by Modern Songbook Records | Jan 1, 2018 | Charlie's Blog, News
A few days ago, I started my work day on a long Skype call with a friend in Paris who is working on bringing my jazz band, Chaise Lounge, to France for a tour. As soon as that call ended, I was added to a Zoom.us video conference with a filmmaker and a corporate client. From our three different cities, we shared film edit files and made comments and adjustments as we listened. In real time! Just a few years ago, that would have taken days of travel and a mind-numbing amount of back-and-forth revisions. After the conference call was over, I made my final adjustments to the score in ProTools and sent the stereo .wav files to the filmmaker via a large file transfer site called Hightail. I marveled at the technology that keeps collapsing the time it takes to do this work, and the distance among those of us who do it. I then took out my pen and wrote several thank-you notes, put them in envelopes, and left them for the postman. For some things, slower is better. I hope your new year is starting off well, at whatever speed you are starting it.
by Modern Songbook Records | Dec 25, 2017 | Charlie's Blog, News
This year, a song from Chaise Lounge’s Christmas album was included in the Hallmark Channel film Switched for Christmas. The song, “December 25,” was used under a key montage near the end of the film. I’m grateful to director Lee Friedlander for noticing this song.
by Modern Songbook Records | Nov 24, 2017 | Charlie's Blog, Events, News
My jazz band, Chaise Lounge, loves to play with orchestras! On February 18, we will be playing a concert of originals, swing standards, and tangos with the Pan American Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. The program is called “Fusion of the Americas: Jazz Meets Tango,” and it is the world’s first opportunity to hear us performing jazz versions of Astor Piazzolla classics like “Libertango” and “Oblivion,” as well as tangofied American-songbook staples like Irving Berlin’s “Let’s Face the Music and Dance.” If you’ll be in the area, you can get tickets here.
by Modern Songbook Records | Nov 15, 2017 | Charlie's Blog, News
I’ve written a new comedy called Him and Jim that will premiere in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in March. Ara Barlieb, the chief creative force behind Crowded Kitchen Players, is producing and directing. Crowded Kitchen’s 2017 production of my play 12ness recently won an ABE award for theatrical excellence for best direction of an original play. Congratulations to director George Miller.
by Modern Songbook Records | Oct 24, 2017 | Charlie's Blog, Events, News
I wrote previously about 19, The Musical, a show I’m scoring about suffragist Alice Paul and the fight for votes for women. I’m pleased to report that the first act is being staged at a workshop in Northern Virginia in a couple of weeks. The evening will include light hors d’oeuvres and a Q&A with my talented collaborators, the writers, directors, and lyricists Jennifer Schwed and Doug Bradshaw. For more information, visit throughthe4thwall.com.
by Modern Songbook Records | Oct 17, 2017 | Charlie's Blog, News
I am a brand new person. And, dare I say it, a better one. Why, you ask? Because I got a dog.
A few weeks ago I went to Animal Control in Frederick, Maryland, and walked away with possibly the mutty-est mutt of all time. Her name is Cleo A. Taylor, and she’s a five-month-old mix of Springer spaniel, poodle, and rocket fuel.
I have always had some difficulty switching from one project to the next throughout the day. Going from a film score to a jazz tune for my band, for example, required a 15-minute adjustment period. And by “adjustment period,” I mean “nap.” But that has changed. Now, any time I need to shift gears, I simply walk the dog. It is one of those activities that is like watching waves at the shore or studying a campfire: it has nearly zero focus and yet it can occupy all of your attention. So far, I haven’t seen any effects on my musical output, but they may be coming. And in the meantime, Cleo is waiting patiently under my desk for me to finish this blog post so I can shift gears and we can go for another walk.
