When I’m listening carefully to music I love, whether it’s Mozart or the Black-Eyed Peas, I get to thinking about what went into the songs. What was the composer thinking about? What was the inspiration? What is the soul of this work?
These were the sorts of questions I had when I went to interview Russ Hewitt about his newest CD, Alma Vieja. He kindly took an hour or so to walk through the CD and explain some of what went into it.
Since I’m always fascinated by song titles, that’s where we started. The first CD title, Bajo el Sol, or “Under the Sun,” is the name of the title cut and, in my opinion, reflects the sunny, multicultural feeling of the collection Russ said, “I wanted a title for a second CD that was clever, but not too clever. Alma Vieja means ‘Old soul.’ For example, an old soul can be a kid who doesn’t act like a kid, or someone who knows something they don’t have a reason to know. As a child, I felt a sense of this. Sometimes when I traveled, I felt at ease in a strange place. It was new place, but somehow not new to me. Or I might feel an instant connection with some people for no apparent reason. I remember people telling me I was an old soul.”
He explained that for a while, “Soldade” was a working title for the whole CD. “It’s the English spelling of a Portuguese word that means something like ‘so beautiful you can’t describe it.’ The song ‘Soldade’ is open and airy; not busy. It has a major key so it’s uplifting. It’s different from anything else.”
When I talked to Russ, he said favorites at the moment were “Soldade” and “Dhanyavad,” which means “thank you” in Hindu. “Dhanyavad” was originally scheduled to be on Bajo el Sol. “I really like the Hindu scale,” he said, “and I worked with a couple of chords that don’t normally occur together. I wrote three or four versions of this song, based on different grooves.”
Other song titles are “Miss Mimi,” named after one of his dogs, “Ojos Bonita,” on Bajo el Sol¸ is named after the other dog. “El Beso,” also on the first CD, is named after his cat. “Moonlake Drive” is the street Russ’ mother lives on in Florida. Gabriela in “Gabriela Mi Corazon” is his wife’s middle name. Russ said “Tango for Ahn,” was the first song he wrote after finishing Bajo el Sol. Ahn is his mother and he wrote it for her to use when she dances the tango. “Gypsy” is the second song he’s written—besides “Bajo el Sol”—that uses the Hungarian Gypsy scale. And "Pelourhino" takes its name from a district in Rio de Janeiro.
Russ said that he comes up with the titles after he writes the songs. "I don't start with a title and try and work a song around it," he stressed. "I write the song and then think about what comes to mind. The song titles also have dual meanings, so although Bonita is my dog, who is a husky and has pretty eyes, the title 'Ojos Bonita' could mean something different to everybody else. And because 'Miss Mimi' is a cha-cha it could suggest some girl on the dance floor shaking her thing with attitude in some Miami club."
In point of fact,that's exactly what I think of when I hear "Miss Mimi."
Russ' producer, Bob Parr, wrote “Las Cruces,” named after the town in New Mexico. “We added it to the CD because we found we didn’t have any other slow ballads.” The two co-wrote “Pacific Sunrise.” “We wanted a top-down-cruising vibe,” he said, “and once it was completed we thought Michael Lington on sax would be a perfect addition. The song is a little different from my normal sound. I’m happy and proud of it, and thrilled that we got Michael to play.” Russ and Bob expect “Samba Samba” and “Pacific Sunrise” to be the most popular songs on the CD, so they released them as singles.
And indeed, "Pacific Sunrise" has been named: 3rd Top 40 single, Smooth Jazz.com chart #30, Smooth Indie Star chart #10, Groove Jazz Chart #18, Radio Wave Internet airplay chart #29, Billboard Smooth Jazz chart: New and Active." He just released "Samba Samba," and it, too, is headed toward the top of the charts.
Russ also talked about performing some of the songs. “Two of the hardest songs are ‘Moonlake Drive’ and the end of ‘Miss Mimi,’” he said. “They both have insanely difficult solos.”
If I had never met Russ Hewitt, if I had never seen his fingers fly over a fretboard, never met his wife and his pets, I would still be enchanted with the songs on his CDs. Do your soul a favor and go listen.
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