David Sanborn - I Believe It's Your Sh*t, Marvin

A little while back I was invited by Dave Sanborn to sit in on the recording sessions for his upcoming album on Decca. The clip opens with a brief shot of Dave Novik, label president, laughing as the camera pans to Phil Ramone, the producer.

Phil and Dave swap stories about some of the most legendary personalities in music; Frank Sinatra, Billy May, Marvin Hamlisch, etc. This is followed by a sweet Joey DeFrancesco organ solo. AWESOMENESS.

CONTAINS PROFANITY: NSFW

Todd Alsup + MajorWho @ NACA

We're here in Lancaster, PA - home of the Amish, Shoo-fly pies, and the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) Mid-Atlantic Conference. We're presenting MajorWho artist Todd Alsup at our booth, meeting student talent buyers from colleges around the region.

Todd's got a showcase tomorrow afternoon, which is a distinction most of the exhibitors would die for - it's a chance to perform for the entire convention and reach all the delegates in a single shot. Last year after his showcase in Hartford, our booth was mobbed with talent buyers.

Here's a quick pic of Todd talking to students at our booth.


Last year's showcase translated into a slew of great college gigs for Todd and we're already off to a great start this year.

Todd Alsup News - PBS Placement and NACA Showcase

Fun news from the world of Todd Alsup. Major Who recently found out that Todd's song "Good Fight" from his EP "Facts and Figures" is going to be used in the PBS show "Road Trip Nation." This show is a perfect match for Todd's song, which talks about pursuing your dreams. Way to go on getting this license!

About the show (from www.roadtripnation.com):

• It all started with four friends and one dilemma: "what do I want to do with my life?" Fresh out of college and unsure about the career paths in front of them, they were determined to expose themselves to more than just the traditional life roads. They hopped in an old RV, painted it green, and hit the road to talk with inspiring people from all walks of life to find out how they came to do what they love for a living.
• Today, Roadtrip Nation has evolved into a PBS series, three books, an online community, and a student movement. We send people on the road who are interested in exploring the world outside their comfort zone, talking with individuals who chose to define their own road in life, and sharing their experiences with our generation.

In other fantastic news, Todd was selected as a showcase artist at this year's NACA Mid-Atlantic conference. It is the second year in a row Todd will have a NACA showcase. It's quite an honor to be one of the only musicians chosen for showcase out of hundreds of submissions. Todd will have a chance to perform for hundreds of college students that book talent for their campuses. 50 shows or bust!

I first came across Roc Raida when he was invited to perform at Lincoln Center Festival 2000 where I was a production manager. He composed an amazing piece for the 'turntable as an ensemble instrument' segment that he played with the Xecutioners. I don't have any footage of that but here's a clip of Roc in action. Pretty amazing stuff. Roc Raida truly did elevate the art of the turntable. RIP Roc.

Christina Roberts Show and support for Malaria No More!!

NYC Concert Promo from Nairobi

September 9th, 2009 | Posted by Christina Roberts

I’m in Kenya this week working with a team of logisticians who are crucial to Africa’s current race to scale-up mosquito nets. But the minute we end our session here on Thursday, I’ll be racing back to New York so I can perform with the New York Songwriters Circle on Monday night.

Modeled after the famous “Writers in the Round” nights at Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe, the NYSC showcases up-and-coming songwriting talent from around the world. Intimate concerts like these always remind me of a song’s power to communicate where mere words might fail us. That’s why I wrote “A Closer Far”, a song born out of my own experiences working in Africa on behalf of Malaria No More. I’m looking forward to performing it along with other favorites of mine and I hope to see you all there.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of “A Closer Far” support the ongoing work of Malaria No More. Buy the song here. To hear my music, check out MySpace.

Categories:Africa, Christina, On-The-Ground

"Nippon Ga Dai Suki" (Japan We Love You!) ------- The Orion Experience

We had such a blast making this song in the studio with these guys. They came back with this video, which I think takes it to a whole other level. Enjoy!

Todd Alsup gets another NACA Showcase!

Todd Alsup and Major Who Booking have once again impressed the college crowd, being chosen for a second year in a row for a NACA (National Association for Campus Activities) showcase - this time at the Mid-Atlantic festival in Lancaster, PA.

There were over 700 submissions for only about 50 showcase slots, of which fewer than 15 were given to musicians.

Todd will be performing for 1000 student talent buyers from colleges across the region. Last year, Todd's Northeast Convention showcase translated into a slew of gigs up and down the east coast, and we're sure that with this year's showcase we will build on that success in the coming school year.

MajorWho Gets Copland Grant!

MajorWho has received a grant from the Aaron Copland Fund for Music to produce a record of piano music performed by Kathleen Supove. The record will consist of pieces by contemporary American composers such as Daniel Becker, Missy Mazzoli, Anna Clyne, Michael Gatonska, and Randall Woolf.

Congrats to Kathy - we look forward to working together on yet another project.

From http://www.coplandfund.org/

In keeping with his lifelong devotion to contemporary music, Aaron Copland created the Fund and bequeathed to it a large part of his estate. The Fund was officially announced to the public in 1992. The Fund’s purpose is to encourage and improve public knowledge and appreciation of contemporary American music. The fund operates three grant programs and also grants permission for the use of Copland’s music.

For a full list of this year's grant winners, visit http://www.coplandfund.org/news.html.

Songwriters Hall Of Fame, Todd Alsup and Lamont Dozier !

I had a wonderful evening last night with Todd Alsup at the Kaufman Center for the 2009 Songwriters Hall of Fame Abe Olman Scholarship for Excellence in Songwriting awards ceremony.

This year's scholarship winners

This year Todd was selected as one of the showcase artists on the 2009 Songwriters Hall of Fame CD for his song "The Good Fight" and spent the evening mixing it up with current and previous recipients of the award including Wes Hutchinson and new Major Who and Threshold Music Studios friend Kirsten Thien.

Preceding the award ceremony there was a Master Class given by songwriting icon Lamont Dozier, of Holland-Dozier-Holland, the songwriting powerhouse who created the Motown Sound, writing the hits for the Supremes, the Temptations and many more. Real words of wisdom and insight from a legend!

Todd and I spent some time with Lamont, who was also celebrating his 68th birthday! A brief list of Mr. Doziers credits include: Where Did Our Love Go, Baby Love, How Sweet it is (To Be Loved by You), Stop! In The Name of Love, I can't help myself (Sugar Pie Honeybunch), Standing in the Shadows of Love, and You Can't Hurry Love.

Todd Alsup w/ Lamont Dozier

Kirsten Thien - Featuring the legendary Hubert Sumlin in the Studio!

Great session down in the studio this week. Kirsten Thein, who was recently honored with a Songwriter's Hall of Fame Abe Olman Scholarship, came down to record some basics with her band. Kirsten has a classic sound and a great, smoky voice.

Kirsten Thien

Kirsten was backed by as good a group of musicians as you're likely to find, including Steve Holley (who played drums with Wings in the 70's!), Erik Boyd on bass (and producing) Tommy Mandel on keys (check out his credits btw), and Arthur Neilson on guitar.

The biggest surprise of the day was the arrival of Hubert Sumlin, who sat in on guitar for two songs. Hubert is on Rolling Stone's Top 100 Guitarists of All Time list. He played with Howlin' Wolf in the early days and is a major influence on the British guitarists of the 60's who basically set out to copy American blues players. Jimmy Page even stole a Hubert Sumlin lick for Led Zepplin's Lemon Song. Don't be surprised if he finds himself into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...

Jeremy and Engineer Dan Myers w/ Hubert Sumlin

Alec Gross on Nefarious Bovine Radio

Alec Gross' "All The Pretty Women" featured this week on Nefarious Bovine Radio:

Eclectic Free-Form Internet Radio. Twice a month the Nefarious Bovine brings you nonsensical ramblings and an eclectic mix of music.

Listening Party!! Christina Roberts releases new track to support Malaria No More

MajorWho has just finished a track with the wonderful Christina Roberts. She works and supports for an organization called Malaria No More. They made a big splash a few months back when Ashton Kutcher challenged CNN in a race to a million twitter followers - Ashton said he would give 10,000 mosquito bed nets to the organization if he won. Well he did, and CNN donated bed nets too. Then Oprah jumped in and offered a bunch as well. We didn't know know important these bed nets were until we started to pay attention- and boy, they really do!

"A Closer Far" is Christina's way of combining two passions to raise awareness and funds to support work that she care's about. The song is inspired by her experiences of the last 3 years working with Malaria No More, an organization determined to end malaria deaths. Unbelievably, 1 million people still die from malaria each year, mostly in Africa.

When you download "A Closer Far", a portion of the proceeds will go to support the ongoing work of Malaria No More. You can stream the song from her Facebook page (bottom left column) and download it at CD Baby: http://cdbaby.com/cd/christinaroberts2

In 2008/9 MajorWho was happy to jump in and produce the track with her. Todd Alsup even lent his time to work with Christina on the arrangement. We had some great musicians play on the track including Rich Mercurio on drums, Jay Rodriguez and Chris The Berge from Groove Collective on fulani flute and percussion, and MajorWho regulars Risa Binder on backing vocals, Jim Farkas on guitars, and Hans Glawischnig on fretless bass. And as always, mixed by Steve Greenwell.

You can hear the track on Christina's Myspace. You can "attend" the listening party on Facebook!

Here is the press release for the song:

Life has been a smorgasbord adventure for Christina Roberts, and she wouldn't have it any other way. Raised in Texas and currently based in New York City, the threads of songwriting are woven throughout Christina's childhood and coming of age, the years after spent working in Washington, DC and her latest experiences in Africa. In 2006 Christina was introduced to Malaria No More, an organization determined to end malaria deaths. Unbelievably, 1 million people still die from malaria every year, mostly in Africa. Affected and inspired, Christina immediately went to work full-time for the organization.

Christina's latest studio project, "A Closer Far", is born out of her work in Africa and a new perspective. "The world is probably mostly unchanged from a few years ago, but the way I see it is different - and I suspect I'm not alone. I can no longer imagine that it is us, here, and them, there. We live in a time of incredible awareness of each other's life circumstances. Media, travel, the global economy - these things are bringing countries closer together than ever before. I don't feel guilty for being born to an easy life, but I do feel connected to those who are not. I am compelled to participate in the effort to make things better."

Delivered in Christina's distinct, smoky vocal, a "A Closer Far" is a lush trip through her experiences and realizations of the last few years. To learn more about participating in the fight against malaria, visit: www.MalariaNoMore.org

Christina Roberts