"A Jazz Noir" was my first collection of songs written with Jazz integration in mind. Prior to diving into the Jazz world, my music was a bit more down-tempo groove style. Think Sade. Although I grew up listening to my parents album collection that ranged from Motown, to Country, to Jazz... I was heavily influenced and listening to Sting and The Police. And when Sting left The Police to record his first solo album, "Dream of the Blue Turtles", is when the idea of marrying pop music with hints of Jazz blew my mind. As much as I loved listening to Miles, Coltrane, Brubeck, Bill Evans, Ellington, and the like, listening to Sting's album was like opening the flood gates to a whole new world for me.
Later in years it somehow gave me the license and courage to write this collection of 5 songs. I'm incredibly proud of this first crossover collection of songs I had written and recorded, and I hope you can appreciate and enjoy the music as I have!
Credits:
- Niles Thomas: Vocals & Guitars
- Thomas Johansen: Piano
- Jonathan Ahrens: Bass
- Bijon Watson: Trumpet & Flugelhorn
- Dan Kaneyuki: Tenor Saxophone
- Juliane Gralle: Trombone
- George Dum: Drums
Recorded, Engineered, Mix & Mastered by Thomas Johansen