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Clinton Day - basses,
lead vocals, keyboards
Jamie Dubberly
- trombone
Mario Flores - congas
Rod Harris -
saxophones
David Hawkes - drums
Mike Miller - timbales,
bongos, percussion
Amy Rivers - backing vocals
Rosa Robles - voices,
additional artwork
Johnny Valdez - guitar
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Produced and engineered by Clinton Day
All pieces by Clinton Day, except Cherry Cha by Mark Etheredge
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Tape Deck Renaissance is a collection of music inspired
by audio recovered from old two and four-track tape recordings I’ve
made over the years.
Most came from my old Tascam Porta Two tape recorder transferred to computer.
These pieces have been re-imagined, restored, re-mixed, re-recorded, and
re-mastered using digital technology.
My friends have helped me with new and exciting performances added to
the old tracks, and some pieces have been started anew. Some came from
scratch recordings of ideas only, which turned into final ideas in the 21st
century. I am so excited to introduce this project to you now, and I am so
thankful to everyone who contributed to it.
Thank you for listening!
(Original recording dates)
Cherry Cha by Mark Etheredge
I played in a Latin Jazz group in college and have always remembered this
tune written by our piano player, Mark. I have wanted to record it since we
played it back in the 1980’s.
Passing Fancy
Originally recorded in 1993 with drum machine, Fender Jazz bass, and my
beloved Fender Rhodes. The two original Rhodes tracks are still in this new
version, and the original mix is in the intro which depicts the degenerative
characteristics of analogue tape, giving way to the newly realized digital
audio.
Tenor sax, guitar, and additional keyboards tracks were added in 2021 - 22.
Saint Frank
An homage to San Francisco, my newly adopted hometown in 1995. The original
recording was a drum machine tune with 4 tracks of DX7.
The original synth bass, rhythm guitar, steel drums, and synth solo (all DX7)
from 1995 exist in this new version.
Live drums and guitar were added in 2022.
Prayer Corner
An original I had been playing since my college days in the 1980’s, I
started recording it in 2006.
Live drums were recorded remotely and added in 2022, saxophones and
additional tracks were recorded in my home studio the same year.
Suspended License
My musical soliloquy on suspended harmony, this tune was first recorded with
my Yamaha CP70, bass, and drum machine 2006.
Drums and saxes added in 2022.
Magic for the Mind
An
idea recorded in 1994 with drum machine, bass, and Fender Rhodes, this piece
is built around a melodic minor tonality with a melody inspired by the style
of Gordon Sumner.
Live drums, additional keyboards, voices, and guitar were added in 2022.
The story was written in 2008:
Imagine a
man in a shiny space suit with big round goggles carrying a lunch pail-type
briefcase in one hand, and a mug of coffee
in the
other. Guided by distant radio transmissions, he travels via spaceship and
rail cars from planet to planet fixing fellow inhabitants’
electrons
alignment. The original 1994 mix plays on his radio as he makes his way home
after a long day’s work.
At 5am he slips out of his comatose
No freedom can be found
By 6am he’s ready for another dose
His metal mug is round
He peers into the platen glass of everglow
His goggles flash with light
Steering the keys upon the table with an ebb and flow
His expertise and might
It’s just velocity
It’s magic for the mind
“If you had seen that dusty floor I’ve often muddled
through”
He whispers to the crowd
Always waving as they call him to another room
He hears them all out loud
Having saved electrons to and from the Inner Core
He stands erect at last
Seven missions made to planets indirect and more
To present from the past
It’s just velocity
It’s magic for the mind
No curiosity
Is just a waste of time
If I could ever work from home
I would never be alone
Time to start the journey home
To wife and only son
Train of Grande Vitesse and might
Knowing how to keep them always mission number one
May take the speed of light
It’s just velocity
It’s magic for the mind
No curiosity
Is just a waste of time
With such ferocity
The mission is defined
And no philosophy
Is just a waste of time
Endure the Rain
This piece opens with the original 4-track mix from 1993 featuring bass, drum
machine, and DX7, then transitions to the new digital version.
Additional keyboards, vocals, and guitar recorded in 2022.
A song about a forgotten, disillusioned artist who solemnly,
sadly works his day job.
I've been here waiting for you out
in the rain
The baseball game is over, we lost
again
My friends all see me waiting and laugh at me
But I've convinced myself of security
I've been alone since morning, I
have my key
It's just a curiosity
I go to work on Mondays, I don't
know why
It's not what I had wished for,
sometimes I cry
It seems as if I've lost my
connection line
Life was so simple for a time
Stop the raining, stop complaining
Follow this plan, I'm just a man
If I've been wrong, I guess I must
blame myself
My Words just sit upon the shelf
I used to be an artist and go to school
But now I labor as a bean counting
fool
Open my old umbrella, I'll be OK
I pray it gets me through the day
We’re Not Home
Recorded in 1989 for an old telephone answering machine for my college
housemates and myself. Originally 4 tracks of my voice, I added a bass voice
track and re-mixed and mastered it in 2021.
Voix Numériques
In 1987 a college classmate let me borrow his fantastic new sampling
keyboard, the E-Mu Systems Emulator. I immediately became smitten with
the “voices” patch. I recorded this piece to reel-to-reel tape at
home, the tape imperfections are still evident in the track.
I doubled the original tape audio with new digital voices in 2022, and
remastered.
Babette, Tu Me Manques
A waltz composed for celeste and accordion in the French style.
This is my theme for the Parisian dancer who came to visit me one night, Long
After Midnight.
Fin du la Rêve (End of the Dream)
A piano piece I composed in 2021 after another failed attempt to become a
full-time member of a Music faculty.
I have given up now. Coming to the realization that a lifelong dream will
never happen brings profound sadness.
I have something to say, it seems that no-one wants to hear it. The life of
an artist is often one of rejection, failure, disappointment, and heartbreak.
When
this dream begins it is beautiful, but undefined and without direction.
It matures into a solemn and confident mood with sophistication and hints of
jazz.
After it matures, the dream seems to be awaiting disclosure when it
slowly, sadly, comes to an end.
“The
aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their
inward significance" Aristotle
  Studio at Granger Ave, Modesto, CA
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