Showing posts with label Chris Vadala. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chris Vadala. Show all posts

Monday, May 4, 2015

Chris Vadala - Eastern Standard Time

Size: 116,0 MB
Time: 49:27
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2015
Styles: Jazz
Art: Front

01. My Secret Love (4:33)
02. Doxy (4:54)
03. Gentle Rain (7:00)
04. Waltz For A Lovely Wife (3:36)
05. It's A 'U' (2:37)
06. Indian Summer (4:02)
07. Footprints (6:30)
08. In A Mellow Tone (4:08)
09. B'bye (7:48)
10. Caravan (4:14)

Following up on his debut release "Out of the Shadows", Art of Life Records is pleased to present, "Eastern Standard Time", a new quartet recording by Chris Vadala and guitarist Rick Whitehead featuring Barry Hart on drums and John Previti on acoustic bass. Recorded at Bias Studios in Springfield, Virginia in January of 2015, "Eastern Standard Time" features songs composed by Sonny Rollins ("Doxy"), Luiz Bonfa ("Gentle Rain"), Phil Woods ("Waltz for a Lovely Wife"), Chris Vadala ("It's a "U"), Wayne Shorter ("Footprints"), Duke Ellington ("In a Mellow Tone" & "Caravan") and Chuck Mangione ("B'Bye"). 24-bit Digital Mastering by Paul G. Kohler at Art of Life Studios in Charleston, South Carolina in March 2015.

Liner Notes:
This recording project is the result of my collaboration with the Rick Whitehead Trio. This session is essentially a live studio date recorded at Bias Recording Studio in Springfield, VA and reflects the music that we would customarily use as an opening set in the various venues where we perform. The repertoire selection is based on our usual mix of three up-tempo swing tunes, two medium tempo swing tunes, three Latin Jazz tunes, a ballad and a Jazz waltz. "B'Bye" is a nostalgic ballad that flugelhornist Chuck Mangione wrote when he was just 16 years old and included on his second Grammy Award-winning recording, "The Children of Sanchez". In contrast, "Indian Summer", by Victor Herbert, is an uplifting and spirited piece played in the 1920's style of the great soprano saxophonist, Sidney Bechet. "Waltz for a Lovely Wife" was written by the eminent saxophonist Phil Woods, one of my heroes and former teacher. "Footprints", written by another heralded saxophonist, Wayne Shorter, takes on a different treatment and meter from its original conception in my arrangement. Since we're all based in the DC Metro area it's fitting that we record a couple of pieces, "Caravan" and "In a Mellow Tone", by the local icon, Duke Ellington. "Gentle Rain", by Brazilian composer Luiz Bonfa, is one of our set list regulars as are "Doxy" by Kennedy Center Honoree saxophonist Sonny Rollins and the opening piece on this recording, "My Secret Love" by Mitchell Parish and Bobby Sherwood. Finally "It's a "U", a contrafact on the standard "There Will Never Be Another You", is based on the Sesame Street TV feature in which the characters introduce individual letters of the alphabet. ~Chris Vadala

Eastern Standard Time

Friday, January 16, 2015

Chris Vadala - Out Of The Shadows

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 57:07
Size: 130.8 MB
Styles: Saxophone jazz
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[6:47] 1. Out Of The Shadows
[4:12] 2. Club Contrafact
[7:15] 3. Waltz For Chris' Kids
[5:12] 4. Sticks
[7:21] 5. Little Sunflower
[7:23] 6. In A Sentimental Mood
[4:07] 7. Sambelissa
[4:44] 8. Quintessence
[8:08] 9. Footprints
[1:53] 10. Shadows Coda

Chris Vadala plays just about every popular reed instrument on his debut recording as a leader. Having worked extensively with flügelhornist Chuck Mangione, one might expect a more contemporary jazz session, but Vadala begins with a slow blues, "Out of the Shadows," that finds him clearly in the John Coltrane camp on tenor. Another original, "Club Contrafact," is a burning workout, with pianist Mark Andrew Cook switching to organ. He also explores music by past greats, including a brisk run with his wailing alto sax in Cannonball Adderley's seldom-played blues "Sticks" (where he also overdubs baritone), along with a breezy flute feature in Freddie Hubbard's "Little Sunflower" (where he also dubs several different instruments behind the lead voice). He switches to soprano for a heartfelt interpretation of Duke Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood," giving it a bit of a wistful air by opening the piece unaccompanied. Pepe Gonzales' exotic Latin percussion sets up the novel treatment of Wayne Shorter's modal masterpiece "Footprints," with Vadala making a belated entrance after the rest of the band, playing very subtly on soprano. It's a shame that it took Chris Vadala so long to record on his own, but this excellent effort will likely open more opportunities for him to work as a leader. ~Ken Dryden

Out Of The Shadows