Yes, Theresa Robertson and Outside the Box have CDs for sale.
Friday, 8 p.m., Outside the Box will celebrate the release of their first self-titled CD at Reds/Sedona Rouge Hotel & Spa, 2250 W. 89A. The CD features eight songs recorded "relatively live" at Thunder Mountain Studios. The CD covers a stylistic range from Buena Vista Social Club to Gypsy Kings to the Beach Boys.
"It's all over the place," says OTB powerhouse vocalist Theresa Robertson, "but it has a good flow."
In addition to Robertson, Outside the Box features guitar master Larry Czarnecki, veteran Northern Arizona percussionist Kevin McQuaid and Michael Robertson on bass.
The current incarnation of OTB has been in place since August, but the seed from which the band grew was planted in early 2008 when Robertson and Czarnecki began performing together.
"He's fantastic. He's such an amazing player," Robertson says of Czarnecki, well-known in Northern Arizona for his gypsy jazz guitar stylings for ZAZU. "I wouldn't be able to do what I do without him."
McQuaid, a fixture on the Sedona-Verde Valley jazz scene for more than a decade now, joined the group in February and Robertson's husband, Michael, began performing on bass with OTB in August.
The impetus for the group's CD project was the audience. "People kept asking us, 'Do you have any CDs to sell?' We were inspired by the audience. So, we recorded a few of the songs we do, a taste of our repertoire and some of our favorites. Larry and I just did guitar and vocal. Then I was in LA visiting some friends and one of my friends is Curt Bisquera, who is a really well-known drummer who has played with The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Seal and others. He listened to it and asked me if he could lay down some drum tracks on it. I said, 'Are you kidding me. Really?'
"It was just one of those lucky things you fall in to. It was heaven sent. So we went into a studio in LA at Studio City. Curt went in there and in two hours laid down all the tracks to these songs and it has such a great feel and groove ... Kevin, of course, now is not playing on this, but we just couldn't pass up this opportunity ... After that Michael put in the bass, we added a couple of harmonies and we were done."
Those most familiar with Outside the Box rave about the band's versatility. If there is such a thing as a typical OTB performance, the audience can expect to hear a stylistic treasure trove of everything from the Gypsy Kings to Buena Vista Social Club to the Beach Boys to Aretha Franklin.
At the same time, OTB should not be described as a "covers" band. "It's more the feeling we project in the music," explains Robertson. "It's taking the songs and putting our own little twist on it. For example, we do Chain My Heart as a Calpyso. We're successful at shifting the feel of the songs and giving them our own interpretation."
Add to that is a freshness to the band's song selection that makes each performance original and unique. "We learn a lot of material all the time. We just added another five songs in the last month, so the shows are always pretty fresh. Our primary focus is meeting the energy in the room and meeting the needs of the audience and their energy. So, in that sense, we have a broad spectrum of music that we do to meet that need."
Outside the Box's sound can best be described as up-tempo acoustic groove. Czarnecki's gypsy guitar licks combined with McQuaid's percussive beat provides an open invitation for folks to hit the dance floor. But because OTB is not "plugged in," they are equally appealing for those who just want to listen to quality music.
Robertson said there is a good reason why Northern Arizona music lovers have became so fond of Outside the Box. The joy with which the group creates its music is contagious.
"More than half the battle in putting together a band is playing with people who have the same approach as you and at the same time allows everyone to all grow in different areas," Robertson explains. "We've found that and it creates such joy for all of us. People come up to me all the time and say 'we feel the love from you guys,' and it's so true. There is just such overwhelming joy when we play."
