The Album: "Danny Givertz: Dolores Park" is the anticipated debut solo album of a soulful crooner who has recently emerged on the California music scene. This collection is a stunning song cycle drawn from indie rock, folk pop, Americana and world music. Danny and his wickedly talented band of Bay Area jazz/classical luminaries have performed and refined these mostly unknown songs at sold-out shows in San Francisco's arts district, the Mission. This independently-produced album represents the finest work of this new band to date. Each of these rarely heard songs has been restyled and rearranged for Danny's ensemble of primarily acoustic instrumentalists: heavily rooted in acoustic guitar, cello, violin, upright bass, piano, percussion, flugelhorn, flute and organ. An indie folk song by Regina Spektor morphs into an urban R & B tune. A traditional Hebrew chant becomes a contemporary, Middle Eastern aria. A 70s French folk song amps up into a sexy, Franco-Caribbean groove track. The sound is part Sufjan Stevens, part Norah Jones, part Caetana Veloso, part Edith Piaf. This song cycle is remarkably eclectic - taking the listener on a deeply introspective journey through everyman's struggles and transformations. In one moment, the listener is led through a sacred folk tale of mortality and inner demons. In the next, the listener travels cinematically down urban streets through a story of the roads we choose, the regrets and reconciliation with those choices. It's an album of unexpected sonic twists and turns. "Dolores Park" is a real and metaphoric place. An urban park in the oldest neighborhood in San Francisco, CA - a park that once was a 19th Century Jewish cemetery, later a derelict hang out for young Mission gangs. Today, Dolores Park has transformed into a sunny, green oasis of rolling hills, palm trees, parrots and hummingbirds. It's the center of San Francisco's new culture and entrepreneurial ideas - a gathering spot for hipster techies, Burning Man artists, LGBTQQ folks, musicians, young families and pot friendly bohemians. Dolores Park is also the very spot where Danny lives and the band concocts this rich brew of music. This album is a call and response between music embodied in Danny's living room and the pulsating rhythms of the vibrant park across the street. It's an album that captures the zeitgeist of music and culture in contemporary San Francisco balanced with the serene and spectacular nature of Northern California. The Band: Danny Givertz is a San Francisco-based vocalist, arranger, producer, songwriter, poet, psychotherapist, community instigator, teacher, outdoorsman, swimmer and mystic. His roots in music and the spirit trace back through a centuries-old lineage of rabbis fused with his Jewish Buddhist identity. He was raised in a family of classical, jazz and folk musicians frequently found gathered around big Maine fireplaces with guitars and harmonic singing. Danny has studied classical piano and voice (with the legendary vocal coach Katie Agresta). He's sung in mixed and men's choruses, a cappella groups, a boy band in New York City and eventually his own ensemble. Danny was an actor and modern dancer for twenty years. He happily discovered, as his joints aged, that singing was another (gentler) form of physical discipline and rhythmic movement of subtle energies. Danny did his undergraduate studies at Brown University in Rhode Island and graduate studies at Smith College in Massachusetts. Danny is a member of the Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and Actors Equity Association. Danny's ensemble is comprised of the Bay Area's greatest contemporary jazz/classical players: Terrence Brewer, acoustic and electric guitar (San Francisco Weekly Music Award for Best Jazz Artist of the Year); Mads Tolling, violin (two-time Grammy award winner); Alex Kelly, cello; Kelly Park, piano, electric keyboard, drum kit and percussion; Brandon Essex, upright bass; Mike Olmos, flugelhorn; Carol Alban, flute; Tim Campbell, organ; Rebecca Eiseman, vocals. Production: Producer: Danny Givertz Co-Producer and Musical Director: Terrence Brewer Additional Musical Direction: Kelly Park Recorded and Mixed by: Adam Munoz at Fantasy Studios Mastered by: Ken Lee Printed, pressed and packaged by: Oasis Disc Manufacturing Album Art: Rob Delamater Album Photography: Sophie Gibbings All arrangements by Terrence Brewer in collaboration with Danny Givertz, except "Open Fields" & "And So It Goes", arranged by Kelly Park in collaboration with Danny Givertz. "Ani Ma'amin" was adapted from an arrangement by Paul Caldwell and Sean Ivory.