Seth MacFarlane & Norah Jones, Suzanne Vega and All Time Low Recording at Avatar

Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane is recording an album of 1940s and 50s-era Broadway standards for Universal Republic Records, working with producer and arranger Joel McNeely.

MacFarlane and McNeely recently recorded for the project in Avatar’s Studio B, joined by Norah Jones, with engineer Frank Fillipetti. Rick Kwan assisted on the recording sessions.

The album is reportedly being produced using recording techniques from the 40s-50s era — MacFarlane singing live backed by an orchestra and big band all in the same room. They’ve been recording at Capitol Records Studios in Hollywood, utilizing the same microphones, mic pre-amps and signal chains (to analog tape) used in recordings made there by Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Rosemary Clooney.

Naturally, when in NYC, they booked time at Avatar where the production could continue in that style with much (if not all) of the same gear.

In other recent sessions at Avatar Studios…

- Alicia Keys recorded in Studio A for an interactive Music Experience project by Sony Wonder Technology Lab with producer Chuck Fishbein, engineer Jeff “Jedi Master” Jones (also assisted by Kwan).

- Randy Travis and Kristin Chenoweth recorded in Studio G with producer/engineer Elliot Scheiner assisted by Bob Mallory.

- Suzanne Vega recorded in Studio A with engineer/producer Joe Blaney.

- All Time Low recorded in Studio C with producer David Kahne, engineer Roy Hendrickson, assisted by Aki Nishimura.

- More music for Glee was mixed in Studio G with producer Tommy Faragher, engineer Bryan Smith, assisted by Charlie Kramsky.

- Tracking sessions for the Mildred Pierce (HBO) score continued in Studio A with composer/producer Carter Burwell and engineer Todd Whitelock assisted by Rick Kwan and Fernando Lodeiro.

- Jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut recorded in Studio B with producer Todd Barkan, engineer Katherine Miller assisted by Charlie Kramsky.

- Jazz guitarist Steve Khan mixed in Studio C with engineer James Farber assisted by Rick Kwan.

- And The Great Unknown recorded in Studio C with children for an ASCAP and America Scores (a nonprofit group that runs after-school programs) songwriting project produced by Sue Devine and engineered by Rick Kwan.

Pagoda, Sophie Auster, The Cuts & More Recording at Excello in Williamsburg

The musician and gear-head’s playground that is Excello Recording in Williamsburg has been a musical home for several album projects in recent months, including records with Pagoda (led by actor/musician Michael Pitt), another actor/musician, Sophie Auster — who’s working on a record with songwriter and producer Barry Reynolds — rock bands Ellis Ashbrook and Low Water, and more.

Owner and musician/producer Hugh Pool has also been involved in a couple documentary projects being produced by Standing 8 Films, including creating original music for the film, The Jonestown Defense, and a documentary about rock band, The Cuts, shot (at least in part) inside Excello, with Pool producing.

Pool and the Excello team, including engineer Nathan Rosborough, have been working on the Pagoda project on-and-off over the past year, recording the band live in the studio, sessions captured in a 5-camera shoot for DVD, and then mixing and remixing the band’s music. Since then, they’ve been contributing original incidental music, recording dialog, scoring all the transitions to picture and mixing it all.

Rosborough is currently in the studio mixing Brazilian artist Dani Turcheto. In addition to working on Jonestown music, Pool is currently juggling a couple album projects for his band, Mulebone, and a new group called Pigmilk.

Adding to the studio’s palette, Pool notes: “We also recently purchased a Hammond CV organ, which sounds rippin’ through our Leslie 122.”

Engineers Vaughan Merrick, Hector Castillo, Scott Solter, Jim Caruana and Joe Blaney have all worked out of Excello in recent months. And artists including Chris Bergson, Randy Stern, The Cuts, Bel Air and The Harlem Blues Orchestra have also been in the studio recording and/or mixing.

For more on Excello Recording, including full equipment lists, visit www.excellorecording.com.

Chile’s Los Tres Mix With Joe Blaney at Fluxivity

This summer, Chilean rock band Los Tres traveled to New York to record, mix and master their new record. Working with producer/engineer Joe Blaney, Los Tres tracked the record up at Dreamland Recording, outside of Woodstock, and then mixed and recorded overdubs at Fluxivity in Williamsburg.

This is the fourth record Los Tres has made with Blaney, who brought the project to Fluxivity to mix on the automated Neve 8048 console with Flying Faders. Fluxivity owner Nathaniel Priest notes that this is the same console Blaney used to record Ron Woods, Bob Dylan and Steve Stevens on in the 80s!

The session was recorded and mixed on ATR analog tape, which Priest notes “sounded fabulous and performed flawlessly.”

“Joe brought in two of his own racks of outboard gear to Fluxivity that he had at his former studio in Greenwich Village,” Priest shares, adding, “We are set up here to interface with racks of users’ gear, either on DL connectors or XLR’s.

“Los Tres is a band that very much knows music, music history and appreciates the art of playing fine music and making a record that will endure as a notable example of artistic expression,” Priest adds.

“The record has 16 songs which expertly covers a range of styles, from rock to more traditional Andean tunes. It was made in the classic authentic style of record making with particular attention to sonic quality and detail, drawing on the many finely-honed skills of Joe Blaney.”

The group finished mixing the last song within the hour of the start of the mastering session at Sterling Sound, and Priest relays, “left here with a reel of warm tape!” The record was mastered by Sterling’s Dave McNair.

In other recent sessions at Fluxivity…Chris Brown visited the studio to wrap up mixing the upcoming Abrams Brothers album Northern Exposure with Grammy-winning engineer Brian Thorn. And for its 21st Anniversary release, Matador Records mixed a live 1999 Anniversary show from Irving Plaza. Jesper Eklow produced and Tom Gloady engineered.

Yoko Ono, Suzanne Vega, Dub Trio Recording At Avatar

Yoko Ono recently produced a project with NYC’s Bang On A Can, recording in Avatar Studio‘s legendary Studio A with Scott Hollingsworth engineering. Another NYC legend, Suzanne Vega, recently spent time in Studio A as well, recording with producer/engineer Joe Blaney.

In Studio C, Brooklyn’s Dub Trio recorded for their upcoming album with producer/engineer Joel Hamilton; singer/songwriter Danielle Evin recorded with producer Phil Ramone and engineer Jay Messina; and jazz-pop singer Jane Monheit recorded with engineer Jim Anderson.

In other recent jazz sessions at Avatar, Freddy Cole recorded new music at Avatar with producer Todd Barkan and engineer Katherine Miller, jazz-guitarist Jim Hall recorded with engineer James Farber and The Fred Hersch Trio also recorded with Barkan and Miller.

The orchestral music for AMC’s new thriller, Rubicon, was recorded in Avatar’s Studio A with producer Peter Nashel and engineer Gary Chester. And music for HBO’s upcoming Todd Haynes-directed mini-series, Mildred Pierce was recorded in Studio C with producers Steven Epstein and Carter Burwell, with Todd Whitelock engineering.