wooden ships, talking fish, homesickness, drunkenness, stormy weather,
weavily wheat, drowning, superstition, poetry, humor, hope and all-out merrymaking. guitar, mandolin, accordion, banjo, cuatro, acoustic bass, fiddle, pump organ, harmonica, a saw, and a lot of singing. it's all here.
sea music was recorded during the fall of 2002. originally it was made as a homespun musical new years offering for friends but as the cd circulated and multiplied, more and more people began asking about it. i love the indelible melodies, rascally storytelling, and vivid history that fills these traditional maritime songs and decided to share my enthusiasm by releasing sea music as the first folk cd on my festival five label.
there are a handful of people around brooklyn and vermont who sing and play in the rough soulful style that i like so much. they're all here. i recorded this with my band members barbara brousal, cynthia hopkins, and yoshi waki as well as brother-in-law-illustrator donald saaf, rankin' don aka father goose, engineer rob friedman, cary tamarkin and john denicola of the wonderland string band, patsy primus and rosita isles of the sandy girls, as well as brooklyn neighbors the mocklers and the sullivans, all of whom appear on other dan zanes and friends cds.
is it really family music? not in the way that my other cds
are (as you can see from some of the themes) but i think that these timeless songs can easily fit into almost anyone's life regardless of age, size, or temperament.
after spending my whole adult life playing rock and roll, i think that i found my true calling when i started playing music for children and their families six years ago. that's my overwhelming interest (the fourth cd "house party" will be available october 7th, 2003) but during these recent years while searching for songs to sing on my family records the old tunes of the sea have really grabbed me. they're funny, sad, poetic, historical, emotional, and catchy. if you like to sit around singing
and playing with other people, as i do, then these are perfect additions to your song bag.
the cd comes with a 32 page booklet which includes photos, background information, and most importantly, lyrics, and chords which i hope will make it as easy as possible to add these to the mix at any musical neighborhood gathering.
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