Tom Harrell's PARADISE will be released on June 5th

Tom Harrell's PARADISE will be released on Bluebird (a subsidiary of RCA Victor Group) on June 5th. Harrell's vision of uniting and extending the boundaries of jazz, world, and classical music, is brought to fruition by two chamber ensembles that perform together in varying combinations; an octet comprising trumpet, tenor sax, guitar, harp, piano, bass, viola and two celli.

“Music is the most expressive of all the arts," says Harrell, “it makes the most direct contact with our feelings, and can convey the full spectrum of human experience. It can express emotions that are beyond words. Music is a collective experience. It can unite people from different cultures and backgrounds.

“In writing for Paradise, I was especially inspired by the moods, intensity of emotions and the total urgency of the performance found in the music of the Mediterranean. I have also been inspired by the Latin and Afro-Caribbean music I often hear in my neighborhood."

A composer, arranger, trumpeter and flugelhornist whose work Newsweek calls “pure melodic genius," Harrell is a frequent recipient of top honors in critics and readers polls in jazz magazines around the world. His last RCA release, Time's Mirror (featuring his compositions and arrangements for big band,) won a Grammy nomination in 2000. His 1998 release, The Art of Rhythm, was named “Best Jazz Album of the Year" by Entertainment Weekly.