The band for "Mr. Sun" is:
Danny Frankel: drums and percussion, David Piltch: upright bass, Jon Ossman: upright bass, Mark Goldenberg: guitar, Freddy Koella: guitar, Dean Parks: guitar, Daniel Savant: trumpet, flugelhorn, Marc Macisso: sax, Jude: piano, vocals, pump organ, chimes, and melodica, Maxayn Lewis, Stephen Bishop & Inga Swearingen: vocals.
Influences
Jackson Browne, Tom Waits, Randy Newman, Van Morrison, Sarah Vaughn, Tony Bennett, Little Feat, Ella, Bonnie Raitt, Nina Simone, Rosemary Clooney, Carole King, The Beatles, Gershwin...
Below is a slideshow of cds that contain songs I've written.........Also, you can hear some songs from my latest cd "mr. sun" in the upper right corner of this page and also several tracks LIVE in Texas from the project I am currently on due out in 2010. Enjoy!..............jj
I discovered the piano at about 6 or 7, started writing songs at eight, played the bars from about 16, already on my way to Los Angeles in my mind.....and never looked back.
In the beginning, I just listened to records, took the needle off every few seconds til I had learned the songs and then played them at the gigs....but eventually I started sneaking in my own writing about the time I thought it would go unnoticed by the clientele.........
Mom taught me the basics of harmony...I think Silent Night was the first one and we branched out from there....
Mom and Dad sang acapella together in the car though neither of them sang professionally. Mom could have done but it would have been unusual in Ellsworth, Maine...Still, their serenades were very spirited and I remember them fondly. One of my favorite songs to sing with them at about 6 was the Mills Brother's popular Paper Doll, (I wrote a much darker song with the same title for my Blue Light cd.) Dad was a school teacher and Mom stayed at home until I, being the youngest of 3 boys and a girl, was in upper grade-school. Then she worked in the family blueberry farming business until she retired. I was always inspired by her solos on Sundays at church although she was a dead-on soprano and I clearly had inherited my father's deeper voice and was an alto from the get.
When I was eighteen, and just out of highschool, playing in clubs with top forty bands around New England (as a keyboard player mostly), I took a brief trip with my cousin to LA to visit some friends and on the plane we happened to sit next to Bruce Springsteen's sax player, Clarence Clemons, and traded some laughs. Looking back, now, my life quite literally changed from that day forward..........When we got home from our vacation I sent a tape of some of my songs to the address he had given us......and he contacted me and flew me to New Jersey to introduce me to his musical circle of friends. I then moved to California at nineteen on their advice and have lived there ever since.
I got involved in the music publishing biz early on and after a few years of grinding it out in the LA clubs, I had some songs covered by some very reputable artists...Stevie Nicks, Laura Brannigan, Bette Midler, Trisha Yearwood, Bonnie Raitt, Jennifer Warnes, Johnny Cash, etc......... and was lucky enough to work with some wonderful producers in a number of capacities like Henry Lewy, T-Bone Burnett, Charles Plotkin, Stephen Soles, Garth Fundis, Larry Klein, etc. until in 2002, I put out a collection of my own songs (several of which other artists had already covered) called Coming of Age, then another in 2004 called On A Good Day followed by a more jazz/blues inspired cd in 2007 called Blue Light. This past year, in 2008, I released my fourth cd which was recorded on the heels of Blue Light. Once again in the jazz/blues genre, it is called Mr. Sun.......I am presently working on a LIVE IN TEXAS cd due out in the Summer of 2010...........JJ
.................Johnstone's critically acclaimed debut CD "Coming Of Age" (released in 2002 on independent label BoJak Records) was featured on NPR's Morning Edition and reached number 6 on Amazon's Best Seller's List. "Coming of Age" includes the song "Wounded Heart," which was featured in the episode “Independence Day,” on Lifetime's television series "Army Wives," during the 2007 season. Bonnie Raitt covered "Wounded Heart," on her CD "Silver Lining," released in 2002. Johnstone's sophomore CD "On a Good Day," released in 2005, attracted guest vocal appearances by Jackson Browne, Rodney Crowell, Julie Miller, and Bonnie Raitt. "On a Good Day" generated impressive media buzz leading to Johnstone's appearance on CBS's "The Early Show." "Blue Light" was her first jazz/blues flavored CD . followed by "Mr. Sun" Both possess the soulful and poetic qualities found in her previous discs but return Johnstone to the musical influences of Sarah Vaughn, Tony Bennett, Billie Holliday etc. that she grew up with while listening to her father's record collection. All four CDs are available at CDBaby.com and Amazon.com with physical distribution at all retail stores by Burnside Distribution, www.bddistribution.com and digital distribution through IODA.
YOU are so amazing!! The more I listen to your music the more I love it.. (and I loved them the first time I heard 'em) What a gift! I cannot wait until the 2010 albumn!! I am going to order it as soon as it is out. I still am enjoying your earlier gifts and still cannot believe you were so kind and gracious to a total stranger. This time, I can easily order my own! :) Blessings to you and yours, Donna
The new True Margrit CD - The Juggler's Progress - is now available for pre-order, along with t-shirts and artwork, photo and drumheads, as we get ready for our monthlong tour of the Great Northwest! Check it out here: http://bit.ly/7Cu8J
Look for us in Washington, Oregon and California between October 15 and November 15, when our tour wraps up with the big show at San Francisco's best rock club, Bottom of the Hill! For the complete show schedule, check here: http://bit.ly/1UgGqQ
Ciao jUDEl, Thank you for the add and the friendship. you are very good, I like your music and the splendid voice. talk to you soon, and all of my best wishes to always listen to your good music. all the best.. from italy good week end neal
Thank you for The Hereafter. My son died three years ago today, and for the last two years have added your beautiful song to his profile. In loving memory of Clayton Baker
HAPPY BIRTHDAY RADIO COUNTRY CLUB
1st March 2006 - 1st March 2009
The Biggest French Radio
Country Music - Best Regards
http://www. radiocountryclub. com
