Primary Instrument: Band/ensemble/orchestra
ABOUT PROJECT GRAND SLAM AND THEIR NEW CHARITY SINGLE, “HE AIN’T HEAVY, HE’S MY BROTHER”
Smooth Jazz trio Project Grand Slam (PGS) was formed in 2008. Their debut album, Play, was released in 2008 by their record label, Cakewalk Records, and featured the Top 20 hit “The Captain Of Her Heart” with internationally renowned guest vocalist Judie Tzuke. In addition, PGS and five of the tracks from Play were featured in an episode of the hit NBC-TV series, “Lipstick Jungle”, starring Brooke Shields.
PGS has now released their new version of the classic Hollies hit, “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”, with Special Guest Vocals by Joye Hennessey. The song is dedicated for the benefit of the victims of child abuse, relating to the Penn State University and Syracuse University sexual abuse scandals that recently surfaced through the media.
Like millions of people across the United States and the world, the members of PGS were horrified to learn of the sexual abuse allegations connected with a former coach in the Penn State University football program. PGS was in the midst of completing a new album when they realized that “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” was particularly appropriate to the Penn State scandal. The song’s title was the motto for Father Flannigan’s Boys Town charity, which was created in the early 1900s to help disadvantaged and abused children. The song’s message of support for victims and the abused is consistent with Penn State’s healing efforts following the sexual abuse scandal.
PGS has therefore decided to immediately release “He Ain’t Heavy” as a single, and the band has agreed to donate proceeds from the song to benefit the victims of child abuse and has chosen RAINN and Prevent Child Abuse PA as the official organizations behind the proceeds.
The song is available for download on CDbaby.com, iTunes, Amazon and all other major online retainers, and is also available for online streaming from Spotify, Napster, Amazon and others.
The primary members of Project Grand Slam are:
Robert Miller plays electric bass and composes. Robert has two albums as leader to his credit: Child's Play (Wildcat Records) and Prisoners of Love (32 Records), both of which received excellent reviews. The former album includes performances by Randy Brecker, Jon Lucien and Anton Fig. His band, The Robert Miller Group, played every major New York area club, graduating to the national festival circuit where they appeared with acts like Bruce Hornsby, Bela Fleck and Kenny Barron. In addition, as co-founder of 32 Records, Robert helped develop this celebrated record label that produced the acclaimed “Jazz For...” series, including “Jazz For A Rainy Afternoon”, which dominated the Billboard Jazz Chart.
Ron Thaler plays drums and percussion. Ron is one of the most accomplished professionals in the business, having played on and/or produced more than 75 albums. His impressive credits include work with Al Di Meola, Hiram Bullock, Sarah McLachlan, Alicia Keys, Ashley Simpson, Debbie Gibson, Rob Thomas and Taj Mahal. Ron has also released three solo albums: …Works featuring Ray Anderson, Rufus Reid and Adam Rogers, Grain spotlighting Mike Stern, and Jazzed & Confused: The Led Zep Project including DJ Logic, Dweezil Zappa, and Hendrick Meurkens.
Gilad Ronen plays saxophones and is an accomplished master woodwind multi-instrumentalist and composer. He has recorded for numerous Hollywood films such as Anchorman and Raise Your Voice and the ABC series Eyes. Gilad had worked with some of the greatest living jazz legends of our time, such as Herbie Hancock, Jack De Johnette, Brian Blade, Dianne Reeves, and Kenny Barron to name just a few.
Disclaimer: All About Jazz is not responsible for the accuracy of the discographical data at the website(s) provided. If a link is no longer valid, please contact discography@allaboutjazz.com. Thank you.
