Dancing for Miles

SOLD OUT

It took a day to record, and my house became the 'Live room'. Mike had recording gadgets piled high in the dining room; myself, Rob, Hilary and Brett were wired-up in the sitting room, and Mark had his own drum booth ... the sunroom! I wanted the high-energy gigging vibe; yet, Mike cunningly managed to provide some separation - for studio mixing. Mark had driven down from London that morning and drove back that night, still managing to keep us in stitches (and Hilary hooting) all day while still playing his ass off. We kicked off with the 1st song. No Moon At All, at 1:00ish and finished with Sea Lady at 7:00pm - not bad eh! We were on a roll and most songs were wrapped in one or two takes with only 'Another day' in three.

The music was buzzing, everyone got into the grooves so quickly and played with fantastic spirit. We had such a fun day and everyone got on great. Mark kept us entertained all day with jokes, anecdotes and piss-takes, so I was happy that he liked my sausages and curried eggs! Mark and Rob used to gig a lot together a few years back, he took the piss out of how Rob would Indicate the 'groove' of the next song with very comical facial and hand gesticulations'... and how Rob would 'turn on the gas' (not what you think) to assist his seamless guitar playing. He showed us a great trick with dice - which my children were impressed with, and I've now forgotten!

I was in the middle of reading Miles Davis' autobiography at the time, Hilary had recently read it too; we would confer after a song "would Miles approve?" - this is one of the reasons I chose to have 'Miles' in the title of the CD. I can't ignore the intermittent lapses of internation, the odd bum note and wrong lyric - but what the hell, it's the spirit that counts. The band were incredible - Mark just lilted us up and carried us along like it was all SO easy - what a guy. Rob kept us all together and tight, what with unexpected vamps, solos and last minute arrangements 'n stuff, squeezing in some awesome solos and fills himself. I love Hilary's scrunchy chords, her sense of space and delicacy, and especially her beautiful singing and playing in unison, check out 'Blue Skies'. Brett makes his bass bounce and sing, what about the sweet and mellow bowing on 'Sea Lady'.

My last liner notes, from 'Where Did We Begin', were all about my classical background, and how I was new to this 'jazz' thing. This time I want to say how great it's been writing stuff tor the first time. Seven songs, and lots more ideas in the pipeline, especially musical ones.

I had lyrics in mind for 'The Waitress' years back. I worked in a restaurant whilst at college in London, and many of us were wannabe singers/actors, all of us desperate to succeed; we had a ball and the song is dedicated to them! Most, if not all, the waiters in the restaurant were gay; and so were most of the blokes on my course - it was a 'Performing Arts degree' at Trent Park, Middlesex University! The lyrics (and tune) for 'Why Are the Best Looking Guys All Gay?' came easily as I recalled being in the student bar and guys being flirty, tactile and coming on strong, only to announce moments later that they were gay! grr!

Dick Teague, a jazz 'lover' and 'promoter' in Dorchester gave us the lyrics to 'A Mid-night Mood', I really like the unusual sounding bridge, it was Rob's idea to give it that 'marching' affect. As a result I asked Dick for some more lyrics, he soon produced 'Nothing Seems to matter anymore', the first track on the CD, I was thrilled that the 'form' of it was just right for an idea I had for a very simple and repeated motif, over a bluesy feel. 'I'm Alright Jack' is written about a lot of people I know, including me, and probably a large percentage of the western world. I enjoyed writing this - Rob had the changes and played them to me - and I knew I had to write a flippant, jokey sounding thing that had deep poignancy. 'Another day' was the first song we wrote - initially I had different lyrics that I realised sounded cheesy and naff; looked up from the page, the TV News was on, and the whole Iraq thing was in a desperate state, so I scribbled new lyrics down.

My favourite song is 'You're Not Alone' - I read these very personal lyrics to Rob and the music came quickly.

Zoë

Specifications

• Track

  Words & Music by

  1. Nothing seems to Matter Anymore

  lyrics Dick Teague, music Zoë Schwarz & Rob Koral

  2. I’m Alright Jack

  Zoë Schwarz & Rob Koral

  3. If You’ll Never Come To Me

  Antonio Carlos Jobim

  4. No Moon At All

  Mann & Evans

  5. The Waitress

  Zoë Schwarz & Rob Koral

  6. You’re Not Alone

  Zoë Schwarz & Rob Koral

  7. A Charmed Life

  Diana Krall

  8. Another Day

  Zoë Schwarz & Rob Koral

  9. A Midnight Mood

  lyrics Dick Teague, music Zoë schwarZ & Rob Koral

  10. *A Little Tear

  Eumir Deodato & Paulo Valle, English lyrics Ray Gilbert

  11. Why Are The Best Looking Guys All Gay

  Zoë schwarZ, Julie Lewis & Rob Koral

  12. Sea Lady

  Norma Winston

  13. *Blue Skies

  Irving Berlin