Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 | Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head)

Afrobeat virtuoso Seun Kuti releases today his highly awaited new album ‘Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head)’ on all platforms via Milan independent label Record Kicks. Coming 6 years after the Grammy nominated album ‘Black times’, this album marks a pivotal moment in Seun Kuti's illustrious career, showcasing his evolution as an artist and activist. The release is accompanied by the new extract ‘Move’, which is “a song in support of working class people all over the world”, Seun Kuti says. “We have to keep moving to close the gap and inequalities that capitalism has brought between us. We must face our contradictions and come out on the other side as better people, embrace our darkness to find our light, embrace our fear to find our courage. That's what the song is about”. 

Executive produced by legendary musician Lenny Kravitz and Fela Kuti’s original engineer Sodi Marciszewer (artistic producer), ‘Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head)’ delivers a sonic experience like no other. With both Kravitz's and Sodi’s expertise together with Seun Kuti's unmatched talent, the album is poised to redefine the boundaries of contemporary music while staying true to the roots of afrobeat. 

Featuring a tracklist of six electrifying songs, each track on ‘Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head)’ embodies the spirit of resistance, resilience, and revolution. Each song talks about standing up against challenges and fighting for change. Like the standalone single ‘Dey’ feat. reggae icon Damian Marley, described as “a song about embracing and championing who we are, regardless” and ‘Emi Aluta’, “a song about struggle (Aluta means struggle) that pays homage to all the great revolutionaries”, that features Zambian singer, rapper and songwriter, Sampa The Great, one of best and most innovative lyricists of our time. 

The song ‘T.O.P.’ is about “how society values money and success more than people”. Seun Kuti wants to change this by promoting empathy and reconnecting with nature. In another song, ‘Love & Revolution’, he expresses his love for his wife and believes that true love can inspire people to make the world a better place. Lastly, on the single ‘Stand Well Well’, a scorching afrobeat number  inspired by Aldous Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’, Seun “just wanted to throw a jab at what society looks like” to him. 

“This project has been very special to me from the moment I conceived it, speaking to Lenny Kravitz, who has shown me such a brotherly love and respect” Seun says. “He has brought me to his home. I met his daughter Zoe and he has guided us with fierceness. Since we spoke about the album, three years ago, as the executive producer of this project, he has always been by our side and very supportive. I want to thank Craig Ross and Sodi, the producer of this project. We had a great time. It was the first time for me in the studio with Sodi and I was really impressed by his work and his fatherly advice and dedication”. 

Each song on the album is a testament to Seun Kuti's unwavering commitment to using music as a tool for social change and empowerment. Through his powerful lyrics and infectious grooves, he continues to carry on the legacy of his father, the legendary Fela Kuti, while carving out his own path in the world of music. As a musician and pan-African activist, Seun has been involved in a number of campaigns in recent years, including #EndSARS – a social movement against police brutality in Nigeria. Significantly, he’s revived the Movement of the People (M.O.P.), the political party his father set up in 1979, which was quashed by the military government not long after Fela’s failed presidential bid.  

‘Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head)’ is out today on all major streaming platforms, limited edition black and colored vinyl and CD. Fans can expect an album that not only entertains but also inspires and ignites a spirit of activism and liberation.

Seun Kuti is a Nigerian musician, singer, and songwriter renowned for his captivating performances and socially conscious music. He is the youngest son of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. Seun has spent most of his life preserving and extending his father's political and musical legacy as the leader of his father's former band Egypt 80. As a developing saxophonist and percussionist, he entered the formal ranks of the band before he was 12. In 1997, when Fela passed, in fulfilment of his father's wishes, Seun assumed the mantle as head of Egypt 80 and he has run it ever since. During his career, Seun Kuti released 4 albums with Egypt 80: ‘Many Things’ (2008),  ‘From Africa with Fury: Rise for Knitting Factory Records’ (2011), coproduced by Brian Eno and John Reynolds, ‘A Long Way Beginning’ (2014) and the Grammy nominated ‘Black Times’ (2018) that included a feature from Carlos Santana. They also released numerous EPs. Seun has played for enthusiastically receptive audiences globally and collaborated with many great artists. In 2022, he joined forces with Roots frontman and MC extraordinaire Black Thought in the EP ‘African Dreams’. In 2023, Seun collaborated on Janelle Monae's ‘The Age of Pleasure’ (Grammy nominee for Album Of The Year) with the two singles 'Float' and 'Knows Better', teamed up with Talib Kweli and MadLib for their album ‘Liberation 2’ on the song ‘Nat Turner’ featuring Cassper Nyovest and released a new version of the single ‘Bad Man Lighter’ with Black Thought, featuring Vic Mensa.

Sun Ra Arkestra | Lights On A Satellite

From the free playing attitude of the Sun Ra Arkestra, Lights On A Satellite lands with a full groove right in the heart of swing. The recording is a tribute to the life‘s work of Marshall Allen, who celebrated his 100th birthday on May 25, 2024. Recorded in Studio A at New York‘s Power Station on June 16, 2024, the album honors the mastery of this exceptional musician as a multi-instrumentalist, arranger, bandleader, teacher and keeper of Sun Ra‘s legacy.

Allen is one of the most distinctive voices in jazz. His versatile alto saxophone has defined the sound of the Sun Ra Arkestra since 1958. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, the NEA Jazz Master (2025) embodies like no other the music that has come to be recognized as America‘s classical music. He has played an active role in shaping all eras of jazz and his eloquent tone continues to unfold its radiance and expressiveness to this day. With Steiner‘s Electronic Valve Instrument (E.V.I.), Allen has created an exclusive realm of sound that has catapulted him directly into the 21st Century.

Allen has led the Sun Ra Arkestra for more than 30 years. Founded by Sun Ra in the early 1950s, the band bears the name Arkestra as a deliberate combination of Noah‘s Ark and orchestra. No other ensemble has more justification for making the past and future happen simultaneously, as if in a time machine. On Lights On A Satellite we hear pieces from a century of jazz, which has become present in an astonishing way. Sun Ra‘s reverberations will probably continue to have an effect beyond his earthly end in 1993 and into eternity, according to the astonishing realization, as we experience the world premiere of the Sun Ra composition “Baby Won‘t You Please Be Mine.”

Allen has not allowed the Sun Ra Arkestra to atrophy into a repertoire band. He has organized and sifted through the estate of his friend and mentor, filled it with life, trained young musicians in his spirit and thus also arranged these new Sun Ra compositions and brought them into the band‘s repertoire. Allen has not toured internationally since 2021. But he has by no means retired. In the “Arkestral Institute Of Sun Ra," the terraced house in Philadelphia‘s Morton Street, which was declared a historical monument in 2022 and has served as the band‘s headquarters since 1968, Allen continues to work on his mission.

On Lights On A Satellite we experience the virtuosity of the master and his satellites, the interplay of the Sun Ra Arkestra as a very own sound entity in the greatest possible expansion, across generations of musicians, and with an all-encompassing repertoire. 

Allen discovered Sun Ra’s 1955 composition “Baby Won’t You Please be Mine” in his estate six years ago and recently added it to the Arkestra’s repertoire. It sounds like it was written for Billie Holiday in the 1930s with its charming instrumental parts moving in the playing posture of the 30s but breaking out in favor of free playing, even for just a short phrase. Horace Henderson’s “Big John’s Special’ was originally arranged by his brother Fletcher Henderson during his tenure playing in his big band. Like Horace Henderson, Sun Ra played piano and wrote arrangements under his real name Herman Poole Blout in Fletcher Henderson’s. This showcases a more relaxed, straight-ahead composition style that does not push forward like Benny Goodman, but builds up a restrained tension reminiscent of bands from New Orleans.

The million-selling “Holiday for Strings” (1942 by David Rose and his Orchestra) is still considered a classic of American music and was a signature turn of the popular Red Skelton Radio show in the 1950s and 1960s. It can also be heard on the 1960s Sun Ra Arkestra recording “Holiday for a Soul Dance” as a solemn, piano-accented instrumental piece, albeit with rapid tempo change. 

In Lights On A Satellite Allen unfolds his full mastery of the alto saxophone. His distinctive voice bursts out of the exquisite interplay with the strings with all its explosive solo power in the moment the entire reed section kicks in. The album concludes with “Tapestry From An Asteroid,” which has been a part of Sun Ra Arkestra’s instrumental repertoire since 1956 and can finally be heard with a wonderful arrangement particularly highlighting the sonorous baritone saxophone of Noel Scott and Allen’s striking overblowing of the higher registers.

The inimitable groove of this exceptional orchestra can be experienced through the entire orchestration with 24 musicians, recorded in a quality that allows all voices to be savored and thus presents the music in its full beauty. Going into a recording studio as a producer with these specifications and 24 musicians was a risk.

With Lights On A Satellite Frank Kleinschmidt from IN+OUT Records expresses his 40-year connection to the Sun Ra Arkestra. Here we have a compilation of sound and film documents which, in addition to the cinematic and photographic side of the studio day, also provides background information in the form of liner notes and photographs by Allen biographer Sibylle Zerr - and, as a summary of the spirit of the memorable studio day, by Allen himself.

Damian "Jr. Gong” Marley Releases New Single “Banner”

Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, the four-time GRAMMY AWARD® winning artist, producer, and lyrical master, released the video for his powerful new track "Banner." The track will be released the following week on Friday, October 11th. 

This homegrown anthem tackles critical issues such as scams, absent fathers, police misconduct, and widespread corruption. With its raw, thought-provoking lyrics, the song urges listeners to hold firm to their morals amidst the chaos. Damian powerfully states, “Give thanks the righteous still a wave dem banner.” 

Collaborating with acclaimed producer Scoop Deville – who has worked with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Nipsey Hussle, 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, and more – Damian continues to push creative boundaries. 

"Banner" precedes the release of his poignant summer single "Wisemen," which offers a rare perspective on love and relationships. In it, Damian reflects, “True love is hard to find. And even if it don’t exist you cannot fault a man for trying.” Earlier this year, he released “My Sweet Lord,” a spiritual reinterpretation of George Harrison’s original track, that came with high accolades from George Harrison’s wife, Olivia Harrison, as well as the George Harrison Estate. Damian’s latest three singles were released under the Ghetto Youth International (GYI) record label, which is co-owned by Damian, and his brothers Stephen and Julian Marley. 

Damian just wrapped up a 22-date Marley Brothers Legacy Tour that ran across North America with his brothers, Ziggy Marley, Stephen Marley, Julian Marley and Ky-Mani Marley. The tour wrapped up October 05th in Miami.

The Bad Plus | Complex Emotions

Today, the legendary jazz group The Bad Plus releases “Casa Ben,” the second single from their upcoming LP Complex Emotions, out November 8 via Mack Avenue Records. Composed by drummer Dave King, the track’s steadfast percussion, spacey synths and cascading sax bounce around an airy sonic landscape. They’ve also announced additional dates on their extensive fall/winter tour including shows in Pittsburgh, Atlanta and more.

“I’m a really big fan of The Police and I always wanted to write some ‘modern jazz’ music that feels like it’s directly inspired by their work,” shares King. “This is not exactly that, but it’s nice to stay inspired.” 

The band has already shared the new album’s high-energy first single “French Horns”, which garnered attention from BrooklynVegan, Jazziz, Bass Magazine and more. The upcoming release is the boundary-defying quartet’s second LP with its current lineup of founding members Reid Anderson (bass) and Dave King (drums) along with Ben Monder (guitars) and Chris Speed (saxophones) and its first with Mack Avenue Records.

“With this new album and this new batch of music, we're planting a flag to say that this version of the band has really come into its own,” Anderson explains. “A big part of what the sound of this band is is the willingness to explore complex emotions. That's something that we're not only comfortable with but that we've embraced from the beginning of the band.” 

Since their debut in 2000, The Bad Plus have pushed the boundaries of what jazz music could and should be. From their earliest days, their indelible compositions coexisted with an unconventional array of covers from outside of the strictly-policed jazz bubble: everything from Ornette Coleman to Black Sabbath to Aphex Twin, Cole Porter to the Pixies to Nirvana. Their now-legendary 2003 LP These Are the Vistas was named one of the 50 Most Important Recordings of the Decade by NPR’s All Songs Considered, and now on their 18th album, the band is still making music that is wild and unexpected, with a refusal to conform to convention.

Their album tour kicks off next month and will include their annual four-night residency at the Dakota in their hometown of Minneapolis and five nights at New York City’s famed Birdland Jazz Club. For a full list of dates, please see below or visit thebadplus.com.  

Tour Dates

• November 12 - Woodstock, NY @ Bearsville Theater
• November 13 - Portsmouth, NH @ Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club 
• November 14 - South Orange, NJ @ SOPAC
• November 15 - St. Louis, MO @ City Winery 
• November 17 - Chicago, IL @ City Winery
• November 30 - Orlando, FL @ Judson’s Live at Dr. Phillips 
• December 1 - Orlando, FL @ Judson’s Live at Dr. Phillips
• December 25 - Minneapolis, MN @ Dakota 
• December 26 - Minneapolis, MN @ Dakota 
• December 27 - Minneapolis, MN @ Dakota 
• December 28 - Minneapolis, MN @ Dakota 
• February 6 - Pittsburgh, PA @ City Winery *
• February 7 - Cleveland, OH @ The Bop Stop 
• February 8 - Indianapolis, IN @ The Jazz Kitchen 
• February 9 - Franklin, TN @ Franklin Theatre
• February 10 - Atlanta, GA @ City Winery *
• February 12 - Rochester, NY @ The Little Theatre *
• February 13 - Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Showcase Lounge * 
• February 14 - Portland, ME @ One Longfellow Square * 
• February 15 - Northampton, MA @ The Iron Horse
• February 16 - Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
• February 18 - New York, NY @ Birdland Jazz Club
• February 19 - New York, NY @ Birdland Jazz Club
• February 20 - New York, NY @ Birdland Jazz Club
• February 21 - New York, NY @ Birdland Jazz Club
• February 22 - New York, NY @ Birdland Jazz Club
• February 23 - Ardmore, PA @ Ardmore Music Hall

The Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet |vBeautiful People

The Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet (WMQ) returns with a refreshed lineup and a brand-new album, 'Beautiful People', set to be released in October 2024. This highly anticipated album will be distributed worldwide in collaboration with !K7.

The band recorded the album in December 2023 at the legendary S4 Studio of Polish Radio, inspired by the success of their fall tour, which drew large crowds of jazz fans in many cities. Fueled by positive energy and a desire to explore new sounds, WMQ entered the studio with extraordinary dynamism and passion, which can be heard in every track on 'Beautiful People'.

'Beautiful People' is a spiritual journey into the world of contemporary jazz, deeply rooted in WMQ’s identity while maintaining their Slavic roots. The new material showcases the band at a unique moment of creative growth—full of fresh energy, innovative soundscapes, and refined compositions that draw from the rich tradition of jazz while opening up new possibilities.

Wojtek Mazolewski, as the band’s leader and virtuoso double bassist, has long impressed with his ability to blend traditional jazz with modern elements, creating music that is both deeply emotional and hypnotic. His unique capacity to fuse classic jazz with modernity has made him one of the most important figures in the Polish jazz scene and has earned him international acclaim. 'Beautiful People' marks another significant step in his career—a record of the emotions, inspirations, and experiences that accompanied him and the quintet during the recording process.

Mazolewski says about the album: " 'Beautiful People' is a new beginning for us. After many concerts we played together, we entered the studio and captured our emotions, what we felt, our approach to life and the world. Each track on the album reflects our experiences but, above all, the energy that united us as a band.”

Tracks such as Purple Space, which appears and disappears like a mirage, Live Spirit, a manifestation of life’s energy in music, or New Energy, symbolising the band's new creative force, form the essence of Beautiful People. It’s an album full of expression, beauty, and authenticity, composed with the people who accompany the quintet on their musical journey in mind. The title track, Beautiful People, is dedicated to them—the fans whose support and presence Mazolewski describes as a key element of his creative energy. “You are the Beautiful People,” says Mazolewski. “This album is an expression of gratitude that we can be with you and share our music.”

The album concludes with Air, which heralds WMQ’s upcoming tour. Full of space and sounds that invite journeys both literal and metaphorical, Air is a composition about movement, change, and the constant pursuit of discovering new musical territories.

Alongside the release of Beautiful People, the Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet will embark on a international tour, including performances in Poland, the UK, Germany, Argentina, Chile, and Mexico. The band will also perform at major jazz festivals worldwide, sharing their music with international audiences.

Allegra Levy | Out Of The Question

"How deep is the ocean?” “What is this thing called love?” Jazz singer-songwriter Allegra Levy may not have all the answers, but she sure has plenty of questions. One thing about which there can be no question, though, is that her career is on the rise. Named one of the Top Ten Rising Stars among jazz vocalists in Downbeat’s 2021 Critics’ Poll, she has been dubbed a “double-barreled talent” by JazzTimes, and called everything from “sophisticated, worldly, and swinging” to “the new pin-up girl for cool.” Her latest album,  truly seals the deal. Out of the Question, Levy’s fifth release from SteepleChase Records, is composed entirely of songs in search of answers, from “Where Are You Going?” to Carole King’s “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” It features an all-star, all-women band, including Carmen Staaf on piano, Allison Miller on drums, and Mimi Jones on bass, with special guests Roxy Coss on sax, Aubrey Johnson on vocals, and Andrew Baird on guitar. 

A Connecticut native now based in New York, Levy has appeared at most of the top jazz venues in NYC, including the Jazz Standard, the Blue Note, Birdland Theatre, Zinc Bar, and the Bitter End. “Fresh … exotic… and far beyond the ordinary,” declared The New York Times of her debut album, 2014’s Lonely City. Ever since, she has continued to pen a collection of harmonically adventurous-yet-familiar originals steeped in the Great American Songbook. Her third album, Looking at the Moon, was an Editor’s Pick in both DownBeat and JazzTimes. Her fourth, Lose My Number: Allegra Levy Sings John McNeil – featuring her own lyrics set to the tunes of renowned trumpeter John McNeil – was lauded in The New Yorker as “a showcase for Levy’s … agile vocalizing and her gift for sculpting words.” 

Last spring, Levy ventured into jazz for the juvenile set with an internationally acclaimed children’s album, Songs for You and Me. Her new record, however, is strictly PG … or maybe even R, for rousing, riveting, and downright raunchy when it comes to her bluesy take on the ‘80s punk rock classic, “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” by The Clash. 

This new project was the brainchild of Levy’s longtime collaborator, pianist Carmen Staaf, a winner of the Mary Lou Williams jazz piano competition, who currently serves as musical director for DeeDee Bridgewater. “She pointed out that some of the most beautiful songs are questions, not answers, and I became fascinated with the concept,” Levy says. “As I get older, I find that it really is more about the questions.” 

The question remained what songs to choose. Although there were countless cross-genre standards to choose from — from Irving Berlin’s flapper-era “What’ll I Do?” to Michel Legrand’s haunting 1969 melody “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?” — the album also includes two classic instrumental numbers for which Levy wrote lyrics: “Are You Real?” by Benny Golson, and Horace Silver’s “Que Pasa?” 

There are two of Levy’s originals as well, entitled “What’s In a Name?” and “What Are You Waiting For?” The latter is a sort of musical pep talk about going for what you want rather than waiting for dreams to magically come true. “It’s a message I want to pass on to newcomers and other young women on the scene,” Levy says, “to make your own dreams and shape your own existence, because nobody is going to hand it to you.” 

One personal dream come true for her was getting to record with drummer Allison Miller. “She’s been one of my heroes ever since I got to New York,” Levy says. Called “a modern jazz icon in the making” by All About Jazz, Miller is known for everything from leading her own stellar band, Boom Tic Boom, to being a member of the supergroup ARTEMIS. Her frequent collaborators include singers Brandi Carlile, Ani DiFranco, and Natalie Merchant, organ legend Dr. Lonnie Smith, and reedists Anat Cohen and Ben Goldberg, as well as Staaf, with whom she has released two stellar albums.  

Rounding out the band is bassist Mimi Jones, voted No. 2 Rising Star jazz bassist in Downbeat’s Critics’ Poll three years in a row. During her more than two decades as both a leader and sought-after sidewoman, she has worked with everyone from Beyoncé, Dianne Reeves, and DeeDee Bridgewater to Roy Hargrove, Ravi Coltrane, and Terri Lyne Carrington. 

The combined force of these three phenomenal femme fatales helped inspire the album’s title. “I have this all-female trio that can’t be reckoned with,” Levy explains, “and messing with them is really ‘out of the question.’” 

The same could be said for Levy herself, who continues to accumulate accolades. She was among last year’s winners of the John Lennon Songwriting Competition for Best Children’s Song. She was also a 2023 finalist in the International Songwriting Competition’s Children’s Music category for her song “It’s So Hard to Be You.” Plus, she took first place in the 2019 Great American Song Contest’s Adult Contemporary Music category for her pop tune “Waste My Time.” Yet she is equally known for her jazzy originals and rich, emotive, contralto voice. A graduate of New England Conservatory, she proudly serves on the leadership of the Women in Jazz Organization. She wishes to dedicate this album to her young daughter, Stella Plum, as well as her future son, due this summer, about whom she wonders, “Who will you become?” But in the end, “Sometimes we don’t need all the answers,” Levy says. “We just have to explore the questions.”

Multiple Grammy Winner George Whitty and “Ambassador of Soul” Ellis Hall To Release “Die Living”

When music legends George Whitty and Ellis Hall decided to turn their longtime mutual admiration society into an official partnership, they committed full throttle to recording their explosive contemporary twist on classic R&B and came up with a clever branding idea. 

Rather than simply calling themselves Whitty Hall, Hall added “Artistic Team” to create WHAT. Add in  a handful of exclamation points and WHAT!!!! was born.  As the full CD shaped up, with its probing commentary on the ups and downs of living today, the title In the World suggested itself as the accompaniment to the band’s name. 

When longtime fans of these two keyboard powerhouses and newcomers to the Whitty-Hall experience check out these eclectic ten tracks, their initial responses will truly be a rousing, “WHAT!!!! In the World?” 

Whitty says, “At first glance, there’s a little inside joke in there, but it also speaks to Ellis’ and my observations of the world we live in, pooling and sharing our various life experiences together.” Their pitch-perfect creative mission statement is “WHAT!!!! puts the fun in funk!” 

Once the multi-Grammy winning Whitty and long beloved “Ambassador of Soul” and former Tower of Power vocalist Hall had their name and title down, next up was picking the perfect lead single. The goal was an invitation to immerse in the freshness of the grooves, the dynamics of their array of keys (including Whitty’s Moog bass and drum programming and Hall’s Hammond B-3 organ) and the surreal magic of Hall’s multi-octave vocals. The obvious choice was “Die Living,” a simmering soul anthem whose thought-provoking title came spontaneously to Whitty one day and inspired a grooving,gospel-blues fired track spiked by what Whitty calls “a front porch kind of thing.” 

In addition to organ, Hall adds various flavors of guitar on the track. Partly inspired by a casual but witty response Willie Nelson once gave to an interviewer who asked if he would ever think of retiring, “Die Living” is a song about wringing every last drop of life we can out of our time here, and seeking wisdom from others on how to do that. It’s a plea encouraging us to literally die while living as fully as possible and feeling as optimistic in old age as we did in our youth. 

As Hall sings in the first chorus, “Cause I want to die living/Help me sail into the sun/And I want to die believing/Life has just begun!” The engaging, insightful verses are essentially conversations with a “brother” who has wisdom to impart, an “old man” who can help us “steer clear from the fruit of the poisonous tree” and, as Whitty’s two boys taught him, “how much we loved to laugh and play.” 

 As Hall sings in his inimitably powerful way in the bridge, the hope is to “play it loud and long/Finish clear and strong/Just the way I did when I was young…!” “The son is basically asking different people for advice on how to live our best lives,” says Whitty. “In the second verse, Ellis added some interesting lyrics to what I had written, which was a shout out to joyful little kids who can also teach older folks a thing or two about living. He is a great lyricist with a good feel for the right words that just sort of tumble out of him to meet the occasion perfectly.”  

WHAT!!!! and the In the World album have their roots in another of the album’s instant classics, “Hug Me,” an epic, six-minute power ballad/anthem Whitty and Hall recorded in 2023 as a tribute to the strength and resolve of the people of Ukraine in the face of Russia’s bloody invasion - a way for artists to help in any way they can. Featuring the ethereal vocals of the great Ukrainian singer Maryana Golovko, the track is a powerful re-imagining of Slava Varkachuk’s Ukranian hit "Obiymy (Embrace).” The compelling video for the song intercuts clips of the two playing their parts (and Hall singing) in different studios with footage of Golovko singing in an outdoor setting and stark color and black and white images of the war’s youngest victims, the children. The recording went live on the fundraising platform United 24 within minutes of submission and currently has thousands of views on YouTube.   

Whitty had been a fan of Hall’s since he “kicked my ass so hard” when he headlined as Tower of Power’s lead singer at a mid-80s performance at NYC’s The Bottom Line. Hall’s longtime project manager (and longtime “watcher”) Alec Berfield had been bugging the singer about meeting Whitty for years, and when Whitty, with Berfield’s prompting, sent him his initial tracks for “Hug Me,” he knew it was divine timing. “Listening to what George had put together, I heard an opportunity to add some nice vocal harmonies to the track,” says Hall. Whitty adds, “I wanted it to start out simple and stripped down and build into a powerhouse symphony kind of vibe. Once I had a bass line going, it opened up into a big, epic Peter Gabriel type of sound. Ellis took it from there and wrote great English lyrics to it which deal with the human emotion side of the conflict, not the politics.” 

With three of the 10 songs recorded live in January 2024 at Inner Sanctum Studios in Coos Bay, Oregon, In The World – executive produced by Berfield and David Ford - also includes the up-tempo blues/soul/funk barnburner “Own Up,” the emotional, mid-tempo pop/soul ballad “Miami” and “Why Should I Care,” a heartfelt, poignant ballad about human indifference that Hall wrote years ago when he simultaneously heard about the Jonestown, Guyana tragedy and a previous Palestinian-Israel conflict. Prior to this dynamic re-imagining, Hall had sung it at African American summits in South Africa and Zimbabwe and it was one of Nelson Mandela’s favorite songs.   

The new collection also features the beautiful, moody introspection “Some Days Were Meant for Rain,” which Hall originally recorded on TOP’s 1987 album Power (the only album the singer recorded with the band during his tenure from 1984-88). WHAT!!!! also recorded a fiery live-in-studio version of the Sam & Dave classic “I Thank You.” The band includes guitarist David Ford, bassist Armand Sabal-Lecco (famous for his tours with Paul Simon) and drummer Aaron Haggerty (Al McKay, Kool & The Gang, Gary Clark Jr., UB40). 

A little background: For the past three decades, George Whitty has been playing live with everyone from the Brecker Brothers, Herbie Hancock and the late David Sanborn to Chaka Khan, Richard Bona, Sadao Watanabe and many others. As a producer and session keyboardist, his credits include Santana’s blockbuster Supernatural (with Dave Matthews), Celine Dion’s Falling Into You and These Are Special Times, Hancock’s The Imagine Project and hundreds of others. He has won four Grammys for his work on Chaka Khan’s The Woman I Am, Randy Brecker’s 34th and Lex, Michael Brecker’s Tales Fromthe Hudson and the Brecker Bros.’ Out of the Loop. 

In addition to his years with Tower of Power, Ellis Hall – who has been sightless since age 18 - fronted the Ellis Hall Group in the 70s, has written over 4000 soul, gospel, blues and pop songs, performed with the likes of Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, Herbie Hancock, George Benson and Maurice White and recorded with John Klemmer, George Duke and Kenny G, among countless others. He has also written and performed on many film soundtracks including The Lion King 2, Shrek 2, Invincible and Bruce Almighty. He also sang a Louis Armstrong tune in the Steven Spielberg film Catch Me If You Can. 

Speaking of his musical chemistry with Whitty, Hall says, “We are true brothers from another mother! I keep telling George to get outta my head sucka!” Whitty adds, “We just clicked right away and made each other laugh. From the get-go, I knew it would be easy to work with him and a lot of fun as well. Every time I get tracks from Ellis, it feels like Christmas Day. I guess I was on the good list. I was on a plane coming home to LA from New York recently and received some tracks from him in flight. They were so great that I was sitting there in my seat at 2 a.m.just smiling and kind of exclaiming; I wonder what the other passengers thought I was doing.” Hall adds, “It’s just a joyous thing and my word for joyous is ‘chakalaka’  “Die Living” will proudly be released in October in association with Mike Dion and ITI Records, followed in January 2025 by the album In the World.





Kelly Finnigan | A Lover Was Born

The highly anticipated sophomore solo album from Monophonics maestro Kelly Finnigan! Album fully produced by Kelly himself. Features The Ironsides, Jimmy James (Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio), Sergio Rios (Orgone), Joey Crispiano (Dap Kings) and J-Zone. 550,000 monthly Spotify listeners. Kelly is the lead singer, writer, and producer of Monophonics. He has sold over 25,000 physical units. Each album includes lyric insert and is house in a tip-on jacket. Distance as a measure of time and place informs Kelly Finnigan’s, A Lover Was Born with a grit and grace that turns passion into virtue. The latest solo release from The Monophonics frontman roots itself in the best traditions of midwest soul labels like King, Curtom, Dakar, and the Bodie Recording Company. 

A Lover Was Born is a testimony that these deep cut grooves are not resigned to nostalgia, instead, they are at the burning heart of longing and hope. The journey Finnigan takes listeners on over Lover’s eleven tracks echo the state of motion and growth since his solo debut, The Tales People Tell (2019). These two records bookend a prolific period of output, including a pair of Monophonics albums, a Christmas album, a mixtape, and a full slate of producing other artists (The Ironsides, Alanna Royale, the Sextones). “There’s nothing like making records,” says Finnigan. “It feels like that’s my purpose — the reason I was put on this earth.” Written in California, Ohio, and Staten Island, Kelly Finnigan collaborated with old friends in and outside the studio. “I enjoy working alone but it’s not how you want to make a record…almost everybody I brought in for this album I’ve worked with, toured with or spent a great deal of time with.” 

Max and Joe Ramey (The Ironsides), Jimmy James (Parlor Greens), Sergio Rios (Orgone), Joey Crispiano (Dap Kings) and Jay Mumford (aka J-Zone) all contribute to the overall sound of A Lover Was Born. Dramatic influences like Isaac Hayes (check out the piano on “Be Your Own Shelter”) and Jerry Ragovoy are chopped and folded into Northern Soul uptempo numbers to create stompers like “Get a Hold of Yourself” or “Chosen Few”. Finnigan’s take on Deep Soul is captured brilliantly on “Walk Away from Me” and “Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)”, while Boom Bap pervades on hard hitters “His Love Ain’t Real” & “Cold World”. Slower songs such as “Let Me Count the Reasons”, the emotional “All That’s Left”, and the soul-stirring album closer “Count Me Out” show the honest and tender side that has become Finnigan’s calling card. All the while, the voice is raw and earthy — in the best tradition of R&B shouters like Otis Redding, Lee Moses, and David Ruffin. The songs on A Lover Was Born reconfigure the spliced and sampled DNA of hip hop (extracted by crate diggers like Dilla and RZA) to create something new, underscoring both the spectrum and depth of soul while making a case to the timelessness of Finnigan’s sound. ~ www.firstexperiencerecords.com

Piper Street Sound -- Small Plate / Rid Them Remixes EP

Piper Street Sound is back with a sprawling EP that collects new vocal versions and remixes of two instrumental reggae songs originally released in 2020; “Small Plate” (a collaboration with Augustus Pablo’s son Addis Pablo) and “Rid Them”. While the vinyl release focuses on the more reggae centric material, including two new vocal versions by veteran Jamaican dancehall artist General Pecos, the digital release includes some remixes that range a little further stylistically; with influences that include cumbia, electronic, and even trap.

Piper Street Sound, real name Matt Mansfield, is a musician, producer, and sound engineer with a focus on dub Reggae. He maintains a studio in Clarkston, Georgia, on the outskirts of Atlanta, where he uses the techniques of dub and electronic production to explore global soundscapes and instigate musical intersections. With over twenty years of recording, performing, and touring as bassist and live dub engineer, Mansfield artfully crafts this EP by connecting the dots to just a few of the musical links and personal influences he has across the globe, providing something for every listener while sparking new connections.

The original Small Plate / Rid Them EP was envisioned as a preview of the potential for the two instrumental riddims that constitute it; he had always intended to add vocals eventually. Releasing instrumentals before vocal versions gives the instruments space to be themselves before being instantly associated with the vocal they host. Piper Street Sound’s instrumentals have a life of their own, though they're meant to be malleable, like a folk song, easily used to support new melodies and lyrics.

The headliner of the release is a two-part collaboration with General Pecos (real name Lloyd Anderson), a foundation Dancehall artist from Jamaica who gives a totally new direction to the original tracks. Pecos adds a special cadence and style to everything he does, perhaps this has to do with the range of music he has been involved in; starting with boastful and fun sexually charged lyrics and a lightning fast delivery in some big digital dancehall/ragga hits during the the late 80’s and early 90’s, he also recorded for some early Jungle/Drum N Bass producers as well, and later transitioned into a more spiritual Rasta influenced style.

Pecos’s features on this release are no exception to his daring yet nuanced style, typical of Jamaican sound system and dancehall culture. On "Always Ashine”, he uses many uplifting spiritual references with a bold and almost boastful confidence, creating a satisfying juxtaposition to Mansfield’s tight instrumentals. “Waves Rocking the Boat” seems at the start as though it will be playful, but quickly transitions into a low swinging chorus that feels soothing despite lyrics that speak of suffering. Here, the marimba de chonta, a folkloric diatonic marimba made from chonta palm played on the pacific coast of Colombia and Ecuador, makes an appearance, whose water drop-like sonic textures fit nicely amongst sea metaphors that speak of pushing on despite difficulties, eventually leading the listener towards a feeling of overcoming.

Coupling “Always Ashine”’s vocal mix, we have Soon Come’s dub version, who created a new instrumental track with electronic drums and synths rather than just remixing the existing material. With stripped down, splashy wet instrumentals and a dry vocal treatment, we’re allowed to read even deeper into Pecos’ lyrics. Soon Come (aka 100Db) is a reggae DJ, co-owner of Old Neighborhood Music Record Label, producer, dub engineer, and synth expert based in Philly.

The organ, piano, guitar, melodica, and horns are common instruments chosen for instrumental solos in more traditional reggae or dub music, but Piper Street Sound thought that a change of lead instrument timbre could really stand out in a set of songs that tend to feature the same instruments again and again. A fiddle version of “Rid Them” combines reggae instrumental arrangement with a virtuoso fiddle solo played by Trent Wideman, the fiddle player for the Carolina Opry. Mansfield unites sonic traditions of the Caribbean with their Southern USA counterparts, for a very unique yet familiar take on an old practice.

Gio Chamba’s remix of “Small Plate” brings the sonic range of the album into a whole other realm. The psychedelic cumbia guitar hero, originally from Houston but now based in Colorado, transforms the main beat of the song into a slow digital cumbia, and layers on top of it a meandering guitar solo that at times flirts with the backing track by mimicking it and in other moments strays towards a parallel path.

Michael Alfred Wagner aka Biomigrant, is a producer and multi-instrumentalist from the US who rode his bike down to Colombia to study Afro-Latin Folkloric music. After Mansfield remixed a song by Plu Con Pla on an album that Biomigrant recorded and produced, (No Mas Velorio / No Mas Velorio Remixes) Mansfield reached out to him in 2019 to facilitate a recording from the band’s marimba player, Pitufo. Michael recorded Pitufo’s marimba de chonta, and the unique results are featured on an instrumental version of the song “Rid Them” that came out on the original EP in 2020 and is included again on this new vinyl release and as the final bonus track for Bandcamp customers. Wagner remixed the track with a bass-heavy electro-organic beat, using the marimba he recorded for the original mix but adding additional elements to make this track all his own.

Then the EP takes a brief turn in yet another totally new direction with Kedoshim’s Remix of “Rid Them”, which combines crisp, trappy beats, prose poetry, and of course, reggae. Mansfield met Kedoshim (aka Hermetics, real name Santiago Niño) when working as label manager at ZZK Records and noticed his consistent and sonically pleasing production style. He later reached out for a remix and boom!

Huw William’s (aka 3000 Worlds) Dub version of “Small Plate” is one of those tracks where the producer doesn’t fear a surprise reaction in the listener. The remix, a psychedelic blend of instrumental reggae and dub, with liberal use of tape delay, was mixed live in a single take.This release sees Piper Street Sound blending years of different phases of production into different, softer forms, creating the musical foundation and then stepping back and trusting his collaborators to take the work to new places based on what they do best. It’s quite a diverse EP taken as a whole but each song works on its own and synthesizes the elements at play in a way that creates a balanced listening experience. 

Small Plate / Rid Them Remixes will be released on October 11th, 2024 by Piper Street Sound!

Jeff Lederer | Guilty!!!

As the Supreme Court begins its fall term, Jeff Lederer, the acclaimed multi-reedist and jazz and improvised music polyglot, is back with Guilty!!!, his new album due out today, October 7, 2024, via his own label, little (i) music. The timing is no coincidence: Guilty!!! — whose full title repeats the verdict 34 times — is a timely and pointed attack on lying political discourse, using digital samples of dishonest political speech and bi-textuality as a basis for new compositions. 

Joining Lederer on Guilty!!! is the ensemble previously known as Swing n’ Dix — cornetist, slider trumpeter, and magic keyboardist Kirk Knuffke, tubist Bob Stewart, and drummer Matt Wilson. Here, the group is augmented by trombonist and electronicist Curtis Hasselbring and vocalist/lyricist Mary LaRose (“Cheapening the Process,” “And She Speaks”). All vocalize; Wilson plays a well-timed gavel. 

“I’d hoped it wouldn’t be just another progressive, Democratic jazz musician preaching to the choir,” Lederer says wryly. “Although since making this record, I’ve had a couple of surprises pop out within our own jazz community.” And, sometimes, the choir’s not singing loud enough — especially during this critical election — an undeniable pivot point in modern American history. 

Given his resumé as a conceptualist — he’s tackled sacred Shaker songs (Shakers n’ Bakers), sea shanties meets Albert Ayler (Brooklyn Blowhards) and Schoenberg (Schoenberg on the Beach), Lederer was uniquely positioned to nail this project. Despite being ripped from the headlines, Guilty!!! is bound to stick with you, through this nail-biter election and beyond. Guilty!!! originated in a residency Lederer taught last March at a preparatory high school in our nation’s capital, which culminated in a performance at the nearby performance space Rhizome DC. “I wanted to focus on the idea of telling the truth and lying, both in public speech and playing music,” he says — stressing that while the MAGA Republicans are the most flagrant liars on the scene today, truth-damaged discourse is coming from all directions. 

The songs on Guilty!!! that represent truth rely on organic instrumentation; the ones signifying lies are bathed in electronics and clashing, chaotic political soundbites. “Buzzsaw” features the voice of Marjorie Taylor Greene, who Lederer grinningly calls “the illustrious congressperson from Georgia.” “She was talking about her lack of support for the Ukraine war effort, and somehow she got on this word ‘buzzsaw,’ and repeated it over and over again,” Lederer says. 

“Buttigieg vs. Sanders” thematically harkens back to two elections ago — by all accounts, a simpler time. “I love Bernie’s voice. It’s an amazing sound,” Lederer says. “It harkens back to the time when the biggest issue that we had in leadership for this country was whether it was going to be Pete Buttigieg or Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination. If you recall, that was actually a hotly contested point for a minute, and it’s so nostalgic and sweet to think back on.” 

“Cheapening the Process” is a tip of the hat to former Rep. and current convicted felon George Santos — one of the GOP’s resident Dadaists, and one who Lederer has particular fondness for. “I set the song for George Santos as a bossa nova, because he is kind of a fake Brazilian,” Lederer explains. “Curtis Hasselbring made the clutch move of finding a clip where a woman asks him, ‘How do we make you go away?’ And he says, ‘Well, stop inviting me to your gigs.’” 

A reworked version of a piece formerly known as “Baby Cakes,” “Deportation Operation” derives from a quote from our current Republican nominee, whose name Lederer is loath to evoke. “He was outlining his immigration policy, and describing this grand deportation operation that was going to happen once he was back in office,” Lederer says. “You don’t hear the Orange One’s voice, but it was based on his speech.” (In fact, the former president’s voice is found nowhere on the record; Lederer is sensitive to those potentially triggered by that awful sound.) 

“Piccolo Buster” reflects the unconventional (for jazz) instrument that Lederer’s been rocking with lately. “The filibuster is definitely one of the most bizarre traditions in American politics,” Lederer reflects. “So, I thought to myself, I wonder what would happen if I just continued to play the piccolo non-stop. How would people make me stop?” As such, the methodology for “Piccolo Buster” was, “Do whatever gestures you want to try to make me stop.” (Dig Wilson’s gavel at the end.) 

The title track, “Guilty!!!,” is a co-write between Hasselbring and Wilson. “Curtis transcribed the melodic cadences of Adam Schiff’s great speech, where he gave us the 34 guiltys in kind of a deadpan way,” Lederer says, obviously referring to Trump’s felony convictions. “But it has a nice shape to the melody.” The following track, “And She Speaks” — by Lederer’s hero and onetime clarinet teacher, John Carter — takes a far less light-hearted turn. 

“This one speaks to violence against African American women by police officers,” Lederer says, citing the tragic case of Breonna Taylor. “We do know a lot about young Black men [in these situations], but sometimes, people forget about the violence against Black women.” “We the People” follows, featuring Sen. Katie Britt’s rebuttal to President Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address. “She’s such a strange character in American public life, and from that MAGA wing of the Republican Party,” Lederer observes. “She espouses this new Stepford Wives, Handmaid’s Tale version of women’s roles in American family life.” 

Guilty!!! starts to wind down with Charles Mingus’s “Fables of Faubus.” “It’s incredible how close we are to the politics of the late 1950s once again,” Lederer says. “The frightening thing about ‘Fables of Faubus’ is when you get those Mingus spoken word and sung parts, they resonate with the same relevance today as they did in the late 1950's.”

The program concludes with “Truth is Marching In,” by Lederer’s longtime lodestar Albert Ayler — which brings us back to the core concept of Guilty!!!. “This album has eight lies and two truths, and I wanted to end with a truth,” Lederer shares. “I wanted to end with something that feels really good.” 

Jazz diehards will immediately recognize the album art for Guilty!!! (created by Jamie Breiwick); it plays off It’s Time!, Jackie McLean’s 1964 classic on Blue Note Records with Charles Tolliver, Herbie Hancock, Cecil McBee, and Roy Haynes. They’ll also want to mark their calendars: on Election Eve, November 4, Lederer is throwing a special event in five cities (info above) in which local musicians will perform cuts from the record from 8 pm to 9.30 pm EST. 

At 9 pm EST, the separate groups will join together for a mass stream, where they ALL perform “Truth is Marching In.” Indeed it is, and Lederer is a musical ambassador for the truth. Is his new album extremely of its moment? Well, see the album title. Regardless, Guilty!!! Is an innovative, ear-bending Molotov cocktail, hurled into the noise, where Lederer hopes for the best. And if you not only turn up this record loud, but bring its energy to the polls, something tells him November 5 will be a glorious day.

Darryl Evan Jones | Resilient

Darryl Evan Jones brings the flute's classic vibe, rich melodic and harmonic possibilities to a new generation. 

The musical style of Darryl Evan Jones is truly original - combining the genres of Jazz, Classical, and Gospel music. He calls his style Instrumental Soul. Darryl insists that he’s a soul singer who can’t sing, but expresses his emotions through the flute. 

Born and raised in the South Bronx, music was originally introduced as an alternative to the lure of the streets and other ills of the projects. Soon, it became evident that music was more than a distraction. It was a calling. Darryl began to develop a very unique musical voice that was simply undeniable.

Darryl Evan Jones' journey has brought him to performance stages like The Cannon Center in Memphis, Philadelphia's Mandell Theater, and the Capital Jazz Fest. He's also been the opening act for artists like Howard Hewett, Jeff Lorber, Kem, Boney James, and has shared the stage with Marion Meadows. Darryl is also the winner of the "Solo Instrumental" category in the (International) 2024 Made In New York Jazz Competition, representing the United States.

Since the release of his “Relentless” album, Darryl has made quite a stir with this memorable project. Darryl Evan Jones unfolds the diversity of the flute as only a master of this instrument can do; a valuable asset to those who love this instrument and all other contemporary jazz fans. 

"On The Run", the first radio single from the "Resilient" album has already made waves by making its mark on the Radio Wave Groove Jazz and SJ Network Charts. The release of the second radio single "Road Trip, combined with the release of "Resilient" is sure to cement Darryl Evan Jones as a bonified force in Contemporary Jazz.

"Resilient" is a "statement piece" of musical and personal triumph. This uptempo muse is dedicated to that "never give up" spirit that is necessary to get more out of life than just accepting whatever comes your way. "Resilient" has incredible energy that will have even the most rhythmically challenged among us moving to the beat. 

Tord Gustavsen Trio | Seeing

With Seeing, Tord Gustavsen begins an intricate new chapter in his series of acclaimed trio recordings, initiated in 2003 with Changing Places – an album that is today considered a classic. The new recording with its compact, concentrated song forms "reflects my personal development as I get older, going for the essentials in life and music," says the Norwegian pianist. The album is also Gustavsen’s tenth release on ECM Records, an achievement worth noticing.

Throughout five Gustavsen originals, two chorals after Johann Sebastian Bach, a traditional Norwegian church hymn, plus the 19th century English chorale "Nearer My God, to Thee“ Tord together with long-time ally Jarle Vespestad on drums and Steinar Raknes on double bass digs deep into his unique blend of jazz, blues, gospel, Scandinavian folk and church music. "Cherishing the melodies," as Tord puts it, the group’s interplay draws strength from restraint, patiently but concisely building the music toward its climaxes, while the pianist, meanwhile a seasoned master of the trio format, leads with his delicate touch and subtle gospel glow.

Thus Seeing is strongly characterized not only by an enchanting down home feel but also by what Gustavsen calls the “efficiency of shape”: ”On this record you won’t find much extensive soloing. Instead we tried to invest our musicianship in the interplay and the shaping of small improvised parts and to ‘maximizing’ the fundamental details. This way the album offers a cool contrast to our live concerts these days, where we often go for more epic forms and extended suites, bringing several themes together and doing extended free improvisations. But what binds it all together, is that all about trying to go for what feels more vibrating and essential in the moment; and not following a plan or a script unless it feels really right to do it.” Of particular interest is the counterpoint work between the bass and the piano, and the warm, wooden full sound of the double bass, strikingly captured at the Studios La Buissonne, which the trio visited for the first time with this recording.

A Gustavsen original, “Seattle Song," closes the album – its origin and development are a good example of how Tord and the trio aimed to keep things concise on Seeing: “The tune entitled ’Seattle Song’ came to me during sound check in Seattle February 2023. It happens quite frequently that promising ideas for melodies, grooves, riffs, or sound textures emerge while jamming during sound check or fooling around at the piano while the others are setting up. It can be that the material asks to be expanded into more elaborate forms with supplemental sections etc., but in this case, the almost simplistic basic idea demanded to be left just like that. First, I thought it would be just a piano solo interlude, but then Steinar and Jarle joined spontaneously, and played it so beautifully and subtly comforting that it indeed became a trio tune; and one that we cherish a lot.”

Seeing, recorded in fall 2023 at Studios La Buissonne in Southern France, was produced by Manfred Eicher.

Michael Sarian & Tomás Kidd | Incoming

INCOMING" is a dynamic testament to the enduring friendship and musical partnership between natives Michael Sarian and Tomás Kidd, whose musical bond dates back to their teenage years in Buenos Aires. Born from a serendipitous encounter in Amsterdam after one of Sarian's tours, the album showcases their seamless musical synergy and creative camaraderie. Each track reflects their deep connection forged over years in Buenos Aires, blending intricate melodies and spontaneous improvisations. "INCOMING" celebrates their journey from Argentina to global acclaim in contemporary jazz, blending their shared roots with an innovative approach. Through their music, Sarian and Kidd invite listeners into a world where friendship and artistic vision know no boundaries, echoing the vibrant spirit of their hometown.

The album's rich tapestry is woven with the distinctive instrumentation of Michael Sarian’s trumpet and Tomás Kidd’s acoustic bass, a pairing that breathes new life into each composition. Sarian's trumpet evokes various emotions, from soulful melodies to spirited improvisations, adding a dynamic layer to the music. Meanwhile, Kidd's bass provides a solid foundation with its warm tones and rhythmic versatility, driving the melodies forward while creating intricate harmonic textures.The sonic contrast between high brass and low-string instrument gives the album a unique sense of delicacy and vulnerability, which the duo hones into an intimate listening experience. 

"INCOMING" draws inspiration from a diverse range of musical influences, including jazz, avant-garde, rock, Latin, and world music traditions. Sarian and Kidd's collaboration bridges cultural and stylistic boundaries, offering listeners a unique and immersive musical experience that celebrates creativity, collaboration, and artistic expression.

The album is poised to resonate with jazz aficionados and music enthusiasts alike, showcasing Sarian and Kidd's virtuosity as instrumentalists and their ability to weave intricate musical tapestries that captivate and inspire. "INCOMING" is not just an album but a testament to the power of musical collaboration and the limitless possibilities of jazz fusion in the 21st century.

Michael Pallas | Gateway

With the release of his debut album, Gateway, the Phoenix-raised, New York City-based trombonist, composer, and educator Michael Pallas looks to make his mark as a leader to be reckoned with.

A trombonist inspired by J.J. Johnson. Curtis Fuller, Steve Turre and Papo Vasquez, Pallas is a proud alumnus of the Jackie McLean Institute, founded by legendary alto saxophonist and educator Jackie McLean in Hartford, Connecticut. 

While Pallas has been performing professionally for over 15 years, including stints with legendary jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, mambo big band leader Steve Oquendo, Afrobeat band Antibalas, hip-hop group Soul Science Lab and others, the trombonist was inspired to become a solo artist during the pandemic. 

“I really had a lot of time just to reflect on where my career was at that point,” Pallas says, “and I felt like it was necessary for me to start moving in this direction of really seriously writing my own music, and eventually releasing my own record. So I began to compose tunes that dealt with themes and emotions that I and many artists were facing during the first two years of the decade.” 

Backed by saxophonist Lomar Brown, pianist Yeissonn Villamar, bassist John Benítez, drummer Jonathan Barber, and percussionist Nelson Mathew Gonzalez - with co-producer Alex Meltzer - the 13 Pallas-penned selections on Gateway reflect the myriad inventions and dimensions of 21st century jazz. 

The lead-off number, “Life On Mars,” is an infectious Cubop composition written for the nickname McLean gave to Hartford, and its non-resemblance to McLean’s beloved Big Apple. “One For The City” is a bouncy, upbeat waltz dedicated to New York City, followed by the midtempo backbeats of “Streaming Hope,” inspired by online concerts and jams musicians played during the pandemic. 

“Patient(s)” is a hypnotic, hip-hop flavored interlude, which sets up “Disu’s Dream,” a moving rumba dedicated to memory of Pallas’ friend and fellow trombonist Jason Disu, who passed away in 2021. In contrast, “Counterfeit Blues” features the arresting spoken word artist Ghazi Omair talking about police brutality and the murder of George Floyd, which introduces “The Verdict,” a hard bop comment on the subject. 

“Today And Forever,” is a beautiful Kenny Barron-style ballad. “Next Exit” is another dreamy, hip-hop friendly interlude, followed by the title track; an exuberant, contemporary jazz-style selection in celebration of the return of live music, bookended by Afrofuturistic, neo-soul number “Beyond (The Gateway).” “El Boli” is based on Chick Corea’s “Humpty Dumpty,” and the last track, “Variant,” is a twilight-toned blend of dance beats, psychedelic effects and Afro-Colombian cumbia rhythms. 

Pallas was very specific about how the recording was sequenced. “I was able to tell the story through the songs, and they're all placed in a chronological order,” Pallas remarks. “I thought long and hard about how the tracks should be placed.” 

Gateway is a testament to how versatile a trombonist and composer Pallas is while also showing that he’s fluent in many different genres. “I’m excited to share all these ways of playing and approaching new styles of music on the trombone,” Pallas says. 

Pallas was born in Los Angeles in 1990 to a Dominican immigrant mother and a father of European heritage who was born and raised in New York City. Pallas, who was brought up in Phoenix, started playing piano in the first grade, and took up the trombone at the age of 11.

“Once I picked it up, I excelled on it pretty rapidly, in comparison to my peers,” Pallas proudly recalls, “and a lot of the reason why was because I'd been studying piano before I even picked up the trombone. So, I really had a strong musical foundation.” 

Pallas played in several local bands, specifically with the Young Sounds of Arizona: a non-profit 501-(c)(3) organization composed of young musicians playing in several jazz bands. Pallas’ major instructors were Robert McAllister, Principal Trombonist for the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, and Milas Yoes, Director of Instrumental Music, Jazz Studies and Humanities at Phoenix College, where Pallas attended. 

Pallas told Yoes that he wanted to attend a conservatory, so he put him in touch with jazz trombonist Steve Davis, who taught at The Jackie McLean Institute at the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, Connecticut. “I went out there and auditioned for Steve,” Pallas says, “and once I arrived there, it changed my life. It showed me that there is a path in music, for people that are serious, and you can really excel and make a living off of it.” Pallas attended McLean’s school and earned a Bachelor of Music degree in 2013 while also collaborating and studying with Rene McLean at the Artists Collective and working frequently with Ed Fast and Conga Bop. 

Pallas moved to New York City in 2014 and went on to gig with several Latin bandleaders including John “Dandy” Rodriguez, Gilberto “Pulpo” Colon, Steven Oquendo, Tito Rodriguez, Jr., Alex Matos, Tito Rojas and Lusito and Roberto Quintero. Pallas also worked with many jazz artists and ensembles including Abdullah Ibrahim, Steve Davis, Rene McLean, Robert Edwards Big Band, the George Gee Orchestra and the Cotton Club Orchestra. In 2021, Pallas began working with the NYC-based hip-hop and multimedia act Soul Science Lab. Between 2022 and 2023 Pallas toured throughout North America, Europe and Africa and recorded with the Grammy-nominated Afrobeat band Antibalas. Pallas has also performed with New York retro soul and R&B group Ernest Ernie and The Sincerities. 

Shortly before the pandemic, and towards the end of Barry Harris’ life, Pallas participated in the legendary pianist’s Orchestra Project. “Although we never performed or recorded it was an invite only workshop that met weekly in Manhattan to rehearse Harris’ compositions and arrangements for large ensemble,” Pallas says. 

Pallas, who received his Master of Music degree from New Jersey City University in 2022, is also a devoted educator. He taught music theory and directed jazz ensembles at the Music Conservatory of Westchester, from 2014 to 2023. Pallas currently teaches with the Harmony Program, which helps New York City children develop healthy habits and life skills through collective music-making, preparing them for long-term success.

Courtney Cutchins | Grunge To Grace

A singer with an uncommon command of her luminous voice and an organic, soulful and dramatic sense of phrasing a lyric, Seattle native Courtney Cutchins is also a vivid storyteller and prolific songwriter. All of those qualities come to bear on her auspicious debut as a leader, Grunge to Grace (Laseryn Music). Backed by a stellar crew of rising stars on the New York jazz scene — pianist-producer David Cook (Taylor Swift, Mark Guiliana, Lizz Wright, Nicole Zuraitis), guitarist Nir Felder (Keyon Harrold, Terri Lyne Carrington), bassist Matt Clohesy (Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, Maria Schneider Orchestra) and drummer Obed Calvaire (Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Dave Holland, Cécile McLorin Salvant) — Cutchins deals in purely authentic terms on six stirring originals and three re-imagined anthems from her ‘90s youth in Seattle by grunge rock luminaries Nirvana and Soundgarden.

“These deep, introspective grunge rock songs make sense to me,” said the singer who spent three years in New York City and currently splits her time between the Big Apple and the Greater Savannah Area. “They fit the theme of this album, which is about living in your authentic truth. It’s about the journey to become who you are and who you want to be.”

Recorded at Bunker Studio in Brooklyn, Grunge to Grace is the culmination of an idea that was sparked nine years ago and picked up momentum through the years. As Cutchins wrote in the liner notes: “In 2015, while navigating difficult times, I found my way to a supportive music therapy exercise: ‘rediscover songs from early childhood that bring you joy.‘ After combing through dozens of Disney soundtracks, folk songs and Muppets movies, an unexpected memory hit me from when I was growing up in the Seattle area — hearing Soundgarden’s mystical, soaring ‘Black Hole Sun’ on the radio. With this song as my muse, I created a variety of reinventions of grunge tunes from my youth and had some of the most fun ever performing them in NYC.”

Performing her new jazzgrunge repertoire at venues like Rockwood Music Hall, Cornelia Street Cafe, Silvana and the 55 Bar was a liberating experience for Cutchins, allowing her to live her own authentic truth through song. “Grunge emerged from a need for musical rebellion and rawness, and it sits in an introspective space which speaks to me deeply,” she said. “This album includes three of my favorite arrangements from that time. It’s my intention to encourage and inspire the listener to be free and live as who they are, and then shine that out into the world.”

That theme of struggle for self-identity is apparent from the opening track, a daring interpretation of Soundgarden’s “Boot Camp” from the group’s fifth studio album, 1996’s Down on the Upside. Against an urgently swinging undercurrent provided by Felder, Cook, Clohesy and Calvaire, Cutchins sings about the oppressed resigning to the authority of the oppressors, conforming to the status quo while still fantasizing about how there must be something good/there must be something else/far away from here. Courtney’s vocals are resounding and cathartic while Felder unleashes with signature fluency on his guitar solo against Calvaire’s unrelenting pulse, putting a new and decidedly ‘jazzy’ suit of clothes on this grunge classic.

Her own moody ballad “Star on the Sea,” underscored by Calvaire’s brushwork and Cook’s gentle piano accompaniment, is as intimate and poignant as Billy Strayhorn’s “Lush Life” or Sarah Vaughan’s rendition of “Midnight Sun.” As Courtney explained, “This song is about a place where femininity is safe and celebrated and imagines a galaxy where women are free to live in a place of peace and power.”

“Passenger” is Cutchins’ catchy, R&B flavored ode to the New York City subway system. Paced by Calvaire’s insistent backbeat, the tune features a striking, warm-toned guitar solo from Felder. As the kinetic piece builds to a dramatic crescendo, Calvaire is turned loose to wail on the kit.

Perhaps the most intimate and revealing song on Grunge to Grace is Cutchins’ duet (with Felder on steel string acoustic guitar) on a version of Soundgarden’s “The Day I Tried to Live” from their 1994 album, Superunknown. A droning bit of introspection written by Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell, it addresses the introverted singer’s frustration at trying to “be normal” by going out and living with people. And while it may be tinged with melancholy, Cutchins also sees a sense of hope in the lyric: One more time around (might do it)/One more time around (might make it). As she offered, “We can have the best of intentions, but for one reason or another we feel a sense of failure — or we’re living a lie and get caught up in something that isn’t actually true to who we are. It’s about identifying these aspects of ourselves and growing as human beings.”

Courtney’s affecting ballad “Hold Up the Moon” opens with some ethereal wordless vocals against a drone, setting an atmospheric mood. The song was based on a dream and describes a sense of devotion despite disaster.

Tackling Kurt Cobain’s “All Apologies,” which appeared on Nirvana’s third and final studio album, In Utero, was daunting. But Cutchins rose to the occasion with the most moving and dynamic performance of the album, full of soaring wordless improvisations and nuanced interpretation of the tortured lyrics. “That song was definitely a big part of that soundtrack from the ‘90s, for me,” she said. “The melody is beautiful, so I really wanted to play with it and put it on a different musical planet. But the message remains the same. I interpret it as such a great statement on vulnerability and equality, while also being a defiant proclamation of living unapologetically.”

Courtney’s “Prison in Your Mind” is a lilting, confessional number with universal appeal about her struggle with perfectionism, while “Grunge to Grace” is the album’s soul-stirring hymn. “That one is my personal favorite,” said Courtney. “It came about soon after Chris Cornell had passed in 2017. That was a shock. Between that tragic event and the general weight of the world at that time, everything felt painful. So, I wrote a song acknowledging the pain that we can all feel and experience, while staying hopeful at the same time. Those two feelings can exist together and that’s okay.”

“Illuminate,” is the big power-chording, distortion-laced guitar closer that gradually builds to a throbbing crescendo with Obed bashing forcefully over a band ostinato. “It’s got a little bit of Radiohead in there, some Soundgarden, a little David Bowie, just a mix of things that we also felt,” said Cutchins. “This song was inspired by the pandemic, my experience with chronic fatigue, my love of the ocean and the process of soul- searching. I felt it would be like an exclamation point at the end of the album.”

These songs of self-discovery reveal a singer-songwriter who was deeply immersed in jazz through her college years (she earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Vocal Performance from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle and a Master of Music degree in Jazz Vocal Performance from prestigious Manhattan School of Music in New York City) but still felt a symbolic connection to the music of an earlier time in her life. Both sides represent the full picture of this sensational, risk-taking singer who is coming into her own with Grunge to Grace. https://courtneycutchins.com

New Set of Rare Recordings - Charlie Parker: Bird in Kansas City

On modern jazz pioneer Charlie Parker’s heavenly birthday: August 29, 2024, Verve Records announced Bird in Kansas City, an album featuring a new set of rare recordings dating from between 1941-1951, to be released globally on October 25, 2024 on vinyl, CD, and digitally. Much of this collection has never been heard before and some recordings have never even been known to exist — Bird in Kansas City chronicles Charlie Parker’s evolution from a blossoming soloist with the Jay McShann Band into a brilliant improviser who changed the genre forever.

To celebrate the announcement of Bird in Kansas City, the first track, “Cherokee,” 

Chuck Haddix — scholar and author of Bird: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker, who also produced and wrote liner notes for this album — says, “‘Ray Noble’s ‘Cherokee’ was one of Bird's favorite songs. Whenever he showed up late for a gig, he would make a grand entrance through the front door playing ‘Cherokee.’ Taken at a bright tempo, Charlie takes wing with a melodic solo that deftly navigates the song’s challenging chord changes.”

In addition to two unreleased 78s with the McShann band, Bird in Kansas City offers two sets of private recordings — at the home of Parker’s friend Phil Baxter and at Vic Damon’s studio— made with local musicians and a very relaxed-sounding Parker who has the room to stretch out and show us the shape of jazz that was to come in his wake.

Central to these recordings is Parker’s relationship to his hometown of Kansas City, a place he never lived again once he left in 1941 but remained deeply important to him; his mixed emotions owed to the city’s history of racial segregation and to his strong ties to his family and friends there. Though he never returned permanently, he frequently came home during breaks in his travels, and it is during those times that these recordings were made.

Cinematic funk heroes Calibro 35 present their new EP ‘Jazzploitation’

Cinematic funk heroes Calibro 35 present their new EP ‘Jazzploitation’: a journey in the world of jazz and rare groove.

Dr. Dre and Jay-Z sampled Italian cinematic funk legends Calibro 35 are always in search of new territories to venture into. Their new journey is called ‘Jazzploitation’: a new EP paying tribute to jazz-funk, rare groove and psychedelic cinematic-jazz, to be released next October 18th on digital platforms via Record Kicks and now available for pre-order. 

None of the members of Calibro 35 are (or consider themselves) jazz musicians, but over the years jazz has often and significantly inspired them. ‘Jazzploitation’ is not a “jazz record” but an EP “inspired by jazz” in which Calibro 35 pay homage to some of their favorite musicians; from Bob James to Lalo Schifrin, to Miles Davis and Idris Muhammad. 

The first single taken from the EP is a cover of RAI TV’s legendary ‘Lunedì Cinema (Monday Movie)’ theme, a jazzy disco-funk mover composed by Italian renowned singer-songwriter Lucio Dalla, which features for the occasion the scat singing of Sicilian artist Marco Castello (Nu Genea, Erlend Oye). The new single ‘Lunedì Cinema’ is out today on all digital platforms and on November 15th also on ltd edition clear 7” vinyl.  

On the EP’s tracklist feature also the second single ‘Chaser’, a groovy jazz-funk stormer composed by Piero Umiliani, who originally recorded it for the soundtrack of 1975’s erotic-noir movie ‘The Body’ directed by Luigi Scattini, as well as ‘Nautilus’ by the jazz keyboardist Bob James and ‘Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (Générique)’ by Miles Davis taken from Lous Malle’s film. A total of four jazz-funk numbers that confirm the musicianship of Calibro 35, already proven in over a decade of history. 

Described by Rolling Stone as "the most fascinating, retro-maniac and genuine thing that has happened to Italy in the past few years", Milan-based Calibro 35 enjoy a worldwide reputation as one of the coolest independent bands around. Active since 2007, during their long career they were sampled by Dr. Dre on ‘Compton’ (‘One Shot One Kill’ feat. Snoop Dogg), Jay Z (‘Picasso Baby’), The Child of Lov & Damon Albarn (‘One Day’) and Demigodz (‘The Summer Of Sam’). They played major venues and festivals all over Europe and as unique musicians they collaborated with, amongst others: PJ Harvey, Mike Patton, John Parish, Stewart Copeland and Rokia Traoré.

Cliff Beach | Music Maker

For over 15 years, Cliff Beach has been a cornerstone of the Los Angeles music scene earning a reputation for vibrant live performances; high volumes of musically eclectic releases; and having a second-to-none hustle that uplifts every collaborator in his orbit. Following a successful early 2024 jazz release entitled You Showed Me The Way, Beach pivots back to his high-voltage funk roots with his forthcoming release Beach Please, available via Eddie Roberts’ (The New Mastersounds) imprint Color Red on October 18, 2024. The second single “Music Maker,” will be available tomorrow, September 20, and is a sultry homage to Willy Wonka via Arthur O’Shaugnessy’s famous poem 'Ode.'  

Both Beach’s neo-soul influence and tenacious optimistic hustle are displayed front-and-center on “Music Maker.” With the hook directly affirming Willy Wonka’s assertion of O’Shaughnessy’s poem, Beach speaks to trudging through creative peaks and valleys, finishing tasks despite how they are perceived, and not being defined by your past or relationships. The track’s spellbinding groove and melodious hook are a hat tip to Erykah Badu’s “On and On” positioning it perfectly for the portion of the album speaking to redemption and finding your way to self-love. 

“We are the music makers, we are the dreamers of dreams,” Beach reiterates, “I think any artist is crazy to do it and do it this long, but everyone thinks the musician is crazy who can’t hear the music in their own head. So like Paul Simon I’m still crazy after all this year and will keep making music until the wheels fall off!” 

Beach’s tenacity and life philosophy of exerting hard work and effort is further reflected in his book Side Hustle & Flow: 10 Principles to Live and Lead a More Productive Life in Less Time, which he was drafting at the same time he wrote the collection of songs that appear in Beach Please. Throughout the book’s ten chapters, Beach chronicles his journey of getting kicked off American Idol to finding success with his hit song “Confident” that amassed over 1 million streams and won the Grand Prize for R&B at the John Lennon Songwriting Contest in 2019. It speaks to the reality of starting passion projects while maintaining a day job through a detailed, realistic approach, rather than snake oil that promises you can be a multi-millionaire with minimal effort. 

Beach Please’s 11-tracks (10 originals and one cover of Michael Jackson’s 80s hit “The Way You Make Me Feel”) are structured as a 3-part suite, each exploring a different element of love, heartbreak, and redemption. Suite One celebrates the joys of falling in love and the rush of emotions that accompany those early stage feelings. It contains "Crush on You," "Gotta Have That Girl, " "The Way You Make Me Feel," and "Stuck with You.” Suite Two speaks to heartbreak and the polarizing reality of pain and moving on through five songs "It's All My Fault," "Reminds Me of You," "Gotta Let You Go," “Final Goodbye,” and "Let Me Be Lonely." Suite Three comes full circle making its way back to moving forward and finding your way back to self-love in two songs “Music Maker” and “The Work.” The album was produced by Cliff Beach and recorded at The Road House in Topanga, CA by Lito Magana. The album's pre-mixing was done at 1192 Studios in Westlake Village, CA by Tim Hall with mixing by Dylan Brown and mastering by Doug Krebs. 

On making the album Beach states, “Spanning songs over my entire career that never made it to an album yet everything has a right place and time to be born. The past is history, the future is a mystery and all we have is here and now. This album is as NOW as I’ve ever been and I am thrilled to be partnering with Color Red Music label for its inaugural release!” 

Those in the Southern California area can catch Cliff Beach and his band at the following performances, including an album release show at the legendary west side venue, Harvelle's in Santa Monica on October 18th: 

10/18 - Harvelle's - Santa Monica - Album release party with Chase Walker Band and The Chester Copperpot

10/26 Sam’s Place w/ David Franz - Ojai, CA 

Beach Please will encapsulate a programmatic journey through all phases of passion, anguish, and vindication piggybacking off of the spring jazz release and prefacing a contemporary album to be released later this fall.