Mitch Corso: Our fantastic guitarist and vocalist who is also the music director at Shepherd of the Prairie Lutheran Church in Huntley, IL. Currently a student at Columbia College in Chicago. Makes great faces when playing the high E string on his guitar.
Bob Ferraris: a mean, lean, bass playing machine. Teaches at Lewis University and multiple music schools throughout the area. First call bassist in jazz, classical, blues and pop settings. Has been known to make grown men weep when he solos.
Paul Abella: Hand percussionist and occasional player of an actual drum set. Music director for WDCB in Chicago. Writes reviews for Chicago Jazz Magazine. Interviews himself in the shower.
Gary James: A phenomenal bass player that goes way, way, way back with Paul to sometime in the late 1990's, playing with pianist Kevin Higgins and guitarists Giulio Stancari or Brian Fornelli. Gary posesses a wonderful sound, a great groove, and an imaginative solo style. Gary plays with us quite often when Bob can't make it, and we're honored to have him along for the ride.
Influences
Nat King Cole, Airto Moriera, Mongo Santamaria, Poncho Sanchez, Dexter Gordon, Ike Quebec, Miles Davis, Herbie Mann, Pat Metheny, The Grateful Dead, and of course, Yanni.
This is where most bands will tell you all about how they came together to make music that will change the world, man. Our plan is far more simple: to make jazz fun again. We get back to the basics, playing music to make feet tap, fingers snap and necks pop. Collectively, the influences of The Paul Abella Trio read like a who's who, not just of jazz, but of modern music, period. Our set lists take chances with the standard jazz repertoire, tip a hat to the sounds of modern jazz and contain many opportunities to jam in our unique way on songs ranging from the classic chansons of Edith Piaf, to the classic rock of The Allman Brothers and The Grateful Dead. We take our inspiration from a long line of jazz musicians, from Louis Armstrong to Mongo Santamaria, who played music to get people off, plain and simple. We're equal parts modern jazz band, eclectic jam band and populist bar band. And let's face it, any band with percussion just looks damn cool on stage.
Our CD, "mainstreamism" came out in late September 2007. A collection of fun tunes, ranging from a medley of Stephen Foster's Shortnin' Bread and Duke Ellington's Caravan to spirited versions of La Vie En Rose and R.E.M.'s Losing My Religion, it's been lauded as "interesting," "fun" and "amazing." In no small part, due to Mitch Corso's raging solos and Bob Ferraris' amazing interplay. People from throughout the Chicago area, and throughout the world, thanks to the world wide web, have been picking up on the Paul Abella Trio's sound.
WHAT PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SAYING ABOUT THE PAUL ABELLA TRIO...
"The Paul Abella Trio's "Mainstreamism" is an extremely well conceived and
performed CD. It's marked by unusual, and very interesting treatments of both standards and originals.
A spirited and remarkably inventive trio!"
--Dick LaPalm, jazz impresario
"What a delightful and original surprise. Your musical "strut" allowed me to sit back and continue working in my office and at times, laugh out loud...you are blessed and I know had you been born "Then" you would have been right in there with the jazz doctors and young bloods...Thank you."
--Grange "Lady Haig" Rutan, author of Death of a Be-Bop Wife
"The trio of Paul Abella (percussion), Mitch Corso (guitar), and Bob Ferraris (bass) offers a set of unusual rhythms and stylistic couplings to mainstream tunes, and the result is delightful. For example, Mainstreamism offers a large dose of Latin flavor with flair, applied to tunes that aren't inherently thought of as "Latin." They make this work, not by trying to force feed the songs into what might be stereotypically thought of as "Latin jazz," but by merely changing the context, creating a different sound mix than one would usually expect. They have an interesting take on things that makes for a good listen."
--Tim Gault, Chicago Jazz Magazine
If this has convinced you to check out "mainstreamism", you can do so by going to...
VAL'S HALLA RECORDS: 239 LOMBARD OAK PARK, IL 60304
online, you can pick up your copy of "mainstreamism" in a myriad of ways...
ITunes
Rhapsody
Napster
Amazon
We appreciate the compliment! We're trying to be a little bit of everything all at the same time. Thanks for looking us up. And I've enjoyed your tunes too. Keep it up. Peace...
Thanks for the ADD. Let me know when you have gigs so that I can put them on our sites concert calendar. We are always looking for music for our weekly podcast.
Paul--Congrats on everything that you've worked so hard for. I love love LOVE your version of Amazing Grace. You deserve everything great that comes your way! Congrats again.
Hi, I just wanted to say congrats on the new cd. Where can I get a copy??? You sound great - can't wait to get this into my personal rotation!! I think it's the Yanni influence that so captivates me.
Hey Paul, thanks for the add request. Loved the medley of Shortening Bread and Caravan. Here's a fun thing, ask Bob about Liz Rogers, but you might want to wear body armor while doing it, later, Steve.
Fr: Mister G
To: paul abella trio
Re: Word of the Week
WORD OF THE WEEK (6/3-6/10) IS "GRAVY"
adj.
1. A word used for "it's good, great or delicious."
2. Something that is without hassle or without a problem.
The word gravy is most often used with laid back undertones and usually is not used to describe something exciting or in an exclamatory way.
A college student might say: "Only one more exam to go, so the rest of this semester will be gravy."
Keepin'the words and tunes flowin'for ya. Thanks for commin' with me to my new page! - Jake Glasgow (Mister G)
Online Now!
