Don Byron New Gospel Quintet Set for Release on Savoy Jazz "Love, Peace, and Soul" Available February 21st, 2012

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 21, 2011  /PRNewswire/ -- An innovative, continually curious musical explorer like no other, Don Byron has signed with Savoy Jazz and is gearing up for the release of "LOVE, PEACE, AND SOUL," the debut album by his New Gospel Quintet. With jazz as his springboard, the virtuosic clarinetist and saxophonist has turned his ear to Gospel icons Thomas A. Dorsey and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

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Featuring a stellar line-up of mostly longtime collaborators, the quintet and several guest artists have created a soulful homage to Dorsey and Tharpe with inspired interpretations of their compositions. Playing alongside Byron are DK Dyson (vocals), Xavier Davis (piano, backing vocals), Brad Jones (bass, backing vocals), Pheeroan Aklaff (drums) and guests Brandon Ross and Vernon Reid (guitars), Dean Bowman (vocals), Ralph Alessi (trumpet), and JD Parran (baritone saxophone). Recorded at Harlem's Stadium Red Studio, the album was produced by Hans Wendl and engineered by Tom Lazarus, a team Byron has relied on for many of his recordings. Savoy Jazz will release "LOVE, PEACE, AND SOUL" by the DON BYRON NEW GOSPEL QUINTET on February 21st, 2012.

Don Byron's idea to mine the historical riches of American Gospel came to fruition while teaching a course at SUNY, Albany. Once known as "the father of Black Gospel music" Thomas A. Dorsey was a pioneer in combining traditional Christian hymns with the rhythmic disciplines of Jazz and Blues—an almost rebellious perspective shared also by Sister Rosetta Tharpe, another key musical reference for Byron. Both stretched and blew apart the boundaries of traditional gospel structures and performance and in doing so created a template for a unique form of spiritual expression grounded in African American culture.

Says Byron: "Dorsey's vision of blending modern songwriting, old time religious practices and elements of low-down blues prevailed despite early resistance. It ultimately became a uniting element of African American culture, even more so than Black dance music, which is regional in its appeal. Black religious music is a very personal thing to me, as much if not more than any other style I have researched and performed in the past. As much as I was fascinated by other legends I have explored like Duke Ellington and Stravinsky, I feel a deep spiritual connection to Gospel that transcends just about everything else."

"LOVE, PEACE, AND SOUL" Track listing:

1. Highway to Heaven
2. When They've Sung My Last Song
3. It's My Desire
4. Sham Time
5. Consideration
6. Take My Hand, Precious Lord
7. Beams of Heaven
8. Hide Me In Thy Bosom
9. Himmm
10. I've got To Live The Life I Sing About In My Song
11. Didn't It Rain
12. When I've Done My Best

For more information, visit:  www.savoyjazz.com

Savoy Jazz is a unit of the Savoy Label Group (SLG).  SLG is the North American based division of Nippon Columbia, the oldest music company in Japan.  The Savoy Label Group has evolved into a Grammy Award winning and chart topping independent music company consistently outperforming competitors in key music categories as monitored by Billboard Magazine. SLG is led by Steve Vining and is based in Los Angeles, CA.

SOURCE Savoy Jazz