Joel Evans and Adryan Russ met at a gathering of The Society of Composers & Lyricists in Los Angeles. Joel had been writing for film and television and was seeking lyricists. Adryan had been writing pop tunes and songs for musical theater and was looking to write lyrics to great melodies -- and change her tune! They clicked in their mutual love for jazz and old standards. That was 10 ago. They're still working.
Joel is a composer and bandleader from San Francisco whose extensive list of credits includes major Hollywood films, hip indie flicks, network and daytime television dramas, more than 70 big screen credits and 300 television episodes, including such award-winning movies and hit series as Wedding Crashers and Desperate Housewives.
Recent television and radio ads for P. Diddy's Vodka, "Ciroq," prominently highlight Joel's Big Band number, "Fly Away," co-written with Julius Robinson, performed by Patrick Tuzzolino with Shelly Berg and the USC Thornton Jazz Orchestra.
The 2010 tour of the Count Basie Orchestra features Grammy-winning vocalist Carmen Bradford singing Joel's song, "No Easy Way to Say Goodbye,” co-written by lyricist J. Elle. This song is also the title track of award-winning singer Hillary Smith’s CD, which took top honors at the 2009 New Mexico Music Awards: Best Album, Best Vocal Performance & Best Producer.
Miramax’s Doubt, starring Meryl Streep, includes the song “Is It Me?” with lyrics by Adryan Russ. The Rum Diary, Pan Am, HBO’s Grey Gardens, True Blood, Damages, Californication, Dexter and Medium all utilize his work.
Joel has been active in the San Francisco Bay Area music scene for many years. He held the position of house pianist and Entertainment Director at the Hotel Sofitel San Francisco from 1988-1998. The Yellowjackets, Dave Samuels and Andy Narell have recorded his compositions. He performed with Little Anthony in the feature film Partners, and has backed up artists such as the Coasters, Mickey Gilley and Bobby Freeman.
Joel is most proud of his work with Adryan Russ, whose heartfelt and evocative lyrics elevate his melodies.
Adryan conceived and wrote music and lyrics for Inside Out, an award-winning off-Broadway musical, with playwright/co-lyricist Doug Haverty. Inside Out was published by Samuel French, and the original cast CD distributed by DRG Records. It has been produced across the U.S., and twice in Europe.
She and Haverty were commissioned to develop a new musical, iGhost, inspired by Oscar Wilde’s story “The Canterville Ghost,” (www.playworksmusic.com). Another of her new musicals with him was selected for presentation at the ASCAP/ Disney Workshop in Los Angeles, and another for the ASCAP Workshop in Chicago with playwright Keith Huff.
She wrote the score for The Ugly Duckling for Storybook Theatre, produced at Los Angeles’ Theatre West, where two of her one-act musicals, In A Different Light and Two Lives, were part of an evening of short plays.
Adryan participated in a tribute to Charles Strouse, with Michael Feinstein, at Carnegie Hall, and at Chicago Humanities Festival’s “ASCAP Cabaret: Her Turn” with Karen Mason. LML Music (www.lmlmusic.com) released Everyone Has A Story: The Songs of Adryan Russ, produced by Bruce Kimmel, and arranged by Grant Geissman, featuring David Burnham, Tami Tappan Damiano, Susan Egan, Jason Graae, and Sharon McNight.
For the past ten years, Adryan has received an ASCAP Award for Popular Music. She is a member of The Dramatists Guild, the Academy for New Musical Theatre, the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences and currently serves on the Board of the Society of Composers & Lyricists.
While Adryan has been writing lyrics for several years, she feels particularly privileged to have written them to the music of Joel Evans’ masterful new standards.
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