Sessions at Avatar Studios with Jean Morrison, Lady Gaga, Tony Bennett, Aretha, Kenny Garrett
July was a hot month in Hell’s Kitchen, as Avatar Studios hosted sessions for some of the biggest names in the biz. Let’s fire it up!
In Studio A, the Neve 8088 captured the sweet sounds of Tony Bennett (happy 85th birthday this month!) recording a duet with Lady Gaga in Studio A for his upcoming Duets II album. The session was produced by Phil Ramone, engineered by Dae Bennett, and assisted by Fernando Lodeiro and Tim Marchiafava. Tony Bennett also sang and recoded a duet with Intergalactic Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin in the spacious Studio C, with its Neve VRP 72-input console, for the same project. Both sessions were filmed.
Triple talent: Vernon Reid, Jean Morrison, and Nile Rodgers are only to happy to grace Studio A.
Also in Studio A, Jean Morrison recorded for her upcoming album with help from Nile Rodgers and Vernon Reid. Diego Paul produced the session and Hillary Johnson engineered, assisted by Charlie Kramsky.
Detroit-borne jazz great Kenny Garrett recorded some transcendent new songs (SonicScoop received a special preview – story to come) in Studio C with producer Donald Brown, engineer Todd Whitelock, and assistant Fernando Lodeiro.
Studio B and the SSL 9000 J were on duty recording for an Evanescence project. Nick Raskulinecz produced, and engineer Paul Figueroa was assisted by Fernando Lodeiro.
Scarlett Johansson recorded vocals in Studio G through the SSL 4000G+ for a Dean Martin project. Producer/engineer Eric Rosse and assistant Charlie Kramsky were on point.
The Gaddabouts returned to Studio A to record with producers Steve Gadd and Edie Brickell. Engineer Andy Smith was assisted here by Bob Mallory.
Studio A and G were rocking with the bluesy jams of The Zak Smith Band, recorded in Studio A and G by producer Zak Smith, engineer Milan Sudzuk assisted by Aki Nishimura.
Saxophonist and composer Jane Ira Bloom was recording in Studio B with super-engineer Jim Anderson, assisted by Fernando Lodeiro.
Michael Maier and Freddie Cole tracked vocals in Studio W, in a session produced by Michael Maier with engineer Bryan Smith.
In the TV realm, music for the Discovery Channel’s show The Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero was recorded in Studio C with producer Robert Miller. Peter Hylenski engineered, assisted by Charlie Kramsky.
For the multimedia realm, James Sheldon, author of Before I Forget – Directing Television: 1948-1988, was in Studio E reading from his own book for an upcoming audio book.