1. You Echo So

The Impetus:

This first track, You Echo So, was originally written as a dedication to Charlie Haden and the Liberation Music Orchestra.  While studying at Cal Arts, Charlie showed me a ballad called “Why Did I Choose You” (by Micheal Leonard) and I wrote this piece while I was working on that tune and learning the music for Charlie’s Cal Arts version of the Liberation Music Orchestra.  I was inspired by Charlie’s writting, the message being a social/political one and not merely music as a form of self expression.  Many of the songs we played (from both the “Ballad of the Fallen”, and “Not In Our Name” albums) where dedications to historical revolutionary figures (Sandino for Augusto Sandino the Nicaraguan revolutionary; Che for Che Guevara the Cuban Revolutionary; La Passionaria for Dolores Gomez, the Spanish revolutionary, to name a few).  This song “You Echo So”, an anagram of “You Choose,” was inspired by both the Liberation Music Orchestra and the idea that artists and their music can be both critical of social structures and a force for change.

The composition:

I wrote the progression first, taking nearly all the chords from the harmonization of an Eb harmonic major scale (major with a b13), except the last chord (Emaj7#11). The melody, and bass line are also mainly from Eb harmonic major with a few exceptions.  I wrote the bass line and second counterpoint melody on the bridge last and then made a simple arrangement.  Dave Carpenter (Martin acoustic bass guitar) came up with the bass introduction on his own, so you’ll hear that played before the written bass line begins.  The track also includes Mark Ferber on drums and Leonard Thompson on keys.  Like most of the material on this album, I was trying to write a sort of instrumental folk music, where the melody is lyrical even if complex and the chords and meter create a nice colorful environment.

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01 You Echo So

You Echo So Score

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