At the untimely
passing of the drummer Steely Dan’s Walter Becker described as having perfect
timing, Ricky Lawson was only four songs into producing the sophomore album by
R&B vocal group DW3. Lawson, who had an extraordinary GRAMMY®-winning
career collaborating with Michael Jackson, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Whitney
Houston and Steely Dan, had been a member of the band for more than two years
and the tracks are his last recordings. Over a year later, DW3’s “Vintage
Truth,” dedicated to Lawson, is finally finished and scheduled for release
March 17 on the Woodward Avenue Records label.
Despite being rocked by the unexpected loss that occurred
two days before Christmas 2013, DW3 knew that Lawson would want the groove to
continue. He not only was a member of the outfit fronted by brothers Billy
& Eric Mondragon and Damon Reel, but he mentored them as well. He believed
that the GRAMMY®-nominated vocalists who are a perennial draw on the jazz
festival and cruise circuit is at their dynamic best in live settings thus the
record’s core tracks were laid down in the studio live. DW3 maintained that
template when finishing the album, which they produced themselves with one cut,
the collection’s first single - a seductively soulful take on The Eagles’ “I
Can’t Tell You Why” - produced by hit-maker Paul Brown.
“We titled the album ‘Vintage Truth’ because of the way we
approached the recording process, like a live jam session where the core
musicians - the guitarist, bassist, keyboardist and drummer - were in the room
playing at the same time. We rehearsed each song twice, then went in the studio
and pressed record. Our previous recordings featured a lot of drum programming,
but this project has all live drums,” said Eric Mondragon. “Another vintage
element we added that we absolutely love is the live horns – so much so that we
recently added a horn section to our lineup so that we could perform these
songs properly onstage.”
The twelve-tracker “Vintage Truth” offers a blend of
originals and fan favorites that the group has performed on stage for years
such as Stevie Wonder’s “Overjoyed,” Luther Vandross’s “So Amazing” and The
Mamas & The Papas’ “California Dreamin’,” the last of which won the
California Lottery Powerball song contest for their trademark three-part
harmonies spawning a popular video (http://bit.ly/1vDOe1D). Making instrumental
contributions to the disc were contemporary jazz chart-toppers Dave Koz, Brian
Culbertson, Greg Adams, Elan Trotman and Brown.
Four years ago, the Los Angeles born and raised DW3 issued
its debut set, “On The Floor,” which peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard
contemporary jazz albums chart in the U.S. while it went all the way to No. 1 on
the United Kingdom’s soul chart driven by the sophisticated neo soul single “I
Got You” highlighted by a sultry sax solo from multiple GRAMMY® nominee Gerald
Albright. DW3’s three vocalists were 2014 GRAMMY® nominees for singing
background on the Summer Horns album, an ensemble comprised of saxophone
superstars Koz, Albright, Mindi Abair and Richard Elliot. Ever since DW3 served
as the resident party band on the inaugural sailing of The Smooth Jazz Cruise
in 2004, they’ve been part of the sold-out cruise. In addition to performing at
premier festivals across the nation, the funksters maintain a long-running
weekly residency at SoCal hotspot Spaghettini and serve as the house band for
L.A. radio station 94.7 The Wave’s Sunday Brunch held at the same venue.
"Vintage Truth" contains the following songs:
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