Jean Fineberg | "Jean Fineberg & JAZZphoria"

Tenor saxophonist-flutist Jean Fineberg puts the icing on the cake of a 50-year career with the on her Pivotal Records imprint. While the album is her first under her own name, Fineberg is anything but a newcomer to the music world: She has since the early 1970s been building up a jaw-dropping body of accomplishments that includes rock and fusion bands, session work on pop hits, and touring with jazz, salsa, and singer-songwriter icons. Many of those accomplishments are reflected in her debut album, which places her at the front of an octet (the JAZZphoria of the title) with baritone saxophonist-bass clarinetist Carolyn Walter, keyboardist-flutist Erika Oba, trumpeters Marina Garza and Tiffany Carrico, guitarist Nancy Wenstrom, bassist Susanne DiVincenzo, and drummer Lance Dresser, plus special guests. 

Much of JAZZphoria’s personnel overlaps with the Montclair Women’s Big Band, the celebrated Bay Area ensemble of which Fineberg has been assistant director and resident composer since 1997. She wanted to concentrate the 17-piece band’s creative force into a streamlined, four-horn powerhouse. “I wanted a team atmosphere,” she adds regarding her strategy. “We have that in the big band, as well as in JAZZphoria. … However, we do have a man on drums, so we’re not one of those single-gender bands!” 

It's not really a single-genre band either, despite the obvious jazz context. Fineberg leads JAZZphoria through a wild variety of sounds and styles. The opening “Bluesworthy” is classic big-band swing, while “Unfinished Business” is a sly tango. “Dive Bar” is a stinging guitar-led blues. “Raw Bar,” though it uses a Middle Eastern harmonic language, harks back to the fusion band DEUCE, which Fineberg co-led in the 1980s. 

The album’s wide range of musical flavors gets a boost from its equally wide range of soloists. Each of the band’s eight core members gets moments in the spotlight (and on multiple instruments, in the cases of Fineberg, Oba, and Walter). So do their guests. Jennifer Jolly takes a muscular piano turn on the New Orleans groover “More Funner”; percussionist Michaelle Goerlitz brings zesty energy to “St. Mildred the Short’s” calypso; Ariane Cap doubles down on the bluesy “Live at the Buck Snort Saloon” with her driving slap-bass; and Ellen Seeling—Fineberg’s directing partner in the MWBB—delivers a gorgeous, sultry trumpet line on Nancy Wenstrom’s “Unfinished Business.” 

In short, Jean Fineberg & JAZZphoria is the sound of not just one, but a whole array of highly accomplished and versatile talents. Even so, it is Fineberg, who, in addition to leading the band, composed all but one of the tunes and arranged the whole album, whose vision is at the album’s heart.

Born April 1, 1946 in the Bronx and raised in nearby New Rochelle, Jean Fineberg knew she was a musician from early childhood. She began studying piano at 6 and violin at 9 before discovering the flute at 11. She also dabbled in drums and guitar as a teenager, then eventually began to study tenor saxophone, which became her main instrument. She took it and the flute with her to Pennsylvania State University, where she earned two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s in succession. 

In 1972, Fineberg became a founding member of Isis, an all-female jazz-rock band based in Manhattan. While the band never achieved major commercial success, it won positive notices and opened doors for Fineberg on the New York music scene. Along with Isis’s three albums, she played on dozens of recordings across the 1970s and ’80s, including smash hits by David Bowie, Sister Sledge, and Chic as well as the Brecker Brothers horn section. She toured with Laura Nyro and jazz trombonist-bandleader Melba Liston and performed with Dizzy Gillespie and Clark Terry at Carnegie Hall. In the mid-’80s, Fineberg co-founded (with Ellen Seeling) the fusion band DEUCE, which became a staple of jazz festivals and recorded two albums of her original music. 

Settling in the San Francisco Bay Area, Fineberg reestablished herself in the 1990s as a first-call West Coast musician before joining Seeling’s newly established Montclair Women’s Big Band in 1997. In the 25 years since, it has been her primary outlet, both in the reed section and as the band’s primary composer and arranger. The superlative musicianship she encountered in the band was the catalyst for Jean Fineberg & JAZZphoria, Fineberg’s long-in-the-making debut as name-above-the-title bandleader. 

Fineberg is on the faculty of the Jazzschool at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley, where she directs annual Jazz & Blues Camps for women and girls (“my way of trying to pay it forward”). On the extramusical front, she has published her poetry in more than 20 journals; her new collection is A Mobius Path (Finishing Line Press). 

Jean Fineberg & JAZZphoria will be performing at San Francisco Music Day, War Memorial Veterans Building, on Sunday 3/20 at 4pm; at Rendon Hall, California Jazz Conservatory, Berkeley, on Friday 4/15 at 8pm; and at Move ’n’ Groove, Albany, CA, Sunday 4/24 at 10am.

The Wailing Sounds of Ricky Ford: Paul’s Scene

Whaling City Sound announces the new Ricky Ford recording, The Wailing Sounds of Ricky Ford. Not only does Ford bring impeccable credentials with him wherever he goes, but he also happens to have deep ties to New England, which is why the recording title is something of a play on words, with reference to his connection to Southeastern Massachusetts, and the city of New Bedford, also known as “The Whaling City.” 

Unsung compared to many of today’s tenor legends, but not unappreciated by those who know him and certainly not by those who’ve played with him, Ford is an undeniable national treasure. And it doesn’t take long to explain why that is. After getting his start with the Duke Ellington Orchestra (under Mercer Ellington’s leadership), Ford’s gone on to play with Charles Mingus, Lionel Hampton, and Abdullah Ibrahim, to name but a few of his more illustrious stints. Ford’s local connection goes way back to the Ellington phase of his career when he was brought on to take veteran Paul Gonsalves’ place in Ellington’s orchestra. With deep roots in New Bedford, Gonsalves is one of the city’s legendary sons. And so, the musical circle is complete.  

But beyond the obvious laurels, the lineage, and the resume, Ford stands tall on his own. On the new album, his tenor shines, as expected. But what’s surprising is that the tunes—all 12 of them—clock in around five minutes. They’re concise. They’re punchy. They hit the target. The spotlight is focused on Ford’s taste and virtuosity, and his epic rhythm section, which features pianist Mark Soskin, bassist Jerome Harris, and drummer Barry Altschul, do an impressive job emphasizing Ford’s work without kicking too far back. The piano and drums keep pace as accompanists, maintaining balance amid the brevity. 

The recording was produced by Ford, recorded last summer at the Samurai Hotel in Astoria, NY, and mixed and mastered by John Mailloux. The fidelity is beautiful, soft, but it doesn’t lose sight of Ford’s bristling edginess. “Paul’s Scene,” a tribute to Gonsalves, is a full-on tour de force, a classic bop romp characterized by some quick changes interrupted by an Altschul drumming pause just long enough for Ford to catch his breath. “The Essence of You,” written by Coleman Hawkins, gets a lovely treatment, as does Hawkins’ “Angel Face,” a tune written with Hank Jones. And speaking of Hawkins, Ford also includes “Stockholm Stomp,” a Fletcher Henderson chestnut made famous when Hawkins was with Henderson’s band back in the day. There are detours here too, like the Turkish inspiration of “Fer,” and the sublime ballad “The Wonder.” 

We could go on and on with “The Wonder” of this and the wonder of that, and the deep respect Ford has for the great bop he’s plucked along the way from his musical family trees. But it’s the sound of this record today, the relevance that this great material has on people who love today’s jazz, and above all the amazing sound of Ricky Ford’s tenor, today, that makes this recording so worthwhile.

State Foundation | "Outside Looking In"

Notching up their tenth studio album release with ‘Outside Looking In’, the 8-piece Midlands-based Soul band Stone Foundation continue their rich vein of form. Their last three albums all charted within the Top 40 and ‘Outside Looking In’ seems certain to repeat the trick. The album features the previously-released single ‘Echoes of Joy.

Throughout their nearly 25 years together, the band have always been known for their collaborative spirit and inclusive approach. ‘Outside Looking In’ is true to that. Recorded (as always) at Paul Weller’s Black Barn Studio, and featuring the man himself with a few Backing Vocals and instrumental contributions, the album also features a knockout guest lead vocal from legendary disco diva Melba Moore on ‘Now That You Want Me Back’. The album also boasts slots from Sulene Fleming, Laville, Sheree Dubois and Graziella Affinita; whilst Stone Foundation always bring a fresh new approach to each record, and a point of contrast to what came before, some things just do not need to be altered.

Neil Sheasby said, “When creating music the goal is always to recreate the sound you’re imagining in your head, sometimes it’s achievable, sometimes you fall short. With this record I believe it’s the closest we have come to realising what we set out to achieve. It was important to push ourselves and not get caught up in a musical cul-de-sac of complacency, it had to sound fresh and a leap forward into uncharted territory. I think the songs reflect that.”

Neil Jones added, “I think this is one of our most optimistic and uplifting records to date. We’ve all experienced so many negative things over the past few years and it was really important for us whilst writing this record to not dwell on the past but instead look forward to the future and all the amazing possibilities that lie ahead for everyone. Musically and lyrically it feels completely fresh and exciting, like a brand new chapter in our ever evolving story.”

This release feels like yet another big step forward for this constantly evolving band. Along the way they have always ploughed their own furrow and made their own luck. Yet they have enjoyed national airplay from BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 2, rave reviews from a huge range of publications, played Glastonbury and sold out headline shows at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire and the Electric Ballroom. The album title ‘Outside Looking In’ reflects the fact that they are established, but never the establishment, Stone Foundation may be ten studio albums in, but still feel like the underdog. Just don’t bet against them… ~ www.firstexperiencerecords.com

Yelena Eckemoff | "I Am a Stranger in This World"

Pianist-composer Yelena Eckemoff adds to her already impressive corpus of settings for the Psalms on I Am a Stranger in This World, due for a May 20 release on her own L&H Production label. The album is a new installment in a long-term musical project that began with 2018’s Better Than Gold and Silver, and once again teams Eckemoff with that album’s trumpeter Ralph Alessi and bassist Drew Gress, along with guitarist Adam Rogers and drummer Nasheet Waits. (Violinist Christian Howes—with Ben Monder and Joey Baron also in lieu of Rogers and Waits, respectively—also appears on three holdover tracks from Better Than Gold and Silver.) 

Eckemoff converted to Christianity while still living in her native Moscow during the waning days of the Soviet Union: a time when to be Christian was still a dangerous transgression. Her new faith, along with a hard-to-procure King James Bible, combined with her pedigree in classical and jazz piano to inspire a celebration of the Old Testament’s wisdom and poetry.

Eckemoff, however, finds more than just inspiration in the Psalms. “I am a melodist, but the melodies that come from the words I hear in the Psalms, I think they are the best melodies I create,” she says. “And I think it’s because there’s a power in those words…. You can feel the power that God channels through that music.”

Of course, the musicians working with Eckemoff channel power of their own. I Am a Stranger in This World was recorded during the 2020 pandemic, and there’s a palpable passion from Alessi, Gress, Rogers, and Waits simply to be making music again. But that alone doesn’t account for the tenderness of Rogers’s lines on “As Chaff Before the Wind” (a setting of Psalm 35), the soul in Alessi’s soft fills on “I Shall Not Want” (from the famous Psalm 23), or the full band chemistry of “Keep Not Your Silence” (Psalm 83). 

“Eckemoff’s new Psalms settings display an expanded stylistic range,” writes CD annotator Mark Sullivan. “Who knew that Psalms could sound like blues? ‘I Shall Not Want’ embraces the vibrant blues feeling [as does] ‘Lighten My Eyes.’ . . . Here for the first time on her jazz recordings her keyboards are expanded beyond acoustic piano to include organ on ‘Keep Not Your Silence,’ Fender Rhodes electric piano on ‘Truth in His Heart’ and ‘The Wine of Astonishment,’ as well as some synthesizers on ‘At Midnight I Will Rise’ and ‘Like Rain Upon the Mown Grass,’ subtly broadening the group’s timbral palette.” 

Although Eckemoff first wrote these settings as vocal features, there are no singers on I Am a Stranger in This World. Instead, she offers her purely instrumental interpretations of the Psalms, titling each with a line from the appropriate Biblical verse and citing each Psalm for the listener to read and draw connections to the music—and perhaps to their own ideas about faith in a higher power. 

Eckemoff is no evangelist, but her work with the Psalms does offer an important message to the world. “There is some higher power,” she says. “Even the people who don’t believe in God but have faith in government or in society or humanity—well, the government or society or humanity is the higher power. Something greater than themselves. My message is that people can overcome fears and insecurities and trust in a higher power.”

Yelena Eckemoff was born in Moscow, where she started playing by ear and composing music when she was four. She would go on to study classical piano the most prestigious music academies in Russia: the Gnessins School for musically gifted children, followed by the Moscow State Conservatory. 

Gradually, however, Eckemoff’s ears wandered beyond her classical training, discovering first rock, then jazz. When she saw Dave Brubeck’s performance in Moscow in 1987, she settled on jazz as her permanent musical path. 

That path turned out to run through the United States, where Eckemoff immigrated in 1991 and settled in North Carolina. Now ensconced in the country that gave birth to jazz, she went in search of players who could do justice to her intricate ideas. 

The search was a long and sometimes frustrating one, but it paid off when she was able to work with the likes of bassist Mads Vinding and drummer Peter Erskine on her 2010 album Cold Sun. Later collaborators have included Mark Turner, Joe Locke, George Mraz, Peter Erskine, Manu Katché, Billy Hart, Chris Potter, Jon Christensen, and Joey Baron, along with Alessi, Gress, Rogers, and Waits. Her unique, sophisticated, and highly expressive music continues to draw support and creative energy from the finest musicians in the world.

Sao Paulo Vocalist Tetel Di Babuya Debuts with "Meet Tetel"

The supreme confidence of Meet Tetel—Tetel Di Babuya’s debut album, set for a June 24 release on Arkadia Records—belies the newness of Di Babuya’s career as a vocalist and composer. She recorded the album just a year after her first professional singing appearance, and with even less experience in the jazz world. All the more remarkable, then, that the album’s ten originals and gorgeous Gershwin cover evidence the technical chops and emotional nuance of a seasoned veteran. 

In a sense, a veteran is exactly what she is. Before she was Tetel (pronounced teh-TELL) Di Babuya, jazz singer, she was Marcela Venditti, a classically trained violinist who had established a reputation as a highly regarded player in her native São Paulo, Brazil. Although she knew for as long as she can remember that she was a musician—“It never occurred to me to do anything else,” she asserts—her destiny seemed to lie in the orchestras she began playing in when she was still a teenager. 

Still, she had grown up loving Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong’s classic Ella and Louis. When in her late twenties she made a more profound discovery of vocal jazz, she was entranced by its possibilities. “I just knew I had to try and sing the best I could,” she says. “I didn’t care if I had a good voice or a bad voice, I simply had to sing.” 

That decision has yielded rich rewards, as Meet Tetel (which inaugurates a new name as well as a new milieu) testifies. Her contralto is as agile and expressive on the coy, playful “Not About Love” as on the vulnerable ballad “For One Man Only”; she tackles “Clean Cut” with full-tilt funk but can also put just a sprinkle of attitude on “Lullaby of Loveland.” As a finishing touch, her cover of “Someone to Watch Over Me” strikes a perfect balance of wistfulness and quirky charm.

Of course, Di Babuya has excellent support in these endeavors. Her accompanists include pianist/arranger Daniel Grajew, saxophonist/trumpeter/trombonist Richard Fermino, bassist/guitarist Nilton Leonarde, and drummer Emilio Martins: the cream of the crop on São Paulo’s jazz scene. Even so, when the songs come out, they are Di Babuya’s own. She is, as Arkadia Records chief Bob Karcy succinctly puts it, “A phenom, a gifted musician.” Meet Tetel is living proof. 

Tetel Di Babuya was born Marcela Venditti in 1986 in Araçatuba, in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. When she was seven years old, the family moved to California, where her psychopharmacologist father taught at Stanford University. When they returned to Brazil two years later, her father—who was also a drummer, singer, and pianist—signed her up for violin lessons. 

Music, and classical music in particular, quickly took hold of her passions, and by 13, Tetel was playing in orchestras and her school bands. From there she went to the University of São Paulo for a bachelor’s degree, to São Paulo State University for a master’s in music, and then to the professional orchestra circuit. She played with the Heliopolis Symphony Orchestra and the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, with whom she toured Brazil and then Europe; performed in the São Paulo production of The Phantom of the Opera; and worked as a soloist with the Limiar String Orchestra, the Poços de Caldas Festival Orchestra, and the Laetare String Orchestra.

By the time she fell in love with jazz in her twenties, Tetel had been so deeply immersed in classical music for so long that it was difficult to imagine herself doing anything else. However, the allure of improvisation, of swing, and of writing her own songs was too strong. Guided by the influence of Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Amy Winehouse, and Norah Jones, she reoriented herself as a singer. Her first performance was at an orchestral concert, but soon afterward she enlisted the help of pianist and arranger Daniel Grajew. Together they assembled the songs that became Meet Tetel. 

Tetel sent demo recordings of the songs to Arkadia Records’ Bob Karcy. “I listened and heard something special and unique in the material she sent me,” Karcy says; in her he found the perfect vehicle for revitalizing the record label beyond its acclaimed catalog. He signed her to the label and served as producer for her debut. They worked together to fine-tune and rerecord her songs, resulting in Arkadia’s first new release in over a decade—and a debut album that overflows with the promise of an exciting new artist.

A Tribute to Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul featuring Damien Sneed, Valerie Simpson, Karen Clark Sheard

Damien Sneed, the multi-talented bandleader, composer, musician, and vocalist, finishes the final week of his 25-city sold-out North American tour, A Tribute to Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul. Presented by IMG Artists, this dynamic presentation celebrates the amazing musical legacy of the late Ms. Franklin, arranged and musically directed by Sneed, and features an accomplished cast of jazz, gospel, and soul musicians and vocalists. The tour kicked off Thursday, February 3, 2022, at the Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and concludes on Sunday, March 20, 2022, at the Kupferberg Center for the Arts at Queens College in Flushing, NY, where both Karen Clark Sheard and Valerie Simpson will be featured as special guests.   

With a career spanning several generations and a multitude of genres, Aretha Franklin earned her title, “The Queen of Soul.” Beloved by musicians and listeners alike, Aretha is recognized as one the most successful female recording artists in history. Aretha Franklin continued to perform well into the later years of her illustrious life. During this time, musician, vocalist, and composer Damien Sneed toured with Ms. Franklin, developing a strong mentee relationship with the soul legend. In Tribute to Aretha Franklin: The Queen of Soul, Sneed pays homage to the monarch herself with fresh renditions of her most cherished hits, including “How I Got Over,” “Respect,” “Say A Little Prayer,” and others.

Also joining Sneed on tour are featured vocalists Chenee Campbell, Markita Knight, Anitra Raquel McKinney, and Alicia Peters-Jordan, all of whom have performed with Sneed on numerous concert events, tours, and recordings. The band features Alfred Rutherford on Hammond B3 organ and keys, Ronald “CJay” Alexander on bass guitar, Nathaniel “Nat” Townsley on drums, and Gabriel Michael Carter on aux keys.

In February, Valerie Simpson, a recipient of the Grammy Trustee Award, and Songwriters Hall of Fame honoree kicked off the tour with Sneed as a special guest at The Parker Playhouse in Ft. Lauderdale, FL (February 3); and continued to South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center in Cutler Bay, FL (February 5); the Opelika Center for the Performing Arts in Opelika, AL (February 7); and the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota, FL (February 9); Gettysburg College, Majestic Theater in Gettysburg, PA (February 16); followed by James Madison University, The Forbes Center for the Performing Arts in Harrisonburg, VA (February 17); Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts in Storrs, CT (February 19); Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, NY (February 20); St. Johnsburg Academy, Fuller Hall in St. Johnsbury, VT (February 21); Berklee Performance Center in Boston, MA (February 25); TELUS Centre, Koerner Hall in Toronto, ON Canada (February 26); Christopher Cohan Center in San Luis Obispo, CA (March 2); Poway Center for the Performing Arts in Poway, CA (March 4); and the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto, CA (March 6).

On February 12, Karen Clark Sheard, a four-time Grammy and multiple Stellar and Dove Award-winning gospel legend joined Sneed at Florida State University, Ruby Diamond Concert Hall in Tallahassee, FL. She later continued to Eppley Auditorium in Culver, IN, (March 8); Hancher Auditorium at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, IA (March 10); Pablo Center at the Confluence in Eau Claire, WI (March 11); Marcus Performing Arts Center, Uihlein Hall in Milwaukee, WI (March 12); and Governors State University, Center for Performing Arts in University Park, IL (March 13).

During the final week of the tour, Clark Sheard will continue onto the Wilson Center at Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington, NC (Tuesday, March 15); Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morriston, NJ (Thursday, March 17); Kimmel Cultural Campus, Merriam Theater in Philadelphia, PA (Friday, March 18); McCarter Theatre at Princeton University in Princeton, NJ (Saturday, March 19) and the tour concludes at the Kupferberg Center for the Arts at Queens College in Flushing, NY (Sunday, March 20).

Aretha Franklin was a giant of popular music and a global cultural icon. One of the best-selling musical artists of all time, with more than 100 million records sold worldwide, the undisputed “Queen of Soul” created an amazing legacy of more than six decades. She had sung before heads of state and foreign royals and gained admiration from fans, colleagues, and fellow artists across all genres. She is known all over the world simply by her first name: Aretha.

Her vocal mastery and artistic excellence have been recognized numerous times throughout her distinguished career. Twice voted as the number one Greatest Singer of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine, and her signature hit “Respect” was also named by Rolling Stone as the number one Song of All Time. Franklin is the recipient of the U.S.A.’s highest civilian honor, The Presidential Medal of Freedom; she is also an 18-time Grammy Award winner and a recipient of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement and a Grammy Living Legend honor. Aretha was the youngest individual ever to receive the coveted Kennedy Center Honor; the first female inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; the second female inductee into the US Music Hall of Fame; and an inductee into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. In 2019, Franklin was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation Prize for her contribution to American music and culture. That same year, Franklin’s family was posthumously presented with The Aretha Franklin ICON Award by the Stellar Gospel Music Award, which is now awarded annually to a Gospel music legend.

Aretha has been proclaimed internationally as “the voice of the civil rights movement, the voice of Black America,” and a “symbol of Black equality.” In 1968, her spiritually uplifting voice was heard around the world singing at the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and in 1972 at the funeral of the Queen of Gospel Mahalia Jackson. Aretha’s acclaimed voice was declared a “natural resource of the state” in 1985 by the Department of Natural Resources of the State of Michigan. Aretha would later reach a milestone in her historic career by singing at the first inauguration of President Barack Obama.

As a multi-genre recording artist and instrumentalist, Damien Sneed is a pianist, vocalist, organist, composer, conductor, arranger, producer, and arts educator whose work spans multiple genres. He has worked with opera, classical, jazz, pop, R&B, and gospel legends, including the late Aretha Franklin and Jessye Norman, which he is featured on Norman’s final recording, Bound For The Promised Land on Albany Records. He also worked with Wynton Marsalis, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Ashford & Simpson, Brandie Inez Sutton, Raehann Bryce-Davis, J’Nai Bridges, Lawrence Brownlee, and many others. Sneed has served as music director for Grammy Award-winning gospel artists The Clark Sisters, Richard Smallwood, Donnie McClurkin, Hezekiah Walker, Marvin Sapp, Karen Clark Sheard, Dorinda Clark-Cole, and Kim Burrell, among others. 

Sneed’s current studio recording is Damien Sneed: Unplugged, an all-gospel collection of soulful and inspirational songs, recorded in a spare studio setting with Sneed on piano and vocals alongside several noted vocalists, including Chenee Campbell, Linny Smith, Tiffany Stevenson, and Matia Washington. In January 2020, Sneed released his debut classical album, Classically Harlem and We Shall Overcome Deluxe on his boutique label, LeChateau Earl Records, which was established in 2009 to reflect his varied musical interests. Previous recordings also include Jazz In Manhattan (September 2019); The Three Sides of Damien Sneed: Classical, Jazz and Sanctified Soul (July 2018); Broken To Minister: The Deluxe Edition (March 2015); Spiritual Sketches (June 2013); and Introspections LIVE (January 2010). Sneed is a 2020 Dove Award winner for his work as a featured producer and writer on The Clark Sisters’ project, The Return, released on March 13, 2020. 

Valerie Simpson is half of the songwriting-performing-producing entity known as Ashford & Simpson, an award-winning collaboration with her late husband Nick Ashford that began in the 1960s. Together they have penned such classic hits as “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” “You’re All I Need to Get By,” “Reach Out and Touch Somebody’s Hand,” “I’m Every Woman,” “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing,” “Solid,” “Your Precious Love,” “The Boss, “It’s My House,” “I Don’t Need No Doctor,” “Let’s Go Get Stoned,” and many others.

Simpson serves on the board of the ASCAP Foundation where a monetary award, the REACH OUT AND TOUCH Award honoring Nick Ashford, has been established to aid struggling songwriters. In recent years, Valerie has toured with Dave Koz as a special guest and with Paul Shaffer & The World’s Most Dangerous Band. Four Ashford & Simpson songs were featured in the Broadway hit Motown: The Musical, which has toured the country. “I’m Every Woman” was featured in The Bodyguard: The Musical. In 2018, Simpson was featured in a limited engagement in Broadway’s CHICAGO, The Musical, in the role of Mama Morton. The songs of Ashford & Simpson are in constant play through commercials and documentaries (Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston), feature films, and television shows. Ashford & Simpson have rightfully earned their place in the Songwriters Hall of Fame, where the duo was inducted in 2002. In 2019, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences presented the Trustees Award to Ashford & Simpson in a televised program adding yet another exciting new dimension to a diversified career. Valerie Simpson owns and runs the popular New York City’s Ashford & Simpson’s Sugar Bar, a restaurant and music club, where young writers-singers-musicians have a platform to perform.

Gospel music legend, Karen Clark Sheard is a four-time Grammy Award-winner with multiple Stellar and Dove Award wins. She is a part of a musical dynasty and is renowned throughout the music industry for her one-of-a-kind multi-octave vocal range and ability. Her musical style, both with the legendary Clark Sisters and as a solo artist, has inspired a host of today’s brightest pop divas, including Queen Latifah, Beyoncé, Mariah Carey, Missy Elliott, and Faith Evans, among countless others.

Through the years, The Clark Sisters have recorded twenty albums, including the GMA Dove Award-winner and Grammy Award-nominated Heart and Soul (1987) and Grammy Award-nominated Conqueror (1988) and Sincerely (1983), while crafting enduring gospel anthems such as “Endow Me,” “Pray for the USA,” “Name It Claim It” and “Is My Living in Vain?”

In 1997, Clark Sheard launched a solo career with Finally Karen on Island Black Music. An instant hit, it sold nearly half a million copies, garnered four Stellar Awards (Female Vocalist of the Year, Contemporary Female Vocalist of the Year, Music Video of the Year, and Best Children’s Performance for “Will of God,” featuring daughter Kierra Sheard) and a Grammy nomination. Clark Sheard continued her solo career with other hit CDs, including 2nd Chance (Elektra, 2002), The Heavens Are Telling (Elektra, 2003) and the GMA Dove Award winner, It’s Not Over (Word Records, 2006).

In 2007, she reunited with her sisters, The Clark Sisters, for their No. 1 comeback album, Live…One Last Time (EMI Gospel), for which The Clark Sisters won the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Gospel Album. They won a second Grammy for Best Gospel Performance for “Blessed and Highly Favored,” the lead single from that album. Clark Sheard, who wrote and led the song, won the third Grammy that year for Best Gospel Song (a Writer’s Award). The Clark Sisters were part of the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Grammy Awards that year, joining Aretha Franklin, BeBe Winans, and others as performers for the evening.

In 2010, Clark Sheard stepped away from her solo recording work to record “Wait On The Lord,” a duet with Donnie McClurkin from his album, We Are All One. The record won a Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance, raising Clark Sheard’s Grammy Award total to four.

Lifetime honored The Clark Sisters in a biopic titled The Clark Sisters: The First Ladies of Gospel, which details their humble beginnings, struggles to find their place, to later becoming the best-selling Gospel group in the music world. The movie first aired in April 2020 and featured re-recordings of some of The Clark Sisters’ biggest hits like “You Brought The Sunshine.” The biopic earned raves for its actors, including Clark Sheard’s daughter and fellow gospel songstress Kierra Sheard.

New Music: James Brown, Peter Brotzmann / Milford Graves / William Parker, Kat Fontaine & The Society Hill Orchestra, Gerald Clayton

James Brown - Black & Loud – James Brown Reimagined By Stro Elliot

The funky genius of James Brown, given a whole new spin for the 21st Century by Stro Elliot of The Roots! Stro clearly loves James' music, and never tries to dominate it too much – as his mixes here are mostly faithful to the funky structure of the originals, and almost work more in an "edit" mode to expand on some of the best elements at the core – while also then throwing in some additional rhythms and other elements. The record's a great antidote to some of the overly-done remixes of classic funk, soul, and jazz – as you'll hear on cuts that include "The Goodest Foot", "Dragon Pants", "Coal Sweat", "Get Up Off", "Sortabad", "Turn It Up Give It Shrooms", "Black & Loud", "Machine No Make Sex", and "She Made Me Popcorn". ~ Dusty Groove

Peter Brotzmann / Milford Graves / William Parker - Historic Music Past Tense Future

A fantastic live set that offers up the first-ever recorded meeting of these three giants of improvised music – a trio who return to each others' company after many years, and here for the first time with a recording device in action! Given the legacy here, there's almost as much of a loft jazz influence as there is one from the world of European free jazz – and at many points, the reeds of Peter Brotzmann seem to take a lot more directl from the drums and percussion of Milford Graves and bass of William Parker – especially at moments when both players seem tied to each other at both an emotional and performative level! Parker also plays a bit of doussn'gouni, and Graves vocalizes a bit – and the set features a searing live set recorded at the gallery space of CBGBs in 2002. ~ Dusty Groove

Kat Fontaine & The Society Hill Orchestra  - This Time

Hailing from the small city of Chester, PA on the outskirts of Philadelphia, Kathleen Fontaine- Prattis (affectionately dubbed "Kat" by family & friends) exhibited extraordinary talent as a singer at an early age. She would go on to major in Instrumental Music and Pre-Law at Delaware State University, one of America's leading Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Here is a wonderful album with some of Kat's hand-picked favorite Philly Soul treasures, delivered with a depth of soul & originality that makes these timeless tracks recorded with the legendary Society Hill Orchestra come alive with a fresh new perspective. Join us now in welcoming back the illustrious Kat Fontaine and this wonderful new album.

Gerald Clayton - Bells On Sand

Six-time GRAMMY nominated artist Gerald Clayton returns with Bells On Sand, his ravishing second album for Blue Note, which will be released April 1st on vinyl, CD, and digital formats. The album explores the impact and abstraction of time over eleven tracks of fresh orchestration and original music with contributions from mentor Charles Lloyd on saxophone, father John Clayton on bass, longtime friend and peer Justin Brown on drums, and new collaborator MARO on vocals. “Each musician on the record represents a different aspect of the axis of time and its shifting sands,” says the acclaimed pianist-composer. “My father and Charles Lloyd, who has been a mentor figure to me, reflect new permutations of my past, and the lineage of elders who have shaped my development; Justin Brown, being my contemporary and musical brother, represents my present; and MARO represents the future—she is part of the next generation, and points to a brand new collaboration.” Unadorned intimacy shapes the music. Clayton’s desire to share more of himself with listeners and fellow artists wields heady influence over his musical choices and his thoughtful curation of the entire album. But most striking is his ability to create quiet chambers for all four artists to be themselves. Bells On Sand opens in pensive resonance with “Water’s Edge.” The slow-peeling composition first spotlights Clayton’s relationship with John’s arco, tapered and doleful, before Brown transforms the duo into a trio. “By the water, I experienced subtle environmental shifts,” he says. “Songs I would sing, play or write were but an expression of a particular shape in the sand at that moment. Any meaning behind what I created came from viewing that creation over a temporal landscape. A song felt a certain way on a certain day, and the next day would feel and function completely differently.” “I hope these reflections encourage people to step back and recognize that our testaments—songs, stories, intentions—lay atop an ever-shifting landscape,” says Clayton. “To look at things from this zoomed-out perspective might allow for a union between past, present, and future. It might allow us to embrace the totality of our life experience. That we may consider the lessons from our past when living the present moment in a way that serves the future.”

Yuval Amihai | "My 90s Summer"

The music on guitarist/composer Yuval Amihai’s fourth album as a leader, My 90s Summer, tells the story of a journey through music over two decades and three continents; presenting music reflective of melodies, harmonies, rhythms, influence and inspiration from his native Israel, Paris, and the epicenter of music, art and culture, New York City. My 90s Summer is the latest and greatest from Yuval Amihai, following up three critically-acclaimed albums, Yuval Amihai Ensemble (2012), Longing (2015) and I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But The Blues (2018) 

Bringing the eight Amihai original compositions to life are some of the most in-demand and legendary musicians on the NYC scene, David Kikoski (piano), Eric Wheeler (bass) and Jeremy Dutton (drums). The quartet is augmented and enhanced by a guest wind section on three selections, featuring Itai Kriss (flute), Julieta Eugenio (tenor sax) and Wayne Tucker (trumpet). My 90s Summer was recorded in Brooklyn at Big Orange Sheep Studio by Chris Benham.  

The music on this album reflects the diversity of cultures, places, sounds, and people that Yuval Amihai has encountered along the way on his fascinating musical journey. A journey that began for him in a small town by the name of Beer Sheva located in southern Israel's Negev Desert, during an idyllic 90s summer, when his dreams first took shape in his heart and mind. 

Beginning with piano studies at the age of 8, Amihai switched to the electric guitar at 13, and by the time he was 16 he was leading his own bands and performing regularly around the country. During his mandatory military service, Amihai found great inspiration in classical guitar music and composed a chamber music piece for guitar, piano and a string quartet. His music was selected to be featured in a series of concerts by the city of Beer Shava’s Municipal Symphonic Orchestra. Amihai was then commissioned to compose an original work for the city’s string quartet, featuring renowned oud and violin player Yair Dalal. Seeking to go further in this direction and broaden his education, Amihai spent the following years focusing mainly on classical music, while maintaining an active performing schedule as a jazz guitarist. He attended the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Rimon School of Music, where he was also a finalist in the school’s jazz competition, and studied composition, piano, and classical guitar with some of the country's top teachers.

In 2006, Amihai moved to the city of lights, and quickly became a leading figure on the Parisian jazz scene. He formed his quintet, the Yuval Amihai Ensemble, and won two of the most prestigious jazz competitions in France: The Jazz at Saint-Germain-des-Pres Competition, where he won the First Prize (Best Ensemble), and the National Jazz Competition of La Defense, where he won the Grand Prize (Best Ensemble), and Best Composer Prize. The band also won the third prize at the Hoeilaart International Jazz Competition in Belgium. In the following years, they performed regularly in various clubs, venues, and festivals throughout Paris and the rest of France and Europe. 

2012 saw the release of Amihai’s debut album, Yuval Amihai Ensemble, which strongly echoed the sounds and culture he absorbed growing up in Israel. Following the release, the guitarist won a grant from the French Copyright Organization, Sacem. The album received positive reviews in French media and was featured on many national and international playlists and radio broadcasts. In 2014, he started traveling regularly to New York City and found a new source of great inspiration in its culture and its vibrant scene. In the ensuing years, Amihai recorded albums two and three in his oeuvre, Longing (released in 2015 on the French label L'Autre Distribution), and I Ain’t Got Nothin’ But The Blues (2018. Fresh Sound New Talent). Both albums were critically acclaimed and received heavy airplay.

In 2018, Amihai made the pilgrimage to New York City, and soon after his arrival became actively involved, and in demand, performing regularly in some of the City’s most revered jazz venues, and sharing the stage with many of the top musicians active today. With the release of My 90s Summer, Amihai presents his US-based debut (and second album for Fresh Sound), and firmly stakes his claim as one of the rising stars on the NYC and international jazz scenes. 

Joey Alexander Signs to Mack Avenue Records

Mack Avenue Music Group has announced the signing of Joey Alexander, whose label debut Origin—his first album of all originals—is slated for a late spring release with vinyl coming early summer. 

"I’m honored to be a part of the Mack Avenue family of amazing artists, and grateful to be able to work and collaborate with a team that I know shares my vision and musical spirit,” enthused Alexander. “These past years have been especially trying for everyone, including those of us who didn’t know when we would ever perform for live audiences again." 

The pianist, composer and bandleader is one of the most emotive and compelling pianist-composers active on the scene today, and while his accomplishments to this point are significant—including being the youngest artist ever nominated for a GRAMMY® Award in a jazz category and receiving two additional nominations shortly thereafter, earning profiles in The New York Times and 60 Minutes, and receiving much more critical acclaim—this is truly the epitome of watching an artist come into his own. Alexander, who composed the album’s ten compositions during the pandemic, states: "Origin represents a turning point for me – the time when I decided to turn frustration into an opportunity to truly express myself and to rise above the circumstances.” 

Mack Avenue Label Group President Denny Stilwell states: "It’s a good day when an expressive, thoughtful and elegant artist the likes of Joey Alexander joins your roster. He has so much to say – we are looking forward to watching his artistry continue to unfold.” 

The effusive pianist is joined on his new release by a stellar coterie of players including Chris Potter (sax), Larry Grenadier (bass), Kendrick Scott (drums) and Gilad Hekselman (guitar), all of whom have joined Alexander on previous records and performances with the exception of Hekselman, joining him here for the first time on three tracks. The album was recorded at Sear Sound, June 23-24, 2021 and mixed at The Mud Room. 

Mack Avenue Music Group is excited to embrace and support the unstoppable evolution and creativity from the brilliant mind of Joey Alexander. Over nearly half a dozen releases he has proven to the world that his technique and mastery of the piano is incontrovertible, but now is the time to present his instinctual talent as a composer and leader in the modern sound of jazz.

Dan Schnelle | "Shine Thru"

Much in-demand, Los Angeles-based drummer Dan Schnelle promised himself that he wouldn’t record his first full-length album until he felt sure that he had a musical vision unique to him – one that was reflective of his musical instincts, his design, and his concept. The results go beyond any reckoning one may have previously had about this artist. Shine Thru is nothing short of captivating and thrilling, and most importantly, Schnelle has achieved his goal of creating a musical world all his own.  

On Shine Thru, Schnelle invites the listener into his sonic globe with the hopes that you’ll be spellbound. Schnelle explains, “My main goal, within the compositional process, was to create and deliver music that transports listeners to a new mental space – to invite them into my world, and make music that feels engrossing, so the listener loses their sense of time and space. If my music can be a portal for even a few people, it has done its job.” A lofty goal? Perhaps, but give-in to the celestial music that Schnelle has created with his amazing team of fellow artists, and
longtime collaborators and friends, Josh Nelson (piano), Jeff Babko (piano, keyboards), Anthony Wilson (guitar), David Binney (alto saxophone) and Alex Boneham (bass), and who knows what may happen when you experience Schnelle’s true creative soul which permeates every ounce of this music. 

Dan Schnelle’s career, up until now, has been in a support role, something he’s quite adept at: whether that's playing drums as a sideman for the likes of Billy Childs, Larry Goldings, Alan Ferber, Sara Gazarek, Laurence Hobgood, Walter Smith III, Joshua White, John Daversa, Dayna Stephens, Phillip Dizack, Nick Finzer, Larry Koonse, David Benoit, Karrin Allyson and many others. Collaborating with these incredible bandleaders and playing their compositions has taught him a lot about musical landscapes and textures.   

Being a much sought after sideman often means repressing some of your own musical impulses, ideas and instincts. For a highly creative person, it is imperative to have a balance, and to create and walk your own path as well! Through that desire to step-out and put himself in a place where the decision-making brought his focus towards what is aesthetically in-line with his creative vision, we have this wonderful debut from Schnelle, which is sure to be the first in a series of engaging recordings to come. “This album is my first real step into owning everything I'm doing. I never wanted my first record to be standards, covers or expected material from a ‘jazz drummer’; I was committed to it representing me musically, and not at all based on what I, or someone else, think the audience wants to hear, or in some way is just ‘checking boxes.’ Hopefully, this record stands as a piece of art, not as a business card to show what I'm capable of,” says Schnelle. 

A guiding quote for Schnelle throughout the process comes from author Anne Morris, “The irony of commitment is that it's deeply liberating – in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around like rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life”. You can hear, "the irony of commitment," translated into Morse Code, layered throughout the track, "New Changes," on Shine Thru.  

Shine Thru, is an affirmation. A message that it's okay to commit to what you see, hear and feel, and to step into the light and be YOU, come hell or high-water. “I can't know that I'll always be shining, but if I'm holding back, I definitely won't be shining thru...,” says Schnelle.

New Music: Norah Jones, TriTone Asylum, Janko Nilovic, Harold Matthews Jr

Norah Jones - Come Away With Me (20th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition)

20 years ago, Blue Note released a hard-to-categorize album by an unknown 22-year-old singer, songwriter, and pianist. Come Away With Me, the debut album by Norah Jones, would go on to charm the world and introduce one of the greatest voices of our time. The album steadily grew into a global phenomenon, reaching #1 in 20 countries, selling nearly 30 million copies, and sweeping the 2003 GRAMMY Awards with eight wins including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. On April 29, Blue Note will release Come Away With Me: 20th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition, a remarkable 44-track collection that reveals for the first time the full story of the making of this now-classic album. In addition to a remaster of the original album, which was produced by Arif Mardin, the Super Deluxe Edition also includes 22 previously unreleased tracks including the original demos that Norah submitted to Blue Note, the complete First Session demos she made after being signed, and the first version of the album that Norah made at Allaire Studios with producer Craig Street, most of which has never been heard before and offers a fascinating look at the album that might have been.

TriTone Asylum - The Hideaway Sessions

TriTone Asylum is based in Southern California. Spear-headed by Peter Sepsis (bass) and Philip Topping. Through their unique instrumentation, they have masterfully developed an electro acoustic sound that melds Jazz, funk, and music from around the world. TriTone Asylum brings together some of the most experienced and collaborative musicians in Los Angeles. Philip Topping (electronic valve instrument, Ian Vo (saxophone) Andy Waddell (guitar), Mitch Forman (keyboards), Peter Sepsis (bass) and Dave Johnstone (drums) form the foundation of this accomplished ensemble. Through their unique instrumentation, they have masterfully developed an electro acoustic sound that melds Jazz, funk, and music from around the world. TriTone Asylum’s music reflects the varied musical landscape of the sounds and street rhythms of Los Angeles. Their original songs are influenced by a variety of artists including Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Weather Report, Pat Metheny, as well as artists from the ECM Label. TriTone Asylum is frequently featured at Baked Potato and other noted jazz venues of LA.

Janko Nilovic - Soul Impressions 

Following the recent reissues of Pop Impressions (UR000651) and Super America (UR000651), Underdog Records label follows-up to the series with another brilliant album by French underrated composer and producer, Janko Nilovic. Janko Nilovic certainly was one of the greatest studio talents of Europe in the 70s! He is a musician who devotes himself to music, which resulted in a great number of published works, but most of them made for library music labels and also not available for sale. His oeuvre stretches from classical, jazz and funk to pop, psyche and easy listening. And has been sampled many times by hip-hop artists such as JAY-Z, DAFUNIKS or GUTS...

Harold Matthews Jr - Peripheral Vision 

Good Vibrations Music dives straight into 2022 with a bang courtesy of ‘Harold Matthew Jr’ (aka Big Ed) with his long player project; "Peripheral Vision". Chicago-based Harold wrote his first releases in the early 90’s with artists like Ron Trent, Terry Hunter, Maurice Joshua and Ron Carroll with songs such as "Ritual Of Love" and Barbara Tucker’s "I Get Lifted". Throughout the late 90’s he was well known for his songs under his ‘Blak Beat Niks’ alias with production partner K. Fingers on PAN Records, Large Music and his own label Melodious Fonk with "The Sun Will Shine". The 2000’s saw him move on to further projects with the likes of Slip N Slide, Mark Knight, Peppermint Jam, Glenn Underground, Makin’ Moves and Sean McCabe. Moving into the next chapter, "Peripheral Vision" is a genre-spanning journey, drawing influences from a multitude of angles and providing a true reflection of Harold’s passion for song writing and spoken word, with a host of guest producers and vocalists. "Deep Into My Sleep" opens the release and brings Cardiff’s ‘Black Sonix’ to the party and Harold’s sublime vocals provide the narrative to the afro tinged beats. It’s got soulful undertones a plenty with warm rushes of BVs and percussive rhythms to keep feet dancing way into the late night hour. "Put Your Hands Together" gets serious on the dancefloor with driving beats and an explosion of synth flicks, hits and stabs. It’s Sean’s subtle nod to the Trax era, suggested by Harold, and set to become a firm fave with those that like their groove a little more analogue. Effortlessly moving through the soulful gears, Harold and Sean McCabe’s "Into You" brings guest vocalist Dawn Williams onboard for a lazy, hypnotic and sumptuous slice of house. Set amongst an uplifting backdrop of smooth chords and lushed out riffs, the vocalists playfully bounce off each other asking questions and telling answers whilst keeping all elements sat firmly in the sweet spot. Another Cardiff-based producer ‘DJ Fill’ shifts up the groove with "Pause". Still oozing the soul but with a more Hip Hop-meet-Broken Beat vibe and peppered with smooth Rhodes, niggly electronic arps and a bassline that ain’t letting you go. Harold and Syl Messi go head to head with the lyrics, bringing together a smooth and edgy vocal balance for something truly special and unique. Proving that all good things must come to an end, the title track "Peripheral Vision" closes things out featuring guest raps and production from Chicago’s own ‘Nickel Slick’ on their mission to rebuild and re-educate through the power of lyrics. It’s a heartfelt track with a strong and relevant message for today’s testing times.

Reissue of Bobby Cole 1967 classic album; was music arranger for Judy Garland

Well, Frank called it a “bistro,” and Jilly’s on 52nd Street even had matchbooks that when opened read, “My favorite bistro — Frank Sinatra.” Jilly’s also featured Frank’s “favorite saloon singer,” Bobby Cole, who held court there for many years. His other gigs around New York landed him a recording contract with Columbia, but the 1960 release from the Bobby Cole Trio, while well reviewed, failed to gain traction. It featured no original material from Cole, and was essentially a recorded version of his Jilly’s act — one hard to capture on LP. 

Judy Garland walks into a bar . . . 

In 1964, and after hearing Cole’s performance of one of her favorites, Cy Coleman’s “You Fascinate Me So,” Garland invited the New York jazz singer to become the new musical arranger for CBS’s The Judy Garland Show in Los Angeles. When that show ended, Cole returned to New York and Jilly’s. 

Jack Lonshein, whose day job was creating album covers for artists including Sarah Vaughan, Maynard Ferguson, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young (and eventually Big Brother & the Holding Company and The Amboy Dukes!), was a friend of Cole’s. He knew Bobby’s magic, and original songs, were what the jazz world needed. Taking things into his own hands, A Point of View was released on Lonshein’s own Concentric Records, and as can happen, no matter how well received and reviewed a record is, finding a copy was half the battle for fans. A Point of View made waves in the boroughs, was raved about in Billboard and Cash Box, and then disappeared — but became a coveted prize by those who experienced it. Artists including Freddy Cole (Nat’s brother) and Tom Jones all covered material from it. 

A Point of View now returns 55 years later, fully authorized by the Estate of Bobby Cole. Produced for release by Grammy®-winner Cheryl Pawelski and lovingly remastered by Grammy®-winner Michael Graves, this new version presents the original release, plus 13 previously unissued bonus tracks drawn from sessions likely intended for a follow-up release that didn’t happen. A fascinating and thorough essay from Grammy®-nominated writer Randy Poe tells the story of Cole, the scene, and the music. 

CD and Digital release are set for April 15, 2022 from Omnivore Recordings, with a double-LP version slated for Fall of 2022. A Point of View will be finally seen and heard, appreciated, and revered, as originally intended.

New Music: Fillies Finazz, David Lahm, Jazz All-Stars, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes Featuring Sharon Paige

Fillies Finazz - Singing For Tomorrow

A quartet of supremely talented vocalists: Lorna Young, sisters Alicia and Denise Amaro, and Sandra Gail Brown all come from musical families and grew up singing in church from an early age. This new group call themselves Fillies Finazz, and they truly are Philly's finest. The group met with the famed Philly Soul producer Butch Ingram from Society Hill Records to discuss a new recording project and work began in earnest, with three subsequent advance singles garnered great reviews from DJs and music professionals from around the world. Hot on the heels of their first success comes the long awaited full-length “Singing For Tomorrow,” which offers more proof of greatness from this supremely talented vocal quartet.

David Lahm -  More Jazz Takes On Joni Mitchell

Jazz pianist/composer David Lahm continues to demonstrate that Joni Mitchell‘s songs fit perfectly into the world of Jazz while maintaining their own distinctive flair with his Arkadia Records album, “David Lahm: More Jazz Takes on Joni Mitchell”, a follow-up to the critically acclaimed “Jazz Takes on Joni Mitchell”. David Lahm’s first album of Mitchell compositions featured a revolving cast of players and was praised in Jazz Times as being both “reverent and adventurous”. This time around, Lahm has assembled a core rhythm section of bassist Ratso Harris and drummer Ron Vincent (who appeared on the first volume) to propel front line saxophonists Vincent Herring and Roger Rosenberg and all-star trumpeter Randy Brecker. Although the instrumentation is more consistent than on volume one, the album is no less diverse in its approaches to Mitchell’s evocative Folk-Rock songs, as well as several Lahm original compositions which shine through in this vibrant and striking session.David Lahm’s rich harmonic imagination and rhythmic incisiveness, along with his genre-crossing insights into Mitchell’s music yield this rich and varied album, “More Jazz Takes on Joni Mitchell”. Lahm’s own compositions represent mainstream Jazz at its best, with strong melodies and chord changes, and inventive arrangements that provide creative challenges for the soloists, but with this 2nd volume, and taking inspiration from Mitchell’s musical prowess, he displays his own ability to renew and reinterpret the conventions of mainstream Jazz.

Arkadia Jazz All-Stars - It’s About Love

Starting off with Benny Golson’s sublime reading of Duke Ellington’s Mood Indigo, the stage is set for romance. The nylon strings of Nigel Clark are featured next in the breezy A Summer Affair, capturing the smoldering flame of passion. Joanne Brackeen performs Stevie Wonder’s pop standard My Cherie Amour in her own dynamic and totally individual way, and Randy Brecker’s Grammy Nominated performance on My Funny Valentine is a moment of real beauty. Both artists bring new depth to several of the all time great love songs. Paul Tobey’s sensitive and insightful rendition of Monk’s Round Midnight is rhapsodic, using subtle dissonances to create tension, released by his flowing lines. T.K. Blue’s original composition, It’s Really All About Love features the flute, an instrument often tied with romanticism. The More I See You  by Mary Pearson expresses the sentiment of undying love that we all long to have, as does the masterful ballad Interlude by the Billy Taylor Trio. Passionata was an unfinished composition by Kenny Drew Sr. that was completed and recorded by his son, Kenny Drew Jr., and is a testament to familial love. Eric Reed’s rendition of Monk’s Ask Me Now is a sparse, yet tender and eloquent doctrine on the state of love. David Liebman and Vic Juris show their gentle sides on the sparkling I Want To Talk About You, while pianist Uli Lenz’s mesmerizing A Perfect Couple brings this recording to a romantic close and is the perfect denouement for this CD, “It’s About Love.” What happens to us when we fall in love, and when we hear or see something that kindles our passions? Our outlook on life becomes filled with possibilities. Jazz mirrors our life experiences, and we should try to remember that in our collective consciousness. As in our personal relationships, jazz is about the joy and creation of beauty and human emotion in real time.  Share this music with someone; it has something to do with discovery and hope. It has something to do with love.

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes Featuring Sharon Paige - Blue Album

Surprisingly great post-Philly International work from Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes – recorded at a time when the group had actually let a female singer into their ranks! Sharon Paige is the lady here – and she creates a nice sense of interplay with the male singers in the group – that sort of back and forth that you might find in some of Al Hudson's work with One Way, or in a variety of other funky club acts who were rising in the mainstream at the time. Harold Melvin produced, and there's some definite late Philly moments in the tracks "Prayin" and "Baby I'm Back" – but the greatest charm of the album possibly comes from tracks that change things up a bit, including "I Should Be Your Lover", "Tonight's The Night", and "Your Love Is Taking Me On A Journey". ~ Dusty Groove

Funky Grooves, Rockin' Blues & R&B - Sugaray Rayford's 'In Too Deep'

Sugaray Rayford has released In Too Deep out via Forty Below Records. This new release finds Rayford teaming up again for a second outing with songwriter / producer Eric Corne.  

Rayford is a dynamic performer known to put his band through its paces with abrupt feel and style changes. He thrives on funky up-tempo grooves, as evident in another standout song, "Miss Information" which has already received airplay on BBC6 from the The Blues Show with Cerys Matthews and "Gonna Lift You Up" which has been embraced by The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show, also on BBC6. The record is off to a roaring start in the U.S. at AAA radio with a performance planned for the Non-Comm Convention at WXPN / Philadelphia in May. 

There has been no shortage of playlist love from a variety of Spotify playlists that include, 'All Funked Up', 'Feelin' Good', 'Retro Road Trip', 'Got Blues', and 'In The Name Of The Blues'. The album also captured the cover & top spot on the Spotify Nu Blue Playlist. The record is the featured album on Apple Music's Soul / Funk page as well as having three songs, two of which are in the top positions on Apple's 'Roadhouse' playlist. Lastly the album nabbed a spot on YouTube's 'Grown Folks Choice’. All this has translated to Sugaray's Spotfy receiving over 100,000  listeners per month. Apple is roadhouse. 

Soul Tracks hosted the world premiere and stated that “'Invisible Soldier' was a musical expression of the battles that our troops fight long after the guns fall silent." Premiered by Relix, "Please Take My Hand", raises the voices of generations who've struggled and persevered with love in the face of oppression. A World Premiere for "No Limit to My Love" was hosted by Americana network Ditty TV. Other premieres have included "Gonna Lift You Up", in  American Blues Scene and "Miss Information" in American Songwriter.

Spurring Positivity in Life through Blends of Neo-Soul, Pop, and Jazz: Wenso Ashby Returns with Bold New Album

Traversing through diverse musical genres, Wenso Ashby’s new album contains 9 magnetizing songs. Entitled “The Perfect Flow”, the newest release echoes a vibe reminiscent of the works of Quincy Jones, Robert Glasper and Brian Culbertson.

A fantastic production, the album melds together the best individual artists for each song while providing an overall continuity in the direction of the work itself. Through the lens of each characteristic and distinct style, “The Perfect Flow” traces the pathway toward self-reflection through a unique process.

Crafted as a beacon of positivity, the new album was mainly written and produced by seasoned songwriter, producer and pianist, Wenso Ashby. The album’s track ‘Fields of Wishes’ was co-written with the renowned guitarist Ken Navarro.

Recorded in Minneapolis at Tay Tay Tunes Studio and Logic Studio and engineered by maestro Brian Bart, “The Perfect Flow” encompasses a rich blend of Jazz, Pop, and R&B, with intricately woven rhythmic elements from the 70s.

Slated for release on March 27th , 2022, “The Perfect Flow” is set to precede Wenso Ashby’s 2022 promotional tour kicking off in Minneapolis in June. Imbued with a positive, feel-good vibe, the album is bound to touch the inner emotions of listeners. Shedding light upon the unparalleled talents of Ken Navarro, with 14 top up-and-coming artists including the likes of saxophonist Jason Peterson Delaire, bassist Yohannes Tona, saxophonist Antonio Jackson, vocalists Aimee K. Bryant and Thomasina Petrus, and several other exceptional artists.

“I believe in the moment rather than placing emphasis on what I have done in my past. Like so many artists I too have a history that reflects performing and sharing the stage with other national artists,” says Wenso regarding his musical inspiration.

New Releases: Hermeto Pascoal, Cecile McLorin Salvant, Blue Lab Beats, Daggerboard with Henry Franklin

Hermeto Pascoal - Hermeto

Far Out Recordings presents Hermeto Pascoal’s remarkable self-titled debut album. Recorded in 1970 at A&R studios in New York, the album features certified North American titans including Ron Carter, Hubert Laws, Joe Farrel and Googie Coppola, and Brazilian stars Airto Moreira and Flora Purim (who also produced the album). While it was Hermeto’s first album released under his own name, he had spent the decade or so prior making a name for himself in Brazil and internationally as a composer, arranger and instrumentalist with groups including Sambrassa Trio, Quarteto Novo and Brazilian Octopus, before going on to work with (amongst countless others) Edu Lobo, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Donald Byrd, Airto Moreira and Miles Davis, who allegedly called Hermeto “one of the most important musicians on the planet”. With Hermeto’s otherworldly orchestral arrangements, ghostly vocal performances from Flora Purim and Googie Coppola, and the inimitable drumming and percussion stylings of Airto Moreira, Hermeto easily rivals some of the oft-celebrated MPB albums of the early 1970s, sitting somewhere between the string-heavy magic of Arthur Verocai’s 1972 debut and the unplacable early experimentalism of Pedro Santos’ 1968 album Krishnanda. With his phenomenal natural musical genius and a ceaseless sense of creative freedom, Hermeto is widely known for using unconventional objects to make music. In the album’s sleeve notes, Airto highlights the track “Velório (Mourning)” explaining how Heremto filled 36 apple juice bottles with different amounts of water and tuned them to precise pitches in order to create the beguiling harmonies heard. The reissue of Hermeto Pascoal’s Hermeto, follow’s Far Out’s recent unveiling of a previously unheard Hermeto Pascoal live concert Planetario da Gavea from 1981, and 2017’s release of Hermeto Pascoal’s lost 1976 studio album: Viajando Com O Som.

Cecile McLorin Salvant - Ghost Song

A fantastic new chapter in music from Cecile McLorin Salvant – a singer who's only been with us for a little more than a decade, has already gotten a Grammy and a MacArthur Genius Grant – yet hasn't let that stop her from being even more creative than ever! Cecile's still very much a jazz singer at the core, but there's also an expressive range here that we might never have guessed on her earlier records – and that's saying a lot, as those albums really blew us away! The singer's really breaking out of just the world of jazz vocals here – rising with star power, ala Gregory Porter or Esperanza Spaulding – but also maybe going deeper at the same time too. Titles include a surprising remake of "Wuthering Heights", plus "Thunderclouds", "Unquiet Grae", "Moon Song", "Trail Mix", "The World Is Mean", "Obligation", "Optimistic Voices/No Love Dying", "I Lost My Mind", and "Dead Popular". ~ Dusty Groove

Blue Lab Beats - Motherland Journey

The first full length set from London duo Blue Lab Beats – a pair who are very well-placed on Blue Note Records, but more as ambassadors of some of the more soul-styled work the label has done in recent years! There's a very collaborative vibe going on here – as the core producers open the door to a range of guests, and change up the moods of the cuts from track to track – almost with the sort of energy of the initial Black Radio projects from Robert Glasper, but with more London elements in the mix – and an approach that moves far past jazz at many moments! The album features work from Killbeatz, Kiefer, Ghetto Boy, Emmavie, Poppy Daniels, Kofi Stone, Jerome Thomas, and others – including a from-the-grave appearance by Fela Kuti – and titles include "Motherland Journey", "A Vibe", "Gotta Go Fast", "Labels", "I'll Be Here For You", "Dat It", "Home", "Warp", "Sensual Loving", and "Blow You Away". ~ Dusty Groove

Daggerboard with Henry Franklin - Daggerboard & The Skipper

Daggerboard work here with the great west coast bassist Henry Franklin – aka Skipper, which you might know from his famous 70s albums for the Black Jazz label! Franklin's a talent who's been keeping the fires burning for decades on the west coast underground scene – and he's still a hell of a talent, and an equally great composer – as you'll hear here, when Daggerboard really lets him take the lead. If anything, Franklin's bass might be even more upfront in the mix than on some of his own recent albums – and the group's also joined here by the great Roger Glenn on vibes – another older west coast player who delivered a superb 70s album on Fantasy. The group's co-led by Erik Jekabson on trumpet and Gregory Howe on percussion – and some of the tracks also feature some great subtle use of a string quartet too. Titles include "Involuntary Separation", "Skipper's Garden", "Conception Point", "Video Culture", "Seven For Henry", and "Agapanthus". ~ Dusty Groove