"Piece Offering" FEATURES: ======= Blake Wallace - Trumpet Leon Alexander - Drums Chris Brydge - Bass Nick Kepics - Guitar REVIEWS: ==== "Nick's writing has that instrinsic quality that I call the repeat factor. Good music, whether pop, jazz or classical can be played over and over (repeated) without boring the listener... and so it is with this CD. I can listen to it often without wearing it out." G. Stringfield/Jazz Guitarist "It's time for some new jazz standards. Piece Offering walks a fine line between smooth jazz and modern jazz. The end result offers something for the jazz aficionado, yet remains accessible to those hearing jazz for the first time. These melodies will stay with you long after you power off the stereo. Miles Davis fans will find much to like here." - Karen Queen/Hampton Roads Monthly Magazine, Dec/2002. "An album that harkens back in spirit to the great jazz albums of the '60s and '70s, Piece Offering by guitarist Nick Kepics will impress long time jazz buffs and newcomers alike. Successfully covering a wide range of jazz guitar styles, Piece Offering is swinging and reflective, tastefully melodic yet compositionally challenging making it an excellent choice for jazz guitar buffs." - Robert Silverstein/20th Century Guitar Magazine "I recommend Piece Offering to anyone who loves jazz, no matter what kind. Nick's talent for composing is equaled only by the band's triumph in conveying these up-beat rhythms to the listener. Together, they crank out smooth and sophisticated tunes that demand the listener's attention - this is not your ordinary "background" music. Some of the songs have a Latin beat, while some are, in the words of a couple of other reviewers, reminiscent of the Miles Davis experience. It's a perfect companion for an evening at home, whether you want to chill out or spice things up. Enjoy!" Paul Wright/jazzreview.com "Piece Offering is a CD of instrumental trumpet-driven bluesy Latin jazz that is very easy on the head and honestly, really kicks a**. It reminds me of Steely Dan. Piece Offering is powerful and very visual in a "movie score" sort of way. Even if you think you hate jazz, check this stuff out. It's a fine example of how music need neither be fast nor loud to rock out. Recommendation - Buy The CD!" - Gail Worley/Starpolish.com "The album works very well and is reminiscent of some of Miles Davis and Gil Evans' tone poems on Sketches of Spain. Kepics' guitar has a warm, clean, full tone, very much in keeping with the CD's combination of West Coast cool jazz and bossa nova-style grooves. Like a good jazz album from the 1950s, it makes for nice background music, but rewards active listening." - Ed Driscoll "Congratulations on a job well done! Piece Offering is reflective of an artist who seeks to create the entire musical picture with smart balancing and sophisticated textures. The compositions are thoughtful and each tells a very different musical story with lyrical beauty and logical continuity. Outstanding musicianship and infectious rhythms." - Jae Sinnett - Jazz Producer/Host WHRV-FM 89.5 "Two thumbs up! This is a guy that Sinatra would have hired for his band. These are compositions by someone who clearly loves music. You can tell these guys had a lot of fun making this CD. If you are not already a jazz lover, you will be after hearing this album. Consider this one a must-own keeper, certain to become a collectors' item." ARTIST STATEMENT: ======= Jazz guitarist/composer, Nick Kepics describes his music as "Music for its own sake. The only person I really try to please with it is myself. I'm a pretty tough audience and I figured if I could do that then I was willing to put it out there and see what happens. One of a composers chief jobs, especially a jazz songwriter, is to provide a foundation for others to build upon, a pallet with enough colors for soloists to create their own stories. I like chord changes and bass lines that are nice and open to facilitate improvisation. There are lots of articles out there by industry A&R people with advice on how to "make it" in the music business. I think each artist eventually reaches a point where they define that for themselves and decide what's most important about their music and what they want to do with it. That's what I love about being an Independent song writer. You get to call your own shots and you don't have to operate from a profit-driven mentality. In my case I try and let the art drive the music." BIOS ==== Nick Kepics - Guitarist/Composer, was born in Tarentum, PA, in 1949. Self-taught for the most part, he has been a working musician in various bands for over 4 decades starting with Quagmire, Angus, Trance, Full Circle, After-Glow, The New Orleans Sentinels, Maelstrom, The Red Shift, The Usual Suspects, First Class Band, J-Mood, the Nick Kepics Big Time Band, and many others. Nick has performed with saxophonists Rudy Wooten, Sonny Morgan, Phillipe Fields; trumpeters Bob Ransom, Bill Brown, Blake Wallace; jazz singer Jeri Hollins (Japan); bassists Elias Bailey, Terry Burrell, Chris Brydge; pianists Steve Weisberg, Tim McDonald; drummers Shannon Leggette, Russell Scarborough, Howard Curtiss, Leon Alexander and Jae Sinnett. Several of Nick's tunes have been placed in Film and TV. He continues to write and perform locally in Tidewater, Virginia. In addition to his home page, www.nickkepics.com, Nick also has web site links on garageband.com, broadjam.com and myspace.com Leon Alexander - was educated at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the University of California San Diego. Leon has played with artists such as Melba Moore, Billy Preston, Freddie Hubbard, Aaron Neville, Charles Neville, Dr. John and the Wild Magnolias. He has played in performing groups such as the New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra and the United States Navy Steel Band. Chris Brydge - was at the top of the list for who should play bass on Piece Offering. Chris's mastery of the upright is simply astounding. He is very melodic and really cooks. Chris has a degree in music from Old Dominion University and supplements his vocation as a professional bassist by teaching music full time as well. Blake Wallace - Credentials include performing in the US Navy Show Band as well as a lengthy tenure as instructor in the Armed Forces School of Music. Blake is now retired from the Navy and continues to perform locally and nationally while working in his recording studio Indigo Recording. INFLUENCES/SIMILAR TO ======== Miles Davis, Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Arturo Sandoval, Cal Tjader, Oliver Nelson, Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, Jim Hall, Tal Farlow, Pat Metheny, Pat Martino, Howard Roberts, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Steely Dan, Santana, Jimi Hendrix, The Kinks, The Yardbirds, Cream, Traffic, Eric Clapton, Mike Bloomfield, Spencer Davis, James Brown, Jr. Walker, John Mayall, The Yellowjackets, Spyro Gyra, Sting, and so on.