The magic was discreet but immediate,
with Nir Sabag on drums and Max Schlegel on bass.
This was actually my first session at this studio in Kreuzberg, in February 2015,
testing the set-up and enjoying those great microphones.
And it was our first session together with Nir.
Nir is from Israel, and I have yet to have one bad session or rehearsal with him. There might be days with more or less energy, but the feeling is always there. It’s a kind of magic.
Moments are grounded in time.
Common Sense is spoken.
I might start calling him the Rhythm and Groove Prophet.
On bass, Max always surprises me with his ability to make those a latin beats grooove. He’s been hanging out with Argentinian – and fantastic – pianist Carly Quiros, says he.
It’s was difficult that day, being on both the technical and the musical side. Testing and checking out the set-up, signal flow, headphone mixes, etc. In fact I was terribly disapointed with the upright sound. An AKG was probably moved away from its position, or Max changed position while rehearsing.
I proposed a rhythm changes in Bb, with a Bossa-nova feel on the A’s and a swing on the B’s.
It became “TEKILA”, which also is a phonetic for “T’es qui là ?”, which means “Who are you now ?” in french.
A fun topic.