Dream Palace
£6.99 – £14.00
Dream Palace
£6.99 – £14.00
IMPORT 2021
Don Vappie’s latest CD with The NOLA String Kings
JOHN RANKIN – GUITAR, MATT RHODY – VIOLIN, DON VAPPIE – BANJO
DREAM PALACE by The NOLA String Kings
TRACKLIST & AUDIO
I often miss being able to go into a record store and flip through the LPs as I did in my youth. As was said, a picture is worth a thousand words and for me so it was. I loved looking at the album covers. Using my fingers to flip through the angled stacks, the cover art projected so much information beyond the liner notes. But the liner notes were just as important. Being able to read about the musicians as well as see photos of them in action was so much more revealing for a wannabe musician. The album was the whole package.
In my young adult years, the LP was the album. We called it an album. It was a long play record that contained an album of songs. A collection that could be interpreted as a story. Sometimes there were various themes related to a particular place. Other times they were collections of songs that were closely related to the artist’s life at the moment. In some ways, I would think it could be an artist’s personal diary presented with melody and harmony for all to take in and interpret inside one’s own individuality. There were also collections of songs from various artists called compilations which often reminded me of a family vacation where one takes photographs of each place they had visited. The only thing connecting the photos is the fact that you were at each location during this trip. In a way, I would sometimes think of these compilation LPs as my own personal diary of musicians whose music I had encountered in this particular period of my life.
Today, however, streaming seems to be the dominant platform for the current generation. They have subscriptions to Spotify, Amazon, Apple Music, etc. These platforms don’t allow for the personal feeling of unity with any particular artist’s music. It’s so different from my experience of having a physical LP that I could both touch and read, then carefully place the needle onto the disc in anticipation of intently listening to what’s coming. When we listened to an album, we had to be deliberate in our intentions. Each track opened a new door.
Besides the songs themselves, I believe most artists put considerable thought into the order of the tracks. When performers play to a live audience, they are making a presentation. It’s really no different than a chef who creates a special dish. The presentation is part of the experience. With music, we try to first greet everyone and make them comfortable. Then, we tell them a story. If we’re successful, they are immersed in the story and become part of the experience.
When we put this album together, we were thinking of finding the individual and collective connections between ourselves, the music and the listeners. I sincerely hope that in your introduction to the music of the NOLA String Kings you are able to take the time to relax and listen to the complete album. Here’s to immersing yourself into the experience of Dream Palace. Don Vappie
Additional information
| Weight | 75 g |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 16 × 15 × 1.5 cm |
| Technical | Recorded & Mastered at Esplanade Studios Photography by David Spielman Produced by Don Vappie at TrilPort Records Special thanks to those involved in this http://www.johnrankin.net |
1 review for Dream Palace
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J.Larsen (verified owner) –
THe NOLA String Kings are a New Orleans based acoustic string trio excelling in versions of both traditional jazz repertoire like ‘Riverboat Shuffle’, ‘Limehouse Blues’, ‘Careless Love’, ‘That’s A Plenty’ and ‘Doctor Jazz’ and further add songs from the trio’s own book, among them the instrumental title song ‘Dream Palace’. The musicians of the trio are Don Vappie (bj, g, voc), Matt Rhody (vln, man, voc) and John Rankin (g, voc), all three musicians are great instrumentalists, but also contribute vocal on a selection of the songs i.e. Don Vappie’s tale of ‘The Blue Book of Storyville’, John Rankin’s reminder of an important ingredient in a proper New Orleans meal ‘Hot Sauce’ and further the indicative directory for a ‘Crescent City Moonwalk’ with vocal by Matt Rhody. There are a couple of songs pointing to the creole music tradition, Sidney Bechet’s ‘Si Tu Vois Ma Mere’ and the Caribbean influenced traditional ‘Couleur de Creole’, both instrumentals and among my favorites on the album. The interplay between the musicians is flawless and the album is very well procuced and enjoyable to listen to over and again, highly recommended.