what great licks on lead! texasfeel, you did the impossible (i know, i tried and failed) and added incredibly great guitar to a surprisingly complex, flowing piece. so many fantastic moments, but my favorite is the little thing you did at "ride the wind" and the hits at "wings made of light". it is so cool how this song swims along, the images it conjures, and John's work heightened all my reactions. there is a lively feel, a looseness that adds to the whole energy, something Tobin doesn't usually embrace. it really works here. well done, you two!!

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I have traveled your site and have always enjoyed your fat leads and intricate guitar. Sometimes things don't always jell. I'm a firm believer that every one has a place. I forgot and also sorry that I didn't include you earlier as one of my favorites.



---
TEXASFEEL

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All around our little village this morning, there were broken tree
branches, along with various other bits of debris in the wake of a
nasty, overnight storm. The winds continue to blow as I listen to this
tune, which captures an episode and its resulting questions as well as
any I've heard.

Musically, it took me back to The Village Gate in the late '70s, perhaps
on a night where Freddy Robinson or Clifford Solomon stopped by.

There is a somewhat disconcerting synth voice in the opening section
that might be worth another look. Then again, that may be the glue
that binds the unique mood of the piece in the first place. Just a
thought.

An excellent work that wears the Fusion label like a Silver Star.

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Thanks for getting it, letting it speak with the wind and debris. Very nice
imagery, there. I would wear that star proudly, humbly.

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great tune! guitars sound great...lyrics are really cool......synth stabs are
placed in all the right places..... just really nice! more guitar solos!!!


gumbi ortiz

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It's crazy how each musician interprets music in their own special way. Tobin warned me that he was going to reorganized my guitar into different measures of the song and I found it to be quite pleasant. It's different when your face to face and able to communicate real time. I do think this came out well and appreciate the opportunity to be included in one of the great Tobin Mueller songs. This song has a real cool groove and was my pick of three. Great Job Tobin.

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You had great material to work with and used a perfect amp setting. I did add a
slight chorus to integrate the sound better. I especially like how your alternative
intro worked after I pasted it onto the transition into the B section ("fly back
home to you...), I bet that was the biggest surprise. I also changed some notes
there and there using Live's transposition function, to fit their new chords. It
was great fun to reshape this song. Thanks again.

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Hey! This is great! Great song! Very smooth composition. Tobin, your voice is VERY good! Man, very nice. Guitars all sweet. They fit very well. I like the fusion progression and overall feel. Sax solo smokes, no question there!
Great work! Congrats on a top-notch piece. Again, your voice has tremendous character here.

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TEXASFEEL: Your guitar is very very tasty, I love it!

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Texasfeel- It must be crazy hard to play lead along with one of Tobin's
songs! You never know where it is going. (At least I certainly don't...!)
You sounded great.

Tobin- This song is a fun ride. This is "looser" as some have called it.
Nice collab.

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...by the complexity of your songs Tobin, and still you make them float naturally. As I been looking a bit closer at some of your work lately, I discover the rhythm patterns and bass figures that really is a place for a novice to get lost in;)

Texasfeel has cracked the code and managed to make music along your track. And what a great sax solo. Very professional all together.

Thanks to ka-klick for encouraging to a lowered shoulder setting on this:)

And for those of you that still haven't ordered Tobins CD "Morning Whispers". Get it here before it gets sold out...

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The high level musicianship here amazes me. Clearly all of the players
are highly skilled and of the most astute of muscians. Tom, your
singing is velvet smooth and it takes more training and courage than I
could ever be present for. I am in envey of this...

But this is where you guys are going to kill me - As I was listening, I
kept hitting my Itunes pause botton, because it sounded as though two
or three songs were being played at one time. Things were in the
pocket here definintely, it just sounded as though they were all
different pockets.

For going on thirty years now, I have listened to alot of jazz and I
understand and have heard all types of dissonatnce, but this is not like
any that I've heard. I kept waiting for things to settle into a more
comfortable place, that sweet carrot that dissonant pieces have you on
seats edge in anticipation for, but it never quite made it there enough
for me.

I'm always oepen to learning and It may be that I am about to learn
something here, please help me to know what it is that I am to know...

Meanwhile, I will listen later to see if maybe I am having a bad day. If
so, I will come back and negate the unfavorable aspect of my
comments as I feel that it would be unfair me if I didn't.

Thank you guys for your hard work and for being willing to share this.

Truly,

Dion

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Ok, so I will explain what was going thru my head: The music is like a tone
poem morphology starting with Icarus in the beginning of his flight, tossed
by wind, above waves, unsettled, almost without form, as he is not letting
himself feel worry or admit being tentative, but, since he's never flown before
(no one has!), he is unsteady. It settles in after the intro, with the
blues riffs that begin at "I got wings made of light," were hubris begins to set
in, bravado, but always slightly out of control. Until he reaches what I
consider the apex of his flight at the mid point (at "Like Icarus"); at this point
it smooths out, as if the wind in his ears and the fear and bravado all fall
away, and only the beauty of his vantage point remains. That is when the
island feel kicks in and then the sax takes over. It is the effortless part of the
flight. The ending piano descending progression is Icarus falling, as if seen
from a distance, from the shoreline. And so there is tragedy, dissonant
chords, and he is beneath the waves but we are now aware of him as a third
person, far removed, and sing about him in the third person, as well.

Of course, the whole thing is an allegory for a heated and then lost romantic
relationship, a boy meets girl back-story, but I'm sure you got that part.

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I knew that.

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Nice song I like the journey it takes me through.
Musicianship is excellent as well as the words and singing, great job!

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Excellent song... your voice sounds very loose on this track, Tobin...must
have been red wine :)

John- excellent and tasteful playing. Great work, both!

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..always red wine, yes.

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Cool - I'm impressed by the stream of words. I'm afraid if I tried the same thing
I'd end up singing about vampires and cheerleaders.
Good loose feel thoughout.

---
Mungo

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3 levels. On the first level, I fly along with you and its just fun, I sprout
wings and everything delights because I don't need it to make sense, I'm
flying. Second level, I get lost, sloshing around trying to find the beat,
loosing my Zen. Third level, after a listen or two, the beat is infused,
maybe its more like what it was for Texasfeel after studying it a while, and
it coalesces like a crystal from some other planet, and I shiver, digging it
too much. My fav part has to be those vocal harmonies in the "wanting
more" section. Stream of consciousness is an understatement, man. And
you said you improved this? Wo. Red wine, for sure.

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cool syncopation, like how those horns blow!

Nice singing Tobin!

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very nice......lovely vibrato to your voice..... i like the looseness of this...... the harmonic content is outstanding. like the best gordon sumner could have ever writen. that soprano sax just kicks. the phrasing is unbelievable...... love the ending on the iv. justso many things goin' on with this.

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... when we were talking, this piece so much reminded me of some fairly
recent Bowie works. You have a knack for musically telling a story and
drawing in your listener with great depth of musical layers.

Your production is always top notch... and the guitar playing was great,
it's too bad I had to turn this piece down. There's lots of space for lots of
great guitar playing.

Another success Tobin!

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I hope your MRI turns out ok next week. And hope you can play on more things
next year! Thanks for the Bowie comments. I checked out Outside, the CD you
mentioned in iChat, and it is very cool.

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It's all good, but the soprano sax at the end really puts it over the top.
Way to go, guys.

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The musicianship is beyond me, especially the "tone poem
morphology" aspect! I will say that every instrument undeniably
supports the narrative voice throughout. The performances are
inspired. Complex (I love the rhythmic juxtapositions), but very
expressive and human. Man. This is layered! The blues infusion is
terribly addictive. Wonderful phrases. I call foul! This is too much good
music to sqeeze into any one song!

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Thanks. There is something irresistible to me about layering new stuff, and,
often, I should thin things out more, but I remember the moment of first
layering that new layer, how it sounded when it was too loud in the mix and
fresh in my ears, and want to keep that excited emotion alive, not drop it from
the final track. I imagine a stage full of guys all slamming away at their synths
on this tune, clones all, save Texasfeel, who is, of course, in the spotlight...

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So when are you performing this in a club? Or at least an open mic night...

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The instrumental has a real Booker T. Jones feel to it, whereas the lyrics
take a much more ambient turn. Not at all a bad combination.

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A total mess of sounds that all make sense. What a trip.

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Such a marvelous musical bed ..... could be incredible but it needs melody. Some of the vocal lines could be developed further. Stream of consiousness or not this deserves a real melody. I think this is my favourite keyboard playing by you, solid guitar playing in sections. Tremendous sax as well. I hope you revisit this with a strongly developed melody otherwise this is just disjointed musical meandering slapped over an exceptional backing track.

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An intricate piece indeed. Interesting "mash-up" on the guitar solo. It definitely works. As the complexity of a piece grows, so does the number of directions you can take it, and... the work required to move the piece in another direction.

(I wish DAW software was better suited to handle various mixes, and arrangements in a song. Sort of like version control in software development which is that good either.)

Its quite good the way it is. I'd be open to a stronger melody or perhaps vocals sung by someone who is not as intimately familiar with the underlying chord progressions. I. E. get the vocal melody floating on top of the complex chord progressions.

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