Coleman Mellett will ‘Sing You A Brand New Song’ 16 Years After his Death
Longtime Chuck Mangione lead guitarist Coleman Mellett found fame as a jazz guitarist but always loved singer-songwriters like James Taylor and Paul Simon. Married to Dizzy Gillespie’s daughter, vocalist Jeanie Bryson, they settled in East Brunswick, Middlesex County, and would always record songs in their home studio. On February 12, 2009, he was scheduled to perform with Mangione and the Buffalo Symphony Orchestra but the plane carrying 49 passengers, including him and saxophonist Gerry Niewood, went down. A movie about Mellett—Sing You A Brand New Song: The Words and Music of Coleman Mellett—won the “Best Documentary Film” award at the 2019 New Jersey International Film Festival.
Now, for the first time, those home recordings, as finished by pianist-producer-author Barry Miles (who was born in Newark and raised in North Plainfield), is being released as Sing You A Brand New Song. Sifting through hundreds of hours of tapes, Miles and Bryson picked 12 tracks for the release. The first single, “Everymornin’,” came out late last year. The only cover is an instrumental version of James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain.”
It's an all-star super-session what with Mangione on flugelhorn, Steve Gadd on drums, Larry Goldings on organ and Will Lee on bass. James Taylor chips in with guitar and vocals on “Come On Home,” a love song Mellett wrote for Bryson while she was on tour. Barry Miles says, “we honored Coleman’s wishes. This is the album he would have released. This music is [his] legacy—his gift to the world.”
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