Smooth jazz featuring saxophone.

10 MP3 Songs
JAZZ: Smooth Jazz, JAZZ: Crossover Jazz

Details:
Artist Information

Biography
For Immediate Release
ACCLAIMED COMPOSER/SAXOPHONIST
JESSIE ALLEN COOPER
CONNECTS LISTENERS AROUND THE WORLD
WITH AN EXPLOSIVE MIX OF JAZZ, BLUES, POP AND WORLD MUSIC
ON HIS LATEST RECORDING
'LET'S CONNECT.'

Tracks Recorded Featuring Some of LA's Top Session Musicians,
The Pop Instrumental Set Was Produced By Jessie Allen Cooper
And Former Rippington Steve Reid
And Recorded In Part At Reid's Sonic Jungle
On The Famous Trident Console From The Old A&M Studios


Let's connect to each other. Let's connect to musical history and to the world around us. Jessie Allen Cooper's 'Let's Connect' provides just the vehicle. Connecting was Cooper's goal in producing this album, a goal he's sonically nailed. Music naturally connects people by underscoring the emotions we all share, reminding us that we are less different and less isolated than we all often feel. Watching friends from various backgrounds, influences, ages, and tastes, collectively head-bob to the beats makes that connection perfectly clear: Let's Connect

In the spirit of his iconic ancestor, Benjamin Franklin, a genius known for smithing powerful creativity, ingenuity, and a deep sense of restless invention, Cooper brilliantly taps into an eclectic array of musical genres â pop, jazz, R&B, chill, and world beat. With seamless craft, Cooper subtly weaves these distinctive styles, thus transcending passing musical trends. The popular composer and saxophonist's studio, Cooper Sound Waves, is located in Venice Beach, California, the melting pot which clearly influenced this project. Drawing inspiration from this multitude of genres, but letting each have its voice, makes Cooper's highly anticipated new CD 'Let's Connect' an exciting must have for adventurous listeners everywhere.

While 'Let's Connect' directly follows the sax and piano based chill out/relaxation project 'Pacific Lounge' in Cooper's discography, its rich textures, distinctively Latin and Brazilian directions, and vibrant eclecticism expand upon the multi-faceted energy of his last major market release, 2003's 'Sound Travels.' Co-producing the album with longtime collaborator and former Rippingtons percussionist and soundscape master Steve Reid, Cooper connected his favorite L.A. based musicians for sessions that took place at Cooper Sound Waves, Krizman's Farm, and Reid's well known Sonic Jungle â a facility featuring the famous classic Trident console from the old A&M Studios. Half of the ten tracks were done from start to finish at the Sonic Jungle. Let's Connect reflects Cooper's old school meets modern technology approach the project includes the use of both analog and Pro Tools recording equipment.

"I'm super excited about 'Let's Connect.' It's the true pinnacle of my music to date," says Cooper, who launched his career in the mid-80's with the now classic recordings 'Heaven Sent' and 'Soft Wave.' He says, "It has flavors of every kind of music I have recorded and performed in the past, plus a lot of new and exciting world music and cool blues elements. These tracks are 'pop jazz.' They're 'pop instrumental,' as they stretch and connect boundaries." While the project has a wide range of versatility, the tight melodic connections keep the music from veering away from its overall vision. Cooper says, "If it was a clock the hands would be between ten and two swinging in either direction even during the same song and at times stretching beyond those boundaries."
Cooper adds that 'Let's Connect' connects many different dimensions and styles with shades of blues and world beats, where some tracks are wild, jamming, and up tempo others are more moody, lyrical and introspective. The title track 'Let's Connect' sets the tone for the album with a thick and crisp urban smooth jazz sound. Focal tracks include the live-in-studio samba jam 'At The Festival,' and the grooving ventures 'Departure,' 'Beyond the Sun' and 'Thai Lady.' The softer side of the saxman's artistry shines through in the ballads 'Personal Touch' and 'For Your Eyes.'

Aside from co-writing with more R&B-oriented composers, Reid pushed Cooper to play more harmonica, his original instrument, and tenor sax in addition to Cooper's well-known soprano sax. If listeners aren't familiar with some of the names in Cooper's ensemble, they likely know their work. Keyboardist and Liverpool native Mike Railo, whom Cooper credits as being one of the 'sonic architects' of the project, played with iconic 80's bands English Beat and Flock of Seagulls, has done sessions for Ozzy Osbourne, worked with Sting and writes a lot of film music. On the explosive title track, which will be the album's first radio single, Cooper creates real horn section magic with trumpeter Jim Hale, who also appeared on 'Sound Travels.'

Other key participants shaping the sound of 'Let's Connect' include keyboardists Kim Hansen, part of Steve Reid's Bamboo Forest Group who has also played with Babyface, Steve Katz (Jon Anderson), and Armen Chakmakian (Shadowfax); guitarists Jack Majdecki (Glenn Yarbrough, Sergio Mendes) and guitar legend Mack Dougherty (Jaco Pastorius, Frank Sinatra); bassist Vail Johnson (Stevie Nicks, Kenny G, Warren Hill); and a tight rhythm section, including the bass playing of Baba Elefante (Lee Oscar of War) and the drumming of Brazilian native Sandro Feliciano (Airto Morelra and Flora Purim.) Paula Samonte makes a dynamic vocalese appearance on 'Departure' and 'Beyond The Sun' (Paul McCandless.) Although longtime Cooper associate Rick Krizman did not play on the album, the keyboardist/producer played a key role as a creative consultant and co-producer. The exotic songs 'Rio Del Soul' and 'Havana Moon' were tracked at his studio, Krizman's Farm.

A native of the Seattle area, Cooper embraced the saxophone at age 19 when he realized the chromatic limitations of the diatonic harmonica. He deepened his studies of jazz improvisation and composition at Western Washington State University, where he minored in art. From his late teens on, he was in succession of bands playing different styles of music â 'Mosehops' (hard blues-rock), 'Rainbow Blues Band (strictly blues), Déjà vu (funk and R&B) and Aurora (pop-rock). Aurora toured extensively throughout the Pacific Northwest and Canada. When Aurora broke up, Cooper moved to Los Angeles, where he got gigs playing with The Coasters and Charles Wright before beginning to record his own music.

Album projects include the smooth jazz oriented 'Moment In Time' (1993), the 5-CD musical healing project 'Sounds of Feelings' (2000), and '9-11-01,' a powerfully spiritual musical response to the events of September 11th. Written and recorded the week of the terrorist attacks, tracks from this recording were played on over 200 radio stations and received over 10,000 website hits, a tribute to Cooper's ability to connect people and the world.

"Artists must push themselves to diversify beyond one style of expression," says Cooper. "Music is a high art that adds something incredible to the way we live, and way we live together by taking us to those emotional places we experience inside ourselves but share in common. Music also heals our spirits. I know from personal experience. I create music for that reason... to effect positive change in our lives and connect us to things that really matter."




Instrumentation
Saxophone, Harmonica, and Keyboard - Jessie Allen Cooper
Drums, Percussion - Steve Reid
Drums - Sandro Feliciano
Keyboards - Kim Hansen
Guitar - Jack Majdecki
Bass - Baba Elefante
Vocals - Paula Samonte


Discography
Let's Connect
Pacific Lounge
Sound Travels
Moment in Time
9-11
Sound of Feelings
Soft Wave
Heaven Sent



Links
http://www.coopersoundwaves.com

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