Global Cooling features Cooling’s signature, colorful, body-moving sound, blending funky contemporary jazz with flavors and vibes from around the world. “It's eclectic - you can dance to it, you can trance to it. It's up to you."
Global Cooling is like taking a transcontinental flight, touching down in fun, exciting and beautiful places. “We were inspired to travel into uncharted territory, so we really stretched ourselves to get our passports in order! We played with a lot of new instruments and layered tablas, congas, bongos, sitar, berimbau and even accordion over funk, rock and jazz. It was a trip.”
Joyce Cooling and songwriting partner, Jay Wagner, have crafted a stunning collection of songs that embody places, feelings and thoughts. “Cobra” and “The Red Rose” paint sound-scapes of exotic lands. Other songs are born of ideas and concepts near and dear to Joyce. In particular, the title track, “Global Cooling,” and “We Can” are driven by Cooling's optimism and love of things global and universal. “Jay and I wanted to make music in the spirit of that interconnectedness that I like to call our global neighborhood.”
Cooling, who is known for her eclectic and swinging style, is recognized as one of the most dynamic and popular contemporary jazz guitarists in the world. She invites her fans to join her on the fantastic Global Cooling trek.
Global Cooling continues Cooling’s advocacy and commitment to NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness). Joyce will donate a portion of the proceeds from her CD sales to NAM
Track Notes (What it's all about)
1. Grass Roots: Touching down lightly in the Caribbean, “Grass Roots” mixes just a hint of Reggae with bluesy guitars and a horn section to create a track that swings like a shuffle with an island twist.
2. Global Cooling: The title track is an upbeat instrumental and is a Cooling/ Wagner musical tribute to the green-globe effort. Gorgeous strings, beautiful harmony, and a pumping groove by band mates, Billy Johnson (drums), and Roberto Quintana (percussion), heat up the spotlight on planetary awareness while cooling down earthly temperatures.
3. Save This Dance For Me: Shades of a Latin groove combined with sensual lyrics conjure a sexy, romantic dance on a beautiful beach. It’s a slow sizzle.
4. Cobra: With a sprinkling of tablas, sitar, and mystery, “Cobra” invokes the exotic east while still providing a wicked back beat. Cooling takes a cool, rocking guitar solo that is hypnotically unique. “I have some favorite Indian ragas, or scales, that I have always wanted to play. The scales didn’t fit over any of our previous songs, so we wrote ‘Cobra’, using one of my favorite ragas as a springboard.”
5. What Are We Waiting For?: Cooling’s warm, soulful vocal combined with a well-crafted, positive lyric and an intimate, finger-popping groove make this track shine. It looks you right in the eyes and speaks directly to your heart.
6. Dolores In Pink: This Brazilian-flavored groove swings so hard, the wallpaper sways. Joyce, Jay and Celso Alberti (their long time drummer friend from Brazil) rhythmically lock in tight.
7. We Can: Moved by a myriad of related, positive philosophies, Cooling’s spoken word track speaks of Joyce’s love of universal concepts in a declaration of confidence in the human spirit. Congas, bongos, timbales and a berimbau smoke over a rock drum groove. You could call it a modern, jazz rap – truly a one-of-a-kind track.
8. Rhythm Kitchen: “Rhythm Kitchen” is named after one of the band’s favorite restaurants in Detroit. Cooling delivers a bluesy, back-porch guitar solo over a funky groove laid down by Wagner, drummer David Garibaldi (Tower of Power), and bassist Nelson Braxton (Braxton Brothers). The pots and pans are rattling!
9. The Red Rose: Inspired by her love of Tango and Spanish guitar, “The Red Rose” paints a sultry landscape for Cooling’s fiery guitar work and Wagner’s passionate accordion and piano playing. “I have always loved the way Jay plays accordion. The last time Jay’s accordion playing was featured was on our very first CD, ‘Cameo’ on a song called, Voo Doo Chicken. He hasn’t lost a stitch!”
10. Chit Chat: “Chit Chat” is funky and quirky. A clever, tongue-in-cheek lyric pokes fun at our voyeuristic obsession with gossip and so-called celebrity. “I was in a café and two people were having an intense conversation about another person. I assumed it was about a family member or a close friend. The spirited banter turned out to be about some TV show and about people whom they’d never met or even seen. It was time to write a song!” Joyce’s hip vocal and a smacking horn section bring it on home.
11. In The Streets: Joined again by Alberti, Cooling and Wagner pick up percussion, infuse modern day funk, raise their voices and join the Bateria for a Carnaval parade down the streets of Rio.
