The Machrijam CD
This is a page to introduce and explain a little about the Machrijam debut CD, a humble home-made offering of sixteen mostly original tracks. The main instrument is guitar, and it was all recorded on a home MTR. Some of the tracks are relatively new, and yet some were recorded over twenty years ago. If you want to enjoy a video of excerpts of the tracks on YouTube, you can click here. (Indeed, under the name 'Machrijam', you find a number of vids showing my live guitar stuff.) In the unlikely event (ha!), that anyone wants to purchase a copy, the going price is ¥1,000 (Japanese yen). [The CD & jacket etc... is completely hand-produced. A bit of a surprise in this era of mass-production and digital downloads. There are also very few copies, at the moment.]
Latest news: an MP3 version of this CD is now available... basically EVERYWHERE (!). If you're in the Apple Music thing, for example, you can go there and listen to the whole bleedin' thing, and even download, I'm sure. But.... 'So What' is only available on the physical CD, So There! Ha!
Latest news: an MP3 version of this CD is now available... basically EVERYWHERE (!). If you're in the Apple Music thing, for example, you can go there and listen to the whole bleedin' thing, and even download, I'm sure. But.... 'So What' is only available on the physical CD, So There! Ha!
Track info details
Machrijam’s Notes
(Each track is dedicated to particular individuals I know and love,
some of whom have gone on to the big gig in the sky. God bless, or GB.)
1. Twelve-Bar Hip-Hop Blues Pt I (2.54). Check the live version on YouTube. Hat, leather jacket, Elvis boots. For Lorcan. GB.
2. El Ratoncillo (4.01) Inspired by Fania Allstars’ El Raton.
3. Blues for Larry (1.44) (Coryell, that is). I gave him an early copy of this track. He's a fantastic musician, and a major inspiration.
4. So What (3.19) (for 'Ken-chan!', which is the refrain… When very young, I'd hum this one to him, so he got to know MIles earlier than I did.)
5. for JMcL (2.21) Chords derived from the great J McLaughlin’s debut album ‘Extrapolation’. From the opening of 'This is for us to share'. John has been a huge influence, not only in terms of music, but in terms of approaches to art.
6. Undercover Bass Detectives (2.14) (for Jaco, GB, and the spirit of Kojak, too.)
7. Afterhours (1.45) (and 1.45 certainly is afterhours!) Just feels like that time when listening to this. For anyone who can't sleep.
8. Just out of reach (2.57) for anyone in trouble, say Three Hail Mary’s and listen to this.
9. Radharc na mara (2.51), better known as Peter Byrne’s Fancy, or Bean na Farraige. Means ‘View of the sea’ in Irish. For Dara, GB.
10. Twelve-Bar Hip-Hop Blues Pt II (4.09), for Leo, who is more of a rocker! Sorry it ain't Heavy Metal, though!
11. Three's company (2.28), for the Da, GB, his musical legacy, and for being there on our honeymoon! The Da was a natural piano player, boogie-woogie, Irish stuff, you name it. He instilled a love of music into us lot, especially Jim & myself, both smitten with six strings.
12. Strollin' (5.08), played this at my wedding, and people actually danced. For Jim, who taught me guitar.
13. Echoes of Blue (1.34), nod to Miles’ Blue in Green, & a nod to the Ma, GB. She would appreciate its serenity.
14. Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore (2.53), for all my Irish friends and family, they know who they are.
15. R 'n R (3.22) for ‘Jiji’, who has a lot of this. This recording is a bit basic, but it swings. It was made a really long time ago, but it's funny, so I wanted to preserve it.
16. When You Say My Name (2.06), played this at my wedding too, so it’s for you darlin’ Meg! (Fantastic solo work by the Gareth Mealor, who also played with me at the wedding.) This recording has a bit of background noise, but it sings, and I couldn’t do a better version by myself. One interpretation of the title could be: when you say my name that usually means I have to clean the house or wash the dishes!
Anyway, enjoy listening to my crazy sounds!!! Almost all compositions original, and from the heart.
Recorded in Isehara, Japan. Equipment: Boss BR-864. Guitars: Gibson Les Paul Studio, Fender Japan Stratocaster, Ibanez slim body nylon cutaway, GA37STCE, Aria Dreadnought Acoustic, AD-50N & Yamaha YGX 121D. The latter is by far the cheapest. I bought it when I had very little money, and yet it is used for many of the older tracks. It worked for me.
– Total play time: 46 minutes -
Treasured message from the one & only LARRY CORYELL
Some Reviews:
From Eric (in USA): 'I lent your CD to two different people over here and they both loved it! Had a hard time getting it back from one of them! Are you distributing it in any way? They want to buy copies, but we dont know where to look, and I dont want you to have to send more copies! But they REALLY love it! Let me know! Your fan base is growing over here, and we want the artist to get paid for his art! ... I am just telling you about the two people that I let BORROW MY copy. I have shared the music with many more and ALL of the reviews were positive! At the very least dude, you should have a youtube channel featuring your art!"
From Dara (in Ireland) [titled: Street Hip Hop with an Edgy Feel]:
Well done, for the playing and recording and arranging. I'm impressed, keep it up. In no order of merit, I liked 'Strolling', 'for John McL', 'afterhours', 'radharc na mara: nice arrangement', 'echoes of blue', 'paddy green's shamrock shore: really good arrangement. You can take a tune and rebuild it into something slightly different. 'When you say my name': nice effect: sounds like recorded in a church. At the moment. I like mellow, acoustic, jazzy music to suit the mood. All in all, make a few copies and send out.'
From Jim (this site's main man): 'Really very impressed with your music and playing! I played it twice,and it sounded better the second time. A good variety of songs -but you could have used the drums and the bass guitar a bit more. You get a very good distorted sound -is that the T-Rex Mudhoney?A lot of it sounds professional, and your fast playing is very good.I like the two Irish songs,and the Bass Detectives song,and many more. And the physical CD itself is very pro.'
From Eric (in USA): 'I lent your CD to two different people over here and they both loved it! Had a hard time getting it back from one of them! Are you distributing it in any way? They want to buy copies, but we dont know where to look, and I dont want you to have to send more copies! But they REALLY love it! Let me know! Your fan base is growing over here, and we want the artist to get paid for his art! ... I am just telling you about the two people that I let BORROW MY copy. I have shared the music with many more and ALL of the reviews were positive! At the very least dude, you should have a youtube channel featuring your art!"
From Dara (in Ireland) [titled: Street Hip Hop with an Edgy Feel]:
Well done, for the playing and recording and arranging. I'm impressed, keep it up. In no order of merit, I liked 'Strolling', 'for John McL', 'afterhours', 'radharc na mara: nice arrangement', 'echoes of blue', 'paddy green's shamrock shore: really good arrangement. You can take a tune and rebuild it into something slightly different. 'When you say my name': nice effect: sounds like recorded in a church. At the moment. I like mellow, acoustic, jazzy music to suit the mood. All in all, make a few copies and send out.'
From Jim (this site's main man): 'Really very impressed with your music and playing! I played it twice,and it sounded better the second time. A good variety of songs -but you could have used the drums and the bass guitar a bit more. You get a very good distorted sound -is that the T-Rex Mudhoney?A lot of it sounds professional, and your fast playing is very good.I like the two Irish songs,and the Bass Detectives song,and many more. And the physical CD itself is very pro.'