Caleb Chapman and Jeff Coffin have know each other since the late 1990’s and have intersected each other’s lives through performances, master classes, festivals, conferences, birthdays and recordings on many occasions over the years. Their friendship is deep and there is a tremendous amount of mutual respect and support between the two. In March of 2015, they went to Havana, Cuba with Caleb Chapman’s Crescent Super Band.
THE TRIP: Jeff’s trip to Cuba came about when he heard from Caleb that the Crescent Super Band had been invited to play in Havana in March, 2015. Half joking, Coffin immediately invited himself to go along. Caleb said “yes!” – Two festival performances by the band with SIX standing ovations, walking around Havana and seeing the sights, navigating the sea wall and taking lots of photos were just the beginnings of this incredible trip…
THE RECORDING: Two of the nine songs on this project (Move Your Rug & The Inside of the Outside) were recorded in Havana, Cuba at the prestigious Abdala Studios in March of 2015. The rest of the recording was done in America Fork, UT in June 2015, where the CSB and Caleb Chapman call home. All the songs are Coffin’s originals and have been arranged by various arrangers. The recorded Pro Tools multi-tracks were brought back from Cuba on Jeff’s iPod because no one had thought to bring a hard drive for the files! “Our experience in Cuba was incredible and we loved every minute of it. The two female recording engineers at Abdala Studios were top notch and we could all tell the place had a great vibe to it!”
THE NATIONAL SCHOOL of MUSIC: Toward the end of their week in Havana, Jeff joined the CSB for a cultural exchange with the Escuela Nacional de Musica (National School of Music) in Havana – which turned out to be a profound highlight of the entire trip. The Cuban students were the same age group as the Utah students so there was an instant connection.
The school was bare bones in terms of equipment and supplies but the Cuban students were playing and performing at the highest levels. Confident, speaking in broken English announcing their tunes as well as their musical backgrounds and every piece they played was memorized! When the Crescent Super Band started to play, the students interacted and jammed together and communicated as best they could through the universal language of music…and a little broken Spanish and broken English as well. Students from the music school crammed around the windows and stairwells from the outside to get a glimpse and earful of what was happening inside. The students, teachers and chaperones alike were moved, some to tears, witnessing what occurred in those music rooms. It was a joy-filled afternoon. A decision was made even before leaving Cuba that ALL the proceeds from the sale of this recording project would go back to the Escuela Nacional de Musica to help these astonishing young students!!
SUPPORT: Through crowd sourcing (Kickstarter) over $25,000 was raised to pay for this recording, guest artists, engineering, mixing, mastering, photos, package design, manufacturing CD’s and vinyl, etc…
“We could not have done this alone and we are grateful to everyone involved in this project. It’s a labor of love but it’s all for these students and for music education.” – JC & Caleb Chapman
Special appearance by Sam Cardon on Hammond organ (track 9)
SPECIAL GUESTS:
Randy Brecker – trumpet
Rashawn Ross – trumpet
Branford Marsalis – tenor saxophone
Roy ‘ Futureman’ Wooten – percussion
Victor Wooten – electric bass
Trombone Shorty – trombone
Robertico Garcia – trumpet
Pedrito Martinez – congas/bata drum
Dayron Rodriguez – bongos
Juan ‘El Peje’ Carlos Rojas – congas
Produced by Jeff Coffin & Caleb Chapman
Engineered by Blair Leishman at Digital Source Studios, American Fork, UT, June 16-19, 2015
Mixed by Blair Leishman
Mastered by Jim Demain @ Yes Mastering, Nashville, TN
The Inside Of The Outside & Move Your Rug / Recorded @ Abdala Studios, Havana, Cuba
Engineered by Rebeca Alderete & Dayana Garcia / March 4, 2015
Guest Recording Info:
Trombone Shorty recorded at Buckjump Studios / New Orleans, LA / Engineered by Michael Ballard / Trombone Shorty appears courtesy of Blue Note Records
Randy Brecker recorded at HamptonSound Studio / East Hampton, NY / Engineered by Ada Rovatti / Randy Brecker appears courtesy of Piloo Records and is a Yamaha Artist
Victor Wooten recorded at VixMix, Nashville, TN / Engineered by Victor Wooten
Pedrito Martinez recorded at Willy Torres Recording Studios / Engineered by Willy Torres
Branford Marsalis recorded at Sound Pure Studio, Durham, NC / Engineered by Chris Boerner
Rashawn Ross recorded at Cordone Studios, LA, CA / Engineered by Mike Cordone
Futureman recorded at ITA Studio, Nashville, TN / Engineered by Jeff Coffin
All songs written by Jeff Coffin / Otani Music (BMI)
Except Bubble Up – written by Jeff Coffin / Otani Music (BMI) & Alana Rocklin / New Polyphony (ASCAP)
Thanks: Caleb & the Crescent Super Band, Giraldo ‘Piloto’ Barreto, Rene Huemer, Rebeca Alderete & Dayana Garcia, Robert Hakalski, Memo Acevedo, Jim Demain, Arrangers: Bob Washut, Bret Zvacek, Ryan Middagh, Chris McDonald, David Deacon-Joyner & Tyler Mire – you guys are incredible! To the engineers who recorded our guests…thanks!
Special thanks to Ryoko Suzuki, Alison Chapman and the rest of our peeps, Blair Leishman, John Wittman, Jennifer Vierling & Jalissa Gascho and the full Yamaha family, the D’Addario team, Jody Espina & Jody Jazz, DART Music, the Soundhouse family of musicians and parents, the students and teachers at the Escuela Nacional de Musica (National School of Music) in Havana, Cuba, Alex Clayton, Brian Horner, Nate Dickinson, Dave Matthews, DMB & crew.
Jeff, Caleb & the CSB would like to extend a very, very special thanks to our incredible guests: Victor Wooten, Randy Brecker, Branford Marsalis, Pedrito Martinez, Rashawn Ross, Trombone Shorty, Roy ‘Futureman’ Wooten, Robertico Garcia, Juan ‘El Peje’ Carlos Rojas & Dayron Rodriguez.
To our amazing Kickstarter supporters and Matt Schramer for helping make this recording a reality – A HUGE THANK YOU & we love you all!
Jeff Coffin plays Yamaha saxophones and D’Addario reeds.
