Wednesday, April 29, 2009

40 new songs written/recorded [switzerland]

i recorded/wrote 23 songs today & did 17+ yesterday- so: 40 new tracks to date- AND i plan to do more before i leave for the states. i put them on cd & listened tonight & feel certain most of them are keepers. there are some that need editing, but i always feel like that's cheating. so... whatever doesn't go on new solo cds will be edited & used for my art videos- or i might add fx, synths & B3 to them & do other weirdness and release them later. this new stuff is rather like debussy/satie meet alice coltrane in a goth blues bar. some dark, some light, some heavy, some ethereal, some lullabye like... etc... it's totally free form improvised solo piano- no vocals- and something i have wanted to do for some time now. i get tired of words/lyrics; of hearing them AND of writing them... sometimes more can be said without words.

so, i decided to have my old upright tuned [a Burger & Jacoby piano made in Biel in the 1880s] and use my Tascam Dr 1 portable digital recorder. i just stick it behind the piano, press record, then sit down and play whatever comes into my head, or not into my head but off the top of it. total auto pilot: so there are some interesting changes and chords and little journeys and side trips going on in the songs between the beginnings and [sometimes unexpected] endings.

i plan on doing more and more of this while i am here...as long as the piano holds tuning [which is already kind of going out... but makes for interesting vibrations- but on the bluesy stuff sounds VERY authentic] ... this reminds me of when i was a teenager and would sit and play for hours on end...improvising... totally lost in the music.

because i get tired of doing the same thing over and over- and hate getting into a musical or any other kind of rut- i am forever changing styles and mediums [which is why i do art and photography as well as music]... so this is my latest adventure- and one i have thoroughly enjoyed

[c]2009 doug duffey

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Café-Théâtre de la Tour de Rive

two shots taken during sound check @ Café-Théâtre de la Tour de Rive- La Neuveville, Friday April 24, 2009- it turned out to be a great concert! very nice and enthusiastic people- both staff and audience- we ended up doing a 3rd set as a long encore! magnifique!
[c]2009 doug duffey

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

welcome 2009

Zurich airport -4.4.2009

I'm beginning to update my website... so bear with me. between the website, myspace, facebook, youtube and my blogs i get more than a little over media-cated. i've tended to neglect my website for the more easily edited 'social networking' sites. i want to pare down my site and make it more concise... easily navigated etc. and add more photos etc to it.

i am in europe for a few more weeks - i came over december 8- went home march 5- came back march 31 and went into rehearsals then flew to denmark to do the djurs bluesland festival on april 4th- and flew back the next day- so i'm still a little bit jet-lagged. now i am editing the live video jacqueline shot at the festival... posting them on youtube, myspace and facebook...

the group has had a great year so far- and we're expecting more good things with the release of the new cd. it is still being mixed and mastered, but hopefully will be finished within the next 2 months.

i also plan to do some solo piano/vocal writing/recordings [and edit/finish some i've begun] as well as various multi-track recordings begun and shelved for too many years. so summer 2009 will be spent working on various music projects that NEED to be finished.

to find information on upcoming shows click here
[c]2009 doug duffey