A job of Work
(Tales of the Great Recession)
A Job of Work (Tales of the Great Recession) is a jazz look at the economic collapse of 2008-2014 and our uneven return from it. This blues & ballad-rich album offers E.J.'s re-arrangements of nine jazz standards, plus his jazz takes on three folk & country tunes (including Tom Paxton's title tune), to explore the impact the Great Recession had on the lives of average people.
Economic hardship hit everyone then in various ways. As with any extreme crisis, it tore relationships apart while forging others together. A Job of Work tells stories from both sides, with hope as the takeaway. Few artists have mirrored or addressed these times head-on in their work, but E.J.'s A Job of Work attempts to do just that.
And while no one before 2020 could foresee the crushing economic devastation of COVID-19’s wrath visiting us, this collection of songs of dealing with financial peril on A Job of Work sadly resonates anew.
Four years in the making, A Job of Work (Tales of the Great Recession) is itself a child and a survivor of its topic, and has its own story to tell.
E.J.: "In late 2009, as I planned my next session (the Prysock Project) as a follow up to While The City Sleeps..., I kept seeing pictures of foreclosure signs everywhere. Non-stop stories of successful, normal folks forced to become migrants & sleep in their cars to survive. This kept eating at me. The song 'Cottage For Sale' kept running through my head, and I realized that the collapse was a topic big enough for is own album… somewhere down the line. But some things won't wait — the idea for a two-project session to cut the next two albums together was born. The core tracks for both albums were recorded over a three-day span — with the idea of releasing the Prysock effort that first year, with the statement album following a year later. Only..., life happens. I was laid off, too, right after getting the tracks down; then was repeatedly in and out of work as I tried to gather funds to finish the Prysock album. But over this period, the statement album slowly stole focus from the Prysock, morphing from mere commentary into 'my story' as I continued working on it. Eventually, it made its case to be the first release, as A Job of Work (Tales of the Great Recession), at the end of 2013. I actually feel my personal path makes A Job of Work a much stronger album — I've not just seen it, I've lived it. Life does imitate Art, again and again. The other album, which became Bluer Than Velvet: The Prysock Project, and was released in 2018, focuses on the music of one of my deep-voice influences, the great Arthur Prysock, and is now available."
Full streams of the songs from A Job of Work (Tales of the Great Recession) on Candela Records are below. We hope you enjoy them.
If you would like to support new work and purchase A Job of Work or E.J.'s earlier While the City Sleeps…, see below.
IN MEMORY OF... Bobby Jackson, friend, mentor and A Job of Work liner notes author, who passed away in early December, 2013. Rest In Peace, my friend.
Read Bobby's liner notes for A Job of Work here.
TRACKS
1) A Job Of Work 2:51
(Tom Paxton) EMI U Catalog, Inc.
2) Street Of Dreams 4:04
(Victor Young / Sam M. Lewis) EMI Miller Catalog, Inc.
3) Come Rain Or Come Shine 5:32
(Johnny Mercer / Harold Arlen) WB Music Corp. / S.A. Music
4) Cottage For Sale 4:30
(Willard Robison / Larry Conley) Chappell & Co.
5) I've Got A Right To Sing The Blues 3:25
(Ted Koehler / Harold Arlen) Warner Bros. Music / S.A. Music
6) Lush Life 5:31
(Billy Strayhorn) Chrysalis Music, LLC
7) Much As I Love You 4:01
(Oscar Brown, Jr. / Luis Henriquez) Edward B. Marks Music Company
8) Born To Lose 4:28
(Ted Daffan) Peer International Corporation
9) Nobody Knows You (When You're Down and Out) 7:01
(Jimmie Cox) Universal Music Corporation
10) Everything I Have Is Yours 4:01
(Harold Adamson / Burton Lane) Songwriters Guild of America / Chappell & Co.
11) I'm Just A Lucky So And So 6:22
(Duke Ellington / Mack David) Sony-ATV Harmony / Universal-Polygram International
12) Where Is Love? 3:28
(Lionel Bart) Hollis Music Inc.
PERSONNEL
E. J. Decker – vocals, arranger, producer
Claire Daly – baritone saxophone
Elizabeth Frascoia – trombone
Les Kurtz – piano
Saadi Zain – bass
Tom Melito – drums
Michael Brorby, Acoustic Recording – tracking engineer
Paul Wickliffe, Skyline Productions – mix & mastering engineer
Bobby Jackson, The Jazz Mind – liner notes
Janis Wilkins, Artgraphica – photography
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Top photo/Album cover photo: Janis Wilkins