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This
is blue number nine's fourth CD. Recording began in late 2004,
and once again
lineup changes occurred in the midst of the process and because
of the process. Certain band members moved out of town, others
decided to pursue other priorities. There are a few special
guests on this CD.
In early 2004,
the band re-vamped its recording studio and invested in some
good microphones and other gear. Prior to recording "living
it up", Stefanie, Marco and Jack produced and recorded
a CD for the band BELT, which was then released on bn9's label,
"check other records".
After tweaking
out computer issues (the band used SONAR Producer 4.0 on a
brand new PC dedicated only to recording music), the process
of recording "living it up" went fairly smoothly,
despite delays due to the aforementioned lineup changes -
Sal Carrubba quit before the CD was completed. His scheduling
conflicts were holding back the project and he felt he needed
to move on. Luca Tozzi came in to finish up the guitar work
and soon after, joined the band.
Camari wasn't performing
with bn9 much because she had moved to Columbus, Ohio by this
time. Amy Leeds and Sheila Connors were the primary vocalists;
however, Amy left the band shortly before the recording, and
Sheila, who lived in NYC when she joined, had long since moved
back to Buffalo, NY. Stefanie felt it would be impractical
for Camari or Sheila to travel so far and at such expense
for this recording.
New vocalist Morgan
Fite appears on a few songs, and Amy was invited to perform
to add some flavor to the vocals. Stefanie's thinking was
that it would be more interesting to have different voices
on the album than just her own and Morgan's. Terrence B. and
Paul Munoz of BELT also sang some back up vocals. The call
and response section of the song "Dance Dance Dance"
is actually a layering of every member of blue number nine,
an evening in the living room with every member of BELT, and
the horn section members during their session.
Stefanie had reconnected
with her childhood friend and keyboard player Jeff Witt in
2003 (?), and Jeff started doing some shows with the band
in 2003 whenever possible (he lives in Pedricktown, NJ, about
2 hours from Jersey City.) Jeff came up to record some of
the songs on this CD.
Also appearing
on this CD, in addition to Joel Hirsch on percussion, Pamela
Fleming on trumpet, Rob Susman on trombone and Jenny Hill
on saxophones, is Luca Santaniello on drums. The band asked
him to come record some songs after arguing with Jack about
how they should be arranged.
For mastering,
this time around, the band went with Foothill Digital. Allan
Tucker did an excellent job. Stefanie was a nervous wreck
prior to the mastering sessions, fearing criticism of her
"amateur" recording, but Allan assured her that
the quality was well above average, and better than many independent
projects he had heard.
The artwork was
created by Stefanie with help from Loren Kramer of Kramer
Design (Stefanie's boyfriend when she was 18 years old - she
found him on the internet. He is now happily married with
children.) The cover photos, "bar hoppers", "ticker
tape parade", "NYC street fair" and "Dine-o-Mat",
were donated by a source who asked to remain anonymous; other
photos were taken by Pavel Antonov, an amazing photographer
from Russia.
The CD was pressed
by Oasis CD.
Although all previous
blue number nine releases were submitted and included in the
All Music Guide, this CD earned a review from this prestigious
website & enormous database.
There was no CD
release party.
The credits are
numerous:
DON'T LET THEM - Marco Accattatis, Stefanie Seskin
Stefanie Seskin - lead & bkg vocals; Luca Tozzi - guitar; Marco Accattatis - bass; Luca Santaniello - drums; Morgan Rose Fite & Amy Leeds - bkg vocals; Joel Hirsch - doumbek, congas; Pam Fleming - trumpet; Jenny Hill - tenor sax; Rob Susman - trombone; horn arrangement - Marco Accattatis
LOVE THE BEAT - Marco Accattatis, Stefanie Seskin
Stefanie Seskin - lead & bkg vocals; Marco Accattatis - bass, keys, bkg vocals; Luca Tozzi - guitar Luca Santaniello - drums; Rob Susman - trombone; Pam Fleming - trumpet; Jenny Hill - tenor sax; Jeff Witt - keyboards; Morgan Rose Fite & Amy Leeds - bkg vocals; horn arrangement - Marco Accattatis
WHEN I WAKE UP - Kim Preston, Stefanie Seskin
Stefanie Seskin - vocals & flute; Marco Accattatis - bass; Luca Tozzi - guitar; Morgan Rose Fite & Amy Leeds - bkg vocals; Luca Santaniello - drums Rob Susman - trombone; Jenny Hill - tenor sax; Pam Fleming - trumpet; Joel Hirsch - percussion; horn arrangement - Marco Accattatis
DIG MY HANDS - Stefanie Seskin
Stefanie Seskin - vocals, flute, loops, keyboards, tamborine; Marco Accattatis - bass; Luca Tozzi - guitar; Luca Santaniello - drums
THE LUCKY ONES - Kim Preston, Stefanie Seskin
Stefanie Seskin - vocals; Luca Tozzi - guitar; Marco Accattatis - bass; Luca Santaniello - drums; Morgan Rose Fite & Amy Leeds - bkg vocals; Joel Hirsch - congas; Emi Yabuno - keyboards
DANCE DANCE DANCE - Stefanie Seskin
Stefanie Seskin - lead & bkg vocals, flute; Marco Accattatis - bass; Jack Gourdine - drums; Luca Tozzi - guitar; Morgan Rose Fite & Amy Leeds - bkg vocals; BELT - "no's"; Jenny Hill - tenor sax, ìno'sî; Pam Fleming - trumpet, ìno'sî; Rob Susman - trombone, ìno'sî; Joel Hirsch - congas, doumbek horn arrangement - Jason Berg
GIMME MORE TIME - Marco Accattatis, Stefanie Seskin
Stefanie Seskin - vocals, tambourine; Marco Accattatis - bass, bkg vocals; Jack Gourdine - drums; Morgan Rose Fite & Amy Leeds - bkg vocals; Sal Carrubba - guitar; Jenny Hill - tenor sax; Rob Susman - trombone; Pam Fleming - trumpet; horn arrangement - Marco Accattatis
CASTLES - Minoru Kikuchi, Stefanie Seskin
Stefanie Seskin - vocals, tambourine; Marco Accattatis - bass; Jack Gourdine - drums; Sal Carrubba - guitar; Morgan Rose Fite & Amy Leeds - bkg vocals; Jeff Witt - keyboards; Joel Hirsch - congas
NEVER FELT THAT WAY - Marco Accattatis, Stefanie Seskin
Stefanie Seskin - lead & bkg vocals, flute; Marco Accattatis - bass; Jack Gourdine - drums; Morgan Rose Fite - bkg vocals; Luca Tozzi - guitar; Emi Yabuno - keyboards
TURNPIKES & PARKWAYS - Stefanie Seskin
Stefanie Seskin - vocals, samples, loops, hand claps; Jack Gourdine - drums; Marco Accattatis - bass, bkg vocals, hand claps; Morgan Rose Fite, Amy Leeds, Terrence B. , Paul MuÒoz - bkg vocals Sal Carrubba - guitar; Pamela West - bassoon; Pam Fleming - trumpet; Jenny Hill - tenor sax Rob Susman - trombone and horn arrangement
GRASS IS ALWAYS GREENER - Stefanie Seskin
Jack Gourdine - drums; Marco Accattatis - bass, bkg vocals; S. Seskin - vocals, loops; Jeff Witt - keyboards; Terrence B. , Paul MuÒoz , Amy Leeds, Morgan Rose Fite - bkg vocals; Sal Carrubba - guitar
I'M IN DEBT - this song was written in a jam session by the original members of blue number nine - Stefanie Seskin, Kim Preston, Minoru Kikuchi, Lloyd Nilsen and Jack Gourdine
Stefanie Seskin - vocals; Marco Accattatis - bass; Jack Gourdine - drums; Luca Tozzi - guitar; Jeff Witt - keyboards; Sal Carrubba - guitar; Jenny Hill - tenor sax; Rob Susman - trombone; Pam Fleming - trumpet horn arrangement - Marco Accattatis |
