Top 5: Chuck Rainey Tracks

Welcome back! 

 

I'm back again with another entry in my Top 5 series. Chuck Rainey has a bass playing career that has spanned over 5 decades, including roughly 15 years as a session player in both New York AND Los Angeles during the height of the recording era (mid-'60's-1980). He's featured on thousands of records, TV and movie soundtracks. That said, there's no way I've checked out most of his work but out of the things I've heard, these are my favorites...

 

As a rule, I'm not a huge fan of the sound of a slapped/thumped P-Bass. It usually sounds a little too throaty and hollow for my tastes (especially when compared to a full-on J-Bass). That said, there are a few exceptions: Freddie Washington, early Louis Johnson, Will Lee and, of course, Chuck Rainey. This particular track,  Rickie Lee Jones' Woody & Dutch On A Slow Train To Peking  (with guests Cheech and Chong), showcases Rainey's tone in a particularly good light (not to mention drummer Steve Gadd playing a shoebox with brushes). Other great examples include Peg and I Heard That!...

 

Word is, this Roberta Flack song had a verbatim/fully charted bass part written by Donny Hathaway and while Chuck nails it (there are horn & string unison parts to consider), he adds all of these amazing descending double-stops and upper register ornamentations that really give the part life.

 

 

Simply put; the bass Chuck Rainey plays at the 2:39 mark of this Steely Dan song gives me hope for a better tomorrow. In the ensuing 2 bars, Rainey offers rhythmic complexity and precision, unbridled melodicism AND tension & resolution. All this in 4 seconds. Without crowding the track.

 

 

Oh, and rest of his playing is great, too.

 

 



I kinda HAD to include this one. Classic groove (and overdub) on a classic theme song...

This is possibly my favorite Chuck Rainey bass line. He and drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie are killing the pocket, Chuck's part peculates throughout and perfectly wraps around this Stevie Wonder-penned/Aretha Franklin-belted masterpiece. Even when he jumps to the upper register for the bridge, the supportive nature of his role is never sacrificed.



Welp, that's my 5. what are yours?


Be Good,
DLW

Lift Ev'ry Voice (Redux)

(This is actually a repost from last year. I'm gonna give this 1-solo-piece-a-month thing a try again. Wish me luck!)




I decided to do a shorter, leaner version of Lift Ev'ry Voice & Sing. I submit this as my February entry (aptly) and I'm planning (hoping) to post a new video every 3-4 weeks until I'm caught up. Until then...


Be Good,
DLW

                                                                                                                                                                     

Note To Self...

Things happen, y'know?


Everything from family tragedies, to techinical difficulties, to minor setbacks,  to major miracles to the totally unexpected. That's life.

But continue to plan.

Make your list of goals, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly. Tend to those lists. Don't lose track of what you're trying to accomplish.

Okay. Back to work.


Be Good,
DLW

Interview with Detroit Sounds Like This

Greetings and welcome back all!


First off, I'm sorry I'm so late with the updates. It's been a particularly busy summer and my desktop got sick and had to be wiped clean and blah blah blah...

At any rate, I'm back!

I was featured in the nascent music/news online magazine Detroit Sounds Like This a few months back. Thanks to my friend Mark Szymanski for extending the invite for the interview (one of the first for the site) and for skillfully editing what was, I'm sure, a meandering conversation.

Be sure to visit their site and stay abreast on what's happening on the Detroit music scene.

I'll be back next week with another entry into the Top 5 series. Until then...



Be Good,
DLW

Top 5:Non-EWF Earth Wind & Fire Tracks

Aaaaaaaand we're back!


I've been studying the vocals of Philip Bailey this month so I thought it would be fitting to make the subject of my next entry into the Top 5 series one on Earth Wind & Fire.

There's a catch, though. I wanted to pick songs that weren't on their records.

So, my personal rules as to what qualified was pretty simple: the song has to feature at least 3 band members playing on it and/or one of the vocalists singing lead. And nothing from any of their solo records. As usual, these are in no particular order.

That said, here we go!!!

                                            And Then - Weather Report

This one is a bit of an anomaly. Actually, the whole album was considered quite strange when it come out in 1978. The only reason I can really think of that both Deniece Williams and Maurice White appear on this track is because all parties involved were signed to White's American Recording Company (ARC) lable, a subsidiary of Columbia.




                                And I Do - Abraham Laboriel

Philip Bailey owns this song. It actually sounds more like an EWF song than what they were doing at the time...




                         Love's What's Happenin' - The Emotions

From Larry Dunn's opening synth solo all the way until the fade, this one grooves HARD. There are various breaks, feel changes and even time signature changes on this and the band remains tight!


                                The Paper - Deniece Williams

While her sophomore record wasn't as commercially successful as her debut (both produced by Maurice) Deniece's Songbird album was ripe with great songs and performances. The Paper was the closing song on this project and it's epic. 8 minutes in length, various tempo changes and horn solos, The Paper (about the ending of Williams' first marriage) is basically a minor blues with a bridge. But everyone involved manages to wring the maximum amount of emotion from the form. And it's just good to hear Maurice playing drums!


                       Tequila Mockingbird - Ramsey Lewis

This has always been a favorite of mine. Larry Dunn's song (and MiniMoog) along with the contributions of Verdine White, Al McKay, Philip Bailey and former EWF bandmate Ronnie Laws make this a groovy and unique experience (dig the changes Ronnie has to navigate at the end of his solo).


I left off a few obvious choices (Sun Goddess, Free, Best Of My Love, etc...) but hopefully I've hipped you to a few songs that you haven't checked out before.

I'll be back with another Top 5 list next week! Until then...


Be Good,
DLW

Top 5: Harvey Mason Tracks

Welcome back to the blog!

I'm gonna try something slightly different for the blog this summer; a Top Five series!

I've decided to begin with one of my favorite drummers, Harvey Mason.

      Quincy Jones - Tryin' To Find Out About You

I love this track! Rather than play a standard groove, Harvey essentially composed a drum part. And it's funky as all get out!



          Lee Ritenour - Sweet Syncopation

Another groovy one. Harvey's also playing percussion on this and there's a drum break in the middle of this that he doubles with percussion that creates a pretty hip effect. This will come up again later on the list...

          The Brecker Brothers - Some Skunk Funk

Word on the street is Harvey flew in the night before the session to rehearse with the band and sightread this on the first run through. 'Nuff Said.


             Minnie Riperton - Memory Lane            

Very tasteful cymbal work and groove changes in the context of a VERY hip pop tune!




               Harvey Mason - Phantazia            

I smile every time I hear this tune. An amazing composition by Dave Grusin, great rhythm section interplay with (and a rare bass solo by) Anthony Jackson and a slightly Cobham-esque solo by Harvey (enhanced by the aforementioned percussion overdub effect). This one has it all!


I purposefully made a few off-the-beaten-path picks so that (maybe) I'm hipping you to a few new things.

Remember, these are MY choices. Feel free to hit me up and let me know what YOUR favorites are!

I'm hoping to do 6 or 7 of these before summer's done. Wish me luck!


Be Good,
DLW

Planet D Nonet Township Jazz Project

Greetings!

This is a time-sensitive post so I'll keep this short and sweet.

I am VERY proud to be a part of the Planet D Nonet Township Jazz Project. This Detroit-based group (founded by RJ Spangler and James O'Donnell) has been making noise here and around the country for the last 6 years with no plans of slowing down.

This particular configuration will make it's debut at The Scarab Club on the 4th of July and we're holding a fundraiser to make this show the best it can be. We'll be featuring arrangements by South African artists such as Brotherhood of Breath, Abdullah Ibrahim, Hugh Masekela and many others.

As of this time of writing, there's still a day-and-a-half to pledge. Click on this link for details.

Thanks and hope to see you at the show!




Be Good,
DLW






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