Artist description Country and folk-influenced vocal numbers, and jazz instrumentals with MIDI-based rhythm tracks.

Music Style Country and folk-influenced vocals, and jazz instrumentals

Musical Influences Vocal influences are Gordon Lightfoot and Willie Nelson. The jazz pieces are influenced by such groups as Woody Herman's Woodchoppers and the Joe Mooney Quartet,

Similar Artists The influence of Lighfoot or Nelson on my singing and songwriting will be obvious. My jazz pieces, on the other hand, are inspired by the great jazz combos of the 1940s.

Artist History I have sung folk and country music (both solo and in small groups) at various coffeehouses, churches and colleges throughout the Pittsburgh area for more than 30 years. For the past 6 years I have played rhythm guitar and sung with the Folk Orchestra of the First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh. With the advent of MIDI in the mid-80s I began to build a small home studio, initially utilizing a Casio synthesizer and the ubiquitous Commodore C64 computer (don't laugh, that's what was affordable and available then). Software in my current studio now includes Voyetra's Digital Orchestrator Pro, and PGMusic's remarkable Band-In-A-Box program (now in its 9th version) and I use a Pentium-based PC for sequencing work. I run my various modules and outboard processing equipment through an Alessis 1622 mixer and record into a Roland VS-880 digital multi-track. From there I burn to CD and then use Rioport and MusicMatch to convert to MP3s. Another relatively recent addition has been the Yamaha WX11 windcontroller, a highly versatile and responsive instrument, and the reed and brass sounds on the jazz pieces are played on it. For those interested in the WX11, I might note that I use its companion sound module, the Yamaha VL70m, but have enhanced this module with the fine sounds produced by Patchman Music (www.patchman.com). These latter are far superior to the factory sounds. My jazz influences should be apparent to anyone familiar with the marvellous music of the Swing Era. The big bands received much attention but the best jazz came from the small combos. These included, to name only a few, Woody Herman's Woodchoppers, the Joe Mooney Quartet, and the John Kirby Sextet. Individual soloists who have influenced me include Lester Young and Flip Phillips on tenor sax, and Bobby Hackett and Buck Clayton on trumpet. I love jazz of every era and genre but, as you will hear, my heart is with swing. Finally, I have struggled somewhat with genre choices within jazz. All of the pieces are influenced, in my opinion, by swing small-group jazz, but several use a latin beat and one or two fringe into early bebop. I've made sub-category choices accordingly.

Group Members Rick Wells

Instruments Yamaha WX11 windcontroller, Kawai K5 keyboard, and sound modules including Yamaha VL70m, Alessis DM5, Yahama TG55.

Albums Danger Lies Ahead; Blue Recollections; It All Comes Back Again

Press Reviews --

Location Pittsburgh, PA - USA

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