 North Star Jazz Ensemble (left to right): Ron Fournier, piano. Marty Ballou, bass. Paul Mason, drums. Bruce Abbott, saxophone. (Photo by Holly Mason) |  CommonGround (clockwise from left): Marty Ballou, bass. Peter Calo, guitar. Ron Fournier, piano. Paul Mason, drums. Bruce Abbott, saxophone & flute. (Photo by Steve Mason) |
In 1995 drummer Paul Mason invited me and two other musician friends (pianist Ron Fournier and bassist Marty Ballou) to form what was to become the North Star Jazz Ensemble. We began creating albums of jazz standards for North Star Music, a Rhode Island based recording company. Along the way we added guitar virtuoso Peter Calo and recorded under the name CommonGround, creating albums of instrumental versions of popular songs including tributes to James Taylor and Paul Simon. For a small label these albums were very successful and sold several hundred thousand copies.
In 2003 the North Star Jazz Ensemble was invited to perform at the Big Sisters of Rhode Island annual fundraising event and to record a souvenir CD of original music that would be given to attendees. For this first opportunity to record our own compositions, pianist Ron Fournier and I co-wrote a jazz-rock fusion original and titled it "Little Sister" in honor of the event. The track is also included on my 2018 album Summer Mood.
On this one I am playing tenor saxophone along with Ron Fournier (piano & co-writer), Marty Ballou (bass) & Paul Mason (drums). As with all of our North Star projects, it was recorded by our wonderful engineer Jack Gauthier at Lakewest Recording in West Greenwich, Rhode Island.
Sheet music for this composition is available at the Original Music page. This and all the North Star Jazz and CommonGround recordings can be found streaming on YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music and all streaming platforms.
Click the image below to listen to the song on YouTube.
Free to listen, no account or subscription required.
In 2003 the North Star Jazz Ensemble was invited to perform at the Big Sisters of Rhode Island annual fundraising event and to record a souvenir CD of original music that would be given to attendees. For this first opportunity to record our own compositions, pianist Ron Fournier and I co-wrote a jazz-rock fusion original and titled it "Little Sister" in honor of the event. The track is also included on my 2018 album Summer Mood.
On this one I am playing tenor saxophone along with Ron Fournier (piano & co-writer), Marty Ballou (bass) & Paul Mason (drums). As with all of our North Star projects, it was recorded by our wonderful engineer Jack Gauthier at Lakewest Recording in West Greenwich, Rhode Island.
Sheet music for this composition is available at the Original Music page. This and all the North Star Jazz and CommonGround recordings can be found streaming on YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music and all streaming platforms.
Click the image below to listen to the song on YouTube.
Free to listen, no account or subscription required.
