I composed, produced & performed on this track in memory of the victims from the horrific shooting events that occurred in the Pulse Nightclub June 12, 2016 at 2:02 AM. In fact, my family and I were in Orlando at the time of the shooting. We had just come back from a Journey Show at the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre, stopping at the Disney Resort overnight. When I found out that Catholic Charities of Central Florida was helping out survivors, I immediately went into action to compose an album to benefit the victims and was very fortunate to work with incredible talent.
I went to work immediately recording what became the album Orlando In Heaven, which was released on the 1-year anniversary of the shooting. I recruited the best musicians I could find such as: guitar icon Larry Coryell (his final recordings before his passing earlier this year), vocalist Phil Naro (Talas, Julian Lennon), Grammy jazz guitarist Mike Stern, fretless bass extraordinaire Tony Franklin (Jimmy Page/Blue Murder), Chris Poland (Megadeth), Hal Lindes (Dire Straits), Will Ray (The Hellecasters), and my two old Smooth Jazz friends jazz keyboardist Bob Baldwin & guitarist Denny Jiosa. Proceeds were donated to Catholic Charities of Central Florida. The album was released by Cleopatra Records and found a new audience at college radio charting #6 on the Relix Jam Band Charts.
There were two version of the song on the album, the opening track was the vocal version featuring Phil Naro, lyrics written by Brevard County local singer John Leach. This instrumental version is the last track on the album and was always one of my favorite songs. I contacted my old gunslinger buddy from Dire Straits in L.A. Hal Lindes, and he was gracious to donate his time to record acoustic guitar parts and wrote the B-section melody as I played the main melody in the A-section. Recording this album was like a religious experience and all of the planets were aligned for me to work with the Godfather of Fusion Larry Coryell!
You can learn more about Brian Tarquin here
About the Curator: Brian Tarquin
Multi Emmy Award winning Brian Tarquin is an established top rate composer/guitarist. He has won 3 Emmy's for “Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition for a Drama Series” and has been nominated for an Emmy 6 times. In 2019 Tarquin received a Global Music Gold Award for his release Orlando In Heaven for “Best Album.” Three years in a row (2016-2019) Tarquin received “Best Album of the Year” nominations from the Independent Music Awards for his releases: Guitars for Wounded Warriors, Orlando in Heaven, and Guitars for Veterans. On which, Tarquin shows his guitar prowess alongside such world-class shredders as: Steve Morse, Larry Coryell, Billy Sheehan, Bumblefoot (Guns N’ Roses), Reb Beach (Whitesnake), Chuck Loeb (FourPlay) to name a few. In 2006 SESAC honored him with the Network Television Performance Award. Tarquin has graced the Top Billboard Charts with such commercial releases as: This is Acid Jazz, Vol. 2, Sweet Emotions, and Bossa Brava: Caliente on Instinct Records, followed by several solo jazz albums, which charted Top 10 at Smooth Jazz Radio R&R and Gavin charts. Brian has appeared on 38 releases, selling over 140,000 records in his career.
