Tucker's far-ranging compositions and arrangements reflect his extensive background in jazz and classical music, but they also draw from an unexpectedly broad range of musical sources, including Gospel, pop, Middle Eastern music, hip hop and R&B. Tucker's training began at the very early age of three, when he would play along with R&B, funk and rock artists like Stevie Wonder, Miles Davis, Sly and The Family Stone, The Grateful Dead and The
Carpenters.
It is not surprising, then, that the tracks on his debut album reflect the broad pallet he was exposed to as a child. When I Was A Child has an almost cinematic nostalgia, in its subtle, sometimes melancholic harmonies, that allows the individual band members (each a consummate artist in his/her own right) to explore, create and improvise. When I Was A Child contains an impressive array of Tucker's original works as well as his unique interpretations of jazz standards and pop songs.
Shortly after moving to Brooklyn in 2009, Tucker bagan composing for When I Was A Child. As a complete work, the record is a musing on formation and retrospection. Through the postscript of the title track's conversation with his own father, pianist Derrick Trucks, as well as the reflection and homage to his musical roots in Cinderella's A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes, or Dizzy Gillespie's Con Alma (a favorite from the first record Tucker owned), Tucker has clearly defined the foundations of an inventive and compelling voice, demanding and novel, yet inviting and lyrical all at once. When I Was A Child also features virtuosic French-Dominican vocalist, Cyrille Aimee, on Dream Deterred, a sweepingly beautiful ballad co-written by the two. His unique modernization of classic pop and R&B is further underscored by Aimee's commanding performance of The Beatles' iconic Blackbird, and by Brooklyn vocalist, J. Nathaniel Reed on Stevie Wonder's I Can't Help It.
When I Was A Child, will be available on bandcamp.com and iTunes June 14th, 2016.
Wayne has played with numerous jazz stars, including Kurt Elling, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Cyrille Aimee, and with pop stars Taylor Swift, Elvis Costello, Matt Simons and Ne-Yo. He has performed at some of the worlds greatest venues including Madison Square Garden, Hollywood Bowl, Avery Fisher Hall, the Apollo Theatre, the Ravinia Festival and Kennedy Center, and he has played for America's Got Talent, Jimmy Kimmel, Ellen Degeneres, The Today Show and Good Morning America. Recently, he scored and played the male lead in the short film, Hotel Bleu. Wayne can be seen performing in New York City and around the world with many established and up and coming stars.
OneTrickDog* is a small independent record label, specializing in jazz, jazz fusion, and blues. The members are a loose collective of recording artists, graphic designers, sound engineers and composers. The label is affiliated with Avidon Audio Labs (which has tracked, mixed and mastered numerous jazz, classical and blues albums, and film sound tracks). Several of the members work as a production team, doing original screenplays, videography and sound work. Recent OneTrickDog* releases include Loving Losing by People vs. Larsen, Tangibility by Klazz-Ma-Tazz, Interloper by Jonathan Parker, and Second Row Behind The Painter by the Roy Assaf Trio. They look forward to the fall release in Japan of Gone by Katini Yamaoka. In 2016, they hope to release the first album by legendary blues guitarist SaRon Crenshaw, and are currently recording Wayne Tucker's second album.
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