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2011 Highlights |
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If you live in this area, watch the papers for The Monti. Jeff Polish searches for storytellers and each performance is a different group. These aren't professional storytellers, just people with compelling stories - sometimes funny, sometimes poignant, but always riveting. We did a compilation of the best of The Monti. Look for it in stores. www.themonti.org
Yolanda Rabun joins our cadre of really wonderful jazz singers. She sings for the Stanley Baird group, but has struck out on her own with "So Real". You can listen and see her new video at www.yolandarabun.com Omar Zinn, by day, is a builder, but rapper by night. We did Omar's first record for his group Sweet Acidopholus in 1993. He has since had a family and worked at his career, but does really wonderful work with an afterschool dance step program. He is one of the most passionate people I have met who uses music and dance to provide positive messages to kids. Anna Rose Beck Local singer songwriter put out her new album "The Weathermaker" in April. Go visit her website at www.annarosebeck.com . ELM Is it jazz? Is it techno? Is it a little tango? It's all of the above. Jim Crew, Ed Butler and other assorted friends made a really wonderful record. To say Chatham County Line is bluegrass is too restrictive. Yes, they play the traditional instruments used in bluegrass, but the original songs and modern melodies make for an incredible band. We worked on "Wildwood" in 2011 available on YepRoc records. They just came off a big European tour and are now mixing a live record. Keep up with them at www.chathamcountyline.com John Brown is the director of the Jazz Program at Duke University and has played with a few little jazz musicians like Wynton Marsalis, Elvin Jones, Nnenna Freelon, and Rosemary Clooney. We had a chance to see his big band before the holidays. They performed Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite as arranged by Duke Ellington - what an amazing experience. He's got links to his CDs and upcoming shows at www.jbjazz.com . Composer, jazz vocalist, and educator are some of the few labels you could give Lenora Zenzalai Helm. She has loads of accolades and some very impressive reviews. Catch up with Lenora at www.lenorahelm.com . OAK Team "“I’ve got every sound that makes you glad to be alive,” Terry Anderson declares on “I’m Your Radio.”Isn’t that what it all comes down to? Isn’t that what we’re all looking for in music? One thing’s for sure: Few evoke that glad-to-be-alive feeling in this listener as well as Terry Anderson and his Olympic Ass-Kickin’ Team. These North Carolinians remind you why you fell in love with rock-and-roll in the first place. They don’t try to reinvent the music – thank goodness – they just distill it to its glorious essence. ”— Nick Cristiano , The Philadelphia Inquirer - I just lifted that straight off their website because I can't say any better. Listen and learn about the Ass Kickin Team at their www.facebook.com/oakteam . Stories of AIDS is a project by passionate activist and musician, Andrew Finn McGill. He traveled to Malawi, gathered ten stories of AIDS and with the help of Malawan musicians made a beautiful CD to tell those stories. To see how you can listen or lend your support, go to www.storiesofaids.com . It's a really inspiring website. Uncle Mountain's "Miles of Skyline" is hard to define - a little bluegrass, a little Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and a little Beatles. Lilting harmonies and unusual arrangements are the bread and butter of this band. They are number 71 on WNCW's (One of NC's best radio stations in my opinion) top 100 albums of 2011 above Ralph Stanley, Ben Harper and Keb'Mo'. That's sayin' somthin'. These guys are on the road a lot so check your local club listings or go to their website at www.unclemountain.com . Bocanegra was recorded in both Lima, Peru and NC. They are one of the many bands that added an international flavor to our client roster. They have a really pro video on their website. Watch it at www.bocanegramusic.com/english . John Hollenbeck's Claudia Quintet released "What Is The Beautiful" to a barrage of accolades -the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, All About Jazz, BBC, and Audiophile just to name a few. With poetry, beautiful compositions, and amazing musicianship, what's not to like? We know Bill Leslie as the longtime morning anchor of WRAL TV, but Yo Yo Ma says, "He's one of the greats in modern Celtic music.". That's on Bill's front page and it's quite an endorsement, but that's not all - his latest record "A Midnight Clear - Christmas in Mitford" is ranked #1 on the world radio charts for December. And for those of you who are big readers, yes, Mitford is a reference to the books by Jan Karon who is one of Bill's biggest fans. We are, too. www.billleslie.com Jason Masi is a hard working guy. He's out there working the clubs constantly. In is slim down time he put out this record "Life is Wonderful". He's an accomplished singer songwriter so look for him at a club near you. You can find his schedule at www.jasonmasi.com . Possum Jenkin's "Carolinacana" was released last month with the help from Kickstarter supporters. If you don't know about Kickstarter, it's a way for artists of all kind to raise money to fund their project. Check it out at www.kickstarter.com and find more info about Possum Jenkins at www.possumjenkinsband.com . And lastly, but certainly not leastly is Ani DiFranco's newest release, "Which Side Are You On?'. This is her 17th studio release, but that doesn't take into account the over a dozen live albums and EPs. The woman is prolific. Ani is known for her politics and poetry, but since she met her producer/husband, Mike Napalitano and had her daughter, she has shown us a soft side. This newest release has all of Ani's signature fire, but is dotted in between with nuggets of poignancy, melancholy and straight up love songs. Find out more about Ani and her work at her record label, Righteous Babe Records .
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2011 Grammy Nominations! |
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 2011-12-08 Congratulations to our 2011 Grammy Nominated Clients! Congratulations to Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys for their nomination of their CD 'Grand Isle' in the "Best Regional Roots Music Album" category. As many of you know, this year N.A.R.A.S. (the Grammy organization) eliminated dozens of categories and has grouped many disparate forms of music into broader categories. Hence the appearance of 'Grand Isle' in the 'Roots' category. If you are a voting member, please give Steve's record a listen and your vote if you like what you hear. Producer CC Adcock and mixer Mike Napolitano really created a distinct sounding record by juxtaposing vintage recording techniques and instrumentation against pristine hi- fidelity elements. And they didn't stop there! There were some very vintage and atypical processing techniques utilized during mastering to give this record it's distinct sound. It was not your standard mastering session to say the least! 
Longtime client John Hollenbeck (and 2010 Grammy Nominee for best Jazz Large Ensemble category - which we mastered), is up for another this year for 'Best Instrumental Composition'. The nomination is for "Falling Men", one of ten mini- concertos that John composed for Daniel Yvinec's Orchestra National de Jazz album 'Shut Up And Dance'. Though we did not master this French release, we are huge fans of John and wish him luck! We did master John's latest Claudia Quintet CD "What Is The Beautiful" (featuring Kurt Elling), which has been garnering incredible reviews in both the trade and general media as of late. Do yourself a favor and give both of these releases a listen, John is a major international composer, and in my opinion, creating some of the most important compositions and albums of our time. 
Best of luck to both John and Steve in February! For more information please visit the artist's websites: http://mamouplayboys.com http://johnhollenbeck.com/ |
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2010 Highlights |
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I've decided to just give a quick (maybe not so quick) rundown of 2010.
We started things off with a bang with another stellar effort by Grammy-nominated John Hollenbeck. Hailing from New York and Berlin, John sent in his Claudia Quintet record called "Royal Toast". It was a great way to kick off the new year.
Jubeus roots, rock and soul frontman, Jason Masi from Richmond, Virginia, brought in his new solo album "Balance and Pull".
Griffanzo aka Robert Griffin put out his first ever solo record. Piano player extraordinaire, Griffin, can be seen lately playing with the Squirrel Nut Zippers.
We did the finishing touches on the new Brett Harris release, "Man of Few Words". This record has garnered lots of critical praise from the likes of Paste Magazine.
Allison Dennis channeled her love of yoga into music. "The Light Revolution" was her first venture into the studio, but was aided by talented music pro and DJ, Steven Levitin (aka The Applejuice Kid).
Tom Maxwell, former frontman of the Squirrel Nut Zippers, brought in a new solo release. My personal favorite is "Who Threw That Ham at Me".
C.C. Adcock brought in a stellar record with a stellar line-up called Lil' Band O' Gold. Comprised of the most legendary players around in the Louisiana swamp rock scene. Warren Storm, C.C., Steve Riley, David Egan, Dave Ranson, Pat Breaux, Dickie Landry, and Richard Comeaux - it doesn't get much better than this. These guys are also featured in an award-winning documentary film called "The Promised Land: A Swamp Pop Journey".
More to come...
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Kitchen in the Media |
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Several projects mastered at the Kitchen have found their way on to the local and national media scene recently.
The Avett Brothers performed on the Grammys with Bob Dylan. Mumford and Sons started it off with a rousing rendition of "The Cave". The Avett Brothers followed it up with folk anthem "Head Full of Doubt, Road Full of Promise". The kicker was Bob Dylan stepping out and all joining in with the classic "Maggie's Farm". Click here to see the whole performance.
Danny Infantino, classical guitarist extraordinaire (although doing some cool dabbling into bossa), has been heard on several radio/TV programs including All My Children, My Name is Earl, Saving Grace and most recently on NPR.
Here's a new press release regarding our long-time client David Lowery...
The long-awaited solo effort by David Lowery of Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven has finally hit the shelves. Opening to glowing reviews, the critics resoundingly have given The Palace Guards high marks. Spin Magazine gave the record 8 out of 10 stars and Magnet Magazine featured Lowery with an mp3 download of the title track. Recorded in Richmond, Virginia at Sound of Music with his long-time studio collaborators John Morand, Alan Weatherhead and Miguel Urbiztondo, Lowery keeps his smart, wise cracking attitude about love, politics and people. The title track "is every working stiff's national anthem," said Brent Lambert of the Kitchen Mastering in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. This is the seventh record that Lambert has mastered for Lowery including Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven releases. This record was one of the last recorded at the Broad Street location of Sound of Music. "I always loved the room tone at the Broad Street building and the arrangements on this record make good use of the space," remarked mastering engineer Brent Lambert. "I don't usually take home every record that I work on, but this one I took home and really gave it a listen without my engineering hat on. Dave is such a great songwriter," added Lambert. "It's the whole package - lyrically and musically."
John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats and The Extra Lens has signed with Merge Records. The Extra Lens is a side project for John with Franklin Bruno. Undercard was released the end of 2010. John has also just finished up a new Mountain Goats record, All Eternals Deck, due out March 26, 2011. Watch for that. You're going to love it! John has also had a couple of star turns. First, John appeared with Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report. Paste Magazine wrote about it and you can see the interview here. More recently John appeared with Superchunk on the Jimmy Fallon Show. To see the performance click here. I also caught The Mountain Goats at the end of a particularly moving episode of This American Life. OK, one more thing about the Mountain Goats (John is on a roll!) - Rian Johnson writer/director of the films Brick and The Brothers Bloom, shot John's whole performance of The Life of the World to Come.
Chatham County Line released Wildwood on YepRoc Records. Here's a really nice write-up about them in Our State Magazine.
HBO hit series True Blood has prominently featured the works of CC Adcock off of his "Lafayette Marquis" album which we mastered back in 2007. The swampy New Orleans back-line rhythms with CC's unique guitar tones lend just the right mood to this popular series about modern day vampires.
Zachary Richard 's latest album "Last Kiss" was featured on NPR's Weekend Edition on which they did an extensive interview and played several tracks including "Acadian Driftwood" which features Canadian uber-diva Celine Dion .
Also on NPR , Fiona Richey's Scotland-based celtic music show Thistle and Shamrock featured North Carolina based duo Little Windows (Julee Glaub and Mark Weems) on a recent show (Program 1354). Apparantly, the duo's strong vocal harmonies and traditional Appalachian and Celtic influences were strong enough for Fiona to cull them from the sea of disks she receives and warrant a feature.
Hindugrass was just featured on WUNC's own program, The State of Things . Hindugrass combines the sounds of North Indian classical and folk music traditions with American bluegrass using instruments rangining from the sarod, tabla, fiddle, upright bass, jaw harp and more. You can listen to the program online .
This adds to the list of Kitchen-based projects that have found their way into nationally recognized media programming. Other recent appearances have included Katherine Whalen in HBO's Sex and the City , Nick Lowe 's "At My Age" album feature on NPR's Weekend Edition.
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