Hi everyone. Here's my cover of the Amy Winehouse song "Wake Up Alone" from her famous album Back to Black. I started this cover on Wednesday then finished it later on Thursday. This was recorded at my new house, and on my new Mac computer using the recording program Reaper, which has already been an amazing experience.

I played the piano on the Korg Grandstage, my Ibanez guitar (Steve 1) for the two guitar parts miked with the Vox amp, my five string bass going direct (with some added tweaking to remove the top frequency), and the drums are from a new favorite sample library called Sun Drums.

Covering this song was a fun exercise to get me ready for completing my original material inspired by Winehouse, and the first full song with my new recording equipment. I hope you like it.

I would love to share a few interpretations of my favorite Daryl Hall & John Oates songs with you. I first heard “Do What You Want, Be What You Are” on a compilation from my late computer teacher while in Santa Barbara before the pandemic hit. Then I checked out a really cool performance on YouTube taken from the series "Live From Daryl’s House." I suddenly had a crazy idea: interpret this song in the spirit of Diana Krall, with a hint of Ella Fitzgerald. I was amazed by the jazz-inspired chord sequence, especially during the chorus.

This recording began in 2020, and I knew that the vocals were going to take a few years for me to master. This year, I ended up recording the lead and background vocals, Nord C2D organ, and the Nord Italian Grand Piano (Extra Large sample). The drums came from Sonar’s Session Drummer library, the bass was played on my five string with the bass pod, and the Ibanez electric guitar (which my friend Brian and I call "Steve 2," which I had him modify like a mini-strat…) was mixed with my Lewitt condenser mic on the Vox amp.

When it came to interpreting the lyrics, I wasn’t thinking about anyone in particular, and only in my imagination. It ended up being a lot of fun!!! (Smile)

I can’t wait to show you the other songs. I know I said that my Gino Vannelli cover was going to be the last thing on Cakewalk Sonar, but I thought about completing a few covers first. In the meantime, my mom and I are gradually working on getting my new system ready to go. Hope you enjoy this interpretation! (smile)

Recently, I got to experience one of my favorite singers, Gino Vannelli, in concert. This inspired me to recreate one of his soul driven tunes, “Valleys of Valhalla,” from his album, A Pauper In Paradise, which came before Brother to Brother. Normally I rarely cover songs by my favorite singers, because the original recording is so amazing. However, I wanted to give this song a try.

This will also be the last thing I’m recording on my old equipment, which include the program Cakewalk Sonar. I’ll be transitioning to a Mac computer, with an easier recording platform called Reaper, where I can access virtual sound libraries independently, so I won’t have to rely on sighted assistance. It’s going to make my work flow easier, especially when it comes to creating drum sounds, etc. But that’s another story for the future.

I hope you enjoy this cover.

I thought about recreating one of my favorite Amy Winehouse songs, “Me And Mr Jones," from her popular album, Back To Black. Although I altered some of the lyrics a bit, I kept the music very true to the original version. Musically, I like how the 1950’s rock sound blends with jazzy vocals, as well as call and response singing inspired by The Shangri-las. At the end of the day, I had a lot of fun covering this song! Hope you like it.

I thought I’d like to share with you a cover I did back in 2021 while in the process of making my close-to-finished fourth album, "All That."

One thing that gets me motivated to write songs in many styles are covering repertoire I’ve been checking out. I wanted to make my next album towards a jazzy, soulful edge like my favorite singer, Gino Vannelli. His early ‘70s albums from "Powerful People" to "Gist Of The Gemini" feature some jazzy, soulful, at times progressive combinations.

I first heard Vannelli’s song “Powerful People” in an archived stream DJ Questlove did on The Roots YouTube page. I then listened to the full Vannelli album, and thought about covering the title song, including the jazzy instrumental break. A lot of the orchestral synth sounds were played on my Nord Grand 88. The synth bass was played on my Moog Little Phatty, the organ on my Nord C2D, the chimes on my Korg Grandstage 88, the drums using Session Drummer’s Modern Basic kit (I can’t remember if I played the midi drums on my Nord or Korg…) The drums were first, as I often changed tempos throughout the song, not only to give the music a live band feel, but to make sure everything is played tight like having an incredible band!

I also studied a live recording of this song, which gave me the idea to extend the end of the vocal before the jazzy instrumental breakdown.

Anyway, covering this song helped me write “If I Could Change The Past,” which is going to appear on my next album. I hope you enjoy this cover.

Here’s a wild Phish cover I did after experiencing the jam band at the Hollywood Bowl a few weeks ago. It was a fun challenge learning the first half of this particular song. I started by listening to the studio version featuring a horn ensemble, then I focused on a couple of live versions I have: Live Phish Vol. 7 recorded in 1993, and Live Phish Vol. 4 recorded in 2000.

Musically, it features the whole tone scale, which I include during the jam section. Also, I love how the chords change to reflect the dark nature of the lyrics, something I feel is sometimes lost in music. As a fan of the band’s live recordings, one version could be laid back, and another could be faster. I took more of the fast approach, with a dreamy, atmospheric jam.

The keyboard drums were played without a click track. Later, I played the piano using Nord’s early piano sample, the Studio Grand 2 (Yamaha C 7). Then I played my five string bass using my line 6 bass pod, the “Session” preset. I finished with the guitar with the sustain pick up. All the echos, including the spacey, dreamy sounds were completely live on the spot!

Anyway, I would love to compose a song that features the whole tone scale in unusual ways, and unlike this song, write a vocal idea inspired by Ella Fitzgerald and Dinah Washington. I hope you like this cover.

I was fascinated by the music of Amy Winehouse. Once I started diving into her influences which include jazz vocalists Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, and especially Dinah Washington, I wanted to challenge myself and write songs, imagining what would happen if those singers made a hip hop soul record.

One difficulty I had while listening to Amy, is that she mumbled her words, and forced the jazz vibrato. While listening to Frank and Dinah, I learned a lot about vibrato control (for that style of singing), as well as enunciating the words! So when I covered this song from Winehouse’ first album, I wanted to channel a hint of Frank and Dinah, while taking an Ella (Fitzgerald)/ Sarah approach in the scat singing.

The fake sample of the Nas song “Made You Look” wasn’t looped, and was played live from start to finish. Every instrument except the guitar or flute were played on the Korg Grandstage 88. The drums and congas are from Sonar’s Session Drummer’s library, and the fake trumpet and saxophone solos were from Garritan’s Jazz and Big Band library.

Recreating Amy’s approach to playing jazz guitar was kind of a challenge: less harmonious like Joe Pass, and more like written chord charts. I wanted to make my flute solo more expressive than the original, and it was just fun!!!

Hope you like this cover.

I thought it would be exciting for you to check out a Phish cover I did around 2016 or so. This is before I began mixing final versions at a good volume, which started around 2020. Anyway…

When I was in my Frank Zappa phase, I would check out plenty of guitar driven bands, from The Grateful Dead, to Phish. I was fascinated by the improvisations that took place in their live performances. I was inspired to cover “Divided Sky” after listening to their Halloween concert in 1994, where they performed the entire Quadrophenia album by The Who. The album is called, Live Phish Volume 14. What I love about the live renditions are the expansion of the song. A personal favorite part about studying the live jams are the interaction between all four members. I would often memorize some of my favorite solos from their guitarist Trey Anastasio, learning about vibrato, when not to use vibrato, etc. Just a lot of fun stuff!!!! Having listened to a bunch of other live versions, I thought about covering it in the spirit of the band on stage. I began with the drums, played live on the keyboard using my Yamaha for midi, and the drum samples from Sonar’s Session Drummer Andy Johns kit. I think I did the piano and organ next, then the bass, and guitar. I played on my short Ibanez with a sustain switch, so I can extend notes without having to crank up the amp, plus, I love feeling the vibration of the string while the note keeps playing! I wish I knew the name of the sustain pick up… Anyway, it was an exciting piece to cover!

Hope all of you enjoy it! (Smile)

I thought it would be fun for you to hear me cover a little future soul repertoire by Hiatus Kaiyote. They’re an Australian band combining elements of jazz, soul, hip hop, and electronic sounds. This song is originally off of their first album. The song also has a wild remix featuring the rapper Q-Tip from the hip hop group, A Tribe Called Quest. I chose to do the band only arrangement. Their music also got noticed by several people from the soul, and hip hop community including Questlove, Erykah Badu, and especially Prince. I really like Hiatus’ second album, because there’s more of a jazz meets hip hop sound. Next time, I’ll share you my cover of one of those songs. Hope you enjoy it.

Continuing my Elton John repertoire, I decided to cover “Madman Across The Water.” I was inspired by not only the album version, but also the piano demos, the live Australia performance with the orchestra, and Bruce Hornsby’s jazzy version. I ended up with kind of a quartet version with a guitar part during the chorus, but for most of the song, I chose to have only piano, bass and drums. For the piano, I used Nord’s “extra large” version of their Grand Imperial, than turned the bright filter on my Nord Grand to get more of that Elton-type sound. I played my five string bass, and keyboard drums using one of Sonar’s non-accessible libraries. This ended up being a lot of fun to cover!!! Hope you enjoy it! (Smile)