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The AllStars Collective:
Since their
creation in the spring of 2004 The AllStars Collective has brought together the
cream of Europe's session musicians, taking the back-room talent responsible for some
of the best known music in the world into the spotlight.
Between them, The AllStars Collective have live and recorded credits with
many of the world's biggest artists, including Michael Jackson, Mariah
Carey, George Michael, Amy Winehouse, Stevie Wonder, The Eurythmics, Madonna,
Rod Stewart, Elton John, Chaka Khan, Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, and many
more.
They use all
of their experience to create live music to a truly world class standard,
creating bespoke music for major events. In 2007 they have recorded their debut
album featuring some stellar guests.
These unsung
heroes have been described by the major record labels as a unique concentration
of talent and are very much at the core of perpetuating the UK's reputation as one of the global centres of excellence in popular music.
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The album 'All About the Music':
The
Long-awaited debut album of original material from The AllStars features a
unique array of talent; produced by and featuring Hamish Stuart (Average White Band, Paul McCartney,
Chaka Khan) as well as Soul Diva Jocelyn Brown, legendary Jazz guitarist Jim
Mullen and of course the musicians from The AllStars itself.
'All About The Music' is released on 8th October.
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| All About The music - The Allstars Collective (UK-CD, Specific, 2007)
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| 1. |
Sometimes |
| 2. |
On My Mind |
| 3. |
Remedy |
| 4. |
All About The Music |
| 5. |
Star |
| 6. |
Satisfied |
| 7. |
Hey, Listen Up |
| 8. |
Treading Water |
| 9. |
Beautiful Day |
| 10. |
Time Will Tell |
#3 : feat. Hamish Stuart
#4 : feat. Jocelyn Brown |
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| Guy Phethean |
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Mark Mondesir |
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Randy Hope-Taylor |
| Fender Rhodes, Piano and Back vo - All Tracks |
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Drums - All Tracks |
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Bass - All Tracks |
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| Robert Anderson |
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Chris Newland |
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Matt Checkett |
| Percussion - All Tracks, Back vo - 2,5 |
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Guitars - All except 7 |
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Sax - All except 7, Flute, Back vo- 2,5 |
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| David Mian |
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Lawrie Bolton |
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Hamish Stuart |
| Trumpet - All except 7, 10 |
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Hammond, Clav and Strings - 2,4,5,6,7,9,10 |
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Lead and Back vo - 2,3,4,5,6,7, Gutitar - 2, 7 |
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| Klaus White |
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Mary Pearce |
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Henry Collins |
| Lead vo. - 2,9, Back vo - 2,3,5,6,9,10 |
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Lead vo - 1,8, Back vo - 1,2,4,8,9,10 |
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Trumpet and Flugel Horn - 1,4,8,9 |
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| Angelo Satrr |
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Jim Mullen |
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Trevor Mires |
| Lead vo. - 10, Back vo. - 2,5,10 |
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Guitar solo - 3,5,7 |
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Trobome - 2,3,6 |
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| Cuttie Williams |
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Jocelyn Brown |
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Julie Payne |
| Lead vo. - 5, Back vo. - 5.7 |
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Lead vo. - 4, back vo. -2,4 |
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Lead vo. -6, Back vo.- 6,10 |
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| Tammariah Lewis |
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Roy Hamilton |
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Allstars Collective singers |
| Back vo. -2,4 |
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Lead vo. - 7 |
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| Allstars Collective singers |
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| Interview with Matt Checkett |
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- I'd like to ask you a little bit about your background first. When were
you born? And have you always wanted to be a musician/singer?
I was born 24th August 1972 and I have been a musician all my life. I had
measles when I was very young and this affected my eyesight (in fact I
was practically blind) which meant I couldn't watch TV or read books so
instead I just listened to music all the time.
I started singing in the church choir and playing piano and recorder when
I was very young. I always wanted to play the saxophone, I don't know why,
I just knew it would be 'my' instrument, but my parents wouldn't get me
one until I started High School, so I finally took up the saxophone at
10 years old. I took to it straight away and played my first professional
gig when I was 13!
So yes, I have always wanted to be a musician, in fact I don't think I
have ever wanted to do anything else ? although I did used to be a freelance
test-driver during the daytime when I was gigging at night, so I got to
drive cars really fast in the day, and play the sax at night!
- Was there much music in your neighborhood as you were growing up?
No, I lived in the countryside, but as I was the only sax player for miles
around, I ended up playing in every band locally that needed a sax player,
so I got to play many different types of music and meet lots of musicians
that way. However, the music I ended up playing at gigs was very blues
and rock based, and it wasn't until I was about 15 that I found a group
of friends that listened to all kinds of cool stuff. They introduced me
to Earth Wind & Fire, Quincy Jones and James Brown. It felt so much
more sophisticated than the music I was already playing, and I knew I wanted
to play more like that.
- Can you remember your first favorite song, or artist that influenced
you?
My friend and saxophone teacher (Andy Clitheroe) played me some David Sanborn
when I was 15. I suddenly heard someone playing the way I wanted to play
? more funk and soul than the jazz I had been used to. Up until then I
had only heard Jazz sax players like Stan Getz, Colman Hawkins and Ben
Webster from my father's record collection. It changed my playing from
being simply blues-based to something a little bit funkier.
- Let's talk about The Allstars Collective. How did you end up them?
I've always had my own bands since I was a teenager and tried to find the
best musicians wherever I was at the time. I've always tried to put the
best musicians together as they create a chemistry that can't be easily
imitated.
So, with The AllStars Collective this is the ultimate extension of that as I am very lucky now that I have some of the best musicians in the world as friends. With great musicians their character and mood comes out in their playing, so no 2 gigs are the same, and live the band is much more like a relationship and dialogue that develops between old friends rather than a more formal set-up where you are merely colleagues.
- Please tell us about your sound and style.
I have always wanted to create a big, American sound more like King Curtis and Junior Walker than the gentler Jazz saxophonists like Stan Getz. I prefer to be simple and melodic rather than a technical virtuoso.
- Are there any groups you get your musical inspiration?
I love Tower of Power for the sheer force of their horn section and dirty funk; Earth Wind & Fire for their songs and arrangements; The JBs and all of those great brass-led funk powerhouses (Parliament, Funkadelic etc) as well as the classic Soul-Funk artists like Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Maceo Parker and Prince because of the way they combine great musicianship and great songs.
- Could you tell us a little bit about All About The Music CD.
We've wanted to make an album together for ages. When we play live we have
some really amazing moments, and we wanted to capture those, and record
our own songs. We thought Hamish would be the perfect person to produce
the album ? both because of the sound we wanted and the respect all of
the musicians in the band have for him. He is really quite unique in his
experience of bringing the best out of a really wide array of great musicians
? in the past he has worked in the studio with everyone from George Benson
to Michael Brecker and Marcus Miller. We wrote about 30 songs which we
played to Hamish and asked him as the Producer to tell us which ones he
liked.
Hamish liked all of them, but chose 10 that he thought hung together really well as a coherent album with a distinctive feel. He was absolutely right and we have ended up with a very happy, sunny album and we still have the other material which we may record at some point in the future.
- What has been the reaction to the album?
We have been delighted with the good reviews and amazed by the way the
album has been so well received all around the world even though we only
released it in the UK and in a very low-key way. You know, sometimes you
make something, and you, yourself know it sounds good, and you are really
proud of it, but then it gets set free on the public and you just aren't
sure if you've caught the mood of the moment. I was never worried about
the quality of the musicianship or the songs, I just hoped it would be
well-received, and it has been.
- How did you select the artists involved with this album?
We worked with Hamish and Jocelyn on some special projects leading up to the album and felt very natural to ask them to be part of it. They are both legends in the music world with enormous experience and some great stories ? we loved every minute of recording. Everything just felt right.
- What's the most exciting thing about being a member of this group?
It feels like the world is our oyster and that anything is possible. There
are so many artists that we have worked with over the years that we would
like to collaborate with as The AllStars Collective and I can't wait to
see what the future brings.
The nature of the band ? all of us being session musicians ? is that we are particularly good at backing other artists, and I am really excited about some projects we have in the pipeline. Ultimately, we would love to tour.
Somebody once said to us that we were the only truly happy band he had ever met and I really believe that that is very accurate!
- What really drives you or motivates you to continue to play music?
We are having a great time, meeting some great people, travelling all over the world and playing with some of the greatest musicians around today. What else is there?!
- What is music for you?
Difficult question ? you could write an encyclopaedia on that, and it still
wouldn't really answer that. It has been everything for me since I was
a small boy. Music has brought me friendship, relationships, an income
? in fact everything in my life stems from it.
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- Would you like to say something to your fans?
Thanks for your support and I really hope we can keep making the kind of
music you like. |
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| For more infomarion: |
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| Soulchonnz's review |
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| Contact to: |
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February 1, 2008 |
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