"The 8-Bit Big Band is incredibly proud to present their 3rd full length album “Backwards Compatible” which continues to explore and expand the ever growing contemporary body of music that they are calling “The Great Video Game Songbook”. This album features a symphonic Jazz orchestra of over 70 of New York City’s finest musicians, including some incredible featured special guests such as:

Grace Kelly, Adam Neely, Benny Benack III, Leo P., Zac Zinger, Sam Dillon, Steven Feifke, Andrew Gould, Tiffany Mann, and the vocal sextet Accent! Arranged and produced by the Tony nominated Charlie Rosen, mixed by the Grammy award winning engineer John Kilgore, and mastered by the veteran Alan Silverman who has worked on more than 80 Grammy nominated or winning albums.

In this 3rd full release, The 8-Bit Big Band pushes the boundaries of what it means to be a “Big Band” in 2020. They draw inspiration from musical genres all over the scope of music including, Jazz and Swing, from traditional to contemporary, Metal, Funk, Rock, World Music, Jazz Fusion, Cinematic Orchestral, Classical, and electronic production elements and sounds not typically found in the traditional jazz ensemble. The band’s vocabulary ranges from the classic big band writing styles of the past, through the timeline of music’s evolution, and lands in this contemporary and eclectic no holds barred musical listening experience containing influences across genre and time."


Band leader and Arranger - Charlie Rosen

Soloists:
Piano soloist on “Chrono Trigger” - Steven Feifke
Tenor sax soloist on “Gourmet Race” - Sam Dillon
Alto sax soloist on “Hydrocity Zone” - Grace Kelly
Vocals and trumpet soloist on “Want You Gone” - Benny Benack III
Keyboard soloist on “Metaknights Revenge” - Buttonmasher
Baritone sax soloist on “Super Mario Land Underground” - Leo P.
Bass soloist on “Dire Dire Docks” - Charlie Rosen
EWI soloist on “Birdman” - Zac Zinger
Vocal jazz sextet on “Lost in Thoughts” - Accent
Bass soloist on “Saria’s Song” - Adam Neely
Vocalist on “Snake Eater” - Tiffany Mann
Vocalist on “Jump Up Superstar” - Grace Kelly

Alto Saxes - Andrew Gould, Josh Plotner, Steve Kortyka
Tenor Saxes - Sam Dillon, Zac Zinger, Jordan Pettay, Carlos Eiene
Baritone Saxes - Adison Evans, Andrew Gutauskas

Flutes - Andrew Gould, Josh Plotner
Clarinets - Sam Dillon, Zac Zinger
Bass Clarinet - Adison Evans

Trumpets - Bryan Davis, Jay Webb, John Lake, Chloe Rowlands, Max Boiko, Danny Jonokuchi, Allison Philips
Trombones - Jimmy O’Connell, Javier Nero, Rebecca Patterson, Ron Wilkens, Mariel Bildsten, Alex Jeun
French Horns - Judy Lee, Elizabeth Martignetti, Jordan James, Kyra Sims

Violins - Lavinia Pavlish, Meitar Forkosh, Tomoko Akaboshi, Daniel Constant, Kevin Kuh, Matthew Beauge, Yumi Oshima, Camellia Hartman, Audrey Hayes, Ally Jenkins, Josh Henderson, Maria Im, Mary-Jo Stilp, Erica Swindell, Ellie Goodman, Emily Gelineau, Eli Bishop, Danielle Breitstein
Violas - Laura Sacks, Kenny Wang, Jarvis Benson, Tia Allen, Brian Thompson, Sarah Greene
Celli - Susan Mandel, Alon Bisk, Jessica Wang, Kristine Kruta, Marta Bagratuni

Guitar/Banjo - Charlie Rosen, Dave Cinquegrana
Keyboards - Natalie Tenenbaum, Steven Feifke, Jake Silverman
Bass - Adam Neely, Dan Chmielinski, Julia Adamy, Charlie Rosen, Bobby Wooten
Drums - Jared Schonig, Bryan Carter

Percussion - Kevin Garcia

Harp - Liann Cline

Background Vocals - Danielle Gimbal, Charlie Rosen, Camellia Hartman

Recording and Mixing Engineer - John Kilgore
Asst. Engineers - Alex Conroy and Nolan Thies
Mastering Engineer - Alan Silverman
Mastering Assistant - Ayla Favati
Recorded at The Bunker Studio and John Kilgore Sound and Recording NYC


Composed by:
Yasunori Mitsuda - 02
Jun Ishikawa - 03, 06
SEGA - 04
Jonathan Coulton / Lyrics: Jonathan Coulton - 05
Hirokazu Tanaka - 07
Koji Kondo - 08, 11, 14
Dan Hess - 09
Hiroki Morishita / Japanese Lyrics: Kohei Maeda / English Lyrics: Audrey Drake - 10
Norihiko Hibino / Lyrics: Norihiko Hibino - 12
Naoto Kubo / Lyrics: Nobuyoshi Suzuki, Rob Tunstall - 13