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December 13th, 2007
Well, I am here to report, that we just finished up 3 amazing days at Kampo Studios on Bond Street in lower Manhattan. After 2 months of rehearsal, the Code Ensemble nailed the basic tracks for two new discs. "The Re-Taking of Pelham 123" & "Invasion from the Chicken Planet". Huge kudos must go to the players, they rocked the house & I could not be more pleased with the results!
Andy Barbera - guitar
David Nadal - guitar
Nate Shaw - keys
Daniel Kelly - Keys
Devin Maxwell - percussion & conductor
Michael Evans - drums
They all played their asses off & I am humbled to work with such talented musicians. Their musicianship & dedication is un-surpassed, hats off to ya fellerz!
 Also, let us not forget our engineer Rob Carpenter who also worked his bootay off to make these tracks sound great. They really do, warm & clean, like a new puppy.
The room at Kampo is sweet. Check them out on line at http://www.kampo.com/kampo/index.html. Matt who runs the place is off the charts nice & they really took great care of us. Bill Lazwell has recorded there, along with a laundry list of who's who's.
It all started with a 4 hour setup on Saturday night the 8th. We then came back in bright & early on the 9th & 10th for tracking. We started with "Invasion" and finished the basic by around 5pm. Then after a short break we jumped right into Pelham & finished the Title Theme, credit roll & an intense little short number called "Stop Frame" in record time, out the door by 8pm. On Monday, we jumped right back into Pelham & finished up the other sections by about 3pm. Then, we did overdubs and any re-tracking for clams (bad notes) from 3-5.
This was an insane amount of music to record in such a short time (over 60 minutes) & would never have been possible without the months of rehearsal before hand. The cool thing is, that the band peaked in the studio & that almost never happens. It was a really fantastic music experience.
 Thankfully, the folks from Electronic Musician were covering the whole thing on video for a piece they will run on their site when the disc is ready for release in late January/Early February. Also David Weiss, Writer Extraordinaire (Mix, Among others) was seen lurking around & digging the sounds.
Now the process of editing the best takes together will start, from there I will bring the session over to the studios of the Manhattan Producers Alliance
(http://www.manhatpro.com). for overdubing & mixing. We still need to record String Quartet, Tuba, Trombone and Voices as well as adding the secret sauce to finish the final recording off. It will be a lot of work, but well worth it, trust me.
Dig this, as I was sitting there the next day, completely fried from the most intense 3 day session of my life & checking the tracks, the phone rings & it is from the RUMOR festival in Utrecht, Holland, They are interested in booking the full ensemble for a tour in May, how cool is that!
Stay tuned for CD's, Downloads, Video & live performances all coming your way in 2008.
Happy Holidayz, Happy New Year & till soon...
-SHout
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We started out with the FLUX QUARTET. This is not the first time they have been over to the studio & trust me it will not be the last. The FLUX helped launch Pelham back in 2005 at the Kitchen in Manhattan and it was only fitting that they be the group to record the studio album. By the way, they have also recorded a masterful version of my second string quartet "PA KUA" Check it & them out on 
Then, Ron Caswell (Tuba) & Squanch (Trombone) both pictured here, did their usual off the charts awesome job. Needless to say, the low end is well tended in both pieces. I love working with these guys & a huge shout out must go to Violinist Ralph Allen for playing the parts to perfection, and laying the vibrato on nice & thick.
The last overdub we did was none other then the best Sax player in the whole world. That's right Mr. Lenny Pickett (Music director for the Saturday Night Live band & founding member of Tower of Power) blew the roof off the place & laid down his signature sound for the tenor feature on PELHAM. I can't tell you how thrilled I was that Lenny was into being a part of this project. I have been a huge fan ever since I heard his Borneo horns way back in the 80's. With both of us being transplanted Bay Area dudes, it was a treat to finally work with him. Here we are pictured here after the session at the MPA.
David Garland of WNYC moderates a pre-concert talk with David Shire,
Steve Horowitz, and Jane Brill
The Code International performs the world premier of