Crossways

This is a collaboration of artists, born on the internet. Jimmy Gray composes the tunes and then Joey Elkins and Steven Russell arrange, play and record the compositions.JOEY ELKINS was born in Adelaide, Australia 1979, into a world of music. She delighted her jazz musician parents and their friends at the age of seven with vocal expertise beyond her years. Time and again astounding them with her high register, a range close to six octaves and commanding style. Her talent was obvious. It was no surprise then to find that by age fourteen, Joey was constantly being invited to sit in with many of the top jazz players in her hometown, at their regular gigs. The making of her first jazz recording, at this time, attracted some of the finest jazz musicians from as far away as Sydney. This early experience led to the recording of "Always and Forever" , a cd single produced for the charity "Canteen" (teens with cancer)designed to raise awareness and funds - which attracted vast television and radio interest. Produced by London's Alan Tarney, and written by Australia's well - known saxophonist Andrew Firth, this recording exposed Joey's enormous heart and compassion and also her voice to a wide audience within Australia. As an emerging artist with strong and unique musical ideas she is well supported by the necessary versatility and disciplines required of a professional musician. Her craft - tempered and honed with the knowledge of a formal musical education and the experiences of live performance with the cream of local seasoned musicians - has been polished and extended as she has developed. Before leaving for London, Joey Elkins was a respected and well - known performer at Adelaide's top jazz venue's. Her repertoire extends from the classic Gershwin standards to contemporary writers such as Chick Corea and beyond to her own original compositions. The jazz idiom provided her with the freedom to explore the interplay of voice and instruments and push the boundaries of harmony and phrasing. Being a natural improvisor and composer enables Joey to own a variety of styles including funk, soul, jazz and contemporary. Today, Joey resides in London. Having performed to appreciative audiences at "The Lightship" and "The Aquarium" , she is concerntrating her efforts into recording and composing original music. "I don't feel imprisoned by my background in jazz," says Joey. "Rather it has enabled me to cross genres and be able to pull from a greater understanding of how music works. I love to experiment with so many aspects of music and feel influenced by all the sounds and musical styles that exist". Joey delivers a performance that is truly stunning. On these occasions, audiences and musicians alike recognize that they are witnessing something very special; an outstanding and original musical mind, a young talent with a great future. STEVEN RUSSELL I was born in the UK but moved with my family to Australia at a young age. I have been musically intent since about the age of 5, when I was first encouraged into violin lessons by my parents at my local school. It wasn't really my instrument, and I couldn't really get past the idea of using the case for toys rather than using the instrument at all.After much wasted money and time I upgraded to the trombone at the age of 7. Mostly because it was shiny, had a much more restrictive case and the lessons occured at the same time as maths class. This instrument I liked.I continued with it until university. During this time I also took up an interest in what was to become my primary instrument, the drums and also delved into bass, guitar and keyboards as my influences were moving away from the classical to more of the popular, alternative genres.At university I was too "rock" for the jazz course and too "jazz" for the rock course. So, I set about doing more playing than studying, joined several local bands and gigged and played ALOT. This lead me to tour around the majority of Australia with various bands. Along side this I was involved in several collaborations and was regularly called upon for studio sessions and one off live performances.I've been in many strange and also many rewarding musical situations, but have enjoyed them all for varying reasons. Now having returned to London to live and finally having found my feet, I am actively seeking new musical prospects and adventures as well as my current writing projects.JIMMY GRAY "A guitar player who plays piano" is the best way to describe me.I took piano lessons when I was very young, but the nuns didnt think I showed any aptitude for music, and the lessons were dropped after a few months. Aptitude, or not, I decided to pursue music on my own, and at 12, saved my lunch money to buy a beat-up, old guitar at a pawn shop.Not having anyone to teach me to play, I walked all over my home town, San Antonio, Texas, trying to find someone who could teach me a chord, or a run, or anything at all.By the time I was 15, I had landed a position with The Meccas, an all-guitar rock and roll band. Soon, the core of that band formed a new group, The Frantics, doing rhythm and blues in teen venues. We were picked up by the top agency in town, Swingtime Productions, which kept us working the teen clubs, and got us a few television spots.After 4 years in the military, and some music theory courses at community college, I came back home to restart my career. Just as my dad had predicted, there was a guitar player on every corner, and very few gigs to be had. Not one to be left out, I dusted off my old piano skills, and went to work as a keyboardist with The Brotherhood of Soul, another R&B band.The gigs dried up around 1975, and, very disillusioned, I made my way to Dallas, in the hope of finding more jobs in a larger city. I stumbled into a house band job with Bowley and Wilson , a locally-famous comedy band, which kept me happily employed for 14 years, playing keys, and doing magic.Leaving music to raise a family, I came back to playing in 1994, when I was approached about forming an oldies group, and Vintage was born. We performed around Dallas for 3 years, until personal problems caused the band to break up.I hung up my instruments, and went back to a normal life until 2005, when I was approached by an old friend, and I agreed to help him record a few songs. I went to Garageband, to hear my work being played, and got hooked.Just at the time that I decided to try my hand at writing a few songs, I met Joey Elkins, another Garageband denizen, and an incredible singer. With her encouragement, I have managed to scratch out a few tunes, which she, along with the VERY talented Steven Russell, have turned into truly beautiful recordings. Crossways is the ongoing project, featuring Joeys voice and piano skills, and Steven Russell doing everything else, to bring life to my melodies chords and lyrics.