Big Bad Sun [play hifi lofi] [license] [buy]

		Strange Phenomena [play hifi lofi] [license] [buy]

Although "Big Bad Sun" band leader Chris Juergensen is best known for his session work and abilities to combine both Jazz and Rock into his own brand of fusion, most people didn't know that he grew up copying Albert King and Jimi Hendrix.

After his first solo release "Prospects," a very east-coast influenced instrumental fusion recording, he debated doing something new and a Blues recording seemed the most logical. The first CD, "Big Bad Sun," became an international success, with the opening track, Sweet Melissa being used in the Australian short film, "Regrets."

2008 would bring about the next release, "Strange Phenomena," a half live, half studio recording featuring more of a wide range of styles. Soon after release, "Nothing's Got Me" from the recording climbed the Podsafe Music Network charts to number two and still remains popular in playlists all over the world.

About the album "Strange Phenomena"

Five tracks captured live in Tokyo plus five studio cuts. Rockin' Blues meets industrial strength guitar playing.

Big Bad Sun band leader Chris Juergensen says; This recording is the result of an unexpected culmination of events. Mid 2006, console maker Solid State Logic installed the first of their new Duality consoles in a Tokyo recording studio. I got the call to do the test run and called some session guys and personal friend Joey Carbone, who used to be the musical director for Star Search and The Gong Show, together for the session and "Long Time Wondering" was recorded. Joey, who as a teenager got to sit in on some serious sessions at Atlantic (Cream and Aretha Franklin included), produced and arranged the song for me. With no other recorded songs, I uploaded the song to the Podsafe Music Network and watched it climb to the top of the charts. Not having the song on any CD, it left me with an empty feeling.

Later the same year, I noticed at a sound check at a Tokyo venue, that the hall was hard wired to a studio in the same building. I took advantage of the situation and called Takashi Fujimura, the engineer that did the first Big Bad Sun recording and asked him to record the show. After listening to all the takes, I gave my approval to five of the tracks. These takes are all live without retakes or punch-ins.

So now I had six songs and about a half hour of music, not enough for a full length CD yet. I liked all the tracks, so I booked the studio time and got the band together again for the session. On that session we recorded the remaining four tracks, Nothing's Got Me, The Spirit, Blood on the Streets and Living the Lie.

After returning to Los Angeles, I managed to get John Golden to master it for me. John has mastered for some of the best including Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Jeff Beck and Heart amongst others.

Reviews:

"Again, Chris makes the art of guitar playing seem effortless. A no holds barred, in your face, work of art. And that just describes my least favorite track on the CD. Think 'Texas Flood' meets 'Second Winter'."
- Brent Bradley, Podshow Radio

"Re-energising the genre, Juergensen's newest release is a typhoon of raw energy, pure and honest blues rock at its finest. Just what 11 on the dial was waiting for."
- Colin Meeks, Indie Launchpad

"Listening to Chris Juergensen play brings a smile to my face, it makes me feel good. So much so, I have trouble calling it 'Blues', I prefer to call it near audio perfection."
- Eban Crawford, Reaching For Lucidity

About the album "Big Bad Sun"

Traditional in nature, contemporary in sound, "Big Bad Sun" is a bold departure from the blues you may be familiar with. Passionate guitar playing, good story telling plus crystalline production makes this CD destined to become a true modern day Blues classic. Beautifully recorded and performed, guitar lovers will want to make this CD a part of their collection. "Big Bad Sun" was chosen as the music for the annual, five day Toofy Film Festival held on September 14-18th in Boulder Colorado.

"With my newest release, 'Big Bad Sun' I tried to create a type of blues that is modern but seeped in tradition, contemporary in sound, traditional by nature. I paid attention the rules of the blues but bent them ever so slightly to accommodate my musical heritage and influences. Although I am a guitarist, in regards to the blues, I don't consider the guitar as important as the story that I tell."

"The misconception that the blues has to be dark is plain wrong; my one and a half year old daughter Melissa proves this. She came down to the studio during the "Big Bad Sun" recording session. We where mixing "Come Out Baby" when she came in the control room and as soon as I put her down, she started laughing and dancing, spinning like a ballerina. It's true, the Blues can be dark and brooding but they can also be uplifting and fun. All of today's music was born from the Blues and for that exact reason everyone, although they may not realize it, is familiar with it. When done right, it welcomes the listener with its familiarity, the familiarity of its form, harmony and subject matter. As I said, the Blues is about stories. After all, it is the music of the common man and must, by its nature, deal with his life and times, and mine."
-Chris Juergensen, July 12th. 2005.

Tracks:

1. "Sweet Melissa" - Written for my beautiful daughter Melissa. Symbolism is not big with the Blues but it shows up in this song. My constant traveling leaves my lonely for the company of my daughter. One night I watched the moon sail across the nighttime sky, sinking in the west. Being in Tokyo, I thought to myself that it is pointing me towards my home, the country of my birth. I play with the form a bit with this tune also, making it a ten instead of twelve bar blues.

2. "Come Out Baby" - Song about a man waiting outside for his woman to come out. There's a party going on and he grows impatient. He says; "Come on Baby, put on your dress and fix your hair." He wants to dance but she is inside doing whatever women do to get ready. Something I've experienced ever since my first date.

3. "Big Bad Sun" - The title cut of the CD, a song about insomnia, the kind of sleep disorder a woman can give you. A slow blues in G, the first key I ever played the Blues in at twelve years old. G is the best key for the Blues because of all the open strings you can use. A lot of players think I'm using some kind of open tuning but I'm not, I'm just making a guitar sound like a guitar.

4. "House On The Hill" - A song about financial misfortune, something most musicians know about.

5. "Tell Me a Story" - Probably the most traditional of all the cuts on the CD, I had the engineer mix it fairly dry.

6. "Love Dog" - Originally written and played on an acoustic guitar, I re-arranged this song for an ensemble. The vocals double the guitar and I play the intro on an acoustic guitar. The lyrics wrote themselves and reflect what my wife once told me when I asked her why she married me; "I couldn't escape" she said.

7. "Revelation" - My forte, the medium blues shuffle in E.

8. "Some Sympathy" - Just a jam song, really. I played a way too long solo on the end so I had the mastering engineer do a fade.

9. "Bug Lips" - The only instrumental on the CD, "Bug Lips" is a wacky song. People say it describes my personality perfectly but it was really written for a good friend who I affectionately names "June Bug". For those who know my playing, this cut is more of what they would expect of me.

Chris Juergensen also has his own solo jazz project on Magnatune.