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June CD Reviews of the Month
June 1st, 2006
Jay Harmon – Jay Harmon
3 stars out of 4
Jay Harmon is a Saxophonist in the tradition of Najee and Gerald Albright. However, his playing is more R&B based than he is Smooth. His debut CD certainly has a lot of funky grooves happening here. The But I can’t help but think that the recording could have been enhanced by more sound engineering. Some of the tracks end and start abruptly, giving the recording an almost amateurish sound. Never the less, this is still a listen. I was a little disappointed. I expected more, but it still works. Marginal Recommendation.
- www.SmoothJazzandmore.com
Translation from italian to english by Google translator at this link:
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http://smoothjazzclub.net/sjcms/modules/news/article.php%3Fstoryid%3D84&langpair=it%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=/language_tools
Jay Harmon
Inviato da Redazione Il 31/5/2006 13:24:31
Jay Harmon, perfetto musicista, cantante, compositore e arrangiatore è nato a Columbus (Ohio) e adesso vive nella zona di Cleveland.
Jay suona con la massima disinvoltura sax, tastiere, sintetizzatore, batteria e basso.
Lo scorso 15 Aprile è uscito il suo nuovo omonimo CD.
Un sassofonista pieno di talento con il grande dono di riuscire a creare melodie R&B e Smoooth Jazz coinvolgenti ed originali. Jay è stato definito "The Workingman's Jazz Artist" per il fatto che la sua musica sembra toccare una corda comune a tutti coloro che lo ascoltano.
Alla più classica delle domande "Jay, quando hai iniziato a suonare?", lui risponde:
"Ho iniziato a studiare il basso elettrico nel 1962, il sax nel 1964 ed ho formato la mia prima band nel 1966. Ho poi acceresciuto le mie capacità musicali alla Linden McKinley High School, le scuole superiori di Columbus.
Nel 1970 ho iniziato a suonare il sax da professionista in una famosa band di Columbus chiamata The Crowd Pleasers.
Sicuramente la vena artistica mi è stata tramandata da mia nonna, una cantante Gospel. Ma anche dai miei genitori e da mio fratello che aveveno grandi doti musicali."
Jay Harmon ha inciso il suo primo disco da solista "Now It's You & Me" nel 1978.
Il 15 Aprile 2006, con l'etichetta Cleveland Unlimited, è uscito negli Stati Uniti il suo primo CD che porta proprio il suo nome. Da notare che Jay ha realizzato da solo tutto il CD: ha scritto le musiche e gli arrangiamenti, ha cantato, ha fatto i cori e, naturalmente, suonato tutti gli strumenti!
Questo CD è una squisita miscela di Contemporary Smooth Jazz con un pizzico di sapore R&B.
Particolarmente interessanti sono le tracce "Thoughtful Mood" e "Cold Blue" e "Life", le quali sono trasmesse dalle più importanti radio smooth jazz statunitensi ed internazionali.
Per gli appassionati di smooth jazz consigliamo l'ascolto di "Thoughful Mood", "Cold Blue", "Papa Jay", "Ray,Gee,Marc". Chi invece preferisce la musica R&B, avrà sicuramnte modo di apprezzare l'introspettiva "Open My Window", le funkeggianti "Cant do Right" e "Papa Jay", così come la traccia soul "We Lied".
- www.smoothjazzclub.net
Discography
Cleveland Unlimited Records released my first commercial recording, a 45rpm entitled "Now its You and Me". The single received airplay on the top R&B stations in Cleveland, Columbus and Dayton and became a regional hit.
Jay Harmon's new self titled debut CD was released April 15, 2006 on the Cleveland Unlimited label.
The Tracks "Thoughtful Mood", "Saxman" and "Life" are now being promoted to local & national smooth jazz radio with a lot of good success.
You can request tracks from my new CD now in rotation at www.smoothjazzandmore.com, 1ClubFM.com and WINR 100.1 's Jazz Internet radio site at www.smoothjazz4u.com.
Sample 30 second mp3 tracks from the new CD can be heard at: http://clevelandunlimitedrecords.com/new.html
The new CD is available for purchase at your favorite record store i.e. Borders, Best Buy, CD Warehouse, or order online at the Cleveland Unlimited Records.com site, CDbaby.com, BestBuy.com, Tower Records.com, Amazon.com, iTunes.com, Jazzreview.com and MSN.com.
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Jay was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, but now he and his family make their home in the Cleveland area. Asked about his first start in music, Jay says "I started on bass, then sax, then started my first band. I picked up the other music skills in my high school, Linden McKinley, in Columbus Ohio.
I started playing the sax professionally with the popular local band "The Crowd Pleasers" doing shows in Columbus and in popular venues all around the state. A major influence in my musical life was my grandmother who played a lot of Gospel music. Also my mother, father and brother who were all musically gifted. I looked up to my older brother who played the sax and I wanted to be like him. So, I started playing the sax. My peers were all into playing the drums at the time, so it was a different kind of move to make.
William Carter, A high school teacher at Linden McKinley taught me a lot about playing the sax. Steve Giteline, now with the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, showed me how to hit high notes and how to fill up the horn with sound.
I was also greatly influenced as a young teenager, by the music of the Beatles.
After my musical horizons grew a bit and I started getting more into the sax, I was greatly influenced by the music of Miles Davis, George Duke, and other jazz greats.
I love playing the sax as a preformer, hearing the crowd reaction to the first notes and the excitement of people enjoying what I play.
I have played in many venues, even the Apollo in New York, so I am very comfortable entertaining all size crowds.
I put out my first record,"Now It's You & Me" back in 1978, and started playing solo live when the new digital technology became available to me."
Jay sincerely hopes that people will get to hear his new CD project, purchase it and truly enjoy it!
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