A-T-L

I'm down in the City Too Busy To Hate and just got back from my second rehearsal with Lizz Wright and the ASO, a hit for which I wrote the orchestral arrangements. I've been sweating these charts pretty much nonstop for the past several months (hence the hiatus from blogdonia), so it was an unbelievable relief when everything began to come together, as it did this afternoon. Big ups to our conductor, Jason Howland, who learned my charts inside out and always knows exactly what to say to the orchestra, and to all the fantastic musicians in the ASO -- their ensemble sound is to die for. Orchestras generally hate doing these pops gigs, so it's always a relief when the players have nice things to say about the music.

Lizz is sounding beautiful and I know this gig means a lot to her. She's from small-town Georgia and studied at GSU while cutting her teeth in the local scene, so this concert is a kind of homecoming. Her band is killing, and includes her longtime collaborators Kenny Banks and Jeff Haynes. I wish I had some juicy inside dirt for you, but the truth is, everyone involved has been absolutely, insanely great to work with.

There are hits tonight and Saturday, so if you're in Hotlanta, consider yourself invited.

For the curious, here are the tunes I arranged for these hit:

Afro Blue
Dreaming Wide Awake
Lead The Way
Old Man (bring on the CanCon, y'all)
Salt
Silence
Song For Mia
Soon As I Get Home
Wake Up, Little Sparrow
Walk With Me
When I Close My Eyes

Comments

[Jerry]

1.

Darcy,

I was lucky enough to be at the performance Friday night. Your arrangements suited Lizz and her band so well - Soon As I Get Home in particular was simply gorgeous. I hope you're called on for the new album.

All the best,

Jerry

[DJA]

2.

Hey Jerry,

Thank you so much for your comment -- I'm delighted you enjoyed the music. "Soon As I Get Home" was fun to write because I was able to slip in all kinds of references to the original Broadway scoring. I knew there would be a ton of people in the crowd who (like Lizz) grew up on The Wiz cast album and would appreciate the nod. I did a kind of similar thing on "Old Man" (only this time, I was indulging myself, since that's a tune I grew up on), where the straight D minor guitar lick from Lizz's recording eventually morphs back into Neil Young's original chord progression.

As far as I know, Lizz's new record is pretty much in the can at this point, but I would certainly love to work with her again, should the opportunity arise.