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| Paul Bollenback and Chris McNulty hit Cleveland by Don Berryman ,Jazz Police The dynamic duo of guitarist Paul Bollenback and Australian born, New York vocalist Chris McNulty appears live at Nighttown in Cleveland on Sunday, September 25th. I first heard guitarist Paul Bollenback with Joey DeFrancesco. Joey toured with Bollenback for quite a while. Bollenback's solid guitar work made me realize why the greatest jazz organ player in the world chose him for his trio. Since that time, on Paul's gigs as a leader and on his recordings, I have come to learn more of the breadth and depth of his artistry. Paul has also been touring with vocalist Chris McNulty for several years and the two have formed the kind of musical bond only possible with solid chops, immagination, and commitment. Not another prima donna showtune crooner, McNulty is a real jazz singer with a casual and conversation style and an amazing ability to connect with audiences. She is certainly one of the most enjoyable vocalists performing today. They are currently touring the US in support of their new CD "Dance Delicioso". A native of Melbourne, Australia, Chris McNulty has been living and working in New York City since 1988. Already well established in Australia, she has slowly, but surely gained increased recognition in the US, Europe, and more recently in Russia. She has released five CD's including her latest "Dance Delicioso, which is co-produced by Paul Bollenback. The new CD features some of the best players in jazz including Mulgrew Miller, Gary Bartz, and Billy Hart. On the new CD McNulty covers a wide range of material from great standards by Cole Porter and Bobby Troup, to more modern material by Annie Lennox. It also features four of her own originals. The CD displays her considerable jazz chops, and incorporates world music, with contributions from accordionist Sonny Barbato, and Brazilian percussionist Cafe da Silva. McNulty brings to the stage and awareness of the world and depth of emotion that only experience can give you. She lets the song tell the story and all of her stories are good ones. Bollenback is not only a solid jazz guitarist, but a gifted composer as well. In a recent Jazz Times interview Paul said "Playing, arranging and composition are all part of the same thing, Compositional considerations--texture, color and density--can be used to create improvisations without resorting to a constant string of cliches." "Not one jazz virtuoso could put the definition of jazz into words, but all agreed that you know it when you hear it. That's the way it is with Paul Bollenback. It's bona-fide playing, unambiguous, up-front and powerful, " summarizes George Benson, a long-time friend. His debut recording, Original Visions, as a leader with Challenge Records, is one of the most creative efforts by a guitarist in recent memory. Double Gemini, his second CD, features four of his own compositions and won the title of CD of The Month in Jim Fisch's distinguished jazz column in 20th Century Jazz Magazine. It won the same award from the renowned jazz radio station WBGO in Newark, New Jersey. Challenge Records has recently released his fourth recording, Dreams. Paul Bollenback's emotionally expressive style and eclectic approach is the result of years of listening, studying and playing music by Carlos Santana, Yes, Wes Montgomery, George Benson, John Scofield, Pat Metheny, Kenny Burrell, Herbie Hancock, Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter and Lenny Breau. At the age of seven, Paul received a nylon-string guitar from his father, a classically trained trumpeter and lover of music. When Paul was eleven, his family relocated to new Delhi, India, on a three-year consulting engagement with United States Aid. It was there that he cultivated his life-long interest in exotic musical sounds and timbres, which is evident in Original Visions. When his family returned to the United States, Paul's father bought him an electric guitar and he began listening to rock-and-roll. Then he heard Miles Davis and his world changed forever. Photo by Don BerrymanBollenback attended the University of Miami as a Music major, he later studied privately for eight years with Baltimore-based professor of Theory/Composition Asher Zlotnik. In 1993 while touring in Europe Paul was awarded a grant from the Virginia Commission on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts to compose and perform "New Music for Three Jazz Guitars". In 1997, Bollenback was named Musician of the Year at the Washington Area Music Awards, and became an Adjunct Professor of Music at the American University in Washington, DC. His two compositions, "Wookies's Revenge" and "Romancin' the Moon" (featured on Joey DeFrancesco's Rebboppin') earned him the SESAC award for original songs and he was later invited to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Paul was featured at the 1998 World Internet Trade Show in Los Angeles, and his band opened the New York Guitar Show in May 1998 where he also performed with John Pisano. Paul has appeared on the Tonight Show, Good Morning America, Joan Rivers, The Today Show, and Entertainment Tonight. He has contributed some acoustic guitar work to America's Most Wanted and has played with an impressive spectrum of musicians, including Stanley Turrentine, Gary Bartz, Joey DeFrancesco, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Joe Locke, Gary Thomas, Steve Wilson, Shunzo Ohno, James Moody, David “Fathead” Newman, Jack McDuff, Charlie Byrd, Paul Bley, Carol Sloane, Chris McNulty, Melissa Walker, Carter Jefferson, Dave Valentin, Herb Ellis, Jimmy Bruno, and East Meets Jazz(with Sandip Burman). In addition to his continued associations with Gary Bartz, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Joey DeFrancesco, Joe Locke, and East Meets Jazz, Paul continues to tour with his own groups this season. Recent performances include the Blue Note in Fukuoka, Japan, the Blue Note In New York City, Le Club in Moscow, the Newark Museum and the Rochester Jazz Festival. He is Artist in Residence at the Litchfield Jazz Festival Summer Music School, and continues to teach at Queens College, New York, the New School and at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. Don't miss the dynamic Duo of guitarist Paul Bollenback and Australian vocalist Chris McNulty live at Nighttown on Sunday, September 25th. write your comments about the article :: 2005 Jazz News :: home page |