Monday, August 19, 2013

NEW RELEASES - SAINT ETIENNE PRESENTS SONGS FOR A CENTRAL PARK PICNIC, FROOTFUL, MICHAEL PEDECIN

SAINT ETIENNE PRESENTS - SONGS FOR A CENTRAL PARK PICNIC (VARIOUS ARTISTS)

Imagine a beautifil day sitting under a shady tree in Central Park, and you bring along some music to create a truely relaxing atmosphere. This really cool summer set includes a total of 25 songs and it feature: Softly As In A Morning Sunrise (Vince Guaraldi); Bee Born (Sammy Davis Jr.); Stranger On The Shore (The Drifters); Gopher Mambo (Ymo Sumac);Boato (Bistro) (Lalo Shifrin);  Yes I Love you (Paris Sisters); Moon River (Jerry Butler); Some For Cat (Henry Mancini); Lost For Sure (Dion); Private World (Artie Farr); Bad Boy (The Jive Bombers); A Kiss From Your Lips (Billy Storm); Raincoat In The River (Sammy Turner); Moon Guitar (The Rangoons); Untie Me (The Tams); Marie (The Four Tunes); Quiet Firl (Don Rondo); You Don't Have To Be A Tower of Strength (Gloria Lynne); Where Have You Been (Arthur Alexander); plus many others!

FROOTFUL - THE ROAD / BENEDICT'S BOOGALOO 

Frootful return with a new two track 45 taken from Heavyweight - their follow-up to their eclectic 2011 debut long player - Colours. The Road feature UK soul vocalist Mazen Bedwei, who was first featured on a Freestyle release when he sang on Nick Van Gelder's Somethings Gotta Give compilation Sounds From The Soul Underground. The Road is a light, breezy, and uplifting soul groove that has something of a late 60's feel, where shimmering horns underpin Mazen's Curtis Springfield inspired vocals, while Frootful's Nick Radford's tasteful guitar picking locks down the sweet summer sound.  One the flip side the mood is altogether greasy as Benedicts Boogaloo is a gritty soul-jazz work out that been double dipped in the funk.  Nick gets the chance to display his guitar cjops wonderfully, while the guitar bass line in unrelenting while a dirty and distorted organ grooves out to a stunning climax.   This is just an example of what is come from the new album - Heavyweight.

MICHAEL PEDECIN - WHY STOP NOW...UBUNTU

Tenor saxophonist Michael Pedicin is in the midst of an impressive creative surge clearly reflected in his prolific work as a recording artist and composer. His new CD, Why Stop Now ... Ubuntu, is his 12th as a leader -- and 5th in the last six years. Scheduled for release on September 24 by his GroundBlue label, the disc reconfirms his status as a masterful post-bopper. Much of the music on Why Stop Now was inspired by the 2012 Newtown tragedy, including the haunting ballad ("Newtown") by guitarist Johnnie Valentino and Pedicin's glowing impromptu solo passage ("Ubuntu"), which closes the album. "'Ubuntu' means 'human kindness,' an African philosophy focusing on our connections with one another," says Pedicin. "It echoes my constant hope for peace and connectedness in our world." Along with Valentino, who's been an essential collaborator on all of Pedicin's recent recordings, the saxophonist is joined by regular bassist Andy Lalasis and two newcomers to his working quintet, tasteful drummer Vic Stevens and rising young pianist Rick Germanson. Pedicin continues his relationship with producer Joseph Donofrio, best known in the jazz world for his work on Pat Martino's Grammy-nominated Blue Note recordings and also at the helm for last year's Pedicin CD Live at the Loft. W hy Stop Now contains four originals by the leader, including "Trane Stop," a tribute to his musical hero, as well as two by Coltrane himself, "Tunji" and "Song of the Underground Railroad." "I lived my life admiring and idolizing Trane, every day, all day," Pedicin says unabashedly. "I identify with everything about him."

No comments:

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...