Steve Bailey - Carolina (2020)

The idea to call the album Carolina occurred to Bailey while watching his friend, vocalist Gary Brown perform James Taylor’s “Carolina in My Mind,” in Myrtle Beach, during his sabbatical. “I had been spending so much time down here in my studio that it started to feel like the center of it all, even though a lot of the album wasn’t recorded here. It was the vibe I was taking with me everywhere; the hometown theme and the sense of coming full circle to where I first got the accompanist idea over 40 years ago.” Indeed, he also decided to cover the Taylor composition and make it the opening and closing track. Brown’s version, though recorded first, became the restated closer. “At that point, knowing it would be a shortened recap, I went back and reharmonzied it and took some chances, wanting to go out with a bang.”

The album’s initial impact is no less resounding, with the singular voice of Becca Stevens delivering “Carolina in My Mind” in B major, a fourth down from Brown’s track and the song’s original key. Bailey had met Stevens at Berklee just before his sabbatical, and after hearing her sing and subsequently learning she was from North Carolina, he pitched her the idea to sing the Taylor tune for the album. The track was one of a handful cut in New York City at Chic bassist Jerry Barnes’ small production room in the Berklee-owned Power Station. “We did nine takes, some live and some to my bass track, and Becca took it to a different and special place each time. She has incredible pitch and rhythmc sense, and I learned so much from her phrasing and breathing.” Equally impressive is Bailey’s evolving bass part, for which he changes his approach each verse. “My goal throughout the record was to be the Tuck of Tuck and Patti, with the focus on Patti. And that hopefully what I do in support doesn’t disturb the average listener, while challenging the ears of the more astute listener.”