should i choose to accept it

hi all….

to andy from berklee…”love gets old” has not been published per se as a “score”. benji hughes and i wrote it and then chris botti recorded it and that recorded version is the only one out there. the chords are very simple. you are welcome to jot ‘em down and make your own lead sheet. do you need help with that?

been quiet on the site, but a lot going on at home.

#1…i’ve been singing at THE KID’S COTTON CLUB, a jazz night hosted by danny masterson at teddy’s at the roosevelt hotel in hollywood that happens every thursday night. it’s a good good time. i get up and sing 2 or 3 songs around midnight, then hang out for awhile and then do it again around 1. the band starts at 11:30 and we go till 2 am. i’m doing songs like “bloodshot eyes” by wynonie harris, “fever” by little willie john and “never loved a man” by aretha. we have a great horn section and an exuberant rhythm section that makes my dreams come true. if you’re in LA or planning a trip, i want you to come. it gets a little packed but if you leave me your name HERE in a comment, i will put you on the list so you can get in. there’s no cover, so the only catch is that guys got to wear ties, even if it’s over a t-shirt. but listen, every girl likes a man in a suit so break one out and see what i mean. they sell ties at the door for $20.

#2….i did some singing with leonard cohen last month. he was putting together his band for his first tour in 15 years! his promoter called me up, after i was recommended for the gig by justin meldal-johnsen, my buddy, co-producer of “songs for tuesday” and GREAT bass player, writer etc. i went and had a meal with l. cohen, rosoe beck his musical director and elliot lufkin, the promoter. it was a sweet, happy lunch and i was delighted to be sitting there with those guys. we sang together a few weeks later which was fantastic. leonard’s voice is as rich and deep and dark as it ever was and singing with him was delicious. they went about hiring the band first before seeing any more singers and i was in touch with roscoe for the next month or so. he asked me to come back and sing again after the band was hired and they were gonna bring in some more singers at that point and cast the two parts. over that month period, i took a look at what is going on with me.

i wrapped up with allee on bubbles & cheesecake in february, the week before i got the call to sing with leonard. the reason for that is that as much as i love working with allee, and bubbles & cheesecake, as time continued on, i began to itch to focus on my own solo music again. it was a big decision, yet a vital one!

to get the call to sing with the legendary l. cohen the very next week put that decision to the test in a major way. i don’t aspire to be a background singer, rather i aspire to create my own foreground and background and everything in between… but if i did want to devote myself to someone else’s mission, who would it be? leonard? prince? andre 3000?…. barack obama?

is there someone, anyone who’s mission is more important to me than my own? the answer is no.

i realized that no matter how much i would enjoy standing on stage and mixing my voice with l. cohen’s, i could not turn my back on my own music. i couldn’t come up with an argument that made it make sense to delay getting to work on new hp music for another year, which is how long a commitment i would have needed to make.

so, this is why it’s been a bit quiet on the site. been making decisions, turning some corners and ultimately, making new music. when i have something to share, YOU kind reader will be among the first to hear it.

mark isham called me to sing on another film score. this one was for “the women”, a remake of the clare booth luce book that became a movie in the 50s. the music supervisor is chris douridas so it was nice to reconnect with him. the score is a kind of 60s jazz feel mixed with new yorkican soul, roy ayers type sounds. i sang some great horn lines over both organ trio type pieces and more traditional jazz as well. i’ll let you know when the film will be released.

THAT’S WHY THEY CALL IT ROME VIDEO….is for sale on i-tunes now!
lee! thanks for the heads up!!

oh yeah, billy! you said you missed the other journal format. i know what you mean. the thing is, this iweb program that i’m using is so easy for me. i can upload and edit photos and extra bits so quickly that it makes more sense for me to do it this way now. i’m a little greedy with my time so that’s why this one wins.

lots of love all….

holly