Stryker/Slagle Band at the Falcon Fri., Apr. 5th + New CD

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The Stryker- Slagle Band (Steve Slagle – sax, Dave Stryker – guitar, Ed Howard – bass, Clarence Penn – drums) on Friday Apr 5th Appearing at
The Falcon (1348 Rte 9w, Marlboro, NY 12542) - CD Release Gig for Steve Slagle "Evensong". This recording felt like a motherlode of new songs and music, so just a bit here on each-
1) Mingus In Us -The first bar of this song Charles Mingus sang to me in a dream— just the first bar! And then he kind of smiled and said, "Write a song on that!".
There are some quotes of Mingus that I threw in.Also I dedicate this to my great bassist friend the late Dennis Irwin. New songs, old friends.
2) Blues Four -- I wanted to compose a 12 bar Blues that STARTS on the IV (Four) chord and so with this in B-flat the first chord is E-flat. Dig that! (And thanx to drummer Colby Inzer for giving me the idea.) Dave lays out on my solo which really opens it up-sometimes its what you don't play that counts.
3) Supermoon --This song has the Stryker stamp on it compositionally and is a long form with a uniquely bright feel. It sets itself apart from the rest of the session, fully.
4) Quiet Folks --This one felt best played quiet when I wrote it and so it's an anthem for such folks. (There are enough of the others around these days!) I would like to dedicate this also to the great lyrical guitarist, Jim Hall.
5) Shadowboxing --Dave wrote a kicking minor blues here that in fact is much more than that. The composition has some quick meter changes, we all throw a few punches and our rhythm section shows what its all about.
6) Alive --I wrote this first as a solo alto sax piece and played it live solo on WKCR radio. That station and WBGO are the champions of our music here. It then developed into a new fangled song, and a cool form of hybrid blues. And Blessed be the rhythm of new.
7) Equal Nox --I wrote this on John Coltrane's birthday (Sept 23) which is on the autumn equinox and the whole song came to me in about a half hour. I named it 'EQUAL NOX' in that this is one of the two days on our planet when night and day are of equal length. I was also born under the sign of Virgo.
8) B Like Me --This melody came to me first and felt free, going in and out of different tonalities. The chord changes though, end up being great to improvise on after the melody sets them up. The title is the song talking to you or me--play free.
9) The Star-Crossed Lovers –I couldn't write enough on how this, one of my favorite of the Strayhorn/Ellington masterpieces has affected me. We did it duo at the end of the session after everyone had left and play this beautiful classic melody short and to the point to end it all.
Finally a note about our cover and painting by Ivan Pazlamatchev the great Bulgarian born New York artist. This large work struck me as fitting for the music we present here, as well as it's title. With help from graphic artist Al Gold we were able to capture the essence of EVENSONG for this CD cover.

THANX FOR YOUR EARS AND VIVA LA MUSIKA! —Steve Slagle

Steve Slagle Evensong
Panorama Records 004

Produced by Dave Stryker and Steve Slagle
Executive Producer – Jack Zulack
Recorded July 28, 2012 by Tom Tedesco at Tedesco Studio
Mixed and Mastered Oct 3, 2012 by Chris Sulit at Trading 8S Music

Steve Slagle songs published by Slagle Music BMI
Dave Stryker songs published by D. Strike Music BMI

Album design by Al Gold
Cover Painting by Ivan Pazlamatchev

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