Guest Artists on Club Nocturne
Kurt Elling
Vocalist on ‘Up from New Orleans’
Vocalist and lyricist on ‘All is Quiet’
From student at the University of Chicago Divinity School to one of the most innovative jazz singers today; the journey for Kurt Elling has left unmistakable imprints on every project he touches. His love of poetry and philosphy bring words to jazz that are both intelligent and passionate. Says Mintzer, who collaborated with Kurt on writing tunes for Club Nocturne, "Kurt Elling’s singing and writing explores not only the jazz tradition, but a vast terrain of sounds and styles. This broad minded approach is what made him fit so well with Yellowjackets." Kurt’s latest recording on Blue Note is This Time It’s Love.
Jonathan Butler
Vocalist on ‘Even the Pain’
After leaving home at the age of seven to perform in an all-white venue in South Africa, Jonathan Butler faced the bitter taste of apartheid . His music helped him to survive and by age twelve, he was discovered by a record producer. His first single rocketed him to fame, and Jonathan became one of the first black artists to be played on white radio stations in South Africa. Jonathan’s life journey and experience are the underpinnings to his passionate and moving vocal on Richard Page’s poignant "Even the Pain." After living in England for many years, Jonathan is now living in Los Angeles where he recorded his latest CD entitled Do You Love Me?
Brenda Russell
Vocalist and lyricist on ‘Love and Paris Rain’
Brenda Russell has had a longstanding relationship with the Yellowjackets, including an appearances on Yellowjackets’ 1992's Live Wires, and an appearance by Russell Ferrante as pianist on Brenda’s hit single ‘Piano in the Dark.’ When Russ and William played ‘Love and Paris Rain’ for her, Brenda says she "cried like a baby...it was so moving and so beautiful." States Russell: "I am always amazed at Brenda’s ability to paint a picture and set a mood with an economy of words..." which is why Brenda has written songs for countless artists including Roberta Flack, Earth Wind and Fire, Tina Turner, Chaka Khan, Joe Cocker, Dione Warwick, Donna Summer, Ray Charles, and Diana Ross. Brenda’s romantic imagery and sultry vocal are the perfect compliment to the ambiance of Club Nocturne.
Gino Vannelli
Vocalist, lyricist and composer
International release bonus track ‘Living Inside Myself’
Gino and Jimmy Haslip have collaborated on projects almost as long as Jimmy has been a member of Yellowjackets. "Through all the years, I’ve enjoyed working with Gino because I always learn something new..."states Jimmy. When Yellowjackets decided to bring words, intimacy, and some romance to Club Nocturne, Gino was an understandable choice. Known for his passion and lush orchestrations, Gino Vannelli and Yellowjackets combine with a chemistry that gives an all new dimension to both. Gino’s latest recording is entitled Slow Love.
Club Nocturne was recorded and mixed by Rich Breen in order to realize the sonic target: a more polished sound than the previous recording. Says Rich of the experience: "I loved working with Yellowjackets on this project. I've never worked with a group of musicians who are advanced musically as well as in the way they work together, solve problems, and express their feelings. It's a treat to be with great musicians who are nice people as well...it's a musical high.
The Metropole Orchestra is a government funded 60 piece radio orchestra based in The Netherlands. They commission new works to be performed and recorded for radio broadcast throughout The Netherlands. As well as being consummate orchestral players, they also have the rare capacity to feel and play jazz and popular music. As Yellowjackets tour manager Tim Aller observed, "It's not often that you see string players bobbing their heads"! They tackled our music with great enthusiasm and went out of their way to let us know how much they enjoyed working with us. It was certainly mutual!
William states: "The most challenging component in performing with the Metropole is staying on our toes during Metropole arrangements of our own compositions. For several years Yellowjackets may perform a song with the same arrangement and we begin to know the song inside out without having to think about what part comes next. The Metropole Orchestra arrangers make small musical adjustments- just enough to make you concentrate on every beat to prevent disasters in the performance with the Orchestra. In any case, it is always great fun to work with REAL strings and brass."
Vince Mendoza again accompanied us to conduct the orchestra and also added a beautiful arrangement of "With These Hands". This was one of four new arrangements we added for this program from our "Blue Hats" release, the others being "Statue of Liberty", arranged by Jim Mc Neeley, "Capetown", arranged by Bob Mintzer, and " Coal Minor Blues", arranged by Russell Ferrante. We are hoping we'll be able to record a CD with this orchestra in the near future and share it with you all soon.
Bob
My favorite music I have heard lately was Tower of Power, who performed at the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands in July. Dave Garabaldi and "Roco" were back in the band. The groove was ridiculous! Also, Norbert Stachell, a great tenor saxophonist from the Bay Area was playing. I got to hang with the band a bit, great people, and one of the best bands in the land.
Bob enjoyed reading Undaunted Courage by Steven Ambrose about the history of the Lewis and Clark expedition.