Gary Palmer
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2015 | INDIE
Music
Press
“GARY PALMER Love Me Again Lauderdale Beach Recordings Don’t let Gary Palmer’s elegant suit and tie on the cover of his album LOVE ME AGAIN tell the whole story... he’s all about steppin’ out and having some sweet, soulful Urban Jazz fun. Alternating between soprano and alto, the versatile NYC born and raised, South Florida-based musician and songwriter stirs up the sultry romance on the breezy, easy groovin'' “Love Me Again” and “Stay With Me,” a balmy vibe is the perfect backdrop to his rich tenor-driven emotion. Another romantic highlight is the sultry, Earth, Wind & Fire-influenced “Yes I.” In the mood? Listen to LOVE ME AGAIN again and again! ~JONATHAN WIDRAN”
- Jonathan Widran, SmoothJazzGlobal Radio (Jun 15, 2015) - Smooth Jazz Global
“Fresh off his latest soulful urban jazz album LOVE ME AGAIN, saxman Gary Palmer celebrates the season with a bright blast of R&B/funk driven jazz on a vibrant, delightfully funky rendition of Donny Hathaway’s timeless classic “This Christmas.” Palmer’s “rest of the year” music often has a spirited tropical vibe to it, and this track’s lively piano solo has a few colorful dashes that truly make the season bright (and a bit warmer!). Come celebrate “This Christmas” with Gary Palmer & THE GP Project. ~JONATHAN WIDRAN”
- Jonathan Widran, Smooth Jazz Global (Nov 01, 2015) - Smooth Jazz Global
“Love Me Again, the new project by Florida based saxophonist Gary Palmer, presents listeners with a nice blend of instrumental and vocal R&B, with a dash of jazzy creativity thrown into the mix. The 10 track album showcases Palmer as a creative improviser on the sax who plays with energy. He is clearly the star of the show, but he avoids the pitfall of overplaying and dominating the proceedings. There are two reasons for this: First, the tunes on this 10 track project are short in duration, with eight of the 10 being less than four minutes, with about half of them featuring vocals. The best of the tracks that feature singing include “Yes I,” a love ballad that incorporates melodic and harmonic allusions to Earth, Wind & Fire’s “That’s the Way of The World,” and features Palmer’s high range tenor vocals. For More Information click on link: http://www.soultracks.com/album-review-gary-palmer-love-me-again”
- Howard Dukes, Soul Tracks (Sep 09, 2015) - Soul Tracks
In the air you hear the wonderful melodies of A sharp, B flat, E, and G swirling around your head causing you rock back and forth even embrace yourself as the sounds engulf you and take you on a roller coaster ride as The GP Project performs. They make you feel that you’re riding down I-95 in your drop top with the wind blowing through your hair and the beat of your heart racing to the sounds of the GP Project.
The GP Project was formed with the meeting of Colonel Gary Palmer of the Broward Sheriffs Office and Jeremy Givens both Saxophone players, also Colonel Gary Palmer also plays the Flute and Percussion to make the group complete they asked their siblings Givens and Palmer Brothers to join the group. GP is a Jazz Band that plays all types of music which includes Pop, R&B. Both sets of family members have been playing since their childhood.
GP Project will be debuting on February 14, 2015, Valentine’s Day Extravaganza at the Westin Hotel, located at 400 Corporate Drive, Fort Lauderdale, FL. There will be a night of fine dining, dancing, a silent auction and of course great entertainment provided by The GP Project with special guest Kyle Woodard and hosted by Richie Supra legendary songwriter and guitarist best known for his work with Aerosmith.
To find out more about The GP Project you can find them on Facebook, and Twitter; you can also reach them at corlis@imaginethatevent.co or 954-683-1823. - Examiner
Sept. 13, 2015
Saxophonist Gary Palmer, who also serves as a colonel in Broward County, FL’s Department of Detention, demonstrates here that he does in Gary Palmerfact have a style in his musical delivery that can arrest one’s attention. Cool and buoyant in spots while being enticingly smooth with sassy and sultry grooves in others,his new release Love Me Again is full of the kind of musical calling power c-jazzers love. This saxman belts out crystal clear jazz notes and runs in a real attempt to reach that place deep within you.
From his lead track, the reggae-laced “Island Breeze,” through the catchy upbeat title track featuring the convincing vocals of one Julia Foster through his impassioned request for the target of his affection to “Give Me Your Heart” through the up-tempo “Step in the Name of Jazz” (another very contagious track) and beyond, Palmer knows which buttons to push to be effective with you, your heart, and your dancing shoes.
With impressive sax work and a band of strong musicians, Palmer has a bountiful recipe for success with this release. He is that musician on whom you just may want to keep your eyes and ears tuned.
If one is going to “moonlight” as a musician while holding down another responsible day job, you would hope that he’s good at it. Colonel Palmer has answered that question with this album. – Ronald Jackson - The Smooth Jazz Ride
Love Me Again may be Gary Palmer’s recording debut but he is a veteran saxophonist with a sound of his own on each of his instruments. Palmer played the saxophone as a youth before spending years as a policeman in Florida. In recent years he has concentrated much more on his music and his mature yet youthful and enthusiastic playing is a joy to hear.
On Love Me Again, Palmer, like one of his inspirations Grover Washington Jr, displays appealing styles on alto, soprano and tenor. He performs ten originals with his group The GP Project which includes Kevin Foster and Eric Overhultz on keyboards, guitarist Sherman Hunter, bassist David Palmer, drummer Kevin McCullough and occasional singers. The band sets a variety of catchy grooves for Palmer’s saxophones and displays a strong group sound.
While the music is always danceable, the ten songs have plenty of variety in tempos, rhythms and moods. Gary Palmer, like Grover Washington, knows how to ride over grooves and stretch himself within the context of the music while adding soulful ideas to the melodies. While each song leads logically to the next one, particularly noteworthy are the catchy and rhythmic playing on “Island Breeze” (which features some strong soprano playing), Palmer’s speechlike alto over the assertive bass line on “Give Me Your Heart,” the singalong vocal and soprano playing on “Step In The Name Of Jazz,” the soprano-keyboards tradeoff on the relaxed “Once Upon A Time” and the way that Palmer uses repetition creatively on “Quiet Nights.” Fans of urban and funky jazz will enjoy discovering Gary Palmer. --Scott Yanow, author of 11 books including The Great Jazz Guitarists and The Jazz Singers - Scott Yanow
Discography
June 2015 - CD Release "Love Me Again"
November 2015 - Single Release "This Christmas"
Photos
Bio
GARY PALMER BIO
Passionate about the saxophone since he was a kid growing up in New York City, Gary Palmer frequently turned to the horn as an outlet and stress reliever during his many years as a law enforcement official. In addition to playing it to change the trajectories of difficult workdays, he always had contemporary/smooth jazz on the radio, calming him and helping him focus even when he was on high stress stakeouts with the Lauderhill Police Department and Broward County Sheriff’s Office, Fort Lauderdale, Fl. – retiring in 2010. Now, with the release of the multi-talented musician and performer’s highly anticipated smooth/urban jazz debut Love Me Again, Palmer is the one helping others chill via his cool, catchy melodies, old school production vibe, tropical flavors and easy funk grooves.
Like many musicians who set their dreams aside for ‘straight careers,’ Palmer began making up for lost time after he retired from the Broward Sheriff’s Office. Just as he was becoming immersed in the writing and recording of the album, he returned to the Broward Sheriff’s Office – where he originally began serving in the early 80s – to become the Colonel of the Department of Detention and Community Programs. Palmer has found exciting ways to merge his two worlds, performing events for the Florida Sheriff’s Association, the Ft. Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce, the Lauderhill Chamber of Commerce and other civic functions. In addition to these gigs with his regular band (known as Gary Palmer and the GP Project, the saxophonist has created a side band comprised of colleagues of his at the Sheriff’s Office. They meet every Tuesday for two hours to work on cover songs and new material, and also perform regularly throughout the community.
Rising through the ranks of law enforcement over the years, Palmer sees many parallels to his challenges now as an emerging independent instrumental artist in a competitive smooth jazz field. His lifelong excitement for music and the saxophone in particular – combined with the enthusiasm he has felt every time he takes the stage – led him to create a diverse full-length project that stands apart from the pack in many ways. Alternating between soprano, alto and tenor to create different moods and dynamics, he varies tempos and vibes from track to track – and creates a powerful old school soul-jazz sound with the help of his longtime keyboardist brother-in-law Kevin Foster, who plays piano, Fender Rhodes and organ.
“One of the song titles on Love Me Again is ‘Step in the Name of Jazz,’” Palmer says, “and that’s how I’ve taken the process of writing and recording, step by step. Now the next step is the most exciting, seeing where things go from here. I’m just enjoying the journey and it’s wonderful to have the opportunity to share my music with more people all the time. All of this is a first for me and so far the response has been overwhelmingly positive and exciting.”
ON STAGE
In addition to those civic events connected to his role as a law enforcement officer, Gary Palmer and the GP Project – which includes keyboardists Kevin Foster and Eric Overhultz, guitarist Sherman Hunter, bassist David Palmer, drummer Kevin McCollough, Saxophonist Jeremy Givens and vocalist Angela Johnson-Neely have performed at many private and public events for the Miami Heat. Palmer has also gigged with other local bands and nationally known artists like Richie Supa (a one-time member of Aerosmith) at an event called Rockers in Recovery. Just as there is great variety on the Love Me Again album, Palmer ensures that every performance is fresh, unique and exciting. The band likes to mix things up, taking a different approach to the same material from gig to gig. Almost anything can trigger them to amp things up and take a given tune to the next, unexpected level. “We love to have that element of the unknown when we take the stage,” the saxophonist says. “We know we’re there to entertain our fans and have fun, but it’s nice to improvise and let the show take some unscripted steps and take on dimensions we couldn’t have fathomed coming in.”
Band Members
Links
