(Instrumental)
I wrote this music back when I played with a band called the Holy Ghost, an eight-to-eleven-piece ensemble that sounded like a Stravinsky ballet about Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. I wrote a feature piece for each of the musicians, and this one was for the guitarist, Adam Sultan, and was called “The Adam Sultan Moment.”
I revived it recently and renamed it “Tango Bango,” as a point of departure for my new ideas about the Gadjo Bango Sound, and re-recorded it here in Tucson. It will one day fall into an instructive collection of new dance music I’ve been plotting for some time now.
Bonus track:
Below is an early sketch of the “Tango Bango” melody arranged for violin and percussion loops:
(Instrumental)
This is, indeed, a scary song, performed by Chris Black and the Holy Ghost and recorded live by Adam Holzband. I played piano and kick drum. Graham Reynolds played the other piano. Tom Benton played the upright bass. David Lobel played the tenor sax. Wayne Meyers played the bass trombone. Adam Sultan played the guitar. Laura Phelan played the vibraphone. June Rhee played the violin.
Killing time in my tree, feeling good, feeling happy. Watching birds watching me in my tree.
Well hello pretty girl. What’s wrong? Aren’t you happy? Come along, join me in my tree.
I got branches, I got leaves, I got grubs, baby, if you’re hungry. I got everything a body needs in my tree.
Climb inside, follow me. Close your eyes if you’re sleepy. Lovingkindness lasts forever in my tree.
Killing time in my tree. Feeling good. Feeling happy. Bless the Lord that led you to me, in my tree.
…
Recorded live at the Empanada Parlor in Austin, Texas. I played the piano and kick drum. Graham Reynolds played the other piano. Adam Sultan played the guitar. Laura Phelan played the vibraphone. Wayne Myers played the bass trombone. David Lobel played the tenor sax. June Rhee played the violin. Tom Benton played the upright bass.
(Instrumental)
This music was improvised from the ground up by Chris Black and the Holy Ghost, and recorded live by Adam Holzband on his trusty Minidisc. I played piano. Graham Reynolds played the drums. Tom Benton played the upright bass. David Lobel played the tenor sax. Wayne Meyers played the bass trombone. Adam Sultan played the guitar. Laura Phelan played the vibraphone.
(Instrumental)
Sometimes you need to get from one song to the next, and you don’t want to talk about it — you just want to play into it, and improvise an enormous bridge to take you there. That’s when it’s nice to have a band like the Holy Ghost. This was recorded live by Adam Holzband. I played piano. Graham Reynolds played the drums. Tom Benton played the upright bass. David Lobel played the tenor sax. Wayne Meyers played the bass trombone. Adam Sultan played the guitar. Laura Phelan played the vibraphone.
