'You Walked By'

'You Walked By' (featuring Sarah Davies)
(from the album 'Take It to the Bridge' 2009)

I wrote this song with my friend & fellow musician Tony Kay. The funny thing about our association with this song is the writing credit... Raymond / Kay... the funny thing being that my father was a musician and also a band leader and the name of his band was: The Raymond Kaye Orchestra! I like that, my Dad's band name lives on!

Sarah delivers another lovely vocal interpretation on this track and there is also some fine acoustic guitar work from Cliff who is rarely heard on acoustic. What a waste! We recorded the guitar in my studio at home... for the technically interested: using my Neve preamp, Neve compressor, a Neumann mic going into an Apogee Rosetta and then into Pro Tools. Really lovely playing from Cliff, complements Sarah beautifully.

The drums and percussion were played by Steve and recorded in Supersonix. He put down the main drum part and then asked if I wanted some percussion as well? I had to leave that afternoon and he and Tony (engineering) recorded multiple tracks of various percussion which sounded awesome. We were going to record a conga part as well but we ran out of time. Steve is a bit of a specialist in latin as you can probably hear.

The bass on the track is Richie who is consistently wonderful, ever inventive and always seeking perfection... you can't really ask for more.

Drums & percussion: Steve Wilson
Bass: Richie Blake
Guitar: Cliff Moore
Rhodes: Paul Raymond
Backing vocals: Sarah Davies
Lead vocal: Sarah Davies
Alto flutes: Paul Raymond
Engineer: Tony Hobden
Production & mix: Paul Raymond

Download: http://rapidshare.com/files/190296026/Dr_Sax..._You_Walk_By.mp3

Talking to You

'Talking to You' (featuring Sarah Davies)
(from the album 'Take It to the Bridge' 2009)

Another song featuring our lovely Welsh songstress Sarah. She recorded this just before her birthday in December 2008 when she was still all of 18. One of the things that I love about Sarah's voice is her distinctiveness; the tone and the phrasing make her easily and instantly identifiable and as well, she has a rare gift for bringing out the feeling in the lyrics, I'm so glad that we found her!

Lexie wrote the first part of the lyrics to this tune and we've been waiting to record it for some time. This was another of the tracks that we recorded in the converted church studio; having abandoned the main live space as a band, Steve put down the drums in the sound proofed drum booth and Richie and I recorded our parts in the control room.

There's a lot of alto flute in this song and there is an all instrumental version of the tune with alto flute lead but I do like the vocal version.

As a sax player, I haven't said very much yet about saxophones, so I'll start now... the sax on this track is a soprano, once described as 'the sax that should never have been invented' probably because they're more difficult to play, tuning and tone are harder to achieve. On the last Dr Sax album I played a Yamaha but since then I've switched to a Yanagisawa. It's a little more mellow and I use a copper neck with a Phil Barone mouthpiece. I play my soprano every day and it's a joy.

The backing vocals as ever feature Abby, Danni & Lexie (pictured with Richie above).

Drums: Steve Wilson
Bass: Richie Blake
Rhodes & Synth: Paul Raymond
Backing vocals: Abby Tweddle, Danni Douel & Lexie Raymond
Lead vocal: Sarah Davies
Soprano sax: Paul Raymond
Engineer: Tony Hobden
Production & mix: Paul Raymond

Download: http://rapidshare.com/files/182227569/Dr_Sax..._Talking_to_You.mp3

Take It to the Bridge Sonix Mix

'Take It to the Bridge' (Sonix mix)
(from the album: 'Take It to the Bridge' 2009)

Drums & percussion: Steve Wilson
Bass: Richie Blake
Guitar: Cliff Moore
Rhodes & Hammond: Paul Raymond
Backing vocals: Abby Tweddle, Danni Douel & Lexie Raymond
Lead vocal: Kelly Griggs
Saxophones: Paul Raymond
Flugel horn: Gary Alesbrook
Spoken: Liam
Engineer & mix: Tony Hobden
Production: Paul Raymond

This is the 'Sonix' / Tony Hobden mix of the title track from the new album: a full ensemble piece featuring the rhythm section, horns and singers. The flugel horn solo is performed by Gary Alesbrook, please check out the video filmed as he was recording his solo, such a cool guy and a truly great player! Backing vocals, as always, by Abby, Danni (pictured above) and Lexie (pictured above with Cliff).

And finally, the lead vocal is by Kelly Griggs (pictured top).

download: http://rapidshare.com/files/182227568/Dr_Sax..._Take_It_to_the_Bridge_Sonix_mix.mp3

What About You

'What About You' (featuring Paul Richards pictured above)
(from the album: 'Take It to the Bridge' 2009)

Probably the most romantic track on the album and we did wonder whether we should include it (!) but hey ho we all need a little romance in our lives and maybe this could be a chart hit for the band!

Lead vocal is by Paul Richards, pictured above when he was recording at St Georges Hall, a beautiful acoustic venue in Bristol (UK). Paul is a great singer and he was first choice to sing this song, only problem was he's moved some miles away but as he has his own studio, the easy solution was to send him a backing track and for him to record the vocal at his place.

He recorded several versions of the vocal at 96Khz, 32bits, for those who might want to know, which did present a bit of a problem as our Pro Tools system would not accept 32bit files(!) but once it was all converted, we had file compatability and the track could be mixed and mastered.

The main female backing vocal is Abby, but Lexie and Danni are also singing the angelic harmonies.

Having mentioned St Georges above, I would add that the acoustic piano was also recorded there. The acoustic piano is a very expensive Steinway concert grand and at the end of a long day recording other people and their songs, I happened to have the backing track on my ipod and with the mics still set up from earlier I quickly recorded to the backing track.

Drums: Steve Wilson
Bass: Richie Blake
Rhodes & Piano: Paul Raymond
Backing vocals: Abby Tweddle, Danni Douel & Lexie Raymond
Lead vocal: Paul Richards
Soprano sax: Paul Raymond
Engineer: Ace Taylor
Production & mix: Paul Raymond

Download: http://rapidshare.com/files/184320621/Dr_Sax..._What_About_You.mp3

Happen Together

'Happen Together' (featuring Steve Williams, top picture)
(from the album: 'Take It to the Bridge' 2009)

A swinging piece of ersatz jazz that I wrote to enable me to incorporate some sax section parts. Rhythm section was recorded in Supersonix with everything else being overdubbed at a later date. Steve Williams (above) one of the two original keyboard players with the band contributed this great vocal. He has been working over the last couple of years with UK R & B star, Jamelia and his vocal stylings and techniques have clearly been influenced and benefited from the experience.

Backing vocals feature, Abby, Danni & Lexie... Abby (pictured below Steve)


The tenor sax solo that features briefly at the end was part of the first recording session,. It was originally put down as a part of the vocal guide and was meant to be replaced but we never got around to it!

Drums & percussion: Steve Wilson
Bass: Richie Blake
Guitar: Cliff Moore
Rhodes & Hammond: Paul Raymond
Backing vocals: Abby Tweddle, Danni Douel & Lexie Raymond
Lead vocal: Steve Williams
Saxophones: Paul Raymond
Trumpet: Gary Alesbrook
Engineer: Tony Hobden
Production & mix: Paul Raymond

http://rapidshare.com/files/178545713/Dr_Sax..._Happen_Together.mp3