Songs from the Black Mountain Music Project (KLP150)
Both avid adventurists and music-makers, Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn and Ginger
Brooks Takahashi, a scant three months into their friendship, proposed
this idyllic project to each other; to surround themselves with
instruments and recording equipment for one month in a town where
neither lived. No distractions. Securing the use of a friend's
grandmother's empty home in the cradle of the Blue Ridge Mountains, they
awaited September.
More of an experience documented than a traditional album, Songs from the Black Mountain Music Project
is a tribute to the lush of late summer, the ardor of autumn and the
persistence of the garden across the street. Visits were paid by invited
friends, seven in all, who each appear on the album, some performing
their own songs, some accompanying on songs written during the month.
The project was recorded in September 2002 in Black Mountain, North
Carolina on a Tascam cassette 4-track and a mini-disc recorder.
As a way to perpetuate the feeling of the project, two organizations
were chosen as beneficiaries of the proceeds from the album; the Rock
'n' Roll camp for Girls in Portland, Oregon (www.girlsrockcamp.org) and
The Pentridge Children’s Garden in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Ginger Brooks Takahashi, graphic designer and silk screener
extraordinaire, once provided half the punch of the disbanded duo 'Boys
of Now' and is a founding member of project Mobilivre-Bookmobile project
(www.mobilivre.org). Ginger lives and works in New York City.
Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn has spent the better part of the past four years
commanding her own ship of songs, many of which appear on her solo
albums, also released by the K record label. Mirah lives and works in
Portland, Oregon.
