May
Spider Bite
Maybe Now
One Magpie for Sorrow
As I continued to live in Montana my tastes changed a little and I became affected by nature more than I had been in the big cities. It’s true what they say about Montana: it has a huge, huge sky. Space became important in the music. I couldn’t help but also being influenced by the music everywhere: Country and Western. It might not sound like this to anyone else but I really think of Springhill as my C&W band. We were very lucky that our drummer, Michael Blessing, owned a recording studio (The Garage) and is a brilliant engineer and producer.
May was written by the great Montana guitarist and composer Craig Hall. It’s seems to be about about May in Montana.
Spider Bite was written while waiting to go to the ER after being bitten by a brown recluse spider. I was sitting at the piano, hallucinating, and came up with the intro vamp. I was very influenced by the Parisian guitarist Nguyen Le, one of my favorite composers of all times.
Maybe Now was second in a series (Not Quite Yet) about waiting for? Something…
The idea for One Magpie For Sorrow came from a good friend (Oakland-based British blues guitar player Steve Gannon) reciting for me the nursery rhyme, “One magpie for sorrow, two for joy….”. He told me that when you see a single magpie you have to wave to it otherwise you’d have sorrow. I waved a lot, and still do.
Springhill
by Ann Tappan, Craig Hall, Bryce Jarrett, Michael Blessing
- May
- Spider Bite
- Magpie Reprise
- Davis Creek Divine
- Jerome
- Maybe Now
- One Magpie For Sorrow
- Waterproof
CD purchase ($12.50 includes shipping and handling). Only available by contacting Ann Tappan.
Springhill has created a project unsurpassed in its genre by anyone in this locale, or to my knowledge in this entire region. This is a complete and successful vision brought to fruition by four talented and circumspect musicians.
Like a late night conversation with your id, this CD from four Bozeman musicians scans the deep recesses of our basic and most elevated musical instincts. Springhill does it with such majesty and control you hardly notice what’s transpired until the passages fly from your brain.
All four members are superb jazz musicians, credible players all around, reactive and pro-active. You’ll find this CD to be an inspiring experience.
Just when you think you’ve got Springhill pegged, this quartet of obviously skilled players serves a stylistic surprise. The wide-ranging influences of world music are blended into well-crafted compositions that reflect a handsome divergence of musical thought. The groups appeal is immediate; its music able to transcend the restrictions imposed by labels.