Album Notes

As I had this notion that a Beatnik band should embrace the first level of sensory stimulation, the beat, it was fortuitous to find George "Ding Ding" Meier jamming away at Felice Diamond's birthday party on the Conga drums. We got together and began to try and make the sound suggested by the name Bossa Nova Beatnik. I felt it would be a fun way to go for a while. Beginning a band from scratch on a wing and a prayer, you tend to start out looking for the best guys you can find. Jerry Dugger was one of the first people I called. Jerry, a staple of the New York City blues scene and a bass player extraordinaire, was enjoying a rare period of self-imposed retirement and joined up with us. I had been friends with Jerry for years at this time and even had played with him at C.B.G.B. during my time as a Flyboy. The thing about Jerry is that he is so good that his inactive periods don't last very long. He is always being courted to tour Europe with a funk or blues band. As Jerry makes his living by playing bass it is impossible for an original showcase band to make his rent. Also, a relative of Paul Robeson, Jerry Dugger is a superb singer and bandleader himself. So we enlisted the aid of Surfer John Wagner to fill in while Jerry was out of town. Fortunately, Jerry was in town at times convenient to capturing him on tape for nine of the twelve tracks of the "Heart To Beat" CD. We were having so much fun and enjoying wonderful times playing this Beatnik thing that I wanted to include my longtime friend and erstwhile drummer, George Vahamonde. George had been a two time fill in drummer for my band the Rhythm Bandits, was the full time drummer of the Flyboys and the drummer for original electric Beatnik line up. George joined this new unit as a consummate utility player; playing the conga, bongo, and hand held percussion when Jerry was around and filling in nicely on bass when Jerry was away. After playing clubs, radio, street festivals, coffee shops, and bookstores, we went back to Chris Pati's Modern Voices studios (which had moved to Ronkonkoma - a name that must be pronounced using your best Ricardo Montalban impersonation) and began laying tracks for the Heart To Beat album. For this CD, we got some friends to stop by and add a little spice. Danny Wilensky who has played sax with many of the greats from Ray Charles to David Bowie and turns up on many recordings including Santana's 'Supernatural' album. It is always a pleasure call and book Danny in the studio. Buford O'Sullivan and Paul Gebhardt of the extremely entertaining Ska band on Moon Records out of New York, The Scofflaws, took a break from their ridiculously busy touring schedule to spend a wild night in the studio with us for two horn section tracks on the CD. The sweet Sugar Magnolia band (or as I like to call them, The Lovely Wonderfuls) out of Northport NY lent their four beautiful voices to a few tracks. Annie Mark was carrying young Zach some six months pregnant, which lent some of that new birth energy to the mix. I have many wacky old friends. Mark Varon and Lonesome Alex Quinlan are two who stopped by for a couple of tracks. My dear friend, who played with me at Carnegie Recital Hall and is himself the able utility band member for recording artist Fraunty Dunn, kept all his teeth in tact and played the beautiful guitar on "No Better Thing" and lent his fretless Thundermaster bass to Jerry for that same song. We had three cartridges full of sixteen track A-Dat recordings that Katherine Miller was able to sift through to mix and master. Having come from doing engineering work on James Taylor's "New Moon Shot" album, Katherine did a superb job reaching into the raw tracks and pulling out songs. Angela at Disc Makers in Jersey saw the work to its completion to deliver a beautiful package outdoing my high expectations. Surfer John tells me that he is playing a Blue Bossa Bass line on the title cut "Heart To Beat". Otherwise don't take the "Bossa Nova" in "Bossa Nova Beatnik" too literally other than that I fully endorse and recommend discovering the beauty of Jobim and Brazilian rhythms and beats and look for Bossa's to pop up on future Beatnik recordings. After all, it's the dance of love.