Pianist Yaniv Taubenhouse Releases MOMENTS IN TRIO VOLUME THREE – ROADS

Pianist and composer Yaniv Taubenhouse once again assembles his mighty trio, going on seven years of creating music together, of Rick Rosato on bass and Jerad Lippi on drums, to craft their third tour-de-force, Moments in Trio Volume Three – Roads (available on April 9, 2021 on Fresh Sound/New Talent). The trio’s camaraderie and solidarity is unmistakable and saturates their work together. In the face of the long, storied history of the piano trio in jazz, Taubenhouse, Rosato and Lippi endeavor, and succeed, in finding new roads on their creative journey.  

Moments in Trio Volume Three: Roads is comprised of music influenced by the many crossroads we face in life, and in music, the effect of the choices we make, and the journey we find ourselves on with each decision, both monumental and mundane. Taubenhouse elaborates that, “although we think we might know which path to follow to a specific destination, we often end up in a completely different place, and the artist's goal or vision is continually shaped by his/her experiences along the way. It is crucial for artists to stay focused on their vision, but also to remember that the magic often happens when least expected and one should remain open and receptive to those moments when they arrive. In music, the magic happens between the notes and in jazz, especially in a trio, it’s the subtext of the conversation between the three musicians that creates those special moments. If the road is the musical journey, then perhaps the song is the vehicle that transports us. Or if the song is the road, then the musical instruments might be the vehicle. It’s really up to the imagination to decide but either way, there are no journeys without roads and without journeys the roads would be empty. As we move forward on our path, the contour of our journey is revealed, and the map of our unique path unravels.” 

When Taubenhouse formed this trio (about seven years ago), there was already a strong connection both musically and personally, and it was very humbling and inspiring for Taubenhouse to see how this connection has been gaining strength over the years. He explains, “as our friendship grows, it only solidifies our musical connection and brings more trust and creativity on the bandstand. When I compose new music for this trio, I have Rick and Jerad’s sounds in mind, and when we get together to play new material for the first time, I prefer not saying too much, but rather letting the guys bring their own personalities and ideas to the music. It’s very important to me that each member of the trio will be able to find their own space within the material and that a musical vision will be developed collectively (even if I am the one who wrote that particular composition or arrangement). Both Rick and Jerad are incredibly musical and great listeners and when we play together there’s always a sense that at any given moment each one of us can come up with a musical idea/direction and the other two will be there to listen and interact. This keeps the music fresh and every time we play together it’s a new journey. In addition to being amazing musicians, Rick and Jerad are truly good human beings. The human aspect is so important when playing with the same guys over a long period of time and when guys are on the same page on a personal level, it only helps elevating the music.”  

CHANGUI - The Sound of Guantanamo

In Guantánamo, changüí means party. The very word changüí is derived from the Congolese word for party and it’s easy to hear why: This living musical tradition is a joyful bundle of hooks, riffs and foot-stomping choruses played for the sole purpose of celebration, togetherness and inclusivity. CHANGÜÍ - The Sound Of Guantánamo, a 3-CD box set from Petaluma Records, is the first comprehensive collection of changüí music and intimate photographs, bringing a rarely documented living culture and its people out from the shadows.

It has been stated many times, that Cuban culture starts East and moves West, and Guantánamo Province is just about as far East as you can go. This area is the source of much of the Cuban music we’re familiar with. 

Independent producer and music journalist Gianluca Tramontana, whose roots music expertise has been featured in numerous pieces for MOJO Magazine, Rolling Stone, NPR and BBC, has been visiting Cuba since the 1990s. On one trip in 2017 to the Guantánamo Province, he observed that of the precious little documentation there is of changüí, almost nothing had been recorded on location in the countryside or villages where the music continues to be performed, danced to, and enjoyed to this day. Through 2019, Tramontana spent several months in this area of Cuba that's mostly known for its geo-political issues and immersed himself in a largely overlooked 150-plus year-old culture of rural, riff-based, mostly improvised music. He traveled around Guantánamo capturing the music of changüiseros from the mountainous areas of Yateras, where changüí is said to have been born, to Guantánamo City, where it drifted in from the mountains in the early 1900s.  

Back in New York, Tramontana shared some of the recordings with an old friend and colleague, four-time GRAMMY® Award-winning producer Steve Rosenthal. Rosenthal, known for his archival and restoration work of Alan Lomax, Woody Guthrie and Les Paul, immediately recognized that Tramontana’s digital recordings were special — that they managed to capture the energy and excitement of the festivities happening in areas of the country not often explored. “Gianluca spent months in the countryside getting to know the people of the Guantánamo province,” producer Rosenthal points out, “so the musicians were completely at ease. We’re listening to a real snapshot of a unique gathering which makes any listener feel like they’re actually there.”

With support from Petaluma Records, mix engineer Ed McEntee and three-time GRAMMY® Award-winning mastering engineer Michael Graves worked with Rosenthal and Tramontana to complete the production of this 50 track, 3 CD collection, curated from well over 200 recordings made in Guantánamo. GRAMMY® Award-winning graphic designer Barb Bersche created the physical design and layout for the packaging and the extensive booklet that accompanies this extraordinary box set, CHANGÜÍ - The Sound Of Guantánamo.

Mike Freedman - Into The Daybreak

Into The Daybreak is guitarist Mike Freedman’s debut album as a bandleader. Inspired by 30 years of experience on the Toronto music scene, months of extensive touring in the US and Europe, and  collaborations with the likes of Tia Brazda, Barbra Lica, Steven Taetz, and The Willows, Freedman was ready to strike out on his own with his first solo statement, channelling all of his creative energies into his original music.

The album features nine of Freedman’s   compositions, which blend his love for many disparate styles of music, ranging from jazz and blues, to latin and ambient music. These nine contrasting and colourful tunes glimmer with inspired, vibrant performances. A strong melodic thread runs through these songs, displaying a depth and feel that are both natural and very memorable.

With assistance from Grammy nominated engineer Jeremy Darby and his masterful mixing and recording capabilities, Freedman was able to capture a clear snapshot of this top notch band in action: this session is a musical masterclass, full of catchy melodies, beautiful solos, and heartfelt ensemble playing. Into The Daybreak is a highly listenable album, driven by stellar performances and polished production. Freedman maintains a balance of accessibility and originality with this gem of a record, shining brightly into the year 2021.

Dan McCarthy - A Place Where We Once Lived

Recorded in Brooklyn, NY the day before permanently returning to Toronto, Dan gathered with two of the most in-demand improvisatory musicians in New York to present an introspective look at his 15 years living in the jazz Mecca of the world.

“A Place Where We Once Lived” is a reflective and brooding collection of eight impressionistic original compositions, three “short stories” which act as interludes, and one cover of the beautiful Steve Swallow piece “I’m Your Pal."  Though each musician is accomplished individually, the result of this recording is certainly greater than the sum of its parts, and exemplifies the definition of musical unity.

Dan McCarthy is a Canadian jazz vibraphonist based in Toronto. After graduating top of his class from the prestigious jazz program at Humber College, he moved to New York City in 2004, giving him the chance to play and record with some of the top jazz musicians in the world, such as George Garzone, Myron Walden, Ari Hoenig, and Gerald Cleaver.  In March 2019, Dan’s first major-label release “Epoch” came out on Origin Records. The record features jazz icon Steve Swallow on bass, as well as giants Ben Monder on guitar and Mark Feldman on violin. It received glowing international reviews.

Al Muirhead Quintet - Live From Frankie's & The Yardbird

The first recording trumpeter Al Muirhead was ever involved in was recorded in 1953. He was 18 years old, playing in a small dance band at the Waterton Lakes Dance Hall. A gentleman at the venue had just purchased a new direct to disc recording unit, and wanted to record the band live.

Al still treasures that live recording experience to this day. Now here we are, 67 years later, as Muirhead releases his first vinyl LP as a bandleader - recorded live to disc at two of Canada’s finest jazz clubs. As Al recalls, LP's were his preferred way to listen to music in his younger days, and he is happy to see them gaining in popularity again.

After such a long and storied career, it was high time to capture Muirhead’s playing - and the music he loves - live in concert. The idea was to plan a setlist of jazz standards ahead of time, while also allowing for organic, real-time improvisation and in-the-moment decision making - after all, some of jazz history’s best performances have been spontaneous, single takes! And with his 2020 JUNO-nominated quintet on hand, the sessions were sure to include some magical moments.

This recording project speaks to the concept of legacy. It captures the organic nature of live jazz, where each performance is unique from one night to the next. This is an in-the-moment recording that couldn’t be replicated, quite different than a produced studio recording. There is no option for overdubs or retakes here. It’s a pure representation of the musicianship that Al and his bandmates have brought to the Canadian cultural landscape for so many years. What you are hearing on this recording is the result of two evenings from that 2018 tour at the Yardbird Suite in Edmonton, Alberta  and at Frankie’s Jazz Club in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Roots Trio DELGRES New Album "4:00 AM"; Fuses Gritty Blues Rock with Afro-Caribbean and New Orleans Spirit

The music in 4:00 AM, the new recording by the Paris-based power roots trio Delgres, sounds gritty and full of energy. It's a brand of Creole blues built on strands of African and French Caribbean culture, Mississippi blues storytelling, and New Orleans grooves. The lyrics, sung mostly in Creole, address issues such as poverty, slavery, and the struggles of the immigrant searching for a better life. It's a powerful combination that conjures the spirit of the blues to speak up, but also celebrate and heal. 

"The blues is not sad music," says singer, songwriter, and guitarist Pascal Danae, the founder, and leader of Delgres. "They might be talking about terrible conditions, about terrible losses, but the bottom line is hope." 

4:00 AM, scheduled for release April 9 on [PIAS] Records, is the follow-up to the trio's potent 2018 debut release Mo Jodi (I’ll Die Today), and its music and themes, says Danae, are a reaffirmation of the group's origins. 

"It is linked to the name of the band," explains Danae, whose ancestors were slaves on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. The trio is named after Louis Delgrès, a Creole officer in the French Army who died in Guadeloupe in 1802, fighting against Napoleon's army, which had been sent to reinstate slavery in the French Caribbean. "Here's a guy who actually decided to give his life rather than go back to slavery. Once you have that in the background, you understand the themes in the songs. Our first album was linked to what Louis Delgrès did in his fight for freedom. Now in this second album, it's about our times."

New Release from Pino Palladino, Blake Mills "Ekuté"

Initially conceived as a solo record for Palladino, Notes With Attachments quickly evolved into a fully collaborative work centered around the two artists’ love for experimentation. “Ekuté” follows debut single “Just Wrong,” which Stereogum praised as “a warm, hazy jazz instrumental that takes its time and gives Palladino’s bass plenty of room to move” and Aquarium Drunkard called “the sort of song that tempts you to restart it before it even finishes,” along with live recordings of “Just Wrong” and “Man from Molise.”

Palladino notes that “Ekuté” began as an idea he had at home in London with drummer Chris Dave, a fellow “huge fan” of Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. “It just came from a one-chord jam that I liked the feel of,” he says. “The next thing we did on it was in New York, with Ben Kane, an engineer friend of mine who worked on some of D’Angelo’s stuff. We had Marcus Strickland come in, who had the idea for that multitracked bass-clarinet horn section.”

Not long after, Palladino invited Mills to add something to the track. The experience was Mills’ first encounter with Palladino’s original music and a seed that led to their collaboration on Notes with Attachments. “It was eye-opening to hear something that was repetitive, but still had so many different [directions] that it went in,” says Mills. “It was kind of a revelation, to work on the song on those terms.” That process touches every song on the record, which typically began with Palladino’s own melodic and rhythmic language and developed outward with references shared by the two musicians from West African and Cuban music, funk, jazz, and English folk.

Recorded in stages over two and a half years, Notes With Attachments brings together a preeminent group of musicians from the worlds of jazz, R&B, pop, and beyond: the drummer Chris Dave (D’Angelo, Anderson .Paak); the innovative saxophonists Sam Gendel, Marcus Strickland, and Jacques Schwartz-Bart; the keyboardist Larry Goldings (James Taylor, John Scofield); and others. It is both a producers’ album and a players’ album, exploring bits of musical vocabulary common to the two musicians, then defamiliarizing them.

Two-time Grammy Awards Producer of the Year nominee Blake Mills has released four solo albums and produced and recorded with artists such as Alabama Shakes, Fiona Apple, Bob Dylan, John Legend, Perfume Genius, Jim James, Moses Sumney, Laura Marling, Phoebe Bridgers, Cass McCombs, The Killers, Sara Bareilles, Weyes Blood and Randy Newman. His most recent album Mutable Set, released last year, was praised by Pitchfork as “a hushed collection that floats through the subconscious like a tender dream” and earned their Best New Music title.

Pino Palladino is a Grammy Award winning songwriter, producer and bassist who helped create the rhythm-section sound of D’Angelo’s Voodoo and Black Messiah, and over a four-decade career has worked with artists including Keith Richards, Erykah Badu, Eric Clapton, Nine Inch Nails, Questlove, John Mayer, Paul Simon, Jeff Beck, Herbie Hancock and Adele.

Dan Wilson | "Vessels of Wood and Earth"

In today’s society, perception over reality influences everyday life. Grand offerings of seemingly luxurious lifestyles flood social channels, offering a glimpse of false security and achievement that rarely lie on a strong foundation. Just as a beautiful house is finished with vessels of silver and gold, underneath lies wood and earth. 

On his marvelous new album, Vessels of Wood and Earth, guitarist/composer Dan Wilson takes the title to mean that we as a society tend to look at the shiny exteriors that attract us in an instant, rather than appreciate the less readily apparent structures that actually support the house. Through 11 joyfully dynamic compositions ranging from takes on classic songs from Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and Ted Daffan mixed with a nod to the spiritual master John Coltrane as well as five original compositions, Wilson builds a foundation rooted as much in tradition as it is in moving the music irresistibly forward into the modern world. 

That structural integrity was front of mind when Wilson set out to craft his label debut for bassist/composer Christian McBride’s new imprint Brother Mister Productions — the label’s second release. “In 2014, I was Artist-in-Residence at the Tri-C Jazz Festival in Cleveland, Ohio,” reflects McBride. “I was involved in numerous performances and outreach events over the course of maybe four days. Terri Pontremoli, Director of the festival, has been one of my closest confidants and collaborators over the course of 20-plus years. One thing she had never done during the course of our friendship was the old, ‘I got someone you need to hear’ bit. For that reason, when she did it that year, I was quite surprised. The person she wanted me to hear was guitarist Dan Wilson. When I got to Mahall's that night and heard him playing solo guitar, I was quite impressed. He was coming straight from that Montgomery, Benson, Burrell, and Martino bag that Terri knew I would like. After it was over, I knew that I'd just met someone I should have met a long time before. Dan Wilson is an absolute monster! He has an enviable technique that comes so seemingly easy to him and his pocket is very deep. Now it's my honor to introduce you to him as a Brother Mister artist. In the words of Terri, ‘I got someone you need to hear.’” 

Joined by pianist Christian Sands, bassist Marco Panascia, drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts and guest vocalist Joy Brown, the virtuosic guitarist’s broad musical roots inspired by Motown, gospel and jazz tradition result in a remarkable feel for arrangements. Wilson’s musical explorations allow the band to elevate each passage, aided by his fluid and melodic expression. 

Due out April 23, the vividly expressionist recording finds Wilson in the purest of creative strides. “I try to elicit the same kind of visceral response to the music that I get in my gut while making it,” comments Wilson. “I want to convey the joy I get out of making the music.” That joy is deeply rooted in his musical beginnings in the church community, where he was quickly immersed in the rich gospel tradition. But at home, he was exposed to a wealth of music from his father, who played drums and bass, and his mother, a gifted singer. 

“My parents loved Motown,” states Wilson. “My father only played at church, never at home, but my mother’s influence on me was amplified by her knowledge of standards and incredible memory for recalling lyrics and God-given natural talents as a singer.” Wilson’s parents exposed him to the great singers like Dinah Washington, Gloria Lynn, Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald, which he credits for his arioso approach to solos.  

This strong sense of familial leadership continued when Wilson’s uncle introduced him to the world of jazz through the music of Wes Montgomery and his duets with jazz organist Jimmy Smith. “I was maybe 14 or 15,” Wilson reflects, “and my uncle took me into his basement and played me Wes and Jimmy and I was like, ‘Oh, this is it for me. I want to do that! I just want to do that forever.” 

Wilson’s career took him on an exploratory journey into those foundations laid down by the guitar/organ tradition, eventually leading to an invitation to perform with jazz great Joey DeFrancesco’s quartet with which Wilson went on to earn a GRAMMY® Award nomination for DeFrancesco’s Project Freedom album (Mack Avenue Records, 2017). This collaboration allowed the guitarist to insert his own dialect into the musical prowess and respect that DeFrancesco had earned throughout his journey. Wilson had been playing with DeFrancesco for a few years when he met bassist, composer, arranger, Christian McBride. “It was just like the first time I met Joey – magic. We played three tunes and from note one, it was like ‘Yeah, we were born to play together.’” From there, Wilson went on to tour with McBride’s trio Tip City, eventually leading McBride to serve as producer on Vessels of Wood and Earth and release the album on his newly formed imprint Brother Mister Productions through Mack Avenue Music Group. 

“He’s the same as a producer as he is as a person – what you see is what you get,” laughs Wilson. “Christian understands what it means to be both a band leader and sideman, so he’s got that unique musical perspective. I’m grateful to experience both the shock and the honor of being on Christian’s label.”

Growing up in Akron, Ohio, Dan Wilson spent the majority of his youth within the church community, where his musical path began. Traces of his major guitar influences – including Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian, Joe Pass, and George Benson to name a few – can be discerned through his playing, but his musical identity has been shaped by everything from gospel and blues to traditional jazz, hip-hop and horn players like Sonny Rollins and Joe Henderson. After graduating from Hiram College, Wilson made his recording debut with pianist Joe McBride and performed to worldwide acclaim with Joey DeFrancesco and Christian McBride’s Tip City, eventually recording his debut as a leader To Whom It May Concern. Wilson has had the honor of sharing the stage with jazz greats including Eric Marienthal, Russell Malone, Les McCann, René Marie, Jeff Hamilton, David Sanborn and Dave Stryker. He also teaches jazz guitar and music theory through private lessons.

Benito Gonzalez | "Sing to the World"

With propulsive pulse and Afro-Latin percussive drive, Benito Gonzalez places rhythm at the core of his exhilarating new album, Sing to the World, set for a May 14 release. All of the ten songs on his fifth album, and first released on the St. Petersburg, Russia label Rainy Days Records, combine to create a sense of wonder and enchantment as Gonzalez takes a stellar step into the future of his jazz journey. He’s assembled an impressive team of collaborators, including Christian McBride, Essiet Okon Essiet, Jeff “Tain” Watts, and Nicholas Payton as well as rising stars Russian drummer Sasha Mashin, trumpeter Josh Evans and saxophonist Makar Kashitsyn.

Sing to The World is a musical exploration into the concept of freedom that recognizes the dignity of us all as individuals. Music is the most powerful tool we have to make a change in the world, uniting as one outside of cultural or religious differences. We are living in a world where all are searching for freedom because its inherently valuable role in human progress. Sing to the World is about this universal search for freedom, about being present, being aware, and trying to allow the moment to come to us. 

The title track of Sing to the World, with its harmonic invention and pianistic power, is influenced by two McCoy Tyner tunes, “Fly with the Wind” and “Song of the New World.” “McCoy played with so much energy and with such a depth of harmony. If you hear that kind of harmony, you can push the music to its limit. It’s open to infinity. That’s my concept for the whole album—play with openness and trust. That’s what I want to give to the world,” says Gonzalez.  

As for enlisting jazz powerhouses in the new album, Gonzalez says McBride and Watts embrace the rhythmic core. “They hear the way I perceive the music. They understand where I’m coming from and execute brilliantly. I like strong beats rooted in Africa which is where my father’s ancestors came from. I like it when people dance to this music. Tain and Christian come from the same place. You can hear the dance beats when they play,” says Gonzalez. "The African sensibility and relationship with the drums has usually permeated the best of jazz and American music. Benito embraces that language as part of his commitment to the spiritual, healing part of the music. As a drummer, it's really fun to play with and bounce off of, in order to get to a vibration that's vital and always in style." explains Watts. 

As for bringing Payton on board, Gonzalez says, “Nicholas is the best trumpet player today, and I thought he would be a great addition for my album giving his direction in the music,” says Gonzalez.  

Highlights on Sing to the World include Gonzalez’s dazzle of keys on “Sounds of Freedom” which he says is inspired by “the troubling situations in our world today. People are looking for freedom in places like my home Venezuela, in Russia, the U.S. People are searching, fighting for freedom,” says Gonzalez. 

Others include “Views of the Blues,” an energized outing inspired by Coltrane’s open-sound sensibility of playing the blues, and the moving, lyrical “Offering,” featuring a terrific McBride solo. “When I was seven years old in Venezuela, I played the organ at church. I was playing beautiful melodies. This song is based on that. It’s not a hymn but a reminder of the hymns I played as a kid. It’s a story. It’s my interpretation of that period in my life,” says Gonzalez. 

In addition to his slow-to-upbeat originals, Gonzalez adds to the set list two compositions that have never been recorded by their composers: Roy Hargrove’s soulful “Father”and Jeff “Tain” Watt’s beauty “412.” Benito singles out ”Father” as one of his favorite songs on the album. “It’s about my personal relationship to Roy. In 2006, we attended jam sessions every Thursday night. He sat down at the piano one night and taught me the changes to this song. We played it often, but he never recorded it” he says.  

As for the Tain tune, Gonzalez learned it when the two were both teaching summer jazz camp at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC ). "Having known Benito for years, it's been a pleasure to witness both his growth, and his love and respect for the music in notes and spirit. His seriousness and focus were apparent years ago in the young man I'd chat with during trips; always friendly and seeking, never pushy. I'm proud to see him today as a bright light and leader in the music" says Watts. “I was messing around on the piano one day, and Tain gave me the chart. I’ve always loved this ballad. He’s played it on occasion but never recorded it,” says Gonzalez about “412.” 

What’s impressive about Gonzalez is that he’s not willing to sit still for too long. He’s already got future projects in mind. Recently named a Steinway & Sons artist in 2020, emerging piano talent Benito Gonzalez continues to reveals himself as an inspired and versatile artist on his fifth album, Sing to the World. 

Benito Gonzalez was born in Maracaibo, Venezuela to folk musician parents who played traditional Venezuelan music. It became embedded in their son’s rhythmic sensibility. As a youngster Gonzalez played the guitar, drums and organ at church. It wasn’t until someone gave him a cassette of John Coltrane’s Afro Blue that he discovered Tyner and decided to become a pianist. “I knew I couldn’t play like that, but I identified with him. I started studying hard. I went to college, but I quit because of the music. I practiced for endless hours—10 to 12 hours a day,” says Gonzales. 

When Gonzalez moved from his hometown to the national capital Caracas, he tuned into the only local radio station for jazz and discovered the music of Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett, among others. But he also plunged into his country’s unique music styles. He played with master musicians like Jose Velasquez who was the bass player for the legendary pianist Aldemaro Romero—who contributing to increased visibility of innovative Venezuelan music on the international scene with the onda nueva (new wave) rhythm derived from joropo and bossa nova. 

Gonzalez made his way to U.S. by a serendipitous route when an American cultural ambassador caught one of his trio gigs and later invited him to come to Washington, D.C. to play shows with Ghanaian master drummer Okyerema Asante that led to a recording. “After my first six months here, I decided to stay in this country to learn the music right. I was seeing shows by McCoy, Bruce Barth and Gonzalo Rubalcaba and others and falling in love with jazz on a whole new level,” Gonzalez says. 

Gonzalez went on to play with Jackie McLean in 2003, then joined Kenny Garrett’s quartet for seven years until 2013—during which time he garnered two GRAMMY®-Award band nominations for the saxophonist’s albums Seeds from the Underground and Pushing the World Away. During this time Gonzalez started recording his own albums, including Starting Point (2004) and Circles (2010), then continuing his solo career with Dream Rhapsody (2015) with Slavic flutist/vocalist Sisa Michalidesová, and the Tyner project Passion Reverence Transcendence (2018). After his stint with Garrett, he played with saxophonist Azar Lawrence’s band then in 2019 was enlisted by saxophone legend Pharoah Sanders to be his pianist/musical director.

Robert Walter 'Spirit Of '70' To Be Reissued

Robert Walter has announced his long out-of-print 1996 debut album 'Spirit of '70' will be reissued May 7 on limited edition 180-gram, purple smoke vinyl and digital formats via RPF Records. At the time of its recording, the eight-track LP, that JazzTimes called "can't miss funk," was the second edition in a planned series of solo albums by individual members of The Greyboy Allstars—the band Walter co-founded, and 27 years later continues to play keys, alongside saxophonist Karl Denson, guitarist Elgin Park, bassist Chris Stillwell and drummer Zak Najor. The concept for the solo recordings was to emulate the rotating personnel of the Blue Note and Prestige labels where a core cast of musicians would take turns as a leader, while drawing on the others as sidemen. The idea was further expanded by inviting a guest from the previous generation that had been influential to The Greyboy Allstars' sound to record with them. For 'Spirit Of '70,' legendary saxophonist Gary Bartz joined the line-up.

"We loved the 'Harlem Bush Music' albums by Gary Bartz," says Walter. "Somehow the idea became to have Gary on the next record, which would be mine to lead. He was a hero for us because of his lucid improvisations, deep connection to blues and heavy spiritual vibe. My contributions to The Greyboy Allstars at the time had been tending more strange and meditative, so it seemed like a great fit."

The sessions took place over a few days in producer DJ Greyboy's living room turned studio. Recording in a non-traditional space helped to create a relaxed atmosphere and forced Walter and company to play closely together without much isolation. You can hear the front door open at the beginning of "Impervious" by someone unaware that a take had begun. Elgin Park's guitar on the album was recorded through a Caliphone portable record player instead of an amplifier. Aside from instruments and recording gear, the house was filled with mid-century furniture and thousands of records. The cover photos were taken in the same space as the recordings.

"We had been touring heavily at the time so the band had an easy chemistry, but this was my first album as a leader, so I was both nervous and star struck by the presence of Gary Bartz," remembers Walter. "Before long the tension eased and the recording was fun and loose. I remember Gary playing one great solo after another while we just tried to get a mistake free take behind him. I learned from the sustained flow of invention in Gary's playing. It made me want to become a better and more true improvisor. He helped to elevate the music beyond just a throwback funk tribute. This was art being created in real time and in the present. That early inspiring experience did a lot for my confidence as a composer and arranger."

The majority of the material recorded for 'Spirit of '70' had been part of The Greyboy Allstars live sets with band members Elgin Park, Chris Stillwell and Zak Najor all receiving writing credits, while two of Robert Walter's compositions "Impervious" and "Palilalia" were written specifically for the album. Additionally, two tasty covers were served up: "Jan Jan," a song written by organist Mose Davis of underground Detroit funk stalwarts The Fabulous Counts and "Little Miss Lover," the Jimi Hendrix gem, which nods to the soul jazz tradition of reimagining popular songs from the rock music canon.

Alternating between an array of vintage keyboards, including Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Hammond B3 organ, Clavinet and Mini Moog, Walter leads the band through a set of soul jazz, boogaloo and rare groove. As the album title implies, 1970's funk, in all of it varying colors and forms, was the inspiration and, accordingly, burns off the grooves. It's audibly apparent that the music is being born again in the capable hands of a new generation. Walter and company's youthful exuberance propels the record with wide-eyed innocence as elder statesman Gary Bartz clearly gives his blessing for these 20-something funk purveyors to assume the mantle.

"I remember making this album as a highlight of the early days of The Greyboy Allstars," concludes Walter. "I think it captures the band right as it is beginning to establish its own identity. We are taking the lessons learned from emulating the records we love and starting to create something unique. I’m still very proud of this one."

Jazz-Fusion Guitarist Gerald Gradwohl Releases “Episode 6”

Working at the highest international level of quality has always been a fundamental characteristic of the Gerald Gradwohl Group. He collaborated with Bob Berg, Gary Willis, Kirk Covington, Adam Nitti amongst others. Rooted in the quartet’s own unique approach to instrumental fusion, their sixth album “Episode 6” is a celebration of improvisation set within an exciting and colorful, sonic landscape of imposing compositions. As we have come to know from guitarist and composer Gerald Gradwohl, he continues to work with musicians who, aside from their extraordinary instrumental skills, also bring maturity and creative drive into both concert and recording situations.

“Episode 6” is no exception. Gradwohl’s sophisticated and stylistically diverse instrumental compositions conceptualize exciting musical interactions, and his approach not only continues to keep live recordings fresh and challenging but also fosters the intuition and spontaneity of the musicians, all consolidating the band’s highly dynamic sound. Gerald Gradwohl (g), Thomas Kugi (sax), Jojo Lackner (b) und Harald Tanschek (dr) have once again proved themselves to be an exceptional ensemble, unifying dynamic and intimate musicality with artistic intuition and emotional depth.  

Says Gerald, “Goal of the album was to capture the live sound of this steadily gigging band. We play live with this line up since years which of course influenced my writing a lot. The sound of the live band was the main inspiration, but I also tried to capture the existing vibes during the lockdown. My plan was to work on an album in 2021, but as the pandemic changed all plans and schedules, I preponed this project and finished the song ideas I already had during April/May…We recorded 2 days live as a quartet in one room and added a few overdubs later, so the result is as it would sound live. Recording live is one of my main concepts since years as all the records I made are some kind of snapshots. Moreover, I don’t like to make everything perfect - I love the idea that the listener can feel the energy and spirit of playing together as it would be onstage.”

When looking for terms and names to describe the band, the attempt will leave you with a wide spectrum between jazz and fusion music focusing on grooving funk with a strong “Rock ‘N’ Roll Attitude” mixed with Jazz harmony to fierce discharging jazz rock storms. There is no arbitrariness in this wide array of musical styles and influences, as the band selected team players from the international jazz/fusion scene – renders the stringent compositions in a committed and playfully individual manner, putting its high-quality inventive signature to the music and derives its uniqueness and independence from a sure, pro-active and listening interaction of experienced musician personalities. Gradwohl can jump into and out of the stylistic changes like a true chameleon. He has ventured further into exploratory fusion on this effort than on any of his previous efforts.  Having the support and backing of the great rhythm section has really made this venture for Gradwohl into tribal funk fusion a viable effort of world class caliber. GG pulls all the stops of his musical skills. “As much composition as necessary and as much improvisation as possible” seems to be the dogma and the point of view of fusion-music of today for this worldwide known and acknowledged composer and performer, living in Wr. Neustadt, Austria. The great variety in composition and playing will not only fascinate Jazz and Fusion lovers - watch out for exciting live gigs!  

The album “ABQ” (2003) feat. Bob Berg, Gary Willis and Kirk Covington was a big step in Gerald’s international career. Several albums and live tours have been the result of his continuous work. 2007 “Tritone Barrier” is released. On this album Scott Henderson contributes a guest solo on the track “Jeff's Back.” This album is followed by “Sally Beth Roe” in 2009 which he recorded with his Trio - this is a real guitar trio record! In 2013 Gerald released “Big Land” feat. Tribal Tech drummer Kirk Covington on drums. “RAW” (2016) is a critically acclaimed masterpiece of Jazz and Rock music and is the first release with his current band. The band is touring regularly and releases the new album “Episode 6” in April 2021! 

Says Gerald, “I hope we can present the album live as soon as possible. My main goal is to bring the Quartet to as many festivals as possible, as we really ‘burn’ onstage. My next project is already in the works - I want to prove that it is possible to do a ‘remote’ recording by sending files back and forth and still creating a live atmosphere almost as we would play together in a room. I already did a few tunes with Kirk Covington and Adam Nitti and hope that I can finish this in 2021!”

Ain't Got Long ft. Madeleine Peyroux, Gregory Hoskins, Jessica Mitchell, Sarah Slean, and more...

With its sixth inimitable album Ain't Got Long, the Art of Time Ensemble – Canada's genre-busting ensemble that fuses high art with popular culture – welcomes a distinctive gallery of guest artists to reimagine ten of the most arresting and unforgettable songs in the contemporary experience. Ain't Got Long is streaming worldwide.

Singers Madeleine Peyroux, Gregory Hoskins, Jessica Mitchell and Sarah Slean join the Art of Time Ensemble, led by its founder/artistic director Andrew Burashko, on the new recording, reinterpreting songs that range from the Gershwins' "Someone to Watch Over Me" to Radiohead's "Exit Music (for a Film)." Composer Jonathan Goldsmith, who created the settings for each song, is also the album's producer.

"I created Art of Time with the aim of exploring where classical music intersects with other styles of music," Burashko says. "I wanted to celebrate great music, period – no matter what the style – and to present concerts without any barriers between the genres."

Ain't Got Long is just the latest collaboration in an odyssey that has established the Art of Time Ensemble as a vital element in the cultural life of Canada, both live and on television, and in the cutting-edge arts world of its capital city, Toronto. 

Bringing together like-minded musicians and prominent figures in dance, theatre and other art forms, the ensemble has collaborated with singers and instrumentalists from across the musical spectrum, dancers and choreographers, actors, filmmakers and even the celebrated writers Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale) and Michael Ondaatje (The English Patient).

"No one can put together music and musicians in a more dazzling, brilliant and moving way than Andrew Burashko and the Art of Time Ensemble," says the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, one of Canada's leading arts journalists and the nation's former Governor General. "Every concert is thrilling, inspiring, and leaves you longing for the next one. Surprise and accomplishment only begin to describe Art of Time Ensemble's achievements."

Ain't Got Long was inspired by "The Songbooks," a series of live concerts in which Jonathan Goldsmith joined Burashko and the Art of Time Ensemble to reinterpret a wide array of songs that qualify as "standards" in anyone's 21st-century appreciation of music.

"Whenever we have experimented with popular music, the challenge has always been to find that fine line between remaining faithful to the original in terms of melody and form," Burashko says, "and pushing the boundaries as much as possible in every other conceivable way. Over the last twenty years, we have collaborated with dozens of amazing arrangers, but Jonathan's charts were always the most adventurous and nearest to my heart. I've been wanting to make this album for many years."

A clue to the level of imagination at work on Ain't Got Long can be found on the album's arresting cover – an image from "More Sweetly Play the Dance," a large-scale 2015 visual work by South African artist William Kentridge, whose vivid, multimedia palette and imagination invite the viewer to step outside the box.

Also reflecting the experience of Ain't Got Long are music videos for three of the album's tracks. The Art of Time Ensemble collaborated on each with Bruce McDonald, the Toronto Film Critics Association award-winning director, a game-changing figure in contemporary Canadian filmmaking one of an influential group known as the "Toronto New Wave." 

Amy Winehouse At The BBC, a new 3LP/3CD collection

Amy Winehouse At The BBC, a 3LP/3CD collection chronicling the many remarkable performances by arguably the greatest and most genuine talent to emerge in British music in decades, will be released on May 7, 2021 through Island/UMe. For the very first time, this updated release offers audio-only versions of the songs featured on 'A Tribute To Amy Winehouse by Jools Holland' and the 'BBC One Sessions Live at Porchester Hall,' and so a high proportion of these tracks will be completely new to digital music services. "Stronger Than Me," "Tears Dry On Their Own" and "You Know I'm No Good" will be available March 24 on streaming services, and the video for "Stronger Than Me" will be available on YouTube. This comprehensive collection captures the strong and enduring relationship that Amy enjoyed with the BBC and is further proof of quite what an extraordinarily talented, completely original, and truly engaging performer Amy was.

Amy Winehouse At The BBC includes Amy's earliest BBC Radio sessions, music from her first-ever TV performances, as well as unheard gems, rarities, unique covers and live versions of classic songs from "Frank" and "Back To Black." The set also includes a beautifully illustrated 20-page booklet featuring rare photographs.     

Disc 1 is a selection of recordings chosen by Later presenter, songwriter and much-loved musician Jools Holland. Disc 2 is a 14-song audio selection dating from 2004 to 2009, while Disc 3 features the performances from Amy's memorable Porchester Hall sessions.

Like Amy's three previous albums, this collection will prove, once more, a fitting tribute to her peerless artistry, phenomenal talent, and extraordinary powers as a songwriter, a singer and an interpreter of classics.

GRAMMY Award-Nominated Pianist Joey Alexander Releases Three New Singles on Verve Records in Spring 2021

Three-time GRAMMY Award-nominated pianist Joey Alexander follows his major-label debut album, WARNA (Verve Records), with three new singles "SALT" (March 19: LINK), "Under the Sun" (April 23), and "Summer Rising" (May 28) set for global release on Verve. In just seven years subsequent to the release of five critically-acclaimed studio albums (My Favorite Things, Countdown, Joey.Monk.Live!, Eclipse, WARNA), Alexander leads a career rarely witnessed in the jazz genre. He's garnered international acclaim from mainstream media, three nominations from The Recording Academy, and high praise from legendary jazz icons while evolving into one of today's most distinguished composers and bandleaders.

All before his 18th birthday (summer 2021), Alexander has accrued a lifetime of accolades and experiences a jazz pianist could only dream of. For Alexander, though, he's met each career highlight with great humility and lets his music speak for itself. He's appeared on primetime TV at the 58th GRAMMY Awards (2016); performed with Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding for the Obamas at the White House (International Jazz Day, 2016); sold-out his debut at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall (2019); sold-out the Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center; and was profiled by 60 Minutes. A through-line consistent across his career remains a steadfast dedication to his craft as a melodic composer captivating the hearts of music fans across the globe.

Alexander's first 2021 single, the track entitled "SALT" lays down a deep groove featuring the pianist on Fender Rhodes for the first time on a recording. He collaborates with his latest trio, including Daniel Winshall (electric and upright bass) and Tyson D. Jackson (drums) who debuted on stage together at the Detroit Jazz Festival 2020. Special guest Jaleel Shaw (alto saxophone) appears on "SALT" and "Summer Rising," and Gilad Hekselman (electric guitar) performs on "SALT." 

Alexander comments, "Salt is essential in our lives just like blues is to jazz, and music in general. As we live in a worried world right now, we all need a bit of blues to make us feel good."

The metaphor hits home especially since all of Alexander's newly-composed 2021 singles were written while living in Manhattan during the height of the COVID-19 global pandemic in summer 2020. An inspiring force beaming with hope, positivity, and promoting peace through his recordings, Alexander takes us to the roots of jazz where the blues are the key ingredient. "The blues gives us that optimistic spirit. It fills our souls with joy in the darkest hours."

"Under the Sun" reflects Alexander's improvisational dexterity and telepathic connection with his bandmates. The ensemble's interplay on "Under the Sun" is so in sync it's almost as if they're moving in unison as an unstoppable locomotion barreling down the tracks.  

"Summer Rising" emulates the beauty of summer in New York City. Upon hearing the simple mention of "summer," the mind wonders to marvel in all of nature's splendor, and it's a time when music typically pours from outdoor stages throughout the world. Alexander offers a glimpse of elation in his harmonic chord changes while he and Jaleel Shaw trade off fervent solos.   

Embodying a jaw-dropping mastery of jazz standards, Alexander now sets his sights beyond the break-out successes as a brilliant talent with razor-sharp focus on composing idiosyncratic original works. Alexander's latest recordings are at once highly expressive, emotional, and sincere. 2021 welcomes the thrilling pianist-composer with open arms.

Organist Robert Walter, Guitarist Eddie Roberts, and Drummer Adam Deitch Unite as WRD to Present The Hit

WRD, the dynamic, gritty organ trio borne from the brain of The New Mastersounds’ guitarist/bandleader and Color Red record label founder, Eddie Roberts is set to release its debut LP The Hit on April 30th. The group, which features nimble guitarist Roberts, staccato drummer Adam Deitch and elegiac organist Robert Walter, brims with talent and prior successes between them. The Hit boasts the bullish energy of three seasoned bandleaders in one standout sonic boom and is also the brainchild of many long nights at New Orleans Jazz Festival contemplating new creative possibilities.

On these occasions, the trio would plot and plan to one day get together and play, to make music that would shake the world as well as continue a lineage of music. While the band’s members are all front-people in their own projects, they are also able to sublimate their more natural dispositions toward spearheading projects in order to gel and comport themselves as three voices on an equal playing field. Walter, who plays keys prominently in The Greyboy Allstars, brings a flair for both nostalgia and levity in his music. Deitch, who drums in the funky band, Lettuce, snaps and kicks on the kit. All while Roberts, who shreds in the band, The New Mastersounds, offers his gravely, sprinting solos to the mix.  

“Our birthdays are all within a week of each other,” says Roberts “So, it’s a bit of a joke that we’re three Tauruses. We’re all band leaders, we’ve all got similar characters. We knew there’d be no getting ‘dragged along.’ We’re three people pushing, which is really integral for an organ trio. There’s no room for passengers.”  

WRD first got together in earnest after a small handful of one-off performances such as Bear Creek Music Festival. Their first session was in 2018 at Color Red Studios in Denver, CO. In that time, the music exploded out of them like a volcanic eruption. The songs were hot and in that lone day, the members were able to lay down four excellent tracks. About a year later, the trio got together again at Color Red in 2019 and laid down another seven songs in a single session. Produced by Roberts, in total, the organ trio’s debut LP came from essentially just two days of work. That’s the insignia of excellent chemistry. Many of the songs came in one “quick and dirty” take. Hence the title: The Hit. 

“I loved recording so quickly and simply. We played all in the same room without headphones and kept first takes of most songs. Sometimes when recording there is such a strive for perfection that all of the energy and life from the music disappears, we tried not to let that happen here. Working so quickly captures the immediacy and honest interactions of the players,” remarks Walter on the process.

The Hit is a lean and mean album that really lets Roberts, Deitch and Walter run wild in the freeing format of the trio. Songs like “Corner Pocket” and “Bobby’s Boogaloo” are nice backdoor funk cuts that get to the groove quick and easy, simple yet refreshing executions of traditional sounds and principles. A song like “Judy” underscores the strengths of each player, from the potency of Eddie’s exquisitely refined funk, Walter’s melodic awareness and tonal superiority and the steadfast support, response and flash of Deitch’s rhythm. Where the album seems to be more than the sum of its parts are on tracks like the heated soul trance of “Meditation” or the fiery “Sleep Depraved” where it everyone is pushing their instruments to their highest degree, leaning into the musical idea and vibing off the synergistic power of the moment. 

The Hit is quite the experience and WRD is full of power, grace, and taste that can only be found at the highest levels of the music scene today. Walter, Roberts, and Deitch are a formidable musical team that are well-versed in the stylings and potential of the organ trio and inspired to reach for greater, more complex heights in the company of respected peers. The members of WRD raise the bar for each other and in doing so they elevate the quality of themselves, the music, the format, and its ever-evolving history. 

Jakob Bro presents a new trio featuring Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen and Spanish drummer Jorge Rossy

With Uma Elmo, his fifth album as a leader for ECM, Danish guitarist-composer Jakob Bro presents a new trio featuring Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen and Spanish drummer Jorge Rossy. Astonishingly, given the trio's musical synergy, the first time these three musicians ever performed together was for the album's sessions at the Swiss Radio studio in Lugano, with Manfred Eicher producing. Among the album's highlights is the opening "Reconstructing a Dream", a darkly lyrical reverie which underlines an observation about  Bro's work by London Jazz News:  "there is no hurry to this music, but there is great depth."

"To Stanko" is Bro's hushed tribute to the late, great Polish trumpeter who featured the guitarist in his quintet for the ECM album Dark Eyes. Another track that serves as an homage to a late elder is "Music for Black Pigeons," which was given its evocative title by saxophone sage Lee Konitz, with whom Bro also worked closely.

Listeners will recognize Arve Henriksen's whispering, intimate sound from his 2008 ECM album Cartography, as well as from his collaborations for the label with Trio Mediaeval and Tigran Hamasyan. Rossy is well known to jazz fans on both sides of the Atlantic, particularly for his decade-plus tenure in Brad Mehldau's career-making first trio. As for the leader, DownBeat aptly noted in its review of his previous ECM album, Bay of Rainbows, that "Bro's guitar is luminous… his music both hypnotic and dramatic."

Bro created the title of Uma Elmo using the middle names of his young daughter and infant son, with the guitarist having composed much of the album's dulcet material between his newborn son's naps. "It's a special time in my life right now with the kids being so young – and it's also a strange time in the world, of course," Bro says. "I wrote  music for the recording session being doubtful that we could actually all meet and complete the session, at the end of summer this past year, with a German producer, Spanish drummer, Sweden-based Norwegian trumpeter, Danish guitarist-composer and an Italian engineer – all in a studio in Switzerland.And the music is, as it always is, a reflection, more or less abstract, of what's going on around us. To have this musical document from this year will always represent some kind of milestone for me. And to have everyone there in Lugano: Manfred, Jorge, Arve and engineer Stefano Amerio, all determined to shape and capture this music with me despite the many obstacles facing us – needless to say, I'm very grateful."

Throughout Uma Elmo, Henriksen most often takes the melodic lead in Bro's compositions, hovering and moving serpentine through Rossy's subtly dynamic rhythms and the guitarist's harmonic shimmers, tolling lines and looped atmospherics. About his trio mates, Bro says: "I performed with Jorge Rossy a few times before the Uma Elmo session, including a tribute concert for Paul Motian during the Copenhagen Jazz Festival in 2014 and then at the ECM50 event in Warsaw. But I admired Jorge from the first time I heard him, back in 1997 or so. He was on many albums with musicians I loved, like Chris Cheek, Mark Turner, Larry Grenadier, Ethan Iverson, Kurt Rosenwinkel and, of course, Brad Mehldau. Jorge has a deep understanding of time and form. He can be there inside the music, with everything around him moving, and just be present, not do too much, playing exactly enough, adding warmth, drive, contrasts, color, time, swing, soul. He also has a great sense of composition within the composition itself – making the music breathe."

Bro first took note of Henriksen in 2016. "Arve's sound struck me immediately," he says, "and I soon began talking with him about a collaboration. But the session in Lugano was not only the first time we played music together – it was also my first actual physical encounter with him! It turned out to be an inspirational meeting. But it was invaluable to have Manfred on the side, listening, advising and guiding, especially since the three of us were coming together for the first time." 

Reflecting on the track "To Stanko," Bro says: "I wrote the song to celebrate the life and sound of my friend Tomasz Stanko, in whose band I recorded and toured worldwide for more than five years. Stanko was such a soulful musician. For me, the mystery of music, why some sounds move me, is an essential part of my continued curiosity in playing. With Stanko, it was so evident. With one note, he told his story. When life pours out of an instrument, you've reached the ultimate, in my opinion. Arve plays beautifully on my tribute, ‘To Stanko.' Tomasz would never play or sound like this – which, to me, just makes the dedication even stronger, emphasizing the fact that the inspiration from Stanko goes way deeper than anything you can define." 

Regarding "Reconstructing a Dream," Bro recalls learning to re-contextualize his repertoire from Paul Motian's example. "Performing at the Village Vanguard with Paul and also recording his ECM album Garden of Eden, we worked with such pieces as ‘Etude,' ‘Mumbo Jumbo,' etc. – songs Paul had composed for his earlier groups," the guitarist explains. "Having listened to all of Paul's recordings, knowing his songbook so well, it was an out-of-this-world experience for me to reimagine this music with him. So, having recorded ‘Reconstructing a Dream' 13 years ago in New York with Paul for one of my albums, it felt like time to reinterpret this song. And with Jorge on drums this time. Jorge, to me, is a beautiful, warm, poetic drummer. I'm sure Paul would approve. ‘Slaraffenland' is another track on Uma Elmo associated with Paul for me, because he included this tune of mine in the repertoire for a tour with the Electric Bebop Band when I was quite young."

Concerning past heroes and new lives, entrancing sounds and pensive circumstances, Uma Elmo conjures an aura that lingers even after the notes fade from the air. With the aforementioned tracks as well as "Beautiful Day," "Sound Flower," "Housework" and two versions of "Morning Song," Bro and company have created something of enduring value in strange times.

Saxophonist STEVE SLAGLE Offers New Sounds To Clear The Air On His New Sextet Album, NASCENTIA (Birth)

In mid-March of 2020 the world experienced the onset of a drastic change in life as we know it, the outbreak of a world-wide pandemic. For artists, the impact of this sudden isolation and inability to work manifested itself in myriad ways, one of which was influencing many, including saxophonist/composer Steve Slagle, to create with fervor. “As a musician I found it opened up more chances to make my music in a composed way that had to have a positive and yet driving force to it, to offset the darkness. With everything else cut off, I was in another sense freed, and on March 30, 2020 (I remember the specific date as it’s Dave Stryker’s birthday), right after NYC was shut down, the first piece of this new album came while playing sax, and I developed it into a two horn composition, pretty and peaceful, for alto and trumpet. For more than a couple of days I played it over and over – it brought me some peace!,” explains Slagle. And it brings us Slagle’s new album, Nascentia, today, April 9, 2021 (on Panorama Records).

With the accouchement of his composition which he called, “Nascentia,” or birth, it opened up the idea for Slagle of using trombone as a third lower voice (as Slagle points out, three horns give the music a certain appealing texture), and creating a suite connected together by drum and bass interludes, by Jason Tiemann and Ugonna Okegwo. Slagle elaborates, “over the period of the Spring and Summer, of course still in lock-down, playing these new pieces kept me positively moving forward rather than getting brought down with the general bad news. Eventually adding a beautiful piece by the late great Harold Mabern, ‘I Remember Britt’ ( for our trombonist friend Britt Woodman), and one I had written for Mike Brecker, ‘A Friend In Need’, the album was taking shape, and it was the perfect time for executive producer Rick Simpson, who called me in late July, asking, ‘why don’t we do a larger group recording this fall when things will be better in the world?” 

Steve Slagle is certainly an artist up for meeting a challenge, especially one of this nature, but the Fall of 2020 fell way short of our collective expectations, and things were not better, with the world-wide virus shutting-down live music everywhere. “But a potent will finds a way, and we reserved one of the great studios still open in pandemic-era NYC, Sear Sound, Studio A on 48th street. And, I was able to secure the exact musicians I felt were needed for the recording of Nascentia,” says Slagle. 

As would be expected, the musicians rose to the occasion, hungry to play. Slagle explains, “I am especially glad that many of these were first takes. My song, ‘All Up In It’, which was built for energy, was recorded as the first song , the first take, that morning at 10:30AM (early for us!). Everyone really reached deep and created some incredible group feeling & spirit! And the solo statements across the album, wow!” 

Nascentia is defined as, the bringing forth of something with future potential, or simply, birth. It is Slagle’s hope that this recording helps to musically herald a new beginning to our world in 2021. “With cheers for new sounds to appear and clear the air!!,” declares Slagle.

Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr - Blackbird: Lennon-McCartney Icons

Pop Culture Icons, multiple Grammy Award-winners and multi-platinum selling artists Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. released on Friday, Feb. 26, the single Blackbird from their highly anticipated first studio album in three decades, Blackbird: Lennon-McCartney Icons (EE1/BMG), due April 30. This is an era of Renaissance for Marilyn and Billy. Blackbird: Lennon-McCartney Icons is already among America's top-selling presale albums, according to iTunes, #2 R&B chart, #33 among all presale albums, following their profile on Feb. 28's edition of CBS Sunday Morning, two 5th Dimension's greatest hits albums, featuring lead vocals by Marilyn & Billy, hit iTunes' top ten. Marilyn & Billy's appearance in Questlove's "Summer of Soul", has glowing reviews. The film earned Sundance's Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award.

"As Black artists, at our ages, we didn't believe we'd record another album, especially for a major label," say Marilyn and Billy, who enjoy tremendous success through the years as recording artists, performers and authors, receiving 7 Grammy Awards, and earning 15 gold and 3 platinum records. "It took a lot of convincing from our millennial producer, Nic Mendoza, who, understood us and our insistence that our new music be about something that truly matters in our world. We agreed to try, if the project honored the importance of lives. We always admired the talents of Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and knew what some did not - that Blackbird is a Civil Rights anthem, written after the bombing of the 16th St. Baptist Church in Birmingham, which took the lives of four babies – Addie, Cynthia, Carole, and Carol Denise. The Blackbird: Lennon-McCartney Icons project, each song, image, timeline and video, praises everyone who dares fight hatred," adds the couple, who in their sixty-plus-year career of performing have broken countless racial and cultural barriers. Their CBS television variety series was a first for an African American couple. 

Blackbird: Lennon-McCartney Icons marks Marilyn & Billy's first album with Encore Endeavor 1 (EE1), a subsidiary of kathy ireland® Worldwide (kiWW®), which has a multi-recording agreement with music giant, BMG. This project also marks kiWW's second collaboration with BMG – the first made music history, after Janet Jackson's Unbreakable skyrocketed to Billboard's top spot on the album chart. 

Mary Wilson's Self-Titled Solo Album Makes Its Digital Debut

Keeping a promise made to Mary Wilson, the legendary artist/author and original and founding member of the Supremes, Motown/UMe announce the release of ‘Mary Wilson: Expanded Edition’ in time for what would have been her 77th birthday on March 6, 2021. Her self-titled solo album makes its digital debut on April 16 with eight bonus tracks. The world mourned the sudden passing of Mary Wilson on February 8, which also marked the 56th anniversary of The Supremes’ #1 hit, “Stop! In the Name Of Love.”

Ms. Wilson, who retained ownership of her solo recordings, wanted to make the album – and much more - available to her many fans around the world. Mary Wilson: Expanded Edition is a newly compiled version of her solo album, originally released by Motown in 1979, that will now be available on all digital platforms for the first time. Added to the album are eight incredible bonus tracks, four of them unreleased, including the legendary tracks recorded as a follow-up to the album produced by Gus Dudgeon (Elton John, Joan Armatrading, Chris Rea, et al). Featured as the lead single is a brand-new song, "Why Can't We All Get Along," produced by Richard Davis and co-written with Angelo Bond, who previously had great success as a co-writer with General Johnson and Greg Perry for "Bring The Boys Home."

Mary Wilson, who had many fond memories around recording her solo debut, was so excited about the release of this album that, after finalizing details with UMe, she created an impromptu "teaser," posting what was to be her final YouTube video. "I finally decided how to work with Universal, and they are going to release new Mary Wilson recordings," she said. "Yes! At last! At last," adding that the expanded version of the album, known by her and to fans as "Red Hot," referring to its lead single, will include the Dudgeon productions – and something new. "It was four wonderful songs that were never released… and I also have some other songs, some surprising new songs… Thank you Universal for chiming in with me and helping this come true. Hopefully some of that will be out on my birthday, March 6th... I've got my fingers crossed."

Sadly, the world mourned the sudden passing of Mary Wilson on February 8th, which also marked the 56th anniversary of The Supremes' #1 hit, "Stop! In the Name Of Love." She was a world-renowned singer, best-selling author, a humanitarian, artist rights advocate, philanthropist, cultural ambassador for the U.S. appointed by Colin Powell, but she was best known as a "Supreme." She was the co-founder of the original Supremes, along with Diana Ross and Florence Ballard, which signed to Motown in January 1961, making this year their 60th anniversary. The group broke down barriers by becoming the world's most popular female singing trio, with an unprecedented string of 12 number one hits, 33 top 40 singles, a record breaking 5 consecutive number ones, and the first number one album for a female group. Mary Wilson is the only member with the group from their signing in 1961 to their disbanding in 1977. Their legendary history is the foundation for dozens of books, movies, and even three Broadway musicals.

But the often-overlooked history is of the solo careers of Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard. Ballard had previously released an album on ABC Records while, upon leaving the Supremes, Mary Wilson released her self-titled solo album debut on Motown, her label for the previous 18 years. Mary Wilson had the potential of becoming a dance classic. Famed Motown Producer Hal Davis, known for #1 hits on the Jackson 5, Thelma Houston and Diana Ross crafted a lush disco album for Wilson, with six dance tracks and a mid-tempo ballad. Wilson recorded the album while pregnant with her youngest son, Raphael, and for the album's cover shoot she was wrapped in a jacket to hide the pregnancy.

"Red Hot" was the obvious lead single. But just prior to the release of the album the infamous Disco Demolition Night took place at Comiskey Park in Chicago on July 12, 1979. The "Disco Sucks" movement impacted the release of Mary Wilson, and the single reached #85 on the dance chart and #95 on the R&B chart. This new collection retrieves for history the song's rare 12" and 7" mixes, which were unique from the album's version. Despite being loved by fans, and the release of a second single, "Pick Up the Pieces" in the U.K., the Mary Wilson album did not get the recognition it deserved.

In 1980, Mary Wilson headed to Europe to record with Elton John's producer, Gus Dudgeon. The late Dudgeon, who started as Decca Records' in-house recording engineer, became a key creative collaborator with Elton John, producing seven No. 1 albums, in addition to creating masterworks with David Bowie, Joan Armatrading, Chris Rea, and many more.

Wilson wrote in her second autobiography, Supreme Faith: Someday We'll Be Together, "I was very excited about these four songs.  It wasn't the formula disco of my first album. Two of the songs were big ballads. The other two were rock and roll in the style of Tina Turner's mid-eighties hits; I was certainly ahead of the time." Three of the four songs were never released. The fourth song, "You Dance My Heart Around the Stars," first made available in 2015 on a collection of the co-writer's, Steve Kalinich, a frequent collaborator of the Beach Boys, is considered one of Wilson's finest performances. 

In 1986 Mary Wilson wrote her best-selling autobiography, Dreamgirl: My Life As A Supreme, followed by two more books, Supreme Faith: Someday We'll Be Together, and Supreme Glamour.  Although Mary continued to record and release music through the rest of her career, fans have continually requested to hear this music. These songs remain among the most requested items in the Motown catalog.

While recording more music over the last 10 years, Mary Wilson reconnected with Richard Davis, executive of Gold Forever Music, a publishing company established by Eddie Holland after leaving Motown. In the early days of Motown, Holland-Dozier-Holland was the songwriting team responsible for The Supremes' string of hit records.

While Mary continued to record, she kept a journal with her most personal thoughts, perspective, outlook, philosophy on life, beliefs based on her experiences and topics of the day.  Richard Davis discussed this song with Wilson. Mary told Davis and Bond that their lyrics were able to capture and articulate her feelings into song and help her tell her story. As she was watching and writing about her feelings about the political unrest and the division in the country, Mary felt strongly about releasing "Why Can't We All Get Along," now in the hopes of spreading a positive message through music.

Bob Holz to Release Live Album with former Members of Spyro Gyra and Blood Sweat and Tears

Jazz fusion artist Bob Holz is back with a power house live album featuring a star studded lineup of high profile players. The title is Bob Holz Live In New York and L.A. and was released on MVD Audio in early 2021. This album matches up top flight instrumental and vocal performances as Bob Holz covers some of the great jazz classics combined with his own original compositions. Bob Holz has established himself as a world class drummer and composer and now he unleashes the energy of his live performances on this incredible album. The players include drummer Bob Holz, saxophonist Brandon Fields, guitarists Chet Catallo and Mike Miller, bassists Ralphe Armstrong and Ric Fierabracci, keyboardist Billy Steinway, singer Ronnie Leigh, percussionists Joey De Leon Jr. and John Heard and keyboardist Tom Witkowski. An alumni of Berklee College of Music, Holz has previously released four solo albums. Holz has also toured extensively as a band leader with Bob Holz and A Vision Forward and The Bob Holz Band.The album was recorded and mixed by multi platinum sound engineer Dennis Moody.

Bob Holz is signed to MVD Audio (a division of MVD Entertainment Group), managed by Eric Cohen of EC Music Agency and produced by Rob Stathis. In the past Bob Holz has worked extensively with Larry Coryell, Darryl Jones, Mike Stern, Stanley Clarke, Randy Brecker, Chet Catallo, Dean Brown, Ric Fierabracci, Brandon Fields, Ada Rovatti, Billy Steinway, Steve Weingart, Jamie Glaser and Ralphe Armstrong. Bob Holz endorses Paiste cymbals and Canopus Drums.

Gilberto Gil to Receive Honorary Doctorate at Berklee's Campus in Valencia, Spain

Berklee President Roger H. Brown will present Brazilian multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter Gilberto Gil with an honorary doctorate at Berklee Valencia's commencement ceremony on Monday, July 5, 2021.

A two-time Grammy winner and seven-time Latin Grammy winner, Gil will be recognized for his extraordinary career accomplishments and the influence of his creative work and social and political activism on generations of musicians worldwide. The Valencia campus previously awarded honorary doctorates to Eddie Gómez (2013), John McLaughlin (2017), Al Di Meola (2018), Imogen Heap (2019), and Lila Downs (2020).

On commencement eve, Saturday, July 3, students will pay tribute to Gil, who will join them virtually to record a selection of his songs. The concert and ceremony, held at the Valencia City of Arts and Sciences, will stream on Berklee Valencia's social media channels; the events are not open to the public.

Gilberto Gil is one of the leading names in Brazilian music, with a career that has spanned more than six decades. He has won Grammy Awards for Best World Music Album (1998's Quanta Live) and Best Contemporary World Music Album (2005's Eletracústico), and has taken home several Latin Grammys, including three for Best Brazilian Roots/Regional Album (2001, 2002, and 2010) and one in 2010 for Best Brazilian Popular Music Album.

Gil began playing the accordion at the age of 8 and joined his first group, the Desafinados, in the mid '50s. Since then, he has recorded more than 60 albums, including Louvação, Expresso 2222, Ao Vivo, Doces Bárbaros, and Dois Amigos. He has collaborated with Caetano Veloso, Elis Regina, Jorge Ben, Gal Costa, Maria Bethânia, Jimmy Cliff, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Pink Floyd, Yes, Rod Stewart, and others.

As a leader of Brazil's tropicália movement of the late 1960s, along with artists Caetano Veloso, Marcos Valle, and Gal Costa, Gil mixed native styles including samba, MPB (Música popular brasileira), and bossa nova with rock and folk instruments to become one of Brazil's—and the world's—most celebrated singer-songwriters.

The Brazilian military dictatorship, however, saw the Tropicália movement as a threat, and exiled Gil to the U.K. in 1969. But he would return to Bahia, Brazil, in 1972 and continue his involvement in social and political causes, later becoming a prominent spokesman for the Black Consciousness Movement in Brazil. In 2003, when Gil was appointed Minister of Culture, he created and sponsored new policies and programs and expanded Brazil's presence at forums and conferences around the world. He has won numerous awards, including France's Légion d 'Honneur and Sweden's Polar Music Prize, and has been recognized as a UNESCO Artist of Peace and FAO Goodwill Ambassador.

Jazz In The Gardens Announces March 2022 Music Festival

The City of Miami Gardens has announced Jazz in the Gardens (JITG), its popular 2-day jazz and R&B music festival, will return in March 2022 to the world-class Hard Rock Stadium. In 2020 the City was forced to cancel the festival just days before its scheduled dates to protect its attendees against the COVID-19 virus. The festival will not occur in 2021 as a result of the ongoing challenges of the pandemic.

"We are disappointed about the cancellation of the 15th anniversary of the festival, however, safety remains the highest priority for the City of Miami Gardens.  It is prudent for us to get COVID-19 under control in order to plan a safe and successful staging of Jazz in the Gardens for everyone to enjoy.  I look forward to celebrating with all our patrons, vendors and our sponsors when we return in 2022," said Miami Gardens Mayor Rodney Harris.

Since 2006, Jazz in the Gardens has enjoyed unprecedented growth, being hailed as "the fastest growing music festival in the country." In 2022 fans can expect to once again experience the ultimate festival event, featuring the best artists from the R&B, soul, jazz, hip-hop, and funk genres.

Over the years, Jazz in the Gardens has featured top performances by an extraordinary mix of national artists which have included the likes of Lionel Richie, Mary J. Blige, Earth Wind & Fire, Kenny G., The Roots, Robin Thicke, Brandy, Maxwell, Babyface, Jill Scott, Herbie Hancock and scores more who have graced the stage. Each year JITG also supports emerging artists, giving local musicians the opportunity to share the stage with the best musical artists in the world.

Jazz in the Gardens is more than just music, and usually features a host of ancillary events rounding out the JITG experience, including the Women's Impact Luncheon, an action-packed day celebrating women, curated to inspire women to live centered, active, fulfilled and balanced lives.  Adding to the excitement of the overall JITG experience, is the array of exotic cuisine in the popular food court teeming with delicious offerings and attendees can also indulge in a unique shopping experience in a marketplace buzzing with authentic cultural merchandise.

Exact dates of Jazz in the Gardens to be announced. For information www.jazzinthegardens.com