Christine Spero - Pianist/Singer/Composer Even before Christine Spero began recording with her dynamic quartet, she was earning numerous accolades for her melodic, emotionally powerful and soulful songwriting and was Winner of the USA Songwriting Competition/Jazz category with her song,"He Wasn't Always That Way". She was also a finalist with "Caribbean Nights," a festive tropical celebration that typifies the joyful exotica that drives her second recording, "My Spanish Dream", a rich Brazilian/Latin/world fusion offering that dances blithely between pop and jazz. Diverse and daring, "My Spanish Dream" highlights Spero's love for lush vocal harmonies. The project was produced by Elliot Spero, who does multiple duties on soprano and tenor saxes as well as percussion. My Spanish Dream, Spero's second recording, has been heard worldwide and is a rich jazz/Latin/world fusion offering that dances blithely between pop and jazz. It is a comprehensive exploration of her style, highlighting her instrumental, vocal, and lyrical talents. Flashes of Bebel Gilberto, Gloria Estefan, Laura Nyro and Eliane Elias appear in her vocals, and her piano and keyboard artistry shines through.Along with Christine, the group, consisting of bassist Scott Petito, drummer Peter O'Brien and saxophonist/percussionist Elliot Spero, displays all of the attributes of experienced accompaniment accomplished only by years of experience in the jazz trade. Christine and the group have been written about in USA Today, Billboard, JazzTimes, JAZZIZ, Keyboard and Recording Magazines, Time Out New York, The Village Voice and ASCAP Playback. They have shared the stage with Kevin Eubanks. Felicia Collins, Doc Gibbs, Steve Katz, John Sebastian, Blood Sweat and Tears, Kim Waters, Walter Beasley, Ray Vega, The Woody Herman Orchestra, Bobby Mattos, and Melanie. Christine has a musical heritage, her grandmother and great-aunt were classical, ragtime and silent movie pianists. She is first, last, and always a songwriter. Since her start in the music business as a teen with legendary producer Don Kirschner and Neil Sedaka, she has honed the sound of piano, percussion, and saxophone into rich grooves and memorable melodies. As a teen she entered the RCA recording studio with producers Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield and her first group, 7th House recorded several original songs. The first single recorded, entitled "Ode To Freedom" was written by Christine Spero along with the B-side, a song entitled River Queen which was written by Neil Sedaka. She then moved from New York to San Francisco to further study music and botany. She was a member of Bob Braye's Peace and Rhythm Unit. Her eclectic and personal style of composing was influenced by many classical and jazz musicians. She has performed with her own quartets and sextets over the years and now lives in the Catskill Mountains of New York, where she continues to write, record, and perform with her band. Saxophonist, percussionist and producer Elliot Spero founded his own ensembles in San Francisco. He engineered and produced Christine's CD's, "We Call It Music" and "My Spanish Dream" and owns a recording studio in New York. In the new, one-of-a-kind show, “Spero Plays Nyro,” the Christine Spero Group maintains the integrity of Laura Nyro’s music while infusing it with their own unique personality. Christine's interview on NPR discussed the CD of the same name to be released November 2014. Christine has loved Laura's music from a young age when she was given Eli and the Thirteenth Confession by a radio DJ friend. She was inspired by Laura's music to be bold in writing, singing, and playing piano. Laura Nyro was the quintessential singer/songwriter and pianist whose groundbreaking music crossed the genres of folk, rock, and jazz. She became one of the most covered artists in the 1960's and 1970's with such songs as “Eli's Coming,” “Stoned Soul Picnic,” “Wedding Bell Blues,” and “Sweet Blindness.” Her tragically premature passing in 1997 shocked her fans and in 2012 she was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.
