La Maison du Soleil Levant (voice and bass with songbirds and ambient sound)

This Stones classic takes on a different Heathers/Mean Girls connotation when sung by a female! Featuring the excellent Dave Easley on pedal slide guitar and the lovely Liz Kimbrough on washboard!

Under My Thumb (feat Dave Easley on pedal steel and Liz Kimbrough on washboard)

Stormy Daniels (to the tune of Stormy Weather)

The Irma Thomas classic made famous by the Rolling Stones, in whose key I sing it. I was trying to channel AbFab's Joanna Lumley in the spoken word bit and hope Irma would like the mock Britspeak substitution.

Time Is On My Side (feat. Dave Easley on pedal steel and Liz Kimbrough on brushed washboard)

Slightly distorted - sorry! But I love this song, made immortal by Miss Julie London. These days I feel the need to explain that I'm not covering Justin Timberlake when I introduce this song into a live set.

Cry Me A River (feat. Dave Easley on pedal steel & Liz Kimbrough on washboard)

How this 1929 popular song with only the vaguest of religious references came to be the most recorded "gospel" song of all time is something of a miraculous event in itself. Props to Alabama's own Albert E. Lumley who dreamt it up while out picking cotton one day, for feeling the inspiration. I felt the real depths of this deceptively simple lament (or is it a song of joy?) a couple of years after moving to New Orleans when I participated in a second line that was, for the first time, for someone more than just a name or passing acquaintance even. Not only was the recently departed one a good friend that I felt protective over, joking that he was my little cousin, but he was a phenomenally gifted musician. It's not a posthumous exaggeration to state that to me, Clarence Slaughter was the best tenor saxophone I'd heard since John Coltrane. I never got to hear Coltrane live but my father did and after Clarence died I played some of his stuff for my father who agreed hands down. There are some other great living players of course and many in New Orleans alone, but I find that I've become excruciatingly uncompromising in the wake of Clarence's death and can only stand to listen to the best of the best. Anyway, I feel this song and would of course dedicate it to Clarence. I would ideally like to record it with the Brass band he most often sat in with, being the unofficial number 9 of the Hot Eight. It was during the second line for Clarence which the Hot 8 led down the neutral ground on Esplanade when everybody was singing that I truly appreciated this song that I'd heard so many times. The recording will have to be without tenor sax though, as that seat is taken by the absent.

I'll Fly Away (voice and bass duo)

Rehearsal run through first time we played it with the incredibly quick-witted and dexterous Amasa Miller. Hoping to play much more with him and record with him on both piano and accordion.

I've always loved this song but felt it was too short, so we re-arranged it a bit to stretch it out some...Enjoy

Moon River (feat. Amasa Miller, acoustic piano)

This is a rehearsal with the virtuosic Amasa Miller who gives the tune the proper playful feel! 
I admit to first learning this song as a child from Joni Mitchell's "Court and Spark" album, but my Jazz buff father soon made sure I heard and knew the amazing story of the original lyrics penned overnight to match a Wardell Gray instrumental sax piece that was indeed titled "Twisted". This incredible feat was accomplished by a teenage Annie Ross, trying to get an agent's attention while on summer holiday in Los Angeles. The future member of Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross did indeed get the agent, and a classic was born.

Most people, including Joni stay fairly true to the Ross rendition, which is itself fairly true to Wardell Gray's version, with just a few variations here and there.

I like to start and return with the familiar top-line, which is the foundation of the song, but also allow myself some latitude in the be-boppy parts the same way a sax player would, to own the song a bit more.

Twisted (feat. Amasa Miller, acoustic piano)

I first heard this song as a child growing up in England when it was featured on an episode of the 1970s comedy TV show "It aint half hot Mum" centered on British soldiers in Imperial India. The character actor, Don Estelle, who took the lead vocal possessed a shockingly beautiful and liquid tenor (in stark contrast to his comical looks, I think it's fair to say!) Later, when I discovered the music of the Ink Spots, I of course came to love their original version from half a century earlier, and many of their other songs as well. I love the whimsical premise of the lyrics and also the tongue-in-cheek sub-text that invariably pops into one's mind; sure, blame it on a "little birdie" - gossip comes from people, the grass had no more to do with it than did the wind

Whispering Grass (feat. Amasa Miller, acoustic piano)

I wrote the first draft of this song in the wee hours of my birthday, the first year I lived in New Orleans (2015), after a particularly rough night. As I continued to gain experience and perspective on this complex, wonderful, and sometimes terrible, town, I added more verses and I invite others to do so, should they wish to cover this track, which I hope will become a NOLA standard!

La Face Cache de La Lune (The Secret Face of the Moon)

Elvis Costello pulled off a really mean feat of songwriting with this one! In both lyrical content and melody, Almost Blue recalls, even quotes, some of the most unforgettable torch songs of the Jazz pantheon. At the same time, it manages to avoid cheap cliche and on top of that has a weird asymmetrical form that makes it truly atypical. Spike were wondering why we never heard versions with instrumental solos despite the song having such a strong melody and harmonic underpinning; we were puzzled why everyone from Costello himself to Diana Krall sings the song verses back to back with no break from the vocal lead. That is, until we tried figuring out where to put the break! The original song structure is a bit like "the song that never ends": the lyric at the end of the bridge after the first verse is the beginning phrase of the lyrics to the second verse.  It felt wrong to break that up with a solo in between. However, if you wait to the end of the second verse to put in an instrumental, there is an alternate ending there which can really only happen once, i.e., at the end of the song. So the challenge is to put the break in somewhere that it won't lose the continuity of verses one and two while also not repeating the "final" ending. To complicate matters, the bridge between verses one and two only happens the one time. Spike and I were a bit stumped and tried inserting instrumental passages in a few different places, none of which were satisfactory. We didn't have much time to rehearse with Amasa and were on the verge of deciding to do what everyone normally does: just have the vocals do the song straight through once and don't have any instrumental passages and also no vocal repeats. But then, Amasa, who already knew Almost Blue, had the great idea of....well, just listen to the song and then compare it to other versions. I really can't think of any other way to arrange this tune more effectively, so that it can stay true to its original form, while adding more length.

Almost Blue (feat. Amasa Miller on acoustic piano)

I discovered this little-performed Mac Rebbenack (Dr John ) classic listening to WWOZ. The original is by Roland Stone and was recorded by Carlo Ditto who is still about and whose studio we'd like to do a studio recording of our version at!

Do You Remember Me( bass & voice duo)

There really is a problem with the mail down here. And as for the other kinda male...

Louisiana Mail (bass and voice duo with rain)

I endured a lengthy health crisis this year (2019) which left me with a partially paralyzed left ankle (foot drop) from which I may never recover. I went through a lot of emotions concerning this, including some very dark ones. Ultimately, life is what you make it and if you want to be happy you have to find a way to make lemonade out of lemons, as the saying goes. Writing this song was an important step (pun intended) on the path away from despair. I always find that injecting some humor into the situation does wonders. I've also discovered that I can still dance, just can't do certain things with my left foot. It's OK and really I'm lucky to be alive.

Ode To A Drop Foot Blues (with ambient kitchen sounds)

Some drink to remember, some to forget. Here, Dianimal does both...
Update September 2020! The properly mixed and mastered version of this song, with a great trombone solo, and snare with brushes, in addition to guitar, bass and vocals. Released digitally everywhere on September 23rd and available NOW at our page on unownedartist.com!  Head over now and download the track before it's officially released! All your payments and donations help us fund more music and videos! Thank you!!!

Daydrinkin' - original living room demo

Honeysuckle Rose

La Vie En Rose

I Put A Spell On You

As we sit here in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic, we're taking the time to learn some songs about isolation. Here's one of the best by the Maestro Duke Ellington, with lyrics by Eddie de Lange and Irving Mills

Solitude

This is a great little number that perfectly illustrates the self-importance and myopia exhibited in young love! As if the world would end just because some guy isn't into you.....but we all know how real that feels when ya feel it!

End Of The World

Bacharach considered this his and Hal Leonard's best song. We would have to agree. It's simple yet profound in the lyrics department, and features a great melody with an unusual arrangement that doesn't use the standard verse-chorus-bridge format. It's also unusual in the narrator p.o.v. Typically songs are from "me" to "you", or maybe me telling someone else about you; also common, especially in folk, are songs that tell stories about other people (e.g. "Frankie and Johnny"); but "Alfie" is a song that is delivered by a seemingly omniscient, yet not personally involved, narrator, who is giving advice of the life-wisdom variety to Alfie, whoever that is. I don't think you need to associate the song with the film (about a philandering rascal, played by Michael Caine) for which it was written. It's a great example of a song with a very specific context that is nevertheless universally meaningful even if you don't know what it's actually "all about".

Alfie

Written and performed for the 2020 NPR Tiny Desk Contest. 
Check out the video of this live take on YouTube 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvuaKQ-DpSE

Words and Music Diana Rosalind Land (BMI) 
(with instrumental parts created by players) 
Arrangement: D.R. Land and Stephen "Spike" Perkins

Gary Reiger, Soft Percussion 
Alex Canales, Soprano Saxophone 
Eric Robinson, Electric Guitar
Spike Perkins, Double Bass 
Diana Rosalind Land, Voice and Tambourine

Statement by songwriter:

I spent all of 2019 dealing with illness and trauma, including two brushes with death, numerous hospital stays in two states, and multiple surgeries. I learned what it is to be alone and to have friends. I wrote a lot and thought more. Eventually I emerged into good health and vitality and had just started going out, and performing again, when the COVID 19 pandemic struck. 

I think it’s been easier for me to adjust than some others as indoor isolation is something I had a tremendous amount of last year. I’m also lucky enough to be isolated at the house of my musical partner in New Orleans, where I’ve been since he gave me a place to stay during my lengthy recovery. We’ve continued to work on music during the era of social distance.

One day, as I was thinking of all the different ways people were spending their time, a couplet popped into my head: “I’ll play a game of solitaire / I’ll paint my toes and dye my hair”; quickly followed by the thematic idea: “These things I do alone.” I grabbed the pen and paper. It’s widely observed that solitude can be the making or breaking of an individual (even that the making is IN the breaking) and that the deepest adventure is interior. Being alone doesn’t have to equal being lonely and yes, one up-side is dancing like a complete freak without the slightest inhibition. Then you get to look forward to carrying this more authentic self into your next interactions with others. Or something like that!

Musically, this song exposes my foundation in the music of a previous generation, the 1960s, decade of my birth. I love me some dark and intense psychedelia, but I also love the pop / soul music of that era: from the froth of Sonny and Cher and Nancy Sinatra to the more serious artistry of Burt Bacharach and Hal David writing for Dionne Warwick. Lulu! Recently, I belatedly realized the huge influence of Laura Nyro and the Fifth Dimension. I love Tommy James and the Shondells, the Shangri-Las, the Supremes, Roni and the Ronettes, The Association. Alton Ellis. Motown obviously. Irma Thomas & Alan Toussaint obviously.  But also Herman's Hermits & the Monkees, you know? The Partridge Family for heaven's sakes! (OK technically 1970, but still.) There’s something light-filled about all of that music. 

It’s no surprise then that the song ended up evoking that sound. It was Spike who spotted it as potentially being in the above vein when I first showed him the words and melody, and who then helped steer the arrangement in that direction. When Gary encouraged me to play the tambourine on the chorus, there was no turning back! 

Another theme is how creative ideas cycle around, with everything old seeming fresh again when discovered by a new generation. My generation is the link between today’s elders and youth, with a unique perspective and role to play in both culture and society. “Middle-aged” has such a nasty sound to it, with the stereotype of being frumpy and over-the-hill and irrelevant. That’s so unfair.  One thing I’ve loved about New Orleans since I first moved here from Europe in 2015, is the all-ages nature of the music scene. There is a huge respect for elders, a great nurturing of the young, plus a great inviting-in extended to the mature and anybody who can play, really. The ages of the players in this Spike and Dianimal ensemble range over roughly forty years. 

This was a really fun project to work on while the usual gigs and jams of New Orleans are all on hold.
I hope it makes people smile.

These Things I Do Alone

The Best Gift Ever  w drums no harp take 2

Spike and Dianimal is at its core a bass and voice duo. The flexibility of this form allows us to play as a stand-alone stripped down duo while also offering endless possibilities of additional instrumentation and featured guest artists. In this way, we are truly an "elastic band."

The concept is that Spike and Dianimal can be a self-contained, stripped-down duo/trio, (sometimes filled out by live looping), while also being infinitely expandable to include as many additional instrumentalists as may be imagined (or budgeted for), and as the song may require. So, one song may have accordion and violin added, while another may need trombone and harp. Spike and Dianimal's motto is “the song is the thing”: all must be in service to the song. If the musician can disappear into the song, then so can the listener. The caveat is that this is only possible if it’s a great song, so Spike and Dianimal aim to do only great songs, and do them justice.

The repertoire is a mixture of melodic originals with thoughtful lyrics ranging from satire to pathos, with too many influences to mention here, plus carefully chosen works of songwriting genius from the Great International Songbook, bold old and new.

Spike and Dianimal

Popular tracks