sparkle

[audio:latin.mp3]

Finally I’m back, finally my health is better, and here is the next co-production with Steve:

Steve from England had sent me a keyboard track that constantly changes between major and minor of the same root, with some percussion added. He told me he had been playing around with the keyboard lately – and that was a surprise to me, for I knew him as a guitar player.

I liked the feeling of the track with the working title “Latin”. Of course it is a so-called Latin rhythm; only I don’t like the term and so decided to add some sparkle from another one of my son’s pictures.

Steve agreed with my proposal to add some more percussion to make it sound more lively. It was pure fun to play these instruments, but my personal highlight was the guitar solo I recorded immediately afterwards. This was the first time I achieved a sound with a Santana-like sustain and a similar character, and ironically I achieved it with the Jaguar, the good old tube screamer and my Vox AC 15. Not at all the kind of tools one would expect, but I had often tried it with Les Pauls or SGs and never succeeded! The Jaguar has a more nasal sound quality to it (which I like), and I consider my sound not a copy (which it isn’t and I couldn’t) but a parallel.

Anyway, this is not a bad one, and I wish I could have presented it earlier. I would like to thank Steve for giving me this opportunity with his inspiring track. In my earlier years as a musician I never came much forward with soloing, being mostly the bass player. So in a way, this track is a dream come true…