Tenor saxophone master Eric Alexander takes a Leap of Faith into new territory with adventurous chordless trio featuring Doug Weiss and Johnathan Blake

Alexander's new album is the third release from Jimmy Katz's Giant Step Arts, a groundbreaking, artist-focused non-profit with a single mission: to help modern jazz innovators create their art free of commercial pressure

"[Eric Alexander] is invariably eloquent and persuasive, reinforcing his stature as one of the jazz world's most astute and accomplished tenor saxophonists." - Jack Bowers, All About Jazz

"A lot of magic and beauty can come out of the freedom to explore that Jimmy [Katz and Giant Step Arts] granted us. I think the reason the music sounds the way that it does is because there was so much trust and freedom." - Johnathan Blake, drummer and Giant Step Arts recording artist

A modern-day master of the tenor saxophone, Eric Alexander is revered in hard bop and post-bop circles for his muscular tone, sophisticated expression, and exhilarating melodic invention. On his latest album, Leap of Faith, Alexander takes an unexpected plunge into the unknown with a set of far-reaching excursions with a brilliant chordless trio featuring bassist Doug Weiss and drummer Johnathan Blake. Recorded live at New York City's Jazz Gallery, the stunning, surprising new album will be released May 17, 2019 thanks to the groundbreaking new non-profit Giant Step Arts, led by noted photographer and recording engineer Jimmy Katz.

It was at Katz's suggestion that Alexander decided to take this leap in the first place. The two men have known one another for more than 25 years, crossing paths shortly after the Illinois native arrived in New York City in the early 90s. Hearing the passion and imagination in Alexander's playing, Katz would often suggest that the saxophonist explore a more expansive setting than his usual bop métier afforded. Being an artist with a particular vision (and a dose of the accompanying stubbornness), Alexander's instinctual response was to reject any suggestion of where he should take his own music.

"I know what I feel and what I'm enthusiastic about as a musician, so I have a built-in knee-jerk reaction to people telling me I should do something different," Alexander explains. "You have to trust what you're doing, or it can be very hard to be genuine. Once the idea began to set in, though, I realized it could be really exciting and rewarding on many levels. I started trying to figure out what type of material would satisfy the mission of the project and also make me feel like I was being honest, and I came up with something that was a little more than slightly different from what I've done before."

Creating the environment to do just that - embark on daring new endeavors, freed from the usual demands of record label and sales chart expectations - is precisely why Katz founded the innovative Giant Step Arts. Katz launched the organization in January 2018 in order to provide some of the music's most innovative artists with the artistic and financial opportunity to create bold, adventurous new music free of commercial pressure.

For the artists it chooses to work with, by invitation only, the nonprofit:

- presents premiere performances and compensates the artists well

- records these performances for independent release

- provides the artists with 800 CDs and digital downloads to sell directly. Artists will own their own masters.

- provides the artists with photos and videos for promotional use

- provides PR support for the artists recordings

"Giant Step Arts will not be selling any music," Katz says. "We have two goals: help the musicians and raise more money so we can help more musicians."

That model, Alexander says, is for him as radical a departure from the norm as the music on Leap of Faith. "It's diametrically opposite in every single sense of that term from everything else that I've done. It feels like a test for a very different model and I'm anxious to see what's going to happen. It's a leap of faith, appropriately enough."

While Leap of Faith falls squarely into a tradition of unbridled tenor exploration that dates back to some of Alexander's major heroes, notably Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane, it represents a first for Alexander in a few ways. He has rarely played in, and almost never recorded in, a chordless trio setting. It also marks the first time, in a discography that counts more than 40 releases, that Alexander has recorded an album consisting solely of his own original tunes.

Aside from Katz's persistent urging, Alexander was also inspired to undertake this bold new endeavor by a turbulent period in his life that included the death of his father, who is paid heartfelt tribute on the tender and searching ballad "Big Richard." That was the most potent of the several "mid-life bumps in the road" that Alexander found himself facing upon turning 50 in 2018. "That may have put me, emotionally and creatively speaking, in a bit more of a raw space," he concludes. "I thought I could use this project to vent, that maybe it would be cathartic to just let things fly."

Inaugurated by Alexander's roving melodic tendrils, the trio begins the album with a brief free investigation that snaps into the bristling, brawny "Luquitas," built upon and opened up from an earlier Alexander original dedicated his second-born son, "Little Lucas." The piece is an out-of-the-gate showcase for the trio's boundless energy, surging forward with unceasing momentum for more than eight minutes. It's followed by "Mars," which borrows the harmonic progression of a surprising source: the Bruno Mars megahit "Finesse."

"My kids liked it," Alexander explains. "If your kids actually want to share something with you, it's good to stop and listen for a second. I really liked it, then I took that ball and ran with it."

Meditative piano chords open "Corazon Perdido," which breaks the chordless pattern by having Alexander accompany himself for a few ruminative minutes. It's followed by some of the saxophonist's most electrifying blowing, on the swaggering "Hard Blues." Blake's powerful rumble provides the bed for the blistering, volatile "Frenzy," while Weiss' deep, moaning bowed bass becomes the undercurrent of "Magyar," based on a reduction of themes from Béla Bartók's "Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta." Coltrane's influence rears its fiery head on the far-reaching finale, "Second Impression."

For those who've heard Alexander stretch out live, some of the more explosive playing on Leap of Faith may not be quite so shocking. Alexander says it's also not such a departure given his own wide-ranging tastes, which have not always emerged so strongly in his music. "Despite the fact that people believe that they have a pretty good idea of what my 'brand' is, I'm not really a bebop purist. I've always incorporated bits and pieces of what people might consider the avant-garde into what I do, so this was just a matter of letting that take over. That was really the giant step for me, and it felt at times like an out of body experience."

Boasting a warm, finely burnished tone and a robust melodic and harmonic imagination, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander has been exploring new musical worlds from the outset. He started out on piano as a six-year-old, took up clarinet at nine, switched to alto sax when he was 12, and converted to tenor when jazz became his obsession during his one year at the University of Indiana, Bloomington. At William Paterson College in New Jersey he advanced his studies under the tutelage of Harold Mabern, Joe Lovano, Rufus Reid, and others. Eric has appeared in many capacities on record, including leader, sideman, and producer, as well as composing a number of the tunes he records. By now, Alexander has lost count of how many albums feature his playing; he guesses 80 or 90. While he has garnered critical acclaim from every corner, what has mattered most has been to establish his own voice within the illustrious bop-based jazz tradition.

Through his award-winning photography with wife Dena Katz, and his esteemed work as a recording engineer, Katz has spent nearly 30 years helping to shape the way that audiences see and hear jazz musicians. Katz has been hired to participate in over 540 recording projects, many historic, and has photographed nearly 200 magazine covers. Whether taken in the studio, in the clubs, on the streets or in the musicians' homes, his photographs offer intimate portraits of the artists at work and in repose and capture the collaborative and improvisatory process of jazz itself. Recipient of the Jazz Journalists Association award for jazz photography in both 2006 and 2011, Katz's work has been exhibited in Germany, Italy and Japan. Among the world-renowned artists he's photographed are Sonny Rollins, Keith Jarrett, Ornette Coleman, Freddie Hubbard, Roy Haynes, Cassandra Wilson, Ray Charles, Dave Brubeck, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Wynton Marsalis, John Zorn, Pat Metheny, and Dizzy Gillespie. In addition to his well-known visual art, Katz is an esteemed recording engineer who has worked with artists including David S. Ware, Joe Lovano, Harold Mabern, William Parker, Benny Golson, and Chris Potter, among others.

Bassist Rodney Whitaker Celebrates Finding Common Ground

Common Ground is the first of five CDs that bass maestro Rodney Whitaker intends to release in 2019 in acknowledgment of his fiftieth birthday year. It’s his seventh album, and embodies the musical values that Whitaker has projected on antecedent dates like When We Find Ourselves Alone, from 2014; such turn-of-the-century gems as Winter Moon,  Ballads and Blues: The Brooklyn Session and Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow; and the critically acclaimed Mack Avenue recordings Get Ready (2007) and Work To Do (2011) by his co-led band with drummer Carl Allen.

As on those recordings, Whitaker convenes an all-star unit of generational contemporaries, each a modern master and colleague of long standing (trumpeter Terrell Stafford, saxophonist Tim Warfield, pianist Bruce Barth, and drummer Dana Hall). He guides the flow with a mammoth sound and harmonic acumen, interpolating an occasional well-wrought solo, as his partners apply their individualistic instrumental voices and “team-player” orientation to eight tunes that Whitaker describes as “modern bebop and 21st century soul jazz,” emphasizing melodic development and the will to swing.

That unified, collective sensibility is one layer of meaning that filters into the title “Common Ground.” You can find another in the nature of the relationship between Whitaker and the composer of the songs, which have the flavor of new discoveries from the 1960s canons of Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane and Eddie Harris. His name is Gregg Hill, 73, an autodidact who started writing music seriously in 1984.

These unlikely collaborators live in East Lansing, Michigan, near the campus of Michigan State University, where Whitaker — who is University Distinguished Professor of Jazz Bass and Director of the Jazz Studies program at MSU since 2000 — moved in 2006.

A native of Detroit, Whitaker began playing bass in junior high school, where he met string instructor Donald Washington, whose student group Bird/Trane/Sco/Now!, which spanned bebop to free jazz, shaped his broad conception of musical expression. As he progressed through high school, Whitaker participated in trumpeter Marcus Belgrave’s jazz group, performed European classical music with the Detroit Civic Orchestra, studied privately with members of the Detroit Symphony, and worked with Motor City luminaries like pianist Kenny Cox and drummers Leonard King and Francesco Mora Catlett. A devotee of Paul Chambers and Ron Carter from the jump, Whitaker also considers Ray Brown, Oscar Pettiford, James Jamerson and Dave Holland to be crucial influences on his style.

Whitaker left Detroit in 1988 with the Donald Harrison-Terence Blanchard Quintet, then joined Roy Hargrove in 1991 for a four-year run. During 1995 and 1996, when he freelanced with Elvin Jones, Kenny Garrett and Diana Krall, Whitaker recorded his first two CDs, Children Of the Light and Hidden Kingdom, both comprised primarily of original music.  In 1996, Wynton Marsalis hired him to play with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, where he remained until 2000.

“Working with Wynton was the closest I ever got to going to graduate school,” Whitaker says. “I played so many different styles, and was inspired to learn the history of the music in depth. It made me realize that music is just not about notes. It’s about a story and it’s about lives.”

That storytelling ethos also informs Hill’s approach to composition.  A self-described “lifelong jazz fan and follower” from Midland, Michigan, Hill played saxophone in his high school band. He hoped to matriculate at Berklee, but couldn’t afford tuition, so matriculated at MSU;  in 1973, after consequential stays in New York and Detroit, he settled in East Lansing for good. He drove a truck, got married, had a family, and invested wisely. In 1984, he says, “my family life gave me some freedom to plunk at the piano for a couple of hours every day, and I took the opportunity to start writing.” He applied his analytical skills to absorb “every theory book I could get my hands on,” and “used my ear to take me somewhere with the music, and to get out my feelings and ideas — then it evolved, took on a life of its own.”

Around 2000, Hill tabled musical activities to involve himself in a family-based technology company. As the decade progressed, he and his wife, Lois Mummaw, founded a non-profit presenting organization called Jazz Alliance of Mid-Michigan, and took positions on the board of the East Lansing Summer Solstice Festival, which brought Whitaker into the fold as Music Director in 2008. In 2015, Hill retired, freeing him to devote all his time to musical self-expression.

Shortly before retirement, Hill assembled a composition book with ten favorites. He gave Whitaker a copy. In 2017, he published 81 of his tunes in two volumes, titled Outrospectives and Spontaneity (another 40 pieces will appear in a yet-to-be-titled third volume, scheduled for winter 2019 publication). That summer, Hill decided to present a two-concert series for which he asked seven bandleaders, including Whitaker, to perform his music.

About a year later, Whitaker approached Hill, suggesting that he record his tunes with the personnel featured herein, who’d previously performed on Hall’s excellent 2009 CD Into The Light. “We’ve all played together in different configurations for 25-30 years, and I knew it would immediately sound like a band,” Whitaker says. “I thought Gregg was writing some cutting-edge things and also things that sound out of the tradition. All of them were interesting and fun to play. Some of the tunes look easier than they really are. Some remind me of the 1960s, but some remind me of now.”

 For the Common Ground project, Whitaker and Hill each chose material, which Whitaker then “rearranged from the original source material, particularly the solo forms.” He told Hill that “I wanted his heart and soul connected in it musically,” towards which end Hill presented four numbers to vocalist Rockelle Fortin, the oldest of Whitaker’s seven children, and asked her to write and sing original lyrics, based on conversations in which she interrogated Hill on the content and meaning of each tune.

“Bringing in Rockelle at a creative level and showcasing her vocal talent is a highlight of the album,” Hill says. “Singers are my main source of musical inspiration. A good sax or trumpet solo can make you feel good, but only a singer can give you the goose-pimples where you’re overwhelmed by feeling.”

On the sprightly title track, Fortin’s affirmative message of mutual respect reflects Hill’s sense that “ordinary people tend to be considerate of each other in the daily rounds of life,” in contrast to the “acrimonious tone of the political world.” It also mirrors the common ground that Whitaker and Hill have found through their interaction in the world of jazz.

“Rodney’s genius was to put his own take on all these arrangements,” Hill says. “That’s what makes them special. He’s a master arranger and the heartbeat of the band. He frees up the soloist. That’s also in line with philosophy of writing. I’m very oriented towards melodies, but I don’t try to marry them to my changes. I write material that turns the soloist loose, down their own territory. So this is a dream band for me, and even before this project came along, Rodney was my favorite bass player.”

Whitaker also draws inspiration from his most recently established partner. “It’s always been Gregg’s life dream to do this,” he says. “So many times people just table their dream. You don’t want to do that. You’ve got to keep pushing, and you’ve got to figure out the next thing in your journey. You shouldn’t be afraid to go after your dream.”

New Music: Lauren Henderson - Alma Oscura; Charnett Moffett - Bright New Day; Rob Ryndak / Tom Lockwood - Gratitude

Lauren Henderson - Alma Oscura 

Lauren Henderson is a prolific vocalist, composer, and arranger, as well as a budding entrepreneur. Alma Oscura is Henderson’s fifth CD since her self-titled, debut release in 2011. Based in New York City, Henderson has been performing in major venues around town, as well as shuttling back and forth to Miami, where her Latin sounds are particularly popular with the area’s large Cuban population. She has also toured extensively internationally and is returning to Europe in 2019.Henderson’s music is strongly inflected with jazz, Latin, soul, and fusion elements, and Alma Oscura, like all her previous work, reflects Henderson’s multi-cultural background. Alma Oscura means “dark soul” in English. According to Henderson, “The project  is an exploration of culture, the poisons of social norms, race relations, and the complexities navigated through society as we encounter love and death.” Sung in both English and Spanish, these compositions paint stories reflecting journeys imposed through the African diaspora and filtered through Henderson's multi-cultural heritage and American upbringing. Henderson’s voice has a soft, smoky quality that seems to float above the music, yet conveys great emotional depth and a bittersweet longing. The tunes on Alma Oscura are painted with a somber hue, but are never maudlin. Rather, the entire vibe of the album creates the impression of a person engaged in an inner monologue, looking for the answers to some of life’s most important questions.

  

Charnett Moffett - Bright New Day

Inspired by the electric periods of three chief influences - Jaco Pastorius, Ornette Coleman, and Miles Davis - legendary jazz bassist Charnett Moffett's Bright New Day represents a new chapter in his expanding legacy of jazz innovation.    Internationally acclaimed for his pyrotechnic upright acoustic bass work on his own recordings and with a virtual "who's who" of jazz, Moffett changes the game here, appearing for the first time exclusively with his fretless electric bass guitar and a new powerhouse touring band featuring rising-star violinist Scott Tixier, keyboard specialist Brian Jackson (known for his innovations with Gil Scott-Heron), drummer Mark Whitfield Jr, and electric guitarist Jana Herzen, a fellow Motema recording artist and founder and President of Motema. 

Rob Ryndak / Tom Lockwood - Gratitude

On "Gratitude,” Chicago-based pianist and percussionist Rob Ryndack and reedman Tom Lockwood present a program of 12 original compositions. The two artists contributed six works each, creating a montage of jazz tunes with a distinctly Latin accent and a few dashes of pop and funk. This is Ryndak’s sixth CD as a leader or co-leader. He’s recorded and played with a long list of Chicago greats, and he’s performed with his ensemble at festivals throughout the Midwest. A versatile musician, on “Gratitude” Lockwood plays tenor, alto, soprano, and baritone sax, as well as clarinet, bass clarinet, and flute. Lockwood has led several CD projects with different bands, and has also been a sideman on numerous recordings. He currently performs in several bands and orchestras, including a couple of salsa bands. Ryndak and Lockwood brought on board for this project some of the top players based in Chicago and Michigan, as well as Grammy-winning trumpeter Brian Lynch, who flew out from Miami to be part of this album. “Gratitide” is a project with a lot of heart and soul. The two artists have imbued the music not only with their expansive musical visions, but also with their personal stories and philosophies.  It is a journey through different musical styles all held together through the masterful writing and performing of Ryndak and Lockwood. ‘Gratitude” is a recording that is filled with lush imagery and rife with vivid emotions and spiritual affections.

GRAMMY® Award-Winning Composer Vince Mendoza Releases Constant Renaissance, Inspired By Philadelphia Jazz Greats

Six-time GRAMMY® Award-winning composer, arranger and conductor Vince Mendoza was at Temple University and the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts this past March as part of a week-long residency with students at the Boyer College of Music and Dance. This culminated with the world premiere and recording of Constant Renaissance, available August 2 on the College's own label, BCM&D Records, which has produced 30 recordings and garnered three GRAMMY® nominations.

Constant Renaissance is a new work featuring trumpeter Terell Stafford, alto-saxophonist Dick Oatts and the Temple University Studio Orchestra. Mendoza wrote the piece with Stafford and Oatts in mind, both of whom are on the jazz faculty at the university. Mendoza was inspired by Philadelphia’s history with jazz and its connection to innovation, reinvention and rebirth. “You might say that the city is in a ‘constant renaissance,’” Mendoza states, "and although some might say that jazz was the “other” sound of Philadelphia, in reality, many of the important innovations in jazz were born in the clubs and streets of this city after World War I, riffing and morphing, and eventually cross pollinating with the work of other artists in Philly."

The composer chose three jazz luminaries who all hailed from the City of Brotherly Love – Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday and John Coltrane. The first movement of the piece, “Bebop Elation,” through its rhythmic bounce and acrobatic melodic nature, evokes Gillespie’s impact on Philadelphia’s progressive music scene and integrated audiences in the early 1940’s. The city named him "Dizzy," and the name stuck -- and there was no other Dizzy Gillespie. John Birks Gillespie arrived in Philadelphia in 1935 at the age of 18. Even then he was a pioneer, with his trumpet playing reaching for the stars and Philadelphia embraced him. In November 1942, Dizzy Gillespie secured an extended engagement at the venerable Philly jazz spot, The Downbeat on Ludlow Street, most known for its embrace of progressive music and its racially integrated audiences. It was a key location in the history of jazz in the city. It was there that Dizzy honed his already original musical ideas and set the stage for his later encounters in New York City that cemented Bebop as the new music for the next generation.

The second movement, “Solace and Inspiration,” is dedicated to Billie Holiday, whose voice, according to Mendoza, “was a source of solace and inspiration." Mendoza continues, "there is indeed something transcendent and mysterious about the voice of Billie. Her sound was about beauty, but also pain, love and longing. Her phrasing seemed to float in mid-air. She sang her life, but she always kept her inner self in a private space. She was the unmistakable soulful voice of jazz." A Philadelphia native, Holiday often came back to Philly to perform during her short career, most often seen at the ornate Earle Theatre on Market Street.

Saxophonist and composer John Coltrane inspired the third movement, “Love, a Beautiful Force,” which embraces the use of ostinato as a sense of meditation and nod to improvisation. Coltrane lived and worked in Philadelphia from 1943 to 1958, but it was toward the end of that period, after leaving the Miles Davis Quintet in 1956, that Coltrane, struggling with drug addiction, returned to his Strawberry Mansion house to kick his habit, and find his inspiration and spiritual awakening. The compositions and recordings following this period became some of the most defining works in 20th century music and a continued guiding light followed by generations of jazz musicians. "The ostinato motive of this movement is in constant variation from beginning to end. The conclusion of the piece morphs into a more contemporary treatment of the ostinato, in a constant ascension to the heavens, in gratitude for the path Coltrane has cleared for us" Mendoza states.

 

Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance regularly commissions major composers to write or arrange new pieces for student ensembles. “It’s an invaluable experience for our students to rehearse, perform and record new works,” said Robert T. Stroker, Dean and Vice Provost for the Arts at the university, “having a composer of Vince Mendoza’s reputation and stature on campus for a week gives our music students a unique opportunity to learn from one of the best in the field.”

Vince Mendoza has been at the forefront of the Jazz and Contemporary music scene as a composer, conductor and recording artist for the last 25 years. According to All About Jazz, Mendoza “daringly expands the vernacular by including elements of abstract impressionism, romanticism and a highly unorthodox palette to position him as the clear and natural successor to the late Gil Evans.” The composer has written scores of compositions and arrangements for big band, extended compositions for chamber and symphonic settings, while his jazz composing credits read like a “who's who” of the best modern instrumentalists and singers in the world today. Mendoza was recognized as 'Best Composer/Arranger' by Swing Journal's critics poll in Japan. His album Epiphany features his compositions played by the London Symphony Orchestra. El Viento and Jazzpaña further pushed the boundaries of Jazz and Flamenco Music. Mendoza’s 2011 solo release Nights on Earth features his compositions arranged for small and large ensembles, with guest appearances by Luciana Souza, Malian vocalist Tom Diakite, and musicians from Spain, Africa, and Brazil. His GRAMMY® nominated big band release Homecoming celebrates his compositions for the WDR Big Band in Koln, Germany while his trumpet concertino, “New York Stories”, and his “Concerto for Orchestra" commissioned by the Czech National Symphony weave his individual approach to jazz rhythms and instrumental colors through a grand symphonic tapestry.

Mendoza's arranging has appeared on many critically acclaimed projects that include dozens of albums with song writing legends and vocalists such as Björk, Gregory Porter, Chaka Khan, Al Jarreau, Bobby McFerrin, Diana Krall, Melody Gardot, Sting and Joni Mitchell. He has 6 GRAMMY® Awards and 33 nominations. Mendoza is the composer in residence with the West Deutsche Rundfunk in Koln, Germany. He is also the Conductor Laureate of the Netherlands Metropole Orkest, of which he was Chief Conductor for 9 seasons. In addition, he appeared as a guest conductor with the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonic, as well as other orchestras throughout Europe, the U.S., Japan, Scandinavia, and the U.K. Mendoza has also written commissioned compositions and arrangements for the Turtle Island String Quartet, Brooklyn Rider, the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, the Metropole Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, The Hollywood Bowl, West Deutsche Rundfunk, The Czech National Symphony and the BBC. Mendoza’s music was featured at the Berlin Festival and he has frequently performed at the Monterey, Montreux and North Sea Jazz Festivals.

Vince Mendoza · Constant Renaissance // BCM&D Records · Release Date: August 2, 2019

GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING ELIANE ELIAS RELEASES LOVE STORIES ON CONCORD JAZZ

Eliane Elias ascends to a new echelon of artistic expression with the August 30, 2019 release of Love Stories on Concord Jazz. A multi-hyphenate musician whose recent releases Made in Brazil (2015), Dance of Time (2017) and Man of La Mancha (2018) have earned her multiple GRAMMY Award wins and No.1 Billboard chart debuts, Elias’ new orchestral project serves as a classic homage to love in its many facets and forms. 

Love Stories is an orchestral album, revealing Elias’ mastery and preeminence as a multifaceted artist – a vocalist, pianist, arranger, composer, lyricist and producer. Sung almost entirely in English, the album features three original compositions plus seven superb arrangements of pieces from bossa nova’s golden age, including songs made famous by Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim. 

As both an interpreter and composer, Elias inhabits the rich tradition of bossa while bringing the music into the present. She infuses familiar songs with unexpected twists that intensify the music’s evocative power – whether by creating harmonic modulations that enhance a lyric or shifting the rhythmic feel of a section to heighten its emotion – allowing the subtle complexities of her voice to take centerstage, all the while. 

Noting that romantic love is just one of a wide range of ways the emotion gets manifested, Elias says, “The idea for this album was to bring to life various stories of love and loving through this collection of songs.” 

As she tells those stories, Elias brings a depth of feeling to the album that comes courtesy of her evocative approach as a pianist and singer as well as the precision with which she’s able to execute her musical vision. 

“From the moment of conception, it couldn’t be more integrated,” she explains. “From the first note that’s chosen, every color I create in the arrangements, the modulations, the choice of keys, the small group arranging, the possibilities for orchestra – it’s as deep into my personal taste as it can go…because I’m envisioning the arrangement; deciding how to convey the song and perform it with the band, and being mindful of the future orchestrations all at once.”

For the album, Elias invited some of her favorite Brazilian rhythm section players to join her – Marcus Texiera on guitar and Edu Ribeiro, Rafael Barata and Celso Almeida on drums – plus her core collaborators, co-producer and bassist Marc Johnson and co-producer Steve Rodby. Orchestrator Rob Mathes returns for his fourth recording with Elias as well, bringing his lush string arrangements into flawless sync with Elias’ rich harmonic and varied rhythmic approaches, as he did on her GRAMMY Award-winning 2015 album, Made in Brazil.

A celebrated interpreter of Jobim, Elias sees undercurrents of his long collaborative history with orchestrator Claus Ogerman in the working relationship she’s developed with Mathes. 

Says Johnson: “Rob’s orchestrations all go so deep and are so beautifully intertwined with Eliane’s small group arrangements. He also understands voice distribution so well. He’s said that in the process of writing the arrangements, he immerses himself in the recorded basic tracks, and, in even more detail, into Eliane’s piano voicings. Rob is absolutely on the same emotional wavelength as Eliane.” 

This emotional connection is essential given the circumstances from which the album was born. Elias began working on the music for Love Stories through a difficult year in which she lost her father, and four months prior to his passing, fractured her shoulder in an accident in her hometown of Sao Paulo, Brazil. She was rendered virtually immobile for months while recovering in her apartment there. As she recuperated, her window view of breeze-tickled palm trees and balconies against the blue Sao Paulo sky became the backdrop for a new set of musical inspiration. 

“During that period, I wasn’t allowed to move, my left arm was in a sling and so to avoid surgery I had to stay immobilized and really still,” she recalls. “Meanwhile, I created and wrote all of these arrangements in that state.” 

The album opens with a tone-setting bossa nova groove and Elias’ sensual, velvety voice, inspiring us with the message of taking a chance on love, from the vintage pop gem of Frances Lai’s theme song from the Oscar-winning 1966 French film, “A Man and a Woman.” 

It’s a seamless jump from that to Elias’ take on “Baby, Come to Me.” Made famous in the early ’80s by Patti Austin and James Ingram, the song gets reworked here in characteristic Elias fashion, as she smoothly moves from a bossa nova to a hybrid Latin feel, with brilliant harmonic and tempo modulations. Added to the backdrop of soaring strings and rich piano voicings, the tune becomes altogether new. 

“I like the message of cultivating a relationship, of keeping the romance alive when you find someone you love.” says Elias, who enlisted yet another of her go-to collaborators, Take 6’s multiple GRAMMY Award-winning Mark Kibble, to cover the background vocals.

There’s a heartfelt vulnerability to Elias’ lilting, expressive singing on “Bonita,” a dreamy rendition of one of Jobim and Sinatra’s late ’60s collaborations that features some lovely interplay between the piano and orchestra alongside Elias’ delicate and nuanced vocal phrasing. 

“It’s a very pure expression of someone who wants their love to be accepted and returned,” Elias says. 

The Sinatra homage continues with a twinkling, sexy take on “Angel Eyes,” followed by a brilliant rendition of “Come Fly with Me” that’s re-imagined with a Brazilian groove and carries the listener away with a passionate, high-flying piano solo. 

Elias explores yet another aspect of love on her warm toned original “The Simplest Things,” a rich and multi-layered musing on a love that has stood the test of time. The message here – about looking back on a love that’s matured and discovering that “the simplest things are the wonderful things” in that shared life – is a profound and sweet universal truth that we can all relate to. 

On “Silence,” the album’s second original piece, the mood is decidedly more intense as Elias channels the protagonist of the story’s anguish. “My voice here is the most exposed on the album,” Elias says. “I believe that most everyone has experienced disappointment or disillusionment at some point in their lives. The question is how does one respond to that?” 

A bright and buoyant rendition of “Little Boat,” where you can almost feel the waves gently undulating in time with Elias’ rocking piano solo, changes the mood again. Roberto Menescal, the song’s composer, plays the guitar on this track and the opening verse features the only moment on the recording in which Elias sings in Portuguese. 

The album closes with one more original, “The View.” This story is a bit more adult and complicated, given its suggestive imagery. There’s a rendezvous and a vision of a woman rolling down her stockings – but her apparition is almost like a dream or an angel. “The story is about something more internalized,” says Elias, “somewhere between reality and imagination, erotic yet pure in love and love’s expression.” 

It’s also an appropriately complex finish to an album that digs deep musically to shine new light on one of our deepest human experiences. In the process, it offers a portrait of an incomparable artist whose sound resonates from decades of experience – in music as in life.

Of the connection with her instrument Elias has said, “the piano is an extension of my body and the deepest expression of my soul.” Love Stories proves her voice now occupies that place, as well. 

  

Track Listing:

   1.   A Man and a Woman (3:15)

   2.   Baby Come to Me (5:02)

   3.   Bonita (5:52)

   4.   Angel Eyes (5:25)

   5.   Come Fly with Me (5:52)

   6.   The Simplest Things (3:59)

   7.   Silence (4:04)

   8.   Little Boat (5:48)

   9.   The View (4:17)

Website: http://elianeelias.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElianeEliasMusic/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/4ElianeElias

Jazz Musician Dave Sereny Climbs The Spotify Ranks With Over 29K Fans From Latest Single Come Here Baby

Chart topping Jazz musician Dave Sereny is rapidly rising in popularity on Spotify with the release of his new album “Talk To Me” showcasing one of his all time most popular tracks Come Here Baby”

Additionally the single has gained Sereny coverage on numerous new websites including, Blogarama, We Heart It, Wave Fm, and MightyCoolThings Blog to just name a few. The album, “Talk to Me” has also received rave reviews from publications including Slate Magazine, KurrentMusic, Buzzfeed, and others. Even after a long break he’s doing very well to say the least.

11 years after his last release, the new release Come Here Baby has become a darling of over 35 independent Spotify curators who have added it to their playlists.  All totaled these playlists have a combined total following of over 250,000 followers; bringing his streams up to ½ million and his listener base to nearly 150,000.

With the album and lead track, “Talk To Me” Sereny once again proves that his musical talent has aged like a fine wine. Sereny is not only a singer, but also the writer, composer and guitar player (playing both electric and acoustic) of his entire album.  Sereny’s hands-on approach to his music is what gives “Come Here Baby” the authenticity jazz and country music-lovers live for.

Love & loss are common themes for artists, but Sereny takes it one step further. His ability to meld genres of jazz, soul, and country with lyrics that sound like private thoughts are what fans love about him. In a world of manufactured music, Sereny still has his personal touch. This is why fans have stuck by him through 11+ years of high anticipation for his new album.

Some say hip-hop rules the world, but Sereny is a jazz force to reckon with. The jazz renaissance is here and Sereny is ready to lead the way. Stay up to date with all the news this album is sure to generate at: www.DaveSereny.com.

 

New Music: Jon Batiste - Anatomy of Angels: Live at the Village Vanguard; Deva Mahal – Your Only One; Mark Guiliana – Beat Music! Beat Music! Beat Music!

Jon Batiste - Anatomy of Angels: Live at the Village Vanguard

In the fall of 2018, pianist and bandleader Jon Batiste played a six-night residency at the historic Village Vanguard in downtown New York City. On August 2, Batiste will release selections from those nights entitled Anatomy of Angels: Live at the Village Vanguard via Verve Records. The selection of songs for Anatomy of Angels is made up mostly of Batiste's own compositions, which range from bluesy ("Dusk Train To Doha") to Coltrane-esque (the titular track "Anatomy of Angels" and "Creative"). In addition to his own works, Rachael Price from Lake Street Dive joins him for Ray Noble's "The Very Thought Of You". In tribute to his idol, Batiste also performs his own arrangement of Thelonious Monk's, "Round Midnight". Batiste says of this recording, “The music on this release is all live, no edits or retakes. It’s a snapshot of live art. I composed and arranged these songs as vehicles for exploration, to be dissected and put back together, live in action, never to be played the same way twice”.

Deva Mahal – Your Only One

Deva Mahal teams up with Son Little, one of the leaders of the modern soul revival, on two new singles. Together, they crafted two singles that show two sides of Deva's artistry: Goddamn, a gritty mix of soul, blues and rock - a natural intersection of Deva and Son Little’s musical currents - which finds Deva fully embracing her femininity and sexuality as an empowered woman in a playful yet heated tête-à-tête with Son Little; and Your Only One, a heartbreaking, entrancing and intimate ballad of longing for something that might never be. "With a roots vibe and infectious hook, [“Goddamn” is] a song designed to hit all the sweet spots for human ears.” – AFROPUNK

Mark Guiliana – Beat Music! Beat Music! Beat Music!

Mark Guiliana is a drummer renowned for his chameleon-like ways with pulse — whether he's leading his acoustic jazz quartet, playing in a duo with Brad Mehldau or providing the backbeat behind David Bowie's final album, Blackstar. Now, Guiliana is in another mutation mode, shifting his focus from acoustic jazz sounds to explore an exciting realm of electro-jazz. - NPR MUSIC. Mark Guiliana has become recognized as one of the world’s leading drummers, admired for his rhythmic sophistication, creative impulse, and individual sound. Driven by his sonic ingenuity and percussive virtuosity, Guiliana makes a much-anticipated return to electronic music with 'BEAT MUSIC! BEAT MUSIC! BEAT MUSIC!'.

New Music: Al Gomez - Groovesville; Candace Bellamy – This Feeling; Too Slow To Disco Neo En France (Compilation)

Al Gomez - Groovesville

Known as one of the most versatile guitarists in Texas, Al Gomez has brought a little of everything – Tejano, country, rock and R&B – into his emergence as a formidable Smooth Jazz artist. Losing his vision in 2016, Al entered a new era in his life and career now more reliant on sound playing than sight playing, he turns adversity into triumph on his perfectly titled new EP Groovesville. With crisp, fluid lines that may remind listeners of Norman Brown or George Benson, he crafts a tight, melodic, light funk mix of cool ballads and moody mid-tempo delights. Complementing the originals are imaginative covers of a Little River Band classic and a beautiful late 70’s Kenny Loggins tune.  ~ www.smoothjazz.com

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

Too Slow To Disco Neo En France (Compilation)

One of the coolest volumes in this always-great series – and one that's a bit different than the rest, and not just because the music is all in French! Previous editions all focused on older music from the glory days of AOR and smooth soul production – but the tracks here are all contemporary, and really show what a fantastic amount of great music has been coming out of the French scene in recent years – music that draws on more than enough 70s and 80s elements to be included in this series, but which also has this very fresh vibe that's completely wonderful – making the compilation the kind of spark that should ignite a whole new fire in your listening landscape. We'll be honest in saying that although we think we pay attention to contemporary French work, most of these tracks were new to us – which is wonderful, and really has us loving tunes that include "L'Amour Tout Nu" by Catastrophe, "J'Essaie" by Ricky Hollywood, "De La Vitesse A L'Ivresse" by Poom, "Feel Better Now" by Jean Tonique, "Aionois" by Bleu Toucan, "Instantane" by Paradis, "La Route De La Trace (Pieuvre rmx)" by Chassol, "Retiens Mon Desire" by Clea Vincent, and "Les Choses Qu'On Ne Peut Dire A Personne (DJ Supermarkt & Jack Tennis romantic slo-disco rmx)" by Bertrand Burgalat. ~ Dusty Groove

New Music: Shafiq Husayn - Loop; Evan Parker & Kinetics - Chiasm; Under The Influence Vol 7 – A Collection Of Rare Soul & Disco Compiled By Winston

Shafiq Husayn - Loop

It's been many years since Sa-Ra have expanded our minds with their revolutionary blend of hop hop and soul – but fortunately, Shafiq Husayn has carried on the group's legacy – and has reached an even higher plane with music like this! Husayn brings all the fantastic production skills to the album that made Sa-Ra great, but also really opens the door to a much more cosmic soul style of presentation – one that creates a sonic universe that's all his own, but which is big enough to allow for some really great guest work from a lineup that includes Erykah Badu, Hiatus Kaiyote, Anderson.Paak, Robert Glasper, Bilal, Thundercat, and Flying Lotus! Unlike other many-guest records, which sometimes get tipped between the talents from track to track, this album's got a rock-solid core in Shafiq's music – which really unifies the efforts of everyone, and makes the whole thing feel like a wonderfully collaborative effort. Titles include "Message In A Bottle", "Twelve", "Picking Flowers", "May I Assume", "DMT", "Between Us 2", "Cycles", "Hours Away", "Walking Round Town", "On Our Way Home", and "Show Me How You Feel". ~ Dusty Groove

Evan Parker & Kinetics - Chiasm

Saxophonist Evan Parker has always been a wonderfully collaborative talent – fantastic on his own, but also very able to improvise at a fantastic level within any sort of group – so that he never dominates, and instead only seems to act as a force that seems to bring out the best in all around him! That's definitely the case here – in a set of improvisations recorded in London and Copenhagen, with a trio that features Jacob Anderskov on piano, Adam Pultz Melbye on bass, and Anders Vestergaard on drums – all younger musicians that, we think, are new to our ears – but who hit a level of spontaneous creation that's really wonderful alongside Parker's tenor. The set features four long tracks, two from each city. ~ Dusty Groove

Under The Influence Vol 7 – A Collection Of Rare Soul & Disco Compiled By Winston

A great entry in this really fantastic series – one that's turned us on to more rare club cuts than we can count over the years – and which still stands head and shoulders above most other collections of vintage dancefloor grooves! The tracks here are all hand-picked by Winston – and seem even rarer and more obscure than the previous volumes – not that quality is sacrificed for the sake of rarity, just that the tracks are amazingly fresh discoveries even for ears like ours – which have been well-trained on decades of collecting underground soul and disco! Most of these cuts offer up a nice sideways take on popular modes of the time – grooves that can be grittier or more offbeat, but in a really great way – and the 2CD version features 22 titles that include "Dancing" by Mary Gold, "Let's Do It Together" by The GTs, "Do You Like It" by The Olympics, "Can't Stop Dancin" by Jonnie Vibes Lambert, "We Are Steady Rockin" by Al Man Muntzie & The Embraceables, "More People Than Me" by Synergy with Donnell Pitman, "Sugar Daddy (parts 1 & 2)" by Betty Padgett, "I'm Human" by Lord Of Storm, "If There Is No Struggle (long version)" by Are & Be, "Get Up & Dance Now" by Bramsam, and "Build Your Foundation" by Bollyn Thompson. ~ Dusty Groove

New Music Releases: Al Foster - Inspirations & Dedications; Aldorande - Aldorande; Ryan Keberle & Catharsis - The Hope I Hold

Al Foster - Inspirations & Dedications

A great little session from drummer Al Foster – a musician who's name doesn't always show up on records as a leader, but which always gets our attention when it does! And this time around, Foster definitely lives up to that attention – as he delivers a set that's crackling with tight, unusual rhythms – very much the sort that made him a player to watch right from the start, and which makes his role as a leader so compelling – especially when matched here by top-shelf work from Jeremy Pelt on trumpet, Dayna Stephens on tenor, Adam Birnbaum on piano, and Doug Weiss on bass! Pelt and Stephens really bring out some unusual moments here – given great rhythmic inspiration by Al, who also contributed a number of wonderful tunes to the set too – sometimes short, sometimes long – really with a sense of variety that really matches his energy on the drums. Tracks include "Douglas", "Brandyn", "Our Son", "Song For Monique", "Jazzon", "Bonnie Rose", "Jean-Pierre", "Samba De Michelle", and "Simone's Dance".  ~ Dusty Groove

Aldorande - Aldorande

A jazz funk killer from Aldorande – a French quartet that features some mighty nice keyboards from Florian Pellissier, who we also really love on his own recordings too! The style here is different than those, though – very tight rhythms with a slightly cosmic core – almost jazz funk taking things back from the broken beat generation, finding a way to move with energy learned from that scene, but in a style that's more cohesively funky – classic and contemporary at the same time! The group get a bit of help from added horns at points, and there's also a bit of vocals on the set too – but the main energy comes from the fantastic mix of keyboards and rhythms at the core. Titles include "Praia Do Destino", "Rayon Vert", "Because Of You", "La Fin Est Un Commencement", "Beauty Island", and "Sous La Lune". ~ Dusty Groove

Ryan Keberle & Catharsis - The Hope I Hold

Very far-reaching music from Ryan Keberle – sounds that feel as if they're coming from a group that's much larger than a quintet – given all the many musical elements and inflections in the mix! The album's initial inspiration comes from a Langston Hughes poem entitled "Let America Be America Again" – and there's definitely a spirit of change throughout, and a positive one at that – flowing from the leader's shifting work on trombone, Fender Rhodes, piano, and keyboards – and given a fuller vision with the tenor of Scott Robinson, bass of Jorge Roeder, and drums of Eric Doob – all of whom come into really wonderful focus when Camila Meza makes her appearance on vocals. Meza also plays guitar, with a wonderful sense of color – and titles include "Tangled In The Ancient Endless Chain", "Campinas", "Become The Water", "Peering", "para Volar", "Zamba De Lozano", and "Despite The Dream". ~ Dusty Groove

New Music Releases: Carlton Jumel Smith - 1634 Lexington Avenue; Greg Foat - Mage; Scone Cash Players - As The Screw Turns

Carlton Jumel Smith - 1634 Lexington Avenue

The long-overdue debut of Carlton Jumel Smith – a soul singer with roots at the Harlem address listed in the title, and who's slowly been working his way around the globe in recent years! Those global travels are key to the success of this set – as Smith works very tightly in Finland's Timmion studios with Cold Diamond & Mink – who bring to his music what the Dap-Tones or El Michels have brought to other singers in the deep funk spectrum! Yet the sound here is definitely different than those efforts, too – as Smith is a soul stylist with a nicely open range – able to hit some late 60s sweet soul moments at times, then going for deeper, more righteous sounds at others – all of which really fit the instrumental range of CD&M, who get a bit of help on horn arrangements from Jukka Eskola, in addition to their usual tight sound at the core. Titles include "Love Our Love Affair", "I'd Better", "You Gonna Need Me", "Help Me", "Woman You Made Me", "We're All We Got", and "I Can't Love You Anymore". ~ Dusty Groove

Greg Foat - Mage

Maybe the most amazing work we've heard so far from Greg Foat – and that's really saying a lot, as the British keyboardist has given us some really incredible records over the years! The work's got a more ambitious vibe than some of Greg's straighter jazz sets – with large arrangements that also bring in voices at times – used in a really haunting way that's part late 60s Chess/Cadet Records, part acid folk – even though the instrumentation is mostly jazz overall! The core group also features this great mix of older British jazz giants and contemporary musicians – the legendary Ray Russell on guitar, with Duncan Lamont on tenor, Art Themen on soprano and tenor, Nat Steele on vibes, Warren Hampshire (of Hampshire & Foat) on guitar and percussion, and Moses Boyd, Clark Tracey, and Malcolm Catto on drums! Lamont is especially great – with these old school tenor solos that bring a strong current of soul to the more complex arrangements – and Foat himself plays piano, keyboards, and harmonium. Titles include versions of Tim Buckley's "Driftin" and Piero Piccioni's "Endless Love" – plus originals "The Mage", "The High Priestess", "Incantation", and "The Magic Radish". ~ Dusty Groove

Scone Cash Players - As The Screw Turns

The Scone Cash Players have a name that's a but unusual, but a sound that's right on the money – thanks to some massive Hammond work from leader Adam Scone, and lots of tight saxophone lines from Ian Hendrickson-Smith – who you'll remember from his work in the Dap-Kings! The groove here is nice and gritty – a bit messier and muddier than Daptone, but definitely in a stretch of the funky universe – and although the group jam instrumentally on a number of tracks, they also get a bit of vocal help along the way – from Naomi Shelton, Jason Joshua, and John Dokes. Titles include "As The Screw Turns", "Bokum Hi", "Dr Red Teeth", "Canned Champagne", "Smoke & Nails", "The Crown Divide", and "Brass Tacks". ~ Dusty Groove

New Music Releases: Elvin Jones - Merry Go Round; Three Sounds - Vibrations; Gabriele Mitelli & Rob Mazurek - Star Splitter

Elvin Jones - Merry Go Round

A gem of an Elvin Jones session – quite different than most of his other work from the time! The album's got Elvin working with a larger group of mixed electric and acoustic players – with Chick Corea on piano and electric piano, Yoshiaki Masuo on guitar, Gene Perla on electric and acoustic bass, Dave Liebman and Joe Farrell on saxes, Steve Grossman on tenor, Don Alias on conga, and Pepper Adams on baritone sax. The tracks are shorter and gentler than some of Jones' other full-on work from the time – with some great light rhythms, sweet melodies, and a slight bit of funk mixed into the grooves. All in all, the album's a wonderful batch of tunes – really memorable, with plenty of great moments that we might have missed otherwise! Titles include "Who's Afraid", "La Fiesta", "A Time For Love", "Lungs", and "Brite Piece". ~ Dusty Groove

Three Sounds - Vibrations

A pivotal album from the Three Sounds – one that has the group moving past the straighter trio format of their initial Blue Note sides, really hinting at the funkier sounds to come on their classic albums of the late 60s! Gene Harris is definitely taking a page from the Ramsey Lewis bag at times – playing the piano with a wonderfully heavy left hand, which makes for a killer groove, and a feel that's a lot more soul jazz than usual. Plus, a few tracks also feature Harris working on organ – which really changes up the sound nicely too, and almost puts the album somewhere in the territory that Cadet and Prestige Records were hitting at the time! Titles include "Fever", "Pavane", "Charade", "Let's Go Get Stoned", and "Something You Got", plus a nice original called "The Frown". ~ Dusty Groove

Gabriele Mitelli & Rob Mazurek - Star Splitter

Some of the darkest sounds in years from the great Rob Mazurek – a musician who's matched perfectly on every front by Gabriele Mitelli – who does everything that Rob does on the record, and also throws in a bit of soprano sax as well! The music is all improvised, and in that very deep blend of electronic and acoustic elements that Mazurek has explored over the years – with textures so intense, it's often difficult to figure out what's coming from where – as Rob blows piccolo trumpet, Mitelli blows cornet, and both artists served up a wealth of sounds on electronics, voice, and other objects too. Titles include "Venus", "Mercury", "Mars", and "Uranus". ~ Dusty Groove

New Music Releases: Mike LeDonne / Christian McBride / Lewis Nash - Partners In Time; Van McCoy - This Is It! More From The Van McCoy Songbook 1962 to 1977; Ashley Henry - Ashley Henry's 5ive

Mike LeDonne / Christian McBride / Lewis Nash - Partners In Time

Mike LeDonne is on piano this time around – not his more-familiar Hammond organ – and he's working in a really fantastic trio with Christian McBride on bass and Lewis Nash on drums! Both players have made lots of wonderful records over the years, but there's something really special about this one – as if LeDonne's bold approach to the piano seems to unlock even more energy in their rhythms – maybe in part because Mike's always partially tuned to the needs of a bassist, which he sometimes handles with his feet on the pedals of the Hammond. Obviously, that's not the case this time around – but he does often play in these bold, blocky ways that are perfect for Nash and McBride to augment – on titles that include "Saud", "Lined With A Groove", "Recovery Blues", "Here's That Rainy Day", "NPS", and "Bopsolete". ~ Dusty Groove

Van McCoy - This Is It! More From The Van McCoy Songbook 1962 to 1977 (Various Artists)

If you only know Van McCoy from his big disco hit of the 70s, then you've got plenty to learn – because the man was very active in soul music during the decade before – a great singer, and a hugely productive songwriter whose tunes provided material for many other big names of his time! Van's tunes often have a great mix of soul and sophistication – a classy approach that's sometimes dubbed uptown soul, and which balances deeply heartfelt vocals with stepping grooves and just the right subtle use of larger backings – all in a way that perfectly enhances the special qualities of the lyrics. That approach is used often here, amidst a few other cuts that echo northern or deep soul modes – all brought together with the usual fantastic Ace Records notes, packaging, and sound quality. Titles include "Hard Way To Go" by The Exciters, "You're Gonna Make Me Love You" by Sandi Sheldon, "Lost & Found" by Kenny Carlton, "If I Don't Love You" by The Choice Four, "Mister DJ" by Francine Barker, "Touch My Heart" by The Vonnettes, "Just In The Nick Of Time" by Toni Lamarr, "Abracadabra" by Erma Franklin, "Baby I Miss You" by The Spellbinders, "I Wanna Love You So Bad" by Bobby Reed, "The Sweetest Thing This Side Of Heaven" by Chris Bartley, "This Is It" by Melba Moore, "Baby Don't Change Your Mind" by Gladys Knight & The Pips, "Memories & Souvenirs" by Laura Greene, and "Show A Little Appreciation" by The Ad Libs. ~ Dusty Groove

Ashley Henry - Ashley Henry's 5ive

This might be the first we've ever heard from pianist Ashley Henry – but given the quality of the set, we imagine that we might be listening to his music for many years to come! Henry's got this wonderful conception of rhythm – as if he's sometimes racing ahead of the bass and drums, and grabbing up all these handfuls of notes – scattering them quickly in these broad waves of soulful colors, while the bass of Sam Vicary and drums of Sam Gardner swing in and keep things moving forward! There's a sense of freshness to this album that reminds us of the time we first heard the music of Robert Glasper many years back – even though Henry is a completely different stylist – as you'll hear on titles that include "Deja Vu", "Altruism", "Deimos", "St Anne's", and "Monk's Dream". ~ Dusty Groove