What do I think?

As chairwoman of the music committee, let me just tell you - all the way home, 11:30 pm on icy roads, I was literally dancing in my car, swerving all over the road!
The mix is fabulous, everyone is well-represented, and the order reflects the thoughtful, loving hand of the producer and director who have shepherded us through the wilderness to the very edge of The Threshing Floor. Although we have all gotten many sneak previews of pieces from Will, I feel very privileged to have had this first glimpse at our magnum opus. Like every bootlegged copy, there is a mix of the rough (ruff?) and the smooth, but we're almost there - from what I have heard, we can all wrap our arms around each other at Shabbat Shirah and say a heartfelt Sheheyanu together.

It is truly a blessing to sing with all of you.
lovingly,
Ellie

Home stretch

It's been a couple of exciting, busy days! As snow was falling yesterday afternoon, Jonathan Hillyer was photographing Laurie Price's papercuts for the cd cover. Can't wait to see them.
Sarah Zaslaw, Avrum Weiss and Rabbi Josh were hard at work writing some copy for the cd and after many edits and little corrections, finally the cd copy was ready to sent to Laurie for creative lay-out.
Will is on a rock cruise playing bass.... working - uh huh. But he has taken his lap-top and is actually doing some mixing while he is on a boat to Cozumel, crazy i know.
by mid-January cd art and copy and the mastered mixes will be on their way to the duplicator and be ready in time for our CD launch on SHABBAT SHIRAH!! Go team CBH!!
Want to know a secret: Ellie McGraw has the only boot-leg non-mixed complete copy of the Threshing Floor with the song order as it will be on final version. So, Ellie what do you think?

Photos-Nov 9, 2009

Photographs taken at the CBH Chorus recording session, Monday evening 11.09.09.

Photos from Recording at 800 East (Dec. 14 '09)

Photos from Recording at CCUCC (Dec. 7 '09)

A week of sessions

In the house this (Thurs) evening: Mr. Brad Davidorf (pictured) - chanteur, chazzan, gadabout. Flew threw three songs in an hour.

Oh, heck, let's just go through the rest of the week:

Monday: KILLER chorus session, in spite of mishagoss with some auxiliary heater at CCUCC and with Gayanne's lungs. No more lung problems, people!

Tuesday: Ms. Gayanne Geurin Weiss, chanteuse, chazzan...raconteuse? (Wait, what's the feminine of "raconteur"?) Anyway, she ROCKED her way through a couple of small ensemble pieces.

Wednesday: had a gig, but came home, had a drink, and launched into a few passes of "On My Way." Felt pretty good at the time, but my throat felt fine this morning, so maybe I didn't sing it with enough voiv.

Friday: Ms. Sarah Zaslaw, violinist/fiddler, polyglot, public radio host extraordinaire. (Wait, what's the feminine of "host"?) Coming in to lay down some tender melodies, a kalimba impersonation, and a jazz lick or two.

And then, of course, the Hanukkah party!

Feeling to me like this record is getting over the hump. Still waiting for a bad recording session this week. Sarah, I'm looking to you - make it a solid five!

W

Looking forward to tomorrow!

Tomorrow we will have another recording session in our CCUCC sanctuary. I am really looking forward to singing together again. There is something uniqie and special about that space - even if the furnace does generate a sharp b-flat whine on a cold day. We'll all layer up, and we'll have our energy and cameraderie to keep us warm.
I wanted to share some photos of our session with the orchestra in the same space, in early November. Enjoy!