Ben Wendel - What We Bring Featuring Gerald Clayton, Joe Sanders & Henry Cole

Saxophonist, composer, bandleader, educator and catalyst Ben Wendel's What We Bring, available September 9, 2016 on Motema Music (his 15th album as a leader or co-leader and his debut for Motema), is panegyrical, acknowledging the great legacy and lexicon that he has played and composed his way into. While composing the music for this album, it occurred to Wendel that the evolution of a musical genre, or artist, is a continuum that looks backwards and forwards at the same time. Wendel elaborated, "What We Bring refers to the experience, inspiration and shared wisdom that musicians collect and absorb throughout their lives, and how that is expressed through their art. All of the pieces on this album are dedicated to masters from the past, peers from the present and musicians of the future. In my opinion, nothing springs from a vacuum - all that we make is connected, influenced, and most importantly, indebted to what has been created before us and around us in the present day. This album expresses my continued acknowledgement and appreciation to all of those who have helped me along the path, both directly and indirectly." Wendel added, "I get the most joy when I find ways to express my love for the bravery of the people who came before me, for the people who are doing this music now, and for the people who will do this music in the future" (from the feature on Wendel by Ted Panken, DownBeat Magazine, June 2016).  

What impresses most about Wendel is that he has gleaned from past masters, and his peers, far more than technique and chops to become an artist who embodies the importance of finding your own voice, and the pluck to follow your inner compass. This is fully revealed and represented on What We Bring, which opens majestically and powerfully with "Amian", a subconscious, compositional reaction to listening to Coltrane's "Naima" hundreds of times in his formative years. Like "Naima", "Amian" possesses a melody that floats over a constant bass note, with shifting chord qualities, offering myriad moods and colors.   

"Fall" and "Spring" are two pieces repurposed from Wendel's acclaimed Seasons project of 2015, featured on NPR's All Things Considered, and in The New York Times (www.npr.org/2015/07/28/427178381/saxophonist-ben-wendel-reimagines-tchaikovskys-the-seasons, www.nytimes.com/2016/01/22/arts/music/with-the-seasons-ben-wendel-redefines-the-musical-encounter.html). "They were originally written as duo pieces for the exceptional pianists Taylor Eigsti and Aaron Parks. I felt they would be great vehicles for the quartet and decided to arrange them for this album", commented Wendel.

"Doubt" is one of two covers on the album (the other being the standard "Solar", given a highly-entertaining, brainy, odd-meter face lift by Wendel & co.), by the indie-rock band Wye Oak. "I fell in love with their music years ago and this track is hauntingly beautiful in its mood and simplicity. What We Bring also refers to what we listen to, and at this point, most jazz musicians listen to a wide spectrum of music outside of our field. I wanted to showcase something that had moved me along the way", said Wendel.

"Song Song" is dedicated to the great Ahmad Jamal, and was inspired by his famous composition, "Poinciana". "I was on tour with nothing to do one evening and watching countless performances of 'Poinciana' on YouTube. There's something incredibly meditative about the piece that I've always loved - the rhythm section's commitment to playing one beautiful groove throughout the song - not doing anything more, and most importantly, not needing to. I recall waking up the following morning with the bass line for 'Song Song' looping in my head", explained Wendel.

"Soli" rocks and swings and, like the rest of the album, displays the band's ability to conduct complex maneuvers in complete harmony with one another (the term "big ears" comes to mind). A track like this will surely send fledgling musicians scurrying to the shed, and prompt listeners to quickly hit "repeat." "Soli" is a pre-written passage played in unison by multiple instruments. You can hear this technique used in everything from classical music to big band music and Wendel has always loved the sound of it. "In fact, I've always had at least one piece on each album that highlights this approach. Though I don't know how long this streak will continue, I can say this was perhaps the most challenging one I've written to date", said Wendel.

One of the most emotive and gorgeous songs on What We Bring is "Austin", "dedicated to the incredibly talented pianist Austin Peralta, who left this world much too soon. I played with Austin on 'Endless Planets', his final album. I was deeply saddened by Austin's passing and also incredibly moved at his funeral by the outpouring of love from friends, family and musical peers. Many of his personal letters and writing were read at the ceremony. I was struck by the depth of his inner life - something he didn't show the outer world very much. I didn't get to see this side of him until it was too late. This was something I was thinking about as I wrote the piece," stated Wendel.

On What We Bring, Wendel's camaraderie with his fellow musicians, Gerald Clayton (piano), Joe Sanders (bass) and Henry Cole (drums) greatly informed his artistic choices and inspired him. He has stated (in a recent feature by Bob Weinberg, Jazziz Magazine, Spring 2016) that, "it's hard to know where the music starts and the friendship ends", and that, "all of these layers of understanding and all the coded information that's embedded in how you play together, it's so intermingled."  

  

More on Ben Wendel: GRAMMY-nominated saxophonist Ben Wendel was born in Vancouver, Canada and raised in Los Angeles. Currently living in Brooklyn, NY, he has enjoyed a varied career as a performer, composer and producer. Highlights include multiple domestic and international tours with artists such as Ignacio Berroa, Tigran Hamasyan, Antonio Sanchez, Gerald Clayton, Eric Harland, Taylor Eigsti, Snoop Dogg and the artist formerly known as Prince. Ben is a founding member of the GRAMMY-nominated group Kneebody, currently signed with Concord Records and Brainfeeder Music.

As a composer, he has received an ASCAP Jazz Composer Award, the 2008 and 2011 Chamber Music America "New Works Grant" and most recently was awarded the Victor Lynch-Staunton award by the Canada Council For The Arts. He also co-wrote the score for John Krasinski's adaptation of David Foster Wallace's "Brief Interviews With Hideous Men." 

Ben's recent work includes producing and playing in jazz and many other genres, including the GRAMMY-nominated album "Life Forum" for pianist Gerald Clayton on Concord Records, the new Kneedelus album (Kneebody + Daedelus), released on Brainfeeder and given a rave 8.0 review from Pitchfork, appearing on Julia Holter's new film score, and collaborating with her on a new non-jazz album he is co-creating with Daedelus (the album will feature artists such as Terrace Martin, Knower and Mark Guiliana), producing an album for Folk/Americana artist Darryl Holter (a BMI Woody Guthrie Fellowship Recipient), playing on Jimmy Chamberlin's (drummer from Smashing Pumpkins) new instrumental album, and producing live concerts at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica, CA from 2008-2015, with the help of Quincy Jones and his production team. He also recently worked with conductor Kent Nagano in producing a series of concerts for the Festspiel Plus in Munich, Germany.

Ben is a former Adjunct Professor of Jazz Studies at USC and a current Adjunct at the New School in NYC.  Educational outreach has been a constant in his career with over 250 masterclasses at various colleges, universities, high schools, and previous work with the LA Philharmonic Artist Program.

Ben has recorded for Sunnyside Records, Concord Records and Brainfeeder, with two solo albums under his belt, Simple Song (2009) and Frame (2012), a duo project with French-American pianist Dan Tepfer entitled Small Constructions (2013) and multiple Kneebody albums. His music video project, The Seasons, inspired by Tchaikovsky's works of the same name, was released throughout 2015 and included guests such as Joshua Redman, Jeff Ballard, Mark Turner, Julian Lage and more. Ben's third solo album What We Bring is planned for release in the Fall of 2016 on Motema Music. 

What We Bring - CD Release Tour:

Sept 14 - Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, NYC - 7:30 & 9:30 PM

Sept 15 - The Regattabar, Cambridge, MA - 7:30 PM

Sept 16 - Firehouse 12, New Haven, CT

Sept 17 - Chris' Jazz Cafe, Philadelphia, PA

Sept 19 - University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Sept 20 - Oakland University, Rochester, MI

Sept 21 - Constellation, Chicago, IL, 7:30 & 9:30 PM

Sept 22 - Dazzle, Denver, CO, 7 & 9 PM

Sept 23-25 - SF Jazz Center - Joe Henderson Lab, San Francisco, CA, 7 & 8:30 PM (Fri/Sat), 5:30 & 7 PM (Sun)

Sept 26 - Western Oregon University, Monmouth, OR

Sept 27 - Cornish Playhouse-Seattle Center, Seattle, WA

Sept 28 - The Old Church, Portland, OR, 7:30 PM

Sept 29 - Kuumbwa Jazz Center, Santa Cruz, CA, 7 PM

Sept 30-Oct 1 - Blue Whale, Los Angeles, CA, 8 PM

Oct 2 - Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix, AZ

Oct 8 - Le Crescent Jazz Club, Macon, France

Oct 10 - Theatre Astree, Villeurbane, France

Oct 12-13 - Duc des Lombards, Paris, France

Oct 14 - Bimhuis, Amsterdam, NL

Oct 15 - Lantaren Venster, Rotterdam, NL

Oct 16 - L'espace des Arts Vivants, Parc Culturel De Rentilly, Bussy Saint Martin, France

‘Michael Bublé – Tour Stop 148’ Swings into Cinemas Nationwide as the Grammy Award-Winning Singer-Songwriter Gives Fans Exclusive Backstage Access

You just haven’t met him like this yet. Michael Bublé and his tour crew come to the big screen for one night with “Michael Bublé – Tour Stop 148” on Tuesday, September 27 at 7:00 p.m. local time. This special cinema event closely follows Bublé’s dedicated team on the road and features a selection of his greatest hits on stage, including “Home,” “Crazy Love,” “Cry Me A River,” “Feeling Good” and more. In addition to the feature content, audiences will also enjoy a specially-filmed introduction and Q&A with Bublé which addresses his motivation for making the film, his music and his experience of life on the road.

Tickets for “Michael Bublé – Tour Stop 148” can be purchased online beginning Friday, August 12 by visiting www.FathomEvents.com or at participating theater box offices. Fans throughout the U.S. will be able to enjoy the event in more than 350 select movie theaters through Fathom’s Digital Broadcast Network. For a complete list of theater locations visit the Fathom Events website (theaters and participants are subject to change).

"Along with giving my fans a front row seat to the show, I really wanted to celebrate the incredible backstage team. They're the 'unsung' heroes who bring this show to a new city every night. I could not have done it without them," said Bublé.

Canadian superstar Michael Bublé has left an indelible mark on the entertainment world. His music has earned him numerous Grammy and Juno awards. He has sold more than 55 million albums worldwide and more than two million tickets for the To Be Loved Tour. “Michael Bublé – Tour Stop 148” gives his legions of fans not only a front row seat to breathtaking concert performances of his greatest hits, but also an exclusive look at what goes into a concert tour of this magnitude – where the crew becomes family and the camaraderie is unmatched.

“Michael Bublé’s reputation as the consummate performer who gives the audience all he’s got is on full display in this cinema event, along with the efforts of the incredible team that surrounds him while moving this lavish production from city to city,” commented Dion Singer, Executive Vice President, Creative at Warner Bros. Records and Executive Producer of the film.

“Michael Bublé has taken his music to a completely new level with a reach that spans audiences of all ages,” Fathom Events Vice President of Programming Kymberli Frueh said. “This event provides unique backstage access while sharing the experience of an artist at his peak. You will truly feel like you are switching between front-row-center during his performances and a fly on the wall backstage.”

SAXOPHONIST RICHARD ELLIOT CELEBRATES HIS FUNK AND R&B ROOTS ON SUMMER MADNESS

When tenor saxophonist Richard Elliot began preparing Summer Madness, his follow-up to 2014’s critically acclaimed Lip Service, he knew exactly what he wanted to do. First and foremost, it had to be funky. “When I was growing up in the ’70s and first learning to play the saxophone,” he says, “I was mostly attracted to instrumentally based R&B and to jazz that had R&B roots. This record definitely goes down that path, leaning more on the funk side.”

He also knew precisely who he wanted to accompany him on the new music. “I wanted to involve my band,” Elliot says. “A lot of artists tour with a group of musicians, and then when it’s time to make a record they hook up with a producer and go into the studio and use completely different people that maybe they’ve never even met before. I feel that if you’re lucky enough to have a regular group of musicians that you work with, and you don’t draw on their talent and their inspirations, you’re short-changing yourself.”

Summer Madness, set for release on September 9, 2016 via Heads Up, a division of Concord Music Group, is a new kind of Richard Elliot recording. For one thing, the cast includes two other horn men augmenting Elliot’s signature sax work: trumpeter/trombonist Rick Braun, who also produced the album and, on several tracks, baritone saxophonist Curt Waylee. Most importantly though, the music was created from scratch as Elliot and his handpicked musicians formulated and honed their ideas in the studio, with Braun’s ultra-capable guidance. For Elliot, recruiting the additional players and having the entire band—plus a well-respected veteran producer help him shape the music—was integral to the project’s success.

“I didn’t want to direct them,” he says. “I wanted to bring them in and let them be part of the process—the writing, the arranging—and to do it all together. I had a lot of confidence that these guys are mature enough musically. Everybody brought what they do to the table and we all put our heads together. We didn’t have rehearsals first, we didn’t have writing sessions first. We booked some days in the studio and the music just poured out.”

The result of these impromptu jams—seven new originals and three classic interpretations—is unquestionably one of the most electrifying and gratifying recordings of Richard Elliot’s three-plus-decade solo career. From the opening salvo, a super-funkified take on Spyro Gyra’s “Cachaca,” through the closing “Mr. Nate’s Wild Ride,” spotlighting bassist Nathaniel Phillips, who wrote the track along with Elliot and Braun, Summer Madness is one of those albums that simply takes hold the moment you press play and never lets go. Along the way it touches down on a variety of moods and styles, from Latin- and African-inspired funk to soul jazz, even flirting with fusion on the hard-driving, appropriately titled “Ludicrous Speed.”

A couple of sparkling ballads pay tribute to heroes of Elliot’s going back to his earliest days of musical discovery: “Europa,” on which he honors one of his saxophone inspirations, the late Gato Barbieri—who famously remade the Carlos Santana-penned track in his own image, and the title track “Summer Madness,” a mid-’70s hit for funk titans Kool & the Gang.

Among the original compositions, “Harry the Hipster,” says Elliot, “is reminiscent of songs that had cool, recurring melodies and a funky pulse—the idea was not to wrap yourself up in how much complexity you could put into the song, but how much feeling and groove can you put into the song?” Another highlight, the band-written “West Coast Jam,” is Elliot’s nod to yet another influence, the late leader of funk trailblazers Zapp, Roger Troutman, while “Breakin’ It Down,” which arrives early on Summer Madness, is designed, he says, to bridge the genres of funk and contemporary jazz, with which Elliot has long been associated. “I sort of formulated that theory later though,” he confesses. “When we were making the music we were just making it.”

It should come as no surprise to Elliot’s longtime fans that he would, at some point in his career, choose to celebrate funk in such a dedicated, decisive way. It was, after all, with the legendary Tower of Power that many first heard the saxophone virtuosity of Richard Elliot. Although he was born in Scotland and grew up in Los Angeles, where he started playing saxophone while in middle school, his five-year run with the Bay Area institution ToP during the 1980s was when Richard Elliot first came to prominence.

“I learned more about being a musician, about being a performer, about being a team player in a horn section, about how to make a statement when you step out and do a solo, from being with Tower of Power than from any other group or artist I ever worked with,” Elliot says, adding that it was “initially terrifying” to find himself among some of the most accomplished and highly respected musicians on the funk/R&B scene. In fact, he learned enough from working with them, Elliot says now, to know that he was ready to go off on his own when he did.

“Leaving Tower of Power was the hardest decision I ever made,” he says now, but great things were to follow almost immediately. By the late ’80s, Elliot had launched his solo career and was signed to Blue Note Records, where he worked with the legendary record executive Bruce Lundvall, an early champion of Elliot’s work. Since then, Elliot has released more than 20 albums as a leader, and has also polished his chops serving as a sideman for a considerable list of diverse giants, including Motown hitmakers Smokey Robinson and the Temptations. One of Elliot’s favorite projects was the collaborative 2013 release Summer Horns, which found him teaming up with fellow sax-slingers Dave Koz, Gerald Albright and Mindi Abair—the album was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Pop Instrumental Album.

Throughout all of his music, Richard Elliot has always strived to achieve one certain goal. “Miles Davis said, ‘The hardest thing for a musician to do is sound like himself.’ That stuck with me,” Elliot says. “If you fixate on a single influence, you tend to sound like someone who’s trying to sound like that person. I never know if I’ve achieved that goal but on occasion I’ve had someone come up to me and say, ‘I heard a song on the radio and I knew it was you.’” Summer Madness puts a bit of a new twist on the classic Richard Elliot sound, but you won’t doubt for a single second who you are hearing.

NEW RELEASES: KEVIN WHALUM - I LIVE FOR YOU; RE-WORKS (VARIOUS ARTISTS); GABY HERNANDEZ – SPIRIT REFLECTION

KEVIN WHALUM - I LIVE FOR YOU

Kevin now has three solo albums under his belt: the self-produced solo debut, Timetable (2002); the George Duke-produced, One Life To Love (2008); and the new self-produced, I Live For You (2016). Although Kevin eschews any effort to force him into a category or genre’, he freely admits to defining himself as “primarily a jazz vocalist who just happens to be a Christian”. He exhorts, “I hope I never agree to be just one thing. A true artist never wants that. I have been-and will remain-free to explore the musical universe. There’s too much out here to stay locked into one soundscape forever. Music is big, but Jesus is infinitely bigger. I want to touch his face with everything he puts in my heart to do. I hope people find my new record, I Live For You, refreshing, and dare I say it, groundbreaking.” Includes: Pretty Bird; Somebody Somewhere;Take A Stand (Introducing, CRISIS); I Live For You; Come Back Home; Somebody Said; Strong (For my sister, Charlisa); Truly Unconditional (Introducing, Daphne Delva Smith); and Take A Stand (reprise).

RE-WORKS (VARIOUS ARTISTS)

Great compositions, reworked – in a very cool project that takes older recordings from the Decca catalog of classical music, and puts them in the hands of 21st Century producers! The sound is surprisingly great – no dancefloor remixes of Beethoven's 5th, and instead these really thoughtful pieces that extrapolate the original songs in beautiful ways – often mixing their acoustic core with some slight electric elements – in ways that remind us a lot of recent material from Max Richter. The package is clearly done with an ear towards Richter's work – and is similar to projects like this that have been done with the Deutsche Grammophon catalog – and our only complaint is that the notes don't give any information about the original sources of the performances. That's only a very minor issue, though – and the music is more than enough, as you'll hear on Grieg's "Peer Gynt" remixed by Solmon Grey, Erik Satie's "Gnossienne No 1" remixed by STarkey, Faure's "Requiem" remixed by Faultline, Steve Reich's "Six Pianos" remixed by Mr Scruff, Debussy's "String Quartet" remixed by Henrik Schwarz, Holst's "The Planets (Neptune)" remixed by Thomas Gandey, and Schubert's "Schwanengesang" remixed by Kate Simko.  ~ Dusty Groove.

GABY HERNANDEZ – SPIRIT REFLECTION

A fantastic record from Gaby Hernandez – a singer we've loved for previous collaborations with Build An Ark and Life Force Trio – but who really knocks it out of the park with this double-length set! The presentation is a bit unusual – in that the entire album is presented with vocal versions of the songs, then a second instrumental take on the tracks – the latter a great showcase for the album's many collaborators – a heavy-duty lineup that features Kamasi Washington, Carlos Nino, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Dexter Story, and the Contact Field Orchestra! Gaby's vocals really sine in all this great company – and the musicians have ways to deepen the spirit of her songs, and take things in places that still make us love the music, even after her voice has dropped out. Titles include "Spirit Reflection", "Into Yoa", "Super Nova Lovers", "Baobab Tree", "Messy Love", "Los Mas Dulce", "Stay A While", and "Entranced". (Includes download!) ~ Dusty Groove

Rare Studio One Records Compilation LP Money Maker Reissued Feat. Im and David, Ernest Ranglin, Jackie Mittoo, Lloyd Williams and more

Money Maker, one of the rarest albums in legendary reggae label Studio One's catalog, has just been reissued in LP/CD and Digital formats.

Featuring a more overt soul and jazz sound for Studio One, the album is comprised of mostly instrumentals of early Studio One tracks made famous by groups like The Heptones, The Wailing Souls and John Holt. Money Maker features performances by Studio One house bands, The Sound Dimension, The Soul Brothers and The Soul Vendors joined by Im and David, guitarist Ernest Ranglin, Lloyd Williams, Jackie Mittoo and "The Boss" himself, Coxsone Dodd. The original 1970 release was pressed in limited quantities and remained out of print until 2002 when a limited edition including extra tracks was released. Remastered from the original session tapes, this reissue is presented with it’s original track listing and iconic “cash” cover.

Last week, Studio One Director of A&R, Chris Wilson, spoke to The Takeaway about the legend of Studio One. Listen here:

http://www.wnyc.org/story/studio-one-and-legacy-jamaican-reggae

Kicking off the reissue campaign on May 27th were The Wailers and their debut album The Wailing Wailers featuring Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston, reviewed in Pitchfork. Future releases include the never before released Studio One Radio Show featuring beloved host, Winston "The Whip" Williams, a Don Drummond collection and a "House of Joy" box set to celebrate the label's over 60 years of existence.

Founded by Clement "Coxsone" Dodd in the late 50's, Studio One was one of Jamaica's most renowned recording studios and record labels, helping to pioneer ska, rocksteady, dub and dancehall. The label discovered and released music from The Skatalites, The Wailers, Delroy Wilson, Jackie Mittoo, The Maytals, Jackie Opel, The Gaylads, Alton Ellis and more. Throughout the years, countless songs have been sampled and covered from the catalog including, "Pass the Dutchie" by Musical Youth, The Clash's cover of "Armagideon Time" and "Smile" by Lily Allen, just to name a few. For a full history on Studio One, click HERE and visit http://studioonerecords.com/

Money Maker Tracklisting

1. Money Maker - Im and David

2. Black Is Black - Im and David*

3. Soul Brother - Im and David*

4. Black Man's Train - Lloyd Williams*

5. Great Gu Gu Mu Ga (Great Gu Ga Mu Ga) - The Boss* (Coxsone Dodd)

6. Feel It - Jackie Mittoo

7. Mixing - Jackie Mittoo*

8. Candid Eye - Im and David

9. Stormy Night - Jackie Mittoo*

10. Soul Walk - Im and David

*Featuring Ernest Ranglin on guitar

Musicians: The Sound Dimension, The Soul Brothers and The Soul Vendors

Produced by Clement Dodd

Engineered by Sylvan Morris and Clement Dodd

Executive Producer: Carol Dodd

Reissue supervision by Chris Wilson for Studio One

Mastered by Toby Mountain at Northeastern Digital

Reissued via Yep Roc Music Group

Introducing Annalé: From Seoul to Soul‏

Born and raised in South Korea, New Jersey, and now based in Los Angeles, singer, songwriter, and producer, Annalé’s musical influences like her sound can be described as a perfect blend of Neo-Soul, R&B, and Pop! “I love music that I can feel and am pretty eclectic when it comes to the types of music that I love,” shares the 21-year-old. “When I discovered artist like Lalah Hathaway, Erykah Badu, Floetry, India Arie, Norah Jones, Adele, Sadè, Jill Scott, Brian McKnight, Mint Condition, Musiq Soulchild and Lauryn Hill, I felt something almost visceral. Their music, melodies, move and inspire me.”  

Barely able to reach the pedals, Annalé started playing her first instrument, the piano at the age of 4 under the guidance of her parents also musicians. Her father is an active orchestral conductor and composer in South Korea and her mother an organist. They discovered her vocal talent during middle school.  

With both classical training and an ear for melody and strong structure, she auditioned for Berklee College of Music and was selected as one of the seven Presidential Scholars receiving a 5-year tuition to the prestigious college.  “At Berklee, I majored in Contemporary Writing & Production and Vocal Performance and was constantly surrounded by amazing musicians from all over the world; it helped to sharpen my musical skills and performing with my band helps keep me fluid and improvisational.”

  

With her forthcoming debut coming soon and the  single, “Roses” quietly rising on Billboard’s Urban Adult Contemporary Charts, Annalè is positioning herself to musically and culturally reach global audiences.  While some may be amazed that this voice comes from an unlikely source, Annalè and those who follow her aren’t quite surprised at all. “People who really love music don’t care how it’s packaged or presented, they want to know if you can sing, if you can move them. That’s why I create music, not to follow the culture norms, but to reimagine them,” says the soulful siren.  

Legacy Recordings and Octave Music Set to Release Ready Take One, A Brand New Album of 14 Unreleased Studio Performances by Legendary American Jazz Pianist/Composer Erroll Garner

Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, and Octave Music Licensing LLC, curators of American jazz legend Erroll Garner's archival recordings, announce the release of Garner's Ready Take One on Friday, September 30. 

A new album of 14 previously unreleased studio performances by Erroll Garner and his backing musicians--drums (Jimmie Smith, Joe Cocuzzo), bass (Earnest McCarty, Jr., Ike Isaacs, George Duvivier, Larry Gales) and percussion (Jose Mangual)--Ready Take One is comprised of tracks recorded during seven extraordinarily productive sessions in 1967, 1969 and 1971. The New York Times just premiered "Wild Music," a new original track from the album, which can be heard here: http://smarturl.it/Erroll_WildMusic.

Ready Take One features six previously unreleased original Erroll Garner compositions--"High Wire," "Wild Music," "Back To You," "Chase Me," "Latin Digs," and "Down Wylie Avenue"--alongside Garner's swinging interpretations of a variety of jazz and pop standards including "I Want To Be Happy," "I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)," Bobby Hebb's "Sunny," Duke Ellington's "Caravan" and "Satin Doll," Cole Porter's "Night and Day," "Stella By Starlight" and a passionately rendered version of Garner's own "Misty," one of the most-often-covered jazz compositions of all-time and the most-requested number in Garner's repertoire, recorded for this album on May 28, 1969 in Paris, France.

Recorded during an especially prolific creative period running from 1967-1971, all 14 songs found on Ready Take One are previously unreleased and only recently restored after nearly 50 years on acetate.

Drawn from these sessions at Universal Recording in Chicago (November 28-29, 1967), Capital Studios in New York City (October 7, 1969) and RCA Studios in Manhattan (April 27, June 22 and December 2, 1971), Ready Take One finds Erroll Garner in the studio with his road-tested band and longtime manager Martha Glaser, firing off some of the most memorable performances of his career. For the first time, listeners are given a glimpse behind the studio doors, with rare insightful conversational tidbits between Garner and the group included between many of the songs. Glaser, known for her progressive guidance of Garner's artistic and commercial interests, is heard here in producer mode, slating takes and joking with Garner over the control room talk-back mic. As album producer Geri Allen writes, "a kind of fifth member of the band, Glaser would support Erroll Garner in the moment of the creative act." Indeed the title of the album comes directly from Glaser's steady refrain of "Ready Take One."

The first new Erroll Garner studio album to be released in nearly a quarter century, Ready Take One is the worthy successor to Legacy/Octave's first Garner release, 2015's critically-acclaimed Grammy-nominated The Complete Concert by The Sea, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Jazz chart. Ready Take One is the first studio album from the extensive Octave Music catalog of previously unreleased Erroll Garner recordings and compositions.

One of the great American jazz pianists and composers of the 20th century (his classic "Misty" is an undisputed cornerstone jazz standard and the mainstay of many repertoires) Erroll Garner was among the most popular, successful and influential jazz artists of his era. (Reportedly Johnny Carson's favorite jazz musician, Garner appeared 27 times as a guest on "The Tonight Show" during Carson's reign as host in the 1960s and 1970s.)

Garner recorded the top-selling outdoor jazz concert album of all time, Concert By The Sea, in 1955; in 1957, became the first jazz soloist to win The Gran Prix du Disque in Paris, France; in 1959, was the first musician to play a solo jazz concert at Carnegie Hall, turning away more than 7000 people; and was given his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (at 6363 Hollywood Boulevard).

Garner popularized jazz for millions all over the world with record breaking concert tours, and at the height of his career, was credited with developing the first completely original piano style since Art Tatum. With his completely distinctive, immediately recognizable and highly influential compositional and performance gifts, Erroll Garner was compared by critics to artists as diverse as Claude Debussy and Fats Waller.

Sadly, and somewhat inexplicably, since his death in 1977, Erroll Garner's artistry, enduring musical legacy and immeasurable contributions to the evolution of 20th century American jazz in the 20th century have been overlooked too often by contemporary audiences. With albums like Ready Take One, The Complete Concert By The Sea and future titles in the works, Legacy Recordings and Octave Music are reintroducing the music and genius of Erroll Garner to the world, bringing the abiding magic of his sounds to whole new generations of fans.

On June 15, 2015, the estate of Martha Glaser, Garner's longtime manager, announced the formation of the Erroll Garner Jazz Project, a major new archival and musical celebration of Garner. The project includes the donation of the Erroll Garner Archive--a huge trove of newly discovered historical material from Garner's life--to the University of Pittsburgh.

The album producers are:

Peter Lockhart, Senior Producer

Geri Allen, Producer

Steve Rosenthal, Producer

Susan Rosenberg, Executive Producer

Emma Munger, Assistant Producer

Erroll Garner

Ready Take One

Track list:

1. High Wire

2. I Want To Be Happy

3. I'm Confessin' (That I Love You)

4. Sunny

5. Wild Music

6. Caravan

7. Back To You

8. Night And Day

9. Chase Me

10. Satin Doll

11. Latin Digs

12. Stella By Starlight

13. Down Wylie Avenue

14. Misty

Jimi Hendrix Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show 12/31/69 Out September 30 On CD, 2 LP 180 Gram Vinyl, High Resolution SACD And Digital

Experience Hendrix L.L.C. and Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, are releasing Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show 12/31/69, fully documenting the debut performance of Jimi Hendrix's short-lived but eternally influential Band of Gypsys on September 30. The group played four historic concerts at the Fillmore East in New York City - two on New Year's Eve 1969, and two on New Year's Day 1970. Never before has the first of these sets been available in its entirety. The vast majority of the performances have never seen the light of day in any configuration.

Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show 12/31/69 was produced by Janie Hendrix, Eddie Kramer and John McDermott, the same team who have overseen all of Jimi Hendrix's audio and audio visual releases by Experience Hendrix L.L.C. since 1995. Kramer served Jimi Hendrix as his primary recording engineer throughout his lifetime and the newly mixed Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show 12/31/69 from the original 1" 8 track master tapes. The album was mastered by Grammy Award winner Bernie Grundman and will be simultaneously released, on CD, 2 LP 180 gram vinyl, high resolution SACD and digitally. Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show 12/31/69 is available for pre-order on CD: http://smarturl.it/jh_mg_cd and Vinyl: http://smarturl.it/jh_mg_vinyl

Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show 12/31/69 marks the first ever Jimi Hendrix SACD and high resolution digital release. Additionally, Experience Hendrix is also releasing People, Hell & Angels on the same day. People, Hell & Angels, a collection of previously unreleased studio recordings, peaked at #2 on Billboard's Top 200 Album chart in March 2013. The album features studio versions of many of the songs featured on Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show 12/31/69.

Over the course of four extraordinary years, Jimi Hendrix placed his indelible stamp upon popular music with breathtaking velocity. Measured alongside his triumphs at Monterey Pop and Woodstock, Hendrix's legendary Fillmore East concerts illustrated a critical turning point in a radiant career which boasted of indefinite possibilities.

The revolutionary impact Jimi Hendrix, Billy Cox, and Buddy Miles had upon the boundaries and definitions of rock, R&B, and funk can be traced to four concerts over the course of two evenings on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. These performances were first celebrated by Band Of Gypsys, which featured six songs from the two January 1, 1970 concerts including "Machine Gun," the album's dramatic centerpiece. Issued in April 1970, Band Of Gypsys challenged and surprised the guitarist's wide following with its extended arrangements and vibrant mix of rock and soul. Nonetheless, the album proved to be a runaway commercial success and sadly, with his death in London in September 1970, would become the last album Jimi Hendrix personally authorized for release.

Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show 12/31/69 documents the first of the group's four legendary Fillmore East concerts. This set presents an assortment of fresh, exciting new songs such as "Earth Blues," "Ezy Ryder," "Stepping Stone," "Burning Desire," and "Machine Gun"--none of which had ever before been issued on disc. Moreover, nearly all of the group's material had never been performed before an audience. "We decided that we couldn't do any songs that had already been released," explains Billy Cox. "We wanted to give them something different. So we went at the project in a joyous, creative posture and ultimately developed the repertoire of the Band of Gypsys."

While promoter Bill Graham had advertised the concerts as 'Jimi Hendrix: A Band Of Gypsys', few could have anticipated what Hendrix had in store. "We had two shows New Years Eve and two shows New Years Day," remembered Cox. "We didn't know what to expect from the audience and the audience didn't know what to expect from us, but from the time we hit that first note, they were in awe. You had Jimi Hendrix, a drummer who had been with the Electric Flag and Wilson Pickett, and I was the new kid on the block."

With the anticipation of the sold out Fillmore audience heightened to fever pitch, Hendrix led his trio through a scintillating, seventy-five minute opening performance. None of the eleven songs presented had yet to grace an Experience album. In the place of signature songs like "Purple Haze" and "All Along The Watchtower" were confident renditions of "Power Of Soul" and "Hear My Train A Comin.'"

Jimi generously extended center stage to Buddy Miles, providing a showcase for "Changes" and a charged rendition of the Howard Tate R&B hit "Stop". "We had rehearsed "Changes" and a few others for Buddy," explains Cox. "All of the songs we performed had been rehearsed. We didn't look at it as Buddy's part of the show. We were all there to give. We were all there to help and material went on whether it was written by Jimi or not." Former Rolling Stone senior editor David Fricke, who authored this collection's liner notes, describes "Stop" as being something akin to "a psychedelic power-trio Temptations." Hendrix's scalding version of Elmore James' "Bleeding Heart" is the set's only other cover, underscoring the new band's emphasis on the blues.

As the Fillmore audience roared with approval, the Band Of Gypsys left the stage confident that they had validated Jimi's new music before his loyal followers. "After the gigs were finished, Jimi was quite relieved," remembers Cox. "We felt the concerts went well. I might add that in previous gigs with the Experience he had used a fuzz face [tone control pedal] and a Wah-Wah pedal, then at Woodstock he used a fuzz face, Wah-Wah pedal and Uni-Vibe, but at the Fillmore East he used a fuzz face, Wah-Wah pedal, Uni-Vibe and Octavia and it was incredible. In fact you could hear all of it kicking in on 'Machine Gun.' It was incredible. There were people in the audience with their mouths open."

"Machine Gun" stands as one of Hendrix's finest and most influential compositions. Hendrix pushed Delta blues into places its pioneers could not have imagined, fusing his extraordinary instrumental skills within his passionate expression of man's inhumanity to his fellow man. "Machine Gun" endures as a classic amongst the already classic-drenched Jimi Hendrix canon. Fricke notes of this version, the first that Hendrix and company had ever played in concert, "..Here it is, after 46 years, another revelation - a stunning essay in pain, rage and determined survival, fully formed in its initial outing."

Long sought after by the guitarist's worldwide following, Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show 12/31/69 presents the complete performance in its original sequence.

Jimi Hendrix - Machine Gun: The Fillmore East First Show 12/31/69 (release date: September 30)

1) Power Of Soul

2) Lover Man

3) Hear My Train A Comin'

4) Changes

5) Izabella

6) Machine Gun

7) Stop

8) Ezy Ryder

9) Bleeding Heart

10) Earth Blues

11) Burning Desire

JimiHendrix.com

Saxophonist Miguel Zenón set to release "Típico" in 2017 with his longstanding quartet Luis Perdomo, Hans Glawischnig, Henry Cole

Miguel Zenón's new album, Típico, is above all a celebration of his longstanding quartet. His past several releases have generally fleshed out that core unit with additional instrumentalists as Zenón has looked outward to explore various aspects of his Puerto Rican heritage. This new album feels more intimate. Its focus stays closer to home, with nods to Zenón's own personal and professional life as it zeroes in on what makes his band unique.

"I was thinking about what this band and the guys in the band mean to me as I was writing the music," he explains. "I kept going back to this idea of us developing this common language that identifies us as a band."

That language has been developing for more than a decade. Pianist Luis Perdomo and bassist Hans Glawischnig have been with Zenón since the turn of the millennium; Henry Cole joined the band in 2005. Their language is thoroughly fluent modern jazz, with all the instrumental prowess and rhythmic and harmonic complexity that that implies. But the dialect they've created together through the years is distinctive.

"'Típico' refers to something that's customary to a region or a group of people," Zenón says. "Or something that can be related to a specific group of people. And when I was writing the music, I was thinking about music that identified us and this band."

Each of the album's final three tracks, Zenón notes, was composed around a solo or signature rhythmic line that one of the band members had played before. "My approach was more systematic on those three compositions specifically. But the whole record essentially is about representing the sound of the band. The sound of our band."

The album opens with "Academia," a tune inspired by Zenón's teaching at New England Conservatory, where he serves as part of the jazz faculty. "One of the great things about teaching at NEC is that I get the opportunity to create a personalized curriculum for each of my private students, depending on their needs and on what I feel they should be working on. So I find myself having to come up with new exercises constantly, in order to keep our interactions interesting and challenging. This composition is built around various harmonic and rhythmic exercises that I developed with some of my more recent students at the school."

The second track, "Cantor," honors Zenón's friend and frequent collaborator Guillermo Klein. "Gullermo's music has a very personal voice, something very unique. With this piece I was trying to convey some of what I feel are his most interesting qualities as a composer, like the lyrical character of his melodies and the very nuanced harmonic movement of his pieces. He also has very particular way of organizing the 3/4 bar, which he breaks down into three bars of 7/8 and one bar of 3/8. The piece touches on this a bit towards the end, sort of as a way of tipping my hat to a great friend and musician."

The third and fourth tracks both stem from Zenón pondering what gives a particular song a folkloric feel. "Ciclo" emphasizes melody and rhythm, Zenón taking "a melody that is meant to sound very folkloric - a bit simpler harmonically and delineating a very specific beat" and building a complex extended cycle around it using smaller, interlocking rhythmic cells.

"Típico" approaches its folkloric aims harmonically. "There's a harmonic cadence that is very common in Latin American music, especially music in the Caribbean. Something that revolves around a minor key and then slides down, going 'Subdominant Minor - Tonic Minor - Dominant - Tonic Minor.' A very simple cadence, but one that is very unique and effective. It's always caught my ear because I'm always on the lookout for things that serve as sort of musical connecting threads, things that makes me feel that the music from all these different countries and cultural expressions is somehow connected and coming out of the same combination of elements. I built this specific composition around this cadence, and called it "Típico" in reference to this Pan-American idea."

"Sangre Di Me Sangre" is a tune the quartet has been playing for a while now, a balladic tribute to Zenón's 4-year-old daughter, Elena, written before her first birthday. "I was sitting in this park with her," he recalls. "She was playing around and I sat down and sketched out the song on my notepad." Zenón wrote the piece first with lyrics, then orchestrated it for the quartet, featuring Glawischnig's bass both on a sprightly introductory melody played in unison with Perdomo and on a solo meant to convey a singing quality.

Glawischnig is also featured on "Corteza," its melody derived from Zenón's transcription of his bass solo opening the track "Calle Calma" on the 2009 Zenón album Esta Plena. It, too, has a balladic feel, with lyrical solos from Zenón and Perdomo leading to a closing uptempo restatement of the theme.

The Perdomo feature "Entre Las Raíces" ("Amongst the Roots") is more fiery, emphasizing two key facets of the pianist's musical personality. The intricate melody he and Zenón whip through together was transcribed from a Perdomo solo on "Street View: Biker," the opening track on Perdomo's album Awareness. But this arrangement opens with Perdomo playing wild and free, and Zenón's alto solo when it comes reveals a free side of his own, veering more toward Ornette Coleman or Albert Ayler.

"The piece is very free in terms of the way we deal with the improvised segments," says Zenón. "Luis always talks about listening to Bud Powell and Cecil Taylor at the same time when he was growing up in Caracas, and always having a foot in this freer, avant-gardish world of jazz. And when you hear him play on that track, it sounds that way. For that piece specifically, he really sounds like he's 100 percent in his element."

Cole's playing is suitably free on "Entre Las Raíces" as well, but his featured track, "Las Ramas" ("The Branches," Cole's own debut album having been titled "Roots Before Branches"), required more discipline. "I wrote the piece around this figure that he has been developing over the last few years and plays all the time," says Zenón. "The piece is very difficult to play - sort of like an etude for the drums, pretty much. And I know he worked very hard on it. Even though the original idea came from him, he worked very hard on making it precise and making it clean, and really sounded amazing on this track."

It's no accident that the final three songs are named for parts of a tree. "I was thinking of the band as a tree," Zenón acknowledges. "And thinking of myself as the watcher. I mean, I'm part of it also. But mostly I'm observing these amazing musicians night after night, and how together they kind of make up this living organism."

Zenón is onto something with that metaphor. The spotlight cast by Típico illuminates how alive his quartet's music has always been, while never ceasing to evolve and grow.

A multiple Grammy® nominee and Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow, Zenón is one of a select group of musicians who have masterfully balanced and blended the often-contradictory poles of innovation and tradition. Widely considered one of the most groundbreaking and influential saxophonists of his generation, Zenón has also developed a unique voice as a composer and as a conceptualist, concentrating his efforts on perfecting a fine mix between Latin American folkloric music and jazz. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Zenón has recorded and toured with a wide variety of musicians including Charlie Haden, Fred Hersch, Kenny Werner, Bobby Hutcherson and Steve Coleman and is a founding member of the SFJAZZ Collective.

He'll also be touring widely to support the release.  2017 Tour dates currently booked include:

* February 10 - Villa Victoria Center for the Arts - Boston, MA

* February 11 - Annenberg Center Live,  Philadelphia, PA

* February 14 - 19 - Village Vanguard, New York, NY

* February 22 - The Loft at UCSD - San Diego, CA

* February 23 - Kuumbwa Jazz Center - Santa Cruz, CA

* February 24 - 26 - SFJazz Center, Joe Henderson Lab - San Francisco, CA

* March 1 - Earshot Jazz - Seattle, WA

* March 2 & 3 - Dazzle Jazz, Denver, CO

* March 5 - Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society,  Half Moon Bay, CA

* March 7 - Appalachian State University, Boone, NC

* March 8: - Jazz Kitchen,  Indianapolis, IN

* March 9 - 12 - Jazz Showcase, Chicago, IL

http://www.miguelzenon.com/

NEW RELEASES: FRANK MCCOMB – SOUL MATE: ANOTHER LOVE STORY; BEN WENDEL – WHAT WE BRING; HIDEO YAMAKI / BILL LASWELL – THE STONE

FRANK MCCOMB – SOUL MATE: ANOTHER LOVE STORY

The first properly put-together album by Frank McComb in years – and a wonderful summation of all the fantastic energy he's put into some of his more homegrown records of the past decade or so! Frank's always been one of our favorite soul talents of the 21st Century – and here, with top-level production and presentation, he's instantly elevated to territory of giants like Stevie Wonder or Donny Hathaway – both artists that Frank seems to draw on with his amazing vocals and keyboard work – but always in ways that are never slavish, as McComb draws the right core inspiration, then soars off on his own! Frank's been an under-discovered soul artist for many years – after getting a shot with Sony in the 90s – but that under-exposure is just one more part of his power – as the man's doing so much, with so little help from the industry – and making music that will make him one of the all-time soul music greats. Maysa, Deborah Bond, and Avery Sunshine all sing on the record – but Frank's the main attraction, and holds our attention beautifully – on titles that include "Mustard Seed", "This Love Of Ours", "She Needs True Love Too", "There Are No Words", "Labeled As Love", "Feelin Some Kinda Way", "Muse", "Another Love Story", and "Superstition".  ~ Dusty Groove

BEN WENDEL – WHAT WE BRING

With his career on a steady rise, Ben Wendel steps into the spotlight with his Motema debut. GRAMMY-nominated saxophonist and co-leader of the breakout band, Kneebody, Ben Wendel has enjoyed a varied career as a performer, composer and producer. His YouTube video series, The Seasons, was named one of the New York Times Best Albums of 2015. What We Bring touches on the inspiration that musicians absorb throughout their lives, with each piece dedicated to a key influence on Wendel.

HIDEO YAMAKI / BILL LASWELL – THE STONE

Hideo Yamaki - Japan's most renown, respected and in demand drummer. Veteran of countless recording projects with the most celebrated pop / rock artists in the country and collaborations with Japanese icons, such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Toshinori Kondo, DJ Krush, Akira Sakata and many others. Heard here in duet with legendary bassist / producer, Bill Laswell. A bass and drum dialog that explodes with fluid, spontaneous blasts of telepathy. Industrial, noise, dub, melodic, chaotic, all detonated by a sonic / rhythmic construct. An ever expanding diverse and dynamic matrix. Track: Ankoku Kaiju (36:14); Recorded live at The Stone (NYC) on April 16, 2016. Edited & mixed @ Orange Music, West Orange, NJ. Engineering: James Dellatacoma.

 

19th Annual Vancouver Wine & Jazz Festival Presents Internationally Acclaimed Jazz & Blues Lineup

The 19th Annual Vancouver Wine & Jazz Festival is August 26, 27, 28 at Esther Short Park in Vancouver, WA.  Recognized by musicians, fans and critics as one of the best events of the summer it is "…the largest festival of its kind in the Northwest…" (ABC TV KATU 2, Portland, Oregon).  "This year our concert lineup includes jazz and blues legends, as well as up-and-coming musicians who are breaking onto the national scene," says Artistic Director Michael Kissinger.  "The audience will hear internationally acclaimed musicians as well as new faces at the Festival this summer."  

The lineup includes:

•TiempoLibre— 3-time GRAMMY-nominated Cuban Jazz Band

•Bettye LaVette — 3-time GRAMMY-nominee, Blues Music Award winner

•The Family Stone — 50th Anniversary of The Family Stone, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees

•Tommy Castro & The Painkillers — 6-time Blues Award Winner, and B.B. King Entertainer Of The Year

•Grace Kelly — 24-year old saxophone virtuoso and 2016 Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll Winner

•Heritage Blues Orchestra — GRAMMY-winners and African-American traditional blues band .

•Nicholas Payton — New Orleans-based jazz trumpeter and premier American jazz trumpeter

•Alfredo Rodriguez — Cuban jazz pianist and GRAMMY nominated band leader

  

Local and regional bands include Portland singer Ellen Whyte, the traditional New Orleans-style band The Mardi Gras All Stars, Northwest Latin band Salsa Nova and the 56th US Army Jazz Band from Joint Base Lewis-McCord.  16 concerts will be staged during the 3-day Festival.  The Festival is the #1 Cultural Tourism Event in Southwest Washington and attracts an estimated audience of 8-10,000 people each year and visitors from 19 states and Canada.  Tickets to the 2016 Festival have been purchased from as far away as Ukraine.

DATES & TIMES:

•AUGUST 26, 27, & 28

•Friday, August 26 from 4 PM to 10 PM

•Saturday, August 27 from 11 AM to 10 PM

•Sunday, August 28 from 11 AM to 9 PM

LOCATION: Esther Short Park in downtown Vancouver, Washington at 8th & Columbia Streets.

OTIS REDDING – LIVE AT THE WHISKY A GO GO: THE COMPLETE RECORDINGS

Stax Records, an imprint of Concord Bicycle Music, is pleased to announce the release of Otis Redding – Live At The Whisky A Go Go: The Complete Recordings. In chronological order, this six-CD collection presents the entirety of Redding’s historic performances over three nights at the famed Sunset Strip venue. The seven sets, recorded Friday, April 8th – Sunday, April 10th,,1966, feature the singer’s popular songs of the time, including “Respect,” “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” and his cover of The Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” Several of these recordings--all remixed and remastered from the original 4-track analog tapes--will be made available for the very first time on October 21. In fact, this collection will be the first to offer fans the chance to relive all of the sets in their entirety--including between-song banter by Redding--exactly as they were performed. Rounding out the package is a poster, plus new liner notes from Los Angeles-based journalist Lynell George and box set co-producer Bill Bentley.

By the spring of 1966, 24-year-old Otis Redding was a bona-fide star on the R&B and soul radio waves. The singer was enjoying the critical and commercial success of his third studio album, Otis Blue, and was watching his singles cross over to the (typically very white) pop charts. Redding had yet to be fully embraced by a white audience, and this weekend-long gig in Hollywood--booked at a venue known more for hosting hippies, and launching bands like The Doors, The Byrds and Buffalo Springfield--was a shrewd move to introduce Redding to a new market. In fact, Redding would be the first major soul act to perform on the Whisky’s stage. In her liner notes, Lynell George adds context: “The Strip, like much of 1960s Los Angeles, had invisible but tough to permeate dividing lines...Redding began to see this three-night run as just the right spark to help him jump over all those many lines--from star to superstar, from R&B/soul to pop, from all-black rooms to arenas…” In the end, these Whisky sets (with Otis' nine-piece band) did prove to be an important step in Redding’s career, and introduced him to the emerging counter-culture of the 60s. Of the Whisky shows, The Doors' guitarist Robby Krieger said, "I remember standing right in front of the stage for the whole show. I never heard of Otis Redding before and I was amazed at the energy that he created on the stage.”  A year later, Otis would be the star act at the Monterey Pop Festival, sharing a lineup that included Jimi Hendrix and The Who. Tragically, just as his career was reaching its peak, Redding’s life would be cut short in a plane crash, in December 1967.

Redding has been inducted into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame, Georgia Music Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame.  He has been honored with a U.S. Postage stamp and won a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.  Rolling Stone named him the eighth greatest singer of all-time and U.K.'s Q magazine ranked him at number four.

In his liner notes, Bill Bentley recalls, “Redding’s music had a power and urgency that grabbed you by the throat…There wasn’t any other singer like him then, and those of us who had discovered his music knew we were listening to the very essence of what soul music really was.” Bentley wasn’t alone. The Los Angeles Times’ music critic, Pete Johnson, covered one of Redding’s sets that weekend, calling the performance, “The most exciting thing the rock-worn room had ever harbored.” Redding’s legacy is well known – his brief but iconic discography speaks for itself; but these particular recordings will allow fans to step back in time, and experience a pivotal moment in the rise of a star.

NEW MUSIC: JOEY ALEXANDER - COUNTDOWN; DONNY MCCASLIN – BEYOND NOW; TED NASH BIG BAND – PRESIDENTIAL SUITE

JOEY ALEXANDER - COUNTDOWN

Joey Alexander's jaw-dropping ability and beyond-his-years artistry brought him to some of the grandest stages, from performing at the Grammy's and the White House, to appearing on the TODAY Show and 60 Minutes. Just over a year removed from his debut, the same maturity and dedication to his craft that made him a phenomenon is evident in his remarkable evolution on his sophomore release, Countdown. Now stepping forward as a composer, while still paying tribute to the jazz greats (Coltrane, Monk, Strayhorn), Joey is poised to continue his ascent to being one of the biggest names in jazz, recognized not as a prodigy, but as simply a great musician Features Ulysses Owens Jr. (drums), Larry Grenadier (bass), Dan Chmielinski producer Jason Olaine and special guest Chris Potter.

DONNY MCCASLIN – BEYOND NOW

Deeply influenced by his extraordinary experience collaborating with David Bowie on his final release, Blackstar, Donny McCaslin steps forward with Beyond Now, a heartfelt dedication to the Starman. Along with "David Bowie's Last Band" (Jason Lindner, Mark Guiliana, Tim Lefebvre and Donny himself), Donny reimagines two Bowie tracks (as well as tracks by Deadmau5 and MUTEMATH) alongside powerful originals, displaying the rich musicality and innovation that originally led to him joining forces with one of the most creative artists of all time.

TED NASH BIG BAND – PRESIDENTIAL SUITE

Presidential Suite is an ambitious, culturally trenchant album inspired by eight iconic political speeches of the 20th century, each centering on the essential human need for freedom. Marking Nash's debut on Motéma Music and his 13th recording as a leader, the full suite features an overture plus eight movements, each preceded by inspirational words from a famed world leader: John F. Kennedy, Jawaharlal Nehru, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, Winston Churchill, Aung San Suu Kyi, Lyndon B. Johnson and Nelson Mandela.