CD Cover

About the Album
"Solar System"

"Intergalactic funk" has arrived! Using a unique combination of live traditional instrumentation with computer technology, SOLAR SYSTEM brings a fresh new approach to Acid Jazz. Straight ahead melodies combine with hip hop beats resulting in a whole new sound that crosses the boundaries of jazz, rap and dance music. The story so far...
The core members consist of an R&B piano player from Texas, an English jazz guitar playing farm boy and a lyrical soldier from Chicago. After spending ten years studying classical guitar and honing his jazz skills in London clubs, guitarist Chris Standring headed for Hollywood to find a new distinctive way to make jazz accessible. Reluctant to pursue the ever diminishing market of Bebop, Chris saw possibilities in brand new fusion music. Using club beats and jazz instrumentation, SOLAR SYSTEM was born. "I guess you could call it Hip Hop meets Bebop," he says, "you know-kinda like Wes Montgomery meets Ice Cube, all with a very positive edge. Pretty out really!"

SOLAR SYSTEM'S keyboard man is Rodney Lee, the 'minister of funk.' Born in Alabama the son of an Air Force Captain, Rodney started playing classical piano at the tender age of ten. After moving to Los Angeles in 1992 he started working as a sideman with artists such as Jody Watley and Chante Moore. It was during a U.S. tour with Lauren Christy that Chris and Rodney met for the first time.

Lead rapper 'C.R.A.S.H.' (which stands for Creating Rationale Among Senseless Humans) completes the nucleus of Solar System. A former marine, C.R.A.S.H. wrote part of 'Rhymes for a Rainy Day' in Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War. "I had writer's block for about a year and then all of a sudden, while dodging scud missiles it hit me," says C.R.A.S.H. The group shows a great deal of originality with their songs 'Rhymes for a Rainy Day,' 'Is it Deep Enough' and particularly 'What If,' a song about living in today's world and the many abrupt situations it presents.

Along with vocalist Michael Mishaw, drummer David Salinas, bassist Stan Sargent, and sax man Dino Soldo, SOLAR SYSTEM's message is unity among all people, racial colorblindness and the need to get your groove on! The group is now signed to the SONIC IMAGES record label under the A&R direction of Brad Pressman and their debut album hits the streets in Spring '96.

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