New West Guitar Group with Tierney Sutton

A Los Angeles-­?based guitar group featuring John Storie, Will Brahm and Perry Smith. The band was formed over 10 years by Smith and Storie while they were still students at USC's Thornton School of Music.
Praised as “sharp and refined” by the Seattle Times, New West Guitar Group infuses its latest disc Big City ('12) with its signature blend of laid-­?back virtuosity and expert arrangements that “sometimes verge on the orchestral” (All Music Guide). The album is the group’s fifth studio disc and second released on Summit Records. The Los Angeles-­?based trio grooves in Big City, a sophisticated sonic soundscape showcasing hot original tunes and captivating covers of Tears for Fears, Simon & Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell and The Police. Big City is the follow-­?up to 2011’s critically acclaimed Round Trip Ticket that was described by Downbeat as “an open-­?spaces, sunlight-­?dappled record that feels like it was recorded in plein air, with the three musicians surrounded by Redwoods.” Round Trip Ticket, reached number 28 on the national jazz charts and was featured frequently on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
Since their earliest days as music students at the University of Southern California, New West has tapped into its straight-­?ahead jazz roots to develop a sound that embraces various shades of folk, country, rock and pop. With Big City, New West sets out to find serenity in the midst of a thriving, frenetic metropolis. With their infectious pulse and driving rhythms, original charts like “Every Big City,” “Inspiration Point, “Train Bump” and “Pacific Blues” capture the urban hustle, while the more tranquil tunes—“Mission Creek,” “Proud Day’s Work” and “Evergreen”—offer contemplative respite. Intricate yet faithful covers of “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” (Tears for Fears), “All I Want” (Joni Mitchell), “Bleecker Street” (Simon & Garfunkel) and “Wrapped Around Your Finger” (The Police) surface throughout the disc, like favorite songs emanating from open windows and evoking wistful memories. The album fully embraces this open-­?minded quality and showcases the group’s intimate understanding of the guitar’s melodic, harmonic, timbal and percussive capabilities. The sonic palette includes acoustic steel-­? and nylon-­?stringed instruments as well as electric guitars with ample effects, plus innovative strumming and fingerpicking techniques.

The New York Times has called TIERNEY SUTTON “A serious jazz artist who takes the whole enterprise to another level.”

A 6-time Grammy Nominee as both a recording artist and arranger, Sutton is often described as “a singer’s singer,” but just as often, she is described as a “musician’s singer” who uses her voice like an instrument.

Most recently, Tierney received her 5th consecutive Grammy Nomination for “Best Jazz Vocal Album” for her latest project, “After Blue,” an intimate, jazz-inspired re-imagining of the legacy of Joni Mitchell. The album, which is Sutton’s first solo outing without her longtime Band, features Al Jarreau, Hubert Laws, Peter Erskine, Larry Goldings, Serge Merlaud, Kevin Axt and The Turtle Island Quartet.

Spanning over 20years of collaboration, the Tierney Sutton Band’s 9 CDs have consistently topped the US jazz charts, leading to Tierney’s selection as Jazzweek’s Vocalist of the Year as well as to numerous other accolades in the music world including a 2011 Grammy nomination for the Band’s collaborative arranging.

She has headlined in recent years at The Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center and Jazz At Lincoln Center. She can also be heard on film and television soundtracks including The Academy Award-nominated film “The Cooler” as well as on television commercials (BMW, Green Giant, Yoplait Yogurt, Coke)

When she is off the road, Tierney is an active educator. She taught for over a decade at USC’s Thornton School of Music and is currently the Vocal Department Head at The Los Angeles Music Academy in Pasadena,CA where she has created a new curriculum for vocalists of all genres. Tierney has taught and mentored some of music’s finest new generation of singers including Gretchen Parlato and Sara Gazarek.