(Vocal jazz, Jazz-Pop ) Amy McConnell & William Sperandei - Stealing Genius - 2012, MP3, 320 kbps

AMY MCCONNELL has been performing from the age of nine months when she appeared in her first television commercial. Amy continued her childhood career as a regular on the TfO TV series “Téléfrançais” and in various professional theatrical productions such as “The Sound of Music” and “A Christmas Carol.”
Amy went on to win a scholarship to study musical theatre performance at the American Academy of Musical and Dramatic Arts in Manhattan. Studying acting made Amy feel (and it has had this effect on countless actors before her) that what she really wanted to do was direct.
Amy returned to Toronto to study film at Ryerson Polytechnic University and has since become an award winning film and commercial director.
However, Amy has never been able to resist the siren song of… song and she works in both film and music. Amy’s recordings include the voice of drag queen Miss Conception on the musical “A Dragged Out Affair” currently making the film festival rounds and the official recording of the anthem “Good Old Brighton Town.” Amy also does voiceovers for various commercial clients including Telus, Audi and Astra Zeneca.
Despite her anglophone name, Amy comes from a francophone background, is fluently bilingual and frequently performs in French. Known for her beautiful voice, impeccable intonation and emotional approach, Amy’s style encompasses jazz, pop and musical theatre.
WILLIAM SPERANDEI (trumpeter, pianist) is a Toronto musician, composer, arranger, and bandleader. His love of the trumpet began in grade school where he studied privately with Bram Smith. He continued his education at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, on a full scholarship and for two and a half years studied classical music and played in diverse ensembles including orchestra, wind ensemble, brass trio, and jazz ensemble, as well as leading his own jazz quintet.
At the recommendation of Wynton Marsalis, Sperandei left Canada to continue his studies at the University of New Orleans under the direction of Ellis Marsalis. During the time he lived in Louisiana, he played with some of the best of the best including Nicholas Payton, Marcus Roberts, Ellis Marsalis, Harold Battiste, Victor Goines, Charmaine Neville, and Harry Connick Jr. and in 1992, two years prior to his graduation from the UNO, he opened for Wynton Marsalis at the Rome Jazz Festival. It was during the same 1992 European tour Sperandei undertook a stint teaching jazz improvisation at the University of Innsbruck in Austria
Possessing wide-ranging performance skills, William Sperandei has played Polish Opera, Flamenco music, worked with Canadian soul/pop artist, Gerald Eaton (Jarvis Church), and blues legend Colin James. He is a respected sideman on the Toronto jazz circuit in live performance and in the recording studios. He performs in two classical ensembles – The Niagara Brass, led by former tutor and internationally renowned recitalist James Tinsley, and a classical ensemble headed by Charles Schlueter, principal trumpet of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He also plays with various Toronto-based artists and ensembles includingTyler Yarema and His Rhythm, Janice Hagan, Danny B., and Jake and the Blue Midnights. He was a member of the Jake Wilkinson and The Funky Boot Brass Band when they performed in concert during the “Sound of Toronto Jazz” Series at the Ontario Science Centre on December 14, 1998.
William has played with Wynton Marsalis, Charmaine Neville, Ned Gould, Brian Blade, Marcus Roberts, Paul Anka, Andrea Bocelli, David Foster, Ron Sexsmith, Lori Cullen, Shannon Butcher, Robi Botos, Nicholas Payton and more.
William had both an acting and playing role in the musical ‘Swingstep’ and on the television show ‘Instant Star’, for which he also composed music.
In addition to producing his own two albums (“Bobo’s Blues” 2000 and “When I Fall In Love” 2008) William has Produced 4 recordings for Charlie Schlueter, principle trumpet of the Boston Symphony.
As a player, William has appeared on over 100 recordings in the classical, jazz, pop, electronic and film genres and has also arranged music for dozens of artists.
William recently performed as the trumpet of Louis Armstrong in the live film score for the biopic “Louis” written by Wynton Marsalis.
William is currently a member of bands such as Mario Romano, Michael Kaeshammer, Brandi Disterheft and Emilie-Claire Barlow.

Sometimes the stars align, the people who should meet, do meet, at the right time and in the right place. Other times, fate needs a helping hand. Amy & William fall into the latter category.
“Stealing Genius” executive producer Feisal Patel had been wanting to make an album with jazz trumpet player William Sperandei for years. “William is actually the best trumpet player I’ve ever heard. And I’ve heard some of the best. I couldn’t believe he was playing in this small club in Toronto and not onstage at Lincoln Centre. I immediately wanted to do a recording project with him.”
As it turns out, William, who studied jazz with Marsalis clan patriarch Ellis Marsalis in New Orleans, has played with some of the best, including Wynton Marsalis, Andrea Bocelli, David Foster and more. William and Feisal both wanted to work with a singer, but they had a very specific idea of what they were looking for and no one ever seemed quite right. They wanted someone with a beautiful, dramatic voice, who loved melody and who shared William’s commitment to excellence.
“Ellis always said that my job as a trumpet player was to support the singer and what she was doing with the song. And I love doing that. There is an art to doing it well.”
About five years had gone by when Feisal dropped in on a Toronto jazz jam one night and heard Amy McConnell joyfully making her way through a Cole Porter song. Her voice was what caught his attention first. “It was warm and rich. Her tone was exquisite. On top of that she was really feeling the lyrics, respecting the melody and making the song her own. The audience loved her.” He knew he had found their singer.
It took six months to work around Amy and William’s schedules to get them to perform together, but when they did it was magical. Amy’s singing background is both jazz and musical theatre so “she really understands the art of singing as an expression of words,” William says. “Also, her technique is polished and she has incredible intonation.”
Amy is just as big a fan of William’s. “William is amazing. He stands there and music just pours out of him. And it’s different every time and it’s brilliant every time. He plays with so much imagination and fire.”
“When I first heard him play, what really struck me was his tone. It was so pure, so beautiful. Almost more like a classical player than a jazz player. It’s something I work at as a vocalist and I really appreciate a musician dedicated to getting the best sound possible out of his instrument. Also, his solos are amazing, but he’s not all about the solo, he’s thinking about the whole song. He gets that a song is a story. I feel that I sing the lyrics and William plays the lyrics.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cyfsoSxt7PY
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