RachelFlowers

I first heard Fanfare for the Common Man on a compilation CD that had the original recording taken from Aaron Copland's 3rd Symphony 4th movement which featured more orchestration than the original piece for brass and percussion. Then I heard ELP's rocking treatment of the song! I think the piece must have been in my subconscious, so that my brain was working out how I would like to hear it. I rec...

Hi everyone. Here's my cover of the Amy Winehouse song "Wake Up Alone" from her famous album Back to Black. I started this cover on Wednesday then finished it later on Thursday. This was recorded at my new house, and on my new Mac computer using the recording program Reaper, which has already been an amazing experience. I played the piano on the Korg Grandstage, my Ibanez guitar (Steve 1) for the...

I would love to share a few interpretations of my favorite Daryl Hall & John Oates songs with you. I first heard “Do What You Want, Be What You Are” on a compilation from my late computer teacher while in Santa Barbara before the pandemic hit. Then I checked out a really cool performance on YouTube taken from the series "Live From Daryl’s House." I suddenly had a crazy idea: interpret this song in...

Recently, I got to experience one of my favorite singers, Gino Vannelli, in concert. This inspired me to recreate one of his soul driven tunes, “Valleys of Valhalla,” from his album, A Pauper In Paradise, which came before Brother to Brother. Normally I rarely cover songs by my favorite singers, because the original recording is so amazing. However, I wanted to give this song a try. This will also...

I thought about recreating one of my favorite Amy Winehouse songs, “Me And Mr Jones," from her popular album, Back To Black. Although I altered some of the lyrics a bit, I kept the music very true to the original version. Musically, I like how the 1950’s rock sound blends with jazzy vocals, as well as call and response singing inspired by The Shangri-las. At the end of the day, I had a lot of fun...

I thought I’d like to share with you a cover I did back in 2021 while in the process of making my close-to-finished fourth album, "All That." One thing that gets me motivated to write songs in many styles are covering repertoire I’ve been checking out. I wanted to make my next album towards a jazzy, soulful edge like my favorite singer, Gino Vannelli. His early ‘70s albums from "Powerful People" t...

Here’s a wild Phish cover I did after experiencing the jam band at the Hollywood Bowl a few weeks ago. It was a fun challenge learning the first half of this particular song. I started by listening to the studio version featuring a horn ensemble, then I focused on a couple of live versions I have: Live Phish Vol. 7 recorded in 1993, and Live Phish Vol. 4 recorded in 2000. Musically, it features th...

I was fascinated by the music of Amy Winehouse. Once I started diving into her influences which include jazz vocalists Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, and especially Dinah Washington, I wanted to challenge myself and write songs, imagining what would happen if those singers made a hip hop soul record. One difficulty I had while listening to Amy, is that she mumbled her words, and force...

I thought it would be exciting for you to check out a Phish cover I did around 2016 or so. This is before I began mixing final versions at a good volume, which started around 2020. Anyway… When I was in my Frank Zappa phase, I would check out plenty of guitar driven bands, from The Grateful Dead, to Phish. I was fascinated by the improvisations that took place in their live performances. I was ins...

I thought it would be fun for you to hear me cover a little future soul repertoire by Hiatus Kaiyote. They’re an Australian band combining elements of jazz, soul, hip hop, and electronic sounds. This song is originally off of their first album. The song also has a wild remix featuring the rapper Q-Tip from the hip hop group, A Tribe Called Quest. I chose to do the band only arrangement. Their musi...

Continuing my Elton John repertoire, I decided to cover “Madman Across The Water.” I was inspired by not only the album version, but also the piano demos, the live Australia performance with the orchestra, and Bruce Hornsby’s jazzy version. I ended up with kind of a quartet version with a guitar part during the chorus, but for most of the song, I chose to have only piano, bass and drums. For the p...