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Showcase CD
Can't Let Go - Tony Vattimo:
Philly
native Tony Vattimo started on organ at the age of 12 - he took
up trombone while in high school and for a time he also trained
classically on piano. While pursuing a degree in music education
at West Chester University, Vattimo performed with the college
jazz band and then after graduating, he taught for a year before
gigging on a full time basis. A seasoned performer and composer,
Vattimo has worked as a staff writer for music library companies
on both coasts. His music has been featured on the Maury Povich
show while additionally Vattimo has acted as the choir director
and organist at his church. He's played the vibrant Philadelphia
and New York scenes for many years and has appeared regularly
at regional hot spots such as Gerald Veasley's Jazz Base night
club to along with performances at The Berks Jazz Fest. Having
been urged by family, friends, & fans to record on his own, Vattimo
committed to a project that became a year-long labor of love!
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| Issued
just this past year, Can't Let Go consists of 11 original compositions
for which Vattimo drew inspiration from the ocean, the island of
Kauai, and from the sites and sounds around him. With a resume that
encompasses a diversity of experiences, it's not surprising that
Vattimo has command of a wide range of styles - from straight ahead
to a more funky urban vibe - and it's this versatility that's well
reflected on the disc! The project was recorded at Vattimo's studio
in Collegeville just outside the City of Brotherly Love and then
engineered by Grammy nominated Martin Walters down in Jonesborough
Tennessee. Enlisting some of the area's top talents, Vattimo is
backed by up to 9 musicians at a time, and in a phrase, the project
is not only a rock solid first effort, it's also an early bet to
be among the elite in 2010! |
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Tony Vattimo
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Therefore it's now our pleasure to ease album and author into the
soft sheen of the showcase spotlight as we headline our proceedings
with a trio of sumptuous selections. Initializing our review is
Street Lights, an elegant mover that nicely simulates a late night
cruise on the town. The reflective title track leads the way in
hour 2, while To New York is a spirited shout out to one of Tony's
favourite cities. Running a gamut of flavours and textures, when
Tony's melodies grab you as they surely will, you just can't let
them go!
CD: Can' t Let Go (2009)
Label: Independent
Links: 
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| Back Trax: Part One |
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Habanero Nights - Mark Egan:
Although
his first instrument was the trumpet, Mark Egan switched to bass when
he was 16. He built made a bit of a name for himself while playing with
noted saxman Ira Sullivan in the mid 70s and in about 1976, he moved from
Miami to New York where he toured with David Sanborn & The Pointer Sisters.
For 3 years at the tail end of the 70s, he joined Pat Metheny's group
and he then went on to work with a litany of jazz legends including Stan
Getz, Jim Hall, and John McLaughlin. He co-founded the band Elements that
recorded thruout the 80s and 90s all while doing numerous studio sessions
and recording on his own. From the 2001 Freedom Town release we have a
tune for you today - called Habanero Nights, saxman Bill Evans guests
on the track - habanero by the way being a type of red hot pepper recorded
as being one of the zestiest peppers on the planet!
CD: Freedom Town (2001)
Label: Wavetone Records
Links:
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Happiness
Is Just Around The Bend - Brian Auger's Oblivion Express :
The
master of the Hammond B3, Brian Auger, grew up in London during the Second
World War and learned piano by copying the melodies played by an autopiano
player that his family owned. When their home was bombed, Auger was evacuated
and lived with another family for a couple of years - they too had a piano,
a fact that helped ground Auger during what must have been a very trying
time. Once back home, Auger would entertain the neighborhood. He knew
all the pop tunes of the day but when he started listening to his brother's
record collection he became fascinated by the patterns in jazz. By 1964,
he won the Melody Maker jazz poll and intrigued with technique of Jimmy
Smith, he took up the Hammond B3.
After a few varied experiences, Auger made his record debut in 1967 with
Julie Driscoll and Trinity on a French release - that led to a hit in
This Wheel's on Fire and performances at both Montreux and Berlin - jazz
festivals that had previously been the exclusive purview of straight ahead
projects. The response was overwhelming! Several more critically acclaimed
Trinity releases followed with a tour of the US before Auger progressed
to his next and perhaps most successful project in Oblivion Express. By
the time the ensemble had issued Closer To It! their fourth release, Auger
had taken his organic blend of jazz-rock fusion to unprecedented heights!
From that album recorded nearly 40 years ago, we have Auger on organ and
vocals on a classic. This is the stuff that legends are made of!
CD: Closer To It! (1973)
Label: Disconforme
Links:
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| Back Trax: Part Two |
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Summer
Time - Rob Tardik:
Toronto-native
Rob Tardik has been playing guitar since he was seven. He was awarded
a music scholarship in high school and then went on to study at York University
earning diplomas in Record Engineering and Media Arts. For several years,
he's worked for Roland Canada as a guitar product specialist while edifying
aspiring musicians at the Merriam School of Music for the past 11 or so
years. In 2006 Tardik issued his debut, and subsequently he's been a regular
performer at the CSJA. Now four years after that initial effort, Tardik
has issued his second release in The Right Time which sees him as a contender
for his own Canadian smoothie. On this occasion however, we take the opportunity
to do a bit of back tracking by revisiting his premiere cd - from that
release we while away a few blissful moments with a tune called Summer
Time!
CD: Without Words (2006)
Label: Guitardik Music
Links:
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Tanto
Tempo - Bebel Gilberto:
She was
raised in a highly musical family, her father being the noted bossa nova
singer/songwriter & guitarist João Gilberto while her mother was vocalist
Miúcha. Isabel (Bebel) Gilberto made her debut when she was just seven
singing on her mother's first solo album and then just two years later,
she appeared at Carnegie with Miúcha and Stan Getz. After sharing top
billing on an '83 project, Gilberto eventually premiered with own eponymously
titled release in 1986. In 1991, she relocated to New York, where she'd
been born, and began gigging in clubs and working with the likes of David
Byrne. Soon after, she began a shift toward dance music with a bossa flair.
After appearing on a single by Thievery Corporation, Bebel performed at
Carnegie Hall once again, this time with her father. The release of Tanto
Tempo in 2000, introduced her to an American audience - the project went
on to earn a pair of Latin Grammy nominations and marked Gilberto's coming
of age as a headline performer. From that very effort, we have the suave,
stylish, and slightly chilled melody of the title track!
CD: Tanto Tempo (2000)
Label: Ziriguiboom / Six Degrees
Links: 
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Didgerigroove
- The Didgeridoo Project :
After
studying at the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich and at Berklee
in Boston, German-born Thomas Fuchsberger sessioned in Nashville Tennessee
back in 1979. Shortly thereafter, he returned to Europe whereupon he made
the German finals in the Grand Prix de la Chanson. Subsequently, he landed
a record deal and embarked upon a series of single and long-play releases.
Setting up his own production studio, Fuchsberger wrote ads for TV while
scoring documentary and film soundtracks. Since 1972, he's travelled the
world as a photographer of some repute while he's also published a cook
book for diabetics. As one of his most intriguing ventures, Fuchsberger
was the brain thrust for The Didgeridoo Project and the disc Australia
2000. Featuring didgeridooist Adrian Mears and guitarist Jay Fletcher,
Fuchsberger stars on keys on an undertaking that fused the sounds of the
Aboriginal instrument with some of the finest Teutonically-inspired grooves
ever heard. The music was used on German TV during their coverage of the
27th Olympiad in Sydney - and from this most uncommon cd we now present
a hip amalgam that's titled Didgerigroove!
CD: Australia 2000 (2000)
Label: White Records / BMG
Links:
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| After Hours ~ Exclusive to our
Site and Select Affiliates : |
… the focus falls on previously unplayed music with
a dozen selections totally new to the show. Included in this batch of
fresh listening, we're providing a bit of a sneak peak at a few tunes
that are under consideration for upcoming Fresh Trax or showcase segments.
Here's a quick run-down of today's line-up - in the opening set are Chris
Standring and Gregorie Howard and they're followed by Larry White and
Italy's S-Tone Inc. For the second inning, we have Burt Shur & Chuck Leichner
as Vision Jazz - also appearing are Richard Chadwick and Pamela Williams
the first lady of sax; as well there's the band Wine & Chocolate. Then
for the closing frame, we've cued trombonist Steve Baxter - Steve has
a great release called Sugar on the Bone and from it, we'll have a track
featuring Everette Harp. We continue with JD Daniel and The Parlett/Colah
Project and then there's Ken Navarro with the closing selection. So mom
& dad, better grab the kids, cuz it's time again for the whole family
to gather round the ol' radio! 
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