By JESSICA A. BOTELHO

Renowned rock drummer Carl Palmer makes music with drumsticks and creates artwork with them, too. He’ll be showing off both talents at the Narrow’s Center for the Arts in Fall River, Mass., this Sunday, May 5^th, as he and his band will celebrate the music of Emerson, Lake and Palmer (ELP) during a two-hour performance.

The show is part of his extensive world tour, “Twist of the Wrist,” also the name of his fine art collection, which features a series of visual images constructed by capturing the rhythm of drum performances through photographs.

The images, crafted in conjunction with California’s Scene Four Art Studios, combine motion, color and LED lights. He uses what he calls “special drumsticks” that emit four colors: blue, green, yellow and red, while playing drums in a dark room. The scene is photographed and then printed on canvas. Each print is signed and numbered.

“I don’t paint with paint; I paint with light,” he said. “I’m extremely proud of it.”

His art will be showcased, as well as available for purchase, during the performance at the Narrows. A meet and greet will follow for anyone who has purchased a ticket to the show.

“I like to give the fans an opportunity to not only meet myself and the band, but to give autographs,” Palmer said. “It does take a bit of time, but I enjoy doing it. It’s a nice payback to fans for supporting us and they get to meet (guitarist) Paul (Bielatowicz) and (bassist) Simon (Fitzpatrick), who are great musicians. And they can purchase my new DVD “Decade” and get it signed by the band.”

“Decade” pays homage to the fact that Palmer began playing ELP hits as a power trio, replacing keyboards with electric guitar, more than a decade ago in 2001. The DVD captures a multi-camera video shoot recorded at Pittsburgh’s MusikFest in 2011 and features Bielatowicz, who has been performing with Palmer since 2006, and Fitzpatrick, who came on board about three years ago.

Palmer is grateful for the enthusiasm they bring to the band and is happy they help deliver his fresh take on ELP to fans of all ages.

“They give me the satisfaction to be able to push this music to the future using different instruments – where Emerson, Lake and Palmer left off, I’ve just carried on,” said Palmer. “People can hear this through a new format, which is using guitars instead of keyboards and techniques that are available to us today. They give me that chance to push this music far along down the line.”

Palmer, best known as a founding member of ELP, as well as ASIA, has been performing for more than 40 years, taking on new projects such as the power trio and artwork to keep things interesting and fresh. He doesn’t plan on slowing down anytime soon.

Even a serious bout with E Coli, which sidelined him for more than two months and caused the cancellation of ASIA’s 2012 UK tour, can’t hold him back. It was the first time one of his tours had to be cancelled in his professional career.

“I love to play,” said Palmer. “I have no reason to stop or retire. People only retire when they don’t like what they do and I love what I do. I’m in a very fortunate position to have a job that I’ve loved all my life. Why stop working? I’m still improving and that’s more encouragement to keep going. I’ve been blessed by God and I’m still in good health. I’m very happy.”

Currently, Palmer has been on tour with his ELP Legacy since February. The tour kicked off in Japan before Palmer and his crew hopped aboard a Caribbean-bound cruise ship during the last week of March for Cruise to the Edge, which featured ELP Legacy, YES, Steve Hackett, and UK.

“We really enjoyed doing that,” Palmer said. “I played inside in the main room and then decided I wanted to play outside on the top deck. Unfortunately, it was rather windy when we started – winds were up to 35 miles an hour – but we played a good 45-minutes and had a great time. I was able to display my art aboard the ship.”

After the cruise, Palmer toured South America before beginning his North American leg earlier this month. So far, it’s been smooth sailing.

“It’s been going very well,” he said. “All in all, it’s been tremendous.”

The Narrows Center for the Arts is located at 16 Anawan Street in Fall River. Tickets can be purchased online at www.narrowscenter.org, by calling 508-324-1926 or in person at the box office Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Tickets will also be available at the door on the day of the show.

By LEAH ASTORE

After nearly five years since his last solo CD, singer/songwriter/guitarist Charlie Farren is releasing a new studio record, Tuesday.

The title and track by the same name serve as a tribute to the late Brad Delp of BOSTON. When Farren first heard Delp’s song “Tuesday,” it left a lasting impression on him.

“I loved it immediately,” Farren said. “It reminded me of ‘Yesterday’ by The Beatles.”

The first time he heard a demo of the song he was in Delp’s car after judging a songwriting contest for Rock 101 (WGIR-FM). Years passed and Delp’s song was never released. However, inspiration struck recently when Farren heard the song “Yesterday” while driving in his car.

Farren called Delp’s family members and asked them to send him a demo of “Tuesday,” and for permission to record a cover of the song for his newest record.

“They were very, very supportive and enthusiastic,” Farren said, adding, “[Delp] was a fantastic guy and an incredible singer.”

Local DJ Lisa Garvey who wrote a review of the song said, “I honestly think ‘Tuesday’ could be the new ‘Yesterday.’”

Due to Farren’s background in hard rock with his band FARRENHEIT!, his other songs on the album have a similar influence mixed with a “jazzier and more eclectic” sound, he said.

At the moment Farren is also working on around 30 or 40 songs, which he said is a regular creative process for him.

“Everyday I pick up the guitar,” Farren said. “Most of the time I’m not just playing it, I’m writing my songs.”

For Tuesday, Farren recorded the acoustic guitar and vocals at his studio, The FMansion. Then the tracks were finished at producer Anthony J. Resta’s studio, Studio Bopnique, where cello and ambient guitars were added. Farren sang all the vocals, with the exception of the songs “That Kind of Girl” and “Middle of My Heart,” where his daughter Veronica Farren joins him on backup vocals.

While some of the songs on his album will not lend themselves to full solo performance, Farren said, half are songs he will incorporate into his set list. Farren has four upcoming shows in New England in April, including an intimate CD release party on April 5^th at The Center for the Arts in Natick, Mass.

“It’s been a blast to get back into music,” he said. “I’m psyched to be performing solo again.”

Tomorrow, March 29, Farren is playing a show at Purple Pit Jazz Club in Concord, N.H. where he said he might preview some of his new songs.

“I’ll probably be previewing the ones I feel strongly about,” Farren said.

As for the rest of his newest tracks, fans can attend his CD release party and show The Center for the Arts in Natick. Tickets are available on venue’s website.

For more information about Farren, visit his website at www.charliefarren.com.

By JESSICA A. BOTELHO

Grab your sweetheart – and a pair of concert tickets – for Valentine’s Day, as Grammy-nominated blues and gospel artist Ruthie Foster is set to play at the Zeiterion Theatre this Friday, Feb. 15, with Grammy Award-winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Mavis Staples.

Foster, who attended Sunday’s 55th Grammy Award celebration in Los Angeles, CA, said the nomination was “a nice surprise.”

“It’s validating more than anything,” said Foster. Her 2012 recording, Let It Burn, was up for Best Blues Album.

On Dec. 5, the day the nominees were released, Foster was spending time with family in her hometown of Gause, Texas, a small town just north of Austin. Later that night, her manager called her to share the good news.

“I spent the day with my sister and brother just getting back to my roots and then I got that call,” Foster said. “It was pretty cool. It all came together full circle.”

Foster also talked about something else that excites her: the fact that Staples will be joining her for the show.

“I love her to pieces,” said Foster, noting that she channeled Staples when recording a few songs for Let It Burn. “I brought her sound into a couple tunes, mainly the Los Lobos song, because it’s in a register I don’t sing in much.”

With the exception of two songs, Let It Burn consists of 11 soulful covers, including “This Time,” by Los Lobos, as well as Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire,” Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain,” John Martyn’s “Don’t Want to Know,” plus hits by The Band, Pete Seeger, Crosby, Stills & Nash and more.

She recorded it in New Orleans with producer John Chelew, another Grammy-Award winner, who suggested Foster cover these particular songs.

“He brought a lot of new tunes to me from different genres for this album that I hadn’t really got into until then,” Foster said. “I wasn’t familiar with John Martyn until I did this album and now I’m a fanatic for his stuff. I just can’t find enough of it. I’m chasing everything he’s got. It’s sad he’s no longer here.”

The CD features an array of artists, such as The Blind Boys of Alabama, soul legend William Bell and the rhythm section of The Funky Meters.

It also includes New Orleans-bred guitarist Dave Easley, renowned saxophonist James Rivers and Ike Stubblefield on organ.

Foster said The Blind Boys brought a lot of “earthiness,” as well as a “spiritual side” to the recording. Growing up with a group of uncles who all sang, she said hearing them brought her back to her childhood.

“They were real close to that sound I was so familiar with, so having the chance to put it on one of my albums was just a huge opportunity,” said Foster. “I wasn’t sure what the songs really meant until these guys started singing on them. They really just made the song ‘Welcome Home’ shine.”

For the first time in her recording career, Foster, who plays multiple instruments, including piano and guitar, didn’t play an instrument on Let It Burn. It gave her a chance to hone in on being a singer and get the chance to “channel” a variety of singers.

“It was different and very welcoming,” she said, adding that the recording process of the entire album was a pleasure. “Getting someone like George Porter, Jr. (of The Funky Meters) to be the first to say ‘yes’ to being a part of a group of guys that were going to lay down the tracks. Then, everybody else jumped on board. It was huge. My manager happens to be the manager to The Blind Boys, so all he had to do was make a phone call. We made it happen. It really came together well. I’m really happy with the way it turned out.”

The Grammy-nomination marks her second, as The Truth According to Ruthie Foster was in the running for Best Contemporary Blues Album a few years ago. She also has a long list of nominations and awards, including three consecutive wins for the Blues Music Award in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

“All of them are special,” she said. “I have three Blues Awards, but it means something different each time.”

This year, she hopes to hit the studio again. Writing more and recording with Keb’ Mo’, a three-time American Grammy-Award winning blues musician, is a possibility.

In terms of her show at The Z next month, she plans on bringing a full band with her, as she will playing a lot of songs from the CD.

“It should be a good time,” she said. “I like getting the chance to be introduced to the audience. That’s what’s great about what I do.”

The Zeiterion is located at 684 Purchase Street in New Bedford, Mass. Tickets are priced at $40, $37.50 & $35. Box Office Hours: M-F 10 a.m. to 5 pm.., Sat 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and one hour before each performance. For more information, visit www.zeiterion.org or call 508-994-2900.

By JESSICA A. BOTELHO

 Rockapella, a five-piece American a cappella group that formed in 1986 in New York City, will be coming to the Zeiterion Theatre in New Bedford, Mass., this Sunday, Feb. 10 for “Motown and More,” a show featuring songs from their upcoming album of the same name.

USA Today sang their praises for Rockapella, as they reported, “The best musical instrument of all is the human voice – if you’ve seen Rockapella you know that’s the truth.”

Scott Leonard, the group’s primary songwriter, arranger and high tenor, said he anticipates the album will be available in the next few months, and that the show, which begins at 7 p.m., pays tribute to the music of Motown with one-of-a-kind versions of hits from his all-time favorites such as The Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, and more.

Among Rockapella favorites, which have rock, jazz, R&B and doo-wop elements, the concert will include songs like The Temptations’ “My Girl” and “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” to The Jackson 5’s “Stop The Love You Save” and “Dancin’ Machine.”

“Songs from my childhood are the ones that really inspire me to make an arrangement,” Leonard said. “People have a connection to the music, so we’re already half way there. The songs are so great and we give a unique, new approach to them and that usually hits home pretty well. Rockapella and Motown is a good match.”

Leonard started singing in male groups in college, and joined the group in 1991. He said Rockapella has evolved through the years, as they’ve added a lot more staging, technology and choreography to the mix.

“We’re not a dance act by any means, but it’s the most energetic Rockapella show we’ve ever done,” he said. “We don’t want the dancing to distract from the sound and the experience, but you rarely see a cappella groups going at it like this.”

None of the founding members are still in the band, but as each of them retired, said Leonard, they were able to strengthen the group, as they handpicked replacements they were looking for. Aside from Leonard, the current line-up also features bass vocalist George Baldi III, tenors John K. Brown and Steven Dorian, plus vocal percussionist Jeff Thacher.

“This line-up has never been better,” Leonard said. “Rockapella is a band, we just don’t have the keyboards and rhythm guitars. We have two guys with voices picking up the background, and then you have the bass, drums and melody.”

Of Thatcher, Leonard said he’s basically a human drum set.

“He’s got a technique where he puts a microphone to his throat to pick up a lower, more full sound that you don’t usually hear from a human,” Leonard said. “And the jingle bells he does at Christmas shows really stun the audience. They are remarkable.”

To keep their voices in “remarkable” condition, Leonard said he drinks a lot of water. Unlike other vocalists who are backed by bands, there are no musical breaks or gaps in a cappella, so their vocal chords get little rest during performances.

Keeping a healthy cardiovascular system, plus a musical education, is important, too.

“I have a voice degree, so being able to correctly produce the sound really helps me because I’m screaming so high,” said Leonard, who has a Bachelor’s Degree in Music from the University of Tampa. “If I didn’t do it right, or at least try to do it right all these years, I’d be horse by now.”

As the primary writer, Leonard uses a piano to write and make arrangements. He grew up singing at a piano with his mother and always adds his own twists to songs.

“If it’s a cover, I need a great idea to make it new and different,” he said. “I don’t just do a Beatles’ song because people will like it because it’s The Beatles – we want to offer something to the fans that’s new and deserves to exist.”

The group made a name for themselves in America in the early 1990s shortly after creating the theme song for the PBS hit show, “Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?” They appeared as the show’s vocal house band and resident comedy troupe. Leonard said the experience was a lot of fun, and to this day, they sing the theme song at every show.

They also penned the well-known Folgers commercial with the famous catch line, “The best Part of waking up is Folgers in your cup,” a Taco Bell commercial, starred in the television special “Do It A Cappella,” which was hosted by accomplished filmmaker Spike Lee, starred with Whoopi Goldberg and Denzel Washington in the HBO family series “Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child,” as well as opened for acts such as Chuck Berry, Styx, Billy Joel, and their a cappella idols The Persuasions.

Additionally, they performed on Jay Leno’s first New Year’s Eve episode of “The Tonight Show “in 1992. Since then, they’ve built quite the fan base.

“We have fans that have seen over 200 shows apiece,” Leonard said.

He’ll most likely see some of those fans within the month: the group recently booked a gig to perform on a cruise from Australia to Bali. He’s also hoping to see them at The Z Feb. 10.

“There’s a rumor surprise guests might be opening for Rockapella,” he said.

To learn more about the group or to download their music, visit http://www.rockapella.com.

The Zeiterion’s box office is located at 684 Purchase Street in New Bedford, Mass. Tickets are priced at $30.50. Box Office Hours: M-F 10 a.m. to 5 pm.., Sat 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and one hour before each performance. For more information, visit www.zeiterion.org or call 508-994-2900.

Editor’s Note: Since this interview, the surprise special guest alluded to by Mr. Leonard is the G-20 Chorus, an award-winning chorus group from Fall River, Mass.

By JESSICA A. BOTELHO

While Jan. 26th will mark the first time singer-songwriter John Waite will take the stage at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River, Massachusetts, it’s certainly not his first show in the area.

Considering the fact that he used to live in New York, and knows many people from Massachusetts and Rhode Island, he said Fall River feels just like home.

“It’s stunning, especially this time of year,” said Waite, who was born in Lancaster, England. “I’m used to the East Coast weather and I like the seasons. It’s just great to be out there. We can’t wait to get back East. I’m sure it’s going to be a pretty good show because we love to play.”

The evening will feature two opening acts, including Burlington, Vermont, singer-songwriter Justin Levinson, as well as former Somerset, Mass., resident Shaun Hague, who was a member of Waite’s touring band last year.

“We love him,” Waite said of Hague. “He looks like ‘House,’ so that’s what we used to call him and introduce him as on stage. He’s really great and we’ll be pleased to see him.”

Waite, a guitarist, will have a full electric band with him. They’ll be performing fan favorites from throughout his career, including songs from his days as lead vocalist for The Babys, such as “Isn’t It Time,” as well as “When I See You Smile,” an anthem he released with the rock band Bad English.

Of course, he’ll play songs from his solo career that produced numerous Billboard Top 40 hits, such as the #1 smash hit “Missing You.”

“It will be colorful because there’s a huge amount of songs to choose from,” Waite said. “We keep it interesting and we start each show off differently. If we got into playing the same set every night, everybody would just stay home. I can’t be part of that. It’s just not what I do. I try to keep it as fluid as I can.”

As he said, every show is unique, as is every audience. He believes an audience has a big impact on how a band performs a particular song or even a whole set.

“Sometimes the audience is pretty vocal and sometimes they just watch. It’s my job to sort of bring it,” said Waite. “I don’t really have any rules about it – you just step into it and go. If the vibe is in the air, everything just explodes. It’s music; it’s the best thing in the world.”

Aside from his show at the Narrows, Waite is set to gig at a handful of other venues in New England. In February, he plans to record tracks at an unplugged show in New York for a live album, which he expects to release in the spring. The album will also feature songs he recorded during a Philadelphia performance in November.

He anticipates he’ll be on a world tour shortly afterwards, leaving little time for writing and recording new material. Still, he’d like to go into the studio this month to tinker around.

His last studio album, “Rough & Tumble,” was released in 2011, and contained some of his most personal songs.

“I had a rough couple of years going in to that record, and came out with a lot of interesting lyrics,” Waite said.

He described it as a “funny” album, as he planned to release it as a five track EP, but his former management wanted more songs.

“It was really frustrating because to me, it was complete, so I was completely stumped,” he said. “I didn’t know what to do.”

That’s when Waite hooked up with Matchbox 20 guitarist, Kyle Cook, in Nashville. The two collaborated and made music Waite said is some of his best.

“It was like a career record for me,” he said. “I have no idea how it worked, but it all worked. We completed about seven songs in four days. At the end of the day I was pretty beat, but it’s a great little record. I was very happy with it and it got a lot of airplay.”

He also said working with Cook was “great fun.”

“We got on very well and wrote songs at a very fast speed,” Waite said. “He was always game to jump in and try anything new. He’s a great guitar player and he’s very intelligent.”

When recording the track, “The Evil,” Waite said he made up lyrics on the spot. The demo is on the album as a master track.

But Waite is known for not liking overly produced music. Rather, he enjoys imperfections.

“It’s the honesty of it,” he said. “When you’re in the studio doing a vocal, the first is always the best. You’re bobbing and weaving and you’re in that place. You’re just being yourself completely. You can’t be out of tune and you can’t be going down the road – you have to know where you are, but mistakes make it more human.”

Like his music, Waite appreciates life and all the imperfections and magical moments that go along with it.

“I’m lucky to have the life I have,” he said. “And I love making music. I’m so knocked out by it. It’s a beautiful thing.”

Tickets to Waite’s show can be purchased online at www.narrowscenter.org or by calling the box office at 508-324-1926. Tickets can also be purchased in person at the box office. Hours are Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Our publisher, JKB Booking, is presenting the show. They can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jkbbooking.

By JESSICA A. BOTELHO

Ed Kowalczyk, former lead singer and songwriting force behind the multi-platinum, rock band LIVE, has a new EP out called, “The Garden,” which features five new songs and five remixes, including a cover of the classic John Lennon song “Mind Games.” While the EP was digitally released last month, he plans to put out a full-length album in early 2013.

He’s been playing new songs on his “I Alone Acoustic Tour,” at intimate venues across the country, with a special performance at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River on Saturday, March 2.

“I’m having the time of my life doing this,” said Kowalczyk. “My lyrics are very personal and people have such a personal connection to it that when the music gets stripped down and the environment gets really intimate, it enables an experience that you can’t duplicate in a bigger room. The main thing to expect is a personal and direct connect with my craft and my lyrics.”

But make no mistake about it: Kowalczyk said he still loves doing full-band shows. The acoustic gigs have helped him write a new chapter in his music career.

“I’ve fallen in love with it,” he said. “It’s not an acoustic show where all the hard songs are prettied up. It stays really intense. When you do a great version of a song, it’s almost that much more gratifying because you’ve done it without the normal tools and you feel that much more accomplished. I’m really having a fun time doing it.”

Kowalczyk also had a great time writing and recording the EP, laying down tracks in early spring. He said it’s much more produced than his albums of the past, and credits producer Jamie Candiloro, who has worked with artists such as R.E.M., for helping him arrange music to lyrics he previously wrote.

“He’s not only an amazing producer and engineer, but also a really, really great musician,” Kowalczyk said. “He’s one of those guys that can bang on a trash can and make it sound amazing. He’s incredible on drums, keyboards, [and] guitars. I play guitar and keys, as well, so we basically hunkered down like two mad scientists with these songs I had written.”

Two of Kowalczyk’s friends, both guitarists, also performed on the EP. Candiloro played all drum parts.

“It was a team effort, but the captain of the ship was Jamie and his vision,” he said. “It’s a product of Jamie’s genius for being able to arrange the music around the vocals. He’s just an amazing talent.”

As he has stated in other interviews, Kowalczyk said the process for this album was different from the one he used on his first solo album, “Alive”, and from any of his albums with LIVE. While his method was similar to methods of the past, as he typically crafts most music with an acoustic guitar, the difference was, again, in the production approach.

“Lyrically, melodically, and what you end up getting emotionally, in terms of the dynamic, is very much like what I’ve always done. I think it’s more developed and more of a sophisticated approach in terms of production.”

Kowalczyk’s fans have had a positive reaction to the EP, and have embraced it wholeheartedly. On social media sites, some have called it his best work.

“I love them,” he said of his fans. “One thing that has been good about social media is that interaction with them. Being able to have music available for them immediately is really exciting and part of why I did the EP. I didn’t want them to have to wait until I finished a whole album. I’ve had some of the best concert experiences of my life in the last year doing acoustic tours and reconnecting with them, not only with old material, but with the new stuff.”

The compliments he’s received, he said, have been “unbelievable.”

“A girl the other day said that all the other music she buys is just marking time between my releases,” said Kowalczyk. “I didn’t even know what to say to that. It really does feel great.”

A common thread to his lyrics will always be a personal touch. He said he’s always taken a “heart on sleeve” approach.

“This record is no different,” Kowalczyk said. “They’re intimate songs about transformation, moving onto the deeper dimensions of my soul. They’re personal, but they are also universal, and that’s what’s really exciting about putting this out. People from all over the world react to it as if we’ve known each other our entire lives, and that’s always to me a sign that you are on the right track.”

He’s also on the right track in life, as he knows how to balance being a musician with fatherhood. The oldest is 10, the middle child is 8, and the youngest is 18-months, and they love that their daddy plays music. The eldest two have seen him perform at shows.

“I live on the east coast now, so I’m hoping they can come to a bunch more,” he said. “They are super supportive. They are really engaged, and love music of all kinds. They are music fanatics. I don’t know where they get that,” he joked.

Tickets to his show at the Narrows can be purchased online at www.narrowscenter.org or by calling the box office at 508-324-1926. For those wanting to purchase tickets in person, box office hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 12 noon to 5 p.m.

By JESSICA A. BOTELHO

From singing and writing music, placing among the Top 16 on season five of American Idol, serving as a correspondent for The Early Show on CBS, to being a former hotshot basketball player, Ayla Brown seems to excel at everything.

This summer, Brown also did a bit of acting, as she took part in the movie, Cowboy Spirit, playing the role of Molly. The full-length film premieres Nov. 29th at the Orpheum Theatre in Foxboro, Massachusetts.

In the past, she finished high school as one of the top female basketball players in Massachusetts’ history, scoring 2,358 career points before playing for Boston College. She even found a way to combine singing and basketball, as last season she was asked to perform the National Anthem for the Philadelphia 76ers at every home game.

“It was such an honor, so I said yes,” said Brown, who will again take on the duty this season. “They also wanted me to set up a merchandise table and sell CDs.”
The problem, she said, was she was yet to record an album at that point. But that didn’t stop her. As a result, she ended up forming her own record label, Ambient Entertainment, for which she’s released the self-titled Ayla Brown in January.

“I kind of used it as a kick jump and motivator to put out an album – I didn’t want to have to wait for any sort of big guns to get involved,” Brown said. “It’s super easy to start your own label and that’s exactly what I did to make sure that I had content available at every game.”

Brown is grateful for the experience. Founding her own label, she said, has given her more freedom and flexibility as an artist.

“I’m really, really lucky to have put together a CD on my own label because creatively I get to choose all the songs,” she said. “I’m doing everything a major or a larger independent record would do. The only difference is that person is me, not someone else.”

As was mentioned earlier, Brown, who splits her time living in Massachusetts, Philadelphia, PA, and Nashville, TN, released her most recent CD, a self-titled album, through the label. It was recorded in Nashville at the studio of legendary country star, Ronnie Milsap. She hired Jeff King, who has played with country sensation Reba McEntire, to help with the recording process.

“I asked him if he wanted to band lead my session and surprisingly he was excited about it, which made me excited,” Brown said. “He is just absolutely incredible and one of the best session guys in town. And the players on the album have played with Kelly Clarkson, Sara Evens, [and] Jason Aldean. It’s not everyday that you get the best of the best.”

Adding to her long list of accomplishments is the fact that she co-wrote seven out of the nine tracks on the disc, as well as produced the album. She had an engineer handle the technical side of the process.

“As the producer, you’re in the studio with them the whole time and you tell them, ‘Hey, can you redo that solo? Can you make it sound more like this instead of that?’” Brown said. “It was great.”

The album is currently charting on Billboard in the Northeast, which pleases her to no end.

“I got an email from Billboard a few months ago saying, ‘Urgent: Ayla Brown is charting,’” she said. “I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh. The hard work is paying off.’”

Her next effort will be a patriotic album, Heroes and Hometowns, set to be mastered later this month. She said her goal is to release it by Veteran’s Day, but if not, it will be available in time for holiday shopping.

Part of the proceeds of each CD sale will be donated to Hugs for Heroes, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting military troops overseas through shipments of care packages. Since it was established in 2004, more than 10 tons of goods have been delivered.

“A friend of mine started [it] in 2004 after someone came to her school and talked about how not many soldiers get care packages from the people they love,” said Brown. “Two out of the 10 guys would be getting care packages and the rest of the guys felt really left out. She thought that was a shame. Every person in the unit should get a care package.”

Another non-profit organization Brown is affiliated with is the Songs of Love Foundation, which is dedicated to providing free, personalized songs for children and teens facing tough medical, physical or emotional challenges. She serves as spokesperson and has written 10 songs for the effort.

“I was on The Early Show as a national correspondent for a two years and it was the first story that I pitched,” she said. “The producer I was working with at the time had written many songs for the organization and he told me about it. It was the beginning of a great relationship with Songs of Love. It’s so rewarding. It helps them get through whatever treatment and tough times they are going through.”

Helping children is something she holds close to her heart. While she doesn’t play basketball as much as she used to, coaching kids in the future would be ideal.

“If I were to ever coach I would love it to be for a middle school or an elementary school where it’s still fun and you get to teach the kids and have a good time doing it,” said Brown. “At the college, and even high school level, there’s too much pressure to excel and succeed.”

So, where does Brown find her inspiration to succeed? Her parents are former WCVB-TV Channel 5 reporter Gail Huff and Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown.

“They’ve been so supportive,” she said.

In turn, she also supports them, as her father, a Republican, is facing Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren in Tuesday’s election. During his campaign, Brown has performed at many of his functions and participated in several events.

“I do everything I can to support him and that means going out and holding signs, doing different video messages on YouTube and being in commercials,” she said. “My dad is not only a great father, but he’s a wonderful senator. He’s doing such a great job for Massachusetts. There’s no one else as bipartisan as he is. I want someone like that as my senator. There are a lot of people who complain about the way this country is run and then they don’t even vote. I would say to those people, ‘Get out there and make a difference.’”

To learn more about Ayla Brown visit aylabrown.com.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE: JKB Management & Booking/Limelight Magazine does not endorse political candidates, platforms, or parties. However, we support ALL local musicians from New England regardless of their political affiliation or involvement.

BY JESSICA A. BOTELHO

After recently wrapping up a six-week tour with legendary entertainer Barbara Streisand, Grammy-nominated trumpeter Chris Botti, the world’s best selling jazz instrumentalist, will be taking the stage at the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center this Sunday, Nov. 4^th.

For Botti, performing in the area is exciting. In 2009, he recorded a DVD, “Live in Boston,” which he thinks helped him generate New England fans.

“It’s become one of the most successful parts of my touring world, so we love coming up there,” he said. “That upper part of the United States is a really good market for me, so we visit there quite often.”

The set will include singer Lisa Fischer, who has been gigging with The Rolling Stones for the last two decades. Not only will the show incorporate jazz to the mix, it will feature other genres, as well.

“If anything has defined my touring in the last three or four years it is the ability to go from a really traditional jazz piece, to a more orchestral piece, to a classical piece, to an R&B song and do it with real authority,” said Botti. “We have incredible musicians in the band and hopefully people will walk away from the show entertained and musically lifted, but also seeing something that they can’t see around the block from some other band.”

Botti plans to perform songs from his latest album, “Impressions,” which features an all-star list of artists, including Andrea Bocelli, Vince Gill, Herbie Hancock, David Foster, Caroline Campbell and Mark Knopfler.

Having Knopfler, best known as the singer and guitarist of the rock band Dire Straits, appear on the album was a pleasant surprise, said Botti. Knopfler agreed to sing, “What a Wonderful World” for the album. He rarely sings songs written by other writers.

“I was quite shocked,” Botti said. “That collaboration was sort of put together out of a fluke.”
Botti explained that his manager is a good friend of Knopfler, and as the two were taking a stroll in London’s Hyde Park one day, Knopfler suggested that Botti remake the classic tune.

“It was kind of his idea,” said Botti. “I probably would never have tried to enter into that Louie Armstrong territory of music had it not been for Mark. We went back to him and said, ‘Are you serious?’”

Knopfler was serious, and ended up teaming up with Botti to record the song. Botti said Knofpler’s unique voice makes the track work as well as it does.

“He almost speaks the song as much as he sings it,” said Botti. “And it was done all in one take. In the day and age of people having computers, multiple takes, Auto-Tune and this that and the other thing, one of the stipulations Mark made was that he would do it if we came to London and record it with his band. We did three takes and the second one is the one you hear. We wanted to give it authenticity.”

Having Hancock join him on the album was another treat. The two partnered musically in the past, as they once performed together at the White House for Presidents Obama, Clinton, Carter, plus the president of China, as well as their spouses.

“It was big deal for me – it was sort of nerve-wracking, but it was fun,” Botti said of the first time he played at the White House. He later performed there again when George W. Bush was in office. “There I was playing with Herbie Hancock, which, in a weird way, was even more of a thrill than to play for the politicians.”

He and Hancock played “My Funny Valentine,” a hit that inspired Botti to learn trumpet.

“That’s the song that made me want to become a trumpet player,” said Botti. “I heard it on a record player. It was the first time I ever heard Miles Davis and it just knocked me back. I just thought, ‘I want to be a trumpet player for the rest of my life.’”

To be clear, Botti started playing trumpet when he was nine-years-old after seeing Carl Hilding “Doc” Severinse, the original trumpet player on The Tonight Show. But when he was 12 or 13, he heard Davis for the first time and connected with the instrument on a more emotional level.

“I was always enamored with the sound and flavor of the dark, pretty sound Miles Davis made with his horn,” he said.

As an attempt to sound as much like his hero as possible, Botti plays on the same make that Davis plays on – a Martin Committee large bore trumpet made in 1939. He also uses a No. 3 silver-plated mouthpiece from Bach, which was crafted in 1926.

“They stopped making them years ago and I just believe that the new horns haven’t aged yet and don’t have the same sort of sound,” he said. “Someone gave me this horn to try out about 12 or 13 years ago and I played two notes on it and was like, ‘This is amazing.’ It’s a very unique sound and I’ve blessed to have run across it. It’s been a fantastic friendship ever since.”

Another friendship Botti holds near and dear to his heart is with Sting, now a solo artist who became famous by fronting the band The Police. He credits Sting with helping him establish a career.

“I never would have had a career had it not been for my ongoing, close friendship with Sting,” he said. “He has really helped me in every possible way. The relationship goes well beyond music. Meeting him and working with him and having it blossom into a deep friendship is something that I look at as the greatest thing that’s happened to me. He became family in many ways.”

Yet, Botti has made quite the name for himself in his own right. While his success came later in his life, he tours incessantly to keep fans interested.

“They are what it’s all about,” he said.

All too often, Botti said, he has witnessed artists reach the pinnacle of success and then lose it simply because they became disengaged. That’s not an option for him.

“You need to care about your audience and whether they are getting music that they love,” said Botti. “A lot of artists, especially those in their 20s, say, ‘Oh, the road is too difficult. I’m going to take four years off.’ And then their audience goes, ‘Goodbye.’ I don’t want that to happen to me. I want to be able to tour well into my 60s or 70s if I can still play the horn.”

To do that, he said, an artist must be willing to make sacrifices.  It isn’t always easy, but it’s worth it.

“You have to sacrifice a lot of life for the benefits of being able to walk on stage every night and be grateful that there is an audience there for you because they can just as easily spend their money and go download the latest and greatest thing and not come to your show,” said Botti. “That’s something that I’m well aware of.”

The Zeiterion Performing Arts Center’s box office is located at 684 Purchase Street, New Bedford, Mass. Box Office Hours: M-F 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sat 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and one hour before each performance. For more information, visit www.zeiterion.org or call 508-994-2900.

“We look forward to the show,” Botti said. “It’s going to be a great one.”

By JESSICA A. BOTELHO

Hard rock trio, ZEBRA, will be playing at the Rock Junction in Coventry, R.I., on Oct. 26^th at 8 p.m. for a special show by Limelight Magazine publisher JKB Booking. Joined by local rockers Fall and Bounce, who will be opening the evening, ZEBRA will perform hits from their own catalog, plus a one-hour Led Zeppelin encore set. It will be their only New England appearance.

“We don’t play up there a lot to begin with – maybe once every couple years, but we do have a history in Rhode Island,” said vocalist and guitarist Randy Jackson. “We used to play at the Living Room in Providence a lot. That used to be a steady gig for us in the 80s and early 90s. We have a pretty good fan base there, so it’s always good to come down.”

Jackson, who formed ZEBRA in the mid-1970s with bassist Felix Hanemann and drummer Guy Gelso, said fans should expect to hear popular ZEBRA tracks, as well as Zeppelin classics, such as “Heartbreaker,” “The Immigrant Song,” and “Kashmir.”

“We used to do a lot of Led Zeppelin back when we first started in 1975 to 1979, so we have a pretty big repertoire to choose from,” Jackson said.

Since they’re performing music they’ve been playing for more than 35 years, they don’t rehearse often. That comes in handy, said Jackson, as the members of the band don’t live in the same state.

“Guy is back in New Orleans now, and Felix and I both live in Long Island,” he said. “If we rehearse at all it’s just at sound check because we’ve only been doing 10 to 20 shows a year.”

But that might change in the near future. In between gigs, the band is in the process of arranging new material, which they’d like to record soon.
“We hope to have it out if not this year, sometime next year,” he said. “I’ve got so many songs written and I want it to be different from everything we’ve done.”

Also, on Oct. 18th they will be inducted to the Long Island Music Hall of Fame. While they originated in New Orleans, Louisiana, and were inducted to the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2010, Long Island is honoring them, too.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “It’s nice that Long Island made an exception for us.”

Despite a brief hiatus in the early 1990s, the band has been together for 37 years. The “roughest” part, Jackson said, was the first five years.

“We were really active playing at clubs and partying too much, but it was a time when we probably would have broken up if we were going to,” he said. “We got through that and it’s been relatively smooth sailing for us. We’re all family and we’ve accepted everybody for who they are. Carrying on like that keeps any organization together and I think it’s really important for the fans to have the original band.”

Jackson mentioned that the members shared many of the same interests in music when they first formed and were heavily influenced by Led Zeppelin, Rush, The Moody Blues and YES. The Beatles are also high on the list.

“I’m a big Beatles fan, and Felix is too, but he’s also a huge Rolling Stones fan,” said Jackson. “I like the Stones, but I wasn’t as familiar with them as Felix was. When Journey came out, Guy was a big fan; I was not. There are certainly differences among us, but enough similarities that are a big part of why we are still together after all this time.”

In addition to playing with ZEBRA, Jackson often performs solo acoustic gigs, as well as shows with symphony orchestras throughout the United States, doing arrangements of music by Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Pink Floyd and The Eagles, to name a few.

He began teaming up with the orchestras in 1996, when his now-late agent Jim McGinnis contacted and informed him that an East Coast promoter started a company that combined classic rock with an orchestra. The concept was to perform the music of one group at each show.

“They did a trial run of the show in Virginia Beach and wanted a different singer,” Jackson said. “I flew down to Virginia, met Brent Havens, the conductor, and we’ve been doing shows ever since.”

As noted, Jackson is a fan of The Beatles, and in the liner notes of the ZEBRA’s best of CD, he mentions that the first concert he ever saw was The Beatles at City Park Stadium in New Orleans in 1964. He was just nine-years-old at the time.

“It was like Christmas and Mardi Gras all rolled into one,” he said. “I love the music and I was so young that I didn’t really understand – I just knew it was exciting. It made a big impression on me.”

Jackson said that his neighborhood friend wanted to go to the show, too, but his parents didn’t take him to the show because they didn’t approve of The Beatles. Little did they know the band would be one of the most successful and influential acts of all time.

“I remember his mother saying years later, ‘That was one thing I’ll always regret,’” he said. “But that’s the kind of time it was. Like all other musical groups, parents are a little leery of them when they first come out.”

Speaking of The Beatles, Jackson played John Lennon’s Mellotron, an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard, for the ZEBRA song, “Who’s Behind the Door.” Jackson got the opportunity thanks to producer Jack Douglas, who produced ZEBRA’s first album, as well as Lennon’s final album, “Double Fantasy.”

“We were up at the record plant in New York where Lennon recorded the album and the Mellotron was still there,” Jackson said. “Jack brought it in and told me it was John’s, so sitting there planning Lennon’s Mellotron was kind of surreal for me. That’s what was great about recording with Jack. I got to hear a lot about my idols and people I looked up to from a guy who experienced it first hand.”

For tickets to the Oct. 26th show at The Rock Junction, visit www.brownpapertickets.com/event/239202. Tickets are $25 in advance and $27 the day of the event.

For more information about ZEBRA, visit their website thedoor.com.