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Showcase CD
A Journey of One - Nicholas Cole:
Keyboardist
Nicholas Cole got his start in music playing piano and organ in
his church when he was four. While he often likes to say that
his musical training took place in the Lord's house, Cole also
took a few lessons from Jimmy Aycock, a piano teacher for over
30 years. Aycock suggested The Julliard School of Music; meanwhile
Rick Depiro, who met the Cole family vacationing, recognized that
Cole's style was more suited to jazz and recommended Berklee instead!
Even so, at this point Cole has put his musical education on hold
while furthering his recording and performing career - a good
thing for us, as his first effort is a gem! Cole's greatest inspirations
have come not only from gospel, but from jazz as well from many
wide ranging styles that he's been exposed to. Showing remarkable
poise for a 17-year-old, the Goldsboro North Carolina native self-produced
A Journey of One.
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here's a project upon which Cole exhibits musical maturity well
beyond his years! Blending a cool jazz-gospel vibe with funk sensibilities,
Nicholas Cole has secured a spot at the forefront of a new generation
of jazz performer! |
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Nicholas Cole
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There's little if any doubt he's one of today's brightest emerging
stars, so it's with a measure of satisfaction that we now direct
the Café Jazz spotlight at Nicholas Cole and a no less than dazzling
debut. And for the ribbon cutting selection, we have the reflective
A Journey of One the title track. Laying down a jangling guitar
riff on top of a lush melody, Cole gets us to share in the fantasy
with a sensual piece called Dreams; meantime things take on just
a bit more torque with the aptly titled Crank It Up, and that's
the closer. With as promising a coming out album as we've heard
in quite some time, we're inclined to agree with an anonymous reviewer
who noted, that although his premier release may be called A Journey
of One, for Nicholas Cole his next journey will be with many!
CD: A Journey of One
(2010)
Label: Independent
Links: 
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| Vintage Collection: Part One |
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Writes of Passage - Sheila E. & the E-Train:
Before
becoming a solo performer, Sheila E. began her career as a teen playing
with George Duke. She enjoyed a stint in the Latin jazz band led by her
father, the famed percussionist Pete Escovedo, and appeared on a couple
of his records before being discovered by Prince who helped her with a
record deal. Sheila E burst into the limelight with the Prince composition
The Glamorous Life in 1984 and, while continuing to record on her own,
she toured briefly with His Royal Badness in 1987. However, after her
brush with pop stardom, Sheila E's subsequent release met with only modest
success and she didn't return to a lead role for several years. Issued
in 2000, Writes of Passage was Ms E's first in nine years. With a mix
of funk, fusion, gospel, and Latin influences, the cd featured performances
by guitarist Ray Obiedo and keyboardist Renato Neto. From a cd that marked
a return to her jazzier side; we have the title track with sax player
Eric Leeds in the spotlight!
CD: Writes of Passage (2000)
Label: Concord Records
Links: 
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Scenes From the Past - Jack Lee:
Born in Seoul Korea, Jack Lee absorbed the rock sounds of Eric Clapton,
Jimi Hendrix, and Jeff Beck before discovering Pat Metheny, Larry Coryell,
and Miles Davis. At 17, he relocated to the US and later enrolled at Columbia
University as a computer science major. While enjoying a stint as a disc
jockey, he was exposed to a wide diversity in jazz, a passion he further
explored at many of the NYC hot spots. With Asian roots and a sensitivity
honed by his experience, Lee combines great technique with flowing lyricism.
With several well-received cds, we're back-tracking to the first of his
Asian*ergy releases for the appropriately titled Scenes From the Past!
CD: Asian*ergy (2007)
Label: Truspace Records / Video Arts
Links: 
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| Vintage Collection: Part Two |
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Paradise - Gordon James:
A
graduate of The Interlochen Arts Academy and The Hartt College of Music,
Gordon James is a seasoned performer and bandleader based in Middlesex
NJ. Having formed the Gordon James Band in 1995, he debuted with Candlelight
Love that same year and has since gone on to open for many artists in
the genre while performing at a variety of festivals and appearing at
sundry venues. With a blend of Jazz, Latin, R&B, Pop and hip hop, James
has played with the likes of Bob Baldwin, James Lloyd, Gil Parris, and
others. His second release, featuring keyboardist James Lloyd from Pieces
of a Dream, received broad support based on the strength of the track
Shades of Brown while following in 2004 was the mellow After Hours cd.
From an effort that featured guest performances by Chuck Loeb and Slide
Hampton, we have the gorgeous melody and haunting coolness of the opening
track!
CD: After Hours (2004)
Label: Caress Music
Links:
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Foundwind
- Shadowfax:
From
humble beginnings in the early 70s to playing many of the pre-eminent
venues around the world, Shadowfax was one of the earliest and best-known
proponents of new age electronic music. Formed in Chicago in 1972, by
sax player Chuck Greenberg, guitarist G.E. Stinson, and bassist Phil Maggini,
the group was named for a fictitious horse in Tolkien's The Lord of the
Rings. The trio was originally a blues band, but soon began to explore
a wide mix of styles and, after adding drummer Stuart Nevitt in 1974,
the Shadowfax debut was issued a couple of years later. Their hard to
categorize blend combined jazz, rock, folk, and world music, while Greenberg's
work on the lyricon, one of the first electronic wind instruments, became
the band's signature sound. In 1988, Shadowfax won a Grammy for Folksongs
for a Nuclear Village, and while experiencing a variety of changes in
personnel, they received a second Grammy nomination for Esperanto. Sadly
Shadowfax disbanded shortly after the passing of Greenberg in 1995 following
a heart attack. From their eighth and next to last studio effort we present
Foundwind with Chuck Greenberg featured!
CD: Esperanto (1992)
Label: Earthbeat
Links: 
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End
Titles - Alan Silvestri ft. Gary Herbig:
With
a career as a film score composer that extends back nearly 40 years, Alan
Silvestri has written for over 70 films and TV series. Silvestri scored
his first film in 1972 and after a few years, and some TV work that included
Starsky and Hutch, he was called upon to create a soundtrack for the 1984
film Romancing the Stone. This proved the start of a long-term collaboration
with director Robert Zemeckis and Silvestri's breakthrough that led to
a pair of Oscar nominations as well as a couple of considerations for
a Grammy. Although perhaps best known for Forrest Gump and the Back to
the Future trilogy Romancing the Stone remains one of Silvestri's most
appealing. Opting for a jazzy approach to convey its swashbuckling style,
from that effort we have the track that played as the final credits rolled
on by. ID'd as the End Titles the track prominently features the saxwork
of Gary Herbig whose own résumé includes multiple TV theme
& film credits!
CD: Romancing the Stone /
Motion Picture Soundtrack (1984)
Label: Varèse Sarabande
Links: A.Silvestri:
G.Herbig:
Romancing: 
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| After Hours ~ Exclusive to our
Site and Select Affiliates : |
... chapter 2 in a series wherein all the selections are
by performers having an initial as part of their name! Included are the
likes of 'PJ' Spraggins, Bass X, TDF, and S-Tone Inc., as we have some
fun with a feature called Monogram Tracks!  |
