Jeremy's Blog

GlobalVision Backing Tracks and Karaoke Store is now open!

Are you kidding me? The ACTUAL tracks from the recordings?

Yes.

www.globalvisionrecords.com/store/

Please read the FAQ — it will explain all….

More to come…

PS — CUBA was an incredible experience and we are just now recovering from the trip. I'll make a post about Cuba in the next day or 2.

Thanks for reading,

J

This is going to be the first of many blog posts this week… It's been an incredibly busy few weeks, and today is going to be a very special day for 2 reasons:

1. Tears of Heaven – The Concept Recording is available as of today;
2. I am going to Havana, CUBA with GlobalVision recording artists Rob Evan and Norm Lewis, to participate in an international theater festival!

Let's start with Tears…

We recorded this concept album last year — with Linda Eder, Rob Evan, Christiane Noll, James Barbour, Michael Lanning, Jackie Burns, Morgan James, Natalie Hill, Henry Gainza, Pamela Jordan, Deborah Lew, Michael Shawn Lewis, Jose Llana, Laura Osnes, Jill Paice, Tricia Paoluccio, Andy Senor, Jr., Tad Wilson. Wow. 18 of the finest voices of all time assembled together.

We made this recording before we went to Korea about a year ago to stage the world premiere, and the show (performed by a Korean cast, including mega-star Junsu) was an incredible experience!!! We were nominated for 14 "Korean Musical Awards" – their equivalent of the "Tony", and we even won one!

We are releasing this now because the music is simply too good NOT to release it. The recording is not tied to any physical production, and since we have 18 of our favorite singers, the music transcends any staged version. I will share more about the hows and whys of this recording over the next days… but for me, the big story here is this was the first reunion of Frank, Linda and myself (creatively) in more than 6 years! If it were not for this project, Linda's "Now" album may never have been made…  When Linda & I started working on songs such as "The First TIme I Saw Paris", it was like riding a bike. We just got back on and it was as if no time had passed. The energy was felt by everyone in the studio.

Tears of Heaven is available as of Midnight, Eastern time, Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2011 from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, iTunes, Sound of Music (DE), and Dress Circle (UK).

CUBA

I'm the Musical Director of "The Broadway Ambassadors" — Norm Lewis, Luba Mason, Capathia Jenkins, and Rob Evan (all part of the Wildhorn musical family) — we're going to Havana to particiapte in The Havana Theatre Festival. First time Broadway goes to Cuba in more than 52 years!!!!

We're leaving in a few hours… we'll be picking up an orchestra in Havana. The festival is presented by the Cuban National Council for the Performing Arts and our group is produced and sponsored by Robert Nederlander, Jr./Nedrlander Worldwide Events. We will be sharing the stage with groups from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Greece, Switzerland, South Korea, and Cuba.

Yeah, wow is an understatement.

Not only do we have a team of 4 of my favorite performers, we have the ORIGINAL music from 20 Broadway shows. That deserves its own blog post, since it was a momumental task that Rob Evan made happen. More on that later in the week. And since we only received our permits and visas a few days ago, the press releases are just starting to get sent out — I'll link to them as soon as they are posted.

PS – Dracula @ Barnes & Noble

Thanks to everyone who came out on Thursday night. WHAT A BLAST THAT WAS!!!!! I don't know if the performers had more fun, or the audience. We REALLY, REALLY appreciate your support for coming out. I will post pictures and video soon… our friend, Mike Kostel took about 175 pictures!

I hope you enjoy Tears of Heaven as much as we had making it. It's quite the story. And I will go deeper into the story in subsequent posts. From Havana. Wish us luck!

Thanks!

Jeremy

Save The Date!

Join DRACULA authors, Frank Wildhorn & Don Black, with James Barbour, Kate Shindle, Rob Evan and Norm Lewis LIVE in-store at Barnes & Noble in NYC for a FREE concert and Q&A!

Thursday, October 27, 2011 @ 7:00 pm
http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/event/74018
Barnes & Noble, 150 East 86th Street (bet Lex & 3rd), New York City, 7:00 PM

The program will run about an hour, and B&N encourages the audience to ask questions and interact with the authors and performers between songs. There will be a meet & greet with the authors and performers following the peformance.

We'd love to see you!  Please let us know if you are planning on being there!

OK — a little blatant self promotion…

If you are anywhere near NYC tonight, please come see our show! Rob and I are surrounded by incredible talent — and the songs!!!! It's been a joy rediscovering these classic rock tunes… and my respect for the musicians from this era is even greater, now that I have disected the original parts and micro-analyzed every note. As musicians, we think we know what these guys did — but as my friend, bass player Will Lee once told me when he started his Beatles band, The Fab Faux, "until you break it down and really study the parts, you really only think you know it."

Programming modern keyboard instruments to recreate the sounds of the late 70's and early 80's has been quite the challenge — for example, Pete Townshend didn't have MIDI or computers or digital samplers when he conceived Baba O'Riley — Apparently Pete used a Lowry organ with an "auto-accompaniment" button that played notes automatically, and then he took the sound and processed it through filters that eventually became an ARP synthesizer — but the sound was not coming from the synth. Then it all was edited together — with today's studio technology, we can accomplish similar types of sounds in a few moments, but the randomness and musicality that Townshend brought to the Baba recording was pure art. I'm gonna do my best to recreate something that sounds close.

And my hero, Dennis DeYoung. Admit it – you LOVED Styx when you were in high school (if you're as old as I am), but for whatever reasons, Dennis never got the "you are one of the great keyboardists of all time" badge. Well, I'm giving it to him now. He was a big influence on me – his music always had drama, and melody, and storytelling. And he was a real pioneer using the bleeding edge of technology at the time. Recreating his sounds 30+ years later is still quite the challenge today.

Did I say that I am so looking forward to tonight's show?

My only regret is that the show time is too late for my 7 year old daughter to come see us… she loves this music, but it's just too late for a 7 year old who usually is sleeping by 9pm, even in the summer.

I look forward to seeing many of you at the venue.

Best,

J

GlobalVision Recording Artist, Rob Evan and Producer, Jeremy Roberts are thrilled to announce:

The Rock Tenor in The Grand Illusion

Starring Rob Evan with Special Guest performers from Broadway, Trans-Siberian Orchestra and the world of ROCK! Musical direction by Jeremy Roberts. Featuring a 6-piece band and four vocalists. Proceeds go to benefit BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS

THE GRAND ILLUSION will celebrate the Classic Rock genre and honor some of the most iconic Rock Tenors of our time, featuring songs inspired by the great Rock Tenors:

Roger Daltrey (THE WHO), Dennis DeYoung & Tommy Shaw (STYX), Lou Gramm (FOREIGNER), Freddie Mercury (QUEEN), Steve Perry (JOURNEY), Bono (U2), Robert Plant (LED ZEPPELIN) David Gilmour & Roger Waters (PINK FLOYD), David Lee Roth & Eddie Van Halen (VAN HALEN) And Luciano Pavarotti… AND MORE…

Monday, August 22, 2011, 10:00 PM.

(le) poisson rouge, 158 Bleecker Street, New York NY.

Tickets: $20 advance/$25 at the door

http://lepoissonrouge.com/events/view/2597

File this under the "incredibly embarrassed" department…

Our Contact Us web form has been DEFECTIVE… if you have been trying to reach us via this form, we have not received your email.

We are TERRIBLY SORRY!!!! and extremely embarrassed. It's DEFINITELY working now.

The form may have been sending emails to a "black hole" for months… (and I just thought you guys had little to say)

All I can say is, "oy". And I'm sorry. Kindly send again? Thanks.

http://www.globalvisionrecords.com/contact.html

If you are in the NYC area, please "save the date" — Monday night, Aug 22…

Can't tell you what's cooking just yet — but it will be a cool event (concert) in NYC that you will MOST DEFINITELY want to be at.

I'll send an email and update the blog when it locks — hopefully by Tuesday.

Best,

J

1. Dracula CD in your favorite store…

1. I'm happy to report that the Dracula CD inventory issues have stabalized…

Thank you for your patience while the distribution challenges were all sorted out. If you ordered from Amazon, it looks like most orders have shipped. We have added some reselles this week as well:

• Footlight.com is now stocking the CD
• Amazon has inventory at 6 different fulfillment centers.
• Dress Circle will be sotcking the CD soon!
• SoundOfMusic has a special "Dracula" section!

And we can always ship CDs to US addresses – if ordered from our website.

2. REVIEWS….

We need reviews! Specifically, iTunes and Amazon…  I really appreciate the emails, I do!! But in addition to sending an email, how about posting your raves on Amazon or iTunes? Share your appreciation with the world.

3. Lyrics…

If you bought the CD and want the PDF with the lyrics, just send me an email…

Thanks for your support and messages!

Best,

Jeremy

Wow! Just got word from Amazon that they sold-out their entire inventory of Dracula CDs by 8am EDT today! We have been #3 (or #4 or #5, depending on the hour) in the musical CD rankings all weekend, and we are now top-100 of all music CDs!!!

We are shipping more CDs right now to Amazon's fulfillment center for delivery tomorrow.

Thanks to all who have helped make this CD a success!!!

PLEASE post your reviews on Amazon and iTunes!

Best,

Jeremy

PS – Amazon has been playing "whack-a-mole" with the pricing. Some hours the price goes up, some hours the price goes down — I even think they profile users, since my amazon account had a higher price than my wife's! We have zero control over what they do. I agree with the people who have emailed about this — but it's all done by computer!