RANDY SCOTT – SERENITY; CANTO GENERAL FEATURING LOUIS MOHOLO-MOHOLO – REBEL FLAMES; NICOLAY – CITY LIGHTS VOL. 3: SOWETO

RANDY SCOTT – SERENITY

With gold, platinum and multiplatinum records to his credit as well as invitations to perform for two US presidents, gifted saxophonist Randy Scott emerges once again from the studio with a long awaited new project that is sure to add to his long list of musical accolades. Perfectly straddling the worlds of Gospel and Jazz, Scott has found a strong voice in both genres and with Serenity his 6thstudio album, his flair for conjuring up compelling musical portraits has never been more evident. Gracefully and effortlessly moving between the tenor, alto and soprano Scott has a complete mastery of his instrument and his flavor is robust and satisfying. Whether it s throwing down the funk on tracks like Funky Enough or gentle atmospherics like Mellow Flow this collection of musical sketches is fully satisfying, presenting a ride with great dynamic flow covering a variety of moods and vibes. Enlisting once again the supporting help of many of his long time Detroit collaborators the CD boasts a strong sense of cohesion with the interplay carrying the day. Serenity is more than the title implies, it signals that Scott has found peace in and with the gift that he has been given and presents his gratitude through this new collective inviting you to come along as his journey continues. Top notch! ~ Amazon

CANTO GENERAL FEATURING LOUIS MOHOLO-MOHOLO – REBEL FLAMES

Wonderfully soulful work from drummer Louis Moholo Moholo – heard here in the company of Canto General – an Italian group, but one whose music is awash in South American inspiration! Reedman Roberto Ottaviano is in the quintet – and he sounds better here than we've heard him in years – blowing with this rich tone alongside trumpeter Pino Minafra, in a musical partnership that almost takes us back to the spirit of Gato Barbieri's Latin America projects of the early 70s! Pianist Livio Minafra brings a real sense of majesty to the music, too – almost a Cuban balance of lyricism and rhythm, which makes for a perfect fit with Moholo's drums and the bass of Roberto Bellatalla. The group perform tunes by some of Moholo's older contemporaries – Harry Miller, Keith Tippett, Dudu Pukwana, and Mongezi Feza – and titles include "Orange Grove", "Thoughts To Geoff", "Dedicated To Mingus", "Angel Normali", and "You Ain't Gonna Know Me Cos You Think You Know Me". ~ Dusty Groove

NICOLAY – CITY LIGHTS VOL. 3: SOWETO

Brightly lit, breezily soulful grooves from Nicolay's globetrotting City Lights series – inspired by a +FE's tour stop in South Africa – and it may be the best yet! One thing we love about the series, and the Soweto entry in particular, is that Nicolay isn't out to copy the exact sounds you'd hear in classic or contemporary South African dance music, as much as he's doing his own distinct thing, as inspired by it. Some occasional vocals, especially the spoken narrative passages by Nomusa Nzima set the Soweto scene, and the South African rhythmic sensibility is a big part of the vibe, but it's got a broad, richly appealing vibe overall.. The keyboards walk the line between spacey and sophisticated, there's some great vocal contributions from Phonte, Carmen Rodgers and Tamisha Waden. Wonderful! Includes "Tomorrow", "It's In The Way That You Smile", "Aurora", "Sun Rings/Uprising", "Daydream", "Sawubona", "The Secret" and "There Is A Place For Us". ~ Dusty Groove

NEW RELEASES: JACOB SHULMAN - UNTIL AUTUMN; JOAN CHAMORRO & ANDREA MOTIS - FEELING GOOD; DAVID CORREA - NEW MOON

JACOB SHULMAN - UNTIL AUTUMN

Today composer, saxophonist and student Jacob Shulman announced the upcoming release of his first jazz 4 track EP entitled "Until Autumn". With "Until Autumn" Shulman explores the everyday soundtrack of his young-adult life and mixes the divergent styles of American jazz with Japanese video game soundtracks, English rock, Balkan folk, and German classical. "My aim was to construct an environment uniformly compatible with the musical languages I am most enamored of. For the first time, I haven't needed to discard some for others. I have finally balanced each naturally, and have the seeds of a musical identity all sown in one field." Shulman, a Princeton student, jazz festival veteran and alum of the prestigious Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz, recorded "Until Autumn" in the summer of 2014. "The title refers to how this music came about, it was written, rehearsed, performed, and recorded between my second and third years of college. Structure is key for Shulman and "Until Autumn" was designed with details connecting each of the four tracks. "They all have motifs and gestures in three categories – for each track, there is material that is unique to it, material that originates in it but appears elsewhere, and material that comes from another track but is reused or transformed." While structurally complex, "Until Autumn" is meant to be enjoyable and relatable, not challenging or abstruse. Musicians: Jacob Shulman: composition, saxophone; Greg Swiller: acoustic bass; Harry Terrell: drums; Isaac Wilson: piano, Rhodes.

JOAN CHAMORRO & ANDREA MOTIS - FEELING GOOD

Spanish jazz singer Andrea Motis, as well as fellow instrumentalist and mentor, Joan Chamorro are an unlikely musical team. Born more than 30 years apart, they hail from two very different and distinct musical generations. And yet they are the two primary figures in a series of projects in their hometown of Barcelona since 2010. In less than five years, Motis and Chamorro have set their city and other parts of Europe ablaze with the energetic sounds of jazz from either side of the Atlantic. Tracks include: Feeling Good, Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea, How Insensitive, Lover Come Back To Me, Moon River, Love Me Or Leave Me, Lover Man, Solitude, Hallelujah, Easy Living, My Funny Valentine,  Bésame Mucho, Sophisticated Lady, Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You, Lover Man, and Lullaby Of Birdland.

DAVID CORREA - NEW MOON

Acclaimed nylon string guitarist David Correa launches a dynamic new chapter in his multi-faceted career with New Moon, his long awaited new release that celebrates his passion for the region he returns to every summer to play festivals and concert halls.  Correa, who’s explosive global fusion of Latin folk, rumba flamenco, French gypsy and Middle Eastern textures has made him a staple of the Bay Area music scene since 1999.  More than simply a fresh collection of 12 infectiously melodic, rhythmically empowering compositions performed with some of the most accomplished Latin musicians in the Bay Area and Southern California, New Moon, true to its title, represents a new beginning, a new life and fresh musical blood flowing through Correa’s colorful arrangements. Tracks include: Hacienda, New Moon, Milagro, Diamondback, Painted Desert, Sandstorm, Pico de Gallo, Saguaro Grove, Paseo del Pueblo, Sedona, Tierra Roja, and Veracruzana.

FABIANO DO NASCIMENTO - DANCA DOS TEMPOS

Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1983, Fabiano do Nascimento studied classical piano and music theory as a young boy. From the time he played his first notes on the guitar at age twelve, he devoted himself to that instrument. Fabiano was born into a musical family, a lineage that goes back to his great-grand-father “Ladario Teixeira”. Who was a Blind virtuoso saxophone player, who contributed to the creation of the instrument itself, re-inventing the saxophone, adding more keys to the older “Aldolph Sax” version of the saxophone. More about Ladario Teixeira can be found in the encyclopedia BARSA. Fabiano Studied with Dalmo Motta at the Conservatorio de Musica Brasileira in Rio de Janeiro, and with his Uncle, the Late Lucio Nascimento in his early teenage years.

Always fascinated by Brazilian music and American jazz. Self-taught, through intense research and practice, developed exceptional skill. In 2000, Fabiano left Brazil for California, Los Angeles, where he soon became in demand for his authentic sound. Connected early with the Woodwind player Pablo Calogero, and Percussionist Tiki Passillas, forming “Triorganico”. Brazilian flavored, Latin Jazz trio, recording their first album Triorganico – Convivencia under the Label of “Stonesthrow and Now-Again”. Also recorded and worked with many artists including Airto Moreira, Mia Doi Todd, Aloe Blacc, Sumiko Fukatsu, Ted Falcon, Arthur Verocai, Draco Rosa, Justo Almario, Ronaldo Freitas (Carioca), Pablo Fagundes, Sam Gendel, and many more …

Fabiano’s latest works is his Duo Album “SUL” with young brilliant Saxophonist Sam Gendel and with Singer songwritter Mia Doi Todd on her new Brazilian album “Floresta” and now a brand new release through Now Again records titled “Dança dos Tempos” featuring legendary Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira.

http://fabianodonascimentomusic.comwww.grooveattack.com

Noir jazz meets midnight blues in the music of Twin Danger

Noir jazz meets midnight blues in the music of Twin Danger – an intriguing new group formed by Vanessa Bley and Stuart Matthewman, whose self–titled, co-produced and co-written debut album appears on the Decca Universal Music Classics label.

Twin Danger updates a classic sound in a contemporary style with such captivating Bley/Matthewman originals as "Pointless Satisfaction," "Just Because," "Sailor," and "Coldest Kind of Heart." The album sessions also yielded one surprising cover song, a distinctively different interpretation of the hard–rock track "No One Knows" by Queens of the Stone Age.  The core of Twin Danger is Bley and Matthewman, however on-stage for their sultry live performances the band expands with a tight-knit outfit of five musicians.

Vanessa Bley grew up in a close-knit artistic community in upstate New York. Her mother is the painter and video artist Carol Goss; her father is the renowned jazz pianist Paul Bley, who worked with Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, and Ornette Coleman in addition to several dozen albums – many issued on the Improvising Artists label, which Goss and Bley co–founded in 1974. Surrounded by the creative arts growing up, Vanessa studied piano for several years but found she preferred improvisation and songwriting to practicing classical repertoire.  "I love Chopin and Bach but lacked the patience to play technically correct. Meanwhile, my father would tell me ‘you can either sit down at the piano and improvise or you can do the dishes.' So I'd try to play something like...oh, the sounds of a thunderstorm."

Vanessa also began playing guitar and bass, teaching herself both instruments. After high school, she moved to New York to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology for Cosmetics & Fragrance Development and Marketing. Within a short time, Vanessa was showcasing her original material at various downtown venues and occasionally co–writing songs with different collaborators, including Estonian pop singer Kerli. Vanessa and Kerli co–wrote "Creepshow" for the latter's 2008 album Love Is Dead. Meanwhile, Kerli was writing separately with Matthewman – and it was she who suggested that Vanessa would vibe with this talented Englishman...

Stuart Matthewman, born in Hull, England, co–founded the group Sade with Sade Adu, Paul S. Denman, and Andrew Hale. Stuart and Sade co–wrote many of the best–loved songs on the band's multi–platinum albums including "No Ordinary Love," "By Your Side," and "Your Love is King." In 1996, Matthewman, Denman, and Hale formed Sweetback, a predominantly instrumental band whose albums Sweetback (1996) and Stage 2 (2004) featured guest vocals by Maxwell and Amel Larrieux among others.  Subsequent projects for Matthewman included working with Maxwell on three of the superstar's albums, remixes under the name Cottonbelly, and compositions for film and television.  The latter included "The Astronaut Farmer" starring Billy Bob Thornton and the Emmy–nominated "Life Support" starring Queen Latifah.

Stuart plays guitar and keyboards, but his unmistakable tenor saxophone tone predominates in Twin Danger. "Vanessa and I share an odd, eclectic taste in music, from Black Sabbath to Chet Baker to film soundtracks," says Stuart. "We weren't thinking it all out or going for a particular sound – Twin Danger just happened the way it did. If we'd really thought about it, we'd have never made a jazz record!"

At first, Stuart started playing guitar on Vanessa's gigs in the Lower East Side, but soon they began to develop a deeper creative collaboration. Stuart recalls: "I was messing around on guitar with these strange chords that I didn't really think could add up to anything. I mentioned it to Vanessa and she said, oh, send it over. "About an hour later she came back with this beautiful song, ‘Just Because.' The demo is pretty much what you hear now on the album...and we went on from there."

In 2013, following a packed Twin Danger set at Otto's Shrunken Head in the East Village, an enthusiastic Japanese promoter approached Stuart and Vanessa. The next thing they knew, Twin Danger was en route to Tokyo where the band performed a run of ecstatically received shows at the prestigious venue Billboard Live. In September 2014, Twin Danger joined forces with Josh Fox, director of the Oscar–nominated documentary Gasland, for "The Solutions Grassroots Tour." Coinciding with the massive People's Climate March, this multi–media production was designed both to motivate communities to adopt renewable energy solutions and to raise the campaign banner for pro–renewable energy legislation. The show, which included guest host appearances by actors Mark Ruffalo and Debra Winger, ran for five sold–out nights at Brooklyn's Irondale Theater.

As for the origin of the name Twin Danger, Vanessa Bley explains: "It refers to the alter ego, the part of you that can be wild or irrational or even destructive – but it's still a part of you and not accepting that is what makes it dangerous." "We're making music to get lost in. It's warm and beautiful but there are dark undercurrents revealing fundamental issues of the self. That's what makes it Twin Danger."

The band performs live with a crew of friends: Robert Granata (guitar), Anthony Marchesi (keys/vocal harmony), Omar Little (trumpet), Julian Smith (bass), and Nick Anderson (drums). 

BOB McCHESNEY - CHEZ SEZ features originals and reimagined standards

This exciting 72 minute roller coaster ride features the technical and musical wizardry of Bob McChesney on the slide trombone. Joined by the amazing pianist/organist Larry Goldings, world-renowned bassist Darek Oles, award-winning drummer Bill Stewart, and Yellow Jackets' saxophonist Bob Mintzer, the group tears up originals from Bob and Larry along with some re-imagined standards.

Bob McChesney was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and began playing the trombone in the fourth grade as part of his public school music program. Primarily self-taught, he has evolved into a world-renowned trombone soloist and an authority on trombone pedagogy.

Bob McChesney's trademark as a trombonist is the beauty of his sound, a lightening-fast technique, and his emotional connection to the music. With complete mastery of the instrument and extensive knowledge of jazz harmony, McChesney has distinguished himself as one of the pre-eminent soloists in the world, not only in the realm of jazz and improvisation, but as an interpreter of the most difficult and highly technical Classical repertoire, as well.

At a young age, Bob discovered a unique way of articulating on the slide trombone called "doodle tonguing". He has since authored what is considered to be the definitive treatise on the subject, called, "Doodle Studies and Etudes". The method book has been critically acclaimed and endorsed by trombonists and music educators all over the world. A pre-eminent jazz educator and clinician, Bob has been a welcomed guest artist all over the US and Canada. Bob has been featured twice with his Quartet at the International Association of Jazz Educators convention, and The International Trombone Festival, where he has spoken and performed for audiences as large as 5000 in attendance of his demonstrations, workshops and performances.

A resident of Los Angeles, Bob is a fixture in the recording studios, where he has enjoyed a long career with studio orchestras scoring hundreds of films and television shows. He can also be heard on CDs for Barbra Streisand, Shakira, Michael Buble', Natalie Cole, Rod Stewart, Chicago, Michael Bolton, and the following Grammy-winning CDs: "Ray Charles: Genius Loves Company", Diana Krall's "When I Look in Your Eyes", and most recently, Arturo Sandoval's "Dear Diz", where he was a featured soloist. Legendary composer and conductor Lalo Schifrin exclaimed, "Bob McChesney is a virtuoso and has the gift to bring us the joy of music at the highest level."

In addition to his careers as performer and educator, Bob has arranged and produced several highly acclaimed CDs, including the 2014 Grammy Nominated single, "Let's Fall in Love", featuring TV's Seth MacFarlane and singer Calabria Foti. This year, Bob will release two CDs, one with his Trio called "Chez Sez", and a compilation CD "The Best of Bob McChesney – Volume 1". 

NEW RELEASES: SOLITARE MILES - SUSIE BLUE AND THE LONESOME FELLAS; TIMO LASSEY - LOVE BULLET; BEATS & PIECES BIG BAND - ALL IN

SOLITARE MILES - SUSIE BLUE AND THE LONESOME FELLAS

Vocalist Solitaire Miles has always loved singing swing tunes. Her grandmother, a singer with a big band in the late 1930s, exposed her to the music as a child. Susie Blue and the Lonesome Fellas may be regarded as a surprise by some of Solitaire Miles’ swing fans, but it is a logical step in her evolution.      For her first Western Swing recording, Solitaire used most of the musicians from her regular swing band. “They all did a great job of adapting to this music. Neal Alger, who wrote most of the arrangements, is one of my favorite guitarists in Chicago.  He is a dynamic musician who can play many different styles, working with Patricia Barber during the past 20 years, as has our fine bassist Larry Kohut.  And drummer Phil Gratteau is also a great accompanist for singers.” Three other musicians are new members to Solitaire’s recording group,  pianist Tom Hope adds a perfect 1950s Country feel to the music, sometimes recalling Floyd Cramer.  Slide guitarist TC Furlong, who in 1983 had a major Nashville hit in “The Curly Shuffle” with his Western Swing group “Jump ‘N The Saddle Band,”  blended in  well with the Jazz musicians.  Also, the versatile fiddler Stuart Rosenberg who is known for performing Folk, Argentinian music, Klezmer and Swing, adds an authentic flavor to the group. As for Solitaire Miles, her voice perfectly fits the light-hearted and fun Western Swing songs. “20 years ago Von Freeman suggested that I try singing Country music, now it makes perfect sense.  I have always been a huge fan of Kay Starr who sang not only Jazz during her career but also Western Swing, Country and Pop.”   Throughout this project Solitaire and her musicians are not content to merely recreate the past but are creative within the style, adding to the music's legacy.  While Solitaire can name a long list of influences like Kay Starr or Mary Ford, she does not sound exactly like any of the singers who preceded her, nor do her sidemen sacrifice their own individuality while doing justice to the material.  Instead, they all fully understand the music and are able to add their own voices to the songs while being themselves. ~ Scott Yanow

TIMO LASSEY - LOVE BULLET

Up north in Finland, in the land of the hottest Saunas, longest winters and saddest tangos, you can also find one of the coolest and most distinguished saxophonist and composers on the jazz-scene today. Timo Lassy, acclaimed as a "rising star" in US jazz bible Downbeat, hits us with 'Love Bullet', his fifth album and his most accomplished studio work to date. "The entire album is definitely more personal than all my previous work", he says of this sophisticated collection of ten instrumental originals. "It tells a story of the past few colourful years in my life." Having worked with an international all-star cast ranging from the Italian style-master Nicola Conte to US jazz vocalist José James and extending his talents into the art of film-music by composing for the soundtrack of the movie 'Moomins on the Riviera', Lassy created this mysteriously soulful music with his working band in mind, an ensemble that was dubbed "one of Europe's sharpest bands" by the Sunday Times. Their sonic base is in the 1950s/60s hard bop, Soul Jazz and Latin Jazz tradition, but the masterful execution and the progressive vision of all of the players puts the music firmly in the 21st century. Like the films of fellow Finn Aki Kaurismäki, it exudes an energy and a feeling at once markedly timeless, traditional and tirelessly forward-looking. "Quality swinging jazz with a difference!", as Gilles Peterson calls it. ~ Amazon

BEATS & PIECES BIG BAND - ALL IN

Led by composer and conductor Ben Cottrell, Beats & Pieces Big Band follow up their critically acclaimed 2012 debut album 'Big Ideas' with the eagerly awaited 'All In'. The music is an expression of the band's members and their varied musical backgrounds and activities, all brought together in Cottrell's inspired writing. They see themselves as a band that happens to be big, rather than your average 'big band'. His compositions reflect the diversity of music that people of their generation have grown up surrounded by, and as such are influenced as much by Michael Jackson, Björk or Radiohead as they are Duke Ellington, Gil Evans or Loose Tubes. Beats & Pieces have performed in Ireland, Germany, France and Norway; received airplay on BBC Radio 2, Radio 3 and 6 Music; and received awards for Best UK Newcomer at the 2013 Jazz FM Awards and Ensemble of the Year at the 2014 Parliamentary Jazz Awards. Now 'All In' is set to take their music to an even wider audience. 'All In' was recorded over four days in January 2014 at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios in Wiltshire. It was tracked almost entirely live with few overdubs and with the whole band in the same large room, ensuring everyone was in visual contact with everybody else at all times to create as much of an on-stage feel as possible within the studio environment. The resulting visceral energy brings the recording vividly to life. All but one of 'All In's seven tracks were composed and arranged by Ben Cottrell, the exception being a version of David Bowie's Let's Dance, reapproached and rearranged by Ben in his unique voice. He finds hidden subtleties and possibilities in Bowie's classic pop hit. 'All In' is set to be one of the year's standout albums. ~ Amazon

NEW RELEASES: THE REMPIS PERCUSSION QUARTET – CASH AND CARRY; ELLERY ESKELIN – SOLO LIVE AT SNUGS; FRANK VIGNOLA / VINNY RANIOLO - SWING ZING

THE REMPIS PERCUSSION QUARTET – CASH AND CARRY

Double drums give this set a heck of a lot of energy – work on the kit from Frank Rosaly and Tim Daisey – in a quartet that also features Ingebrigt Haker Flaten on bass and Dave Rempis on alto, tenor, and baritone sax! The drums get things cascading right from the start – and Flaten, as always, amazes us with his deftness on the bass – an ability to follow just about any line, while still holding his own – and keep things musical at moments when most other players might miss. Rempis sears mightily on the 40 minute track "Water Foul Run Amok" – and all players take a slightly more introspective approach on "Better Than Butter". ~ Dusty Groove

ELLERY ESKELIN – SOLO LIVE AT SNUGS

Beautifully mature solo tenor from Ellery Eskelin – performed live, and with a depth that has us reevaluating Eskelin's work all over again! The tracks are long, and never overblown – often full of these long tonal phrases that shift gently, and always retain a certain amount of tunefulness – even though the overall approach is far less melodic than such a description might make you expect. Ellery works lots of careful moments through both his phrasing on the reed, and his handling of the pads on the tenor – and titles include "Unwritten Rule", "Turning A Phrase", "State Of Mind", and "Weave/Warp & Woof". ~ Dusty Groove

FRANK VIGNOLA / VINNY RANIOLO - SWING ZING

With nearly 1,000 engagements in the five years they’ve been performing as a duo, Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo have become one of the most popular and sought after duos in the music scene. On this new release they play through 13 classic Swing Era songs.  Both have an extensive resume with regards to playing guitar for many of the worlds top acts including, Wynton Marsalis, Bucky Pizzarelli, Madonna, Donald Fagen, and Wynton Marsalis.  The tracks listing includes Cheek to Cheek, September Song, Cry Me A River, Joseph Joseph, I’m Getting Sentimental Over You, All The Things You Are, Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans, Whispering, Sleepy Time Gal, Stardust, Tico Tico/Djangomania, Peg O My Heart/I’m Confessin’ Medley, and 201 Poplar/The Best Things In Life Are Free. Special guests include Julian Lange, Bucky Pizzarelli, Olli Soikkeli and Audra Mariel.

NEW RELEASES: MARC MOULIN – PLACEBO YEARS 1971–1974; GREGORY ISAACS – NIGHT NURSE: THE BEST OF GREGORY ISAACS; OPOLOPO - SUPERCONDUCTOR

MARC MOULIN – PLACEBO YEARS 1971–1974

Some of the heaviest keyboard funk recorded in Europe during the early 70s – all the work of the jazz/rock combo Placebo, headed up by the legendary Marc Moulin! The tracks here are awash in Fender Rhodes and other keys – all supported by tight basslines, funky drums, and a fair bit of jazzy riffing on sax, trumpet, and flute. But the main groove always focuses around the keyboards – recorded with a spare, almost earthy quality that's a fair bit greater than some of the slicker keys that crept into the European scene a few years later. Moulin's really at the top of his game here – working in a groove that could easily rival Herbie Hancock or Bob James in the US – and unlike his Sam Suffy set, of similar vintage, this collection's all straight ahead jazz funk, with hardly a bit of experimentation! Tracks are from the albums Ball Of Eyes, 1973, and Placebo – and the set list here differs from the earlier Counterpoint collection with a similar name. 9 tracks in all – including "NW", "Balek", "SUS", "Aria", "Stomp", "Red Net", "Showbizz Suite", "Polk", and "Humpty Dumpty". (Limited numbered edition.)  ~ Dusty Groove

GREGORY ISAACS – NIGHT NURSE: THE BEST OF GREGORY ISAACS

Seminal sounds from the cool ruler – one of the best collections of material we've ever seen from the legendary Gregory Issacs – easily one of the most soulful voices in Jamaican music during the 70s and 80s! The package features loads of excellent early cuts, plus a few key later hits – and even a number of rare 12" single versions too – all wrapped up with a nice batch of notes on the music, and a very large track selection too. Titles include "Too Late", "Lonely Soldiers", "Black A Kill Black", "Extra Classic", "Let's Dance", "Slave Master", "Motherless Child (12" mix)", "Ba Da", "Mr Cop", "Never Be Ungrateful (12" mix)", "Mr Know It All", "Soon Forward (12" mix)", "Tune In", "Poor & Clean", "Tenement Yard (12" mix)", "Private Secretary", "Front Door", "Next To You (12" mix)", "Wailing Rudie", and "Sunday Morning". ~ Dusty Groove

OPOLOPO - SUPER CONDUCTOR

Seminal sounds from the cool ruler – one of the best collections of material we've ever seen from the legendary Gregory Issacs – easily one of the most soulful voices in Jamaican music during the 70s and 80s! The package features loads of excellent early cuts, plus a few key later hits – and even a number of rare 12" single versions too – all wrapped up with a nice batch of notes on the music, and a very large track selection too. Titles include "Too Late", "Lonely Soldiers", "Black A Kill Black", "Extra Classic", "Let's Dance", "Slave Master", "Motherless Child (12" mix)", "Ba Da", "Mr Cop", "Never Be Ungrateful (12" mix)", "Mr Know It All", "Soon Forward (12" mix)", "Tune In", "Poor & Clean", "Tenement Yard (12" mix)", "Private Secretary", "Front Door", "Next To You (12" mix)", "Wailing Rudie", and "Sunday Morning".  ~ Dusty Groove

NEW RELEASES: CHICAGO REED QUARTET – WESTERN AUTOMATIC; BRIAN CHARETTE – ALPHABET CITY; MIGUEL ATWOOD-FERGUSON – LIBRARY SELECTION

CHICAGO REED QUARTET – WESTERN AUTOMATIC

A very different group than the sort of saxophone quartet you might remember from the 80s – one that's filled with fire, and really shows the evolution of the reed ensemble over the past few decades! All players here are very skilled improvisers on their own – Dave Rempis, Ken Vandermark, Mars Williams, and Nick Mazzarella – and they come together at a level that still holds onto some of the restructured approach of the sax quartet, but which also feels free to open up, too – so that some passages have this very improvised vibe, yet never in a way that has the players getting in each others' way or getting too far off course – always with this amazing sense of cohesion that shows how great all the musicians can work together. Instrumentation includes alto, tenor, soprano, sopranino, and baritone saxes – plus clarinet and bass clarinet as well. Titles include "Detroit Fields", "The Rush", "Broken Record Fugue", "Burn Unit", and "Remnant".  ~ Dusty Groove

BRIAN CHARETTE – ALPHABET CITY

Sweet sweet Hammond from the great Brian Charette – a player who's easily becoming one of our favorite organists in contemporary jazz! Brian's got this way of spinning out a long line with effortless ease – a soaring approach to his instrument that takes us back to a space between Larry Young and Don Patterson in the 60s – set up in a very lean trio setting that just features Will Bernard on guitar and Rudy Royston on drums! Bernard's a great player in the setting too – really able to leap, soar, and carve out the right sort of sounds alongside the organ – this balance of groove and melody that's really illuminates the record, while Royston drives the whole thing along with his deft drums. Titles include "Sharpie Moustache", "East Village", "Detours", "Avenue A", "White Lies", "The Vague Reply", and "Hungarian Major".  ~ Dusty Groove

MIGUEL ATWOOD-FERGUSON – LIBRARY SELECTION

A beautiful record from Miguel Atwood Ferguson – an artist we first came to love for his work with the Carlos Nino spiritual jazz scene on the west coast – really stretching out on his own as a leader! Miguel plays viola, violin, and cello on the record – plus some piano as well – and he works here in this warm, spacious style that's almost like 70s ECM, but a lot warmer and spiritual too – that kind of energy that we know from his projects with Nino, but delivered here in a more personal mode. Ferguson's strings and piano are mixed with bits of Fender Rhodes, percussion, bass, guitar, and even some "nature and space sounds" contributed by Nino – and overall, the record has this laidback, organic quality that's very cosmic and powerful. Titles include "Magnolia", "Great Galactic", "Always", "Kazaru", "Did You Know", and "Computer Face/Pure Being".  ~ Dusty Groove

NEW RELEASES: REWIND 6 - ORIGINAL CLASSICS RE-WORKED, REMIXED, RE-EDITED & REWOUND; THE BLUEBEATERS - EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS IS NOWHERE; WERKHA - COLORS OF A RED BRICK RAFT

REWIND 6 - ORIGINAL CLASSICS RE-WORKED, REMIXED, RE-EDITED & REWOUND (VARIOUS ARTISTS) 

It's been almost a decade since the previous volume in the legendary Rewind series – but given the quality of the music, it's definitely been worth the wait! This edition may well be the coolest so far – as it really offers up some fresh versions of old school classics from the 60s and 70s – funky remakes of songs by Lyn Collins, Black Sabbath, Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles, James Brown, Turtles, and others – and even some more modern songs from Outkast and Skrillex too. Almost all numbers approach the music in a heavy funk style – sometimes with vocals, sometimes just instrumental – and titles include "Give It Up Or Turn It Loose" by Black Randy, "Party People" by The Echocentrics, "Bang Bang" by The Monophonics, "Rock Your Body" by Shawn Lee, "Date With The Rain" by Frankie Gee, "Planet Caravan" by Brown Sabbath, "Happy Together" by James Combs, "Scary Monsters & Nice Sprites" by Jed & Lucia, "Spill The Wine" by Johnny Frigo, "Apache" by Shawn Lee's Incredible Tabla Band, and "Dreams" by Electric Peanut Butter Company. (Includes download!) ~ Dusty Groove.

THE BLUEBEATERS - EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS IS NOWHERE

"Everybody Knows ... This Is Nowhere" is the second single from the The Bluebeaters new self-titled album on Record Kicks. The track is a Rock Steady scorcher coverup version of Neil Young's classic tune from 1969. Fresh and explosive as only The Bluebeaters can do. Active since 1994 with 4 studio albums for V2 and Universal Music and 2 gold records under the belt, The Bluebeaters landed on Record Kicks with the new heavily acclaimed album "Everybody Knows" in April. The BB are top musicians in love with vintage Jamaican sounds: Ska, Rock Steady, Rhythm & Blues and Soul. Blessed by Ken Booth, during the last 20 years of their career they've headline festivals like Rototom Sun Splash and International Ska Fest in London. Amongst their fans, David Rodigan, Gaz Mayall and the legendary late lamented Lloyd Knibb (The Skatalites).

WERKHA - COLORS OF A RED BRICK RAFT

The first full length set we've heard from Werkha – a talent who's been showing up on some of the Tru Thoughts remixes and compilations of late – definitely strong enough to serve up this full batch of tracks! The credits list the music as "written amongst the quiet pennine places and vibrant city bricks" – and that evocative summation seems to fit pretty well – as there's a poetic recasting of grittier elements in the music – beats that have these crispy, organic qualities, mixed with acoustic lines on guitar that can evoke a dreamy sort of poetry, even when the tracks don't have vocals – often produced with a slight sense of abstraction that can have the music bubbling out of the speakers in really beautiful ways. A few tracks feature lyrics from Alex Rita or Bryony Jarman-Pinto, but most are instrumental – and titles include "City Shuffle", "Houses Of Saffron", "Highwaves", "Border Kite", "A Revolution Blue", "Sidesteppin", and "Flich/Quiver". ~ Dusty Groove

 

COMPOSER MARIA SCHNEIDER TO RELEASE FIRST RECORDING WITH HER ACCLAIMED JAZZ ORCHESTRA IN EIGHT YEARS - THE THOMPSON FIELDS

With The Thompson Fields, composer, arranger and bandleader Maria Schneider celebrates a long-awaited reunion with her vaunted jazz orchestra, a homecoming nearly a decade in the making.  Featuring eight new original works by the leader, The Thompson Fields makes brilliant use of Schneider's 18-piece jazz orchestra, a long-standing ensemble that spotlights such first rank players as Donny McCaslin, Rich Perry, Frank Kimbrough and Lage Lund.  The performances reveal an ever-deepening relationship between Schneider and her musicians, many of whom she has worked with over a quarter of a century.  The album follows a momentous year that found Schneider's recent album Winter Morning Walks garnering three wins in the classical category of the 2014 GRAMMY Awards, making her one of the rare musicians to win GRAMMYs in both the jazz and classical categories. The CD is powered by ArtistShare and available exclusively at MariaSchneider.com.

Schneider has long been known for her autobiographical music, and with The Thompson Fields, she goes further, sharing a deep relationship to southwest Minnesota, her childhood home.  Although the music reflects her love of native landscape, birds, and prairie, Schneider delves not just into her own roots, but also into what "home" means in broader terms.

The album opens with "Walking by Flashlight," a poignant expression of an early morning walk as depicted by poet, Ted Kooser in Winter Morning Walks.  "I think this may be the only time that alto clarinet was ever featured on a big band album," Schneider claims.  "Alto clarinet has long been relegated to use almost exclusively in wind ensembles, but Scott Robinson elevates this instrument to a place of very tender expression.  I can actually hear Kooser's poetry in Scott's expression of the melody."  Now reorchestrated as an instrumental work, this song was also featured in Scheider's GRAMMY-winning song cycle, Winter Morning Walks.

Schneider's most recent work,"The Monarch and the Milkweed," features Marshall Gilkes on trombone and Greg Gisbert on fluegelhorn.  Inspired by the beauty and abounding life found in Minnesota native prairie, this piece is specifically dedicated to the monarch.  "This butterfly is one example of a creature we love and are inspired by, but that depends upon certain dwindling aspects in the environment - in this case, the milkweed - without which the monarch will go extinct.  Four generations of monarchs and over 3,000 miles of flight from Mexico complete its life cycle, with milkweed as the only plant it can eat.  The piece is inspired by these incomprehensible, complex cycles and interrelationships in nature, reflecting on how they largely depend upon attraction and beauty, and ultimately now how they depend on our appreciation and valuation of beauty," Schneider explains.

The title, "Arbiters of Evolution," refers to the remarkable mating rituals  and performances of the birds-of-paradise species native to New Guinea.  Schneider sets up each solo section for McCaslin and Robinson to conjure up their own highly evolved and spectacular performances.  This work was inspired by Maria's love of birds and the environment and her involvement with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

The title piece, "The Thompson Fields," was inspired by a beautiful multi-generation farm near Schneider's home in Windom, Minnesota.  Pianist Frank Kimbrough improvises bitonally in a unique harmonic environment that creates an evocative depiction of the view from the Thompson silo overlooking bean fields billowing in the wind.  "From the vantage point of the silo, I felt the wind carrying all the intersecting stories of my youth, along with the stories of a whole community," Schneider says.  "I felt a convergence of past and present generations and tried to put that magic into this music."

"Home" also speaks vividly of the open landscape that is home for Schneider.  She dedicated the piece - first premiered at The Newport Jazz Festival - to George Wein, one of the most influential forces in the discovery and development of jazz musicians.  "Even though this music is highly personal to me, the concept of home is universal.  Wherever we are first rooted, or whatever place gives us our sense of 'home,' not only nourishes our life, but nourishes those with whom we share it.  George's home, the Newport Jazz Festival, has been a home for jazz for musicians and audiences for decades.  Jazz has been well nurtured within George's loving home, and he most certainly helped to nourish my development, and the development of countless others."  This work features the universally admired voice of Rich Perry on tenor sax.

"Nimbus" evokes the drama of the Midwestern sky and weather.  Schneider elaborates, "One can see the Midwest prairie landscape as unspectacular, but we certainly dole out high drama when it comes to weather.  For instance, seeing a ominous roll cloud looming on the horizon simultaneously instills one with awe and an instinctual fear.  Given this imagery, it is fitting that saxophonist Steve Wilson be featured on this piece because he can play with such intensity, bringing a captivating power and presence to his solos through his rock solid sense of groove, his surging sound, and his unexpected but thoroughly satisfying lines."

"A Potter's Song" is dedicated to Laurie Frink, who has played with Schneider's band on every recording. Frink's death in 2013 was a great loss to the music community.  A fellow Midwesterner, Frink was not only highly regarded as a trumpet player, having played with Gerry Mulligan, Benny Goodman, Mel Lewis and many others, she was also among the world's most in demand trumpet and brass teachers.  But the title of this work came from Maria's additional admiration for Laurie's skillful ceramic work.  Gary Versace's accordion, which has been a mainstay in Maria's orchestra since she first wrote for him on Concert In the Garden, creates beautiful and lyrical lines over Schneider's winding, ever-evolving harmonies, and highlights the influence of Brazilian music on Schneider's compositions.

"Lembrança" is a dedication to the universally loved Brazilian musician, Paulo Moura, who gave Schneider the once-in-a-lifetime experience of hearing his old samba school rehearse in the Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of his youth.  The work includes layers of powerful Brazilian percussion played by Rogerio Boccato alongside drummer Clarence Penn. Featuring an exuberant trombone solo by Ryan Keberle, as well as a lyrical and tender bass solo by Jay Anderson, the piece conjures up the experience of standing in a dark street in the crevasses of Rio, hearing the power of a samba school rehearsing in the night.

"Watching Paulo proudly standing there, looking thoroughly at home and grounded in that powerful experience on a very ordinary street in Rio, was something I fully understood," Schneider says.  "I feel the same way when I climb atop a silo in Windom and view the landscape that is home to me.  I can't help but feel tremendous emotion and gratitude, looking back in time, remembering all the forces that shaped my life and so many lives that I know."

Schneider's deeply personal statement carries into the visual realm with this beautiful package.   The stunning photographs by Briene Lermitte were all taken on and near the Thompson farm this past August.   Uniting with Cheri Dorr's elegant design, the album's graphic elements allow Schneider to share another level of personal connection with those who listen to her music.

Schneider continues to involve her fans in her music on an even broader level.  Four of these eight works were commissioned directly by individuals through ArtistShare.  Schneider has used the new means of production since her first ArtistShare album release in 2003.  "The relationship I have with these people is deeply meaningful to me," Schneider states. " They make it possible for me to create and record music, and I've come to know many of them quite well.  I cannot overstate how deeply important they are to my life.  I could no longer do this without them."

  

Over a decade ago, the ground-breaking company ArtistShare broke the mold when it demonstrated, through Schneider's successful example, how music could be funded and released.  ArtistShare crowd-funded before "crowd-funding" was a word, and Schneider's first ArtistShare album, Concert In the Garden, not only won the first GRAMMY with Internet-only sales, but heralded the crowd-funding era..  Over the following thirteen years, Schneider has developed a growing concern for intellectually property rights.  This brought her to engage with lawmakers, the Library of Congress, and others to protect the rights of music creators.  These efforts have included testifying before the Congressional subcommittee on intellectual property in April of 2014, and speaking out against Spotify and streaming on CNN.  Schneider is often quoted in national articles on music creators' rights and the perils of current streaming services.

www.mariaschneider.com

Pianist LASZLO GARDONY releases LIFE IN REAL TIME / Expands His Celebrated Trio With A Powerhouse Saxophone Triumvirate of Stan Strickland, Billy Pierce and Don Braden

Over the past quarter century pianist and composer Laszlo Gardony has gained widespread acclaim for a series of inspired albums documenting his trio and his riveting solo recitals. In a welcome addition to his treasure-laden discography, he delivers his first sextet session, Life In Real Time, a thrilling live album recorded at the Berklee Performance Center at Boston's Berklee College of Music (where most of the ensemble is on faculty). The album is slated for release on July 7, 2015 on Sunnyside Records.

Rather than an all-star blowing session, Life In Real Time introduces an ensemble that breathes, phrases and reacts as one, reveling in the knifepoint balance between structure and freedom afforded by Gardony's arrangements and bandleading sensibility. Indeed, part of what makes the album so much more than the sum of its considerable parts is the rhythm section's extraordinary rapport. Gardony's long-running trio with bass master John Lockwood and drum maestro Yoron Israel has forged a soul-deep bandstand communion over the past 13 years, an almost telepathic bond captured on three critically acclaimed Sunnyside albums. The trio is directly responsible for the loose and limber feel of Life In Real Time, where three immediately recognizable saxophone stars "can feel free to be themselves in the music," Gardony says.

And what horn players! Most conspicuously, the album marks the reemergence of the great Billy Pierce, a player who established himself as a commanding improviser during his years with drum legends Tony Williams and Art Blakey (who called Pierce "my best tenor player since Wayne Shorter.") He sounds more formidable than ever with his thick, muscular sound and driving rhythmic attack.

While Stan Strickland is best known as a startlingly inventive post-bop tenor saxophonist, he's a polymathic creative force who also works as a singer, actor and art therapist. Gardony's longtime friend and Berklee colleague, Strickland contributed memorably to the pianist's 2011 Sunnyside album Signature Time with Lockwood and Israel. It was Israel who suggested adding Don Braden to the mix. The album's only Berklee ringer (he's the director of the Harvard Monday Night Jazz Band), Braden was in Wynton Marsalis' band, has performed with Freddie Hubbard and Tony Williams, and is featured on some 20 albums as a leader.

 "I hand-picked the musicians for this band," Gardony explains. "Don was a great addition to the band, and it clicked so beautifully from the first. All of the bandmembers have had long careers and we're committed to playing together as a beautiful and meaningful experience."

Focusing on Gardony's emotionally charged original compositions, the album opens with his rollicking "Bourbon Street Boogie," which evokes the raucous, celebratory energy of New Orleans. Pierce takes the first solo, a rhythmic tour de force that makes a compelling case for him as one of jazz's most under-documented masters. Israel introduces the relentlessly driving "Breakout" with a beautifully calibrated solo passage. The piece builds momentum through a series of tag-team solos until its ecstatically cathartic climax.

Gardony puts on his arranger's hat for a joyously funky version George Shearing's standard "Lullaby of Birdland." Braden takes a stutter-stepping solo that turns the melody inside out, and then Gardony gives a masterclass in groove, maintaining a rumbling ostinato throughout his solo with an undulating left-hand line doubled by Lockwood's bass. Another highlight is the haunting version of the spiritual "Motherless Child," a song he's explored often as a member of violinist Matt Glaser's celebrated jazz-meets-bluegrass band The Wayfaring Strangers. "After playing it with Matt many times I started to hear something, a reharmonization that's partially inspired by the way that Richie Havens sang it at Woodstock," Gardony says. "I thought it would be perfect for Stan's bass clarinet. You can tell what song it is, but I wrote this long form and the melody crystallizes at the end."

Strickland's bass clarinet is featured again on Gardony's West African-derived ballad "New Song," a tune introduced as a trio piece on the album Dig Deep. With its meditative, cyclical feel, the ravishing melody calls out for lyrics. The album closes with "Out On Top," another piece from Dig Deep that gains momentum as it hurtles toward a deliriously celebratory all-horns-on-deck conclusion. This was one set that clearly left the audience wanting more (in fact, there's a bonus track from the concert available on iTunes).

Born in Hungary, Laszlo Gardony displayed an early aptitude for the piano. By five he had started improvising, devising little tunes inspired by the blues, pop and classical music he heard around the house. Immersed in the European classical tradition while growing up, he was drawn to progressive rock as a teenager, and spent countless hours improvising blues-based music at the piano. He investigated gospel and studied jazz, a passion that soon overshadowed his classical pursuits. "We had jazz and African music classes at the Conservatory," Gardony recalls. "There were some very knowledgeable people and a lot of records. When it came to jazz it was a tiny community, but very inspiring."  

After graduating from the Bela Bartok Conservatory and the Science University of Budapest, he became one of Europe's most sought after accompanists and released his first albums as a leader. Possessing a powerful sense of swing, a strong feel for the blues and a firm command of post-bop vocabulary, he gained invaluable insight by sharing festival stages with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and Abdullah Ibrahim, among others.

A full scholarship to Berklee brought him to America in 1983, and a faculty position at the school upon graduation kept him stateside. He made his US recording debut with the acclaimed 1988 album The Secret (Antilles) featuring Czech bass great Miroslav Vitous and drummer Ian Froman, but it was his 1st place win the following year at the Great American Jazz Piano Competition that catapulted him into the national spotlight. He seized the moment with 1989's brilliant release The Legend of Tsumi (Antilles), a trio session with bassist Dave Holland and drummer Bob Moses. "Being with Dave and Miroslav was such an education," Gardony says. "If you really immerse yourself in those moments, it can change you, whether it's one concert or a week-long gig." 

In many circles Gardony is best known as a master of the trio format. He introduced his present band with Israel and Lockwood on the 2003 Sunnyside album Ever Before Ever After, and it's gained recognition as one of the finest working bands in jazz. But he's equally impressive alone at the piano, the format he first explored on 1993's acclaimed Changed Standards and returned to again on his last album, 2013's Clarity (both on Sunnyside). After the probing introspection of a solo recital it seems fitting that Gardony returns with a bandstand bash that captures some of jazz's most eloquent raconteurs inspiring each other to ever more vivid tales. In short, Life In Real Time is jazz that's the real deal.

Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz / Also Features Pianist Dan Zemelman, Drummer Jon Arki

Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz Bassist/composer Jeff Denson has enjoyed a richly rewarding musical and personal relationship with alto saxophone legend Lee Konitz since 2007, when Denson joined Konitz's well-traveled New Quartet. The latest chapter in their association involves the recording, at Berkeley's Fantasy Studios in February of this year, of Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz, with pianist Dan Zemelman and drummer Jon Arkin. Scheduled for release by Denson's Ridgeway Records on July 7, the CD explores new music, offers fresh takes on seldom-played compositions of the Lennie Tristano School, and features scat singing by Konitz and Denson.

Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz is the first in a planned series of Ridgeway recordings to team Denson's trio plus a notable guest artist. Marking nearly the 60th anniversary of Konitz's first appearance on record with his mentor, Lennie Tristano, the album goes places where no other Tristano (or Konitz) tribute has ever gone via some rarely recorded songs, including Warne Marsh's "Background Music" and Tristano's "Baby" and "East Thirty-Second." It also reveals Konitz's delightful scat singing, something that has never been documented on record to this extent.

Jeff first met Lee in 2003, but they didn't team up musically until a few years later, in Germany, when the saxophonist invited Denson's trio Minsarah (with Florian Weber and Ziv Ravitz) to his apartment in Cologne to rehearse. To their surprise, he did not ask them to play their instruments.

  

"Instead he said, let's sing, let's improvise some stuff," Denson recalls. "I guess he had heard us play enough. That was the start of a great adventure. The stuff we do is very different than any music in his canon. Lee is a true improviser. He doesn't play licks. He really responds."

The Lee Konitz New Quartet with Denson, Weber, and Ravitz went on to tour internationally and produce three albums: Deep Lee (2008), Live at the Village Vanguard (2009), and Standards Live at the Village Vanguard (2014). Of the 87-year-old Konitz, Denson remarks that "he's old enough to be my grandfather, but he is still improvising on a master level. He's not stuck in any way musically." 

Jeff Denson, 38, was born and raised in the Washington, DC area. He attended Berklee (where Minsarah was formed), earned his Master's in jazz studies at Florida State University, and relocated to Southern California to pursue his doctorate (at UC San Diego) in contemporary music performance with an emphasis in composition. Based since 2011 in the East Bay, he is a full professor at the California Jazz Conservatory (formerly the Jazzschool Institute) and has forged ties with some of the Bay Area's top players, including bassoonist Paul Hanson, guitarist Mimi Fox, and drummer Alan Hall.

A prolific composer and arranger, Denson has written music for an array of jazz settings, from big band to trio, as well as for string ensembles, solo bass, and a chamber opera. He's begun work on a chamber opera, plans to try his hand at film scoring, and is preparing a series of educational books for his Ridgeway Publishing imprint (part of his recently established nonprofit, Ridgeway Arts).

  

In addition to Denson's ongoing Trio +1 projects, the bassist is in the midst of organizing several other recordings. One will feature his Secret World group, which he's expanding to a quintet with Paul Hanson. He's in the process of completing an album with Electreo, with Hanson, drummer Alan Hall, and Denson on electric bass. And he's collaborating with Mimi Fox and violinist Mads Tolling in a trio whose arrangements of the music from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band will be released in time for that seminal album's 50th anniversary in 2017. 

To say that Jeff Denson is currently in a spectacularly expansive period is an understatement; he is positively thriving on all possible fronts. "I'm in an extremely stimulating and productive time right now and I'm working as hard as I can to express all of my ideas," he says. "I find that with my teaching and all of the various projects I have, I'm able to get a complete picture of what I'm doing -- each one inspires the other." 

The Jeff Denson Trio + Lee Konitz will be performing extensively in Europe this summer and fall. Next month they appear 7/4 at Comblain La Tour Jazz Festival, Hamoir, Belgium; and 7/17 UniversaiJazz, Valladolid, Spain (Trio with Kari Ikonen, p; Ronen Itzik, d). 

Fall dates include 10/2 Angra Jazz Festival, Azores, Portugal; 10/23 Domicil, Dortmund; 10/24 Lantaren Venster, Rotterdam; 10/26 Porgy & Bess, Vienna; 10/27 Unterfahrt, Munich; 10/29 Workshop, Helsinki; 10/30 Jazz & The City Festival, Bremen (Trio with Dan Zemelman, p; Alan Hall, d). Additional dates are in the works. Closer to home, Denson will appear with Zemelman and Hall at the Sound Room in Oakland 8/14.