KEIKO MATSUI’S “JOURNEY TO THE HEART”

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Pianist, humanitarian, and composer Keiko Matsui is celebrating her 30th anniversary of recording. Admittedly, for Keiko, it doesn’t feel like it has been that long. On August 5th, “Journey To The Heart” was released, and as of August 17th, debuted at #1 on Billboard Contemporary Jazz Charts. Throughout the years, Keiko has always written from her heart and embraced what was relevant in her life at any particular time. She’s not only a brilliant musician; she is a humanitarian who makes it her business to shine a light on issues around the world. Her humble spirit can be felt in her music as well as her passion. Keiko states,”‘Journey To The Heart’ is my gift to my fans. I want to deliver the most beautiful and emotional experience.” Undoubtedly, she has once again conveyed her message. Each song has a personality of its own and tells its own story. “Journey To The Heart” arouses every human sense and emotion. Using an acoustic approach, Keiko created a whole new energy resembling change and a new life chapter. Narrowing down over 100 melodic ideas, Keiko takes listeners on a “Journey To The Heart” saying “my melodies are my living testimony.”

My friend and I talk about her incredible journey:

Keiko Matsui 3

 

LET’S “OPEN THE CURTAINS” WITH CAROL DUBOC

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Carol Duboc encompasses an impeccable voice. However, she is also a composer, pianist, engineer, and producer. Carol has worked with some of the very best in music and has shown she is quite the force herself. Among peers, in the studio, and on stage, Carol is dynamite. Recently, Duboc released her eighth album titled “OPEN THE CURTAINS”–a title expressing the sentiments shared by her daughter Anna and herself. Why not “OPEN THE CURTAINS,” some may say? Through the music, Carol empowers women to step on out and know that you are important; just another poetic collection of songs stemming from her personal experiences and desire to rise above all circumstances. Carol enlisted girl power like no other to join her on this album. She called on colleagues Patrice Rushen, Sheila E., Bibi McGill, Queen Cora Coleman, Rhonda Smith, Aubrey Logan, and Mindi Abair. Having wrote seven songs on “OPEN THE CURTAINS,” she also wanted to highlight other female musicians that share her love for songwriting. So, she covered Patrice Rushen, of course, Peggy Lee, and Nina Simone. Recording the album was in her words an “enlightening experience.” Unbeknownst to her at the time, when the project was complete, it would become an empowering anthem for women. Carol is very clear about the message she feels and hopes fans can gain by hearing her music and that is: “let go and let God.”

Listen as Carol and I share another enlightening conversation:

Carol Duboc 3

Darren Barrett’s Trumpet Vibes pays tribute to “The Music of Amy Winehouse”

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Darren Barrett

 

Darren Barrett’s Trumpet Vibes pays tribute to

“The Music of Amy Winehouse”

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

BOSTON (27 July 2016): Trumpeter Darren Barrett, winner of the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, was flipping through cable television channels while taking a break from a recording session when he stumbled upon a live concert by Amy Winehouse. He had heard the buzz about the unconventional British artist, but hadn’t heard any of her music until that moment. The musician of Jamaican descent with a proclivity for incorporating reggae into his neo-bop jazz recordings was instantly struck by the way the rhythm & soul singer-songwriter infused reggae into her throwback tracks.

“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)

“TURN IT UP” WITH STEVE COLE

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Steve Cole’s latest album “TURN IT UP” has lived up to its name since it was released on July 15, 2016. His first single “Mirage” is already setting the tone for the album. It was the No. 1 most added on the Billboard BDS chart. Steve once again collaborated with David Mann who produced this project to create a collection of soulful tunes. His approach to making “TURN IT UP” was clever and genius. Steve decided to travel to a few different cities, recording with his musical colleagues to embrace the energy and differences of each one. The result was astounding and can be heard in every song on “TURN IT UP.” The title song was arranged by pianist Nicholas Cole who, coincidentally, arranged the title song to Steve’s last album, “Pulse.” Also joining Steve was James Lloyd on the song “Bright Side.” Steve is excited about touring and bringing “TURN IT UP” to life for his fans. He assures that the music comes to life when played live.

Steve and I talk about “TURN IT UP”:

Steve Cole (3)

 

 

Rob “Fonksta” Bacon will release debut single August 2, 2016 “Cause & E-Funk” (featuring The P-Funk Horns and Amp Fiddler) in honor of the late Bernie Worrell.

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RB SINGL GRAPH (SMALL)

Rob Bacon, also known as Rob “Fonksta” Bacon to fans around the world, is set to release his personal tribute to a Funk pioneer: legendary musician Bernie Worrell. Rob Bacon–guitarist, bassist, composer, producer, and artist–didn’t have to look far when creating “Cause & E-Funk.” In his personal quaint studio, Rob conjured up everything that existed within the deepest parts of his soul.

“Cause & E-Funk” features the original P-Funk horns (Bennie Cowan and Greg Thomas) and Detroit Funk legend Amp Fiddler on piano and synthesizers. “Cause & E-Funk” is Rob’s personal dedication to the memory of legendary musician and P-Funk alumni Bernie Worrell. The single was produced, arranged, and composed by Bacon. Reminiscing on the heyday of pure, un-cut funk, Rob was compelled to record an instrumental Dance Funk jam. He was driven to capture and celebrate the essence of classic Parliament-Funkadelic as well as conjure memories of fun and funky times he experienced while growing up in his hometown of Detroit.

Rob’s funky interweaving of guitars and synth bass are the glue that holds it all together. Bennie Cowan (trumpet) and Greg Thomas (saxophone) of the P-Funk Horns provide ridiculously funky horn riffs, and Rob’s Detroit Funk comrade Amp Fiddler nods to the legendary Bernie Worrell with clever and tasty piano and synthesizer fills.

“Cause & E-Funk” is set to be released on August 2nd, 2016 and will be available for download via all digital outlets worldwide. CDs of the single will be available soon after. For more information and inquiries contact mm2513@hotmail.com and stay tuned to the Rob “Fonksta” Bacon Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/RobFonkstaBacon/ for updates.

Monica H. Murphy

 

The Songbird of New Orleans is ready to spread her wings soulfully

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Robin Barnes

 

The Songbird of New Orleans is ready to spread her wings soulfully 

Award-winning jazz chanteuse Robin Barnes will release “Songbird Sessions” on August 26

NEW ORLEANS (21 July 2016): Having conquered hearts locally and captured media acclaim as “The Songbird of New Orleans,” award-winning jazz singer Robin Barnes is preparing to spread her soulful song beyond The Big Easy. On August 26, the powerfully-voiced siren who was named the Favorite New Orleans Musician earlier this year by New Orleans Magazine will issue her second EP, “Songbird Sessions,” on the Rhythm Elevation Records label. Barnes and bassist Pat Casey produced the intimate five-song acoustic jazz date of standards and gems made famous by her seminal influences such as New Orleans icons Allen Toussaint and Irma Thomas. The first track being serviced to radio is Barnes’s smoldering and sultry rendition of Thomas’s “Ruler of My Heart.”

Backed by Casey, drummers and percussionists Herlin Riley and Shannon Powell, and guitarists Steve Masakowski and Danny Abel, 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 RIPPINGTON’S TELL “TRUE STORIES”

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How do you celebrate thirty years of making music? You release your 22nd album in honor of such an accomplishment. The Rippington’s are celebrating their thirty year anniversary with the release of “True Stories.” The album was recorded with all original Rippington members. Rippington’s founder Russ Freeman is jubilant and is ever so grateful for the fans who have been with them and brought the group this far. As fans are well-aware, The Rippington’s never disappoint. The group is admired by their peers and revered for their talents. Over the years, they have collaborated with artists such as Bob James, Patti Austin, and Joe Sample. It is the group’s ability to combine varying styles of music that is unique. Russ always has a “visual point of reference” when writing new music. He always strives to push the envelope and lets his imagination guide him when recording new music. “True Stories” is comprised of ten original songs and features Jeffrey Osborne on the tune “My Promise.”

Russ and I talk about the music and “True Stories”:

RippingtonsTrueStories_cover_art

 

 

 

 

 

RippingtonsTrueStories_cover_art

Keyboardist Bob Baldwin’s “The Brazilian-American Soundtrack” is a sprawling urban-jazz exploration through Rio

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Bob Baldwin

Going for gold: Keyboardist Bob Baldwin’s

“The Brazilian-American Soundtrack,” released Friday, is a sprawling urban-jazz exploration through Rio.       

ATLANTA (1 July 2016): As the eyes of the world focus on Rio de Janeiro this summer, Red River Entertainment released a generous 26-song double disc of authentic Brazilian jazz rhythms and distinctly American R&B grooves on Friday from keyboardist Bob Baldwin entitled “The Brazilian-American Soundtrack.” The Grammy-nominated artist had a hand in writing twenty tunes for the collection that he produced in two movements, Movement I: Rio-Ipanema and Movement II: New York, that were recorded in Rio, New York City and Atlanta over a three-year period. The first single that will be serviced to radio stations for airplay is the pulsating club music meets sultry Latin music blend “Ipanema Fusion.”

“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)”

Imagineer Corrado Rustici explores expressive new sonicscapes using only the guitar on “Aham,” arriving July 15

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Corrado Rustici

 

Imagineer Corrado Rustici explores expressive new sonicscapes using only the guitar on “Aham,” arriving July 15  

SAN FRANCISCO (20 June 2016): Eager to emerge from the “trance” and “lack of imagination” plaguing electric guitarists for the past several decades, Corrado Rustici devoted six years to exploring sounds and expansive musical contexts utilizing only the guitar as his field of experimentation and expression. The imaginative results are the nine songs he composed that together form “Aham,” an audacious collection of ambient fusion, progressive jazz, ethereal rock, moody pop, and dramatic classical performed and produced by Rustici set for release in the U.S. on July 15.

 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”

Jazz luminaries help Romanian refugee realize “The American Dream”

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luminaries

 

Jazz luminaries help Romanian refugee realize

“The American Dream” 

Damian Draghici’s mission to introduce pan flute to bebop features Chris Botti, Arturo Sandoval, Michel Camilo, Eddie Daniels, Luciana Souza, Stanley Clarke, Brian Bromberg, Frank Gambale & others

WOODLAND HILLS (16 June 2016): A year before he escaped communism in his native Romania by walking through the mountains of Yugoslavia and into Greece, the seed of Damian Draghici’s dream was planted when he was just a 17-year-old teenager who snuck into a Bucharest nightclub to watch a set by an American jazz combo. Nearly 30 years later, his vision will finally come to fruition on July 8 when Century Jazz Records issues “The American Dream,” a 13-song disc of standards produced by Dan Siegel and Tom McCauley that showcases the pan flutist collaborating with nearly two dozen jazz, Brazilian and Latin music greats, Grammy winners, icons and top-shelf musicians. Preceding the album at jazz radio is the sultry bossa nova “Ceora,” an exquisite duet with trumpeter Chris Botti.

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”