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Terrence Brewer’s ‘Groovin Wes’ Hits the Stores on 3/2

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JAZZ GUITARIST TERRENCE BREWER ANNOUNCES NEW CD
“GROOVIN’ WES”
A MUSICAL EXPRESSION OF ADMIRATION FOR WES MONTGOMERY
FEATURING WIL BLADES – HAMMOND B-3 ORGAN & MICAH MCCLAIN – DRUMS
“LOTS OF GUITARISTS CAN IMITITATE WES MONTGOMERY, I WANTED TO PAY TRIBUTE TO HIM WITH MY OWN VOICE – – TERRENCE BREWER
NATIONAL RELEASE DATE MARCH 2, 2009
(ALAMEDA, CA JANUARY 1, 2009) — Following up on QuintEssential, his third album for the Strong Brew Music label, San Francisco based jazz guitarist Terrence Brewer pays homage to the man who set the standard for modern jazz guitar – Wes Montgomery.
After receiving both regional and national acclaim for his all original albums, The Calling: Volume One and Volume Two (2006) and QuintEssential (2008 – 12 weeks on the JazzWeek album charts peaking at #17), Brewer is set to light up the jazz scene once again with Groovin’ Wes, music written and popularized by one of jazz guitar’s greatest hero, Wes Montgomery.
On Groovin’ Wes, Brewer is joined by a familiar cast: B3 organist Wil Blades (John Lee Hooker, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Idris Muhammad, Stanton Moore, winner of ‘Downbeat’ magazines “Rising Star” poll) and drummer Micah McClain (Red Rodney, David Baker and James Moody). Both Blades and McClain are veterans when it comes to working with Brewer; Blades is featured on The Calling: Volume Two and McClain has held the drum chair on two of Brewer’s previous albums, The Calling Volume One and QuintEssential.
Recorded by chief engineer Stephen Hart (McCoy Tyner, Oscar Peterson, Joe Pass, Branford Marsalis, Flora Purim and Airto) at the world famous Fantasy Studios in Berkeley California, Groovin’ Wes will, take you on a journey; rejuvenating the classic Guitar, Organ, Drums trio sound like never before. From burnin’ up-tempo swing to funky Soul-Jazz backbeats, Groovin’ Wes is a masterpiece.
(“A naturally gifted player with a beautiful, warm tone and a melodic penchant, his playing is eminently pleasing…” Bill Milkowski, Jazz Times. Brewer is the recipient of the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, ‘Artist of the Year” Award and the winner of San Francisco Weekly’s, ‘Best Jazz Artist’ Award. Dan King of the San Francisco Chronicle proclaimed, Brewer is, “the reason the Bay area jazz scene looks promising”.)
Terrence Brewer Bio
Jazz Guitarist Terrence Brewer, Winner of the SF Weekly Music Award for ‘Best Jazz Artist’ and winner of the Oakland Chamber of Commerce ‘Artist of the Year Award’, continues to ride a wave of positive press and praise surrounding his third album for his Strong Brew Music label, QuintEssential. After receiving both regional and national acclaim for his all original albums, The Calling: Volume One and Volume Two (2006), QuintEssential, released in March of 2008 spent 12 weeks on the JazzWeek album charts peaking at #17.
“Brewer has a natural, inviting sound that instantly transports you back to the heyday of classic jazz guitar…” writes David Rubien (San Francisco Chronicle feature on Brewer March 20, 2007). Brewer’s playing has been hailed as, “powerful”, “smooth”, “beautiful”, “mature”, and “graceful” and The Calling: Volume One and Volume Two albums have been referred to as, “seductive”, “sensuous”, and “gorgeous”. Andy Gilbert (Contra Costa Times) remarks, “Over the past decade, Brewer has established himself as an accomplished improviser with an exquisite tone. His (Brewer) sound is marked by a balance and maturity…” while the San Francisco Chronicle included Brewer in a short list of “whom to stalk” in Bay Area jazz in 2007.
Jazz Guitarist, Composer, Arranger, and Musical Director, resides in Alameda, California. Brewer’s aggressive marketing and business acumen aided him in leading his own groups in nearly 2000 shows throughout California in the last years 7 years. In addition to this impressive feat, Brewer possesses the rich experience of performing and sharing the stage with legendary artists such as Michael McDonald (the Doobie Brothers), Mary Wilson (The Supremes), Gerald Albright, Melba Moore, Darlene Love, Dr. Anthony Brown (and the Asian American Orchestra), Pete Escovedo, Babatunde Lea, Kim Nalley, Dave Ellis, Calvin Keyes, Bruce Forman, Scott Amendola, Tuck and Patti, Khalil Shaheed, Ed Kelly, Herb Gibson, and many others. In addition to performing with great artists, Brewer’s fate led him to study with musical greats such as Charlie Hunter, Duck Baker, and Mark Levine.
Brewer’s performances range from established weekly gigs at fine restaurants such as Butterfly and Eastside West in SF and Mezze in Oakland to private gigs for Google, The Boys and Girls Clubs of Oakland, Oakland Children’s Hospital, KKSF (103.7), Wente Vineyards, Friends of Oakland Parks and Recreation, Swarm Art Gallery, CCA (California College of the Arts), UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), Mario Chiodo Studios, and many more. Brewer also performs at notable Bay area venues such as Mountain Winery, Herbst Theater, Smithsonian Archivists Convention, The Jazz School, Anna’s Jazz Island, Café Van Kleef, Café Claude, Jupiter, sold out shows at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, Yoshi’s: San Francisco, Jazz At Pearl’s with standing ovations at the Jazz on the River, SFJazz Festival Summerfest Concert Series, Sonoma Jazz, Fillmore Jazz, Montclair Jazz and Marin Jazz Festivals. In addition, Brewer lends his musical talent to his local communities performing at events such as the City of Alameda’s Earth Day and Run for the Parks events, Oakland Metropolitan, San Leandro, Alameda, Tracy, and Oakland African American Chambers of Commerce events, and performances at Oakland and Alameda Rotary luncheons.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Cat Brewer
510.755.0627
cat@terrencebrewer.com
www.terrencebrewer.com
Photo of Terrence Brewer at Jazz at Pearl’s by James Knox

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 at 2:00 pm. It is filed under Music News/Info. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.