NEW RELEASES - LALO SHIFRIN, WHEELHOUSE, DAVE REMPIS PERCUSSIVE QUARTET

LALO SHIFRIN - THERE'S A WHOLE LALO SHIFRIN GOIN' ON

A crazy album of funky tracks from Lalo Schifrin – very different than most of his other jazz and bossa work! This set's got some very tripped out styles that mix together funky backings, jazzy riffing, and even some nice electronics – a sweet little groove that's even more wild and hip than even the best of Schifrin's soundtrack work from the 60s! Some tunes certainly show the deft talent for arranging woodwinds and rhythms that first caught the ears of so many listeners on famous soundtracks – but in the setting of this record, away from any directorial needs, Lalo's also free to explore some groovier music ideas – and he really lets loose tremendously as the set rolls on! The titles alone should tell you the feel of the record – with names like "Secret Code", "Dissolving", "Vaccinated Mushrooms", "Wheat Germ Landscapes", and "How To Open at Will The Most Beautiful Window". CD also features four groovy bonus tracks by Schifrin – "Another Side Of Harry", "Blues A Go Go", "Lucille", and "Self Destruct". ~ Dusty Groove

WHEELHOUSE - BOSS OF THE PLAINS

There's a very cool trio in the wheelhouse for this sweet little set – a combo that features alto and baritone sax from Dave Rempis, bass from Nate McBride, and vibes from the always-incredible Jason Adasiewicz! The players come together with a sound that's completely sublime – almost even more airy and hanging in space than any other effort – partly because of the lack of drums, partly because of the group's clear fascination with sound textures on the record – an approach that has the tones of the various players resonating strongly together, often with melodic undercurrents that really bring a sense of soul to their relatively free musicianship! A tremendous effort from the Chicago scene – with titles that include "Song Sex", "Song Heaven", "Song Fife", "Song Juan", "Song For Teens", and "Song Hate". ~ Dusty Groove

DAVE REMPIS PERCUSSIVE QUARTET - PHALANX

Two different slices of this powerful group from reedman Dave Rempis – one live performance from Milwaukee, the other from Antwerp – each taking up a CD each! The group gets their percussive name from the dual drums of Tim Daisy and Frank Rosaly – players who bring a real intensity to the music at some moments, yet lie back and have very individual, subtle spirits at other points – often to let Rempis express some amazing tones and textures on alto, tenor, or baritone sax – given great shape and inspiration by Ingebrigt Haker Flaten on bass. All the tracks are long, and very improvised – and titles include "Algonquins", "Cream City Stomp", "Anti Goons", and "Croatalus Adamantooths". ~ Dusty Groove

KOOL & THE GANG ON TOUR THIS SUMMER

In keeping with the resurging popularity of 70s and 80s sounds, legendary groovemeisters of the period, Kool & The Gang (koolandthegang.com), are back in the arena limelight joining the first leg of Kid Rock's "Rebel Soul Tour". The tour kicks off in Washington, DC, June 28, at Jiffy Lube Live. In an unprecedented, fan-friendly move, Kid Rock announced a limited number of $20 tickets are being offered for the tour.

The Kool & The Gang-Kid Rock pairing follows on the heels of their wildly-successful 50-plus city tour in 2012 with Van Halen . Billboard reported: "One unqualified success was the experiment of Kool & The Gang's opening set. If some — actually many — wondered how the R&B group would fare in front of Van Halen 's hard rock crowd, doubts were dispelled quickly with the breezy lite funk of the 11-piece outfit's 50-minute set, which had the T-shirted, beer-drinking, fist-pumpers dancing exuberantly." Kool & The Gang also plan on joining the Dave Matthews Band in Hershey, PA, July 13 at Hershey Park Stadium.

Unique pairings for Kool & The Gang don't exist only on stage; their bulletproof funk and jazzy arrangements have also made them the most sampled band of all time. With the explosion of hip-hop in the '90s, Kool & The Gang's incredible catalog of grooves has made them DJ favorites, and they are second only to R&B icon James Brown as sources of rap-music samples. The Hits Reloaded album found the band collaborating with such acolytes as Lil' Kim, Sean Paul , Ashanti, and Blackstreet, among others.

Selling over 70 million albums worldwide the band influenced the music of three generations. Thanks to songs like Celebration, Cherish, Summer Madness and Open Sesame, Kool & The Gang has earned two Grammy® Awards and seven American Music Awards and amassed 25 Top Ten R&B hits, nine Top Ten Pop hits and 31 gold and platinum albums. They have performed continuously longer than any R&B group in history.

"We are not over yet, we have other things we want to do—when my legs won't run to those airports anymore then I might give up," says band co-founder Ronald Khalis Bell .

As the purveyors of such booty-rocking standards as Jungle Boogie and Hollywood Swinging, the gang never fails to flex their funk – on both old-school workouts and hip-hop jams. Their music has been created by the same core of players for over four decades: Robert "Kool" Bell, his brother Ronald Khalis Bell , their longtime friends Dennis "DT" Thomas and George "Funky" Brown. Other band members include, Clifford Adams , Lavelle Evans , Larry Gittens , Timothy Horton , Shawn McQuiller , Michael Ray and Curtis "Fitz" Williams.

TOUR DATES
Friday, June 28 - Bristow, VA - Jiffy Lube Live
Saturday, June 29 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center
Tuesday, July 2 - Cleveland, OH - Blossom Music Center
Friday, July 5 - Darien, NY - Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
Saturday, July 6 - Scranton, PA - Toyota Pavilion At Montage Mountain
Tuesday, July 9 - Camden, NJ - Susquehanna Bank Center
Wednesday, July 10 - Mansfield, MA - Comcast Center
Saturday, July 13 - Hershey, PA - Hershey Park Stadium (Dave Matthews Band)
Tuesday, July 23 - Albuquerque, NM - Isleta Amphitheater
Wednesday, July 24 - Phoenix, AZ - Desert Sky Pavilion
Friday, July 26 - Irvine, CA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater

ELVIS PRESLEY - ELVIS AT STAX: DELUXE EDITION COMING IN AUGUST

The last major studio sessions in the career of Elvis Presley have finally been gathered together for the first time in one comprehensive package as ELVIS AT STAX: DELUXE EDITION. The deluxe 3-CD box set, a 40th anniversary chronicle of a dozen nights that Presley spent at Stax Recording Studios in his hometown of Memphis in July and December 1973, will be available everywhere August 6, 2013 through RCA/Legacy. The box set arrives in stores ten days before the anniversary of Presley's death on August 16, 1977. Released simultaneously will be a single CD of highlights from the box set simply titled ELVIS AT STAX, and a 180-gram, double-vinyl LP.

ELVIS AT STAX: DELUXE EDITION bristles with energy and dynamism. The proof is in the six consecutive singles that the Stax sessions produced, all of which skirted the Top 40 from 1973 to 1975. In effect, they rivaled some of the hottest streaks that Presley had charted a decade earlier. The Stax singles still resonate today:

“Raised On Rock” b/w “For Ol’ Time Sake” (Hot 100 #41, country #42);
"I’ve Got A Thing About You Baby” b/w “Take Good Care Of Her” (Hot 100 #39, country #4);
“Promised Land” b/w “It’s Midnight” (Hot 100 #14, country #9);
“If You Talk In Your Sleep” b/w “Help Me” (Hot 100 #17, country #6);
“My Boy” b/w “Thinking About You” (Hot 100 #20, country #14); and
“Mr. Songman” (B-side of “T-R-O-U-B-L-E,” Hot 100 #35, country #11).
"I Got A Feelin' In My Body" (recorded at Stax, catalog RCA PB-11679), was reissued as a posthumous single by RCA Records in 1979.

The historical significance of Presley’s work at Stax is appreciated by such music scholars as Peter Guralnick, the award-winning author of Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley (1994) and Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley (1999); and producer Ernst Mikael Jørgensen, respected director of RCA’s Presley catalog for over two decades, and author of the critical research guide, Elvis Presley: A Life In Music (St. Martin’s Press, 1998).

Jørgensen has long been concerned with doing justice to the Stax sessions, which were never acknowledged by the artist's record label RCA as a unified whole. Instead, as with most of Presley's studio work in his second decade as a recording artist, the tracks were scattered onto LPs and intermingled with material recorded in Nashville and Hollywood. The bulk of the Stax cuts showed up on Raised On Rock/For Ol’ Times Sake (1973), Good Times (1974), and Promised Land (1975). For ELVIS AT STAX, many of the outtakes originated on the CD-era reissues of those three albums on Jørgensen’s and co-director Roger Semon's own label, Follow That Dream (FTD) Records. ELVIS AT STAX was produced by Jørgensen, Semon, and Rob Santos of Legacy A&R.

Taking up the cause for ELVIS AT STAX is another scholar and aficionado of the artist, award-winning resident Memphis journalist Robert Gordon, who has written an in-depth, day-by-day (i.e. night-by-night) liner notes essay for the box set. Previously, Gordon and his wife Tara McAdams (author of The Elvis Handbook, 2004) co-wrote the liner notes essay for RCA/Legacy's From Elvis In Memphis: Legacy Edition (2009). In addition to major biographies of Muddy Waters and Jerry Lee Lewis, Gordon is the author of two important Elvis Presley studies, The King on the Road: Elvis Live on Tour 1954 to 1977 (St. Martin’s, 1996) and The Elvis Treasures (Random House, 2002). Gordon has also written two books on the Memphis music scene, the acclaimed It Came from Memphis (Faber & Faber, 1995, foreword penned by Peter Guralnick) and the upcoming Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion (Bloomsbury USA, set for publication in November 2013).

Etched in music history, 1973 was a crucial watershed year for Presley, in the wake of his return to extended concert touring in 1972, after 12 years away from the stage and 27 movies in Hollywood. His New York City concert debut was emblematic of an exciting new chapter in his career. It was chronicled last year on the RCA/Legacy deluxe 2-CD+DVD box set, Prince From Another Planet: Elvis As Recorded Live At Madison Square Garden / 40th Anniversary Edition, which captured an afternoon and an evening concert staged on June 10, 1972. His manager, Colonel Tom Parker, sought a world-class mega-event to underscore the touring, which led to the one-hour global satellite broadcast from the Honolulu International Center Arena on January 14, 1973, viewed by over one billion people around the world. That, too, was recently chronicled on the RCA/Legacy double-disc set issued this past March, Aloha From Hawaii: Legacy Edition.

The highs of 1972-’73 led Presley and Colonel Parker to accept RCA’s $5.4 million offer for an outright transfer of Presley's complete back catalog. He wanted a new start, new control, and a new publishing company. But the RCA deal also called for his return to the studio and a promise for him to deliver 24 new masters, i.e. two new singles (four songs), a new pop LP (ten songs), and a new gospel LP (ten songs).

Four years earlier, in 1969, Presley had made his Memphis recording return (after a 13-year absence) at Chips Moman’s American Studios. These triumphantly successful sessions had yielded a year-long string of ‘comeback’ hit singles: “In the Ghetto” (#3), “Suspicious Minds” (#1), “Don’t Cry Daddy” (#6), and “Kentucky Rain” (#16), the last such string of major consecutive hits in his life. But by 1973, American had closed up shop, and most of its musicians had relocated to Nashville. However, Stax Studios, the launching pad of such greats as Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Booker T. and The MGs, and Isaac Hayes was still thriving at its original 926 E. McLemore Avenue space. In fact, Isaac Hayes relinquished his studio time to accommodate Presley. Ironically, less than two years later in 1975, the Stax offices would also be closed.

Presley spent 12 days at Stax in 1973 (July 21-25 and December 10-16), and the rollercoaster ride of those sessions is meticulously detailed in Gordon’s liner notes. ELVIS AT STAX neatly compartmentalizes the results:

Disc 1: The R&B and Country Sessions – The Outtakes: 17 tracks
Disc 2: Part 1 – The Pop Sessions – The Outtakes: 10 tracks
Disc 2: Part 2 – The July 1973 Masters: four single sides and six album tracks, and
Disc 3: The December 1973 Masters: seven single sides and 11 album tracks.

ELVIS AT STAX: DELUXE EDITION by ELVIS PRESLEY
Disc 1: The R&B and Country Sessions – The Outtakes: Selections –
1. I Got A Feelin’ In My Body - take 1 (I)
2. Find Out What’s Happening - takes 8-7 (B)
3. Promised Land - take 4 (I)
4. For Ol’ Times Sake - take 4 (I)
5. I’ve Got A Thing About You, Babe - take 14 (I)
6. It’s Midnight - take 7 (F)
7. If You Talk In Your Sleep - take 5 (J)
8. Loving Arms - take 2 (I)
9. You Asked Me To - take 3A (F)
10. Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues - take 8 (I)
11. Talk About The Good Times - take 3 (I)
12. There’s A Honky Tonk Angel - take 1 (I)
13. She Wears My Ring - take 8 (I)
14. Three Corn Patches - take 14 (I)
15. I Got A Feelin’ In My Body - take 4 (J)
16. If You Don’t Come Back - take 3 (I)
17. Promised Land - take 5 (H)

Disc 2: Part 1 – The Pop Sessions – The Outtakes: Selections –
1. Mr. Songman - take 2 (F)
2. Your Love’s Been A Long time Coming - take 4 (I)
3. Spanish Eyes - take 2 (I)
4. Take Good Care Of Her - takes 1,2,3 (D)
5. It’s Diff’rent Now (unfinished recording) (G)
6. Thinking About You - take 4 (I)
7. My Boy - take 1 (D)
8. Girl Of Mine - take 9 (I)
9. Love Song Of The Year - take 1 (F)
10. If That Isn’t Love - take 1 (I)

Part 2 – The July 1973 Masters:
11. Raised On Rock (Hot 100 #41, country #42) (A)
12. For Ol’ Time Sake (charts same as track 11) (A)
13. I’ve Got A Thing About You Baby (Hot 100 #39, country #4) (C)
14. Take Good Care Of Her (charts same as track 13) (C)
15. If You Don’t Come Back (A)
16. Three Corn Patches (A)
17. Girl Of Mine (A)
18. Just A Little Bit (A)
19. Find Out What’s Happening (A)
20. Sweet Angeline (A)

Disc 3: The December 1973 Masters: Selections –
1. Promised Land (Hot 100 #14, country #9) (E)
2. It’s Midnight (charts same as track 1) (E)
3. If You Talk In Your Sleep (Hot 100 #17, country #6) (E)
4. Help Me (charts same as track 3) (E)
5. My Boy (Hot 100 #20, country #14) (C)
6. Thinking About You (charts same as track 5) (E)
7. Mr. Songman (Hot 100 #35, country #11) (E)
8. I Got A Feelin’ In My Body (C)
9. Loving Arms (C)
10. Good Time Charlie’s Got The Blues (C)
11. You Asked Me To (E)
12. There’s A Honky Tonk Angel (Who Will Take Me Back In) (E)
13. Talk About The Good Times (C)
14. She Wears My Ring (C)
15. Your Love’s Been A Long Time Coming (E)
16. Love Song Of The Year (E)
17. Spanish Eyes (C)
18. If That Isn’t Love (C)

Album source index:
A – from Raised On Rock/For Ol’ Times Sake LP (RCA APL1-0388, released October 1973)
B – from Raised on Rock CD (FTD 86971 28432, released July 2007)
C – from Good Times LP (RCA CPL1-0475, released March 1974)
D – from Good Times CD (FTD 50602 09750 0 3, released December 2012)
E – from Promised Land LP (RCA APL1-0873, released January 1975)
F – from Promised Land CD (FTD 50602 09750 1 9, released December 2011)
G – from Walk a Mile in My Shoes – The Essential ’70s Masters 5-CD box set (RCA 7863-66670-2, released October 1995)
H – from Platinum - A Life In Music 4-CD box set (RCA 67469, released July 1997)
I – from Rhythm and Country CD (RCA 07863-67672-2, released August 1998)
J – from Today, Tomorrow and Forever 4-CD box set (RCA 07863-65115-2, released June 2002)

GENE PAGE - CLOSE ENCOUNTERS / LOVE STARTS AFTER DARK

A pair of great albums from one of the coolest soul arrangers of the 70s – back to back on a single CD! Close Encounters is a cool collection of space-themed club tracks from Gene Page – and possibly one of his greatest albums of the 70s – dispite a gimmicky approach! There's a tightly soaring feel to most of the cuts that's Page at his best – arranging fully with styles borrowed from Barry White, but also hitting with a bit of Philly inspiration too – never too over the top, and never too commercially driven as you might expect from the concept. There's some great moogy bits on the record – and plenty of great session players who include David T Walker and Wah Wah Watson on guitars, Jack Ashford on percussion, and Ernie Watts on alto sax. Great Phillinganes sings a bit on the record – and titles include "Star Trek", "Close Encounters", "Saturn", "Dancin In The Sky", "I Feel Like I've Been Livin", "Beyond The Hole Space", and "I Sho Like To Ride On Your Star". Love Starts After Dark is a wonderfully well-rounded set from superstar arranger Gene Page – quite possibly his most fully-formed album as a lead act on his own! The set's got some great standout groovers – the kind of club cuts that have the vibe that Gene was doing well for so many others – and it's also got some mellow moments served up with a depth that's almost unexpected – thanks partly to some great vocals from Merry Clayton, Phyllis St James, and Charmaine Sylvers – all of whom help the album shine. Tracks are penned by Leon Ware, Leon Sylvers, Ray Parker Jr, and Joe Sample – and titles include "With You In The Night", "Second Time Around", "Put A Little Love In Your Lovin", "Love Starts After Dark", "You Are The Meaning Of This Song", and "I Wanna Dance". ~ Dusty Groove

NEW RELEASES - GILBERTO GIL / VUSI MAHLASELA, ANDREA POZZA, OTIS CLAY

GILBERTO GIL / VUSI MAHLASELA - THE SOUTH AFRICAN MEETING OF VIRAMUNDO

This album was born from the meeting of Gilberto Gil and Vusi Mahlasela during the filming of the documentary filem entitled - Viramundo. Several of the selections are taken from two concerts that took place during the filming of the documentary in Johannesburg in May 2011, while other tracks were recorded a year later in Switzerland, in preparation for a concert at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Arrangements for strings and wind instruments, played by the Miagi Youth Orchestra (South Africa) and the Sinfonietta de Lausanne (Switzerland), is the work of South African pianist Paul Hanmer. In the end, the album stands out as the superb example of a plural and interconnected future, rich in hope, exchanges ... and of course music.

ANDREA POZZA TRIO - A JELLYFISH FROM THE BOSPHORUS

The title and cover are a bit gimmicky, but the album's a wonderfully solid effort from Italian pianist Andrea Pozza – easily one of the most lyrical players we've heard in years! Pozza's got this way of mixing depth with lightness – a quality that sometimes evokes that special mysticism of Horace Silver, especially on Andrea's original tunes on the record – which really sparkle with a sort of exotic quality. There's nothing ever too over the top about the set – yet the group really have a way of putting over something special, and with a bit more subtlety than some of Pozza's recent outings with singers for other labels. Titles include "Il Primo Dei Sette", "As Usual", "Tuttavia E Cosi", "Love Is The Way", and "Get Happy". ~ Dusty Groove

OTIS CLAY - TRUTH IS

Otis Clay, still going strong – stepping out here on a sweet new recording from the Chicago scene – done with that warm mix of modern modes and deep soul roots we really love from his work of the late 70s! Clay's vocals have, if anything, only gotten better with age – really able to find the right notes and inflections to make the music sparkle – even more so than some of Otis records from back in the day! Instrumentation is relatively laidback – done in a mode that's a bit like some of the Jackson or Memphis styles at the start of the 80s, but without any of the bluesy inflections that might get in the way of the sort of solid soul performance that Clay delivers here. The legendary Tom Tom 84 handled many of the arrangements on the set – and although most of the material is new, Otis also tweaked a few older favorites for the set – to make for a nice long album, too. Titles include "Love's After Me", "All That's Missing Is You", "Walk A Mile In My Shoes", "Even Now", "I Thought You Knew", "Truth Is", "I Know I'm Over You", "Even When I Win", "I Keep Trying", "Steal Away To The Hideaway", and "The Only Way Is Up". ~ Dusty Groove

COMING UP AT THE CORNELIA STREET CAFE MAY 8 - 31, 2013

Wednesday, May 8, 8:30 PM
NATE RADLEY QUARTET
Nate Radley, guitar; Loren Stilman, alto sax; Matt Pavolka, bass; Ted Poor, drums

Friday, May 10, 9:00 PM
JACOB SACKS QUARTET
Jacob Sacks, piano; Ellery Eskelin, tenor sax; Michael Formanek, bass; Dan Weiss, drums

Saturday, May 11, 9:00 PM
BEN ALLISON PLAYS THE MUSIC OF JIM HALL
Ben Allison, bass; Steve Cardenas, guitar; Ted Nash, tenor sax

Sunday, May 12, 8:30 PM
GLOBAL LIVING ROOM: FERMAN-EDERY DUO "SEPHARTANGO"
Polly Ferman, piano; Gerard Edery, voice, guitar

Monday, May 13, 8:30 PM
CLASSICAL AT THE CORNELIA: "MAY MADNESS"
Ana Milosavljevic, violin, viper electric violin; Jed Distler, piano

Tuesday, May 14, 8:30 PM
VOXIFY: AUBREY JOHNSON
Aubrey Johnson, vocals; Tomoko Omura, violin; Michael Thomas, alto sax, bass clarinet; Chris Ziemba, piano; Matt Aronoff, bass; Jeremy Noller, drums

Tuesday, May 14, 10:30 PM
VOXIFY: TAMMY SCHEFFER
Tammy Scheffer, vocals; Tomoko Omura, violin; Davy Mooney, guitar, voice

Wednesday, May 15, 8:30 PM
NIKOLAJ HESS QUARTET, CD RELEASE: TRIO
Nikolaj Hess, piano; Marc Mommaas, tenor sax; Tony Scherr, bass; Kenny Wollesen, drums

Thursday, May 16, 8:30 PM
JON IRABAGON TRIO
Jon Irabagon, alto sax; Mark Helias, bass; Barry Altschul, drums

***Friday & Saturday, May 17 & 18, 9:00 PM***
HUSH POINT W. JOHN MCNEIL & JEREMY UDDEN, CD RELEASE PARTY
John McNeil, trumpet; Jeremy Udden, alto, c melody sax; Aryeh Kobrinski, bass; Vinnie Sperrazza, drums

Sunday, May 19, 8:30 PM
***STEVEN LUGERNER, CD RELEASE: FOR WE HAVE HEARD***
Steven Lugerner, Bb clarinet, bass Clarinet, saxophones; Stephanie Richards, trumpet; Glenn Zaleski, piano; Matt Wilson, drums

Tuesday, May 21, 8:30 PM
VOICE BOX: JO LAWRY
Jo Lawry, voice, piano, guitar; Matt Aronoff, bass

Tuesday, May 21, 10:00 PM
VOICE BOX: YOON SUN CHOI, JACOB SACKS DUO
Yoon Sun Choi, voice; Jacob Sacks, piano

Wednesday, May 22, 8:30 PM
MATT PARKER, CD RELEASE: WORLDS PUT TOGETHER
Matt Parker, tenor sax; Julio Monterrey, alto sax; Josh Mease, guitar; Jesse Elder, piano; Jimmy Sutherland, taps; Alan Hampton, bass; Reggie Quinerly, drums

Thursday, May 23, 8:30 PM
OPEN LOOSE
Mark Helias, bass; Tony Malaby, tenor sax; Tom Rainey, drums

Friday, May 24, 9:00 PM
MIKE REED'S PEOPLE, PLACES & THINGS
Greg Ward, alto sax; Tim Haldeman, tenor sax; Jason Roebke, bass; Mike Reed, drums

Saturday, May 25, 9:00 PM
DAN WEISS TRIO
Dan Weiss, drums, compositions; Jacob Sacks, piano; Eivind Opsvik, bass

Sunday, May 26, 8:30 PM
NEW BRAZILIAN PERSPECTIVES: BENJAMIM TAUBKIN
Benjamim Taubkin, piano; Rogerio Boccato, drums, percussion

Monday, May 27, 8:30 PM
CLASSICAL AT THE CORNELIA: OLGA VINOKUR AND FRIENDS: DANCE AND SONG
Olga Vinokur, piano

Monday, May 27, 10:00 PM
CLASSICAL AT THE CORNELIA: STEVE HUDSON CHAMBER ENSEMBLE
Zach Brock, violin; Jody Redhage, cello/vocals; Michael Sarin, drums; Steve Hudson, piano

Tuesday, May 28, 8:30 PM
BOTH SIDES NOW: KRISTIN ANDREASSEN
Kristin Andreassen, guitar, voice, foot percussion; Stephanie Coleman, fiddle; Jacob Silver, bass; Robin MacMillan, drums

***Wednesday & Thursday, May 29 & 30, 8:30PM***
CHRIS LIGHTCAP - BIGMOUTH
Chris Lightcap, bass; Chris Cheek, tenor sax; Tony Malaby, tenor sax; Craig Taborn, piano; Ches Smith, drums

Friday, May 31, 9:00 PM
DAVE LIEBMAN QUINTET
Dave Liebman, saxophones; Matt Vashlishan, saxophones; Bobby Avey, piano; Tony Marino, bass; Alex Ritz, drums

The Cornelia Street Café
29 Cornelia Street, Greenwich Village, NYC
info@corneliastreetcafe.com

JAMES BROWN - THE BEST OF LIVE AT THE APOLLO: 50TH ANNIVERSARY

Two music icons, James Brown and the Apollo Theater, both steeped in rich history and community, bringing out the best in each other: That’s what you’ll hear on the brand-new collection, JAMES BROWN – Best Of Live At The Apollo: 50th Anniversary, to be released June 25, 2013 by Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) – a unique album celebrating 50 years since the release of Brown’s 1963 classic album Live At The Apollo, and showcasing his many great performances recorded there. Brown, who would have turned 80 years old tomorrow, May 3rd, first arrived at the Apollo in April 1959 as an opening act for Little Willie John, one of his idols, though he wouldn’t be an opener for long. The Hardest Working Man In Show Business would play the Apollo Theater every year through 1974, and would return when the theater reopened its doors, with Brown ultimately playing there more than 600 times.

JAMES BROWN – Best Of Live At The Apollo: 50th Anniversary showcases 12 tracks from Brown’s three landmark albums recorded at the historic building: Live At The Apollo (recorded 1962, released 1963), Live At The Apollo Vol. II (recorded 1967, released 1968), and Revolution Of The Mind: Recorded Live At The Apollo Vol. III (recorded and released 1971), and includes two unreleased tracks taken from the live album Get Down At The Apollo with The J.B.’s: Live At The Apollo Vol. IV. The latter was recorded September 1972, but was ultimately never released.

Personally funded by James Brown, the original, critically acclaimed Live At The Apollo, featuring the Famous Flames and the James Brown Orchestra, was first released in 1963 and became a cultural phenomenon, reaching No. 2 on The Billboard 200 album chart. In 2003 it was listed at No. 24 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time and in 2004, Live At The Apollo was added to the Library Of Congress’ National Recording Registry. Three tracks from this landmark recording, “I’ll Go Crazy,” “Try Me” and “Night Train,” plus the famous show introduction, are featured on Best Of Live At The Apollo.

Recorded in June 1967, Live At The Apollo Vol. II was released in 1968 and ushered in Brown’s new funky style with a larger, more sophisticated iteration of the James Brown Orchestra, featuring Maceo Parker and led by Alfred “Pee Wee” Ellis. This was Brown’s first live, double-LP set and charted at No. 2 on the R&B Album chart and Top 40 on The Billboard 200. Three tracks featured on Best Of Live At The Apollo from this recording are the live hit single “There Was A Time,” “Cold Sweat” and “Please, Please, Please,” showing the constant evolution of Soul Brother No. 1.

Revolution Of The Mind: Recorded Live At The Apollo Vol. III, a double-LP from 1971, is Brown’s third official live album recorded at the Apollo Theater and features the backing band Fred Wesley & The J.B.’s. Revolution Of The Mind went to No. 7 on the R&B Albums chart and No. 39 on The Billboard 200. Three tracks from the album, the super-hot “Sex Machine,” “Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved” and “Soul Power” are featured on Best Of Live At The Apollo.

Get Down At The Apollo with The J.B.’s was recorded for a potential double-album and was to feature the J.B.’s as well as James Brown Revue singer Lyn Collins. It was mixed for LP but its release canceled. Best Of Live At The Apollo includes two songs from the album, the instrumental “Hot Pants Road” and “There It Is,” in new mixes exclusive to this collection. (An alternate take of “There It Is” was included on a previous JB collection.)

Best Of Live At The Apollo includes James Brown’s legendary hits, all recorded where the Godfather made history: Live at the Apollo!

JAMES BROWN – Best Of Live At The Apollo: 50th Anniversary
1. Introduction to James Brown
2.I’ll Go Crazy
3.Try Me
4.Night Train
5.There Was A Time
6.Cold Sweat
7.Please, Please, Please
8.Sex Machine
9.Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved
10.Soul Power
11.Hot Pants Road *
12.There It Is *

Produced by James Brown  / * Previously Unreleased

BURT BACHARACH - THE ART OF THE SONGWRITER: ANYONE WHO HAD A HEART

Burt Bacharach, one of the world’s most acclaimed, award-winning composer/songwriters, is celebrating his 85th birthday (May 12) with today’s publication of his new autobiography from HarperCollins and Universal Music Enterprises’ May 28 release of a career-spanning 2-CD collection of his best songwriting collaborations. The Art Of The Songwriter: Anyone Who Had A Heart – The Best Of Burt Bacharach collects 40 of Bacharach’s timeless songs, performed by music’s most influential artists of the twentieth century, including “I Say A Little Prayer” (Aretha Franklin), “Alfie” (Barbra Streisand), “Wishin’ And Hopin’” (Brenda Lee), “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)” (Christopher Cross), “Let The Music Play” (Diana Ross & The Supremes), “Any Day Now” (Elvis Presley), “Overnight Success” (Gladys Knight & The Pips), “Walk On By” (Gloria Gaynor), “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again” (Isaac Hayes), “That’s What Friends Are For” (Kevin Eubanks), “Heartlight” (Neil Diamond), “On My Own” (Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald), “What’s New Pussycat” (Tom Jones), and many more.

For the past six decades, Burt Bacharach's songwriting has touched millions of devoted listeners all over the world. He has written more than seventy Top 40 hits and he has earned GRAMMY®, OSCAR®, and EMMY® Awards for his work. From his first pop hit on the charts, 1957’s “The Story of My Life” recorded by Marty Robbins, to his hit-making collaborations with longtime writing partner and lyricist Hal David, including “Alfie,” “A House Is Not A Home,” “Wishin’ And Hopin’,” “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head,” “I Say a Little Prayer,” and “This Guy’s in Love with You,” to more recent songs co-written with Carole Bayer Sager, Elvis Costello and others, The Art Of The Songwriter: Anyone Who Had A Heart – The Best Of Burt Bacharach is a career-spanning overview of Bacharach’s creative best.

The Art Of The Songwriter: Anyone Who Had A Heart – The Best Of Burt Bacharach invites the listener to delve into many of Bacharach’s most legendary, career-defining songs, while his new autobiography (written with Robert Greenfield), Anyone Who Had A Heart: My Life and Music, offers a frank and riveting account of his life and the stories behind the hits.

The Art Of The Songwriter: Anyone Who Had A Heart – The Best Of Burt Bacharach

DISC 1
01. ARETHA FRANKLIN I Say A Little Prayer
02. B. J. THOMAS Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head
03. DUSTY SPRINGFIELD I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself
04. ETTA JAMES Waiting For Charlie To Come Home
05. MARTY ROBBINS The Story Of My Life
06. SERGIO MENDES & BRASIL ‘66 The Look Of Love
07. BROOK BENTON A House Is Not A Home
08. CHRISTOPHER CROSS Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)
09. SMITH Baby It’s You
10. GENE MCDANIELS Tower Of Strength
11. PERRY COMO Magic Moments
12. RICK NELSON Take A Broken Heart
13. BRENDA LEE Wishin’ And Hopin’
14. SYBIL Don’t Make Me Over
15. ELVIS PRESLEY Any Day Now
16. GENE PITNEY Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa
17. ISAAC HAYES I’ll Never Fall In Love Again
18. RONALD ISLEY Love’s (Still) The Answer
19. DIONNE WARWICK Anyone Who Had A Heart
20. JACKIE DESHANNON What The World Needs Now

DISC 2
01. TOM JONES What’s New Pussycat?
02. BARBRA STREISAND Alfie
03. THE WALKER BROTHERS Make It Easy On Yourself
04. HERB ALPERT This Guy’s In Love With You
05. THE MARVELETTES Message To Michael
06. THE FIFTH DIMENSION One Less Bell To Answer
07. GLORIA GAYNOR Walk On By
08. ASTRUD GILBERTO Trains And Boats And Planes
09. DIANA ROSS & THE SUPREMES Let The Music Play
10. THE STYLISTICS You’ll Never Get To Heaven (If You Break My Heart)
11. JACK JONES Wives And Lovers
12. CHRIS DE BURGH Love Is My Decision
13. PATTI PAGE Keep Me In Mind
14. PATTI LABELLE and MICHAEL MCDONALD On My Own
15. BURT BACHARACH Nikki
16. MANFRED MANN My Little Red Book
17. GLADYS KNIGHT & THE PIPS Overnight Success
18. ELVIS COSTELLO and BURT BACHARACH Toledo
19. KEVIN EUBANKS That’s What Friends Are For
20. NEIL DIAMOND Heartlight 

LA TV STATION KLCS TO AIR THE FRANK SINATRA SHOW

Sinatra lovers of all ages will get a special treat in May as KLCS presents the “Frank Sinatra Show” featuring some of America’s premier music icons like Elvis Presley, Sammy Davis Jr., Nancy Sinatra, Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop. The shows, hosted by Sinatra aficionado Jerry Sharell, will air on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 12, at 9 a.m. and Tuesday’s in May at 8 p.m. on KLCS, Channel 58 (L.A.’s own PBS station), DirecTV, Dish network and most cable systems.

ABC and CBS aired The Frank Sinatra Show from 1958 to 1960. Relive the Rat Pack’s day along with their very special friends…Watch, Elvis Presley’s first network appearance after returning from his service in the Army. The Frank Sinatra Show takes place at the famous Miami Beach Fontainebleau Hotel with guests including Sammy Davis Dr., Peter Lawford, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Eleanor Roosevelt, Lena Horne and more.

“The Frank Sinatra Show on KLCS creates an opportunity for our Station to reach viewers who believe in the arts, culture, education and excellence. We know that our City has a huge Sinatra fan base, and we want to bring these viewers a special treat for their enjoyment,” said Sabrina Thomas, KLCS General Manager. “KLCS is also honored to have Mr. Sharell join us to share his great Sinatra stories, his insights and to support KLCS,” added Thomas.

The Sinatra series provides a rare opportunity to take a glimpse back in time, and savor the essence of Sinatra, while observing the nuances of a bygone era and the subtleties of this great man and entertainer, who changed the world with his conscience, character and talents. 

MOPPA ELLIOT'S MOSTLY OTHER PEOPLE DO THE KILLING TO RELEASE SIXTH STUDIO ALBUM - RED HOT

On its newest album Red Hot, to be released on Hot Cup Records on September 24, 2013, Mostly Other People Do the Killing (MOPDtK) - a fearless ensemble that is one of the most acclaimed jazz groups working today - draws on the melodies and forms of late 1920s and early 1930s jazz and blues artists in music composed by bassist/bandleader Moppa Elliott.

For this project, MOPDtK has expanded its lineup to a 7-piece version which adds veteran New York journeyman Dave Taylor on bass trombone, Brandon Seabrook on banjo, and Ron Stabinsky on piano, each of whom has a lengthy history with MOPDtK.Their inclusion amplifies and clarifies the already well-known and acclaimed approach of the band. They fit seamlessly with the band's eclectic aesthetic, as each soloist demonstrates a deep understanding of music history, the ability to seamlessly incorporate extended techniques, and a propensity to juxtapose disparate musical styles.

Despite sounding wildly different, Red Hot follows the same conceptual approach as MOPDtK's previous Hot Cup release, Slippery Rock. For both projects, Elliott immersed himself in the music of a specific time period and searched for musical elements that were unique to each genre. In the case of Slippery Rock, the source material in question was classic smooth jazz of the mid 1970s to 1980s. For Red Hot, Elliott investigated the formal structures of jazz and blues recordings of the late 1920s and early 1930s. He highlighted the frequent use of modulations, stop-time sections, alternating solos and tutti passages, uneven phrase lengths and shifts in meter as essential elements to that time period's music that are underutilized by early 21st century jazz composers.

Yet rather than attempting to simply recreate the music of 80 years ago, Elliott incorporated these idiomatic structural elements into his own unmistakable compositional style. Anachronistic juxtapositions occur frequently but are somehow unified, as music spanning all of the last 80 years is shaped into a decidedly contemporary composite sound. Of particular note is Elliott's use of unaccompanied solos in the form of introductions, cadenzas and stop-time passages to allow the compositions to be partially defined by the whims of his band members. Elliott's Ellingtonian arrangements make full use of the orchestral palate the expanded ensemble offers him while highlighting the specific talents of each musician.

The opening track, "The Shickshinny Shimmy," utilizes an idiomatic double-time feel while the saxophone intones the melody before settling into the slower tempo. Relaxed swing alternating with hard rock power chords serves as the accompaniment for a trombone melody before transitioning to a shout chorus. The soloists first improvise over a modal vamp before moving on to the coda, a constantly rising vamp based on the idea of the Shepard tone.

"Zelienople" is introduced by drummer Kevin Shea after a lengthy drum solo in which he explores the large, 1930s vintage Slingerland drum set he plays throughout the album. The jaunty opening melody stated by Peter Evans on trumpet is surrounded by collective improvisation and wild shifts in tempo and style by Shea's drums. The second theme, a unison banjo and bass trombone melody, is played at a half-time tempo before the trombone returns to the opening phrase punctuated by stop-time figures in the ensemble. Dave Taylor's bass trombone solo continues over a stride piano accompaniment before the rhythm section re-enters and this solo form is repeated for Evans' trumpet.

The title cut opens with a banjo and electronics solo in which Brandon Seabrook manipulates sine waves while interjecting acoustic banjo phrases. The composition itself is a mash-up of at least five different songs by The Red Hot Chili Peppers, a band that profoundly influenced composer Elliott during his formative years in the early 1990s. Other compositional elements such as the double-time piano solos and some formal elements were derived from the Jelly Roll Morton compositions for his band, The Red Hot Peppers. Most of the expropriated melodic material has been adapted to blues harmonies and each member of the ensemble is given ample solo space.

After a masterful opening solo by Ron Stabinsky that contains more quotations and references than this space allows, "King of Prussia" begins with a series of piano cadenzas before being joined by the C melody saxophone to intone the slow swing theme. The second statement of the theme by Seabrook's bowed banjo segues into an improvised trio with piano and drums that veers into radically different musical territory. Seabrook brings the ensemble back in for a stop-time trumpet solo in which each solo break is of a different duration. Trumpeter Peter Evans explores a wide variety of sounds before the coda brings the tune to a close with erie electronic effects by Seabrook.

Bandleader Elliott opens "Turkey Foot Corner" with an unaccompanied bass solo interweaving gilssondi, double-stops, triads and large intervalic leaps. Once a steady pulse is stated, the rest of the band enters, improvising around the steady quarter note tempo. The harmonized melody seems to get stuck like a skipping CD for a different number of beats on each chord before it is clearly stated. The opening quarter note motif briefly recurs as a lead-in to an unaccompanied bass trombone solo by Dave Taylor in which he makes use of his collection of personally modified mutes. After the original tempo returns, a trumpet solo leads the ensemble to the coda.

"Seabrook, Power, Plank" is a three-Pennsylvania-town named adaptation of the name of Brandon Seabrook's power trio, "Seabrook Power Plant." This composition seems to set up a stop-time solo which abruptly cuts out, leaving the soloists, in this case Jon Irabagon on C melody saxophone and Brandon Seabrook on banjo, to their own devices. These cadenzas are interrupted by a deliberately awkward Latin jazz motif that bridges the divide between the two stop-time sections.

With a title that adapts a Pennsylvania town name to reference a Charles Mingus title, "Orange is the Name of the Town" is a waltz modeled after Paul Whiteman and other "sweet" dance orchestras of the late 1920s. After the Whiteman-esque opening melody, a bridge culled from the wreckage of Disney soundtracks leads to a 3/4 vamp reminiscent of the Africa Brass sessions by John Coltrane. Pianist Ron Stabinsky is then charged with transitioning from a McCoy Tyner-esque foray into the world of pentatonics and fourths to a Vienese waltz, a feat managed with great aplomb. Seabrook's banjo, in the role of descant soloist, swirls around the tutti ensemble shout chorus and continues after all the other members have packed up and gone home.

The 12/8 blues, "Gum Stump," opens with a duet between Evans' trumpet and Irabagon's soprano saxophone. The tempo is introduced by one of many adaptations of guitarist Robert Johnson's idiomatic interjections. Johnson's country blues style is often characterized by the addition of beats to certain measures to conform to his fills and interjections. This idea serves as the basis for Elliott's composition which regularly adds beats to certain measures in which sax and trumpet imitate Johnson's guitar behind a melody stated emphatically by bass trombonist Dave Taylor. Taylor continues as soloist over several choruses to invoke the history of the blues from Johnson to André 3000 before restating the melody.

If any Pennsylvania town name begged to be adapted into a jazz composition title, it is the village of "Bird-in-Hand." This up-tempo composition features two main themes, one major and one minor, and explores the pre-bebop jazz vocabulary as well as elements of Gershwin's "An American in Paris" and "Rhapsody in Blue." Irabagon's soprano saxophone is the lone soloist on this closing number which brings the proceedings to an abrupt and emphatic end.

In 2010, trumpeter Peter Evans was named as one of the 5 "Musicians of the Year" for the second year in a row by All About Jazz New York. Evans performs with two collaborative trios (Mary Halvorson and Weasel Walter, and Tim Dahl and Mike Pride), his own quartet and quintet, and a variety of other ensembles in addition to releasing music on his own label, More is More Records.

Ubiquitous saxophonist Jon Irabagon, winner of the 2008 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, recently launched Irabagast Records, his own label. Irabagon continues to perform with legendary drummer Barry Altschul in duo and trio settings and recently became part of trumpeter and composer Dave Douglass' new quintet.

Dave Taylor is one of the most prolific and sought-after bass trombonists in history. Over the course of his forty year career he has performed or recorded with everyone from Duke Ellington to Pierre Boulez to the Rolling Stones to Jay-Z. Recently he has performed Daniel Schnyder's bass trombone concerto and toured with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Brad Mehldau.

Brandon Seabrook was chosen by the Village Voice Best of NYC issue as the city's top guitarist, but he is best known for his banjo playing. As the leader of his own ensemble "Seabrook Power Plant," he has recorded two albums for Loyal Label, the most recent of which was called "a manic clusterfuck of merciless banjo torture" by the Village Voice.

Ron Stabinsky is a mercenary pianist based in northeastern Pennsylvania. When not crisscrossing the northeast from gig to gig in his Prius, Ron presents concerts at St. Stephen's Church in downtown WIlkes-Barre and performs with a variety of improvising ensembles including the Peter Evans Quartet.

Bandleader, bassist, and composer Moppa Elliott spends most of his time educating and coaching his students at St. Mary's High School. His Hot Cup Records label has released Jonathan Moritz Secret Tempo and MOPDtK's Slippery Rock this year. He has appeared in the Downbeat Critics' poll several times as a "Rising Star Composer".

Drummer Kevin Shea has been a mainstay on the experimental music scene since the mid 1990s. His duo Talibam! with Matt Mottel has released two recent albums: Atlantass, a theatrical piece featuring Sam Kulik, and Puff Up the Volume, a foray into the world of rap and hip-hop. Shea was recently named "Best Drummer" in the Village Voice's Best of NYC issue for 2012, a title he has deserved for over a decade.

http://www.moppaelliott.com/

NEW RELEASES - PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND, JOHNNY COPELAND, CHARLES WALKER & THE DYNAMITES

PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND - THAT'S IT!

Preservation Hall Jazz Band have announced the release of their new album That's It! on July 9th, the band's first album of original music in its entire 50-year history! That's It! was produced by My Morning Jacket's Jim James and Ben Jaffe and recorded at The Preservation Hall. That's It! is an eclectic album that draws on the collective experience of players nurtured in the New Orleans tradition but determined to build something fresh and exciting on that foundation. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band derives its name from Preservation Hall, the venerable music venue located in the heart of New Orleans’ French Quarter, founded in 1961 by Allan and Sandra Jaffe. The band has traveled worldwide spreading their mission to nurture and perpetuate the art form of New Orleans Jazz.

JOHNNY COPELAND - IT'S ME: CLASSIC TEXAS SOUL 1955-72

An incredible collection of work from the great Johnny Copeland – way way way more stuff from the early years than we ever knew he recorded! Johnny's one of the few Texas singers of his generation who kept the flame burning brightly over the decades – but it's this stuff that's still his best work – amazing southern soul tracks handled in a mode that's unlike anything else – no Memphis or Muscle Shoals cliches here, and instead a really deep, personal approach to the music that makes tremendous use of Copeland's vocals! There's some slight undercurrents of blues at points, but the music is definitely soul – sometimes inflected with jazz on the mellower cuts, ala a Duke/Peacock recording – although the tracks here were for the Jet Stream, Wet Soul, and Wand labels – mixed here with a number of previously unreleased tracks. The 2CD package really hones in on Johnny's greatness – and serves up a whopping 43 tracks recorded between 1965 and 1971 – titles that include "The Invitation", "Why Don't You Make Up Your Mind", "Somebody's Been Scratchin", "Every Dog's Got His Day", "Wizard Of Art", "I Waited Too Long", "The Hip Hop", "Four Dried Beans", "Mother Nature", "You're Gonna Reap Just What You Sow", "Dedicated To The Greatest", "I Wish I Was Single", "Danger Zone", and "Slow Walk You Down".  ~ Dusty Groove

CHARLES WALKER & THE DYNAMITES - LOVE IS ONLY EVERYTHING

Maybe the most smoking collaboration so far between The Dynamites and vocalist Charles Walker – a singer who only seems to sound younger and younger with each new record – driven on by the sharp funky sounds of the group! Walker's got a way of stretching out a note that's rooted in 60s deep soul styles – yet also has a compactness that fits in well with The Dynamites' hip blend of Hammond, trumpet, guitar, and saxes – all stepping out with a beautifully soulful vibe on the album's host of original tracks! Titles include "Wakie Wakie", "I Just Want To Know", "Love Is Only Everything", "Please Open Up The Door", "So Much More To Do", and "Yours & Mine", which features a guest appearance from Bettye Lavette! ~ Dusty Groove

EUGENIE JONES - BLACK LACE BLUE TEARS

With the release of her debut album Black Lace Blue Tears, Seattle-based Eugenie Jones emerges as a rising jazz vocal star with a deep-rooted sense of where she's headed as an artist. Jones's repertoire is based primarily on her own striking originals, and she also had a hand in all of the arrangements. The disc is due from Jones's Open Mic Records on May 28.

Throughout Black Lace Blue Tears Jones receives first-rate support from three of Seattle's most gifted and sought-after jazz instrumentalists: pianist Bill Anschell, bassist Clipper Anderson, and drummer Mark Ivester. Guitarist Michael Powers joins them on three numbers.

Jones reveals herself to be a remarkably mature, refreshingly different artist, both as a song stylist and as a songwriter. Nine of the album's 11 selections are original compositions that offer new insights into a variety of emotions and situations, from the joyous opener "A Good Day" to the heartbreaking ballad "All the King's Men," the gently swinging "Perfect," and "I Want One," a song about looking for Mister Right that has been a favorite of women in her audiences. Jones also puts her stamp on "My Funny Valentine" and the Paul Desmond classic "Take Five" (with lyrics by Dave and Iola Brubeck).

Surprisingly, Jones never planned for a career in singing. Growing up in Morgantown, West Virginia, Eugenie (pronounced "u-gee-nee") had sung with the Baptist church choir directed by her father, but at home she left the singing to her mother, the late Tommie Parker. "She had an incredibly beautiful voice," Jones says. "Even when she wasn't in church and she was cooking and doing things around the house, she was always singing."

Eugenie went on to earn degrees in business and marketing, working as a business owner, consultant, and marketing specialist. When her mother took ill, she invited her to move west to spend her final years living with Jones and her two sons in Bremerton, Washington. It wasn't until her mother's death five years ago that Eugenie decided to take up singing herself. "I missed hearing her voice around the house," says Jones. "I think that was what drove me to pursue it."

Jones made her professional debut as a jazz singer only two years ago and has since drawn a devoted following to her unique musical artistry at venues throughout the Seattle area and as far south as Portland. One critic has likened her to Nina Simone, as has Greta Matassa, the noted Seattle jazz vocalist with whom Jones studied.

Although Jones has been writing poetry since she was in high school, and for 19 years wrote a weekly wellness column for a Washington paper that was often picked up by the national Scripps-Howard newspaper chain, she didn't try her hand at writing songs until just a year before Black Lace Blue Tears was recorded.

"I kind of felt my way through a paradigm that seemed to work for me," she says of her songwriting process. "I'm really just trying to capture an emotion when I'm writing."

Upcoming performances by the singer include Seattle's Lakeside Bistro 5/25, the Collective Visions Gallery in Bremerton 6/22, the Sorrento Hotel in Seattle 6/29, and the Music in the Park Concert Series in Everett 6/30. "I absolutely love jazz," states Jones. "Some people speak of dreaming in color. I'd say I dream in jazz and wake the next morning with lyrics and arrangements in my head. This -- in front of the microphone, sharing my dreams with others -- is where I belong and where I feel so at home."

LUCIO DALLA - DALLA IN JAZZ

OKeh Records has released Dalla in Jazz, a tribute to the late Italian vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Lucio Dalla (available now as a digital-only release). On March 1, 2012, Dalla, who had a lifelong affiliation with the Sony Music Entertainment family, tragically died from a heart attack in Montreux, Switzerland. Surrounding the first anniversary of his death, OKeh has decided to pay homage to Dalla with a special tribute - Dalla in Jazz, assigning his wonderful songs to the most representative jazz musicians on the Italian scene and letting them choose, arrange and interpret Dalla according to their taste and inspiration.

The album brings together some of the greatest Italian artists in the national and international scene in celebration of Dalla: Paolo Fresu, Stefano di Battista, Gegè Telesforo, Aldo Romano, Maria Pia De Vito, Giovanni Mirabassi, Flavio Boltro, Javier Girotto in duet with Peppe Servillo, Enrico Pieranunzi with Simona Severini, Nick The Nightfly, Fabrizo Bosso and Roberto Gatto together with an inspired Max Gazzè.

Vinicio Capossela adhered enthusiastically as well, with a reinterpretation of "Itaca" to the sonorities of the Greek band he cooperated with in the making of his last two records, making of it a sincere, raging, manly recall to the unknown sea. Dalla in Jazz contains the greatest hits ("Futura," "Com'è profondo il mare," "Caruso," "Attenti al lupo," "Balla balla ballerino") along with some of Dalla's more obscure songs ("Il cielo," "Vita," "Felicità"), but enthusiasm and emotion break out in every track from the very first listen.

In addition to the 13 pieces specifically recorded for the occasion during 2012, the opening track is an exceptional and rare version of Charles Trenet's "La Mer", recorded in 2010, where Lucio sings in counterpoint to Luca Aquino's evocative trumpet and refined electronics.

His career spanning over fifty-years made him a primary artist in Italian pop music. His lyrics and notes have radically renewed and influenced the prolific Italian singer-songwriters tradition, but Dalla is deeply rooted in jazz; it was his first love and remained a burning passion until the end. A vocalist, keyboardist, saxophonist and clarinetist, he was also very fond of bebop (when talking about Charlie Parker, he would become almost transfigured).

Dalla adored jazz of the 1950s and '60s, and this may be one of the reasons why many of his songs, including those that moved and continue moving millions of people, lend themselves well to improvisation and to harmonic and melodic variation on their wonderful themes. His last day in Montreux is somehow the emblem of such boundless love.

VOCALIST CHRIS MCNULTY WINS AUSTRALIAN JAZZ BELL AWARD

The acclaimed Australian-born, New York-based vocalist Chris McNulty has won a prestigious Australian Jazz Bell Award for her stunning 2013 album The Song That Sings You Here. Named for Graeme Bell, a legend of Australian jazz, the Bell Awards recognize and encourage excellence in the performance, creativity, recording and presentation of jazz in Australia. They were presented May 2 at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne.

On The Song That Sings You Here, McNulty, who has "a voice of serene beauty and striking veracity" (Peter Quinn, JazzWise), delivers a vibrant performance showcasing her tremendous range and abilities as a vocal stylist.

Released January 15, 2013 on Challenge Records, the CD features McNulty with bassist Ugonna Okegwo: drummer Marcus Gilmore, guitarist Paul Bollenback, pianists Andrei Kondokov and Graham Wood, saxophonist Igor Butman, and guest vocalist Anita Wardell. It's receiving high praise including 4-stars from DownBeat and 5-stars from Jazz Journal.

"Since the onset of her jazz career, McNulty has maintained and intriguing unpredictability, a terrific ability to trace serpentine routes while traversing pop and jazz standards, often taking them to previously undiscovered places yet never straying dangerously off courseŠ. And McNulty remains an underappreciated songwriter. Her eight-minute "Long Road Home - The Song That Sings You Here," to name one sterling example, is a circuitous exploration of love's vagaries and its ultimate immutability." - Christopher Loudon, JazzTimes

"Four Stars. A classy singer in the classic style, emoting from the heart and giving the lyrics their full meaning, but more than capable of mixing it with the band and improvising with the best of them. And she has assembled an equally classy, hard-swinging groupŠ A timeless slice of pure jazz." - Cormac Larkin, Irish Times

"A dynamic singer with a great sense of rhythm in her voice." - Jerome Wilson, Cadence Magazine

McNulty had already finished recording The Song That Sings You Here in 2010, even selecting her composition "Long Road Home - The Song that Sings You Here" to title the album, when tragedy struck, delaying the album's release. Says McNulty, "This recording, the tune selections, my two compositions and the treatment concept, all took place before my beautiful beloved and cherished son, Sam departed this world (July 16th, 2011). Nothing has been changed or altered in any way. My composition "Long Road Home - The Song that Sings You Here" was completed in 2008. The title for this recording was chosen in 2010. As I listen back now, it strikes me that much of this album sounds like it was conceived after Sam left us. I have no explanation for this except to say that every song I sing, I sing for him. I sing him here, always."

The music, especially on the evocative title track that closes the album, has taken on an added poignancy in the wake Sam's death, but the circumstances of its release should by no means detract from the level of artistry. McNulty is a vocalist firmly in command of her instrument, with a rich expressive voice soaked in swing and blues, and an ability to improvise that's straight from the heart. She has truly come into her own on this, her Challenge Records debut and seventh album as a leader.

Chris McNulty first visited New York City in 1985 and settled there in 1988 after being awarded an International Study Grant from the Australia Council. Since then, McNulty has garnered further accolades from critics, jazz musicians and fans alike, as well as collaborating and performing with some of the finest musicians on the jazz scene today including: Gary Bartz, Paul Bollenback, Billy Hart, Frank Wess, Mulgrew Miller, John Hicks, Gary Thomas, Ingrid Jensen, Montez Coleman, Mat Wilson, Ed Howard, Jeff Ballard, Dave Pietro, Joe Locke, Harvey S and many more. Acclaimed as well for her stunning live performances, McNulty has performed across Europe, in Australia, and throughout the USA.

www.chrismcnulty.com

NEW RELEASES - PATRICIA MARX, DARCY JAMES ARGUE'S SECRET SOCIETY, PETROWSKY / BAUER / GUMPERT / SOMMER

PATRICIA MARX - TRINTA


Warm, wonderful, and completely beautiful work from Patricia Marx – a singer we've followed from the start, and who's reemerged here after a bit of silence – sounding even more spellbinding than ever! Patricia's one of the most soulful Brazilian singers of the past decade or two – and here, she really hits a new level of maturity – working with backings from Bruno E that are far more complex and sophisticated than his previous drum and basslines – as powerful and layered as the best sounds you'd hear with an American soul singer – but also with a crispness that's really personal, too – the kind of warmth and energy that have always made us love Swing Out Sister's recent recordings. Patricia gets help from two artists who are always tops in our book – Ed Motta and Seu Jorge – each of whom sing on a track – and titles include "Cedo Ou Tarde", "Espelhos D'Agua", "Menino", "Tudo O Que Eu Quero", "Quando Chove", "Ficar Com Voce", and "Sem Pensar". ~ Dusty Groove

DARCY JAMES ARGUE'S SECRET SOCIETY - BROOKLYN BABYLON

A beautiful love letter to contemporary Brooklyn – originally commissioned by BAM, as part of a longer piece that included narration, animation, and paintings – but a work that stands more than strongly here on its own! The music has a wonderful mix of themes – sometimes straight, sometimes a bit more abstract, to the point of illustration – played by a shifting lineup of younger musicians who really deliver on the promise of Darcy James Argue's compositions – a group that includes John Ellis on tenor sax, Rob Wilkerson on alto, Ryan Keberle on trombone, Matt Holman on trumpet, Nadje Noordhuis on flugelhorn, and Sebatian Noelle on guitar. Titles include "The Neighborhood", "Builders", "Grand Opening", "Coney Island", "Construction/Destruction", "The Tallest Tower In The World", and "Missing Parts". ~ Dusty Groove

PETROWSKY /  BAUER / GUMPERT / SOMMER - SYNOPSIS

Bold sounds from this German quartet – a group who certainly deliver one of the most striking avant jazz sessions on the legendary Amiga label! The set's got a free frenzy that's right up there with the 70s best from FMP – played by musicians who often made key appearances on that label too – including Ernst Ludwig Petrowsky on saxes and flute, Conrad Bauer on trombone, Ulrich Gumpert on piano, and Gunter Sommer on drums and percussion! The album takes off with a machine gun-like energy at the start – a real blast of sound that shows all the revolutionary power of this generation of German jazz – but then as things progress, the players explore some wonderful tones and textures that reflect a more contemplative mode as well – still very groundbreaking, but in a more subtle way. Titles include "Traumtanzer", "Quartett Diskurs", "Holzland", "Kommit Ihr G'Spielen", and "Post Aus Vogelsang".  Dusty Groove

NEW RELEASES - EARLY GIORGIO MORODER & MUNICH MACHINE WITH BONUS TRACKS ADDED!

GIORGIO MORODER - SON OF MY FATHER

Excellent early work from Giorgio Moroder – recorded in the pre-disco years, with a trippy rock style that mixes electronics and some surprisingly soulful guitar work! The overall style is almost a prog take on the beat group sound with some poppy touches – a cool blend that was shared briefly by other European groups of the time, before they stretched out and got a bit more trippy. The album's got some nice moogy touches, tight drums by Keith Forsey, and even a bit of keyboards from Max Gregor Jr. Most tracks have vocals, but also kick off with a strong foot instrumentally – making for some great rock break moments that are worth the album alone, even though the full songs are pretty nice too! Titles include the epic "Tears", "Lord Release Me", "Watch Your Step", "Pauline", "Son Of My Father", "Automation", "London Traffic", "Spanish Disaster", and "Underdog". CD features lots of bonus tracks too – including "Today's A Tomorrow", "Everybody Join Hands", "I'm Free Now", "Non Ci Sto", "Take It Shake It Break My Heart", and "Underdog (mono)". ~ Dusty Groove

MUNICH MACHINE - BODY SHINE

A German disco classic from Munich Machine – and maybe the tightest album ever from the always-sharp studio group! Giorgio Moroder's at the head of the record on production, but the sound here is often a bit warmer than some of his own recordings – thanks to an ear for some of the more soulful instrumental sides of the dancefloor spectrum, particularly on the keyboard solos, which never have the coldness of Moroder's music – and thanks also to some well-placed vocals from soul singers Judith Jones and Yolande Howard, both of whom add a bit of personality to the record too! Yet that great Moroder ear for a dancefloor groove is still perfectly intact – as you'll hear on cuts that include "Let Your Body Shine", "Space Warrior", "Bolectro", "Easy", "Reputation", and "Fallen Angel". CD features two bonus tracks – "Space Warriors (blue eyed DJ rmx)", and "Giorgio Moroder Medley (blue eyed DJ rmx)". ~ Dusty Groove

GIORGIO MORODER - SCHLAGERMORODER VOLUME 1 1966 - 1975

Not disco Moroder, but schlager Moroder – great early recordings from German maestro Giorgio, done before his famous dancefloor hits of the later 70s – and with a very groovy sound throughout! The music here is more pop than soul, but often has these sweet and freaky little touches – a bit like the way that French pop artists of the late 60s would cop an American mode, then turn it around with some cool local touches of their own – or trip things out with a few inflections borrowed from psych or other new rock modes! Some tunes are playful and catchy, others are more ballsy and brash – especially as the set moves on, and the music hits those immediate pre-disco years that make for some of Moroder's most compelling. Massive 2CD package features 51 rare cuts from these early years – titles that include "Cinnamon", "Tempo D'Amore", "Underdog", "Watch Your Step", "Bla Bla Diddly", "Love's Morning Land", "Mah Na Mah Na", "Crippled Words", "Lie Lie Lie", "Collico", "Heaven Helps The Man", "Bricks & Mortar", "It's A Shame", and "Today's A Tomorrow". ~ Dusty Groove