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| Gordon Weiss Releases First Solo Indie Album Sum of Its Parts Gordon Weiss put his pop sensibilities to good use on his first indie solo release Sum of Its Parts. Weiss is an incredibly gifted musician, playing guitar, piano, bass, percussion, and writes all of his own music and lyrics. Session drummer Greg Trabandt of RVP Studios found out that Gordon had an unfulfilled dream to make a record of his original music; Greg not only introduced Gordon to veteran producer Jeff Cannata, but agreed to play drums on all the tracks of Sum of Its Parts. Featuring brilliant contributions from ace keyboard player Jeff Batter and soaring vocal harmonies from Pete Hodson and Bill Welch of Z-Plan, Gordon wanted to keep this first solo album personal by playing the rest of the instruments himself. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Gordon Weiss had his first true foray into the world of music through studying classical trumpet for eight years, culminating in two performances at Carnegie Hall with the New York City All-City Band. That was just the beginning for Weiss as things were about to change. Like many others, Gordon found musical refuge with The Beatles. The power chords of Pete Townshend and The Who convinced him that playing the trumpet was not his true calling, so he picked up an old acoustic guitar and started to learn all John Entwistle's bass lines. Soon afterwards, the young musician acquired a bass and played in bands in high school and college, before adding a Stratocaster to his collection, which prompted his first attempts at singing and songwriting. As they say, the rest is history; here we are with a superb pop-rock album, Sum of Its Parts, to show for a lifetime of efforts and love of music with strong melodies and clever wordplay. Sum of Its Parts features hook filled rock-pop gems like "Red Shoes Revisited" and "Half of Harry." Gordon Weiss pays tribute to his many influences on every track on the recording, so it comes as no surprise that people who enjoy bands like The Beatles, Steely Dan, Elvis Costello, Squeeze, Crowded House, and other pop maestros will gobble this up like a kid in a candy store. write your comments about the article :: © 2008 Jazz News :: home page |