Chris Vadala, Rick Whitehead - Eastern Standard Time (2015)

Tracklist

01. My Secret Love
02. Doxy
03. Gentle Rain
04. Waltz for a Lovely Wife
05. It's a "U"
06. Indian Summer
07. Footprints
08. In a Mellow Tone
09. B'bye
10. Caravan

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.

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