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Ever listen to a CD by\u00a0 musicians who were not on your radar screen\u00a0and find yourself entranced by its charm? The entire recording by an unusually named group; Helen’s Funeral Band feels like\u00a0a caress. Combine the silky voiced sounds reminiscent of Aaron Neville, the keyboard of Van Morrison and the tonings of Bobby McFerrin and Living Slowly<\/em> <\/strong>is what you get. Michael Slattery’s classically trained voice is such a surprise on a pop-jazz-bluesy-funky release, \u00a0and when combined with multi-instrumentalist Alex Brofsky’s gifts, it is genre crossing delight. Not only are they superb musicians, but carry poets’ souls as they have penned a host of heart rending songs.<\/p>\n A lacy trail of creeping vines<\/em><\/p>\n Over the river\u2019s deep divide<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n By far, my favorite piece is Living Slowly, since it is what I most need to remember<\/p>\n Living slowly doesn\u2019t hurt my soul<\/em><\/p>\n I learn much more that way<\/em><\/p>\n The time has come to bring a change of pace<\/em><\/p>\n As love can slip away<\/em><\/p>\n Hallelujah<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Deep Water referenced in the third piece\u00a0sounds like the journey our hearts take above, within and then below\u00a0the \u00a0surface of love.<\/p>\n You know love isn\u2019t fun<\/em><\/p>\n No not any more and didn\u2019t it used to be fine<\/em><\/p>\n Is it the end of love?<\/em><\/p>\n And what did she say and how do I feel did she go did she make a scene?<\/em><\/p>\n This is the end of love<\/em><\/p>\n Oh just leave me alone a while<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Evergreen\u00a0 seems to be an ode to the tender care\u00a0 relationships require.<\/p>\n Promise me this<\/em><\/p>\n Build me a garden<\/em><\/p>\n And I\u2019ll tend to her<\/em><\/p>\n As I tend to you<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Even in winter<\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019ll faithfully guard her<\/em><\/p>\n Faithful and evergreen<\/em><\/p>\n Evergreen<\/em><\/p>\n <\/em> All I know is anguish<\/em><\/p>\n Darkened is my language<\/em><\/p>\n Why did I think it would be painless when I\u2019m alone I cannot frame this<\/em><\/p>\n And I wonder<\/em><\/p>\n If you ever think of me<\/em><\/p>\n Lullabye is a sweetly embracing offering for a beloved child<\/em><\/p>\n Ooh my baby child<\/em><\/p>\n Rest here in my arms awhile<\/em><\/p>\n Ooh just close your eyes<\/em><\/p>\n And listen to this lullaby<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Joni Mitchell classic Both Sides Now is re-imagined as the closing song.<\/p>\n Bows and flows of angel hair<\/em><\/p>\n And ice cream castles in the air<\/em><\/p>\n And feather canyons everywhere<\/em><\/p>\n I’ve looked at clouds that way<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe echoing and\u00a0haunting sounds of Rivertown have the listener feeling the penetrating depths of both water and the souls who have passed through “this forgotten river town”<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThere\u2019s a world here left in time<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\nBut there is nothing left inside<\/em><\/div>\n
\nAn achingly powerful song, Longing has a darker feel than the others, with the deeply resonant voice of I, Storm issuing forth with:<\/p>\nI love learning about what it is that inspires musicians and Alex Brosky shares the origin of this creation:<\/div>\n<\/div>\n“The band was born after my wife Helene\u2019s mother\u2019s (Helen) funeral. It was the first time that Michael and I had performed live together. A year later we put a few songs together and needed a name, \u201cHelen\u2019s Funeral Band\u201d rang true to us, and here we are.<\/div>\n<\/div>\nAbout four years ago I was in a tough place; I had just lost my (plan B\/not music) job and was drinking too much. I had sent Michael an email with an instrumental of \u201cComing Home\u201d. I didn\u2019t want to speak to anyone, but Michael called to say how much he loved the song and was already writing lyrics to it. That was the beginning of this project and also the start of my getting my life back together, and getting back to plan A.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u201cToday\u201d and \u201cLiving Slowly\u201d are songs I did years ago with a rhyme and horn melody, respectively, where the verse lyrics are now. Helene and Michael wrote the verses for \u201cToday\u201d, the verse in \u201cLiving Slowly\u201d was all Michael. I wrote the lyrics to both hooks. The rest of the songs were a collaboration. I would put music down, and then Michael would expand on it with lyrics, and his beautiful interpretations of the music. \u201cDeep Water\u201d was inspired by an Ernest Hemingway short story \u201cThe End of Something\u201d, always a favorite of mine. \u201cLullaby\u201d was written to as a gift to our cousin Sara when she was beyond weary waiting to bring her daughter Vanessa (and Michael\u2019s goddaughter) home. Fate gifted us back on this one as our first performance of \u201cLullaby\u201d was the same day Sara brought Vanessa home to NYC, which also happened to be Michael\u2019s birthday.\u00a0 \u201cBoth Sides Now\u201d is a great Joni Mitchell song that Michael has performed solo playing the Squeeze Box, I added the arrangement on the recorded version.<\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe album is a very organic project \u2013 several of our family members were involved, all of them great musicians. My sister Natasha Brofsky-Tapping wrote the intro melody on \u201cLiving Slowly\u201d and her daughter (my niece) Cordelia sings it. My brother-in-law Roger Tapping (who recently joined the Juilliard String Quartet) plays Viola on \u201cDeep Water\u201d with Natasha playing cello. The two of them did the string arrangement for that song. Michael and Helene\u2019s cousin Kate Murphy, a country singer in Nashville, sings on the outro of \u201cLiving Slowly.\u201d The great drummer Abe Fogle (of Rob Thomas and my own AB+ band) plays drums on \u201cDeep Water,\u201d \u201cLonging,\u201d \u201cLiving Slowly,\u201d and \u201cComing Home.\u201d The solid and surprising Konrad Adderley (Sonny Rollins, Aretha Franklin, AB+) plays bass on the same songs.<\/div>\n<\/div>\nMichael Slattery\u2019s Bio:<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\nSince graduating from Juilliard, Michael Slattery has enjoyed an exciting international career. He has worked with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the French National Orchestra in Paris, the Akademie f\u00fcr Alte Musik in Berlin, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall. Career highlights include The Very Best of Lerner & Loewe<\/em> with the NY Pops at Carnegie Hall, Bach’s B Minor Mass<\/em> with Ivan Fischer and the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center, the Tristan Project<\/em> with the LA Phil at Lincoln Center, the title role in Bernstein’s Candide<\/em> at Royal Festival Hall in London, and Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo<\/em> at the Ch\u00e2telet Theater in Paris, the Staatsoper in Berlin, and at Glimmerglass. He was recently included in The Spectator’s list of tenor “Heroes of the Concert Hall” and his \u201cDowland in Dublin\u201d CD was chosen for \u201cOpera News\u201d Best of 2012 list.<\/div>\n