Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra (featuring Philippe Côté and David Braid)| "Twisting Ways"

In 2019, two jazz composers from French and English Canada joined forces with the support of the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra to compose a 25-minute, multi-movement art song called Twisting Ways. A UK-Canadian collaboration, the piece combines the poetry of Dr. Lee Tsang (Liverpool) with music by Montreal-based composer, Philippe Côté (“Amazing” – NYC Jazz Record) and three-time-Juno Award winning Toronto pianist/composer, David Braid (“Uncategorizable” – Paris Transatlantic). The music is masterfully performed by the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, directed by Richard Gillis, and featuring acclaimed vocalist, Sarah Slean (“Compelling”– Time Magazine). 

The album also features vibraphonist Stephan Bauer (NYC) on a variation from Côté’s, La fleur et la roche from his acclaimed album Lungta with David Binney (“a grand sweeping accomplishment” – Ottawa Citizen) and Braid’s Lydian Sky from The David Braid Sextet Live, Vol 2 ( “astonishing” – All About Jazz). Lydian Sky features new words by Tsang, plus performances by multiple Juno winning saxophonist Mike Murley and vocalist Karly Epp (a finalist in the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Competition).

The album’s central piece Twisting Ways begins with The Hand, sung from the perspective of a central character that takes the form of a nightingale, which is guided in turn by a mysterious force called The Hand. The second half revolves around the companion piece Hope Shadow, sung from the perspective of the mysterious force itself. Together, these texts explore imagery related to the human spirit and its transgressions. Slean’s performance infuses the music's narrative with brilliant colour and emotion, redefining what a vocal jazz album can be.

Joel Frahm | "The Bright Side"

The Joel Frahm Trio is a new band featuring Frahm on tenor and soprano saxophones, Dan Loomis on bass, and Ernesto Cervini on drums. The Bright Side is their debut recording for Anzic Records, and is the culmination of a musical partnership that has developed over the course of many tours and recording sessions spanning the last decade.

Frahm first encountered the chord-less trio format as a teenager, and says he was "mesmerized by the music they created and hooked by the feeling of freedom and space the “chordless” trio provided me as a listener.” He was part of several bands that fit that description: In the 1990s, Matt Wilson’s Quartet with Frahm and Andrew D’Angelo playing their musical version of Abbott and Costello with Wilson and Yosuke Inoue facilitating the antics on drums and bass, respectively. The millennium brought a seven year trio residency at Bar Next Door in Greenwich Village featuring Joe Martin on bass and Bill Campbell on drums. There were many nights at Smalls Jazz Club and later at Wilson Live featuring Frahm's trio with bassist and composer Omer Avital and drummer Anthony Pinciotti, another band that continues to work consistently. In fact, Frahm’s debut recording Sorry No Decaf was initially envisioned as a trio CD before David Berkman was added on piano.  This recording marks Frahm’s return to this formative trio format, this time as a bandleader. 

The trio was born at a masterclass at the University of Toronto, as an offshoot of Cervini’s band Turboprop. In the ensuing years, Loomis and Cervini took the reins and began to book gigs for the ensemble, and on their first European tour a repertoire began to take shape, comprised almost entirely of recently penned original songs by each member of the band. The music runs the gamut: from X-Friends, Dan Loomis’ knotty re-imagining of the Klenner/Lewis standard Just Friends, to Frahm’s title tune The Bright Side, which was inspired by the opening riff of Lou Reed’s Walk On The Wild Side. Cervini contributes The Beautiful Mystery, a pensive and emotional tone poem that contrasts beautifully with upbeat tracks like Frahm’s Beeline, a new melody written on the chord changes of My Shining Hour.

The Joel Frahm Trio is dedicated to playing original music with humour, emotion, blues spirit and all of the elements that people love about jazz. This  record is the first offering from a formidable band you’ll be hearing more from soon.

Tommy Ward | "From This Moment On"

At just 25 years old, singer Tommy Ward is already a veteran entertainer. Born in Houston and raised in Las Vegas, he found himself working alongside seasoned performers by the time he was 16, while at 17 he and his band became one of the youngest opening acts in Vegas history. He’s also garnered more than 10 million views on social media, finding a modern audience for his vintage sound. No less a music industry icon than Quincy Jones took the young singer under his wing, hailing Ward as “the epitome of great music.”

With his new EP, From This Moment On, Ward sets forth on a new chapter. Released via Le Coq Records, the vocalist that many have compared to Frank Sinatra and Michael Bublé asserts himself as a torchbearer for the legendary crooners and musicians who have inspired him, while carrying their timeless sound forward for a new generation of listeners.

“This EP feels like the first real statement piece that I’ll be able to share with people without any limitations whatsoever,” Ward says. “It's a great first step that opens a new doorway. This is who I am and where I am in my life at this moment, and everything that follows after this is going to be different. I think it's optimistic, it's hopeful, and it's a wonderful marker in my evolution.”

From This Moment On features five classic songs given new life by Ward’s heartfelt interpretations. He’s aided by the stellar contributions of an ensemble of master musicians – many of whom have become key members of the Le Coq Records family since the label’s recent launch – including bassists John Patitucci and Chris Colangelo, drummers Marvin “Smitty” Smith and Ray Brinker, guitarists Larry Koonse and Jake Langley, and pianist Bill Cunliffe, who also penned a tender arrangement of “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered” featuring Ward himself at the keyboard.

“Le Coq is one of the few labels out there who are truly passionate about the music,” says Ward, now based in Atlanta, GA. “It's been an incredible collaborative effort to work with them. They're making the next generation of jazz records, so to be on that cutting edge with them is more than alluring, it's an honor. I think they’re going to be a huge game changer in the business and I couldn’t be happier to be a part of it.”

Though only one of the album’s songs was released in Ward’s lifetime (Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love” came out in 1997, when Ward was two years old), his strong connection to these vintage standards shines through in his performances. The music of classic crooners like Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Dean Martin provided the soundtrack to his childhood, both at home and via their vital role in establishing Las Vegas as one of the country’s entertainment capitals. His love for the music was ultimately cemented through the influence of Michael Bublé.

The Cole Porter tune that gives the EP its name, “ From This Moment On,” opens the proceedings with that powerhouse big band sound, transporting listeners to the Vegas Strip with its exhilarating blend of virtuoso musicianship and neon-lit glamour. Another Porter classic, “Just One of Those Things” opens at a pulse-quickening simmer before exploding into a lively big band swing propelled by Smith’s muscular drumming. The finale, “The Way You Look Tonight,” strips away the orchestral glitz to reveal Ward alone at the piano, captivating with just his sultry vocal.

Growing up in Vegas, show business never seemed like an unattainable goal for Ward as it does for so many nascent artists; it’s simply his home city’s local industry. “It’s pretty surreal,” he laughs. “Vegas is definitely all that you think it is, but it’s so much more.” 

As much as Ward looks back with respect and admiration at the forebears who have set him on this path, From This Moment On is essentially a forward-looking collection of music. Which is perfect for a point in time when we all hope to move on into a brighter future. “Everything about this music feels right and positive, and I'm excited to share that with people. The artist's job is to convey emotion and make an audience feel something, hopefully this EP helps turn the page past this crazy year on to something a lot more positive and productive and hopeful.” Tommy Ward concludes. 

New Music Releases: Bobby Lyle, The New Guitar Underground, Dee Lucas, Michael Manson

Bobby Lyle - Ivory Flow

An incredible 45 years after releasing his epic debut album The Genie, and 33 years since his landmark Atlantic album Ivory Dreams, Bobby Lyle reminds us on his latest collection that he’s still engaged and excited about being in the Ivory Flow. The multi-talented pianist/keyboardist calls this gloriously crafted set “a reunion album,” with support from his equally legendary contemporary jazz pals Rick Braun, Gerald Albright, Najee, Marcus Miller, Marion Meadows, Nathan East, Everette Harp, Stanley Clarke, Kirk Whalum and Paul Jackson, Jr!  This dream team takes fanciful spins through a riveting, expansive landscape infused with classic soul/funk, Latin-fired fusion, straight ahead jazz, solo piano blues and an elegant tune dedicated to Lyle’s son Tommy, who passed away in 2017 from diabetic complications. Step into the Ivory Flow and feel the love. ~ www.smoothjazz.com

The New Guitar Underground - Volume One

Over 40 years after founding groundbreaking British acid jazz/R&B/funk collective Incognito – and two decades since launching its offshoot ensemble Citrus Sun, guitarist Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick is still on the cutting edge of groove sonics, surprising urban jazz fans with every fresh twist and turn. On his latest jam The New Guitar Underground, Volume One, Bluey teams with Portuguese born Incognito guitarist Francisco Sales to pay homage to the tonal vibes and adventurous melodic and improvisational spirit of legendary masters who inspired their lifelong love of the instrument.  Bluey’s trademark rhythms take hold, this time in the service of classic styled R&B/jazz fusion explorations and atmospheric moods that emphasize their dual string prowess and reflect their desire to continue, as they say, “chasing musical waterfalls.”  ` www.smoothjazz.com

Dee Lucas - The Time Is Now

The bio page of Dee Lucas’ website boldly declares “The Rebirth of Smooth Jazz” – and anyone who’s been following the sonically inventive, continuously grooving saxophonist since his emergence in 2004 knows his vibe is always on the cutting edge. That trailblazing streak continues on his latest EP, THE TIME IS NOW, which balances balmy, easy flowing vibes and fiery, high impact pairings with bassist Darryl Williams, pianist George Freeman and guitarists Blake Aaron and David P. Stevens. Helping bring Lucas’ fresh licks and infectious melodies are two of Smooth Jazz’s top producers, Adam Hawley and Lew Laing, Jr. We predict that the time is Now for Dee Lucas… and once the festivals return, he’ll be in demand! ~ www.smoothjazz.com

Michael Manson - A Ray Of Hope

In the dozen or so years between the release of his last studio album and this new collection, A Ray Of Hope, world traveling Chicago-based bassist and composer, Michael Manson and his wife Lana have served the needs of thousands of students at their Musical Arts Institute. Now back in full swing and groove, the multi-talented artist – who’s played with genre elites Steve Cole, Brian Culbertson, Kirk Whalum and Larry Carlton, among others – picks up where he left off, alternating instantly infectious, brass-fired,  melodic funk with a graceful jazz waltz and sensual ballads featuring pianist Ben Tankard and vocalist Kevin Whalum. The multi-mood swinging party also includes guest shots by Najee, Kevin Whalum, Lin Rountree, Ben Tankard, James Lloyd, Darren Rahn, and Tom Braxton! ~ www.smoothjazz.com

Mack Avenue Music Group Releases Albums from Kenny Garrett and Christian McBride for Record Store Day 2022

Mack Avenue Music Group has announced the release of two landmark projects as part of Record Store Day 2022 (April 23) with Kenny Garrett’s Sketches of MD – Live at the Iridium and Christian McBride’s Conversations with Christian. 

Each of these albums is being released on vinyl for the first time ever as a limited edition 2-LP set with foil stamped numbers; Garrett will be released on red color vinyl and McBride will be released on orange color vinyl. 

Garrett’s 2008 live release marked the saxophonist’s debut with Mack Avenue Records and made for a compositionally

relaxed yet performance intense record. On Sketches of MD – Live at the Iridium, he performed live at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City with his band featuring pianist Benito Gonzales, bassist Nat Reeves, drummer Jamire Williams, and special guest tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. 

Like all other great musicians and artists that came before him, Garrett keeps moving forward in his creative direction. "I'm always trying to challenge myself. Don't look for me to sound like my last record. I'm shifting – following what my spirit feels." The sentiment is clear on his most recent release, recently nominated for an NAACP Image Award, Sounds from the Ancestors. 

For a man that’s known to lead many groups, Conversations with Christian focused on duets for this stunning 2011 release. McBride first considered a proposal to do a duet project during the latter ‘90s. “At the time,” he recalls, “I didn’t feel I was ready, or that it was the project I wanted to do. I had other things in mind. But as time progressed, I got to do other projects—putting together the Christian McBride Big Band and experimenting with a lot of different sounds and layers—and my focus returned to the duets idea.” 

The iconic bassist placed himself in the forefront of the flow on a duet apiece with 13 of his closest musical friends and cohorts—singers Angélique Kidjo, Sting and Dee Dee Bridgewater; pianists George Duke, Eddie Palmieri and Chick Corea, as well as Dr. Billy Taylor and Hank Jones; violinist Regina Carter; trumpeter Roy Hargrove; guitarist Russell Malone; tenor saxophonist Ron Blake; and actress Gina Gershon. In the process, McBride unleashed the full measure of his already legendary skills, crafting as complete a portrait of his diverse interests—different vibrations of the blues and African-American church experience, bebop, the American Songbook, the Latin Tinge, the Freedom Principle, even comedy—as he has ever presented. 

The release of these two albums aligns with Mack Avenue Music Group’s longstanding commitment to releasing audiophile quality music in beautifully designed packaging and supporting the vinyl-loving community.

Quentin Angus | "The State Of Things"

Guitarist and composer Quentin Angus is back with a wonderfully unique album (his fourth as a leader), The State of Things (available March 18, 2022 on Outside In Music), a pristine recording that truly reflects Angus’ life experiences, including becoming a father, embarking on a Professorship (at BMCC), the challenges and rewards of living and working in NYC, observing the political, social and environmental turmoil of America and beyond, and much more. 

Because of this album being comprised of a cohesive book of music with eight chapters, and utilizing elements of rock, pop and R&B (such as forms with very little improvisation, songs with strong, catchy melodies that could be considered a 'chorus', and very little swing), it was imperative for Angus to assemble the right musicians, and did he ever hit the mark! It’s hard to imagine a better drummer for the music on The State of Things than Nate Smith, who delivers a colossal groove at every turn. His feel, pocket and taste reaches another plateau on these compositions. Vocalist/lyricist Michael Mayo is a talent deserving wider recognition, which this album should certainly help with. His crystalline delivery is joyous to behold and truly brings these songs to life, while his improvisations reveal a communicative and compelling soloist within. Pianist Can Olgun’s parts on the album, and his many solo trades with Angus, are so near perfect that you could take them for granted. But, to achieve the level of artistic maturity and skill required to deliver such a performance is a monumental task. Bassist Desmond White . . . words won’t do him justice, so the best bet is to go listen to the album! The fearless leader and architect of this album, Quentin Angus, more than lives up to such high praise as, "Lord of the strings" – Michael Dwyer, The Age, "The Future of Jazz Composition" – Paul Williams (ASCAP), and "Exuberant, richly melodic and smartly arranged" – Richard Kamins, Culture Creature.  

Highlights on the album include the compelling, thought-provoking title track, “The State of Things,” a strong statement (and the reason the album is named for it), meant to convey a somber story about the many predicaments and plights of the world, but also offer a more positive outlook, and ultimately to look forward to a more desirable future. The melancholy instrumental melody played by Angus and White, accompanied by a rapid-fire series of news clippings (addressing gun violence, race and gender inequalities, climate-change, political corruption, Covid-19 and more), is meant to make the listener feel uneasy and eventually overwhelmed, until suddenly the song releases into a propulsive groove in seven, with vocals and lyrics by Mayo: "As this world, ever turns. Fear, closed minds, as it burns. Can we hold, our hearts, to the sky? And make room, for our, human rise? We holding hands can inspire, Change in a land, bathed in fire. In our own, kind of way, we are whole. As long as we know, hope." Following a solo by pianist Olgun, the melancholy melody is reprised for an outro, again accompanied by a deluge of news clippings, but of a more hopeful, positive nature, covering topics such as renewable energy, new technologies, ultimately building towards a world of abundance and access for all.  

“New York Muster” is a composition about grinding it out in NYC. Beginning his journey in Eden Valley, a small South Australian country town with a population of only 200, Angus has been based in the world's Mecca for the arts, the Big Apple, since 2010. Angus elaborated, “NYC is the city of dreams, a hotbed for artistic expression, melting pot for cultural exchange, and arguably the best place for jazz in the world. While I acknowledge how wonderful it can be, it is also terrifying as the city can chew you up and spit you out if you are not lucky, and just being good at your craft does not guarantee a fruitful career. And though there are millions of people in NYC, it can also be a very lonely place at times.” Fast forward to now, and Angus is firmly entrenched in the City’s jazz scene, with the bonus of a solid career as a professor for the City University of New York. He has released many albums, toured around the world, and has a house and a family of his own. However, he’s never forgotten the New York City hustle, the struggle, hard work and persistence it took to reach this point, and “New York Muster” is a tribute to that progression. 

Peppered throughout the album are three melodic gems known the world over, arranged by Angus to great effect; “Pure Imagination,” “Somewhere Over The Rainbow,” and “What A Wonderful World.” These are songs that Angus has felt a connection with for a significant amount of time. The guitarist fell in love with “Pure Imagination” and “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” as a kid after seeing "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," and "The Wizard of Oz." He has also listened to “What a Wonderful World” for more than twenty years (mainly Louis Armstrong's iconic versions). “Rather than simply covering the songs, I have tried to arrange them in a way to provide interest for the listener, including changing “Pure Imagination” to 3/4, adding a bass line 'riff' to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and reharmonizing “What a Wonderful World” says Angus. 

Quentin Angus has received national and international recognition for both his guitar playing and composing, including an APRA Art Music Award for 'Excellence in Jazz' (2012), subsequent nominations in 2013 ('Excellence in Jazz') and 2014 ('Work of the Year'), winning three ASCAP 'Young Jazz Composer Awards' (2012/2013/2015), five Downbeat Magazine Awards in the 'Composition' (2011/2012/2014) and 'Soloist' (2012/2014) categories, and being named the Channel 9 'Young Achiever of the Year' (Arts Category/2013). 

Angus has been leaving audiences in awe around the world with performances in Holland, Belgium, Romania, Switzerland, Turkey, New Zealand, Australia and the United States. This includes appearances at the Montreux International Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Melbourne International Jazz Festival (Australia), and Jazz Hoeilaart Festival (Belgium), along with the release of three critically acclaimed albums as a band leader, In Stride (2017), called, “Eclectic, dynamic and lyrical” – Dragon Jazz, Perception (2013), described as, "A truly special and essential recording" – Jazz Inside Magazine (Eric Harabadian), and Retrieval Structure (2011), hailed as, "fresh, sophisticated, vibrant and formidable" – Edward Blanco, All About Jazz. 

Angus holds a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy), awarded with a 'Dean's Commendation', a Master of Music Degree (Jazz Performance) under the tutelage of jazz great John Abercrombie, awarded 'Summa Cum Laude', and a Bachelor of Music Degree (Jazz Performance). Angus' is the author of five original transcription books of Gilad Hekselman improvisations: 'Splitlife' (2012), 'Words Unspoken' (2012), 'Hearts Wide Open' (2012), 'This Just In' (2013), and 'Homes' (2015). He has also been published by PickUpMusic, Jazz Lessons Videos, MelBay, Jazz Heaven, and the NZMiC music journal along with conducting presentations of his academic research at music conferences across Australasia including the 2020 Music Business symposium for JEN (Jazz Education Network). 

Angus has performed and recorded with jazz luminaries Nate Smith, Ari Hoenig, Kevin Hays, Jon Gordon, Shai Maestro, Colin Stranahan, Linda Oh, Rogerio Boccatto, Jo Lawry, Elliot Mason, and Will Vinson. As part of his formal academic education, he has received instruction from Jason Moran, John Riley, Todd Coolman, Hal Galper, Jonathan Kreisberg, Randy Johnston, Pat Martino, Adam Rodgers, and Carmen Lundy.

The Jazz Defenders feat Doc Brown - 'Perfectly Imperfect' (jazz / hip-hop)

The Jazz Defenders are a group borne out of a deep love for Blue Note Records – specifically the hard bop recordings of Horace Silver, Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan and Art Blakey. Those records were highly regarded for a reason – catchy horn lines and incredible musicianship combined with Rudy Van Gelder’s engineering skills mean they will forever be regarded as classics of the genre. The Jazz Defenders are a group that would ‘defend’ the legacy of those recordings whilst creating its own original identity and distinctive flair.

The group is the brainchild of vibrant pianist and composer George Cooper who in 2015, set about choosing the right musicians for the individual qualities and style that they would bring to the group. Featuring some of the UK’s finest players the line-up is Nick Dover (tenor saxophone), Nick Malcolm (trumpet), Ian Matthews (drums), Will Harris (bass), and George Cooper (piano).

As session musicians in their own right, the five members of the band have worked with a variety of internationally acclaimed artists such as Kasabian, Nigel Kennedy, Hans Zimmer, Massive Attack, The Haggis Horns, Pee Wee Ellis, Andy Sheppard, Get The Blessing, Simon Spillet, Alan Barnes, Rodriguez & Nostalgia 77, as well as playing at venues including Ronnie Scott’s, The Jazz Cafe and The 606 Club.

Alongside an intense schedule of live gigs the band began laying down their own tunes, effortlessly channelling the spirit of the golden Blue Note era of jazz. The result of these efforts was debut album “Scheming“ released at the end of 2019 on Haggis Records. The album puts its own unique twist on classic bebop and hard bop, giving a modern soul jazz slant to the traditional sound and proving once and for all that jazz is far from dead.

Andy James | "Rhythm in New York"

While she grew up in Australia, traveled the world as a renowned Flamenco dancer, and now makes her home in Las Vegas, vocalist Andy James has always loved New York City – whether dreaming of the Big Apple from afar or exploring the always thriving jazz scene of the city as both listener and performer.

“New York City – what a town!” James exults. “It has always held a special place in my heart. Even as a child growing up in Australia, I would see the great singers performing on the television from this special place and think, ‘If only that could be me!’”

On her latest album for Le Coq Records, James captures the vibrant tempo and exhilarating thrills always unfolding in the thoroughfares of the city that never sleeps. Due out April 15, Rhythm in New York features a stunning mix of classic standards and original music inspired by life in Manhattan. As has become standard for Le Coq releases, the album boasts an unparalleled line-up of in-demand musicians, all of who have captivated audiences on the bandstands of New York and beyond.

James’ key collaborator on Rhythm in New York is John Patitucci, who not only graces every track with his virtuosic bass playing but co-wrote several tunes with James and his daughter, singer-songwriter Greisun. They’re joined by pianist Jon Cowherd, drummers Nate Smith and Marcus Gilmore, saxophonists Chris Potter and Marcus Strickland, trumpeter Terell Stafford, flutist David Mann, guitarists Adam Rogers and Chico Pinheiro, and percussionists Alex Acuña and Rogerio Boccato. Additionally, Cowherd and Patitucci collectively arranged all 15 songs on the album.

While Patitucci has been a key member of the Le Coq family since its launch, he and James furthered their collaboration last year with the collaborative outing An Evening with John Patitucci & Andy James, which inaugurated the singer’s venture into original compositions.

“Although I’ve always loved the songs of the past – who wouldn't? – I thought it was time to express myself more as a writer of music on this album,” James explains. “I feel it's necessary to convey my sentiments in music so I can grow further as a singer and musician. My collaboration with John Patitucci and his daughter Greisun has been an enormous pleasure for me. They are so talented and always know what I'm looking for; which I’m sure is helped by their family bond.” 

Speaking of family bonds, James’ other co-writer on Rhythm in New York is her husband and dance partner, Le Coq founder Piero Pata, who contributed to two new pieces on the album, “Time To Think” and “Just In Time.” As James explains, “Working with Piero has really been easy. Wherever I am, he seems to catch and remember the melodies that I've been casually humming around the house and later brings them to me with lyrics already attached. It makes a great start for a song. Of course, then I sink my teeth into them and change just enough to make it me.”

In writing as well as selecting songs for the album, James thought back over the many memorable visits she’s enjoyed to New York City, stretching back to childhood trips with her parents, who would occasionally travel to the States on business and bring their artistic daughter along. As an adult she would return often to soak in the nightlife and take in the influences that helped forge her own singing style.

“My first walk in Central Park in the snow will always be a highlight,” James recalls. “I will never forget the colors of Times Square at night, the people swarming all over the place with excitement, the magnitude of the shows on offer on every street. I would wander for hours finding one exciting nook and cranny after another to enjoy musicians. Whether at Birdland Jazz Club or the Village Vanguard, there was always someone special to admire.”

Rhythm in New York spotlights a wide variety of moods and styles, while showcasing the jaw-dropping musicianship of the assembled artists. James so admires her collaborators that in at least one instance – her and Pata’s own “Just In Time” – she decided to remove her vocals altogether and let the band shine on their own. But throughout, from the enticing, Bossa-inflected opener “There Will Never Be Another You,” through the lush original ballad “Day Dream” and the Flamenco-inspired “El Ritmo,” to the wistful farewell of “I’ll Be Seeing You,” James finds endless inspiration in her adoration for the city.

“I tried to capture my feelings when I was younger, to convey my impressions traveling to this great city,” she explains. “New York is a city of love in many ways, and its people have proved this on countless occasions. The beauty of the seasons always leaves me breathless. It has so many musical tastes for anybody to enjoy: R&B, pop, opera, musical comedy, and of course my favorite, jazz. It is one of my favorite places on Earth.”

New Music: Nate Najar, Joyce, Dudu Lima Featuring João Bosco, Joe Henderson

Nate Najar - Jazz Samba Pra Sempre

Jazz guitarist, composer and producer Nate Najar will release Jazz Samba Pra Sempre May 13, 2022 via Blue Line Music Records. 2022 marks 60 years of Jazz Samba – the landmark 1962 album by Charlie Byrd and Stan Getz that launched Bossa Nova to international stardom. Nate Najar pays homage to the spirit and iconic repertoire of Jazz Samba with Jazz Samba Pra Sempre (Jazz Samba Forever), a loving “reimagining” of this seminal album. Playing Charlie Byrd’s own guitar, Najar is joined by Jeff Rupert on tenor sax, Herman Burney on bass (playing Keter Betts’ bass played on the original Jazz Samba) and Chuck Redd on drums (previously of the Charlie Byrd trio) navigating the track list with equal parts reverence and invention. Brazilian vocalist Daniela Soledade guests on two tracks – João Gilberto’s O Pato and Ary Barroso’s É Luxo Só with her own unmistakable warmth and intimacy. Nate Najar’s virtuosity exudes a dynamic and truly intoxicating elegance. His artistry evokes a modern and progressive attitude that perpetuates the legacy of the great Charlie Byrd. But while Najar’s imaginative playing is steeped in Byrd’s tradition, it nevertheless emulates a collection of other artistic influences including classical, bebop, fusion, bossa nova and even postmodern, which all have culminated to inspire a player whose sophisticated and often innovative artistry has placed him in many of the world’s most prestigious music venues and produced many superb recordings.

Joyce - Femina

This fabled 11 minute+ version of Brazilian icon Joyce's groundbreaking "Feminina" was recorded at Columbia Studios, New York in 1977, for the as yet unreleased Natureza album. Produced, arranged and conducted by the great Claus Ogerman (Frank Sinatra, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Billie Holiday... the list goes on), Natureza would have ostensibly been Joyce's big break to international stardom, but mysteriously, it was never released. With Joyce came fellow Brazilian icon Mauricio Maestro, while Nana Vasconcelos and Tutty Moreno were already living in New York, and Ogerman employed North American jazz legends Joe Farrell, Michael Brecker, Buster Williams, Mike Manieri and a full orchestra for the sessions. In anticipation of the monumental forthcoming Natureza album release via Far Out Recordings, this astonishing version of a true classic gets its first proper 12" vinyl release for Record Store Day 2022. In the spirit of making the release special for Record Store Day, rather than leave it as a single sided 12", Far Out boss called up Joyce to talk about the recording, recorded the conversation, and got it pressed onto the B-side. 

Dudu Lima Featuring João Bosco - O Ronco da Cuica  / Incompatibilidade De Gênios

Originally written by João Bosco and Aldir Blanc and released on Bosco's 1976 album Galos De Briga, "O Ronco da Cuica" is a samba/MPB masterpiece. In the song, the cuíca roars: roars in anger, roars from hunger and is told to stop, but it cannot - "it's a man thing" explains Bosco in the lyrics. Personifying the instrument in this way, "O Ronco da Cuica" points to something quite profound about the nature of human suffering and our primitive need for expression. On this brilliant reimagining, renowned bassist Dudu Lima teamed up with Joao Bosco himself, as well as Azymuth drummer Ivan 'Mamão' Conti, pianist Dudu Viana and percussionist Marcos Suzano. Ironically, this version contains no cuíca, instead it takes a more stripped back instrumentation, exploring the deep jazz potential of this roaring samba classic, to stunning effect. On the B-side is a beautiful duet between Dudu Lima and João Bosco: acoustic guitar and vocals, and fretless bass - together they take on "Incompatibilidade De Gênios", also from Bosco's 1976 Galos De Briga album.

Joe Henderson - Inner Urge

A fantastic session of 60s "new thing" jazz – and one of our favorite early records by Joe Henderson – exactly the kind of album to show why his emergence in the decade was such an important new voice in jazz! The album features some incredibly hard playing from Joe – with a very dark edge to his solos that's nicely offset by McCoy Tyner's lyrical piano, and the supple rhythms of Bob Cranshaw on bass and Elvin Jones drums – a really magical quartet who come across very different here than you might expect from the Coltrane legacies of Tyner and Jones! Instead, Henderson makes his presence known right from the very first note – as his voice on the tenor is completely singular – and titles include the Henderson originals "Inner Urge", "Isotope" and "El Barrio" – plus the great Duke Pearson song "You Know I Care", and the standard "Night & Day". ~ Dusty Groove

GRIMALDO DEL SOLAR (OF NOVALIMA) & SYLVIA FALCÓN | "ANCESTRAL”

Six Degrees Records has announced the debut single from Punku, a new project created by Sylvia Falcón and Grimaldo del Solar (Novalima) that mixes Andean traditional music with traditional instruments and modern genres including electronic music and rock. “Ancestral,” the first single from their upcoming album, evokes an ancestral ceremony in the middle of the high amazon jungle that is haunting and beautiful at the same time. “Ancestral” also gets a driving remix from Novalima, keeping Sylvia’s hypnotic vocals over dubbed-out basslines and infectious rhythms. 

Sylvia Falcón is an innovative singer who brings a wealth of talent and history to the duo. Her music has travelled from the traditional songs of the Peruvian Andes, through the mestizo folk melodies and the Andean coloratura repertoire that made Yma Sumac (whose life centennial will be celebrated in 2022) well known around the globe. Sylvia’s impressive vocal range (4 octaves) of high, mezzo and low frequencies can be appreciated in her four solo studio albums; Killa Lluqsimun "When the Moon Rises" (2008), Inkario (2014), Fantasía Pokcra (2016) and Qori Coya "Golden Lady” (2018). Sylvia Falcón was born in Lima and has developed a strong bond with the Andes due to the influence of her parents, who were born in Huancavelica and Ayacucho provinces. From a very early age she demonstrated the artistic virtues that were developed throughout her childhood and adolescence. Sylvia Falcón is also an anthropologist focused on the study of traditional musicians in the Peruvian Andes. As an artist she is devoted to capturing and projecting the beauty of the ancient Inca culture. 

Grimaldo is a Lima born producer and musician, who started playing guitar at 14. Soon after he worked with many bands that played a pivotal part in the 80s underground metal hardcore punk, and the 90s psychedelic/acid-rock Peruvian scenes. During the late 90s, Grimaldo started exploring traditional Peruvian music through an electronic music lens, which led to creating Novalima, a collective that fuses traditional Afro Peruvian music with DJ culture. Their discography spans 5 albums and numerous remix projects, which led them to touring internationally at major festivals and events. Novalima has inspired a generation and has revolutionized the music scene in their native Peru by bridging a longstanding divide between the mainstream and the minority Afro-Peruvian community, who have struggled against discrimination and cultural dissolution for generations. 

Grimaldo was experimenting new quechua rhythms with Novalima. He found Sylvia Falcón and invited her to collaborate on the single Chusay. After working together at several concerts with Novalima, Grimaldo and Sylvia wanted to join forces to continue a new sound they were developing and Punku was born. 

Grimaldo shares how “Ancestral” is a perfect introduction to their project. He states, “this single is special because it's not the typical kind of music we would create. It is not exclusively about traditional Peruvian songs, like the ones Sylvia sings as a soloist and it is not the electronic music that I create in Novalima either. The whole project  came out without any planning. Unconsciously, we both were looking to make music that connects to mother earth and our historical ancestors.” The results are Andean electronic music with intense vocals and soft atmospheres. 

The duo concludes, “we deeply believe in music as an extraordinary healing medium, especially in these times challenging the world. We hope our entire musical project contributes to reflecting a tiny ray of light uplifting the spirit. As Punku is a new project created just before COVID, the quarantine has helped us to work on the recordings without any time or pressure.” 

“Ancestral” is just a taste of what’s to come from this exciting new project. Stay tuned for more music, videos, and the debut album from Punku dropping in Spring 2022 on Six Degrees Records. 

Todd Cochran | "Then and Again, Here & Now"

The creation of music as a collective art requires participants who are open and engaged. The essence of ensemble jazz music is the collaboration between elements, including sound and time and the musicians and audience. Pianist and composer Todd Cochran views these interchanges of energy and emotions as positive forces for change in the world. In his new album, Then and Again, Here & Now, just released on Sunnyside Records, Cochran’s earlier explorations are folded into this fresh musical creation.

To assist him in his efforts, Cochran enlisted bassist John Leftwich and drummer Michael Carvin. Leftwich has been an important voice in the West Coast’s vibrant music scene for decades and was introduced to Cochran twenty years ago via Freddie Hubbard. The legendary drummer became a part of the pianist’s world even earlier through collaborations with Bobby Hutcherson. Together the Todd Cochran trio – TC3 – is a tremendously vibrant, cerebral and vividly emotive ensemble that breathes life into any piece they endeavor to touch.

Cochran’s musical interests have always been vast in their outlook, from the avant-garde to fusions of jazz and rock. Under the alias Bayeté, his sound can be heard on albums that push the bounds of genres, from Santana, Automatic Man, Peter Gabriel, and Joan Armatrading’s arena filling rock sounds to the explosively spiritual world of his own records. “It was a combination of learning about idioms outside of those with which I was most familiar, and the trajectory of a restless curiosity that pushed me to surmount the challenges of making music outside of my natural affinities. Playing different styles of music authentically rather than as an approximation overtook everything. Each musical idiom had its own aesthetic and particular alchemy” says Cochran. Though, the element that has never escaped Cochran’s work throughout his career has been the blues aesthetic tied to jazz’s legacy, which he re-embraces on Then and Again, Here & Now.

Then and Again, Here & Now presents a collection of stalwart jazz songbook compositions, expressively contemporized and poetically reimagined by Cochran and his trio. Cochran’s philosophy of the development of music through the passing of ideas from generation to generation through evolving syntax can be heard in the approaches that are taken on these pieces. Though experimenting and taking liberties with these classics, the trio remains responsible as keepers of the flame and protectors of the blues vernacular.

From the opening of Romberg and Hammerstein’s “Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise,” the trio’s command of the piece’s inherent swing can be interspersed with creative rhythmic experimentation. A variety of approaches can be heard from piece to piece, especially on a pair of Gershwin pieces with “A Foggy Day” morphing from ballad to mid-tempo and “I Got Rhythm” in pointillistic swing. Interstitials connect and introduce a number of pieces in a thoughtful fashion akin to live performance, including Dave Brubeck’s “The Duke,” which flows expansively like a lazy river. “My approach is to accentuate its eloquence and enhance the myth” says Cochran.  

Ellington’s “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” finds a curious pull between the classicism that the song inspires and Cochran’s playful bending, while a solo bass meditation leads into a brilliantly woven version of J.S. Bach’s “Prelude XX” from Book II of the Well-Tempered Clavier highlighting Cochran’s continued classical inspiration. “After the theme is stated we segue into improvisations around the idea of climbing up and climbing down. Modeling real-life and the reality that we’re continually modulating in one direction or another” says Cochran.

Vernon Duke’s “April In Paris” inspires a sweeping but soft touch from the trio until Leftwich’s unaccompanied bass “Between Spaces - Interstitial” leads to a percussively propulsive take on Kaper and Webster’s “Invitation,” as Carvin, a masterful archetype of empathetic rhythming, imaginatively sets the tone. “It’s played as a song without words, I think about the emotion of finally arriving at the perfect moment to extend an invitation to someone long imagined or hoped for” says Cochran.

An impressionist touch introduces Michel Legrand and Jacques Demy’s “You Must Believe in Spring,” a heart stopping ballad performed solely by Cochran. Monk’s spritely “Bemsha Swing” follows in short order followed by a wistful take on Bobby Hutcherson’s jazz waltz, “Little B’s Poem,” poignantly played by the trio with brilliant solo turns by all. The recording concludes with the resonant “Then and Again, Here & Now,” a brief recapitulation of the elements that brought this recording together: fellowship, history and hope. 

Todd Cochran has made it his life’s work to bring love and understanding to the world. The method he endeavors to accomplish this is through the communal language of improvisation and jazz. Then and Again, Here & Now encapsulates Cochran’s desires in a tangible and invigorating way.

Growing up, Cochran found a middle ground between the dimensions of the intellectual and spiritual when he discovered jazz music. His parents and grandparents were highly educated and motivated him to become the same. That led to his serious investment in classical piano study; performing and entering competitions as early as when he was just eight years old. His cousin introduced him to jazz at 13 and Cochran found a parallel, magnetizing pulse. He began to revisit his parents’ collection of Duke Ellington, Oscar Peterson and Ahmad Jamal recordings, transcribing and analyzing them so he could apply their lessons to his own music. It wasn’t long before Cochran was reaching out to local jazz leaders. 

A San Francisco native, formative school days in the 60s, college and coming-of-age in the 70s, Cochran is a product of the dynamic convergence of attitudes and socio-cultural revolution. His hometown was frontline at a pivotal time in American music history and the visionary principles of the era influenced his worldview and the trajectory of his pursuits. At just 17 years old, he found himself performing alongside the likes of jazz masters John Handy, Mike Nock, and later, Bobby Hutcherson, Woody Shaw, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Herbie Hancock, Julian Priester, and Eddie Henderson. 

Though his own music would branch out dramatically from his earliest jazz grounding, Cochran always remained in touch with the blues element of the music. Now after a ten-year hiatus from recording while nurturing his son into adulthood, Cochran has returned to the music that has given him so much joy and that he feels is necessary to reinvest in for the betterment of society. 

Lucky Brown's Seattle-based collective Mosquito Hawks release 'Some Kinda Blues'

Lucky Brown is the alias and stage persona of American composer Joel Ricci, who conducts myriad combinations of musicians drawn from his Seattle Washington based Westsound Recording Collective in dynamic and spiritual public and private happenings. Via his dozens of self-produced experimental deep funk vinyl singles released by Tramp Records over the past 13 years, he has been hailed by music mavens worldwide as a deep funk pioneer.

After a flurry of funk 45 releases beginning with “Don’t Go Away” in around 2008, debut album Space Dream was finally compiled in 2011 on Tramp Records and introduced Lucky Brown’s singular brand of deep funk and vernacular jazz to the world. The original tunes were soulfully rendered live by his groups The Funk Revolution and Crawdad Farmers and were recorded by Ricci with salvaged, scavenged, and repurposed gear driven by completely naive and improvised recording techniques.

Follow-up Mystery Road was released in 2015 again on Tramp on double-vinyl and as a deluxe 7 x 7″ box, with each single sporting distinctive artwork, unique band names and raw ‘art-brut’ funk blossoming from separate Magik Carpet writing and recording sessions. The concept sought to capture the unfiltered energy and vibe of friends just jamming together in the living room and pushed Ricci’s production modus operandi to its furthest ‘cutting fringe’.

After the compilation style albums of Space Dream and Mystery Road, Ricci composed the Mesquite Suite. This 5-year endeavor was Ricci’s album-length missive on the myth and mystique of so-called ‘americana‘ cast against a backdrop of the American southwest. The recordings employed Seattle group The S.G.’s, and presented Ricci’s investigation into ‘place-based funk impressionism’ with the cassette demos for the album having been conceived prayerfully by Ricci while on retreat in an ashram in the Texas Hill Country. Respectful to the concept, Ricci and Tramp entered into an arrangement by which each piece would be released under the newly formed Tramp Tapes imprint. Three 45RPM singles, the double gatefold LP Mesquite Suite in its entirety, and culminating in an unprecedented modal rock fusion 10″ ‘found-acetate’ EP concept complete with crusty antique 78RPM sleeves entitled Pecan Trees Speak to Each Other.

Deep Blues EP Some Kinda Blues by The Mosquitohawks is the fruit of a one-off early morning session in a practice room at the Seattle Drum School in 2010 featuring luminaries from the Seattle funk community including fiery guitar phenom Jabrille “Jimmy James” Williams of DLO3 renown, versatile drummer Jens Gunnoe and dynamic bass player Bob Lovelace. A tantalizing glimpse of the session was released by Tramp as a single under the name T.D. & The Jimmy James 3 on the extremely limited edition Mosquitohawk imprint, but this EP offers us time to appreciate the transformative alchemy of the session in its entirety. The new EP makes room for highlights that just couldn’t have been contained on one 45, such as the remaining 7 minutes of brutal jamming of Mosquito Eater, the New Orleans street party shout of Hydrangea and the exalted kind of blues of Some Kinda Blues.

Chad Fowler & Matthew Shipp | "Old Stories"

Releasing April 15th, 2022 on Mahakala Music, saxophonist Chad Fowler blends his southern, R&B  influence with pianist Matthew Shipp's unique brand of modern improvisation in a monumental improvised session.

“A duo is such a specific format, and I've done a lot of them,” reflects Matthew Shipp, one of New York's premier improvisational pianists for the past 40 years, who's worked with the likes of David S. Ware, Roscoe Mitchell, William Parker, Ivo Perelman and many others. “I really relish the raw interaction of a duo. It's kind of a discipline — a very specific thing. It can present a whole dramatic compositional puzzle.” And to be sure, he considers purely extemporaneous improvisation to be an act of composition as much as anything. It's no accident that the pianist, associated with so-called free jazz for most of his life, sees Duke Ellington, a composer's composer, as a key inspiration.  

Ellington was a fortuitous touchstone for Shipp to bring to his recent collaboration with Arkansas-based saxophonist Chad Fowler on Old Stories, their new album of duets on Mahakala Music. For his part, Fowler brought to the sessions a longstanding fascination with Ellington sideman (and alto saxophone pioneer) Johnny Hodges, though, like Shipp, this is expressed obliquely through Fowler's work with avant garde luminaries like Alvin Fielder, Douglas Ewart and Parker. 

It was the latter bassist who indirectly brought Shipp and Fowler together. “I met Matt just last year at the Vision Festival, the free jazz event that William Parker and his wife run,” says Fowler. “I knew his music well, but I'd never met him in person. We ended up standing together, watching William Parker's band.” Sensing they were kindred spirits, they immediately made arrangements for a session at Park West Studios in Brooklyn.

Indeed, the duets heard on Old Stories comprise their first real interaction. “I think I talked to him on the phone for two minutes about the logistics,” recalls Fowler. “We barely even said hello before we started. And I think it shaped the session. He was in there playing Ellington tunes when I arrived, warming up. Really swinging, beautiful ballads. And then we just started recording. We never discussed anything beforehand. By far the longest conversation we had ever had was the musical conversation in the studio that day.”

That suited Shipp just fine. “We just started,” he recalls. “Jim Clouse the engineer said, 'Rolling,' and that was it. After every track, we'd take a second and we'd look at each other. Then, 'Are we on?' 'Yeah, you're on.' And we'd start again.” Having said that, Shipp notes that both players brought their musicianship to bear on every second, every beat. “You kind of just know, 'Okay, we've done this, this and this, so it's probably time to do something like this, texture-wise, because we haven't covered that. That process takes on a life of its own, and it just flows from there. Like, whoever does the first attack, the other is thinking, 'How is this piece going? What are we going to explore?' And that information is conveyed instantly at the beginning. That takes a lot of experience and musicianship.”

The tracks that emerged reveal two acute compositional minds at work in real time. “I consider myself a conceptualist and a musical thinker who is always going towards the coherence,” Shipp notes. “Even in what might be perceived as the most free form settings. Music is language, and any language has its own internal logic, its own internal waveform generating itself. If you're telling a story, which is what jazz is supposed to be about, you're dealing with a real internal language. And if it's an honest expression, you'll make sentences of sorts. Paragraphs.”

And, true to the album's title, these stories are weathered and worn, owing to the century-old reference points both players rely on. Yet there's tension in their contrasting approaches as well. “I get the sense that Chad's played a lot of R&B,” says Shipp. “I hear the Southern aspects of his playing. I also hear a lot of the second generation avant garde. I play mostly with East Coast, New York style players, and even though he's obviously capable of hanging in that realm, and does, he is a little different.”

Fowler fully embraces the Southern flavors he's steeped in. “I grew up musically playing in Memphis with R&B bands, listening to Hi Records all the time. It used to be my goal to play sax the same way Al Green sings when he improvises. Even when playing completely raucous, noisy stuff, I think you can hear that I come from a blues sort of background.” 

That, in turn, goes hand in hand with the respect both players have for the sounds of the jazz age, starting with Fowler's choice of instrument. Unlike most alto players, he favors an archaic straight alto, which Rahsaan Roland Kirk called a “stritch,” and the similarly shaped saxello. “Having a weird instrument changes my mindset when I play, in a way that I think is good,” Fowler says. “It's nice to think of it as not being a saxophone.”

And so, even amidst wailing, textural approaches, both players are capable of a lyricism that's not always associated with free playing. “Chad's a great musician — very responsive and sensitive. I hear a lot of Johnny Hodges in his playing,” says Shipp. “I asked him about that afterwards, and he said that's one of his favorite musicians. There's a lot of Duke Ellington in my playing, especially when I use really elegant chord voicings, and I hear Chad responding to that.”  

Which brings us back to the musical coherence of these exploratory recordings. As Fowler reflects, “To me, this session, more than anything I've ever done, feels like composed songs. And I literally mean songs, because there are melodies and form and development. The track called 'Chapter 8,' which is the only piece where I play the saxcello, really sounds like we're reading written notes off a page.”  

To Shipp, the title of the album and the chapters comprising it match the music perfectly. “It's a narrative,” he says. “A novel of sorts. And even if your story is new, it's a rearranging of elements. All the new stories are old, in some ways. We seem to have been prepared for it, somehow. It was a real delight. Between the freshness of a new encounter and being prepared, that balance is really there. That's what makes it vibrant and exciting for me.” 

Or, as Fowler puts it, “When you listen to it, it feels like we already knew each other, like we're old friends, even though we had barely talked to each other before that. So it felt like the old shared stories that we tell, that reference events that neither of us has experienced.” 

Lisa Hilton and her trio release "Life Is Beautiful"

Lisa Hilton and her trio, manifest a memorable experience on life is beautiful, their third recording of the pandemic era, and the acclaimed pianist, composer, and producer’s twenty-fifth album as a leader in the US. On it, Hilton indulges her love of the piano with ten original tracks and the cover gem, Ernie’s Blues, (written by Ernie Wilkins). Backed by her ever-excellent band mates: Rudy Royston on drums and Luques Curtis on bass, Hilton’s elegantly swinging piano and engaging compositions encompass a range from traditional tracks, Latin, blues and retro seamlessly. Royston continually hits the marks on his kit, and Curtis shows off plenty of style over this splendid repertoire of compositions.  

The album begins with an impressive bass solo from Curtis on the classic Ernie’s Blues. The tune’s complex chords and loose bluesy passages allow accomplished soloing from Hilton as well. Retro Road Trip highlights Royston’s rhythm skills and has a bit of a Prokofiev energy amid mid-century grooves. Inspired by classic American Standards, Hilton includes two romantic compositions here: So This Is Love and Nightingales and Fairy Tales - both evoking nostalgic charms and reminiscent of some of Bill Evans work in his sixties period. Too Hot dips into modal ideas creating its own melodic atmosphere. Hilton includes two Latin flavored compositions: Stepping Into Paradise as well as Santa Monica Samba, that show the versatility of the trio in mingling different Latin styles together effortlessly. Seduction is a solo piano piece that Hilton has recorded before, (some other tracks have also been recorded on past albums), with a new extended version here, showcasing Hilton’s love for the blues. Temporary Lullaby, written for Hilton’s daughter, is a melodic standout. In her liner notes, it mentions that More Than Another Day nods to Miles Davis, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Cole Porter. 

Besides his work with Hilton, Royston has collaborated with an ever-expanding list of iconic jazz musicians such as Ron Miles, Bill Frisell, Rudresh Mahanthappa, and Tia Fuller. Curtis, an equally sought-after collaborator, has worked with Eddie Palmieri, Orrin Evans, Christian Scott, Sean Jones, and many more. About planning a recording session this far into the pandemic years, Hilton notes: “I think all musicians right now are hungry to play, so it feels really good when we have the opportunity to get together all day in the studio when we record. Despite the masks and other challenges, musicians need to create music. It sounds simplistic, but that's how we thrive.” Hilton has continued to compose, perform and produce an album a year in a trio, quartet, quintet or solo piano setting, and is a familiar name at the top of charts like Jazz Week, ZMR, and #1 Amazon New Releases. Hiltons albums also regularly appear on some “Best Of” lists” at All About Jazz or other sites, and popular music collections like Apple’s Pure Jazz Playlist.

Lisa Hilton’s new album, life is beautiful, is available everywhere April 1, 2022.Lisa Kristine Hilton is a distinctive composer of jazz, an acclaimed pianist, a bandleader, and producer. Growing up in a small town on California’s central coast, she originally taught herself to play piano with a colored keyboard guide, writing her first simple songs around six years old, before beginning studies in classical and twentieth-century music starting at the age of eight. In college, she switched majors from music and graduated instead with a degree in art and has noted that her art background regularly informs her creativity. Hilton’s music draws on classical traditions, and twentieth-century modernists as well as classic American jazz greats such as Cole Porter, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis and Horace Silver, as well as blues heroes Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson. In the book, “The New Face of Jazz: An Intimate Look at Today’s Living Legends and Artists of Tomorrow” by Cicily Janus, it states that Hilton has been “compared to some of the best pianists in history.” Hilton often speaks about the need for the music of women composers to be heard and presented more consistently in theaters and clubs performing jazz, classical and opera, as well as honoring their historical cultural contributions.

COLECTIVA and Maria Grapsa | "Under The"

Exploring the boundaries between Afro-Latin music and jazz, COLECTIVA are a unique voice on the UK scene, representing the meeting of two musical worlds they believe belong together. 

Their first single, ‘Under The’ came to life when jazz pianist Maria Grapsa brought an early arrangement of the tune to the collective. Working together over a series of collaborative sessions typical of their creative process, they crafted the song you hear today.

Founded as a creative experiment by trombonist Viva Msimang, COLECTIVA makes space for female and non-binary identifying musicians to come together and collaborate in a new dynamic, an alternative to traditional hierarchical structures, free from the Male Gaze. 

Exploring notions of sisterhood through their shared creative practice, the collective empower themselves and their audiences alike.

Tormented melodies, jagged horn hits, and a rhythm section bristling with energy open the
song, evoking sounds of struggle. Harmonies stack, as the musicians reach a triumphant yet vulnerable precipice… The arrival of a montuno transports them towards a utopia, and launching into a timba-inflected breakdown, COLECTIVA take us home, above the trees, within the earth, where we are one, the big cats chasing snakes while deer run free. 

‘Under The’ features Nadine Nagen (violin), Sarah Wackett (flute), Poppy Daniels (trumpet), Deanna Wilhelm (trumpet), Viva Msimang (trombone), Luisa Santiago (keys), Maria Grapsa (original composition, keys), Alley Lloyd (bass), Lilli Elina (congas, percussion), Lya Guerrero (drums). 

This lineup met organically playing together in bands, sessions and jams, and collectively have worked with artists such as Los Van Van, Dayramir Gonzales, Brenda Navarrete, Sampa The Great, Sarathy Korwar, Juanita Euka, Penya, Anjelique Kidjo, Laura Misch, Photay, Msafiri Zawose, Clean Bandit, Little Simz, Shunaji, Camilo Azuquita, Dengue Dengue Dengue, Scrimshire, Yazmin Lacey, and The Cure.

Finnish Ambient/Jazz Duo Tapani Rinne & Juha Mäki-Patola Release New Collaborative LP Open

Hush Hush Records presents a bold new exploration within their cinematic, atmospheric, and genre-free sonic universe with Open, a collaborative album between veteran Finnish musicians Tapani Rinne and Juha Mäki-Patola. An organic melding of each musician’s distinctive style that yields their own unique shared language, Open reveals a cohesive meditative thread through ambient, jazz, and neo-classical music, paving the way for a refreshingly cool and sophisticated Nordic sound. 

Tapani and Juha were strangers prior to connecting online in February, yet they’ve both been active players within the Finnish music community for decades. Tapani’s illustrious career as a saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer has been an evolving path of collaborative works, solo releases, and an array of commissioned work dating back to the mid-1980s. He was featured prominently on legendary Finnish jazz drummer/composer Edward Vesala’s critically acclaimed 1987 album Lumi for ECM Records, and the following year he co-founded RinneRadio, a pioneering Finnish outfit that forged a thrilling experimental intersection between jazz and techno. An integral and prolific member of the Finnish music scene since these formative beginnings, Tapani has played with numerous bands and released a handful of ambient-leaning solo albums too, most recently unveiling the dreamy and ominous Foghornia in 2020. Regardless of the project, Tapani’s trusty melodic reed work has long been characterized by an evocative range, intuitive pulse, and collaborative spirit. It is this consistent communal curiosity that opened the doors for this album, as he was happy to join forces with emerging solo composer Juha Mäki-Patola upon a simple invitation via Instagram to work together on new material. 

Although his discography may not run as deep as Tapani’s, Juha has been active in the Finnish music community for over a decade. Originally serving as a member of several bands and working as a producer, musician, and engineer for both local and international artists from various genres, Juha took this multifaceted experience to steer the vision for the type of music he desired to compose and produce under his own name. Inspired by the great neo-classical composers of this era such as Jóhann Jóhannsson, Nils Frahm, and Max Richter, as well as iconic artists such as Brian Eno, Philip Glass, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Alva Noto, Juha began to create introspective and reflective instrumental pieces that sought a specific calmness. Receiving early support during this journey from Seattle-based KEXP DJ Alex Ruder, Juha made his solo debut in September 2020 with the full-length album Breath, released on Alex’s independent label Hush Hush Records. Juha quickly followed up Breath with the complimentary 3-track EP Waves in February 2021, also released on Hush Hush Records.

Open was written quickly during a 3-month creative burst in early 2021. Working remotely from their respective home studios in Helsinki, the two artists eagerly traded ideas back-and-forth to find a warm, immersive, and transportive shared sonic vision. Tapani’s rich saxophone and clarinet melodies blend seamlessly into Juha’s complimentary guitar, piano, organ, and synthesizer compositions. Sometimes Tapani’s contributions joyfully dance around in the foreground, elsewhere they provide a deep, subtle, cavernous accompaniment to Juha’s lush arrangements. Opening track “Brevity” introduces their combined palette in welcoming fashion, Tapani’s dueling melodies interweaving gently within Juha’s twinkling minimal foundation before swelling alongside additional layers of piano. Lead single “Open Pt. 1” provides the album’s most upfront and immediate moment, Tapani’s exploratory saxophone melodies dominating the spotlight to glide atop a meditative piano motif. Penultimate track “Fall” serves as another early single off the album, its undulating pulse finding beauty in its restraint and spotlighting the duo’s atmospheric strengths. “Hover” eases the listener towards a gracious finale, Tapani and Juha having a playful dialogue with rich organ chords laying the groundwork for Tapani’s whimsical saxophone.

Over its 10-song run through cerebral jazz, glacial ambient, and cinematic neo-classical styles, Open introduces a delightful new shade into both artist’s repertoires as well as Hush Hush’s amorphous catalog. Stylistically reminiscent of Floating Points and Pharaoh Sanders’ instant 2021 classic Promises, Open distinguishes itself with an expansive and contemplative aesthetic informed by Finland’s icy climate and long winters, as well as the atmospheric nature of the Nordic experimental jazz scene. Boasting a rich painterly sound that beautifully blends ambient, jazz, and neo-classical into their own unique expression, Tapani and Juha seamlessly fuse their talents to create a hypnotic debut collaborative record.

Italian Jazz Drummer, Tommaso Moretti's New Album "Inside Out" Featuring Ben Lamar Gay

At its best, recorded music manages to be both wholly particular and thoroughly general; both specific and open ended; of the moment and outside of it; in motion and a snapshot; of lived experience and expressing the imagined. These tendencies and tensions give us some of the pathways into core values at work in this music.  To the ears and heart, these are qualities that exceed genre and style: becoming rather matters of substance and content; things personal but also those held in common.  It is about life.  Moretti introduces this record with the reflection: “It connects the dots between the intimate dimension of an inspiration and the aesthetic need to translate it into defined musical languages. It’s a quest to find the inner layer of humanity that allows a connection between the meaning of three words: Sentimento, Saudade, Soul.” Feeling, longing, experience, and form are the narrative and musical themes here. 

He offers us an album that communicates the particular circumstances of his life: a native Italian; a proud Chicagoan since 2013; a husband and father; teacher, collaborator, and bandleader. A student of the rhythms of the Afro-Atlantic world, especially the polyrhythmic jazz and samba traditions; a communicator of music fundamentals; a detailed listener; an operator of time and layers in sound; a singer and composer.The invitation with a record like this is to hear it as a journey and as a retrospective; looking at a path both backwards and ahead- giving us a way to hear the composition of a place.  This is music of many homes- settings like Chicago and Rome -  and also scenes and spaces  - the samba bateria, the jazz session, the canzone napoletana, - and motion - it swings. 

This is an album that is both expressive of decades of musical feeling yet given form in a necessarily particular period in Chicago, 2021: each instrumentalist recorded their part in the studio separately: starting with the percussive foundation and recording each layer of the composition individually. Building out musical drama and collectivity in such circumstances becomes possible by way of compositions that are deeply polyrhythmic, multi-sectional, and centered through shifting grooves.The forms of each piece give a common terrain for creativity, in which each musician responds in turn to the layers that preceded them.  Feeling and form are necessarily entangled in the process here.  To get beyond or extend that which has come before, moving from inside out (i.e rhythm first) towards figuring out how to play outside of the structure that had previously been laid down.  It is a process that foregrounds the possibility of recontextualizing through layering.  Moretti is always expressive in polyrhythm, which affirms that a new layer can transform overall meaning and value.                                                                                           

The rhythm section of Moretti’s drums and percussion, Ben Dillinger’s bass, and Edinho Gerber’s electric and acoustic guitars offers a foundation for Jake Wark’s saxophone, as well as the cornet of Ben Lamar Gay and Natalie Lande's flute. Moretti’s voice, xylophone, and electronics extend the sound pallet on multiple pieces, providing a deeply personal set of timbres: the voice is vehicle of language and lyrics here, detailed, and specific; the xylophone is playful and articulate; the electronics extend a sense of space and motion.Some careful overdubs grow the arrangements while keeping the focus on a naturalistic group sound, full of dynamic changes, interplay, and the sound of musicians listening to one another: supportive, balanced, and in dialogue.  This dance-  of the group of individuals playing within a shared structure - gathers around eight pieces grounded in the specific textures and concerns of Moretti’s life - at once particular and broadly human; of motion and about place - manifesting some specific thematic concerns expressed in each:

1. Italiano In America

This sounds out some of the dynamics of Italian self-perception: echoing the way we might perceive ourselves at home and abroad; and the ways we think that we are perceived. Who thinks what of whom?  Who thinks what where?  Creating a chain of mirrors and reflections, these questions of identity play out as an alternation of musical Drama and Comedy - used to set up and undo a listeners’s expectations and sense of anticipation and assumption.  Tension, propulsive change, and upended resolution emerge as a recurring Italian folk motif is positioned in a slippery rhythmic context: the joyful play with and defiance of expectations; the sonic and the social in modulation. 

2. Redefine The Purpose

With a feel both placid and restless, Moretti notes, “the lyrics reflect a common feeling during the first months of the pandemic: a wish that humanity could learn from mistakes and break out the vicious circle of greed.” The instrumental pallet here documents the eclectic collection of instruments Moretti had on hand at home during the 2020 lockdown- drums, classical guitar, xylophone, percussion, and the voice- augmented in this recording by bass (Ben Dillinger) and flute (Natalie Lande). 

3 ESM

“A song inspired by my 5 years old daughter's moods and motions, with a particular emphasis on her energy and sweetness.”

4. Edge Of A Decade

Inspired by the Afro-Brazilian percussion art-form "Batucada" and a sincere tribute to a rhythmic language that is increasingly central to Moretti’s practice and work in Chicago’s Brazilian music scene.  The title reflects the fact that the song was composed on New Years Eve of 2019, at the edge of a new decade. Ben Lamar Gay's cornet improvisation unfolds as three overlapping takes, creating “a slow burn build up effect evoking a dreamy dystopian Carnival.”

5. Taming The Bitterness

This is “a song that emerged in my mind during a particularly stressful moment and I kept rearranging it and modifying it until I realized it was becoming an attempt at self-therapy. On the bridge of the melody the tempo slows down and the sound texture changes creating an introspective feel.”

6. A Call For Awareness

Another song conceived in 2020, where the “vibe reflects the dark times we are facing, leaving some room for hope. Hope can be real only If we are willing to leave the culture of denial behind and embrace a new kind of Awareness.”

7.Going Home-Flying Away From Home

Grappling with the “emotional complexities of the immigrant's ever evolving perception of home” in this piece Edinho Gerber 's acoustic guitar is at the center of the mix:  “imbuing every soloist with saudade-filled harmonies. The music is simultaneously a tribute to the eternal masters of Brazilian jazz (Hermeto Pascoal, Edu Lobo, Baden Powell etc..) but also includes references to one of my favorite Italian soundtrack composers: Piero Piccioni.”

8. Era De Maggio

The closing piece is an arrangement of a canzone napoletana: the traditional song of Naples. This selection, composed by Mario Costa in the late 19th century with lyrics by Salvatore Di Giacomo, is a love song that revolves around the concept of separation and reunification following the season's cycle. The contrasts of minor and major keys, a typical formula in the tradition, which musically sustains the narrative and emotion of the lyrics.

~ Will Faber