Vocalist Mary Stallings Reflects on a Life in Music on Songs Were Made To Sing

Not a single lyric on Songs Were Made To Sing was written by Mary Stallings, but each one represents a chapter in her life and a piece of her soul. On her latest album, due out May 17 from Smoke Sessions Records, the incomparable vocalist has crafted an exquisite collection of classic songs to reflect on a life well and passionately lived. With Songs Were Made To Sing, Stallings puts her distinctive stamp on a diverse set of 13 songs, using her gift for interpreting a lyric to transform familiar melodies into profoundly personal and captivating stories.

From the youthful passions and heartbreaks of “Stolen Moments” and “Lover Man,” to the wistful ruminations of “While You’re Young” and “Give Me the Simple Life,” Songs Were Made To Sing travels a journey of decades, with songs that collect wisdom and maturity along the way. Impulse ripens to romance, hope deepens to reflection, and Stallings’ voice captures every emotional step along that path with a perfectly chosen lyric from some of the greatest songwriters of all time.

“It’s amazing how you can feel things in your heart and in your mind but not find the words to say them,” Stallings says. “But I can always find a song that expresses everything that I need to say. So I pick tunes that seem to apply to me personally, and a story grows out of that.”

The soulful Bay Area chanteuse worked closely with master pianist David Hazeltine (Joe Henderson, James Moody), who tailored the album’s vibrant arrangements to Stalling’s singular voice and to the stellar band that was assembled for the date, which brings together such greats as saxophonist Vincent Herring (Cedar Walton, Nat Adderley), bassist David “Happy” Williams (Roberta Flack, Elvin Jones), and drummer Joe Farnsworth (McCoy Tyner, Pharoah Sanders). Percussionist Daniel Sadownick (Michael Brecker, Steely Dan) is added to the mix for Latin-tinged takes on “Lover Man” and “Lady Bird.”

Adding extra meaning to the occasion is the appearance of veteran trumpeter Eddie Henderson (Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi, The Cookers), whose friendship with Stallings stretches all the way back to their days as students at San Francisco’s Lowell High School, when the singer was already a well-known presence on the city’s thriving jazz scene.

“I always admired the way Mary sang,” Henderson recalls. “And, I was ecstatic to reunite with her and play together again. She makes the lyrics come alive; she’s not just saying arbitrary words, she means it.”

The middle child of 11 siblings, Stallings grew up around music, getting her first professional experience with her mother and two older sisters in a family gospel group. Her uncle, tenor saxophonist and bandleader Orlando Stallings, introduced her to jazz – still considered by some in the church at that time as “the devil’s music.”

“My music was gospel but I loved to listen to Uncle Orlando play bebop, too,” Stallings says. “They called it ‘sinful music,’ and I wanted some of that sin.”

Decades before it became one of the cornerstones of psychedelic rock, San Francisco’s Fillmore District was lined with jazz and blues clubs, becoming known as the “Harlem of the West.” This was the scene that Stallings dove into as a teenager in the early 1950s, performing with such giants as Ben Webster, Cal Tjader, Earl “Fatha” Hines, Red Mitchell, Teddy Edwards, and the Montgomery Brothers – Wes, Buddy, and Monk.

1961’s Cal Tjader Plays, Mary Stallings Sings earned the vocalist her strongest accolades and led to a busy decade in which she toured with Tjader, Billy Eckstine, and Dizzy Gillespie. She spent three years fronting the Count Basie Orchestra, after which she spent the majority of the 1970s focused on raising her family – including her daughter, the acclaimed R&B singer Adriana Evans. Stallings made a full-fledged comeback in the early ’80s, releasing a string of albums with such luminaries as Gene Harris, Monty Alexander, Gerald Wiggins, Harry “Sweets” Edison, and Geri Allen.

Stalling’s long-running musical relationship with Buddy Montgomery, which lasted until his death in 2009, provided a strong bond with Hazeltine. During his own formative years in Milwaukee, Hazeltine was taken under Buddy’s wing while the great vibraphonist and pianist lived in the Midwestern city for more than a decade before returning to the West Coast. “Buddy was one of my main mentors, and Mary loved Buddy and worked with him a lot,” the pianist says. “That gave us a nice connection.”

Stallings had long admired Hazeltine’s skills, both through Buddy and the recommendation of vocalist and friend Marlena Shaw, for whom Hazeltine long served as accompanist and arranger. “David is a very fine musician,” raves Stallings, “and boy, did he make magic with the treatments that he gave to this music. He has a great insight and I was thrilled to work with him.”

Hazeltine reciprocates the admiration. “I just can’t say enough great things about Mary. She’s imaginative and soulful, with perfect intonation and a creative way of approaching the tunes. I am in awe of her singing ability.”

Surely those expressive qualities are the fruit of nearly eight decades of musical, not to mention life, experience. Stallings brings the entirety of that life to bear on her lyrics, and proudly faces the landmark birthday she’ll commemorate this August.

“I’m going to be 80 years old and I’m very proud of it,” she announces. “I’m still here. I’m still breathing. I’m still living. And I’ll live until I die, spending every day doing something positive. I’m the product of everything that I’ve been through in my life, and that comes through in my music. My joy is getting on that stage and having people listen to my stories.” 

"Songs Were Made to Sing" 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.

Mary Stallings · Songs Were Made To Sing

Smoke Sessions Records · Release Date: May 17, 2019

www.MaryStallingsJazz.com

Record Kicks presents “I’ve Come A Long Way”, the new installment of the enfant prodige of soul Alexis Evans

The enfant prodige Alexis Evans returns with a new album that makes Bordeaux the new French capital of deep soul.

Forget about great wines for a second, from Bordeaux rolls in Alexis Evans, the next big thing of the French deep soul scene. 

Following his acclaimed debut LP “Girl Bait” (2016) Record Kicks is proud to present “I’ve Come A Long Way”, the new installment of the Anglo/French artist that will hit the streets worldwide on March 08 2019. 

Recorded in Bordeaux, mixed in Sydney by Dojo Cuts’ and The Liberators’ head honcho Nate Goldentone and mastered in LA at Golden Mastering, with “I’ve Come A Long Way” Alexis Evans is ready to impress you with one of the most original and honest deep soul and rhythm and blues album that you’ll find around.

“I’ve Come a Long Way” might seem like an ambitious album for a 25 years old guy, but from the soulful opening track “She Took me back” to the last rock and roll storming cut “Rock’N’ Roll Healer” you’ll be immediately captured by Alexis’ incredible musicianship and songwriting. Imagine a soulful and much funkier version of Jon Spencer where the Meters, Otis Redding and Sly & The Family Stone are kings. “I spent a few months composing and arranging all these tracks with the idea of approaching the songs of The Impressions, Allen Toussaint or Bobby Womack” says Alexis “and with everyone in the right mood, we found our own sound and we recorded the album”.

Despite his relatively young age, the Bordeaux-based singer-songwriter-producer Alexis Evans is not a newcomer in the music scene. He discovered Afro-American music as a child and learnt to play guitar thanks to his father, an English musician. At the age of 17 he debuted with his first project “Jumping to the Westside”, with which he was awarded the “Cognac Blues Passion” prize and flew to the “International Blues Challenge” in Memphis, Tennessee, where he impressed the American audience even though he was still a teenager. Mr.Evans has built a household name in the scene as the “enfant prodige of soul”, touring extensively his country with explosive live sets at RDV Erdre Nantes, Rhino Jazz St-Etienne, Lyon Ninkasi, Club Nubia Paris, Festivals Relâche Bordeaux, Jazz à Vienne as well as Festivals in England, Switzerland and Wales.

Fans of Daptone and Stax Records you better take note.

New Releases: Norah Jones – Begin Again; Zara McFarlane with Dennis Bovell – East of The River Nile; Phresoul - Hipster Antichrist

Norah Jones – Begin Again

On April 12, Norah Jones will release Begin Again, a collection of singles that gathers 7 eclectic songs she has recorded over the past year with collaborators including Jeff Tweedy, Thomas Bartlett, and Brian Blade. Following her 2016 album Day Breaks, Norah returned to the studio with the sole intent of following her muse down creative pathways without any expectations or boundaries. Reveling in the joy and spontaneity of music-making with a true spirit of openness, she got together with various friends for brief, largely-improvised sessions to collaborate and experiment. Begin Again will be released on 12” vinyl, CD, and digitally.

Zara McFarlane with Dennis Bovell – East of The River Nile

The latest track from vocalist Zara McFarlane with the legendary Reggae & Dub producer Dennis Bovell. Also on production is the incredible Moses Boyd ! Four reinterpretations of the title from Augustus Pablo's 1977 classic album - ‘East of the River Nile’ available on LP & All digital platforms on Brownswood Recordings.

Phresoul - Hipster Antichrist

The Word Was Made Phresh is the new EP from British-Italian collaborative trio Phresoul on Khalab’s new label, Hyperjazz Records. Consisting of seven instrumental tracks, the talent and versatility of one of the most interesting new groups in jazz, hip-hop, and alternative-rock is brought into sharp focus over the course of the record. The new project from the trio, which is one third British and two thirds Italian, made up of Charlie Stacey (piano, fender rhodes, synthesizer), David Paulis (double-bass) and Enrico Truzzi (drums), dismantles jazz’s traditional rules, absorbs influences and contemporary sounds and portrays the conflicts and contradictions of our times with subtle irony. The record comes two years after the trio’s debut release, Metempsychosis, and solidifies Phresoul’s sound, where noise-rock improvisations meet neo-psychedelia, abstract hip-hop and space-jazz.

Belgian progressive avant-jazz-rockers THE WRONG OBJECT release 'Into The Herd'

UK magazine JazzWise has described Belgian sextet The Wrong Object as “adept at mixing Canterbury styled prog rock with Zappa-esque jazz fusion and Frippertronics to produce a beat that has elements of the past and the future thundering through it. [Their music] cleverly fuses all of these various musical elements together, expertly twisting various world music styles into the mix to produce a varied and unpredictable set of original material.”

With their new release, Into The Herd (Off/MoonJune), The Wrong Object make a return to center stage, with a studio album of original compositions showcasing a variety of fresh, powerful material. After 15 years of an existence marked by extensive touring, recording and numerous collaborations with international jazz and rock luminaries (Elton Dean, Harry Beckett, Annie Whitehead, Alex Maguire, Stanley Jason Zappa, Ed Mann, Robin Verheyen), The Wrong Object ventures further into hybrid musical territories, pushing the boundaries of progressive jazz, rock and contemporary music. Perhaps the influence of the late Frank Zappa has never been more apparent. The songs continually weave, duck, dart, and ‘stop on a dime’; while exhibiting the “controlled reckless abandon” and a similar zany, humorous approach to both harmony and melodic/thematic motifs, akin to that which characterized his work. This is a herculean effort; one that goes a long way in filling the very noticeable long-standing void left in the wake of Zappa’s departure.

Michel Delville -guitar/guitar-synth/electronics

Marti Melia – bass and tenor saxophones/clarinet

François Lourtie – baritone and tenor sax

Antoine Guenet – keyboards

Damien Campion – bass

Laurent Delchambre – drums/electronic pad/samples

Easily an early contender for jazz-rock album of 2019, 'Into the Herd' is a musical joy from a supremely talented band at the height of their powers. - Peter Pardo, Sea Of Tranquility

There is nothing wrong with this object, it is a lovely example of consummate music making of a high calibre. - Roger Trenwith, The Progressive Aspect

Suppose you've a friend, who thinks jazz-rock an aberration and fusion noodling its inevitable nadir. Here's what you do. Strap them to a chair, put The Wrong Object on at full volume and leave them a few hours. If by then they still don't get it, find another friend. – Duncan Heining, Jazzwise

Belgium’s The Wrong Object is brimming with artful compositions and quirky guitar work. Originally a Zappa tribute band, guitarist Michel Delville and his colorful cohorts have pushed the quintet’s music far beyond homage status, into an oeuvre combining structural complexity with emotional authenticity, much as their mentor’s music did. – Barry Cleveland, Guitar Player

 

Drummer Matt Slocum Presents SANCTUARY Featuring Pianist Gerald Clayton and Bassist Larry Grenadier

On Sanctuary drummer/composer Matt Slocum unleashes lovely, inspiring missives that could compel you to imagine a world in which peace, kindness and solace prevail - his music comes from an unsullied place, where the music is all that matters. And, he has a sound! An inviting, burnished sound as pure and effervescent as water streaming from high peaks that reveals itself as much through his compositional output as it does through his choices behind the drums.

Slocum is also a conceptualist and an instigator, traits which have produced five acclaimed recordings of mostly original music, including the gem you hold in your hands now, Sanctuary (available on Sunnyside Records on May 31, 2019), four of them featuring the great Gerald Clayton on piano (a friend and musical partner for almost two decades), and Sanctuary being the first to feature first-call bassist Larry Grenadier (a modern-day giant known for his 25-year association with the Brad Mehldau Trio, as well as consequential engagements with Pat Metheny, Paul Motian, Charles Lloyd, Joshua Redman, and Mark Turner).

The three protagonists on Sanctuary, recording after a single rehearsal, listen and interact on such a high level as to give the impression that they'd internalized the music after a long tour - a credit to Slocum's leadership. "Matt always focuses on the melody and beautiful writing, and the forms are obvious and smooth. The song, the composition and melody is the most important thing, which is why it's fun to play with him. He has a very strong foundation in the tradition, super-hard-swinging but still modern," said long-time collaborator and bassist on Slocum's first three recordings, Massimo Biolcati. Also notable on Sanctuary is the programmatic quality that underpins the proceedings. It's definitely an ALBUM - the tunes connect emotionally, they cohere into a narrative arc. "Usually I have in mind a specific instrumentation and group of musicians before I write and arrange music for a project, so that it becomes tailored to that configuration and musical aesthetic," Slocum says. "Here, for the first time, I took a different approach. I allowed myself to write whatever I felt like without those preconceptions. This seemed to make me reflect musically more on what I'd call places and characters that, at one time or another, have provided a perceived sense of creative refuge and even a feeling of home. That's why I'm using the title, Sanctuary. I'm struggling with the new reality since January 2017, which I'm sure had some influence on it."

  

More about the music on Sanctuary (with excerpts from the album's liner notes, by Ted Panken): Sanctuary opens with a haunting treatment of "Romulus," from the visionary singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens' 2003 album Greetings From Michigan. "The lyrics are heartbreaking, and it's a beautiful piece of music," Slocum says. "The challenge was to find a way to arrange it without lyrics, where so much of the story is carried." The performance begins and ends with gripping statements by Grenadier, whose sound just drips of humanity and all of its joys and sorrows. Clayton probes the tune's dark undertones over Slocum's tasteful cadences.

A crisp, pithy drum fanfare launches "Consolation Prize," Slocum's expressively swinging, reharmonized contrafact of Irving Berlin's "The Best Thing For You" that provokes creative solos from all members, who converse with energetic simpatico and mutual intuition. Titled for an island of aspen trees in the middle of a swamp near his childhood home, "Aspen Island" is based on Frederic Chopin's "Prelude in E-Minor." After the ensemble develops the theme, Grenadier uncorks a sparkling variation on the melody, before handing the baton to Clayton, who reinforces the aura of wonderment attendant to the song's subject.

Responding to Slocum's relaxed, brushed swing beats, Clayton takes his time while developing the lovely melody of "Star Prairie," named for the small village contiguous to Slocum's childhood home, not far from Wisconsin's western border. During third grade in the nearby town of New Richmond, Slocum took his first piano lessons, as mandated by his middle school for students who wanted to play percussion. By high school, Slocum was studying in Minneapolis with the excellent drummer Phil Hey, who introduced him to a slew of recordings propelled by the drummers who continue to influence him. Although Slocum soft-pedals his prowess on the drums, his learning curve was sufficiently steep to earn a scholarship to the University of Southern California, where he studied with Peter Erskine, and met not only Clayton and Biolcati, but present-day tenor titans Dayna Stephens and Walter Smith, III (who play on Slocum's superb Black Elk's Dream, from 2014), as well as generational contemporaries like Harish Raghavan, Taylor Eigsti, and Ambrose Akinmusire. Slocum graduated in 2004, and remained in Los Angeles until 2007, gigging with pianists Josh Nelson and Bill Cunliffe, and developing his compositional chops.

Melancholy and ominous, "A Dissolving Alliance" elicits the album's most open-ended performance. "It's along the lines of 'Romulus' in depicting a broken sanctuary," Slocum says. "But there's still beauty in the darkness." He characterizes the tune "Days of Peace" (and its placement in the track order) as, "intended to create the illusion of a daydream- a mood of playfulness and warmth through a flashback to a brighter time before everything became seemingly lost and broken." Slocum first documented this composition on Black Elk's Dream with a very different treatment.

On the title track, whose melody invites a lyric, Slocum's subtle postulations complement Clayton's erudite harmonic probes. In distinction to the other tunes on Sanctuary, he says, it's based "not on a specific place or character, but on an overall sense of places where I felt comfortable creating and on people who've supported that process."

The final selection, "Anselmo," is another memorable melody on a form that morphs from a long stretch of 4/4 into a tom-tom based 6/4 passage. It's named for a key character in Ernest Hemingway's iconic Spanish Civil War novel For Whom The Bell Tolls, which Slocum re-read not long ago. "How that character deals with his sense of home and being part of the resistance there is interesting to me," Slocum says, before elaborating on his attitude towards interpreting his music in real time on the drums. "I write a lot of tunes without even thinking of a meter, until I record myself playing it on piano," he says. "Then I make a 5-bar phrase or a 3-bar phrase because that's where it feels like it wants to breathe, not because it's a hip jazz thing or it's unusual to do. You can practice for hours, months, years before the session, but at the end of the day, it depends on what the other musicians do - and if you want to let them be themselves, you have to be open in that moment."

Slocum's explication of his compositional m.o. illuminates why Sanctuary continues to stimulate after multiple listenings. "I've been moving closer to developing a voice where my influences aren't conspicuous," Slocum says. "This is definitely the most personal recording I've done thus far."

 

George Winston To Release New Studio Album Restless Wind on May 3, 2019

Celebrated pianist George Winston will release his 15th solo piano album, Restless Wind, via Dancing Cat Records/RCA Records on May 3, 2019. By virtue of his brilliance as one of the foremost instrumental composers of our time, Restless Wind presents a stunning journey documenting George Winston's sociological observations in American history. Winston repurposes for the modern listener stunningly relevant works by musical greats such as Sam Cooke, The Doors, Stephen Stills, George & Ira Gershwin, Country Joe McDonald, and others. Restless Wind captures Winston's inimitable melodic language where piano textures and tones set the stage for vivid renderings of classic compositions.

Winston says, "Ultimately, the main reason these 11 songs were chosen was how as instrumental pieces they worked well with each other in this sequence, the same way I have worked for all the albums I've recorded."

George Winston is undeniably a household name. He's inspired fans and musicians alike with his singular solo acoustic piano songs for more than 40 years while selling 15 million albums. A tireless road warrior playing nearly 100 concerts annually, live performance for Winston is akin to breathing. Winston's music is evocative, offering us all a chance to take a step back from our perpetually busy lives and let our minds adventurously wander. Restless Wind is a portrayal of Winston's place in a chaotic world – his compositions extend solace with an idiosyncratic grace.

Reflective of Winston's catalogue of famed albums, Restless Wind is the next chapter for the pianist's ambitious recordings. Winston's latest song collection exhibits his masterful artistry of adapting ensemble arrangements to solo piano with magnificent results. Winston features 10 renditions of culturally potent compositions while opening the album with a new original song available starting today (March 22) for download and streaming, "Autumn Wind (Pixie #11)."

George Winston's classic albums, Autumn and December, are perennial favorites, along with Winter into Spring, Summer, 2017's Spring Carousel – A Cancer Research Benefit, as well as two volumes of the compositions of Vince Guaraldi, two volumes of benefit albums for the Gulf Coast disasters, and six other solo piano albums.

Commencing on March 22, George Winston embarked on a U.S. tour to celebrate the release of Restless Wind throughout the East Coast, West Coast, and Midwest. 

JAZZ HOUSE KiDS Spring Gala Celebrates "The 60th Anniversary of the Most Influential Year in Jazz" and Six Seminal Recordings with Special Concert at City Winery, April 17, 2019

Christian McBride

Hosted by NBC News' Lester Holt and featuring JAZZ HOUSE KiDS Artistic Chair and Musical Director Christian McBride, with special guests Ledisi, Ravi Coltrane, Ingrid Jensen, the Bill Charlap Trio, Christian McBride's New Jawn, JAZZ HOUSE KiDS alumni, and the award-winning JAZZ HOUSE BiG BAND

JAZZ HOUSE KiDS, one of the nation's preeminent jazz education organizations, is dedicated to transforming young lives through music. As announced today, their 2019 Spring Gala will celebrate "The 60th Anniversary of the Most Influential Year in Jazz" and six seminal recordings that will forever keep the world swinging. The special dinner and concert, created by six-time GRAMMY award-winner and jazz bassist Christian McBride, will take place at 6pm on Wednesday, April 17, 2019, at Michael Dorf's acclaimed City Winery, located at 155 Varick Street in New York City.

Lester Holt, anchor of "NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt" and "Dateline NBC"—and himself an avid musician and bass player—will serve as host. The seminal recordings chosen for the concert by JAZZ HOUSE KiDS Artistic Chair and Musical Director Christian McBride include:

"The Genius of Ray Charles" and "Ella Sings the Gershwin Songbook," performed by 12-time GRAMMY-nominated artist Ledisi

Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue," performed by award-winning trumpeter Ingrid Jensen

John Coltrane's "Giant Steps," performed by his son, Ravi Coltrane

The Dave Brubeck Quartet's "Time Out," performed by the GRAMMY award-winning Bill Charlap Trio

Lediso

Ornette Coleman's "The Shape of Jazz to Come," performed by Christian McBride's trailblazing New Jawn.

In keeping with JAZZ HOUSE KiDS tradition, selections will include a collaboration of acclaimed artists, JAZZ HOUSE KiDS' alumni who are now attending top musical institutions, and the JAZZ HOUSE BiG BAND. Together, they will recreate some of the most important songs in the history of jazz for this exciting occasion.

This group of musical greats will come together for a dynamic showing of musicianship in support of the JAZZ HOUSE KiDS' mission of providing a high-quality arts education to primary and secondary students. To date, the organization has served more than 50,000 young people and presented student performances for over half a million music fans. The organization and its students have received more than 100 national honors and awards, including the 2019 Jersey Arts People's Choice Award for the MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL, produced by JAZZ HOUSE KiDS® which was voted Favorite Music Festival. The JAZZ HOUSE SUMMER WORKSHOP took top honors for Favorite Performing Arts Camp.

"We believe that learning to understand, create, and play jazz—this great American art form—yields lifelong benefits far beyond the notes on a page," said Melissa Walker, president and founder of JAZZ HOUSE KiDS. "We are excited to celebrate the most influential year that changed the course of this music."

Ravi Coltrane

The 60th Anniversary of the Most Influential Year in Jazz concert is a one-night-only experience that brings the essence of a remarkable era to life. JAZZ HOUSE KiDS Artistic Chair Christian McBride explained, "From Miles Davis' desire to break free from the status quo and Coltrane's declaration of artistic independence, to Ella Fitzgerald's landmark songbook series, and ultimately, Ray Charles, who proved that the lines between jazz and R&B can be blurred, we will explore the beats and rhythms that changed the genre of jazz as a whole."

To further mark the occasion, JAZZ HOUSE KiDS will present drummer and NEA Jazz Master Jimmy Cobb with its Jazz Luminary Award. As a player on Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue," Cobb helped define the post-bop style of the 1950s and '60s. Through this award, JAZZ HOUSE KiDS recognizes Mr. Cobb as a national treasure and one of the most inspirational figures in jazz, America's original art form. John Schreiber, president and CEO of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, will be presented with the Community Champion Award for his work as a visionary advocate for the arts and driver of economic development in Newark, New Jersey.

Ingrid Jensen

Additionally, details of a new partnership with venue host City Winery and its founder, Michael Dorf, to launch the JAZZ HOUSE Music Club will be unveiled. The inaugural program will support a thriving music program at the Grand Street Campus public high schools in Brooklyn, NY, providing private lessons, mentoring, and top-notch instruction to help students develop key skills while enhancing their knowledge of the fundamentals of music and the art of performance. The campus includes the High School of Enterprise, Business, and Technology; East Williamsburg Scholars Academy; and Progress High School for Professional Careers—all of which serve a population of at-risk, high-need students.

Proceeds from the gala will benefit JAZZ HOUSE KiDS' year-round music education and performance programs. Gala concert tickets begin at $300 and tables begin at $5,000. For gala sponsorship benefits, please visit jazzhousekids.org/events/gala.

Sonar's “The Bill Laswell Mix Translations” To Be Released On Limited Edition 12-inch Vinyl EP On 7dMedia

The Swiss quartet SONAR has quickly gained international reputation for creating a unique blend of forward-thinking instrumental music imbued with power, tension and emotional identity. With their slow-build approach to dramaturgy and avoidance of conventional forms, they focus on collective group efforts and a deeper kind of interaction amongst their members Stephan Thelen (guitar), Bernhard Wagner (guitar), Christian Kuntner (electric bass) and Manuel Pasquinelli (drums).

For their internationally acclaimed fourth album “Vortex” (RareNoiseRecords), Sonar made an unexpected move by adding the expressive, experimental and deeply emotional playing of US guitarist and producer David Torn to their precise and disciplined polyrhythmic groove tapestry, thus adding the yin to their yang.

For this new vinyl release, legendary producer, remixer and bass guitarist Bill Laswell remixed and reconstructed two tracks from “Vortex”, also adding electronics and his signature bass guitar.

How did this (again unexpected and unlikely) collaboration happen? Sonar's guitarist and composer Stephan Thelen tells the story: “My friend and music journalist Anil Prasad wrote an e-mail telling me that he was meeting Bill Laswell for dinner and wondered if I would want him to ask if Bill would be willing to do two Sonar remixes. Since Bill has always been one of my favorite musicians, I of course said yes. Then things went really fast. Bill agreed to do it, but he wanted to do them soon, because his schedule was about to get very tight. I talked to the band, we decided which two pieces Bill should remix and then sent the multitracks to James Dellatacoma, Bill's engineer. Exactly 9 days after Anil's e-mail, we had two stunning remixes in our dropbox.”

In Anil's words, this is a “Zürich-New York sonic summit where minimalist groove meets maximum dub.”

Master Bassist John Patitucci Releases Most Intimate & Revealing Solo Album with Soul of the Bass

Take a look at the long musical lineage paved by the titans of bass, and invariably there’s a point where each turns inward to express themselves with just their hands and their instrument, unaccompanied. For John Patitucci that time is now. Soul of the Bass, Patitucci’s 16th solo record, is his most intimate and revealing. Centered around melodic, concise improvisations on acoustic bass, the sound of wood, skin on string and open air serve to heighten the expressiveness of the melodies. Patitucci explains, “I think as you get older you prioritize the sound and the feel of everything you play, which if rendered with integrity, will result in a clarity that communicates to the listener and draws them in.”

Patitucci continues his trailblazing ways on his 6-string electric bass guitar, offering a stirring interpretation of the Allemande from Bach’s “Cello Suite No. 5,” and exploring new sonic terrain by applying his six as a color to some of his acoustic bass inventions. In the record’s most dramatic departure, John throws down an R&B groove with drummer Nate Smith, layering additional bass guitars on top, in a historic nod to the instrument.

Living in a musical household also impacts the album. Patitucci enlists daughters Gracie (greisun) and Bella in a vocal-and-6-string meditation rich in tension and resolution, and he further pushes harmonic and orchestrational boundaries with his cello/bass choir, featuring his wife Sachi. Another key to the proceedings is engineer and co-producer John Davis, a former student of Patitucci’s, who built and runs The Bunker Studios in Brooklyn, where the 13-track album was recorded. Enthuses Patitucci, “John knows my playing and my music, and he came up with some terrific ideas that enhanced the album musically and sonically.”

Inspiration for the project initially arrived in 1979, when Patitucci bought Dave Holland’s acclaimed solo side, Emerald Tears. “I was taken by Dave’s solo bass recording, but I guess I knew instinctively I had to wait until I was quite a bit older to make my own.” Patitucci is calling the album a sequel to his landmark 1991 effort, Heart of the Bass—which featured acoustic bass and 6-string in an orchestral setting—and a contrasting minimalist bookend it is. Of the cover image, a lone, exposed Acacia tree in Kenya, Africa, he offers, “It’s a fitting symbol, because the Acacia is the most durable of trees, able to survive all kinds of weather and climate, and it also replenishes the soil. The connection for me is that the soul of a bass is in the wood. The wood evokes the spiritual sound of the player. And the instrument lives on, long after the player is gone, ready to reflect the soul of the next owner.”

Patitucci admits the current political climate impacted the record, with titles like “Seeds of Change,” “The Call,” “Truth” and “Trust.” “Right now it seems like we’re at a low point when it comes to topics like truth and care and empathy for the poor and for immigrants. As a person of faith, I’m committed to fighting against racial and social injustice. I like to use the artistic platform I’m fortunate to have to speak out, engage people and try to be uplifting.”

From his transformative playing on both basses in such lofty settings as the ensembles of Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Michael Brecker and Herbie Hancock, to his leading-edge solo career, to his highly-respected works as a commissioned composer in the modern chamber music realms, Patitucci has put in the requisite time and effort to finally make his solo bass statement. Soul of the Bass speaks volumes.

 

Sy Smith - Sometimes A Rose Will Get A Remix

Following the success of last year’s Sometimes A Rose Will Grow In Concrete, Sy Smith has just released Sometimes A Rose Will Get A Remix, a brand new remix album made available for streaming and purchase on April 5, 2019.

So, who is this Sy Smith anyway? Smith is a Howard University grad turned singer/songwriter/musician/actress. For years, the Los Angeles-based D.C. native has used her lyrics and larynx to help everyone from Whitney Houston to Sting to Phonte & Al Green sound just a little more fly. Her newest set of imaginative and slickly re-fashioned songs is sure to gain new listeners as well as please longtime fans of the woman known as the Queen of Underground Soul. 

This new project takes a second look at the entirely self-written and self-produced Sometimes a Rose Will Grow in Concrete, an album of jazzy, introspective musings about life, love, and society, from a Black woman’s perspective. Where that album swayed sweetly in a couture gown, the new Sometimes remix EP changes into a backless freakum dress to go dancing on table tops. 

To begin, Sometimes…A Remix opens with a vibey deep house mix of “Sometimes A Rose Will Grow Into Concrete.” Now fully transformed into a bassy, soul-clapping thumper, one can skate to it by night or hold yoga positions to it by day. The short-and-sweet “Catastrophe” reaches full potential as an extended house banger, familiar territory for those who sampled Smith’s foray into electronic soul on 2012’s Fast and Curious. 

Those looking for something sexy to grind to can skip directly to the dancehall remix of “Perspective,” guaranteed to keep that good arch in your back. The set also features a second remix that finds singer B.Slade trading electric cool vocals with Sy over a party-starter track that would make a perfect single this summer. Fans who have been with Sy since her indie inception on adventurous projects like The Syberspace Social will appreciate the trippy, new, color-shifted remix of “Now and Later.” 

In the meantime, stream the lead single, “Camelot (MGA Dub Remix)” which takes the song’s original fairy tale and reinterprets it with reggae riddims, skanking guitars, and enough dubby horns to turn any Monday into a walk on a Caribbean shore. (Sing along with the lyric video here: https://youtu.be/EtVa8xQTnuM)

As a bonus, Sometimes a Rose Will Get a Remix also includes a capella versions of each song. The soft strength of Smith’s naked voice standing alone on “Camelot” and soaring octaves high on “Sometimes A Rose” lends a vulnerability that invites the casual listener to lean in closer. Producers and musicians, however, should take full advantage of this opportunity to add their unique flavor to some remixes of their own.

Sy Smith’s upcoming solo performances:

April 12 - NYC at The Shed

April 26 - Indianapolis at The Jazz Kitchen

April 28 - Jackson, MS at Soul Wired Cafe

May 03 - Atlanta at First Friday’s At First (The Commons)

May 11 - Charlotte at Charlotte SHOUT! (Soul Stage)

Relevant Links:

Link to "Sometimes A Rose Will Get A Remix”:  https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/sysmith/sometimes-a-rose-will-get-a-remix

Sy Smith on Facebook: http://facebook.com/sysmithmusic

Sy Smith’s website:  http://www.sysmith.com

Sy’s Tour Schedule:  https://bnds.us/rpj52v

Sy’s IG & Twitter: @syberspace

New Releases: Allen Toussaint – Artist Singer Songwriter; Herlin Riley – Perpetual Optimism; Candace Bellamy – This Feeling

Allen Toussaint – Artist Singer Songwriter

Without Allen Toussaint, New Orleans’ crucial musical transition from blazing 1950s rock and roll to the second-line funk grooves of the ‘60s might have fizzled out altogether. As the Crescent City’s preeminent producer, arranger, composer, and session pianist, his visionary contributions provided the seminal bridge to a new sound for a new decade. “I just love writing, and it seems to even embellish more as time goes on,” says the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, who had more to do with the modernization of New Orleans R&B than anyone else.

Herlin Riley – Perpetual Optimism

“I want to live in a world where my glass is always half full!” That’s the inspiring maxim of New Orleans master drummer Herlin Riley. On his second Mack Avenue Records release, Perpetual Optimism, the longtime anchor of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra preaches his silver-lined gospel on 10 tracks whose joyous spirit and contagious swing are sure to convert any listener to the bright side. Since his Mack Avenue debut New Direction, all four of Riley’s bandmates have been making major waves across the modern jazz scene, attesting to the master drummer’s Art Blakey-like ear for talent and sage musical guidance.

Candace Bellamy – This Feeling

A fresh, powerfully soulful presence on the Smooth Jazz scene, physician by day, soul singer by night Candace Bellamy’s new EP, the gorgeously produced THIS FEELING, indeed feels like a heartfelt revelation. In only three tracks, she artfully portrays the bleakness of heartbreak, the wonderful promise of a lifelong love and, via a breezy reworking of a Roberta Flack classic, the sensual intensity of love in full bloom. In 2018, she had the opportunity to portray the legendary soul singer in a production of “The Voices of Donny Hathaway” in her adopted hometown of Austin, TX. Broadwayworld.com called her performance “a stellar turn as Roberta Flack.” Allow yourself to feel THIS FEELING, and you’ll feel exactly as we do about Candace! ~www.smoothjazz.com

Terence Blanchard To Be Named A BMI Icon At The 35th Annual BMI Film, TV & Visual Media Awards

BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) has announced that film composer and celebrated jazz musician Terence Blanchard will be named a BMI Icon at the 35th annual BMI Film, TV & Visual Media Awards in recognition of his significant contributions to the cinematic community. The ceremony will also honor award-winning composer, arranger, orchestrator and conductor William Ross with the BMI Classic Contribution Award, and salute the top performing composers in film, TV and visual media of the past year. Hosted by BMI President and CEO Mike O'Neill and BMI Vice President Creative - Film, TV & Visual Media Doreen Ringer-Ross, the private event will be held on Wednesday, May 15 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA.

  

"As a composer, Terence Blanchard's music is steeped in jazz, but he's also an incredibly versatile artist whose works range from film to Broadway to opera and back again," said Ringer-Ross. "His emotionally compelling scores make sociological statements about sensitive cultural issues faced by many, both past and present. We're thrilled to name Terence a BMI Icon and celebrate the best in music for film, television and visual media."

Blanchard joins an elite group of previous BMI Icon recipients who have received this honor for their "unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers." Past honorees include Alan Silvestri, James Newton Howard, Alexandre Desplat, Rachel Portman, David Newman, Thomas Newman, Danny Elfman, Harry Gregson-Williams and John Williams, among many others.

In addition to honoring Blanchard, William Ross will receive BMI's Classic Contribution Award in recognition of his impeccable skills as an arranger, orchestrator, conductor and composer. He's also one of the most sought-after collaborators in the business. In receiving this award, Ross joins a prestigious list of previous recipients including Rick Baitz, Lucas Richman, Peter Golub, Mike Post, Chris Montan, David Newman and Terence Blanchard, who received this honor in recognition of his vital work as an educator and mentor to emerging composers in 2010.

Throughout the evening, composers of the previous year's top-grossing films, top-rated primetime network television series and highest-ranking cable and streamed media programs will also be recognized.

2018 USA Fellow and five-time Grammy-winning trumpeter/composer Terence Blanchard has been a consistent artistic force for making powerful musical statements concerning painful American tragedies – past and present.

From his expansive work composing the scores for Spike Lee films ranging from the documentary When the Levees Broke, about Blanchard's hometown of New Orleans during the devastation from Hurricane Katrina to the epic Malcolm X; Inside Man; 25th Hour (for which Blanchard received a Golden Globe Nomination) to the timely and Oscar-nominated Lee film, BlacKkKlansman, Blanchard has interwoven melodies that created strong backdrops to Lee's stories.

Blanchard is a world-renowned jazz trumpeter and film composer with more than 33 albums and 50 film scores to his credit. He's a five-time GRAMMY Award winner, a 2018 US Artists Fellow, and most recently, an Oscar nominee for his music in Spike Lee's blockbuster BlacKkKlansman, which the New York Times called "a soaring, seething, luxuriant score." As Lee's longtime collaborator, Blanchard has scored 17 of his films. Other film credits include Eve's Bayou, Talk to Me, Red Tails, Barbershop and The Comedian, to name a few.

Outside of his work in film and television, Blanchard is a celebrated bandleader and trumpeter with an unwavering dedication to jazz education - frequently holding master classes around the world. Blanchard also serves as the Artistic Director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's jazz series and has teamed with Opera Theatre St. Louis to premiere his second opera on June 15, "Fire Shut Up in My Bones," based on a memoir by celebrated NY Times best-selling author, Charles Blow.

William Ross is an award-winning composer and arranger whose work has spanned feature films, the recording industry and television. Some of his most notable film projects include scoring The Tale of Despereaux, A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas, Tuck Everlasting, Ladder 49 and My Dog Skip to name a few. He also adapted and conducted the score to Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets. His work in television is equally as impressive and includes the scores to Hallmark Hall of Fame's In My Dreams, Lifetime's Steel Magnolias, the critically acclaimed miniseries Me and My Shadows, Life With Judy Garland as well as the Emmy-winning music for the Tiny Toon Adventures' episode "Fields of Honey." As an arranger, Ross has worked with some of the top talent in the world including Celine Dion, Josh Groban, Michael Bublé, Quincy Jones, David Foster, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Barbara Streisand and the list goes on.

Throughout his career, Ross has received many accolades including four Emmy Awards, three BMI Film Music Awards and he was nominated for an Annie Award and two GRAMMY Awards.  He's served as the Music Director for the Academy Awards four times and received an Emmy Award for his work in 2007, and his arrangements have also been a part of several Super Bowl opening ceremonies as well as the opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympic Games in Calgary (1988), Atlanta (1996), Salt Lake City (2002), Torino (2006), Vancouver (2010) and Sochi (2014).

Keyboardist Marcos Silva Unveils First Recording in 30 Years On "Brasil From Head to Toe"

Keyboardist and composer Marcos Silva returns to the recording spotlight after 30 years with Brasil From Head to Toe, set for a May 3 release on his Goose Egg Productions imprint. The third album from the Brazilian-born, Bay Area-based musician and educator features an extensive cast of musicians, anchored by a core quartet with saxophonist Gary Meek, bassist Scott Thompson, and drummer Mauricio Zottarelli. It also includes 10 original compositions of invigorating Brazilian jazz fusion by the master himself.

Silva spent the three decades since recording his first two albums, 1987's Here We Go and 1989's White & Black, touring and recording with the likes of Flora Purim and Airto (for whom he also served a 24-year stint as music director), Paquito D'Rivera, and Jon Lucien, as well as keeping busy on the Bay Area's ascendant Brazilian jazz scene and teaching for more than two decades in the Brazilian Music department at Berkeley's California Jazz Conservatory (formerly The Jazzschool). With Brasil From Head to Toe, he summarizes everything he's done and learned in that long and accomplished career.

"It's a chance to learn where I'm coming from," Silva says. "This is who I am. All of my DNA is in there."

Not just Silva's DNA, but also his incomparable experiences as a musician living in Brazil and the United States and traveling the world. Tracks like "In 7 & 2," "Hathor," and "Dry Land" (among others) recall the electrified Brazilian fusion Silva played with Purim and Airto. "Dos Pés À Cabeça" gives traditional samba music a charge of slippery but bruising funk; "Escape" inclines toward progressive jazz (with the support of vibraphonist Dillon Vado); "Prediction" and "Spring" are slow samba-infused ballad offerings -- the last featuring a lush arrangement for 12-piece string ensemble.

"I don't think I wrote anything in here," Silva says of these pieces. "I'm the vehicle that translates the musical messages sent from above. I'm on the outside listening."

Silva's sumptuous but exacting compositions -- which have been recorded by such artists as Purim, Romero Lubambo, Bud Shank, and Herbie Mann -- call for interpretation by the highest caliber of musicians, and Silva's bandmates are more than up to the task. Zottarelli, a New York (by way of São Paulo)-based drummer and percussionist, is highly sought after in the jazz, Latin, and Brazilian music communities. Meek, who lives in Monterey, is a fellow longtime veteran of Flora Purim and Airto's working band (of whom Silva says, "after Michael Brecker, Gary is the saxophonist"). East Bay bassist Thompson is a protégé and colleague of Silva's at CJC's Brazilian Music department, and the son of woodwinds player Mary Fettig, with whom Silva worked on his first two albums.

Marcos Silva was born September 8, 1954 in Rio de Janeiro. He studied classical guitar, bass, and drums at the city's Museum of Image and Sound, becoming a mainstay on the music scene but ambitious to make his way into jazz. To that end, he arrived in New York City in March 1980, soon meeting famed vocalist Flora Purim and her percussionist husband Airto Moreira.

The connection redirected Silva's career, including his place of residence. He soon followed his new employers to their home base of Santa Barbara, California, relocating again three years later to the San Francisco Bay Area. He continued working with Purim and Airto, as well as joining guitarist Ricardo Peixoto's Voz do Samba and later collaborating with Claudio Amaral's Viva Brasil, and working with Brazil's elite composers such as guitarist Toninho Horta and Dori Caymmi. In 1987 he made his debut album, Here We Go, following it two years later with White & Black.

In the ensuing years, Silva became an active partner in the Bay Area jazz scene, helping to fuel a surge in its Brazilian jazz contingent and giving a boost to vocalists like Claudio Gomez, Claudia Villela, and Sandy Cressman. In the late 1990s he joined the faculty at The Jazzschool (now the California Jazz Conservatory) in Berkeley, helping to establish the new institution's Brazilian Music department. He has remained there ever since as department head while also continuing to compose and perform actively.

 

Markus Reuter: String Quartet No.1 ‘Heartland’

After years of preparation and planning, Solaire Records are proud and excited to present 'Heartland', Markus Reuter's first string quartet. The album sees Markus further explore his algorithmically- supported composing technique to create a sonic language that will surprise even long-standing supporters. After spending months listening to most of music history's major string quartets, Markus ultimately decided to break with tradition and approach things from an entirely unique angle. Working closely with Oval's Markus Popp, the tracks were built using a pool of self-referential musical fractals. By combining them into deeply layered structures, every single bar of music is related to what preceeds and follows it, even though there is not a single mechanical repetition in these pieces.

Performed by the prestigious Matangi Quartet and recorded by award-winning producer Dirk Fischer, Heartland is a journey to the borders of melody and harmony: Driving, sensual, serene and moving.

Markus Reuter earned his spurs in rock and electronica, but found his true calling as a composer. After working in influential band constellations for two decades, Reuter developed a process allowing for the creation of equally complex and accessible works in an expanded tonal environment.

Reuter’s studies started out with a classical education on the mandolin, guitar and piano and theoretical classes with composer Karlheinz Straetmanns. Visiting the school of legendary guitarist Robert Fripp marked an important change in direction. Through Fripp, Reuter developed ties to the individual members of avant-garde rock supergroup King Crimson, with whom he would perform in constantly changing projects and constellations.

The return to composition came in 2010 with the work “Modus Novus” for guitar quartet. An expansion of ideas pioneered by Messiaen, the underlaying concept allow for the creation of vast modal spaces outside of major/minor progressions and the tonality/dissonance polarity. The approach fully came to fruition with “Todmorden 513”, hailed by critic Gregory Applegate as “one of the most important orchestral works of our era.”

New work has since further raised his profile. Reuter appreciates the respect, although it remains his biggest wish to disappear completely behind the music: “In an ideal world there would be no need for my music to be interpreted. If I succeed as a composer, everything will be “on the page” and all the performer has to do is to play the music.”

New Bojaira [When Jazz Falls in Love with Flamenco] Zorongo Blu

On May 5, Jazz/Flamenco fusion group New Bojaira releases a new album, Zorongo Blu (New Bojaira). Featuring jazz legend Randy Brecker on the track titled "El Diablo Llama a Mi Puerta", New Bojaira’s debut release Zorongo Blu, is a collection of original compositions and jazz standards with the addition of the traditional Spanish folk song Zorongo which, when given a bluesy-jazz/flamenco treatment, becomes the vehicle for the band's unique virtuosity and is transformed into the album's title track. 

Each composition on the album has a distinct and original feel, from a flamenco framing of Thelonious Monk’s “Round Midnight” to Hernandez’s setting of two poems by Miguel de Cervantes. Jazz soloing is juxtaposed against the time-tested backdrop of flamenco rhythm.

True American jazz meets deeply rooted flamenco and the drama of flamenco vocals creates something special. With the joining of these two styles from two sides of the Atlantic this is a band that truly personifies the old adage “greater than the sum of its parts”. This is fresh and exciting music.

New Bojaira (Bō-hī-ra) bridges the musical traditions from both sides of the Atlantic delivering a sound that speaks to both Jazz and Flamenco fans. Pianist Jesús Hernández, singer/flautist Alfonso Cid, bassist Tim Ferguson and drummer Mark Holen generate the band’s uncommon energy, with flamenco rhythms and the harmonic depth of jazz, New Bojaira's music transcends both styles creating a new and wonderful synthesis.

Stream “El Diablo Llama a Mi Puerta” HERE

Zorongo Blu Track Listing: El Diablo Llama a Mi Puerta (Soleá Blues) * Jaleos del Celoso Extremeño La Africana (Guajira) Green Room Farruca de Argel Round Midnight Zorongo Blu (Zorongo por Seguiriya) Ese Meneo (Tanguillo) No Encuentro Tu Pasión (Rumba) Vente Pa’ Broadway (Bulería) * with Randy Brecker.

New Releases: Van Morrison - The Healing Game (Deluxe Edition); Bob Holz featuring Mike Stern & Randy Brecker – Silverthorne; UB40 - For The Many

Van Morrison - The Healing Game (Deluxe Edition)

This new deluxe edition of 'The Healing Game' includes the original album plus two additional discs of rare and unreleased material featuring B-sides, session outtakes and duets with John Lee Hooker, Carl Perkins and B.B. King. Also included is the first official release of a performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in the summer of 1997. Here, Morrison is in full control, eschewing his greatest hits for songs from 'The Healing Game,' deep cuts from his extensive back catalogue and covers of Ray Charles, Tony Bennett and Sly & The Family Stone. Disc 1 - The Original Album Plus... Disc 2 - Sessions & Collaborations Disc 3 - Live at Montreux 17 July 1997

Bob Holz featuring Mike Stern & Randy Brecker – Silverthorne

Jazz artist Bob Holz has released a new album, "Silverthorne" featuring Mike Stern and Randy Brecker on MVD Audio. Holz got his start playing nationally with guitar great Larry Coryell. Holz and Coryell recorded two albums together. Bob previously  recorded with Mike Stern and Randy Brecker on his first album, A Vision Forward in 2015. Holz recorded with bassist Stanley Clarke on his most recent release, Visions: Coast to Coast Connection. Other musicians joining Holz on Silverthorne are bassist Ralphe Armstrong (Mahavishnu Orchestra), Alex Acuna (Weather Report), Brandon Fields (The Rippingtons), Jamie Glaser (Jean Luc Ponty), Ada Rovatti, Billy Steinway, Alex Machacek and Andrew Ford. The album  features ten new originals by the Los Angeles based drummer and will be released on February 8, 2019. The release comes off a busy run for Holz which included a show in Los Angeles at Catalina Jazz Club with legendary fusion guitarist Dean Brown. Jazziz Magazine will feature a track off Silverthorne in the Winter edition due out in December. The album was recorded and mixed by Dennis Moody and produced by Rob Stathis. Silverthorne is Bob's fourth album for MVD Audio.

UB40 - For The Many

''For The Many'' is the Birmingham reggae veterans' nineteenth studio album - their first since 2013's Getting Over The Storm Features UB40's founding members Robin Campbell (co-vocals/Guitar), Brian Travers (saxophone/keyboards), Jimmy Brown (drums), Earl Falconer (bass/keyboards/vocals) and Norman Hassan (percussion/vocals), alongside long-time members Duncan Campbell (vocals), Martin Meredith (saxophone), Laurence Parry (trumpet) and Tony Mullings (keyboards). Includes guest appearances from Birmingham rapper Gilly G, who features on the video Moonlight Lover and Jamaican artist/producer Kabaka Pyramid on Broken Man. UB40 are reunited with reggae deejays/artists Pablo Rider on I'm Alright Jack and Slinger on Gravy Train, both of whom appeared on the band's 1985 album Baggariddim. The album's closing track All We Do Is Cry sees the band collaborate again with British Asian urban musician Hunterz, who previously co-wrote and sang on UB40's single 'Reasons' from the 2005 album Who You Fighting For. In the same year, Hunterz performed the single on stage with UB40 and The Dhol Blasters at the Live 8 concert held in Hyde Park. Formed in Birmingham in 1978, UB40 named themselves after the UK government's unemployment benefit form. Their debut album Signing Off was released in August 1980 and is considered by many to be one of the greatest reggae albums ever released by a British band. It was the start of a career that led to 100 million record sales worldwide and dozens of hits, including Red, Red Wine, I Got You Babe and (I Can't Help) Falling in Love with You which all topped the charts across the world. The band had a run of hit albums that have spent a combined period of eleven years in the UK's Top 75 album chart, establishing UB40 as one of Britain's most successful bands of all-time.