Chris Conway's Happy Landings - Think Blue, Count Two

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Two years after the Happy Landings epic Sky High album, the band returned to record another album. As with Sky High the music was digitally recorded live. The Rain Garden's Mary Browne joined them for a session, adding her wonderfully expressive voice on 3 tracks.

This was the last Happy Landings album - the band added a sax player after this becoming the more mainstream Chris Conway Quartet.

Chris's focus was beginning to move away from jazz as is reflected in pieces like the ambient Flying Home and Inside World and the Latin guitar piece Cactus Cafe..

influences
Aparis, Markus & Simon Stockhausen, Rainer Bruninghaus, Eberhard Weber, Arild Andersen, Bobo Stenson, Pat Metheny, ECM, Charles Lloyd, Flora Purim

trivia
You'll Never Know, Think Blue, Count Two and Flying Home were included in The Chris Conway Band's CD Breathtaking which was essentially a compilation of 3 Chris Conway albums.

No overdubbing was used on the album - ambient synth work was pre-prepared on a sequencer and triggered live by footswitch.

Flying Home was used in a film by Norwegian director Bjornar Bjornson. It was also reworked thematically into the song Always Flying Home on Chris's songs album Flying Home.

Sweet World Cafe and Cactus Cafe were regular venues Chris played at the time. He still regularly plays at the Cactus Cafe - a Mexican Restaurant in Loughborough.

Cactus Cafe was recorded again ina more extended band version on his Chris's Chocolate Bossa CD.

The title Think Blue, Count Two is the title of a Cordwainer Smith short story.

Journey Beyond Distance was reworked into a solo piano piece Beyond Distance on his Sanctuary piano album.

The Inside World II was a variation on The Indaide World recorded by Chris with Leaf Storm on their Dwellers in the Mirage album.

CC's fave track -Flying Home