The award-winning trumpeter’s reggae jazz band will release a nine-song salute to the late Grammy winner on August 26.

“I was surprised to discover that the majority of her concert consisted of performing music mirroring the spirit-liberating sound of reggae music. Damn! Amy was laying the music down like one of the ‘old heads.’ She immediately gained much respect from me and I soon became a fan and a loyal follower of her fast-moving musical career,” Barrett recalled about his 2008 discovery and the inspiration for his eighth album, The Music of Amy Winehouse, which will be released August 26 on the dB Music label.

Barrett and his Trumpet Vibes band, a jazz and reggae group, selected nine songs from the late artist’s songbook and spent over a year working on the arrangements and rehearsing before entering the studio. To recreate Winehouse’s high voltage, multi-tiered sound, Barrett augmented his band by adding guitars, keyboards, saxophone and percussion to the Trumpet Vibes lineup that consists of the trumpeter-producer, bassist Alexander Toth, drummer Anthony Toth and vibraphonist Simon Moullier (noted vibraphonist Warren Wolf is featured on “Our Day Will Come”). Naturally, the toughest part was casting a female vocalist capable of capturing Winehouse’s uniquely soulful and charismatic spirit on hallmark hits such as “Tears Dry On Their Own,” “Rehab,” “Back To Black” and “Just Friends.” Enter Joanna Teters.

“I met Joanna many years ago when she was a student at Berklee College of Music, but never had the opportunity to work with her,” said Barrett, who is an associate professor in the ensemble department at the distinguished school in addition to his work as an artist. “I continued to listen to many of her projects after she graduated, having a strong sense that someday we would eventually work together. Well it happened just as I predicted. Joanna joined us on the Amy Winehouse project and really captured the essence of Amy’s musicality without neglecting to incorporate the uniqueness of her own personality into each song. The commitment and musical steadfastness that each musician brought to the project has resulted in a recording that Amy’s well-deserving fans will not only enjoy, but also appreciate as they reconnect to Amy’s simple joy of creating music.”

A Toronto, Ontario native who has been based in Boston ever since he attended Berklee, Barrett was a soloist on Esperanza Spaulding’s two-time Grammy-winning “Radio Music Society.” Mentored by trumpet great Donald Byrd, he has recorded or played internationally with jazz giants Elvin Jones, Jackie McLean, Herbie Hancock, Antonio Hart, Wayne Shorter and Roy Hargrove. Barrett has also performed with Common, will.i.am, Talib Kweli and D’Angelo. Maintaining a prolific album release pace since 2014, “The Music of Amy Winehouse” follows last fall’s critically-hailed jazz and reggae mashup “Trumpet Vibes” and predates a straight-ahead jazz outing from the dB Quintet that is expected in the first quarter of 2017. For more information, please visit www.DarrenBarrett.com.

The Music of Amy Winehouse contains the following songs:

“Tears Dry On Their Own”

“Rehab”

“Our Day Will Come”

“Back To Black”

“Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”

“Cupid”

“Just Friends”

“To Know Him Is To Love Him”

“Monkey Man”

“Tears Dry On Their Own” (clean version)

# # #

The post Darren Barrett Pays Tribute To The Music Of Amy Winehouse appeared first on Great Scott P.R.oductions - Rick Scott.

Backed by Casey, drummers and percussionists Herlin Riley and Shannon Powell, and guitarists Steve Masakowski and Danny Abel, Robin Barnes soars mightily on “Songbird Sessions.” Confident and assured, the twenty-something chanteuse unveils unadulterated passion with poise and in complete command on the rousing spiritual “Great Day” and the gentle jazz lullaby “Little Jazz Bird.” Barnes’s arresting take of Van Morrison’s “The Way Young Lovers Do” haunts. On the classic “My Funny Valentine,” her aching, delicate croon depicts an intrepid artist confronting her fragility head on.

“’Songbird Sessions’ is about spreading my wings and singing with my soul. This little jazz bird is taking a leap and following a dream. The EP is made up of songs that I’ve been passionate about while growing up in New Orleans. This music helped me express my heart though song. I wanted to do something more intimate for this record with just vocals, bass, guitar and drums. Sometimes it was scary because it’s just me and my vocals. There’s no big band or sounds to help cover my vulnerability or distract the listener. The tracks are open and powerful, but it’s just me. As a young artist, I’m finding my voice and my self. Jazz has impact and power. I want to remind the world how amazing jazz music is,” said Barnes, who begins a six-week residency at the House of Blues in New Orleans on July 28 and will celebrate the EP at a hometown record release concert at Peaches Records on August 27.

Barnes has come a long way since she started singing in church as a six-year-old and going on to performing in her family’s jazz band. Two years ago, she won Offbeat magazine’s Outstanding Millennial in Music Award. Her weekly gigs in New Orleans have not only endeared her to the city, but have brought national fanfare including a performance on “NCIS: New Orleans” as well as an abundance of press coverage in the pages of ESPN, Forbes, Ebony, Southern Living , Travel + Leisure and Southwest Magazine. Having become synonymous with the distinctive sounds of New Orleans by being featured in various media and marketing campaigns promoting the Crescent City, Barnes has adorned the cover of area newspapers and magazines and maintains a regular presence on local television. Her leadership role includes her running club, “Move Ya Brass,” which counts over 200 runners in the fitness program she created to help motivate her to get fit after recovering from a near fatal kidney ailment four years ago. Barnes’s first EP, “Me,” was a soul-pop effort released in 2013. For more information, please visit www.RobinBarnesMusic.com.

Songbird Sessions contains the following songs:

“Great Day”
“Little Jazz Bird”
“My Funny Valentine”
“Ruler of My Heart”
“The Way Young Lovers Do”

The post Award-winning Jazz Chanteuse Robin Barnes Releases Songbird Sessions on August 26 appeared first on Great Scott P.R.oductions - Rick Scott.

The single is Billboard No. 2 as the Turn It Up album hits Friday and the concert tour takes off.

“Mirage” casts a transcendent spell with a futuristic foray that projects Cole’s improvisational jazz horn onto a screen of ambient tones and throbbing club beats. The single, along with the exuberant Chicago house music salute “Workhouse,” is a divergent excursion from the ten-track collection brimful of frothy pop melodies and voluminous horns over soul-powered R&B undercurrents. Recorded in three booming metropolises – New York City, Chicago and Minneapolis – that helped shape the eight compositions authored or co-authored by Cole, “Turn It Up” includes contributions from Nicholas Cole (“Turn It Up!”), Pieces of a Dream’s James Lloyd (“Bright Side”) and Ricky Peterson (“Workhouse”). Of note is a vintage take of Bobby Womack’s seductive “Woman’s Gotta Have It.”

Cole’s “Turn It Up” concert trek has dates to keep the Chicago-bred, Minneapolis-based artist playing festivals, theaters and clubs across the nation in support of the disc through November.

Cole was recently interviewed for a feature segment on the nationally-syndicated “Dave Koz Radio Show.” Below is a smattering of the initial “Turn It Up” album reviews:

“On the money throughout, this is the cure for anyone suffering with a severe sax deficiency that needs smoothing out post haste. Well done stuff that fans will immediately recognize as the real deal.”

– Midwest Record Recap

“Make no mistake ‘Turn It Up’ is the real contemporary jazz deal and with musical contributions from Mann, Bernd Schoenhart on guitar, Ricky Peterson with Hammond B3 and Cole’s fellow Chicago cats bass-man Lamar Jones and drummer Khari Parker this one comes hugely recommended.”

– Smooth Jazz Therapy

“Cole is one of those true standout artists who really intrigue me with their deep expression of love for this music via their respective instruments. In Cole’s case, the sax really does become an extension of him, and he brings that through loud and clear on this and all of his previous recordings.”

– The Smooth Jazz Ride

“On Turn It Up there is tried and tested, but also pioneering music. Steve Cole has understood that one must not stop, but has to evolve conceptually to remain viable for the future.” – Smooth Jazz Daily

“You’ll want to get your hands on a copy of his latest release, “Turn It Up”…His signature sax harmonies and up-beat melodies take over and has just the right snap and sauciness to have you craving more.” – Smooth Jazz Magazine

“An album with energizing smooth jazz melodies and hooky harmonies in a sauce of soulful R&B!” – Keys & Chords

“Really rather delightful, and perfect for summer new album.” – Exclusive Magazine

“A perfect summation of what contemporary smooth jazz is all about.” – Soul and Jazz and Funk

Catch Cole in concert on the following dates:

July 15 Norfolk, VA Norfolk Waterfront Jazz Festival
July 16 Mableton, GA Wade Ford Concert Series – Mable House
July 21 Houston, TX Martini Blu
August 6 Honolulu, HI Liliu Theater at Hawaii Convention Center
August 14 Long Beach, CA Long Beach Jazz Festival
August 17 Dearborn, MI Jazz on the Ave
August 18 Philadelphia, PA South Jazz Club
August 20 San Antonio, TX The Big Bib Too
September 3 Pensacola, FL Community Maritime Park
September 16 Denver, CO Soiled Dove Underground
September 24 Melbourne, FL Studio Theatre at the Maxwell C. King Center
October 15-16 Rehoboth Beach, DE Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival
November 26 Rancho Mirage, CA Westin Mission Hills

For additional information, please visit www.SteveCole.net.

# # #

The post Steve Cole Single “Mirage” Poised To Top Billboard Chart appeared first on Great Scott P.R.oductions - Rick Scott.

Going for gold: Keyboardist Bob Baldwin’s The Brazilian-American Soundtrack, is a sprawling urban-jazz exploration through Rio.

The Brazilian-American Soundtrack is Baldwin’s second foray into Brazil expanding on the territory he mined on his 2004 album, “Brazil Chill.” This time out, he purposely incorporated more American nuances into the mix. Supplementing his own compositions, he elected to honor a few of the iconic artists who influenced his artistic muse including Antonio Carlos Jobim (“Corcovado”), Ivan Lins (“Anjo De Mim,” “The Island” and “Love Dance”) and Djavan (“Eu Te Devoro”). Another formative inspiration was Maurice White, the late Earth, Wind & Fire creator and leader who Baldwin remembers with a heartfelt spoken word tribute that closes the album, “The Message,” and on two musical numbers, “Maurice (The Sound Of His Voice)” and “The Greatest Lover,” the latter of which was recorded in the spirit of White’s hall of fame band. Meticulously produced, performed, composed and arranged, most of the tracks on “The Brazilian-American Soundtrack” are tightly segued, maintaining a smooth flow and graceful transition from cut to cut through more than two hours of music.

Baldwin’s winning team that bolsters his pliable piano gymnastics and effervescent keyboard finesse on “The Brazilian-American Soundtrack” consists of an international ensemble that includes noted Brazilian and Latin players Café Da Silva (percussion), Torcuato Mariano (guitar), Rafael Pereira (percussion) and Armando Marcal (percussion). Canadian trumpeter Gabriel Mark Hasselbach, veteran saxophonists Marion Meadows and Freddy V, and emerging flutist Ragan Whiteside add soulful horn solos while guitarists Marlon McClain and Phil Hamilton contribute compelling runs throughout the date that showcases a handful of charismatic vocalists: James “Crab” Robinson, Porter Carroll II, Gigi, Zoiea Ohizep as well as Baldwin himself. In fact, Baldwin demonstrates remarkable dexterity by singing lead and background as well as playing piano, Rhodes, keyboards, bass, drums, percussion, Moog bass, Melodica, strings and clave on the album.

“My love for Brazilian music runs deep. It started with the infiltration of samba in the 1960s courtesy of Stan Getz, who brought with him Astrud Gilberto and the legendary Antonio Carlos Jobim. So many other American artists have embraced Brazil, including Quincy Jones, who signed Ivan Lins to his publishing company, and Djavan, who I refer to as “The Brazilian Sade”, who goes as far back as 1973 when he sang on a Stevie Wonder track. There are so many others – like Maurice White, Ramsey Lewis and George Duke – who all caught the Brazilian music bug and were hooked,” said Baldwin, who made the record in part via crowdfunding for which a number of unique opportunities remain available (www.pledgemusic.com/bobbaldwin). “Musicians like Cafe da Silva, Armando Marcal, Torcuato Mariano, Delia Fisher and Rafael Pereira give the tracks on ‘The Brazilian-American Soundtrack’ authenticity and the green light to deliver the sound of Brazil to the project.”

A Mount Vernon, New York native who has become a longtime resident of Atlanta, Baldwin debuted in 1988 with “I’ve Got A Long Way to Go” and his 22 albums – eight of which climbed into the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Top 20 – are jazz, R&B and gospel outings. Over the years, he’s worked as a producer, songwriter and performer alongside George Benson, Gerald Albright, Euge Groove, Will Downing, Phil Perry, Pieces of a Dream, Paul Taylor, Rick Braun, Kirk Whalum and Chuck Loeb. Since 2008, he has hosted the nationally syndicated radio program “The NewUrbanJazz Lounge,” which attracts nearly 500,000 listeners weekly. His City Sketches, Inc. is the umbrella entity that houses a production and event planning company, the radio network and NewUrbanJazz Hats. Baldwin is also the author of two books about the music industry, “You Better Ask Somebody” and “Staying On Top of Your Career in the ‘Friggin’ Music Business.” For more information, please visit www.BobBaldwin.com.

The Brazilian-American Soundtrack contains the following songs:

Movement I: Rio-Ipanema
“Funky Rio”
“Ipanema Fusion” featuring Café Da Silva
“Teardrop” featuring Ragan Whiteside
”Caipirinha” featuring Torcuato Mariano
“Corcovado”/”The Redeemer” featuring Torcuato Mariano
“Greatest Lover” featuring Zoiea
“Boa Noite”
“Lookin’ At Me” featuring Gigi
“Anjo De Mim”
“The Island” featuring Leo Gandelman
“Eu Te Devoro”
“Oasis Of Love”
“Love Dance/May I Have This Dance?”
“Children Of The Sun”

Movement II: New York
“Home From Work”
“Maurice (The Sound Of His Voice”)
“My Soul” featuring Marion Meadows
“For You” featuring Porter Carroll II
“Summer Madness” featuring James “Crab” Robinson
“Yesterday” featuring Freddie V
“South Of The Border”
“Mobile & Global” featuring Gabriel Mark Hasselbach
“Summer’s Over”
“I Need The Air (You Breathe)”
“State Of Mind”
“The Message (A Maurice White Tribute)”

The post Bob Baldwin Goes For Olympic Gold With The Brazilian-American Soundtrack appeared first on Great Scott P.R.oductions - Rick Scott.

The Henry Stone Music album featuring the Lemon City Rhythm Section, will be feted at a Miami launch party at Ball & Chain on June 27, 2016.

The five-piece Lemon City Rhythm Section – Zavac (sax, flute, woodwinds), Fishbein (guitar), Jerald Dorsett (keyboards), Shaka Pace (bass) and King David Hill (drums) – will perform music from “Instrumental Magic 2” at jazz hotspot Ball & Chain in the Little Havana section of Miami on Monday, June 27 at 6:30pm. Tickets are free while donations to the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind will be accepted at the venue and online at https://secure.miamilighthouse.org/Donations.asp.

Henry Stone, who forged an enduring legacy in R&B, dance and rap music prior to his 2014 passing at the age of 93, launched the Instrumental Magic series with the goal of creating modern American music with a classic American feel. Joe Stone was inspired to continue his father’s mission of positivity by promoting music recorded by live players while raising awareness and funds for the association that taught his father how to live without sight.

“Henry lost his sight in the last decade of his journey here on earth and Miami Lighthouse was a huge part of his ability to move forward,” said Stone, general manager of Henry Stone Music. “It is an honor and a joy to work with this group of very talented musicians on an important production that carries on the Henry Stone legacy. Musically, ‘Instrumental Magic 2’ creates a sonic palette filled with funk, soul, salsa, rock, R&B and jazz covering American standards loved the world over.”

The first “Instrumental Magic” disc, one of the last albums produced by Henry Stone, paired Zavac with 1970s soul queen Gwen McCrae. The record remains one of the Henry Stone Music label’s most popular releases having received millions of plays on Spotify alone.

After losing his eyesight during cataract surgery while in his 80s, Stone turned to Miami Lighthouse for the Blind where he learned to adapt. In an effort to “repay” the organization that helped him, Stone facilitated a million dollar donation that funded the creation of a recording studio for the blind now named in his honor. His act of leadership and philanthropy garnered the inaugural Man of Vision Award in 2008 from Miami Lighthouse for the Blind, which provides vision rehabilitation and eye health services that promote independence, educates professionals and conducts research in related fields. For additional information, please visit www.MiamiLighthouse.org.

For more information about Henry Stone Music, please visit www.HenryStoneMusic.com

The post Lemon Aid: Henry Stone Music Album Instrumental Magic 2 To Benefit Lighthouse For The Blind appeared first on Great Scott P.R.oductions - Rick Scott.

Rustici’s aural pursuit began in conjunction with a spiritual quest, an existential search into his being, which conjointly led to exploring the essential nature of his perception of music. Everything that you hear on Aham, a Sanskrit word meaning “I am,” from what sounds like drums, bass, strings, woodwinds and voice were created exclusively using electric and acoustic guitars through analog pedals and digital plug-ins. The only exceptions are two vocal tracks – one by Rustici on the poetic confessional “The Guilty Thread” and another featuring the soulful tenor voice of Andrew Strong (“The Commitments”) on the fantastical adventure “Alcove Of Stars” – and handclaps on the meandering balladic sojourn “The Last Light Spoken.” The artist did not use synthesizers, samplers or electronic instruments anywhere on the album.

“When I started to write the music for this album, I wanted to find out how far this wonderful instrument and I could go. During six years of work and experimentation, I’ve been incredibly surprised by the guitar’s versatility and sonic capabilities , which have been seldom used or almost totally ignored up to this point. The deeper I went, I became more and more enthused and excited about the little and big secrets that the instrument kept revealing to me. The way in which the music was conceived and produced created some limitations, constrictions and a distinctive sonic palette, all of which contributed to the overall sound and mood of the album. I hope that after six years of R&D, I was able to create a musical space within which one can hear the first baby cry of what I like to call the ‘Transmodern Guitar,’” said Rustici, who as a byproduct of his work on Aham is designing and developing a couple of guitar pedals with DV Mark that will be unvieled in January 2017 at the NAMM Show.

To Rustici, it was important that the songs on Aham, including the epic two-part title track opus, connect with listeners meaningfully and are capable of shining on their own merits, and do not simply become guitar demos for his revolutionary techniques and ingenuity.

“I was absolutely not interested in recording a ‘shredder’ project. In the end, it’s not important how we construct a piece of music, but only if and in which way a musician is capable of creating that emotional and – always virtual – space within which both the artist and the listener find a way to share the joy, the pain and the very reason for our ‘Existence.’”

The Naples, Italy native will perform music from Aham on home soil in November in support of the album, which Sony Classical is releasing in that territory next month. After leading his own band (Nova) in the mid-to-late 1970s, which included collaborations with Phil Collins and hit-maker Narada Michael Walden, Rustici relocated to California and has been a San Francisco resident since 1978. As an award-winning producer, Rustici helped craft a library of No. 1 Billboard singles in Europe and multi-million selling albums working with global superstars such as Zucherro, Paul Young and Luciano Pavorotti. In 2007, he became the first producer to simultaneously occupy the top 3 spots on the Nielsen chart with three different artists (Ligabue, Negramaro and Renga). Over the years, his passion for sonic innovation has resulted in unearthing now widely accepted and used production methods such as Push & Pull, which combines the irreverent approach of rock and pop with the softer and more evocative effect of ambient music. As a solo artist, his previous releases are “Deconstruction Of A Postmodern Musician” (2007) and “Blaze & Bloom: Live In Japan” (2014), the latter of which was also issued as a DVD. For more information, please visit www.CorradoRustici.com.

Rustici’s Aham contains the following songs:

“As Dark Bleeds Light”

“Ananda’s First Steps”

“The Duke And The Hare”

“The Guilty Thread”

“Roots Of Progression”

“Alcove Of Stars”

“The Last Light Spoken”

AHAM Suite:

Part 1: “The Enquiry”

Part 2: “Aham”

# # #

The post Imagineer Corrado Rustici Explores Expressive Guitar Sonicscapes On AHAM appeared first on Great Scott P.R.oductions - Rick Scott.

“’Global Warming’ is all about spreading the positive, showing empathy and warming up to one another, regardless of place of origin, faith, color of skin or political views. This album is not about climate changes and environmental threats. It is about old and new friends coming together to ignite warm human emotions, seeking to counterbalance all the negativity, the conflicts and threats we´re witnessing in so many places around the globe,” Magnet explained.

Magnet’s message of harmony is ingrained in the DNA of the nine new compositions he wrote with Brown after the two reconnected at a 2012 jazz festival held in the world’s northernmost capital of Reykjavik where the famed Fender Rhodes keyboardist is based. The pair has roots dating back over forty years when as teenagers, Magnet – then Magnusson – moved into the Brown family home in the suburbs of Los Angeles. “Still Boppin’ Along,” which gets a boost from contemporary jazz hornmen Rick Braun and Elan Trotman on trumpet and saxophone, was originally penned decades ago during the duo’s pre-fame days yet it is thematically suited to the tone of “Global Warming.” Brown, who plays guitar throughout the session, lends an American vibe to Magnet’s Euro-leaning pop-jazz-blues-rock predilections. Magnet and Brown’s “Global Warming” set list is heavily influenced by music from the Mojo Triangle – New Orleans, Nashville and Memphis.

As Magnet describes it, “The music is inspired by the early European composers who developed the harmony and styles that later became the foundation of the musical language developed around New Orleans at the turn of the 20th Century when jazz was born. From Vivaldi, Chopin and Mendelson to Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and Joseph Zawinul.”

Magnet’s impassioned and lyrical keyboards emote vibrant and joyous melodies, paint poetic and ethereal reflections, and stir emotions with storming sermons. Brown’s sister, Kathy Brown-Babylon, gets in on the act with vocal embellishments on “From The Other Side,” an aptly-titled song that she wrote with her late husband, Elton John’s longtime bassist Guy Babylon. Paul Brown was a bandmate of Magnet’s in a British blues-rock group long ago fronted by Long John Baldry for which Magnet served as a replacement for the original keyboardist, Reg Dwight, who became Elton John. Also performing on the cut is the late drummer Ricky Lawson.

Magnet has cultivated a diverse recording catalogue that boasts jazz notables Stanley Clarke, Freddie Hubbard, Tom Scott and Richard Elliot as well as pop superstars Elton John and Phil Collins. A colorful and charismatic multimedia talent in his native Iceland, he starred in and produced the country’s biggest film in box office history, “Með allt á hreinu (On Top),” and currently serves as a celebrity judge on television’s “Iceland’s Got Talent.” For more information, please visit www.JackMagnetMusic.com.

Global Warming contains the following songs:

“Still Boppin’ Along”
“Funk It Up”
“Florence”
“A Simple Love”
“Strut Yo Stuff”
From The Other Side”
“Paris”
“Compared To Who?”
“Bourbon Street Boogie”
“JoJo”

# # #

The post Jack Magnet Pushes To Redefine Global Warming appeared first on Great Scott P.R.oductions - Rick Scott.

As trumpeter Randy Brecker soloed in the crowed club that 1987 evening, what sparked Draghici’s imagination was recording a jazz album that would feature the tones, textures and the unique voice produced on the hollow-tubed bamboo instrument, the pan flute. “The American Dream” also pays homage to the jazz giants that influenced Draghici’s artistic expression.

“’The American Dream’ has been a dream of mine for a while now,” Draghici recalls. “Here’s how the story started almost 30 years ago. When I was 17 years-old during the communist times in Bucharest, Romania, I saw and heard for the first time real American jazz musicians playing live. That was the moment I fell in love with jazz and I knew that I had to go to America to learn jazz – to play and improvise bebop on my instrument – to become the Bebop Pan-piper.”

Twenty years ago, Draghici first arrived in America to attend the famed Berklee College of Music in Boston on a full scholarship, which is where he linked up and began working with a bevy of premier jazz musicians, including drummers Vinnie Colaiuta and Dave Weckl, who keep time on “The American Dream.” The respect Draghici garners from his musician peers helped him attract an impressive list of guest soloists who perform on the collection, including Botti, trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, clarinetist Eddie Daniels, Grammy-winning pianist Michel Camilo, Grammy-winning vocalist Luciana Souza and Grammy-winning guitar virtuoso Frank Gambale along with a stellar ensemble of internationally-renown players such as Siegel, Stanley Clarke, Brian Bromberg, Russell Ferrante (Yellowjackets), Tom Kennedy, Alan Broadbent, Charlie Bisharat, Alex Acuna, Luis Conte, Paulinho Da Costa, Oscar Castro Neves, Mitchel Forman, Otmaro Ruiz, Ramon Stagnaro and Jorge Calandrelli. With so much talent gathered around Draghici’s improvisational pan flute forays and flourishes, the musicianship throughout the session is masterful while Siegel and McCauley’s acoustic jazz production is warm and organic.

The set list Draghici & Company chose to reimagine consists of selections from Charlie Parker (album opener “Donna Lee”), Lee Morgan (“Ceora”), John Coltrane (“Giant Steps”), Chick Corea (“Spain”), Antonio Carlos Jobim (“Modhina” and “One Note Samba”); Michel Legrand, Marilyn & Alan Bergman and Jacques Denny (“You Must Believe In Spring”); Keith Jarrett (“My Song”), Pat Metheny (“See The World”), Bill Evans (“Waltz For Debbie”) Castro Neves (“More Than Yesterday”) and Cesar Camargo Mariano (“Curumin”) as well as Camilo’s “From Within.” Inventive arrangements chisel space in the elaborately-constructed cuts for the pan flute harmonics, genteel vocalizations and stirring melodies knitted from piano, guitar, horns and strings to effortlessly waft beauty and splendor on quieter numbers. More aggressive tracks are granted the expanse to expound dexterously on playgrounds of layered percussion and sinewy basslines.

Recognized as an award-winning prodigy when he was a teenager in Romania before seeking refuge in Greece, Draghici landed a record deal after busking on the streets of Athens, garnering acclaim in Europe. He’s toured with an array of signature artists that spans James Brown, Joe Cocker, Cyndi Lauper, Shaggy and Gypsy Kings. In 2006, he formed Damian & Brothers with “his gypsy brothers,” adopting the purpose of changing the perception of gypsy music globally. They toured extensively throughout Europe performing over 600 concerts in three years. Draghici now splits his time living in the valley near Los Angeles and abroad. For more information, please visit www.DamianDraghici.com.

Draghici’s The American Dream contains the following songs:

“Donna Lee” with Arturo Sandoval
“Ceora” with Chris Botti
“Giant Steps” with Eddie Daniels
“From Within” with Michel Camilo
“Spain”
“Modhina” with Luciana Souza
“You Must Believe In Spring”
“My Song”
“More Than Yesterday”
“See The World”
“Curumin” with Frank Gambale
“Waltz For Debbie”
“One Note Samba”

# # #

The post Damian Draghici Helps Romanian Refugees Realize The American Dream appeared first on Great Scott P.R.oductions - Rick Scott.

The entrancing single on which electronic beats bombard the senses before chill tenor and soprano sax leads and a soothing trumpet undercurrent take command of the illusion is one of nine new songs on the session, eight of which were composed or co-composed by Cole. The tune reflects his hometown roots and ardor for Chicago’s dance music scene. It’s one of three major cities that helped shape the collection.

“I embarked on ‘Turn It Up’ with the goal of making music with great musicians and great friends in great cities. This time around I wrote much of the music with Dave Mann in New York City. We recorded horns, guitars and vocals there as well. The energy in that great city was truly inspiring and it really is reflected in the music. Next stop was Minneapolis, where I worked with the great keyboardist and producer Ricky Peterson. Ricky and I wrote the song ‘Workhouse’ together, a track influenced by our love of Chicago house music. Dave joined us later in Minneapolis to record Ricky on the Hammond B3 organ as well as to record my Chicago pals, bassist Lamar Jones and drummer Khari Parker. I decided to track all of the saxophone parts in Minneapolis as well,” explained Cole, who has a slate of festival and club dates running into mid-October to help support the album release.

Cole and Mann have been collaborating ever since Cole’s sophomore record, Between Us (2000). In addition to helming the production on “Turn It Up,” multi-instrumentalist Mann often shadows Cole on alto and soprano sax to add depth, thickness, volume and intensity to the layers upon layers of horns – alto, tenor and soprano saxophones, trumpet, trombone and flute. Aside from the back-to-back dance music workouts that close the album, Cole’s energizing pop melodies and hooky harmonies on the disc are presented as soulful R&B joints. The saxman dusted off Bobby Womack’s “Woman’s Gotta Have It,” teamed up with fresh-faced keyboardist Nicholas Cole on “Turn It Up!” and yielded the spotlight on “Bright Side” to Pieces of a Dream’s James Lloyd, the author of the sunny mid-tempo smile, who solos on piano.

“In the end, I really accomplished what I set out to do,” Cole surmised. “The music reflects all of the diverse backgrounds and personalities that brought it to life. There was a lot of laughter and good times throughout this journey. I think that’s why I’ve got such a big smile on my face on the album cover. After all, it’s supposed to be fun…and it sure was!”

Cole’s 1998 award-winning arrival onto the contemporary jazz scene was the Brian Culbertson-produced “Stay Awhile” that spawned a pair of No. 1 singles. Solo tours and prominent sideman gigs with Culbertson, Boz Scaggs, Rick Braun, Peter White, Jeff Lorber and Larry Carlton served to rapidly multiply his fervent fan base exponentially while successive albums and singles repeatedly took Cole to the top of the charts, establishing him as a radio playlist favorite. In addition to his own recordings, Cole records and performs regularly as a member of Sax Pack, an all-star sax combo consisting of rotating members Jeff Kashiwa, Kim Waters, Jackiem Joyner and Marcus Anderson. For more information, please visit www.SteveCole.net.

The songs contained on “Turn It Up” are:

“Sidechain”
“Turn It Up!”
“Reverence”
“She’s The One”
“Bright Side”
“Woman’s Gotta Have It”
“Laws Of Attraction”                                                                                                         
“Life Is A Groove”
“Workhouse”
“Mirage”

Catch Cole in concert on the following dates:

June 16-19                           London, England                                  Pizza Express
July 4                                         Irondale, AL                                            Jazz in the Park
July 14                                      Branford, CT                                            Branford Jazz on the Green
July 15                                      Norfolk, VA                                               Norfolk Waterfront Jazz Festival
July 16                                      Atlanta, GA                                              Wade Ford Concert Series – Mable House
August 14                               Long Beach, CA                                     Long Beach Jazz Festival
August 17                               Dearborn, MI                                         Jazz on the Ave
August 18                               Philadelphia, PA                                  South Jazz Club
August 20                               San Antonio, TX                                                      Big Bib Too
September 3                        Pensacola, FL                                        Gulf Coast Summerfest – Jazz Edition
September 16                     Denver, CO                                              Soiled Dove Underground
October 15-16                                      Rehoboth Beach, DE                         Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival

# # #

The post Steve Cole Previews New Album With Mesmerizing “Mirage” appeared first on Great Scott P.R.oductions - Rick Scott.

Brown and Whalum moved their families into Braun’s Los Angeles-area home for a week of brotherly bonding and merry music making. Each member of the triumvirate arrived with creative ideas for new songs. The sound concept is loose, spontaneous and fun garage band grooves that incorporate elements from each musician’s hometown roots: Whalum’s Memphis backyard barbecue soul, Brown’s Kansas City cool jazz and Braun’s sweaty Philly funk. Of special interest is the clever incorporation of Indian music motifs along with Whalum’s flute on the exotic amalgam “Bolly Bop.” Organic, spirited, live-sounding instrumentals ignited by combustive horn power and raw R&B guitar riffs, a few singalong vocal choruses (“Bust A Move,” “Lemonade” and “Turn Up”) and cooed come-ons (“I Want You Girl” and “Hey Baby”) add to the boisterous party tone of the disc.

BWB has already begun touring nationally in support of the new release with a busy slate of festival headline dates on the books through summer. The threesome first jammed in 2002 to record a set of covers packaged as “Groovin’” and reunited in 2013 to pay tribute to Michael Jackson’s songbook on “Human Nature.” The ten handcrafted tracks that make up “B.W.B.” bode to become radio hits and fan favorites, establishing the new project as a legitimate contender for “event album of the year.”

Below is a sampling of the initial album reviews:

“Like their splendid work of the past, ‘BWB’ is another terrific set of songs that plays to the strengths of its prodigious personnel, with prodigious being the key word!” – The Urban Music Scene

“The uber talented trio brings us an eclectic jazz collection of 10 tracks that make you hit repeat on your CD player time and time again. Their exceptional talents as soul-jazzsters is an event to be savored with each release, and with Rick Braun coming up with some brilliantly layered and fast-flowing arrangements on ‘BWB,’ you already know the album is one you need in your jazz collection.” – Exclusive Magazine

“Smoking stuff that even brings soul and gusto to commercial music. A winner throughout.” – Midwest Record

“This newest effort is a complete kaleidoscope of funk and charm and spells out all the reason you need to believe that BWB is dangerously good.” – The Smooth Jazz Ride

“Classic, smooth jazz purveyed by three of its leading exponents.” – Soul and Jazz and Funk

“Undoubtedly one of the albums of the year.” – No Solo Smooth Jazz

For more information, please visit https://www.mackavenue.com/artists/bwb.

The post Home Cooking Is Winning Recipe For Super Trio B.W.B. appeared first on Great Scott P.R.oductions - Rick Scott.