Seven Windows

SSC1737 2025-04-18

Track List

Steppes - 1:54
Light Brown Colour - 4:38
Danse Ralenti - 4:37
Parachutes - 4:05
Easyway - 5:51
12 O' Clock Mambo - 3:04
NYC - 4:52
Pulsation - 4:18
Chase the Caravan - 5:06
Shakey Got the Blues - 5:20
Flight - 4:27
Pizzarro - 2:06

Musicians

Jess Roden - vocals, songwriter
Steve Dwire - co-producer
Michael MacDonald - co-producer

Musical self-expression manifests itself in many ways. Songwriting and live performance have been the most direct methods of creation and dissemination of music. But for generations, the art of capturing music in the recording studio has allowed for profound and unique musical creations. In 1986, Jess Roden, Steve Dwire, and Michael MacDonald released a recording achieved through creative collaboration in the studio. Seven Windows was originally issued on Friends Records in the Netherlands. It will be reissued for the first time, remastered with four additional unheard tracks, by Sunnyside Records on April 18, 2025.

British vocalist and songwriter Roden made a splash in the rock and pop worlds while signed to Island Records in the 1970s. After relocating to New York City, he was introduced to producer/bassist Dwire. The two became friends and ended up in the short-lived band, The Rivits. During this time, Roden began recording home demos of eclectic material that was very different from his Island work. It was music influenced as much by contemporary jazz and new age as it was by rock.

Dwire met MacDonald while doing some independent production work. As a recording engineer, MacDonald had access to the top recording studios where he could develop his own music. Dwire and MacDonald began to share their music with one another and, eventually, Dwire introduced MacDonald to Roden and his demos. The three convened in Roden’s apartment on the Upper East Side to listen to the sketches, which they then began to flesh out.

The trio first worked on an instrumental track that would become “Steppes.” For their second piece, the ever-polite Roden suggested that he sing, surprising MacDonald with a sublime voice honed by singing blue-eyed soul for years. From there, they were into the collaboration fully, as they pieced together song after song.

MacDonald and Dwire were already keyed into the New York studio scene. They began to consider who they might call to enhance elements of their tracks. Without a bit of self-consciousness, they dialed guitarist Elliot Randall from Steely Dan. They played him the piece and let him know they would only be able to offer $100 for the session. Randall was in.

The project snowballed from there. Co-producers Dwire and MacDonald called musician after musician, and most accepted their terms immediately. Perhaps the most daunting call was to arranger Paul Buckmaster, who was staying with Miles Davis. Buckmaster was agreeable and asked only for help finding a place to stay for another week in the City. The project even began to attract musicians who heard about it and wanted to be included.

The trio looked to the model of Steely Dan, a band that had a small core and reached out to other talents to amplify what they wanted to achieve. Seven Windows, as the trio began to call themselves, brought in session players they trusted as both performers and craftsmen. The theory was that if you brought in the right person, they would do what was needed for the music.

As the songs developed over a three-year period, an esthetic began to emerge. The principal musicians envisioned the pieces as soundtracks. The mid 1980s were awash in synthesized sounds. Seven Windows utilized those sounds expertly, thanks in large part to the exceptional keyboardist Jack Waldman.

The recording begins with “Steppes,” a simple instrumental piece that the trio developed from an early demo idea. “Light Brown Colour” is the second song the trio worked on. It introduces Roden’s voice, radically different from his earlier Island Records work. Along with Buckmaster’s string arrangements, Waldman’s keys, Mark Egan’s fretless bass work, and an infectious tenor solo by Lou Marini, Gary Amos provides a Marvin Gaye “Trouble Man” drum feel. “Danse Ralenti” emerges from a Roden bassline and was eventually turned into a grooving dance track with an incredible Yamaha Wind synth solo from Rob Mounsey, while “Parachutes” provides an ideal canvas for Roden’s haunting vocals and cryptic lyrics.

“Easy Way” is a vehicle for Roden’s multi-talented, multi-instrumentalist friend, Lee Goodall, who plays woodwinds, guitar, and percussion on this evocative piece, bringing to mind a humid trip down a rain forest river. “12 O’Clock Mambo” was created on the fly, when MacDonald and Dwire visited Roden in London after the singer had moved back. The piece came together while Roden and Dwire improvised some ideas during a technical breakdown in the studio. “NYC” is an R&B tribute to Roden’s favorite city. The piece features lyrics written by his former doorman and is the only track where the majority of the ensemble recorded live in the same room. Both Roden’s vocals and Michael Leonhart’s trumpet were added later. Conjuring the image and rhythm of rain on windshield wipers, “Pulsation” is built around a Waldman bassline and the guitar work of Hiram Bullock, and Sid McGinnis, who also provides a standout solo.

Roden’s friend Gary Grainger, who co-wrote two Seven Windows tracks, provided the low fi recording of African drummers that provides the basis to “Chase the Caravan.” The piece is a pulsating club track with astounding drums from Michael Dawe and dynamic concert toms from Jerry Marotta. The dark “Shakey Got The Blues” allows Roden a moment for storytelling with fantastic performances from saxophonist Arno Hect, bassist Marc Johnson, and a choir, which features the great Bernard Fowler. The poignant “Flight” features Roden in full voice, supported by soaring synths, guitar, and choir. The final track, “Pizzarro,” utilizes the tape from “Steppes,” playing it backwards to dramatic effect. The record ends as it begins: a sonic dreamscape.

Built by curious musical magicians in the studio, Seven Windows is remarkable documentation of New York City’s industrious studio scene of the 1980s. Jess Roden, Michael MacDonald, and Steve Dwire use every tool at their disposal to build this brilliant one-off album of dramatic and moving music.