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December 16th, 2007 Edition #463 Previously 
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| Back Trax: Part One | |
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Daybreak - Tom Scott: Raised in a musical family wherein his mother was a pianist and his father a composer, it was early on that Tom Scott turned to being a studio musician. After enjoying stints with Don Ellis and Oliver Nelson, Scott launched his solo career with the release of The Honeysuckle Breeze in 1967 when he was just 19. In the 70s, Scott's L.A. Express became one of the most successful ensembles of the day with its fusion of jazz, funk, and pop. Scott maintained his popularity into the 80s and beyond with a string of 29 albums all while sitting in on nearly 500 record dates with artists as diverse as Joni Mitchell, Barbra Streisand, Quincy Jones, Thelonious Monk, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin, and Steely Dan. In addition, Scott has had numerous credits as an arranger to go along with having composed for both film & TV - moreover, he served as Musical Director for both the Academy and Emmy Awards and toured five continents with his band. In all, Tom Scott has been nominated 13 times for a Grammy and won on three occasions. Considered a giant in the music industry, these are just a few of his accomplishments. For a time in the 90s, Scott enjoyed resurgence in popularity in the smooth jazz genre and today we're revisiting one of our favourites from the period in the form of Daybreak. Featuring Scott himself on sax, keys, woodwinds, bass, and more, the tune musically simulates the quiet reverie of those brief twilight moments as night breaks into day!! CD: Night Creatures (1995) Label: GRP Records Site: Tom Scott ; Scott/Verve |
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Elena - Neal Davis: In a career that extends back to the late 80s, keyboardist & multi-instrumentalist Neal Davis has issued close to a dozen albums that have spanned a variety of styles and influences. Originally released in 1997 on his own Creative Energy label, Davis's Rendezvous cd gained some well-deserved attention, particularly from Jazz FM in England, based partly on the strength of its lead track entitled Next to You. Just recently, though, the Omaha-based veteran performer wisely decided to pursue a new promotional campaign in spite of the fact the project was already 10 years old. However, far from passé, Rendezvous exhibits an up-to-date freshness that belies its age. Consequently, it's now a treat to feature one of the album's finer moments with the euphonious (pleasing to the ear) sounds of Elena as part of our Back Trax presentation!! CD: Rendezvous (1997) Label: Creative Energy Productions Site: Neal Davis |
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| Back Trax: Part Two | |
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Speaking Without Words - Mark Sloniker : Before pursuing a career as a musician, Mark Sloniker earned a degree in music therapy from Colorado State and later put his training into practice as an intern at the Colorado Mental Health Institute. In 1986, Sloniker launched his solo career with the issue of Paths of Heart, and within the span of five years and three releases his talents came to the fore thru a flowing and vivid blend of contemporary instrumentals. Living in a small college town near the Rocky Mountains, in the outdoors Sloniker found not only a source of solace but also inspiration - qualities that were well reflected by those early albums as well as in the pair of projects that have followed since. Sloniker explains, "These tunes … seem to have acquired first and last names (titles and subtitles). I don't know why, though it does seem perfectly human." This sentiment rather suitably evolved into the name for his third effort, the 1991 Perfectly Human cd. From that effort, we've selected the highly expressive Speaking Without Words!! CD: Perfectly Human (1991) Label: Music West Records Site: Mark Sloniker |
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Sometimes
- B-Tribe :
B-Tribe was just one of several aliases used by German studio whiz Claus Zundel (aka The Brave) thruout the 90s and afterward. As Zundel puts it, in a "previous musical life" he wrote for Chaka Khan and for several top-selling Euro artists before he discovered the Latin-electro-ambient groove that came to define the B-Tribe sound. Standing for the Barcelona Tribe of Soulsters, Zundel's B-Tribe debut was the 1994 Fiesta Fatal cd while by the time 1998 had rolled by, Zundel was already into the third of what became a series of five B-Tribe releases. Subsequently, Zundel released a variety of projects under different names feeling they sounded too different to be considered sequels - these grew to include Sacred Spirit, Moroccan Spirit, and Indigo Spirit among others. However, in terms of chart success, the '98 Sensual Sensual release proved to be Zundel's crowning achievement when it peaked at the #11 position on Billboard's list of Top World Music Albums. From that release, we have the track Sometimes. Distinguished by the unique Flamenco flavoured guitar of Paco Fernandez, interspersed with chanted vocals and Zundel's own keyboard work on organ, the tune remains not only Zundel's most readily identifiable, but perhaps also his finest musical creation. !! CD: Sensual Sensual (1998) Label: Atlantic Site: Claus Zundel |
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All
For You - Tom Saviano: |
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| After Hours ~ Exclusive to our Site and Select Affiliates : | ||||||||||||||||||
| Top smooth jazz saxophonist Boney James enters our spotlight as the focus for today's then & now feature. We've chosen a tune from each of Boney's solo cds and are offering an 8-pack of tracks for your enjoyment and that'll be about 15 minutes into the hour. Otherwise, we're up to our old tricks as new music rules - on this occasion our line-up includes U-Nam, Bob Gaynor, Valarie King, Shakatak and Keith Andrew, as well as another piece from Danny Lerman and our showcase cd and that will close the hour!! | ||||||||||||||||||
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Boney James: He was born James Allan Oppenheim but today he's known to millions as Boney James. Oppenheim switched to playing the sax after a couple of years on clarinet and instantly fell in love with its sound. Thru exposure to jazz greats in his father's record collection and after hearing the sounds of Grover Washington Jr., Oppenheim immediately made the connection between jazz and R&B and there was no turning back. When the future Boney was in his teens, his family relocated to LA. After a few twists and turns that saw his music career on again and off again, Oppenheim graduated from UCLA with a degree in history. Finding himself newly married, out of college, and out of work, for a couple of years James delivered pizzas by day, while he played with up to five or six different bands by night. Boney's big break came when he auditioned and got a job touring with Morris Day as a keyboard player. He later toured with Bobby Caldwell playing sax, but he picked up his nickname while playing with Randy Crawford. Typifying the struggling young artist, Oppenheim was having difficulty in making ends meet. So rather than spending his per diem on meals, he would save it in order to pay the rent. With the rigors of life on the road, it wasn't too long before a band mate observed his dwindling physique and notoriously commented, "At this rate we'll have to start calling you Boney James!"
First up, from the cd Trust we have Another Time, Another Place followed by Love You All My Lifetime with some searing electric guitar courtesy of Allan Hinds. Set 2 brings the meaty part of the feature with four selections. Seduction from 1995 proved to be Boney's big breakthru release. From that effort there's a tune that very nicely foreshadowed their future collaboration on Shake It Up with Boney and Rick Braun teaming on Second Nature. Also in the set: Ivory Coast from Sweet Thing, a cd that catapulted Boney to unprecedented popularity and became his first #1 album; the title track from Body Language; and This Is the Life from Ride.
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