Raw output from our jazz quartet's demo recording session

For posterity, I'm going to stick all the tracks we did online, but first I want to list what I think are the best versions for each of the tunes we played. Of critical note is that these are unmixed and unmastered versions. That means some tracks might sound a bit quiet, and sometimes each instrument is a bit skewed in the mix, either too loud or too quiet. All of that will be fixed before we start printing any copies of the promotional CD. There are some rough starts and finishes that will be cleaned up, too.

Recorded at The Sonic Temple in Halifax on October 3rd and 4th, 2006, by Darren van Niekerk. Personnel are Dustin LindenSmith on tenor sax, Chris Elson on keyboards, Adam Fine on bass and Bob Gaudreau on drums.

Secret Heart (Day 2 Take 2)
Composed by Ron Sexsmith and popularized by Leslie Feist, our take on this tune is fairly straight funk and follows the same arrangement as Feist used on her album Let It Die.

What They Did (Day 1 Take 3)
This tune was composed by John Scofield. It's a new head over a standard rhythm changes (i.e. the harmonic progression to Gershwin's jazz standard I've Got Rhythm). We use Scofield's breakbeat over the second half of the bridge, but also incorporate a complete turn through the circle of fourths before the out head and to close the tune.

Scenic Routes (Day 2 Take 3)
This tune was composed by our friend and bassist Pete Johnston, and it's got sort of a jazzy Bo Diddley feel to it. We recorded this one five times (!), but I think the third take was the best one.

Shortside (Day 1 Take 3)
An original composition by the band, this is the tune that my cousin Marc the turntablist thought would be great as a white label 12-inch release for DJs. I don't know about that, but the tune kind of cooks along nicely in spite of its sort of complicated transitions which we don't always nail perfectly...

Tutu (Day 2 Take 2)
This is a late Miles Davis composition which should maybe not be on here at all. I'm not fully satisfied with any of the takes we did of this one, although I have a soft spot in my heart for the synth sound that Chris used at the outset.

Links to the rest of the takes are below.

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