Advice and Closing Thoughts

Hello and welcome to Tape Notes, the podcast that looks behind the scenes at the magic of recording and producing music. Every episode we'll be reuniting an artist and producer and talking through some of the highlights from their collaboration in the studio. So join us as we lift the lid on the creative process and the inner workings of music production to see what lies beneath . Hello, I'm John Kennedy, and joining me for this episode of Tape Notes is Jeff Goldblum with producer and musical director Alex Frank and producer, engineer and mixer Scott Gilman, to talk about how they recorded and produced the album Still Blooming. Jeff Goldblum is an American actor and jazz musician, best known for his roles in numerous blockbusters including Jurassic Park and Independence Day. Outside of his illustrious acting portfolio, Jeff has continued to pursue a love of jazz music. Having been drawn to the piano as a child, he went on to perform in local venues in his teens and in the 90s formed the Mildred Schnitzer Orchestra alongside musician John Mastro. For over 20 years, the band performed as a staple of the LA jazz scene. And in 2018, they released their debut album, The Capitol Studio Sessions. The album topped the Billboard Jazz Albums chart and featured collaborations with artists including Emil DeMay and Haley Reinhardt. More recently, Jeff starred in the film adaptation of Wicked, and shortly after, his band also returned with their fourth record, Still Blooming. Released in May 2025, Still Blooming blends classics from Broadway and the Great American Songbook, and includes celebrity guest collaborations with Scarlett Johansson and his wicked co-stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Arrivo Alex Frank is the musical director and bassist for the Mildred Schnitzer Orchestra. A graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, he went on to study with jazz icon John Clayton and David Alan Moore of the LA Philharmon ic. As bandleader, Alex has arranged numerous tracks across the orchestra's albums, collaborating closely with guest vocalists including Kelly Clarkson, Fiona Apple, Gregory Porter, Miley Cyrus, and more. He has also performed on iconic stages around the world. Beyond his work with the orchestra, he has contributed bass performances to a number of high-profile records, including Michael Boublet's Grammy winning album Hire. In 2023, he served as Jeff's vocal coach on the set of Wicked. Scott Gilman is an LA-based saxophonist, composer, and producer. With a career spanning live performance, film scoring, and record production, he has toured and recorded with artists including Foreigner, Lou Graham , Chucker Khan, and Howard Jones. His composition credits include work for major networks, scoring films, TV shows, and original songs. As a producer and engineer, he's been behind several multi-platinum albums, both solo and with longtime collaborator Andrew Murdoch. Currently, Scott tours internationally with Jeff Goldblum and performs regularly around LA, leading his own jazz quartet. Today I'm at Platoon in Tarlyard London and I'm joined by Jeff, Alex and Scott. And what better way to start than by hearing something from the record? This is Blue Miner. It is just a little taste of Blue Miner by Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra and I'm very pleased to say that I have Jeff Goblin with me. Hello, Jeff. Hello, John Kennedy. Thank you so much. It's great to have you here. I also have Scott Gilman here. Hello, Scott. Hi, John. How are you doing? I'm alright, thank you. And Alex Frank. How's it going? I am very excited because you all played as part of this amazing new album still blooming, which I'm I'm displaying now, an amazing and beautiful looking piece of art. Um and we're gonna find out how you made it. So how did this album come together? We'll tell you all about it. But you mentioned the art that's Brain Dead is a is a company. Company in Los Angeles, yeah. In Los Angeles, my friend Kyle and they did that art. They're very good and uh have done other things. We have merch coming out, believe it or not, and then there's some Yeah. It's a beautiful ensemble with flowers and keyboards united in picture. Yeah, yeah. But we're talking about sound today. Yes, yes, sir. So how did this album come together? So the fourth album by Jeff Goldblum. Yeah. What did you say? Jeff Goldblum? Jeff Goldblum Blum Blum Blumdum . Well I'll I'll I'll I'll just uh put in my early two cents into the into the pot. Um well you know, it's our fourth album on Decca and Verve and that all started, you know. when When was the was the first year? The first record was in uh two thousand eighteen. Two thousand eighteen. 'Cause we'd been playing I'd been out and about playing for thirty years with a band and these guys have been part of this core band for quite quite a while. And uh then Tom Lewis from DECA saw us on the Graham Norton show. I was uh I was just playing with uh Gregory Porter, whom I'd met at an airport, and uh he said, hey, I'm I'm I'm promoting this Nat King Cole album. I'm gonna sing that song Mona Lisa Mona Lisa Mona And you wanna I do it with a pianist. You wanna play? And I know you play. Uh and uh so I played on that. That's when Tom Lewis saw me. And that's when we first started to do records with uh DECA. This is now our fourth album, because they've we've been very happy to do that, and we keep developing and we wanted to do more, and we feel like we're at the height of our powers and and had ideas, and so we cooked this up. Yeah. Well you're still blooming. Hence the title of the album. Yeah, that's the idea, yes. For this one though, what was different? What did you want to do? Because there's a different array of singers that you've got involved this time round. Yeah, I mean I with all these records I've been lucky enough, I've been uh a part of all the records. I've now kind of played with Jeff and the band for going on eight years now. I know, isn't that wild? Eight years, I know . I know. So it kind of developed from the band, but then it always kind of happened naturally how how we got people involved, you know, even with like Miley, we had we she was on Glastonbury Festival from when we played that in 2019. And this one was kind of we were always looking to record new music and we're always playing stuff. But it has to always coincide with Jeff's filming schedule. And we were lucky enough, you know, I was um Jeff's vocal coach on the film Wicked. Yes. And so they were kind of there's obviously a lot of ties with this record and Wicked and how it came to be. Right. Yeah. So I mean I did wonder whether you're on the set and you say to your That's what happened. It was organic, like you say, and spontaneous. We were on he coached me terrifically on on um some other vocal things that we'd done before, and then on Wicked, he was there every day. And so we were on the set at uh Sky L Street Studios and Senior St. Albans and both staying at the Sopwell House. And um and um yes, so I'll I had uh some scenes with Cynthia Arrivo, the great Cynthia Arrivo and the great Ariana Grande. And I was uh you know, um I was bushy tailed and they were they're tremendously inspiring and fun and I would just be singing uh songs from the American songbook all all day long. And um in between takes, then I started to sing, I don't know why I love you like I do. I don't know why. I don't know that came up. But Arianna said, Why are you singing that? My grandfather used to sing that to me whenever I'd see him or every day. I'd say, yeah, hey, by the way, we have a band, and you know, if you ever want to record with us, you know, it would be a dream come true. She said, Yes, I would. We wound up doing that. Cynthia, we said, hey, also, perhaps. Uh uh, she said, yes, we said, well let's let's see, br British World War II, Dame Vera Lynn will meet again 'cause I like that Stanley Kubrick um movie, Doctor Strange Love, where they use it at the end of that movie. Anyway, that's how that happened. Then Scarlett Johansson, I'd done these couple of movies with uh Wes Anderson that she was in, Isle of Dogs, and Asteroid City. We were at the New York premiere of Asteroid City. We got to talking , and that's when that whole thing came up. She said, Yeah, I'd like to do something. How about Bossa Nova? I said, I love that. And then she's recommended that song The Best Is Yet to Come. Fantastic. And we're gonna look at all of those songs. And the first one we're going to look at is I don't know why. I just do. Um so I think Scott's gonna play the master and then we'll find out how you create it and record it. I don't know why I love you like I do . I don't know why I just I don't know why you thrill me like you do . I don't know you just do you never seem to my romanti c I don't know why I just do featuring Ariana Grande, Jeff Goldblum, and the Mildred Schnitzer Orchestra from Still Blooming. So we found out that it was from a casual conversation that you decided to do that song. From your singing it on set to Arian anasking you why why singing that old song and you explaining why and then getting into the studio to record it were the at what stages were there? Yeah, so it started off because I was on set with Jeff and Jeff brought up that song and she's like, I love that song. And then she starts singing it, you know, and she's beautiful voice, obviously, and amazing. And I said, like, Oh, is that a good key for you? And she just like, you know, I don't know. Uh and then she's like, Oh yeah, that's great. And I have perfect pitch. I was like, o, sokay we'll we'll do it in F major then. You know, and that was kind of the inception of then knowing how to do the arrangement in her key, you know. And uh we came back to LA after we did all of Wicked, and Scott here, the other producer on the record, you know, he's got this uh incredible studio in uh Highland Park, Los Angeles called the Hobby Shop. And we've kind of now made the last few records at his studio, and it's like kind of like our home, and it's very kind of cozy and nice. And you know, we were we were coming up with this arrangement because it it's an old song, you know, it's from like 1931 and it's it's a you know old standard sinatra recorded of Dean Martin. And you know we have our core band, but then we were just thinking what could make it different for Ariana and there's this wonderful uh singer and violin player that we've worked with a lot named Leah Zager . And uh we thought, oh it'd be nice, she's a brilliant jazz violinist too. We're like, oh, you know, we've never had violin on on a track. So that was kind of also the start of the arrangement to think about putting violin on it. And then, you know, we we me and uh our great organ player, his name is Joe B ag. We came up with the arrangement. Um as you if you listen to the track, you know there's uh it's a pretty simplistic song, but then we have a a key change at the end that has uh no setup. It's out of nowhere which I kind of like that to use as a device with key changes so you don't have to set it up and the interesting thing was then like you know Scott and I were were doing the record and we were just waiting though because we knew Ariane at the time was going in between New York and London because she was still filming. They you know they filmed Wicked for like over a year and we were back in LA and you know finally like one day she just sends this vocal over. You know, we didn't oh, but before we did that, I I have to sh have Scott play you. We sent her a demo originally and you know, we we were moving fast and stuff, so I actually did the scratch vocals on it. Right. Okay. yeah. I think I've heard this, but this is what she heard. Um thankfully no one else has heard this. But we're all gonna hear it now. Which is gonna be the start of something big. Who wrote that? Don't answer. Come on, Steve Allen. Steve Allen. Right. Do you know who Steve Allen was? He was a comedian. But he was one of the first talked, late-night talk show hosts. Yeah. And at piano, he played the piano all the time and he wrote a lot of songs, the uh most famous of which is this the you know, da da da da this could be the start of something big. Right. Speaking of Alex being here heard just now. This is Alex's debut, wide , yeah. I don't know wh y I love you like I do . I don't know wh y I just do Okay. I think yeah you get the idea. Very good. It sounds great. Who needs Ariadne When you have melanine. Fantastic. It's kinda like Chet Baker or or Yeah. Who who's the who's the French uh the great French Jacques Jacques Burel? Yeah, Jacques Burrel or who but who ansborg is that weird gansborg. Or or who am I thinking of? Not Charles Asnavore or something. Yeah, Sergeant Charles Asnaver. Yeah, yeah. So you sent this to Ariana. That whole recording. Yeah, that we sent her that and one without the vocal, of course. And then we were just this was like months later, we're just waiting, and all of a sudden one day she sends Jeff just a finished vocal of it. And she's like, oh here here it is. Meaning meaning finished with reverb printed on the track. Wow. Yeah. So where was she recording that? I think she recorded in New York. But you know, she's like a she's like amazing in Pro Tools herself. So I I you know, yeah, she she sent us like a printed vocal that had EQ on it and reverb on it already. Wow. So you should have her come and I'll bet she can . Well uh that that would be great. And do you have that to share? Oh of her of her um track that she sent? Yeah. Without our having mixed it yet with us? Yeah. Oh. I don't know why I love you like I do . I don't know why I just do listen to I don't know why you thrill me like you do . I don't know why you just do Yeah. Beautiful. Yeah. And quite different because in some ways when I was thinking about coming along to speak to you today, you know, when you think of of what you're doing, I mean so much of live performance is is a part of it, isn't it? And you're working with uh an amazing songbook that you're interpreting and bringing up to date for twenty twenty-five and putting your own spin on it. But in terms of recording and often the kind of things that we talk about in take notes,. No I kind of didn't think that maybe that would be a part of it, but it clearly is a big part of it in order to especially if you're going to work around the schedules of people like Ariana Grande, you know, so she recorded that very kindly. Right. Kind of ahead of the curve of you. No, she had an instrumental to work with, but kind of got it to you. Look, I've been thinking about it. I've worked on it. Here you are. Well and and the nice thing is like when Jeff is in in town and he's not filming or traveling, you know, we do record the whole band live together. You know, we have Jeff there. We have you know, me, I I play double bass in the band, uh Scott's on saxophone. And then uh we have a great drummer now, Ryan Shaw, but on this record, actually it's our our last drummer, Kenny Elliott, who unfortunately passed away, but he's a brilliant drummer. Um but we were we were all and our organ player Joe Bag, who's brilliant, who did the arrangement with me, we're all live together in the in the when we recorded, you know, minus the vocals. Yes. So so you do do that. And then what Scott takes those recordings and uh works with them if necessary. If necessary. Yeah. Do a little comping. Yeah. Or maybe edit takes together if if there's Yeah, I mean uh unlike pop music, you know, none of this stuff we do to click or anything, so it's not like it's not like you could just like grid it up, you know. I mean it's jazz, you know, you don't know what it's organic and it too sterile otherwise, yeah. And in terms of the violin that you mentioned, you know, where did that come into play or and how did you record that? She overdubbed. She she came in afterwards, but she did do her violin before Ariana did her vocals. And it was kind of like we we had, you know, I we had the arrangement and and the sheet music and stuff, but w she just kind of I said, you know, just kind of improvised over the vocals like tasteful fills and she's she's a brilliant musician, so it worked out. So she w but she was improvising over your vocals, yes. Yeah, yeah. Inspired by you. Yeah. Are we able to hear any of that, Scott? The original violin? I mean you could hear it by itself. Oh it's without even reverb. Without reverb, yeah. It's with n no reaver but some room mics along with her. Beautiful. But mostly so this is doubling the the melody line on the intro we wrote. And then you'll hear kind of here where the vocals would start. You'll hear kind of now her kind of feels she does. I love you like I do . I don't know why I just do. You know. And this is all just improvised. Yeah. Yeah. It's lovely. And an inspired choice of instrument. You know. Yeah. That you heard in your head, Alex. Yeah, it it's a it's just different and uh you know, it goes back to kinda like, you know, Django and Stefan Grappelli. Obviously, the jazz and violin have been around for a long time. Yeah. Alex and and Joe Bagg uh uh arranged most of the songs on this album and a lot of the songs that we do. And and w when do you record your parts, Jeff? You know, and do do you you're playing with the band? Yeah. With them. Yeah. Yeah. And that that's the your preferred methodology, as it were, but 'cause you want to be communicating with the other musicians. Yes, yes, I do. That's great. You know, it's really fun to go into the studio and yeah. And the improvising, you know, that uh I can do like everybody is, you know, s sparked from what somebody has just done, you know, and made up. So there 's no uh replacement for that, you know. Yeah. It it's hard to beat playing with real musicians, you know, live. I mean for recording 'cause you just you know it changes every time. So you want to kind of all be there. Yeah. I should mention we use the Coles forty thirty eight on her. The the microphone. Yeah. Well known British. Right. Yeah. So British Tenchology, aiding and abetting, Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Sits or Scott, when did you you because you started as a saxophone player, he's a great saxophone player. Uh and then what happened? Yeah, you I just got into re I wanted to record my own music and I just kinda started learning and taught myself basically. No kidding. And then how long have you had that hobby shop? Since two thousand four. Uh so quite a while. Oh. And other can you record us, but you record other people coming . Not as much jazz, although doing more jazz lately. He just recorded their um uh what's the name? Bone uh Oh Bonivera? Yeah. Bonivera was in I think we got a credit too. Nice. Fantastic. Well, maybe we'll take a break, but before we do, let's have another blast of the master of I don't know why, I just do, featuring Ariana. Should we do from a later spot? Yeah, that would be fantastic. Maybe the key change that you'd like to do. Yeah, let's go north towards the end. Yeah. You never seem to only time you hold me is when I don't know why I love you like I do . I don't know Fantastic. I don't know why. I just do. Featuring Ariana Grande recorded in two different places. So the band in one place, Ariana in another, but combined together brilliantly. We're gonna take a quick break and the next one we're going to look at is We'll Meet Again. This episode is supported by Cube, the world's first member studio for artists, producers, and all round creatives. With over 80 professional studios across four London locations, Cube gives you the space, tools, and community to make great music and develop your career. And today I'm joined by Nicholas Schoeniger, co founder of Cube to tell us more. Hi Nick, what does a Cube membership do for music makers? Hey John. So look, I mean with Cube membership you get access to a whole host of things. First of all, you get the studios. So you've got music production rooms, DJ studios, podcast studios and content studios, all bookable through our app 247. You also get access to events ranging from networking to industry talks to hands-on workshops. We've got amazing co-working spaces that you can come and hang out in, bars where you can socialize, and really the whole ethos is to bring like-minded creatives together and inspire each other as well as have a professional space to work . All of this happens across our four London locations in Hackney, Elephant and Castle, Canary Wharf and Acton. So if I'm a music maker and I've outgrown my bedroom studio, or maybe I'm someone who just needs access to a space with professional gear, how do I get involved? Super easy, just head over to the Cube website and apply for a membership. Application takes a couple of minutes. All we look for is a certain level of talent. You know we're not looking at how many Instagram followers you've got. We just want to see that you're serious about your craft and then you know in terms of once you come into the cube community you're gonna meet a whole host of people whether it's people that are just starting out on their career but are super talented through to people that have got platinum cuts really we're about people that are always looking to up their skills and collaborate and be inspired by by people around them. And how does the membership work at Cube? What are the options? So we get that everyone's needs are different. So we have different membership tiers with varying studio hours included. It starts from £145 a month. And for the Tape Notes audience, you can double your studio time. Just use the code TAPENOTES90 when you apply in the How You Heard About Us field. Then if you release a project made at Cube within the first ninety days, we'll even gift you your studio time back. Wow, that sounds like a great offer. Thanks, Nick. So if you're looking for professional studio space across London, head to thecube.com. That's the q e.com. And don't forget to use the code TAPENOTES90. T's and C's apply. The next one we're going to look at from Still Blooming is we'll meet again, but before we listen to the blast of the master , I have a question via Patreon from Alexander Frank, another Alexander Frank, who's got a great question actually. If you could score your dreams with jazz, what kind of groove would your recurring ones have and who would you have on piano, Jeff? Whoa my dreams, my actual dreams. I dream a lot and I remember a lot early on, but unless I tell somebody or write 'em down, I usually forget it. But uh oh but I have an array of dreams, scary dreams. I have nightmarish kind of dreams, somebody's chasing me, and boy, that could be Bernard Herman , uh, you know, who did Vertigo of course and uh all those things, uh uh psycho, all those things . Um but other times it's very romantical and sens ual. Uh I must say, so oh boy. Well, you know, I mean, um see Herbie Hancock who did uh my first movie, uh Death Wish, with I Little Pardon, uh, you know, he'd be fantastic. You know, Keith Jarrett, I I I love uh Thelonious Monk, you know, uh is um crazy about, you know, unexpected, surprising, unique, and uh uh angular and uh virile. Uh something like that. But I like those P. T. Anderson movies that are kind of like dreams. Ooh, I tell you, I like those David Lynch movies that are very dreamy. Angelo Badlemente , I like that stuff a lot. But P. T. Anderson's movies, you know, Johnny Greenwood, that sort of discordant stuff. Yeah, so quite a spectrum of sound there. Fantastic. We'll meet again is the next one we're going to look at. So now Scott will play the Master Force We'll meet again , don't know where don't know where but I know we'll meet aga in some sunny day keep smiling through just like you always do till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away . So will you please say hello ? We'll meet again featuring Cynthia Arrivo, another wicked hookup, as it were. Yep, yep, yep. So a spark of a conversation led to this s Just she opens her mouth and makes a sound and your heart just explodes, you know, mine does. And uh she's great. And she's also the sweetest, most generous, kindest, sh uh, wonderful person in the world. And yeah, we we were talking. I said, you know, uh geez, do you wanna you wanna record something with us? And she said, Yeah. So well they'll tell you the whole story about how it happened, which was sort of delightful and delicious, uh uh in Scott uh Gilman's recording studio. Yeah, it kinda came about because uh we had been talking about that song in particular for a while and that's a great old standard that's not done a ton. And uh you know, we thought the connection obviously it's written by two British composers and it was made famous by Vera Lynn during World War II. So Jeff asked Cynthia, like, you do would you want to record that song? And Cynthia's like, uh, I would love to. I love that song and I'd love to record it. And this one was interesting when we started the arrangement. I had the idea kind of I'm gonna I'm gonna grab this electric bass. Mm-hmm. One of the nice things about being the arranger and stuff on stuff. He's like you know, I kinda had this idea to start where the bass is kinda just playing these you know, just kind of the roots with the groove being played over by the piano and the and the drums, you know, so then it's like uh there's simplicity in just kind of playing like five to one on the on the bass for the bass line. And that was kind of the birth of the arrangement. And then fascinating enough, with um I love uh working with singers and arranging for them. So with Cynthia, which was interesting, was I just listened to a ton of recordings of hers. You know, you know, she's everything she puts out is just brilliant. And I just kind of listened to her range, everything, and I found the key for her just based on it. 'Cause we didn't I didn't have a chance to ask her if this key would be good. So I kinda went in blind and I I thought a nice compliment was like after we recorded it and she was like, Oh, this is like the perfect key for me and I was like, Oh, that's good. Fantastic. I was listening, paid off. And and the piano is really interesting too, because obviously here in the UK we associate that song with Vera and and it has such a strong towering kind of resonance i in in the UK. Um but a particular kind of arrangement. And when you listen to the bass and the piano, you take it somewhere else and you bring it into your world, really, no, because we associate it with a a whole thing. Can you just solo the bass and the piano together? Yeah, and like each each chord change he's doing that kind of variation of that same rhythm, just changing the chord with it. Yeah. In in this case, I was gonna say Cynthia did come into the studio. Yeah. Yeah. And she was great to work with. I mean we I I had a U a sixty-seven and a U eighty seven setup and it took her like ten seconds to pick the mic. Right. And I think she sang it two or three times and and it was boom. We were done. I mean I've yeah, I've worked and comped a lot of singers and I mean she's perfect. Every it was just every take was perfect. Her pitch is perfect, her style, everything you could imagine, just it was freaky. You know, there's few singers you ever see like that ever in the studio. Yeah. But I mean obviously, you know, she's she's She was relaxed and fun and easy and just yeah, she and had you recorded the backing track by this point. Oh yeah, yeah. So you had all that arrangement. Yeah, we we recorded all the backing track with the band and Jeff, and then we had her come in a couple weeks later and Jeff was there too. And uh I remember Jeff he she started singing, Jeff started crying. Oh yeah, yeah. Well you know it happened all the time on the set. Yeah , you know. And then she does we've we'd we'd recorded it. She comes in, oh it just blew blew me away. Yeah, play play a second of uh maybe from near the end more, uh just your solo vocals. Just yeah, I mean it's just uh Yeah she did a few try and you said any you know, we could pick any of these. It's an embarrassment of riches. It wasn't embarrassment to Richard's.' Its's just she she's unbelievable. Will you please say hello to the folks that I know? Tell them I won't be long They'll be happy to know that as you some me go I will sing this song We'll meet again , don't know where don't know where but I know will be again . Yes, I know we'll meet again Yes, I know we'll meet again summer sunny day , summer sunny day , summer sunny daah . Yeah, I mean just I mean there's you know few people few people alive who are like that. Yeah, I mean it's just spectacular. Yeah. So that was I mean in terms of like producing her, it was just it was the easiest thing ever, obviously, because she just everything, her feel, style, pitch, just hard hard to beat. But you had prepared, no, because your listening preparation. Yeah, I yeah, I mean I was just yeah, you you listen to a singer enough uh and you get a feel from where's their real sweet spot and their voice and their range, uh where is their like when you really hear them belting, which obviously no no one belts like Cynthia, and you know, and where where they could they be softer and and like sweeter voice, so you kinda could pick like a sweet spot for a key, you know. And and and you mentioned earlier, Jeff, you know, that it was the use of wheel meet again in Doctor Strange Love by Stanley Kubrick that inspired your choice of that song, which is surprising in a way, because obviously that's quite dark. I mean it's a very funny, but a very d dark film as well. Very dark, yes. And that song is, you know, meant, I guess ironically and darkly at the end of that, and but the lyrics to that song are still relevant today, you know. Those who know who keep track of the doomsday clock say we're closer to the potential midnight hour than error. I'm sure we'll find a way out of it. But yeah, I love that song. I love all of Kubrick's the mov ies, you know. Uh yeah. So I like that song. Boy, she's she's something, Cynthia Revo. Yeah. I'd seen her, you know, you look her up on YouTube . I just c came upon her singing more of uh on another occasion of um Don't Rain on My Parade. Oh yeah. Crazy about that. I saw all of her Aretha Franklin portrayal. Uh which she sings so and acts so beautifully. She's a very deep ac tor and a great artist, you know. Yeah. And wh while you're over here, you're not just talking to tape notes, you're also playing at the London Palladium. Wha what are the plans? I mean you've got some amazing singers involved in all your albums. How do you represent that when you take to the Okay, yeah, we we there's there's artists that we we know, you know, lucky enough, you know, we're on Decca Records, which which is a you know, a amazing record label out here in in the UK and different people we've wanted to work with and you know and they're helping us out. And we ha I mean we have this great singer from London, a great jazz singer joining us. Her name is Emma Smith and she kind of plays the role of like we always have a singer on the row with us and she's doing the role of kind of all these songs. But then we have a special guest who's gonna join us for a little bit is a Dotie, if you know her. Right. Yeah. So she's coming out uh to sing with us as well. And there might be some other special guests that I I don't really know if I could talk about yet, but we'll see. Yeah. Yeah. Fantastic. Excellent. Um yeah. I mean obviously you did a a a little bit of a jam for us which was really beautiful and you have brought your sheet music in, Jeff. So how do you does this go wherever you go? Is this how it works? Yeah, well it's always I'm always uh you know, just like our band with our recording methods, it's always d evolving and developing and uh me playing with these great musicians I feel like um always trying to get better and I play I'm nothing if not disciplined, so I start my day with our work load, which really includes preparing for these shows, the set list of which we sort of determined sooner this time than we have before. So I know what I'm gonna do and I uh uh investigate them more and work on them. Some many of them I've memorized, but some of them because I want to play some of these arrangements, I'm still looking at. I'll tell you the whole I'll show you the whole thing. Here's the here's here's the book and um well we do Let's Face the Music and Dance uh uh on this upcoming live uh little cycle, which we've done before, which we've recorded. Yeah, we recorded it with the great Sharon von Etten saying it. Sharon V vonon Netten. Yeah. But I still like to look at that a little bit. This I don't know why. Hmm. It's fun to look at while I play. We'll meet again. Also fun to look at. There it is. And then oh I shouldn't show you that because that's some secret that has to do with our secret guests. And this is we're going to talk about this in a second. This is the best is yet to come. Cy Coleman Car Carol Carolyn Lee. Carolyn Lee. Mm-mm-mm-mm. Also uh um arranged by Alex Frank and Joe Bailey. And so do you do you look at them and just play them in your head as it were when you're looking through the pages of of your booklet there? Or do you try and find a piano somewhere? Do you work with Alex and Scott? Do you jam around in the hotel, say, if you have time. I don't get to see them much. Sometimes they come over to my house in LA and we've done that a couple of times for s special uh reasons. Um but most ly I do it myself. I get a a piano I on the road. have through the years, you know, gone down to the lobbies of hotels and played, you know, pestered people uh uh before they asked me to stop and uh or go to a piano store. I've wound up in I love it. I think that looked like Jeff Gilbert. That's right. But these days I kind of arran ge I kind of have a method where I arrange for a little rental keyboard in the room, which I did uh for the the last few days. We were on a boat the last few days, and I got we somehow got a keyboard there. Anyway, I do my uh my c due diligence and uh and work on them. So and then I bring this to the show 'cause I like to cause I'll look at this and read a little bit. Ooh, we've got that. We've got ooh, we've got that. Hey, people don't know that but, we haven't really this is part of our re part of the record. No. We can't we can't really talk about We can't talk about that. Never mind. Never mind. I I can pretend I didn't see that title. Avert your eyes. Avert your eyes. Uh that's it. That's it. Uh and then and then we've got this, which is on the which is on the uh re record. Oh we could talk about that, yeah. Yeah. Every time we say goodbye. I do sing that. Yeah, I do sing it. I may sing it upcoming in a live situation or so. And yeah, there's a I know it, but I like to have this. There's a bit of uh a shout course that I play along with the band and and uh et cetera, et cetera. So I like to look at that. Yeah. It's great to see it and great to see it brought along to the session. And this will this will be the first time we played a lot of these songs live. Right. Yeah. Mostly months go by before I say and then tomorrow for the And seeing Dodie. I've never met Dotie. Yeah. We're gonna rehearse with her or sound check with her and run it through and we've got a new idea about a kind of a finish tomorrow and we're gonna kinda put Yeah. So it's interesting because you keep it fresh then, because you're all busy doing different things. It means that when you get to get together, it's it's nearly a lot of things that you know we have incredible musicians in the band, like just brilliant, brilliant jazz musicians. So it it's never like no one ever stresses out like 'cause we haven't played together in forever because you know, we know the uh the music will always take care of itself. Yeah, I mean the the pretty typical one is uh so Jeff on piano, uh me on bass, uh brilliant guitar player named Graham Dector, who's kind of a big deal uh jazz guitarist amazing. Amazing um drummer named Ryan Shaw who plays with Booblay and also Seth McFarlane, and then uh Joe B ag, who's uh our organ player, one of the best organ players in the whole world, and then Scott on saxophone and flute and all the woodwinds, and uh then we have a a singer with us normally, but that that's it. Fantastic. Right. Um we're gonna look at another song in just a moment, but let's have another blast of We'll Meet Again . Speaking of Joe Bag. Yeah. So will you please say hello to the folks that I know? Tell them I won't bel ong . They'll be happy to know that it's you something go I will sing this song don't know where don't know where but I know will be again Yes, I know will be again Yes, I know will we again summer sunny day summer sunny day . Some sunny day Such a great song, and that's such a great version. Sounding good. And and with lovely embellishments from Jeff live here on Tape Notes. Um we're gonna take another quick break and we'll be back to look at the best is yet to come. This episode is supported by the Masters in Songwriting Program at Trinity Larban. With a right produce release philosophy at its center, the course is designed to give you the knowledge and community to build a lasting and successful career in the industry. To tell us more about it, I'm joined by Dr. Tony Briscoe, Music Production Module Leader for Popular Music at Trinity Laban. Hi Tony, thanks for speaking with us. Can you explain how Right Produce Release shapes the experience of the course? Hi John, thanks for having me. So right produce release is really at the heart of the MA in songwriting at Trinity Lab an. The idea is simple. Students don't just study songwriting in theory, they actually do it from start to finish. They write original material, developing skills in melody, harmonies, and lyrics. Then we move to production, building confidence with using DAW s and shaping their tracks into something more polished and professional. And finally, they release music, exploring identity and technology while also learning a practical side, such as you know, the IP, building a brand, mapping a five-year career plan, all of that kind of stuff. So by the time they graduate, they're not just leaving with ideas, they leave with a finished portfolio and the confidence to stand behind that sound. And it's very flexible. This isn't a traditional full time in one room No. So it's it's it's the one thing we're really excited about is that the course is designed as an online first, which makes it ideal for working musicians and global students who can't relocate. Uh and then in a sum mer, everyone comes together in London when intensive writing camp, modeling on the professional industry writing sessions. Amazing. Who do you think the Masters is designed for? Well, the good thing is that it's really for anybody who's serious about songwriting and want to build a sustainable career. We see emerging artists who want to build a credible portfolio. We also welcome working musicians who want to sharpen their production skills or better understand the business side, which is really, really important these da Thanks Tony. It sounds fantastic. So if you're ready to deepen your craft, define your voice, and actually release music while you study, the songwriting masters at Trinity Larban might be your next step. To find out more, head to Trinity Larban.ac.uk that's Trinity L A B A N. ac .uk and search for the MA in songwriting. The next song we're going to look at from Still Blooming is The Best Is Yet to Come. But before we start, I'm going to ask another couple of these patron questions. So Drew Henme has been in touch to say: how do you split your time with multiple creative endeavours, i.e. your acting and your music? Do you prefer to work on one at a time during any given period? Or do you find it beneficial to mix the two together at all? Good question. Um and I've got a family. I've got a wonderful wife for the last thirteen, fourteen years and two kids. They're nine and and uh eight. Um so I don't want to shortchange that they're sort of most important um part of my life. You know, I try try j juggle them all a little bit and intertwine them like a DNA strand and uh and and they feed each other. Certainly the family life feeds my whole life and creative life and uh and uh music has always been a part of my acting life in one way or another. I don't want to bore you with all the details. And and acting has to do with the storytelling and music and musical communication and improvisation uh too. So they're all related and then calendar wise so far so good. I'm not being you know w one isn't uh in horrible conflict with another and you know, I I do my best.. Yeah. Yeah Another related question from Chris Pearson says, how do you get into flow in life, acting and music? So you know, how do you do you need a flow to create an flow? I I think Chris is getting at the idea that you know, how do you stay on your game? How do you keep it going? No , yes. Well I have I have plenty of well some downtime and the ki the like I say, the life with kids and uh family is great, so that causes me and inspires me to have very what turns out to be, not for that reason, but for turns out to be very nourishing, delicious time . And then flow comes, I think um somewhat from the grace of the cosmos, but also that we're all part of, but um to whatever extent we can access it, but also discipline. Uh you gotta b you know meet it halfway at least and uh wake up and and and do your homework. And then s flow happens if you work, if you do some work and put some effort into it, I think. Yeah. Yeah. So uh are you to be seen at home at the piano quite regularly? I mean obviously if you're preparing for a tour or for some live dates then you get into homework mode. But um would you oh even if I'm not doing that. No, I do it every it changes my life. Thank goodness my mom made us take uh lessons, you know, when I was a kid and no, it's changed my life. It's uh part of my life and a good part. It's a tonic like nothing else to start the day or at any time in the day, uh get to play and go to work. Um our kids are taking piano lessons right now and say we're trying to, you know, expose them to the same opportunity. What else was I gonna say? I was gonna say one other thing. Wait about And so I'm and and preparation always changes how you can most effectively use your time before the fact so that it really the cake really rises. And it's always an experiment, that's what you're trying to do. Yeah. Fascinating. The next one we're going to look at is The Best Is Yet to Come, featuring Scarlett Johansson. Scott, if you would play us the master, that would be fantastic. Out of the tree of life I just picked me a plum You came along and everything started to hum Still it's a real good , the best is yet to come , the best is yet to come You think you've seen the sun, but you ain't seen it shine Wait till the warm-up's under way , wait till our lips have met , wait till you see the sunshine day you ain't see nothing yet The best is yet The best is yet to come featuring Scarlett Johansson So this is another track that originated from Conversation with Scarlett on set? Yeah, yeah. Uh Scarlet Johansson and I have I've known her for a while and uh then we did a couple of Wes Anderson movies. Um Isle of Dogs and Asteroid City, maybe I already mentioned. And um uh yeah, we were at the premiere, the New York premiere of Asteroid City. We got to talking and the band came up and uh she said, Hey, I'd like to say really, says I. She's great. She's what a great actor and a unique voice, singing voice and speaking voice. You saw her in that movie her uh just the voice and Isle of Dogs is of course just our voices, but she's spectacular and a wonderful person. Uh also I adore her. And anyway, we uh it was her idea. She said, Yeah, Bossa Nova, which is I I I love, and uh then she suggested that song, The Best Is Yet to Come. Right, which I've known for a while, and and then they came up with this ar rangement and yeah. Yeah, so there's a lot of this one was an interesting one, a lot of factors to it because she su ggested that song, which I was like, okay, because it's it's a very difficult song to sing. It goes through a lot of key changes, the melody's hard, and but she wanted to do it, and she wanted to do it in like the Joe Beam kind of style, Bossa Nova, which was also a lot of fun. So it goes back to you want to talk about not getting the key right. Um she you know she hasn't she's done a little bit of singing. She sang in that movie sing that the cartoon I she sang in that and some other stuff she sang and uh I kind of went by like the Peggy Lee version, which key she did it in, which was like F or E major around there. And we got the whole band together, recorded it with Jeff, you know, in the instrumental, what you heard. And then I was lucky enough, you know, our schedules, we had just got him back on the road from Europe with Jeff and the band and and she she had a couple days open and I flew to New York from LA to go actually produce and record her vocals. Uh we found this great studio, I forget the name of it. It's on the uh it was on the upper west side. It's this little studio but it was a great studio and she she called me like the morning of the session just like you know I think this key is is too high and I was like really because it was like you know it works for a lot of like women singers like that key and she starts singing it to me like over the phone and I was like actually this it is too high for her. So I kind of we had a couple hours till the session and I digitally went in and changed the the recording lower. And we figured out a good key that would actually work for her. So I in this case I did not get the key correct. And we go in the studio and she was, I mean, fantastic to work with, just like the greatest, like the best attitude ever. And just kind of we just knocked out. I I had her do a you know, a lot of different takes and basically, yeah, I mean she she's such a great actress that it it was easy to sell the song, which is the to me the most important thing is do you believe what the singer is saying? And you know, that was that was easy for her because she's a brilliant actress. And then we went back to LA and we re-recorded the band in the new key so we didn't have to change it. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So you re-recorded then and then did you play along to Scarlet Singing? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. We kept the original drums because we didn't change the ditch on those. And then actually Scott came up with a great idea. He was like, you know, this track, it sounded great. And then Scott's like, you know, I really think it could use percussion on it. And we don't normally have percussion. And I have this great percussionist. It's the only other musician on the record besides Leah who's not in the regular band and it's this guy I wrote Sefartsi who teaches at uh the University of Southern California USC and brilliant percussionist and friend of mine and we brought him in and he brought in like an entire like toolbox of percussion everything from congos bongos you know when we we wanted shaker yeah triangle don't forget triangle we wanted shaker and he brought out he's like which one of these 20 shakers sounds the best you know and um we'll kind of show you kind of w these kinda different percussions that Scott then added in that What is that called? The uh Bandera maybe? Yeah . You know and and towards the end after the piano solo it gets another one. Oh the bongo. No, that's actually the the little tiny You can never have too much cowbell. Yeah. No, but uh the best is when the congas come in at the end, kind of it's like the big kind of thing uh after the solo kind of adds it's like when she gets really big with the vo cal too uh after the solo . There's the what's that called, Mr. Tambor ? And did he do a number of passes then? Oh yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. We kind of edited stuff together and should we hear it within the song as well? I'm gonna teach you to fly I like the idea that in some ways Scarlett had a dream which was to work with you, I think Je,ff , and record this song in this style. No, because she came up with the idea. So she's obviously been daydreaming about you know, I'd love to do this in a kind of boss and over style and Jeff's my friend. Maybe he can facilitate Well, I don't know about that. And it's it's it's more my uh you know, dream come true. Uh she was uh generous to uh lend herself to this. But uh I hope she enjoyed it. You know, I'm I'm I I think she sounds like she's really enjoying it. I I adore it. She did a brilliant job. Yeah. She's she's brilliant. I hope we do it with her live because we still have never played in her live live. But we're gonna play at the Carlisle Hotel in New York City at the end of May, I guess. And we're we're hoping she'll come singing with us. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. The best is yet to come. Um it and is the best. I mean, it's it we're an inter album four. You're constantly thinking of ideas. I can tell Jeff that you're thinking, what about this song? What about that song? No, uh and you're moving around all the time, you'd making notes, are there album track listings for ten albums hence or you know, how d how how often do you get to cook up these ideas? Do you have to wait to be on the set of of something like Wicked? Uh well we're always coming up with ideas. Uh these guys are uh prolific and fertile, uh as the Nile Delta. So uh it's uh a cornucopia of um of ideas uh usually and we've got uh uh people we want to work with too you know uh a wish list uh of uh people I don't know if we should can can say anybody like we kind of have a uh a notion and agreement to work with somebody. We might be able to say Leve, you know Leve? We would love to work with her. Yeah, we're big big fans of her. And she seemed to we talked about it a little bit and she seemed seemed to be enthusiastic. Yeah, we we ran into her at the uh Wicked premiere. Yeah. Right. Um and then also we would you know we've talked about we'd love to do something with Billy Eilish. Yeah. She has she knows quite a lot about the American songbook as well and stuff, so it'd be fun to do something with her. Yeah. Jacob Collier is around uh these parts. Right. Boy guest s. A couple of times he's been Right. We're hoping to work with Yeah, so that could well happen. Fascinates. Yeah, and and in terms of the vocalist choices in the past, I mean you've got such an array of amazing people that you've worked with, from Anna Calvey to Frida Payne, Sharon Van Etten. You know, how how have those choices been made? Or I mean is it serendipity? You know, you happen to meet some interesting people, Jeff, along the way. Mostly like that, serendipity. And then other times somebody knows somebody in somebody's band and you know, we say, Hey, let's suggest to them. We have we kind of make a list of, you know, uh who we'd like, but well, it's been a combination of those those things, yeah. Yeah. And and an approach ing choices of material, you know, w what are the criteria? The great American songbook is a is a big book. Jazz is a massive field, you know, and how do you decide to hone in on particular things ? Aaron Powell I'm always saying what's right for this pre if we work with this person, what's right for that? What do I like? What do you like? What what are these guys like? What's not been done so much, you know, what could we add something to the you know continuum, you know? Yeah. And even like the first thing you played to open up the show, the Blue Minor, like there's something uh that's a more obscure jazz song by uh Sonny Clark, and there's a connection there with Sonny Clark being from Pittsburgh, Jeff being from Pittsburgh. So there's there's a kind of connection there and why, you know, we've you know, we started doing some uh Errol Gardner stuff live, also another Pittsburgh connection with Jeff and so there's there's you know there's we try to find actually a connection with this music. We don't just like pick random stuff. Yeah, yeah. And when it comes to the recording, you know, how involved do you get then when the band are recording? Obviously you're playing with them. But then do you just leave it to Scott and Alex to to take care of business as it were? Or do you wade in and say, hang on a minute? No, there's never hang on a minute a minute. But uh mostly they take care of all business but send me things as they come in and I you know um s I go, ooh especially if I'm singing for instance, I go, mm could this uh are you bothered by this? Does this sound as good as it could be? Et cetera, et cetera. Yeah, he always gives us feedback, which is nice. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, well we have a few more questions to ask you. Uh but let's round up with the best is yet to come and and I've had another blast of the master there. Here come the congas. Triangle is to surround S Joe Bag the organ fills. You think you've long before but you ain't left the ground Wait till you're locked in my embrace Wait till I draw you near Wait till you see that sunshine place Ain't nothing like it here The best is yet to come and babe won't it be fine ? The best is yet to come, come the day that you're mine , come the day that you're mine. I'm gonna teach you to fly . Beautiful. The best is yet to come featuring Scarlett Johansson from the still blooming album. Before we let you go, I've got another Patreon question. Tom says, how do you think acting has shaped your approach to jazz, especially in terms of timing, improvisation and presence? Such a good question. Um briefly let, me see. Timing . Uh you know, um well, jazz is helped my you know, timing. I I keep trying to to g get in the pocket more and more. There's a you know, uh an aspiration. But uh timing like maybe you mean has to do with, you know, how you fit together with your exchange, you know, and deliver something kind of right for what it's meant to say. So it fits it's you know, that's overlapping s what you try to achieve in the story and the event, you know, between you and somebody else talking, acting, uh and musically. It's the s same, you know, similar similar thing. Um and relax, you know, and but and i they they they they feed each other, you know. Alex t uh you know, taught me early on, don't don't be you know, moving your feet, don't be tapping so much on your feet. Let you know, relax and relax into the beat and but maybe that has some impact on my acting too. I think it has it has. Then he says d uh w what you do isn't determined by you, it's what the other fella makes you do or lady makes you do, uh meaning you listen, you really make yourself available and are you're receptive, and then see what that spontaneously something alive will come out of that and honest and hopefully yours and personal and uniquely yours. Uh and the last thing was And and presence. And presence. Well, pr presence means you can't be any place but here and now when you're really available to doing what you're doing fully, whether it's acting or music, they both require the same kind of presence. That's one meaning of presence. The other is how one can shine out of being, you know, let your natural shine um occur from your interest in um others. Yeah. Yeah. So everybody who comes on take notes, we ask them a couple of questions. One is about tech or equipment or an instrument that is vital or uh essential to who they are or what they do or how they approach this particular project or you know and I mean I'm assuming you're all instrumentalists, you're all glued to those favourite instruments of yours. But um Scott, is there a particular uh piece of equipment or technology that you adhere to that you know enables you to to be this multifaceted recorder and player. I've there there''ss so many so many tools available now. Um I mean Pro Tools is my main platform, although I use Logic. But uh as far as plugins, Fab Filter, uh Q four or used to be Q three, Q four, that's really useful. Um very hard to pin it down to one thing though. I use so many, so many different tools. Yeah. And Alex for arranging. I mean, do you do that all pen and paper or do you think it all out first? Well yeah, most of the time uh I'm coming from you know, my one of my mentors was the great I mean is the great John Clayton uh who uh great brilliant bass player and arranger. He he did the arrangement of you know um Whitney Houston's star Star Spangled Banner and stuff he's a brilliant arranger and you know he's like me approaches arranging from the bass because I'm a bass player at first and the beauty of the bass is you could you could change up anything by changing the bass note like harmony is all built from the bass up so you could completely you know someone could be playing a C major chord but if I play if I play a uh an A in the bass it's not C major anymore it's A minor you know and I I I have complete control over harmony in the bass so uh y there's kind of unique aspect of them building the arrangement from there. And you'll you could probably guess which arrangements on Jeff's records are mine or or I've worked on because they're normally like start off with bass and piano p doubling stuff like Let's Face the Music or We'll Meet Again with the bass and there's a lot of bass heavy things. Uh do you do you have a favorite piano? Jeff Yeah uh here and there. These guys are brilliant by the way. You know, he l s he mentioned in passing that he's got perfect pitch, you know, and these guys are not only you know, devoted music workers, but uh genius, you know, uh gifted uh um artists. Um yeah, a favorite piano. Well, you know, piano is funny, isn't it? I mean you probably feel the same about horns and uh bass and but they're they've all got their own personality and you gotta use what exists, you know, and play with what you have. And um um but I have my heart set on this uh Steinway, this is a Steinway uh upright. I I want something like But you know, whatever, you know, you you gotta play on whatever w whatever there is and and make something nice out of that. Yeah. The other question we ask everybody is about advice, whether you've received any advice along the way that has helped you and helped you pursue what you've wanted to do creatively, or whether experience has taught you something that you would want to pass on to somebody else. Yeah, I mean um what I what I would say is what I've learned from producing and playing is like there's just never uh people question everything and what I've come to realize is, you know, I mean, look, uh, take, you know, s speaking of connection to Wicked, take the Wizard of Oz, the film like, you know, it was you know, Harold Arlen and Yip Harberg wrote the m the songs and MGM tried to cut over the rainbow like 10 times from the film before it finally got any because they said it was a terrible song and maybe it's become the most famous movie song of all time. And it happens like with what I've learned , you know, especially younger when I was younger, it's like people wanna question everything and you kinda sometimes just have to stick to your guns because what do what do people really know more than you and you know, I mean you you trust people you respect, obviously, but my my advice is just like if you think something is great, then go with it because there's there's no rhyme or reason why something sticks or doesn't stick. I think for me what's worked out the best for me is just to explore as many different avenues in music. I mean I've started out playing jazz saxophone, then I got into recording and I also play I play in a rock band and uh for me that,'s I tend to get bored easily, so that's been really good to keep me interested, and also it affords me a lot of different opportunities. And and me, well, yeah, I already mentioned Sandy Meisner saying use what exists and that means it can come to mean a lot of things. Not only open yourself up to pay attention to what's around you and you know, navigate the wave that comes, you know , um, and there's some talented way of using everything that's going on musically and in the acting world, uh, and then use what exists in you, which is unexpected and surprising. And if you listen and and are pay attention to that, you'll come upon something, perhaps. Um also continuity of digging, Sandy Meisner said. You know, it's uh yeah, you can dig a lot of different ways, but it's the continuity. Just keep keep digging and maybe you'll come up with something. Experience, you know, the 10,000 hour or whatever it is. That's it. You know, these guys are an example of that and being true terrifically gifted, but you got to put in the time . And um and then just uh in our work together, you know, um my appetite sometimes leads me to um elaborate z um what I think of as some bad ideas, but I have a hankering for it to kind of judge up some things sometimes if I'm singing or I'm uh playing. And the lesson really in a headline is be be be simple I'll I'll say one other thing too that that's good advice that uh especially, you know, as someone like me like, a young jazz musician, do you never know where things are gonna come from? Like if you had asked me ten years ago, like I'd be saying like, Oh yeah, by the way, you're gonna play at Royal Lab bert Hall for the Queen of England with Jeff Goldblum. I'd be like, what and what and what? So you just you never know uh where this music takes you. And it it's you know, it just be open to anything. Fantastic. It's been so lovely having you here. Thank you so much for your time. Great to be here. And it's been miraculous. I mean I I c you know, if I had thought, you know, when I was ten or you know, that um I'd have a chance to play. It's unexpected, it's uncommon and it's uh I appreciate it more all the time We should play out with something else from the album. Any suggestions? I mean I was thinking every time we say goodbye, is the closing track on the album the only one that features you singing, Jeff? Yes. Um now is that because you want to ration your wares to people? Or how how do you go about choosing a song that you're gonna sing? Huh. Well I sang one on another album which was uh um Little Man You've Had a Busy Day and I I suggested that 'cause I knew that song through the decades. I'd known a little man you're crying. Well you were you were singing it to your kids, right? And I was had sung it to my kids early on when they'd be SLL and by them going to sleep, so that kind of thing. Um no, I'm not trying to r ration anything, but uh but try to use myself wa wisely and uh um with uh their help. Uh let's see and then how did we come up with this let's wait a minute every time we say goodbye I die a little yeah how'd we come up with that? Uh I had heard Jeff singing that song all the time for a while and we kind of were thinking you know, I I always especially you know, I like I said I was lucky enough I worked with Jeff for a few months on set with Wicked and heard him sing live pretty much every day on set . And there's there's just something kind of nice and kind of like almost like yeah, like a goodbye to the saying goodbye to the audience with this song at the end of the album. Yeah. And it's you know and it's col Coled. You can't go wrong with Cole Porter and the lyrics are beautiful and Well he's very clever. You know, that lyric when he says, um, you know, um but how strange the change from major to minor at which point he changes the chord from major to minor. It's pretty great, you know. It's been so great to have you here. But I do have one more question. Um would you ever play a song from wicket in your set or on record? Oh well yeah. Let's just let's just say there there might be something in the works. We might quote something. Yeah, there there might there be some stuff in the works. Yeah. Uh okay. We don't want to give it away. Uh have another But the the more musicals you do, the more you're gonna have to include in your sets and on your records possibly. I gotta do Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Right away. Yeah. Let's go. Sweeney. Sweeney tud . Yeah. I think we're still with Cole Porter for the moment though. So here is the closing song to the still blooming album. Thanks again to Jeff and Scott and Alex for your time. Thank you. Um this is every time we say goodbye.