The BFD Jazz Noir expansion pack captures a rare, vintage Camco ‘Oaklawn’ drum kit for BFD3. Perfect for all genres of jazz, funk and neo-soul, Camco drums are sought after by players and collectors alike for their clarity of tone and warm sustain. This kit was tuned medium-high and recorded with sticks and brushes. The collection comes with a set of Istanbul cymbals – including a beautiful 24" ride – plus a 1930s Round Badge Gretsch snare drum, offering a low and fat alternative to the Camco kit snare.

Jazz Noir | JM Jazz

CRÈME BRÛLÉE!

I thought I’d like to share with you a cover I did back in 2021 while in the process of making my close-to-finished fourth album, "All That." 

One thing that gets me motivated to write songs in many styles are covering repertoire I’ve been checking out. I wanted to make my next album towards a jazzy, soulful edge like my favorite singer, Gino Vannelli. His early ‘70s albums from "Powerful People" to "Gist Of The Gemini" feature some jazzy, soulful, at times progressive combinations.

I first heard Vannelli’s song “Powerful People” in an archived stream DJ Questlove did on The Roots YouTube page. I then listened to the full Vannelli album, and thought about covering the title song, including the jazzy instrumental break. A lot of the orchestral synth sounds were played on my Nord Grand 88. The synth bass was played on my Moog Little Phatty, the organ on my Nord C2D, the chimes on my Korg Grandstage 88, the drums using Session Drummer’s Modern Basic kit (I can’t remember if I played the midi drums on my Nord or Korg…) The drums were first, as I often changed tempos throughout the song, not only to give the music a live band feel, but to make sure everything is played tight like having an incredible band!

I also studied a live recording of this song, which gave me the idea to extend the end of the vocal before the jazzy instrumental breakdown.

Anyway, covering this song helped me write “If I Could Change The Past,” which is going to appear on my next album. I hope you enjoy this cover.

Powerful People - Gino Vannelli Cover

Written by Kelly Wilson
A first dance wedding song. A duet exploring the start of a relationship.

Tiffany Chen : Vocal, Piano
Kelly Wilson: Vocal, Acoustic Guitar, Lead Guitar
Dan Wilson: Drums, Bass, BGV

Without You

This is a re-imagining of my track, Lodestar, from 2021. Original song was with myself and a couple friends who provided bass and percussion. Mike John (check out his SC profile!) mentioned he liked the track and, when I listened to his music, I immediately thought a collaboration was in order - and I'm very grateful Mike took on the task. His piano playing and sense of arrangement and instrumentation has absolutely taken this song to the next level.

Composed & arranged by: Michael Lankin and Michael John
Acoustic guitar: Michael Lankin
Bass: Paul Hickson
Piano: Michael John
Percussion: Joe Kettlewell
Cello/Violin: Michael John and Michael Lankin

Feedback welcomed and thanks for listening!
Michael

Lodestar (Lankin, John)

Demo track for my preset pack named The Vital Sound of Merlin #2

29 instances of Vital by Matt Tytel. All sounds and wave tables created from init patch. This round we were allowed to use commercial plugins.

DAW: Reaper 7.28

Plugins: Tens by Klanghelm, Valhalla Delay, Valahalla Vintage Reverb, MConvolution EZ by Melda Production, Graphic EQ by Viator, Type B by Audiothing, TDR Nova, Comp FET-76 by Arturia,
Comp Tube STA by Arturia, EQuivocate by Newfangled Audio and DeBoom by Eventide.

Output bus: SmartEQ 4 and Smart Limit by Sonible, SOMA by Knif Audio and Widefire by Unisted Plugins.

Army Of Angels - Vital Presets Demo

My first song. It makes me want to start something.

(Art by Hasker Brouwer)

Invocation

Ambient acoustic tune, hopefully melodic. :-) Thanks to Freddy Holm who plays l
pedal steel guitar.

Freedom

Jazz band composition composed and performed by Michael John (c) 2007

Image by dottielmt
my.desktopnexus.com/dottielmt

Cloudburst 9 (big band jazz)

A demo song for Chris Hein Horns Vol.2 by Chris Hein
available at: www.chrishein.net

Cloudburst 9 (big band jazz)

MICHAEL JOHN