Ray Gehring & Commonwealth

Artist Information

Biography

Ray Gehring has been a professional jazz guitarist for 20 years performing, and or recording with many outstanding musicians including Bill Carrothers, Dave King, Mike Lewis, Daniel Carter, Sean Wayland, Matthias Bublath, Willie Wisely, Mark Ledford, Funky Town Studios, & TROMA Films. The Washington, DC born, Lincoln, Nebraska raised Gehring received his BFA from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis where he studied with award-winning composer Judith Lang-Zaimont and passionately pursued jazz and classical guitar performance. Gehring's been leading many ensembles in the NY area since arriving in 2000. Now showcasing his new group, "Ray Gehring & Commonwealth" on his new release "Radio Trails" on Evan Music.

For additional information or to schedule an interview or TV appearance, please contact Ray’s publicist, Athena Pope.
Tel: 310-391-9684 or AthenaMedia@aol.com
For more general info, please visit www.raygehring.com

Guitarist Ray Gehring is a very soulful & incredibly melodic guitarist whose tone is so warm & engaging it reminds the listener why one seeks out "new"jazz musicians in the first place. Having a professional career spanning over 20 years and 4 cities (Lincoln, Minneapolis, Paris, NYC) he now leads "Ray Gehring & Commonwealth", a high-spirited vocal & instrumental expanded jazz band in the New York area and touring nationally.

IT’S YESTERDAY ONCE MORE—JUST A LITTLE JAZZIER THAN YOU REMEMBER, ON RADIO TRAILS, THE NEW
CD BY GUITARIST RAY GEHRING & COMMONWEALTH,
SET FOR RELEASE OCTOBER 15th ON EVAN MUSIC


"RADIO TRAILS" - The Dynamic New Collection by

Ray Gehring & Commonwealth

A Tribute to the Spirit of 1970’s Pop Radio featuring colorful new arrangements of classics by Supertramp, Carpenters, Stevie Wonder, Neil Young & Brazilian-Tropicalia artists. Produced by Chuck Zwicky (Andy Summers, Jeff Beck, Prince) & co-produced by Bill Carrothers.



To riff on the title of the classic Supertramp song that kicks off Radio Trails, the new CD by New York based guitarist Ray Gehring and Commonwealth, listeners will no doubt want to “Take the Long Way Home”. However, they’re traveling to listen to every drop of this retro classic in the making, a collection that pays unique and colorful homage to the spirit of 1970’s radio.

Comprised of seven covers and three originals, the new collection, set for release October 15th on Evan Music, was produced by Chuck Zwicky (Brandon Ross, Andy Summers, Jef Lee Johnson, Jeff Beck, Prince), co-produced by Gehring and pianist Bill Carrothers, and includes featured performances by vocalists Dan Gaarder and Sean Wayland.


With his trademark rich tone and heightened sense of melodic detail, Gehring gets into glorious time travel mode on songs by legendary artists like The Carpenters (“Yesterday Once More”), Neil Young (“Motion Pictures”) and Stevie Wonder (“Big Brother”). He also includes a unique take on “She", a soulful country ballad by Gram Parsons and Chris Etheridge, as well as a set of songs representing the Brazilian Tropicalia movement of the late 1960’s and early ‘70’s. These include C. Coqueijo Costa’s “E Preciso Perdoar” and Vinicius Cantuaria’s “Amor Brasileiro”.


While the covers offer an immediate sense of familiarity for the listener, the Radio Trails concept is anchored by the original tunes, especially Gehring’s haunting “Radial Tales” and the anecdotal “That was the Story”.


*Throughout his career, Gehring has found himself returning to the music that shaped his early years. “’Radio Trails’ was a huge concept record,” he says, “but the whole thing came together because I really needed to purge the ‘70’s out of my system. I’m a product of that decade. I was born in 1968 and listened to the radio constantly growing up. Lincoln was a city where music was everywhere. It informed everything you did & everywhere you hung out…everything you wore! For ‘Radio Trails’, I chose songs of that era that had a big influence on me, plus some singer-songwriters that came from those bands, then added a few of my or our original songs that are influenced by that era, and put them on the record. The goal was to create a unique and sincere homage to that period.”


*To do justice to these tunes, Gehring assembled his “Commonwealth”, a group of compatible musicians and friends, including Bill Carrothers, the German-born Matthias Bublath, Aussie Sean Wayland on keyboards, Dan Gaarder on vocals, Ronen Itzik and George Mel on drums and percussion, and Michael O’Brien playing bass on three tracks. (Wayland also co-wrote and contributes a fine vocal to “That was the Story”). Mixing unique, swinging interpretations of pop standards with a sincere love for the music and a healthy dose of humor, the end result is what Gehring describes as “big-fun jazz.”



Ray Gehring: Guitar
Bill Carrothers: Piano-2,5,7, & 10- Rhodes-6 & 9 -Organ-1
Dan Gaarder: Vocals-2,5, &10
Sean Wayland: Rhodes-4 & 7-Organ-2,5,6,&7- Piano 1-Vocals-7
Ronen Itzik: Drums-1,2,4,5,6, & 7
George Mel: Drums - 3, 8, & 9 & percussion-4
Matthias Bublath: Organ-3,4, 8, & 9
Michael O'Brien: Bass-1,2, & 6

Instrumentation

Sean Wayland - keys, and Vocal
George Mel
Bill Carrothers
Ronen Itzik - Drums
Dan Gaarder - Vocal.
Matthias Bublath - Hammond B3 Organ
Michael O'Brien - Bass

Discography

Ray Gehring: Ray Gehring Trio
Ray Gehring & Commonwealth: Radio Trails
Willie Wisely: "She"
TROMA Films: "Tromeo & Julliet"

Official Website

http://www.raygehring.com

Links

• Gehring returns home to share "Radio Trails"
• Ray Gehring & Commonwealth
• "Guitarist Ray Gehring..."

Audio

• She
  Listen  
• Big Brother
  Listen  
• Radial Tales
  Listen  
• Motion Pictures
  Listen  
• Take the Long Way Home
  Listen  
• That was the Story
  Listen  
• Yesterday Once More
  Listen  
• Amor Brasiliero
  Listen  
• Stay Awhile
  Listen  
• E Preciso Perdoar
  Listen  

Lyrics

• That Was The Story

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Ray Gehring & Commonwealh [+ Show ]
  

  Jazz guitarist Ray Gehring grew up in Lincoln surrounded by the bustling music scenes of the capital...Jazz guitarist Ray Gehring grew up in Lincoln surrounded by the bustling music scenes of the capital city and Omaha. He spent his formative years learning and listening to music and working with many teachers, eventually earning a B.A. in composition from the University of Minnesota. Since 2000, Gehring has resided in Brooklyn, where he performs regularly with his group Commonwealth.
  This week brings Gehring and his band back to the three cities he grew up in: Minneapolis, Lincoln and a stop in Omaha at the Saddle Creek Bar this Thursday. They’ll be here in support of their new CD “Radio Trails.”
  
  Musically speaking, Gehring floats on the cusp of traditional jazz and jazz fusion, occasionally inserting elements of folk and Americana.

• Ray Gehring Trio [+ Show ]
  

  10/25/2007 Ray Gehring Trio On the last Wednesday of each month, you can hear jazz guitarist Ray...10/25/2007
  Ray Gehring Trio
  
  On the last Wednesday of each month, you can hear jazz guitarist Ray Gehring and his trio at Bar BQ, 689 6th Avenue, corner of 20th Street in Park Slope.
  
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  Gehring brings his soulful sound along with drummer George Mel and organists Nate Shaw and Matthias Bublath. His album, entitled “Ray Gehring Trio,” can be found on iTunes or cdbaby.com.
  
  The music they perform creates an atmosphere that blends perfectly with the savory smoked barbeque, peaty single malts, and friendly patrons that make Bar BQ a neighborhood favorite.
  
  “Our material includes songs ranging from Dizzy Gillespie to Neil Young, Burt Bacharach and Big John Patton,” says Gehring. “We also play original compositions and a few familiar standards. The format of this trio allows us to play a large diversity of material that easily traverses through different genres and styles. At the end of the day, a good melody is a good melody.”
  
  For more, call 718-499-4872 or visit www.brooklynbarbq.com.
  
  
  

• "Guitarist Ray Gehring makes Zoo Bar Debut" [+ Show ]
  

  LINCOLN, Neb.—Ray Gehring returned to his hometown May 22 to make his Zoo Bar debut, exactly 20 year...LINCOLN, Neb.—Ray Gehring returned to his hometown May 22 to make his Zoo Bar debut, exactly 20 years after the guitarist last performed in the city, leading a jazz fusion trio at Duffy’s.
  
  Matthias Bublath, Dan Gaarder and Ray Gehring at the Zoo Bar [Photo by Tom Ineck]Lots of friends, family and a few Zoo Bar regulars made him feel welcome as he roared through two sets drawing heavily from his new release, a tribute to the pop music of the 1970s called “Radio Trails.” The CD is dedicated to Butch Berman and the Berman Music Foundation.
  
  Gehring was ably accompanied by members of his band Commonwealth, in this case keyboardist Matthias Bublath and drummer Joey Van Phillips, with vocals featuring Dan Gaarder. The band also made appearances May 20 in Minneapolis and May 21 at the Saddle Creek Bar in Omaha.
  
  Gehring, Bublath and drummer Joey Van Phillips [Photo by Tom Ineck]“Take the Long Way Home,” Supertramp’s 1979 super-hit, received a rocking instrumental reading with Gehring delivering a biting guitar attack that fully utilized the fat, resonant tone of his hollow-bodied axe. Gaarder took the stage for a rocking version of Neil Young’s “Motion Pictures,” and Gram Parsons’ “She,” which had Bublath displaying his versatility and imagination on keys.
  
  Originals included Gehring’s bluesy “Stay Awhile” and the collaborative “That Was the Story.” Bublath added percussive, staccato jabs on the latter, which Luke Polipnick and Ray Gehring [Photo by Tom Ineck]Gaarder sang with his understated, reedy quality. Aptly for the venerable blues club, the band finished the opening set with a blues shuffle.
  
  On Neil Diamond’s “Shilo,” Gehring’s guitar reached near-feedback level as Gaarder read from a lyric sheet, somewhat dampening the song’s effect. The second set’s highlight was a guest appearance by guitarist Luke Polipnick, whose band Volcano Insurance also includes drummer Joey Van Phillips. Among the tunes that Gehring and Polipnick mutually explored was the Willie Nelson standard “Funny How Time Slips Away.”

Setlist

Sets vary depending upon scheduling. One-hour sets to 4-hour sets available. Typical set songs range from originals to jazz arrangements of '70s pop standards to Neil Young, Burt Bacharach, Supertramp, to Gram Parsons & Neil Diamond. Often half the set is comprised of original compositions vocal and instrumental.

Basic Requirements

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