Musicians & Bios
Allá
Chicago's Allá is the creation of producer Jorge Ledezma, his brother Angel Ledezma, and chanteuse Lupe Martinez. Recorded over four and half years in six different studios in two different continents using over a dozen studios musicians, THIS IS the new ambitious psychedelic pop sound of Latin music.
Allá takes sonic cues and production tricks from the Brazilian Tropicalia movement, Motown & R&B, the German krautrock experiments of the early 70's, the lush romantic harmonies of traditional Mexican Trio music and the Brain Wilson & Phil Spector Wall of Sound symphonic pop nuggets of the '60s. Allá sounds everything and nothing like their forebears.
JMP song
Un Pedazo (J. Ledezma, © yosoymusica (BMI) (p) 2006, minty fresh)
Dedicated to our parents and Mauricio Ledezma
Strings & Horns Arranged by Patrik Bartosch
Musicians:
Lupe Martinez - All Vocals
Jorge Ledezma - Fender Rhodes and Clavinet
Matt Lux - Five String Bass
Steven J. Lamos - Drums
Angel Ledezma - Percussion
Technical Notes:
Recorded and Edited at Engine Studios Chicago, IL by Colin Studybaker
Vocals Recorded at Key Club Recording Benton Harbor MI by Colin Studybaker
Strings & Horns Recorded at Tambourine Studios Malmo, Sweden by Patrik Bartosch
Ash in Pensacola
Having recently released their debut full-length album entitled "When We First Met," Ash in Pensacola is ready to take it to the next level. A taut quartet comprised of guitar, cello, vocals and drums, Chicago based AiP pools folk rock style with chamber-pop savvy to create a solid repertoire.
Each member of Ash in Pensacola brings both their prominent influences and individual style - Kenneth Pritchard: a self taught guitarist who has been performing in groups since age fifteen and who acts as the group's sole songwriter, Seth Gruenwald: a classically trained cellist and composer who serves as both the bassist and string arranger, Matt Roan: a prolific rock drummer in the music community who joined the group after being recruited to fill in for a single performance, and Melinda (Mindi) Maneck: whose perfect pitch and influences ranging from Aretha Franklin to Kelly Clarkson finds just the right niche to complete the band.
JMP song
Unison from When We First Met (© 2006 Kenneth Pritchard)
The Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra
www.chicagobar.org/public/attorney/CBASO
The Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra (CBASO), with Maestro David L. Katz, is a 50-piece symphony orchestra affiliated with the Chicago Bar Association. Its membership comes from the Chicago Legal Community. CBASO is now in its 20th year and will be celebrating that anniversary with a special performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony at the Navy Pier Grand Ballroom on September 16, 2006. In accordance with the charitable mission of the CBA, the 20th Anniversary concert net proceeds will go to the Sing To Live Community Chorus (providing support through music for those whose lives have been touched by breast cancer).
JMP song
Jazz Pizzicato from Boston Pops - A Leroy Anderson Celebration ("Jazz Pizzicato" © 1938 Woodbury Music, performance © Chicago Bar Association)
Conector
A solo project of Hector Buitrago, "Conector" connects musicians, ideas, and paths resulting in a potent inner perspective of contemporary spirituality.
Hector's is best known for his band Aterciopelados, a collaboration with vocalist/guitarist Andrea Echeverri. Aterciopelados has recorded eight albums since they originally teamed up in Bogota- Colombia in the early '90s as "Delia y los Aminoacidos".
Their first album, "Con El Corazon en la Mano", features crashing, distorted guitars and a punishing punk drumbeat. Their second album, "El Dorado", expands including traditional llanera rhythms of the Colombian countryside, as well as the flamenco-bolero sound of their first big hit, "Bolero Falaz."
Aterciopelados have always demonstrated an undying commitment to their music as art and an instrument for reaching people. Now that the civil war in Colombia is intensifying and more innocent victims are being caught up in its devastation, the band recognizes their responsibility to speak to the issues of Latin Youth, as well as to celebrate their love for tradition, whether they are playing a show in the main square of La Paz, Bolivia to celebrate the declaration of human rights or tossing plastic flowers into an army of Latin rockers in New York or Los Angeles.
Currently they are teaming up to create their next album, which will be released this fall.
JMP song
TroncoRoca Vientomar from Conector (© 2006 Hector Buitrago and courtesy Nacional Records)
Jenny Dalton
Minneapolis based Jenny Dalton has just released her debut CD, Fleur de Lily, featuring talented musicians including members of Cloud Cult. Her sound is often compared to Tori Amos, and her LP is filled with ethereal vocals, moody piano, and epic rock ballads.
JMP song
Cadence 3:35 from Fleur de Lily (© 2005 Jenny Dalton and courtesy Glossy Shoebox Productions)
The Foster-Walker Complex
www.thefosterwalkercomplex.com
The Foster-Walker Complex is a Chicago-based rock band. Their music is smart, expertly constructed indie pop, each song clearly demonstrates the fact the boys know how to write a damn good song. They released their first full length album in January 2006 with acclaimed Chicago producer Matt Allison (of Alkaline Trio and Uncle Tupelo Fame), and with this new record in hand; they are eagerly poised to take the world by storm.
The band saw its inception in early 2004, when the band played its first gig at a fundraiser party in an apartment near Northwestern University. This took off from there- in just a few short months, the band had already made its way to the stages of several prominent Chicago venues, and started performing with both local and nationally renowned acts, including Gavin DeGraw, The Wailers, The Changes, The M's, Duenow, Univeristy, Miggs, Toby Lightman, Bumpus, Mer, The Lawrence Arms, Augustana, The Damnwells and Colossal.
JMP song
The Last Stop from The Foster-Walker Complex (© 2006 The Foster-Walker Complex)
Jenny Gillespie
Jenny Gillespie is a singer/song writer based in Chicago, IL. She recorded her first EP, Love and Ammunition in Austin, TX. A recipient of a Michener Fellowship in Writing at the University of Texas, she is also a published poet. She has performed at various venues in Chicago including Uncommon Ground, The Pontiac, Martyr's, and Bad Dog Tavern, as well as the Living Room and C-Note in NYC.
JMP song
Grenadine from Love and Ammunition (© 2005 Jenny Gillespie)
Naomi Gongola
With her passionate vocals, eclectic style, inspiring lyrics, and heartfelt performance, Naomi's music has the ability to reach out beyond borders and bridge the gaps we sometimes feel between each other, ourselves, and our natural world. Awarded by ASCAP for her efforts in songwriting, Naomi's focus has always been on learning and her debut album, LIFE LIVES, is testament to her spirit. "I sing to inspire beauty," Naomi states when asked why she embarked on producing her first album, "and beauty is what happens when we are not judging ourselves. I wanted to make something beautiful that was out of my mind's control...something that only my heart could create."
A major source of inspiration for Naomi has been found in her band, The Courteous Rudeboys, a driving force of raw rhythm. The band brings a blend of styles that compliment Naomi's songwriting and instigate booty-shaking.
JMP song
Inside the Mirror from Life Lives (© 2005 Naomi Gongola)
Helicopters
When Helicopters took time off from the road in 2003, the goal was irrefutably clear: write, fall in love with, break up with, destroy, build anew, polish, apologize to and ultimately put to bed enough songs to comprise their first full-length offering. That day has arrived. Helicopters: How to Fake Fall Asleep
Transcending the guitar-based rock of their past, Helicopters have driven into the land of electronic pop and come out the other side quite interesting to categorize: too rock to be The Postal Service, too pop to be Beck, too modern to be 80's, too happy to be Radiohead.
JMP song
Goodbye Little New York from How to Fake Fall Asleep (© 2005 Helicopters)
El Esqueleto
El Esqueleto began performing in March of 2006 out of admiration for the songwriting legacy created and inspired by the American experience. A solo musician and aspiring folk troubadour, Esqueleto got involved with the Justice Music Project to assist in spreading the mission of Equip for Equality. His contribution to the JMP compilation is from his forthcoming studio release La Lucha Continua.
JMP song
78 Revolutions (© 2006 Canciones de los Muertos)
Annie Higgins
Born and raised in Chicago, Annie Higgins returns home to share her music with the city she feels most at home in. She just recently returned from living and touring the west coast, headlining such venues as The Acoustic Playhouse (Lost Angeles), Jay's Upstairs (Missoula, Montana), and The Gypsy Den (Orange County). Her style is simple and melodic, reminiscent of such influences as Carol King, Joni Mitchell, and Cat Stevens. Whether she is playing the piano or the guitar, she has the ability to intrigue an audience with unexpected song content.
Her first release, All These Things, was a fifteen song album which gained her notoriety in some of the Los Angeles music circles. In L.A., Annie hooked up with producer Ian Christian Nickus to cut The Chamber Music EP. She is currently performing and songwriting in Chicago.
JMP song
Grounded, Annie Higgins from The Chamber Music (© 2005 Annie Higgins)
Rachel Ries
Daughter of Mennonite missionaries, raised in Zaire and Freeman, SD, Rachel Ries performs "Prairie Swing & City Folk." Classically trained in voice, piano, violin and viola, Ries marries sophisticated, vintage musicality to smart lyrics. Like Andrew Bird and Eric McKeown, Ries has developed an urban cult following based on a fresh approach to musical forms of the '20s and '30s.
Recorded analog on vintage microphones, her vocals recall Billie Holiday and early Maria Mulduar, with a self-taught guitar style reminiscent of Mississippi John Hurt. With an adventurous ear for melody and a voice flexible enough to accomplish it, Ries' songs range from the romantic simplicity of jazz standards to the distilled intensity of poet Anne Sexton. Now twenty-six and a Chicago resident, Ms. Ries has performed her music from Seattle to Brooklyn, Texas to Toronto, Chicago to the UK and back. She currently tours solo, with Vermont's Anais Mitchell, and the Tin Pan Caravan, an eclectic songwriters-in-the-round. In the summer of 2005, Waterbug Records released Ries' second full-length, For You Only.JMP song
Unkind from For You Only (© 2005 Rachel Ries and courtesy Waterbug Records)
Skybox
Hailing from Chicago Illinois, the five-piece Indie/Pop group known as Skybox has managed to attract a lot of attention for themselves. Their phenomenal debut LP, Arco Iris, was recorded by Jamie Woolford of The Stereo and mastered by Jason Livermore (Rise Against, The Ataris, MxPx), bringing them a growing national audience and airplay on independent and college stations.
Having already shared the stage with The Honorary Title, Jack's Mannequin, The Format, Waking Ashland, Steel Train, Reubens Accomplice, Dios Malos, Mellowdrone, and many others, Skybox is scheduled to complete a nationwide tour in support of their upcoming album. Perhaps it is because of their utterly unique and catchy sound, their entertaining live shows, or their down-to-earth demeanor, but whatever the case may be, people everywhere are falling in love with Skybox.
JMP song
Various Kitchen Utensils from Arco Iris (© 2005 Skyboxmusic)
So Brown
Influenced equally by Russian orchestral works, obscure punk bands, the grinding of heavy machinery and curious looks in the eyes of passer-bys, so brown weaves layers of instruments and sounds into a thick fabric of haunting song. so lives in rural Alabama.
JMP song
Viral from so (© 2005 so brown)
Stanley Ross
Stanley Ross (moniker) is from Bismarck, North Dakota, but is currently helping out friends in Chicago by playing bass for Devin Davis as well as Love Story in Blood Red.
The past couple years has seen regional shows, one west-coast tour, and an appearance in Ireland. The "bands played with" list includes Br. Danielson, Elf Power, Mark Mallman, King Kong, and Okkervil River.
The Devin Davis produced EP "Nelsonian" is now available. There's another lo-fi EP in the can, and a split single out on Nodak Records.
JMP song
Shrug It Off from The Nelsonian (© 2006 ASCAP / Stanley Ross / Paid To Sleep)
Sub Rosa
www.myspace.com/subrosachicago
With the songs that blend Britpop, sixties folk, and lo-fi rock, Chicago's Sub Rosa serves up the agony and the ecstasy of pop music. On their first LP, Slings & Arrows, the band layers gorgeous vocal melodies and reverb-drenched guitar over a framework of cathartic, emotional pop.
Singer/guitarist Jennifer Boeder's haunting, ethereal voice has drawn comparisons to Tracey Thorn, Beth Orton, and Dolores O' Riordan; her lyrics recall the dark introspection of Nico during her Chelsea Girl era. Multi-instrumentalist, DJ, and producer Jesse Hozeny made a name for himself as the explosive drummer for Chicago shoegaze band Tracer, whose influence is clearly felt on Slings & Arrows. The album is truly DIY- Hozeny recorded the entire album without once entering an actual recording studio, making it instead in his apartment, friends' basements, and rehearsal spaces.
JMP song
Blue Pill from Slings & Arrows (© 2006 and courtesy Blue Rose Records)
The Valley Downs
The Valley Downs main songwriter and bassist, Mike Galassini has long been involved with Illinois Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health (IFF):a not-for-profit organization to support families of children with emotional, behavioral, and/or other mental disorders.
Recent Band Review from The Valley Downs recent shows in the UK -
Gig Guide Artist Profile, Liverpool, UK: Together just a short while, this emerging indie rock band has already played shows in New York, Los Angeles, Nashville and in Liverpool at the world famous Cavern, along with numerous live shows in its hometown, Chicago. Fronted by singer Marianne Shimkus, the band features an eclectic group of songs written by bassist Mike G. Their energetic live performances always seem to leave the audience waiting for more. Working with Chicago based producer George Langis (Smashing Pumpkins, Lucky Boys Confusion), the band is set to release their debut five-song EP, Behemoth.
JMP song
Sorry from Behemoth (© 2006 Mike Galassini) Courtesy MagnaPhonic
