Sunday, November 27, 2016

Dressed Like Aces, 1926, and Orale

In 2005, I wrote a song. The song, entitled "Dressed Like Aces," contained a bass line and keyboard part that I fleshed out into three songs (Dressed Like Aces Part 1, Part 2 and Undressed Like Aces) as a part of an unreleased EP by the same name.

I brought these songs to my then band The Pax Romana.  The songs themselves were not necessarily compatible with the style of the band, but the bassline and keyboard riff stuck. After some jamming about, the guitarist, Jay Ziegler and I worked up a slightly different arrangement with a different feel and a modified bassline. The song resonated with the band and it became one of our best. Jay is a master of arrangement and composition, and his progressive dynamics completely changed the song.

The new song, entitled "1926," was subdequently released on our independent self-produced album "Force Majeur."

The band broke up in late 2006.

Having kept in touch over the years and even working on a side project in 2008 called King Cobra Triangles, Jay and I continued collaborating off and on. In fact, Jay was the keen ear that turned the phrases "progressive garage rock" and "garage prog" in description of my developing personal style.

In 2013, I recorded Jay's song "Botox Killer," as part of The JackKnife Barbers album Blood On The Ivories as an homage to the Mighty Jay (as I had begun referring to him). It had been a fun simple song that we had played in some form in The Pax Romana. Jay had finished fleshing out the lyrics in 2009 for my then band The Jackknife Barbers. I was diligent at the time to credit Jay and thank him for sharing his composition.

In 2015, I was playing in the Charlotte-based band Careless Romantic. In the interest of trying some new ideas out, I introduced them to portions of the elements of the "Dressed Like Aces" and "1926." I've always been a fan of poaching previous material from my compositions; I think of it as being "self referential."

The song, "Orale" (pronounced "Odelay") was born.  This was recorded and published on Careless Romantic's debut album "No Heart To Break."

Regrettably, I did not insist on crediting Jay for his role in re-writing the song. In my defense, I was bereft of creative control during the recording and publishing process of this album, having to remind the bassist twice to just to get my name spelled correctly on the back cover. The album was published hastily and largely without my creative input.

For my lack of giving credit to Jay for his creative contributions as well as his support and inspiration, I regret the resulting publication.

Jay has remained a gracious and forgiving friend and fellow musician over the years and I sincerely appreciate the role he has played in my life and my pursuit of music.

 While I can't edit the album credits, I can credit Jay Ziegler here on my blog. It's official, it's on the internet, it's a document.

Thanks again, Jay. Keep rocking.

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