Michael Hepworth<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n HOLLYWOOD (Perfect Music Today) 4\/9\/20\/—American Nocturnes \u2013 Final Days of July<\/em><\/strong>, a new album of original compositions by Grammy and Latin Grammy nominated composer John Finbury will be released through Green Flash Music on May 1.\u00a0\u00a0Produced and arranged by Finbury, Bob Patton, and co-produced by Emilio D. Miler, American Nocturnes \u2013 Final Days of July is a collection of eleven evocative pieces that spotlights the composer\u2019s mastery in an intimate setting.<\/p>\n In his own words: \u201cThis project is a collection of songs I have composed over the past fifteen years. It is music inspired by my historical listening and piano playing experiences including the Chopin Nocturnes, desert island piano music of unsurpassed beauty.\u00a0\u00a0That is what I am after, and why I feature the piano in all the tracks and call the songs \u201cNocturnes.\u201d The emotions in this music are strong.\u201d<\/p>\n It may come as something of a surprise to those familiar with Finbury\u2019s previous releases in the Brazilian Jazz idiom, that American Nocturnes is a more contemplative work and, as the title suggests, is seemingly far removed from the Latin themes that typify John\u2019s recent records.\u00a0The absence of percussion instruments gives the performances a more elastic sense of time, while the lyrical qualities of the melodies make the composer\u2019s reference to them as \u2018songs\u2019 most appropriate.<\/p>\n Apart from the broad range of musical styles that reflect John\u2019s artistry, one of the most surprising things about him is that he\u2019s a respected attorney, who still practices in his native town of Haverhill, MA.\u00a0It is, perhaps, a most surprising \u201cday job\u201d for an accomplished musician, but John has long been a practitioner of the unexpected. He grew up in a musical household, was a rock drummer in high school, and intended to follow a career path reflective of his upbringing.\u00a0\u00a0As an undergraduate, initially at Middlebury College, he pursued classical piano seriously.\u00a0\u00a0After a year studying piano in Paris, he came back to New England and attended the Longy School of Music in Cambridge. He went on to earn a bachelor\u2019s degree as a music major from Boston University and a law degree at Northeastern University\u2019s School of Law.<\/p>\n John addressed the apparent contradiction between his professions head on: \u201cI was a musician long before I became a lawyer. I would challenge the assumption that my vocation as a lawyer and my creative life as a musician and composer require reconciliation. In fact, I would argue\u00a0-like a lawyer- that my profession actually has advanced my career as a composer, and that my creative life has assisted me in my legal career. The reconciliation I make is with time, which may help explain why this most creative period in my life began after I turned sixty.\u201d<\/p>\n In the early 2000s, John started writing songs in earnest, and that begat a series of circumstances that led to the recording of the tracks for what would become the album \u201cImagin\u00e1rio,\u201d released in 2016.\u00a0\u00a0Almost on a whim, the song \u201cA Chama Verde\u201d (with lyrics written in collaboration with his wife and muse Patty Brayden, and old friend Ned Claflin) was submitted for a Latin Grammy and the resulting nomination for Song Of The Year honors validated John as a composer deserving to be heard.\u00a0Through the nomination, he made the acquaintance of producer Emilio D. Miler, and the two would go on to work together on both American Nocturnes project and the repertoire that would become Finbury\u2019s 2019 release\u00a0Sorte!<\/em>, a Grammy nominee this year for Best Latin Jazz album.<\/p>\n As for the title of his new work, John notes, \u201cI am an American. This music is American. The title track \u2018Final Days Of July\u2019 is my \u2018Shenandoah.\u2019 \u2018I\u2019ll Pray For You\u2019 is my gospel lament on the death of my mother. All the music finds its harmonic vocabulary rooted in the Great American Songbook and Jazz.\u00a0The instrumentation on this record is unusual, with the addition of guitar, harmonica and accordion to the cello and piano, and there is an improvisational opportunity in many of the songs which brings this chamber music to jazz, the American art form.\u201d<\/p>\n www.greenflashmusic.com<\/a><\/p>\n John enlisted a number of top-flight musicians to help him realize his vision for\u00a0American Nocturnes \u2013 Final Days of July<\/em>. Tim Ray is, quite literally, a pianist\u2019s pianist.\u00a0\u00a0An NEA grant recipient and Berklee College of Music faculty member, he\u2019s Tony Bennett\u2019s musical director and has recorded and\/or performed with numerous major artists.\u00a0\u00a0Also onboard is cellist and four-time Grammy winner Eugene Friesen. His credits are vast, including work with Dave Brubeck, Martin Sexton, Will Ackerman and the Paul Winter Consort.\u00a0Jerusalem-born Roni Eytan holds the distinction of being the first harmonica player to have been accepted into the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance.\u00a0\u00a0Guitarist Claudio Ragazzi is both a Grammy and Emmy winner and has performed at The Hollywood Bowl and Lincoln Center and with such influential musicians as Gary Burton, Yo-Yo Ma,\u00a0Branford\u00a0Marsalis and Paquito D\u2019Rivera.\u00a0\u00a0The album is dedicated to Roberto Cassan, a renowned accordionist, composer and teacher who, within a week of his playing on these, his last sessions, died quite suddenly and tragically.\u00a0The accordionist chair was thereafter occupied by Vitor Gon\u00e7alves, who\u2019s been featured on NPR\u2019s Jazz Night in America at Jazz Night at Lincoln Center as well as the Newport Jazz Festival and Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. Just this year, he was the recipient of two Grammy nominations: Best Large Jazz Ensemble (with Anat Cohen Tentet), and Best Latin Jazz Album (with John Finbury).<\/p>\n In light of his previous Grammy honors, John was asked in which category American Nocturnes might compete.\u00a0\u00a0His thoughtful response: \u201cThis music eludes the precise Grammy categories. However, it is chamber music and thus I think it would qualify in the Best Chamber Music category.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Though Best Chamber Music\/Small Ensemble Performance is one of Grammy\u2019s Classical Music categories, it seems like a reasonable landing place for a one-time rock drummer and composer who, despite not having yet visited South America, was recognized for his work in the Brazilian music idiom.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0John Finbury\u2019s music is literally boundless.<\/p>\n American Nocturnes\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>credits\/track listing<\/p>\n Music composed by John Finbury<\/p>\n Produced and arranged by John Finbury and Bob Patton<\/p>\n Co-produced by Emilio D. Miler<\/p>\n Recording and mixing \u2013 Bob Patton<\/p>\n Mastering \u2013 Vlado Meller<\/p>\n Tim Ray, John Finbury – piano<\/p>\n Eugene Friesen – cello<\/p>\n Roni Eytan – harmonica<\/p>\n Claudio Ragazzi – guitar<\/p>\n Roberto Cassan, Vitor Gon\u00e7alves – accordion<\/p>\n Peter Eldridge – vocalese<\/p>\n Lay Me Down<\/p>\n Final Days of July<\/p>\n Black Tea<\/p>\n Winter Waltz<\/p>\n Fantasma<\/p>\n Halfway There<\/p>\n Waltz For Patty (Ensemble)<\/p>\n Storybook Ending<\/p>\n I\u2019ll Pray For You<\/p>\n My Hometown<\/p>\n Waltz For Patty (Piano)<\/p>\n Recorded at Thin Ice Productions, North Andover, MA (May 2016 & February 2017)<\/p>\n www.greenflashmusic.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n Michael Hepworth<\/p>\n 287 S.Robertson Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90211<\/p>\n www.perfectmealtoday.com<\/a><\/p>\n perfectmealtoday@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n http:\/\/twitter.com\/MrSpiritsman<\/a><\/p>\n www.spiritsman.com<\/a><\/p>\n mrspiritsman@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n www.perfectskintoday.com<\/a><\/p>\n perfectskintoday@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n www.perfecttraveltoday.com<\/a><\/p>\n perfecttraveltoday@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n www.perfectmealtoday.com<\/a><\/p>\n perfectmealtoday@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n www.perfectgolftoday.com<\/a><\/p>\n perfectgolftoday@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n www.perfectmusictoday.com<\/a><\/p>\n perfectmusictoday@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n![\"tn-10\"](\"http:\/\/perfectmusictoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/10.jpg\")
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<\/a><\/p>\nJOHN FINBURY PREPS RELEASE OF\u00a0AMERICAN NOCTURNES \u2013 FINAL DAYS OF JULY<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n LATEST PROJECT FROM TWO-TIME GRAMMY\u00ae NOMINEE OUT MAY 1<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n