NEW RELEASES - JOE MABERN, ALEX SIPIAGIN, JOE MANGARELLI

HAROLD MABERN - LIVE AT SMALLS

One of the best Harold Mabern albums we've heard in years – recorded with a trio of familiar partners, John Webber on bass and Joe Farnsworth on drums – but in a freewheeling live setting that has the group really stretching out over some long, extended tracks! Mabern's sense of imagination in this setting is wonderful – and really takes us back to the soulful majesty we loved in his music during the 70s – and although a few numbers reflect the ballad mode of some of Harold's studio albums, even these have an open-ended creativity that really goes beyond the usual! Titles include "Dreaming", "Road Song", "Boogie For Al McShann", "Afro Blue", "Alone Together", and a surprisingly great take on "Sesame Street".  ~ Dusty Groove

ALEX SIPIAGIN - LIVE AT SMALLS

A stunning showcase for the talents of trumpeter Alex Sipiagin – and maybe his greatest record so far! You might know Alex as the husband of singer Monday Michiru, but he's a hell of a trumpeter in his own right – and really stretches out here in the company of a killer quintet that includes Seamus Blake on tenor, David Kikoski on piano, Boris Kozlov on bass, and Nate Smith on drums – all working in that long, extended style we love so much from this Smalls series! Both Sipiagin and Blake have these well-crafted long solos that hold us rapt with their sense of soul and imagination – and Kikoski, as always, balances his talents beautifully between lyrical lines and harder rhythmic impulses. Titles include "Live Score", "Calming", "Pass", "Returning", and "Videlles". ~ Dusty Groove

JOE MANGARELLI - LVE AT SMALLS

Trumpeter Joe Magnarelli's got a hell of a trio on this cooking live date – Mulgrew Miller on piano, Dwayne Burno on bass, and Jason Brown on drums – all of whom craft the tunes with a rhythmic intensity that really seems to set Joe's horn on fire! Magnarelli's always had a great way with a tone, but here he also seems to have a sense of swing that comes through even in the mellower moments – a bit like Art Farmer at times, with maybe a few echoes of Freddie Hubbard in his later years too. Yet Joe's clean, clear approach is still very much at the forefront of the album – and titles include the originals "Third Set" and "Skee" – plus "My Ideal", "Invitation", and "I'll Find You". ~ Dusty Groove

PETER LEITCH - CALIFORNIA CONCERT / JAZZ HOUSE 7004

California Concert / JAZZ HOUSE 7004), the fourth release on the artist-owned Jazz House label, captures the Peter Leitch Quartet in an incredibly strong live performance at California State University, Fresno.


Leitch's bandmates for this concert include his friend and long-time musical associate pianist John Hicks, New York bassist David Williams, and jazz legend Billy Higgins on drums. This very fortuitous coming together of musical minds is made more ephemeral through the knowledge that with the passing of Hicks and Higgins, it was an occasion that will never be repeated. "I remember this concert as being one of the great musical experiences of my life," Peter said of the concert, which took place on May 1, 1999. "Fortunately, someone had the foresight to record it."

The potent chemistry among these four veterans is palpable from the opening bars of Bird's "Relaxin' at Camarillo" to Leitch's own tribute to an early mentor, "A Blues for Ivan Symonds." The full-set recording also features Hicks's classic "After the Morning," their friend Walter Booker's "Book's Bossa," the Strayhorn-Ellington favorite "Isfahan," and a piano-guitar medley of Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood" and "Warm Valley."

The recording was made by an avid fan and Leitch took it to master engineer Allan Tucker in New York to try to clean up the audio to make the concert set releasable. The result is a labor of love-great music played full out (no tune is under nine minutes)-well worth the listener's time. Liner notes are written by bassist Dwayne Burno, who currently works and records with the guitarist.

Coincidental with the album release is the publication of Peter Leitch's memoir Off the Books: A Jazz Life by Vehicule Press in Montreal. Slated for early summer release in Canada and a September launch in the U.S., in it the author recounts in vivid detail a life lived in search of excellence in music and art, learning his craft on the bandstand in the days before jazz education, while battling depression and drug addiction. His depiction of the Montreal of his youth reveals a long-gone vibrant club scene in that city. Leitch's moves, first to Toronto in 1977 and then to his present home , New York City, in 1982 are also recounted in detail. There is a great deal of humor in some of his recollections and observations, and more than a few hard truths leavened with bits of absurdist fantasy. Watch for it.

A launch party is planned in early September for the album and book at Walker's in TriBeCa, home of Peter Leitch's long-running Sunday night duo gig.

Peter Leitch Quartet· California Concert / Jazz House · Release Date: July 16, 2013

ROBIN THICKE ANNOUNCES SIXTH STUDIO ALBUM - BLURRED LINES

Robin Thicke has announced that his highly anticipated sixth studio album, Blurred Lines, is set to debut July 30th. The album's first single (also the title track) moved to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, marking the artist's first appearance on the chart's top spot. The global hit, featuring Pharrell and T.I., rose 6-1 as the chart's top digital, airplay and streaming gainer. "Blurred Lines" is the first song to claim all three honors simultaneously since the lattermost award was introduced last March. The track has also passed 1 million downloads sold, marking Thicke's first song to reach the milestone, and is #1 in 28 countries.


"I am absolutely thrilled that 'Blurred Lines' has reached #1 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100," said Robin. I am so grateful to all of my fans and am excited for them to check out the album when it drops in July. It is great that it is already being received so well."

Robin Thicke has established himself as one of the most respected singer-songwriters in soul and R&B music today. The musician, composer and actor, released his critically acclaimed debut album, A Beautiful World in 2003 under the name "Thicke." Soon after, he came out with his breakthrough second release, 2006's The Evolution Of Robin Thicke. Now on the way to double platinum status, Evolution's mega hit "Lost Without U" became the #1 most played song in Urban Adult Contemporary BDS and topped four Billboard charts simultaneously. The award-winning multiplatinum superstar returned to center stage in 2008 with Something Else, a joyful and modern tribute to the '70s soul and pop records that have inspired an extraordinary career. Revered by critics as one of the best soul albums in years, this '70s-inspired album dealt with racism, poverty, and love in the hits "Dreamworld," "Magic," and "The Sweetest Love." In December of 2009 Robin released Sex Therapy. The title song was hailed by critics as "the sexiest song of the year." Robin's fifth studio album, Love After War was released in December of 2011.


The tracklisting for Blurred Lines is as follows:
1. Blurred Lines ft. T.I. + Pharrell
2. Take It Easy On Me
3. Ooo La La
4. Ain't No Hat 4 That
5. Get In My Way
6. Give It 2 U ft. Kendrick Lamar
7. Feel Good
8. Go Stupid 4 U
9. 4 The Rest Of My Life
10. Top Of The World
11. The Good Life

www.robinthicke.com

NEW RELEASES - ILIAS, GAZZARA, BILLY BANG

ILIAS - SOMEWHERE IN TIME

This brand new release is from Algerian/Australian producer, composer, songwriter, guitarist and singer Ilias. Somewhere In Time is a production that has a bit of history as it was written over a 10- year period years and after six months of recording. Ilias performs lead, harmony & background vocals, drums, bass, keyboards, piano, acoustic, electric 6 & 12 string guitars - truely a labor of love! Smooth, cool vibes, laid-back, and polished thoughout each of the 11 tracks is how one can describe this release. This Australian musician one one to watch for in the coming years.  Tracks include: Never Utter The Word Never; Loving You; One Of A Kind; If I See You; Last Words; This Life; September Memory; Lonely; Sense; Only One; and Sometimes I Wonder...

GAZZARA - THE BOSSA LOUNGE EXPERIENCE

Mighty keyboards from Francesco Gazzara – easily one of our favorite Irma Records artists from years back – still sounding pretty darn great here in a nicely mature setting! The album's got a bit of the bossa promised in the title, but also has a wider-ranging groove too – echoes of older keyboard modes, mixed with bits of jazz funk at times – all handled by Gazzara on a range of Fender Rhodes, Hammond, Korg, and other keys – with core bass and drums, and additional help from Lily Latuheru on vocals and Dario Cecchini on flute and saxes! Most tracks are instrumentals, but Lily's soulful tones definitely make the vocal tracks sound great too – and titles include "New Frontier", "Blow Your Mind", "Ivory Skyscrapers", "Bahia Moon", "Berimbau", "Black Jack", and "Song For My Father". ~ Dusty Groove

BILLY BANG - DA BANG!

One of the last sessions ever recorded by the legendary Billy Bang – but a set that still bristles with all the intensity that first made us fall in love with his music! If anything, the album's almost a back-to-basics effort for Billy – served up with the kind of soulful, searching sounds he first brought to his seminal albums on the Black Saint/Soul Note label – and quite different than some of his higher concept sessions in more recent years. The group's a great one, full of pulsating improvisational energy – as Billy's violin is joined by the trombone of Dick Griffin, piano of Andrew Bemkey, bass of Hilliar Greene, and drums of Newman Taylor Baker. Griffin's presence is especially great, and really helps deepen the sound – and titles include "All Blues", "Day Dreams", "Guinea", "Da Bang", and "Law Years". ~ Dusty Groove

NEW RELEASES - BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS REMIXED, KIM WATERS, MAVIS STAPLES

BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS - LEGEND REMIXED

For the first time, Bob Marley and the Wailers' iconic 1984 album, Legend, is re-imagined for Legend Remixed, an inspired new spin on the reggae classic. Legend's 16 tracks have been remixed by top DJs/producers. Included in this cohesive new set are tracks by ten time Grammy winner Stephen Marley, Pretty Lights, Thievery Corporation, Jason Bentley, Z-Trip with Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Photek, My Morning Jacket's Jim James, Roni Size, RAC, Beats Antique, Nickodemus & Zeb, as well as a new rendition remix of 'Redemption Song' by five-time Grammy Award winning reggae artist, Ziggy Marley. Tracks: Stir It Up (Ziggy Marley Remix); Three Little Birds (Stephen Marley and Jason Bentley Remix); Could You Be Loved (RAC Remix); No Woman, No Cry (Cut Chemist Remix); Get Up, Stand Up (Thievery Corporation Remix); Satisfy My Soul (Beats Antique Remix); I Shot The Sheriff (Roni Size Remix); Exodus (Pretty Lights Remix); Easy Skanking (Stephen Marley Remix); One Love/People Get Ready (Photek Remix); Redemption Song (Ziggy Marley Remix); Is This Love (Jason Bentley Remix); Jamming (Nickodemus and Zeb Remix); Punky Reggae Party (Z-Tripp Remix featuring Lee "Scratch" Perry); and Buffalo Soldier (Stephen Marley Remix) ~ amazon.com

KIM WATERS - MY LOVES

2013 release, the 19th album from the saxophonist, band leader, composer, arranger, and producer. After over two decades as a music superstar with 16 Top Ten and 14 #1 singles, four #1 CDs and sales in excess of a million album units, Kim again elevates his already luminous career profile to an even higher pinnacle with My Love. Resplendent with all the Kim Waters signature in-the-pocket grooves, seductive melodies, virtuoso improvisations, state-of-the-art production and inspired contributions from his musicians and guest vocalists, My Love, with an even deeper focus on the distinctly rich Urban Music mother-lode, is a soulful, 11-track hymnal in praise of romance in all its varied shadings, hues, depths, grandeur, yearnings and joyous fulfillments. ~ amazon.com

MAVIS STAPLES - ONE TRUE VINE

Coming off the huge success of her first collaboration with Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy the Grammy winning You Are Not Alone Mavis Staples wanted to make their second album together both a continuation of the joyous spirit of the first, and an evolution. With new song offerings from Alan Sparhawk of Low, Nick Lowe, and three Tweedy originals, One True Vine is at once a darker and more uplifting album, anchored by reinventions of two 70s classics Funkadelic s "Can You Get to That?" and the Staples Singer s "I Like the Things About Me. " Tweedy and Staples have constructed a dense narrative arc, that starts with the literal soul searching of Sparhawk s "One Holy Ghost" and Tweedy s "Jesus Wept, " and then breaks wide open with Nick Lowe s soaring "Far Celestial Shores, " a song he wrote for Mavis after touring together with Wilco. After that, the album builds to full tent revival mode, as the dark night of the soul passes and joy arrives in the form of Mavis glorious voice. Closing out with Tweedy s rapturous title track, One True Vine truly builds on the promise of You Are Not Alone, and will delight the myriad fans discovering Mavis for the first time though her Grammy wins and performances, her White House performance in the tribute to Memphis Soul, and the glorious second act of this American icon. ~ amazon.com

DEBUT ALBUM FROM VIBRAPHONIST WARREN WOLF - WOLFGANG

Throughout its history, jazz has been revitalized with a continual evolution of style, fresh transformations in expression, bold leaps into the free improvisational sphere of the unknown, and most importantly, the arrival of young artists who, while steeped in the past, have an eye to the future of the idiom. Jazz aficionados welcome the dawning of the next generations of talented musicians who boldly stride into progressive territory. Among the most important young jazz stars in that vein is vibraphonist Warren Wolf who delivers his remarkable sophomore album, Wolfgang, on Mack Avenue Records. Wolf, a multi-instrumentalist who has also honed his chops on drums and piano since age three, is also following in the footsteps of vibes masters Bobby Hutcherson and Stefon Harris by becoming a member of the SFJazz Collective (both of whom precede him in the vibes chair).

Wolfgang, set for an August 20 release, features two different three-man rhythm sections (pianist Benny Green, bassist Christian McBride, drummer Lewis Nash; and pianist Aaron Goldberg, bassist Kris Funn, drummer Billy Williams Jr.) as well as two noteworthy duo pieces with pianist/label-mate Aaron Diehl. Wolf and Diehl are both building their careers as young (each under age 35) musicians keeping the jazz tradition alive.

Comprising nine tunes (six of which are originals), Wolfgang spotlights Wolf taking a different, more laid-back take than his volcanic eponymous debut album on Mack Avenue. "The last record was a means of introducing myself as a leader," says the 33-year-old Baltimore-based vibraphonist. "This time I set out to showcase my writing skills with compositions that have melodies people can remember."

On his first album, which was produced by mentor/label-mate McBride (who Wolf has been performing with since 2007 after the pair met at Jazz Aspen seven years before that), Wolf placed himself in the context of a quintet and sextet (with saxophonist Tim Green and, on two tracks, trumpeter Jeremy Pelt). This time out he largely focuses on the quartet setting. "I wanted to display the beauty of the vibes," he says. "In a quintet, you're limited. With a quartet, you can hear me more. A lot of times the vibes is played in support of others. I'm showing here that I can hold the ball by myself." Wolfgang sets out to showcase Wolf's classical and blues influences, as well as his compositions.

Wolfgang opens with the vibraphonist leading his own home-base band (Funn and Williams with Goldberg sitting in as a guest) into "Sunrise," with Goldberg and Williams making predawn statements, then develops into the relaxed aurora with Wolf joining the group. The piece develops into a swinging gem with lyrical vibes lines. With the same band, Wolf speeds into the hard-burning swinger "Grand Central," which takes a frenetic pace with mad dashes of movement: a wild chase, a crushing push. "Actually, this originally had another title which we decided not to use," says Wolf. "But I was performing it at Dizzy's Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center, and a guy came up after and said that reminded him of being at Grand Central Station at rush hour. So, that's the perfect title."

The foursome also jumps into the upbeat "Lake Nerraw Flow" which features Wolf taking a rippling solo. It's a song he wrote as a senior at Berklee College of Music in 2001. "I don't write like that anymore, but I knew this would be great for all of us to stretch out," Wolf says. And the title? "That's my name spelled backwards." As for the fourth tune of the band, "Setembro," written by Ivan Lins/Gilson Peranzzetta, Wolf invites singer Darryl Tookes to harmonize with smooth wordless vocals. "It goes back to my goal for this album: record melodies that people actually enjoy," says Wolf.

Wolf and Diehl have become good friends because of their deep appreciation for both jazz and classical music. "When I first composed the song 'Wolfgang,' I had a jazz band choir in mind as well as a whole other section that I cut out." In the tune, Diehl and Wolf marvelously converse on their instruments, in dialogues and in counterpoint. The other duo number comes at the end of the disc when the pair gleefully dives into "Le Carnaval de Venice," a waltz composed by Jean-Baptiste Arban. "I first heard this music in high school [Baltimore School of the Arts] where a trumpeter took the lead," Wolf says. "Fast-forward to seeing a clip on YouTube of Wynton [Marsalis] playing this with a symphony orchestra. I bought the recording and was blown away." The piece is delivered as a percussive waltz with Diehl and Wolf flowing together like gentle waves.

With the rhythm section of Green/McBride/Nash, Wolf launches into three tunes, including a bluesy and hip take on the traditional song, "Frankie and Johnny," which his father had turned him on to when he was a teenager. "I listened to a live version that Ray Brown did with Milt Jackson and Stanley Turrentine and others, and I loved the pulse of the bass," Wolf says. "You can hear Christian yelling in this take, which is a tribute to Ray Brown." The group also serves up "Annoyance," with McBride bowing in the opening and Wolf taking the lyrical duties ("If you hear something like a mistake in this, it's supposed to be there," says Wolf, who likes to hear dissonance within the beauty) and the blues-oriented "Things Were Done Yesterday," where Green flies on the keys. "I've always been a big-time fan of Benny," Wolf says. "To hear the way he plays through changes is amazing. He tears it up here."

A smart, fun, blues-to-swing-to-classical collection of indelible melodies, Wolfgang ups the ante in Wolf's young career. Even though he's still developing his voice and his vision (he says he has several new projects he's thinking of), he has been given high praise, including from Blue Note Records' Chairman Emeritus, Bruce Lundvall. When asked about whom Lundvall is impressed with on the scene today, the legendary label chief immediately responded: Warren Wolf. "Warren is very different," he said. "He has a sense of swing and a percussive style. He has great dynamics, excellent compositions and is very exciting." He called Wolf's deal with Mack Avenue to be a very important signing.

Upcoming Warren Wolf Appearances:
Warren Wolf's WOLFPACK
June 29 / Jazzway 6004 Anniversary Show / Baltimore, MD
August 29 / Fifth Third Bank, It's Commonly Jazz Series / Cincinnati, OH
September 2 / Detroit Jazz Festival (Album Release w/ Warren Wolf Quartet) / Detroit, MI
September 13 / The Acadiana Center / Lafayette, LA
September 19 - 22 / Jazz Standard / New York, NY
September 27 / Strathmore Music Center / Rockville, MD
November 2 / Miller Theater, Columbia University / New York, NY
November 9 - December 1 / Jazz at Lincoln Center - Doha / Doha, Qatar
March 5 / Berklee College of Music, Checkout Series / Boston, MA

Warren Wolf w/ Christian McBride + Inside Straight
June 20 / The International Festival of Arts & Ideas / New Haven, CT
June 21 / Rochester International Jazz Festival / Rochester, NY
December 26 - January 1 / Umbria Jazz Festival / Umbria, Italy

Warren Wolf w/ Aaron Diehl
August 25 / Charlie Parker Jazz Festival / New York, NY
September 3 / Detroit Jazz Festival / Detroit, MI
December 26 - January 1 / Umbria Jazz Festival / Umbria, Italy

Miscellaneous Warren Wolf Performances
June 22 / Isthmus Jazz Festival (w/ Carmen Lundy Group) / Madison, WI
August 2 / An Die Musik (w/ Kristin Callahan Group) / Baltimore, MD
September 1 / Detroit Jazz Festival (w/ Mack Avenue SuperBand) / Detroit, MI
September 28 / Berklee BeanTown Jazz Festival (w/ Mike Tucker Group) / Boston, MA
October 1 - 31 / SFJazz Collective Fall Tour - Various Venues / Various Cities

OLIVER JONES - JUST FOR MY LADY

On Just for My Lady, revered Canadian jazz pianist Oliver Jones joins forces with classical violinist Josée Aidans for a swinging encounter that recalls the great Oscar Peterson/Stephane Grappelli collaborations of the mid '70s. The album marks Jones' 23rd release on Justin Time Records. "I normally do 45 to 60 concerts a year, but this year won't be as many," he says. "I'm trying to slow down. Next year will be my 80th year, so it's been a long road, but I've enjoyed every minute of it. Actually, the last eight or nine years I've enjoyed it more than ever."


That joy is evident on this latest recording. While showcasing several Jones compositions, including the title track and his three-movement "The Saskatchewan Suite," the album also features an inspired cover of Michel Legrand's "The Windmills of my Mind" and a swinging take on the Gershwin number "Lady Be Good," a longstanding jazz jam vehicle that is also closely associated with the aforementioned jazz violin icon Grappelli. From poignant ballads and earthy blues numbers to irrepressible swingers, Just for My Lady touches all the bases while showcasing the remarkable talents of the 79-year-old pianist-composer and the in-demand violinist (a key player in the string sections for Celine Dion and Barbara Streisand). The two principal soloists are capably supported by the accomplished rhythm tandem of veteran bassist Eric Lagacé and rising star drummer Jim Doxas.

Opening with the Count Basie-styled "Josée's Blues," Jones and his crew set a sprightly, swinging tone for this engaging collection. "You Look Good To Me" (a tune originally recorded by the Oscar Peterson Trio on 1964's We Get Requests) opens with a reflective minuet played as a duet by pianist and violinist before segueing to a swinging quartet number that also features a potent bass solo by Lagacé. Jones' plaintive ballad "Lights of Burgundy" (named for the Montreal neighborhood where both he and his friend and colleague Oscar Peterson grew up) is underscored by Doxas' sensitive brushwork and features Aidans' 'singing' the melody on her instrument with great finesse and lyricism. Aidans also carries the melody on "The Angel and Mr. Jones," which was originally written by Jones for another violinist, Montreal's Angèle Dubeau.

The title track is a gentle ballad underscored by Doxas' brushwork while "In the Key of Geoff," written for fellow Canadian pianist Geoff Lapp, is a jaunty swinger that has Lagacé affecting a Ray Brown-styled walking bass line and Doxas dipping into a Papa Jo Jones bag on the hi hat. Lagacé's virtuosic bowing on the bass again comes to the fore on Jones' gorgeous waltz-time ballad "When Summer Comes" and also on an interpretation of Michel Legrand's "The Windmills of My Mind," which surprisingly shifts gears midsong into a midtempo swing section before returning to the poignant theme. The collection closes on a lively note with the quartet's swinging rendition of "Lady Be Good," which features the classical violinist in some of her most unbridled playing on the album. "Actually, Josée has never played any jazz before," says Jones. "She's coming from a strictly classical background, so I ended up writing out some things for her to play on her solos. She's able to interpret it exactly the way that I wanted it because she's such a fine musician and she has a very wonderful approach. So I wrote everything down for her and she just went through it like butter.

"So far she seems very enthusiastic about working with the trio," adds Jones. "I'm looking forward to the next year of working with her and experimenting on a few other things. I'm really going to see if I can get her to start improvising on her own."

The centerpiece of Just for My Lady is Jones' "The Saskatchewan Suite," which was commissioned in 2012 for the Saskatchewan Jazz Festival's 25th anniversary. While the original commission was for big band, Jones has adapted the three-movement suite here for quartet. The first movement, "Prince Albert Sunrise," is a reflective ballad that has the maestro painting beautiful tones and textures with cascading arpeggios while the classically-trained bassist Lagacé contributes some virtuosic arco work. Movement two, the boppish "Regina Sky," incorporates a motif from Charlie Parker's "Confirmation" while drummer Doxas is featured on some hip fills. Movement three, "Saskatoon Spirit," is a Latin-tinged number with a busy, intricate line doubled by piano and violin.

Jones mentions that in 2009 he recorded Pleased to Meet You with the late, great pianist Hank Jones, who was 91 at the time of that Justin Time session. "He was still full of as many ideas as any young player out there," says Jones. "He was truly an inspiration, and was one of my favorite musicians. I'm hoping I make it to age 91. My mother's cousin just died at 114 in Barbados and he was the second oldest man in the world. And my mother lived to 102. So, let's hope that I'll be a young 80 and be able to continue for another few years."

Given his genes, and the vitality that he demonstrates at the keyboard on Just For My Lady, Canada's national treasure may be around for many years to come. A late bloomer in the jazz world, Jones was already in his 50s when he made his first recording. Born on September 11, 1934 in Little Burgundy, Montreal, Quebec, Oliver Theophilus Jones began studying at age five with Madame Bonner in Little Burgundy's Union United Church, made famous by Trevor W. Payne's Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir. He later studied with Oscar Peterson's sister Daisy Peterson Sweeney. In addition to performing at Union United Church when he was a child, he later performed solo at the Cafe St. Michel as well as other clubs and theaters in the Montreal area. From 1964 to 1980, Jones served as musical director for the Jamaican calypso singer Kenny Hamilton, who made Puerto Rico his base of operations.

In 1980, Jones returned to Montreal and teamed up with bassist Charlie Biddle, working in clubs and hotel lounges around Montreal. From 1981 to 1986, they performed at Biddle's, the popular club owned by the Canadian jazz bassist. In 1983, Jones released his first Justin Time recording, Live at Biddle's, a trio recording with bassist Biddle and drummer Bernard Primeau. He followed up in 1984 with the solo piano album The Many Moods of Oliver Jones, which included liner notes by his mentor, Oscar Peterson. In 1986, Jones won a Juno Award (Canada's GRAMMY®) for Lights of Burgundy and in 1989 he won the Félix Award for his album Just Friends. He taught music at McGill University in Montreal in 1989 and the following year his tour of Nigeria was the subject of a 1990 National Film Board of Canada documentary, Oliver Jones in Africa. He has toured internationally since then and makes regular appearances at the Montreal Jazz Festival. In 2005, his album with vocalist Ranee Lee, Just You, Just Me, was released to critical and popular acclaim. His previous Justin Time studio recording was the acclaimed 2011 holiday album, A Celebration in Time, which paired the 77-year-old pianist with singer Ranee Lee, the Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir under the direction of Trevor W. Payne and the Daphnée Louis Singers from Haiti.

Upcoming Oliver Jones Appearances:
July 5-6 / FIJM Cinquieme Salle PDA / Montreal, Quebec
August 17 / Festival Saint-Zénon-De-Piopolis / Piopolis, Quebec
September 22 / The Segal Centre / Montreal, Quebec

THE JIMMY AMADIE TRIO - LIVE! AT THE PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART

On any given day, the Philadelphia Museum of Art can boast any number of masterpieces by the world's greatest artists, major works by Van Gogh, Renoir, Picasso, or Dalí. But on October 14, 2011, the iconic museum hosted the culmination of a life's work by one more master, if only for a few hours. On that evening, Philly piano great Jimmy Amadie took the stage for the first time since 1967, 43 years ago, finally showing an enraptured audience the results of decades of mental practice.


That landmark performance is captured on Live at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which liner-notes writer Neil Tesser calls Amadie's "last will and testament." If this album, where Amadie is joined by his long-time rhythm section of bassist Tony Marino and drummer Bill Goodwin, does mark the pianist's last recording, which is likely given his long-running struggles with tendonitis and cancer, it's a fitting monument to an unlikely career. "That was one of the happiest days of my life," Amadie says of the concert. "It was like a rebirth."

Those familiar with his story can tell you that if anyone knows rebirth, it's Jimmy Amadie. His inspiring story was recently told on screen in Matthew Marencik's 30-minute documentary Get Me a Fight, which premiered in 2012 at Villanova University in conjunction with the school's efforts to establish the "Jimmy Amadie Jazz Academy" based on his educational work.

In his early years, Amadie shared the stage with legends like bebop trumpet legend Red Rodney and saxophonist/bandleader Charlie Ventura, accompanied Mel Tormé for three years and was a member of Woody Herman's famous Herd. But he was forced off of the bandstand in 1967 by an extreme form of tendonitis in his hands that derailed his playing career for decades.

For thirty years he turned his attention to education, taking private students and writing two influential instructional books, Harmonic Foundation for Jazz and Popular Music and Jazz Improv: How To Play It and Teach It. But he never stopped "practicing," even if his fingers rarely touched a keyboard. "What you have to know is that I play piano in my head eight to ten hours a day," Amadie says. "The piano doesn't know it, but I'm playing."

This former boxer from North Philadelphia is a natural-born fighter, though, and after several surgeries and plenty of physical therapy he gradually built his strength to the point where he could get through an entire tune. Amadie made his recording debut shortly before his sixtieth birthday.

That first album, Always With Me, was recorded laboriously between 1994 and 1995, with Amadie taking sixteen weeks off between each piece. His first trio album was recorded the same way, with drummer Bill Goodwin and bassist Steve Gilmore painstakingly adding their parts to Amadie's prerecorded piano tracks. On each album since, however, Amadie has entered the studio and recorded the music live with his band-mates, taking months off afterwards for his hands to heal.

After completing his sixth album, The Philadelphia Story, which featured the all-star line-up of Benny Golson, Randy Brecker, and Lew Tabackin, Amadie felt he'd reached a career pinnacle. "After I did that album," he says, "I figured I can't play better than that. I said to God, 'I can die in peace.' Now I take it back."

The portent of those words came clear a few months later when, during a routine surgery, it was discovered that Amadie was afflicted with lung cancer. Now, after finally emerging victorious over one lifelong struggle, he was suddenly faced with another.

"I can't tell you how devastated I was," he says, "because after all these years to feel so good about playing, I just couldn't believe that I could wind up with something else. And I went crazy. I didn't know what to do."

What he did is what he's always done: fight against the pain. He released two more albums, culminating in the trio date Something Special, also recorded with Marino and Goodwin. With no special guests to offer relief from playing, Amadie further damaged his pain-wracked hands. He continues to suffer the after-effects of that decision, but insists that the end result is worth it.

He also continues his battle with cancer, which drove him to the decision to make his long-delayed return to live performance. "Cancer's a coward," Amadie has declared on more than one occasion. "He hits you below the belt, he hits you in the back. I'm gonna throw the punches as long as I'm here to throw the punches, but he's not making it easy. He sneaks up on you and he doesn't want to make you sick; cancer's not gonna stop until he kills you. With me, he's having problems."

His ailments took their toll on the night of the concert represented on this, Amadie's ninth album. The pain in his hands, still acute following the recording of the trio record, flared up in especially ugly fashion just before the performance. That was compounded by vision problems caused by medication for his lung cancer which forced Amadie to jettison the new music he'd spent six months writing but now couldn't read, and to substitute flash cards with basic instructions for two sets of standards.

Not that the audience that filled the museum's marble staircase minded. Amadie was welcomed back to the public eye with a rousing and emotional ovation. "I'm not showing off that I can play through pain," Amadie insists. "As far as I'm concerned, once I sit down to play, I'm going to play the best that I can. I'm out there to play because I believe I have something to say. This is what's keeping me alive. I have something better than the pain: passion. Pain can try to stop you but passion overcomes it."

Live at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Track Listing:
1. There Is No Greater Love (Isham Jones, Marty Symes)
2. On Green Dolphin Street (Bronisalu Kaper, Ned Washington)
3. Here's That Rainy Day (Jimmy VanHeusen, Johnny Burke)
4. Softly As The Morning Sunrise (Sigmund Romberg, Oscar Hammerstein II)
5. This Can't Be Love (Richard Rogers, Lorenz Hart)
6. Secret Love (Sammy Fain, Paul Francis Webster)
7. Summertime (George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward)
8. My Funny Valentine (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)
9. Just In Time (Jule Stein, Betty Comden, Adolph Green)
10. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You (George Baseman, Ned Washington)
11. All The Things You Are (Jerome Kern, Oscar Hammerstein II)
12. 52nd Street Theme (Thelonious Monk)

BRAINKILLER DELIVERS GENRE-DEFYING NEW ALBUM - COLOURLESS GREEN SUPERHEROES

On the creative instrumental music scene today there are a plethora of fresh-sounding new bands that artfully blend jazz, classical, rock, electronica and the avant garde. Add to that list the renegade trio Brainkiller, which has been flying under the radar with a potent sound that is steeped in structure while pushing the envelope on audaciousness. With Colourless Green Superheroes, the band that continues to defy easy categorization is back with more epic compositions bursting with energy and compelling grooves, intricate time-shifting passages and odd rhythms, raucous interludes, touches of humor and various ingenious applications of keys, bone and drums.


The brainchild of trombonist Brian Allen and keyboardist Jacob Koller, Brainkiller began 13 years ago as an experimental duo. The two composers and kindred spirits explored their indelible chemistry and complimentary compositional styles together for years before adding a third permanent member, drummer Hernan Hecht (of Mole) in 2007. The following year they recorded The Infiltration, which was released on RareNoise Records in 2010. Colourless Green Superheroes continues the saga of this potent and restless creative trio. And thereʼs something new this time out - the addition of seductive vocals by enigmatic Japanese chanteuse Coppé on one track, the atmospheric and mellow "Empty Words." Says trombonist-composer Allen, "We actually all wrote this tune together, which is something very different for us. Jacob and I have never really written songs together but when we thought about having Coppé sing on this album, the three of us sat down and wrote it together at the same time. We had never done that before."

"Empty Words" is just one of 13 dynamic and wholly distinctive tunes on Colourless Green Superheroes. From Kollerʼs epic "The Vindicator Returns," which reaches King Crimson-esque levels of bombast on the strength of the composerʼs distortion-laced Fender Rhodes work and Hechtʼs thunderous backbeats, to Allenʼs subdued and lyrical "Orange Grey Shade" or his mournful dirge "A Piedi Verso Il Sole," to Kollerʼs anthemic "Top of the World" and Allenʼs quirky-bluesy plunger showcase, "Noodlin," which shifts abruptly to an uptempo chops-busting groover, Brainkiller covers a remarkably wide stylistic gamut. Add in Kollerʼs engaging trance-groover "Plates," Allenʼs strident jam "Secret Mission," Kollerʼs kinetic "Okatu Goes to a Rave" and Allenʼs slow-grooving mysterioso closer "To Be Continued," and you have a universe of sound that Brainkiller explores on their sophomore outing.

"Thereʼs definitely a lot of influences that we have," says Allen, citing saxophonist Tim Berneʼs trio with keyboardist Craig Taborn and drummer Tom Rainey and Ellery Eskelinʼs trio with accordianist Andrea Parkins and drummer Jim Black as a significant ones. Koller cites Keith Jarrett, Paul Bley, Thelonious Monk, Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, Deerhoof, Radiohead, Phil Collins, Tim Berne, Death Cab for Cutie, Beach House and the Paul Motian Trio with Joe Lovano and Bill Frisell as some of his important influences.

"I would say that this album is pretty composed," adds Allen. "These songs are not really for open improvisation or that kind of thing. You might hear a trombone solo or a keyboard solo, but even then weʼre thinking, ʻHowʼs it going to function compositionally and how can it take us somewhere or whatʼs it going to add as opposed to having something to fill up the time or the space?ʼ Weʼve all done a lot of free improv on other projects, so we wanted this to be something different and special and unique, especially because Jacob and I write. We like to write and compose music, so it was fun for us to actually not have it be super-open or very improvisatory."

It was 13 years ago that Allen and Koller met on their respective ways to a band camp in Banff, Canada - Koller from Arizona and Allen from Texas. "Actually, we met in the airport," explains Allen. "Something happened in customs and we were detained. I remember getting off at the airport in Calgary and going to this little office, and there was Jacob sitting on the floor looking dejected. They werenʼt going to let us into the country to go to this camp because we did something wrong with our immigration forms. They were asking us to pay a lot of fines...it got pretty weird. After we straightened it out, we took the bus to Banff and started talking, and we hit it off. That night we went to a jam session and the first thing we played was a standard, and we kind of looked at each other and went, ʻHey! I wanna play with YOU! Weʼve got something here.ʼ So it was a completely kind of a random, completely lucky thing that we met."

13 years later, that rare connection continues. "We have something that I just havenʼt felt with too many other musicians," says Allen. "Itʼs just always a blast playing with Jacob. Heʼs such a good musician and he hears wonderfully...the colors and the way he can accompany. And his compositions are great...just so much fun to play."

Says Koller of his Brainkiller partner, "Brian thinks more conceptually about writing where I tend to focus on finding a specific melody or harmony that evokes a unique character. I really think our two different approaches to writing and playing music compliment each other. From the very first time we first started making music together I think it was apparent that there was a lot of raw musical chemistry between us. I think that chemistry has strengthened over the years, as has our concept about making music. I play with a lot of different people but playing music with Brian is like riding a bicycle. It is always super easy. It just happens."

Both Allen and Koller have high praise for the third member of Brainkiller, whom they say helps shape the music in profound ways. "Hernan is definitely an amazing drummer," says Koller, "but the reason why we works so well with Brainkiller is because he is a great producer who can see the entire aspect of the music. He is able to see and hear things more like a producer would rather than a composer or a player. This input from Hernan has a big influence on the outcome of the sound of Brainkiller." Adds Allen, "Weʼre always trying to figure out how we can make the most of what we have with just these three voices. So we think a lot about the orchestration of it and Hernan is really great with those details. Heʼs really amazing in the studio...just all these little fine-tuning things that he does. He has ways to define the sections and the moods so that everything has a different character, like itʼs really saturated character with as much detail as we can give it."

For his part, Hecht says he felt an immediate chemistry with Allen and Koller when he joined the band in 2007. "From the band's inception, we knew we had a unique and committed sound, but we have grown at a musical and conceptual level. Our statement became clearer, and with that came the personas and more refined possibility. Being on tour and spending as much time as we have together, we discovered we shared a pretty deep sense of humor, not realizing it was pushing the music to evolve. When we became aware of it, we decided to embrace it as part of the project. Thatʼs when we developed the new characters, a direction that not only involved a unique music but a concept from start to finish, where humor, the intricate costumes and music were one."

Hecht adds, "Brian and Jacob are special beings, with very special personalities and a way of life quite different from the average person. Of course, this is reflected in their approach when composing. They are highly intelligent creatures, very aware of the styles and the sounds coming from contemporary musics, with very deep knowledge of the mathematics of music, playing with all these elements simultaneously. I'm a big fan of them."

That kind of camaraderie is apparent from track to track on Colourless Green Superheroes, Brainkillerʼs audacious second release on RareNoise Records.

JONATHAN MORITZ TRIO - SECRET TEMPO

Hot Cup Records has announced the release of the debut album by Jonathan Moritz' Secret Tempo. This trio recording featuring the leader and composer on tenor and soprano saxophones, Shayna Dulberger on acoustic bass and Mike Pride on drums showcases this long-standing New York experimental jazz trio. Consisting of a suite of pieces composed to explore space, counterpoint, and interaction, Secret Tempo introduces audiences to a compelling New York ensemble.

The penchant for performing in the context of a pianoless trio has long been common among more open-minded and forward thinking tenor saxophonists. From Sonny Rollins to Hot Cup's own Jon Irabagon, this instrumentation has proved to be a versatile and inspiring vehicle for musicians who desire to explore the space it allows each individual musician. Moritz cites Sonny Rollins and Branford Marsalis' Trio Jeepy as influential predecessors, but his compositions are an attempt to bring in the vocabulary of so-called "new music" composition: microtonality, serialism, minimalism, and the post-Cage aesthetic.

As Moritz intimates in his liner notes, the idea behind the music of "Secret Tempo" is to explore the sounds and interactions that are created when a group of improvising musicians manipulate musical time. Rather than create music based on steady pulses and consistent densities, Moritz compositions expand and contract as each member of the trio enters and exits the piece from moment to moment. Much jazz criticism of the last half century has emphasized the importance of space in jazz, and as fans of Miles Davis will attest, the absence of sound can be a powerful musical statement. The fluctuating compositions and improvisations of "Secret Tempo" expose the fertile ground available to musicians if they allow for a wider range of possibilities when silence is considered.

Increasing the appeal of such a varied musical collection as the pieces on "Secret Tempo" is the sound quality of each member's contributions. Moritz' tone is lush and robust and owes a great debt to the big sound tenor men that he cites as influences: Ben Webster, Gene Ammons and Coleman Hawkins. The work of latter day proponents of improvised music on the big horn such as Ellery Eskelin, Tony Malaby, Mark Turner, and John Butcher can also be discerned in his blistering runs, facile use of the altissimo register and tendency to cover the instrument's entire range in a single phrase.

Shayna Dulberger proves to be the perfect foil for a saxophonist as multifaceted as Moritz. Utilizing the full range of articulations and pitches of the double-bass, Dulberger is equally comfortable sparring with Moritz on TK, laying down bedrock-solid ostinatos (7779) and offsetting Moritz' flurries with measured use of the instrument's low register. The contrast between pizzacato and arco playing as well as a wide dynamic range are meticulously recorded and showcase both Dulberger's virtuosity and restraint.

Mike Pride's drums offer such a wide range of sounds that the inclusion of other pitched and non-pitched percussion instruments to his arsenal seems almost superfluous. From the earthy lows of his bass drum to the expert manipulation of cymbals and their overtones, Pride's orchestral palate contributes a third melodic voice to each composition. His inclusion of glockenspiel and other semi-pitched metal instruments is cogent and expressive, often evoking the sound of "new music" ensembles such as 8th Blackbird and the Bang on a Can All-Stars.

Saxophonist, composer and educator Jonathan Moritz was born in Teheran, Iran in 1977. He moved at an early age to Southern California where he grew up surrounded by his Persian family and at 17 departed for Europe to study jazz saxophone at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels.

Moritz returned to the US to complete a BFA at California Institute of the Arts ('98-2000) and release his first trio album, Xanadu. In 2006, Moritz settled in Brooklyn becoming a frequent collaborator with like-minded improvising musicians such as Eugene Chadbourne, Micael Formanek, Mat Maneri, Nate Wooley, and many others. As a teacher, Moritz has led master classes at the University of Michigan and ISIM conference in addition to teaching instrumental music at the Morris H. Weiss School in Gravesend, Brooklyn. When he is not playing or teaching, he can be found surfing or running around with his son. Together with his French wife Elodie, he also curates the Prospect Series, an intimate and welcoming house concert series featuring innovative improvisers and Persian stew.

Shayna Dulberger is an upright bassist living and working in New York City. Dulberger has performed throughout the U.S., Canada, Israel, and Europe, and in many festivals and series such as XFest, Rhythm in the Kitchen, KMB Jazz Festival, CMJ, "Brooklyn Next" BAM Festival, the Vision Festival, ABC No Rio's C.O.M.A., and Neues Kabarett's events at the Brecht Forum.recorded. She has also performed with artists such as: Ras Moshe, William Parker, Bill Cole, Stars Like Fleas, and Walter Wright. Born in 1983 and raised in Mahopac, NY, Dulberger attended Manhattan School of Music's preparatory division during high school and graduated with a BM in Jazz at the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University.

Based in New York for the past decade, drummer Mike Pride currently leads the quartet, From Bacteria To Boys, who record for AUM Fidelity Records. He has worked with everyone from improvised music icon Anthony Braxton to punk legends Millions Of Dead Cops, toured extensively on four continents and appeared on more than 75 recordings. A short list of his collaborators includes Boredoms, Califone, Eugene Chadbourne, Chinese pop-star Priscilla Chan, Nels Cline, Trevor Dunn, Milford Graves, Mary Halvorson, Curtis Hasselbring, Jon Irabagon, Haino Keiji's Fushitsusha, George Lewis, Bill McHenry, Tony Malaby, Ikue Mori, Butch Morris, Joe Morris, Marc Ribot, Matana Roberts, Jamie Saft, Chris Speed, Jason Stein, Otomo Yoshihide and John Zorn. Pride is also a busy educator and clinician, a soundtrack composer for TV, video games and independent films, and an experienced painter, cartoonist and photographer.

www.jonathanmoritz.com/

LEGENDARY BLUESMAN BUDDY GUY TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM RHYTHM & BLUES ON JULY 30TH

Six-time Grammy Award winner and 2012 Kennedy Center Honoree Buddy Guy will release his new studio album Rhythm & Blues on July 30th on RCA Records. The follow-up to his 2010 Grammy Award winning album Living Proof, this double-disc masterpiece features first time studio collaborations with A-list artists Kid Rock, Keith Urban, Gary Clark, Jr., Beth Hart and Aerosmith members Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and Brad Whitford. Rhythm & Blues will be available for pre-order at all online retailers on June 25th.

Produced by Grammy Award winning producer/songwriter and longtime collaborator Tom Hambridge (Skin Deep, Living Proof), Rhythm & Blues captures the 76 year-young Guy at the peak of his creativity. Replete with heartfelt vocals, straightforward lyrics and mesmerizing guitar licks, Rhythm & Blues not only exemplifies how blues continues to be the foundation of all genres of today’s music, it also illustrates why Guy has been influential in the careers of Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughan and more.

The Rhythm disc includes rhythm and blues-style blues with deep grooves, such as the Junior Wells’ 1960 hit “Messin With The Kid” featuring Kid Rock, the touching “One Day Away” with Keith Urban, and “What You’re Gonna Do About Me,” a rousing duet with Beth Hart. Guy rounds out the disc with “Best In Town,” “Whiskey Ghost,” Guitar Slim’s “Well I Done Got Over It” and more.

The Blues disc taps into the genre’s rich history with “Meet Me In Chicago,” “I Could Die Happy,” “Never Gonna Change” and “All That Makes Me Happy Is The Blues.” Aerosmith’s Tyler, Perry and Whitford contribute to the musical lesson with “Evil Twin” while Gary Clark, Jr. joins Guy on “Blues Don’t Care.”

In a career that spans nearly 50 years with over 50 albums released, the incomparable Buddy Guy recently added the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors and NARM Chairman’s Award for Sustained Creative Achievement to his long list of achievements. Guy is the recipient of 30 awards and accolades, including 6 Grammy Awards, 28 Blues Music Awards (formerly W. C. Handy Awards), Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, the first annual Great Performer of Illinois Award, a Billboard Music Awards’ Century Award for distinguished artistic achievement, the Presidential National Medal of Arts, in addition to being listed as one of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time by Rolling Stone.

Rhythm & Blues track listing:
RHYTHM – Disc 1
01 Best in Town
02 Justifyin’
03 I Go By Feel
04 Messin’ With The Kid featuring Kid Rock
05 What’s Up With That Woman
06 One Day Away featuring Keith Urban
07 Well I Done Got Over It
08 What You Gonna Do About Me featuring Beth Hart
09 The Devil’s Daughter
10 Whiskey Ghost
11 Rhythm – Inner Groove

BLUES – Disc 2
01 Meet Me In Chicago
02 Too Damn Bad
03 Evil Twin featuring Steven Tyler, Joe Perry & Brad Whitford
04 I Could Die Happy
05 Never Gonna Change
06 All That Makes Me Happy Is The Blues
07 My Mama Loved Me
08 Blues Don’t Care featuring Gary Clark, Jr.
09 I Came Up Hard
10 Poison Ivy

THE NEW GARY BURTON QUARTET - GUIDED TOUR

A popular phrase in years past was "Life Begins at 60," but Gary Burton - as he has done so often throughout his career - is re-writing the book on retirement. Having turned 70 in January, an age when most artists begin to solely look back, Burton forges ahead with his new Mack Avenue Records album, Guided Tour (available August 20, 2013), which solidifies the reputation of his next great band, The New Gary Burton Quartet. In addition, Burton has literally written the book on his life, saving those backward glances for his upcoming autobiography, LEARNING TO LISTEN: The Jazz Journey of Gary Burton (available September 3, 2013 on Berklee press).

Burton's stature as the former Executive Vice President at the famed Berklee College of Music caps a three-decade life in jazz education, which coincided with his already busy career as a performer and recording artist. Known for reintroducing and expanding the technique of four-mallet playing while crafting one of the jazz world's signature sounds, he is also celebrating the 40th anniversary of his ongoing collaboration with pianist Chick Corea (winning yet another GRAMMY® Award in 2013 - his seventh overall - for their most recent project, Hot House). And having established the first online courses for Berklee, Burton has recently expanded his web presence to create a course in improvisation for Coursera (the massive online education platform), which, as of two months before its launch, had already enrolled 25,000 students.
On Guided Tour, jazz's most innovative and accomplished vibraphonist proves that The New Gary Burton Quartet - which he premiered last summer on his Mack Avenue debut, Common Ground - was no one-trick pony. Featuring the prodigal guitar genius Julian Lage as well as two renowned veterans, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Antonio Sanchez, Guided Tour provides a road map to one of the most dynamic bands on the scene today.
Apart from their own playing, many of jazz's greatest figures - Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Miles Davis - are also known for the handful of indisputably great bands they led throughout their careers. Like them, Burton has assembled a few such Olympian groups of his own: his first quartet, which pioneered the fusion of jazz and rock in 1967; his quintet with Pat Metheny in the 1970s; and now this band, which achieves a rare synergy.
"It's the difference between playing with some excellent musicians, and finding a group chemistry that goes beyond that - a coming together of 'sympatico' creative minds," says Burton. "In my five decades of playing in various bands, mostly my own groups, I have only experienced this a handful of times; if even one player is not an equal part of the combination, it doesn't achieve that magical state. But from the first recording of this band, everything just clicked perfectly."

If that's how this band started out, you can imagine how they sound now, with a year's growth and a world tour on their resume. "I'm happy to report that our second album is every bit as strong a statement of group identity as before," Burton affirms. "If anything, we have evolved as an ensemble - which is the dream of every band leader."

Burton sought out original material from all the group's members on Guided Tour (as he did with Common Ground), illuminating their wide range of cross-cultural musical styles. "They outdid themselves this time," he says. "And, of course, the superb musicianship, but with players like these, that's a given." Add in a tour guide like Burton, and the path is clear, on an album likely to rank among the year's best.

As he recounts in the upcoming autobiography, LEARNING TO LISTEN, Burton was already a steadily working musician in rural Indiana in his high school years, before heading for Nashville, recording the very first jazz-and-country album (with guitarist Hank Garland), and scoring a major-label record contract-all before entering the Berklee College of Music at the age of 17, in 1960. LEARNING TO LISTEN provides great insight into his music-making process. He tells stories about living in Nashville and working alongside Chet Atkins and guitarist Hank Garland; of seeing Jimi Hendrix's first New York City performance; collaborating with Eric Clapton and members of the Eagles; touring and recording extensively with the iconic Tango musician Astor Piazzola and his ensemble; and even garnering a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Classical Album with his recording Virtuosi. Burton also writes in great detail about how he learned and then refined his skill with improvisation, and how he creates music in the moment.

He also is one of the few openly gay men in jazz, a genre of music that has long been identified with a particularly masculine reputation. He first revealed this on the NPR show "Fresh Air," after decades of keeping the secret not only from those around him but also from himself.

LEARNING TO LISTEN is at its heart the very human story of Burton coming to terms with who he is as a person, struggling to find a balance between his personal, creative and professional lives, and living his life honestly and without regret.

"Life is a process of getting to know oneself, and this is especially true for artists, who struggle to find answers to so many questions," Burton writes in his memoir. "In the case of musicians, we want to turn those answers into song through our creative processes. And that requires learning who you are and discovering how to have a kind of dialogue with the unconscious self.... Looking back, it's hard to believe this gay, white, Hoosier farm kid managed to find his way in the macho, cosmopolitan world of Jazz."

At 70, having already led one of the most remarkable careers in music history, Gary Burton seems to be just warming up, with a landmark year in 2013.

The New Gary Burton Quartet - 70th Birthday Tour:
Sept 12-13 / Blues Alley / Washington, D.C.
Sept 14 / Lake George Jazz Weekend - Shepard Park / Lake George, NY
Sept 5 / Plymouth State University - Silver Center For The Arts / Plymouth, NH
Sept 17 - 22 / The Blue Note / New York, NY
Sept 24 / The College of Saint Rose - Massry Center for the Arts / Albany, NY
Sept 26 / Univ. of Connecticut - Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts / Storrs, CT
Sept 27-28 / Scullers Jazz Club / Boston, MA
Sept 29 / University of Rhode Island / Kingston, RI
Oct 2-3 / Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant / Minneapolis, MN
Oct 4 / SPACE - Society for the Preservation of Art & Culture Evanston / Evanston, IL
Oct 5 / Manchester Craftsmen's Guild / Pittsburgh, PA
Oct 6 / Univ. of Pennsylvania - Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts / Philadelphia, PA
Nov 12 / Berklee Performance Center / Boston, MA

CHICK COREA'S NEWEST RELEASES - THE VIGIL - SET FOR RELEASE AUGUST 6, 2013

For the past half-century, on a jazz landscape that has seen its share of twists and turns, Chick Corea has always kept the faith – not just for himself, but for his peers and for the subsequent generations of musicians (and fans) whom he has inspired along the way. For the 20-time GRAMMY® Award-winning keyboardist and composer, jazz has always been about honoring and preserving the creative process and the creative spirit – the undying spark that reaches back to the very beginnings of civilization.

“Since the prehistoric days,” Corea explains, “there has always existed a basic impulse in all people to entertain others: sing, dance, drum, play, tell a story, draw a picture – for one other person or for thousands, and with today’s communication technology, for millions. To keep a persistent and steady vigil on this primal urge, and to keep the quality of this musical communication pure, alive and at the highest quality is the meaning and the message of the band that I have assembled. It is the vigil we try to keep and continually improve on.”

The band is called, appropriately enough, The Vigil. It’s an ever-evolving collective whose recording roster included saxophonist/clarinetist/flutist Tim Garland, guitarist Charles Altura, bassist Hadrien Feraud, drummer Marcus Gilmore, percussionist Pernell Saturnino and Corea’s soulmate and wife, vocalist Gayle Moran Corea. The band’s self-titled debut recording, The Vigil (CJA-34578-02), is set for release August 6, 2013 on Concord Jazz. In addition to the aforementioned lineup, The Vigil also includes guest appearances by bassist Stanley Clarke and saxophonist Ravi Coltrane on a tribute to Ravi’s father John Coltrane, “Pledge for Peace.”

The team plunges into uncharted waters with no hesitation. The opening track, “Galaxy 32 Star 4,” establishes the otherworldly but upbeat tone that marks the entire seven-song set. It’s a heavily syncopated and atmospheric composition, thanks to the intriguing solo work from all corners – most notably Corea’s synthesizer, Altura’s exploratory electric guitar, and the seamless churning of Gilmore and Saturnino on drums and percussion, respectively.

“The idea of life outside of Earth has always inspired me to envision a new and better existence,” Corea says. “I consider what we have here and now on this planet as something less than the pinnacle of existence. I like to imagine what could be created in an ideal culture in a new world where the creative imagination is considered the most valuable possession one could have.”

“Planet Chia” starts slowly, and in a contemplative groove, but the energy level escalates after only a few bars with the help of some high-speed interplay between Corea (on piano this time), Feraud on bass and Garland on tenor sax. Once again, the team of Gilmore and Saturnino is the rock-solid anchor that helps to hold the arrangement together.

“Portals to Forever” gets under way with a metronomic groove, but things loosen up quickly – enough for Corea’s synthesizer to lead his fellow travelers on a journey where time is stretched and sound is a richly layered and fascinating reality.

Included in the second half of the set are tributes to two of Corea’s primary mentors. Gentle and melodic at first, then later daring and ambitious, “Royalty” is a nod to drummer and bandleader Roy Haynes, whom Corea refers to as the “hero, mentor and friend” he first met in 1967 when he joined the Stan Getz quartet. “Our friendship comes full circle,” he says, “as the drummer in this new band is Roy’s grandson, whom I met when he was only 12 years old and playing great even then.”

Similarly, “Pledge for Peace” is a cascading but insistent prayer inspired by the music of John Coltrane. The track features a guest appearance by bassist Stanley Clarke, another longtime member of Corea’s inner circle of musical friends and collaborators. “‘Pledge for Peace’ brings another relationship full circle,” says Corea. “Shortly after Stanley and I first met many years ago, we spent an evening listening to Trane’s Crescent and A Love Supreme. This moment of sharing ideas and interests became a touchstone of our friendship and our long musical relationship. I’m so glad Stanley could be a part of this new outing of my first band.” The track also includes the transcendent tenor saxophone of Ravi Coltrane in a paean to his father.

The closing track, “Legacy,” is an ambitious mood piece that leans heavily on percussion and uses melody and harmony sparingly – more as accents than as central components to the composition. The result is something that sounds very spontaneous and organic, all of which is fitting for a piece that Corea dedicates “to the creators of our music culture who have kept the vigil.”

“I get the greatest pleasure out of seeing people happy and enjoying life,” says Corea. “When all are smiling at the end of a performance – musicians, audiences, crew, organizers and all – I then feel like I’ve done my job well, and I’m inspired to create more music and communicate even more broadly. This is my greatest pay for all the effort at work. This is what makes being a musician such a joy. This is what inspires me to maintain the vigil.”

NEW RELEASES - WAYNE LOVEGROVE, RICARDO GALLO CUARTETO, PETER VLIETSTRA

WAYNE LOVEGROVE - SOLO GUITAR

Wayne Lovegrove composes and performs musical imagery for contemporary solo fingerstyle acoustic guitar. Multiple tunings, extended techniques, harmonic richness, fluid compositional style, and technical skill, combine to bring out the natural expressive resonance of the steel string acoustic guitar. From flowing, deep, liquid echoes to passages of precise blistering speed, this is instrumental music that leaves the listener open to form their own images to these varied textures and sounds. Wayne's playing incorporates an array of extended techniques including: alternate tunings; two handed fretboard work; guitar body percussion; and compositional freedom; in addition to a broad array of conventional fingerstyle techniques. "...master guitarist Wayne Lovegrove is on the cutting edge..." //  "Doesn't that sound like about three guitars? No! It's one guy! One guitar!" // His fingers fly so quickly across the fingerboard, rhythmic patterns building and dancing, the energy soaring beyond his instrument and out into the room." ~ cduniverse.com

RICARDO GALLO CUARTETO - TRIBAL DEL ALFALTO

Tribu del Asfalto, the fourth release of this working band since 2005 features their live work while presenting new material that focuses on collective interaction and inter-webbed percussive textures. The music tries to seek a more tribal sound at the same time that it embraces complex rhythmic structures, while the improvisations are almost always collective letting individuals come out as part of the topography of the music. This is contrasted in the four solo tracks (named after each player) where each member is featured at the beginning or ending of a piece. ~ cduniverse.com

PETER VLIETSTRA - KEEP IN TOUCH

My music is usually labelled as 'dancefloor jazz', sometimes as 'boogaloo' or 'loungefusion'. It is a mix of jazz, blues, soul, funk and latin. It's real 21th century music with a flavour of the 70ties and 80ties of the last century. All vocals and keyboards are performed by myself and some friends. All other instruments are played by extremely competent musicians, most of them being personal friends. ~ cduniverse.com

NEW RELEASES - CAL HARRIS JR., DAVID MURRAY, ORRIN EVANS

CAL HARRIS JR. - SHELTER ISLAND

'Shelter Island' is the latest project from contemporary jazz keyboardist Cal Harris Jr. It features 10 original songs that are excellent examples of what is rapidly becoming the style of his style - haunting, melodic and enchanting tunes rounded out by impeccable arrangements, production, and stellar performances by world-class musicians. On his latest CD, Harris takes the listener on a musical journey to 'Shelter Island' a place where a range of emotions is explored from the excitement of the title track, to the carefree vibe of 'By the Bay' - a warmly romantic groove that features excellent solos by guitarist Joel Del Rosario, and saxophonist Keith Mckelley to beautifully accentuate the breathtaking keys of Harris. His 'Sunset Chasers' is a heart wrenching melody interpreted beautifully by saxophonist Marion Meadows. Lest you think Harris can't put a little funky, sexy R&B on it.... there's 'Smooth'. The Billboard top 10 smash featuring Elan Trotman. Get ready for the hip swaying and finger popping with this one! Harris is a master of his craft he writes, arranges, produces and performs with a beauty further defined by the excellence in which he does them all. His is a true talent and a breath of fresh air. Harris brings the depth of emotion back to smooth jazz and makes you realize how much you missed it. Shelter Island is a CD that will stay on repeat in the player, inviting you to discover something new every time you hear it.  ~amazon.com

DAVID MURRAY - BE MY MONSTER LOVE

An exciting, R&B-infused jazz album from Grammy®-winner David Murray, featuring standout vocals from platinum-selling Grammy® winner Macy Gray and two-time Grammy® nominee Gregory Porter. With power-packed vocals from Macy Gray and Gregory Porter, this is hands down David Murray s most soulfully creative and popularly accessible recording to date. Grammy®-winning, multi-platinum-selling Macy Gray s sultry delivery of the title track, Be My Monster Love, has crossover appeal into R&B territory. Videos for this sexy song (which capitalizes on the perennially popular vampire theme) have potential for viral marketing. The inclusion of three crossover radio-friendly songs by rising vocal star Gregory Porter (Grammy®-nominee for Motéma albums Be Good and Water) adds mightily to this album s potential at radio and retail. ~ amazon.com

ORRIN EVANS - IT WAS BEAUTY

With It Was Beauty, pianist Orrin Evans presents his seventh Criss Cross leader date, returning to the label for the first time since 2005. The title tells the story: on a reflective, immensely satisfying ten-piece program comprising mainly originals, the 36-year-old Evans - joined by bass titan Eric Revis and master drummer Donald Edwards, both partners of long standing - plays with old soul focus, presenting a deeply personal vision that privileges notions of dynamic contrast, immediately identifiable tonal identity, meaty harmonies, tension and release, and three-way conversation. ~ amazon.com

NEW RELEASES - EARL KLUGH, COMANDA BARABBA, MAYSA

EARL KLUGH - HAND PICKED

In a recording career of over three decades, master guitarist Earl Klugh has been lauded as a prodigy and a groundbreaker of contemporary jazz. Klugh's highly-anticipated Concord debut, HandPicked, is a self-produced solo album with guest guitarists Bill Frisell, Vince Gill, Jake Shimabukuro and others. The 16 tracks are as follows: Alfie, Lullaby Of Birdland, Blue Moon, In Six, Cast Your Fate To The Wind, Hotel California, More And More Amor, 'Round Midnight, But Beautiful, All I Have To Do Is Dream, Going Out Of My Head, If I Fell, Where The Wind Takes Me, Morning Rain, Love Is A Many Splendored Thing, and This Time. The CD is set for release in July 2013.

COMANDA BARABBA - JAZZ RESISTANT

With the release of Jazz Resistant, the band Comanda Barabba's second album, Rudi Records once again dives deep into the heart of Italian underground jazz. Comanda Barabba has been active for over a decade, drawing inspiration and strength from the collective work of its five musicians: Tim Trevor-Briscoe and Christian Ferlaino (saxophones and clarinets), Nicola Guazzaloca (piano), Luca Bernard (double bass) and Gaetano Alfonsi (drums). The ensemble bears testimony to the rich creative jazz scene of Bologna, where new and vibrant solutions continue to be forged. The jazz of Comanda Barabba is open, incisive and unashamedly omnivorous. The compositions by each member of the band branch out naturally from strong roots in collective improvisation. A music which proudly resists mainstream clichès and which vibrates freely between the traditional and the avantguarde. ~ rudirecords.com

MAYSA - BLUE VELVET SOUL

Maysa holds unique status in the world of R&B/Jazz. Her incomparably lush, sensuous vocals have garnered her legions of loyal, loving fans. As featured vocalist of the UK super group Incognito, core member of Stevie Wonder's Wonderlove and, of course, through her own albums and concerts, Maysa has been thrilling R&B and Jazz audiences for decades. Blue Velvet Soul is far and away the most sensuous and heartfelt recording of her brilliant career. Maysa thrills us with a stirring rendition of the Mariah Carey classic "I Still Believe" and her version of "Quiet Fire" a loving tribute to her mentor and role model Nancy Wilson that will leave you breathless! A special highlight is the guest vocal appearance and soulful production by Jean Paul "Bluey" Bluey Maunick , the creator of Incognito, who contribute 3 originals to this. R&B super producer Mike City (Rihanna, Jamie Foxx, Ledisi) contributes several brilliant originals to the mix, and Chris "Big Dog" Davis (Kim Burrell, Will Downing, George Clinton), Maysa's longtime collaborator and inspiration, round out the inspired supporting cast! ~ amazon.com

BLUE NOTE ANNOUNCES GREGORY PORTER'S LIQUID SPIRIT, SET FOR RELEASE SEPTEMBER 17

Blue Note Records has announced a September 17 release date for Liquid Spirit, the remarkable major label debut from GRAMMY-nominated jazz and soul singer Gregory Porter. The 14-track album is further justification for Porter’s quick ascent into the top ranks of jazz and R&B singers today, and it also features 10 new originals which showcase Porter’s innate gift for writing poignant songs based upon personal experiences with a relatable and emotional immediacy. Also included is a stirring rendition of the jazz standard “I Fall In Love Too Easily,” as well as covers of Abbey Lincoln’s “Lonesome Lover” and Ramsey Lewis’ hit “The ‘In’ Crowd.”

“I firmly consider myself a jazz singer but I enjoy blues, southern soul, and gospel,” says Porter. “Those elements make their way inside my music. And I’ve always heard them in jazz.” Indeed, Porter wields one of the most captivating baritone voices in music today. It emits enormous soul that conveys both the emotions and intellect of any given song without relying on vocal histrionics.

On Liquid Spirit, Porter retains the same core musicians that accompanied him on his previous two albums – pianist and music director, Chip Crawford, drummer Emanuel Harrold, bassist Aaron James, alto saxophonist Yosuke Sato, and tenor saxophonist Tivon Pennicott. On a few selections, Porter complements that ensemble with trumpeter Curtis Taylor, and organist Glenn Patscha. Producer Brian Bacchus also returns, as well as arranger and associate producer Kamau Kenyatta.

Porter sees Liquid Spirit as a logical progression in his burgeoning discography as it touches on some of the same themes, particularly the highs and lows of romance, his childhood, and socio-political observations. More pointedly, he views the title-track, a rousing, hand-clapping gospel-jazz romp, dealing with replenishing “thirsty” listeners with more substantial music, as the flipside to last year’s “Bling Bling,” a blistering song on his previous album Be Good on which the protagonist had so many artistic gifts to give but no one to give them to. Similar sentiments occur on “Musical Genocide,” on which Crawford hammers a dark rhythmic figure against James’ bluesy bass accompaniment as Porter declares his refusal of accepting the insistent squashing of quality, diverse music and culture by a mainstream in favor of disposable, homogenized pap.

In part, these songs are based upon Porter’s reflections on new fans, worldwide, who come to him saying, “Where have you been?” or “How come I’ve never heard you before.” “Not saying that I am ‘what is,’ Porter says, “But I think maybe what I’m doing is what people actually want to hear. There are some people who want that liquid spirit – a soulful, thoughtful sound – and they haven’t been getting it.”

The track listing for Liquid Spirit is as follows:
1. No Love Dying (Gregory Porter)
2. Liquid Spirit (Porter)
3. Lonesome Lover (Abbey Lincoln/Max Roach)
4. Water Under Bridges (Porter)
5. Hey Laura (Porter)
6. Musical Genocide (Porter)
7. Wolfcry (Porter)
8. Free (Gregory Porter/Zak Najor)
9. Brown Grass (Porter)
10. Wind Song (Porter)
11. The “In” Crowd (Ramsey Lewis/Billy Page)
12. Movin’ (Porter)
13. When Love Was King (Porter)
14. I Fall In Love Too Easily (Sammy Cahn/Jule Styne)