2017 GRAMMY FINALIST/BEST ARRANGEMENT for “Linus & Lucy” by Christian Jacob

A journey through the many faces of the trombone

Socrates Garcia delivers his writing brilliance with an incredibly talented 20+-member Latin Jazz Orchestra in this powerful recording rooted in his Dominican heritage and covered with the aesthetics of jazz! Back Home is, simultaneously, a point of arrival and departure — arriving to a place where Garcia could combine his heritage with the aesthetics of jazz; and departing towards a promising future of this symbiotic relationship.

“…the creative piano man makes this date notable if for nothing else than it’s believed to be Lew Soloff’s last session recorded 2 weeks before he died.  Just in passing, it’s notable for the playing and writing as well.  A smart, left leaning date peopled with players that are all game raisers, this is solid late Friday afternoon music when you need something that understands how much you need to let go with your jazz at that moment.  Some of the titles might seem pretty down beat but this is instrumental music and the groove reigns supreme.”

“…This is a wonderful recording of new, highly accessible music for horn, tuba and piano, and the musicians on the recording perform brilliantly.”  -The Horn Call

Featured Artists
Mike Forbes: tuba, euphonium/The Sotto Voce Quartet/Demondrae Thurman, Mark Carlson: euphonium/Nat McIntosh, John Stevens: bass tubas/Stephanie Frye, Blaine Cunningham: contrabass tubas/The University of Alabama Wind Ensemble/Dr. Kenneth Ozzello, Randall Coleman: conductors

Walter White grew up in a musical family near Detroit, MI which inspired him to begin his musical career. Walter learned to play the baritone horn and tuba before settling on trumpet by age nine. Trained at Interlochen Center For the Arts, The Juilliard School, the University of Miami, and The Banff Centre, Walter’s former teachers include William Vacchiano, John Lindenau, Vincent Cichowicz, Mel Broiles, Leon Rapier, Carmine Caruso, Jerome Amend, and Kenny Wheeler.

Solerovescent, or having the intangible quality of “magnetisim” for no obvious reason, brings acclaimed guitarist Tom Wolfe together with an incredible group of musicians on a tightly woven, extremely tasty, and accessible jazz recording!

Jonathan Shames, pianist and conductor, joined the University of Michigan School of Music in autumn 2001 as Associate Director of Orchestras and Assistant Professor of Music-Conducting in the of the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras, as well as the Artistic Director Department of Conducting. Shames directs both the University Philharmonia and the Contemporary Directions Ensemble. From 1994 to 2001, Shames was Music Director and Conductor of its Marrowstone Music Festival. He is currently the Music Director and Conductor of the Olympia Symphony Orchestra in Olympia, Washington.
Together with his wife, pianist Stephanie Leon Shames, he founded and served as Artistic Director of The Boston Players, a chamber music ensemble which performed from 1992 to 1997. Mr. Shames’ work as musical assistant to Sarah Caldwell of the Opera Company of Boston (at age 19) led to his first conducting opportunities, when Ms. Caldwell invited him to lead performances by the company of Puccini’s Girl of the Golden West and Mozart’s Don Giovanni. It was in performances of the latter work that Mr. Shames made his Boston conducting debut in 1984, leading from the harpsichord. Since that time, he has frequently been associated with the company, leading several tours and Boston performances. Mr. Shames appears regularly as both conductor and pianist with The Boston Players, a chamber-music group he formed in 1992. In 1994, Mr. Shames was invited by Seiji Ozawa to become a Conducting Fellow of the Tanglewood Music Institute. Shames has conducted the Louisiana Philharmonic and Richmond Symphony, and serves frequently as cover conductor for the Seattle Symphony. In 2002 he conducted the Wyoming Symphony.

The American conductor, James Sedares, has proven himself one of the best and the brightest of a new generation of American conductors. In 1996 he concluded a tenyear tenure with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, an ensemble he placed into the spotlight of national and international recognition. Responding to a performance conducted by Maestro Sedares, the Arizona Republic stated, “If quality and beauty are criteria for attending a concert, patrons should be standing in line to get into Symphony Hall…”

Anthony Wilson is one of the leading musicians of his generation. Known for his imagination, maturity, and depth, the esteemed guitarist/composer/arranger has recorded ten solo albums since his Grammy-nominated debut album was released in 1997. Wilson’s fourth album with his acclaimed nonet, 2006’s “Power of Nine,” was included in The New Yorker’s roundup of the year’s top ten jazz albums, and 2009’s “Jack of Hearts” included Larry Goldings and legendary drummer Jim Keltner in a set of music that approached the classic guitar-organ-drums format with a new spirit of play and possibility.

Andrea Giuffredi international trumpet soloist. He started playing trumpet at the age of 9, he entered the Conservatory at 14, and at 16 he got his first professional job in the trumpet section of the RAI (Italian National Television) Symphony Orchestra in Milan. Since then he worked as a freelance Principal Trumpet in the most important Italian symphony orchestras. In particular he worked on a regular basis for the RAI (Italian National Television) Symphony Orchestra in Milan and Turin, “Arturo Toscanini” Symphony Orchestra in Parma, “Teatro Regio” Orchestra in Parma, “I pomeriggi Musicali” in Milan and occasionally “Teatro Comunale” in Florence and “Teatro alla Scala” in Milan for a total of over 25 years of experience as a professional symphonic Principal Trumpet. He played under the most famous conductors, like Riccardo Muti, George Prêtre, Zubin Mehta, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Seiji Ozawa, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Antonio Pappano and others, in the world’s most famous concert halls. He performed for several years as a soloist with Claudio Scimone’s “I Solisti Veneti”, and has been working for Mediaset TV network in several popular TV shows on Canale 5. He played with artists like Luciano Pavarotti, Ennio Morricone and performed in a duet with Liza Minnelli on Porta a Porta RAI 1 National Channel TV show. He published three CD’s with Summit Records in the USA. He was invited three times to the renowned International Trumpet Guild annual conference. During the last few years he concentrated on his soloist career, and became one of the most famous and appreciated trumpet players in the world. He is particularly appreciated for his “cantabile” style, he usually performs a repertoire of famous international classics with arrangements written specifically for him. With this style he had great success all over the world, often accompanied by great Symphony Orchestras. He is often invited in Asia as a soloist, and has success in Japan and particularly in Taiwan, where he is very popular and up to 10.000 people attend his concerts. He held conferences and is often invited to hold trumpet seminars all over the world. His career allowed him to perform in the most important concert halls in Turkey, Japan, Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Finland, Greece, China, Mexico, France, United States, Bulgaria, Romania, Iraq, Tunisia, Egypt, Spain, Malta, Albania, Israel, Russia, Czech Republic, Australia, Taiwan, Brasil and of course Italy. Since 1993 he is Professor of Trumpet at the Civica Scuola di Musica in Milan “Claudio Abbado”.