“Bom dia!” to all my brazilian fans out there. it’s cool when i look at my site’s statistics, i see what parts of the world are checking me out. brazil is up there with visitors.

all is well on the jess front – i had a few days off due to low energy and season acclimation (in other words, i caught myself a cold), but i am on the mend. this downtime has provided me with the listening i needed to do with the recording, so now i know what i still want to add.

it’s finally sunny and bright blue skies, so the possibility of oak taylor smith taking my photo for the album cover becomes a big possibility this week. if you’ve never checked out his photography, you can at www.oaktaylorsmith.com  - he does these amazing photos – my favorites include one of chaoyang park (a lit up box in front of the park that shows a picture of the park) and the numbers series – these are great – they look like paintings but they’re actually walls around construction sites that people have graffiti’d their phone number on (looking for work) and then someone comes along and paints over it with random colored paint.

the album is still not done, but it’s getting there. tim (the engineer, www.genxstudios.com) just sent me a preliminary mix of “just say it” and it’s fantastic. he’s added electric guitar and fiddle to it (sooooo nice).  my friend sean nowell, added a mad sax solo to “the moon song” i am quite pleased… i am going to do more background vocals tomorrow if my voice permits it. feeling really good about it all. feel that this full moon has some serious momentum…this is the time to gather up all my strength for the surfing and flowing ahead…more soon…alot is coming…alot is here. :) peace love light ***jess

[View with PicLens]

12►

wow. you guys! this was such a fun night. i’m sorry it was on a wednesday (for those of you who find it difficult to motivate yourself out for a pretty girl’s birthday), and that it was in beijing (if you didn’t live there). had such a wonderful time. the outfits on stage were very representative of our inner rockstar (because we wear it on the outside), and a beautiful array of hotties out there in the audience dressed fantazstically…thank you all for your support and love and light. here are a few shots, some by the bling blingy sof courtney, the hottie courtney brother’s wife/sisternlaw, and some by the hands of miss vossler. there is a great video clip on facebook when zac and sarah were teaching the audience to muppet dance while tristan and i did a little jazz numba for their dancing ecstacy.

i am grateful to everyone – it was an amazing birthday this year…i felt all of you, present, near and far, sending your energy and birthday love my way. good thoughts and astral hugs to you all from the white divine light of jess*** (the photos prove it!)

i am super grateful to the band – zac and tristan are such a great drum and bass brotherhood (and did i mention how good they look!?), and the beautiful sarah vossler on backgrounds – i did a gig recently without her and zac’s replacement backup vocals were just not the same (sorry zac), and to have marie-claude on accordion is just perfect…i feel grateful to the energy and creation we got going on that stage! next month’s cd release party will also include the famous fede, who juggles for our delight while we play.

so, the big news then is for october 22nd…cd release party in beijing and yugong yishan, and another big one i’ll have in nyc and pittsburgh in december. woohoo, yeehaw, goodnight!

i have completed a few of the songs. this album is much more organic. i don’t want to add as much as songwriter. because zac and tristan are adding to this process, it’s really melted it down to the songs. no need for so many background vocals. it’s clean. sarah came over and added a few last week, and i’ve ben in the studio for 2 days straight. i don’t come out til later, missing out on the autumn blue skies at the moment, but enjoying the evening ones.

i realized after singing many tracks of “sola mia” (this is the blues tune i wrote and perform just mia) that i couldn’t convey the excitement of the song as much as when i am singing it for someone. there is something very personal about this song, and singing it live my body and mind and spirit are performing as one. so i am gonna get a few friends to sit and listen while i record.

i’m in search of a cellist to add to “the fire” – i think it will enrich the textures of this pretty number.

still have to add sound effects to “just say it” – this is a piece that represents the storm that sometimes comes after prolonged suffering, exhaustion or repression of what is true in the heart.

i also enlisted my friend sean nowell (seannowell.com) a berklee comrade and matured energetic saxophonist from nyc to record the solo a track. i hope he acquiesces, as it would be a treat to hear his tenor on it.

that’s it for now. taking a break to attend to the basics of life, which become much more obvious when dwelling in a closed up room that feels like it’s always nighttime…big love to all my friends, fans and loved ones inhabiting this beautiful planet….. jess

mm. the metal drilling, the bashing with a sledgehammer. the flat above mine and to the west is being rennovated. everytime i have home-recorded i have had this experience…guess it’s the cherry on top of my graceful ways. i’ve adjusted my schedule to record in the evening times, after 5pm. all the leads (vocals) are finished and now it’s time for background vocals. and accordian. oh, and 3-4 more songs i’d like to record live (me and guitar).

i decided that every album will also have a version of the moon song. so zac, tristan and i need to track this tune as well. i’ll leave it a surprised as to the arrangement we will do.

so, from a loud noisy apartment i wish you all a big happy day or night. thank you for your support – i can see the statistics there are people from all over the world looking at my site…bellissimo!

rainy days are perfect for hole-ing up in my studio. today i spent the entire day vocalising – 4 lead vocals have been completed…ahhh. it is a very satisfying feeling to accomplish…the first song always takes the longest, to sort of work out the best way to go about the recording. for example, singing thru the whole song just to get the feel for it, and then going back section by section to really nail the vocal conviction i want, sometimes doing a few sections at a time, sometimes just going 1 by 1.

i love the process. the awareness of all the sounds my voice and mouth make – because the microphone is so sensitive, i can really craft the lyrics from a whole new perspective. when i recorded “jess meider songwriter” last year i learned alot about my voice because i could hear all the perfections and imperfections (which are always more noticeable). then the jazz album, “dao” provided such an understanding of “how” i sing.

a friend of mine was saying that the best question is always “how” something will be done. i have maintained a pretty cool attitude about this new recording, because i am in absolute trust that it will happen as it is supposed to. the “how” in this case, is to stay calm, enjoy the process, work at it, and hear the results.

so the leads will get done, then the joy of background vocals begin. i love background vocals! it’s like adding a whole new set of textures and instrumental dimension to the songs.

after spending the whole day in the spareroom studio, i had dinner with a friend, and we talked at length about death, birth, love and the kali uga (the age of kali) (which is now the age we are in). if you don’t know who kali is, she’s an indian goddess who started out small, but over time and many stories told of her has evolved in to the shiva disrespecting unable to contain herself killing machine. hmmm. now it’s time for sleeping….more tomorrow…wellness and smiley thoughts**** jess