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"THEME FROM SHAFT" The Pre-Release Single From Stryker with Strings Goes to the Movies Music and movies are the most captivating, the most arresting of all art forms. In their immersive magic they spark the inner powerhouse of emotions and dreams that illuminates the soul. Inspired by their 2023 Emmy-winning PBS special Wes Montgomery at 100: A 100th Birthday Tribute Concert, guitarist Dave Stryker and arranger and conductor Brent Wallarab decided to explore their mutual love of movies by recording 11 classic movie themes with a 30-piece studio orchestra. * Each musician brought an impressive jazz pedigree to the collaboration. Stryker’s resume includes signi cant stints with organist Jack McDu and saxophonist Stanley Turrentine before establishing himself as a name and a force in his own right. Wallarab has co-led the Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra for three decades, most recently recording his magnum opus to date The Gennett Suite, an expansive 21st-century big-band reimagining of classic jazz that Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, and others recorded for the Gennett label in the 1920s. * Stryker and Wallarab decided to employ an unusual instrumental con guration for this album with a 30-piece studio orchestra featuring jazz quartet, strings, and trombones, punctuated by solo work from violinist Sara Caswell, saxophonist Greg Ward, trumpeter Mark Buselli, and trombonist Jim Pugh. The rich but always tastefully-restrained strength of Wallarab’s writing for brass and strings is underpinned by what Stryker calls a “take-no-prisoners, real New-York-style” rhythm section of Xavier Davis on piano, Jeremy Allen on bass, and McClenty Hunter on drums that keeps the groove owing throughout the album, whatever the mood or tempo. The result yields much for everybody to enjoy, from the most seasoned jazz a cionado to the most casual listener, with a fresh repertoire that draws heavily on lms from the 1960s, ‘70s, and ‘80s—formative cinematic years for the two artists at the wheel here. *Stryker with Strings Goes to the Movies is the product of months of creative sweat and toil. It’s also the sound of a new artistic partnership forged between guitarist Stryker and arranger-composer Wallarab. “He made it cinematic, ” says Stryker of Wallarab’s writing throughout the album. “It’s just gorgeous. He’s such a great arranger and musician. Because of him, we came up with something really special.” * Wallarab is quick to return praise for the star and leading man of this production: “Dave’s reputation as one of the most swinging guitarists alive is accurate and well-deserved. But it’s his innate understanding of how to serve, through subtle nuance, each individual tune that is equally amazing. Every melody statement and improvised solo is perfectly shaped for the song and for the arrangement. His solos start, arc, and conclude as a perfect part of the composition, and he gets it right every single time.” —From the liner notes by David Brent Johnson / WFIU-Bloomington, IN Artist: Dave Stryker Title: Stryker with Strings Goes to the Movies Label: Strikezone Records 8827 Artist’s Website: www.davestryker.com Release Date: January 10, 2025 UPC Code: 195269315887 Track listing, track times: 1 In Your Eyes (Gabriel) 5:34 from Say Anything 2 Cinema Paradiso (Main Theme) (Morricone) 4:51 from Cinema Paradiso 3 You Only Live Twice (Barry/Bricusse) 5:57 from You Only Live Twice 4 Taxi Driver (Main Title) (Herrmann) 6:18 from Taxi Driver 5 Theme from Shaft (Hayes) 6:08 from Shaft 6 Cavatina (Myers) 5:59 from The Deer Hunter 7 Flirtibird (Ellington/Strayhorn) 6:07 from Anatomy of a Murder 8 Low Key Lightly (Ellington/Strayhorn) 5:22 from Anatomy of a Murder 9 Moonglow (Hudson/Mills) 6:14 from Picnic 10 Dreamsville (Mancini/Livingston/Evans) 5:14 from Gunn 11 Edelweiss ( Rodgers/Hammerstein) 4:53 from The Sound of Music Produced by Dave Stryker, Brent Wallarab and Greg Reynolds Recorded and Mixed Feb 24-25 and Mar 10, 2024 by Jacob Belser at Primary Sound, Bloomington IN Mastered by- Michael Romanowski Liner notes- David Brent Johnson Graphic Design- Christopher Drukker |
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