11th January 2012: Sideman to the Stars Nick Vayenas launches his next album with WWR, featuring Lionel Loueke, Patrick Cornelius, Kendrick Scott, June 4th 2012….
It’s official! June 4th Worldwide Release date! NYC resident vocalist, trumpeter, and trombonist is one talented fellow. Full scholarship recipient to Berklee College of Music, member of the Monk Institute where he toured with Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, leader of his own groups around the US, and throughout the last ten years he’s been touring the world as a featured member of the Michael Buble Jazz Orchestra. So resume wise, for a barely 30 something, he’s done a lot… He’s 
known amongst musicians and critics alike as a fresh new voice amongst a sea of upcoming players.
InJune of 2012, Nick is launching his inaugural WWR debut. Self titled, the album will be featuring his multi-instrument virtuosity and we’ll be hearing him showcase his Vocals, trumpet and trombone playing. The album boasts a enormously talented cast of individuals who are all very important voices in the contemporary jazz international stage: Vincent Archer on Bass (Nicholas Payton, Kenny Garrett, Robert Glasper), Dan Kaufman Piano (Robin McKelle, Nnenna Freelon), WWR recording artist Patrick Cornelius on saxophones, Kendrick Scott on drums (Herbie Hancock, 
Terence Blanchard), and one of contemporary jazz’s new superstars, the Benin native guitarist and innovator Lionel 
Loueke, Blue Note recording artist who is a current member of Herbie Hancock’s band, and who is a long time musical associate of Nick’s.
Needless to say, this is a very exciting release for WWR, and the cast of players speaks for itself. The music is being recorded literally as this update is being written, so as soon as more information becomes available, we’ll bring it to you.
Visit Nick’s website by CLICKING HERE
Here is Nick’s full biography:
After years of touring the globe as a sidekick to one of the music industry’s biggest stars, Nick Vayenas is ready to step into the spotlight as a musician of style and substance. With his latest album, the self-titled “Nick Vayenas”, Nick displays an astonishing breadth of skill, featuring himself on trumpet, trombone, and vocals. However impressive the tools at his disposal are, they’re merely in service of the mature, unique voice that brings them to life.
“Nick Vayenas” marks a departure in vision from Nick’s critically acclaimed 2009 debut album Synesthesia, which was notable for its blending of live acoustic performances with electronic sounds, for its dark and compelling conceptual purity, and for featuring Vayenas’ virtuosic mastery of the trombone. “Nick Vayenas” frames Vayenas’ talents more solidly within the jazz and American songbook traditions. It also shows more sides of his personality, giving fully equal attention to jazz standards and original compositions. For his new album, Nick eschews a narrative thread in favor of a more complete representation of his musicianship. “I wanted to make a record that I would enjoy putting on and listening to,” Nick explains. “I like records that groove hard, have strong melodic content, and expose the listener to various moods and emotions.“
Originally starting out on trombone and piano at age 12, Nick has since become an accomplished trumpeter and aspiring vocalist. His debut on both trumpet and voice is on this album. “My new skills as a trumpet player improve my range, endurance, and articulation on the trombone,” Vayenas explains. Much like a saxophonist who can switch between soprano and tenor, I now have two different brass voices to work with. It increases my creative options.” Being a long‐time member of pop superstar Michael Buble’s touring band inspired Nick to take vocal lessons, and seriously consider vocals as a way of presenting his musical ideas. “After years of messing around in garage band singing and making tracks I decided to incorporate what I’ve learned”, explains Nick. “I’ve always tried to phrase like a vocalist on the trombone, especially when I play ballads. The trombone is a lot like the human voice so it felt natural to use my own voice as an instrument. To sing a song and make the lyrics mean something to yourself and the listener is a whole new challenge from phrasing on a wind instrument. From vocal tracks like “You Don’t Know What Love Is”, to the hard driving original instrumental composition “ “, “Nick Vayenas” covers a lot of ground musically, but never loses its focus conceptually. Nick’s unique style of playing, composing, and arranging is constant throughout. “This project is an attempt to make an album that combines all of my influences thus far. I love all kinds of music, so hopefully you can hear a little bit of everything in there.“
Listeners who have followed Nick’s musical development from its beginnings in Boston may recognize many names in Nick Vayenas supporting players. In fact, the band is an ensemble cast of musicians who came of age playing together in their late teens and early twenties in Boston. Drum phenomenon Kendrick Scott and alto saxophonist Patrick Cornelius have been performing and recording with Vayenas since their days at school together at Berklee College of Music. Pianist Dan Kaufman and bassist Vicente Archer, who quickly became two of the busiest working musicians in town upon moving to New York, also attended school in Boston during those same years, and the five of them made music together often in various configurations in those days. Jazz guitar and world music star Lionel Loueke also attended Berklee with Vayenas, Cornelius, and Scott. But it wasn’t until he and Nick both relocated to Los Angeles to attend the highly prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz (where they both studied from jazz masters Terence Blanchard, Herbie Hancock, and Wayne Shorter) that their long‐standing musical rapport began.
Nick’s years in school at Berklee, Manhattan School of Music, and The Thelonious Monk Institute were key in his technical development as a musician and composer. But his music reflects a depth of character that can’t be taught in the classroom. Vayenas’ evolution as an artist reflects a life in and of music. He seamlessly straddles both the commercial music industry and the more “artistic” jazz world, having worked comfortably with international pop superstars like Michael Buble and Justin Bieber, and respected New York jazz artists like Kendrick Scott, Dayna Stephens, and Patrick Cornelius alike. He is equally at home performing in intimate New York jazz clubs such as The Jazz Gallery and The Blue Note and in huge arenas making music for tens of thousands, and his years spent touring the globe and paying his dues in the music scene have prepared him for the most musically personal statement of his life so far. “Nick Vayenas” releases May 2012 on Whirlwind Recordings.
Nick Vayenas is a Conn-Selmer Artist