Showcase CD
Gregorie Howard - Gregorie Howard:
Behind
those shades, trumpeter Gregorie Howard remains a man of some
mystery, but here's a bit of his story that may dispel some of
the questions. He was born Gregorie Johnson in Lake Charles Louisiana
and for the most part he grew up in New Orleans. Living in The
Big Easy, there was music happening all over the place and Johnson
couldn't help being drawn into it - that was back in the day when
Louis Armstrong occasionally graced the city. As well, Johnson
met Al Hirt, and played with Pete Fountain's band for seven years
during the Mardi Gras parades. Then in the 70s duty called and
he enlisted in the Marine Corps and ended up playing for the war
dead and training soldiers in self-defense and martial arts. With
2 honorable discharges dating back to Vietnam, Johnson took to
the skies as a flight attendant between stints with the Marines.
More recently, he was moved by the US's involvement in Iraq. He
re-enlisted, took part in the Iraqi Freedom mission in 2004 and
recorded United Marine, a short trumpet solo dedicated to the
Corps to which Wynton Marsalis added a few spoken words! |
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this most recent tour of duty, Johnson is now back on native soil
and he's emerged with a debut under the guise of his smooth alter
ago in Gregorie Howard. Enlisting the aid of many of the superstars
in the genre, in the likes of Marc Antoine, Philippe Saisse, and
Gregg Karukas, the project was produced by two-time Grammy winner
Paul Brown. Needless to mention it's a spectacular premiere effort
and, in our humble opinion, one that we expect to be in full contention
as the break-thru album for the year. As such, it's a pleasure to
nudge a long-time American patriot, and now budding smooth jazz
superstar, Gregorie Howard into the gleam of our showcase spotlight!
In so doing, we have our typically tasty assortment of tracks -
starting with the big horn sound of a tune called Salt and Pepper
featuring saxlady Jessy J! |
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Gregorie Johnson (aka Gregorie Howard)
... front & center ... Iraqi Freedom 2004
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There's
no shortage of terrific material on this disc - both Superstar with
Philippe Saisse and JJ Love with Marc Antoine are being promoted
as singles to radio - and we could have chosen either, or one of
several other selections, for this feature. Nonetheless we opted
for the tune called Smooth as this presents some of Gregorie's finest
playing! Finally there's the groovified motion of a track called
Shuffle! So stay tuned, with as auspicious an inaugural release
as we've heard in many years, we can only dream of the spells Gregorie
Howard is destined to weave in the years ahead!
CD: Gregorie Howard (self-titled)
(2009)
Label: Gregory Howard
Links: 
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| Back Trax: Part One |
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Harposaurus - Carlos Guedes:
Originally
hailing from Caracas Venezuela, Carlos Guedes fell in love with the sound
of the harp while studying classical and folk music. He proceeded to develop
into a versatile musician, able to play jazz, pop, rock, salsa plus the
music of his homeland. In 1981, he relocated to the US to continue his
musical education - initially he attended the University of Nebraska and
then later North Texas State. Teaming with the duo Desvio, Guedes made
his record debut in 1990, and in a couple of years he followed that with
a solo release entitled Toda América. A project that presented Pan American
sounds, the album brought together musicians from 8 different countries.
From that effort, we have a super tune called Harposaurus that is somewhat
reminiscent of some of the finer stylings of Andreas Vollenweider!
CD: Toda América (1992)
Label: Heads Up International
Links:
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Dreamer - S-Tone Inc. :
S-Tone
Inc. is a project led by (and named for) Stefano Tirone. Based in Milan,
Tirone earned a degree in architecture, but for the better part of the
last 20 years he's balanced that with a career in music. Initially studying
guitar and then later piano, Tirone become interested in recording back
the 80s but he didn't debut until issuing an acid jazz project in '92.
That initial effort laid the framework for S-Tone Inc that followed in
1996. There have now been five releases in that series and today we return
to the fourth of these for a great track. From the cd Luz y Sombra, meaning
Light and Shadow, we have a tune in rhythmic overdrive - it's called Dreamer
and features real musicians (as opposed to canned/synthesized effect)
! There's Beppe Caruso on trombone, saxwork by Gilberto Tarocco, double
bass from Stefano Dall'Ora, Marco Castiglioni on drums, and Marquinho
Baboo on bongos, plus the fantastic vocal stylings of Ms Laura Fedele!
Check it out … you'll be glad you did!
CD: Luz y Sombra (2005)
Label: Schema Records
Links:
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| Back Trax: Part Two |
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Cruisin' - Ron Brown:
During
a lengthy career, veteran saxman Ron Brown has backed the likes of Stevie
Wonder, Whitney Houston, and Natalie Cole. Additionally, he played in
The Duke Ellington Orchestra, and he was part of Diana Ross' band for
6 years. A former teacher and youth mentor, Brown's own record career
extends back to the 90s as he continues to explore just about ever musical
influence that crosses his path. Although music is always at the forefront
of what he does, Brown actively pursues a life in ministry and over the
years his musical focus has grown to reflect that aspect of his being.
In recognition of his many contributions to his hometown, May 8, 1997,
was proclaimed Ron Brown Day in Austin, Texas. Now based in LA, Brown
is fluent in Japanese and he's expanded his mission to sharing his testimony
with the people of that country while continuing to record. On this occasion
we returned to an effort from early in Brown's career in the '97 From
My Eyes Only. From that cd we had a great track called Cruisin' written
by The Doctor, Doc Powell, upon which both he and Patrice Rushen guest!
CD: From My Eyes Only (1997)
Label: Discovery Records
Links:
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Muse
- Mike Oldfield:
Mike
Oldfield gained fame in 70s with the concept album Tubular Bells, a small
portion of which was used to great effect in the film The Exorcist. Originally
titled Opus 1, the project grew out some studio that Oldfield received
as a gift from Richard Branson, who operated a record mail-order service.
When he shopped the record around, Oldfield met only rejection, so Branson
founded his own imprint called Virgin Records, for which Tubular Bells
became the initial release. Eventually, the album sold over 16 million
copies world-wide establishing Virgin as a viable company while helping
create the genre that later came to be known as new age music. Over the
years, Oldfield has continued to record, with somewhere around 30 releases,
which have met varying degrees of success. On this occasion, we returned
to the '99 Guitars cd, wherein Oldfield uses guitars exclusively to create
all the sonic effects and from it we have the meditative opening track
in Muse, perhaps named for the goddess or power that inspires a poet,
artist, or thinker!
CD: Guitars (1999)
Label: Warner Music
Links:
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Living For The Sunshine - Third World :
Originally
formed in 1973, Third World proved one of the longest-lived and most internationally
popular Jamaican crossover reggae bands. Sometimes accused of "selling
out" for mixing in R&B, funk, and other elements, as well as for their
polished presentation, they regularly appeared on American and British
charts during the '80s. Nonetheless, Third World was in a class of its
own on an artistic level! While undergoing various personnel changes,
the band issued a series a strong release thru the years with '92's Committed,
among its finest! From that effort, featuring founding members Michael
Cooper (aka Ibo) on keys and Steven Coore (alias Cat) on guitar, we're
capping Back Trax with a personal all-time favourite in Living For The
Sunshine!
LP: Committed (1992)
Label: PolyGram Records
Links:
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| After Hours ~ Exclusive to our
Site and Select Affiliates : |
… the latest installment in our continuing
connections series! Well, we don't reveal all our secrets but we do play
a few of our best-kept musical ones! Louie Shelton gets the groove going;
he's followed by Eric Marienthal and Omar Akram, while Joe McBride completes
the set. Phil Klein ignites the second inning, which then continues with
Brian Culbertson, vocalist Anne Walsh, saxman Eric Darius, and the group
Incendio. Then rounding the final turn and into the home stretch we have
Marion Meadows and Nura as well as Grant Geissman while finishing it,
it'll be Warren Hill with the tune that lent its name to the feature.
After all is said and done, it's likely that many of these secrets won't
be secret anymore! 
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