The History of Citiscapes

Citiscapes was conceived by Doug Anderson and Patrick Tamminen in the Fall of 1986. Doug was back from Germany after living and performing there for two years and Pat had finished making a record entitled "Passages." The fact that Pat had gone through the "drill" of being an independent musician/producer, solidified the expectations of the project.

The band was the first major accomplishment. Doug had lived in Germany with Tim Wells. Musically this was a great fit, logistically it was difficult as affordable plane tickets and a suitable upright bass had to be found. Tim recommended that George Garzone become involved in the project. George was contacted and brought on board in one evening, following a performance of his band "The Fringe" at a venue in Somerville, MA.

With the band in place, the composing of the music began. Eight new pieces were written for the project. Two of these pieces were rejected, and an older composition "Afterthought" was included.

Pat had recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Englewood Cliffs New Jersey. To record at the Van Gelder Recording Studio seemed logical, and it was the perfect setting for the project. Rudy, who is regarded as one of the finest recording engineers in the world, was receptive and enthusiastic about the project.

Rehersals started in Boston the last two weeks of January 1987. The recording sessions, held on Feburary 2nd and 3rd, were challenging as the project was recorded live on 2 tracks. Citiscapes was mastered on February 20, 1987.

The project was recorded on digital tape, a relatively new medium at the time. The decission was made to release the project on vinyl, as the scope of the project was more suited to the vinyl format. CD's were normally ten to twelve songs taking advantage of the storage offered by the medium. Citiscapes with seven songs was ample for vinyl, and the majority of people had yet to convert to the CD format. However, at the very time of the vinly test pressing, the CD remix of original Beatle albums entered the market. This of course changed the dynamics of the CD. It was now acceptable to make and market album length CDs. The Citiscape project remained on vinyl, missing the CD curve by roughly three months.

Many of the unforseen issues included album graphics, mass producing the albums, freight charges, "chain" record stores as opposed to "independent" record stores, press releases and advertizing. Lessons learned with this project have served well in more recent projects.

Citiscapes was eventually released in June of 1988. The record was sent to various NPR and College jazz radio stations across the United States and a presence for the project was established at the Midem conference held in Cannes France in April of 1989. Citiscapes recieved positive feedback from various program directors, and did recieve airplay. Today notification from BMI proves that the ablum is still being aired.

I would recommend this experience to everyone. Make your own CD! Don't wait for the industry to catch up to you, or to be voted the "best" on a talent showcase, move forward. The experience will serve you well. I still regard Citiscapes to be a milestone in my career even twenty years later.