Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – The Music Column with William Price King – Josh Groban Part Four

Welcome to the Music Column and in this series William Price King has been sharing the career and music of Josh Groban.  You can find Part Three:Here

Josh Groban is an extremely talented singer, songwriter and actor, who has wowed audiences around the world with his distinctive baritone voice.

In May 2011, Groban appeared as a mystery guest star on the season 12 finale of “Dancing with the Stars” to surprise Petra Nemcova by singing “You Raise Me Up” to her dance. When she saw that it was he who was actually singing and not one of the usual performers, she momentarily was too stunned to continue dancing.

Groban’s sixth studio album, “All That Echoes” was released in February 2013, debuting at number one by selling 141,000 copies. Groban promoted the album with the “All That Echoes World Tour” in 2013.

“She Moved Through The Fair,” from the album, is a traditional Irish folk song. The narrator sees his lover move away from him through the fair, after telling him that since her family will approve, “it will not be long, love, ’til our wedding day”. She returns as a ghost at night, and repeats the words “it will not be long, love, ’til our wedding day,” intimating her own tragic death (possibly at the hands of her disapproving family), as well as the couple’s potential reunion in the afterlife. The melody is in mixolydian mode.*

i.e. mixolydian mode – The mixolydian mode is one of the modal scales. They are all origins of ancient Greek music and are used in modern music like jazz and funk. Uploaded by Dream Lyric

“Un Alma Más,” from the album “All That Echoes” (2013) featuring Cuban born trumpet player Arturo Sandoval was written by Josh Groban, who sings this flamenco flavored song in Spanish.

“Hollow Talk” is a cover of a 2009 song by the Norwegian Choir of Young Believers. It was
Warner Music International marketing executive Dion Singer who brought the tune to Groban’s attention. “It’s such a cinematic song,” Groban said at a listening party at the Sunset Towers in West Hollywood, adding that producer Rob Cavallo told him “I feel there is a cityscape in it. So we went out on Sunset Boulevard and recorded traffic.” “Hollow Talk” was written by Jannis Noya Makrigiannis, Anders Rhedin, and Fridolin Schojldan

In April 2016 Groban released his seventh studio album, “Stages” – a collection of some of the greatest musical theater songs of all time, which Groban describes as “gorgeously arranged songs that have stood the test of time,” and which he was drawn to because of their combination of “incredible melody with an incredible story.”

The gold-certified “Stages” was nominated for a 2016 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.

“Bring Him Home” from the musical “Les Miserables” featured on on the album, is the timeless story of revolution, redemption, and love, touching hearts around the globe. The famous song “Bring Him Home,” perfectly captures the musical’s emotion and beauty. Groban’s rendition will give you chills.

What makes one love this version of “Bring Him Home” even more is its simplicity. The only instrument accompanying Groban’s voice is a piano and the minimalism of it makes it even better! “Stages,” consisting of songs from Broadway musicals, was released in April 2015 and received a nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards. From Josh Groban

Buy the music of Josh Groban : Amazon US – And: Amazon UK
Find out more about Josh Groban and tour information: Josh Groban Official Site
Other sources: Wikipedia

Join us next time for the final post in the series and more music from Josh Groban..

William Price King is an American jazz singer, crooner, and composer.

His interest in music began at an early age when he studied piano and clarinet in high school. At Morehouse College in Atlanta where he grew up, he sang in the Glee Club and studied classical music. After graduation he went off to the Yale School of Music where he earned a Masters degree. From there he journeyed to New York where he created a jazz trio ‘Au Naturel’ which performed in some of the hottest venues in Manhattan including gigs on Broadway and the famous ‘Rainbow Room.’ These gigs opened doors for performances in Montreal and a European tour.

While touring Europe he met a lovely French lady, Jeanne Maïstre, who, a year later became his wife. King left the group ‘Au Naturel’ and settled in the south of France where he started a new life on the French Riviera, opening his own music school – the “Price King Ecole Internationale de Chant.” He has had the pleasure over the years of seeing many of his students excel as singers on a professional level, and some going on to become national celebrities. He continues to coach young singers today, in his spare time.

His debut jazz album was entitled “Home,” and was a collection of contemporary compositions he composed, with lyrics written by his wife Jeanne King. His second album was a Duo (Voice and Guitar) with Eric Sempé on the guitar. This album included original songs as well as well known standards from contemporary jazz and pop artists. The “King-Sempé” duo toured France and thrilled audiences for more than three years before going their separate ways. King has formed a new duo with French/Greek guitarist Manolis, and is now exploring new ideas, in a smooth jazz/soul/folk direction.

In addition to singing and composing, King has been collaborating with author Sally Cronin over the past few years on her blog “Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life,” with the series “A Man And His Music – Jazz, Contemporary, Classical, and Legends” and now, the “William Price King Music Column.” Working with author Sally Cronin has been an exhilarating experience in many ways and has brought a new dimension to King’s creative life. King has also created a micro blog, “Improvisation,” which features and introduces mostly jazz artists from across the jazz spectrum who have made considerable contributions in the world of jazz; and also artwork from painters who have made their mark in the world of art. This micro blog can be found on Tumblr.

His vocal mentors are two of the greatest giants in jazz, Nat King Cole and Mel Tormé. King has a distinctive wide-ranging voice which displays a remarkable technical facility and emotional depth.

William Price King on Tumblr – IMPROVISATION – William Price King on Tumblr

Buy William’s music ITunes William Price King iTunes

Connect with William

Facebook – William Price King
Twitter – @wpkofficial
Regular Venue – Cave Wilson

My thanks to William for the amazing artists he has brought to the blog and thank you for dropping in today.  As always your feedback is very welcome. William is on his summer break but will be back in person in September.