Here you can find out everything you need to know about our Spicy Jazz Adventure   First, thank you so very much for checking out our music. We put a tremendous effort into this record, not to mention our heart and soul. We truly hope you like it!  A long time coming (by producer Thomas Gunther) This album is indeed long overdue. When Pamela and I first got together, we both agreed that we wanted to create music we can stand 100 percent behind. We wanted to surprise our listeners and take them on a journey, as opposed to just playing ordinary head arrangements (theme - solos - theme). This required us to put a lot of time and thought into the arrangements, which we kept refining after each gig until we were completely satisfied. I'm really glad we didn't rush into producing this music. This album turned out to be everything we aimed for. Each delicately arranged song is different in style and instrumentation, and tells a story most everyone can relate to. It is music performed and produced with tremendous passion and dedication. Music we are ultimately very proud of.   What kind of music is it? (by Thomas Gunther)   The short answer: It's Jazz, and so much more. An exciting stylistic cocktail of original and classic familiar songs produced in fresh and unexpected ways.   The medium-long answer: The arrangements combine classic Jazz elements with contemporary music styles. State-of-the-art technology was used to simulate horns and strings, and to add electronic sounds and effects.    I believe that our music can appeal to music enthusiasts, educated listeners, and professional musicians from all corners of the contemporary music spectrum. We also included four originals that have never been recorded before.         The long answer: How does one describe music as diversified as ours? Jazz has become such a generic term for describing so many different musical styles that no one can really tell anymore what music exactly to expect from a so-called jazz band. We could have tried explaining our music by combining the word “Jazz” with more descriptive terms such as Latin or Swing, Funk or Smooth, cool or hot, classic or modern; or such contradicting word combinations as Rock-Jazz and Pop-Jazz. Many of these combinations can be used to describe the music on this album. Instead of doing that, we wanted to find a name that describes how we feel about our music. We truly believe that our music is indeed “spicy”, and each of our arrangements is a musical adventure. It’s the kind of Jazz that everyone who likes music can enjoy, and speaks to the heart and mind alike.    By the way, when searching for a name for this album I was tempted to call it "Jazz For Jazz Haters", because I truly think that a lot of people who don't like pure classic Jazz can fall in love with our music - maybe not with every song, but many of them.   Not your classic Jazz production   There are two types of approaches to producing a Jazz record. The first one is to go into the studio with great musicians and a few sketchy ideas and simply let the magic happen. We decided to take the second approach, which makes the arrangements the centerpiece of the production. You find more info on this production at SpicyJazzAdventure (dot) com/production.   Each song tells a story we can all relate to   For vocalist Pamela Fernandez it was very important that we picked songs that tell stories she and her fans can relate to. Once we decided on the songs we wanted to record, she added her own words or changed the original lyrics a little bit to make the stories even more personal and compelling. Our original songs of course were already tailored towards her.   Pamela: “This album is very personal to me. A lot of the things I sing about actually happened to me and friends of mine...and you, I'm sure.     Everyone has a secret, a weakness, a passion, an epiphany, a revelation, and music reflects every one of them, and so much more.  Especially when it comes from deep down inside. There is a special feeling an artist gets when you get to share that realness with people. And that’s exactly what we did with this album.”   Our songs fall into 3 categories   First, there are the songs that simply make you feel good, like Feel Like Makin’ Love, and A Dream Is Just A Dream. Other songs talk about those little annoying and sad things life throws at us, like the loss of a loved one (Can You Feel Me?), your new flame who just won’t stop talking about himself instead of sweeping you off your feet with that long awaited first kiss (You’re Talking Too Much), those times when everything you do goes wrong, (Everything Happens To Me), or the moment when the world just completely crashes down on you (Smile).     And then there are those songs that go way beyond those personal miseries, such as Peace to the Middle East (the only instrumental on this album), or our unusual rendition of Louis Armstrong’s famous song What A Wonderful World. This song is worth talking about a little more, because it is a great example of our approach to old familiar songs. We open and end the arrangement with the lyrics "Open Up Your Eyes, Open Them Up Wide, Open Them Up As Wide As You Can Open Them Up“. Why did we do that? Very few people remember that the song became the theme song of the anti-Vietnam War protestors. This inspired us to make our listeners ask the question if it is really such a wonderful world (Pam sings “Is It A Wonderful World?” instead of “What A Wonderful World”.) To focus the listener’s mind even more, we inserted a special section where Pam sings about those not so wonderful things that surround us. “Let Me Tell You Other Things That I See. I See Hurt And Pain All Around Me. People Fighting, People Dying, People Hurting People Crying, That’s What I See.”  Conclusion: no, it is not such a wonderful world we are living in, but it certainly could be one, if we only figured out a way to replace hate with love, and war with peace. But first we have to open up our eyes, open them up as wide as we possibly can! Why I loved producing this album I loved producing this album for many reasons. Maybe the most important one is that I was able to use the “everything goes” approach, which allowed me to let my imagination and creativity go wild without any restrictions. I like combining different musical styles and genre, changing things up and adding unexpected twists, simply said, do things differently from what one would expect. Just working on this album as a keyboardist, composer, and sound engineer would have been plenty of fun. But what I found even more exciting was creating those elaborate arrangements for different instrumentations including horns and strings, and then producing them with state of the art music technology and extremely talented musicians. Mixing the music myself was also amazingly thrilling, and also an eye-opening (or should I say ear-opening) experience. It made me realize that the mixing process can be just as creative and challenging as the arranging process. About Pamela Pamela is truly a wonderful singer! The lyrics on this album are very dear to her and reflect many of her personal experiences. This is easily recognizable when listening to her soulful and deeply emotional interpretations. With her beautiful voice she opens an intimate window to her heart, soul, and life. The Rhythm Section Players The rhythm section players on this album are truly phenomenal. Bassist Chuck Webb [ChuckWebbMusic (dot) com] combines impeccable timing and technique with a soulful and highly adaptive style. Drummer Tom Hipskind [TomHipskind (dot) com] is a living groove machine, adding the right feel and dynamic to every song. Percussionist Bobby Delgado further enhances the music with his tasteful sounds and rhythms. performed brilliantly on this album. Recording, mixing, and mastering credits Acoustic drums, percussion, and vocals recorded by Rick Barnes@Raxtrax. Lead vocals on tracks 1, 2, 4, 8 recorded by Andrew Twiss. Bass recorded by Chuck Webb. Everything else recorded by Thomas Gunther. Mixed by Thomas Gunther. Mastered by Chris Bauer at audiomasteringservice (Dot) com. Sponsored by Columbia College Chicago I am very grateful for the generous financial support from Columbia College Chicago. As a long-time faculty member at the Music Department I taught many keyboard, arranging, and music technology classes, particularly as they relate to our unique and outstanding Contemporary Urban Music Program. The production of this album gave me the perfect opportunity to showcase my talents as a song writer, producer, keyboarder, mixing engineer, and music arranger, combining traditional arranging and recording techniques with state of the art computer based music production tools.