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This Week at CaféJazz.ca

March 28th, 2010
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This Week at CafeJazz.ca:
… it's Gregorie Howard in the spotlight! We have the self-titled debut from the veteran trumpeter and that's the name highlighted on our showcase marquee. Then in hour 2, it'll be time to kick it ole skool with the Back Trax segment. Appearing on this installment are Carlos Guedes and S-Tone Inc.; there's a track from Ron Brown; Mike Oldfield is on the show, plus there's a tune from the reggae band Third World from the early 90s. Then later in the hour we're balancing the tried and the true with the daring and the new … there's music by David Arkenstone and Candy Dulfer, as well as from Tony Vattimo and Nate Najar; while featured thru-out are Hiroshima, Peter White and saxman Paul Weimar otherwise known as Shilts!
In This Issue:

SHOWCASE CD :
Gregorie Howard - Gregorie Howard

BACK TRAX :
Harposaurus - Carlos Guedes
Dreamer - S-Tone Inc.
Cruisin' - Ron Brown
Muse - Mike Oldfield
Living For The Sunshine - Third World

AFTER HOURS : Tell Me All Your Secrets
PLAYLIST: Playlist for Ed#564

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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!

Gregorie Howard - Gregorie Howard
After 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!
Gregorie Howard - Iraqi Freedom 2004
Gregorie Johnson (aka Gregorie Howard)
... front & center ... Iraqi Freedom 2004
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
Carlos Guedes - Toda América
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:
S-Tone Inc. - Luz y Sombra
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
Ron Brown - From My Eyes Only
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:
Mike Oldfield - Guitars
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:
Third World - Committed
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 :
Tell Me All Your Secrets: … 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! Playlist for Ed#564

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