Artist description Find us under www.mp3.com/atjazz for more new songs. Five piece contemporary jazz group with piano, trombone, guitar, bass and drums

Music Style Contemporary Jazz and fusion

Musical Influences Bebop to fusion.

Similar Artists Horace Silver, Zawinul Syndicate

Artist History The band has played together in various incarnations over 10 years. The current band came together by word of mouth adding various players as the opportunity arose. @Jazz is made up of a group of talented and experienced jazz musicians with great resumes.

Group Members Martin Manley – Piano & KeyboardsJim Guetzkow – TromboneGrant Smith – Drums & PercussionLee Donnelly – Guitar and VocalsRandy Whiting – Electric, Fretless & Acoustic Bass

Instruments Trombone, guitar, piano, bass, drums

Press Reviews January 30, 2001 – San Jose, CA, The contemporary jazz group, @Jazz, today announced the completion of its first CD. The CD called “About Time” is a compilation of original compositions by the band as well as a number of unique interpretations of a range of jazz and Latin Jazz compositions. The CD was recorded in 2000 at Prairie Sun studios in Cotati, CA. Currently the plans call for the CD to be available only from the band during live performances.This is the first formal recording effort of @Jazz. According to Martin Manley, keyboard player for the band and composer of three of the originals on the CD, “we wanted to record some of the unique approaches we have developed for our music. We learned that the production of a full-fledged CD is no small feat and no matter how hard we tried, something always kept delaying the final production of the CD. Since one of the hallmarks of the band is to modify well-known tunes by modifying their rhythm and time signatures, we thought that "About time" would be a fitting title…“All of the tracks were recorded in one very long day’s session at Prairie Sun studios inCotati California. According to bass player, Randy Whiting, “Mooka and the team at Prairie Sun did an outstanding job of getting our sound just right – including taking what seemed like an eternity to get the drums "just perfect." All tracks are recorded live, with no over-dubs, and all are first or second takes. As a result you’ll hear a few rough edges here and there – but the intent was to capture the energy of the band’s performance rather than create a picture-perfect recording by using multiple over-dubs. The band has existed in its current format since 1998. Lee & Randy have been playing together since Randy answered an ad for a bass player for Lee’s band. Grant came on board when he was hired into Randy’s organization at Hewlett-Packard, & mentioned during the interview that he was a drummer. (Grant was sitting in on a gig one week later). Grant & Martin had played together in another jazz-oriented band since the mid-80’s and so Grant brought Martin into the band to replace a departing guitarist. Jim joined the band after taking on Lee as a new patient & asking the question "what do you do to relieve stress?" during an initial consultation. (The answer, of course, was "play jazz").@Jazz’s repertoire ranges from old jazz standards through bebop & cool jazz to funk & blues. They frequently strive to breathe new life into otherwise familiar material by changing the time signature or rhythmic feel to allow the listener to enjoy these classics with a fresh perspective. The repertoire also includes several originals written by band-members Martin Manley & Lee Donnelly.Many thanks to Mooka and the gang at Prairie Sun Studio for engineering & production, to the wineries of Napa & Sonoma for fueling the band’s practice sessions, and to our "significant others" for helping put this CD together as a labor of love. Special thanks to Kate, Linda, Char, Barbara and Cheri for supporting us in our passion for playing this music. Special credits to the following real and fictitious characters that have helped mold the personality and drive of @Jazz Rev. Armando – the minister of the minor chord, from the church of the altered groove.Albert – the real fat cat who inspired us all. Paco – the band sommelier. What more can you say but "Could I have a little more of the zin, please". Tony, wherever you are, for helping us remember the importance of freedom and spontaneity in jazz. Martino and his evil eye – long shall he keep us honest and in the right key. Dr Jazz for keeping the band healthy and grooving And for Lee and Jon who got us all started.

Location San Jose, CA - USA

Copyright notice. All material on MP3.com is protected by copyright law and by international treaties. You may download this material and make reasonable number of copies of this material only for your own personal use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works of this material, unless authorized by the appropriate copyright owner(s).