Becca Byram and friends-with special guest 2 X Grammy nominee Linda Chorney

8528 Desert Shadows Road,Joshua Tree CA 92252

20 May, 2022

Description

A night of unusual live music with the incredible Becca Byram, guests Danny Frankel and 2 times Grammy nominated Linda Chorney. Becca Byram is no stranger to the spotlight.  She has an impressive musical pedigree, working with artists from The Dead Presidents, Brand Nubians, Lauren Hill, Toots and the Maytals, Wu-Tang-Clan, Moby, Living Color, Jennifer Lopez, Blondie, and Keith Richards, Linda Chorney, Living Color and many others. She spent some time as the Assistant Musical Director for NBC's Saturday Night Live, and her work can be heard in several feature films. Byram also has a discography that includes four previous albums of her own,"Becca's Smoke and Candy Store," "Long Way Home",  "Day In Bed" and "Nice to Be There", and her last album, “Blue Griot” . “It was an album about going away and coming back: about musical experience and reflections.I was so ready to share this record with the world! The journey to this musical place had been a long one. I’m always excited to share my next musical journey with everyone.” And what a journey it was.   Becca Byram's story reads like the best fiction.  Born in the UK to teacher parents, she spent her formative years in boarding schools - and though she describes that time as "miserable", she also says it was during those years that she inherited a Hammond B3 organ from a distant relative.  Reflecting on her early music experiences, and coming from a home where only classical music was played, "it was like the Wizard of Oz -going from black and white into color!"  Byram had found her passion. At just seventeen, she won a scholarship to Clare College Cambridge to study History of Music. Becca travelled to London by train on weekends to play in a jazz trio, and quickly became an integral part of the British soul scene, playing in nightclubs like Xenon and The Fridge with Jamiroquai and Soul 2 Soul, and working at Trevor Horn’s Studio in Covent Garden.  Her reputation spread across the Atlantic, leading to job offers in NYC, and she arrived " basically with a Hammond organ, and a suitcase.” Becca quickly found her way, landing a job at Manhattan Audio on 48th St in NYC, the “musical centre of the universe at that time”, gaining access to recording studios and studio work. Her first album, "Becca's Smoke and Candy Store" was signed to Caroline Records through Bill Lazwell and received critical aclaim.   Byram has worked behind the scenes on many high profile music projects from coast to coast ever since. In recent years, she returned to Los Angeles. “Of course, I wanted to be here to work with Dave. (Way) But something has always pulled me here, I’m not sure why. I just felt this is where I really needed to be. Dave and I talked a lot about what kind of music we wanted to make. Dave said one day; “Yer know, I’m so tired of making records in the same way; strict tempo, or programming beats, quantizing, following the ‘rules’ ...what if we make a record without any rules? That we both do exactly what we like the most, with no limitations, and no specific audience in mind? I love it when you play freely. There is something really magical about you playing and singing at the piano; I really want to capture the essence of that."  " Blue Griot" was created, along with some major league contributions from such musicians as Jeremy Stacey on drums, Sebastian Steinberg on bass, Paul Nowinski on bass, Tim Powers on guitar, Andy Snitzer on alto sax, Eugene Friesen on cello, Nick Mancini on vibes and Sam Gendel on soprano sax…tracks often cut in the middle of the night around everyone’s schedules.”I’m really grateful for the level of musical contribution,” says Byram. “They all gave so much! It’s a great feeling to write songs that people get excited playing on. "I am so proud of this record, because It epitomizes every aspect of the things in music I love the most. Analog textures, strong melodic hooks, lush vocal arrangements, incredible soloists and over-the-top musical contributions." The Sept 12 ,2017 release of the first single from Blue Griot", gave entertainment audiences a chance to hear what already had industry watchers so excited. “With hints of Rickie Lee, the smoothness of Sade and that British rockin’ jazz feel…well I can just listen to her for ever.” Justin Gage. “Becca is just killin’ us over here. She’s on my permanent playlist.” Deuce Music Radio Becca is presently working on her seventh album, to be released in June, 2022 and will perform at Furstwurld in Joshua Tree on May 20th, 2022. Tickets available through EventBrite.