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| Jazz and Technology, Connecting The Generations Back to the future, customers now purchase single tracks before deciding to buy an album. Independent musician, Patricia Adams, bandleader and vocalist shares digital distribution with Ella, Billie, Carmen and the legend ladies of jazz. "It was thrilling the first time I logged onto Apple iTunes, downloaded the free software and searched 'Orange Colored Sky' to see my music for sale right beside some of the biggest jazz artists in history." So says a grinning Patricia Adams, jazz vocalist and bandleader of a quartet, featuring Ray Santisi, piano and music director. Along with other independent artists, Adams finds the industry's playing field greatly leveled with on-line distribution services such as Amazon.com, JZVOC.com, TowerRecords.com and CDBaby.com which also brokers her digital distribution to 20 digital services, currently on iTunes in the US, Canada and Europe, Musicnet and MSNmusic with more to come. Adams favorite story happened a few months ago, shortly after her debut on iTunes. She says, 'we were on stage; I was into my usual sales pitch to buy our CD. I mentioned, off-hand, single tracks could be purchased on iTunes. There was a distinctly noticeable pause, and then several tables of young people in the room broke into loud applause and cheers. Two, who had been sitting with their backs to the stage, picked up their chairs from underneath, turned around and faced the stage for the remainder of the show. Singin' and swinging' Arlen and Mercer, Irving Berlin, Rube Bloom and Ted Koehler - - you name them from Tin Pan Alley and the Harlem renaissance, Adams and Santisi percolate. They play the Sunday brunch rotation every month on the first Sunday at Ryles Jazz Club, Cambridge, MA. Patricia Adams, bandleader and vocalist, shuttles her renditions of standards from renaissance Harlem and Tin Pan Alley between Manhattan, Westchester, Hartford and Boston. Reviewers say, " . . . reigns when she steps to the microphone . . . backed by a superb trio . . . classy song stylist . . . her ability to put together a musical road atlas sets Adams apart . . . voice is silky smooth, yet strong". Stepping onto a nightclub stage for the first time in 1992 at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston, Adams segued to designated show opener there for the Frank Wilkins Vocal Showcase until 1996. Two years, a hundred open mics and twenty nursing homes later, she took the plunge and traded her thirty-five year career in human resources management for life as a full time artist. Many press kits and phone calls later, her venues now attract those who enjoy the jazz and blues standards of the 1930's and '40's. Her following has grown from family and friends to thousands. Earning BS and MBA degrees in the 1960's, Adams studied music theory, harmony, and improvisation at the New England Conservatory in Boston and at the Performing Arts School of Worcester in the 1990's. She has studied with Semenya McCord, Dominique Eade and Frank Wilkins in Boston and with Jim Carson, Jeannie Lovetri of Voice Workshop, Sheila Jordan and Kirk Nurock in Manhattan. Adams' discography includes Live @ Ryles Jazz Club (2005), With Our Compliments! (2004), Out of this World (2001) which placed in four categories on the 2001 Grammy Awards ballot, Blue for You (1998), and Raw Silk (1996). Adams is a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences and served on the board of the New England Conservatory. Ray Santisi is an internationally known jazz pianist who has played as featured soloist with Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, Mel Torme, Irene Kral, Natalie Cole, and countless other well-known jazz greats. He has recorded on major labels, such as Capitol, Roulette, United Artists, Bethlehem, Transition, Rasan and Sonnet. Teaching with Stan Kenton's summer jazz clinics on college campuses throughout the country, performing in Europe, Scandinavia, and Asia, receiving two grants for composition and performance from the National Endowment for the Arts are a few examples of Ray’s global appeal. Ray Santisi's The Real Thing, a multi-talented group, brings the vitality of fresh, contemporary arrangements to the classic music of the Great American Song Book. The group's internationally-known instrumentalists are complemented and enhanced by fine vocalese, creating a unique ensemble effect. write your comments about the article :: © 2005 Jazz News :: home page |