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| Chris
Juergensen - Interview |
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Tell
us about your new CD, Big Bad Sun?
CJ:
Unlike my first solo CD "Prospects",
which was pretty much instrumental
Fusion, "Big Bad Sun" is
contemporary Blues. Blues was my first
love, so it was a very natural choice
for me. The band for the recording
was a trio. |
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What
kind of recording session was it?
CJ:
Like everything I do... Fast! We
spent three days recording it and
two mixing. Being Blues, the whole
thing, other than the vocals, went
down live. We did three or four
takes for each song and kept the
best take. I did all the vocal tracks
on the last day. There are very
few punch-ins so what you end up
with is a very honest recording.
I used my old Strat and a Warmoth
on most of the songs and a Marshall
and Egnater amp, nothing too fancy.
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Most
people know you as a fusion player,
how does the Blues fit in?
CJ:
As I said, that is where I started.
I think it must have taken me two
or three years to get past playing
the blues in G. It was fun and natural
for me back in those days, I only
had three chords to play over, and
it was a challenge to see what kind
of solo I could come up with. I would
get together with my guitar buddies
after school and we would jam the
blues in G 'till dinner time. I borrowed
my old man's cassette recorder, you
know, one of the giant ones from back
in the dark ages, and recorded a cassette
full of myself playing the blues changes
and practiced making solos 'till the
wee hours. I always explain the blues
this way: the blues is like drawing
a picture with a black pencil on a
simple sheet of white paper. What
I mean by this is that there are only
three chords and twelve bars and that's
not going to change, Jazz and Fusion
on the other hand is like drawing
on a very textured and colored canvas,
the form can vary, odd bars can pop
up, key changes are the norm and the
chords can be very complex, sometimes
dictating what you can play. They
both have their challenges. |
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"Big
Bad Sun" is not what most people
consider traditional Blues, any comments?
CJ:
I know it. I don't see any reason
to record Blues so it sounds traditional.
There is enough great traditional
Blues available anyways without me
putting my two cents in. If you want
to hear real traditional Blues, go
down to your local CD shop and get
yourself some Muddy Waters, Robert
Johnson or Albert King. Artists like
Muddy and Albert had an enormous impact
on me but I have little desire to
sound like them. We have the ability
to record CDs that are gorgeous to
the ears these days and Blues doesn't
need to be an exception. It will be
interesting to hear what the reviewers
have to say, anytime you record the
blues with delay on your voice or
guitar, people get upset. |
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Unlike
more "Traditional" Blues,
what makes this CD different?
CJ:
One, it was recorded in a digital
studio, no tape involved. The reason
digital is better is simple, no rewinding.
You can record in half the time. You
may think I'm joking but it's true,
half the time you spent in a recording
session in the old days was rewinding.
Digital poses some problems however,
the sound can be sterile and a little
cold. What the engineer did to counter
balance this is he brought in all
his own ancient outboard gear. Mike
pre-amps and compressors with actual
tubes! A novelty these days! When
we mastered the recording we also
ran the digital recording through
a tape machine before converting it
back to digital, this way we brought
back the warmth of an analog recording.
I'm also not shy about using reverb
and delay on my guitar and voice.
I tend to like a wet mix, something
that you wouldn't expect in a blues
recording. Second, the songs are Blues
but not all of them twelve bars with
the usual changes. There are twists
and turns all throughout the CD. I
think I pretty much adhere to the
rules of the Blues but bend them a
bit. |
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The
first cut on the CD is "Sweet
Melissa," who is she?
CJ:
She's the love of my life, my beautiful
baby daughter. I travel constantly
and hate to be away from her. That's
what the songs about. I guess that
is what most Blues is about, being
lonely and heartbroken. |
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