Marilynn Seits: CD Reviews

MARILYNN SEITS & THE VIBRATIONS JAZZ ENSEMBLE AT SUNFEST, WEST PALM BEACH

Playing with the Vibrations Jazz Ensemble on the Florida Crystals Stage was but one of three sets that Wellington keyboardist Marilynn Seits played at SunFest over a two-day span.

Ranging fom jazz standards to blues classics (and also featuring her two sons, guitarist Andy McAusland and bassist Sean McAusland), the group was contrasted by Seits' preceding performance with the traditional Gold Coast Dance Band (noon May 4 at the same stage), and directly afterward with saxophonist Ray Oram's Mostly Jazz Ensemble (2 p.m. May 5th, also at the same stage). The Ray Oram Jazz Ensemble is an octet playing the original West Coast classic jazz arrangements by such composers as Gerry Mulligan, Miles Davis and Benny Golson. The Ensemble features Ray Oram on Tenor, Sid Parker on alto, Don Cale on bari, Tommy Smith on trumpet, Peter D'Argent on t-bone, Sonny Rose on drums, Linc Lackey on bass and Marilynn Seits on piano.

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GEORGE DUKE, STANLEY CLARKE COMBINE FUSION & FUNK - MARILYNN'S 10 MINUTES OF FAME JAMMING W/ THEM
By Bill Meredith
Special to The Palm Beach Post
Monday, April 11, 2005

Bassist Stanley Clarke and keyboardist/vocalist George Duke have taken different career routes for 40 years, yet always found common ground in the process.

Clarke was a charter member of Chick Corea's seminal jazz/fusion band Return To Forever in the early 1970s, while Duke toured and recorded with satirist Frank Zappa.

At the Carefree Theatre Saturday, the two blended the understated R&B funkiness of their duo recordings with the over-the-top soloing flair that made them disparate fusion heroes...

A short acoustic set proved no less playful. Duke teased the audience by singing and playing the intro to Zappa's complex Inca Roads at the grand piano...
The curious encores proved anticlimactic, and the duo invited guests onstage. A couple of attending bassists; three dancers, and several keyboardists later, and the Carefree crowd was having a karaoke moment...

But Wellington keyboardist MARILYNN SEITS stepped up and salvaged the finale with her solo, as her knowledge of harmony clearly impressed a beaming Duke, the rest of the band, and the crowd. It was a lighthearted coda that helped avoid a fadeout by Clarke, 53, and Duke, 59, two musicians who help each other refuse to act their age.

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THREADS OF VIOLET LIGHT IS A MAGICAL ELIXIR FOR RELAXATION & MEDITATION.

Composer, pianist and keyboard artist Marilynn Seits has gifted us with THREADS OF VIOLET LIGHT, an exquisite album of deeply relaxing ambient music. Perfect for spa environments and other therapeutic venues, the long, peaceful tones and gently sparkling melodies transport listeners into heavenly worlds of delicious bliss.
Since ancient times the color violet has been closely associated with springtime, healing and rebirth. A color of high spiritual vibration, violet often is a potent choice meditation. Violet also is the color of the crown chakra, the thread by which we are connected to spirit. Because the crown chakra is connected to the musical key of B, Seits uses that key extensively throughout THREADS OF VIOLET LIGHT. A truly gifted, multitalented artist, Seits composed, arranged, performed on keyboards, recorded, mixed and mastered all of the serene, profoundly nurturing music on the album. The ten tracks comprise just over an hour of music, making for a delightful adjunct to massage, reiki and other gentle healing modalities. THREADS OF VIOLET LIGHT is a magical elixir for relaxation and meditation.

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...artist Marilynn Seits experiments with a range of sounds and creates soft, ambient and melodic music. She has specifically crafted this CD for use with yoga, reiki, meditation, massage therapy and chakra healing. This 65 minute recording features sounds that represent freely flowing breath and healing energy...