Moppa Elliott’s Mostly Other People Do the Killing Presents Disasters Vol. 1

Hot Cup Records is proud to present Disasters Vol. 1, the second release by the piano trio configuration of Mostly Other People Do the Killing. Disasters Vol. 1 features eight new compositions by bassist/composer Moppa Elliott written in the fall of 2019, just before the pandemic struck. Each composition on the album is named after a small town in Pennsylvania that experienced  disasters ranging from floods and fires to mining accidents. These disasters are cautionary tales, potent metaphors, and excellent examples of how people measure risk and reward.

Elliott’s compositions, as performed by the MOPDtK trio including pianist Ron Stabinsky and drummer Kevin Shea, are deliberately simple so that they can be spontaneously taken apart and reassembled, a hallmark of MOPDtK dating back to the band’s inception in 2003. The melodic material is often blues-based and firmly rooted in the Jazz tradition unlike much of the electronic orchestration, improvised transitions, and non sequiturs that frequently derail the written composition. The opening track “Three Mile Island,” for example, is a bugaloo, a form that serves as the lynchpin or opening number of so many classic jazz albums. Beginning with dense improvised material, the composition slowly takes shape around a bass line and harmonic progression before the recording concludes with the full statement of the theme.  

MOPDtK’s frequent collaborator, Leonardo Featherweight, has penned liner notes explaining the connection between each song’s title and the music it inspired. True to form, he often deliberately misses the point, yet accidentally reveals important points. While each piece was written with the town and its specific disaster in mind, also focused on disasters as metaphors for the conflicts we encounter every day as we navigate the joys and sorrows of our social, romantic, and familial obligations. Ultimately, the origins and inspiration behind each piece are less important than the recorded performance and interaction between the musicians in real time.

After the release of Paint, the first MOPDtK album in the piano trio format, Elliott recorded three albums of his compositions for three different ensembles. JazzBand/RockBand/DanceBand featured his straight-ahead jazz quintet Advancing on a Wild Pitch, his rock band Unspeakable Garbage (which performed at the Heineken Jazz Festival in San Sebastian, Spain), and his dance band Acceleration Due to Gravity featuring his long-time friends and collaborators Mike Pride and George Burton. The range of styles included on this album solidified Elliott’s reputation as one of the great composers working today.

Over the past sixteen years, MOPDtK, led by bassist/composer Moppa Elliott, has earned a place at the forefront of jazz and improvised music, performing in a style that is at once rooted in the jazz tradition and highly improvised and unstructured. Billed as a “Bebop Terrorist Band,” their music melds history and tradition with cutting-edge vibrancy and the underlying imperative that jazz is alive and well, and most of all, fun. Their initial albums explored the intersection between common practice hard bop compositions and free improvisation, incorporating a kaleidoscopic wealth of other influences from pop music to the classical European repertoire. In 2010, Elliott expanded the group’s framework and began exploring specific eras of jazz, resulting in 2011’s Slippery Rock (an investigation of smooth jazz and fusion styles) and 2012’s Red Hot (featuring an expanded lineup recalling the jazz and blues recordings of the late 1920s and early 1930s). 

2014 saw the release of Blue, a note-for-note recreation of Miles Davis’ classic album, Kind of Blue that evoked a wide range of strong responses from both the public and critics and will likely be a part of the discussion of the state of jazz in the 21st century for years to come. In 2015, the band returned to a quartet format for the album Mauch Chunk, which explored the hard bop styles common in the 1950s. Since the release of Mauch Chunk, all four members of the core quartet have released solo recordings including Moppa Elliott’s Still, Up In the Air, and pianist Ron Stabinsky’s Free For One, both on Hot Cup Records. In February 2017 MOPDtK the band released the septet album Loafer’s Hollow to wide critical acclaim.

Pianist Ron Stabinsky is a member of the legendary indie-rock band The Meat Puppets, Peter Evans’ Quartet and Quintet, Charles Evans Quartet (no relation), and in 2016 recorded his first solo album Free For One on Hot Cup Records.

Kevin Shea was named “Best Drummer in New York” by the Village Voice and regularly tours with the noise-rock-improv duo, Talibam! Talibam! was named the “Artists in Residence” at the Moers Festival in Moers, Germany for all of 2021 and have spent the year collaborating with a wide variety of artists from around the world.

Bassist Moppa Elliott teaches music at Information Technology High School in Long Island City, NY.  He also produces and releases albums on Hot Cup Records including his solo bass recording Still, Up in the Air and a three-album release entitled JazzBand/RockBand/DanceBand.

Jo Harrop announces 'The Heart Wants' Tour

Although she has built a reputation as an intuitive interpreter of other people’s songs, Jo Harrop would be the first to admit that she always lacked the confidence to reveal her own songs to the world. With no shows in her diary, she started working on what would eventually turn out to be her first album of original material with producers Hannah Vasanth (known for her work with everyone from Stormzy to JP Cooper) and Jamie McCredie alongside a guest list of world-class musicians including Christian McBride, Jason Rebello and Troy Miller.

“We wrote and recorded the songs for The Heart Wants before we had a chance for people to hear them live, which is the ultimate litmus test,” Harrop explains. “Songs don’t really come alive until you play them to an audience, so I’m incredibly excited to finally be able to bring them to life on stage for the first time. Music has always had the power to transport me and to move me deep inside, and I want to create the same emotional connection with people who hear my songs.”

“An extraordinary talent” – Jo Whiley – BBC Radio 2

Born in Durham, and raised on a heady musical diet of Nina Simone, Billie Holiday and Aretha Franklin, Jo Harrop cut her teeth as a session singer, working with a host of iconic artists including Neil Diamond, Rod Stewart, Enrique Iglesias and Gloria Gaynor. After moving to London, she quickly established herself as one of the most unmistakable voices in British jazz, performing everywhere from the Royal Albert Hall to the Sunset Sunside Jazz Club in Paris.

‘A rare mix of delicacy and boldness. Sheer perfection.’ Dave Gelly – The Guardian

Having signed to London-based jazz label, Lateralize Records, she recently received a raft of rapturous reviews for Weathering The Storm, her debut with guitarist, Jamie McCredie. The Guardian dubbed it ‘a little gem of an album: simple, modest and perfect,’ whilst BBC 6 Music’s Iggy Pop fell in love with her voice, calling her “a very fine jazz singer.”

The Heart Wants 2022 Tour Dates

12th February – Hampstead Jazz Club, London

19th February – The Bear Club, Luton

25th April – Ronnie Scott’s, London

12th May – Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle

14th May – Hexham Jazz Festival, Hexham

17th May – Hare and Hounds, Birmingham

19th May – Matt & Phreds Jazz Club, Manchester

21st May – Peggy’s Skylight, Nottingham

22nd May – Watford Jazz Junction Festival, London

29th June – Pizza Express (Soho), London

10th July – Swanage Jazz Festival, Swanage

Eli Degibri | "Henri ANd Rachel"

On his self-released ninth album, Henri and Rachel, titled for his parents, Tel Aviv-based saxophonist-composer Eli Degibri again reveals his ability to convey profound emotions in the language of notes and tones. Joined by his immensely talented working Israeli rhythm section, the 43-year-old maestro spins an intimate, impassioned love story, portraying the personalities and idiosyncrasies of his tight-knit family – his parents, his fiancé, his closest friend. Towards that end, Degibri contributes eight soulful, erudite, unfailingly melodic songs and an ingeniously reconfigured standard, uncorking a succession of impassioned declamations, ascendant and nuanced, that uphold the remark a teacher made to him during the 1990s, when he was attending Berklee School of Music: “You play old in a new way.”

Recorded on March 9, 2020, days before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, Henri and Rachel is Degibri’s first album of original music since 2015, when he recorded Cliff Hanging, which earned a 5-star review from DownBeat (a 2018 release, Soul Station, was a tune-for-tune homage to tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley’s an iconic 1960 Blue Note album of that name).

During those years, Degibri, an only child, was preoccupied not only with his musical production, but with caring for his aging and ailing parents, who both emigrated to Israel following World War 2. His father, Henri, a native of Bulgaria who passed away in the fall of 2020, developed cancer; his mother, Rachel, born in Iran, developed Parkinson’s Disease and dementia. Although Degibri was not thinking consciously of them or of his other dedicatees during the gestation process, their essence suffuses his compositions.

“When I write songs, I don’t usually know what the reason is,” Degibri says. “Only after it’s done, I think about the melody and ask myself what it means to me or who I see and feel when I hear it.” He applied the same process when, reviewing the title track, an anthemic refrain sandwiched on both ends by a vocal chant, he noticed that the first and second melodies were identical but in different keys. “I realized that it’s basically a love song between two keys – Henri and Rachel, my dad and my mom, who are the main keys in my life. They’re not singing together, but right after each other, and they blend together perfectly.”

The slinky beats and “Pink Panther”-ish changes of “Gargamel” evokes the villainous wizard whose consistently thwarted attempts to eat and transform into gold the tiny protagonists of the Smurfs amused Degibri as a child of the 1980s. “He was funny to me, and had the same silhouette as my father,” Degibri prefaces his description of the piece. “I’m coming from the school of Bebop – swinging, big sound. This slow-medium tempo is probably the hardest to play. It’s going back to the roots – everything that I compose or play is coming from there, even when it’s not in swing tempo.”

The truth of that statement comes forth on the Jimmy van Heusen standard, “Like Someone In Love.” “It was a thinking exercise of how Johann Sebastian Bach would play this song in 5/4,” says Degibri, who has studied classical piano and counterpoint for the last four years. Pianist Tom Oren admirably represents that description; drummer Eviatar Slivnik makes the 5/4 meter flow like water.

That tune and the three that follow – “Longing,” “Noa” and “The Wedding” – reference Degibri’s relationship with his fiancé. He addresses her directly on “Noa,” stating his feelings with clear lines and burnished tenor saxophone tone; he displays his considerable command of the soprano saxophone, singing through the horn on the nakedly yearning “Longing” and the brisk, jubilant “The Wedding.”

“I want to play odd meters in a way that, when you listen, it isn’t difficult or obvious, you don’t have to crunch your teeth and count,” Degibri says. “The melody can be advanced, but I want it to touch you.”

That’s a good description of the gentle “Don Quixote,” a well-disguised 5/4 contrafact of “Lover” that refers to his idealistic father, who passed away in the fall of 2020; the stalwart line of “Ziv,” dedicated to Degibri’s manager and best friend; and “Preaching To The Choir,” a soulful, chorale-like refrain that, per the title, has the feel of a Black church sermon.

Degibri has been preaching to the international jazz community since 1999, when Ron Carter – a mentor at the Thelonious Monk Institute, who in 2009 recorded on Degibri’s Israeli Song with Brad Mehldau and Al Foster – recommended him to Herbie Hancock for what would be a 30-month stint performing repertoire from Hancock’s Grammy-winning Gershwin’s World album. He further refined his artistry as a member of Al Foster’s group from 2002 until 2011, and as the leader of bands that included such internationally acclaimed musicians as Aaron Goldberg, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ben Street, Jeff Ballard, Kevin Hays, Gary Versace, Gregory Hutchinson, and Obed Calvaire.

After moving back to his homeland from New York in 2011, Degibri began forming bands culled from Israel’s large pool of young hardcore jazz practitioners. He’s worked with his current rhythm section – Tom Oren on piano, Alon Near on bass (the most recent member), and Eviatar Slivnik on drums – for the last four years.

“I feel connected to them, because each one moved to New York, and they hear the New York-American-Black American style – which is similar to the way that I hear music,” Degibri says. “When they were still there and we’d meet on the road, I felt I was experiencing their growth every time we played. People with kids talk about the shock of seeing them all grown up, and that’s how I feel about them. They’re working hard and paying their dues in the most difficult city to live in, where they can best learn this language and this music. When they play, you can hear it.”

As is sometimes the natural order of things, Degibri reversed roles with his own parents as they declined. “I’ve spent so much time with my mother that I decided to bring a keyboard there to practice,” he says. “Myself and her caregiver put her in a wheelchair and brought her to the living room to see it, and she asked me to play her something. I played ‘Henri and Rachel.’ All of a sudden, my mother – who couldn’t remember who my father was the day he died – was singing the melody in 5/4. Now, she’d heard the recording of this song for many months, but it still was like a miracle. I said, ‘Wow, you’re singing so beautiful. What’s the name of the song?’ She said, ‘Of course – it’s ‘Henri and Rachel.’ Great. My job is done.”

Jean-Michel Pilc | "Alive: Live At Dièse Onze, Montreal"

Spontaneity may well be the most important element of jazz expression … the immediacy of creativity in its purest and most adventurous manifestation. For the extraordinary pianist Jean-Michel Pilc, the live performance represents the pinnacle of that level of spontaneity. In his outstanding new release on Justin Time Records – Alive – Live at Dièse Onze, Montréal – Jean-Michel and his bandmates Rémi-Jean LeBlanc and Jim Doxas on bass and drums respectively, splendidly offer proof of this concept. In his liner notes, he describes this state as “improvising musicians in their natural habitat, the jazz club, playing music for the sake of music, never repeating themselves, and creating sounds that they will never replicate.”

At its higher levels jazz tells vivid stories, and those told by the trio are fascinating, multi-nuanced, intricately woven tales of rich texture, color and unexpected plot twists. This concert, recorded in June 2021, marked the trio’s first performance since the onset of the COVID pandemic. “The music was vital, to us and to the audience, and we experienced the full gamut of human emotions.” Reflecting this, the music travels roads that are remarkably winding and varied in steepness and direction, but always totally focused on the ultimate destination. Through this journey – as Jean-Michel goes on to say “unpredictability becomes evidence.”

As intense as the emotions may have been, the music is brilliantly crafted and totally cohesive – a testament not only to the mastery of the musicians, but also to the deep understanding and sensitivity to each other and the pursuit upon which they embarked as a unified force. It’s also an example of collective improvisation at its highest level. “Since a while ago, all my concerts are totally improvised - no set list, nothing prepared, just let the music lead the way. I come on stage as a newborn, ready for a new life, a new journey, a new experience every time. My bandmates are part of that experience as much as I am myself, every note they play becomes part of this life we are living together on the stage.”

Collective improvisation is often dismissed as a method of haphazardness and serendipity, hoping that things may work out and expecting the audience to simply enjoy the adventure. But in the hands of superb musicians united by purpose, the results can be exhilarating, utterly captivating and tremendously uplifting. That is certainly the case here. As the legendary Harry Belafonte has said of Jean-Michel: “Beyond all that can be said about his masterful technique and his beauty of touch, it is the unpredictability that is central to his remarkable talent.”

The music here contains endlessly delightful surprises woven seamlessly into the intricate fabric within the individual pieces themselves. Two Miles Davis classics provide excellent examples … from the sheer simplicity of lyricism in Nardis, like a consistently evolving, but persistently gentle snowfall of filigreed delicacy; to the rumbling and rolling All Blues, escalating into a two-fisted romp that culminates in a scalding rapid-fire explosion of breathtaking intensity and ferocity.

The Hammerstein/Romberg song that became a jazz standard Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise passes through so many stages of musical evolution, from its fragments of melody Tristano-ish opening through thunderous crescendos that never lose the sensitivity of the song, and culminating in a tantalizingly slow bluesy swing evoking the territories explored by Bud Powell and Herbie Nichols.

A pair of Pilc originals are also included – 11 Sharp, a highly rhythmic, somewhat Monkishly grooved excursion, consistently evolving in melodic variety and emotional intensity; and the title piece Alive, an evocative, persistently explorative foray in gently insistent lyricism, which ends this wonderful album on a subtly provocative note.

Music like this can only be achieved by such consummately impeccable musicians as these three gentlemen. LeBlanc and Doxas are not simply sidemen by any means, as Pilc’s music demands far more ownership of the music by all the collaborators. Throughout the album, the bass and drums solos are never just there to give them some playing space, but are fully woven into the textural fabric of each piece.

The concert was recorded in its entirely and the remainder of the music is available in digital form only. You can find the complete 2nd set on your favorite streaming or download site. For more information, please go to: www.justin-time.com/collections/jean-michel-pilc.

Seven additional exceptional pieces cover a wide spectrum, including three more Miles Davis affiliated items - a highly exciting spin on Eddie Harris’ Freedom Jazz Dance and two standards, a jauntily swinging Someday My Prince Will Come and an appropriately moody, atmospheric My Funny Valentine; along with a complex take on Lennon & McCartney’s Eleanor Rigby; a delightfully whimsical version of Jerome Kern’s All the Things You Are; a lovely version of Rodgers & Hart’s My Romance; and a dynamically Latin-tinged and often explosive journey into John Coltrane’s Mr. P.C.

Enormously prolific and multi-faceted as composer and pianist, including musical directorship for Harry Belafonte; a duet performance with operatic legend Jessye Norman; a large-scale commissioned work based upon a major inspiration Charlie Chaplin; and over a dozen albums as a leader and almost as many as co-leader, Jean-Michel Pilc has become one of the most highly respected pianist/composers of the past 25 years. This is Jean-Michel’s first Justin Time album.

Ornette Coleman | "Genesis of Genius: The Contemporary Albums"

Continuing Contemporary Records’ 70th anniversary celebration, Craft Recordings is proud to announce the release of the new box set, Ornette Coleman – Genesis of Genius: The Contemporary Albums (2-LP, 2-CD and digital formats out March 25). The sets feature two seminal releases, 1958’s Something Else!!!! The Music of Ornette Coleman and 1959’s Tomorrow Is the Question! The New Music of Ornette Coleman. These albums transformed an unknown jazz visionary from the hinterlands into the talk of the New York scene. 

Both albums were originally recorded by legendary engineer Roy DuNann, the man responsible for the famously pristine sound quality of Contemporary albums, and have been newly mastered for this release by Bernie Grundman, who himself got his start at Contemporary, mentored by DuNann. The 180-gram vinyl set, which will be pressed at RTI, has been cut from the original analog tapes to lacquer, with the original tapes also used for new hi-res transfers and mastering by Grundman for the 2-CD and digital editions. The deluxe box sets include a 32-page booklet with archival photos and extensive new liner notes by GRAMMY® Award-winning music historian Ashley Kahn. The LP jackets also replicate the original tip-on versions. 

Largely avoided by his colleagues on the L.A. jazz scene in the late 1950s, Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) found an open door at Contemporary Records, where the label’s founder Lester Koenig was intrigued by his melodic sensibility and unorthodox approach to phrasing. After his Contemporary albums, Coleman quickly went on to New York City and turned the jazz scene on its head, but it was Koenig who provided the first glimpse of the saxophonist’s new approach to rhythm and harmony. 

“These two recordings are the accessible gateway to Ornette Coleman’s music,” says Nick Phillips, the producer of Genesis of Genius. “He’s expanding on the bebop vocabulary and at this point he’s using traditional forms for most compositions, 12-bar blues and AABA song form, but doing something totally different. With Ornette and Don Cherry’s trumpet in the front line, the way they play and phrase and shift rhythms together, it sounds very loose but very tight.” 

Featuring Coleman’s working band with Don Cherry on trumpet, pianist Walter Norris, bassist Don Payne and drummer Billy Higgins, the album Something Else!!!! sounds less radical today than strikingly individual and steeped in the blues. With nine Coleman originals, the session introduced several tunes that became standards, including “The Blessing” and “When Will the Blues Leave?” Featuring Cherry, Shelly Manne, and either Percy Heath or Red Mitchell on bass, the emphatic, pianoless follow up Tomorrow Is the Question! made it clear that Coleman’s concepts were both insistently innovative and tethered to bedrock African American idioms. Consisting entirely of Coleman originals, the album introduced several more tunes that became an essential part of the jazz canon, including “Tears Inside,” “Rejoicing” and “Turnaround.” 

More than a seminal improviser and composer who exponentially expanded jazz’s rhythmic and harmonic frontiers, Coleman embodied the playfully heroic duality-erasing ideal at the center of African American musical innovation. Radical and rootsy, avant-garde and populist, philosophical and visceral, genius and trickster, Coleman was born and raised in Ft. Worth, and the wailing Texas blues was woven into his sound. By the time he settled in Los Angeles in the mid-1950s he’d spent years on the road playing blues and R&B, imbuing a gutbucket sensibility that he carried with into every musical setting. 

L.A. beboppers often treated him with disdain, perceiving his unorthodox note choice as lack of chops, but he slowly found a brilliant cadre of musicians who embraced his musical vision, including pianist Paul Bley, drummers Billy Higgins and Eddie Blackwell, bassist Charlie Haden and Don Cherry. The Contemporary albums paved the way for Coleman’s fall 1959 triumph in New York City, with Tomorrow Is the Question! hitting stores the same month that his quartet started an extended run at the Five Spot, arguably the most consequential and controversial gig in jazz history. 

Alternately championed and denounced by his musical peers and critics, Coleman found a new home at Atlantic Records, where he continued expanding his gorgeous, searing, utterly human approach to music. But it was Lester Koenig who first recognized Coleman’s genius when he walked into his Melrose office at a time when the saxophonist wasn’t even welcome on most bandstands. 

“The Contemporary discs were the foundation of Ornette’s career and the bellwether of a new age, arriving at the close of one decade, and the onset of a brave, new one,” writes Ashley Kahn in the Genesis of Genius liner notes. “Embraced or derided, the music challenged long-held ideas of what jazz—what music—should sound like.” 

Shubh Saran | "Inglish" Explores Identity and the Difficult Process of Assimilating While Embracing Your Own Culture

New York-based guitarist, composer, and producer Shubh Saran has independently released his second full-length album and fourth overall release, inglish. After releasing his last EP titled Becoming in late 2019, Saran toured briefly in the United States and India, and upon returning to the U.S. was faced with what became the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdown. During this time, Saran quickly began writing and recording demos for what would ultimately transform into inglish. The new album explores new musical territory, as Saran incorporates predominant Indian and Middle Eastern instruments for the first time, while expanding the use of modular synthesizers in the momentous arrangements.

Throughout his life, having to assimilate into different cultures has been a common occurrence for Saran, and inglish is a reflection of that progression and evolution. “I wanted to find a metaphor for this idea of existing in the world where you’re trying to navigate a global culture while at the same navigating your own culture and home culture,” he says. Managing changes in culture and language has been a repeat experience for the Indian artist, who has spent time living around the world in places like New Delhi, Dhaka, Cairo, Geneva, Toronto, Boston, and New York City.

To provide some historical context, the term “inglish,'' a portmanteau from the late 1900s, describes Indian English, a variety of the English language spoken in India and by Indian diaspora. It’s a form of dialect that has shown similarity to British English, brought by British Colonization, but has become an amalgamation of Indian and Western culture. This duality has been the focus of Saran’s most recent research and explorations in music, and it’s something that he has experienced first hand. “Within the last several decades, Indian English has taken on a life of its own, with a lot of influence from regional languages and dialects, and a mixture of ‘Queen’s English’,” says Saran, reflecting on the connection between the album title and its anthropological history.

While language is a large part of the inspiration for inglish, the reflection on personal identity and the tension between trying to retain one’s own native tongue and customs while living in non-native territories is equally present. The unboxing of how traditions and cultures get passed down by generations, and the true origins of those artifacts, was also in the foreground of Saran’s mind when writing and recording inglish. “It was interesting to see that the origins for a lot of my own internal biases about being Indian, and Indian identity, seemed actually not to stem from Indian culture, but actually came from external sources,” says Saran. “What ends up happening, I believe, is that the narratives and the biases get internalized by the community, and then sort of get re-fed back into the community like a feedback loop.”

inglish is multi-layered album that explores concepts of identity far beyond the music. As people continue to think, move, and grow globally, the essence of native culture and identity are challenged, but still remain critically important. For Shubh Saran, inglish is a longform message that pays tribute to the difficult process of assimilating while embracing your own culture. 

New Music: Amandus, Michael Ross, The Graduating Class, Black Bird Hum

Amandus - Groove Infection

The website of veteran German keyboardist/composer Michael Quast – now recording as Amandus – says, “Believe in your dreams and they just might come true.” Twenty-five years after penning his first Smooth Jazz song, he manifests this perfectly, following his 2020 debut album SING A SONG with the dynamics-filled,  perfectly titled EP Groove Infection. Vibing on several tunes with the fluid, crackling guitar of Uli Brodersen, Amandus brings his inventive synth and piano wizardry to a tight, ultra-soulful set that runs the emotional and rhythmic gamut from moody atmospheres and chill vibes to wildly funky and groove-filled in the pocket adventures. ~ www.smoothhjazz.com

Michael Ross - Four Seasons to Cross

Long before he was amassing an impressive catalog of urban jazz gems, opening for Chaka Khan and Patti Labelle, recording with Najee and performing with the likes of Ramsey Lewis and Jonathan Butler, guitarist/composer Michael Ross was staff guitarist for a touring company of “The Wiz.” The yellow brick road journey is the perfect metaphor for his blessed and eclectic musical road that leads now to the release of Four Seasons TO Cross, his first album in eight years that alternates between lighthearted, spirited breeziness, whimsical exotica, seductive funk balladry and contemplative cool that reflects a multi-faceted, polyrhythmic journey through the seasons. From a snappy trip to Rio to a silky seductive tune about winter approaching, Ross invites listeners on a magnificent and inspiring adventure. ~ www.smoothjazz.com

The Graduating Class - Cooler

With an E Street-inspired saxophone lead and an arrangement straight out of Quincy Jones' playbook, "Cooler" is The Graduating Class leaning into the nostalgia of the 80s. The track features punchy drums, cascading synths, crisp rhythm guitar, and the aforementioned blazing sax line. "Cooler" also marks the Graduating Class' first foray into production, as the band recorded the song themselves in the basement of a shuttered music venue. Lyrically, "Cooler" tells an all-too-universal story about working up the courage to ask someone out; the song's setting is reminiscent of a scene from a John Hughes movie. According to songwriter/producer John Queant: "'Cooler' is about the inner monologue in a person's head as they're trying to ask someone out. I imagined a scene from a cheesy movie, where a total bombshell walks into the club, everyone's jaws hit the floor, and the record skips a beat. The song's narrator is just trying to work up the courage to ask them to dance."

Black Bird Hum - World Keeps Spinning

Sydney, Australia’s Black Bird Hum lay down a heavy two-chord jam for their second Color Red release “World Keeps Spinning.” The spellbinding rhythmic foundation puts listeners in a trance to recognize the reality that the world keeps spinning no matter how life gets—every day is both a grind and an opportunity to get up and hop on board for the ride. Stylistically, the track is equally influenced by the rousing roots rhythm expression of Steel Pulse and the creative liberties of Fat Freddy’s Drop as demonstrated by bewitching flute parts courtesy of Amy Nelson. Like their debut Color Red release “My Side,” the track is complemented by a “b-side” dub, aptly titled "World Keeps Dubbing," produced by longtime friend and mixing engineer Ryan Gambrell.

Introducing JoyRide

Buckle up for a musical JoyRide full of thrilling highs, spontaneous departures and unexpected turns! JoyRide is the collaboration of oboist Colin Maier and accordionist Charles Cozens, an incredibly versatile duo that pushes the outer limits of music with fresh sounds, original compositions and adventurous arrangements. Their music is a novel hybrid of jazz, ragtime, blues, tango, gypsy, classical and klezmer.

This CD has the flow and energy of a live concert, complete with an engaging story-telling element. Early on, Colin and Charles reminisce about a time on tour when Colin was attacked by pelicans, which leads to their performance of three songs with a nature theme: Tiger Rag, Somewhere Under the Rainbow and Plight of the Bumblebee. A story about completing a new look with a blue fedora inspires their takes of Rhapsody in Light Blue, Isolation Blues, and Air on a Blue String. A missed flight and a sleepless night at Newark airport leads to reflections about the ways that the COVID pandemic has upended the lives of musicians everywhere.

This record is light at times, and poignant at others. It pivots from serious to funny, and from simple to complex. This music has a broad appeal, with the potential to connect with a wide variety of audiences. JoyRide's first studio album is a diverse collection of moods and sounds, brought to life by the unfamiliar and enchanting combination of oboe and accordion.

Thomas Heflin | "Morning Star"

Tennesse-born jazz trumpeter Thomas Heflin delivers a remarkable new collection of songs, titled, “Morning Star”. This dynamic modern jazz, R&B, CrossOver album features eleven original compositions and one cover song by the late great James Williams.

Thomas Heflin has been hailed as "a fluent trumpeter with a bright tone and a forward-looking style" by jazz writer Scott Yanow. He has been featured or mentioned in Italy's Jazz Magazine, Pittsburgh Tribune Review and The International Trumpet Guild Journal among others. He is a co-author of the book Understanding Music: Past and Present.

A recording artist for Blue Canoe Records, Heflin has released three albums on the label. His 2007 debut album "Symmetry" was dedicated to the memory of pianist James Williams, who is featured on half of the recording. In 2009, Heflin produced and performed on "Introducing the New 5" by the cooperative group, The New 5 and In 2011, he released his third album, a collaborative CD with Ron Westray, former lead trombonist with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. The album also featured drummer Adonis Rose and bassists Eric Revis and Neal Caine. Heflin has also recorded five albums with the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra as well as toured Europe with the ensemble, performing in France, Spain and Switzerland.

Heflin is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, where he studied with jazz education pioneer, Jerry Coker. He received his masters degree from William Paterson University and his doctorate in Music Performance (Jazz Emphasis) from the University of Texas, Austin.

He has served as an instructor or lecturer at Roane State Community College, the University of Texas Jazz Department, the University Outreach and Continuing Education Program at the University of Tennessee, the Manhattan School of Music Summer Music Camp and The Jefferson Center Jazz Institute. Heflin also served as the Central Greenough Artist-in-Residence in Western Australia as well as the Always on Stage festival in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.

From 2009 to 2014, Heflin lived and performed in New York City where he performed with a variety of ensembles including the Smoke Big Band, led by trumpeter Bill Mobley. During his time there, also served as Program Manager and Jazz Faculty member at the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Division. In 2014, he moved back to the south to take the position of Assistant Professor of Jazz at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, GA. Heflin currently serves as Assistant Professor of Jazz Brass at the Miles Davis Jazz Studies Program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Roots of Creation | "Dub Free or Die Vol. 1"

Acclaimed Reggae-Rock group Roots of Creation (A.K.A. RoC) is excited to announce the release of “Dub Free or Die Vol. 1.” 

Ahead of the new album ROC has released a slew of outstanding singles including “Seven Nation Army” (White Stripes Reggae/Rock cover) ft. Hayley Jane, “Mammoth,” and “Arabia” Ft. Mihali (of Twiddle), and “Light it Up” ft. Mighty Mystic. And most recently with their Reggae/Rock rendition cover of Allman Brothers’ “Soulshine.” So far the songs have garnered critical accolades from Relix, Live for Live Music, Reggaeville, Celebstoner, Top Shelf Music and more. All of the songs will be featured on the album “Dub Free or Die Vol. 1.”

Like many artists, Roots of Creation wasn’t immune to the effects of the pandemic on the touring industry. Utilizing a platform that almost seemed built for navigating a disaster, RoC utilized the power of their tremendous fan base with Kickstarter. That support allowed them to properly record “Dub Free or Die vol #1” as a collaborative effort with the fans. The band first started recording the new album before “Grateful Dub (2018)” and deleted almost everything to only then start over. Soon after the pandemic wiped out their budget and with nothing but time at hand due to lock downs and zero in-person performances, they turned to Kickstarter and the fans saved the day! It is their first self-produced album made for the Roots of Creation DIE HARD fans who love that progressive Rock-and-Jam-meets-Reggae sound. The new album is chock-full of brand new, original Dub/Jammy instrumental compositions, with a handful of truly unique covers. 

Frontman Brett Wilson adds, “the upcoming record “Dub Free or Die vol #1” is all about focusing on our instrumental songwriting. It was created for our diehard fans who travel to multiple shows a year, listen to bootlegs, pay attention to setlists and always score the latest merch drops. We are extremely blessed to have our tribe of ‘RoC family’ members to be there to support us through these crazy uncertain times and let us experiment, create and have a blast. These compositions tend to lend themselves to progressive rock, improvisation, soundscapes, rapid genre switches, and Dub Reggae EFX.”

Andrew Riordan (Dub King Productions) RoC sax player and album producer adds, “Personally, this album is very special to me. The band was kind enough to let me produce and take the reins of a lot of the music in this project. It was also the last project I completed in my old studio before I remodeled and gave it an overhaul. There are pieces of gear that I used that are no longer in service, that I think gives the record a certain sound. That also makes this project feel special. I’m really happy and excited for all our fans to hear the record.” 

Musicians featured on the new album include RoC’s Brett Wilson: Guitar/Vocals; Tal Pearson: Keyboards/Melodica; Andrew Riordan: Sax, Harmony Vocals, Drum Programming, Production, Key, & Melodica; Chris Regan: Bass/Sticky Guitar; Alex Brander: Drums/Percussion. And includes special guests: Trumpet: Andy Geib (Slightly Stoopid); Trombone: Billy Kottage (toured in live band & recorded with The Interrupters, Reel Big Fish, Goldfinger); Guitar: Mihali (Twiddle) on Arabia; Vocals: Hayley Jane on Seven Nation Army (White Stripes); Vocals: Mighty Mystic on Light it Up; Saxophone Solo: Daniel ‘DELA’ Delacruz (Slightly Stoopid) on Soulshine; Vocals: Jesse Wagner (The Aggrolites) on Soulshine; Hammond Organ: Paul Wolstencroft (Slightly Stoopid) on Soulshine; Percussion: Nick Asta (The Elovaters) on Soulshine. The new album was mixed and mastered by longtime collaborator, friend and RoC live front of house engineer - Pete “Boardz” Peloquin (Gov’t Mule, Seether, Ani Difranco, Oasis) of Boardz House Productions based in the band’s hometown of Brookline, NH.

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.