"Pinky"

“Pinky” - written by Marcus Krueger and Andy Duffy © 2003 Marcus Krueger and Andy Duffy

Back in the day, Turtlebone used to share gigs with a wild band called Tripps Pond. They were super nice people, great musicians, and always very entertaining, particularly the singer, Marcus. It’s one thing to be a great singer. It’s another thing entirely to be a great frontman, someone who can own the room and command the crowd’s  attention while the bass player is tuning up. That was most definitely Marcus. The guitarist, Andy, had a tough stage presence, rocking tone, and killer licks. The band was a rollicking whirlwind of heavy, funky rock. Plus they had that one song about the male narrator experiencing an unexpected insertion…

The original recording of “Pinky” might be described as funk metal (labels never quite being accurate in music…) with a guest appearance by a saxophonist. For some reason, my twisted brain instantly said that my cover should be reminiscent of Nat King Cole’s “Route 66.” Once my head was in that 40s/50s jazz/crooner space, it wasn’t much of a leap to let the influence of the Gil Evans (Sketches of Spain) and “Second Great Quintet” (“Footprints”) eras of Miles Davis, as well as some John Coltrane (“My Favorite Things”) slip in. The piano approach had me trying for some Horace Silver (“Song for My Father”) with some hints of the joyful chaos of Theloneous Monk. The Henry Mancini influence is obvious (indeed, I used his Sounds and Scores book to refresh my memory on arranging horn charts, having initially learned in high school from my teacher, Roy Bailey). Overall, this was a fun arrangement that let me get back to my jazz roots while still indulging in some craziness.