Milen Kirov | "Spatium"

Pianist Milen Kirov finds the perfect formula with the June 3 release of Spatium on Independent Creative Sound and Music (ICSM) Records. A solo piano performance of 13 originals, the album is precisely the melting pot of styles that has long been the focus of the multi-dimensional Kirov’s creative journey. 

“My goal is to find the meeting point of three traditions: Western classical music, American jazz and blues, and Bulgarian traditional music,” the native Bulgarian pianist says. “There is no higher compliment for me than to be told these sounds merge together seamlessly in my playing.” 

Let the high compliments commence, then. Kirov not only strikes the delicate balance he seeks, but does so with such ease and aplomb that the three traditions sound as if they have always belonged together. For evidence, look no further than Spatium’s opening one-two punch, “Back to Bulgaria” and “Bulgarian Stride.” The former combines Bulgarian folk melody and classical precision with jazz’s rhythmic nuance and improvised playfulness, while the latter matches the stride piano tradition to the detailed latticework of Eastern European musics. “Thracian Blues” also sums up Kirov’s aesthetic, playing two pianos (one prepared and sounding like a guitar) to generate down-home blues lines, Bulgaria’s distinctive odd-meter dance rhythms, and bravura classical passages.

In addition, Kirov performs Brahms-inspired four “Intermezzos” that are also infused with Bulgarian folk rhythms and jazz harmonies and improvisation. One of these, however, is fully notated—as are two other tracks on the album (“Pharos” and “The Shepherd and the Mountain”). The pianist offsets these with two thoroughly improvised pieces (“For Grandma” and “Time”), showing that his fluency in the jazz tradition is equal to those of the conservatory and his homeland. 

Not to be overlooked is the album’s gorgeous sound. Now based in Los Angeles, Kirov nevertheless traveled to the city of Radom, in central Poland, to record Spatium in the glorious acoustics of the Kryzstof Penderecki Concert Hall. Capturing the tenderness, nuance, and resonance of every note Kirov plays, the album’s pristine sonics reinforce the perfection of the pianist’s delicate musical balance.

Milen Kirov was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria on February 6, 1977, the scion of an esteemed musical family. His mother plays the tambura and sings; his father is a virtuoso of the gadulka, a traditional Bulgarian fiddle, as well as an accomplished musical academic. Milen was only four when he entered the family business, studying the piano and working on ear training until by the age of eight he could accompany his father and his friends and colleagues in the family home. 

Thus grounding in Bulgarian traditional music, Milen turned to a formal classical education, graduating from both the High School of Music and Plovdiv’s highly regarded Academy of Music, Dance, and Fine Arts. Along the way, however, he discovered American music: blues, jazz, rock, and pop, all of which gained currency in Eastern Europe after the Iron Curtain fell in 1989. These idioms impressed Milen enough that he sought out an American musical education. 

Enrolling first in the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (where he received a full scholarship), Kirov later transferred to the more experimentally minded California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), where he studied with David Rosenboom and Vicki Ray, earning a BFA and a Doctor of Musical Arts there as well as a Master’s in composition from Cal State Northridge. 

Kirov was then able to find a niche for himself in the busy music scene of Los Angeles. Along with his professorship at Los Angeles City College, he performs and records in a variety of contexts, including a number of film scores; classical piano pieces; his Balkan funk ensemble, Orkestar MÉZÉ; and his world-jazz trio Bulgarian Moonshine Co. 

The pianist cites a deep connection to Milcho Leviev, a jazz great from his hometown of Plovdiv who paved the way from Eastern Europe to Los Angeles. “I feel a strong kinship with Milcho,” says Kirov, who knew him from an early age but didn’t see him perform until Leviev returned to Bulgaria in the early 1990s. “It was as though he was speaking to me, validating what I was doing. It was through his playing that I recognized that jazz combined with Bulgarian folk and other traditional sounds could be good music and legitimate.” 

Milen Kirov will be performing a CD release show (solo piano) at Sam First Bar, Los Angeles, on Friday 6/3 (7:30 & 9:00pm).

Photography: Rumen Kurtev

Milen Kirov "Spatium" EPK

BLUE NOTE JAZZ FESTIVAL EXPANDS TO NAPA VALLEY

The debut of the Blue Note Jazz Festival Napa Valley marks the first Blue Note Jazz Festival presented as an outdoor, multi-day and multi-stage event. The especially intimate festival, with limited capacity, will feature top-tier talent at the historic Charles Krug Winery in St. Helena, CA on July 30 and 31.

Grammy Award-winning multi-genre pianist, songwriter, and producer Robert Glasper serves as the Festival's Artist-In-Residence. Glasper's set, hosted by comedian Dave Chappelle, includes performances by special guests Erykah Badu, Ledisi, D Smoke, Terrace Martin, and BJ the Chicago Kid.

"The idea for the Blue Note Jazz Festival Napa Valley came out of Robert Glasper's month longresidency at the Blue Note New York, held each October and dubbed Robtober," says Blue Note Entertainment Group President Steven Bensusan. "Glasper curates a month of shows and collaborations spanning across the genres of jazz, R&B, hip hop, soul and comedy resulting in impromptu performances by celebrities and unannounced special guests. It is our plan to create an outdoor festival style version of Robtober in the spirit of a traditional jazz festival featuring spontaneous collaborations and once in a lifetime improvised performances."

The two-day, three-stage festival will feature performances by Maxwell, yasiin bey & Talib Kweli reuniting as Black Star, Thundercat, Maurice "Mobetta" Brown featuring Anderson.Paak, Flying Lotus, The Soul Rebels featuring GZA & Talib Kweli, Corinne Bailey Rae, Emily King, Keyon Harrold, Domi & JD Beck, Phony PPL, Chief Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott), Derrick Hodge, Th1rt3en (Pharoahe Monch, Daru Jones & Marcus Machado), Butcher Brown, Isaiah Sharkey, and Fredéric Yonnet. Honoring the festival's spirit of collaboration, artists will sit-in on each other's sets. 

"I can't wait to hold a festival with some of my favorite artists along with my boy Dave Chappelle in Napa," says Glasper. "On a vineyard with music and wine?! It's going down! Come drink some wine with us!"

Blue Note Jazz Festival Napa Valley will also host a funk-filled after party for attendees on Saturday night, featuring two seasoned crate diggers, the legendary DJ Jazzy Jeff and DJ Lo Down Loretta Brown aka Erykah Badu plus special surprise guests.

"We're honored to present a tastefully curated festival, gathering remarkable and culturally important artists with Robert Glasper as the cornerstone and helm," says Director of Programming and Talent Buyer Alex Kurland. "The programming mirrors the extraordinary depth of Robert's artistry, style and collaborative range, and is in the spirit of his annual residency at the iconic Blue Note New York. Just like at Blue Note, this festival reflects our tradition for bringing the highest caliber of artistry and star power to small-scale settings for a most intimate, high quality experience. Expect the unexpected with spontaneous special moments, and with Dave Chappelle in the house, this festival is bound to be historic."

The Napa Valley outdoor weekend event represents a new audience experience for Blue Note fans by combining a more traditional festival style event with the local wine culture of Napa Valley. The weekend will include food by renowned area restaurants, wine tasting experiences and other VIP add-ons. Two-day passes, priced at $385 for General Admission and $850 for VIP can be purchased at bluenotejazzfestival.com.

During the pandemic Blue Note Napa, operating in the Valley for six years, partnered with Charles Krug Winery to present nearly 40 successful outdoor summer concerts at a time when few were offered. Charles Krug Winery, established in 1861 as the Napa Valley's first winery, is remarkable for its historical significance and character. Blue Note Napa's successful partnership with the winery demonstrated that Charles Krug was a natural fit as the venue for the upcoming festival, which will now use the Winery's entire grounds for the July event.

Blue Note continues to present its popular annual Blue Note Jazz Festival, New York with an array of shows throughout the month of June at venues throughout New York City. A new Miami Beach pop-up festival is also planned across two weeks in June at the city's North Beach Bandshell.

Founded in 1981, Blue Note Entertainment Group is a multi-faceted entertainment company that owns, operates, licenses and/or programs Blue Note Jazz Clubs worldwide, including New York, NY; Tokyo, Japan; Milan, Italy; Waikiki, Hawaii; Beijing & Shanghai, China; Napa, California; and Rio de Janeiro & São Paulo, Brazil. The company also owns and operates Sony Hall. Blue Note Entertainment Group presents shows outside of its club network. Blue Note Entertainment Group partners with Blue Note Records and Jazz Cruises to present Blue Note at Sea. The annual Blue Note Jazz Festival was established in 2011 and has since grown to become the largest jazz festival in New York City each June. Subsidiaries of Blue Note Entertainment Group include the GRAMMY®-nominated record label Half Note Records, whose catalog includes over 50 titles recorded live at New York's Blue Note Jazz Club, as well as Blue Note Travel and Management Group.

New Music: Toots Thielemans with Rob Franken, Giuseppe Paradiso & Meridian 71, Amanda Whiting, OK:KO

Toots Thielemans with Rob Franken - Toots Thielemans Meets Rob Franken – The Studio Sessions 1973 to 1983 (3CD set)

A treasure trove of barely-heard music from two of the most unique players on the European scene of the 70s – Fender Rhodes giant Rob Franken, and harmonica jazz maestro Toots Thielemans – two players who sound better here in the company of each other than they do on their own! Thielemans had been making music for many years before these sessions – but as the 70s hit, the electric piano really opened up new colors and tones in his instrument – heard most famously on his performances with Quincy Jones, and some of his soundtrack material – but actually even more amazing here alongside Franken – as the combination of chromatic harmonica and Fender Rhodes is completely sublime! The tracks were recorded as part of a series of sound library sessions that Rob organized – titled Functional Music – and the huge set features material from a number of different sessions done under that aegis. CD1 features 20 tracks under the heading of Nature Boy from 1981 and 1982 – with Franken on Rhodes, Toots on harmonica, Theo De Jong on bass, and Bruno Castellucci on drums. CD2 is titled Absorbed Love – and features six tracks from 1978 with Toots and Franken – and James Leary on bass, Eddie Marshall on drums, and tenor and flute on a few cuts from the great Ferdinand Povel – followed by fifteen more titles from 1974 with a different Thielemans/Franken lineup that features Joop Scholten on guitar, Wim Essed on bass, and Peter Ypma on drums. CD3 is titled Together, from 1973 – and mostly features Thielemans on guitar and harmonica, Franken on Fender Rhodes, Rob Langereis on bass, and Eric Ineke on drums. 59 tracks in all – and a detailed book of notes! ~ Dusty Groove

Giuseppe Paradiso & Meridian 71 - Parallel Dimensions

After the success of their early 2020 album Metropolitan Sketches (and subsequent floor falling out from under them, thanks Covid) Giuseppe Paradiso & Meridian 71 teamed up with Ubuntu Music to bring us "Parallel Dimensions". Blending music genres that range from jazz and improvised music to Mediterranean and West African styles, "Parallel Dimensions" features Giuseppe on drums, percussion, electronics & vocals; Mark Zaleski on alto & soprano sax/clarinet; Utar Artun on piano & keys; Phil Sargent on electric guitar; James Hazlewood-Dale on upright, electric and fretless bass; and Malick Ngom on West African sabar drums, percussion and vocals. Check out the Tony Allen-inspired track 'Tony' and go from there!

Amanda Whiting - Where Would We Be (Single)

Welsh harpist Amanda Whiting returns on Jazzman Records following on from her successful debut album ’After Dark’ (2021). ‘Lost in abstraction’ was written during a  period of the unknown when Whiting, like most, explored her own sense of self.  The world  paused, with no timeframe, and the fragility of  life was laid bare. A time when humanity was left searching for purpose. Freedom and the dependable structures of familiarity were dissolved in most aspects of life. But music stayed constant. Creativity kept weaving its thread, connecting music and its makers in an indissoluble bond. The album explores the questions and realisations whilst confined. The spiritual findings, the playful curiousness and the reflective moments of loss. Whiting’s writing indulges the listener with the spiritual ethereal washes of sound demanded of the harp, whilst also embracing her influences across many genres. Classically trained, her roots are evident.  But with an emotionally charged energy and spiritual questioning, a new  soundscape of modernity has emerged. So often associated with Ashby and Coltrane, the harp finds itself in the hands of a new voice which tells the story of a period of time where the world was unified in reflection. 'Where Would We Be' is the first single taken from the album.

OK:KO - Liesu

Helsinki quartet OK:KO releases their third album ‘Liesu’ with We Jazz Records on 15 April. The band, led by drummer/composer Okko Saastamoinen and including saxophonist Jarno Tikka, pianist Toomas Keski-Säntti and bassist Mikael Saastamoinen (of Superpostion & Linda Fredriksson ‘Juniper') is a scene favourite in Finland and has recently garnered some international attention with their melodic, dynamic and original approach. The OK:KO sound is adventurous yet accessible, and contemporary yet rooted in the lineage of acoustic small group jazz. When listening to OK:KO, you can feel that their influences also come from out of the musical realm. After all, isn't this just how it should be? Making music from your own life. Here, you can tell that the landscape of rural Finland, its poetic, at times even melancholy beauty, is ever present. It’s a folk song country. But don't be fooled, these guys are powerful jazz quartet the music  starts when the first note hits, and onwards from there, we're in for a wild ride. Whether punchy like on ‘Anima’, solemn like on ‘Arvo', or just trekking out there on a skiing lane of their own like on ‘Vanhatie', what you'll get is pure OK:KO. Melodic, interactive, honest and forward-reaching contemporary jazz music. That is something we appreciate – a lot! Hailing from the Ostrobothnian small town of Haapavesi, Finland, Okko Saastamoinen (born 1995) was bitten by a jazz bug when The Five Corners Quintet performed in the nearby town Oulainen in 2008. Saastamoinen studies jazz at Helsinki's Sibelius Academy and despite his young age, he has been heard in top ensembles in Finland both on drums and on the vibraphone. Saastamoinen is the leader of OK:KO, a quartet bringing fulfilling his melodic vision of jazz with the aid some of the best young musicians working in the scene at the moment. ‘Liesu’, released by We Jazz Records in April 2022, is the third OK:KO album to date

Bob Marley & The Chineke! Orchestra

Released by Island Records/UMe on May 27, Bob Marley & The Chineke! Orchestra reimagines some of Bob Marley's greatest songs with contemporary classical orchestration from the globally esteemed Chineke! Orchestra. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios and produced by Nick Patrick (If I Can Dream, Elvis Presley and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, True Love Ways, Buddy Holly and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra), reimagined tracks include "Satisfy My Soul," "Exodus," "Is This Love," "Redemption Song," "Get Up, Stand Up," plus "One Love/People Get Ready," which was scheduled for release as a lead track on March 25. 

The genesis of the idea for Bob Marley & The Chineke! Orchestra came via the acclaimed cellist and 2016 BBC Young Musician of the Year Sheku Kenneh-Mason OBE. Although now a full-time solo artist and no longer an active Chineke! member, it was Kenneh-Mason's pioneering and original arrangements of Marley's "No Woman, No Cry" and "Redemption Song" that initially captured the attention and appreciation of Tuff Gong and the Bob Marley estate. So the Chineke! musical journey, via Abbey Road Studios, had begun.

Chineke! founder Chi-Chi Nwanoku OBE explains, "As a purely trained classical musician, the idea of being involved in a musical collaboration with the legendary Bob Marley was truly mind-blowing. I ardently believe that all genres of music should be open to absolutely everyone, so it was wonderful for Chineke! to be able to bring new orchestrations to these iconic tracks."

Bob Marley & The Chineke! Orchestra tracklist:

Exodus

Stir It Up

One Love/People Get Ready

Get Up, Stand Up

Is This Love

Redemption Song

Top Rankin'

Satisfy My Soul

I Shot The Sheriff

Turn Your Lights Down Low

The Chineke! Orchestra was founded in 2015 by music professor and double bassist Chi-Chi Nwanoku OBE. Under the motto of "championing change and celebrating diversity in classical music," the ensemble made their debut performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's Southbank Centre in September 2015, and they are now the resident orchestra there.

Tirelessly working to create opportunities for established and up-and-coming ethnically diverse musicians and nurturing new talent by providing role models and celebrating diversity in classical music, Chineke! was honored at the 30th anniversary of The Royal Philharmonic Society RPS Awards with the inaugural 'Gamechanger' Award in 2019. Chineke! continue to be covered extensively by national and international press and broadcast media, most recently by The Times (UK) and The New York Times.

Bob Marley remains one of the 20th century's most important and influential entertainment icons. He has the second-highest social media following of any posthumous celebrity. His Facebook page draws more than 70 million fans, ranking it in the Top 20 Facebook pages and Top 10 among celebrity pages. In addition, LEGEND is the 17th best-selling album of all time in the UK, having spent 1019 consecutive weeks on UK Official Album Chart.

FRANK SINATRA CONCEPT ALBUM "WATERTOWN," NEWLY MIXED AND REMASTERED

The legacy of Frank Sinatra – one of the world's most enduring singers – includes a studio album no one anticipated: Watertown. Recorded in 1969 and released in 1970, the concept of Watertown unfolds as a personal tragedy about a working man with children whose wife suddenly leaves him. Sinatra's performance elicits sadness, defeat and forlornness. Ultimately, as Sinatra so wonderfully expresses, it's also a story about one man's resilience.  

On June 3, Frank Sinatra Enterprises and UMe present Watertown, newly mixed and remastered from the original Reprise session tapes resulting in superior sound quality. The original album sequence will be available on vinyl, while the CD and digital editions will feature eight bonus tracks, including alternate takes from the recording sessions, two radio ads and "Lady Day," which was not part of the Watertown concept. Charles Pignone produced the updated edition from the new mixes created by longtime Sinatra engineer Larry Walsh – the team behind recent FSE/UMe releases Sings for Only the Lonely and Nice 'N' Easy. 

Now appreciated as a masterpiece of drama and heartbreak, Watertown will also feature, in addition to a recreation of the original packaging, new liner notes, a track-by-track breakdown from songwriter and album producer Bob Gaudio, quotes from Sinatra, plus essays by Frankie Valli, co-writer Jake Holmes, among others who were involved in the original project. Siriusly Sinatra (SiriusXM Ch. 71) will air an exclusive Watertown special in May.

Upon Watertown's release, fans and critics alike simply weren't prepared for such a radical stylistic departure from Sinatra. But the album has shown resilience: Despite the initial lukewarm response, in the decades since the album has had a re-evaluation and, in 2007, The Guardian declared Watertown "one of [Sinatra's] greatest masterpieces" and in 2015, The Observer noted that "it made some sense that Sinatra would attempt a story-driven concept album, considering he had helped pioneer the thematic concept LP in the 1950s. But on Watertown, Sinatra did something truly risky: he told an entire album-length story from the point of view of [a] character that is most definitely not Frank Sinatra." Gaudio's essay explains that Sinatra, with a level of empathy only he could achieve, was "reaching down into a man's soul and feeling his pain and still finding hope."

FRANK SINATRA — WATERTOWN (NEW MIX) [LP]: Side 1: Watertown; Goodbye (She Quietly Says); For A While; Michael & Peter; I Would Be In Love (Anyway). Side 2: Elizabeth; What A Funny Girl (You Used To Be); What's Now Is Now; She Says; The Train

FRANK SINATRA — WATERTOWN: EXPANDED EDITION [CD/DIGITAL]: Watertown; Goodbye (She Quietly Says); For A While; Michael & Peter; I Would Be In Love (Anyway); Elizabeth; What A Funny Girl (You Used To Be); What's Now Is Now; She Says; The Train; Lady Day*; Lady Day (11/7/69)*; Watertown (Session Take)*; Goodbye (Session Take)*; The Train (Session Take)*; Lady Day (11/7/69) (Session Take)*; 1970 Reprise Radio Promo #1*; 1970 Reprise Radio Promo #2*

*Bonus Tracks

Throughout his seven-decade career, Frank Sinatra performed on more than 1,400 recordings and was awarded 31 gold, nine platinum, three double platinum, and one triple platinum album by the Recording Industry Association of America. The three-time Oscar® winner also appeared in more than 60 films and produced eight motion pictures. 

Sinatra was awarded Lifetime Achievement Awards from The Recording Academy, The Screen Actors Guild and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), as well as the Kennedy Center Honors, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. 

Frank Sinatra demonstrated a remarkable ability to appeal to every generation and continues to do so; his artistry still influences many of today's music superstars. He remains a legend and an inspiration around the world for his contributions to culture and the arts.

AMY WINEHOUSE - LIVE AT GLASTONBURY 2007

UMe, Island Records, and BBC announce the release of Live at Glastonbury 2007 – the iconic performance of Amy Winehouse's Pyramid Stage set at Glastonbury 2007, coming to vinyl for the very first time on Friday, June 3rd.

Showcasing the inimitable artistry of one of the UK's most gifted and accomplished singers of all time, this emotionally charged live set will be released as a 2LP on black vinyl, with an exclusive crystal clear edition available HERE. The 2007 performance on the festival's legendary Pyramid Stage, 15 years ago this summer, was Amy's second Glastonbury appearance and a performance that saw the world completely fall in love with her music. As well as a second set later that same day on the Jazz World Stage, Amy returned the following year to perform again on the Pyramid stage, cementing herself firmly in the canon of great Glastonbury performances.

Live at Glastonbury 2007 is an unmissable dive back into the memory of Amy's 2007 set, including the singer's trademark irreverent soundbites in between songs, to the huge love she received from her enthralled audience - despite the changeable weather that year! This performance featured timeless crowd-pleasers from the award-winning Back To Black album, including "Tears Dry On Their Own," "Rehab," and "You Know I'm No Good," as well as early soul classics like "Monkey Man."

The artwork for this must-have release includes a recollection of the performance from Glastonbury co-organizer Emily Eavis, who commented, "Amy Winehouse was a Glastonbury-goer through and through. She either came and played or, when she wasn't working, came and camped. She played in the blistering heat and the heavy rain, and there were so many magical moments to her performances."

Tracklisting:  Side A: Addicted; Just Friends; Tears Dry On Their Own; He Can Only Hold Her. Side B: Cherry; Back To Black; Wake Up Alone; Love Is A Losing Game. Side C: Fuck Me Pumps; Cupid;  Hey Little Rich Girl; Monkey Man. Side D: You Know I'm Know Good; Rehab; Me & Mr Jones; Valerie.

UB40 Featuring Ali Campbell & Astro will release their new album Unprecedented

UB40 Featuring Ali Campbell & Astro will release their new album Unprecedented, June 17 via UMe. The album will be released as a black 2LP, a limited-edition white-color 2LP, 1CD, limited-edition cassette as well as digitally. All formats include their new single "Sufferer", which Ali has dedicated to his beloved friend and bandmate of over four decades, Astro, who tragically passed away last November.

UB40 Featuring Ali Campbell & Astro will release their new album Unprecedented, on June 17 via UMe. The album will be released as a black 2LP, a limited-edition white-color 2LP, 1CD, limited-edition cassette as well as digitally.

'"Sufferer,' is a song that Astro and I have always loved, from the brilliant Kingstonians," comments Ali. "Astro was so proud of our version of this song, as am I. It's the first track off our new studio album Unprecedented which will be out in the summer. This song is more poignant and special than I ever realized after Astro heartbreakingly passed away after recording this album. We want to keep his memory alive through his music and this song and album."

In addition to touring across Europe in 2022, the legendary British reggae-pop group has announced three tour dates in North America beginning May 12 in Las Vegas, NV. 

UB40 Featuring Ali, Astro & Mickey's most recent album, 2018's A Real Labour Of Love, debuted at No.2 on the UK album chart, only dropping one place a week later to No.3, and the album spent a month in the Top 10. UB40 topped the UK singles chart on three occasions and sold 70 million records as they took their smooth yet rootsy musical blend to all corners of the globe. Between 1983 and 1998 the group produced three Labour Of Love albums, bringing hits such as Eric Donaldson's "Cherry Oh Baby", Lord Creator's "Kingston Town" and Johnny Osbourne's "Come Back Darling" to a new, global audience. They also topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic with their reggae covers of "Red Red Wine" and "(I Can't Help) Falling In Love With You" and had a further UK No.1 with their cover of "I Got You Babe" with Chrissie Hynde.

Shiva in flagrante — mysterious new Jazz album from ex-Buddhist priest, Jacques Bailhé

What happens when you mix years touring on bass with Big Lost, a critic once described as “Folk-Baroque-Rock,” stir in producing hundreds of tracks for film and commercials, a drum solo behind a fire-breathing stripper in a roller rink in Bangkok, sitar lessons in India and Nepal, and chanting prayers as a Buddhist monk? You get Shiva in flagrante (The Hindu god Shiva in flames of passion). Bailhé laughs, “Chanting prayers in temples is a fascinating way to experience the overtone series!”

Building a style he describes as “reckless abandon,” Bailhé explores ideas through music and narrative dance. The scenario for Shiva in flagrante tells the tale of a Harley-Davidson‑riding Shiva falling in love, mating with the goddess Parvati, and the birth of their child in the final track titled “The Facts of Creation.” “That story had to be told in Jazz,” says Bailhé.

A distinctive new voice in instrumental music, Jacques Bailhé unleashes firey passion and spellbinding narrative that stuns audiences with “fascinatin’ rhythm and melody” woven with sophisticated harmony and counterpoint. “I don’t understand why so many composers seem to abandon melody. Isn’t it probably the most powerful aspect of music?” he asks.

“I don’t think much in chords. I seem to work from independent melodic lines in the tradition of contrapuntal style.” His musical inspirations come from early works by Weather Report, Miles Davis, Brian Blade and the Fellowship Band, ethnic artists like Ravi Shankar and Zap Mama, and others like Hendrix, The Beatles, and producers and engineers like George Martin and Geoff Emerick, quickly pointing out that “engineering is the yin of the yang. But studying scores, especially by Vivaldi, Bach, Beethoven, Berg, John Adams, Gil Evans, and Miles was a revelation. They make it look so simple.”

Stream multi-instrumentalist Jacques Bailhé’s new album, Shiva in Flagrante on the artist’s official music platforms and follow him on social media for updates on his upcoming release due this fall will, also focused on music for dance. And BTW, he’s always on the lookout for choreographers for collaboration. 

Kenny Neal | "Straight From The Heart"

Kenny Neal has announced that he will be releasing Straight From The Heart via Ruf Records on May 20, 2022. 

Down in Louisiana, they do things differently. The Southern state's musical giants have always had their special recipe for American roots: spiced with jazz, steeped in swamp blues, and cooked up a little differently by every artist who performs it. As a second-generation child of the Bayou State, Kenny Neal has taken his inimitable guitar, gale-force harp, and roadworn voice all over the globe. But in 2022, the Grammy-nominated blues master's latest album, Straight From The Heart, finds him drawn by the siren call of his hometown and musical ground zero, Baton Rouge. 

"This is the first album I've ever recorded on my turf, and it truly came straight from the heart," says Neal, who led and produced a crack team of local musicians at his own Brookstown Recording Studios. "All the tributaries of the blues converge here, flowing into one rich tradition." 

If there's a guiding concept behind the eleven songs of Straight From The Heart, it's Neal's mission to rewind the reels of his life and channel the spirit of the music that crackled from the family record player in his early years.  

Neal couldn't have picked better circumstances for his childhood. He was born in New Orleans on October 14, 1957, and quickly found early inspiration in his father, the harp master Raful Neal, who blew a gale and moved in the same orbit as Buddy Guy and Slim Harpo.  

Nature and nurture couldn't help but rub off. At 13, Neal Jr was wowing the crowds in his father's band; four years later, he played bass with Guy himself. His fabled period working with his siblings in the Neal Brothers Blues Band is still spoken of in reverential tones on the Toronto circuit whose roofs they blew off. But perhaps Neal's actual arrival came in 1988 when the Alligator label reissued his first solo LP as Big News From Baton Rouge!! and ears pricked up for a modern swamp-blues master who had the touch and voice of an old soul but the vision and hunger of a young gun. 

Stick a pin in Neal's discography since then, and you'll strike gold, from 2008's Let Life Flow (which shook up his playbook with a dose of Memphis soul) to 2016's Bloodline (which not only scored a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album but won two Blues Music Awards). From Neal's W.C. Handy Blues Award of 2005 to his 2011 induction into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame, few contemporary artists are more decorated.  

You'll hear all of Neal's travels in Straight From The Heart, but this latest album brings it all back home. Lining up in the studio alongside his Baton Rouge compadrés, Neal invited some special guests to appear on the album; including Grammy Award-winning blues sensation Christone 'Kingfish' Ingram (who co-writes and plays stinger guitar on "Mount Up On The Wings Of The King"), pop royalty Tito Jackson (on "Two Timing"), and two songs with Rockin' Dopsie Junior & The Zydeco Twisters. You'll even hear Neal's supremely talented daughter Syreeta drive the vocal outro of "Two-Timing." 

"It was like a family reunion," says Neal of the good-natured sessions. "It was excellent because I had all the musicians that grew up under me here in Baton Rouge. And just being in my studio, not worrying about the clock." 

Straight From The Heart is a fitting title for a record that salutes the many loves of Neal's life. First, the brass-driven opener "Blues Keep Chasing Me" tips a hat to his recently departed friend, Lucky Peterson. Then, the touching piano-led "Someone Somewhere" salutes the beloved father who put him on this path. Elsewhere, Neal's deep love for every side of his home state is underlined by the zydeco chop of "Bon Temps Rouler" and "New Orleans", whose lyrics reference everything from "sippin' on Hurricane" to "sittin' on the Bayou catching catfish".   

As the world opens up Kenny Neal will embrace his natural habitat of the road. The Louisiana icon will bring a little bit of that Baton Rouge spirit onto every stage he treads. "It doesn't cost anything to share a little love and respect," he says. "And we can all rise above."

New Music: Eric Roberson, Matt Panayides, Jazz Sabbath, Rebecca Angel

Eric Roberson - Lessons

Over the past few decades, there's been few contemporary soul singers who've won our hearts more than Eric Roberson – an underground hero who only rewards our faith in his music more and more as the years move on – a legacy that's certainly delivered on with this beautiful full length set! In a time when so many other artists are just content to drop a track or two here and there, Eric remains wonderfully committed to the full length set – which is a good thing, as it takes a longer record like this to really contain his mighty talents – vocals that are superb, a sense of songwriting that's classic in construction but contemporary in vibe, and a warmth and generosity that are boundless – and flow beautifully from track to track effortlessly. Roberson walked away from the major labels over 25 years, and his contributions have just been greater and greater ever since – as you'll hear on "Good Loving", "Lessons", "High On You", "Don't Run From It Baby", "Everything", "Seen", "Tried To Be Your Friend", "Letting My Guard Down", "Start All Over Again", and "All I Want" – plus an acoustic remix of "Lessons" with guest work from Raheem DeVaughn, Kevin Ross, and Anthony Hamilton. ~ Dusty Groove

Matt Panayides - Field Theory

On Field Theory, guitarist and composer Matt Panayides explores new sonic landscapes by mixing electric and acoustic sounds in a set of modern, highly original compositions. Field Theory is a departure from Panayides’ previous releases, Conduits (2016) and Tapestries of Song (2011), which were both acoustic, modern-jazz projects. Restlessly inventive, he is always looking for new ways to express himself musically, so in 2018 he began experimenting with Matt Vashlishman, a saxophonist and multi-woodwind instrumentalist. With Panayides on electric guitar and Vashlishan on the Akai EWI (electric wind instrument), the concept for Field Theory started taking shape. Panayides’ approach to composition is influenced by Wayne Shorter’s chord voicings and colors. Panayides says, “For me, the ideas for compositions come as if from another place. They can appear at any time, sometimes while practicing or on a gig. But the ideas can also come in a dream, or while driving, or standing in line. The trick is to capture these little musical nuggets as best I can so I can organize them later. This entire album was conceived in this way.” Field Theory is a contemporary, post-bop jazz album. Panayides invites the listener in with music that is at once familiar yet largely unexpected, with pops of contrasting colors that weave together images of sound that tell stories not unlike a great abstract painting.

Jazz Sabbath - Jazz Sabbath Vol. 2

The second entry in this much-loved, much-lauded project – a set of jazz reworks of tunes made famous by Black Sabbath back in the day – transformed here to a completely different idiom by the work of the trio! The first time round, these guys tried to pass off their debut as a lost vintage record – here, they're playing things a bit more upfront – and as a result, the album's actually more interesting too – taking more chances with the arrangements, and going for a presentation that really brings all these interesting sounds and colors to the tunes – instead of just trying to sound like a Black Sabbath record without guitar or vocals. Tracks are a bit longer, with a nice sense of presence in the way they build things up – and titles include versions of "Paranoid", "Snowblind", "Black Sabbath", "NIB", "Sabbra Cadabra", "Behind The Wall Of Sleep", and "Symptom Of The Universe". ~ Dusty Groove

Rebecca Angel -  Love Life Choices

Hot off her hit sensual funk rendition of “For What It’s Worth,” the Vietnam era classic she slyly re-appropriated for contemporary times, New York based singer, songwriter and vocal interpreter extraordinaire Rebecca Angel makes her long-awaited full length album debut with the vibrant, multi-faceted Love Life Choices. Vibing with longtime collaborator, veteran keyboardist/producer Jason Miles, and some top-flight session cats, the sultry, easy flowing vocalist makes every track an intimate invitation to join her as she celebrates her recent marriage and artfully chronicles the pandemic and other important societal issues. The set includes dynamic jazz, R&B and/or Brazilian tinged originals, exotic, atmosphere and groove-centered re-imaginings (of gems by Bill Withers, Bob Marley, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Sade) and a few memorable, previously released singles. www.smoothjazz.com

George Cotsirilos | "Refuge"

George Cotsirilos pushes into new frontiers with the May 20 release of Refuge (OA2). The guitarist and composer’s follow-up to his acclaimed 2018 album Mostly in Blue again features his quartet—pianist Keith Saunders, bassist Robb Fisher, and drummer Ron Marabuto—but repositions them both in pursuit of new challenges and, if anything, even more “in blue.” 

Cotsirilos added piano to his longtime trio in 2018, hoping to express the denser harmonies he was hearing in his writing. The success of the experiment encouraged him to keep moving forward, creating a group of compositions that are more complex and more seasoned in the blues. (He comes by that seasoning honestly: Though based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Cotsirilos was born and raised in Chicago.) 

The lockdowns and isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic gave him opportunities to explore a variety of music and assimilate it into his own work. However, it also hampered his ability to workshop the new tunes with the band. “It became more and more difficult to try out the pieces, so it took a while to get them to a point where we were all happy with them,” Cotsirilos says. “But I was confident … that everything would come together.” 

Indeed, come together it did. From the sumptuous melody and harmonies of “Refuge,” to the sly, sexy Latin groove of “Igualmente,” to the alluring intricacies of “Aftermath” and “Let’s Make a Break for It,” Refuge is every inch the work of an adept and highly attuned ensemble. It’s clear that the players are intimately familiar with not just the compositions, but the possibilities they offer. 

While Cotsirilos is the album’s leader and composer, the quartet functions very much on a level playing field. The pieces require close interaction among all four musicians—the entirety of “A Faint Light” hinges on the pocket they create—and even the solos achieve their high caliber through the full band’s chemistry. Cotsirilos’s Byzantine line on “Planet Roxoid” succeeds by virtue of Saunders’s anticipating his every step, and the guitarist pays it forward with an equally empathic accompaniment of Fisher’s bass solo on “The Three Doves.” 

Cotsirilos claims to receive inspiration from recordings of Beethoven’s cello sonatas—because, he says, they were written with an aim “for instruments to enhance each other.” His work with his quartet on Refuge leaves no doubt that this is so.

George Cotsirilos was born in Chicago in 1951. His passion for music was stimulated by an aunt and an uncle—the former was a classical music lover who encouraged him to play the violin; the latter was an erstwhile drummer who took him to hear Louis Armstrong. The renaissance of Chicago blues during his teenage years ensured that George grew devoted to the electric guitar. 

In 1969, Cotsirilos enrolled at UC Berkeley. A sociology major, he briefly left school halfway through his studies to play guitar in a blues band. When he re-enrolled at Berkeley, he separately became a student of Warren Nunes, a legendary guitarist in East Bay musical circles. Nunes brought Cotsirilos under the sway of jazz, learning about the great guitarists as well as the ideas and techniques of other instrumentalists like Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Chick Corea. 

Even as he studied music more seriously—training on classical guitar through the San Francisco Conservatory of Music—Cotsirilos completed his sociology degree, then attained a law degree. He maintained a dual career for years working as a criminal defender and lecturer at Berkeley’s prestigious School of Law, while also performing alongside Pharoah Sanders, Etta James, renowned drummer Eddie Marshall, and Bay Area stalwarts Mel Martin and Mark Levine. He released his first solo album, Silenciosa, in 2003, followed by three trio albums with Fisher and Marabuto. 

In 2017, around the same time he expanded his trio to a quartet (with Saunders on piano), Cotsirilos retired from the law profession and devoted himself full-time to music. Refuge is one of the beneficiaries of that decision—and so is the jazz audience. 

The George Cotsirilos Quartet will be performing CD release shows on Sat. 5/21 at Bird & Beckett, San Francisco (7:30pm); Sat. 5/28 at Mr. Tipple’s Recording Studio, San Francisco (6:00pm); and Sat. 6/4 at The Backroom, Berkeley (8:00pm).

Anthony Joseph | "The Rich Are Only Defeated When Running For Their Lives"

British-Trinidadian poet,musician, and author Anthony Joseph’s latest album contains multitudes. Operating as a dedication to poetic ancestors and a coming together of musical generations, ‘The Rich are Only Defeated When Running for their Lives’ is also an almighty jam. Recorded live last August, it shows off the prowess of a team of master musicians (Shabaka Hutchings among others) from Paris and London. Jason Yarde, who also produced Joseph’s 2018 album is credited as producer, composer, and arranger – to startling, albeit intimate, effect. 

Running throughout the release are inter-connected themes: memory, place, belonging and acts of homage. Opener, ‘Kamau’ pays respect to the lauded Barbadian poet, Kamau Brathwaite who passed away in February 2020. Brathwaite was an important influence on Joseph – the two writers met several times. On ‘Kamau’ Joseph compellingly conveys not only the nature of Brathwaite’s aesthetic, but the full potential of a Black surrealist poetics, in an urgent, clipped diction against a rousing musical soundtrack which features Hutchings on bass clarinet. 

When asked to convey the essence of Brathwaite’s “energy” in a 2018 interview, Joseph used the words “audacious … muscular,” while also noting the late poet’s capacity to “give voice to the voiceless.” A similar description might be used for Joseph’s new album, in its evocation of the post Windrush generation’s search for belonging  — a story that soon becomes Joseph’s own (‘Calling England Home’), in the recounting of familial grief (‘The Gift’) and in the expansive grooves and storytelling on ‘Maka Dimweh’, a poem/song that universalises the tale of a Guyanese soldier.

One of the album’s most striking cuts, ‘Language (Poem for Anthony McNeill)’ once more memorialises another key figure in the Caribbean literary landscape: McNeill, a Jamaican poet known for his radical modernist aesthetic, deeply influenced by jazz, who died before his time in 1996. The 10-minute plus groove shows the band to full effect, as Joseph compellingly conjures something of McNeill’s gift and the potential of “language rooted in the drums…the cry of the horn.” 

In fact, the entire album might be understood as part of Joseph’s engagement with his Caribbean musical and literary roots; the somewhat mysterious album title, for instance, comes from the Trinidadian writer, philosopher, historian and socialist activist, C.L.R James’ book on the Haitian revolution, ‘The Black Jacobins’ (1938).

To Yarde and Joseph’s credit the musicianship never falters, even when conjuring deeply contrasting moods. See, for instance, the foregrounding of a formidable horn section of top-level saxophonists of very different aesthetic stripes (Hutchings, Yarde, Colin Webster – a longstanding Joseph collaborator and Denys Baptiste, whose credits include McCoy Tyner and Billy Higgins).  ‘Calling England Home’, for example, is carried along by a sleepily evocative ‘60s horn-driven dancehall ambience, entirely in keeping with the song’s lyrical focus. 

Note too, Rod Youngs’ sensitive drum parts, which coalesces to great effect with Andrew John’s bass throughout the album. Youngs is a previous Gil Scott-Heron collaborator, while London-based bassist and composer John has played on six of Joseph’s previous albums. Guitarist Thibaut Remy, who composed ‘Calling England Home’, performs with the Awalé Jant Band. There are the fragile interruptions of French jazz pianist, Florian Pellissier, while contributions from veteran percussionists Roger Raspail and Crispin Robinson provide further grit, delicacy and depth. 

New Orleans Based Extended Trio Release "Without Notice"

Immediately after dropping their 2019 critically acclaimed sophomore release, Harbinger (Origin Records), New Orleans-based trio Extended set to work assembling the material for Without Notice. Embedded in the previous album were flashes of the long-form, highly improvisational yet through-composed and thoroughly collective approach to songwriting that has become their signature, and this new album is their calling card.

Without Notice is full of twists and turns and surprises – it is their most musically adventurous album to date, the material largely worked out on stage over several years of active local gigging and touring. In that process, they've expanded their palette of sound worlds, adding 90s hip-hop grooves (“Central Standard”) and unexpected post-production overdubs (“Impairment Process”), to the Debussy textures (“The Ineffable Allure of Shadows”) and Keith Jarrett-tinged jazz-rock phrasing (“The Gardens”) that listeners have come to expect. Ironically, it is now, on this third release that they have finally found an occasion to swing (“Sphere”).

The title cut is the newest tune in the book, written during the early days of the Covid-19 shutdown. By comparison, it is a simple tune, yet it is an example of the way their music can turn on a dime, offering something different at any moment. As an album title, it is a reminder of how the year 2020 unfolded, and luckily, Extended was in a position to take advantage of the unexpected free time of the shutdown and dive headfirst into preparing this recording. This is their pandemic gift to us.

Each member writes equally for the band, drawing on their disparate life experiences – Rossignoli grew up in Honduras, Webb in South Louisiana, and Booth outside Washington, DC. They began playing together in the boil pot of the New Orleans music scene in 2016, and despite their diversity of influences, they have done what all bands strive to do. Extended has developed a singular ensemble sound. This is contemporary piano trio music from a band that knows who it is, where it came from, and where it is headed.

EXTENDED is Oscar Rossignoli on piano, Matt Booth on bass, and Brad Webb on drums. They all compose for the group, with the particular musical personalities of the group foremost in mind, an approach that has thrilled locals and has reached audiences worldwide. Their sophomore outing, Harbinger (Origin Records), improves upon the solid foundation set with 2017's eponymous debut, exhibiting a new attitude and focused maturity after three years of development. Offbeat Magazine named the album one of the Top 50 Best of Louisiana Music in 2019, and as stated by their Geraldine Wyckoff, “Harbinger manifests superb musicianship creatively employed to produce a highly individualized yet collective artistic endeavor that is a privilege to experience.” Their debut LP from the spring of 2017, released on Breakfast 4 Dinner records, received praise for its distinctive compositions and dynamic group interplay.

Since their first release, Extended has toured within the country and continues to play shows that leave audiences invigorated and fulfilled. As the whole world knows, the city of New Orleans knows no shortage of the highest caliber of players in the world, but in the last few years locals have been thrilled to see the development of a new collective - EXTENDED - that has quickly come to find a place among our brightest stars.

International Reggae Band Dub Inc Announces Their Debut West Coast Tour

The prominent international reggae band, Dub Inc. is excited to announce their 2022 Spring West Coast U.S.A. tour! It has been over 10 years since the French superstars have been in the United States and they are beyond excited to return once again. Kicking off in May at the 11th edition of California Roots Festival, Dub Inc will embark on their debut West Coast tour with Hawaii’s own Mike Love. 

In 2011 Dub Inc first came to the United States for their debut East Coast tour where they dazzled audiences with their unique blend of reggae, dancehall and world music stylings. It was a major milestone and dream for the seven piece band who began in high school in 1998. They are fronted by the singers Bouchkour and Komlan whose vocals and lyrical prowess embody the band's diverse but complementary influences. Embodying a universal message whether the song is French, English or Kabyle (an Algerian language), their music is influenced by their diverse backgrounds and they are upfront with topical issues like how important acknowledging mixed race and mixing of styles are to honoring one's heritage. 

With over 22 years together the band has impressively stayed intact. Based in Saint-Etienne, France the band is comprised of: Hakim "Bouchkour" Meridja (Singer), Aurélien "Komlan" Zohou (Singer), Jérémie Gregeois (Guitar), Grégory "Zigo"Mavridorakis (Drums), Frédéric Peyron (Keyboard), Idir Derdiche (Keyboard), Moritz Von Korff (Bass), and Benjamin Jouve (Sound engineer). 

With their largest audiences in Europe, Africa and Latin America, Dub Inc is an international sensation selling out concert halls and headline festivals. They typically perform for audiences in the tens of thousands all over the world and are looking forward to growing the U.S. fan base. The idea of the U.S. tour first came about with their collaboration with the renowned band Stick Figure. Dub Inc had invited Stick Figure to join them on a European tour. The fantastic pairing yielded an amazing line-up which won the hearts of fans and critics alike. It was there that the U.S. tour was seeded, Stick Figure invited Dub Inc to come to his home state California and beyond for a West Coast run. Once connected with Stick Figure’s team at Ineffable Music Group, the plan for their US return was laid. Thomas Cussins, head of Ineffable comments, "Dub Inc is one of the greatest reggae bands in the world. Their incredibly tight sound is captivating, regardless of language there is no barrier to enjoyment and the beats are sure to keep everyone dancing. I am looking forward to seeing Dub Inc take over in the U.S. and I will certainly be at many shows to enjoy the music!" 

The band will be performing in support of the iconic reggae artist Mike Love. Dub Inc bonded with Mike Love while on tour in France in December 2019, both sharing similar passion for positive and powerful messages. The band is delighted to reconnect with Mike Love in California commenting, "Dub Inc is one of the most passionate and energetic live bands I’ve ever seen. Their show is very fluid and dynamic, with powerful grooves and intimate ballads. American audiences are gonna go nuts for it. I can’t wait to  be there!” 

Dub Inc shows will feature a blend of classic hits and new material. They will be touring with the full band and audiences will be able to hear and enjoy the songs as intended. The tour starts at Cali Roots on May 28th, from there they head to Oregon and Washington with performances in Seattle, Portland and Tacoma. Then back to Nor Cal for a show at the Cornerstone in Berkeley and Mystic Theatre in Petaluma, before they head to So. Cal to hit L.A. and San Diego. 

With a catalog of over 9 records, three of which went Gold, and a handful of riddims, fans will be captivated and moved by Dub Inc’s range. Most recently the band released “Resist and Fight” riddim produced by Collie Buddz that appeared on Cali Roots Riddim 2020, and also their critically acclaimed political album Millions (2019) that confronts current cultural themes of borders, critical thinking, and political authenticity. 

Reflecting on their journey the band commented, “We’re really happy to go on this tour, it’s a dream come true. We’ve been waiting for it since 2020 (it was postponed twice). We’re particularly excited because we love to surprise people with our performances and having new audiences discover our music. It’s a real pleasure to go back to the basics and to have to win over an audience that doesn’t know us.” 

They continue, “We’re really looking forward to finally meeting the Californian audience!

New York ten years ago was a real success and we’re more than excited to come back to the United States!” 

 Tour Dates:

05/28 - CaliRoots Fest / Monterey, CA

05/31 - Arcata Theatre / Arcata, CA

06/01 - WOW Hall / Eugene, OR

06/02 - Star Theater / Portland, OR

06/03 - The Crocodile / Seattle, WA

06/04 - Airport Tavern / Tacoma, WA

06/07 - Felton Music Hall / Felton, CA

06/08 - Mystic Theatre / Petaluma, CA

06/09 - Cornerstone / Berkeley, CA

06/10 - Ventura Music Hall / Ventura, CA

06/11 - Observatory / Santa Ana, CA

06/12 - Belly Up / Solana beach, CA

New Music: Diego Baliardo And The Gypsy Revolution, Francesco Amenta, Judy Wexler, Jeremy Monteiro / Jay Anderson / Lewis Nash

Diego Baliardo And The Gypsy Revolution - Este Ritmo

Diego Baliardo, one of the founders of the world-famous Gipsy Kings, is carrying on the group’s tradition of playing their unique blend of musical styles with a new generation of musicians steeped in Romani culture. Baliardo is releasing Este Ritmo (This Rhythm), the debut release with his new group, The Gypsy Revolution. The Grammy-winning Gipsy Kings have performed all around the world, selling over 20 million albums in their 35-year career, making them the biggest selling musical group to come out of France. The band blends traditional flamenco styles with Western pop and Latin rhythms as well as elements of Arabic music, reggae, and jazz guitar reminiscent of the French Gypsy master Django Reinhardt. It is hard to sit still listening to the music on Este Ritmo. The polyrhythmic styles are infectious and have a joie de vivre that makes you want to get up and dance, as so many fans do at their live performances. The music is highly textured with three guitars and a mix of percussive instruments, like congas, shakers, timbales, tambourines, triangles, and guiros, that add sudden pops of color that keep each tune fresh and interesting. Fronting all this happy music is Diego Baliardo’s expressive and plaintive vocals and energetic rhythm guitar. The moods of the songs on Este Ritmo range from tongue-in-cheek, like on “No Tengo Dinero” (I Don’t Have Money), to wistful, like “Mi Niño” (My Child), to romantic, like “Cara Bonita” (Pretty Face). Yet each is firmly rooted in the flamenco with other Latin influences and a distinct pop flair. Diego Baliardo is the rare kind of musician who can bridge both diverse musical cultures and different generations, all in the service of keeping the music original and engaging while preserving a proud heritage that is over 1,000 years old.

Francesco Amenta - Midtown Walk

Francesco Amenta is releasing Midtown Walk, his second album as a leader, featuring mostly original tunes penned by the composer, tenor saxophonist, and pianist. Amenta was born and raised in Italy but has been living in New York City since 2017, where he has become a regular on the city’s jazz scene. Midtown Walk comprises seven of Amenta’s compositions and one piece by Duke Ellington, “Come Sunday,” which Amenta wanted to record because of his love for Ellington’s music. The other seven tunes convey Amenta’s impressions of his life in the United States. Amenta’s sax playing has a rich, full tone. There is a lyrical quality to both his playing and composing that is very inviting. He easily conveys feeling and warmth without being emotional or cloying. “For me, composing is storytelling,” says Amenta. “I might write about my family and my experiences. Or I might write a piece just about my impressions of a beautiful day. What’s important for me is the emotional immediacy of an experience, which I try to capture in my compositions.” Amenta’s genuinely warm personality shines through his playing and compositions on this album. Backed by a top-notch band that is completely in sync with his attitude and approach, Midtown Walk is an auspicious American recording debut for Francesco Amenta.

Judy Wexler - Back To The Garden

Vocalist Judy Wexler is known for her soulful, heartfelt vocals and her ability to find under-exposed gems and imbue them with warmth and wit. Back To The Garden, her 6th CD, is a departure from Wexler’s previous albums, which featured modern jazz songs and selections from the Great American Songbook with just a smattering of pop tunes. On this new recording, Wexler points her gaze to interpreting iconic, well-known pop/rock songs from the 1960s with reimagined arrangements. According to Wexler, “Music is truly a reflection of the times, and the music of the 1960s reflected the turbulence engendered by war, political protests, and the rise of important social movements like feminism and racial justice. Fifty years later, we’re still struggling with those same issues and more.” Wexler has a sumptuous voice and approaches a song like an actress inhabiting a script. Eschewing vocal pyrotechnics, she focuses on lucid storytelling.  She wields her formidable vocals chops, like her spot-on phrasing and sophisticated approach to melody, with great subtlety to capture the emotional essence of a song. NPR’s Susan Stamberg said, “Based on the evidence, Judy Wexler can sing almost anything.” UK’s Jazz Journal writes, “An always engaging demonstration of contemporary jazz singing at its best.”

Jeremy Monteiro / Jay Anderson / Lewis Nash  - Live At No Black Tie

Pianist Jeremy Monteiro considers himself a very fortunate man. Renowned as one of the premier jazz pianists in Singapore, he is presently entering the 45th year of a career spanning concerts, education, and music administration. He has played and recorded with many of the world’s greatest jazz artists, including James Moody, Benny Golson, Michael Brecker, Bobby McFerrin, Randy Brecker, Lee Ritenour, Herbie Mann, Paulinho DaCosta, Ernie Watts, Charlie Haden, Terumasa Hino, Al Foster, Carmen Bradford, and Toots Thielemans. Monteiro’s latest album Live At NO Black Tie finds the pianist at the helm of another all-star trio. Bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Lewis Nash rank among New York City’s most in- demand jazz musicians, but Monteiro did not come to New York to record with them; rather, it was Anderson and Nash who made the trip to Kuala Lumpur to work and record with Monteiro. Live At No Black Tie was recorded and mixed by exceptional sound engineer Sunil Kumar in Kuala Lumpur and mastered by Klaus Endel in Germany. Monteiro has received many awards and honors in his career, including the coveted Cultural Medallion (the highest artistic recognition available in Singapore), two literary awards from the Golden Door Awards (for his memoir, Late-Night Thoughts of a Jazz Musician), and a Silver Medal for Best Music Score from the International Radio Festival in New York for his original composition, “Overture in C Major: The Story of Singapore.” Live At No Black Tie is his 45th jazz album, and Monteiro hopes to reissue several of his older albums on his own label within the next few years. As is appropriate for a very fortunate and talented musician.

New Music: The Chris Saunders Band, Kerry Moffit, Antonio Adolfo, Dave Flippo and Dedications

The Chris Saunders Band - Dancing With The Widow St. James

The Chris Saunders Band’s newest album, Dancing With The Widow St. James, is rooted in soul jazz and blues with a subtle reference to pop thrown in for good measure. Saunders is a cornet/trumpet player, singer and songwriter. He has a smokey, soulful voice whose timbre and phrasing sound much like his horn. As a singer, he has been heavily influenced by Joe Williams, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, Lou Rawls, Dr. John, Tom Waits, Howlin’ Wolf, and Louis Armstrong, with whom he has an especially strong connection. A native and current resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, he and his group have been performing together for 10 years and are mainstays on the Bay Area music scene. Saunders is the frontman, but it has always been about the band and the sum of its parts. On Dancing With The Widow St. James, Saunders includes a mix of covers and originals, which he co-wrote with his collaborator, pianist and group co-founder Ken Cook. The original songs on Dancing With The Widow St. James by Saunders and Cook reflect Saunders’ poetic nature and political leanings.  Saunders along with co-producers Cook and Michael Aragon chose to cover several songs written by composers with whom they share a deep affinity. Saunders’ singing, cornet/trumpet playing, and composing on Dancing With The Widow St. James exude the soulfulness of an artist who has absorbed life’s tough lessons but has transformed them into the joy and solace that making music affords.

Kerry Moffit - What Goes Around Comes Around

Kerry Moffit has been a professional musician for 41 years, performing regularly around the country and around Europe. He has performed with and written arrangements for all types of groups, from large jazz orchestras to small ensembles, and he has appeared on over 70 recordings as a sideman. Moffit has accomplished much over his long career, but he has never released a project under his name until now. What Goes Around Comes Around, Moffit’s debut CD as a leader with his band, Turning Circles, is an impressive showcase for this brilliant trumpeter’s performance and compositional talents. Moffit has a good reason for not putting out his own project until now. He served as a proud member of the United States Air Force Bands for nearly 25 years. The Air Force Bands are among the premier musical organizations in the country. Moffit enlisted in 1991, and throughout his service, he played trumpet in concert bands, ceremonial bands, jazz ensembles, and pop/rock bands for both military and civilian audiences. What Goes Around Comes Around features four jazz standards and four original tunes penned by Moffit, who also arranged all the music. The album is a stellar debut for an artist who has had an amazing career despite the fact he is unknown to general jazz audiences. Moffit is at the top of his form as a musician and composer. His warm trumpet tone and hip phrasing pare beautifully with his sophisticated compositions. Like a fine wine that has had time to age, his music is intricate, full of vibrant colors, and eminently pleasing to the palate.

Antonio Adolfo - Jobim Forever

Antonio Carlos Jobim has been one of the brightest, most influential stars in the jazz firmament since winning multiple Grammy Awards for the 1965 release of Getz/Gilberto. His music has been enjoyed by millions of people around the world and recorded countless times by musicians across many different genres. His songs are so ubiquitous that it is very difficult to find a fresh approach to his music. It takes an artist of the caliber of Antonio Adolfo to layer Jobim’s music with a new sensibility and truly transform it into a personal statement. On Jobim Forever, Adolfo imbues nine of Jobim’s iconic tunes from the 1960s with his own, unique artistry. Adolfo is a pianist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. He has recorded over two dozen albums as a leader in the U.S. and Brazil. He has been nominated for several Latin Jazz Grammy Awards, and more than 200 of his original compositions have been recorded by major artists like Sergio Mendes, Earl Klugh, Herb Alpert, Stevie Wonder, Dionne Warwick, and many others. Adolfo chose Jobim’s songs from the 1960s because he wanted to celebrate a great era of music, when Jobim’s innovations helped make Rio de Janeiro an important capital of world culture. The work of two modern Brazilian masters is on display on Jobim Forever. Adolfo’s modern jazz sensibilities, cultural heritage, and elegant and beguiling aesthetics are the perfect ingredients for creating a new paradigm for Jobim’s well-travelled music.

Dave Flippo and Dedications - Jazz From Planet Flippo

When Dr. Dave Flippo told his bandmates that he wanted to write music for each of them for his new album, he asked what elements they wanted him to include. He found their answers surprising and challenging -- like writing a waltz in four or a song about a giraffe. But Flippo, a Chicago-based jazz pianist, composer, vocalist, bandleader, and educator, was certainly up for the challenge. On Dedications – Jazz From Planet Flippo, he includes eight original tunes and three by well-known pop artists re-imagined in the jazz idiom. Each tune is dedicated to a member of the band and to friends, family, and other artists whom he admires. Flippo began his band in 1992. Although there were some personnel changes in the ensemble over the years, the one thing that has remained consistent is Flippo’s wide ranging musical interests. His current band comprises some of the top Chicago-based jazz musicians who have now been with Flippo for 10-15 years. The range of styles on Dedications displays Flippo’s prowess as a composer and arranger. With its eclectic styles, odd meters, and accessible melodies, Dedications – Jazz From Planet Flippo is a showcase for Flippo’s broad interests, erudition and inventiveness. It is an eminently fun album that features a tightly knit, top-notch band all in tune with Flippo’s expansive imagination.