People who like Beethoven ...
| On Project Opus since: | April 23, 2007 |
| Last seen: | 1 week 2 days ago |
| Biography: | Vincent Van Gogh “loved life so bad, his paintings had twice the color other paintings had”. So sings Jonathan Richman (on Rockin’ and Romance). And that tells you something about musician Allison Crowe. A modern lover of music, blogger Muruch frames it like this: "There's really no way to convey through mere words how much the music... moves me, or how I want other people to listen to and adore it as much as I do. Allison sings with such an intensity of emotion, it's easy to see why she's often quoted as saying 'Why music? Why breathing?'... that kind of artistic passion seems extremely rare these days." "I love singing for people," says Allison Crowe. "It's a way to connect and share with others. Communication is crucial. Just being able to do what I do, to write and sing and perform, makes me feel not only alive, but incredibly lucky. Knowing at any moment everything could change, I don't take one second for granted." Born 26 years ago, on an island, in the harbour city of Nanaimo, B.C., today Crowe's reach is global. The audience for her music videos and song downloads numbers in the millions. "Allison Crowe has a voice to fall in love with," says UK music industry journal Record of the Day. "She is from Vancouver Island in Canada, descended from Scottish, Irish and Manx stock. She's exactly the sort of artist who can make serious headway on her own label and that's just what she's doing." When this phenomenon 'from the islands' reached the mainland she steered a path clear of what Joni Mitchell knowingly calls the record industry’s “style inventions”. With Ani DiFranco and Loreena McKennitt as models Crowe created her own label. Since 2003, Rubenesque Records Ltd has released five critically and commercially successful albums: Lisa's Song+ 6 Songs; Secrets; Tidings; Live at Wood Hall; and This Little Bird. "The first thing you notice about Allison Crowe is her voice. Rich and dark, it seems to come from a place most singers can only dream of accessing. Then there are the songs. Filled with raw passion and accompanied by Crowe's eloquent piano playing," writes Clodagh O'Connell (The Courier). Hers is a joyous sound: "Elton John meets Edith Piaf." A sensation at the UK’s John Lennon Northern Lights Festival, “Canadian angel Alison Crowe gave one of the weekend's most magical moments," says The Scotsman. Festival Director Mike Merritt describes Crowe as "awesome" and "spine-tingling", noting her performance “put hairs on the back of your neck! She brought the house down." A true grassroots success, Crowe’s praised not only as a singularly talented songwriter - on themes personal as well as worldly - and as a visceral performer, but, also, as a supreme interpreter of song. Her vital takes on such 21st century standards as Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and Joni Mitchell's "River" are applauded as "truly transcendent". Her Tidings CD, a mix of traditional carols plus songs of joy, peace, and redemption from the secular songbook, is an emerging classic: "music for the season and all time". "Her voice celebrates the music with a bluesy rock-gospel intensity; her controlled vibrato, silken rasp, and powerful projection rivet your attention. This is no casual background music. be prepared to be amazed," says Hamline University Professor Of Law - and CD reviewer - Carol Swanson. "Every song radiates sincerity, creative flair, and emotional intensity." ”It takes a lot of self-confidence to tackle Aretha (Franklin)'s version of 'I Never Loved a Man...' but Allison does and nails it just as good as the Queen of Soul herself. Her piano playing is equally exquisite," says Bob Muller, curator of song covers at JoniMitchell.com in his review of Crowe’s newest album, This Little Bird. He sums up: "Treat yourself to one of the mightiest talents on the singer-songwriter scene today." David Powell, Welsh-based tech writes: "I'm listening to 'Effortless' on (Allison Crowe's) This Little Bird album with my Pro-Ject headphone amplifier turned up about a quarter more than on most modern records. It sounds fantastic because unlike most modern records it hasn't had the **** compressed out of it to raise the loudness." Vocalist, pianist, guitarist, songwriter, engineer, producer and arranger, Allison Crowe now lives in Nanaimo, British Columbia and Corner Brook, Newfoundland. From these home-bases, (spanning the full 7000 km breadth of Canada), she tours steadily, earning a reputation for exciting live shows that stir together her original songs with much-loved interpretations in an organic blend of rock, jazz, folk, Broadway, gospel and soul. "Ever wonder what it would have been like to listen to a gifted singer/songwriter from Saskatchewan in a small, intimate hall before she became Joni Mitchell? Don't fret the missed opportunity. There's no need to turn back the clock. Check out Allison Crowe," says Robert Reid in The Record. "Allison has a special gift that is so very rare in musicians today. She is true to her mind, heart and spirit," says Ross Hocker, long-time public broadcaster with NPR affiliate WGTE. Hocker, whose musical taste embraces Thelonious Monk, Bela Bartok and Charles Gounod, calls Allison Crowe's live performance "the most honest, heartfelt, and directly intimate concert in my entire life." "In an entertainment world that increasingly genuflects at the altar of instant fame, Crowe seems an anomaly, building her career slowly and carefully," notes Adrian Chamberlain, of Canada's Times Colonist newspaper. "Soulful. Alive. Joyous. Grievous. Real, true, music is what I want to make," says Allison Crowe. You can lend an ear... |
| Albums: | Little Light,Tidings,Lisa's Song + 6 Songs,Secrets,Live at Wood Hall,This Little Bird |
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| On Project Opus since: | March 20, 2006 |
| Last seen: | never |
| Biography: | Scottish solo industrial electronica music artist digitalTRAFFIC. digitalTRAFFIC is donaldo who lives in edinburgh scotland UK. digitalTRAFFIC use machines - technology - instruments..... we all use tools - to create the digitalTRAFFIC sound and distribute only via the internet. what kind of music - best described as electronica industrial soundtracks. Although donaldo did play in rock bands NUKLEUS, GUNGE ON TOUR, INTROSUCTION (vocal guitar synth) - he found the creative process slow and limiting. The latest technology allows him to produce all his music and sounds very quickly at low cost with unlimited possibilities. Fans can keep in touch by joining the mailing list and signing-up to the regular digitalTRAFFIC PODCAST - featuring digitalTRAFFIC tracks, videos, new demos and ringtones. Check out the most recent albums egg foetus and s pa cin g. Thanks for taking the time to check out the digitalTRAFFIC sound - enjoy the tracks..... all the very best |
| Albums: | foetus,egg |
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| On Project Opus since: | October 4, 2007 |
| Last seen: | never |
| Biography: | Br.·. John works in electroacoustic and computer-assisted music composition. His works, composed for traditional and experimental media, have been broadcast and performed internationally. He taught music theory, composition, counterpoint, and electronic music at Miami University and the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign. John has over thirty years of saxophone performance experience, including work in blues, jazz, avante-garde, and experimental idioms. He has performed with the US Navy Band, Crane Saxophone Quartet, and The Cajun Connection, and traveled extensively as an instrumental performer throughout the Pacific Marianas and Marshall Islands, Caribbean, and Central and South America. He has studied composition with Salvatore Martirano, C. James Sheppard, Paul Steinberg, G. Roger Davis, John Melby, Paul Martin Zonn, Morgan Powell, and Elliott DelBorgo. John is a level-1 Healing Touch practitioner, and was Director of Pegasus Healing Systems (2000). He also was a s6k producer for Real University News. John lives in a cave in the Shatagee Woods, where he has become transformed into a mysterious Adirondack hermit. He is Founder of The Shatagee Museum of Unnatural History, where he researches esoterika, audio synthesis, algorithmic composition, produces psychedelic techno, develops music composition software, and enjoys the woods. |
| Albums: | Remnants,Hidden Tribes of the Adirondacks,Live Electronic Music,Recycled Remixes,Works,Swampmusik,Sound and Logic,Hermit Technology |
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| On Project Opus since: | December 28, 2006 |
| Last seen: | never |
| Biography: | SHERY: "LOVE IS A GHOST" Shery is a new, passionate singer/songwriter, gifted with a voice that will forever steal your heart. She writes and performs inspired, unique songs that transcend the barriers of language. Through her very own brand of melodic pop and pop/rock, Shery creates a true world of FEELING, celebrating the shadows, the agonies of love. Shery was born in Guatemala, the country of Ricardo Arjona, the morning of an August 18, under the sign of Leo. Her first album, "El Amor es un Fantasma" ("Love is a Ghost"), is expected for Spring 2007. The album takes name from her first single, a delicious song that remained for 26 straight weeks in the Guatemalan Top 40, then climbing #1 as the most requested pop song nationwide -- the first time ever for a local female artist. You download the song for FREE at www.shery.net or www.myspace.com/shery1 Without real promotion, no record label, and no money, her debut concert (Guatemala, June 2005), was an absolute sellout. What was intended to be an intimate night just for a small circle of close friends, became a totally crowded venue, enchanted with the passion of a young soul, brave enough to climb on stage and sing her heart out, performing in public for the first time songs she had written not for the public, but "to exorcize my own shadows", as she remarked later. When after the show almost one out of every two people walked out with Shery's first single on hand (a quality home-made CD commissioned at the very last minute), it was obvious something unique had taken life that evening. During her first 18 months of career, Shery has been a finalist in both the John Lennon Songwriting Contest (among 15,000 entries from all over the world) and the Unisong International Songwriting Competition. She has won a medal in the World Championship of the Performing Arts, in Los Angeles, California. Shery has been a featured artist in all major T.V. shows in Guatemala, including Nuestro Mundo Joven, Alo Que Tal America, Con Buena Onda, Nuestro Mundo por la Mañana, Telediario, Cuestion de Minutos, Viva la Mañana and El Bingoton Millonario, and has received intense coverage from magazines and newspapers such as Siglo XXI, Prensa Libre, Nuestro Diario, Al Dia and Gee Magazine. Azteca America described her as the "New voice from Guatemala to sweeten the world". She has been interviewed by the leading national and local radio stations, such as Radio Mia, Exa FM, Red Deportiva, Doble Via, Radio Punto, Radio 10, Infinita, Yosi Sideral, Tropicalida, Extrema, Alfa 97.3, Galaxia, TGW La Voz de Guatemala, and was the first-ever pop artist to be interviewed by Radio Faro Cultural, the country's leading classical station. In September 2005 Shery did her first US appearance in Washington D.C., invited by the Guatemalan Embassy. She has performed in numerous venues, alone and with other artists, including some of the most important scenarios in her country, such as La Gala de la Cancion, Teleton, Escenarios, Mundo Navideño, Feria Nacional, and Radioteleton. Shery has shared stage with Latin superstars the likes of Christian Castro and Manuel Mijares, as well as with local legends such as Malacates Trebol Shop, Viento en Contra, Aurum, and Radio Viejo. Her second single, an irresistible ballad titled "Me Converti en Roca" ("I Becane a Rock"), premiered in February 2006 by Radio Mia 93.7, and has since then received intense airplay in radio stations across the country. In August 2006 the song climbed to #1 position nationwide, while successfully making the leap from Contemporary Hit Radio to other formats (on its original version, not remixed), such as Tropical and other upbeat genres. In September 2006 "Me Converti en Roca" was voted by the users of GarageBand.com (the largest independent band portal on the Internet) as the "#1 Best Love Song, overall, all time". The site also gave Shery awards such as "#1 Best Female Vocals in Latin, all-time", "Best Melody", "Most Original Song" and "Best Production". Directed and produced by Daniel Rene (former member of the legendary Latin Pop band Menudo/MDO), the video of "Me Converti en Roca" was filmed in Miami, Florida, and will start to air in January 2007. When she is not on stage singing, Shery is writing, producing or recording. She dreams on a world in peace, where no children has to grow-up in hunger, and where human kind has finally learned to live in harmony with nature. If you like Shery, spread the world, requests her music to your favorite radio stations, and buy her music at www.cdbaby.com/shery or from the iTunes Store. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Renato del Valle,
Web: www.shery.net P.O. Box 02-5289 S. 1333 |
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| On Project Opus since: | April 4, 2008 |
| Last seen: | never |
| Biography: | Composer, Sound Design, Filmmaker, Songwriting and General Mayhem. Born in San Diego, California in 1980, Devin Anderson has studied classical piano, composition with Prix de Rome winner Jim Heinke, film music with composer Hummie Mann and attended The Seattle Film Institutes 40 week Total Immersion program. Twice. He also plays bass with former PCP Berzerker members, Eric Hunter and Rod Bailey, in a currently unnamed rock group, and frequently collaborates with his wife, singer and saxophonist J. Marie Anderson. As a composer, in addition to scoring his own directorial debut, a short entitled ‘Folie à Deux’, he has composed music for several independent pictures, including but not limited to Wisconsin born filmmaker Jack Bennett’s surrealist film ‘Synthetik’ (which received it’s award-winning World Premiere at The Beloit International Film Festival in January of 2008) and Tim Boyd’s film ‘Uniforms’ which starred members of popular group Death Cab for Cutie. He has provided music for two promotional films produced by The Northwest Film Forum, the regions first and only non-profit organization for the film arts. He has composed concert works in various genres, including solo instrumental works, vocal works, and chamber ensemble, and recently was commissioned to compose for an Art Exhibition of egg tempura painter Nathan DiPietro. He has just completed musical duties on a short film, again for director Jack Bennett, entitled ‘The Neu Transients’. The picture runs 5 minutes and is a memorial to the City of old now over-run by condos and commercial construction, and uses the Seattle cityscape, the music, and the film’s two lead actors (Benjamin Moody and Astrid Benet) to explore ideas of reflection, space, rhythm and transformation. The work premiered at the Northwest Film Forum as part of their City Symphony program on November 19th. His score to ‘Folie à Deux’ was awarded the Gold Medal for Excellence at the 2008 Park City Film Music Festival under the catagory Best Original Music - Short Film. His particular type of electronic-rock (?) songs are strange, somewhat crude, and personal - rough first-take all-to-human vocals, with consistantly surreal lyrics, laid over intricately crafted, orchestral-like backing music and boiled to a simmer. He hopes to continue being involved in film and music until his death. |
| Albums: | Film Music,Classical - Concert Works |
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| On Project Opus since: | November 14, 2007 |
| Last seen: | never |
| Biography: | Experienced composer and sound designer working in the London area. Written the scores for several independent British films. |
| Albums: | 'A Woman In Winter' Suite,'Taking Liberties' Suite |
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| Fan since: | December 27, 2006 |
| Last seen: | never |
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| Fan since: | September 23, 2007 |
| Last seen: | never |
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| On Project Opus since: | December 24, 2006 |
| Last seen: | never |
| Biography: | Self-taught and trained as a classical pianist, Aaron began to branch out in search of piano styles that were out of the realm of his origin. Though George Winston and Michael Nyman were two of beginning inspirations, their music gave him something to look forward to and also began helping him craft his talent. He began playing around age 4 on his great-aunt’s cherry wood Wurlitzer Upright Console piano. The piano had been in the family for nearly 20 years by the time Aaron took an interest in playing. At the time, his older cousin was learning to play. She taught him his first song on the piano: The Boogie Woogie. The piano was what he looked forward to most when visiting with his great-aunt and great-grandmother. Also at age 4, Aaron showed signs of an artistic nature. He began drawing things he saw, from flowers to cartoon characters on VHS tape cases. His family knew that they had produced yet another spawn of shear and natural talent. Within the next 10 years Aaron would go on to become a skilled and disciplined artist and dressmaker, only to postpone any interests he had in piano music. Though through the course of his school career he was involved in music theory classes, as well as Choir, Aaron hadn’t touched a piano until his sophomore year in high school. When school let out for that year and he was officially a junior, Aaron bought his first piano as a birthday present and began to teach himself to play once more. Once his grandmother heard him play, she asked that he take piano lessons for guidance and insisted on paying herself. Aaron did not argue with the mutual decision but dreaded his first lesson after hearing so many stories: “I think it’s a lot of children’s greatest fears: The piano teacher. I mean, we’ve all heard the horror stories that made playing the piano far from fun which is why for the longest time, I refused to take professional lessons.” He did, however, find the myths to be untrue after his first lesson. He met a woman who would change his life forever: Marilyn Kelly... |
| Albums: | Gifts From The Apple Tree...,Sweet Dreams |
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| On Project Opus since: | December 30, 2006 |
| Last seen: | never |
| Biography: | Vinson grew up in a musical family near Washington, D.C., studying classical piano from age seven until switching to the drums when he was 12. He played drums for three years in the All-County Jazz Ensemble during high school and subsequently held the drum chair in the University of Pennsylvania Big Band during college. After graduating from UPENN with a B.A. in Economics, Vinson came to New York City in the early 90's to study music at the Mannes College of Music in Manhattan, where he studied with Marvin "Smitty" Smith (of The Tonight Show Band), Vernel Fournier, and Norm Freeman (of the New York Philharmonic). Vinson has performed in many clubs in the New York Metropolitan area, including the Blue Note, Smoke, Sweet Rhythm, 55 Bar, Birdland, Smalls, Detour, Cornelia Street Cafe, Cleopatra's Needle, and Trumpets of Montclair, NJ. An avid composer, Vinson also teaches privately and served on the staff of the Stanford Jazz Workshop in California from 1999-2001. He has toured throughout North America and Europe with his groups and others, and he appears on Matthew Fries' CD, Song For Today (TCB) and the Ganz Brother's release, First Steps (Extravaganza). Vinson also has three CDs out as a leader, Live@147, Consilience, and Awake. In addition, Vinson has also worked with or played alongside with many of the great musicians in jazz, such as Grover Washington, Jr., Dakota Staton, Clarke Terry, James Williams, Donald Brown, Harold Mabern, Jr., Jamil Nasser, Ron McClure, Bob Mintzer, Russell Malone, Peter Bernstein, Mark Turner, Terell Stafford, Eric Alexander, Jim Rotundi, David Hazeltine, Joel Frahm, Dena DeRose, and Vincent Herring, and Candido Camero, among others. |
| Albums: | Awake,Consilience |
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