Viktoria Tolstoy is a highly celebrated and respected international jazz vocalist and her numerous success stories are all a product of this explosive natural supertalent. Viktoria has never taken a single singing class thus she also owns that little perfect difference that delivers her clearly strong and wonderfully untamed, vibrant sound. She'll capture the moment on any given occasion and will outperform herself from one grand evening to the next. Viktoria reaches all the way and her colorful, spontaneous persona will by all means make one forget to breathe for not only a short moment. Viktoria is already on the very top, yet once again aiming up. Viktoria has been saluted by media wherever she has landed since she first grabbed that microphone, and rest assure, this show will go on. We suggest you buckle up. Expect a lot.

"The decision to do the music of Herbie Hancock felt so right! He’s created so much great "singable" music. I’ve chosen to focus on his later period - the eighties, with their more funky traits and grooves…" Viktoria Tolstoy

Crossfade was formed... ... as a duo in the town of Skövde (Sweden) in 1999 when the musical paths of the peripheral acquaintances Lars Hallbäck and Richard Stenström crossed. Six months later, singer Göran Edman took his stand behind the microphone, introduced through a mutual friend. Along with drummer Per Lindvall and his brother Sven (bass) and the now classic “transitioning from the 60's to date” Crossfade sound was born.

The music is often compared to and placed in the genres of Steely Dan, Toto, Sting, Eagles, Chicago and the Doobies. Add to this, a full-blown horn section, percussion and background vocals and you have a stellar music production toolkit. Thoughtful lyrics have since day one been written by Eva Olsson.

The debut album “White On Blue” hit the market in 2004 and received many a great reviews from the lovers of music & lyrics with a reflection. "Wow what an album! I've tried to hold back on this one for a while and let the euphoria die down a little before throwing it against the wall and seeing what songs would "stick" in the long run and which ones would slide off into oblivion, but with Crossfade's "White On Blue", this simply is not happening." - RevelationZ Magazine

“Crossfade does a great job on White on Blue. Very melodic. Very well done. Keep up the good work!” - www.GreatIndieMusic.com

Since Crossfade yet to date has refrained from spending time on tours, the more time (seven years specifically) has been spent in the studio to put their sequel “Secret Love” on the map in late 2011. The listeners will be met by lush harmonies, intricate chords, lavish keyboards and the Hallbäck signature guitar sound. Add to this the vocals by Göran Edman, ranging all the way from dynamic and nuanced up to massive choirs. Once again, the groove foundation is set by the Lindvall brothers and to furthermore sweeten the deal, you will get to enjoy guest performances by Kalle Moraeus (violin) and Mats Ronander (Harmonica). The recording was done with the utmost attention to sonic details and no takes have been used if not cooked just right. Moreover, audiophiles will get to enjoy the album mixed by Bernard Löhr both in Stereo and 5.1Surround DVD accompanied by some live studio footage from the recording sessions. The saga continues...

Thanks to our friend Takeito for this great piece of news on his "Adult Contemporary In Japan blog": "Kenji Sano is well-known as the bass player of Kalapana, the most acclaimed Hawaiian AOR/Westcoast Band and of Jay Graydon's super band. Early this year before the mega-earthquake in March, we heard the news that his first solo leader album would be released in April, but the release was postponed. In August, the revised release date was announced as September 14 but again it was shelved  for the time being. Finally we will have this album very soon. This solo effort includes 3 Kenji's original penned tunes and 11 covers of timeless classics and his favourites.  

The album is opened by  "Double Love" originally performed by Crackin'. This opener features Arno Lucas, the original member as the lead singer. You will be pleased to know who sings Beatles' "Got To Get You Into My Life' for Kenji. Joseph Williams does!  Bill Champlin dedicated his talent to 2 songs; "Slippery When Wet" originally performed by The Commodores and "If You Want Me To Stay" originally performed Sly & The Family Stone.

You will also appreciate when you will find the musicians credit including Jay Graydon, Carlos Rios, and David T Walker on guitar. Hope you will add this CD to your collection if you are one of the crazy Westcoast / AOR lovers."

Pat McGee just released his new record of brand new material (except the cover of Don Henley's "The End Of innocense") and says about it:

"No Wrong Way To Make it Right . . . yup, that sums up lots of things in my life, but it’s also the title of my new album. I am so proud of this record for lots of reasons. It is by far my most personal record, touching on subjects I formerly shied away from and at the same time staying true to what comes naturally to me. It has my heaviest and most delicate moments ever caught on tape. It truly is a reflection of all the music I grew up loving and couldn’t hide from–it’s all there in these tracks. The album represents the perfect blend of all my influences. The album is produced by Doug Derryberry, a longtime friend and someone that I admired as a wide-eyed 17-year-old taking in the local bands in the DC music scene. I wrote some of the songs alone at home and some on the road with friends such as: Jason Mraz, Stephen Kellogg, Ryan Newell of Sister Hazel, Keaton Simons, Mike Daly from Whiskeytown and Emerson Hart from Tonic."

READ MORE...

Two weeks ago, we were invited to join our friends The Alessi Brothers and Orleans to their concert in Amsterdam. What a great night at the PANAMA, where the 2 bands delivered their best performing their hits in front of an audience of fans dancing and singing. The next morning we were pleased to meet again Larry Hoppen & Lance Hoppen (Orleans) at their hotel to shoot an interview and learn a little more about Orleans's past, present and future. Enjoy!

Thanks to Louie, Larry & Lance

There are a few great moments in this life about amazing music. One of these was an acoustic session of the band VENICE (Kip Lennon, Mark Lennon and Pat Lennon) during the afternoon of June 29, 11 in the legendary studio of free format radio dee jay Georges Lang at RTL (rue Bayard, Paris, very closed to the Champs Elysees avenue) for a great acoustic session and an interview of VENICE that you can listen to on RTL tonight November 2, 2011 at midnight - french hour (or live on RTL website) from midnight to 3 am. If you love harmony vocals, guitar playing and great songs: be there or be no where!

This precious afternoon, in Les Nocturnes studio at RTL radiostation, VENICE live in acoustic in Paris was a real blast. Some other members of The Wall live tour (Roger Waters) have been featured on this acoustic session too: Jon Joyce (original background vocalist from PINK FLOYD - THE WALL album), G.E.Smith (guitar player - Bob Dylan, Daryl Hall & John Oates) and Robbie Wyckoff as lead singer (with Roger Waters).

November 2, 2011 at midnight on RTL... Let's listen this fabulous acoustic live session from the band VENICE with an exclusive interview of Mark, Kip and Pat Lennon during the program LES NOCTURNES de GEORGES LANG. RTL website has put a special page for this event. The program will be also available online on RTL Les Nocturnes website as soon as possible! Enjoy and keep on rocking!

You can check out our special gallery of this accounstic session on Westcoast Rendez-Vous Facebook page : https://www.facebook.com/westcoastrendezvous - see the gallery section.

Special Thanks: Georges Lang and Yves Bigot at RTL. Olivier Saintot (at Virgin Megastore Champs-Elysées record store, Westcoast Musis section - Paris).

Photo : Kip Lennon, Mark Lennon and Pat Lennon at RTL. Copyright: J.-L. Raymond

The measurements of The Foxy Lady Project (109 x 47 cm 42-15/16” x 18-1/2”) create the largest book published to date. However, the size was not in itself a goal. It was made necessary by the content: a collection of guitars among the most emblematic of the twentieth century, presented life-size.

61 photographs by Maxime Ruiz, hyper-realistic portraits depicted at full scale, a selection of key instruments in the history of blues, jazz and rock. Collectors' items found from musicians and passionate collectors, narrated and documented by Christian Séguret, music historian and guitarist. Guitars photographed like human beings, revealing their texture, their wounds and the traces of the lives of those who played them.

The book is not intended for specialists, experts or the elite. Foxy Lady’s creator, Maxime Ruiz explains: « I photographed objects telling about a century, talking about my generation. Objects loaded with history and stories. I know that the eye that touches my images takes them away from me somewhat. Like a guitar maker, I am only a ferryman. I am neither a collector nor an expert, just an amateur. From the beginning I decided that my subject would solely be guitars. Not the guitar of someone or someone else, the guitar itself, with all the diversity of my early emotions ».

Available in a limited 2,500 numbered edition, The FoxyLadyProject is a unique experience for the reader, the product of an adventure, of travels and encounters. A dream of reckless and stubborn artisans that became a reality, delivered in the form of a photo odyssey aiming at those who love shapes, stories, images and sounds.

"In the making of my third album, 'Dialogue', I enjoyed many first time experiences. One was developing some of the music in co-writing with my wife, Renee Jones. It is her first time recording bass and vocals on an entire project with me. Renee's participation in this music brought about another level in our friendship/marriage. We decided that since everything went so well, we would make our partnership the core of this work, and make plans to tour together in support of this album. Also very noteworthy was my experience with drummer, Simon Phillips who, during the initial stages became co-producer. Because we shared a lot of common ground in our musical tastes, it was very easy to work together. I think that companionship is quite evident upon listening to the very high production value Simon brought to this album, -not only in his musical performance, but also in engineering and mixing the album. My good friends, Steve Lukather, Victor Wooten, and Lenny Castro graciously brought their voices to this album as well. It was quite an experience working with these guys as well as my friends and great musicians, Mike Miller-guitar, and Katisse Buckingham-saxes & flute, who appear throughout this album. I'm very proud of this body of music. I am also honored that we all shared such good and positive experiences in the making of this CD. I learned that you cannot underestimate the power of friendship, and I know my fond and happy memories of these sessions will live forever." Steve Weingart

'Dialogue' was released in the summer of 2011, and plans are currently being made for live appearances in support of this album.

Back In 1990, Cilette Swann and Roman Morykit were both searching for something.

Imagine being an American in Paris learning to sing in French, phonetically. That’s how Cilette began her career, singing in Paris jazz clubs.

Imagine living in London, being signed to a major recording contract with A&M Records, and watching it fall out from under you, mid-recording. That’s how Roman found himself needing a change.

Both were feeling creatively stifled and through a series of life’s coincidences, they found each other in Edinburgh, Scotland. Recognizing a musical kinship, they started writing songs together and Gypsy Soul was born.

Since that time, Gypsy Soul has released ten albums along with a live DVD recorded at the Triple Door in Seattle. Their music has aired all over the world on numerous TV shows including, Felicity, Providence, Roswell, and movies including, After Sex starring Brooke Shields and Quicksand starring Michael Cain among others. They have been "critics pick" in over 60 different publications including, LA Times, OC Weekly, Seattle PI, Salt Lake City Weekly among others.

”Four stars.” “...Catchy, folk-based pop/rock songs with inventive arrangements suggested what a second Buckingham Nicks LP might have sounded like if Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks had not joined Fleetwood Mac.” - ALL MUSIC GUIDE

Thanks to Peter Holmstedt at HEMIFRAN