Album Notes

The Steve Luceno Band: "Get Up and beat the Blues"

The Tunes

Get Up Blues (a command): When you're ready to do the work it takes to beat the blues, your voice commands, "Get Up!" The work is hard, so now you have the Get Up Blues.

Patience: Wait. Listen. Not yet. It happens only when it is ready to happen.

The Grin: Clave is the key. Written as two separate tunes, but they came together with the clave, as The Grin.

Reticent Love song: A Broadway theme for the person who did not want to fall, could not say the word, was tempted and taunted and touched, fought the good fight (but lost?), whose story of reluctance ultimately ends with LOVE.

Sensei: A tribute to the adventurous spirit that continues throughout life to find new ways to look at and listen to the world. Perception allows us to come back to the same well and drink new water each time. The form of the song is: go to the well, ask a question, get an answer, extrapolate, and go back to the well for another question. Dedicated to Joe Baque, a great musician, friend, and teacher.

M3: A portrait of pianist Michael Moran Moore, initials M.M.M., M cubed (M3). A spunky blues with a groove.

Lookout: I wrote a melody using the form and shape of a Bill Evans tune (Very Early) along with the harmonic movement of a John Coltrane tune (Countdown). I twisted it a bit, making changes to the shape & harmony, and wound up with Lookout. Written in ¾, but played in improvised layers of other time signatures.

Get Up Blues (a suggestion): The underside of the wheel, where someone you love may happen to be ... an invitation to dream the wheel away.


The Steve Luceno Band: "Get Up and beat the Blues"

The Players

I wanted to record some original tunes with some musicians who enjoyed ensemble playing and improvisation. One of my goals was to capture their first impressions, so we rehearsed and recorded the same day. It was the first time the players had heard the tunes. Each of these musicians reads splendidly, so we were able to learn the songs quickly. More important, they are each composers and improvisers. They made the music come to life.

Dan Blunck: Dan plays alto saxophone on this CD. Dan is an improviser. He can feel his way along from moment to moment, reading into the written music. Dan's intensity helps to propel the band beyond the song, caressing this moment even while moving toward the next.

Tony Grasso: Tony has a uniquely beautiful recognizable tone on the trumpet. The first time I heard him on record, I thought it was a flugelhorn. I asked him to bring his flugelhorn to this recording date and he told me, "I've never played one!" He has a sensual, passionate way of expressing his musical ideas. It sounds like a commitment to creating beauty.

Brian Kent: Brian plays tenor saxophone on the Get Up Blues CD. He is extremely lyrical; it sounds like he is singing a story to you. Each solo is like a new composition. His voice is compelling; the blues seem to be infused in every phrase. In the ensemble parts he blends beautifully as well, bringing the whole picture into focus.

Ryan Burns: Ryan burns, yes he does. He has a playful touch on the keyboard that just makes you smile. He's linked solidly with the groove and is a big part of the "give & take" of the band. He listens, then speaks at exactly the right time, and then listens some more ... always providing interplay for the rest of the band to interplay with.

Steven Bentley: Steven is the drummer who does it all. He always provides the solid groove, while shaping the development of the song, giving a wide range of dynamics, with a symphonic pallet of sounds. He's a finely tuned musician and his sensitivity touches every aspect of these tunes.

Steve Luceno: I wrote these tunes and produced this CD, my first (C-Note Productions). I have been playing string bass for 30 years. I've been a sideman with many artists in the Northwest, Seattle to Portland area (Jazz and Puerto Rican & Cuban music). If you like jazz, a live sound, and a spunky,inspired band, then you'll enjoy GET UP (and beat the) BLUES. Also check Obrador.com for another project more geared toward the Cuban sound. Thanks - Steve L