Your One Stop Music Connection

During his high school years, Dave received many awards from the NAJE (National Association of Jazz Educators) for outstanding performances in his high school's competition-winning jazz band. He was involved with numerous local groups from a very young age while studying with St. Louis-area teachers Bob Matheny and Joe Buerger.

At age 16, Dave began to work professionally with local pop and jazz groups. In 1979, he moved to the East coast to study music at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut. At just 19 years of age, Dave was getting recognized.

While playing the club scene in New York City with a band called Nite Sprite, Dave started to receive accolades from established studio musicians such as Steve Kahn, Michael Brecker, and especially drumming great Peter Erskine. It was Peter who recommended Dave for his first 'big gig' in town with a group called French Toast, forerunner to the Michel Camilo band, which has been recorded quite extensively over the years.

From this group, legendary bassist Anthony Jackson recommended Dave for the prestigious Simon and Garfunkel reunion tour in 1983. After this tour, it was not long before Dave was regularly being called for radio and TV jingles, sound track sessions, and top recording dates with such artists as George Benson, Peabo Bryson, Diana Ross, and Robert Plant, to name a few.

In 1985, Michael Brecker suggested to Chick Corea that he look into Dave's services for his new Elektric Band. That was the beginning of a seven year relationship with both the Elektric and Akoustic Bands, where nine recordings and three videos were produced, including a Grammy for the first Akoustic Band release.

The Elektric Band showcased Dave's cutting-edge drumming and innovative use of electronic and acoustic drums, bringing him world-wide recognition. Though the Elektric Band went on a 10-year hiatus in the early '90s, the band is once again touring from time to time. It also released a 17-part conceptual album entitled "To The Stars" in mid-2004.

As a solo artist, Dave has recorded and produced nine recordings to date, including GRP/MCA solo releases Masterplan, Heads Up, and Hardwired. In 1998, Dave realized his long-time goal of forming a world-touring band. To date, the Dave Weckl Band has released five studio records, including: Rhythm Of The Soul, Synergy, Transition, Perpetual Motion, and Multiplicity. The band also released its hot live album, LIVE (and very plugged in) and a compilation of DWB and instructional videos entitled The Zone.

The DWB keeps Dave very busy, but he still enjoys sideman work. Dave regularly joins guitarist Mike Stern, among others. When off the road, Dave keeps busy with session and production work at his home studio in Los Angeles. He also accepts a limited number of private students - and offers classes through the Virtual Drummer School. Additionally, Dave has many instructional video/DVDs and play-along packages on the market.

A constant student of the art of drumming and music, Dave gives back every chance he gets through clinics and classes all over the world. Of teaching, Dave says:

"It is my goal to inspire as many young (and not-so-young) people as possible to want to play music, whether it be on drums or another instrument. With all the negatives in the world today, I feel this is my way of contributing a positive action toward spiritual happiness, which music can be a big part of, if you let it. So parents, if your child has a talent for music, please allow them the opportunity to develop that talent!"

Of course, a guy this busy does need to get around town efficiently. A fan of automobiles, Dave stays on schedule by driving a 440 horsepower Lingenfelter Camaro (read about it here). With a 0-60 time of 4.2 seconds, you're not likely to see him out on the L.A. highways - but you're bound to hear him!

It's a drummer thing...

But beyond all the recording, producing, touring, teaching, working with companies he endorses to build better products, and tearing up the highway every now and then, Dave's passion is spending quality time with his daughter, Claire, Sophie (his Golden Retriever), and friends.

This is what all the hard work is for - the inspiration to keep doing it - and that perspective is probably Dave's biggest asset.

Singer Songwriter Wisely to Release New Album of 'Evocative Pop' on Oglio Records; The Office's Jenna Fischer Stars in Video for 1st Single On October 2, critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Wisely is set to release an all-new CD entitled Wisely on Oglio Records, a Fontana/Universal distributed label. The new album is self-titled and the 1st single "Through Any Window" features Jenna Fischer from NBC's The Office. I feel like this is the first record I should have ever made. I finally captured what I hear in my head when I write. Los Angeles CA (Billboard Publicity Wire) August 17, 2007 -- On October 2, critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Wisely is set to release an all-new CD entitled Wisely on Oglio Records, a Fontana/Universal distributed label. The new album is self-titled, because, as the artist relates, "I feel like this is the first record I should have ever made. I finally captured what I hear in my head when I write." Wisely's music features a lush and heartfelt sound described as 'evocative pop'. For this, his 3rd album as Wisely, the artist teamed with co-producer/drummer Petur Smith (The Januaries, Jason Falkner), and calls upon contributions from Rusty Anderson (Paul McCartney), Joshua Grange (Dwight Yoakam), Rick Boston (Low Pop Suicide), Kalle Gustafsson Jerneholm (The Soundtrack Of Our Lives), and Ludwig Boss (Boss, Ray Wonder). The album was recorded in the legendary singer songwriter refuge of Laurel Canyon (Los Angeles) as well as in Gothenburg and Malmo (Sweden). Jenna Fischer, from NBC television's "The Office", is a huge Wisely fan (they became close while Wisely was scoring Jenna's self-directed/written film Lollilove). Jenna stars in the video for the album's first single "Through Any Window", directed by John Cabrera (Brian Fuller on Gilmore Girls). A second video lensed by Brent Roske for the haunting "Cracked World View" and a series of self-recorded Kerouac-esque 'on the road' video clips have been created for nearly every track on the album. Wisely, a Minneapolis native, Los Angeles resident and veteran live act will begin his national tour in September. For dates as they are announced visit www.EVOCativePOP.com

			BACKGROUND Originally from Duluth, Minnesota, Phil Solem's beginnings in music date back to his childhood, playing a piano in his grandmother's basement. But it was in the late 1970s that Phil moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles, looking for a place in the emerging rock & roll scene. Phil was in and out of bands like 'Android' and 'Loose Change' and eventually ended up in the band Great Buildings, who released one album on Columbia in 1981, Apart From The Crowd. Although Great Buildings broke up shortly thereafter, Solem remained pals with felow bandmate Danny Wilde. REMBRANDTS By 1990, Phil and Danny were working together again. They recorded a demo album in Danny's Southern California garage/studio that was released 'as is', as The Rembrandts. The album landed in the Billboard hot 100, thanks in part to the Top 20 hit Just The Way It Is, Baby. The Rembrandts were also receiving substantial critical accliam for their debut album and 1992's follow up, Untitled. In 1995, The Rembrandts became most famous for a song that was never intended to be on an album. Although the duo had recorded the 42 second theme I'll Be There For You for the show Friends, it was never intended to be a full length song. But the label insisted the duo record a full length version and include it at the end of the already finished album, LP. The rest is history.... BEYOND Phil also has a rock band, called THRUSH, with John Fields and Michael Bland. They released one album in 2000. In 2001, he reformed with Danny Wilde as The Rembrandts to release the album Lost Together, perhaps the duo's best album. In 2006, Rhino released a Greatest Hits collection, which included material from all four Rembrandts albums and two tracks from the Great Buildings album Apart From The Crowd. In 2007, Phil is releasing his first ever solo album, appropriately titled Phil Solem - SOLO. DISCOGRAPHY

By: Tim Dwenger from www.jambase.com The New Mastersounds Inspired by the 70's funk and groove of Jimmy McGriff, Groove Holmes and The Meters, jazz guitarist Eddie Roberts and drummer Simon Allen have been striving for nearly ten years to hone their sound into something that moves dance floors in a way that few other instrumental bands can. They began life as the guitar-centric Mastersounds before quickly realizing that the sultry churn of a Hammond B3 was essential to the sound they were seeking. Though the band only lasted a couple of years and recorded only one single, it laid the foundation for a longstanding musical relationship between the pair. Roberts and Allen struck out on their own and soon crossed paths with Hammond player Bob Birch and bassist Pete Shand, and The New Mastersounds were born. Their sound is a tight mix of jazz and funk that comes to life in the hands of these talented players. While their fondness for jazz is obvious, it's the groove Shand and Allen lay down that holds the whole thing together and keeps the wheels on when Roberts stretches out. Though they are based in Leeds, England, Roberts says the U.S. and Europe are the most promising market for the band. They've been playing club nights and gigs around the U.K. since their inception in 2000 and though things have always gone relatively well, the scene can't support them playing more than three or four times a year in the major cities. As a result, they were forced to hop the channel early on and expose music fans in Europe to their sound. It was touch and go for a while but recently things seem to be picking up a bit for The New Mastersounds. Eddie Roberts by Yusuke Kitamura "We are having more records released in Europe these days. There are more labels taking an interest and actually starting to license our albums for the individual countries rather than before when we were releasing them on a U.K. label and selling them on import into the different European countries, which is harder because there is nobody on the ground selling it for you," says Roberts. The increased exposure around Europe has paid off with Italian label Record Kicks taking some serious interest in the band. Record Kicks knew that The New Mastersounds' tight funk-based sound would be perfect for the clubs if it were remixed by some of the scene's best DJs. "They approached us saying, 'We'd like to release a remix album. How 'bout it?' We were like, 'Yeah, great.' Then they asked us if we could sort it out and we kinda turned it back on them," Roberts says. "We've tried to get remixes done in the past and it is difficult because everyone is so busy, and to pull a project like that together takes so much time and effort. It's just not our thing. We were busy making a new album and touring and everything, so we told them they could run with it and we would be happy to provide all the tracks and send them out to who ever wants to do what. They ended up pulling it together and it was relatively easy for us. I just had to dig out all the separates for every track and get them out." It wasn't until the project was finished that Roberts got to hear the results. As chance would have it, he heard it for the first time in exactly the right setting. "We were in France. I [had] stayed at the bar late night having a few drinks after our set and Simon had given a copy of the album to the DJ who ended up just putting it on. I was talking and all of a sudden I was like, 'I know this tune.' I didn't realize he had put the album on, so back-to-back there were all these tunes I knew and I was getting so confused," laughs Roberts. "It was really nice to hear it in the club environment, which is what it is made for, as opposed to hearing it at home for the first time. The dance floor was full and people were just going for it. They weren't batting an eyelid, and they were dancing like it was all different music. It was only really me that knew what was going on." Continue reading for more on The New Mastersounds... http://www.jambase.com/Articles/Story.aspx?StoryID=12531&pagenum=2