6
May, 2024
19
Apr, 2024
DAVID GARFIELD 4tet ft. Davide Pannozzo, Dominique Di Piazza & Gergo Borlai | Fusion Jazz (USA)
DAVID GARFIELD 4tet
ft. Davide Pannozzo, Dominique Di Piazza & Gergo Borlai
AVAILABILITY FOR EUROPE
2025 | APRIL
David Garfield | Keyboards
(Eddie Van Halen, Smokey Robinson, Cher, Larry Carlton, Steve Lukather, Spinal Tap, George Benson, The Manhattan Transfer, Eros Ramazzotti, The Rippingtons, Freddie Hubbard, Boz Scaggs, Oleta Adams, Brenda Russell, Natalie Cole, Michael Bolton)
Davide Pannozzo | Guitar
(Danny Gottlieb, Pippo Matino, Nathan East, Verdine White, Andrew Gouche, Mel Brown, George Benson, David Garfield, Phil Palmer, Nicola Piovani)
Dominique Di Piazza | Bass
(John McLaughlin, Michel Petrucciani, Gil Evans, Bireli Lagrene, Didier Lockwood)
Gergo Borlai | Drums
(Gary Willis, Scott Kinsey, Scott Henderson, Matthew Garrison, Steve Tavaglione, Bob Mintzer, Hiram Bullock, L. Shankar, Al DiMeola, Nguyen Lee, Eric Moore, Tim Lefebvre)
DAVID GARFIELD
David Garfield is an American keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer.
He has recorded with Eddie Van Halen, Smokey Robinson, Cher, Larry Carlton, Steve Lukather, Spinal Tap, George Benson, The Manhattan Transfer, Eros Ramazzotti, and The Rippingtons. He has performed with Freddie Hubbard, Boz Scaggs, Oleta Adams, Brenda Russell, Natalie Cole, and Michael Bolton. He is a founding member of Karizma and Los Lobotomys. He has been a songwriter, producer, bandleader, arranger, recording artist, record label owner (Creatchy Records), session and touring musician, musical director and composer of commissioned themes for global organizations.
Biography
In addition to composing and performing music for Perfect Harmony, he has written several songs with Smokey Robinson, including “One Like You,” which George Benson recorded on his 2009 album Songs & Stories. Garfield, who has been from time to time Benson’s musical director since 1986, also arranged and produced Guitar Man. Garfield produced I Play The Piano, a DVD/Blu-Ray of Terry Trotter playing solo piano for AIX Media.
Garfield has been commissioned to write and produce theme songs and musical projects for several international organizations, including the composition and CD: “Pool of Friendship” for the European Aquatics Federation LEN (League of European Nations); the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC); and “Deep Within Each Man” (co-written with Phil Perry) for the Shorinji Kempo World Karate Foundation.
His first international release on Creatchy, 1997’s Tribute To Jeff, was dedicated to drummer Jeff Porcaro. Garfield followed its Top Ten chart success with I Am The Cat… Man, and Giving Back. He re-released on Creatchy Records several collections from earlier in his career, including L.A. Keyboard Project, Recollections, and Seasons of Change.
Karizma’s discography on Creatchy includes Dream Come True, Cuba, All The Way Live, (Forever in the) Arms of Love, Document, and Lost and Found. The other projects he has helmed for Creatchy include albums by guitarists Michael Landau and Michael O’Neill, saxophonists Brandon Fields and Larry Klimas and, most recently, former Toto bassist Mike Porcaro. Another Creatchy release, Los Lobotomys, is a collaboration with prominent members of the pop/rock band Toto, with whom Garfield has collaborated with many times throughout the years. Garfield also frequently does free-lance keyboard and production work for established and up and coming artists from across the U.S. and throughout the world.
In addition to his work with George Benson, Garfield continues ongoing musical relationships with numerous musicians, including Boz Scaggs and Natalie Cole. Over the years, he has recorded with Cher, Spinal Tap, The Rippingtons, Ratt, Larry Carlton, and Smokey Robinson; produced for Oleta Adams and Flora Purim; and has performed live with Michael Bolton, The Blues Brothers, Brenda Russell and Rick Braun, among others. Early in 2012, he was presented with the Hall of Fame Award from the Java Jazz Festival in Jakarta; Garfield has performed at the Indonesia event several times, most recently with saxophonist Gerald Albright and vocalist Alex Ligertwood. The same trio of musicians later performed at the Blue Note in Tokyo.
At the same time as he was performing his first gigs with Karizma in the mid-1970s, Garfield began working with jazz talents such as Willie Bobo, Freddie Hubbard, and Tom Scott. After establishing himself on the L.A. jazz scene, the keyboardist became a key part of the city’s vast studio world during its heyday. These experiences ultimately led to composing opportunities for TV, film and commercials for such companies as NBC, Disney, Nippon Television, and RTL Germany. During the 1980s, Garfield arranged and produced many Japanese artists and went on to produce his own projects for release in Japan.
Reflecting on his diverse career, Garfield says, “It’s creatively invigorating to have the opportunity to do so many interesting musical projects, to see so many amazing places throughout the world, and to work with some of the greatest musicians both in L.A. and overseas. I feel as though I am always learning from the artists and musicians I work with, not simply on a musical level, but also benefiting from their wealth of stories and life and career experiences. There are always unexpected thrills along the way, from opening with his band for Sergio Mendes or Jason Mraz to recording in a studio next to Paul McCartney or Alice in Chains and having the opportunity to meet and get to know them. I love being involved in so many different aspects of music and the feeling that I truly never know what’s coming up next”.
DAVIDE PANNOZZO
Davide Pannozzo has been described by critics as one of the most interesting artists of contemporary Blues guitar. His style is very much his own, with splashes of Jeff Beck, John Scofield, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix.
“There are very few artists these days that can inspire and are filled with inspiration and great ideas; Davide Pannozzo is one of them. When you first hear his music, you know something special is going on…” Will Lee (Late Show with David Letterman, The Brecker Brothers, 24th Street Band, …).
Having studied Classical Guitar since the age of six, Davide Pannozzo graduated from the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome.
During his career, he has performed at several clubs and festivals in Italy (Pistoia Blues, Ameno Blues, Blues in Town, Accadia Blues, …) and in the world (The Bitter End in NYC, Bass Player in Los Angeles, IBC in Memphis, Ronnie Scott’s in London, Fete de la Musique in Paris, International Jazz Fest in Bucharest, Taubertal Festival in Frankfurt, …) and has played alongside artists such as George Benson, Steve Jordan, Will Lee, David Garfield, Clifford Carter, Phil Palmer, Matt Schofield, Oz Noy, Robben Ford.
Davide Pannozzo won the Emergenza European Acoustic Festival as Acoustic Solo Guitarist in 2009, followed by the Groove Master Award for Best Italian Blues guitarist in 2010, and most recently the Highland Uproar competition where he received hundreds of votes from listeners of the station in Scotland.
His album “Born Electric” was released by EmArcy/Universal Music, featuring very special guests: Robben Ford, Carl Verheyen, and David Garfield.
His Jimi Hendrix tribute, “A Portrait of Jimi Hendrix” features off-the-floor recordings – with no overdubs – it gets #1 on iTunes’s top100 Blues Albums in Italy and iTunes’s top100 New Blues Release in the USA.
His latest album, “Unconditional Love” has been produced by Steve Jordan & Will Lee, with the participation of Ricky Peterson, Oli Rockberger, and Shawn Pelton. The song “Chasing Illusions” is still in heavy rotation on SiriusXM, and it got the Top50 Jazz Blues Album Radio chart in the US.
His last single, “Be Blessed” was produced by Steve Jordan, and at its release, it was added to two big Spotify editorial playlists, “All New Jazz” & “Fresh Finds Jazz” getting hundreds of airplay in the US, Canada, UK, Australia and many enthusiastic reviews on blog and magazines.
“Be Blessed” is delicate and emotional. Davide takes his instrumentation on the guitar to another level, a place that very few can say they’ve been to. It’s a song for any occasion and is one of the best instrumental songs we’ve heard in a while.”
“Be Blessed” is a chill instrumental that overflows with understated emotion and casts its shadow somewhere between the upscale blues of Robben Ford and the deep melodicism of Duke Ellington.
Davide is the founder of “GUITARlab”, an Online Academy dedicated to the teaching of the Modern Blues Guitar.
DAVIDE PANNOZZO TRIO | Fusion Jazz-Funk (IT/USA)
DOMINIQUE DI PIAZZA
Dominique Di Piazza was born in Lyon, France, with Sicilian ancestry and a gypsy stepfather. He started playing electric bass in 1979. After some time, he managed to free himself from the pervasive influence that Jaco Pastorius had over most bassists at the time, by creating his own style. Self-taught, he added an extra high string to his 4-string bass and created his own technique of using the right-hand thumb, index and middle fingers. This unique approach enabled a virtuosity and style that is quite unusual in the world of bass. A defining example is the track « Marie » a flagship piece for solo bass from the 90s, found on the album « Que alegria » by John McLaughlin.
This right hand style gave birth to the « four-finger picking » technique later popularized in Europe and the US by several new-generation bassists including Matthew Garrison, Adam Nitti and Hadrien Feraud. Dominique’s great knowledge of bebop, his gypsy and neo-classical influences, his lyrical style and his advanced harmonic concept have combined to make him one of the most innovative bassists in the world today.
Dominique started his career in 1982 at the Hot Club in Lyon with guitarist Michel Pérez. In 1986 he moved to Paris and began touring with violinist Didier Lockwood, drummer André Ceccarelli and pianist Gordon Beck. The following year he toured Europe with Gil Evans and the Big Bang Lumière de Laurent Cugny, a group that was immortalized on the Santander album, winner of the Prix de l’Académie Charles-Cros and in 1989 he recorded a trio album called Padre, with Jean-Pierre Como and Stéphane Huchard.
In 1991, Dominique joined the John McLaughlin Trio along with percussionist Trilok Gurtu. After a world tour of over 300 concerts, the album Que alegria was released in 1992. McLaughlin was then quoted as saying of DiPiazza: “His talent is immense—he’s one of the best bassists in the world.”
The same year, Dominique recorded with pianist Michel Petrucciani on the album The First, with Michel’s brother Philippe Petrucciani on guitar and Victor Jones on drums. In 2000, the Front Page Trio was created with Bireli Lagrene on guitar and Dennis Chambers on drums. They toured Europe and released a self-titled album (Frontpage) that scored them a Victoire de la Musique award for Best Jazz Album of 2001.
From 1990 to 2005, Dominique worked with a wide array of artists including Michael Blass, Bruno Castellucci, Giuseppe Continenza, Vic Juris, Gene Bertoncini, Yves Carbonne, Michael Manring, Jeff Gardner, Victor Wooten, Derico Watson, Danny Gottlieb and Donald Harrison. In 2005/06 he hit the road again, this time in Reunion, Mauritius, Madagascar, and ten other African countries, with a pianist from Reunion named Meddy Gerville, guitarist Jean-Marie Ecay, and drummer Horacio “el Negro” Hernandez. This collaboration led to the Jazz Amwin CD, which introduced the “Maloya Jazz” style (combining jazz with traditional music from Reunion) to a wider global audience.
In 2006, Dominique went to India to record a CD (Samjanitha, 2008) with the great Indian mandolin player U. Shrinivas, as well as Debashish Bhattacharya, Selvaganesh and Zakir Hussain. Following that he played on Antonio Farao’s album, Woman’s Perfume, alongside André “Dédé” Ceccarelli on drums.
In 2008, John McLaughlin called upon Dominique’s talents once again for a European tour with The 4th Dimension, also including Gary Husband on keys and percussion, and Mark Mondésir on drums. Together the band played more than 30 concerts all across Europe and released a DVD Live @ Belgrade. Another show featured Dominique with McLaughlin in India, in a group called The Floating Point, which included Ranjit Barot, Louis Banks, Shashank, Naveen Kumar and Shankar Mahadevan.
Around the same time, Dominique assembled the Di Piazza Trio with Brazilian guitarist Nelson Veras and drummer Manhu Roche. The trio’s album, Princess Sita, was released in the USA in August of 2008.
From 2009 to 2011, Dominique criss-crossed the world with a wide variety of artists.
In France, with Elene Dee and David Berkman for Lyrics on Pat Metheny’s music; in Russia with the Blues & Beyond Quartet (Sébastien Charlier, Yannick Robert and Yoann Schmidt) and the album La Danse du chat; with 4 Essential (with Thierry Maillard, Debora Seffer and Yoann Schmidt) for an album and festival shows; with Antonio Farao and André “Dédé” Ceccarelli; in the electro-jazz group Synopsis with Eric Sempe and Felix Sabal Lecco, and a CD called Rebirth; in a trio with Francis Lockwood and Fred Sicard on Tribute to Hendrix; with the Petrucciani Reunion quartet with Philippe Petrucciani, Nathalie Blanc and Manhu Roche on the CD Este Mundo.
In Spain, with Ximo Tebar, Donald Edwards and Jim Ridl; also the flamenco-jazz guitarist Chema Vilchez, with Jeff Balard and Alex Acuna; with singer Maria de Medeiros and gypsy-flamenco musician Raimundo Amador; in Turkey, with bağlama player Zeki Çağlar Namlı and on the Face to Face CD, and Buzuki Orhan Osman alongside his old friend Trilok Gurtu; in Ireland, with Mike Nielsen and Paul Wertico; in Italy with Alberto Iovene and Manhu Roche on the CD Wired Along; in Norway, in a duo with guitarist Hallgeir Pedersen; in Russia with Andrei Bodnartchouk and the group Made in France; and in India with Ranjit Barot’s group which included Scott Kinsey and Tim Garland, releasing an album called Bada Boom.
Dominique has also been working with a popular young gypsy guitarist named Brady Winterstein (and his uncle Hono), and they released an album in 2011 called Happy together.
Dominique has designed a special bridge (as well as a bass) with luthier Mike Sabre, which makes it possible to obtain a “fretless” sound on a fretted bass. This was first featured on the track « Seven up » from the 1993 CD Wait and See by Michael Blass.
For several years, Dominique has been teaching at the Music Academy International (M.A.I.) at Nancy, France, and also gives master classes around the world. Transcriptions of his playing appear in the book Bass Soloing Concepts by Chuck Sher and Marco Johnson. His composition “Living Hope” is included in The European Real Book.
Dominique’s sincerity, his unique style and his openness to music from around the world make him one of the most highly regarded musicians on the international scene.
Dominique plays on Marbass amps. « For a long time, I’ve been looking for a bass amp that won’t color my sound » says Dominique. « And most of the good amps are bulky and hard to transport. But bravo, Marco—with my Little Mark Tube head and Traveler 102P cabinet, I have both uncolored sound and portability at the same time! ».
http://www.dominiquedipiazza.com/
GERGO BORLAI
Gergo is a professional drummer originally from Hungary now based in Barcelona, Spain.
In his home country of Hungary, Gergo Borlai has appeared on more than a 300 albums, received two lifetime achievement awards and two “gold record awards,” as well as the Golden Drumstick Prize and the Artisjus Lifetime Achievement Award. Gergo has become one of the most exciting up-and-coming drumset artists and has grown in popularity and also with his breathtaking solos. Gergo also became a clinician man all over in Europe, U.S. and Asia like Musician Institute Hollywood, South Korea, France, Sweden, Poland, South America, Spain, Germany, etc… Gergo is a professor of the Liceu Academy/Jazz Departement – Barcelona since 2012. Gergo has lesson packages for Drum Guru.
Touring: Hungary, Romania, France, Slovakia, Chez Republic, Portugese, Belgium, Finland, England, Germany, Austria, Poland, Ukraine, Spain, Italy, Serbia, Croatia, Netherland, Canada, Japan, Israel, South Corea, South America, Greece, Sweden, Norway, USA
Gergo performed with Frank Gambale (AU), Gary Willis (USA), Scott Kinsey(USA), Scott Henderson(USA), Matthew Garrison(USA), Steve Tavaglione(USA), Llibert Fortune(SP), Walt Fowler(USA), Bob Mintzer(USA), Hiram Bullock(USA), L. Shankar(India), Vernon Reid(USA), Iain Ballamy(GB), Terry Bozzio(US), Al DiMeola(USA), Nguyen Lee(F), Hadrien Feraud(F), Eivind Aarset(N), Eric Moore (USA), Tim Lefebvre(USA), Yolanda Charles(GB).
What’s going on: https://www.coralriff.biz/events/
17
Apr, 2024
WAYNE KRANTZ TRIO ft. EVAN MARIEN & JOSH DION | Fusion Jazz (USA)
WAYNE KRANTZ SUGAR TRIO
ft. Evan Marien & Josh Dion
AVAILABLE IN EUROPE
2025 | MARCH
Line up
Wayne Krantz | Guitar
(Steely Dan, Michael Brecker, Donald Fagen, Billy Cobham, Chris Potter, David Binney, Carla Bley, Tim Lefebvre, Keith Carlock)
Evan Marien | Bass
(Dana Hawkins, Virgil Donati, Tigran Hamasyan, Elliot Moss, Justin Brown’s NYEUSI, Allan Holdsworth’s band, Cory Wong, Button Masher)
Josh Dion | Drums
(Chuck Loeb, Candy Dulfer, Spyro Gyra, Will Lee, Pat Martino, Jeff Kashiwa, Jason Miles, Anthony Jackson, Edgar Winter, Randy Brecker, Bob James, Eric Marienthal, Til Bronner, Jim Beard, Ivan Lins)
WAYNE KRANTZ
Wayne Krantz was born in Corvallis, Oregon. He released his first album, Signals, in 1990, sporting an array of recognized jazz musicians such as Dennis Chambers, Don Alias, Anthony Jackson, and others.
In 1992, he formed a trio with bassist Lincoln Goines and drummer Zach Danziger and recorded two albums with them, Long To Be Loose (1993) and 2 Drink Minimum (1995), a live album, and began playing regularly at the 55 Bar, a jazz club in New York City. In 1996, Krantz released an acoustic album with Leni Stern, dubbed Separate Cages. After playing with Steely Dan for several years, Krantz formed a new trio in 1997 with Tim Lefebvre on bass and Keith Carlock on drums; on June 28, 2007, he played his final regular Thursday night gig at New York’s 55 Bar. As of October and November 2018, he is playing regularly at 55 Bar again with a rotating cast of sidemen.
Wayne Krantz’s first three solo albums were released on the jazz label Enja Records. His next three albums, 1999’s Greenwich Mean, 2003’s Your Basic Live, and 2007’s Your Basic Live ’06 were all released from Wayne’s private website. Like 2 Drink Minimum, these albums are excerpts of various sets at the 55 Bar. These albums also include more use of effects pedals, and are more unscripted and improvised than the previous three. He contributed to Donald Fagen’s release Morph the Cat, and toured with Fagen’s band in early 2006. He was featured on tenor saxophonist Chris Potter’s 2006 release, Underground.
Wayne Krantz signed with record label Abstract Logix to release his first studio record in over fifteen years. Krantz Carlock Lefebvre (2009) features the core trio of Krantz, Carlock on drums and Lefebvre on bass. In 2012, Krantz released Howie 61 (a reference to Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited), which includes performances by Keith Carlock, James Genus, John Patitucci, Charley Drayton, Tal Wilkenfeld, Vinnie Colaiuta, Anton Fig, Yasushi Miura, Jeremy Stacey, Paul Stacey, Pino Palladino, Gabriela Anders, Kenny Wollesen, Nate Wood, Henry Hey and Owen Biddle. In 2014, Krantz released “Good Piranha/Bad Piranha,” a live-in-the-studio album featuring his two dominant trio combinations at the time: Nate Wood/Keith Carlock and Tim Lefebvre/Nate Wood. The bands each recorded the same four cover songs with radically different improvisational results.
EVAN MARIEN
Evan Marien is an award-winning bassist, composer, producer, author, educator, and 3D artist, born and raised in the cornfields of Decatur, Illinois. He graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2009 and has lived in the NYC area since 2010.
Known for his collaborations with drummer Dana Hawkins, he has also performed in the bands of Tigran Hamasyan, Wayne Krantz, Tim Miller, Virgil Donati, Elliot Moss, Justin Brown’s NYEUSI, and was the last bassist to perform in guitar legend Allan Holdsworth’s band.
His latest release, ‘Elysian’ features Dana Hawkins, Tigran Hamasyan, Fredrik Thordendal, Plini, Intervals, J3PO, Tim Miller, Cory Wong, Zac Zinger, Button Masher, and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson.
You can hear his bass playing on numerous albums such as Tigran Hamasyan’s “The Call Within,” Virgil Donati’s “In This Life,” and “Ruination”, and Steve Hunt’s “Connections”.
His playing can also be heard on the Mitski song ‘Nobody,’ for which he received a gold record for participating on the album ‘Be The Cowboy,’ as well as on the songs ‘Should’ve Been Me’ and ‘That’s Our Lamp’ from her most recent album, ‘Laurel Hell’.
In partnership with MadeMusicStudio, Evan has composed music for renowned brands such as AT&T, Lexus, and NPR. Most recently, he won a 2022 CLIO award for composing the sonic logo and anthem for Turner Classic Movies (TCM).
As an author, he has written numerous books about his distinctive Hexatonic method for the bass guitar, as well as created video courses describing his specialized right hand technique. His first book, ‘Transcriptions Vol. 1,’ was an Amazon Best Seller in its first week of release.
Evan is also a part-time faculty member at The New School in New York City, where he specializes in providing private lessons to the next generation of contemporary musicians.
Evan Marien is a MarkBass artist!
Evan Marien
JOSH DION
Josh Dion was born at the tail end of the disco funk era, when popular radio bore the sounds of Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson, and ‘four on the floor’ drum beats! Raised in Storrs, CT, Josh started playing his father’s drums before he even started kindergarten. He grew up playing drums to the simple and beat driven sounds of Nick Mason and Ringo Starr. He also lived across the hall from his older brother, who not only followed the Grateful Dead, but introduced him to Cream at the tender age of seven. Rightfully so, Cream, Zeppelin and the Stones led Dion to Willie Dixon, Robert Johnson and beyond.
A prodigious talent, Josh started playing professionally at age eight and was invited to shed with the UConn Jazz Studies program by the time he was twelve. While he was impressing people with his percussion skills, he was playing piano and singing in his local church, developing talents which would eventually help him stand out even among the world class drummers in whose company he has now found himself.
After a stint in the music program at New Jersey’s William Paterson University, he has made New York City his home. Josh’s college days were greeted by an immersion in the Jam band scene with NYC funk band ulu, who toured the Eastern half of the US. Josh was soon noticed by jazz guitarist Chuck Loeb, who offered Josh an opportunity to be seen and heard by a whole new level of the music audience. From that platform, he has gone on to work with some of the major brand names of the music world: Candy Dulfer, Spyro Gyra, Will Lee, Pat Martino, Jeff Kashiwa, Jason Miles, Anthony Jackson, Edgar Winter, Randy Brecker, Bob James, Eric Marienthal, Til Bronner, Jim Beard, Ivan Lins and on and on.
Meanwhile, Josh Dion has been developing his solo career with the CD releases of the Josh Dion Band (www.joshdionband.net), their debut “Give Love” and the imminent “Josh Dion Band Live.” The Josh Dion Band has another studio release planned for early 2007.
“Give Love” was greeted with effusive praise by the UK’s Drummer magazine, who described it as “Brian Wilson meets Hall and Oates, with possibly Bruce Springsteen looking in and drums that sound like they were recorded at Muscle Shoals Studios. This is a collection of epic songs that build and move as songs used to in the old days when songwriters were exactly that and labels like Motown and Stax were market leaders…Great voice, great drums and great, great tunes…Dion is a young player that is going to create a very big impression indeed. Not only can this fella lay down a super funky beat, but he sings with a soulful voice that totally melts your mind…You are going to be hearing more from this extremely talented young musician…If there is any justice in this world, Dion will be huge.” YEAH!
Josh also enjoys nature-walking, driving, and attending history lectures.
GEAR LIST
Absolute Maple Nouveau
ABD-1518JF 18″x14″
ATT-1512J 12″x8″
AFT-1516 16″x16″
ASD-0545 14″x5.5″
MNS-1470EJ Elvin Jones Signature
What’s going on: https://www.coralriff.biz/events/
28
Dec, 2023
NIK WEST | R&B/Soul/Funk/Jazz (USA)
NIK WEST | (USA)
R&B SOUL FUNK JAZZ
in collaboration with MCM
AVAILABILITY FOR EUROPE
APRIL 2024
Explosive stage presence isn’t enough to describe the way Nik West moves, wows, and shocks crowds everywhere. With credits that include work with Quincy Jones Productions, Prince, Macy Gray, John Mayer, Glee, American Idol, Dave Stewart of Eurythmics fame, and more, bassist, singer, and songwriter Nik West isn’t just a musician; she’s an embodiment of individuality. With a style as unique as a fingerprint, she invites you to embrace your true self and move to your own beat.
This young funk-fueled dynamo is a force of nature, blending genres and breaking boundaries with every note she plays and every lyric she sings. Named “the bass icon of this generation’ by Rollingstone, and “The Queen of the Bassists” by Rollingstone France, her bass lines are like a heartbeat you can dance to. But Nik isn’t just about bass – her vocals are a journey through emotions. From sultry and smooth to high-energy and electrifying, her voice tells stories that hit you right in the feels. Known for impressively recording a cover of “Back In Black” by AC/DC, Nik shocked many rock fanatics and became a new favorite of Steven Tyler.
Her 2nd album, Moody is “Genre-Bending Brilliance”: Funk, Soul, Rock – Nik effortlessly weaves them all together into a sonic tapestry that’s uniquely her own. Features include Larry Graham, Cindy Blackman-Santana, Narada Michael Walden (Whitney Houston, Santana, Sting), and more. “Catch Me If You Can” was featured on Netflix’s Virgin River and Apple TV original, Amber Brown. Her funky bass lines can also be heard in ESPN sports programs all over the world.
She has toured as the support act for George Clinton/Parliament Funkadelic. She has appeared on the covers of virtually every bass magazine and has been featured in numerous publications for People Magazine, Vanity Fair, Teen Vogue, Rollingstone, Ok! Magazine, Billboard, Afropunk and more.
“Nik West is definitely bringing back the funk groovement and I love everything about what she stands for!”
Bootsy Collins
Website: https://nikwestbass.com/
What’s going on: https://www.coralriff.biz/events/
21
Dec, 2023
¡FRESHA! | Soul/Funk/Fusion (USA)
¡FRESHA! Pop/Fusion Jazz | USA
Frescia Belmar is a young innate talent. Her creativity, intuition, musicality and virtuosic playing secured her place as one of the most acclaimed musicians on the scene today.
Outstanding for her unique sound: tight groove, sophisticated articulation, melodic and chordal playing, refined harmonies and solos, Frescia moves effortlessly across all musical genres. Her playing has been featured on several tours, recordings and television appearances.
Career highlights include performances and recordings with: Anita Tijoux, Mike Stern, Herbie Hancock, Janelle Monáe, Cartoon Network and countless others.
Nowadays, Frescia is based in Los Angeles, California. Working on what it will be her first solo album.
She’ll tour on March 2024 with George Whitty at the keyboards and Joel Taylor at the drums and on November 2024 with Bobby Sparks at the keyboards and Dennis Chambers at the drums.
21
Dec, 2023
FRESHA TRIO ft. BOBBY SPARKS & DENNIS CHAMBERS | Soul/Funk/Fusion (USA)
FRESHA TRIO
FRESCIA BELMAR ft. BOBBY SPARKS & DENNIS CHAMBERS
AVAILABLE IN EUROPE
2024 | November 18th to 30th
FRESCIA BELMAR
Frescia Belmar is a young innate talent. Her creativity, intuition, musicalityand virtuosic playing secured her place as one of the most acclaimed musicians on the scene today.
Outstanding for her unique sound: tight groove, sophisticated articulation, melodic and chordal playing, refined harmonies and solos, Frescia moves effortlessly across all musical genres. Her playing has been featured on several tours, recordings and television appearances.
Frescia Belmar’s career highlights include performances and recordings with: Anita Tijoux, Mike Stern, Herbie Hancock, Janelle Monáe, Raye, Karol G, T-Mobile, Cartoon Network and countless others.
Nowadays, Frescia Belmar is based in Los Angeles, California. Working on what it will be her first solo album.
BOBBY SPARKS
Bobby Sparks, 9-time Grammy Award Winning Musician and Producer, has recorded and/or toured the world with diverse musical giants such as Kirk Franklin, Snarky Puppy, St. Vincent, Ray Charles, Les McCann, Roy Hargrove, Natalie Cole and Nancy Wilson, Lalah Hathaway, Marcus Miller, Dianne Reeves, George Benson, Nelly Furtado, Ashley Cleveland, D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, the late George Duke and Prince to name a few- is an analog purist, innovator and inspiration to many musicians.
He has taken part in numerous music award shows and even played at The White House. As he continues to accomplish his goals through his music, he is now producing artists at his new recording studio in Mesquite, TX. Sparks’ diverse talent includes a wide mix of blues, jazz, and gospel music. His other projects include the release of the feature film, The Gospel, for which he was the soundtrack co-producer. Bobby, the producer of Kirk Franklin’s Why We Sing album, is also featured on CDs by Yolanda Adams and Roy Hargrove. Sparks says to other aspiring artists, “Never give up on the dream, and have something to back it up with.”
Mr. Sparks uses the Sledge 2.0 Black Edition, Numa Organ2 and the SL88 Controller both in the studio and live.
DENNIS CHAMBERS
Dennis Chambers (born May 9, 1959) is an American drummer who has recorded and performed with John Scofield, George Duke,Brecker Brothers, Santana, Parliament/Funkadelic, John McLaughlin, Niacin, Mike Stern, CAB, Greg Howe, and many others. Despite a lack of formal training, Chambers has become well known among drummers for his technique and speed.[citation needed]Chambers is particularly regarded for his ability to play “in the pocket” but can also stretch very far out of the pocket which is also a hallmark of his technique.[citation needed] Chambers exhibits a powerful style that is technically proficient, yet highly musical and groove-oriented.[citation needed] He can play in a wide variety of musical genres, but is perhaps most notable for his jazz-fusion, funk, and Latin music playing. He is mostly known for his fast hands and triplets on the bass drum. He has helped many young drummers, the most prominent being Tony Royster, Jr.
In 2007, just before Led Zeppelin were scheduled to play at the O2 Arena in London, John Bonham’s son Jason was asked in an interview that if he himself were to pass up the opportunity, which drummer would he recommend to fill the coveted drum throne. His reply was ‘If I were to choose, I would probably want a jazz drummer with a strong swing feel. You know what – Dennis Chambers. I think he would “get it”, whereas other rock drummers wouldn’t.’
In an interview by Bonedo in 2011 Dennis Chambers was asked who some of his influences and favorite drummers were and he mentioned Clyde Stubblefield, Al Jackson Jr.,Steve Gadd, Vinnie Colaiuta, Gary Husband, Jack Dejohnette, Billy Cobham, Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones, Roy Haynes, and Tony Williams.
He performed on the critically acclaimed Maceo Parker live album “Roots and Grooves” album with long time friend Rodney “Skeet” Curtis (bass) and the WDR Big Band. He has toured extensively with Carlos Santana and makes appearances with his band Niacin.
He plays and endorses Pearl drums, pedals, hardware & racks, Zildjian cymbals, Zildjian drumsticks & general accessories and Evans drumheads.
Chambers began drumming at the age of four years, and was gigging in Baltimore-area nightclubs by the age of six. He was recruited in 1981 by the Sugar Hill Label to be their “house drummer.” Dennis plays on many Sugar Hill releases . In 1978 (at 18 years old) he joined Parliament/Funkadelic, and stayed with them until 1985. In 1986 he joined the John Scofield band. Since then he has played with most of the major figures in jazz fusion music.
On August 26, 2011 Chambers appeared as a featured drummer on the Late Show with David Letterman’s Drum Solo Week II, alongside other such notable players as Tony Royster, Jr., Gavin Harrison, Neil Peart and Stewart Copeland.
What’s going on: https://www.coralriff.biz/events/
21
Dec, 2023
FRESHA TRIO ft. GEORGE WHITTY & JOEL TAYLOR | Soul/Funk/Fusion (USA)
FRESHA TRIO
FRESCIA BELMAR ft. GEORGE WHITTY & JOEL TAYLOR
AVAILABLE IN EUROPE 2024 | SEPTEMBER 18th/OCTOBER 7th
Frescia Belmar | Bass
(Anita Tijoux, Mike Stern, Herbie Hancock, Janelle Monáe, Raye, Karol G, T-Mobile, Cartoon Network)
George Whitty | Keyboards
(Herbie Hancock, Carlos Santana, Celine Dion, Brecker Brothers, Richard Bona)
Joel Taylor | Drums
(Allan Holdsworth, Michael Bublé, Gloria Estefan, Robbie Krieger, Stanley Clarke, Al DiMeola, Robben Ford, Ernie Watts, Victor Wooten/Steve Bailey, Brian Bromberg).
FRESCIA BELMAR
FRESHA is a young innate talent. Her creativity, intuition, musicalityand virtuosic playing secured her place as one of the most acclaimed musicians on the scene today.
Outstanding for her unique sound: tight groove, sophisticated articulation, melodic and chordal playing, refined harmonies and solos, Frescia moves effortlessly across all musical genres. Her playing has been featured on several tours, recordings and television appearances.
Fresha’s career highlights include performances and recordings with: Anita Tijoux, Mike Stern, Herbie Hancock, Janelle Monáe, Raye, Karol G, T-Mobile, Cartoon Network and countless others.
Nowadays, Fresha is based in Los Angeles, California. Working on what it will be her first solo album.
GEORGE WHITTY
Grammy-award winning keyboardist George Whitty has spent 30 years playing on the road with the Brecker Brothers, Herbie Hancock, David Sanborn, Richard Bona, Chaka Khan, Sadao Watanabe, and a dozen others, and his resume as a session musician and producer includes some of the best-selling records of all time: Santana’s “Supernatural” (with Dave Matthews), Celine Dion’s “Falling Into You” and “These are Special Times”, and more than 300 other CDs.
As a producer/keyboardist, his Grammy-winning streak began with Chaka Khan’s “The Woman I Am” in 1992 and extends through 3 award-winning releases with the Brecker Brothers, most recently Randy Brecker’s “34th and Lex”, 2004’s Grammy-winner for Contemporary Jazz Record of the Year. In April 2010, he completed work on several tracks for Herbie Hancock’s CD “The Imagine Project”, programming Herbie’s live rig for the tour as well.
As a composer, he’s written for hundreds of episodes of television and several award-winning films, composing for a dozen shows from “The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliot” to “As the World Turns”, for which he was nominated for a 2006 Emmy award. In 2014 he won an Emmy award for scoring the long-running series “All My Children”.
George recently finished the score to the feature film comedy “The Getdown”, which is in the rotation on Showtime, and has recently been working with Herbie Hancock, both as keyboardist in Herbie’s band at the Hollywood Bowl for 2012s “Concert for Peace”, and as an arranger/keyboardist, recently completing several orchestral arrangements for a duo CD for Herbie and classical pianist Lang Lang. George arranged 3 classic Herbie pieces for the LA Philharmonic’s 100th Anniversary Concert at the Hollywood Bowl, featuring Herbie and his band, and for a performance by Herbie at Disney hall in Los Angeles. In March of 2020 he arranged several pieces for full orchestra for Residente’s sold-out performance with the LA Phil, the night after 2 more pieces he arranged for Herbie Hancock premiered at Disney Hall. In May, 2018, George and his trio Third Rail played a nearly sold-out 3 nights at the Cotton Club in Tokyo.
In 2020 George finished production and writing on a duo CD for Eric Marienthal and Randy Brecker, “Double Dealin’”, in addition to a number of other CD projects. In addition to all of his studio playing, producing and arranging projects, George maintains a busy schedule as a touring artist, currently playing around the world with Frank Gambale’s band, David Sanborn, Randy Brecker, Armand Sabal-Lecco (Paul Simon bassist), and Chris Minh Doky, in addition to ongoing Third Rail projects. He is currently mixing and mastering a steady stream of CDs, conducting clinics and master classes and teaching around the world. In the summer of 2015 he became the Jazz Piano instructor at Artistworks.com, the leading online lessons website. In between all his musical activities, he enjoys life in the mountains outside Los Angeles with his 2 boys and 2 cats.
JOEL TAYLOR
Since moving to Los Angeles in 1985, Joel Taylor has been in demand as one of the most versatile drummers in the L.A. studio and touring scene. He has toured and recorded with a diversity of artists that span the whole stylistic spectrum of the music world, such as Allan Holdsworth, Rick Springfield, Joe Sample, Michael Buble’, Gloria Estefan, Andy Summers, The Jazz Crusaders, Robbie Krieger, Stanley Clarke, Al Dimeola, Robben Ford, Ernie Watts, Eric Marienthal, Jeff Lorber, Herb Alpert, Michel Legrand, Frank Gambale, Diane Schuur, Victor Wooten/Steve Bailey, Chris Botti, Colin Hay(Men at Work), Josh Groban, Micky Thomas (Starship), Bobby Kimball (Toto), Vesta Williams, Phil Perry, Bobby Caldwell, Brian Bromberg, Yanni, Freeflight and Banned From Utopia (Zappa Alumni Band).
Joel is on the short list of drummers for legendary producers David Foster and Peter Wolf. He has performed on numerous film, tv, and video game soundtracks including Gran Torino, Anchorman, Witches of Waverly Place (The Movie), Garfield, Frenemies, Dog With a Blog, Marvin Marvin, Stuck In The Middle, The Swap, Hannah Montana, and Jonas (Brothers). He is also featured on over 100 of the drum tracks for the award winning, multi-platinum, Guitar Hero II, III, Rock the 80’s and Rock Band video games. All featured drum tracks were recorded in Joel’s Jackalope Recording Studios in Altadena, Ca. Joel has also recorded drums for hundreds of national jingles. He now records for musicians and producers from all over the world in his studio via the internet.
Born in Worland, Wyoming, in 1959, Joel started playing drums and trumpet at an early age, performing on trumpet at Carnegie Hall when only 16 with the McDonald’s All American High School Band.
Joel studied at Berklee College of Music (1979-1982) focusing his attention on the drums and recording engineering. Alan Dawson and Gary Chaffee were his private drum mentors during this period.
What’s going on: https://www.coralriff.biz/events/
7
Dec, 2023
ANDY JAMES & JON COWHERD 6tet | TOUR ITALIANO DICEMBRE 2023
ANDY JAMES & JON COWHERD 6tet
Standard/Latin Jazz | USA
con ALEX ACUÑA, JEFF BALLARD, CHICO PINHEIRO, CHRISTOPHER THOMAS e JOHN ELLIS
TOUR ITALIANO DICEMBRE 2023
Domenica 10/12 Bergamo @ Druso
Ticket: https://bit.ly/3Nd57LN
Website: http://drusobg.it
Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/4wefbGdVUFsDNjt66
Mercoledì 13/12 Taranto @ Spazioporto
Ticket: https://bit.ly/3TfenTo
Website: https://stazione37.com/
Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/P3jBEeHvBAf25Js97
Giovedì 14/12 Messina @ Retronouveau
Ticket: https://bit.ly/48p4rez
Website: https://www.retronouveau.it/
Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/DNqGj1kvKN38wend8
Venerdì 15/12 Napoli @ Auditorium Salvo D’Acquisto
Ticket: https://bit.ly/3Rfnilj
Website: https://www.teatro.it/teatri/salvo-dacquisto-napoli-cartellone
Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/g3UHT7Vu3mKk4yiM6
Sabato 16/12 Roma @ Alexanderplatz Jazz Club
Ticket: https://bit.ly/3RuBSqm
Website: https://www.alexanderplatzjazz.com/
Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/mM7JDTA8QukKcD548
BAND INFO
Line Up:
Andy James | Voce
Jon Cowherd | Piano
Alex Acuña | Percussioni
Jeff Ballard | Batteria
Chico Pinheiro | Chitarra
John Ellis | Sax
Christopher Thomas | Basso
ANDY JAMES | Voce
(Bill Cunliffe, Ernie Watts, Joe LaBarbera, Jake Langley, John Patitucci, Vinnie Colaiuta, Juan Antonio Suarez, Antonio Canales, Rafael Amargo, Carlos Benavente, Ramon Jimenez, Chris Potter, John Beasley, Nicholas Payton, Terell Stafford)
JON COWHERD | Piano
(Joni Mitchell, Norah Jones, Iggy Pop, John Scofield, Lizz Wright, Brian Blade Fellowship)
ALEX ACUÑA | Percussioni
(Weather Report, Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Ella Fitzgerald, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Chick Corea, Whitney Houston, Plácido Domingo, Herbie Hancock, Carlos Santana, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Beck, U2…)
JEFF BALLARD | Batteria
(Kurt Rosenwinkel, Brad Mehldau, Mark Turner, Joshua Redman, Ben Allison, Chick Corea, Pat Metheny)
CHICO PINHEIRO | Chitarra
(Placido Domingo, Brad Mehldau, Dianne Reeves, Bob Mintzer, Herbie Hancock, Brian Blade, Ron Carter, Chris Potter, John Patitucci, Mark Turner, Tom Scott, Joe Lovano, Eddie Gomez, Gary Novak, Lee Ritenour, Cachaíto Lopez, Peter Erskine)
JOHN ELLIS | Sax
(Kendrick Scott Oracle, Edward Simon, Darcy James Argue, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Helen Sung)
CHRISTOPHER THOMAS | Basso
(Brian Blade Fellowship, Terence Blanchard, Norah Jones, Macy Gray, Marianne Faithful, Melody Gardot)
ULTERIORI INFORMAZIONI
4
Aug, 2023
DAVIDE PANNOZZO TRIO | Blues/Funk/Fusion (USA)
Davide Pannozzo Trio (IT/USA)
Fusion Jazz-Funk
AVAILABILITY FOR EUROPE 2024
MAY 1st/12th
LINE UP
Davide Pannozzo | Guitar and Vocal
Etienne Stadwijk | Synth Bass, Keyboards & Vocal
Clint de Ganon | Drums & Vocal
DAVIDE PANNOZZO
Davide Pannozzo has been described by critics as one of the most interesting artists of contemporary Blues guitar. His style is very much his own, with splashes of Jeff Beck, John Scofield, Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix.
“There are very few artists these days that can inspire and are filled with inspiration and great ideas; Davide Pannozzo is one of them. When you first hear his music, you know something special is going on…” Will Lee (Late Show with David Letterman, The Brecker Brothers, 24th Street Band, …)
Having studied Classical Guitar since the age of six, Davide Pannozzo graduated from the Conservatory of Santa Cecilia in Rome.
During his career, he has performed at several clubs and festivals in Italy (Pistoia Blues, Ameno Blues, Blues in Town, Accadia Blues, …) and in the world (The Bitter End in NYC, Bass Player in Los Angeles, IBC in Memphis, Ronnie Scott’s in London, Fete de la Musique in Paris, International Jazz Fest in Bucharest, Taubertal Festival in Frankfurt, …) and has played alongside artists such as George Benson, Steve Jordan, Will Lee, David Garfield, Clifford Carter, Phil Palmer, Matt Schofield, Oz Noy, Robben Ford.
Davide Pannozzo won the Emergenza European Acoustic Festival as Acoustic Solo Guitarist in 2009, followed by the Groove Master Award for Best Italian Blues guitarist in 2010, and most recently the Highland Uproar competition where he received hundreds of votes from listeners of the station in Scotland.
His album “Born Electric” was released by EmArcy/Universal Music, featuring very special guests: Robben Ford, Carl Verheyen, and David Garfield.
His Jimi Hendrix tribute, “A Portrait of Jimi Hendrix” features off-the-floor recordings – with no overdubs – it gets #1 on iTunes’s top100 Blues Albums in Italy and iTunes’s top100 New Blues Release in the USA.
His latest album, “Unconditional Love” has been produced by Steve Jordan & Will Lee, with the participation of Ricky Peterson, Oli Rockberger, and Shawn Pelton. The song “Chasing Illusions” is still in heavy rotation on SiriusXM, and it got the Top50 Jazz Blues Album Radio chart in the US.
His last single, “Be Blessed” was produced by Steve Jordan, and at its release, it was added to two big Spotify editorial playlists, “All New Jazz” & “Fresh Finds Jazz” getting hundreds of airplay in the US, Canada, UK, Australia and many enthusiastic reviews on blog and magazines.
“Be Blessed” is delicate and emotional. Davide takes his instrumentation on the guitar to another level, a place that very few can say they’ve been to. It’s a song for any occasion and is one of the best instrumental songs we’ve heard in a while.”
“Be Blessed” is a chill instrumental that overflows with understated emotion and casts its shadow somewhere between the upscale blues of Robben Ford and the deep melodicism of Duke Ellington.
Davide is the founder of “GUITARlab”, an Online Academy dedicated to the teaching of the Modern Blues Guitar.
ETIENNE STADWIJK
Etienne Stadwijk is a Dutch jazz pianist, keyboard player, and composer known for his innovative approach to jazz and modern music. He has collaborated with renowned musicians and gained acclaim for his unique musical expression on both national and international stages. His notable collaborations include working with artists like Richard Bona, Raul Midon, Paul Simon, and KJ Denhert.
Link on Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/it/artist/395683-Etienne-Stadwijk
CLINT DE GANON
Clint de Ganon is a versatile and highly skilled drummer renowned for his dynamic playing and extensive collaborations across various musical genres. His rhythmic precision and dedication to creating exceptional music have made him a respected figure in the industry. He worked with Stevie Wonder, Kiki Ebsen, Hiram Bullock, John Tropea, Art Garfunkel, and the Blues Brothers.
Link on Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/it/artist/319912-Clint-De-Ganon
LINKS
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/davide.pannozzo/
FB – https://www.facebook.com/davidepannozzomusic
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/davidepannozzo
SPOTIFY
MATERIAL FOR INSIDERS
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WATCH OUR ARTISTS’ VIDEOS:
https://www.coralriff.biz/video/artists-videos/
WHAT’S GOING ON?
https://www.coralriff.biz/events/
28
Jun, 2023
FRANK GAMBALE ALL STAR BAND | Fusion (AU)
FRANK GAMBALE ALL STAR BAND
Fusion Jazz
AVAILABILITY FOR ITALY 2023
NOVEMBER 15th/26th
LINE UP
Frank Gambale | Guitar
Dominique Di Piazza | Bass
George Whitty | Keyboards
Gergo Borlai | Drums
FRANK GAMBALE
Grammy winning guitar virtuoso, Frank Gambale, exploded on the L.A. scene in the early ‘80s. His meteoric rise to fame is a testament to his passion-powered playing – a style Rolling Stone magazine called “ferocious!”
Gambale is an inspired songwriter with more than 300 songs published on 20+ albums. His music touches on many styles from rock, funk and jazz to R&B and some Latin and Brazillian influences.
As a legendary guitarist, Grammy Award Winner and three times Grammy Nominated, Gambale is an undisputed genius who originated the “Gambale Sweep Picking Technique” ( an economy picking technique and a new way to play the instrument) and elevated it to a precise art form now standard in the guitar lexicon. The “Gambale Sweep Picking Technique” continues to inspire generations of musicians. Jazz, rock, metal and progressive artists alike are united in their awe of Frank as both an amazing technician and an unsurpassed musician.
As a jazz legend, Chick Corea, described Frank this way: “Everything you touch with your guitar turns gold – always has.” Corea also said “Frank is my favorite guitar player.” Guitar great, John McLaughlin, joked: “I’d like to cut his hands off.”
Jazz guitarist Pat Metheny says of Frank: “I’d like to take a month off and study with Frank Gambale.” Dweezil Zappa said “studying Frank Gambale’s Sweep Picking technique enabled me to play the hardest parts of my father’s music that he himself didn’t play.”
A musician’s musician, a gifted composer, and a brilliant innovator and author of numerous instructional books and DVDs, Frank continues to reach unprecedented sonic and technical heights. His six string prowess and seemingly limitless vision point toward an exciting future of groundbreaking music.
Early Years
Frank Gambale was born into a family of talented musicians in his native Canberra, Australia. He quickly absorbed the pantheon of ‘60s and ‘70s blues and rock guitar greats.
As a teen, Frank’s musical horizons expanded with the influence of jazz and vocal based
music under the generous tutelage of a local import record shop owner. At 17, he started playing piano and almost gave up guitar altogether. It was two years before Frank would return to the guitar at the insistence of his older brother. He returned to guitar with renewed enthusiasm but continues to play piano to this day.
Gambale says that his move to Los Angeles in the early ’80s put him in the middle of “where all the music I loved was being made.” His first stop was the Guitar Institute of Technology.
Meteoric Rise
Frank’s shining prowess and dedication to practice garnered him “Student of the Year” upon graduation from GIT, landing him a teaching gig as well as a publishing deal for his first instructional book “Speed Picking” the first-ever book published on the subject of Sweep / Economy Picking. In 1985, he signed a three-album recording contract and began his recording career. In the summer of 1986, he toured with jazz violin great Jean-luc Ponty. Soon after that tour, his widening reputation led to an invitation by jazz legend Chick Corea to join his groundbreaking “Elektric Band”. He went on to play with the group for 36 years!
Frank began a major endorsement with the Ibanez guitar company and began to create four successive FGM series guitars, which became a very popular. He also signed a three DVD contract for instructional videos including Moster Licks & Speed Picking, the first-ever video on the subject of Sweep / Economy picking, Chopbuilder and Modes: No More Mystery, all of which were amongst the best selling instructional guitar videos ever produced. Fresh-faced Gambale graced the cover of Guitar Player magazine in June, 1988, with a headline entitled “Fire Meets Finesse.”
Some 30 magazine covers to date and reader’s poll wins and other accolades have followed. Fire meets finesse, indeed!
On the Road
Gambale’s musical journey has taken him “at least twenty times around the world,” by his account, with his own groups and as a collaborator with “Vital Information” and several of Chick Corea’s bands.
Gambale has produced more than 20+ solo records, another nine during his 16-year collaboration with Vital Information, plus three blazing albums with his off-shoot project, “Gambale, Hamm, Smith.” There were dozens of other guest record projects, as well. His fruitful 36 year alliance with Chick Corea has totaled six recordings and a live DVD recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival. That band garnered a Grammy and two Grammy nominations.
World tours with drumming legend Billy Cobham led to Cobham’s enthusiastic participation on Frank’s album, “Raison D’Etre,” which introduced Frank’s “Gambale Tuning System” to the world.
Sweep Picking, Gambale Tuning and Guitars
In 2004 nearly 40 years into his career, Frank discovered his revolutionary “Gambale Tuning.” This system aligns the close-voicing chordal capabilities of piano onto a reachable and familiar fretboard – yet another of his monumental contributions to the guitar alongside the Gambale Sweep Picking technique. Yamaha and now Kiesel quickly jumped in to arm Frank with a new double-neck guitar, necessitated by the quick change-over in tunings while flying on the new adventurous tracks.
The Frank Gambale DV Mark Signature line of amplifiers fires up the incredible new Gambale Signature FG-1 Guitar by Kiesel Guitars. This semi- hollow chambered guitar was a year in the making at Kiesel’s Custom Shop.
Frank’s instructional materials are used in many schools and universities throughout the world. His mystifying Gambale Sweep Picking Technique, featured in his first instructional book and masterfully demonstrated in the Monster Licks & Speed Picking video, continues to amaze and inspire guitarists. Frank generously conducts master classes around the world.
On the road in 2011
In 2011, the All-Star “Return to Forever IV” (Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Jean- luc Ponty, Frank Gambale, Lenny White) ignited the greatest stages around the world. The iconic band played more than 100 concerts starting in Australia at the famed Sydney Opera House.
The World Tour culminated in the 2 CD/DVD album The Mothership Returns.
New Release in 2012
2012 brought more terrific new directions for Frank Gambale: an album he wanted to make for 30 years. Soulmine is a return to Gambale’s vocal roots, and the first collaboration with inspirational songstress and muse, BOCA.
Gambale and BOCA wrote, arranged and produced this release. It features Boca’s sexy, strong and evocative vocals and inviting lyrics – luring listeners to “stir their soul.” Also present is Gambale’s soulful guitar playing and signature sweep-picking prowess throughout the album. “Soulmine” has catchy tunes punctuated with shining vocal harmonies, unexpected sass, funky rhythms and saucy guitar lines.
The delicious guitar tones that tie the tracks together are complemented by the combination of the new Frank Gambale DV Mark Signature line of amps firing up the incredible Gambale Signature FG1 Guitar by Carvin’s Custom Shop.
Frank Gambale Soulmine feat. BOCA is available here.
Soulmine Tour of Europe 2012
The first single, “Forbidden Kiss,” hit the radio waves and video channels in January, 2012. Released on Frank Gambale TV (FGTV), the video was created and directed by the legendary Nigel Dick. This award-winning, British-born filmmaker boasts a resume of more than 300 music videos, multiple commercials and numerous films. His creativity and vision enhances the key elements of musical expression and sensuality that comes through Gambale and BOCA’s collaboration.
Watch the video here Forbidden Kiss.
2014
Gambale continued to tour with his various groups. His group, Soulmine, graced jazz festival stages from USA, Mexico, Sweden and the Canary Islands
2015
Frank launched is first online guitar school in October 2015 the
Frank Gambale Guitar School
Gambale had always wanted his own forum to deliver his unique brand of teaching music and guitar and has been an oasis for musicians seeking serious online educational and inspirational video courses.
Amongst the epic courses are “Spicing Up The Blues”, “The Definitive Gambale Sweep Picking Course” and “Target Tones.
2017
2017 saw a world-tour of the iconic Chick Corea Elektric Band, featuring Chick Corea, Frank Gambale, Eric Marienthal, John Patitucci, and Dave Weckl. The band delighted longtime fans all over the world.
2018
It was another busy year for Frank Gambale, including the release of Soulmine’s second album (SALVE), another brilliant collaboration with singer/songwriter BOCA. Salve finds Frank sharing some of the lead singing along with Boca. The album also features two more fantastic song videos directed by Nigel Dick. See the videos here
Fear of Flyin’ and Through The Darkness
2019
Frank toured the US East Coast in September 2019 with Dennis Chambers on drums, Mike Pope ( a former Elektric Band member ) and Sean Wayland on keys. It was a sellout tour.
Frank reformatted his popular online school and relaunches it on a brand new platform. He has released a huge amount of new courses including his Peace & Harmony: The Theory Of Creativity, Pentatonic Heaven, Rhythmic Displacement, Rhythm Guitar Crash Course and his latest (June 2022) Playing Outside amongst other great lessons, play-along tracks and album transcriptions and downloads.
2020 to early 2022 and Beyond
Frank just completed a sellout 6-week Sweeping Across Europe and Scandinavia Tour March – April 2022 with his All-Star Band after a long 2 year Covid lockdown.”I was so happy to be back on stage doing what I love”. The audiences were happy too, many of them were at their first show post-Covid.
Frank Gambale just completed a new single soon to be released called “Happiness Is…?” Performing with him on the new song is fellow Aussie giant Tommy Emmanuel and bass great Victor Wooten and Canadian percussionist Rick Lazar. The song video was directed by the legendary videographer Nigel Dick.
Frank is currently working on his eagerly anticipated next album release.
Whether Gambale is touring the world with his All-Star band, the Natural High Trio, his cool new vocal group Frank Gambale Soulmine, or joining forces in an iconic jazz super group, Frank continues to amaze audiences around the world.
GEORGE WHITTY
Grammy-award winning keyboardist George Whitty has spent 30 years playing on the road with the Brecker Brothers, Herbie Hancock, David Sanborn, Richard Bona, Chaka Khan, Sadao Watanabe, and a dozen others, and his resume as a session musician and producer includes some of the best-selling records of all time: Santana’s “Supernatural” (with Dave Matthews), Celine Dion’s “Falling Into You” and “These are Special Times”, and more than 300 other CDs. As a producer/keyboardist, his Grammy-winning streak began with Chaka Khan’s “The Woman I Am” in 1992 and extends through 3 award-winning releases with the Brecker Brothers, most recently Randy Brecker’s “34th and Lex”, 2004’s Grammy-winner for Contemporary Jazz Record of the Year. In April 2010, he completed work on several tracks for Herbie Hancock’s CD “The Imagine Project”, programming Herbie’s live rig for the tour as well. As a composer, he’s written for hundreds of episodes of television and several award-winning films, composing for a dozen shows from “The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliot” to “As the World Turns”, for which he was nominated for a 2006 Emmy award. In 2014 he won an Emmy award for scoring the long-running series “All My Children”. George recently finished the score to the feature film comedy “The Getdown”, which is in the rotation on Showtime, and has recently been working with Herbie Hancock, both as keyboardist in Herbie’s band at the Hollywood Bowl for 2012s “Concert for Peace”, and as an arranger/keyboardist, recently completing several orchestral arrangements for a duo CD for Herbie and classical pianist Lang Lang. George arranged 3 classic Herbie pieces for the LA Philharmonic’s 100th Anniversary Concert at the Hollywood Bowl, featuring Herbie and his band, and for a performance by Herbie at Disney hall in Los Angeles. In March of 2020 he arranged several pieces for full orchestra for Residente’s sold-out performance with the LA Phil, the night after 2 more pieces he arranged for Herbie Hancock premiered at Disney Hall. In May, 2018, George and his trio Third Rail played a nearly sold-out 3 nights at the Cotton Club in Tokyo. In 2020 George finished production and writing on a duo CD for Eric Marienthal and Randy Brecker, “Double Dealin’”, in addition to a number of other CD projects. In addition to all of his studio playing, producing and arranging projects, George maintains a busy schedule as a touring artist, currently playing around the world with Frank Gambale’s band, David Sanborn, Randy Brecker, Armand Sabal-Lecco (Paul Simon bassist), and Chris Minh Doky, in addition to ongoing Third Rail projects. He is currently mixing and mastering a steady stream of CDs, conducting clinics and master classes and teaching around the world. In the summer of 2015 he became the Jazz Piano instructor at Artistworks.com, the leading online lessons website. In between all his musical activities, he enjoys life in the mountains outside Los Angeles with his 2 boys and 2 cats.
DOMINIQUE DI PIAZZA
Dominique Di Piazza was born in Lyon, France, with Sicilian ancestry and a gypsy stepfather. He started playing electric bass in 1979. After some time, he managed to free himself from the pervasive influence that Jaco Pastorius had over most bassists at the time, by creating his own style. Self-taught, he added an extra high string to his 4-string bass and created his own technique of using the right-hand thumb, index and middle fingers. This unique approach enabled a virtuosity and style that is quite unusual in the world of bass. A defining example is the track « Marie » a flagship piece for solo bass from the 90s, found on the album « Que alegria » by John McLaughlin.
This right hand style gave birth to the « four-finger picking » technique later popularized in Europe and the US by several new-generation bassists including Matthew Garrison, Adam Nitti and Hadrien Feraud. Dominique’s great knowledge of bebop, his gypsy and neo-classical influences, his lyrical style and his advanced harmonic concept have combined to make him one of the most innovative bassists in the world today.
Dominique started his career in 1982 at the Hot Club in Lyon with guitarist Michel Pérez. In 1986 he moved to Paris and began touring with violinist Didier Lockwood, drummer André Ceccarelli and pianist Gordon Beck. The following year he toured Europe with Gil Evans and the Big Bang Lumière de Laurent Cugny, a group that was immortalized on the Santander album, winner of the Prix de l’Académie Charles-Cros and in 1989 he recorded a trio album called Padre, with Jean-Pierre Como and Stéphane Huchard.
In 1991, Dominique joined the John McLaughlin Trio along with percussionist Trilok Gurtu. After a world tour of over 300 concerts, the album Que alegria was released in 1992. McLaughlin was then quoted as saying of DiPiazza: “His talent is immense—he’s one of the best bassists in the world.”
The same year, Dominique recorded with pianist Michel Petrucianni on the album The First, with Michel’s brother Philippe Petrucianni on guitar and Victor Jones on drums. In 2000, the Front Page Trio was created with Bireli Lagrene on guitar and Dennis Chambers on drums. They toured Europe and released a self-titled album (Frontpage) that scored them a Victoire de la Musique award for Best Jazz Album of 2001.
From 1990 to 2005, Dominique worked with a wide array of artists including Michael Blass, Bruno Castellucci, Giuseppe Continenza, Vic Juris, Gene Bertoncini, Yves Carbonne, Michael Manring, Jeff Gardner, Victor Wooten, Derico Watson, Danny Gottlieb and Donald Harrison. In 2005/06 he hit the road again, this time in Reunion, Mauritius, Madagascar, and ten other African countries, with a pianist from Reunion named Meddy Gerville, guitarist Jean-Marie Ecay, and drummer Horacio “el Negro” Hernandez. This collaboration led to the Jazz Amwin CD, which introduced the “Maloya Jazz” style (combining jazz with traditional music from Reunion) to a wider global audience.
In 2006, Dominique went to India to record a CD (Samjanitha, 2008) with the great Indian mandolin player U. Shrinivas, as well as Debashish Bhattacharya, Selvaganesh and Zakir Hussain. Following that he played on Antonio Farao’s album, Woman’s Perfume, alongside André “Dédé” Ceccarelli on drums.
In 2008, John McLaughlin called upon Dominique’s talents once again for a European tour with The 4th Dimension, also including Gary Husband on keys and percussion, and Mark Mondésir on drums. Together the band played more than 30 concerts all across Europe and released a DVD Live @ Belgrade. Another show featured Dominique with McLaughlin in India, in a group called The Floating Point, which included Ranjit Barot, Louis Banks, Shashank, Naveen Kumar and Shankar Mahadevan.
Around the same time, Dominique assembled the Di Piazza Trio with Brazilian guitarist Nelson Veras and drummer Manhu Roche. The trio’s album, Princess Sita, was released in the USA in August of 2008.
From 2009 to 2011, Dominique criss-crossed the world with a wide variety of artists.
In France, with Elene Dee and David Berkman for Lyrics on Pat Metheny’s music; in Russia with the Blues & Beyond Quartet (Sébastien Charlier, Yannick Robert and Yoann Schmidt) and the album La Danse du chat; with 4 Essential (with Thierry Maillard, Debora Seffer and Yoann Schmidt) for an album and festival shows; with Antonio Farao and André “Dédé” Ceccarelli; in the electro-jazz group Synopsis with Eric Sempe and Felix Sabal Lecco, and a CD called Rebirth; in a trio with Francis Lockwood and Fred Sicard on Tribute to Hendrix; with the Petrucciani Reunion quartet with Philippe Petrucciani, Nathalie Blanc and Manhu Roche on the CD Este Mundo.
In Spain, with Ximo Tebar, Donald Edwards and Jim Ridl; also the flamenco-jazz guitarist Chema Vilchez, with Jeff Balard and Alex Acuna; with singer Maria de Medeiros and gypsy-flamenco musician Raimundo Amador; in Turkey, with bağlama player Zeki Çağlar Namlı and on the Face to Face CD, and Buzuki Orhan Osman alongside his old friend Trilok Gurtu; in Ireland, with Mike Nielsen and Paul Wertico; in Italy with Alberto Iovene and Manhu Roche on the CD Wired Along; in Norway, in a duo with guitarist Hallgeir Pedersen; in Russia with Andrei Bodnartchouk and the group Made in France; and in India with Ranjit Barot’s group which included Scott Kinsey and Tim Garland, releasing an album called Bada Boom.
Dominique has also been working with a popular young gypsy guitarist named Brady Winterstein (and his uncle Hono), and they released an album in 2011 called Happy together.
Dominique has designed a special bridge (as well as a bass) with luthier Mike Sabre, which makes it possible to obtain a “fretless” sound on a fretted bass. This was first featured on the track « Seven up » from the 1993 CD Wait and See by Michael Blass.
For several years, Dominique has been teaching at the Music Academy International (M.A.I.) at Nancy, France, and also gives master classes around the world. Transcriptions of his playing appear in the book Bass Soloing Concepts by Chuck Sher and Marco Johnson. His composition “Living Hope” is included in The European Real Book.
Dominique’s sincerity, his unique style and his openness to music from around the world make him one of the most highly regarded musicians on the international scene.
Dominique plays on Marbass amps. « For a long time, I’ve been looking for a bass amp that won’t color my sound » says Dominique. « And most of the good amps are bulky and hard to transport. But bravo, Marco—with my Little Mark Tube head and Traveler 102P cabinet, I have both uncolored sound and portability at the same time! »
GERGO BORLAI
Gergo is a professional drummer originally from Hungary but now living in Barcelona, Spain.
In his home country of Hungary, Gergo Borlai has appeared on more than a 300 albums, received two lifetime achievement awards and two “gold record awards,” as well as the Golden Drumstick Prize and the Artisjus Lifetime Achievement Award. Gergo has become one of the most exciting up-and-coming drumset artists and has grown in popularity and also with his breathtaking solos. Gergo also became a clinician man all over in Europe, U.S. and Asia like Musician Institute Hollywood, South Korea, France, Sweden, Poland, South America, Spain, Germany, etc… Gergo is a professor of the Liceu Academy/Jazz Departement – Barcelona since 2012. Gergo has lesson packages for Drum Guru.
Touring: Hungary, Romania, France, Slovakia, Chez Republic, Portugese, Belgium, Finland, England, Germany, Austria, Poland, Ukraine, Spain, Italy, Serbia, Croatia, Netherland, Canada, Japan, Israel, South Corea, South America, Greece, Sweden, Norway, USA
Gergo performed with Frank Gambale (AU), Gary Willis (USA), Scott Kinsey(USA), Scott Henderson(USA), Matthew Garrison(USA), Steve Tavaglione(USA), Llibert Fortune(SP), Walt Fowler(USA), Bob Mintzer(USA), Hiram Bullock(USA), L. Shankar(India), Vernon Reid(USA), Iain Ballamy(GB), Terry Bozzio(US), Al DiMeola(USA), Nguyen Lee(F), Hadrien Feraud(F), Eivind Aarset(N), Eric Moore(USA), Tim Lefebvre(USA), Yolanda Charles(GB).
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