Happenings Nov. ‘09

It has been busy at SevenSeas Studios recently. Engineer Todd Whitelock was just in mixing Mack Ave artist Hot Club of Detroit (Producer Al Pryor), as well as material for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (Producer Steve Epstein), and Yo-Yo Ma (Producer Steve Epstein). We are also been doing work with Public Enemy, Mary Brown, The Phantom Boyz, Melba Moore, Warren G, G Train, The Nervo Sisters and others. SevenSeas is a very comfortable recording and mixing space with a great sounding control room featuring a Euphonix Fusion console, an ample sized vocal booth, and a lounge. Our protools rig is chock full of plugins and we have a great vocal mic selection too choose from. We also understand the need for a reasonably prized studio option and will work with you to bring your project in on budget! For those of you who have graced us with your presence thank you! For those of you who have not yet, I invite you to come by and see the facility.

Our management company has been very busy as well. JazzKamikaze is ramping up for their upcoming release of the new LP Supersonic Revolutions which is being distributed through Mconnexion. We have a great selection of engineers to choose from, all of which have years of experience and most importantly “good ears”. We are expanding our producer and artist management reach with some very exciting soon to be announced additions.

Best to everyone and hope to hear from and see you all very soon.

Mix Magazine article on engineer Robert Smith

A recent Mix Magazine article on engineer Robert Smith. Rob has recently worked at SevenSeas on a number of projects.

Mix Magazine article on engineer Robert Smith

News

Have had some great projects in the past few weeks. We just added a second protools production space, and as always have some great engineers available for tracking and mixing every genre of music. Stay tuned for more updates….soon to come!

JazzKamikaze new EP on Itunes

That’s right….after much anticipation by their fans, JazzKamikaze and SevenSeas Music have released the new EP The Revolution’s in your Hands. This EP is a compilation of newly recorded material that will be included on the upcoming full length LP, a song collaboration with the band A Kid Hearafter, and bonus acoustic material. The EP showcases the growth and new direction the band has taken. We hope you enjoy their new music and the upcoming LP soon to be released.

SevenSeas July update

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer. A few updates for you all.

Just returned from 3 great shows for our artist JazzKamikaze. The first two shows were at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival. The first night the band performed a straight Jazz set at an outdoor stage. As usual they had the crowd jumping out of their seats and dancing by the second set. The second night was at a large indoor venue in the Christiana section of Copenhagen. At this gig they unveiled their new material and direction to many new and diehard old fans. The venue was packed and dancing to material from their upcoming release Supersonic Revolutions. The new album is slated to be released in September. We are putting the finishing touches on the distribution deal as we speak. In the meantime we have released a new EP named The Revolution is in your Hands. This first single on this EP, The Revolution is in your Hands, is a collaboration between JazzKamikaze and the popular Danish band A Kid Hearafter. The EP will be available on ITunes very shortly.

After the successful shows in Copenhagen we were off to the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rottedam, Netherlands. Here the JazzKamkaze’s shared the limelight with such performers as Erika Badu, Seal, George Benson, and many others. It is The biggest Jazz Festival in the world. The venue was packed and the boys kicked it as usual. Needless to say we are looking forward to a long and successful career for the band. They truly are experts on their instruments and a pleasure to watch and listen too.

As far as our other engineers and studio work, here is a brief run through of some other happenings. Richard King and Steve Epstein have been busy with Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell and other projects. Todd Whitelock has been working on some of the above and with artist Eldar, and a project with composer Marcelo Zarvos. Jason Goldstein has been busy with The Roots, Josiah Gluck has worked with Curtis Steiger, and Kenny Lloyd did some work with Mya and upcoming artist Kristiana DeBarge. Usher was also in the house as was Afrika Bambatta!

Below is a link to a review of the album recently mixed at SevenSeas Studios by Producer Steve Epstein and engineer Richard King. The session was assisted by our own Drea Young.

http://www.nonesuch.com/albums/doctor-atomic-symphony

SevenSeas is also proud to announce the addition of engineer Robert Smith. Rob is a very experienced tracking and mix engineer. He started his career at Green Street Recording Studios, and did stints at various other facilities. He has done everything from Hip Hop to Rock, and advertising to movie scores. The documentary “The Devil Came On Horseback” just recently was nominated for two Emmy Awards. Rob recorded and mixed this score for composer Paul Brill. We welcome Rob to SevenSeas.

http://www.thedevilcameonhorseback.com/

JazzKamikaze Playing The North Sea Jazz Festival

We are happy to announce that the fellas are playing the infamous North Sea Jazz Festival this coming July 11th. This performance will be in conjunction with the release of their new Single which will include a track cowritten and co-perfomed by the band A Kid Hearafter. Please join us in congratulating the boys and show your support by logging into the website and buying some tracks.
http://www.sonicbids.com/JazzKamikaze
http://www.7seasmusic.com

Freddy Bastone enlists SevenSeas Media Management

We are happy to announce the addition of remixer, producer and artist Freddy Bastone to our management roster. 

 

 

Freddy Bastone

Freddy Bastone was born and raised in the Bronx. The son of a jazz drummer, Freddy came into his own following his father’s lust for music. In his early years Freddy studied guitar and drums. His favorite influences have been The Clash, Queen, Zep, Barry White, Earth Wind and Fire, and many other artists. As a high school student he went from playing an instrument to playing others music as a DJ. 

 

Playing parties throughout the 5 boroughs, Freddy got his first big gig at Danceteria where club guru Rudolf heard his talent and hired him on the spot. Freddie became a weekly resident playing everything from the hits of the day English Beat, The Jam, DeŽpeche Mode, funk and good ole rock and roll.

Soon Freddy was spinning every Friday and Saturday night becoming the source of new off the boat hits. He became a favorite of record producers and A+R reps. He was asked to work with the well known record producer John Luongo and to be his club ears in the studio. Some of the projects he helped John with were John Waite, Blamage, and Toni Basil. In the next few years Freddy took to working with record labels. Some of the projects he was involved with were Paul Hardcastle, Will To Power, and Nu Shooz. 

 

While making hits for the labels, he was also making his mark producing and mixing his own project Corperation Of One. All this while he was hitting the turntable circuit all over the world. In the last few years Freddy has seen #1’s with Jamariquai, Justin Timberlake, and Jennifer Lopez. He also produced critically acclaimed works with Radio Head, Missy Elliot, Lil Kim, Rod Stewart, Taxi Dolls, and Hall and Oats to mention a few. Freddy has also been working on his acting career. He can be seen on Law and Order, The Sopranos, and Life on Marz. Last but not least he’s putting the final touches on his first solo work since the #1 Uk smash the Corperation of One. The LP is self titled BASTONE One.

Joshua Bell Review

A review from Classics Today on Joshua Bell’s new LP that was engineered by SevenSeas Media Management engineer Richard King at SevenSeas Studios North    

     ANTONIO VIVALDI
The Four Seasons–Concertos Op. 8 Nos. 1-4
 GUISEPPE TARTINI
Violin Sonata in G minor (“The Devil’s Trill”)
 Joshua Bell (violin); John Constable (harpsichord)
 
 Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
 
 Sony Classical- 11013-2(CD)

Reference Recording – Modern instruments: Mutter or Shaham (DG); Period instruments: Carmignola (Sony)     

    
  

   
  
You know how animal conservationists say that it’s essential to cull the over-populated deer herds every so often so as to make life better and less competitive for the remaining animals? Well, this is similar to what I do every two or three years to my persistently-proliferating stock of Vivaldi Four Seasons recordings. The active catalog now lists more than 200 versions; about a dozen is the limit of both my shelf-space and sensibility. So this new one arrives and, well, it’s Joshua Bell and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, so it’s likely to be worth a listen, and perhaps a place on that already over-populated shelf.
 

Of course, Sony already has a perfectly wonderful period-instrument Four Seasons with Giuliano Carmignola (type Q2494 in Search Reviews), and then there’s the very fine modern-instrument Anne-Sophie Mutter rendition on DG (type Q525), with an identical coupling no less, which like this one weirdly neglects to mention the Tartini sonata on the disc front cover or spine(!)–and we’ve yet to touch on other respectable versions by Fabio Biondi (Virgin) or Gil Shaham (also DG)–and no doubt you’ve already got your own favorite(s).
 

Ultimately none of this matters. If you’re a Joshua Bell and/or Vivaldi fan, or if you’ve just arrived on planet Earth and therefore haven’t yet acquired your first Four Seasons recording, you only have to consider whether these performances are distinctive and authoritative and exciting enough to move them from the store shelves to yours. The answer is unequivocally “yes”.
 

Bell is one of the more consistently tasteful, sensitive, anti-self-indulgent violin virtuosos on the scene today, and as such he delivers these inherently flashy concertos with a refreshingly straightforward approach that scorches and sizzles without ever falling prey to pyrotechnic vulgarity. Bell  and his first-rate partners–bravo to harpsichordist John Constable!–just make beautiful music out of Vivaldi’s conceptions, and their efforts are as gripping as we expect from musicians of this caliber. The final, hair-raising Allegro of “Spring”–brought to vivid, room-filling life by the superb engineering–is just one example. Aficionados of the Tartini sonata will be interested to hear Bell’s own little cadenza along with his occasional personal ornamentations, which confirm this performance’s distinctive character as well as Bell’s technical and interpretive artistry.
 

This music is so familiar and its technical demands so mainstream these days that any of today’s better-trained violinists could deliver a respectable rendition–of any Vivaldi concerto for that matter. But Bell ’s assured performances and exceptionally vibrant sonics move this recording into the top tier–and I’m already eying my shelf to see which current occupant will have to be sacrificed.
 

–David Vernier 

Julian Lage mixing at SevenSeas Studios North

We were happy to have the very talented Julian Lage at working at our facility mixing his upcoming LP with Grammy winning producer Steve Epstein and Grammy winning engineer Richard King. This was our first session on our new Euphonix Fusion console. Everyone involved were extremely happy with the consoles performance, the room sound, and the comfortable environment we have created. Needless to say we are delighted to have been a part of this very talented young artists legacy. 

Julian Lage, Steve Epstein, and Richard King

 

 

 

 

 

 

A nice write up: http://www.tedkurland.com/materials/LSPMusic.html

Kamikaze songs for sale on iTunes

 

Kamikaze

We are very happy to announce that the songs from our Artist Kamikaze’s new EP entitled Emerging Pilots are now for sale on iTunes, Amazon.com, and other digital music providers. Kamikaze just played in Norway, Sweden, and Copenhagen. We are looking forward to the bands continued musical growth and commercial success. Thanks all for you support!