Open Road is a band comprised entirely of lead singers, strong
instrumentalists, daring soloists, and creative entertainers. Drummer
Paul Pierce and saxophonist Kenneth Rice began working together in San
Diego. As Motown, Soul and R&B performers, Kenny and Paul began the
journey which has become Open Road.The addition of San Clemente Guitarist Buddy Mercer, son of Vaudevillian
Bud Mercer, added an important element to Open Road; the ability to
switch musical gears in an instant from soulful blues ballads to high
energy rock and roll classics to George Benson-flavored jazz hitsHolding down the bottom on bass guitar is Tony Isabel. With his funky
bass lines, clean, clear vocals and powerful stage presence “Anthony
Wayne” is the driving force behind the grooves that have become
signature Open Road favorites. Their second guitarist, Tommy Matranga, rounds out Open Road. Tommy
grew up in the Pomona, California area and worked with the likes of
Tommy Lee and Vince Neil of Motley Crue before directing his attention
to his own original music projects. OPEN ROAD THE BAND
Although Meshell Ndegeocello scored a few hits early in her career, the
bassist, singer, and songwriter later opted to concentrate on more
challenging material by exploring the politics of race and sex, among
other topics. From her 1993 Maverick label debut through her releases of
the 2010s for Naïve, she built a discography of recordings that defied
classification through progressive mixtures of jazz, R&B, hip-hop,
and rock. Initially held in regard primarily for her bass playing and
bold lyrics, her songwriting, which often examined dark interpersonal
issues, was just as exceptional.Michelle Lynn Johnson, born on August 29, 1968, spent the first few
years of her life in Germany. Her father was both a military man and a
jazz saxophonist. She relocated with her family to Virginia in the early
'70s. As a youngster, Johnson developed an interest in music; during
her teenage years, she began to play regularly in the clubs of
Washington, D.C., but eventually settled down in New York City after a
stint of studying music at Howard University. By this point, she was
going by Me'Shell NdegéOcello — her adopted last name Swahili for "free
like a bird." After auditioning for several bands, including Living
Colour, NdegéOcello struck out on her own and often performed solo with
just a bass, drum machine, and keyboard. In the early '90s, she was one
of the first artists signed to Madonna's Warner-affiliated Maverick
label.NdegéOcello's debut album, 1993's Plantation Lullabies, was produced
with David Gamson, as well as with André Betts and Bob Power, and
involved input from a wide range of musicians, including DJ Premier,
Joshua Redman, Bill Summers, Wah-Wah Watson, and David Fiuczynski. An
impressive first album, it spawned the hit "If That's Your Boyfriend (He
Wasn't Last Night)" and received three Grammy nominations. A duet with
John Mellencamp on a cover of Van Morrison's "Wild Night," released a
year later, brought her more mainstream attention; it peaked at number
three on the Billboard Hot 100. MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO
Philip Maurice started his musical journey early in life, being taught
to sing by his mother when he was four years old. He later developed a
love for percussion, and eventually played in a jazz quintet at 13 years
of age.
By the time Philip entered college, his musical taste and desire
shifted towards contemporary jazz and classical music. Philip also
discovered that the acoustic piano made a statement in the pieces that
won his heart. He soon experienced a transformation causing his ear to
be tuned to a menagerie of ideas, styles, and compositions.
Philip Maurice believes making "Life Music" is one of the purposes
for his life on the earth. Many have described the musical renditions of
Philip Maurice as soothing, stress-relieving, atmosphere- changing
experiences. These musical experiences are carefully crafted and
designed to take you on a journey of relaxation. Many have commented
that they are the perfect companion for driving! PHILIP MAURICE
Multi - faceted performer Holly Burke is "an orginal voice and she makes
the flute shout and weep" Gabriel Hasselbach #1 Smooth Jazz Award
Winner 2011. Holly Burke has a Bachelor's Degree in Music and Theatre
and a teaching credential from Cambridge University. Holly's credits
include an International Broadcast Award from the Hollywood Radio and
Television Society. She has performed on CBC TV and radio, NPR, CITR
and at the San Diego Jazz Festival and the Vancouver Du Maurier Jazz
Festival. She has many VO and TV credits including Special Unit 2, Cold
Squad V1, The Dead Zone, and It's a Girl Thing, with Mia Farrow. Holly
has recorded on over twenty five projects including working with Terry
and Scott Jacks, Linton Garner and Clark Burroughs. Holly has recently
released her own CD "Nature Girl" which was conceived during a 6 month
sojurn in the Costa Rican rainforest where she gained a new appreciation
for nature and all its wonders. Holly & her band The Naturals bring
depth, wonder and fireworks to every performance. Don’t be surprised if
you find yourself singing and dancing.
HOLLY BURKE
Keepin’ It Going is Ken Husbands’ third release as a leader and the
second with this group, featuring Aaron Germain on bass and Otto Huber
on drums. It moves fluidly from the funk inflected opening track to the
fast samba of the closer, passing through swing, odd metered grooves,
African influences and out-and-out fusion on the way. This group has
been working together in the San Francisco Bay area for several years
and they have developed a cohesive ensemble approach. The original
compositions are formally rigorous while leaving room for each of the
musicians to display team-oriented virtuosity. Contemporary influences
such as John Scofield and Wayne Krantz can be heard in Husbands’ guitar
playing, and the title track evokes the world fusion of Weather Report,
but this trio has its own sound and compositional approach that
incorporates a wide range of musical styles, integrating odd time
signatures and complex harmonies seamlessly into energetic grooves. KEN HUSBANDS
Nat Birchall is one of the UK’s most special musicians, a spiritual,
soulful saxophonist who has drunk deeply from the endless well that is
the music of John Coltrane. A modest man, Birchall is happy out of the
limelight but nonetheless has found international acclaim for a series
of fine albums on Matthew Halsall’s Gondwana label as well as more
recently his own Sound Soul and Spirit imprint. This,
his sixth album, is his first ever live recording and is released on
vinyl and download only. A decision Birchall took on listening to the
tapes and thinking the music really suited the warmth of vinyl. It
features the core band from his last recording World Without Form:
pianist Adam Fairhall, vibist Corey Mwamba, bassist Nick Blacka (GoGo
Penguin) and drummer Paul Hession. They all bring something to the music
as Birchall explains: “Adam has been in the band since the beginning
and he's there because he understands the music and plays with
conviction. Corey is in the band because of his unique approach to
playing, it doesn't actually matter that he plays vibes. I asked him to
play because of his playing, not his instrument. He is a free spirit but
knows when to play and when not to play. Nick is a great bassist who
has a great ability to improvise strong melodic lines within his
accompaniment, which is actually pretty rare. Paul is a very great
drummer who can play seamlessly throughout a piece if it goes from
"time" to free tempo and back again, and makes it sound natural”. The
recording came about when Birchall played two nights at the Duende Jazz
Bar in Larissa, Greece in May 2013 – where, despite the tiny stage, the
warm welcome and overwhelmingly positive reaction to the music inspired
the band to reach deep within themselves for two nights of truly
inspired music. Thankfully the tapes were rolling and despite the tiny
stage and proximity of the mics (a nightmare for mixing) the music was
really happening. As Birchall recalls: “There was such a positive
atmosphere at the gigs, with people so obviously coming to hear the
music with open arms ( and ears ) that we felt very blessed to be on
stage. I think the record documents how the band sounds on a given
night, with original songs, and one or two by other people, played in an
extended way. With everyone able to stretch out and play as long as they like”. NAT BIRCHALL QUINTET
Beat Funktion was born in 2007 in the Swedish town of Uppsala, just
north of Stockholm, as a temporary five-piece constellation for a number
of spontaneous club gigs where traditional jazz music was needed for a
young dancing audience. To shape the band's repertoire of old jazz
standards, pianist Daniel Lantz took the liberty of borrowing
inspiration from musicians and bands within groove-based genres in the
70s and late 60s, such as James Brown, Bob James, Eumir Deodato, Herbie
Hancock, Roy Ayers, Fela Kuti, Curtis Mayfield, Lonnie Liston Smith,
Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley and others, not to
mention film music by composers like Lalo Schifrin and Bill Conti. This
resulted in a series of original arrangements of jazz standards
tailor-made for the band, which utilized the stable, dance-friendly and
lush-sounding framework of pumping disco funk and R&B paired with
the rhythmic and harmonic freedom of jazz improvisation. It became an
immediate success with audiences, and accordingly, the very special
jazz-funk sound of the band was born.After a number of overwhelmingly successful performances, enjoyed by
listeners as well as dancers, the band became a permanent working unit
and since 2008 it is an impressive six-piece-band consisting of Karl
Olandersson on the trumpet, Olle Thunström on the tenor sax, Johan Öijen
on the electric guitar, Daniel Lantz on the Fender Rhodes, Pal Johnson
on the electric bass and Jon Eriksson on the drums. Although keeping a
few classic funk cover tunes as part of the repertoire, pianist Daniel
Lantz nowadays provides the band with new, groovy original music in the
vintage 70s vein. Additional musicians like percussionists and vocalists
occasionally join the band for more powerful live performances.In the autumn of 2010, Beat Funktion released their debut-album THE
PLUNGE for Do Music Records, a production that has culled takes together
from multiple previous studio and live recordings to form a whole. On
the album, the sound of the band is enhanced with percussion, live
acoustic strings, vocals and Moog synthesizers. It features a majority
of Lantz' own compositions, plus a funk version of George Gershwin's
classic jazz standard ”Summertime”. The disc has received praise
worldwide with agents and reviewers of jazz, funk, soul and rare
grooves, not to mention DJs. The band is currently scheduling their fourth album, MANDY'S SECRET, to
be released in August of 2014, which will be co-produced by Daniel Lantz
and pianist and producer Mats Björke from famed rock band Mando Diao. BEAT FUNKTION
NYConnection
The always
imaginative saxophonist Jussi Kannaste accompanies the quartet as if he
is the piano player. Pianist Roy Assaf often doesn’t play chords, but
instead uses his melodic gift to create a dialogue with drummer Jaska
Lukkarinen, who adds multiple colors in addition to his already
extraordinary rhythmic approach. The band courageously explores this
instrumentation, playing solo, duos, trios and full quartet with bassist
Antti Lötjönen, who brings it all together in a unison sound full of
melodies, dialogues and stories. Never having experienced
this kind of natural freedom of music in any other group, the members of
NYConnection decided to start a fresh concept that benefits the music
and brings a new sound to the audience. When the new songs were first played in public, some people referred to their music as “folk jazz.” The
compositions have the intellectuality, harmonies, and swing flavors
that originate from the jazz tradition, combined with the simplicity and
lyricism of the folk world. Picture four artists who work
on the same canvas and paint the most simple and beautiful Finnish
landscape in its midsummer peace. Each one of the painters has a
slightly different artistic view of colors, lights and landscape.
NYConnection paints this picture with compositions, in which interplay
and listening connects the worlds and visions together.The
origins of NYConnection, as the band’s name implies, date back to New
York City in 2007, where Roy and Jaska shared some of their most
influential moments as young musicians. The foundation for the group is
drummer Jaska Lukkarinen's Finnish trio, which includes Jussi Kannaste
and Antti Lötjönen. This is a trio that has worked together since 2005
and has created a personal band sound without a harmonic instrument.Their
new album Urban Griot introduces the band members as composers and
instrumentalists, today's jazz-griots. Griots were West African poets
and storytellers and were known for their ability to picture current
events and improvise based on traditional songs. The original songs on
Urban Griot are based on experiences and stories that the four share
together. The songs are mixed with a menu-like concept. The original
music serves as main courses, and it is mixed with great jazz standards
that serve as the tasty appetizers.The bond between Roy and
Jaska, both on and off the stage, keeps NYConnection evolving as a true
band, not just another music project. Having the four of them together
is meant to be. Urban Griot is the start of a life long journey to be
explored, developed and shared with the audience. NY CONNECTION
The British band Mighty Mighty developed a larger following in Japan
than they did in their native country. However, the group's Japanese fan
base evolved posthumously; the band was actually only active for a few
years. Mighty Mighty was formed in Birmingham, England, in 1986 by Hugh
Harkin (vocals, harmonica), Mick Geoghegan (guitar), Peter Geoghegan
(organ, guitar), Russell Burton (bass), and David Hennessey (drums).
They made their debut at the NME/ICA Rock Week concerts and were even
included on a C-86 cassette compilation. Mighty Mighty released their
first single, "Everybody Knows the Monkey," in 1986. Often compared to
Orange Juice, Mighty Mighty only recorded one LP, 1988's Sharks, before
splitting up. The band's jangly singles and B-sides were collected on
The Girlie Years, the title referring to the name of the group's own
label. Vinyl Japan also released Mighty Mighty's BBC sessions in 2001.
The band's popularity in Japan resulted from a keen interest in U.K.
guitar pop among indie collectors. MIGHTY MIGHTY
