Record producers will tell you that in order to make it in the music business you have to be equipped with; a good strong voice, loads of confidence and the ability to perform on the spot, and to have passion! The passion to give it all you’ve got and the drive not to stop until you get there!

Just ask Johnny Martin (aka John Marino) a singer whose drive and passion have propelled him to record his first CD, “Johnny Martin, I Will Always Love You.”

Growing up in Jersey City, N.J. Martin loved to sing; he was drawn to it and did it well. As a grammar school student at Holy Rosary in downtown Jersey City, Martin first realized that he had the ability to sing. Speaking to his parents he explained his desire to sing, soon after he began taking voice lessons to master his vocal technique, but after grammar school it soon came to a pause.

As a high school student at Ferris High School, he sung on street corners with small groups, always testing his vocals and enjoying his love for music, but never going beyond that.

In the year of 1974, Marino opened up his own business in hair restoration, and with true dedication to his business and raising his family, he took another pause from his music.

Although the passion to sing lived within him, he worked hard and dedicated all of his time into making his business a success.

The years would soon pass by, and Martin still continued to embrace his true feelings of singing deep within; so in the early 1990’s, he decided to finally take the next step into making his singing career a reality. With the support of his wife and family he picked up where he left off and committed himself to taking voice lessons. He worked hard at it for several years and perfected his voice, he refined his styled and decided that it was time to get serious.

Martin explains, “I started recording myself at home and playing it back and listening to myself. I started thinking if I want to get serious again, I better go back and take some lessons and that’s what I did.” As he continued with his lessons, Martin began to focus on his goal to make an album of songs that he loved.

In 2008, through friends of Martin’s he met a couple from N.J who had a studio, their names Sharman and Alfred Nittoli (the Nittoli’s are well-known for writing the song “Here’s to the Band” for Frank Sinatra.) Upon meeting the Nittoli’s, Martin realized that this was the direction he wanted to take in order to bring his album to fruition. Soon after their meeting Martin concentrated on his goal, he gathered together a talented ensemble of musicians, which consisted of Tommy Cavalucci (Drums), Frankie Cupo (Bass, Keyboards), Gill Chimes (Vibes, Harmonica) Sharman Nittoli (Piano, Keyboards, Background Vocals, Musical Director and Arranger) and Alfred Nittoli (Saxophone, Violin, Musical Director and Arranger). Together the entire team began recording and what transpired was not only Johnny Martin’s album, but a life-long dream of Martin’s that had finally become a reality. 

 His new CD is made up with a compilation of songs from the “great American songbook.” He explains, “I’ve always been a lover of the American songbook. As a matter of fact if you look at my high school yearbook, you’ll see that I was a big Sinatra fan.” Although at the time it was all about rock, I was always quoted as being a fan of his”.

The title of Martin’s new CD, “I Will Always Love You,” which is also the first cut on the CD and a wonderful song made famous by another crooner Dean Martin, is the perfect title and song to begin Johnny Martin’s tribute to the “great American song book”.

Johnny Martin shows real vocal mastery on each track of his CD, he demonstrates impeccable phrasing in each song and his love of this genre of music can be felt on each track. I especially loved “My Baby Just Cares for Me, “an up-tempo number with female background vocals that will have your foot tapping throughout the song.

Based on his first CD I believe Martin has a long singing career ahead of him. He does a wonderful rendition of “More”, and the “Way You Look Tonight.” Martin’s CD will always have a place as part of my own permanent record collection. I enjoyed the CD that much and you will  too!

Martin credits Sharman and Alfred Nittoli and his wonderful and talented musicians for their help and dedication to making this album. He also expresses heartfelt thanks and dedicates his CD to his wife Pat and his family, which he expresses, “Without their love and support, it wouldn’t have been possible.” His advice for up and coming singers is this, ” If you feel that you have a talent, pursue your talent and get professional help; pursue your dream and never give up. Never stop meeting people; by meeting people  that’s how you’ll network yourself and make connections. No one is ever going to promote you, you have to promote yourself.” Pursuing your dreams and never giving up is something this talented singer has truly accomplished; with a successful business, a completed CD and the realization of a dream, Martin is a true inspiration to us all.

If you’re interested in learning more about Johnny Martin or if you would like to listen to some of his songs, sign on to www.johnnymartinsings.com 

Also, if you’re interested in booking Martin for your next event you can email him at johnmartinsings@aol.com

Read more music stories @www.riverviewobserver.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

The post Introducing the One and Only “Johnny Martin” first appeared on River View Observer.

Fans have waited a long time to buy a boxed set of Clint Eastwood’s early spaghetti westerns by Sergio Leone. featuring Clint as the iconic loner with no name. The wait is over. The boxed set, officially titled Clint, available June 1, 2010, Eastwood in The Man With No Name Trilogy hits a bullseye.

This collection belongs in every home film library. Leone’s trilogy of lowbudget, high-impact films, set in the American West (but filmed in Spain and directed by an Italian), made Eastwood a major movie star with a following that forced Hollywood to sit up and take notice. Up until that time he was known only for his roles on TV, most notably as Rowdy Yates in the series, Rawhide.

I interviewed Eastwood before the Academy Awards in 2005 when he had been nominated for Best Director and Best Picture for Million Dollar.  I asked how important to his films was the music in each. “Very Baby important,” he told me, holding me with that famous Eastwood gaze that says, “Nothing matters right now except our conversation.” He went on to explain that he wrote the music himself. “I was very careful not to allow the music to overwhelm the visuals but to support them,” he said, adding, “I learned that from Ennio Morricone.”

When I recalled that Eastwood had made a name for himself with the Sergio Leone films, Eastwood brightened. “It was Morricone who wrote the music for the three spaghetti westerns,” Eastwood said. “If you’ve seen them you know the music.”

The first in the series, A Fistful of Dollars, hit U.S. movie houses in 1964. The stage was set for the former television actor to become an international sensation as the rough-hewn, silent Man with No Name.

The footloose renegade with a wacky sense of humor, a cheroot clenched in his teeth, and a squint that made villains squirm, caught the fancy of moviegoers and they became his fans for life. Those fans are now graybeards, and they’re still loyal. They, and anybody else who likes movies with Clint Eastwood, are in for a treat.

writer/director Akiro Kurosawa’s film, Yojimbo.” That cynical samurai tale, in the hands of Sergio Leone, gets a different setting, the American West. The tale, which maintains the inner stuff of legend and iconic characters, works on a visceral level.

The follow-up film, For a Few Dollars More, teams Eastwood with Lee, who played the villain opposite Gary Cooper in High Noon.

In Dollars, Leone’s classic tale of revenge, Van Cleef again plays the villain to perfection.

The third film, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, is set in the American Civil War where violence is a given. Added to that conflict is buried gold, and classic criminals in a conspiracy that involves double-crosses and trayals that play out in a tension-filled finale with enough gun fights to satisfy any action fan.

(Catalog # M121526)

● The Christopher Frayling Archives: A Fistful of Dollars

● Commentary by Film Historian Christopher Frayling

● A New Kind of Hero

● A Few Weeks in Spain: Clint Eastwood on the Experience of Making the Film ● Tre Voci: A Fistful of Dollars

● Not Ready for Primetime: Renowned Filmmaker Monte Hellman discusses the Television Broadcast ● The Network Prologue with Actor Harry Dean Stanton

● Location Comparisons: Then to Now ● 10 Radio Spots ● Double Bill Trailer ● Theatrical Trailer

(Catalog # M121528)

● The Christopher Frayling Archives: For A Few Dollars More

● Commentary by Film Historian Christopher Frayling

● A New Standard: Frayling on For A Few Dollars More

● Back for More: Clint Eastwood Remembers For A Few Dollars More

● Tre Voci: For A Few Dollars More

● For A Few Dollars More: The Original American Release Version

● Location Comparisons

● 12 Radio Spots

● Theatrical Trailer 1

● Theatrical Trailer 2

(Catalog # M121527)

● Commentary by Film Historian Richard Schickel

● Commentary by Film Historian Christopher Frayling

● Leone’s West

● The Leone Style

● The Man Who Lost the Civil War

● Reconstructing The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

● IL Maestro: Ennio Morricone and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly – Part One

● IL Maestro: Part Two

● Deleted Scenes

â—‹ Extended Tuco Torture Scene

â—‹ The Socorro Sequence: A Reconstruction

● Easter Egg #1 Uno, Due, Tre

● Easter Egg #2 Italian Lunch

● Easter Egg #3 New York Actor

● Easter Egg #4 Gun in Holster

● Theatrical Trailer

● French Trailer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., through its operating subsidiaries, is actively

engaged in the worldwide production and distribution of motion pictures,

television programming, home video, interactive media, music and

licensed merchandise. The company owns the world’s largest library of

modern films, comprising around 4,100 titles. Operating units include

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc.,

United Artists Films Inc., MGM Television Entertainment Inc., MGM

Networks Inc., MGM Domestic Networks LLC, MGM Distribution Co, MGM

International Television Distribution Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home

Entertainment LLC, MGM ON STAGE, MGM Music, MGM Worldwide Digital

Media, MGM Consumer Products and MGM Interactive. In addition, MGM

has ownership interests in international TV channels reaching nearly 120

countries. MGM ownership is as follows: Providence Equity Partners (29%),

TPG (21%), Sony Corporation of America (20%), Comcast (20%), DLJ

Merchant Banking Partners (7%) and Quadrangle Group (3%). For more

information, visit www.mgm.com.

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC (TCFHE) is a recognized global industry leader and a subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, a News Corporation company. Representing 75 years of innovative and award-winning filmmaking from Twentieth Century Fox, TCFHE is the worldwide marketing, sales and distribution company for all Fox film and television programming, acquisitions and original productions on DVD, Blu-ray Disc Digital Copy, Video On Demand and Digital Download. The company also releases all products globaly for MGM Home Entertainment. Each year TCFHE introduces hundreds of new and newly enhanced products, which it services to retail outlets from mass merchants and warehouse clubs to specialty stores and ecommerce throughout the world.

Van Cleef

The post CLINT EASTWOOD -Hollywood Behind-The-Scenes first appeared on River View Observer.

 Opening Reception: Friday, January 15, 2010. 6-8 p.m. Free.

 

Off-site Location:
The Majestic Theatre Condominiums
222 Montgomery St.
Jersey City, NJ 07302
Phone: 201.435.8000

www.majesticjerseycity.com

 

“Jersey City-the places, the stuff, the subject matter-is expanding like helicopters that fly a little too low, could be nothing or big trouble, a spectacle along with the everyday sublime.” – Tim Daly

 

Jersey City Museum and The Majestic Theatre Condominiums are pleased to present Tim Daly: Here and Away, an exhibition featuring a new series of paintings and drawings by renowned New Jersey artist Tim Daly. Daly is in known for painting Jersey City, the Meadowlands, and its immediate environs. He says, “The oddness of the New Jersey landscape has been what draws me.” However, in this exhibition, he expands his range of vision to include areas around Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Southern California.

 

An opening reception for Here and Now will take place on Friday, January 15, 6-8 p.m. Wine and light refreshments will be served. The event is free and open to the public. The exhibition will be on view by appointment at The Majestic Theater Condominiums through April 1, 2010. To view, please contact The Majestic management office at 201.435.8023.  Here and Away is guest curated by Brendan Carroll. More information about the artist’s work can be found at www.timdalypainting.com.

 

JCM @ features selected artworks and exhibitions curated by the Jersey City Museum and on view throughout the community.

 

Founded in 1901, the Jersey City Museum is the major presenter of contemporary art serving the people of Jersey City, Hudson County and the region.  The museum organizes many group and solo exhibitions every year, featuring works by culturally diverse, contemporary artists and from its 10,000-piece collection of regional significant art and historical objects. Through exhibitions, educational initiatives and programs, the museum welcomes over 25,000 visitors each year, including 11,000 school-aged children and youth.

 

Jersey City Museum’s gallery hours are Wednesday through Friday from 11am to 5pm and Saturdays from 12pm to 5pm. Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and students, and free for children under 12 and museum members. Admission is free for all on Saturdays at part of Target Free Saturdays. Jersey City Museum is located at 350 Montgomery Street at Monmouth in the Historic Downtown District of Jersey City, within walking distance of the Grove Street PATH and Jersey Avenue Light Rail stations.  For more information, visit www.jerseycitymuseum.org or call 201-413-0303.

 

The post Jersey City Museum @ The Majestic presents Tim Daly: Here and Now first appeared on River View Observer.

All attended the showing of La Villa’s feature film “Oak Hill” , starring Academy -award winner and Golden Globe winning actress Sally Kirkland, at the La Femme Film Festival in Los Angeles in November

The post Peter La Villa’s “Oak Hill” Film Shown at The La Femme Film Festival in Los Angeles first appeared on River View Observer.