Carmen Gomes Inc. - Up Jumped The Devil
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" Just when you thought you’d heard every possible take on the songbook of Robert Johnson, from true acoustic versions to Clapton’s electric tracks, up jumps singer Carmen Gomes with her own rendition. Her sultry voice has immediacy and intimacy, the instruments captured with real vitality, and the whole recording drips with presence and a sense of performance."
- Hifi News and Records
Carmen Gomes – vocal
Folker Tettero – guitar
Peter Bjørnild – double-bass
Bert Kamsteeg – drums
1. Tunica, the town where Robert's wife and infant child died during childbirth
2. Hellhound On My Trail; “blues fallin' down like hail, and the days keeps on worryin' me, there's a hellhound on my trail.”
3. Rosedale, the town where RJ was en route to Tunica when she died.
4. Up Jumped the Devil; “the blues fell mama's child, tore me all upside down.”
5. Dark Corner Cemetery, where his wife and infant child got buried.
6. Come On In My Kitchen; “it's goin' to be rainin' outdoors.”
7. Penton, the town where they got married
8. When You Got A Good Friend; “that will stay right by your side, give her all of your spare time, love and treat her right.”
9. Robinsonville, the location of the juke Joint where Son House, who had a big influence on Robert, played.
10. Ease the Pain; “love is best left alone.”
11. Hazlehurst, where R.J. went to look for his father but instead found the mysterious virtuoso guitarist Robert Zimmerman, who taught R.J. to really play.
12. Love in Vain; “I felt so lonesome, and I could not help but cry.”
13. Clarksdale 61/49, the train leaves the station, and later at the crossroads Robert sells his soul to the Devil, to gain complete mastery.
14. Stop Breaking Down; “The stuff I got'll bust your brains out, it'll make you lose your mind.”
15. In Martinsville, Robert falls in love again, but his girlfriend, despite being pregnant, does not want to live with him; he goes back on the road. Never to settle anywhere again.
Total time: 45:19
Original recording format DXD 352kHz.
"A song is like a dream, and you try to make it come true. They're like strange countries you have to enter".
- Bob Dylan
Discovering the Music of Blues Legend Robert Johnson
By framing each of Robert Johnson’s songs with small instrumental miniatures, Carmen Gomes Inc. have created an album that sounds like an imaginary road movie. Listening one perceives Robert walking late at night, en route in the Mississippi Delta, reflecting back on his life.
The low A, 27.5 Hz, from the bowed down-tuned double bass representing the Mississippi night, the drums creating the sounds surrounding the night and the guitar being Robert’s mind.
More than playing parts, guitarist Folker Tettero and drummer Bert Kamsteeg are playing moods. I actually asked Bert to play the lyrics instead of the drums, a task I knew especially he would be able to fulfill. Throughout the album Folker is in constant dialogue with Carmen's melody line, sometimes edging her on and at other times comforting her. Folker decided to use an electric 12-string guitar on the small miniatures. The sounds he creates adds a whole new aspect to his musicianship and emphasizes his deep affinity for the blues. Carmen is at the top of her game here. Her 'never the same way twice' saxophone-like phrasing showing her jazz heritage and why jazz is in such great debt to the blues. Love in Vain in particular being a good example.
Engineer Frans De Rond created a One Mic Plus setup, adding two Josephson C700A microphones (vocal and bass) to the central Josephson C700S as well as an ambient spaced pair of Josephson C617 microphones up high as our main source of ambience. The benefit sound-wise, compared to the pure one-mic setup, being that the sound of Carmen’s voice and my double bass would not suffer when the band at certain moments would raise the dynamic level.
Arranging Robert Johnson's songs for Carmen Gomes Inc. was less difficult than I expected. Somehow each song was telling me instantly what to do. Even 'When You Got a Good Friend', with its J.S. Bach-inspired counterpoint, or 'Love In Vain' where the harmony used has more to do with bebop than blues, were written very quickly. It was as if they materialized instead of having to be arranged. Same goes for the instrumental compositions which were made on the spot, they took no effort, they played themselves.
A big thank-you goes out to Bruce Conforth and Gayle Dean Wardlow. Their book: 'Up Jumped the Devil: The Real Life of Robert Johnson' has been very helpful in clarifying Robert Johnson’s life and lyrics as well as being a direct inspiration on the mood of the whole album.
Peter Bjørnild – Sound Liaison
Recording, mixing and mastering by Frans de Rond.
Produced by Peter Bjørnild.
Music arranged by Peter Bjørnild with lots of help from Carmen, Folker and Bert.
Recorded at MCO, Studio 2, Hilversum, The Netherlands, on the 16 & 17 July 2020.
Sound Liaison provide the one-to-one copy of the original master.
This is a One Mic + recording.
Used equipment:
Main central microphone: Josephson C700S
Support microphone Carmen: Josephson C700A
Support microphone Peter's bass: Josephson C700A
Ambience microphones: spaced pair of Josephson C617
Micpre's: Merging Horus
Microphone cables: AudioQuest
Speakers: TAD Compact Evolution
Poweramp: Moon 760A
Mixing headphones: Sennheiser HD800S / AKG 702
All power cables and power conditioners by AudioQuest.
Double-bass brass-slide C-extension made by Jeppe Mørch Sørensen
Cover photo and video by Milan Bjørnild
2 Meter Sessions photos by Michael Boersma
Catalog Number: SL-1043A
