Allison Scola: Bios
Allison Scola - vocals, piano, clarinet, guitar, Italian tamburo
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After months of working 12 -14 hour days at a top New York advertising agency, songwriter and singer Allison Scola realized that she had missed her true destination by just a few hundred yards: That moment was when she discovered that day in and day out on her way to the office, she had been walking right past the Brill Building, the songwriting headquarters of the 1940s to 1970s. Within hours she quit her job, and since has thrown herself into crafting songs and performing. Allison’s dedication and talent shows – her 2004 Song Sampler received rave reviews from CollectedSounds.com and Musesmuse.com and landed her a place in the national Chick Singer Night showcase, the On Stage Italian American Artists showcase, and the Songwriters Hall of Fame New Writers showcase. In addition, her song "Something Better Waiting" reaped a Finalist Position in the 2005 Hank Williams Songwriting Contest, and "Risking a Fall" won her a 3rd Place prize in the 2005 SolarFest Singer-Songwriter Competition. In 2006, Scola performed in New York’s Columbus Day Parade, and in 2007 she wooed audiences during her Italian Day pre-game performance at the New York Met’s Shea Stadium and Staten Island Yankees Stadium. In the summer of 2007, her band, Allison Scola Project, was voted a finalist in the CBS News Early Show “Living Room Live! Battle of the Bands Contest.” Scola creates songs that weave hues of her Italian heritage and fascination with Mediterranean folk culture together with personal accounts of her experience as a modern American artist taking risks in love and life. Her latest album, A Braver Kind, produced by Janie Barnett and engineered and mixed by Jon Gordon, illustrates her power as a songwriter and musician--as confirmed by an Honorable Mention Award in the 2009 Billboard Magazine World Song Competition for her song "My Naked Heart." With a voice that's been described by Music-Reviewer.com as "comforting and all-embracing, like being in the presence of your long lost best friend," Allison transports listeners to a world where hearts are bursting and dreams come true. |
Janie Barnett - producer, acoustic guitar, background vocals
Janie began performing in the D.C. area at an early age, then made her way to Cambridge, Massachusetts for schooling and bar-band gigs. Her years in New England prepared her for freelance life in New York City, where she has been an active session singer, guitarist, producer and songwriter working in films, television, jingles, and on pop records. She has worked alongside artists as varied as Bonnie Raitt, Rickie Lee Jones, Celine Dion, Linda Rondstadt, Marc Cohn, Carly Simon, Patti Austin, Jessica Simpson, Chris Botti, and MIchael and Kevin Bacon, to name but a few. In the spring of 2009 Janie will participate in diva Jessye Norman's esteemed concert of Duke Ellington's Sacred Songs at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
Janie has also been in collaboration with playwright Michael Milton and Composer Margaret Dorn on a new family musical, Faraway Bayou,which will have it's regional debut in 2009, and a New York premier in 2010.
Janie has released three solo recordings. "Shake The Ladder" rose to heavy rotation on college radio and her songs have been included in several indie anthologies. Of her most recent release, "Belong," New York City's Music Paper wrote: "She will put you in a trance...her voice is unforgettable...the lyrics are brilliant (and) the songs drift like jewels across a shimmering sea of musical anticipation."
Her concerts are intimate and energizing, and she has been known to spin a tale or two over a night's performance. More on Janie at http://www.newyorksingerscollective.com and http://www.janiebarnett.com
Steve Jabas - electric guitar, drum loop programming
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Steve Jabas grew up in suburban Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. He attended University of Minnesota - Duluth, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in guitar performance and composition. After graduating, he settled in Minneapolis/St. Paul where he worked as a freelance musician, arranger, and teacher. Eventually, Steve combined his career in music with his love for travel while working for a number of cruise lines as a guitarist and musical director. He performed in a variety of settings playing multiple musical styles from rock, pop, and country, to Broadway, latin, and jazz. An extremely versatile musician, Steve now lives in New York City where he performs and records with various artists, arranges music, and composes film scores. To learn more, visit Steve's MySpace page. |
Joe Ravo - nylon string guitar
A native New Yorker, multi-faceted guitarist and composer Joe Ravo has performed with Jazz greats Dave Brubeck, Stanley Turrentine, and Gerry Mulligan and recorded alongside Liza Minelli, Randy Brecker, Anne Hampton Callaway, Michael Feinstein, and Tom Harrell to name a few. For many years he worked in the orchestras of various hit Broadway shows including, A Chorus Line, 42nd Street, Secret Garden, City of Angels, and Dancin’.
Recently he recorded records with the Johnny Rodgers Band (Box of Photographs – PS Classics, Richard Barrone, producer; Bound Together - Melody Thread), Lee Lessack (In Good Company – LML Music), and Brain Lane Green (Waiting for the Glaciers to Melt – LML Music). He also appears on the PS Classics releases Maury Yeston Songbook and Jule Styne in Hollywood. Joe studied guitar with Alexander Bellow and participated in the Master Class of Oscar Gighlia at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena Italy. He studied composition with Rudolph Schramm.
Joe has taught guitar privately at New York University and Columbia University and is currently on the faculties of the Preparatory and Extension Divisions of Mannes College the New School for Music. Currently, in addition to lending his artistry to commercial jingles and film scores, Joe performs regularly with the Johnny Rodgers Band and with Danny Mallon in their ensemble Mariners' Gate.
Alden Banta - clarinet, sax
Multi-instrumentalist Alden Banta can be found performing in numerous venues around New York City. He is a versatile performer who currently plays woodwinds in the Broadway show Spamalot and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. He performs in the bands for singer/song writers Allison Scola and Becca Ayers. He can also be heard playing the music of composer Sean Hickey on the recent release, Left at the Fork in the Road, on the Naxos label. Alden grew up in New Orleans and was immersed in a diverse music scene. While in his hometown he performed with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Baton Rouge Symphony and the Acadiana Symphony in Lafayette Louisiana, in addition to many nightclubs and jazz venues throughout the city. He performs on saxophone, flute, clarinet and bassoon. As a freelance bassoonist in New York, he has performed with many of the cities finest ensembles including the Brooklyn Philharmonic, American Symphony, and the Orchestra of the SEM Ensemble. As a low woodwind specialist he has performed in over 25 Broadway shows and some of the cities best big bands including Mike Longo’s State of the Art Big Band, Darcy James Argues’ Secret Society, NewYorkestra and the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop Orchestra.
Mark Verdino - bass
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Mark Verdino was born and raised on Long Island, New York. He received his Bachelors degree from Crane School of Music and his Masters degree in Jazz Performance from Manhattan School of Music. Mark is currently a freelance bassist in the NYC/Tri State area where he has performed in venues as varied as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center to Cleopatra's Needle and The Living Room.
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Dave Mancuso - drums and percussion
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Dave Mancuso studied percussion at Oberlin Conservatory (Bachelor of Music) and Temple University (Master of Music). During his career he has performed with symphony orchestras, opera orchestras, chamber music ensembles, percussion ensembles, Broadway show orchestras, and rock and pop bands. |