Scott Petito Productions

Friend and Hudson Valley neighbor Michael Franks was back in to record another chart topping contemporary jazz CD. “Time Together” on Shanachie is his first since 2006’s “Rendevous in Rio” and includes production and playing by some of the best in the business. Producers  this timeinclude Charles Blenzig, Gil Goldstein, Chuck Loeb, Marc Egan and Scott Petito who also served as executive producer. Eric Marienthal makes an appearance on sax, as well as Mike Mainieri on vibes and the return of Brazillian guitarist Romero Lubambo. 

“The sound is flawless! A personal record that has depth and character and just the right amount of musical whimsy to keep things light, this release is pure genius. A musical journey for the mind as well as for the ears. It just does not get much better than this!” - criticaljazz.com

Back in 1998 Mercury Rev released their lush Hudson Valley themed cinematic soundscape “Deserter’s Songs”. New Music Express named this Gold record, album of the year and many still consider this to be their finest recording. 13 years later Mercury Rev decided to honor this ground breaking recording by re-visiting it and offering up a re-mixed and re-mastered “Deserter’s Songs [Deluxe Edition]”  V2/Fontana/Cooperative; 2011. This Deluxe version contains a second CD with13 extra tracks of demos and Tascam 8 track reel to reel mixes. They also had us mix an instrumental version of this seminal album, that is also available for die hard fans who wanted it sans vocals. Scott helped remix and remastered the collection.

 “The official remaster of Deserter's Songs is AWESOME. Even if you already own the record the re-mastering job is good enough to warrant a new purchase.” - Amazon review  

Judge ‘Lucky’ Peterson has lived and played a lifetime’s worth of music since releasing his first single in 1969 at the age of 5. , On “You Can Always Turn Around” produced by Doug Yoel for Dreyfus Record, Lucky makes a most joyful noise with the help of a stellar band. Larry Campbell (Levon Helm) on Guitars Mando and Steel, Scott Petito on bass,( Scott also recorded Mixed and Mastered the cd), Gary Burke on drums and Lucky’s wife Tamara Peterson on backing vocals rounds out the group. The recording sounds classic and timeless yet fresh and contemporary and all uniquely his. Winner of Blues Album of The Year - 2010 Grand Prix du Disque in France 

 "One of the best blues records of the year" - DAILY NEWS (Pittsburgh Metro)

Darius Brubeck was in to re-mix and master “Brubecks play Brubeck”, a mix of various live performances throughout England featuring the repertoire and rhythms of the famous Dave Brubeck Quartet. The musicians on this recording are Darius on piano, Chris Brubeck on bass & trombone, Dan Brubeck on drums and Dave O’Higgins on saxophones.

Chris Brubeck has also been busy as ever completing 2 orchestral projects. Chris was in doing some re-editing and mixing on his “Ansel Adams; America” project. Composed by Chris and his father Dave Brubeck this is a symphonic tribute saluting one of America’s most cherished artists. The 22 minute, one-movement piece, fully integrates sweeping melodies with 102 striking images of or by Ansel and is the first time that permission has been given to allow his masterful photographs to be used in a concert setting. 

Chris was also in mixing and putting the final touches on the next “Triple Play” project. This band is a blues/Jazz/Rock combo comprised of Chris on bass, trombone and piano, guitarist Joel Brown and multi-instrumentalist Peter ‘Madcat’ Ruth. Recorded live in Singapore with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, this disc is set for a late 2012 release.

And finally a new Brubeck Brothers Quartet CD, featuring Chris on bass & trombone, Dan Brubeck on Drums, Mike DeMicco on guitar and Chuck Lamb on piano will be out this summer.

Continuing his prolific recording career, John Esposito has released several stunning new releases on his Sunjump label. “Tahrir” (Liberation) was recorded, mixed and mastered with at NRS  and is the second release of experimental jazz compositions from the trio of Jeff Marx, Jeff Siegel and John Esposito. 

John is also a member of the Mitch Kessler Quartet  “Der Erlkönig”. This recording features 8 new Kessler compositions which are drawn from his arsenal of Post Dolphy/Coltrane, Free Jazz, Early 20th Century German Expressionism and the Blues. The band is comprised of Mitch on flute, soprano, alto & tenor saxes, John on piano, Ira Coleman on bass and Peter O’Brien on drums.

Another interesting project, that John brought in is titled “Playing with Parkinson’s”. This feature length documentary (still in progress) is about jazz guitarist Sangeeta Michael Berardi whose former virtuosity was diminished by the onset of Parkinson’s disease. We had a very full studio of wonderful musicians all lending their musical as well as spiritual support to Sangeeta as award winning filmmaker, Burrill Crohn  filmed the recording process after Sangeeta’s 11 year absence from working in a recording studio. This promises to be a very uplifting film about transcendence and the strength and depth of the human spirit.

L’Image, the jazz supergroup comprised of Steve Gadd, Warren Bernhardt, Mike Mainieri, David Spinozza and Tony Levin have completed their followup to “2.0” entitled “Now”, which was Co-Produced by Scott Petito and L'image. This CD contains 11 original and very captivating compositions.  An incredible band and an equally incredible CD that is set for formal release before the end of this year. If you just can’t wait visit http://papabear.com/store/store.html to see if you can grab a copy of this special collector's limited pre-release version!  

Another new Jazz project is Albany area saxophonist, composer and educator, Keith Pray’s “Confluence”. Featuring Chuck D’Aloia, Peter Tomlinson, Lou Pappas and Jeff “Siege” Siegel the CD will be available April 1st 2012 on the ARC label.

Jeff Siegel also recorded new compositions with Esa Pietila  a great finnish saxophonist, Drum and Sax duets from a couple of master musicians to be mixed later this year!

In a final bit of 2012 Jazz news, there were several tracking sessions for Scott Petito’s new  CD which will feature Scott on bass supported by a number of other talented musicians performing his original compositions. Scott had many requests for a follow up to his successful ambient solo bass record “Sbass Music” but on this record, Scott has decided to go back to his jazz roots and use his arranging skills to flesh out more complicated pieces. So far some of his guests have included, Jack DeJohnette, David Sancious, Mike Mainieri, David Spinozza and Jerry Marotta, with still more collaborations to come.

Award winning and much loved Boston area singer/songwriter Antje Duvekot has released her latest and greatest studio recording, “New Siberia”. This CD was produced by Richard Shindell, who also lends a hand on guitar and vocals. other contributers to this record include Scott Petito, Ben Wittman, Marc Shulman, Tim O'Brien, John Gorka, Lincoln Schleifer and many more.

And last but far from least is a CD that missed out on being included in our last newletter....

Several years in the making, counter-culture icons, The Fugs, released “Be Free, The Fugs Final CD [Part 2]”which is a rich and rewarding album destined to be considered one of their best. From the opening psych-rocker “Be Free” (written in the studio by the group — it ‘passes the baton’ with its mantra “we are all Fugs now”), to Tuli Kupferberg’s transcendent, chill-inducing closer “Greenwich Village of My Dreams”. This recording delivers 14 tracks of pure sonic joy, brilliant new songs with impeccable performances and production. Featuring the band’s 25-year-strong lineup of Steve Taylor (former musical collaborator with Allen Ginsberg) on guitar and vocals, Coby Batty on drums and vocals, and co-producer Scott Petito on bass and keyboards – this is a monumental recording of two great American poets and songwriters: Ed Sanders and Tuli Kupferberg. Tuli’s fragile health prevented him from joining the band in the studio so his vocals were recorded with remote equipment at his Manhattan home. This CD was released just prior to Tuli’s death at 86 in July of 2010.

“An extraordinary last bow” raves Michael Simmons of the Huffington Post.