PRESS RELEASE

March 15, 2014  - Dean Friedman & The South Street Fusion Project -  2014 Tour Dates Announced

American recording artist, Dean Friedman, to tour UK in July, with his jazz/pop/rock/fusion band, The South Street Fusion Project.                   Chart topping, recording artist and pop-icon, Dean Friedman, best known to UK and Ireland audiences for his classic hits, ‘Lucky Stars’, ‘Lydia’, ‘McDonald’s Girl’, ‘Ariel’ and ‘Woman of Mine’, is embarking on a 40 city UK/Ireland concert tour running July 5th thru October 25th, 2014 and will be performing, during the month of July, with his jazz/rock/pop/fusion band, The South Street Fusion Project. Dean Friedman & The South Street Fusion Project’s tour will culminate in a two night residency at London’s newest jazz venue, WMJazz, located at London’s O2 arena complex, in Greenwich.   New Yorker, Friedman, accompanied by The South Street Fusion Project, will be playing an eclectic mix of original jazz, rock, pop and world music, combined in an intoxicating, and always swinging, musical stew. Performances will feature many of Friedman’s familiar radio hits  -  Ariel, Lydia, Lucky Stars, McDonald's Girl – intermixed with original jazz/rock/pop-fusion that, according to enthusiastic audiences, “…sooths, swings, titillates and always satisfies.”           Friedman, studied music at the City University of New York with such legendary jazz greats as John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet and guitarist, Barry Galbraith. Says Friedman, “Jazz has always been the foundation of all my pop-songwriting; even my country and folk tunes are infused with the harmonic vocabulary of jazz. Working with the South Street Fusion Project allows me to explore that vocabulary even further and, of course, it adds extra energy and power to the hits, as well.” The 2014 tour coincides with the release of a compilation album, ‘Dean Friedman – Words & Music’, a double-CD collection of 28 tracks, including several of Friedman’s classic recordings and many fan favorites.              Friedman’s recent tours continue to garner rave reviews: “Every song in this show is a classic.” (London Theatre Guide), “With his mix of jaunty ditties, sentimental ballads and bashful charm, “Songsmith Extraordinaire” – (Music Week), “Stunning Musicianship” (HotPress) , “Dean Friedman is entirely unique and utterly brilliant!” – (ThreeWeeks)…  are just a few of the superlatives used to describe his unique and original talent. Though Friedman's single, ‘McDonald's Girl’, was officially banned by the BBC for mentioning the name of the well known fast food restaurant in its chorus, the irrepressible pop song has been covered by a number of contemporary bands including top-selling, Canadian group, Barenaked Ladies (WEA), and The Blenders (Universal), whose version soared to #1 on the national airplay charts in Norway. With the advent of YouTube, video versions have gone viral and finally, last year, thirty years after the song was banned by the BBC, the McDonald’s corporation officially licensed the song for a national TV/Radio campaign, confirming the song as a pure pop phenomenon. Friedman also composes and produces music soundtracks for TV and film, including the music to the hit Central TV series BOON and the soundtrack to the underground cult horror film classic ‘I Bought A Vampire Motorcycle’ (Hobo Films/U.K.) in which he performs the unforgettable track, ‘She Runs on Blood, Not Gasoline’. and has also been featured as a guest star in a cameo appearance on David Baddiel’s TV sitcom, ‘The Baddiel Syndrome’ (SKY). The Merseyside band, Half Man Half Biscuit released a best-selling EP containing a track entitled, ‘The Bastard Son of Dean Friedman’, which went to #1 on the UK Indie chart; a claim which Friedman vehemently denies, ‘I’ve never even met Nigel Blackwell’s mum!’. Friedman extracts his revenge on his latest CD, ‘Submarine Races’, in the song, 'A Baker's Tale', the hitherto untold story of Nigel Blackwell's dubious origins.  One of Friedman's recent tours was almost cancelled when it was announced that his tour sponsor www.goldenseeds.co.uk would distribute packets of cannabis seeds to the first ten people that purchased CD's at each of Friedman's gigs. The controversy was only resolved after Friedman promised not to distribute the seeds within 50 yards of the venue premises. (click to see Songwriter's Cannabis Controversy). Friedman will be performing, accompanied by The South Street Fusion Project during the month of July and then solo for the remainder of the 40 city tour, featuring songs from throughout his 30 year recording career. Tickets, plus Friedman’s CD’s, can be ordered via Friedman’s website at:  www.deanfriedman.com.  Go to: www.deanfriedman.com FOR TOUR DATES and TICKET SALES. For hi-res pics and bio go to media page:     http://www.deanfriedman.com/media/media_home.html For more info contact: Steve Schwartz  media@deanfriedman.com