Press Release 2/6/03

Press Releases

February 6, 2003

AVATAR STUDIOS CELEBRATES 21 GRAMMY NOMINATED RECORDINGS

When the 2003 Grammy nominations were announced recently, the staff at New York's pre-eminent recording venue AVATAR STUDIOS was thrilled to discover that 21 prospective winners had recorded all or part of their potentially award winning albums at the facility.

Said Kirk Imamura, President of AVATAR: "At Avatar, we strive to do everything we can to make the highest quality recordings possible. When the outcome of our labor gets recognized in this manner, especially in these difficult business conditions, it is very rewarding. We are very honored to have contributed in some way to the success of the great artists who record at Avatar."

Among the Grammy nominated artists who have utilized the AVATAR state of the art studios are: Sheryl Crow (Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, Best Rock Album), Natalie Cole & Diana Krall (Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals), Elvis Costello (Best Male Rock Vocal Performance and Best Rock Album), Foxy Brown (Best Female Rap Solo Performance), The John Scofield Band (Best Contemporary Jazz Album), and Herbie Hancock (Best Jazz Instrumental Solo). For a complete list of AVATAR-related nominees, go to http://www.avatarstudios.net/news/45thGrammys.html.

Aaron Neville (Verve Records) recently recorded in AVATAR's Neve-8068-equipped Studio A with Rob Mounsey producing, Dave O'Donnell engineering the sessions to Pro Tools, and Aya Takemura assisting. Artist Pat McGee (Warner Bros.) also employed Studio A for his new record, produced by Gregg Wattenberg, engineered by John Agnelio and assisted by Ross Petersen. A two record project for Nagel-Heyer Records, using AVATAR's Steinway B piano, was engineered by Jim Anderson, produced by Frank Nagel-Heyer and assisted by Peter Doris. And the same Studio A hosted K Fox (Def Jam Records) who recorded strings and horns for a forthcoming release, engineered by Niko Bolas and assisted by Brian Montgomery.

Producer Andrew Lippa, himself a Grammy Award winner, recently worked in AVATAR's SSL 9000 J-equipped Studio B, producing music for the upcoming "Legally Blond II" release (MGM Studios), with engineer Vince Caro and assistant Aya Takemura. Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band member Patty Scialfi also used Studio B recently to put finishing touches on her album, working with Grammy-winning engineer Trina Shoemaker and Ross Petersen assisting on the strings sessions.

Meanwhile, in AVATAR's Neve VRP72-equipped Studio C, producer Randy Poster and engineer James Farber recorded music for "Mona Lisa Smile" (Sony Pictures); additionally, producer/arranger Bob Belden used the same studio to record the Classical Jazz Quartet for their upcoming "Plays Bach" album (Vertical Jazz Records).

Also at AVATAR recently, using Sony's DSD format, was Telarc Records' Grammy nominated Jack Renner (engineer) and Elaine Martone (producer), who recorded McCoy Tyner and the Monty Alexander Trio for that label; Aya Takemura and Peter Doris assisted at those sessions.

A partial list of other artists whose recent projects were recorded at AVATAR include: Eve 6, Stone Temple Pilots, Anthrax, Jon Bon Jovi, Sum 41, Blondie, Michelle Branch, Stage, Buck Cherry, Marc Copley, Porcupine Tree, Franky Perez & Angel Park, Phillippe Saisse, Rustic Overtones, Joe Beck, Sting and Yo-Yo Ma. AVATAR is also home to Grammy Award-winning engineer Jeff Bova and Full Force, the nation's pre-eminent song writing & Production Company.