Showcase CD
Coronado Breeze - Larry White:
After
attending the High School for the Performing Arts in New York
City and studying at UCLA, early in his career Larry White toured
with The Sandpipers - in 1966, their track Guantanamera was a
big hit. After a few years of life on the road, Larry became a
staff writer for the Motown record label before embarking upon
a long and successful career in musical direction. First it was
TV, and then he connected with some of the biggest names in the
biz such as Kenny Rogers & Dionne Warwick. Perhaps most notably,
for many years Larry was Dusty Springfield's MD - among the many
the songs he orchestrated were The Look Of Love and You Don't
Have To Say You Love Me! Also having conducted just about every
major symphony orchestra in the US and Canada, by 1999, White
was up to new challenges and so he turned to singing and playing
contemporary jazz and his own music! |
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short order, Larry became a first call player for many of the finer
venues in Las Vegas, and then he released his debut doubling on
vocals and keys. 2005 saw the issue of Unsolicited Material which
drew Grammy consideration while following a couple of years later
was Coronado Breeze, the album under consideration on this occasion.
Named for the island located just a short distance from downtown
San Diego, Larry's current port of call, this project features eleven
original tracks composed by Larry and his wife & writing partner
Margaret White. |
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Larry White at the keys!
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Now
in Spanish, Coronado means "the crowned one," and as a result, it
seems to fittingly describe Larry's chic blend of Jazz and R&B and
that contained therein! As such, it's shouldn't come as a surprise
that we now nudge album and author into the soft glow of our showcase
spotlight. Launching proceedings is the gentle tune which gave its
name to the disc. Lonely Lady delicately opens hours 2 while we
finish with the nicely crafted Dreamcatcher and its implied wish
for nothing but the sweetest of dreams. With Coronado Breeze, Larry
White provides ample evidence that he can not only handle the smooth
scene just about as well as any player in the game today, but that
he also possesses the style and flair to be placed among the very
best!
CD: Coronado Breeze (2007)
Label: Coronado Records
Links: 
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| Back Trax: Part One |
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Black Panther - Michael Colina:
Now
based in New York City, Michael Colina is a multiple Grammy winner. As
a youth, he travelled between the USA and Cuba while listening to the
sounds of the rumba, mambo, and samba, rhythms that his father loved to
dance to. Surrounded by American soul and gospel, Colina studied composition
at the North Carolina School of Arts while immersing himself in classical
music. Over the past three decades he's written for theatre, film, & TV
while also producing many of the legends in contemporary jazz in the likes
of Bob James, David Sanborn, and Michael Franks. From Colina's own 1990
Rituals debut, we have the stealthy style of Black Panther!
CD: Rituals (1990)
Label: Private Music
Links:
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Too
Bad - George Howard :
George
Howard started his career toward the end 70s and got a big break when
Grover Washington asked him to tour in '79. After debuting as a lead man
in 1982, Howard broke with Dancing in the Sun, his third release which
reached #1 on the contemporary charts in 1985. For the next dozen years
or so Howard proved a mainstay and one of the most consistent players
in the genre he helped pioneered; remarkably, each of his next three records
following DITS also scaled the top spot in the charts. Sadly, Howard passed
in 1998 due to lymphoma at an all too early age of 41, having recorded
14 releases; a final cd was issued posthumously. From the Reflections
cd, the fourth in a string of four #1's, we have the polished fusion of
funk, jazz, and soul in the disc's opening track!
CD: Reflections (1988)
Label: MCA Records
Links: 
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| Back Trax: Part Two |
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No
Flagman Ahead - Tab Two:
For nearly
15 years, Joo Kraus on trumpet and Hellmut Hattler on bass blended hip
hop beats with smooth rhythms as Tab Two - their name being an acronym
for the instruments they played in the trumpet and bass. The German duo
debuted in 1991 and with the issue of their Flagman Ahead in 1995, they
gained an international audience. The smooth appeal of the instrumental
version of the near title track resulted in the issue of an eponymously
titled cd a couple of years later, which contained that same track. From
that effort we have the nuanced lines and hypnotic pulse of No Flagman
Ahead!
CD: Tab Two (1997)
Label: Virgin Records
Links: 
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You
Just Can't Stop - Blue Six:
Hailing
from Newark NJ, Jay Denes started performing professionally in the late
80s playing keys and singing in an NYC electronic pop band. He signed
a record deal but soon became disillusioned by the experience and so he
struck out on his own. Connecting with Dave Boonshoft, a like-minded musician/entrepreneur,
they formed Naked Music production; their success in this venture led
to the creation of the similarly named imprint a couple of years later.
Bent on an artistic mission to deliver quality freestyle music while remaining
commercially viable, Blue Six became the alias under which Denes issued
a string of singles and remixes. This culminated in a full-length debut
in 2002 and was followed by the Aquarian Angel sophomore project in 2007.
With contributions by DB on guitar and bass, Mark Anthony Jones on guitar
and JD himself on percussion and keys, we have a slick blend of smooth
& soulful electronic pop-jazz featuring Catherine Russell on vocals on
the track You Just Can't Stop!
CD: Aquarian Angel (2006)
Label: Naked Music
Links:
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L.A.
14 - The Breakfast Band :
The Breakfast
Band was a seven-piece UK jazz-funk unit that was formed in London in
1980. Comprised of Richard Bailey on drums and Ken Eley on sax, the ensemble
also included Annise Hadeed on Steel Pans & percussion and Tony Maronie
on congas & percussion. Additionally, Kuma Harada played bass while James
Lascelles was featured on keys with Winston Delandro handling the guitar
duties. For his part, the Guyanese-born Richard Bailey started drumming
in Trinidad at the age of nine, and then by eighteen he had recorded with
Jeff Beck on Blow By Blow. He then went on to fill the drum chair with
Incognito for 15 years. In the interim, he provided the spark for The
Breakfast Band who recorded a pair of albums. The tune L.A. 14 from their
debut proved a dance hit, and from that release, we have that very ttack
- an edgy tune featuring energetic electric guitar, some funky bass, plus
steel pans. This one has well withstood the test of time!
LP: Dolphin Ride (1982)
Label: Breakfast Music
Links: 
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| After Hours ~ Exclusive to our
Site and Select Affiliates : |
… another action packed After Hours edition with our going
connections series - on this occasion all the selections have the word
Angel as part of their title. The opening face-off sees Pete Gitlin with
the tune for which we named the segment; also in the initial set are Jeff
Lorber, Nestor Torres, and Hart Ramsey. At the top of set #2 it's Paul
Brown and we continue with Hiroshima, Tom Grant, and Acoustic Alchemy.
Then for the final frame, there's Steve Laury and Alexander Zonjic as
well as Williams Woods while finishing it, it'll be Urban Knights! A set
dedicated to 'heavenly beings'! 
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