Robert Miller's Project Grand Slam Announces Release of EAST SIDE SESSIONS

Project Grand Slam (PGS), the celebrated Jazz Rock Latin band with a New York City groove, announces the release of their new album, East Side Sessions, on Friday, July 31 (Cakewalk Records). PGS is the brainchild of acclaimed bassist/composer Robert Miller.

Over the course of nine previous albums, PGS has established itself as "one of the pre-eminent forces in American music" (Music Existence) and "one of the best bands working today" (Indie Music Reviews).

PGS has had a #1 Billboard album (Trippin' - 2018), over 3 million video views, performed at numerous festivals and major venues in the U.S. and abroad, opened for such artists as Blues Traveler, Edgar Winter and Boney James, and had a featured role in the hit NBC-TV series "Lipstick Jungle" starring Brooke Shields.

East Side Sessions continues the band's amazing run. Featuring 11 new songs written and arranged by Robert that reflect the diversity of their music, plus his "reimagining" of a classic early Beatles song, "I Wanna Be Your Man".

Miller said this week, "My goals with Project Grand Slam include releasing a new album each year, and continuing to push the envelope with my music and the band's sound. Over the last 5 years I've transformed PGS from an instrumental-based contemporary jazz group into a vocal-oriented Fusion band. I crave diversity with my music, the mark of many of the artists I've admired."

He continues: "East Side Sessions continues this trend. I've introduced a new singer (Marilyn Castillo) and sax player (Alex Blade Silver) into the band, and my new songs run the gamut from hard rock to country rock to Latin to ballads, and also what may be the world's first Cowboy Jazz song called 'The Pardners'."

The band has released three videos of album tracks in advance of the official release, all to great response. Says Robert: "I decided early on in the pandemic that there were a couple of songs on the new album that were perfectly suited to being released at this time - even though they were written and recorded well before the pandemic. The first one was "It Is A Miracle To Me", a joyous, upbeat, positive song that is kind of the musical antidote to the virus.

Next we released "I'm Falling Off Of The World", a song that I wrote about how all the trials and tribulations in life make us feel. The third was for "The Pardners", and it's a Wild West romp using footage from a 1968 Spaghetti Western. So different and so spectacular!"

PGS was scheduled to perform at a number of festivals this summer, including return engagements at MusikFest (PA) and the Nisville Jazz Festival (Serbia), in addition to a European tour in July/August, but of course all were cancelled due to the virus. The band looks forward to the time when they can play together again live.

EAST SIDE SESSIONS - track by track:

"The One I'm Not Supposed To See" - I like to start each of our albums with an in-your-face rocker to kind of wake up the audience. This song does just that and was recorded in one take; we didn't change a thing.

"Constable On Patrol" - a friend told me that the word "cop" was actually an acronym for Constable On Patrol. I loved it and decided to write a song about everyone having their own private Constable looking out for you.

"It Is A Miracle To Me" - A happy, joyous and upbeat song. There are enough downers in this world. I told Marilyn (my singer) to smile as she sang it.

"Juliet Dances" - I wrote this for a special little girl. I pictured her learning to dance, with her mother/grandmother/sister watching her and remembering what it was like for them to dance when they were young.

"It Don't Matter" - this song tells the story of a drifter along the Mexican/US border. A bit ominous. It's got a Santana feel I think.

"Hey Jake" - an anti-bullying song with a '50s vibe.

"Stockbridge Fanfare" - this is a song that I wrote about a little town in western Massachusetts that I love. Really for any small town in America.

"I'm Falling Off Of The World" - So many upsetting things in the world. This song gives voice to the frustration we all feel.

"The Week" - I'm influenced by artists that I love. This one has a Police vibe to it.

"Tessa" - a love song for another special little girl. Sometimes in making a record there is a small portion that is simply sublime. That's how I feel about Guillermo's triangle work in the final verse of this song. Just perfect.

"I Wanna Be Your Girl" - One of my musical signatures is to take an iconic song from the 1960s and "reimagine" it in PGS's style. I've done this now with Hendrix, Cream, The Who and The Kinks. Obviously The Beatles are like Mount Everest in this regard. You simply cannot improve on almost any of their songs. But "I Wanna Be Your Man" is among the most obscure Beatles songs - recorded first by The Rolling Stones, and then by The Fab Four with Ringo singing. I not only changed the feel but rewrote some of the lyrics to give it a feminine spin. Done with the greatest respect.

"The Pardners" - May be the world's first Cowboy Jazz song. I loved Cowboy westerns growing up. I wanted to write something with a Cowboy feel. Then I thought it would be cool to insert a straight-ahead jazz section in the middle. Why not? Complete with horses hooves, a gunshot and a cracking whip.