New Music: Sly Johnson, Dave Rempis / Joshua Abrams / Avreeayl Ra /Jim Baker, Deborah Jordan & K15, If Music presents: You Need This! An Introduction To Enja Records

Sly Johnson - 55​.​4 (Instrumental)

French vocalist, beatboxer, songwriter and producer Sly Johnson unveils 55.4, his much-anticipated fourth studio album, released on BBE Music. Hailing from Paris, Sylvère Johnson (Sly Johnson) is a major force on the French Hip-Hop, Soul and Jazz scenes, both as a solo artist and as a member of super-group SAIAN SUPA CREW for over a decade, where he was known by the moniker Sly The Mic Buddah. When the crew broke up in 2007, Johnson began to carve out an impressive career, releasing on Blue Note and Universal Jazz, as well as collaborating with Larry Gold, Roddy Rod, T3 & Elzhi from Slum Village, Georgia Ann Muldrow, Dudley Perkins, FINALE, Erik Truffaz, and legendary French rapper Oxmo Puccino to IAM among many others. Written and recorded during the first COVID lockdowns between March and May 2020, Sly Johnson’s fourth album blends Soul and Hip Hop, twinning vocal arrangements reminiscent of Prince and D’Angelo with loose, supple, beats and jazzy chords. Most of the musical heavy lifting is done by Johnson himself, but the album features bass by Laurent Salzard, guitar by Ralph Lavital and Anthony Jambon, keys by Nicholas Vella & Laurent Coulondre and a spellbinding guest vocal by Jona Oak.Why 55.4? “It took 55 days of creation to make the songs of this 4th solo album” says Sly.

Dave Rempis / Joshua Abrams / Avreeayl Ra /Jim Baker - Scylla

Beautifully spiritual work from this wonderful Chicago group – a set that's maybe more in the vibe of some of the more recent recordings by Joshua Abrams than some of the other members of the group – but in a way that really shows the depths of the others' playing! Dave Rempis creates all these incredible sounds on alto, tenor, and baritone – and Jim Baker adds in some very cool electronics next to his piano work – but maybe the most well-suited match for Abrams' energy is percussionist Avreeayl Ra, who handles mbira, wooden flute, and additional percussion next to his drums. The set begins with the short "Survivors" tune – then moves into two very long improvisations, "Between A Rock" and "Viscosity". ~ Dusty Groove

Deborah Jordan & K15 - Human

Deborah Jordan is back, and sounding every bit as wonderful as we might have hoped – continuing her work as a groundbreaking singer in 21st Century soul, as she works here with music put together by Kieron Ifill! The tracks are often quite lean – crisp and focused, in a way that really has Jordan's vocals right up front – and the approach is almost a leaner take on the cosmic London styles that first lifted Deborah up to the heavens – but with a more refined take on the style that really knocks it out of the park! The whole album's wonderful – a key slice of material from this wonderful vocalist – and titles include "Innervision", "Human", "Running", "Heartbroken", "Fragility", "Cycles", "Never4get", and "Wisdom". ~ Dusty Groove

If Music presents: You Need This! An Introduction To Enja Records

Part of IF Music founder Jean-Claude’s ever expanding ‘YOU NEED THIS!’ series of compilation albums, the London record shop impresario and DJ takes us on another scintillating musical journey, this time exploring the catalogue of German jazz imprint, Enja Records. Like Jean-Claude’s ‘Journey Into Deep Jazz’ series on BBE Music and his 2017 exploration of Black Saint & Soul Note Records before it, ‘IF MUSIC PRESENTS YOU NEED THIS!: AN INTRODUCTION TO ENJA RECORDS’ provides another impeccably curated and programmed selection of music, assembled by simply one of the most knowledgable and passionate vinyl specialists in the business.Featuring performances by John Stubblefield, Bobby Hutcherson, Harold Land, Don Cherry, Cecil McBee and Pharoah Sanders collaborator Marvin Hannibal Peterson to name but a few, this collection provides a great jumping-off point for Enja’s rich and diverse back catalogue. Founded in 1971 by Munich natives and jazz obsessives Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber, in its heyday Enja released albums by Eric Dolphy, Charles Mingus, Tommy Flanagan and John Scofield, as well as Kenny Barron, Chet Baker, Abbey Lincoln, Bea Benjamin, Freddie Hubbard, to name but a few. Having firmly established itself as “a bastion of all things deep in jazz” as Jean-Claude neatly sums up, Enja also went on to issue early World Music projects from Abdullah Ibrahim, Rabih Abou-Khalil, Mahmoud Turkmani and many others, and it remains active to this day.

Jasmin Lacasse Roy | "Météores"

After winning prizes in international classical guitar competitions from Montreal to Hong Kong, classical guitarist Jasmin Lacasse Roy is proud to present his new album titled Météores. Available on all streaming platforms, the recording is an eclectic tribute to Montreal's famous Mile-End district.

Jasmin Lacasse Roy is an accomplished musician who draws his inspiration from a wide range of sources: from Hendrix to Debussy. In addition to several other awards, he won first prizes at the International Fringe Music Competition of Hong Kong, the Montreal Guitar Grand Prix and the Canadian Music Competition. His style plays with the limits of expectation, reimagining the repertoire in new and surprising ways. As a composer and performer, Jasmin's work features touches of Glass and Rachmaninoff and his celebration of the classical canon with his sense of commitment to the contemporary only adds to his sense of freedom on stage. His eclectic mix of vintage aesthetics and modern flavours do away with old Edwardian sentiments in favour of imaginative contrasts that evoke a vibrant cosmopolitan scene. His musical aesthetic is a sumptuous combination of ease and activity that invites both attentive listening and immersed contemplation.

The album is a love letter to a neighborhood that inspires him deeply with its relaxed atmosphere imbued with artistic energy. The images and sounds he hears as a resident are woven throughout his musical dialogue with characters, real and imaginary, who inhabit his daily landscape. A dexterous juxtaposition of images and musical ideas come together for an album that sounds like an impressionist painting.

Track Desriptions in English and French

1. While waiting for the golden hour 

The golden hour, beloved by photographer and cinematograph, is the period shortly after sunrise. This music was composed before the sunrise when I was, for no reason other than for the pleasure of it, waiting for the golden hour to arrive. In this composition I use unusual tonality combinations for the contrasting sections and I use a blues chords progression mixed with impressionistic harmonic coloration for the main theme.

“En attendant l’heure doré” est inspiré de l'heure doré, appréciée des photographes et des cinéastes, elle est la période peu après le lever du soleil. Cette musique a été composée avant le lever du soleil alors que j'attendais, pour aucune autre raison que pour le plaisir, que l'heure doré arrive. Dans cette composition, j'utilise des combinaisons de tonalités inhabituelles pour les sections contrastées et j'use d’une progression d'accords de standard de blues mélangée à une coloration harmonique impressionniste, pour le thème principal.

2. Cast iron rhapsody

For this piece of music the title came to me first, I was inspired by the outside cast iron stairways which Montreal is famous for. To fit the title I wanted a theme that represented the strongest and texture of cast iron. This composition was finish in a tumultuous time in my life, maybe that is why the ending is what it is, bitter-sweet. The musical form of this opus is a rhapsody, which is a one-movement work that is episodic yet integrated, free-flowing in structure, featuring a range of highly contrasted moods, colour, and tonality.

Pour “Le rhapsodie en fer forgé”, le titre m'est venu en premier, je me suis inspiré des escaliers extérieurs en fonte qui font la renommée de Montréal. Pour correspondre au titre, je voulais un thème qui représente la dureté de la fonte. Cette composition a été terminée à une période tumultueuse de ma vie, c'est peut-être pour cela que la fin est ce qu'elle est, douce-amère. La forme musicale de cet opus est une rhapsodie, qui est une œuvre en un seul mouvement, épisodique à la structure fluide et présentant une gamme d'ambiances, de couleurs et de tonalités très contrastées.

3. Impétuositeration

It is the combination between the words impetuous and itération. Being impetuous is characterized by being animated by an impulsive and raging movement. In mathematics, an iteration designates the action of repeating the same process in an attempt to obtain a solution. This is exactly what is « Impetuositeration », it is impetuous and it repeat the same process over and over again. But no définitive solution is obtain. The melody which is the basis for this work can only be played on the odd fret number. Has a challenge I wanted to come up with the composition that could only be played on the odd fret number. Like on the piano where they have composition just for the white keys or just for the Black Keys.          

« Impétuositation » c'est la combinaison entre les mots impétueux et itération. Être impétueux se caractérise par le fait d'être animé d'un mouvement impulsif et déchaîné. En mathématiques, une itération désigne l'action de répéter le même processus pour tenter d'obtenir une solution. C'est exactement ce qu'est « Impétuositation », c'est impétueux et ça répète le même processus encore et encore. Mais aucune solution définitive n'est obtenue. La mélodie qui est à la base de cet opus n’est jouée que sur les cases impaires du manche de la guitare. Un peu comme au piano où ils ont des oeuvres juste pour les touches blanches ou juste pour les touches noires.

4. L’épisodique vague à l’âme de Nosferatu revient le hanter 

“The episodic gloominess of Nosferatu returns to haunt him” is a Dali-esque surreal representation the inner fight of a Nosferatu that periodically grow guilty of doing what the world is accustom of him. As if he were jaded of being trapt in his own persona. Try to guess who wins that innerbattle in the end? The blood thursty or the remorseful Nosferatu? 

« L’épisodique vague à l’âme de Nosferatu revient le hanter » est une représentation surréaliste « à la Dali » du combat intérieur d'un Nosferatu qui devient périodiquement plein de remords de faire ce que sa soif lui dicte. Comme s'il était blasé d'être piégé dans sa propre personnalité. Essayez de deviner qui gagne cette bataille intérieure à la fin? Le sanguinaire ou le Nosferatu plein de remords?

5. Les aventures du cowboy de la rue Clark à la tavern Mile End

150 years ago, a big part of the Montréal island was mostly farmers and cowboys. That was the case in the Mile End district. And near where I live there used to be, 150 years ago, an infamous Tavern called the mile end tavern. So “The Clark street cowboy at the Mile End Tavern”  is the story of an imaginary cowboy narrated by the music. First he is galloping in the field, mud splashing beside him, and after his day of work he goes to have a drink at the infamous Mile End tavern. After a few drinks he get into trouble with some other cowboys and they want to fight him. But after some rumbling he managed to escape and then he’s caught in a Storm. Luckily, he manage to find a barn as a shelter, he lies down on that pile of hay and fall asleep. In his sleep he dreams about a mysterious girl he had seen in an other town. He suddently wakes up, get back on his horse and ride into the sunrise.                                                                                           

Il y a 150 ans, une grande partie de l'île de Montréal était principalement composée de fermiers et de cow-boys. C'était le cas dans le quartier Mile End. Et près de chez moi, il y avait, il y a 150 ans, une tapageuse taverne appelée la “Mile End Tavern”. Ainsi, « Le cow-boy de la rue Clark à la taverne du Mile End » est l'histoire d'un cow-boy imaginaire narré par la musique. D'abord, il galope dans le champ, la boue éclaboussant à côté de lui et, après sa journée de travail, il va prendre un verre à la tapageuse taverne du Mile End. Après quelques verres, il a des ennuis avec d'autres cow-boys et ils veulent le tabasser. Mais après quelques grondements, il a réussi à s'échapper, puis il est pris dans une tempête. Heureusement, il parvient à trouver une grange comme abri, il se couche sur ce tas de foin et s'endort. Dans son sommeil, il rêve d'une mystérieuse fille qu'il avait vue dans une autre ville. Il se réveille soudainement, remonte sur son cheval et galope dans le soleil levant.

6. Mélodyvagation

Cette composition se veut une méditation onirique et impressionniste lors d'une promenade nocturne dans le mile end. Le titre est une combinaison de « mélodie » et de « divagation », et la composition est basée sur un petit motif musical qui contre toute logique s’avère une obsession mélodique. Ce motif illogiquement accrocheur est ensuite développé par une série de modulations et de transformations pour finalement revenir dans sa forme la plus simple et la plus éloquente.           

This composition is a dreamy, impressionistic méditation during a nightly Promenade in the Mile End. The title is a portmanteau of “melody” and “divagation” and it is made with a silly musical motif that should not be as catchy as it is. This illogically catchy motif is then developed by a series of modulation and transformation just to return in its simplest and most eloquent form.

7. Against Elise

This composition is inspired by the famous « fur Elise » by Beethoven. Like Fur Elise, my composition is a rondo, which is a musical form that alternate choruses and verses. For the chorus in « Against Elise », I decided to invert the direction of the melody of the chorus of Fur Elise, so whenever the melody goes up in Fur Elise it goes down in « Against Elise » with exactly the same interval and vice versa. And for the 2 versus I did a more mathematical music that uses different sequences of numbers. Sequences that are inspired by the golden ratio for the first verse and waves of growing numbers for the second verse.

Cette composition est inspirée de la célèbre « Für Elise » de Beethoven. Comme « Für Elise », ma composition est un rondo, qui est une forme musicale qui alterne chœurs et couplets. Pour le refrain de mon oeuvre, j'ai décidé d'inverser le sens de la mélodie du refrain de « Für Elise », donc à chaque fois que la mélodie monte dans celle de Beethoven elle descend dans « Contre Elise » avec exactement le même intervalle et vice versa . Et pour les 2 couplets j'ai fait une musique plus mathématique qui utilise différentes séquences de nombres. Des séquences inspirées du nombre d'or pour le premier couplet et des vagues de nombre croissant pour le deuxième couplet.

8. The nostagic chronicales of count Rachmanula

In Montreal and in the Mile End district particularly, there are still many traces of Victorian era architcture. Which I think makes a great archytectural contrast with modernity. So as tribute to that era, I wanted this composition to be like a victorian picture of an old east european count in his old, dusty victorian mansion reminiscing about his past adventures while sipping a glass of Brandy in front of his fireplace. Vaguely inspired by Late 19e century East european classical music for the character of the introduction and in the way I superposed tonalities in the middle part. For the main theme, which appears at the beginning and at the end, I wanted a melody that sounded familiar to everybody and gave them the impression they’ve heard it before.

À Montréal et dans le quartier Mile End particulièrement, il existe encore de nombreuses traces de l'architecture de l'époque victorienne. Donc, en hommage à cette époque, je voulais que « Les chroniques nostalgique du comte Rachmanula » soit comme une peinture victorienne d'un vieux comte d'Europe de l'Est dans son vieux manoir victorien poussiéreux se remémorant ses aventures passées tout en sirotant un verre de Brandy devant son feu de foyer. Vaguement inspiré de la musique classique d'Europe de l'Est de la fin du 19e siècle pour le caractère de l'introduction et dans la façon dont j'ai superposé les tonalités dans la partie médiane. Pour le thème principal, qui apparaît au début et à la fin, je voulais une mélodie qui soit familière à tout le monde et qui leur donne l'impression de l'avoir déjà entendue.

9. Mile End Winter

In memory of a night in the Mile End neighborhood where after a snow storm rain had covered everything with ice. This arctic decor in contrast with the victorian architecture style of the neighborhood gave us the impression of being in an other dimension. The musical form is basicly a rondo but sometime part of phrases are missing as if they were covered by the snow.

En souvenir d'une nuit dans le quartier Mile End où après une tempête de neige la pluie avait tout recouvert de glace. Ce décor arctique en contraste avec le style architectural victorien du quartier nous a donné l'impression d'être dans un univers parallèle. La forme musicale est à la base un rondo mais parfois une partie des phrases manque comme si elles étaient recouvertes par la neige.

10. Midnight disco lounge

Montréal has always been a town with a predominant nightlife. Musical work composed to encapsulate the spirit of a singular night in a Discotheque that inspired me this composition. In this piece of music the tonalities and modulations are blurred so that we can move between tonalities without abrupt changes.

Montréal a toujours été une ville avec une vie nocturne prédominante. Cette œuvre musicale a été composée pour encapsuler l'esprit d'une nuit singulière dans une discothèque qui m'a inspiré cette composition. Dans ce morceau de musique, les contrastes des modulations sont brouillées afin que nous puissions passer d'une tonalité à l'autre sans changements brusques.

The Jones Factor | "The Time Is Now"

Uncertainty brought on by the pandemic has inspired major life changes as well as creating a sense of urgency when it comes to completing long-gestating projects. Five years in the making and fifteen years since their last release, jazz ensemble The Jones Factor committed to finishing their third album, “The Time is Now,” as soon as pandemic restrictions eased and the ten-piece horn-powered band could gather safely in the studio. The contemporary jazz collection comprised of original compositions and inventively arranged covers, produced by the group’s Dave Anderson and John Fumasoli, drops July 15.

Trombonist Fumasoli formed The Jones Factor (originally called The Jazz Collective) in 1986 with bassist Anderson joining shortly thereafter. Horn heavy, they described themselves as “a little big band” and together, they crafted over one hundred charts spanning various shades of jazz, including contemporary, bop and hard bop as well as Latin, blues, funk and even hip-hop grooves. The unique instrumentation allows for a wide variety of textures, colors and sounds while the diversity of the unit’s players makes for exciting performances and imaginative improvisation.

The challenge inherent for a band comprised of busy first-call musicians who have played with jazz, pop and R&B legends (from Frank Sinatra to Tony Bennett, from Lady Gaga to Diana Ross, from Elton John to Steely Dan) as well as prominent orchestras, symphonies and ballets is being able to gather all the members. Thus, work on their albums takes a while and they were about three years into recording “The Time is Now” when the pandemic slowed the process to a halt. As soon as the band got the greenlight to get back to work, The Jones Factor returned to the studio with a renewed impetus to finish and release the project.     

“The album title comes from the fact that we were moving along great with our recording and then COVID hit. Like so many others in the music world, our lives were deeply disrupted and so we got to the point of saying that this album has to come out now. We cannot wait any longer, no matter what! Honestly, it was as much about getting off our butts and getting this music out as it was about the pandemic. The album is too good to sit on,” said Fumasoli who will lead the band at an album release concert on July 13 at La Zingara in Bethel, Connecticut.

“The Time is Now” features sixteen musicians, including ten horn players and guest guitarists Chieli Minucci (Special EFX) and John Tropea. Anderson’s elastic basslines anchor the rhythm section fortified by drummers Joel Rosenblatt (Spyro Gyra) and Thierry Arpino. Pianist Rob Aries adds to the melodies, but the focal point of The Jones Factor is the layers of mighty horns, astutely deployed and meticulously arranged. Fumasoli teams with Bill Harris (tenor saxophonist, flute), Ken Gioffre (soprano and alto sax, flute), Jason Polise (tenor sax, bass clarinet), Don Hayward (bass trombone), Janet Lantz (French horn), Tony Kadleck (trumpet, flugelhorn), Scott Wendholt (trumpet, flugelhorn), Don Harris (trumpet, flugelhorn) and Ben Kibbey (trumpet, flugelhorn). Each player in this democratic union is granted the freedom to solo with each one taking an equitable turn in the spotlight. 

From a production standpoint, Anderson opted to utilize a different tact than one typically associated with jazz ensembles.

“Recording this album was in one sense a straightforward application of everyone’s high-level professional skills, and in another sense an interesting experiment in trying new ways of doing things – not without risk – that ended up exceeding our expectations. My idea was to approach it the way non-jazz records have been recorded since the late sixties: building the sound in layers and creating the finished ensemble in the production environment. Doing this allowed John and I the freedom to finesse balances, phrasing and tone colors in a way that can’t be done as easily when everyone is in the studio at the same time. In other words, we produced this album like a pop or rock record. There’s plenty of seat-of-the-pants, fire-breathing improvising, but the sonic picture has the polish of a more structured pop production. It’s a best-of-both-worlds approach, and I feel we succeeded beautifully.”

“The Time is Now” opens with a pair of tunes by jazz fusion groups that have influenced The Jones Factor, the Yellowjackets’ “Past Ports” and Steps Ahead’s “Pools,” both arranged by the late Dick Burlant, who had been part of The Jones Factor’s orbit since the 1980s. “When He Calls” is an original composition by Patti Preiss-Harris, Bill Harris’s late wife, and has a wealth of personal meaning.

“The very first time we played it, we dedicated it to Patti’s father, who was going through heart surgery at the time. When he passed away six months later, we played it at his memorial service. It was always his song to me after that and usually brought tears to my eyes when I introduce it. Now that cancer has claimed Patti, the song feels very prophetic. She got the call. The song continues to bring a tear to my eye, now for different reasons,” said Bill Harris.

One of Fumasoli’s students suggested that The Jones Factor record Bela Fleck’s “Hall of Mirrors.” Multiple Grammy nominee and three-time Emmy winner Minucci lends his agile and intricate fret work to the track, captured in this studio performance video: https://bit.ly/3th8Aif. 

Seven soloists shine on “Those City Ways.” Anderson said, “‘Those City Ways’ is a live performance arrangement – essentially a framework for blues solos by most of the band. To keep the long-form, extended nature of the piece interesting, I did hip-hop cut-and-paste arranging, bringing the piano in and out to make the contrast between ensemble writing and soloing more dramatic.”

The Jones Factor released their debut recording, “Collective Jazz,” in 1991 and issued their sophomore disc in 2007, “Blast From the Past.” While eager for “The Time is Now” to finally drop this summer, they’ve already synchronized their schedules to return to the studio this fall to record new material written by Fumasoli.

Jose Conde | "Souls Alive In The 305"

With his new sonic experiment and journey into electric, eclectic tropicalized, funky pop music, Jose Conde re-emerges from the New York Afro Cuban music cocoon with Moog synthesizer, looper, Yamaha vintage organ, wah-wah electric guitar, acoustic and electric beats, and a slew of new signature songs on his upcoming album. Souls Alive in the 305 (out May 20th on PiPiKi Records) is Conde’s ambitious second solo album recorded between Brooklyn and Miami in a five-year span produced by him with co-production help from Miami legend DJ Spam (Andrew Yeomanson). The first single “Dale Pa ‘Ya” will be released on April 15th alongside a very colorful and funky music video directed by Anna Copa Cabanna. Watch the video at https://youtu.be/0Y6UyvH5MzI.

Jose describes the new single stating, “Dale Pa ‘Ya is an absurd mantra to empower those who need to exorcise demons or ex-lovers, gun freaks or dictators, or any other bad energy ~ just DALE PA ‘YA!  It is a simple forceful phrase over a funky groove.” He adds, “The phrase is Cuban and it literally means ‘GET OVER THERE! Inspired by my dog, I used to sing it as a joke to him and then decided to put it together as a song!” Now the funk treatment was directly inspired by George Clinton’s Atomic Dog, but mixed with Jose’s unique style that brings the song to life.

“Dale Pa ‘Ya is just one of the album’s 10 songs that showcases a wide range of moods and continue Conde’s knack for blending rhythmic elements of genres seamlessly in memorable lyrical songs rooted in a love and fascination of nature, and appreciation for the absurd, existential exploration, and his own Cuban American reality. The album features musicians and singers from Miami, New York, and San Diego, along with Conde on many instruments.

Along with this new album Jose Conde has recorded 5 albums overall (3 with Cuban roots band Ola Fresca, 2 solo albums) including the 2008 IMA Best Latin Album Revolución, which also was launched with a sold-out album release show at Joe’s Pub. Jose Conde is proud and happy to be joined by a stellar cast of musicians for the album release at Joe’s Pub including Gintas Janusonis (drums), Leo Traversa (bass), Pablo Vergara (keys), Scott Kettnor (Brazilian percussion), Steve Gluzband (trumpet), Karen Joseph (flute), Gabriel “Chinchilita” Machado (percussion), and more.

Extended | "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.

Jhelisa | "Oxygen"

A law unto herself, the maverick, Jhelisa Anderson has been marching through unchartered territories, expressing her freedom since the mid-1990s when she stunned both audiences and critics with her extraordinarily powerful voice and deliciously daring music.  Through the course of4 solo albums, Mississippi-born Jhelisa has journeyed through soul, trip hop, jazz, avant-garde, gospel and more recently, esoteric sonic experimentation. But one thing has remained constant; her unwavering, uncompromising artistic vision. Her thrillingly genre-smashing approach to music subverts her sweet, sensual voice with emotionally raw, often dark, yet spiritually resonant lyrics and a musical sophistication seen nowhere else. It comes as no surprise then, that Jhelisa’s remarkable new project, ‘Oxygen’ is a breath-taking, expansive, unapologetic 11-minute opus. Released on Dorado Records on June 15, it paves the way for her forthcoming album, ‘Wild Orbits’, but is also a stand-alone piece. ‘Oxygen’ is a richly nuanced trackof story telling that snakes through sections of hypnotic rhythms, infectious hooks, probing jazz lines, African chanting, blues-drenched harmonica, pacey percussion and slower slices of sweet soul jazz. The sound is an exciting sonic assault underpinned by a masterful band that includes legendary bassist Oteil Burbridge (Grateful Dead) and long-time band member Greg Osby, whose piercing alto sax brings an intensity that takes the track to another level. It is a compelling, intoxicating and dazzling tour de force of sounds and emotions that sees Jhelisa’s voice soa and swoop, soulful and seductive with a bite that’s never far behind. 

Originally a four-minute piano and vocal song, when recording ‘Oxygen’, Jhelisa began to “push it around” challenged by unknown territories. “I felt compelled to stretch it” she says, “twist it, extend it, so its journey would continue. I wanted to discover the new things the song could do”. She adds, “I’ve taken the freedom because I have it!”  ‘Oxygen’ is, as Jhelisa admits, “my outpouring of growth; my influences, perceptions, my angles and transitions that began with surviving Hurricane Katrina in 2005,tonavigating the hyper-polarized fragments of American politics over the decades". 'Oxygen’ is a triumphant masterpiece marking the return of one of music’s greatest mavericks with a track that just isn’t quite long enough.

New Music: Jimi Tenor, Doris Day, Motown Moe, Dennis Murphy

Jimi Tenor - Multiversum

Multiversum is a great title for this one – as the set unlocks yet another slice of the musical multiverse in which Jimi Tenor has seemed to roam for the past few decades – always giving us amazing new sounds when he decides to shift dimensions! Here, the music draws on his recent legacy of spiritual jazz, but is a bit more focused and groovy overall – tunes that occasionally even pick up enough of a pace to be clubjazz, but which also spread out in all these other warm elements too – plenty of flute and other reedlines, great keyboards, and this soulful vibe that really fits the laidback spirit of the record – a vibe that almost as Tenor tracing things back to the funkier sounds he was giving us at the start of the century! The whole thing's great – maybe the best album from Jimi in years – and further testament to his effortless and ever-flowing creativity. Titles include "Bad Trip Good", "Raju Raju", "Birthday Magic", "Bass Kalimba Dance", "Baby Free Spirit", "Monday Blue", "Jazznouveau", and "Uncharted Waters". ~ Dusty Groove

Doris Day - Latin For Lovers (mono/stereo/bonus tracks) (3CD set)

An expanded 3CD version of Latin For Lovers – one of the best moments from the 60s career of Doris Day – a set that's more bossa than the Latin promised in the title – but in the best way possible! Mort Garson provides the backings, and the tunes have this dreamy, jazzy approach that's quite a change from some of the usual arrangements used for Doris Day – which creates this great space for the singer to slide gently into the tunes – never in a way that's trying to copy Brazilian bossa modes, but which also lets Doris show off some of her more melancholy modes too. Titles include "Be Mine Tonight", "Por Favor", "Dansero", "Meditation", "Fly Me To The Moon", "Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars", and "Our Day Will Come". CD1 features the album in stereo, CD2 features the album in mono, and CD3 features "Other Latin Directions" – 18 tracks from mid 60s singles that include "There They Are", "Every Now & Then", "Caprice", "Glass Bottom Boat", "Catch The Bouquet", "Rainbow's End", "Do Not Disturb", "Possess Me", "Everybody Loves A Lover (alt version)", and "Enjoy Yourself – It's Later Than You Think". ~ Dusty Groove

Motown Moe - Living My Best Life

It may sound funny for a guy nicknamed “Motown Moe” to work out of a studio in Chicago, but the keyboardist/composer and Air Force veteran is a Detroit cat through and through - a former member of United Steel Workers and United Auto Workers Unions who grew up on classic R&B and funky jazz fusion and cut his musical teeth in the Motor City. His prolific nearly 15-year career soars to new heights with his vibey new album Living My Best Life, which showcases his mastery of blending sensual moods with lively deep pocket and sometimes unconventional and exotic rhythm patterns, along with his bandleading prowess leading vibrant ensembles featuring the likes of Nils, Rick Stone, Tony Craddock Jr, Tony Guerrero, Ryan Svendson, Chris Campbell and Darron Cookie Moore.  ~ www.smoothjazz.com

Dennis Murphy - Our Higher Selves

The title of Grammy nominated composer, guitarist, bassist and multi-instrumentalist Dennis Murphy’s 1999 debut Hit Me Hard, perfectly captures the intensity he’s brought over the years to his multitude of endeavors as an early genre radio personality (whose show “Bass Trax” was produced by Smoothjazz.com founder, Sandy Shore), clinician and founder of a popular Monterey, California music school, and studio and touring sideman for Acoustic Alchemy, Maria Muldaur, Billy Preston among others. On this latest foray, the eclectic, ultra-melodic and tightly grooving Our Higher Selves, Murphy darts artfully between colorful guitar playing and bass-driven Smooth Jazz, fusion, playful samba and spiritual soul while freewheeling with an all-star cast including elite saxophonists Kirk Whalum, Eric Marienthal, Gary Meek and Tower Of Power’s Tom Politzer, as well as late guitar great Jeff Golub and legendary drummer Will Kennedy! ~ www.smoothjazz.com

New Music: Rafael Greco, Kenny Nightingale, Michael Ross, Michael Silverman & Eric Marienthal

Rafael Greco - Dice que vive (Signs of Life)

In his own words, Rafael Greco offers the following about his album, “Dice que vive” (Signs of Life): This album begins with a study of reiteration. Generally, in folk music, rhythmic cells are repeated to form a continuous fabric that groove and inspire dancing. Upon discovering the rhythms of Central Africa and composer Steve Reich caused me to listen to reiteration, the art of repitition from another angle. It was almost like looking at a butterfly's wings through a microscope. Each song contains reiterative cues, layers of sounds, carefully designed textures that were vital to creating a work that could give the impression of being a simple yet coherent architectural illusion. The album is a tribute to my family, to the music of my homeland, to my memories, to the places and people that marked the way I perceive my surroundings. It is a sincere attempt to express my musical and artistic nature. I must mention some of the great masters who influenced this work: Naná Vasconcelos, Charles Ives, Toru Takemitsu, Don Grolnick, Johnny Pacheco, Ángel Canales, Keith Jarrett, Django Bates, Federico Mompou, Steve Winwood, Bruce Hornsby, Lyle Mays, Michael Brecker, Adalberto Santiago, Gil Evans, Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Steve Reich, James Taylor, Juan de Dios Martínez, Olivier Messiaen, Joe Zawinul, Peter Gabriel and Oliver Knussen.

Kenny Nightingale - My Saxophone

All Smooth Jazz artists hope their music offers listeners hope and inspiration, but pop, jazz, R&B and gospel driven saxophonist Kenny Nightingale takes that a step further by including a Following Your Dream section on his website that includes impactful phrases he takes to heart: “Embrace Your Passion,” “Always Live Like Your Life is Golden” and “Be Inspired By Everything.” The multi-talented Nigerian-born artist follows his hit 2020 debut album Breathe with the uniquely titled single “My Saxophone,” a bold and uplifting, funky, horn drenched track that offers a dazzling, fun-spirited showcase of the magic Nightingale brings to his cherished instrument. Adding fire to the celebration are Erica Newell’s gospel flavored vocals, and intoxicating solos by Sankey Bullet on keys and Michael Osadolo on wah guitar. Full album coming soon. ~ www.smoothjazz.com

Michael Ross - Four Seasons to Cross

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

Michael Silverman & Eric Marienthal - In These Times

While the staggering number of 6 billion downloads and streams may be hard to fathom, Michael Silverman – the most streamed pianist on the planet - has made each a joyful experience over the past 15 years with his diverse array of stylistic excursions. Sure to add quickly to his total, his latest destination is “Clearwater,” a buoyant, melodically infectious, easy grooving romp blending Silverman’s lively elegance with Eric Marienthal’s always spirited sax. Joining forces with legendary bassist John Pattitucci, Silverman’s brother Rob on drums and percussionist Casey Adams, they have a sunswept blast that celebrates their initial meeting playing the Clearwater Jazz Holiday festival. This perfect Smooth Jazz cure for the winter blues is the second lead single from Silverman’s remotely created upcoming album In These Times. ~ www.smoothjazz.com

Marilyn Scott | "The Landscape"

Marilyn Scott is best known for her Grammy nominated work as a contemporary jazz musician, having performed with some of the best musicians in the world over the last few decades. The Landscape, Marilyn’s forthcoming album is no exception. Produced by Jimmy Haslip, featuring the sultry dynamic voice of vocalist/lyricist Marilyn Scott with an all-star band as a supporting cast.

Marilyn Scott is best known for her Grammy-nominated work as a contemporary jazz musician, having performed with some of the best musicians in the world over the last few decades.

A native of southern California, vocalist Marilyn Scott counts among her earliest influences, artists Aretha Franklin, Donny Hathaway, Etta James, Jean Carn and Andy Bey. She began performing in local clubs and fronted soul-jazz bands around the San Francisco Bay area. Among the many friends she made were the guys of Tower of Power, who gave her the opportunity to do backing session vocals with the Oakland-based band. Those recording sessions steered her to making her way back to Los Angeles as a studio session singer, where she performed with musicians and groups including Spyro Gyra, Yellowjackets, Hiroshima, John Mayall, Etta James, Bobby Caldwell and Bobby Womack. Scott’s first recording in 1977, as a solo artist, was a single version of Brian Wilson’s “God Only Knows”, which led to her first album, Dreams of Tomorrow, on Atco/Atlantic. Her discography continued with, 1983 Without Warning, Polygram, 1991 and 1992 Sin-Drome recordings, Smile and Sky Dancing. 1996 and 1998 Warner Bros. releases of Take Me with You and Avenues of Love. The Japanese Venus Records recording, Every Time We Say Goodbye, in 2008.

Marilyn moved to Prana Entertainment and released from 2001 to 2017, Walking With Strangers, Nightcap, Handpicked, Innocent of Nothing, Get Christmas Started and Standard Blue in 2017. Her 2022 release on Blue Canoe Records marks her most recent release, The Landscape.

She has combined her interest in neo-soul, jazz and Brazilian music. She has collaborated with Dori Caymmi, George Duke, Russell Ferrante, Bob James, Jimmy Haslip, Brenda Russell, Bob Mintzer, Perri Sisters, Terri Lyne Carrington, Patrice Rushen and Scott Kinsey.

Marilyn is best known for her Grammy-nominated work as a contemporary jazz vocalist and singer songwriter. As the years have progressed, she has dived deeper into jazz writing and interpretations. Collaborations with many acclaimed artists and musicians have opened and widened her range in a music that’s rich in texture and complexity.

Benjamin Koppel | "Anna's Dollhouse"

Anna’s Dollhouse is a new masterwork by Benjamin Koppel, featuring Blue Note recording artist Caecilie Norby and jazz legends Kenny Werner and Peter Erskine, Anna’s Dollhouse tells the fascinating story of Anna, the aunt of renowned Danish saxophonist-composer Benjamin Koppel.

Her life is depicted through nine songs, spanning nearly a century of her life. A string orchestra, arranged by Benjamin‘s father Anders Koppel, adds to the Joni Mitchell-esque flavors in the music, coupled with powerful solos from group members Peter Erskine (who has worked with Joni Mitchell) and Kenny Werner.

The compoisitions derive from numerous inspirations - 1930s cabaret, groovy souljazz, even pop music - yet it is completely original. Through Caecilie Norby’s voice and lyrics, Anna’s story comes to life, The vocalist demonstrates why she is one of Europe‘s finest.

Anna, born in 1921, lived a long and full life. When she was a piano-playing teenager, her parents arranged a marriage with the son of a Jewish French tailor family against her will. During World War II, in October 1943, she fled from the Nazis‘ occupied Denmark to Sweden, and became part of the resistance towards the end of the war. Despite being deeply in love with another man, a ”goy” (a non-Jewish person), she fulfilled her parents’ wish and married the frenchman she did not love. They remained married until the husband died in 2007, after 60 years of unhappy marriage. After her husband’s passing Anna re-blossomed, took control over her life, revived her passion for music and returned to the piano producing, and performing at concerts in her own house, approximately 60 kilometers from Paris. She was living a second youth. This is where Benjamin got to know her, as he visted her frequently. When she died in 2019, Benjamin promised to tell her story.

Their meetings and conversations inspired Benjamin, not only to compose this music but to write a novel, Anna’s Song, released by the biggest Danish publishing company, Gyldendal.

Anna‘s life is the story about escape, unfulfilled love, the oppression of women, and keeping hopes alive. It‘s about the expectations of family, about trust and dreams, and it is about music. Norby’s lyrics describe different aspects of Anna’s life. 

Anna’s Dollhouse was commissioned by the Jewish Cultural Festival in Copenhagen in 2018.

Wadada Leo Smith - String Quartets Nos. 1-12

TUM Records releases the first-ever recording of String Quartets Nos. 1-12 from iconic composer, trumpeter and Pulitzer Finalist Wadada Leo Smith, “one of the most influential figures of the postwar black musical avant-garde” (NY Review of Books).

A pinnacle in a career that’s been building to this moment, these twelve string quartets, which were written beginning in1965, showcase Smith’s powerful and distinctive musical voice. They are performed by RedKoral Quartet (Shalini Vijayan, Mona Tian, Andrew McIntosh and Ashley Walters) as well as featured soloists including Smith, pianist Anthony Davis, harpist Alison Bjorkedal and vocalist Thomas Buckner, among others. 

“My aspiration was to create a body of music that is expressive and that also explores the African-American experience in the United States of America,” says Smith in the liner notes. “My music is not a historical account. I intend that my inspiration seeks a physiological and cultural reality.”

String Quartets Nos. 1-12 represents a magnificent addition not only to Smith’s own recorded output but also to the literature for modern string quartet music more broadly. Compositions vary from relatively brief, one-part string quartets of highly evocative and at times meditative soundscapes to the groundbreaking “String Quartet No. 11” that fills two discs with its nine movements.

Also coming June 17 from TUM are The Emerald Duets, a 5-disc box set of trumpet and drum duets, one each with Wadada joined by Pheeroan akLaff, Han Bennink, Andrew Cyrille and two with Jack DeJohnette. And on Tuesday, June 21, Smith will receive the VISION Festival’s Lifetime Achievement Award in a celebratory and expansive concert at Roulette in Brooklyn.

Trumpeter, multi-instrumentalist and composer Wadada Leo Smith is one of the most boldly original and influential artists of his time. Transcending the bounds of genre or idiom, he distinctly defines his music, tirelessly inventive in both sound and approach, as "Creative Music."

For the last five decades, Smith has been a member of the legendary AACM collective, pivotal in its wide-open perspectives on music and art in general. He has carried those all-embracing concepts into his own work, expanding upon them in myriad ways.

Throughout his career, Smith has been recognized for his groundbreaking work.  A finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in Music, he received the 2016 Doris Duke Artist Award and earned an honorary doctorate from CalArts, where he was also celebrated as Faculty Emeritus. In addition, he received the Hammer Museum's 2016 Mohn Award for Career Achievement "honoring brilliance and resilience." In 2018 he received the Religion and The Arts Award from the American Academy of Religion.

Smith regularly earns multiple spots on the DownBeat International Critics Poll and has won poll in the categories of Best Jazz Artist, Trumpeter and Jazz Album of the Year. The Jazz Journalists Association has also honored Smith as their Musician of the Year, Trumpeter of the Year, Composer of the Year, and Duo of the Year for his work with Vijay Iyer. He has also earned top billing as Artist of the Year and Composer of the Year in the JazzTimes Critics Poll as well as top spots on the NPR Jazz Critics Poll.

In October 2015 The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago presented the first comprehensive exhibition of Smith's Ankhrasmation scores, which use non-standard visual directions, making them works of art in themselves as well as igniting creative sparks in the musicians who perform them. In 2016, these scores were also featured in exhibitions at the Hammer Museum, and the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts and Kadist in San Francisco.

Born December 18, 1941 in Leland, Mississippi, Smith's early musical life began at age thirteen when he became involved with the Delta blues and jazz traditions performing with his stepfather, bluesman Alex Wallace. He received his formal musical education from the U.S. Military band program (1963), the Sherwood School of Music (1967-69), and Wesleyan University (1975-76).

Smith has released more than 60 albums as a leader on labels including ECM, Moers, Black Saint, Tzadik, Pi Recordings, TUM, Leo and Cuneiform. His diverse discography reveals a recorded history centered around important issues that have impacted his world, exploring the social, natural and political environment of his times with passion and fierce intelligence. His 2016 recording, America’s National Parks earned a place on numerous best of the year lists including the New York Times, NPR Music and many others. Smith’s landmark 2012 civil rights opus Ten Freedom Summers was called “A staggering achievement [that] merits comparison to Coltrane’s A Love Supreme in sobriety and reach.”  His most recent recordings include 2021’s Sacred Ceremonies, a 3 CD set featuring Smith, Bill Laswell & Milford Graves; Trumpet, a 3 CD solo trumpet set; The Chicago Symphonies a 4-album set celebrating the Midwest with his Great Lakes Quartet; and A Love Sonnet for Billie Holiday. In May 2022 TUM will release two major box sets of Smith’s work. They include Wadada Leo Smith: String Quartets No. 1 - 12, a 7-CD box set featuring RedKoral Quartet plus featured soloists including Smith, Anthony Davis, Alison Bjorkedal, Thomas Buckner and more; and Wadada Leo Smith: Emerald Duets a set with 4 CDs, one each with Pheeroan akLaff, Han Bennink, Andrew Cyrille and Jack DeJohnette, adding to Smith’s long history of duo recordings with some of the greatest drummers in the history of creative music. Writing about Smith in the New York Review of Books, Adam Shatz notes: “For all the minimalism of his sound, Smith has turned out to be a maximalist in his ambitions, evolving into one of our most powerful storytellers, an heir to American chroniclers like Charles Ives and Ornette Coleman.” 

wadadaleosmith.com

 

John Yao's Triceratops | "Off-Kilter"

Trombonist and composer John Yao reconvenes his audacious three-horn quintet Triceratops for its bold, inventive second album Off-Kilter, out June 10, 2022 via See Tao Recordings, features Yao with saxophonists Billy Drewes and Jon Irabagon, along with bassist Robert Sabin and drummer Mark Ferber.

Musically scratching that prehistoric itch, trombonist/composer John Yao has once again unleashed his three-horn terror Triceratops on unsuspecting listeners with the band’s even more audacious second outing, Off-Kilter. The album title is an apt one, vividly capturing the exhilarating sense of risk-taking and disconcerting invention that make up this boldly unpredictable album.

Due out June 10, 2022 via Yao’s own See Tao Recordings, Off-Kilter reunites the brilliant frontline from Triceratops’ 2019 debut, How We Do – saxophonists Billy Drewes and Jon Irabagon along with Yao himself – and drummer Mark Ferber. This time the chordless quartet is completed by bassist Robert Sabin, a longtime collaborator with Yao’s 17-Piece Instrument big band.

While How We Do featured some of Yao’s most envelope-pushing music to date, he deliberately stretched the limits even further on Off-Kilter. The compositions are at once daringly complex yet expansive and open, challenging these gifted players while offering limitless space in which to venture and discover.

“I set out to write music that was freewheeling and open,” the trombonist explains. “I tried to strike a balance between structured, complex compositions with loose, open space for improvising.  The music offers plenty of freedom and opportunity for interaction between the players.”

It doesn’t hurt in that effort to share the stage with two such unfettered saxophonists. Drewes is a veteran whose approach blurs the boundaries between a variety of styles; he came of age in 1970s NYC alongside the open-minded likes of Joe Lovano and Bill Frisell, with whom he recorded and toured in Paul Motian’s band. Irabagon is a prolific and irreverent player with a seemingly limitless collection of horns (on Off-Kilter he supplements his tenor with the miniscule soprillo saxophone). He’s worked with a who’s who of modern jazz including Dave Douglas, Mary Halvorson, Barry Altschul and Mostly Other People Do the Killing. 

Important in any band, a rhythm section is especially crucial to a chordless group like Triceratops, even more so given the liberties that Yao allows – even encourages – in the free-ranging improvisations throughout the album. Mark Ferber is a in-demand drummer who can be heard on more than 200 recordings, including dates with Lee Konitz, Gary Peacock, Fred Hersch, Don Byron, Ralph Alessi, Marc Copland and Brad Shepik. On Off-Kilter he combines a sly precision with a buoyant spirit that maintains a core of infectious joy in even the most chaotic of moments.

Sabin proves to be a perfect fit for the band, lending the tunes a robust spine whenever necessary but with a slippery, elastic sensibility that maneuvers empathically with the horns’ eccentric deviations. “Robert is a very open, exploratory sort of player,” Yao says. “His attack and articulation can be a little more aggressive and he takes a lot of liberties with the instrument in a way that I really enjoy. His open-minded willingness to explore uncharted territory, harmonically and rhythmically, is something that the music really called for.”

The album opens with the darting lines and erratic grooves of Drewes’ “Below the High Rise,” the sole piece not penned by Yao. The tune’s sharp angles give way to vast open space, setting the tone for the album as a whole by quickly pulling the rug out from under the undaunted musicians. They challenge one another as well – Yao’s blustery solo is unexpectedly pierced by Irabagon’s flitting, high-pitched soprillo, sending the trombonist off into abrupt, soaring detours.

The title of “Labyrinth” suggests the feeling of wrong turns and tight corners embodied by the piece, with sudden surprises around every corner from tautly coiled funk to stealthy grooves to raucous eruptions. It’s followed by the first of two interludes that shine a spotlight on Ferber, with sculptural drum solos over a bed of bass and horns. They’re prime examples of Yao’s compositional approach, which aligns this small, chordless group with his big band in its use of intricate architectures and lush backgrounds.

“Quietly” is a wavering, sinuous ballad, while “Crosstalk” bursts into a swaggering funk out of some otherworldly car chase. “Unfiltered” is built on a foundation of rich, colorful three-horn harmony suspended over a floating time feel, whereas “The Morphing Line” is another shape-shifting composition atop the rhythm section’s muscular foundation. The title tune hurtles the album to an end at an untethered, breakneck pace.

“I love this band's ability to go wherever everyone collectively or individually feels like they want to go,” Yao concludes. “That was such an amazing thing to be a part of. It’s something you can’t predict when you write a piece of music, but then you put it in front of players like Billy, Jon, Bob and Mark, and it becomes a thousand times better than anything you could have come up with.”

For more than fifteen years, John Yao’s adept talent as a trombonist, composer and arranger has helped cement his place on the New York City jazz scene. All About Jazz calls Yao “an evolving artist who continues to grow at a rapid pace.” As a trombonist, he has worked extensively as a sideman for Grammy-award winning ensembles, such as the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, and has also performed with Paquito D’Rivera, Eddie Palmieri, Danilo Perez, Chris Potter and Kurt Elling, among many others. As a composer, Yao has been commissioned by the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia and the Arsonore Spirit Orchestra based in Graz, Austria. He has published numerous compositions and arrangements for professional and educational ensembles. As a bandleader, he has released four solo recordings, all of which feature his adventurous, boundary-pushing compositions for small groups and big bands alike. An in-demand educator, Yao serves as Assistant Professor of Trombone at Berklee College of Music and as Adjunct Professor of Music at Molloy College. He is an active guest artist and soloist at colleges and universities throughout the United States and abroad.

Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club Features 6x-GRAMMY® Award Nominated & 12x-Blues Music Award Nominated Singer MARIA MULDAUR

Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club Features 6x-GRAMMY® Award Nominated & 12x-Blues Music Award Nominated Singer MARIA MULDAUR on Friday July 29 at 7:30 P.M. Maria Muldaur has 3 GRAMMY® Award Nominations for "Best Traditional Blues Album" (2001, 2005, 2018), and 6 Nominations for "Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year" as well as 4 Nominations for "Acoustic Blues Album of the Year" from the Blues Music Awards.

Maria Muldaur is best known world-wide for her 1974 mega-hit "Midnight at the Oasis," which received a GRAMMY® Award Nomination, and enshrined her forever in the hearts of Baby Boomers everywhere. In the 47 years since "Midnight at the Oasis," Maria has toured extensively worldwide and has recorded 43 solo albums covering all kinds of American Roots Music, including Gospel, R&B, Jazz and Big Band.

“Don’t You Feel My Leg: The Naughty Bawdy Blues of Blue Lu Barker pays tribute to a great New Orleans blues singer and testifies to the vitality and mastery of Maria Muldaur as she continues to mine rich veins of American roots music,” raves LIVING BLUES.

“Consider ‘Let’s Get Happy Together’ a triumph that lives up to its title, “ says AMERICAN SONGWRITER.

“Maria Muldaur...dubbed “The First Lady of Roots Music” for previous albums touching on her wide-ranging influences from blues, country, folk, jazz…” observed AMERICAN BLUES SCENE.

Maria says she has now settled comfortably into her favorite idiom, the Blues. Most recently, in 2018 Maria received another GRAMMY® Award Nomination for "Best Traditional Blues Album of the Year" for 'DON'T YOU FEEL MY LEG ~ The Naughty Bawdy Blues of Blue Lu Barker'. In 2022, Maria received yet another Blues Music Award Nomination for "Acoustic Blues Album of the Year'' for her 2021 Album with Tuba Skinny entitled 'Lets Get Happy Together'.

“We are delighted to have the soulful and masterful voice of Maria Muldaur at Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club for a memorable and entertaining night of blues," says Suzanne Bresette, the Managing Director of Programming at Jimmy's Jazz and Blues Club.

Tickets for 6x-GRAMMY Award Nominated & 12x-Blues Music Award Nominated Singer MARIA MULDAUR at Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club on Friday July 29 at 7:30 P.M. are available on the Jimmy's Jazz & Blues Club Maria Muldaur Event Page.

Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club’s 2022 Schedule of Shows currently includes 7 NEA Jazz Masters, 35 GRAMMY® Award-Winning Artists, 33 Blues Music Award-Winners, and a comprehensive list of talented musicians with 450+ GRAMMY® Award Nominations amongst them. Visit Jimmy's Event Calendar for Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club’s 2022 Schedule of Shows. Subscribe to Jimmy’s Email Newsletter to stay informed on new jazz and blues artist announcements, tickets, special offers, Jimmy’s Sunday Jazz Brunch, and much more.

Jazztopad Festival Returns to New York

Poland’s premier Festival celebrating its sixth year of presenting Polish jazz and improvised music in New York City with cutting edge performances by Polish and American artists. American editions of the festival are presented in cooperation with the Polish Cultural Institute New York. 

Performances in Manhattan and Brooklyn include James Brandon Lewis and the Lutosławski Quartet’s US Premiere of “These are soulful days”; premiere of Kamil Piotrowicz Sextet’s new album "Weird Heaven"; members of the Sextet with appearances by Tim Berne, Kate Gentile, and Jamie Baum; and the Lutosławski Quartet in concerts with Uri Caine and Michael Bates' Acrobat.

After an absence of two years, Jazztopad Festival is returning to New York City to celebrate Polish contemporary jazz and improvised scene and its unique cross-continental collaborations with the best of New York’s creative artists. This sixth iteration of Jazztopad New York will present a week of performances in venues across Manhattan and Brooklyn, including Dizzy’s Club, Barbès, The Owl Music Parlor, and the Soup & Sound series from June 19 to 25, 2022.

The 2022 edition of Jazztopad New York will bring two diverse Polish groups to New York, the Kamil Piotrowicz Sextet, and the Lutosławski Quartet. These groups will play in different configurations and contexts during the week of programming.

Pianist/composer Kamil Piotrowicz will present his forward-thinking Sextet. The group's third album Weird Heaven will premiere live at Dizzy's Club during the Jazztopad Festival. Their albums Product Placement (2018) and Popular Music (2016) were nominated for a Polish Fryderyk award (comparable to the Grammy) in their respective years. The band performs Piotrowicz’s own compositions, blending elements of jazz, contemporary music, Polish folklore, and minimalism. The sextet includes trumpeter Tomasz Dabrowski, alto saxophonist Kuba Wiecek, tenor saxophonist Piotr Checki, bassist Andrzej Swies, and drummer Krzysztof Szmanda. The Sextet will perform at Dizzy’s Club on June 21 and 22. Piotrowicz and Dabrowski will perform with Downtown jazz legend Tim Berne and drummer Kate Gentile at Barbès on June 19. Piotrowicz and members of the Sextet will also perform with flutist Jamie Baum on June 24 at The Owl Music Parlor.

Founded in 2007, the Lutosławski Quartet has become one of Europe’s foremost contemporary classical string quartets, specializing in the music of their namesake, Witold Lutosławski. The Quartet began a partnership with Jazztopad over a decade ago and remains an essential part of the festival’s commission program.

The most recent commission from Jazztopad is a piece written for saxophone and the Lutosławski Quartet by the celebrated tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis. The piece, the composer’s first writing including strings, was premiered in Poland last year and will get its US premiere at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola on June 21 and 22. The Quartet will revisit an earlier commission with piano great Uri Caine at The Owl Music Parlor on June 24. Lastly, the Quartet will premiere arrangements of Lutosławski made by bassist/composer Michael Bates along with his chamber jazz group, Acrobat, at Barbès on June 25.

Jazztopad continues its partnership with percussionist Andrew Drury and his Soup & Sound series. There will be an improv session held on June 23 with very special guests. 

The idea for Jazztopad New York was inspired by the Jazztopad Festival of Wroclaw, Poland. Jazz at Lincoln Center director of programming Jason Olaine attended the 2014 Festival in Poland. The Wroclaw festival impressed Olaine, and a deal was struck to bring a taste of Jazztopad to Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York. Launched at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, Jazztopad New York continued to expand over the next five years, spreading to several illustrious venues throughout the city.

Jazztopad artistic director Piotr Turkiewicz has been steadfast in his efforts to introduce the New York Polish creative music scene. Turkiewicz has also focused on facilitating cross-cultural exchanges with musicians from other countries. An important element in this has been the commissioning of original works from visiting artists who then premiere their pieces at a Wroclaw performance. Commissions have included high-profile artists, including Charles Lloyd, Wayne Shorter, Vijay Iyer, Jason Moran, Uri Caine, and James Brandon Lewis. 

The last Jazztopad New York was held in September 2019. The Wroclaw Festival was canceled just weeks prior to its opening in 2020 because of COVID. But during the pandemic, Jazztopad continued to find avenues for their music by streaming concerts in coordination with Polish Cultural Institute New York, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Lincoln Center among others. 

Joel Quarrington | "The Music Of Don Thompson"

The first time I heard Joel play was in my basement studio in January 1981. My friend, Coenraad Bloemendal had asked me if I would record some music with himself and Joel (Duos for Cello and Bass) for an album he was doing for Crystal records. I’d been doing a lot of jazz recordings but very little classical music, so this was going to be something new and I was really looking forward to doing it.

I’d heard about Joel from Dave Young, a great jazz bass player well known for his work with Oscar Peterson. I’d heard Dave and a couple of other jazz guys play their solos with the bow so I thought I had an idea about what to expect but when Joel came in that day and started to play, I couldn’t believe the power and the feeling in his playing. I thought to myself that this guy would be the greatest jazz bass player of all time, if he ever decided to do it.

We did the recording and it turned out very well, and I didn’t see Joel again until the summer of the following year (1982) when we both wound up teaching at the Banff Center for the Arts. Joel was teaching in the classical program and I was part of the jazz faculty along with Dave Holland and Kenny Wheeler. We were both really busy so we didn’t spend much time together, but I heard him play (the Bottesini Elegy and the Grand Duo with Jim Campbell), and he came to one of our concerts and I think he really enjoyed the music. It was a trio concert with Kenny on trumpet, Dave on bass and me on piano. Dave Holland is one of the world’s greatest jazz bass players and Kenny Wheeler was . . . . . . . Kenny Wheeler. Our music was very open and free.

I didn’t see Joel or hear from him for quite a while after Banff. He went his way and I went mine, but then I got a call from him asking if I’d like to write a bass quartet for us to play on a concert at the conservatory. The quartet would be Joel, Wolfgang Goetller, Roberto Occhipinti and me on pizzicato bass. I knew I couldn’t write a real “classical” piece, so I just tried to come up with something we could play that might be fun. I wrote a big part for myself with a solo intro, a solo in the middle plus a cadenza, and left it up to the rest of them to decide who played lead etc. It was pretty wild, but it was fun and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Joel had been telling people about this piece for years, and there were a few of them that had asked about getting the score so they might play it, so I was really pleased when Joel contacted me recently about getting it together and recording it for this project. I spent a bit of time re-writing some of it (most of it actually) and I think the recording came off amazingly well. It’s not an easy piece, but there are some parts that are really tricky. I couldn’t believe the dedication to the music and attention to detail that every player showed in the sessions. 

I’d like to thank Travis Harrison for matching Joel’s sound and phrasing so beautifully on the second part, and Joe Phillips not only for his great playing, but for tuning his bass in fourths for the third part. I know that he normally tunes in fifths, and I can’t imagine being able to go from one tuning to another like that. Roberto Occhipinti had the bad luck to be stuck with the part I’d written for myself back in 1989. Along with the written part, which includes playing the melody at the beginning and again at the end, he gets to play a solo and a couple of cadenzas. The piece begins and ends with him and his solo introduction sets the mood for everything that follows. He also provided the rock-solid rhythmic foundation throughout the entire piece that was a huge factor in the success of the music. It was a great honor for me, hearing these four fantastic musicians playing my piece so beautifully, and I thank them a million times.

A few years ago, Joel called me again and this time, he was asking me to write a piece for him to play at a concert in Rochester, New York. 

He told me how, on a break from a rehearsal, he’d gone to sleep under the piano and was awakened by me playing it. I was playing “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square”, and as he was listening he was thinking that he’d like to play that song with me someday with those chords. I’d been playing with George Shearing and Mel Torme for a few years, and Nightingale was one of their show-stoppers, so I knew it really well. 

The challenge for me, was to find a way to write it so it would be special for Joel. I thought that going into a Brazilian feel after the melody would work nicely with the chords, and I remembered that cadenza that John Coltrane played at the end of “I Want to Talk about You”, so I guess my arrangement was inspired by Mel Torme, John Coltrane and Tom Jobim. 

I remember well, the first rehearsal we had for the piece. Joel drove down from Ottawa (I think) and came into my studio, took the cover off of his bass, put the music on a stand and we just played it straight through, cadenza and all, without stopping. Then he asked me “Just what exactly, did you have in mind for this?” and I said “I wanted it to sound like a combination of Phil Dwyer and John Coltrane”, (Phil is one of the greatest musicians in Canada, and a fantastic saxophone player) and Joel said, “Oh, I know exactly what you want. I won’t waste any more of your time now, I’ll take it home and learn it” and he did. A couple of weeks later he came back, and I think he’d memorized most of it. It was amazing. We played it in Rochester and it was a huge success.

I wrote “Egberto” as a dedication to the great Brazilian musician, Egberto Gismonti. I had the honor of getting to know him and playing one tune on a concert with him a few years back. It’s impossible to describe Egberto and his music. He’s one musician that’s totally beyond category. He doesn’t just compose and play music, Egberto IS music. There’s simply nobody else in the world like him. He is truly a one-of-a-kind miracle.

Another Time, Another Place was written as a dedication to Keith Jarrett, whom I got to know briefly back in 1966. We stayed in the same house for a few weeks in San Francisco and had a couple of really nice visits. All we talked about was music. It was like he was obsessed with music. I think we both were, and I felt like we were friends even though I only ever saw him a few times in the following years. I was twenty-six then, and I think he was twenty-one. It was another time and another place, a happier time, and San Francisco was a very happy place in those days.

A Quiet Place was written for a concert in Toronto with my jazz quintet and a small string orchestra. I wrote it for my bass player, Jim Vivian to play with the bow and Phil Dwyer doubling the melody on soprano sax. I didn’t have any special place in mind. Any place that’s quiet is special to me.

One more thing though about Joel. I’ve played bass for over sixty years and the problem for any bass player, any musician actually, is to make the music more important than the instrument. Bass is, for most of us a difficult instrument that can be very hard to get along with. My own bass (and I have a great bass) will only let me play when it feels like it and even then, my playing is a compromise between what I want to play, and what it will allow to play. Joel is one of the very few bass players I’ve ever heard, jazz or classical, that has the technique and the total understanding of the music he needs, to be able to put the music before himself. Very few musicians can or will do it, and it’s this, more than anything else that makes Joel special to me. When I listen to him play, I’m not hearing his amazing technique or his beautiful Italian bass, I’m only hearing music, wonderful, beautiful music. - Don Thompson

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The first time I heard Don Thompson play Bass was on a 1970’s Jim Hall Live recording that my brother Tom ( a guitarist ) and I were listening to , over and over. Don’s Bass playing was incredible and so complete. I was very inspired by his feel, sound, compositional thinking and lyrical solos. I heard from other musicians that Don also played great piano and vibes . I marveled at all of this then and I still do now. So , it was no surprise when I heard his gorgeous compositions, especially the ones on this recording . Don’s piano playing , compositions , orchestrations (including the beautiful Bass Quartet ) are all extraordinary . The Beauty, lyricism and harmonic depth of these pieces is stellar.

Joel Quarrington is an incredible bassist whose sound, virtuosity and emotional depth are striking. His unique command and flexibility make playing Bass on this extremely high level sound so effortless and easy . Indeed, it makes me want to throw my bow in the fireplace !!!!!

The colors Joel gets and the way he interprets the beautiful melodies that Don writes make this project a perfect partnership.

Finally, Kudosto the other bassists in the Quartet, Travis Harrison , Joe Phillips and my dear friend Roberto Occhipinti who always sounds great ! ~ John Patitucci 5/11/22

Peter Kogan | "Just Before Midnight"

With Just Before Midnight, his fourth album since 2013, the constantly evolving and very productive drummer-composer Peter Kogan delivers another far- ranging feast of originals (and a knowing arrangement of Cedar Walton’s classic Hindsight). All the qualities that made Kogan’s previous albums attractive — sophisticated-yet-accessible compositions, great players and soloists, and just enough quirkiness to make it interesting and fun — are here again, in abundance.

Kogan is the rare percussionist who has been able to travel back and forth between jazz, rock, and blues idioms and the classical world. He jobbed around New York City with jazz, rock, and blues bands (along the

way backing up blues masters Lightnin’ Hopkins, Floyd Jones, and Honeyboy Edwards, and gigging with the Larry Elgart Orchestra) but could also stand behind a set of timpani in a concert hall with a major symphony orchestra. This kind of versatility — and crossover — is quite exceptional for a percussionist.

Kogan did stints with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony, and the Honolulu Symphony before landing a spot with the highly esteemed and Grammy-winning Minnesota Orchestra, where he served as principal timpanist for 29 years. But classical training and employment never dimmed his love of jazz, which reaches back to his childhood. This latest chapter in Kogan’s musical career — as a jazz drummer and bandleader — brings him full circle, back to the music that originally inspired him to play the drums.

On this recording, Kogan uses groups of varying sizes, from a quartet up to a septet (he dubs the seven-piece group his “Monsterful Wonderband”) to give voice to his finely conceived compositions. His band has also become something of an incubator for young talent. For the most part, the crew on this CD definitely skews younger, but these musicians handle the challenging material with confident mastery.

Remember the names — I’m sure you’ll be hearing more about these outstanding musicians in the future, if you haven’t already.

One thing to understand about this record:

Each of these songs is a fully realized composition that takes you on a little trip, through changing moods and feelings, “sights” and sounds. While there are some stylistic nods to classic Blue Note and Impulse recordings of the 1960s, Kogan never falls back on the easy but tired formula of “Song/Bunch of solos over the song’s chord progression/Song once more and out.” More like a series of trips to a wide variety of destinations. Definitely worth taking the whole tour!