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EDMONTON, AB –
Stony Plain
Records
announces a
March 24 release
date for
Introducing…
Sunny and Her
Joy Boys,
the debut CD
from singer
Sunny Crownover,
backed by a band
led by acclaimed
guitarist/producer
Duke Robillard.
Introducing…
Sunny and Her
Joy Boys
is the
brainchild of
award-winning
guitarist and
producer Duke
Robillard, and
debuts the
stunning voice
of Sunny
Crownover, whose
beautiful
interpretations
of these tunes
from the Great
American
Songbook are
nothing less
than a
revelation.
Sunny spent a
large part of
her life in the
Dallas/Fort
Worth/Austin
area and is now
based in New
England.
Robillard heard
her sing for the
first time in
late 2007 at a
Harvard
University
concert and knew
he’d found the
voice he was
looking for to
bring a project
to life he’d
been wanting to
do for over 35
years.
That project
became
Introducing…
Sunny and Her
Joy Boys,
a CD
that salutes the
golden era of
women vocalists
of the ‘20s
through the
‘50s, where big
bands and small
combos alike
created classic
American pop,
swing and blues
songs of the
day. Robillard
assembled a
small
all-acoustic
group to provide
sympathetic
backing to
Crownover’s
voice, with the
talented Billy
Novick on
clarinet and
alto saxophone,
Duke and Paul
Kalesnikow on
arch top guitars
and Jesse
Williams on
acoustic bass.
Many of the
tracks were done
in one take, a
testament to the
chemistry
between the
singer and band.
Robillard delved
into his
encyclopedic
knowledge of
this music and
put together an
amazing group of
songs that
complement both
Crownover’s
voice and also
play to the
band’s musical
strengths and
sterling
arrangements.
Included are
gems from the
pens of such
classic jazz and
swing composers
as Duke
Ellington, Billy
Strayhorn and
Chick Webb, to
Tin Pan Alley
legends Harold
Arlen, Ned
Washington and
Victor Young.
Some of the
album’s many
highlights are
the opener,
“Strictly from
Dixie,”
originally
popularized by
Ella Fitzgerald;
Walter
Donaldson’s
“You’re Driving
Me Crazy;” the
bluesy ballad,
“That’s My
Desire;” the
classic “Between
the Devil and
the Deep Blues
Sea;” the
gorgeous
Ellington/Strayhorn
composition, “I
Don’t Mind;”
Billy Holiday’s
“Travelin’ All
Alone;” the
seminal
Ellington
ballad, “I Got
It Bad (and that
Ain’t Good);”
and another
great Chick
Webb/Ella
Fitzgerald hit,
“Undecided.”
This enhanced CD
also includes a
video
performance of
the album track,
“You’re My
Thrill,”
playable on most
computer CD
players. In
addition, the
song “Strictly
from Dixie,” is
available as a
free download on
the House of
Blues Radio Hour
web site:
www.thebluesmobile.com.
Sunny and Her
Joy Boys will
support the
release of
Introducing…
with
performances in
the New England
area this
spring, as well
as national jazz
festivals this
summer.
For more
information,
visit
www.myspace.com/dukerobillardpresentssunnyandherjoyboys
or
www.stonyplainrecords.com |
