Music from Big Orange Alexander Claffy

• 1 Once Upon a Summertime 08:01
• 2 Your Flowers 05:26
• 3 Julia's Lullabye 07:50
• 4 Cheltenham (For Randy and Michael) 08:24
• 5 Plaza Real 11:17
• 6 A.G. 02:58
• 7 1421 Sansom 11:19
• Total Runtime 55:15

Info for Music from Big Orange

Traditionally as a young artist’s career develops, the proverbial “music business” whittles their musicianship down to the narrowest box it can fit in, finding a neat label to pigeonhole their name into for all future offerings. Occasionally, singular artists rail against that conformist machine, and put out a wide range of music that encompasses the entire breadth of their influences and taste, labels be damned. Alex Claffy is one of those artists.

To call him just a bassist is to only tell a part of the story. With Music From Big Orange his latest album as a bandleader, “Claffy” serves as his own Executive Producer, as well as Composer/Arranger on all of the songs. He switches seamlessly from acoustic bass to electric depending on the sonic flow of any given tune, and even layers in some auxiliary keyboard parts, further underscoring his penchant for harmonic depth and density. As a lyricist, he leans into his personal experiences to lend to the storytelling, which showcases an admirable comfort in expressing his vulnerability - something many artists never delve deep enough to display, but Claffy has been willing to bare since his very first album as a bandleader.

Alexander Claffy, electric bass, double bass
Kate Martucci, voice (track 1)
Alita Moses, voice (track 3)
Sonny Step, voice (track 3)
Seamus Blake, tenor saxophone and EWI (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5)
Randy Brecker, trumpet (tracks 1, 2, 4)
Eden Ladin, piano (track 3)
David Kikoski, piano and Fender Rhodes (tracks 1 & 2)
Mathis Picard, piano and Fender Rhodes (tracks 2, 4, 5)
Kush Abadey, drums (tracks 1, 4, 5)
Adam Arruda, drums (track 3)
Aaron Kimmel, drums (track 2)

Alexander Claffy
has been immersed in music since birth. His father a pianist, his mother, a vocalist, he had many of his earliest lessons on bandstands in the heart of Philadelphia. As a teenager, CLAFFY found mentorship in many natives of Philadelphia's rich music scene from Hard-Bop to Hip-Hop. Upon his arrival in NYC, he studied with some of the world's finest musicians including, Ron Carter, Barry Harris, and Orin O'Brien of the New York Philharmonic. Since moving to New York City in 2011, he has had the honor of working with many of his living heroes, including Wallace Roney, Christian Scott, Louis Hayes, Russell Malone and legendary New York pianist/vocalist Johnny O'Neal. CLAFFY resides in Harlem as one of the most working bass players in the New York City scene.

This album contains no booklet.