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Azimuth was formed in
San Jose
,
California
in 1985 to preach the Gospel through music. In the early years, Azimuth concentrated its ministry inside prisons and youth authorities. They also played in many local churches and community events throughout
Northern California
.
The band recorded its first of three cassettes, 'Glorified', in late 1987. "It was a learning experience for us; we had excellent song material, yet our instrumentation and production was not yet at a professional level. The important fact was that we were able to minister to a lot of people who needed to hear the Word of God," explains Paul, one of the band's singer/songwriters. Their following two cassettes, 'Inroad Project' and 'Gateway', were moderately successful and helped define the Azimuth sound. |
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In the early to mid 1990's, Azimuth focused more on feeding the body, ministering to the Church community and steadily working on their first CD project, 'Synergy.' The outcome was a 16 song Contemporary Christian release that received national airplay in 1997 with its opening track, "Wouldn't It Be?" Azimuth's songwriting strengths were greatly enhanced with "full scale" production, but the biggest change was the addition of LaVada Torzewski in 1991. "Her singing and songwriting talent really added a new dimension to our ministry and has taken us to the next level," remarks Dan Swan, the band's director.
Desiring to give the Lord the excellence He commands us to strive for, Azimuth brought in two gifted musicians and top-notch producers, Paul A. Fox and Ed Goldfarb, who produced their 1999 Pop/Light Rock CD 'Alpha and Omega.' The welcome it's received has been broad-based as its unbelievable quality has given Azimuth a means to spread His Word past local venues. The album employs a wide variety of styles, yet it has a continuity that keeps the listener's attention. Many of Alpha's tracks have received airplay across the
United States
and abroad. "We have been truly blessed! We complement each other and work so well together throughout the whole creative process," says Paul, exuberantly. "But even with the recent accomplishments, the important thing is that we are not the ones who need to be recognized, but all the glory goes to our Lord and Savior," adds Dan.
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In 2001 Azimuth finished a 14 song home-produced demo album named "Ascension" which was a culmination of many years of "music camps" in
San Jose
to work on song writing skills. They branched out a bit more into praise/worship music writing with known composers such as Rick Founds ("Lord I Lift Your Name On High"). Additionally Paul and LaVada wrote a classic song "Mystery of Your Love" which has had a 80% success rate in radio submissions across the U.S. and will be the feature track of their upcoming full production CD due to be released in 2007.
The band met in August 2004 for a dinner and the picture above, a bittersweet reunion as Paul A. Fox, one of their producers and guitar player passed on in December 2004 in an auto accident. His brilliant input into the Above and Beyond album will live on as Azimuth moves on with added purpose and promises that the Lord's plan for His music will be fulfilled and reach the world.
Azimuth takes to heart 2 Tim 2:15 -- workmen who are not ashamed. The band's name, Azimuth, is a creative definition of the word, meaning the distance from a fixed reference direction to a position referent, or the degree to which the band is focused on God. "Worship, Praise and His message through music bring us closer to Him, and as long as we remain waiting for the return of His Son, Azimuth will be singing a new song in His honor." |
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