LAMBERTVILLE, NJ (2/6/18) – Becoming known as one of Lambertville’s leading, underground cultural supporters, The Art of Sound is pleased to announce their latest entertainment offering “The Art of Sound Unplugged”, a springtime performing artist celebration series. This unplugged series has been specifically designed to honor the live entertainment experience, amongst their 4,000-square foot, state-of-the-art, hi-fi studio, which additionally caters to the utmost presentation of premium, entertainment installation throughout the Northeast. Seating reservations for the Unplugged series are required by calling The Art of Sound at 609.483.5000.

The Art of Sound’s on-going cultural mission is to proudly curate a thoughtful variety of artistic experiences for clientele and the public. The second of the series will launch Thursday, April 12th with the SARAH VAUGHN LIVE JAZZ TRIBUTE EVENING. Starting at 7pm with a complimentary mix of refreshments and light fare. A limited number of seats are exclusively saved for clientele then approximately 20 seats are released to the general-public one-month prior, ensuring an intimate experience for both artist and patron. Reservations can be made by calling the Art of Sound studio at 609.483.5000 and is located at 201 South Main Street, Lambertville, NJ 08530.

ABOUT THE ARTIST SARAH VAUGHN:

Possessor of one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century, Sarah Vaughan ranked with Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday in the very top echelon of female jazz singers. She often gave the impression that with her wide range, perfectly controlled vibrato, and wide expressive abilities, she could do anything she wanted with her voice. Although not all of her many recordings are essential (give Vaughan a weak song and she might strangle it to death), Sarah Vaughan’s legacy as a performer and a recording artist will be very difficult to match in the future.

Vaughan sang in church as a child and had extensive piano lessons from 1931-39; she developed into a capable keyboardist. After she won an amateur contest at the Apollo Theater, she was hired for the Earl Hines big band as a singer and second vocalist. Unfortunately, the musicians’ recording strike kept her off record during this period (1943-44). When lifelong friend Billy Eckstine broke away to form his own orchestra, Vaughan joined him, making her recording debut. She loved being with Eckstine’s orchestra, where she became influenced by a couple of his sidemen, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, both of whom had also been with Hines during her stint. Vaughan was one of the first singers to fully incorporate bop phrasing in her singing, and to have the vocal chops to pull it off on the level of a Parker and Gillespie.

Other than a few months with John Kirby from 1945-46, Sarah Vaughan spent the remainder of her career as a solo star. Although she looked a bit awkward in 1945 (her first husband George Treadwell would greatly assist her with her appearance), there was no denying her incredible voice. She made several early sessions for Continental: a December 31, 1944 date highlighted by her vocal version of “A Night in Tunisia,” which was called “Interlude,” and a May 25, 1945 session for that label that had Gillespie and Parker as sidemen. However, it was her 1946-48 selections for Musicraft (which included “If You Could See Me Now,” “Tenderly” and “It’s Magic”) that found her rapidly gaining maturity and adding bop-oriented phrasing to popular songs. Signed to Columbia where she recorded during 1949-53, “Sassy” continued to build on her popularity. Although some of those sessions were quite commercial, eight classic selections cut with Jimmy Jones’ band during May 18-19, 1950 (an octet including Miles Davis) showed that she could sing jazz with the best.

During the 1950s, Vaughan recorded middle-of-the-road pop material with orchestras for Mercury, and jazz dates (including Sarah Vaughan, a memorable collaboration with Clifford Brown) for the label’s subsidiary, EmArcy. Later record label associations included Roulette (1960-64), back with Mercury (1963-67), and after a surprising four years off records, Mainstream (1971-74). Through the years, Vaughan’s voice deepened a bit, but never lost its power, flexibility or range. She was a masterful scat singer and was able to out-swing nearly everyone (except for Ella). Vaughan was with Norman Granz’s Pablo label from 1977-82, and only during her last few years did her recording career falter a bit, with only two forgettable efforts after 1982. However, up until near the end, Vaughan remained a world traveler, singing and partying into all hours of the night with her miraculous voice staying in prime form. The majority of her recordings are currently available, including complete sets of the Mercury/Emarcy years, and Sarah Vaughan is as famous today as she was during her most active years.

ABOUT Joanna Pascale:

“Wildflowers grow under the most unlikely circumstances,” says vocalist Joanna Pascale.
“You find them in the most unlikely places. From the beginning, that’s how my journey has been.”

Whether referring to the lesser-known repertoire to which she’s drawn or to the singer herself, nurtured in the concrete jungle of her native Philadelphia, Wildflower is the ideal title for Pascale’s captivating new album. Supported by an excellent band led by the session’s producer, pianist Orrin Evans, and a host of special guests including Christian McBride, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Gregoire Maret, Bilal, and Cyrus Chestnut, Pascale finally comes into full bloom, a wildflower whose beauty is emerging into the sunlight.

The recording of Wildflower coincided with the end of Pascale’s decade-long engagement at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel, which allowed her to hone her voice, style, and vast repertoire. But leaving that long-running gig also provided a newfound freedom to follow a more personal path, which she embraces on her fourth album. Each song on Wildflower is one with which Pascale feels a deep emotional connection, which shines through in the passionate feeling she conveys to the listener. “If I don’t connect with a lyric, I can’t sing the song,” she says. “I love to dig into the words and find all the different shades, the stories within the story, and then try to interpret that.”

But equally important for her approach to breathing life into this material is Pascale’s interaction with her musicians. “For me,” she says, “it’s the space between the words that tells the story. I love that these musicians allowed so much space for me to paint these pictures. It allowed me to get very intimate with the phrasing of the lyrics. The fun in storytelling is finding a way of phrasing so that the listener connects to your intention and all the ways you feel the subtle shades of the emotions in the story.”

Propelled by the deep, sinuous groove laid down by Evans, McBride, and drummer Donald Edwards, “Forget Me” immediately establishes that connection via Pascale’s intimate, impassioned delivery. It’s followed by the tender J.J. Johnson ballad “Lament,” featuring an original lyric penned for Pascale by Tony Haywood, which features Edwards and bassist Luques Curtis. Most of the album features bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Obed Calvaire, who luxuriate in creating space while maintaining momentum on tracks like “I Remember You” and “Stay With Me.”

To find the ideal musicians to realize her vision for the album, Pascale worked closely with producer Orrin Evans. The two go back almost twenty years together, to her near-disastrous first experience on stage when she was 14 at an Evans-led jam session. When the pianist finally called her to the stage, he waved off her offer of a songbook with the music for Billie Holiday’s “Good Morning Heartache.”“This was honestly the first time I’d ever sang when I wasn’t singing along to a record,” Pascale recalls. “Orrin starts playing and something wasn’t right. I start singing and he’s in a different key, and I’m horrified. So I turn around and the bassist and drummer are laughing hysterically to the point where tears were rolling down their faces and their shoulders were shaking trying to hold it in. Next thing I know, somebody grabs the songbook and puts it in front of Orrin. I still have a little bit of fear whenever I sit in on a jam session.”

Despite that shaky start, Pascale and Evans forged an ongoing friendship, to the point where they consider themselves virtually family. “Joanna’s like a little sister to me,” Evans has said. “I think we really feel time and space and rhythm in the same way. So whatever we do, there’s going to be space for us to grow and make something happen.”

As a producer, Pascale says, Evans “knew exactly what I wanted to get to and I really trusted that. There were times where it was hard for me to give up control, because I had total control of all the other records that I’ve done. But he really had the wider vision than I did at the moment, which helped to shape everything. We have a lot of mutual respect.” Gregoire Maret’s expressive harmonica highlights two rare excursions into the pop songbook for Pascale, Stevie Wonder’s “Overjoyed” and the Gerry Goffin/Carole King favorite “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” Maret also appears, along with Cyrus Chestnut’s spirited organ, on Pascale’s achingly slow rendition of Henry Glover’s “Drown in My Own Tears,” best known from Ray Charles’ recording. The title song, meanwhile, features two of Philadelphia’s favorite six-string sons, Kurt Rosenwinkel and Tim Motzer, and vocals by neo-soul singer Bilal, Pascale’s friend from Philly’s renowned High School for the Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA), which also boasts Rosenwinkel, McBride, Joey DeFrancesco, and member of The Roots as graduates. “We started discovering music together,” Pascale recalls of Bilal. “We would make each other jazz vocal mixtapes and trade them. So it was a very special, very magical moment for me to have him share his gift on the recording twenty years later.”

After graduating from CAPA, Pascale attended Temple University, where she is now a member of the faculty and has been featured on two of the university’s CD releases, including the Temple University Jazz Band’s Thad Jones tribute album To Thad With Love. She is featured on Warfield’s Jazzy Christmas CD; Orrin Evans’ Liberation Blues, recorded live at Smoke; on Philly sax legend Larry McKenna’s From All Sides; Jeremy Pelt’s Soul and on That Music Always Round Me, a setting of Walt Whitman’s poetry by Garry Dial and Dick Oatts. She made her leader debut with 2004’s When Lights Are Low, followed by the 2008 CD Through My Eyes and a 2010 duo recording with pianist Anthony Wonsey that focused on Songbook standards.

ABOUT THE ART OF SOUND:
Proud supporters and advancers of the arts and professionally considered designers of sound, The Art of Sound, LLC offers expert technology, utmost personal, customer service and a state-of-the-art showroom located in Lambertville, NJ. The Art of Sound caters to serious music lovers, both residential and commercial, proudly curating the ultimate, in-concert experience for music aficionados. The Art of Sound specializes in Audio-Visual Design, creating Whole House Audio, Two-Channel Audio, & Multi-Channel Home Theater Environments, as well as Wi-Fi Solutions. Never-before has sound been more advanced and stylish. To find out more, visit theartofsoundLLC.com