In 1995 Chris signed with independent label, Devine, operating out of Tiger Studios in North Sydney. Chris had formed a good relationship with Greg Devine the owner of Tiger through his sought after vocal ability for studio session work. Prior to releasing "Caught in the Magic" his first CD of original songs, Chris travelled to Malaysia and performed in Kuala Lumpur with saxophonist Andrew Oh, Devine's first signing, to test the Asian market. He publicised the fact that "Caught in the Magic" would be distributed there through Pony Canyon, a very large independent label. Chris used Australia's foremost musicians and backing singers on this eleven track CD. It was released in seven Asian countries and "Forever", the first release, charted at No. 5 in Malaysia. "Run Away With Me" another track on the CD went Top 20 in Indonesia. The title track "Caught in the Magic" was used on a DDD reference disc for Alpine Audio.
It was on stage in Malaysia that a change in musical direction emerged for Chris. The Barn Thai Jazzaurant in K.L. saw Chris introducing the occasional jazz standard to his repertoire. The response was overwhelming. But it's no surprise when you consider that Chris' grandmother, "Kew", was a famous performer and radio star living in India during the 1930's and 40's, singing the wonderful songs of Gershwin, Porter Berlin and Novello.
Australia Day 1996 became one of the highlights of Chris' career when he was asked to perform a jazz arrangement of "I Still Call Australia Home" at the fireworks spectacular for His Royal Highness Prince Charles and a crowd of 400,000 with saxophonist Andrew Oh. The band were located on a barge (bottom right in photo) in the middle of Darling Harbour, Sydney. The event was simulcast live on national TV and radio and proved to be a stunning night. His Royal Highness was presented with a CD of the performance to commemorate the occasion.
Musicians and Singers who appeared on "Caught in the Magic" include :
Vocalists - Darlene Zschech, Maggie McKinney, Erana Clark, Cathi Ogden, Liza Rintel, Shirley Thomas, Avagail Herman, Toni Mott, Louise Anton, Karen Jacobsen, Barry Leef, Adrian Payne, David Adams, Drew McAlister, Mick Leyton and Doug Williams.
Guitars - Peter Northcote, David Moyse and Brett Williams.
Bass - Leon Gaer, Victor Rounds and Mark Costa.
Keyboards & Programming - Brian Beamish
Accordian - Ross Lombardo
Harmonica - Greg Foster
Saxophone - Andrew Oh
Cello - Katie Heugal and Peter Morrison
Drums - Mitch Farmer, Kere Buchanan and Gordon Rytmeister
Percussion - Sunil De Silva
Engineered by Bob Dickson - Produced by Brian Beamish
