City Parks Foundation Announces SUMMERSTAGE 2017 SEASON

City Parks Foundation has announced the 2017 season of SummerStage, New York City's largest free outdoor performing arts festival, bringing more than 100 performances to Central Park and 15 neighborhood parks throughout the five boroughs. This year's festival, presented by Capital One Bank, will showcase over 150 unique artists performing shows from a plethora of genres and disciplines, including indie-rock, hip-hop, Latin, jazz, R&B, salsa, bhangra, poetry, opera, contemporary dance, and theater.

SummerStage will kick off its first free show of the season with performances from the legendary Mavis Staples and contemporary blues artist Toshi Reagon in Central Park on June 3rd. Staples will lead a powerful vocal showcase of rock, blues, gospel and R&B. Digable Planets will reunite to open our citywide SummerStage run with a rare performance in Coffey Park in Brooklyn on June 21st. New York rap icon KRS-One and DJ Chuck Chillout will also perform in Coffey Park on June 25th and dynamic emcee Jadakiss will take the mic at Crotona Park on August 6th. Wu-Tang Clan founding member GZA "The Genius" will drop knowledge in Corporal Thompson Park in Staten Island on July 23rd. Brasil Summerfest returns featuring iconic samba singer Elza Soares and rising star Liniker e os Carmelows on August 5th in Central Park. Jazz veteran Joshua Redman Quartet will pay tribute to Charlie Parker as part of the annual Charlie Parker Jazz Festival on August 27th in Manhattan's Tompkins Square Park.

This season will also feature benefit shows in Central Park to help support City Parks Foundation's free programs for all New Yorkers. American rock band  Gov't Mule, the Grammy award-winning Elvis Costello & The Imposters, progressive rock multi-stylists Umphrey's McGee, avant-rocker PJ Harvey, indie pop singer Regina Spektor, energetic rockers All Time Low, anthemic artists The Revivalists, and  indie rock trailblazers Young the Giant with special guests Cold War Kids have been confirmed with many more to be announced.  All benefit concerts are produced by The Bowery Presents.

Other highlights include:

• George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic along with Main Source, DJ Marley Marl and host Roxanne Shante will bring the funk to Flushing Meadows Corona Park as part of the Only In Queens Summer Festival on June 11
• Indie-folk pop singer and indie-folk singer rising star Margaret Glaspy performs on June 22nd in Coffey Park
• Classic hip-hop innovators Slick Rick the Ruler and GrandWizzard Theodore will team up in Queens' Springfield Park on July 7th
• Timeless architect of alternative-rock PJ Harvey will host a benefit show in Central Park on July 19th
• Contemporary ballet company BalletX will perform their acclaimed piece "Big Ones" set to the music of Amy Winehouse in Central Park on July 26th
• Latin Grammy Award-winning princess of salsa La India will perform in St. Mary's Park in the Bronx on July 28th
• Salsa's next definitive voice Frankie Negrón will perform in St. Mary's Park in the Bronx on July 29th
• Rock Steady Crew will celebrate the 40th anniversary of their Bronx-conceived b-boy crew in Central Park with a who's who of classic hip-hop performances including the legendary MC Lyte on July 30th
• Taj Mo: The Taj Mahal & Keb' Mo' Band, two generations of blues giants, will take over Central Park on Aug 13th
• A performance from the cast of Broadway's new hit musical A Bronx Tale, based on the critically acclaimed play that inspired the classic film, will make its way to Crotona Park in the Bronx on Aug 3rd
• Alternative rock band, and one of Rolling Stone's "10 Bands You Need to Know," The Revivalists will perform a benefit concert in Central Park on Aug 10th
• SummerStage Family Day, featuring performances from They Might Be Giants and Bill Childs of Spare the Rock, Spoil the Child Radio, comes to Central Park on Aug 12th
• The Russell Simmons / Mos Def-backed series Def Poetry Jam will host a reunion in Marcus Garvey Park in Manhattan on Aug 20th

This year, SummerStage will also celebrate the 25th anniversary of the beloved Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, New York City's annual salute to the eponymous late saxophonist. The festival, which each year coincides with Charlie Parker's birthday, takes place uptown in Harlem's historic Marcus Garvey Park and downtown in Tompkins Square Park, across the street from the apartment Parker called home. This year, the festival has been extended to four days and will include Emmy Award-winning tap dance virtuoso Jason Samuels Smith, world-renowned Anat Cohen Tentet, jazz master Lee Konitz Quartet, slow-funk Terri Lyne Carrington and Social Science, reverend drummer Louis Hayes, young American vocalist Charenee Wade, Grammy nominated Joshua Redman Quartet, modern jazz creative voice Lou Donaldson, saxophonist Tia Fuller of the all-female band touring with Beyoncé, vocalist Alicia Olatuja, and more.

SummerStage will also expand its family-friendly pre-show workshop offerings this season to include dance classes, beatboxing lessons, and introductions to DJing and Latin percussion. These interactive workshops will take place prior to select SummerStage shows throughout the season, and all ages are encouraged to come out to the park early to participate. To kick off the season, SummerStage will host a DJ lesson from Scratch DJ Academy and a beatboxing tutorial with renowned beatboxer Exacto before the Digable Planets performance in Coffey Park. Other workshops will include salsa dance lessons in St. Mary's Park and a poetry class in Marcus Garvey Park.  

"City Parks Foundation is dedicated to providing every New Yorker with access to excellent, culturally relevant performing arts  experiences in their home communities . Our SummerStage festival brings outstanding artists from genres across the globe directly to city parks across the five boroughs, all free of charge, making those parks community and cultural centers," said Heather Lubov, Executive Director of City Parks Foundation.

"This year's line-up brings together a widely diverse mix that is representative of the cultural mosaic that is New York City, a line-up that pays homage to both the cultural legacy of the city and its communities while celebrating what's next," said Erika Elliott, Executive Artistic Director of City Parks Foundation.

"Capital One is proud to continue our long-standing support for SummerStage, as the festival once again brings New York's rich artistic diversity to our local community," said Michael Slocum, President, Commercial Banking and Northeast Regional President, Capital One.

For the most up-to-date scheduling and lineup for all SummerStage programming, follow SummerStage via the social media handles below and visit www.SummerStage.org for all festival information.

NEW RELEASES: BETTY BUCKLEY – STORY SONGS; KEVIN EUBANKS – EAST WEST TIME LINE; MONICA DA SILVA – SOLDADO DE AMOR (SOLDIER OF LOVE)

BETTY BUCKLEY – STORY SONGS

For her Story Songs concerts as well as this CD, Buckley was joined by renowned multi-Grammy nominated jazz pianist Christian Jacob, her longtime musical director and arranger. A celebrated interpreter with an eclectic taste for music from all genres, Buckley shares a collection of songs that range from Radiohead to theater greats Stephen Schwartz and Jason Robert Brown. Also included are works by the next generation of exciting young theater composers, such as Joe Iconis. Buckley has been hailed as “wonderful” by the New York Times, “stellar” by Rolling Stone, “mesmerizing” by the Los Angeles Times, and “excellent” by London Express, in addition to other raves. Features 20 tracks and includes: Cassandra; High And Dry; How Long Has This Been Going On;  Old Flame; and Bird On A Wire.

KEVIN EUBANKS – EAST WEST TIME LINE

Since his 18-year tenure as guitarist and music director of TV’s The Tonight Show Band ended in 2010, Philadelphia-born guitarist, composer Kevin Eubanks has been on a creative roll. On East West Time Line, Eubanks explores the chemistry he maintains with musicians on both coasts. His distinctive fingerstyle approach to the instrument is in the service of tunes that run the stylistic gamut from urgent swingers to introspective ballads to Latin-tinged numbers and some get-down Philly funk. “We combined both vibes on this recording - the kind of Latin vibe of Los Angeles and the straight-up swinging vibe of New York.” Tracks include: Watercolors; Poet; Carnival; Something About Nothing; Take The Coltrane; Captain Señor Mouse; Cubano Chant; What’s Going On; and My One And Only Love.

MONICA DA SILVA – SOLDADO DE AMOR (SOLDIER OF LOVE)

"Soldado de Amor", which da Silva co-wrote with her brother Bruce Driscoll (Freedom Fry, Blondfire), was produced by Bruce Driscoll, along with longtime collaborator Chad Alger (Complicated Animals). The track was inspired by the vintage “marchinhas” (marches) and popular samba songs of Brazilian Carnival, and features the haunting vocals that da Silva is known for. Soldado de Amor is set to for release on March 31st, 2017. The song is now being featured on the BBC Drama “The Replacement”, and will soon be included on da Silva’s new album, a follow up to her debut album “Brasilissima”. Da Silva’s music has been featured on The World Cup, TED, Ibiza Beats, and Putumayo World Music’s “Brazilian Beat”.  She also writes and releases music with guitarist and producer Chad Alger, as the Indie duo Complicated Animals. Credits: Written by Monica da Silva and Bruce Driscoll (Freedom Fry). Vocals: Monica da Silva, Bruce Driscoll Guitar: Bruce Driscoll Drums & Percussion: Chad Alger (Complicated Animals) Mixed by Chad Alger, Bruce Driscoll Mastered by Yoad Nevo. www.monicadasilva.com

Two New Albums from Bassist Anne Mette Iversen, Round Trip and Ternion Quartet

Anne Mette Iversen Quartet +1 is an extension of Anne Mette's longest running group: Anne Mette Iversen Quartet, featuring John Ellis (tenor saxophone), Peter Dahlgren (trombone), Danny Grissett (piano), Iversen (bass) and Otis Brown III (drums). Established in NYC in 2002, the musical relationship and the improvisational rapport of its musicians have developed to the supreme, as have their music and the compositions. This group voices a musical ideal and aesthetic that Anne Mette has sought after for many years; having found it, her seventh recording, Round Trip, feels like going full circle. It expresses on several levels what is innate in the words "round trip", and how we all strive to satisfy our longing to come, to be, to find, and to have, a home.

Originally the meaning of 'round trip' was to return to the starting point via a different road. Anne Mette explains, "when I wrote the tune 'Round Trip', it was about a deep and heartfelt wish I had to return to my two sons, who I had left in another country for a few days. As this album and this music came about, 'round trip' then became a key idea for the album. In the sense of coming home, it describes the feeling I have every time I play with this group. It refers to the many (round) trips we have taken together over the years, but also how much we have grown as a band, musicians and persons, and how we, no matter where each one of us is placed in the world, get together to make music and share our experiences. Even on a personal level I see the many round trips in our journey through life and music." Round Trip is simply jazz on a high level, a feeling of unity and togetherness that can be otherwise hard to find. Highly recommended! 

In 2012 Anne Mette moved to Berlin, and at the beginning of 2015 she formed a new group, The Ternion Quartet, which brings out a new side of her musical personality. The group is front-lined by the two amazing horn players: alto saxophonist Silke Eberhard (risingstar, DownBeat Magazine 2015), and trombonist Geoffrey DeMasure (professor at The Jazz Institute of Berlin); and it is brilliantly supported by Ms. Iversen herself and long-time friend and colleague from NYC, German born drummer Roland Schneider. "This group is to me what Berlin is all about. It is fresh, it is creative and it is giving room to a multitude of inspiration and cultures. There is an element of total freedom and there is an element of chance and risk-taking. Anything and everything goes," explained Iversen.

The Ternion Quartet plays music that is energetic and fun. Like fireworks; the music offers a tremendous display of colors and moods. Rooted in the tradition of jazz, swing and improvisation, the compositions give ample room for the virtuosic improvisers to express their creative personality; and with the experience, maturity and flexibility of the musicians the music can change direction on the fly and is constantly new, fresh and renewed again. Compositionally the music is based on a linear and horizontal concept, allowing the individual instruments' melodies to conduct the harmonic map, whenever that is desired. The aim is for the full emotional spectrum of being human to be expressed by these outstanding musicians and improvisers.

The Ternion Quartet has toured successfully in Spain (December 2015), performs regularly in and around Berlin, and has been invited to perform at Aarhus International Jazzfestival in Denmark, in July 2017.

Anne Mette Iversen is always quite busy composing, and not always for her fantastic groups. In 2016 Iversen was Composer in Residence for The Norrbotten Big Band, one of Sweden's leading ensembles, and she is currently composing music for The Orchestra (DK), for a performance in September of this year.

Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records Announces The Sophomore Release From Pianist/Composer JORN SWART - MALNOIA

Jorn Swart is a spirited up-and-coming jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, currently living and performing in NYC. The Dutch pianist's refined playing and emotive compositions have garnered him much recognition, here and abroad. In November, 2013 he toured Europe to present his debut CD, A Day in the Life of Boriz, featuring some of NYC's most thrilling and fearless jazz musicians. Swart now proudly announces the release of his compelling new sophomore album, Malnoia, available on Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records on May 26, 2017.

Malnoia is timeless and sophisticated, and reshapes the concept of the traditional jazz piano trio. In replacing double bass and drums with bass clarinet and viola, the project elegantly and creatively expands the limits of what is possible within a "piano trio".

On Malnoia, Swart drew inspiration from classical composers such as Maurice Ravel, Bela Bartok and Paul Hindemith, and combined them with elements of jazz, creating an atypical sound that can be both lyrical and nostalgic, and abstract and unpredictable. His melancholic themes suddenly turn into unruly improvisations or sparkling romanticism.

The Malnoia trio, featuring Swart with Benni von Gutzeit (of the Turtle Island Quartet) on viola, and Lucas Pino (whose "No Net Nonet" has had a residency at Smalls Jazz Club for over three years) on bass clarinet, possesses the ability to sweep the listener up in a 

loving musical experience that has been described as "hallucinogenic chamber music".

                                                                 

 

CALL IT MAGIC - A SOULFUL NEW ALBUM FROM VOCALIST TYPHANIE MONIQUE

Call It Magic is the fourth album from Chicago vocalist and educator Typhanie Monique. It is a long-awaited project that finds her channeling the passions, frustrations and complexities of love into a work of shimmering beauty. It is her most ambitious recording to date.
 It features her current quartet - pianist Ben Lewis, bassist Josh Ramos, drummers Dana Hall and Greg Arty - with special guests, clarinetists Ken Peplowski and Victor Goines, organist Tony Monaco and tenor saxophonist Joel Frahm. Call It Magic was produced by Jeff Levenson.
 And though Monique surveys standards familiar to lovers of the Great American Songbook, Call It Magic contains quite a few surprises - including originals and tunes from the pop music playlists of Coldplay, Don Henley and Dinah Washington. It is a 10-act master class on the art of pure singing, and she endows it with deep-seated poignancy.
 Downbeat's Frank Alkyer says, "This is an album that's been years - heck, decades - in the making. It's where the road has taken her and it's a beautiful spot to take in the view. It's music made with great thought, even more care and, yes, a little magic. That's the artistry of Typhanie Monique."
 Well known in Midwest jazz circles, Monique has studied with legendary vocalists Bobby McFerrin, Sheila Jordan and the late Mark Murphy. She has shared stages with foundational colleagues Joe Lovano, Chris Potter, Mavis Staples and The Manhattan Transfer. All have made inspiring music that resides within her.
 Which helps explain the richness of Typhanie Monique and the soulfulness of Call It Magic - an album that travels straight to the heart. www.typhaniemonique.com
 TRACKS
1. Magic (5:25)
2. Just Friends (4:24)
3. This Bitter Earth (5:28)
4. What Is This Thing Called Love/This Thing (3:31)
5. Heart Of The Matter (5:05)
6. Where Is Love/Love Is (6:11)
7. Called Love (6:11)
8. Sister/Miss Celies Blues (6:41)
9. Letting My Love Go (4:52)

10. Don't Get Around Much Anymore (3:03)

 

BRITISH JAZZ/BLUES SINGER AND SONGWRITER POLLY GIBBONS POISED TO TAKE U. S. BY STORM WITH RELEASE OF IS IT ME...?

Following sold-out tours in the U.K. opening for George Benson and Gladys Knight, including two acclaimed performances at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall, singer and songwriter Polly Gibbons is set to make a British invasion of her own with the release of her highly-anticipated second album, Is It Me...? on Resonance Records on April 21, 2017. Produced by label owner and founder George Klabin, the 12-track collection fully embraces the inspiring, expansive array of American jazz, soul and blues influences that have infused her dynamic career as an artist and live performer.

Polly, who recently was nominated Vocalist of the Year by Jazz FM, has been a staple of the UK Jazz Scene since the mid-2000s. In commenting on her new album, she states: "It's a massive melting pot, varied but beautifully linked because I love every style I'm singing. Jazz would never have happened without the blues, which came out of the gospel tradition – and blues is the foundation of contemporary Western culture and pop/soul music, and so on."

She's especially excited by the buoyant seven-piece horn section, which enhances both her R&B and big band swing vibes. The piano and most of the arranging are shared by long time-collaborator James Pearson (whom she performs with regularly at the legendary Ronnie Scott's Club in London, where he is musical director), and Tamir Hendelman, the Israeli born, L.A. based jazz pianist to the stars, including Barbra Streisand and the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra.

The album's set list mines many unusual and unexpected, but supremely cool sources, including three originals she penned with Pearson; "Midnight Prayer" (which earned first place in the singer-songwriter category of the 2014 Indie International Songwriting Contest), "You Can't Just," and "Is It Me...?" She opens the album with a vibrant, jazzy twist on "The Ability To Swing," and brings a bluesy elegance to the hopeful theme of "Sack Full of Dreams." She taps into the Great American Songbook with "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" and Duke Ellington's "I Let A Song Go Out of My Heart," a track on which Polly and L.A. studio trumpeter Willie Murillo are showcased.

Different aspects of Americana are captured via the sparsely arranged "Wild Is the Wind" and a lively retro-big band spin through a sizzling Bill Cunliffe arrangement of "Basin Street Blues," a song she had recorded on her first demo at the age of 18. Additional tracks include "Pure Imagination" (from the 1971 film Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory); and the bold and soaring seduction she brings to Aretha Franklin's classic "Dr. Feelgood.." The collection's final track, the soulfully swinging "Don't Be On The Outside"– is officially a bonus track on the CD. As the only live track on the collection, it has a unique flavor all its own that sets it apart from the 11 studio tracks.

A farmer's daughter who grew up in Framlingham, a small market town in Suffolk, England, Polly is one of seven siblings in a family that shared all types of different musical loves. Her mum cherished classical and choral music (Bach, Mozart, Chopin), her dad was an electric bassist who played in bands in the 70's, her brothers loved R&B and her sisters were all vinyl collectors listening to everything from hip hop and soul, to jazz and folk.

Polly took obligatory piano lessons at age four, but didn't realize she could sing until she was around 13. Participating in a local music workshop, she met British singer Ian Shaw, who took Polly under his wing and secured her first gig in London when she was 17. Participating in other workshops, she cultivated her talent with bassist Gill Alexander, Jacqui Dankworth (daughter of Cleo Laine) and later, James Pearson. She released her critically acclaimed UK debut album My Own Company in 2014

With the release of her U.S. debut on Resonance Records, Many Faces of Love, in 2015, Polly began making her mark performing in the U.S. with critically acclaimed shows in Florida, Boston, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, Los Angeles and Birdland in NYC.

Polly's road now leads her to one of those extraordinary places with the release of Is It Me...? The album is a journey all its own – a culmination of so many moments that also signifies a meaningful new beginning for both the singer and contemporary jazz. Polly will be taking to the road in the U. S. in conjunction with the release of the album. Performances are scheduled in New York, Chicago, Milwaukee and Cleveland, among many others to be announced at a later date.

TRACK LISTING

Ability To Swing

You Can't Just

Sackful Of Dreams

Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams

Wild Is The Wind

Basin St. Blues

Midnight Prayer

Is It Me…?

Pure Imagination

Dr. Feelgood

I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart

(Bonus Track) Don't Be On The Outside

Critically Acclaimed Vocalist Somi Releases Petite Afrique, Inspired by the Fate of African Immigrants in Harlem

Pulsing with Harlem's rhythms and sonic ambiance, Somi's Petite Afrique is an homage to her New York City upper Manhattan neighborhood, and one of the Meccas of the African diaspora.  In the village of Harlem, along west 116th Street from Malcolm X Boulevard to Frederick Douglass Boulevard, African immigrants build American lives. Populated predominantly by a Francophone, West African and Muslim community, this is a strip of Harlem that locals call "Little Africa" or "Petite Afrique:" a thriving corridor of hair shops and shea butters, bistros and self-taught tailors.  Many of these working class residents -- immigrants-cum-citizens -- are now taxi drivers zipping other New Yorkers through the city they've called home since the 1980s.

Petite Afrique, Somi's sophomore effort for OKeh/Sony Music Masterworks, is a daring, relevant, refashioning of what "jazz" and "African music" mean. The album is a timely song cycle about the dignity of immigrants in the United States. Equally anthropologist and writer, Somi's songs both celebrate Harlem's black experience and lament gentrification's slow erasure of the vibrant African immigrant population from the historic neighborhood.

On her new album, Somi and her core bandmates -- guitarist Liberty Ellman, drummer Nate Smith, pianist Toru Dodo, and bassist Michael Olatuja -- perform with new emotional openness, sharp political insight, and infectious groove throughout. A powerful horn ensemble featuring tenor saxophonist Marcus Strickland, alto man Jaleel Shaw, and acclaimed trumpeter Etienne Charles also appear on several tracks.

Charles also serves as associate producer on Petite Afrique, arranging the horn and string sections. Producer Keith Witty calibrates and binds all these musicians together into a finely textured, genre-bending sonic collage. Having also co-produced her last studio album, Witty and Somi continue to establish the standard for artfully interweaving modern jazz and African pop sensibilities. Somi's commitment to storytelling is clear as she intersperses poetry and "backseat field audio" drawn mostly from several interviews she conducted with African taxi drivers who have lived in the neighborhood for over four decades.

The album opens with "Alien," Somi's provocative improvisation on Sting's "Englishman in New York." Here, she flips Sting's playful critique of Britishness in America into a brooding blues about Africans alienated from American life. "This album is, in many ways, a love letter to my parents and the generous community of immigrants that raised me," Somi explains. "Once Harlem started to change, I realized just how much the African community there made the anonymity of New York City feel more like home."

Somi's room-making blend of politics and voice is apparent on stunning, anthemic tracks like "Black Enough" and "The Gentry." On both recordings, Charles' assertive horn arrangements are emphatic exclamation marks to Somi's fiery lyrics. "Black Enough" is a layered exploration of blackness and the identity politics that has, at times, pulled black people in the United States apart. Somi was inspired to write the song while reading Yaa Gyasi's novel Homegoing. "It was the first time I'd seen an African literary voice explicitly acknowledge the sameness of African and African-American histories," says Somi. "It felt like a much needed 'owning' of trauma and oppression. The Black Lives Matter movement was already in the public consciousness, but I wanted to write something that reminded us that we fail ourselves individually when we fail to acknowledge our shared struggles."

A real-life legal battle between new Harlem residents and a 60-year-old drum circle tradition in Marcus Garvey Park inspired "The Gentry," which features Aloe Blacc's earthy guest vocal. Here, Somi uses deft lyrical play to talk explicitly about how gentrification is erasing black culture from the Harlem scene. With the horn section underwriting Somi's searing call and response -- "I want it black / I want it back" -- one might recall Abbey Lincoln's ardent performance in Max Roach's "Freedom Now Suite." It's also not hard to hear the references to the musical groups that Fela Kuti and James Brown once fronted, masters of Nigerian and American political dance music, respectively.

The musicianship on Petite Afrique continues to be overwhelming in its beauty and feel. Listen to Ellman's ability to make his guitar sound like a kora on "Like Dakar." As Somi compares Harlem to Dakar and Abidjan with lithe vocal phrasing, Ellman's lines blend with the horn section's dulcet phrases to propel the track.

Even on Somi's songs about love like "They're Like Ghosts," the down-tempo groove instigates movement and commits to the narrative at hand. "It's a song about the longing for and romanticization of people or things we once loved. The lover, in this case, is really a metaphor for the lands that still haunt us as immigrants and the forgetfulness of why we left that comes with time," Somi shares.

"Holy Room," an R&B-vibed praise song for love's spiritual force, layers a lover's desire with the muezzin's call to prayer as Somi sings "Allahu Akbar," letting her dynamic vocals ride the sensual groove. "It is meant to be an explicit response to the rampant and deeply disturbing Islamophobia that pervades Western society currently. The choice to sing the phrase "Allahu Akbar" is my attempt to remedy perceptions of terror that are unfairly associated with the millions of peaceful, God-fearing Muslims in the world. After all, when the phrase is translated from Arabic to English it simply means, 'God is great.' What better way to counter and defuse hateful messages than with a love song?" Ultimately this song reveals the artist's deep sense of humanity and the power of

Petite Afrique; Somi is at the height of her vocal powers and writing prowess.

The political messages of this album are timelier than she could have ever imagined when she began writing it early last year. This music is singular, gorgeous, urgent and profound. 

Born in Illinois, the daughter of immigrants from Uganda and Rwanda, Somi's American experience has always been infused with the African diaspora's richest political and artistic traditions. And now Petite Afrique combines the two facets of her life magically. A longtime Harlem resident, Somi is also a true Africanist: she spent part of her youth in Africa with her parents and now, with her band, tours the continent extensively. Famously, Somi's dazzling 2014 album, The Lagos Music Salon, which debuted at the top of US Jazz charts, was born from an 18-month "sabbatical" in Lagos, Nigeria.

Founder of New Africa Live, a nonprofit championing her fellow African artists, Somi realized some years ago that she was explicitly segmenting her work for the communities she came from and the work that she did as an artist. "I realized," Somi details, "that I could still curate a sense of community in the same, and possibly larger, ways through my music." Now a TED Senior Fellow, her career a refined merger of singing and activism, Somi has entered a fascinating new phase herself: "New Africa Live was about making room for our voices that might otherwise go unheard. Hopefully, Petite Afrique starts larger conversations about immigration and xenophobia and Blackness."

Upcoming Somi Performances:

April 8 / Transition Jazz Fest / Utrecht, Holland

April 10 / Duc Des Lombards / Paris, France

April 11 / Pizza Express / London, England

April 13 / Sala Radio / Bucharest, Romania

April 14 / Porgy & Bess / Vienna, Austria

April 17 / Moods / Zurich, Switzerland

April 19 / Unterfahrt / Munich, Germany

April 20 / A-Trane / Berlin, Germany

April 22 / Elbphilharmonie / Hamburg, Germany

ICONIC BLUES LEGENDS TAJ MAHAL AND KEB' MO' UNITE FOR ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME CROSS-GENERATIONAL COLLABORATION

"We wanted to do a real good record together, but we didn't want to do the record that everyone expected us to do," blues legend Taj Mahal says of TajMo, his historic collaboration with fellow true believer Keb' Mo'.  "There wasn't a bunch of cryin' and ringin' hands, we just got together and it came together pretty naturally.  I think it's a pretty upbeat, celebratory record, and it couldn't have come at a better time."

Indeed, TajMo, set for release on May 5, 2017 via Concord Records, marks a once-in-a-lifetime convergence of the talents of two unique American artists who've already built significant individual legacies that have consistently expanded and extended American blues traditions into astonishing new territory.  The collaboration brings out the best in both artists, who merge their distinctive voices, personalities and guitar styles to create vibrant, immediate music that's firmly rooted in tradition yet ruled by a restless, spirited sense of adventure.

The iconoclastic pair's combustible creative chemistry powers such unforgettable new originals as "Don't Leave Me Here," "All Around The World," "That's Who I Am" and the anthemic "Soul." TajMo also features guest appearances by Sheila E., Lizz Wright and Bonnie Raitt, who lends her voice to a memorable cover of John Mayer's "Waiting On The World To Change"; in addition, Joe Walsh adds his trademark guitar work to “Shake Me In Your Arms” and an inspired reading of The Who's classic "Squeeze Box."

"I'm really proud of this record," says Keb', "and I really owe Taj for hanging in there with me.  I feel like this is kind of a legacy project, and we're both pulling from something way back in time.  Taj is a part of the same chain that I've always been pulling on.  He's like a guide through all that stuff, back through the Deep South and the church and the Caribbean and all the way back to Africa.  He has some real musical knowledge that goes back to the origins."

Taj Mahal first made his mark in the late 1960s with a series of visionary country-blues albums that helped to spark a widespread resurgence of interest in traditional acoustic blues.  In the decades since, he has remained a singular creative force, pursuing his free-spirited muse with a lengthy series of eclectic recording projects.  The two-time GRAMMY-winner's prestigious body of work encompasses more than 30 albums, which have explored a wide array of roots music from around the world while remaining firmly rooted in the blues.

Since arriving on the scene in the early 1990s, blues renaissance man and three-time GRAMMY-winner Keb' Mo' has earned a widespread reputation for his mastery of multiple blues styles, and his ability to combine traditional approaches with a contemporary attitude and a timeless storytelling sensibility.  He's released a series of acclaimed albums, as well as appearing in theatre and film projects, and collaborating with a wide array of musicians from various genres.  Like Taj Mahal, Keb' remains a vocal advocate for the preservation of the blues, and has been active in charities that support music education.

Although TajMo marks their first studio collaboration, the two artists have known each other for decades.  Taj has been a longstanding touchstone for Keb' ever since he saw him perform at a high-school student assembly, and Taj even played a role in Keb' winning his first record deal.  The two have occasionally shared stages over the years, but the new album was their first opportunity to create new music together.

"The making of this record spanned two and a half years, working in my home studio whenever we could get together between tours," says Keb'.  "And over that two and a half years, we got to know each other really well.  Making this record was a really, really big deal for me.  Taj is a stellar human being, just a brilliant man, and I learned a lot working with him.  It's an honor to have that kind of person in your life, and there was a lot of trust that developed between us."

"It was a lot of fun," adds Taj.  "We'd been thinking about collaborating for a little while, but once we actually got in there, I was really impressed. Keb's really good at keeping the ball up in the air.  He's a hell of a guitar player, and I'm just amazed at some of the stuff that he put out there."

With TajMo in the can and their first highly anticipated collective tour planned, Taj Mahal and Keb' Mo' are excited about the prospect of getting their new music out into the world.

"It's gonna be big fun," Taj predicts.  "I'm planning on being excited every night and every note.  Some people think that the blues is about being down all the time, but that's not what it is.  It's therapeutic, so you can get up off that down.  You could have 100 consecutive lifetimes, and still only crack the surface of all the music that's on this planet.  It's phenomenal, and it's all connected to the human experience, which is different for all of us but the same for everyone."

 

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Sarah Partridge Expands Jazz Vocal Repertoire On "Brights Lights & Promises: Redefining Janis Ian"

Vocalist Sarah Partridge introduced an impressive body of original compositions on her 2015 Origin Records release I'd Never Thought I'd Be Here, but for her new project, she wanted to celebrate a singer/songwriter outside of her own genre and beyond the Great American Songbook. On Bright Lights & Promises: Redefining Janis Ian, her 5th album and 2nd for Origin Records, Partridge reimagines 11 well- and lesser-known works from the legendary singer/songwriter's discography, and also co-wrote two with Ian. The new CD will be released April 21.

"To pay tribute to a folk artist like Janis was extremely interesting to me," says Partridge. "In her case, her very early songwriting seemed influenced by jazz, and I saw real possibilities for a reimagining of some of that work. We connected with each other last year through the Recording Academy and when I mentioned that I was thinking of doing an album of her songs, she lit up. She said she'd like to be helpful to me, and there it began. I don't think I've ever met a more generous artist."

Ian exploded on the pop music scene in 1967's Summer of Love as a precociously talented singer/songwriter confronting the dark side of American life. She was just 14 when, in 1965, she wrote and recorded "Society's Child (Baby I've Been Thinking)," her single about a young interracial couple ripped apart by prejudice. Championed by Leonard Bernstein two years later on his CBS-TV special Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution, the single went gold and established Ian as one of the era's most promising young performers. She recorded several critically praised albums for Verve over the next few years but didn't break through again until 1975's chart-topping Between the Lines, featuring the Grammy-winning single "At Seventeen," a song she performed that year on the debut broadcast of Saturday Night Live (and which is included on Bright Lights & Promises).

As with her previous Origin outing, Partridge is joined on Bright Lights & Promises by her stellar working band of pianist Allen Farnham, bassist Bill Moring, and drummer Tim Horner. Trombonist Ben Williams, reed virtuoso Scott Robinson, and guitarist Paul Meyers are also back in the fold. Farnham, who produced the album, arranged 11 of the songs; two were arranged by Horner. Janis Ianherself provides vocals on the wry and briskly swinging opening track "A Quarter Past Heartache," which the women co-wrote.

Raised in Boston and Birmingham, AL, Sarah Partridge grew up listening to her father's albums of Ella Fitzgerald, Dakota Staton, Irene Kral, and Sarah Vaughan. But she was drawn to acting and ended up majoring in theater at Northwestern University. After graduating in 1982,she worked around Chicago, and in 1983 landed her first feature role in Tom Cruise's breakout hit Risky Business. Relocating to L.A. in 1984, she worked steadily in film and television, carving out a niche doing voice-overs. Out with friends one night at the Improv, she accepted their dare to take a turn at karaoke and delivered a stunning rendition of "Summertime." The impromptu performance caught the ear of a booker, who promptly hired her to sing in a concert with the top tier of L.A. jazz musicians. It was a successful gig that rekindled a long-buried dream.

Partridge spent years honing her technique in L.A. and New York City, where she moved in 1994, and instantly bonded with legendary trumpeter Doc Cheatham, "the first musician I played with in New York." Attending one of his regular Sunday brunch performances at Sweet Basil, Partridge's husband convinced pianist Chuck Folds to let her sit in. Her version of "Every Day I Have the Blues" went over well and Cheatham told her "You can come anytime you want." "After that, I sat in regularly and we did some gigs together," Partridge recalls. "I learned so much from him, just seeing the obsessive dedication he had. He was a real inspiration."

Partridge released her widely-acclaimed debut I'll Be Easy to Find in 1998 ("She's a pleasure to hear in any emotional guise, whether one of regret or exaltation" -- Billboard) featuring jazz greats Frank Wess, Bucky Pizzarelli, and Gene Bertoncini. She has grown exponentially with each successive recording: Blame It on My Youth, 2004; You Are There, Songs for My Father, 2006; Perspective, 2010; and I Never Thought I'd Be Here, 2015.

With her rich, fine-textured sound and rhythmically acute phrasing, Sarah Partridge puts an irrepressible jazz stamp on everything she sings, and Bright Lights & Promises: Redefining Janis Ian presents a portrait of an artist fully in command of her craft.

Partridge and her band will be performing two CD release shows in May: 5/11 at New York's Bitter End (where Janis Ian performed nearly 50 years ago), and 5/20 at Trumpets in Montclair, NJ.

JAZZ VOCALIST JAZZMEIA HORN STEPS OUT WITH DEBUT ALBUM - A SOCIAL CALL, FIRST RELEASE ON HISTORIC PRESTIGE LABEL

With an assured maturity and vocal confidence far beyond her years, the young singer Jazzmeia Horn arrives with her debut recording A Social Call, an album that reveals a talent ready to take its place alongside the best headlining jazz vocalists of today. Scheduled for release on May 12, 2017 via Prestige, a division of Concord Music Group, its ten tracks—performed with an all-star acoustic jazz lineup—bristle with a bracing sense of clarity: clarity in Horn’s voice (itself a strong and remarkably supple instrument); clarity in the heady range of vocal legends who have shaped her (from Sarah Vaughan to Rachelle Ferrell); and clarity in the vital message of social uplift and the glowing optimism she conveys through her music.

Horn’s marriage of music and message suffuses the variety of selections on A Social Call: fresh takes of evergreen standards (“East of the Sun (West of the Moon)”, “I Remember You”), hard bop anthems (“Afro-Blue,” “Moanin’”), songs of spiritual intent (“Wade in the Water,” “Lift Every Voice and Song”), a couple of melodies associated with another singer of personal influence, Betty Carter (“Tight,” “Social Call”) and R&B nuggets popularized by the likes of Mary J. Blige and the Stylistics (“I’m Goin’ Down,” “People Make the World Go Round”). Some tunes are woven into medleys with Horn first sermonizing on issues of common concern, giving A Social Call the feel of an intimate, live performance.

With the benefit of Horn’s vocal prowess, A Social Call is an album that satisfyingly combines jazz of the classic, small-group variety—when singers had to step up and carry the same musical weight as any other band member—with more modern flavors of gospel and neo-soul. Horn’s palpable understanding of iconic singers of the 1950s and ’60s makes her the ideal candidate for the historic Prestige label, an imprint that helped introduce many jazz vocalists to the world. Even the name of Horn’s album is drawn from that same time period. “Of course Gigi Gryce’s ‘Social Call’ inspired the title,” says Horn.

“But when you think about it, the word ‘social’ has many definitions—you know, let’s go out or let’s stop and have a drink. What I was thinking about relates to society and a lot of things that are going on right now that are not about love or connection. These are not good times. This album is a few things: it’s a call to social responsibility, to know your role in your community. It’s about being inspired by things that happen in your life and being able to touch others. I want to put that light out there—which is why I called it A Social Call and why this album has to come out, now. This is exactly why I’m here.”

It comes as no surprise that a sincere sense of purpose was instilled in Horn from an early age. Born in Dallas in 1991, she grew up in a tightly knit, church-going family filled with musical talent. It was her grandmother, a jazz-loving pianist whose playing was limited to gospel music by her preacher husband, who gave Horn her name. “That was my father’s mother—Harriet Horn—and I guess she knew I was going to be a musical child.” Asked to name the first tune she can recall singing, Horn recalls without hesitation, “’This Little Light of Mine’! I was 3 years old and my granny was standing at the piano, looking at me, saying, ‘You better open your mouth and sing. You better sing loud. Ar-tic-u-late your words.’ I will never forget—she used to always say that. She passed away when I was 12.  But she taught me so much.”

Horn may have started singing as a toddler, but she had to wait until her early teenage years to encounter jazz.

“I went to Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas and took this jazz composition class with [longtime music instructor] Roger Boykin there. He would always come out and start scatting and talking about certain singing vocabulary, and in the beginning, I looked at him like he was crazy. I had never heard anything like that before—it was definitely a culture shock. Then he gave me this CD compilation of different singers and musicians.  It had Eddie Jefferson, Al Jarreau, George Benson, and others—and I have to admit it was very weird to me and I wasn’t attracted to it at first, not until I heard Sarah Vaughan. And then I fell in love! After that, I tried to mimic everything she did—her intonation, every little flair she did with her voice, everything. I learned how to scat by listening to her, and I really got into it after I listened to John Coltrane and Miles Davis, because they sounded like vocalists though they had a different type of vocabulary.

“When I first started scatting I thought that there was a certain language that you had to maintain. I didn’t know you could have your own style but after a while, I found my little niche in it and it just became me, it became a part of me and I never looked back from that.”

Horn found further inspiration in a variety of singers she likes to call “mentors, the ones that have come and gone and the ones that are still here, especially Rachelle Ferrell. She’s definitely somebody that is mentoring me and she doesn’t even know it. There was a season in my life when every morning and every night before bed I was only listening to one thing—a song she wrote called ‘I Forgive You’ and it’s one of the most beautiful tunes on God’s green earth. It was like a hymnal to me, a song and a message I feel everybody in the universe should know.”

Soon Horn was learning from the music by singers she discovered along the way, like Bobby McFerrin (“most of his performances allow people to be involved musically, not just listening”), Abbey Lincoln (“the lesson I learned from her is always take care of your musicians and they’ll take care of you”), and of course Betty Carter. “I really love her spirit and the energy she gave to people through music, and how she was a teacher to many great musicians, some that I’ve studied with and so in a sense, I feel she’s also mentored me.”

In 2009, Horn moved to New York City, trading the closeness and support of family and friends in Dallas for the rich cultural life and musical legacy of New York City, attending The New School’s jazz and contemporary music program. An intense four years of training, performing and being on the scene followed, when she met many of the musicians who appear on A Social Call. “Victor Gould and I have been playing together a long time—he and I met when I first moved to New York. His sister told me about him. I had another pianist I was singing with and the idea with Victor was to get out of my comfort zone, but that didn’t work because I got so comfortable that I fell more in love with his playing.”

Saxophonist Stacy Dillard was another musician Horn met, “around 2011 when we both started playing at [jazz club] Smalls—what amazed me was that I had no sense of my own ability back then, what I could do, but Stacy was one of the first to respect me not as a singer, but a musician, the musician that I am, and help me see that. Way back then I said to him, ‘Stacy, when I record my album can you please play on it?’ He was like, ‘No doubt. That’s not even a question.’”

Horn’s talent grew and began to garner attention. In 2013, she entered and won a Newark-based contest fittingly named for her initial inspiration—the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Competition. Then in 2015, at a gala concert at the Dolby Center in Los Angeles, she won what is arguably the most coveted award a young jazz musician can claim today—one that would lead to her recording A Social Call—winner of the Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Competition.

“I was excited but I was overwhelmed at the same time; there was a lot going on in my personal life—I had just become a mother—so I didn’t really have a chance to really notice exactly what was going on until a couple of months later. I remember as soon as I got the award, and finished meeting Mr. Herbie Hancock and some of the judges—Patti Austin, Dee Dee Bridgewater—I had to go backstage to feed my baby. That was really the top priority for me. It was crazy time for me.”

A Social Call arrives after more than a year of planning, recording, and post-production, with Horn guiding the process along with Concord producer Chris Dunn. First over the phone and then in the studio, she chose the material and the musicians. “It doesn’t get much better than Ben [Williams] on bass—I’m so glad he was able to do this in the last minute. [Drummer] Jerome Jennings and I, we teach at Jazz at Lincoln Center together; he has different programs he’ll do there and invite me to sing on them. [Trumpeter] Josh Evans I also know from Smalls; he plays with Stacy a lot, and [trombonist] Frank [Lacy] had to be part of this—I know he’s also from Texas, and he has a daughter who’s my age so it’s kind of like talking to a father. He’s really cool, a really genuine guy.”

Horn is particularly proud of “I’m Going Down” and “People Make the World Go Round” because “the energy from the horn section made both of those songs so much fun. It seemed more like a family reunion than a studio recording, to be honest. We had a great time. When there’s no attitude and everyone is willing to put down what it takes, everything just comes off and the message in the music is even more effective.”

There are a number of other musical moments that stand out for Horn, most of which had to do with a surprising ease of execution. “I think from the start of the album, on A Social Call, you can hear how much fun we had in the studio playing together—if you listen to Stacy and me. We did ‘Tight’ in just one take—I was thinking we were going to have to play that one a couple of times. And the chemistry that Jerome and I had in the studio on “The Medley”—we only had to do two takes of that which is hard to believe because it’s the longest track on the album. It came out exactly the way I wanted it to the second time. That was beautiful.”

If there is one track on A Social Call that best captures Horn’s expressive range and her signature sound—the song that is most her, exposed and unadorned—it is arguably her rubato rendition of Jimmy Rowles’ “The Peacocks.” And if there’s one tune that best serves her sense of mission with the music, for Horn it is “The Medley.”

“That’s why it’s called that—it’s just a medley of different things to think about. I think of it more as a meditation because the intro opens up and I mimic sounds of ancient Egypt, then different parts of West Africa, then certain Native American sounds. Then there’s a little bit of Sarah Vaughan operatic vocalizing that goes into ‘Afro Blue’ and into a poem that I wrote called ‘Eye See You’ and finally ‘Wade in the Water.’ So you have a beginning and a middle when you have some tension, and it tells a story with resolution at the end.”

Great story-telling and inspired message-giving, fluid vocals and scat-singing and spirited group performances—A Social Call features all one would hope to hear from a veteran vocalist of longstanding reputation. As such, the album serves as a clarion call, proudly announcing the arrival of a young, confident musical talent with a long history ahead of her, blessed with a name that carries its own destiny.

“My name is Jazzmeia Horn and that is not a mistake,” says Horn. “God does not make mistakes.

-By Ashley Kahn

CHICK COREA RELEASES THE MUSICIAN: NEW DOCUMENTARY FILM AND 3-DISC SET CHRONICLING HISTORIC BIRTHDAY CONCERTS WITH 10 DIFFERENT BANDS, 28 LEGENDARY MUSICIANS

Chick Corea first laid eyes on New York’s Greenwich Village in 1959, fresh from high school, with a head full of music that only he could have imagined. With this new release The Musician, recorded in the epicenter of Chick’s original NYC haunts and more than 50 years later, Corea finally brings all that music together at once.

The new live 3-CD and Blu-ray set captures Corea’s 70th birthday celebration at the famed Blue Note Jazz Club in 2011, where he assembled a staggering lineup of musical friends and fellow-travelers – among them Herbie Hancock, Bobby McFerrin, Wynton Marsalis, John McLaughlin and Stanley Clarke – for a month-long residency featuring 10 different bands, including triumphal sets by his own Chick Corea Elektric Band and Return to Forever. All of it is captured brilliantly in the first feature-length documentary on Corea’s life, music and genius musical partners. The film takes you inside the heads and “hangs” of some of the greatest artists of our time – backstage and personal – and the CDs capture almost four hours of live recordings of every band.

The deluxe hardcover edition, including the film on Blu-ray, in addition to the 3 CDs, an essay by Robin D. G. Kelley and exclusive photos, will be available from Concord Jazz on April 21, 2017, as well as a 3-CD edition. A 3-LP edition on 180-gram vinyl is planned for June 2.

Return to Forever Unplugged, with Clarke (bass), Lenny White (drums) and Frank Gambale (guitar), opens the set like a thundercrack. Lyrical explorations in a trio with Gary Peacock (bass) and Brian Blade (drums) follow, cutting a path for even more fireworks from fan-favorite Five Peace Band, co-led with McLaughlin (guitar), featuring Kenny Garrett (sax), John Patitucci (bass) and Blade. A duet with McFerrin (vocals) is pure improvisational magic from two masters of the form. Corea and his most frequent collaborator, Gary Burton (vibraphone) add the Harlem String Quartet for a virtuosic chamber jazz set.

From Miles, with Wallace Roney (trumpet), Gary Bartz (sax), Eddie Gomez (bass) and Jack DeJohnette (drums) is a Davis tribute like no other: vibrant and swinging with the spirit of Miles himself. Flamenco Heart is a classic late-night Madrid party, featuring Concha Buika (vocals), Jorge Pardo (sax and flute), Carles Benavent (bass), Niño Josele (guitar), and Jeff Ballard (drums). Piano duets with Hancock and Marcus Roberts are brilliantly alive with emotion and virtuosity. The Elektric Band – Dave Weckl (drums), Patitucci, Eric Marienthal (sax) and Gambale – closes the album with a jolt of musical energy. Nobody who saw these shows will ever forget it.

The CDs capture the music with Corea’s characteristic thrilling live sound, and the documentary goes even further: with total access to Chick’s creative process, the film features live footage, but also rehearsals, backstage hangs and candid interviews with the musicians. Everything that goes into making music at this level – the hours of practice, rehearsals, gear moving in and out – is in full view.

The Musician is one of the great portraits of a true genius in his prime, at work. In every musical setting, Corea’s long history of creative adventurism made for the ultimate present-tense music. The title of the set followed naturally.

“That’s what the story’s about. It’s about musicians, being musicians,” Corea says. “When people ask me, ‘What did you learn from Miles?’ – that’s the salient thing that I took from my experience. Miles just let his musicians be themselves. He let them be musicians.”

The Musician is a look at Corea’s ongoing creative journey, one that never rests for long. His constant innovation as a composer, piano player and bandleader have earned him just about every award available to jazz musicians, including his status as a Downbeat Magazine Hall of Famer and NEA Jazz Master. He sits at #4 on the list of artists with the most Grammy nominations of all time. From straight-ahead to avant-garde, bebop to jazz-rock fusion, children’s songs to chamber works – all of which are embraced on The Musician – Corea has touched an astonishing number of musical bases in his career.

“One question I’m asked all the time is what setting do I like best – trios or full bands – or which musician do I like best to work with? Do I like to play the piano more than the Rhodes? The answer to any of those questions is the same, really – it’s all so less in importance to the act of creating, and the act of collaborating with another musician.”

The Musician shows Corea welcoming his 70th year with friends and thousands of fans. Now, five years later, he shows no sign of slowing down. He continues to look forward to more tours, more gigs, and more sessions. Looking back on the month-long celebration that is now remembered on The Musician, Corea calls it motivation “to keep on experimenting and researching and putting new bands together and playing music. It’s that simple.”

NEW RELEASES: ROGER RASPAIL - DALVA; WILLIAM PARKER / STEFANO SCODANIBBIO - DUO; KAIDI THATHAM – CHANGING TIMES

ROGER RASPAIL - DALVA

Great work from Guadeloupean percussionist Roger Raspail – a set that offers up an unusual blend of jazz and island modes, but in a way that's very rich and organic – without any sort of self-conscious attitude about its presentation! Raspail's worked for years on the Paris scene – and has always been part of that city's rich post-colonial criss-crossing of modes – especially the side of the French jazz scene that has always been very open to non-Anglo rhythms, and allowed very open interplay of different ideas! That approach is definitely in place here – on sounds that maybe offer up more of Raspail's roots than some of his early records – but in a way that also shows his warm absorption of continental modes too. Guests include Vincent Segal, Alain Jean-Marie, Anthony Joseph, and Dao – and titles include "Kalypso Ka", "Rara", "Manza Rene", "Nuite Douce", "Bossa De La Plage", "Papa Yaya", "Ballade A Ilet Perou", and "Anty Kaz La". ~ Dusty Groove.

WILLIAM PARKER / STEFANO SCODANIBBIO - DUO

Fantastic free jazz improvisations on bass – performed here in a live setting by the mighty William Parker alongside Stefano Scodanibbio – in a wonderful array of tones, shapes, and structures! The music has that really special quality that's made Parker one of the most soulful improvisers from the loft jazz years onward – and much of the music has an inherently rhythmic quality, while still allowing for very free performances, both plucked and bowed – over the course of the album's very extended presentation, in five different sections of duets. ~ Dusty Groove

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KAIDI THATHAM – CHANGING TIMES

Pure genius from Kaidi Thatham – an artist who continues to grow wonderfully as the years go on – to a point where we no longer know if we should call him a club producer or a jazz musician! This album's a demonstration of equal parts of that genius – almost as if Ramsey Lewis had stayed young, and found a way to move his 70s electric style into the 21st Century London scene – as Tatham plays fantastic solos on Fender Rhodes and other keyboards, over rhythms of his own creation that are filled with just the right sort of cosmic touches and spiritual energy. Tracks include "Seasoned Clouds", "Treacle Manifestations", "Chui Nui", and "Shims".~ Dusty Groove

NEW RELEASES: FUNKY DL – MARAUDING AT MIDNIGHT: A TRIBUTE TO THE SOUNDS OF A TRIBE CALLED QUEST; FUNKINJAZZ 2; CLUTCHY HOPKINS / FAT ALBERT EINSTEIN – HI DESERT LOW TIDE

FUNKY DL – MARAUDING AT MIDNIGHT: A TRIBUTE TO THE SOUNDS OF A TRIBE CALLED QUEST

Funky DL's full on funky homage to A Tribe Called Quest's uber classic Midnight Maurauders – no samples, no breaks or loops pulled from the classic album or the samples therein – this is a freshly done, inspired set of beats, keys, programming and live instrumentation that covers the album track-for-track! It sounds like an ambitious undertaking – and it is – but what's so surprisingly cool about it is how laidback and breezy it plays. The Tribe album is laced with some of the group's best written rhymes, and production steeped in diverse jazz funk samples from giants like Cal Tjader, Roy Ayers, The JBs and Lou Donaldson – that's an astounding pedigree to replicate! Rather than aim as high as that, Funky DL wisely hones in the moody essence at the core, and succeeds pretty handily with a mostly instrumental effort with wordless backing vocals used to sublime effect. Same track list as the Tribe classic: "Midnight Maurauders", "Awaerd Tour", "We Can Get Down", "Electric Relaxation", "Clap Your Hands", "God Lives Through", "Lyrics To Go" and the rest. Dusty Groove.

FUNKINJAZZ 2

A run of fresh funky titles from a variety of different acts – presented here with little in the way of notes or dates, but with a nicely unified vibe overall! Many of these groups mix live funk instrumentation with a fair bit of programmed and sampled passages – a bit like that first wave of funk revival groups from two decades back, but also served up with a lean, clean sound that also takes the sonic spectrum from late 60s to early 80s funk. Most tunes are instrumentals, but many include some sampled vocal bit – and titles include "Don't Deny It" by Green Street, "Funky Roids" by Krystian Shek, "Get Down" by Crackerjack, "The Party" by Mister T, "Bubblers" by Q Funktion, "Summer Joyride" by Singularis, and "The Props" by Sixfingerz. Dusty Groove

CLUTCHY HOPKINS / FAT ALBERT EINSTEIN – HI DESERT LOW TIDE

It's been a few years since we last heard from Clutchy Hopkins – and in that time, he definitely seems to have deepened his groove – coming up with a range of sonic textures and styles that nicely expand from the spare breaks and funk of his previous work! Maybe it's the collaboration with Fat Albert Einstein, or maybe it's just the passage of years – but whatever the case, the album's got a nicely deep vibe – spare currents of global elements and spiritual jazz, used to give a more organic instrumental sound to the whole thing – in ways that never sound gimmicky or forced. There's a few guests on the record, providing live tenor, flute, cello, and guitar – and titles include "Mojave Dervish", "Stutter Steps", "Nyack", "Juju Beans", "Lock Pop", "Pre Vintage", "Cholla Ballad", and "The Wash". Dusty Groove