Artist description The New York-based group Green Rooftops is a throwback to a kinder, gentler time, when music was actually melodic, lyrics could be readily deciphered and songs could actually be described as "beautiful": now, there's a concept.Green Rooftops, which took its name from an Impressionistic painting owned by vocalist Laurie Brand, consists of Brand (who also plays keyboards, flute and recorder), Joe Condiracci (guitar/vocals), Joe Rossman (bass/vocals) and Edward Rogers (drums/vocals). All of the members share a fondness for classic pop, with Brand naming Peggy Lee, Duke Ellington and Gershwin as early influences, and James Taylor and Carole King as later inspirations. For his part, Rogers remembers that "the world went from black and white to color right before my eyes and ears" on February 9, 1964, during the Beatles' first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. It was then, says Rogers, that "my future was sealed." Rossman doesn't single out any particular artist, but will cite "great POP songs" along with jazz and 70's progressive rock, funk and punk, as his main influences. And Condiracci, who as a child was thrilled by his father's Johnny Cash, Everly Brothers and Elvis records, later went through what he calls "an obligatory Jersey Boy Springsteen fixation" before becoming obsessed with Anglo-pop icons such as The Jam, The Smiths, David Bowie and Bryan Ferry.All of the band members were drawn to music from the very start. Condiracci claims to have been "a music junkie by age 3" and was playing guitar and singing at 8. Brand's grandmother taught her to play "Blues In The Night" on the piano when she was just 4, while Rossman received his first instrument (a clarinet) at 6. He still cherishes his first guitar, which his aunt won in a poker game, although he graduated to bass at the same time he left the 8th grade. And Rogers, of British origin, was scarcely pre-pubescent when the Fab Four first rocked his world.

Music Style Classic Pop

Musical Influences Peggy Lee, Duke Ellington, Gershwin, James Taylor, Carole King, Beatles, Johnny Cash, Everly Brothers, Elvis, The Jam, The Smiths, David Bowie and Bryan Ferry

Artist History The band came together in the spring of 1998, after Rogers and Rossman, who had previously been in the group, Primrose Hill, contacted Brand as they were familiar with her work with NY downtown pop- rocker Richard X. Heyman. Her extensive vocal range, as well as her cache of more than 50 original songs, sealed the deal and they began rehearsing. But it wasn't until Condiracci, who had recently released his own solo album, joined the group that Green Rooftops really jelled. The group rapidly picked up a following on the hyper-hip downtown scene through its very lack of irony and cynicism. Even the most jaded club-goers became captivated by Green Rooftops' trademark 4-part vocal harmonies and the velvety tunes that extolled the virtues of romantic love and the lonely echoes left in the wake of its loss.By January 1999, it was time for Green Rooftops to commit to posterity. The band contacted Kurt Ralske (of Ultra Vivid renown) to begin recording at his NYC Zabriskie Point Studios. Ralske, who co-wrote the string arrangements, then brought in jazz trumpeter Leif Artnzen to add to the sultry cocktail-lounge feel on two tracks. The resulting eponymous CD can be found at NYC's Other Music and will be available on-line in the very near future.And now, the group hopes that what Rossman refers to as its "60's and 70's pop rock with a bit of jazz and a dash of blue-eyed soul" will prove as enchanting to a wider audience as it has to the cognoscenti of the New York club scene. In truth, what Green Rooftops has to offer goes beyond a modern hybrid of the best music of the latter half of the 20th century: This is the sound of adults making music for other grown-ups. This is, in fact, the band that dares not to rock.

Group Members Laurie Brand (vocals, keyboards, flute and recorder) -- Joe Condiracci (guitar, vocals) -- Joe Rossman (bass, vocals) -- Edward Rogers (drums, vocals).

Instruments keyboards, flute, recorder, guitar, bass, drums.

Albums Green Rooftops

Location New York City, New York - USA

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