Piano player, writer, composer and arranger Fuller French will release Something Wonderful , his debut EP featuring the recently released single "Waves Against The Shore" on September 15, 2017.
As a piano player/writer/composer and arranger , Fuller French wrote some of the songs for Something Wonderful while still in his teens, recording them with a remarkable group of musicians, including Latin samba jazz pioneer Laurindo Almeida, Elton John bassist Bob Birch, sax player Don Menza (Buddy Rich, Elvin Jones, Maynard Ferguson, Doc Severinsen) and drummer Rick Latham (B.B. King, Rick Derringer, Edgar Winter, Neal Schon,) with contributions from multi-Grammy-winning engineer Al Schmitt, producer Larry Goetz (Jeff Lorber, Robben Ford, The Jazz Crusaders, War) and film composer C.J. Vanston (whose film credits include Christopher Guest's Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind and For Your Consideration).
The five instrumentals songs that make up Something Wonderful evoke French's own influences growing up, listening to his parent's record collection. His mother had him take piano lessons at an early age and French developed his style after the likes of personal favorites like Burt Bacharach and Elton John, with elements of classic pop composers like Henry Mancini, Riz Ortolani and Serge Gainsborough, along with soundtrack auteurs Jerry Goldsmith, John Barry and Francis Lai. He was equally a fan of Brazilian sambas, French chansons, Hollywood film scores, Broadway musicals and even symphonic art-rock like ELO and Kansas
Three of the EP's first tracks - "Brazilian Sunrise," "Echoes" and "Waves Against the Shore" were culled from 24-track master recordings Fuller made when he first lived in Los Angeles with his family in the '90s. "Brazilian Sunrise," which features a stunning acoustic guitar solo by Brazilian jazz samba legend Laurindo Almeida and a sax performance from the equally formidable Don Menza, is an homage to the Brazilian music of his youth. "Echoes," with its sweeping Paul Buckmaster string arrangements that also pays tribute to that "Ipanema" feel debuted at #45 on the Mediabase Smooth Jazz Charts and garnered the title of being the most added song at both SmoothJazz.com and Groove Jazz Music.com.
French's newest single "Waves Against The Shore" was culled from the 48-track demo recordings Fuller made when he first lived in Los Angeles in the early '90s. He recalls writing the song while sitting at the grand piano near the breezeway of the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club while still a college student. He recently re-imagined, re-recorded, mixed and mastered the song at the legendary Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, it has all come full circle!
Reflecting on the release, French states: "My songs are about the passage of time. Remembering with gratitude on what's come before and looking to the future with optimism. Time marches on, like waves against the shore."
Growing up amidst the West Texas oil fields, a young Fuller French used to see the town's motto on car license plates, "The sky's the limit in Midland." And that's how he's approaching a remarkable music career some two-plus decades in the making with a new single debut from his five-song EP that captures a lifetime of pursuing his muse.
"Something Wonderful" " will be available for purchase and streaming on iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music on September 15, 2017.
Videos