May 2003 Update Traveler is finished! I began this project in mid February. It is now May, and it's completed. The CD is currently being manufactured and I will have finished product in my hands by the the middle of the month. Traveler is available for a limited time at a discounted price as a pre-release order on the Steve Hass Traveler site or you can click here and go directly to the store. Believe it or not, the easiest part of producing this CD was arranging and recording the music. That process took about 10 full days including mixing and mastering. Two of the days were actually recording the band. The others consisted of pre and post production. Then the rest of the time was spent working with my art direction, web design, and promotions teams. On the gig front this month begins with serious vocal jazz/pop. I'm starting out the month with stint at NYCs The Blue Note with The Mahattan Transfer. Two sets nightly May 1-4. May also brings us gigs with great singer/songwriter Joe Brack, more of The Manhattan Transfer, pianist Yaron Gershovsky, Manhattan Vibes, Meg Flather, and Neshama Carlebach. To balance things out, I have a few sessions coming up with producer David Morgan from Morgan Music. We'll be working with a singer/songwriter he's currently producing, along with doing a couple of TV spots. I recently did a few more TV spots with Harold Stefan, who is an amazing and fun to work with producer. On the recording front, Alan Paul's (from The Manhattan Transfer) "Another Place and Time" is now out and available on the Transfer's website. I also recently recorded with Ms. Mimi Cohen who's a very unique vocalist with a bit of Broadway twist. Her producer Jeff Klitz called me for the project and asked that I play my "hybrid" percussion kit. I always love combining drums and percussion in my set-up without the use of over dubbing, as I did on "Traveler". The result was very earthy. I'll keep you all updated on the release of Mimi's CD. Don't forget to watch MTV/VH1 on May 8th. The public service announcement, for The Global Health Council's Candlelight Memorial to be held on May 18th.which I wrote the music for, will be running all day. In June, I will be touring the States with amazing vocalist Janis Siegel. Her new release on Telarc is entitled Friday Night Special. Check it out! That's all for this month. Isn't spring time swingin'??? Be well, HASSY << BACK