New West Guitar Group Celebrates 10 Years with New Album
Featuring Five of Today's Leading Jazz Vocalists
Send One Your Love, Available June 8th (iTunes)
and August 7th (physical) on Summit Records
Album Includes Gretchen Parlato, Tierney Sutton,
Sara Gazarek, Becca Stevens and Peter Eldridge with
Perry Smith, John Storie and Jeff Stein
"Shimmering arpeggios, collectively strummed chords... tight cracking
interplay and complementary playing." - Bill Milkowski, DownBeat
Over the last ten years, the New West Guitar Group
(NWGG) has emerged as one of the premier guitar ensembles in the world.
Their signature sound comes from an innovative style that highlights
rhythm, beauty and virtuosity through combining acoustic and electric
guitars.
With five studio albums to their credit, this new release Send One Your Love features an incredible cast of guest jazz vocalists. Teaming up with Gretchen Parlato, Tierney Sutton, Sara Gazarek, Becca Stevens and Peter Eldridge,
the album tells a story about the highs and lows of love. Each vocalist
is featured on a traditional and contemporary standard with lyrics that
portray themes of vulnerability, hope, pain and happiness. Seattle Times hails NWGG as "sharp and refined" while All Music Guide says the trio's expert arrangements "sometimes verge on the orchestral." The band lives up to their reputation on Send One Your Love
showcasing their thoughtful arrangements specifically done for the
sound and style of each vocalist. The project brings together timeless
compositions from Cole Porter, Joni Mitchell, Kurt Weill, Randy Newman
and others through the sophisticated New West style of arranging. The
result is a beautifully crafted and cohesive album that expands the
notion of what is a "standard" to tell a story about of love.
For
New West Guitar Group, this album was a unique chance for the members
to collaborate with different vocalists in a reimagined setting rather
than a sideman situation. Founding members Perry Smith and John Storie
have had years of experience working as sidemen for jazz vocalists.
Smith toured extensively with Canada's Sophie Milman and also worked for
many years with LA vocalist Kathleen Grace. Storie has performed and
recorded for many years with contemporary jazz vocalist Spencer Day and
performs regularly with Hollywood's Jeff Goldblum. Drawing from their
years of experience, they set forth to combine their signature style in
New West Guitar Group with five of today's leading jazz vocalists. "This
project was a great opportunity for us to focus around a concept driven
by the lyrics" says Smith, "something we rarely get to do in an
instrumental guitar group."
Gretchen
Parlato opens the first track "Send One Your Love" and is certainly no
stranger to New West Guitar Group. Smith and Storie founded NWGG at USC
in 2005 and knew Parlato when she was a student there in Thelonious Monk
Institute. In 2009, Parlato collaborated with NWGG on their
all-acoustic album called Sleeping Lady produced by Traugott
Guitars. In addition to the groovin' title track by Stevie Wonder,
Parlato is also featured on the dreamy ballad "Like Someone in Love."
Her subtle and innovative way of singing is a perfect fit with the
sophisticated and genre-blending style of NWGG.
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Photo Courtesy of Artist
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The second track "Detour Ahead" showcases the amazing Becca Stevens
(who also sings later in the album on an Elliott Smith composition
"Waltz No. 1"). Stevens first heard about New West Guitar Group back in
2008 when she booked NWGG at the forward sounding New York club, Bella
Sugardo. On this album she sings songs about the unpredictable nature of
life and love. Stevens captures this emotion with her evocative voice
and truly unique style combining jazz with folk inspired phrasing.
Following
Stevens is the incomparable Peter Eldridge who was new to working with
NWGG. However, Smith and Eldridge had many mutual friends and NWGG
thought his delicate and sophisticated style would fit perfectly on this
album. "His contributions are an incredible lift to this album," says
John Storie, who arranged "Black Crow" for Eldridge. Later in the album
he puts forth a beautiful rendition of the timeless Kurt Weill
composition "My Ship."
The
rising west coast star Sara Gazarek follows Eldridge with a hauntingly
gorgeous performance on the classic standard "I Fall in Love Too
Easily." Gazarek attended USC with Perry and John and the three of them
have worked together in various formats over the last 10 years. "I
remember Sara singing 'I Fall in Love' when we were all freshman," says
Smith. "No one does it better, it's so natural for her." Gazarek also
sings the final track on the album, a moving rendition of James Taylor's
"Secret o' Life."
Featured
on the fifth and ninth track is the renowned Tierney Sutton. Sutton was
introduced to NWGG at USC when she used to be on the vocal faculty.
Smith used to work with her students and Sutton was always very
complimentary of his arrangements. Together with Storie, they both
performed with Sutton at various school events and 10 years later she
was more than happy to record with them. Featured on "You Be So Nice to
Come Home To" NWGG takes advantage of Sutton's expansive vocal
technique. "She's so good at up-tempos" says Storie, "her time and
phrasing is impeccable." In the second half of the album Sutton is
featured on the poignant Randy Newman ballad "When She Loved Me" from Toy Story 2.
As the next chapter in their already 10 year recording career, Send One Your Love gives New West Guitar Group
a concept album for the ages. This collaborative effort tells a story
about the highs and lows of love through the timeless tradition of
guitar and voice.
Upcoming New West Guitar Group Performances:
June 11 / Descanso Gardens / La Cañada, CA
* June 12 / The Blue Whale (w/ special guest Tierney Sutton) / Los Angeles, CA
June 13 / Folly Bowl / Altadena, CA
June 14 / Minard House Concert / Los Angeles, CA
* June 18 / SubCulture (w/ Peter Eldridge and Gretchen Parlato) / New York, NY
* June 19 / Regattabar / Cambridge, MA
* June 20 / Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center / Stowe, VT
* June 21 / Rochester Jazz Festival / Rochester, NY
* June 22 / Iron Horse Music Hall / Northampton, MA
July 26 / Firehouse Arts Center / Pleasanton, CA
August 13 / Music on the Beach / South Lake Tahoe, CA
August 14 / Carson City Jazz and Beyond / Carson City, NV
August 15 / Occidental Center for the Arts / Occidental, CA
* August 16 / Old Saint Hilary's / Tiburon, CA
August 19 / Aquarium of the Pacific / Long Beach, CA
* August 20 / Martinis Above 4th / San Diego, CA
* August 22 / Lotusland / Santa Barbara, CA
* October 25 / Morris Museum / Morristown, NJ
* November 6 & 7 / Cuesta Vocal Jazz Festival / San Luis Obispo, CA
* November 11 / Jimmy Mak's / Portland, OR
* November 21 / Lakeshore Jazz Series / Tempe, AZ
* indicates special guest Sara Gazarek
New West Guitar Group · Send One Your Love
Summit Records · Release Dates: June 8 (iTunes), August 7 (physical), 2015
For more information on New West Guitar Group, please visit: NewWestGuitarGroup.com
For more information on Summit Records, please visit: SummitRecords.com
For media information, please contact:
DL Media · 610-667-0501
Matthew Jurasek · matthew@dlmediamusic.com
Serving the Finest in Jazz Since 1988
Information and press materials (including album covers, promotional photos
and bios) on all DL Media artists can be found at our website: dlmediamusic.com
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