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City Rhythm Orchestra

The City Rhythm Orchestra has been knocking out audiences for many years at nightclubs, jazz festivals, concert venues and dance events with their high energy music. The Philadelphia Inquirer calls them "Philly's premier swing outfit" and anyone familiar with this group would certainly agree. Their 1,000- tune play list is filled with swingin' jazz arrangements, vintage big band charts, rockin' blues and pop tunes, unique original material, and more.

A music critic once wrote that hearing a set by City Rhythm was "great music and great fun". That just about sums up the results that saxophonists Pete Spina and Nick Vallerio had in mind when they formed the band, and they have consistently cooked up exciting music with their key ingredients of hot horn players, a smokin' rhythm section, and innovative arrangements. Mix all of this with the enthusiasm of the band members and you've got that unmistakable City Rhythm sound that packs every performance with excitement. Their famous horn section is complimented by dynamic vocalists Steve Ritrovato, Vicki Woodlyn, Rich Cox and Gil Morrow.

City Rhythm has performed at major music venues and jazz clubs all across the country, including Philadelphia's Kimmel Center, Mann Music Center, and Electric Factory, New York City’s Blue Note Jazz Club, Birdland, Swing 46 and Lincoln Center, Washington DC’s Glen Echo Ballroom and Clarendon Room, San Francisco's Biscuits and Blues Club and Sweets Ballroom, and more. In Europe, the band has been featured in Italy, Germany and France. Engagements have included clubs in Cologne, Bordeaux, Amsterdam, Rome, Florence and Venice. They have also been featured at the Spoleto Music Festival, Umbria Jazz Festival, Jazz by the Sea on the Adriatic Coast, and many other major international events.

City Rhythm's music has been recorded on a regular basis and can be heard on numerous CD recordings. Their first album, "Goin to Town", was produced in 1994 and was a big success with its lavish big band sound capturing the interest of both music critics and fans. In 1997, a live collaboration with Joey DeFrancesco on the Hammond B3 organ was captured on the CD "Swinging Blue - Live at the Five Spot". The 1998 CD "City Rhythm Strikes Again" crossed over into the pop world and received national air play as swing music enjoyed renewed interest. In conjunction with its release, the band produced a Music Video of their "Hit the Road Jack" rendition, which was aired on international television.

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117
Album Review

The City Rhythm Orchestra: Vibrant Tones

Read "Vibrant Tones" reviewed by Jack Bowers


With this new CD and companion DVD, you can not only hear Philadelphia's exciting City Rhythm Orchestra with guest artist and homeboy Joey DeFrancesco burning at the Hammond B-3, you can also see them ramp up the voltage in a crowd-pleasing dockside concert from July '03 at Wiggins Park in Camden, NJ.

Musically, the CD and DVD are far from synonymous. Of the dozen tunes on the CD, seven are repeated in the concert, but with different solos, of course, ...

103
Album Review

The City Rhythm Orchestra: Swingin' Blue / Goin' to Town

Read "Swingin' Blue / Goin' to Town" reviewed by Jack Bowers


A pair of hard–hitting big–band sessions by Philadelphia’s City Rhythm Orchestra, the most recent of which, Swingin’ Blue, we’ll survey first, as it showcases one of Philly’s favorite sons, the dynamic young organist Joey DeFrancesco. Blue was recorded nearly four years ago (September ’97) before an understandably enthusiastic audience at the City of Brotherly Love’s Five Spot nightclub. Inviting someone as awesome as Joey D to sit in with the orchestra has its upside and its down. On the one ...

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201

Performance / Tour

Big Band Concert at the Colonial Theatre

Big Band Concert at the Colonial Theatre

Source: All About Jazz

The City Rhythm Big Band concert series continues at the Colonial Theatre in Phoenixville on Sunday, March 29th at 7:00 PM with “Music to Spy By", an evening of fabulous songs from classic spy movies and television shows.

This will be one of the most exciting shows yet as the band takes you through the scores of acclaimed film composers like Henry Mancini, Lalo Schifrin, John Barry and Billy May. You'll hear vibrant renditions of Mission Impossible, Pink Panther, Goldfinger, ...

132

Recording

City Rhythm Orchestra's "Vibrant Tones" -- Sales Brisk at CD Baby

City Rhythm Orchestra's "Vibrant Tones" -- Sales Brisk at CD Baby

Source: All About Jazz

Limehouse Records has re-stocked CD Baby with more pre-release copies of Vibrant Tones, the new 2-disc (CD & DVD) set featuring the 16-piece City Rhythm Orchestra with special guest Joey De Francesco on the Hammond B3 Organ. It includes a sizzling studio recording on CD and an exciting live performance captured on DVD. The first shipment sold out quickly!

Limehouse Records has also supplied previously released City Rhythm discs, including Goin' to Town and Strikes Again. All CDs are shipped ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Vibrant Tones

Limehouse Records
2004

buy

Swingin' Blue

Self Produced
1999

buy

City Rhythm Strikes...

Self Produced
1999

buy

Goin' to Town

Self Produced
1994

buy

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