Jazz Recording Artist Rick Starmer to Perform in Homer

Just announced, Sunset Jazz recording artist, Rick Starmer will be performing a fundraising concert for, and at, the Homer Center for Arts January 13, 2012. The Center4arts, located in upstate New York, is a not for profit regional hub for culture and the arts and is also where Starmer’s latest album”No Such Thing as Time” was recorded earlier this year and subsequently submitted for a 2012 Grammy nomination in three categories.

With unbelievable acoustics, a warm ambiance, and seating for about four hundred, there are no bad seats. The Center4arts is a favorite place to see and listen to live performances and has been the stage for such as Leon Russell, Spyro Gyra, Richie Havens and more. The Center4Arts, in Homer, NY, is located in a former church,which was purchased in June 2005. The Center also provides a venue for performance, participation, and studying a wide variety of arts and activities.

The concert will be showcasing Starmer’s newly released 15 track album “No Such Thing as Time” recorded there and produced by Grammy award winning Rob “Wacko” Hunter. Hunter’s accolades not only include his work with jazz great Brandford Marsalis, but a resume full of other notable accomplishments as well.

Joining Starmer in the second half of the performance that evening will be his band featuring JamieYaman on sax, Bob McMahon on trumpet, Harry Norton with the stand up, Dave Alexander on drums and Rob Hunter himself on percussion. And, as an added bonus, a copy of Starmer’s “No Such Thing as Time” will be given away with the first two hundred tickets sold. The album has been described in one review as”Absolutely unlike anything around today. A unique twist on the jazz piano standards. Definitely a must-listen-to album.” -Amazon

Tickets for the concert will be on sale through the Center4arts website starting next month or by contacting the Center at (607)749-4900. The physical CD and digital album downloads are also available through major retailers such as Amazon, Napster/Best Buy, Borders, iTunes, Barnes and Noble,Rhapsody and Verizon Mobile just to name a few.

In a previous press release in partnership with Billboard Media Wire, Mi2n, New Music Weekly, and PR.com, Don Lichterman, CEO of Sunset Labels says ”The process of producing “No Such Thing As Time” was based on a vision (Rick) Starmer has had to record in this particular theater in upstate New York. “Rick had contacted me about getting the time to work with Rob Hunter,” Don Lichterman says about the project. “The company was looking for more jazz artists and for more jazz projects,” says (Don) Lichterman, and “we had done some live stuff with a vocal artist last summer to test these waters, but getting to record these special songs, with a Grammy Winning producer (Rob “Wacko!” Hunter), is the perfect sense of direction for the label and for Rick (Starmer).” Other great tracks on this very well produced CD include the Duke Ellington classic, “Sophisticated Lady,” the Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler classic, “Stormy Weather and the Erroll Garner classic, “Misty.” The SC&J label first became aware of (Rick) Starmer through his first CD, “Because I Can’t Paint,” that was eventually released through Sunset Classics. (Don) Lichterman says that “though (Rick) Starmer’s musical style was a bit different when we first met a few years ago, I could see that he had a resonance in his playing that would sound amazing with that old school traditional style of jazz framework.” He ends the questionnaire regarding the “No Such Thing As Time” CD which was released on September 27th by saying that “we tried some things with vocals at some live shows last year, realizing the logical thing for him (Rick Starmer) would be to do what he does best, and that is play piano,” and that “getting the ability to use Rob (Hunter) to produce it was over the top for us.”

Sunset is a privately owned Don Lichterman Company. Sunset is one of the leading independent record labels and entertainment companies in the world. The Sunset Group of Entertainment Companies, and its global operation, acquire, develop, and distribute major music recording artists, home visual entertainment products, online-digital entertainment technologies and music and filmed entertainment worldwide. Sunset’s four major divisions are the Sunset Distributed Label Group, the Sunset Strategic Marketing and Licensing Division, the Radio Sunset Network and the Sunset Filmed Entertainment Division.