YELLOW SOUND LABEL has announced that Jukebox Saloon Vol. 2, featuring Chicago-based vocalist Colby Beserra and New York keyboard whiz Dan Lipton, is available in digital and streaming formats starting today, Friday, September 27. Beserra and Lipton bring their strong musicality and love of a good song to the Jukebox Saloon. Inspired by the classic Tony Bennett/Bill Evans duo records, a pair of pros strips down and re-engineers their favorite songs with a sense of musical adventure. They create unique, jazzed-out interpretations of songs you know and songs they'd like you to hear. Jukebox Saloon Vol. 2 is available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music and other music services.
Jukebox Saloon will celebrate the album with a special release concert at the Birdland Theater (315 West 44th Street, New York) on Wednesday, October 2 at 7:00 PM. Please visit BirdlandJazz.com for tickets. In addition, the duo intends to livestream the event. Follow @JukeboxSaloon on Instagram for more details.
Lipton comments, "I do a lot of work arranging and orchestrating music for singers. Whether it's Kelli O'Hara doing Beatles, Audra trying out a John Mayer song, Martha Plimpton putting her spin on Aimee Mann, Judy Kuhn covering Tom Waits, I'm most comfortable at this nexus where I reinvent pop songs, tailor them to powerhouse performers, transform the songs into theatrical pieces. But before any of those gigs, I was doing it back in the '90s just for fun, at coffeehouses and jazz bars around Chicago with Colby Beserra. We are 'song worshippers.' We get obsessed with a song on its own merits. We don't care about genre, whether it's high or low culture, we just love a great song. When we find one, we take it apart, re-arrange it, and go on our own musical adventure."
Their debut album Jukebox Saloon Vol.1 was a strictly piano-voice affair, featuring songs by Beck, Cowboy Junkies, Led Zeppelin, John Hartford, Paul McCartney, and more. Jukebox Saloon Vol. 2 expands the duo's palette with full band arrangements. Beserra and Lipton anchor a cohort of Chicago and New York musicians as the album tackles songs by Gillian Welch, George Michael, Stone Temple Pilots, Shelby Lynne, Lionel Richie, Gram Parsons, and The Police.
Jukebox Saloon Vol. 2, features contributions from guests stars starting with, Howard Levy, the harmonica legend from Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, who opens the album with a masterful solo, and Natalie Cressman, the trombone virtuoso named a 2019 Rising Star by Downbeat, playing on two tracks on break from touring with Phish's Trey Anastasio. In addition, Zach Brock, violin wizard and member of the jazz collective Snarky Puppy, jams with the group on the Stone Temple Pilots classic "Plush," while Jo Lampert, a stunning singer and star of David Byrne's Joan Of Arc musical, duets with Colby on songs by Gillian Welch and George Michael. Harvey Valdes, the incredible oud player from The Band's Visit on Broadway, gives a Middle Eastern flavor to the band's cover of Lionel Richie's "Hello."
Dan Lipton conducted The Last Ship by Sting on Broadway. He recently played keyboards and conducted at The Band's Visit. Lipton scored the film All These Small Moments, starring Molly Ringwald and Jemima Kirke, which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival and saw a theatrical release in January 2019 from Orion Classics. With Rick Elice and David Rossmer, he's writing Hasbro's Broadway-bound musical Monopoly. Music direction: The Other Josh Cohen, the Drama Desk Awards, The Coast of Utopia (Broadway), Don't Quit Your Night Job (Off Broadway), The Bridge Project with Sam Mendes (BAM, Old Vic), and Herringbone with BD Wong and Roger Rees (La Jolla Playhouse). He's arranged music and led bands for Kelli O'Hara, Judy Kuhn, Martha Plimpton, and Audra McDonald, performing at the White House, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center and on "Live with Kelly Ripa," "Great Performances" and "Late Show with David Letterman."
Colby Beserra has spent most of his career ensconced in the thriving Chicago music scene. In 2006 he founded The Party Faithful, a long-running and in-demand 12-piece dance band for special events of all kinds, in which he functions as bandleader, vocalist, guitarist and artistic director. Over the years he has shared the stage with The Pointer Sisters, Seal, Faith Hill, and multiple finalists from shows like "American Idol" and "The Voice." He co-wrote and sang on the song "Lovely," featured in the Ashton Kutcher/Kevin Costner film The Guardian. A lifelong educator, Colby was on the staff of the award-winning, groundbreaking youth theater ensemble The Albany Park Theater Project from 2001-2014 as a Resident Director. He released his self-titled solo album in 2003, and has spearheaded numerous tribute projects to Merle Haggard, Frank Zappa, James Taylor, and an "old school" soul revue. He now splits his time between Chicago and Houston, TX, where he's raising two amazing children, annoying his girlfriend and a feeding a healthy vinyl addiction.
YELLOW SOUND LABEL is an Emmy Award-winning and Grammy Award-nominated, cutting-edge record company that produces established performers, up-and-coming artists and original cast recordings. The boutique label takes a hands-on approach in nurturing and producing passionate, focused performers and composers who create quality, noteworthy recordings.
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