Renowned and award winning Canadian jazz singer-songwriter Micah Barnes has released his long-awaited CD New York Stories, which has debuted in
the Top Five on iTunes National Jazz Chart due to brisk advance orders. Penned by Barnes, his
third jazz recording, is a romantic collection of original songs inspired by
New York City’s rich musical history, as well as Barnes’ own personal
experience in the city that never sleeps. It features instrumentals by Barnes’
brother Daniel on drums, Russ Boswell on bass and Michael Shand on piano.
New York Stories was
officially launched on Sunday, May 3, 2015, at Glenn Gould Studio. It was a
triumphant evening of jazz, well-received by an enthusiastic audience who gave
Barnes and his ensemble three standing ovations during the live performance. In
this performance, Barnes and his band were joined by talented back up vocalists
Miku Graham and Rique Franks, and award winning and acclaimed Canadian vocalist
and actress Jackie Richardson.
Following the release
of the title track and the first single in April 2014, New York Story reached
Number One in Canada and Top 20 on the U.S. iTunes jazz charts, which resulted
in Barnes being named the Toronto Indie Music Awards as best Jazz Act of 2014.
An accompanying music video for the single was directed by Juan Palacio and
Luisa Valencia. Barnes recently released a video for the second single Harlem
Moon directed by Dean Vargas, available on YouTube, which gathered over 6000
views in its first week!
New York Stories was
conceived while Barnes was romancing his partner who was working on Broadway at
The Palace Theatre. Their apartment was on Lenox Avenue in Harlem right on the
site of the legendary Savoy Ballroom, and just a few blocks from Apollo
Theatre. Micah decided to make the most of the musical and romantic inspiration
and rented an hourly piano studio off Times Square to sketch the songs that
would become New York Stories.
Inspired by Cole
Porter, Stephen Sondheim and the Brill Building writers who had composed so
many of the classic Jazz, Broadway, Pop songs in those very piano studios;
Barnes found it to be a magical experience and a productive time.
This summer, Micah
will be on tour in support of New York Stories, as well are remounting the
critically acclaimed Stand By Me: The Music of the Brill Building. Tour dates
and locations will be announced at a future date.
Micah Barnes was born
to a European-Canadian musically artistic family. His grandmother was a Russian
pianist; his father, Milton an acclaimed classical composer, and his mother,
Lilly, is an author who was the head writer for the beloved CBC TV's children’s
show Mr. Dressup. His musical career began as a teen in the cabarets and jazz
clubs of Queen Street West alongside The Parachute Club, Molly Johnson, Holly
Cole and Jane Siberry. He joined Canada’s legendary a cappella group The Nylons
in 1989, singing with them in concert around the globe as well as appearing on
three recordings including their Juno-nominated hit single Don’t Look Any
Further.
Micah launched his
post Nylons solo career in Los Angeles, California where he collaborated with
Thunderpuss on the Number One Billboard and international club hit Welcome to
My Head and was described by Rolling Stone magazine as “An Indie Artist to
Watch.” While in the U.S. he developed popular Singers Playground workshops
designed to support the next generation of up and coming artists. In addition
to coaching individual artists, he has worked with Golden Globe nominee Tatiana
Maslany on the hit show Orphan Black, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit CBC TV show How
Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria, the original cast of Tomson Highway’s The
Rez Sisters, and cast members of the Broadway production of Priscilla Queen of
the Desert, Matilda & Pippin.
Returning to Canada
Micah joined Molly Johnson's Canadian tour, opening the show and singing
harmony vocals, and, for four years now Micah and Jackie Richardson have
presented their annual Valentine's concert at Hugh’s Room to standing room only
audiences. In 2014, Barnes launched Stand By Me: The Music of the Brill
Building a show that features Micah and his musical friends, (including another
former Nylon Billy Newton Davis), performing some of the most memorable pop songs
of the 60s. The show has become a critical and popular smash taking audiences
by storm wherever it plays! A more extensive tour of Stand By Me and upcoming
tour dates by Micah Barnes and his jazz trio in support of New York Stories
will be announced at a later date.
Micah Barnes - New York Stories
Track List
1. New York Story
(4.28)
2. After The Romance
The Rent (2.54)
3. Starting Tomorrow
(4.17)
4. Harlem Moon (4.14)
5. I'm Going Back To
My Used To Be (3.02)
6. La Rouge Ou Le
Noir (The Roulette Wheel) (3.58)
7. Don't Take My Baby
(New York, New York) (4.42)
8. Some Other Man
(3.32)
9. I Came Back (4.12)
10. I've Been Awake
Too Long (2.56)
No comments:
Post a Comment