Life mostly and too many musicians to list...Aretha Franklin, Wonder Woman, Mahalia Jackson, Bob Marley, Billie Holiday, Ledisi, Bessie Smith, Stevie Wonder, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughn, Bach, Fania All Stars, Ray Brown, Jaco, Ron Carter, Paul Chambers, Bootsy, Marcus Miller, Stanley Clarke, James Jamerson, Chucho Valdes, Eddie Harris, Monk, Benny Green, Djennae Hislop, The Asylum Street Spankers, Gypsies, Africa, Latin America and all the good humans out there who are inspired to make music and share the beauty of its universality...
WHISKEY SANDWICH Gillian's Debut CD Now Available via
Californian turned New Yorker Gillian Harwin is a songwriter, producer, arranger,
band leader, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. She sings in multiple languages and accompanies herself playing either guitar or upright bass. She otherwise entertains by playing the ukulele, musical saw, or tel avi and has even been known to do a nose flute or kazoo solo.
She graduated with a degree in classical vocal performance although her true passion is for singing jazz, Latin, soul, R&B and the blues. After years of paying dues singing in smoky blues bars and searching for “the vibe”, she shares her voice, vision and depth with the release of her debut album, Whiskey Sandwich. It is an eclectic ten song mix of jazz, blues and ballads engineered by producer and musician Troy Dexter.
The majority of the songs were penned and arranged by Gillian. Noteworthy is the sultry En Sourdine with lyrics by French poet Paul Verlaine. Recognizable cover takes include Quincy Jones’ Miss Celie’s Blues from the Oscar winning film The Color Purple and a slow 12/8 version of Mojo, with the original lyrics written by Anne Cole and Preston Foster, made famous by Muddy Waters.
Gillian’s multi-lingual vocal talent helped secure her a place as a front-woman with Latin sensation, Movimiento, with whom she tours. She has appeared with the band at New York’s Blue Note Jazz Club, The Highline Ballroom and The Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Gillian upholds a tremendous work ethic. This combination of diligence, talent, and an adventurous spirit is what has propelled her to work, travel, live and perform nationally and abroad.
She has performed and studied with legends such as John Lee Hooker, Benny Green, Ron Carter, Tootie Heath, Elio Villafranca, Francois Rabbath, Rebecca Parris, Nancy Marano, Randy Porter, Harvey Wineappel, Josh Jones, Jovino Santos Neto, John Santos, Carolyn Brandy, Scott Colley, Faye Carroll and Geoff Brennan among others. Between performances she is available for workshops as well as private vocal training and instruction on playing the ukulele, guitar, musical saw, upright and electric bass.
Hey hey Gildo, hope your flight was quick and painless. Thank you so much for hookin us up, "i can totally get behind that"! Have fun stormin the castle @ jizzcamp and say hey to anyone i know, love ya, later.
How are you? I just got the T-shirts I ordered for the NYC Musical Saw Festival. I'm excited about the logo: What do you think? I hope you can join us at the festival on Saturday, July 18th, 2pm at Trinity Church, 31-18 37th street, Astoria (Queens).
Dawn Drake & ZapOte wish you a Happy Cinco de Mayo! Show this Tues 5/5, 9 pm at Public Assembly 70 North 6th St. Brooklyn, NY www.publicassemblynyc.com 718-384-4586 $8
I would like to share some exciting news: after a long application process, the NYC Musical Saw Festival was approved by the Guinness Book of Records to attempt to break the current world record for the 'Largest Musical Saw Ensemble'. The current world record (set in Poland last year) is 27 musical saw players playing together. Could we set a new world record on July 18th? We need your help for it! Please join us and be part of a Guinness World Record breaking attempt at the 7th annual NYC Musical Saw Festival: When: Saturday, July 18th, 2pm Where: Trinity Church, 37th street corner of 31st Avenue, Astoria (Queens), NYC. Admission: $10 Info: www.MusicalSawFestival.org
For the Guinness World Record attempt all sawists will be playing 2 pieces together (in what we call the 'Chorus of the Saws'): Ave Maria/Schubert - accompanied by church organ Over the Rainbow - accompanied by piano The 'Chorus of the Saws' will be conducted by Scott Munson.
Hope to see you there, and please - pass the info on - we need to get as many musical saw players to participate as possible to set a new Guinness World Record!
Each new jazz "friend" is important to us so, we appreciate your add very much.
If you are interested in a FREE listing on our Jazz Blog just send your MySpace URL to the e-mail address below. We will let you know when and where your listing will run.
I wanted to let you know that last summer's Musical Saw Festival made a top 10 list. It's number 2 on WFMU Radio DJ Bronwyn's list of Best Things of 2008. You can find the WFMU list here: http://blog. wfmu. org/freeform/2009/01/pretty-good-the. html
This year’s NYC Musical Saw Festival is scheduled for July 18, 2009, 2pm. It sure would be great if you could participate!
Why the disappointed mood? Cheer up. Remember these words of wisdom - "All the world is waiting for you...". Love the music and thanks for adding me. Can't wait to check out a gig.
Hi Thank you so much for your kind invitation , i truly appreciate your friendship , it was nice to stop by your page , i'll be back . Enjoy your days . ..My official site..
Online!