Connor Kennedy's New EP!!!
i not the best blogger, seeing how i only post every couple of years or so! but here is the latest news. after 6+ years on the road wtih Shemekia Copeland, i'm taking a break from traveling. with shemekia i played in over 20 countries, on 3 continents...for countless music fans and with great company. it was an incredible journey for me, and i made many friends along the way.
since feb i've been home (and happy) and have had the pleasure of recording with a few friends.
1st, last year (2010) i recorded with chrissie o'dell and one hot mess at paul orofino's millbrook studios. chrissie is a great blues singer and all around sassy chica. http://chrissieodell.co/store.cfm
also last year i had the pleasure of returning a favor (zeb kandros spent a day helping me move a b-3 from yonkers to kingston!) and played on my old friend's latest recording - adding organ flava to 2 tracks on his band DEEP CHEMISTRY's latest cd. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/deepchemistry
now on to 2011!
the first week in APRIL i had the honor of playing organ and electric piano and even singing some backround vocals (a first for me!) on Petey Hop's latest recording, which was produced by the legendary DUKE ROBILLARD. The band spent 3 days in Jack Gauthier's Lakewest Recording Studio (and 2 nights at a nearby super 8!) bringing Pete's excellent songs to life! can't wait till this cd is released, i'll be sure to let eveyone know when it is!
and just last week (end of june) i spent a day at the young and super talented DAVE GROSS' fat rabbit studios in montclair NJ adding organ, barrel-house piano and funky wurlitzer electric piano to Mike Bram's latest recording. this record already sounds great, and it was a pleasure to work with Dave, who is literally "at home" in the studio as a producer and engineer.
More recordings to come later this year, will keep you all posted, and as always thanks for listening & checking out new music!
-jb
just finished mixing the demo for the jb-soul band with Heather Wolfe. really excited about it!!!
crash
at least no one was seriously injurred or killed.
we are all ok.
as you might know ive been touring with shemekia copeland's band for the last 3+ years. overall its been fantastic. ive been all over europe canada and the usa...playing great music with shemekia and the band...meeting all sorts of ppl and other musicians.
the hardest part of touring is the touring. lol. most of your life on the road is just that. hours and hours and hours in a van driving from gig to gig.
last wed night the band met up in east stoudsburg PA at midnight at the "road manager's" house. we had a 12 hour drive ahead of us to chicago to shemekia's house then another couple hours to bloomington IL for our gig thurs night. arthur neilson drove the first couple hours. then i drove from 2:30am till 8 am. damon eppely "road manager" took over. we made a pitstop around 11am somewhere in indiana. it was a beautiful day. blue sky. brisk.
back in the van. damon driving the full size van pulling a large trailer with our equipment and luggage doing about 70. then it started snowing. hard. (it was the lake effect snow that was forcast) the interstate was covered with snow/ice. damon slowed a little to 50-60mph. then it snowed harder. both the drummer rod and i said 'hey damon its a whiteout....it looks slippery.' he actually said "ITS NOTHING"
a minute later thru the snow we saw the tail end of a tractor trailor standing still in our lane (the left lane). there were cars stopped in the right lane. there were a couple vehicles that had slid off into the center to our left. we were still going about 50 mph when damon tried to stop. it was like a nightmare. i had no seatbelt on there was no time i crouched behind the driver's seat as he said 'hold on we're gonna hit. we're gonna hit HOLD ON'
we hit hard. my head smashed into the back of the seat. i spit out blood and pieces of my teeth. my head hurt. the air smelt awful it was smoky from the airbags. i was afraid we might get hit again from behind i wanted to get out of the van. everyone was asking each other 'are you all right....is anybody hurt is everyone ok??' thankfully yes. no one was seriously hurting. i mean it sucked but no broken bones....no bleeding...everyone was concious. damon (the driver) was stuck in his seat. the front end had been forced back and the steering wheel had him pinned.
i get out and felt hot and faint and layed down in the snow. the guys came around and got me up.
the firetrucks and ambulances came 20 mins later. the fireman were great. they got damon out of his seat in minutes and he was standing and moving his legs. he was fine. we all took the ride to the hospital...got checked out.
everyone made it.
then next night we were in michigan playing to a packed theatre.
it felt so good to play.
how do you like it? sign the guestbook!
about the 1st week in NOV 2003 i did a recording session at Easter Island Studios up in Coxsackie, NY (a little south of Albany). i added a little piano/hammond organ/and harpsichord~~to some EXCELLENT songs by written by Brian Kaplan. really good/well crafted college pop rock songs. kicks some ass. if y'all want to check it out the cds are available from brian's website (i think they are only $10):
www.briankaplanband.com
well, the radio promotion campaign paid off!!!
this past January I enlisted the help of Bryan Farrish Radio Promotion to help get my CD 'Lost River Jams' out to the blues DJs. I provided them with 600 CDs (and a couple dollars) and they sent the CDs out to over 250 radio stations that play the blues. then for 2 months they stayed in touch with the DJs/stations and tracked how it was being received...some stations really dug it....some not so much (said it was either too jazzy for blues shows or too blues for jazz shows), but still it managed to get played and heard! Living Blues magazine publishes radio charts every month, and in March 2005 Lost River Jams was #14 in the country!!!!
BRAND NEW on Scufflin' Records:
BOOGALOO to JACK McDUFF
Featuring The Diplomats of Solid Sound, The Greyhounds, Jeremy Baum Trio and many more...
The sweet sounds of the Hammond B-3 organ take center stage on Boogaloo to Jack McDuff -- a loving tribute to one of the funkiest musicians of the twentieth century. McDuff paved the way for modern jazz and funk with his uniugue style that was equal parts soul, funk and blues. His group was among the most popular jazz combos of the mid-'60s and featured the talents of a young guitarist named George Benson. The music world lost a true legend with McDuff's passing in 2001. Thankfully, "Brother Jack's" influence lives on in the music of some of the hottest jazz combos performing today who dig deep into McDuff's soulful keyboard explorations to create a tribute album that would have made the master proud.
http://www.vitaminrecords.com/web/page.asp?pgs=product&catid=26&id=811
Lost River Jams was just reviewed in this months 'Blues Bytes'.
check it out:
http://www.bluenight.com/BluesBytes/wn0305.html
on 5/23/01 i played a gig in Stamford CT with Gil Parris that was recorded live. we played an eight song set, took a break, then played those same 8 songs again. the best takes of each song were then chosen and have just been released by CMJ Records: 'Gil Parris...Live at the Next Door Cafe'
it features 5 originals and 3 covers....seriously soulful stuff. my fave track is #6, Ol' Soul, which was written by Gil (and is dedicated to Patsy Cline.)
you can check out a review at NYBJ:
http://www.nybluesandjazz.org/reviews/liveatnextdoor.htm
happy new year! i just spent the past few days playing in FL with shemekia copeland...and it was beautiful. thurs in tampa and fri (new years eve) in boca raton (near ft lauderdale). it was pretty incredible. shemekia sounded awsome. i think playing the sundome in tampa was prob the biggest Indoor venue ive done so far...8000 seats. wasnt sold out but it was close...then fri night we played this beautiful amphitheater (the mizner)...4000 seats outdoors...big stage beautiful space. moon was out...had to be in the high 60s...we opened for dr. john and b.b. king. i played a big baldwin grand piano. the band sounded good. kevin jenkins is shemekias new bass player and this was the 1st gigs for both of us as new members of the band. i had a lot of nervous energy...lots of adrenaline, but it felt great to play. at one point dr john played some solo piano in his set...it was killin...bb was the king. cant believe i was a part of the scene...cant wait till the next gig!
the first time i heard shemekia copeland sing was about 8 years ago. i was playing locally with bobby kyle's blues band. bobby had played with johnny clyde copeland (shemekia's dad). we were playing a gig at chicago blues in manhattan, and shemekia (then 17yrs old) came up on stage and sat in with the band. i was really blown away. she could really sing the blues even at 17. couple yrs later she was signed with alligator, and a friend of mine (eric king) was touring with her playing bass. i remember a few years after that playing a double bill in d.c. i was playing with sue foley's band, and shemekia was the other performer that night. what impressed me that night was how she really had the audience's attention, she was so charismatic and just gave a great performance. i think i might have told eric king that if she ever needs an organ player, to def keep me in mind!
well a couple years after that, i got a call from shemekia's manager john hahn. he asked me if i had a passport, and if i was interested in going to europe with shemekia for a couple weeks, because her keyboard player (jason) was sick and wouldnt be able to make the trip. the plane was leaving in 2 days! of course i said yes, and made a few phone calls the next day to cancel all my students and gigs for time id be away. i had to listen to her material from her 2 cds on the plane and the van ride to the 1st gig and sketch out a couple charts to get familiar with the material. the 1st show was for about 500 ppl somewhere in france. it was amazing. the next night we were playing in cognac, a BEAUTIFUL old city for a few thousand ppl. we played a week in france, one night in antwerp belgium, and spent a week in norway playing at the nottodden blues fest. the whole experience definately has been the highlight of my carreer so far, those 2 weeks were incredible. i saw so many beautiful places and played shows for 1000's of ppl, and i got the best seat in the house (behind the organ and piano) to hear shemekia sing.
that was 3 years ago. last week i recieved another call from john hahn, and he asked me if id like to audition for the full time keyboard gig with shemekia's band. i spent the last week learning the 6 songs for the audition...obsessed with learning these tunes...they were constantly playing on repeat even when i was asleep~
the audition was this past thurs, and i got the gig. im so excited. cant wait to start travelling with her and the band again. and getting to hear one of the best blues singers out there everytime i step on stage!
for more info about shemekia check out her website:
http://www.shemekiacopeland.com/
LOST RIVER JAMS has been reviewed by BLUES REVUE magazine!!! pick up the latest copy of Blues Revue (Dec/Jan 2005 issue). this is an international publication for blues fans, and im really excited that we are in there. check out what they had to say:
"We end this column the way it started, with Hammond organ excellence. Organ trio mastermind Jeremy Baum hits all corners of maps both traditional and trailblazing, with tunes ranging from Latin arrangements ("Liberty Street") to Booker T. soul ("Oasis Jam"), Jimmy Smith swing ("JB Shuffle") to jazz-rock funk ("Bill Showed Up"), blues ("Rock Me"), and spirituals ("Amazing Grace"). His tone and technique are superb, his core band (drummer Ernie Colon and guitarist Chris Vitarello) is impeccable, and his guests - especially Bill Perry on guitar - make LOST RIVER JAMS (Flying Yak 10002) a real find. Feel and sonics are perfect across the board. Highly recommended."
http://www.bluesrevue.com/
just spent an afternoon in the studio with Jeff Wilkinson, adding some organ and wurlitzer to his latest CD of original Americana (folk) music. the session took place in woodstock and went for about 4 hours (overdubbed keyboards on 7 tracks). really enjoyable songs. looking forward to this release (prob in the next 6 months or so.)
well, IT IS WHAT IT IS, melvin sparks' newsest cd is out on savant records...and it is FUNKY!!! i just got it in the mail today and i'm listening to it right now (for the 1st time.) we recorded it the end of january '04, and its great to finally have a COPY. i had been playing with melvin's band for about 3 weeks when we went in the studio to cut the album. most of what you'll hear was recorded live. im very happy tho to be on such a seriously funky recording, and sparky tears it up. sound quality kicks ass too. check it out at melvins website: www.melvinsparks.com
a few years ago i did a live recording with gil parris (exceptional virtuoso jazz/funk/rock guitar player.) i just found out one of those tracks from the session made it onto his latest cd Jam This. (Ain't No Sunshine.) came out really good. you can find out more about gil at his website www.gilparris.com
this isnt the latest news, but i had a wonderful opportunity to play with one of the legends of soul-jazz this past winter. (Melvin Sparks...super-funky guitarist...was a sideman with lou donaldson and jack mcduff back in the day; late 60's early 70's.) he knows more about how the organ should be played than i do. he's played with ALL the greats (jimmy smith, mcgriff, lonnie smith, joey d. etc) he taught me a lot in the few months that i was in his band and i'll always appreciate the fact that he asked me to play with him.
the 1st gig was new years day (at his MOSQUE in mount vernon.) it was with joe hrbek on alto sax. (great guy/great player) and Mike Clark on drums !! (he played with herbie hancocks super funky band the headhunter's in the 70's.) i was nervous to say the least. but it was cool. the guys helped me get thru the gig and there was no egos. everyone was just happy to be playing music. melvins regular drummer while i was playing with him was erik kalb (of deep banana blackout fame...he also played with john scofield.) erik is a monster drummer and i had a great time playing with that particular band....
the melvin sparks band toured around small clubs in the northeast mostly playing for younger crowds that were eager to dance. we were in boston, portland maine, and nh and vermont during the coldest weeks in YEARS...40 below windchills...carrying the hammond organ up and down flights of stairs.
i should thank everyone that helped carry the monster. esp the guys in the band. (ESP chris vitarello who's been helping me move my organ and leslie for at least 7 years now!) anyway, my last gig with melvin was at the rhythm room at pastis in harford ct march 6 2004. definately the highlight of the 2 month experience was opening for the derek trucks band at mexicali blues on fri 1/23. kofi burbage let me use his organ (which had a great sound btw.) and we played to a packed house which had come out for the show. derek was (and is always) incredible. during his set i stood out in the audience right in front of his amp. i think it was a fender super. im not sure. it looked like the same amp murali coryell has been using for years. what a sound he had. and it was CRANKED. anyway. thats how i spent my winter this year. no skiing. but a lot of driving around ski country to all these great gigs with melvin. hopefully i got a little funkier...lol.
the 1st gig was new years day (at his MOSQUE in mount vernon.) it was with joe hrbek on alto sax. (great guy/great player) and Mike Clark on drums !! (he played with herbie hancocks super funky band the headhunter's in the 70's.) i was nervous to say the least. but it was cool. the guys helped me get thru the gig and there was no egos. everyone was just happy to be playing music. melvins regular drummer while i was playing with him was erik kalb (of deep banana blackout fame...he also played with john scofield.) erik is a monster drummer and i had a great time playing with that particular band....
the melvin sparks band toured around small clubs in the northeast mostly playing for younger crowds that were eager to dance. we were in boston, portland maine, and nh and vermont during the coldest weeks in YEARS...40 below windchills...carrying the hammond organ up and down flights of stairs.
i should thank everyone that helped carry the monster. esp the guys in the band. (ESP chris vitarello who's been helping me move my organ and leslie for at least 7 years now!) anyway, my last gig with melvin was at the rhythm room at pastis in harford ct march 6 2004. definately the highlight of the 2 month experience was opening for the derek trucks band at mexicali blues on fri 1/23. kofi burbage let me use his organ (which had a great sound btw.) and we played to a packed house which had come out for the show. derek was (and is always) incredible. during his set i stood out in the audience right in front of his amp. i think it was a fender super. im not sure. it looked like the same amp murali coryell has been using for years. what a sound he had. and it was CRANKED. anyway. thats how i spent my winter this year. no skiing. but a lot of driving around ski country to all these great gigs with melvin. hopefully i got a little funkier...lol.
Music is my life. Ive been playing piano since I was 5. My father taught me how to read music then...but mostly i would just bang on the keys with my fists and make up songs. I've always listened---to everything. I get lost in sound. I discovered Hendrix when I was 13. Pink Floyd too. and Coltrane, and Led Zep, and Herbie Hancock's Headhunters, and B.B. King and Stevie Ray, and James Brown, and Joao Gilberto, and Chopin, and Bob Marley and Keith Jarrett, and Miles Davis and just about everyone that ever played with him. I think i've listened to Kind of Blue more than any other recording. I started playing afro-cuban music when i was 25 (with some friends that became the latin band Sonando). I love watching everyone dance. Theres just so much good energy in that music that kind of cycles and builds between the crowd and the musicians.
I love how music breaks down barriers..brings people closer..celebrates life and beauty in the world.
With my band I play a cut-down Hammond B-2 Organ, (put together by Mike Torsone), thru a Leslie 145 speaker cabinet. A lot of ppl have asked what the difference is between a B-2 and a B-3. The B-2 is an older model that didn't have the percussion effect. My B-2 is customized with an aftermarket percussion box from trek 2. I actually like it better than a stock B-3's perc. only because i can adjust the volume and decay of the perc. in real time. (whereas the B-3's perc can only be modified internally with a screwdriver and you have to know what youre doing. I dont. lol. Its a good thing Mike lives nearby...whenever something needs fixing i go over there and we wheel the organ into his basement where he usually fixes it while i wait, assisting him like we are operating on a patient.) My organ also has a couple other modifications...i have a footswitch to change the leslie from fast to slow, and there is a spring reverb right in the organ. (its also been cut...there are no footpedals anymore. and its just light enought for 4 guys to carry it around without too much trouble. i think its about 240 lbs.)
What we do has a lot of influences...(Jimmy Smith, McGriff, Jack McDuff, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Booker T. and the MG's, the Meters, Santana, Hendrix, Stevie Ray, Medeski Martin and Wood, Derek Trucks, John Scofield.) So its an eclectic mix of jazz and blues and latin...and long jams. We just love to play, and love to see you all dance~~~Hope to see you at a show soon!
The CDs are DONE DONE DONE!!! they will be available at the shows, or just send a check/money order for $15 (includes S&H) to my address:
Jeremy Baum
10 Oakwood #27
New Windsor NY
12553
