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Jody’s contributions to getting Movin’ On actually moving cannot be understated. As my electronic guru, Jody’s keen sense of engineering skills, and some very tasty guitar playing, makes an indelible stamp on this record.
Hailing from Brooklyn, NY, Jody’s musical resume runs the gamut of Americana music from folk and blues to jazz. Having honed his considerable guitar prowess playing with the likes of Jorma Kaukonen, Rick Danko, John Renbourn, Stefan Grossman, Jaco Pastorius, and Rashied Ali, Jody’s stellar guitar work shines through each of Movin’ On’s 15 songs.
After moving to the San Francisco Bay Area in the mid 1980’s Jody teamed up with blues man Jeff Sullins to form BluesCasters. Their self-titled debut album on the Voodoo Groove label also featured the drumming of Ernest “Boom” Carter. Another of those magical coincidences that revolve amongst the local music scene.
I had heard of Jody through two different friends. Photographer Bobby Minkin knew Jody from his Brooklyn days and Ron Marcus knew Jody as a musician that was hungry for new musical horizons. Bobby and Ron do not know each other (even to this day), however both mentioned him as someone that I should meet and hear. As chance would have it, I sat in with a jam session that Ron had at his old place in Bernal Heights. It was one of those party things that I really kinda dread playing since the playing tends to be on the sloppy side. Among the players was pianist Tommy Thompson that I knew from the Gregg Allman band. Anyway, they call me up and I want to play “Towards The Sun.” I go through the chord changes quickly with Tommy and away we go. To be honest I was really embarrassed because in my mind the rest of the band didn’t have a clue about the song (Hey it’s 3 chords and revolves around G). All except the guitar player who was situated behind me. The guy can’t see my fingers, and can’t hear me shouting out “Go to the F” but he’s playing along with me note for note as if we’d played it for years. The crowd, by the way, loved it! When the song was over I opted out of the jam, but not before I made it a point to introduce myself to that man who was playing that red Gibson 335. “My name’s Jody Salino,” he said. “Ahhh so you’re the guy that everybody’s telling me about.”
At that time I was ready to pack in my Americana music career, and, as I joke about it now, Jody was the one responsible for getting me off the couch and getting back to playing my music, and ultimately, getting this record out.
In 2001, Jody began mastering live soundboard recordings for Phil Lesh & Friends that were made available for free download on www.phillesh.net. Jody also mastered the live bonus disk that was included in Phil Lesh & Friends’ There and Back Again (Columbia) release.
Most
of Movin’ On was recorded at Jody’s home studio in Castro Valley, CA.
During the three-year odyssey, Jody and his wife Jana had two children,
Nick (now 3) and Isabel (1), and they quickly became part of the music.
In September, 2002, Jody and his family relocated to Yardley, PA outside
of Philadelphia and he and I mixed the record there during two week - long
summits in November, 2002, and February, 2003.
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