McCartney Times

‘The Immediate Family’ – a new film by Denny Tedesco

Denny Tedesco grew up in Los Angeles. He started as a set decorator on feature films such as “Eating Raoul” and then went on to working on films, commercials and music videos during the MTV Years as a grip.

In 1984-1990, Denny began to travel the world as a lighting technician and location producer for IMAX films. From the shark-infested waters of Australia to the plains of Africa, he has filmed under the most challenging conditions. He was sent as a location producer to cover the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo as well as the catastrophic earthquake of Kobe, Japan.

During the 1990s and 2000s, Denny worked as a freelance producer and director and conducted interviews for A&E, TV-Land, and was a producer on Comedy Central’s Pulp Comics. Most notably in 2000, he produced the Academy Awards “opening” staring Billy Crystal and also the award-winning music video for Elton John’s song, “I Want Love” starring Robert Downey Jr.

The Immediate Family is a unique group of iconic musicians who have played together for decades but never as their own band. Known for their long, illustrious careers backing up such Hall-of-Fame artists such as James Taylor, Keith Richards, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Carole King, Stevie Nicks and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, guitarists Danny Kortchmar and Waddy Wachtel, drummer Russ Kunkel, and bassist Leland Sklar have come together, along with guitarist Steve Postell, to perform their own songs as The Immediate Family, a band that can legitimately be called a supergroup.

The Immediate Family’s new self-titled full-length album contains twelve original songs, including a rendition of the Waddy Wachtel/Warren Zevon cowrite “Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead.” The album’s two bonus tracks are live versions of Zevon’s “Johnny Strikes Up the Band” and the Danny Kortchmar/Jackson Browne collaboration “Somebody’s Baby.”

The new album kicks off with a blast of electric guitars with the lead-off track, “Can’t Stop Progress.” The fiery three-guitar interplay intertwines throughout the rest of the album on songs like “Fair Warning,” “Time to Come Clean,” and “Turn It Up to Ten.” The band’s love of rock ‘n roll’s roots surfaces in the funky, bluesy tones of “Slippin’ and Slidin’,” “Everything That’s Broken,” and the Brill Building-esque “Damage.” The big beat of Kunkel’s drumming and Sklar’s subtly inventive bass work further energizes the band’s music. “There’s nothing like playing with those two guys,” Kortchmar raves. “These guys really understand songs. They listen first before they start pounding.”

For more information, please visit: https://immediatefamilyfilm.com