Showcase CD
Brazilian Wish - Matt Finley:
From
the first few notes of Brazilian Wish, you would swear Matt Finley
was born to play Brazilian-flavoured jazz. A native of Lake George,
New York, Finley graduated from Union College, while he earned a
master's degree from Saint Rose. Additionally Matt attained the
accreditation necessary to teach music in New York State and for
many years, he performed with Grammy-winner Nick Brignola, so that
in truth he's been performing professionally for nearly five decades!
However, for a good chunk of that a career as professor of computer
information systems somewhat sidetracked Finley's musical aspirations.
But back in '88, Finley formed Rio JAZZ - a dynamic project based
in the sounds of Brazil while at pretty well the same time, he went
about learning new instruments at a pace of about one every year
so as to improve his composing and arranging skills. Now retired
and with many years of gigging under his belt, the former academic
dean at Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie, decided to finally
commit his sound to disc with the issue of his Brazilian Wish debut!
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here's as tasty and stylish a collection as you're likely to hear
in some time. Aided by regular band members bassist Mark Egan and
drummer Joel Rosenblatt - and some high calibre talent in the likes
of Romero Lubambo, Warren Bernhardt, Barry Danielian, and David
Mann - the selections presented therein are always flavourful and
never hurried. As such, it's with pleasure that we now pause to
present Matt Finley and Brazilian Wish as the focus for our spotlight
feature! We've chosen a trio of choice tracks - beginning with the
warmth and longing of Brazilian Wish the title tune! The moody
reverie of Another Year is at the top of hour 2 while the "Carnaval-like"
spirit of Father's Day caps our celebration! |
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Photo courtesy of Matt Finley.com
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Well-versed at flugelhorn and trumpet, as well as flute and soprano
sax, Finley chooses his weapons wisely creating just the right notes
and tonal texture so that the connection with the listener is both
immediate and at an emotional level. Demonstrating all the finesse
of the seasoned musician that he is, Matt Finley's Brazilian Wish
is clearly a musical wish fulfilled!
CD: Brazilian Wish (2006)
Label: Kingsmill Music
Sites: 
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| Fresh Trax: Part One |
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Dolores in Pink - Joyce Cooling:
While
growing up in the Jersey - New York area, Cooling was exposed to a wide
variety of musical forms and developed tastes both diverse & eclectic.
After moving to San Francisco, she began dabbling with keys and percussion
and then took up guitar after hearing the music of Wes Montgomery. Self-taught
for the most part, Cooling developed a unique finger picking style, which
led to a variety of gigs including straight-ahead sessions with jazz giants
such as Getz, Henderson, Airto, and Byrd. Then, in the mid-80s, Joyce
met keyboardist Jay Wagner and they discovered their songwriting compatibility.
For nearly a decade, they were known as the one of the most dynamic acts
in The Bay area before Cooling's 96 South of Market broke the sound of
the San Francisco based duo. Global Cooling is now cd lucky #7 for all
of Ms Cooling's many fans and from that effort, we've selected a totally
"in the pink" track called Dolores in Pink! 
CD: Global Cooling (2009)
Label: Group 2 Productions
Sites: 
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Sierra
Nevada - Shakatak:
Formed
as part of the London club scene back in the early 80's, Shakatak scored
a series of accessible pop/dance hits in their early days. Over the years,
their style has gradually evolved into one more firmly rooted in jazz-funk
and they now enjoy a catalogue that runs in excess of 50 albums. Apart
from the departure of guitarist Keith Winter in the 90s due to ill health,
the band personnel of drummer Roger Odell, Bill Sharpe on keys, bassist
George Anderson, and Jill Saward on vocals has remained virtually unchanged
for nearly the entire period - a fact that readily explains the cohesiveness
of their sound. Afterglow is their just issued and most recent release
and from it we've selected an excellent high ridin' tune called Sierra
Nevada!
CD: Afterglow (2009)
Label: Shakatak Masters
Sites:
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| Fresh Trax: Part Two |
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360
- Chuck Loeb:
Chuck
Loeb was around 16 years of age when he discovered jazz. Realizing that
he would have to study formally to attain the technical expertise he hoped
for, Loeb took lessons from Jim Hall and Pat Metheny before enrolling
at Berklee in Boston. After a couple of years, the lure to perform led
him to relocate to NYC, where he freelanced with the likes of Hubert Laws
and Joe Farrell before joining the Stan Getz band for a two-year stint
in 1979. Upon leaving the Getz band and after hundreds of sessions on
the NYC studio scene, Loeb released his debut in 1988 and over the years,
he's amassed a catalogue in excess of 15 albums. Additionally, Loeb has
appeared as part of Petite Blonde, the Fantasy Band, and the fusion-based
group called Metro while recording with the likes of Michael Franks, Fattburger,
and many others. With an ability to play virtually any manner that he
chooses and possessing a warm style usually identifiable within the first
few bars, Loeb displays his well-rounded form on the tune 360 which he
dedicates to his former teacher in Pat Metheny!
CD: Between 2 Worlds (2009)
Label: Heads Up
Sites:
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Soul
Sugar - Marion Meadows:
So,
who's creating the sweetest sounds on the planet? I'm not gonna beat around
the bush 'cuz the answer's simple - an ever growing number of fans know
it's Marion Meadows! Meadows' 1990 solo debut and his subsequent releases
faired well enough but with all due respect, Mr. Meadows didn't really
discover his true "voice" until after moving over to the Heads Up label
and teaming with keyboardist & producer Michael Broening. In Deep was
their first collaboration - that effort not only elevated the playing
field, it just plain changed the game! That continued thru to Players
Club and Dressed To Chill. So it is that with the recently issued Secrets,
now Meadows' fourth co-venture with Broenig, the pair are quickly gaining
fame as one of the most distinguished tandems on the contempo-scene. There
are plenty of smooth saxplayers, but there's only one with a sound sweet
like no other! The perfectly titled Soul Sugar corroborates who I'm talking
about! Stay tuned in the weeks ahead - there'll be much more from this
release and the man basking in the full prime of his career!
CD: Secrets (2009)
Label: Heads Up
Sites: 
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The
Rover - Philippe Saisse:
After
scoring one of the biggest hit in his career in 2006 with a cover of Steely
Dan's Do It Again, Philippe Saisse returns with his first disc of all
new material since a 2004 Japanese release. The French born multi-instrumentalist
won a scholarship to Berklee Boston and then made his record debut backing
Al Di Meola back in the 80s. In addition to working with David Sanborn
& Al Jarreau, in his 20 plus year career, Saisse has appeared with The
Stones, David Bowie, & a host of others. Additionally, Saisse has issued
a series of solo cds with At World's Edge as the most recent and first
since changing locals from NYC to LA. Taking the opportunity provided
by the success of his previous album, Saisse's mind set was that it was
time to make a definitive statement of where he currently is as a musician.
Using the technology afforded him by these digitized times Saisse reconnected
with a host of great cats the world over with the result being a somewhat
global effort - from that release we have the rhythm and groove of The
Rover!
CD: At World's Edge (2009)
Label: Koch Records
Sites:
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| After Hours ~ Exclusive to our
Site and Select Affiliates : |
| ... on this chapter we're going lunar with another of our
theme shows - this one is called Moon Beams as each our spin selections
has either the word moon or moonlight in its title. So stay tuned for
tracks such as Mesa Moon, Moonlight Dancing, or Moon Over Palmilla, with
13 "luney tunes" in all. We have The Rippingtons to open and they're followed
by Gregg Karukas, the duo of Willie and Lobo, and saxman Mark Hollingsworth.
Kicking off set #2 is Dancing Fantasy and we continue with Lonnie Liston
Smith & the track that gave its name to this segment. Then there's Marion
Meadows, Earl Klugh and Keiko Matsui. While in the end we have saxlady
Jessy J and the project known as Briza as well as Paul Hardcastle - finally
Greg Adams closes the feature!
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