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Highlights!
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Showcase CD |
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Featured guests include such top studio players as Brad Turner on keys, Daryl Jahnke on guitar, Randall Stoll on drums, Pepe Danza on percussion, Russ Klyne on guitar, Raphael Geronimo on percussion, and Marc Rogers on both acoustic and electric bass. Nevertheless, Vince on trumpet, flugelhorn, and programming is the star of his own show. The result in my humble opinion represents his finest effort to date. |
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 Photo Courtesy of Mai-Music: Vince in Havanna |
It's an early pick for our list of top albums for the year while there
are several tracks that are a perfect fit for our show. In any event,
it is with the utmost pleasure that we place MBand & Vince Mai in our
spotlight. |
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| Fresh Trax: Part One | |
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I
Can't Help Myself - Chris Standring :
Born
in the U.K., Standring grew up playing classical guitar on a farm just
northwest of London. He later studied at the London College of Music
and wrote music for the BBC and for several theatrical productions before
moving to Los Angeles in 1991. Shortly thereafter, he met Rodney Lee,
the two connected and collaborated on the release of Solar System, a
project grounded in acid jazz. Subsequent to a stint in Guitars Saxes
& More Standring joined Rick Braun's back up band. In turn, this led
to a record deal and to the release of Velvet, Standring's solo debut
in 1998; Cool Shades from that album was a hit & one of the finer tracks
for the year. |
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When
You're Ready - Ron Boustead : Ron
Boustead is a Pittsburgh native who moved to Los Angeles in 1983. A
year later, he released First Light his solo debut. Over the years,
Boustead has become known as a vocalist and a lyricist who has long
been a writing partner for and been a guest performer with Gregg Karukas.
In that regard, their association goes as far back as 1991 and the Key
Witness cd. As an interesting side note, Boustead was involved in mastering
Gretchen Lieberum's 1999 Three A.M. release, one of our favourites here
at The Café. Otherwise, Jonathan Butler, Deniece Williams, George
Benson, and the Four Tops (among others) have all covered Boustead's
tunes. Label: Art-Rock Music Site: Ron Boustead Artist Page: Ron Boustead 
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| Fresh Trax: Part Two | ||
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Lovin'
Life - Gene Cannon: Hailing
from Florida's Tampa Bay area, Gene Cannon is firmly entrenched on that
city's hot & burgeoning music scene. He appears regularly on his own;
he's joined Allon Sams and Les Sabler in concert and in the studio;
he's shared the stage with Peter White and Paul Brown; and he also scored
a credit on Brown's most recent cd. |
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Sunrise
- Larry Carlton: Coming
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Fairway
- Gene Dunlap:
Detroit native Gene Dunlap took up drums in high school. Early on, he
connected with Earl Klugh and they played a few local clubs. Stints
with Grant Green and Roy Ayers followed before Dunlap reunited with
Klugh in the mid-'70s. This partnership endured as over the next 20
years, Gene took part in a lengthy series of Klugh releases, his tenure
interrupted only by breaks during which he recorded three of his own
projects. Meanwhile Dunlap added percussion, guitar, synthesizer, and
composing to his repertoire. 1994 saw the issue of Groove with You,
but despite the success of that effort, shortly after its release, Dunlap
gave up performing to teach in Detroit's inner city. |
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| After Hours ~ Exclusive to our Web Site : | |||||||||||||||||
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The year 2006, marks the 20th anniversary since Russ Freeman laid the
groundwork for what became The Rippingtons. There is a brand new album
in the works scheduled for September of this year but until then, we're
commemorate this musical milestone with an extended Then & Now feature.
On this edition, Russ Freeman and his band take over the spotlight for
nearly 70 minutes, as we present a selection from each of The Rippingtons
studio projects for 14 trax in all and our most ambitious T&N feature
to date. Yes-sir-ee, we continue to ride the crest of the wave in Smooth
Jazz entertainment!! Then, apart from that we're playing new music, albeit this has been abbreviated due to the length of the Then and Now feature. Nevertheless, we're introducing vocalist Lenny Welch and music from the Passover Lounge, the latest project from Craig Taubman. We have the advance from Steve Briody; there's another track from Jose Valentino, Tampa's 18 year old sensation on flute; while a track from Shanachie records and their latest Streetwize project kicks things off. Kim Waters and Davy D are listed as the brain thrusts behind the record but the selection we've chosen features the guitar of Adam Rogers!! |
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The Rippingtons: Following
the success of Russ Freeman's 1986 Nocturnal Playground debut, there
was a fair degree of label interest in having Freeman produce an album.
Consequently, Freeman called on some friends, David Benoit, Gregg
Karukas, Kenny G, Steve Reid, Dave Koz, Brandon Fields, and a few
others, to see if they would be interested in taking part in a project.
The resulting release was Moonlighting. That effort and subsequent
recordings under The Rippingtons moniker met with great success, fuelled
in no small part by the simultaneous appearance of a radio format
that primarily featured contemporary jazz.
For the closing set, we had just short of 10 years and five albums to cover. The remaining tracks include Sapphire Island from The Best of The Rippingtons with Dave Kochanski on acoustic piano. Paul Taylor on sax and Bill Heller on keys appear on Temple of the Sun. Eric Marienthal joins in on Club Paradiso, Marienthal officially joined the band on their subsequent album. Next is Bella Luna from Let It Ripp with some excellent Spanish style acoustic work from Freeman; the album also marks the first appearances of Dave Karosony on drums and percussionist Scott Breadman. Finally, we have El Vacilon, a powerful piece that reflects many Cuban influences now that Freeman is enjoying his "Miami period". Karasony and Breadman are standouts as they infuse this track with some incredible rhythms. That, and vocals by Aibita, result in a compelling track which no doubt Fidel himself would enjoy!! So there you have it; 14 selections from 14 albums as we chronicle some of the best from Russ Freeman and The Rippingtons !! Site: The Rippingtons ; Peak Records Artist Page: The Rippingtons
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