New Music: Minnie Riperton, Robert Stillman, Dan Berkson, Studio One Dub

Minnie Riperton - Come To My Garden

Mindblowing work from Minnie Riperton – her first solo album, cut at the end of the 60s, after a number of years of work with the group Rotary Connection. The album builds off the now famous sound of Rotary Connection – but takes it to the next level, with arch-baroque production by the great Charles Stepney – who couches Minnie's fantastic vocals in a suite of shimmering soulful tracks that mix strings, horns, jazzy piano, and slight touches of bouncing rhythms. The overall sound is impossible to describe – sort of a cross between Burt Bacharach on A&M, Scott Walker's 3rd album, and the sound of Marvin Gaye's What's Goin' On. The album's pure genius all the way through – one of the highlights of the Chicago scene of the 60s – and proof that Riperton, Stepney, and crew were shooting for the outer limits of soul music! Titles include "Les Fleur", "Only When I'm Dreaming", "Rainy Day In Centerville", "Memory Band", "Expecting", "Whenever Wherever", and "Oh, By The Way".  ~ Dusty Groove

Robert Stillman - Portals

A beautiful little record, and one that's a bit hard to place – it's partly jazz, but something else as well – as Robert Stillman has more of a legacy in more serious composition, but here delivers a session of improvisations on Fender Rhodes! Yet this isn't your typical Rhodes album either – not funky or soulful, but instead uses the instrument in a really different way – almost like Philip Glass discovering the farfisa organ many years back – as here Stillman is using the keyboard to generate these waves of electric sound that are completely seductive! The album features seven "Portal" tunes – and one short "Break", which has a bit more of a familiar Fender Rhodes approach. ~ Dusty Groove

Dan Berkson - Dialogues

Dan Berkson's had a hand in many different styles of music over the years, but this set is a wonderfully contemporary expression of his keyboard talents in jazz – served up here both on acoustic piano and Fender Rhodes – as Dan works in a "trio plus" mode that has some other artists joining in the sound from time to time! At the core is the combo with Andrea Di Biase on bass and Jon Scott on drums – musicians who do a good job of blocking them selves around Berkson's keyboard lines, which have this open sense of flow that creates its own structure, even when loose – maybe evolved out of the Bill Evans school, but very much Dan's own bag. The leadoff track "Unity" is a great Rhodes number, with Magnus Pickering on trumpet and Alam Nathoo on tenor – and one more track features Pickering as well, on titles that include "Live Bait", "Sketches", "The Court", and "Maggie's Last Day". ~ Dusty Groove

Studio One Dub (Various Artists)

Another round of Studio One butter from the folks at Soul Jazz! By this point you're well informed about the status of Coxsone Dodd's Studio One operation as the cornerstone of so much Jamaican music, and Soul Jazz has approached the catalog from just about every angle, covering nearly all the bases before landing here on this dub set. The sly Island grooves are stripped down to their bare essentials, then given a tasteful bit of dubby gloss at the hands of Sylvan Morris, for a massive collection that'll rule your stereo like Studio One rocked the sound systems back in the day. 17 tracks in all, wrapped in a nice package that includes interviews with Morris and Dodd, and fully annotated as to which numbers the rhythms were originally cut as the backing for. Includes "Bionic Dub", "Sky Rhythm", 'Taurus Dub 2", "Hooligan", "Dub Rock", "Hi Fashion Dub", In Cold Blood Version" and "Feel The Dub".  ~ Dusty Groove

Jonny Tobin | "Together"

 

After releasing the full-length “Weekends” in 2020 (released via Wicked Wax in Amsterdam), a string of singles, collaborative projects, and EPs in 2021, Jonny Tobin releases another full-length solo album “Together” to kick off 2022. Facing isolation and loneliness (as many people in the world did throughout 2020), the album is a collection of tracks that Jonny made to channel negative feelings into something hopeful and forward-looking.

While the album was created without any other collaborators, many of the tracks on the album relate back to an experience that personally inspired Jonny, or to a connection with someone else. “Take Your Time” was an evolution of a Masego remix contest submission from the summer of 2020 (while Jonny didn’t win the contest, he received a memorable shoutout from Masego on Instagram). On “What I Didn’t Do”, Jonny features a clip from friend and fellow musician William Chernoff speaking about unrealized potential and some of the negative self-talk that can hold people back. “Vivid Dreams” also features vocals by way of a chopped lead vocal from the Jonny Tobin-produced track “Mars” by Janette King. Closing off the album is the introspective track “Leonidus”, which was born out of a beat Jonny created for Loop Sessions, a monthly beatmakers hang. The track expanded into a tribute to Jonny’s friend Leonidus Edwards who passed away suddenly in 2021.

“Together” represents Jonny’s response to all the tragedy, despair, and grief of the past 2 years - holding space for those emotions but also seeking to provide glimmers of optimism with an almost playful delight, as the compositions encapsulate his bright outlook on the world.

Music Releases: S-Tone Inc., Immanuel Wilkins, Kool And The Gang, Melissa Aldana

S-Tone Inc.  In The Name Of Love (Remix featuring Laura Fedele)

The new single from S-Tone Inc will appear on the new vinyl album 'Body & Soul - The Disco Experience' to be released in spring 2022 and is a remix version by Stefano Tirone himself of the track featuring the vocals of Laura Fedele. In tune with the recent remixes the new version of has a '70s disco flavour but smoother and mid tempo that matches perfectly with the socially committed lyrics, the soulful vocals and the jazzy flute by Carlo Nicita.

Immanuel Wilkins - The 7th Hand

Alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins has released The 7th Hand, the follow-up to his acclaimed debut Omega which was named the #1 Jazz Album of 2020 by The New York Times. The 7th Hand once again showcases Wilkins’ profound compositional talent with a seven-movement suite of new original pieces performed by his quartet with Micah Thomas on piano, Daryl Johns on bass & Kweku Sumbry on drums, plus special guests Elena Pinderhughes on flute & Farafina Kan percussion ensemble. Watch Immanuel on the latest episode of “First Look” with Don Was & catch him on tour in the U.S. & Europe.

Kool And The Gang - The Gangs Back Again

The 1970 debut album from Kool and the Gang scored a couple of hits with “The Gangs Back Again” and the title cut, but more importantly, it heralded the arrival of what was to become a juggernaut on the R&B scene. This all-instrumental record is years away from the commercial successes of “Jungle Boogie” and “Celebration,” and a few light years away stylistically, too. But that unique mixture of jazz, funk, and R&B punctuated by those tremendous horn arrangements (and some great drum breaks) that characterizes Kool and the Gang at its best is here in full force. That’s why original copies of Kool and the Gang go for a “kool” sum. It’s a funk classic you need to check out if you haven’t heard it lately…purple vinyl pressing to help you get on down!

Melissa Aldana - 12 Stars

Saxophonist Melissa Aldana will make her Blue Note debut with the March 4 release of 12 Stars. The Brooklyn-based tenor player from Santiago, Chile has garnered international recognition for her visionary work as a band leader and was one of the founding members of the collective band ARTEMIS, whose self-titled album was released on Blue Note in 2020. 12 Stars was produced by guitarist Lage Lund, who also performs as part of a quintet with Sullivan Fortner on keyboards, Pablo Menares on bass & Kush Abadey on drums. 

Music Releases: Wadada Leo Smith Great Lakes Quartet, Alder Ego, Isaiah J Thompson, Kutiman

Wadada Leo Smith Great Lakes Quartet - Chicago Symphonies (4CD set)

A fantastic package from trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith – one that's billed as "symphonies" in the title, but which instead features quartet jazz performances throughout – as you've maybe guessed by the name of the group! There's maybe a more compositional structure here than on some of Smith's other recent albums, but there's also plenty of improvisation too – served up by a fantastic group that features Henry Threadgill on alto and flute, John Lindberg on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums – with saxophonist Jonathon Haffner stepping in for Threadgill on one of the four CDs in the package! Each longer piece has a slightly different vibe – and together, the music is a stunning statement of the continuing genius of Leo Smith in recent years – a masterful statement of his importance in jazz, but also a personal message that's filled with urgent intensity. Titles include "Gold Symphony", "Diamond Symphony", "Pearl Symphony", and "Sapphire Symphony". ~ Dusty Groove

Alder Ego - III

Helsinki quartet Alder Ego, led by drummer/composer Joonas Leppänen, returns with their new album "III" on We Jazz Records. A follow up to their successful 2018 We Jazz album, "III" finds Leppänen and his bandmates extracting more depth and punch out of their tenor sax + trumpet + double bass + drums setup, which echoes the greats in the game, such as Ornette Coleman, yet adds a readily identifiable edge to it all. Leppänen's writing is evolving, becoming more and more of a signature of the band and sounding delightfully angular yet easily flowing. On "III", Alder Ego features Leppänen on drums, Jarno Tikka (of OK:KO) on tenor sax, Tomi Nikku (of Bowman Trio) on trumpet and the new addition Nathan Francis on bass.

Isaiah J Thompson - Composed In Color

We loved pianist Isaiah Thompson on his debut, a tribute to the music of Buddy Montgomery – but here, he sounds even more amazing, and very much his own man – bursting forth with a sense of energy and imagination that will no doubt make him one of the key young voices on piano to watch in years to come! Isaiah's got all the command of a classic master on the keys – but also rings out with all these touches and tones that are very much his own – a really special quality that lets you know that you're hearing the piano in the hands of someone who's really out to make something new of familiar modes – even when the tunes on the album are ones you've heard before too. Yet the approach isn't a gimmicky one – flash for its own sake – as Thompson's clearly drawn in plenty, and finds a way to spin it out with his own sense of style – working with core help from Philip Norris on bass and TJ Reddick on drums – on titles that include "Ojos De Rojo", "Hi Fly", "Senor Blues", "Chelsea Bridge", and "Twelve's It". ~ Dusty Groove

Kutiman - Surface Currents

“Music for doing things”. That’s the intention Kutiman had for Surface Currents, his forthcoming album of ambient atmospherics and modular experiments. But its beautiful sounds are deeply calming and refreshing, making this a perfect album to do nothing to as well. Composed and recorded at his home in the middle of the Negev Desert, where the solace and tranquility of his surroundings allow him to truly stretch his creativity, Kutiman’s quiet and solitary lifestyle imbues this project with an ethereal yet joyous aura. On the title track, built around a bed of piano arpeggios, Kutiman weaves other-worldly synth flutes, soothing siren sounds and subtle wooden percussion. The quiet addition of birdsong only cements the feeling of sunrise.  The low-end synth drones on “Offshore” resonate directly through your body, harmoniously complemented with harp-like keys and deep humming.  Finally, the beautiful “Coral Blossom” has the jazziest feel on this collection, as weightless piano motifs interplay with synthetic bass tones.

Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band 'The Reset' 18-pc Big Band/Jazz Fusion (New Ep)

Multiple Grammy/Emmy Award winner Gordon Goodwin returns to forefront of adventurous compositions and modern jazz with “The Reset,” an urgent and topical 5-song EP, a bold foray into the intersection of composition and improvisation, a futuristic excursion brimming with purpose and cursive.

From the 7-minute title track, which seems to channel the ethos of Chick Corea’s Return to Forever, while unleashing its inner Dream Theater, to the funky sass and sizzle of “Six Feet Away,” one thing is inherently certain, its calligraphy pulls back the curtain and soars into areas few big bands have ventured.

Honoring the late great arranger/composer Sammy Nestico, who passed away earlier this year at the age of 96, with a pair of songs, the first being “My Man Sam” which swings with the same buoyancy as his former employer, Count Basie, for his Orchestra, and “Cell Talk,” which was the last chart Nestico wrote while in his early 90s. Sammy’s voice can be heard at the beginning of the song. Lovingly done, both expositions feel classic, yet fresh, an address to the best of us and what’s next.

The lone cover, and only vocal track, is a gorgeous reading of the David Foster-penned “Through the Fire,” a song first made famous by Chaka Khan, this time beautifully delivered by vocalist Vangie Gunn, who, in addition to her career singing on TV and Film soundtracks, has performed with Johnny Mathis, Herb Alpert, Barry Manilow, Patti Austin, Justin Timberlake, Melissa Manchester and Take 6.

Gordon recalls the impetus for The Reset, “Our collective experience dealing with the Covid-19 virus lead to a lot of change in our world. This composition was my attempt to reflect on some of the changes I felt in my life. It is fairly different from most of our other material. There is less emphasis on melody and structure with more free association, compositionally speaking. We also brought in more programming elements to enhance the performance of the Phat Band, like synth textures, drum loops, and SFX. But the focus of this track remains the amazing human beings that perform the music and this track represents one of our very best efforts.”

As a companion piece, 11 alternate mixes of two of the tracks are being made available as bonus content via the official Gordon Goodwin online store at Bandwear. Fans can purchase the premium digital content as a stand-alone offering or buy any format of his most recent album, 2020’s The Gordian Knot (on vinyl, CD, Blu-ray or flash drive) and receive a complimentary download of the tracks, 6 mixes of “Six Feet Away” and 5 mixes of the title track. Each mix highlights the solo efforts of a particular member of the Big Phat Band, so listeners can revel in the Marienthal soprano sax mix, the Rocha trumpet mix or the Goodwin Hammond B3 mix, to name a few.

Born in Wichita, Kansas, Goodwin’s parents moved to Southern California when Goodwin was four. After completing his formal music education at Cal State University-Northridge, Gordon began working at Disneyland in the theme park’s band and after a few years he was commissioned to work on a musical that featured past and present Mouseketeers (including Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera). Upon hearing his music, the master drummer and bandleader Louie Bellson recruited Goodwin to join his band. That exposure led to studio work with the likes of Gil Scott-Heron, Mel Tormé, Ray Charles and legendary vocalist Johnny Mathis.

In 1999, Gordon founded the Big Phat Band for what he thought would be a single performance at his alma mater Cal State at Northridge. Since then, the Big Phat Band has recorded 10 albums, and in the process received 22 Grammy nominations. Goodwin won a Grammy for ‘Best Instrumental Arrangement’ for “Incredits” for the film The Incredibles and has been honored with 3 Emmy awards for his work on the Steven Spielberg-produced shows Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain. His work has been featured/utilized in more than 80 film & TV productions spanning the gamut of pop culture:, amplifying the likes of National Treasure, Star Trek: Nemesis, Snakes on a Plane, Get Smart, Remember the Titans, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, The Majestic (starring Jim Carrey), The Lion King, and Ratatouille.

Last year, Goodwin released the full-length album The Gordian Knot, a nod to the Greek mythology of a knot impossible to undo. Highlights from the collection include “Kneel Before Zod” a song about the super villain who destroyed Superman’s home planet, Krypton, “T.O.P. Adjacent,” a blazing tribute to Tower of Power, “Sunset and Vine,” a 6-minute stroll thru the looking mirror of the legendary Hollywood intersection, a re-make of “The Incredibles,” a tribute to famed drummer Buddy Rich called “The Buddy Complex,” and a sultry, sophisticated rendition of “Summertime,” a take on the aria composed by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera, Porgy and Bess, with vocals by Vangie Gunn.

In addition to being a regular staple at venues throughout Southern California, Goodwin is also the host of the popular long-running radio program, “Phat Tracks with Gordon Goodwin,” airing for the last 5 years on KJAZZ, America’s jazz and blues station.

Greg Abate | "Magic Dance: The Music of Kenny Barron"

There’s a beautiful marriage happening with Greg Abate’s “Magic Dance: The Music of Kenny Barron." It’s the union between Abate’s multi-instrumental gift of bebop and Kenny Barron’s varied and sublime compositions. Abate and Barron, who, in addition to lending Abate his material, handles keys on this recording session, are soul mates occupying the same lovely musical space.

With Barron’s material and Abate’s fresh vision, the two-disc set, recorded over three days at Rudy Van Gelder Studio in New Jersey, is a revelation. Says Abate: “Kenny was kind enough to provide me with music for a range of his tunes, some more well-known than others. The only difficult part was choosing which ones to record.”

Abate researched and reworked Barron’s music, inserting his own ideas when appropriate, enhancing his arrangements with multiple sax overdubs, and, when the original was so good, it made sense to leave well enough alone. The project was challenging, multi-dimensional, and immensely gratifying. “I even scored a big band sax section (two altos, two tenors and bari) on ‘Innocence’ and ‘Voyage.’ The other 12 tracks have either one horn, or two horns in harmony.”

Each song received concentrated effort to mix and match saxes and flute, instilling a personal touch without losing the theme of the song. Says Abate: “Besides writing and varying intros and solo chord progressions, I tinkered with key changes, endings and tempos, all with the aim of making something happen. You may hear the head changes differing from the solo chords on many of these tunes. The hard part was to come up with the horn sound that fits each tune best.”

In addition to the mesmerizing material, the room also cast a spell on the band. “The studio was amazing. It oozes history,” says Abate. “Working with Maureen and Don Sickler was a humbling experience. What an honor.” Collaborating with the players on the session must have also been humbling. The lineup, which included Barron, alongside the hot-shot rhythm section of bass player Dezron Douglas and drummer Johnathan Blake, knows this material better than anyone. Together they fully support Abate’s innovations, elevating these arrangements as if they were new to the repertoire. “It was a welcome challenge to construct and execute the arrangements and harmonies, overdubbing and soloing! And the band only made it more welcoming.”

The overdubbing, mixing, and mastering were done by John Mailloux at Bongo Beach, in Westport, MA. Says Abate, “John made me comfortable during what were otherwise very tense times, and he enabled me to realize my musical ideas and get them to sound great.”

Songs like “Rain” and “Innocence” and “Voyage” and—frankly, many many more—are all worth hearing. The set is brisk, passionate and lovely. You can let it wash over you like an ocean breeze, or you can dig into it like a treasure chest, and search for gems. The material, the vision, the ensemble, and the sublime recording here reaffirms the health of real bebop, a genre in which Abate has been, throughout his five-decade career, a dependable flame keeper. With this collaboration, Barron and Abate prove that the glory of straight-ahead jazz can still be purposeful, exhilarating, and, like all great marriages, faithful and true.

Marcin Wasilewski | "En attendant"

"Their years together have resulted in an ensemble with an utterly symbiotic creative flow," observed Don Heckman in the Los Angeles Times, when the Marcin Wasilewski Trio was first making its presence felt on the international jazz scene. The improvisational communication among the players has continued to deepen with the years, along with their range of creative options. En attendant pays testimony to the musicians' far-reaching imagination and to the ways in which the group's lucid musical language can integrate influence from disparate sources. 

Recorded just prior to their Arctic Riff collaboration with Joe Lovano, En attendant finds Marcin Wasilewski, Slawomir Kurkiewicz and Michal Miskiewicz in thoughtful, exploratory mood. The multifaceted Polish group illuminates a characteristically wide span of music, the scope extending from Bach to group improvisation. On En attendant, collectively created pieces are juxtaposed with Wasilewski's malleable "Glimmer of Hope", Carla Bley's timeless "Vashkar", The Doors' hypnotic "Riders on the Storm" and a selection from Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations, transformed in the context. Fluidity is the hallmark, allied to the deep listening made possible by more than a quarter-century of collaborative music-making.

The tripartite "In Motion" offers the most thorough account yet of the trio's capacity for finding forms in the moment, shaping and developing musical structures with a running sense of architectural proportion. "In Motion Part I" gives way to Variation 25 from the Goldberg Variations, a reminder that all roads lead to Bach, eventually. The trio's take on the minor key aria gently probes its atmosphere of dark passion and encircles its exquisite melody. 

Paul Bley's Footloose! recording of 1963 was where many musicians first learned about Carla Bley as a composer. As Marcin Wasilewski recently noted it "opened the gates to something undiscovered", including the inexhaustible mysteries of tunes like "Vashkar," which has become one of the pieces the trio likes to revisit, always finding something new inside it.

Pop and rock cover versions have also long been part of the trio's story. Earlier recordings have found the group re-contextualising Björk's "Hyperballad", Prince's "Diamonds and Pearls", the Police's "Message in a Bottle" and more. The Doors' iconic "Riders on the Storm" now joins the list, in a subtly unconventional arrangement. While the rhythmic feel here hews to a bubbling groove close to the original, bassist Slawomir Kurkewicz is to the fore for much of the tune, soloing inside the form, while Wasilewski mines the harmonies. 

Marcin's rubato ballad "Glimmer of Hope" moves like the waves, floating its glistening motive through changing tonalities over Michal Miskiewicz's detailed cymbals and drums.

Recorded at Studios La Buissonne in August 2019. 

Petter Asbjørnsen, Petter Asbjørnsen & Federico Isasti | "Hello Cacus! Happy Thief"

During a residency in New York, September 2018, Argentinian drummer Federico Isasti and Norwegian bassist Petter Asbjørnsen met and developed a spontaneous musical connection. As part of the SIM workshop (led by Ralph Alessi), Petter and Federico played together a wide range of compositions with musicians within different ensemble settings. That initial musical connection and the shared way of conceiving composed music with improvisation as the founding core led to the idea of working together in the future. Just a few days later, fate would have it that they also met the Austrian pianist Petter Asbjørnsen, a musician that Federico and Petter already admired for his work with Jim Black and Nels Cline, among others, and his fresh approach to improvised music. For all these reasons, they decided they would have to record an album before they disappeared to different corners of the world. 

The following days were spent intensively composing and exploring musical concepts and material to play in a piano trio setting. The central pieces of these explorations were a polished work of rhythm and a subtle approach to harmonies. As a result of that work, the musicians arrived at Happy Thief. Both the names of the album and the trio (Hello Cacus!) were chosen after a sour experience. Just a few weeks after the recording, Petter was back in Europe where his personal bag was stolen, containing the hard drive with the original copy of the album’s recording session. Fortunately the recordings were still stored on sound technician Luis Bacqué’s hard-drive in his studio in New Jersey, where the album was recorded. On the one hand, Hello Cacus! references to the fire-breathing roman god Cacus, son of Vulcan, killer of innocents and perpetrator of all kinds of crimes. On the other hand, Happy Thief is a plain citation to that man that almost made this album impossible to be released.

Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein, Bill Stewart | "Perpetual Pendulum"

Perpetual motion has been dismissed as an impossibility by scientists, but perhaps they should check in with organist Larry Goldings, guitarist Peter Bernstein and drummer Bill Stewart. The trio has been creating vigorously swinging music together for more than 30 years and show no signs of slowing down. That’s not quite an eternity – though in jazz terms, it might as well be. 

The longevity of the musical hook-up between Goldings, Bernstein and Stewart was the inspiration behind Bernstein’s “Perpetual Pendulum,” one of the scintillating new tunes on Perpetual Pendulum, the trio’s new album together. Due out March 25, 2022 from Smoke Sessions Records, the date combines the bandmates’ originals with fresh takes on jazz classics by what is surely the longest-lasting organ trio in modern jazz. 

“Thirty-plus years is definitely a milestone,” Bernstein says. “Especially when you consider it in light of jazz history; it’s trippy to think about, but that's equivalent to keeping a band together from 1940 to 1970. If you think about how short a time so many of our musical heroes were even active, let alone have a group together – I mean, the classic Coltrane quartet was only together for about four years. So it is pretty significant.” 

Perpetual Pendulum was recorded last July at New York’s Sear Sound, a studio with which the trio shares a storied history dating back to their second outing together, 1992’s Light Blue. The session marked the 30th anniversary of the release of their debut, Goldings’ 1991 album The Intimacy of the Blues.

 But their history stretches back even earlier. Goldings and Bernstein had met while still in high school, when both attended the Eastman School of Music’s summer jazz program. The guitarist met Stewart two years later when both were enrolled at William Paterson University, and the drummer and organist hooked up for the first time at a New School session. When Goldings and Bernstein established their spot on the weekly Augie’s calendar, they tried a few drummers before clicking with Stewart and establishing a collective voice that’s endured through three extremely busy solo careers and Goldings’ move to the west coast. 

“We all really dig each other, and that's probably the most important thing,” Goldings says in an attempt to explain the trio’s indefinable chemistry. There’s a lot of crossover in what we like to play and listen to, and our individual visions of jazz tend to align. It’s hard to say, because we never really discuss it; we just try to make good records. We came up together.” 

The origin of their trio makes the release of Perpetual Pendulum on Smoke Sessions particularly significant. Smoke Jazz & Supper Club, the label’s parent venue, was opened on the former site of Augie’s Jazz Bar, where Goldings, Bernstein and Stewart established their rapport on a regular Thursday night gig beginning in 1989. 

“It was a dive,” Goldings remembers. “It was a hole in the wall. Our weekly night there was the reason why I started playing the organ: the kinds of little places where we could get gigs frequently didn't have pianos. At Augies, we literally passed the basket to get paid… But between there and the Village Gate, we amassed a local fan base. So, it is significant that we’re releasing this album with Smoke. That room is hallowed… grease.” 

Perhaps that grease was part of the magic, as it can still be heard in the trio’s gut-level playing on the title track, Perpetual Pendulum – check out the stick-to-the-ribs groove on “Prelude,” Golding’s bluesification of George Gershwin’s Prelude #2. Or the slick venom they bring to Stewart’s self-explanatory political hit piece, “FU Donald.” 

Stewart originally recorded the latter tune on his 2018 album Band Menu, with a trio featuring Walter Smith III and Larry Grenadier. He knew it would make a perfect fit with his lifelong collaborators, however. “I don't think I've ever actually written anything specifically for this trio, to be honest,” Stewart admits. “I just know the way Pete and Larry play, so I just bring things in and see what works.” 

Bernstein concurs. “I know whatever I write, these guys can play it. Harmonically, Larry will be totally inside whatever I might be hearing, and Bill makes every band sound like a band. I don't have to worry about writing with these guys in mind. They've informed my whole sound, so they’re always a reference point in whatever I write.” 

The guitarist contributed two pieces to the album. The trio reprises his “Little Green Men,” which they originally recorded on Light Blue, in a ferociously swinging version. The aforementioned “Perpetual Pendulum” is a new piece, taken at a smoldering lope that prompts slow-burn solos from both the composer and Goldings. The organist’s “Let’s Get Lots” is a tune as witty and playful as the wordplay in its title. Stewart’s second composition is “Lurkers,” a quietly forceful piece highlighted by the avalanching intensity of Goldings’ solo. 

Both John Lewis’ “Django” and Wayne Shorter’s “United” have been longtime staples of the trio’s live sets. Originally recorded by Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in 1961, “United” is driven by a forceful propulsion that eventually erupts into a taut bout of trading between Stewart and his bandmates. A trademark of the Modern Jazz Quartet, “Django” opens with an elegant solo turn by Bernstein, perhaps keeping the tune’s namesake, Django Reinhardt, in his mind’s eye. Goldings enters with lush, blossoming chords before effortlessly pivoting into a swaggering swing. 

Despite the trio’s mutual love of classic standards, “Come Rain or Come Shine” is one perennial that they’d never tackled onstage. An impromptu warm-up led to its welcome inclusion on the album, a bright moment that showcases the old friends’ warm, easy camaraderie. Gary Bartz’s “Libra” is another new addition to the repertoire, ignited by Stewart’s steamroller rhythms and featuring absolutely blistering solos by all three. Duke Ellington’s “Reflections in D” is the polar opposite – airy, elegant and tender, floating on the waves of Stewart’s shimmering brushwork. 

If it’s challenging to imagine a band with the kind of longevity that Goldings, Bernstein and Stewart share, it’s even more rare to find one maintaining this brilliant level of musicianship and chemistry. Its value isn’t lost on the trio, as Bernstein concludes. 

“I think we all share a pure feeling of gratitude,” he says. “With these cats, I feel pressured to play my best because they’ve heard everything I can do. At the same time, I feel comfortable trying anything with them because I know whatever I do, they're going to hold it together. We’ve all grown through our individual experiences, but we always come back to this. And it's only getting better.”

The Dick Aven Band | "Spin So Long"

Here's some killer Soul vibes from Alabama's brilliant Dick Aven who's toured with The Four Tops, The O'Jay's and The Temptations and is influenced by the likes of Sun Ra & Coltrane to name just a few. His stunning new album 'Spin So Long' is all killer no filler and features a man at the top of his game, doing what he does best, playing beautifully original Alt Soul/Jazz/Blues numbers to perfection. Dick Aven is a singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist studio musician and a touring saxophonist who currently lives in Franklin, Tennessee. Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, Dick has been making music since he could reach the keys of his mother’s piano. 

His first influences include the Moody Blues, Johnny Cash, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Elton John, Hank Williams and many others. In his teens he developed an interest in jazz music and was especially influenced by John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Sun Ra and Miles Davis to name a few. As a composer he has been described as a ‘troublemaking progressive’, drawing from those jazz and 1970’s rock influences. Out of the studio he has been utilized as a proficient and reliable sideman. In the late 1980’s he quit his touring gig as the saxophone soloist for Soul artist Peabo Bryson to secure a record deal as half of a Folk-Pop guitar and harmony singing duo called The Cages. 

After that era he became a solo artist and has been steadily honing his craft as a home recording artist, hired studio musician, and road warrior sideman. He has been touring with Outlaw Country artist Jamey Johnson for the past few years as a baritone saxophonist as well as playing saxes in horn sections with The Tuscaloosa Horns, The Temptations, The O’Jays, The Four Tops, and recently tenor sax with The Big Band of Brothers (an Allman Brothers tribute Big Band album). He currently has four albums of original music available on all major music platforms. His last album was a late 2020 release called It All Started in The Garden. The single from that album, No Clue was aired on radio stations internationally. 

His new album, Spin So Long is available as of December 2, 2021. This album features Dick’s songwriting, singing, multi-instrumental arranging skills and stylized tenor saxophone soloing on a set of songs and videos which might be described as Alternative Soul or Modern American Blues based Rock.

Funktastic Players | "Full Circle"

Led by a smooth lead saxophone and a distinct funky 80’s style, Funktastic Players bring with their enriching musical compositions a unique blend of diverse genres. The group’s stirring new album titled, “Full Circle”, presents listeners with an exciting contemporary take on Jazz, on the Funk end of the spectrum.

Comprising of a range of stunning singles, “Full Circle” includes the tracks, “Run Away from You”, “Summer Winds”, “In My Heart”, among others that provide a stunning and memorable soundscape. Be it Hip Hop elements or instrumentation which is high energy and evoking old-school nostalgia, “Full Circle” is a happening voyage through Jazz.

Denoted by a fun and joyous vibe, Funktastic Players’ newest album is the perfect blend of contemporary Jazz and Old-School Funk. The new album released for listeners on December 1st, 2021, and includes the prowess of lead saxophone player, Marcus H Mitchell. Meanwhile, Kevin Croom and the band’s lead powerhouse, David Williams cover keyboards, and Adrian Norton showcases his unique talents on the bass.

“We are the perfect blend of Gerald Albright and Tribe called Quest. Our music is great for date nights and long summer drives. Our music is real feel-good toe tapping jazz…upbeat and danceable,” says the group regarding their music.

With a driving goal to grow a formidable fan base, Funktastic Players are hoping to become a phenomenon amidst other rising players in Jazz, creating for themselves a distinct persona. Building a brand and a catalog of tunes that people know, respect and pay top dollar to see performed is the key goal of David Williams and the Funktastic Players.

David Williams started out his musical career as an MC/DJ during the iconic era of Sugar Hill Gang, Kurtis Blow, and Grandmaster Flash. Having spent many of his early years producing rap acts, like all producers from the era, Williams sampled soul, jazz, and funk records from the 70s.

However, his unique musical trajectory was inked by his evolving and growing style and character. With a thirst to re-create his own original soul music, David Williams went beyond just sampling musical compositions. As the years passed by, the talented artist found himself finally free to do the music he always wanted to do and just the way he had in mind. Having worked in the industry his entire adult life for various independent record labels, David Williams was able to understand the driving mantra of “brand before the band”. With the Funktastic Players’ band, Williams is focusing on constructing an immortalized brand image both nationally and internationally. The group released their first CD, ‘Generations’ six years ago and are only moving onwards and upwards.

New single by Australian jazz-funk ensemble Kerbside Collection (jazz-funk / cinematic)

Kerbside Collection is an instrumental dusty jazz-funk and rare groove ensemble from the inner suburbs of Australia’s 3rd largest city on the mid north coast – Sunny Brisbane QLD. The band plays good time jazz, funk and traditional rare groove for listening or dancing.

The band’s sound harks back to the ’60s and ’70s Californian West Coast music of artists such as Wes Montgomery, George Benson, Chico Hamilton, Joe Sample and The Crusaders, whilst tipping its’ hat to today’s contemporaries keeping the ‘feel’ alive (Soulive, Bobby Hughes, James Taylor, Eddie Roberts & The New Mastersounds, Stance Brothers, Frootful, The Matson 2 etc).

Kerbside Collection have supported and helped warm stages for Osaka Monaurail (Japan), The Kashmere Stage Band (US), Cookin’ on 3 Burners (Melb), The Cactus Channel (Melb), The Seven Ups (Melb), The Melodics (Melb), Jess Harlen &Plutonic (Melb), headlined ‘Home Fest’ in 2011 and 2012, Broadbeach Jazz Festival, Swell Festival, Fish Lane Festival, and their own mini funk/soul/motown revue presentation ‘The Good Foot’ with showcases in Brisbane and the GC.

After releasing their debut 45 – a gritty ‘b boy’ version of Dizzy Gillespie‘s “Night in Tunisia”, with “Jelly Belly”, a snappy jazz funk kicker on the B-side in 2011 , the ensemble then connected with German Légère Recordings to drop their debut album Mind The Curb in May of 2013, which was recorded with Jake Mason of Aussie funk stars Cookin on 3 Burners. Eight songs were recorded/mixed/pre-mastered in four days, on vintage, analogue gear and onto warm tape. The songs were tracked the old classic way – all members in one room playing together, with instruments bleeding into other instrument mics and amps (and no ‘click’!) to capture a full and lively sound from the players.

Mind The Curb – Remixed & Reworked was released late 2014 featuring a variety of remixes, reworks and reinterpretations including by Renegades Of Jazz (Agogo Records), Ennio Styles (RRR / Worldwide fm), and Blunted Stylus. The album went on to receive global support from the likes of Gilles Peterson (UK), Danny Krivit (US), Dom Servini (UK), Diesler (UK), Lance Ferguson, Mike Gurrieri, and more.

Their follow up record Trash or Treasure came out in 2015 and contains hints of library jazz music with lush tones from added instrumentation like vibraphone, sitar and brass that blends into their dusty 60’s inspired West Coast jazz funk and gritty grooves sounds. Engineered with Hopestreet Recording’s Bob Knob and featuring guests from The Cactus Channel, The Bombay Royale, The Putbacks and Brazil, the album contains 13 originals plus one cover of the legendary 70’s CTI records Freddie Hubbard classic “Red Clay”. A record in full trim.

Trash or Treasure Remixed was released November 2016 with re-works and reinterpretations of the album tracks from 90% local Aussie beat-smiths and artists including Sampology, Street Rat, Renegades Of Jazz, JNBO, Two Dee, Paprika and more, receiving support from the likes of the Jazzanova crew, Bradley Zero (Rhythm Section/UK), and Ennio Styles.

Third album Smoke Signals was released at the end of 2018 and contained extra instrumentation, including baritone sax and flute, subtle flourishes of early 70’s analogue / electric jazz grooves, a funky reggae bubbler, and a version of a Bob James‘ jaz-funk classic! Smoke Signals Remixed followed with a full album package containing reworks of the originals from remixers such as Grant Phabao (Paris DJs), Chikashi Nishiwaki (Japan), Horatio Luna (La Sape / 30/70), Blunted Stylus, Sabrosa and more.

Fourth studio album Round The Corner (written and recorded during the last 12-18 months of the recent 2020/2021 cv-19 pandemic) is their most ambitious offering yet, and is set for release in early 2022.

 

Peggy Duquesnel | "Piano For My Soul"

When the volume of the chaotic world becomes too loud as it did at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Peggy Duquesnel escapes by sitting quietly at her piano. There, she sets her nimble fingers free to dance gracefully atop the keys, inevitably finding their way into her musical comfort zone. Soothed with soul bared, Duquesnel’s piano emotes a hybrid of classical music and inspirational hymns. These intimate, meditative sessions spawned “Piano for My Soul,” Duquesnel’s sixteenth album, releasing April 8 on her JoySpring Music imprint.

“I recorded a lot of the album during the lockdown and was happy to have the extra time to work in my studio. Many of the arrangements on ‘Piano for My Soul’ were inspired by my classical background. They also incorporate my gift of combining a hymn with a classical theme to create a new and moving piece of music. A light bulb or divine inspiration sometimes comes upon me when I’m practicing, and I get new ideas on bringing two different music pieces together,” said Duquesnel, who produced and arranged the music on the album.

“Piano for My Soul” is presented in two sections clocking in at a generous 71 minutes of music. The first section consists of piano orchestrations with Alan Broadbent, Billy Martin, Andre Mayeux and the late Steve Hall on works composed by Bach, Chopin and Tchaikovsky blended imaginatively with hymns and songs of faith, including several presented as duets between piano and organist Andre Mayeux (“Cristo Redentor,” “Were You There?” and “Precious Lord Take My Hand”), piano and cellist Melissa Hasin (Bach Prelude in C/“The Lord’s Prayer”), and piano duets featuring Hall (“Holy God We Praise Thy Name”/“Sous le dome epais – Delibes” and “You Are My Hiding Place”/“Swan Lake” – Tchaikovsky). The second section is comprised of solo piano numbers.

Duquesnel shares her artistic muse as multisensory experiences. Each selection on “Piano for My Soul” will be accompanied by the release of a nature video created in partnership between Duquesnel and Gary Hanson of CreationScapes. This is Duquesnel’s sixth consecutive album project that includes the release of nature videos crafted with Hanson.

Recording “Cristo Redentor” came from when Duquesnel watched the Disney-Pixar animated feature “Soul.” 

“Since the movie highlighted the life of a jazz musician, I thought it would be fun to see if there was an appropriate song in the movie to add to my album. ‘Cristo Redentor’ was one of the songs the band played in the jazz club in the movie. I had played that standard by Duke Pearson many years ago on jazz club gigs. Being a jazz pianist, it was fun to play and record this standard. I also asked my graphic artist to use the movie’s vibrant look for the album cover artwork,” said Duquesnel.

Duquesnel is an educator, a role that she will carry out through “Piano for My Soul” by releasing piano tutorial videos for several of the album’s selections. She is making her sheet music arrangements from the album available through the JoySpring Music website.

To help launch “Piano for My Soul,” Duquesnel has issued singles monthly along with nature videos since last October when she dropped “Be Still My Soul”/“Finlandia.” She released “Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow”/Bach 2-part Invention #13 in November; “A Lullaby,” an original composition inspired by the birth of her grandson, in December; and “Take My Life, and Let it Be” last Friday.

Duquesnel will preview the album at a concert that will take place at her church, Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church in Los Alamitos, on March 16.

Based in Long Beach, Calif., Duquesnel’s diverse career spans serving as a pianist, vocalist, composer, arranger, producer, record label owner, and a professor of jazz studies at Concordia University. From recording jazz, pop, inspirational and classical collections to playing at NHL, MLB and Paralympics games, Duquesnel has performed and/or recorded with an array of luminaries such as Broadbent, Dionne Warwick, Henry Mancini, Pat Boone, Jeff Lorber, Jimmy Haslip, Rick Braun, Jeff Hamilton and John Patitucci. Duquesnel is a creative and devout musician who uses her musical ministry as an offering. For more information, please visit www.joyspringmusic.com.

Club d’Elf | "You Never Know"

Boston-based world-dub-jazz collective Club d’Elf returns with their third studio full-length, You Never Know, scheduled for release on April 1. A thick, vibrant double album, its ten tracks are the sound of musicians in full improvisational flight. The collection's first single and its accompanying video "Dervish Dance" is available today across all streaming outlets (listen/watch/share). In support of You Never Know, Club d'Elf has also announced seven album release performances in the northeast. Tickets are on-sale now.

For Mike Rivard, head Elf and sole constant member over the collective's 24 year run, the meaning of You Never Know runs deeper than just the chase of an alchemic group-mind. A few years back, while tracking spiritual insight in the deep-Amazon, Rivard began experiencing terrifying heart palpitations, breathing difficulties and paralyzing anxiety. Initially, he assumed the symptoms were part of his awakening process, but it quickly became clear something else was at work. Back home in Boston, Rivard was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism, likely caused by a blood clot which developed during one of his long flights to Peru. A lifelong devotee of Eastern and holistic medicine, Rivard found himself mired in the sterility and sluggishness of the American healthcare system, struggling with PTSD and cloaked in a severe depression. His life skidded to a halt. 

"A lot of people find out about having a pulmonary embolism by dying," Rivard says. "After the trauma in the jungle as I slipped further and further into the darkness, one of the scariest parts was how things I loved lost all meaning, the pleasure just drained away. It was this sense of sliding into an alternate universe of shadow."

Change, and eventually redemption came via the unifying force of gnawa, a North African trance music known for causing time to melt as players and listeners enter into a liminal space of eternity and possibility. Rivard had long been inspired by gnawa, having purchased his first sintir, a three-stringed bass lute, in 2000. Now, however, he decided to rigorously apply himself to learning the traditions of the music, studying the form and phrases, memorizing note-perfect plays through Moroccan numbers and using its promise of transcendence via repetition to chisel away at the darkness enveloping him. Unlearning his jazz background, he put his attention towards absorbing traditional trance approaches to the music.

"Trance music provides a portal into the eternal, the timeless realm," Rivard continues. "Whether it's Fela Kuti, James Brown, Talking Heads' Remain in Light or gnawa, the key element is repetition. What makes conveying the true essence of trance music challenging in this age of short attention spans and eyes glued to devices is that it happens over time, when the brain settles into a slower frequency. Learning to do that as a musician, for me at least, has meant confronting issues such as 'Who am I? What is my place in the universe? And what is eternal?'”

As the depression parted, Rivard (playing bass and sintir) gathered fellow Club d’Elf collaborators Dean Johnston (drums), DJ Mister Rourke (turntables), Paul Schultheis and John Medeski (vintage analog keyboards), Casablanca-native Brahim Fribgane (oud, vocals and percussion) and guitarists Duke Levine, David Fiuczynski and Kevin Barry, and began recording the album to analog tape with minimal overdubs.

The resulting You Never Know offers gnawa refracted through a prism of contemporary psychedelia—Morocco turned technicolor. Over an hour and 15 minutes, the record unfurls upon kaleidoscopic clouds of spiced smoke, shifting from chopped dub-jazz through trance epics that reimagine Boston as a city of bazaars.

From the loping jazz-funk crawl of "Boney Oscar Stomp" through "Now Open Your Eyes," the dawn-light ballad which acts as the emotional center of the album, the band fires forward, shifting on a dime from slabs of solarized riffing to droning African rhythms. On "Dark Fish" they shoot electric-fusion jazz through with turntablism breaks, while "Golden Hour" rides swells of organ into an eternal sunset.

Half of the album consists of originals inspired by Rivard’s experience and the sounds that saved him, and half covers of influences which have shaped the band’s musical universe: Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, Joe Zawinul, Nass El Ghiwane, as well as, gnawa and Sufi folk songs.

On the Miles/Zawinul "In A Silent Way / It’s About That Time," the band flavors the original's sublime ambience with a chugging Moroccan chaabi rhythm, culminating in a storm of fretwork from Fiuczynski. Sufi traditional "Dervish Dance" slips pools of deep bass and psychedelic crackle beneath Fribgane’s oud soloing. And on the album’s longest track—an 11-minute take of Zappa's "King Kong"—the band fire on all cylinders, blending classic rock with chaabi shuffle, dubbed out and deepened, shifting from hand drum breakdowns through crests of organ-steeped funk.

In the studio, Rivard ceded the spotlight to the collective, allowing for free-play and improvisational dexterity. Through it all rides the trance, pulsing, calming, poking open the mystic truths which may just offer us all the hope of brighter days ahead.

"It's kind of like driving a tour bus and stopping at various interesting destinations, pulling the bus over and letting everyone off, and then it's up to them, the musicians, to find their way into the experience, to create the music together, in the moment," Rivard concludes. "Every voice is heard, is equally important, and can drive the music into places that I never would have envisioned of on my own. That's what really excites me—when I let go of the reins and the collective energy of the ensemble reaches a sort of hive mind state, and the spirits guide us."

AMBIENT JAZZ ENSEMBLE | "BLUES FOR A BILLION STARS"

Blues For A Billion Stars inspired by the classic blue-note sound of Horace Silver, Art Blakey & Coltrane. In my teenage years, learning double bass, those iconic mid tempo tunes were perfect for getting to grips with jazz chord changes. I’m still drawn to the ‘heads’ of the those tunes on tenor sax & trumpet, initially in unison before peeling off into harmony, & this was something I started to explore in an AJE writing session. The premise for BFABS was what would happen if, say, Charles Stepney (Rotary Connection, Terry Callier, EW&F) was to arrange & produce Herbie Hancock's Watermelon Man.

The original chords were pretty close to a classic blues progression but morphed into basically one chord with a turnaround at the end, it felt very jazzy for an AJE piece due to it’s swung groove & horns. In searching for more atmospheric ideas the outro took shape, a stark contrast to the Blue-Note vibe & an interesting twist, creating almost 2 tracks in 1. This gave rise to the title, a juxtaposition of something as raw & rootsy as the blues, with the biggest beautiful other-worldly & cinematic expanse of the solar system. The title then further influenced the direction of the track demanding a bigger & more expansive sound, utilising strings over the sax/trumpet section & an epic end section. 

The long version is slower in tempo & features the full AJE instrumental palette of live sessions. The atmospheric intro is allowed to build & features a Middle Eastern duduk which is doubled by pedal steel. The main version, meanwhile, grabs parts of live performances & rebuilds them with a combination of live loops & drum programming.

New Music Releases: Matt Bianco, Luke Stewart's Silt Trio, William Hooker, William Parker

Matt Bianco - Remixes And Rarities

Remixes And Rarities celebrates the expansive sound of Matt Bianco featuring a selection of recordings from across their first four studio albums: ‘Who’s Side Are You On?’ (1984), ‘Matt Bianco’ (1986), ‘Indigo’ (1988), and ‘Samba In Your Casa’ (1990).Containing remixes of the band’s many singles including the highly sought after Steve Anderson remix of ‘Half A Minute’, never released commercially until now. Among the rarities is a previously unreleased version of ‘You’re The Rhythm’ featuring the spectacularly soulful Kym Mazelle, the First Lady Of House Music, on lead vocals; and the original version of ‘Blame It On That Girl’. An essential companion piece to the deluxe editions of ‘Who’s Side Are You On’, ‘Matt Bianco’, and ‘Indigo’, each of which have been released on the Cherry Pop label and have sold extremely well. Inlcudes a 20-page booklet containing comprehensive credits and a fully illustrated discography. Remastered from the original master tapes stored in the Warner archives. Also available: ‘Whose Side Are You On?’ (Deluxe Edition) ‘Matt Bianco’ (Deluxe Edition) ‘Indigo’ (Deluxe Edition)

Luke Stewart's Silt Trio - Bottom

Bassist Luke Stewart is fast becoming one of our favorite talents on his instrument in recent years – an artist who first grabbed our ears with his work in Irreversible Entanglements, but who seems even better suited to stand out front as a leader! The performance of the trio here is wonderful – complex, but organic – very rhythmic, but also never tied to the groove – maybe a bit in the spirit of the UK group Ill Considered at times, but with a direction that's very much its own! In addition to Stewart on bass, the always-amazing Chad Taylor is on drums – really given the space here to remind us how brilliant he can be – and the group also features Brian Settles on tenor, carving out these really beautiful lines over the top. Titles include "Roots", "Angles", "Reminiscence", "Circles", and "Dream House". ~ Dusty Groove

William Hooker - Big Moon

Maybe one of the most beautiful albums we've heard from William Hooker in years – and a set that has so much more to offer than just his work on drums! There's certainly some of the freer, more improvised moments on the record that you'd expect from Hooker – but there's also these wonderfully tuneful passages, too – work that draws from all sorts of warmly crafted sounds from other group members – a lineup that features Mara Rosenbloom and Mark Hennen on piano, Jimmy Lopez on percussion, Charles Compo on flute, Stephen Gauci and Sarah Manning on saxes, and Jal Rohm Parker Wells on bass. There's also a bit of electronics from Theo Woodward – an element that's used sparingly, but in really great ways – and at the core, Hooker is still very much in charge of the proceedings, as you can feel when he really gets going on the kit. Titles include "Right Speech", "Ring Pass Not", "Seven Rays", "Major Planetary Centres", "Sequence Of The Form", and "Synthesis Of Understanding". ~ Dusty Groove

William Parker - Painter's Winter

William Parker's given us some tremendous music over the years, but this album may be one of our favorites of the bunch – as the set's got this back-to-basics approach that has Parker working in trio formation with Hamid Drake on drums and Daniel Carter on reeds – all with this effortless sense of fluid spontaneity that comes through right from the very first note! The interplay between the musicians is fantastic – free, but always very soulful and directed too – and Carter shifts between trumpet, alto, tenor, clarinet, and flute – making these really magical sounds that are sometimes echoed by Parker on trombonium and shakuhachi. The whole album's brilliant – and features the long songs "Happiness", "Painted Scarf", "Groove 77", and "Painter's Winter". ~ Dusty Groove

Black Flower | "Magma"

Five-piece hybrid jazz outfit Black Flower have released ‘Magma’, the second single taken from the band’s forthcoming album of the same name released 28th January via Sdban Ultra. “We present this latest single as a metaphor for what is to come - moments in time when music comes to the surface taking a concrete form, shared and used to amplify the beauty of life. Being the title track of the upcoming album it reflects a boiling, churning, silent energy. It is the core, the source. It is a state between solid and liquid and represents ancient energy and new potential. The track. An arching melody from the cornet gives way to an eruptive solo on baritone sax.” 

Black Flower is a band at the peak of their creative powers. Having received glowing praise for the 2019 album ‘Future Flora’ from Mojo, Songlines, BBC Radio 6 Music’s Gilles Peterson, BBC Radio 3’s Music Planet, Worldwide FM and Jazz FM among others, forthcoming album ‘Magma’ sees Black Flower embrace new synth and organ sounds from the band’s most recent recruit, Karel Cuelenaere. Piloted by Brussels-based saxophonist/flutist/composer Nathan Daems (Echoes of Zoo, Dijf Sanders), the quintet is a vibrant, hypnotic mix of Ethio jazz, afrobeat, psychedelia and oriental influences, inspired by Mulatu Astatke, Fela Kuti and varied western musical traditions.

Across ‘Magma’, Cuelenaere’s influence can be heard from the outset – his keys adding a swirling, mischievousness to album opener and title track ‘Magma’. Elsewhere, the shuffling drum patterns and flighty, flute-propelled ‘O Fogo’ are rich in texture and flow. Driving rhythms and Eastern influenced melodies serve as a rich source of pleasure that, like magma, become real and solid when finding its way to the surface. It’s the perfect metaphor for this album’s creational process. The pulsating, trance-inducing ‘Deep Dive Down’ continues the joyous process while singer-songwriter Meskerem Mees (winner of The Montreux Jazz Talent Award 2021) adds, her clear-as-spring-water vocals to the celestial ‘Morning in the Jungle’.

Tom Browne: Brother, Brother – The GRP / Arista Anthology

SoulMusic Records is very proud to present “Brother, Brother: The GRP/Arista Anthology,” a musically superb anthology by renowned trumpeter, musician and songwriter Tom Browne, covering his five-year tenure (1979-1984), firstly with GRP Records then with Arista Records.

From Jamaica, Queens, NY, Tom grew up in a creatively-fertile environment among other budding musicians including drummer Omar Hakim, bassist Marcus Miller, keyboardist Bernard Wright, drummer Lenny White and songwriter/musician Lesette Wilson. After being courted by several labels, Tom opted to sign with the then-fledgling GRP label, created by top jazz production team of Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen.

Following the critically-acclaimed “Browne Sugar” LP, Tom experienced his biggest commercial breakthrough with 1980’s “Love Approach” which included the massive global hit, the now-timeless funk groove, ‘Funkin’ For Jamaica (N.Y.)’, a No. 1 R&B US hit. This 29-track, 2-CD set also includes two 1991 remixes of the classic cut by the UK’s Driza Bone.

Tom’s third album, “Magic” kept the momentum going with charted hits, ‘Let’s Dance’, ‘Thighs High (Grip Your Hips And Move)’ and ‘Fungi Mama/Bebopafunkadiscolypo’, are all featured here along with later hits, ‘Bye Gones’, ‘Rockin’ Radio’ (produced by Maurice Starr and Michael Jonzun), ‘Cruisin’’, and ‘Secret Fantasy’ (featuring Siedah Garrett).

With key cuts from each of his four GRP and two Arista albums, this stellar anthology is remastered by Donald Cleveland and includes notes by renowned US writer Kevin Goins with quotes from Tom himself, Marcus Miller and Lesette Wilson and comments by the late Larry Rosen.

Vicente Hansen Atria and Mat Muntz | "The Vex Collection"

Imagining alternate pasts, presents, and futures, The Vex Collection uses unheard-of combinations of traditional instruments, newly devised musical contraptions, and a philosophy of mad-scientific experimentation in their exploration of uncharted sonic space. Led by composer-performers Vicente Hansen Atria (drums, gongs, electronics) and Mat Muntz (bass, Croatian bagpipe, homemade woodwinds), their self-titled debut features avant-garde highland bagpiper Matthew Welch and Korean woodwind virtuoso gamin, who contribute their unique abilities and conceptions to an intricate whirlwind of sound. 

The project grew from Mat and Vicente’s shared fascination with the double reed, an ancient musical technology developed by virtually every culture on Earth in order to produce loud, brilliant, and beautifully intense sounds. In their collaboration with Welch and gamin, they found surprising affinities between the musical worlds of Scotland and Korea, both of which feature double reed instruments as central cultural icons. On The Vex Collection, the striking presences of these traditional instruments are not softened or altered so as to better blend with one another; they are allowed to clash thunderously in one moment and synthesize miraculously in the next, imagining some forgotten past where these sounds could have emerged as part of an organic folk tradition. The addition of new, experimental instruments into the mix extends this history into a speculative future: one in which the primacy of the double reed never waned, and the most compelling sounds of the 21st century - distorted guitars, aggressive synthesizers, detailed microtonality - are produced via breath and vibrating blades rather than circuitry. 

This volatile energy is directed and shaped from below by the rhythm section chemistry of Muntz and Hansen Atria. Longtime collaborators in the New York jazz scene, the pair guide the band with precision and propulsion through prog-rock rhythmic minefields, hypnotic grooves, and improvised explorations. 

2CELLOS | "Dedictated"

Having racked up a billion-plus audio streams, countless sold-out concerts, and millions of fans across the globe in their ten years together as 2CELLOS, the Croatian duo of Luka Šulić and HAUSER today release their sixth full-length album Dedicated via Sony Masterworks. Celebrating the group's momentous 10-year-anniversary, the album's namesake is an apt nod to 2CELLOS' dedication to their fans, the instrument, and their signature playing style. In support of the new album, the duo will make their long-awaited return to the stage for their 2022 Dedicated World Tour, their final tour together as 2CELLOS. Kicking off March 2022 in the U.S., 2CELLOS will make stops at iconic venues including New York's Barclays Center (April 3) and Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl (April 15) – full tour dates and ticketing information can be found HERE.

Of "Sweet Child O' Mine," 2CELLOS say: "It's one of those classic legendary songs, so we had to do it! We'd been thinking about recording it for a long time. It's our typical 2CELLOS style-rock ‘n' roll on the cello. It's how we started, and it's what we came back to now. I don't know why it took us this long, but we're happy we finally did it!"

Following a brief hiatus for 2CELLOS, which found both Luka and HAUSER using the opportunity to build on their accomplishments by each releasing solo albums, the duo linked up again in the studio amidst the 2020 global pandemic to reimagine the pop anthems and timeless rock staples that encompass the ten tracks on Dedicated. The arrangement process relied on a combination of gut instinct and intense study, practice, and transposition as the duo recharged instantly recognizable by everyone from Billie Eilish to Guns N' Roses. 

2CELLOS explore a diverse catalog with their signature boundary-breaking playing style on Dedicated.  The collection includes their take on everything from classic pop hits ("bad guy" by Billie Eilish, "Shallow" by Lady Gaga, "Halo" by Beyonce) to hard-hitting rock songs ("Livin' on a Prayer," by Bon Jovi, "Cryin'" by Aerosmith, "Demons" by Imagine Dragons, "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses, "Wherever I Go" by OneRepublic) to celebrated classics ("Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel) for a one-of-a-kind listening experience.  Complete track list below.

"When you listen to us, we hope you realize the cello is a versatile and diverse instrument capable of playing the hardest rock, the softest ballad, and the most contemporary of music," 2CELLOS note. "It moves you in a way that's equally powerful. It has a whole palette of emotions, ups, and downs. We're trying to give you an experience you can't get anywhere else."

2CELLOS is the eclectic, international sensation comprised of two classically trained cellists who reached video viral fame on YouTube from their 2011 rendition of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal." The pair, Luka Šulić and HAUSER, have since created a name for themselves with their electric and dynamic playing style. Together, 2CELLOS have amassed a staggering 1.3 billion YouTube views, 5.5 million YouTube subscribers, 1 billion streams, and have sold nearly 1 million tickets. 2CELLOS have taken the cello to unimagined heights as their signature style breaks down the boundaries between genres of music, from classical and film music, to pop and rock. Known for their electric live performances, 2CELLOS have sold out shows across the globe at historic venues including New York City's Radio City Music Hall, London's Royal Albert Hall and the Sydney Opera House. The duo has performed alongside musical greats Steven Tyler, Andrea Bocelli, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Queens of the Stone Age and George Michael, to name a few, and was hand-picked by Sir Elton John to perform both as an opener as well as part of the iconic singer's live band. 2CELLOS are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year, and are working hard to continue reaching new stratospheres.