A traditional jazz quartet rooted in the sounds, styles and history of jazz, Sophisticated Lady brings a fresh approach to this music. With a mix of original compositions and new interpretations of classic repertoire this quartet has a sound and aesthetic that is both familiar and new. Sophisticated Lady formed when the musicians met during their graduate studies at USC. Fortuitously so, as it led them to embark upon a creative recording session with the arts/audiophile label Yarlung Records at USC’s Brain and Creativity Institute in its new Camilleri Hall. The session was a throwback to yesteryear minimalist recording techniques with the advantages of modern technology and yielded enough repertoire for two upcoming releases (Fall 2014 & 2015).
The members of Sophisticated Lady have shared the stage and studio locally and around the globe with such notable artists as The Manhattan Transfer, New York Voices, Wynton Marsalis, Jane Monheit, Walter Smith, Bobby Sanabria, Dave Liebman, Kenny Wheeler, Stefon Harris, Monica Mancini, Stevie Wonder, Take 6, John Williams, John Hendricks, Bob Mintzer, Regina Carter, Chick Corea, Alan Pasqua, Plas Johnson, Diana Krall, The Coasters, Fitz and The Tantrums, Henry Mancini Big Band and many more!
Sophisticated Lady is: JJ Kirkpatrick Trumpet; Misha Bigos Piano; Gary Wicks Bass; Andrew Boyle Drums.
Yarlung Records did it again. This time it’s their first jazz entry that has golden warmth of a Blue Note from its heyday as well as visceral instruments presence of a Contemporary Records. Recorded in Cammilleri concert hall using only a vintage tube stereo microphone, the sound of the CD is creamy like butter while the texture is so rich that you can easily discern which parts of the drum set the player hits and rubs. The big crescendo on ‘For Andrew’ is mind blowing!
–Mori Shima, Stereo Sound, Japan
More jazz records should be like Sophisticated Lady Quartet—relaxed yet focused, tradition-based yet modern, elegant yet conveying a sure sense of swing. The recording is so pure that you almost feel as if you’re eavesdropping on four musicians who seem completely in their element while performing, in a one-take environment, a set that’s evenly split between previously rehearsed arrangements and performances where they had one chance to turn a composition into a memorable piece of music. No splicing or editing here—just a live-in-the-studio recording where the mood, playing and sonics are so solid that jazz lovers will wish that the mostly-classical label Yarlung wandered over to this side of the street more often.
–Jeff Wilson, The Absolute Sound
Recorded in The Brain and Creativity Institute’s Cammilleri Hall at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles thanks to Dr. Antonio Damasio
Recording engineer and producer: Bob Attiyeh
Mastering engineer: Steve Hoffman
Executive producer: John Pruit
for more information, please contact pr@yarlung.us