I’m guessing that City of Cranes refers to Nashville. Have you visited the city recently? Plus “Nashville” is the last track on the record. And Nashville is also Keith Carlock’s primary home away from NYC. Band of Other Brothers is yet another of Keith’s numerous musical projects when he’s not drumming for Steely Dan. The “Brothers” are Nir Felder (guitar), Will Lee (electric bass), Jeff Coffin (saxophones, woodwinds), Jeff Babko (piano, keyboards), and Keith Carlock (drums). Combining their resumes, these guys have performed or recorded with Sting, Steely Dan, James Taylor, Dave Matthews Band, all four ex-Beatles, John Mayer, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, JD Souther, Van Morrison, Boz Scaggs, Tom Scott, Herbie Hancock, Willie Nelson, Jason Mraz, Carly Simon, Branford Marsalis, Frank Sinatra, Smokey Robinson, Phoebe Snow, Ronnie Spector, Cindy Blackman, and many more.
You may recognize Will Lee from his long stint with Paul Shaffer on the The Late Show with David Letterman. Recorded in Blackbird studio with Niko Bolas, City of Cranes is great jazz record. It was released in 2016, when I wasn’t actively blogging, but it’s still new to me because I’m still absorbing it. My favorite tracks so far are “Heartlandia,” “Tax Free,” and “Nashville.”
Here’s Jeff Babko discussing how the project came together.
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