Fuzzbee's New CD!
See that guy with his head on my shoulder? That's Fuzzbee -- Fuzzbee Morse, world class multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, Flying Fannoli Brother, raconteur, comedian, kibbitzer, and bundle of love.
In 1978 we were roommates. In an ashram. In Denver -- both of us having the same teacher, love of baseball, and propensity to laugh for very little reason at all. Our room was about the size of a jail cell. A very small jail cell. On many a night I would awaken around 2:00 am and see Fuzzbee on the floor, hunched over some scraps of paper, pen in hand, feverishly writing.
"Ditty", he would call to me, "what rhymes with ocean...?" (or 'tunnel'... or 'whisper' ... or whatever word he had just written down for a song that would later become part of the soundtrack of my 30's).
Half-asleep, I'd call out something or other and Fuzzbee, flashlight in hand, eyes on fire, would chuckle and find a way to work it into the song.
It was clear to me, even then, that he was a master musician -- him having already jammed with Frank Zappa (at 15!), Jean Luc Ponty, Joe Zawinul, and a number of other greats.
But sharing that blissful little room with him 36 years ago, I had no idea he would go on to play with the likes of Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel, Bono, Richie Havens, Aaron Neville, Ric Ocasek, Willie Chambers, Dave Grohl, Karla Bonoff, Daniel Lanois, Jerry Marotta, Tony Levin, David Sancious, and many other musical icons of our generation.
Those of us who were friends with Fuzzbee back then, always thought fame and fortune were just around the corner for him. How could they not -- him being such a monster musician? In a logical world, that's exactly how it would have played out. But this is not a logical world, clearly demonstrated by the fact that Fuzzbee, for a while in his 20's, had to work in a cement factory and later, dress up once in a chicken outfit outside some low-rent, fast food restaurant, to make his daily bread.
Dues. That boy was paying dues.
But now, with the long-awaited release of his breakthrough debut CD, Dreams and Other Living Things, a stellar collaboration with Jerry Marotta, Tony Levin, and David Sancious -- those dues are beginning to bear some major fruit.
First of all, Oooh Baby is a likely candidate to become an anthem for lovers everywhere, background vocals provided by Daya Rawat. And Brother Ray, an homage to Ray Charles, doesn't just hit the ball out of the park, it transports the park to a place Fuzzbee's growing fan base would like to take a one-way trip to. Jimi Hendrix? You miss Jimi Hendrix? Here's your VooDoo Child fix -- the fourth cut out of 10 on this brilliant debut album.
Every track on this album rocks. And rolls, too.
Want to sample the CD? Click here for an iTunes preview. Want to download it? Click here for BandCamp. Or here for CD Baby. Of course, you could choose not to click, but that would be your loss. And besides, it will only take you three minutes to download.
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