"Remembering You" pays homage to a very special woman in Guitarist Dee Brown’s life that will always be in his heart

Innervision Records album Remembering You, pays homage to a very special woman in Brown’s life that will always be in his heart. The CD is comprised of emotionally driven tracks dedicated to Shaunia Edwards, an extraordinary woman who shared a treasured season of love before her transition to heaven in 2016. 

Shaunia Edwards, a respected gospel singer, was not only Browns fiancé, she was the co-writer and featured vocalist on “I’m Here For You (I’ll Never Leave You” (Brown’s hit from his 2014 album Brown Sugar, Honey-Coated Love which made Groove Jazz Music’s Top 100 of 2015) and his holiday song “It’s Christmas.” Even from heaven and always in his heart, Shaunia is working her magic.  Brown turned a personal tragedy into a life affirming instrumental chronicle of endurance and hope.

The first single “Hey Baby” hit the Groove Jazz Music Top 30 chart.  The fresh, buoyant, danceable funk jam “Pop the Question” is the second single from Remembering You.  The title track “Remembering You,” is a lush soaring ballad that is the ideal coda to the album.  The co-writers were Valdez Brantley (piano, keyboards, programming, and former music director for Usher, worked with Mary J. Blige, Beyoncé’ and James Brown), soprano saxophonist Dezie McCullers, Jr. and drummer Ron Otis, known for his work with Aretha Franklin, Earl Klugh and Kem.

Their powerful studio camaraderie also infuses the high energy Brantley produced tracks, “Hey Baby, “Pop The Question,” “I Want You Too” (featuring Kern Brantley on bass) and “So Much.”

Renowned urban jazz flutist Althea Rene pairs perfectly with Brown to create a breezy, whimsical stroll through “Our Summer.” Co-writer and keyboardist Bob Baldwin created a hypnotic-duality with Brown on the playful, briskly rolling “I Will.”  Nate Harasim, jazz/R&B artist, composer and producer hit emotional high points on the mystical, soul jazz flavored ballad “Beauty Within.”

“Music is my sanctuary, the thing I love to do, and the concept just made perfect sense, to write songs about different moments in our season together, most love songs are created and inspired by real love and true emotions, and I can attest to that,” says Brown.

dee brown has performed or share the stage with: Al Jarreau, Gerald Albright, Alexander Zonjic, Bob Baldwin, Mindi Abair, Jessy J, Paul Brown, Paul Taylor, Darren Rahn, Tim Bowman, Randy Scott, Gail Jhonson, Nate Harasim, Bob James, Brian Culbertson, Spyro Gyra, The Ohio Players, Najee, Jeffery Osborne, Aretha Franklin, Michael and BeBe Winans, as well as Kern and Valdez Brantly. 

Even as the album is released, Brown is now in another incredible, inspiring season which he attributes directly to the power of prayer. He is now engaged to be married in the summer of 2018.

“dee Brown’s musical walk down memory lane is a heart-felt expression of where love can lead you. There is no better memory than one that fills a heart with joy, memories and blessings” says Jaijai Jackson of The Jazz Network Worldwide.

Brown is currently seeking non-exclusive worldwide agents to collaborate with regarding touring and concert bookings for the 2019/2020 concert season.

Be sure to check out dee Brown’s new release “Remembering You” at www.deebrownmusic.com as well as his feature on The Jazz Network Worldwide this week at  http://thejazznetworkworldwide.com.

 

NEW RELEASES: FRANCOIS BOURASSA QUARTET – NUMBER 9; AUDRA MCDONALD – SING HAPPY; EDDIE DANIELS – HEART OF BRAZIL

FRANCOIS BOURASSA QUARTET – NUMBER 9

The Montreal born and based JUNO Award, Prix Félix, and OPUS Award winning and internationally acclaimed contemporary jazz pianist, composer and bandleader François Bourassa will lead his longstanding quartet on a Canadian jazz festival tour presenting the music from his recently released album Number 9 (see dates below) on Effendi Records (Naxos). Bourassa is especially thrilled to embark on this tour with this quartet all the original players from the recording recognized for elements of mystery, fantasy and passion that offer unprecedented angles and sound spaces in addition to a deep and telepathic complicity among its members: André Leroux (reeds), Guy Boisvert (bass) and Greg Ritchie (drums). The François Bourassa Quartet will launch the tour in Toronto on June 27th and continue west and then back home east culminating in a momentous celebration at the Montreal International Jazz Festival on July 3rd. "I am so excited to tour and play our new music from the last album at these great Canadian jazz festivals", said Bourassa.   

AUDRA MCDONALD – SING HAPPY

Decca Gold is proud to announce the forthcoming release of Sing Happy, the live performance of the New York Philharmonic’s 2018 Spring Gala starring Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award-winner Audra McDonald, conducted by Andy Einhorn. Recorded live on May 1 at David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, the recording represents McDonald’s first collaboration with Decca Gold – as well as her first solo recording with full orchestra. Sing Happy features many songs that are either new to McDonald’s repertoire or have never before been recorded by her – such as “I Am What I Am” from La Cage aux Folles, “Vanilla Ice Cream” from She Loves Me, and “Children Will Listen” from Into The Woods– and offers a sneak peek at the repertoire she’s performing on her upcoming North American concert tour.

EDDIE DANIELS – HEART OF BRAZIL

Off the heels of Resonance's acclaimed 2017 archival release Just Friends - Live at the Village Vanguard from 1988, jazz clarinet master Eddie Daniels has a brand new project paying tribute to the world-renowned Brazilian composer and multi-instrumentalist, Egberto Gismonti. Heart of Brazil features Daniels with the top-shelf trio of pianist Josh Nelson, bassist Kevin Axt, drummer Mauricio Zottarelli, plus the Grammy Award-winning Harlem Quartet. With new arrangements by Ted Nash, Kuno Schmid and Josh Nelson, Heart of Brazil collects songs from Gismonti's classic early 1970s albums on EMI Records, such as his self-titled 1973 album, Água e Vinho (1972) and others. The album was produced by Resonance president George Klabin, who has known Daniels since the 1960's and recorded him with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra at the Village Vanguard in New York City. Klabin has long felt Gismonti's work has been under-appreciated and that there was no one better to pull off an incredible tribute to the Brazilian maestro than Eddie Daniels. Gismonti says in his interview with acclaimed author James Gavin, "When I heard the record I felt immense joy...The repertoire  spans a rich period of my composing. What a great present for my seventy years of life." 

Beats & Pieces Big Band From Manchester, U.K., Release 10th Anniversary Live Album Ten

2018 marks Beats & Pieces' 10th anniversary and their busiest year to date. Following a major European tour in November 2017 (including a sold-out show at Amsterdam's legendary Bimhuis), the band kicked off 2018 with a completely sold-out three night residency at Ronnie Scott's and a January UK tour. They have just performed a prestigious showcase at Jazzahead! in Bremen, and will embark on their debut North American tour in June before a hometown 10th birthday party at the Manchester Jazz Festival in July. 

The Manchester gig will also mark the release of an anniversary live CD/DVD package, ten (release date is July 20, 2018-UK & August 3, 2018-U.S.), recorded in January 2018 in the same rehearsal space at the Royal Northern College of Music where the band had first played together, 10 years to the day. Further UK dates for October 2018 will be announced in due course.

Beats & Pieces Big Band take the big band sound to places it's never been before, with a distinctive blend of rocking energy and precise dynamics, infectious floor-filling rhythms and widescreen arrangements, and generous individual freedom and tight collective interplay. Embracing modern textures and techniques while acknowledging and celebrating their big band lineage, they've earned a reputation for a joyful interaction between audience and band, with songs to make you think, dance, laugh and cry.

This exciting ensemble led by composer/conductor Ben Cottrell boasts 14 musicians, many of them bandleaders in their own right, with each player's distinct musical background and individual voice being key to the collective band identity. Now in their 10th year, Beats & Pieces are a rarity in keeping a fairly consistent lineup for so long - especially remarkable for a group this size. Such is the level of trust and friendship across the group that they perform entirely from memory, effortlessly switching between super-tight ensemble playing and generous soloistic expression in the same way as a trio or quartet.

A driving force of the vibrant Manchester music scene and one of the most striking ensembles of its kind, the group continues to win new fans and friends across Europe and beyond. Beats & Pieces is not an average 'big band' - rather a band that's big.

Pianist WILLIAM TATGE Releases Debut Recording For Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records GENERAL CARGO

Pianist, composer, and improviser William Tatge was born of American parents in Umbria, Italy in 1978 and lived in Todi and Florence until 2008, when he moved to New York City. Tatge began studies on violin and piano at age six, and after a storied career as a student (studying classical piano and graduating summa cum laude in 2000 from the L. Cherubini Conservatory of Florence, followed by studies in composition, orchestration and conducting, earning a second degree in 2006, also summa cum laude). During these years Tatge explored improvisation and jazz and from '96 to '99 he studied privately with Stefano Bollani and attended the Siena Jazz summer workshops. Later studies included instruction with Enrico Pieranunzi, Franco D'Andrea and Paolo Birro. He also participated in Stefano Battaglia's Solo Piano and Piano Trio winter seminars in Siena in 2004 and 2005.

Tatge has gone on to fruitful career in the States, releasing two albums (Mutable Enclosures and Borderlands), and performing in clubs, concert venues and festivals throughout Europe, South America, Japan, Canada and the U.S. in solo concerts as well as with several groups, both as leader and sideman. He has collaborated with such diverse artists as bassist Felix Pastorius, visual artist Christine Meisner, clarinetist Massimo Carrozzo, drummer Jeff Hirshfield and many others. Tatge now proudly announces his debut recording for Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records, and the first album to feature his NYC-based trio of Pablo Menares on bass and Nick Anderson on drums, General Cargo, to be released on June 15.

  

The music on General Cargo, composed over a six-year period between 2010-2015, following Tatge's move to NYC, aims to reference personal, cultural and historical cargo the artist attempts to protect and carry forward. Tatge explains further, "perhaps this music is the result of finding myself in the strange state of a repatriated expat torn between two continents and aesthetic traditions, unable to truly leave either of them behind."

The writing and playing reflect a strong connection to jazz as well as to 19th and 20th century classical music, with an occasional wink at rock and other influences. "I have always been fascinated by the way musical ideas, approaches and behaviors can travel through history and between styles, being transformed, reinterpreted or distorted, acquiring new purpose and meaning," said Tatge. To that end, the pieces are all rather extended in duration, highly structured in form, and contain more through-composed material than is usually found in the jazz piano trio context. The harmonic and rhythmic structure of the improvisational sections often shift from soloist to soloist, and there are rarely perfect recapitulations of thematic material. "My intention was to create larger pieces that could hold up structurally while maintaining a sense of openness and unpredictability, leaving enough space for interpretation and improvisational freedom," explained the composer. "Much of the material on this record is deeply indebted to the music and literature of late romanticism and early modernism; times of transition, great discoveries and linguistic breakdowns, but also times of desperate nostalgia towards a disappearing world." 

The coming together of these different elements in the music on General Cargo is not always a smooth process. Sometimes it results in stark contrasts, perhaps in a sense of unresolved conflict; but ultimately, like any art with depth and significance, it can offer the creator, and the attentive, invested listener, a rewarding, enriching experience.

Trombonist Steve Turre Displays Brilliant Artistry with Heartfelt Ballads on New Release, The Very Thought of You

The thought of Steve Turre inevitably conjures the image of a dauntless virtuoso. Over the course of a remarkable career spanning more than five decades, Turre has proved time and time again that he’s one of the foremost masters of the trombone, able to steer his challenging instrument through breakneck turns and imaginative leaps at dizzying speed.

On The Very Thought Of You, Turre shows off a less celebrated side of his brilliant artistry: his moving, heartfelt way with a ballad. Luxuriating in timeless melodies and swathed in lush strings, Turre makes his horn sing with delicate lyricism and subtle beauty. Of course, the irrepressible trombonist can’t help but unleash his fiercely swinging side, peppering his ballad set with a few pulse-quickeners here and there.

Due out August 24, 2018 via Smoke Sessions Records, The Very Thought Of You features a stellar quartet ideal for a session that calls for a light touch combined with the soul-stirring depth of feeling that Turre brings to everything that he plays. Turre is joined by pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Buster Williams, and drummer Willie Jones III, supplemented on four of the pieces by a string octet conducted by veteran arranger Marty Sheller. An outstanding pair of guests, legendary tenor saxophonist George Coleman and guitar great Russell Malone, both lend their breathtaking mastery to the music as well.

“There’s a challenge to playing ballads on any instrument,” Turre admits. “It’s not about showing off; it’s about trying to play beautiful, to touch somebody with your sound and with your phrasing. The reason I wanted to do it is because I’ve never done it before. I’ve done so many records where I play fast and complicated. It was time to play ballads.”

Especially on the four immortal classics to which Sheller added strings – “Never Let Me Go,” “Shadow of Your Smile,” “Danny Boy,” and the title track – Turre likened his role to that of a singer, ceding the solo spotlight to his bandmates while focusing his own playing on the interpretation of the songs’ incredible melodies.

“I don’t know anybody on the trombone that can play faster than Curtis Fuller could,” Turre explains. “But when I first came to New York in 1973, I met Curtis and he told me that the hardest thing to do is to play simple and have it mean something. So my role wasn't as the improviser; I was the singer, and my focus was to make the melody say something without over-embellishing it.”

It was some of the music’s most renowned vocalists that inspired Turre’s choice of standards on The Very Thought Of You. Nancy Wilson’s versions of the title tune and “Never Let Me Go” convinced the trombonist that he wanted to take on those melodies, while a live rendition of “The Shadow of Your Smile” so captivated him that he added it to the setlist. “Carmen McRae sang nothing but the melody and it was so astounding,” Turre recalls.

The Very Thought of You is not the first time that Turre has melded his voice with strings. On Lotus Flower (1999), he led a sextet where the frontline swapped sax and trumpet for Akua Dixon’s cello and Regina Carter’s violin. And on his 1997 self-titled album he teamed with Sheller – a longtime colleague on the Latin jazz scene – for a string arrangement of the Machito classic “Ayer Lo Vi Llorar” featuring the iconic Afro-Cuban singer Graciela. But the new album marks the first time that Turre has utilized strings in the traditional vein of classics like Clifford Brown with Strings or Nat King Cole’s elegant sound.

“With ballads, it’s not about playing loud and boisterous, it’s about playing with subtlety,” Turre says. “The strings help to bring that out. Plus, Marty Sheller’s writing was just sublime, so tasteful and lush and not overdone but complimentary to a T.”

After opening the album with a swooning “The Very Thought of You,” the band is joined by Malone for the first time on an up-tempo but laid-back romp through “September in the Rain.” Then Turre and Malone pair off for the trombonist’s intimate duet piece “No Regrets.” The song was originally written back in the ‘70s while Turre was playing bass in drummer Chico Hamilton’s band, where once a night the leader would take a break and leave Turre to play duo with guitarist Rodney Jones. On “Freedom Park, SA” Turre and Jones go head to head with a free improv sparked by a melody conceived by Turre while playing a festival in South Africa last year.

Turre contributes his own ballad to the proceedings with the wistful “Time Will Tell,” then nods to his late mentor J.J. Johnson (as well as his wife) on the trombone giant’s touching “Carolyn in the Morning.” Coleman’s heart-wrenching solo on “Never Let Me Go” is a highlight of the album, but Turre welcomes him back to let loose on a rip-roaring take on Charlie Parker’s “Yardbird Suite.”

The album concludes on a poignant note with the sentimental Irish ballad “Danny Boy,” a particularly meaningful choice for Turre. He fell in love with the song through Ben Webster’s version, but never played it until his brother-in-law, frail but still alert at 100 -years-old, made the request. On the opposite end of the age spectrum, Turre’s gentle but jaunty “Sachiko” is named for a baby whose smile touched his heart during a chance encounter in San Francisco.

There are countless musical moments that might come to mind at the thought of Steve Turre: his formative stint with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, his innovative collaborations with Rahsaan Roland Kirk, his tenures on the road with Ray Charles or Woody Shaw, his decades as a member of the Saturday Night Live band, his ground-breaking use of conch shells as musical instruments, countless collaborations with the greatest artists in jazz and popular music. With The Very Thought of You, Turre offers a beautifully vulnerable and lyrical side to that catalogue of memories.

"The Very Thought of You" was produced by Paul Stache and Damon Smith

and recorded live in New York at Sear Sound's Studio C on a Sear-Avalon custom console

at 96KHz/24bit and mixed to ½" analog tape using a Studer mastering deck.

Available in audiophile HD format.

  

Steve Turre · The Very Thought of You

Smoke Sessions Records · Release Date: August 24, 2018

Previously Unreleased Historic Recordings: Dexter Gordon Quartet Tokyo 1975 // Woody Shaw Tokyo 1981

In life, trumpeter Woody Shaw and saxophonist Dexter Gordon – two instrumental giants of the jazz idiom – were often connected. They both lived in Europe, (Gordon for 14 years in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and Shaw briefly in 1964), they were friends and frequent collaborators, and their respective recording careers were re-fashioned at Columbia Records by producer Michael Cuscuna. Gordon and Shaw became key voices in the rejuvenation of that label’s jazz division, and yet again both men reunited with ex-Columbia Records president Bruce Lundvall and Cuscuna at the newly reactivated Blue Note label in the mid-‘80s. Among Gordon’s late career highlights is his Oscar-nominated role in the film Round Midnight and the film’s pair of soundtrack albums, Round Midnight and The Other Side of Round Midnight. Shaw, who served as Blue Note’s house trumpeter in the ‘60s, collaborated with Freddie Hubbard on two seminal ‘80s recordings for the storied imprint.

Now this pair of jazz giants, in peak form and backed by crack working bands, can be heard again, on two newly discovered, previously unreleased live performances from Japan: Dexter Gordon Quartet Tokyo 1975 and Woody Shaw Tokyo 1981, released in deluxe-CD and LP editions by Elemental Music.

Gordon and Shaw thrived personally and artistically during their time in Europe. Woody Shaw played with and learned from the great saxophonist Eric Dolphy. During his time in Copenhagen, Dexter Gordon formed a fruitful musical connection with pianist Kenny Drew. At the heart of Dexter Gordon Quartet Tokyo 1975 is that almost telepathic interplay with Drew who moved to the Danish capital in 1964. On this recording, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, the Danish bass prodigy, equally adept at both walking bass-lines and solos, holds down the bass chair. Drew, Pedersen and drummer Alex Riel were the house band at Jazzhus Montmartre in Copenhagen, with Riel later replaced by another American ex-pat Albert “Tootie” Heath. It is this lineup that’s heard on Dexter Gordon Quartet Tokyo 1975. Whatever the lineup, the Jazzhus house band played live and on record many times with not only Gordon but Ben Webster, Johnny Griffin and others.

As famed jazz producer and Elemental Music Consultant Michael Cuscuna states in his liner notes for this package: “Having suffered the perils of being a single on the road for so many decades where out-of-tune pianos and tone-deaf pianists lurk around every corner, Dexter was lucky enough to enjoy the fruits of this great rhythm section for years in Copenhagen.”

Captured at Yubin Chokin Hall on October 1, 1975, Dexter Gordon Quartet Tokyo 1975, Gordon and his quartet play a program that opens with a long version of his favored original “Fried Bananas” and continues on to a pair of well-known standards in Henry Mancini’s “Days of Wine and Roses” (which Gordon recorded on his 1972 Prestige album, Tangerine) and Erroll Garner’s immortal, “Misty,” which had headed the 1965 Gordon live album of the same name. In glance back to the 1940s, the program continued with the Billy Eckstine-penned “Jelly, Jelly, Jelly,” which Gordon was often known to sing. This package also contains a pair of bonus tracks, the first being a spirited reading, complete with a quote from “Popeye the Sailor” of Thelonious Monk’s “Rhythm-a-Ning” recorded in Laren, Holland in June 1973 with Drew, Pedersen and drummer Espen Rud behind the kit. The second bonus number, a slow take of “Old Folks” dates from May 1977 in New Haven, Connecticut and features Gordon’s homecoming band with pianist Ronnie Matthews, bassist Stafford James, drummer Louis Hayes and Shaw.

One of the most distinctive and underrated trumpeters in jazz history, Woody Shaw began on the trumpet in high school, reputedly the same month that one of his heroes, Clifford Brown, died in a tragic car accident. First gaining fame as a sideman with Willie Bobo and Eric Dolphy, with whom he made his recording debut on Dolphy’s Iron Man, Shaw moved to Paris in the mid-‘60s, where he crossed paths with Gordon, who he later helped reintroduce to the stateside jazz scene in the mid-‘70s. After returning to the U.S. to play with Horace Silver’s Quintet, Shaw recorded for a variety of labels including Blue Note, Contemporary, Muse and finally Columbia, where in 1978 he recorded Rosewood, an album widely acknowledged as his masterpiece.

Shaw was also a key member of Gordon’s live Homecoming album, which captured Gordon’s first gig at the Village Vanguard after returning to the U.S. in 1977. Active on the jazz scene and as an international ambassador for the music until his untimely death in 1989 at 44, Shaw brought vital new energies to the language of jazz improvisation and uncompromising expression. On Woody Shaw Tokyo 1981, Shaw is joined by his working quintet which was notable for having the unusual textures and tonality of a frontline of Shaw and trombonist Steve Turre, backed by the considerable talents of pianist Mulgrew Miller, bassist Stafford James and drummer Tony Reedus.

Woody Shaw Tokyo 1981 opens with a stellar rendition of Shaw’s signature tune, the famous 69-bars of “Rosewood,” which is here played at a faster tempo than on the original studio recording. A straight reading of Thelonious Monk’s “`Round Midnight” with gorgeous solos by Shaw and Turre follows. In the ballad “From Moment to Moment,” Shaw shows his softer side and uses his warm, generous tone to its fullest. A swinging reading of Shaw’s waltz “Theme for Maxine,” closes the show. Written for his manager Maxine Gordon, this tune became something of a theme song for Shaw and was a constant presence on his concert set lists. This package also contains a bonus track from a concert of the Paris Reunion Band recorded live in Den Haag, Holland on July 14, 1985. Besides Shaw and Dizzy Reece on trumpet, this ‘80s ensemble of one-time ex-pats included saxophonists Johnny Griffin and Nathan Davis, pianist Kenny Drew, trombonist Slide Hampton, Jimmy Woode on bass and Billy Brooks on drums. Here they dig in on Shaw’s “Sweet Love of Mine,” an oft-covered number, probably best known in versions by Art Pepper and Jackie McLean. This version is highlighted by a heated competition in solos by Shaw, Griffin and Drew and a gorgeous trumpet cadenza by Shaw in the finale.

“Woody Shaw had in mind to contribute something meaningful to the world, something that was the result of his own labor, his own search and life’s journey,” writes his son, Woody Louis Armstrong Shaw III in his liner notes for the package. “For jazz, he felt a deep sense of loyalty and honor, a feeling that fueled his commitment and provided him with the inspiration he needed to turn his musical dreams, however farfetched they may have once been, into a reality that we now get to experience through the music he left behind.”

Instantly essential, these two sets document two of the towering figures in jazz history playing at their peak, and as such Dexter Gordon Quartet Tokyo 1975 and Woody Shaw Tokyo 1981 are invaluable additions to the recorded legacies of both these irreplaceable jazz visionaries. Maxine Gordon summarizes in her liner note to the Gordon package:

“Jazz fans the world over love discoveries of previously unreleased gems, hidden in storage rooms and vaults, unmarked and covered with dust. Elemental is finding a way to share these treasures with us. They are remastering often overlooked musical events and repackaging them to look as beautiful as the music sounds.”



Dexter Gordon Quartet Tokyo 1975 & Woody Shaw Tokyo 1981

Elemental Music · Release Date: July 13, 2018

Previously unissued 1968 live set from session guitar master Dennis Coffey - One Night At Morey's

From his early work with ’50s/’60s hit makers the Royaltones (who also backed other artists, including Del Shannon); to his run through the Motor City’s independent labels as a session ace; to his pioneering and legendary work with the Funk Brothers, backing band to massive Motown hits like “Just My Imagination,” “Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today),” “War,” “Cloud Nine,” “Someday We’ll Be Together,” and “Band of Gold” among many others; there’s no doubt about it: Dennis Coffey is a guitar legend.

Motown’s move to the West Coast in the ’70s didn’t slow him down. Instead, he struck out on his own and recorded a million-selling hit, “Scorpio,” in 1971. Coffey continued his studio session work (notably appearing on “Boogie Fever” by the Sylvers), scored films and produced other artists’ albums, such as Gallery’s Nice To Be With You and Rodriguez’s Cold Fact.

The 2000s have found Coffey appearing on the big screen, including the 2002 film Standing in the Shadows of Motown and 2012’s Searching for Sugarman. And to this very day you can find him playing every Tuesday night in Detroit.

One Night at Morey’s: 1968, scheduled for June 8, 2018 release on Omnivore Recordings, is drawn from the Lyman Woodard Trio’s residency at Morey Baker’s Showplace Lounge in Detroit. In those days the trio, consisting of Coffey on guitar, organist Lyman Woodard, and drummer Melvin Davis, could be found at their regular weekly stint at Morey’s. They played to a dedicated audience of often-repeat attendees, so the band kept the repertoire fresh and changing. One Night at Morey’s: 1968 follows last year’s Hot Coffey in the D: Burnin’ at Morey Baker’s Showplace Lounge, released by Resonance Records and also drawn from the Morey’s residency, but with an entirely different track list.

All tracks on One Night at Morey’s: 1968 are previously unissued and come directly from the vaults of Coffey and his producer partner, Mike Theodore. There are original compositions “Big City Lights,” “Mindbender,” and “Union Station,” as well as surprising and funky covers of “Billie’s Bounce” by Charlie Parker, “Burning Spear” by The Soul Strings, “Cissy Strut” by the Meters, “Eleanor Rigby” by the Beatles, “Groovin’” by the Young Rascals, and “I’m a Midnight Mover,” by Wilson Pickett (from the pen of both Pickett and Bobby Womack).

According to Coffey, “Morey Baker’s was the hottest club in town and packed every night! We rocked the house. I am excited to be working with Omnivore, a record label that really appreciates the music we created back then!”

  

Track Listing:

1. I’m a Midnight Mover  4:03

2. Eleanor Rigby  13:39

3. Cissy Strut   9:13

4. Groovin’   6:34

5. Burning Spear  13:54

6. It’s Your Thing/Union Station   3:05

7. Mindbender   4:17

8. Big City Lights  2:58

9. Billie’s Bounce  2:43

Newly Discovered Never-Before-Heard Bobby Darin on “Go Ahead and Back Up: The Lost Motown Masters”

Bobby Darin joined Motown Records in 1970, inaugurating the final phase in a remarkable career that saw him transform from a rock-and-roll teen idol to a sophisticated swinger to a socially conscious folkie.  Yet before his tragic death at the age of 37 in 1973, Darin only released one album and a handful of singles for Berry Gordy’s legendary label.  A few posthumous recordings followed in 1974 and a live album in 1987, but the story stayed the same: that despite the best efforts of all, Darin’s music for Motown never lived up to the great potential of the pairing.  Now, more than 45 years after the artist’s passing, the truth can be revealed.

Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records’ Go Ahead & Back Up: The Lost Motown Masters lifts the curtain on the final years of Bobby Darin’s life with 24 never-before-released recordings directly from the Motown vaults, their existence largely unknown to even Darin’s most ardent collectors and biographers.  Due on July 13, this years-in-the-making project (the landmark 25th release for Second Disc Records) premieres a lost album produced by Bobby in the raw, stripped-down style of his stage shows of the period; a return to standards as only Bobby could have recorded; and an entire album’s worth of stunning, surprising tracks written and produced by Motown’s cream of the crop.

Go Ahead & Back Up features newly-discovered, never-before-heard songs and productions by a Motown “Who’s Who” of Smokey Robinson (who shares the microphone on “Cindy”), Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson, The Corporation (Berry Gordy, Fonce Mizell, Freddie Perren and Deke Richards), Jerry Marcellino and Mel Larson, and Mike Randall.  The funky, soulful, and altogether exciting recordings on Go Ahead and Back Up finally give listeners a taste of where Bobby Darin might have been headed next.

This ultimate collectors’ edition has been co-produced and annotated by Joe Marchese (Bobby Darin’s Another Song on My Mind: The Motown Years) and Andrew Skurow (Diana Ross and The Supremes’ Expanded Editions), while acclaimed engineer Kevin Reeves has mixed and mastered from the pristine original Motown tapes.  A lavish 28-page booklet designed in impeccable period style by John Sellards includes comprehensive liner notes (drawing on exclusive quotes from Smokey Robinson, Valerie Simpson, and Jerry Marcellino) and rare, never-before-published photos of the superstar artist.

Thought you knew everything about Bobby Darin and The Motown Sound?  Go Ahead & Back Up!  This isn’t your mother’s Bobby Darin.  These long-lost recordings will hit stores from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music on July 13.

Bobby Darin, Go Ahead & Back Up: The Lost Motown Masters 

Go Ahead and Back Up

(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher

Help Me Make It Through the Night

Watch the River Flow

Lady Madonna

I Walk the Line

You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling

I Don’t Know How to Love Her

Catch the Wind

We’re Getting There

Stray Dog (Oh Let Her Be)

Child of Tears

I Think the Devil Must Be Beating His Wife

Cindy (featuring Smokey Robinson)

I’m Glad About It

Oh Lord, Where Is My Baby

Young Joe Caldwell (a.k.a. Lucky Day)

The Letter (Extended Version)

Proud Mary (Version 1)

Proud Mary (Version 2)

Rags to Riches

Mona Lisa

Smile

Melodie (The Symphony Mix)

All tracks previously unreleased

~ www.theseconddisc.com

Nicola Conte & Spiritual Galaxy - Let Your Light Shine On | New album

The Italian guitarist and bandleader Nicola Conte has recorded his first album for the legendary, recently re- established MPS records. Conte has brought with him an ensemble of stars including trumpeter Theo Croker, saxophonists Logan Richardson and Magnus Lindgren, and singer Zara McFarlane. Recorded in Bari, Italy and Johannesburg, South Africa, “Let Your Light Shine On” is a cohesive and powerful work of art that crosses the border between soul and spiritual Afro-jazz.

For his new album, Conte has casually interwoven soul and grooves pulsing with the beat and breath of Africa. In doing so, he combined elements that seemingly do not belong together. This innovative jazz revivalist has always been open to sounds of every sort and color. Born in 1964, Conte formed the artist collective Fez in the early ‘90s in his native city of Bari, produced jazz and modern electronic-oriented Bossa Nova, and recorded film scores. Conte’s eighth album conveys his interest in spiritual deceleration (“We should not be hemmed in by materialism. We need new perspectives!”).

The foundation of the album is Conte’s live band, Spiritual Galaxy. Conte plays guitar and is accompanied by such top international stars as trombonist Gianluca Petrella, who has been awarded “Best Emerging Artist” by the prestigious DownBeat jazz magazine, Swedish tenor saxophonist Magnus Lindgren, and Finnish drummer Teppo Mäkynen. They meet up with pianist Pietro Lussu, bassist Luca Alemanno, and singer Bridgette Amofah. The band also includes two up-and-coming stars of the younger generation of jazz musicians from the USA, players who don’t shy away from Hip Hop, R&B, and electronic music – alto saxophonist Logan Richardson and trumpeter Theo Croker.

A Scandinavian-American-Italian all-star band, a truly cosmic and international ensemble – complimented by a sensitive guest appearance by the celebrated British singer Zara McFarlane.

Let Your Light Shine On is Conte’s debut on the legendary MPS label, which has recently resumed releasing new recordings. “For me, when it comes to European labels, MPS has always been leading the way,” the Italian said. “Jazz Meets the World on MPS – that was their motto. It wasn’t about exploiting trends, it was about genuine artistic expression.”

Fire and Music: Nsimbi Tells Human Stories with East African Wisdom, Grace, and Swagger

The day used to end the same way around the world. After the work was done, families and communities would gather around a fire. They would sing, dance, tell stories, distill learning into proverbs.

The fire that brought us together still burns, insists the American-Ugandan power duo Nsimbi. On their eponymous debut (release: June 22, 2018), the Kampala-born star hip hop MC and storyteller GNL Zamba and gifted American singer-songwriter Miriam Tamar trace age-old wisdom that can and should inform modern life, using traditional East African instruments and sounds in utterly contemporary ways.

“The album was inspired by ancient Swahili proverbs, but it centers around African culture, more generally, the ancient insights it conveys,” Zamba explains. “We want to show people today how relevant that knowledge is. We want to promote that oneness this knowledge suggests.”

“The transition to modernity is a big theme on this album. We were looking for roots and we found them in Swahili proverbs,” Tamar agrees. “Every song is based on a proverb. They are the thread, but it all keeps coming back to our need for human connections to thrive.” These connections weave together sonically, via instruments from kalimba to kora, into tight, grooving songs.

These songs are a natural outgrowth of a musical partnership that began several years ago in Kampala, where Zamba and Tamar met. Tamar managed a recording studio, having left a position in the troubled northern part of the country at an NGO dedicated to peace education and recovery after years of devastating war. She had come to the Ugandan capital to focus on her music and began working for a label.

At the studio, she ran into Zamba, a legend on the burgeoning Ugandan hip hop scene who had racked up numerous awards, producing gigs, and brand sponsorships. The two connected, and when Zamba was looking for a singer for a government-supported track to raise HIV awareness, he called on Tamar. The song is credited with making a significant impact, Zamba notes. They went on to more collaborations, as part of Zamba’s hip hop label.

“I was singing more pop and hip hop,” Tamar recalls. “I didn’t really have a strong idea about my voice or message at that point, but I knew I wanted to be singing and writing. I was experimenting and figuring out what I needed to do that felt closer to my own vision.” Then, after five years in Uganda, events drew Tamar back to the States. In the year she spent alone in the US, she found her voice, writing and recording a solo EP, Firedance. The EP debuted in the top five of the iTunes world chart, garnering strong reviews and significant YouTube views.

When Zamba came and joined her in America, he began to explore new ideas. Though he had collaborated with traditional and acoustic musicians in Uganda, his focus and his claim to fame were his accomplishments as a hip hop MC. Known as a “ghetto storyteller” for his frank portrayals of life in Kampala, “I grew up listening to American MCs like Nas and to rappers from South Africa and elsewhere. I had fun as a young man just doing hip hop, but it wasn’t my only center. I was all over the place; I would preach on the record but it never felt whole.” Zamba, too, began to search for a different way to raise his voice.

The romantic ties that bound Zamba and Tamar inevitably blossomed into musical collaboration, as both found a deeper calling as artists. “This album was an opportunity to mature and evolve and promote the things we both believe in,” says Zamba. “We love culture, and we want to encourage international collaboration across cultures.”

They hit upon Swahili proverbs as conceptual anchors, bringing their broad musical loves and diverse experiences together. “There is so much in these proverbs, some of which I first encountered when I studied Swahili in college and in Tanzania,” Tamar notes. “We’d talk about them, and then Zamba would find similar ideas in Baganda culture.” “Leo ni Leo,” for example, reminds listeners that all we have is today, but today is more than enough to find joy. “Dunia ni Matembezi” advises listeners to leave their familiar surroundings and discover the world, literally stating that “the world is walking,” getting out there, seeing new things.

The evocative proverbs were just the beginning. “After we’d thought about the proverb, we’d come up with stories that we could tie together from our two perspectives and experiences, and I’d develop the melody,” recalls Tamar. “We ended up singing in English, Luganda, Lingala, and Swahili.” The linguistic range was enhanced by the duo’s collaborators, US-based Ugandan multi-instrumentalist Kinobe and Congolese-born soukous guitarist and singer Jaja Bashengezi, whose musical imprint on tracks like the party-read “Sokota” proved crucial to the album.

Nsimbi has diverse origins but the tracks share a sonic integrity, a sunny acoustic sound and a mesmerizing rhythmic intensity. Within the overarching feel, the contributors’ various styles glimmer through: Tamar’s singer-songwriter instincts (“Gonna Be Alright”), Zamba’s hip hop roots (“Flower of the Heart”), Bashengezi’s red-hot soukous licks, and Kinobe’s expressive kora (“Forsaken,” which addresses the plight of refugees in East Africa and worldwide). Zamba and Tamar’s musical impulses sometimes lead to different understandings of a shared concept, as in “Omugga,” dedicated to the swaying current of a river. Tamar heard the pulse in one way, Zamba another. “You can watch us dancing to these different beats on stage,” laughs Tamar. “But it all came together, even though our sense of a river’s rhythm were so different.”

The differences and variations are part of the point. “We have very different approaches to writing,” reflects Tamar, “and the pace we worked at was scary, but rewarding.” “One thing we both love and agree on, we love music that helps society,” Zamba adds. “We don’t mean this in some corny way; it’s not a trite thing. We honestly believe in music’s positive power in the world.”

 

Erroll Garner: Nightconcert – Live Recording at Midnight Concert in November of 1964 at The Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam

Features Eight Never-Before-Heard Song Interpretations + Newly Discovered Original Song

There are certain musical artists who have transcended genre limitations, crossing over into other areas of audience appeal. But in very rare cases there are artists who cross over in an entirely different way, becoming iconic and beloved figures to the broader spectrum of humanity by their very existence and essence of their being as universal messengers of love and spirit. Legendary pianist and composer Erroll Garner stands tall among those individuals.



A new addition to his brilliant manifestation of artistry and jubilant expressiveness is always a treat, but when it is at such a majestic peak as in Octave Music/Mack Avenue Records’ spectacular new release, Erroll Garner: Nightconcert, it is a revelation. Nightconcert presents Garner at the peak of his genius, recorded at a midnight concert in November 1964 at The Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam with an audience of 2000 highly enthusiastic and enraptured people of all ages. Also notable is that this album features eight never-before-heard Garner song interpretations, including a newly discovered original.

"The collection of recordings in the Garner Estate archives is immense and substantive," states Mack Avenue Records President Denny Stilwell. "To represent the historical treasure that is Nightconcert is a privilege for Mack Avenue and we are energized by this new collaboration with Octave Music."

Beginning with the immortal 1955 album Concert by the Sea – the best-selling jazz album of its era – Garner consistently proved that there is nothing to match that magical essence of transcendent artistry shared in the same air with a totally connected audience. On this night, the pianist’s consummate artistry is further enhanced by his rhythm section of bassist Eddie Calhoun and drummer Kelly Martin, with whom he’d been playing for nearly a decade – proving another unquestionable truth, that jazz is never better expressed than by an ensemble of musicians who have played together long enough to develop that telepathic synergy demanded by the music at its highest level. Accompanying Garner demanded that substance in exponential form.

As his longtime manager Martha Glaser wrote in the concert program notes, “one of Garner’s outstanding qualities is his unpredictability and spontaneity,” which followed “the individual selections which Mr. Garner will play have not been listed” – and neither of his accompanists were informed either. But there’s no way one could tell, as they match the master at every twist and turn as though it was just the way they rehearsed it. In fact, they never rehearsed. Their performances were pure magic through mutual awareness.

True to his singularly personal style, each piece begins with Garner’s sumptuous and often impressionistically rubato explorations before exposing the theme of the actual song he’s about to play, further stamping his personal ownership of the piece, no matter how familiar or how many other people may have interpreted it before. Each song is a unique entity, even in comparison to other interpretations that he may have done at another time – a most special talent and a mark of utter originality and immediacy.

The repertoire on this album is pure Garner, heavily drawn from the Great American Songbook with a nice infusion of originals. There are three Cole Porter classics: “Easy to Love,” “Night and Day” and “What Is This Thing Called Love;” and two gems from Rodgers & Hart: “My Funny Valentine” and “Where or When.” The Gershwins are represented by “’S Wonderful;” Irving Berlin by “Cheek to Cheek;” and Harold Arlen by “Over the Rainbow.” A couple of lesser luminaries are included with Einar Aaron Swan’s “When Your Lover Has Gone” and Clay Boland’s “Gypsy in My Soul.” Two great 1940s songs, immortalized by both being the title songs of terrific films and interpreted by scores of heavyweight artists are Bronislaw Kaper’s “On Green Dolphin Street” and David Raksin’s “Laura” – which can now add two more remarkable versions to their storied history.

Another outstanding title song from a film is one of three Garner originals, the exquisite “Theme from ‘A New Kind of Love’ (All Yours);” along with the jaunty “That Amsterdam Swing” and the touching “No More Shadows.” A brief taste of Ralph Rainger’s “Thanks for the Memory” provides the digestif to close this most delightful repast.

Nightconcert is an exhilarating journey through a comprehensive history of jazz piano: smooth stride, rollicking barrelhouse, unfettered swing, loping bop lines, Cecil Taylor-like chord clusters; spiced by potent touches of Debussy/Satie-like impressionistic flair. In other words, pure Erroll Garner: marvelously imaginative, richly lyrical, full of unexpected surprises, and utterly captivating.

This is the third new Garner release through Octave Music since its relaunch in 2015; the first, The Complete Concert By The Sea, was named 2016 historical record of the year by the Jazz Journalist Association and nominated for a GRAMMY® Award and an NAACP Image Award. It was produced by the late and deeply missed master jazz pianist Geri Allen, along with four-time GRAMMY® Award-winner, Steve Rosenthal. The second release, Ready Take One, a collection of previously unreleased studio recordings that was also nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Album, was produced by Allen, Rosenthal and Peter Lockhart. Nightconcert is produced by Peter Lockhart, Steve Rosenthal and Mack Avenue Records pianist/composer Christian Sands in his new role as Creative Ambassador for the Erroll Garner Jazz Project. The album is available in both CD and double-vinyl and is beautifully packaged with excellent artwork by White Bicycle, on-site photographs by Nico van der Stam/Maria Austria Instituut and The Erroll Garner archive – housed at the University of Pittsburgh – historical artifacts, and informative notes by renowned writers Nate Chinen and Robin D. G. Kelley.

Erroll Garner · Nightconcert

Mack Avenue Records · Release Date: July 13, 2018

Christian Sands Announces Ambitious Summer with Digital-Only Live REACH FURTHER EP

After a dynamic 2017, filled with international touring and the release of his critically acclaimed Mack Avenue Records debut album REACH, singularly talented pianist, GRAMMY® Award-nominee, and Steinway artist Christian Sands is expanding on his story with REACH FURTHER EP. This outing features live performances of three tracks from his latest album, recorded on March 7, 2018 at the popular Los Angeles jazz club Blue Whale, as well as two unreleased tracks from the original studio recording sessions. This digital-only release will be available on May 18, 2018 via Mack Avenue Records.

REACH FURTHER EP serves as a natural platform to showcase Sands’ captivating live performances, as well as a glimpse into what is to come from the ever-evolving and multifaceted artist. “People react to different things musically in a live setting, and that influenced how we play these songs. But for us, mainly there are more chord changes now,” laughs Sands. “We’ve added different pulses and more grooves after playing in Europe and the United States.”

Sands used what little free time he had between touring and recording to lend a hand to the Erroll Garner Jazz Project, (officially becoming the Creative Ambassador for Octave Music) producing the upcoming never-before-heard live album Erroll Garner: Nightconcert. The album is a continuation of the work Sands has done with his mentor, the late and deeply lamented Geri Allen, to ensure Garner’s legacy is never forgotten.

“Geri was one of my teachers. I was studying with her during the same time I was studying with Dr. Billy Taylor. To watch her vision was incredible. When she introduced me to the Erroll Garner Jazz Project, I discovered the deeper idea of Erroll: his time, his phrases,” recalls Sands. “Being the Creative Ambassador to the Erroll Garner Jazz Project is a true honor and to be able to produce this record is something extremely heavy, yet humbling.”

Christian Sands continues to expand into previously unexplored areas of his artistry, continuing to push the boundaries of the “jazz-norm.” Furthering that sentiment and looking to the future, Mack Avenue Records plans to release Sands’ next album this coming fall. Incorporating elements of acoustic piano, Fender Rhodes, and Hammond B3, the upcoming album displays his ability to look at the instrument as a tool of orchestration.

Those talents will be further applied with his upcoming Music Director position for the 2018 Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour band this year with Cécile McLorin Salvant, Bria Skonberg, Melissa Aldana, Yasushi Nakamura, and Jamison Ross. With so many elements and projects coming from his young inspired mind, the REACH FURTHER EP solidifies that this is Christian Sands’ world and we are just blessed to be a part of it.

Christian Sands' Upcoming U.S. Performances:

Jun. 14 / McCarter Theatre Center (The Berlind Theater) / Princeton, NJ

Jun. 23 / Freihofer's Saratoga Jazz Festival / Saratoga Springs, NY

Jun. 24 - 25 / Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival / Rochester, NY

Jun. 26 - 27 / Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola (JALC) / New York, NY

July 3 - 20th: European Tour

Sept. 3 / Detroit Jazz Festival / Detroit, MI

Sept. 21 / Monterey Jazz Festival / Monterey, CA

Sept. 29 / Hyde Park Jazz Festival / Chicago, IL

Oct. 9 / Kuumbwa Jazz Club / San Jose, CA

Oct. 22 / Dimitriou's Jazz Alley / Seattle, WA

Oct. 25 - 28 / Jazz Standard / New York, NY

Nov. 2 / Christina Cultural Arts Center / Wilmington, DE

Nov. 3 / Montgomery County Community College / Blue Bell, PA

Michael Franks Celebrates 45 Years As A Recording Artist With New Album The Music In My Head

"'The Music In My Head' is my eighteenth studio album of original songs. I still think of these releases as albums and I write and sequence them with that same old-school idea of continuity in mind. On this project, I enjoyed writing and recording every note...from making the demos to working in the studio with so many of my former accomplices and some great new ones. When I started writing the compositions I shut myself up in my little studio room and got lost in the music, fueled by: tea, more tea, vegan lasagna, and punctuated by walking the dogs and deep water cardio workouts." - MICHAEL FRANKS

"As Long As We're Both Together" features Chuck Loeb on guitars and keys, he also produced and arranged the track. Jimmy Haslip-bass, Eric Marienthal, sax, Manuel Quintana-percussion, Veronica Nunn and Leslie Ritter-background vocals

Celebrating 45 years as a recording artist since his highly collectible self-titled debut in 1973, singer/songwriter Michael Franks hovers dragonfly-like in a sacred space all his own within his contributions to the artform of music. Liberatingly non-categorizable, Franks is in possession of unique fan bases around the world across jazz, quiet storm, adult contemporary, pop, contemporary jazz, folk and even blues styles. His songs have been lovingly covered by a wide range of artists that includes Ringo Starr, Natalie Cole, The Carpenters, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Diana Krall, Lyle Lovett, Al Jarreau, Carmen McRae, The Manhattan Transfer and Patti LaBelle, to name only a few. And some of his most well-known compositions - lyrical marvels wedded to his laidback delivery of vocalizing, produced, arranged and cast with some of the finest musicians in jazz and session lore - range from ethereal ("The Lady Wants to Know") to sensual ("Tell Me All About It") to playful ("Popsicle Toes") to edgy ("The Camera Never Lies") to evocative ("Tiger in the Rain") to cinematic ("Nightmoves") to seasonal ("Christmas in Kyoto") to comforting ("Inside You") to outrageous ("Now That Your Joystick's Broke") to sublime ("Still Life") and beyond. What James Taylor, Joni Mitchell and Paul Simon have contributed to pop-rock music in terms of singer/songwriter excellence, Michael Franks has accomplished as their iconic equivalent in the realms of contemporary jazz and the quiet storm.

For his 18th album and first in seven years, Michael provides America and the world at large a cerebellum- massaging musical survival kit of 10 new songs...an audio travelogue that turns our attention to the wonders of Creation and Mother Nature strewn with bread crumbs that additionally lead us to lofty literature, works of art, love, divinity...and tea. Titled The Music In My Head, it is a snapshot of the artist in his autumnal here and now, lost up in the fruits of his quietly profound career success, his loving wife Claudia, seven cats and two dogs, the idyllic wooded environ in which he lives, and the blessing of still firing on all cylinders in his wondrous endeavors of expression. Joining Michael in the process are producer/arrangers Gil Goldstein, Scott Petito, Charles Blenzig and former Yellowjackets bassist Jimmy Haslip, along with stellar guest musicians such as guitarist David Spinozza, saxophonists Bob Mintzer, Eric Marienthal and Gary Meek and for the first-time pianist Rachel Z.  Franks' dear friend and guitarist Chuck Loeb (Fourplay) also appears on the album. The singer/songwriter shares, "The loss of my long-time producer and friend, Chuck Loeb, threw the project out of balance for a few months. I sent Chuck the first demo I made, a guitar/vocal/percussion sketch of "As Long As We're Both Together." At this point in time he was struggling bravely against the odds of his health issues. We spoke on the phone a few times, discussing which guitars he might use, and in a few days time he sent me a perfect arrangement with the amazing solos you hear on the record. It's hard to comprehend how, in a time of such physical adversity, he summoned the wherewithal to play at his blazing, signature best. I'll always treasure this last collaboration of ours. I'm grateful to my friends Jimmy Haslip, Eric Marienthal, and Scott Petito, along with percussionist Manuel Quintana, and vocalists Veronica Nunn and Leslie Ritter for helping me finish this song in the sad absence of our late friend Chuck."

The result of "As Long As We're Both Together" and the nine additional gems highlighted on The Music In My Head is a magnificent sonic telegraph of timeless anthems that transcend all boundaries and reach straight for the heart.