James Cawlfield
Other
Houston, TX
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About
At some point during kid-dom, I picked out "Auld Lang Syne" by ear on the piano. There was a piano teacher conveniently located just a few houses down the street, so piano lessons soon ensued. The movie "The Sting" was the big hit of the day and piano students were eager to learn to play the main theme, "The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin. I graduated from the "easy-play" version to the original version (far less "white space" - notes everywhere) and then on to the "Maple Leaf Rag" (even more notes everywhere). After tiring of ragtime and not knowing where to go from there, I quit playing for a few years. Then around 1977 or so someone recommended the "Aja" album by Steely Dan. Seduced by the enigmatic, minimalist cover art, I bought it. (Also, I was thinking it had that cool tune featuring the saxophone that was all over the radio those days. That turned out to be "Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty, which they were playing as much as "Deacon Blues" - very confusing for a newbie.) But as soon as I heard that crisp, funky intro to "Black Cow," I was hooked. And it just got better as it went along. I soon bought up all their other records and played them "endlessly" (according to friends) while waiting impatiently for the next one, which took forty forevers to hit the streets - (actually it was about 3 years - due to legal problems, a broken leg, who knows what else...) "Gaucho" landed on me like a safe and by then my musical ears were twitching and a curiosity was brewing about how these guys were creating this unique sound. So after a few piano lessons to get my chops back, I devoured the "Gaucho" and "The Nightfly" songbooks (the first accurate publications of their music) which were rife with weird jazz chords and thorny, hand-stretching chord voicings the likes of which I'd never encountered. Then off to music school (U of Houston) to study the classics, music theory, composition, etc. (and jazz, surreptitiously). ["James' ears are properly attached." -Tom Benjamin, my favorite theory professor.] After graduating (magna cum laude), I rebuilt a grand piano under the tutelage of a piano technician and continued my jazz piano studies with Joe LoCascio, an incredibly talented local pianist originally from New York. I then refurbished a Rhodes and set up a little "bedroom" studio and am now quietly sauntering into the world of digital recording while happily steeping in a fresh brew of New Millenium SD/Donald Fagen tunes (as subversive as ever, but now in lip smacking 5.1 surround sound!) Which brings us up to speed here. I hope you enjoy. Cheers! -J
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