Month: October 2016

LINDSEY WEBSTER GETS “BACK TO YOUR HEART”

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The smooth, effortless voice of Lindsey Webster has been compared to Sade. However, make no mistake; Lindsey Webster is in a league of her own. Lindsey recently signed with Shanachie Entertainment and has the first vocal number one to grace the Contemporary Jazz charts. Her song “Fool Me Once” was the first to have that honor since Sade’s “Soldier Of Love.” That is quite an accomplishment in a genre where men are the majority. Webster says, “this honor has changed the game for me. Once a dream comes into fruition, it really lights a fire.” Her highly awaited new album, “Back To Your Heart,” will be released on November 4th. Lindsey is excited about the endless possibilities and looks forward to touring and sharing with audiences around the world. I asked Lindsey what “Back To Your Heart” represents to her. She says, “it is an accurate representation of who I am as an artist.”

Listen to my conversation with Lindsey:

lindsey-webster

 

Jazz fusion guitarist Tyler Reese rediscovers his creative muse on “Reminiscence,” arriving November 4

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“Moving On”: Jazz fusion guitarist Tyler Reese

rediscovers his creative muse on “Reminiscence,” arriving November 4.    

NASHVILLE (12 October 2016): Guitarist Tyler Reese found that being a busy Nashville session player all week and touring in a country band every weekend left little time to explore his own musical creativity. The 23-year-old, once summoned to Paisley Park to play for Prince and who studied at the feet of jazz guitar legend Pat Metheny, re-immersed himself in the music that first sparked his passion and imagination: jazz fusion. Carving time to revisit his roots resulted in the varied guitar-driven, jazz odyssey titled “Reminiscence,” featuring ten of his original compositions. The platter, produced by Jeff Silverman (Rick Springfield, Hiroshima, The Allman Brothers Band, Tim Weisberg) and Reese, will be released on November 4 and is prefaced at radio by the spirit-lifting, sweetly melodic acoustic guitar sojourn “Moving On.”

Reese composed “Reminiscence” to be an ambitious and intrepid expedition through vast jazz terrain. Most tracks slash through thickets of electric guitar-powered fusion, horn-highlighted funk and sprawling progressive rock. Others present delicate bouquets of acoustic guitar expressions, fragrant stems of gypsy jazz and new age meditations. Whether gracefully strumming gentle harmonies or dexterously plucking frenetic runs at dazzling speed with turn-on-the-dime precision, Reese’s fretwork primarily serves his engaging compositions, enabling his fingers to communicate evocatively and emote vividly.

“The seed of my inspiration for ‘Reminiscence’ came from needing a creative change and a musical recharge – something fresh and new – so I delved into writing and found myself back at my jazz roots and renewed my love of fusion. It has rekindled my musical soul. I hadn’t realized that I had so many ideas floating around in my head. The writing and production process was fun and inspiring, but challenging and liberating at the same time. The body of work is truly no holds barred, which is exactly what I was going for,” said Reese, a Fredericksburg, Virginia native who will return to the area to perform on November 20 at the Riverside Center and November 23 at The Tin Pan in Richmond. “I was never too much into songwriting, but after moving to Nashville and spending the past few years playing so many gigs, traveling extensively and going through certain life experiences, I was inspired to write. ‘Reminiscence’ encompasses all those experiences and places I’ve gotten to see, all of which are reflected in the writing.”

Reese studied classical piano for 14 years beginning at age three and started studying jazz guitar when he turned twelve. He cranked out his first album at age 15, “Risus21,” an energetic, moody and heavy progressive rock foray. Two years later, his “Because I Can” disc put a contemporary funk, rock and blues spin on a collection of straight-ahead jazz standards. He recorded a duets project two years ago with longtime Prince backup singer Elisa Fiorillo-Dease titled “Life in 20,” which is how he came to the attention of the late purple icon. Impressed, Prince flew the guitarist to Minneapolis for a jam session and carefully studied the young prodigy’s technique. Reese attended a master’s guitar clinic taught by Metheny and calls the 20-time Grammy winner a mentor. During his sophomore year as a jazz performance guitar major at Berklee College of Music, Reese released a rock single, “Simply To Choose,” his first collaboration with Silverman, who recruited the rock band Boston’s Kimberely Dahme to sing on the track. Feeling he learned all he could in the classroom, Reese left college early eager to launch his professional career.

Released on the Tyler Reese Music label, the “Reminiscence” album contains the following songs:

“Moving On”

“Breaking Point”

“Out Of Orbit”

“Reflections”

“Astrotermination”

“2Funk”

“Escapade”

“Reminiscence”

“Headed Out”

“Emancipation”

Bonus Track: “Moving On” Radio Edit

For more information, please visit www.TylerReeseMusic.com

Grammy-winning hit-maker Paul Brown follows his heart “Back” to his roots

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Grammy-winning hit-maker Paul Brown follows his heart “Back” to his roots

The urban-jazz guitarist releases the bluesy “One Way Back” on Friday, an album on which he collaborates with four contemporary jazz guitar giants and another Paul Brown.

SHERMAN OAKS (30 September 2016): Paul Brown has had the Midas touch since the early ‘90s when he began producing some of the biggest contemporary jazz hits and definitive chart-topping albums by the brightest urban-jazz stars in the galaxy, amassing more than 60 Billboard No. 1 singles. In the past twelve years, the guitarist stepped forward as an artist in his own right, consistently cranking out hits of his own. Although his formative recordings established the sound of the smoother side of contemporary jazz for more than two decades, Brown yearned to reconnect with his first musical passion: the blues. On Friday, Woodward Avenue Records issued his eighth solo collection, “One Way Back,” a self-produced ten-track outing on which he followed his heart back to his blues roots.

“There was only one way back to my roots and that was to go down every road and embrace each one of them in order to find my way back to where I began,” said Brown, a two-time Grammy winner who wrote nine new tunes for the disc that was preceded by a reimagined take on Joe Sample’s party starter “Put It Where You Want It,” currently bulleted at No. 8 on the Billboard singles chart.

Bubbling under Brown’s clean and cool electric jazz guitar expressions throughout “One Way Back” are blues-powered keyboard and Hammond B3 organ blasts courtesy of the similarly-named Brother Paul Brown (no relation) and stacks of muscular horn section workouts from saxophonist Greg Vail and trumpeter-horn arranger Lee Thornberg. Having enjoyed a tremendous amount of success producing signature hits for saxophonists Boney James, Kirk Whalum, Euge Groove and Jessy J, Brown invited label mate saxman Darren Rahn to guest on “Sexy Thang.” Guitar fans will rejoice that four cuts – “Piccadilly Circus,” “River Walk,” “Take Flight” and “Rear View Mirror”- spotlight Brown trading stringed barbs with contemporary jazz guitar sensations Chris Standring, Marc Antoine, Peter White and Chuck Loeb respectively. Standring, Antoine and White stand apart using the voice of nylon guitars while Fourplay’s Loeb emotes deftly on jazz guitar. The session boasts a roof-raising gospel-jazz vocal from Don Bryant on the celebratory juke joint original “Well Alright.” Brown himself takes to the mic to croon the intimate “Heaven,” a poignant, heart-on-the-sleeve country-blues album closer spotlighting the artist’s character-rich voice.

“’One Way Back’ is a journey thru my musical and life experiences. This album is a pure sense of expression and everything I’ve got to give,” said Brown before adding, “I’m a much better guitarist, producer and writer now than ever before.”

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Calif., initially Brown was a drummer before picking up the guitar. After learning his way around the recording studio, he became the engineer for R&B legends Diana Ross, Luther Vandross and Aretha Franklin. Moving over into the producer’s seat, Brown almost single-handedly architected the sound of smooth/contemporary jazz since the 1990s before delivering his solo debut in 2004, “Up Front.” From subsequent albums, three of which went Top 10, two singles -2005’s “Winelight” and 2007’s “The Rhythm Method” – were the most-played radio songs of their respective years. Concert performances around the world enabled him to refine and develop his guitar chops as well as cultivate his fan base far beyond the limiting confines of a recording studio. For more information, please visit www.PaulBrownJazz.com.

Brown’s “One Way Back” album contains the following songs:

“Put It Where You Want It”

“Sexy Thang” (featuring Darren Rahn)

“Hush”

“Piccadilly Circus” (featuring Chris Standring)

“River Walk” (featuring Marc Antoine)

“Well Alright” (featuring Don Bryant)

“Take Flight” (featuring Peter White)

“One Way Back”

“Rear View Mirror” (featuring Chuck Loeb)

“Heaven”

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