News Archives

NEWS — WINTER 2008/09 EDITION

Hi All:

As I write this it's nearly Christmas, and there's a blizzard outside. I hope that your year, for all the dramatic changes in the world, has been a good one. Here's our latest:

THE TWO TENORS

We were very pleased to have, in short succession, Mark Rivera and Andy Snitzer in to play on sessions (Mark for Barry "Kip" Kaplan, and Andy for Eytan Mirsky). To the few of you who don't know, Mark and Andy are two of the preeminent tenor sax sidemen in the business today, with resumes to die for! I was only able to squeeze in a few of the highlights:

Mark Rivera (Billy Joel, Elton John, Peter Gabriel)

Andy Snitzer (Rolling Stones, Sting, Paul Simon)

I might add that many lifetimes ago, Mark and I were bandmates in "Tycoon", a band that made two albums for Arista, and landed a single, "Such a Woman", on the Billboard top 40.

WORK CONTINUES FOR OUR TIME THEATER

Producers Everett Bradley and Greg Parratto of Envision Music Design, in conjunction with Our Time Theater Company, are in still in the process of recording a number of well known Broadway actors for their upcoming CD project. Most recently they have brought in Mary Testa (Xanadu, 42nd St.), Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp (both from Rent, original cast) and Mandy Patinkin (Falsettos, The Secret Garden, Sunday in the Park with George), pictured below:

L to R: Greg Parratto (EMD) Taro Alexander (Our Time)
Mandy Patinkin, Everett Bradley (EMD)

More photos from these sessions are on our website or will be shortly!

LAURA HAIM FOR PARADOXAL, CANAL +
News reporter/commentator Laura Haim has been in recently to record voiceovers and mix audio for two TV news features: "Obama" and "No Access" for the French network Canal +. Production was supervised respectively by Antoine Manceau and Eric Pellerin, of NYC based Paradoxal Inc.

ALLISON SCOLA "A BRAVER KIND"
Allison Scola's new CD, "A Braver Kind" is now in production, with a release party scheduled for 1/31/09 at Drom. This CD represents nearly a year's effort by myself engineering; Janie Barnett producing; Allison, and a host of great musicians and singers too numerous to list here.

TRADITIONAL CORNER

I just completed mastering a really nice CD of traditional and bluegrass music for the Kings County Strings. Mandolinist/vocalist/leader Brad Einhorn also sells exceptional guitars and mandolins.

Fiddler Bill Christophersen, whose CD "Hell and High Water", I mastered earlier this year, came back in the other day. This time, Bill had guitarist/mandolinist/banjoist John Saroyan in tow, and they were recording traditional duets for an ongoing project.

MORE JGMP NEWS

Singer/pianist Andy Monroe has the charming tradition of recording a winter song every year about this time. I've had the pleasure of doing a few of them. I was pleased to record this year's song, a cover of Jesse Winchester's "Wintry Feelings".

Noted icon of ironic power-pop, Eytan Mirsky, has been recording songs for a new, as-yet unnamed project. Among the players enlisted so far are Andy Snitzer (see above) and drummer Warren Odze (Shrek the Musical). Warren is a veteran of several of Eytan's CD's. Eytan's song "She's Looking Better", which can be found on the linked page above, should be mandatory listening, unless of course you are no longer among the living.

Virtuoso harmonicaist/guitarist Jon Paris came in to record harmonica for Amy Madden. Jon is an old friend, and an amazing musician. Catch him most Monday nights at Lucille's Lounge @ BB King's. On the same project, I had the pleasure of recording former Wings drummer Steve Holley. We tracked at Shelter Island Sound, Steve Addabbo's excellent studio, which happens to be just down the hall.

Singer/songwriter Marco Joachim has been back in the studio developing songs for a new CD project. This time out looks like it's going to be a distinct departure from his more folk-based earlier efforts.

Singer/songwriter Patric Westoo came by to record guitar and vocals for his new CD in progress. Somehow, this resulted in me making a totally unprecedented appearance playing bass with his group, Latvian Radio, at Arlene's Grocery. Now I can say I've done it all.

I just received a copy of Ellen Woloshin's new CD "Water into Wine", produced by Kevin Bents, and partly recorded here. Ellen has a rich pop alto, reminiscent of Karen Carpenter. Although low-key, her delivery is very affecting, and is used beautifully on this lovely set of songs.

FOR NERDS ONLY SECTION

This is getting to be my favorite section of the newsletter! Last time, we asked what the acronyms "SCUBA" and "JATO" stood for. Credit for fastest response is a tie between Barbara Zucker-Pinchoff and Ronnie Lawson, who both shot back the definition for SCUBA: Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus. However, full marks and the coveted EZ-Travel slide rule go to Alex Dorsch, who got both SCUBA as above, and JATO: Jet Assisted Take-Off.

This time, we are moving on from acronyms to ANAGRAMS. An anagram is a word made by rearranging exactly the same letters as another word. For example: TAP, APT and PAT are all anagrams of one another. In the holiday spirit, we accept slang and foreign words if they are in reasonably common use. With that in mind, how many anagrams can you find for the word PIRATES?

BRAZEN PLUG SECTION

We are always interested in new recording projects! We can provide a wide range of music production related services, both creative and technical, and can tailor our approach to your needs. Studio tours, consultations, budget estimates, etc. are available free, on request.

Happy holidays!

Jon

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