Product Description Heart Consort Music performs contemporary and straight ahead jazz, latin, rock/fusion, and more on 6 & 12 string electric & acoustic guitars in a solo, duet, or trio setting. Past performances have included the Montreux, North Sea, and Euro-Disney Jazz Festivals, as well as a variety of other European venues.The group tours regularly in the U.S. The style has been called 'Midwestern Contemporary Music' since it combines jazz, contemporary and world influences filtered through the Heartland of the Midwest. This distinctly Midwestern flavor sets HCM apart in a market full of clichés and clones. You will certainly understand why James has received international attention for their performances and recordingsLooking for a fresh breeze of musical excellence to spice up your music repertoire? Look no further. Meet James Kennedy, jazzman/rocker/fusionist extraordinaire. From his home base deep in the American Heartland (Iowa), James brings forth a wonderful, personable style of music that ranges in depth and flavor, often branded a sort of 'Midwestern Jazz.' Sometimes reminiscent of world music, other times synthesizer-reliant electronic composition?this internationally acclaimed artist can do it all and has. Kennedy has taken his style and shared it with an ever-shrinking world; he has been performed in a medley of shows in America, the Montreux Jazz Festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival, and the Euro-Disney center. From the west coast to the European Continent, Kennedy is an artist that his native Iowa should be proud of. His CD Blind World has been heralded as 'original,' 'masterful,' and even 'a real midwestern gem.' One of America's finest exports, the music and welcome originality of James Kennedy is something sure to catch on in this increasingly shrinking world. Fusion with a sometimes ethnic flavor . . . reminiscent all at once of Jean Luc Ponty, Yes and early Genesis. An off-white wedding; a joyful union of guitar and violin. This is one marriage we hope will last! About the Artist James Kennedy began his musical studies in his local school's band program. He credits those early teachers with laying a solid foundation of musical knowledge. After a few years in the band program he met his true love, a 6 string "Harmony" guitar. He learned chords and songs from the radio and soon was "cutting his chops" in a succession of rock and blues bands, playing 4 or 5 nights a week even though he was still in school. In his "spare" time he was also studying folk music and working in a variety of recording studios across the Midwest. His first solo release "Just Bein' Natural" with Union Street Productions was a folk guitar/vocal album. He toured in support of this album until he went to college. During his undergraduate work in music composition with internationally known composer Alf Houkum, he also studied jazz, world music, arranging, and more. Many of his big-band jazz compositions have been performed by several world-class bands. After his undergraduate training, Jim did graduate work at the University of Iowa with Dr. Richard Hervig and Dr. Tom Davis, among others. His jazz and blues training were clearly evident on a recording he did for Matthias Winckelmann of Enja Records which was a very popular release in Europe for many years. In 1986 he and Catherine formed Heart Consort Music. In the intervening years, James has released 13 albums in a variety of styles, ranging from folk/acoustic to rock/fusion , jazz and world music, and more. These nine releases have received international radio airplay, distribution and exposure. James has written music for various independent film and video projects and his music has been licensed by 3M, AEI, Bravo, Disney, The Discovery Channel, PBS, DMX, Muzak, Playnetwork, and many others. He tours nationally and internationally on a regular basis.
