"A Los Angeles Man has a big claim
- he's the only man in the U.S.
to have recorded a full-length CD the week of Sept. 11. ****"
Adam Gnade, Wireless News Flash
"One of the most haunting releases I think I've ever
heard"
IGN film force
Played on over 200 radio stations and received over 10,000 website
hits.
Produced, Arranged, Soundscapes,
Mixed, and Directed by Jessie Allen Cooper
Digital Sound Engineering by Steve Katz
Sound designer, Pro Tools, KYMA, Soundscapes, and Mastered
with sonic WORKX at One-O-Eight Music & Sound, Venice,
CA by Douglas Masla
Re-mix on President of USA by Rick Krizman
Keyboards, soprano saxaphone, and harmonium: Jessie
Allen Cooper
Bass guitar: Howard Hansen
Middle Eastern percussion instruments: Jamie Papish
Middle Eastern melodic instruments: Antoine I. Harb
Spoken words: Jackie " Sawtooth" Franklin
Spoken words: Diane Vaughn
Female vocals: Serpentine
Synth Bass on Aspects of the Heart: Steve Katz
Album cover design: Paul Tanck
Painting of Jessie on inside panel: Michael Alatza
Night sounds from Heaven Sent: the late
Jan Brodin
Publicity: Francesca Nemko
Computer Support: Cris Danes and Mark Helliger
Production support: Brian S. Hanish
© 2001(p) Cooper Sound
Waves (ASCAP)
Released to press August 1st, 2002- public release August 18th.
Completed on Veterans Day, 2001, this timely recording was conceived
and written between 9-11-2001 and 9-14-2001 as a response to
the tragic events of that momentous day. This vivid musical tribute
has a sense of a dual reality -- middle east meets west and destruction
meets healing. Using sound bytes from the ubiquitous television
coverage of those first few days, together with eastern instrumentation
and two female vocalists, this recording resonates with the composer's
deep concern for all humanity.
Saints
and sages of all religions,
I humbly bow to you,
in hopes that a healing will
take place,
in our country, for our world,
and amongst our
families and friends...
and that the world community
will rise together
to fight against terrorism,
and to heal the world of
hunger and fear...
J.A.C.
2001
9-11-2001 (the first 4 days)
In the middle of August 2001,
I was preparing to record a new album, installing a recently
acquired keyboard along with a digital recording setup. Then,
I surrounded myself with some outboard gear, a good microphone
and my acoustic instruments. At the time of visualizing my stage,
all I knew was that a new project would come out of this innovative
way of creating.What it was or why I would be creating it was
not clear.After settting up the equipment, I made myself perfectly
ready to record.Then, I went on vacation for a week, arriving
back late on the Thursday before "Dark Tuesday." Having
rested and settled back in, on Monday night, September 10th,
I recorded my first rhythm track. On Tuesday morning the phone
rang. It was my dear friend, Pamela. She was quite worriedand
almost in tears. "Turn on the TV," she said. "The
United States has been attacked." At first, I didn't get
it. I was in great disbelief that this tragedy could have happened:
The World Trade Center collapsing in front of my face on the
television, the Pentagon on fire, in total four planes having
crashed. I usually have a big agenda on Tuesdays; however, I
decided to only take care of the basics that day, and started
recording. While tracking, I had the idea of recording conversations
from the TV. By this time I had tracked about 30 minutes of music
and was unstoppable.The various sound bytes had become a part
of the composition. I just kept going and going and going and
listening and listening and listening and recording and recording
and recording. By the start of the fourth day I had completed
the basic tracks for over two hours of music. Finally, it hit
me why I was doing this! As the reality unfolded on the TV screen
and we found out who the terrorists were, I decided to incorporate
elements of middle eastern music into my composition, together
with a need to express the sense of devestation and horror that
was taking place.
My hope is that this music could help bring
about some healing to the listener.
Jessie Allen Cooper
11-11-01
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