Laura Kaye, the rock and roll chanteuse whose take-no-prisoners voice invokes the likes of Steven Tyler and Aretha Franklin, but with a lyricism and musicality all her own, has released her latest CD Shake Off the Gravity which truly showcases the entirety of her talent. The CD features eight innovative, original songs that range from driving rock & roll (like "Hot 'n Nasty" and "Get on Board") to the intensely personal (like the haunting title track, and "Complicated World", Laura's heartfelt and conscious response to September 11th), and includes covers from Aerosmith, Humble Pie and Led Zeppelin.
But never to be put into a box, cuts like "Slice of Life" and "Waiting for the Light to Change" show that Ms. Kaye has a style all her own. She describes the CD as the "truest and most accurate representation of everything I hold dear musically. it is a tribute to every musician who has ever inspired me." That tribute reaches out across both her rock and her r&b influences, and does so with style AND substance.
Many extraordinary musicians lent their talents to the project, including Mark Wood, Al Pitrelli, Jane Mangini, Alex Skolnick, and David Z from Trans-Siberian Orchestra, along with drum legend Joe Franco (Good Rats, Widowmaker, Van Helsings Curse) and guitarist Tristan Avakian (Trans-Siberian Orchestra, currently touring with Cirque du Soleil) all the while, Laura Kaye's powerful vocals pull it all together into one cohesive package.
Collaborating with Laura (as producer, musician, co-writer and husband) is award-winning composer and performer Mark Wood. Mark is also the inventor of the VIPER electric violin, which he plays on most of the tracks on Shake Off the Gravity. This one-of-a-kind instrument produces tones and effects that perfectly complement the richness and versatile strength of another one-of-a-kind instrumentthe unforgettable voice of Laura Kaye.
Over the course of a career that began when she was a teenager, Laura has toured extensively as lead vocalist and songwriter for The Laura Kaye Band (which was featured on WAPP-FM's New Yorks Best Bands Album - the same series that helped discover Bon Jovi and Twisted Sister). She was a featured soloist for the 20-piece rock-and-roll choir New Voices of Freedom, and has contributed to soundtracks and videos for U2, Lenny Kravitz, Sean Lennon, and the aforementioned Mark Wood. She sang on the Emmy-nominated composition Dare to Dream, which was featured by CBS Television during the opening ceremonies of the 1998 Winter Olympics broadcast. Her previous CD, Sanctuary, a collaboration with Mark Wood, was released in 2001.
Laura has been spending much of her time as the vocalist for THE MARK WOOD EXPERIENCE, and has been touring all over the country creating rock orchestras and working with choirs in schools as part of the "ELECTRIFY YOUR STRINGS" series of music ed programs developed by Mark Wood.
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