Hello fellow musicians,

  

   I have recently completed building a small home studio. I just turned sixty and it has taken four decades for me to finally have a full drum kit with eight mics, enough tracks available to record a live band, a pile of Latin percussion, and enough digital space to overdub as many tracks as my heart desires.  Today I have access to almost every musical sound and effect that there ever was, including some of my favorite world music instruments, as well as a vast collection of 70's and 80's synth sounds that I tagged with names like Zawinul, Herbie, Rolie, Vangelis, Wakeman, Corea.

 

   It is such a blessing to have access to all the recording tools I need to be productive.   As a twice Grammy-nominated recording artist and designer (for Brothers of the Baladi album "Just Do What's Right", 2008), I also know all too well that I will never write a hit song or make a living wage at this.  It has always been about just playing live music and accompanying other musicians to make them sound great.   I believe there is so much great popular music out there to be played.  I love playing dance cover music with a groove and loads of percussion. Afro-Cuban music does that the most for me. I loved Barrabas and Yesca and War on the radio in Central America in the early seventies, before I discovered Santana.

 

   So the first project I want to concentrate on is recording an album of Latin rock and Cuban-influenced music. This music has always been a large part of my life while living in Nicaragua, Bolivia, Jamaica, and Africa.

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   My ideal lineup will include bass, drums, a lot of percussion, organ, and piano, acoustic and electric guitars, and a horn section as well as selected guest singers. I plan to involve as many local musicians as I can.  I am putting together a  Gofund Me page so that I can pay the great players I wish to collaborate with.  I can also offer recording studio time and other resources like visual marketing, graphic design, and animation in trade for session recordings.   

 

   The studio is compact and cozy and easy to manage.  I really hope to develop the space into a busy little studio for a growing community of musicians, including many of those I have met in recent months at the Big Legrowlski Jams, The Dookie Jams, Clyde's Steakhouse, The Blue Diamond, and The People's Jams.

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   Below are rough mixes of the ten tracks I have so far. They are fairly dry and straightforward rhythm tracks.  I expect to replace most of the tracks with live players and record live rhythm tracks from scratch. There will be a lot of space for improvisational solos.  

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   Naturally, I would love to see this project develop into some live shows, but for now, I am only looking for a couple of hours of recording time from my favorite players.

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   Here is a link to the Spotify playlist of the original tunes that these covers are paying tribute to:

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Spotify Latin Rock Jam band playlist

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Many thanks,

Mark

 

mark@markgiles.com