Rad. - Getting Down Is Free (2009) Lossless

To rad. music is about connection. "With jazz chops, it's easy to start showing off, showing how fast you can play, how high you can jump," she says. "Sure I strive to be a fit musician, but I never try to be all things, to play all styles just to show I can. I only want to be true to my emotions and sincere in my passion, even if it means messing up a phrase or singing off tune. I want to capture the best feeling that music can bring no matter what we're throwing down. Hopefully, what I channel outwardly will be received inwardly by someone, anyone. That's key to performing."

rad. grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and began playing piano at the age of 4. In 1990 she completed her jazz studies at U.C. Berkeley. The West Coast music scene quickly got hip to rad.'s latin jazz chops and she was soon playing with legendary musicians like Pete Escovedo, Benny Velarde (Cal Tjader), Orestes Vilato (Santana), Ray Obiedo and David Garibaldi among others. Her move to Europe in 1991 marked the beginning of her solo career. With the encouragement of her husband and producer Michael Kirsch (co-founder of the Soulciety Record label), rad. became Rose Ann's solo project, a funk show spiced with latin flavors.

Throughout her show, rad. never loses the audience, never allows them to drift or shift their focus. She's determined to have everyone in the room walk away with that "you had to be there" experience. It is this confidence, charm and humility that casts a spell long after the last note has been played, and after the last groove has been spent.

This is band groove improvisation at its best. It's a heavy "tune in" session where everyone contributes their piece to the puzzle. And the pieces of this jigsaw puzzle come together to a perfect fit in the interaction between the musicians in rad.'s band.