Iwan VanHetten - Parabbean Tales (February 2022 Blue Canoe Records)

Blue Canoe Records proudly presents the addition of Iwan VanHetten to their Artist roster. Iwan’s latest album ‘Parabbean Tales’ was born from the concept of combining Caribbean-influenced music with contemporary jazz and funk to weave a narrative of his childhood and express the love for his native music. 

UK based trumpeter, keyboardist, musical director, composer / songwriter and producer Iwan VanHetten has worked with artists including Sister Sledge, Candy Dulfer, Paco Sery, The Pointer Sisters, Anthony Hamilton, Jools Holland, Jimmy Haslip, Will Kennedy, Russell Ferrante, Gary Husband and many more. He is one of a rare breed of musicians  who have stellar capabilities on two or more instruments. Highlights of Iwan’s career include fifteen years as musical director / keyboards with Sister Sledge and twenty years as musical director / keyboards / trumpet / songwriter / producer with the Brooklyn Funk Essentials.  With both groups Iwan has toured worldwide, performing at countless prestigious festivals and clubs. Together with Rob Harris and Paul Turner (Jamiroquai), Iwan completes the new trio ‘TRIONIQ’. Iwan is also an active solo artist, writing, recording and producing his own solo albums. Iwan’s production credits include Joni Sledge’s album ‘Tru’. 

Iwan has directed and composed music for numerous theatre shows and is currently the musical director and composer for a series of immersive art installations around Europe. He is a passionate educator and holds a teaching position at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. He divides his time between producing, teaching and live performances around the world.

Iwan holds artist endorsements with Nord Keyboards, Taylor Trumpets and Torpedo bags.

1. Parabbean Tales 3:26

2. Freedom 6:14

3. Cachete 3:33

4. Not Without You 5:48

5. 5th Avenue 5:12

6. Oasis 5:59

7. Brother Robert 4:53

8. Djoel & Knippa 5:31

9. LA Jam 3:37

10. Spally 1:39

Trumpet: Iwan VanHetten

Piano, Keys: Russell Ferrante

Bass: Melvin Lee Davis, Jimmy Haslip (tracks #5,#7)

Drums: Will Kennedy

Percussion: Lenny Castro

Steel Pans: Andy Narell (tracks #7, #8)

Sax: Bob Mintzer (track #6)

Recorded at Castle Oaks Recording Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles

Recording Engineer: Rich Breen

Mixing: Iwan VanHetten (at VanHetten Productions, UK)

Mastered: Peter Beckmann (Technology Works, London, UK)

Photography - Anael Miantsoukina (Paris, France)

Art Design - Aaron Paddock

PRE-ORDER

Dan Siegel - Origins (DSM 2018)

A highly respected pianist and composer, Dan Siegel has 21 solo albums, and hundreds of other producing, arranging, composing and performing credits in his extensive recording career. Born in Seattle, Washington, and raised in Eugene, Oregon, Dan began piano lessons at age eight, and started performing professionally as lead singer and guitarist in a rock band at the age of 12. He holds a BS in Music Composition and a MM in Jazz Studies, and studied piano in Boston with the legendary Madam Chaloff.

After graduating from the University of Oregon, Dan began recording his own compositions with his band. In 1979 he was signed to Inner City Records, a New York based independent jazz label. His second album, The Hot Shot (1981), reached No.1 on the Radio & Records Jazz Chart and remained in Billboard’s Top 10 selling Jazz albums for 10 weeks. In 1983 he moved to Los Angeles to pursue film and television work as well as a more active recording career. Since then, he has traveled and performed around the world in support of his numerous Top 10 recordings, and maintains a global audience.

Over the years, Dan’s albums have provided an abundance of diverse material, from the electronic oriented Another Time, Another Place (1984), (with Patrick O’Hearn and Alex Acuna) which Keyboard Magazine called the best keyboard oriented fusion LP of the year, to the exotic world music direction of Hemispheres (1995), which features an ensemble of eclectic musicians including; Bela Fleck, Ottmar Liebert, Andy Narell, Osamu Kitajima, and Dori Caymmi, playing in unique and unlikely combinations. He has produced several other projects, one of which is the group Birds of a Feather, a gathering of world-renown musicians that has included Larry Carlton, Boney James and Ernie Watts. Dan is a frequent traveler to Asia and in 1995 went to Beijing, to record and produce China’s first jazz band, Tien Square.

Siegel’s work as a TV and film composer has included the score for the cult film, Reform School Girls (1986), and Universal Studios dramatic TV series, Hard Copy (1987). He has worked as musical director/ conductor on the late night CBS TV show, Overtime with Pat O’Brien (1990). Dan has played on numerous TV and film projects as a session player, including the Oscar winning film, The Usual Suspects. Siegel has recorded and performed with a variety of artists including: Glenn Frey (The Eagles), Chaka Khan, Berlin, Philip Bailey (Earth Wind & Fire), Kenny Rankin, Hugh Masekela, Joe Sample, Herbie Hancock and the London Symphony Orchestra.

01. Rite of Passage 05:00

02. When One Door Closes 03:43

03. After All 04:44

04. Lost and Found 03:50

05. Arabesque 05:13

06. Moon and Stars 04:56

07. Strange Sky 05:13

08. Under the Sun 04:51

09. Crossing 05:04

10. Origins 04:04

Dan Siegel: keyboards

Allen Hinds: electric guitar

Ramon Stagnaro: acoustic guitar

Craig Fundyga: vibraphone

Rogerio Jardim: voice

Brian Bromberg: acoustic bass

Vinnie Colaiuta: drums

Lenny Castro: percussion