LED BIB Pushes The Envelope On RareNoise Debut UMBRELLA WEATHER

Easily the most adventurous and audacious outfit on today's UK jazz scene, Led Bib has built a reputation over the course of seven albums for expansive improvisations and treks into genre-defying music of throbbing intensity. All Music Guide called their singular brand of jazz "explosive enough to blow up your speakers" while The Wire weighed in with: "This is the sound of a band having fun...like a hot chainsaw through butter." For their RareNoiseRecords debut, the five-piece group from London continues pushing the envelope on Umbrella Weather.

Fueled by the muscular drumming of ringleader Mark Holub and the intense fuzz bass lines of Liran Donin, further tweaked by atmospheric washes and crunchy keyboard action from Toby McLaren and sparked by the pungent twin alto saxes of Peter Grogan and Chris Williams, Led Bib stakes out a unique spot in the musical terrain that falls somewhere between the realms of John Zorn, Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus and Eric Dolphy, all imbued with a very strong jazz-rock sensitivity.

From the odd-metered opener "Lobster Terror" to their raucous textures on "Too Many Cooks," from the fuzz-inflected mayhem of "Skeleton Key to the City" to the turbulent "At The Shopping Centre," the expansive 5-minute ambient jam on "Insect Invasion" and the surprisingly lyrical waltz-time closer "Goodbye," this renegade outfit never fails to inject an element of surprise into each potent track. And while certain pieces like "Ceasefire", "The Boot" or the groove-heavy "Women's Power" may seem like well-crafted and tightly executed compositions, Holub explains that most of the music heard on Umbrella Weather comes about organically in the studio through a keen sense of collective intuition honed over the past 13 years of playing together. "In general, very little is written. We are mostly working in a typical jazz style of head-solos-head but in almost every tune the solos are completely open. This concept of free improvisation is a tricky one because it has become a genre all its own, but we are looking at it in a different way. With some of the tunes, we are sort of composing in the moment, rather than the sort of free association that is often thought of as free-improvisation.

Led Bib formed in 2003 as Holub's Master's degree project at Middlesex University. "We went through quite a few different people at the very beginning, but by the time of our first release in 2005 (Arboretum, SLAM Productions) the line up was set and hasn't changed since," he explains. Holub runs down the backgrounds of his Led Bib colleagues:

"Chris Williams is perhaps the most involved in the 'jazz' scene of all of us, though this is definitely more on the contemporary side. He is a founding member of Let Spin, a key member of Laura Cole's Metamorphic.

Liran Donin works a lot as a producer outside of Led Bib working both in Jazz, but also in the realms of Pop and World Music, most notably recently with Namvula Rennie, Mulatu Astatke, Arun Ghosh and Chrissie Hynde.

Toby McLaren is working as a producer, mostly in the rock world. He also plays keyboards for The Heavy, a sort of soul rock band that does quite well in the USA. He seems to be over there all the time these days! 

Norwegian Jazz Crew Straddles Free Jazz and Skronk on New Release REFLECTIONS IN COSMO

The fire and fury of '60s free jazz and the tumult of electronic rock-tinged experimental music is on full display on this new powerhouse offering from four cutting edge Oslo-based musicians collectively known as Reflections in Cosmo. With Kjetil Møster on saxes, Hans Magnus Ryan on guitar, Ståle Storløkken on keyboards and Thomas Strønen on drums, these four kindred spirits strike a tumultuous accord on their self-titled debut on RareNoiseRecords, which represents Møster's followup on RareNoise to his edgy avant-jazz collaboration in 2014 with the Hungarian power trio Jü. At times recalling the ferocious intensity of the late '80s free jazz quartet Last Exit (Peter Brötzman, Sonny Sharrock, Bill Laswell, Ronald Shannon Jackson), this potent Norwegian outfit pushes the envelope with Møster's blowtorch intensity on baritone and tenor saxes, Ryan's wailing electric guitar work, Storløkken's crunchy, distortion-laced keyboards and Strønen's thunderous drumming.

"This band was initiated by Thomas and Ståle," explains Møster. "They have been releasing albums on Rune Grammofon under the name Humcrush for 15 years and they wanted to try out an expanded direction, both in terms of band members and references. They asked me and Hans Magnus 'Snah' Ryan from Motorpsycho, actually not being aware of the fact that Hans Magnus just took over for Ståle in my own quartet Møster! Yes, it's a small inbred world, this."

   

This small world that Møster refers to is the world of genre-crossing musicians operating in the twilight zone between experimental electric jazz, noise rock and psych rock. As Møster says, "Instead of the jazz-rock we had in the 70's and 80's, maybe we now can talk of rock-jazz? Jü would definitely be a part of this fellowship, as would Elephant9 and Møster!" Add Reflections in Cosmo to that list. And whether or not they are following in the footsteps of Last Exit, Møster is quick to point out, "Any comparison to Brötzmann I take as a big compliment! He has definitely been a huge influence on me for big periods of my musical upbringing. Last Exit is sure ringing in the back of my head in this band, even though we have not been discussing explicit references like that. We all bring in our own musical backgrounds and add it to the stew."

   

Recorded in spacious Øra Studio in in Trondheim, Norway, Reflections in Cosmo reveals some uncanny group-think by these four Norwegian musicians. "I don't like rules in music," says Strønen, "and with the background we all have, from free-music to hip-hop and contemporary music, that's not going to be an issue."

   

Møster does bring a Brotxzman-like intensity to bear on his bari blowouts like "Fuzzstew," "Cosmosis" and the kinetic "Perpetual Immobile." He switches to soprano sax on the spacious, ambient number "Ironhorse" and blows bold tenor lines on "Cosmic Hymn" and the title track. Ryan unleashes his ferocious guitar chops on the aptly-named "Fuzzstew" and "Balklava." Says Møster of his six-string partner, "Hans Magnus is one of my favorite guitarists of all time. His sense of texture and ability to build tension and raise this hellacious ferocity is quite unique. I think it comes from playing for about 30 years with Motorpsycho, thus rooted in a heavy but detailed rock aesthetic, but still been deeply into a broad variety of improvisational styles.'

   

Drummer Strønen is featured traversing the kit with power and precision on the crushing title track. Regarding his own drum influences, Strønen points to myriad inspirations. "As a kid I was lucky to play a lot with older and better musicians. The first thing I learned was to listen to the other musicians and react to what they did. I played everything from pop/rock music to free improvised music and got the chance to perform on stage quite early. By the time I turned 18 I started to practice seriously. Since then I've been influenced by lots of jazz music, from Pharaoh Sanders, Miles Davis and John Coltrane to lots of European musicians on ECM Records. For a longer time, I was massively into Japanese classical music, West African Wolof music and American minimalist composers. Drumming-wise, I've picked from the history of jazz, Japanese drum ensembles and classical drummers. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what you dig into as long as you dig. It's a long and thorough process of collecting what's great about what you hear and putting that in the big melting pot, and with a large vocabulary you can put what's needed into the music."

   

Their combination of refreshing new ideas, uninhibited improvisations and heavy-duty, throbbing intensity places Reflections in Cosmo in rarefied air. "The main key to the four of us, I think, is that we´re open minded and don't have a presumption of how to play," adds Strønen. "I find Snah, Kjetil and Ståle to be daring, curious and generous in the way they play. Our agenda is to put the music in front and not some solo performance. The instruments and way of playing blends well, I think. We all have a lot of energy too, which can make the music powerful."

   

Indeed, Reflections in Cosmo is one of the more powerful albums you are likely to hear this year.

TRACKS

1. Cosmosis

2. Ironhorse

3. Cosmic Hymn

4. Balklava

5. Perpetuum Immobile

6. Fuzzstew

7. Reflections In Cosmo

LED BIB Pushes The Envelope On RareNoise Debut UMBRELLA WEATHER

Easily the most adventurous and audacious outfit on today's UK jazz scene, Led Bib has built a reputation over the course of seven albums for expansive improvisations and treks into genre-defying music of throbbing intensity. All Music Guide called their singular brand of jazz "explosive enough to blow up your speakers" while The Wire weighed in with: "This is the sound of a band having fun...like a hot chainsaw through butter." For their RareNoiseRecords debut, the five-piece group from London continues pushing the envelope on Umbrella Weather.

Fueled by the muscular drumming of ringleader Mark Holub and the intense fuzz bass lines of Liran Donin, further tweaked by atmospheric washes and crunchy keyboard action from Toby McLaren and sparked by the pungent twin alto saxes of Peter Grogan and Chris Williams, Led Bib stakes out a unique spot in the musical terrain that falls somewhere between the realms of John Zorn, Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus and Eric Dolphy, all imbued with a very strong jazz-rock sensitivity. 

From the odd-metered opener "Lobster Terror" to their raucous textures on "Too Many Cooks," from the fuzz-inflected mayhem of "Skeleton Key to the City" to the turbulent "At The Shopping Centre," the expansive 5-minute ambient jam on "Insect Invasion" and the surprisingly lyrical waltz-time closer "Goodbye," this renegade outfit never fails to inject an element of surprise into each potent track. And while certain pieces like "Ceasefire", "The Boot" or the groove-heavy "Women's Power" may seem like well-crafted and tightly executed compositions, Holub explains that most of the music heard on Umbrella Weather comes about organically in the studio through a keen sense of collective intuition honed over the past 13 years of playing together. "In general, very little is written. We are mostly working in a typical jazz style of head-solos-head but in almost every tune the solos are completely open. This concept of free improvisation is a tricky one because it has become a genre all its own, but we are looking at it in a different way. With some of the tunes, we are sort of composing in the moment, rather than the sort of free association that is often thought of as free-improvisation. 

Led Bib formed in 2003 as Holub's Master's degree project at Middlesex University. "We went through quite a few different people at the very beginning, but by the time of our first release in 2005 (Arboretum, SLAM Productions) the line up was set and hasn't changed since," he explains. Holub runs down the backgrounds of his Led Bib colleagues: 

"Chris Williams is perhaps the most involved in the 'jazz' scene of all of us, though this is definitely more on the contemporary side. He is a founding member of Let Spin, a key member of Laura Cole's Metamorphic. 

Liran Donin works a lot as a producer outside of Led Bib working both in Jazz, but also in the realms of Pop and World Music, most notably recently with Namvula Rennie, Mulatu Astatke, Arun Ghosh and Chrissie Hynde. 

Toby McLaren is working as a producer, mostly in the rock world. He also plays keyboards for The Heavy, a sort of soul rock band that does quite well in the USA. He seems to be over there all the time these days! 

Finally, Pete Grogan plays with the Alex Horne and the Horne Section, The Brothers Ignatius, The Heavy, while doing session work with Ed Sheeran and scoring and arranging music for a Roald Dahl film well as playing lots of sessions in that genre."

 Holub's own penchant for playing rock influenced jazz, or vice versa, came about over time. As he explains, "When I first started playing jazz, I was coming more from the sort of jam band/experimental rock stuff.... Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart. And then I got more into the free jazz of the '60s, particularly Ornette Coleman, but also Eric Dolphy, Charles Mingus and Miles Davis. 

The two-alto frontline of Grogan and Williams is perhaps the distinguishing characteristic of this punk-edged jazz group. "The idea came about just by chance," says Holub. "Someone suggested another alto player and I thought, 'Hey, two altos! That could work!' I think I liked the sort of 'ugly beauty' of that combo. There is something harsh about having the two altos together, which is great for when the music is heavy. But also, there is something almost bittersweet about the crashing of timbres between the two of them in the quieter moments. 

Since its inception 13 years ago, this forward-looking jazz unit has evolved to the controlled cacophony and 'ugly beauty' that we hear on Umbrella Weather. "Over time I think Led Bib has moved quite far away from my original vision," says Holub. "It has become very much a group project with it being as much influenced by the other guys' interests, but I am still steering the ship. To me, that is what has made Led Bib special, that the sound has been a natural evolution, which has naturally taken on everyone's ideas and influences rather than something which has been pre-determined to sound in a specific way."

Billy Childs Reaffirms His Piano Mastery and Reconnects with Musical Beginnings on Rebirth + Album Assembles All-Star Ensemble

Since his first recordings of the 1980s, Billy Childs has developed into one of the most distinctive and distinguished composers of our time. An accomplished symphonic writer, he has also amassed a career's worth of jazz originals that can swing hard, dazzle with intricacy, touch you with direct simplicity, or mesmerize with crystalline lyricism.

On his new Mack Avenue debut album Rebirth, Childs reaches back to the start of his almost astoundingly varied musical experience-leading a small jazz band of state-of-the-art musicians with his piano playing.

At his musical core, Childs is an improvising pianist. He has the ability to equally distill the harmonic and rhythmic languages of classical music and jazz into his playing. The wide-ranging vocabulary on the taut track "Tightrope" begs the question of Childs' love of classical music; "I'm not just jazz," he stresses. His insistent pulse and melodically probing introduction to song is a key to the Childs' musical identity: open to extended harmonic possibilities as they come along, taking a flexible approach to time and leaving an open door for input from his bandmates.

A Los Angeles native, Childs grew up in a home hearing his parents' musical tastes: Bach, Stan Getz and Antonio Carlos Jobim, the Swingle Singers. As Childs developed, he was deeply touched by the music of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, the Modern Jazz Quartet and Laura Nyro, among other contemporary musicians.

Childs aficionados will recognize three tunes from his Windham Hill tenure of the 1980s: "Stay," "Backwards Bop" and "Starry Night." They're recast to reflect his subsequent artistic growth, yet with an acknowledgement of their import; Take For Example, This... (1988) was the first Childs release on a major label. "I did all of those albums on Windham Hill," he points out, "and now all of those recordings belong to Sony. None of it is available on iTunes. That's a shame because those were very important years for me."

As a young player, Childs took his bandstand boot camp in the bands of trombonist J.J. Johnson and trumpet titan Freddie Hubbard. While his compositions and orchestrations have taken Childs into a realm that transcends jazz venues, the fact remains that the improvising pianist is largely the product of his tenures as band pianist with those two late masters.

The percussive electricity of "Backwards Bop" and "Dance of Shiva" taps into that part of his development. "J.J. and Freddie are responsible for the jazz part of my pedigree," Childs asserts. When Eric Harland's drums not only push the ensemble along but fire back at the players in challenging ways, it's not hard to imagine the creative tension of the Hubbard and Johnson performances.

"I learned about comping from Freddie," Childs points out, "in practical application. That's where I learned to expand accompanying into creating environments for the soloists. Sometimes it was like: 'I'll be green; you be blue.' You couldn't listen to him and not know what to play." Accordingly, the piano accompaniment to the vocal on "Stay" is a sublime model of well-placed color and sly musical commentary.

Saxophonist Steve Wilson is central to Rebirth. "I met Steve in 1995," Childs explains, "when we played a tour of Japan with bassist Buster Williams. I didn't even like the alto at that time but on the first song where Steve played, I said, 'Who is this guy? I don't know what they're calling modern jazz these days but this is modern jazz!' I knew I wanted to work with Steve on one of my own projects."

Vocalist Claudia Acuña, who co-composed the title tune, is another of the album's stalwarts. Childs produced her 2002 Rhythm of Life album, arranged and orchestrated, and played piano on it. "She went out on a limb and entrusted me to produce that album," he says. "My mother was dying and it was an emotional time for me. I did a lot of writing at her deathbed; it was therapeutic. So Claudia and I just decided to call the song 'Rebirth.'"

Singer Alicia Olatuja sings on the soulful, minor key ballad "Stay." "Dianne Reeves told me about her," Childs says. "She sang on my Laura Nyro project and I knew she'd be perfect for the angular melody of 'Stay.'"

Hans Glawischnig takes the nimble pizzicato bass solo on "Tightrope;" drummer Antonio Sanchez referred him to Childs. "A lot of drummers really like to play with me," Billy notes with pride. "I jump in there with the drums. I really like to write the rhythmic concept and find the people who can make it sing."

Rebirth touches the combustible intimacy that Childs knew in the Hubbard and Johnson bands, and has instilled it into his own ensembles. So is Childs returning to an instrumental posture that he once knew or is he coming to the small ensemble with new perspectives? "A little of both, actually," he offers. "I'm revisiting some familiar ground with different musical eyes. My playing is more evolved now-influenced by newer musical trends."

"You're hearing something on this album that I love doing but that I haven't done a lot of lately: having musical conversations as a member of a group. That's what I love."

  

Four-time Grammy® Award-winner Billy Childs remains one of the most diversely prolific and acclaimed artists working in music today. Childs' canon of original compositions and arrangements has garnered him an additional 10 Grammy Award nominations, the 2013 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship (2009).

Childs released his first solo album, Take For Example, This... in 1988, on Windham Hill Jazz Records. It was the first of four critically acclaimed albums on the imprint, culminating with the celebrated Portrait Of A Player, in 1993. Childs' multiple musical interests also include collaborations, arrangements, and productions for other world-renowned artists, including Yo-Yo Ma, The Kronos Quartet, Wynton Marsalis, Sting, Chris Botti, and Leonard Slatkin, among others. He has received orchestral commissions from The Los Angeles Philharmonic, The Los Angeles Master Chorale, The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and The Lincoln Jazz Center Orchestra. In 2013 he premiered "Enlightened Souls," a commission from Duke University featuring Dianne Reeves and the Ying Quartet, to commemorate fifty years of African-American students attending the school. In 2014 Childs released Map To The Treasure - Reimagining Laura Nyro (Sony Masterworks), which was produced by Larry Klein and features Reneé Fleming, Esperanza Spalding, Alison Krauss, Shawn Colvin, Rickie Lee Jones, Becca Stevens, Ledisi, Chris Botti, Yo-Yo Ma and Susan Tedeschi.

  

Billy Childs · Rebirth

Mack Avenue Records · Release Date: March 24, 2017
www.billychilds.com

CHRISTINE & INGRID JENSEN - WITH BEN MONDER TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM - INFINITUDE

Infinitude - the concept of boundless possibility - is at the center of the music of Ingrid and Christine Jensen. Over the past twenty years or so, as trumpeter and saxophonist respectively, the West Canadian sisters have each shaped prolific careers in contemporary jazz, collaborating with influential names such as Clark Terry, Maria Schneider and Terry Lynn Carrington, working with large and small ensembles, and responding brilliantly to various commissions to compose for jazz orchestras around the globe.

For their Whirlwind Recordings debut, Infinitude, available on January 27, 2017, the Jensens have realized a long-held ambition - to write for and perform in the more intimate setting of a quintet, combining their intuitive, sibling trust with the creativity of renowned guitarist Ben Monder, and the foundational artistry of bassist Fraser Hollins and drummer Jon Wikan. The particular rapport within this grouping is expressed by Christine (composer of half of this album's material), describing the environment as being less about soloing, and with an emphasis on the question, "how are we going to dive into this pool and swim together?" The resulting immersion, recorded at Studio Pierre Marchand in Montreal over two days, sounds both live and organic, with Ingrid confirming her close relationship with her sister: "It doesn't actually feel like we're producing. We already have this flow which continues as we perform together - we can find space, and craziness, and find our way in and out of it, as well." 

The conversational feel which pervades this album's sixty- eight minutes is illustrated in opening track, "Blue Yonder" (Christine Jensen), where Ingrid's mellifluous trumpet technique (sounded through her custom-created flugel-cupped mouthpiece and 'flumpet' bell) melds with Christine's warm, legato alto to conjure the aura of a wordless vocal. Such grace is echoed by the often understated, though lynchpin presence, of Ben Monder (whose effect is explained by Christine as, "something which is intimate, yet full of the future"); and that same quiet fire is evident in the grittier, rock-tinged "Swirlaround" (Christine Jensen), and a freewheeling, even punkish interpretation of Kenny Wheeler's "Old Time".

The soft, melodic beauty of "Hopes Trail" (Ingrid Jensen) transcends its underlying inspiration of political disillusionment, reinforcing our need to, at least, musically rise above (accentuated by ascending, chromatic soprano); and written for a kindred spirit of Christine's, the chirpy mobility of "Octofolk" (Christine Jensen) features especially connected trumpet and alto adventures, all underpinned by Ben Monder's textures and the spirited rhythm team of Hollins and Wikan. Extended lines in the elegant "Dots and Braids" (Ingrid Jensen) - which reflect Christine's lyrical saxophone persona - are contrasted with shorter statements (also informally referencing Canadian pianist/composer David Braid), while the increasing fullness of buoyant, bossa-infused "Echolalia" (Ben Monder) hints at the sisters' expertise in an orchestral jazz setting. 

"Duo Space" (Ingrid Jensen) and "Trio: Garden Hour" (Christine Jensen) provide a different perspective, their reduced instrumentations and improvisations offering further insight into the deep-seated need of these imaginative musicians to express themselves and search out new sounds in an arena which welcomes such freedom. Describing the experience, Ingrid says: "I need that interaction and empathetic experience which comes from playing good gigs with good people; a creative outpouring of my soul. With this line-up and these compositions, it's really easy to channel the freer ideas that are still in the context of the music, but which provide us with the ability to go to that place where we all feel like we're most ourselves - and that truly is a gift." As Christine concludes: "What Ingrid and I have worked on together for so long has now finally been documented in a special way that includes some surprises, especially with our choice of the wonderful Ben Monder - when he says, 'I'm gonna play'... you just know that it's going to be something real special and meaningful. For us, with Infinitude, this is just the beginning."

www.ingridjensen.com

www.christinejensenmusic.com

www.BenMonder.com

NEW RELEASES: SCEPTOR RECORDS - OUT IN THE STREETS AGAIN: THE SOUL SOUNDS OF SCEPTOR; HARVEY MANDEL – SNAKE PIT; JIMI TENOR – SAXENTRIC

SCEPTOR RECORDS - OUT IN THE STREETS AGAIN: THE SOUL SOUNDS OF SCEPTOR

Rare soul from the Scepter label – the famous home to the early work of Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach, but a very hip record company with a strong commitment to underground soul in the 60s! The best of that stretch is presented here – in a really well-done collection that's filled with obscure tracks that only every appeared as 45s, including some obscure cuts by bigger names, including a few that might surprise you! There's also a few blue-eyed soul tracks here too – titles that might seem a bit surprising on paper, but really fit the groove of the collection. Titles include "Work Song" by Tommy Hunt, "Dearly Beloved" by Jack Montgomery, "Just One More Time" by JJ Barnes, "The Change" by Ernestine Eady, "I'm Stepping Out Of The Picture" by Johnny Maestro & The Crests, "Out In The Streets Again" by Candy & The Kisses, "Lost Love" by Irma & The Fascinators, "Hey Watcha Doin" by Jerry Tiffe, "Marching" by The Camp, "Groovy Guy" by The Shirelles, "Tonight's The Night" by Candy & The Kisses, and "Ain't No Soul Left In These Old Shoes" by Ronnie Milsap. (Colored vinyl pressing!)  ~ Dusty Groove

HARVEY MANDEL – SNAKE PIT

The cover makes the record look like one of Harvey Mandel's classic albums from the early 70s – and the sound within is very much in the same spirit too – a noisy, gritty set that really returns the guitar legend to the brilliance of his younger career! The set's awash in the kind of fuzzy, freaky sounds that Mandel could do so well – especially when working with producer Abe Voco Kesh – and the record's got the same sort of trippy, echoey sound as their early collaborations – but is maybe even more amazing, given that the whole thing was recorded live in the studio, without any overdubs or added production tricks! All tracks are instrumental – and there's a super-sweet combo, the band of Ryley Walker, that gives Harvey some tasty funk at the bottom – and is perfect for his guitar that was raised on blues, and schooled in psych. Titles include "Snake Pit", "Space Monkeys"," Nightingail", "Buckaroo", "Jackhammer", and a great new take on the Larry Frazier tune "Before Six". ~ Dusty Groove

JIMI TENOR – SAXENTRIC

Jimi Tenor looks shrunken in size on the cover, but that certainly hasn't happened to his music – which just seems bigger and more expansive on this wonderful release! The set's still very much in the spiritual jazz mode that Tenor's been touching for the past decade or so – but it also showcases some of the soulful strands that have always been in his music, as Jimi finds a way to bring the cosmos down to earth with some really wonderful tunes that mix up a variety of different rhythmic and instrumental modes! The lineup shifts a bit on each track – and includes a great guest appearance from Tony Allen – but most cuts focus on core energy from Tenor, who not only plays tenor, percussion, keyboards, flute, moog, and more – but also sings with a style that's wonderfully soulful, and really holds the whole thing together. We always love Jimi's music, but this set's got a really special "something extra" – and a much deeper sound than you'd expect from the cover. Titles include "Magick Of Choice", "Polygonal", "Peaceful Maelstrom", "Four Corners Of The Earth", "Cap De Creus", "Vortex", "My Baby Is Coming", "Ursa Major", and "Baby Pharoah".  ~ Dusty Groove

ISAAC HAYES’ ICONIC STAX ALBUMS REMASTERED FROM THE ORIGINAL ANALOG TAPES

Stax Records, a division of Concord Bicycle Music, is proud to announce the remastering and reissue of 12 seminal titles by soul music icon Isaac Hayes. The collection, which includes Hayes’ best-loved studio albums, soundtracks and live recordings, spanning 1969 – 1976, was remastered entirely from the original analog tapes. 11 of these albums, including Shaft, Black Moses and Hot Buttered Soul, are now available in 192/24 and 96/24 hi resolution audio formats, while all 12 of the titles have been Mastered For iTunes, and can be found on Isaac Hayes’ new iTunes artist page. Hi-res formats will be available on HDTracks. 

Award-winning engineer Dave Cooley (M83, J-Dilla, Madlib, Serge Gainsbourg, Jimmy Eat World) was commissioned to take on the project at his Los Angeles-based studio,

Elysian Masters. Cooley explains, “Every effort was undertaken to retain both the original production team’s intent, and the most natural and truthful spatial imaging of Isaac’s voice and instrumentation.” He adds, “For the first time you can plainly hear details as small as the subtle coloration variations between the original studio setups and tape formulations from album to album.  

There’s renewed resolution around instruments.  But you can also dive into the zoned-out atmospherics, and listen comfortably for hours as an entire body of work.” Cooley’s meticulous work has breathed new life into these classic tracks; his enthusiasm for the project palpable. He recalls, “There was an immense pressure to get it right.  Having grown up transcribing the very piano licks and grooves that were sampled by such hip hop luminaries as

Public Enemy and others, I was well acquainted with Isaac’s legacy as a revolutionary enigma spanning multiple generations.  Remastering the catalog was a call to re-ignite that with even more transparency and a deeper pulse for the next group of listeners.”

GRAMMY® and Academy Award-winning singer, songwriter, producer and actor Isaac Hayes (1942-2008) revolutionized soul music, experimenting with extended cuts, orchestration and concept albums during the era of 3-minute, radio-driven tracks. Hayes began his career as a songwriter and producer at Stax Records, working with partner David Porter on such iconic hits as Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man” and “Hold On! I’m Comin’.” 

In 1968, Hayes branched out on his own with Presenting Isaac Hayes, but it wasn’t until his follow-up a year later, Hot Buttered Soul, that the artist became a genuine star in his own right, breaking ground with his deep baritone vocals and signature sonic explorations that could take up the entire side of a record. 

In 1971, Hayes scored Blaxploitation film Shaft; the title theme of which went number one the Billboard Hot 100 charts, and earned the artist an Academy Award and multiple GRAMMY® awards. Later that year, he released his critically-acclaimed double album, Black Moses. 

Hayes continued to write and record throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s, scoring several more films, and continuing to push himself artistically. In 1997, the artist gained a new generation of fans as he voiced the character of Chef on the long-running cartoon series South Park.

Nearly a decade after his death, Isaac Hayes' legacy as a multi-instrumentalist, producer, arranger, writer, and artist continues to inspire and influence new listeners.

In addition to the digital rollout of these remastered albums, a year-long schedule of releases will celebrate the groundbreaking output of Hayes, including 180-gram vinyl reissues and a retrospective box set. More information will be announced in early 2017.

  

Remastered titles are below. All albums are available in available in 192/24 and 96/24 hi-res audio, as well as Mastered For iTunes formats (except where noted):

  

Hot Buttered Soul, 1969

The Isaac Hayes Movement, 1970 

…To Be Continued, 1970

Black Moses, 1971

Shaft (Music From The Soundtrack), 1971

Joy, 1973

Live At The Sahara Tahoe, 1973

Truck Turner (Original Soundtrack), 1974

Tough Guys (Original Soundtrack), 1974 (already available)

Chocolate Chip, 1975

Groove-A-Thon, 1976

Juicy Fruit (Disco Freak), 1976 *only available in MFiT

 

NEW RELEASES: ALICE BABS & DUKE ELLINGTON - SERENADE TO SWEDEN; SILVA – SILVA CANTA MARISA MONTE; JEFF PARKER – SLIGHT FREEDOM

ALICE BABS & DUKE ELLINGTON - SERENADE TO SWEDEN

Real Gone Music presents what is probably the rarest album in the voluminous Duke Ellington discography, his 1963 date with Swedish singer Alice Babs, Serenade to Sweden. That year, Ellington was hired by the Reprise label as an A&R man, free to sign any artist he wanted and to record them. His first choice was Babs, who, in Ellington’s words, was “the most unique artist I know…She sings opera, she sings lieder, she sings what we call jazz and blues, she sings like an instrument, she even yodels, and she can read any and all of it!” For her part, Babs (born Hildur Alice Nilson) had a hit in Sweden when was only 15 (“Swing It Teacher”), and was an iconic figure in her homeland, appearing in 14 Swedish films from 1938 to 1959. The result of this meeting of legendary musical minds was a sublime cool jazz masterpiece that, sadly, never received a proper release in the U.S. and appears to be the only Ellington album never to be reissued on CD or even digitally, having eluded even the most comprehensive compilers. Needless to say, original copies go for big Swedish krona online, and not just because it’s rare; Babs’ wordless vocals and scat singing on “The Boy in My Dreams,” “Strange Visitor,” and “Babsie” are positively Ella-worthy, and Ellington’s masterful arrangements—at times filigreed with a French horn section—provide the perfect accompaniment. We’ve added liner notes by Scott Yanow, while the album boasts remastering by Aaron Kannowski. Fascinating for any jazz fan—essential for Ellington enthusiasts! Includes: Serenade to Sweden; The Boy in My Dreams; Stoona; La De Doody Doo; Strange Visitor; Azure; Come Sunday; "C" Jam Blues; C Jam Blues; I Didn't Know About You;.Satin Doll;.Take Love Easy; Babsie; (I Want) Something to Live For; I'm Beginning to See the Light; and Untitled Lullaby.

SILVA – SILVA CANTA MARISA MONTE

A fantastic take on the music of Marisa Monte – one that takes the Brazilian singers best songs, and recasts them in a style that's beautifully soulful! Silva handles most of the instrumentation himself, along with the vocals – and the set is heavy on Fender Rhodes and other keyboards, which are used with a gentle flow over well-crafted rhythms – in a mode that's very different than some of Monte's original readings – but in a really great way! The whole thing almost feels like a Neo Soul set at times, but has more edge too – and Marisa herself guests on a reading of "Noturna" – alongside other titles that include "Ainda Lembro", "Beija Eu", "Na Estrada", "Nao Va Embora", "O Bonde Do Dom", "Pecado E Lhe Deixar De Molho", and "Infinito Particular". ~ Dusty Groove

JEFF PARKER – SLIGHT FREEDOM

Fantastic solo sounds from guitarist Jeff Parker – a set of recordings that were all done live, with no overdubs at all – but which really show a complex approach to his overall sound! Parker's almost in some of the more abstract territory here as on some of his Chicago Underground Duo recordings – but he's also maybe a bit more tuneful, while also more introspective – showing us a personal, human side of his music that's extremely moving – and which really comes as quite a surprise, compared to some of his other records. Some numbers almost have a Jim Hall-like fragility, while other points are more creatively textural – and the whole thing is really wonderful, and represents a whole new step for Parker – a musician who's already been blowing our mind for about 20 years. Titles include "Super Rich Kids", "Slight Freedom", "Mainz", and a beautiful take on "Lush Life". ~ Dusty Groove

Featured This Week On The Jazz Network Worldwide: Vocalist, Daina Shukis EP 'Dance of the Muse' Plays Impressionist Pieces On Piano

The Jazz Network Worldwide features Daina Shukis’s ‘Romance of the Muse’, a classic blend of genres with an impressionist-avant garde progressive feel condusive to spiritual and emotional healing using ones imagination creating a peaceful place to relax and contemplate.

“Daina Shukis has seen it all.  Collaborated with some eccentrically gifted masters of their art.  Combined with the accents of her whimsically creative offerings, you get a piece of art that is timeless in its signature.  The myriad of colors of Daina’s personality exudes itself in these selections showing that musical conversation can be had with integrations that bring story-telling left to ones imagination of life and all its imagery’s” says Jaijai Jackson of The Jazz Network Worldwide.

“As I have enjoyed playing impressionist pieces with their emphasis on instrumental timbres which create an interplay of shimmering colors evoking symbolic ideas such as a walk in the forest or carriage ride up a steep hill.  I hope you are inspired by this collection including free improvisations, to create your own atmospheric mental images allowing your body to absorb the healing vibrations of sound”, says Daina.

The three masters include: Claude Debussy who was a child prodigy who became one of the most important and influential French composers of all time.  Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include melodies, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music.  Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin,[was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic era who wrote primarily for solo piano. He gained and has maintained renown worldwide as a leading musician of his era, whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation.” (wikipedia)

Shukis revels in the heartwarming feeling that this musical moment in time sits close to her heart where she played synthesizer, was not only impeccable musical exchanges but grew the personal friendships with Jeremy Steig on flute, Eddie Gomez on double bass and Ray Mantilla on percussion.

Daina is excited to share her views of how artists are experimenting with new presentations of genre integrations and seeks radio interviews to share its musical history from her vantage point.

Pianist and vocalist Daniela Schächter explores the Jimmy Van Heusen Songbook on her 4th CD

A gifted composer in addition to being an expressive vocalist and pianist, Daniela Schächter focuses her attention on a single songwriter for the first time in her career on her fourth album, Vanheusenism: A Tribute to Jimmy Van Heusen (out September 9). The album features 11 tunes from the pen of Van Heusen, one of the most prolific and celebrated songwriters of the 20th century, along with the title track, written as a tribute by Schächter.

Born in 1913, Jimmy Van Heusen wrote dozens of songs that have become timeless standards, several of which are included herein - including "All the Way," "Darn That Dream," "Here's That Rainy Day," and "Come Fly With Me." He was best known for his long association with Frank Sinatra (he rushed Ol' Blue Eyes to the hospital after Sinatra's failed suicide attempt in the aftermath of his split with Ava Gardner), his collaborations with lyricist Sammy Cahn providing the titles for several of Sinatra's classic albums from the late 1950s. But he composed hundreds of songs over the course of his long career, writing for film, television and theater and garnering an Emmy and four Academy Awards.

On Vanheusenism, these songs are reinvigorated by a skilled and deftly communicative band, all longtime associates of Schächter's. Both tenor saxophonist Mike Tucker and drummer Mark Walker are frequent collaborators in the singer/pianist's adopted hometown of Boston, where she teaches at Berklee College of Music. Bassist Michael O'Brien, who engages Schächter in a playful, spirited duo version of "Call Me Irresponsible," enjoyed a lengthy trio stint with her during a residency at the New York City club The Garage.

Born in Sicily, Schächter studied at Berklee College of Music and the Henry Mancini Institute at UCLA. She went on to win Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead Competition in 2002 and the Mary Lou Williams Jazz Piano Competition in 2005, and has performed with influential artists including the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Terri Lyne Carrington, Patti Austin, Marian McPartland, Regina Carter, Kevin Mahogany, Christian McBride, Tiger Okoshi and Shirley Horn, among others. She has also performed under the baton of such notable jazz and classical conductors as Quincy Jones, Patrick Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, John Clayton Jr., Elmer Bernstein, Bob Brookmeyer, Justin DiCioccio and Phil Wilson.

While she'd performed many of Van Heusen's songs during her career, Schächter hadn't looked closely into his repertoire until she was interviewed for Jim Burns' documentary on the songwriter, Jimmy Van Heusen: Swingin; with Frank & Bing. "Since then I've been exploring his music more in-depth," Schächter says. "His songs have both clever lyrics and intriguing harmonic progressions: appealing to the new generation and the old generation as well."

Throughout Vanheusenism, Schächter puts her own unique and elegant spin on Van Heusen's classic songs, often reimagining the songs' harmonic texture or rhythmic sensibility to make them her own. "Polka Dots and Moonbeams," for instance, typically rendered as a winsome ballad, takes on a bright mid-tempo pace in Schächter's version, her harmonic changes capturing the sense of wonder and discovery in the lyrics. Similarly, "Darn That Dream" captures the mystified consternation of the lyrics, Schächter vividly rendering the groggy frustration as dream dissipates into lovelorn wakefulness.

There's a hint of bossa bounce to "The Second Time Around," a danger-courting freneticism in "It Could Happen To You," a simmering pop cool on "But Beautiful," and a bluesy swing to the album-closing, unaccompanied "I Thought About You." Knowing when not to mess with perfection, Schächter maintains the breezy, jet-setting spirit of "Come Fly With Me" and the yearning wistfulness of "All the Way."

Schächter combines "Like Someone in Love" and "Imagination" into a medley, a recognition of the kinds of harmonic patterns that recurred frequently in Van Heusen's work, making such pairings natural. "Once I started researching, I could see how similar some of his tunes were to one another," Schächter says. "But at the same time, every tune was completely different. Melodically he could really develop the ideas in different ways, with very interesting musical details, despite the similarities between some of the tunes."

She added a new intro and outro to "Here's That Rainy Day," which opens the album, and contributed a brand new song in the composer's recognizable style. "Vanheusenism" combines several elements gleaned from Van Heusen's oeuvre (check the motif that the bass and sax play in unison, for instance) into a new love song featuring a romantic solo by Tucker.

While Vanheusenism marks Schächter's first foray into Songbook territory, it follows her previous releases in building an album around a unifying central concept. Her last release, Purple Butterfly, focused on the feeling of loneliness and yearning through changing seasons, moving thematically

through nearly a full calendar year; its predecessor, I Colori Del Mare, was centered on her Sicilian motherland.

 "I like to make an album sound connected, with a definite direction, so a listener understands immediately what I'm trying to deliver," Schächter explains. "In this case, Vanheusenism is my way of representing an expression that comes from listening to and playing his tunes all the time."

It's also a way of looking back at a bygone era, when singers and songwriters were two different creatures, each an expert in their own unique form. "Now we have songwriters who do everything: they sing, they compose, they write lyrics," says Schächter, who can certainly count herself in that category. "Back then how music was made was so different. The result is that the songs are amazingly written and are still played after so many years. The ideas are still so strong and the melodies are still so interesting. I'd like to keep that tradition alive and perform those tunes in a way that might interest a new generation."

www.danielaschachter.com

LESLEY GORE LOVE ME BY NAME (EXPANDED EDITION): Album Sessions Reunited Lesley with Producer Quincy Jones

Having filled a major gap in the late, great Lesley Gore’s discography with its release of her Motown album Someplace Else Now, Real Gone Music now turns its attention to the other major missing piece of her catalog, the 1976 album she recorded for A&M Records. Love Me by Name not only reunited Lesley with producer Quincy Jones from her hit-making ‘60s days, but brought her into together with a truly staggering array of talent, including Herbie Hancock, Toots Thielemans, Harvey Mason, Jim Keltner, Dave Grusin and just about every other studio superstar you could name, even the Partridge Family! Love Me by Name features compositions written by Gore and her songwriting partner Ellen Weston, most notably the title track, which was later covered by Dusty Springfield, Patti Austin, and Jennifer Holiday among others. The album also gave a nod to the disco and funk trends that were so prominent in pop music at the time, particularly on the lead-off track, “Sometimes,” which paired her unmistakable pipes with the Brothers Johnson. Our Real Gone reissue marks the worldwide debut of this album on CD, and adds two rare single versions as well as liner notes by Joe Marchese that explore the life and times of this remarkable lady. Remastered by Mike Milchner at SonicVision and featuring rare photos, this Expanded Edition of Love Me by Name is the one release that Lesley Gore fans worldwide have been waiting for. 

1. Sometimes
2. Paranoia
3. Love Me by Name
4. Immortality
5. Can't Seem to Live Our Good Times Down
6. Don't Stop Me
7. Other Lady
8. Along the Way
9. Give It to Me Sweet Thing
10. Reprise: Love Me by Name
11. Immortality

12. Give It to Me Sweet Thing

NEW RELEASES: DENIECE WILLIAMS – BLACK BUTTERFLY: THE ESSENTIAL NIECY; THE LITTLE RICHARD BAND – CALIFORNIA I’M COMIN; ROBERTO FONSECA - ABUC

DENIECE WILLIAMS – BLACK BUTTERFLY: THE ESSENTIAL NIECY

A treasure trove of work from Deniece Williams – one of the coolest, classiest soul singers to hit the mainstream at the end of the 70s! Williams has roots that go deep in the Chicago scene – including young work under the name of Deniece Chandler – but this set picks off from the time when she hit Columbia Records as a full-formed adult soul singer – one of the freshest talents of her generation – with an ability to hit some of the spiritual currents of Minnie Riperton, and some of the grooves you might expect from Cheryl Lynn! Both those sides and many more are featured here – in a 35 track set that's overflowing with gems, produced by soul music legends who include Maurice White, Charles Stepney, Thom Bell, Ray Parker Jr, George Duke, Jeff Lorber, and others. Titles include "Baby Baby My Love's All For You", "What Two Can Do", "I Can't Wait", "I'm So Proud", "Black Butterfly", "Silly", "God Is Amazing", "Free", "Healing", "All I Need", "Waiting By The Hotline", "Let's Hear It For The Boy (12" version)", "Do What You Feel (single version)", "When Love Comes Calling", "I've Got The Next Dance (12" version)", "That's What Friends Are For", and "It's Gonna Take A Miracle". Also features duets with Johnny Mathis on "Without Us", "Love Won't Let Me Wait", "Too Much Too Little Too Late", and "You're All I Need To Get By". ~ Dusty Groove

THE LITTLE RICHARD BAND – CALIFORNIA I’M COMIN

This album features Little Richard and his band with incredible songs from the mid-1970s. We all know about the iconic songs like "Good Golly Ms Molly," "Tutti Frutti," and many more, but this new album is a departure from that sound with elements of jazz, blues and funk. Producer Keith Winslow brought this project to life with a focus on the amazing band Little Richard was working with in 1970s. It features Johnny "Guitar" Watson, San Francisco Sound, Tower Of Power (horn section), Eddie Cornelius, Duane Winslow, Larry Williams, Ernie Watts, Tony Matthews, Jessie Boyce, Freeman Brown, Bobby "Youngblood" Forte, Melvin Wonder, Blood Sweat and Tears, and more.

ROBERTO FONSECA - ABUC

One of the most hard-hitting albums we've ever heard from pianist Roberto Fonseca – a set that deeply digs back into an older Afro-Cuban sound – as you might guess from the title's backward-spelling of Cuba! The music here is surprisingly rich and full – not just Cuban flavoring on jazz piano lines, but a well-conceived, fully-formed approach that mixes Roberto's fierce piano lines with larger percussion and horns, and some very strong acoustic bass from Yandy Martinez – which really drives the harder-grooving songs in a great way! We're often a bit suspicious of projects like this, but we're totally in love with this record – as there's a vibe that's at once respectful of the classics, but totally brand-new – and produced to perfection, without any fakeness or gimmicks at all. Titles include "Soul Guardians", "Sagrado Corazon", "Family", "Tierra Santa", "Tumbao De La Unidad", "Afro Mambo", and "Asere Monina Bonco". ~ Dusty Groove

12th Annual Jazz in the Gardens Music Festival Announces 2017 Lineup ~ Jill Scott, LL COOL J feat. DJ Z-TRIP Also Performing: Common, The Roots, Esperanza Spalding, Andra Day, Morris Day & The Time, Herbie Hancock, Smokie Norful, Jazz All-Stars featuring Chante Moore, Will Downing & Marion Meadows on March 18th and 19th, 2017 at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL

As the fastest growing jazz & R&B festival in America moves to celebrate its twelfth successful year, the City of Miami Gardens is excited to announce the lineup for the Annual Jazz in the Gardens (JITG) Music Festival, taking place on March 18th and March 19th, 2017 at the newly named Hard Rock Stadium (347 Don Shula Drive, Miami Gardens, FL 33056). Tickets are on sale now at www.jazzinthegardens.com

This year's performances will feature three-time Grammy award winning singer-songwriter Jill Scott, legendary hip hop artist LL COOL J feat. DJ Z-TRIP, socially conscious rap pioneer Common, smooth crooner Robin Thicke, hip hop legends The Roots, up and coming soul singer Andra Day, jazz royalty Herbie Hancock, sultry bassist and vocalist Esperanza Spalding, funk music innovator Morris Day & The Time, the JITG All-Stars Chante Moore, Will Downing & Marion Meadows and gospel sensation Smokie Norful! Once again, JITG will be hosted by the hilarious radio personality Ricky Smiley, host of the popular nationally syndicated Rickey Smiley Morning Show.

"The Jazz in the Gardens Music Festival is coming back to Miami Gardens with a bang!  We're excited to bring some of the hottest, most talented performers in music, such as Jill Scott and Common, and welcome hip-hop performers who are heavily influenced by jazz, like The Roots and LL COOL J feat. DJ Z-TRIP," said Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert. "In our twelfth year, we feel positioned to evolve and reach across generations and genres to take Jazz in the Gardens to the next level."

Boasting an annual attendance of over 70,000 music fanatics from all over the United States and the Caribbean Islands, the City's signature event will also showcase local artists along with an array of tropical food vendors and a buzzing Marketplace. On both Saturday and Sunday, doors to the Jazz in the Gardens Music Festival will open at 3 p.m. and the show will start at 4 p.m.

Official Site: www.jazzinthegardens.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jazzinthegardens

Twitter: www.twitter.com/jazzgardens

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jitg10