Cube Orchestra: Cubest011

Following the relative success of using tracks from a single session on Cubest 010, Cubest 011 takes five out of six tracks from a subsequent session as its base. Once again I'm hoping that the tunes offer a variety of musical genres, whilst maintaining a coherent sound

It's probably worth noting that not all musicians listed are playing at any time. Also, although I mention contributions by specific musicians, there are always others playing in the background and providing the necessary backdrop to any dominating sounds and I apologise for their absence in my notes. Everybody's contribution is welcome ...

I hope Cubest 011 sounds like a complete album and here are some 'sleeve notes' to accompany it ...

Jump to Download link ... Back to Cubest series ...

Take The Register

2015 04 22 - Leonor Frazao: Piano; Daniel Souza: Flute, Harmonica, Ney; Chema Gala: Sax; Kieran Gillick: Trumpet; Ollie Owen: Guitar; Jean-Michel Maheu: Guitar, Percussion, Bass; Ramon Sanchez: Trumpet, Percussion, Vocals; Jon Shepherd: Bass, Guitar, Vocals, Percussion; Keef Chemistry: Melodica, Vocals, Percussion, iPad; Marcus Valentine: Keyboards;

Marcus has been keeping tabs on the myriad of musicians who have attended Cube Orchestra sessions since its inception in his purple book and this track starts with the taking of the register for this session, while Jon sets up a nice little bass line. It serves as a good introduction to the band, with Daniel, Marcus and Ollie providing contributions throughout and Jean-Michel providing rhythm on djembe. I really like Daniel's cheeky flute intro and Ollie's mad guitar sound. Marcus twists his keyboards sound in the drops. Near the end there's a great long trumpet line from Ramon using his continuous breathing technique. The only really dodgy bit is my contribution on drums, though I do at least manage to bring the track to an end

Caught Myself Out

An atmospheric number, this time featuring Jon on both bass and vocals, a first in my experience. There are floating guitar lines, some nice vibes from Marcus and restrained drumming from myself. Jon's words are indistinct and mysterious, becoming drowned by the flute and sax lines, which intermingle and build, following and harmonising with the vocal melody. Jean-Michel plays a light slide guitar, perfectly complimenting Ollie's gentle guitar playing, interplaying here and there. It drifts gently away with some lovely scratchy slide sounds. I cut four and a half minutes from the original take

Glad It Wasn't Me

A smooth jazzy number, based around a nice run on bass. It's very loose with everybody following each other around. Marcus keeps the whole thing together on keyboards and Ramon keeps the rhythm on djembe. I'm providing some very patchy drums. I can hear interesting passages around the structure on trumpet, flute, sax and Jean-Michel's distorted guitar. There's a good drop-out and build four minutes in, with raunchy guitar work and Marcus taking centre stage on the piano. Chema's sax lines provide a hook, while I try conducting again with the drums. It's a pretty sweet ending

We Had A Tuneful Conversation

2015 04 29 - Matt Taylor: Percussion; Daniel Souza: Flute, Harmonica, Ney, Melodica; Rhodri Karim: Bass, Keyboards, Percussion; Ghoufran Warlow: Piano, Percussion; Chema Gala: Sax; Ollie Owen: Guitar; Jean-Michel Maheu: Guitar, Percussion; Ramon Sanchez: Trumpet, Percussion, Vocals; Jon Shepherd: Bass, Keyboards; Keef Chemistry: Melodica, Vocals, iPad; Marcus Valentine: Keyboards;

I felt the compilation needed more vocal tracks, so this one's from the session the following week with a slightly different mix of musicians. Jon finds a funky bass line and Marcus joins in on organ. I'm not sure who is drumming, it might be Rhodri, but there's a nice rhythm going on. Voices flow in and out, it's hard to determine how many, but eventually Ramon's distinct voice comes through, "Check, check, check, check" and eventually, "Ya podemos, hay tiempo" (roughly, "We can still do it, there's time"). Then there's a change in the bass line and everybody switches with it and back again. Daniel grabs his harmonica, just as the tune peters out and a nice ending forms

Lost A Day Today

Back to the previous session. This track starts off so gently, with the bass and drums (Ramon this time) setting up a good rhythm, Marcus on those vibes and the two guitars interplaying. I'm on vocals this time, singing words around the subject of Time. Chema's sax playing is immaculate, as is Kieran's trumpet playing. About two minutes in Daniel introduces harmonica, which sounds kinda out of tune at first, but the bass rhythm changes, as does my vocal melody, and we're into a transformative stage. Three and a half minutes in it drops out slightly and Daniel takes the opportunity to go for it with a fabulous harmonica solo. Chema keeps to the outside of the tune with strong hook lines and then the guitar takes to the forefront. Behind it Marcus on a jangly organ. Ramon's drumming and Jon's bass playing enter the zone and we build to a trance-like climax, with great sax and flute solos and me repeating my mantra "Lost a day today". Ramon builds the drums within the madness and successfully finds an end point. Epic

Nuclear Family Waltz

I thought this was a good tune to end on. It begins so driftingly, Jean-Michel finding an excellent three-four line on guitar. Jon comes in on bass just as Jean-Michel switches to rhythm and Ramon comes in on vocals. I think it might be me on drums, though it gets really hard to remember sometimes. I do like the out-of-beat snare, whoever's responsible. The tune drops out about halfway through and Ramon gets going with his lyrics, well-considered and well-delivered. The sax and flute combinations work well in our sessions, a testament to Chema and Daniel's superb musicianship. Here, for me, it's Ramon's thoughtful lyrics that make the tune into a song, carrying the sentiment away in our minds beyond the end of the album. It actually ends rather nicely, with an interruption from Marcus, informing us that the session has to come to an end

So there we are. Six songs in 36 minutes, with fabulous contributions from everyone involved ...
- keef chemistry

Download the zip file here (6 tracks @ 320kbps = 82mb):
https://orchestra.cubecinema.com/downloads/cubest011.zip
(The files need to be zipped before download. This may take a while, so please be patient ...)

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