Hi Everyone!
LL Cool Jazz. Anne-Lise Larsen and Scott Leishman are in pre-production for the debut release.
I hope you’re having a lovely day. The weather here in Sydney is crisp and clear. Such a beautiful winter.
There’s something I want to share with you because it’s something I’m very excited about. That may be an understatement. You know the feeling when you’re on the cusp of finally beginning to live a lifelong dream? That feeling. 🙂 I think I mentioned in my last message that I’m in pre-production with Scott Leishman, jazz guitarist extraordaire and the other half of LL Cool Jazz, the Larsen-Leishman Jazz duo, on our debut recording. It will be a collection of jazz standards and a few originals. While we are currently rehearsing, it’s really just to get the basics on song form down. The recording will be live and improvised, in that we never perform anything exactly the same way twice. You know, jazz like and all. 😉
I’ve just uploaded to my music player, a very rough first run through of Body and Soul that I recorded for prosperity on my iPhone. Thought you might like to have a listen to our humble beginnings… 🙂 So, I invite you to come and have a listen to it on my ReverbNation page. You can download it too, to keep, if you’d like. There is one little blooper from me on it, but hey, that’s what rehearsals are for…and it was our first run through after all. Tee hee 🙂 Have a listen to Scott’s incredibly beautiful playing. Sometimes I have to pinch myself that I get to sing with him.
Actually, Scott and I did a gig yesterday in a big suburban outdoors mall, (in Parramatta for you Sydney-siders), and it’s fun to watch the crowds react to Scott’s playing. One guy yelled “so, can you play Nirvana?”. Um. Well, we could, but we’re jazz… We did anyway. Ha ha. It was enough for the guy to sit down and listen some more. We continued on with a jazz standard (can’t remember which one now) and Scott did his usual spectacular playing, and the guy was transfixed by him. Boy crushes abound.
This album is going to highlight both of us, and I’m thrilled to finally be on my way to seeing this dream become a reality. It’s taken decades, but I’m discovering that if you stay true to yourself, you will eventually find people who also see that dream, share in it, and will help you get there. Now I’m all teary. Yay!
Shall be in touch again soon. 🙂
Anne-Lise