THIRD RAIL’S DEBUT CD IS OFFICIALLY RELEASED! IGNITION: Live Across Europe is now available via the “STORE” link above. Some of the performances in the videos on this page (the videos are rough mixes) are on the CD; we are really happy with the way this disc turned out!

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Subscribe to download a free track from Third Rail's new CD IGNITION:

 THIRD RAIL EUROPEAN TOUR, FEATURING ETIENNE M’BAPPE ON BASS – MAY/JUNE 2014! Check the “Upcoming Shows” link for the tour schedule!

 

THIRD RAIL is a collaboration between 3 extraordinary musicians: George Whitty on keyboards, Etienne M’Bappe on bass, and Tom Brechtlein on drums. Collectively they’ve worked with a huge array of the biggest names in music: The Brecker Brothers, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, John McLaughlin, The Zawinul Syndicate, David Sanborn, Robben Ford, John Mayer and many more.  Playing a book of tunes composed by George and Etienne, Third Rail brings a huge, intense sound to the stage.

CLICK HERE for several great reviews for our December 2013 European tour; click “Translate” at the top of the page to read them in your language

FOR BOOKING, contact Luzia Fecke:   tapstep@gmx.de 0049-2226-8924883

 

 

THE BAND:

GEORGE WHITTY – Grammy-award winning keyboardist George Whitty has spent 20 years playing on the road with the Brecker Brothers, Herbie Hancock, David Sanborn, Richard Bona, Chaka Khan, Sadao Watanabe, and a dozen others, and his resume as a session musician includes some of the best-selling records of all time: Santana’s “Supernatural” (with Dave Matthews), Celine Dion’s “Falling Into You” and “These are Special Times”, and more than 100 other CDs. As a producer/keyboardist, his Grammy-winning streak began with Chaka Khan’s “The Woman I Am” in 1992 and extends through 3 award-winning releases with the Brecker Brothers, most recently Randy Brecker’s “34th and Lex”, 2004′s Grammy-winner for Contemporary Jazz Record of the Year. In April 2010, he completed work on several tracks for Herbie Hancock’s CD “The Imagine Project”, working on Herbie’s live rig for the tour as well.  As a composer, he’s written for hundreds of episodes of television and several award-winning films, composing for a dozen shows from “The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliot” to “As the World Turns”, for whose music he was nominated for a 2006 Emmy award.  George recently finished the score to the feature film, “The Getdown”, which is in the rotation on Showtime, and has recently been working with Herbie Hancock, both live in Herbie’s band at the Hollywood Bowl and as an arranger/keyboardist, recently completing several orchestral arrangements for a duo CD for Herbie and classical pianist Lang Lang.  He is currently also working on a number of CD projects, mixing and mastering a steady stream of CDs, conducting clinics and master classes and teaching private lessons around the world, and pouring a great deal of energy into Third Rail, his trio with Tom Brechtlein and Janek Gwizdala.  He recently launched an extensive online video music education series at www.musicpath.net.  More info at www.gwhitty.com

ETIENNE M’BAPPE – ATN, as he is known to his friends, brings a tremendous fusion of musicianship to the bass chair. Hailing from Cameroon by way of Paris and the world, he fuses the tradition of mercurial, grooving Cameroonian bassists with a lyrical composer’s touch, an impeccable melodic sensibility, and an ethereally beautiful voice. Early in his career he played with the great fusion band Ultramarine, fusing elements of jazz, African and Caribbean music, winning 1989’s “Best World Music Album” along the way. Since then Etienne has worked with a true “who’s who” of the best in improvised music, starting with Salif Keita and Manu Dibango and extending to several years with the Zawinul Syndicate and tours with Steps Ahead, Bill Evans, Carlos Santana and Ray Lema. Etienne even played bass on the last CD by the legendary Ray Charles. He’s currently playing with John McLaughlin’s quartet 4th Dimension. Etienne has released several solo CDs, most recently Pater Noster, and Third Rail will be playing a good selection of his brilliant compositions on tour! More at www.etiennembappe.com

TOM BRECHTLEIN – Tom Brechtlein grew up in East Meadow, Long Island and gravitated to drums after listening to the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Who, Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. In junior high, his attention turned to big band jazz, and he became attracted to the music of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra. His investigation of jazz led him to Dave Brubeck’s drummer Joe Morello and then to modern giants like Elvin Jones and Tony Williams as well as legends like Papa Jo Jones, Max Roach and Philly Joe Jones. “When I was 18,” he recalls, “I saw Chick Corea’s Return To Forever on PBS Television; and I remember sitting there thinking, ‘ I’m going to play with that guy someday.'” Two years later, in 1978, he auditioned with Corea and got the gig. He remained in the band till 1983, at which point he joined Wayne Shorter’s band. There followed extensive road work with guitarist Al Di Meola and violinist Jean Luc Ponty before Tom finally hooked up with Robben Ford in 1986.  More at www.tombrechtlein.com