reunion

Let Me Call You Sweetheart

This is an adaptation of the old waltz from 1910 (Yes that Let Me Call You Sweetheart) that was updated and funkified by John Seiter and myself, with a rap section written by Sharaya J (Missy Elliot’s protégé, and choreographer to a host of A-list Urban stars). The rhythm section and horns (including the great Tenor Sax solo by Gary Herbig) were all recorded live at East West Studios in Hollywood. The only overdubs were the vocals, Ellis’ organ and a touch of sweetening, but it is primarily a live recording. This version features the unparalleled Ellis Hall on lead vocal and organ, the amazing rising star Sharaya J rapping, and a vocal cameo from the one and only Táta Vega, the legendary Waters on background vocals, and the best band anywhere! including Jim Cox on piano and Ralph Humphrey on drums.

Vocals/organ -Ellis Hall
Rap - Sharaya J
Vocal - Táta Vega
Piano - Jim Cox
Bass - Dominic Genova
Drums - Ralph Humphrey
Guitar - John Goux
Alto Sax - Andy MacIntosh
Tenor Sax - Gary Herbig
Tenor Sax - Bob Crosby
Baritone Sax - Greg Huckins
Trumpet - Chuck Findley
Trumpet - Dan Finero
Trombone - Charlie Morellis
Bass Trombone - Phil Teele
Background Vocals - The Waters

Iberia

This is my homage to Chick Corea. I have long admired Chick and love his iconic composition Spain. On a sailing trip to Mallorca, Spain several years ago I fell in love with the islands, the sailing, the people, and of course the food and the wine. And I wrote this piece not to copy Chick’s classic compositions, but to try and capture the essence of the Iberian Peninsula and, of course, to pay homage to Chick. For the opening section of the piece, I wanted to evoke the richness of Iberia with a history dating back to some of the first cave painting of early Man to the conquest of the Phoenicians. For this section I utilized the unique talents of LA session musician Phil Ayling. Phil is best known as a principle oboist for numerous film scores by A list composers. But here, I had Phil play an array of exotic (and in some cases ancient) woodwind instruments to conjure an “otherworldly” vibe to take up back in time. This section morphs into the groove driven by the rhythm section featuring Kait Dunton, piano, Dominic Genova, bass, Jake Reed, drums, Brian Kilgore Percussion, and John Goux guitar. The melody (reminiscent of the sounds from Chicks Return to Forever) is sensitively delivered by Jeff Driskill on flute and Katja Pod Koren, vocals. The middle section gives way to a chorus featuring the legendary Waters on vocals along with Katja leading to the beautifully inventive soprano sax solo from Jeff and final reiteration of the melody.

No Passport Control

For this recording I teamed up with Indian violinist, composer and recording artist Sharat Chandra Srivastava to create a unique blend of jazz and World Music in an East Meets West tour de force featuring the outstanding young Slovenian jazz vocalist, Katja Pod Koren and an International cast of stellar musicians. We recorded keyboards in my studio in Los Angeles, tabla and violin in New Dehli, then back to LA to record Vinnie Colaiuta on drums, then sent the track to Scotland to record percussion in Glasgow, then back to LA to record a Slovenian pianist and a Slovenian vocalist. If this does not qualify as World Music, I don’t know what will.

”This is a very special song which speaks to a world without borders. We are all living on this beautiful planet as one family and look forward to a time when we are free to explore, meet new people, understand their cultures, habits, food and share the love. For us as musicians we have only one language which is music and music is love. This song has so many musicians from India, America and Europe - all from different walks of life, who come together merging into this song to become one. This song is about freedom, care, compassion, love for each one of us living on this beautiful planet. In today’s times we see so many unpleasant things going around everywhere, so this song is a message, a plea, a prayer to the world to open all the borders to spread love.”
-Sharat Chandra Srivastava

No Passport Control is a collaboration of some of the finest musicians from across the globe featuring:
Sharat Srivastava, violin
Katja Pod Korenom, vocals
Composed by Dennis Dreith, Sharat Srivastava, Katja Pod Korenom
Arranged and Produced by Dennis Dreith
Drums- Vinnie Colaiuta
Percussion SFX - Steve Forman
Piano - Marko Churnchetz
Synthesizer - Dennis Dreith
Tabla - Gyan Singh and Heiko Dijker
Guitar - Igor Bezget

Bass - Tadej Kampl
Mixed by - Brenden Dekora
Mastering by - Pete Doell
Recorded at - East West Studios Los Angeles , Colaiuta Studios Van Nuys , Sid,s
Studio Madh Island , PerfTec Studios Gurgaon , Glasgow Percussion Collective
Glasgow.