New Music Releases: Idle Hands, Decoy & Joe McPhee, George Burton

Idle Hands - Solid Moments

There's nothing idle about these hands – as the group have a tightness that makes you think they've been together for years – which is maybe partly the case, as many of the artists are part of the great and ever-growing legacy of the Posi-Tone label! And while the company has given us great albums with single artists in the lead over the years, they've maybe been hitting even more strongly of late with groups of this nature – almost an all-leader effort, but in which all players come together with great sympathy for each other – in a lineup that features Will Bernard on guitar, Behn Gillece on vibes, Sam Dillon on tenor sax, Art Hirahara on piano, Boris Kozlov on bass, and Donald Edwards drums. The album's overflowing with fresh, original material – and titles include "Barreling Through", "Silver Bullet", "Maxwell Street", "Ashes", "Sock's House", "Motion", and "Event Horizon " – plus nice takes of Stevie Wonder's "You And I" and Freddie Hubbard's "Theme For Kareem". ~ Dusty Groove

Decoy & Joe McPhee - AC/DC

The legendary Joe McPhee joins the British Decoy trio – and as with previous records, the results are completely amazing – and a great reminder that McPhee is still one of the most vibrant improvisers on the planet! The group's got a very unusual element in the Hammond B3 of Alexander Hawkins – an instrument you don't often hear in a free jazz setting, and which is used here almost as a reminder of, and contrast to, McPhee's earliest recordings with an organ player – as Hawkins is as open, experimental, and freely improvising as the other members of the group – who include Steve Noble on drums and John Edwards on bass, plus Joe himself on pocket trumpet and alto sax! The album features two long improvisations, both pretty mind blowing – "A/C" and "D/C". ~ Dusty Groove

George Burton - Reciprocity

An album that explodes with life, soul, and energy right from the very first note – a jazz set from keyboardist George Burton, but a record that weaves in lots of different strands along the way – with a sense of imagination that's certain to make Burton's music something to really keep an ear on for years to come! Yet already, this record is more than enough – and grabs us in a way we're not usually grabbed – as George balance his own bold energy on piano and Fender Rhodes with occasional vocals from a female singer, work by Tim Warfield on soprano sax, Chris Hemingway on alto, and Andy Bianco on guitar, and a trio of different drummers who really know when to kick in and propel the album forward! Burton is never content to just lay down a solo, or swing a groove – and there's a larger sonic palette of soul to the record that has to be heard to be understood – yet even the few straighter jazz numbers are pretty amazing too. Imagine the joy you felt when you first heard the early records of Robert Glasper, and you'll get some of the energy this record can deliver – on titles that include "Finding", "Gratitude", "Spirit", "Reciprocity", "Third Prayer", "Finite Space", "Us", "Power", and "Turn". ~ Dusty Groove

New Music Releases: Irreversible Entanglements, Joe Hisaishi, JK Group

Irreversible Entanglements - Who Sent You?

Free jazz collective Irreversible Entanglements will release their new album, Who Sent You?, on March 20th via International Anthem/Don Giovanni. Following “warm and heady” (Stereogum) lead single “No Más,” today they present new track, “Bread Out Of Stone.” The album’s closer, “Bread Out Of Stone” captures Irreversible Entanglements in a rare, simmered mode, coming down from 40 minutes channeling a significant plume of fire. Bass, drums and hand percussion creep as poet/MC Moor Mother whispers down a list of metaphysical magic words – a recipe for how they've been able to use their instruments and implements to "make bread from stone." Irreversible Entanglements is Camae Ayewa (aka Moor Mother), saxophonist Keir Neuringer, trumpeter Aquiles Navarro, bassist Luke Stewart, and drummer Tcheser Holmes. Who Sent You? is the punk-rocking of jazz and the mystification of the avant-garde. This record weaves kinetic soul fusion, dreamy yet harrowing poetry, and intricate rhythms into warmth-giving tapestries that comfort and conceal, confront and coerce all at once.

Joe Hisaishi - Dream Songs: The Essential Joe Hisaishi

Joe Hisaishi, the acclaimed Japanese composer behind some of the world’s best-loved anime films, has announced his new album, Dream Songs: The Essential Joe Hisaishi, will be released on 21 February. On the same day thirty albums from the composer’s extensive catalogue will be released on streaming services worldwide for the first time ever. Joe Hisaishi, described as “The John Williams of Japan” by Pitchfork, is one of Japan’s most beloved and prolific composers. Dream Songs: The Essential Joe Hisaishi celebrates his diverse and distinguished catalogue of compositions spanning Hisaishi’s nearly 40-year career. The new album features 28 compositions, all remastered by Joe Hisaishi, from his film scores and piano works, many of which have not previously been released outside Japan. Dream Songs: The Essential Joe Hisaishi includes the composer’s work for acclaimed filmmakers Hayao Miyazaki and ‘Beat’ Takeshi Kitano, as well as selections from Studio Ghibli classics, and solo piano works. The collection features many compositions which accompany the most famous moments in all of anime including ‘One Summer’s Day’ (from Spirited Away), ‘My Neighbour Totoro’ (from My Neighbour Totoro), ‘Princess Mononoke Suite’ (from Princess Mononoke). Joe Hisaishi has won countless awards for his achievements in composition and film scoring. He is eight-time winner of the Japanese Academy Award for Best Music; he was awarded the Japan Medal of Honour in 2009; and he has composed soundtracks for two Academy Award-winning films, Departures (2008) and Spirited Away (2002). His body of work, comprised of nearly 100 film scores and solo albums, draws inspiration from the canon of American minimal music compositions, experimental electronic music, and European and Japanese classical music. He has scored all but one of Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli films, including three of the top five highest-grossing anime films worldwide. J

JK Group - Seeds

JK Group are a powerhouse nu-jazz band fronted by Melbourne saxophonist Josh Kelly, best known for his work with future soul-jazz collective, 30/70, and being the 2019 PBS Young Elder of Jazz. They sit in the crossover of raw, live jazz and electronic/dance production. At times synth- heavy, effected and soundscapey, while at other times hard hitting groove laden with spiritual jazz overtones and no-holds-barred improvising. Their sound nods respectfully to classic jazz traditions, whilst carving a path that unashamedly looks towards the future, embracing modern influences and production techniques.Their debut release, ‘The Young Ones’ sees Josh Kelly in full flight alongside longtime 30/70 collaborators, Matt Hayes and Ziggy Zeitgeist with keys player/producer Lewis Moody (Z*F*E*X, Sex on Toast).JK Group’s music has appeared recently on La Sape’s celebrated compilation 'Downandaground’ - the album received a 5* review from Melbourne’s own Mike Gurrieri, and has garnered radio play on PBS, RRR, Worldwide FM, NTS and more. The debut LP ‘The Young Ones’ is due out on La Sape March 27th.

New Music: James Brown, Maiara Moraes, Black Market Brass

James Brown - Soul Syndrome

A rare TK Records effort from James Brown – very much in the best uptempo funk mode of the later Polydor years! The groove here is quite similar to those better-known efforts – grooves that are a bit quicker than a few years before, but still played in a core JB funky style – live and lively, with plenty of emphasis on the rhythms! Brown often referred to his style here as disco, but it's a lot more like some of the P-Funk progressions of the period – a mode that's more polished than a grittier funky generation, yet far from smooth club or disco overall. There's plenty of choppy little groovers that make the record great – and titles include the long cut "Rapp Payback", plus "Funky Men", "Smokin & Drinkin", "Stay With Me", and "Mashed Potatoes". ~ Dusty Groove

Maiara Moraes - Cabeca De Vento

Classic choro mixed with contemporary jazz – a beautiful set that offers up a range of lovely lines on flute from Maiara Moraes, who seems to play a few different variations of the instrument on the set! The rest of the group features piano, bass, and drums – plus some added flute and saxes from Josue Dos Santos – and the approach is very strongly jazz, but maybe with just some slight colors and tones borrowed from the older style of Brazilian choro – served up at a level that's got a lot more power, color, and soul than any other effort of this type we can think of! Titles include "Novena", "Bailonga", "Maracatu", "Con Brasil Adentro/Fuga X", and "Caminho De Volta". ~ Dusty Groove

Black Market Brass - Undying Thirst

Beautifully heavy sounds from Black Market Brass – a group who started out with more of a global funk approach, but who emerge here with the intensity of some lost funky soundtrack – all with the sort of edge you might expect from the cover! The style here is really revolutionary – unlike anything else we've ever heard from a group with "brass" in their name – in part because the group has some very cool distortion on the keyboards and guitar, which gives those electric elements a very sinister sound next to the straight ahead fire of the horns – served up with really hard-driving rhythms throughout, in a way that seems to pull together older traditions of Afro Funk, Nola Brass, and even some of the southern college bands – but all with a very 21st Century vision. Titles include "So Who (parts 1 & 2)", "Into The Thick", "War Room", "Cheat & Start A Fight", "Undying Thirst", and "NBT". ~ Dusty Groove

New Music: Serge Gainsbourg, Kassa Overall, The Heliocentrics

Serge Gainsbourg - En Studio Avec Serge Gainsbourg (3CD set)

A treasure trove of rare work from the legendary Serge Gainsbourg – studio outtakes, alternate versions, and lots of other material that stands as a great addition to the catalog of one of the coolest, grooviest French language singers ever! This 3CD set is overflowing with gems – and CD1 brings together rare tracks by Serge himself – some from 45 or LP projects, but presented here in different modes that stand as a wonderful complement to some of the versions you might know – almost like a "part 2" or extended take in some cases. Titles include "Black Trombone (avec intro)", "L'Homme A Tete De Chou (instrumental)", "Sea Sex & Sun (extrait des prises voix", "Chez Les Yeye (prise complete)", "L'Eau A La Bouche (avec intro)", "69 Annee Erotique (instrumental)", and two very long tracks – "Melody (prise complete)" and "Lola Roastaquoouere (instrumental)". CD2 features various interpretations of Serge's songs – many of which were produced by Serge himself, and a few of which even feature vocals by Gainsbourg! The music spans the space of his early Latin and jazzy work, through his slinky sexy 60s and 70s years, to his final burst of great music in the early 80s. Titles include "J'Ai Deja Donne" by Jacques Dutronc, "Les P'Tits Papiers" by Regine, "Les Papillons Noirs" by Michele Arnaud, "Mambo Miam Miam" by Los Goragueros, "Le Sixieme Sens" by Juliette Greco, "L'Oiseau De Paradis" by Zizi Jeanmarie, "Les Petits Boudins" by Dominique Walter, "Le Mal Interieur" by Isabelle Adjani, "Plus Dous Avec Moi" by Charlotte Gainsbourg, and "Le Drapeau Noir" by Mirelle Darc. CD3 features great music that Serge Gainsbourg did for a variety of cinematic projects – music that's every bit as groovy as his own vocal tunes, and which often appear here in instrumental takes that let you focus even more strongly on his great sense of a funky bit and a groove! Titles include "Milena (instrumental)", "L'Eau A La Bouche (avec intro)", "Requiem Pour Un Con (instrumental)", "First Class Ticket (prise alternative)", "Les Chemins De Katmandou (generique)", "Le Village A L'Aube", "Discophoteque (rough mix)", and "Le Physique Et La Figure (version complete)", plus Anna Karina singing "Roller Girl". ~ Dusty Groove

Kassa Overall - I Think I'm Good

We really loved Kassa Overall's debut, but we're completely blown away with this full length set – as the record's got a visionary sound that's completely his own – a really new mix of jazz, soul, and funk that's bound to make Kassa one of the most important talents in years to come! Overall sings and plays drums – the latter of which are used in very open, creative ways – amidst a keyboard-heavy set of instrumentation that also includes work from Sullivan Fortner on piano, Brandee Younger on harp, Aaron Parks on keyboards, Vijay Iyer on Fender Rhodes, Joel Ross on vibes, and Theo Croker on flugelhorn! Kassa finds a way to bring in these guests, and others – but always at a level that never changes the core style too much – so that it's always clear we're always in very personal territory, with a style that's poetic one minute, funky the next, and always extremely beautiful. Titles include "Please Don't Kill Me", "Visible Walls", "Was She Happy", "Sleeping On The Train", "Landline", "Darkness In Mind", and "The Best Of Life". ~ Dusty Groove

The Heliocentrics - Infinity Of Now

A fantastic mix of heady sounds and heavy funk from The Heliocentrics – and a record that continues the vibe of their previous set – in which the team of Malcolm Catto and Jake Ferguson were joined by the lovely vocals of Barbora Patkova! Patkova's presence is just what the group needs to really ground their sound – a female singer up front, but one who's as equally comfortable with distortion, fuzz, and echoey spaces as the two instrumentalists – a trio who continue that unique tradition of psychedelic funk that we first loved in Catto's early work on Mo Wax! Titles include "99% Revolution", "Hanging By A Thread", "Nonsense (part 1)", "Light In The Dark", "People Wake Up", "Burning Wooden Ship", and "Elephant Walk". ~ Dusty Groove

New Music: Jose James, Alex Puddu, Hamilton De Holanda / Daniel Santiago / Edu Ribeiro / Thiago

Jose James - No Beginning No End 2

Really mindblowing work from Jose James – an artist we loved right from his very first record, but one who has us completely over the top with this record – a set that may well push James from the soul underground into firmly classic territory – the sort of space that will have the record standing strong with soul classics from decades back, and for a long time to come! Jose's tremendous vocally, but there's also an extra-special spirit to some of these tunes – one that's still very strongly in the hands of the man himself, even though James opens the door for plenty of guests – a lineup that includes Ledisi, Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah, Aloe Blacc, Lizz Wright, Eric Truffaz, and others – not the kind of guests who overwhelm and take a too-strong turn in the spotlight, but the right sort of addition to the core sound. Titles include a surprisingly great remake of "Just The Way You Are" – plus "Turn Me Up", "I Need Your Love", "Saint James", "Take Me Home", "Oracle", "Feels So Good", "I Found A Love", and "You Know What I Do". ~ Dusty Groove

Alex Puddu - Discotheque

A fantastic album of grooves from the mighty Alex Puddu – and a record that's worth it alone for its guest work from Gene Robinson Jr on a few tracks – a singer whose voice was part of the classic sound of Breakwater! Puddu's groove has really shifted into the jazzy funk of Robinson's old group here – a mode that's as clubby as promised in the title, but which also draws on the richness of some of Alex's other records – which have included strong forays into straighter 70s funk and blacksploitation styles! And the record's not straight disco at all – more the kind of hip, sophisticated funk that would play well on a less-mainstream dancefloor – full of all the best modes that were bubbling up in the late 70s/early 80s underground – almost as if Puddu's giving a nod the world of Joey Negro, but with less uptempo rhythms in the mix. Titles include "Don't Hold Back", "Saturday Night", "Back Against The Wall", "Nightflight", "You Are My Fire", "Be My Lover", and "Release The Catch". ~ Dusty Groove

Hamilton De Holanda / Daniel Santiago / Edu Ribeiro / Thiago - Harmonize

Some of the sharpest jazz work we've heard from Hamilton De Holanda in awhile – a quartet session that has a bit more edge than some of his other records, and which uses his work on bandolim in the lead as a very powerful solo instrument! The group also features Daniel Santiago on guitar, Thiago Espirito Santo on bass, and Edu Ribeiro on drums – and the combination of the two string instruments is great, and produces all these wonderful shades of color and cascades of tone – driven nicely by the rhythms, which have more punch than we might normally expect. Titles include "Samba Blues", "Chama", "Meu Coracao E Seu", "Nasceu O Amor", "Canto Da Sirimea", and "Alo Arlindo". ~ Dusty Groove

New Music Releases: Milton Nascimento, Ivan 'Mamão' Conti, Horace Tapscott Quintet

Milton Nascimento - Último Trem

Following the release of Milton Nascimento’s Maria Maria, Far Out Records presents Nascimento’s 1980 follow up. With the success of Maria Maria in 1976 behind them, Nascimento reunited with his writing partner Fernando Brant in 1980 to produce another ballet, Ultimo Trem (Last Train). This time, they chose to tackle a more contemporarily relevant subject, the impact of the closure of a train line that connected certain towns and cities in the North East of Minas Gerais to the coast. Featuring much of the same all-star line-up as Maria Maria – including legendary Brazilian musicians Naná Vasconcelos, João Donato, Paulinho Jobim and members of Som Imaginário, amongst many others, like Maria Maria, the album holds what Milton himself considers to be the definitive versions of some of his most beloved tracks, including 'Saídas E Bandeiras' and 'Ponte de Areia'. Release date: 18th April 2020 (Record Store Day) | Formats: 2xLP Red Vinyl | Cat no: FARO217.

Ivan 'Mamão' Conti - Poison Fruit

For Record Store Day 2020, Far Out Recordings presents a special 'poisoned vinyl' edition of Ivan 'Mamão' Conti's critically acclaimed Poison Fruit album. The 180g splattered colour LP is accompanied by an exclusive bonus 7” with a previously unreleased track from the original Poison Fruit sessions ‘Katmandu, and ‘Ninho’, a track never before released on vinyl. From an artist in their seventies, you probably wouldn’t expect to hear an album like this. But Brazilian drumming legend Ivan ‘Mamão’ Conti has been experimenting and innovating for the last half a century. As one third of cult Rio jazz-funk trio Azymuth, Mamão was at the root of the group’s ‘samba doido’ (crazy samba) philosophy, which warped the traditional samba compass with jazz influences and space age electronics. Even with his lesser known jovem guarda group The Youngsters, Mamão was experimenting with tapes and delays to create unique, ahead-of-its-time sounds, way back in the sixties. More recently Mamão recorded an album with hip-hop royalty Madlib under the shared moniker ‘Jackson Conti’. With his first album in over twenty years, and the first to be released on vinyl since his 1984 classic The Human Factor, Mamão shares his zany carioca character across eleven tracks of rootsy electronic samba and tripped out jazz, beats and dance music. Featuring Alex Malheiros and Kiko Continentino on a number of tracks, the Azymuth lifeblood runs deep, but venturing into the modern discotheque (as Mamão would call it), Poison Fruit also experiments with sounds more commonly associated with house and techno, with the help of London based producer Daniel Maunick (aka Dokta Venom) and Mamão's son Thiago Maranhão. Take a bite of Mamão’s psychoactive Papaya and join the maestro on a weird and wonderful stroll through the Brazilian jungle. Release date: 18th April 2020 (Record Store Day) | Formats: Vinyl LP + 7”| Cat No: FARO208X

Horace Tapscott Quintet - The Giant Is Awakened

The title of Horace Tapscott’s debut release is apt, if not self-referential, for indeed a giant of West Coast jazz had awakened with this, the pianist/composer/bandleader’s 1969 album for the Flying Dutchman label. Tapscott went on to form two groups crucial to the flowering of modern jazz in the Los Angeles area, the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra (or P.A.P.A.; the name is an homage to Tapscott’s predecessor and peer, Sun Ra), which eventually became part of a larger umbrella organization, Union of God’s Musicians and Artists Ascension (UGMAA). Out of UGMAA came a host of LA-bred musicians, singers, and poets, including Arthur Blythe (who goes by Black Arthur Blythe on this recording), Stanley Crouch (who wrote the original liner notes), David Murray, Butch Morris, Wilber Morris, Jimmy Woods, Nate Morgan, and Sinclair Greenwell, Jr. (a.k.a. Guido Sinclair). And anchoring it all was Tapscott himself; as Kamasi Washington, whose vision of a large, Los Angeles community-based ensemble echoes that of P.A.P.A. and UGMAA, said in 2015: “Horace is one of the most important figures in the foundation of music in L.A., from both a purely musically and socially conscious perspective.” Now, Real Gone Music is proud to present the first-ever LP reissue of The Giant Is Awakened (original copies go for hundreds of dollars), taken from high-resolution audio sources and complete with original gatefold artwork. Neon green vinyl pressing limited to 1000 copies...a foundational document of West Coast modern jazz!

New Music Releases: The Philly All Stars, Little Beaver, Nduduzo Makhathini

The Philly All Stars - Philly Nugget Medley

Presented here are the results of an amazing session that took place in 1981 at Virtue Sound Studios in Philadelphia that featured the cream of the crop of the City of Brotherly Love’s soul/funk pioneers. The Philly All Stars were comprised of charter members of Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff’s spectacular house rhythm section MFSB, featuring Norman Harris on guitar, Lenny Pakula on organ, Ronnie Baker on bass, Earl Young on drums, Larry Washington on congas and producer Vince Montana, Jr. on vibes. Handling the vocals are Joe Freeman, who was the lead singer with Philly soul band The Ethics and later with the disco group Love Committee; Ron Tyson, who was also with Freeman in Love Committee and went on to find fame with The Temptations; and David Simmons, the Philly soul singer who worked with Sister Sledge among others - and whose voice bears an uncanny resemblance to Teddy Pendergrass. The group performs an electrifying medley tying together seven classic slices of soul over a pile-driving funky disco beat that has been remixed for a whole new generation of fans by the musical mix-master oddity known as SanFranDisko.

Little Beaver - Party Down

Willie Hale a.k.a. Little Beaver (so dubbed as a child because of his prominent front teeth) was one of the extraordinarily talented musicians Henry Stone assembled at his Hialeah, FL-based T.K. Records label and its assorted imprints. Among the artists who recorded for Stone were K.C. & the Sunshine Band, Timmy Thomas, Gwen McCrae, Betty Wright, and Benny Latimore...and backing them on a lot of those records was Hale, laying down mellow ‘n’ funky, jazz-influenced licks on his hollow-body Gibson. Hale’s talent was so distinctive that when Stone finally let Hale step out of the studio shadows to record his own album on the Cat imprint, the effects were immediate and long-lasting. Featuring contributions from Thomas, Wright, Latimore, and Jaco Pastorius (under the name Nelson “Jocko” Padron), 1974’s Party Down scored a #2 hit with its title track and has been repeatedly sampled by latter-day rap artists ranging from People Under the Stairs to Jay Z. himself (the “Party Life” track on his American Gangster album). Our Real Gone reissue of this nonstop groove-athon features a fresh remastering by Mike Milchner at SonicVision, and comes in a metallic gold vinyl pressing to honor the gold record Little Beaver has hanging on his wall on the front cover...limited to 1000 copies!.

Nduduzo Makhathini - Modes of Communication: Letters from the Underworlds

South African pianist & composer Nduduzo Makhathini will release his Blue Note debut Modes of Communication: Letters from the Underworlds on April 3, an expansive album anchored by Nduduzo’s expressive piano in which lyrical, plaintive horns mingle with percussion, pained yelps and urgent lyrics. Watch the album trailer. Nduduzo has also released the inspiriting new track “Beneath the Earth” featuring lead vocals by Msaki along with Nduduzo’s own voice and gently seeking piano, plus a soaring alto saxophone solo by Logan Richardson. A previous single “Yehlisan’uMoya” (Spirit Come Down) features impassioned vocals by Nduduzo’s wife Omagugu.

Peggy Lee Centennial Year Commemorated With 'Ultimate Peggy Lee'

'Ultimate Peggy Lee' Set For April 17 Release From Capitol/UMe Features Previously Unreleased Track Recorded 57 Years Ago

The Peggy Lee Estate has announced Peggy Lee 100, a centennial celebration honoring one of the 20th century's most important musical influences in the world of jazz and popular music.

Throughout 2020, the 100th anniversary of Peggy Lee's birth—May 26, 1920—will be commemorated around the globe with music releases, notable exhibitions, special events, programming and a host of tributes and concerts, including a just-announced Hollywood Bowl tribute concert on August 5, "Miss Peggy Lee at 100 with The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra."

Throughout 2020, the 100th anniversary of Peggy Lee’s birth will be commemorated around the globe with music releases, notable exhibitions, special events, programming and a host of tributes and concerts. Kicking off The Peggy Lee 100 celebration is the release of "Ultimate Peggy Lee," a new collection from Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) available April 17. The 22-track set features her hits, five songs she co-wrote, as well as the previously unreleased “Try A Little Tenderness."

Throughout 2020, the 100th anniversary of Peggy Lee’s birth will be commemorated around the globe with music releases, notable exhibitions, special events, programming and a host of tributes and concerts. Kicking off The Peggy Lee 100 celebration is the release of "Ultimate Peggy Lee," a new collection from Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) available April 17. The 22-track set features her hits, five songs she co-wrote, as well as the previously unreleased “Try A Little Tenderness."

Kicking off The Peggy Lee 100 celebration is the release of Ultimate Peggy Lee, a new collection from Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) available April 17. The 22-track comprehensive set features her hits, five songs she co-wrote, as well as the previously unreleased "Try A Little Tenderness," which makes its world debut 57 years after it was recorded. A full track listing is below.

Born Norma Deloris Egstrom in Jamestown, North Dakota, she was christened Peggy Lee in 1937 by a local North Dakota deejay. A 13-time GRAMMY® Award-nominee, Peggy Lee helped redefine the female singer with her captivating voice, which continues to resonate with audiences of all ages. Her compositions and recordings, including "It's A Good Day," "I Don't Know Enough About You" and "I Love Being Here With You," can be heard today in countless television shows and feature films.

Best known for such songs as "Is That All There Is?," "Fever," "Why Don't You Do Right," and "I'm A Woman," which made her a jazz and pop legend, she recorded over 50 albums and amassed over 100 chart entries. She won the GRAMMY® for Best Contemporary Vocal Performance for her 1969 hit "Is That All There Is?" In 1995, she received the GRAMMY's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Coined "the female Frank Sinatra" by Tony Bennett, Lee did something few of her male counterparts ever attempted: she wrote songs. As one of the foremothers of the singer-songwriter school, Lee ranks among the most successful female singer-songwriters in the annals of American popular music. Over her remarkable seven-decade career, singer, songwriter and composer Peggy Lee wrote over 200 songs and recorded over 1,100 masters.

Her vast and varied catalog of songs have been covered by Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole, Natalie Cole, Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, Diana Krall, Queen Latifah, Barry Manilow, Bette Midler, Janelle Monae, Nina Simone, Regina Spektor and Sarah Vaughan.

Ultimate Peggy Lee [CD; digital; 2LP vinyl]
1. I Love Being Here With You
2. Fever
3. Things Are Swingin'
4. I Don't Know Enough About You
5. I'm A Woman
6. Just In Time
7. Hallelujah, I Love Him So
8. Sweet Happy Life
9. Alright, Okay, You Win
10. Too Close For Comfort
11. Why Don't You Do Right (Get Me Some Money Too)
12. It's A Good Day
13. You Deserve
14. Heart
15. Big Spender
16. He's A Tramp
17. I Wanna Be Around
18. Black Coffee
19. I've Got The World On A String
20. The Folks Who Live On The Hill  
21. Is That All There Is?
22. Try A Little Tenderness*
*Previously Unreleased

James Taylor "American Standard"

Legendary singer-songwriter James Taylor releases his new album, American Standard today via Fantasy Records. The new collection marks Taylor's 19th studio album and his first release since 2015's Before This World, the first #1 album of his illustrious career. On American Standard, Taylor, reimagines some of the most beloved songs of the 20th century, infusing new sounds and fresh meaning into these timeless works of art. The album is available in a variety of formats including a limited edition 180-gram 45 RPM double LP.

Taylor is in the midst of a series of high-profile promotional appearances including last night’s iHeartRadio ICONS with James Taylor: In Celebration of His New Album American Standard, which was livestreamed and broadcast on radio stations across the country.

The 14 carefully chosen selections on American Standard naturally feature Taylor's one-of-a-kind vocal ability and incomparable musicianship, but what makes the album so unique is the inventive way he and fellow co-producers, longtime collaborator Dave O'Donnell and esteemed guitarist John Pizzarelli, approached the project: beautifully simple, stripped-down guitar arrangements based on Taylor's and Pizzarelli's skillful guitar work rather than the more traditional piano. The effect is mesmerizing.

A small sampling of the album's inspired repertoire includes James' swinging take on Walter Donaldson and George A. Whiting's "My Blue Heaven," Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner's enduring "Almost Like Being In Love," from the score of Brigadoon; Hoagy Carmichael and Ned Washington's enchanting "The Nearness of You," Frank Loesser's jaunty "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat," from the Broadway smash Guys and Dolls; Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's piercing social commentary from South Pacific, "You've Got To Be Carefully Taught," a superb reading of the Billie Holiday-Arthur Herzog Jr. classic, "God Bless The Child," and the first ever cover of a song originally featured in the 1938 Merrie Melodies cartoon Katnip Kollege, "As Easy As Rolling Off A Log." 

In a recent interview with Jane Pauley on CBS Sunday Morning, Taylor talked about his inspiration for the new album as well as his previously released audio-only memoir Break Shot. A deeply personal and authentic memoir, Break Shot illuminates the deep connection Taylor has with the songs on American Standard, and also takes listeners through the triumphs and traumas of his childhood and difficult family life.  

In addition to the new album, Taylor has announced a major US tour with special guest Jackson Browne, kicking off on May 15th at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. The tour will reach 26 cities, nationwide. The US tour follows his already announced coast to coast Canadian Tour with Bonnie Raitt. Taylor will also be returning to Fenway Park in Boston with his All-Star Band on June 21st for a special show featuring Brandi Carlile and Shawn Colvin.

New Music Releases: Errol Garner, Ivan Mamao Conti, Blue Magic

Errol Garner – Up In Errol’s Room

The eighth album of the Octave Remastered Series is here - a collection of music that is among the most important in the history of jazz. One new remastered album is being released each month through June 2020. Over the course of two sessions in November 1967, Erroll Garner and his band recorded enough material for a handful of albums. What makes this collection truly unique is the addition of a brass section, expertly orchestrated over a selection of Garner’s improvised arrangements. This style of collaboration was groundbreaking for the era and helps to make this one of the most musically thrilling of all Garner’s albums.

Ivan Mamao Conti - Katmandu featuring Jazzanova, Pablo Valentino & Eddy Ramirez Remixes

Following on from his critically acclaimed 2019 solo album Poison Fruit, Azymuth’s iconic drummer Ivan ‘Mamão’ Conti returns with ‘Katmandu’. Though it was recorded and mixed in the same sessions, ‘Katmandu’ was mysteriously omitted by Mamão from the Poison Fruit album, either accidentally or on purpose, he’s not quite sure. What is for sure is that it’s one of the most potent poison grooves of them all. The original mix, produced by Daniel Maunick, accompanies remixes from three of mainland Europe’s finest DJ/producer combos, prolific German nu-jazz collective Jazzanova, MCDE Recordings & Faces Records’ Pablo Valentino, and Croatian house veteran Eddy Ramich with assistance from Zagreb duo Jan Kinčl & Regis Kattie. This EP is the second in a series of limited edition dance 12”s celebrating 25 years of Far Out Recordings and is housed in a special sleeve which uses the label’s original semiquaver logo from 1994.

Blue Magic - Share A Dream

One of the most popular Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s, Blue Magic was originally formed in 1972 with original members Ted Mills, Vernon Sawyer, Wendell Sawyer, Keith Beaton, and Richard Pratt. Today, original members Wendell Sawyer (lead and baritone) and Keith Beaton (tenor) have added lead vocalist Ron Queen and vocalists Moe Kee and Robert “Buddy” Williams to form the strongest version of Blue Magic since the early 1980s. This version of the group pays tribute to the original sound of Blue Magic with the accent on old school ballads and smooth Philly Soul. They have gone back to the source together with legendary producer Butch Ingram to create the vibe of the original group but with new, possibly improved results. Backed by the Ingram Family band and the Society Hill Orchestra, with new material including tunes written by the Ingrams and Barbara Mason, plus a great new version of the Barbara Pennington classic "On A Crowded Street," the sound of Blue Magic is not only back - this time it's here to stay.

NEW FAR OUT SIGNING RICARDO RICHAID ANNOUNCES DEBUT ALBUM TRAVESSEIRO FELIZ

Taking inspiration from the many Brazilian greats – Caetano Veloso, Arthur Verocai, Ivan Lins, Joyce, Hermeto Pascoal, Marcos Valle and Azymuth (to name a few) – who he has worked with as an engineer, assistant and producer, Ricardo Richaid melds his tropical heritage with his love for psychedelic music, jazz and rock.

As well as being heavily influenced by Brazil’s fabled Tropicalia movement, Richaid is the grandson of Brazilian actor, singer and Disney star Aurora Miranda (Carmen Miranda’s younger sister), so tropicalism is in his blood. Describing his sound as ‘Industrial Tropicalism’, Richaid’s music is undoubtedly a product of his environment. Just like Rio, it’s warm, hazy and beautiful. But reflecting the current mood of his homeland, there’s an ominous smog looming amongst its charm. Lamenting the political, economic and ecological crisis he sees engulfing Brazil, Richaid’s obscure, poetic lyrics touch on drugs, drones and darkness, emphasizing the importance of art to bring light in troubled times.

The unconventional time signatures and sunny jazz-folk meets post-punk aesthetic are adorned by Richaid’s studio smarts. Working day to day in Rio’s top studios, he developed a comprehensive knowledge of all aspects of the recording process. But seeking autonomy and total creative independence, Richaid went on an equipment finding mission in the USA. Upon returning, he set to work building his own studio in Rio’s Gavea district and began writing the tracks that would become Travesserio Feliz. Singlehandedly composing, producing and mixing everything himself, Richaid recalls the endless nights he spent working on the album, often sleeping on the studio floor. 

Travisseiro Feliz features a host of notable names from across Rio’s music spectrum, including percussion sensation Marcos Suzano (Gilberto Gil), experimental pop artist Ana Frango Eletrico, and vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Jose Ibarra, who has been lauded for his recent performances as part of Milton Nascimento’s touring group. On interlude track ‘Formigas’ we also hear a few verses of Ricardo singing together with his 7-year-old daughter, Nina Richaid.

Living with his grandmother Aurora Miranda until the age of seventeen (who featured in Walt Disney’s Three Caballeros film, and happens to be the first human being to kiss Donald Duck… really!), young Ricardo would listen with intrigue to his father playing chromatic scales and bossa nova melodies on the saxophone; his mother’s Brazilian classical piano; or his punk rock brother slamming the drums. This eclectic musical upbringing led a teenage Ricardo to learning his trade as the bassist in a short-lived hard rock band, which disbanded when Ricardo began to dig deeper discovering the likes of Os Mutantes, King Crimson, Frank Zappa and especially the ‘Clube De Esquina’ sound pioneered by Milton Nascimento and Lo Borges. Since then, alongside engineering some of his musical heroes in Brazil, Richaid has played in bands like Mara Rúbia and nitú, from Rio’s underground experimental psych and jazz scenes.

 

Drummer Ted Poor Releases You Already Know

You Already Know, the New Deal/Impulse! debut from the acclaimed drummer Ted Poor-"a trustworthy engine in countless modern-jazz settings," per the New York Times-isn't your typical jazz drummer's recording, almost defiantly so. But if you're at all familiar with the Seattle-based Poor's explorative career-or the wide-ranging work of his principal collaborators here, the deeply influential guitarist-producer Blake Mills and the saxophonist Andrew D'Angelo-this should come as no surprise.

After all, Poor has proven equally brilliant in bands led by the visionary avant-jazz trumpeter Cuong Vu and the lauded indie singer-songwriter Andrew Bird. Whether he's on a club bandstand alongside a generation-defining improviser like the guitarist Ben Monder, or onstage at New York's historic Town Hall, backing Paul Simon as part of Chris Thile's trusted Live From Here band, Poor is a music-first drummer. His tremendous technical abilities behind the kit are inarguable-and no doubt serve him well as the Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at the University of Washington in Seattle-but he places color, texture, sound and especially melody atop chops. "The songs that I write, and certainly the songs that appear on this record, are songs you can sing," Poor says, explaining how his time in the employ of renowned singer-songwriters has informed his own composing. "These are the songs I sing to myself as well."

For that reason, the minimalist You Already Know is a supremely listenable improviser's album, with an artful crossover appeal. It's easy to imagine it existing on the same inquisitive music fan's record shelf alongside LPs by other Poor collaborators-say, the keyboardist-producer Mitchell Froom, or the singer-songwriter wunderkind Madison Cunningham, whose recent Verve Forecast release, Who Are You Now, features Poor.

Take Poor's "Only You," which boasts a loosely propulsive, almost trip-hoppy rhythm-"my beat," as Poor calls it, chuckling-and long, true streams of melody from D'Angelo. (A critic's favorite among current jazz alto saxophonists, D'Angelo is no doubt an Ornette Coleman disciple, and that influence is communicated beautifully and directly here.) "It is very repetitive; it's very simple," Poor says of "Only You." "But there is a form and attention and emotion that grows out of that. And I love how all of the details-in the way that Andrew articulates his melody, and the intricacies of the drum part-have no choice but to be vaulted to the forefront of the sound."

D'Angelo's composition "New Wonder" is another highlight among the album's nine tracks, touting a "drum melody in which the beat has a form itself," Poor explains. Again, D'Angelo's elegant delivery of an infectious melody is remarkably slippery; you don't realize how meticulous his approach is because the sheer tunefulness of his playing strikes first. "Andrew is such a dynamic player," says Poor, who met the saxophonist around 15 years ago, when both were stalwarts on New York's avant-jazz scene. "His relationship to rhythm is so personal and special."

"New Wonder" is also indicative of the stealthy sonic inventiveness that runs throughout You Already Know. During the album's sessions at Los Angeles' legendary Sound City Studios, Poor recorded D'Angelo's melody on piano via the studio's echo chamber but then removed the actual

piano sound later on; the results resembled what Poor calls a "shimmery halo" of reverb and space. One of the project's most affecting tracks, "To Rome," homes in on Poor's melodic ingenuity behind the kit (and piano), and features Andrew Bird on violin and Blake Mills on guitar. On "United," a judiciously used overdubbed string section, courtesy of Rob Moose, fleshes out the duo ambience, and that newfound orchestral dimension pushes the album closer to chamber pop or contemporary classical than to any jazz-with-strings exercise. Throughout, inspired mixing by David Boucher (Andrew Bird, Randy Newman, Pixar) and mastering by Eric Boulanger (Neil Young, Rufus Wainwright, Green Day) grant the jazz-inspired project new angles in sound that come only with adventurous rock and pop studio experience.

An invaluable part of the album's smart, streamlined design can be attributed to producer Mills, the 33-year-old polymath and an heir to super-producer-musicians like Ry Cooder and Don Was. In fact, the very existence of You Already Know belongs to Poor's relationship with Mills. The two met and clicked in 2014, during the sessions for Bird's album Are You Serious, and began hanging out and playing together whenever Poor would visit Los Angeles. During one of those hangs, Poor played some working recordings of his duets with D'Angelo, and Mills was thrilled by them. The inception of New Deal, Mills' own imprint through Verve/Universal Music, set the wheels in motion.

"I was really appreciative of how reserved Blake was in his choices as a producer," Poor says. "There would often be times where I wanted to do more and more, or leave an element in longer, such as the strings or the piano. And Blake was very conscious of keeping the ear's focus on the main two instruments, and to get in and out as quickly as possible with the other stuff."

In some fashion, You Already Know is no different than the many gorgeous folk- and Americana-tinged singer-songwriter albums Mills has helmed. It's a folk album, but "not the genre of folk," Poor says. "It's more the idea of music as oral tradition-music as song."

New Music Releases: Maysa (feat. Chris Davis, Phil Perry, and Kim Waters), M'Lynn, Torben Westergaard

Maysa (feat. Chris Davis, Phil Perry, and Kim Waters) - It's Gonna Be Alright

Celebrating an incredible quarter century of sultry, soulful hit making as a solo artist, Maysa delivers a crucial message of uplift and optimism for this new decade on her latest single “It’s Gonna Be Alright.” Over a dreamy-cool, old school atmospheric arrangement fashioned by producer Chris “Big Dog” Davis, the iconic R&B/jazz singer brings ample bursts of sunshine and hop while vibing beautifully with her male vocal equivalent Phil Perry and emotionally charged  saxophonist Kim Waters. Ideal for relaxing your mind, body and spirit while creating, meditating or romancing, the Barbara Perry penned track is  the second release of a series of songs from Maysa’s upcoming EP Music For Your Soul. A modern day mantra for the new year and new decade! ~ smoothjazz.com

M'Lynn - Grounding

Establishing herself as a powerful new presence on the urban vocal side of Smooth Jazz with her previous singles “T.F.I.L.” and “Paralyzed,” jazz, blues and soul influenced vocalist M’Lynn shares an important message to the recently broken-hearted on her seductive and dreamy ballad “Just Take Time.” Originally appearing on her debut EP Grounding, the track was chosen the No. 2 Best Soul Song of 2018 by UK radio personality Franklin Sinclair of Mi-Soul Connoisseurs. While imparting wisdom to take things slow so that we can more effectively regroup and move on, she shares her silky, intimate vocal charms (think a contemporary version of Sade or Norah Jones) and colorful scat over a lush musical bed caressed with simmering horns and gospel-blues organ textures. ~ smoothjazz.com 

Torben Westergaard - The Gori Project

Coming just after the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Denmark and South Korea, The Gori Project brings together 2 renowned traditional South Korean musicians with 3 of Denmark’s most established jazz performers. Led by Danish bassist & composer Torben Westergaard, the album fuses together two diverse sets of instruments, styles, harmonies & melodies into a new cultural expression. “I’m fascinated by how we can use music in a wider perspective and in a more mindful way. How creativity and creation springs from the present moment and how to best facilitate that” – Torben Westergaard. Marking his 13th album as a bandleader, Westergard’s electric bass grooves and atmospheric synth lays the foundation, alongside two very different percussionists; the driving jazz-pop-sensibilities of Jacob Andersen and that of Byunggil Choi, specialist traditional Korean music. These three voices underpin the shimming, filmic lines of Nordic trumpeter René Damsbak and the traditional zither-like gayagum playing from Eunhee Choi. The result: a deeply intriguing set of music which seems to effortlessly mix and meld the two styles and make it its own. www.torbenwestergaard.com /  facebook.com/torbenwestergaard

New York-Based Guitarist Alex Goodman Presents a Vividly Evocative Double Album, Impressions in Blue

Toronto-born, New York City-based guitarist Alex Goodman has the gift of synesthesia, his mind keenly associating various sounds with particular colors. With the vivid double album Impressions in Blue and Red – to be released on CD and digitally via Outside In Music on March 13, 2020 – he explores this uncommon facility in depth. Goodman fronts two distinct quartets, each especially attuned to its material: The “blue” disc sets the leader alongside Ben Van Gelder (alto saxophone), Martin Nevin (double-bass) and Jimmy Macbride (drums); the “red” disc features the guitarist with Alex LoRe (alto sax), Rick Rosato (double-bass) and Mark Ferber (drums). 

In addition to 15 evocative originals by Goodman, the album includes interpretations of Herbie Hancock’s “Toys” and the slow movement from a Baroque sonata by Johann Rosenmüller. Capping each disc is Goodman playing an impromptu solo version of a standard: “I’ll Never Be the Same” (Malneck/Signorelli & Kahn) on the “blue” disc and “If I Loved You” (Rodgers & Hammerstein) on the “red.” Impressions in Blue and Red is Goodman’s seventh album as a leader or co-leader, and his productivity in the studio has also included appearances on records by such notable peers as Remy Le Boeuf and Manuel Valera, as well as Mareike Wiening’s much-praised new Greenleaf release, Metropolis Paradise. That’s not to mention the guitarist’s performances as a sideman around New York with the likes of the Grammy-nominated Terraza Big Band, Lucas Pino Nonet, Roxy Coss Quintet and Mimi Jones. According to New York City Jazz Record, Goodman is a musician of “dazzlingly improvisational dexterity and engagingly smart composition.” 

Reflecting on color and its associative powers for him, Goodman spent much time reading and in museums, investigating the way visual artists – from the Renaissance era to Van Gogh and Picasso – have used color and its shades to expressive ends, eliciting a range of emotions in a viewer. On the album package, he quotes such figures as Goethe (who characterizes blue as “a stimulating negation… a kind of contradiction between excitement and repose”) and Wassily Kandinsky (who describes red as “ringing inwardly with determined intensity – it glows in itself”), as well as the philosopher/psychologist and aesthetician John Dewey, who said: “If all meaning could be adequately expressed by words, then the arts of music and painting would not exist. There are values and meanings that can be expressed only by immediately visible and audible qualities, and to ask what they mean in the sense of something that can be put into words is to deny their distinctive existence.” 

Goodman says: “What I like about that John Dewey quote is that it sums up how difficult it can be to capture in words the way music or painting – and their colors – can make you feel. I know it’s difficult for me. Music goes beyond language, certainly, and the way I associate color with music isn’t really something that I can explain – it’s based in mood, in feel. And that intuitive feel is the catalyst for the way I composed the music for Impressions in Blue and Red. The same goes for the interpretive material on the album. On the ‘red’ disc, for instance, the Rosenmüller piece’s Baroque harmony feels like a darker red to me, while Herbie Hancock’s ‘Toys,’ from his Speak Like a Child LP, implies a brighter tone.” 

Goodman’s coloristic associations extended to his choice of musicians for the album. “The players that I chose for each of the bands on the record was also an intuitive thing, but a strong one,” he says. “I associated the sound and personality of each musician with either blue or red.” For eight of the tracks on Impressions in Blue and Red, there are extended improvised intros, two by Goodman and one for each of his bandmates in turn. “Those intros were something that I incorporated as a way for each musician to reveal their expressive voices more fully, but I also think they heighten the flow of the album.” As a conceptual double-album, Impressions in Blue and Red stands out as Goodman’s most ambitious recording to date. “I conceived the two discs of Impressions in Blue and Red to be coherently of a piece both internally and in relation to each other,” he says. “Although each half has dominant associations with the corresponding colors, the two are meant to complement each other through not only their differences but also, at points, their similarities.”

Born in 1987 and raised in Toronto, Goodman has resided since 2012 in New York City, where he earned a Master’s degree in jazz performance from the Manhattan School of Music. In his time on the New York scene, he has played at all the city’s top jazz clubs, including the Jazz Standard, Smalls and Jazz Gallery, as well as at such venues as Lincoln Center and National Sawdust. The guitarist has also performed at Massey Hall in Toronto and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as well as at such festivals as Winter Jazz Fest in New York, the Montreux Jazz Festival and Montreal International Jazz Festival and further afield in China, Ukraine and Bulgaria. Goodman’s quintet LP Bridges, released in 2011, was nominated for a Juno Award, Canada’s top recording honor, as the year’s best contemporary jazz album. In 2014, he won both First Prize and the Public’s Choice Award at the Montreux Jazz Festival International Guitar Competition.                 

In addition to his seven albums as leader or co-leader, Goodman is featured on recordings with such artists as John Patitucci, Dick Oatts, Joel Frahm, and Rich Perry. In addition to having performed with musicians like Charles Lloyd, Eric Harland and Ari Hoenig, the guitarist plays regularly in ensembles led by Manuel Valera, Lucas Pino, Martina DaSilva, Roxy Coss and Remy Le Boeuf, among others. Goodman has won an ASCAP Herb Albert Jazz Composer Award, and he has composed and recorded a book of solo guitar etudes, along with writing scores for jazz and chamber groups, orchestra, big band and string quintet.

alexgoodmanmusic.com                     

facebook.com/alexgoodmanjazz     

instagram.com/agoodmanjazz         

twitter.com/agoodmanjazz

Laila Biali's album Out of Dust

The last few years have been a roller-coaster for Laila Biali.

For nearly every major triumph-a highly acclaimed return to jazz, winning the JUNO Award for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year, touring the world-the singer-songwriter has faced private debilitating crises. In just a few short years, Biali lost a close friend to cancer, mourned a family member's suicide, and was diagnosed with two auto-immune disorders that threatened to upend her career. It was a period of change and heartache-but it was also a season of great inspiration and hope. The result is Biali's deeply personal new album, Out of Dust.

"These new songs took shape as I processed my own feelings of doubt and loss," Biali reveals. "I believe that nothing is wasted, that even life's greatest challenges can produce something meaningful, even if only to make us more aware of and empathetic to the struggles of those around us."

This hard-won optimism is apparent in the music. Instead of giving into the darkness, Out of Dustfinds Biali luxuriating in the light she found at the end of the tunnel. Co-produced by Biali and her husband, Ben Wittman, the album is a celebration of life; warm and uplifting even as it confronts her recent challenges (and the current political climate!) head-on.

The political is personal on the brassy album opener, "Revival." Transforming global tumult into an inspiring call-to-arms, she sings with the clear-eyed confidence of a warrior, "There's a fire underground / C'mon on down." This fervor animates the entire album, even its quieter, more personal moments: "Wendy's Song," a piano ballad dedicated to the friend she lost to cancer, turns the details of a single life into a powerful epic; "Glass House," which she wrote with her husband, frankly addresses the after-effects of a family member's suicide; "Take the Day Off," a lullaby written with her nine-year-old son, bluntly acknowledges the reality of healing with Biali singing that it's OK to "pull the sheets over your head" and "unwind" when you need to.

In addition to contributions from Biali's husband and son, Out of Dustfeatures multiple GRAMMY nominees and winners including Lisa Fisher, Alan Ferber, John Ellis, and Larnell Lewis.

"There's a line from a song by the indie gospel group, Gungor, that has become like an anthem to me," Biali says. "‘He makes beautiful things out of dust.' That's where the title for the album comes from, and as a songwriter and musician, my ultimate intention and hope is to spread a little more love."

Laila Biali's album Out of Dust will be released Friday, March 27, 2020.

 

Tanika Charles nominated for 2020 Juno Awards

Tanika Charles' sophomore album “The Gumption”, released last May 10th on Record Kicks, has been nominated for the 2020 Juno Awards - Canadian equivalent to the Grammy Awards - in the R&B/soul recording of the year category.

Amongst this year's candidates there are renowned artists such as Alessia Cara, The Weeknd and Shawn Mendes. This is not the first nomination for Tanika at the Juno Awards: she was selected in 2017 as well with her debut album "Soul Run". The ceremony will take place on March 15th.

With roots in Trinidad & Tobago, Edmonton raised Miss Charles has transformed from an emerging solo artist to a commanding performer and bandleader, a staple in the Canadian soul scene. Since emerging on the international scene with her first album "Soul Run", Tanika Charles has revealed herself to be one of the best kept secrets in soul music.

After the success of her debut album “Soul Run”, which brought her a Polaris Music Prize and a Juno Awards nomination vs The Weekend, “The Gumption” is the sophomore album by Toronto-based soul artist Tanika Charles. Greeted with enthusiasm by the press and largely supported by radios such as KCRW as “Best New Music”, KEXP, Radio France’s FIP and Craig Charles on his BBC Radio 2 and Radio 6 shows, “The Gumption” appears in the “15 Albums You Need To Hear” of CBC Network and earned her the first cover on the historical Blues & Soul Magazine.