NEW RELEASES: OOH I LOVE IT - THE SOULFUL SOUNDS OF SALSOUL; YOU ARE THE STAR – THE SOULFUL SOUNDS OF WEST END; ALEX PUDDU – SOULTIGER

OOH I LOVE IT - THE SOULFUL SOUNDS OF SALSOUL (VARIOUS ARTISTS)

A great focus on the most soulful sounds of the Salsoul Records label – the great work by vocalists who often made the company's work even more powerful than its grooves – even though Salsoul was a real powerhouse during the disco generation! Yet, like Philly International and a few other key east coast companies, they really knew how to bring forward older styles of soul singing to the new generation – and although their rhythms and instrumentation were always impeccable, Salsoul's music also drew a lot from their singers as well. The 2CD set is overflowing with gems – and titles include "My Way" by Loleatta Holloway, "Tired Of Being Your Fool" by Love Committee, "Time Will Tell" by Eddie Holman, "Janice (Bobby DJ Guttadaro 12" mix)" by Skip Mahoney, "I Can't Turn You Loose (Walter Gibbons 12" mix)" by Anthony White, "I Just Can't Give You Up" by Floyd Smith, "Chained To Your Love" by Moment Of Truth, "Into The Milky Way (Bobby DJ Guttadaro 12" mix)" by Jimmy Briscoe & The Beavers, "As Long As You Love Me (Walter Gibbons 12" mix)" by True Example, and "When Your X Wants You Back" by Surface. ~ Dusty Groove

YOU ARE THE STAR – THE SOULFUL SOUNDS OF WEST END (VARIOUS ARTISTS)

A double-length collection of gems from the legendary West End label – and a package, as you might guess from the title, that focuses on some of the more soulful sounds of the New York disco imprint! West End was home to some key artists in the underground at the time – the kinds of singers and musicians who were never going to go for the direction of mainstream disco, and instead stayed in the hippest territory of the clubs and the streets – effortlessly mixing in bits of funk, club, electro, and deeper soul styles of the time. This 21 track package has almost all those great bits firmly in place – and includes a number of West End cuts we haven't seen on other reissues – titles that include "Don't I Ever Cross Your Mind Sometime" by Barbara Mason, "Make It Feel Like" by LJ Waters, "Kind Of Life" by North End, "Rescue Me" by Sybil, "Hard Times" by Al McCall, "You Are The Star" by Jakki, "Mary Hartman Mary Hartman" by Sounds Of Inner City, "Can't You Feel It" by Michele, "People Come Dance (Tom Savarese 12" mix)" by Ednah Holt & Starluv, "Spirit Of Sunshine" by Chuck Davis Orchestra, "I Was Born This Way (Tom Moulton mix)" by Carl Bean, "Doin The Best That I Can (Water Gibbons 12" special new mix)" by Bettye Lavette, "We Can Work It Out" by Taana Gardner, "Give Your Body Up To The Music (Larry Levan 12" mix)" by Billy Nichols, "I Get Lifted (this mix)" by Sweet Life, and "Hey Everybody" by People's Choice. ~ Dusty Groove

ALEX PUDDU - SOULTIGER

The best work yet from Alex Puddu – the musician who explored the world of 70s porno on previous records for Schema, and who steps out here with an even more classic groove! The great Joe Bataan is in the group on vocals – adding in this old school New York element that really makes the album strong – that heartbreaking, soulful quality that we've always loved in Joe's singing – which takes things to a richer territory than we've ever heard from Puddu! Many cuts are still instrumental – but even these have this great funky feel – one that warms up the best 70s elements on Fender Rhodes, vibes, wah wah guitar, and reeds – with slight Latin or Brazilian inflections in the rhythms at times. The whole thing feels like some lost underground soul set from Spanish Harlem – and titles include "High Times In NYC", "Soultiger", "The Mover", "50,000 Women Can't Be Wrong", "Drum is My Drug", "Hot Pepper", and "I Want You". ~ Dusty Groove

                                                              

NEW RELEASES: MARIO PAVONE - BLUES DIALECT; ALEX PUDDU / JOE BATAAN - THE MOVER; RICH HAILEY - CREATING STRUCTURE

MARIO PAVONE – BLUES DIALECT

Nothing too blue here, although Mario Pavone's group certainly manages to hit some of the more indigo sides of the spectrum – but they also have this brighter sort of angularity, too – one that really comes from the piano work of Matt Mitchell! Mitchell's lines are angular – definitely inherited from a Monkish tradition, but very much his own too – much freer, and more finding this way of moving from note to note in very individual patterns – connecting musical dots in a way that's always surprising, but which always makes a great deal of sense as the performance rolls on! Drummer Tyshawn Sorey is the third member of the trio – always filled with boundless energy at the bottom, but never overwhelming the piano or bass either. Titles include "Zines", "Two One", "Xapo", "Reflections", and "Trio Dialect". ~ Dusty Groove

ALEX PUDDU / JOE BATAAN – THE MOVER

The legendary Joe Bataan makes a great return here – lending his Harlem-bred vocals to "The Mover" – a sweet funky number from Alex Puddu! Joe's got a super-dope quality that might well make the tune one of his best since the 70s – and Puddu's groove is this laidback funky mode that opens into a Fender Rhodes solo too! "Soul Tiger" is the group's title cut – a warm bit of 70s funk with Latin percussion, tight trumpet and tenor, and another great keyboard solo too! ~ Dusty Groove

RICH HAILEY - CREATING STRUCTURE

Creating Structure is the first recording by the Rich Halley 4 devoted entirely to free group improvisation.  This disc showcases the group's original approach to improvising which combines freedom, feeling and traditional elements into a seamless whole.  Creating Structure presents sixteen musical statements that express both genuine emotion and an inner structural unity. Rich Halley has released seventeen critically acclaimed recordings.  Creating Structure follows the Rich Halley 4's earlier The Wisdom of Rocks, Crossing the Passes, Back from Beyond and Requiem for a Pit Viper, all of which received wide critical acclaimTo celebrate the CD, the band tours to four cities and towns: May 18: Quinn's, Beacon, NY; May 19: Konceptions Series at Korzo, Brooklyn, NY; May 20: AS220, Providence, RI; and May 22: Outpost 186, Cambridge, MA.

French-Japanese Quartet KAZE unleashes storm of inventive sound on UMINARI

Uminari is a Japanese word that refers to a sound rising from the sea, a low-frequency roar that portends a coming storm or tsunami. The poetic word serves as an ideal title for the third CD, available in the US and Canada on May 5, 2015 on Circum-Libra, from the unconventional international quartet Kaze. The two-horn quartet is equally adept at the calm and the storm, with expressive subtleties giving way to overwhelming torrents of sound.

Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura reunite with French trumpeter Christian Pruvost and drummer Peter Orins for the band's most evocative and inventive outing to date. The music for Uminari was developed over the course of a 12-day tour of Japan during which skeletal compositions by each of the quartet's members were elaborated and experimented on by the group as a whole.

"Every day we decided to play with different ideas," Fujii recalls. "Today we'll play the piece one way, the next day a completely different way. We wrote very simple music beforehand and developed it together."

Uminari opens at gale force with "Tioky Atsimo," the first piece to date contributed to the ensemble by Pruvost. The heady whorl of sound ultimately subsides to a stutter-stop rhythm by Fujii and Orins, accompanied by breathy rasps and brassy bleats by the trumpeters, who ultimately fall in line with the insistent beat. A second eruption ensues, as the piece becomes an exercise in forming order out of chaos.

Orins' "Vents Contraires" follows from the opposite extreme, starting from a place of shimmering stillness with the drummer's scraped cymbals and a low murmur from the horns. The piece builds gradually in intensity over half of its 14 minutes before dissolving into pointillistic shards. "Running Around," the first of two Fujii compositions on the album, begins with a circuitous melody articulated by the trumpeters, ceding to a fragmented groove from the rhythm section. At the midpoint it becomes a play of dynamics and silences among the four musicians.

Tamura's "Inspiration" - at 20 minutes, the album's longest piece - showcases the trumpeter's trademark humor with a textured array of percussion, extended techniques, prepared piano and toy instruments. The set closes with Fujii's dark, impressionistic title track combining heartfelt, dirge-like melodicism with tempestuous improvisation.

Fujii and Tamura originally met Orins in 2002 when the pianist's quartet shared a bill with the drummer's collective Impression in his hometown of Lille, France. Nearly a decade later they crossed paths again and Orins suggested a collaboration with Pruvost, inaugurating Kaze's unusual instrumentation.

"We immediately became friends," Fujii says. "We felt like we shared the same kind of musical values. And we had so much fun doing this group we just kept playing together."

Uminari is one of three new releases scheduled for 2015 from the always- prolific Fujii, whose prodigious output is only rivaled by her remarkable drive to constantly explore new terrain. Also on tap are albums by two new ensembles: Tobira, which expands the pianist's New Trio to a quartet with the addition of Tamura; and the Satoko Fujii Orchestra Berlin, the fifth city-specific large ensemble she's founded, and the first group launched in her newly adopted home.

Kaze is a departure from much of Fujii's output, being a collective rather than a group led by and dedicated to performing the music of the powerful composer. "I don't have much opportunity to be a side musician," she says. "Almost all the time I'm the leader; I write and direct the music and arrange the gigs. Finally, this gives me a chance to play with great musicians who all write music and all sound different. I have so much fun playing their pieces."

One of the most original and wide-ranging voices in modern jazz, Satoko Fujii has documented her abilities on more than 70 CDs in less than 20 years. The Tokyo native relocated to the U.S. to study at Berklee College of Music and New England Conservatory, where she was mentored by the likes of Paul Bley, Herb Pomeroy, George Russell and Cecil McBee. Through her touring and collaborations she's truly become a citizen of the world, most recently settling in Berlin. She's founded jazz orchestras there as well as in New York and Tokyo, Nagoya, and Kobe in Japan. Fujii has also led the quartets Ma-Do and Tobira and an avant-rock group featuring Ruins drummer Tatsuya Yoshida. In recent years she's formed fruitful collaborations with such inventive artists as pianist Myra Melford, drummer John Hollenbeck, violinist Carla Kihlstedt, and guitarist Elliott Sharp.

Trumpeter Natsuki Tamura is internationally recognized for his ability to blend a unique vocabulary of extended techniques with touching jazz lyricism. Since 2005, Tamura has focused on the intersection of European folk music and sound abstraction with Gato Libre, a quartet featuring Fujii on accordion, Tsumura Kazuhiko on guitar, and the late Koreyasu Norikatsu on bass. In 2006 he co-founded the collaborative trio Junk Box with Fujii and drummer John Hollenbeck, while his most recent quartet, First Meeting, features Fujii, drummer Tatsuhisa Yamamoto and electric guitarist Kelly Churko. Born in Otsu, Shiga, Japan, Tamura studied at Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory and has taught at the Yamaha Popular Music School and at private trumpet studios in Tokyo and Saitama.

A generous, insatiable and prolific musician, trumpeter Christian Pruvost has forged meaningful collaborations in jazz, improvised music and live performing arts settings. With Didier Aschour, Pruvost is a co-director of Round the World of Sound, which gathers 14 musicians from the Muzzix collective and Dedalus ensemble to perform the madrigals of eccentric poet/composer Moondog. In a new project called PCM Blat, he explores repertoire from medieval to contemporary and improvised music with Maxime Morel (tuba) and Samuel Carpentier (trombone). He is also a member of Circum Grand Orchestra and La Pieuvre, the improvisational orchestra conducted by Olivier Benoit.

From a classical music background, Peter Orins branched out to study the drums at the Conservatoire National de Région of Lille, where he studied with Guy Gilbert, Jean-François Canape, and Gérard Marais. At the same time, he studied improvisation with Fred Van Hove and composition with Jean-Marc Chouvel and Ricardo Mandolini.  Beginning in the mid-'90s, Orins played in the bands that would come to form the Circum collective: Impression, Quartet Base, and the Stefan Orins Trio. He coordinated the Circum collective until its fusion with fellow collective CRIME in 2010, and created the 10-piece Circum Grand Orchestra. He also plays in La Pieuvre, a French-Vietnamese project called Hué/Circum, and the Wei3 trio with German pianist Jarry Singla and Polish bass player Maciej Garbowski. Since the creation of Muzzix in 2010, Orins has coordinated the artistic direction of that collective.

http://www.satokofujii.com/projects.Kaze.html

Modern Jazz Composer Joshua Kwassman's New Sophomore Release, HEARTWORK

The release of Joshua Kwassman's acclaimed debut album, Songs of the Brother Spirit, heralded the arrival of an exciting and innovative new composer on the modern jazz scene. Now, with his highly anticipated follow-up Heartwork (Available May 26 via SquarEast Records), Kwassman takes a monumental leap forward with a sweeping, deeply personal new work that incorporates influences from jazz, classical, and rock music into a breathtaking eight-part composition. 

Heartwork also marks the evolution of his unusual ensemble, originally assembled to realize the multi-hued Songs of the Brother Spirit, into a full-fledged band named after that debut. Brother Spirit has become a versatile septet uniquely adept at realizing Kwassman's ambitious musical imaginings. A native of Newington, Connecticut who studied at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and New York University, Kwassman has folded a wealth of influences and studies into his stunningly cinematic compositions. 

Where its predecessor looked back on the trials of growing up via a harrowing incident from the composer's childhood, Heartwork draws its inspiration from an equally personal but more mature source. As Kwassman describes, "Heartwork tells a story of human weakness and the internal struggles that we all face. It speaks of the weaknesses that befall us on individual and societal levels; the conflicts we face in our daily lives between our desires and human greed, and the force inside us and around us which reminds us of our impact on our surroundings." 

The album's wide-ranging palette thus looks inward as well as outward, from the introspective to the global, to explore the disappointments and struggles of life in modern society. Its concerns range from the day-to-day regrets of falling short of one's own expectations to the calamitous impact of failing to act on the major issues facing the planet itself. 

"It works on both a micro and macro level," Kwassman explains. "It deals with things that were going on in my life, when I had to grapple with my own weaknesses, but also relates to the things I see going on around me. The overarching idea has to do with my own desire to be better for myself and for the things that are happening in the world to be better as well." 

These may be epic-scale themes for a young composer to tackle, but the scope of Kwassman's music is more than up to the challenge. His richly orchestrated arrangements incorporate his own woodwind playing, which includes alto and soprano saxophone, clarinet, and contra-alto clarinet among other instruments, along with voice, guitars, cello, and rhythm section. 

The use of wordless vocals, here performed by alternative R&B singer-songwriter Aria Jay, is one of the most immediately striking features of Kwassman's music, and one that exemplifies the evolution of his work since the first album. There, the human voice was evocative but at times threatened to overwhelm the rest of the ensemble; on HEARTWORK it's a fully integrated element, employed as judiciously as every other instrument to weave the album's vivid sonic tapestry.

"The use of vocals was really experimental on the first record," Kwassman admits. "Going into this record I knew what my palette could be and the vocals are more in balance with the rest of the group. I was careful to place the vocal in arrangements in a melodic sense that was less dominant. This is an egalitarian band where everyone is on the same level of significance, so I really restrained my use of the voice." 

Sarah Markle's cello is an important change since the first album, as is the incorporation of Craig Akin's electric bass. Kwassman himself adds the deep-throated contra-alto clarinet to his arsenal, while the use of a 19th-century field snare, in addition to the remainder of Rodrigo Recabarren's percussion array, adds to the feeling of internal war that runs throughout the compositions. 

Another development is the use of two guitarists, which is the fortuitous result of unfortunate beginnings. Kwassman's longtime guitarist Jeff Miles suffered an injury prior to the recording of Songs of the Brother Spirit, requiring the great Israeli guitarist Gilad Hekselman to step in. Realizing the incredibly chemistry that Hekselman shared with the band, Kwassman called on both guitarists for HEARTWORK. The pair are given the spotlight on "Let Me Dream a Different World For Us," with Miles on baritone and Hekselman on acoustic guitar, their intricate, tactile interplay breathing life into Kwassman's fantasy of a world free from weakness and injustice. 

Angelo Di Loreto's urgent, pulsating piano, soon to be accompanied by Recabarren's electronica-influenced rhythms, opens the ever-shifting title track, which serves as an overture for the album, incorporating most of the themes to come, if often in heavily disguised form. "This piece has intensity, fear, doubt, excitement, tenderness, regret and sorrow, things that I've felt and want to convey across the whole record," Kwassman says. It conveys the tension between heart and mind, which I think are two oppressive agents within us in both positive and negative ways." 

The centerpiece of the album is the 25-minute "Kyoto," split into two pieces but consisting of a single narrative arc. The most globally-oriented piece of the composition, "Kyoto" is a direct reaction to the United States' failure to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow the catastrophic progress of climate change. "That moment was a huge opportunity lost," Kwassman says. "I feel like we're gambling with the only world that we have. This piece mourns and eulogizes the world that I see being taken for granted and conveys the feeling of hopelessness that I alone can't do much to help." 

Jay and Di Loreto join together for the elusive, mesmerizing melody of "Broken Covenant," which Kwassman says represents "a broken promise with oneself, an internal war between two senses of self: one that feels the weight of greed and one that is characterized by a sense of humanity and human goodness." The song serves as a bookend in tandem with the penultimate track, "All's Well That Ends," which begins with the same motif that ends "Broken Covenant." The second piece rejects the compromises conveyed in the first, offering a sense of hope and renewal.

  

The delicate "Penance" deals with the immediate aftermath of the compromises in "Broken Covenant," a reflective, crystalline piece with Kwassman sitting at the piano accompanied only by Jeff Miles on various guitars. Its direct opposite is the final piece, the soaring, hopeful "May Our Children Do Us Better," which Kwassman sees as the end credit theme for his cinematic masterwork. 

Upcoming Joshua Kwassman Performances:

May 20 / Dazzle Jazz Club  / Denver, CO

June  6 / Discover Jazz Festival / Burlington, VT

June 16 / SubCulture / New York, NY

Joshua Kwassman · HEARTWORK

SquarEast Records · Release Date: May 26, 2015

www.JoshuaKwassman.com

Ryan Truesdell Returns to the Jazz Standard For Fourth Annual Residency With Gil Evans Project

Composer, producer, and conductor Ryan Truesdell returns to the Jazz Standard with his award-winning Gil Evans Project for its fourth annual residency Thursday, May 14 – Sunday, May 17, 2015. The performances celebrate their triumphant sophomore album Lines of Color: Live at Jazz Standard on the newly-formed Blue Note/ArtistShare label (www.GilEvansProject.com). The band will be debuting selections from the new CD, as well as other rarely performed works from Gil Evans’ catalog – including music from the albums New Bottle Old Wine, Great Jazz Standards, Individualism of Gil Evans, and more. 

This highly anticipated release follows Truesdell's debut CD Centennial: Newly Discovered Works of Gil Evans, which won a posthumous Grammy Award for Gil Evans and the New York Times called "an extraordinary album.”  Lines of Color – the next step in Truesdell's endeavor to reveal hidden layers of Gil Evans' musical legacy – features some of New York's finest musicians including Lewis Nash, Donny McCaslin, Steve Wilson, Ryan Keberle, Marshall Gilkes, and Scott Robinson. The CD was recorded by Grammy award-winning engineer James Farber with the live engineering team of Tyler McDiarmid and Geoff Countryman.

Lines of Color was recorded during the Gil Evans Project’s annual week-long engagement at Jazz Standard in New York City from May 13-18, 2014. It consists of six newly discovered, never before recorded works (including “Avalon Town,” “Can't We Talk It Over,” and “Just One Of Those Things”), two arrangements with previously unheard sections (“Davenport Blues” and “Sunday Drivin'”), and three of Evans’ well-known charts from his classic albums (“Time of the Barracudas,” “Concorde,” and “Greensleeves”). Throughout the engagement, the Gil Evans Project presented nearly fifty of Evans’ works, most of which were performed live for the first time. Truesdell decided to record live for the Gil Evans Project’s second album to honor the essence of Evans’ music that craves live performance. “It allows Gil’s colors and the overtones of the music to sound and blend in the room in a way that you can’t get from a close-mic studio recording,” says Truesdell.

"Live recording captures this intangible energy that’s created when music is performed for an audience. It gives listeners a sense of the magic that happens when the notes are lifted off the page by these amazing musicians.”

The eleven selections that make up Lines of Color represent everything you hope for in a live recording: a beautiful sound, a lively, involved audience, and precise and inspired performances of remarkable music. Of this collection, six of the charts were originally written during Evans’ tenure with the Claude Thornhill orchestra, including never-before-heard arrangements of “How High the Moon,” “Avalon Town,” and a rare Evans original composition, “Gypsy Jump,” written in 1942. A fun tune with an unusual 36-bar form, “Gypsy Jump” seems to show a slight influence from the “Arabian Dance” from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, also arranged by Evans for Thornhill during this time. “Can’t We Talk It Over,” a gorgeous ballad from the Thornhill Orchestra’s late 1940s repertoire, illustrates Evans’ strong bebop influences as evidenced by a direct musical quote from a Charlie

Parker solo. It is a wonderful feature for the Gil Evans Project’s resident vocalist, Wendy Gilles. Bruce Lundvall, Chairman Emeritus of Blue Note Records said, “Wendy has an amazing voice which is a perfect fit for this music.”

Two charts on the record represent the middle of Evans’ career; one of which he and his band never recorded, and only performed once. In the spring of 1959, Evans and his orchestra played the famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, sharing the billing with Dinah Washington and Thelonious Monk. For this concert, Evans chose to revisit a few charts from his past, including Cole Porter’s “Just One of Those Things,” which was based on the arrangement Evans did for his first album as a leader in 1957, Gil Evans + 10. Ever the reviser, Evans took the opportunity to do a bit of rearranging as well as re-orchestrating the chart to fit the instrumentation for the concert. The Gil Evans Project’s first-time recording of this great Evans arrangement features incredible solos from Steve Wilson on soprano, trombonist Ryan Keberle, and pianist Frank Kimbrough. The other tune from this era is Evans’ great adaptation of Bix Beiderbecke’s “Davenport Blues,” originally recorded on the 1959 album, Great Jazz Standards. “I was ecstatic when I discovered Gil’s score to “Davenport,” says Truesdell. “There were four pages in the middle of the score that were omitted from the original version. I’m thrilled we were able to record the entire chart as Gil first conceived it.” Rather than imitating trumpet soloist Johnny Coles’ definitive performance on Evans’ Great Jazz Standards album, Truesdell decided to take a slightly different approach. The slower tempo and Lewis Nash’s heavy, slightly dirty swing feel emphasizes the bluesy elements and perfectly articulates Gil’s hard-swinging rhythms. “I was blown away by Mat Jodrell’s performance; he poured every bit of his soul and personality into the solo and really made it his own,” says Truesdell.

Rounding out Lines of Colors a collection of tunes from Evans’ output in the mid-1960s, including the Gil Evans Project’s dynamic renderings of “Time of the Barracudas,” and “Concorde,” which both first appeared on the Individualism of Gil Evans recording. “Greensleeves,” originally arranged for guitarist Kenny Burrell, receives a fresh take from trombonist Marshall Gilkes, whose unparalleled tone and inventive melodicism uplift this familiar tune and Gil’s singular writing.

With Lines of Color Truesdell, has solidified his reputation as one of the foremost Gil Evans scholars, while leading a band of industry giants in an historic and invaluable undertaking. Picking up where the Gil Evans Project’s 2013 Grammy award-nominated album Centennial: Newly Discovered Works of Gil Evans left off, Lines of Color is an exciting glimpse into how Truesdell and his critically acclaimed band are fulfilling the most crucial aspect of his vision: to bring Evans’ music to new ears, and to extend his legacy into the 21st century.

www.GilEvansProject.com

www.RyanTruesdell.com

NEW RELEASES: GIOVANNI GUIDI TRIO - THIS IS THE DAY; JEFF BRADSHAW & FRIENDS - HOME; JULIAN LANGE - WORLD'S FAIR

GIOVANNI GUIDI TRIO - THIS IS THE DAY

The Giovanni Guidi Trio plays jazz of uncommon originality and reflective depth. On their second ECM album, Italian pianist Guidi, US bassist Morgan, and Portuguese drummer Lobo continue the work begun on the 2011 recording City of Broken Dreams, with pensive, abstract ballads which shimmer with inner tension. Each of the players has a strong sense for the dialectics of sound and silence. The repertoire is mostly from Guidis pen, but also includes the standard, I m Through with Love, Cuban songwriter Osvaldo Farrés, Quizás, quizás, quizás (familiar to jazz listeners through, above all, Nat King Coles version), and Baiiia by João Lobo. The tio conists of:Giovanni Guidi (piano); Thomas Morgan (double bass); and João Lobo (drums). Recorded April 19-21, 2014 / RSI Lugano. Recording Engineer: Stefano Amerio; and produced by Manfred Eicher. ~ Amazon

JEFF BRADSHAW & FRIENDS - HOME: ONE SPECIAL NIGHT AT THE KIMMEL CENTER

Jeff Bradshaw is an award winning trombone player, recording artist and bandleader who has performed and recorded with Jill Scott, Jay Z, Michael Jackson, The Roots, Marsha Ambrosius and many more. Jeff has been at the center of the Neo soul movement that emerged out of Philadelphia, becoming an important influencer of that eclectic scene. Like recent best sellers by Robert Glasper, his two acclaimed solo albums have delivered a unique fusion of R&B, Jazz and Gospel. For Home, which is co produced by Robert Glasper, Bradshaw brought together a stellar lineup of great vocalists and musicians backed by a killer 20 piece band at Philadelphia s premiere arts venue, The Kimmel Center, for a once in a lifetime performance recorded in front of a rapturous sold out audience. Highlights include Kim Burrell s stunning 9 minute performance of Love, Marsha Ambrosius emotional rendition of a previously unrecorded original song, and Bilal s intense version of the Enchantment s classic Where Do We Go From Here. The album includes a bonus cut studio version of All Time Love featuring Tweet, Robert Glasper and Eric Roberson. ~Amazon

JULIAN LANGE - WORLD'S FAIR

2015 release, the first solo guitar album from Julian Lage. World's Fair is so spontaneous and intimate in feel it's as if this prodigious guitarist had just arrived in your living room, picked up his vintage Martin, and simply started to play. It's very much a project created in the moment, a dozen acoustic guitar tracks recorded over the course of a mere two days, at Sear Sound in New York City. In concept, however, World's Fair was more than a year in the making, as Lage gradually came to embrace the rich musical and emotive possibilities within the austere format of one musician and one acoustic guitar. The album title is a clue to Lage's intentions, the phrase conjuring up a bygone hopeful vision of the future, a "tragic optimism," in Lage's words, since the future never quite turned out as the presenters at those grand expositions had predicted. The understated beauty of these tracks is laced with a certain melancholy. World's Fair seems suspended in time, using the past as a reference yet seeming somehow daring and contemporary in its unadorned arrangements and unabashed melodicism. The mood is often contemplative but, at times, on tracks like "Peru" and "Red Prairie Dawn" he kicks the tempo up a notch, with his fingers scampering quickly across the strings. ~Amazon

JOEY CALDERAZZO - GOING HOME

Finding opportunities for growth and development are important aspects in the process of evolving as a creative musician. Discovering and tackling new challenges helps to keep music making a fresh and worthwhile occupation for many, including pianist Joey Calderazzo, who found his next test in the form of the piano trio.

Since the beginning of his illustrious career, Calderazzo has mainly played in quartets highlighting remarkable saxophonists, namely greats Michael Brecker and Branford Marsalis. As a musician and composer, the pianist had become comfortable in this format, developing an intensity in his playing and predilections in his composing that the ensemble s size demanded.

Calderazzo saw the establishment of his trio as a means to strengthen his craft by working on material and musical concepts that he would not ordinarily work on. The exclusion of a horn has made a focus on dynamics more important. Calderazzo also began to explore standards again, as he hadn t focused on them since the duo gigs he made as a teenager and there were no opportunities to play them with Brecker or Marsalis.

In light of the progress he has made with his trio, Calderazzo views his new recording Going Home as a snapshot of a work in progress, an experiment that continues to progress and wield an abundance of intriguing results. The recording provided an opportunity for Calderazzo to step away from his natural inclinations and approach the music in a new exciting way.

While a number of musicians have been featured in his trio, Calderazzo employed two musicians whose contrasting strengths pushed the ensemble into fascinating new areas. Bassist Orlando le Fleming instantly became the instigator, continually challenging the group with his harmonic drive. Drummer Adam Cruz was a perfect foil as his controlled intensity and beautiful tone helped to refine the group s musicality.

The music generated by the ensemble showed the musicians desire to balance freedom and responsibility. To stimulate this, Calderazzo intentionally wrote pieces and arranged two standards without too much structure, which created a focus on improvisation and group interplay, features that do not ordinarily stand out in studio recordings such as this. The originals were generally sketches, moods or vibes, which provided a starting point for the ensemble s explorations. ~ Amazon

JOE BONAMASSA: MUDDY WOLF AT RED ROCKS - HITS THE TOP OF THE CHARTS

Blues-rock guitar hero Joe Bonamassa proves once again that blues music is alive and well with his chart-topping tribute to Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf. Joe Bonamassa – Muddy Wolf At Red Rocks (J&R Adventures) debuted with #1 slots on Billboard's Blues Chart and Music Video Chart, beating out Miley Cyrus' Bangerz Tour. It also earned the #21 slot on Billboard's Top Current Albums Chart and #2 on Billboard's Independent Chart. It currently remains at the #1 Blues Chart slot for the second week.

This is Bonamassa's 14th #1 Blues Album. He holds the record for most No. 1s on the Blues Chart, trailed by B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan who both share second place with nine No. 1s. Since 2010, Bonamassa has earned five No. 1 Billboard Blues Albums during this same week in March: Muddy Wolf at Red Rocks (2015), Live in Amsterdam (2014), An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House (2013), Dust Bowl (2011) and Black Rock (2010).

Bonamassa's manager and partner at J&R Adventures Roy Weisman said, "J&R's success is the product of a 25 year relationship between Joe and myself where we actively reinvest in ourselves and the company by taking advantage of breakthrough technologies and marketing techniques that other labels simply glance over."

Unlike any Bonamassa show before, Muddy Wolf At Red Rocks marks the start of a tribute concert series that will display a different band and catalog of material that will vary from Bonamassa's music as a solo artist. For Muddy Wolf, songs were carefully selected from the catalogs of Howlin' Wolf, one of Chicago's most influential bluesmen, known for his deep, scratchy voice, and Muddy Waters, considered the "father of modern Chicago blues." Waters was a major inspiration for the British blues explosion of the 1960s, a genre that has heavily influenced Bonamassa's original music throughout his career. The concert featured a selection of songs from each artist, followed by a 30-minute set of songs from Bonamassa's own extensive catalog. The Blu-ray and DVD contain over 1.5 hours of bonus features including exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, a photo gallery, historic footage of Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf, and a featurette of Bonamassa and producer Kevin Shirley's trip to The Crossroads.

This summer, Bonamassa will continue his celebration of blues heritage with the Three Kings of Blues Tour during which he'll travel to amphitheaters across the country with a musical tribute to Albert King, B.B. King and Freddie King.

This tour (as well as the Muddy Wolf concert) is presented by Keeping the Blues Alive (KTBA), which Bonamassa founded to promote the heritage of the blues to the next generation, fund music scholarships, and supplement the loss of music education programs in public schools.

http://jbonamassa.com/ 

https://www.facebook.com/JoeBonamassa 

http://keepingthebluesalive.org/  

Twitter:@JBONAMASSA 

Instagram:@JOEBONAMASSA

Drummer Dan Brubeck Honors His Parents' Music (& Debuts on CD as a Leader) With "Celebrating the Music and Lyrics of Dave & Iola Brubeck"

Dan Brubeck Celebrating the Music & Lyrics of Dave & Iola Brubeck On his brilliantly realized new album Celebrating the Music and Lyrics of Dave & Iola Brubeck, drummer Dan Brubeck introduces his parents' remarkable and surprisingly little-known songbook. The second youngest of Dave and Iola Brubeck's six children, Dan has an extensive history of performing and recording alongside his famous pianist father Dave Brubeck and had long wanted to explore some of the songs and textual settings that his parents collaborated on over the years. The 2-CD set, which happens to be Dan's recording debut as a leader, will be released by Blue Forest Records on April 28. 

"Some of these songs could be classified as 'standards,'" he notes, "but most people have never heard them with Iola's lyrics. Many of these songs have rarely been heard at all." 

"In Your Sweet Way" is the track that opens the album, and as with many of the pieces that follow, Iola wrote the lyrics specifically for a jazz legend (Carmen McRae). Iola, who died last year at the age of 90, contributed incisive insider commentary about the songs for the album's liner notes. Dave Brubeck passed in 2012 at the age of 91. 

The opportunity to pursue the project arose unexpectedly with some of the finest jazz players in the Vancouver, BC area, including saxophonist Steve Kaldestad, pianist Tony Foster, and bassist/vocalist Adam Thomas. "These are the guys who had good chemistry and we stuck together," says Brubeck, 59, a longtime resident of British Columbia. 

Brubeck made the serendipitous discovery that his bassist was the perfect vocalist for this material. "He was completely in tune," Dan says of hearing Thomas's singing for the first time, "phrasing beautifully with a soulful sweetness, all while swinging his ass off on bass. When the quartet had a gig we just set up mics in the Cellar, which is tiny and intimate. I was just amazed when I listened back to what we got." 

Thomas's most impressive feat is the easygoing authority he brings to interpreting songs the Brubecks created with Louis Armstrong in mind. He swings joyfully on "Since Love Had Its Way," and wrings every wistful drop from the masterpiece "Summer Song," an intoxicating draught of song that has unaccountably remained uncovered until this year (both songs were introduced by Satchmo in the Brubecks' politically astute jazz musical The Real Ambassadors). Adding to the poignancy of "Summer Song" is the fact that the chorus serves as Dave and Iola's epitaph. 

"I don't think anyone's done it besides Louis until now," Dan says. "For them that song had a lot of special meaning. I think Carmen was supposed to sing it but Louis heard it and that was that." 

The quartet doesn't avoid the best-known numbers, offering memorable versions of the oft-interpreted "Blue Rondo a la Turk" and Paul Desmond and Iola Brubeck's enduring hit "Take Five." But digging deep into the catalog yields one unexpected gem after another. Thomas hits just the right plaintive tone on the minor blues "Lord, Lord," a piece from Brubeck's suite The Gates of Justice. And "Strange Meadowlark" is another superlative piece that, like "Summer Song," could easily become a standard (it's got a good start with recordings by Carmen McRae, Frederica von Stade, and Hilary Cole). 

Dan Brubeck Born in Oakland on May 4, 1955, Dan Brubeck was a highly energetic child who found his calling at the trap set. Mentored by two consummate polyrhythmic masters, Joe Morello and Alan Dawson (at the Berklee College of Music), he was working professionally before he finished his teens. Over the years Dan was featured on nearly a dozen albums with his father, and toured widely with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, including many appearances with the world's leading orchestras. He's been an integral part of the various Brubeck bands, including the Darius Brubeck Ensemble, Two Generations of Brubeck, and the New Brubeck Quartet. He's toured internationally and recorded three widely played albums with his electric jazz group, The Dolphins, and co-led the Brubeck LaVerne Trio with his brother Chris and pianist Andy LaVerne. Dan has also toured with acts ranging from The Band and David Benoit to Gerry Mulligan and Paul Desmond, and has recorded with jazz guitar legend Larry Coryell, singer/songwriter Livingston Taylor, jazz/pop singer Michael Franks, and pioneering blues guitarist Roy Buchanan.  

Dan continues to perform and record with his siblings -- Chris Brubeck, a bassist, trombonist, and noted composer, in the Brubeck Brothers Quartet, and pianist/composer Darius Brubeck in Brubecks Play Brubeck -- when he's not playing with his Vancouver band.

The Dan Brubeck Quartet will be appearing at the following venues, with additional dates in the works: 8/1 Kaslo (BC) Jazz Festival, 7pm; 8/15 The Red Deer Symphony Orchestra's Evening of Jazz at The Lake, Red Deer, Alberta; 9/18 Jazz n Caz, Cazenovia (NY) College Jazz Festival; 9/19 Universal Preservation Hall, Saratoga Springs, NY; 9/20 Weir Farm, Wilton, CT.

www.danbrubeck.com

Unreleased Live Album By Jazz Drum Legend Buddy Rich “Birdland” As Seen In Award Winning Film “Whiplash” To Be Released May 26, 2015

Lightyear Entertainment and Lobitos Creek Ranch, in association with Scabeba Entertainment and the Buddy Rich Estate, have announced the release of a new live album featuring Buddy Rich and his Killer Force Band at the peak of their performing years.

This rare, previously unreleased, and all original production was recorded with Buddy’s permission by bandmate Alan Gauvin, who has also now mixed and edited the project together. The album was mastered by Tom Swift, and will be released May 26 through Caroline Distribution, the independent distribution arm of Universal Music Group, on the Lightyear/Lobitos Creek label.

The Birdland album is seen in the Academy Award winning film Whiplash, in the hands of the young star Miles Teller, who plays an extraordinary drummer who idolizes Buddy Rich.

The digital version of Birdland was rush released worldwide on February 24 to coincide with the Oscars airing and is already the most downloaded Buddy Rich album in recent history after just a few weeks.

A vinyl LP of Birdland is scheduled for a June 23rd release.

Lightyear, Lobitos Creek, and Scabeba have previously teamed to release two successful DVDs, The Lost Tapes and The Channel One Suite, and two previous live CDs featuring Buddy and his band: Time Out and No Funny Hats. In addition, in 2014, Lightyear/Lobitos released The Solos, which was comprised purely of Buddy Rich drum solos, and culled from his performances in 1976 and 1977, at the peak of his power and versatility. The album showcases 9 of his premiere solo performances, recorded while on worldwide tour with his band. All of the DVDs and CDs are available through Caroline/UMG.

“Birdland is probably the best Buddy Rich album we’ve released,” said Arnie Holland, CEO of Lightyear. “And we are grateful to Whiplash for stimulating so much interest in Buddy and big-band jazz drumming in general.”

Cathy Rich, CEO of Scabeba Entertainment and Buddy’s daughter, who authorized the release, was a consultant on the Whiplash film. She is currently on tour with her Buddy Rich Band.

NEW RELEASES: MARVIN GAYE / DONALD BYRD – WHERE ARE WE GOING? / WOMAN OF THE WORLD; DALINDEO - KALLIO; MARTA SANCHEZ QUINET - PARTTENIKA

MARVIN GAYE / DONALD BYRD – WHERE ARE WE GOING? / WOMAN OF THE WORLD

When you see a record sporting the logos of both Blue Note and Motown, you know you're in for something special. This smooth and groovy 33rpm 12" celebrates Marvin Gaye's 75th birthday and Blue Note's 75th Anniversary in fine fashion with both Marvin Gaye and Donald Byrd. After his triumph that was What's Going On, Marvin Gaye recorded a song with brothers Larry and Fonce Mizell. "Woman of the World" was shelved for quite awhile but has been included in packages here and there over the past couple years. This release pairs up Marvin Gaye with Donald Byrd each giving their respective takes on a couple of Mizell brothers gems. Side A plays homage to a couple of previously unreleased slices of Marvin as the great man lays his soulful and seductive vocals over the smoothest, most sumptuous groove going. On the flip side it's the turn of jazz-funk trumpet legend Donald Byrd as those folks at Blue Note pair up his takes on the same tracks from his 1973 albums. As ever it’s a virtuouso display of musicality from his whole outfit, set at a laid back pace perfect for a summer afternoon.Track listing: Side A: Marvin Gaye -1. Where Are We Going?; 2. Woman Of The World // Side B: Donald Byrd -1. Where Are We Going?; 2. Woman Of The World.

DALINDEO - KALLIO

Dalindèo's music is a cinematic jazz creation reminiscient of the ambience of movies by Finnish great Aki Kaurismäki mixed with a Tarantinoesque vibe of danger and suspense. With musical influences ranging from Duke Ellington's swing jazz to surf-guitars à la Dick Dale, all in a setting inspired by Finnish popular music from the 1950's, Dalindèo have created a contemporary Finnish jazz-style of their own. The third album of the sextet, Kallio, initially released only in Finland, won the prize of "Best Jazz Album of 2013" at the Emma-Awards, the Finnish Grammys. A musical hommage to the Kallio-district in Helsinki, it debuted on the Finnish album-chart at number 13, one of the highest ranking jazz albums of all time and stayed on the chart for 6 weeks. We at BBE are very proud to present Kallio to a wider, international audience now. Especially for the worldwide release on BBE the band added an exclusive unreleased bonus track to the album and BBE family-member Mr Bird did a brilliant remix of the track “Rhythm of Kallio”. ~ bbemusic.com

MARTA SANCHEZ QUINTET - PARTENIKA

As a bandleader, Marta Sanchez she is currently working with her New York-based Quintet with respected saxophonists Jerome Sabbagh and Roman Filiu, and her Spanish trio D'free QI.With both, she has released critically acclaimed albums for Errabal Records. In addition, she started a new project, a sextet that features singer Camila Meza, and she is involved in many other music projects as a collaborator, performer, and/or studio musician, in the United States and abroad.She has touring the United States, Europe, South America and Central America, performing at prestigious venues and prominent festivals such as North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, Eurojazz in Mexico City, Eurojazz in Athens, Jazz Festival of Vitoria Gasteiz, and Madrid Jazz Festival. Notable newspapers such as "All About Jazz"praised Ms. Sánchez saying that "Sánchez should positively be included in those Spanish jazz artists who are maalent, feeling and knowledge of the music". ~ republic of jazz.blogspot

SummerStage's 30th Anniversary Lineup Announced!

In June of 1986 Sun Ra and the Omniverse Jet Set Arkestra performed a free concert in the Naumberg Bandshell in Central Park, and the summer music landscape in New York City changed forever. Today, nearly 30 years later, SummerStage is New York City’s largest free performing arts festival, presenting work in all performing arts disciplines, with a focus on New York’s unique neighborhoods. SummerStage has touched the lives of more than six million fans from around the world.

In celebration of this milestone, City Parks Foundation, the independent nonprofit organization that produces the festival, plans to deepen the impact the festival has in neighborhoods throughout New York City.  The 2015 season will feature more shows in Central Park and 15% growth in the number of performances offered in neighborhood parks around the city, creating 6-day "mini-festivals" in 8 parks, featuring music, dance, theater, film, circus and family days. In total this new model will add over 20 performances to the fourteen parks SummerStage presents in, bringing more than 140 unique artists to these stages around the city. 

“As an organization we are dedicated to working in traditionally underserved neighborhoods across the city,” said Heather Lubov, Executive Director of City Parks Foundation. “By presenting artists and genres that reflect the cultures and communities in these parks, introducing disciplines such as dance or theater alongside musical performances, and providing all of this fantastic art free of charge, we are building new audiences and fostering a broader interest in the arts here in New York City.”

SummerStage’s artistic mission is to celebrate the cultural legacy and diversity of New York City. In our 30 years, we have presented such legendary performers as Youssou N’Dour, Curtis Mayfield, David Byrne, Max Roach, Patti Smith, Gil Scott Heron, Lou Reed, James Brown, Pete Seeger, Celia Cruz, Miriam Makeba, Jimmy Cliff, and Hugh Masekela, as well as once lesser-known artists, influenced by these icons, who have gone on to become famous in their own right. Vampire Weekend, Alabama Shakes, The Black Keys, The xx, Sarah McLachlan, Thievery Corporation, Jack Johnson, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, and Florence & the Machine  are just some of those now-famous performers. 

“SummerStage is the festival that truly celebrates New York City,” said Director of Arts & Cultural Programs for City Parks Foundation, Ian Noble. “From the iconic to the avant garde, from opera to hip-hop, film to circus, there is no other festival like it. Not only do we select our artists to reflect the nature of each neighborhood, but each park and audience  becomes part of the adventure and charm of each and every show.”

“Capital One Bank is proud to support SummerStage as it showcases the diversity and artistic vitality of New York,” said Michael Slocum, President, Commercial Banking and Northeast Regional President, Capital One. “The arts play an important role in building strong, healthy communities, and we are pleased to help the festival reach new audiences across the city.” 

The 2015 30th Anniversary Season will open with a free concert in Central Park featuring the Tedeschi Trucks Band. Other notable talents include: Angelique Kidjo, the iconic African singer-songwriter; London’s soul-funk collective Jungle; Canadian folktronica artist, Caribou; Franco-Norwegian circus duo, Magmanus; and a special celebration of dance and music from the legendary Broadway musical The Wiz. Additionally, Brazil's pioneering mangue-beat superstars, Nação Zumbi, will return to SummerStage 20 years after their historic and epic U.S. debut. A number of parks will welcome neighborhood heroes to their stages, like Staten Islander Mack Wilds, and a screening of Time is Illmatic, the documentary that  follows Queensbridge prodigal son Nas, as his life leads up to his critically-acclaimed, seminal album, Illmatic.  The Oliver Lake Big Band will premier a commissioned piece during the expanded Charlie Parker Jazz Festival weekend, and a 30th Anniversary DJ commission with Quantic, Gilles Peterson, and Afrika Bambaataa, will take audiences through the decades of SummerStage. 

For the most up-to-date scheduling and line-up for all SummerStageprogramming, follow SummerStage via the below links and visit www.SummerStage.org for festival information.

Twitter:@SummerStage

Instagram:@SummerStageNYC

Facebook:SummerStage NYC

NEW RELEASES: MINA AGOSSI - FRESH; JEREMY UDDEN / NICOLAS MOREAUX - BELLEVILLE PROJECT; YONATHAN AVISHAI - MODERN TIMES

MINA AGOSSI - FRESH

Mina Agossi's tenth album to date, looks back on her 20 year career by revisiting some of her original songs in new arrangements. Merging acoustic an electronic sounds around the heartbeat of the double bass, drums and percussion, fusing jazz and world music with the sensibilities of urban soul and rock, the album reveals more of Mina Agossi's Beninese roots in these inspired new adaptions of her songs. "Listening to Mina Agossi is like riding a motorbike through Paris, thrilling, beautiful and very bumpy. Don't expect to come out alive." - Jamie Cullum Personnel: Mina Agossi (vocals), Eric Jacot (bass guitar), Simon Bernier (drums), Stéphane Guery (guitar), Phil Reptil (guitar), Philippe Combelle (drums, percussion), Alexei Aigui (violin). ~ Amazon

JEREMY UDDEN / NICOLAS MOREAUX - BELLEVILLE PROJECT

The meeting between New England born saxophonist and composer Jeremy Udden and the French bassist/composer Nicolas Moreaux was quite serendipitous. Udden was house-sitting in Paris and inquired via social media whether there were any musicians interested in playing a session. A session was quickly arranged where the saxophonist first met Moreaux. Udden had already cemented an identity in the jazz world with his unique voice on alto saxophone and his compositional leanings toward rock and folk music through his "Plainville" and 'Folk Art' projects. Having made a name alongside the likes of Tigran Hamashian and Bill McHenry, Moreaux came with tremendous jazz chops and an equal enthusiasm for similar non-jazz idioms. The two musicians bonded over their common interests and kept in contact. Out of their correspondence the idea for a new project formed naturally, in which they would work together to blend musical elements of French and American folk, rock, and film music into jazz composition. By a stroke of luck their idea fit into the guidelines of the competitive French American Jazz Exchange Grant (from the French American Cultural Exchange and the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation). They won the grant, giving them the financial means to turn their idea into reality. The outcome of their work is the Belleville Project, a name referring to the neighbourhood in Paris where they recorded. ~ Amazon

YONATHAN AVISHAI - MODERN TIMES

Yonatan Avishai is one of the best kept secrets of the new Israeli jazz scene (Avishai Cohen, Eli Degibri, Shai Maestro ...). He has an original style that reactivates the main elements of jazz - swing, blues, improvisation - in a very personal way. The Franco-Israeli pianist is better known for the Third World Love group he co-founded with trumpeter Avishai Cohen, bassist Omer Avital and drummer Daniel Freedman (five albums). After starting in Tel Aviv where he had the opportunity to accompany musicians such as Walter Blanding, Marcus Printup and Arnie Lawrence, he settled in France, becoming a member of the Omer Avital Quintet. He also performs regularly with The Three Cohens, among others, and has developed, under the concept of 'Modern Times', its own musical vision. ~ Amazon

DEE DEE’S FEATHERS: Dee Dee Bridgewater & Irvin Mayfield with the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra

Dee Dee's Feathers is a modern vision of New Orleans painted through the collaboration of two of the greatest musicians in Jazz.

Dee Dee's Feathers gives a modern vision of New Orleans, painted through the collaboration of New Orleans Jazz Orchestra’s (NOJO) Artistic Director Irvin Mayfield and honorary Chairperson Dee Dee Bridgewater. Traditional songs such as ‘Big Chief’, ‘Saint James Infirmary’ and ‘What a Wonderful World’ along with new compositions ‘Congo Square’ and ‘C'est Ici Que Je T'aime’ will transport people through the new sound of Dee Dee Bridgewater.

Over the course of a multifaceted career spanning four decades, Grammy and Tony Award-winning Jazz giant Dee Dee Bridgewater has ascended to the upper echelon of vocalists, putting her unique spin on standards, as well as taking intrepid leaps of faith in re-envisioning jazz classics. Ever the fearless voyager, explorer, pioneer and keeper of tradition, the three-time Grammy-winner recently won the 2011 Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album for Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee.

Bridgewater’s career has always bridged musical genres. She earned her first professional experience as a member of the legendary Thad Jones/Mel Louis Big Band, and throughout the 70’s she performed with such jazz notables as Max Roach, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon and Dizzy Gillespie. After a foray into the pop world during the 1980s, she relocated to Paris and began to turn her attention back to Jazz.

Irvin Mayfield is a two-time Grammy and Billboard Award-winning artist. Mayfield is the founding Artistic Director of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra and currently serves as Artistic Director of Jazz at the Minnesota Orchestra. He is a professor at the University of New Orleans, where he also serves as Director of the New Orleans Jazz Institute. ~ Amazon

Introducing The Spectacular Debut From Ben Cox, The UK's Most Exciting New Jazz Vocalist

April 2015 marks the release of This Waiting Game, the stunning debut from rising star Ben Cox: composer, instrumentalist and the most exciting UK jazz vocalist to grace the scene for many years.

Still only 21 and yet to graduate from London's Guildhall School of music, Cox and his co-writer, up and coming pianist Jamie Sarifuddin, have created a remarkably accomplished album that revitalise the vocal jazz tradition. Together they are part of new generation of young jazz musicians who are building on the legacy of their heroes, while leading a new wave of innovation. Sarifuddin's talent as a gifted composer and arranger, combined with Cox's exceptional songwriting prowess and unique timbre, bring a fresh, distinctive sound to the genre that no one else can replicate.

While performing on London's live circuit, Cox attracted the attention of UK jazz vocal legend Ian Shaw, who recognised his huge potential, establishing a role as a mentor and producing his album, enhancing what was already a great new talent. The result is This Waiting Game, an exceptional album with an inclusive vibe, destined to by enjoyed by both the avid jazz fan and those who simply love to be entertained by great music. Guest slots from renowned jazz talent such as Kirk McElhinny, Claire Martin and Emily Dankworth also serve to augment what is already an enchanting and charismatic body of work.

Cox's mesmerising tone and captivating delivery have won him a whole host of high profile fans, including a glowing endorsement from jazz superstar Jamie Cullum. Introducing This Waiting Game as “fresh new vocal jazz music” on his hugely popular BBC Radio 2 show, Cullum states: “The title track 'This Waiting Game' sounds really good, Ben has got a very precise voice, it recalls a little bit of Kurt Elling to me, certainly in the writing style of the music and I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of the album.” 
~ Amazon