NATALIE COLE’S BESTSELLING HOLIDAY ALBUM, HOLLY & IVY, SET FOR FIRST VINYL RELEASE

Craft Recordings is delighted to announce the debut vinyl release of Natalie Cole’s bestselling, 1994 holiday album, Holly & Ivy. Holly & Ivyhas been remastered by George Hornand Anne-Marie Suenramat Fantasy Studios and pressed on 180-gram vinylat RTI. A CD reissue will be released on the same day. This year marks the 25th anniversaryof the acclaimed album—which was the first of several holiday outings in Cole’s career.

Cole was inspired to record Holly & Ivy after a call from longtime friend and prolific songwriter Michael Masser. Collaborating with the legendary lyricist Gerry Goffin, Masser had written an original holiday song entitled "No More Blue Christmas’" with the singer in mind. From there, Cole decided to make an entire album of Christmas music, following in the footsteps of her father—singer Nat King Cole—whose LP, The Magic of Christmas, was the top-selling holiday title of the 1960s, and whose rendition of “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” is one of the most famous yuletide recordings in history. 

Co-Produced by Tommy LiPuma, Holly & Ivy offers an R&B twist on holiday favorites and features several songs which Cole’s father had made popular decades before, including “Caroling, Caroling,” “The Little Boy that Santa Claus Forgot,” and, of course,“The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire).” Also of note is an exuberant, gospel rendition of “Joy to the World,” featuring the choir from the Los Angeles Friendly Baptist Church, as well as Cole’s take on the bluesy “Merry Christmas Baby.” Accompanying the singer are a host of talented players—jazz pianist Cedar Walton, drummer Harold Jones, and R&B artist Patrice Rushenon keyboards—among them.

  

In a 1994 interview with Jetmagazine, Cole called Holly & Ivy, “A non-traditional album,” and hoped that the collection would remind listeners about the true spirit of the holiday season. Upon its release, the soulful album was received warmly by fans and critics alike. Billboard called it the “rarest of Christmas albums: an elegant set with appeal that could outlast the season,” while Entertainment Weekly proclaimed it to be “brassy and bustling…As warm and toasty as a hot toddy.” Certified Gold by the RIAA, Holly & Ivy peaked at Number 36 on the Billboard Top 200. In 2013, it once again charted, landing at Number Six on Billboard’s Holiday Albums chart, nearly two decades after its release.

A nine-time GRAMMY Award-winner, Natalie Cole (1950–2015) grew up in a musical family—the daughter of trailblazing artist Nat King Cole and jazz singer Maria Hawkins Ellington. Cole, however, paved a distinctive path for herself and rose to fame in her own right. Her 1975 debut, Inseparable, spawned hit songs “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love),” and “Inseparable”—earning the singer two GRAMMYS, including Best New Artist, and establishing Cole as the first African-American recipient in that category. The singer would maintain a steady presence on the R&B and Pop charts throughout the ’70s, with hits like “I’ve Got Love on My Mind” and “Our Love.” In 1977, Cole became the first female artist to release two Platinum-certified albums in one year (for Unpredictable and Thankful).

Towards the end of the ’80s Cole made a triumphant return to the radio waves with hits like “Jump Start (My Heart),” “I Live for Your Love,” and a dance-pop cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Pink Cadillac.” But it was her 1991 tribute album to her father, Unforgettable…With Love, which put Natalie Cole back in the spotlight. The album, which went to Number One on the Billboard 200, earned the singer six GRAMMY Awards and, to-date, has sold over 14 million copies worldwide. Cole continued to find success performing American standards throughout the next two decades of her life, with albums like Stardust (1996) and Ask a Woman Who Knows (2002). In addition to her prolific work in the music industry, Cole also penned two memoirs and flourished as an actress—even playing herself in a dramatic, award-winning performance in Livin' for Love: The Natalie Cole Story, based on her first autobiography, Angel on My Shoulder. Over the course of her storied and inspiring forty-year career, Cole released a total of 23 studio albums, with over 30 million copies sold, worldwide.

VINYL TRACK LISTING

Side A

Jingle Bells

Caroling, Caroling

The First Noel

No More Blue Christmas

Christmas Medley: Jingle Bell Rock, Winter Wonderland, Little Drummer Boy, I’ll Be Home For Christmas

Merry Christmas Baby

Side B

Joy to the World

The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot

A Song for Christmas

Silent Night

The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)

The Holly and the Ivy

*The CD version mirrors the vinyl track list.

The McCrary Sisters Bring the Holiday Spirit with A Very McCrary Christmas

A Very McCrary Christmas, the first holiday album by celebrated gospel quartet the McCrary Sisters, is available today on Rounder Records. The album, co-produced with three-time GRAMMY winner Scott Billington, is a stunning collection of 13 sacred songs - 12 traditional hymns and one new composition - featuring arrangements that reflect the quartet's soulful Southern roots.

The album features guest appearances by Pastor Shirley Caesar, Steve Crawford, Jerry Douglas, Alison Krauss, Buddy Miller, and Keb' Mo'. The McCrary Sisters can be heard individually throughout the songs, yet it's the power of all four voices together that makes the album shine.

A Very McCrary Christmas highlights the sisters' favorite holiday songs, delivered with reverence and exuberance. The group's spirited, soulful renditions of classic Christmas songs like "Go Tell It On the Mountain," "Oh Come, All Ye Faithful," "Away In a Manger," "O Holy Night," "What Child Is This?," and "Jesus, Oh What a Wonderful Child" are infused with elements of Southern gospel, R&B, pop, and jazz, and convey the infectious joy the sisters derive from their deep faith. "We wanted it different, right off the bat," says Freda McCrary. "We said we want to do traditional songs, but with a different feel. You would have never thought that was the way 'Away in a Manger' was going to go -- or any of these songs. But all of them have a different flavor on it -- I guess we can call it the McCrary flavor. And everybody has input. Everybody. Not just one person."

The McCrarys grew up in Nashville as the children of Reverend Samuel H. McCrary, who raised a large family while balancing his roles as a preacher and a performer. As an original member of the Fairfield Four, he instilled a musical education into his four sons and four daughters. "We grew up on traditional gospel music in the church, but we like all different music," says Deborah McCrary. "We don't like only gospel. We were allowed to listen to any kind of music we wanted to."

Those diverse influences are on full display in the McCrary Sisters' spirited concerts and stirring recordings, which have earned them a loyal and passionate following over the last decade. But they are also renowned for their memorable contributions - both individually and as a group - to recordings and performances by a remarkable array of artists including Bob Dylan, Mary Gauthier, Buddy Guy, Isaac Hayes, Dr. John, Buddy Miller, Elvis Presley, Margo Price, Carrie Underwood, and Stevie Wonder.

On November 29, the McCrarys will kick off Deck the Hall, a full schedule of holiday activities at Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, with a performance featuring selections from A Very McCrary Christmas. They will then light a thirty-foot Christmas tree in the museum's Mike Curb Conservatory. After the performance and tree lighting, they will sign copies of their new CD in the museum store.

Now in its tenth year, the group's annual holiday concert benefits local families as well as St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. A McCrary Kind of Christmas is scheduled to take place at Lipscomb University's Collins Auditorium on Friday, December 6 at 7:00 PM. The McCrary Sisters will be joined by special guests including Etta Britt, Steve Crawford, Danny Flowers, the McCrary Family, Buddy Miller, and Lee Ann Womack.

"My prayer, when it comes to this record, is that every song will bring some kind of hope and love," says Regina McCrary. "I want it to set people free, and I want it to give them love and joy and peace and hope -- and to be able to heal. That's what this record is all about for me."

Ann McCrary agrees wholeheartedly. "These songs stir me up," she says, "and they do bring back a feel of the reason for the season. Some people will hear the songs that they listened to when they were little, and it's going to bring that excitement of Christmas back to them."

A Very McCrary Christmas Track List

1. Go Tell It on the Mountain

2. O Come, O Come Emmanuel - featuring Alison Krauss

3. O, Come, All Ye Faithful - featuring Steve Crawford

4. O Holy Night

5. Children Go Where I Send Thee

6. Away in a Manger - featuring Jerry Douglas and Keb' Mo'

7. Joy to the World

8. What Child Is This? - featuring Buddy Miller

9. No Room at the Inn

10. Jesus, Oh What a Wonderful Child

11. Silent Night

12. Joyful, Joyful - featuring Pastor Shirley Caesar

13. Here I Am Lord, Send Me (composed by Regina McCrary and Max Tash)

 

Bossacucanova Announces New Album Bossa Got The Blues

Bossacucanova first won over fans and critics with their creative and original mix of electronic music and bossa nova, a little more than two decades ago when they exploded onto the scene with their first release Brasilidade (2001). International recognition soon followed with the addition of the Japan and Europe tours and CD release. And in 2002, the band along with collaborator Robert Menescal were nominated for a Latin Grammy. Since then, the trio formed by Alex Moreira, Marcio Menescal and DJ Marcelinho da Lua have released six albums and garnered critical acclaim and fan support worldwide. They are excited to announce their seventh studio album Bossa Got The Blues, due out digitally November 15th from Six Degrees Records and will be available everywhere you stream or download music.

Adding to the magic of Bossa Got The Blues, Roberto Menescal once again joins Bossacucanova on another stellar collaboration. Reflecting back, Roberto explains, "First we wanted to create something more like blues than rock and bossa. Living up to its title, the blues borrowed some of the bossa elements.  The creativity of what Bossacucanova created in the rhythmic part is what led me to compose this way, doing things quite differently from what I usually do.”

The forthcoming album is 10 tracks deep. The lead single and first song on the new album “1937” was mixed by award-winning producer Moogie Canazio. The single was accompanied by the following video directed and edited by Bruno LT: https://youtu.be/C0YmbJsbSUk. Its’ title refers to Roberto Menescal birth year, who, in six decades of his career, has solidified himself as a pioneer of bossa nova, helping bridge the gap between the genre and the technological innovations of the beats and samples. A multi-talented musician, Menescal also played guitar on the new album and helped with the arrangements.

Another standout is "Laudir's Theme," dedicated to the band’s friend and late percussionist Laudir de Oliveira who, besides being part of the rock band Chicago, had also recorded with Bossacucanova.

The new album, Bossa Got The Blues, is stacked with several special guests, including the late Paulinho Trompete's, who died soon after working on the lead single “1937.” This album will be one of his last recorded works, and his artistic touch can be heard on the arrangements for "1937," "Train To Ipanema," "Bossa Got The Blues" and "Vou Nessa." In addition to being the arranger, Paulinho also played the trombone, trumpet and flugelhorn on the disc. Other notable musicians that contributed to the album's rich soundscape includes Carlos Malta (piccolo, fife and C-bass flute), Sidinho and Ian Moreira (percussion), Flavio Guimarães (harmonica), Jota Moraes (vibraphone), Leo Gandelman (brass, baritone and tenor) and the Rio Maracatu bloco de carnaval, who brought the Northeastern Brazilian sounds to the album.

The new album was recorded throughout 2018 in different studios in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), and was composed by Menescal, his son Marcio, Alex and Marcelinho; with “Blues Bossa” being composed by Roberto Menescal and JC Costa Netto. The Bossacucanova trio also produced, recorded, programmed and mixed the entire album at Mola studio.

Reflecting back on the creative process with Bossacucanova, Roberto Menescal comments, "With this album we have recorded something new, and it is entirely instrumental. The original idea came from them, the inspiration of the melodies came from me and they completed the work in a really nice way.”

Modern since its inception and always open for experimentation, bossa nova gains weight and becomes dance - with samples, organic instruments, guitars, analog keyboards and a lot of dub - on the new record. With the influence of Roberto Menescal, and his visionary sounds of blending textures from American Blues with the Brazilian flagship music, bossa nova, the new album creates a brand new global soundscape.

“With their music, BossaCucaNova has created a beautiful feature film. This is the looping of my text. A subtle and renewing revolution. This is not a release. This is a declaration of love.” - João Marcelo Bôscoli

Guitarist Lawson Rollins returns with the familiar yet noticeably different “True North”

Lawson Rollins’ recordings have always possessed a grand sense of travel, exoticism and adventure, narrated by the global guitarist’s prodigious and alacritous classical fingerstyle play that Guitar Player magazine recently spotlighted by selecting Rollins as one of the “50 Transcendent Acoustic Guitarists” of all-time. After embarking upon a creative departure on a few recent projects, the chart-topping composer-producer-musician, best known for crafting lush amalgams of contemporary jazz, world music, Latin and New Age over the past twenty years, charts a more familiar course on his tenth solo album, “True North,” dropping January 17, 2020 on Infinita Records. Yet there is a marked difference in his approach.  

The prolific Rollins spent the last couple of years exploring vast horizons. Last year, he assembled “Airwaves: The Greatest Hits,” which includes the Billboard top 10 hit “World of Wonder” featuring 3rd Force and earlier this year, he released the experimental “Dark Matter: Music for Film.” Rollins also scored his first feature film, “Stay Out Stay Alive,” a multiple award-winning movie opening November 26 for which he served as executive producer of the film festival favorite. These diverse projects broadened the scope of his artistic muse, now budding in entirely new and different dimensions. Culling elements from each one, Rollins picked up his trusty acoustic nylon string guitar and utilized a fresh approach to write and produce “True North,” the first album that he produced entirely on his own. The wide array of projects also impacts the way he plays guitar, which exhibits a keener focus, discipline and restraint.          

“The past couple of years have really expanded my musical horizons through my work on film music and also the single, ‘And If You Will Come With Me’ by Israeli superstar singer Idan Raichel. Those experiences forced me to hone down my quite often exuberant nylon string guitar style to suit the needs of the particular projects and also to delve more seriously into other instruments like the electric guitar, synthesizers and electronic percussion programming. With ‘True North,’ I was able to bring that new knowledge and perspective back home, in a sense, to the type of nylon string guitar-centered music that has been my true calling as an artist over the past 20 years,” said the San Francisco-based Rollins who hails from Durham, North Carolina.

“This is the first album I solely produced and also recorded all my guitars myself. I was able to take my time to capture performances that felt natural and unhurried to me, and I'm also really pleased with the warmth and purity of the acoustic guitar tone."

Change is also evident on the album cover and in the accompanying booklet, which are bright with pastoral colors and sunlight in photos taken on the Outer Banks, North Carolina, where Rollins spends a lot of time each year. Before the holidays next month, radio outlets will get to experience the first single from “Truth North” when “Bluewave Bossanova,” a sultry dance of textured world beat rhythms and an impassioned surge of guitar arpeggios, scales and harmonies, goes for playlist adds. The radio edit includes the addition of a sensitive soprano sax played by Mary Fettig. 

Rollins thrives on the collection, stretching out by playing nylon string guitar, slide guitar and electric guitar along with keyboards and drum programming. He’s accompanied by drummer and percussionist Dave Bryant, bassist Dan Feiszli, violinist Mads Tolling and Stephen Duros who plays additional keyboards and electric guitar on “With the Wind,” an eclectic and imaginative album highlight destined to blow to the top of the radio charts. 

“Many of the tracks, such as the title track as well as ‘With the Wind’ and ‘Dead Ahead,’ are unlike anything I've ever done, with new textures augmenting the familiar sound of my main instrument, the acoustic nylon string guitar. There's a more intense focus on melodic expression on this album and less on long improvisational flights of fancy. It's all about staying firmly on course - true north, as it were - and doing what serves the songs best." 

Rollins’ unique brand defies simple categorization and has proven crossover appeal. He has placed albums in the top ten of Billboard’s World Music chart and his singles have conquered the contemporary jazz charts as well as garnered an abundance of airplay from world music and New Age outlets. Videos showcasing his lightning speed, extraordinary dexterity and mesmerizing guitar technique have received over 10 million YouTube views. After debuting in 2000 as a member of Young & Rollins, a duo that dropped four albums, Rollins premiered as a solo artist in 2008 with “Infinita.” His albums serve collaborations with an assorted mix of GRAMMY® winners and nominees that spans Tolling, guitar eccentric Buckethead, Flora Purim, Airto Moreira, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Charlie Bisharat.  

www.lawsonrollins.com

#1 BILLBOARD ARTIST & MULTI-PLATINUM SELLING JAZZ VISIONARY NAJEE IS BACK WITH NEW MUSIC - THE CENTER OF THE HEART

In a business where trends and artists come and go, Najee’s name is synonymous with innovation, consistency and the best in contemporary jazz. The visionary has enjoyed an enviable three-decade career by staying true to his own artistic vision. “Throughout my career, I have enjoyed working with diverse musicians in so many different musical contexts,” confides the two-time Platinum-selling and four-time Gold-selling multi-instrumentalist. “All of these experiences live inside you and they come out in your music. Honestly, if I were not able to mix it up, I would be bored.” 

Mentored by iconic saxmen Jimmy Heath and Frank Foster and flutist Harold Jones, the New England Conservatory of Music alum has worked with a who’s who list in music that includes Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones and Herbie Hancock. Najee’s anticipated 18th new recording, Center Of The Heart, (Shanachie, November 15, 2019) showcases his technical agility, grace, compositional prowess, unbridled passion and fearless genre bending on ten thrilling tracks. Deftly wielding the soprano, flute, tenor and alto, Najee steers the ten-track excursion, showcasing moving originals, a hauntingly beautiful orchestration of a Bacharach/David classic, a sizzling reinvention of a Maxwell hit and unforgettable collaborations with singer Kenny Lattimore, pianist Greg Manning (Brian McKnight, Deniece Williams, Dave Koz, Jonathan Butler), saxophonist Darren Rahn (Wayman Tisdale, Toby Keith, Dave Koz, Jeff Lorber), and keyboardist/producer Demonte Posey (Eric Benet, Babyface, Toni Braxton).

Najee is a master storyteller. Whether the debonair multi-instrumentalist is engaged in a verbal or musical conversation, his alluring charisma has a way of seducing you into his world. Center Of The Heart finds Najee doing what he does best - shape-shifting through diverse musical terrain and fusing all of the elements that have made him a fan favorite all of these years. The CD opens with the exhilarating and inviting “Bella Vista,” an original Najee penned with Demonte Posey that shines a spotlight on Najee’s dazzling, agile and pristine flute work. The album’s first single unites Najee with saxophonist Darren Rahn who co-wrote the track and who has previously produced for Najee and written hits for Dave Koz and Wayman Tisdale. “I went to Denver,” recalls Najee. “When we got in the studio I could not get Darren’s sax sound out of my head so I said ‘let’s do this one together’ and call it ‘Face To Face.’” Najee puts his own timeless and sensuous spin on Maxwell’s Sumthin' Sumthin' from the singer’s acclaimed Urban Hang Suite and he conjures up his own lush arrangement of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “Alfie” from the 1966 film of the same title that was scored by Sonny Rollins. Najee’s idea to play flute instead of the often-recorded tenor saxophone on this track is genius. His impeccable phrasing, flawless tone and sense of timing on this gem almost make time stand still. His performance is breathtaking from the opening note until the end.

Center Of The Heart marks the first time that Najee has recorded with Grammy nominated vocalist Kenny Lattimore. “Kenny and I started our careers around same time and never did a record together even though we have been around the world together. We first met in 1998 when we both performed at Nelson Mandela’s Gift To the Nation concert in Johannesburg and Durban.” It is undeniable that Najee and Lattimore both get “Better” with time. The laid-back and in-the-pocket flow of “The Way She Moves” features Najee’s bluesy tenor while the soulful “One Note Love” is a family affair. The latter features Najee’s son, rapper Superb Clawson and his granddaughter is also heard on the track. The banger “Speak Love!” will have you confessing your love over the way Najee rides danceable grooves and elevates the mood with his joyful orchestration and jubilant melodic anthems. The album’s title track was co-written by and features bassist Blair Bryant, who has collaborated with Stanley Clark, Eric Roberson and Bernie Williams among others. The euphoric and hypnotic feel good track is an album highlight. Center Of The Heart Najee closes with “Tonight We Say Goodbye.” This bittersweet parting is a reminder of why we keep coming back for more.

“When I was about 14 I was playing on a school instrument and everyone in the house was covering their ears and saying “stop, stop!” My mom noticed that it was my thing and kind of my release and bought me my first saxophone,” recalls Najee. As I began to develop on my instrument, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Yusef Lateef and Hubert Laws on flute were some of the artists that inspired me. As an industrious and hungry young musician, Najee had the good fortune of coming through Dr. Billy Taylor’s now legendary Jazzmobile program. While a student at the New England Conservatory (where both Najee and his brother attended) he studied jazz with George Russell and Jaki Byard. When he finished school Najee returned to New York in the early 80s and was lucky to land a gig with Chaka Khan along with his brother, guitarist Fareed (who is now his manager). In 1987 Najee's Theme was released and the saxophonist earned a slot on tour with singer Freddie Jackson. The following year, Day By Day was released, and in 1991, Tokyo Blue, which is one of Najee’s most successful and enduring recordings. Tokyo Blue (which was produced by Najee’s brother Fareed) and Day By Day both went Gold and led to two Soul Train Awards for Najee (Best Jazz Artist in 1991 and 1993). Just An Illusion came in 1992 and around this time he collaborated with such iconic figures as Quincy Jones and a collaboration with jazz greats Stanley Clarke, Billy Cobham and Larry Carlton resulted in the album Live At The Greek. Share My World came in 1994 and was followed in 1995 by a critically acclaimed tribute to Stevie Wonder's 1976 classic, Songs In The Key Of Life. The CD was produced by George Duke and featured Herbie Hancock and Sheila E. among others. 

His CD Morning Tenderness, released in 1998, went to #1 on the contemporary jazz charts. For Najee, the late ‘90s were marked by extraordinary international experiences, from performing at Nelson Mandela’s birthday celebration in South Africa to playing as a special guest of President Clinton at the White House at an event honoring President Jerry Rawlings of the Republic of Ghana. Najee also spent two years of touring (2001-2003) with Prince and appears on Prince’s albums Rainbow Children and One Night Alone. In 2003 Najee released Embrace, featuring special guests Roy Ayers and BeBe Winans. 

My Point Of View was his follow up in 2005 featuring his good friend and vocalist Will Downing. 2007’s Rising Sun joined Najee with Phil Perry and Mind Over Matter from 2009 paired Najee with singer Eric Benét.  The Smooth Side Of Soul (Najee’s Shanachie debut) followed in 2012, successfully covering such diverse terrain as Jimmy Heath and Ne-Yo and the follow-up, The Morning After, arrived in 2013 debuting at #1 on the Billboard charts and exploring the many sides of love. You, Me & Forever was released in 2015 and united Najee with James Lloyd and Frank McComb among others. In 2017 Najee released Poetry In Motion, dedicated to the memory of Prince and Al Jarreau and featuring an all-star line up including Maysa, Will Downing, Eric Roberson and Incognito.

“I’ve known real legends,” concludes Najee. “I remember watching Charles Mingus rehearse when I was a kid and meeting Sonny Rollins at 16. There is a saying about musicians. It says that we never retire - we just stop hearing music. I still hear music and I love working with people and that is what keeps me inspired.”

John Allee's "BARDFLY" Melds Jazz with Shakespeare

“Now entertain conjecture of a time – maybe it’s 1958, maybe it’s 1598, maybe it’s today…” With those words, spoken slyly over a cool, hipster jazz groove, JOHN ALLEE draws us into BARDFLY, an otherworldly, super-literate and supremely swinging realm that finds the veteran stage and TV actor, singer-songwriter and all-around creative hyphenate fusing his dual lifelong passions for all things Shakespeare and jazz.

Showcasing his wide array of talents as a vocalist, composer, lyricist and dramatic performer, the eclectic 13-track set – in which he assumes the persona of Feste “The Bardfly” Johnson – mines compelling verses from a wide swath of the Bard’s canon from Othello to Henry IV as a foundation for everything from blues, ballads and hymns to compelling spoken word and swingin’ ditties. An award-winning author and composer of musical plays, the Los Angeles based Allee composed all the music for BARDFLY. While he set some of Shakespeare’s lyrics directly to music, on seven pieces he added words and phrases to dazzling dramatic effect, essentially becoming a co-writer with his muse.

Allee’s first professional “collaboration” with the Bard came via an LA Opera production of Benjamin Britten’s musical adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, directed by Gordon Davidson in which he played an airborne Puck. Among dozens of stage credits, Allee’s career since has included performances in other Shakespeare plays. In fact, BARDFLY grew organically out of Allee’s role as Twelfth Night’s Feste the Clown in a theatrical mashup called Barfly Shakespeare, presented at a night club in North Hollywood. He was tasked by the director with coming up with a jazz club vibe for the tunes and first landed on “The Wind and the Rain,” which he recast as an easy swinging, hepster strut. He would later choose that tune as the perfect closer to the album.

Guitarist STEPHANE WREMBEL Releases New Album DJANGO L’IMPRESSIONNISTE (Django the Impressionist)

Guitarist Django Reinhardt (1910-1953) cuts a dashing, romantic figure with a great story that at times obscures his extraordinary achievements and influence. Here is a Roma Gypsy, born in a caravan, who learned playing the violin, the banjo, and the guitar as a child. He then lost the use of two fingers on his left hand in a fire, and yet went on to become an extraordinary player who redefined the sound and role of the guitar.

Musicians know. As a composer and improviser, Reinhardt’s brilliance for melodic invention, his harmonic ingenuity and rhythmic drive, has awed and inspired fellow guitarists across genres and styles, from Andrés Segovia, Chet Atkins, BB King, and Les Paul, to Willie Nelson, Keith Richards and Jimi Hendrix.

And yet, as French-born, US-based guitarist and composer Stephane Wrembel’s Django L'Impressionniste reveals, there is more to Reinhardt than swing and the allure of what came to be called Gypsy Jazz. Putting the spotlight on 17 little-known solo pieces Reinhardt recorded between 1937 and 1950, Wrembel reveals a different side of Django. The album, which features liner notes by David Fricke, was released on October 18 on CD, vinyl and digital on his own Water Is Life imprint.

Fans of Wrembel, perhaps best known for his all-star Django a Gogo festival, will be able to hear the collected works in a U.S.debut concert on November 21 at FIAF Florence Gould Hall in New York City.

For Wrembel, the first interpreter who has performed all the solo pieces by Reinhardt and collected them here in one definitive masterwork, this is a portrait of the classical Reinhardt, the admirer of Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy, the Gypsy impressionist.

“Everyone knows that he recorded a few solo pieces, but they are scattered all over the place and the sound quality of many of them is really bad,” explains Wrembel. “But it's an incredible repertoire. ‘Tea For Two’ is a swinging jazz Django, with a classical harmonies feel; ‘Improvisation 1’ and ‘Improvisation 2’ are more like complete impressionist preludes. But ‘Improvisation No. 5’ has more of a baroque twist to it, and ends up like Spanish guitar. It´s hard to classify. I hear it as classical music on the guitar. But it is not your standard classical guitar music. It's closer to pure creation and to the spirit of the guitar than any other guitar music I've ever heard. I've never played anything like this.”

Wrembel dislikes the facile “Gypsy jazz” label for Reinhardt’s music.

“I know what jazz is. Django is Django. I don't know how to categorize him,” he says “Django was born in 1910 and when he grew up, the music scene in Paris was Debussy and Ravel, the Impressionists, and he's part of that. But he's also a guitarist, so he has that Spanish classical guitar in him as well. And also jazz and swing arrives from America, he loves Louis Armstrong and he gets that, plus he's a gypsy so he's been initiated into traditional gypsy music. When you see the level of control and sophistication of the harmony on these pieces, you realize jazz is just an amusement for him.”

That said, “most people who are interested in Django, especially musicians, are interested in his jazz recordings, his swing stuff,” acknowledges Wrembel. “This is a very difficult repertoire. These pieces are very hard to learn, and very hard to play.”

Still, in 2017 Wrembel decided to open his annual Django a Gogo concert with “Improvisation 1” and in the process of transcribing it, learning it and performing it, he got hooked — and ended up working on the pieces comprising Django L’Impressionniste for the next three years. 

“At first I thought: 'OK, I might as well learn ‘Improvisation No. 2’ and then it was 'Wait! What an incredible repertoire. What if I try to learn it all? ' And I became obsessed with it and it became a full-blown investigation. I ended up collecting all of them. It’s an hour and seven minutes of music.”

The music in Django L’Impressionniste includes a solo version of his masterpiece “Nuages” and a Ravel-influenced reading of “Belleville,” the last two solo pieces he recorded, in 1950, as well as a version of the standard “Tea for Two,” but otherwise, there is nothing standard about the forms of these songs, Reinhardt’s harmonic choices or the shape of his melodic lines.

Reinhardt recorded the original solo pieces in various settings and for different purposes. Some suggest warm-ups in recording studios, but then, one was recorded live at the Civic Opera House, Chicago, on November 10, 1946; the two improvised guitar choruses of 1937 and “Improvisation 6” were recorded for radio broadcasts; but the two extended works, "Belleville" and "Nuages," were to be part of a film soundtrack. Stylistically, the one thing in common is that none of these pieces or these performances sound anything like the pulsating music of Django’s famed Quintet of the Hot Club du France.

Each of these miniatures (most of them are around three and half minutes long) is its own universe. None of them follow conventional song forms and, as in the best improvisations, it is often hard to tell what, if anything, is a spur-of-the-moment invention and what is composed. In fact, Wrembel notes that even though some of the pieces carry utilitarian titles such as “Improvisation 4,” that doesn’t necessarily mean these were just impromptu performances.

“’Improvisation 2’ has been recorded three times,” notes Wrembel. “I have the three different versions and only the ending really is different. So it might have started as someone saying 'Django, do you want to improvise something on the guitar at the end of a session?' and so he plays — but that doesn't mean he just sat there and made something up on the spot. He is playing something that he probably has been preparing for years. It's obvious when you start learning it.”

Born in Paris and raised in Fontainebleau, the home of Impressionism and Django Reinhardt, Wrembel first studied classical piano, beginning at the age of four. But in his mid-teens, he discovered an affinity for the guitar. A Pink Floyd fan, he “spent hours learning David Gilmour’s style,” he said. “So I had a classical background, a passion for rock music, and then I found out about Django. I fell in love with the very strong impressionist feel in his music.”

Fittingly, Wrembel’s breakthrough came with “Bistro Fada,” a Django-influenced swinging waltz that was the theme song from the GRAMMY-winning soundtrack to Woody Allen’s 2011 Oscar-winning film, Midnight In Paris. Since, Wrembel has released five discs dedicated to the guitarist (The Django Reinhardt Experiment Vol. I-IV; and Live at Rochester) and recently produced the debut CD by Simba Baumgartner, Django’s great-grandson, all on his own Water is Life label. His Django a Gogo festival, anchored in his home base of Maplewood, NJ, has become one of the world’s most important and influential events, both celebrating and expanding Django’s music. The festival, launched in 2004, started as a guitar music camp but has now grown to a week of events capped by an all-star guitar celebration at New York’s iconic Town Hall. The upcoming Town Hall celebration is set for May 9, 2020.

“Django Reinhardt is an absolutely fascinating mystery,” reflects Wrembel. He is one of those Great Masters. To me, Django is to the guitar what Bach is to the keyboard. If you play the piano – I don’t care who you are or what style you play -- you study Bach. If you play saxophone, you’ve got to study Charlie Parker. That is Django’s place on the guitar.”

https://www.stephanewrembel.com

U.S. CONCERT DEBUT

Thursday, November 21 at 7:30pm

FIAF Florence Gould Hall

55 East 59th St.

New York, NY 10022

Multi-Instrumentalist and Sound Designer Lorenzo Feliciati Joins Master Drummer Michele Rabbia on Antikythera

Following such visionary projects as 2015's evocative KOI, 2017's powerhouse prog-rock outing Elevator Man and 2018's Twinscapes II: A Modern Approach to the Dance Floor (with fellow bassist Colin Edwin), Italian bassist-producer-arranger and RareNoise recording artist Lorenzo Feliciati joins forces with fellow countryman, master drummer Michele Rabbia, on Antikythera. Named for an ancient Greek mechanism that was used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses for calendar and astrological purposes, Feliciati's seventh recording as a leader for RareNoise traverses a myriad of moods, from graceful and haunting soundscapes to dramatic crescendos to intimate piano trio pieces, while showcasing his remarkable facility on fretted and fretless basses, keyboards, electric guitar and samples. Special guests on Antikythera include trumpeter and RareNoise recording artist Cuong Vu, saxophonist Andy Sheppard, Italian pianists Rita Marcotulli and Alessandro Gwis and Feliciati's Naked Truth and Mumpbeak bandmate, keyboardist Roy Powell.

Says Felicati of his partner Rabbia, whose delicate touch and coloristic approach to the kit have graced various ECM and CAM Jazz albums and underscores this interactive session: "Michele and I met several years ago and immediately felt that our chemistry was something special and that ideas were abundant. To make an album out of them was an easy decision to make. Antikythera is out first collaboration, one stemming from great human and musical interaction."

The result of several joint studio sessions spread out over two years, Antikythera pieces together recorded improvisations and soundscapes that eventually, after an intensive process of post-production, overdubs and editing, were integrated into an organic-sounding whole. "In the studio we were always in recording mode," said Feliciati, "so every little idea that came out from this mutual listening and response/interaction process became eventually available to me to work on during post-production, sometimes as a complete composition, sometimes as the improvised starting point for a new construction." 

Feliciati explained his notion for the theme of Antikythera: "My idea was to think of the music we were improvising as a complex machine but that was working in a perfect, fluid way. Only after I started post-production work on the studio improvisations did I learn about an ancient Greek machine that was found in the ocean near the Antikythera island. I immediately thought it would be a perfect way to convey the idea of the music we were pursuing: a machine coming from the past (I think that improvisation is an ancient human art that changes through the centuries but will always be with us) made of a lot of different parts and gears (like all the musicians that are part of the final result) and able to read the present and predict the future, able to look at the unknown and find useful things in it. And after all, isn't this what art is supposed to do?"

He added, "I think Antikythera can be viewed and experienced as a psychedelic album of sorts, as it does possess the qualities of a trip."

The opener, "Irregular Orbit," introduces a captivating theme that might serve as incidental music for a documentary on the story of the ancient Antikythera. Says the composer, "The idea was to create some sort of opening theme with a mysterious first part, like the dawn before a battle or a start of an eclipse in the sky. And then arrives all the dissonance we have now in our lives and on the planet. And the Antikythera machine is there to study, read and report all this."

"223 Teeth" makes great use of Andy Sheppard's soprano sax against at pedaling ostinato before pianist Marcotulli introduces some dizzying arpeggios that suggest the grinding gears of this ancient mechanism. "The idea of a machine that starts with all the gears (from the little ones to the big ones) starting to move together was clear from the start of the improvisation when Michele started the 'clock' sound generator he keeps among his percussions. So the pieces goes through the same motions we went through while recording, then when working on post- production and editing: slowly at first but then progressively faster and faster and faster."

"Corrosion" is a haunting soundscape that showcases Rabbia's coloristic cymbals playing and percussive approach to the kit. Said Feliciati, "Michele is a master in using the cymbals in a very creative way. There are always so many cymbals and interesting percussions and sound generating artifacts around him when he plays."

"Prochronistic" opens with Feliciati's foreboding ostinato on bass guitar before Cuong Vu enters with some very lyrical, warm-toned trumpet playing. As Feliciati explained, "Cuong sent me some tracks of him improvising on the pre-existing track that I had sent him. And then I edited them to the result you hear. He is the ultimate creator of melodies. His sense of melody and counterpoint is so good it never ceases to surprise me, even after all the music we did together."

Vu also blows with typical authority and melodic brilliance over a soundscape that Feliciati created for "Sidereal." As the bassist explained about his modus operandi on this tune and throughout Antikythera: "All you hear from Cuong is the result of him reacting to the music. The tracks I sent the guests to work on were never finished, because I then added new elements that came to me from listening to their contributions and responses. The guests sent me several takes of their responses/improvisations. Depending on the material, I sometimes brought parts from different takes together to achieve a greater sense of organicity."

"Perigree" is a beautiful showcase for Alessandro Gwis' delicate touch on piano. "We know each other from way back," said Feliciati of the Rome native. "We played on hundreds of different releases as session musicians and he has been part of my music and solo albums since Frequent Flyer(the bassist's 2012 debut on RareNoise Records).Before that he was the pianist of my Wasabi trio featuring me on upright bass. Alessandro is a beautiful soul and a great friend of mine. He is such a pure genius on the piano. His use of additional electronics is unique and adds a lot of poetry to the music."

"Apogee" features Feliciati's Naked Truth and Mumpbeak bandmate Roy Powell on organ, Mini-Moog and Fender Rhodes. "It's a reference to the music from the '70s that I know both me and Roy love," said the bassist. "For this song I imagined some sort of a crazy psychedelic church ceremony and thought Roy could be a perfect master of ceremony for that."

The closer, "Parapegma," is a graceful number with a kind of gentle tango feel to it that features some plaintive tenor sax work from Sheppard. "We tracked the trio of Michele, Rita and myself in her studio in the countryside of Rome for two days in an atmosphere of great amusement and relaxation," explained Feliciati. "What you hear is what we created together in her studio, apart from Andy's contribution, which was added on later. Strangely enough, the working title was 'Country' because we were working in the countryside. We thought it was the perfect music to chill out and end the trip, to stop and look out at the stars through the Anykithera machine."

Feliciati's latest is a beautifully expansive aural trip that showcases his profound sound alchemy in the studio along with the exceptional talents of his gifted inner circle. Another triumphant undertaking for the bassist-composer-producer, Anykithera was released in October on RareNoiseRecords.

New Music Releases: Bill Laurance & WDR Big Band; Shirley Jones, Da Lata

Bill Laurance & WDR Big Band - Live at the Philharmonie Cologne

Recorded in front of an enthusiastic audience at the Philharmonie concert hall in Cologne, Germany, and powered by the renowned 18-piece WDR Big Band under the direction of principal conductor Bob Mintzer (renowned tenor saxophonist, longtime member of the Yellowjackets) this adventurous outing finds Snarky Puppy pianist Bill Laurance re-imagining previously recorded works on a much grander scale. "I always imagined these compositions to be played by an orchestra, and it's a rare opportunity to have your music realised with a large ensemble of this calibre," said Laurance. In some ways an extension of Snarky Puppy's orchestral collaboration with the Netherlands Metropole Orkest on 2015's Grammy-winning Sylva (Best Contemporary Instrumental Album). Cinematic in nature with surprises around every turn of the page, 'Live at the Philharmonie', Cologne is easily Laurance's most adventurous outing to date. As Jazz Journal put it: "If jazz is to continue to appeal to future generations then it needs people like Bill Laurance to renew its relevance

Shirley Jones – I Won’t Tell / Totally Confused – 7″ Vinyl – LIMITED

I have so many absolutely wonderful memories with my sisters Brenda and Valorie aka The Jones Girls. When we started this journey as kids singing gospel music as background singers for our mom Mary Frazier Jones , our goal was always to uplift people and make them smile and feel good. I miss them terribly. Since Brenda’s untimely tragic death I am on a mission to do a tribute album to them that encompasses well produced songs, with real life story lyrics , real instruments and beautiful harmonies that will make people smile and just Feel Good. This kick off single is a remake of one of my personal Jones Girl favorites Who Can I Run To? I wrote new lyrics to it. I will let my best sister friend Jean Carne Tell you what she thinks about it. Ladies and Gentleman presenting I Won’t Tell the first single from the Tribute album to my sisters titled In Loving Memory coming in 2020. Enjoy and please keep me in your prayers as I continue to work on the rest of this project to bring to the world to honor Brenda and Valorie Jones. Love and Blessings to you all. ~ Shirley Jones.

Da Lata - Birds

The first album in more than a few years from Da Lata – a set that has the core group winnowed down to Chris Franck, but which seems to open up the sound even more than before! Everything we've ever loved about Da Lata is in place here – that special sound that filters together bits of jazz and Brazilian elements with a London sort of focus – but there's also a wider globe's worth of musical elements in the mix, and the instrumentation is more live and less programmed – which makes for a warm, wonderful style all the way through! In a way, this might be the record we've always wanted Da Lata to make, and it has us falling in love with them all over again – with Chris Franck on a host of instruments – at the helm of a mighty lineup that features contributions from Mike Patto on keyboards, Matt Cooper on Rhodes, and Bembe Segue, Vanessa Freeman, Diabel Cissokho, Syren Rivers, and others on vocals. The songs are positive, and soaring with spirit – on titles that include "To B", "Thunder Of Silence", "Oba Lata", "Lunar View", "Sway", "Dakar", "Mentality", and "Memory Man". ~ Dusty Groove

Francesco Guerri's Solo Cello Recording "Su Mimmi non si spara!"

Su Mimmi non si spara! contrasts moments of ethereal beauty with visceral aggression, aching lyricism with abstract noise, whisper-quiet minimalism with rock-inspired power. His expansive attack on the cello incorporates such disparate methods as alternative tunings, percussive bowing, exotic preparations and electronic distortions. At its core is the tension between the cerebral invention of Guerri's boundary-stretching technique and the passionate expression he conveys to his audience.

"I think that my music should be understandable to a child," Guerri says. "When you play solo the only other person involved is the listener, so I always try to be communicative to the audience."

Guerri doesn't exaggerate when he hopes that his music can reach even a child's ears. The title of his new album references his infant son, Mimmi; translated as "Don't shoot Mimmi," it refers to a water gun assault on the child by his older brother. Working intently on his music at home, Guerri heard his wife shouting out the titular phrase, and was immediately struck by its inherent contradictions: his son was playing lovingly with his sibling while at the same time miming an act of violence. (A second piece named for his youngest, "Mimmi Resisti," finds a groove in the constantly warring relationship between male siblings).

"I thought this idea, of a child naturally being both bad and good, went to the very roots of man," Guerri explains. " I want it also to go to the roots of my music."

His own children aren't the only youthful inspiration that Guerri draws upon. For the last two decades, alongside his evolving approach to solo cello, he has also worked as an educator at a Bolonga hospital, working with teens dealing with mental disorders. Music makes up a significant part of his outreach. "It's truly impressive to make music with these young people," he marvels. "The intensity of it makes really magical things happen. Music can change your life, and many of them need their life to change."

The major change in Guerri's life came just after he graduated from the Conservatorio di Musica Bruno Maderna in his native Cesena, Italy. It was then that he attended a workshop led by improvising cellist Tristan Honsinger, whose collaborators include such pioneers as the ICP Orchestra, Cecil Taylor, Derek Bailey and Steve Lacy. Through Honsinger the young cellist discovered free improvisation and forever left behind the rigors of the traditional classical repertoire.

Since then Guerri has performed in a rich variety of other contexts, from electronica to avant-garde rock music and free jazz, working with such names as William Parker, Butch Morris, Silvia Bolognesi, Gianluca Petrella, Fabrizio Spera, Ches Smith and Vincenzo Vasi. He has collaborated extensively with Honsiger as well as Carla Bozulich, playing in her band Evangelista and touring with her as a duo. He also co-founded the duos Nagel (with Alberto Fiori) and Nestor Makhno (with Nicola Guazzaloca).

Guerri has also worked extensively in the avant-garde theater, including with Teatrino Clandestino, Teatrino Giullare, and most intensively with the actor-director Chiara Guidi of the Societas Raffaello Sanzio. With Guidi the cellist has undertaken an ongoing, multi-year exploration of Dante's Divine Comedy, the characters of which inspired three of the pieces on Guerri's new album: the tense, vivid "Ciacco," the dramatic "Minosse," and the stunning overture, "Lucy" (short for Dante's Lucia - a name that means "bringer of light," an apt descriptor of the opener).

Following the overture, the album shifts to the shimmering overtones of the title track, which Guerri was developing when he overheard his wife's admonishment to their children. Taking such inspiration from the vagaries of the moment is key to Guerri's process. Most of the music on Su Mimmi non si spara! was born out of improvisation, then shaped into a through-composed work.

In contrast to his earlier albums, there is no improvisation on Su Mimmi non si spara! Instead, Guerri sought to eliminate the unconscious clichés that often creep into supposedly "free" playing by recording, examining and combining his impromptu explorations for their most sui generis moments, then crafting them into pieces bursting with invention and originality.

As Guerri poetically describes the process in his liner notes, "For the last few years I have taken this path. I walk on it slowly, paying attention to the details. I search under the fallen leaves, collecting tiny fragments of the world. I keep them. I assign a role and an order to each and every one of them. They often are small fragments emanating a wild scent, seeds of life that stick to me and that I carry with me wherever I go."

Su Mimmi non si spara! is thus the culmination of two decades of research into the solo cello, along with extensive performing and study into a diverse range of music. Though he hasn't performed classical music since his conservatory days, his private study of Bach is one of the inspirations behind his music.

"Study is the point from which everything starts," he asserts. "I spend a lot of time studying techniques, so usually improvisation comes from those studies. I study something, and then I start to improvise. Maybe I don't find anything, so I return to my studies and try again."

For instance: "Your Beginning," one of two pieces revisited from Guerri's solo debut FromYour Beginning to My [Ha]nd, employs the alternate tuning (with the A string tuned to G) as Bach's fifth Cello Suite. The other piece from that album, My [Ha]nd, was originally written for Guerri's collaboration with Bozulich. The piece transforms the sound of the cello via the use of guitar pedals, conjuring tones that evoke a steel pan or a heavy metal guitar.

Both "Viola" and "Medusa" also make evocative use of alternative tunings (there are a number of them throughout the album). By changing the relation of the strings to one another, Guerri discovers strange new intervals and intriguingly rich harmonic mysteries that he can delve deeply into. "Paper" is self-explanatory: the textural passage that opens the piece is the result of a long piece of paper threaded through the cello's strings, which are further altered via metal curtain clips clamped to them, creating a percussive rattle.

"AFK" is one of those acronyms familiar to those used to living their lives mainly through screens; it stands for "Away From Keyboard" and is used to indicate those rare moments when one is not playing a game or sharing one's most intimate thoughts, a notion with which Guerri is all too familiar working with disaffected teens during his day job.

As these descriptions indicate, there is a dazzling spectrum of sonic invention to be discovered in Su Mimmi non si spara! The music grows and shifts in unexpected directions within a single piece, even more so over the course of this category-resistant album.

Karrin Allyson Sextet to Release Shoulder to Shoulder: Centennial Tribute to Women's Suffrage

The Karrin Allyson Sextet releases Shoulder to Shoulder: Centennial Tribute to Women’s Suffrage, a very special and timely album, to celebrate the centennial of women’s voting rights. The album will be available physically on November 29 via Entertainment One and is available now digitally at all digital service providers. In addition to five-time GRAMMY® Award-nominee Karrin Allyson, the sextet also features trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, alto saxophonist Mindi Abair, pianist Helen Sung, bassist Endea Owens, and drummer Allison Miller.

Shoulder to Shoulder seeks to re-create the multi-decade debate – warts and all – that culminated in the enactment of the nineteenth amendment. “We want to highlight this significant movement in American history. One that we shouldn’t forget and that is relevant today,” said Allyson. “It’s also one in which music played an important role.” A remarkable artist, Allyson is also an activist who feels equally comfortable on the bandstand as she does at the podium making the case for women’s rights. In fact, she has a history of writing songs (“Big Discount,” “Way Down Below”) that challenge conventional political wisdom and call for societal change.

Most of these songs are propaganda. They were composed in the nineteenth or early twentieth century to advance or abridge women’s voting rights. In fact, the “suffrage” repertoire is made up of hundreds of songs, and Allyson and the production team selected ones that typified the back-and-forth debate of the struggle. That these songs can be re-imagined speaks not only to their timeless quality but the power of music in advancing social movements. The “war” over women’s rights was waged, in part, through and by music. And here these songs are made relevant again through modern jazz. 

Because of the theme’s inclusive import, Allyson and the production team invited several notable guests to “lend their voices” to the debate. Adding copious artists can risk turning any project from a cohesive musical statement to a gathering place. Alas, Allyson’s powerful and profound vocals provide the through line and beginning-to-end narrative arc of the entire production. This album is very much a story. And Allyson is its storyteller, with each guest thoughtfully featured to dramatize historical episodes in the women’s suffrage movement.

Shoulder to Shoulder has an incredible array of featured artists. Guest appearances by Madeleine Peyroux (vocals), Kurt Elling (vocals), Regina Carter (violin), Denise Donatelli (vocals), Veronica Swift (vocals), Rapsody (rap), Antonia Bennett (vocals), Emily Estefan (vocals), Pauline Jean (vocals), Olivia Culpo (cello) and a Choir of over forty Women's Rights Activists. There are several spoken word performances that re-create the debate over woman’s suffrage: Harry Belafonte performs a speech by Frederick Douglass, Rosanne Cash performs a speech by Susan B. Anthony, Julie Swidler performs a speech by Alice Paul, Lalah Hathaway performs a speech by Sojourner Truth, and Peter Eldridge performs a speech by Elihu Root. There is even a brief appearance by Roberta Flack on the album. Susan Morrison of The New Yorker serves as an Executive Producer of the project, which was produced by multi-GRAMMY® Award-winners Kabir Sehgal, John Daversa, and Doug Davis.

Next year, 2020, isn’t just a presidential election year. It’s the 100-year anniversary of the nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which became law on August 18, 1920, when Tennessee became the thirty-sixth state to approve the measure. It took some seventy years (and arguably more) to ink this clause into law. And it had immediate and enormous effects on the electorate as some 26 million women could vote in the 1920 presidential election, which swelled to over 74 million who voted in the 2016 election. And while the enactment of this amendment was cause for celebration one hundred years ago, it also exacerbated societal fissures, as African American women and other minorities weren’t able to fully participate in elections. This is a tension that is explored in the liner notes, which emphasize the importance of African American suffragists such as Frances Ellen Watkins Harper and Mary Ann Shadd Cary to the broader movement. The musical repertoire also conveys the injustices borne by minorities. For example, Sojourner Truth’s prescient and powerful speech makes a plea to treat everyone fairly.

While Americans take stock of the distance we have traveled, let’s also look ahead to that which still needs improvement. Such is the challenge of our times, to make sure that everyone can join the chorus for freedom, liberty, and dignity for all.

Track Listing:



01. "Preamble"

02. "The March of the Women"

03. "The Great Convention" (featuring Madeleine Peyroux, Denise Donatelli)

04. "Susan B. Anthony (1873)" read by Rosanne Cash

05. "I’ll Be No Submissive Wife"

06. "Frederick Douglass (1888)" read by Harry Belafonte

07. "Anti Suffrage Rose" (featuring Veronica Swift)

08. "She’s Good Enough To Be Your Baby’s Mother"

09. "Elihu Root (1894)" read by Peter Eldridge

10. "Columbia’s Daughters"

11. "Sojourner Truth (1851)" read by Lalah Hathaway

12. "The Promised Land" (feat. Pauline Jean, Antonia Bennett, Emily Estefan, Kate Reid)

13. "Winning the Vote" (featuring Kurt Elling)

14. "Alice Paul (1921)" read by Julie Swidler  

15. "Way Down Below" (featuring Regina Carter)

16. "Big Discount" (featuring Rapsody)

Sultans Of String : I Am A Refugee - feat Ifrah Mansour

Sultans of String are sharing the wealth. In more ways than one.

"We love to expose people to sounds they might not have heard before," explains violinist and bandleader Chris McKhool, summarizing the mission statement of the groundbreaking and acclaimed world music ensemble. "And we love collaborating with other artists."

Over the past dozen years and six albums, McKhool and his bandmates - co-founding guitarist Kevin Laliberté, bassist Drew Birston, Cuban percussionist Rosendo ‘Chendy' Leon and second guitarist Eddie Paton - have excelled at both. Thrilling listeners around North America with their genre-hopping fusion of Celtic reels, flamenco, Gypsy jazz, Arabic, Cuban, and South Asian rhythms, Sultans of String celebrate diversity and creativity with warmth and virtuosity. And they often do it with artists such as Paddy Moloney and The Chieftains, Richard Bona, Benoit Bourque (Bottine Souriante), Nikki Yanofsky, Alex Cuba, Ruben Blades, Crystal Shawanda and Ken Whiteley.

With their historic and visionary seventh album Refuge (coming in 2020), McKhool and co. bring their unique brand of musical synergy and collaboration into the studio like never before. Their most ambitious, diverse, inclusive and passionately political album, Refuge puts the Toronto-based Sultans face-to-face with a VIP roster of artists from around the globe - including American banjo master Bela Fleck, Israeli vocalist Yasmin Levy and others, like Iraqi violinst Imah Al Taha and Iranian santur master Amir Amiri, who have fled the peril and persecution of their homelands for the safer shores of North America.

"This is a project that is centred around the positive contributions of refugees and new immigrants to U.S.A. and Canada," says McKhool, whose Lebanese grandfather stowed away on a ship bound for North America a century ago. "We are bringing in special guests that are newcomers to this land, as well as global talents that have been ambassadors for peace.  We wish to celebrate the successes of those who make the journey here, and bring their extraordinary talents with them. We hope that the kinds of conversations we can have as musicians can provide a model for peace that our politicians and citizens find inspiration from."

That inspiration could not be summed up more clearly than on Refuge's gorgeously evocative and powerful first single I Am a Refugee, co-starring Somali poet and multi-media artist Ifrah Mansour, who now makes her home in the Twin Cities. "I wrote the poem for me, for my community, and for those that are yearning for change, those are yearning to deepen their empathy," explains Mansour. "Writing the poem was a way to unleash some pain that I could name finally – I wrote it because I was so frustrated with so many people sending me emails and asking me what I thought about the travel ban, the first time our American government here shared the first travel ban. And that an artist's job is to draw that hope, especially in a time of deep hopelessness."

Like most of the collaborations on Refuge, I Am a Refugee came to life in the studio, with Sultans of String and their guests composing and creating together. But no matter how they began, they all ended the same: With all the artists recording together at Jukasa, a world-class recording facility on the Six Nations reserve between Toronto and Buffalo.

"We knew we had to do it this way," McKhool stresses. "We couldn't make an album honouring refugees and do it long-distance. But having everyone in the room at the same time made it extremely challenging, both from a logistical and technical standpoint. But the results certainly made it worthwhile."

Of course, Sultans of String have never taken the easy road. Since releasing their debut album Luna in 2007, they have continually strived to make each chart-topping album more original and meaningful than the last. That includes working with an orchestra (2013's Symphony), teaming with Pakistani sitarist Anwar Khurshid (2015's Subcontinental Drift) and even crafting a world-music holiday album (2017's Christmas Caravan), which landed them on the Billboard charts and the New York Times. Their ambition and work ethic have garnered them multiple awards and accolades, including three Juno nominations, first place in the International Songwriting Competition (out of 15,000 entries), three Canadian Folk Music Awards, and countless other honours.

Their live resumé is similarly stellar. Equally at home in a concert hall, jazz club or festival setting, the Sultans have gigged at the legendary club Birdland in New York, the renowned Celtic Connections Festival in the U.K. and the San Jose Jazz Festival. They have performed with symphonies across Canada and the U.S., and played live on BBC TV, Irish National Radio, World Cafe and SiriusXM in Washington. No matter the venue, the goal is the same, McKhool says.

"I've always wanted our concerts to be a place where everyone feels welcome. I want to reach out to diverse communities to say, 'Come out and enjoy music with us - you're going to have a really good time.' And it's great to see people from, say, the South Asian community mixed in with the hipster crowd. Or to play some very small towns where they might not have heard a sitar played live before. It benefits society as a whole, to have people from around the world blending their ideas, mixing their cultures."

And sharing the wealth.