Sam Rucker’s unique musical recipe is not just heard, but felt. This
former hip-hop producer has developed a sound that is leaving a unique
fingerprint on modern jazz. His new project, Tell You Something, is
music for the soul. “Awesome... worth every penny of the ticket!"
claimed one audience member after a recent Sam Rucker performance in
Norfolk, Virginia –because Sam Rucker is using the saxophone to blow a
breath of fresh air into contemporary jazz. On Tell You Something, Sam
teams up with legendary producer Norman Connors, renowned pianist Bobby
Lyle, sax great Euge Groove, Tom Browne, Alyson Williams, and a host of
other great musicians. Tell You Something features three soulful covers
and eight of Sam’s original songs that not only entertain but encourage
as well. This is contemporary jazz music with a message. Even as an
instrumentalist, Sam’s music speaks to the listener and conveys an
infectious positive energy.
“Sam Rucker has a genuine connection with the music and the
audience. He plays with a passion that draws you in” – Norman Connors.
As a saxophonist, Sam has performed with a multitude of renowned
artists including Peter White, Euge Groove, Norman Connors, Cindy
Bradley, Tom Browne, Ronnie Laws, Gerald Veasley, Phil Perry, Alyson
Williams, and Ivan Neville. Playing with various groups, Sam has opened
for Will Downing, Norman Brown, Eric Benet, Ben Tankard, Black Sheep,
Candi Staton, Ron Kenoly and more; he can also boast of three winning
solo performances at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. Sam's
talents are not limited to the saxophone. He has produced and written
CDs for several artists, including gospel rapper Israel the Warrior,
singer Tonya Smith-Williams and spoken word artists Slim and Blizz.
Sam's first CD, entitled Heat from the Heavens, gives us
an introduction to the formula of hip-hop grooves + jazz melodies + a
splash of inspirational lyrics that so characterizes Sam as a player and
person. The formula promises creativity and unique expression that will
leave Sam Rucker’s imprint on contemporary jazz. SAM RUCKER
Pastors are raving about the music ministry of Sam Powell:"Sam
has a gift from God of letting his humanity deliver the message – and it
does. It’s not an act, it’s a testimony of Grace driven faith and
praise."Sam Powell's concert was a true worship experience! He was
genuinely praising the Lord and not putting on a show. I found his music
both biblical and inspirational. He sings truth about God, salvation
and the Christian life."Sam is the whole package. He brings to your
ministry his talents and his testimony. His musical ability is so vast
and so diversified, I had to ask myself is there any instrument he
doesn't play? I marveled at the message in his faith-filled music all
the while clothed in the purest of humility.""Sam's spiritual
giftedness is to use music as an avenue of praise and proclamation of
the truth of God. The overall effect is edification, encouragement and
evangelism through the Word in song.""What a blessing and
inspiration, Sam Powell and his music ministry. He not only offers up
worship to the Lord, but adds the extra blessing of teaching God's Word,
through song and testimony. All of us here were moved and challenged to
serve. "Find
out for yourself what others are so excited about... With his latest
release, "Go To Nineveh", Sam delivers song after song of catchy
melodies and cool horn riffs, but most importantly biblical truth that
will touch your heart and soul with the gospel of Jesus Christ. SAM POWELL
Rik Wright’s Fundamental Forces is an innovative collection of modern
progressive jazz players who’ve developed a rich library of original
repertoire that is hauntingly beautiful, thoughtful, and evocative.
Their performances effectively pull together the two extremes of
acoustic and electric jazz without sacrificing the crystalline character
of either.
On their debut release the quartet immerses us in a unique world of dark
and beautiful modern jazz soundscapes, with Wright’s guitar at the helm
steering through an array of intriguing original compositions. The
group formed as one of the house bands for the Zero-G Concerts &
workshops, a bi-weekly series of productions taking place in venues all
over Seattle WA, and has quickly established itself at the forefront of
Seattle’s resurging jazz fusion scene.
This is by far Wright’s most impressive performance to date –deftly
navigating his cohorts with a purpose and balance indicative of a
seasoned musician of his stature. Even more remarkable is the caliber of
musicians he’s assembled for the journey. Multi-instrumentalist James
DeJoie is prominently featured throughout. DeJoie, an underground hero
in the renowned Seattle progressive jazz scene, is primarily known for
his stellar performances on baritone saxophone. However, on this outing
he eschews the bari, opting for a plethora of other reed instruments
instead –clarinet, alto sax and flute chief among them.
Celebrated bassist Geoff Harper is the foundation of the ensemble
–steadfastly holding down the lines of Wright’s scores with a wistful
spontaneity and freedom rarely seen in these territories. Over top,
rather than underneath, sails drummer and percussion Greg Campbell,
who’s performance throughout this recording is far too stunning to
adequately describe.
All in all, this is a release not to be missed –an exhilarating tour de
force by an amazing new quintet. Hopefully there is much more to come. RIK WRIGHT'S FUNDAMENTAL FORCES
Melodic, atmospheric, minimalist music led by Get The Blessing
saxophonist Jake McMurchie and featuring the best of Bristol’s jazz
scene in the form of Will Harris on bass, Mark Whitlam on drums, with
special guest and vortex regular Dan Messore on guitar. Electronics and
acoustic instruments combine with an evolutionary approach to
improvisation to create scientifically aural magic.Born in London, raised in Bristol, Cambridge educated, Jake McMurchie
has been an influential member of the thriving South West jazz scene
for nearly two decades. His distinctive sound, imagination and melodic
drive have made him a key member of many of the most innovative and
exciting bands to emerge from the Bristol area, notably Get The
Blessing, What Four and the contemporary big band Ultrasound.
When not touring with GTB, Jake is a key figure in the South West’s
vibrant jazz scene playing with rising stars Emily Wright, Nick Malcolm,
Mike Willox, The Magnificent Seven, and with saxophone quartet Venn. He
has also played with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra, Portishead and
with the great Portuguese singer Fernando Tordo at the National Theatre
in Lisbon and in the Cape Verdean islands.Growing up near Nottingham, Mark initially studied piano from age seven
and then later percussion, receiving tuition from Royal Philharmonic and
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra percussionists. Learning from master
drummers Ralph Salmins, Jeff Hamilton, Jim Chapin and Dave Wickens, Mark
was offered a place at Trinity College of Music to study for a Masters
degree in jazz performance.Will’s dynamic and comprehensive approach to the double bass has seen
him chosen by Bobby Wellins, Alan Barnes, David Newton, Tina May and
Anita Wardell.Dan Messore is a broad-minded and eclectic musician. After several years
in Central America, he returned to the UK and completed a MA in jazz
and composition at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in
Cardiff. MICHELSON MORLEY
Born and raised in Tanner, Alabama, Dee Lucas had
always loved listening to music, and many genres of music were often
played in his family's home. However much he wanted to play an
instrument when he was younger, he had instead gone into sports, and
then later graduated from the University of North Alabama in 1988 with a
degree in Marketing and concentration in Computer Information Systems. A
year later, he moved to Atlanta and after a couple of years of getting
settled in his corporate job, Lucas suddenly got an urge to pick up the
sax for the first time - at the age of 28. Once he had picked up the
horn, he knew that his years of listening to music from his personal and
family collections would pay off. Dee
often visited local jazz clubs to get a feel for the pulse of the local
scene. "Listening to some of the talented sax players around the city
was education enough to build a thirst to go home and mimic what they
did," says Dee. "With the combination of listening to a plethora of
music on CD while going to see local cats like Darien Emory, Antonio
Allen, Sam Skelton, Jimmy Brown (Brick), and trumpeters Melvin Miller
and Milkshake, that was truly enough to develop a personal vote of
confidence." In
1997, Lucas got his start as a musician playing as a sideman in a local
band, Between 9&7. The band recorded a CD, which was a moderate
regional hit. Although he got performances, both rhythm and solos, Lucas
felt it was time to develop his own by ensemble to demand more
challenges within himself as both a musician and entrepreneur. So, on
New Year's Eve of 1999, Lucas formed his own contemporary jazz trio,
Xpressions. They produced and recorded a CD titled Footprints, which
gained notoriety in regional markets. The record contained the classic
hit People Make the World Go Round. All of the compositions were
produced and arranged by friend and keyboardist Karey Davis and assisted
by the saxman himself. DEE LUCAS
Although he now calls Canada home, Maple Blues Award
winner David Vest is an authentic, Southern-bred boogie-woogie piano
player and blues shouter. Born in Alabama in 1943, David grew up in
Birmingham, not far from Tuxedo Junction. He played his first paying gig
in 1957, and by the time he opened for Roy Orbison on New Year's Day
1962, he was a seasoned veteran of Gulf Coast roadhouses and honky
tonks.At the age of 17, David went on tour with Jerry Woodard
and the Esquires, some of whom later became key members of the Muscle
Shoals Rhythm Section and the Muscle Shoals Horns. While still with
Woodard, he jammed with Ace Cannon, Bill Black's Combo and the Jimmy
Dorsey Band in clubs along the Florida Panhandle, where fellow Alabaman
James Harman would soon make his mark.He had seen Carl Perkins,
Jerry Lee Lewis, and Johnny Cash in the 1950s. He saw Bo Diddley, Jimmy
Reed, and John Lee Hooker in the prime of their careers. Sam Cooke,
Clyde McPhatter and Hank Ballard, too. About the time he turned 21 he
found himself onstage backing Big Joe Turner, who said that David Vest's
playing made him feel like he was back home in Kansas City.He
had also worked the southern gospel circuit, appearing on programs with
the Statesmen and the Blackwood Brothers. His first recording featured
the last song written by Alton Delmore. David himself wrote the first
songs ever recorded by Tammy Wynette, as detailed in Jimmy McDonough's
bio of the country legend. He also dated a sister of the Louvin
Brothers, toured with Faron Young (who threatened to kill him), backed
Red Foley in a show where all the stars got robbed, worked in a theatre
with Fannie Flagg and became the first American artist to record an
album in Romania, after his appearance at the Sibiu Jazz Festival.Later
David would receive the "direct laying on of hands" from piano legends
like Big Walter The Thunderbird and Floyd Dixon. He would tour
extensively with Jimmy T99 Nelson and Miss Lavelle White. Katie Webster
told him, "I knows it when I hears it."From 2002 through 2006,
he shared lead vocals and frontman duties in the Paul deLay Band,
culminating in his performance on an award-winning live CD, which
reached the Top Ten on Billboard's national blues chart. During his
years in Portland, David won five Muddy Awards from the Cascade Blues
Association, including Best Keyboard Player.After deLay's
untimely death, Vest joined forces with Kenny 'Blues Boss' Wayne and
various other pianists, including Ann Rabson, to form the supergroup
Northwest Pianorama. DAVID VEST
Miles
Cabeceiras writes songs that accurately describe his vision of
experiencing life in South East Louisiana, from hit and miss love
affairs to the simple pleasures of life on the bayou. His band of
seasoned musicians, The Pontchartrain Wrecks, lend credence to his
musical mission and his goal of recreating the vibe of his influences
which include Tom Petty, Gram Parsons, the Rolling Stones and others.The Pontchartrain Wrecks have a great name, albeit a slightly
cringe-worthy one given recent events, which unfortunately hits a little
too close to home on their debut. The South span of their
meat-and-potatoes radio rock can jostle you all over the place, as on
“Anyway, Anyhow,” but it can also hypnotize you with its sameness; they
don’t sound locked in a groove so much as stuck in a gear. PONTCHARTRAIN WRECKS
Michael Bellar has performed music on six continents but being a native
of North Carolina, he stands by his slow, southern roots. Along with
creating music and touring with his group, the AS-IS Ensemble, Michael
has also toured and or recorded with Amos Lee, Art Garfunkel, Howie Day,
Wheatus, Jump Little Children, Teddy Geiger, Euro pop superstar Giorgia
and Jay Clifford’s Rosebud. His national TV appearances include Late
Night with David Letterman, the Late Show with Conan O’Brien Show, the
Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the Ellen Degeneres Show, TRL, Good Morning
America, Regis and Kelly and the CBS Morning Show. Michael has produced
and scored music for CUT Music (LA), Fluid (NYC), Bang Michael is the founder, composer and keyboardist of the AS-IS Ensemble.
This highly excitable, alt-jazz group has performed at such venues as
Avery Fischer Hall at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center in Washington
DC, South By Southwest and the JVC, Bell Atlantic and New York City
Winter Jazz Festivals along with being the former house band at the
world-famous Blue Note jazz club in NYC. They have opened for John
Scofield, Tea Leaf Green, Medeski Martin & Wood, Grant Green Jr. and
JFJO. In a review of their first ever performance in New York City,
they were hailed as “Generation Next” by Billboard Magazine. The group
has recorded three studio CDs – “Turned On Turned Up” (2009), “Like It
Is,” and “REACT!”Music and
Razorhead. MICHAEL BELLAR
Eden Brent piano playing and singing style ranges from a melancholic whisper to a
full-blown juke joint holler. She's simultaneously confident and
confiding, ably blending an earthy meld of jazz, blues, soul, and pop as
she huskily invites listeners into her lazy, lush world.That world lies just north of Greenville, Mississippi on the two-lane
Highway 1, which follows the twists and turns of the river through
fecund swampland, time-forgotten plantations, and
blink-and-you'll-miss-'em communities like Rosedale, Beulah, and Stovall
before it dead ends into Highway 61 just south of Onward.It was there that Brent was able to develop her gutsy vocal-and-piano
chops via family sing-a-longs and a 16-year apprenticeship with the late
blues pioneer Boogaloo Ames, who ultimately dubbed his protégé "Little
Boogaloo.""Music school taught me to think, but Boogaloo taught me to
boogie-woogie," says Brent, who appeared alongside her mentor in the
1999 PBS documentary Boogaloo & Eden: Sustaining the Sound and in the 2002 South African production Forty Days in the Delta.Where most 21st century roots musicians merely emulate their heroes,
Brent and Ames were both "soul mate and road buddies," says lifelong
friend (and acclaimed journalist) Julia Reed. "She was a young white
woman of privilege and he was an aging black man in the Mississippi
Delta, but theirs is a phenomenal story of mutual admiration and need."Yet much more than the blues flows through Brent's talented hands:
Critics laud her "Bessie Smith meets Diana Krall meets Janis Joplin"
attitude, compare her to jazz/pop dynamos Norah Jones and Sarah Vaughn,
and wax effusively about her "whiskey-smoke" voice, which serves as a
constant reminder that Greenville, nestled into a bend of the
Mississippi River, is located a few hundred miles north of New Orleans.Whether booked as a solo artist or bandleader, Brent's performance is
fresh and spontaneous, often filled with audience requests and
participation. Her unshakable talent and her carefree demeanor have
taken her across the country and around the world, but the 2009 Blues
Music Awards cemented Eden's place as one of the fresh voices propelling
this vital American music forward. She was nominated in four
categories, winning both "Acoustic Album of the Year" and "Acoustic
Artist of the Year" honors (joining Buddy Guy, B.B. King, and Janiva
Magness as the only multi-category winners for the year). As Chip
Eagle, publisher of Blues Revue, BluesWax, and Dirty Linen says, "in
Eden's huge playing and singing you can hear the ghosts of Mississippi
in a duet with the future of the blues." EDEN BRENT
