Throwback to Lovefool

I released this record in 2009 with ACQ. The band on the record is Michael Cabe, Mark Lau and Ernesto Cervini. We recorded at Skyline Productions with Paul Wickliffe engineering and Oded Lev-Ari producing. We also had some special guests on this album: Joel Frahm on tenor sax, Marty Ehrlich on bass clarinet and a string quartet (Jesse Reagan, Earl Maneein, Matt Szemela and Jon Weber). Besides their main instruments, Michael Cabe sings and plays Rhodes and accordion, Ernesto sings and plays accordion, bass clarinet and percussion, Mark got away with just singing on this one.

Favorite track:

Oh, my.  It’s hard with this one. Oded wrote an amazing String Quartet and bass clarinet addition for Love Fool that makes me smile every time I hear it. The guys also sing AMAZING background vocals on Sad Songs and Waltzes and especially, The More I Go Out.  Michael’s intro to The More I Go Out is definitely happy making.  I also love a good Joel Frahm “foof.” He is a monster musician and truly excellent human and I love him.

I really love the eclectic song choices on this record. We dug deep for repertoire and ended up with some pretty cool tunes and arrangements. Check out the Spotify playlist to see what I’m talking about.

Small world connections:

We recorded “I Want to Get Married” a great tune by Nellie McKay on this record. Nellie actually came to our record release at The Jazz Standard for this record. I was so honored. She is supremely talented and a lovely human being. Two albums later I recorded with Nellie McKay on Jazz Country. Just Nellie and her uke and me and my saxophone.

Behind the scenes:

The original on this record is called, “Lonely Highway.” I had originally written a song to a Shel Silverstein poem but didn’t get permission to use the poem on the record. So, I went back and with the help of Ernesto and Oded, we came up with the lyrics you hear on the record.

I did the record release for this album at The Jazz Standard in NYC, one of my favorite places to play in the city. I was about 5 months pregnant at the time with my first. I had really easy pregnancies, so I was feeling great (thank goodness). The great Fred Hersch stopped by and played his tune, Lazin’ Around with me. What an honor. 

We actually recorded “Good Riddance” for the first record but it didn’t make the cut. We kept playing it live and tried again for the second album.

The melodica you hear on Sad Songs and Waltzes is yours truly.  Ernesto plays both accordion and bass clarinet on Lonely Highway – overachiever.