Produced, Arranged, and Composed by Andre Ajamu Akinyele. Musicians: Ajamu Akinyele (bass, guitar, spaced voxx); Jon O'Bergh (rhodes); Andrew Foster (congas,percussion); Alex Marks (drums); Waahid Jones (timbales, cowbell). (c) 2009 Pearl Jazz Recording Label. All Rights Reserved. - (Style: Soul / Funk Jazz)
Helios' independent debut release is treasure for those seeking substance with their melodic jazz. This thing just burns
from the moment you set it spinning -- It's masterful. Ten solid tracks featuring the talents of founders Peter Cor and Gary Carpenter. The band resides on the Santa Cruz side of the Monterey Bay. The Central Coast of California appears to becoming more and more of a hotbed for contemporary jazz artists. Keyboardist Peter Cor has spent his career
contributing to the music of Earth, Wind & Fire (he wrote "Getaway"), Tuck & Patti, and Lee Ritenour as well as writing for film and TV (Disney, Touchstone, Greg Kinnear and A&E). Guitarist Gary Carpenter's playing and writing talents have been loaned to popular San Francisco Bay Area bands ( Montaj, Sista Monica). He's also scored surfing and sports films. - smoothjazz.com - (Style: Smooth Jazz)
In the Pacific Northwest, Greta Matassa wins wide acclaim, described by Seattle Times critic Misha Berson as a vocal chameleon who can sound "husky or crisp, ebullient or wailing, girlish or jaded." Matassa displays all of those aspects of her talent in this new recording. - (Style: Jazz Vocals)
Jazz Fingerstyle Guitarist, combining many different styles to produce a cross over jazz/folk and celtic style. Influences include Martin Taylor, leo kotte, george van epps and Pat Metheny. Full streams of album can be found on the site, with the option buy the CD or download tracks. - (Style: Folk Jazz)
And enjoyable Secondo Tempo is with Tommaso arranging all 10 cuts (over 56 minutes of music) on the CD. All 10 tracks are taken from memorable Italian films. Check out Divorzio All'Italiana (Divorce Italian Style) starting with Begonia and Lovano (trombone and sax) playing catch and return with each other. It transitions to Lovano's unique voice on the sax taking the melody while Tommaso really gets in the groove. Not to be outdone, Begonia and Farao each get a chance at the lead, and it finishes with Begonia and Lovano again playing catch and return. Il Clan dei Siciliani (The Sicilian Clan) offers Tommaso the chance to showcase his considerable strength and range on the bass. Finally, for you Godfather fans, Tommaso includes Il Padrino (the Godfather theme). An absolutely haunting rendition played with Lovano's sax imparting lots of soul. You can just here Don Corleone say " I'm going to make you an offer you cant refuse". - A. Nelson Rand - (Style: Straight-Ahead / Classic)
And enjoyable Secondo Tempo is with Tommaso arranging all 10 cuts (over 56 minutes of music) on the CD. All 10 tracks are taken from memorable Italian films. Check out Divorzio All'Italiana (Divorce Italian Style) starting with Begonia and Lovano (trombone and sax) playing catch and return with each other. It transitions to Lovano's unique voice on the sax taking the melody while Tommaso really gets in the groove. Not to be outdone, Begonia and Farao each get a chance at the lead, and it finishes with Begonia and Lovano again playing catch and return. Il Clan dei Siciliani (The Sicilian Clan) offers Tommaso the chance to showcase his considerable strength and range on the bass. Finally, for you Godfather fans, Tommaso includes Il Padrino (the Godfather theme). An absolutely haunting rendition played with Lovano's sax imparting lots of soul. You can just here Don Corleone say " I'm going to make you an offer you cant refuse". - A. Nelson Rand - (Style: Straight-Ahead / Classic)