Tuesday Night Project, in partnership with Glenn Suravech Mosaic Sound Recordings and Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple, presents: J-Town Summer Sessions: A Live Concert Recording and Celebration of Art + Community on August 6, 2011. The event will take place at the Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple, 505 East Third Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013.
J-Town Summer Sessions will celebrate Tuesday Night Project’s thirteenth year of its 1st & 3rd Tuesday Night Cafe free public arts series with a concert featuring a number of musical artists from the Asian Pacific and Los Angeles community. In addition, music producer and recording engineer Glenn Suravech will be doing a live recording of the J-Town Summer Sessions concert and producing tracks of select pieces from each artist.
The concert will take place one week following the Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple’s Obon Festival event!
We hope you’ll join Tuesday Night Project at the J-Town Summer Sessions and support one of the longest running free public art spaces in Downtown L.A.!
TAIKOPROJECT // Surrounding Suns
Produced by: Masato Baba
Recorded and Mixed by: Mosaic
Release Date: July, 2010
Highly Anticipated TAIKOPROJECT Album, Surrounding Suns, to be Followed by More Music Releases from Mosaic
The nationally touring TAIKOPROJECT - an electrifying ensemble of Japanese American taiko drummers - breaks new and exciting ground with their first album, Surrounding Suns. Mosaic was brought on board as recording and mixing engineer to capture the group's unique fusion of traditional and contemporary sounds, accentuating the richness of the drumming while crafting each track to resonate with popular audiences.
And indeed, Surrounding Suns brings the music of TAIKOPROJECT to a new generation of world music aficionados and casual listeners alike. It also represents a leap forward in the group's mission to promote the art of taiko in America with their youthful spin on a beloved musical tradition. In the decade prior to recording their first album, the ensemble popularized the Japanese art form primarily through rousing public performances across the nation.
While recording Surrounding Suns, Mosaic was faced with the welcome challenge of recreating in the studio the immersive experience of attending a live TAIKOPROJECT performance. The ensemble's trademark has been its creative integration of thunderous taiko drumbeats with electronic instrumentation and elements of Western hip hop; Mosaic has brought out the group's masterful blend of sounds and cultural legacies with a deft touch.
Standout songs include "Taken Aback," a spirited track featuring pure taiko percussion that steadily ramps up until it's a riot of rhythm, and the evocative "Island Groove," which pairs gentler taiko beats with the chirp of wind instruments to conjure up images of tropical nirvana. The tracks on Surrounding Suns, all together, showcase the versatility of taiko, the energy and precision of TAIKOPROJECT's performances, and Mosaic's gift for engineering an album that preserves all the excitement of the group's live shows.
Mosaic's involvement in the TAIKOPROJECT record has been only one of several highlights in a year already studded with producing and sound engineering successes with Asian American artists. Coming fresh off of producing please be brave before the lions they come - an album with Bay Area songstress Alice Tong - Mosaic immediately launched into mixing work on Shin Kawasaki's self-titled debut. Shin, a popular Los Angeles-area guitarist and co-founder of the band Los Desnudos, has built an avid fan base through his performances at the Grand Star Jazz Club in Chinatown. As Shin's former bandmate in the local pop/rock group, Visiting Violette, Mosaic was a natural choice to mix most of the album's featured tracks, drawing from his understanding of Shin's signature style.
And in August, web audiences will be treated to a sampling of Mosaic's work in Street Fighter High: The Musical - the viral, teen movie-inspired Street Fighter spoof, featuring pop song parodies recorded and sound engineered by Mosaic at his home studio.
Beyond summer, Mosaic is slated to round out the year with work on new tracks from three known local artists. Among them is soulful Korean American singer/songwriter Sue Jin Kim who is coming off her successful 2008 debut EP Worth the Tears, and a record with singer/songwriting folk duo Durwood, comprised of Golda Inquito and Gertie Meza. Furthermore, Mosaic will be working with former VV colleague Lee Takasugi on some new material who is coming off a two-year hiatus. Most notably, Mosaic will also be producing his own much-anticipated third album - a dance compilation - scheduled for release in 2011.
Alice Tong // please be brave before the lions they come
Co-produced by: Mosaic and Alice Tong
Release Date: May, 2010
Studio Album Featuring Alice Tong Heads Up New Releases by Mosaic in 2010
The 2010 lineup of studio albums produced by Mosaic Sound Recordings (MSR) kicks off with the slated Spring release of please be brave before the lions they come, which will showcase 11 all-new original tracks by acclaimed singer/songwriter Alice Tong.
On the heels of the successful 2007-2008 releases of Mosaic's Through the Eyes of a Woman and Liberator, followed by the 2009 release of Shoebox Letters with acoustic folk/rock artist Long Nguyen, please be brave before the lions they come represents the fourth studio album produced and engineered by Glenn Suravech under the production name "Mosaic," for MSR. Alice Tong's album will helm a string of upcoming music projects - also featuring notable Asian American artists - that will each boast the distinctive Mosaic touch.
On please be brave before the lions they come, Mosaic's talent for polishing tracks adds new dimension to the warmth and depth of Alice Tong's music and lyrics. Alice herself is no newcomer to the indie music scene; as a mainstay in clubs all over the Bay Area, she has performed with some of the most celebrated world musicians of her generation. Her debut album Small delighted her fans and demonstrated her vocal talents through a selection of jazz standards. For the all-original songs to be featured on please be brave before the lions they come, her follow-up, she sought out Mosaic to create the most engaging, well-rounded and soulful sound possible.
As for other projects in the pipeline, Mosaic's 2010 production schedule ramps up with albums that signal an exciting expansion of scope. Among them is a record with TAIKOPROJECT - a nationally touring act that puts a contemporary stamp on a classic Japanese musical tradition. And as Mosaic continues to build momentum in the coming year, no fewer than two more high-profile albums are in the works and remain to be announced.
Stay tuned for details.
At work with TAIKOPROJECT! A nationally touring act that puts a contemporary stamp on a classic Japanese musical tradition, they are currently working with Mosaic in the production of their upcoming record.
WOW!
Director Gary San Angel, inspired by Jenny San Angel's song Pennsylvania Station, off of Mosaic's debut album Through the Eyes of a Woman, put together this music video. Such an honor!
A note from the director:
Whenever I think of Pennsylvania Station I think of Mosaic aka Glenn Suravech who is an amazing artist, producer based in Los Angeles . Mosaic released his ambitious debut album in 2007 entitled "Through the Eyes of A Woman" collaborating with independent artists and musicians from across the nation. One of my favorite tracks is his song Pennsylvania Station which my amazing sister Jenny San Angel who is also a singer/musician in her own right is also featured.
This music video was created as a happy accident.
Many thanks to Glenn Suravech and Jenny San Angel for their inspiration and for allowing me to put this MV together.
This piece is also dedicated to Steve Serota who used to run Camera Care in Philadelphia and later his online repair shop Classic Camera Workshop. This Schneider 1:2/18-90 C-Mount Lens was overhauled and repaired by his hands. His work was amazing and brought back to life every lens I brought him. He was a storyteller, a perfectionist, a great family guy, and he loved his work and was passionate about classic cameras and lenses. He will be missed.
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