Friday, October 18, 2019

New Music Releases: Mark Sherman; Momo Said; Kelly Suttenfield


Mark Sherman – My Other Voice

You may know Mark Sherman as a vibraphonist, composer and producer and a DownBeat Rising Star in vibes, who has performed/recorded with a range of musicians including Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Lena Horne, Ruth Brown, Joe Beck, Rodney Jones, Ruth Brown, Ann Hampton Callaway, Liza Minelli and many others. He played and recorded with Larry Coryell for seven years and has been on faculty at the Juilliard School since 2010. On new release, Sherman returns to his roots as a pianist. Joining him is an all-star band with Vincent Herring on alto saxophone, Ray Drummond on bass, Carl Allen on drums, Nana Sakamoto on trombone, and Dan Chmielnski on bass.

Momo Said - Break The Rules

Premiered by the website of one of Italy’s most important newspapers La Repubblica, the brand new video to Italo-Moroccan musician Momo Said‘s second single “Time Gives Lessons” has landed! “Time Gives Lessons” is a smooth soul-funk number with jazzy inflections and a luscious orchestral arrangement taken from Said‘s debut album “Break The Rules”. In the video Said sings as he bicycles through his hometown of Cesena to deliver bread, inspired by a popular Italian TV advert from 1972 starring Italian actor Ninetto Davoli doing much the same in Rome (though not quite as in tune). “Break The Rules” is a breezy cocktail of funk, soul, disco, latin & jazz and is available on beautiful gatefold LP and Digital via Tam Tam Studio Recordings. According to famed UK magazine Blues & Soul you can “rest assured you are in for a great ride with this fresh sounding, string laden, soul stirring album… A real touch of class!”. If there’s one thing music ignores, it’s borders, in fact it is through cross-pollination, hybridization and the meeting of different styles and genres that some of the most exciting musical endeavors are made, and Momo Said is another fine example.

Kelly Suttenfield – When We Were Young: Kelly Suttenfield Sings Neil Young

Kelly Suttenfield is a versatile jazz singer with a warm, intimate voice that’s perfect for her newest project, When We Were Young: Kelly Suttenfield Sings Neil Young. The album includes some of Neil Young’s most famous songs, as well as a couple of tunes written but never performed by him. Tackling songs that are long associated with the pop legend is an audacious endeavor; however, this is not a tribute album. Rather, Suttenfield and her collaborator and arranger, guitarist Tosh Sheridan, have created interpretations that are fresh and personal. Suttenfield is a regular on the New York jazz scene and performs at various venues around the East Coast. On ‘When We Were Young”, Suttenfield brought on board a rhythm section of three top New York-based musicians who make up the group named (718), an electric trio groove music band that blends modern and creative jazz-inspired improvised music. The members of (718) provide the perfect blend of jazz and rock sensibilities. Members of The Memling Ensemble, a musical partnership of Metropolitan Opera Orchestra musicians that has been concertizing in various configurations for over twenty years, provide strings accompaniment on several tunes. These renditions of Young’s tunes are accessible and appealing, and the musicianship on this album is stellar, but the real stars of the project are Suttenfield's sensual, emotive voice and Sheridan’s evocative arrangements. It’s not easy taking on songs that are so closely identified with a seminal artist like Neil Young, but Suttenfield and Sheridan impress by staying true to originals while imbuing them with their own personalities and artistry.


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