Album Notes

Jonathan Bright has been playing the piano since he was three years of age and, according to sources who have requested that they remain nameless, has been singing since he was inside the womb. By the time he reached the ripe old age of 16, however, he decided that the rigid totalitarian structure of the venerable Royal Conservatory of Music was a waste of intellectual space and thenceforth focused his creative energy on the creation and subsequent performance of his own music. Influenced in many ways by the pianist-songwriter tradition espoused by Reginald Dwight and William Martin as well as the classic American songbooks of Basie, Miller, Dorsey, Porter, Gershwin, and the boppers, Jonathan’s piano and vocal creations come to musical fruition in collaboration with his counterpart, Jeff Hume. Jonathan brings a keen theoretical approach to the music of The Printing Press, and enjoys peppering the duo’s collaborations with flatted fifths and augmented ninths, in a way spiting the RCM while spicing up the changes. Jonathan’s favourite note is B.

Jeff Hume has been spotted rocking out so hard that several strings on his much-loved and very musically-inclined acoustic guitar, broke at the same time. It appears that the motive for such anti-social behaviour stems from a love of great classic rock, combined with a bunch of bands you probably haven't heard of. Since a young age, Jeff has been playing music in a variety of forms, including piano and an ill-fated, two-year relationship with a clarinet.As well as gently – or less-than-gently – caressing the strings, a skill he has been perfecting for more than five years, Jeff’s lyrical vocals bring a sense of what can only be described as haunted subtlety to the collaborations of The Printing Press’ oeuvre. From the wistful longing of nostalgia to the feverish exhortations of, well, just about anything, Jeff applies his vocal versatility to an already stellar songwriting sensibility. Jeff's favourite chord is E minor.