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Special
Presentation - The Very Best of Cafe Jazz |
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Highlights Hour One |
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| Nonetheless, Hughes' career path didn't veer
completely toward music until a short while later. He was taking an Economics
program at the University of Alberta when a summer course brought him
to the Grant MacKewan School of Music. This proved pivotal. He enrolled
there full time and followed that with a course of studies at the renowned
Banff School of Fine Arts. In 1981, Hughes temporarily relocated to Los
Angeles where he studied at the Guitar Institute. In 1987, he returned
to Canada making Toronto his base. Not long afterward, he connected with
Loreena McKennitt, another product of the prairies, with whom he recorded
extensively, also accompanying McKennitt on several of her tours. In any
event, a demo tape led to a record deal with Justin Time and after a pair
of projects with the Canadian label, Hughes won a competition that led
to a US deal. It's One 2 One, the second release in that series that's
our focal point. The album exhibited Brian's always-appealing mix of styles
that included jazz, Latin, pop and more. From that release which represents
some of his most diverse & creative tracks we've selected one of our all
time favourites. CD: One 2 One (1998) Label: Sylvan House/Higher Octave Site: Brian Hughes |
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Sweet
Charity in Adoration - China Crisis:
China
Crisis began as a duo, Gary Daly on vocals and keys and Eddie Lundon
on guitar and vocals. They joined forces in Liverpool in 1979, but didn't
release any material until 1982, a single that made the British charts.
Its success prompted the formation of a proper band for the recording
of their debut album. They scored another hit with that release & their
subsequent project, but abandoned their synth based pop sound for their
third album, Flaunt the Imperfections, when they connected with Steely
Dan's Walter Becker. This affiliation brought new polish to their sound
and together with quirky yet intelligent lyrics, always one of their
hallmarks; China Crisis rose to a new level of creativity. |
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When
I Think Of You - Everette Harp: Everette
Harp was raised the youngest of eight children in Houston Texas. He
started piano at two and then picked up the sax at the four. Since his
father was a minister, gospel music understandably became one of Harp's
earliest influences; that and the jazz greats that he discovered while
in high school. For a short time after graduating from North Texas State
with a major in music, Everette worked as an accountant before choosing
to pursue a career in music. He played in a few local bands and picked
up a bit of studio jingle work before moving to Los Angeles in 1988.
There his career as a sideman took off. He briefly gigged with Teena
Marie and then toured internationally with Anita Baker for several years.
Finally, in 1992, Harp released his self-titled debut, which led to
the successful launch of his solo career, due in no small part to the
track that we've selected for this occasion. Definitely one of Harp's
all time best !! CD: Everette Harp (1992) |
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| Highlights Hour Two | ||
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Fooled
Before - Walter Duda:
Walter Duda hails from Bridgeport Connecticut and surprisingly he was
already in college before he started in music. Upon graduation from
The University of Detroit with a BA, Duda became a foreign language
teacher. He was pursuing a Master's degree in humanities, when in a
moment of self-realization; he discovered that music was the language
that was his passion. Although guitar was his first instrument, the
works of Brian Auger and George Duke inspired Duda to switch to piano.
His first recorded effort placed him as a finalist in a nationwide contest
sponsored by the Berklee College of Music. This led to a variety of
sessions and to the release of his first cd, which became the initial
release on the World Alert Records label. DayLight Again was his follow
up project which received achieved air play throughout the USA, in Canada,
Europe, Brazil, Australia and Japan and of course on our own program.
From that effort, we have Fooled Before, a tune on which Duda displays
his ample talents as both a keyboardist & vocalist. It's long been a
favourite; so it's with great pleasure that we include Fooled Before
on this very best of edition. |
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Rosa Cafe - Wayne Henderson and The Next Crusade: The story more or less begins in Houston Texas, in the mid 50s. It was during this period that Wayne Henderson played regularly with Wilton Felder, Joe Sample, & Stix Hooper. Hubert Laws & Henry Wilson rounded out the combo, then known as the Modern Jazz Sextet. By 1961, after changing a couple of personnel, the group moved to Los Angeles & began performing as The Jazz Crusaders. They became renowned for their distinctive front line, one that featured the duelling sounds of Henderson's trombone & Felder's tenor sax as well as for their gritty style of hard bop. In 1971, the group dropped jazz from their name. This change signalled a shift of sorts to a more R&B-oriented style. With the addition of Larry Carlton, the band reached unprecedented popularity as they recorded two superb cds. It was precisely in between these releases that Henderson chose to leave the group. |
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| Although he'd put together a pair of projects
in the 60s for a nine-piece group called Freedom Sounds, it wasn't until
In 1977, that Henderson released his solo debut. Several subsequent projects
followed, including a pair of collaborations with vibraphonist Roy Ayers.
Shortly after Henderson launched At Home Productions, his own label that
went on to house Ronnie Laws, Bobby Lyle, Michael White, Ramsey Lewis,
and Narada Michael Walden among others; and that became his focus. However,
in the early 90s Henderson & Felder reunited for a pair of projects backed
by an all-star cast of players teasingly dubbed The Next Crusade. From
1992's Back to the Groove which was the first of these we have Rosa Café
nicely highlighted by Wayne's full fat trombone work. Also featured are
Wilton Felder on sax, keyboardist Rob Mullins, and guitarist Dwight Sills.
They just don't make 'em like this anymore; over six minutes of highly
rewarding listening !! CD: Back To The Groove (1992) Label: PAR Records |
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Drowning
In Your Eyes - Ephraim Lewis:
Ephraim Lewis was a highly talented young UK vocalist with an extremely
promising career. He was born the youngest of eight siblings and was
raised in a strict gospel environment. The children were all quite musical
and their talent was channelled into the Lewis Five, a creation of their
father, for which Ephraim was the lead singer. Following the death of
his mother when he was only 16, Ephraim moved out on his own and eventually
ended up in London where he hoped to make it in the music business.
In 1990, he met up with Kevin Bacon and Jonathan Quarmby, a pair of
small independent producers. The partnership led to a deal with Elektra
in 1991 and the recording of Skin, which was released in North America
in 1992. In spite of a huge promotional effort and a degree of critical
acclaim, sales were only modest. |
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| After Hours ~ Exclusive to our Web Site: | |
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On
After Hours we continue with our Very Best of edition, this portion
being exclusive to our web site. Any of the 14 selections that are featured
could easily have been included as part of our two-hour radio program.
For that matter, the entire special could have easily mushroomed to
many more hours. In any event, at least this gives us the opportunity
to share a few more of our best tracks with you because, you deserve
only the best. In this segment, we're hitting on a couple of tracks
that have been featured on Back Trax in the last few episodes of show;
we have Grant Geissman, Bernard Oattes, and Norman Brown. Then thrown
into the mix are Dave Grusin, our favourite lady of sax Pamela Williams,
and David Lanz. The remainder of the lineup includes The V.I.P. Club,
Terry Disley, Ronnie Laws, Michael Paulo, Freddie Ravel, and Chris Rea,
as well as a tune from David Arkenstone & Tim Weisberg. If there's just
one program that you listen to in the entire year, this should be it
!!
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