but I gave it a bash and set it at a level that didn't damage the rest.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
Well, Ray. I must admit I never got Jazz but I can appreciate the work involved, lyrics and all. The only thing I found slightly irritating was the too up front, upright bass. Clever stuff. Vic
Thanks Vic, I'm no fan of most jazz and even less of jazz flavoured rock but some songs stick in my head as a result of the magic that's invoked...Shipbuilding, God Bless the Child, Strange Fruit...all teeter on the edge of being jazz but without doing what jazz seems to do oh so often: re-imagine standards and ignore almost everything but the melody. The bass - a matter of taste I suspect. As, primarily, a bassist I actually prefer the thing a bit buried but stylistically old blues and slow swing jazz have a thumpin' thing happening.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
I found there was a lot to process in the song. I wasn't sure if the song was meant to be more metaphor than actual event, but kept wondering what event that might be. So when I heard "they", I kept wondering who that could be referring to.
I figured it was likely metaphor because you generally don't sow fruit. Then it mentioned a newspaper and victims having nowhere to run, which sounds far too specific to be metaphor.
Bouncing between those two was just confusing to me.
The use of jazz also threw me, since that particular style is usually for an entirely different subject matter.
So while it was well done it didn't draw me in emotionally because I kept thinking about the form and content.
But there's nothing the matter with music that makes me think, so I can't really complain.
My only real nit is that Janice's voice feels a bit muffled, like someone cut the high end off. It's not the plate reverb, since I can hear that.
Anyway, an interesting bit of music, well done.
Thanks David, A complex observation that probably requires a complex response. The narrative is, mainly in the verses, historical docudrama spread across the rural poor, the post civil war era of re-establishment and the civil rights movement. The choruses are literal, analogous and metaphoric depending on your perspective. The fruit is the literal end product of the planting, (remembering that fruit is, in the main, the mature ovary of a plant that goes on to produce seed which advances the species across generations and that many plants that produce fruit are annuals that have seed sown or seedlings planted for that purpose - tomato, cucumber, banana), it is the product of toil analogous to "reap what you sow" on a human, societal, cultural level, and metaphorically referring to the next generation. Most of these are strewn on the poor soils of share croppers, indentured and slave labour for another level of the narrative.
I don't really hear the song as jazz though the instrumentation may suggest that. The chords certainly aren't jazz chords as we've come to know them and the progressions aren't the sort that jazz standards are made of. If you listen to some of Billie Holiday's more political tunes, (Strange Fruit, God Bless The Child) you'll hear that this song is a) thematically heavily influenced by such works and b) not dissimilar in style/tone. If you add the more recent influence of both Elvis Costello & Robert Wyatt's version of Shipbuilding you may decide that I have, in fact, over worked this patch of dirt.
Finally, the vocal treatment...I had a listen on a couple of different devices and to the original master and don't hear what you do. Mind you I have holes & roll off in my hearing that may mask the tonality you refer to.
I'm REALLY pleased you heard and thought enough of the song to note your observations and concerns. I doubt I've convinced you other wise but I've had a go at outlining my perspective as the lyricist. THANK YOU.
Last edited by rayc; 08/17/2301:22 AM.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
This is a cool tune. Very different which really showcases Janice's versatility as vocalist. Excellent lyric video and production. Well done
Thank you very much Scott.
Janice
Originally Posted By: BabuMusic
Oh, I already told you how much I love this song. What a great sultry feel, and Janice is the perfect choice. Oh, man, it's all so good. It's a really good video, too. Such a good write, and the best band mixed so well. Very interesting changes with a strong Blues melody. Doesn't get any better.
Dark and powerful lyrics, real nice chord changes and melody, well sung and produced. The video was interesting, I listened to it with and without watching.
Originally Posted By: firesong
Very interesting composition...very well arranged and performed...love the trumpet solos and Janice's vocal was spot on with the wandering melody and the bluesy feel of the entire piece...well done to all!
Ray & Janice Very evocative - almost theatrical. (Interesting reviews and responses make for a good read). I get the Billie Holiday feel. Well produced, performed and played. Janice has the ability to sing virtually any style authentically and engagingly. Very well done all round. Peter
Thanks Peter, I get the "theatrical" reference. Authenticity is, as you point out, the key with this one.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
Had a listen to this over on FB a while back, nice to give it another spin. Love the vibe, and the track sounds great also. Solid job on the bass, and Janice sounds fabulous as per usual! I really like the melody too. Enjoyed!
Thank you sir. Janice is fab.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
Unusual to have Janice singing a RayC song. I usually don't like jazzy stuff and brushes (even if they are pretty well done like here), but Janice saved my day
This the fourth song that the Merritt's & I have collaborated upon,the fourth as a co-composition with Janice too. It's also a Janice & rayc song - something we wrote together. Thanks though. Ms. Merritt is the spoon full of sugar that becomes the deeper textured, subtly flavoured caramel with multiple listens.
Last edited by rayc; 08/23/2309:41 PM.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
It's great to hear exceptional music on this forum, this song is something I rarely listen to, but still it is hypnotizing, sort of Strange Fruit mood. Combination of many talents, Ray's haunting chord progression finds its counterpart in Janice's unique and expressive voice. And then the trumpet adds a darker layer above it all. The story is also dark, unfortunately I probably have no time to really digest all those interesting layers. Challenging and rewarding song, fortunately not a top 10 throwaway, focus is on the art of music.
Talents collide! Haunting, dark and beautiful. Unusual, emotional music, double edged lyrics amplified by deep Janice's vocals. Cool experimental tune. Ray, bass is great, guitar a little quiet. It's done professionally and listens well. I am a fan of old time imagery, I found video interesting. Congrats to all participants and thank you for sharing.
Misha.
Thank you Misha. I knew from the first time I read the lyric that I was going to enjoy this production ... and I did!
This is a classic. No doubt about it. If I heard this on the radio, I wouldn't blink in the slightest. SUPERB effort - great musical writing, great production, Janice is her usual, stellar self - the lyrics are so original, to my ears, the instrumental solos fit in perfectly ... WELL DONE. Really well done. An original masterpiece.
Unusual to have Janice singing a RayC song. I usually don't like jazzy stuff and brushes (even if they are pretty well done like here), but Janice saved my day
Great work from all involved!
Thanks! BTW, this is our fourth collab with Ray.
Janice
Originally Posted By: jannesan
It's great to hear exceptional music on this forum, this song is something I rarely listen to, but still it is hypnotizing, sort of Strange Fruit mood. Combination of many talents, Ray's haunting chord progression finds its counterpart in Janice's unique and expressive voice. And then the trumpet adds a darker layer above it all. The story is also dark, unfortunately I probably have no time to really digest all those interesting layers. Challenging and rewarding song, fortunately not a top 10 throwaway, focus is on the art of music.
Janne
Thank you Janne! I was immediately drawn in by the Strange Fruit feel.
Janice
Originally Posted By: musician17
This is a classic. No doubt about it. If I heard this on the radio, I wouldn't blink in the slightest. SUPERB effort - great musical writing, great production, Janice is her usual, stellar self - the lyrics are so original, to my ears, the instrumental solos fit in perfectly ... WELL DONE. Really well done. An original masterpiece.
Thanks!
Janice
Originally Posted By: Ezekiel's Storm
Yes, that trumpet reminds me very much of "Shipbuilding."
I enjoyed the melody.
Production sound good to me. And the vocals sit just right in the mix (not too soft ;-) )
This is a classic. No doubt about it. If I heard this on the radio, I wouldn't blink in the slightest. SUPERB effort - great musical writing, great production, Janice is her usual, stellar self - the lyrics are so original, to my ears, the instrumental solos fit in perfectly ... WELL DONE. Really well done. An original masterpiece.
Thank you sir. You're very kind.
Cheers rayc "What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
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