KAREN LOVELY "LIVE IN LOS ANGELES"

Karen Lovely shot onto the blues scene out of  the Pacific Northwest like Stack O' Lee's .44 placing 2nd at the 2010 International Blues Challenge followed by three 2011 Blues Music Award Nominations for BEST CONTEMPORARY BLUES FEMALE ARTIST, BEST CONTEMPORARY BLUES ALBUM and BEST SONG for her sophomore release STILL THE RAIN. She is a two time “#1 Pick to Click” artist on XM Radio Bluesville and has just been selected as the 2014 Featured Blues artist by KJZZ FM in Los Angeles. Lovely’s records have topped the national blues and roots charts and made the Top 10 favorite artist list for dozens of nationally syndicated radio stations.Known for her passionate, driven performances and always backed by stellar musicians, this powerhouse vocalist delivers a blistering mix of contemporary & old school blues. Lovely's standout performances have garnered awards, critical acclaim and standing ovations at festivals and venues throughout the US, Canada and Europe.Karen has just completed 4 successful European tours, playing to packed houses and sold out shows in France, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands.  Her performance at the 44th Internationale Jazzwache in Burghausen, Germany was taped for broadcast and began airing on German TV in December 2013. KAREN LOVELY
 

GAROTAS SUECAS "FERAS MITICAS"

Sweaty, funky, exotic, committed. Garotas Suecas ("Swedish Girls," in Portuguese) hail from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and their hearty, full-throated stew combines the best elements of their country's homegrown Tropicalia with Anglo-American Soul and freakbeat. Escaldante Banda offers a brew of Otis Redding soul grooves and Os Mutantes craziness. The Garotas' most accomplished recording to date and the ideal stateside introduction to Brazil's best-kept secret, the record bursts with fuzz guitars, polyrhythms, scorching female backing vocals, big horn sections, and heavy Psychedelia. Its grooves are thick, and it comes to make America shake. The perfect late-summer dance record."Após burilar sua musicalidade em uma série de EPs e ganhar a simpatia dos gringos, o Garotas Suecas finalmente lançou um álbum completo. Calcado em levadas de funk, soul e jovem guarda, o debute retrata uma banda afiadíssima, que sabe trabalhar bem todas essas influências. Já estava na hora de o Brasil também descobri-los." GAROTAS SUECAS
 

TANGLED EYE "DREAM WALL"

A CD jewel full of top recordings and rich with atmosphere. For Dede Priest, it is the feeling that counts first, and she chooses clearly for the best musicians in the right places. Whoever has seen her perform live, of course, doesn't need to be convinced anymore. DEDE PRIEST grew up in Dallas, Texas, raised by her hard-working, young mother.  As a little girl, Dede would sing along to whatever she could find.  As she grew older, it was the rawness of Blues and Gospel that shaped her talent the most.Moving to Austin, Texas to attend the University of Texas, she earned a degree in Philosophy, then followed her heart and let the music lead. In Austin, Texas, a thriving live music haven, Dede began singing professionally. Brandishing vocals rooted in the Texas Blues tradition, Dede Priest has shared the stage with Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Leon Russell, Tommy Shannon (Double Trouble), and Harry Belafonte, among others.  Pinned early on as a “Modern Day Blues Queen”, Dede Priest is now gaining wider international recognition for her powerful delivery of a unique style that crosses lines and “turns Blues, Soul, and Jazz inside out”.  Performing in the USA, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, Denmark, and Romania, Dede Priest continues to forge ahead with successful shows, radio play, and television appearances, including prestigious events such as Rhythm & Blues Night Oosterpoort - The Netherlands, Belgium Rhythm & Blues - Peer, Simply Blues Viana - Portugal, Trasimeno Blues Festival – Italy, Martin Luther King Keynote – Austin, Texas, to name a few. TANGLED EYE

EVERETT B WALTERS "CATCHING THE H TRAIN"

Guitarist, Michael Everett Brown and Bassist, Harold Walter Brown III, the two brothers from the south side of Chicago are the founders and driving force behind the jazz/funk group Everett B. Walters. Along with Stan Small on Keyboards/Lead VocalsEd Morales Percussion Lay down some funky, smooth and danceable rhythms make for an outstanding live show and those same fresh grooves are carried throughout their album, Always High Reaching which features Keyboardist, Brian Simpson on the title track. Always High Reaching is a stellar recording with a host of talented musicians including Shawn Rivera (Az-yet), Alexx Daye, Mike White-drums, Alex Alessondroni-keyboards, Alex Al- bass, Simone Sello-Guitar and Leo Crowe-Guitar. The track “And The Story Goes” was a popular European single on JAZZ FM double CD compilation, The Very Best of Smooth Jazz. After hearing this track on the compilation CD, Rendezvous recording artist, Brian Simpson decided to cover it on his hit Smooth Jazz album, It’s All Good.From the beginning:Growing up in Chicago, the Brown brothers started their career in the Chicago Vocational Music Program but it was a neighborhood friend, Tom Washington (Tom-Tom 84), who recorded and arranged with super-group Earth, Wind and Fire that influenced them most. Tom would come by their practices and invited them to record with him and introduced them to writing & pre-production. After high school they performed regularly around the Chicago area at community events, private events and clubs including the infamous Cotton Club, The Click and also opened for the late Bernie Mac in the early 90’s. Looking to expand their performance opportunities, Michael and Harold left Chicago and headed for Las Vegas and began playing regularly at Caesar’s Casino, the MGM Casino, Chez’s and The Hop. EVERETT B WALTERS
 

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DAVINA & THE VAGABONDS "SUNSHINE"

Davina Sowers and the Vagabonds have created a stir on the national blues scene with their high-energy live shows, sharp-dressed professionalism, and Sowers’ commanding stage presence. With influences ranging from Fats Domino and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band to Aretha Franklin and Tom Waits, the band is converting audiences one show at a time, from Vancouver to Miami and across Europe. The band’s latest recording, 2011’s Black Cloud, was named one of the 10 best releases of the year by the Minneapolis Star; Tribune. In 2012 the band performed in 21 states and 6 countries in Europe, and the band is hard at work on a new record (due for release Fall 2013), spending time in the studio between tours. So much more than just a blues act, DATV’s shows are filled with New Orleans charm, Memphis soul swagger, dark theatrical moments< that evoke Kurt Weill, and tender gospel passages. Davina’s voice and stage presence defy category in a different way.  Davina has been compared to Etta James, Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin,Billie Holiday and Betty Boop, but comparisons don’t suffice: Sowers is a true original. Something unique to this “blues” project is the instrumentation. This rollicking quintet is held together by Sowers’ keyboard playing, with acoustic bass, drums, and a spicy trumpet and trombone horn section. The group’s focused, clean sound and emphasis on acoustic instruments is novel to both blues and jazz worlds, and sets the show closer to New Orleans than to Chicago. This has set the Vagabonds apart at blues festivals in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Sighisoara, Romania, Sierre, Switzerland, Kemi, Finland, and 2012’s New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Davina and band will make their debut at the Monterey Jazz Festival this September.  Catch this one-of-a-kind live show while they are in town! DAVINA & THE VAGABONDS
 

VINCENT HAYES "THE GRIND"

The Grind was recorded in the spring of 2013 at Redwall North Studios in Grand Haven, MI, and marks the first major independent release for producer Bill Chrysler, who has been one of the most sought after sound engineers in the music world for artists such as Lionel Richie, Paul McCartney, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and recently, Ray Lamontagne, including a long standing gig of nearly a decade as John Mayer’s right hand sound man. The disc was co-produced by Joe Sturgill and Vincent Hayes, and mastered by Brian Lucey (Black Keys, “Brothers, El Camino”) at Magic Garden Mastering in Columbus, Ohio.Following the highly successful award winning debut recording Reclamation, Hayes and his band decided to return to their roots as a three-piece power trio, and drop the “Vincent Hayes Project” moniker in favor of Hayes’s name. “It’s a simpler identity, says Hayes, and it gives me more freedom as a writer to explore other sounds, and let the songs lead me, rather than to be dependent on arranging around two keyboardists.” Returning on The Grind are Bassist, David “The Butcher” Alves, and Donnie Hugley on percussion, who back Hayes with both power and precision on the 10 guitar driven tracks. “With the keyboards gone, I finally felt free to make a big guitar record, and I’m really excited about the guitar tones on this disc, states Hayes. Joe and I spent a lot of time crafting guitar sounds. We agreed on the first session ‘no rules’, just whatever it takes to make it big, fat and beautiful.”  Hayes says of the studio, “There is just a vibe here. It’s a combination of a lot of factors, and none of us really have put our finger on just one thing. Its a great studio with great engineers, and a lot of passionate musicians, including national acts like Hayes, who says “reminds him of what it must have felt like back in the days when the cats at Chess Records and Motown realized that something special was happening there.” VINCENT HAYES
 

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DIVERSE "OUR JOURNEY"

Since the inception of the group, Diverse’s musical intent has always been to connect with all types of audiences. Diverse plays a brand of jazz that is heavily influenced by other modern day genres yet keeps a firm grasp on the tradition. The core members of this Kansas City based group are Hermon Mehari (trumpet), Ryan Lee (drums), and Ben Leifer (bass). Parisian pianist Tony Tixier has recently joined thegroup.Diverse released its sophomore album, "Our Journey" in 2014 featuring Tony Tixier and alto saxophonist Logan Richardson.  This documents the musical results of the group’s growth as a result of their individual and collectives travels and experiences. In 2009, Diverse released their self-titled debut album on Origin Records as a result of winning the 2008 Gene Harris Jazz Competition in Boise, Idaho. This album of twelve original compositions reached the Top 50 of the JazzWeek charts and stayed in the Top 120 for more than six months.Diverse has also taken initiatives to collaborate with many artists and play in a variety of musical settings. The group has performed with jazz greats Bobby Watson, Jaleel Shaw and Logan Richardson in a series of concerts designed to promote these respective artists’ music to a new audience. Diverse has also collaborated with many Kansas City based artists of other genres to perform shows in tribute to Michael Jackson, Common’s “Like Water For Chocolate” and A Tribe Called Quest’s “Low End Theory”. The Diverse Trio, consisting of Mehari, Leifer and Lee, has conducted both stateside and European tours in the past two years. DIVERSE
 

LEEANN ATHERTON "HEART TRAVELED ROAD"

Leeann Atherton is sometimes known as the "Queen of South Austin". She eschews the title but it is given to her because she is the heart of a vibrant musical community in the "Live Music Capitol of the World". In Heart Traveled Road she shares the journey of that heart. Whether rocking a hot "Kiss" , admitting poison love in "Change of Heart", the Jazzy goodbye in "Remember Me", or the soulful affirmation of "Looking for a Rainbow", this CD speaks to the many paths the heart takes. Her delivery of Mike Stevenson's road song "Ode to Nowhere" comes through like a James Taylor traveling tune. "Ride Out the Blues" Leeann highlights her considerable harmonica chops along with some tasty guitar licks. Rich Brotherton's innovative string arrangement pulls the listener into the somber mood of "Soul Song" "Bougainville Sunset", my personal favorite, is a romantic memory set to a soft Latin Beat. Lush Lyrics painted on a canvas of Spanish guitar and solid rhythm.Every song on this CD is a pleasant surprise. It is a tour de force of Atherton's songwriting, her vocal delivery, and Rich Brotherton's artistry as a producer. Heart Traveled Road is a wonderful musical trip with the Queen of Hearts, Leeann Atherton. LEEANN ATHERTON
 

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T-BEAR & THE DUKES "ICE MACHINE"

When you’ve been around on this earth for a while, that thought does come to you once in a
while. It could hit you when you see a nice old car, a music instrument, a real ”old school”personality being interviewed on the TV…. and if you’re into the blues, this thought definitelycomes more often as the years keep passing by. Our heroes pass away, and many of the young
musicians who try to pick up this heritage will sound like scholars for a long time before they
might come out as a full-fledged blues musician.But here’s a guy that startles you as soon as you hear the sound of his guitar, his voice and the way he deals with the tradition. Raw and direct, well not ”too raw” but just sounding like himself.A straight-forward approach, with that special ”bite” that we associate with some of the greatbluesmen.Where does he find it? Maybe in the deep forests of Värmland, a sparsely populated region inSweden, near the Norwegian border. But mostly in his deep long-term love story with the blues,with heroes like Albert Collins, Albert and Freddie King, Luther Allison and other greatrepresentatives of modern electric blues with a twist of funk. And one thing he has in common with these musicians is that he will never play a set with only shuffles, but keeps varying his tempos and beats. Not only is he a natural talent on the guitar, but his expressive and direct voiceand his creative songwriting contribute to his sound, raw and mature at the same time.The band T-Bear and the Dukes of Rhythm was started by Torbjörn Solberg in his hometown Arvika, Sweden, in 2004, and they have released two CD’s with their previous lineup, including a horn section: ”Let The Sweet Talk Flow” and ”Broadway Twist”.The new band is a quartet, featuring Hammond wizard Paul ”Palle” Wagnberg, a professionalmusician since 1985, including 20 years in soul jazz group ”The Real Thing”. Bass player JanLillsäter has been supporting T-Bear for more than 20 years, steady as a rock, no matter if he’splaying electric bass or upright. The new drummer Henrik ”Henke” Berg was carefully chosenfor his good beat and good spirit, and the new band made a great impact during their first tour in Benelux May 2013. T-BEAR & THE DUKES