The duo of bassist Mark Saltman and keyboardist William Knowles makes music that finds optimism through the crackles made by life’s sorrow and despair. Saltman draws inspiration for his compositions from such tragedies as the devastation of New Orleans after being hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and the scars left by The Holocaust which prompted the title track for the duo’s latest CD, Yesterday’s Man. Accompanied by vocalist Lori Williams-Chisholm, Yesterday’s Man is club-roo …

When guitarist Rob Tardik sets his mind on a project, it is as good as done. He can corral a band of musicians and accomplish his task with the expediency and astute calculations which Martha Stewart applies when she is rounding up a crew to plant a new garden. Both Tardik and Stewart understand the need for everyone to be on the same page and stay focused on their single-minded objective. For Tardik, his objective was to make a follow up record to his debut album Without Words. He tel …

Sometimes the greatest challenge for a singer is taking the leap into making a debut album. The exposure opens them up to receive public scrutiny and global adulation. For the artist, it is always impossible to predict how the public will react. Luckily for singer-songwriter Kelley Suttenfield, she has the vocal chops to attract hordes of people, the charisma to make a lasting impression on their minds, and a passionate delivery that can penetrate their hearts. Suttenfield’s mix of int …

It is very easy to assume that every track on Ellynne Plotnick’s new album, Life Is Beautiful is a cover of a jazz standard created by one of the Gershwins or Cole Porter or Johnny Mercer. The songs have the smooth flowing lines relatable to Porter, the graceful swells often attributed to the Gershwins, and an alluring orchestration liken to Johnny Mercer. Although it may seem to most folks that the jazz artists of yesteryear cornered the market on melodic beauty, Plotnick shows that s …

Music has been known to soothe broken hearts, to tame wild animals, and to tell stories through sonic imagery. Filmmaker, writer, producer, and Ruby Flower Records executive Ana-Isabel Ordonez is a conceptual artist who utilizes the talents of avant-garde musicians to give her films another dimension that penetrates the listeners emotions beyond the visuals and narrations. She brought the two mediums of film and music together in her two previous projects, A Touch Of Noir and Shades …