Erik Deutsch’s Outlaw Jazz Coming February 24th

Jazz Keyboardist Erik Deutsch
Releases New Full-Length Studio Album
Outlaw Jazz
Featuring Special Guests
Shooter Jennings & Victoria Reed
Release Date: Tuesday, February 24, 2015

“Erik Deutsch, a pianist with a taste for tuneful provocation, is an especially valuable resource as a solo commentator and accompanist…” -New York Times

“A talented member of the new generation of jazz musicians, Deutsch’s star just keeps shining brighter with each project.”
-All About Jazz

“Once upon a time, there was such a thing as an instrumental pop hit. If the charts still had room for the likes of the Allman Brothers’ ‘Jessica’ and Herbie Hancock’s ‘Rockit,’ not to mention the JB’s and MG’s, then Erik Deutsch would be assured a place atop them.” -Philadelphia City Paper

“With his eclectic tastes and diverse collaborations, the Washington native has a tendency to keep listeners guessing.”
-Washington Post

“Equal parts stargazer and spelunker, he’s a jazz-steeped improviser who has found his voice in the borderlands between instrumental pop and groovecentric psychedelia.” -San Jose Mercury News

Pianist, composer, arranger, and producer Erik Deutsch is set to release his much-anticipated full-length studio album, Outlaw Jazz, on the new Nashville-based label Cumberland Brothers Music on Tuesday, February 24, 2015. Well-known as a go-to NYC-based keyboardist — who regularly tours alongside an impressive array of lauded artists including Citizen Cope and Shooter Jennings, Deutsch has assembled a musical tour-de-force for his latest recording forging into unexplored sonic territory, countrified jazz. Outlaw Jazz skillfully combines his psychedelic soul-jazz aesthetic with the classic country of his childhood in Nashville, creating a singular, fresh, and joyful new sound.

Assembling his dream ensemble, Deutsch’s Outlaw Jazz features Shooter Jennings singing Shel Silverstein’s song, “Whistlers and Jugglers” (his father, Waylon Jennings, released a rendition of the tune on the 1978 album I’ve Always Been Crazy). 2014 breakout vocalist Victoria Reed sings Bo Diddley’s “Dearest Darling” and trumpeter/vocalist Jon Gray lending his talents to the original Deutsch composition, “Diamonds, Heels, and Suits”. A cover of Rolling Stone’s “Wild Horses” and four additional originals showcases Deutsch tastefully leading his crack band of Tony Mason (drums), Jeff Hill (bass), Avi Bortnick (guitar), Scott Metzger (guitar), Jon Graboff (steel guitar), Steve Elliot (guitar), Tony Leone (drums), Jon Gray (trumpet), Jon Stewart (sax), and Mike McGinnis (sax). With the help of his first Kickstarter campaign, Deutsch raised $17,000 to record what’s likely to be one of the most distinctive albums released in the jazz and Americana worlds in 2015.

Deutsch’s Nashville musical roots run deep. His first original tune “Hoopsnake” won his 3rd grade songwriting contest and a chance opportunity to perform at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum. As childhood friends, he and Shooter Jennings spent time around Waylon and Jessi Colter’s house, with recollections of pick-ups, drop-offs, and birthday parties. A 25-year reunion took place upon Shooter moving to NYC in 2009; the two once again became fast friends and Deutsch joined the country star’s band. A couple of years on the road together and two studio albums later, Deutsch developed the inspiration behind Outlaw Jazz.

Deutsch elaborates, “I’ve always been sort of an outlaw in the jazz world, never completely fitting in with the straight ahead jazz cats, the avant-garde scene, the jammers, or the funksters; but I’ve continued to independently release records and blaze my own trail, always with the pedal to the metal. I spent a good part of my childhood in Nashville, and country music has always been a part of my musical make-up. It seems only natural that I’d combined both worlds and bring an album like Outlaw Jazz to life.”

For the release of Outlaw Jazz, Deutsch joins forces with a few other childhood friends from Nashville: Chenault Sanders, Jake Sanders, and Nick Worley (son of legendary Nashville producer Paul Worley, whose laundry list of clients include The Dixie Chicks, Lady Antebellum, etc); these old friends recently launched the upstart label Cumberland Brothers Music. A homecoming of sorts for Deutsch, his partnerships with the Cumberland Brothers and Shooter Jennings is just one of many testaments on why he’s now ready for the world to experience Outlaw Jazz.

As the former full-time keyboardist in guitar great Charlie Hunter’s trio (appearing on Hunter’s 2007 Mistico and 2008 Baboon Strength), Deutsch is well versed in both the jazz tradition and making tunes funky in all the right places. He’s also worked closely with Norah Jones, Theo Bleckmann, Phillip Phillips, Rosanne Cash, Alice Smith, Steven Bernstein, Joe Russo, Jenny Scheinman, and Devotchka. As a leader, he’s put out three solo albums, Demonio Teclado (2012), Hush Money (2009), and Fingerprint (2007), all of which have received critical praise from mainstream and jazz press.

For additional information on Erik Deutsch and Outlaw Jazz, please visit the Media Page at hammerandstring.com/outlawjazz.

Erik Deutsch
Outlaw Jazz

Cumberland Brothers Music
Release Date: February 24, 2015

Track Listing:
1. Outlaw Boogie
2. Dearest Darling (feat. Victoria Reed)
3. Wild Horses
4. Pickle
5. Whistlers and Jugglers (feat. Shooter Jennings)
6. Crown Vic
7. Ballad of San Pancho
8. Diamonds, Heels, and Suits (feat. Jon Gray)