On his fourth ZOHO CD outing as a leader, or co-leader with Hendrik Meurkens, and his follow-up to his 2009 ZOHO solo album From Yucatan to Rio, bassist-composer-arranger Gabriel Espinosa explores the common ground between two prolific and influential popular composers who came to prominence during the ‘60s in their respective countries -- Burt Bacharach in the United States and Armando Manzanero in Mexico.
With five-time Grammy Award-nominated vocalist Tierney Sutton handling the five familiar Bacharach tracks and Espinosa himself singing the Spanish lyrics of five tunes by his fellow countryman and native of Yucatan, this alluring concept album is brimming with the kind of sophisticated harmonies, unexpected chord progressions and changing meters that mark both acclaimed composers’ work, while also being unabashedly romantic at his core.
Accompanied by pianist Misha Tsiganov, drummer Mauricio Zottarelli, trumpeter Jim Seeley and featuring the wonderfully lyrical playing of chromatic harmonica virtuoso Hendrik Meurkens, Espinosa puts his own unique spin on these ten classics with subtle reharmonizations to inject new colors along with new intros, interludes and rhythmic twists that draw on his background in bossa nova, samba and jazz. “It came out as the songs of Manzanero and the songs of Bacharach the way Gabriel Espinosa heard them,” says the professor of Jazz Studies at Central College in Pella, Iowa, who defines himself as a ‘hybrid composer.’ “I’m not a jazz musician, I’m not a Brazilian musician or Afro-Cuban musician or bolero musician. I’m a little bit of everything, so I put a little bit of everything in these songs.”
What do the famed American pop composer and beloved Mexican bolero composer have in common? Espinosa rattles off a list of qualities: “Beautiful melodies, beautiful harmonies, beautiful lyrics. Friendly songs. Songs that people can relate to. Songs that people can sing along to. They’re beautiful songs. To me, they are like the new American Songbook writers. Bacharach is a magic composer. Nobody was writing popular music like that in the ‘60s. And Manzanero is the equivalent of Jobim, but in the Mexican bolero music tradition. He is one of the idol composers in Mexico.”
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The New York Times has called TIERNEY SUTTON “A serious jazz artist who takes the whole enterprise to another level.”
The New York Times has called TIERNEY SUTTON
“A serious jazz artist who takes the whole enterprise to another level “.
A 7-time Grammy nominee, Sutton has received 6 consecutive nominations for “Best Jazz Vocal Album”- a nomination for every project she has released for the last decade. In 2013 she released “After Blue”, a jazz-inspired re-imagining of the legacy of Joni Mitchell. The album received wide acclaim and was Sutton’s breakout as a leader without her longtime Band and features Al Jarreau, Hubert Laws, Peter Erskine, Larry Goldings, Mark Summer, Kevin Axt, Serge Merlaud and The Turtle Island String Quartet. Sutton’s “After Blue: The Joni Mitchell Project” continues to tour the world.
With a recording and touring history spanning over 20 years and 9 CDs, The Tierney Sutton Band, “TSB” has traveled a rare path. Comprised of Sutton and instrumental virtuosos Kevin Axt, Ray Brinker, Trey Henry and Christian Jacob, the band functions as a true collaborative (and legally incorporated) unit and makes all musical as well as business decisions as partners. In 2011 the TSB received a Grammy nomination for it’s collaborative arranging, the only collaborative team ever to receive that honor.
Their discography is thematic and rich and past TSB projects have addressed: Americana (“American Road” 2011) Materialism (“Desire” 2009), The Pursuit of Happiness (On The Other Side” 2007), as well as the musical legacies of Bill Evans (Blue in Green 2001) and Frank Sinatra (Dancing in The Dark” 2003). The band is currently working on a new project, set for release in 2016.
Tierney has headlined in recent years at The Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center and Jazz At Lincoln Center. She can also be heard on film and television soundtracks including that of The Academy Award-nominated film “The Cooler” as well as on television commercials (BMW, Green Giant, Yoplait Yogurt, Coke)
When she is off the road, Tierney is in demand as both a producer and vocal educator. She taught for over a decade at USC’s Thornton School of Music and served for 5 years as Vocal Department Head at The Los Angeles College of Music in Pasadena,CA where she created a new curriculum for vocalists of all genres. Tierney has taught and mentored some of music’s finest new generation of singers including Gretchen Parlato and Sara Gazarek.