Vocalist Patti Cathcart and guitarist Tuck Andress have been a steady performing duo for so long now, going on three decades, that it’s somewhat surprising that I Remember You—their new T&P Records recording, licensed to Universal Music—zeroes in on the Great American Songbook. Surely they’ve already recorded their take on these enduring standards.
But no, it just seems so, seems as if everything they’ve written and recorded is already a standard. In their 11 previous releases, only a handful of tunes would fall under the typical, pre-rock era, standards banner.
Patti couldn’t wait to dive into the project, slated for release in Asia in October, 2007 and worldwide in January, 2008. “We meant to make this album a few years ago,” she says, “but then I started writing songs for Taking the Long Way Home (my take on creating standards), so we never got around to recording it. Finally, with I Remember You, I could salute Ella, and Tuck could be the big band and the orchestra. The album is our tribute, a loving thank you to Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass for the path they started us on.”...
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Vocalist Patti Cathcart and guitarist Tuck Andress have been a steady performing duo for so long now, going on three decades, that it’s somewhat surprising that I Remember You—their new T&P Records recording, licensed to Universal Music—zeroes in on the Great American Songbook. Surely they’ve already recorded their take on these enduring standards.
But no, it just seems so, seems as if everything they’ve written and recorded is already a standard. In their 11 previous releases, only a handful of tunes would fall under the typical, pre-rock era, standards banner.
Patti couldn’t wait to dive into the project, slated for release in Asia in October, 2007 and worldwide in January, 2008. “We meant to make this album a few years ago,” she says, “but then I started writing songs for Taking the Long Way Home (my take on creating standards), so we never got around to recording it. Finally, with I Remember You, I could salute Ella, and Tuck could be the big band and the orchestra. The album is our tribute, a loving thank you to Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass for the path they started us on.”
“As always, Patti is the producer and the arranger,” explains Tuck, “and the conductor, and I am the enthusiastically cooperative orchestra and occasionally the problem solver when the orchestra gets a little uncooperative or grumpy. We’ve definitely learned to capitalize on our strengths!”
The album’s track lineup began to take shape as Tuck and Patti played gigs in Asia, Europe, and the US. They asked their audiences to email requests. What would they like to see on a Great American Songbook album? Patti was intrigued by the feedback.
“The most requested song, worldwide, was ‘Summertime.’ But it was interesting what fans in other countries requested in addition to what we traditionally would include: A Bob Dylan tune. A Beach Boys song. Sly and the Family Stone, Joni Mitchell, Woody Guthrie, Steely Dan, Earth, Wind and Fire. They drew fewer distinctions based on the era or style of music, just requesting great songs. Because we in the States have lived with them in a different way (and are perhaps even jaded about some of the best ones due to overexposure), we seem to have more opinions about how these songs should fit into categories. Outside our country, on the other hand, the Great American Songbook is thought to include the whole range of American popular music.”
Tuck and Patti decided for this project, however, to focus on tunes from their parents’ generation. “There a reason why these songs are called standards,” says Patti. “They are gorgeous tunes, with perfect lyrics, and they speak unabashedly about love. They’ll never stop being relevant. On iTunes and YouTube, we could easily compare how all the greats performed them. We knew we had nothing to prove by trying to outdo or redo any one version. All we could do at this point was be the best we could be and add our voice to that list.
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