Black Nile | "River Of Emotions"

Born and raised in Los Angeles, multi-instrumentalist brothers Aaron and Lawrence Shaw have been playing music together for most of their lives and more recently as the duo Black Nile. They believe their music is a culmination of two things: their life experiences, and their hometown’s progressive sound as they're influenced by contemporaries like Kamasi Washington, Terrace Martin, Thundercat and Vince Staples as much as they're influenced by past heroes like Miles Davis, George Duke, Nipsey Hu$$le and Jimi Hendrix. 

“The roots we grew up with, they still influence our music to this day, constantly soaking in life experiences to impact our music,” Lawrence says. “Also, transparency will always be in our music. It helps to show people what we went and lived through, so all will know why we play and produce music as hard as we do.” 

Black Nile’s moniker isn’t borrowed from the Wayne Shorter song of the same name, it’s based on an amalgamation based on the two separate words: “Black" -- the very darkest color owing to the absence of or complete absorption of light; and “Nile” -- the longest river in the world originating in East Africa, and is the wifehood of many great civilizations. The result is how the brothers define their band: Black Nile - “The absorption of reality, propagating spiritual energy through the river of conscious minds.” 

Though Black Nile says they can’t be defined by a single genre, the duo draws from music rooted in Black culture, including blues, jazz, hip-hop, R&B, soul and more and they blend it into what they call “A River of Emotions,” a phrase that inspired the title of Black Nile’s third album, River of Emotions, available May 20 on Daddy Kev’s Alpha Pup Records. 

With River of Emotions, Aaron and Lawrence show they have developed a technique for creating music that works best for them while providing the high-quality music they strive to release. “We have worked to create a process which best works for us, constituting a consistent workflow from setup to execution,” the brothers say. In addition, River of Emotions contains some material that Black Nile has played live for years but never recorded.

A tactile sense of cosmic energy flows through the album. It is a visionary expanse that pushes forth into new dimensions of sound with every riff and rhythm by Aaron and Lawrence.

When making River of Emotions, Aaron and Lawrence brought in some of the top young musicians based in the Los Angeles, including drummers Mike “Blaque Dynamite” Mitchell, Malachi Harvey, Mekala Session and Greg Paul. Other guests on the album include keyboardists Diego Gaeta, Paul Cornish and Chris Fishman, and rapper and label-mate Tru Sounds is also featured on a track. 

“Playing with a band both live and in the studio allows everybody to input their own unique identity, creating a new experience every time we're either recording or are on stage,” they say. In regards to some of their live shows they decided; “It was time we took the best of those onstage experiences and record them in studio.” While the Shaw brothers finally got a chance to record a few songs they’d been playing for years, the COVID-19 pandemic forced Black Nile to change its business model where their outreach to fans, including new ones, had to change.

“COVID impacted us tremendously,” Lawrence says. “Between 2019 and through 2020 we were very busy doing live shows and events. Then we released our second album, “The Further Side”, in December 2020 and had a number of dates lined up. Then came the lockdown and everything was cancelled. Pre-COVID, our model was based upon in-person, intimate interactions on stage, etcetera. That had to shift to creating and releasing content online, as well as streaming live shows. We were focused on maintaining a connection with our fans and expanding our online presence. Pre-pandemic we were already creating content for online use but once the shutdowns occurred, we expanded both the amount and frequency we released content online.” 

The May 20 release of River of Emotions couldn’t have come at a better time. As COVID restrictions start to ease, and the world starts to open up, people are ready to experience live music again. “We still plan on creating and releasing content online but we are looking forward to getting back in front of live audiences,” they say.

MELODY GARDOT & PHILIPPE POWELL ANNOUNCE NEW DUO ALBUM ‘ENTRE EUX DEUX’

The announcement of Melody Gardot’s new song ‘This Foolish Heart Could Love You’ anticipates the release of her 6th studio album ‘Entre eux deux’, to be released on 20th May on Decca Records. Following the celebrated success of ‘Sunset in the Blue’, which was certified Gold in France, Gardot joins forces with French-born, composer and pianist Philippe Powell (son of Baden Powell) for her first ever studio album in duo. Today Gardot, receives the prestigious title of Chevalier in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, France’s highest cultural accolade.

Off the back of her collaboration with Sting on the song ‘Little Something’, where she had featured performances on BBC1’s The One Show, Good Morning America, and Skavlan, Gardot continues her collaborative spirit on her new album. An extensive run of live dates now follows into the end of the year, including a three-night residence at the legendary Olympia, Paris (Nov. 21-23, 2022) marking an astounding 23 shows at this iconic venue. 

Sensual, romantic and intimate, the first single ‘This Foolish Heart Could Love You’ (Gardot/Powell) arrives alongside a breathtaking video, produced by 24-7 Productions. Directed by rising star, Beki Mari, who has previously worked with the likes of Rita Ora, Glass Animals, Sigrid, Paloma Faith and Sting, the video is curated in partnership with the Musée Rodin (Paris).

The duality of the musicians is cleverly represented in a music video that does not feature the faces of Gardot and Powell, but instead, two new stars: danseuse étoile Marie-Agnès Gillot, along with her male counterpart from L’Opera Garnier, danseur étoile Germain Louvet. Dressed in archive pieces by Japanese Designer Issey Miyake, their movements dash in and out of sunlight from within the walls of the Musée Rodin as they emulate the feeling of that fleeting moment where love just might escape one’s grasp. Choreographed by Marie-Agnès Gillot, the visual piece brings to life the artist August Rodin’s work, as if to ‘flip the switch’ on who is the muse and who is the artist. The dancers draw their inspiration from the sculptures scattered throughout the museum, while their movements pay homage to some of the most celebrated work of Rodin, whose sculptures were often inspired not by models but, in fact, dancers.

Offering a unique minimalist approach, the ten-song album is a sparse architectural landscape filled exclusively by piano & voice (tuned to 432hz which is also the tuning used in Gardot’s album ‘Currency of Man’). Notably, it is also the first time that Gardot invited someone to take her usual place at the helm of the piano for the duration of the recording. The entire record features Philippe Powell (who Gardot adoringly calls “The Bill Evans of Brazil”) on keys.

The unique combination of Powell and Gardot’s partnership results in many of the songs sounding as if they have come straight out of the Great American Songbook. The only twist of lime is that at times, these “new standards” offer a Gershwinian nod to what could be otherwise dubbed the “Great French Songbook”, since several titles are in the language of the city where they were conceived (France).

Gardot explains, “If I had to sum up the record in a few words, I’d say this record is a dance between two people who love and value the same things: deep poetry and solid melodies” explains Gardot. “The title ‘Entre eux deux’ (loosely translated as “between us two”) stands true; it is a peek into the world of two artists who just really dig each other...we hope you dig it too”.

Philippe Powell adds, “This record is the most wonderful gift a pianist-composer could ever dream of. To write and perform in duo with one of the great artists of our time is the greatest musical experience I have ever had. I am profoundly grateful to Melody, for her love, her trust, her guidance, for bringing out the best within me, and for tireless efforts, and countless hours of hard work to produce this beautiful record.”

In these French songs, we find Gardot and Powell in full swing on an original song cleverly dedicated to the Eiffel Tower “mais si l’on cherche une romance encore plus belle, on vas s’embrasser à La Tour Eiffel”. Gardot then touches on a comical play-by-play on how best to deliver flowers to a woman “surtout pas les fleurs Dimanche matin”. Finally, a legendary love story revisited (singing in duo) on “Plus Fort que Nous” from Claude Lelouche’s French cinema classic Un Homme et Une Femme.

The backstory of the album resembles what one could envision as a brief stint at Warhol’s factory. Challenging themselves to create on the clock, these two artists came together for a period of two weeks, writing all hours of the day, sharing melodies, motifs, and lyrics. While original songs were the main objective, paying tribute was also part of the game. Revisiting the legacy of Powell’s father (Brazilian composer/guitarist Baden Powell) these two proudly carry the Franco-Brazilian torch that was lit so many years ago between celebrated artists Pierre Barouh, Vinicius de Moraes, and Baden Powell. This nod to the past is clear to see, while revisiting the title “Samba em Preludio/Un Jour Sans Toi” where Powell and Gardot sing for the second time in duet.

‘Entre eux deux’ is an impeccably crafted collection of songs shining a spotlight on both artists in their lane as composers and performers. Gardot’s mellifluous vocals, Powell’s consummate piano technique and a seemingly telepathic connection between two distinctive musical voices make this record feel like an instant classic.

Co-Presidents of Decca Label Group, Tom Lewis and Laura Monks, say, "This album is like a whispered conversation between two friends. It is hard to overstate its beauty, intimacy, and simplicity. It is a love letter to jazz and a love letter to France. We are in constant awe of Melody - she never stops seeking new perspectives in her music. And, in Philippe, she has found an extraordinary fellow explorer."

Track listing:  1. This Foolish Heart Could Love You / 2. What Of Your Eyes / 3. Plus Fort Que Nous / 4. À La Tour Eiffel / 5. Fleurs Du Dimanche / 6. Samba Em Prelúdio (Un Jour Sans Toi) / 7. Perhaps You’ll Wonder Why / 8. Recitativo / 9. Ode To Every Man / 10. Darling Fare Thee Well

SHABAKA | "AFRIKAN CULTURE"

Acclaimed saxophonist, philosopher, bandleader, and musician Shabaka Hutchings, now professionally known as Shabaka across all solo musical efforts, announces his first major label solo body of work, Afrikan Culture (impulse!), out on May 20th.   Entirely written by Shabaka the eight-track digital only EP showcases him on various wind instruments and focuses on the aural meditative space.  The first track off the introspective set is “Black meditation” and you can listen to the contemplative song and pre-order the EP here. 

“Afrikan Culture was made around the idea of meditation and what it means for me to still my own mind and accept the music which comes to the surface,” says Shabaka. “It features various types of Shakuhachi flutes and a new technique of creating that I’ve been experimenting with in layering many flutes together to create a forest of sound where melodies and rhythms float in space and emerge in glimpses.”

Produced by Shabaka and frequent collaborator Dilip Harris, Afrikan Culture takes you on a sonically healing journey.  Immersed in a sea of sound, diverse instruments that include the Shakuhachi (a Japanese end-blown flute), a Kora (a stringed instrument used extensively in West Africa), a Mbira (a “thumb piano” from Africa), and a music box envelopes the listener in a soothing sound that lingers on well past the last played note.  

The British-born Barbados-raised saxophonist and clarinetist is the centrifugal force in three critically acclaimed bands: Sons of Kemet, The Comet Is Coming, and the South African-centered Shabaka and the Ancestors. 

He signed to Impulse! in 2018 after a six-year stretch rising to prominence with international sold-out shows that dissolved old genre boundaries and attracted eminent attention. Along the way he picked up accolades including two Mercury Prize nominations, a MOBO and a 2020 inclusion as one of Downbeat’s “Musicians Shaping The Future Of Jazz.” His band The Comet Is Coming created a memorable NPR Tiny Desk show. There has been endless coverage from The New Yorker to Afropunk. Sons of Kemet appeared in The New York Times Magazines “Songs That Matter Right Now” and Pitchfork’s “Best Songs of the 2010s” and were included in the soundtrack to groundbreaking visual media including Beyoncé’s Homecoming on Netflix and Michaela Coel’s award-winning BBC/HBO show I May Destroy You. In 2021 Sons of Kemet released Black To The Future to much critical acclaim and landed on several year-end “best of” lists including Stereogum, NPR, and Paste.

Comet, Kemet and The Ancestors – as well as numerous ad hoc ensembles – are separated by personnel and sound palette but the records naturally talk to each other. He writes the music for Sons of Kemet and composes for Shabaka and the Ancestors, whilst the music for The Comet is Coming is developed from within improvised jam sessions. It’s a rich set of overlapping musical worlds in which music is written whenever the opportunity rises.

Ella Fitzgerald / "Ella At The Hollywood Bowl: The Irving Berlin Songbook"

On August 16, 1958, just a few months after Ella Fitzgerald recorded her now-classic album, Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Irving Berlin Songbook, The First Lady Of Song performed selections from that album live at the Hollywood Bowl to an adoring, sold-out crowd. Conducted and arranged by Paul Weston, who also arranged and conducted the studio sessions, this concert marked the only time that Ella performed these iconic arrangements live with a full orchestra.

Widely considered her greatest achievement, Ella’s Songbook records, with peerless renditions of the best songs by America’s greatest composers, are the cornerstone of the Verve catalog and the undisputed standard for jazz vocal recordings. At the inaugural Grammy Awards, her Irving Berlin album won Ella her first Grammy for “Best Vocal Performance, Female,” and was also nominated for “Album Of The Year.” Aside from the lucky audience at the Hollywood Bowl that night, it wasn’t generally known, until the discovery of these tapes, that Ella had ever performed any of the Songbook arrangements in concert, let alone that such a pristine and sonically sumptuous recording existed.

On June 24, Verve/UMe will proudly release the full, never-before-released 15-song performance, aptly titled, Ella At The Hollywood Bowl: The Irving Berlin Songbook, on CD, vinyl, limited edition yellow splatter vinyl, and digitally. This landmark record, discovered in the private collection of producer and Verve Records founder Norman Granz, marks the first time a live Songbook has been released from Ella. It is also significant in that it captures the only time Ella worked in concert with arranger-conductor Paul Weston. And, although she performed regularly at the Hollywood Bowl, this is the first full-length concert by Ella from this iconic venue to be released (notably, Ella was featured prominently on Verve’s Jazz At The Hollywood Bowl album, recorded and released in 1956, the year Granz formed the label). The live tracks were mixed from the original ¼” tapes by Grammy Award-winning producer and musician Gregg Field who played drums for Ella in her later years. The album is rounded out with insightful liner notes about the concert and Ella’s Songbook series by noted author and music critic, Will Friedwald.

Ella At The Hollywood Bowl: The Irving Berlin Songbook is available to pre-order now and is being previewed with a lively rendition of “Puttin’ On The Ritz”. It is accompanied by an animated video, directed by Alberto Baroni, that cleverly brings the song and Giulia Pelizzaro’s dynamic album art to life. 

While Ella’s live appearances had evolved over the years from her early big band years where she primarily sang in ballrooms with the Chick Webb Orchestra to supper clubs, theaters and concert halls, she mostly stuck to a nightclub format of performing a selection of songs accompanied by a trio. This performance at the Hollywood Bowl was incredibly unique for her. As Friedwald reveals in the liners, “But to come on stage – with a full orchestra – and essentially sing the contents of a studio album, well, nobody did that. Not Sinatra, not Tony Bennett, not Miles Davis, nor any of the other key innovators who contributed to the development of what came to be known as ‘the concept album.” Friedwald continues, “so exactly why did Fitzgerald and Granz choose to face this particular music and dance in this singular fashion? We may never know, but the logical answer is that the songbooks were proving to be such a major component to her burgeoning career that… Fitzgerald and Granz were determined to do something special in honor of the ongoing series.”

And special it was. Across 15 songs, Ella and the orchestra performed dazzling arrangements of some of Irving Berlin’s best-known songs including the classic ballads “How Deep Is The Ocean” and “Supper Time,” Hollywood tunes “You’re Laughing At Me” and “Get Thee Behind Me Satan,” and swinging up-tempo numbers “Cheek To Cheek,” “Top Hat,” “I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm,” “Heat Wave,” and “Puttin’ On The Ritz.” The concert pops with an electricity not found on the studio recording as Ella feeds off the energy and enthusiasm of the crowd, whose applause and adulation bookend each song.

The Hollywood Bowl, which is celebrating its centennial this year, loomed large in Ella’s life. She made her Bowl debut alongside Louis Armstrong in 1956 at a star-studded program, which was released as the double LP, Jazz At The Hollywood Bowl. Ella holds the rare distinction of having sold out the Hollywood Bowl in each of five decades, from the 1950s through the 1990s. Aside from headlining numerous times, Ella, who lived in LA for much of her career, also performed as part of the annual Playboy Jazz Festival; her last appearance was a couple years before her passing in 1996. Read more about Ella and her history with the Hollywood Bowl here: https://www.hollywoodbowl.com/about/watch-and-listen/bowl-history-spotlight-ella-fitzgerald

The voice of Ella Fitzgerald, the songs of Irving Berlin, the timeless arrangements of Paul Weston with a orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl, Ella At The Hollywood Bowl: The Irving Berlin Songbook is the pinnacle of American song – live and like never before.

Dubbed "The First Lady of Song," Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996) was the most popular female jazz singer in the United States for more than half a century. In her lifetime, she sold more than 40 million albums and received most every honor a performer could dream of winning, including the Kennedy Center Honor (1979), the National Medal of Arts (1987), France's Commander of Arts and Letters (1990), the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1992) and 13 Grammy Awards. In 2007, the United States Postal Service honored Fitzgerald with a postage stamp.

In her six-decade long career, the Queen of Jazz recorded more than 200 albums and roughly 2,000 songs, making her the most recorded female – and the second most recorded – performer in history. Among those recordings are works with some of history's greatest musicians and legendary songwriters.

Fitzgerald's distinct style has influenced multiple generations of singers and her work transcends generations and musical genres. She had an extraordinary vocal range and flexibility and possessed a preternatural gift for pitch, rhythmic sense and flawless diction. Immensely versatile, she could sing it all from jazz and bebop to ballads, swing, pop and rock. With an unparalleled ability for mimicry and “scat” singing, Fitzgerald also produced melodic lines that put her in the category of great instrumental improvisers. Her voice was flexible, wide-ranging, accurate and ageless.

She passed away due to complications from diabetes, dying in her Beverly Hills home on June 15, 1996.

The Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation was created and funded in 1993 by Ella Fitzgerald in order to fulfill her desires to use the fruits of her success to help people of all races, cultures and beliefs. Fitzgerald hoped to make their lives more rewarding, and she wanted to foster a love of reading, as well as a love of music. In addition, she hoped to provide assistance to the at-risk and disadvantaged members of our communities - assistance that would enable them to achieve a better quality of life. The Board of Directors of the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation seeks to continue Ella Fitzgerald's goals by making charitable grants serving four major areas of interest: Creating educational and other opportunities for children; fostering a love and knowledge of music; including assistance to students of music the provision of health care; food, shelter and counseling to those in need and specific areas of medical care and research with an emphasis on Diabetes, vision problems and heart disease.

ELLA AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL: THE IRVING BERLIN SONGBOOK TRACKLISTING: 1. The Song Is Ended / 2. You’re Laughing at Me / 3. How Deep Is the Ocean / 4. Heat Wave / 5. Suppertime / 6. Cheek to Cheek / 7. Russian Lullaby / 8. Top Hat White Tie and Tails / 9. I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm / 10. Get Thee Behind Me Satan / 11. Let’s Face the Music And Dance / 12. Always / 13. Puttin’ on the Ritz / 14. Let Yourself Go / 15. Alexander’s Ragtime Band.

 

Canelita Sabrosa release their multicultural debut album

Serial entrepreneur Chris Nettuno isn’t merely a music patron; he’s a member of the band. And when the COVID-19 lockdown threatened the livelihood of his group of full-time studio musicians and sidemen, the conga player found a way to keep the music playing. Those weekly porch concerts not only kept the musicians afloat but became the lifeblood of the debut album from the multicultural band Canelita Sabrosa. The Atlanta-based unit’s self-titled set, produced by five-time Grammy winner Dru Castro (India.Aire, Usher, Childish Gambino) along with the band’s two-time Grammy-winning guitarist Julio Miranda and drummer Chunky Sounds, drops May 20 on the band’s Canelita Sabrosa Records label.   

During the first few months of the pandemic, Nettuno invited the band over to play in his family room. After a few songs, they heard applause coming from outside the house. Neighbors had gathered and asked the group to perform outside. The eight-piece outfit that blends Latin, jazz, R&B, funk and rock was happy to oblige the following week. Word spread quickly and soon hundreds of people began flocking to the weekly Friday night shows. A local television reporter was in the audience, which led to a segment on Atlanta’s CBS affiliate. The grassroots buzz inspired Canelita Sabrosa to record an album featuring a mix of the popular cover tunes that populate their live setlist along with five original songs composed by Miranda and a pair of songs written by vocalist-rhythm guitarist Kenny Nettuno and his son, KJ Nettuno.  

Canelita Sabrosa, which means tasty cinnamon in Spanish, is a name selected to reflect the group’s multiethnic makeup as well as the multicultural stylings they incorporate into their world music amalgam. Colorful Puerto Rican, Afro Cuban, Brazilian and Caribbean nuances intermingle with improvised jazz explorations and rock god guitar pyrotechnics. Anchored by thick percussive salsa, samba and bossa nova beats constructed by Sounds, Chris Nettuno and percussionist Frankie Quinones, Miranda issues piercing lead guitar riffs and scorching solos seasoned by Kenny Nettuno’s spicy rhythms and sweet melodies. As bassist Matt Stallard carves deep-pocketed grooves, the dynamic three-man horn section - trumpeter Justin Powell, saxophonist EJ Hughes and sax/flutist Mac Isseks - douses the tracks with fire and fervor. Adding to the project’s pedigree is four-time Grammy-winning engineer Ralph Cacciurri (Coldplay, OutKast, Pink).

“Canelita Sabrosa is a culmination of diverse cultures and musical backgrounds. We all have one thing in common and that is passion: passion for life, love and music. That passion is what drives every part of our music - the grooves, the tones, the words!” enthused Chris Nettuno.

The music on “Canelita Sabrosa” is primarily instrumental with a handful of selections appearing on the album in both instrumental and vocal versions. The eclectic track list confirms the band’s multigenerational appeal with the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and present day represented by fresh versions of The Beatles’ “Come Together,” Bill Withers’ “Use Me,” The Cure’s “Lovesong” and Camila Cabello’s “Señorita” and “Havana.”

“The covers are all about the grooves, the feeling. We try to play music that people can identify with and feel while letting each musician fly freely to let loose and show their musical soul and unique voice in each song,” said Chris Nettuno.

Of the originals, “Te Espere” moves to a sultry and sensual Latin jazz groove. “Si Se Puede” sashays and shimmies along a percussion and horn powered conga line. Miranda’s impassioned electric guitar ignites “Morning” as invigorating harmonies cascade over layers of percussion. The exotic “Breath of Rio” captivates and entrances while the anthemic “Vamos” is a celebratory fiesta. Elation propels the rousing “Clouded Vision.” Kenny Nettuno’s smooth and inviting voice provides cozy comfort on “Late Winter.”     

“Canelita Sabrosa” has been serviced to radio and is already collecting airplay and playlist adds at world music outlets. It’s music to dance to, it’s music to party to, and the exuberant energy and vibrant spirit that proliferate the album are infectious and intoxicating.        

“As a band, we really enjoy playing together and Covid couldn’t slow us down. We started recording in the summer of Covid, which was The Summer of Love for Canelita Sabrosa. We wrote and recorded because we never stopped when everyone else had to. We found a way. Chris Nettuno had other plans. Because of this one man, us musicians where saved. He kept us playing to feed the beast in our soul to perform for people and to help them forget that we were in a pandemic. As the world steadily emerges from the grip of the pandemic, the timing is perfect to release our first album,” said Miranda.

CÉU ANNOUNCES 2022 NORTH AMERICAN SUMMER TOUR

Brazilian singer, songwriter Céu is excited to return to the United States this summer for her 2022 North American Tour! Kicking off this July, it will be her first time back since 2016.  Since her last visit, the renowned artist has won 3 GRAMMYs, and released 2 stunning records, including  the newest album Um Gosto de Sol. 

Um Gosto de Sol  is her first covers album that features 14 beautiful renditions of classic Brazilian songs and international classics remade and crafted by the Latin GRAMMY Award winner. It is an ode to her roots back when she was living in New York in 1998. Back then she diveded her time between a music course - the reason why she had left Brazil - and various jobs such as a cleaner, coat-check attendant, and waitress, to help pay for her rent. During that time she focused on cover songs, singing someone else's repertoire was her first lesson - it guided her to find her own musicality - and, in the end, it was what gave her the fundamental tools to discover her place as a composer. 

It has been fifteen years now since her debut self titled album was released in the United States, and after five original albums, Um Gosto de Sol is the first album in which Céu is only a performer, giving voice to a dozen songs written by her favorite musicians and songwriters. Something she always wanted to do and finally had the time as a result of the pandemic’s impact on the artist’s life. 

Céu likes to say that this is indeed an album about hope. Not in an attempt to create new songs that simulated a beautiful future ahead - which at that point, in the shadow of the pandemic, would seem so unbelievable to us. But in a movement to strengthen what has - and has always been - most solid and most powerful: our history and our emotion. Even through the tough and unpredictable moments in quarantine, Um Gosto de Sol, brings a taste of sunshine and a lot of heat. 

Bring this album to the stage and coming back to the US will be a homecoming for Céu. It was fifteen years ago when her debut self titled album Céu broke in the US garnering critical acclaim and catapulitng her into the spotlight. Céu recalls, “I'm very happy to come back to the United States after all these years, especially to cities like Miami and Philadelphia, where I haven't played for more than 10 years, and to return to New York, Boston, Washington, Chicago, Seattle, Solana Beach, LA and especially to San Francisco where it all started for me in the United States. Performing again in a venue I love so much, like The Independent in San Francisco, where I released my first album in 2007, will be a very special moment.” 

Céu has created an acustic show that will dazzle and delight audiences as she as crafted the set based off her newest album "Um Gosto de Sol" and fan favorites! The concert will carry organic textures and be centered around the 7 string Brazilan acoustic guitar, a favorite of hers which will be played on tour by Leo Mendes who is great Brazilian instrumentalist from Bahia and son of the renowned Brazilian acoustic guitar player Roberto Mendes .  He is well adept at Brazilian rhythms and has performed with famous musicians like Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil. Rounding out the Céu’s trio on stage and joining Leo Mendes will be her oldest musical partner Lucas Martins on bass and Thomas Harres on drums who is very present in the new Brazilian music scene. 

The tour will be organic in nature as she is backed by the band acoustically. Songs planned range from Brazilian to International classics, including hits from the last 6 albums. Céu comments, “It's a concert that simply talks about bridges, bridges between traditional samba and modern music, between Brazil and the world, where I bring in the great artists who have influenced me musically from Bahia to international artists and who represent my great musical influences today. This concert presents myself as an artist close to her origins of traditional Brazilian music, popular and international references.” She continues, “I think this is my first show that is so close to my musical roots and where people can understand my musical journey and hear my own songs in a more acoustic but modern context.” 

Check out the tour dates here and below.

 Tour Dates:

July 3 - Ottawa, ON @ Ottawa Jazz Fest

July 4 - Montreal, QC - Montreal Jazz Fest

July 5 - Boston, MA @ City Winery

July 6 - New York, NY @ Lincoln Center

July 8 - Washington, DC @ City Winery

July 9 - Philadelphia, PA @ City Winery

July 10 - Toronto, ON @ Mixto Festival

July 12 - Chicago, IL @ City Winery

July 13 - Atlant, GA @ City Winery

July 16 - Miami, FL @ North Beach Bandshell

July 19 - Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up

July 20 - Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room

July 21 - Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room

July 22 - San Francisco, CA @ Independent

July 24 - Seattle, WA @ Here After

Plínio Fernandes | “Saudade”

Decca Gold has announced the signing of 27-year-old Brazilian classical guitarist Plínio Fernandes. Plínio will release his major label debut solo album “Saudade” on July 8th. 

On signing with Decca Gold, Plínio says, “It’s really a dream come true: the opportunity to be signed by Decca Gold. All my heroes recorded for the label, especially Andrés Segovia. Being the one chosen to carry through that legacy is amazing, but such a responsibility.” 

Born and raised in São Paulo, Brazil, Plínio Fernandes’s musical talent has brought him all over the world, including to the Royal Academy of Music in London where he received his master’s degree and has lived for the last seven years. With “Saudade,” an entrancing collection of works for solo guitar, Fernandes makes his auspicious recording debut for Decca Gold, weaving together all his musical loves and telling his complex and captivating international story in sound. “I chose songs that I grew up listening to,” Fernandes explains, “and in many cases I fell in love with the guitar through them.” We hear that boundless love, that charge of artistic talent in early bloom, throughout “Saudade.” 

The album also features special guests Sheku Kanneh-Mason on cello in Villa-Lobos’ flowing and lyrical “Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5: I. Aria (Cantilena),” Braimah Kanneh-Mason on violin in “Menino,” and renowned vocalist Maria Rita in a rendition of “O Mundo É Um Moinho.”  

Plínio has worked with Sheku Kanneh-Mason in the past when he was featured in both Sheku’s album Elgar on the track “Scarborough Fair,” and in the BBC “Imagine” documentary episode “This House is Full of Music,” which centered around the Kanneh-Mason family. 

We also hear Fernandes evoke his love for a far-off home, Brazil, a wistful love that renders the passionate expression in his guitar work all the more palpable. “I’ve found a home in London, and I plan to stay,” he says, “but the title Saudade means nostalgia, longing for something, which is literally what I feel here. The way I connect to Brazil and my identity as a Brazilian artist is through music.” To that end, Fernandes performs a virtuosic, soaringly melodic set that spans a wide range: from the famous Five Preludes of Heitor Villa-Lobos — the towering representative of 20th-century classical music in Brazil —to the timeless songs of Antônio Carlos Jobim, Milton Nascimento, Jacob do Bandolim, Violeta Parra, Edu Lobo, Cartola and more. 

In addition to releasing Saudade, Fernandes is also committed to music education and was recently invited to join the Music Masters charity as an ambassador. In this capacity he’ll be performing, teaching, and guiding young musicians in the schools, carrying on the pedagogic traditions and practices that started him on his path. 

TRACKLIST: 1. Assanhado — Jacob do Bandolim / 2. The Girl From Ipanema — Antônio Carlos Jobim / 3. Beatriz — Edu Lobo, Chico Buarque / 4. Aquarelle: II. Valseana — Sérgio Assad / 5. Aquarela do Brasil — Ary Barroso / 6. Bachianas brasileiras No. 5: I. Aria (Cantilena): Adagio (feat. Sheku Kanneh-Mason) — Heitor Villa-Lobos / 7. Ponta de Areia — Milton Nascimento, Fernando Brant / 8. 5 Preludes, W419: No.1 in E Minor — Heitor Villa-Lobos / 9. 5 Preludes, W419: No. 2 in E Major — Heitor Villa-Lobos / 10. 5 Preludes, W419: No. 3 in A Minor — Heitor Villa-Lobos / 11. 5 Preludes, W419: No. 4 in E Minor — Heitor Villa-Lobos / 12. 5 Preludes, W419: No. 5 in D Major — Heitor Villa-Lobos / 13. O Mundo É Um Moinho (feat. Maria Rita) — Angenor de Oliveira / 14. Recuerdos de Ypacarai — Zulema de Mirkin, Demetrio Ortíz / 15. Samba do Avião — Antônio Carlos Jobim / 16. Gracias A La Vida — Violeta Parra / 17. Se todos fossem iguais a você / Águas de Março Medley — Antônio Carlos Jobim / 18. Menino (feat. Braimah Kanneh-Mason) — Sérgio Assad.

Alune Wade | "Sultan"

Few artists would dare to tackle quite such a kaleidoscope of music styles and accompanying socio-political issues in the space of 12 songs and 66 minutes. And yet France-based Senegalese virtuosic bassist, vocalist and composer Alune Wade, who’s worked with Joe Zawinul, Marcus Miller, Oumou Sangare, Bobby McFerrin, Youssou N’Dour and others, achieves this with effortless mastery on Sultan, his fifth solo album in 15 years.

The epic dozen-song Sultan, which represent 12 chapters of a voyage, features Wade’s onstage band, including percussionist Adriano Tenorio DD, pianist and keyboardist Cédric Ducheman, trumpeter Carlos Sarduy, saxophonist Hugues Mayot and drummer Daril Esso. The 43-year-old Wade is also accompanied by many high-profile guest stars who have been regular accomplices in Wade’s storied music career: Paco Séry, Cyril Atef, Lenny White, Josh Deutsch, Ismail Lumanovski, Hein Benmiloud, Mustapha Sahbi, Nasriddine Chebli, Harold López-Nussa, Christian Sands, Leo Genovese, Bobby Spark, Daniel Blake, Faris Ishaq and others. The guest artists help to expand the voices of Nora Mint, Seymali, Mounir Troudi, PPS the Writah, Aziz Sahmaoui, Mehdi Nassouli and Djam.

The seeds for Sultan were planted while Wade was wrapping up his fourth album, 2018’s African Fast Food, which included “Pharaoh’s Dance,” a song he says allowed a peek into what he’d been wanting to develop for some time.

“In 2018, I was fascinated by a potential meeting between the musics of East Africa – notably Ethiopia – and Egypt,” Wade says from his home base in Sartrouville, near Paris. “My ensuing travels – and there were many – allowed me to meet artists from the diaspora that you find in New York and Paris. This dynamic melting pot was enriched by my passion for jazz, highlife and Afrobeat. So, I just went deeper and deeper into my private musical laboratory, seeking to fuse these styles without losing any of their respective textures.”

But Wade’s reflections go well beyond mere music spheres. He has always displayed a sensitivity to the historical, social and political turmoil of our times and these infuse these 12 songs, as explained in the adjoining liner notes: “I have never stopped reading. And I decided to go on a philosophical mission based on Africa’s untold history: I wanted to recount it in another way, take off layers of revisionism, inch closer to the original sources.”

The COVID-19 lockdown gave him some breathing space in an Ile-de-France home shared by his partner and their child. Wade’s vision sometimes strayed the Mother Continent’s diaspora: “I read a book on the Falasha and their tragic uprooting and experiences in Israel. Its author, French Senegalese intellectual Tidiane N'Diaye reflects on the deep injustices and mistreatment these Ethiopian Jews went through in their odyssey, both at home and in the country that ‘welcomed’ them. Despite this, however, it made me feel that there remains an unbreakable link between Africa and the Middle East. I’ve been trying to expand on it.”

Wade’s focal point with Sultan was Tunisia. A 25-day residency supported by the Institut Français de Tunis kickstarted the project in January 2021. His residential villa in La Marsa, next to the Tunisian capital, became a rehearsal base for Wade and mercurial vocalist Mounir Troudi. The latter helped the former assemble the leading lights of the country’s traditional music scene.

“It was a true discovery for me. I had been more acquainted to Moroccan and Algerian sounds. But much had familiar echoes: the Stambouli style, for example, mirrors the diasporic culture of the Gnawa, a music I’ve grown to embrace over the years.”

Once the rehearsals consolidated the crossover experiments Wade sought, he took them to Tunis’ modern Arpège studios. He then left the Mediterranean shores to share them in New York and Paris with multi-Grammy winning producer/engineer/mixer Nic Hard (of Snarky Puppy, The Klezmatics, Elizabeth Chan and-a-plethora-of-others fame). Hard used his years of experience to knead the long explorations of this bass conductor into cohesive whole.

This tapestry now goes by the name of Sultan. It’s an Arabic name both masculine and feminine newborns, a word used not only in Arabic but also Turkish, Bengali, Avar and Urdu. This royal image and figure suits Wade to a tee: a graceful confidence, a calm authority, and an intensity that his bass playing echoes throughout these 12 musical chapters.

Like all wise leaders, he has surrounded himself with accomplices who shoulder the responsibility Wade delegates, entering a creative dialogue that he has the secret of. These outside artists have been part of the illuminati from Paris’ world music sphere for decades. They do honor to the restless explorations of an artist whose initial inspirations balanced delicately along a fine invisible line - between the creative artistry of his conductor father and the down-to-earth realism of his nurturing mother.

While Sultan represents 12 chapters of a voyage, Wade has been on own journey of sorts since he began on guitar as a child, egged on by an inspirational father who, at the time, was conducting Senegal’s Symphonic Army Orchestra. Precociousness was Wade’s middle name. Within years, he learnt scales for the piano, guitar and bass. Ismaël Lo’s bass player, Samba Laobé N’Diaye, lent him his first bass guitar at five and, irony of sorts, he took over from N’Diaye’s successor 12 years later. In 1999, he began his recording career at the singer’s side for Lo’s seminal albums, first with Jiguen and, two years on Dabakh.

This was just one of a list of collaborations Wade enjoyed over the decades. They read like a who’s who from the worlds of jazz and crossover music: Joe Zawinul, Marcus Miller, Oumou Sangare, Bobby McFerrin, Youssou N’Dour, Cheick Tidiane Seck, Harold López-Nussa, Lokua Kanza, Blick Bassy, Fatoumata Diawara… the list goes on. His inspirations – Weather Report, Charlie Parker, Salif Keita, to name but a few – reflect musical choices he made. Many were distilled in explorations with the aptly named University of Gnawa, an ‘institution’ Alune co-founded with the mesmeric Aziz Sahmaoui, the virtuoso singer and sinter player, formerly of L’Orchestre National de Barbès, also makes an appearance in Sultan.

John Armato |"The Drummer Loves Ballads"

The Drummer Loves Ballads is the debut album of John Armato. It is a unique full-album listening experience featuring extraordinary music, musicians, and moods, produced and engineered by some of the industry's top talent.

The album was designed to be a fresh soundtrack for Sunday afternoons, romantic evenings, and melancholy midnights, but to feel like a long-loved jazz favorite. It features more than 25 musicians, including the legends Houston Person and Warren Vach. From intimate quartet settings to sweeping orchestral arrangements, The Drummer Loves Ballads (TDLB) is as rewarding to listen to closely as it is relaxing to listen to casually.

TDLB includes tributes to two beloved Kansas City musicians, the late Steve Patke and the late Kerry Strayer. It debuts an original tune commemorating the Trocadero, a now-forgotten jazz club in Kansas City that was a favorite destination for Armatos parents when they were dating. Three spoken-word tracks provide a narrative arc that brings alive the backstory that set the album in motion nearly 40 years ago.

The song list includes music written or made famous by Henry Mancini, Benny Goodman, Horace Silver, Ahmad Jamal, Gerry Mulligan, John Williams, Alan and Marilyn Bergman, and other greats. At the core is a quartet that is occasionally complemented by lush string and wind arrangements courtesy Paul Roberts. Wayne Hawkins is on piano, Rod Fleeman is on guitar, Gerald Spaits is on bass, and Armato is the drummer who loves ballads.

Houston Person and Warren Vach headline a guest artist line-up that includes vocalist and Monk Institute veteran and International Jazz. Ambassador Lisa Henry, renowned clarinetist Lynn Zimmer, the late Jeff Lisenby (American Accordion Hall of Fame), Ron Gutierrez in a vocal duet with the late Molly Hammer, the warm baritone sax of Brett Jackson, the cashmere tenor of Doug Talley, the gypsy-jazz viola of Steffen Drabek, and the stirring new vocal talent of Lucy Wijnands, 2021 winner of the prestigious Ella Fitzgerald Vocal Competition.

TDLB was produced by veteran touring and recording artist (and fellow drummer), John Cushon. It was recorded by Justin Wilson of Sound81. Additional tracking was engineered by Pete Millrose (with legendary vocalist Anne Phillips overseeing the Person/Vach session), and Keaton Comiskey. It was mixed and co-produced by six-time Grammy Award winner Howard Lindeman and mastered by another master with multiple Grammys in tow, Greg Calbi of Sterling Sound.

Traditional in-studio recording techniques, combined with some of the finest ears on earth, results in an album with the warmth of a classic jazz LP but with contemporary clarity and depth.

Pasquale Grasso | "Be-Bop!"

Following the extraordinary success of guitar virtuoso Pasquale Grasso’s digital showcase series, which launched in 2019 and includes Solo Standards, Solo Ballads, Solo Holiday, and tributes to jazz royalty Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Sony Music Masterworks is set to release Be-Bop!, a brilliant new tribute to be-bop pioneers Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. This will be the Italian-born Grasso’s sixth album for Masterworks, and will be released on June 17. 

Be-Bop! kicks off in exhilarating fashion with today’s release of Dizzy’s quintessential composition, “A Night in Tunisia,” originally composed in 1942 when he was a member of Benny Carter’s band and which marked the beginning of Gillespie’s unique blending of Afro-Cuban rhythms with American jazz. Grasso achieves an astonishing balance of technical wizardry and swing, sounding like two guitarists coming out of the gate on the challenging head on top of the syncopated Latin rhythm. And his fleet-fingered solo break at the 1:03 mark is in the breathtaking tradition of Charlie Parker’s famous alto sax break from his 1946 Dial recording of the tune. Pasquale’s stream of single notes that follows for the next two minutes in his solo is even more astounding, brimming with rare facility and abandon to match his fertile imagination. Roland also turns in an animated bowed bass solo here while Balla engages in some slick trades with the leader near the end of the piece. Finally, catch Grasso’s brief dazzling quote from one of Paganini’s Caprices (the extremely difficult No. 24 in A minor) in the coda. 

Backed by his working trio of bassist Ari Roland and drummer Keith Balla, the trio is in sync through super-up-tempo, challenging fare like “Shaw ‘Nuff,” “Groovin’ High,” “Cheryl,” “Ornithology” and “Be-bop,” whereas they settle into a more relaxed vibe on Thelonious Monk’s gorgeous ballad “Ruby, My Dear.” Parker’s “Quasimodo” is another relaxed mid-tempo number, featuring superb octave playing by Grasso and a brilliant bowed solo by Roland, and the trio takes its time on the lush “Lamento Della Campagnia,” based on the Billie Holiday torch song “Some Other Spring.” As the 33-year-old Grasso explained, “I had a tough time last year and Billie’s version of ‘Some Other Spring’ got me through some hard times, so I decided to record it.” 

Special guest vocalist Samara Joy, who has been collaborating with Pasquale since 2020, appears on one track, the jivey mid-tempo swinger “I’m in a Mess” (originally sung by Joe Carroll on Gillespie’s 1951 album, School Days). “She’s incredibly talented and I’m happy to perform with her night after night,” Grasso said. “We’re having a lot of fun together.” 

In support of the new album, fans can catch Pasquale Grasso on tour in several US and European markets both as a headliner and as a featured guest artist in Samara Joy’s band, including upcoming stops at The Django in New York (May 18), the Montreal International Jazz Festival (July 2), the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia (July 9-17), the Jazz in Marciac Festival (September 23), and New York’s Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola (August 22), the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival (August 28) and The Blue Note (September 12 and 26).

Born and raised in Ariano Irpino in Southern Italy’s Campania region, Grasso relocated to New York City in 2009 and has since been wowing audiences with regular appearances at Mezzrow, Smalls and The Django, where he has showcased his tremendous command of the fretboard by freely moving between single notes, chords and independent bass lines while flashing Art Tatum-esque filigrees with uncanny speed and precision. “Since I was a little kid, I always had this sound in my head, then slowly it’s coming out,” he explained. “I was never too much influenced by guitar players, for some reason. I grew up listening to Art Tatum, Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk. Those were my guys. For guitar, I always liked Charlie Christian and Oscar Moore, but I never really listened to too much guitar players. Of course, when I hear Barney Kessel and Chuck Wayne and Jimmy Raney, I love them. They’re all great artists but they never really got me when I was a kid. I was more into Bird and Bud, Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge and Louis Armstrong. So I was always more influenced by horn players and piano players than guitar players.” 

In 2015, Pasquale won the Wes Montgomery International Jazz Guitar Competition in New York City, including performing with guitar legend Pat Martino’s organ trio. Grasso was subsequently signed to an exclusive deal with Sony Masterworks, which led to his initial series of digital releases in 2019. Working with the simpatico rhythm tandem of Roland and Balla again, the great guitarist takes things up a notch on Be-Bop! 

“Obviously, I think the older you get the more you understand,” Grasso said. ‘When you’re in your twenties, you just want to play everything you know. But over time, you realize that music is not about that -- it’s about telling a story and making somebody feel certain emotions. I love Lester Young for that. That’s the beauty of music.” 

Bill King: Atlanta Underground (1979 Reissue)

In the late ‘70s, Atlanta was at a crossroads. Rumour was, with improvements to the interstate; Atlanta would emerge the progressive metropolis of the south—the next big business and commerce centre. A destination for all Americans and cultural hotbed. We were only months away from impresario Ted Turner's launch of ground-breaking CNN cable news. Atlanta the headquarters.

Alicia Bridges was still packing dancehalls with I Love the Nightlife—a creation of local hero Bill Lowery and producer Steve Buckingham. In 1978, Bridges was a Grammy nominee and performed. The fever of the disco moment also drove the crowds to the Atlanta Underground. A place of historical significance given over to trinket shops and glitzy dance rooms.

I was firmly at Axis Sound Studios, once the ownership of the Christian music dynasty - the Le Fevre family—early days of Christian rock. I’d catch a rare free hour or so and lay down a track with in-house players and others from the black community when possible. Yet remember, matters weren’t as fluid between the races.

Cultural entrepreneurs Alvin Few, Johnny Simone and Kenny Stover booked the occasional session on which I played Fender Rhodes, one the hit, Give Me the Sunshine with Leo’s Starship. I continued to peddle songs to Bill Lowery, aiming to get my take on dance music down on disc.

When I hooked up with arranger Skip Lane, principal Saxman for arranger Henry Mancini, my vision took shape. Neither of us had much coin yet found a way to raise a few dollars to embellish four tracks with strings (Summerheat, Magnolia Nights, After the Rain and Atlanta Underground).

Atlanta Underground was my attempt to catch that cross-talk between jazz and dance. A juncture where Isaac Hayes, a local, Barry White, and Curtis Mayfield shared familiar ground. Skip came through. We turned some heads with the genre-bending exploits. This is the second release from the Atlanta Sessions 1978-1979.

Underground features Bob Dylan’s/Miles Davis bassist Harvey Brooks, from Stevie Wonder’s Wonderlove – David Myles guitar, drummer Kevin White from Wayne Cochran’s Florida soul unit, and Art Blakey’s sideman – Harvey Whitehead percussion. Skip Lane – alto sax and string arrangement.

Musicians: Bill King – Composer – Acoustic piano, Fender Rhodes, Clavinet D. / David Myles – Guitar / Harvey Brooks – bass / Kevin White – Drums / Harvey Whitehead – Percussion / Skip Lane – alto sax and string arranger (Atlanta Strings).

Brian Culbertson | "The Trilogy, Part 3: White”

The three-phase arc of a longtime relationship serves as the muse of R&B-jazz hitmaker Brian Culbertson’s trilogy of instrumental albums that he wrote, produced and performed with creative input from the 800-plus members of his Hang Club. On Friday (May 6), the third disc in the series, a collection of hopeful songs titled “The Trilogy, Part 3: White,” drops on the BCM Entertainment label. It’s Culbertson’s 25th album that to date has launched nearly forty singles to shoot to number one on the Billboard chart.

Culbertson composed the thirty songs that populate the three albums thematically along what he describes as the three-part arc of a long-term relationship: the hot and steamy “falling in love” phase, the rocky middle when perhaps they even break up for a bit, and the couple reunites to live “happily ever after” phase. The first album in the series, the sensual and romantic “Part 1: Red” was released last October and the second set, the melancholy “Part 2: Blue” streeted in January. “Part 3: White” is slightly more diverse stylistically with the uplifting urban grooves, nuanced contemporary jazz and shimmering pop songs fostering feelings of hope as the relationship thrives and endures.

All three albums in “The Trilogy” were crafted with input from the Hang Club, a tiered membership program via Patreon that Culbertson formed in 2020 tied to the weekly Friday night show that he streams live on YouTube. Hang Club members were granted exclusive behind-the-scenes access into every aspect of Culbertson’s creative process: from songwriting, arranging, recording, producing and mixing.

The first single released from “Part 3: White” for airplay is “Step Into Love,” a sultry mid-tempo call-and-response track featuring Culbertson’s signature piano melodies engaged with Patches Stewart’s soulful muted trumpet explorations, a song that has already been added into Culbertson’s live repertoire.

“I knew it would translate live because the song has real guitar, real bass, a lot of percussion. I had (drummer) Chris Miskel lay a simple groove down and it really turned out nice on stage,” said Culbertson, who has concert dates booked through November to support the album series.

As he has throughout “The Trilogy,” Culbertson performed the majority of the instruments on “Part 3: White” himself, playing piano, vocals, keyboards, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Hammond B3 Organ, Clavinet, Moogs, guitar, bass, drums, percussion, cello, trumpet and trombone amongst other instruments. Guitarists Paul Jackson Jr., Michael Thompson, Isaiah Sharkey and Gerey Johnson, bassist Maurice Fitzgerald, trumpeter-flugelhornist Michael Stever and vocalist Micaela Haley also appear on the album.

Something different for Culbertson on “Part 3: White” is “Dance With Me Tonight,” which opens with a clubby pulsating beat before breaking into a festive salsa rhythm lavishly decorated with layers of percussion, horns and breathy flute accents by Althea Rene.

“I kept hearing more and more stuff in my head on ‘Dance With Me Tonight’ so I just kept adding it. The last piece of the puzzle that I added was Althea on that rhythmic flute-vocal thing that she did. As a producer, I go where the song takes me. I’ve never had a song that was asking for all that (instrumentation) before. This one asked for it. I’m not going to say no so I just did it. It’s a fun song. I threw the kitchen sink in on that one,” laughs Culbertson, who will be hosting the ninth annual Napa Valley Jazz Getaway in California Wine Country from June 8-11, the sold-out festival that he founded, curates and headlines. 

Culbertson voraciously explores and incorporates innovate sounds and technology into his recordings, which is heard in the lush sonic design he architected for “Part 3: White.”

“One of the new palettes that I tapped into on this particular album is analog synthesis where there’s a whole slew of new instruments that have recently been put on the market that are in essence a nod to the late 1970s/early eighties analogue synthesizers with modern technology implemented. What that means is I use a lot of these new sounds that add serious warmth and this human feel to a synthesizer that modern digital synthesis don’t have. For instance, there is a song on the album called ‘Sandcastles.’ There is a part after the first verse, this big swell of a pad like a big ocean current. If you really listen to it, it’s this massive, huge sound and there’s weird little inconsistencies in each note. That only happens with really analog circuitry. With digital, it’s too perfect. These synthesized sounds become like a real instrument, like a piano, like a saxophone. These were some new sounds that I was exploring on the whole album,” said Culbertson, who has begun work on a bonus fourth disc comprised of alternate versions, different mixes and several live tracks from “The Trilogy” for his first box set that is slated for release later this year.

As “White” arrives, Culbertson hopes people will listen to all three parts of “The Trilogy” as a whole, one project as opposed to three individual albums.

“Hearing the three albums in a row provides the context. All the songs on ‘Red’ were clearly about passion and love. ‘Blue’ is melancholy and sad songs, breakup songs and ‘losing people’ songs. Once you get to part three, ‘White’ is all about songs that have an uplifting feel to them. Emotionally, they all feel similar even though they are stylistically broad,” said Culbertson’s whose own long-term relationship, his marriage, will celebrate a milestone 25th anniversary in October. 

Dave Lee – Produced With Love II – Various Artists

The follow up to his 2017 album, Produced With Love II is a collection of brand new songs from one of the UK’s most longstanding, respected and fiercely independent artists. 

In a flash-in-the-pan industry like music, Dave Lee’s career is notable for both its longevity and consistency. As a record producer and remixer, DJ and curator, he’s now clocked up well over 30 years and, if such things existed, would be nailed on for a carriage clock for long service to add to the numerous hits and landmarks he’s enjoyed over a storied career. His latest album, Produced With Love II, continues the work he started with 2017’s superb collection. Incorporating aspects of house, soul and disco and crafted with the attention to detail you’d expect from someone of Lee’s heritage and calibre, Produced With Love II comprises 12 brand new songs and will arrive in June 2022. The writing process has always remained the same and Dave has always preferred to work face-to-face with artists whenever possible – albeit with a few enforced remote sessions due to the pandemic. 

Released as the lead single from the album in April, Starlight sees Lee team up with Omar: a former principal percussionist of the Kent Youth Orchestra and later a graduate of the Guildhall School Of Music who was awarded an MBE in 2012 for services to music.  

Starlight is a gorgeous, mid-tempo dance record, with Omar’s silky vocals backed up with rich production: soaring live strings, groove-laden clav and synth over a chugging bassline creating a heady, inviting atmosphere. It’s an almost viscerally life-affirming record: a theme that continues throughout the entire album. Take a track like ‘If You Ever Need Somebody feat. Tiffany T’zelle’, or ‘Taste My Love’ with vocals from the aforementioned Billy Valentine. These songs would stand toe-to-toe with any soul standard from the 70s or 80s: to have production this rich and bold in 2022 isn’t far short of miraculous. And that’s what you get throughout Produced With Love II – an attention to detail and level of creative collaboration rarely seen. It’s why a Dave Lee album is a rare thing. These things take time, but when they do come along, it’s something worth treasuring.

New Music: Johnny Ray Daniels, Bill Heid, Myele Manzanza, John Scofield

Johnny Ray Daniels - Whatever You Need

Soulful, spiritual sounds from North Carolina legend Johnny Ray Daniels – an artist who started out in soul, but soon found gospel more to his liking – then went on to create a decades-long legacy of wonderful music like this! The album's contemporary, but given a very old school treatment in the best style of the Bible & Tire label – small combo backing by the Sacred Soul Sound Section, who warm things up with Hammond organ and guitar – while Johnny Ray handles some of the lead guitar on the cuts, and gets support from Amp Daniels and Keamber Daniels on his lead vocals! Titles include "I Shall Not Be Moved", "Whatever You Need", "Something Within Me", "Thank You Lord", "Church Get Ready", and "Lord You've Been Good To Me". ~ Dusty Groove

Bill Heid - Dealin Wid It

A warmly well-rounded set of organ jazz from Bill Heid – maybe not the biggest player on the Hammond B3, but one who's been slowly building up an excellent legacy of records like this! There's an understated grace to the way that Bill handles the instrument – he's not out to blow the top off the Hammond, but has this command of color, tone, and timing that's really wonderful – served up in mostly trio format with Perry Hughes on guitar and Randy Gelispie on drums! Heid has a way of going deep right at the start of a tune, then continuing to keep things crisp and cool – a special sort of tone that's very much his own. He also sings a bit on two tracks, Kevin Bujo Jones joins the group on percussion on three cuts, and titles include the originals "Dealin Wid It", "Four To One", "It's A Living", "Minor Worm", "Naughty Little Puppy", and "Samba Cat". ~ Dusty Groove

Myele Manzanza - Crisis & Opportunity Vol 2 – Peaks

A second genre-bending set from Myele Manzanza – a drummer at heart, but also a musician who's got the same sort of post-jazz approach as contemporaries on the London scene in which he's currently working! There's plenty of live drums on the set, played with a great sense of urgency – but Myele also uses a bit of remixing and programs as well – alongside other instrumentation that includes nicely chromatic guitar from Ashton Sellars, a mix of piano and keyboards from Aron Ottingnon, and bass from Matt Dal Din. There's a bit of extra percussion, keyboard, and trumpet on the record at times – and titles include "Back In The Days", "A Night In Belin", "Two Chords & The Truth", "To The Before Time", "The People's Shadow", "Sit In Your Discomfort", and "African Folk Song". ~ Dusty Groove

John Scofield - John Scofield

John Scofield's a musician who's changed up his sound wonderfully over the decades – and yet, throughout it all, he's never stopped to give us an album of solo guitar – something he does here in a wonderfully fresh way – mixing up a surprising array of songs alongside his own work on guitar, which is sometimes augmented by loops! Scofield mixes in his own compositions with a few traditional tunes, numbers by Hank Williams and Buddy Holly, and a few standards as well – all to deliver a surprisingly personal record, and one that never lets the looping effects get in the way of the sensitive sounds on the guitar. Titles include "Elder Dance", "Since You Asked", "Not Fade Away", "My Old Flame", "You Win Again", "Trance De Jour", "Junco Partner", and "Coral". ~ Dusty Groove

World Famous Cotton Club in Harlem NYC Re-Opens

The World Famous Cotton Club, Harlem’s legendary nightclub where the well-heeled dined, danced and swung the night away to the likes of Duke Ellington, Lena Horne and Cab Calloway, is returning in grand style on Saturday night, May 14, 2022 for two shows, 8pm and 10pm. 

Where the original club in its 1920s-1930s heyday was located on 142nd Street & Lenox Ave., the present location sits on 125th Street. And, when this new launch opens, the headliner will be all-around entertainer Elijah Rock, a singing and dancing firestorm who has long made his mission clear of keeping the proud traditions and legacies of the music not just alive…but vibrant. 

Duly, Elijah Rock will officially become “A New Face of The Cotton Club.”  

“The opportunity to open and headline at The Cotton Club – the historical space where so many of my greatest inspirations graced the stage - is a dream come true,” Rock states. “It’s also a homecoming. I lived on 127th & Morningside for 10 years, mere blocks way! I am thrilled to be working with entrepreneur/promoter Charles Piazza to extend the legacy of The Cotton Club and ventures across the globe.”

Assessing his gifts, one major outlet praised Rock thusly, “IT TAKES A CERTAIN KIND OF ARTIST THESE DAYS TO CARRY ON THE TORCH PASSED ON FROM THE LIKES OF NAT “KING” COLE, FREDDIE COLE, BILLY ECKSTINE AND JOE WILLIAMS.” -JAZZ WEEKLY

A torch-bearing interpreter of The Great American Songbook, Elijah Rock has been making his mark as an entertainer based in Las Vegas where he headlines top showrooms, starred as the lead vocalist in Vegas! The Show at Planet Hollywood, and released his acclaimed albums Gershwin For My Soul and the recent, Matters of The Heart.” “Winner of an NAACP Theater Award for his lead in “Breath and Imagination: The Story of Roland Hayes,” Rock also portrayed Cotton Club legend Cab Calloway in the musical “I Only Have Eyes For You,” earning an Ovation Award nomination. 

“Harlem will love this new grandiose opening of The Cotton Club,” Elijah enthuses. “When I headline the grand opening black tie/red carpet event, I will be backed by a 10-piece band led by Brooklyn’s own highly respected reed man Lou Caputo (Bobby Short, Lou Rawls, The Temptations, Bobby Sanabria) and reflective of my generation – a group of mixed gender and mixed race younger and older players. I’ll be singing repertoires from my extensive big band book and, of course, I will have a Duke Ellington medley. It’s going to be Uptown New York…with a splash of my spin on Las Vegas.”

John Beatty, long time President and CEO of The Cotton Club, has given his full blessing for this spectacular event and continuance of the hallowed Harlem venue.  On this resurrection of Old World NYC Splendor, The Cotton Club’s promoter Charles Piazza shares, “Shows are going to be upscale, formal attire in a New York evening destination spot featuring various styles of live music for dancing – Jazz, show music, vocal stars and top lounge performers. I originally had shows booked for early 2020 – pre-COVID – but, everything was shut down. We’re finally comfortable enough to take it off hold. Our premier show will be Elijah Rock. Poring over his website and YouTube clips, I was knocked out by his talent and the ‘full package’ image he projects.  I knew immediately, Elijah Rock would be “the only one to launch this re-opening of The Cotton Club.” 

Marsha Bartenetti | “One Day At A Time”

The dramatic strings that open vocal interpreter Marsha Bartenetti’s “One Day At A Time” set the stage for the single’s contemplative reflection post-breakup. Released last Friday (May 6) from the Lo-Flo Records album “Marsha Bartenetti sings McNealy & Kuhns,” the ardent song composed by Jane McNealy is a mélange of jazz, Latin and Afro Cuban music elegantly voiced by Bartenetti. Vocal and instrumental versions of the track were released, and a video will soon follow. 

Bartenetti was drawn to the album project that was recorded with a full orchestra in Studio A at Capitol Records by McNealy and songwriting partner Alice Kuhns’s authentic storytelling lyrics and intrinsic melodies beautifully wrapped in a package of Mike Watts’ eloquent orchestrations and arrangements. The critically praised collection offers a refreshing sound that reminds listeners in this time of distraction that matters of the heart are still the pulse of life itself. 

“One Day At A Time” initially shuffles along a breezy cadence imbued with Watts’ nimble piano flourishes, Jeff Bunnell’s majestic trumpet forays and Rusty Higgins’s plush saxophone embellishments. Mid-tune, the tempo kicks into high gear as Brazilian jazz rhythms churn feverishly, adding to the anxious emotions of the protagonist reflected in Bartenetti’s impassioned queries, “What went wrong?”   

“‘One Day At A Time’ is a song that catches us right in the midst of disorientation and confusion when a love suddenly ends, before we have a chance to process what has happened and regain some kind of perspective. It is like wandering in some kind of bizarre dream. Life goes on - the sounds, the bustling life on the streets - but you are utterly in shock and can't make sense of it all yet. Unrequited love may be the deepest cut of all when you have given your heart and it is not returned or, in fact, if it is spurned. Jane’s song captures that devastating moment immediately after a breakup and is a call to take it one day at a time while the shock and disorientation of losing your lover swirls around you,” said Bartenetti.

Legendary jazz singer Sarah Vaughan sang “One Day At A Time” along with three of the other songs that appear on “Marsha Bartenetti sing McNealy & Kuhns.” According to McNealy, the original concert performance was much more of a straight-ahead jazz cut, and Watts’s inventive orchestration and arrangement took the song in an entirely new and fresh direction.

“Although Mike is a jazz pianist, his concepts for a 50-piece orchestra are more nuanced and layered. We went over his score many times and I liked the idea of enhancing the bossa nova feel, picking up rhythm in the middle of the song and then keeping it going to the end. The core idea was that my chord structure would always be the backbone of the arrangement. At the time I wrote ‘One Day At A Time,’ I had just begun composing and working on esoteric and dissonant chord changes with melodies almost incongruous to the accompanying arrangements,” explained McNealy.

Love, romance and relationships are the subject of many of the pages in the McNealy and Kuhns songbook, which consists of jazz, pop, soul, funk and folk music written for records, theater and film. McNealy finds the subject matter a constant source of inspiration.

“When you’re young, you’re either in love or falling out of love, a universal theme that interests everyone. As a writer though, one of the reasons I started writing musicals was to get more variety in the stories and lyrics that I was putting to music. The entire process is a great challenge and a great source of inspiration. You never run out of ideas You can’t be in love forever; it’s too exhausting.”

“Marsha Bartenetti sings McNealy & Kuhns” is available now on CD and digitally at iTunes, Amazon and all major retail outlets. It will be available on vinyl this summer.

Artur Tuznik Sextet - Spring (Nordic jazz)

SPRING - the debut album from the Artur Tuźnik Sextet - takes listeners on an engaging, reflective journey through sounds, sensations and seasons in a program featuring new music that pays homage to the bandleader and composer’s greatest inspirations. The musical voices of the carefully chosen contributing instrumentalists bring nine original tunes to life in a production that’s intimate, spiritual, and offers something for audiences of all backgrounds.

Polish pianist and composer Artur Tuźnik (born 1989) has been based in Copenhagen, Denmark since 2008 and is one of only a few musicians to have studied at both the “classical” (Royal Danish Academy of Music) and “jazz” (Rhythmic Music Conservatory) schools in the Danish capital. His fascination with both sprawling genres is evident in his virtuosic playing, but also in his compositions. As a pianist, Tuźnik is known for his work with drummer Thomas Blachman, Thomas Agergaard, Tomasz Stanko, Chris Cheek, and Tony Malaby among many others. He’s written commissioned pieces for the Classical Days festival in Holstebro and his work as a composer has been celebrated by international audiences and reviewers alike.

The lineup of musicians he’s selected for his sextet reads like a modern all-star band of Scandinavian-based players: American tenor saxophonist Ned Ferm, who has called Copenhagen home since 2001 (known for his work with Roswell Rudd and Kurt Rosenwinkel); Norwegians Erik Kimestad on trumpet (a member of Kresten Osgood’s Quintet), Simon Albertsen on drums (Espen Berg Trio, WAKO); Swedish trombonist Petter Hängsel (Danish Radio Big Band, Horse Orchestra); the legendary Danish bassist Anders “AC” Christensen (Paul Motian’s Electric Bebop Band, Tomasz Stanko). Each of the soloists shines on this album that is thick with highlights.

The songs were recorded in The Village Recording Studio in Copenhagen in early 2020 (just pre-pandemic) by Thomas Vang, and later mixed and mastered by Brian Massaka. The band set up and played together in the same room - a decision made by Tuźnik in order to create a musical intimacy among the players and bring that sound to listeners. That incredible closeness is present throughout this album that absolutely sparkles with creative joy while it inspires nuanced nostalgia.

The first four songs (Road to Nowhere, January, Spring, Tales From The Road) are all interconnected and are based on unique harmonies and forms. Material from Road to Nowhere and Spring are referenced in Tales From The Road - a solo piano piece that functions as an overview for the first part of the musical journey. The next part of the journey kicks off with the enchanting Lazy Song - a tenor saxophone feature that allows both Fermand Tuźnik to soar on the moving minor mood. Christensen plays the band into the energetic, tidal rubato flow of Monday with a meditative bass solo and the album goes to another new place on Water - a tune that follows the theme down a stream that develops into a babbling brook and later becomes roaring rapids. The album’s final selection, Monstera Deliciosa, is a return to the group’s “swing” mode.

The Artur Tuźnik Sextet has officially arrived in 2022 with an album that reminds us of the interconnectedness of the composer’s influences and tunes that put his clear appreciation for nature, spiritualism, and musical beauty front and center. The melodic, harmonic, and structural flow of the music whisks listeners away on a journey that’s engaging, entertaining, and peppered with provocative, natural tension and resolution. SPRING deserves to be heard multiple times to fully grasp its depth, and as the detailed layers of meaning unfold with each listening experience, audiences can look forward to understanding more about the Artur Tuźnik Sextet and its musical mission.

"Spirit Of France" - obscure, rare spiritual jazz, deep folk and psychedelia sounds from the French ‘70s - ‘80s underground

Obscure, rare spiritual jazz, deep folk and psychedelia sounds from the French ‘70s - ‘80s underground.

‘Spirit of France’ is an anthology celebrating the French artists whose total desire not to belong to a particular trend expanded their horizon by pushing the boundaries of creative music. Recording in caves during the full moon, or in the open air in Ibiza to celebrate the sun - with flutes, cromorne (French woodwind reed), darbouka and hurdy-gurdy, or with fascinating, unusual, artist-build instruments, with sounds heavily influenced from Indian, African, Arabic, Eastern and Malagasy cultures, this is what makes this compilation so unique. 

Freedom of expression, experimental creativity and collaboration constitute the fuel for these hand picked artists – similar to Don Cherry’s influence on Colin Walcott and Kahil El’Zabar (in the field of jazz), and folk background artists like Robbie Basho and Sandy Bull; in Europe, the same approach was manifested in Italy with bassist Marcello Melis, the Sardinian singers from the Gruppo Rubanu, Aktuala and Futuro Antico. In France, Cossi Anatz, Nu Creative Methods and Sonorhc were also echoing the same approach. 

‘Spirit of France’ – a project that was several years in the making, is dedicated in unearthing more than just curiosities, instead focusing on never been reissued, obscure, self-released music. Carefully curated by Spiritmuse Records’ Mark Gallagher and Thea Ioannou, and joined by young French digger Tom Val, ‘Spirit of France’ is an anthology of obscure spiritual jazz and its’ relationship with deep folk in the ‘70s - ‘80s French multi-cultural melting pot underground scene.

The album’s aim is evident from the outset, with Rémy Couvez’s aptly named ‘Rêve de Voyage’, illustrating the theme’s quest for imaginary folklore, continued with Workshop de Lyon, Jef Gilson – France’s spiritual jazz giant, Sylvain Kassap, Noco Music, Pân-Râ, L’Empire des Sons, Ghédalia Tazartès, and the mysterious Adjenar Sidar Khan. Some of these artists remain unacknowledged, yet they’re all extraordinary heroes of the French music avant-garde scene. 

‘Spirit of France’ is a journey of imaginary folklore, blending spiritual jazz influences and deep folk, celebrating the unique sounds of the French avant-garde underground, at the crossroads of the tribal, the secular and the universal.