Grammy-winning
guitar legend Nile Rodgers ignites “State of Mine,” the explosive new single
from The Allen Carman Project’s debut album dropping April 5.
It started out as just a few friends having fun making music
together but grew into a recording project that to date has placed three
singles on the Billboard chart with a fourth, “State of Mine,” certain to
follow suit, in part due to the distinctive rhythmic riffing of Grammy-winning
guitar legend Nile Rodgers. Bassist Allen Carman shelved his music aspirations
twenty years ago only to rekindle them after reconnecting with percussionist
Gumbi Ortiz and keyboardist Philippe Saisse a couple years ago. Joined by
drummer Luis Alicea, the quartet became The Allen Carman Project, a band
scrapbooking contemporary jazz, R&B, Latin, Afro Cuban, funk and fusion
with a bolt of added star power from prominent soloists: Rodgers, saxophonist
Andy Snitzer, trumpeter
Rick Braun
and guitarist Marc Antoine. In the process, the “Carmanology” album, produced
by Ortiz and Saisse and featuring eight original songs, introduces the sound of
an exciting and creative collaborative that will drop their debut disc April 5
on the ACP Music label.
When Ortiz
convinced Carman to work on some new tracks with him and Saisse, expectations
were modest. Saisse penned the premiere single “Groove Salad,” a nourishing
blend of contemporary jazz tossed with generous servings of Snitzer’s zesty
sax. The title track dropped next, defining the outfit’s sound palette as an
inventive mix of future meets familiar on a cut that portrays a
vividly-realized fantasy where kinetic go-go beats and horn-powered funk
coexist with vibrant jazz piano and sax theatrics. On the third single, Snitzer
rampages through “Hearsay,” stirring a maelstrom amidst taunting bass,
cascading rhythms and exuberant harmonies. Fourth up, Braun’s muted trumpet
lends atmospheric elements to “Morning After” while Snitzer’s bellowing
saxophone testifies in emphatic support of Carman’s elastic basslines and Saisse’s
rapturous keyboard vocalizations. Other highlights on the “Carmanology”
collection include the breezy Latin-jazz oeuvre “Carisma” on which Antoine’s
nylon guitar leads the exotic exploration; a sprawling aural adventure through
“El Fanfaron” boosted by Carman’s boundless bass, Ortiz’s exhilarating
percussion attack and the combustive horns of Don Harris and Bill Harris; and
just when you think you’ve got the band’s sonic trajectory figured out, they
augment “Bodega” with Evan Garr’s mind-blowing electric violin.
“When Gumbi
and I started talking about making a record, I was super excited. My only
expectation was to make a great record with great musicians. This album has far
exceeded those expectations. It has always been a dream of mine to make a record
with top-quality musicians and good songs. I put that dream on hold many moons
ago when I joined the ‘civilian’ world and became a lawyer. However, I always
felt like a musician first and a lawyer second. I never gave up on my passion
to play,” said Carman, a South Jersey native who first met Ortiz in the mid-80s
on the Tampa music scene when they played in local bands.
Ortiz,
Saisse and Alicea established their chemistry years ago while backing guitar
great Al Di Meola. Garr was also part of that band. Before deciding to go to
law school, Carman toured extensively, performing with an array of artists.
He’s looking forward to touring with The Allen Carman Project during a spring
trek in support of the record release.
“I can’t
wait to get out on the road with these fabulous musicians and play for live
audiences. It will be magical.”
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