H Allan is a guitar player who likes
to shred yet his career has always been closely tied to the saxophone thus it’s
natural that the title track to his EP that drops Friday, “BAM!” was written by
and for a sax player. Allan’s rocking rendition of the pumped up, horn-powered
original penned by Horace-Alexander Young, who appears on Allan’s version,
began collecting playlist adds on Monday. Allan produced the EP and four of the
five tracks were mixed and mastered by Robert Martin (Frank Zappa).
Allan’s first job after college was as the artist rep for LA
Sax Company and he often traveled with saxophonists to various music education
conferences. He brought his guitar with him and after being on the floor all
day, he and the artists would head to a local nightclub to sit in with local
musicians. During one impromptu jam session in San Antonio with Allan, Young
wrote “BAM!” and it was recorded and released on an LA Sax Company compilation
CD in 1995 that was distributed to music stores as an instrument demo and was
sent to radio stations.
“We had a great time at these spontaneous jam sessions. One
night at a river walk bar, we played with a group and Horace wrote this song.
I've loved the song and since it was originally done on sax, I thought it
should be done on guitar with an all-star cast of the best players,” said
Allan, who was joined on the track by Young, drummer Eric Valentine,
keyboardist Ron Reinhardt, Keith Vivens (bass and vocal line) and
trumpeter-trombonist Steve Jankowski (Nile Rodgers and Chic).
Another saxophonist, Derrick Edmondson (Jody Watley, Chaka
Khan), helmed the second tune on the EP, “Rise,” the Herb Alpert gem. Atop a
rocksteady groove anchored by Valentine and bassist Darryl Williams, Allan
shines on funky rhythm guitar and cool electric lead guitar.
“I wanted to do a song by a trumpet player and there's no
more iconic song on trumpet. I thought it would sound cool on guitar in a lower
octave: kind of new and hip. I thought it would be a great opportunity to work
with Derrick Edmondson, who I met at LA Sax. I tried to be authentic to the
melody and harmony, but still push it out of bounds a bit for fun. Derrick's
arrangement totally fit the bill,” said the Chicago-based Allan who was named H
by his parents at birth.
Allan revels in his rock roots on a mashup of “All Along The
Watch Tower” and “Stairway To Heaven,” presented on the “BAM!” EP as a chill
contemporary jazz medley.
Allan said, “I heard the similarities between these two rock
‘n’ roll classics while playing ‘Watchtower’ at a show and at the end of it, I
transposed and went into the guitar solo from ‘Stairway To Heaven’ because it
sounded similar. This medley is more rock than jazz so it's straddling the line
musically - sort of like me.”
The EP contains two bonus tracks. The first is a rocked-out
version of Allan’s debut single, “Stiletto Heels,” a reboot of the original
written and recorded by saxophone heavyweight Richard Elliot with whom Allan
worked at LA Sax Company. Allan’s version tied as the most added new single on
the Billboard BDS chart when it was released in August 2017.
“This is the rock guitar version that I recorded before the
smoother, more R&B version that I released. Its drum beat is the same as
the original and I played the keyboard solo on the guitar as well. The lead
guitar on this version is more of a heavier rock sound,” said Allan.
Sweetly, Allan gathers his family - kids Zoey, Henry and
Ellie, and sister Stacey - to sing on the second bonus cut, “Love Is A Rose,” a
Neil Young song that Allan originally recorded for his mother. The guitar
slinger surprises by singing and playing banjo on the track.
No comments:
Post a Comment