Nashville, TN - What happens when some of Nashville’s most renowned studio musicians come together to make great music for the fun and creativity of it? You end up with some amazing songs that just can’t be kept hidden away in a vault!
That’s exactly what happened when Grammy-nominated, Dove and Emmy award-winning producer/composer/musician Kris Crunk decided to post a fun clip on social media — something he had recorded to scratch his own creative itch. His saxophone wielding fellow musician, Gabriel Bello, saw the post and suggested they get together to collaborate on the Jazz-heavy tune. They rounded out their collective with masterful guitarist, Dave Cleveland, and recorded a beautiful rendition of songwriter Geron Davis’s "In the Presence of Jehovah." Davis is happy they chose one of his beloved tunes and shared, "When three of the greatest musicians on the planet, who also happen to be friends of mine, decide to record together, you know the result will be pure magic! When they also decide to do a song I wrote - the feeling is indescribable. The sound of these gifted guys is absolutely amazing. When I first heard the cut of 'In The Presence of Jehovah,' all I could do was smile. The arrangement and the playing is so incredibly moving. Three amazing musicians have taken a song we wrote over forty years ago and have brought it to life in a fresh, new way. I bet it will make a lot of people smile!"
When multi-Grammy nominated and Dove-award winning producer Wayne Haun caught wind of what they were up to, it was only natural for him to present the song to his StowTown Records label partners. The rest, as they say, is history.
Today marks the release of the very first single from
Mountclear Jazz. With a longtime love for and early influence of the Brentwood Jazz offerings from the 80s and 90s, Kris Crunk is thrilled about bringing these fresh arrangements of familiar tunes to the forefront of the instrumental market. He expressed his excitement about the new venture, "We’ve always been the behind-the-scenes guys, so this is a fun opportunity for us to just express ourselves and make the kind of music we want to make. Hopefully, it will be an effort that blesses people, a project that’s musically interesting and an experience they can truly enjoy." He continued, "None of us set out to be artists, but as more people have gotten involved, we’re just trying to include as many friends and great musicians as we can. We want to keep the bar high and create something beautiful together, a collaboration we can all be proud of, and who knows? Maybe it will continue to grow and we can share it even more widely, maybe even take it on the road someday."
Haun also shared his enthusiasm for the collaborative genius, "I've worked with Kris and Dave for years. They're the best of the best. I knew when I heard what they were cooking up in the studio that StowTown would want to be involved in releasing it, and we have more great music coming from Mountclear Jazz."
Distributed exclusively by Sony/Provident, "In the Presence of Jehovah" is available on digital platforms worldwide. Stream it
here today!
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