swirling, blended, that B3 sound is the background for the music Gods.
Nice chirping fills. i like how the solo creeps in and up on you. with the
percussion, and rhodes it had a very latin, Carlos feel. props on the
overall production. cool ending. just a sweeeet treat all the way
around.

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This is the keyboard sound i love...but some nice synths would be fun
to mess with to....trying to push these simple chords forward, I like to
try most anything!

Thanks John!

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As you can imagine, it was a great treat to play on this song. Ziti has such a nice
touch, such great control, such a soulful nature... I was very honored to be
asked to add to what he created.

When a track has that much to offer, adding some keyboard parts is pure
pleasure... Thanks, Fran, for including me on this.

---
My finest work so far: <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/15423">A Different View</a> Or: <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/14834">Timber Cove</a>

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I love the mood, the guitar licks in the background are sweet, has a
santana feel to it, but says ziti all over it. I really like your use of the
tremolo, very subtle not too much. I like the bongos in the background
gives this an atmospheric mood. The organ fits well, again not to
overdone. I'm a guitarist so I'm partial to good guitar music no matter
what the style.
Great Job.



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Thanks strat...I appreciate the kind comments!

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than this for sitting out in the backyard and watching the sun drenched
leaves shimmer in the early spring breeze. Soooooo cool
Thanks guys

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not much else to say, you continue to amaze me. Great song Zetes.

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...He was out of love potion... Sorry... sent you soul, ten fingers, and
two PRS guitars...

(...and He had something to do with Line 6, the way I hear it...)

Love the B3ishness, and I continue to appreciate your bass playing...
Love the outro playing...

And you are becoming a very respectable and not-yer-typical-blues
kind of lyricist...

Ed

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Thanks ed...trying to write a "new" blues song....seems so simple. But if yer
not careful, ya end up sounding like the macaroni and cheese commercials.

See ya thursday!


z

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Best Yet.

Feel, Color, Presentation - Top Shelf (as always, but More So), in my
opinion.

Best Contemporary Blues piece I've heard in last 12 months. No Contest.

Compliments and Regards,
Cooper

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This one has a great feel to it, totally love the guitar, organ and percussion especially. I'd say exactly what Karmatoburn said. Excellent work Fran and Patrick.

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You've done it again Fran. Good job Futzpucker.
The intro works well, then the congas and organ gives it kind of a
spiritual feel.
I like your vocals best on this track and would have liked to hear more
and less guitar while your singing. The lyrics fit well.
Like the way the ending builds up and then goes into that quiet part.

My compliments to the Chef.

MO


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thanks....As far as the singing and playing...that sort of call and response is a
huge element in a lot of the great blues artists styles. sing a line and play a
lick....I think it really goes back to the fact that alot of the best blues
guitarists in the world, cannot sing and play at the same time. You will never
ever see BB king strum chords behind his singing!...same with albert
king...and not many people realize the reason clapton carries a rhythm player
on tour is he can't play the lead line to Layla and sing it at the same time.

The amount of things I can sing and play at the same time is real
limited...and my singing is certainly not my strong suit, so I hope the guitar
helps to propel it. I am working very hard on my singing to make the blues
tunes i write more personal, and give them an original or unique sound. My
voice is certainly unique! Crappy, but unique.



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Smooth and powerful. What a great collab. Just so smooth and strong.

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as well as a touch of Bob Welch.
Well done, guys. Excellent song, production and collab.

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with a tambourine!!!

very chocolate, velvet, cigerette smoke, dark rooms, short drinks!!!

thank you xox

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black magic woman of the 21st century.....love it.....the vocals are just
getting better z.....just put some more emotion into them...instead of just
reciting the words.....once u do that ...watch out.....thanks for this mellow
relaxing blues...into my chill playlist on the pod.....kudo's to futz for that
soulful comping!......peace out......

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black magic woman of the 21st century.....love it.....the vocals are just
getting better z.....just put some more emotion into them...instead of just
reciting the words.....once u do that ...watch out.....thanks for this mellow
relaxing blues...into my chill playlist on the pod.....kudo's to futz for that
soulful comping!......peace out......

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thanks Mcboy! I am indeed learning to sing...i used to do my share of blues
shouting back in my drinking days....but never actually thought of it as an
expressive device....it was just a bar room drunk with a mike and a
guitar...hehehehe....but now i am really trying to make my voice, such as it is
and make it work...live it is easier to belt it out, but i am still scared to do
that in a studio setting....

I also don't know that this is the song for full out singing...it was trying to
convey a feeling of forboding or defeated resignation...so everything has that
just at the edge of boiling over feel to it.

But i am going to keep pushing forward!

Thanks for all your input my friend!

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in this song no need to belt out the words...but put emotion into the words....u
can do this without belting out...try this...hum the words u sang here.....now
make the hums expressive...without belting them out...bend a hum here or
there....vibrato a hum, etc...expressive devices u can use with words.....peace
out......

---
I live for music.......

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la la la leeeeee....you da bomb McBoy!

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Very talented.I could listen to your stuff all day and just melt into my futon with a tall glass of beer and a big fat dooby

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Man- your voice is sounding damn fine on this... glad you didn't bury it in
effects as it really helps bring this song to life and gives it even more
character.

Someone used the descriptor "swirling"- that's about as fine a term as
any. Very mellow vibe, much due to the soft keys and killer organ from
Patrick along with your ambient guitar work- not many do that better
than you.

Terrific song in all aspects. Wonderful collab!

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Bass nice and loud Fran :) Guitar up to the usual heart-tugging
standard and lifted nicely by the B3. I've said it before, but the
similarities with Robbie Robertson in the vocal department are
definitely there - I've always loved the dark, smoky quality of his
vocals, and I think you've done really well vocally on this. One tiny
thing is that I just love the way you do those quick "up and back" bends
in the solo (you did one on Eggshell also) - to me that's a real ziti
trademark. You don't hear too many people doing that.

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The guitar cries alone.
It rains in the town of the night.
The solitary blues.


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I get the feeling there's a better version of this tune inside of you,
aching to get out.

Don't get me wrong, it's an excellent, excellent tune and the notes are
all there, but, it's a song about self-doubt, anxiety and angst and I just
didn't get that feel on a gut level from this production and
performance of it.

I think a comparison to the Allman Brothers' Dreams I'll Never See is
valid here, with the spacey blues approach, but even though the
ambience may be ethereal in Dreams, there remains an edge in both
the vocals and lede guitars that speaks volumes.

I know that you're uncomfortable with vocals at times and that's fair
enough, but, to paraphrase the Karate Kid's Mr. Myagi "your best vocals
still inside of you, now time to let them out."

Similarly, I think Ruby and Sapphire sound unnecessarily restrained
here. Although at first glance, it may seem like their voices fit the
overall approach of the music, but I submit that a little more bite and
attack would go a long way towards portraying the emotions that this
song wants to portray.

Zetes, you know as much about the blues as anybody on this site,
probably as much as anybody on the planet, and your recent forays
into melding that knowledge with more ambient music have been
hugely successful, but on this one, my advice is to pull back on the
ambience slider a tad, and push up on the one labelled "from the guts."

You asked for reactions, that was mine :)

and oh, loved the B3 Futz.



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this is the BEST PART of MacJams!...Thanks snow, as always for the really
helpful input! yes...this song is much more "screaming" live. This version is
very downbeat and restrained....but it was an accurate portrayal of the bout
of bi-polar low end I was experiencing at the time. The combination of this
song and my previous post, KEY LIME, pulled my out of that mess....they will
appear back to back on the new cd.

It is really really hard snow...to make the music ambient in a live setting...it
just naturally gets heavier. So i think the freedom the studio provides me is a
good place to get the spacey effect I go for. I am also going to be auditioning
some keyboard players with the eye toward the cushion of sound rather than
a really hot solo guy. Maybe the ambient can spill into the live a little more
and vice versa.

the neatest and scariest part of playing original stuff is you never know when
you have it right!


Thanks again snow for taking the time to help me think this through!


warmest regards!
z

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Yeah, maybe he doesn't know your name, lots of people down here. But
everytime he hears one of your numbers, he wants to put another one
notch in the 'Win' column, and would like to know whose name goes with
it. What's to say about the tune? Your style is so expressive, so exquisite,
the touch so divine, and it's all on display here. The whole offering
meshes really well, very professional. Early on in the tune, there is one
thing that seems out of sorts. I'm either hearing some finger tips on
some congas, or other hand drum, or there is some clipping in one of the
percussion tracks. Great stuff, thanks for sharing.

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you are always a welcome voice to me Aqui.....thanks so much for you're
kindness and support.....


z

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What else is there to say? Great writing, performances that go together seamlessly. I agree with McBoy, it's very "Black Magic Woman." Wish I could have been at your gig!

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I have a different approach than many listed here. First, I love it. I would
(not I, You, you got the licks bro) would crank the volume when that ultra
slik guitar magic begins. The vocals are fine, but JUMP on it maestro when
you move towards that great guitar work to take it to the next level, Dude
you're talkin about LOVE POTION!.. Hey there is a little Stevie Ray in there
too. Sweet

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New to the mJ scene and finding your tune is a real gem. Love the tone of
the guitar. The back up instruments make a lush pad. Very, very nice.
The passion comes across.

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this cooks! great collab fellas.

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