Hello friends-
Out of respect for the recent change in the bbs for posting news on new releases, thought I'd start a new thread here on Ken's latest CD.

It has a name now, The Grace of Summer Light.
It has all the additional musicians recorded; Joel Rosenblatt, Tom Kennedy, Jay Rowe, and percussionist Kevin Prince.

According to his diary, Ken is in the process of re-recording all the guitar parts, which I can imagine is quite a task, based on the sophistication of the sample track he gave to us.

I'm really looking forward to it, and it sounds like Ken is really stoked now that everyone else has done their parts....that will probably inspire even more out of him.

Here's a link to his diary, and "the making of" page, and of course the link to the sample full length musician's demo tune. It only gets better from there, I'm sure, and this is a pretty polished tune for a demo. Anyway.....

Ken\'s new cd page

Don't forget to read his interview with Shannon at smoothviews, Shannon\'s interview of Ken Feb 08 there is also a link there to the same tune.

I know we are going to love this one....maybe Ken will toss us another bone, after he gets into the mixdown stage of production.

Later
Tony Y

I pre-ordered the CD on Ken's website a couple of weeks ago. I can't wait to hear the finished product.

Hi all - man, it's been awhile since I visited the island - a lot of very nice changes. It looks really great!

The new CD if finished! I have been working 16 hour days for as long as I can remember. This CD was worth every minute of my time and all I can say is wait till you hear this! This album and this new music of mine is what happens when you spend a lifetime pursuing a goal and I wanted every single note to be right.

Ken, that's great news... when will it be released? Is it still around May 1st?

See you in a couple of weeks.... please ask Chieli to indulge in a little bit of Elizabeth Reed during the sound check.... you know how I never get to stay in the room during the show. It will make me smile to hear the 2 of you together....

Thanks Kat - and I will be sure to brush up on my guitar part for "Elizabeth Reed" before the April 26 show with Chieli, Jay, Joyce, Eric, Kim and all!

"The Grace of Summer Light" CD will be released at national retail on June 17 as well as at all the online sites like amazon, itunes etc.

I also made a special arrangement with our national distributor which allows me to release it exclusively at my website (www.kennavarro.com) on May 4. In fact, it has been available for pre-ordering for a few months now and many folks have already placed their order.

Thanks for asking and it will be very good to see you again.

Ken

Ken-
Just did the pre-order, looking forward to hearing this one....

While you're at it....could somebody PLEASE record/video cam or something, the ensemble playing Elizabeth Reed? I'd pay money for that too always has been a favorite tune and I'm sure you and Chieli will tear it up! PLEASE?

Yes, this is me begging.....

Glad you're "over the hump" on this now Ken, you can take a well deserved break.

By the way, any chance of the studio band being the touring one, and have plans begun on that aspect of promoting this CD? This could be a great chance to do a DVD too....I'm just full of ideas for ya, huh?

Later
TonyY

there is a lot of -ahem- unauthorized footage of Smooth Jazz For Scholars .... on Youtube... when the videos finish, just click thru to see the submitter's other videos.

sample: hocus pocus

I found myself going to Nelson Rangell's solos on "The Challenge" and "Guitarzzz." I'm bringing my new Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 and tripod to SJFS. These videos tempted me to bring my camcorder, but I won't. I'll be a good boy (so to speak) and stick to stills.
Anyway, congrats on completing the CD, Ken. I can't wait to hear and for that matter can't wait to see you at this year's SJFS.
I'll continue my SJFS discussion to my SJFS thread.

Yeah...congrats, Ken! I am glad, that you are satisfied with the new CD and I am looking forward to its release.

Greetings from Germany

Just wanted to say Thank You for the congrats and also to Tony and Mike and the hundreds of other folks who have already pre-orderd the new CD at my website. It has meant a lot to me as I labored away on this new music. And see you next weekend Mike and Kat! (Mike, I may be able to hand deliver your "The Grace of Summer Light" CD to you when I see you at the April 26 show in CT)

Hey, Ken...can you bring mine, too?!!! See you there!

That would be great, Ken. Now, I'll bring my CD Walkman in addition to my iPod to listen to back at Hampton Inn. All I have to go by is that December demo. I'm sure the finished product will blow me away.
Also, we need to take another picture. I'm 40 pounds thinner than I was last year.
And Bonnie, I'll be looking for you. I don't know what I'll be wearing yet. It depends on the forecast. I'll definitely have on a beige jacket, though.

I am sure Mary and I will see you at some point, Mike.

Just a heads up, Ken has notified me the cd's came in a bit earlier than expected, so shipments are proceeding right now on the pre-orders, possibly receiving it by this weekend.
Yeeha-
I'm looking forward to it!

Later
TonyY

From Ken's Blog
"This new music opens up a whole new world for me and as my friend and musical compatriot Jay Rowe said - "this is a life changing album".

He's not exaggerating. Order this CD now. Just Click here and do it. You're not gonna believe this and you're not going to be able to stop listening to it once you start. Can't cherry pick songs of iTunes either, because 1. you won't want to and 2. Theres a continuity here. There just isn't anything else like this out there. Get it and spread the word. It's time to see if a CJazz CD can go viral on the internet and this one has the quality and the intangible vibe. A lot of us grew up with discovering music via word of mouth. It's baaaaacccck.

Shannon-
Hey girl, you got a liner note mention, that's very cool!
Good for you-

Can't say yet what I think of it, because I've been too stinkin busy to sit down and enjoy it, but I did get it in the mail Friday, cracked the wrapper open, and sampled several of the tunes.
Thanks, Ken, for the quick shipment!
I'm trying to listen to it now, so hopefully in a couple days I can say I've digested it enough to comment. Maybe after that, then I can go back and listen to the demo cd of all the songs, just to see what changes were made and how much the "live" players added. You can tell it's the real thing, a very warm and natural recording sound. Wonderful production qualities, to my ear at least. Track 5 (Perfect Circle Sun) is a very emotional song, to only be guitars multi-tracked....haunting and beautiful.
Track 9 (We Might As Well Dance) has Joel Rosenblatt going at it hard- this may be the high energy point of the cd, but not sure about that until I get to hear it all in one seating.

First impression is, fantastic. This is pretty involved stuff, but it flows very naturally from passage to passage without jarring the senses. I seriously doubt we'll hear much of it in the elevator, unless it's through an iPod....

So far, Ken, you've amazed me again. More later.

Tonyy

I got my copy from Ken in the lobby at Hampton Inn Saturday afternoon and I started listening 20 minutes later. I listened to tracks 1 through 7 there and listened to the rest yesterday. You're right, Tony. I can't get enough of it.
You've created a masterpiece, Ken. Thank you very much.

been listening while working late, it's usually the least interrupted part of my working day...on my fourth time through the whole cd. Each time I hear something familiar, then something new; yet another little bell or triangle or ride cymbal or guitar riff etc.
And new sounds, like the synth voices in On My Way To Somewhere; new but familiar, I think Metheny used a similar effect, but this sounds very modern and fits perfectly in the tune, giving a shot of pure joy and playfulness. That tune has gotten a few extra plays, may be the unsuspected favorite. Gotta be Jay on the keys/synth, right? Or is it a guitar synth? Both, maybe...and it seems to be in 7/4, but changes up in the chorus, I think...and the sounds of thunder etc....really sets the mind stage, like passing through a storm then the blast of fresh air and clear skies after the rain.

On the tune Ken shared with us, the 26/4 tune, the title track, Joel (and primarily his cymbal work, very crisp and natural) brings that track to life for me...and Jay's keyboard work is spot on. I think Ken may have added a few phrases in there, also...can't put my finger on it yet, but something sounded a bit, well, more structured. Not sure how to describe it, it's like a frame around a riff that makes it jump out at me more.

Interestingly, I know it's Joel R on drums, but for the most part I wouldn't guess it- it's different from a Spyro Gyra type setting where I was used to picking him out, hearing something distinctly Joel; this is more Metheny/Yellow Jackets-like territory. His playing is impeccable, the recording of his various parts of the drum kit is great...I'm learning just how hard that can be, since I'm the drum tech newbie now too, for our drummer...clearly Joel gave Ken his atmosphere he was looking for here.

As for Tom Kennedy, his acoustic bass work is excellent- I don't usually expect it to be as rocking as he can do it. Clearly a master of the bass. Again, I am so used to hearing him with Weckl, that it's different...not bad by any means, just a different setting. He and Joel are seamless together.

Of course, what would all this be without Ken...his guitar phrasing and riffs seem effortless, but I know they are the result of months of work and craftsmanship. Amazing.
And something else...it's not all noodle-y and wandering, like so many guitar driven instrumental albums can get, especially c-jazz. Everything seems to be there for a purpose, and the melodies are accessible while still being more musically advanced.

As much as I loved Meeting Place, this has raised the bar, and taken a turn in style, more jazz less pop. I think that's a great thing. It has more of a jazz club feel to it to me.

I also think Ken may have put together a band the equal of a Metheny or Yellow Jackets here, and I can only imagine what these guys could sound like live....I hope they tour!!

Oh yeah- another thing for you sharped eared folks out there; I'm not noticing a lot of compression, the volume levels are reasonable and not enhanced....doesn't seem to have that overproduced, lack of dynamic range issue. There's plenty of dynamic range here, and more things going on in the background than you can catch in the first few listens.

Sheesh, a bucket full of first impressions, huh...and all through a set of earbuds.
Obviously will have to try it out on the variety of sound systems around here, and with my UE in-ear monitors.

The true test will be a month from now, will I still be listening to it regularly; at this point, there's no doubt about that.

TonyY

ATTENTION ALL LURKERS, MEMBERS, AND BOARDERS....
just got this from Ken, now you have NO EXCUSE to not listen to this new cd! This is a very brave and unusual way to market this music, here's hoping it's the beginning of a new era!
-----------------------------------------------------------
"Hi All,

I have been working on a way to spread the word about my new, ground breaking CD "The Grace Of Summer Light". The official retail release date is not until June 17 but it is already available at my website and we have already sold over 500 to fans who simply could not wait.
This is a very special CD, with stunning compositions and ground
breaking performances from myself, Joel Rosenblatt (Spyro Gyra) on drums, Tom Kennedy on acoustic and electric bass (Michael Brecker, Al DiMeola) and Jay Rowe (Special EFX, Marion Meadows) on keyboards. It is already being called a masterpiece by critics and fans alike.

I want this new music of mine to reach new listeners for contemporary jazz and as many people as possible. So, I have decided to take an unprecedented step for contemporary and smooth jazz and make a page at my website where folks can hear a stream of the CD IN ITS ENTIRETY before they purchase it. Here is the link - Hear the FULL LENGTH CD, start to finish, streaming here
---------------------------------------------------------

I know you'll like it, so go ahead...listen to it for free! It doesn't get any better than this...

TonyY

Oh, I'll be grabbing this tonight! Good call! I've actually been waiting for this to be available.

This is an incredible work. Please pardon the analogy, but it is "symphonic" in nature to me.... in the way that a symphony has movements which are organized around a theme.

Each song flows into the next.... I have not removed this CD from the CD player since Saturday.

Just downloaded it. It's going on my iPod as I type.

I'm with you. I want to hear this live. I got to experience the "The Way Up" tour standing about 3 feet from the stage with a bunch of other hardcore fans. No cell phone talkers, dates who would rather be elsewhre and walk back and forth or talk..just people and music. That's how I want to hear this.

Heck yeah, Shannon- although Ken has so much going on in here, he'd need a couple extra players, like, oh Chieli Minucci to play the second lead and harmony parts, maybe another Keyboard to handle all the background synth (I think it'd be humanly impossible for Jay to pull all that off, but maybe it could be done...)and of course a percussionist, like Kevin Prince- he's really impressed me here.

I'd travel for this stuff.

BTW- the Daddy-O track,(#6) man... Joel R is going WILD in that one, it's like a marathon run all in 6 or 7 minutes, with all the energy he's exerting, sheesh- what a drummer. A very deceptively rocking tune, it you focus on the guitars and keys it seems more mid tempo, but when you focus on JR's drum kit, it's like he's on afterburners.

I apologize for not replying sooner to all of the wonderful posts here about "The Grace of Summer Light". You make me feel sooooo good and all of the long days (and nights!) composing, recording and mixing the music were worth it just to hear and feel all of your responses. Some updates...

In the 24 hours since I gave folks the ability to hear the entire CD from start to finish, my website traffic has tripled and it's almost all going to the streaming page. Very cool! Ands the orders continue to roll in.

New Concert dates are coming in and Joel Rosenblatt, Tom Kennedy and Jay Rowe will be the band for the majority of them. We all can't wait to play this music together live and it's going to be terrific to have a band of this caliber playing my music.

Tony - I have to comment back on a couple of interesting things you said. Regarding Joel sounding like, well, Joel plus even more... while I certainly knew Joel's playing from Spyro, I also knew of his incredible latin chops and also his ability to play delicately and his ability to create a broad palette of textures with dynamics. That's why I hired him. He is simply a consumate musician. What I didn't know was what a perfectionist he is and just how dedicated he is to the music. Tom Kennedy, as amazing as he is on electric bass, is even better on the acoustic. I worked very hard to make sure you can hear the detail in his playing, even when many other things are happening above him. I urge you to listen to the CD, just following his lines. And of course Jay Rowe, my right hand man, I can't even remember anymore which keyboard parts I played and which ones he played. We are so in sync with each other and of course Jay's acoustic piano work is superb. And how about that retro synth solo on Daddy-O?!

Also, you are right, I bucked this terrible trend to master CDs as loud as possible. It was such a pleasure to retain all of the dynamics and all of the natural qualities of these instruments. The CD is full and plenty loud but without any of the squashed qualities that are so prevalent in the majority of commercial recordings these days, especially so-called "smooth" jazz.

Well, back to work here. I have my hands full now preparing for the upcoming live shows, the distribution, marketing and publicity for the new CD. It's funny, I just got a proposal from a publicist. They wanted a bundle of money to do over 12 weeks what I do in 3 days. That's the beauty of having your own label - you can make the music exactly the way you want it and make sure that it is represented out in the world properly as well. But you do have to work 12 hours a day - not complaining, as my Dad says, "it's a good problem to have".

Hey Ken. The CD's fabulous, and I'm really lookin' forward to seein' you cats hit live. Please let me know when you're comin' through Jacksonville, or hopefully I can run into you cats somewhere while I'm on the road.

Hey Bruce - thank you! Hope to get to Jacksonville before the end of 2008 with Joel, Tom and Jay and play the new CD live there. Ane finally meet you in person!

Ken

I'm hoping you can book IMAC, the Boulton Center, or the North Fork Theatre at Westbury at some point this year.

Today I finally found the time to listen to "The Grace Of Summer Light"...wowww...what a cool album...Ken!! Congrats from the bottom of my heart! I gave some (selected) friends the chance to listen to your new recording via your website. And they asked me, if there is a way to purchase from Germany...(?). Perhaps you can give us a clue, how to do it.

So what can I say...? A real masterwork...Ken, thanks for enriching our lives with your music! (also on the other side of the atlantic...!)

Thank you for those very good words about TGOSL Marcus - and I appreciate you letting people know about the link where they can listen to a stream of it. As regards to purchasing it from Germany - you can order it right from my website and we will ship it the same day. Or they can purchase a high quality download from my site too. We have already had many orders from Germany (and Japan, Singapore, France, Italy... the internet changes everything doesn't it?!)

Thanks again Marcus.

Ken

Here's my review from SmoothViews:
Grace. Summer. Light. Review...

Excellent review, Shannon. When I first heard the album, I was sitting at my table in Room 140 at the Hampton Inn Milford. I listened to the first seven tracks over there. I heard the rest at home the following night. I'm listening to "Nomad" as I type this post.

Great review, Shannon! I'm still working on mine for the European listeners. Hope to finish it soon...

Shannon-
Well said. I'm still enjoying this cd, it has yet to bore me in any sense of the word. The only reason I listen to some other music is to be able to come back to this with fresh ears. I'm still hearing new stuff, which is both satisfying and surprising.

If you guys haven't bought this yet, do yourself a favor and follow the link in Shannon's review to the full streaming album. I think you'll be glad you did, and if not, then you've only wasted a bit of time.

Later
TY

Today, considering the frustrated mood I'm in because of a series of things going wrong in my life today, it's occurred to me that the last two minutes of "We Might As Well Dance" are like a descent into madness, which I'm in today. And that was a long, practically run-on, sentence, but I don't care.

Since that post above, I've started to take steps to feel better about myself. The first step is to challenge any negative feelings about myself (i.e. "I'm a loser") with positive feelings (i.e. "I'm a nice, caring guy," "I'm very talented," "I have a great voice").
Having said that, I can get back on topic. Ken put up a podcast today where he chronicles the making of "The Grace of Summer Light."
And by the way, belated Happy Birthday, Ken!

Ken's description of "We Might As Well Dance" in the podcast is what the song is really about, as opposed to what I frustratedly wrote Tuesday afternoon.

Mike- I find it refreshing that you're open enough about dealing with life and it's up and downs, that you feel safe posting it here. Hang in there, you're on the right track. Just be careful that you give yourself some room to fail AND succeed- nobody has it all together, so don't expect that of yourself.

Just downloaded Ken's podcast, and listening now. Very interesting.
Also, today is the "official" release date for the new cd, it will be interesting to see how well it does in stores, after all the pre-release promotion Ken has done.
My hope is it goes ballistic.

More later- here's a link Ken's podcast describing TGOSL

TY

I am glad Ken is open to exploring new ways to market his music that go beyond traditional radio and brick and mortar. As you can see from these news items there isn't much happening at brick and mortar music retail and those that still sell CDs are cutting back to only the biggest pop hits. News updates on Traditional Music Retailers

Word of mouth is so important now. Share. Listen. Share.

Some time in the next week on my blog, I'll link to Ken's podcast and link to your review, Shannon. I'll also give my own review.

The more I listen to "We Might As Well Dance," the more it fits Ken's description. We're pushing to the finish. There it is. And...down the stretch we come. Etc.

Thanks Mike - the podcast was a nice opportunity for me to not only talk in depth about the music itself but also what the music is about, at least to me. Everyone gets to make up their own story with "Grace" and I'm glad to hear that you are digging into it. (I have put the link to the podcast below)

MIke, I appreciate your presence on this board and your openness. You have friends here.

Ken
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=160275933

Thank you, Ken, and thank you, bassix.

It took me a while, but I have finally posted about "Grace" on my blog:
http://mikechimeriblog.com/2008/07/13/ken-navarro-the-grace-of-summer-light/
And I'm considering recording an interview with Ken. We'd talk on the phone, recording our ends of the conversation on our computers. Then Ken could send his end to me and I'd mix the two sides together. It would be like what Ken did for that "Meeting Place" audio commentary with Jay Rowe last March.

Thanks Mike - very nice!

Also, per Bonnie's request, here's some upcoming show info for the DC/VA/MD area -

I will be appearing at The National Harbor Concert Series on Friday, August 29. It's a free show and I will have the musicians from "The Grace of Summer Light" CD with me - Joel Rosenblatt on drums, Tom Kennedy on bass and Jay Rowe on keyboards. Here is a link... http://www.nationalharbor.com/Events.aspx?id=1002

well, I am very happy to say this....

Ken will be playing for us here on October 18th in a co-billing with Eric Darius. We are so looking forward to the date!

October 18 is Homecoming Day at C.W. Post, and I'm doing my alumni show at 3:30 that afternoon, but I will definitely promote the concert during my show. And if I could pre-record an interview with Ken for that show, that'd be great, too.

Thanks Kat - I'm really looking forward to that one too! We'll be playing a lot of the new music from "Grace". I love working with you and Kevin and all the great folks at Jump Start Jazz.

And Mike - let's do the interview. Send me a PM and we'll set it up.

Ken

Okay. I'll PM you to set up as we get closer to October 18. So, I guess mid-to-late September or early October.

Here's a new interview I did about "Grace"...

http://www.smoothjazznow.com/interview_ken_navarro_2008.html