Sarah McKenzie releases "Secrets Of My Heart"

After the great success of Sarah McKenzie's 2017 disc, Paris in the Rain (Impulse! Records), the 31-year-old pianist, singer, and composer returns with the poignant, Secrets of My Heart. The former disc opened more opportunities for her to perform around the world in such far away places as Brazil, Korea, Japan, and also established her in the United States. Its title song became one of her signature tunes and is one of the highlights of her live shows.

"Traveling was something that I really had to adjust to," McKenzie says. "In the beginning, it is very exciting. I often describe it as going into a magical world; it's stepping off reality and going into this world that's so unreal. Then you come home, and all of that activity stops. It's been a world of extremes."

While embarking on her music career, being so far away from her family in Australia tore her. Sometimes, she contemplated abandoning music for the security of being with her family. "I went through a big coming-of-age process because I had to really decide how much I love this dream versus how much I love being with my family," she explains. "How much am I prepared to sacrifice for my dream as a professional musician? And is it OK to follow that dream?  And is this constant traveling the dream itself? I had some poignant questions to ask myself since the release of Paris in the Rain. And that process resulted in Secrets of My Heart."

For Secrets of My Heart, she reunites with noted Australian composer, arranger, and events music director, Chong Lim, who produced her first two discs – Don't Tempt Me and Close Your Eyes. "He's the guy who introduced me to Wayne Shorter's Native Dancer and Antonio Carlos Jobim's Stone Flower. We always had a great connection; he knows me inside and out," she says.

Recorded in New York City, Secrets of My Heart exudes cosmopolitan flair with its lineup that includes French bassist Pierre Boussaguet and Brazilian percussionist Rogerio Bocattoalongside guitarist Dan Wilson, drummer Donald Edwards, vibraphonist Warren Wolf,tenor saxophonist Troy Roberts, and cellist Jody Redhage Ferber(all of whom based in the United States).

Secrets of My Heart documents McKenzie's burgeoning brilliance interpreting 20th-century jazz standards with her penchant for crafting sterling compositions that will surely become jazz standards in the 21stcentury.

McKenzie penned the lion's share of Secrets of My Heart's 12 songs. The titled track deftly articulates emotional reticence while being pulled in multiple directions with regards one's passion. Amid a lithe bossanova rhythm and orchestral accompaniment, McKenzie sings such poetic verses as "Kept in a box/Locked in a darken room/Buried beneath the places where roses bloom/Sinking so slowly/Drifting apart/Just like the secrets in my heart/Swept by the wind/Lost in the black of night/Hidden behind the sun/Denied the light/Alone in the world without a guide or chart/Just like the secrets of my heart."

While she acknowledges the blue corridors of some of her lyrics, McKenzie tries to counter them with glimpses of hope. "With a lot of my songs, for some reason, I can go negative, but I always need to end them with something positive," she explains. "I don't want my songs to get too dark. In general, I think I'm an optimist. Everyone is struggling with something. And definitely in this last period, I've struggled more than I'd usually have. But you got to have positivity."

Indeed, the fetching original "I Fell in Love with You," prances to an upbeat swing momentum as she conveys the seemingly inconsequential moments that occur when you fall in love with someone; the song also highlights McKenzie's succinct yet masterful piano improvisations and Wilson's beguiling guitar aside. He also accompanies McKenzie magnificently on the guitar/vocal duo "My True Love Is You," a pensive original ballad, one of two on the album. McKenzie channels the elegiac wonder of Cole Porter on her ebullient mid-tempo ballad "You and the Music," an original, which she cites as the album's anthem. On the whimsical, blues-drenched "It's All About Love," McKenzie celebrates her love for jazz by challenging herself to write eloquent vocalese lyrics inside Charlie Parker-esque bebop lines.

"I love writing lyrics. I think I'm very specific with my lyrics. I like Johnny Mercer, Sammy Kahn, Irving Berlin, and Cole Porter," says McKenzie before explaining that she now begins with the melody when composing. "Initially, I wrote songs together – the lyrics and melody. But when I pulled them apart, I realisedthat my melodies weren't as strong as I thought they were in my head. I think for me, I always want to have a flow with the words or something witty; and I know how it should sound."

McKenzie's favourite song on Secrets of My Heart is "TillThe End of Time," one of the two originals that explicitly betray her love for Brazilian music. She wrote the song during a stint in Rio de Janeiro, where she collaborated with musicians who played with one of her heroes – Antonio Carlos Jobim. The other strongly Brazilian-inflected original is the bossa nova, "DeNada" (also written in Brazil), which contains carefree lyrics and a sauntering piano solo from McKenzie.

Even though McKenzie hailed from Melbourne and studied at Boston's Berklee College of Musicon a full scholarship, she started her career in Europe, first living in Paris,then London. And while she's absorbed great harmonic and lyric-writing knowledge from the Great American Songbook, she says that Secrets of My Heart reveals her time spent in Europe, especially from a harmonic standpoint. Her residency in Europe also afforded her the opportunity to sit around the piano with the iconic composer and arranger Michel Legrand. "His style differsfrom the classic American Songbook standards," McKenzie says. "Michel is a little bit more lyrical and French; his music is a little bit more Debussy or Ravel-influenced thanthe classic American Songbook standards. To have been able to spend time with him at the piano was one of the highlights of the year."

McKenzie's mesmerisingreading of "You Must Believe in Spring" best exposes her time with Legrand on Secrets of My Heart. Her solo performance of just vocal and piano accentuates Legrand's pensive yet hopeful lyrics as well as his impressionistic harmonic language.

Secrets of My Heart opens with McKenzie's transfixing rendition of John Barry and Leslie Bricusse's "You Only Live Twice," which showcases McKenzie's comely piano soloing as much as it does her alluring singing.  She also delivers an exquisite makeover of Stanley Styne and Donald Kahn's classic "A Beautiful Friendship" and a gutbucket take on Dinah Washington's "Come on Home."

She concludes Secrets of My Heart with a tour-de-force homage to another hero, George Gershwin with "The Gershwin Medley" an instrumental on which she plays snippets of "Rhapsody in Blue," "Summertime," "The Man I Love" and "I Got Rhythm."

"Ultimately, this album is about me embracing the unknown and going with love," McKenzie explains. "I'm so lucky to be able to play my music for a living."

Guitar Shorty - "Trying To Find My Way Back" is out and trending

At 84, Guitar Shorty is moving his music into the future with “Trying To Find My Way Back” an album that is at turns funky, gritty, modern and soulfully poignant.

This new record is produced by Jerry Williams Jr., AKA Swamp Dogg who was recently featured in Rolling Stone for his Bon Iver helmed, album 'Love, Loss, and Auto-Tune' that featured Guitar Shorty. Kindred spirit Larry “MoogStar” Clemon, from the legendary funk group Cameo was brought into the mix and a holy alliance was formed. Featuring 16 original tunes penned by Shorty, Swamp Dogg, and MoogStar. The resulting sound is like no other Guitar Shorty album up to this point. Exclusive downloads available below. 

6 things you want to know about Guitar Shorty:

Inspired by Guitar Slim, David Kearney honed his style in the Tampa Bay area at age of 16, where he earned the nickname “Guitar Shorty”, as the featured guitarist in The Walter Johnson band.

Guitar Shorty recorded his first single in 1957 (“You Don't Treat Me Right”), for the legendary Cobra label at the behest of blues legend Willie Dixon after Dixon caught his act.

In addition to his residency at the famed Dew Drop Inn with his own band, Shorty, has played alongside Sam Cooke Ray Charles T-Bone Walker, Big Joe Turner and Little Richard just to name a few.

Legend has it that the young Jimi Hendrix was so enamored with Shorty's playing, that he often went AWOL from his army base to catch him perform. Shorty let Hendrix borrow one of his wah-wah pedals and the rest is, as they say, history.

During his first tour of the UK in 1991 he recorded the album “My Way, Or The Highway” which won him the prestigious W.C. Handy award (A Grammy Award).

His 2 highest charting albums, are 2004's “Watch Your Back” and his 2006 album “We the People.” Both charted on the Billboard Top Blues Albums at eleven and twelve, respectively.

New Releases: Matt Brewer - Ganymede; Edu Lobo, Romero Lubambo, & Mauro Senise - Quase Memoria; Gabriele Mitelli & Rob Mazurek - Star Splitter

Matt Brewer - Ganymede

An album of brooding intensity from bassist Matt Brewer – a trio date that takes very special advantage of the tenor saxophone voice of Mark Shim! Shim's very much at home here – blowing these long, complex solos that have that sort of deep burning quality of his early work as a leader – free, but not in a free jazz sort of way – really covering a lot of space, in ways that are almost circular at times – as if he's slowly trying to plot out a new universe in jazz! Drummer Damon Reid matches the intensity of Shim in a great way – so much so that we're almost tempted to say that Brewer is the quietest partner on the date – save for the fact that his deep tones on bass have this low rumble that really sets the tone for the moodiness of the tenor. Titles include "Triton", "Ganymede", "Don't Wake The Violent Baby", "Afro Centric", "IO", "Psalm", and "Willisee". ~ Dusty Groove

Edu Lobo, Romero Lubambo, & Mauro Senise - Quase Memoria

A beautiful meeting these thoughtful Brazilian creative talents – in a mode that provide a perfect backdrop for the vocals of the great Edu Lobo! Lobo's been a sophisticated force from the 60s bossa years onwards – and in recent years, he's gotten even more subtle and personal in his approach – in a way that really comes through here, with his well-phrased original lyrics set up in light instrumental settings that feature the guitar of Romero Lubambo and flute and saxes of Mauro Senise – with occasional guest work from Cristovao Bastos on piano, Kiko Horta on accordion, and Anat Cohen on clarinet. The tunes have all the charms of Lobo's lofty work from the 70s, but in a very different way – and titles include "Rosinha", "Labia", "As Mesmas Historias", "Terro Do Nunca", "Peregrina", "Senhora Do Rio", and "Quase Memoria". ~ 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 Releases: Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble - Where Future Unfolds; Marlene Rosenberg - MLK Convergence; Candace Woodson – Desire

Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble - Where Future Unfolds

An amazing record from Chicago musician/artist Damon Locks – maybe the album he's been waiting his entire life to make – and the first to really bring together the mighty sum of his many talents! The material was recorded live in performance at Chicago's Garfield Park Conservatory – at an event that also included a group of singers and dancers to augment the musical performance – in a setting that gives Damon's majestic vision the proper setting it really deserves! Locks himself moves between electronics and vocal performances – in a core instrumental group that's heavy on drums and percussion from Dana Hall, clarinets from Angel Bat Dawid, and more percussion from Arif Smith – making music that's even more beautiful when the singers come into the mix, and take the energy to the sky with a very cosmic, righteous vibe. Locks has given us a glimpse of his vision in artwork, music, and writings over the years – but this time around, it feels like we're seeing the full scope at once – with more power and meaning than ever before. Titles include "Solar Power", "Rebuild A Nation", "Which I Believe It Will", "The Colors That You Bring", "The Future", "From A Spark To A Fire", "Black Monument Theme", and "Sounds Like Now". ~ Dusty Groove

Marlene Rosenberg - MLK Convergence

Bassist Marlene Rosenberg leads a hell of a trio here – one that features Kenny Barron on piano and Lewis Nash on drums – both tremendous players who sound even better in the round, rich company of Rosenberg's bass! Most titles are trio numbers, but driven as much by the bass as by the always-wonderful work of Barron – and the tunes include many originals by Marlene – instrumentals, but with a current of the more righteous energy promised by the title. One exception is the great "Not The Song I Wanna Sing" – a number that has Rosenberg on vocals while Christian McBride handles the bass – alongside other vocal contributions from Thomas Burrell and Robert Irving III – which help make the song the most political number on the set. Titles include "The Line Between", "American Violet", "Togetherness", "And Still we Rise", "Visions", "The Barron", "Rain", "Love's In Need Of Love Today", and "Not The Song I Wanna Sing".  ~ Dusty Groove

Candace Woodson – Desire

Twenty-eight days after her 2014 breast cancer surgery, Candace Woodson was back to business as usual performing at the wedding of one of John “Cougar” Mellencamp’s daughters. This is a testament to Candace Woodson’s lifelong passion for performing and a talent for resilience she calls “stick to it-ness”. A survivor since 2014, she wrote the UK Soul Chart hit “Free,” a funky old school dance anthem that conveys hope and positivity in the wake of adversity. This is a message she conveys stemming from her own experience and feeling after receiving her last cancer treatment at the Medical University of South Carolina. This success laid the foundation for a handful of other chart topping singles, including “The Answer Is No”, a defiant female empowerment ballad produced by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Tom Glide. “The Answer Is No” hit #1 on the UK Soul Chart Top 30 and has continued to receive airplay on Smooth Jazz Radio. Woodson received Billboard’s “Most Added” designation and a Best International Artist nominee. Her highly anticipated full-length debut album “Desire” includes her UK hits as well as new tracks produced by hit smooth jazz guitarist/producer Nils and Lew Laing (Paul Brown, Richard Elliot, Stephanie K) and others helmed by the singer herself.

New Releases: Lonnie Smith – Think!; Roy Budd – Get Carter; Kaina – Next To The Sun

Lonnie Smith – Think!

A seminal album from Hammond giant Lonnie Smith – a bold statement that really gives the organist his own identity after some killer work in the combos of Lou Donaldson and George Benson! Lonnie's one of the key flag-fliers of the new style of funky organ jazz – a mode different from the earlier styles of Jimmy Smith or Jimmy McGriff – leaner, cleaner, and often tied heavily to the drums – which, in this case, are handled by Marion Booker Jr, but in a way that recalls some of the Idris Muhammad greatness on other Blue Note albums of the time. The mighty Pucho (of Latin Soul Brothers fame) plays added timbales, and there's also two more conga players – ensuring a tight, yet complex sort of groove – and the frontline features Lee Morgan on trumpet, David Newman on tenor and flute, and Melvin Sparks on guitar. Tracks are long, with complicated rhythms – and soulful yet sophisticated solos to match – and titles include the seminal "Son Of Ice Bag", a great cover of "Think", and the tracks "Slouchin", "Call Of The Wild", and "Three Blind Mice". ~ Dusty Groove

Roy Budd – Get Carter

Maybe the greatest moment ever from Brit soundtrack genius Roy Budd – an artist who started with his roots in jazz piano, but who really explodes here in a range of groovy styles! The main title is an incredible blend of Eastern percussion and moody jazz – and other cuts bring in some trippier elements, mixed with funkier bits and warmer moments – all at a level that have Budd even outdoing the best late 60s work by Lalo Schifrin! The keyboards are often at the forefront – either acoustic or electric – and the album's got so many groovy grooves, with such variety, it's got a feel that's much richer than the usual soundtrack set. Titles include "Love Is A Four Letter Word", "Carter Takes A Train", "Looking For Someone", "The Girl In The Car", "Livin Should Be This Way", "Manhunt", "Goodbye Carter", and "Hallucinations". This fantastic 3CD set is overflowing with greatness! First, the whole thing comes in a heavy book-style cover – with dozens of pages of notes, photos, and images from the film – and CD2 features 18 more rare mixes of songs from the film – a great addition to the 22 tracks on CD1 – making for a whopping 40 tracks in all. CD3 features 19 more Roy Budd grooves, mostly from soundtracks – songs that include "Mr Funker", "Diamond Fortress", "No Cooperation", "Cassette Jazz", "How Can We Run Away", "Fear Is The Key", "Who Needs Love Anyway", "Versailles Exit", and "Jazz It Up". ~ Dusty Groove

Kaina – Next To The Sun

A soaring effort from Kaina – one we're sure to remember as a major creative statement from a versatile singer and as a vital snapshot of a burgeoning era in Chicago's indie soul scene! Kaina's triumph here is the way she sets up a dreamy mood that holds throughout the album – wherein her layered vocals carry it along as if on a wave – then takes it to an even deeper level thanks to her soulful lyricism. She's got a good creative partner in Sen Morimoto, whose roots in genre defiant jazzy hip hop production are used to such hypnotic effect behind Kaina's beautiful voice. Next To The Sun coming out so soon after similarly fresh and inspired material from fellow Chi voices like Jamila Woods, it feels like the dawn of an era! Includes "House", "Ghost", "Next To The Sun", "What's A Girl", "Waiting On A Day", "Joei's Secret", "Could Be A Curse" feat Sen Morimoto", "So Small/So Vast" and "Green". ~ Dusty Groove

JAZZ AND ART by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis performing original compositions inspired by modern master artists

In past concerts that have been described by the New York Times as being “soulful,” “evocative,” and “playing directly to the band’s strengths,” the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis performed original compositions inspired by masters of modern art including Romare Bearden, Stuart Davis, Sam Gilliam, Winslow Homer, Wifredo Lam, Norman Lewis and Piet Mondrian. On August 2, 2019, Blue Engine Records will release the studio recordings of these charts on a new album entitled Jazz and Art.

Jazz and Art will be released on all digital platforms on August 2nd, 2019.

GRAMMY Award-winner and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra member Ted Nash says, “Music and paintings share so many characteristics; textures, colors, layers, line, form, shape. No wonder they are such agreeable collaborators. When these two art forms come together, they create a new medium.”

“In February 2010, the audience in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater got to experience that transcendent combination when seven imaginative composers presented new works accompanied by projections of the paintings that inspired their creations.”

Jazz and Art displays impressive musicianship and a range of musical styles, from modern jazz to gospel, American pastoral music, Afro-Cuban, spirituals, New Orleans, Indian chants, avant garde, and beyond. The compositions were inspired by works of art from beloved museums such as The Guggenheim, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art.

TRACK LISTING

1. Stuart Davis for the Masses: The Mellow Pad

For Stuart Davis

Written & Arranged by Doug Wamble

Solo: Vincent Gardner (trombone)

2. Stuart Davis for the Masses: Garage Lights

For Stuart Davis

Written & Arranged by Doug Wamble

Solo: Marcus Printup (trumpet), Sherman Irby (alto saxophone)

3. Stuart Davis for the Masses: New York

For Stuart Davis

Written & Arranged by Doug Wamble

Solo: Dan Nimmer (piano)

4. Blue Twirl

For Sam Gilliam

Written & Arranged by Vincent Gardner

Solo: Wynton Marsalis (trumpet), Ted Nash (alto saxophone), Elliot Mason (trombone)

5. Bearden (The Block)

For Romare Bearden

Written & Arranged by Chris Crenshaw

Solo: Dan Nimmer (piano), Victor Goines (tenor saxophone)

6. Air, Earth, Fire, Water (Orisha Medley)

For Wifredo Lam

Written & Arranged by Papo Vasquez

Solo: Papo Vazquez (trombone), Wynton Marsalis (trumpet)

7. Winslow Homer: Homer’s Waltz

For Winslow Homer

Written by Bill Frisell

Arranged by Andy Farber

Solo: Walter Blanding (tenor saxophone)

8. Winslow Homer: Homer’s Blues

For Winslow Homer

Written by Bill Frisell

Arranged by Andy Farber

Solo: Wynton Marsalis (trumpet), Walter Blanding (tenor saxophone), Dan Nimmer (piano)

9. The Repose in All Things

For Piet Mondrian

Written & Arranged by Tim Armacost

Solo: Sherman Irby (alto saxophone), Ryan Kisor (trumpet)

10. Twilight Sounds

For Norman Lewis

Written & Arranged by Sherman Irby

Solo: Victor Goines (bass clarinet), Wynton Marsalis (trumpet)

Personnel:

THE JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA WITH WYNTON MARSALIS

REEDS

Sherman Irby (alto saxophone, clarinet, and flute)

Ted Nash (alto saxophone, clarinet, and flute)

Victor Goines (tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, and clarinet)

Walter Blanding (tenor saxophone)

Joe Temperley (baritone saxophone, bass clarinet)

TRUMPETS

Ryan Kisor

Marcus Printup

Kenny Rampton

Wynton Marsalis, trumpet and vocals

TROMBONES

Vincent Gardner

Chris Crenshaw

Elliot Mason

RHYTHM SECTION

Dan Nimmer, piano

Carlos Henriquez, bass

Ali Jackson, drums and tambourine

Special Guests:

Papo Vazquez, trombone

Iwao Sado, Batá drums

Xavier Rivera, Batá drums

Anthony Carrillo, Batá drums

 

New Five CD Set Of Art Pepper Sessions Due September 23

Producer John Snyder had always wanted to record alto saxophonist Art Pepper and booked him into a week at the Village Vanguard in New York. At the time, Pepper was under contract to Contemporary Records, whose label head, Les Koenig, decided he would record the gigs, quashing any notion Snyder had of doing the same. However, Art promised Snyder that he’d record an album for Snyder’s label, Artists House, at some point down the road. Together they wound up making four.

Omnivore Recordings will make available for the first time the complete Artists House sessions including 19 previously unissued takes. The original albums drawn from these sessions, So In Love, Artworks, New York Album, and Stardust, have been remastered and expanded with additional takes, some having appeared previously on releases such as The Complete Galaxy Recordings and Artists House—Complete (download only), while some appear here for the first time.

The five-CD set, also available on Digital, will be available September 23, 2019.

“Art Pepper had had a brilliant career as a jazz soloist and band leader until the mid-1950s when he started using heroin,” writes Pepper's widow, Laurie Pepper, who contributed the liner notes for the set. “After that, incarcerations and treatments in prisons and hospitals kept him off the stages and out of the studios. He was only able to record sporadically until he got (relatively) sober in Synanon in 1972, and married — me. Then, in the last ten years of his life, he composed, recorded, and toured more ambitiously than ever before, focused on securing his place among the true jazz greats — where he knew he belonged.”

In addition to her liner notes, Laurie Pepper provided photographs she took at the sessions. Altogether, this is the most comprehensive window onto the Artists House sessions ever likely to be.

Ms. Pepper says, “John and Art both kept their promises. John brought Art into the wider world; he put him on the road. Just as he said he would, he brought him to New York and to the Village Vanguard, got his picture in the papers, got him on the radio. From Art, John got his dearest wish. He made these 32 recordings.”

 

Jazzmeia Horn Releases Second Album "Love And Liberation"

In the two years since Jazzmeia Horn bowed with her first album, the GRAMMY Award®-nominated A Social Call, she’s been busy on the road, honing her vocal skills to a finely tuned level, writing songs of personal relevance and social message, and perfecting a fearless approach to improvisation and performance in general. The convergence of this drive and development has resulted in what is sure to be hailed as one of the most courageous recordings of 2019—Love and Liberation—filled with songs of daring musicality, emotional power, and messages of immediate relevancy. 

Horn chose the title she did for her second album because, “Love and Liberation is a concept and mantra that I use consistently in my everyday life. For me the two go hand in hand and they both describe where I am in my life and career right now. An act of love is an act of liberation, and choosing to liberate—oneself or another—is an act of love.” 

Love and Liberation, scheduled for release on August 23, 2019 via Concord Jazz, marks a formidable leap forward for Horn as a singer, bandleader and songwriter, the result of an almost non-stop touring schedule that followed the release of her debut album and which benefitted her vocal chops as well as her band sound. “I have evolved,” she says. “It’s like I’m really understanding music in a different way.” 

“Once A Social Call was released in May of 2017, I hit the road and I am still on tour. The album literally came out two years ago. I’m really tired but grateful because I’ve had the opportunity to travel and practice and improvise night after night in a room full of people with some of the best musicians playing today. We’d experiment, using a trumpet player on a song one time and a saxophonist the next, or sometimes just drums and voice in the beginning of a song, trying out different combinations and ideas, challenging ourselves. This was worth more than gold to me—understanding how to utilize my instruments: my voice, my body, the band that I’ve hired.” 

Horn has substantial experience with all the A-list musicians on these tracks: pianists Victor Gould (her regular accompanist) and special guest Sullivan Fortner, tenor saxophonist Stacey Dillard and trumpeter Josh Evans, bassist Ben Williams, and drummer/singer Jamison Ross. Chris Dunn, who produced Horn’s debut disc, is producer on this album as well. 

Eight of the dozen new tracks are original tunes, a point of pride and significance for the 28-year old Horn: “All of these songs are about me and my experiences, but also as part of any young person’s journey. The message they all share is that you just have to learn—about people, about relationships, about business, love, or whatever. They don’t just tell one person’s story, they tell many people’s stories.” 

The songs on Love and Liberation comprise an impressive variety of styles, approaches, and feel—some with full band, some just voice and one instrument, even an a capelladuet—each with a precise message to convey. There are songs that resonate with a powerful sense of African American identity, and others that speak with intention about her stature as a strong, independent woman. Still others deal with matters of love and attraction—with tenderness and humor. 

“Some of these songs are very cute and fun,” Horn admits. “But a lot of them are meditations and have deep meaning that people can listen to, to help free up their minds. People of all creeds and races, and even all generations because there’s a lot of tradition in this music. My godfather gave me the best compliment when I played the album for him. He said, I’m really proud of you because this music sounds like what Ella [Fitzgerald] or Billie [Holiday] or Abbey [Lincoln] or Nina [Simone] would have evolved into.” 

Musically, Horn’s compositions both breathe and bend jazz tradition, with tasteful touches of R&B and hip-hop, revealing a marked inventiveness and a love for a good melodic line. On Love and Liberation one can hear it on the opener “Free Your Mind” (a plea for more human interaction and less focus on digital media) and the coy yet firm “Time” (urging an avid suitor to take a breath and cool his jets), to the upbeat, off-kilter, rhythmic slam of “Out The Window” (warning of the other woman) and the intelligence and nuance of the a capelladuet, “Only You” (weaving the inner words of two lovers as their thoughts connect, diverge and reconnect.) 

Horn is quick to point out that she is constantly writing while on the road, and that many of the originals on Love and Liberation are not exactly new. “We’ve been playing ‘Legs And Arms’ for about a year now, and some, like ‘Searching’ goes back to 2013! We’ve also been doing ‘Green Eyes’ which is by Erykah [Badu] and then a bunch are brand spanking new.” 

The four covers on Love and Liberation are equally impressive, both in which tunes Horn chose to cover and how she approaches them, finding fresh takes on Jon Hendrick’s “No More” (as clear and strong a statement on Horn’s own philosophy of personal empowerment), Badu’s “Green Eyes” (Horn’s interpretation giving it a shot of gravitas with a more spiritual feel), Rachelle Farrell’s “Reflection of My Heart” (a poignant vocal duet with drummer/singer Jamison Ross), and Jimmy Van Heusen/Johnny Mercer’s “I Thought About You” (the sole classic standard of the set.) 

Blessed with a fitting name for her chosen path—it was Horn’s jazz-loving, piano-playing grandmother who chose “Jazzmeia”—the singer was born in Dallas in 1991, grew up in a tightly knit, church-going family filled with musical talent andstarted singing as a toddler. She attended Booker T. Washington High School for Performing and Visual Arts, known for launching such musical greats as Roy Hargrove, Norah Jones, and Erykah Badu. Her education included steering herself to the mentors who would guide her passion for jazz, like Bobby McFerrin, Abbey Lincoln, and Betty Carter. 

In 2009, Horn moved to New York City to enroll in The New School’s jazz and contemporary music program. An intense four years of training and performing followed, when she met many of the musicians who appear on her recordings, including Gould and Dillard. In short order, her talent began to be noticed. In 2013, she entered and won a Newark-based contest named for an initial inspiration—the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Competition. In 2015, she won the Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Competition,the most coveted award a jazz musician can hope to attain. Part of her prize was a contract with Concord, which led to A Social Call and now Love and Liberation.

  

“Honestly, I’m way more excited now about Love and Liberation because this is mostly my original music,” says Horn with palpable giddiness. “Don’t get me wrong, I love A Social Call and all the acclamations were great—the reviews in Downbeat, The New York Times and London Times. But now I’m like, You guys don’t really know what’s coming. Boy, do I have something in store for you!” 

- By Ashley Kahn

 

Grammy-Winning Conguero Poncho Sanchez Pays Tribute To John Coltrane On His Latest Album

On his first new album in seven years, GRAMMY Award-winning conguero Poncho Sanchez celebrates the life and music of the iconic saxophonist John Coltrane. Due out September 20, 2019 via Concord Picante, Trane’s Delight is a love letter from one musical pioneer to another, as the Latin Jazz legend pays homage to one of his earliest and most indelible influences. The joyous album arrives just in time for the late tenor titan’s 93rd birthday on September 23.  Throughout his career Sanchez has held aloft the torch lit by such Latin Jazz innovators as Mongo Santamaria, Tito Puente and Cal Tjader, embraced by each of those icons and entrusted to carry forward the traditions of Latin Jazz. But Sanchez’s influences are numerous, and Coltrane looms large in Sanchez’s pantheon alongside those pioneers. On his latest album Trane’s Delight, Sanchez pays tribute to the late jazz legend with Latin-tinged reimaginings of Coltrane classics as well as new pieces composed in honor of the tenor titan.  “I’ve always loved John Coltrane,” Sanchez says, “ever since I was a kid and first learned about jazz. I’ve recorded tributes to a lot of my heroes in life – Mongo Santamaria, Tito Puente, Cal Tjader – so I thought it was definitely time to do a tribute to the great John Coltrane.”
 Trane’s Delight also continues Sanchez’s remarkable 37-year relationship with Concord, a rich legacy that has now yielded 27 albums. The album features the conguero’s longtime band, featuring trombonist and musical director Francisco Torres, trumpet and flugelhorn master Ron Blake, saxophonist Robert Hardt, pianist Andy Langham, bassists Rene Camacho and Ross Schodek, and percussionists Joey DeLeon and Giancarlo Anderson.  The 11-track album features three classic Coltrane compositions and a pair of new compositions written in honor of the sax master, alongside a host of original pieces and classic favorites chosen to represent Sanchez’s wide spectrum of influences. At its heart, though, Trane’s Delight provides a direct link from the 67-year old conguero to his 11-year old self, staring in the window of his local record store at the entrancing, blue-tinged cover of the 1962 album Coltrane.  “I had eyeballed this record for about a month, looking at it with not enough money to buy it,” Sanchez recalls. “I played a couple little gigs around town and saved up the money, so it was the first album I ever bought by myself. I used to have a little space in my mother’s garage with my record player and my drums and congas. I put that record on, and that first track, ‘Out of This World,’ kicked in and I was blown away. I listened to that record daily for years.”

The wonder with which Sanchez first heard Coltrane’s singular voice is still present more than a half-century later in his vibrant reimagining of the saxophonist’s compositions. Trane’s Delight features a buoyant Latin spin on “Liberia,” from 1964’s Coltrane’s Sound; the classic “Blue Train” rendered as a cha-cha-chá; and a rumba twist on the immortal “Giant Steps,” that perennial proving ground for jazz musicians, its challenge not only embraced by Sanchez’s virtuosic collaborators but taken at a breakneck pace that leaves no room for trepidation.  In collaboration with Torres, Sanchez also penned two brand-new pieces inspired by Coltrane. The bustling title tune is a lively encapsulation of the saxophonist’s adventurous spirit, highlighted by DeLeon’s rollicking timbale solo. “Yam’mote,” meanwhile, coins a new hybrid term combining two cultures’ words for the same food: yams and camote. The music, as warm as the comfort food that it references, was inspired by another of the young Sanchez’s brushes with his idol.  “When I was in high school, I would lay in bed listening to Los Angeles’ jazz radio station,” he says. “One night, the DJ announced, ‘Tomorrow I’m going to interview John Coltrane at 11am.’ It was during the week, but I had to hear this interview, so the next day I woke up and started coughingand told my mother that I didn't feel good, so I didn't have to go to school that day. It ended up being a short interview, but the part that stuck with me the most was at the very end. The host asked Trane his favorite food. My ears grew huge and I leaned in to the radio, thinking he’d say BBQ ribs or fried chicken or something, but he said sweet potato pie.”  Dumbstruck, Sanchez asked his mother if she knew how to make sweet potato pie. Instead, she offered to make the candied camotesthat is a favorite dish in Mexico and across Central America. “I ate that camote every day for like two weeks because I loved John Coltrane,” Sanchez laughs. “I just thank God that he didn't say dog food, because I would’ve run out and got some dog food. That’s how much he meant to me.”  As always with Sanchez’s wide-ranging interests, Trane’s Delight casts its sonic net much wider than just Coltrane’s sphere of influence. The blissful Duke Ellington composition “The Feeling of Jazz,” provides a bridge: the lovely, relaxed tune, here featuring eloquent turns by Torres and Camacho, was recorded on 1963’s Duke Ellington & John Coltrane, the sole meeting of the two jazz icons.  Trane’s Delight opens with “Soul Bourgeoisie,” a Hubert Laws composition originally recorded by the Jazz Crusaders on their 1965 album Chile Con Soul. Featuring a soulful Hardt solo, the upbeat tune sets the exuberant tone for the album. The classic bolero “Si Te Dicen” slows things down to an elegant sway, with Sanchez’s heartfelt vocal harkening back to Joe Cuba’s 1966 version featuring singer Cheo Feliciano.  Pianist Andy Langham contributed “Sube” (which translates as “ascend” or “go up”), a bristling 6/8 piece ornamented by the mesmerizing kalimba playing of Cornelius Alfredo Duncan Jr. Sanchez befriended the percussionist more than 40 years ago, and reconnected when he saw a YouTube video of Duncan playing the African thumb piano. He immediately reconnected with his old friend and invited him to join the band for the occasion.  A sequel to the medley of classic tunes that appeared on the conguero’s last release, Live in Hollywood, “Poncho Sanchez Medley #2” combines three old favorites: “Baila Mi Gente,” from 1979’s Poncho, which Sanchez cites as his first original composition; “El Sabrosón,” co-written by Sanchez’s longtime pianist and musical director, the late David Torres; and “El Shing-A-Ling,” a song born from Sanchez’s impromptu singing in a Fayetteville, Arkansas convenience store.  The album closes with “Todo Termino,” a song written by Bobby Manrique and immortalized by another Sanchez idol, the great Puerto Rican singer and bandleader Tito Rodríguez. For the occasion he invited the Los Angeles vocalist Norell Thomson, a standout voice on the city’s salsa scene, to front the ensemble.  Ultimately, Trane’s Delight offers a tribute not only to the stellar music and influence of the great John Coltrane, but a spotlight for the myriad ways that the tenor giant’s explorations have fueled courageous artists like Poncho Sanchez. The results, as on this passionate new album, would no doubt delight Trane’s searching spirit.

Visionary pianist/composer Satoko Fujii and drummer Ramon Lopez release their debut album Confluence

There are times-and they are very rare-when musicians just click instantly. Confluence (available July 26 via Libra Records) captures just such a moment between pianist-composer Satoko Fujii and Spanish drummer Ramon Lopez. Although Lopez and Fujii had known each other for several years, they had only played together once before in a trio. When the opportunity arose for them to record as a duo in New York, they knew they had to seize the chance to make an album. With no advance planning, they simply began to play in the studio and something very special happened.

"This recording was a kind of a miracle for me," Fujii says. "We didn't talk about anything before we played. Ramon is a person with a big and deep heart. When we started recording, something came down to me that I didn't expect. I felt that the room was filled with music and love. It was such a beautiful moment that I ended up playing in a very quiet and peaceful way."

Indeed, Confluence features some of the most delicate and nuanced playing in each of the participant's careers. Fujii opens "Asatsuyu," one of two of her own originals included on the disc, with a solo that emphasizes the graceful freedom and subtly of her line. Lopez enters discretely on brushes, a nonintrusive and supportive presence. The hushed calm of the moment provides ample opportunity to fully appreciate his unique orchestration of the drum kit and the conversational flow of his rhythms.

Their easy rapport continues on "Road Salt." Fujii begins by plucking sounds on the inside of the piano and Lopez matches the metallic ping of the piano wires with gentle swirl of brushes on cymbals. When Fujii proposes a melody from the keyboard, Lopez taps his approval and they start off in a new direction. It's a quietly joyful performance that climaxes in an ecstatic burst of rhythmic energy and is so perfectly structured it's hard to believe it's all improvised.

In fact, attention to structure and detail are hallmarks of the entire album. "Three Days Later," another Fujii original, showcases the growing refinement of Fujii's improvising. She speaks volumes with a mere two chords or a distilled turn of phrase. She's never been more poetic. Lopez finds the perfect sound or gesture to support or embellish the evanescent beauty of her playing. "Tick Down" evolves from soft-focus prepared piano through unsettled melodic pathways to blissful vamps, absorbing different techniques and ideas into a unified whole. A high-pitched, eerily beautiful drone from the piano strings frames "Quiet Shadow," providing a rich backdrop for the subtle sound manipulations of Lopez.

- over -

"Run!" begins and ends with fast, sharply articulated phrases and crashing chords from the piano and a skein of drum rhythms that help define the ebb and surge of the music. Each improvisation on the album feels complete and distinct.

Spanish drummer, percussionist, and composer Ramon Lopez is a master of many styles. Besides his deep involvement in free jazz and improvisation, he studied tabla with Krishna Govinda K.C., and performed with some of the world's leading flamenco artists. His first recording under his name, 11 Drum Songs (Leo Lab), an album of solo percussion, was released in 1997. From 1997 to 2000 he was drummer in the renowned French Orchestre National de Jazz under Didier Levallet. His musical endeavors have always been challenging, from his interpretation of songs from the Spanish Civil War to his duos dedicated to Roland Kirk (2002). The French government named him Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters in 2008. Recently he's had a fruitful association with English bassist Barry Guy, recording a duet with him, and appearing as a regular member of his Blue Shroud orchestra. In addition, he has recorded or performed with Joachim Kuhn, Angelica Sanchez, Agusti Fernandez, Joe Morris, and many others.

Critics and fans alike hail pianist and composer Satoko Fujii as one of the most original voices in jazz today. She's "a virtuoso piano improviser, an original composer and a bandleader who gets the best collaborators to deliver," says John Fordham in The Guardian. In concert and on more than 80 albums as a leader or co-leader, she synthesizes jazz, contemporary classical, avant-rock, and folk musics into an innovative style instantly recognizable as hers alone. A prolific band leader and recording artist, she celebrated her 60th birthday in 2018 by releasing one album a month from bands old and new, from solo to large ensemble. Franz A. Matzner in All About Jazz likened the twelve albums to "an ecosystem of independently thriving organisms linked by the shared soil of Fujii's artistic heritage and shaped by the forces of her creativity."

Over the years, Fujii has led some of the most consistently creative ensembles in modern improvised music, including her trio with bassist Mark Dresser and drummer Jim Black and an electrifying avant-rock quartet featuring drummer Tatsuya Yoshida of The Ruins. Her ongoing duet project with husband Natsuki Tamura released their sixth recording, Kisaragi, in 2017. "The duo's commitment to producing new sounds based on fresh ideas is second only to their musicianship," says Karl Ackermann in All About Jazz. Aspiration, a CD by an ad hoc quartet featuring Wadada Leo Smith, Tamura, and Ikue Mori, was released in 2017 to wide acclaim. "Four musicians who regularly aspire for greater heights with each venture reach the summit together on Aspiration," writes S. Victor Aaron in Something Else. As the leader of no less than five orchestras in the U.S., Germany, and Japan (two of which, Berlin and Tokyo, released new CDs in 2018), Fujii has also established herself as one of the world's leading composers for large jazz ensembles, leading Cadence magazine to call her, "the Ellington of free jazz."

 

Pianist Victor Gould Reaches New Melodic and Conceptual Heights on Thoughts Become Things

Hailed as “a composer of great ambition and skill” from All About Jazz, pianist Victor Gould returns in brilliant form on Thoughts Become Things, his third album as a leader. In the spirit of his 2016 debut Clockwork, Gould constructs a rich and involved ensemble sound with multiple horns, string quartet and percussion along with bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Rodney Green in the rhythm section.

But taking a page from his 2018 sophomore release Earthlings, a more stripped down and piano-centric effort appears, Gould features his piano virtuosity to a greater degree on Thoughts Become Things, highlighting one horn soloist per song and foregrounding his consummate skill as a player — a quality that has earned this young pianist major engagements with Wallace Roney, Ralph Peterson, Terri Lyne Carrington, Donald Harrison, Louis Hayes, Vincent Herring, Eric Alexander and more.

Gould’s steadiest gig of late has been with trumpet sensation Jeremy Pelt, as documented on Make Noise!, Noir en Rouge: Live in Paris and Jeremy Pelt The Artist. Archer plays bass in Pelt’s band as well, along with percussionist Ismel Wignall; Gould recruited the lot of them for Thoughts Become Things. There’s been percussion, in fact, on every Gould album to date, as he explains in the liner notes: “I really love to accentuate the connection between the swing feel and African drums. The percussionists I’ve worked with so far have really accentuated African rhythm, and that’s an important connection to me.”

Flutist/alto flutist Anne Drummond, alto/soprano saxophonist Godwin Louis and tenor saxophonist Dayna Stephens join Pelt, functioning as a vibrant horn section (and each as a brilliant soloist). We also hear from a full string quartet with Yoojin Park and Jim Tsao on violins, Jocelin Pan on viola and Susan Mandel on cello. Lucas Pino’s bass clarinet and Aaron Johnson’s bass trombone bring additional color and weight to the arrangements on several tracks.

Gould in the liner notes muses on the title Thoughts Become Things: “I’ve been thinking recently about how we manifest our own future, and how our thoughts mold our reality, both negative and positive.” The title track and other songs, including “Karma,” “Let Go” and “What Do We Need,” touch on this quasi-spiritual theme, elevating the perspective beyond the personal and individual to encompass the broader society. “The simplest rule,” Gould concludes, is “just to be kind to everyone and think positively.”

Anne Drummond’s role as a central melodic voice is clear throughout. Gould readily cites the importance of flute in his composing, not least because his father is a flutist; he grew up hearing the instrument live and on records. Drummond plays both flute and alto flute, the latter notably in a rousing solo on “October.” Godwin Louis, one of Gould’s dearest friends, stretches out on “Karma”; Dayna Stephens soars on tenor on “Let Go”; Jeremy Pelt shines not only on “Inheritance” but also with Gould on a luminous duo rendition of the standard “Polka Dots and Moonbeams.” Through it all, the lushly voiced horn harmonies and string counterpoint, buoyant percussion and tight, sophisticated rhythmic concept come together in what is for Gould a personal ideal: an instrumentation that can express the fullness of what he hears, yet light enough to allow the piano to speak, in some of the most fluid and mature improvising you will hear on the scene today. And in the sublime solo piano meditation “Brand New,” we hear from him even more directly, freely improvising out of tempo on a theme, opening the album in poetic style.

Thoughts Become Things, one could say, began as a thought; it is now a thing, a document charting Gould’s course, an experience to savor, from one of jazz’s very best.

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.