New Releases
web site - Inside the musician's studio: Creating A Model Psychosis.
A Model Psychosis: Bob Dorough & Randy Newman cruising in the Great Red Shark on a "Fear & Loathing" roadtrip. A concept album inspired by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann, best known for his discovery of LSD. Hofmann personally encouraged jazz songwriter Kyle Bronsdon to deal with the stigma and "prevailing misunderstanding in the general public regarding these kinds of 'drugs.'" Bronsdon honors the chemist's life and work and explores the dark history of the drug war in his newest CD. VITA90106
Kyle Bronsdon
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All About the Burn: Misplaced credentials inspired Bronsdon to become reordained as a minister of the Universal Life Church on the heels of releasing All About the Burn. The CD features the songs "Church of the Spark" and "What's Not to Like" (based on a zen parable), along with several love songs. Bronsdon finds no inconsistency: "Joseph Campbell once said that love is the burning point of life," he says, "and many eastern religions hold sex to be a sacred act akin to worship and meditation. Even the Judeo-Christian tradition contains vast, often hidden reservoirs of honor and piety to the alternatively nurturing and wrathful female principal." Featuring Namoli Brennet and Steve Grams. VITA90804
Kitchen Swing: Bronsdon's solo debut features old bandmates Brenden Kearney and Steve Grams (the "KGB Trio", Kings of Pleasure) as well as seasoned swingers like Harvey Newmark (Anita O'Day, Harry "Sweets" Edison) and newer talent including Carl Sonny Leyland (Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys). Mike Cogan (Lavay Smith, Indigo Swing) mastered the album. The album covers a lot of ground stylistically, from ragtime to jump blues to avante garde jazz. Bronsdon makes subtle departures from tradition, yet his intention to create an accessible jazz record seems to have been realized. Much of the CD shares an intimate sound -- it gets its name from the four selections that the drummer recorded in his kitchen. "I like playing music you can take a bite out of," says Bronsdon, "written music is just like a cookbook. Some people can follow the recipe and some people can't, and even if you put in all the right ingredients in the right order it doesn't guarantee it'll be delicious. More importantly," he adds, "like Zappa said, 'unless you're really weird you don't eat the recipe.'" VITA90303
Grams & Krieger
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That's The Way We Work: Grams and Krieger's second CD, recorded in 2003 on Vitalegacy Records, features the mournful ode to drunken depression, Steve Grams' original, "Fifty Days," another Grams original - the dance classic "We Need the Water", and "live" at Nonie versions of "Alligator" and "Train Beat Boogie", featuring Mr. Boogie Woogie. VITA90004
Kearney, Grams & Bronsdon
web site
To Go: The trio's swan song, recorded live at Plush in Tucson, AZ. Features fan favorites like "Do Me A Favor (Jump Off The Brooklyn Bridge)" and "I Dream of Jeannie", deep cuts from Steve's record collection including songs by the Three Flames, and plenty of the surrealistic slapstick stage banter that the band was known and loved for. VITA90429
Nine Waters, No Tip: All you need to know about the demise of the Swing Rennaissance. "...a somewhat bare-bones but winning combination of originals and canonized classics like Louis Jordan's 'Is You Is Or Is You Ain't' and Duke Ellington's 'I've Got To Be A Rug Cutter.' -- Stephen Seigel, Tucson Weekly. VITA90909