Five South Pasadena residents have come together over the course of three years, including during the pandemic, to help produce a recently released jazz album, “All I Ever Wanted,” that musician Christian Schrader has been wanting to develop for five years.
It’s really a small world in the city of South Pasadena, and one that is filled with countless connections.
South Pasadena resident Schrader was lucky to get his hands on some of the best musicians in the city to help him produce his passion project and only by word of mouth.
Schrader is the dad of a daughter who is currently attending South Pasadena High School, and has worked in television sound for 25 years, winning four Emmys during his tenure.
“With work and raising kids, I got away from writing and playing music,” said Schrader. “About six years ago I did an experiment where I wrote a song per month for a year just to see what I would come up with. I ended up recording those songs, playing most of the instruments, mixing and releasing it myself as ‘The Purple Sandpiper.’
“I have been learning to play jazz guitar for a while and wanted to utilize the theory I had learned in a new approach to songwriting,” he added. “My hope was to write new songs in an older style that would fit in on a playlist alongside classic jazz and American Songbook recordings.”
When Schrader was putting all his plans together for his album, released earlier this year, Dave Tull was the first person he asked for advice.
“Most South Pasadena residents remain surprisingly unaware that they are surrounded by world-class musicians here in town,” said Tull, who also lives in South Pasadena. “This is true of other artistic industries as well as so many terrific artistic people find South Pasadena to be an ideal place to live and work from.”
Tull is a longtime dad to two children who both attended schools in the South Pasadena Unified School District. He is also well connected with the city because his wife has taught at Monterey Hills Elementary for more than 20 years.
“I was pleased to hear that Christian was finally moving ahead with his project as I had been aware that he had been gradually writing all of these songs over several years,” said Tull. “As a songwriter myself, I know what a large hurdle it can be to move from creating songs on your own to actually recording and presenting them.”
Tull has made his living as a drummer and singer since the mid-1980s. He has been the drummer for Barbra Streisand since 2016, toured playing drums and singing for Chuck Mangione. He also played drums for Michael Bublé on his first two albums and has been part of the adjunct music faculty at Pasadena City College since 2008.
His initial involvement with Schrader was just meeting up for coffee and talking about his songs.
“Then he sent me some computer mock-up versions of the songs for me to listen to and make notes,” said Tull. “We met a second time, this time with me giving him feedback — perhaps more than he wanted — about the songs and ideas I had for them.”
Tull was even able to give Schrader a recommendation for another musician in South Pasadena, John Proulx, to help him finalize the arrangements and get everything ready to record. Eventually toward the end of the process, Tull was able to help out even more and, “was pleased to play drums for the recording sessions for the album.”
“Initially, Dave Tull … asked me if he could pass my contact information along to Christian,” said Proulx. “He said that Christian was a singer who had a bunch of nice tunes but needed some arrangements done for a possible album. When Christian called and we started talking about his project, the idea intrigued me.”
Proulx also has two kids who started off in the district. He has recorded and released four albums and has played piano for Natalie Cole, Melissa Manchester, Anita O’Day, Linda Purl, to name a few. He has also co-written many songs and taught music at Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Fullerton, Cal Poly Pomona and Azusa Pacific University.
“John is understated and very funny,” said Schrader. “He took my songs and cleaned them up with some polished intros and endings and put them into a form to make the recording process easier. In the studio, John was a great help in driving the session with the rest of the musicians.”
Schrader asked Proulx to arrange some of his original tunes and was satisfied with the result and asked him to arrange several others.
“One highlight for me was meeting with Christian in person after I had done a bunch of arrangements remotely at first,” said Proulx. “When we met, it was great to hear him sing the arrangements live and then he asked if I’d be interested in recording these with him on a CD he was putting together. I, of course, agreed.”
Schrader then remembered another dad in the community who could help him out. Tim Orindgreff and Schrader originally met when both of their children attended Monterey Hills Elementary.
“I knew he was a great player, but we never had an opportunity to do anything before this,” said Schrader. “He was the assistant band director at SPMS a couple years ago.”
Orindgreff currently has two children in the district and has recorded, written, produced and performed with a long list of artists including Black Eyed Peas, Fergie, CeeLo Green, Meghan Trainor and Michael Jackson.
“I was excited to be able to help out when I found out Christian was doing a jazz album,” said Orindgreff. “I am a local teacher and have taught both of his children on their respective woodwinds. We’ve been friends for a while through the local music ed community.”
Orindgreff helped out with a saxophone section and even an alto flute solo that he recorded on his own in his studio.
Since this was during 2022, and the pandemic still lingered with high numbers of COVID-19 cases, Schrader digitally sent Orindgreff the files for the songs, and “I recorded the parts at my place and returned them to Christian.”
Orindgreff had fun during the process and got to use an instrument that is rarely used.
“I rarely get a chance to record alto flute,” he said. “It is not as popular a choice for many musicians, so I always relish a chance to record the big flute.”
Ed Donnelly, who Schrader said is another a well-known community member, parent and musician, was also part of the process.
“Having heard Christian’s music before, I was excited to hear he was working on new material,” said Donnelly. “Then when he told me that he had assembled a world class team of players to record with I knew it was going to be something special.”
While his son was attending Marengo Elementary, Donnelly helped to organize D.U.D.E.S., a nonprofit organization in South Pasadena that unites dads with other dads to foster better educational and social opportunities for the communities. He is also a multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer and producer. He has worked with the likes of Willie Nelson, Zac Brown, Smashing Pumpkins, Lady Gaga, The Cult, Brad Colerick, Jools Holland, David Plenn, Gladys Knight and Cole Gallagher.
While he only thinks he played a very small part, Donnelly was able to help Schrader, who needed a recording studio.
“Anytime I get to work with talented writers and players who are striving to create timeless music I am reminded why I was inspired to become a recording engineer and pursue a life in music,” said Donnelly. “I was thrilled to have been included in a recording with so many amazing South Pas players. Christian really hit the ball out of the park.”
Schrader was also grateful that these dads and musicians helped him in his passion project. Schrader said that the only tricky part was waiting for each person to get their parts done.
“There were six musicians who recorded themselves and I needed patience to understand that this had to fit into their own schedules as well as mine,” said Schrader. “But it was a blessing too in that my college marching band friends from USC were able to contribute from as far away as Branson and Boston as well as my favorite accordion player from Cleveland. Everyone was savvy enough that the technical specs lined up and their parts slipped right into the mix.”
While the whole process only took three years, everyone involved was excited to be a part of Schrader’s passion of creating this album and will not forget it.
“I am very proud to have contributed to this product as an arranger, co-producer and pianist,” said Proulx. “What started out as a bunch of Christian’s original songs turned out to be a fully realized album and a true collaboration. I think this album will do very well out in the marketplace, and with the players involved and nice tunes and arrangements, it’s sure to make a big splash!”
Tull shared the same sentiment.
“I am always proud of any project I am a part of,” said Tull. “It is the musician’s main desire to be invited to collaborate with other players on a fun musical project such as this one. I love the collective chemistry that emerged as we recorded and followed Christian’s directions along the way, and I am proud to have been a part of that chemistry.”
Those interested can hear the album, “All I Ever Wanted” and the first single “Ghosted” on Spotify or Apple Music. Music and information can also be found on schradersongs.com.
Although there are no plans for any live performances involving the five South Pasadena dads and other musicians, Schrader thinks it would be a lot of fun and doesn’t plan to stop making music like this.
“I love to write and play music, whether it is a garage jam or something more elaborate like ‘All I Ever Wanted,’” said Schrader. “I have about a dozen new songs that I have been working on in a more folk singer/songwriter style that if I ever get to record, I will definitely try to get these guys or other South Pasadenans on board. Hopefully, this will serve as an introduction to other musicians in the neighborhood who would like to get together and play.”
First published in the December 8 print issue of the South Pasadena Review.
