The Russell Morris and Rick Springfield Collaboration Tops Jazz and Blues Chart

The Morris Springfield Project ‘Jack Chrome and the Darkness Waltz’, the collaboration from Russell Morris and Rick Springfield, has debuted at no 1 on Australia’s Jazz and Blues Albums chart.

Russell Morris explains the origins of the project. “I’d read a book called ‘The Magic Fingers of Frankie Presto’, which was a great book,” Russell tells Noise11.com. Rick and I have always loved ‘Day of the Dead’. When I lived in California I loved it and Rick has always loved it as well. This book ‘The Magic Fingers of Frankie Presto’ was about that thing. It went around and around and around in my head and a song came out ‘Carmalita’s Dance’, which I recorded at home. I really liked the song and I really liked the thing about bringing back the spirits to be with you for three weeks, embracing them and celebrating their pasts lives. I thought I’d dress up in Day of the Dead make-up and make a film clip and sing the song. And I did. Bruce Hutchins saw it and said ‘Can I send it to Rick’. Rick loved it and said it was great. Two days later he sent me an email and said ‘I hope you are not going to be made but I’m continuing the tradition and he had a film clip of himself singing the song. Then he contacted me again and asked if I’d like to do a duo album. I said it would be a wonderful concept because no-one has ever done it, any contemporary album about Day of the Dead. It inspired us so much that we must have written it in four weeks.

California based Rick Springfield is more familiar with Day of the Dead. “It’s an Hispanic thing. I don’t think it just Mexico. There is a lot of Mexican culture, a lot of Hispanic culture in Los Angeles,” he says. “It is quite a thing here. The concept is that when you die, on the Day of the Dead you get to come back and spend three weeks with your loved ones. Rather than coming back as a sheep or Al Qaida, you come back as you were with your family and it’s a really beautiful concept. Everyone dresses up in skulls and puts food out for the dead. It is a very warm, very much a Hispanic family, loving thing. When I first thought of heard of Day of the Dead I thought it was kind of freaky, but its not. It’s a warm, loving thing”.