The Santa Sessions

One of the most hilarious videos ever...particularly for any of you who've done any session work.




Hope your Christmas season is going well!

Blessings- Norm

Inconvenient...but cool

On a recent road trip with Linc, I flew a completely separate itinerary from the rest of the band (they all live in Northern Cal, I'm about an hour flight south). When I landed, I took a hotel shuttle to the St. Louis Airport Hilton. Turns out we were actually staying at the St. Louis Airport Hilton Garden Inn.

So I waited for another shuttle to take me to the correct hotel. It was around midnight and I was definitely a little crispy...ready to crash out.

Even in my bleary-eyed state, though, I did notice these.

Many of them.

There must be a dozen iMacs all over the lobby of the St. Louis Airport Hilton.

How cool is THAT?!?

BBQ in KC

There are a few challenges dealing with a life that involves lots of travel ("missing my family" being at the top of the list), but there are a few perks...and near the top of the list is eating great food from different parts of the U.S. and abroad.

Kansas City is one of my faves in the midwestern U.S. for a couple of reasons. I've had a number of close musician friends in town for years and it's always great to hook back up with them on their home turf...and there's also the BBQ. :^)

I've been a fan of Gates BBQ for years, and never miss an opportunity to go grab a "beef on bun with bread, lean as" (translation: BBQ beef brisket on two slices of white bread - the way it's supposed to be, btw! - and as lean as possible). There are certainly a number of AMAZING barbeque places in KC, and I've eaten at a bunch...but there's just something special about Gates. The sauce is GREAT, too...got a little kick, but not too much...very tasty.

Grabbed a quick lunch at Gates yesterday with my good friends Rod Lincoln (drummer) and Kevin Rogers (guitarist). You've probably heard them if you're familiar with my music...they both played on my Pondering the Sushi project. Stellar musicians and good guys. And fellow lovers of the charred bovine! :^)

The pic doesn't do it justice...but that's my usual order, minus one small bite that couldn't wait!

Typhoon Session: Michael Manring!

One of my favorite aspects of my musical life is getting the opportunity to interact and occasionally collaborate with some of the people who've been my musical heroes over the years. Even cooler is that many of these people have also become friends.

To date on the Tea in the Typhoon project, I've been so honored to have John & Sachi Patitucci, Gregg Bissonette and Rob Mullins contribute their artistry. And as of Monday afternoon, added to that list was none other than musical giant (and Grammy-nominee) Michael Manring. One of the most technically innovative, unique and brilliant bassists ever, Michael's also hugely expressive and emotive. I've loved his music since first hearing his Drastic Measures project back in the 90's. On top of all of that, he's also about the most genuinely cool person you're likely to meet. AWESOME guy.

I'll try to get a video blog posted soon, but suffice it to say that Michael tracked fretless bass (with liberal use of his amazing EBow) on a tune on the upcoming Typhoon project called "Rockefeller Forest" (also featuring Gregg Bissonette on drums). It's a vibey and emotive tune that has West African leanings rhythmically. I'm confident you're going to dig his stuff!!

Thanks for your interest & more updates soon!

Typhoon Session: John & Sachi Patitucci!

Upon returning from the NY session back in May, I was slammed between a road trip with Lincoln and trying to recuperate from the nasty cold I caught. It just occurred to me that I consequently spaced out on blogging about the Patitucci session! :^)

So let me retroactively express what a cool experience that was. I've been a fan of John's since first hearing him with Chick Corea's Elektric Band back in the early 90's, and was honored to meet the Grammy-winner in conjunction with an interview I did with him for Christian Musician magazine back in 2002 (click here to check it out, by the way - he shared some great stuff).

I called him back in February and he enthusiastically agreed to contribute to the Typhoon project, and even threw his wife (Sachi, a world-class cellist) into the mix! I initially planned to just send WAV files to New York and have them send me their tracks, but after thinking further, it made much more sense for me to be at the session to provide immediate feedback...plus I decided that I would be kicking myself for years to come if I missed the opportunity to work with the Patitucci's first hand. :^)

So I flew to New York and the session was held at Doug Epstein's home studio on May 6. John played upright on several tunes and contributed a trademark 6-string solo on another. Sachi tracked cello on several tunes as well. One tune in particular (the title track from Tea in the Typhoon) features a breakdown section where John's bowed upright and Sachi's cello are playing interweaving lines off of each other...I think you're going to like it. :^)

John's just as cool, humble and musically monstrous as I remembered (Sachi, as well!). Definitely a class act.

After the session, we walked down the block and picked up some great Italian food that we ate back at Doug's place while having a very cool chat (topics ranging from music education to ministry to our kids to John's days back in California to working with Wayne Shorter...and probably a few more that I'm not remembering at the moment).

Thanks, John & Sachi, for generously sharing your musical gift and for your humility.

Facebook, Twitter and Update On The Way!

About a week ago, I got pulled (almost kicking and screaming) into Facebook and Twitter. And am embarrassed to say that I can kinda see what people like about them so much. :^)

So for any of you interested, please drop by!

www.facebook.com/normstockton

There's also a fan page (with pics, audio clips, etc., on the way):
Norm's Facebook Fan Page

www.twitter.com/normstockton

As for an update on the Tea in the Typhoon sessions, things are steadily coming along. Excited that all of the cameos seem to be working out (including, so far, John Patitucci, Gregg Bissonette and Rob Mullins). I heard back from a couple more of my faves within the last week and am ELATED that everyone's still on board - it's just a matter of working out scheduling. Can't wait to share about them...but will hold off till after those sessions!

We'll be sending out a groove update (my e-newsletter) in about a week with some pics from the sessions and more fun stuff. To receive it, please drop by the website (www.normstockton.com) and sign in on the home page if you haven't done so already...no spam worries (our mailers are once every 2-3 months or so!).

Thanks for your interest & I'll be keeping up on this more regularly as soon as the new project is done!

Have a great rest of the week...

Blessings- Norm

Tracking Sessions In LA & NY

Just coming up for air to let you know that I'm in NY for an extremely exciting session tomorrow for the upcoming project. More on that once we're done & the tracks are in the bag!

Also had a tracking session in Los Angeles with the incredible Rob Mullins (solo artist, Crusaders) on piano a few weeks ago...WOW. You're going to flip over his stuff. I'd forgotten what an amazing musician Rob is. You might recall his solos on Pondering ("I'll Return For You" and "A Tender NAMM Moment"). Even better this time, as all of the pianos on this project will be real (i.e., mic'd acoustic grand pianos)!

By the way, Rob gave me a copy of his latest cd, "Storyteller", and it is absolutely brilliant. I encourage you to drop by iTunes and check it out. I particularly dug the first 2 and last 2 tunes, but the whole thing is great.

Anyway, the only immediate bummer is that I started feeling a bit under the weather after landing at JFK yesterday afternoon. I'm laying low and hoping to not have a congested brain for the session tomorrow.

Thanks for your ongoing interest & I'll have details about tomorrow soon!

Blessings- Norm

New CD Project Update - Part 1

Some exciting news about the new CD project, including the announcement of drum phenom and overall great guy Gregg Bissonette being featured on 4 tunes!

My profuse apologies for taking so long between new posts...as you can probably tell, my plate has been full between road work, the CD production, etc., etc...and also trying to be reasonably present with my family and church between all of that! :^)

I will definitely post more frequently once the project is off to replication! And a big thank-you to each of you who've reached out and been so supportive...I'll try to respond as soon as I come up for air...

Thanks for your grace & ongoing interest! Hope this finds you well.

Blessings- Norm

Resurfacing...

A belated Merry Christmas & Happy '09, my friends...

And huge apologies for my lag in posting here.

The good news is that it's been largely due to trying to spend every spare moment working on my next solo CD (yeah...sorry...it's still the "Pondering Follow-Up"...will try to have a proper name for it soon!). I'm elated to say that much progress has been made! More about that in a sec.

For the rest of what's been keeping me busy work-wise, please check out Norm's "haps" page. The '09 season of Lincoln Brewster dates (at least those that have been confirmed to date) will be getting added in the next week or so. Looking forward to seeing you at a concert later this year!

Let's see...anything else to bring up before I talk about the project? I caught a NASTY chest cold right after the recent NAMM show, and have been flat on my back trying to recuperate. The drag is that I'd been targeting that window of time to be making some concentrated progress on the CD production...but it's tough to track when tempos all feel either lethargic or frantic (depending upon where I was in the cough syrup cycle).

By the way, I'm a Mac fan...but have to say that contrary to what I'd been told by all of my Mac friends all those years they were trying to convert me from a PC-based life...Macs are most assuredly not immune to their own problems. My Mac Pro spent most of the fall and winter in the shop, and was the source of untold frustration until within the past 2 weeks (after lots of work, including new motherboard and optical drive), it finally appears to have been 99% dialed in. There's still a minor issue with one of the plug-ins, but I've come up with a workaround that allows me to function. SO...the GREAT news is that I've been actually tracking (instead of computer troubleshooting) over the past few weeks. I can't tell you how good that feels after all of the technology grief. Huge thanks to my friends Erik (in San Jose) and Mike (in San Diego) who've both been hugely helpful in getting me up and running (and occasionally talking me down from the ledge!). :^)

Eleven tunes have been written (with a couple more decent song fragments still waiting in the wings) and are mapped out in Pro Tools sessions. At present, 5 of them have solid guide tracks down (played on either my MTD 535 or 735). I'm hoping to get most of the rest down and the tunes charted in time for keyboard overdubs slated for a week from Thursday. My work is cut out for me. I'm flying up to Alberta, Canada this coming Thursday to teach and do some playing at the Break Forth Canada conference, and am hoping to spend my flights and any downtime charting like crazy.

I've secured cameo participation from several AMAZING artists (will share names with you once we actually track) and am giddy with excitement. I think you're going to like them, too.

Sorry if the above sounds a bit scrambled! Just trying to get you updated as much as possible and get working. My family and I have had an amazing time reconnecting over the past few months as I've largely been off the road. My wife and I celebrated our 17th anniversary yesterday by convalescing with the kids and watching movies (2 of the 4 of us are sick). We'll celebrate properly once everyone's well again. I definitely married up...I'm a blessed man.

Hope all of you are well and having a fantastic 2009. Thanks for your interest & support!

Blessings- Norm