MICK JAGGER, JOSS STONE, DAVE STEWART, DAMIAN MARLEY, A.R. RAHMAN - SUPERHEAVY

Mick Jagger has teamed up with Eurythmics founder Dave Stewart, soul singer Joss Stone, Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack composer A.R.Rahman and reggae star Damian Marley to form a band cooperative project called SuperHeavy. This diverse and eclectic line up who share eleven Grammy Awards between them, have been recording together in various studios around the world, with the majority of the tracks on the project laid down over three weeks in Los Angeles earlier this year. The album will be unveiled in September and tracks include the first single `Miracle Worker', plus `One Day One Night', `Energy', `Unbelievable,' `SuperHeavy,' I Can't Take It No More,' `You're Never Gonna Change' and `I Don't Mind.'

SuperHeavy came together after Jagger and Stewart considered what a band comprising of musicians from different genres would sound like. Jagger explains, "Dave really wanted to make a record with a different group of musicians, in other words, with different backgrounds of music. Instead of everyone being a rock musician, or basically a blues musician, or some other genre, he wanted to get as many genres together that would fit. I said it sounds like a good idea, I never thought it would actually happen." Yet soon enough Jagger found himself back in the studio with Stewart and Joss Stone, having previously worked together on the 2004 Alfie movie soundtrack. Stewart says Stone was, "an obvious choice for us. She's such an incredible singer and spirit." Stewart and Jagger's dream team took further shape when they were inspired to bring Damian Marley into the mix, says Stewart, "We'd always wanted a Jamaican musician because Mick and I are crazy about Jamaica and Jamaican music. Stewart has worked with legend Jimmy Cliff while Mick has duetted with Peter Tosh from the Wailers on the Temptations tune "Don't Look Back" in 1978.

We were listening to loads of stuff and suddenly a light bulb went off and we thought about Damian Marley." Jagger had long been a fan of Marley's, fresh from another cross-genre collaboration with American rapper Nas, citing his strength as a lyricist and toaster along with his penchant for experimentation and collaborative spirit. Marley brought on board his rhythm section, bassist and composer Shiah Coore and drummer Courtney Diedrick, while Stewart introduced the band to his long-term collaborator Ann Marie Calhoun, a rock violinist who had previously worked with the Foo Fighters.

Recording in L.A. meant the band's path crossed with legendary Indian composer A.R. Rahman, in the City of Angels fresh from his Slumdog Millionaire Oscar glory. Jagger explains, "We didn't know what kind of music we'd make, we didn't know if it would be any good, but we hoped we'd have fun." They were thrilled to have Rahman on board, Stewart says, "He brings so much musical knowledge, amazing musicianship, melody and singing power from a different culture."

Despite their disparate backgrounds, they instantly connected and hit the ground running, writing twenty-two songs in the first six days. Stone was thrilled with the results, "That's what you need, all these opinionated people who have been brilliant in their own field, shove them together and see what comes out. It's really unexpected, it's mind blowing" she enthuses. Similarly enthused was Rahman, "The first day I was in a daze thinking, `What am I doing? What's my role?' and then slowly we started writing with each other, and it was great. It took me way back to my high school days when I was playing in a rock band, but this one was a real one!" Jagger says of the writing process, "We ran the gamut of all our different styles mixed up, so we got Joss singing, Damian doing toasting, and me singing different styles."

However, despite the free flow of creative juices and the easy rapport they established, getting the band together in one place became very difficult, as Stewart explains, "It's the most complicated record ever made. Imagine, some of it's recorded in LA, some of it's recorded in the South of France, some of it's recorded off the coast of Cyprus, some of it's recorded in Turkey, some of it's recorded in Miami, some of it's recorded in the Caribbean, and some of it's recorded in Chennai, in India."

The project needed a name. Marley had been riffing the term "SuperHeavy", inspired by Muhammad Ali being the super heavy weight champion of the world and the phrase became the band's catchphrase, "It was Mick who said, `Why don't we call it SuperHeavy?", recalls Stewart, "We all thought about it for ages and then it sort of stuck." SuperHeavy is a new and spontaneous way of working for all the collaborators as Jagger explains, "I said to Dave, normally [with the Stones] we'd always have written songs before we go into the studio, but the jam sessions resulted in some great work believes Stone, "It felt better when we were just jamming, that way we made it up as we went along and it was easy."

The band found a harmonious way of working together, "With five of you everyone has to give and take quite a lot. We tried to understand everyone wouldn't be too egotistical, start throwing things around the studio, we wouldn't have fights!" says Jagger. However they weren't averse to telling each other to be better either, Jagger continues, "We were writing a lot of stuff and throwing it away. I would say, `That's rubbish, another cliché Joss', and she'd say, `Well you come up with something then!'" The experience was refreshing and exciting for the band, "We're four vocalists, we've never worked like that before. It's great because the whole burdens not on you, and that made it fun." Jagger enthuses.

Back to that alchemical experiment, Jagger, Stewart, Marley, Rahman and Stone appear to have created a new genre. It's a new kind of music, it's a new genre, one that cannot be placed" says Stone. Yet, Jagger is keen to point out the music is accessible, "It's very approachable. If you're a Rolling Stones fan there's definitely stuff you can relate to. Other stuff that you can't relate to so much, maybe if you listen you'll enjoy it."

A first for Mick Jagger is singing in Urdu, on a song composed by Rahman, entitled "Satyameva Jayate", meaning, "the truth alone triumphs", Rahman wrote the song after some gentle teasing from the others. Rahman explains, "In the daytime I was playing with them, in the night time and evenings I was gigging" "Then", says Jagger, "He didn't come into the studio one day, so I said, `Where's A.R?' and he came in really late at night, really pleased saying, `I've got my song!' I manage one line in Urdu, only one!"

Marley's way of working was different to the rest of the band. Stone reveals, "Damian is kind of quiet but he has some brilliant ideas. He works on stuff at night. Sometimes he'll just go away and sit with the lyrics and bring something to it. His rhythm section brings so much. He has his own thing going in the next room so I pop in and out." Marley would work on toasting over the record by himself and re-join the band when he was happy with it.

As far as the future of SuperHeavy goes, "We haven't planned to do a tour or anything, but if people really like it maybe we will. We'd love to get out and play some of it live," says Jagger humbly. "As soon as we started playing together in the studio it gelled, and all these different styles didn't seem to be a problem to make them fit together... I hope people will like it...."

Main Credits on the SuperHeavy album are - Mick Jagger (vocals, guitar and harmonica), Dave Stewart (guitar), Joss Stone (vocals), Damian Marley (vocals) and A. R. Rahman (vocals plus a variety of keyboards). The SuperHeavy album is co-produced by Jagger & Stewart. Universal Music will release the album worldwide on their A&M label imprint.

The Deluxe version contains 4 bonus tracks. Mick Jagger has teamed up with Eurythmics founder Dave Stewart, soul singer Joss Stone, Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack composer A.R.Rahman and reggae star Damian Marley to form a band cooperative project called SuperHeavy. This diverse and eclectic line up who share eleven Grammy Awards between them, have been recording together in various studios around the world, with the majority of the tracks on the project laid down over three weeks in Los Angeles earlier this year. The album will be unveiled in September and tracks include the first single `Miracle Worker', plus `One Day One Night', `Energy', `Unbelievable,' `SuperHeavy,' I Can't Take It No More,' `You're Never Gonna Change' and `I Don't Mind.'

THE E FAMILY – NOW AND FOREVER

After years of playing on each other’s projects, The E Family came together to produce this ultimate, long overdue and highly anticipated labor of love, Now And Forever. Available in stores on September 20, 2011 on Sheila E’s Stiletto Flats Music through Waterfront Entertainment (Fontana / Universal), Now And Forever pays homage to their collective diversity of styles, influences and experiences.

The E Family is a force with which to be reckoned. Pete Escovedo discovered and cultivated a love and passion for music, embracing Latin jazz and passing it on to his sons and daughters. Pete has performed and toured with Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaria, Bobby McFerrin, Cal Tjader, Woody Herman, Billy Cobham, Boz Scaggs, Anita Baker, Arturo Sandoval, Poncho Sanchez, Carlos Santana, and Chick Corea to name a few. Today, Pete leads one of the country’s top orchestras, performing their own unique brand of Latin jazz. Pete’s daughter, multiple Grammy® and Emmy® nominee Sheila E. for her Outstanding Contribution as Musical Director for Fiesta Latina: A Performance At The White House, is also an impressive drummer, composer, producer and philanthropist, having performed with artists such as Ringo Starr, Prince, Jennifer Lopez, Lionel Richie, Diana Ross, George Duke, Placido Domingo, Natalie Cole, Phil Collins, Celine Dion, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder and countless others. Juan Escovedo brings his flavor of R&B to the table, having performed with a roster of noted artists including Patti Labelle, Jodi Watley, Lou Bega, MC Hammer, En Vogue, Herbie Hancock and many more. Youngest son Peter Michael has performed with Mariah Carey, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Nicks, and George Michael, to name a few, and is a talented musical director whose credits include The Martin Short and Wayne Brady television shows, the latter garnering him two Emmy® nominations.

Collectively they are the latest evolution of one of the most amazing musical family dynasties that continues to deliver a colorful and powerful concoction of music to move the body and soothe the soul. The E Family’s new release, Now And Forever‚ is a track collection encompassing a rich range of musical influences, ranging from Latin, Hip Hop, Pop, R&B and Jazz, and features special guest artists Earth Wind & Fire, Gloria Estefan, Joss Stone, Israel Houghton, Raphael Saadiq, George Duke, Wes Quave, and Damon Castillo. It is a must have for a wide range of music lovers.

In celebration of the release of  Now And Forever, The E Family will hold a star-studded album release event on September 20, 2011 at the Conga Room at LA Live in downtown Los Angeles. The event will feature a full performance with the 14-piece band and give fans the opportunity to enjoy the spectacular experience of seeing the family live together on stage. Red carpet arrivals begin at 6:30pm and doors open to the public at 7:00pm. It will be an event not to be missed. Special guests, press information and event details will follow at a later date.

Now And Forever Track Listing:
1.    I Take It Back (featuring Gloria Estefan)
2.    I Like It
3.    Nothing Without You
4.    The Other Half of Me (featuring Joss Stone with Raphael Saadiq and George Duke)
5.    Do What It Do
6.    Peace and Joy (featuring Earth,Wind & Fire)
7.    Praise His Name
8.    Nina
9.    All Around (featuring Israel Houghton)
10.    It’s Gonna Make You Dance
11.    The “J”
12.    Get Out of My Way
13.    Live Percussion Jam

RAMSEY LEWIS, TAKING ANOTHER LOOK

Just like a breath of fresh air comes a brand new album from acclaimed jazz musician and three-time Grammy winner Ramsey Lewis. Lewis’ 80th album release, entitled Ramsey, Taking Another Look is being released on the Los Angeles based Hidden Beach Recordings. The inspiration for Ramsey, Taking Another Look comes from an appearance at The Blue Note jazz club in Tokyo where he was asked if he would consider bringing an electric band. Then his agent suggested the same idea, however, with a more specific focus – and that was to revisit Sun Goddess, his most successful album of the seventies (and his fifth to be certified gold by the RIAA). Soon afterwards came a decision to re-record some old songs where Lewis and his Electric Band breathe new life into many of Lewis’ favorite tunes from the mid-seventies, including a new rendition of the Stevie Wonder penned ‘Living for the City” as well as a new edit of the original “Sun Goddess” recording featuring Earth, Wind & Fire. The ten tracks on the album cover a wide range of emotions but not so much to lose the project’s “concept album” perception. They reveal more than rehashed 1970’s funk. While they don’t “blow the roof off the sucka,” they do win you over with their tender grooves; their fresh vibrant sounds; as well as being breezy, and organic all at the same time. You really need to give it a listen to understand what I am taking about. My personal favorites include the smooth groove sounding rendition of the Stylistics “Betcha By Golly Wow,” Wonders “Living For The City,” “To Know Her,” and ‘Intimacy.” In other words, I love the sound and I guarantee you will too! For Ramsey, the idea of taking another look suggests the liberties he takes with these songs. Rather than turning back the hands of time, his goal is to bring this material into the 21st century for new audiences to enjoy.

Ramsey Lewis on Ramsey, Taking Another Look
‘The idea of the electric quintet came up and having played mostly in an acoustic trio arrangement for 12-15 years, I decided to get together with the guys to see how it felt. The rehearsals went so well that I called in my engineer, Danny Leake and my producer/son, Frayne Lewis to come in and roll tape. I’ve recorded maybe 65-70 albums, and this album is definitely among the top five.”

In support of this upcoming release Ramsey Lewis will be touring into 2012 with a five piece electric band, including Henry Johnson, Tim Gant, Joshua Ramos, and Charles Heath.

“Living for the City” is accompanied by a music video created at Chicago’s Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy, with Film & Broadcast and Recording Arts students taking the lead on production. Featuring an energetic performance by Ramsey Lewis and his Electric Band, the clip celebrates the visual vibrancy of Chicago at night time. Here is the link from Youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXphoapoLUY

Composer, pianist and jazz legend Ramsey Lewis has been referred to as “the great performer,” a title reflecting his performance style and musical selections which display his early gospel playing and classical training along with his love of jazz and other musical forms. A native Chicagoan, Lewis represents the great diversity of music for which Chicago is noted. Ramsey Lewis first captivated fans with his first album Ramsey Lewis And The Gentleman Of Swing by the Ramsey Lewis Trio in 1956. By 1965, he was one of the nation’s most successful jazz pianists, topping the charts with “The In Crowd,” “Hang On Sloopy” and “Wade In The Water.” He has won three Grammy Awards and seven gold records to his credit. Often called legendary, Lewis concedes “It’s a high honor when someone says so, but I don’t see myself that way. What keeps me enthusiastic and energizes me, is the realization that the more I learn, the more I find there is to know.”

In addition to recording albums and performing live, Lewis hosted WNUA-FM Chicago’s weekday morning drive-time radio show, “The Ramsey Lewis Morning Show,” from 1997-2009. The syndicated ‘Ramsey Lewis Morning Show” ran from 2007-09, and today he continues to host the syndicated “Legends Of Jazz With Ramsey Lewis,” radio program.

Ramsey, Taking Another Look will be released on September 20, 2011.
Ramsey, Taking Another Look Track Listing:
1. Intimacy
2. Tambura

3. Love Song

4. Living For The City

5. Betcha By Golly Wow

6. To Know Her

7. The Way She Smiles

8. Jungle Strut

9. Sharing Her Journey

10. Sun Goddess

http://www.ramseylewis.com/

NINA SIMONE SINGS THE BLUES

Sings The Blues (1967) is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone (1933-2003). This was Simone's first album for RCA Records after previously recording for Colpix Records and Philips Records. The album was also reissued in 2006 with bonus tracks, and re-packaged in 1991 by RCA/Novus as a 17-track compilation under the title The Blues. Nina's not just singing the blues here – she's completely reinventing the sound of the format – by drawing on a long tradition of vocal expression, and infusing it with the hipper, more personally exploratory mode she forged in the 60s! The album's got a subtle brilliance that means that it's sometimes overlooked next to her more forceful work of the time, but it's every bit essential Simone as some of her other key sides of the decade. The group is a small combo featuring Eric Gale, Bernard Purdie, Buddy Lucas, and Ernest Hayes – and titles include "I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl", "Do I Move You?", "In The Dark", "Real Real", and "Backlash Blues".  

Sings The Blues Track List:
1. "Do I Move You" (Simone) - 2:46

2. "Day and Night" (Stevenson) - 2:35
3. "(Romance) In the Dark" (Green) - 2:57
4. "Real Real" (Simone) - 2:21
5. "My Man's Gone Now" (Gershwin, Heyward) - 4:16
6. "Backlash Blues" (Hughes, Simone) - 2:31
7. "I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl" (Simone) - 2:32
8. "Buck" (Stroud) - 1:52
9. "Since I Fell for You" (Johnson) - 2:52
10. "The House of the Rising Sun" (Traditional) - 3:53
11. "Blues for Mama" (Lincoln, Simone) - 4:00

Bonus tracks for 2006 reissue:
1. "Do I Move You" [alternate version] (Simone) - 2:19
2. "Whatever I Am" (Dixon) - 3:02

Additional tracks appended to the 1991 The Blues:
1. "The Pusher" (Axton) – 4:50
2. "Turn Me On" (Loudermilk) – 2:24
3. "Nobody's Fault But Mine" (Simone) – 2:59
4. "Go to Hell" (Bailey) – 2:46
5. "I Shall Be Released" (Dylan) – 3:51
6. "Gin House Blues" (Henderson, Troy) – 3:08

Personnel

Tracks 1-12

· Nina Simone: vocal, piano

· Eric Gale: guitar

· Rudy Stevenson: guitar

· Ernie Hayes: organ

· Bob Bushnell: bass

· Bernard Purdie: drums, timpani

· Buddy Lucas: harmonica, tenor sax

Track 13

· Nina Simone: vocal, piano

· Eric Gale: guitar

· Everett Barksdale: guitar

· Weldon Irvine: organ

· Richard Tee: organ

· Jerry Jemmott: bass

· probably Bernard Purdie: drums

· Gordon Powell: vibes, percussion

· Montego Joe: percussion

· George Devens: percussion

· Joe Shepley, Jimmy Nottingham, Harold Johnson, Wilbur Bascomb: trumpets

· Jimmy Cleveland, Richard Harris: trombones

· Seldon Powell, George Coleman, Norris Turney, Haywood Henry: saxophones

· Ralph H. Fields, Eileen Gilbert, Jerome Graff, Milt Grayson, Hilda Harris, Noah Hopkins, Maeretha Stewart, Barbara Webb: vocals

· Arranged and conducted by Weldon Irvine

JESSY J - HOT SAUCE

More than just another pretty face, Jessy J has worked diligently to achieve recognition for her finely honed chops, songwriting skills and a strong sense of originality. Jessy was born in Portland, Oregon, she's played the saxophone for over 20 years. An accomplished singer and dancer, she sang background vocals for Michael Bolton, played with the Henry Mancini Jazz Orchestra and performed in the off-Broadway production of Blast! She's also done studio work with Michael Bublé, Seal, the Temptations, Jessica Simpson, Michael Bolton and Mexico's pop diva Gloria Trevi. Jessy's success is the product of a lot of hard work and a never ending focus on accomplishing her goals. "I still practice every day," she says. "I love to play music because my spirit feels at peace. I dreamed of playing music as a child and now music is my life."

Jessy J's new album, Hot Sauce, is a special blend of ten fiery tunes and is seasoned with authentic Latin zing and packed with real jazz flavor. The accomplished saxophonist/singer/composer's third album spotlights her collaborations with some of today's most prominent contemporary jazz musicians, including guitarists Paul Brown and Ray Parker Jr, keyboardists Joe Sample and Gregg Karukas, and drummer Harvey Mason of Fourplay. Hot Sauce showcases eight originals - from mild to wild - along with adventurous new arrangements of Francis Anthony `Eg' White's pop hit "Leave Right Now" and Duke Ellington's jazz classic "In a Sentimental Mood." Jessy returned to the studio with mentor and Grammy® winning hitmaker Paul Brown, who produced her acclaimed 2009 release, True Love. In addition to handling production duties, Brown co-writes and performs on the album. "I first met Paul in 2006, and we have a strong friendship," says Jessy. "Paul brings the best out in me. Our collaborations are highly productive, and they always sound amazing." Drawing on a wealth of influences, Hot Sauce combines jazz with Latin rhythms and spotlights Jessy's stylish vocals and lush, sultry saxophone playing. "My previous recording, True Love, was an instrumental pop album," she says. "This time I had a chance to work with some legendary musicians, and I believe I was able to show my growth as an artist." Jessy also embraces her Latin heritage on her new album. The mellow ballad "Rio Grande" displays the best of this seductive and alluring style. "My mom is from Texas, and my dad is from Sinaloa, Mexico," she says. "I'm really proud to be a Latina role model. It's such a rich culture, and I have an affinity to music from both sides of the border."

THE ESSENCE OF SONNY ROLLINS

Theodore Walter Rollins was born on September 7, 1930 in New York City. He grew up in Harlem not far from the Savoy Ballroom, the Apollo Theatre, and the doorstep of his idol, Coleman Hawkins. After early discovery of Fats Waller and Louis Armstrong, he started out on alto saxophone, inspired by Louis Jordan. At the age of sixteen, he switched to tenor, trying to emulate Hawkins. He also fell under the spell of the musical revolution that surrounded him, Bebop. He began to follow Charlie Parker, and soon came under the wing of Thelonious Monk, who became his musical mentor and guru. Living in Sugar Hill, his neighborhood musical peers included Jackie McLean, Kenny Drew and Art Taylor, but it was young Sonny who was first out of the pack, working and recording with Babs Gonzales, J.J. Johnson, Bud Powell and Miles Davis before he turned twenty.

"Of course, these people are there to be called on because I think I represent them in a way," Rollins said recently of his peers and mentors. "They're not here now so I feel like I'm sort of representing all of them, all of the guys. Remember, I'm one of the last guys left, as I'm constantly being told, so I feel a holy obligation sometimes to evoke these people." In the early fifties, he established a reputation first among musicians, then the public, as the most brash and creative young tenor on the scene, through his work with Miles, Monk, and the MJQ. Miles Davis was an early Sonny Rollins fan and in his autobiography wrote that he "began to hang out with Sonny Rollins and his Sugar Hill Harlem crowd...anyway, Sonny had a big reputation among a lot of the younger musicians in Harlem. People loved Sonny Rollins up in Harlem and everywhere else. He was a legend, almost a god to a lot of the younger musicians. Some thought he was playing the saxophone on the level of Bird. I know one thing--he was close. He was an aggressive, innovative player who always had fresh musical ideas. I loved him back then as a player and he could also write his ass off..."

Sonny moved to Chicago for a few years to remove himself from the surrounding elements of negativity around the Jazz scene. He reemerged at the end of 1955 as a member of the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet, with an even more authoritative presence. His trademarks became a caustic, often humorous style of melodic invention, a command of everything from the most arcane ballads to calypsos, and an overriding logic in his playing that found him hailed for models of thematic improvisation. It was during this time that Sonny acquired a nickname, "Newk." As Miles Davis explained in his autobiography: "Sonny had just got back from playing a gig out in Chicago. He knew Bird, and Bird really liked Sonny, or "Newk" as we called him, because he looked like the Brooklyn Dodgers' pitcher Don Newcombe. One day, me and Sonny were in a cab...when the white cabdriver turned around and looked at Sonny and said, `Damn, you're Don Newcombe!'' Man, the guy was totally excited. I was amazed, because I hadn't thought about it before. We just put that cabdriver on something terrible. Sonny started talking about what kind of pitches he was going to throw Stan Musial, the great hitter for the St. Louis Cardinals, that evening..."

In 1956, Sonny began recording the first of a series of landmark recordings issued under his own name: Valse Hot introduced the practice, now common, of playing bop in 3/4 meter; St. Thomas initiated his explorations of calypso patterns; and Blue 7 was hailed by Gunther Schuller as demonstrating a new manner of "thematic improvisation," in which the soloist develops motifs extracted from his theme. Way Out West (1957), Rollins's first album using a trio of saxophone, double bass, and drums, offered a solution to his longstanding difficulties with incompatible pianists, and exemplified his witty ability to improvise on hackneyed material (Wagon Wheels, I'm an Old Cowhand). It Could Happen to You (also 1957) was the first in a long series of unaccompanied solo recordings, and The Freedom Suite (1958) foreshadowed the political stances taken in jazz in the 1960s. During the years 1956 to 1958 Rollins was widely regarded as the most talented and innovative tenor saxophonist in jazz. Rollins's first examples of the unaccompanied solo playing that would become a specialty also appeared in this period; yet the perpetually dissatisfied saxophonist questioned the acclaim his music was attracting, and between 1959 and late `61 withdrew from public performance.

Sonny remembers that he took his leave of absence from the scene because "I was getting very famous at the time and I felt I needed to brush up on various aspects of my craft. I felt I was getting too much, too soon, so I said, wait a minute, I'm going to do it my way. I wasn't going to let people push me out there, so I could fall down. I wanted to get myself together, on my own. I used to practice on the Bridge, the Williamsburg Bridge because I was living on the Lower East Side at the time."

When he returned to action in early `62, his first recording was appropriately titled The Bridge. By the mid 60's, his live sets became grand, marathon stream-of-consciousness solos where he would call forth melodies from his encyclopedic knowledge of popular songs, including startling segues and sometimes barely visiting one theme before surging into dazzling variations upon the next. Rollins was brilliant, yet restless. The period between 1962 and `66 saw him returning to action and striking productive relationships with Jim Hall, Don Cherry, Paul Bley, and his idol Hawkins, yet he grew dissatisfied with the music business once again and started yet another sabbatical in `66. "I was getting into eastern religions," he remembers. "I've always been my own man. I've always done, tried to do, what I wanted to do for myself. So these are things I wanted to do. I wanted to go on the Bridge. I wanted to get into religion. But also, the Jazz music business is always bad. It's never good. So that led me to stop playing in public for a while, again. During the second sabbatical, I worked in Japan a little bit, and went to India after that and spent a lot of time in a monastery. I resurfaced in the early 70s, and made my first record in `72. I took some time off to get myself together and I think it's a good thing for anybody to do."

In 1972, with the encouragement and support of his wife Lucille, who had become his business manager, Rollins returned to performing and recording, signing with Milestone and releasing Next Album. (Working at first with Orrin Keepnews, Sonny was by the early ’80s producing his own Milestone sessions with Lucille.) His lengthy association with the Berkeley-based label produced two dozen albums in various settings – from his working groups to all-star ensembles (Tommy Flanagan, Jack DeJohnette, Stanley Clarke, Tony Williams); from a solo recital to tour recordings with the Milestone Jazzstars (Ron Carter, McCoy Tyner); in the studio and on the concert stage (Montreux, San Francisco, New York, Boston). Sonny was also the subject of a mid-’80s documentary by Robert Mugge entitled Saxophone Colossus; part of its soundtrack is available as G-Man.

He won his first performance Grammy for This Is What I Do (2000), and his second for 2004’s Without a Song (The 9/11 Concert), in the Best Jazz Instrumental Solo category (for “Why Was I Born”). In addition, Sonny received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in 2004. In June 2006 Rollins was inducted into the Academy of Achievement – and gave a solo performance – at the International Achievement Summit in Los Angeles. The event was hosted by George Lucas and Steven Spielberg and attended by world leaders as well as distinguished figures in the arts and sciences. Rollins was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, First Class, in November 2009. The award is one of Austria’s highest honors, given to leading international figures for distinguished achievements. The only other American artists who have received this recognition are Frank Sinatra and Jessye Norman.

In 2010 on the eve of his 80th birthday, Sonny Rollins is one of 229 leaders in the sciences, social sciences, humanities, arts, business, and public affairs who have been elected members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. A center for independent policy research, the Academy is among the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies and celebrates the 230th anniversary of its founding this year. “I am convinced that all art has the desire to leave the ordinary,” Rollins said in a recent interview for the Catalan magazine Jaç, “and to say it one way, at a spiritual level, a state of the exaltation at existence. All art has this in common. But jazz, the world of improvisation, is perhaps the highest, because we do not have the opportunity to make changes. It’s as if we were painting before the public, and the following morning we cannot go back and correct that blue color or change that red. We have to have the blues and reds very well placed before going out to play. So for me, jazz is probably the most demanding art.”

And Sonny Rollins – seeker and grand master – is jazz’s most exacting, exhilarating, and inspiring practitioner.

GINA CAREY - MELODIC

Palm Springs, California based soul artist Gina Carey has recently climbed to the #1 spot of Starpoint Radios’ Top 30 UK Soul Charts with her new CD release Melodic, this has not been achieved since her first Urban Gospel release In His Time in 1996. On July 7, 2011, her Album Melodic entered the UK Soul Charts at #27 and steadily climbed each week until she hit the #1 spot. “Unbelievable”, “Don’t Ever Let Me Go”,” Red Hat”,” Without You”, and “Share My Life” were amongst the most popular DJ choices. Melodic was officially released on June 18, 2011. All songs were written, composed and arranged by Gina except for “Without You and Don’t Ever Let Me Go”. Those songs were written by her husband and label mate Gico Music’s Smooth Jazz/ Urban Soul Guitarist John Carey. John also produced Melodic and is the featured lead guitarist on all of her songs. Chicago /Inglewood Native, Gina Carey began her professional career as a Urban Gospel singer and songwriter. Her first three albums, In His Time, Changes  and Tell Um were all Gospel projects. Shortly after her last Gospel release, in 2006, Gina won "Best Gospel Performer - Female" at the Las Vegas Black Music Awards. Her fourth and fifth CD’s My Journey and Melodic were released in the Urban /Soul music Genre. In 2008 her "True Love" music video from her My Journey CD aired on BET J on the "Morning Cup Show." Gina is planning on touring the UK along with her husband John Carey in 2012. They are also working on a duo CD that is due to be released in January of 2012.

GLORIA MADUKA - OF LOVE AND ANGELS

Nigerian-born singer-songwriter Gloria Maduka releases "Love Illusion" ahead of her debut album Of Love and Angels. The album is an eclectic mix of alternative rock, pop, reggae, and soul, with her unique style of delivery blending all the tracks on the album together. The Of Light and Angels album is a testimony that anyone can go as far as they can dream. The first single release from the album, ‘Love Illusion’, has already been heard across airwaves. Maduka chose as a first single ‘Love Illusion’ based on feedback from fans who stated that the song spoke directly to their own personal situations. It has a simple but powerful message throughout the lyrics: matters of the heart are to be taken seriously as it is easier to fall in love than to fall out of it. Maduka wanted her debut single to be one that her fans would fall in love with. “It is a very personal album that speaks about life and love experiences” – Said Maduka. “The assortment of the stories contributes to the overall vibe of the album. The songs have been a work-in-progress for many years as I traveled through my own journey of life to develop an album that my fans would be able to identify within their own experiences.”

Maduka, who has formed The Gloria Maduka Foundation, an organization created exclusively for charitable purposes to aid helpless children, the elderly and individuals with physical and mental limitations, has developed a unique trademark which is enhanced by her ability to also write and sing in Yoruba and Spanish. Her techniques with the conga, bongo, and djembe among other percussion instruments set her apart from other female artists. Consequently, her passion for percussion has been infused into her music and is heard throughout her music. Aside from her impending album and single releases, Maduka has performed a special song ‘Into The Light’, for the soundtrack of the horror movie ‘Mansion of Blood’ starring award winning actors Gary Busey, Robert Picardo and Terry Moore set to be in theatres worldwide October 2011.

RICK BRAUN SINGS WITH STRINGS

Rick Braun has been playing trumpet since he was a kid. No news there for the legions of fans his richly melodic playing style has attracted since the release of his first album, Intimate Secrets in 1993. Less known is the fact that he's been a singer, and a good one (backing Rod Stewart and Sade among others, with vocals as well as his stellar trumpet) for most of his life, as well. Rick Braun Sings With Strings brings both those skills front and center, and it does so in a way that dips back into the music he's been captivated by since he first picked up a horn.   "This album," says Rick, "feels a lot like coming home. I grew up hearing this music all around the house. Singing it, playing it. Listening to my mom, who was a singer and piano player. She was one of those people who knew every part of a song - the verse, the chorus, the refrain, all the lyrics."  The album will no doubt produce similar comfort feelings for anyone with a love for song. And not just Great American Song. Because what Braun and producer/arranger Philippe Saisse have put together in this eminently listenable recording is a gathering of tunes unlimited by boundaries of origin or style. Some are familiar. Songs such as "I Didn't Know What Time It Was," "And I Thought About You" and "The Things We Did Last Summer" have been memorable themes from the soundtrack of American love life for decades. Rick also especially recalls "I've Never Been In Love Before" and "Time After Time" as "tunes I've known since I was a kid."

Others are less familiar, but no less memorable. "Once Upon A Summertime" is an English version of Michel Legrand's gorgeous French song, "La Valse des Lilas"; "It's Love" is from the musical Wonderful Town by the brilliant songwriting team of Betty Comden, Adolph Green and Leonard Bernstein; and "Say It (Over and Over Again)" was written by Loesser and Jimmy McHugh for a 1940 Jack Benny film titled Buck Benny Rides Again. The French song "Plus Je T'embrasse," sung as a duet by Rick and French singer Jasmine Roy, may have unfamiliar lyrics for American listeners, but the melody immediately recalls its origins in the old pop song, "Heart of My Heart." "Lucky To Be Me," which was given strong consideration as a title for the album, was one of three tunes - along with "It's Love" and "Plus Je T'embrasse" - that were inspired by hearing a Blossom Dearie album. And Philippe Saisse, in addition to his lush orchestrations, encouraged the inclusion of "The Good Life," based on Sasha Distel's French song "La Belle Vie." But what links the soaring melodies of all these songs is their embracing lyricism and deep emotional intimacy. Delivered via the jaunty, expressive story telling qualities of Rick's singing and the warm sound of his flugelhorn (he does not play trumpet on this album), the results are prime examples of the way a gifted jazz artist can find the inner heart of a song. "I've always wanted to play lyrically," says Rick. "For me, that's where I live." And it's where his singing lives, as well.

Rick's not the first trumpet player to match instrumental prowess with engaging vocals. He's preceded by, among others, Louis Armstrong, Bunny Berigan, Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Chet Baker, Clark Terry and Jack Sheldon. Their range extends from Armstrong's innovative vocal style to Baker's extraordinary balladry to Terry's unique scat singing. "I'm a big fan of Chet's," says Rick. "For both his singing and his playing. I'm much more of an inside player, and my inspirations are minimalist players, like Chet and Miles Davis." Which isn't surprising, listening to the airy flugelhorn solos that surround Rick's vocals on every track. Miles once said that the notes one doesn't play are as important - maybe even more so - than the notes one does play. And that principal applies as well to singers such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Sammy Davis, Jr. - whom Rick also lists as inspirations. Like those high visibility vocal stars, Rick sings with a respect for the vital balance between words and music, for the many-layered connections between the inner story of a song and the beauty of its melody. He does so with the same respect for phrasing that one finds in a Sinatra or a Bennett performance. But what Rick does with that phrasing, with his use of the "minimalist" approach that he cites as an important element in his music, is his own creative craftwork. And that, as much as anything, is what makes this album so fascinating. At a time when the male jazz vocal field has been far too sparsely populated, Rick Braun Sings With Strings makes a convincing case for the arrival of a potential new star of the jazz vocal art.

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ROBERT DAVI - DAVI SINGS SINATRA: ON THE ROAD TO ROMANCE

There are actors who can sing, and singers who can act and iconic screen star Robert Davi is known in inner circles as the "singer who can act."  Davi, who studied opera as a young man, always intended to make singing his career, but as fate would have it his screen career took flight and there was no looking back.  Now after 100 movies with remarkable diversity, hit television credits and his directorial film debut, Davi is returning to his first love, making his major recording debut with a tribute to his mentor the legendary Frank Sinatra.  Davi Sings Sinatra: On The Road To Romance is scheduled for release October 24, 2011 on Sun Lion Records, distributed through Fontana/Universal Music.   In commenting, Jim Urie, CEO and President of Universal Music Group Distribution stated: "If we distributed coffee instead of music we'd label Davi 'bold, rich and full flavored'.  We are extremely pleased and excited to have him as part of the Universal Music Group family."  Fontana president Ron Spaulding further stated: "Robert is a national treasure who brings to life all the richness of the American Songbook with this heartfelt and vocally stunning tribute to the Master himself."

The project came together under the guidance of Disney Music Group Chairman Bob Cavallo and was produced by the legendary 14 time Grammy® Award winning and 33 time Grammy® nominated producer Phil Ramone. Recorded with a thirty piece orchestra at the famed Capitol Studios in Hollywood, where Sinatra recorded many of his albums, Davi Sings Sinatra has all new arrangements by Nic Tenbroeck and was engineered by Dan Wallin. It was mixed by the incomparable Al Schmitt, who has 18 Grammys and more that 150 gold and platinum selling albums to his credit. States Schmitt: "Robert sounds like he's been singing these songs all his life.  His phrasing and uniquely beautiful baritone voice blend perfectly with the arrangements and the result is what great music is all about."

As an actor, Davi has been compared to the likes of Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum and Lee Marvin.  He has worked with the biggest names in Hollywood, from Marlon Brando to Clint Eastwood, appearing in such movies as Die Hard, Showgirls, The Goonies and considered one of the top three Bond villains of all time in License to Kill.  His television credits are just as vast, starting with the hit NBC television series Profiler and continuing with Stargate: Atlantis and most recently Criminal Minds.  In making his directorial debut and starring in the 2007 award winning film The Dukes, about a one-time rock stars now on hard times, Davi showcased his singing ability.  However, it was his motion picture debut in Contract on Cherry St., which made the most profound impact of all—sharing the screen with Frank Sinatra.  And now "it's time for me to go home," Davi says.  "To spend time with my first love, singing and at the same time pay tribute to the legend who was my greatest mentor and the man who was very dear to me."

Backed by a 50-piece orchestra, Davi has been performing Davi Sings Sinatra to sold-out audiences and high critical acclaim in New York and Los Angeles.  Forthcoming live performances include Los Angeles and Las Vegas.  For further information go to www.DaviSingsSinatra.com.

Davi Sings Sinatra: On The Road To Romance Track List:
1. Day in Day Out
2. Nice 'n Easy
3. All The Way
4. I've Got the World On A String
5. Witchcraft
6. In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning
7. Nice Work If You Can Get It
8. Summer Wind
9. Rainy Day
10. The Best Is Yet To Come
11. Mam'selle
12. Too Marvelous For Words

THE JOSHUA REDMAN STORY

Joshua Redman is one of the most acclaimed and charismatic jazz artists to have emerged in the decade of the 1990s. Born in Berkeley, California, he is the son of legendary saxophonist Dewey Redman and dancer Renee Shedroff. He was exposed at an early age to a variety of music and instruments, and began playing clarinet at age nine before switching to what became his primary instrument, the tenor saxophone, at age ten. The early influences of John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Cannonball Adderley and his father, Dewey Redman, as well as the Beatles, Aretha Franklin, the Temptations, Earth, Wind and Fire, Prince, the Police and Led Zeppelin drew Joshua more deeply into music. But although Joshua loved playing the saxophone and was a dedicated member of the award-winning Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble and Combo from 1983-86, academics were always his first priority, and he never seriously considered becoming a professional musician.

In 1991 Redman graduated from Harvard College summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Social Studies. He had already been accepted by Yale Law School, but deferred entrance for what he believed was only going to be one year. After moving to New York City, he found himself immersed in the New York jazz scene, and began jamming and gigging regularly with some of the leading jazz musicians of his generation, including Peter Bernstein, Larry Goldings, Kevin Hays, Roy Hargrove, Geoff Keezer, Leon Parker, Jorge Rossy, and Mark Turner. In November of 1991, Redman was named the winner of the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Saxophone Competition. This was only one of the more visible highlights from a year that saw Redman beginning to tour and record with jazz masters such as his father, Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Haden, Elvin Jones, Joe Lovano, Pat Metheny, Paul Motian, and Clark Terry.

Now fully committed to a life in music, Redman was quickly signed by Warner Bros. Records and issued his first, self-titled album in the spring of 1993, which subsequently earned Redman his first Grammy nomination. That fall saw the release of Wish, where Joshua was joined by the all-star cast of Pat Metheny, Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins. He toured extensively with Metheny throughout the latter half of that year. His 1994, MoodSwing, introduced his first permanent band, which included three other young musicians who have gone on to become some of the most important and influential artists in modern jazz: pianist Brad Mehldau, bassist Christian McBride and drummer Brian Blade. Over a series of celebrated recordings including Spirit of the Moment: Live at the Village Vanguard; Freedom in the Groove and Timeless Tales (for Changing Times), Redman established himself as one of the music’s most consistent and successful bandleaders. In 1998, Joshua formed his second acclaimed quartet, featuring pianist Aaron Goldberg, bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Gregory Hutchinson, and made its recorded debut on the 2000 album Beyond. The dynamic interplay and uncommon rapport of this group inspired Redman to write and record his first long-form composition, Passage of Time, which was released in 2001.

From 2000-2007, Redman was the Artistic Director for the Spring Season of the non-profit jazz-presenting organization SFJAZZ. With the creation of the SFJAZZ Collective in 2004, Redman led the eight-piece band, consisting of a multi-generational cast of accomplished musicians. The Collective’s repertoire features both commissioned works and new arrangements of the work of great modern jazz composers.

Also in 2007, Nonesuch Records released Back East, featuring Joshua alongside three stellar bass and drum rhythm sections (Larry Grenadier & Ali Jackson, Christian McBride & Brian Blade, Reuben Rogers & Eric Harland) and three very special guest saxophonists (Chris Cheek, Joe Lovano and Dewey Redman). Compass, released in January 2009 (Nonesuch), featured Joshua with a group of collaborators (bassists Larry Grenadier and Rueben Rogers, and drummers Brian Blade and Gregory Hutchinson).

Since 2009, Joshua has been performing with a collaborative band called James Farm featuring pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Matt Penman, and drummer Eric Harland.

In addition to his own projects, Redman has recorded and performed with musicians such as Brian Blade, Ray Brown, Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, the Dave Matthews Band, Jack DeJohnette, Bill Frisell, Aaron Goldberg, Larry Goldings, Charlie Haden, Herbie Hancock, Roy Hargrove, Roy Haynes, Billie Higgins, Milt Jackson, Elvin Jones, Quincy Jones, Big Daddy Kane, Geoff Keezer, B.B. King, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, DJ Logic, Joe Lovano, Yo Yo Ma, Branford Marsalis, Christian McBride, John Medeski, Brad Mehldau, Pat Metheny, Marcus Miller, Paul Motian, MeShell Ndegeocello, Leon Parker, Nicholas Payton, John Psathas, Simon Rattle, Dewey Redman, Dianne Reeves, Melvin Rhyne, the Rolling Stones, the Roots, Kurt Rosenwinkel, John Scofield, Soulive, String Cheese Incident, Clark Terry, Toots Thielemans, the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, Mark Turner, McCoy Tyner, Umphrey’s McGee, US3, Bugge Wesseltoft, Cedar Walton, Stevie Wonder, and Sam Yahel.

Joshua Redman has been nominated for two Grammys and has garnered top honors in critics and readers polls of DownBeat, Jazz Times, the Village Voice and Rolling Stone. He wrote and performed the music for Louis Malle’s final film Vanya on 42nd Street, and is both seen and heard in the Robert Altman film Kansas City.

TROMBONE SHORTY - FOR TRUE

Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews follows his Grammy nominated Backatown CD with For True, to be released Sept 13 on Verve Forecast. The album features Andrews' band, Orleans Avenue, as well as a string of legendary performers with whom he recently shared the stage, including Jeff Beck, Kid Rock, Lenny Kravitz, Ledisi, Warren Haynes, Ivan and Cyril Neville, The Rebirth Brass Band and more. Troy wrote or co-wrote all 14 tracks on the new album including co-writes with Ledisi, Kid Rock, the legendary Lamont Dozier and more. The CD was produced and engineered by Ben Ellman (except “The Craziest Thing” produced by George Drakoulias). The singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist has earned unanimous raves on 5 continents in the past year alone with his patented high energy “SUPAFUNKROCK” sound. He was praised in the media from Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly to NPR and the New York Times following the 2010 release of 'Backatown', which spent 10 weeks at #1 on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Chart and still reigns in the top 10 over a year after its release. Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue have been everywhere since, performing on The Late Show With David Letterman, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Austin City Limits and more. Troy has made additional appearances on Good Morning America, Tavis Smiley, NFL Kickoff (joining Dave Matthews Band), ESPN and a recurring role on the hit HBO series Tremé, on which he played himself.

For True Track Listing
1. Buckjump (Feat. Rebirth Brass Band - Horns; 5th Ward Weebie - Vocals; Ben Ellman & Charlie Smith - Percussion)
2. Encore (Feat. Warren Haynes - Guitar; co-write w/Lamont Dozier)
3. For True
4. Do to Me (Feat. Jeff Beck - Guitar)
5. Lagniappe Part 1 (Feat. Stanton Moore - Drums)
6. The Craziest Thing
7. Dumaine St.
8. Mrs. Orleans (Feat. Kid Rock - Vocals; Robert Mercurio - Bass)
9. Nervis (Feat. Ivan Neville - Vocals and Clavinet; Cyril Neville - Vocals)
10. Roses (Feat. Lenny Kravitz - Bass)
11. Big 12 (Feat. Ben Ellman - Harmonica)
12. Unc
13. Then There Was You (Feat. Ledisi - Vocals)
14. Lagniappe Part 2 (Feat. Stanton Moore - Drums)

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HERBIE HANCOCK - A TRUE ICON OF MODERN MUSIC

Herbie Hancock is a true icon of modern music. Throughout his explorations, he has transcended limitations and genres while maintaining his unmistakable voice. With an illustrious career spanning five decades and twelve Grammy® Awards including the 2007 Album Of The Year for River: The Joni Letters, he continues to amaze audiences. There are few artists in the music industry who have had more influence on acoustic and electronic jazz and R&B than Herbie Hancock. As the immortal Miles Davis said in his autobiography, "Herbie was the step after Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, and I haven't heard anybody yet who has come after him."

Born in Chicago in 1940, Herbie was a child piano prodigy who performed a Mozart piano concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at age eleven. He began playing jazz in high school, initially influenced by Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans. He also developed a passion for electronics and science, and double-majored in music and electrical engineering at Grinnell College. In 1963, Miles Davis invited Herbie to join the Miles Davis Quintet. During his five years with Davis, Herbie and his colleagues Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums) recorded many classics, including ESP, Nefertiti and Sorcerer. Later on, Herbie made appearances on Davis' groundbreaking In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew, which heralded the birth of jazz-fusion.

Herbie's own solo career blossomed on Blue Note, with classic albums including Maiden Voyage, Empyrean Isles, and Speak Like a Child. He composed the score to Michelangelo Antonioni's 1966 film Blow Up, which led to a successful career in feature film and television music. After leaving Davis, Herbie put together a new band called The Headhunters, and, in 1973, recorded Head Hunters. With its crossover hit single "Chameleon," it became the first jazz album to go platinum.

By mid-decade, Herbie was playing for stadium-sized crowds all over the world and had no fewer than four albums in the pop charts at once. In total, Herbie had eleven albums in the pop charts during the 1970s. His '70s output inspired and provided samples for generations of hip-hop and dance music artists. Herbie also stayed close to his love of acoustic jazz in the '70s, recording and performing with VSOP (reuniting him with his Miles Davis colleagues), and in duet settings with Chick Corea and Oscar Peterson.

In 1980, Herbie introduced the trumpeter Wynton Marsalis to the world as a solo artist, producing his debut album and touring with him as well. In 1983, a new pull to the alternative side led Herbie to a series of collaborations with Bill Laswell. The first, Future Shock, again struck platinum, and the single "Rockit" rocked the dance and R&B charts, winning a Grammy for Best R&B Instrumental. The video of the track won five MTV awards. Sound System, the follow-up, also received a Grammy in the R&B instrumental category.

Herbie won an Oscar in 1986 for scoring the film ‘Round Midnight, in which he also appeared as an actor. Numerous television appearances over the years led to two hosting assignments in the 1980s: Rock School on PBS and Showtime's Coast to Coast. After an adventurous 1994 project for Mercury Records, Dis Is Da Drum, he moved to the Verve label, forming an all-star band to record 1996's Grammy-winning The New Standard. In 1997, an album of duets with Wayne Shorter, 1+1, was released.

The legendary Headhunters reunited in 1998, recording an album for Herbie's own Verve-distributed imprint, and touring with the Dave Matthews Band. That year also marked the recording and release of Gershwin's World, which included collaborators Joni Mitchell, Stevie Wonder, Kathleen Battle, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Wayne Shorter and Chick Corea. Gershwin's World won three Grammys in 1999, including Best Traditional Jazz Album and Best R&B Vocal Performance for Stevie Wonder's "St. Louis Blues."

Herbie reunited with Bill Laswell to collaborate with some young hip-hop and techno artists on 2001's FUTURE2FUTURE. He also joined with Roy Hargrove and Michael Brecker in 2002 to record a live concert album, Directions in Music: Live at Massey Hall, a tribute to John Coltrane and Miles Davis.


Possibilities, released in August 2005, teamed Herbie with many popular artists, such as Sting, Annie Lennox, John Mayer, Christina Aguilera, Paul Simon, Carlos Santana, Joss Stone and Damien Rice. That year, he played a number of concert dates with a re-staffed Headhunters, and became the first-ever Artist-In-Residence at the Tennessee-based festival Bonnaroo.

In 2007, Hancock recorded and released River: The Joni Letters, a tribute to longtime friend and collaborator Joni Mitchell featuring Wayne Shorter, guitarist Lionel Loueke, bassist Dave Holland and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta and co-produced by Larry Klein. He enlisted vocalists Norah Jones, Tina Turner, Corinne Bailey Rae, Luciana Souza, Leonard Cohen and Mitchell herself to perform songs she wrote or was inspired by. The album received glowing reviews and was a year-end Top Ten choice for many critics. It also garnered three Grammy nominations, and two wins for Best Contemporary Jazz Album and Album of The Year. This marked only the second time in history a jazz album has won music's highest honor with the last taking place almost 50 years prior.

To cap off his illustrious career to date, Verve records released Then and Now: The Definitive Herbie Hancock in 2008. This essential collection is the first-ever career retrospective of the jazz visionary's unparalleled work.  Herbie Hancock also maintains a thriving career outside the performing stage and recording studio. He is the Creative Chair for Jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, and serves as Institute Chairman of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, the foremost international organization devoted to the development of jazz performance and education worldwide. He is also a founder of The International Committee of Artists for Peace (ICAP).

Now in the fifth decade of his professional life, Herbie Hancock remains where he has always been: in the forefront of world culture, technology, business and music. Though one can't track exactly where he will go next, he is sure to leave his inimitable imprint wherever he lands.

JOE COCKER - HARD KNOCKS

Joe Cocker is without a doubt, a true musical legend. With 40 years and counting as a major force in pop music, the singer with that unmistakable blues/soul voice has earned countless accolades for his artistry—Grammys, Golden Globes, Academy Awards and platinum selling albums worldwide.  The iconic singer is now signed to 429 Records in North America and is gearing up for the release of  Hard Knocks, his 21st album. Hard Knocks is a collection of 9 all new songs plus a cover version of the Dixie Chicks' "I Hope."  Produced by Matt Serletic (Matchbox 20, Carlos Santana), Hard Knocks has the timeless 'Cocker' sound fusing rhythm and blues, soul, and pop into an undeniable infectious mix of unique contemporary style. The album will be available on 429 Records on November 22nd.  The recording sessions took place in Serletic's own Emblem Studios in Los Angeles involving a host of acclaimed musicians like Ray Parker Jr., Tim Pierce and Joel Shearer on guitar, Josh Freese, Matt Chamberlain and Dorian Crozier on drums, Chris Chaney on bass and Jamie Muhoberac on keyboards. The songs were mixed by Chris Lord-Alge and mastered by Bob Ludwig. Songwriters Kara Dioguardi of recent American Idol Fame and Marc Broussard contributed songs to the collection. Says Cocker, "I don't really know what you would call this album: 'rock/pop'? It's a little more pop than I've been into for quite a while so it would scare me sometimes. I would do the basic tracks and then Matt would go away and do some of these overdubs and he had all these electronic things on there. It was sometimes like 'Oh, my god!'. But I wanted to work with Matt very much. And I always knew what kind of record we would be making."

Hard Knocks Track listing:

· Hard Knocks

· Get On

· Unforgiven

· The Fall

· So It Goes

· Runaway Train

· Stay The Same

· Thankful

· So

· I Hope

TONY BENNETT - THE COMPLETE COLLECTION

In celebration of the artist's 85th birthday, Columbia Records/RPM Records/Legacy Recordings will release Tony Bennett - The Complete Collection, an extraordinary compilation chronicling the entire career of the great American pop vocalist as documented in the albums and singles he's made for Columbia Records (beginning in 1952 through the present), as well as his recordings for Roulette (an historic encounter with Count Basie and Orchestra in 1959), MGM (1972-73), Improv (Bennett's own label from 1973-76) and Fantasy (a pair of sublime titles with pianist Bill Evans, released in 1975-76).

Tony Bennett - The Complete Collection will be available exclusively at select Barnes and Noble retail locations on Tuesday, November 8.  Len Riggio, Chairman of Barnes and Noble commented, "Tony Bennett's amazing career seems to be ascending as he celebrates his 85th birthday, therefore we are excited about the opportunity to sell his new Duets album as well as the historic collection of his entire lifetime in music. 

Assembled chronologically, Tony Bennett - The Complete Collection presents the breathtaking entirety of Bennett's recorded repertoire, more than a thousand individual songs spanning six decades, across 73 CDs and 3 DVDs. At the core of the collection are Tony's original albums, each with its original jacket design and original sequencing and, in many cases, bonus material.  In addition to Bennett's best-selling album titles, this monumental anthology includes two newly curated collections -- "Rarities, Outtakes and Other Delights" (2 CDs) and "The Columbia Singles" (6 CDs) -- available exclusively in this set.

"The Columbia Singles" brings together for the first time all of the singles Bennett recorded for Columbia Records, the label he signed with in 1950.  Most of them recorded in the early 1950s, "The Columbia Singles" includes the a-sides and b-sides that were not included on individual albums. "Rarities, Outtakes and Other Delights" collects rare tracks, previously unreleased outtakes, guest appearances on other artist's albums, soundtrack songs and more beginning with the recently discovered 1946 V-Disc recording of "St. James Infirmary Blues" that "effervescent delight," which was Tony's very first known recording.  Nestled among the "Rarities" are two tracks from another fabled concert Bennett gave at the Latin Casino in Philadelphia with the Count Basie Orchestra, which was recorded and never released.

Tony Bennett fans will rejoice at the inclusion of a pair of rare previously unreleased full album sets on Tony Bennett - The Complete Collection: On The Glory Road and Live at the Sahara, two mythic sessions, recorded June 1962 and April 1964 respectively, at the height of Tony's early 1960s career. A lost Tony Bennett masterpiece, On The Glory Road had been recorded, assigned a catalog number and assembled, only to be left on the shelf when Tony's "(I Left My Heart In) San Francisco" (originally the b-side to "Once Upon A Time") became a national hit and a compilation album of the same name was released instead.  A smattering of tracks from Glory Road have been released but this is the first time the whole album has been presented in its originally intended form. Live at the Sahara is a live document of Tony's incandescent performances at the legendary Las Vegas casino during the swinging 1960s.  Culled from four different nights, the performances on this album have never been heard before.

Rounding out Tony Bennett - The Complete Collection are three DVDs, each covering an essential aspect of Tony's career: Tony Bennett Sings... with the London Philharmonic, a rarely seen BBC "Show of the Week" from 1971 (released as the Get Happy LP);  MTV Unplugged: Tony Bennett, the 1994 breakout performance that introduced Tony to a whole new generation of fans while earning the 1995 Album of the Year Grammy;  Tony Bennett: An American Classic, the 2006 star-studded Rob Marshall-directed television special celebrating Tony's 80th birthday that won 7 primetime Emmys.

Tony Bennett is an artist who moves the hearts and touches the souls of audiences. He's not just the singer's singer but also an international treasure honored by the United Nations with its Citizen of the World award, which aptly describes the scope of his accomplishments.  Anthony Dominick Benedetto was born in the Astoria section of Queens, New York.  Tony's big break came in 1949 when comedian Bob Hope noticed him working with Pearl Bailey in Greenwich Village. His initial fame came via a string of Columbia singles in the 1950s, including such chart-toppers as "Because of You," "Rags To Riches" and a cover of Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold Heart." He has placed two-dozen songs in the Top 40, including "I Wanna Be Around," "The Good Life," "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)" and his signature hit, "I Left My Heart In San Francisco." One of only a few artists to have albums chart in the 1950s, '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, and the new millennium, he's introduced multitudes of songs into the Great American Songbook that have become pop music standards. Thus far, Tony has earned 15 Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Tony Bennett became a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2005, was named an NEA Jazz Master in January of 2006.  His 2006 CD released in honor of his 80th birthday, DUETS became a multi-platinum hit, won three Grammys and is the singer's best selling recording to date. A multiple Emmy winner, Tony's AN AMERICAN CLASSIC TV special, directed by Oscar winner Rob Marshall ("Chicago," "Memoirs Of A Geisha"), won 7 Emmy Awards in 2007. Tony is a dedicated painter whose interest in art began as a child. He continues to paint daily, even while touring. He has exhibited work around the world, and three of his original paintings are part of the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institutions in Washington, D.C. Throughout his career, Tony Bennett has always put his heart and time into humanitarian concerns. The United Nations presented him with their 2007 Humanitarian Award. In 2001, Tony established the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, one of the highest rated public high schools in New York City. With his wife Susan, they founded Exploring the Arts, a non-profit organization that supports arts programs in 14 NYC public high schools in all five boroughs.

Tony Bennett celebrated his 85th birthday on August 3, 2011.  In honor of this milestone, Tony's new Duets II CD will be released in September, featuring Tony performing duets with many celebrated artists including Lady Gaga, John Mayer, Aretha Franklin, Josh Groban and Amy Winehouse. "It amazes me to realize that it has been over 60 years since I was signed to Columbia Records," writes Tony Bennett in his introduction to Tony Bennett - The Complete Collection.  "Being with Columbia has provided me with the ultimate music education: I've been blessed to perform, record and be properly involved with such brilliant musicians as Count Basie, Stan Getz, Ralph Burns, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Duke Ellington, and many other great artists.. To be an artist with Columbia was an adventure into the very heart of the creative arts world. My ambition has always been to create a hit catalogue rather than hit records. Columbia gave me the platform to do so, and I have been fortunate enough to introduce some three dozen songs into the "Great American Songbook." To me there is no such thing as an old song, just a great song. No other country in the world has produced more popular standards than the United States – and those wonderful songs can all be found on Columbia."

Tony Bennett - The Complete Collection
1. Rarities
2. Rarities, vol. 2
3. The Columbia singles, vol. 1
4. The Columbia singles, vol. 2
5. The Columbia singles, vol. 3
6. The Columbia singles, vol. 4
7. The Columbia singles, vol. 5
8. The Columbia singles, vol. 6
9. Cloud 7
10. Tony
11. The Beat Of My Heart
12. Long Ago And Far Away
13. Basie/Bennett
14. In Person!
15. Hometown, My Town
16. To My Wonderful One
17. Alone Together
18. A String Of Arlen
19. Tony Sings For Two
20. My Heart Sings
21. Mr. Broadway
22. On The Glory Road
23. I Left My Heart In San Francisco
24/25. Tony Bennett At Carnegie Hall
26. I Wanna Be Around
27. This Is All I Ask
28. The Many Moods Of Tony
29. When Lights Are Low
30. Who Can I Turn To
31. If I Ruled The World
32. The Movie Song Album
33. A Time For Love
34. Tony Makes It Happen
35. For Once In My Life
36. Yesterday I Heard The Rain
37. Snowfall
38. I've Gotta Be Me
39. Tony Sings The Great Hits Of Today!
40. Something
41. Love Story
42. Get Happy
43. Summer Of '42
44. With Love
45. The Good Things In Life
46. Listen Easy
47. Tony's Greatest Hits, vol. 7
48. Sunrise, Sunset
49. Sings 10 Rodgers & Hart Songs
50. 10 More Rodgers & Hart Songs
51. Life Is Beautiful
52. Tony Bennett & Bill Evans
53. Tony Bennett & Bill Evans: Together Again
54. Tony Bennett/The McFarlands & Friends...
55. The Art Of Excellence
56. Bennett/Berlin
57. Astoria
58. Perfectly Frank
59. Steppin' Out
60/61. MTV Unplugged
62. Here's To The Ladies
63. Bennett On Holiday
64. The Playground
65. Bennett Sings Ellington
66. Our Favorite Things
67. Playin' With My Friends
68. A Wonderful World (with k.d. lang)
69. The Art Of Romance
70. Duets – An American Classic
71. Duets 2
72. Christmas With Tony Bennett
73. A Swingin' Christmas
74. Live At The Sahara: From This Moment On
75. Tony Bennett Sings... with the London Philharmonic (DVD)
76. An American Classic (DVD)

OUR FAVORITE BERES HAMMOND SONGS

Reggae stars pay homage to Beres Hammond, the godfather of reggae soul, in the ultimate way as they cover his songs in Our Favorite Beres Hammond Songs, a double-disc album from VP Records. Spanning over 30 years of recording soulful reggae music in his signature smoky-sweet baritone, Hammond's catalog is filled with hits for the picking. Now reggae and dancehall stars honor his legacy by putting their touch on his classics. The 23-track compilation features the talents of Jah Cure,Tarrus Riley, Busy Signal, Tessanne Chin, Marcia Griffiths and Nadine Sutherland, just to name a few. The project is the brainchild of acclaimed reggae producer and longtime Beres Hammond collaborator, Donovan Germain, who composed the covers at his own studio at Penthouse Records in Jamaica. Some of Beres' biggest hits are covered on this definitive collection, including "Putting Up Resistance," "Tempted To Touch," and "No Disturb Sign," which appears twice with a dancehall remix featuring Assassin. Beres himself also participates with "Fire & Ice," staying in the mix as the various contributing artists carry his songs to different and perhaps even new ears. Beres Hammond has always been covered by musicians in and out of the genre. Now with this official compilation from some of the artists he has influenced, fans can get a new take, and taste, of his signature sounds.

Disc One

Step Aside - Tessanne Chin

Love From A Distance - Lukie D

I'm So In Love - Singing Melody

Groovy Little Thing - Tarrus Riley

Irie & Mello - Nikki Burt

Black Beauty - Duane Stephenson

Putting Up Resistance - Sherieta

Full Attention - Stevie Face

Love Means Never To Say You're Sorry - Cameal Davis

Double Trouble - Romain Virgo

No Disturb Sign - Alaine

Disc Two

Emptiness - Jah Cure

Tempted To Touch - Busy Signal

Reggae Calling - Marcia Griffiths

Freedom - Torch

Got To Get Away - Chevaughn

One Step Ahead - Nadine Sutherland

If Only You Knew - Hezron

Preacher Man - A. J. Brown

Lovely Day - Tony Curtis

What One Dance Can Do/She Loves Me Now/

Come Back Home (Medley) - Richie Stephens and Niquet Goldson

Fire & Ice - Beres Hammond

No Disturb Sign (Remix) - Alaine and Assassin

TONY BENNETT & AMY WINEHOUSE - BODY AND SOUL

Body And Soul, Amy Winehouse's final recording, a duet with her hero Tony Bennett, will be released by Columbia Records in September in aid of the Amy Winehouse Foundation. The song was recorded in March of this year at Abbey Road Studios in London for Tony Bennett's upcoming Duets II album. The Foundation will be set up by her family to help a number of charities connected with children and young people. Amy's father, Mitch Winehouse said, "We wanted to make a positive difference and help a range of causes close to Amy's heart.  This could include help for children in trouble, suffering from health problems, children's hospices and more. "While it is separate from my campaign to find more help for young addicts, that may be one of the areas that Foundation contributes to.  We intend to raise funds and distribute them to individual projects who apply for help.  I couldn't be happier that everyone involved with Amy and this recording felt they wanted to contribute. "Amy was so excited to be working with Tony Bennett and really looking forward to her fans hearing this new recording.  The fact that Amy's voice is sounding as amazing and beautiful as ever and she is singing with the great Tony Bennett seems the most fitting tribute of all at this very difficult time."  "Body and Soul" will be included on Tony Bennett's forthcoming 85th Birthday CD, Duets II.