Recording Project: tracking horns

After much careful deliberation, my aesthetic side overcame my practical side and I concluded that horns must be on the CD. Jacob was out of town but he arrange for Chris to sub for him as engineer. Jacob’s presence was there in spirit as we worked in his room and were constantly saying, “Let’s do another pass because that’s Jacob would do.”
Jim Stevens was the sax player. He played both alto and tenor sax. Jim has a great sound and he really nailed the parts. Dawn Weber was the trumpet player, and she also brought a great sound. Jim and Dawn work together a lot and so they had good chemistry and were able to lock into the parts quickly. Dawn is a character, sporting neon pink hair and a few facial piercings. I wish that I had more that 4 tunes to put horns on because Jim and Dawn were fun and easy to work with.
Arrangements were done by myself. I felt pretty insecure about my arrangements. I get the job done for Sunday mornings, but having my parts played by pros and recording them for historical posterity was a little frightening. We made a few changes on the fly mostly in phrasing. I can’t wait to hear the final mixes! Horns will be featured on My Refuge (Stax sound), New Creation (African/Paul Simon sound), Before I Knew (more Stax) and Rejoice In The Lord (Steely Dan/George Benson sound).
I have parts that we use in church for on other songs on the recording (Jesus My Great High Priest and Search Me) but I prioritized the stuff that was more soulful. Also the tracks for those tunes are good as is and don’t need anymore junk messing with the vibe. Ya’ dig?
We only have one session left and then it’s mix, master, manufacture.