Groovemasters, Vol. 1

Principal recording Solid Air Records, (1997)

 

 

G R O O V E M A S T E R S
V O L U M E   1
Duet with Laurence Juber

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TRACK LISTING:

  1. Groovemasters
  2. Commotion
  3. Shoganai
  4. Hurricane
  5. Private Dick
  6. Bad Attitude
  7. Airborne
  8. Ricochet
  9. Dirty Boy
  10. Last Train

LINER NOTES:

  1. Groovemaster - "Sounds like it's in two keys at once... but somehow it makes sense." - PR
  2. Commotion - "Probably the meanest tune on the record... Acoustic Metal... I love Laurence's stuttering machine gun entrance." - PR "One of my favorites, a little surfy." - LJ
  3. Shoganai - "A word I learned in Japan. The feeling of sadness that sometimes goes with doing what you have to." - PR "I'm a sucker for a pretty nylon string melody." - LJ
  4. Hurricane - "I grabbed the Baby Taylor and tuned it to almost open A. This one hit me like a Hurricane. I had so little time to think about it." - LJ "Reminds me of U2." - PR
  5. Private Dick - "Early 60's spy/martini music." - PR "A lounge-jazz-detective style thing" - LJ
  6. Bad Attitude - "A funky groove thing" - LJ "Would have been a good cop show theme." - PR
  7. Airborne - "A moody excursion in 7/8 time." - PR
  8. Ricochet - "I don't remember taking a breath during this one." - LJ "A one-take jam." - PR
  9. Dirty Boy - "Easy ridin' cowpoke finds himself in the big city." - PR "I like the distant dog bark at the end." - LJ
  10. Last Train - "A good ending tune. I like the way it builds, layer by layer." - PR

The Art of Spontaneous Composition
After several days of playing their fingers off at the NAMM show we stuck these two weary Acoustic Warriors in a small studio and told them to make a record. Grant Headley (a very experienced engineer) turned to me and said, "You're telling me we only have a few days to make this record and we don't have any songs?" I am not going to tell you it was all magic; these guys had to work to make this happen, and this CD is as big a testament to their professionalism as it is their talent. Laurence described it this way: "Playing with Preston presented some serious challenges. Keeping up with his raw energy for one. Having to concentrate on my own parts, instead of simply delighting in the close up experience of such technical wizardry for another. Most of the time I felt like I was working with a rhythm section rather than another guitarist. Because his technique and tunings are so unusual and Preston's left hand would generally not offer me anything recognizable, I found myself relying on my ear to follow his advanced harmonic concepts (those college ear-training classes can be usefull after all)." We found that due to Preston's use of low tunings that Laurence's Collings OM model worked better than his normal trusty Taylors. For variety and color we also utilized LJ's old Gutter nylon string, a metal Dobro, and the funky Baby Taylor used on "Hurricane" (note to Taylor: They're not just for kids). I would like to take credit for this music, but producing this record meant staying out of harm's way for the most part. Interrupting the flow of ideas would have been unforgivable. We had the most unusual weather, but the storm clouds outside the studio couldn't match the thunder inside from Preston's propulsive riffing and Laurence's symbiotic return volleys. During mastering, Doug Doyle was heard to say more than once during the playback of "Commotion", "I hear a kick drum and a tabla! I thought this was just an acoustic guitar record." Did I say producing this CD meant being like a fly on the wall? Here's the buzz: "I got it!", "Is that too vanilla?", "My intellectual side needs to have it work harmonically.", I'm tired of perfect fives, how about an ambiguous five?", "Let's try this... works good... I like that chord!... but does it work?... Let's go with it... It's pretty sick... It's nice... It has potential, we can refine it", and my favorite post take comment, "You know we're in different tunings?" It was a lot of pressure, but a lot of fun to bring this CD to you, enjoy, and keep grooving." - JJ

Laurence Juber and Preston Reed - Groovemasters, Vol. 1
Date of Release -1997

Personnel:
Preston Reed - Guitar
Laurence Juber - Guitar


Produced by James Jensen
Recorded and engineered by Grant Headley at The Sign of the Scorpion, Studio City
Mastered by Doug Doyle at Digital Dog and Digital Bros
Photography by Nathan York
Art Direction by James Jensen in association with Todd Ellison and Shadowfoot Studio.
All compositions © 1997 by Laurence Juber/Juber Music ASCAP, and Preston Reed/Suite Hodeet Music ASCAP. Preston Reed appears with the kind permission of Dusty Closet Records.



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