Leaning House Jazz: Strange Happy

This is a record made by people who are very excited about what they do. It was made with a limited budget and limited time but with an unlimited sense of determination, passion, and fun. I feel extremely fortunate to have guys like Earl, Fred, and Chris to be creative with, and a label like Leaning House to help it all come to fruition in an honest and direct manner. The contents of this CD were taken from two whirlwind sessions that took place at Sumet Studios in Dallas. All songs were rehearsed, arranged, and performed on the spot. The originals presented here were all written between September 1993 and January 1996 with "Strange Happy" being the oldest and "Genocide Lament" the newest. Two dedications of note would be that "A Little Walk to Relax" was inspired by a long-standing love of Hank Jones' fabulous playing and "Caught Looking" is for all the beautiful women who have busted me ogling in their general direction. A vast list indeed. To briefly mention the rest of the songs, I would say that you can't go wrong with Mingus and especially a ballad as deep as "Duke Ellington's Sound of Love". I think "What I Want to do to You" is a good example of how this trio interacts. I really dig Earl's brushes and Fred's ever tasteful playing on "You in Woods". The bass clarinet sounds nice and spooky on "Genocide Lament", and the ending even has a few ghosts running around in it. "Ripped Apart" has heartfelt energy and a drum solo I personally enjoy very much. And the title track "Strange Happy" provides a quirky little melody and the basic philosophy of the album: we're strange and we're happy that way! In summation, I can only say that I hope you enjoy listening to the music as much as we enjoyed making it, and I hope to see you at a gig some time. Dave Palmer March, 1997



						This is a record made by people who are very excited about what they do. It was made with a limited budget and limited time but with an unlimited sense of determination, passion, and fun. I feel extremely fortunate to have guys like Earl, Fred, and Chris to be creative with, and a label like Leaning House to help it all come to fruition in an honest and direct manner. The contents of this CD were taken from two whirlwind sessions that took place at Sumet Studios in Dallas. All songs were rehearsed, arranged, and performed on the spot. The originals presented here were all written between September 1993 and January 1996 with "Strange Happy" being the oldest and "Genocide Lament" the newest. Two dedications of note would be that "A Little Walk to Relax" was inspired by a long-standing love of Hank Jones' fabulous playing and "Caught Looking" is for all the beautiful women who have busted me ogling in their general direction. A vast list indeed. To briefly mention the rest of the songs, I would say that you can't go wrong with Mingus and especially a ballad as deep as "Duke Ellington's Sound of Love". I think "What I Want to do to You" is a good example of how this trio interacts. I really dig Earl's brushes and Fred's ever tasteful playing on "You in Woods". The bass clarinet sounds nice and spooky on "Genocide Lament", and the ending even has a few ghosts running around in it. "Ripped Apart" has heartfelt energy and a drum solo I personally enjoy very much. And the title track "Strange Happy" provides a quirky little melody and the basic philosophy of the album: we're strange and we're happy that way! In summation, I can only say that I hope you enjoy listening to the music as much as we enjoyed making it, and I hope to see you at a gig some time. Dave Palmer March, 1997



	`Earl Harvin, drums Dave Palmer, piano Fred Hamilton, bass Chris McGuire, tenor saxophone and bass clarinet`

	Producer: Mark Elliott Executive producer: Keith Foerster Engineered by Mark Elliott Recorded at Sumet Studios Studio A, Dallas Mixed by Mark Elliott at Hai-Tex studio, Dallas Art direction/layout: Frank Goodenough, Off-Center Graphics, Dallas Studio photographs: John Maxwell All compositions by Dave Palmer (FYR Music, ASCAP) except "Duke Ellington's Sound of Love" by Charles Mingus (Jazz Workshop, Inc., BMI) Recorded live to 24-track analog with Dolby SR. In an attempt to deliver a more natural sound, the Acoustic Sheetrock™ technique was employed.