ERICH AVINGER - HEART MAGIC
This is my first CD as artist.
I had these guitars hand-made for me by luthier Stephen Owsley Smith just for this record. The music is reflective of a period when the Houston scene was full of spiritual seekers, gurus and all-around soulful misfits!
"An excellent synthesis of all that is the guitar from a jigger of Django, a hint of Hendrix, to moments of Metheny, all overlaid in compositional counterpoint worthy of the masters." -- Kaleidophonics Syndication
DISCOGRAPHY
Here are a few of the CDs I am playing guitar on, and/or have composed, produced, mixed or mastered.
ERICH AVINGER - SI
The second Erich Avinger record. We did the whole thing in a week in the studio,right before I moved to Florence, Italy. Rick Jackson and Paul English on piano, Bill Miller, bass, Steve Allison, drums, and Kuko Miranda, percussion. Tony Campise guests on soprano saxophone. Engineered by Andy Bradley, this is a great sounding record.
Mastered in L.A. by Bernie Grundman.
"This is without a doubt one of the finest guitar based albums I've heard in a long time. Incredibly diverse, each piece seems to create it's own musical atmosphere...a distinctive sound and style... filled with strong melodies, rich colorful harmonies...both complex, yet pure and uncomplicated... Si reveals influences from virtually every corner of the globe... brilliant"
--Ben Kettlewell, Heartsong Review
ERICH AVINGER - POETS, MISFITS, BEGGARS & SHAMANS
My third CD. Live in Austin, TX with Doug Hall on piano, "Mambo" John Treanor, drums and Stephen Zirkel, bass. Mambo is on fire! The other half of the CD is from my home studio in Taos, NM. Acoustic and electric guitars, bansuri, violin, with drum maestro Phil Hollenbeck on tabla and pakwaj. Take a trip!
…some of the finest Texas Blues guitar you’ll hear on a jazzy CD – complex fret work made to sound smooth and easy… hints of Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, with Metheny and Coltrane blended into the melodies…the guitar work alone on these tracks make you yearn to see Erich Avinger live to examine how he gets his guitar to make these sounds…Overall, the sheer passion and joy of music comes through clearly on this diverse CD. Each track is finely crafted with complex yet melodic sounds.
--Austin Live
DAVID CRAIG - THE MYSTERY
Bassist David Craig is the first call bassist in Houston, Texas.
He has performed, recorded and toured with a who’s-who of Jazz greats including; Dizzy Gillespie, Arnette Cobb, James Moody, Bob Moses, Herb Ellis, Kenny Werner, Art Lande, Tom Harrell, Randy Brecker, Charlie Byrd and Tal Farlow.
There is otherworldly beauty in David's compositions. These are inspired, spontaneous "Live" in the Studio performances with no overdubs.
Andrew Lienhard on piano, Woody Witt on saxophone, Daniel Darfour, on drums
Mixed and mastered by me, and engineered by Andy Bradley at the immaculate Wire Road Studios in Houston, the sound is phenomenal!
PAUL ENGLISH - BEAUTY
The best Jazz record ever made that was never released.
Paul is a genius of music composition and an amazing pianist. Engineered by Andy Bradley at Willie Nelson's studio in Austin, TX. John Patitucci guests, I am playing Classical guitar. Try to find one floating around somewhere...
KELLYE GRAY
PURPLE GRAY - A PRINCE OFFERING
Thje last work and testament of our dearly beloved, too soon departed Kellye Gray. Blowing the roof off of Prince songs! Kellye just keeps taking you higher and higher, that's what she does.
Produced by Kellye and bassist Chris Maresh, with Eddie Hobizal on piano, Russell Haight on sax , Ephraim Owens on trumpet and Kyle Thompson on drums.
Kellye and I were mixing it when the big surprise came. So I mixed it and mastered it and here it is!
STRAY DOGS BY THE HIGHWAY
My cousin Alan Dyson, in Shreveport, received a grant from the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage foundation to do a CD of Alan's music set to the poems of David Love-Lewis. Lewis is an accomplished poet with striking insight and perception, he is like the Jack Kerouac of Shreveport Louisiana!
When you think Shreveport, think Hank Williams, Ledbelly, Elvis, James Burton... tons of intelligence with Raw Emotion and Realness.
I couldn't not do it!
Alan Dyson wrote the music, sang and played piano. I produced, engineered and mixed, and played guitar, dobro, keyboards and drums, and the effortless mastery of Chris Maresh on acoustic bass. Saxophonist Kellye Dean guests on the title track. Mastered in L.A. with Bernie Grundman.
GYPSY DREAM
Our World Music Ensemble in Houston, TX.
Featuring Ferenc Illenyi on violin, Andrew Lienhard on piano,
Chris Maresh on bass and myself on nylon-string guitar.
Renowned father and son duo Branko and Zeljko Pavlovic guest, along with James Metcalf on percussion and
Dexter Raghunanan on tabla.
Influences from France, Spain, South America and India. Beautiful.
Arranged and recorded by myself,
George Naiful and I produced.
We got selected for a Grammy Nomination for this. Better luck next time!
KELLYE GRAY - RENDERING
I recently mixed and mastered this new CD from San Francisco Jazz singer Kellye Gray. Recorded with open mics and a live studio audience by Andy Bradley at the luxurious Wire Road Studios in Houston, Tx, There are no overdubs or edits!
This is the real Jazz deal. Named one of the 12 best recordings of 2017 by AllAboutJazz.
"Think of a layer cake with a dense Carmen McRae center, iced with swoops, dollops and occasionally wide swatches of Nancy Wilson and Billie Holiday, then dotted with Etta James bluesiness and Tina Turner wail. Gray’s is an impressive, indeed frighteningly vast talent". --Christopher Loudon, JazzTimes Magazine
With Pamela York, piano, David Craid, bass, Warren Sneed, saxophone, Andre Hayward, trombone and Sebastian Whitaker, drums.
THOMAS AVINGER
SONATAS AND VARIATIONS
I got to produce this CD of my Dad's music with him just a few
years before he passed on. What a treat!
Engineered by Andy Bradley.
TAOS - THE DEEPENING EDGE
I made this record with the guys in Taos, NM on an 8-track Tascam tape deck and two microphones, in an adobe house
in the shadow of Taos Mountain.
Mastered in Hollywood by Bernie Grundman
Featuring the music and guitar of Michael Mandrell, with Peter Barbeau on saxophone, Phil Hollenbeck on tabla, Kuko Miranda on percussion and me on 11-string guitar.
Acoustic deliciousness.
KELLYE GRAY - TOMATO KISS
My favorite Kellye Gray record that I am playing on. Me on 11-string Classical guitar. And what a band! Sebastian Whitaker on drums with Dave Catney, piano, Dennis Dotson, trumpet, Warren Sneed, saxophone, David Craig, bass, and Kuko Miranda, percussion. This band is playing! Andy Bradley engineered and mixed, and mastered by Bernie Grundman. This one is a jewel, if you can find one!
TONY CAMPISE - FIRST TAKES
While I was in the middle of making my second CD, "Si", Tony stole my band for a day and we recorded this record in one afternoon of first takes. I never forgave him!
"A fat, juicy, soulful wail that practically jumps out and grabs you. A bluesy and brilliant ride..." -–Skip Pearlman, CD-Sounds NY
TONY CAMPISE - BALLADS, BLUES, BEBOP AND BEYOND
Fresh off the road from New Mexico, they threw me in the studio with monster Austin Jazz guitar legend Mitch Watkins. Mitch and I shred it together on "Impressions" by John Coltrane. What a great band!
"...echo a historic tradition and update it to the space age, embellishing and expanding the classic sound with brilliant new extrapolations." -– Michael Point, DownBeat
KHABU - KHABUKELELE
Douglas Carter young, a.k.a. Khabu, is one of the most creative, best Jazz guitarists on the planet.
Here he is in a ukelele setting, doing what no one ever did before on a uke. Check out his Thelonious Monk. Some great, real far-out stuff here.
Engineered, mixed and mastered here in Houston at Invisible Studios.
KELLYE GRAY
The Blue and Pink Recordings
Recorded Live in Houston, TX at Ovations Nightclub.
With Pamela York on piano, Brennen Nase on acoustic bass, Dennis Durick on drums and me on 10-string Classical guiutar and archtop.
More real, unadulterated Jazz,
with one of the finest singers in the country.
