专辑简介

This album of original songs and arrangements by Stephanie Bruce is her third independent release, and combines a lifetime of musical influences that result in a varied multidimensional collection. Stephanie began her solo performance life playing the guitar and singing folk songs. Many years spent with the study of Jazz, Brazilian, and other contemporary styles have brought the sophisticated components of harmony, melody, and groove to the lyrical sensibility of the folk song. These songs tell stories about a wide variety of topics. There are the requisite love songs (happy love and sad love), but also a song about the glorious beauty of the mighty elephant, a song about what beings in space might see as they look down upon the creatures of earth, a prayer for peace, and a song about a butterfly trapped in a belljar (combining a taste of classical music, a taste of jazz, a string arrangement by Jonathan Alford, and a 5/4 time signature). Six of the songs on this collection are her own compositions, and the other five are by artists who have made strong impressions over the years. In covering the work of other artists, Stephanie always puts her own spin on the tune with restructuring, reharmonizing, and fresh approaches to rhythm. As varied as the material might be, there is always the thread of her own musical imagination, musicianship, and unique vocal sound.

The musicians who accompany Stephanie on this CD are all residents of the San Francisco Bay Area, and all are active in the local scene, gigging, recording, and teaching music, and all have been long time associates of Stephanie. The core trio on this recording are: Jonathan Alford/piano, Alex Baum/bass, and Curt Moore/drums. A couple of the songs feature guitarist Jeff Massanari and percussionist Al Guzman. The string arrangement by Jonathan is played by violinist Julian Smedley, and cellist Marcie Brown. Stephanie's daughter, Isabel lends her skills on the accordian and also her voice to the back-up vocals. Dave Tidball plays some beautiful solos on soprano and tenor saxophones. The album was recorded at Bellboy Recording with additional recording, and mixing done at Particles Studio. Mastering was done by Myles Boisen. Cover art, drawings and photo, were done by Stephanie. Cover design by Stephanie and Mary Cecile Gee.