After years of providing guitar, vocals and compositions for others, David James, with his ensemble GPS (Good People, Son), has recorded an album that highlights his own writing, entitled Billionaire Blues.
Background
San Francisco-born and Oakland-bred guitarist and vocalist David James has been involved in much of the spectrum of the Bay Area music scene, from sculpting guitar feedback and ambient sounds with Thessalonians (1986-1991), to touring and recording with Spearhead (1994-1997) and the Coup (1999-2004), to playing Afrobeat and with (Sila and the) Afrofunk Experience (2004-present) to presenting funky art-song with the Beth Custer Ensemble (2001-present), all the while cultivating his own compositional voice.
The Band
GPS is a rhythm-horns-and-strings sextet made up of salsa and brass band trombonist Alan Williams; polymath Dina Maccabee on viola; longtime Will Bernard cohort Jan Jackson on drums; creative music scene instigator Lisa Mezzacappa on acoustic bass; film and theater score composer and Clarinet Thing bandleader Beth Custer on clarinet; and David James on guitar and vocals.
The Album
Billionaire Blues is the first album of music written solely by David James. The album was recorded over two days in September, 2015 at Beth Custer's home, with engineer Jeff Cressman bringing his mobile recording rig to the rehearsal studio/long table dining room, and with the band recording live without headphones – only hearing one another in the room. The challenges presented by recording this way (and the challenges of then mixing such a recording) were outweighed by the natural feel of the process, which made for a deep listening and a extra-attuned responsiveness between the musicians.
The mostly-instrumental album ranges in style and influences: it includes cartoon music ("Wag the Puppy"); elegiac blues ("Billionaire Blues"); reggae ("Rubber Foot"); a waltz ("Powell Doctrine"); a bopping jazzish tune ("Obama Hop"); and various combinations of Afro- and Euro-beats ("2 Zs, 2 Ps", "Grip", "Black Ops").
Note: entirely different recordings of both "Black Ops" and "Wag the Puppy" will be featured on the near-simultaneously-released album by the Beth Custer Ensemble, For the Grace of Any Man.
CD Release Show
GPS will be celebrating the release of Billionaire Blues on Thursday, February 25th at the Make Out Room, which is located at 3225 22nd St. in San Francisco, California. Also performing will be Gringa.
GPS
David James - guitar, voice
Beth Custer - clarinets
Alan Williams - trombone
Dina Maccabee - viola
Lisa Mezzacappa - bass
Jan Jackson - drums
Contact: David James
[email protected]
https://www.heydavidjames.com
Billionaire Blues was funded by the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music's Musical Grant Program
https://www.sffcm.org
Gringa
Gringa is an all-female band based in San Francisco, CA, that blends Brazilian, Latin, funk, rock and reggae grooves with sophisticated harmonies and memorable songwriting, seducing listeners into a tropical vacation on the dancefloor while dissolving stereotypes and cultural barriers. Gringa surprises audiences with their own brand of playful and thought-provoking original songs in English and Portuguese, as well as unique, genre-bending covers of a range of classics. Their live shows keep audiences enthralled through the solid gel of the rhythm section, the shuffling of percussion instruments, dense vocal harmonies, scorching sax solos, fun arrangements, and occasional special guests. By weaving Brazilian and Caribbean rhythms through nomadic love songs and millenial musings, Gringa forges a borderless sound that excites crowds and stimulates minds.
Maya Finlay - Guitar, Cavaco, Voice, Songwriting
Kate Pittard - Alto Sax, Percussion, Voice, Songwriting
Diana Di Battista - Percussion, Voice
Luna Fuentes-Vaccaro - Drums, Percussion
Jenelle Roccaforte - Bass
show less
Background
San Francisco-born and Oakland-bred guitarist and vocalist David James has been involved in much of the spectrum of the Bay Area music scene, from sculpting guitar feedback and ambient sounds with Thessalonians (1986-1991), to touring and recording with Spearhead (1994-1997) and the Coup (1999-2004), to playing Afrobeat and with (Sila and the) Afrofunk Experience (2004-present) to presenting funky art-song with the Beth Custer Ensemble (2001-present), all the while cultivating his own compositional voice.
The Band
GPS is a rhythm-horns-and-strings sextet made up of salsa and brass band trombonist Alan Williams; polymath Dina Maccabee on viola; longtime Will Bernard cohort Jan Jackson on drums; creative music scene instigator Lisa Mezzacappa on acoustic bass; film and theater score composer and Clarinet Thing bandleader Beth Custer on clarinet; and David James on guitar and vocals.
The Album
Billionaire Blues is the first album of music written solely by David James. The album was recorded over two days in September, 2015 at Beth Custer's home, with engineer Jeff Cressman bringing his mobile recording rig to the rehearsal studio/long table dining room, and with the band recording live without headphones – only hearing one another in the room. The challenges presented by recording this way (and the challenges of then mixing such a recording) were outweighed by the natural feel of the process, which made for a deep listening and a extra-attuned responsiveness between the musicians.
The mostly-instrumental album ranges in style and influences: it includes cartoon music ("Wag the Puppy"); elegiac blues ("Billionaire Blues"); reggae ("Rubber Foot"); a waltz ("Powell Doctrine"); a bopping jazzish tune ("Obama Hop"); and various combinations of Afro- and Euro-beats ("2 Zs, 2 Ps", "Grip", "Black Ops").
Note: entirely different recordings of both "Black Ops" and "Wag the Puppy" will be featured on the near-simultaneously-released album by the Beth Custer Ensemble, For the Grace of Any Man.
CD Release Show
GPS will be celebrating the release of Billionaire Blues on Thursday, February 25th at the Make Out Room, which is located at 3225 22nd St. in San Francisco, California. Also performing will be Gringa.
GPS
David James - guitar, voice
Beth Custer - clarinets
Alan Williams - trombone
Dina Maccabee - viola
Lisa Mezzacappa - bass
Jan Jackson - drums
Contact: David James
[email protected]
https://www.heydavidjames.com
Billionaire Blues was funded by the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music's Musical Grant Program
https://www.sffcm.org
Gringa
Gringa is an all-female band based in San Francisco, CA, that blends Brazilian, Latin, funk, rock and reggae grooves with sophisticated harmonies and memorable songwriting, seducing listeners into a tropical vacation on the dancefloor while dissolving stereotypes and cultural barriers. Gringa surprises audiences with their own brand of playful and thought-provoking original songs in English and Portuguese, as well as unique, genre-bending covers of a range of classics. Their live shows keep audiences enthralled through the solid gel of the rhythm section, the shuffling of percussion instruments, dense vocal harmonies, scorching sax solos, fun arrangements, and occasional special guests. By weaving Brazilian and Caribbean rhythms through nomadic love songs and millenial musings, Gringa forges a borderless sound that excites crowds and stimulates minds.
Maya Finlay - Guitar, Cavaco, Voice, Songwriting
Kate Pittard - Alto Sax, Percussion, Voice, Songwriting
Diana Di Battista - Percussion, Voice
Luna Fuentes-Vaccaro - Drums, Percussion
Jenelle Roccaforte - Bass
After years of providing guitar, vocals and compositions for others, David James, with his ensemble GPS (Good People, Son), has recorded an album that highlights his own writing, entitled Billionaire Blues.
Background
San Francisco-born and Oakland-bred guitarist and vocalist David James has been involved in much of the spectrum of the Bay Area music scene, from sculpting guitar feedback and ambient sounds with Thessalonians (1986-1991), to touring and recording with Spearhead (1994-1997) and the Coup (1999-2004), to playing Afrobeat and with (Sila and the) Afrofunk Experience (2004-present) to presenting funky art-song with the Beth Custer Ensemble (2001-present), all the while cultivating his own compositional voice.
The Band
GPS is a rhythm-horns-and-strings sextet made up of salsa and brass band trombonist Alan Williams; polymath Dina Maccabee on viola; longtime Will Bernard cohort Jan Jackson on drums; creative music scene instigator Lisa Mezzacappa on acoustic bass; film and theater score composer and Clarinet Thing bandleader Beth Custer on clarinet; and David James on guitar and vocals.
The Album
Billionaire Blues is the first album of music written solely by David James. The album was recorded over two days in September, 2015 at Beth Custer's home, with engineer Jeff Cressman bringing his mobile recording rig to the rehearsal studio/long table dining room, and with the band recording live without headphones – only hearing one another in the room. The challenges presented by recording this way (and the challenges of then mixing such a recording) were outweighed by the natural feel of the process, which made for a deep listening and a extra-attuned responsiveness between the musicians.
The mostly-instrumental album ranges in style and influences: it includes cartoon music ("Wag the Puppy"); elegiac blues ("Billionaire Blues"); reggae ("Rubber Foot"); a waltz ("Powell Doctrine"); a bopping jazzish tune ("Obama Hop"); and various combinations of Afro- and Euro-beats ("2 Zs, 2 Ps", "Grip", "Black Ops").
Note: entirely different recordings of both "Black Ops" and "Wag the Puppy" will be featured on the near-simultaneously-released album by the Beth Custer Ensemble, For the Grace of Any Man.
CD Release Show
GPS will be celebrating the release of Billionaire Blues on Thursday, February 25th at the Make Out Room, which is located at 3225 22nd St. in San Francisco, California. Also performing will be Gringa.
GPS
David James - guitar, voice
Beth Custer - clarinets
Alan Williams - trombone
Dina Maccabee - viola
Lisa Mezzacappa - bass
Jan Jackson - drums
Contact: David James
[email protected]
https://www.heydavidjames.com
Billionaire Blues was funded by the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music's Musical Grant Program
https://www.sffcm.org
Gringa
Gringa is an all-female band based in San Francisco, CA, that blends Brazilian, Latin, funk, rock and reggae grooves with sophisticated harmonies and memorable songwriting, seducing listeners into a tropical vacation on the dancefloor while dissolving stereotypes and cultural barriers. Gringa surprises audiences with their own brand of playful and thought-provoking original songs in English and Portuguese, as well as unique, genre-bending covers of a range of classics. Their live shows keep audiences enthralled through the solid gel of the rhythm section, the shuffling of percussion instruments, dense vocal harmonies, scorching sax solos, fun arrangements, and occasional special guests. By weaving Brazilian and Caribbean rhythms through nomadic love songs and millenial musings, Gringa forges a borderless sound that excites crowds and stimulates minds.
Maya Finlay - Guitar, Cavaco, Voice, Songwriting
Kate Pittard - Alto Sax, Percussion, Voice, Songwriting
Diana Di Battista - Percussion, Voice
Luna Fuentes-Vaccaro - Drums, Percussion
Jenelle Roccaforte - Bass
read more
Background
San Francisco-born and Oakland-bred guitarist and vocalist David James has been involved in much of the spectrum of the Bay Area music scene, from sculpting guitar feedback and ambient sounds with Thessalonians (1986-1991), to touring and recording with Spearhead (1994-1997) and the Coup (1999-2004), to playing Afrobeat and with (Sila and the) Afrofunk Experience (2004-present) to presenting funky art-song with the Beth Custer Ensemble (2001-present), all the while cultivating his own compositional voice.
The Band
GPS is a rhythm-horns-and-strings sextet made up of salsa and brass band trombonist Alan Williams; polymath Dina Maccabee on viola; longtime Will Bernard cohort Jan Jackson on drums; creative music scene instigator Lisa Mezzacappa on acoustic bass; film and theater score composer and Clarinet Thing bandleader Beth Custer on clarinet; and David James on guitar and vocals.
The Album
Billionaire Blues is the first album of music written solely by David James. The album was recorded over two days in September, 2015 at Beth Custer's home, with engineer Jeff Cressman bringing his mobile recording rig to the rehearsal studio/long table dining room, and with the band recording live without headphones – only hearing one another in the room. The challenges presented by recording this way (and the challenges of then mixing such a recording) were outweighed by the natural feel of the process, which made for a deep listening and a extra-attuned responsiveness between the musicians.
The mostly-instrumental album ranges in style and influences: it includes cartoon music ("Wag the Puppy"); elegiac blues ("Billionaire Blues"); reggae ("Rubber Foot"); a waltz ("Powell Doctrine"); a bopping jazzish tune ("Obama Hop"); and various combinations of Afro- and Euro-beats ("2 Zs, 2 Ps", "Grip", "Black Ops").
Note: entirely different recordings of both "Black Ops" and "Wag the Puppy" will be featured on the near-simultaneously-released album by the Beth Custer Ensemble, For the Grace of Any Man.
CD Release Show
GPS will be celebrating the release of Billionaire Blues on Thursday, February 25th at the Make Out Room, which is located at 3225 22nd St. in San Francisco, California. Also performing will be Gringa.
GPS
David James - guitar, voice
Beth Custer - clarinets
Alan Williams - trombone
Dina Maccabee - viola
Lisa Mezzacappa - bass
Jan Jackson - drums
Contact: David James
[email protected]
https://www.heydavidjames.com
Billionaire Blues was funded by the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music's Musical Grant Program
https://www.sffcm.org
Gringa
Gringa is an all-female band based in San Francisco, CA, that blends Brazilian, Latin, funk, rock and reggae grooves with sophisticated harmonies and memorable songwriting, seducing listeners into a tropical vacation on the dancefloor while dissolving stereotypes and cultural barriers. Gringa surprises audiences with their own brand of playful and thought-provoking original songs in English and Portuguese, as well as unique, genre-bending covers of a range of classics. Their live shows keep audiences enthralled through the solid gel of the rhythm section, the shuffling of percussion instruments, dense vocal harmonies, scorching sax solos, fun arrangements, and occasional special guests. By weaving Brazilian and Caribbean rhythms through nomadic love songs and millenial musings, Gringa forges a borderless sound that excites crowds and stimulates minds.
Maya Finlay - Guitar, Cavaco, Voice, Songwriting
Kate Pittard - Alto Sax, Percussion, Voice, Songwriting
Diana Di Battista - Percussion, Voice
Luna Fuentes-Vaccaro - Drums, Percussion
Jenelle Roccaforte - Bass
show less
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Make-Out Room
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3225 22nd Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
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