Multi-faceted actor, performer, singer Tim Draxl, signs a recording deal with adult contemporary music label Fanfare Records.
Draxl’s new album “MY FUNNY VALENTINE” will be released to coincide with the Sydney Opera house performances of his one man show “FREEWAY - The Chet Baker Journey”.
Draxl, who recently was seen in the Australian comedy feature film A FEW BEST MEN alongside Olivia Newton-John and soon to be seen in a TV drama based on the life of Ronald Biggs, has long been a fan of the songs made famous by Chet Baker. In 2009 Producer/writer Bryce Hallett and Tim Draxl created the show FREEWAY based on the brilliant talent and extraordinary life of famous singer and musician Chet Baker.
Robert Rigby, Managing Director, Ambition Entertainment Pty Ltd said “We are very pleased to be signing Tim Draxl to our label for such a quality project. The line up of wonderful songs planned for the new album along with Tim’s impeccable vocal stlye will make this a very special album. Since making his first studio recording some years ago Tim has matured into a quality all round artist with a brilliant voice well suited to the wonderful material from the Chet Baker songbook. My Funny Valentine will appeal to discerning music lovers who appreciate 1950’s cool classics.”
Tim Draxl - My Funny Valentine - songs from “Freeway” (the Chet Baker songbook) will be released on Fanfare Records through EMI in July, 2012. When FREEWAY - The Chet Baker Journey began life at the tiny yet legendary jazz club el Rocco in Kings Cross it attracted audiences from 18 to 80 and met with universal praise. Broadway star Lillias White fell in love with Tim Draxl’s restrained and seductive voice while the Australian theatre director Jim Sharman responded to the intimacy and haunting tone of Freeway. He said:
“The experience felt akin to seeing Chet Baker in one of those smoky, over-crowded joints he played in LA.”
A familiar comment after each performance has been, “who needs Michael Buble when you’ve got Tim Draxl”, a sentiment echoed at last year’s Adelaide Cabaret Festival where it played to sellout crowds. Many fans wanted to know when an album would be released. Finallly the time has come. Freeway co-writer and associate producer Bryce Hallett says he is delighted that Fanfare Records has chosen to sign Tim Draxl and champion one of Australia’s finest singing talents. The album, like the biographical show itself, will enable younger audiences to discover something of the spirit and sound of Chet Baker who came to be known as “the Prince of Cool” in the ‘50s.
“Tim Draxl has a natural affinity with the tender style and mystique of Chet Baker which is evident in his phrasing and his sensuous interpretations of classic songs such as My Funny Valentine and You Don’t Know What Love Is,” says Hallett. “Tim delves deep into the lyrics of each song and the effect is effortless and
spellbinding.
The sound is all the richer for the magic and skills of the musicianswho are part of the Freeway family: the gifted jazz veterans Ray Alldridge (piano) and Dave Ellis (double bass), the talented young trumpeter Eamon McNelis and the fine drummer Ben Hendry.”
When Kate Ceberano, an avowed Chet Baker fan, saw Freeway in Adelaide last year she was quickly seduced. “Tim is a great singer, a natural actor and a massive spunk to boot,” she said. “Add that to the sounds and songbook of the late, great Chet Baker and it’s a marriage made in jazz heaven.”
The Chet Baker cabaret piece FREEWAY, opens for a limited run at the Sydney Opera House July 20-22, and includes classics such as:
Freeway • My Funny Valentine • Let’s Get Lost • Look For The
Silver Lining • Travelin’ Light’• But Not For Me • You Don’t Know
What Love Is • There Is No Greater Love • That Old Feeling • These
Foolish Things • Everything Happens To Me • The Thrill Is Gone •
Born To Be Blue • There Will Never Be Another You.
