Flying Heart Records

This was another unusual project with Chris Newman. He talked me into it. He basically recorded it all by himself, except for using Lance Paden on drums. It was one of several Flying Heart albums recorded at Gary Schroeder's GAS House studio. Chris sold me the publishing rights to these songs, which were actually recycled older material of his, already assigned to previously contracted publishers. Well ... they *are* good songs. It's a very Chris Newman album. The cover picture was taken in the KBOO engineering room.
Available in digital form from CD Baby, or in physical CD form from me.

This is the one Flying Heart project that I'm proudest of. The plan was to put together a sampler of Portland-area blues artists. To move things along in the studio (Gary Schroeder's GAS House studio in North Portland) I used a "house" band, with Carlton Jackson playing drums on every track, as well as Janice Scroggins on keyboards and Randy Monroe on bass (Albert Reda on some tracks). So many highlights: my neighbor, O.C. Thomas, in his first and only recording; Mel Solomon on three tracks, his first as a front man (he'd been one of the Midnighters with Hank Ballard); a guy whom I put on the album on the strength of his demo cassette -- that would be Norman Moody; Lily Wilde coming in all dressed up and killing two songs; Rich Halley; Chris Newman; Bob Shoemaker; Johnnie Ward. And we knocked out the 18 tracks of recording in two days. The reason I'm proud of this project is that I personally made it happen, made all the phone calls, set everything up, paid all the bills, and so on, without any help or guidance. It felt good. A real indie project.
All the tracks are available for digital download from CD Baby, and I still have some of the original CDs.

The most acclaimed and recognized artist I ever had the pleasure of working with: jazz great Eddie Harris. In the early '90s. I was contacted by his management (really his daughter Lo**ta) inquiring as to whether I might be interested in doing a project. The letter was addressed to "Ms. Jan Phelps." Anyway I said yeah, well duh, I'd be interested. We had an initial meeting in Portland, it turned out I'd need a financial backer to cover the significant costs, and once again Sarah Mahler came and made it happen. Eddie sent me the charts to about 10 all-new compositions, and together we selected the players: Peter Boe on piano for some tracks, Janice Scroggins for others; Phil Baker on bass, Thara Memory on trumpet, Ron Steen on drums. He knew them all personally, from previous visits to Portland. I tried to get them to get together for one unpaid run-through of his charts, and they laughed me off. Eddie later remarked pithily that this is exactly what separates Portland players, even the best, from L.A. ringers. When he flew in for a rehearsal, the players were frankly unprepared. Eddie was drug. But when it came time to record the album at Musicraft in Wilsonville with the incomparable Drew Canulette engineering, these players were as ready as they could be, and the album that resulted was called "the last great jazz album by Eddie Harris" by the authors of the Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD, 5th Ed. The album is called "Vexatious Progressions" after one of the song titles.
Eddie was a consummate professional at the top of his game. When I'd come pick him up at the Mallory Hotel (now the Deluxe) I'd find him practicing his long notes up in his room. Old school! On the car rides to and from the studio, he'd crack me up with super-corny jokes and rhymes. He indicated to the desk clerk at the Mallory that he could barely read, and she totally bought it! The man had three different degrees. We laughed about it in the car. He thanked me for not speaking the jazz jive.
Available for digital download from CD Baby, and I still have some actual CDs as well.
Eddie Harris made a big impression on me.