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.
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