Contact: Tony Haywood, HiPNOTIC RECORDS,(202) 547-0541, [email protected]
The past few years have found Toledo-bred/Rutgers-trained/Harlem-based guitarist Jeff Ray traversing the isle of Manhattan, soaking in scenes and honing his own soulful sound as a sideman in a variety of improvisational-music contexts from Co-op City to the Zinc Bar, from the Soul Cafe to Jimmy's Uptown, to late-night sessions at St. Nick's Pub. Meanwhile, between the scenes, in his uptown hideout, our sponge-eared nimble-fingered guitar-hero-in-waiting has been equally busy concocting an original brew of groove-based music that combines intense hip hop, R&B, funk and house rhythms with sophisticated melodic and harmonic inventions that betray his studies in New Brunswick at the proverbial knee of the late one-of-a-kind jazz-guitar guru Ted Dunbar.
Prepared now to unleash his pungent jazz-funk potion upon an unsuspecting listening public, Ray has assembled a band that is supremely equipped to serve it up in convincing, full-flavored fashion. A potent rhythm section pairs acclaimed jazz bassist Darryl Hall (who has dusted all the niceness off his too-seldom-heard electric chops for this decidedly nasty assignment) with the drumbeatification of uptown R&B-jazz-hip hop legend Victor Wise. Precocious keyboardist Aaron Swinnerton sprinkles harmonic spices into the rhythmic mix on Fender Rhodes, while ever-lyrical alto-saxophonist Dean Mitchell helps stir the melodic pot with Ray on the frontline.
Tomorrrow (Thursday) night (5/30), Ray will offer a sneak peak at the secret ingredients of his soon-to-be debut CD to a groove-hungry uptown audience at none other than Perk's Fine Cuisine, located at 553 Manahattan Avenue (at the corner of 123rd Street). Sample the brew from 7:30 pm til midnight. For reservations, call Perk's at (212) 666-8500.
##
For more information contact All About Jazz.
