GIGS I will be performing monthly with a Quintet in Chicago at the Jazz Showcase In February I will be there with a great quartet featuring guitarist Neal Alger & trumpeter Art Davis on my BIRTHDAY! - Feb 21 In March I will be there on Tuesday the 27th with a great quintet featuring saxophonist Chris Greene On Tuesday Jan 31st I will be performing at Katerina's in Chicago 8 pm In February I will also be performing at Andy's Jazz Club with a sextet featuring saxophonist Eric Schneider and pianist Jeremy Kahn of Fri & Sat Feb 17th & 18th 9pm-1am On Sunday March 18th I will be performing at Uncommon Ground with guitarist Mike Allemana On Friday April 6th I will be performing at The Brewerie in my hometown of Erie, PA with a great quartet 8 - 12 pm RADIO WDCB, Chicago's jazz radio station is also featuring "Melancholy Lullaby" as the CD of the month, Thank You WDCB! The new record has also been getting some wonderful airplay on jazz radio stations around the US, including WMCE in Northwestern PA, WUCF in Orlando Florida with John Segers, KCCK with Murray Kent and WESM in Maryland. PRESS Chicago jazz critic and writer Neil Tesser recently reviewed "Born To Be Blue" in his column at the Chicago Examiner |
Read my recent interview with the "All About Jazz" website.
Thanks for checking in with me, please email me your questions or comments,or send me your
address to put on my contact list so that I can keep you updated.
Get FREE song downloads of studio
recordings and live performances at my
Bandcamp page
Enjoy many great selections including
my first album "The Psychic Cabaret"
recorded with Johnny Frigo in 1995,
unreleased, recent studio tracks with
Neal Alger and Willie Pickens, and
great recordings of live performances
here in Chicago at the Jazz Showcase
Please enjoy a preview of the new album in this
short video which I shot for the opening tune
"The Night Wind" which features Neal Alger on
guitar, Art Davis on trumpet, Joe Vito on piano,
Larry Kohut on bass and Phil Gratteau on drums.
The video was shot in northeastern PA on Lake
Erie, near my hometown or Erie, PA in a beautiful
vineyard overlooking the lake.
short video which I shot for the opening tune
"The Night Wind" which features Neal Alger on
guitar, Art Davis on trumpet, Joe Vito on piano,
Larry Kohut on bass and Phil Gratteau on drums.
The video was shot in northeastern PA on Lake
Erie, near my hometown or Erie, PA in a beautiful
vineyard overlooking the lake.
I’m very pleased to present a brand new recording from the late
swing violinist Johnny Frigo and his accompanist and long time
friend Joe Vito. The song, "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You"
was taken from a recording session from 1996, which was never
released because of technical problems. It was difficult to edit
tape in those days, but with modern digital processing, engineer
Scott Steinman was able to get the sound from the old tape to
match the clarity of my new digital recordings, allowing us to
present a new song from these late, beloved players.
swing violinist Johnny Frigo and his accompanist and long time
friend Joe Vito. The song, "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You"
was taken from a recording session from 1996, which was never
released because of technical problems. It was difficult to edit
tape in those days, but with modern digital processing, engineer
Scott Steinman was able to get the sound from the old tape to
match the clarity of my new digital recordings, allowing us to
present a new song from these late, beloved players.
What you are listening to on her latest CD represents
Solitaire’s unwavering commitment to the history and
tradition of jazz and the Great American Songbook and it’s a
commitment that did not spring up overnight. She didn’t
look at the musical landscape and decide to choose jazz
because it was popular or easy. In fact, she probably
created more problems for herself by being honest and true
to the music that wasn’t of her generation. I know that
because I have known Solitaire, (yes - that is her real
name), since we were in college during the 1980’s. Back
then she already preferred Billie Holiday to Joan Jett, and we
would trade homemade cassette mixes of classic jazz singers
like Johnny Hartman, Billy Eckstein and Mel Torme’. In that
pre-Internet era, we had to haunt used record stores for
out-of-print jazz recordings. Solitaire always seemed at
home there, like a genuine “old soul” among those scratchy
331/3 LPs with their colorful covers from labels like
Mercury, Decca, Verve, and Capitol. As you can hear,
Solitaire not only listened to those records, she internalized
them.
However, her newest CD isn’t a “nostalgia act.” The songs
she recorded here may be old, many obscure, but she
infuses them with a fresh energy. Her voice conveys a
lightness and lack of cynicism that makes it feel like these
songs are being sung for the first time, and she has also
chosen a highly talented group of sidemen that shine as
bright as her vocal artistry. It has been a pleasure to hear
how she has matured while never losing her swinging
connection to the past.
Brian R. Sheridan - WMCE Jazz Radio
Solitaire’s unwavering commitment to the history and
tradition of jazz and the Great American Songbook and it’s a
commitment that did not spring up overnight. She didn’t
look at the musical landscape and decide to choose jazz
because it was popular or easy. In fact, she probably
created more problems for herself by being honest and true
to the music that wasn’t of her generation. I know that
because I have known Solitaire, (yes - that is her real
name), since we were in college during the 1980’s. Back
then she already preferred Billie Holiday to Joan Jett, and we
would trade homemade cassette mixes of classic jazz singers
like Johnny Hartman, Billy Eckstein and Mel Torme’. In that
pre-Internet era, we had to haunt used record stores for
out-of-print jazz recordings. Solitaire always seemed at
home there, like a genuine “old soul” among those scratchy
331/3 LPs with their colorful covers from labels like
Mercury, Decca, Verve, and Capitol. As you can hear,
Solitaire not only listened to those records, she internalized
them.
However, her newest CD isn’t a “nostalgia act.” The songs
she recorded here may be old, many obscure, but she
infuses them with a fresh energy. Her voice conveys a
lightness and lack of cynicism that makes it feel like these
songs are being sung for the first time, and she has also
chosen a highly talented group of sidemen that shine as
bright as her vocal artistry. It has been a pleasure to hear
how she has matured while never losing her swinging
connection to the past.
Brian R. Sheridan - WMCE Jazz Radio
| Encouraged by the success of my recent release "Born to Be Blue", I have put together a new collection of great songs featuring Chicago's best players including Paulinho Garcia, Neal Alger, Willie Pickens, Art Davis, Jim Gailloreto and many others, and it's being featured by Chicago Jazz Radio Station WDCB as "CD of the Month" Also, check out what WMCE Radio hostBrian Sheridan says about the new CD "Melancholy Lullaby" |
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| Winter Performances Monday Jan 16th at the Jazz Showcase Tuesday Jan 31st at Katerina's Fri & Sat Feb 17th & 18th at Andy's Jazz Club Tuesday Feb 21st at the Jazz Showcase Sunday March 18th at Uncommon Ground Tuesday March 27th at the Jazz Showcase |