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Confidence is a requirement for working successfully in the
music industry. A vocal performance, whether live or in the
studio can groove with confidence, given the right talent,
experience and track record. Andre Montague is right on track,
with impressive and no-hype credentials. This artist is the
one to call.
Andre grew up in the Northwest and discovered vocalizing
in his junior-high school choir and found the "groove" as
a teenager playing percussion and singing in a youth R&B band.
Andre's older brother, Tony, was performing in a funk band
(Cold Bold & Together) as a conga player-vocalist and encouraged
him after hearing Andre sing a few bars of the Isley Brothers'
"Fight the Power". Tony remembers saying, "Not bad kid, keep
it up".
Several years later Tony Gable heard his brother sing again
and was convinced of Andre's natural talent and invited him
to sing on a single and join his band, called "Jet City Band".
This was Andre's introduction to the pros, learning chops
and playing live on the regional club scene.
After the breakup of Jet City, he took this "real world"
experience to a new level as a lead singer. Band leader Nathaniel
Phillips (former RCA recording artist with "Pleasure") invited
Andre to join a new Portland, Oregon R&B pop group called
"Cool'er". Besides gaining regional popularity, Andre also
started increasing his vocal session work with song demos,
commercial work and other artists' projects.
Around this time, his brother's friend and fellow CBT bandmate
Kenny Gorelick started gaining national popularity with his
sax playing. When Kenny G mentioned he wanted to add lead
vocals to the show, Andre had to audition for the artist,
artist manager and Arista Records. "I was scared, but I knew
I could handle it." Andre recalls.
He got the gig and what followed was extraordinary. Andre
sang lead and played second keyboards on major world tours
with Kenny G, including America, Europe and Japan.
Tour highlights were Madison Square Garden, Carnegie Hall,
the Playboy Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, The London
Palladium and more. Some of these tours included shows with
George Benson, Whitney Houston, Al Jarreau, Michael McDonald
and Miles Davis. Andre performed live and recorded with Kenny
on his multi-platinum albums, singing lead and backgrounds
on four songs on Gravity, and shared vocal duties on the Silhouette
album (lead vocal on "I'll Be Alright") along with Motown
legend Smokey Robinson who sang the hit "We've Saved the Best
for Last".
Media experience on the Kenny G tour included several music
videos and television appearances on Solid Gold, The Tonight
Show (where he performed the hit song "Don't Make Me Wait
For Love"), The Arsenio Hall Show, The American Music Awards
and Oprah.
"I always loved rock music especially after I heard the album
Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin", Andre (a self proclaimed
rocker) says. However his diverse talent in singing R&B and
jazz, plus his onstage performances added a unique element
to the artistry of this jazz sax leader.
After six years of being on tour, Andre left the group to
pursue other opportunities (Michael Bolton sang the occasional
lead vocal with Kenny). At the same time, members of the KG
group started writing original music for each other and developing
other recording projects. During this span of time Andre had
the good fortune to work with different producers on his original
material and other artists' recordings, including Allan Gorrie
(founder of AWB), Kashif (Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin)
and Walter A (Afanasieff) the man behind Kenny G, Mariah Carey
and Celine Dion.
His voice graces other jazz musicians' albums including the
Top 20 contemporary jazz group "Tony Gable & 206" where he
sang lead on the stirring romantic ballad "Undeniable". Andre
continues his songwriting, singing original music and performing
as an occasional touring lead singer with a Canadian pop group.
Andre currently works with Kenny's accomplished pianist Robert
Damper, writing original music specifically for Mr. Montague's
voice.
After you see Andre Montague perform or audition his collection
of outstanding vocal performances, you will feel confident
that he can deliver what he has...talent.
E-mail: amontague99@hotmail.com
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