Sear Sound Sessions: Donald Fagen, Classical Frank Zappa, Lulu Gainsbourg

Sear Sound has been a beehive for several highly intriguing projects this summer. Highlight sessions include:

NYC denizen Donald Fagen tracked in Studio A on the 8038 Neve with Michael Leonhart producing and Charlie Martinez engineering for Warner Bros. Records.

eONE Music was in Studio C, reportedly “classisizing” Frank Zappa songs for a new release.  His original songs were rescored for classical orchestral instruments and tracked on Sear Sound’s famed custom Avalon/Sear console.  The sessions were produced by Susan Del Giorno from eONE with GRAMMY-winning engineer Silas Brown working the board.

As he works on his upcoming new self-produced album, Lucien (Lulu) Gainsbourg continues to track in both Studio A and Studio C, depending on the orchestration. Jeremy Loucas is his engineer for his new upcoming album.  Lucien is the son of the internationally acclaimed French singer Serge Gainsbourg.

Engineer/producer Stewart Lerman tracked in Studio C for the HBO series “Boardwalk Empire”.

eONE MUSIC was at Sear Sound again tracking and mixing a new album with international artist Sophie Milman. The project was tracked in Studio C on the Avalon/Sear console and mixed in Studio A on the Neve  8038. In these intensive sessions, Milman began the recording sessions with an ensemble of 20 musicians and the vocalist all playing together, at the same time. Chris Allen was the tracking engineer and James Farber served as mix engineer. The project was produced by Matt Pierson.

Producer/engineer Gary Maurer tracked an ensemble of 22 musicians for his upcoming HEM album in Studio C. He will reportedly return to Sear Sound shortly to mix a 24 song double album.

And finally, Universal Classics of Japan tracked in Studio C for their international artist/pianist Makoto Ozone. The album was tracked by engineer James Farber and produced by Makoto Shinohara of Universal.

Avatar Studios Hosts James McCartney, Travis Barker, Regis Philbin, Roberta Flack

The rooms at Avatar Studios have been crowded this past month, with projects for everyone from global artists to talk show royalty. Top producers and engineers have been in on many of the sessions as well.

Studio A, with its legendary 2,496 sq. ft. live room, accommodated a duet by Tony Bennett and Sheryl Crow, produced by Phil Ramone, engineered by Dae Bennett, and assisted by Fernando Lodeiro. Elvis Costello was also in A, recording a song for an upcoming film with engineer Kevin Killen, assisted by Fernando Lodeiro.

Staying in Studio A, James McCartney recorded in Studio A with producer David Kahne, engineer Roy Hendrickson assisted by Fernando Lodeiro. Mark Ronson recorded music there for Warner Pictures’ Arthur, with engineer Vaughan Merrick, and assisted by Bob Mallory. On the drumming tip, Travis Barker recorded drums for an ad with producer James Covill, engineer James Ingram, and assisted by Bob Mallory.

Roberta Flack recorded in Studio A as well as well as the SSL 9000J-equipped Studio B with co-producer Sherrod Barnes, engineer Roy Hendrickson, and assisted by Bob Mallory.

In Studio C with its Neve VRP 72, Constantine Maroulis recorded with producers Phil Galdston and Marc Copely — engineer Lawrence Manchester was on hand, assisted by Bob Mallory. In addition Rebecca Arons recorded with Regis Philbin in Studio C with engineer Anthony Ruotolo, assisted by Bob Mallory. Also in C, Steve Reich / So Percussion recorded with producer Judith Sherman, engineer John Kilgore, and assisted by Charlie Kramsky.

On the multimedia front, Cirque de Soleil recorded in Studio C with producer Phil Ramone and engineer Roy Hendrickson, assisted by Fernando Lodeiro. Music for HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” was recorded in Studio B with producers Stewart Lerman, Jim Dunbar, engineer Stewart Lerman, and assisted by Bob Mallory. Last but not least, music for Fox’s “Glee” was recorded in Studio G with producer Tommy Faragher and engineer Bryan Smith, assisted by Fernando Lodeiro.

“Boardwalk Empire,” Rufus Wainwright and Hal Willner, Robby Romero to NYC’s Shelter Island Sound

Producer/engineer Steve Addabbo’s Shelter Island Sound has hosted a number of recording and mixing sessions for TV, film and album projects recently including HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, and the upcoming music film, Who’s Gonna Save You, by Robby Romero.

NYC bandleader Vince Giordano and producer Stewart Lerman were in Shelter Island working on music for the upcoming season of Boardwalk Empire.

And for Who’s Gonna Save You — which will premiere on Earth Day at the U.N. as well as on MTV and at various film festivals — the studio hosted post production sound mixing and Final Cut Pro video editing.

Meanwhile, Rufus Wainwright was at Shelter Island recently with producer Hal Willner, working on an upcoming Macy Gray release. And artists Giovanna Moretti, Jodi Shaw and Steve Sutherland all finished recording and mixing album projects at the studio recently.

Shelter Island has also been hosting live in-studio sessions for the Internet radio station BreakThruRadio.com with recent bands The Beauties, Levek, Big Search, Junk Culture and Galia Arad.

For more on Shelter Island Sound, visit www.shelterislandsound.com.

Avatar Studios Hosts Paul Simon, Moby, O.A.R. and More

Paul Simon recently spent time recording at NYC’s Avatar Studios, working with producer Phil Ramone, engineer Andy Smith and assistant engineer Justin Gerrish.

Moby‘s also recently recorded in Studio A, with engineer Scott Norton and assistant engineer Rick Kwan.

Meanwhile, roots rock quintet O.A.R. recorded in Studio C with producer Matt Wallace and engineer Mike Landolt. Other acts that recorded in March include Teddy Thompson, Proud Simon, and The Script.

From the jazz world, the Christian McBride Big Band recorded in Studio A with engineer Joe Ferla, while woodwind specialist James Carter recorded in Studio B with producer Michael Cuscuna and engineer Jim Anderson, assisted by Fernando Lodeiro. Other notables were Michel Portal and The Don Friedman Trio, both of whom recorded in Studio C with their producer/engineer teams.

Studio A recently hosted several TV and theater projects as well. Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks recorded music for the upcoming HBO series Boardwalk Empire with producer Jim Dunbar and engineer Stewart Lerman. Also, the cast of Broadway’s Million Dollar Quartet recorded with producer Hank Neuberger and engineer Chris Steinmetz.

And finally, the music for Life Begins At 8:40, a 1934 Harold Arlen / Ira Gershwin / Yip Harburg musical revue, was recorded in Studio A with producer Tommy Krasker and engineer Bart Migal.

For more information on Avatar Studios, visit their website at avatarstudios.net.