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| Glass House Release Third Album - 'Long Way Down' Much to the anticipation of music aficionados worldwide, the long-awaited third album from acclaimed Oakland music duo Glass House, 'Long Way Down', was released on October 15, 2013. Featuring David Worm, best known for his long association with vocal pioneer Bobby McFerrin and guitarist / multi-instrumentalist Mark Vickness. Combining songwriting influences from artists such as Sting, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, Jason Mraz and Dave Matthews, with performance styles influenced by Bobby McFerrin and Michael Hedges, 'Long Way Down' is a tour de force of Mark Vickness' intricate, layered guitars and David Worm's soaring, blues-inflected vocals. The CD reflects the full range of Glass House, from the sparsely haunting solo acoustic guitar and voice rendition of Robbie Robertson's "Broken Arrow", the funk string quartet intro to "Turn Away" to the driving, world music-infused choral tapestry of "Build A Bridge". Lyrics run the gamut from tender personal pathos (For Now, Thank You) to timely political and social narratives (Turn Away, Where I Belong). Widely-acclaimed YouTube videos by Glass House Music have been viewed by hundreds of thousands of fans. When the live version video of Broken Arrow was first released, it was the seventh most-viewed YouTube video according to Billboard.com, beating out Christina Aguilera's "You Lost Me" and Pearl Jam's "Unthought Known." Says Mark, "I would say the overreaching concept of the new album is as simple as two old friends writing and performing well crafted, honest songs with the help of a bunch of superb artists we were lucky to be able to work with. The lyrics generally speak to two different themes: 1) socially responsible messages, and 2) personal songs usually involving some kind of striving for fulfillment. Musically, this third CD is the culmination of 23 years working together. It blends the various styles David and I have been involved in over the years: singer/songwriter, folk, blues, jazz, classical, world." With over twenty-three years of working together, David Worm and Mark Vickness have shared much more than a passion for great songwriting. From personal tragedy to the joy of raising children, through all the changes of the last two decades, these musicians have made writing songs together a constant thread, a platform on which to build not just a body of work but a lifelong friendship and a musical chemistry that infuses every song. Over the years, David and Mark have worked with many phenomenal musicians. That trend continues on their new album. Producer/bassist Jon Evans is well-known for his years recording and touring with Tori Amos and Third Eye Blind. Two time Grammy winners, The Turtle Island String Quartet contribute their remarkable talents on two songs. Also appearing are drummers Scott Amendola (Charlie Hunter), L.A. studio ace, MB Gordy (Frank Zappa, Green Day, Bill Withers), tabla virtuoso Ty Burhoe, violinist Mads Tolling (Stanley Clarke) and vocalists Ashling Cole (Prince) and Julianna Graffagna (Kitka). David Worm, a native of Oakland California, began his singing career in 1985 with the Bay Area groups Jazz Mouth and Vocal Front. In 1989 he became a founding member of Bobby McFerrin's Voicestra and has remained a regular performer with McFerrin, featured on recordings, videos, and touring internationally. Most recently, David performed with McFerrin at the San Francisco debut of McFerrin's Vocabularies with the Pacific Mozart Ensemble. David is also a founding member of the a cappella group, SoVoSo, an internationally acclaimed vocal ensemble which has released six albums and tours worldwide. Other current performing projects include touring and teaching in the innovative improvisational trio, WeBe3, where he teams up with dear friends and vocal powerhouses Rhiannon and Joey Blake, collaborating with spoken word artist PC Munoz and his band Left Hook, and singing and performing with the Bay Area's Miribai Ensemble. David has over fifty recording credits as a session singer, vocal percussionist, and writer, and his original music has been recorded by groups both nationally and internationally. David has worked extensively with the Bay Area dance community, having scored or co-written numerous full-length works for Robert Moses' Kin (one of these projects being a recipient of the Isadora Duncan Award), Oberlin Dance, Tandy Beal, Project Bandaloop (an Isadora Duncan Award nominee), Cherie Carson, June Watanabe, and Suzanne Gallo. David's music has also been used in scoring the film documentaries "StepUp" for Canadian director Tamas Wormser, and "Love Francesca" for producer Julie LaSalle. David has taught improvisational singing and vocal percussion at the Omega Institute in New York, The Esalen Institute in Big Sur California, and regularly teaches vocal improvisation and vocal percussion in schools and other places of learning throughout the U.S. and Europe Taught from an early age (he began his studies in classical piano at age six) to broaden his musical horizons as much as possible, Mark Vickness is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and composer with a huge musical range developed over years of study, recording and performance. With a master's degree in composition, Mark has written scores from simple pieces for piano and voice to large jazz ensembles to a concerto for North Indian Tabla, from large-scale ballets to documentary film scores. He has years of experience in world music having performed in West African Drum ensembles, an Indonesian Gamelan orchestra, and as a sitarist and tabla player. A classically trained guitarist, his principle influences are Michael Hedges, Pat Metheny, John Mclaughlin, Joe Pass and Ralph Towner. Mark has led rock bands, jazz bands, experimental improvisational groups and everything in between. He plays a custom-made eight string guitar/bass, a Michael Greenfield G4 fan fret six-string and a Duane Noble eleven-string harp guitar. He is endorsed by Greenfield Guitars. Mark began writing songs at age twelve inspired initially by iconic songwriters including James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Elton John and Pete Townsend. Here's what's being said about "Long Way Down': "Excellent. Listen up!!" - Bobby McFerrin "Just beautiful. I don't want it to end. We're filled in this world with a lot of things that bring us down, that knock our spirits down. Music like that just lifts me up." - Larry Kelp, KPFA 94.1 FM "Thanks so much for the terrific show at Noe Valley Ministry last night. I thoroughly enjoyed your performance, especially the opening song - just beautiful work." - Drew Pearce, Bay Area music journalist "Glass House will no doubt strike a chord with its target audience." - Kirsty Evans, East Bay Express In conclusion, Mark has this to impart, "We hope our audience will give 'Long Way Down' a close listening. Our music is intricate. It's layered. With my background as a composer and David's work with different types of vocal groups over the years, the arrangements on 'Long Way Down' are rich with subtlety. The guest artists added a lot of great playing and harmony singing. Enjoy!" write your comments about the article :: © 2013 Jazz News :: home page |