U-Nam - U-Nam Goes Big Band (2020)

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U-Nam - U-Nam Goes Big Band (2020)

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Start with Benson-esque guitar skills, add just a hint of Sinatra s smile, a touch of Buble s sophisticated swagger and a real big band playing real jazz with a real swing and what you have is magic, what you have is U-Nam Goes Big Band . There are only a few established artists who are capable of reinventing themselves and jazz guitarist and Billboard chart-topper U-Nam is certainly one of them. As if to prove it he will release the genre busting U-Nam Goes Big Band , 03/27/2020, on the Skytown Records label. Coming off the back of a scintillating 2019 that saw him enjoy huge chart success with his 2 sensational albums Future Love Parts 1 and 2 (that reached #20 on the Top25 Billboard Jazz Best Selling Album Chart and #8 in the Contemporary Jazz category) this is an exciting new direction for U-Nam to take but, with nine Top30 Billboard radio hits already to his name and an approach recognised as always innovative and often daring, his reputation for shaking the musical world to its core is already firmly in place. U-Nam Goes Big Band , a sumptuous eleven track rendering of sophisticated mood jazz, is made even more enticing by the amazing back-story that first put it on U-Nam s radar. A phone call to his Los Angeles studio from Estonian producer Mikk Targo is all it took. Targo, CEO and Founder of the Estonian Author Society EAU had, for the past several years, been working with a panel of music industry experts to select from what was generally regarded as the best one hundred songs Estonia has ever produced. As they did so a body of work emerged that was not only a glimpse into the nation s musical heritage but also an outstanding showcase for the renowned Lutz Krajenski Big Band. The resultant album was released in 2016 accompanied by a behind the scenes television documentary yet Targo knew that if the project was really going to be a global smash a different approach would be required. Having heard his music played extensively on radio Targo was already a huge fan of U-Nam s work. When he explained his desire to transform what he already had into something altogether more jazzy, the prospect of creating Sinatra like, bossa nova tinged, big band driven music that crossed seamlessly over to instrumental jazz was, for U-Nam, just too good to miss. Since moving to the USA from Paris, France in 2007, U-Nam s stature has skyrocketed. Now, as the founder and owner of the niche label Skytown Records, he is reshaping the many complexions of jazz in a way that makes him stand out from the crowd. His sophomore album Back from the 80 s included the #1 hit Street Life which stayed in the top three on the US Billboard chart for three months and in the top ten chart for an entire year. By 2014, when the critically acclaimed C est Le Funk hit the streets, his standing as a purveyor of high-octane guitar driven smooth jazz was well and truly established. A real landmark moment in U-Nam s illustrious career came when he undertook the ambitious venture of creating the first ever tribute to the great George Benson. Featuring jazz and r&b legends such as George Duke, Marcus Miller, Ronnie Foster, Patrice Rushen, Wah Wah Watson, Phil Perry, Stokley Williams and Paul Jackson Jr to name but a few, the album was endorsed by Benson and included liner notes written by him. Weekend in LA A Tribute to George Benson reached #1 on iTunes Japan for Jazz, #1 on Amazon US for Neo-Soul, #1 on Amazon US for Smooth Jazz and also received Grammy consideration with 10 entries over 6 categories in 2012. As Mikk Targo describes it, U-Nam is not only a phenomenal guitarist with his roots deep into jazz, he is also the consummate professional and a great musical story teller too.