Kopeeez have arrived!!!!

Through this blog, in the Fall of last year I made the acquaintance of a certain Lincoln Briney of Napa, California. Initially, we had a few email back-and-forths about group vocal jazz singing---his passion. In time, Lincoln revealed to me that he was even a bit of a singer himself. But it soon became clear to me that not only was he not just a mere singer but was, indeed, a very fine one. This was made obvious via a work in progress CD he sent to me, some tracks of which had been in circulation of a demo disc he had put together. But most were brand new and had not been heard by anyone besides Lincoln and the players on the date. I was jazzed by what I heard. So much so that I was even able to convince---not a hard task at all---Yasuo Sangu, the head of SSJ Records in Japan, to issue Lincoln's official debut CD, Foreign Affair. The release date is August 23rd. More information about it---in Japanese, natch---is just now available at SSJ's site.

Master jazz guitarist Bill Frisell appears on two cuts, the title track and Chorado. It's doubtful that there has ever been another CD that covers such a wide variety of repertoire: everything from Matt Dennis to Ron Sexsmith, with stops in between for the likes of Jobim, Sade, Stevie Wonder and much more. That rarity of rarities and miracle of miracles: a 100 % commercial, approachable, and listenable recording but without so much as a scintilla of artistic compromise!

Because I was instrumental in getting the CD to market, I have been accorded the honor of having my name placed on the CD as "associate producer." But basically I am just a fan and as such have listened to Foreign Affair many many times. And I never tire of it, or cease to be amazed at how much I continue to discover upon repeated auditings. The players on the CD consist of a who's who of the burgeoning Seattle music scene. I feel that I am being completely objective when I say that this is a truly wonderful and amazing production. Hard for me to pick a favorite track, but here's a generous mp3 sampling of one of them, Lincoln's version of Sade's "Love is Stronger Than Pride."