Jared Saltiel - Lights and Bridges - Gianni Paci - Lisa Hilton
Jared Saltiel - The Fountain.Background - “The Fountain,” the scene-setting new single from singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jared Saltiel, begins with a softly strummed guitar and Saltiel’s sweet falsetto, gently ushering the listener into an intoxicating haze of magical storytelling. The ornate arrangement of warm, rich strings, delicate harp, and bittersweet countermelodies give way to a lush trio of female voices, beckoning us toward a beautiful vision. The second single and opening track of Saltiel’s upcoming album Out of Clay (due out February 2), “The Fountain” was recorded at The Bunker Studio, and is available as an approved downloadable mp3.
The song unfolds like a chapter in a magical realist novel. Cast in a dreamlike mist, a sailor washes up on the shore of a deserted island. Through the fog he sees an ethereal, silver-y fountain, guarded by three mysterious women; are they spirits, or witches, or distinct manifestations of a Goddess? They show him a beautiful face in the water, his future lover, but warn him not to forget his “Queen.” In the morning sun, all is forgotten but the lovely face in the fountain, and the sailor sets off to find her deep in the hills. “The Fountain” serves as an introduction to Out of Clay’s narrative universe. The archetypes of the perfect-yet-passive love interest and the prophesying triple-Goddess are woven throughout the album’s twelve story-songs of love and loss. Saltiel explains, “Regardless of how you interpret the characters in the story, this song sets the stage for an album that examines the process of falling in love, from the externalized projections that create a sense of desire, to the pitfalls of possession.”
“The Fountain” features singers Dawn Cantwell (Wicked, The Last Ship), Kate Steinberg, and Katie Rose Summerfield, as well as jazz harpist Brandee Younger, and members of yMusic, Antony and the Johnsons, and Clare & the Reasons. It was recorded and mixed by John Davis (Jojo Mayer / Nerve), and co-produced by Justin Goldner (Dear Evan Hansen, Grace McLean)
Jared Saltiel is a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Brooklyn, NY. As lead singer and songwriter of Ann Arbor pop/rock quartet the Dirty Birds, he released his debut album How the Cause Became the Cure in 2009. After moving to New York, Saltiel released a series of EPs, which were expanded into the full-length album The Light Within (2013). As a producer and arranger, he has worked with a variety of musicians, including Bell the Band, Cassidy Andrews, and his brother Jason Saltiel. His upcoming album Out Of Clay was recorded at The Bunker Studio in Brooklyn. It is the second chapter in a four-part concept series called Caught Beneath the Wheel. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.
Jared Saltiel's falsetto vocals are immediately inviting on 'The Fountain' a song that gently unfolds, before gradually building into a sublime choral arrangement which is itself a prelude to the material developing even further. The arrangement is magnificent, the track, totally lovable.
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Background - Composer and instrumentalist Lights & Bridges (Tom Rossi) recently released his new EP comprising of four songs. Tom Rossi is best known for known for beautiful, groove laden, wordless world music records like Salma Har, featured on tastemaker programs like BBC/PRI's The World, NPR's Echoes and Talk of the Nation.
Tom Rossi’s a fluent multi-instrumentalist in everything from ceremonial Ghanaian hand drums to African kora. He’s a therapeutic musician, who’s dedicated years to the art of performing for those in the most vulnerable condition of hospice care.
It’s both intriguing and rewarding to hear these unusual skills and influences filter through the lens of more conventional instrumentation and song structure on instant classics like Superball (a collab with poet, Rich Ferguson) and Outside The Wall. Lights & Bridges becomes at once an avenue for reinvention, a return to roots, and a distillation. FACEBOOK.
The last of four songs on the new Lights and Bridges EP is 'Tears Of Gold'. The EP is a gorgeous folk orientated singer/songwriter collection of material, where gentle acoustic sensibilities provide an intimate and yet lush backdrop for Tom Rossi's personal and melodically pleasing vocals.
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Gianni Paci - Honest Thing.Background - “Honest Thing” is an ethereal ode to mixed feelings. Written, produced, recorded and performed on all instruments by Gianni at Pine Hollow Road Studios in Oyster Bay, NY, the song ebbs and flows with chime-like acoustic guitars, an R&B rhythm section and one mind-altering electric guitar solo that tears through the track like a terrible hallucinogenic fright. “I tried to right my wrongs, but I made a left,” he coos in a spacey, detached voice, as the undulating mood takes a turn for the curious and sinister. The lyric was so succinctly expressive and meaningful that Gianni decided to name the entire EP, released 11/17/17, after it. And yes, you are seeing double: the actress from the video who bears such uncanny resemblance to the artist is in fact his mother.
Long before he was legal, Gianni Paci was sharing the stage with rock stars like Ace Frehley of Kiss, Steven Adler of Guns N Roses and the late Mike Starr of Alice In Chains. He’s been in the studio with the likes of Gail Ann Dorsey (David Bowie, Gwen Stefani), Jon Anderson (Yes, King Crimson) and Mike Keneally (Frank Zappa, Steve Vai). Gianni even toured with the infamous Butthole Surfers, earning a dedicated spot on their live album, “Live At The Forum London,” as the band sings “Happy Birthday” to him in front of that sold-out crowd.
Having performed at music festivals like Austin City Limits in Texas, Zappanale in Germany and Musikfest in Pennsylvania, Gianni learned the ropes while in the ring, honing his craft in front of audiences far and wide. He’s even had the privilege of performing at CBGB’s, the sorely missed punk rock landmark on Joey Ramone Place. Songwriting was a talent that sprouted even earlier, as Gianni wrote his first original piece of music at the tender age of eight. “It just seemed to pour out of me so naturally,” he recalls, reflecting on his propensity towards poetically simple songs that are as alluring in their charm as they are surprising in their depth.
Gianni released two full-length albums of original material under his old pseudonym, The Pine Hollows. This work landed Gianni on the cover of Performer Magazine and helped him to establish a considerable presence in the NYC music scene. His first solo release, “Walking Through A Movie Scene” [EP], ups the ante, as each analog-tracked song is accompanied by a visual vignette. FACEBOOK.
'Honest Thing' has a loose trippy feel to it that is both engaging and intriguing. The guitar break is a rip roaring and sudden occurrence that snaps the listener out of the spell, before the song lulls them back in again.
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Background - "Lisa Hilton’s engaging, expressive and impressionistic compositions explore the soundscape of jazz and blues alongside classical and modernist ideas in refreshingly new but familiar ways."
For her 20th album Lisa Hilton wanted to provide uplift and relief, where listeners can be energized and feel rejuvenated, and this became the theme for the aptly titled Escapism. Each composition seems to generate, by albums end, a mental release or escape all its own. “Artists have an important role in our culture and community--it is through art and music that our souls and spirits can be energized, balanced and entertained--we all need to "escape" or transcend our challenges. I want our music to be a positive force whether you\\'re listening on the subway, while at work or lounging on a tropical island! Our music embraces the good experiences in our world,” Hilton comments.
After working solo on last year's Day & Night release, Hilton brought back saxophonist JD Allen, trumpet and flugelhornist Terell Stafford, bassist Gregg August and drummer Rudy Royston into Avatar Studios. “Our engineer James Farber, a true sound icon, captured the incredible sound of these amazing musicians - all leaders in their own right,” Hilton enthuses. Mixed by 23-time Grammy® Award-winning engineer Al Schmitt at the legendary Capitol Studios in Hollywood and mastered by multi-Grammy® Award-winners Gavin Lurssen and Reuben Cohen. WEBSITE, FACEBOOK.
'Mojave Moon' is just a small glimpse of Escapism an instrumental album that is centred around Lisa Hilton's outrageously good piano skills, alongside some highly talented musicians. Jazz might be the anchor point, the musical directions often explore from that point, and some lighter blues are also found along the way. Above all however is the fact that this is very assessable music, and those not usually so keen on these genres, might well find they are in for a refreshing surprise.
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