“ARLINGTON SQUARE” – new music from Carbé and Durand with guest Leah Finkelstein, available today on all formats – please share! This song was written in 2018 – it perhaps felt a little too personal and nostalgic for Incendio to record, but is something of a companion piece to my Incendio composition “First Hiil”. Both songs contain some kind of 70’s Bob James vibe to me.
This song harkened back to a kid’s worldview, of simplicity and family support. Right after it was recorded, while wondering what kind of video we’d make, Liza magically found an box of previously unseen home movies of my family – their vibe seemed to fit the song so perfectly.
A few thank you’s are in order. We have developed a great friendship and fun new band, Distracted by Dogs, with keyboardist Leah Finkelstein who provided understated but essential background keyboards. There was also ample home movie footage of me, but all the footage of young Liza came from the Herman Family archives, a wonderful family who lived across the street from her in Hollywood. Thanks to John Herman for providing the movies and allowing their use here. Drummer Tom Brechtlein once again has played so beautifully for us and for Incendio in the past, and again lays down a great and unique jazz-inflected groove here.
Finally, viewing these movies was an emotional experience. I saw people I haven’t seen for years. Particularly moving is the footage of my family in and from Peru – I rarely got to see them or hang out as they were all in Lima my entire youth, but there is a real connection here that seems particularly poignant during the holidays. I wish we had had more opportunity to be together back then, but to them I hope this reinforces (and in some cases restarts) the connection during this holiday season.
There is much footage from Riverside CA, Lima Peru, Disneyland, Universal Studios, and Magic Mountain (we unfortunately could not get footage of Leah!). Enjoy. Para mi familia Peruana – hare otro video mucho mas largo en los proximos dias que contiene todas las peliculas que encontramos. Son increibles.