North Star Jazz & CommonGround Recordings
Special Holiday Bundle - four CDs for $20, shipping included!
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Visit our Store page for information.
All of our recordings are available now on your favorite streaming service!
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I've always liked the Jimmy Webb classic Wichita Lineman, and was pleased with the way our recording of it turned out. It features the usual cast of characters, Bruce Abbott on sax, Ron Fournier on piano and Marty Ballou on bass,
along with the Hawthorne String Quartet. They're all members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and it was
a ball to work with them on this project, available on Sax Across America, as well as the Jazz For Lovers and Mistletoe Sax recordings. I'd hoped to make the trip to Kansas with my photographer brother Steve Mason, who has
helped us out with so many projects along the way, as time was passing, and under current travel constraints
I was forced to look elsewhere, but I hope you enjoy the result.
Paul Mason
along with the Hawthorne String Quartet. They're all members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and it was
a ball to work with them on this project, available on Sax Across America, as well as the Jazz For Lovers and Mistletoe Sax recordings. I'd hoped to make the trip to Kansas with my photographer brother Steve Mason, who has
helped us out with so many projects along the way, as time was passing, and under current travel constraints
I was forced to look elsewhere, but I hope you enjoy the result.
Paul Mason
To all out friends, fans and supporters at this difficult time, we’d like to say thanks.
And to let you know that we’re thinking of you. Without your support since we made our first CD for North Star back in the ’90s, we would never have gotten the chance to make all the records that followed, and to connect with all the folks that have written to us or come to our concerts and club dates over the years.
In recent years we haven’t had the opportunity to play together as often as we’d like to. And now, with all live music events cancelled for the foreseeable future, it’s going to be a while before we’re able to see you up close and personal. We’ll miss playing together, and seeing you all.
At the same time the music marketplace is also changing. Again! We still have plenty of CDs for most of our titles, so feel free to visit our store and we’ll be happy to send some to you. The days of buying and owning downloadable tracks is however, coming to an end. The new model is based on subscription services such as Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music. Our music is available on those services and most other similar ones.
Sometimes it takes a little extra effort to find us. Depending on the project, some of our albums were listed in slightly different ways. The North Star Jazz Ensemble, or Bruce Abbott and The North Star Jazz Ensemble. Our other identity as CommonGround is sometimes listed as Common Ground. But we’re out there so keep trying.
We hope that our music will provide a little moment of calm amongst all the confusion that we find ourselves in at the moment.
Feel free to contact us via email on our contact page.
We’ll be updating you on our various adventures going forward. And while we haven’t played together all that much recently, we’ve all been busy with other projects, and we’ll keep you informed about some of those as well.
Hang in there. Thanks for your support over the years. Stay safe and stay well.
The North Star Jazz Ensemble and CommonGround.
Want to check in with what we've been up to individually? Check these out,
Bruce Abbott Music Ron Fournier, Copywriter, Songwriter Marty Ballou/RI Music Hall of Fame
Peter Calo Paul Mason/Dunes Trio Paul Mason/The Conversation
And to let you know that we’re thinking of you. Without your support since we made our first CD for North Star back in the ’90s, we would never have gotten the chance to make all the records that followed, and to connect with all the folks that have written to us or come to our concerts and club dates over the years.
In recent years we haven’t had the opportunity to play together as often as we’d like to. And now, with all live music events cancelled for the foreseeable future, it’s going to be a while before we’re able to see you up close and personal. We’ll miss playing together, and seeing you all.
At the same time the music marketplace is also changing. Again! We still have plenty of CDs for most of our titles, so feel free to visit our store and we’ll be happy to send some to you. The days of buying and owning downloadable tracks is however, coming to an end. The new model is based on subscription services such as Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music. Our music is available on those services and most other similar ones.
Sometimes it takes a little extra effort to find us. Depending on the project, some of our albums were listed in slightly different ways. The North Star Jazz Ensemble, or Bruce Abbott and The North Star Jazz Ensemble. Our other identity as CommonGround is sometimes listed as Common Ground. But we’re out there so keep trying.
We hope that our music will provide a little moment of calm amongst all the confusion that we find ourselves in at the moment.
Feel free to contact us via email on our contact page.
We’ll be updating you on our various adventures going forward. And while we haven’t played together all that much recently, we’ve all been busy with other projects, and we’ll keep you informed about some of those as well.
Hang in there. Thanks for your support over the years. Stay safe and stay well.
The North Star Jazz Ensemble and CommonGround.
Want to check in with what we've been up to individually? Check these out,
Bruce Abbott Music Ron Fournier, Copywriter, Songwriter Marty Ballou/RI Music Hall of Fame
Peter Calo Paul Mason/Dunes Trio Paul Mason/The Conversation
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Thank You!
To everyone who came to hear us at our date at Chan's EggRoll and Jazz. It was great to reconnect with Peter Calo and get to play some the music from Fire & Rain and Homeward Bound. Here is a slide show of photos taken at Lakewest Recording during the making of the CommonGround projects. Click here to view. |
We want to say a special Thank You! to the Nantucket Arts Council for asking us back to open the 2017 Nantucket Arts Festival.
Not only did we get to play two great concerts on the island, but the request by the council that we add a vocalist for our first visit in 2016 was the impetus for the addition of Marcelle Gauvin to our quartet. Since Marcelle came on board we've decided to pursue other opportunities for the group with Marcelle. We've got a few things we're currently working on, so check back and we'll keep you posted as additional dates get firmed up
Not only did we get to play two great concerts on the island, but the request by the council that we add a vocalist for our first visit in 2016 was the impetus for the addition of Marcelle Gauvin to our quartet. Since Marcelle came on board we've decided to pursue other opportunities for the group with Marcelle. We've got a few things we're currently working on, so check back and we'll keep you posted as additional dates get firmed up
North Star Jazz on the Web
If you enjoy listening to music on Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music or many of the other online music services, be sure to list us in your online radio choices.
Check out photos from our trip to Nantucket to play a concert for the Nantucket Arts Council. Our date this past May was cancelled due to high winds
and dangerous seas, but we're working on a return date for the Fall, so keep you eye on this space for updates.
and dangerous seas, but we're working on a return date for the Fall, so keep you eye on this space for updates.
photos by Steve Mason
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Bruce Abbott
Ron Fournier
Piano and keyboards
Learn more about this music at www.jazzillustrated.com or visit Ron online at www.ronfournier.com Paul Mason
Drums and percussion
Paul spends his summers playing with this trio on the beach in Narragansett, RI www.dunestrio.com |