Inspired by visual art, Jeffrey Fisher’s Triumph of the Spirit recording uses the sounds of orchestral instruments to create music reflective of humankind’s consciousness serving as the bridge between the heavens and earth. “There is an evolution of the human spirit that will triumph over the forces of darkness,” explains Fisher. “It’s a progression of enlightenment that leads to understanding both our world and our place in the universe.”
Although he has played many different types of music, from rock to jazz, during his career, Fisher chose to make this music orchestral because he feels the sounds from these symphonic instruments are universal. “European musicians created and refined the instruments in a symphony orchestra over hundreds of years. Those sounds are proven to affect the listener’s mind, body and spirit in a positive and uplifting way. Yes, this music can be looked at as ‘modern classical music’ because of the instrumentation, but many of the melodies and motifs are more influenced by jazz, blues, indigenous music and pop-rock than by traditional classical repertoire. The idea is not to mimic or re-configure Beethoven, but to create something new for today’s audience.” While the melodies and instrumentation are mentally stimulating, the music also resonates deeply within the listener on several levels. This combination provides a calming and relaxing atmosphere for enjoying the music which allows the recording to fit well into new age lifestyles from massage therapy to Reiki.
Fisher’s CDs can be purchased at record stores and specialty shops throughout the United States, as well as online at his website (HealingMusicOfTheSouthwest.com), webstores such as amazon.com and cdbaby.com, and many digital download locations including iTunes.
Fisher composed this music a decade ago while living in the artistic community of Taos, New Mexico, where his friend Charles Collins (a renowned painter and one of the leaders of the modern Southwest style) was creating a collection of work titled Triumph of the Spirit (also the name of the painting that appears on the cover of Fisher’s CD). As Collins unveiled each new sketch and began his painting, Fisher used the imagery and symbolism as inspiration to simultaneously write a new orchestral composition. When Collins finished the initial five large paintings, Fisher unveiled his associate musical pieces in a collaborative show. Some of these Collins paintings (known for their use of light, translucent glazes and timeless themes) can be viewed at charlescollinsgallery.com in the section “Between Worlds.”
Now Fisher’s Triumph of the Spirit CD is being released and marketed internationally for the first time. The title composition relates the feeling of an indigenous person leaving a place of classic perfection to make his way in the earthly world. Fisher explains “The Beginning of Wisdom” as an attempt to capture “a moment of enlightenment, a leap into another world to see who we really are.” The music for “Emperor of the Soul” is “symbolic of two worlds coming together, two forces colliding, until man emerges from the ocean reborn.” The piece “Rituals of Paradox” represents “the birth of civilization.” “Eternal Companions” brings together the companionship theme of humans with other beings, with nature, and with God.
“Because I’ve played in various kinds of bands and orchestras all my life, I hear the sound of each instrument, and have studied their combinations. I work in a very traditional way, using score paper to put down each instrument. However, today’s composers have something that did not exist in the past — a digitized orchestra. This allows the composer, in a cost-effective way, to achieve his or her vision exactly, to paint freely with the sounds.”
Fisher is an incredibly versatile musician who has professionally performed new age, world music, neo-classical, traditional jazz, blues, rock’n’roll, folk and R&B. He has played more than a dozen different instruments, and is highly proficient on piano and acoustic standup bass. His last album was the orchestral Fairy Tales (a score for the ballet “Hans Christian Andersen”) premiering in Palm Springs in 2006, and the CD winning both iParenting and Parent-to-Parent awards[??1] . He also has five other previous neo-classical/new age CDs (Moon Song, One Hundred and Eight, Clouds, The Healing and Angels of the Rays), several specifically designed for healing and massage therapy. Other compositions include works for string quartet, solo piano, marching band, jazz band, jazz vocals, woodwinds, and acoustic bass in various ensemble settings.
Fisher has performed with jazz great Frank Morgan, the Thelonius Monk-inspired traditional jazz group Evidence Quartet, the Charles Connally Texas Blues Band, Stax Records vocalist Lee Sain, folksinger Sun-Day Martinez, Spanish music legend Antonio Apodaca, world-music bandleader Achyutan[??2] , and New Mexico’s Trio Jalapeno, among others. Fisher even performed Gaelic music on ice instruments at a ski resort situated at 11,000-feet elevation. He graduated from the Grove School of Music in Los Angeles with a certificate in composing and arranging, and went on to study under top teachers to further explore film scoring, orchestration and acoustic bass performance (taught by Terry Plumarie and Frank Tusa).
Beyond the world of music, Jeffrey is a true Renaissance man. He is an accomplished painter (oils and watercolors) who has exhibited in both museums and galleries. He has published five volumes of poetry and a book on Chinese philosophy and martial arts (T’ai Chi Basics). He teaches T’ai Chi Chuan; gives acupressure, Reiki and reflexology treatments; and lectures widely on nutrition and healing. Over the years he has taught a wide variety of skills to others including music, painting, writing, cooking, mathematics, philosophy, and general “educational improvement.” When he wasn’t making a living playing music, Jeffrey worked at a variety of jobs including designing and building stage sets off-Broadway, being a motorcycle messenger in New York City, tuning pianos, working in a print-shop and book-bindery in San Francisco, “bucking hay” (stacking bales), picking cherries, cleaning acequias (irrigation ditches) in New Mexico, running art galleries, framing pictures, and building houses (and other construction jobs).
Jeffrey attended Pomona College, where he studied writing, music, acting and experimental theatre. An avid reader, especially of French poetry and the Beat Generation writers, he found the academic world too limiting, and at the age of 17 left for San Francisco to work on his writing. After attending the Aspen Writers Workshop and New York University’s School of the Arts, Fisher moved to Buffalo to attend the state university and studied everything from computer languages and neuro-physiology to William Blake and vibraphone. After playing drums in a popular local rock band and attending the original Woodstock Festival, Fisher began learning guitar and decided to study the origins of blues guitar. He spent several years playing in coffee houses and bars, and traveling across the country several times – one night hanging on to the back of a freight train with one hand while the other held his 1945 Epiphone acoustic guitar. Fisher ended up in Berkeley where he started playing electric guitar on the blues and R&B “chittlin’ circuit” backing legendary artists. Eventually he switched to standup bass and began to explore the world of jazz with his own group.
After several years of intense musical studies in Los Angeles, Fisher moved out of the big city to focus on composition and painting. In the early Nineties, he composed and performed his first full-length orchestral composition, and also enjoyed the first solo museum exhibition of his paintings. Fisher relocated to New Mexico for nearly a decade and lived in a small village outside of Taos. Fisher began teaching T’ai Chi, a method for training the mind and body. “T’ai Chi is the basis for my own philosophy and my life, and is integral in preparing me to create music.” Fisher returned in recent years to the San Jacinto Mountains near Palm Springs, the area where he was born and raised. His home, ranch and studio run on solar energy and are totally off-the-grid. He often uses nature as inspiration for his art, whether it is fruit groves in his paintings or naturalness[??3] in his music.
“Music can be a transformative tool,” explains Fisher. “Music is like the food we eat or the air we breathe — it goes very much deeper than ideas, philosophies of social change or even religion. I try to make my orchestral music very accessible so that anyone, even without formal training, can easily appreciate it. I like to think my music tells a story, and all the instruments are characters with something to say.”
Friday, November 16, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
JAZZSTER CHRISTIAN FABIAN LOOKS AT HIS RECORDINGS AS EXPERIMENTS TO SEE WHERE THE IMPROVISATION TAKES HIM AND HIS FRIENDS
CHRISTIAN FABIAN
and the FABIAN ZONE TRIO
On bassist Christian Fabian’s new recording, The Masters Return! featuring the Fabian Zone Trio and special guests, it’s like jazz’s quantum theory (“the transformation of radiant energy”) where each of the talented individuals shine, but the collective mass is heaviest when all the elements come together. Fabian looks at each of his recording sessions and concerts as a unique jazz experiment where he never knows exactly what is going to happen during the improvisation, but counts on the creativity of the musicians to bring forth musical magic.
As on his previous recordings, Fabian started with a complimentary core of first-class musicians -- in this case, pianist Mike Longo and drummer Lewis Nash. On a few tracks the trio is supplemented by trumpet and flugelhorn player Jimmy Owens and tenor saxophonist Andres Boiarsky. Christian selected several jazz classics to re-work with the new band including Charlie Parker’s “Billies Bounce,” Dizzy Gillespie’s “Bebop,” Miles Davis’s “All Blues” and “Milestones,” Herbie Hancock’s “Chameleon,” and the standard “Willow Weep For Me.” In addition, Fabian contributed three originals and invited bandmembers Longo and Owens to each bring in an original composition.
Then they went into the studio without rehearsals and recorded live-to-two-track (with the mix happening at the same time and no overdubs). Most of the tunes on the CD are first takes. “If I am put on the spot to improvise as a musician, the best music comes out,” explains Fabian. “These are all marvelous musicians and all feel comfortable playing ‘in the moment.’ When you only play a piece once or twice, there is a certain energy connected to it that the listener senses. Miles Davis and Frank Sinatra were both strong believers in first takes. John Coltrane didn’t even show Tommy Flanagan the changes to ‘Giant Steps’ until the recording session. It’s an attempt to get to a different level of music through spontaneous creative interaction between the musicians.”
The Fabian Zone Trio CDs are available at Christian Fabian’s website (christianfabian.com), the CAP record company site (jazzbeat.com), online webstores (including cdbaby.com), and various digital downloads locations such as iTunes.
“I called the album The Masters Return! for three reasons,” explains Fabian. “Many of the songs were written by some of the greatest jazz musicians of all time. The players I chose to work with are all master musicians themselves and all played with some of the legends. The third reason is based on spiritualism and the belief that there will be a time when ‘The Ancient Masters’ return to our planet and show us how to live in peaceful harmony.”
Currently considered to be a strong youthful presence in the New York City jazz scene, Fabian was born in Sweden, raised from the age of six in Germany and began his college studies in The Netherlands. He came to the United States to study at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. He was Lionel Hampton’s bassist for many years and still performs in the Lionel Hampton Big Band. Fabian also has performed onstage with Gary Burton, Elvin Jones, Hank Jones, Joe Lovano, Roy Hargrove, Al Gray, David Sanchez, John Stowell, Lou Rawls, New York State of the Art Jazz Ensemble (Mike Longo’s big band), Jon Hendricks, Chaka Kahn, and Cheryl Bentyne of Manhattan Transfer. Christian’s own band, the Fabian Zone Trio, has released three CDs.
The musicians on The Masters Return! bring a wealth of experience to the recording. Mike Longo played piano with Dizzy Gillespie for 25 years (and served as his Music Director). Longo’s other credits include Cannonball Adderley, Coleman Hawkins, Gene Krupa, Nancy Wilson, Jimmy Witherspoon, Joe Williams, Paul Chambers, Lee Konitz, Clark Terry, Zoot Sims, Roy Eldridge, Astrud Gilberto, James Moody and Buddy Rich. Drummer Lewis Nash, who has served on the faculty of the Juilliard School of Music, also played with Dizzy Gillespie as well as the Tommy Flanagan Trio, Betty Carter, Sonny Rollins, Oscar Peterson, Wynton Marsalis, Joe Lovano, Diana Krall, Ron Carter and many others. Special guest horn player Jimmy Owens has performed with Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Charles Mingus, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie and Joe Zawinul. Saxophonist Andres Boiarsky’s credits include Gillespie, Paquito D’Rivera, Al di Meola, David Sanchez, Nancy Wilson and Claudio Roditi.
There is a common denominator among the four musicians Fabian chose to work with on this recording – they all played with Dizzy Gillespie, an early influence on Fabian. When Christian was 12-years-old, he saw a Dizzy Gillespie concert, and also went backstage and spoke with Dizzy. A few months later Christian saw Lionel Hampton perform, never dreaming he would eventually become Hampton’s bassist. Those two concerts inspired Christian to pursue music and opened the door to the world of jazz. Soon he started learning to play electric bass, and when he was 16 began studying upright acoustic bass.
Fabian left Germany to study at the Maastricht Conservatory in The Netherlands for nearly four years. At that time Christian was listening to Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and Tribal Tech which inspired him to start the jazz-rock-fusion band Time Design which eventually recorded three albums and built a strong following in the Maastricht area. One of his instructors, Emiel Van Egdom (John Patitucci, Alex Acuna, Brian Bromberg), had attended the Berklee College of Music in the United States, and when Van Egdom went to Los Angeles to record a CD, he invited Fabian to visit him for three months. “The great musicians I met at that time gave me the courage, motivation and enthusiasm to seriously pursue jazz.”
After meeting many Berklee College graduates, Fabian decided he should study there. His classes included advanced harmony, composition, horn arranging and film scoring. Fabian graduated with honors and received his BA degree in performance and film scoring. While at Berklee, Fabian had his own band and they recorded some demos and performed in Japan. During this time, Fabian played onstage with Gary Burton, Makoto Ozone, Sebastian DeKrom and Antonio Sanchez. Fabian also studied the musicianship of legendary bass players such as Charlie Mingus, Ray Brown, Ron Carter, Paul Chambers and Oscar Pettiford.
While still in college, Fabian was hired as the bassist for the Lionel Hampton Big Band after being recommended by Brian Bromberg. Fabian played at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival (where he also got to back numerous top jazz greats), and after graduation he toured regularly with the group. Fabian was invited by the Thelonious Monk Institute to study with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Bill Taylor and Diana Krall, among others. Since moving to New York, Fabian has regularly played with a dozen different jazz groups on a freelance basis in addition to starting the Fabian Zone Trio. Fabian has studied with Mike Longo, and has become a music mentor/teacher in his own right. He also founded a non-profit organization, R.U.B. (Records of Universal Bandwidth), specifically to honor elder music greats and capture their knowledge and wisdom for future generations.
The first Fabian Zone Trio recording, Across the Tracks, featured pianist Andy LaVerne (Woody Herman, Stan Getz) and drummer Danny Gottlieb (Bill Evans, John McLaughlin) plus three guests: Claudio Roditi on trumpet (Dizzy Gillespie, McCoy Tyner), Corey Christiansen on guitar (John Pizzarelli, John Pisano) and Mike Longo on percussion. The second album, Curtain of Life, had Fabian on electric bass with a more fusion-funk trio – keyboardist Steve Hunt (Stanley Clarke, Freddie Hubbard) and drummer Steve Michaud (Alan Holdsworth, David Hines) with guest saxophonist Lance Bryant (Bootsy Collins, Lou Rawls) and sax/clarinet player Bill Vint (Aretha Franklin, The Temptations). On The Masters Return!, Fabian is back on upright bass (which he bows on a couple of tunes). He says the new recording “is rooted in the bebop tradition and is swinging like crazy.”
“I named the group Fabian Zone Trio to identify a territory as a bandleader. There is total freedom within the ‘zone.’ It is not so much about me, but an opportunity for great musicians to come together to try new things, stretch boundaries and create music that has never been made before. Only by being totally open to the moment can you hope to make something innovative and special in jazz.”
and the FABIAN ZONE TRIO
On bassist Christian Fabian’s new recording, The Masters Return! featuring the Fabian Zone Trio and special guests, it’s like jazz’s quantum theory (“the transformation of radiant energy”) where each of the talented individuals shine, but the collective mass is heaviest when all the elements come together. Fabian looks at each of his recording sessions and concerts as a unique jazz experiment where he never knows exactly what is going to happen during the improvisation, but counts on the creativity of the musicians to bring forth musical magic.
As on his previous recordings, Fabian started with a complimentary core of first-class musicians -- in this case, pianist Mike Longo and drummer Lewis Nash. On a few tracks the trio is supplemented by trumpet and flugelhorn player Jimmy Owens and tenor saxophonist Andres Boiarsky. Christian selected several jazz classics to re-work with the new band including Charlie Parker’s “Billies Bounce,” Dizzy Gillespie’s “Bebop,” Miles Davis’s “All Blues” and “Milestones,” Herbie Hancock’s “Chameleon,” and the standard “Willow Weep For Me.” In addition, Fabian contributed three originals and invited bandmembers Longo and Owens to each bring in an original composition.
Then they went into the studio without rehearsals and recorded live-to-two-track (with the mix happening at the same time and no overdubs). Most of the tunes on the CD are first takes. “If I am put on the spot to improvise as a musician, the best music comes out,” explains Fabian. “These are all marvelous musicians and all feel comfortable playing ‘in the moment.’ When you only play a piece once or twice, there is a certain energy connected to it that the listener senses. Miles Davis and Frank Sinatra were both strong believers in first takes. John Coltrane didn’t even show Tommy Flanagan the changes to ‘Giant Steps’ until the recording session. It’s an attempt to get to a different level of music through spontaneous creative interaction between the musicians.”
The Fabian Zone Trio CDs are available at Christian Fabian’s website (christianfabian.com), the CAP record company site (jazzbeat.com), online webstores (including cdbaby.com), and various digital downloads locations such as iTunes.
“I called the album The Masters Return! for three reasons,” explains Fabian. “Many of the songs were written by some of the greatest jazz musicians of all time. The players I chose to work with are all master musicians themselves and all played with some of the legends. The third reason is based on spiritualism and the belief that there will be a time when ‘The Ancient Masters’ return to our planet and show us how to live in peaceful harmony.”
Currently considered to be a strong youthful presence in the New York City jazz scene, Fabian was born in Sweden, raised from the age of six in Germany and began his college studies in The Netherlands. He came to the United States to study at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston where he graduated Magna Cum Laude. He was Lionel Hampton’s bassist for many years and still performs in the Lionel Hampton Big Band. Fabian also has performed onstage with Gary Burton, Elvin Jones, Hank Jones, Joe Lovano, Roy Hargrove, Al Gray, David Sanchez, John Stowell, Lou Rawls, New York State of the Art Jazz Ensemble (Mike Longo’s big band), Jon Hendricks, Chaka Kahn, and Cheryl Bentyne of Manhattan Transfer. Christian’s own band, the Fabian Zone Trio, has released three CDs.
The musicians on The Masters Return! bring a wealth of experience to the recording. Mike Longo played piano with Dizzy Gillespie for 25 years (and served as his Music Director). Longo’s other credits include Cannonball Adderley, Coleman Hawkins, Gene Krupa, Nancy Wilson, Jimmy Witherspoon, Joe Williams, Paul Chambers, Lee Konitz, Clark Terry, Zoot Sims, Roy Eldridge, Astrud Gilberto, James Moody and Buddy Rich. Drummer Lewis Nash, who has served on the faculty of the Juilliard School of Music, also played with Dizzy Gillespie as well as the Tommy Flanagan Trio, Betty Carter, Sonny Rollins, Oscar Peterson, Wynton Marsalis, Joe Lovano, Diana Krall, Ron Carter and many others. Special guest horn player Jimmy Owens has performed with Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Charles Mingus, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie and Joe Zawinul. Saxophonist Andres Boiarsky’s credits include Gillespie, Paquito D’Rivera, Al di Meola, David Sanchez, Nancy Wilson and Claudio Roditi.
There is a common denominator among the four musicians Fabian chose to work with on this recording – they all played with Dizzy Gillespie, an early influence on Fabian. When Christian was 12-years-old, he saw a Dizzy Gillespie concert, and also went backstage and spoke with Dizzy. A few months later Christian saw Lionel Hampton perform, never dreaming he would eventually become Hampton’s bassist. Those two concerts inspired Christian to pursue music and opened the door to the world of jazz. Soon he started learning to play electric bass, and when he was 16 began studying upright acoustic bass.
Fabian left Germany to study at the Maastricht Conservatory in The Netherlands for nearly four years. At that time Christian was listening to Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and Tribal Tech which inspired him to start the jazz-rock-fusion band Time Design which eventually recorded three albums and built a strong following in the Maastricht area. One of his instructors, Emiel Van Egdom (John Patitucci, Alex Acuna, Brian Bromberg), had attended the Berklee College of Music in the United States, and when Van Egdom went to Los Angeles to record a CD, he invited Fabian to visit him for three months. “The great musicians I met at that time gave me the courage, motivation and enthusiasm to seriously pursue jazz.”
After meeting many Berklee College graduates, Fabian decided he should study there. His classes included advanced harmony, composition, horn arranging and film scoring. Fabian graduated with honors and received his BA degree in performance and film scoring. While at Berklee, Fabian had his own band and they recorded some demos and performed in Japan. During this time, Fabian played onstage with Gary Burton, Makoto Ozone, Sebastian DeKrom and Antonio Sanchez. Fabian also studied the musicianship of legendary bass players such as Charlie Mingus, Ray Brown, Ron Carter, Paul Chambers and Oscar Pettiford.
While still in college, Fabian was hired as the bassist for the Lionel Hampton Big Band after being recommended by Brian Bromberg. Fabian played at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival (where he also got to back numerous top jazz greats), and after graduation he toured regularly with the group. Fabian was invited by the Thelonious Monk Institute to study with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Bill Taylor and Diana Krall, among others. Since moving to New York, Fabian has regularly played with a dozen different jazz groups on a freelance basis in addition to starting the Fabian Zone Trio. Fabian has studied with Mike Longo, and has become a music mentor/teacher in his own right. He also founded a non-profit organization, R.U.B. (Records of Universal Bandwidth), specifically to honor elder music greats and capture their knowledge and wisdom for future generations.
The first Fabian Zone Trio recording, Across the Tracks, featured pianist Andy LaVerne (Woody Herman, Stan Getz) and drummer Danny Gottlieb (Bill Evans, John McLaughlin) plus three guests: Claudio Roditi on trumpet (Dizzy Gillespie, McCoy Tyner), Corey Christiansen on guitar (John Pizzarelli, John Pisano) and Mike Longo on percussion. The second album, Curtain of Life, had Fabian on electric bass with a more fusion-funk trio – keyboardist Steve Hunt (Stanley Clarke, Freddie Hubbard) and drummer Steve Michaud (Alan Holdsworth, David Hines) with guest saxophonist Lance Bryant (Bootsy Collins, Lou Rawls) and sax/clarinet player Bill Vint (Aretha Franklin, The Temptations). On The Masters Return!, Fabian is back on upright bass (which he bows on a couple of tunes). He says the new recording “is rooted in the bebop tradition and is swinging like crazy.”
“I named the group Fabian Zone Trio to identify a territory as a bandleader. There is total freedom within the ‘zone.’ It is not so much about me, but an opportunity for great musicians to come together to try new things, stretch boundaries and create music that has never been made before. Only by being totally open to the moment can you hope to make something innovative and special in jazz.”
ON HIS INSTRUMENTAL CDS, MARSHALL STYLER BLENDS THE SOUNDS OF PIANO, MODERN DIGITAL KEYBOARDS AND CLASSIC ANALOG-BASED SYNTHESIZERS
Since the beginning of the Nineties, pianist, synthesist and composer Marshall Styler has been quietly, but steadily building a large and loyal following of fans who enjoy gentle, melodic, impressionistic instrumental music. The music on his latest album, A Face In The Clouds, as with his previous solo recordings, is inspired by both strong human emotions and the Central Texas scenery he finds endlessly fascinating.
The son of a fireman killed in the World Trade Center on 9/11 sees a face in the clouds and feels that his father is watching out for him from the heavens. A ballerina dances across a stream on a bridge in an autumn forest. Good friends and family, who have passed on, leave warm memories. In the early morning a neighborhood wakes and the city begins to bustle with activity. An old German town in Central Texas is surrounded by orchards, vineyards and wildflowers. An old house on an abandoned road, the late-night rain on a city’s downtown warehouse district, and the view from the top of a dam that separates two picturesque lakes.
These are the varied feelings and imagery that inspired A Face In The Clouds, Styler’s new CD of contemporary instrumental music that is perfect for relaxation, healing, spiritual meditations, yoga, massage and other new age lifestyle activities. Styler’s CDs can be purchased at his website (marshallstyler.com), in many record stores and specialty shops across the United States, through major online outlets (amazon.com or cdbaby.com), and at many web digital download locations (including iTunes and Rhapsody).
Unlike many synth-players who are always searching for the very latest technology, Styler feels he creates a unique sound by using a combination of piano, modern digital keyboards and older classic analog-based synthesizers. “I love the warmth and feel that some of the early synths create, and some of those sounds are only available on that original equipment,” explains Styler.
After saying goodbye to a successful rock’n’roll career where he sold hundreds of thousands of albums and concert tickets with his band Duke Jupiter, Marshall Styler moved to the other end of the musical spectrum and began creating his best-selling soft solo recordings. While his earlier music was inspired first by traditional jazz and then by jam-bands and progressive-rock groups, his current instrumental albums owe a debt to his childhood love of classical music and more recent inspirational new age acts such as Andreas Vollenweider and Deep Forest.
Styler’s earliest musical memories include his grandfather playing ragtime (he was a piano player in vaudeville and movie houses) and his mother listening to classical music all the time when Marshall was growing up in his hometown of Rochester, New York. “I gravitated toward the piano concertos by Beethoven, Bach and Mozart.” In grade school he played tuba and saxophone, but when he was 12, his father purchased a piano. Marshall took a few lessons, and also immediately began making up his own songs. He also was drawn to jazz – Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Jimmy Smith, Erroll Garner and Thelonius Monk. Marshall put his first band together when he was 15 and on weekends they played at the high school or at a downtown coffee shop until 4 a.m.
When the musical “British Invasion” hit in the mid-Sixties, Styler bought an electric piano and switched to playing rock’n’roll. He formed Lincoln Zephyr in 1967, Rochester’s first psychedelic band, and they opened a concert for Jimi Hendrix. “We played a lot of original material that I wrote, did a lot of blues jamming and covered a few things by the Grateful Dead, Cream, Ray Charles and Steve Winwood.” After a stint in Southern California, Styler headed back east to start the band Duke Jupiter which had strong major-label national success, but Marshall believes they were ultimately hampered by being too musically eclectic. They began as an instrumental band blending jazz and blues-rock, eventually added vocals, and often jammed improvisationally onstage. Throughout their career, Styler wrote approximately 80 percent of their material and shared the lead vocals.
Duke Jupiter got a major label deal with Mercury Records for their first three albums. The first recording, Sweet Cheeks, was produced by Chuck Leavell (who had played with the Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones), and he steered the band in the direction of Southern Rock. Recorded in Macon, Georgia, at Capricorn Studios, the album included special guest percussionist Jaimoe (Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker, Charlie Daniels). For the second album, Taste The Night, the band re-explored its jazz roots a bit more, this time using famed producer Glen Kolotkin (Jimi Hendrix, Joan Jett, Santana, Electric Flag). Legendary guitarist Steve Katz (The Blues Project, Blood Sweat & Tears) produced the third project, Band in Blue. During these years Duke Jupiter toured with ZZ Top, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bob Seger and BB King.
The band switched to another top label, Epic/CBS, for the next two albums and enjoyed their biggest success with a more pop-rock sound. Produced by Kolotkin again, the album was titled Duke Jupiter 1 to signify that the band felt like they were starting over. A live version of “I’ll Drink To You” was filmed and the video aired repeatedly on MTV (Top 15 on their charts). The next year Duke Jupiter released You Make It Look Easy produced by Ashley Howe (Ted Nugent, Hawkwind, Uriah Heep). Meanwhile the band was touring the country coast-to-coast with acts such as REO Speedwagon, Foreigner, David Bowie, Blue Oyster Cult and The Outlaws. In their hometown, Rochester, Duke Jupiter headlined in front of 25,000 fans. But as their popularity ascended, the band suffered hardship too. In the group’s first half-dozen years, two band-members died.
Duke Jupiter went on to sign with Motown Records’ rock’n’roll subsidiary Morocco Records and recorded two albums again produced by Kolotkin, White Knuckle Ride and The Line of Your Fire. Blending pop-rock with straight-ahead rock, Duke Jupiter continued to gain fans and sell well. They toured with Huey Lewis & The News and Toto. Finally, in the mid-Eighties, after a decade-and-a-half of non-stop recording and touring, the band called it quits. Their final album was a best-of collection, The Band Played On. However, they reunite every few years for special concerts, usually in the Rochester area. Information updates and CDs are available at their website: www.dukejupiter.com.
On his own musically after helming a hard-working rock band for so many years, Marshall moved to Texas and played with several Austin-area rock groups, but finally decided he wanted to try a different musical approach. He had recorded a demo of instrumental piano music a few years earlier and sent it as a valentine to his future wife Katherine. With her encouragement he decided to pursue that direction further. Katherine became his manager and he was soon performing in public on piano and synthesizers four or five nights a week. In 1990 he recorded his first solo album, Camden Road, which was only released regionally, but it opened the door for his full-fledged solo recording career.
In 1992 Styler began releasing an acclaimed, best-selling series of new age, emotion-filled, piano-and-synthesizer CDs beginning with his “Red River Trilogy” comprised of the albums Bluefields, Mockingbird Station and Red River Crossing, all containing musical impressions of the Hill Country of Central Texas. “Its scenery and people continuously inspire me,” he says. He continued to mine these themes in subsequent releases – Jericho, The Twilight Concertos and the new A Face In The Clouds. Selections of his original music were joined with breath-taking photographic images by James Innes to create the Dreamaker DVD. Marshall’s only foray away from writing his own material came with Silent Night, containing his renditions of 14 traditional Christmas carols.
“I consider myself an impressionist,” Styler explains, “in the spirit of the French Impressionist painters – Degas, Monet and Renoir. They worked with color and emotion, and have a powerful elegance, and those are qualities I strive for in my music.”
The son of a fireman killed in the World Trade Center on 9/11 sees a face in the clouds and feels that his father is watching out for him from the heavens. A ballerina dances across a stream on a bridge in an autumn forest. Good friends and family, who have passed on, leave warm memories. In the early morning a neighborhood wakes and the city begins to bustle with activity. An old German town in Central Texas is surrounded by orchards, vineyards and wildflowers. An old house on an abandoned road, the late-night rain on a city’s downtown warehouse district, and the view from the top of a dam that separates two picturesque lakes.
These are the varied feelings and imagery that inspired A Face In The Clouds, Styler’s new CD of contemporary instrumental music that is perfect for relaxation, healing, spiritual meditations, yoga, massage and other new age lifestyle activities. Styler’s CDs can be purchased at his website (marshallstyler.com), in many record stores and specialty shops across the United States, through major online outlets (amazon.com or cdbaby.com), and at many web digital download locations (including iTunes and Rhapsody).
Unlike many synth-players who are always searching for the very latest technology, Styler feels he creates a unique sound by using a combination of piano, modern digital keyboards and older classic analog-based synthesizers. “I love the warmth and feel that some of the early synths create, and some of those sounds are only available on that original equipment,” explains Styler.
After saying goodbye to a successful rock’n’roll career where he sold hundreds of thousands of albums and concert tickets with his band Duke Jupiter, Marshall Styler moved to the other end of the musical spectrum and began creating his best-selling soft solo recordings. While his earlier music was inspired first by traditional jazz and then by jam-bands and progressive-rock groups, his current instrumental albums owe a debt to his childhood love of classical music and more recent inspirational new age acts such as Andreas Vollenweider and Deep Forest.
Styler’s earliest musical memories include his grandfather playing ragtime (he was a piano player in vaudeville and movie houses) and his mother listening to classical music all the time when Marshall was growing up in his hometown of Rochester, New York. “I gravitated toward the piano concertos by Beethoven, Bach and Mozart.” In grade school he played tuba and saxophone, but when he was 12, his father purchased a piano. Marshall took a few lessons, and also immediately began making up his own songs. He also was drawn to jazz – Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Jimmy Smith, Erroll Garner and Thelonius Monk. Marshall put his first band together when he was 15 and on weekends they played at the high school or at a downtown coffee shop until 4 a.m.
When the musical “British Invasion” hit in the mid-Sixties, Styler bought an electric piano and switched to playing rock’n’roll. He formed Lincoln Zephyr in 1967, Rochester’s first psychedelic band, and they opened a concert for Jimi Hendrix. “We played a lot of original material that I wrote, did a lot of blues jamming and covered a few things by the Grateful Dead, Cream, Ray Charles and Steve Winwood.” After a stint in Southern California, Styler headed back east to start the band Duke Jupiter which had strong major-label national success, but Marshall believes they were ultimately hampered by being too musically eclectic. They began as an instrumental band blending jazz and blues-rock, eventually added vocals, and often jammed improvisationally onstage. Throughout their career, Styler wrote approximately 80 percent of their material and shared the lead vocals.
Duke Jupiter got a major label deal with Mercury Records for their first three albums. The first recording, Sweet Cheeks, was produced by Chuck Leavell (who had played with the Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones), and he steered the band in the direction of Southern Rock. Recorded in Macon, Georgia, at Capricorn Studios, the album included special guest percussionist Jaimoe (Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker, Charlie Daniels). For the second album, Taste The Night, the band re-explored its jazz roots a bit more, this time using famed producer Glen Kolotkin (Jimi Hendrix, Joan Jett, Santana, Electric Flag). Legendary guitarist Steve Katz (The Blues Project, Blood Sweat & Tears) produced the third project, Band in Blue. During these years Duke Jupiter toured with ZZ Top, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bob Seger and BB King.
The band switched to another top label, Epic/CBS, for the next two albums and enjoyed their biggest success with a more pop-rock sound. Produced by Kolotkin again, the album was titled Duke Jupiter 1 to signify that the band felt like they were starting over. A live version of “I’ll Drink To You” was filmed and the video aired repeatedly on MTV (Top 15 on their charts). The next year Duke Jupiter released You Make It Look Easy produced by Ashley Howe (Ted Nugent, Hawkwind, Uriah Heep). Meanwhile the band was touring the country coast-to-coast with acts such as REO Speedwagon, Foreigner, David Bowie, Blue Oyster Cult and The Outlaws. In their hometown, Rochester, Duke Jupiter headlined in front of 25,000 fans. But as their popularity ascended, the band suffered hardship too. In the group’s first half-dozen years, two band-members died.
Duke Jupiter went on to sign with Motown Records’ rock’n’roll subsidiary Morocco Records and recorded two albums again produced by Kolotkin, White Knuckle Ride and The Line of Your Fire. Blending pop-rock with straight-ahead rock, Duke Jupiter continued to gain fans and sell well. They toured with Huey Lewis & The News and Toto. Finally, in the mid-Eighties, after a decade-and-a-half of non-stop recording and touring, the band called it quits. Their final album was a best-of collection, The Band Played On. However, they reunite every few years for special concerts, usually in the Rochester area. Information updates and CDs are available at their website: www.dukejupiter.com.
On his own musically after helming a hard-working rock band for so many years, Marshall moved to Texas and played with several Austin-area rock groups, but finally decided he wanted to try a different musical approach. He had recorded a demo of instrumental piano music a few years earlier and sent it as a valentine to his future wife Katherine. With her encouragement he decided to pursue that direction further. Katherine became his manager and he was soon performing in public on piano and synthesizers four or five nights a week. In 1990 he recorded his first solo album, Camden Road, which was only released regionally, but it opened the door for his full-fledged solo recording career.
In 1992 Styler began releasing an acclaimed, best-selling series of new age, emotion-filled, piano-and-synthesizer CDs beginning with his “Red River Trilogy” comprised of the albums Bluefields, Mockingbird Station and Red River Crossing, all containing musical impressions of the Hill Country of Central Texas. “Its scenery and people continuously inspire me,” he says. He continued to mine these themes in subsequent releases – Jericho, The Twilight Concertos and the new A Face In The Clouds. Selections of his original music were joined with breath-taking photographic images by James Innes to create the Dreamaker DVD. Marshall’s only foray away from writing his own material came with Silent Night, containing his renditions of 14 traditional Christmas carols.
“I consider myself an impressionist,” Styler explains, “in the spirit of the French Impressionist painters – Degas, Monet and Renoir. They worked with color and emotion, and have a powerful elegance, and those are qualities I strive for in my music.”
MOVE OVER SINATRA AND BENNETT, RON KAPLAN CROONS WITH THE BEST OF THEM
One of our finest contemporary singers of jazz standards, Ron Kaplan has spent his entire career championing the Great American Songbook, with much of that classic material written in or about New York City. So it makes perfect sense that this tradition-oriented vocalist dedicates his latest album, New York, to that remarkable metropolis.
“Although I am from California,” explains Kaplan, “every time I go to New York City I am always struck by the energy, excitement and exuberance of the place. Everything about it is exciting – the history, the architecture, the people, the culture, the arts. It’s the jazz capitol of the world. It’s the home of Broadway theatre, Tin Pan Alley, the Brill Building and countless legendary songwriters over the past century. There is so much to do and the atmosphere is so intense. It’s the city that never sleeps. It is one of the few cities in the world that has had many, many songs written about it. The difficulty wasn’t finding New York-themed songs for this recording, but deciding which ones to sing.”
Ron Kaplan's New York and his other CDs are available at online sites (such as cdbaby.com and amazon.com), digital download locations (including iTunes.com, rhapsody.com) and Kaplan's own ronkaplan.com.
In addition to his career as a concert performer and recording artist, Kaplan also is the founder and executive director of American Songbook Preservation Society, a non-profit organization whose mission statement is: "To preserve our cultural treasure known as the Great American Songbook by performing this music at home and abroad as Ambassadors of Song." For more information, go to greatamericansongbook.org. "The Great American Songbook is full of what is known as popular standards -- great songs written generally between 1920 and 1960, most often for Broadway shows or Hollywood musical films, but sometimes simply in the Tin Pan Alley tradition of pianists and lyricists working together to create quality material for the big bands or the pop singers of the day."
Kaplan has carved out an exemplary singing career by following in the footsteps left by legends such as Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme, Nat King Cole and Tony Bennett. Ron has superb command of his flexible baritone that literally cocoons the listener within the cozy atmosphere of the images and feelings that he sings about. His trademarks are his sophisticated phrasing, the mature tonal qualities of his vocals, and his relaxed style.
On the New York CD, Kaplan uses a hot jazz quintet. He co-produced with arranger and pianist Larry Dunlap, who has worked with Cleo Laine, Mark Murphy, The Swing Fever Big Band, Jules Broussard, Bobbe Norris and Jeremy Cohen, among others. The rhythm section is comprised of bassist Seward McCain (Vince Guaraldi Trio, Richie Cole, Kitty Margolis, Jeff Linsky, Dave Eshelman) and drummer Akira Tana (Lena Horne, Pat Metheny, Art Farmer, Zoot Sims, James Moody, Ruth Brown, Lee Konitz, Kenny Burrell). They are augmented by a horn section – Erik Jekabson on trumpet (Illinois Jacquet, John Mayer, Kermit Ruffins, Howard Fishman) and Noel Jewkes on saxophone and clarinet (Jon Hendricks, Michael Bloomfield, Mary Stallings, Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers).
Kaplan selected a dozen classic compositions that reflect a myriad of different aspects of New York City. “The chronology of the songs is like taking a trip to New York City, seeing the different parts of the island, experiencing the nightlife, riding the subway or the buses, walking around or going uptown.” A couple of the tunes are better known as jazz instrumentals than vocalized compositions, but Kaplan did extensive research to track down the lyrics, often going back to the earliest versions or sheet music, and sometimes singing verses seldom heard today.
While most of the CD’s tunes are from the first half of the Twentieth Century, the stage is set with a song from the Seventies, Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind” (“He’s saying that once you’ve been a New Yorker, you always feel the pull to go back to that city.”). Lester Young’s “Jumpin’ With Symphony Sid” is about a famous New York disc-jockey playing the swing, R&B and jazz of the Forties over the air. No trip to NYC would be complete without a stop on Broadway, represented by both “Lullaby of Broadway” and a medley, “New York New York/Broadway,” where, as the lyrics say, “the night is brighter than day.” Then it’s off on a historical ride around the city with Billy Strayhorn’s classic “Take the ‘A’ Train” which became one of Duke Ellington’s signature themes. Appropriately, next comes the Ellington-penned “Drop Me Off in Harlem” and a Cotton Club standard, “Harlem Nocturne,” which Kaplan first heard as an instrumental on a noir-ish private eye television show years ago.
The journey around the big city continues with “Forty Second Street.” Kaplan says he loves the historical content (“it talks about everything from dancing girls and chorus lines to Times Square and Wall Street”). Another side of the city is presented in “Sunday in New York” (“it reminds me of strolling along the streets and people watching”). For many years striving, struggling artists have flocked to this important entertainment capital determined “to make it” and this drama is described in the Sixties Brill Building hit “On Broadway.” Kaplan injects a little humor with the cynical tongue-in-cheek “Give It Back to the Indians,” written by tunesmiths Rogers and Hart. The recording closes with another song by the same team, “Manhattan” (“perhaps the quintessential song about New York”).
Kaplan’s other albums are High Standards, Dedicated, Jazz Ambassadors, Lounging Around, Saloon and a special-edition fund-raising live recording American Songbook Preservation Society Singing the Great American Songbook. In the past few years Kaplan has performed in Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington DC. He has made television appearances on "Musician's Weekly" and "BETonJazz." He has played with musicians such as pianists Shelly Berg, Smith Dobson, Geoff Eales, Tom Garvin, Weber Iago, Mark Levine, Dick Whittington and Jessica Williams; guitarist Larry Scala; bassists Art Davis, Stan Poplin, Perry Thoorsell and Tom Warrington; horn-players Paul Contos, Ted Curson, Dmitri Matheny, Donny McCaslin Jr. and Kenny Stahl; and drummers Dan Brubeck, Donald Dean, Tootie Heath, Guiseppe Merolla, and Matt Wilson.
Kaplan was born in Hollywood and was immediately surrounded by music. His father played trumpet in jazz-bands in the Fifties and his mother had the radio or record player on constantly. From his toddler-days onward, Kaplan's parents indoctrinated him with the great singers of 1950s. His earliest influences were Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Mel Torme, Dean Martin, Sarah Vaughn, Sammy Davis Jr., and Louis Armstrong among others. Ron played drums and percussion at school. In junior and senior high schools he sang in musical stage productions, did standup comedy at talent shows and his uncle's bar, and competed in speech tournaments ("sometimes it was extemporaneous speaking which is sort of like jazz soloing"). Ron studied in an actor's workshop in Hollywood, and then went to Los Angeles' Valley College where he got his Associate in Arts degree. He taught himself to play guitar and piano, and started writing songs influenced by Bob Dylan, The Beatles and Cat Stevens. Ron also performed original material professionally accompanied by a viola player. In addition, Kaplan learned to play congas at Venice Beach and later played in drum circles every Sunday for a number of years in Griffith Park. Kaplan moved north to attend the University of California at Santa Cruz where he majored in psychology and received his Bachelor of Arts degree.
From 1985 to 1995, Kaplan decided to immerse himself in instrumental jazz and began listening to classic material from 1950 to 1964 – Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley, Wayne Shorter and countless others. About a dozen years ago Kaplan turned to his first love, those songbook standards, and began his recording career with a style reminiscent of those great jazz vocalists he first heard as a child.
“All of my albums are an acknowledgment and tip-of-the-hat to those who came before us and paved the way for us to have a truly American soundtrack of music for our lives,” explains Kaplan. “My greatest desire is to keep this wonderful music before the public for the next hundred years and beyond. This music needs to be elevated and cared for, which is why I started the not-for-profit American Songbook Preservation Society.”
“Although I am from California,” explains Kaplan, “every time I go to New York City I am always struck by the energy, excitement and exuberance of the place. Everything about it is exciting – the history, the architecture, the people, the culture, the arts. It’s the jazz capitol of the world. It’s the home of Broadway theatre, Tin Pan Alley, the Brill Building and countless legendary songwriters over the past century. There is so much to do and the atmosphere is so intense. It’s the city that never sleeps. It is one of the few cities in the world that has had many, many songs written about it. The difficulty wasn’t finding New York-themed songs for this recording, but deciding which ones to sing.”
Ron Kaplan's New York and his other CDs are available at online sites (such as cdbaby.com and amazon.com), digital download locations (including iTunes.com, rhapsody.com) and Kaplan's own ronkaplan.com.
In addition to his career as a concert performer and recording artist, Kaplan also is the founder and executive director of American Songbook Preservation Society, a non-profit organization whose mission statement is: "To preserve our cultural treasure known as the Great American Songbook by performing this music at home and abroad as Ambassadors of Song." For more information, go to greatamericansongbook.org. "The Great American Songbook is full of what is known as popular standards -- great songs written generally between 1920 and 1960, most often for Broadway shows or Hollywood musical films, but sometimes simply in the Tin Pan Alley tradition of pianists and lyricists working together to create quality material for the big bands or the pop singers of the day."
Kaplan has carved out an exemplary singing career by following in the footsteps left by legends such as Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme, Nat King Cole and Tony Bennett. Ron has superb command of his flexible baritone that literally cocoons the listener within the cozy atmosphere of the images and feelings that he sings about. His trademarks are his sophisticated phrasing, the mature tonal qualities of his vocals, and his relaxed style.
On the New York CD, Kaplan uses a hot jazz quintet. He co-produced with arranger and pianist Larry Dunlap, who has worked with Cleo Laine, Mark Murphy, The Swing Fever Big Band, Jules Broussard, Bobbe Norris and Jeremy Cohen, among others. The rhythm section is comprised of bassist Seward McCain (Vince Guaraldi Trio, Richie Cole, Kitty Margolis, Jeff Linsky, Dave Eshelman) and drummer Akira Tana (Lena Horne, Pat Metheny, Art Farmer, Zoot Sims, James Moody, Ruth Brown, Lee Konitz, Kenny Burrell). They are augmented by a horn section – Erik Jekabson on trumpet (Illinois Jacquet, John Mayer, Kermit Ruffins, Howard Fishman) and Noel Jewkes on saxophone and clarinet (Jon Hendricks, Michael Bloomfield, Mary Stallings, Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers).
Kaplan selected a dozen classic compositions that reflect a myriad of different aspects of New York City. “The chronology of the songs is like taking a trip to New York City, seeing the different parts of the island, experiencing the nightlife, riding the subway or the buses, walking around or going uptown.” A couple of the tunes are better known as jazz instrumentals than vocalized compositions, but Kaplan did extensive research to track down the lyrics, often going back to the earliest versions or sheet music, and sometimes singing verses seldom heard today.
While most of the CD’s tunes are from the first half of the Twentieth Century, the stage is set with a song from the Seventies, Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind” (“He’s saying that once you’ve been a New Yorker, you always feel the pull to go back to that city.”). Lester Young’s “Jumpin’ With Symphony Sid” is about a famous New York disc-jockey playing the swing, R&B and jazz of the Forties over the air. No trip to NYC would be complete without a stop on Broadway, represented by both “Lullaby of Broadway” and a medley, “New York New York/Broadway,” where, as the lyrics say, “the night is brighter than day.” Then it’s off on a historical ride around the city with Billy Strayhorn’s classic “Take the ‘A’ Train” which became one of Duke Ellington’s signature themes. Appropriately, next comes the Ellington-penned “Drop Me Off in Harlem” and a Cotton Club standard, “Harlem Nocturne,” which Kaplan first heard as an instrumental on a noir-ish private eye television show years ago.
The journey around the big city continues with “Forty Second Street.” Kaplan says he loves the historical content (“it talks about everything from dancing girls and chorus lines to Times Square and Wall Street”). Another side of the city is presented in “Sunday in New York” (“it reminds me of strolling along the streets and people watching”). For many years striving, struggling artists have flocked to this important entertainment capital determined “to make it” and this drama is described in the Sixties Brill Building hit “On Broadway.” Kaplan injects a little humor with the cynical tongue-in-cheek “Give It Back to the Indians,” written by tunesmiths Rogers and Hart. The recording closes with another song by the same team, “Manhattan” (“perhaps the quintessential song about New York”).
Kaplan’s other albums are High Standards, Dedicated, Jazz Ambassadors, Lounging Around, Saloon and a special-edition fund-raising live recording American Songbook Preservation Society Singing the Great American Songbook. In the past few years Kaplan has performed in Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington DC. He has made television appearances on "Musician's Weekly" and "BETonJazz." He has played with musicians such as pianists Shelly Berg, Smith Dobson, Geoff Eales, Tom Garvin, Weber Iago, Mark Levine, Dick Whittington and Jessica Williams; guitarist Larry Scala; bassists Art Davis, Stan Poplin, Perry Thoorsell and Tom Warrington; horn-players Paul Contos, Ted Curson, Dmitri Matheny, Donny McCaslin Jr. and Kenny Stahl; and drummers Dan Brubeck, Donald Dean, Tootie Heath, Guiseppe Merolla, and Matt Wilson.
Kaplan was born in Hollywood and was immediately surrounded by music. His father played trumpet in jazz-bands in the Fifties and his mother had the radio or record player on constantly. From his toddler-days onward, Kaplan's parents indoctrinated him with the great singers of 1950s. His earliest influences were Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Mel Torme, Dean Martin, Sarah Vaughn, Sammy Davis Jr., and Louis Armstrong among others. Ron played drums and percussion at school. In junior and senior high schools he sang in musical stage productions, did standup comedy at talent shows and his uncle's bar, and competed in speech tournaments ("sometimes it was extemporaneous speaking which is sort of like jazz soloing"). Ron studied in an actor's workshop in Hollywood, and then went to Los Angeles' Valley College where he got his Associate in Arts degree. He taught himself to play guitar and piano, and started writing songs influenced by Bob Dylan, The Beatles and Cat Stevens. Ron also performed original material professionally accompanied by a viola player. In addition, Kaplan learned to play congas at Venice Beach and later played in drum circles every Sunday for a number of years in Griffith Park. Kaplan moved north to attend the University of California at Santa Cruz where he majored in psychology and received his Bachelor of Arts degree.
From 1985 to 1995, Kaplan decided to immerse himself in instrumental jazz and began listening to classic material from 1950 to 1964 – Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Lee Morgan, Hank Mobley, Wayne Shorter and countless others. About a dozen years ago Kaplan turned to his first love, those songbook standards, and began his recording career with a style reminiscent of those great jazz vocalists he first heard as a child.
“All of my albums are an acknowledgment and tip-of-the-hat to those who came before us and paved the way for us to have a truly American soundtrack of music for our lives,” explains Kaplan. “My greatest desire is to keep this wonderful music before the public for the next hundred years and beyond. This music needs to be elevated and cared for, which is why I started the not-for-profit American Songbook Preservation Society.”
FOR SWINGING, DEEPLY-ORGANIC JAZZ IMPROVISATION, TRY NEW FALKNER EVANS CD, ARC
ARC - THE FALKNER EVANS TRIO WITH BELDEN BULLOCK AND MATT WILSON
“The beauty of jazz as an art-form is the freedom of expression allowed,” explains pianist Falkner Evans. “There is nothing more free in music than jazz improvisation.” So the third recording (Arc) by the Falkner Evans Trio (with bassist Belden Bullock and Matt Wilson), once again uses the classic format of introducing a melody primarily as a jumping off point for spirited, swinging, deeply-organic, exploratory improv and trio interplay.
“When I approach a piece of music, I try not to over-arrange it,” Evans states. “I want to be as open to possibilities as I can. With only a bare structure, it allows each musician to bring many more ideas to the tune. This trio is continually trying to expand its reach. Of course the further you stretch, the more likely you will occasionally slip and fall, but the excitement and the journey to new places is worth it. I truly believe that when you go somewhere new for the first time, the audience senses that and appreciates it.”
Arc (on CAP Records) can be purchased online at cdbaby.com and the label’s website at jazzbeat.com, and at digital download sites including iTunes, Rhapsody and others. For more information on Evans, go to his website at falknerevans.com.
In subtle ways, Evans’s diverse musical background influences the improvisational solos he performs. He grew up playing pop, rock and blues before turning strongly toward jazz. For several years Evans also toured and recorded with the western-swing/country-rock legends Asleep at the Wheel. In addition Falkner has played Brazilian music and Latin-jazz extensively. Falkner’s first album was Level Playing Field followed by Climbing the Gates, both of which featured several original compositions. As before, on Arc Evans recorded in the studio live-to-two-track with no overdubbing or additional mixing.
There are several changes evident on this third recording by Evans. Matt Wilson returns, but the bassist on Falkner’s two previous outings was Cecil McBee. On Arc Evans brought in Belden Bullock, whom Falkner has worked with frequently in concert for the past 13 years. This new trio played together regularly for seven months before recording Arc to become completely attuned to each other. Falkner feels this may be his most cohesive recording to date. It is evident that the band-leader is relaxed and confident, and that his playing has matured and deepened in the four years since the sessions for his second CD.
Matt Wilson has spent the past decade as one of the more creative drummers on the jazz scene having played with Dewey Redman, Lee Konitz, Fred Hersch, Janis Siegel, Dave Liebman, Charlie Haden and Curtis Stigers, among others. Belden Bullock is a bass-playing stalwart in the New York City area and has recorded with Ralph Peterson, Taja, Oliver Lake, Abdullah Ibrahim, Jay Hoggard and The Cartwright/Oppenheim Quintet.
“At the recording sessions for Arc we kept ourselves completely open to the improvisation,” Falkner says. “We specifically did not choreograph the solos. We just let the music flow. It all felt natural and right. What I learned from listening to John Coltrane and Miles Davis is to be as free as possible. They were the masters at perfectly blending the melody and the improvisation so it becomes one thing with no lines between.”
Arc features five compositions by Evans beginning with “Regatta” (inspired by a flotilla Falkner saw in Italy) and this samba reflects his love of Brazilian rhythms. The one-take “Singing Darkness” features a strong bassline by both Evans and Bullock, plus “a solo section that starts off very quiet, but by the end of the 16-bars we are really flying with Matt accenting everything beautifully.” “Bar Enigma” (also one take) is one of the more complicated pieces with a difficult chord change, but Evans says, “I have always been interested in taking a complex tune and seeing if can make it sound simple so that it is very accessible to the listener.” “Lucia’s Happy Heart” (inspired by Falkner’s wife) evolved out of playing some Thelonious Monk chord changes and then adding some twists, “but the key to this one is the sense of dynamics.” Evans wrote “Make Tracks, Child” to challenge listeners to “get out in the world and experience life,” and musically to explore his own bluesy roots.
The trio also does deep exploration of tunes by other composers. “I am a huge John Coltrane fan,” states Evans. “I chose ‘Central Park West’ as a short, simple interlude ballad for the album. I wanted the silence within the tune to speak to the audience gently.” Falkner chose “Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum” because “I consider Wayne Shorter to be one of the greatest jazz writers ever. We put our own intro on this and end up really swinging.” Evans says “the band specifically never rehearsed the Harold Arlen tune ‘Come Rain or Come Shine’ to see if we could approach it with open minds and be totally fresh with it. It has a great looseness, especially when we push and pull the rhythm a bit.” Falkner ends the album with a solo piano piece, Kurt Weill’s “Lost in the Stars” because “I wanted a simple, poignant exclamation point to close the CD.”
Falkner has lived and performed regularly in New York City for many years, but he was born and raised in Oklahoma where his eclectic musical background began. Initially a drummer who formed his first band in sixth grade, Falkner switched to playing piano four years later performing material by Van Morrison, Bob Dylan and The Band. But in high school Evans also began listening to jazz like John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy and Miles Davis. Evans joined one of Tulsa’s most popular bands, Friends, doing material by acts such as Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears. Evans then formed his own group, The Edge Band, to play blues-rock (Allman Bros., Johnny Winter). The group evolved into Essence which became Tulsa’s top jazz band playing five nights a week at the Nine o’ Cups jazz club. Playing music by Coltrane, Cannonball Adderly and Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Essence opened shows for Pat Metheny, Thad Jones & Mel Lewis, and Stan Kenton. Jazz acts traveling through Tulsa often stopped in (Bill Evans caught a set) and sometimes sat in (Thad Jones, Mel Lewis, Milt Jackson). For several weeks each year, Falkner would travel to New York City to take piano instruction from Dan Haerle and to catch shows by top jazz acts there.
In the early Eighties Falkner got the call to join the country’s top western swing band Asleep At the Wheel. He stayed with the band for four years of national touring, two albums (Asleep at the Wheel on Dot Records and The Best of Asleep at the Wheel: The Milennium Collection), and appearances on television (“Austin City Limits” and the CBS-TV special “From Texas to Tennessee”). One notable concert was at the closing night of the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin on New Year’s Eve with Commander Cody (Lost Planet Airmen) and Maryann Price (Dan Hicks, The Kinks) sitting in.
Evans moved to New York City in 1985 and contacted Cecil McBee who also is from Tulsa. The first time Evans played with McBee was at the Sweet Basil club after Falkner had only been in town a few days. “I was asked to sit in with Cecil’s group featuring Chico Freeman and Billy Hart. It was quite an introduction to New York.” In the mid-Nineties, Evans became enthralled with Brazilian music, so he put together a band in that genre that performed at Birdland several times a year. This Latin-jazz band, which also went into the studio to record, at times included guitarist Romero Lubambo (Herbie Mann, Grover Washington Jr.) and drummer Portinho (Paquito D’Rivera). Evans also began writing his own compositions, which is appropriate because Falkner shares his first name with the last name of his third cousin, the famous novelist William Faulkner (whose publisher added the “u” to his last name). In addition. Evans has studied with jazz pianists Joanne Brackeen (Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz) and Mike Longo (music director for Dizzy Gillespie). Some of Falkner’s biggest influences have been Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Billy Strayhorn and Kenny Barron.
Evans says, “The beauty of the trio is that the pianist gets to lead and control the harmonies, but there also is the group interplay that can inspire each of us in our improvisation and push the music to loftier heights. What is great about this current trio is that we are flexible, open to new ideas, and willing to go wherever our mood takes us.”
“The beauty of jazz as an art-form is the freedom of expression allowed,” explains pianist Falkner Evans. “There is nothing more free in music than jazz improvisation.” So the third recording (Arc) by the Falkner Evans Trio (with bassist Belden Bullock and Matt Wilson), once again uses the classic format of introducing a melody primarily as a jumping off point for spirited, swinging, deeply-organic, exploratory improv and trio interplay.
“When I approach a piece of music, I try not to over-arrange it,” Evans states. “I want to be as open to possibilities as I can. With only a bare structure, it allows each musician to bring many more ideas to the tune. This trio is continually trying to expand its reach. Of course the further you stretch, the more likely you will occasionally slip and fall, but the excitement and the journey to new places is worth it. I truly believe that when you go somewhere new for the first time, the audience senses that and appreciates it.”
Arc (on CAP Records) can be purchased online at cdbaby.com and the label’s website at jazzbeat.com, and at digital download sites including iTunes, Rhapsody and others. For more information on Evans, go to his website at falknerevans.com.
In subtle ways, Evans’s diverse musical background influences the improvisational solos he performs. He grew up playing pop, rock and blues before turning strongly toward jazz. For several years Evans also toured and recorded with the western-swing/country-rock legends Asleep at the Wheel. In addition Falkner has played Brazilian music and Latin-jazz extensively. Falkner’s first album was Level Playing Field followed by Climbing the Gates, both of which featured several original compositions. As before, on Arc Evans recorded in the studio live-to-two-track with no overdubbing or additional mixing.
There are several changes evident on this third recording by Evans. Matt Wilson returns, but the bassist on Falkner’s two previous outings was Cecil McBee. On Arc Evans brought in Belden Bullock, whom Falkner has worked with frequently in concert for the past 13 years. This new trio played together regularly for seven months before recording Arc to become completely attuned to each other. Falkner feels this may be his most cohesive recording to date. It is evident that the band-leader is relaxed and confident, and that his playing has matured and deepened in the four years since the sessions for his second CD.
Matt Wilson has spent the past decade as one of the more creative drummers on the jazz scene having played with Dewey Redman, Lee Konitz, Fred Hersch, Janis Siegel, Dave Liebman, Charlie Haden and Curtis Stigers, among others. Belden Bullock is a bass-playing stalwart in the New York City area and has recorded with Ralph Peterson, Taja, Oliver Lake, Abdullah Ibrahim, Jay Hoggard and The Cartwright/Oppenheim Quintet.
“At the recording sessions for Arc we kept ourselves completely open to the improvisation,” Falkner says. “We specifically did not choreograph the solos. We just let the music flow. It all felt natural and right. What I learned from listening to John Coltrane and Miles Davis is to be as free as possible. They were the masters at perfectly blending the melody and the improvisation so it becomes one thing with no lines between.”
Arc features five compositions by Evans beginning with “Regatta” (inspired by a flotilla Falkner saw in Italy) and this samba reflects his love of Brazilian rhythms. The one-take “Singing Darkness” features a strong bassline by both Evans and Bullock, plus “a solo section that starts off very quiet, but by the end of the 16-bars we are really flying with Matt accenting everything beautifully.” “Bar Enigma” (also one take) is one of the more complicated pieces with a difficult chord change, but Evans says, “I have always been interested in taking a complex tune and seeing if can make it sound simple so that it is very accessible to the listener.” “Lucia’s Happy Heart” (inspired by Falkner’s wife) evolved out of playing some Thelonious Monk chord changes and then adding some twists, “but the key to this one is the sense of dynamics.” Evans wrote “Make Tracks, Child” to challenge listeners to “get out in the world and experience life,” and musically to explore his own bluesy roots.
The trio also does deep exploration of tunes by other composers. “I am a huge John Coltrane fan,” states Evans. “I chose ‘Central Park West’ as a short, simple interlude ballad for the album. I wanted the silence within the tune to speak to the audience gently.” Falkner chose “Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum” because “I consider Wayne Shorter to be one of the greatest jazz writers ever. We put our own intro on this and end up really swinging.” Evans says “the band specifically never rehearsed the Harold Arlen tune ‘Come Rain or Come Shine’ to see if we could approach it with open minds and be totally fresh with it. It has a great looseness, especially when we push and pull the rhythm a bit.” Falkner ends the album with a solo piano piece, Kurt Weill’s “Lost in the Stars” because “I wanted a simple, poignant exclamation point to close the CD.”
Falkner has lived and performed regularly in New York City for many years, but he was born and raised in Oklahoma where his eclectic musical background began. Initially a drummer who formed his first band in sixth grade, Falkner switched to playing piano four years later performing material by Van Morrison, Bob Dylan and The Band. But in high school Evans also began listening to jazz like John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy and Miles Davis. Evans joined one of Tulsa’s most popular bands, Friends, doing material by acts such as Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears. Evans then formed his own group, The Edge Band, to play blues-rock (Allman Bros., Johnny Winter). The group evolved into Essence which became Tulsa’s top jazz band playing five nights a week at the Nine o’ Cups jazz club. Playing music by Coltrane, Cannonball Adderly and Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Essence opened shows for Pat Metheny, Thad Jones & Mel Lewis, and Stan Kenton. Jazz acts traveling through Tulsa often stopped in (Bill Evans caught a set) and sometimes sat in (Thad Jones, Mel Lewis, Milt Jackson). For several weeks each year, Falkner would travel to New York City to take piano instruction from Dan Haerle and to catch shows by top jazz acts there.
In the early Eighties Falkner got the call to join the country’s top western swing band Asleep At the Wheel. He stayed with the band for four years of national touring, two albums (Asleep at the Wheel on Dot Records and The Best of Asleep at the Wheel: The Milennium Collection), and appearances on television (“Austin City Limits” and the CBS-TV special “From Texas to Tennessee”). One notable concert was at the closing night of the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin on New Year’s Eve with Commander Cody (Lost Planet Airmen) and Maryann Price (Dan Hicks, The Kinks) sitting in.
Evans moved to New York City in 1985 and contacted Cecil McBee who also is from Tulsa. The first time Evans played with McBee was at the Sweet Basil club after Falkner had only been in town a few days. “I was asked to sit in with Cecil’s group featuring Chico Freeman and Billy Hart. It was quite an introduction to New York.” In the mid-Nineties, Evans became enthralled with Brazilian music, so he put together a band in that genre that performed at Birdland several times a year. This Latin-jazz band, which also went into the studio to record, at times included guitarist Romero Lubambo (Herbie Mann, Grover Washington Jr.) and drummer Portinho (Paquito D’Rivera). Evans also began writing his own compositions, which is appropriate because Falkner shares his first name with the last name of his third cousin, the famous novelist William Faulkner (whose publisher added the “u” to his last name). In addition. Evans has studied with jazz pianists Joanne Brackeen (Dexter Gordon, Stan Getz) and Mike Longo (music director for Dizzy Gillespie). Some of Falkner’s biggest influences have been Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Billy Strayhorn and Kenny Barron.
Evans says, “The beauty of the trio is that the pianist gets to lead and control the harmonies, but there also is the group interplay that can inspire each of us in our improvisation and push the music to loftier heights. What is great about this current trio is that we are flexible, open to new ideas, and willing to go wherever our mood takes us.”
PIANIST OMAR AKRAM CREATES JAZZY WORLD MUSIC
Omar Akram encourages listeners to come with him on an exotic Secret Journey, an appropriate title for his new Real Music album since he grew up traveling around the world as the son of a United Nations diplomat living in such diverse locales as France, Cuba, Afghanistan and the Czech Republic. On Omar’s third contemporary instrumental CD, strong melodies are presented within tapestry-like arrangements carefully interweaving his acoustic grand piano with acoustic guitar, violin, duduk, flute and ethnic percussion performed by a group of world-class musicians.
“I look around me and see people who are bored, restless, stagnant,” explains Akram, “and I know they often take ‘secret journeys’ in their mind as they daydream about other places they could be. The lucky ones get to take an actual trip where they escape from the pressures of their lives. They see new places and have uncommon experiences. I like to think the music on my album can serve as the soundtrack for their journey, whether it is a mental or a physical trip. Everyone needs to get away sometime.”
In addition to the title track, “Secret Journey,” all of the tunes were inspired by what might be seen or felt on a special trip. Some of the compositions capture the heritage of Omar’s distant Afghani ancestors (“Caravan,” “Nomadic Rhapsody,” “Gypsy Spirit”). On such a journey you might see a distant lake-like “Mirage,” a “Shimmering Star” in the night’s blue-black heavens, or a rare but beautiful “Desert Flower.” Omar says “Seven Secrets” was influenced by the ancient architectural “Seven Wonders of the World” like the Great Pyramids, but also references all the lost knowledge of past generations. “I want the music to sound multi-cultural,” explains Akram, “but not be tied to any particular country.”
Often the best trips include romance which is reflected on the new recording with “Running Away With Me,” “Passage of the Heart” (“Love can be quite a journey in itself,” says Omar) and “Whispers in the Moonlight” (“It can be shared intimacies between lovers or the sound of wind-shifting sand in the desert at night”). The album closes with the gentle piano-violin duet “Angel of Hope” because “in today’s world with all the war, famine, pollution and loneliness, everyone needs hope for a better future.”
On his first two albums, he was simply known as Omar, but now he performs under his full name. Meanwhile, his music continues to change and develop. His first album was Opal Fire on Real Music, which went Top 15 on Billboard magazine’s national New Age sales chart, and featured Akram’s piano backed by additional keyboards played by Omar and David Dial. On his second CD, Free as a Bird, Omar again composed all the music, but this time produced half the album and utilized top keyboardist Gregg Karukas to produce the other half. Omar also expanded his sound by bringing in guest musicians including saxophonist Eric Marienthal (The Rippingtons). The recording was ranked the #2 contemporary instrumental album of the year by the prestigious Wind & Wire publication. Now on Secret Journey, Akram and Karukas are working together even closer by co-writing the music which features rich textures and a variety of world-music elements including Latin and Mideast. Omar continues to compose memorable melodies, and has developed a close-knit interplay with the other musicians.
Each of Akram’s collaborators brings a wealth of talent and impressive credentials to the project. Gregg Karukas has a strong smooth jazz background having played with or produced such chart-toppers as The Rippingtons, Peter White, Boney James, Richard Elliot and Dave Koz. Ramon Stagnaro returns on guitar and his credits include Celine Dion, Josh Groban, Kenny G, Andrea Bocelli, Luis Miguel and Alejandro Sanz. Pedro Eustache – once again on flute, duduk and Persian nay – has performed with Yanni, Paul McCartney, James Newton Howard and Andrae Crouch. Violinist Charlie Bisharat is known for playing with Kitaro, John Tesh, Tracy Chapman, Neil Diamond and Stone Temple Pilots. Percussionist Ron Wagner spent nine years with Ottmar Liebert, but also has performed with Stephane Grappelli, Peter Cetera, Richard Searles and Peppino D’Agostino. Also on Secret Journey is special guest acoustic guitarist Ardeshir Farah (on four tunes), best-known for being part of the popular duo Strunz & Farah, but who also has played with Al Stewart, L. Subramaniam and Cyrus Chestnut.
Omar Akram has been influenced by many cultures because he grew up as a world-traveler. He was born in New York City while his father was representing Afghanistan at the United Nations. “I was always fascinated by musical instruments as a child, so when I was six, I began taking piano lessons from a member of the Prague Symphony Orchestra, who was one of the top music teachers in the Czech Republic.” While growing up, Omar went to many symphonies and ballets. His early influences were classical -- first Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, but soon the “Russian School” of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky and Shastakovich. When Omar was 14 and in Cuba, he got to chat with Fidel Castro at a diplomatic reception. Omar’s curiosity for Cuban culture led him to local clubs where he talked the musicians into letting him sit in and play Cuban music with them which is when he developed a love for Latin rhythms and Latin-styled acoustic guitar sounds.
Omar returned to the United States to attend high school and was introduced to the international electronic music of Jean Michel Jarre (France), Kitaro (Japan) and Vangelis (Greece) “which got me into synthesizers and new age music. That shifted everything and I knew I wanted to try that type of music so I started composing.” A few years later Akram heard piano soloists such as George Winston and David Lanz which brought him back to the piano. But Omar has far-ranging musical tastes and during those formative years he also listened to Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Prince. Akram attended the University of Maryland studying political science for nearly four years with a plan of following in his father’s footsteps in the state department. But a few credits shy of graduating, Omar realized he had to pursue his musical goals instead, so he moved to Los Angeles in 1993 and began performing anywhere he could (whether it was solo piano gigs or in bars with Top 40 cover bands). He continued to travel, not only throughout the United States, but regularly to England and France too.
Akram kept composing original music, but a turning point came when he met Dr. E. Mike Vasilomanolakis, a heart specialist who became his executive producer and encouraged him to begin recording. This material led to Omar’s signing with Real Music. In addition to his studio recordings, Akram also performs concerts. At the International Book Expo in Chicago, esteemed authors Deepak Chopra and Carolyn Myss saw Omar perform and became fans of his music. For the next two years, Myss had Omar return to Chicago every month to perform at her seminars in front of audiences of 500-to-700.
“Every culture I have encountered has influenced my music,” explains Omar. “Also reflected in my compositions are elements of my classical training, the early new age synthesists, and the melodic content I learned from solo pianists. I am trying to develop a deeper, closer interplay between the instruments with counter-melodies, echoing-melody-lines and instrumental harmonies. I love collaborating with other musicians and getting their fresh perspectives. I am totally open to new musical ideas. In a world where communication and understanding between cultures is sometimes difficult, I try to have the instruments speak to one another in a manner that crosses any cultural barriers.”
Omar Akram’s recordings can be purchased at record stores and specialty gift shops worldwide and online at the record company’s website (www.realmusic.com) and the artist’s site (www.omarmusic.com), webstores such as www.amazon.com, and many digital download locations including iTunes.
“I look around me and see people who are bored, restless, stagnant,” explains Akram, “and I know they often take ‘secret journeys’ in their mind as they daydream about other places they could be. The lucky ones get to take an actual trip where they escape from the pressures of their lives. They see new places and have uncommon experiences. I like to think the music on my album can serve as the soundtrack for their journey, whether it is a mental or a physical trip. Everyone needs to get away sometime.”
In addition to the title track, “Secret Journey,” all of the tunes were inspired by what might be seen or felt on a special trip. Some of the compositions capture the heritage of Omar’s distant Afghani ancestors (“Caravan,” “Nomadic Rhapsody,” “Gypsy Spirit”). On such a journey you might see a distant lake-like “Mirage,” a “Shimmering Star” in the night’s blue-black heavens, or a rare but beautiful “Desert Flower.” Omar says “Seven Secrets” was influenced by the ancient architectural “Seven Wonders of the World” like the Great Pyramids, but also references all the lost knowledge of past generations. “I want the music to sound multi-cultural,” explains Akram, “but not be tied to any particular country.”
Often the best trips include romance which is reflected on the new recording with “Running Away With Me,” “Passage of the Heart” (“Love can be quite a journey in itself,” says Omar) and “Whispers in the Moonlight” (“It can be shared intimacies between lovers or the sound of wind-shifting sand in the desert at night”). The album closes with the gentle piano-violin duet “Angel of Hope” because “in today’s world with all the war, famine, pollution and loneliness, everyone needs hope for a better future.”
On his first two albums, he was simply known as Omar, but now he performs under his full name. Meanwhile, his music continues to change and develop. His first album was Opal Fire on Real Music, which went Top 15 on Billboard magazine’s national New Age sales chart, and featured Akram’s piano backed by additional keyboards played by Omar and David Dial. On his second CD, Free as a Bird, Omar again composed all the music, but this time produced half the album and utilized top keyboardist Gregg Karukas to produce the other half. Omar also expanded his sound by bringing in guest musicians including saxophonist Eric Marienthal (The Rippingtons). The recording was ranked the #2 contemporary instrumental album of the year by the prestigious Wind & Wire publication. Now on Secret Journey, Akram and Karukas are working together even closer by co-writing the music which features rich textures and a variety of world-music elements including Latin and Mideast. Omar continues to compose memorable melodies, and has developed a close-knit interplay with the other musicians.
Each of Akram’s collaborators brings a wealth of talent and impressive credentials to the project. Gregg Karukas has a strong smooth jazz background having played with or produced such chart-toppers as The Rippingtons, Peter White, Boney James, Richard Elliot and Dave Koz. Ramon Stagnaro returns on guitar and his credits include Celine Dion, Josh Groban, Kenny G, Andrea Bocelli, Luis Miguel and Alejandro Sanz. Pedro Eustache – once again on flute, duduk and Persian nay – has performed with Yanni, Paul McCartney, James Newton Howard and Andrae Crouch. Violinist Charlie Bisharat is known for playing with Kitaro, John Tesh, Tracy Chapman, Neil Diamond and Stone Temple Pilots. Percussionist Ron Wagner spent nine years with Ottmar Liebert, but also has performed with Stephane Grappelli, Peter Cetera, Richard Searles and Peppino D’Agostino. Also on Secret Journey is special guest acoustic guitarist Ardeshir Farah (on four tunes), best-known for being part of the popular duo Strunz & Farah, but who also has played with Al Stewart, L. Subramaniam and Cyrus Chestnut.
Omar Akram has been influenced by many cultures because he grew up as a world-traveler. He was born in New York City while his father was representing Afghanistan at the United Nations. “I was always fascinated by musical instruments as a child, so when I was six, I began taking piano lessons from a member of the Prague Symphony Orchestra, who was one of the top music teachers in the Czech Republic.” While growing up, Omar went to many symphonies and ballets. His early influences were classical -- first Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, but soon the “Russian School” of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky and Shastakovich. When Omar was 14 and in Cuba, he got to chat with Fidel Castro at a diplomatic reception. Omar’s curiosity for Cuban culture led him to local clubs where he talked the musicians into letting him sit in and play Cuban music with them which is when he developed a love for Latin rhythms and Latin-styled acoustic guitar sounds.
Omar returned to the United States to attend high school and was introduced to the international electronic music of Jean Michel Jarre (France), Kitaro (Japan) and Vangelis (Greece) “which got me into synthesizers and new age music. That shifted everything and I knew I wanted to try that type of music so I started composing.” A few years later Akram heard piano soloists such as George Winston and David Lanz which brought him back to the piano. But Omar has far-ranging musical tastes and during those formative years he also listened to Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson and Prince. Akram attended the University of Maryland studying political science for nearly four years with a plan of following in his father’s footsteps in the state department. But a few credits shy of graduating, Omar realized he had to pursue his musical goals instead, so he moved to Los Angeles in 1993 and began performing anywhere he could (whether it was solo piano gigs or in bars with Top 40 cover bands). He continued to travel, not only throughout the United States, but regularly to England and France too.
Akram kept composing original music, but a turning point came when he met Dr. E. Mike Vasilomanolakis, a heart specialist who became his executive producer and encouraged him to begin recording. This material led to Omar’s signing with Real Music. In addition to his studio recordings, Akram also performs concerts. At the International Book Expo in Chicago, esteemed authors Deepak Chopra and Carolyn Myss saw Omar perform and became fans of his music. For the next two years, Myss had Omar return to Chicago every month to perform at her seminars in front of audiences of 500-to-700.
“Every culture I have encountered has influenced my music,” explains Omar. “Also reflected in my compositions are elements of my classical training, the early new age synthesists, and the melodic content I learned from solo pianists. I am trying to develop a deeper, closer interplay between the instruments with counter-melodies, echoing-melody-lines and instrumental harmonies. I love collaborating with other musicians and getting their fresh perspectives. I am totally open to new musical ideas. In a world where communication and understanding between cultures is sometimes difficult, I try to have the instruments speak to one another in a manner that crosses any cultural barriers.”
Omar Akram’s recordings can be purchased at record stores and specialty gift shops worldwide and online at the record company’s website (www.realmusic.com) and the artist’s site (www.omarmusic.com), webstores such as www.amazon.com, and many digital download locations including iTunes.
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