Steve Sieck's (and Friends') "CRAZY THAT WAY"

Born in Omaha and raised in Des Moines, Sieck has traveled a wide-ranging musical road. It has included touring Iowa playing teen dances, relocating to New York City to support a major-publisher-backed singer-songwriter, classical harmony and counterpoint studies, a fortuitous experience at an upstate vocal workshop/retreat, a series of cabaret and jazz shows (and a Best Album nomination) in Manhattan, and a cross-country move to California - all leading to his current status as a songwriter and performer on the Los Angeles music scene. Sieck credits his experience at the upstate workshop with jump-starting his engagement with songwriting. While working in New York as a business strategy consultant, he hadn’t written a song in many years. Upon hearing this, the workshop leader challenged him to “write a song tonight and call it ’Better Late than Never.’” Sieck immediately wrote the music and lyrics and received an enthusiastic response from the group the next day. Within a few years, he had written enough songs to perform full sets at nightclubs and cabarets across New York.

Drawn to Los Angeles by the advent of a grandchild and a pandemic-influenced readiness for change, Sieck has eased into the West Coast lifestyle and local jazz scene. New friends amongst LA's and California’s finest vocalists all agreed to premiere songs on his new album: vocalist/lyricist MARK WINKLER (who has released 21 albums as a leader and had over 250 songs recorded by a Who’s Who of well-known singers), TAWANDA (winner of the 2021 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Competition, now touring as featured vocalist with Post-Modern Jukebox), NICOLAS BEARDE (award-winning singer and songwriter and Bay Area stalwart, now completing his seventh recorded album), and SIDNEY JACOBS (jazz vocalist, songwriter, arranger, producer, and newest member of the legendary group The 5^th Dimension).

While Sieck is a talented singer in his own right – as shown on his attractive bossa nova, "The Mystery of Love” - his vocals are complemented on the album by Winkler singing the urbane jazz waltz "Paris Apartment," and Bearde bringing his wise and soulful voice to the romantic "I Still Want You So." Tawanda has a great presence on the album, pairing with Sieck on four tracks, taking the lead vocal on the ardent lover's proclamation "You are Everything to Me," and sharing the lead with Sieck and Sidney Jacobs on the stirring gospel anthem "We Will Find a Way" (whose inspirational message has great salience to our current political situation.)

On his own, Sieck performs his songs with great sensitivity and understated vulnerability. "Good Morning, LA" introduces the singer to the city, and like the cheerful, big-band-driven title track, is filled with sincere, open sentiments in a bouncy, swinging setting. Over a seductive soft rock beat, "That Moment" recounts the beginning of a relationship, while the next track, "September Seems So Far Away,” celebrates a passionate summertime love affair. "We Can Get Together Again" extends the lyric theme to celebrate the end of COVID isolation, and the softly undulating "Only Human" gives the album an emotional anchor with its heartfelt evocation of human frailty and forgiveness. In the rollicking “Temple of Soul,” Sieck honors the legacy of R&B greats, backed to full effect by “Tower of Power” horns and the legendary gospel group, the PERRI SISTERS. Sieck says that he usually begins composing lyrics with only a title and story idea as a guide. Soon, a melody will materialize that serves the lyrical intent. From then on, he writes (and rewrites!) words and music in tandem to maintain a cohesive whole.

Sieck's impressive range of styles and genres is enhanced by the evocative production and arrangements of DORI AMARILIO. To cite just one example, some of the backgrounds on "The Mystery of Love" are reminiscent of Claus Ogerman's classic settings for Antonio Carlos Jobim's mid-sixties LPs, but Amarillo infuses his own creativity into this music. The orchestra under his leadership includes such esteemed musicians as pianist MITCHEL FORMAN, woodwind specialist ALEX BUDMAN, trumpeters DAVE RICHARDS and JEFF KAYE, trombonist ERIC JORGENSEN, bassists KEVIN AXT and RENE CAMACHO, and drummers RAY BRINKER, KENDALL KAY, CHRIS BAILEY, and GENE COYE. Amarilio plays guitar on all tracks, often in expressive conversation with Forman, Budman and others.

Steve Sieck's well-crafted songs might be a worthy option for jazz, pop, and R&B singers eager to find unique repertoire that sets them apart from the crowd. His lyric themes can attract a universal audience, and his finely wrought melodies are memorable and easy to sing. With the passing of one of Sieck's main influences, Bob Dorough—and one of his best collaborators, Dave Frishberg—Sieck's tasty and often quirky originals could help fill the gap left by these two giants. But regardless of how it might fit within the trends and traditions of American popular song, Sieck's music clearly deserves to be heard by a larger audience.

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CRAZY THAT WAY will be released on October 25, 2024 on Accordant Music and will be available on all streaming platforms. Physical and digital download CDs will be available at stevesieckmusic.com and on Bandcamp.

Online:

Stevesieckmusic.com

Stevesieck.bandcamp.com

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IG: @steve_sieck

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