Michael Jackson pracował nad dwoma albumami

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t the time of Michael Jackson's death, it was well-known that he was preparing for a 50-show concert series at London's O2 Arena. What was less well-known -- and what many are now speculating about -- was what kind of recordings Jackson had done for the last few years.
Billboard's Full continuing Michael Jackson coverage, including video, charts and more.
Billboard has learned that the singer was working on two albums at the time of his death: one in the pop vein that made him famous and another that would consist of an instrumental classical composition. And while some believe the star wanted to recapture his '80s glory days -- or escape financial trouble -- those who worked with him recently say he was motivated by his fans and his children.
Jackson was working on the pop album with songwriter Claude Kelly and Akon, who says that Jackson was motivated by the ticket sales for his performances. "He said, 'My fans are still there. They still love me. They're alive,'" Akon says. "His kids are like his first priority, and they had never seen him perform live. He was trying to create the most incredible show for his kids."
Kelly, who wrote "Hold My Hand," the Akon-produced Jackson track that leaked last year, says Jackson never lost his passion. "He was the King of Pop, the biggest to ever do it, and the one thing you never lose—whether known by the whole world or just 10 people—is your love for music," Kelly says. "That never goes away, and it never went away for him amidst his troubles."
Composer David Michael Frank had worked with Jackson on a 1989 TV tribute to Sammy Davis Jr. and received a call from the star's assistant two months ago about collaborating again. Jackson invited Frank to his home in Los Angeles' Holmby Hills, told him he was working on an instrumental album of classical music and asked for help with orchestration.
"He had two demos of two pieces he'd written, but they weren't complete," says Frank, who adds that he was impressed with Jackson's knowledge of classical music. "For one of them, he had a whole section of it done in his head. He had not recorded it. He hummed it to me as I sat at the keyboard in his pool house and we figured out the chords—I guess this recording I made is the only copy that exists of this music."
A few weeks ago, Jackson called to see how Frank was progressing on the orchestrations. "He mentioned more instrumental music of his he wanted to record, including one jazz piece," Frank says. "I hope one day his family will decide to record this music as a tribute and show the world the depth of his artistry."
Although questions arose about Jackson's health, and the impact it had on his dancing and singing, those who collaborated with Jackson say his voice was in fine form, despite his frail appearance.
Greg Phillinganes, a keyboardist who collaborated with Jackson as musical director of the "Bad" tour and appeared on several of his albums, says Jackson sounded as good as he ever did. "He still had a good voice and never had a problem singing," says Phillinganes, who last spoke to Jackson in March. "There were questions about him being able to pull off the tour on the choreography side, but sources working with him told me he was dancing all the time, every day, and was very focused, excited and committed to making this tour the best it could be."
Akon last spoke to Jackson three months prior to his death. "He would always tell me to eat right and ask me if I was exercising and drinking water," he says. "He'd always stress you had to take care of yourself before you can go off and do anything else."
Frank agrees. "He seemed totally healthy, not frail, and gave me a firm handshake when we met. He seemed in good health, had a good voice and was in good spirits," he says. "He was very skinny, but from what I knew, he was always thin. He was also taller than I pictured, but he might have been wearing some platform shoes. And he was impeccably dressed."
Much has been made of Jackson's intense rehearsal schedule, but Phillinganes says that Jackson lived up to his reputation as a perfectionist. "It was the biggest comeback of his career, arguably the biggest comeback in pop music—even bigger than Elvis," he says. "So obviously he'd want to do the best he could. He never did anything half-assed, which is what originally got him to the stature he had."  

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Za Billboard, Michael pracował nad 2 albumami. Pierwszy z nich miał być popowy, w stylu, do jakiego nas przyzwyczaił, drugi zaś miał być instrumentalny. Michael chciał nagrać album z muzyką poważną i poprosił Davida Michaela Franka, z którym pracował przy You Were There (niedawno omawianym przez nas w NO) o pomoc przy opracowaniu orkiestry. "Michael miał 2 kompozycje, niekompletne"- mówi Frank, który był pod wrażeniem obeznania Michaela w muzyce klasycznej- "dla jednej z nich Michael miał opracowaną część, którą miał w głowie. Zanucił mi ją, gdy siedziałem przy keyboardzie i razem wymyśliliśmy partię strun (chords- albo akord, harmonia). Myślę, że nagranie, które wtedy zrobiłem jest jedyną kopią tego nagrania, jakie istnieje".
Kilka tygodni później Michael zadzwonił do Franka zapytać, jak idą postępy i wspomniał, że ma więcej muzyki, w tym jedną kompozycję jazzową.
W późniejszej części artykułu Frank, Akon i G. Phillinganes potwierdzają, że głos i kondycja Michaela były bez zarzutu.
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Album instrumentalny [szczegóły]

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More details on instrumental album Michael Jackson started before his death, and his love of classical music
TV and film composer and conductor David Michael Frank may have been one of the last persons to collaborate with Michael Jackson on an artistic project. The pop singer’s untimely death left that project in an uncertain state. Initial reports suggested that Jackson planned to do an album of “classical music” he had written; the pieces were to be orchestrated by Frank. Actually, Frank says, the pieces were closer to film music and would have gone into an all-instrumental album had Jackson lived. The Baltimore-born Frank, interviewed by phone in California, gives an account here of his experience with the King of Pop: 
Four or five months ago, I received a call from Michael Jackson’s longtime personal recording engineer, Michael Prince, who told me Michael was looking for someone to arrange some music for orchestra. I thought it was going to be for the tour he was going to do. For the next month or two, he would call, saying, ‘Michael Jackson says he’s going to call you.’ 
At the end of April, another Michael, Michael Jackson’s personal assistant, called me and asked me to come the next day at 10 a.m. and asked me the make and model of my car. I drove to the Holmby Hills home. I drove up to the front door, and was met by an assistant who told me to go inside. I was met there by a woman dressed like a housekeeper, but with a white turban on her head. She said, ‘Michael Jackson will be with you shortly.’ About two minutes later, he came down the stairs. 
I was reluctant to shake his hand because I had heard that he was concerned about germs, but he immediately stuck his hand out and gave me a very firm handshake. He was very skinny, but not the least bit frail. He was wearing a suit and a hat. He was going to rehearsal later for the tour. He said, ‘You look familiar.’ I told him a long time ago I worked on a TV tribute to Sammy Davis, Jr. at Shrine Auditorium [that he had participated in]. I told him I had met him briefly there.’ He said, ‘I never forget a face.’ 
He told me, ‘I have three projects going on simultaneously.’ One was the tour that the whole world knew about. The other two I believe no one knew about. One was to be an album of pop songs. Then he said, ‘The other one is that I want to record an album of classical music’ — what he called classical music. 
He said he listened to ... 
classical music all the time; it was his absolute favorite. I was impressed with the pieces he mentioned: Aaron Copland’s Rodeo, Fanfare for the Common Man and Lincoln Portrait; Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story. I mentioned Bernstein's On the Waterfront. Then Michael mentioned that he loved Elmer Bernstein's film music, too, and he specifically mentioned To Kill a Mockingbird. 
I realized that almost all the classical pieces he mentioned are childlike, very simple and pretty, like Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite. He also mentioned Debussy several times, specifically Arabesque [No. 1] and Clair de lune. He was very soft-spoken when were talking about music, but when he got animated about something, he was very changed. When he mentioned how he loved Elmer Bernstein, and I said I liked the Magnificent Seven score, Michael started singing the theme very loudly, almost screaming it. 
He said, ‘I’m making a CD.’ Then his son, Prince Michael, came in, and Michael asked him to find a CD player. Paris found one and brought it in with Prince. Michael played the CD. It was very pretty music. He said, ‘But a section is missing.’ He played a second piece. And he said, ‘But a section is missing, too. But I can hum it to you.’ I asked if there was a piano in the house, and he said there was one in the pool house. We headed out there, but Michael stopped when he saw the dog was outside, soaking wet from being in the pool. He didn't want us to get splattered. It was kind of funny. Michael got another assistant to hold the dog while we went to his pool house. 
I sat at the piano and Michael hummed the missing part of one of the pieces. I had taken a little digital recorder with me and asked if I could record him. He was in perfect pitch. I tried to figure out chords to go with it as he hummed. He said, ‘Your instincts are totally right about the chords.’ 
We talked about classical music some more. I played some Debussy pieces. Michael seemed very happy and I think he felt very comfortable with me. He mentioned Leonard Bernstein again, and I played some of West Side Story. He told me he had met Bernstein once and that Bernstein had said he was a big fan of Michael’s. 
Back in the house, whenever he’d go from room to room, you’d hear, ‘I love you, Daddy.’ ‘I love you, Paris.’ They all seemed pretty normal and happy. 
Michael was very anxious to get the pieces orchestrated and record the music with a big orchestra. I suggested we record it at the Fox, Sony or Warner Brothers lot. I asked if he could have someone call me to discuss the budget and he said he would take care of it. When I left there were several fans outside the gate. 
[Later] I talked to Michael on the phone. He asked me how the project was going and I said I was waiting to hear from someone so we could set the deal. I suggested we could record the music in London while he was doing the show there. He liked the idea. He again brought up Arabesque. 
I laid the music all out on my computer and started on the orchestrations. Finally, a week before Michael died, his manager, Frank Dileo, called and asked me for an email with the budget and an electronic mock-up of the music, the costs of orchestration. 
Now I have no idea what’s going to happen with this. I’m hoping the family will do something to get this done. I will not bring it up [with them] until after what I think is an appropriate time. 
My guess is that each piece would be seven to ten minutes long. [Each one] is more substantial than a song. It’s very pretty music. One piece had an Irish quality about it. I suggested that we could use a Celtic harp. The pieces sound like pretty film score music, with very traditional harmony, and definitely very strong melodies. One of them was a little John Barry-ish, like in Out of Africa -- that kind of John Barry score. I could hear [in my head] sweeping strings and French horns in unison. 
I told Michael I was going to use one of Leonard Bernstein’s batons I had bought at auction when we did the recording. I knew he would have gotten a big kick out of that. I guess I still will use that baton if I ever get to conduct the music.
In honor of Michael Jackson's interest in classical music, as reported by David Michael Frank, here's a performance of Debussy's 'Arabesque' that the late singer apparently held in high regard: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWpV7L4YHuU

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David Michael Frank mógł być jedną z ostatnich osób, która pracowała z Michaelem Jacksonem przy tym projekcie. W związku z przedwczesną śmiercią muzyka, album nie został ukończony. David Michael Frank mówi, że kawałki są bardziej zbliżone do muzyki filmowej. Dalej David Michael Frank mówi o współpracy z Michaelem Jackosnem. Wspomina tam o trzech projektach, które chiał zrealizować Michael: trasa koncertowa, album popowy i album instrumentalny. David Michael Frank był pod wrażeniem wiedzy Michaela nt. muzyki klasycznej. Jak mówi Frank Michaela inspirowała muzyka Debussy'ego. Odsłuchał dwa kawałkówi, ale nie były one kompletne. Michael miał opracowaną melodię w głowie, którą nucił, podczas gdy Frank starał się ją zagrać. Wspomina o rozmowie przez telefon, w której sugeruje, że muzykę możnaby nagrywac w Lodnynie, w związku z koncertami Michaela w O2 Arena. Tydzień przed śmiercią Michaela, kontaktował się z nim jego menedżer, by ustalić szczegóły projektu. Przypuszcza, że kawałki trwałyby ok 6-7 min, a muzyke określa jako to połączneie muzyki filmowej i tradycyjnej harmonii.

Debussy - Arabesque