New Music: Kyoto Jazz Massive, Caetano Veloso, G. Fields, Levi Dover

Kyoto Jazz Massive - Message From A New Dawn

The "new dawn" here is very well put – as the duo of Shuya Okino & Yoshihiro Okino are very much back in action as Kyoto Jazz Massive – working with all the soulful styles of their long legacy in music, but also drawing on some of the best jazzy currents of their other work in recent years! The album's light years ahead of their work in the previous century – and they've also got some great jazz contributions from other hip Japanese combos on the scene – as well as work on vibes from the great Roy Ayers on one cut, and vocals from the great Vanessa Freeman on a few more! The whole thing's a great evolution of the sound of Tokyo club that we first fell in love with years back – and titles include "Primal Echo", "Astral Ascension", "Visions Of Tomorrow", "Get Up", "Revolution Evolution", "The Mask", and "Eternal Tide".  ~ Dusty Groove

Caetano Veloso - Meu Coco

A really tremendous album from Caetano Veloso – one of the few artists from the 60s who just seems to continue to get better and better with age! And by that, we don't mean that this is an "aged" record – we mean that Veloso sounds as freshly creative as ever – unveiling a completely new sound, while still keeping true to his musical vision of recent decades – a stunning achievement that few other global artists could ever hope to match! The sound is sublime right from the very first note – a strong focus on Caetano's ability to craft a line with simple poetry, set to backings that are often relatively spare, but full of these interesting little touches – done in collaboration with musical partner Lucas Nunes, and featuring a fair bit of contributions from Moreno Veloso too. The set's strongly in that best tradition of less-is-more that marks the best recent work from both Veloso family members – and titles include "Meu Coco", "Ciclamen Do Libano", "Anjos Tronchos", "Enzo Gabriel", "Voce Voce", "Sem Samba Nao Da", "Cobre", and "GilGal".  ~ Dusty Groove

G. Fields - In The Moment

Prior to his recent emergence in Smooth Jazz with his chill funk/hip-hop/R&B infused vibes,  Atlanta-based saxophonist Gregory Fields (aka G. Fields) enjoyed an eclectic career that included early recordings as a hip-hop artist, signing with Warner Bros., launching his own indie label, owning his own recording studio in Huntington, NY, and co-founding a multi-faceted music entertainment services company (AMS Music Entertainment). After years of making music and working behind the scenes with other artists, he returned to his childhood love of the sax to forge his own way as an impactful artist. He starts 2022 on a hopeful note with a lush, seductive and ultra-passionate slow jam ballad (with trippy-cool atmospheric effects) that comes with great reminder for these challenging times – to live boldly “In the Moment.” ~ www.smoothjazz.com

Levi Dover - Imaginary Structures

Imaginary Structures is the debut album from Montreal based composer and double bassist Levi Dover. This singular recording consists of eight original compositions for sextet, brought to life by an ensemble of musicians with an individualistic and contemporary approach. The album as a whole establishes a stylized vision of improvised music, fusing jazz with elements of progressive rock and 20th century classical music, brought together in a post-bop setting. The music is set against the backdrop of an impressionistic landscape which at times recalls the influence of composers such as Wayne Shorter, Miles Davis, Bobby Hutcherson, and Andrew Hill. The improvisations are tightly woven into the structure of the pieces, giving the musicians the freedom to explore the universe that the compositions reveal. Throughout the album, a dreamy atmosphere and contemplative mood is balanced against a tight rhythmic undercurrent that propels the music forward, creating a narrative that unfolds gradually over the course of these eight pieces, exposing different facets of the composer’s imagination. 

Tanika Charles | “Papillon de Nuit: The Night Butterfly”

Twice JUNO-nominated and two-time Polaris Prize listed, Toronto’s soul songstress Tanika Charles unveils her album “Papillon de Nuit: The Night Butterfly”.

“Papillon de Nuit: The Night Butterfly” is the third studio album from Canadian Soul/R&B powerhouse Tanika Charles and is slated to be released worldwide on Milan-based Record Kicks label on April 08th. Composed and recorded while in and out of lockdowns, “Papillon de Nuit” is an album anchored in growth and maturity. The thematic inspiration came from an unlikely source, a creature that soars after the sun sets, but often goes unnoticed until the light shines on it. It is the “papillon de nuit” to some, but drably referred to as a moth by others, revealing a bias in language alone.

“I always thought it was a strange insect. Once while in Paris, a friend swatted at one and I asked: ‘Was that a moth?’. I was told: ‘No, that’s a papillon de nuit.’ I thought that was the most beautiful description for this otherwise overlooked creature. When I later learned of the symbolism associated with it, I felt that really spoke to both my own situation and also what we’ve all been going through.” Production on “Papillon de Nuit” was helmed by a mixture of old and new collaborators. The Safe Spaceship Records production team, consisting of Scott McCannell (Lydia Persaud, Claire Davis), Ben MacDonald and Chino de Villa (re.verse, Jessie Reyez), produced four songs on the album. The group also assisted as session musicians for songs produced by newcomer Todd “HiFiLo” Pentney (Allison Au Quartet, JUNO Award winner). “The Gumption” contributor Kevin Henkel (“Tell Me Something”, “Look At Us Now”) returned with three compositions, and old friend Jesse Bear (Sean Kingston, Stan Walker) contributed to one song.

Following the success of “Soul Run” (2016/17) and “The Gumption” (2019), Tanika had found a comfortable pace of releasing albums then hitting the road the following year to bring her show to new markets far and wide. So when things changed for all of us, and plans of touring “The Gumption” properly fell through, there was a realization that getting to work on the next project was the healthiest choice to make.

“I was in some dark places. My energy was stagnant and the only reliable constant was this perpetual uncertainty. I had gone from feeling like I was everywhere to only being in one place. From seeing so many new faces, to only my own, in the mirror, everyday and having to face that. Getting back to work on music allowed me to explore these feelings through the format I know best. And I wanted to make sure that when things were ready to resume, I’d be ready with something new for my audience too.”

Tanika, who took part in the writing of most of the album, was also assisted by regular co-writer Robert Bolton (“Soul Run”, “Remember to Remember”) and accomplished solo performer Tafari Anthony (Priyanka, of RuPaul’s Drag Race). Featured guests include the multi-disciplinary artist Khari McClelland and rising Toronto rapper, DijahSB. Both Dakarai Morris-James (Joanna Majoko, BeBe Zahara Benet) and Sean “D/SHON” Henderson (“Love Overdue”, Serena Ryder) assisted with vocal arrangements across multiple songs.

“I think this album represents my best work to date. And yet, it also represents me coming to terms with who I am as an artist. For the first time I think I’ve actually accepted my own voice. I can hear beyond the imperfections, and I realized that when paired with the right music, it can sound pretty good. I still have my doubts and my dark places, but a little less of them.” `~ www.firstexperiencerecords.com

José Roberto Bertami - The Azymuth keyboardist's earliest recordings to be reissued for the first time

Best known as the keyboardist and bandleader of legendary trio Azymuth, the late José Roberto Bertami also wrote for, arranged for and performed with Elis Regina, George Duke, Sarah Vaughn, Jorge Ben, Eddie Palmieri, Milton Nascimento, Flora Purim and Erasmo Carlos, among countless others. But before all of that, in 1965, at the age of just nineteen, Zé Roberto recorded his first studio album with his group Os Tatuís, and the José Roberto Trio in the following year. These largely slept-on albums of beautiful, expressive samba jazz and bossa nova stand as a testament to the prodigious genius of one of the most important musicians in Brazil’s history. 

Born in 1946 in Tatuí - a small city in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, José Roberto was the eldest of seven children, four of whom became musicians. His father Lázaro was a classical violinist and a professor at Tatuí’s public conservatory, the largest music school in Latin America - for which the city is nicknamed "Music City".  After two years of piano lessons from the age of seven, Bertrami began losing interest, spending more time playing football and what he himself referred to as “professional vagabondage”. At thirteen, as his mother was despairing that her son was going off the rails, Zé Roberto enrolled at the conservatory. “In my two years there, I did seven years’ work and then I was expelled. The conservatory was almost entirely a classical music situation, and I’d begun to break some rules—like holding a jam session at school.”

Having discovered Bill Evans and Miles Davis in his early teenage years, Betrami began to channel his passion and exceptional musical talent into jazz rather than classical music. The bossa nova sound was also gaining popularity and Bertrami became especially interested in the music of Luiz Eça and Tamba Trio. 

In his late teens, and around the same time as he was regularly sneaking off to São Paulo by train to perform in nightclubs, Zé Roberto, alongside his brother Claudio (a successful musician in his own right, who would go on to play on seminal albums by Gal Costa, Tom Zé, Edu Lobo and João Bosco) and other musicians from Tatuí’s emerging jazz and bossa nova scene, recorded the first album under the group name Os Tatuís. The self-titled LP featured Zé Roberto on piano, Claudio on double bass, a horn section and an organist. With compositions by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Roberto Menescal, Carlos Lyra, Durval Ferreira and Adilson Godoy, the album also featured Bertrami’s own composition “A Bossa do Zé Roberto”, a mesmerising piece of bossa jazz, which proved that already - even as a teenager - Bertrami’s compositions could stand alongside those by the bossa greats. 

A year later, in 1966, Bertrami went back into the studio, but this time stripping the format back to a trio set up. Again featuring Claudio Henrique Betrami on double bass, and with Jovito Coluna on drums, the José Roberto Trio recorded their one and only album, featuring compositions by Baden Powell, Manfredo Fest, and Marcos Valle. The album also featured three of Betrami’s own compositions: the wistful “Lilos Watts”, the groovy “Kebar” and the dazzling “Talhuama”. In the vein of the pioneering Tamba Trio who had so inspired Bertrami in the few years prior, the José Roberto Trio typified an emerging movement within bossa nova in the mid-sixties, with a distinctively Brazilian reimagining of the piano jazz trio sound conceived by the likes of Nat King Cole, Oscar Peterson and Ahmad Jamal, and further developed by Bill Evans. Following on from Tamba Trio, in Brazil, the mid-sixties saw a number of great Brazilian bossa jazz trios recording around this time, such as Bossa Três, Milton Banana Trio, Tenório Jr, and Bossa Jazz Trio, the latter another group helmed by Betrami.

Both Os Tatuís and José Roberto Trio will be reissued on vinyl, CD and digitally for an 18th March 2022 release via Far Out Recordings. Across both of these historic albums, Bertrami’s stunningly performed compositions are rich with harmonic complexity and rhythmic ingenuity, providing a precursor to some of Bertrami’s futuristic fusion with Azymuth later in his career.

UK Contemporary Jazz Artist Fiona Ross Spotlights Self-Worth in Brave and Beautiful “Good Enough”

“Will I ever be good enough?; Will I ever be wise enough…for anyone?” Multi-award-winning contemporary jazz artist Fiona Ross launches her heartfelt new single with these two intensely personal questions, bravely throwing the doors open to examine self-doubt with “Good Enough” from her recently released album, Red Flags and High Heels — both available now.

“We all have moments of doubt and wonder if we are good enough — whether this is as a musician, an artist, a parent or just a human being,” Ross offers. “It’s what it says on the tin, really: a song about being good enough or, more precisely, not being good enough.

“This song is just me and how I feel.”

With her bright, soulful vocals posing these pointed questions over a fluid piano line, guitar flourishes and tasteful, spare rhythms, Ross lays her innermost misgivings beautifully bare in “Good Enough,” and makes them all the more relatable in doing so.

“There’s a line in the song ‘people say the nicest things’, and this is so very true for me,” Ross notes of the line ‘People say the nicest things; I want to feel them, too, but I’ve never felt worthy of even a fraction of the things people say.’ “People are so very kind about me and my work, but I always find it very overwhelming because I just don’t see it. I have very high and unachievable expectations of myself and what I can do, and I know I can always do better and be better.”

Ross acknowledges that drive for constant growth and improvement and the questioning that fuels it occurs universally within her vocation. “I believe this is the life of an artist in many ways,” she says.

While “Good Enough” snapshots those moments of insecurity, the International Singer Songwriter Association’s 2020 International Female Songwriter of the Year believes that an artist’s natural self-doubt must be balanced with some self-confidence to achieve success.

“We all have worries and concerns and wonder if we are enough in so many ways and the sensible part of me says, ‘yes, we must believe we are enough, we have to believe we are if we want to achieve anything and to achieve change’.”

Following fast in the wake of her scathing kiss-off song, “You are Like Poison”, “Good Enough” is the second single from Ross’ fifth album Red Flags and High Heels, released last October to wide praise. Among many accolades, Jazz Journal called it “a probing album that oozes passion, punch and panache.” The album’s 10 studio tracks and 4 live recordings span the full breadth of life’s emotional spectrum and feature Ross’s stellar and highly accomplished 8-piece band.

That drive for growth and achievement that Ross says is so much a part of an artist’s life helps fuel her pursuits behind the scenes as a music journalist. She also founded the groundbreaking organization, Women in Jazz Media, which develops and supports initiatives for mentoring and promoting women in jazz music around the world.

To that end, Ross has asked women who have inspired her to write her album sleeve notes.

“My last album featured sleeve notes with the legend that is Maxine Gordon – she is a role model and a mentor to me,” Ross shares. “When I was thinking about this album, I thought it would be incredible to have strong, fierce, and inspirational women who have inspired me, write the sleeve notes for each of my albums from now onwards, with Maxine leading the way. Céline Peterson instantly came to mind, and I am absolutely thrilled that she agreed.”

Peterson, an artist representative, jazz festival producer and the daughter of the late Canadian jazz legend Oscar Peterson, writes, “Being able to connect with a singer and songwriter who can find the strength to share such deeply personal words with us in such a way that makes us feel safe, is rare. Red Flags and High Heels is a time capsule in musical creation.”

Ross is also the former Head of the British Academy of New Music where she trained chart-topping hit makers Ed Sheeran, Rita Ora, Jess Glynne and others. With “Good Enough”, Ross shows that even a mentor with high-level experience and stature is never completely free of self-doubt and that the best way to reveal those very personal feelings in song is honestly and unadorned.

“I always just write what comes in my head. Everything starts with me at my piano, so this is a pretty naked track from all angles.”

Featured Music Releases: Dennis Murphy, Allan Evans Trio, Futurenot, Johnny Schaefer & Melissa Manchester

Dennis Murphy - Our Higher Selves

The title of Grammy nominated composer, guitarist, bassist and multi-instrumentalist Dennis Murphy’s 1999 debut Hit Me Hard, perfectly captures the intensity he’s brought over the years to his multitude of endeavors as an early genre radio personality (whose show “Bass Trax” was produced by Smoothjazz.com founder, Sandy Shore), clinician and founder of a popular Monterey, California music school, and studio and touring sideman for Acoustic Alchemy, Maria Muldaur, Billy Preston among others. On this latest foray, the eclectic, ultra-melodic and tightly grooving Oour Higher Selves, Murphy darts artfully between colorful guitar playing and bass-driven Smooth Jazz, fusion, playful samba and spiritual soul while freewheeling with an all-star cast including elite saxophonists Kirk Whalum, Eric Marienthal, Gary Meek and Tower Of Power’s Tom Politzer, as well as late guitar great Jeff Golub and legendary drummer Will Kennedy! ~ www.smoothjazz.com

Alan Evans Trio - Elephant Head

Elephant Head is an epic instrumental album of cinematic funk, in the pocket grooves, and infectious melodies. As a whole the full-length evokes a classic vintage movie soundtrack. It also features virtuoso playing from all three band members (Alan Evans / Danny Mayer / Kris Yunker). The album opens with the atmospheric “Route 68”, featuring a part psychedelic vibe coupled with highly catchy melody lines. “Strangest Thing” has a tough lowdown groove, the second half of the song shifts to a hypnotic groove with killer guitar lines. “Sunset Trails” evokes a western movie classic theme tune. The main riff sticks in the head long after listening. “Birth Of Peace” is a slow burning ambient ballad. Sonically the album sounds incredible, combining a modern take on a vintage vibe, with Evans at the helm as producer bringing his trademark quality and attention to detail. There is something undeniably special when a band of three clicks. Some would say finding three good musicians playing music together isn’t a hard task. Finding seasoned artists who can make a trio sound a band twice their size, well that’s special. Alan Evans Trio, a power soul organ trio is certainly special.

Futurenot - Greatest Hits

Futurenot is vintage inspired music realized through a modern lens. It is about being in the present, creating music for the here and now while incorporating the experiences and influences of our past to move towards the future. The band blends elements of hip hop, jazz, soul and pop with vocals, backbeat and a generous dose of strong melodies that will require you to roll your windows down and turn the volume up. "Greatest Hits" is the culmination of work that Jason Cressey and Peter Daniel began in 2013. The title of the album is more than just a tongue-in-cheek joke about a first release; it is a reference to how we drew from that material to create this collection.

Johnny Schaefer - You Can't Hide The Light feat Melissa Manchester

A fast-emerging new discovery in the Smooth Jazz realm, versatile singer/songwriter Johnny Schaefer brings an incredible resume to his uplifting, delightfully infectious new single “You Can’t Hide The Light” - a heartfelt, then rousing, pop/jazz meets gospel duet with  legendary Grammy winning vocalist Melissa Manchester. In addition to singing backup over the years for Manchester, Sarah Vaughan, Pete Townshend, Billy Idol and others, Schaefer has been cantor at Hollywood’s Blessed Sacrament Church for decades. An empowering song about healing and the way our inner light can dispel life’s darkness, it begins as an intimate seduction before introducing dynamic vocal chemistry, building towards a high-energy, vocal dance between the singers – all backed with hip, edgy production textures. ~ www.smoothjazz.com

Eric Krasno | "Always"

The idea of “losing yourself” may seem negative, but to Grammy-award winning guitarist Eric Krasno, the phrase has a deeper meaning. “It’s about losing your ego when you find someone who works for you,” he explains. Featuring head-nodding handclaps, horns from Jazz Mafia, and a funkified bass line drive, Krasno’s new single “Lost Myself” is featured on his new solo album ‘Always,’ and according to the guitarist, “it’s the funkiest track on the album.” Out February 4th via Mascot Label Group, ‘Always’ is filled with songs like “Lost Myself,” which consecrate, commend, and celebrates the permanence of family.

On ‘Always’ – across ten tracks with inimitable instrumentation, eloquent songcraft, and raw honesty – the Soulive and Lettuce co-founder, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and two-time GRAMMY® Award-winning songwriter-producer defines himself as not only an artist, but also as a husband, father, and man. “Lost Myself” follows the release of recent singles like “Silence,” about the emotional havoc that a lack of communication can wreak on the human psyche, and “Alone Together,” about the beauty that can be created between two people in solitude.

“Before 2020, I was having a good time, but I wasn’t grounded at all,” he explains. “I was going from gig to gig. I was always running around without a purpose. During the last year, I found my people in terms of my wife and son. I’ve created a family who will always be there for me. That’s what the album is about.” 

Something of a musical journeyman, Krasno’s extensive catalog comprises three solo albums, four Lettuce albums, twelve Soulive albums, and production and/or songwriting for Norah Jones, Robert Randolph, Pretty Lights, Talib Kweli, 50 Cent, Aaron Neville, and Allen Stone. As a dynamic performer, he’s shared stages with Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, and The Roots. Out of seven nominations, he picked up two GRAMMY® Awards for his role as a songwriter and guitarist on Tedeschi Trucks Band’s ‘Revelator’ and guitarist on Derek Trucks Band’s ‘Already Free.’ 

But as the Global Pandemic changed the world’s plans, he found himself thinking a lot and writing just as much. At the suggestion of old Lettuce bandmate Adam Deitch, he connected with musician and producer Otis McDonald and collaborated on a version of Bob Dylan’s “The Man In Me,” a song that had taken on a deeper significance for Krasno in recent years. “My wife and I got married, bought a house, and had a baby,” he recalls. “I had heard the song many times before, but it had never quite hit me the way it was hitting me. I recorded it with just acoustic guitar and vocals, and I loved what Otis did to it. He sent it back to me, and I thought, ‘This is exactly how I want to make my next record’.” 

Recording first virtually and then at the Bay Area’s legendary Hyde Street Studios, famous for 2Pac, Grateful Dead, and Digital Underground, Krasno and McDonald tapped into a shared spirit as co-producers, ultimately forming Eric Krasno & The Assembly with Otis on bass, Wil Blades on keys and organ, Curtis Kelly on drums, and James VIII on guitar and vocals. 

In the end, Krasno welcomes everyone to be a part of his family on ‘Always.’ “If you take away a message of love and the Always concept, that’s great,” he leaves off. “Most of all, I want to put you in a happy place. In the past, I personally just felt like I was a guitarist, songwriter, and a producer. Now, I feel like a fully formed artist.” 

Eric Krasno – Tour Dates

Feb 18 – Washington’s – Fort Collins, CO

Feb 19 – Cervantes’ Other Side – Denver, CO

Feb 20 – The Commonwealth Room – Salt Lake City, UT

Feb 22 – Nectar Lounge – Seattle, WA

Feb 23 – Aladdin Theater – Portland, OR

Feb 25 – Sweetwater Music Hall – Mill Valley, CA

Feb 26 – The Crytstal Bay Club Casino Crown Room – Crystal Bay, NV

Feb 27 – Guild Theatre – Menlo Park, CA

Mar 1 – Harlow’s – Sacramento, CA

Mar 3 – SLO Brew – San Luis Obispo, CA

Mar 4 – Teragram Ballroom – Los Angeles, CA

Mar 5 – Pappy & Harriet’s – Pioneertown, CA

Mar 11 – The Capitol Theatre – Port Chester, NY

Mar 12 – The Capitol Theatre – Port Chester, NY

Mar 18 – North Beach Bandshell – Miami Beach, FL

Mar 19 – North Beach Bandshell – Miami Beach, FL

Arkadia Records Reinvents Itself for the Digital Age

Twenty-five years after its first CD release, Arkadia Records emerges in 2022 from a long quiet spell, revitalized and recalibrated for a changing music industry. The jazz label founded and run by Bob Karcy has embraced the digital musical landscape, releasing its complete catalog on the full gamut of online streaming platforms and preparing its first releases since the 2000s—including the newly recorded debut album by Brazil’s Tetel Di Babuya, due for June 24 release. 

The burst of new activity is not a “rebirth” per se: That would imply that Arkadia had undergone some sort of death. “We never went away,” Karcy stresses. “We’ve always been here to distribute our physical products—CDs and DVDs—and licensing the music to various TV shows and films. But we’ve recently heard from the streaming services, and they all said, ‘Hey, how come the Arkadia catalog’s not out there on our platforms?’” 

That the streaming services would desire Arkadia’s archive is unsurprising. It’s a treasure trove including over 100 albums, with works by such revered artists as Benny Golson, Billy Taylor, Dave Liebman, and Joanne Brackeen as well as the entire discography of the Grammy-nominated Arkadia Jazz All-Stars. It also includes the full catalogs of Arkadia Chansons, an imprint Karcy founded to distribute his holdings of classic French popular music, and Postcards Records, an adventurous jazz label that Arkadia purchased in 1999. 

Yet Arkadia’s renaissance is not just a celebration of its backlog. The archive also holds multiple albums’ worth of never-before-released recordings, including sessions by Brackeen, saxophonist TK Blue, and the Arkadia Jazz All-Stars. Even more exciting, however, is the fact that this glut of releases begins with the label’s first new album in over a decade: Meet Tetel, the debut recording by Brazilian singer-songwriter and violinist Tetel Di Babuya. 

“She’s certainly not in the ‘classic’ way we know jazz, with scatting and bebop; she has a more contemporary, singer-songwriter feel,” Karcy says. “But she’s in the jazz pocket—you couldn’t call it any other genre but jazz. It’s accessible, original, and really exciting.” 

More developments are in the works. In the coming months, Arkadia will unveil Arkadia Concerts, a VOD (video on demand) channel for jazz concerts and documentaries from Karcy’s extensive catalog featuring artists such as Herbie Hancock, Nancy Wilson, and Joe Williams. Don’t call it a comeback: Just say that Arkadia has resumed its place at the front lines of jazz’s evolution.

Arkadia Records began in the mid-1990s when Bob Karcy (above)—a lifelong music lover, musician, producer, and entrepreneur—decided to establish a recording hub that some of his favorite jazz greats could call home. The label’s first release, 1997’s The Music Keeps Us Young by piano legend Billy Taylor’s trio, marks its 25th anniversary in 2022. 

The company features three label imprints: Arkadia Jazz, which offers music that runs from the straightahead to the avant-garde; Arkadia Chansons, which distributes historic recordings of French popular music from the likes of Edith Piaf and Charles Trenet; and Postcards Records, a collection of snapshots from jazz’s outer edges. Arkadia also holds an extensive video archive of jazz-focused programming, including concert performances as well as documentaries and other programs. 

Arkadia’s catalog features acclaimed and award-winning gems from such iconic jazz artists as Billy Taylor, Benny Golson, Dave Liebman, Reggie Workman, and Paul Bley, as well as lesser known but superlative talents such as saxophonist TK Blue, pianist Paul Tobey, and Brazilian bands Nova Bossa Nova and Pé de Boi.

In 1998, Karcy brought together several of the label’s artists to form the Arkadia Jazz All-Stars. Arkadia’s new signature band made a number of acclaimed recordings, including the Thank You series of tributes to John Coltrane, Duke Ellington, Joe Henderson, and Gerry Mulligan. The Arkadia Jazz All-Stars’ Thank You, Gerry! (Our Tribute to Gerry Mulligan), which features Lee Konitz, Bob Brookmeyer, Randy Brecker, and Ted Rosenthal, will be released worldwide in digital format on April 8, 2022. 

Arkadia has earned four Grammy Award nominations and numerous other accolades. Karcy, however, has always operated the label according to his own knowledge and eclectic taste, rather than fodder for awards and accolades. Artists who can “make strong and important artistic statements,” he says, can find a home at Arkadia Records.

JJJJJerome Ellis | "The Clearing"

With The Clearing, JJJJJerome Ellis establishes a new metaphor that frames speech dysfluency—stuttering in particular—as a space for possibility rather than a pathology; and centers speech as a starting point to not only depathologize dysfluent speech but to build new tools to critique anti-Blackness, linear time, culture, and power in our society. First introduced in his 2020 essay “The clearing: Music, dysfluency, Blackness and time” in The Journal of Interdisciplinary Voice Studies, Ellis presents “The Clearing'' as a concept that challenges us to reimagine dysfluency in speech and question how speech and articulation impact how we exist in the social realm. Recorded in various bedrooms over the course of several months and setting the text of Ellis’s essay to music, The Clearing is a haunting and expansive series of reflections on the questions of speech, articulation, and the power behind both. Ellis says of the project: “I hope this album offers the listener some of what my stutter offers me: an opportunity to imagine new ways of being in time.”

The Clearing is co-produced by NNA Tapes and the Poetry Project. The album will be released in tandem with a book published by Wendy's Subway, the eighth title in the Document Series, an interdisciplinary publishing initiative that highlights work by time-based artists in printed form.

JJJJJerome Ellis is a blk disabled animal, stutterer, and artist. Through music, literature, performance, and video, he explores blkness, disabled speech, and music as forces of refusal, possibility, reparation, and healing. His diverse body of work includes contemplative soundscapes using saxophone, flute, dulcimer, electronics, and vocals; scores for plays and podcasts; albums combining spoken word with ambient and jazz textures; theatrical explorations involving live music and storytelling; and music-video-poems that seek to transfigure historical archives. JJJJJerome’s solo and collaborative work has been presented by Lincoln Center, The Poetry Project, and ISSUE Project Room (New York); MASS MoCA (North Adams, Massachusetts); REDCAT (Los Angeles); Arraymusic (Toronto); and the Center for African American Poetry and Poetics (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), among others. His work has been covered by This American Life, Artforum, Black Enso, and Christian Science Monitor. 

Featured Music Releases: Grady Nichols & Friends, Trevor Dunn & Jarvis Earnshaw, Jonny Faith, Ter-Ree

Grady Nichols & Friends - Live!

With the release of Grady Nichols & Friends - Live!, the Oklahoma-based saxophonist celebrates 25 years as one of contemporary jazz’s most versatile recording artists – an era that’s found him crossing from Smooth Jazz to R&B to Christian pop, earning multiple awards and opening for Ray Charles, Pavarotti, Wayman Tisdale and The Beach Boys. Capturing the multi-faceted, stylistically eclectic magic of his live performances, the action-packed, funky, rockin’ and sensual 110 minute set finds Nichols having a blast on a mix of originals – including two dazzling Jeff Lorber collaborations from Nichols’ 2004 album Sophistication -  and dynamic re-imaginings of classic pop tunes (David Bowie, Stevie Wonder, Hall & Oates) featuring an array of guests, including Lorber, Chris Rodriguez, Andy Chrisman, Rachael Lampa and Bill Champlin. 

Trevor Dunn & Jarvis Earnshaw - HYPNAGOGIA

Travis Duo’s debut album is a collection of improvisations done based on a set of line drawings and diagrams drawn during lucid dreams. Recorded by legendary producer Martin Bisi at his studio in Brooklyn NY, "HYPNAGOGIA" a bold and honest 1st album by the pair pushing abstractions whilst gently nestling on their pop roots. The kaleidoscopic overtones of the sitar dance elegantly with the charismatic and eloquent contrabass, provoking dreamers to kenopsia-tic drawers of the sub-consciousness; psychedelic with a mean right hook, at times eruptive like a feral animal ready to bite, to long deep bows that stretch across the glittering night sky reaching through to your deepest of nightmares lurking at the bottom of oceanic abyss. Featuring: Daniel Carter on flute and saxophones, the NYC Jazz veteran weaves through the tapestry of colours painted by Sean McCaul on xylophone, as Devin Brahja Waldman poetically releases the spirits summoned by the dynamic drumming of Niko Wood moving mountains and parting the clouds to a brighter future.

Jonny Faith - On Lock

This is Jonny's first full venture into his beloved jungle/D&B after building a catalogue of downtempo, hip hop and broken beat which earned him accolades like Gilles Peterson's Best of 2020. (Link for this release also below, along with the new Liam de Bruin single). The EP features the northern jungle soul stormer 'Open My Eyes' (think Amerie's '1 Thing' at 170bpm), the atmospheric drumfunk of 'Create' and the rework of Jonny's own hip hop tune 'Stay in Your Lane' with the slinky soulful rap and hooks of US MC Lady K. The amen G-funk banger 'Nuthin' But a Jungle Thang' is a vinyl bonus track. The reception for Jonny's new music has been really encouraging so far, coming from both D&B circles and more eclectic music messengers, including Bandcamp, René LaVice, Rupture/Rinse FM, Hospital, Bolting Bits, 3RRR, KCRW, Skankandbass, DNB Dojo, etc. There's been a nice little buzz around the vinyl version too with its bonus track and the limited die cut felt cover edition. 

Ter-Ree - Heart Attack

After making head-turning guest appearances on recently released albums from labelmates Benny Barksdale, Jr. and The Society Hill Orchestra, rising vocalist Ter-Ree headlines this ticker stopping rendition of a brand-new track written by veteran Philly Soul producer Butch Ingram - the aptly named “Heart Attack." The Society Hill A-team, The Ingram Brothers Band, returns the guest turn favor by laying down the music and Cindy Ingram, Toni Richards and Sharon Ingram provide backing vocals.

Lady Gaga Returns to Park MGM for Nine Jazz & Piano Performances

Academy Award, Golden Globe and 12-time GRAMMY Award-winning superstar Lady Gaga today announced she will return to Dolby Live at Park MGM in Las Vegas this spring. Presented in partnership by MGM Resorts International and Live Nation, Lady Gaga will perform her critically acclaimed LADY GAGA JAZZ & PIANO show over nine dates beginning Thursday, April 14. The shows celebrate her love of the Great American Songbook, in addition to her GRAMMY Award-nominated collaborative album with Tony Bennett, Love For Sale.

April – May 2022 Dates

Thursday, April 14

Saturday, April 16

Sunday, April 17

Thursday, April 21

Saturday, April 23

Sunday, April 24

Thursday, April 28

Saturday, April 30

Sunday, May 1

Members of Lady Gaga's Little Monsters fan community will receive access to an exclusive pre-sale from Tuesday, Feb. 1 at 10 a.m. PST to Thursday, Feb. 3 at 10 p.m. PST. Details and password information will be communicated to the Little Monsters fan community in advance.

Citi® / AAdvantage® is the official pre-sale credit card of Lady Gaga's Dolby Live residency. Citi / AAdvantage cardmembers will have access to purchase pre-sale tickets from Wednesday, Feb. 2 at 10 a.m. PST to Thursday, Feb. 3 at 10 p.m. PST through Citi Entertainment. 

Members of MGM Rewards, MGM Resorts International's reimagined loyalty rewards program launching tomorrow, February 1, will receive access to a pre-sale running from Thursday, Feb. 3 at 10 a.m. PST to 10 p.m. PST.

Multi-award-winning entertainer Lady Gaga is a one-of-a kind artist and performer. She has amassed an outstanding 37 million global album sales, 65 billion streams and 410 million in song consumption, making her one of the best-selling musicians of all time. Gaga is also one of the biggest living forces in social media with over 55 million likes on Facebook, over 84 million followers on Twitter and over 51 million followers on Instagram.

In 2008, Gaga released her first album The Fame swiftly followed by The Fame Monster (2009). Gaga then went on to release Born This Way (2011), ArtPop (2013), her collaborative album with Tony Bennett Cheek to Cheek (2014), Joanne (2016) and A Star is Born (2018). In May 2020, Gaga released her sixth studio album Chromatica, which features collaborations with Ariana Grande, Elton John and Blackpink and is executive produced by BloodPop® and Lady Gaga. Chromatica marked Gaga's 6th consecutive #1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, making her the first female artist to do so over a ten-year period (2011-2020). Her collaboration with Ariana Grande for "Rain On Me," marked the biggest Spotify debut of 2020, reaching #1 on the Global and US Spotify Charts upon release and peaking at #1 on the iTunes charts in 29 countries and #1 on the Apple Global Chart. It also set a record for the most single-day streams from an all-female collaboration in Spotify history. The video for "Rain On Me" has amassed over 338 million views, and was nominated for four MTV Video Music Awards, winning Best Cinematography. That same year, Gaga took home the inaugural MTV Tricon Award, for being a triple icon in music, acting, fashion, and activism. USA Today called Chromatica "her best album in a decade," earning her a Grammy for Best Pop Duo Group Performance for "Rain On Me" with Ariana Grande.

In October 2021, Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett teamed up again to release their second collaborate jazz album, Love For Sale. The album, celebrating the music of Cole Porter, debuted at #1 on Billboard's Jazz Album charts, Amazon and iTunes in its first week of release, with Apple Music confirming it was also the highest streamed jazz album globally in its first week of release. The album also debuted at #8 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart. The album received six Grammy nominations this year including "Album of the Year," "Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album," "Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical," and single nominations for their duet "I Get a Kick Out of You," including "Record of the Year," "Best Pop Duo/Group Performance," and "Best Music Video."

In October 2018, Gaga starred alongside Bradley Cooper in the Warner Brothers remake of the classic film, "A Star is Born." Her performance led her to an Oscar Nomination for Best Actress, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, a Critics' Choice Award and National Board of Review Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture. Gaga also co-wrote, produced and performed the song "Shallow," for the film, for which she has won an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a Critics' Choice award for Best Original Song, as well as a British Academy Film Award for Best Original Music. Other credits include, the 2017 Pepsi Zero Sugar Super Bowl LI Half Time show which amassed 117.5 million viewers, her Netflix documentary Lady Gaga: Five Foot Two (2017), and American Horror Story: Hotel (2015), for which she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Limited Series. 

Most recently, Gaga stars in Ridley Scott's House of Gucci as Patrizia Reggiani, the ex-wife of Maurizio Gucci, who was tried and convicted of orchestrating his assassination. For her performance, Gaga has been nominated for a SAG Award in the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, a Critics' Choice award in the Best Actress category, and she has been recognized by the New York Film Critics Circle as their Best Actress this season.

Lady Gaga is also an outspoken activist, philanthropist and supporter of many important issues including LGBT rights, HIV/AIDS awareness and body image issues. In 2012, she launched Born This Way Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering youth, embracing differences, and inspiring kindness and bravery. Through the years, they've collected stories of kindness, bravery and resilience from young people all over the world, proving that kindness truly is the universal language. These stories have been collected, along with personal notes of empowerment from Lady Gaga, in her new book, "Channel Kindness: Stories of Kindness and Community," available now.

Jamie and The Numbers | "You Don’t Love Me"

Jamie Musuva is a wonderfully gifted Tongan – Kiwi, 30 year old singer based in Wellington and she can occasionally be seen singing soul tunes for Tapestry Music Promotions at many of their Music Reviews and also in her gospel choir at Church. It was at one of the Tapestry Music shows in Wellington that Jamie met Simon from Deltaphonic Records / The Numbers. After watching Jamie perform an amazing version of “Wade In The Water” they had a brief and fruitful chat and it was suggested they do some recording together with the view of a doing some cool soul classics and a bunch of originals too.

A few months later and after a couple of days recording at Lee Prebble‘s legendary Surgery Studios in the capital of New Zealand, they have a handful of quality tunes waiting to be heard by the soul loving Kiwi public. 

To quote Simon “Jamie has a voice that could fell a tree. Her clarity, power and incredible feel are evident as she storms her way through these wonderful soul classics and originals with confidence and ease, we hope you go out of your way to have a listen and enjoy these timeless classics with us…..Please support this slice of Wellington made kiwi soul and together we shall endeavour to keep on keeping on”.

Jamie & The Numbers are an incredibly tight Wellington-based band who have been around for a while now, as a band they are prolific writers of their own original material and in the context of playing northern soul tunes and other tunes in that musical genre they like to be known as The Numbers.

They are usually a 4 piece and consist of three brothers from Wainuiamata and a newly adopted Kiwi originally from Birmingham England. These guys are brimming with cool retro tunes and some barnstorming original songs played with verve and passion and their shows are always fun. In 2019 they supported “From The Jam” on their visit to New Zealand and after teaming up with Jamie have played Pasifika Festivals and open-air concerts to thousands of people.

The Numbers collectively have played/sessioned/recorded for other artists on such labels as Gut Records, D-Star, EG Records, Imaginary Records and have in excess of 40+ published songs with Universal, Complete Music, KWS Records NYC and Cherry Red, with this new direction of releasing Northern Soul songs alongside some of their more soulful originals on 7″ vinyl their goal is to go on and produce some top quality soul albums.

Malcolm Jiyane Tree-O | "UMDALI"

A generous sideman and bandleader, multi-instrumentalist Malcolm Jiyane stands at the vanguard of his prodigious generation of jazz musicians. Operating from the centre and the fringes of the South African jazz scene, the trombonist (and pianist) is an enigmatic yet charismatic galvaniser of his contemporaries, able to put them through their paces in his own compositions, while giving them enough room to interpret them anew.

In UMDALI, his debut album as frontman, Jiyane delivers not only a major contribution to the canon  -- one shaped around dedications to key figures in his personal and professional life -- but an honest snapshot of his personal circumstances at the time of recording. In that period several years ago, Jiyane was dealing with the death of a band member, the birth of a daughter and the passing of his beloved mentor Johnny Mekoa, founder of the Music Academy of Gauteng, which Jiyane attended from a young age. These life-altering events give shape to the music's emotional register and its thematic concerns. Positioned at the edge of this precipice, Jiyane turned to a core of talented musicians mostly based around Soweto's jamming scene, as well as to key figures in his own creative trajectory. 

The coterie of bassist Ayanda Zalekile, drummer Lungile Kunene, percussionist Gontse Makhene, pianist Nkosinathi Mathunjwa, saxophonist Nhlanhla Mahlangu and trumpeters Brandon Ruiters and Tebogo Seitei shrouded him in his time of need, providing intuitive musicianship through which to execute his ideas, and, more importantly, life-affirming comradeship. 

Jiyane is nothing if not the product of astute mentorship from elders and peers alike. Given the late Mekoa's stature in South African jazz, trombonist Jonas Gwangwa (also late) would have been among regular visitors to the academy, imprinting on the young Jiyane not only the breadth of South African music traditions but also the science of how to lead musical ensembles without stifling individual contribution. 

In Gwen Ansell's memorable Mail and Guardian obituary of Gwangwa, she quotes saxophonist Steve Dyer on the elder trombonist's approach to music making as such. "For him it was not about the notes. It's not about the theory. It is about the feeling and emotion behind the notes." This valorising of comradeship and warmth over technical wizardry is noticeable throughout UMDALI. It can be felt, in particular, in the swaggering gait of Ntate Gwangwa's Stroll, in which Jiyane channels the elder, and can be heard shouting encouragement to Nkosinathi Mathunjwa as he carefully feels his way into a keyboard solo towards the song's end. 

That Jiyane is informed by a frame of reference that extends beyond the trombone, goes without saying. Moshe courses with late pianist Moses Molelekwa's harmonic, melodic and rhythmic idiosyncrasies. "I found myself thinking about how he would approach certain songs," said Jiyane. "It's like being in someone's shoes kind of a thing, looking into what they have achieved musically.  He'd play piano the way he feels it. He gave me the motivation to pursue what I'm feeling."

In Black Music, his book of essays and critiques, Amiri Baraka makes the point that jazz musicians, be it in the construction of solos or in other aspects of composition, always draw on the works of their contemporaries or elders. How much outsiders pick up on that is really dependent on how au fait they are with the music. In this album especially, Jiyane finds comfort in this well-trodden path. Two songs make for great examples. Umkhumbi kaMa, a jazz-funk track celebrating the creative force as inhabited by women, the motif to Herbie Hancock's Ostinato (Suite for Angela) is a clear reference, connecting in one swift move, not only the musical traditions of the Black Atlantic but also the struggles and triumphs of women across space and time. On the same note, the free-form Solomon, Tsietsi & Khotso, conjured in the same jam session that yielded SPAZA's UPRIZE!, appears here in a more fleshed out form as Senzo seNkosi; a tender dedication to Malcolm Jiyane Tree-O bass player Senzo Nxumalo. 

Jiyane's own path to the realisation of UMDALI is nothing if not fraught with tests along the way. But his generosity of spirit means that the offering is more than merely one individual's breakthrough. Workshopped and recorded within two days in Johannesburg, UMDALI, not unlike Miles Davis' landmark Kind of Blue, stretches our idea of what it means to improvise within the context of jazz.

With this debut, the Malcolm Jiyane Tree-O has created a work that is not only keenly aware of what came before it, but blazing a trail to the future.

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.