Mike DiLorenzo...

As a New York based freelance musician, keyboardist Mike DiLorenzo has had the opportunity to perform as a sideman on piano, organ, and synthesizers with a wide range of artists whose styles range from R&B to Latin and Jazz. Starting with classical piano lessons at the age of 7, has led to performances with such artists as Whitney Houston, Cissy Houston, the grammy award winning NJ Mass Choir, Gerald Alston, Regina Belle, and Tisha Campbell to working with musicians such as Bernard Purdie, Randy Brecker, Will Lee, Otis Rush as well as the Delaware and North Carolina Symphonies. He has performed in such NYC landmarks as Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, the Blue Note and the Apollo Theater. This combination of musical styles is presented on his first project as a leader entitled Urbanized. "The idea behind the cd was to create a blend of melodic, jazzy, groove oriented music with contemporary appeal." This mixture of contemporary jazz and R&B interspersed with hip-hop and latin elements interacts wonderfully providing a tasteful blend of street beats and melodic improvisation. Mike and percussionist Frank Valdes lay down the rhythmic foundation and featured soloists Bob Malach on tenor sax and Vinnie Cutro on trumpet appear on 7 of the 12 tracks. "I can't thank all the musicians enough who have contributed to this project... Frank is a great partner who adds just the right amount of latin flavor to the tracks. Bob and Vinnie are world-class soloists who provide the right edge that is sometimes lacking when categorizing music as smooth jazz, and special thanks to Willy and Karl for their contributions and continued support. Whether you use the term groove, swing or clave; our goal is to provide music from the soul."