Walt Weiskopf European Quartet | "Diamonds and Other Jewel"

Waylaid by the COVID-19 pandemic, tenor saxophonist Walt Weiskopf and his European Quartet return with a vengeance on Diamonds and Other Jewels, set for an August 19 release on AMM Records. A collection of Weiskopf originals (and one standard), it demonstrates the powerful chemistry Weiskopf shares with pianist Carl Winther, bassist Andreas Lang, and drummer Anders Mogensen—matched by their audible relish at being back together. 

The album is the sixth release by the acclaimed quartet, assembled by Weiskopf in winter 2017 for a quick European tour but quickly becoming his regular working band (when not on the road with Steely Dan, Weiskopf’s other steady gig). The winter European tour became an annual tradition—although 2020’s was their last in-person summit for two years. (Their 2021 release, Introspection 2.0, was recorded remotely, with Weiskopf across the Atlantic from his bandmates.) When opportunity finally presented itself again in January 2022, they were more than ready to take it. 

“Playing together again was joyful, creative, productive; and what a relief to feel a semblance of wholeness at last,” writes Weiskopf in the liner notes. “After our first few concerts, I was excited and inspired to write some new material during a train trip from Belgium to Germany. I realized we now had enough music to make a recording worthwhile in earnest.”

The title Diamonds and Other Jewels is a direct reference to actual song titles, including the scintillating waltz “Black Diamond”; the pensive but emotionally charged “Blood Diamond”; and the autumnal ballad “Other Jewels.” But it could easily describe the overall quality of the album’s eight tunes. Among the sparkling treasures are tributes to two of Weiskopf’s mentors: “Thad Nation,” a brightly colored celebration of composer, arranger, and (co-)bandleader Thad Jones, and the Arthur Johnston-Sam Coslow classic “My Old Flame,” dedicated to the late great alto saxophonist Andy Fusco.

 These tunes are tight, most of them around six minutes. That’s a sterling testimony to how tight the band itself remains, both in terms of their personal bonds and their musical discipline. In those short timeframes, these musicians say a tremendous amount. (Photo above, l. to r.: Andreas Lang, Carl Winther, Walt Weiskopf, Anders Mogensen.)

Walt Weiskopf was born July 30, 1959, in Augusta, Georgia to a father whose work as a medical doctor was offset by his pursuit of classical piano. Both his sons—Walt and pianist Joel—followed in his formally trained footsteps. By the time he graduated from Eastman School of Music in 1980, however, Weiskopf was firmly in the jazz camp.

He kickstarted his career in Buddy Rich’s big band, moving on a few years later to the Toshiko Akiyoshi orchestra, then beginning to build a solo reputation. His first two albums as a leader, 1989’s Exact Science and 1990’s Mindwalking, both put him at the helm of a quartet with his brother Joel, bassist Jay Anderson, and drummer Jeff Hirshfield.

From there, Weiskopf was leader and performed with a variety of different ensembles, recording 11 albums over a 15-year span from 1992 to 2007 while maintaining a healthy freelance calendar in the commercial world of the New York studio scene, Broadway show pit orchestras, as well as the Akiyoshi band, Frank Sinatra orchestra, and his notable peers including, among others, Renee Rosnes, Conrad Herwig, Jim Snidero, John Fedchock, and Billy Drummond. He got the call to join Steely Dan in 2003 and has been with the jazz-rock ensemble ever since.

Weiskopf assembled his European Quartet in 2017, sprinting across Scandinavia and northern Germany for just a week—but gaining enough steam for the saxophonist to document them on a self-titled album. But one recording couldn’t contain the band’s creative energy: European Quartet was followed by 2019’s Worldwide, 2020’s Introspection, and 2021’s Introspection 2.0, as well as the holiday EP A Little Christmas Music before laying down Diamonds and Other Jewels in January 2022.

Walt sums it up: “This is what I’ve always wanted to do—to work with like-minded musicians, to write music, share it, and perform all over the world. This is my professional dream come true.”

Blue Note Re:imagined II

Blue Note Re:imagined returns on September 30 with a new 16-track compilation featuring fresh takes on music from the Blue Note vaults recorded by a heavyweight line-up of the UK jazz, soul, and R&B scene’s most hotly-tipped rising stars. Arriving off the back of the widespread international success of the first volume, which topped jazz charts around the globe, Blue Note Re:imagined II once again infuses the spirit of the new UK jazz generation into the legendary label’s iconic catalog, balancing the genre’s tradition with its future and reflecting the melting pot of talent and diversity within the current scene.

Today sees the release of the second track from the album — London tuba player Theon Cross’ reimagining of Thelonious Monk’s “Epistrophy,” which first appeared on Monk’s 1948 Blue Note album Genius Of Modern Music, Vol. 1. Cross is known as a core member of Sons of Kemet, and he’s collaborated with artists like Moses Boyd, Nubya Garcia,  Jon Batiste, Emeli Sandé, Kano, Lafawndah, and Makaya McCraven. The pre-order launches today for the 7” vinyl release out July 8 of Theon Cross’ “Epistrophy” paired with Ego Ella May’s reimagining of visionary drummer Chico Hamilton’s “The Morning Side Of Love,” which was the first single released off the album.

Additional tracks on the album will include funk-pop duo Franc Moody’s version of Donald Byrd’s “Cristo Redentor,” fast-emerging vocalist Cherise’s take on Norah Jones’ “Sunrise,” Maya Delilah covering Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon,” which was recorded by Cassandra Wilson on her 1995 Blue Note album New Moon Daughter, Birmingham-born pianist Reuben James’ reimagining of Wayne Shorter’s ballad “Infant Eyes,” and 9-piece afro-jazz outfit Nubiyan Twist’s fresh spin on Donald Byrd’s “Through The Noise (Chant 2).”

Blue Note Re:imagined II – Tracklisting

• Yazz Ahmed “It” – From Chick Corea Is (1969)
• Conor Albert “You Make Me Feel So Good”– From Bobbi Humphrey Fancy Dancer (1975)
• Parthenope “Don’t Know Why” – From Norah Jones Come Away With Me (2002)
• Swindle “Miss Kane” – From Donald Byrd Street Lady (1973)
• Nubiyan Twist “Through The Noise (Chant No.2)” – From Donald Byrd A New Perspective (1963)
• Ego Ella May “The Morning Side Of Love” – From Chico Hamilton Pereginations (1975)
• Oscar Jerome & Oscar #Worldpeace “(Why You So) Green With Envy” – From Grant Green Green Street (1961)
• Daniel Casimir ft. Ria Moran “Lost” – From Wayne Shorter The Soothsayer (1965)
• Theon Cross “Epistrophy” – From Thelonious Monk Genius Of Modern Music, Vol. 1 (1948)
• Maya Delilah “Harvest Moon” – From Cassandra Wilson New Moon Daughter (1995)
• Kay Young “Feel Like Making Love” – From Marlena Shaw Who Is This Bitch, Anyway? (1974)
• Venna & Marco Bernardis “Where Are We Going” – From Donald Byrd Black Byrd (1972)
• Reuben James “Infant Eyes” – From Wayne Shorter Speak No Evil (1964)
• Binker Golding “Fort Worth” – From Joe Lovano From The Soul (1991)
• Cherise “Sunrise” – From Norah Jones Feels Like Home (2004)
• Franc Moody “Cristo Redentor”– From Donald Byrd A New Perspective (1963)

Ronnie Foster | "Reboot"

Organ great Ronnie Foster returns to Blue Note Records with the July 15 release of Reboot, his first new album in 36 years which arrives 50 years after his 1972 Blue Note debut Two Headed Freap. The nine-song album was recorded at the legendary Capitol Studios and marks a fresh start for Foster, who has whipped up an omnidirectional brew of Hammond Organ Groove that pays homage to the past but more often reflects his restlessness for ushering in the new. The album’s grooving title track “Reboot” is out now featuring Foster on organ, his son Chris Foster on drums, and Michael O’Neill on guitar. Reboot is available for pre-order now on D2C exclusive red vinyl, black vinyl, CD, and digital download.

Listeners the world over have heard Foster’s soulful playing, whether from his standout performance on “Summer Soft” from Stevie Wonder’s 1976 masterwork Songs In The Key Of Life, best-selling George Benson albums including Breezin’, or A Tribe Called Quest’s classic hip-hop track “Electric Relaxation” which sampled Foster’s “Mystic Brew” from Two Headed Freap, which was reissued last week as part of Blue Note’s Classic Vinyl Reissue Series.

The Buffalo, New York born keyboardist first caught the ear of Blue Note co-founder Francis Wolff when he made his first-ever recording as a sideman on guitar legend Grant Green’s searingly funky Blue Note LP, Alive! in 1970. After Wolff passed away a few months later, Ronnie was officially signed to Blue Note by George Butler making him the next in an illustrious lineage of Hammond B3 organ artisans the label had presented which included Jimmy Smith, Larry Young, and Dr. Lonnie Smith. Two Headed Freap was the first in a run of five stellar jazz-funk albums Foster would make for Blue Note throughout the 1970s including Sweet Revival, Live: Cookin’ with Blue Note at Montreux, On the Avenue, and Cheshire Cat. Stream our playlist Ronnie Foster: The Finest featuring highlights from the organist’s Blue Note discography.

Mightily hoisting the Blue Note organ torch once again, Foster gives thanks to the musical osmosis that was poured into him by all of the greats that preceded him. In the album’s liner notes, Ronnie makes sure to pay homage to one very important person in his life who passed away in 2021: “This album is dedicated to the memory of my brother, friend, Buffalo Homie and hero Dr. Lonnie Smith, who was one of the best in the world on the Hammond B3 organ.”

Julian Lage - View With A Room, plus tour dates

Guitar virtuoso Julian Lage expands his horizons on View With A Room, a collection of 10 compelling original compositions out September 16 that marks his second release for Blue Note Records. Having established a home base with his brilliant and deeply attuned trio of bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King—most recently heard on the guitarist’s acclaimed 2021 Blue Note debut Squint—Lage casts his gaze outward to discover new orchestrational possibilities with the addition of six-string icon Bill Frisell, who adds his inimitable voice to this stunning album. 

Lage has also announced his Fall U.S. tour View With A Room In Concert, which kicks off September 13. Lage’s Summer tour schedule also includes a week at the Village Vanguard in New York City (July 26-31), as well as performances across Canada and Europe. 

“In so many ways, I’ve wanted to make this record for years,” says Lage. “It comes from a line of musical inquiry: can you have lush orchestration combined with an organic sense of improvisation and the agility of a small ensemble?”

Without bolstering the line-up with additional instrumentation and more intricate writing, thus losing the maneuverability and venturesome spontaneity that he’s honed with Roeder and King over the last several years, Lage found his solution where he so often does: in the guitar.

“The answer came from some of the historical references that matter to me about the electric guitar,” Lage explains. “There’s a certain lineage that grows out of early pioneers like Jimmy Bryant and George Barnes and Charlie Christian, where there’s this almost electric volatility to the sound. It’s both beautiful and kind of sharp; it’s subdued and warm, but also kind of gritty. In thinking about the orchestration for this album, I wanted to foster the point of that arrow.”

There’s no one better suited to understanding what Lage was seeking, who is better versed in the history of guitar and jazz and beyond, its personalities and possibilities, than Bill Frisell. The legendary guitarist has worked with Lage in several different contexts, including duo concerts and projects devised by John Zorn, and enhances Lage’s vision in atmospheric and incisive ways throughout View With A Room. The pair honed in on a shorthand vocabulary rich with references as diverse as the Beach Boys, Keith Jarrett’s American and European Quartets, and George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass. The two guitarists’ subtle weave is at the heart of “Auditorium,” where Frisell’s agile rhythm work buoys Lage’s eloquent leads atop the gracefully subtle propulsion of Roeder and King.

“There’s no one I would trust more than Bill Frisell to come into our trio ecosystem and be able to expand it while totally embracing it,” Lage says. “It became a beautiful collaboration that achieved the Technicolor experience that I’ve been searching for.”

View With A Room was produced by Margaret Glaspy, his wife and musical partner who brings her own insights as a singer-songwriter to the lyrical and storytelling aspects that make Lage’s compositions so singular. She worked closely at Brooklyn’s Bridge Studios with engineer Mark Goodell, who Lage credits with “wrangling this album into a sonic place that references what we love best about classic Blue Note records while still feeling utterly contemporary and unique to the sound of this band.” Lage’s longtime friend and collaborator Armand Hirsch added integral post-production elements that bring the emotional intent of each song into focus.

JULIAN LAGE – 2022 TOUR DATES:

June 25 – Victoria, BC – TD Victoria International Jazz Festival

June 26 – Vancouver, BC – TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival

June 27 – Edmonton, AB – TD Edmonton International Jazz Festival

June 28 – Ottawa, ON – TD Ottawa International Jazz Festival

June 29 – Toronto, ON – Axis Club

June 30 – Montreal, QC – TD Montreal International Jazz Festival

July 2 – Glynde, UK – Love Supreme Jazz Festival

July 5-6 – Jerusalem, IL – Jerusalem Jazz Festival

July 8 – Paris, FR – New Morning

July 9 – Rotterdam, NL – North Sea Jazz Festival

July 10 – Munich, DE – Jazzclub Unterfahrt

July 11 – Prague, CZ – Bohemia Jazz Festival

July 12 – La Spezia, IT – La Spezia Jazz Fest

July 14 – Genoa, IT – Piazza delle Feste

July 15 – Sète, FR – Jazz A Sete

July 26-31 – New York, NY – Village Vanguard

Aug. 22-26 – Big Indian, NY – Alternative Guitar Summit Camp

Sept. 3 – Detroit, MI – Detroit Jazz Festival

Sept. 13 – Pittsburgh, PA – Oaks Theater

Sept. 14 – Bellefontaine, OH – Holland Theater

Sept. 16 – Madison, WI – High Noon

Sept. 17 – Minneapolis, MN – Dakota

Sept. 20 – Seattle, WA – Neumos

Sept. 21 – Portland, OR – Aladdin Theater

Sept. 23 – Monterey, CA – Monterey Jazz Festival

Sept. 25 – Geyserville, CA – Trione Vineyards and Winery

Sept. 27 – Visalia, CA – Cellar Door

Sept. 28 – Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up Tavern

Sept. 29 – Phoenix, AZ – Musical Instrument Museum

Oct. 1 – Boulder, CO – Boulder Theater

Oct. 14 – Los Angeles, CA – Walt Disney Concert Hall*

Nov. 30 – Washington, DC – Sixth & I

Dec. 1 – Philadelphia, PA – World Cafe Live (Downstairs)

Dec. 3 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club

Dec. 4 – Old Saybrook, CT – The Kate

Dec. 6 – Newark, OH – Thirty One West

Dec. 7 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall

Dec. 8 – Lexington, KY – Origins Jazz – Children’s Theater

Dec. 9 – Asheville, NC – Grey Eagle

Dec. 10 – Atlanta, GA – Center Stage

Dec. 11 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl

Dec. 14 – Charlottesville, VA – The Jefferson

*with The Bad Plus

New Music: Thee Sacred Souls, Sioux Robbins, Booker T, Moor Mother

Thee Sacred Souls - Thee Sacred Souls

For Thee Sacred Souls, the first time is often the charm. The band’s first club dates led to a record deal with the revered Daptone label; their first singles racked up more than ten million streams in a year and garnered attention from Billboard, Rolling Stone, and KCRW; and their first fans included the likes of Gary Clark Jr., The Black Pumas, Princess Nokia, and Timbaland. Now, the breakout San Diego trio is ready to deliver yet another landmark first with the release of their self-titled debut on Daptone Records. “Every step of the way has just been so organic,” says drummer Alex Garcia. “Things just seem to happen naturally when the three of us get together.” Indeed, there’s something inevitable about the sound of Thee Sacred Souls, as if Garcia and his bandmates—bassist Sal Samano and singer Josh Lane—have been playing together for a lifetime already. Produced by Bosco Mann (aka Daptone co-founder Gabriel Roth), Thee Sacred Souls is a warm and textured record, mixing the easygoing grace of sweet ’60s soul with the grit and groove of early ’70s R&B, and the performances are utterly intoxicating, with Lane’s weightless vocals anchored by the rhythm section’s deep pocket and infectious chemistry. Hints of Chicano, Philly, Chicago, Memphis, and even Panama soul turn up here, and while it’s tempting to toss around labels like “retro” with a deliberately analog collection like this, there’s also something distinctly modern about the band that defies easy categorization, a rawness and a sincerity that transcends time and place. 

Sioux Robins - Relax Girl

Singer songwriter Sioux Robbins spent her earlier days performing in jazz clubs and cocktail lounges in Philadelphia and Atlantic City, singing jazz standards. Her dark contralto to silky soprano runs the gamut of Nina Simone, and Sade, to Roberta Flack and Anita Baker. Her music is born out of the classic writing styles of Carole King and Paul Simon while it pushes forward into the now of Solange and Janelle Monae.  Her lyric writing is poetic and thought provoking, and the music is fresh and nostalgic at the same time. Her vocals reveal a sound uniquely her own. "As I Breathe,: is a breezy Latin; "Scares Me," is a Pop/R&B ballad reminding us all that, yes, new love can be scary. The Doobie Brothers cover "It Keeps You Running" is a sexy, bump and grind, old school R&B ballad. "Relax Girl," the title track, is an uplifting pep talk that launches into a jam on the bridge. "All the Time in the World" is a chill Latin with clever lyrics and a memorable hook. "Gentleman Friend" is a pop ballad about a crush. "Ultimatum" is the icing on the cake, a blend of EDM and Latin. This debut album shows not just her strength as a singer but her possibly greater strength as a songwriter

Booker T - I Want You (with bonus tracks)

An early 80s gem from Booker T – and continuing proof that he made some mighty nice music after he split from the MGs! This set's got Book grooving in a sweet Cali mode all the way through – a vibe that's warm, yet never sleepy at all – and blended with just the right touches of funk and jazz to keep things hip, and give the album way more depth than you might expect! There's some surprising fusion touches at times, but the album always has a great focus – and if anything, reminds us of some of the best soul sides on Capitol Records of the time – particularly those influenced by earlier funk on Blue Note. Booker handles vocals, keyboards, and guitar – plus most of the arrangements too – and the album's got a sweet stepping groove that's mighty nice all the way through! Titles include "I Want You", "Treasure Chest", "Don't Stop Your Love", "Electric Lady", "You're The Best", and "I Came To Love You". ~ Dusty Groove

Moor Mother - Jazz Codes

Moor Mother's an artist who just keeps on getting more and more interesting with each new release – definitely in a genre that's completely her own – one that lives up to the spirit of west coast underground pioneers in recent decades – and, as with those artists, seemingly finds a sonic space that none of us knew existed! Under her real name, Camae Ayewa, Moor Mother has roots in musical education in the world of higher learning – and here, she's managed to draw together many strands of that experience into a voice that's not only all her own, but completely organic and laidback too – a mixture of hip hop, soul, spoken word, and some of the jazzier currents promised in the title. Nearly every single track features a collaboration – artists include Nicole Mitchell, Melanie Charles, Jason Moran, Wolf Weston, and many others – and titles include "Woody Shaw", "Ode To Mary", "Umzansi", "Golden Lady", "Blame", "Blues Away", "Dust Together", "Arms Save", "Barely Woke", "Rap Jasm", and "Joe McPhee Nation Time Intro". ~ Dusty Groove

Nate Wooley & Columbia Icefield | "Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes"

With the self-titled 2019 debut of his remarkable quartet Columbia Icefield, trumpeter and composer Nate Wooley traced the Columbia River from his Oregon hometown to its glacial headwaters, sonically reckoning with the awe-inspiring beauty of the immense icefield. The band’s breathtaking follow-up, Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes, essentially brings the project full circle, a thematic homecoming that contrasts the intimacy of one’s roots with the vastness of the wider world. 

Due out July 29 via Pyroclastic Records, Ancient Songs of Burlap Heroes finds Wooley reconvening with guitarist Mary Halvorson, pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn, and drummer Ryan Sawyer, whose distinctive voices contribute to Wooley’s sweeping vision. The album also includes contributions from violist Mat Maneri and electric bassist Trevor Dunn. The album unfolds as a captivating hour-long narrative of the monolithic intensity, hushed atmospherics, and gravitational force of a shifting glacier. 

Columbia Icefield was initially conceived, Wooley explains, as a reimagined take on a jazz group, though the end result became something much more expansive. “I had been having trouble thinking of myself as a jazz musician,” the trumpeter says. “So I decided to write some music for a new kind of jazz group. But after recording the music and playing it live, I realized that it's closer to folk music.” 

When Wooley speaks of folk music, he’s pointing to a storytelling tradition that expresses the tales and collective ethos of a people. And Ancient Songs expresses the ethos of the title’s “burlap heroes.” As Wooley writes in the recording’s dedication:       

This album is dedicated to those who recognize living as a heroic act: the occupiers of sunup barstools; the cubicle-planted; the ghosts of Greyhounds; the reasonably sketchy. A burlap hero is one who marches—consciously or not—back to the sea in hopes of making no splash, who understands and embraces the imperfection of being, and in that way, stretches the definition of sainthood to fit. 

These concepts steered Wooley back to his hometown of Clatskanie, Oregon, with all of the conflicted emotions that one inevitably brings to seeing familiar sights through changed eyes. Where the group’s first recording dealt with leaving humble roots and being confronted with the monumental scale of the natural environment, Wooley says, “Ancient Songs feels like a long story told in front of a huge mountain—or in a forest of sequoias—alternating with intimate moments that feel like the trumpet is right against your ear.” 

These same ideas are echoed in the striking photographs by aAron Munson that make up the album’s artwork. Taken from Munson’s series Isachsen, Nunavut, the haunting images evoke similar ideas of return and abandonment—familial connections and innate loneliness—as those woven through Wooley’s music. 

Though it unspools as an uninterrupted, mesmerizing hour-long experience, Ancient Songs is divided into three poetically titled large-scale compositions. “I Am the Sea That Sings of Dust” depicts the struggle between the natural world and human expression, with waves of crushing sound threatening to drown out the initially gentle and airy playing. The music gradually accrues into a tempestuous whorl, then calms into soaring beauty, pairing Wooley’s trumpet and Maneri’s viola. “A Catastrophic Legend” was penned as a love letter to Wooley’s mentor, Ron Miles, with whom he’d previously recorded the 2016 album Argonautica. The piece, which includes Dunn’s elastic bass playing, was conceived long before Miles’ passing in March and now stands as an elegy to a lost friend. The stirring “Returning To Drown Myself, Finally” is based on a Swedish dalakoral, or religious song, called “Nu är midsommar natt,” an even more explicit reference to folk tradition. These larger pieces are set off by four rapturous ambient sections named by ellipses of increasing length, which incorporate field recordings Wooley captured in the fishing village of Machiasport, Maine and add to a distinct sense of place and environment that bolsters the imaginary landscapes conjured by the music itself.

Nate Wooley has often been cited as part of an international revolution in improvised trumpet; his combination of vocalization, extreme extended technique, noise and drone aesthetics, amplification and feedback, and compositional rigor has led one reviewer to call his solo recordings “exquisitely hostile.” He has performed regularly with such icons as John Zorn, Anthony Braxton, Eliane Radigue, Ken Vandermark, Fred Frith, Evan Parker, and Yoshi Wada, as well as being a collaborator with some of the brightest lights of his generation, including Chris Corsano, C. Spencer Yeh, Peter Evans, and Mary Halvorson. In addition to Columbia Icefield, he also leads the ever-growing Seven Storey Mountain, an ecstatic song cycle for large ensemble; and Mutual Aid Music, a set of eight ensemble concertos in service of “anarchistic utopia.” He is the curator of the Database of Recorded American Music and editor-in-chief of their online quarterly journal Sound American, and runs the experimental music label Pleasure of the Text. 

Horace Andy | "Midnight Rocker"

Adrian Sherwood has spent a long time realising his dream of making an album with legendary Jamaican vocalist Horace Andy, beloved by reggae fans worldwide for his classic 70s and 80s tracks for labels such as Studio One and Wackies such as "Skylarking" and "Money Money", and boasting proper crossover appeal in modern times via his frequent contributions to Massive Attack, being a mainstay of their touring line-up and singing on all of their studio albums to date.  

Midnight Rocker has been approached in a similar fashion to the late-career quality that Sherwood coaxed out of Lee "Scratch" Perry with the Rainford and Heavy Rain albums, assembling a crack team of players and spending many months perfecting performance, arrangements and mixing. The result is 11 remarkable tracks that sparkle with superb musicianship, carefully crafted production and some truly beautiful vocals from Andy.  

As well as revisiting some Horace Andy classics like "Mr Bassie", "Materialist" and "This Must Be Hell" with fresh production, the album also features brand new material penned by LSK, Jeb Loy Nichols, George Oban and Adrian Sherwood. The pair have also versioned a much-loved early single by the group that Andy is most associated with, Massive Attack, although Shara Nelson took the lead on the original “Safe From Harm” and here Horace steps up to the mic. Interestingly, Shara Nelson recorded with Adrian Sherwood several years before the inception of Massive Attack, and 1983’s lost street-soul classic “Aiming At Your Heart” could arguably be cited as a blueprint for the later group’s sound.  

The backing band on this album features the cream of On-U Sound players, including contributions from Gaudi, Skip McDonald, George Oban, Crucial Tony, the Ital Horns, and the late, great Style Scott. 

Like Rainford, Midnight Rocker will be followed by a full companion LP of dub versions, which is not completed yet but will hopefully come out later on in 2022. 

Horace Andy Live dates:

22/04/2022: Querbeat Festival - Unterwaldhausen, Germany

29/04/2022: ‘Pay It All Back Revisited’ - Marble Factory, Bristol

30/04/2022: ‘Pay It All Back Revisited’ - 02 Forum Kentish Town, London

12/06/2022: David Rodigan’s Outlook Orchestra - Kenwood House, London

Horace Andy was born as Horace Hinds on February 19, 1951 in Kingston, Jamaica. Andy, also known as "Sleepy," has become an enduring voice on the Jamaican music scene. His signature early 1970s hit, "Skylarking," defined his ability to deliver songs of black determination and social commentary, but he could equally deliver songs of love.  

Andy worked with producer George "Phil" Pratt on his first single, "This Is a Black Man's Country," in 1967. His cousin, Justin Hinds, was starting to enjoy some success at that time, but Andy would not gain notice until working with noted Jamaican producer Clement "Coxsone" Dodd in 1970. "Got To Be Sure” became his first release for Studio One, Dodd's studio. Dodd gave him the stage name of Horace Andy - a reference to popular singer Bob Andy. With Dodd, Andy went on to record "See A Man's Face," the well-received "Mr. Bassie" and the breakthrough hit "Skylarking," among other songs. "Skylarking," which encouraged wayward youth to clean up their act, was released as a single and topped the Jamaican record charts, becoming a signature tune for Andy. 

Although American R&B singers were Andy's early influences, he also comments: “I wanted to be like Jimi Hendrix, to play the guitar like him! I didn't see myself as having a great voice. I didn't know I'd be a great singer." 

Andy has consistently recorded and performed around the world, and has remained relevant in reggae subgenres such as roots reggae, rock steady, lover's rock and dancehall, recording with some of the all time great reggae producers including Bunny “Striker” Lee, Niney Holness, Tapper Zukie, Lloyd Barnes and Steely & Clevie. 

In 1990, he was discovered by the Bristol based trip-hop band Massive Attack, who cited Andy's work as a major influence. He recorded the song "One Love" for their 1991 debut album ‘Blue Lines’, and the band's popularity exposed Andy to a younger generation of fans, many of whom continue to seek out his earlier work. After Massive Attack launched their own label, Melankolic, they released Skylarking, a compilation of Andy's career hits. Andy is the only singer of Massive Attack's rotating group of guest artists to appear on each one of the band's albums. He also appeared on the British group Dub Pistols' 2001 album ‘Six Million Ways to Live’, and on the Easy Star All-Stars' 2006 Radiohead tribute ‘Radiodread’. 

More about Adrian Sherwood: 

“Someone once described me as just a fan who’d got his hands on a mixing desk, They were probably trying to be nasty, but I took it as a compliment – that’s exactly what I am!” 

For over 40 years now, forward-thinking sound scientist and mixologist Adrian Sherwood has been dubbing it up, keeping the faith when others have fallen away and blowing minds and speakers alike. 

Producer, remixer, and proprietor of the British dub collective/record label On-U Sound, Adrian Sherwood has long been regarded as one of the most innovative and influential artists in contemporary dance and modern reggae music. His talent for creating musical space, suspense, sensations and textures have enabled him to pioneer a distinctive fusion of dub, rock, reggae and dance that challenges tradition not only in roots circles, but also in the pop world at large. 

“I’d rather try and create a niche amongst like-minded people, and create our own little market place be that 5, 50 or 500,000 sales and also be true to our principles of making things, and to your own spirit that you put into the work.” 

Born in 1958, Sherwood first surfaced during the mid ’70s and formed On-U Sound in 1981. While the On-U Sound crew’s original focus was on live performances, the emphasis soon switched to making records and Sherwood began mixing and matching lineups, resulting in new acts including New Age Steppers, African Head Charge, Mark Stewart & Maffia, and Doctor Pablo & the Dub Syndicate. 

All of these early records, according to Rock: The Rough Guide were “phenomenal, generally bass-heavy with outlandish dubbing from Sherwood, who worked the mixing desk as an instrument in itself.” 

Long influential and innovative on the UK reggae scene, Sherwood’s distinctive production style soon began attracting interest from acts outside of the dub community and by the early-’80s Sherwood was among the most visible producers and remixers around, working on tracks for artists as varied as Depeche Mode, Primal Scream, Einsturzende Neubaten, Simply Red, the Woodentops, and Ministry. He became increasingly involved in industrial music as the decade wore on, producing tracks for Cabaret Voltaire, Skinny Puppy, KMFDM, and Nine Inch Nails, and although On-U Sound continued to reflect its leader’s eclectic tastes, the label remained a top reggae outlet. 

In 2003 he launched his solo artist career with Never Trust a Hippy, which was followed in 2006 by Becoming a Cliché. Both were released by On-U in conjunction with the Real World label. 

Still one of the most sought-after producers in the contemporary music industry, Adrian Sherwood and his progressive style and interest in developing new ideas continue to propel On-U Sound’s ongoing success. In 2012 he issued his third solo album Survival & Resistance, and began an ongoing collaboration with Bristol-based dubstep don Pinch. This brought two different generations of bass together and in 2015 the pair released their debut album Late Night Endless. Behind the mixing desk he has been working with the likes of Spoon, Roots Manuva and Nisennenmondai; and delivered remixes of Halsey, Congo Natty and Django Django. His production and remix works has also begun to be anthologised by On-U Sound with the critically acclaimed Sherwood At The Controls series. 

“Music is lovely because it stimulates people, superficial music doesn’t. If you make something that you put your heart and soul into and really try to push it so it leaps out the speakers at you, and if there’s a good feel to it, then you’ve achieved something.”

Al Foster | "Reflections"

Approaching 80 years of age is occasion enough for anyone to take a moment and look back on a life well lived. For revered drummer Al Foster, those eight decades have been more memorable than most, filled with exhilarating sounds and encounters with some of the music’s most iconic figures. On Reflections, his second album for Smoke Sessions Records, Foster revisits the work of several of his legendary peers alongside an inspiring quintet of all-stars: Nicholas Payton on trumpet, Chris Potter on tenor saxophone, Kevin Hays on piano and keyboards, and Vicente Archer on bass.

Due out August 26, Reflections finds Foster – as ever – playing at rarefied levels of chops, creativity and musicality. Throughout the session he propels this supremely talented unit through fresh, vital treatments of well-known and less-traveled numbers by iconic legends Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Sonny Rollins, and McCoy Tyner, all of whom regarded Foster as their first-call drummer for long portions of his celebrated career – at times competing for his services. Band members Payton, Potter and Hays contribute a tune apiece, while Foster penned three well-wrought songs, including two homages to Thelonious Monk that bookend the program.

The follow-up to his well-received 2019 Smoke Sessions debut, Inspirations & Dedications, is Foster’s fifth leader recording and, as even the notoriously self-critical drummer surprisingly says, “It is my best record as a leader.” Bringing together the influences he gleaned and experiences he shared with his idols and peers with the rejuvenating energy of this younger cohort of brilliant players, the humble Foster takes well-deserved pride in his accomplishments.

“As I’m aging, I can’t believe all the things I’ve been able to do,” Foster says. “I've been blessed, and I'm so proud of the things I’ve done with really great musicians. I don’t play like my idols, though I loved every one of them and I hear them in me. When I was coming up, I was trying to play like Art Taylor and my solos were like Max Roach. When I heard Tony Williams, and then Joe Chambers and Jack DeJohnette, I said to myself, ‘What about me? How come I don’t hear my own stuff?’ I wanted so badly to find Al Foster. I prayed for it. I believe in God, and I think he gave it to me. To this day he’s giving me new ideas and new little tricks.”

Reflections opens and closes with Foster’s tributes to the great Thelonious Monk, one of his primary heroes (His third original, “Anastasia,” is an ode to his eldest granddaughter). Foster first had an opportunity to work with the formidable pianist, during a couple of weeks in 1969 at Manhattan’s Village Gate, but his imprimatur remained on the drummer’s music. “Most of my tunes have some Monk in them,” Foster says. “It’s not the notes. It’s some of his accents. It isn’t deliberate but when I sit at the piano, it just happens that way. I worship Monk and I miss him dearly. He was a sweetheart. A really strange character...oh my God. But that's who he was. That's why he wrote the way he wrote – different than anybody. I fell in love with him at a young age.”

Shortly after his time with Monk followed his initial gig – the first of hundreds until the latter 1990s – with Sonny Rollins, at the Village Vanguard opposite Tony Williams’ just formed Lifetime band. He also teamed with Rollins in 1978, on a tour and recording with the Milestone All-Stars, which included McCoy Tyner, who subsequently would tour and record with Foster regularly until the early 2000s. Foster tips his hat to both former employers on Reflections – Rollins with the saxophone colossus’ classic “Pent-Up House” and Tyner with “Blues on the Corner” from the immortal 1967 Blue Note album The Real McCoy.

“I fell in love with Sonny Rollins from his albums with Max Roach,” Foster recalls. “He played so lyrically on those records. It was like he was having a conversation through his solos. What a super genius he is.”

Foster’s recollections of Tyner are more poignant, inflected by his last encounter with the master pianist before his passing in March 2020. The two crossed paths at Smoke during a tribute concert led by pianist Mike LeDonne. “I didn’t know it was going to be the last time I saw him,” Foster says. “He said, ‘Oh, Al, we did so much together, man!’ It brought tears to my eyes because his voice wasn’t very clear. I had to put my ear close to him. But he was a beautiful human being.”

The drummer met Joe Henderson, whose “Punjab” he takes on here, not long after the tenor giant hit New York in 1962. In the 1980s, Foster was the drummer on Henderson’s influential album The State of the Tenor, Vols.1 & 2 with Ron Carter and the association continued full bore during the 1990s on long trio tours with bassists Charlie Haden and Dave Holland and classic albums like So Near, So Far and The Joe Henderson Big Band. Herbie Hancock’s “Alone and I” nods to Foster’s many years recording and touring with the great pianist. “I’ve been all over the world with Herbie, and he’s another beautiful human being.”

And then there’s Miles. Foster first encountered the notorious trumpet icon as a teenager at Birdland and Minton’s, later becoming Miles’ drummer-of-choice on various plugged-in, backbeat-oriented bands from late 1972 until midway through the 1980s. “I never really played jazz with Miles,” says Foster, who regards Davis as the best friend he’d ever had. “Miles had his demons, but I loved him more than my father.”

For all the praise he heaps upon his past collaborators, Foster is equally generous in discussing his modern-day personnel. He describes Potter – a member of Foster’s mid-’90s band and a participant on his 1995 album Brandyn, not long after Foster and Hays played on the saxophonist’s second album, Sundiata – as “genius level, with his own way of playing, his own style – one of the best people around on tenor that I know.” Potter also contributed the probing “Open Plans” to the proceedings. Foster is similarly enthusiastic about Hays, saying “he is my favorite pianist” and notes the “distinctive harmonic concept and great voicings” of this frequent collaborator of long standing who based his “Beat,” which he wrote for the occasion, on Sam Rivers’ “Beatrice.” And finally Foster celebrates the promethean Payton for his “tastefulness and great chops” and for his harmonically intriguing, spacey-funky, “Bitches Brew-ish” tune, “Six.”

It’s hard to overstate Foster’s contribution to the musical production of the aforementioned giants – as well as that of artists like Bobby Hutcherson, Stan Getz, Tommy Flanagan, Hank Jones, Blue Mitchell, Joe Lovano and John Scofield, as a short list – who have defined the mainstem tributaries along which jazz has traveled during his 60 years as a professional. But as much as Foster likes to wax nostalgic about the past, it’s also evident on every note of this 68-minute gem that he’s fully committed to living in the moment and playing in the here and now.

Cumbiamuffin | "Cumbiamuffin"

It was only a matter of time before cumbia hit Australia. After humbly coming to life on Colombia’s Caribbean coast, this rhythm—and everything it represents: its multi-ethnicity, its danceable pulse, its resilience—snaked its way up the mountains to reach Colombia’s urban capitals, Bogotá and Medellín, who transmitted the signal to Mexico, Peru, Argentina... Cumbia travelled, and wherever it landed it took hold; Charles Mingus got his fill in the 70s, Mexicans brought it across the US border in the 80s, Joe Strummer couldn’t get enough of it in the 90s; and wherever it landed, it has shown its flexibility, its ability to adapt to new environments.

Cumbiamuffin are the perfect example of what happens when cumbia arrives in a completely different continent. Since forming in 2010, they have become Australia’s premier large format cumbia orchestra, offering a twist on the genre that no one saw coming. They take their inspiration from cumbia’s brass band traditions, when the genre was adopted by orchestras in the 1940s, the start of its golden age, but they do not stop there. They also look further afield, to the big bands of Mexico and Peru, and even to the Caribbean, which is how their name came about. Cumbiamuffin represents the contraction of two musical styles that the group seamlessly bring together in one big, vibrant, joyous experience: cumbia and raggamuffin reggae. This is a group that can inject even more life into a bona fide Colombian classic like Lucho Bermudez’s “Salsipuedes,” take a Greek club version of a Mexican banda track written by an Argentine accordionist and come up with the cohesively international “Ritmo de Sinaloa,” and then there’s that unmistakable ragga skank all over “La Promesa,” with “La Cabezona” being an instrumental descarga that has no right to rumble so low, designed with dance halls and sound systems in mind.

Armed with the collective energy of two authentic Colombian vocalists, a seriously massive brass section, heavy bass, funky guitar, salsa piano and equally authentic percussion, the 15-piece band combines elements of reggae, dancehall and roots from the Colombian Caribbean in a deft mix that is both retro and futuristic, authentically traditional and yet also experimental. Put together by a collective of Colombian and Australian musicians, the project has the common vision of introducing the purest sounds of the golden era of orchestrated cumbia to Australian audiences, but with a little something more added to the formula to keep things fresh.

Having triumphantly conquered their home country’s competitive music scene with sold out shows at numerous festivals and well-known venues all over Down Under, Cumbiamuffin are poised to break out to a global audience with their debut self-titled LP.

Cumbiamuffin will be joint released by Peace & Rhythm, Hyperopia Records and, Sounds and Colours on 1st July 2022

Hidden Waters: Strange & Sublime Sounds of Rio de Janeiro

Over four sides of vinyl, Hidden Waters: Strange & Sublime Sounds of Rio de Janeiro charts a surge of creativity and camaraderie born from Rio’s underground that's now firmly making its way into the national consciousness. This 23-track compilation documents a landmark moment in popular Brazilian music, deep-diving into a wellspring of vibrant and vanguard sounds. Spotlighting the last decade’s most defining releases, as well as giving a platform to upcoming artists, unreleased material and left-field experimentation, the compilation collects and canonises a vital pool of talent which is reshaping the sound of Brazilian music.

Hidden Waters features such musicians as seminal scene mainstays Negro Leo, Ava Rocha and Kassin, Brazilian jazz upstart Antônio Neves, critically-lauded avant-pop trailblazer Thiago Nassif, breakthrough artists Ana Frango Elétrico and Letrux, lo-fi psych rocker Lê Almeida, and sonic explorer Cadú Tenorio, as well as revelatory new voices Raquel Dimantas and ROSABEGE, among many others. 

The music on Hidden Waters is unequivocally Brazilian, swelling with samba, bossa nova, funk and jazz. But it’s the album’s blend - from sunny psychedelia to dusky synth pop, via experimental electronics and euphoric disco - that marks the compilation as the sound of modern, multicultural Rio. Fans of Brazil’s fertile sixties and seventies will spot the antecedents in Tropicália. Not only in the experimentation but also through the music’s similar political context: back then it was Brazil’s military dictatorship, now it’s Bolsonaro’s censorious premiership. This is a group of musicians writing a colourful chapter within Brazil’s musical history.

This comprehensive compilation comes with album artwork designed by Rio music’s leading album artwork designer, Caio Paiva. It features essays by professor and music critic Bernardo Oliveira and music journalist Leonardo Lichote, plus extensive notes on each track by the artists themselves.

Sounds and Colours have launched a vinyl fundraising campaign for Hidden Waters: Strange & Sublime Sounds of Rio de Janeiro via Bandcamp Vinyl. 

Michael d’Addio | "With Michael After Hours"

In today’s world of music that so often reflects jangled nerves, chaotic events, raging pandemics, fractured relationships, and fearful apprehensions, Michael d’Addio’s new musical venture into the world of smooth Jazz, titled ‘With Michael After Hours’ just hits different. This album embraces fans like the calm, welcoming embrace of an old friend.

The amazing story behind the extraordinary new album ‘With Michael After Hours’ takes place in a small town at 8,000 feet on the upslope of a 17,000 foot volcano in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador in South America: an 80 year-old, expat American retiree with an equally-extraordinary background had been living there for nearly 14 years when the COVID pandemic came calling. To Michael d’Addio, the problems caused by the pandemic were only the latest in a steady flow of turbulent and chaotic events plaguing the world for decades.

From a life-long habit of relaxing with chill-out music at the end of a stressful day, Michael decided to share this with other like-minded folks. By drawing on his lifetime of singing and his 30 years of production experience in the Hollywood film business, he gathered together an orchestra of 18 local, very talented musicians and, despite the formidable obstacles presented by COVID quarantine observances, went into the town’s professional recording studio, one musician at-a-time and, over the next year and a half, put together ‘With Michael After Hours‘ — an easy-listening, smooth jazz cornucopia of ‘standards’ from the heyday of ‘The Great American Songbook‘. All the album’s songs are beautiful tributes to the likes of Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Nancy Wilson, Elvis Presley, Tony Bennett, Andy Williams, Rosemary Clooney, Vic Damone and the whole tribe.

Michael d’Addio is an extremely talented singer who primarily sings in the sphere of jazz music. To Michael d’Addio, the human voice is an unflinching mirror that reflects every thought, emotion and feeling a person has ever experienced. In his case, Michael d’Addio strongly feels like his life has been like a checkerboard, with each square representing a different path pursued, a different lifestyle and vocation, allowing him to learn a lot of things along the way.

Michael d’Addio’s venture into music started from very early on – he likes to cheerfully remind his fans that he was into music since ‘day 1’. From as early as when he was three years old, Michael d’Addio remembers music and singing. He would particularly be amused by the songs on the radio. Now, in 2022, his latest album ‘With Michael After Hours’ is on its way to be heard across the country via the radio!

Mark Etheredge | "Love Planet"

That pianist Mark Etheredge appears smiling on the cover of his new contemporary jazz album, “Love Planet,” offering roses – his songs – to the world is a triumphant story of resilience. Since the title track of his last album, 2016’s “Connected,” landed him at No. 6 on the Billboard singles chart, the keyboardist slipped into the abyss of alcoholism, going bankrupt and losing his West Hollywood home, which forced a move back to the Bay Area where he slept on a friend’s couch and watched his mother slowly slip away before she finally succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease last year.    

As “Love Planet” readies for its August 12 release on Vipaka Records, the now clear-eyed Etheredge is back living in his own West Hollywood place, clean and sober for fourteen months, living one day at a time with hope restored. During the tumultuous years, Etheredge found strength and creative expression by retreating to his keyboard to compose music. Reteaming with “Connected” producer and two-time Grammy winner Paul Brown, Etheredge recorded and released two singles, “Resonance” (2019) and “You & M e& We” (2020), both of which appear on “Love Planet” alongside eight new songs.

Last month, Etheredge finished recording the inspired new set consisting of spirited jazz instrumentals, soulful R&B grooves, iridescent pop melodies and festive Latin rhythms, with Brown at the controls. A vibrant homerun hook powers the title track, which will begin collecting playlist adds on July 18.

“‘Love Planet’ is about love for each other, as well as self-love. I was taught growing up that everyone is born with a sense of goodness, and I still believe it’s true. And that goodness is totally inclusive. With all the craziness on this planet, it’s easy to lose sight of that. These days, I wake up asking, ‘What can I do to be more loving today?’” said Etheredge.

On “Untethered,” he celebrates his newfound sobriety, with his pliable piano passages getting a boost from chart-topper Steve Oliver, who issues placid nylon-stinged guitar licks.

“I literally drank my money away. During the pandemic, I finally accepted that I had a problem with alcohol. I got help. This song expresses my gratitude and joy to be free, one day at a time,” said Etheredge, who later on the album echoes the sentiment with “Elated.”

Tenor saxophonist Greg Vail adds fullness to “Groove City,” a cut inspired by the diversity, energy and the rhythms of urban life. The Latin-singed “Saucy” is spiced by full-throated horn section tracks performed by Vail (tenor and baritone saxes) and Ron King (trumpet, flugelhorn, horn arrangement), and scorching electric guitar riffs played by Brown and Shane Theriot. Etheredge ruminates on trust and the role love plays in the face of adversity on “We’ll Make It Through.”

“This one is about trust, hanging on. Sometimes, life brings along a bumpy ride. Trust that together with love, we’ll make it through,” said the keyboardist who is accompanied on the album by guitarist Jay Gore, bassist Roberto Vally, drummers Joel Taylor and Gorden Campbell, and percussionists Lenny Castro and Richie Gajate Garcia. 

The penetrating piano melodies on “Resonance” explore human connection and attunement. “I think as humans, we all have opportunities to resonate with each other - to be in tune and find peace with each other - if we want it enough,” said Etheredge who amiably shares the spotlight with Brown’s bluesy guitar statements.

Watching the war, unnecessary death and destruction in Ukraine on television stirred Etheredge to pen the contemplative and compassionate plea for “Peace.” Brown is called upon to help illumine “You & Me & We,” a lush piano and guitar romp pondering unity.

“How can we coexist peacefully with one another? Perhaps if ‘you and me’ think not just about one or the other’s wants or needs, but consider a third way, “us,” focusing on our shared interests that benefit us both. Can we be kind? Can we practice compassion and justice? Can we be loving? Can we be respectful of one another?” Etheredge poses.

Etheredge offers “Golden Hour” in fond remembrance of his mother, who used the term for the times she took a nap when he was a child. Like “Saucy” and “Elated,” the album closer benefits from Theriot’s skilled rhythm guitar textures. 

Etheredge grew up near San Francisco in Sunnyvale and although his mother was a music school teacher and choir director, he’s primarily a self-taught pianist. His groups have opened for David Benoit, Bobby McFerrin, Sergio Mendes, Tuck & Patti, Betty Carter and Sheila Jordan, among others. This year, Etheredge was the featured soloist on singles released by Vally (“On The Down Low”) and guitarist Mark Carter’s “Swingtown.” 

Honolulu Jazz Quartet | "Straight Ahead"

The Honolulu Jazz Quartet was formed by bassist John Kolivas, at the urging of his musician mother Dolly, just a few months before September 11, 2001.  The group marked its 20th anniversary in the throes of the worldwide pandemic.  That this milestone achievement by Hawaii’s most enduring jazz combo is framed by the two most tumultuous, world-changing events of this century is emblematic of how we have all survived in these challenging times: by moving forward, straight ahead. Indeed, it is the very essence of improvisational jazz to constantly flow, or sometimes push, forward through the chord changes of a song, always in search of reaching new musical heights, or playing something no one has ever heard before.

This album, the group’s fourth, is a celebration of their perpetual movement forward, straight ahead, through two decades of trials and triumphs. It is also a harbinger the musical adventures that await them as they embark – straight ahead – into their third decade.

One of the secrets to the group’s longevity is that they are a musical democracy. Although Kolivas is HJQ’s founder, the quartet has no front-man in the traditional sense (i.e., the John Contrane Quartet). The front-man has always been the sound the group makes together. Every time they perform, four distinctive, highly individualistic musicians come together to create one sound, a sound that is far greater than the sum of its parts. 

When hearing John Kolivas strike a note on his bass, a soft, warm feeling shoots up your spine and radiates to your face. His playing lays down a bottom so solid a herd of elephants could dance over it.

Saxophonist Tim Tsukiyama channels the all-time great artists on his instrument – Lester Young, Ben Webster, John Coltrane, and Wilton Felder. But he has a distinctive voice of his own and is a thinking man’s horn player.

Pianist Dan Del Negro hails from the South Side of Chicago and brings a funk sensibility to the group. But Dan can play anything: from musical theatre; to be-bop; to spacey Herbie Hancock and McCoy Tyner chords; to Funkadelic, to classical, and all points in between.

When drummer Noel Okimoto took over as the group’s percussionist (replacing Von Baron after his move to Japan), everyone knew that the Honolulu Jazz Quartet had come of age.  Noel’s Hawauu-jazz legacy, from his days with the legendary Gabe Baltazar and with the Betty Loo Taylor trio backing up the incomparable Jimmy Borges, brings a maturity, precision, and power to the Honolulu Jazz Quartet that has taken the group up a whole new level. 

U-Nam & California Funk Machine | "Volume 2"

Already back, and this time with a focus completely on the greatest funk of the eighties, comes Volume 2 of the genre defining series California Funk Machine which will be released on July 22nd, 2022 on the Skytown Records label. Indeed, much like Volume 1, the driving force behind the project is none other than Billboard chart topping artist, Platinum producer and multi instrumentalist Emmanuel “U-Nam” Abiteboul who, since moving to Los Angeles from his native Paris, France in 2008, his built a reputation for knowing funk like no one else knows funk. 

California Funk Machine Volume 2 is not just a collection of music, it is a concept, a style, a coming together of like minded musical brethren to breath new life into some of the hottest funk, disco, soul and jazz funk classics of that golden age otherwise known as the eighties. U-Nam’s contribution to California Funk Machine Volume 2 reaches far and wide. As well as arranging both horns and strings, U-Nam also produces and arranges the entire album. In fact his own prodigious input extends not only to lead and rhythm guitars, talk box, vocoder, bass, Moog bass, Rhodes, clavinet, synth guitar, keyboards, drums, horn programming and editing but also lead and background vocals. 

This is particularly so with a bang on interpretation of the Kool & The Gang blockbuster “Be My Lady” and a wonderful rendition of Dayton’s 1983 hit “Sound Of Music” which has Bill Steinway (The Crusaders) on keys, Billboard chart topping artist Bob Baldwin on piano, long time collaborator Tim Owens on background vocals and a sensational performance on drums from Jorel JFLY Flynn (Bobby Brown, Peabo Bryson). Staying with 1983 U-Nam digs deep for true funk gold and comes up with George Duke’s “Reach Out”, which finds Franck Sitbon emulating the great man on keys. When keyboard duties pass to Kim Hansen (Patti Austin) the result is “Can’t Get Over You” that can be found on the Maze long-player from 1989, “Silky Soul”. It proves to be the perfect showcase for Denis Benarrosh on percussion, Michael White (Maze, George Benson, Whitney Houston) on drums and, of course, U-Nam to conjure up something really special. White soon returns, this time in the company of bass player “Ready” Freddie Washington, for the Patrice Rushen song “Number One”. It first appeared on Rushen’s 1983 recording “Straight From The Heart” on which yes, you guessed it, Washington played bass. Not only does this latest appearance complete a circle that began to turn almost thirty years ago it is also a delicious reminder that Rushen played on U-Nam’s ambitious homage to the great George Benson, the world-acclaimed “Weekend In LA – A Tribute To George Benson”. 

All of this places U-Nam front back and center of an enterprise that includes a plethora of outstanding supporting artists. Take for example ex Stevie Wonder and Prince songstress Marva King who takes the lead on Jesse Johnson’s 1986 smash “Crazay” or vocalist Tony Tatum who gets the job done with another gem from 1986, Midnight Star’s "Midas Touch”. Of course when the conversation turns to funk the name of Earth Wind & Fire is never too far away. Volume 1 included two of the band’s timeless tunes and now U-Nam has come up with the seminal “Let’s Groove” from the 1981 EW&F release “Raise”. With Kim Chandler on vocals plus Larry Salzmann on percussion this is a number designed to rejuvenate even the most tired of dancing feet and is in the good company of the often overlooked but hugely powerful Congress’ “You Gotta Get It” that is the perfect fit with U-Nam’s hard driving guitar. The advanced single from Volume 2 that has been serviced to radio is a tasty interpretation of Herbie Hancock’s 1983 blockbuster “Rockit", a track that at the time was characterized by its distinctive scratch style, which came courtesy of DJ Grand Mixer DXT.

Here U-Nam calls on LA based DJ, composer, music producer, remixer, and sound designer DJ Puzzle to retain that same vibe. It complements to perfection his own ultra funky trademark guitar and in doing so makes the impossible a reality by rendering it even more funky than the high octane original. The CFM line-up is completed by The California Funk Machine Orchestra that comprises Maria Grig on violin and viola plus Lyudmila Kadyrbaeva on cello and the California Funk Machine Horns that come courtesy of Joabe Reis on trombone and Christian Martinez on trumpet and flugelhorn. With real strings and real horns California Funk Machine Volume 2 is the real funk deal and, for the legions of funkateers out there, it will bring the memories flooding back. For those discovering old school funk for the very first time this is a tremendous place from which to blast off with U-Nam into his very own funkosphere. The message from U-Nam is clear - “May The Funk Be With U”.

New Music: Brad Shepik, Dan Olivo, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Ricardo Bomba

Brad Shepik - Human Activity Suite Part 2 - Code Red

Brad Shepik, among the most versatile and distinctive guitarists of his generation, has performed and/or recorded with such artists as Joey Baron, Bob Brookmeyer, Dave Douglas, Charlie Haden, Carla Bley and Paul Motian and is equally acclaimed his work in several bands performing various styles of world-jazz, including Pachora, Simon Shaheen, Tridruga, the Paradox Trio, Yuri Yunakov’s Bulgarian Wedding Band, and the Commuters. Human Activity Suite Part 2 – Code Red is a ten movement meditation on the degree to which the danger to the planet has increased over the past fifteen years and the disastrous effects on local populations around the world. It is also a response to Shepik's 2007 composition Human Activity Suite which was organized around the seven continents and the global effects of human activity on climate. By the summer of 2021 and the IPCC report on Climate Change it has become clear that the effects of climate change will increase in severity and continue to be felt by everyone in every corner of the world. This new suite Human Activity Part 2- Code Red will focus on local effects of climate change and will aim to inspire people to take action locally within their community to both preserve local ecosystems and adapt in a sustainable way for future generations. The piece features an ensemble of five musicians who are are improvisors and multi-instrumentalists (guitar, tambura, saz, violin, piano, bass and percussion).

Dan Olivo - Day By Day

Singer and actor Dan Olivo is a regular on the Southern California jazz scene. He performs with his combo at such high-end venues as The Bar Nineteen12 at The Beverly Hills Hotel, The Ritz Carlton at Corona Del Mar and Rancho Mirage, The Riviera Hotel, and the Frank Sinatra House in Palm Springs. For his debut album, Day By Day, Olivo wanted to blend his sophisticated, elegant sound with the feel of a big band recording but performed by a smaller combo. Day By Day contains a mix of styles, from pop songs, like “This Guy’s in Love with You,” featuring Joe Bagg on organ, to bluesy rock including Fats Domino’s “I’m Walking.” Some songs go back a long way. "How Come You Do Me Like You Do?" was written in 1924 by a vaudeville comedy duo, while "It's Only a Paper Moon," written in 1932 for an unsuccessful Broadway play called The Great Magoo, features vocals by Medeiros and Cibelli. "It Had to Be You" was composed in 1924 by Isham Jones with lyrics by Gus Kahn. Other songs are straight out of the Great American Songbook, including the title track “Day by Day,” “Sway,” “Time After Time,” “All the Way,” and “More,” which was the theme song from the movie Mondo Cane. “L.O.V.E.” has not been recorded by many singers. It was written in 1965 and appeared on Nat “King” Cole’s last album of the same name. Because Harry Connick, Jr. has been such an important influence on Olivo, he recorded Connick’s “Come by Me,” as an homage to the singer and bandleader. Olivo knows how to swing and delivers the lyrics with clear enunciation and a lot of feeling. His training in stagecraft allows him to tell the story of a song directly and honestly, much like the crooners he so admires. The musicians on this album put forth a superb performance and successfully created the deep, rich big band sound that Olivo envisioned for his debut.

The Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Cristian Măcelaru - Blues Symphony (Wynton Marsalis's second symphony)

Blue Engine Records releases the first recording of Blues Symphony (Symphony No. 2), an innovative and colossal work from Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Wynton Marsalis. In the hands of The Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of celebrated conductor Cristian Măcelaru, Blues Symphony (Marsalis's second symphony) takes the 12-bar blues and explodes it into a lyrical, kaleidoscopic history of American music. Blues Symphony (Symphony No. 2) is available globally on all digital platforms from Blue Engine Records. The symphony's seven movements are each infused with different influences—a ragtime stomp here, a habanera rhythm there—and, collectively, they take listeners on a sonic journey through America’s revolutionary era, the early beginnings of jazz in New Orleans, and even a big city soundscape that serves as a nod to the Great Migration.  This 2019 performance, recorded live in Verizon Hall at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, builds upon the legacies of Scott Joplin, James P. Johnson, George Gershwin, and other American masters, demonstrating the genius and breadth of Marsalis's imagination. “The blues helps you remember back before the troubles on hand and in mind,” says Marsalis, “and they carry you on the wings of angels to a timeless higher ground.” With the exquisite palette provided by The Philadelphia Orchestra, Blues Symphony (Symphony No. 2) is a triumphant ode to the power of the blues and the scope of America's musical heritage.

Ricardo Bomba - Eu Sei / Flutando

Far Out Recordings releases two previously unreleased tracks of glorious Brazilian sunshine music. Written and recorded in 1978 by pianist, composer, sound engineer, studio owner and former amateur skateboarding champion Ricardo Bomba, ‘Eu Sei’ and ‘Flutuando’ were almost doomed to total obscurity when the master tapes were binned following a ruthless studio clear out. Luckily Bomba kept a cassette tape copy from which Far Out has remastered the release for 7” vinyl/ digital. Throughout a varied career, which included a four year stint as bandleader of Jorge Ben’s live show (78-82),  Ricardo Bomba had a string of idiosyncratic, underground pop hits throughout the 80s, including ‘Você Vai Se Lembrar’ which recently featured on Soundway’s Onda De Amor (Synthesized Brazilian Hits That Never Were 1984-94) compilation, as well as his then award-winning, now obscure solo album Ultralight (1988). 

Eucalyptus | "Moves"

Toronto-based octet Eucalyptus has been steadily gathering a devoted cult following since the release of their debut 10” Eeeeeuuucaaaaaaallyyypppptus in 2012. Led by acclaimed saxophonist and composer Brodie West, the band's languid, kaleidoscopic jazz is very much a collective endeavour, the product of an internal network of improvisational synergy they've built over more than a decade together.

Moves is their sixth release, and somewhat of a milestone. In addition to it being the octet's most psychedelic and arrestingly soulful release thus far, it's also their longest—their first, in fact, to cross into bonafide full-length territory. They're marking the occasion by joining the roster of Toronto favourite Telephone Explosion Records.

Touted as “innately personal” by DownBeat Magazine, Brodie West's unique vision has been nourished by a bafflingly diverse array of sources. Meeting the legendary Dutch drummer Han Bennink in 2000 at age 24 not only sparked an ongoing creative partnership (including two records), but also led him in a number of other fruitful directions. Bennink was the connection to exploratory punks The Ex, who brought West aboard for their collaboration with Ethiopian saxophonist Getatchew Mekurya, which produced recordings and tours worldwide.

Where the Brodie West Quintet (Astral Spirits, Ansible Editions) trades in clever jazz asymmetry and his duo Ways is a stark and focussed exploration of rhythm, Eucalyptus is where this eclecticism is most audible. The band simmers with polyrhythmic percussion, laid-back jazz sweetness, various strains of psychedelic wonk, and subtle tropical aromas from dub on “Rose Manor,” named after the retirement home of his musical grandmother Lorna (ever a source of inspiration for West) to Bossa Nova, as heard on “It's In A Move.” Its streaks of free-form bedlam and pure sonic texture keep listeners poised for perplexity and cheerful volatility.  

Moves manages to approximate the playful, intoxicating warmth the band conjures in their beloved local live appearances. Eucalyptus has made a tradition out of mounting month-long residencies at Hirut, a cozy east-end eatery that serves delicious Ethiopian cuisine. Hirut even gets a nod in the credits. Perhaps it's because this record's subtle whimsy and inviting disarray draws so much from the spirit of those evenings.

A large part of this odd concoction's success comes down to West's co-conspirators, a veritable who's who of Toronto's underground music community. Trumpet player Nicole Rampersaud, who has since relocated to Fredericton, New Brunswick, has sculpted her unique tone as composer-in-residence at Halifax's EVERYSEEKER Festival and in collaborations with the likes of Rakalam Bob Moses, Anthony Braxton, Joe Morris and Telephone Explosion's own Joseph Shabason. Ryan Driver (clavinet) has cut a series of gorgeous song records for Tin Angel Records, and collaborated with Eric Chenaux (Constellation) in various projects, while leading a number of his own imaginative outfits. Michael Smith (bass) plays with Toronto psychonauts the Cosmic Range and has toured and recorded with MV+EE, Sandro Perri plus countless others. Fellow Perri collaborator, percussionist Blake Howard brings the palpable joy of his playing to collaborations with Marker Starling, Little Annie, and the surrealist mischief of GUH. 2021 saw Nick Fraser (drums) leading a disc on Hat-Hut's Ezzthetics imprint. It follows a string of other celebrated recordings with international out-jazz heavyweights like Tony Malaby and Kris Davis for Clean Feed, Astral Spirits and more. In addition to pursuing his delicate solo song work, drummer Evan Cartwright plays in both of West's other projects, and has performed and recorded with Tasseomancy, The Weather Station, US Girls, Badge Époque and Andy Shauf.

Another exciting development unveiled on Moves is the presence of guitarist Kurt Newman, who replaces longtime member Alex Lukashevsky. Newman's whirling treatments and colorful array of tones figure prominently into the ensemble's new and disorienting sound. Newman was the co-founder of premiere Austin improv festival No Idea alongside Chris Cogburn. A ceaseless collaborator who's worked with the likes of Sarah Hennies, Tetuzi Akiyama, Mats Gustafsson, he also leads his own projects such as Country Phasers and the Nashville Minimalism Unit.