MP3 Todd Gordon - Ballads from The Midnight Hotel

The ultimate 'after hours' album - with fresh interpretations of classic songs and lesser-known gems from the American Songbook. Includes duet with Jacqui Dankworth - a "stylish makeover of Gordon Lightfoot's If You Could Read My Mind" (The Times, London)

15 MP3 Songs
EASY LISTENING: Crooners/Vocals, JAZZ: Jazz Vocals



Details:
FEATURING SPECIAL GUESTS: JACQUI DANKWORTH, JOHN PARRICELLI & GUY BARKER

In just three years, Todd Gordon has established himself as "one of the country's most popular singers and entertainers" (The Scotsman). He was an avid Beatles fan until the age of eleven when he first heard Sinatra. From then, he collected every album by Ol' Blue Eyes before broadening his interest in jazz to encompass many other renowned singer and instrumentalists.

In 1975 he met Ella Fitzgerald prior to her show and during the concert she invited him on stage and sang specially to him. He was also fortunate enough to meet some of his other idols, including Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Count Basie, Woody Herman and George Shearing.

Spanning a 20 year period, Todd immersed himself in The Great American Songbook, resulting in a repertoire of over well over a thousand songs. His interest in music and singing was passionate, yet private. Then, in 2000, he participated on a Vocal Jazz Workshop run by Fionna Duncan and that changed everything. Todd's first time on stage came in 2001 at the famed Henry's Jazz Cellar in Edinburgh and, as the cliche goes, he's never looked back. In 2003, he was booked to open for Dionne Warwick during her UK tour visit which prompted him to give up his 'day job.'

Todd performs at many of the most prestigious venues, with frequent appearances at London's Pizza on the Park and now a regular at The 606 Club in Chelsea as well as Pizza Express, Soho, etc. He has performed at The Plaza and Algonquin hotels in New York - where he even did a duet with actor Christopher Walken, singing "I've Got You Under My Skin" - and also features in jazz festivals and concerts.

His audiences range from intimate jazz club settings to large-scale shows (he regularly comperes and performs in Jazz on a Summer's Day the UK's biggest jazz event with an audience of 20,000+) and he was also one of four nominees up for a national music award alongside Texas, Ilan Volkov and Annie Lennox. Jamie Cullum also personally asked Todd to dep for him whilst he was recording the ground-breaking 'Twentysomething' album.

This new album, once again with award-winning Ian Shaw in the producer's chair, features fantastic musicians including John Parricelli and Guy Barker, an arrangement by Richard Niles, and a duet with Jacqui Dankworth.

"Great performance!" - Dionne Warwick / "Todd's voice can really tell a story" - Jamie Cullum / "The consummate performer of the American songbook" - The Independent / "Doing it his way, Sinatra's ghost lives on in the work of one of his most polished admirers" - Clive Davis, The Times / "The words slip off his tongue drenched in charisma and class" - Rick Finlay, Jazz Review / "Like all the great singers such as Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra, Todd Gordon has the rare gift of creating the web of atmosphere that enfolds his listeners and draws them right into the heart of every song's story" - Edinburgh Guide / "Very enjoyable... tender voice and wonderful selection of songs" - Elaine Stritch / "Todd sings with wonderful feeling and time" - Sheila Jordan / "Leader in his field, with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Great American Songbook" - Scottish Television / "Sensational voice" - multi-Grammy-Award-winning producer, Michael Haas / "Todd believes every line of the song he's performing, and his sheer love and respect for the material sets him apart" - Eric Milligan, President, Edinburgh International Jazz Festival / "The smoothness of his voice and his wonderful charisma on stage will make you want to hear him and see him over and over and over" - Barbara Morrison / "Spine-tingling stuff of the classic kind" - Sinatra Music Society / "The new King of Swing" - The Independent / "Impeccable choice of music... [Todd] and his musicians interact wonderfully" - Michael Parkinson CBE.

For more information, visit www.toddgordon.com and www.myspace.com/toddgordon