James Wood

Songs, sketches and improvs recorded summer 2012 in the wonderfully named EMS 6, 7 & 8 studios at the University of Huddersfield and at home. Inspired by and about the country of Ghana (and african music in general), wild horn solos, consumerism, the lives of jazz musicians and why no-body writes songs with a boy's name in the title.

Track 1: Features an extract of the song 'Akwaaba' by Frances Bebey. One of my main inspirations for recording this album. Download it at www.awesometapes.com or somehow find the cassette version somewhere. Track 2: Contains excerpts of melodies from 'Ah-Lieu-Cha' and Now's The Time,' originally composed by Charlie Parker. Also contains a sample of 'Feelin' Good' as performed by the John Coltrane Quartet. Some lyrics liberally borrowed from jazz standards (Summertime etc) and other jazz titles. Track 4: Includes acoustic guitar performed by the lovely Keir Callaghan. Track 6: Includes a sample of 'Don Amwin La Min' by Ti Fred, resident of the island of La Reunion, from the album 'Sitantelman.' Lyrics inspired by an opinion article I read somewhere (I wish I could remember where) about the use of Facebook to 'commodify' peoples thoughts in order for them to be marketed as entertainment and 'consumed' by users and targeted by advertisers. Also inspired by Jo Good's stint as weekend breakfast presenter on BBC 6music, who was simply lovely and played a lot of tracks from the amazing series of compliations by Strut Records, 'Next Stop Soweto.' Check them out! Track 7: Features an extract from 'M'Bifo' by Rokia Traore, from the album Bowmboi. Title inspired by the completely unrelated Zomby record 'Where Were U In '92?', the year I was born. Track 11: Includes a whole heap of samples, all released by Trunk Recordings. Check out their website at www.trunkrecords.com. Samples (NOT in Harvard formatting) include: Bill Evans - Peace Peace - Everybody Digs Bill Evans Sandra Cross - The MMs Bar Recordings - The MMs Bar Recordings Dr Newman Guttman - Pitch Variations - Music From Mathematics Part Seven: Wood Frog, Sphagnum Frog, Mink Frog, Gopher Frog - Frogs and Toads of The United States and Canada - Voices In The Night: The Calls of Frogs and Toads G.I Gurdjieff - April 15, 1949 - G.I Gurdjieff Improvisations (April - October 1949). Don't Eat Nestle!