MySpacea place for friends

OK, after a lot of prodding I finally joined MySpace--I don't know what I'm doing but I'll give it a shot. If things get slow I can always fall back to my other job:

Photo by Craig Yaremko (hope you liked the courtesy shine--next time I see you I'll do the other shoe)

I'm a freelance guitarist/arranger/composer. I studied with jazz guitarists Jerry Hahn, Joe Cinderella, Chuck Wayne, Carmine D'Amico, classical guitar with Herbert Levine, flamenco guitar with Dennis Koster, arranging with Dave Berger and Don Sebesky.

My original project is the 10 piece Dalton Gang but I play with and write for several ensembles and if I'm open I'll take the gig, thank you.

Here are the details for the tunes in the MySpace Jukebox--all six tunes are my original compositions and/or arrangements:

"Ronda" is from The Dalton Gang's most recent release, "Last Year's Waltz", and is a musical impression of the beautiful Spanish city, Ronda. I used an Antonio Aparicio flamenco guitar--the same guitar is in the video of "Mr. Lucky" and "Alone Together" (below in the "Solo Guitar" videos). Vinnie Cutro plays the trumpet solo. The other members of The Dalton Gang are: Conrad Zulauf, trombone, Mark Friedman, alto; Frank Elmo, tenor; Dan Nigro, bari; Mike DiLorenzo, keys; John Hughes, bass; Frank Valdes, percussion; Vince Cherico, drums.

"Fran" is a guitar duet with myself--kind of an older style acoustic thing and I named the tune after my mother. I played the melody and solo with a 1980's Martin OM-28 and the rhythm guitar with a Heritage Golden Eagle.

"Tenderly" is my arrangement of the standard played by the 18 piece Real Deal Big Band featuring a burning performance from tenor player Andres Boiarsky, plus a guitar solo from moi. The rhythm section is Karl Latham, drums; John Hughes, bass; Mike DiLorenzo, piano; Jose Chavarria, percussion; and me on guitar. I think this was the first run through of this chart and Andres really tears into it.

"Cinzia" is played by the 18 piece Real Deal Big Band. The soloists are Freddie Hendrix, trumpet; Frank Elmo, tenor sax; Frank Valdes, percussion; Mike DiLorenzo, piano; with John Pendenza on lead trumpet, John Hughes on bass, and Vince Cherico on traps.

"Silk City" is from "Riverwalk"--music I wrote for string quartet and acoustic guitar--first performed in 1999. This was recorded at Luna Sound and featured the Seraphim String Quartet and myself on the Martin OM 28.

"Run Along Now" features my playing on the Martin and slide guitars.

Here are some videos of various projects--all my arrangements and/or compositions--to see the lastest added videos scroll down to the bottom of the thumbnail to the right of each video section. The Real Deal Big Band videos featuring my guitar playing are: "End Of A Love Affair", "The Gypsy In My Soul", and "For Heaven's Sake". Don't forget to turn off the MySpace jukebox above before watching the videos.

THE DALTON GANG:

THE REAL DEAL BIG BAND:

PATERSON NJ (original music, photos by Ellen Denuto)

SHEILA'S DREAM (original music, stock footage)

WALKING HOME from a performance of "Riverwalk", music I wrote for string quartet and acoustic guitar. This was at the Paterson Museum in Paterson NJ in 1998 and featured the Seraphim Quartet and me

Solo guitar videos

My arrangement of TP's "3D Mambo" performend by the Real Deal Big Band live at Trumpets in Montclair NJ on 10/03/07.