On Friday, April 14th we're so excited to welcome Generations to our live music stage at Cafe Blackbird.

Jamie Philp, Farley Scott, and Kent Shores bring you an intimate evening of Gypsy Jazz joined by special guests Vocalist Andrea Vogel and Tap Dancer Barbara Vargas. This dynamic group is a musical and visual treat sure to have you bouncing in your seats! Don't miss out, it's going to be a Good Friday!

Tickets are $10, be sure to call in advance to reserve yours!
Phone: 780.451.8890

Generations Demo

Swing 48

 JR in the City
My great buddy Wilf Kozub has released the 9th Wilfred N & the Grown Men CD! This is my variation of I'm in Love With the City, the title cut from our new release. This collaboration with Wilf features a Brooklyn Cab driver who in a short ride gave us tourists quite the education. And a street vender who doesn't know how to dress for New York's unpredictable weather.

JR in the City

Here's what my awesome song writing partner Wilf Kozub says about "I'm There"
This song makes me feel good. I wrote it with my friend, Jamie Philp. Jamie contributed the interesting chord changes in the middle section (and near the end). It seems to me that we recorded the instrumental bed to the tune before I came up with the melody and the lyrics. That little keyboard solo of mine was played on a DX7 run thru a MIDI delay to create that short echo effect on each note. This song first appeared on our 2-cd album, "Waiting For Luck To Come", and was included in my recent album of Wilfred N & the Grown Men faves titled "Take Out Menu".
 And from JR ..... those interesting changes WK refers to are me taking some changes from a Jazz Standard . Then pumping a "Sound Chord/Static Voicing/Magic Voicing" through the progression ...... you know ..... Jazz Stuff! If you can identify the source tune I'll give you a CD! Yes a contest! Wilf loves contests!

I'm There

Here's what my Song Writing pal Wilf Kozub says about Me & You: The couple in this song have such a special relationship that everyone wishes they were in it.
Story Behind the Song
This song was written around a little piano riff that I was playing. My music partner on this song and I created a nice instrumental bed over which I tried to 'float' a pleasant melody. I then wrote the lyrics around some actual facts about my relationship with my wife. I like the ending of the song, which has a synth part reminiscent of Kate Bush. When we were working on our 2003 album "Waiting For Luck To Come", I got together with Jamie Philp at his house to try writing a song. Jamie and I just played around in his basement where there was a big old piano and lots of tiki tiki stuff for inspiration. I eventually found a cool piano rhythm on a progression that felt good. I played it over and over again and Jamie played around with the idea on guitar and added chord changes to sections of the jam. I then took our ideas home and wrote a melody and lyrics that seemed to 'float' on the rhythms. When we recorded it, Jamie played some ultra-cool Hawaiian steel guitar on it and bass (in tenths in the middle section . . . kinda like in Take A Walk On the Wild Side). Marek Tyler was brought in to add drums on his unique hybrid kit (I think there was a wood cowbell or block on his foot pedal). Marek played a rhythm that was it's own thing against my rhythm . . . which added another level to the floating feeling. I love what the boys played on this song . . . and I also like my little synth bit at the end of the song. My lyrics are (mostly) all true and are about me and my wife and stuff that has been a part of our lives. This version of "Me & You" has a small edit in the intro that tightens it up a little. That tweeting bird? That's our little yellow canary, Chava (chava canary . . . get it? heh heh heh) who would go on massive twitter benders. His memory is preserved forever on our little song! What a sweet birdy! And from JR ...... I really like the double lap steels ..... in two different tunings!

Me & You

Here is what my best song writing pal Wilf Kozub says about our tune "Waiting for Luck to Come"
Song Description

The lyrics in this song very much reflect my own thinking and 'struggle' as a musician/songwriter. Waiting For Luck To Come expresses the spirit of never giving up on one?s chosen endeavor in life, even when it looks like the reality is that there may ne
Story Behind the Song

I started this song from a rather aggressive drum machine rhythm, which was replaced by a real drummer, Marek Tyler, who had a fresh, original approach. Then Jamie Philp, my main music partner who is nutty about Hawaiian music, brought in his slack key gu

jamiephi