Firefly Soul

Firefly Soul - Dance Till the Sunrise is on Top ten tracks ordered for airplay by regional community broadcasters from the Australian Music Radio Airplay Project (Amrap)
Published: 11 March, 2019 -

Dance Till the Sunrise is on the Top ten tracks ordered for airplay by regional community broadcasters from the Australian Music Radio Airplay Project (Amrap)

Published: 11 March, 2019 -

A live interview with Cres O Neal where we talk about my music,Jazz in Australia,and even about Aussie Possums. - Blog talk radio

LA based R & B songstress Aysha recently caught the attention of Smooth Jazz Therapy with her latest recording ‘Stay With Me’. At the time I described it as ‘a tight and extremely personal collection that includes notable input from several smooth jazz superstars’ and now she has re-emerged as a featured vocalist on the seven track CD ‘Taking Time Out’ from adult contemporary collective Firefly Soul. All the more surprising for the fact that the band’s two central figures, Lenny Sharman and Ben Meeking, are based in Melbourne, Australia, this liaison sits comfortably with other guest appearances from singer Tepaeru (from New Zealand) and Australian sax-man Justin Hall. The resultant fusion of vocals, orchestration and harmony makes for very interesting listening

In fact ‘Taking Time Out’ is arranged around a gentle construct of cool grooves and this is particularly noticeable with ‘Island Town’ that features Tepaeru but which paradoxically has something of a Van Morrison flavor about it. The Steely Dan like title cut benefits from tender sax from Justin Hall and while the hypnotic ‘Energy Flowing’ is among the album’s best tunes it is Aysha’s performance on ‘Fallen Angel’ that steals the show.

This smoothly flowing and decidedly soulful number (which can also be found on Aysha’s 2006 project ‘Love Is A Rock’) can only help to widen the appeal of Firefly Soul from what some call ‘down under’ to the rest of the world
- Dick Poole

Fantastic Cd. Great stuff for our Radio Station. - Alex Pijnen

ey Lenny,

Finally got a chance to give your stuff a listen - I love it! Want to let you know that I'm including about 5 of your songs on upcoming playslists (esp my MARTINI and COCKTAIL PARTY mixes) - your sound is exactly what I'm looking for.

Great to discover you - please sign up for my newsletter (on my home page) and you'll be notified when new playlists are released.)

PS: Don't know if you read, but valslist was mentioned in Bob Lefsetz' music blog last Friday 6/23 (titled Mykonos) - check it out -

Cheers - Val
- Valslist

What a great sound you have, we have played several of your tracks to date and plan to schedule more in future programs. Keep up the good work and please keep us up to date with your progress Regards Michael - Michael Criddle

I make them know that I have received the CD thank you very much. I have liked the cd very much, am very interesting and of great quality and very advisable for the lovers of the good music. Regards and thanks. Josep - JOSEP PALMADA

FIREFLY SOUL: ON THE EDGE AND BEYOND 19/January/2008 15:07 Opgeslagen in: CD-REVIEWS Een mengelmoes van nu-jazz, adult contemporary, soul en smooth groove. Uit Australië komt deze cd van de groep Firefly Soul, die opgericht werd door Len Sharman. Hij is vooral bedrijvig in de lokale muziekscène van Melbourne, waar hij verschillende muziekprojecten voor onafhankelijke artiesten produceert. Hij creëerde deze cd met acht songs, zong ze in, speelde bas, synthesizer, percussie, keyboards en programmeerde de drums. Daarnaast produceerde, mixte en nam hij de songs op. Gebaseerd op het model van de groep Steely Dan werkte hij samen met verschillende gastmuzikanten uit binnen- en buitenland. Tot dit collectief behoren Ben Meeking (keyboards en close harmony), Robert Pettinato (keyboards, drums, en drumprogrammering), Boy Kanda, Tim Shanasy (keyboards), Peter Fraser (sax), en Zac Sharman (gitaar en synthesizer). Sharman wou met de nieuwe mogelijkheden muziek maken in een multiraciaal thema die de dito samenleving moest symboliseren, en daarnaast vrede, harmonie en respect voor de diversiteit promoten. De muziek die ze brengen grijpt terug naar de jaren tachtig en negentig van de vorige eeuw. Het is een mengelmoes met invloeden van nu-jazz, adult contemporary, soul en smooth groove. De song ‘Saturn’s Moon’ gaat over mensen die verdrietig en melancholisch zijn. Middelmatig. Meer info: www.cdbaby.com/cd/fireflysoul www.fireflysoul.com Patrick Van de Wiele ☆☆☆ in www.keysandchords.com Eigen beheer • zonder nummer • Distr.: www.cdbaby.com - Patrick Van De Wiele

Feedback: With obvious influences from the likes of Chicago and Steely Dan, On The Edge And Beyond has quickly become one of my favourite cds to play - not only on air but also for listening pleasure. Len Sharman certainly knows how to turn out a well-crafted song and his voice is also very pleasant. All the songs on the cd have instant appeal about them. They are what I'd call a presenters joy in that if you are in a rush and put the cd on you can play any tune with confidence knowing that it will mix with whatever you have played previously. The cd gets off to a great start with You Give Me More which has some nice guitar phrases and a hypnotic beat. Saturn's Moon is most hauntingly beautiful and is a nice contrast. I love the boogie beat on Come To This with its funky bass line. Holiday Town evokes those wonderful memories of carefree days at the beach and is most uplifting. I could listen all day to Freedom Bird, a pretty ballad, featuring wonderful pianistic skills of Tim Shanasy. As a final comment Peter Fraser's sax phrases are an absolute joy to the ear. It's a shame there are only 8 tracks on the cd, but Len Sharman is obviously a crafty musician - he gives you enough to sample so that you want to come back for more. Special mention must be made to the great art work on the cd. I wish Firefly Soul much success with this cd. I have given this cd extensive airplay. - John Holden ( Sydney Australia )

It pleases me to inform you about the tracks of the cd On The Edge And Beyond which have been played on my radio show, broadcasted on Radio Assen FM in Holland. This is because I do appreciate the music very much. Also by some reactions I got from the listeners. The next time I`d like to spend more time and I`ll present a Jazz Profile (about 1 hour) with a great variety of your music. But to do so, I need more information (biography & discography) and if possible more music from you and your groups. I like to present broad musical image of the musician, to my listeners. Sincerely, H.P.van WIjnbergen - H.P.van WIjnbergen

Many thanks for sending me a copy of On The Edge And Beyond.

I would like to congratulate you on an excellent CD, every track a gem. I receive many CDs each week, to consider being played in my programmes for Radio Seagull (Holland) and Radio Caroline (UK) but this album is head and shoulders above many and I hope you continue to produce such quality material.
- Martin Smith