Recorded on Joel Evans’ personal Steinway B Grand piano, this collection of solo piano pieces includes performances by renowned jazz pianists Larry Dunlap & Art Hirahara. Many of these tracks have been featured in Film & TV and broadcast around the world. 1. A Walk in the Sun Time: 3:47 Mid-tempo Swing, Bouncy, Lilting Feel Writer: Joe Lervold (BMI) Publisher: One Hundred Percent Publishing (BMI) Pianist: Larry Dunlap 2. That’s Love Time: 5:15 Introspective, Dreamy Jazz Ballad Writer: Michael O’Neill (ASCAP) Publisher: Cinemasters (ASCAP) Pianist: Art Hirahara 3. Beyond Tonight Time: 4:02 Mid-tempo, Easy Listening Bossa Nova Writers: Joe Lervold (BMI) 50% Adryan Russ (ASCAP) 50% Publishers: One Hundred Percent Publishing (BMI) 50% Dreamwriter (ASCAP) 50% Pianist: Joel Evans 4. Walt’s Waltz Time: 4:08 Up-tempo, Bright, Sprightly Jazz Waltz Writer: Michael O’Neill (ASCAP) Publisher: Cinemasters (ASCAP) Pianist: Art Hirahara 5. Easy Go Time: 5:09 Mid/Down-Tempo, Light Jazz-Pop Ballad Writer: Joe Lervold (BMI) Publisher: One Hundred Percent Publishing (BMI) Pianist: Art Hirahara 6. Upscale Saloon Time: 3:34 Mid/Up-tempo, Bluesy, Ragtime Swing Writer: Joe Lervold (BMI) Publisher: One Hundred Percent Publishing (BMI) Pianist: Larry Dunlap 7. Wonderland Time: 4:16 30’s-40’s, “Society-Style” Sentimental Ballad Writer: Joe Lervold (BMI) Publisher: One Hundred Percent Publishing (BMI) Pianist: Larry Dunlap 8. Because of You Time: 4:55 Mid/Down-tempo, “Brazilian” Bossa Nova Writers: Joe Lervold (BMI) 50% Pamela Phillips-Oland 50% Publishers: One Hundred Percent Publishing (BMI) 50% Pam-O-Land Music (ASCAP) 50% Pianist: Larry Dunlap 9. Carmel Bounce Time: 3:50 Mid/Up-tempo, Relaxed Swing ala Errol Garner Writer: Joe Lervold (BMI) Publisher: One Hundred Percent Publishing (BMI) Pianist: Larry Dunlap 10. Valse Reverie Time: 4:03 Mid-tempo Reflective, “Pop” Waltz Writer: Joe Lervold (BMI) Publisher: One Hundred Percent Publishing (BMI) Pianist: Larry Dunlap 11. Love is the Name of the Game Time: 4:24 Mid-tempo Classic, Easy Stride Piano Bar Writer: Joe Lervold (BMI) Publisher: One Hundred Percent Publishing (BMI) Pianist: Larry Dunlap 12. Reflections Time: 4:49 Down-tempo, Moody, Sentimental Ballad Writer: Joe Lervold (BMI) Publisher: One Hundred Percent Publishing (BMI) Pianist: Joel Evans 13. Seasons Change Time: 3:45 Mid/Down-tempo, Modal, Meditative New Age in 6/8 Writer: Joe Lervold (BMI) Publisher: One Hundred Percent Publishing (BMI) Pianist: Larry Dunlap 14. Swang Thang Time: 3:39 Mid/Up-tempo, Energetic, Bouncy Jazz Writer: Joe Lervold (BMI) Publisher: One Hundred Percent Publishing (BMI) Pianist: Joel Evans 15. Indelible Traces Time: 4:30 Mid-tempo, 40’s Classic, “Casablanca” Piano Bar Writer: Joe Lervold (BMI) Publisher: One Hundred Percent Publishing (BMI) Pianist: Joel Evans 16. Sweet Magnolia Time: 3:07 Mid/Up-tempo, Honky-tonk, Tin-Pan-Alley Stride Writer: Joe Lervold (BMI) Publisher: One Hundred Percent Publishing (BMI) Pianist: Joel Evans 17. Soon Enuff Time: 3:54 Mid-tempo, “Walking”, Blusey Swing Writer: Joe Lervold (BMI) Publisher: One Hundred Percent Publishing (BMI) Pianist: Joel Evans Composer/Songwriter Joel Evans has songs & cues in more than 85 movies and 400 TV episodes; major Hollywood films, hip indie flicks, network and daytime dramas; ranging from Wedding Crashers to Hateship, Loveship (Kristin Wiig); and from Friends to Glee. The 2014 Daytime Emmy winning special Young & Restless Tribute to Jeanne Cooper features Joel's song, “That’s When I’ll Stop Loving You” as its main theme. Ciroq Vodka TV and radio ads highlight his Big Band number, "Fly Away." Grammy-winning vocalist Carmen Bradford sings his song, "No Easy Way To Say Goodbye” on tour with the Count Basie Orchestra. Joel's songs have been recorded by diverse artists, including Spencer Day, Dave Samuels, Shaun Murphy, Roberta Donnay, The Yellowjackets and Peter Tork. (the former Monkee has a great blues band!) After earning his BA on flute at Cal State University East Bay he performed with a series of groups, and quickly realized the fortunes of a jazz flautist were capricious at best. “We did one gig where our earnings didn't even pay off our bar tab,” he notes wryly. Later, a stint on piano backing Bobby Freeman (“Do You Wanna Dance”) took Evans to Tahoe and Reno, where watching the rock godfather reiterate the same patter night after night further inspired him to improvise. Life imitates art: in the film Rumor Has It, Kevin Costner and Jennifer Aniston share a conversation while the Joel Evans Combo paints the aural backdrop in the same San Francisco hotel bar where he once worked a steady piano gig. Evans’ Hollywood-sophisticated melodies are often used on screen to evoke sumptuous surroundings like hotel lobbies and upscale restaurants, so it’s no coincidence that he spent years performing in just these types of venues as a live player. Swing, big band and jazz: he occupies a decided stylistic niche. “I can’t do everything. I don’t write stuff that’s like what’s on the radio. I decided early on to hell with it, I’m going to do what I love.” Unlike many instrumental composers, Evans usually co-writes complete songs. “Until it Happens to You” from Mini’s First Time provided an improbable soundtrack to a fight scene with stars Jeff Goldblum and Alec Baldwin “trying to kill one another, with my Sinatra style swing thing in the background,” laughs Evans. He notes that one of his most unexpected inclusions was in the gritty rock and roll noir film, Sugartown, where his sweet song, “Moody” played behind, as he delicately phrases it, “The depiction of an act of love. But it fit the scene.” A self-professed team player, Evans enlists first call musicians who can deliver the requisite tones; veterans like Bernadette Peters' favorite bassist, Mario Suraci and David Rokeach from the Ray Charles band; seasoned authorities who helped invent the genres his compositions reference. Talented Co-writers like Nashville-based Lisa Aschmann and pop/theatrical writer Adryan Russ contribute their magic to the sterling credibility of the songs. Bio by Dan Kimpel Born in Forest Grove, Oregon, USA. Raised in a very musical family, Larry Dunlap played baritone horn in the school band, and while still in high school played piano with a local dance band, the Dell Herreid Orchestra. At Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, Dunlap majored in composition. After graduating, he played in and wrote for various jazz groups in Portland including the Tom Albering Trio, which included vocalist Nancy King, and also played with Leroy Vinnegar and Ralph Towner. Since the 70s Dunlap has been based in San Francisco, playing with many artists including the Pointer Sisters and Country Joe McDonald. In the late 70s, Dunlap met and later married singer Bobbe Norris. Around 1980 he began a musical relationship with Cleo Laine and John Dankworth that endured into the early 00s and included recording at Carnegie Hall. Among others with whom he has performed and sometimes recorded are Ernestine Anderson, Larry Coryell, Art Farmer, James Moody, Gerry Mulligan, Rebecca Parris, and Mark Murphy. Dunlap’s many compositions and arrangements include music for big bands and classical music ensembles. In the 70s he received an NEA grant to compose ‘Immersion: A Water Suite For Jazz Quartet And Chamber Orchestra’. His long and fruitful musical association with the Cape Verde-born composer Amandio Cabral has resulted in several albums, including Why Not Forever, Sonho Azul: Blue Dream, and Fly With My Love. Early influences on Dunlap as pianist include André Previn, Herbie Hancock, Oscar Peterson and Chick Corea. Influences upon him as arranger and composer include Gerry Mulligan, Gil Evans, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Ivan Lins, as well as many classical composers. Through the 90s and into the early 00s, Dunlap has worked as music editor with the Sher Music Company. In the early 00s, Dunlap was active as piano teacher, giving lessons both privately and with students at Mills College, Oakland, California. In the early 00s Dunlap’s schedule included appearances and tours with Norris, Laine and Dankworth, Murphy, Parris, Anderson and Ernie Watts. Art Hirahara is a jazz pianist and keyboardist living in Brooklyn, NY. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Hirahara moved to New York in 2003 to be challenged by its pool of worldclass musicians. There, he has honed his craft while performing in a wide range of musical situations, ranging from straight-ahead standards to time cycle-based progressive jazz to free improvisation. From the traditional to the avant-garde, Hirahara has found a sound of his own that cuts across genres and boundaries. Hirahara continues on the Posi-Tone label with his latest record titled “Libations & Meditations” (2015). Like his previous Posi-Tone release “Nobel Path” (2011), Hirahara presents himself in the piano trio format. His bandmates for the latest record, John Davis (Cassandra Wilson, Ben Williams) on drums and Linda Oh (Dave Douglas) on acoustic bass, help Hirahara document some of his wonderful compositions along with three reinterpreted tunes. The music tells his story of dealing with the loss of father. Hirahara was awakened to jazz during his studies at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he earned a degree in Electronic and Computer Music. During his junior year, he began jazz piano studies with the Cleveland jazz giant, Neal Creque. He then continued at California Institute of the Arts, where he was mentored by David Roitstein, Charlie Haden and Wadada Leo Smith. It was there that he immersed himself in world music, focusing on West African drumming and dance, Balinese gamelan and North Indian tabla. In August of 2000, Hirahara self-released his debut record "Edge Of This Earth" to critical acclaim. After his move to New York, Hirahara studied at the Banff Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music program with Dave Douglas in 2004. Hirahara has had the privilege to perform with Stacey Kent, Akira Tana, Rufus Reid, Don Braden, Roseanna Vitro, Dave Douglas, Vincent Herring, Victor Lewis, Travis Sullivan's Bjorkestra, Jim Black, Jenny Scheinman, Greg Cohen, Fred Ho, Sean Nowell, Royal Hartigan and Hafez Modirzadeh. He has performed around the world in Europe, Asia, South America, the Middle East and extensively around the United States. Hirahara’s piano and compositional sound are an amalgamation of the varied musical influences he has studied and the wide range of leaders he has worked for. Hirahara is constantly seeking new situations to challenge his musicality. Michael O’Neill, a San Diego native, began studying clarinet at an early age. One of his first influences was his neighbor, the great jazz and studio drummer, saxophonist, and clarinetist, John Guerin who helped Michael with his first band in Junior High School. After the usual involvement with school bands and orchestras, Michael did a stint in the Air Force Band. Later, he entered college as a biology major with a music minor. He studied composition and arranging as well as jazz performance while playing in clubs to pay for living expenses. After graduating from college, Michael began a career in biology, and then entered graduate school to pursue a Ph.D. in Insect Physiology at Texas A&M University. Once again, Michael began playing music professionally for financial and recreational reasons in his off hours. After two years of graduate school, he decided to dedicate himself to a full time career in music (as with Duke Ellington, music was Michael’s jealous mistress). Upon returning to the Bay Area, he began studying with the great Joe Henderson while playing in dance bands, salsa bands and doing local jazz gigs. Michael became very involved with composition and formed groups to perform his original material. This started a trend that is ongoing today with his current quintet which features vocalist extraordinaire Kenny Washington. Besides jazz composition, Michael’s interests have taken him into orchestral and ethnic musical forms. In the 1980's he began to write music for corporate and industrial films, which led to documentary and television film scoring for which he now has a long list of credits. Michael now leads several jazz groups in the Bay Area. He was hired to provide a weekly jazz evening at the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay starting at their opening and continuing for several years. He also managed a seven year plus engagement with his quartet at Cetrella on the coast. He has performed with several of the Bay Area’s leading big bands, including a two-year stint with the Contemporary Jazz Orchestra. He plays frequently at all the leading jazz venues in the Bay Area including Yoshi’s San Francisco and Oakland, the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society, and The Jazz School. The Michael O'Neill Quartet featuring Kenny Washington headlined the 2011 San Jose Jazz Festival. In the recent past he has performed frequently at Bay Area venues including Jazz at Pearl’s, Anna’s Jazz Island, the Jazz on the Hill Festival, the Oakland Art and Soul Festival, the San Jose Jazz Society Concert Series and many others as well as the Jazz Bakery in Los Angeles. Michael has performed and/or recorded with Idris Muhammad, Joe Locke, Michael Wolff, Giacomo Gates, Eddie Fisher, Rodney Jones, Kim Nalley, Jackie Ryan, Tony Lindsay, Margie Baker, Akira Tana, Faye Carol, Brenda Boykin, Nicolas Bearde, Jeff Chambers, Rob Schneiderman, John R. Burr, Mark Levine, Frank Jackson, Frank Martin, Larry Dunlap, Bobbi Norris, Peter Horvath, Matt Clark, Smith Dobson, Don Haas, Dave Mathews, Michael Bluestein, Omar Clay, Scott Morris and many others. Michael’s major recordings include "The Long and the Short of It" featuring Kenny Washington, and "Still Dancin’", also featuring Kenny Washington with special guest Joe Locke. He is also featured on " Margie Baker and Friends Live at Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society". His CDs continue to be praised by jazz DJs and fans across the country.