FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 12, 2005Contact: Steve Winick
New Jennifer Cutting recording features vocalist Annie Haslam of Renaissance
(Washington DC) Another long-held dream has come true for JENNIFER CUTTING, leader of the Celtic folk-rock band OCEAN ORCHESTRA, as she releases a new song featuring one of her all-time musical idols, ANNIE HASLAM of Renaissance. Cutting, who has previously worked with such leading lights in Celtic and folk-rock music as Maddy Prior, Polly Bolton, Tony Cuffe and Gabriel Yacoub, has now recorded with one of the great art-rock icons of the 1970s. The song, entitled “Fall, Leaves, Fall,” opens the compilation A Holiday Feast, Vol. 8, which has just been released by the charity Hungry for Music.
The new song features Haslam on lead vocals and a lineup of Cutting’s Ocean Orchestra that includes John Jennings (solo artist and guitarist-producer for Mary Chapin Carpenter), Zan McLeod (well known Celtic guitar/bouzouki player and former Touchstone member) and Rico Petruccelli (veteran bass player and Cutting’s New St. George bandmate). The song was co-produced by Cutting and Blake Althen of Human Factor Productions, who co-produced several of the tracks on Cutting’s album OCEAN: Songs For The Night Sea Journey, winner of the 2004 Washington Area Music Association’s (WAMA) Album of the Year award.
The recording also features the late Scott Reiss (former recorder player for the Folger Consort and co-founder of Hesperus), on recorder and sordoune. It was one of the master woodwind player’s last recording sessions.
“Fall, Leaves, Fall,” is a setting of an Emily Brontë poem which is a celebration of the transition from fall to winter, and the stark beauty found in the baring of the trees. It is set to new music by Cutting, WAMA’s 2004 Songwriter of the Year and Musician of the Year. The new setting features a majestic melody and an orchestral arrangement tinged with Celtic, early music, and art-rock influences.
English vocalist Annie Haslam, known the world over for her work with ‘70s British art-rock ensemble Renaissance and a subsequent globetrotting solo career, contributed the lead vocal for the project. Haslam was one of the defining voices of the prog-folk and prog-rock genres, and sang on such classic Renaissance songs as “Northern Lights,” “Carpet of the Sun” and “Ocean Gypsy.” Haslam and Cutting first met in 1990, when Cutting’s former band The New St. George opened for Renaissance at the now-defunct Washington, DC club The Bayou.
A Holiday Feast, Vol. 8, featuring “Fall, Leaves, Fall,” is available from Hungry for Music, a charity which provides musical instruments for disadvantaged children. Call toll-free 1-888 843-0933, or visit the Hungry For Music website.
Jennifer Cutting’s Homepage
Annie Haslam Website
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