Reptor Productions 2008 - UK based unsigned online band promoters - Sally Cooper

Sally Cooper - Perfect Universe		Visit website
Formed		Email this band
Genre Jazz		Bookmark page
Country Australia		Email a friend
Album: Perfect Universe
Joined Reptor Productions 1875 days ago.
1. The Apple of...	BUY NOW!	play
2. Take a Bite	BUY NOW!	play
3. Spreading that Stuff	BUY NOW!	play

All live and acoustic Antipodean Jazz, Blues and Swing with an occaisional Rock Edge, leaning towards rootsy folk at times, featuring powerful soaring and soulfully masterful Female vocals.

Australian Sally Cooper is a full time Professional Internationally touring songbird, who's music crosses over the R&B/Folk/Jazz & Blues genres. Her sensual and soaring vocals consistently offer a spine tingling delivery of both popular song interpretations and the emotive themes in her original songs.

Sally displays well rounded vocal prowess in performances of songs made famous by artists such as Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Eva Cassidy, and Janis Joplin. Her rich and polished vocals talents have kept her in demand full time as a vocalist in International 5 star hotels for the past 10 years.

Her original material has also displayed natural evolutionary growth over time, thanks to her being an "unsigned artist," (& free from the artistic control that record companies tend to place on their artists.) An enormous internet audience follows Sallys' work, indicated by well over a million streams and downloads since 2000 at artistlaunch.com and mp3.com (with no promotion or marketing assistance at all,) and without the help of big budget production on her tracks. Sallys' original songs consistently offer a high level of musicianship, and deliver a potent mix of R&B jazzy grooves, pop sensibility, Folk, and Soul Blues vocal belting.

Her vocal/songwriting talents have been enhanced from working with Australia's' best musicians. Contributing musicians in Sally's' live performances and recordings have also worked with artists such as Barbara Streisand, Madonna, James Taylor, Frank Zappa, Vince Jones, Steve Vai, Alan Holdsworth, James Morrison, Dale Barlow, and The Baby Animals. Her career started as lead singer/songwriter for 7 piece original Pop/Funk/Groove band "Havoc in the ballroom" which performed regularly at Sydneys' premium jazz and blues venues. Her 2nd ever public performance was to a packed house at Sydneys' 'Harborside Brasserie, her 3rd ever was at "The Real Ale Cafe" (which also regularly featured world class artists such as Renee Geyer and James Morrison.)

To claim that Sally Cooper has a solid "Work ethic" would be a gross understatement. She has been performing full time with her duo, band and Trio "The Sally Cooper duo, band and Trio" for 4-7 nights of every week of the year since 1996 in 5 star venues across Sydney, Brisbane, and the Northern Territory of Australia, The South Pacific, Singapore, New Zealand, Thailand, Dubai, Tahiti, Bahrain, China, South Korea and India.

Press reviews:

Paul Carosi, Musical director artistlaunch.com Re Sallys' recording of "God Bless The Child" from her Cd "Perfect Universe" Released September 2006.

"God Bless that child Sally Cooper! Sally gives a marvelous performance showing the great range, depth, power, and emotion in her voice. The band and the arrangement are great. It's her best recording to date. It's a new jazz classic. I'm on my 5th listen today. I'm hooked God Bless Sally"

Mike Ventarola, Director of "Hidden Sanctuary" mp3.com NMA promoter:

"The warmest dulcet tones I have heard in quite some time. This lady evokes passion around each note to tweak every last nuance of feeling from each lyric I am amazed she hasn't been signed yet! " "Take Sades' smoothness, Anita Bakers passion, stir gently, and you have another sensational song from this Australian chanteuse"

Ben Omhart "Music Dish" Magazine: "At times sounding like Barbara Streisand," "fine stage presence" "rich talents."

Russell. W Elliot "Musical Discoveries" Magazine: "Sensually sung, and evocative, she soars above the otherwise lush instrumental arrangements." "a budding artist with a bright future"

"Prime Artists Vocal Club": "Listening to Sally Cooper makes feel like I just rode in on a camel to a smoke filled jazz bar in "The Village", NYC. The vocals are a mix of blues and contemporary pop while fretless the bass drips with jazz."

The "Drum Media" Magazines' "Live" Music Reviewer in Sydney says: "It was a pleasant surprise to be met by this vocalist who set the Room alight with her Piercing Bluesy vocals, accompanied by vibrant acoustic guitar, coloring the set with jazz and contemporary flavorings, Cooper wooed the crowd and created an ambience"

Bobby Bensley JavaMusic A&R: "Strong, confident, passionate, dynamic and technically solid she has paid her dues in clubs around the world leaving audiences in awe in the process. Sally Cooper delivers vocal performances that have the raw power and dynamic control of Aretha Franklin sprinkled with the energy of Tina Turner and the emotional diversity of Sarah McLachlin. Cooper is the type of performer who makes a connection with the listener on a deep base emotional level. Scorching guitar solos ,danceable structure and pure pop sensibility in the use of vocal harmonies."

Tamworth Newspaper Review: "Sally Coopers' Sweet Voice Must Be Heard

Perfect Universe" Cd Released September 2006 by Australian Vocalist/Songwriter Sally Cooper.

"Perfect Universe" was funded and produced by Australian vocalist Sally Cooper and her Guitarist/partner Phillip Stone. Recorded at Ian Harveys "Electric Bedland Studios" in Eumundi, QLD, Australia. The Cd offers an unpretentious and distinctly Antipodean assortment of Jazz/Blues and Rock. Featuring Original music that was written by Sally Cooper and Phillip Stone from the Internationally touring Australian group: "The Sally Cooper Duo" during their 6 night a week performance engagement in Mumbai, India for 10 months in 2005. The cd also features some classic cover song interpretations that they offer their own personal approach to.

Vocals on all tracks are by Sally Cooper. She soars effortlessly into unadulterated, and at times unlikely dominions within her vocal arrangements and lyrical themes.

The lyrical subject matter explores her love of music in terms of how it relates to the pure function of taste in "Take a Bite." Guitarist Phillip Stones guitar styling's offer excitement and colour to this track, and also to the entire cd. Clearly a consummate guitarist, he offers variety in his approach to each track that pay tribute to his obvious respect of artists such as Pat Metheny, Wes Montgomery and Frank Gambale.

The cds' title track "Perfect Universe" explores an acceptance of the pure perfection of imperfection itself. The bands Jazz Rock arrangement and mercurial guitar solos propel this concept into an intentionally complimentary perspective.

Featuring a groove that is akin to some of the work of "Steely Dan" The subject of taste in relation to music is also explored in "The Apple of Temptation" which traverses into a more tongue in cheek metaphorical parody of text only communication in the information age of emails and the internet.

Queensland based bassist and producer Gus Fenwick plays all the bass on the cd and he also engineered "Soon Enough," a contemporary track that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Sting cd. Kerry Jacobsen from the legendary Australian band "Dragon" plays all the drums. The unfaltering groove of the rhythm section elevates the inherent jazz elements of the music into a potentially more widely accessible dimension.

"Dreaming Out Loud" is a straight up crossover Blues/gospel song that celebrates the simple joy of life. This song is also enhanced by the incredible Crocodillian vocals of surprise guest artist Queensland based vocalist Barry Charles, who adds an Antipodean twist in his vocal approach.

Settled comfortably in the infectious Swing of "Spreading That Stuff" is a lyrical exploration of the incredible power of the spoken word when used in gossip, and its uncanny power, when used this way to reach tabloid dimensions.

The Variety of styles and influences on the cd tend to beg an inevitable question in regards to its genre. Is it Swing? Is it Jazz? Is it even a little like rockabilly at times? Well IS it rock? Is it Blues? But there are gospel elements? And it’s even contemporary and folky at times? Sally Cooper definitely deliberately chose to defy the trainspotting tendencies of the genre police in the production of this cd.

Some might simply see this cd as a just a group of great musicians playing a bunch of songs they wrote, well even so, the appeal of it has got to be inevitable in the current climate of producer controlled, commercially motivated, and regressively simplistic popular music, because it ISNT just another bunch of nursery rhymes run through photoshop and Autotune.

The cd features the keys and string pads of Australian Pianist/Producer Ross Nixon, who also generously offered his well refined skills in his engineering approach to the sophisticated sounding jazz songs: "Spreading That Stuff" "Take a Bite," and Billie Holidays: "God Bless the child that’s got his own" which received the lush treatment they deserved in their production.

A tribute is paid to the late Janis Joplin and Banjo Paterson in two surprise tracks, which are completely unique to the rest of the cd. Featuring only Phillip Stone humbly playing acoustic guitar and Sally’s voice, these tracks sound as if you were sitting two feet away from the duo in an intimate exposed setting, listening to timeless stories being told by the pair who make them their own and tell them so well.

Aretha Franklins' "Dr Feelgood" receives an approach, which reveals Sally Coopers' background of performing 4-6 nights a week in pubs and clubs across Australia. Her vocal delivery stands and delivers in an affronting way that could tingle the spine of even the most hardened Aussie pub patron.

Ian Harvey from Electric Bedland studios was the tracking engineer on this cd and he also mixed "The Apple of Temptation," "Dr Feelgood," "Perfect Universe," "Dreaming out Loud," "Waltzing Matilda," and "Me and Bobby McGee." Ian Harvey runs a "no BS" Studio where artists who go there emerge with a finished product that simply sounds like themselves, (only recorded well.) Thanks to Ian Harvey of "Electric Bedland Studios" it was possible for Sally to realize her vision in this project "to be able to hear the growl of the bass, the whack of the snare drum and the snap of the guitar strings."

Her intentional choice of musicians for this project, (some of Australia’s finest,) naturally justified her "non interference" approach to the tracking. Once she organized the musicians for the rehearsals and recording sessions, it was simply a matter of staying out of the way and watching them bring her music to life.

So, if you are tired of overproduced, try hard commercial songs, and if you just want to hear a Feel good Aussie band playing some great music really well, Sally Coopers' cd: "Perfect Universe: is for you.