Captain’s Audio Project

Waiting For The Moon

Independent

Captain’s Audio Project is the brainchild of veteran Portland, Oregon songwriter and multi-instrumentalist James Cook. He first picked up the guitar at the age of twelve and discovered that he had a knack for composing. By the time he was in high school James had written dozens of songs and had developed a taste for loud, distorted electric guitar similar to that of Jimi Hendrix. James started taking vocal lessons so he could sing his own songs. While attending art college James discovered the upright bass and found his talents in high demand. James played with modern jazz musicians and with Jug Bands and learned to play ragtime guitar. He toured the West Coast and Europe before he left that ensemble to form his own group called “The Wags” which featured James on resonator guitar accompanied by piano, bass, percussion and horns. Back in Portland, James formed the much-loved Trashcan Joe, who specialized in performing on instruments made of found objects including a bass and banjo made out of trashcans. Still performing today Trashcan Joe leans heavily on original music influenced by the vocal jazz of the 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s.

This is the Captain’s Audio Project’s solo debut. The album is recorded, mixed and produced by Mike Danner at “Mike’s Garage” in Portland, and mastered by Jon Neufeld. All of the music and lyrics are written by James. James plays a 1931 National tenor guitar, a Ray Vincent tenor Nautilus guitar, and upright bass. The band is rounded out by keyboardist Danner, and a horn section including Paul Brainard, trumpet; Scott Van Schoick, trombone; and Willie Mathis, tenor saxophone. Opening with “Really Hard To Find” James sings “waitin’ for the right moment to come, really hard to find, to tell my lover…a gentle smile embraces my inner child”.

“Out On The Minam” refers to the Minam River Valley in Northeast, Oregon, as Brainard switches to the pedal steel, “went out of the Minam just to be on my own” to work at a remote lodge that had to be reached by bush plane; a 1949 Piper Clipper named “Betty”. On “There’s No Rain” James chants “the rain never touches the ground, the rain never seems to come down, there’s a mist in your eye with a smile and a sigh, but the rain never seems to come down”.

“The River” was composed as a love song to Mother Earth, “whatever happened to…the river flowing through my heart…the cradle of our destiny”. “Freak” follows with more pedal steel and resonator guitar. On “Satan Wrote This Song” with the great horn section, James belts out “just remember it ain’t me ba-aby, Satan wrote this song”. “Waiting For The Moon” is the title track “waiting for the day when I will finally climb the mountain, it is waiting there for me”.

“Country Song” features more pedal steel “feels like I’m livin’ in a Country song”. “There’s A Hole”, “in my heart bright as the day…a dream of the future where now there is an empty hole”. “I’ll Follow”, “I’ll follow god…we’ll save the world god and me…is there a god up in the sky, I’ll believe it when I die”. On the closer “Sometimes” James croons “sometimes late at night I dream of you…sometimes late at night, I yearn for you, sometimes late at night I dream of you, when I feel blue”.

Many of James Cook’s poetic lyrics are drawn from personal experiences. With clear emotive vocals he shapes each tune. He plays beautifully on his resonator guitar, similar perhaps to the award winning Eric Bibb. Not to be denied, this is a captivating debut from the Captain’s Audio Project.

Richard Ludmerer
Contributing Editor/Making A Scene

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