THE JAZZ CHILL CORNER FRED HIRSCH & JULIAN LAGE TO RELEASE FREE FLYING 9/3/13 |  |
- FRED HIRSCH & JULIAN LAGE TO RELEASE FREE FLYING 9/3/13
- RISE EP - NEW REGGAE RELEASE FROM RIGHTEOUS
- NEW RELEASES - KEN PEPLOWSKI, ALI RYERSON JAZZ FLUTE BIG BAND, COLORADO CONSERVATORY FOR THE JAZZ ARTS
- DAVE BENNETT'S DON'T BE THAT WAY, AVAILABLE OCT. 15, 2013
- NEW RELEASES - JOHN FUNKHOUSER, NICKY SCHRIRE, PIERS FACCINI
- SALSA DE LA BAHIA: A COLLECTION OF SF BAY AREA SALSA & LATIN JAZZ FEATURING GIANTS ORESTES VILATO, JOHN SANTOS, JESUS DIAZ, JOHN CALLOWAY & BENNY VELARDE
- 70S SOUL & BOOGIE FROM THE SPANDETTES - SWEET & SACCHARINE
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Posted: 08 Aug 2013 03:54 PM PDT
If age and experience set pianist Fred Hersch and guitarist Julian Lage apart, superior musicianship and mutual respect bind them together. On their live duet recording, Free Flying, Hersch, a seasoned player and composer recognized as one of the most creative jazz personalities of his generation, finds common ground with Lage, a prenaturally gifted player whose astonishing command of his instrument belies his age. With a mood as spirited as it is lyrical, Free Flying -- recorded at the New York club Kitano in February of 2013 - highlights the intuitive give-and-take that announces itself as an inspired musical meeting of two exceptional players who trust each other completely. The CD will be released on September 3, 2013 on the Palmetto label.
Hersch and Lage concentrate on six of the pianist's previously recorded originals including "Songs Without Words #3 & #4"; the tribute compositions, "Gravity's Pull (for Mary Joe Salter)," "Free Flying (for Egberto Gismonti)," "Heartland (for Art Lande)" and "Down Home (for Bill Frisell)"; the jazz standards, "Monk's Dream" and "Beatrice" (by Sam Rivers), as well as the previously unrecorded Hersch original, "Stealthiness (for Jim Hall)." Each provides the two with sufficient room to exhibit the conversational flow of melodic ideas and rhythmic play that distinguishes their unique partnership.
Although duets may be second nature to Hersch - he's recorded numerous one-on-one albums with many vocalists and instrumentalists, and has featured duo performances on his own recordings, including the acclaimed Fred Hersch & Friends: The Duo Album (which included an alliance with Jim Hall) - Hersch had only once before recorded a full album partnered with a guitarist: Songs We Know, his 1998 encounter with Bill Frisell. As it turns out, Lage had been assiduously absorbing
that album since he was an eight-year-old guitar wunderkind. Conversant with Hersch's playing, Lage - who, by the time he met the pianist in 2010, had already achieved considerable attention for his work with Gary Burton and others - began playing occasional duo gigs with him at Hersch's invitation.
"Julian is a very deep and sensitive player for his age," says Hersch. "He's done his homework and knows the jazz language in a very deep way. He's got a special sound that's both solid and transparent, and our sounds are very compatible; he's very open to the way I play. He's a wonderful young man and it is a pleasure working with him."
Lage, for his part, also had experience working in musical duo settings, including recording with mandolin virtuoso David Grisman and pianist Taylor Eigsti. "The duo is my favorite setting," says Lage. "And Fred has always knocked me out. His playing always has such a strong sense of narrative; it's sophisticated, so well developed and beautifully conveyed. When I play with him it's like having the best seat in the house!"
"Fred is open to whatever I do," continues Lage. "It can feel like jumping into a sandbox and going crazy. I try to avoid the tendency to match what he is doing. I often find that some of the most creative playing comes when I oppose what Fred has just played. I try to think of what would be expected and then not do that."
Such attentiveness to remaining in the moment and reacting accordingly is one of the prime delights of Free Flying. As Hersch puts it, "We play the tune before us. We try to stay in the world that the tune puts us in."
Although Hersch has his hands in a multitude of musical projects, and Lage is similarly busy, the duo will continue. "We fully intend to keep this going as a working project, " says Hersch.
November of 2013 will find the duo playing Northeast club engagements including:
www.fredhersch.com
www.julianlage.com
www.palmetto-records.com
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Posted: 08 Aug 2013 12:20 PM PDT
JahLight Records have worked their magic once again. Their new reggae release by Righteous has hit the market with a bang. The 'Rise EP' was released on July 30th, 2013, through BFM Digital. It is available on major digital e-tailers like Amazon, ITunes and more. The first single that was released much before the release of reggae EP was the track 'Don't wanna be with you.' The other tracks which are released as part of the EP are Rise Up, His Grace, Let's Go Dancing and Reflections. As reviewed by the brilliant Achis of Achis Blog, the definitive highlight of the EP is the aforementioned 'Rise Up'. It is described as a 'beautiful praising tune from the vocalist and a sterling display of his curious talents'.
In this EP, Righteous uses the singjay style of singing to a great effect of blending styles and emotions, making for a powerful display. Righteous, who had been recording music professionally with JahLight Records since 2012, was given his singing name by the executive manager, Akeunde Pemberton. Akeunde thought that this name suited his music and the message that he wanted to impart through his music. The message of Righteous on 'Rise EP' is that of love. Love in its true form. Genuine agape love – the love that is between brothers, between husband and wife. Pure love that has no deceit. The love that God has for his children. For all you reggae music fans, this new reggae EP album is truly going to touch your hearts and bring a whole new meaning to the word 'love'.
Trinidad based Akeunde Pemberton and his JahLight Records team has truly come up with a unique brand of reggae music. It is a kind of music that will be enjoyed by one and all. Music that not only entertains but also spreads a message, bringing positivity and enlightening the lives of one and all who listen to their music.
So, what are you waiting for? Don't miss the opportunity! Get your copy and enjoy the new reggae EP 'Rise' from the very talented Righteous and the label, JahLight Records.
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Posted: 08 Aug 2013 11:45 AM PDT
KEN PEPLOWSKI - MAYBE SEPTEMBER
Master clarinetist and saxophonist Ken Peplowski's Maybe September featuring an A-list band with pianist Ted Rosenthal, bassist Martin Wind and drummer Matt Wilson, Ken Peplowski's new CD is a mainstream treasure. Maybe September brings together bedrock composers including Irving Berlin, Harry Warren, and Percy Faith; the jazz titans, Duke Ellington and Artie Shaw; and pop giants Brian Wilson, Nilsson, and the unparalleled team of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, while also finding space for the celebrated French composer, Francis Poulenc ("Romanza" from his Sonata for clarinet and piano) and the less celebrated Bill Trader ("Now and Then). There's a Fool Such As I" - a hit for both the C&W stalwart Hank Snow, and later, the legendary Elvis Presley.
ALI RYERSON JAZZ FLUTE BIG BAND - GAME CHANGER
Working in tandem with sympathetic arrangers including Michael Abene, Mike Wofford and Bill Cunliffe, Ryerson directs a 16-flute section bolstered by such prominent stylists as Jaime Baum and Ryerson herself, as well as such celebrated guest soloists as Hubert Laws, Nestor Torres and Holly Hofmann. By taking on such cherished jazz compositions as "Stolen Moments," "Impressions," "Con Alma," "Lil' Darlin'" and "Daahoud," the JFBB proves that, in the right hands, a cadre of flutes can have the power, force and drive of a conventional horn-driven ensemble. In that respect, the album is indeed a game changer.
COLORADO CONSERVATORY FOR THE JAZZ ARTS - HANG TIME
If Greg Gisbert and Eric Gunnison are the most recognizable names associated with Hang Time - the new recording by the ensembles of the Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts - that's perfectly understandable. While Gisbert is a widely admired trumpeter with numerous albums that carry his credit, and Gunnison is an accomplished pianist who has worked with the likes of Carmen McCrae and The Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band and a respected Denver-based educator, the other members of the two CCJA bands featured on Hang Time are comprised of student musicians who have yet to make established names for themselves. Hang Time is yet more hard evidence that jazz is still issuing a siren's call to young players, and that the music remains brimming with promise.
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Posted: 08 Aug 2013 11:35 AM PDT
In the early days of jazz, the clarinet joined with trumpet and trombone to create the music's signature sound, and it ruled the roost in the Swing Era, when jazz was America's popular music and dance-party soundtrack. If anyone can return the clarinet to its heyday, it's Dave Bennett, who fuses serious jazz improvisation with a host of modern pop influences.
On his Mack Avenue Records debut Don't Be That Way, he shows that his skills and interests make him perfectly suited for the job.
He stays within the mainstream repertoire, and even covers several of the most famous hit records of the 1930s (by Goodman and such contemporaneous clarinetists as Woody Herman and Artie Shaw). But Bennett updates these songs with up-to-date twists and surprising new arrangements. The result is an album that blazes his own path while still acknowledging his predecessors, and spotlights the jazz clarinet for a new generation.
"St. James Infirmary," the ancient New Orleans blues tune, offers one example of Bennett's tasteful revisionism. "I took some ideas from listening to pianist Bob James, and to some smooth jazz and funk, to come up with those voicings," says the 29-year-old prodigy, referring to the contemporary harmonies that underlie both the clarinet's theme statement and his own laconic, sweet-tobacco vocal. On the title track, Bennett and company apply a lightly bossa-inspired beat, stretching the melody here and there to create a contemporary rendition that's more relaxed than the original 1938 recording but equally memorable.
The most striking evidence of Bennett's approach comes on the classic "Sing, Sing, Sing." Goodman's 1937 recording was an extended-length barnburner, in which Gene Krupa essentially "invented" the drum solo with his simmering and then explosive trap-set improvisation. Bennett's version stays close to the original in tempo and mood. But when it comes time for the solo with which Krupa galvanized the jazz world of the 1930s, it's Bennett who steps to the fore, with an improvisation just as exotic, mysterious, and ultimately exuberant as the that long-ago drum break - and with an even greater degree of nuance, variety, and virtuosity.
By turning the song into a modernist showcase for his clarinet, Bennett turns the song on its ear, yet retains its design as an exhilarating showstopper. This is no longer your grandfather's "Sing Sing Sing;" now it's Bennett's.
"Since my early teens," says the Michigan-based clarinetist, "I've been influenced by many other genres besides jazz. My clarinet solo on that tune keeps the same outline, but it's different every time we play it; it's based on chord progressions I hear in movie soundtracks, and I even stole some licks from some Alice Cooper tunes and from some solos by Stevie Ray Vaughan and other blues guitarists, just to get that kind of intensity. I think I'm finally finding my own voice, and I wanted to make that solo as dramatic as possible, so people wouldn't say I was just copying Benny."
Bennett hastens to share credit for the reconceptualization of this music with the album's arranger, Shelly Berger, whom he met through Tad Weed, the pianist in Bennett's group. "I had told Tad that I was really frustrated with where I was musically, and he said, 'I know this arranger in Toronto who seems to think the same way you do, in terms of blending pop with classic jazz.' So I listened to some of his music and then sent an e-mail, out of the blue, to introduce myself; I just told him 'I really like your stuff, and would you like to do this project with me?'
"When he said yes, I drove up to Toronto and we spent a few days brainstorming - and I was on Cloud 9. I thought, 'This cat gets it.' I would tell him the ideas I had for each song, and write out the chords, and ask him to come up with a creative way of pulling that together. My musical knowledge is limited; I can't write out arrangements, and I couldn't have put together the charts for this album. I think this project would not be what it is without Shelly. And I can learn so much from studying his arrangements that I hope it will increase my own knowledge as well."
Bennett is not being modest when he calls his training "limited": almost entirely self-taught, he received his only formal instruction in the school band. And in terms of playing jazz, he had no formal lessons whatsoever while he was developing into one of the most lionized and accomplished young artists on today's scene. Born in 1984 in Pontiac, Michigan, the pre-teen Bennett didn't see himself as a musician. As he recalls, "In fifth grade, when the option to join the school band came along, I didn't think I would be any good at an instrument. But the idea of playing intrigued me. And then my grandfather said, in a sort of 'Holy Spirit' moment, 'I think you'd enjoy playing the clarinet.' He just came out with it, and then he and Grandma went down to the local pawn shop and bought me a plastic Conn clarinet to try out."
Even though he was growing up in a time far removed from the Swing Era and the technology (AM radio, 78 RPM records) that produced it, Bennett already had an appreciation for the era's music from the soundtracks of the old Abbott & Costello movies he watched at home. "And then about a month later, Grandpa bought me a cassette tape of Benny Goodman - and that's what did it. I completely flipped out: it hit me square between the eyes, and I knew at that moment that this is what I wanted to do with my life." He set out to model his clarinet playing after that of Goodman, as well as that of Pete Fountain, the New Orleans clarinetist who kept the trad-jazz sound vital throughout the 1960s and '70s.
"Prior to music, my main interest was drawing and artwork, and I wasn't listening to a lot of the music the other kids were into. When everyone heard I liked this music from my grandparents, they looked at me like I had three heads. But once I played it for them, they really liked it."
By the time he turned 14, Bennett's prowess had come to the attention of various Michigan-based trad-jazz bands, and he began to taste the life of a touring musician. At 17 he was chosen as one of two guest soloists (from a national field of 600) to perform with the Count Basie Orchestra; a couple years later he spent a brief time as part of the renowned Hot Club of Detroit. In 2005, at the ripe old age of 21, he created his own combo to perform his Tribute To Benny Goodman, which has performed throughout the U.S. and Canada. He has also appeared as guest soloist with more than 30 classical "pops" orchestras (including eight such concerts with the Detroit Symphony), and will make his debut with the famed New York Pops Orchestra in the fall of 2013, in a tribute celebrating Goodman's original Carnegie Hall concert.
Address this juncture of his life and career, Bennett says now, "I was trying to 'break free' [from the restraints of past styles] and couldn't quite get there. But Shelly [Berger] was able to make it very coherent, and in the studio he kept everything moving along." So in one sense, Don't Be That Way is more than the title for a collection of freshly imagined Swing Era classics. It could just as well be Bennett's admonition to himself on his Mack Avenue debut - to step out as a fully independent artist, steeped in but not beholden to the way things were done in the past.
Upcoming Dave Bennett Performances:
August 14 / Nardin Park Methodist Church / Farmington Hills, MI
August 30 - September 1 / Jockey Club, Labor Day Jazz Festival / Mackinac Island, MI
November 1 / Carnegie Hall (w/ New York Pops) / New York, NY
November 2 / Suffolk Theatre / Riverhead, NY
November 27 - 30 / San Diego Jazz Festival / San Diego, CA
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Posted: 08 Aug 2013 11:10 AM PDT
Pianist John Funkhouser's fourth album Still, ranges from progressive originals to inspired Monk and a reinvented "House of the Rising Sun." To be released September 12, the CD features Funkhouser's Trio with with bassist Greg Loughman and drummer Mike Connors, plus two kindred-spirit guests: guitarist Phil Sargent and vocalist Aubrey Johnson. A native of the Boston area currently living in Needham, MA, multi-instrumentalist and composer John Funkhouser was educated at Cornell University and New England Conservatory. After living in New York, he returned to Boston in 2001 to teach at the Berklee College of Music. Besides leading his trio, Funkhouser is in demand as both a pianist and a bassist, having shared the stage with luminaries from Grammy-nominated vocalists Luciana Souza and Tierney Sutton to piano icon Ran Blake and Afro-Cuban drummer Francisco Mela to South Indian percussionist Trichy Sankaran and the world-jazz group Natraj. He has been featured as a bass soloist with New England Philharmonic Orchestra and with the MIT Wind Ensemble. Along with participating in the recording of more than 60 albums, Funkhouser has performed in venues from New York's Blue Note, Birdland and Dizzy's to the New Orleans Jazz Festival and Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center. International tours have taken him to Paris, Singapore, Aruba, Zurich, South Africa and Montreal. He has appeared on Lifetime Television, ABC's 20/20, NBC's Today Show and NPR. He is currently an associate professor at Berklee, teaching bass, piano, ear training, and ensembles.
NICKY SCHRIRE - SPACE AND TIME
Born in London to South African parents and then raised in South Africa after age 5, the 27-year-old, New York-based Schrire grew up playing saxophone in big bands, and arranged the music for all of the songs on Space and Time, just as she did for her debut album, Freedom Flight - which All About Jazz called one of the best albums of 2012, saying: "In the crowded world of jazz vocals, it helps to have a distinctive voice or a distinctive repertoire. Schrire scores on both counts." Space and Time presents a unity in diversity: Schrire not only puts a fresh spin on standards by the Gershwins ("Someone to Watch Over Me") and Irving Berlin ("Say It Isn't So"); she reaches beyond the usual jazz songbook to reinterpret numbers by the Beatles ("Here Comes the Sun"), British trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack ("Teardrop) and French star Charles Trenet ("I Wish You Love"). Space and Time also includes her take on the late South African bassist-composer Victor Ntoni's "Seliyana." Then there are four of Schrire's own, touching original songs, which draw on a wide world of influences.
PIERS FACCINI - BETWEEN DOGS AND WOLVES
British-born singer-songwriter Piers Faccini's fifth solo studio album, Between Dogs and Wolves, is an intimate suite of songs focusing on the themes of love and desire, Between Dogs and Wolves depicts the unknowable and indefinable spaces between these themes, spirit and animal, between the wild and the tamed. With several albums already behind him, Faccini felt a strong calling to take his music to new places as yet unexplored. "I tried to work with several different aspects of the immense subject of love," he explains. "Some songs deal with the search for love or the quest for unity that we play out seeking a lover, other songs concern nostalgia and memory in the context of desire. I wanted to create a large, existential tableau around the subject of love, relationships, sexuality and desire." The journey is a reflective one, a collection of soulful meditations. Faccini's low-key vocal performances -- described as "a whisper of grand mysteries" by The New York Times -- are front and center in the mix, accompanied variously by double bass, guitar, cello, harmonium, dulcimer, kora and echoes of analog electronica -- all acoustic. Faccini played and recorded all of the instruments himself, except the bass, which was played by longtime collaborator Jules Bikoko, and the cello, contributed by Dom la Nena (Faccini co-produced la Nena's latest album Ela, now out on Six Degrees Records). Both musicians also supply harmony vocals.
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Posted: 08 Aug 2013 10:39 AM PDT
Rather than dwelling on the reasons why the San Francisco Bay Area's longtime role as a creative hothouse for Latin jazz and salsa has been overlooked and undervalued for half a century, trombonist/arranger Wayne Wallace and filmmaker Rita Hargraves decided to let the music speak for itself. Scheduled for release on Wallace's Patois label on August 13, Salsa De La Bahía is a two-CD companion piece to Hargraves' celebratory documentary The Last Mambo, which traces the evolution of the Bay Area's Latin music scene from Cal Tjader, Benny Velarde, and the Escovedo Brothers to present day masters such as John Santos, Jesus Diaz, and Anthony Blea. The Last Mambo DVD will be released on Patois in spring 2014.
More than a historical survey of the singular sounds that have emerged from the Bay Area, the album opens and closes with three thrilling pieces recorded especially for the project by Estrellas De La Bahia, an all-star orchestra encompassing many of the scene's key players. The package includes extensive liner notes by Jesse "Chuy" Varela, who has incisively chronicled the Bay Area scene for more than three decades as a journalist (JazzTimes, Latin Beat, The San Francisco Chronicle) and DJ and music director for KCSM.
"Rita was inspired to make The Last Mambo by the closing of Jelly's," Wallace says, referring to one of several popular San Francisco salsa spots that closed in rapid succession in 2010. "I suggested we do something that documented and captured the whole scene. We're calling this 'volume one' because we had to leave some bands out, like Conjunto Céspedes, but we were able to really capture what was a golden age, and to show what's going on in our scene today (which very well may look like a golden age in retrospect)."
The fact that all of the bands featured on the CD are active, save for the Machete Ensemble, speaks to the scene's vitality. At the same time, all the music, except for the three Estrellas De La Bahia tracks, was originally released on indie labels, which goes a long way toward explaining why so much of it stayed under the national media radar. The album opens with "Canto, Clave y Candela," a benediction by Edgardo Cambom that serves as a roll call for the album's guiding spirits. Wallace's "El Espirtu Del Mambo" provides a vital survey of the scene's essential voices, with brief, incisive solos by Bahia bandleaders (John Santos and Jesus Diaz) and invaluable sidemen (such as pianist Murray Low, bassist David Belove, and saxophonist Melecio Magdaluyo). The project closes with "Rumba Para Paul," a beautiful and soulful tribute to the beloved drummer Paul van Wageningen, an integral part of the Bay Area scene for more than three decades until his death in 2012.
Part of what makes the Bay Area's Latin music scene so distinct from New York or Miami is the lack of a Caribbean critical mass. The region received an infusion of Cuban rhythms in the early 1950s via vibraphonist/drummer Cal Tjader, who became fascinated with Cuban grooves as a member of the George Shearing Quintet. When Tjader launched his own Latin jazz band in the early 1950s he ensured a steady flow of top Cuban percussion talent to the Bay Area, most notably masters such as Armando Peraza, Mongo Santamaria, and Willie Bobo. The Panamanian-born percussionist Benny Velarde was present at the creation, recording with Tjader on his classic 1954 Mambo albums for Fantasy. He's represented here by two tracks with his Su Super Combo. The following generation, who came of age in the 1970s, is vividly captured via tracks by flutist/composer John Calloway and percussionist John Santos, whose improvisation-laced Machete Ensemble embodied the experimental edge of the Bay Area Latin music scene during its two-decade run.
As the name suggests, Salsa De La Bahía doesn't focus only on the Latin jazz side of the equation. The salseros share the spotlight, with hard-charging work by Santana timbalero Karl Perazzo's Avance, Cuban percussionist Carlos Caro's Vission Latina, Uruguyan percussionist Edgardo Cambon's Edgardo y Su Candela, and Louie Romero y Su Grupo Mazacote. "I was looking to showcase the diversity of the scene," Wallace says. "A central theme of the project is the synergy between the dance community and the musicians. I wanted to highlight all of the colors. Everyone who recorded salsa also plays Latin jazz. You can't disconnect the two things."
With less pressure to stay in fashion, older styles have flourished in the Bay Area. Orquesta la Moderna Tradición, an 11-piece charanga ensemble co-led by Cuban percussionist and dancer Roberto Borrell and violinist Tregar Otton, focuses on stately danzón, a 19th century style that has largely disappeared. But one shouldn't overstate the divide between the East and West Coast. Before he moved to the Bay Area in 1981 to join Santana, legendary Cuban timbalero Orestes Vilató helped found contemporary New York salsa through his seminal work with the Fania All Stars, Ray Barretto, Ruben Blades, Celia Cruz, and Johnny Pacheco. His piece "Toca Vilató" is a tour de force arranged by Rebeca Mauleón (who is a shoe-in for inclusion on volume 2).
A later wave of Latin American artists helped invigorate the Bay Area scene. Cuban percussionists Carlos Caro and Jesus Diaz both brought new rhythmic information directly from the source when the settled near San Francisco. But one vitally important facet that can't be covered by the CD also helps explain the high level of Latin jazz creativity in the Bay Area, namely a widespread commitment to passing on hard-won knowledge. Many of the players documented on Salsa De La Bahía are influential educators, particularly John Santos, John Calloway, Jesus Diaz, and Wayne Wallace.
Only a streak of modesty could have kept Wallace from featuring his own work more prominently, as he could have easily included numerous tracks from his own Grammy-nominated albums. Steeped in jazz and R&B, the trombonist followed his passion for Afro-Caribbean music to Cuba, where he made several trips to study with top players. Over the past three decades, he's been an essential force on the Bay Area's Latin music scene through his work as an improviser, arranger, producer, and music director of landmark bands such as Pete Escovedo Orchestra, the Machete Ensemble, and Conjunto Céspedes. His work as an arranger and player is well represented here, but he was determined to make a compelling case for the depth and breadth of creativity on the Bay Area's Latin music scene.
"These people are alive and the music is present," Wallace says. "John Santos and John Calloway are at the height of their careers. So much great music has come out of this funny little outpost for Cuban music, where so many of us have gone down there and brought back contemporary and archaic strains of the tradition. We don't have an overt Cuban population but the Bay Area really embraced the music, and Salsa De La Bahía offers a good place to start checking it out."
www.patoisrecords.com
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Posted: 08 Aug 2013 10:35 AM PDT
Sweet & Saccharine was originally recorded as a demo back in 2010. It's an irresistible blend of silky smooth vocals combined with upbeat, dynamic instrumentation and quirky lyrics. The result is music that's refreshingly honest and youthful, in every sense of both words. The flip side of the 7" single features a Whiskey Barons re-edit of Sweet & Saccharine which packs a bit more punch into the groove while keeping the vibrant quality of the original tune.
Inspired by the infectious sunshine melodies and slick 2-step boogie grooves of the likes of the Pointer Sisters, The Jones Girls, and Tavares, The Spandettes carry on the tradition of delivering soulful harmonies backed by a stellar powerhouse band. The talented ensemble features a killer horn section including flautist and alto saxophonist Allison Au, tenor saxophonist Chris Brophy and trumpeter Patrice Barbanchon. The back bone of the band comes from one of the tightest young rhythm sections in Toronto comprised of drummer Mackenzie Longpre, keyboardist Thomas Francis, bassist Mason Stoner, and guitarist Kevin Neal.
In a musical landscape where trends come and go like the wind, the timeless sound of The Spandettes truly stands out among the rest. Their music pays homage to the authentic live musical experience of disco at the height of its glory, and the scintillating musicality of their arrangements are a resounding testament to that fact. Their long anticipated debut album, Spandex Effect, is set for worldwide release in late 2013 on Do Right Music.
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