Audio Radiance Ernie Watts
| Audio Radiance
Audio Radiance is now enjoying its 20th year as one of the cutting edge vocal jazz ensembles in the United States. The School for Music Vocations is part of Southwestern Community College in Creston Iowa. They tour nationally and internationally each year. This a cappella group primarily performs arrangements by director, Jason Smith. Mr. Smith was nominated for a Grammy award for his work on the album Night in the City by The PM Singers. The students in Audio Radiance all study Jazz Piano, Classical Piano, Jazz Voice, Classical Voice, Music Theory, Ear Training, Vocal and Instrumental Arranging/Composition, Conducting, Recording Studio Techniques, Rehearsal Techniques, Vocal Improvisation. The also perform in the Concert Choir which tours annually, as well. This year, tours by Audio Radiance include the San Francisco bay area and the greater Los Angeles area, as they serve as headliners at two jazz festivals and open for the world renowned a cappella group m-pact. To hear samples of Jason Smith's arrangements go to: http://www.jasonalexsmith.com/Selections.html | ||
|
Ernie Watts After hearing saxophonist Ernie Watts, it's easy to imagine that he possesses superhuman talents similar to those held by members of the fictional Fantastic Four. He breathes fire, can cool with ice, whip up a storm, and shape his sax sound in ways otherworldly. This is a powerful, yet sensitive, technically Herculean, yet human, complex yet elegantly beautiful player--no, a marvel. —Nicholas F. Mondello / All About Jazz Two-time Grammy Award winner Ernie Watts is one of the most versatile and prolific saxophone players on the music scene. In a diverse career that has spanned more than 40 years, he has been featured on over 500 recordings by artists ranging from Cannonball Adderley to Frank Zappa, always exhibiting his unforgettable trademark sound. After 15 solo records for a variety of labels, large and small, Watts started Flying Dolphin Records, a company he runs with his wife Patricia. Flying Dolphin (distributed by Burnside Distribution Corp.) is a new chapter for the artist's creative expression. "Through my years of touring and recording," he says, "I've played in every kind of musical setting. I've reached a place in my life where I need to make music on my terms, and starting my own label provided me with a new sense of freedom." Watts started playing saxophone at age 13. He went with a friend who was enrolling in the local school music program, and found himself carrying home an instrument as well. "I was a self-starter; no one ever had to tell me to practice," remembers Watts. His discipline combined with natural talent began to shape his life. He won a scholarship to the Wilmington Music School in Delaware, where he studied classical music and technique. Though they had no jazz program, his mother provided the spark by giving him his own record player for Christmas and enrolling him in a record club. That first record club promotional selection turned out to be the brand-new Miles Davis album Kind of Blue. "When I first heard John Coltrane play, it was like someone put my hand into a light socket," Watts says. He started to learn jazz by ear, often falling asleep at night listening to a stack of Coltrane records. Although he would enroll briefly at West Chester University in music education, he soon won a Downbeat Scholarship to the Berklee College of Music, renowned for jazz. |
|
| ||
