Captain’s Audio Project
Captain’s Audio Project is the brainchild of veteran Portland, Oregon songwriter and
multi-instrumentalist James Cook. Here we have the release of his solo debut, finely crafted tunes steeped in traditional Folk, Blues and Jazz. Waiting For The Moon was recorded and produced by Mike Danner at Mike’s Garage in Portland. Waiting For The Moon will be available as a 12” LP vinyl, CD, digital download and from streaming services on February 28, 2025.
The guiding principle for these sessions was to keep everything raw and bare bones. James recorded the basic tracks live on his 1931 National Tenor Resonator Guitar and soaring vocals and then rounded the performances out with strategic overdubs and contributions from other great musicians. James added warm and sultry anchor notes with his 100 year old upright bass. Next, Mike Danner added piano, Hammond B-3, and Wurlitzer electric piano. Legendary Portland sideman Paul Brainard put down his trademark stellar pedal steel guitar on several cuts as well as bringing in the “Paul Brainard Horn Section” of Willy Mathis and Scott Van Schlick to put the icing on musical cake on a couple tracks.
The title track recalls a solo journey into the Warner Mountains in Northeastern California when James — As an avid amateur astronomer — hauled his telescope to a 7,000 foot elevation to view the night sky. At first, he was thwarted by Nature’s most potent light polluter, the Moon! So he was stuck “Waiting For The Moon” to go behind the mountain before he could start serious stargazing. As he sat and waited by the camp fire with his guitar, the song was born.
Many of Cook’s lyrics here draw from personal experiences. “Out On The Minam” recalls time spent
traveling deep into the scenic wilderness of the Minam River Valley in the Wallowa Mountains of Northeast Oregon to work at a remote lodge that had to be reached by bush plane. During his many months there, James built trails, felled dead trees and split logs for firewood for the lodge. The serenity of surroundings inspired several other tunes on the album as well. “The River” was composed as a love song for Mother Earth with her waters, the lifeblood that carries us from birth to death, and back to her bosom.The flights in and out of the valley eventually inspired Cook to become a pilot, and acquire his own plane, a 1949 Piper Clipper named “Betty.”
Cook first picked up the guitar at the ripe old age of twelve and discovered that he had a knack for composing. By the time he was in high school James had written dozens songs and had developed a taste for loud, distorted electric guitar. Heavily influenced by Jimi Hendrix, James began to play both cover songs and his own originals in local bands. Coming to the conclusion that lead singers were often fickle, flakey, and unreliable, he started taking vocal lessons so he could sing is own songs.
While attending art college in San Francisco Cook discovered the upright bass and immediately found his talents in high demand, winding up in two outfits. Lost Wax Process was led by Adam Levy, later guitarist for the Grammy winning artist Norah Jones played decidedly modern jazz and opened for the likes of Charlie Hunter Trio. Meanwhile Jimbo Trout and the Fish People played Jug Band music complete with washboard, harmonica, and ragtime guitar. This latter group heavily influenced James future endeavors. This ensemble toured the West Coast as well Europe repeatedly and released an album before Cook left to form his own group called “The Wags.” This outfit featured James on his first resonator guitar accompanied by piano, bass, percussion and horns. After two well received albums, James left the Bay Area for Portland.
There, he formed the much-loved Trashcan Joe who specialized in performing on instruments made out of found objects including a bass and banjo out of trashcans, giving the group its iconic name. Still performing today, Trashcan Joe leans heavily on original music influenced by the vocal Jazz of the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s, with James’ catalogue of originals numbering in over a thousand, some lost or forgotten, James keeps a few hundred in regular rotation.