Logan: Hallowed Ground

We wanted to share this video for a couple of reasons. First, it's awesome, and totally rocks. Which is the reason we wanted to work with them, but secondly, we wanted to direct you the the comments on this video, because it makes us feel good that we aren't the only ones out there excited about this band and what they can do!

Click here to view the video on YouTube with comments.

Did You Know? Steven Santoro

Today we thought it would be fun to do a little "Did You Know?" game and give you some fun facts about our artist Steven Santoro!

Did you know that Steven Santoro won one 2009 Just Plain Folks Music Award and was nominated for another for two different songs on the Mesa/Bluemoon release "Whisper My Name"?

His song Baby I'm Sorry won second place in the Vocal Jazz Song Winners category and Waiting For Grace was nominated in the R&B Song Category!

Did you know his song Hail Columbia was featured on the album project "Song For America" which featured 50 tracks on 3-CDs and was accompanied by other great artists such as John Mellencamp, The Black Crowes, Martha Wainwright, Andrew Bird, The Wilders, and Take 6?

Check out the amazing story of Hail Columbia by clicking HERE!

Did you know his real name is Steven Kowalczyk, and the last name Santoro comes from his grandfather Libertore Santoro, who was the saxophonist that inspired him to play the same instrument?

Did you know that Mesa/Bluemoon plans on releasing another album with Steven Santoro? Make sure to stay in touch for more information on the upcoming release by subscribing to this blog, following us on Twitter, and becoming a fan of Mesa/Bluemoon on Facebook!

Antonia Bennett - Music on MySpace

As we are getting excited about Antonia Bennett's upcoming digital EP release, we can't help but share some of this excitement with you. So today we wanted to direct you to Antonia's wonderful MySpace Playlist with some previously recorded tracks.

So Make sure to check out these tracks from Antonia Bennett:

Sail Away


Under the Cherry Moon


You're A Lucky Guy

King Sunny Ade Engineer Phil Nicolo

Phil received a Bachelor of Science from Temple University in 1977. He and his brother Joe began their music careers as teenagers, fixing speakers at a nearby drive-in theater. In 1980, they founded Studio 4, a recording studio in Philadelphia. Individually and together as the Butcher Bros., they quickly established themselves as a force in all genres of music production, from rock to R&B, mainstream to cutting edge. Mr. Nicolo has attained the most coveted form of success in the music business: he has succeeded in every music genre he has tackled. His early rock credits include the Hooters, Nighthawks and Willie Nile. At the same time, he was creating music with Kriss Kross, Teddy Pendergrass and Taj Mahal. Mixes of Billy Joel's River of Dreams, the Rolling Stone's Love Is Strong, Aerosmith's Falling In Love and James Taylor's A Little More Time are all Mr. Nicolo's work. He co-produced and mixed Sting's When We Danced and re-mixed Message In A Bottle for the Police. Other credits include John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Amy Grant, Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), Santana, Pete Yorn, Luscious Jackson, Urge Overkill, the Pretenders, Jon Bon Jovi, and Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam.

In 1989, Ruffhouse Records was launched out of Studio 4 operations, and over the next ten years it moved more than 100 million units through Sony distribution. Responsible for the careers of Lauryn Hill, the Fugees, Cypress Hill, Kriss Kross and Wyclef Jean, Ruffhouse alone accounted for 12 of Columbia Records 39 Grammy nominations in 1997. In 1993 , Mr. Nicolo founded Master Voice, a mastering lab based in Conshohocken, PA. In 1994 He joined producer Rick Chertoff and Polygram Records. Rick's label Blue Gorilla had great success with Joan Osborn.

While maintaining a busy stable of multi-platinum artists, Mr. Nicolo has continued to work with cutting edge talent. He produced the critically acclaimed Train EP for Aware/Columbia. Phil has produced Hamell on Trial, the Mighty, Mighty Bosstones, Dishwalla, Fig Dish and Cibo Matto, a veritable who's who of cutting edge rock. His hard rock credits include Life of Agony, Dog Eat Dog, Urge Overkill,Boy Sets Fire and Anthrax. He mixed the Butthole Surfers Pepper, the Cults Gone/Coming Down and produced the Fugees Live Bootleg EP. Projects include mixes for John Lennon & Yoko Ono, remixes and live recordings with Depeche Mode, mixes for the band New Order, an EP for Columbia artist Pete Yorn, and a live recording of The Moby Area One tour featuring: Moby, Incubis, Nelly Furtado, Outkast and The Roots. A recient thrill was working with Bob Dylan on a track for the "North Country" film soundtrack, produced at his Studio 4 facility in Conshohocken.

Phil recorded a remake of Queen's "Under Pressure" with Keane for a BBC tribute CD . The band loved working with Phil and the sound of the new "A" room. Current projects include new releases from King Sunny Ade' and Schooly D.

He produced Rock School , a documentary soundtrack with the Students from Paul Greens School of Rock and various artists including Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, Jon Anderson (Yes), Ann Wilson (Heart), Ian Gillan, Marky Ramone, Dave Mustaine (Megadeath), and Stuart Copeland (The Police).

Phil is a national trustee of NARAS (the Grammy people) and is active in the community with various NARAS events. He has been nominated for 4 Grammy awards, and won for mixing and mastering The Spanish Harlem Orchestra . Phil is the proud recipient of the 2003 Lew Klein Alumni in the Media Award, placing him in the Temple University Communication Hall of Fame, where he teaches as an adjunct professor.

King Sunny Ade Guest Artist Damon Bennett

In our continuing quest to introduce everyone on this jam-packed upcoming release, today we wanted to introduce Damon Bennet. He plays keyboards and flute on the upcoming album!

DAMON BENNETT

Damon is one of the "New Millennium" MFSB members. He began his musical career sinign in the church choir. By age thirteen Damon achieved a useful proficiency as a keyboardist. He began working with the Roots Ahmir Thompson, and other musicians from the thriving "Neo-Soul" scene, like Jill Scott.

His primary influences are Quincy Jones, Gamble and Huff, Stravinsky, and John Coltrane. He has composed works for the Freedom Theater, the Prince Theater and Crossroads Theater. He lives and loves jazz, r&b and gospel styles of playing.

What Others Say About Wayne Horvitz

As we continue to go in-depth on the guests on the new King Sunny Ade album, we realize we could tell you all kinds of things, but one of the most telling ways to show you how great these guests are is to show you what others say about them!

WAYNE HORVITZ

SELCTED REVIEW EXCERPTS

 Joe Hill, 16 Actions for Orchestra, Voice and Soloist

“Joe Hill” is, in fact, a ravishingly beautiful work…

Paul de Barros  Seattle Times

Solos

Somehow, always, they resist the postmodern temptation to be too smart and too cute: they're not trying to impress you with how much they can reference.  These 14 pieces - including a few free improvisations, a traditional, a standard, and a Wayne Shorter tune - are mostly contemplative originals; one is particular, Ms. Holcomb's long form piece, " Before the Comet Comes," is staggeringly beautiful.

Ben Ratliff, New York Times

One of my favorite discs of 2004, Solos (Songlines), teems with solo piano pieces by Horvitz and Robin Holcomb that breathtakingly fuse the hermetic, astringent squiggles of Schoenberg's piano music with the lonesome sound of Shaker hymns.

Chris DeLaurenti, The Stranger (Seattle)

…they play like composers, giving every stroke a clear intent, informed by the tension and release of subtle harmonic and dynamic shifts.

Jazziz

..tunes like "Tired," with its' bittersweet and subtly melancholic feeling, are particularly compelling because one can feel Holcomb's more skewed approach subtly infect Horvitz's playing, while its clearer roots in the blues distinguish it as a Horvitz piece.

John Kelman, All About Jazz.com

Wayne Horvitz and Robin Holcomb - the legendary husband-and-wife team that has had such an impact on extemporaneous music since the early '80s - take turns improvising on this hour-long solo piano recording.... The music is generally sparse and contemplative, but not *too* sparse and contemplative.  It's a relaxed listen that touches on free jazz, polytonal hymnsong, traditional jazz (there's a nice version of "Stars Fell On Alabama",) and postmodern classicism, without really being any of those.

Carl Lumma, Keyboard Magazine

Simplicity of means doesn’t mean simple-minded.  Married pianists/composers Robin Holcomb and Wayne Horvitz shared a solo-piano album, Solos (Songlines), alternating tracks, mixing covers and originals, spontaneous improvisations and through-composed pieces, Holcomb favoring ambiguous tonalities and chord-cluster rumblings and Horvitz leaning toward blues and Wayne Shorter.  The complementary styles make for overall unity and perfect sequencing.

Jon Garelick, Boston Phoenix, December 24, 2004

Mylab

It's easy to tell how the pieces on Mylab (Terminus) began: as vamps and loops for jamming in the studio.  Yet it's impossible to guess where they’ll end up.   Mylab's core duo, the keyboardist Wayne Horvitz and the drummer Tucker Martine, refuse to settle into their own grooves; they add unlikely overdubs, dissolve the track's foundations and flesh out musical connotations from country fiddle to big-band saxophones.  Every free association yields a new treat.

Jon Pareles, New York Times 4/4/04

This is a brilliantly conceived and superbly produced debut album that indicates Martine and Horvitz’s musical future will be a major thrill.

PVV, Billboard Magazine 2/7/04

Talk about a sonic experiment gone horribly right, check out this supernatural melding of genres from Mylab.  All I know is that their debut album is the most imaginative collage of groove, melody, harmony, and texture I’ve heard in a long time.

Jude Gold, Guitar Player 2/04

... a dazzling sonic playground full of some wild rides.  Mylab stretches the art of sound collage into new frontiers.

Ned Wharton, NPR Weekend Edition Editor’s Picks 2/04

My big pick for next week is Seattle’s Mylab and their self-titled debut, a fantastic landscape of haunted pop-instrumentals from the duo of pianist Wayne Horvitz and producer Tucker Martine.  Like Morphine meets the Latin Playboys side-project of Los Lobos, this Terminus Records release is mastercraft sound architecture and worth searching out.

Positively Yeah Yeah Yeah (Ohio)

Filling a niche nobody (but them) knew existed, Tucker Martine and Wayne Horvitz have made a trippy instrumental album conversant with rock, jazz, bluegrass and the intangible music known as "ambient".  Sounds messy, right?  It is, but in a wonderful kind of way.  They’ve done a remarkable job pulling together disparate genres, creating a sound collage that makes sense.

Nick Marino, Atlanta Journal Constitution 2/17/04

They’ve concocted a thouroughly mind-bending, genre-obliterating disc just about equally emphasizing groove, melody, and pure sound.  But Mylab does not sound like a de-constructionist take on old-time music (a la Moby)... it is extremely intoxicating.

Eric Snider, Tampa Weekly Planet 2/04

Sweeter Than the Day

".... a great showcase for Horvitz's beautiful compositions, his really strange angular chord progressions."

Ned Wharton,  NPR's Weekend Edition

On piano, Horvitz is economical yet lyrical, never venturing far from the strong melodic hooks which characterize his compositions, but constantly working small suprises. An irresistible antidote to gray days.

The Wire UK

Horvitz' understanding of country, blues, folk and even singer-songwriter-type music is made quite plain on this CD. None of these elements are represented in an obvious way, and that's perhaps the main reason why this disc appeal so strongly. The strength of the music lies in Horvitz' beautifully crafted compositions. Like Monk and Herbie Nichols, Horvitz is able to create memorable and distinctive melody lines from seemingly disparate, even mundane, motifs and phrases.

Dave Wayne,  Jazz Weekly

 (Four stars) ****   ... this set probably subverts most UK-audience assumptions about Horvitz ... its' offbeat lyricism and trancelike guitar-blues atmosphere.  A real surprise.

John Fordham, The Guardian (London)

Elegant and subtle, these lovely compositions uncoil slowly enough that they’ll likely repay a lifetime of listening.

Alex Varty, The Georgia Straight (Vancouver BC)

Wayne Horvitz

The upcoming King Sunny Ade album has many great collaborators, and to relly appreciate that we want to introduce you to them all! So it is our pleasure to introduce musician/speaker/producer Wayne Horvitz. Mr. Horvitz worked with the keyboards on the recording as a producer.


Wayne Horvitz Short Biography

Wayne Horvitz is a composer, pianist, and electronic musician. He has performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America. He has performed and collaborated withBill Frisell, Butch Morris, John Zorn, Robin Holcomb, Fred Frith, Julian Priester, Philip Wilson, Michael Shrieve, Bobby Previte, Marty Ehrlich, Skerik, William Parker, Ron Miles, Sara Schoenbeck, Peggy Lee, Steven Bernstein, Briggan Krauss, and Dylan van der Schyff among others. He has been commissioned by the NEA, Meet The Composer,Kronos String Quartet, Seattle Chamber Players, Mary Flagler Cary Trust, PGAFF, BAMand others. Collaborators include Paul Taylor, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, Gus Van Sandt and Gordon Edelstein. He has produced CDs for Eddie Palmieri, Fontella Bass,Robin Holcomb and Bill Frisell among others. He is the 2001 recipient of the Seattle Artist Trust Fellowship, 2003 and 2006 recipient of the City of Seattle Office of Arts and Culture fellowship, 2002 recipient of the Rockefeller Map Grant for JOE HILL, 16 Actions for Chamber Orchestra, Voices and Improviser, and the 2008 NEA American Masterpieces grant forThese Hills of Glory for string quartet and improviser. Ensembles include The President,Pigpen, Zony Mash, The HMP Trio, The New York Composers Orchestra, The 4 Plus 1 Ensemble, Sweeter Than the Day and The Gravitas Quartet.

For more on Wayne Horvitz, visit http://www.waynehorvitz.net

Joe Doria

Monday we introduced you to Hammond Organist, Joe Doria, and as you know Mr. Doria will be performing as a guest artist on our upcoming King Sunny Ade release. So today we thought we would show you a little bit of what Joe can do. So, enjoy this video and get excited for the part he will play on this album!

Introducing Antonia Bennett

In more than a hint towards a future release (it will be a digital EP in fact), we wanted to take some time to introduce you to Antonia Bennett:

Antonia Bennett

Written by Keya Morgan via www.antoniabennett.com
New York City, September 21, 2006

According to The New York Times, the truly beautiful voice of Antonia Bennett “conjures echoes of Billie Holiday and Ricki Lee Jones, with a hint of Betty Boop." Since the age of four, Antonia Bennett has been gracing the stage and serenading audiences internationally alongside her world-renowned father, Tony Bennett. In fact, some of those early performances were with the legendary American jazz icon Count Basie.

Having spent most of her life in Los Angeles and New York City and coming from a show business family, Antonia Bennett was surrounded by and received praise from such greats as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly, Rosemary Clooney, Les Paul and Ella Fitzgerald, so it was inevitable that she would be infected with a passion for the arts.

A recipient of the David Award presented by the "Italo-American National Union" (the oldest Italian-American fraternal organization in America), Antonia is an alumnus of the esteemed Berklee College of Music in Boston. In addition to Antonia Bennett’s beautiful voice, she has also had formal acting and dance training throughout her life. Her experience and timeless sound make her a presence that commands and captures audiences wherever and whenever she performs.

Antonia Bennett has performed in opera houses, casinos, jazz clubs and amphitheaters worldwide. Her beauty, sweetness and timeless qualities are reminiscent of the great female jazz vocalists of the twentieth century. A rising star, she continues to dazzle crowds around the globe time and time again with her unique and ever-alluring voice.

To listen to samples of Antonia Bennett, please visit her Website