Member Since: 4/21/2006
Band Website: toddgordon.com
Band Members: Well, there's me, Todd Gordon. And most of the time I work with my pianist and musical director, David Patrick and our regular, great Scottish-based musicians including Mario Caribe, Konrad Wiszniewski, Tom Gordon, Stuart Brown, Alyn Cosker, Laura MacDonald, Adam Sorensen and more. On tour, we complete the band line-up with a selection of the terrific jazz musicians we have the pleasure of working with, such as Alan Barnes, Alec Dankworth, Bruce Adams, Martin Drew, Andy Panayi, Andrew Cleyndert, Matt Home, Jay Leonhart, Dave Chamberlain, Matt Skelton, Steve Fishwick and Dave O'Higgins. On the new album, featured musicians are Guy Barker, John Parricelli, Garbriella Swallow, Steve Rubie and Mark Fletcher.
Influences: Frank Sinatra was the singer that really got me hooked on this kind of music: jazz mixed with broadway and swing. Then, of course, Ella Fitzgerald who was so very kind to me (see 'about'). But I like a lot of singers, composers and musicians, ranging from Richard Wagner to Rufus Wainright. But the ones I most frequently listen to, and have learned so much from, include Carmen McRae, Mel Tormé, Nina Simone, Big Joe Turner, Peggy Lee, Patti Austin (I caught her show with Michel Legrand at Feinstein's in New York - mindblowing!), Sammy Davis Jr, Bing Crosby, Anita O'Day, Blossom Dearie, Sarah Vaughan, Rosemary Clooney, Billie Holiday, Helen Humes, Tony Bennett - and the list goes on, and on. High on the list of songwriter/ performers I respect are Randy Newman, Joni Mitchell, Dory Previn and Janis Ian. For a masterclass in timing and stagecraft, go see Elaine Stritch if you can catch her one-woman show... amazing. Going back in time, my earliest musical influence - and what got me asking Santa for a drum kit - was The Beatles, but growing up in a terraced house wasn't really compatible with a budding Buddy Rich! I also wore out a stylus or two (that'll date me) to The Beach Boys, The Mamas and The Papas, and Nancy Sinatra. Then there's the bandleaders Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Stan Kenton, Sy Oliver, Woody Herman and company... and the insutrmentalists: Ben Webster, Harry Edison, Paul Gonsalves, Stan Getz, Roy Eldridge, Milt Jackson, Sonny Stitt, Joe Pass, Freddie Green, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, et al (Norman Granz has a lot to answer for!). Added into the mix goes Philip Glass, Richard Perry, Ravi Shankar, PSB, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein and Cat Stevens (for the soundtrack of one of my very favourite films, "Harold and Maude"). I'll list more later, but I can't leave out some great singers that I have had the privilege of working with: Jacqui Dankworth (with whom I'm delighted to be touring again), Claire Martin, Carol Kidd, Barb Jungr, LA-based Barbara Morrison and Sheila Jordan in NYC. And someone who's got a great following on both sides of the Atlantic, Ian Shaw, who also produced two of my albums, including the new one, entitled BALLADS FROM THE MIDNIGHT HOTEL released a couple of months ago - hey, I can have a subtle plug, can't I?
Sounds Like: Tony Bennett once said, to copy one singer is stealing - to copy everyone is research! Sticking with male singers: hopefully there's been some process of osmosis with all of my musical heros; in particular Frank Sinatra (for his musical genius), Mel Torme (tireless perfectionist), Sammy Davis Jr (his dynamism), Tony Bennett (effortless feel-good vibe), Jamie Cullum (verve and imaginative approach), Vic Damone (his pipes), Michael Buble (smoothness), Harry Connick Jr (his innovative arranging skills), Big Joe Turner (his power), Johnny Hartman (tenderness), Matt Munro (phrasing), Dean Martin (his - apparent! - carefree style), Joe Williams (his feel for swing), Randy Newman (emotional intensity and humour), Leonard Cohen (the "gift of a golden voice!"), Ian Dury (for the first and best rock gig I ever attended), Tom Lehrer (wit and diction), Tiny Tim... this is getting ridiculous. Oh, yeah, and at least a little bit like Todd Gordon too!
Record Label: Hemba Records
Type of Label: Indie