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Artist
Bassist, Composer and Singer Seth Ford-Young takes time away from backing the likes of Tom Waits, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Sean Hayes to release an eclectic and introspective debut CD Good bass players never lack for work, which is one reason why Seth Ford-Young is releasing his first album as a leader in his late 30s. A creative catalyst on the Bay Area music scene for nearly two decades, he’s been a whirlwind of activity, collaborating with a dazzling cross section of improvisers and singer/songwriters, from Tom Waits, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and Sean Hayes to Eric McFadden and Myles Boisen (of Splatter Trio and Clubfoot Orchestra) plus Rodriguez , Rocco Deluca , and Barry Manilow. On his eponymous debut for Porto Franco, Ford-Young gathers a superlative cast for a program of Gypsy Jazz inflected tunes, featuring Tin Hat accordion master Rob Reich, former Turtle Island String Quartet and Hot Club of San Francisco violinist Evan Price, and ace rhythm guitarist Jason Vanderford. While Ford-Young can swing with abandon, he’s interested in exploring the softer side of Gypsy jazz, combining the transparent textures and dynamic subtleties of chamber music with the ebullient bounce perfected by Django Reinhardt. “I play a lot of different kinds of music, and the idea of doing a solo album in this style was based on my compositional approach,” Ford-Young explains. “The tunes I write tend to be jazz and semi-classical. I wanted to make a chamber album