Frédéric Slama was born in France but lived in L.A. for more than 10 years where he became friend with many famous artists & studio players. After releasing a couple of solo albums in the 80’s and producing some French and American artists, Frédéric decided to start a “one man band”. This marked the birth of his project AOR, always using the cream of U.S session players. In 2000, the first album « L.A Concession » was released and gave Frédéric a big respect in the Westcoast / AOR music scene. The second album « Next Stop L.A » was released one year later and again featured the help of several top session players such as Richard Page, Tony Franklin, Michael Thompson, Steve George & Carlos Vega.
It
was in 2002 that Frédéric Slama took AOR to a new dimension with the critically
acclaimed third album « L.A Reflection », which was considered to be
the best Westcoast CD of the year by many journalists and fans alike. It
featured all the big names in the
music industry including Steve Lukather, Mike Porcaro, Jeff Porcaro, David
Paich (all Toto members) and a line up of stars like Tommy Denander, Göran
Edman, Michael Landau, Vinnie Colaiuta, Michael Ruff, Bruce Gaitsch, Rick Riso
and lots of other top L.A. artists. The album became a huge success and was
co-produced by AOR-legend Tommy Denander and world famous L.A. producer David
Diggs.
In
2003, Frédéric Slama was back with an even greater CD, which again featured the
best musicians any Westcoast and melodic rock fan could possibly imagine: Bill
Champlin (Chicago), Steve Overland (FM), Steve Lukather (Toto), Michael Landau,
Bruce Gaitch, Brandon Fields among many others and two Westcoast legends who
hadn't recorded anything for over 20 years: David Roberts & Dane Donohue !
This album was called « Dreaming Of L.A » and again co-produced by
Tommy Denander and David Diggs.
In 2004, Frédéric released « Nothing But The Best », an album featuring the best songs from his previous CDs, fully remastered by Tommy Denander plus 3 brand new unreleased tracks featuring Fergie Frederiksen (Toto) and Dane Donohue on lead vocals.
In
2006 AOR released a new CD called « L.A. Attraction » once again
featuring the talents of many great AOR / Westcoast stars including Philip
Bardowell (The Beach Boys, Places Of Power), Steve Lukather (Toto), Tommy
Denander, Dane Donohue, Michael Landau, Peter Friestedt or Rick Riso among
others. This time, AOR developed a slightly different musical approach and
moved into a more rock-oriented direction: « L.A. Attraction » sounded
like a mix between Toto, Radioactive and Richard Marx and was a real feast for
all AOR and melodic rock aficionados ! The same year Frédéric re-released
officialy his 1st album « L.A Concession » (only available on Cdr at
the time) fully remastered with 4 bonus tracks and a list of impressive guests
again.
In 2009,the magic trio was back: Frédéric Slama,Tommy Denander & Philip Bardowell (The Beach Boys, Places Of Power) teamed up again for a new album « Journey To L.A », taking Westcoast and AOR music to a new level of perfection. With the help of top session players such as Steve Overland (FM), Steve Lukather & Fergie Frederiksen (Toto), Dane Donohue, Bill Champlin (Chicago), Bruno Levesque (Silence), David Williams (Michael Jackson, George Benson) & many more, Frédéric delivered by far his most impressive and melodic work in the vein of Toto, Foreigner or Survivor, mixing elements of westcoast with more Aor rock oriented songs.
In 2010, to celebrate AOR’s 10th Anniversary, Frédéric Slama released a double limited edition Digipack CD entitled "LA Ambition - The Best Of AOR".This cd was the very best of AOR from the last 10 years with 5 previously unreleased demos from the 90’s & new mixes. “LA Ambition” was fully re-mastered and featured songs from the 8 AOR releases spanning the last ten years. The CD is a two disc compilation containing the « Melodic rock » hits on disc one, and the « Westcoast » hits on disc two, with 28 songs in all. « L.A Ambition » featured more than 40 top musicians including Tommy Denander, Steve Overland (FM), Steve Lukather & Fergie Frederiksen (Toto), Dane Donohue, Bill Champlin (Chicago), Göran Edman, Philip Bardowell, Michael Landau, David Roberts, Michael Ruff, Bruce Gaitsch, Vinnie Colaiuta, Rick Riso & many more.
Now in 2012, after two years of hard work, Frédéric Slama is back with the most anticipated album of the year called AOR « The Colors Of L.A », featuring a never seen cast of Aor talents in a single album such as Tommy Denander, Philip Bardowell, Jerry Hludzik (Dakota), Joe Pasquale, Steve Newman, Joey Summer, Bill Champlin (Chicago), Christian Tolle, Steve Lukather, Michael Landau, David Foster, Randy Goodrum, Michael Thompson, Rick Riso, David Diggs, Bruno Levesque (Silence) and many more. Co produced by Tommy Denander, « The Colors Of L.A », AOR’s 10th Release, is the perfect mix between melodic rock & westcoast music. The sound is heavier this time in the vein of Toto, Foreigner or Survivor. Great Melodies, Fabulous solos and brand new recorded versions of favorites like « Teach Me How To Love You Again » or « You’re My Obsession ». « The Colors Of L.A » contains all the elements of a classic. Pure Aor bliss !
