Full Transcript:

00:00:00.320 –> 00:00:01.620
John Kennedy: Hello, welcome to Tape Notes.

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John Kennedy: We have got a brand new episode for you, and it’s a very exciting one.

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John Kennedy: I think maybe we could have a drum roll here, or possibly maybe more appropriately, a little bit of a fanfare.

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John Kennedy: Because I was joined by Hollywood legend Jeff Goldblum.

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John Kennedy: Yes, I can’t believe it, but I got to meet Jeff and it was absolutely fantastic.

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John Kennedy: For those of you only familiar with Jeff’s work on screen, you should know there’s another side to him, an incredibly accomplished jazz pianist releasing as Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra.

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John Kennedy: And they’ve got a new album, Still Blooming, released last Friday.

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John Kennedy: It is out now and has some incredible collaborations, including some of Jeff’s recent Wicked co-stars, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, just to name a few.

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John Kennedy: And we got to sit down with Jeff alongside Alex Frank, the musical director, producer and bassist, and Scott Gilman, producer, engineer and saxophonist, to dig into how the record came about and hear stories from those collaborations.

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John Kennedy: It is a fantastic episode.

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John Kennedy: Jeff couldn’t resist putting his fingers on the piano in the room.

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John Kennedy: And we got to hear some of the stunning isolated vocals from the album.

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John Kennedy: The full video episode is available to watch on the Tape Notes Patreon page in all Jeff’s Technicolor glory.

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John Kennedy: So head to patreon.com/tapenotes.

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John Kennedy: Check that out.

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John Kennedy: And as well as access to the full video episodes, which often include additional material from the conversations.

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John Kennedy: Becoming a patron also gives you access to all sorts of other treats, behind the scenes photos, previews, and the opportunity to ask questions to upcoming guests.

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John Kennedy: And we had some great ones put forward to Jeff.

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John Kennedy: So thank you very much for those.

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John Kennedy: And a big thank you must go to Platoon in Tilyard.

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John Kennedy: It’s the first time we’ve recorded there.

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John Kennedy: We were in their Studio One live room and it was absolutely stunning.

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John Kennedy: Such a great place to record.

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John Kennedy: A beautiful studio and the team there were lovely.

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John Kennedy: Thanks also to our partners at Tape It, the iPhone recording app for musicians.

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John Kennedy: More on Tape It later in the show.

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John Kennedy: But if you’d like to try it out for yourself, then head to tape.it forward slash Tape Notes, search Tape It on the app store or click the link in the show notes.

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John Kennedy: But now without further ado, let’s get started.

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John Kennedy: Fanfare please.

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John Kennedy: Hello and welcome to Tape Notes, the podcast that looks behind the scenes at the magic of recording and producing music.

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John Kennedy: Every episode, we’ll be reuniting an artist and producer and talking through some of the highlights from their collaboration in the studio.

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John Kennedy: So join us as we lift the lid on the creative process and the inner workings of music production to see what lies beneath.

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John Kennedy: Hello, I’m John Kennedy, and joining me for this episode of Tape Notes is Jeff Goldblum with producer and musical director, Alex Frank, and producer, engineer and mixer, Scott Gilman, to talk about how they recorded and produced the album, Still Blooming.

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John Kennedy: Jeff Goldblum is an American actor and jazz musician, best known for his roles in numerous blockbusters, including Jurassic Park and Independence Day.

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John Kennedy: Outside of his illustrious acting portfolio, Jeff has continued to pursue a love of jazz music.

00:03:02.085 –> 00:03:11.805
John Kennedy: Having been drawn to the piano as a child, he went on to perform in local venues in his teens and in the 90s formed the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra alongside musician John Mastro.

00:03:11.805 –> 00:03:20.125
John Kennedy: For over 20 years, the band performed as a staple of the LA jazz scene and in 2018, they released their debut album, The Capital Studio Sessions.

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John Kennedy: The album topped the Billboard Jazz Albums Chart and featured collaborations with artists including Imelda May and Hayley Reinhart.

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John Kennedy: More recently, Jeff starred in the film adaptation of Wicked and shortly after, his band also returned with their fourth record, Still Blooming.

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John Kennedy: Released in May 2025, Still Blooming blends classics from Broadway and the great American Songbook and includes celebrity guest collaborations with Scarlett Johansson and his Wicked co-stars, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.

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John Kennedy: Alex Frank is the musical director and bassist for The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra.

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John Kennedy: A graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, he went on to study with jazz icon John Clayton and David Allen Moore of the LA Philharmonic.

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John Kennedy: As bandleader, Alex has arranged numerous tracks across the orchestra’s albums, collaborating closely with guest vocalists including Kelly Clarkson, Fiona Apple, Gregory Porter, Miley Cyrus and more.

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John Kennedy: He has also performed on iconic stages around the world.

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John Kennedy: Beyond his work with the orchestra, he has contributed bass performances to a number of high-profile records, including Michael Buble’s Grammy-winning album Higher.

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John Kennedy: In 2023, he served as Jeff’s vocal coach on the set of Wicked.

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John Kennedy: Scott Gillman is an LA-based saxophonist, composer and producer.

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John Kennedy: With a career spanning live performance, film scoring and record production, he has toured and recorded with artists including Forerunner, Lou Gramm, Chaka Khan and Howard Jones.

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John Kennedy: His composition credits include work for major networks, scoring films, TV shows and original songs.

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John Kennedy: As a producer and engineer, he’s been behind several multi-platinum albums, both solo and with longtime collaborator Andrew Murdoch.

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John Kennedy: Currently, Scott tours internationally with Jeff Goldblum and performs regularly around LA, leading his own jazz quartet.

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John Kennedy: Today, I’m at Platoon in Tillyard, London, and I’m joined by Jeff, Alex and Scott.

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John Kennedy: And what better way to start than by hearing something from the record.

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John Kennedy: This is Blue Minor.

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John Kennedy: It is just a little taste of Blue Minor by Jeff Goldblum and The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, and I’m very pleased to say that I have Jeff Goldblum with me.

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John Kennedy: Hello, Jeff.

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Jeff Goldblum: Hello, John Kennedy.

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Jeff Goldblum: Thank you so much.

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John Kennedy: It’s great to have you here.

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John Kennedy: I also have Scott Gillman here.

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John Kennedy: Hello, Scott.

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Scott Gillman: Hi, John.

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Scott Gillman: How are you doing?

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John Kennedy: I’m all right, thank you.

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John Kennedy: And Alex Frank.

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Alex Frank: How’s it going?

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John Kennedy: I am very excited because you all played as part of this amazing new album, Still Blooming, which I’m displaying now, an amazing and beautiful looking piece of art, and we’re gonna find out how you made it.

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John Kennedy: So how did this album come together?

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Jeff Goldblum: We’ll tell you all about it, but you mentioned the art.

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Jeff Goldblum: That’s Brain Dead is a company?

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Alex Frank: Company in Los Angeles, yeah.

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Jeff Goldblum: In Los Angeles, my friend Kyle Ng, and they did that art there very good and have done other things.

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Jeff Goldblum: We have Merch coming out, believe it or not, and then there’s some of those images on there, and so that’s how that came about.

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John Kennedy: Yeah, it’s a beautiful ensemble with flowers and keyboards united in picture.

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Jeff Goldblum: Yeah.

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John Kennedy: But we’re talking about sound today.

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Jeff Goldblum: Yes, sir.

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John Kennedy: So how did this album come together?

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John Kennedy: So the fourth album by Jeff Goldblum.

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Jeff Goldblum: Yeah.

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Jeff Goldblum: What did you say?

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Jeff Goldblum: Jeff Goldblum?

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Jeff Goldblum: It’s okay.

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John Kennedy: By Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred.

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John Kennedy: Blumdum.

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Jeff Goldblum: Either is correct.

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Jeff Goldblum: Well, I’ll just put in my early two cents into the pot.

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Jeff Goldblum: Well, it’s our fourth album on Decca and Verve, and that all started.

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Jeff Goldblum: When was the first year?

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Alex Frank: The first record was in 2018.

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Jeff Goldblum: 2018.

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Jeff Goldblum: Because we’d been playing, I’d been out and about playing for 30 years with a band, and these guys have been part of this core band for quite a while.

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Jeff Goldblum: And then Tom Lewis from Decca saw us on the Graham Norton show.

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Jeff Goldblum: I was just playing with Gregory Porter, whom I’d met at an airport.

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Jeff Goldblum: And he said, hey, I’m promoting this Nat King Cole album.

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Jeff Goldblum: I’m going to sing that song, Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa.

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Jeff Goldblum: And I do it with a pianist.

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Jeff Goldblum: You want to play?

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Jeff Goldblum: And I know you play.

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Jeff Goldblum: And so I played on that.

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Jeff Goldblum: That’s when Tom Lewis saw me.

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Jeff Goldblum: And that’s when we first started to do records with Decca.

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Jeff Goldblum: This is now our fourth album, because we’ve been very happy to do that.

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Jeff Goldblum: And we keep developing.

00:08:12.444 –> 00:08:14.024
Jeff Goldblum: And we wanted to do more.

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Jeff Goldblum: And we feel like we’re at the height of our powers and had ideas.

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Jeff Goldblum: And so we cooked this up.

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John Kennedy: Yeah, well, you’re Still Blooming, hence the title of the album.

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Jeff Goldblum: Yeah, that’s the idea.

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John Kennedy: For this one, though, what was different?

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John Kennedy: What did you want to do?

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John Kennedy: Because there’s a different array of singers that you’ve got involved this time around.

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Alex Frank: Yeah, I mean, with all these records, I’ve been lucky enough, I’ve been a part of all the records.

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Alex Frank: I’ve now kind of played with Jeff and the band for going on eight years now.

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Alex Frank: I know, isn’t that wild?

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Scott Gillman: Eight years, I know.

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Jeff Goldblum: I know.

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Alex Frank: So it kind of developed from the band, but then it always kind of happened naturally how we got people involved, you know?

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Alex Frank: Even with like, Miley, she was on Glastonbury Festival from when we played that in 2019.

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Alex Frank: And this one was kind of, we were always looking to record new music and we’re always playing stuff, but it has to always coincide with Jeff’s filming schedule.

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Alex Frank: And we were lucky enough, you know, I was Jeff’s vocal coach on the film Wicked.

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Alex Frank: And so they were kind of, there’s obviously a lot of ties with this record and Wicked and how it came to be.

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John Kennedy: Right, yeah, so I mean, I did wonder whether you’re on the set and you say to your co-stars, you know what, how about come on my album?

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Jeff Goldblum: That’s what happened.

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Jeff Goldblum: It was organic, like you say, and spontaneous.

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Jeff Goldblum: We were on, he coached me terrifically on some other vocal things that we’d done before.

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Jeff Goldblum: And then on Wicked, he was there every day.

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Jeff Goldblum: And so we were on the set at Sky Elstree Studios and near St.

00:09:39.384 –> 00:09:41.544
Jeff Goldblum: Albans and both staying at the Sopwell House.

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Jeff Goldblum: And yes, so I had some scenes with Cynthia Erivo, the great Cynthia Erivo and the great Ariana Grande.

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Jeff Goldblum: And I was, you know, I was bushy-tailed and they were, they’re tremendously inspiring and fun.

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Jeff Goldblum: And I would just be singing songs from the American Songbook all day long and in between takes.

00:10:01.984 –> 00:10:05.104
Jeff Goldblum: Then I started to sing, I don’t know why, I love you like I do.

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Jeff Goldblum: I don’t know why, I don’t know how that came up.

00:10:06.564 –> 00:10:08.824
Jeff Goldblum: But Ariana said, why are you singing that?

00:10:08.824 –> 00:10:13.024
Jeff Goldblum: My grandfather used to sing that to me whenever I’d see him or every day.

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Jeff Goldblum: I’d say, yeah, hey, by the way, we have a band and, you know, if you ever want to record with us, you know, it would be a dream come true.

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Jeff Goldblum: She said, yes, I would.

00:10:20.324 –> 00:10:21.304
Jeff Goldblum: We wound up doing that.

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Jeff Goldblum: Cynthia, we said, hey, also, perhaps.

00:10:25.984 –> 00:10:26.744
Jeff Goldblum: She said, yes.

00:10:26.744 –> 00:10:33.744
Jeff Goldblum: We said, well, let’s see, British, World War II, Dame Vera Lynn, we’ll meet again.

00:10:33.904 –> 00:10:37.384
Jeff Goldblum: Because I like that Stanley Kubrick movie, Dr.

00:10:37.384 –> 00:10:39.684
Jeff Goldblum: Strangelove, where they use it at the end of that movie.

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Jeff Goldblum: Anyway, that’s how that happened.

00:10:41.124 –> 00:10:48.944
Jeff Goldblum: And then Scarlett Johansson, I’d done these couple of movies with Wes Anderson that she was in, Isle of Dogs and Asteroid City.

00:10:48.944 –> 00:10:51.324
Jeff Goldblum: We were at the New York premiere of Asteroid City.

00:10:51.324 –> 00:10:52.704
Jeff Goldblum: We got to talking.

00:10:52.704 –> 00:10:55.004
Jeff Goldblum: And that’s when that whole thing came up.

00:10:55.004 –> 00:10:56.284
Jeff Goldblum: She said, yeah, I’d like to do some.

00:10:56.284 –> 00:10:57.164
Jeff Goldblum: How about Bossa Nova?

00:10:57.164 –> 00:10:58.304
Jeff Goldblum: I said, I love that.

00:10:58.344 –> 00:11:00.984
Jeff Goldblum: And then she’s recommended that song.

00:11:02.024 –> 00:11:03.344
Jeff Goldblum: The best is yet to come.

00:11:03.344 –> 00:11:03.884
John Kennedy: Fantastic.

00:11:03.884 –> 00:11:06.024
John Kennedy: And we’re going to look at all of those songs.

00:11:06.024 –> 00:11:10.484
John Kennedy: And the first song I’m going to look at is, I don’t know why, I just do.

00:11:10.484 –> 00:11:12.264
John Kennedy: So I think Scott’s going to play the master.

00:11:12.264 –> 00:11:15.624
John Kennedy: And then we’ll find out how you created it and recorded it.

00:11:56.601 –> 00:11:57.341
John Kennedy: Just do.

00:12:33.361 –> 00:12:34.521
John Kennedy: I don’t know why I just do.

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John Kennedy: Thank you, featuring Ariana Grande, Jeff Goldblum and The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra from Still Blooming.

00:12:40.298 –> 00:12:45.918
John Kennedy: So we found out that it was from a casual conversation that you decided to do that song.

00:12:45.918 –> 00:12:50.758
John Kennedy: From your singing on set to Ariana asking you, why are you singing that old song?

00:12:50.758 –> 00:12:52.038
John Kennedy: And you explaining why.

00:12:52.038 –> 00:12:56.138
John Kennedy: And then getting into the studio to record it, what stages were there?

00:12:56.138 –> 00:13:02.378
Alex Frank: Yeah, so it started off because I was on set with Jeff, and Jeff brought up that song, and she’s like, I love that song.

00:13:02.418 –> 00:13:06.478
Alex Frank: And then she starts singing it, and she’s beautiful voice, obviously, and amazing.

00:13:06.478 –> 00:13:08.958
Alex Frank: And I said, is that a good key for you?

00:13:08.958 –> 00:13:10.598
Alex Frank: And she’s just like, I don’t know.

00:13:10.598 –> 00:13:12.298
Alex Frank: And then she’s like, oh yeah, that’s great.

00:13:12.298 –> 00:13:13.358
Alex Frank: And I have perfect pitch.

00:13:13.358 –> 00:13:15.958
Alex Frank: I was like, okay, so we’ll do it in F major then.

00:13:15.958 –> 00:13:20.498
Alex Frank: And that was kind of the inception of them knowing how to do the arrangement in her key.

00:13:20.498 –> 00:13:35.098
Alex Frank: And we came back to LA after we did All of Wicked, and Scott here, the other producer on the record, he’s got this incredible studio in Highland Park, Los Angeles called The Hobby Shop.

00:13:35.098 –> 00:13:42.418
Alex Frank: And we’ve kind of now made the last few records at his studio, and it’s kind of like our home, and it’s very kind of cozy and nice.

00:13:42.418 –> 00:13:51.578
Alex Frank: And we were coming up with this arrangement, because it’s an old song, it’s from like 1931, and it’s an old standard Sinatra recorded, a Dean Martin.

00:13:51.578 –> 00:13:56.318
Alex Frank: And we have our core band, but then we were just thinking what could make it different for Ariana.

00:13:56.478 –> 00:14:02.518
Alex Frank: And there’s this wonderful singer and violin player that we’ve worked with a lot named Leah Zager.

00:14:02.518 –> 00:14:05.618
Alex Frank: And we thought, oh, it would be nice to use a brilliant jazz violinist.

00:14:05.618 –> 00:14:09.318
Alex Frank: We were like, oh, we’ve never had violin on the track.

00:14:09.318 –> 00:14:13.778
Alex Frank: So that was kind of also the start of the arrangement to think about putting violin on it.

00:14:13.778 –> 00:14:21.378
Alex Frank: And then, you know, me and our great organ player, his name is Joe Bagg, we came up with the arrangement.

00:14:21.378 –> 00:14:30.638
Alex Frank: And if you listen to the track, you know, it’s a pretty simplistic song, but then we have a key change at the end that has no setup.

00:14:30.638 –> 00:14:36.498
Alex Frank: It’s out of nowhere, which I kind of like that to use as a device with key changes, so you don’t have to set it up.

00:14:36.498 –> 00:14:48.818
Alex Frank: And the interesting thing was then, like, you know, Scott and I were doing the record and we were just waiting, though, because we knew Ariana at the time was going in between New York and London because she was still filming.

00:14:48.818 –> 00:14:51.698
Alex Frank: They, you know, they filmed Wicked for like over a year.

00:14:51.698 –> 00:14:59.238
Alex Frank: And we were back in LA and, you know, finally, like one day she just sends this vocal over, you know, we didn’t.

00:14:59.238 –> 00:15:02.598
Alex Frank: Oh, but before we did that, I have to have Scott play you.

00:15:02.598 –> 00:15:06.718
Alex Frank: We sent her a demo originally and, you know, we were moving fast and stuff.

00:15:06.718 –> 00:15:08.838
Alex Frank: So I actually did the scratch vocals on it.

00:15:08.838 –> 00:15:09.178
John Kennedy: Right.

00:15:09.178 –> 00:15:11.078
Scott Gillman: Okay.

00:15:11.298 –> 00:15:12.798
Jeff Goldblum: Oh, I think I’ve heard this.

00:15:13.118 –> 00:15:13.998
Alex Frank: Yeah.

00:15:13.998 –> 00:15:16.758
Alex Frank: So this is what she heard.

00:15:16.758 –> 00:15:19.718
Alex Frank: Thankfully, no one else has heard this.

00:15:19.718 –> 00:15:20.718
John Kennedy: But we’re all going to hear it now.

00:15:20.718 –> 00:15:22.178
Jeff Goldblum: It’s going to be the start of something big.

00:15:22.178 –> 00:15:22.758
Jeff Goldblum: Who wrote that?

00:15:23.658 –> 00:15:25.818
Jeff Goldblum: Don’t answer.

00:15:25.818 –> 00:15:27.438
Jeff Goldblum: Come on, Steve Allen, Steve Allen.

00:15:27.438 –> 00:15:27.598
John Kennedy: Right.

00:15:27.598 –> 00:15:28.778
Jeff Goldblum: You know who Steve Allen was?

00:15:28.778 –> 00:15:30.298
John Kennedy: He was a comedian.

00:15:30.418 –> 00:15:33.818
Jeff Goldblum: A comedian, but he was one of the first late-night talk show hosts.

00:15:33.818 –> 00:15:39.018
Jeff Goldblum: And he played the piano all the time, and he wrote a lot of songs, the most famous of which is this.

00:15:39.018 –> 00:15:43.038
Jeff Goldblum: You know, this could be the start of something big.

00:15:43.038 –> 00:15:43.558
John Kennedy: Right.

00:15:43.558 –> 00:15:46.478
Jeff Goldblum: Speaking of Alex being heard now.

00:15:46.478 –> 00:15:48.558
Scott Gillman: This is Alex’s debut widely.

00:16:31.383 –> 00:16:33.783
Alex Frank: Okay, I think you get the idea.

00:16:33.843 –> 00:16:35.023
Jeff Goldblum: Very good.

00:16:35.043 –> 00:16:35.943
John Kennedy: It sounds great.

00:16:35.943 –> 00:16:37.063
John Kennedy: Who needs Ariana Grande?

00:16:37.063 –> 00:16:38.243
Alex Frank: Yeah.

00:16:38.243 –> 00:16:39.883
Scott Gillman: When you have Melody.

00:16:40.663 –> 00:16:43.143
Jeff Goldblum: It’s kind of like Chet Baker, or…

00:16:44.163 –> 00:16:46.003
Alex Frank: Yeah.

00:16:46.543 –> 00:16:49.623
Jeff Goldblum: Who’s the French, the great French?

00:16:49.623 –> 00:16:50.763
Alex Frank: Jacques Burel?

00:16:50.763 –> 00:16:52.203
Jeff Goldblum: Jacques Burel or who but who?

00:16:52.203 –> 00:16:53.003
John Kennedy: Serge Gansbourg?

00:16:54.083 –> 00:16:58.703
Jeff Goldblum: Serge Gansbourg or who am I thinking of?

00:16:58.703 –> 00:17:00.323
John Kennedy: Not Charles Aznavour.

00:17:00.323 –> 00:17:01.763
Jeff Goldblum: Yeah, Charles Aznavour.

00:17:01.763 –> 00:17:03.083
John Kennedy: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:17:03.083 –> 00:17:06.463
John Kennedy: So you sent this to Ariana, that whole recording.

00:17:06.463 –> 00:17:10.063
Alex Frank: Yeah, we sent her that and one without the vocal, of course.

00:17:10.063 –> 00:17:19.383
Alex Frank: And then we were just, this was like months later, we’re just waiting and all of a sudden one day, she sends Jeff just a finished vocal of it.

00:17:19.383 –> 00:17:21.223
Alex Frank: And she’s like, oh, here he is.

00:17:21.223 –> 00:17:24.423
Scott Gillman: Meaning finished with reverb printed on the track.

00:17:24.623 –> 00:17:25.263
Scott Gillman: Yeah.

00:17:25.263 –> 00:17:27.183
John Kennedy: So where was she recording that?

00:17:27.183 –> 00:17:33.663
Alex Frank: I think she recorded it in New York, but she’s like amazingly in Pro Tools herself.

00:17:33.663 –> 00:17:39.583
Alex Frank: So yeah, she sent us a printed vocal that had EQ on it and reverb on it already.

00:17:39.643 –> 00:17:39.883
John Kennedy: Wow.

00:17:39.883 –> 00:17:42.683
Jeff Goldblum: So you should have her come and I’ll bet she can.

00:17:42.683 –> 00:17:43.543
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:17:43.543 –> 00:17:44.923
John Kennedy: Well, that would be great.

00:17:44.923 –> 00:17:46.883
John Kennedy: And do you have that to share?

00:17:46.883 –> 00:17:48.603
Scott Gillman: We do have a little bit of that.

00:17:48.603 –> 00:17:54.523
Jeff Goldblum: Oh, of her track that she sent without our having mixed it yet with us?

00:17:54.523 –> 00:17:54.723
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:17:54.723 –> 00:17:55.483
Scott Gillman: Oh.

00:18:07.103 –> 00:18:08.263
Jeff Goldblum: Listen to that.

00:18:08.263 –> 00:18:09.663
Tony: Yeah.

00:18:09.683 –> 00:18:10.443
John Kennedy: Oh my God.

00:18:23.027 –> 00:18:23.927
John Kennedy: Beautiful.

00:18:23.927 –> 00:18:33.327
John Kennedy: And quite different, because in some ways, when I was thinking about coming along to speak to you today, you know, when you think of what you’re doing, so much of live performances is a part of it, isn’t it?

00:18:33.327 –> 00:18:43.007
John Kennedy: It is a performance, and you’re working with an amazing songbook that you’re interpreting and bringing up to date for 2025 and putting your own spin on it.

00:18:43.187 –> 00:18:58.087
John Kennedy: But in terms of recording and often the kind of things that we talk about on Tape Notes, I kind of didn’t think that maybe that would be a part of it, but it clearly is a big part of it, especially if you’re going to work around the schedules of people like Ariana Grande.

00:18:58.087 –> 00:19:02.307
John Kennedy: So she recorded that very kindly, kind of ahead of the curve of you.

00:19:02.307 –> 00:19:05.387
John Kennedy: She had an instrumental to work with, but kind of got it to you.

00:19:05.387 –> 00:19:06.387
John Kennedy: Look, I’ve been thinking about it.

00:19:06.387 –> 00:19:07.127
John Kennedy: I’ve worked on it.

00:19:07.127 –> 00:19:07.887
John Kennedy: Here you are.

00:19:07.887 –> 00:19:16.427
Alex Frank: Well, and the nice thing is when Jeff is in town and he’s not filming or traveling, we do record the whole band live together.

00:19:16.427 –> 00:19:18.947
Alex Frank: We have Jeff there.

00:19:18.947 –> 00:19:21.247
Alex Frank: Me, I play double bass in the band.

00:19:21.247 –> 00:19:23.147
Alex Frank: Scott’s on saxophone.

00:19:23.147 –> 00:19:25.807
Alex Frank: And then we have a great drummer now, Ryan Shaw.

00:19:25.807 –> 00:19:31.807
Alex Frank: But on this record, actually, it’s our last drummer, Kenny Elliott, who unfortunately passed away, but he’s a brilliant drummer.

00:19:31.807 –> 00:19:40.307
Alex Frank: But we were all, and our organ player, Joe Bagg, who’s brilliant, who did the arrangement with me, we’re all live together when we record it, Maiya Sykes, the vocals.

00:19:40.307 –> 00:19:40.867
John Kennedy: Yes.

00:19:41.067 –> 00:19:42.487
John Kennedy: So you do do that.

00:19:42.487 –> 00:19:47.987
John Kennedy: And then what Scott takes those recordings and works with them if necessary.

00:19:47.987 –> 00:19:53.427
Scott Gillman: If necessary, do a little comping, or maybe edit takes together if there’s-

00:19:53.427 –> 00:20:00.487
Alex Frank: Yeah, I mean, unlike pop music, none of this stuff we do to click or anything, so it’s not like you could just grid it up.

00:20:00.487 –> 00:20:02.127
Alex Frank: I mean, it’s jazz.

00:20:02.127 –> 00:20:04.807
Alex Frank: It’s organic and too sterile otherwise.

00:20:05.367 –> 00:20:10.807
John Kennedy: And in terms of the violin that you mentioned, where did that come into play and how did you record that?

00:20:10.807 –> 00:20:11.767
Scott Gillman: She overdubbed.

00:20:11.987 –> 00:20:16.747
Alex Frank: She came in afterwards, but she did do her violin before Ariana did her vocals.

00:20:16.747 –> 00:20:25.707
Alex Frank: And it was kind of like we had the arrangement and the sheet music and stuff, but she just kind of, I said, just kind of improvise over the vocals, like tasteful fills.

00:20:25.707 –> 00:20:28.047
Alex Frank: And she’s a brilliant musician, so it worked out.

00:20:28.047 –> 00:20:30.087
John Kennedy: So she was improvising over your vocals?

00:20:30.087 –> 00:20:30.527
Alex Frank: Yes.

00:20:30.527 –> 00:20:30.907
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:20:30.907 –> 00:20:31.167
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:20:31.167 –> 00:20:32.227
Scott Gillman: Inspired by you.

00:20:32.227 –> 00:20:32.767
Alex Frank: Yeah.

00:20:32.767 –> 00:20:34.267
John Kennedy: Are we able to hear any of that, Scott?

00:20:34.547 –> 00:20:36.207
Scott Gillman: The original violin?

00:20:36.207 –> 00:20:37.407
Alex Frank: I mean, you could hear it by itself.

00:20:43.141 –> 00:20:44.081
Alex Frank: Oh, it’s without even revert, right?

00:20:44.081 –> 00:20:45.661
Scott Gillman: Without revert, yeah.

00:20:46.721 –> 00:20:51.661
Scott Gillman: It’s with no revert but some room mics along with her.

00:20:51.661 –> 00:20:59.501
Alex Frank: Beautiful.

00:20:59.501 –> 00:21:04.401
Alex Frank: Mostly, so this is doubling the melody line on the intro we wrote.

00:21:04.401 –> 00:21:07.821
Alex Frank: And then you’ll hear kind of, hear where the vocals would start.

00:21:07.821 –> 00:21:09.741
Alex Frank: You’ll hear kind of now her kind of fill she does.

00:21:24.520 –> 00:21:26.020
Alex Frank: And this is all just improvised.

00:21:26.020 –> 00:21:26.880
Alex Frank: Yeah.

00:21:26.880 –> 00:21:27.660
John Kennedy: It’s lovely.

00:21:27.660 –> 00:21:31.940
John Kennedy: And an inspired choice of instrument that you heard in your head, Alex.

00:21:31.940 –> 00:21:32.320
Alex Frank: Yeah.

00:21:32.700 –> 00:21:33.760
Alex Frank: It’s just different.

00:21:33.760 –> 00:21:41.660
Alex Frank: And it goes back to kind of like Django and Stefan Grappelli, obviously, the jazz and violin have been around for a long time.

00:21:41.680 –> 00:21:49.200
Jeff Goldblum: Alex and Joe Bagg arranged most of the songs on this album, and a lot of the songs that we do.

00:21:49.400 –> 00:21:51.720
John Kennedy: And when do you record your parts, Jeff?

00:21:52.800 –> 00:21:54.080
John Kennedy: You’re playing with the band?

00:21:54.080 –> 00:21:54.240
Alex Frank: Yeah.

00:21:54.240 –> 00:21:54.880
Alex Frank: Yeah?

00:21:54.880 –> 00:21:55.380
Jeff Goldblum: With them.

00:21:55.380 –> 00:21:55.800
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:21:55.800 –> 00:21:56.100
Jeff Goldblum: Yeah.

00:21:56.100 –> 00:22:02.260
John Kennedy: And that’s your preferred methodology, as it were, because you want to be communicating with the other musicians.

00:22:02.260 –> 00:22:02.940
Jeff Goldblum: Yes.

00:22:02.940 –> 00:22:03.980
Jeff Goldblum: Yes, I do.

00:22:03.980 –> 00:22:05.060
Jeff Goldblum: That’s great.

00:22:05.060 –> 00:22:08.100
Jeff Goldblum: It’s really fun to go into the studio.

00:22:08.100 –> 00:22:18.280
Jeff Goldblum: And yeah, and the improvising that I can do, like everybody, is sparked from what somebody has just done and made up.

00:22:18.280 –> 00:22:20.820
Jeff Goldblum: So there’s no replacement for that.

00:22:21.480 –> 00:22:29.160
Alex Frank: Yeah, it’s hard to beat playing with real musicians live, I mean, for recording, because it changes every time.

00:22:29.160 –> 00:22:30.680
Alex Frank: So you want to kind of all be there.

00:22:30.680 –> 00:22:31.120
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:22:31.160 –> 00:22:35.260
Scott Gillman: I should mention we used the Coles 4038 on her.

00:22:35.460 –> 00:22:36.420
John Kennedy: The microphone.

00:22:36.420 –> 00:22:38.020
Scott Gillman: Yeah, well-known British.

00:22:38.020 –> 00:22:38.800
John Kennedy: Right, yeah.

00:22:38.800 –> 00:22:43.880
John Kennedy: So British technology, Aiding and Abetting, Jeff Goldblum and The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra.

00:22:43.880 –> 00:22:47.160
Jeff Goldblum: Scott, when did you, because you started as a saxophone player.

00:22:47.160 –> 00:22:48.940
Jeff Goldblum: He’s a great saxophone player.

00:22:48.940 –> 00:22:49.780
Jeff Goldblum: And then what happened?

00:22:50.260 –> 00:22:57.320
Scott Gillman: I just got into, I wanted to record my own music and I just kind of started learning and taught myself basically.

00:22:57.320 –> 00:22:57.900
Jeff Goldblum: No kidding.

00:22:57.900 –> 00:23:00.100
Jeff Goldblum: And then how long have you had that hobby shop?

00:23:00.420 –> 00:23:03.600
Scott Gillman: Since 2004, so quite a while.

00:23:03.600 –> 00:23:07.800
Jeff Goldblum: Oh, and you record us, but you record other people come in.

00:23:07.800 –> 00:23:10.480
Scott Gillman: Not as much jazz, although doing more jazz lately.

00:23:10.480 –> 00:23:13.580
Alex Frank: He just recorded their, what’s his name?

00:23:14.520 –> 00:23:14.940
Scott Gillman: Yeah.

00:23:15.000 –> 00:23:15.580
John Kennedy: Oh really?

00:23:15.680 –> 00:23:16.420
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:23:16.420 –> 00:23:17.760
Scott Gillman: I think we got a credit too.

00:23:17.840 –> 00:23:18.200
John Kennedy: Nice.

00:23:18.200 –> 00:23:19.880
Alex Frank: Fantastic.

00:23:19.880 –> 00:23:27.080
John Kennedy: Well, maybe we’ll take a break, but before we do, let’s have another blast of The Master, of I Don’t Know Why I Just Do featuring Ariana Grande.

00:23:27.080 –> 00:23:28.820
Alex Frank: Should we do it from a later spot?

00:23:28.820 –> 00:23:29.860
John Kennedy: Yeah, that would be fantastic.

00:23:29.860 –> 00:23:31.400
John Kennedy: Maybe the key change that you were talking about.

00:23:31.400 –> 00:23:32.480
Alex Frank: Yeah, let’s go towards the end.

00:23:32.480 –> 00:23:32.640
Alex Frank: Yeah.

00:24:21.912 –> 00:24:26.872
John Kennedy: Fantastic, I don’t know why, I just do, featuring Ariana Grande, recorded in two different places.

00:24:26.872 –> 00:24:31.192
John Kennedy: So the band in one place, Ariana and another, but combined together brilliantly.

00:24:31.192 –> 00:24:35.932
John Kennedy: We’re gonna take a quick break, and the next one we’re going to look at is We’ll Meet Again.

00:24:37.752 –> 00:24:46.612
John Kennedy: This episode of Tape Notes is brought to you by LANDR, the all-in-one platform for musicians to create, master and release their music to over 150 streaming platforms.

00:24:46.612 –> 00:24:54.112
John Kennedy: Whether you need AI-powered mastering, industry-leading VST plugins, or a massive library of premium samples, LANDR has you covered.

00:24:54.112 –> 00:25:04.512
John Kennedy: Connect and collaborate with artists, sharpen your skills with over 200 expert-led courses, and when you’re ready to share your music with the world, with LANDR Distribution, you can ensure it reaches a global audience.

00:25:04.512 –> 00:25:09.872
John Kennedy: And today, I’m joined by Daniel Rowland, Head of Strategy at LANDR, to tell us more about it.

00:25:09.872 –> 00:25:10.752
John Kennedy: Hi, Daniel.

00:25:10.752 –> 00:25:15.432
John Kennedy: So what makes LANDR Distribution such a game changer for artists?

00:25:15.432 –> 00:25:16.892
Daniel: Yeah, John, thanks for having me on.

00:25:17.332 –> 00:25:20.672
Daniel: So two big things kind of separate LANDR from everybody else in that regard.

00:25:20.672 –> 00:25:24.812
Daniel: And one of them is we don’t assume you know what you’re doing when you go to distribute your music, right?

00:25:24.812 –> 00:25:29.132
Daniel: So we really put a lot of time in our intuitive release wizard that steps you through the process.

00:25:29.132 –> 00:25:36.252
Daniel: If you’re not comfortable with ISRCs or cover song licensing and all this stuff, that we really make sure you understand that as you move through the process.

00:25:36.252 –> 00:25:39.132
Daniel: So when you come back to do it again, it makes even that much more sense.

00:25:39.132 –> 00:25:43.312
Daniel: The other thing, and this is the biggest thing, is that we invest a lot in customer support.

00:25:43.312 –> 00:25:49.012
Daniel: You know, when you go to release your music, you’ve like decided that performance is right, the production is right, the song is right, the mix and the master.

00:25:49.012 –> 00:25:53.732
Daniel: You have to make all these decisions before you have the confidence to go actually release your music to the world.

00:25:53.732 –> 00:26:03.732
Daniel: And if the company you choose to go with lets you down, doesn’t answer your questions, doesn’t follow up with you ASAP, you’re never gonna forgive them for that because you’re like exposed emotionally when you go to do that, right?

00:26:03.732 –> 00:26:06.032
Daniel: I think we’ve all been there as artists and musicians.

00:26:06.032 –> 00:26:08.812
Daniel: So we make sure that you feel like you are not just a number.

00:26:08.812 –> 00:26:19.232
Daniel: And I think it’s one of the nice parts of us being not one of the massive distribution companies that can’t really afford any more to support their customers, but we’re right at that sweet spot where we can make sure that you feel taken care of.

00:26:19.232 –> 00:26:20.892
Daniel: And that’s been our thing forever.

00:26:20.892 –> 00:26:25.052
Daniel: Buy musicians for musicians, and the proof is in the pudding and that we actually come through on that.

00:26:25.052 –> 00:26:25.652
John Kennedy: Fantastic.

00:26:25.652 –> 00:26:30.472
John Kennedy: And how does the platform help artists grow their audience and connect with more fans?

00:26:30.472 –> 00:26:30.812
Daniel: Sure.

00:26:30.812 –> 00:26:33.372
Daniel: So one example is we’re a Spotify preferred partner.

00:26:33.372 –> 00:26:37.572
Daniel: So you get instant Spotify verification and the tools to pitch your music to playlists.

00:26:37.572 –> 00:26:51.932
Daniel: And unique to LANDR is we have a network of thousands of professionals across the industry for everything you could need for music production, whether it’s mixing, mastering, but also for marketing and distributing your music, developing plans to really get your music heard by as many people as possible.

00:26:51.932 –> 00:26:55.372
John Kennedy: But LANDR isn’t just about distribution, right?

00:26:55.372 –> 00:27:08.452
Daniel: No, LANDR started as an AI mastering company 11 years ago and has broadened to be everything you need from the day you come up with a song idea through mixing, mastering, plugins, samples, education and distribution.

00:27:08.452 –> 00:27:13.652
Daniel: And it’s all for one price that is the same price of any one of those services from another company.

00:27:13.652 –> 00:27:19.772
Daniel: So it’s everything you could need at the lowest price in the industry and it’s constantly evolving as we’re adding new features and services.

00:27:19.772 –> 00:27:22.932
John Kennedy: And I hear you’ve got a special offer for our listeners.

00:27:22.932 –> 00:27:23.752
Daniel: That we do.

00:27:23.752 –> 00:27:31.072
Daniel: So right now we’ve got 20% off of any LANDR subscription, whether that’s the Studio subscription, which is everything we do, or even if you just want distribution.

00:27:31.072 –> 00:27:33.532
Daniel: Distribution you can get for as low as $24 a year.

00:27:33.532 –> 00:27:35.732
Daniel: That’s before that 20% discount.

00:27:35.732 –> 00:27:38.392
Daniel: And Studio sits at $99, again, before the 20%.

00:27:39.012 –> 00:27:42.492
Daniel: So pretty low cost to get in the door and really see what we can do for you and your music.

00:27:42.492 –> 00:27:43.132
John Kennedy: Amazing.

00:27:43.132 –> 00:27:43.812
John Kennedy: Thanks, Daniel.

00:27:43.812 –> 00:27:51.852
John Kennedy: To find out more about LANDR Distribution and Studio, head to landr.com/tapenotes and get 20% off any subscription.

00:27:51.852 –> 00:27:58.172
John Kennedy: That’s landr.com/tapenotes, or find the link in any recent episode show notes.

00:27:58.172 –> 00:28:00.512
John Kennedy: Now on with the show.

00:28:00.512 –> 00:28:03.612
John Kennedy: The next song we’re going to look at from Still Blooming is We’ll Meet Again.

00:28:03.612 –> 00:28:12.172
John Kennedy: But before we listen to the blast of the master, I have a question via Patreon from Alexander Frank, another Alexander Frank, who’s got a great question actually.

00:28:12.172 –> 00:28:18.752
John Kennedy: If you could score your dreams with jazz, what kind of groove would your occurring ones have?

00:28:18.752 –> 00:28:22.432
John Kennedy: And who would you have on piano, Jeff?

00:28:22.432 –> 00:28:24.692
Jeff Goldblum: Wow, my dreams, my actual dreams.

00:28:24.692 –> 00:28:30.412
Jeff Goldblum: I dream a lot and I remember a lot early on, but unless I tell somebody or write them down, I usually forget it.

00:28:31.432 –> 00:28:33.472
Jeff Goldblum: But I have an array of dreams, scary dreams.

00:28:33.472 –> 00:28:34.732
Jeff Goldblum: I have nightmarish kind of dreams.

00:28:34.812 –> 00:28:45.652
Jeff Goldblum: Somebody is chasing me and boy, that could be Bernard Herman, you know, who did Vertigo, of course, and all those things, Psycho, all those things.

00:28:45.652 –> 00:28:51.352
Jeff Goldblum: But other times it’s very romantical and sensual, I must say.

00:28:51.352 –> 00:28:53.972
Jeff Goldblum: So, oh boy.

00:28:53.972 –> 00:29:06.692
Jeff Goldblum: Well, you know, I mean, see, Herbie Hancock who did my first movie, Death Wish, when I little pardoned, you know, he’d be fantastic, you know, Keith Jarrett.

00:29:06.692 –> 00:29:17.652
Jeff Goldblum: I love Thelonious Monk, you know, is crazy about, you know, unexpected, surprising, unique, and angular, and virile.

00:29:17.652 –> 00:29:19.232
Jeff Goldblum: Something like that.

00:29:19.232 –> 00:29:20.212
Jeff Goldblum: But I like those PT.

00:29:20.212 –> 00:29:22.172
Jeff Goldblum: Anderson movies that are kind of like dreams.

00:29:22.172 –> 00:29:28.232
Jeff Goldblum: Oh, I tell you, I like those David Lynch movies that are very dreamy, Angelo Badalamenti.

00:29:29.432 –> 00:29:31.072
Jeff Goldblum: I like that stuff a lot.

00:29:31.072 –> 00:29:31.512
Jeff Goldblum: But PT.

00:29:31.512 –> 00:29:36.232
Jeff Goldblum: Anderson’s movies, you know, Johnny Greenwood, that sort of discordant stuff.

00:29:36.792 –> 00:29:37.512
Jeff Goldblum: That could be good.

00:29:37.512 –> 00:29:40.312
John Kennedy: Yeah, so quite a spectrum of sounds there.

00:29:41.452 –> 00:29:43.572
John Kennedy: We’ll Meet Again is the next song we’re going to look at.

00:29:43.572 –> 00:29:45.612
John Kennedy: So now Scott will play the master for us.

00:30:42.940 –> 00:30:48.580
John Kennedy: We’ll meet again, featuring Cynthia Erivo, another wicked hookup, as it were.

00:30:48.580 –> 00:30:50.020
Jeff Goldblum: Yep, yep, yep.

00:30:50.020 –> 00:30:53.460
John Kennedy: So a spark of a conversation led to this song.

00:30:54.160 –> 00:30:55.600
Jeff Goldblum: That’s what happened, yeah.

00:30:55.600 –> 00:31:04.540
Jeff Goldblum: We were just there on the set, you know, how can you, there aren’t enough words to describe Cynthia Erivo, she’s just so great.

00:31:04.540 –> 00:31:09.240
Jeff Goldblum: Just, she opens her mouth and makes a sound, and your heart just explodes, you know, mine does.

00:31:09.240 –> 00:31:16.320
Jeff Goldblum: And she’s great, and she’s also the sweetest, most generous, kindest, wonderful person in the world.

00:31:16.320 –> 00:31:22.400
Jeff Goldblum: And yeah, we were talking, I said, you know, jeez, do you want to record something with us?

00:31:22.400 –> 00:31:23.580
Jeff Goldblum: And she said, yeah.

00:31:23.580 –> 00:31:32.040
Jeff Goldblum: So they’ll tell you the whole story about how it happened, which was sort of delightful and delicious in Scott Gilman’s recordings.

00:31:32.260 –> 00:31:38.060
Alex Frank: Yeah, yeah, it kind of came about because we had been talking about that song in particular for a while.

00:31:38.060 –> 00:31:41.520
Alex Frank: And that’s a great old standard that’s not done a ton.

00:31:41.520 –> 00:31:50.960
Alex Frank: And, you know, we thought the connection, obviously, it’s written by two British composers and it was made famous by Vera Linder in World War II.

00:31:50.960 –> 00:31:54.360
Alex Frank: So Jeff asked Cynthia, would you want to record that song?

00:31:54.360 –> 00:31:56.960
Alex Frank: And Cynthia is like, I would love to.

00:31:56.960 –> 00:31:58.840
Alex Frank: I love that song and I’d love to record it.

00:31:58.840 –> 00:32:01.200
Alex Frank: And this one was interesting when we started the arrangement.

00:32:01.260 –> 00:32:05.840
Alex Frank: I had the idea kind of, I’m gonna grab this electric bass.

00:32:05.840 –> 00:32:32.100
Alex Frank: One of the nice things about being the arranger and stuff, he’s like, you know, I kind of had this idea to start where the bass is kind of just playing these, you know, just kind of the roots with the groove being played over by the piano and the drums, you know, so then it’s like, there’s simplicity and just kind of playing like five to one on the bass for the bass line and that was kind of the birth of the arrangement.

00:32:32.100 –> 00:32:37.840
Alex Frank: And then fascinating enough with, I love working with singers and arranging for them.

00:32:37.840 –> 00:32:47.280
Alex Frank: So with Cynthia, which was interesting, was I just listened to a ton of recordings of hers, you know, she, everything she puts out is just brilliant.

00:32:47.280 –> 00:32:54.840
Alex Frank: And I just kind of listened to her range, everything, and I found the key for her just based off of it because I didn’t have a chance to ask her if this key would be good.

00:32:54.840 –> 00:32:56.520
Alex Frank: So I kind of went in blind.

00:32:56.940 –> 00:33:00.660
Alex Frank: And I thought that a nice compliment was like after we recorded it.

00:33:00.660 –> 00:33:03.040
Alex Frank: And she was like, oh, this is like the perfect key for me.

00:33:03.040 –> 00:33:04.520
Alex Frank: And I was like, oh, that’s good.

00:33:04.520 –> 00:33:05.020
John Kennedy: Fantastic.

00:33:05.040 –> 00:33:06.240
John Kennedy: I’m listening paid off.

00:33:06.380 –> 00:33:19.320
John Kennedy: And the piano is really interesting too, because obviously here in the UK, we associate that song with Vera and has such a strong towering kind of resonance in the UK, but a particular kind of arrangement.

00:33:19.320 –> 00:33:24.860
John Kennedy: And when you listen to the bass and the piano, you take it somewhere else and you bring it into your world, really.

00:33:25.320 –> 00:33:28.120
John Kennedy: No, because we associate it with a whole different thing.

00:33:28.120 –> 00:33:31.260
Alex Frank: Here, can you just solo the bass and the piano together?

00:33:41.407 –> 00:33:48.667
Alex Frank: Yeah, and each chord change, he’s doing that kind of variation of that same rhythm, just changing the chord with it.

00:33:48.667 –> 00:33:48.807
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:34:04.228 –> 00:34:07.348
Scott Gillman: In this case, I was going to say, Cynthia did come into the studio.

00:34:07.348 –> 00:34:07.848
Alex Frank: Yeah.

00:34:07.848 –> 00:34:10.388
Scott Gillman: And she was great to work with.

00:34:10.388 –> 00:34:17.728
Scott Gillman: I mean, I had a U67 and a U87 setup, and it took her like 10 seconds to pick the mic.

00:34:17.728 –> 00:34:18.248
John Kennedy: Right.

00:34:18.248 –> 00:34:20.588
Scott Gillman: And I think she sang it two or three times.

00:34:21.108 –> 00:34:21.848
Alex Frank: It was boom.

00:34:21.848 –> 00:34:22.448
Scott Gillman: We were done.

00:34:22.448 –> 00:34:23.568
Alex Frank: We were done.

00:34:23.568 –> 00:34:26.548
Alex Frank: Yeah, I’ve worked and comped a lot of singers.

00:34:26.548 –> 00:34:27.888
Alex Frank: I mean, she’s perfect.

00:34:28.048 –> 00:34:29.928
Alex Frank: It was just, every take was perfect.

00:34:30.128 –> 00:34:31.888
Alex Frank: Her pitch is perfect.

00:34:31.888 –> 00:34:34.628
Alex Frank: Her style, everything you could imagine.

00:34:34.628 –> 00:34:36.388
Alex Frank: Just it was freaky.

00:34:36.388 –> 00:34:40.128
Alex Frank: There’s a few singers you ever see like that ever in the studio.

00:34:40.128 –> 00:34:40.448
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:34:40.448 –> 00:34:44.228
Scott Gillman: But I mean, obviously, she was relaxed and fun and easy.

00:34:44.568 –> 00:34:45.428
Alex Frank: Yeah.

00:34:45.428 –> 00:34:47.668
John Kennedy: And had you recorded the backing track by this point?

00:34:47.968 –> 00:34:48.528
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:34:48.528 –> 00:34:50.228
John Kennedy: So you had all that arrangement?

00:34:50.228 –> 00:34:50.388
Alex Frank: Yeah.

00:34:50.588 –> 00:34:52.988
Alex Frank: We recorded all the backing track with the band and Jeff.

00:34:52.988 –> 00:34:56.268
Alex Frank: And then we had her come in a couple of weeks later and Jeff was there too.

00:34:56.308 –> 00:35:00.008
Alex Frank: And I remember Jeff, she started singing, Jeff started crying.

00:35:00.008 –> 00:35:00.428
Jeff Goldblum: Oh, yeah.

00:35:00.868 –> 00:35:02.848
Jeff Goldblum: Well, it happened all the time on the set.

00:35:02.848 –> 00:35:03.508
Jeff Goldblum: Yeah.

00:35:05.208 –> 00:35:05.688
Jeff Goldblum: Amazing.

00:35:05.688 –> 00:35:07.728
Jeff Goldblum: And then we recorded it.

00:35:07.728 –> 00:35:10.308
Jeff Goldblum: She comes in, it just blew me away.

00:35:10.308 –> 00:35:10.828
Alex Frank: Yeah.

00:35:10.828 –> 00:35:15.708
Alex Frank: Play a second of maybe from near the end more, just her solo vocals.

00:35:15.708 –> 00:35:17.388
Alex Frank: Just, yeah, I mean, it’s just the-

00:35:17.388 –> 00:35:18.108
Jeff Goldblum: Yeah, she did a few drag.

00:35:18.108 –> 00:35:20.908
Jeff Goldblum: And you said we could pick any of these.

00:35:20.968 –> 00:35:21.948
Jeff Goldblum: It’s an embarrassment of riches.

00:35:22.008 –> 00:35:25.888
Alex Frank: Anyway, it wasn’t an embarrassment of riches, it’s just she’s unbelievable.

00:36:29.493 –> 00:36:35.173
Alex Frank: Yeah, I mean, there’s few people alive who are like that.

00:36:35.173 –> 00:36:36.913
Alex Frank: Yeah, I mean, it’s just spectacular.

00:36:37.033 –> 00:36:49.153
Alex Frank: So, in terms of producing her, it was the easiest thing ever, obviously, because she just everything, her feel, style, pitch, just hard to beat.

00:36:49.193 –> 00:36:52.473
John Kennedy: But you had to prepared, because you’re listening preparation.

00:36:53.453 –> 00:37:02.933
Alex Frank: Yeah, I mean, you listen to a singer enough, and you get a feel from where is their real sweet spot in their voice and their range?

00:37:02.933 –> 00:37:11.973
Alex Frank: Where is there like when you really hear them belting, which obviously no one belts like Cynthia, and where could they be softer and sweeter voice?

00:37:11.973 –> 00:37:14.433
Alex Frank: So, you could pick a sweet spot for a key.

00:37:16.053 –> 00:37:20.133
John Kennedy: And you mentioned earlier, Jeff, that it was the use of We’ll Meet Again in Dr.

00:37:20.133 –> 00:37:27.173
John Kennedy: Strangelove by Stanley Kubrick that inspired your choice of that song, which is surprising in a way, because obviously that’s quite dark.

00:37:27.173 –> 00:37:30.033
John Kennedy: I mean, it’s very funny, but a very dark film as well.

00:37:30.033 –> 00:37:31.773
Jeff Goldblum: Very dark, yes.

00:37:31.773 –> 00:37:37.033
Jeff Goldblum: And that song is meant, I guess, ironically and darkly at the end of that.

00:37:37.033 –> 00:37:40.913
Jeff Goldblum: But the lyrics to that song are still relevant today.

00:37:40.913 –> 00:37:49.653
Jeff Goldblum: Those who know, who keep track of the doomsday clock, say we’re closer to the potential midnight hour than ever.

00:37:49.653 –> 00:37:53.453
Jeff Goldblum: I’m sure we’ll find a way out of it, or not.

00:37:54.433 –> 00:37:56.473
Jeff Goldblum: But yeah, I love that song.

00:37:56.473 –> 00:37:59.833
Jeff Goldblum: I love all of Kubrick’s movies, you know.

00:37:59.833 –> 00:38:02.193
Jeff Goldblum: Yeah, so I like that song.

00:38:02.193 –> 00:38:05.593
Jeff Goldblum: Boy, she’s something, Cynthia Erivo.

00:38:05.593 –> 00:38:08.293
Jeff Goldblum: I’ve seen her, you look her up on YouTube.

00:38:08.293 –> 00:38:14.953
Jeff Goldblum: I just came upon her singing more of, on another occasion, of Don’t Rain On My Parade.

00:38:14.953 –> 00:38:15.693
Alex Frank: Oh, yeah.

00:38:15.693 –> 00:38:16.393
Jeff Goldblum: Crazy about that.

00:38:16.393 –> 00:38:23.053
Jeff Goldblum: I saw all of her Aretha Franklin portrayal, which she sings so and acts so beautifully.

00:38:23.053 –> 00:38:25.513
Jeff Goldblum: She’s a very deep actor and a great artist, you know.

00:38:25.513 –> 00:38:30.613
John Kennedy: Yeah, and while you’re over here, you’re not just talking to tape notes, you’re also playing at the London Palladium.

00:38:30.613 –> 00:38:31.473
John Kennedy: What are the plans?

00:38:31.473 –> 00:38:34.553
John Kennedy: I mean, you’ve got some amazing singers involved in all your albums.

00:38:34.553 –> 00:38:37.573
John Kennedy: How do you represent that when you take to the stage?

00:38:38.513 –> 00:38:39.373
Jeff Goldblum: A good question.

00:38:39.373 –> 00:38:43.013
Jeff Goldblum: Well, is it a surprise or I don’t know when people are going to hear this?

00:38:43.113 –> 00:38:46.493
John Kennedy: Well, I think the show will have already taken place by the time people get to hear this.

00:38:46.493 –> 00:39:00.073
Alex Frank: Yeah, there’s artists that we know, lucky enough, we’re on Decca Records, which is an amazing record label out here in the UK, and different people we’ve wanted to work with and they’re helping us out.

00:39:01.073 –> 00:39:04.173
Alex Frank: We have this great singer from London, a great jazz singer joining us.

00:39:04.173 –> 00:39:11.133
Alex Frank: Her name is Emma Smith, and she plays the role of like, we always have a singer on the row with us, and she’s doing the role of all these songs.

00:39:11.133 –> 00:39:15.013
Alex Frank: But then we have a special guest who’s going to join us for a little bit is Dodie.

00:39:15.013 –> 00:39:15.413
John Kennedy: Right.

00:39:15.413 –> 00:39:16.153
Alex Frank: Yeah.

00:39:16.153 –> 00:39:19.073
Alex Frank: So she’s coming out to sing with us as well.

00:39:19.073 –> 00:39:23.913
Alex Frank: There might be some other special guests that I don’t really know if I could talk about yet, but we’ll see.

00:39:23.913 –> 00:39:24.773
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:39:24.773 –> 00:39:25.713
John Kennedy: Fantastic.

00:39:25.953 –> 00:39:27.193
John Kennedy: Excellent.

00:39:27.193 –> 00:39:27.473
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:39:27.473 –> 00:39:33.813
John Kennedy: I mean, obviously, you did a little bit of a jam for us, which was really beautiful, and you have brought your sheet music in, Jeff.

00:39:35.413 –> 00:39:37.313
John Kennedy: So does this go wherever you go?

00:39:37.313 –> 00:39:38.293
John Kennedy: Is this how it works?

00:39:38.313 –> 00:39:38.613
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:39:38.613 –> 00:40:03.973
Jeff Goldblum: Well, I’m always just like our band with our recording methods, it’s always evolving and developing, and me playing with these great musicians, I feel like I’m always trying to get better, and I plan nothing if not discipline, so I start my day with our workload, which really includes preparing for these shows, the set list of which we sort of determined sooner this time than we have before.

00:40:03.973 –> 00:40:09.713
Jeff Goldblum: So I know what I’m going to do, and I investigate them more and work on them.

00:40:09.713 –> 00:40:17.593
Jeff Goldblum: So many of them I’ve memorized, but some of them, because I want to play some of these arrangements, I’m still looking at.

00:40:18.073 –> 00:40:18.893
Jeff Goldblum: I’ll show you the whole thing.

00:40:20.013 –> 00:40:29.593
Jeff Goldblum: Here’s the book, and well, we do, Let’s Face the Music and Dance on this upcoming live little cycle, which we’ve done before, which we’ve recorded before.

00:40:29.753 –> 00:40:31.813
Alex Frank: We recorded it with the great Sharon Von Etten saying it.

00:40:31.873 –> 00:40:33.413
Jeff Goldblum: Sharon Von Etten, yeah.

00:40:33.413 –> 00:40:35.373
Jeff Goldblum: But I still like to look at that a little bit.

00:40:35.373 –> 00:40:39.353
Jeff Goldblum: This I don’t know why is fun to look at while I play.

00:40:39.353 –> 00:40:40.033
Jeff Goldblum: We’ll meet again.

00:40:40.033 –> 00:40:41.613
Jeff Goldblum: Also fun to look at.

00:40:41.613 –> 00:40:42.573
Jeff Goldblum: There it is.

00:40:42.573 –> 00:40:45.773
Jeff Goldblum: And then, oh, I shouldn’t show you that because that’s some secret.

00:40:45.773 –> 00:40:47.893
Jeff Goldblum: That has to do with our secret guests.

00:40:47.893 –> 00:40:49.733
Jeff Goldblum: And this is, we’re going to talk about this in a second.

00:40:49.733 –> 00:40:51.393
Jeff Goldblum: This is the best is yet to come.

00:40:51.393 –> 00:40:52.913
Jeff Goldblum: Sy Coleman.

00:40:52.973 –> 00:40:53.793
Alex Frank: Carolyn Leigh.

00:40:53.793 –> 00:40:55.733
Jeff Goldblum: Carolyn Leigh.

00:40:55.733 –> 00:40:58.133
Jeff Goldblum: Also arranged by Alex Frank and Joe Bang.

00:40:58.133 –> 00:41:04.273
John Kennedy: And so, do you look at them and just play them in your head, as it were, when you’re looking through the pages of your booklet there?

00:41:04.273 –> 00:41:07.193
John Kennedy: Or do you try and find a piano somewhere?

00:41:07.193 –> 00:41:08.753
John Kennedy: Do you work with Alex and Scott?

00:41:08.753 –> 00:41:11.893
John Kennedy: Do you jam around in the hotel, say, if you have time?

00:41:11.893 –> 00:41:13.413
Jeff Goldblum: I don’t get to see them much.

00:41:13.413 –> 00:41:19.673
Jeff Goldblum: Sometimes they come over to my house in LA, and we’ve done that a couple of times for special reasons.

00:41:20.313 –> 00:41:23.233
Jeff Goldblum: But mostly, I do it myself.

00:41:23.233 –> 00:41:24.813
Jeff Goldblum: I get a piano on the road.

00:41:24.813 –> 00:41:36.653
Jeff Goldblum: I have, through the years, gone down to the lobbies of hotels and played pestered people before they asked me to stop or go to a piano store.

00:41:36.653 –> 00:41:38.893
Jeff Goldblum: I’ve wound up in New York at the Steinway store.

00:41:39.353 –> 00:41:40.873
Alex Frank: You even played in St.

00:41:40.873 –> 00:41:43.073
Alex Frank: Pancras a couple of times at the piano there.

00:41:43.073 –> 00:41:44.793
Jeff Goldblum: Yes, I did.

00:41:44.853 –> 00:41:46.493
John Kennedy: I love it, the people going posse.

00:41:46.493 –> 00:41:47.913
John Kennedy: I think that looked like Jeff Goldblum.

00:41:47.913 –> 00:41:48.653
Jeff Goldblum: That’s right.

00:41:48.653 –> 00:41:59.173
Jeff Goldblum: But these days, I kind of arrange, I kind of have a method where I arrange for a little rental keyboard in the room, which I did for the last few days.

00:41:59.173 –> 00:42:02.713
Jeff Goldblum: We were on a boat the last few days, and I got, we somehow got a keyboard there.

00:42:02.713 –> 00:42:07.353
Jeff Goldblum: Anyway, I do my due diligence and work on them.

00:42:07.353 –> 00:42:12.013
Jeff Goldblum: So, and then I bring this to the show because I like to, because I’ll look at this and read a little bit.

00:42:12.013 –> 00:42:19.733
Jeff Goldblum: Ooh, we’ve got that, we’ve got ooh, we’ve got that, hey, people don’t know that, but we haven’t really, this is part of our, part of the record, no.

00:42:20.233 –> 00:42:21.233
Alex Frank: We can’t really talk about it.

00:42:21.233 –> 00:42:24.193
Jeff Goldblum: We can’t talk about that, nevermind, nevermind.

00:42:24.333 –> 00:42:26.533
John Kennedy: I can pretend I didn’t see that title.

00:42:26.533 –> 00:42:29.453
Jeff Goldblum: Avert your eyes, avert your eyes.

00:42:29.453 –> 00:42:36.253
Jeff Goldblum: That’s it, that’s it, and then we’ve got this, which is on the record.

00:42:36.253 –> 00:42:37.793
Alex Frank: Oh, we can talk about that, yeah.

00:42:37.793 –> 00:42:38.693
Alex Frank: Every time we say goodbye.

00:42:38.693 –> 00:42:39.333
John Kennedy: I sing a little bit of this.

00:42:39.333 –> 00:42:40.033
John Kennedy: And you sing that.

00:42:40.033 –> 00:42:40.953
Jeff Goldblum: Yeah, I do sing it.

00:42:41.313 –> 00:42:44.713
Jeff Goldblum: I’m making it up coming in a live situation or so.

00:42:44.713 –> 00:42:48.973
Jeff Goldblum: And yeah, there’s a, I know it, but I like to have this.

00:42:48.973 –> 00:42:53.973
Jeff Goldblum: There’s a bit of a shout course that I play along with the band and et cetera, et cetera.

00:42:53.973 –> 00:42:55.173
Jeff Goldblum: So I like to look at that.

00:42:55.173 –> 00:42:59.153
John Kennedy: Yeah, it’s great to see it and great to see it brought along to the session.

00:42:59.873 –> 00:43:03.793
Scott Gillman: This will be the first time we’ve played a lot of these songs live.

00:43:03.793 –> 00:43:10.613
Jeff Goldblum: Yeah, mostly months go by before I, and then tomorrow for the soundcheck, that’s when we’ll be playing first.

00:43:10.713 –> 00:43:13.333
Jeff Goldblum: And seeing Dodie, I’ve never met Dodie.

00:43:13.333 –> 00:43:19.233
Jeff Goldblum: We’re going to rehearse with her or soundcheck with her and run it through and we’ve got a new idea about it, kind of a finish tomorrow.

00:43:19.233 –> 00:43:21.093
Jeff Goldblum: We’re going to kind of put that together.

00:43:21.093 –> 00:43:22.193
Jeff Goldblum: So, yeah.

00:43:22.193 –> 00:43:26.653
John Kennedy: So it’s interesting because you keep it fresh then because you’re all busy doing different things.

00:43:26.653 –> 00:43:30.573
John Kennedy: It means that when you get to get together, it’s new and exciting.

00:43:30.573 –> 00:43:37.393
Alex Frank: And it’s one of the beautiful things that we have incredible musicians in the band, like just brilliant, brilliant jazz musicians.

00:43:37.513 –> 00:43:45.793
Alex Frank: So, it’s never like, no one ever stresses out, like because we haven’t played together in forever because, you know, we know the music will always take care of itself.

00:43:45.793 –> 00:43:48.193
John Kennedy: Scott’s pointing to himself, I get stressed out.

00:43:48.193 –> 00:43:50.873
John Kennedy: And how big does the orchestra get?

00:43:50.873 –> 00:43:53.653
John Kennedy: Or, you know, what’s the smallest and what’s the biggest?

00:43:53.653 –> 00:44:04.393
Alex Frank: Yeah, I mean, the pretty typical one is, so Jeff on piano, me on bass, brilliant guitar player named Graham Dexter, who’s kind of a big deal jazz guitarist, amazing.

00:44:04.773 –> 00:44:10.593
Alex Frank: An amazing drummer named Ryan Shaw, who plays with Buble and also Seth MacFarlane.

00:44:10.593 –> 00:44:15.453
Alex Frank: And then Joe Bagg, who’s our organ player, one of the best organ players in the whole world.

00:44:15.453 –> 00:44:18.533
Alex Frank: And then Scott on saxophone and flute and all the woodwinds.

00:44:18.533 –> 00:44:22.113
Alex Frank: And then we have a singer with us normally, but that’s it.

00:44:22.113 –> 00:44:23.293
John Kennedy: Fantastic, right.

00:44:23.293 –> 00:44:27.493
John Kennedy: We’re going to look at another song in just a moment, but let’s have another blast of We’ll Meet Again.

00:44:33.363 –> 00:44:34.583
Alex Frank: Speaking of Joe Bagg.

00:44:34.583 –> 00:44:34.743
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:46:08.902 –> 00:46:11.482
John Kennedy: Such a great song, and that’s such a great version.

00:46:11.482 –> 00:46:17.142
John Kennedy: Sounding good, and with lovely embellishments from Jeff, live here on Tape Notes.

00:46:17.142 –> 00:46:21.762
John Kennedy: We’re going to take another quick break, and we’ll be back to look at the best is yet to come.

00:46:21.762 –> 00:46:25.402
Jeff Goldblum: Yeah.

00:46:25.402 –> 00:46:30.742
John Kennedy: This episode is supported by the brand new Songwriting Masters Program at Trinity Laban, London.

00:46:30.742 –> 00:46:36.362
John Kennedy: As a world-renowned conservatoire, Trinity Laban offers exceptional education and training in the arts.

00:46:36.362 –> 00:46:46.802
John Kennedy: And this September, you can join their world-leading experts and industry professionals for their Masters in Songwriting, designed to give you the knowledge to build a lasting and successful career in the industry.

00:46:46.802 –> 00:46:55.362
John Kennedy: And very excitingly, I’ve got Dr Tony Briscoe, Music Production Pathway Leader at Trinity Laban, here to tell us a little bit more about it.

00:46:55.362 –> 00:46:56.042
John Kennedy: Hi, Tony.

00:46:56.042 –> 00:46:57.442
John Kennedy: Thanks for speaking to us.

00:46:57.442 –> 00:46:59.562
John Kennedy: Can you tell us more about this course?

00:46:59.562 –> 00:47:00.042
Tony: Hi, John.

00:47:00.042 –> 00:47:01.122
Tony: It’s great to be here.

00:47:01.122 –> 00:47:05.262
Tony: So this year, we’re offering a brand new course at Trinity Laban.

00:47:05.862 –> 00:47:14.042
Tony: It’s an MA in Songwriting, and it will really offer people who are interested in songwriting an opportunity to really advance their skills in there.

00:47:14.042 –> 00:47:21.202
Tony: So it’s a blend between academic and practical learning, which will help students really refine their artistic identity.

00:47:21.202 –> 00:47:35.682
Tony: But it also has a multifaceted set of modules covering musicianship, lyrical craft, music production, music industry insights, and really get into the various aspects of what it takes to be an advanced songwriter in this industry.

00:47:35.682 –> 00:47:36.742
John Kennedy: It sounds great, Tony.

00:47:36.742 –> 00:47:40.882
John Kennedy: What is the one most important element that this course offers, do you think?

00:47:40.882 –> 00:47:41.342
Tony: Yes.

00:47:41.342 –> 00:47:44.202
Tony: I would say definitely it’s the collaboration.

00:47:44.202 –> 00:47:59.062
Tony: There’s the online component where you’ll be sharing ideas, but there is also a writing camp, which is modeled after the industry standard writing camps, where all the students will get to Trinity Laban in London in Greenwich.

00:47:59.062 –> 00:48:06.562
Tony: They will be in the studio working together collaboratively to create a song from scratch to a professional standard at the end.

00:48:06.562 –> 00:48:08.702
John Kennedy: At the end of the year, what do you leave with?

00:48:08.702 –> 00:48:11.062
Tony: You’ll leave with an industry-ready portfolio.

00:48:11.062 –> 00:48:15.922
Tony: You’ll gain a lot of one-to-one mentorship, which will take your raw craft to that next level.

00:48:15.922 –> 00:48:19.022
Tony: Also, those industry connection part is super important.

00:48:19.122 –> 00:48:29.682
Tony: You’ll gain those connections through things like master classes, network events, and also of course that songwriting camp, which will provide you a direct access to the industry professionals.

00:48:30.002 –> 00:48:30.762
John Kennedy: Thanks, Tony.

00:48:30.762 –> 00:48:35.642
John Kennedy: That’s Trinity Laban’s MA in Songwriting, now taking applications to begin this September.

00:48:35.642 –> 00:48:40.562
John Kennedy: To find out more, head to the link in a recent episode, Show Notes, or visit trinitylaban.ac.uk.

00:48:41.822 –> 00:48:47.042
John Kennedy: That’s trinity, L-A-B-A-N, dot, A-C, dot, U-K.

00:48:48.962 –> 00:48:53.622
John Kennedy: This episode is being supported by Tape It, the iPhone recording app for musicians.

00:48:53.622 –> 00:49:04.082
John Kennedy: As many of the fantastic artists and producers on Tape Notes have mentioned, recording voice memos, field recordings and capturing ideas on the go is crucial to the creative process, and Tape It makes it effortless.

00:49:04.082 –> 00:49:15.562
John Kennedy: With Tape It, you can record straight from your lock screen, capture ideas in stereo, choose between multiple recording formats, drop markers to highlight key moments, and create shared mixtapes with friends and collaborators.

00:49:15.562 –> 00:49:17.362
John Kennedy: You can even view your recordings on a map.

00:49:17.362 –> 00:49:22.742
John Kennedy: Whether it’s a quick melody or a full song idea, Tape It helps you stay creative without the clutter.

00:49:22.742 –> 00:49:29.622
John Kennedy: So click the link in a recent episode Show Notes, or head to tape.it forward slash tape notes to download Tape It for free.

00:49:29.622 –> 00:49:35.142
John Kennedy: And for even more, check out Tape It Pro and use promo code Tape Notes for 20% off.

00:49:35.142 –> 00:49:37.582
John Kennedy: That’s tape.it forward slash Tape Notes.

00:49:37.582 –> 00:49:39.522
John Kennedy: Now on with the show.

00:49:41.922 –> 00:49:45.362
John Kennedy: The next song we’re going to look at from Still Blooming is the best is yet to come.

00:49:45.362 –> 00:49:49.142
John Kennedy: But before we start, I’m going to ask another couple of these patron questions.

00:49:49.142 –> 00:49:54.782
John Kennedy: So Drew Henme has been in touch to say, How do you split your time with multiple creative endeavors, i.e.

00:49:54.782 –> 00:49:56.302
John Kennedy: your acting and your music?

00:49:56.302 –> 00:50:03.122
John Kennedy: Do you prefer to work on one at a time during any given period, or do you find it beneficial to mix the two together at all?

00:50:03.122 –> 00:50:04.822
Jeff Goldblum: Good question.

00:50:04.822 –> 00:50:06.042
Jeff Goldblum: And I’ve got a family.

00:50:06.042 –> 00:50:13.482
Jeff Goldblum: I’ve got a wonderful wife for the last 13, 14 years and two kids, they’re nine and eight.

00:50:13.542 –> 00:50:18.562
Jeff Goldblum: So I don’t want to shortchange that they’re sort of the most important part of my life.

00:50:18.562 –> 00:50:23.542
Jeff Goldblum: You know, I try to juggle them all a little bit and intertwine them like a DNA strand.

00:50:24.762 –> 00:50:29.642
Jeff Goldblum: And they feed each other, certainly the family life feeds my whole life and creative life.

00:50:30.762 –> 00:50:35.142
Jeff Goldblum: And music has always been a part of my acting life in one way or another.

00:50:35.142 –> 00:50:37.002
Jeff Goldblum: I don’t want to bore you with all the details.

00:50:37.782 –> 00:50:44.602
Jeff Goldblum: And acting has to do with the storytelling and music and musical communication and improvisation too.

00:50:44.602 –> 00:50:46.662
Jeff Goldblum: So they’re all related.

00:50:46.662 –> 00:50:48.882
Jeff Goldblum: And then calendar wise, so far so good.

00:50:48.882 –> 00:50:53.542
Jeff Goldblum: I’m not being, you know, one isn’t in horrible conflict with another.

00:50:53.542 –> 00:50:55.342
Jeff Goldblum: And you know, I do my best.

00:50:55.342 –> 00:50:55.922
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:50:55.922 –> 00:51:01.342
John Kennedy: Another related question from Chris Pearson says, how do you get into flow in life, acting and music?

00:51:01.342 –> 00:51:04.642
John Kennedy: So do you need a flow to create?

00:51:04.642 –> 00:51:05.642
Jeff Goldblum: A flow?

00:51:05.642 –> 00:51:09.482
John Kennedy: I think Chris is getting at the idea that, you know, how do you stay on your game?

00:51:09.482 –> 00:51:10.482
John Kennedy: How do you keep it going?

00:51:11.702 –> 00:51:12.042
Jeff Goldblum: Yes.

00:51:12.042 –> 00:51:15.942
Jeff Goldblum: Well, I have plenty of, well, some downtime.

00:51:15.942 –> 00:51:21.542
Jeff Goldblum: And like I say, the life with kids and family is great.

00:51:21.542 –> 00:51:32.262
Jeff Goldblum: So that causes me and inspires me to have very, what turns out to be, not for that reason, but for it turns out to be very nourishing, delicious time.

00:51:32.262 –> 00:51:47.222
Jeff Goldblum: And then flow comes, I think, somewhat from the grace of the cosmos, but also, that we’re all part of, but to whatever extent we can access it, but also discipline.

00:51:47.222 –> 00:51:59.802
Jeff Goldblum: You got to meet it halfway at least, and wake up and do your homework, and then flow happens if you work, if you do some work and put some effort into it, I think.

00:51:59.802 –> 00:52:00.202
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:52:00.202 –> 00:52:00.442
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:52:00.442 –> 00:52:03.682
John Kennedy: So you to be seen at home, at the piano quite regularly.

00:52:03.682 –> 00:52:09.242
John Kennedy: I mean, obviously, if you’re preparing for a tour or for some live dates, then you get into homework mode.

00:52:09.242 –> 00:52:10.962
John Kennedy: But would you?

00:52:10.962 –> 00:52:13.162
Jeff Goldblum: But every day anyway, even if I’m not doing that.

00:52:13.162 –> 00:52:14.702
Jeff Goldblum: No, I do it every, it changes my life.

00:52:14.702 –> 00:52:17.962
Jeff Goldblum: Thank goodness my mom made us take lessons when I was a kid.

00:52:17.962 –> 00:52:19.502
Jeff Goldblum: And no, it changed my life.

00:52:19.502 –> 00:52:21.582
Jeff Goldblum: It’s a part of my life and a good part.

00:52:21.582 –> 00:52:26.962
Jeff Goldblum: It’s a tonic like nothing else to start the day or at any time in the day.

00:52:26.962 –> 00:52:29.922
Jeff Goldblum: Get to play and go to work.

00:52:29.922 –> 00:52:35.802
Jeff Goldblum: Our kids are taking piano lessons right now and say we’re trying to expose them to the same opportunity.

00:52:36.322 –> 00:52:37.282
Jeff Goldblum: What else was I going to say?

00:52:37.282 –> 00:52:38.882
Jeff Goldblum: I was going to say one other thing.

00:52:38.882 –> 00:52:42.242
Jeff Goldblum: Wait about, now it’s slipped my mind.

00:52:42.242 –> 00:52:43.642
Jeff Goldblum: Wait a minute.

00:52:43.802 –> 00:52:44.682
Jeff Goldblum: Oh, I know.

00:52:45.322 –> 00:52:48.002
Jeff Goldblum: And from the time acting also is the same thing.

00:52:48.002 –> 00:52:52.062
Jeff Goldblum: From the time I get a job, I consider myself on the job.

00:52:53.702 –> 00:53:01.442
Jeff Goldblum: And preparation always changes how you can most effectively use your time before the fact so that the cake really rises.

00:53:01.442 –> 00:53:02.842
Jeff Goldblum: And it’s always an experiment.

00:53:02.842 –> 00:53:04.082
Jeff Goldblum: That’s what you’re trying to do.

00:53:04.082 –> 00:53:05.122
John Kennedy: Yeah, fascinating.

00:53:05.582 –> 00:53:09.782
John Kennedy: The next song we’re going to look at is The Best Is Yet To Come featuring Scarlett Johansson.

00:53:09.782 –> 00:53:12.642
John Kennedy: Scott, if you would play us the master, that would be fantastic.

00:54:29.433 –> 00:54:32.693
John Kennedy: The best is yet to come featuring Scarlett Johansson.

00:54:32.693 –> 00:54:37.653
John Kennedy: So this is another track that originated from conversation with Scarlett on set.

00:54:37.653 –> 00:54:38.793
Jeff Goldblum: Yeah, yeah.

00:54:38.793 –> 00:54:47.893
Jeff Goldblum: Scarlett Johansson and I have, I’ve known her for a while, and then we did a couple of Wes Anderson movies, Isle of Dogs and Asteroid City, maybe I already mentioned.

00:54:49.433 –> 00:54:57.873
Jeff Goldblum: Yeah, we were at the New York premiere of Asteroid City, we got to talking and the band came up and she said, hey, I’d like to say, really?

00:54:57.873 –> 00:55:03.553
Jeff Goldblum: Says, she’s great, she’s a great actor and a unique voice, singing voice and speaking voice.

00:55:03.553 –> 00:55:12.113
Jeff Goldblum: You saw her in that movie, Her, just the voice and Isle of Dogs is of course just our voices, but she’s spectacular and a wonderful person.

00:55:13.193 –> 00:55:16.653
Jeff Goldblum: Also, I adore her and anyway, it was her idea.

00:55:16.653 –> 00:55:28.873
Jeff Goldblum: She said, yeah, bossa nova, which is I love and then she suggested that song, The Best Is Yet To Come, which I’ve known for a while and then they came up with this arrangement.

00:55:28.873 –> 00:55:38.473
Alex Frank: Yeah, so this one was an interesting one, a lot of factors to it because she suggested that song which I was like, okay, because it’s a very difficult song to sing.

00:55:38.473 –> 00:55:47.313
Alex Frank: It goes through a lot of key changes, the melody is hard, but she wanted to do it and she wanted to do it in like the Joe Beam kind of style, bossa nova, which was also a lot of fun.

00:55:47.313 –> 00:55:52.653
Alex Frank: So it goes back to, you want to talk about not getting the key right.

00:55:53.113 –> 00:55:54.593
Alex Frank: She’s done a little bit of singing.

00:55:54.593 –> 00:56:00.173
Alex Frank: She’s singing that movie Sing, the cartoon, she’s singing that and some other stuff she’s singing.

00:56:00.173 –> 00:56:12.573
Alex Frank: I kind of went by like the Peggy Lee version, which key she did it in, which was like F or E major around there and we got the whole band together, recorded it with Jeff and the instrumental of what you heard.

00:56:12.573 –> 00:56:18.973
Alex Frank: Then I was lucky enough, our schedules, we just got him back on the road from Europe with Jeff and the band.

00:56:19.473 –> 00:56:26.133
Alex Frank: She had a couple of days open and I flew to New York from LA to go actually produce and record her vocals.

00:56:26.133 –> 00:56:31.153
Alex Frank: We found this great studio, I forget the name of it, it was on the Upper West Side.

00:56:31.153 –> 00:56:33.053
Alex Frank: It’s this little studio, but it was a great studio.

00:56:34.133 –> 00:56:38.953
Alex Frank: She called me the morning of the session just like, I think this key is too high.

00:56:39.053 –> 00:56:40.233
Alex Frank: I was like, really?

00:56:40.233 –> 00:56:46.713
Alex Frank: Because it was like, it works for a lot of women singers, that key and she starts singing to me over the phone.

00:56:47.193 –> 00:56:50.073
Alex Frank: I was like, actually, it is too high for her.

00:56:50.953 –> 00:57:00.613
Alex Frank: We had a couple of hours till the session and I digitally went in and changed the recording lower and we figured out a good key that would actually work for her.

00:57:00.613 –> 00:57:02.673
Alex Frank: So in this case, I did not get the key correct.

00:57:04.153 –> 00:57:12.413
Alex Frank: We go in the studio and she was fantastic to work with, just like the greatest, like the best attitude ever, and we just knocked out.

00:57:12.573 –> 00:57:27.193
Alex Frank: I had her do a lot of different takes and basically, I mean, she’s such a great actress that it was easy to sell the song, which is to me the most important thing is you believe what the singer is saying and that was easy for her because she’s a brilliant actress.

00:57:27.193 –> 00:57:33.153
Alex Frank: Then we went back to LA and we re-recorded the band in the new key, so we didn’t have to change it.

00:57:33.153 –> 00:57:33.793
Alex Frank: Right.

00:57:33.793 –> 00:57:34.313
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:57:34.493 –> 00:57:40.013
John Kennedy: I was going to wonder what trickier you had to employ to do that.

00:57:40.013 –> 00:57:42.993
John Kennedy: You re-recorded then and then did you play along to Scarlett singing?

00:57:42.993 –> 00:57:43.413
Alex Frank: Yes.

00:57:43.773 –> 00:57:44.553
John Kennedy: Yeah.

00:57:44.553 –> 00:57:47.613
Scott Gillman: We kept the original drums because we didn’t have to change the pitch on those.

00:57:47.693 –> 00:57:50.313
Alex Frank: Then actually Scott came up with a great idea.

00:57:50.313 –> 00:57:56.933
Alex Frank: He was like, this track, it sounded great and then Scott’s like, I really think it could use percussion on it and we don’t normally have percussion.

00:57:57.913 –> 00:57:59.413
Alex Frank: I have this great percussionist.

00:57:59.413 –> 00:58:10.993
Alex Frank: It’s the only other musician on the record besides Leah, who’s not in the regular band and it’s this guy, Aaron Safartzi, who teaches at the University of Southern California, USC and brilliant percussionist and friend of mine.

00:58:10.993 –> 00:58:17.453
Alex Frank: We brought him in and he brought in an entire toolbox of percussion, everything from congas, bongos.

00:58:18.013 –> 00:58:19.133
Alex Frank: We wanted shaker.

00:58:19.133 –> 00:58:20.033
Scott Gillman: Triangle, don’t forget.

00:58:20.193 –> 00:58:20.913
Alex Frank: A triangle.

00:58:20.913 –> 00:58:25.293
Alex Frank: We wanted shaker and he brought out, he’s like, which one of these 20 shakers sounds the best?

00:58:26.613 –> 00:58:30.373
Alex Frank: We’ll show you these different percussion that Scott then added in.

00:58:35.813 –> 00:58:37.673
Alex Frank: What is that called, the…

00:58:37.673 –> 00:58:38.573
Scott Gillman: Bandera, maybe?

00:58:38.573 –> 00:58:38.753
Alex Frank: Yeah.

00:58:44.743 –> 00:58:47.963
Alex Frank: You know, and towards the end, after the piano solo, it gets really-

00:58:47.963 –> 00:58:49.763
Scott Gillman: There’s another one.

00:58:49.763 –> 00:58:50.323
Alex Frank: The bongos?

00:58:50.323 –> 00:58:53.443
Scott Gillman: No, that’s actually the little tiny-

00:58:53.443 –> 00:58:54.863
Jeff Goldblum: You can never have too much cowbell.

00:58:54.863 –> 00:58:56.443
Alex Frank: Yeah.

00:58:56.443 –> 00:59:08.983
Alex Frank: No, but the best is when the congas come in at the end, it’s like the big thing after the solo, it’s like when she gets really big with the vocal too, after the solo.

00:59:16.550 –> 00:59:19.990
Scott Gillman: There’s the, what’s that called, the tambourine.

00:59:21.650 –> 00:59:23.650
John Kennedy: And did he do a number of passes then?

00:59:23.650 –> 00:59:26.010
Alex Frank: Oh yeah, oh yeah.

00:59:26.010 –> 00:59:28.390
Alex Frank: We kind of edited stuff together.

00:59:30.650 –> 00:59:32.670
John Kennedy: Should we hear it within the song as well?

00:59:52.057 –> 01:00:02.837
John Kennedy: I like the idea that in some ways, Scarlett had a dream, which was to work with you, I think, Jeff, and record this song in this style, because she came up with the idea.

01:00:02.837 –> 01:00:10.397
John Kennedy: So she’s obviously been daydreaming about, no, I’d love to do this in a kind of bossa nova style, and Jeff’s my friend, maybe he can facilitate this.

01:00:10.397 –> 01:00:15.797
Jeff Goldblum: Well, I don’t know about that, and it’s more my dream come true.

01:00:15.797 –> 01:00:20.997
Jeff Goldblum: She was generous to lend herself to this, but I hope she enjoyed it.

01:00:22.777 –> 01:00:25.197
John Kennedy: I think she sounds like she’s really enjoying it.

01:00:25.857 –> 01:00:27.057
Alex Frank: She did a brilliant job.

01:00:27.637 –> 01:00:28.477
Jeff Goldblum: She’s brilliant.

01:00:28.477 –> 01:00:31.397
Jeff Goldblum: I hope we do it with her live, because we still have never played it.

01:00:31.397 –> 01:00:32.577
Alex Frank: We’ve never done it with her live.

01:00:32.577 –> 01:00:38.917
Jeff Goldblum: Live, but we’re going to play at the Carlisle Hotel in New York City at the end of May, I guess.

01:00:39.297 –> 01:00:40.977
Alex Frank: We’re hoping she’ll come singing with us.

01:00:40.977 –> 01:00:43.377
John Kennedy: Yeah, amazing.

01:00:43.377 –> 01:00:47.457
John Kennedy: The best is yet to come, and it’s the best.

01:00:47.517 –> 01:00:50.737
John Kennedy: When into album four, you’re constantly thinking of ideas.

01:00:50.737 –> 01:00:52.897
John Kennedy: I can tell, Jeff, that you’re thinking, oh, what about this song?

01:00:52.897 –> 01:00:54.157
John Kennedy: What about that song?

01:00:54.157 –> 01:00:56.517
John Kennedy: No, and you’re moving around all the time.

01:00:56.517 –> 01:00:57.677
John Kennedy: You’re making notes.

01:00:57.677 –> 01:01:01.057
John Kennedy: Are there album track listings for 10 albums hence?

01:01:01.057 –> 01:01:05.597
John Kennedy: Or how often do you get to cook up these ideas?

01:01:05.597 –> 01:01:08.497
John Kennedy: Do you have to wait to be on the set of something like Wicked?

01:01:08.497 –> 01:01:10.797
Jeff Goldblum: Well, we’re always coming up with ideas.

01:01:10.797 –> 01:01:14.417
Jeff Goldblum: These guys are prolific and fertile as the Nile Delta.

01:01:14.997 –> 01:01:19.937
Jeff Goldblum: So, it’s a cornucopia of ideas.

01:01:19.957 –> 01:01:22.617
Jeff Goldblum: Usually, we’ve got people we want to work with, too.

01:01:22.617 –> 01:01:27.557
Jeff Goldblum: You know, a wish list of people.

01:01:27.557 –> 01:01:30.217
Jeff Goldblum: I don’t know if we can say anybody.

01:01:30.217 –> 01:01:36.257
Jeff Goldblum: Like, we kind of have a notion and agreement to work with somebody.

01:01:36.257 –> 01:01:41.117
Jeff Goldblum: We might be able to say, Leve, you know Leve?

01:01:41.217 –> 01:01:42.237
Alex Frank: We’d love to work with her, yeah.

01:01:42.237 –> 01:01:43.837
Alex Frank: We’re big fans of her.

01:01:43.897 –> 01:01:44.757
Jeff Goldblum: She seemed to…

01:01:44.757 –> 01:01:47.317
Jeff Goldblum: We talked about it a little bit, and she seemed to be enthusiastic.

01:01:47.317 –> 01:01:49.457
Alex Frank: We ran into her at the Wicked premiere.

01:01:49.457 –> 01:01:50.437
Jeff Goldblum: Yeah, right.

01:01:50.437 –> 01:01:54.637
Alex Frank: And then also, you know, we’ve talked about, we’d love to do something with Billie Eilish.

01:01:55.137 –> 01:02:00.397
Alex Frank: She knows quite a lot about the American Songbook, as well, and stuff, so it’d be fun to do something with her.

01:02:00.397 –> 01:02:02.717
Jeff Goldblum: Jacob Collier is around these parts.

01:02:02.717 –> 01:02:03.237
John Kennedy: Right.

01:02:03.237 –> 01:02:04.477
John Kennedy: Boy, I’m a big fan of his.

01:02:04.477 –> 01:02:07.577
John Kennedy: I guess, take notes, a couple of times, he’s been on such an amazing talent.

01:02:07.577 –> 01:02:11.617
Alex Frank: And on a label made of ours on Decca, so we’re hoping to work with him.

01:02:11.617 –> 01:02:13.397
John Kennedy: Yeah, so that could well happen.

01:02:13.397 –> 01:02:14.057
John Kennedy: Fascinating.

01:02:14.057 –> 01:02:22.697
John Kennedy: And in terms of the vocalist choices in the past, you’ve got such an array of amazing people you’ve worked with, from Anna Calvi to Frieda Payne, Sharon Van Etten.

01:02:22.917 –> 01:02:25.577
John Kennedy: How have those choices been made?

01:02:25.677 –> 01:02:27.297
John Kennedy: Is it serendipity?

01:02:27.297 –> 01:02:30.297
John Kennedy: You happen to meet some interesting people, Jeff, along the way.

01:02:30.297 –> 01:02:31.957
Jeff Goldblum: Mostly like that, serendipity.

01:02:31.957 –> 01:02:37.977
Jeff Goldblum: And then other times, somebody knows somebody in somebody’s band, and we say, hey, let’s suggest to them.

01:02:38.577 –> 01:02:41.377
Jeff Goldblum: We kind of make a list of, you know, who we’d like.

01:02:41.377 –> 01:02:44.037
Jeff Goldblum: But it’s been a combination of those things, yeah.

01:02:44.037 –> 01:02:44.397
John Kennedy: Yeah.

01:02:44.557 –> 01:02:49.617
John Kennedy: And in approaching choices of material, what are the criteria?

01:02:49.617 –> 01:02:52.637
John Kennedy: The great American Songbook is a big book.

01:02:52.637 –> 01:02:54.497
John Kennedy: Jazz is a massive field, you know.

01:02:54.497 –> 01:02:59.357
John Kennedy: And how do you decide to hone in on particular things?

01:02:59.357 –> 01:03:01.677
Jeff Goldblum: Well, I’m always saying, what’s right for this?

01:03:01.677 –> 01:03:03.637
Jeff Goldblum: If we work with this person, what’s right for that?

01:03:03.637 –> 01:03:04.517
Jeff Goldblum: What do I like?

01:03:04.517 –> 01:03:05.197
Jeff Goldblum: What do you like?

01:03:05.357 –> 01:03:06.097
Jeff Goldblum: What do these guys like?

01:03:06.197 –> 01:03:08.497
Jeff Goldblum: What’s not been done so much?

01:03:08.497 –> 01:03:11.977
Jeff Goldblum: What could we add something to the continuum?

01:03:12.337 –> 01:03:12.937
Alex Frank: Yeah.

01:03:12.937 –> 01:03:22.977
Alex Frank: And even like the first thing you played to open up the show, the Blue Minor, there’s something that’s a more obscure jazz song by Sonny Clark.

01:03:22.977 –> 01:03:27.477
Alex Frank: And there’s a connection there with Sonny Clark being from Pittsburgh, Jeff being from Pittsburgh.

01:03:27.477 –> 01:03:29.257
Alex Frank: So there’s a kind of connection there.

01:03:29.257 –> 01:03:36.377
Alex Frank: And why we’ve started doing some Errol Gardner stuff live, also another Pittsburgh connection with Jeff.

01:03:36.377 –> 01:03:40.257
Alex Frank: And so we try to find actually a connection with this music.

01:03:40.257 –> 01:03:42.117
Alex Frank: We don’t just like pick random stuff.

01:03:42.117 –> 01:03:42.557
John Kennedy: Yeah.

01:03:42.557 –> 01:03:43.217
John Kennedy: Yeah.

01:03:43.217 –> 01:03:48.697
John Kennedy: And when it comes to the recording, how involved do you get then when the band are recording?

01:03:48.697 –> 01:03:50.377
John Kennedy: Obviously, you’re playing with them.

01:03:50.377 –> 01:03:55.637
John Kennedy: But then do you just leave it to Scott and Alex to take care of business, as it were?

01:03:55.637 –> 01:03:59.317
John Kennedy: Or do you wade in and say, hang on a minute?

01:03:59.377 –> 01:04:01.357
Jeff Goldblum: No, there’s never a hang on a minute.

01:04:01.357 –> 01:04:06.837
Jeff Goldblum: But mostly, they take care of all business, but send me things as they come in.

01:04:06.837 –> 01:04:15.717
Jeff Goldblum: And I go, oh, especially if I’m singing, for instance, I go, hmm, are you bothered by this?

01:04:15.717 –> 01:04:17.377
Jeff Goldblum: Does this sound as good as it could be?

01:04:17.377 –> 01:04:17.997
Jeff Goldblum: Et cetera, et cetera.

01:04:17.997 –> 01:04:19.197
Scott Gillman: Yeah, a little feedback.

01:04:19.197 –> 01:04:21.777
Alex Frank: Yeah, he always gives us feedback, which is nice.

01:04:21.777 –> 01:04:22.037
John Kennedy: Yeah.

01:04:22.037 –> 01:04:22.817
Alex Frank: Yeah.

01:04:22.817 –> 01:04:25.257
John Kennedy: Okay, well, we have a few more questions to ask you.

01:04:25.257 –> 01:04:27.057
John Kennedy: But let’s round up with the best is yet to come.

01:04:27.337 –> 01:04:29.077
John Kennedy: And I’ve had another blast of the master there.

01:04:53.567 –> 01:04:54.327
Alex Frank: Here come the congas.

01:04:57.547 –> 01:04:57.987
Alex Frank: Triangle.

01:05:01.227 –> 01:05:02.627
Alex Frank: That’s Joe Baggs, Oregon Philz.

01:06:05.280 –> 01:06:09.800
John Kennedy: The best is yet to come featuring Scarlett Johansson from the Still Blooming album.

01:06:09.800 –> 01:06:12.660
John Kennedy: Before we let you go, I’ve got another Patreon question.

01:06:12.660 –> 01:06:21.060
John Kennedy: Tom says, how do you think acting has shaped your approach to jazz, especially in terms of timing, improvisation, and presence?

01:06:21.060 –> 01:06:22.660
Jeff Goldblum: Such a good question.

01:06:22.660 –> 01:06:24.100
Jeff Goldblum: Briefly, let me see.

01:06:26.480 –> 01:06:32.620
Jeff Goldblum: Timing, well, jazz has helped my timing.

01:06:32.820 –> 01:06:36.740
Jeff Goldblum: I keep trying to get in the pocket more and more.

01:06:37.900 –> 01:06:39.960
Jeff Goldblum: There’s an aspiration.

01:06:39.960 –> 01:06:53.440
Jeff Goldblum: But timing, like maybe you mean, has to do with how you fit together with your exchange and deliver something right for what it’s meant to say.

01:06:54.320 –> 01:07:07.860
Jeff Goldblum: So it fits, that’s overlapping what you try to achieve in the story and the event between you and somebody else talking, acting, and musically.

01:07:07.860 –> 01:07:13.000
Jeff Goldblum: It’s the same similar thing.

01:07:14.640 –> 01:07:17.400
Jeff Goldblum: And they feed each other.

01:07:17.400 –> 01:07:23.760
Jeff Goldblum: Alex taught me early on, don’t be tapping so much on your feet.

01:07:23.760 –> 01:07:26.340
Jeff Goldblum: Let relax and relax into the beat.

01:07:26.340 –> 01:07:30.320
Jeff Goldblum: And maybe that has some impact on my acting too.

01:07:30.320 –> 01:07:32.740
Jeff Goldblum: I think it has.

01:07:32.740 –> 01:07:39.200
Jeff Goldblum: And improvisation, well, from the start, I worked with Sandy Meisner, whose foundational exercise is in improvisation.

01:07:39.200 –> 01:08:00.100
Jeff Goldblum: Then he says, what you do isn’t determined by you, it’s what the other fella makes you do or lady makes you do, meaning you listen, you really make yourself available and you’re receptive, and then see with that spontaneously something alive will come out of that, and honest and hopefully yours and personal and uniquely yours.

01:08:00.100 –> 01:08:01.760
Jeff Goldblum: And the last thing was?

01:08:01.940 –> 01:08:02.780
John Kennedy: And presence.

01:08:02.780 –> 01:08:03.720
Jeff Goldblum: And presence.

01:08:03.720 –> 01:08:19.460
Jeff Goldblum: Well, presence means you can’t be any place but here and now when you’re really available to doing what you’re doing fully, whether it’s acting or music, they both require the same kind of presence.

01:08:19.460 –> 01:08:21.000
Jeff Goldblum: That’s one meaning of presence.

01:08:21.000 –> 01:08:34.720
Jeff Goldblum: The other is how one can shine out of being, you know, let your natural shine occur from your interest in others.

01:08:35.400 –> 01:08:37.160
John Kennedy: Yeah, so everybody comes on Tape Notes.

01:08:37.160 –> 01:08:38.500
John Kennedy: We ask them a couple of questions.

01:08:38.500 –> 01:08:50.040
John Kennedy: One is about tech or equipment or an instrument that is vital or essential to who they are or what they do or how they approach this particular project.

01:08:50.620 –> 01:08:58.060
John Kennedy: I mean, I’m assuming you’re all instrumentalists, you’re all glued to those favorite instruments of yours.

01:08:58.060 –> 01:09:11.120
John Kennedy: But Scott, is there a particular piece of equipment or technology that you adhere to that enables you to be this multi-faceted recorder and player?

01:09:11.380 –> 01:09:14.360
Scott Gillman: There are so many tools available now.

01:09:14.360 –> 01:09:18.220
Scott Gillman: I mean, Pro Tools is my main platform, although I use Logic.

01:09:18.220 –> 01:09:28.300
Scott Gillman: But as far as plugins, FabFilter, Q4, it used to be Q3, Q4, that’s really useful.

01:09:29.340 –> 01:09:31.140
Scott Gillman: Very hard to pin it down to one thing though.

01:09:31.400 –> 01:09:34.500
Scott Gillman: I use so many different tools.

01:09:34.500 –> 01:09:35.760
John Kennedy: Yeah.

01:09:35.760 –> 01:09:41.220
John Kennedy: Alex, for arranging, do you do that all pen and paper or do you think it all out first?

01:09:41.220 –> 01:09:42.280
Alex Frank: Well, yeah.

01:09:42.280 –> 01:09:52.760
Alex Frank: Most of the time, one of my mentors is the great John Clayton, who is a great brilliant bass player and arranger.

01:09:53.260 –> 01:09:57.880
Alex Frank: He did the arrangement of Whitney Houston’s Star-Spangled Banner and stuff.

01:09:57.920 –> 01:10:05.720
Alex Frank: He’s a brilliant arranger and he’s like me, approaches arranging from the bass because I’m a bass player at first.

01:10:05.720 –> 01:10:10.960
Alex Frank: The beauty of the bass is you could change up anything by changing the bass note.

01:10:10.960 –> 01:10:12.880
Alex Frank: Harmony is all built from the bass up.

01:10:12.880 –> 01:10:23.560
Alex Frank: So, someone could be playing a C major chord, but if I play an A in the bass, it’s not C major anymore, it’s A minor.

01:10:23.840 –> 01:10:25.980
Alex Frank: I have complete control over harmony in the bass.

01:10:26.060 –> 01:10:30.160
Alex Frank: So, there’s a unique aspect of them building the arrangement from there.

01:10:30.660 –> 01:10:42.320
Alex Frank: You could probably guess which arrangements on Jeff’s records are mine or I’ve worked on because they’re normally like start off with bass and piano doubling stuff like Let’s Face the Music or We’ll Meet Again with the Bass.

01:10:42.320 –> 01:10:44.060
Alex Frank: There’s a lot of bass heavy things.

01:10:44.060 –> 01:10:45.720
Scott Gillman: Oftentimes, a bass solo.

01:10:45.720 –> 01:10:47.420
John Kennedy: Yeah.

01:10:47.700 –> 01:10:50.120
Alex Frank: One of the nice things when you do the arrangement.

01:10:50.360 –> 01:10:51.940
John Kennedy: Do you have a favorite piano, Jeff?

01:10:53.840 –> 01:10:54.340
Alex Frank: Here and there.

01:10:54.340 –> 01:10:55.640
Jeff Goldblum: These guys are brilliant, by the way.

01:10:55.720 –> 01:10:59.520
Jeff Goldblum: He mentioned in passing that he’s got perfect pitch.

01:10:59.520 –> 01:11:08.400
Jeff Goldblum: These guys are not only devoted music workers, but genius, gifted artists.

01:11:08.400 –> 01:11:08.660
Alex Frank: Yeah.

01:11:08.660 –> 01:11:09.540
Jeff Goldblum: A favorite piano.

01:11:09.540 –> 01:11:12.260
Jeff Goldblum: Well, piano is funny, isn’t it?

01:11:12.260 –> 01:11:26.120
Jeff Goldblum: I mean, you probably feel the same about horns and bass, but they’ve all got their own personality, and you’ve got to use what exists, you know, and play with what you have.

01:11:27.860 –> 01:11:30.440
Jeff Goldblum: But I have my heart set on this Steinway.

01:11:30.440 –> 01:11:32.120
Jeff Goldblum: This is a Steinway upright.

01:11:32.300 –> 01:11:37.240
Jeff Goldblum: I want something like this in my house and someplace else.

01:11:37.240 –> 01:11:44.960
Jeff Goldblum: But you know, whatever, you know, you got to play on whatever there is and make something nice out of that.

01:11:44.960 –> 01:11:45.700
John Kennedy: Yeah.

01:11:45.700 –> 01:12:01.040
John Kennedy: The other question we ask everybody is about advice, whether you’ve received any advice along the way that has helped you and helped you pursue what you’ve wanted to do creatively, or whether experience has taught you something that you would want to pass on to somebody else.

01:12:01.040 –> 01:12:01.220
Alex Frank: Yeah.

01:12:01.220 –> 01:12:11.560
Alex Frank: I mean, what I would say is what I’ve learned from producing and playing is like, there’s just never people question everything.

01:12:11.560 –> 01:12:24.380
Alex Frank: And what I’ve come to realize is, you know, I mean, look, take, you know, speaking of connection, if we could take The Wizard of Oz, the film like, you know, it was, you know, Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg wrote the songs.

01:12:24.380 –> 01:12:30.760
Alex Frank: And MGM tried to cut Over the Rainbow like ten times from the film before it finally got in.

01:12:30.760 –> 01:12:35.700
Alex Frank: Because they said it was a terrible song and maybe it’s become the most famous movie song of all time.

01:12:35.700 –> 01:12:42.880
Alex Frank: And it happens like with what I’ve learned, you know, especially younger, when I was younger, it’s like people want to question everything.

01:12:42.880 –> 01:12:48.460
Alex Frank: And you sometimes just have to stick to your guns because what do people really know more than you?

01:12:48.460 –> 01:12:51.060
Alex Frank: And you know, I mean, you trust people you respect, obviously.

01:12:51.060 –> 01:13:01.240
Alex Frank: But my advice is just like, if you think something is great, then go with it because there’s no rhyme or reason why something sticks or doesn’t stick.

01:13:01.240 –> 01:13:08.460
Scott Gillman: I think for me, what’s worked out the best for me is just to explore as many different avenues in music.

01:13:08.460 –> 01:13:14.340
Scott Gillman: I mean, I’ve started out playing jazz saxophone, then I got into recording and I also play, I play in a rock band.

01:13:14.460 –> 01:13:20.420
Scott Gillman: And for me, that’s, I tend to get bored easily, so that’s been really good to keep me interested.

01:13:20.420 –> 01:13:25.180
Scott Gillman: And also it affords me a lot of different opportunities.

01:13:25.540 –> 01:13:29.580
Jeff Goldblum: And me, well, I already mentioned Sandy Meisner saying, use what exists.

01:13:29.580 –> 01:13:40.740
Jeff Goldblum: And that means it can come to me in a lot of things, not only open yourself up to pay attention to what’s around you and navigate the wave that comes.

01:13:40.960 –> 01:13:49.760
Jeff Goldblum: Because there’s some talented way of using everything that’s going on musically and in the acting world.

01:13:49.760 –> 01:13:53.540
Jeff Goldblum: And then use what exists in you, which is unexpected and surprising.

01:13:53.540 –> 01:13:59.600
Jeff Goldblum: And if you listen and pay attention to that, you’ll come upon something perhaps.

01:13:59.600 –> 01:14:01.600
Jeff Goldblum: Also continuity of digging.

01:14:01.600 –> 01:14:06.080
Jeff Goldblum: Sandy Meisner said, you can dig a lot of different ways, but it’s the continuity.

01:14:06.080 –> 01:14:09.740
Jeff Goldblum: Just keep, keep digging and maybe you’ll come up with something.

01:14:10.260 –> 01:14:15.740
Jeff Goldblum: Experience, you know, the 10,000 hour or whatever it is.

01:14:15.980 –> 01:14:16.620
Jeff Goldblum: That’s it.

01:14:16.620 –> 01:14:23.860
Jeff Goldblum: You know, these guys are an example of that and being terrifically gifted, but you got to put in the time.

01:14:24.960 –> 01:14:43.120
Jeff Goldblum: And then just in our work together, you know, my appetite sometimes leads me to elaborate what I think of as some bad ideas, but I have a hankering for it to kind of judgy up some things sometimes if I’m singing or I’m playing.

01:14:43.120 –> 01:14:47.920
Jeff Goldblum: And the lesson really in a headline is be simple, be simple.

01:14:47.920 –> 01:14:49.080
Jeff Goldblum: It’s not a bad idea.

01:14:49.080 –> 01:14:51.180
Jeff Goldblum: And in acting too, not the worst idea.

01:14:51.180 –> 01:14:54.060
Jeff Goldblum: And I’m still kind of learning that and developing.

01:14:54.300 –> 01:15:03.280
Alex Frank: I’ll say one other thing too that that’s good advice that, especially, you know, as someone like me, like a young jazz musician, you never know where things are going to come from.

01:15:03.340 –> 01:15:11.400
Alex Frank: Like, if you had asked me 10 years ago, like, I’d be saying like, oh, yeah, by the way, you’re going to play at Royal Albert Hall for the Queen of England with Jeff Goldblum.

01:15:11.400 –> 01:15:13.300
Alex Frank: I’d be like, what and what and what?

01:15:13.300 –> 01:15:16.860
Alex Frank: So you just, you never know where this music takes you.

01:15:16.860 –> 01:15:20.000
Alex Frank: And it’s, you know, just be open to anything.

01:15:20.000 –> 01:15:20.580
John Kennedy: Fantastic.

01:15:20.580 –> 01:15:21.920
John Kennedy: It’s been so lovely having you here.

01:15:21.920 –> 01:15:22.900
John Kennedy: Thank you so much for your time.

01:15:22.900 –> 01:15:23.560
Jeff Goldblum: Well, it’s great to be here.

01:15:23.560 –> 01:15:24.520
Jeff Goldblum: And it’s been miraculous.

01:15:24.520 –> 01:15:38.340
Jeff Goldblum: I mean, I could, you know, if I had thought, you know, when I was 10 or, you know, that I’d have a chance to play, it’s unexpected, it’s uncommon, and it’s, I appreciate it more all the time.

01:15:38.340 –> 01:15:41.320
John Kennedy: We should play out with something else from the album.

01:15:41.320 –> 01:15:42.040
John Kennedy: Any suggestions?

01:15:42.040 –> 01:15:48.320
John Kennedy: I mean, I was thinking every time we say goodbye, it’s the closing track on the album, the only one that features you singing, Jeff.

01:15:48.320 –> 01:15:49.280
John Kennedy: Yes.

01:15:49.280 –> 01:15:59.060
John Kennedy: Now, is that because you want to ration your wares to people, or how do you go about choosing a song that you’re going to sing?

01:16:00.340 –> 01:16:10.140
Jeff Goldblum: Well, I sang one on another album, which was Little Man, You’ve Had a Busy Day, and I suggested that because I knew that song through the decades.

01:16:10.140 –> 01:16:12.340
Jeff Goldblum: I did known as Little Man, You’re Crying.

01:16:12.340 –> 01:16:14.260
Alex Frank: Well, you were singing it to your kids, right?

01:16:14.260 –> 01:16:20.800
Jeff Goldblum: I had sung it to my kids early on when they’d be at SLL and by them going to sleep, so that kind of thing.

01:16:20.800 –> 01:16:32.960
Jeff Goldblum: No, I’m not trying to ration anything, but I try to use myself wisely with their help.

01:16:32.960 –> 01:16:34.880
Jeff Goldblum: Let’s see, and then how did we come up with this lesson?

01:16:34.880 –> 01:16:38.860
Jeff Goldblum: Wait a minute, every time we say goodbye, I die a little.

01:16:38.860 –> 01:16:40.680
Scott Gillman: Yeah, how did we come up with that?

01:16:40.680 –> 01:16:55.300
Alex Frank: I had heard Jeff singing that song all the time for a while, and we kind of were thinking, you know, I always, especially, you know, like I said, I was lucky enough, I worked with Jeff for a few months on set with Wicked and heard him sing live pretty much every day on set.

01:16:55.300 –> 01:17:05.000
Alex Frank: And there’s just something kind of nice and kind of like, almost like, yeah, like a goodbye to the, saying goodbye to the audience with this song at the end of the album.

01:17:05.000 –> 01:17:05.460
Jeff Goldblum: Yeah.

01:17:05.940 –> 01:17:07.080
Alex Frank: And it’s, you know, and it’s cold.

01:17:07.080 –> 01:17:10.100
Alex Frank: You can’t go wrong with Cole Porter and the lyrics are beautiful.

01:17:10.100 –> 01:17:11.740
Jeff Goldblum: Well, he’s very clever.

01:17:11.740 –> 01:17:20.880
Jeff Goldblum: You know, that lyric when he says, you know, but how strange the change from major to minor, at which point you change the chord from major to minor.

01:17:21.440 –> 01:17:23.320
Jeff Goldblum: That’s pretty great.

01:17:23.320 –> 01:17:26.740
John Kennedy: It’s been so great to have you here, but I do have one more question.

01:17:26.740 –> 01:17:32.640
John Kennedy: Would you ever play a song from Wicked in your set or on record?

01:17:32.640 –> 01:17:33.420
Jeff Goldblum: Well, yeah.

01:17:33.900 –> 01:17:36.320
Alex Frank: Let’s just say there might be something in the works.

01:17:36.320 –> 01:17:37.360
Scott Gillman: We might quote something.

01:17:37.360 –> 01:17:37.620
Alex Frank: Yeah.

01:17:38.420 –> 01:17:40.200
Alex Frank: There might be some stuff in the works.

01:17:40.260 –> 01:17:41.280
Alex Frank: Yeah.

01:17:41.280 –> 01:17:42.440
Jeff Goldblum: Okay.

01:17:42.440 –> 01:17:46.100
Jeff Goldblum: We don’t want to give it away.

01:17:46.160 –> 01:17:48.780
Jeff Goldblum: Have another drink, my dark eyed beauty.

01:17:48.980 –> 01:17:54.160
John Kennedy: The more musicals you do, the more you’re going to have to include in your sets and on your records possibly.

01:17:54.160 –> 01:17:54.980
Jeff Goldblum: That’s it.

01:17:54.980 –> 01:17:58.480
Jeff Goldblum: I’m looking for the next 10 musicals.

01:17:58.480 –> 01:18:01.320
Jeff Goldblum: I got to do Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

01:18:01.340 –> 01:18:01.880
John Kennedy: Of course.

01:18:01.880 –> 01:18:02.620
Jeff Goldblum: Right away.

01:18:02.620 –> 01:18:03.180
John Kennedy: Yeah.

01:18:03.180 –> 01:18:03.760
Jeff Goldblum: Let’s go.

01:18:03.760 –> 01:18:06.640
Jeff Goldblum: Sweeney, Sweeney Todd.

01:18:06.640 –> 01:18:07.720
Jeff Goldblum: Yeah.

01:18:07.720 –> 01:18:10.280
John Kennedy: I think we’re still with Cole Porter for the moment though.

01:18:10.760 –> 01:18:11.420
John Kennedy: Good idea.

01:18:11.420 –> 01:18:14.920
John Kennedy: Here is the closing song to the Still Blooming album.

01:18:14.920 –> 01:18:17.720
John Kennedy: Thanks again to Jeff and Scott and Alex for your time.

01:18:18.540 –> 01:18:20.820
John Kennedy: This is Every Time We Say Goodbye.

01:18:31.480 –> 01:18:32.440
John Kennedy: Thank you for listening.

01:18:32.520 –> 01:18:36.820
John Kennedy: In particular, thanks to all of you who have signed up to support us on Patreon.

01:18:36.820 –> 01:18:41.320
John Kennedy: I’m just one part of the team that brings you Tape Notes, and it relies on your support.

01:18:41.320 –> 01:18:49.300
John Kennedy: Access to Patreon includes the full length videos of new episodes where possible, ad-free episodes and detailed gear lists among many other things.

01:18:49.300 –> 01:18:53.100
John Kennedy: If you’d like to join, head to the link on our socials or website.

01:18:53.100 –> 01:18:58.280
John Kennedy: For pictures, highlight clips and behind the scenes content, head to our Instagram or YouTube channel.

01:18:58.280 –> 01:19:01.800
John Kennedy: And on Discord, you can join the growing Tape Notes community.

01:19:01.800 –> 01:19:03.300
John Kennedy: Once again, thank you for listening.

01:19:03.320 –> 01:19:04.620
John Kennedy: Until next time, goodbye.