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If you grew up listening to Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Miles Davis, Oscar Peterson, and your mother was once a singer who fronted local big bands around Los Angeles, what else? You just gotta do it; especially if you're given the rare, textured voice that belongs to LM Pagano. On Azalea, the extraordinary Bop City debut CD of vocalist LM Pagano, you can discern the influences of those legends she grew up with. And much more: Pagano is a unique song stylist who caries the torch of lyrical interpretation not heard since Carmen McRae, Peggy Lee, Jeri Southern, and other jazz giants. By the time she was twelve years old, she'd learn to play piano and guitar. Within three years, LM was juggling a busy schedule, attending school, working afternoons as a seamstress, and playing the L.A. music venues most nights. LM hooked up with a pianist and started performing in cabaret venues. A quirky success soon followed - in no time they were booking dates at clubs in New York and L.A. "All of the jazz I'd been listening to for all those years started banging at the door," she laughs. "I'd want to swing a tune, or I'd want different kinds of cords. I'd get blasted by the cabaret critics: they'd say 'Ms Pagano is quite talented, but she should do patter.' Well, I didn't want to do patter, I wanted to sing!" LM started picking up gigs in Los Angeles, and continued to evolve her own singing style and found herself influenced by the two Tony Bennett/Bill Evans duo albums. "The purity of what each did on those albums, together and apart. I was listening to Bill as much as to Tony," she reveals. "Hearing how he played; the freedom. I loved Tony because of his connection to the lyrics. As a singer, I come first from the story; once I've got he story in my heart, that's when I can sing the song. My concentration is on what I'm saying, not from how I'm saying it." Not long after, she was joined by guitarist Larry Koonse, pianist Henry Spurgeon, bassist Kevin Axt, and drummer Kendall Kay for the follow up recording, Azalea. In its initial, independent release, Azalea garnered airplay in the key markets such as L.A. and Boston, and began to create a buzz in the jazz world. It was on KJZZ in Los Angeles that legendary jazz promoter Dick LaPalm heard a track from Azalea. His response was immediate - he called LM and offered to help her find a label deal. It didn't take long. "Dick called me and asked, are you sitting down?" LM recalls. I said, "I'm driving." And he said, "Well, pull over! I sent your album to Al Schmitt and he wants to sign you. Now!" Schmitt, a seven-time Grammy-winning producer/engineer and co-founder of the Bop City label, applied his handiwork to remixing Azalea. In its new form, every element of performance glistens with subtle sonic shades. On classic titles such as "Until I Met You (Corner Pocket)" and lush rarities like Bob Dorough's "Love Came on Stealthy Fingers," LM's singing turns each note and every word into a story, and each song into an experience not soon forgotten. The new release AZALEA is currently being played across the country, and has been on the Top 10 jazz list on KCRW in Los Angeles several times this year, including April 2004. Check out the artist's website: http://www.lmpagano.com Track List: 1. Until I Met You (Corner Pocket) 2. Azalea 3. It's Love 4. Love Came On Stealthy Fingers 5. Don't Explain 6. When In Rome 7. Touch Her Soft Lips And Part 8. Walkin' My Baby Back Home 9. Down With Love 10. This Can't Be Love 11. Imagination Suggested CDs:Other Genres: |