What better way to tackle this sandy route theme than with a full funky fusion band of awesome musicians? Insaneintherainmusic's jazz cover / remix of Route 228\" from Pokmon Diamond / Pearl / Platinum featuring the Sinnoh Fusion Ensemble! #yearofsinnoh
Trumpet - Lachie Day
Trumpet (Solo) - Richard Stanmeyer
Tenor Saxophone - Carlos Eiene
Tenor Saxophone - Trace Zacur
Trombone (Solo) - Auden Durant
Sousaphone (Solo) - Ian Lazan
Electric Guitar - Spiro Dussias
Piano - Yoko Suzuki
Rhodes, Organ - Jonathan Huber
Electric Bass - Alan Speedy Peralta
Drumset - Francis Pea
Percussion - Ricky Matute
Recording Engineer - Joel Edinberg
Mixing & Mastering - Carlos Eiene
Videography - Peter Gillette, Jen Bongarzone, Frank Muniz, Madeline Motyczka
Video Editing - Peter Gillette & Carlos Eiene
Ever since I completed the gargantuan Jazz Video Game Medley project earlier this year, my eyes were opened to some more grand possibilities for my channel. Most of my videos here have been multitrack creations arranged by me, performed by my, mixed by me, and edited by me. I'm very thankful to have gained so many skills in various domains after being forced to wear several different hats in the creative process! However, I never really considered what it would be like to have a band to play my arrangements on the regular. I guess it's time to introduce the Sinnoh Fusion Ensemble!
This band is comprised of some of my best friends here at the Berklee College of Music. I've met each of these members in various different circumstances here at school (playing in ensembles with them, sharing classes, meeting during recording sessions) and I'm so grateful to know each one of them. In August of this year, when I was considering starting the Year of Sinnoh, I was struck with the idea to put together a band to play this music. I did this for several reasons. One, well-trained musicians playing their instrument live ALWAYS sound better than MIDI or sequenced instruments, and I knew that I wanted to bring forth the best audio quality possible for working on this fantastic music from Pokmon Diamond and Pearl. Two, this is my last year at Berklee (I graduate in Spring 2020), and I thought this would be a great excuse to make some lasting recordings with some of my best friends from school. Three, playing with a live band is so much fun! Out of all parts of the music making process, I love arranging the most. Getting to arrange for these players has been such a joy. I get such a great feeling writing a voicing or a specific solo section knowing exactly which person is going to get this part, and tailoring that specifically to them... gosh, it's so great.
Anyway, onto the song itself! Route 228 is a song that's been pretty highly requested of me for a while, but I never really knew how I would cover it in a way that did the original arrangement justice. It's got a VERY strange, winding melody that proved to be really difficult to transcribe when I was first working on this! In the end, I settled on a laid-bank funky groove with lots of space for solos and improvisation inspired by Snarky Puppy's \"Atchafalaya\". There's also a sousaphone feature! When I learned that my friend Ian played the sousaphone, I thought to myself \"when's the next time you're ever going to have the chance to use a sousaphone in one of your videos?\" and decided to jump on it! The clapping break was added to the arrangement specifically for playing this song live - I wanted a song that would really get the crowd engaged and rowdy, and this song has done just that when we've played it live! (Video footage of live shows coming in the future!) Overall, this arrangement is actually pretty simple compared to what I usually put out... but just you wait, more amazing stuff from the Sinnoh Fusion Ensemble is coming soon!
Route 228\" from \"Pokmon Diamond & Pearl\" composed & arranged by Hitomi Sato
