Saturday, April 02, 2011

"One Tribe, Many Voices" Podcast Episode 107

  Special Headphone Mix: A Day at the Beach with Rasheed*

Photo: Kareem Ali






Relax and enjoy a day at the beach with Rasheed Ali & Rain People...



intro: 1. Criollo / Rasheed Ali & Rain People / Agua Santa


2.  Sereia (The Mermaid) / Rasheed Ali w/ Bennie Maupin / Thunder in the Jungle
3.  Tiburon (Shark) / Ruben Blades / Greatest Hits
4.  Come to My Island / Rasheed Ali & Rain People / Thunder in the Jungle
5.  Sandy Lane / Rasheed Ali w/ Carl Kizine / Rain People
6.  Yemaya / Francisco Aguabella y su Grupo Oriza / Bembe
7.  No Mar do Amor (The Sea of Life) / Rasheed Ali & Rain People / Beijos Azuis
8.  Amarteifeio / Alphonso Johnson w/ Flora Purim / Moonshadows
9.  Pescaria (Fishery) Medley for My Father / Dori Caymmi / Brasilian Serenata
10. Nao Pode Ser (It Can't Be) / Rasheed Ali / Tristeza e Beleza na Cidade Negra
11. Las Olas (Waves) / Flora Purim / Everyday, Everynight
12. No Meio do Mar (In the Middle of the Sea) / Rasheed Ali / Beijos Azuis
13. Midnight at the Beach / Rasheed Ali w/ Jeff Nathanson / Rain People


*To really enjoy this show I recommend listening with closed-ear headphones so that you can enjoy the virtual beach re-creation. Being an island boy means loving the beach, it's one of my favorite places on earth!


Notes: I've always been in love with sound design (creating life-like soundscapes) and virtual reality imaging with sound. On all of my CDs I've used live remote recordings that I've done outdoors to help add dimension to a musical story.  I've always been in love with the little details and nuance you can appreciate while listening to headphones with the lights off. Stevie Wonder would always said that to really appreciate his landmark '70's recordings you should hear them the way he does...with headphones in the dark. I've grown up with that idea as a guiding principle when I record. If I can lay back with some headphones in the dark and be lifted into a fantasy, then I've done my job as a composer.


On all of my seven CDs I've experimented with ambient sound, whether recording the street vendors in Brasil on Beijos Azuis or making multiple stereo recordings of a rain storm for the debut Rain People.
I'm probably most proud of my "slave ship" re-creation for the song "I will Cry for You" on Thunder in the Jungle, which included creating a virtual sail boat with items found around the house.


I hope you enjoy this show as much I did creating it. It's the first sound design experiment I've done since last year's Virtual Live Festival Concert Series.