Deep as the Night by Gary Farr Quintet

I remember asking Stan to give me a ‘Tony Williams’ feel. The tune reminded me of something from Herbie Hancock’s old classic “Maiden Voyage”. I was really happy with the tone and solo Ron gave on sax. •Sambuca is a fast moving jazz Samba. When we first started gigging down at MoJazz Cafe in Miami Beach, the band created so much energy playing it live that to our surprise, with the abrupt ending of the tune, the crowd roared in applause. •Three Quarters To Spare is a spacey 3/4 ‘brother can you spare me a dime’ down and out feeling featuring solo’s by Ron on flute, Mitch and myself. •One Warm Night is a one take recording which was recorded ‘one warm night’ without Ron. He later came in and added sax & flute to the head but we had no room in the song to give him a solo. You’ll heard double time kick in during Mitch’s guitar solo which was completely spontaneous. I got pumped up from it and had to steal another solo before returning to the head. This song was recorded again in 1999 for my first released jazz CD “Lost” with a more commercial hip-hop feel.

•Deep as the Night was originally a piano solo composition but I arranged it for the group. The acoustic bass sound is actually me playing on the PC88 Kurzweil. I later asked Mitch to innerweave his hollow body guitar between my piano licks. I turned the machine on and left him in the studio until he was happy with his efforts. I was very happy with them! •It was weird how I composed Charlie Chaplin Suite. I remember hearing this bizarre tune in my head, sat at the piano and started plucking out the changes and rhythm really not aware of the meter changes until I had to put it to paper. From there the tune just developed with the help of hearing Ron’s soprano. The piano was starting to get out of tune which you can hear in my unison solo licks. It really fit the tune. I can picture Charlie Chaplin’s crooked walk with the hat and cane. •You Love Me is a love ballad featuring Ron on sax. I later over dubbed some string sounds to fatten it up. •I haven’t yet mentioned much about the great guitarist on these recordings, Mitch Farber. Gelato Brasileiro is Mitch’s composition. Here you get a chance to hear some of his wonderful playing and song writing. I think I spent more time on his tune then I did on my own. I heard so many great idea’s that I added some strings, kept changing different piano sounds from acoustic to the electric and we added a little soft soprano sax to the head. A really nice tune from a really nice gentleman. •Mesmerized is a 7/4 ballad featuring piano & flute(s). Ron recorded two takes of his flute solo. I decided to stereo split both solo’s playing at once, one with a distant reverb creating a great effect. The keyboard sound effects in the background is an old Emax I keep in the studio.

•It Sounds Right is a straight ahead swing tune which was recorded without Ron. I added a vibe sound were Ron was going to add a solo but we never got around to it. Juan & Stan laid it down nicely.

•When I wrote Birds in Flight I had designs of it being for orchestra and piano. I created the orchestra sounds using my keyboards and had Juan on flugelhorn and Mitch on guitar. •Bummed is something I wrote in February of 2001. It was inspired from a financial beating I took playing golf! I do take my golf seriously. I got up the next morning and plucked this little tune down. Good things always come out of bad days and this tune is one of them. •The last cut Song for Charlie is a be-bop style tune i.e. Charlie Parker however I actually wrote it for my pet dog named Charlie who used to lie under the piano and lick on my tapping toes while I was working out songs. Stan trades fours with us on brushes; sweet and tasty! - Gary Farr

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