The great albums in our collection have great stories. They can trigger all sorts of memories for us. This one is super special to me.
I first heard a preview of Mark Egan and Danny Gottlieb’s ‘Electric Blue’ on Mark’s phone at the 2020 Winter NAMM Show. We were chatting at the Marleaux booth when he told me about the duo album he was working on with Danny. Then he asked, “Would you like to hear some of it?” He played me the title track, and all I wanted to know was when the album was coming out.
Later in 2020, Mark emailed me an advance copy of the digital tracks. This was my soundtrack over the summer. On release day, I was thrilled to find that he was releasing it on vinyl, and I ordered it immediately. The vinyl version sounds even better to me.
The track starts simply, then really builds around the midway point. Mark’s playing is melodic while still holding down the low end. He isn’t showing off or playing an overly complicated part; he’s serving the music. Danny sounds like a whole percussion ensemble. Together, they build a giant wall of sound. Take a listen:
Mark Egan on Recording ‘Electric Blue’
I interviewed Mark Egan and Danny Gottlieb by email about the story behind ‘Electric Blue’. Mark shared how their longtime musical partnership shaped the recording:
Danny and I have been playing in various groups since 1972, since our early days at the University of Miami, and along the way with the Pat Metheny group and many other artists.
Since forming our group, Elements, in 1982, we have not only recorded and toured with various ensembles but we have also been experimenting with playing in a duo context and enjoying the musical universe that drums and bass can create.
For this new recording, Electric Blue, we wanted to document our rapport as a duo team.
When you look at the definition of rapport; “A harmonious relationship in which the people or groups concerned understand each other’s feelings or ideas and communicate well”, it perfectly describes how we interact as a duo.
The basic sessions were recorded at Electric Fields Studio in Connecticut in June of 2019 and additional recording and mixing took place from then until December of 2019.
The concept of the recordings was to record a balance of drums and bass, recording live in the studio, along with more produced tracks by overdubbing additional drums, basses, effects, and percussion.
As a production overview, we choose different moods, key centers, and tempos that would give the project structure and hopefully balance.
Danny Gottlieb on the Friendship Behind the Music
Danny traced that partnership back to their University of Miami days, recalling how their friendship and early experiments with bass-and-drums duets helped shape the album:
In your musical life, and especially if you are a rhythm section player, you sometimes get lucky to find a musical partner with whom you connect immediately on the deepest level. It’s even more amazing when that person turns out to be a best friend.
That is the relationship I have had with Mark since we met at the University of Miami in 1971. We played together at school, honing our rhythm section and musical interpretive skills under the tutelage of mentors that included Jerry Coker, Whit Sidener, Ronnie Miller, Ira Sullivan, Joe Diorio, Mark Colby, Steve Bagby, and Jaco. We joined fellow Miami student Pat Metheny as members of the original Pat Metheny Group, touring the world in a van and playing 300 concerts in the group’s first year.
While playing in Pat’s band, we traveled frequently to Japan, and Mark and I often would stop in Hawaii on the return trip. While there we would stay in Kauai, right on the ocean, with our friend Gina Guy. We would play music in her living room, playing free while listening to the ocean in the background.
Mark and I often played duo and found that we could create ambiance and moods, with just bass and drums, and the help of some delay machines. Several times, we played late into the night, out in a valley overlooking the ocean. We played waves and grooves for our friends, and to the gods!
In 1982, we started the group Elements, and that first album reflected many of the feelings captured during those Hawaii trips, We even recorded the ocean and added it for ambience.
We also started playing duo gigs and found that in the right environment, the combination of bass and drums could be magical.
Since those Metheny days, we have gone on to tour and record as a rhythm section team with so many, including Gil Evans, Sting, Airto and Flora, Randy Brecker and Eliane Elias, Michael Franks, Bill Evans, Toninho Horta, Lew Soloff, Joe Beck, Lou Marini, Ali Ryerson, and Pete Levin. We also continue to perform with Elements and as a drum and bass duo.
The duo music contained in this recording reflects our 49 plus years of friendship and our musical adventures together.
This is a must-have album for me. Egan and Gottlieb bring decades of shared musical experience to ‘Electric Blue,’ and you can hear how locked in they are. It sounds much bigger than a duo.
