Recording the vocals for Gloryland.

A chance meeting on a train, in the south of Italy. Journeying with a friend from Brindisi to Rome, three free spirits board the train at a midnight stop.

Native to Cameroon, Cecelia and her friends joined my compartment. They played like teenagers, loudly talking and singing. These girls were not so easy to deal with. For starters our cabin had two vacant seats, not three. Within about two minutes they managed to kick out some very tired looking Italian guy to make room for their friend........................After seeing the way they handled themselves ejecting some poor sleepy guy from our compartment, I tried setting some ground rules while offering them water, gum etc, we got off to a good start and were set for a crazy eight hours or so. We shared jokes and insights into our cultures and traditions, basically turning our compartment into a small party. After explaining a little about my World Music recording project and offering to record someone if anyone would like to sing, the train slowed, I tried to quieten the conversation in an attempt to make a recording. For a while all three girls went crazy singing over the top of each other, having fun laughing and just being silly. I noticed Cecelia wanting to calm down her two friends… she had something she wanted to sing. Finally, a brief stop at a small train station, it was now 2.15 am and it was dead quiet.

I asked Cecelia if she was ready to sing something for me. She obliged with joy and chose to sing a short passage from a childhood song her grandmother would sing to her while they would work in the fields planting crops. Her sweet voice opened our hearts to her delicate sound and rich heritage of Cameroon.

Another magic moment captured ….. “Gloryland”.

( Gloryland is from the debut album "Global Inspiration" by Gavri ).

Download it on iTunes.

Recording in Tanzania.

While traveling through East Africa on a two month backpacking trip I met a young Tanzanian man by the name of Iddy Ally. I was traveling through Tanzania making my way to Kenya at the time. Here’s some background on the recording of the vocal that’s featured in the tracks, The Times, Iddy’s Song and Passage of Time, from the debut album Global Inspiration.

While in Tanzania I had an over night stop in a small village, Mto Wa Mbu, not far from Arusha. In search for new sounds, I explained my recording project to some locals who were happy to put the word out to see if anyone would sing for me. The locals were generous and keen to be involved. They said they know someone who might oblige. I didn’t hear any more from them until the next day……

I awoke in the early morning to pack the vehicle, we were heading for Ngorongoro Crater, and a few days later to Mt Kilimanjaro and the boarder of Kenya, we were leaving soon. Just as we were about to depart Iddy tapped me on the shoulder, “I can sing for you”. I was lucky that another person in our group was still not back from her trip to the market….. why not use the time !

Iddy and I found a quiet room to record his voice. He sang into a hand held Sony condenser mic recording directly into a walkman style DAT (digital) recorder. There was no guide track for him to listen to, just his voice…..and the occasional chicken squawking in the background. A fortunate 15 minutes ! This young man of 18 years had a maturity and depth to his voice beyond his years. I found myself immersed in a beautiful world, Iddy’s. His rich and captivating voice resonated in my mind all the way to Mt Kilimanjaro.

Unfortunately, being distracted by the recording process and being hurried by the rest of the group I was with, I didn’t get around to taking a photo of the occasion… sorry ! The photo’s here are from the following days.

You can listen to or download the album on iTunes or via my friends at Tijuana Cartel Music.