Rebecca Zapen - Nest

Styles: Pop/Rock
Year: 2011
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:29
Size: 123,4 MB
Art: Front

(2:31)  1. Beautiful Love Songs Without the Love
(4:09)  2. Peace
(3:58)  3. Ledge
(2:29)  4. Swamp Pit
(3:07)  5. Lakewood
(3:09)  6. I'm Gonna Make So Many Things For You
(3:03)  7. 888
(1:41)  8. Tiny and Strong
(3:51)  9. You Did Me Wrong
(2:38) 10. Grandfather's Song
(2:36) 11. Jacaranda
(4:03) 12. Addicted to Love
(3:06) 13. Colorado

Barely out of the starting gate, Rebecca Zapen's brand-new release, Nest, was awarded Florida Album of the Year 2011 (Florida Times-Union). The album's delicate, cinematic, lush new folk forays into Americana, bossa nova, and pop. In essence, Zapen made Nest while she was building a nest of her own, with husband and recording engineer Jeremy Douglass, who also plays keyboards and melodica on the new album. The two met when Jeremy (from St. Petersburg) was searching for a string player for a friend's recording project and found classically-trained violinist Rebecca (in Jacksonville). After corresponding for a while, a chance gig allowed the two to meet and it was love at first sight. It was bashert, fate. In a dizzy, giddy whirlwind, Rebecca moved to St. Pete where they soon married and started a family. The recording for Nest began when Rebecca was 6 months pregnant, during which time they laid down all the rhythm tracks before baby Joel came into the world. They took a break from the recording as they adjusted to being new parents and getting back into the swing of gigging and such. After 13 months away from the recording they dedicated themselves to finishing it, burning the midnight oil (and 1 and 2am oil), and had it mastered when Joel was 20 months old.

Twelve of the thirteen tracks on Nest are originals, with one cover, a bossa nova version of Robert Palmer's "Addicted to Love". Singer and multi-instrumentalist Zapen plays violin, guitar, ukulele, and cavaquiño on the album, which hops genres from the finger-picked folk and lush vocal harmonies and strings of "Peace", to the sultry bossa nova rhythms of "Ledge" and "Addicted to Love", to the stark Appalachian twang of "Colorado", in which Zapen delivers one of her most powerful songs with the simplest arrangement of voice and violin. Ukulele and its South American cousin the cavaquiño make an appearance on "Tiny and Strong" and "Beautiful Love Songs Without the Love", respectively. Rebecca forays into pop with her feel-good "I'm Gonna Make So Many Things For You", and features autobiographical songs "Jacaranda", "888", "Lakewood", and "Grandfather's Song". 

The cinematic "You Did Me Wrong" moves seamlessly from folk to string-driven pop to spaghetti western to jazz waltz. The songs' instrumentations vary, including support from violin, double bass, drums, clarinet, trumpet, trombone, and keyboards. And there is Zapen's beautiful voice, lilting and crooning, with purity of tone and minimal use of vibrato, although she reveals a rarely-heard facet of her voice, belting key phrases in "Colorado". Said one listener, "your voice made my heart break into a million pieces".http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rebeccazapen

Nest

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Rebecca Zapen & Gary Starling Group - Zapstar

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:29
Size: 149,2 MB
Art: Front

(4:32)  1. On the Street Where You Live
(5:43)  2. Like Someone in Love
(6:21)  3. It Might as Well Be Spring
(6:57)  4. How Deep Is the Ocean
(4:31)  5. It Ain't Necessarily So
(6:54)  6. Things We Said Today
(7:01)  7. Nuages
(3:50)  8. Bernie's Tune
(5:48)  9. I Only Have Eyes for You
(5:17) 10. When You Wish Upon a Star
(7:30) 11. I Thought About You

Rebecca Zapen is a violinist/vocalist whose singing is reminiscent of Astrud Gilberto and Chet Baker, and whose violin playing draws upon the traditions of jazz violin greats Stephane Grappelli and Regina Carter. She is a magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the School of Music of Florida State University, and also holds a degree in biology. She has performed throughout the United States, and in destinations abroad including the UK, France, and Switzerland, gracing concert stages, intimate jazz clubs, and big band dance halls. She has released several albums: ZAPSTAR and HUMMINGBIRD, which are comprised of bossa novas, ballads, standards, and Rebecca’s original compositions (in Hummingbird), and JAPANESE BATHHOUSE, featuring all original songs by Ms. Zapen and showcasing her diversity as a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. To learn more about Rebecca, visit her online at www.zapen.com.

Gary Starling: Synonymous with jazz on the First Coast, Artist in Residence and professor of guitar at Jacksonville University, Gary Starling has inspired and broadened the horizons of hundreds of aspiring musicians and has played with performers such as Bob Hope, Diahann Carroll, Rita Moreno and Skitch Henderson. The Gary Starling Group has made multiple appearances at the Jacksonville Jazz Festival. Gary has appeared with the Jacksonville Symphony Pops Orchestra and with jazz artists Eddie Harris, Nat Adderley, Joshua Breakstone, Carla White, Jim Snidero, Ben Tucker, and more. To learn more about Gary, visit him online at www.garystarling.com.

Chelsea Chason (bass) is a graduate of the jazz studies program at University of North Florida. She has studied under Blue Note recording artists Kevin Bales and Ricky Ravelo. She has appeared with Benny Green, Marcus Printup, Cyrus Chestnut, The Heath Brothers, and Doug Wamble. She has performed with the Gary Starling Group since 1999. Chelsea is also the founder of the Awkward Pause Ensemble and a mainstay of the North Florida local music scene. Peter Miles is an exceptional performer whose sought-after versatility keeps him busy all over the world. His current touring finds him with the Doug Wamble Quartet on the Marsalis Music label. Peter plays Sabian cymbals exclusively.  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rzgsg

Personnel:  Rebecca Zapen - violin and vocals;  Gary Starling – guitar;  Chelsea Chason - double bass;  Peter Miles - drums

Zapstar

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