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Artist: Pete Calandra and Straight Up
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Pete Calandra and Straight Up:

Silent Kisses

Silent Kisses- Pete Calandra and Straight Up….featuring: Tom Barney-Bass, Eric Valentine-Drums, Bob Magnuson-Saxes and Flutes, Ricky Martinez-Congas and Pete Calandra-Composer/Piano. The album was mixed by Ken Freeman and Calandra.

Pete Calandra's albums include: -- First Light (2015), The Road Home (2017) and Carpe Noctem (2018) were nominated for ZMR Awards. His jazz funk track, Neptune Beach was a 2023 Hollywood Independent Music Awards Nominee while another jazz based track, Bleecker Street, was the 2023 Clouzine Magazine “Best Jazz Funk” winner. In 2024 his track Mixed Emotions was a Hollywood Independent Music Awards Nominee.

As a Film & TV composer, Calandra scored over 100 films and wrote over 2000 compositions for television. He has composed music for every major television network including the FIFA World Cup Theme for FOX Sports, the Special Olympics World Games and Invictus Games Theme for ESPN, as well as writing music for the Kennedy Center Honors on CBS from 2015 thru 2020. He also garnered acclaim for composing the music to Jellysmoke, a film which won the Los Angeles Film Festival and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, and Unknown Soldier, a film which won the Los Angeles and Philadelphia Film Festivals and also was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award.

As a keyboard player Calandra has performed in the Broadway productions of Miss Saigon, The Lion King, Les Miserables, The Phantom Of The Opera, and Little Shop Of Horrors. He has also performed with the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra, NY Pops Orchestra, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Don Cherry, Aretha Franklin, Allen Ginsberg, Annie Golden, Donna McKechnie, Lillianne Montevecchi among others.

Pete Calandra and Straight Up:

Mixed Emotions

Mixed Emotions is the latest release from Pete Calandra and Straight Up.

It’s an upbeat latin-jazz track with Ramsey Lewis, Bob James and Joe Sample in?uences. The song has a catchy melody full of easy to remember hooks. The song features a fantastic rhythm section with New York studio legend Tom Barney on bass guitar and Los Angeles Session Drummer Eric Valentine. This duo supports and drives the groove with composer Pete Calandra adding soulful Piano, Keyboards and Rhythm Guitar. Mixed by engineering ace Ken Freeman the song is now available on all digital platforms.
 

Pete Calandra and Straight Up: Mixed Emotions 1-15-23 Release Date
Tom Barney Bass Guitar Eric Valentine: Drums
Pete Calandra: Composer, Piano, Keyboards, Guitar. Ken Freeman: Mix Engineer
John Kilgore: Record Engineer Producer: Pete Calandra

Pete Calandra and Straight Up:

The Beachcomber (Feat. Antonio Hart)

The Beachcomber is the latest release from Pete Calandra and Straight Up. The track features Antonio Hart on soprano sax, Tom Barney on bass, Dennis Mackrel on percussion along with Pete as composer playing piano, keyboards and guitar. Upbeat and fun, the music is a nod to the soulful sounds of artists like Donny Hathaway, The Crusaders, Bob James and Grover Washington.

Pete Calandra and Straight Up:

Walking To The Moon

Walking To The Moon is the latest offering from composer/pianist Pete Calandra’s Straight Up Project. Walking To The Moon is a contemporary latin influenced jazz track with a sultry groove. It features an ensemble with NYC musicians Dale Kleps (soprano sax), Bud Burridge (trumpet), Howard Joines (drums and percussion), Stomu Takeishi (fretless bass) anchored by Pete’s electric piano and Hammond B3 organ playing.

Pete Calandra and Straight Up:

Same As It Ever Was

Same As It Ever Was is an upbeat, flowing contemporary piano track composed and produced by Pete Calandra.

Pete Calandra and Straight Up is a project started by composer/pianist Peter Calandra to have an outlet for new music that is separate from his New Age/Ambient/Film Score output. Straight Up was a group he played in one summer between semesters of undergraduate school. The group worked 11 gigs a week for that entire summer. The foundation of this work was a 5 afternoon per week residence on the boardwalk at the Neptune Beach Club in Westhampton Beach, NY.

The group’s music was Contemporary Jazz and Reggae. They played the music of Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters, Spyro Gyra, Tom Scott and the LA Express, Return To Forever, Grover Washington, Stanley Turrentine, Bob James, Bob Marley and others. The music Pete is outputting for this project is an updated version of those styles.

Pete Calandra and Straight Up:

Neptune Beach

Neptune Beach is an upbeat, funky piano driven track composed and produced by Pete Calandra that is both contemporary and retro. Pete’s playing on this track is squarely in the Joe Sample, Bob James, Herbie Hancock school. Some of the rhythms and other keyboard sounds show the influence of Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway and 70’s soul music. NYC based flutist, Dave Weiss adds energetic flute playing to the track with a Herbie Mann-ish feel to it. Mixed by Bob James longtime engineer, Ken Freeman.

Pete Calandra and Straight Up is a project started by composer/pianist Peter Calandra to have an outlet for new music that is separate from his New Age/Ambient/Film Score output. Straight Up was a group he played in one summer between semesters of undergraduate school. The group worked 11 gigs a week for that entire summer. The foundation of this work was a 5 afternoon per week residence on the boardwalk at the Neptune Beach Club in Westhampton Beach, NY.

The group’s music was Contemporary Jazz and Reggae. They played the music of Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters, Spyro Gyra, Tom Scott and the LA Express, Return To Forever, Grover Washington, Stanley Turrentine, Bob James, Bob Marley and others. The music Pete is outputting for this project is an updated version of those styles.