MEMPHIS COMBO SOUTHERN AVENUE TURNS UP THE RETRO-SOUL HEAT WITH THEIR SECOND ALBUM, KEEP ON

On their self-titled 2017 debut album, the boundary-breaking Memphis combo Southern Avenue sparked a one-band musical revolution, embodying an effortlessly organic soul/blues/R&B fusion that reflects the band members' diverse roots as well as their deep commitment to their chosen style. On their second album Keep On, set for release on May 10, 2019 via Concord Records, the dynamic outfit expands its gritty musical vision to embrace new musical challenges and a more expansive creative vision.

Southern Avenue combines the talents of a prodigiously talented set of young musicians who bring their individual backgrounds to the table to create music that carries the Southern soul legacy into the 21st century, spanning the band members' wide-ranging musical interests while showcasing the powerful chemistry and electrifying live show that they've honed through extensive stage and studio experience. Since the release of their debut, Southern Avenue has played in over a dozen countries and wowed audiences at such festivals as Bonnaroo, Firefly, Electric Forest and Lockn’.

Guitar phenom Ori Naftaly originally built his reputation in his native Israel before joining forces with deeply expressive Memphis-bred singer Tierinii Jackson and her subtly powerful drummer sister Tikyra Jackson. The band's lineup is rounded out by versatile keyboardist Jeremy Powell, an early alumnus of Stax Records' renowned music academy.

Keep On brilliantly captures Southern Avenue's combustible chemistry, with the emotion-charged energy of such distinctive originals as "Whiskey Love," "Savior," "Too Good for You" and "We Are Not So Different" reflecting the players' evolving talents as well as the influence of the extensive roadwork that they've invested in the band. The musicians recorded the album with producer Johnny Black (Jessie J, Daughtry, Estelle) at Memphis' legendary Sam Phillips Recording, with guest appearances by seminal Stax Records artist William Bell, noted Memphis musician Gage Markey (who serves as guest bassist on most of the album) and a horn section comprised of Art Edmaiston (JJ Grey & Mofro, Gregg Allman) and Marc Franklin (The Bo-Keys, Gregg Allman).

GRAMMY Award winner Bell, a formative figure in the development of Southern soul, was impressed by the band's talents. "In terms of new artists with the talent to become the stars of the future, you need to look no further than Southern Avenue," Bell commented.

The critics have been similarly impressed. "Southern Avenue's modern sound melds gospel-infused R&B with a rootsy rock feel," wrote Mix. Relix referred to Southern Avenue as "a deeply soulful Memphis band that’s turning the scene on its head," while Goldmine called their music "a frothy Memphis soul stew fit to twitch your body to in ways you didn't think you could," The Chicago Reader called the band's debut album "a boiling retro-soul primer," adding that "Tierinii has a riveting stage presence. They do the Stax legacy proud." No Depression commented that it's "easy to imagine Southern Avenue as a house band in their native Memphis or Muscle Shoals in the glory days of the '60s, sent back to the future to save us from inauthenticity and our collective hurt."

"Making this album was an interesting journey," Ori says of Keep On. "Our first album was recorded very fast and released very fast. With this one, we spent a long time planning, and we knew how we wanted it sound. For me, it's a big progression from the first album."  "The experience was completely different from making the first one," adds Tierinii. "We learned a lot about each other and a lot about the band."

As producer Johnny Black notes, "The thing that stood out most to me about Southern Avenue is their dedication to making this record 'the hard way.' Even in their selection of studios; by picking Sam Phillips Recording, the band, in essence, forced themselves to record within the same parameters as some of their heroes. And while that process may have taken extra time, it was well worth the effort."

The seeds for Southern Avenue's birth were first planted when Ori Naftaly, who'd grown up in Israel with a deep-rooted passion for American soul, blues and funk, came to Memphis in 2013 to compete in the prestigious International Blues Challenge. Although his talents were embraced by American audiences, Naftaly felt constrained in his own band, feeling the need to embrace a more expansive musical vision.  That opportunity arrived when he met Tierinii Jackson, who'd gotten her start singing in church, before performing in a series of cover bands and theatrical projects.

Despite not having a record deal at the time, Southern Avenue quickly found success touring in America and Europe.  They won additional attention playing some high-profile festivals and making it to the finals in the International Blues Challenge.

The band’s self-titled debut was released in 2017, hitting #6 on Billboard’s Top Blues Albums Chart, reaching #1 on the iTunes Blues Chart and prominently sitting in the Americana radio Top 30 for nearly six months. The success of the album created demand for the band in both the U.S. and throughout the world performing in high-profile festivals around the globe. Since that time the band has seemingly lived on the road with over 300 shows under their belts. Building their audience one show at a time, they have headlined countless rooms from coast to coast and have toured with artists including Buddy Guy, JJ Grey & Mofro, Umphrey's McGee, Los Lobos, North Mississippi Allstars and Karl Denson to name a few. "We love playing live," says Ori Naftaly, "It's that connection with our fans that makes the time away from home worth it. Fans become our family out on the road and we love experiencing music together with them each and every night."

Their efforts were further acknowledged by fans and peers in 2018, when their Stax debut was honored with a Blues Music Award for “Best Emerging Artist Album.”

"What makes it Southern Avenue," Tierinii states, "is that when we come together, the music we make together is music we could never come up with individually. It's really rewarding to have so many influences in the band, and that we can find the balance between them."

"I'm proud that we don't sound like anyone else," Ori asserts. "We've been all over the world, from Australia to Poland to Norway to Spain to Canada to Mexico. Those experiences, and all the highs and lows, it's all reflected in the music. I've waited all my life to be in a band like this, and it's amazing to me that I get to play with these people every night."

 

 

COLTRANE ’58: THE PRESTIGE RECORDINGS BOX SET CAPTURES LEGENDARY SAXOPHONIST DURING HIS BREAKTHROUGH “SHEETS OF SOUND” YEAR

Though it’s been 52 years since his tragic passing, John Coltrane’s importance and influence have never been greater. Though active for a relatively short period—from 1957 to ’67—he was an intrepid spirit who developed at a feverish pace. Coltrane’s breakout year, when his mature sound first grabbed ears and his own recordings began to sell consistently, was 1958. Coltrane ’58: The Prestige Recordings, out March 29th on Craft Recordings,is a box set (8-LP, 5-CD & digital formats) that chronicles the exciting story session by session, featuring all 37 tracks Coltrane recorded as a leader or co-leader for the independent Prestige label in those twelve months. This collection captures him in creative high gear—developing the signature improvisational style that journalist Ira Gitler famously dubbed “sheets of sound.” 

The timely release of Coltrane ’58 marks the 70thyear since the founding of Prestige Records and comes just after the 60thanniversary of these recordings. It also follows on last year’s successful release of Both Directions at Once, which debuted at No. 21 on the Billboard200, the highest chart position of his career.

Coltrane ’58 brims with the shared jazz repertoire of the day—blues, bebop standards and familiar ballads—as well as original compositions and obscure tunes Coltrane rediscovered. Together they offer an array of emotional depth and instrumental prowess, showing how the rising saxophonist was actively stretching sound and increasing the intensity, and shifting the direction of what jazz performance was about. Included are definitive versions of “Lush Life,” “Lover Come Back to Me,” “Stardust,” “Good Bait” and “Little Melonae”; first recordings of originals like “Nakatini Serenade,” “The Believer,” “Black Pearls” and the heartfelt “Theme for Ernie”; and extended tenor saxophone tours-de-forcesuch as “Russian Lullaby,” “Sweet Sapphire Blues” and “I Want to Talk About You” that anticipate the stratospheric heights Coltrane would reach in the 1960s.

  

In 1958 Coltrane was still two years away from emerging as a bandleader, but his membership in ensembles led by Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk had propelled him into the spotlight as one of jazz’s most exciting and controversial figures. Coltrane ’58serves as a window onto the shock and awe—and eventually deep appreciation—Coltrane generated during this period, when his sheets of sound approach pushed the bebop ideal of slaloming through a tune’s chordal pathways to its extreme.

To be sure, Coltrane ’58 is more than sheets of sound: It’s the sound of Coltrane working and smoothing out those sheets and exploring other ideas as well.  For example, he frequently played in double-time—as if the chords were moving twice as fast as the rest of the band—and, if the music called for it, he’d decrease the intensity, caressing and embellishing a melody, an aspect that could calm the toughest critics.

Produced by Nick Phillips, the vinyl box includes eight 180-gram LPs, remastered from the original analog tapes by Paul Blakemore (all of which were recorded by renowned engineer Rudy Van Gelder)and cut by Clint Holley from 24-bit/192kHz transfers. The lavish, linen-wrapped, portfolio-style book features an eye-catching design and includes 40 pages containing extensive liner notes by Grammy®-winning American music historian Ashley Kahn, rare ephemera and historical photographs of the saxophonist and his collaborators, including several taken by renowned jazz photographers Francis Wolffand Esmond Edwards. The 5-CD edition, containing a 76-page book, is a faithful replica of the 8-LP vinyl box.

  

Coltrane ’58 reveals other significant aspects of Coltrane’s emergence, too, like his growing status in the hard bop brotherhood of the day. He recorded with contemporaries (many future legends in their own right), including pianist Red Garland; guitarist Kenny Burrell; trumpeters Donald Byrd, Freddie Hubbardand Wilbur Harden; bassist Paul Chambersand drummers Art Taylor, Jimmy Cobband Louis Hayes. The sessions all took place in Rudy Van Gelder’slegendary home studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, where so much of the best jazz of that era was recorded. Coltrane’s music of 1958 benefits from a marked blue-collar, pressure-cooker aesthetic: Born in three-hour sessions with minimal rehearsal, head arrangements and mostly first takes, these tracks provide a true and transparent view of the talent Coltrane was able to draw upon and the timeless, improvised magic they created together.

  

It’s a challenge today to imagine how radical Coltrane must have sounded sixty years ago to jazz listeners accustomed to a gentler, lyrical flow. In his liner notes, Ashley Kahn sees an enduring relevancy in Coltrane’s bold chance-taking, as a creative artist and an African-American: “In the context of current headlines and an overriding sense of déjà vu, Coltrane’s music rings clearer than ever, with even greater meaning than it had in 1958. What he was playing then never felt less than urgent and relevant—subversive even. It still sounds that way.”

Remarkably, the majority of this music wasn’t released until the ’60s on various albums after Coltrane’s emergence as a bandleader, denying these 37 tracks the chance to tell their own collective story. By sequencing this music in the order of its original creation, Coltrane ’58clearly delineates Coltrane’s first full year as a recording artist, finally allowing fans to experience—track by track—the emergence of a master improviser in his first great career crest.

Collective Personnel:

John Coltrane (tenor saxophone), Kenny Burrell (guitar), Donald Byrd (trumpet), Paul Chambers (bass), Jimmy Cobb (drums), Tommy Flanagan (piano), Red Garland (piano), Wilbur Harden (trumpet, flugelhorn), Louis Hayes (drums), Freddie Hubbard (trumpet), Art Taylor (drums).

 

DEBUT ALBUM FROM NEW ORLEANS-BASED VOCALIST QUIANA LYNELL, A LITTLE LOVE, SET FOR RELEASE APRIL 5TH VIA CONCORD JAZZ

A feast of soul, gospel, r&b, groove and jazz, A Little Love blooms with songs about searching, trying times, buoyant love, deep reflection and social action. Lynell sings with the voice of authority and the takeaway from the album as a whole is honesty. She’s a truth-seeking storyteller with a spirited resolve - covering a wide range of songs from Nina Simone to Chaka Khan, from Duke to the Gershwins, from Donny Hathaway to Irma Thomas; with the bookends of the album featuring songs by powerful modern artists Alina Engibaryan and Joshuah Campbell.  Accompanied by a powerhouse band featuring Cyrus Chestnut on piano, Jamison Ross on drums, Ed Cherry on guitars, George DeLancey on bass and Monte Croft on vibes, the release of A Little Love will be accompanied by tour dates including a stop at the 2019 Playboy Jazz Festival in Los Angeles in June.

“Quiana is a dynamic and compelling vocalist,” said John Burk, President of Concord Records. “She has an incredibly rich voice and unique ability to effortlessly blend gospel, soul, and jazz into her music. We’re thrilled to add Quiana’s debut album to the longstanding lineage of exceptional artistry on Concord Jazz.”

Born in Texas and raised on Gospel, in 2017 Quiana Lynell made her salient mark on the jazz-and-beyond musical world as a wise, heartfelt, warm vocalist whose voice is singular in its soul, intensity, ecstasy and outright spiritual courage. She played with her trio at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival which led to her performing in Poland with trumpeter Terence Blanchard’s Spike Lee tribute with a 75-piece orchestra and a continued period of mentoring on Blanchard's part. In November of 2017, after considering for a couple of years whether she was ready, she decided to vie for the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition Award. She commanded the finals stage at NJPAC’s Victoria Theater and wowed the judges and audience with her vocal prowess that earned her the prize, which afforded her the opportunity to record an album for Concord Jazz. The result, 2019’s A Little Love, produced by the renowned Brian Michel Bacchus, is testament to what a rare, mesmerizing artist can achieve on her auspicious debut.

Blanchard said his take on hearing Quiana for the first time was “a serious vocal discovery.” He added, “Quiana Lynell was already a vocal presence. When I first heard her sing, my initial thought was ‘Who are you, where have you been, and why am I just hearing you now?'

Frank Zappa's Beloved Live Double Album 'Zappa In New York' Celebrated With Suite Of 40th Anniversary Releases Including Deluxe 5CD Box Set, Expanded 3LP Vinyl And Digital

In celebration of its recent 40th anniversary, Frank Zappa's classic 1978 album Zappa In New York, was released today as a suite of expanded anniversary editions. Overseen by the Zappa Family Trust and produced by Ahmet Zappa and Vaultmeister Joe Travers, the versions include a deluxe 5 CD box set, 3 LP on 180-gram audiophile grade vinyl, and digitally. The 5-disc collection, which is housed in a limited-edition metal tin shaped like a NYC street manhole cover and complete with a replica ticket from one of the shows, consists of the main album in its original mix, newly remastered by Bob Ludwig in 2018 and available for the first time since its debut. The four additional discs are loaded with relevant Vault nuggets and more than three hours of unreleased live performances from the NYC Palladium concerts, representing every composition played during the concerts and the best alternate performances of every tune Zappa picked for the original album, all newly mixed in 2018. To achieve the highest-level sound quality, the audio team went back to the original two-inch 24-track multi-track master tapes and transferred every reel at 96kHz 24-bit wavs.

"We are excited to bring you this new Deluxe version of Zappa in New York: an opportunity to re-examine and celebrate the source material of a great album while exploring the events of Frank's life in late December 1976, Collections like these really show of the work ethic of a musical genius," exclaims the Zappa Family Trust in the album notes.

In 1976, Zappa played four historic sold-out concerts at The Palladium in New York City the week between Christmas and New Year's. These thrilling shows – described by band member Ruth Underwood as "theatrical, outrageous and raucously funny, but also filled with startling and gorgeous music, dating from Frank's 1960s output to literally the moment the curtain went up"— served as the source material for the live double album Zappa In New York which was constructed from the best-played performances with overdubs later recorded in the studio. Originally slated for release in 1977, the album was delayed for a year due to record label censorship issues, mostly over the controversial song "Punky's Whips," and finally released in 1978. One of Zappa's most beloved collections of songs, the now revered album included a sensational live version of "Sofa" alongside nine new compositions, including the complex percussion-based piece "The Black Page," which has become infamous in the drum community as the ultimate challenge, the Devilish comedic sendup "Titties & Beer," and the notorious aforementioned "Punky's Whips" about Punky Meadows, the flamboyant guitarist for the band Angel.

Zappa In New York includes expanded packaging which features previously unseen live photos by Gail Zappa alongside extensive liner notes by band members Ruth Underwood and Ray White (who were part of Zappa's band for these shows) as well as an insightful essay by Joe Travers with Australian writer Jen Jewel Brown. Underwood also contributes a solo piano version of "The Black Page" that has been newly recorded for this special edition. "'The Black Page' has proven to be one of Frank Zappa's most intriguing and enduring compositions. It is performed in many kinds of venues all over the world. It is taught and studied in schools. Perhaps most exciting is that it is adaptable and lends itself to a variety of orchestrations and re-workings, as FZ himself demonstrated. I am proud that after forty years, mine is finally among them. It is my love letter to Frank and Gail," Underwood writes in the liners.

The 3LP set, pressed at Pallas in Germany, features all-analog mastering of the original album mix, unavailable since first issued. Plus, an additional LP of select bonus content from The Vault. The digital release marks the debut of the original mix.

Zappa In New York capped off a terrific year for the ever-prolific and always-moving musician which included shows around the globe including his second Australian tour and one and only Japanese jaunt, the release of his album Zoot Allures and Grand Funk Railroad's record Good Singin' Good Playin, which he produced, a string of Halloween shows and a performance on "Saturday Night Live" which ended up having a profound impact on the Palladium shows. Following an on-air collaboration with SNL's announcer Don Pardo and the show's house band, Zappa invited them to be a part of the shows after three of the horn players so loved playing with Zappa that they asked if they could be involved. As Travers and Brown write in the illuminating liner notes: "Out of nowhere, the concept of adapting horns to the scheduled concerts became a reality. Frank was immediately swept up in the pleasure and challenge of writing and arranging parts for the existing material."

The collection showcases some of Zappa's most masterful guitar playing and electrifying arrangements as he leads an exceptional band featuring Ray White on vocals and guitar, Terry Bozzio on drums and vocals, Eddie Jobson on keyboards and violin, Ruth Underwood on percussion and synthesizer, Patrick O'Hearn on bass and vocals and David Samuels on timpani and vibes. Don Pardo provided "sophisticated narration" and the brass section, featuring jazz duo the Brecker Brothers with Randy Brecker on trumpet and Michael Brecker on tenor saxophone, was rounded out by the SNL players: Lou Marini on alto sax, Ronnie Cuber on baritone sax and Tom Malone on trombone.

This Record Store Day, Saturday, April 13, the Zappa Family Trust and UMe will continue their tradition of releasing a unique vinyl pressing to celebrate the bi-yearly indie record store extravaganza. The rare 1987 guitar-centric compilation, The Guitar World According To Frank Zappa, originally available only on cassette through Guitar World magazine and Barfko-Swill mail order, will receive its first-ever vinyl pressing. The album features unique mixes and edits by Zappa and a selection of solos that were released the following year on the Guitar album. Mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering, this RSD First release, limited to 8000 worldwide, is numbered and pressed on 180-gram clear audiophile vinyl by Furnace MFG.

Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah and Harlem Stage Present the 3rd and Final Stretch Music Festival

Harlem Stage, the legendary uptown venue that for over 35 years has promoted the creative legacy of Harlem and artists of color from around the corner and across the globe, is proud to present its Spring 2019 season of performances. The 2019 spring season is curated by Monique Martin, Director of Programming for Harlem Stage and features artists who #Disrupt and take creative risk. The performances feature a range of artistic genres, offering audiences the chance to experience legendary performers, as well as rising stars.  

Harlem Stage is thrilled to continue its partnership with Edison Award-winning and Grammy-nominated trumpeter Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah to re-establish jazz as a social music through the Stretch Music Residency. This third and final year of Adjuah’s residency will feature the 3rd and final installment of the Stretch Music Festival. Featuring artists including Saul Williams, the Logan Richardson band, Freelance and more. The festival also includes a FREE Stretch Music Intensive, in addition to a performance from the Steve Turre Quintet as part of the Jazz Then and Now conversation series.

  

The series kicks off on April 9th as Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah returns to Manhattan School of Music to lead a FREE masterclass on his genre blind Stretch Music. All music students, musicians and lovers of the jazz idiom and all its variabilities are welcomed to join this immersive workshop centered on improvisation, technique and thriving as a working artist today. Also on April 9th, is a free pop-up performance at Silvana’s Restaurant featuring drummer, producer and composer King Klavé.

On April 11th, as part of the Jazz Then and Now series, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah will be in conversation with composer and trombonist Steve Turre on improvisation, technology, collaboration, the importance of the historical lineage and more. The conversation will be preceded with a live performance by the Steve Turre Quintet. Jazz Then and Now is a conversation series, presented as part of the Stretch Music Residency that brings together innovative thought leaders in the field in dialogue on the history, the present and the future of jazz. 

Closing out the series on April 12th, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah curates and performs at his final Stretch Music Festival under his three-year residency with Harlem Stage. The generosity, leadership and innovation Christian has brought to the Harlem Stage Gatehouse and broader New York community is extraordinary. The audience can anticipate another powerful festival that will once again advance and stretch the landscape of jazz. The evening will feature stellar guests including Saul Williams, the Logan Richardson band, Freelance and more, as Christian connects West African rhythms with his Afro New Orleanian cultural traditions to the sonic freedoms of creative improvised music. Come ready to be Stretched! 

Pianist Nick Sanders Looks to the Future - of Jazz and the World in General - with Dark Humor and Eclectic Imagination on Playtime 2050

On Playtime 2050, the third release by his inventive trio, pianist/composer Nick Sanders looks to the future with a unique combination of imaginative complexity and dark humor. Due out March 15 via Sunnyside, the album presents the latest evolution of Sanders' singular voice, which blends influences from a wide swath of jazz history with concepts from contemporary classical music and the composer's offbeat perspective.

Once again, Sanders is joined by bassist Henry Fraser and drummer Connor Baker.  Where earlier outings supplemented Sanders' distinctive compositions with aptly-chosen pieces by such heavily influential composers as Herbie Nichols, Thelonious Monk and Ornette Coleman, Playtime 2050 consists entirely of originals, a diverse repertoire ranging from entirely through-composed pieces to free improvisations, solo piano meditations to raucous swing tunes, tender ballads to prepared piano explosions.

"I like working with different extremes," Sanders says. "When I reflect on the spirit of jazz or improvised music, the greatest musicians always pushed the music forward, looked in a forward direction. A lot of modern jazz is very much stuck in the past, so I'm trying to draw on my experiences and do something different."

To set the mood, Sanders returned to the work of New Mexico-based artist Leah Saulnier, the self-described "Painting Maniac" whose painting of a sideshow contortionist also graced the cover of the trio's last release, You Are a Creature (2014). Her unsettling "Playtime 2050," which gave the album its name, depicts an adorable dystopia, with a young girl in pigtails and gasmasks cuddling a similarly accoutered stuffed bunny.

"When I first saw the image," Sanders recalls, "I found it really interesting and weird, not to mention starkly different from any artwork I've seen in the jazz world. I liked its tongue in cheek look at the state of the world today, with the silver lining being that it's clearly about surviving."

That notion resonated not just with Sanders' own views on the modern socio-political reality, but with his forward-looking take on jazz. It also runs parallel to an optimistic view of the place of art in the world. No matter how dark things get, it seems to suggest, there's always the escape of play - whether that means spending time with a favorite toy or taking the stage with close collaborators.

The painting's dark humor also captures a key element of Sanders' own music, a thread that can be traced back to the wry, puckish playfulness of the iconic Thelonious Monk. The sharp, jaunty angles of album opener "Live Normal" bear traces of Monk's influence, while the title comes from a line spoken by Steven Avery, the subject of the hit docuseries Making a Murderer. While Sanders' own story is far from that of Avery's, the desire to "live normal" is one that every outcast might feel at some point in their life.

The frenetic "Manic Maniac," with its blistering intensity and disorienting shifts in time, shows the influence of greats like Ornette Coleman and Jason Moran, the latter one of Sanders' mentors at NEC. It's followed by the title tune, a slightly skewed swing tune that laces its buoyant melody with a few eccentric touches, perfectly suited for that disturbing cover image. The moody "Prepared for the Blues," meanwhile, is the first of two pieces for prepared piano, here used subtly on slow, noir-ish blues, with just a pair of notes effected by finishing nails placed between the strings. The second prepared piano piece, the freely improvised "Prepared for the Accident," is much more audacious in its use of percussive sounds and unidentifiable noises. The inspiration for preparing the piano comes from legendary composer John Cage, whose work Sanders has studied.

The meditative "Still Considering" is an elegant, through-composed ballad, revealing Sanders' classical music background in its delicate construction and chamber music feel. The piece draws on the pianist's stint at a Buddhist monastery in California's Redwood Valley.  That sense is disrupted by the feverish "The Number 3," which evokes the insistent and unpredictable music of avant-garde saxophonist/composer Anthony Braxton in its aggressive repetitions and passages of sparse minimalism opening into fierce improvisation.

"Interlude for S.L.B." is a solo tribute to Sanders' late mother, who introduced him to a wealth of diverse music during his youth in New Orleans, from the sounds of her native Cuba to a range of other traditions that helped instill his love of music. "Endless" is built on the close relationship between Sanders and Baker, showcasing the close interaction between the piano and drums while Fraser provides the essential glue that binds them together. "It's Like This" provides another brief respite with its serene, spiraling melody, while "Hungry Ghost" turns dark, with hard-hitting, rock-inflected moments interspersed with uneasy segments of lurking tension.

"RPD" is reprised from Janus, Sanders' duo album with saxophonist Logan Strosahl, its unnerving wistfulness reflecting the themes of its source, the zombie apocalypse video game series Resident Evil. Finally, the reverent "2 Longfellow Park" ends the album on a spiritual note, its title taken from the address of an old church near Boston.

Representing a rich variety of moods, inspirations and approaches, Playtime 2050 feels like a culmination of the trio's tenure together and of Sanders' always expanding compositional palette. "I explored a lot of new territory on this album," Sanders concludes. "This is my contribution to the idea of pushing the music forward, which I think is extremely crucial in keeping the music alive and culturally important."

Pianist Nick Sanders is a truly fresh musical voice, wholly original yet clearly shaped by the masters he has studied and embraced. Sanders' New Orleans upbringing ensured an eclectic ear and musical sensibility. He began playing music before the age of four and was a quick study on the drums, able to almost instantly learn the second-line beat. He  tackled the  piano  in  second  grade  and  began  to  show remarkable promise as a classical performer, winning numerous regional and national competitions. Sanders studied classical piano at the famed New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) before moving to the jazz program after encouragement from pianists Michael Pellera and Danilo Perez. In 2006 Sanders earned a full scholarship to the New England Conservatory, where he studied with Perez, Jason Moran, John McNeil, Ran Blake, Cecil McBee and Fred Hersch, who produced Nameless Neighbors, Sanders' critically acclaimed debut recording for Sunnyside Records, as well as its follow-up, You Are A Creature.

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New Masters Series - ReWORKS A Rotating Ensemble of Contemporary Jazz Musicians Interpreting Some of Today's Biggest Hits

Sony Music Masterworks today introduces New Masters, a rotating ensemble of today’s leading, up-and-coming and established jazz musicians, as they take on today’s biggest charting-topping hits for a new genre-defying project entitled ReWORKS. Available everywhere now is ReWORKS – Vol. 1 lead offering, Juice WRLD’s breakthrough hit “Lucid Dreams,” as arranged by guitarist Gilad Hekselman. “Lucid Dreams” is the first track from ReWORKS – Vol. 1, which is set for release Friday, July 12 and will feature songs originally performed by Cardi B, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, SZA and more.

Of the track, guitarist Gilad Hekselman says: “It was definitely a challenge to take on ‘Lucid Dreams’ because it was a song that was completely off my radar (although I'm familiar with ‘Shape of My Heart,’ the Sting tune it’s based on). Only after recording it did I start noticing how many times this song would be playing out of cars or on the radio—it was a good opportunity to get out of my jazz bubble and connect to what’s popular these days. I tried to do something with it that respects the original, yet offers a platform for the band’s expression. Of course I had no doubt that in the hands of these master musicians, no matter what I did or didn’t do with it, it’d turn into something beautiful, and it did.”

The newest project from Sony Music Masterworks – ReWORKS – embraces jazz in all of its crazy polarities. It features New Masters, a powerful all-star collective comprised of primarily new talent, formed as a fresh, creative reaction to the distinct challenges of an age when playlists and brands—more than albums and bands—are in prominence.

The first edition New Masters ensemble includes among its impressive lineup many of the leading, up-and-coming or established representatives of their respective instruments: pianist Sullivan Fortner, drummer Eric Harland, trumpeter Keyon Harrold, guitarist Gilad Hekselman, bassist Burniss Earl Travis and saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins. Adding his trademark spark and cohesion to the project as well is respected percussionist Bashiri Johnson. Matt Pierson, the veteran jazz producer who initiated ReWORKS, recruited these performers from among the top tier of today’s burgeoning jazz scene, improvisers both steeped in the jazz tradition and in tune with current musical trends. There was a level of familiarity as well: some had experience playing with each other, but there was the added spark of a few first-time encounters.

The group’s repertoire—true to the name ReWORKS—boldly focuses on songs drawn from the top of today’s pop charts, tunes with a melodic priority that are able to benefit from an improviser’s touch. The choices also serve as generational signifiers—present-day hits by familiar stars, as relevant to the youngest tier of listeners as they are pervasive among all who listen with open ears. To hear it from Pierson, the project is as much a product of that longstanding imperative in jazz as it is a product of the current age.

“Fifteen years ago I would have signed each of these guys, but that’s not possible today,” says Pierson, known for helming Warner Brothers’ forward-thinking jazz imprint in the ‘90s and into the new millennium. “The challenge the jazz and jazz-adjacent community currently faces is that our existing audience hasn’t embraced the streaming platforms, while those already utilizing the platforms aren’t being directed to jazz. The intent of the ReWORKS concept is to proactively bridge this gap, using a streaming mentality to creatively subvert how consumers find tracks online and work these newer, singular jazz artists into search results and playlists.”

Pierson adds: “Of course, for this particular effort to be effective long-term, the material needs to be familiar, leading with groove and melody, while remaining artistically uncompromising. I’m confident that these first six tracks achieve this goal, and give us a shot at expanding the audience for undeniably great, creative music and remaining true to the musicians who make it happen.”

On ReWORKS – Vol. 1, four out of six tunes were nominated for a Record of the Year Grammy® Award, and on average each has streamed more than one billion times. It’s a concept with much precedent; in fact one could say that jazz has repeatedly proven itself to be among the most wide-eared of styles in the general family of music, ever curious and attentive to the twists and trends that popular music – despite the prevailing notion that jazz is somehow anti-commercial.

In the 1920s and ‘30s, it took the songs created for Broadway and Hollywood that made it onto the Hit Parade of the day and turned them into timeless standards; in the ‘60s and through the ‘70s, it drew inspiration from the groove-fueled music of Motown and soul. Today, countless jazz musicians embrace broken-beat rhythms while drawing on other ideas and technologies borrowed from the world of hip-hop. This cross-pollination continues to be the way in which jazz grows anew, thriving through change and adaptation – which is precisely the strategy that gave birth to the groundbreaking ReWORKS project, and the all-star group – New Masters – with which to develop it.

About the Artists:



SULLIVAN FORTNER:

A leading pianist of his generation, Fortner’s formidable fluidity and inspired originality derives from his ability to tastefully draw on vocabulary reaching from the music’s traditional roots through its most avant-garde modernity. A product of New Orleans’s music schools and programs, he’s known for his stints in groups led by vibraphonist Stefon Harris trumpeter Roy Hargrove, his collaborations with singer Cecile McLorin Savant (including their recent Grammy®-winning album, The Window) and his own solo excursions.

ERIC HARLAND:

At 43, Harland is the senior member of New Masters, who’s established as the go-to drummer for a number of jazz legends, including saxophonist Charles Lloyd, bassist Dave Holland, percussionist Zakir Hussain and guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel. He’s a graduate of Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts from which many other jazz players of note originated, has recorded several albums as a leader, and continues to be one of the most distinguished and in demand drummers on the scene today.

KEYON HARROLD:

Harrold could easily be the most heard trumpet today that no one can name, simply because since graduating from the New School he has become one of the most requested sidemen – on tours and recording projects – by a number of well-known R&B and neo Soul artists, as well as jazz leaders. He’s played with Common, D’Angelo, Mary J. Blige, Beyoncé and Maxwell, and was the trumpet heard in all scenes in Don Cheadle’s Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead. He’s recently come into his own as a leader, having recently released the genre-bending album The Mugician. Raised in Ferguson, Missouri he unsurprisingly focuses on tunes of message and social awareness.

GILAD HEKSELMAN:

The Israeli-born Hekselman is a standout voice in jazz guitar today, who arrived in New York City in 2004 and is already a major influence on other guitar players of his generation. He’s played in bands led by a diverse range of players – Anat Cohen and Chris Potter, John Scofield and Esperanza Spalding – proving his flexibility in dealing with different approaches and situations. He’s led his own groups for fifteen years and recorded five albums as leader.

BURNISS EARL TRAVIS:

Travis didn’t begin his musical journey on bass nor was he drawn to jazz; he was a violinist who first loved hip-hop and the local dance scene in Houston. We have vibraphonist Stefon Harris to thank in part for convincing him to pursue a future playing jazz bass. Early experiences included playing in bands led by trumpeter Roy Hargrove and pianist Eldar – the last for almost three years – and he’s now a go-to bassist for the like of keyboardist Robert Glasper, singer Gretchen Parlato, and MC Common.

IMMANUEL WILKINS:

Saxophonist Wilkins is the group’s junior member having just graduated from Juilliard School of Music, and hails from Philadelphia where his entry into music came from his church background as well as dedicated jazz programs. His musical experiences have taken him in and out of the jazz circle; he’s performed and/or recorded with Jason Moran, the Count Basie Orchestra, Wynton Marsalis and Gerald Clayton, as well as Lalah Hathaway, Solange Knowles, and Bob Dylan.

Sony Music Masterworks comprises Masterworks, Sony Classical, OKeh, Portrait, and Masterworks Broadway imprints. For email updates and information please visit, www.SonyMusicMasterworks.com

ReWORKS -- Vol. 1

Sony Music Masterworks · Release Date: July 12, 2019

 

MELISSA ALDANA QUINTET - VISIONS A Musical Exploration of Self-Identity and Expression, Influenced By Frida Kahlo

The glorious freedom to express your deepest self, your truest self, regardless of gender, age, or race, etc. is in abundance on saxophonist/composer/bandleader/educator Melissa Aldana's fourth recording, Visions (available on Motema Music, May 24, 2019).Influenced by the life and works of Frida Kahlo (who Aldana has loved since childhood), Aldana's music encapsulates bold, grand, inspiring strokes, improvisation/space, and the finest filigree, which combine to create the richest of sonic tapestries, resonating with an avalanche of humanity. "Frida to me is an artist that embraces who she is through her art. She talks about ugliness, beauty, being a female, religion, politics, love affairs, sexuality, but mostly, accepting herself as an individual. This is a big part of how she engendered me to write this music," reveals Aldana.

Since beginning her life as a saxophonist at age six (first on alto, then upon hearing Sonny Rollins immediately switching to tenor), Aldana has loved to transcribe her heroes, people like Don Byas and Mark Turner. And, as a young painter she would try to copy the works of her two favorite artists, Frida Kahlo and Oswaldo Guayasamin. By her early teens she was a working musician, and was personally invited by Danilo Perez to play at the Panama Jazz Festival. Aldana graduated from Berklee in 2009 and moved to NYC that same year. At age 24, just after recording her second album, she won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition, prompting The Washington Post to describe her as representing, "a new sense of possibility and direction in jazz."

Over the past two years, leading up to the recording of Visions, Aldana has been exploring this music through a variety of live contexts across the globe with the Melissa Aldana Quintet. Beginning as mutual admirers of each other's playing, the Quintet has transformed into a fearless, virtuosic ensemble of explorers, traversing through new musical landscapes composed by Aldana. Working informally as global jazz ambassadors, the Quintet has appeared at Thailand's International Jazz Day and the Hong Kong International Jazz Day Marathon. They have engaged in an open exchange of musical ideas and artistic inspiration on nearly every continent, having been featured in Madrid, Granada, Perth, Barcelona and the So What's Next? Jazz Festival in The Netherlands. They have also appeared at mainstay NYC venues such as the Birdland, as well as emerging artist hotspots such as The Miller Theater at Columbia University.

Aldana recently led her quintet through explorations of "Visions: For Frida Kahlo," her original suite commissioned by The Jazz Gallery as part of its residency program for emerging artists. The suite premiered in June 2018 to immediate and ongoing enthusiasm, and now, Aldana happily and proudly presents Visions, her full-length album of new music on Motema, influenced by Kahlo's life and works.

The genesis of Visions took place as Aldana was working through some changes in an effort to seek and refine her voice, and raison d'être as an artist. Frida Kahlo began to emerge as a pivotal figure in Aldana's work and quest for honest representation of self. Aldana elaborates, "Like Kahlo's and Guayasamin's works, this album became a path for my own identity and expression. My hope is that this contribution is my first of many that will continue advancing my concepts and convictions."

The composition "Visions," originally part of the Jazz Gallery commission, is emblematic of the album as a whole. This movement is the musical representation and the sound of Aldana's explorations of self-identity that every artist faces, and includes feelings of pain, mistrust, exhilaration and relief. She explains, "experimenting both harmonically and rhythmically with moments of frantic movement interspersed with order and structure is one of the ways I conjure the messiness, struggles and heartbreaking contradictions present in these visions of identity and self-worth."

"La Madrina" explores the concept of the "Godmother" who appeared to Kahlo throughout her life and gave her the choice of either living with inescapable pain, due to childhood polio, a horrific bus accident, miscarriages, and gangrene (all brutally depicted in perhaps her most famous painting, "The Broken Column"), or dying and being at peace. This music addresses the subtle but important difference between the choices we actively make and the choices we're led to make, and how all these choices, for better or worse, come to create our individual narratives. "To capture the complexity of our life choices, Kahlo's struggles and my own personal challenges, I've written layers of tension and resolution into the music and tightly arranged certain sections, but I've also allowed for sections of extended improvisation and possible spontaneous arranging within the form," explained Aldana.

"These compositions, and the rest of the music on Visions, deals with challenging questions that bubbled up while I was immersed in Kahlo's paintings, as well as researching her professional life and personal struggles - the latter of which I feel connected to almost on an intuitive level. In these compositions I aim to create different aesthetics and instrumental soundscapes that represent two specific forces in Kahlo's life that have had a direct, evolving impact on the direction of my music, as well as my own self-identity." - Melissa Aldana

Visions was recorded by David Stoller on 9/14 & 9/15, 2018 at The Samurai Hotel Recording Studio, Astoria, N.Y.

The album was mixed and mastered by David Stoller at The Samurai Hotel

Cover art by Cecile McLorin Salvant

  

Tour Dates

4/17: Traina Cultural Center, Worchester, MA with Sam Harris, Kush Abadey and Pablo Menares

5/17: Scullers, Boston, MA with the Visions Quartet

5/18: Side Door, Old Lyme, CT with the Visions Quartet

5/20: Dizzy's, New York, NY with Berklee Ensemble

5/21: Clinic, Queens, NY with Berklee Ensemble

5/23-26: Jazz Standard, New York, NY with Visions Quartet-CD rel celebration!

6/24-25: Toronto Jazz Fest with Visions Quartet

6/26: National Arts Centre, Ottawa, CAN with Visions Quartet

6/27: Montreal Jazz Fest, Montreal, QC, CAN with Visions Quartet

6/28: Edmonton Jazz Festival, Edmonton, AB, CAN with Visions Quartet

6/29: Victoria Jazz Festival, Victoria, BC, CAN

6/30: Vancouver Jazz Festival, Vancouver, BC, CAN

EU

7/5: Gexto Jazz Fest, Gexto, Spain

7/6: Gent Jazz Fest, Gent, Belgium

7/8: Pizza Express, London, UK

7/9: Pizza Express, London, UK

7/10 Roots and Jazz at Balder Plads, Denmark

7/12: North Sea Jazz Fest, Rotterdam, Netherlands

7/13: Funchal Jazz Fest, Funcha,l Portugal

7/15: Duc Des Lombards, Paris, France

7/16: Duc Des Lombards, Paris, France

7/20: Hotel Kras, Postojna, Slovenia with Jure Pukl's Doubtless

7/21: Hungar, Izola, Slovenia with Jure Pukl's Doubtless

7/23: Arsana Festival, Ptu,j Croatia with Jure Pukl's Doubtless

7/26: Cadiz Jazz Festival, Cadiz, Spain with Jure Pukl's Doubtless

Jon Batiste & Friends to Perform at Newport Jazz Festival® Opening Night Concert

Jonn Batiste & Friends  will perform at the Friday evening concert of the Newport Jazz Festival® presented by Natixis Investment Managers. The concert takes place August 2 at the International Tennis Hall of Fame at the Newport Casino, 194 Bellevue Avenue. The cocktail party begins at 6:30 pm, followed by the concert at 8:00 pm.

“Jon Batiste is always the life of the party. In fact, he’s a party all by himself, but watch the musical magic happen when he and his friends sing, dance and play their way around the Tennis Hall of Fame this summer,” said George Wein, Festival Founder and Chairman of the Board of Newport Festivals Foundation. “A Newport Jazz and Folk Festival favorite, Jon raises the bar for a fabulous evening of entertainment.”

The Newport Jazz Festival Friday evening cocktail party on the Horseshoe Piazza welcomes a limited number of attendees for pre-concert socializing with music, food and beverages. Tickets include open bar and hors d’oeuvres.Tickets are limited and exclusively for concertgoers. Party attendees must purchase a separate ticket to the Festival concert.

Artists already announced for the 2019 Newport Jazz Festival, which takes place August 2-4 at Fort Adams State Park and the International Tennis Hall of Fame at the Newport Casino, include Herbie Hancock, Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, Corinne Bailey Rae, Dianne Reeves, The Bad Plus, Terence Blanchard featuring The E-Collective, Dee Dee Bridgewater and the Memphis Soulphony, Buika, The Ron Carter Trio, PJ Morton, Sons of Kemet, Makaya McCraven, Cécile McLorin Salvant and many more.

Bassist and composer JOAN TORRES releases progressive latin jazz album REVOLUTION

Joan Torres's All Is Fused has released a latin jazz album entitled "Revolution". In the last 7 years, All Is Fused has released 3 albums prior to Revolution, "Before" 2012, "The Beginning" 2014, and "Of the Musical" in 2016. In other words "Before the Beginning of the Musical Revolution" is a story in itself released in seemingly 4 chapters, also the similar theme of album artwork for all the releases ties it together.

"Revolution" was written by Joan Torres himself and is performed along side a masterful collective of members that make up All Is Fused. Torres set to explore new territory within the writing of this release, branching from playing his normal Fender Jazz Bass that he's used on previous material and incorporating bass guitars with different feel and style forcing him outside of his comfort zone. You'll find this chapter of songs are a well crafted mix of jazz, fusion, funk and prog rock which is sure to grab the attention of fans of King Crimson, The Victor Wooten Trio and more.

"When I set out to start All Is Fused I thought of a possible trajectory for our sound. I knew enough about my favorite artists to know that it was unlikely our sound would be fully developed by our first album. I started planning our phase 1 – the road it would take us to get closer to that sound. I believe Revolution to be the culmination of said phase 1."

From a young age, Joan Torres was drawn to music. Even though he often played around with instruments he found around his home it was not until he was 10 years old that he decided to take music more seriously and learn to play an instrument in order perform with others. He chose the bass and his life was changed forever. He began studying the instrument, first with an instructor then on his own, formed a band with a couple of friends from school while still in 8th grade.

In the year 2003, a Berklee College alumnus and music industry veteran named Orlando Collado took over as director of his school's music program. Torres joined the school's choir, directed by Collado, and it was the modern, seasoned, and honest approach of Collado led to him becoming a mentor as well as friend for Torres. With newfound interest in expanding his musical horizons in order to eventually compose music, Torres decided to enroll in the after-school Stevan Micheo Music Academy. There Torres met his drummer counterpart with whom he has worked in many endeavors throughout the years, Fernando Garcia. During his time at Micheo Music, he acquired the core for his musical knowledge. He studied the electric bass, reading and performing in Jazz under bassist Joel Marrero. He learned the basics of Jazz harmony and theory under guitarist Antonio Caraballo. Caraballo became another mentor and big influence in finally pushing Torres to begin actively exploring composition.

In 2004, Torres auditioned for the Berklee in Puerto Rico workshops for the first time. He was among the chosen to take part in the workshops. These workshops opened the door to a lot of musical knowledge, sharing opportunities, and mentorship. It was during this time he met another one of his mentors, the four time GRAMMY-award winning bassist and educator, Oscar Stagnaro.

He continued to attend the Berklee in Puerto Rico program for a couple of years meeting many musicians, including some who would be responsible for getting him playing his first Jazz gigs. Additionally, he attended the Berklee Summer Performance Program in Boston later that summer. There he studied with many world-renowned musicians, most notably his bass instructor, Matthew Garrison, considered one of the most technically gifted jazz musicians of his generation. Torres also met vibraphonist and composer Victor Mendoza who was directing a "Salsa Ensemble" he asked Torres to join. Torres was awarded with a scholarship to attend Berklee College as a full-time student at the end of the summer program.

Once back in Puerto Rico, Torres was driven to grow his musical awareness. He was lucky enough to be invited to join many different projects which allowed him to gain experience in a wider set of genres than most people are exposed to. He joined a Puerto Rican Plena orchestra named "Plena Juventud" with fellow musician Gabriel Lugo. He also joined the "Indaka Jazz Quartet" where he met guitarist Gabriel Vicens. Lastly, he joined a new Reggae group who had been looking for a bassist. That group eventually became the local indie group "Raices Rusticas".

Torres was lucky enough to learn from a diverse number of experiences. The ensemble he was a part of during the Berklee in Puerto Rico workshops was chosen to play at the Puerto Rico Heineken Jazz Fest (June 4th, 2006). He met local bass legend Tony Batista who became a friend, teacher, and a big influence on developing his skills. It was with Batista that Torres began to study the upright bass. Furthermore, Raices Rusticas landed a spot opening for Grammy-winning Puerto Rican rock band Black Guayaba at the Arena Pier Ten (September 9, 2006). This was the first show where Raices Rusticas performed original music. Additionally, through many gigs, shows, and jam sessions he got a chance to play with many people such as Mario Castro, Jeremy de Jesus, Marcos Lopez, Enrique Trinidad, Sergio Gonzalez, Gerson Orjuela.

After graduating high school and moving to the town of Mayaguez to study engineering, he joined the University's Choir "Coral Universitaria". After one semester there, the director asked him to move to the university's more exclusive chamber choir "Corium Canticus" in which he stayed for the next 4 years. During his time there, the choir was chosen to take part in a competition in Argentina in 2008. The score of their performance there earned them a gold medal.

Torres was awarded another scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in May of 2007, his last time attending the Berklee in Puerto Rico workshops. He was also once again part of the ensemble chosen to play at the Puerto Rico Heineken Jazz Fest (June 3rd).

2019 Newport Jazz Festival® Announces Wave 3 of Artists

Celebrate the 65thEdition of the Newport Jazz Festival with Common, Herbie Hancock with Christian McBride and Vinnie Colaiuta, Tank and the Bangas, Gary Bartz, Kandace Springs, Women of the World, James Francies’ Flight, The Royal Bopsters featuring Sheila Jordan and Many More

The 2019 Newport Jazz Festival® presented by Natixis Investment Managers, set for August 2 - 4 at Fort Adams State Park and the International Tennis Hall of Fame at the Newport Casino, gets hipper and hotter as new artists are announced, and today’s Wave 3 announcement is definitely hip and hot.

Wave 3 artists include Common, A special performance by Herbie Hancock withChristian McBride and Vinnie Colaiuta, Tank and the Bangas, Ralph Peterson and the Messenger Legacy, Gary BartzANOTHER EARTH 50-Year Anniversary featuring Ravi Coltrane(produced by Revive Music), Kandace Springs, Women of the World, James Francies’ Flight,The Royal Bopsters featuring Sheila Jordan, Lauren Sevian/Helen Sung Duo, Marika Hughes- The New String Quartet, Brandon Goldberg Trio, Matana Roberts, Brian Marsella, Eric Wurzelbacher Quartet, Ben Morris Quintet, Alexander Heffner, Host of The Open Mind on PBS, Maxine Gordon, Berklee Global Jazz Institute Workshop, University of Rhode Island Jazz Big Bandand Rhode Island Music Educators Association Band.

“I am thrilled about these newly-announced artists, as well as the entire lineup,” said Jay Sweet, Executive Producer of Newport Festivals Foundation. “Among my favorites are Common, the multi-Grammy, Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe winning superstar … Tank and the Bangas, who were a huge hit at last year’s Newport Folk Festival … a special performance by Artist-in-Residence Herbie Hancock with our Artistic Director Christian McBride and Vinnie Colaiuta … the soulful Kandace Springs … a dynamic band celebrating the legacy of the legendary Art Blakey … and Eric Wurzelbacher, the talented son of the owner of our long-time staging company. Wow!”

Showcasing more than 60 individual Jazz ensembles, the Newport Jazz Festival presented by Natixis Investment Managers will offer music on four stages, including the Fort, Quad, Harbor stages and Storyville, the intimate venue located in the Newport Festivals Museum.

To date, the 2019 Newport Jazz Festival Presented by Natixis Investment Managers features:

Friday, August 2, 2019, 11:00 am – Fort Adams State Park: Herbie Hancock |Thundercat |Corinne Bailey Rae |The Bad Plus |Sun Ra Arkestra directed by Marshall Allen |Gary Bartz ANOTHER EARTH 50-Year Anniversary featuring Ravi Coltrane Produced by Revive Music |Kandace Springs |Women of the World |Spanish Harlem Orchestra |Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society |Billy Hart Quartet with Ethan Iverson, Mark Turner, Ben Street | Tia Fuller’s “Diamond Cut” | DOMi & JD Beck |The Dayna Stephens Group | Mwenso & the Shakes | Alphonso Horne and the Gotham Kings |Tom Oren |Ben Morris Quintet (ASCAP Winner) | Mark Stryker: “Jazz from Detroit” |Berklee Global Jazz Institute Workshop

Friday, August 2, 2019, 8:00 pm – International Tennis Hall of Fame at the Newport Casino: 

Jon Batiste & Friends

Saturday, August 3, 2019, 11:00 am – Fort Adams State Park: Kamasi Washington |A Special Performance by Herbie Hancock with Christian McBride and Vinnie Colaiuta |Dianne Reeves with Peter Martin, Romero Lubambo, Reginald Veal & TerreonGully |Dee Dee Bridgewater and The Memphis Soulphony |Buika| The Ron Carter Trio | Makaya McCraven|Ravi Coltrane/David Virelles| Ghost-Note| Ralph Peterson and the Messenger Legacy| James Francies’ Flight| Jenny Scheinman & Allison Miller’s Parlour Game| Joel Ross ‘Good Vibes’| Hailu Mergia| The Royal Bopsters featuring Sheila Jordan| Laurin Talese| Brandon Goldberg Trio| Brian Marsella| Sophisticated Giant: The Life and Legacy of Dexter Gordon by Maxine Gordon (University of California Press)

 | University of Rhode Island Jazz Big Band

Sunday, August 4, 2019, 11:00 am – Fort Adams State Park: Common |Tank and the Bangas | Terence Blanchard featuring The E-Collective | PJ Morton| Sons of Kemet| Cécile McLorin Salvant| ELEW| Marcus Strickland Twi-Life featuring Smithsoneon| Christian Sands – 3 Piano Erroll Garner Tribute! featuring Helen Sung & Tadataka Unno| Dafnis Prieto Big Band| Aaron Diehl| IN COMMON: Walter Smith III, Matt Stevens, Joel Ross, Harish Raghavan & Kendrick Scott| Camila Meza & The Nectar Orchestra| Sammy Miller and The Congregation| Lauren Sevian/Helen Sung Duo| Marika Hughes - The New String Quartet| Matana Roberts| Eric Wurzelbacher Quartet| Alexander Heffner, Host of The Open Mind on PBS| Rhode Island Music Educators Association Band.

For more information, visit www.newportjazz.org.

 

Professor Longhair Live On The Queen Mary I Reissue of 1975 Performance

Originally released in 1978 on Harvest Records, Professor Longhair's Live on the Queen Mary documents a legendary performance from the Venus and Mars album release party thrown by Paul and Linda McCartney and Wings in 1975. 

Live on the Queen Mary was recorded March 24, 1975 on its titular cruise ship, while docked in Long Beach, California. Highlights include the rollicking "Mess Around," the standards "Stagger Lee," "Everyday I Have the Blues," "I'm Movin' On," and Professor Longhair's own hits "Mardi Gras in New Orleans" and "Tipitina" about which Hugh Laurie writes, "Because that live version of Tipitina, oh sweet Lord. If the record had nothing else on it, it would still be a treasure beyond price."

Professor Longhair a/k/a Henry Roeland "Roy" Byrd (December 19, 1918 – January 30, 1980) was a New Orleans blues singer and pianist. He was active in two distinct periods, first in the heyday of early rhythm and blues and later on during the resurgence of interest in traditional jazz surrounding the beginnings of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Professor Longhair's influence was crucial to many of his fellow New Orleans musical legends, such as Fats Domino, Allen Toussaint and Dr. John, all of whom were touched by his rumba, mambo, and calypso piano based blues sound.

Live On The Queen Mary will be re-released April 5 via Harvest / MPL across digital platforms, on CD and on newly remastered 180gram vinyl LP. The album will feature a foreword by Hugh Laurie, as will the limited edition "Long Live Fess" deluxe, which will also feature the 180gram LP, the double A-Side 7" Single "Tipitina"/" Mess Around," and more. Track listings for the various formats are as follows:

CD / DIGITAL

Tracklist: 

Tell Me Pretty Baby

Mess Around

Everyday I Have The Blues

Tipitina

I'm Movin' On

Mardi Gras In New Orleans

Cry To Me

HISTORIC PERFORMANCE RECORDED WEEKS BEFORE BREAKTHROUGH ALBUM 'ELLA FITZGERALD SINGS THE COLE PORTER SONG BOOK'

Recorded live at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on January 21, 1956, Ella At The Shrine captures Ella Fitzgerald at the beginning of her career renaissance, just weeks after becoming the first signing to Norman Granz's newly-created Verve Records. The brief but thrilling set, which was part of Granz's historic Jazz At The Philharmonic concert series, was only recently discovered after more than 60 years of languishing in Verve's vaults. Thought to be Verve's first live recording, Ella At The Shrine is available today via Verve/UMe as a single LP on standard weight black vinyl. It will be available for digital download and streaming for the first time next Friday, March 1. This wide release follows a limited edition yellow vinyl version released in November 2018 as part of Record Store Day's Black Friday. 

Ella At the Shrine contains the sweet taste of a new and shining era for Ella as she becomes the crown jewel of Verve Records. Fitzgerald delivers a rousing seven-song set, which most notably includes an early version of George and Ira Gershwin's "'S Wonderful," three years before she would perfect the song on her monumental 1959 album Ella Fitzgerald Sings The George and Ira Gershwin Song Book and cause Ira Gershwin to famously remark: "I never knew how good our songs were until I heard Ella Fitzgerald sing them." Ella At the Shrine showcases The First Lady of Song just weeks before she'd go on to record her breakthrough album Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book. Other tunes performed this evening include the bluesy "Cry Me A River," the rhythmic "Lullaby of Birdland," the swinging "Joe Williams's Blues" and "Air Mail Special," a bouncy number featuring Fitzgerald's famed scatting skills. The album includes liner notes by jazz broadcaster and educator, Phil Schaap, who discovered this recording in an undocumented area in Verve's vault where it sat untouched for more than six decades.

In celebration of Fitzgerald's centennial in 2017, Verve debuted the previously unreleased Ella at Zardi's: an acclaimed live album that was recorded during her two-week stint at the nightclub in Hollywood. This recording, which earned Fitzgerald her first No. 1 on the Jazz Album Chart and her second No. 1 on the Traditional Jazz Albums Chart, was initially thought to be both the label's and Fitzgerald's first live album for Verve. Remarkably, Granz recorded and emceed Ella at the Shrine 10 days prior, announcing on the LP, as Fitzgerald is leaving the stage and the crowd roars for more, that "Ella has to get back to Zardi's." Due to the closeness in timeframe, it is easy to assume she is backed by the same musicians who played on Ella at Zardi's: Don Abney, piano; Vernon Alley or Joe Mondragon, bass; Frank Capp Drums.

Fitzgerald's unwaning influence and remarkable legacy remains as strong as ever and her music continues to be honored and celebrated long after her passing. Most recently, the Recording Academy inducted her landmark 1959 album Ella Fitzgerald Sings The George and Ira Gershwin Song Books into the 2019's GRAMMY Hall Of Fame®, just ahead of its 60th anniversary. With a goal of "preserving and celebrating timeless recordings," the inductions are for recordings at least 25 years old that exhibit qualitative or historical significance. Fitzgerald's album was one of 25 new titles inducted this year alongside recordings from: Aerosmith, Dolly Parton, Fats Domino, Frank Sinatra, Leonard Cohen, Miles Davis, Nina Simone and Tom Petty. "We're honored to add these masterpieces to our growing catalog and are delighted to celebrate the impact they've had on our musical, social, and cultural history," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of the Recording Academy. Ella Fitzgerald Sings The George and Ira Gershwin Song Books is her third song book to join the illustrious GRAMMY Hall Of Fame®, joining Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Song Book and Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Rodgers & Hart Song Book as well as several other albums and songs. In its recent appreciation of Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Gershwin Song Book, the Wall Street Journal asserted: "Fitzgerald's most ambitious album and one of her crowning achievements, this songbook is a matchless treasure."