Brûlez les meubles | "Tardif" and "L'appel du vide"

Here are two incredibly creative new albums from Quebec-based due Brûlez les meubles entitled Tardif and L'appel du vide.

Brûlez les meubles is a two-headed musical project conjured up by Louis Beaudoin-de la Sablonnière and Éric Normand - two of Quebec’s leading improvisers. Éric and Louis have known each other for many years, and have long shared a mutual interest in each other's music despite their different artistic backgrounds (and the fact that they live more than 500 km apart.) In addition to their musical kinship, the two composers are both record aficionados with a shared passion for contemporary jazz. Every time they gather, they invite a different group of musicians to explore their musical universe with them, giving life to new batches of compositions prepared during the months in between meetings.

Brûlez les meubles has seen the likes of Jean Derome, Alexandre Robichaud and Félix Hamel pass through its ranks, in addition to drummers Tom Jacques, Louis-Vincent Hamel and John Hollenbeck.  This music is abstract, meditative, and both modern and simple, nourished by a shared passion for the legends of jazz guitar, from Jim Hall to Bill Frisell, and from Rene Thomas to Brandon Ross.

In the fall of 2022, the group will release 2 albums: Tardif, a quartet with Jean Derome (alto saxophone and flute) and John Hollenbeck (drums); and L’appel du vide, a trio with Tom Jacques (drums)

John Hollenbeck focuses extensively on composing for and leading the critically acclaimed Claudia Quintet and his three-time GRAMMY-Nominated Large Ensemble. Hollenbeck has received numerous awards and commissions, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the ASCAP Jazz Vanguard Award and the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award. He is well known in new-music circles for his longtime collaboration with Meredith Monk and has worked with many of the world's leading musicians in jazz including Bob Brookmeyer, Fred Hersch, Kenny Wheeler  and Tony Malaby

One of the most active and eclectic musicians on the Canadian creative music scene, Jean Derome has earned the recognition of a larger public, a rare feat in the world of new music. Thanks to his large-scale musique actuelle projects, his compositions, his work as an improviser, his jazz groups and his music for the screen and the stage, Derome ranks as a major creative force, in Quebec and abroad. Ever since his work with Nébu (one of Quebec’s first avant-garde jazz groups) in the early ‘70s, Derome has been consistently renewing and diversifying his approach of composition. In the early ‘80s, he co-founded Ambiances Magnétiques, an artists’ collective and record label that both raised his profile at home and introduced his name to the outside world. Derome has also shared the stage with several musicians of international stature, among others Fred Frith, Lars Hollmer, Louis Sclavis and Han Bennink.

Tom Jacques is a multi-instrumentalist and sound artist. His work evolves between composition, improvisation, performance and sound device design, mainly in musique actuelle, contemporary music and jazz. For the last 8 years, he has been working with various artists and technicians in order to make his own musical instruments and sound installations. This approach allows him to explore unique musical universes that are unattainable with conventional instruments. Tom Jacques stands out among Quebec’s new breed of creative artists. Many of his personal projects and musical ensembles have been acknowledged and supported by the Conseil des Arts et Lettres du Québec through its Bas-Saint-Laurent arts and literature program and its Bas-Saint-Laurent territorial partnership program.

Tardif and L'appel du vide will be released on Friday, October 7th 2022. It is a joint release by Tour de Bras, Circum-Disc, and Ramble Records.

Bobby Watson | "Back Home in Kansas City"

Saxophonist Bobby Watson Draws Inspiration from the Rich Jazz Heritage of His Kansas City Hometown on Spirited New Album

“The alto is a singing horn,” says Bobby Watson, and the great saxophonist is in fine voice on his latest album, Back Home in Kansas City. Due out October 7 on Smoke Sessions Records, the album features an all-star quintet with Watson’s longtime rhythm section of bassist Curtis Lundy and drummer Victor Jones along with pianist Cyrus Chestnut and trumpeter Jeremy Pelt. 

“Great melodies are immortal, like a sculpture or a painting,” Watson insists. “This album is more about the singing quality of my instrument.” 

As the title suggests, Back Home in Kansas City also pays homage to Watson’s hometown and its own rich musical heritage. The saxophonist grew up in KC, leaving to study at the University of Miami and then spending a quarter century making his name in New York City. He returned home in 2000 to serve as Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City's Conservatory of Music & Dance, retiring 20 years later. 

His retirement coinciding with the pandemic, Watson found himself with plenty of time to reflect on Kansas City’s importance to his distinctive sound and, gradually, to play for local audiences who helped attune his approach to the blend of soul and balladry that makes up the new album. 

“Being out here in Kansas City has given me a chance to slow down and go deeper into what I want to play,” he explains. “The Kansas City audience is a sophisticated audience because of the history of this town. We've got people out here who have heard a lot of music. So I'm not playing down to the audience, and I'm not trying to simplify anything. I'm simply coming out of what I feel in my heart and my soul.” 

The title tune is a contrafact (a new melody written over existing chord changes) on “Back Home Again in Indiana,” also famously the basis for Charlie Parker’s “Donna Lee.” The spirited swinger opens the album on a high note, Jones’ crisp percussion nailing every sudden stop before propelling the band forward again. It’s one of three similar Watson tunes on the album; the yearning “Bon Voyage” is based on Herbie Hancock’s “Maiden Voyage,” while the brisk “Side Steps” is Watson’s reimagining of John Coltrane’s classic (and notoriously challenging) “Giant Steps.” 

Watson also drew the haunting ballad “Dear Lord” from the Coltrane songbook, one of several spotlights on the album for his burnished tone and silken melodicism. Chestnut’s achingly delicate touch sets the tone for a gorgeous version of the standard “I’m Glad There Is You,” featuring one of Watson’s most beautiful and moving solo turns. The album closes with the gritty, self-explanatory “Blues for Alto.” 

Watson encouraged his bandmates to bring their own material to the session as well. Jones contributes the stealthy “Red Bank Heist,” which feels like Henry Mancini by way of Art Blakey. Chestnut’s sparkling “A Star in the East” is an easygoing waltz that thrives on the rich melody shared by Watson and Pelt. The trumpeter’s offering is the tender “Celestial,” highlighted by his own muted eloquence. 

John Hicks’ “Mind Wine” pays tribute to the late pianist, with whom Watson Lundy and Jones all worked extensively. Hicks appears on Watson’s 1988 Blue Note debut, No Question About It, as well as Love Remains; while Watson and Lundy are part of the quartet for Hicks’ 1988 release Naima’s Love Song. “John Hicks was a mighty huge influence on me, Curtis and Victor,” Watson says. “When he passed away, that was one of the saddest moments in our lives. He was extremely near and dear to us.” 

The saxophonist has long garnered inspiration from vocalists as well as his sax-playing peers and idols. He invited the acclaimed singer Carmen Lundy to join the band for “Our Love Remains,” co-written by Watson and his wife Pamela. In instrumental form, the song was the title track for his 1986 album Love Remains and was recorded again for 1992’s Present Tense. The vocal version has previously been recorded by Kevin Mahogany and Melissa Walker, and Lou Rawls was planning his own rendition prior to his death. 

“I love hearing singers tell stories,” Watson says. “Joe Williams, Betty Carter, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Ella, Gregory Porter, Andy Bey – and Carmen does that. She's not just singing the melody, she's putting it out there as a story.” 

Throughout Back Home in Kansas City, Watson’s gift for telling stories with his saxophone is on vibrant display. “Johnny Griffin told me that when you solo you want to introduce yourself, talk about how your day went, tell how you feel right now and where you want to take the listener – all through music,” he details. “I know that I have enough technique to last me the rest of my life. But what do I want to say with it? We’re all trying to play one grand solo our whole life in different contexts.”

Dezron Douglas | "ATALAYA"

ATALAYA is new work by bassist Dezron Douglas, and it is alive. That is, ‘alive’ in all the ways that jazz is at its best – as a pure and personal expression of Black Music channeled through time-honored traditions by a group of musicians who practice sonic coherence through musical unity. As Dezron puts it in the opening statement of his liner notes for the album: “Mysticism, Magic, Faith, Love, Power, Discernment! These are words that embody the creative process of Music.”

Followers of contemporary jazz might recognize Dezron for his bass work behind Pharoah Sanders, Louis Hayes, or Ravi Coltrane. Steady International Anthem listeners might remember him from the New York side of Makaya McCraven's Universal Beings. More recently we presented Force Majeure, Dezron’s sublime duo record with harpist Brandee Younger, which compiled the best of livestream performances from their Harlem apartment during the original covid lockdown. That album, which came out in December of 2020, reflected the speed and feeling of the moment while somehow simultaneously distracting from the harsh reality of it. It also captured a very vulnerable, intimate, and real impression of Dezron on double bass, sharing his power and truth without abandon.

ATALAYA, similarly, wasn’t processed in the lab, but rather, captured in the room. The realness factor is once again forefront in the sound; but the difference is in the energy and ambition of the music, which reaches for the stratosphere. Again, let’s defer to Dezron here: “Welcome to the Black Lion rocket ship.”

With Emilio Modeste on saxes, George Burton on keys, and Joe Dyson Jr. on drums, Dezron’s crew summons the dynamism of Coltrane’s classic Quartet, or Dave Holland’s Quintet on Prime Directive, or Charles Mingus on Nostalgia In Times Square… swinging virtuosically and firing on all 4 cylinders. But there’s nothing remotely revisionist here – Dezron and his quartet embody poetry, presence, artistic and emotional clarity in every note they play. Free and dissonant, sweet and consonant, sweeping and pure… This is the band you hope is playing every time you walk into a club.

Hartford, Connecticut-born bassist, composer, bandleader, and educator Dezron Douglas has established himself as a major force in contemporary creative music. A protégé of the great Jackie McLean, the Downbeat Magazine 2019 Rising Star is known for his work with Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane, Cyrus Chestnut, David Murray, Louis Hayes, Enrico Rava and also with piano legends George Cables, Eric Reed, Mulgrew Miller and Benny Green. In 2018, he appeared on the New York Side of Makaya McCraven’s Universal Beings. During the original covid lockdown in 2020, he live-streamed a series of duo performances with his partner Brandee Younger from their Harlem apartment, which were collected and released by International Anthem as the critically-acclaimed album Force Majeure. In 2021, Douglas produced Younger’s Impulse Records debut Somewhere Different, which earned her a Grammy nomination. Also in 2021, Douglas joined the Trey Anastasio Band as a full-time member. He has recorded on more than 100 albums, contributing to the artistry of numerous band leaders and maintaining an integral presence in the sounds of his peers, including Keyon Harrold, Jonathan Blake, Melanie Charles, Makaya McCraven and Brandee Younger. Douglas is an active music educator, currently on the Jazz Studies faculty at NYU Steinhardt.

Maria Mendes | "Saudade, Colour of Love"

Hailing from Portugal and based for the last decade and a half in the Netherlands, Grammy and Latin Grammy Award-nominated vocalist and composer Maria Mendes is no stranger to living between two different worlds. With her critically acclaimed 2019 album Close To Me, Mendes, whose praises have been sung by such legendary composers as Quincy Jones and Hermeto Pascoal, spotlighted her ability to bring disparate influences together in stunning fashion with her vibrant fusion of symphonic jazz and Portuguese Fado, the folk music of her homeland. 

Far from having exhausted the possibilities of that project, Mendes brings her singular vision to the concert stage in collaboration with master keyboardist/arranger John Beasley and the revered Metropole Orkest on her breathtaking new live album, Saudade, Colour of Love. Due out October 7, 2022 via Challenge Records, the album further expands the emotional intensity of its predecessor’s thrilling hybrid sound with the backing of a full orchestra. The lush, velvety symphonic sound creates sparks when it meets the exhilarating interplay of Mendes’ brilliant quartet and the singer’s fervent vocals, resulting in an unforgettable evening of music. 

The Dutch Metropole Orkest, the world’s leading pop and jazz orchestra, appeared on four tracks on Close To Me, but that was enough to convince Mendes that the collaboration could bear even greater fruit. “Working with the Metropole Orkest was so precious that it nurtured a seed in me that needed a lot more water,” Mendes says. “Bringing together jazz and Fado has been the most important and artistically fulfilling work that I have done, really feeding my soul. It’s been a new awakening to connect with this beautiful legacy that came from my ancestors.” 

Not that her Portuguese roots made Mendes’ exploration of Fado inevitable. She had long resisted the music, its mournful, downbeat tone seemingly incompatible with her impassioned approach to song, forged in her operatic training, and in the spirited jazz improvisation that she learned from such formative influences as Carmen McRae, Betty Carter and Shirley Horn. It took leaving home and putting down new roots in as vastly different a locale as the Netherlands to grant Mendes the perspective to discover a wholly original approach to Fado. 

While Mendes and Beasley’s arrangement of “Asas Fechadas” garnered nominations for both Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards, the pandemic inevitably halted the album’s momentum. At the same time, it allowed the luxury of time to plan a truly spectacular showcase for expanded orchestral renditions of these songs to be premiered at two May 2022 concerts at Amsterdam’s Muziekgebouw aan’t IJ and at Parkstad Limburg Theaters in Heerlen. Mendes worked closely with John Beasley in arranging the music for the symphonic setting, while Beasley crafted majestic orchestrations for the Metropole Orkest. 

“I could not have done this without such a fantastic partner,” Mendes says. ““John is such an eclectic and eager musician.” 

One of the highlights on both albums is “Hermeto’s Fado for Maria,” a new piece written for Mendes by the iconic Brazilian composer Hermeto Pascoal. The song was gifted to her in the form of a handwritten score on the back of a hotel room emergency exit instruction card. Pascoal gave Mendes free rein to do what she wished with the song, the only demand being, “Don’t you dare to not record it!” 

Mendes and Beasley also prepared three new songs for the new album. Mendes describes “Com Que Voz” as “one of my ultimate Fados, I find it extraordinary. the poetry is divine and existentialist, and I’m really proud of what John and I did to make detours from the original melody and harmony.” The performance that opens Saudade, Colour Of Love lives up to that enthusiasm, opening with lush, elegiac strings behind Mendes’ heartrending vocal, then building to a soaring clarinet solo by the Metropole’s Christof May, spurred on by Cédric Hanriot’s muscular piano work. 

“Quando Eu Era Pequenina” is an ancient, popular folkloric song for dancing, typically accompanied by piercing laments by female singers. The dance is abstracted into Mário Costa’s opening drum solo, which establishes an unexpected 7/4 rhythm for the piece. “The song is very well known in Portugal, so I wanted to give it a very faraway twist,” Medes explains. The concert closes with “Meu Pobre Capitão,” a new composition by Mendes and Beasley penned in the spirit of the pair’s Fado reinterpretations and here featuring a buoyant audience singalong. 

Through these and the half dozen songs from Close To Me, Mendes gives a truly moving and heartfelt performance, fueled by not only the passionate arrangements but by the two years of silence that preceded it. “I definitely experienced some spiritual growth feeling all the love from the musicians and the audience,” she says. “I felt like a phoenix rising from the ashes.” 

From her native Portugal to her adopted home in the Netherlands, Grammy and Latin Grammy-nominated vocalist and composer Maria Mendes has traveled a world of musical expression. Hailed by DownBeat magazine as “a jazz singer of the highest order,” Mendes’ praises have been sung by such legends as Quincy Jones and Hermeto Pascoal. With Wayne Shorter’s blessings, Mendes premiered his contemporary jazz piece “Gaia” in June 2022 in Germany alongside the Bielefeld Philharmonieker, saxophonist Magnus Lindgren and pianist John Beasley. Mendes’ song “Inverso,” featuring Anat Cohen, was featured on the soundtrack of the International Emmy-winning Portuguese soap opera Ouro Verde in 2018. The vocalist has released four striking solo albums, most recently blending symphonic jazz and Portuguese Fado on the acclaimed Close To Me and the stunning live album Saudade, Colour of Love. Mendes’ wealth of influences and experiences help make up what Exclusive magazine called “one of the most engaging, enchanting vocal approaches… that exists today.” 

Johnny Hammond’s funk-jazz masterpiece ‘Gears’

Craft Recordings and Jazz Dispensary have announced Johnny Hammond’s 1975 funk-jazz masterpiece, Gears, as the latest release from Jazz Dispensary’s acclaimed Top Shelf series. Produced by Larry and Fonce Mizell, who were instrumental in the development of fusion, the keyboardist’s classic album offers a euphoric blend of jazz, soul, funk, and disco for a supremely groovy listen. As with all titles in the album-centric Top Self Series, which reissues the highest-quality, hand-picked rarities, Gears has been cut from the original analog tapes by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio and pressed on audiophile-quality 180-gram vinyl at RTI. The LP is housed in a tip-on jacket, featuring faithfully reproduced original designs. Long out-of-print in the U.S., Gears is due out November 4th.

Also available to pre-order now is Jazz Dispensary’s Fall ’22 merch collection, which includes a new logo T-shirt and crewneck, a zeotropic slipmat from record animator Drew Tetz, a corduroy logo hat, and a bumper sticker. Additionally, Jazz Dispensary is unveiling its new Impressionistees series, which enlists guest artists to create original T-shirt designs inspired by classic albums. The series launches with a t-shirt from graphic designer and self-declared music fan, Matt Durkin, who reimagines Gears as a vibrant urban jungle. Gears T-shirts are available here and limited to a one-time run of 300.

Johnny “Hammond” Smith, who gained his nickname for his masterful work on the Hammond B-3 organ, began his career in the late ‘50s, splitting his time between recording as a bandleader and accompanying others, including vocalists like Nancy Wilson and Byrdie Green and saxophonist Gene Ammons. By the end of the ‘60s, Hammond had become one of the preeminent soul-jazz keyboardists, thanks to albums like Gettin’ Up (1967), Nasty! (1968), and Soul Talk (1969). As the decade turned, the keyboardist continued to push the boundaries of his genre, moving further into funk-jazz. When he combined forces with the Mizell Brothers (first on 1974’s Gambler’s Life and then on Gears), the possibilities were limitless.

Ignoring the strict rules set by jazz purists, the Mizell’s arrived on the scene with fresh energy and innovative ideas about where the genre could go. Bringing a commercial sensibility to their projects, Larry and Alphonso “Fonce” Mizell shared a musically-diverse clientele – from saxophonist Donald Byrd to the Jackson 5. Together, they pioneered the sound of fusion, integrating many of the popular styles of the era, including R&B, funk, and even the emerging sounds of disco. Hammond, who was equally as excited to expand upon his work and look to the future, was a perfect match for the Mizell’s. After setting the stage with Gambler’s Life, the three men reconnected at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, CA (and later at Los Angeles’’s Sound Factory) to record Gears. Joining them was an all-star lineup of musicians, including drummer Harvey Mason, bassist Chuck Rainey, and keyboardist Jerry Peters. Together, they crafted lushly-arranged tracks – many of which were punctuated by soulful backing vocals – that felt equally fitting for a late-night jazz club, the radio, or the dance floor.

The centerpiece of Gears is the six-minute-long “Los Conquistadores Chocolatés,” which turns up the heat with high-energy beats, multi-layered tracks of electronic and analog instrumentation (including strings, vibraphone, and flute), plenty of wah-wah pedals, and a commanding spoken-word introduction in Spanish. Along with the joyful “Fantasy,” “Los Conquistadores Chocolatés” served as a precursor to the disco hits that would pervade the latter half of the decade, while both tracks were on regular rotation at DJ David Mancuso’s legendary New York City “Loft” parties.

On the other end of the spectrum is the blissed-out “Lost on 23rd Street,” which marks one of the few downtempo selections on the album. The languid track offers a perfect backdrop for wandering through the city, as a casual observer. Another highlight is album opener “Tell Me What To Do,” which begins – innocuously enough – with fairly straightforward chords. Moments later, however, the band kicks into a laid-back groove, jamming over a catchy, looped guitar riff (later sampled by the likes of Armand Van Helden and Mr. Scruff). Remarkably, nearly all of the tracks on Gears have had multiple lives through samples. The funk-forward “Shifting Gears,” for instance, has been used in more than two dozen recordings, including those by DMX and Stetsasonic. The soulful album closer, “Can’t We Smile?,” meanwhile, has been used in songs by Erykah Badu and Kendrick Lamar, among others.

Marking Hammond’s first album with Milestone Records, Gears garnered critical acclaim upon its release and was a Top 40 hit on Billboard’s Jazz chart. Single “Los Conquistadores Chocolatés” was a crossover success, landing in the Top 5 of Billboard’s Dance Club Songs and Disco Singles charts. In the decades since its release, however, Gears has only grown in its cult status. In a retrospective review, BBC Music writes , “At once sophisticated, joyous and accessible, Gears had a profound influence on UK funkateers, and still sounds as fresh today as it did in the mid-70s.” Similarly, AllMusic praised, “This is unquestionably another jewel in a treasure chest already filled with so many for the Mizell production team, and a great performance by Hammond to keep up with his contemporaries who refuse to be held back by conventional wisdom.”

Markus Reuter with Mata Atlântica - Retiro e Ritmo

Retiro e ritmo is a musical declaration of love to Mata Atlântica, the coastal rainforest of Brazil. Its beauty and vivacity inspired this album, which initiator and co-producer Mathias Derer hopes will in turn inspire others to help preserve, protect and speak out for this beautiful habitat.

Using contributions by many brilliant musicians (plus vivid tropical field recordings), Markus Reuter has created a collage that attempts to recreate the acoustic texture of this biotope. The result is a multi-layered soundscape of haunting melodies, jazzy harmonies, grooves inspired by Brazilian rhythms, poetry, and the genuine sounds of Mata life and existence. The combining voices of contributing musicians such as Gary Husband (John McLaughlin/Allan Holdsworth/Billy Cobham bands, NDR Bigband, Level 42), Brian Krock (Big Heart Machine, liddle), Raphael Preuschl (Fabulous Austrian Trio), Luca Calabrese (Wayne Horvitz European Orchestra, Isildurs Bane, Syntony, Italian Instabile Orchestra), Andi Pupato (Nik Bärtsch's Ronin, Mich Gerber, Andreas Vollenweider, etc.), Aralee Dorough and Colin Gatwood (both Houston Symphony Orchestra) form a complex collective sound fabric while still remaining individually audible.

The background to this album dates back five years, to a visit Mathias made to Brazil. “In July 2017, I traveled to Bahía at the invitation of German nature photographer Markus Mauthe, where I had the opportunity to attend the founding phase of the environmental organization AMAP Brazil. It was not only my first encounter with Brazil, but also with South America and the rainforest.

“After only a few steps into the tropical thicket, I realized that I was about to have a unique experience. The richness in which nature presented itself to me was overwhelming. Carefully, we moved through a complex web of shapes and colors: but even more surprised than my eye was my ear. Birds, insects, monkeys, frogs and countless other living organisms played their organic symphony on the basis of rustling and dripping leaves and creaking branches in the most species-rich biotope on earth.

“The beauty and lushness of this nature, its wildness, but also its vulnerability have never left me since. In the present day, more than ninety per cent of the Mata Atlântica has been destroyed. What is left of it is still considered to be one of the most threatened tropical forests in the world. For the next few years, both of these factors continued to work in me - the audiovisual experience of the Brazilian coastal rainforest and the concern for its existence. How could I contribute musically to bring more attention to this fragile habitat, while recreating its soundscape?

“In the initial conversation I had about the project, I won over my friend Markus Reuter, and a plan to realize the album quickly crystallized. The vague basic idea was to lay down groovy patterns on field recordings of the Mata's soundscape, over which lyrical melodies would unfold.

“Together we drew up a wish-list of musicians, which (thanks to Markus' numerous collaborations) included greats whom I would never have dared to dream of involving; and no instrumentalist failed to co-operate. On the contrary, each contribution surprised us with its richness of ideas, its playfulness and creativity.

“We proceeded according to the principle of a chain letter, and laid layer upon layer. Over field recordings from Mata Atlântica, Tobias Reber created complex electronic beats inspired by Brazilian rhythms. Raphael Preuschl added creative electric and double bass parts before Gary Husband contributed a variety of sound colors on piano, electric piano, organ and synthesizer. Next, Brian Krock, Luca Calabrese, Aralee Dorough and Colin Gatwood added flute, oboe, saxophone and trumpet parts; and then Andi Pupato completed the instrumental mesh with Brazilian percussion.

“After each intermediate step, Markus Reuter arranged, structured and supplemented the material into coherent compositions, until finally the singers Charlotte Pelgen, Graça Cunha, Zoey Gley, Lisa Fletcher and Deborah Carter Mastelotto could lend their voices to the vocal melodies (and Pat Mastelotto, usually better known for his King Crimson drumming, could lend his own voice to a poem by Lord Byron). To conclude the album, there is an ambient track that combines guitar soundscapes by Markus Reuter with percussion by Andi Pupato.

“The final result is a multi-layered sonic biotope, via collective composition by the musicians involved. What I am continually enthusiastic about is that I also get the impression of a well-rehearsed live band whenever I listen to it.“

Stylistically the album could be described as a lyrical and modern take on early 1970s fusion (a la Oregon or Weather Report) with more contemporary ideas on sound design and a distinctively European art rock/jazz element, all underpinned by Markus' very unique musical architecture.

“On the visual side, we were fortunate to have Markus Mauthe (one of Germany's most renowned nature photographers, without whose hospitality this project would never have existed in the first place), provide us with his photos, to which Bernhard Wöstheinrich's graphic design organically responds and adapts. In the booklet, further pictures by photographers Patrick Böttger and Lars Richter document the work of the nature conservation organization Almada Mata Atlântica Project (AMAP), with which they themselves are actively involved in initiatives for reforestation, species protection and ecologically-sustainable cacao cultivation.”

Benjamin Lackner | "Last Decade"

Benjamin Lackner’s label debut, Last Decade, is a concentrated investigation into patient quartet interplay, as the pianist leads an exceptional cast of instrumentalists with a keen sense of restraint. There’s a striking lyrical quality to Benjamin’s compositions, opening up many possibilities for his colleagues – trumpeter Mathis Eick, drummer Manu Katché and bassist Jérôme Regard – to inject the music with their own character. Subtle grooves and flowing solos emerge between the four of them. 

The great chemistry between Lackner and Regard can be traced back to 2006, when Regard first joined Lackner’s trio. Various incarnations of the trio produced six albums between 2004 and 2019 – Regard appears on half of them. Now having to expand his compositional framework from trio to quartet, Lackner recognizes new opportunities and finds freedom in having a melodic partner on horn. 

“We decided early on that this would be an acoustic record, which made it easier for me to focus on a direction and allowed me to rediscover the piano more intimately,” explains Lackner. “I worked on finding grooves that allowed me to conceptualize melodies in a more open way. With a horn player in the band, I had to come up with different harmony parts on piano than what I’m used to, and think of the trumpet as the leading voice, which is new territory for me, too, since I tend to play mostly in solo or trio settings. It was an inspiring change to write with Mathias in mind because his phrasing fits perfectly to the way I hear melodic material.” 

Between them, Katché and Eick have appeared on over twenty albums for the label with numerous leader-dates each. Mathias was also part of Playground (2007), Manu Katché’s second album for ECM. Their contributions to this quartet are highly distinctive – Katché’s drum patterns exude both natural spaciousness and particular assertiveness, while Eick’s breezy trumpet tone transcends the textures. Lackner: “In the studio, my colleagues were very open minded and helpful in the arrangement process of the music and we ended up making several changes that gave my compositions exactly the final touch they needed. Manu spontaneously added unique rhythmic accents and the session had an overall feeling of freshness because it was all new to all of us.”  

This freshness is apparent from the start, as is Benjamin’s ability to compose frameworks within which his sidemen’s exceptional abilities can unfold completely. “Where Do We Go From Here” opens the proceedings with a rubato that has Katché exploring the cymbals before switching to a more robust rhythmic foundation for “Circular Confidence,” a song that finds piano and trumpet sharing the melodic themes in equal parts. 

Throughout, Regard serves as both harmonic partner and grounding force, navigating the entirety of the double bass fingerboard with elasticity and elegance, often interlocking with Katché’s different emphases in the process. The programme is made up of exclusively Lackner originals, except for “Émile,” named after Regard’s son. The bassist improvised the music on the spot in the studio, capturing pristine acoustics. On “Camino Cielo,” named after the mountain range in California where Lackner’s ancestors emigrated to from Germany in the 1930s, the bass blends in with the band in an especially smooth way, so that the remarkable interplay of the group becomes the centre of attention, not the solos. Which is true for most of the music on the album. 

On “Hung Up On That Ghost,” the title track, “Remember This” or “Open Minds Lost” it’s never just about the individual but about the sum of the parts. In this case, the sum of four musicians improvising over thoroughly wrought designs with precision, mindfulness for each other and the producer’s guidance, which, as Lackner stresses, “helped shape the improvisations in a way I have never experienced before.” 

Closer “My People,” originally intended as a strict 11/4-time, was collectively refashioned into a loose rubato head with a jam-friendly middle-section in the studio and summarizes many of the idioms introduced previously. It reinforces the idea that Last Decade builds on the strengths of each member of the quartet, as they work together to create a greater whole. 

The album was recorded at Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-Les-Fontaines, in September 2021, and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Michael Sarian | "Living At The End Of The World"

Living at the End of the World is trumpeter/composer Michael Sarian’s follow up to his 2020 acclaimed album New Aurora. Inspired by trumpet greats such as Tomasz Stańko, Enrico Rava, and legendary Armenian-American drummer Paul Motian, it marks the trumpeter’s second foray into a style that explores the intersections between composed music and spontaneous creation, negotiating melodies and harmonies with free improvisation. Joining him on this journey are longtime collaborators, pianist Santiago Leibson, bassist Marty Kenney, drummer Nathan Ellman-Bell, and the acclaimed Chilean guitarist, vocalist and composer, Camila Meza, who lends her artistry on “Cinta Marina.”

Developed during much of 2020 and into 2021, the initial inspiration for Living at the End of the World came (as it had for the initial track on New Aurora) from Japanese author Haruki Murakami. In this case from his book, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, wherein the main character spends half of the novel in a town called ‘The End of the World’. Sarian was deeply engrossed in this book during March and April of 2020 as the world was seemingly coming to an end, giving the trumpeter a different perspective on what the end of the world could be. “Instead of the world as we know it coming to an end, we could approach it as simply a new, temporary space we are living in,” says Sarian. “Still a menacing, other-wordly space, but not without hope.” The title track itself conveys this polarity, a bluesy shuffle with contrasting sections, and an open solo section in which Leibson completely destroys any semblance of form on the Rhodes and Minimoog, only to bring us back to the surface again.

Yi Ku Ghimetn Chim Kidi (I Don’t Know Your True Value) is an arrangement of a piece by Sayat Nova, an 18th century Armenian poet and troubadour. There is a sense of longing and melancholy that is practically built into the melody, and just like the melodies of so many great Armenian composers, it shines on its own. The melody remains true to Sayat Nova’s, with Sarian’s arrangement providing harmonic support moving it forward, emphasizing the sorrow and longing in the composition which bleeds into Leibson’s and Sarian’s solos.  

Sarian does not shy away in his admiration for pioneering trumpeters such as Enrico Rava, and makes note of it on The Pilgrim, dedicated to Rava and named after the trumpeter’s 1975 album ‘The Pilgrim and The Stars’. A nearly seven-minute track of tension building with little release, the seven sixteenth-note pickup to this melody is what gave the piece its start, after Sarian heard Rava play it in his solo on the tune ‘Bella’.  

In 2018, Michael was fortunate enough to perform with his septet at the BRIC JazzFest in Brooklyn, the same night as none other than Meshell Ndegeocello. He was immediately enthralled by her music and spent months listening to her album ‘Weather’, particularly the track Oysters. It would take a few years, but Sarian finally decided to add the tune to his repertoire, wrapping the beautiful melody around an open improvisation section featuring the rhythm section. 

Since setting his septet, The Chabones, aside to focus on working with his quartet, Sarian moved away from incorporating South American rhythms in his music, which was fairly common in his earlier work. Composed during a stay at a friend’s house in Woodstock, NY, Maverick Road sees a return to that 6/8 feel after a soaring intro and broad A section. 

In 2020, Argentine actress, singer, songwriter and creative Belén Pasqualini approached Michael with the idea of collaborating on a piece of music, using her words as a jumping off point for his music. A few months later, Sarian finished working on Cinta Marina. Inspired by William Parker’s work, Sarian chose to maintain a light and minimalist aesthetic, letting the words shine, and giving the vocalist freedom to pace and interpret the story of a young girl’s relationship with the ocean. No doubt an album highlight are special guest Camila Meza’s vocals and guitar playing on this track. 

Written for his brother’s dog Pickle, Picklepuss Romp showcases drummer Nathan Ellman-Bell’s playing throughout. Starting out on a second-line groove in 7, the playful melody twists into an aggressive, off-beat hip hop rhythm before heading into the solo section, where group interplay really shines.  

Before Covid-19 paralyzed the world, one of 2020’s first tragedies moved Sarian to compose what would be the first in this series of tunes. Kobe Bryant’s passing brought out mixed emotions for so many, and so, Regarding Kobe tries to convey an uneasy sadness, but ultimately a sense of calm and comfort, creating a welcoming space for group improvisation. 

Finally, the last track of the album is another dedication, in this case for Sarian’s close friend Max, who passed away in July of 2020. A halftime spiritual/Americana tune with a couple of twists and turns, Leibson introduces the melody, with Sarian, Kenney and Ellman-Bell joining in one by one. Kenney delivers a truly beautiful bass solo, with Sarian’s flugelhorn bringing us home at the end. 

Produced by Michael Sarian, Recorded and mixed by Luis Bacque at Bacque Recording Engineering Studios in Roselle, NJ, Mastered by Dave Darlington at Bass Hit Recording, NYC, Album artwork & design: Jamie Breiwick @ B Side Graphics

NEA Jazz Masters Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves, and Terri Lyne Carrington and Others to Share Jazz Wisdom in FREE Master Class/Workshops

The producers of the inaugural Jazz Music Awards and Jazz 91.9 WCLK will present three dynamic Jazz educational sessions on the campus of the historic Clark Atlanta University on Friday, October 21, 2022, beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET, at the Juanita Baranco Multi-Purpose Room in the Bishop Cornelius Henderson Student Center at 223 James P. Bawley Drive SW, in Atlanta, Georgia. Featuring some of the best-known names in the world of Jazz today – including multiple Grammy Award winners and NEA Jazz Masters Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves, and Terri Lyne Carrington – these educational masterclasses and workshops are free and open to the public and take place the day before the inaugural Jazz Music Awards ceremony.

Other participants are three-time Grammy-nominated artist Jazzmeia Horn and preeminent jazz, gospel, and blues vocalist Lizz Wright, DJ and Grammy-nominated Jazz musician Kassa Overall; award-winning documentary filmmaker, and cultural curator Jason Orr, and percussionist, drummer, and educator Lil’ John Roberts. These sure-to-be enlightening sessions will be moderated by beloved on-air personalities from Jazz 91.9 WCLK and have been programmed to give Jazz fans, young musicians, and casual listeners a window into how and why Jazz is so key to American culture. The sessions and noted panelists are as follows:

9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

“MASTERING JAZZ”

Three accomplished women, all of whom are recipients of the NEA Jazz Master title – the highest honor given in Jazz music – team up for this informative and inspiring session. Three-time Grammy-winning drummer, author, and educator Terri Lyne Carrington, Grammy and Tony Award winner Dee Dee Bridgewater, and five-time Grammy Award winner Dianne Reeves will discuss the ins and outs of mastering a successful career and maintaining longevity in the jazz field. Moderated by Debb Moore, host of Jazz 91.9 WCLK’s “Jazz at Sundown” and “Jazz Suite,” the panel guests will offer insights on taking your love for the music and parlaying it into a successful rewarding business career.

10:00 a.m. -11:00 a.m.

“VOICE IS THE ORIGINAL INSTRUMENT”

Two of the Jazz world’s most dynamic vocal powerhouses, Lizz Wright and Jazzmeia Horn, will discuss the voice as an important instrument in jazz and will share their techniques for boosting projection, improvising, and connecting to the heart of the song. The acclaimed vocalists will exchange views on how to develop a unique style, best practices for maintaining vocal health, and individual pathways for pursuing a musical career. The panel will be moderated by Ms. Rivablue of Jazz 91.9 WCLK’s “Midday Jazz.”

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon

“JAZZ AS CULTURAL CURRENCY”

DJ and percussionist Kassa Overall; documentary filmmaker, writer, and festival producer Jason Orr (FunkJazz Kafé Arts & Music Festival and Life Arts Documentary Film Festival + Music Conference); and in-demand drummer Lil’ John Roberts join forces to discuss what’s happening currently in jazz, as well as the future of the art form. The session will examine the history of Jazz and its influence on Black music, from bebop to hip-hop, and will also explore how the vibrancy and cultural currency of Jazz can be maintained for the future. Moderated by Jamal Ahmad, host of the nationally syndicated “Soul of Jazz” on Jazz 91.9 WCLK, this panel will offer fresh insights into the exciting prospects for carrying Jazz further into the 21st Century.

 

New Music Releases: Shirley Murdock, Countdown To Soul 2 – 19 Brilliant Soul, Funk & Jazz Rare Grooves, Doug Stone & Marcelo Magalhães Pinto, Ebi Soda

Shirley Murdock - As We Lay – The Elektra Recordings 1985 to 1991 (Shirley Murdock/Woman's Point Of View/Let There Be Love/bonus tracks) (3CD set)

A trio of classic albums – plus lots of bonus tracks too! First up is the self-titled Shirley Murdock – the breakout album from a singer who first rose to fame working with Roger Troutman and Zapp – and who gets plenty of help here from that side of the soul spectrum too! Roger produced and plays on the record, and also wrote most of the songs too – and Larry Troutman and others provide most of the instrumentation – all with a groove that's as funky and punchy as Zapp at their best – which means that Shirley's got to be one hell of a singer to rise above the basslines, beats, and keyboards! Fortunately, Murdock's got a hell of a lot of power in her voice – which really gets unleashed here in a wonderful way, then spins down for a few great ballads too – all to make a very fully-formed set that's gone onto be one of the mainstream soul classics of the time. Titles include "As We Lay", "Truth Or Dare", "Tribute", "Be Free", "No More", "Go On Without You", "Danger Zone", "Teaser", and "The One I Need" plus extended mixes of "Truth Or Dare", "No More", "Tribute" and remix of "As We Lay". A Woman's Point Of View is a rock-solid set from Shirley Murdock – the kind of material that really helped her define a new role for female soul in the 80s – mature, but down to earth – confident, yet easygoing enough to not seem to fall into cliched poppy roles either! Part of the strength comes from Shirley's continued relationship with Roger Troutman – whose production here draws on both the upbeat and mellow styles he was crafting in his own work – giving the album a sense of cohesion that's very different than some of the multi-producer sets that other singers had at the time. Titles include "Husband", "Found My Way", "If I Know", "I Still Love You", "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", "Oh What A Feeling", and "A Woman's Point Of View". For Let There Be Love, Shirley Murdock's looking a bit more contemplative on the cover than on previous albums – and that image really sets the tone for the record – which has a nicely maturing sense of songcraft that really makes the most of Murdock's wonderful vocal range! There's definitely a few groovers on the record, but those are balanced with some of the more personal, intimate material that made Shirley such a great force in R&B after the big wave of quiet storm singers in the decade before. Titles include "In Your Eyes", "Save The Children", "Everywhere", "Say It Mean It", "Let There Be Love", "Stay With Me Tonight", and "The Last Hurrah". 3CD set features 10 bonus tracks – including "You Brought The Sunshine", "Oh What A Feeling (ext)", "Husband (single)", "Tribute (ext)", "No More (ext)", "Be Free (sexy sax thang mix)", "Go On Without You (voc ext mix)", "Truth Or Dare (European mix)", and "As We Lay (midnight mix)".~ Dusty Groove

Countdown To Soul 2 – 19 Brilliant Soul, Funk & Jazz Rare Grooves

Heady work from deep deep in the funky 45 underground – raw, gritty, and totally wonderful tracks that are put together at a level that matches the kind of classic funk compilations we first feel in love with back in the day! Sure, there's been plenty of rare tracks unearthed in recent years – but a well-done collection like this can still blow away the occasional sound snippet you might stumble across online – as the overall weight of the package is amazing, and the tracks here all resonate together strongly in a way that they might never have on their own! Tracks include "Love One Another" by Frankie Staton, "Standing On His Word" by Leontine Dupree, "Soul Bagg" by Reno & The Chosen 3, "I'm Satisfied" by Marva Josie, "Hard Times" by McKinley Edmonds, "Mercy Mercy Mercy" by Roy Long, "Tell The Truth" by Shirley Wahls, "He Won't Love You" by Delores Eiler, "I Can't Get Enough" by Dave Stockwell, "You Came A Long Way From St Louis" by 101 Gold Street Band, "Black & White" by Bobbi Lane, and "Snake In The Grass" by Rick Bowen. ~ Dusty Groove

Doug Stone & Marcelo Magalhães Pinto - Shifting Perspectives

The recording project was conceived by Marcelo and Doug to be a musical register where the two genres of contemporary music – Jazz, and Brazilian Music – could share the same space. Thus, the pieces that were written exclusively for this project have distinct features of the national genres of the composers. Doug Stone, for instance, wrote tunes that embrace Bebop, Swing, Free Jazz, Modal Jazz, and Soul. On the other hand, Marcelo Magalhães Pinto wrote tunes that go through a variety of Brazilian styles, such as the Congado, Choro, Baião, and Samba, among others. From the musical perspective, the outcome is extremely interesting because even though the composers had written pieces with genres that are particular to their own countries (Brazil and United States), there are common elements that unified the compositions: the harmonic treatment and the improvisation. The harmony, as a sound architect, weaves the connections among the chords, making the musical elements that go back since Romanticism connect the past with the present. Whereas improvisation acts as a tool of maximal expression in the performance. It is through improvisation that musicians not only express themselves but also talk to each other. Two cats were invited:  the drummer André “Limão” Queiroz, a professor at the UFMG School of Music – who was Marcelo’s colleague during their bachelor’s degree at the same school – and bassist Quinn Sternberg, who has been collaborating with Doug in the US. The album was recorded in New Orleans, LA, where presentations were made that promoted not only this work but also Brazilian and American culture and music.

Ebi Soda - Honk If You're Sad

One of the sharpest groups on the British scene, stepping forth here with maybe their greatest album so far – a record that really blends live jazz musicianship with some of the fuller structures and experiments that marked the London environment a few years back – maybe carried out here by Ebi Soda at a level that certainly makes puts them at the front of the pack! There's a blend of keyboards and live drums here that's totally great – topped with trombone and guitar solos, with lots of added guest work along the way – on tenor, alto, trumpet, and other instruments – all instrumental, but full of color, life, and some of the more triumphantly righteous currents that the group shares with their contemporaries. Titles include "Listen King", "Giraffe Bread", "Chandler", "Soft Peng", "Yoshi Orange", "Tang Of The Zest", "My Man From College", and "Christmas Lights In June". ~ Dusty Groove

New Music Releases: Ray, Goodman & Brown, Cecil Alexander, Anthony Braxton & James Fei, Billy Drummond & Freedom Of Ideas

Ray, Goodman & Brown - Take It To The Limit

An obscure mid 80s session from the former members of The Moments – recorded with a style that's a bit more electric and a bit more mellow than before – but which really lets their wonderful vocals still take center stage! The style here is almost in a smooth steppers mode, but the rhythms are sometimes more complicated – and although the electric keys and beats sometimes get in the way of the great harmonies we know the trio is capable of, there's still a fair bit more depth and soul going on here than most other mainstream soul of the period. Titles include "Celebrate Our Love", "Take It To The Limit", "Let's Make Love Tonight", "Why Must I Wait", "Waiting For Dawn", "We've Got Tonight", and "Someone's Missing Your Love". ~ Dusty Groove

Cecil Alexander - Introducing Cecil Alexander

Guitarist Cecil Alexander has a nice light touch here – not loose, but with a freely chromatic sort of vibe that really has his strings opening up with a heck of a lot of colors and brightness – set up next to the Hammond B3 of Will Gorman and drums of Steven Crammer! With that quality, the record's a bit different than most other organ/guitar trio sessions – in that the guitar is definitely first, and really setting the tune – never too overwhelmed by the Hammond, but nicely inspired by its actions to take flight, especially on some of Alexander's original tunes. Titles include a great reading of the Bobby Hutcherson classic "Till Then" – plus originals "Captain Bailey", "Bright Green", "Shug", "9th Round", "Talk Shop", and "Nansen". ~ Dusty Groove

Anthony Braxton & James Fei - Duet

Saxophonist Anthony Braxton has recorded famous duets with electronic musicians over the years – but here, Braxton handles the electronics himself, while also blowing a variety of saxes – as does his musical partner James Fei! The set features one long piece, recorded live in San Francisco – a performance of Braxton's "Composition 429", which, as with most of his creations, is more of a springboard for improvisation than a set of notes guiding the performers – which leaves both musicians plenty of space to really open up in all these amazing ways, often with a sense of harmony that makes for a really organic sense of creation! ~ Dusty Groove

Billy Drummond & Freedom Of Ideas - Valse Sinistre

A roaring quartet session from drummer Billy Drummond – one that starts with a great take on one of our favorite Jackie McLean tunes of all time, then continues to soar through a fantastic batch of material! Drummond is perfectly matched with drummer Dezron Douglas, and the two seem to pulsate as one – with Douglas' warmth bringing even more to Billy's drums than usual – cut through by the sharper saxophone lines of Dayna Stephens, as he mixes fire and soul – and punctuated in all the right ways by pianist Micah Thomas. This isn't a standard quartet session at all, and we mean that in the best way possible – as the group makes their way through tunes that include "Little Melonae", "Reconfirmed", "Clara's Room", "Valse Sinestre", "Never Ends", "Frankenstein", and "Changes For Trane & Monk". ~ Dusty Groove

Anat Cohen | "Quartetinho"

Having explored the world of larger ensemble writing and performance with the acclaimed Anat Cohen Tentet (Happy Song, Triple Helix), GRAMMY-nominated multireedist and composer Anat Cohen (“bringing the clarinet to the world” — Terry Gross, Fresh Air) shifts her focus to a smaller, more intimate group sound on her newest release, the endlessly colorful Quartetinho (pronounced “quar-te-CHIN-yo,” i.e., little quartet). The group’s New York-based players, all drawn from the ranks of the Tentet, hail from different corners of the globe: Cohen and bassist Tal Mashiach from Israel, pianist/accordionist Vitor Gonçalves from Rio de Janeiro, and vibraphonist/percussionist James Shipp from the United States. What they share is a deep love for music in all its heterogeneity. It’s all amply documented on Quartetinho, which includes originals by Cohen, Mashiach and Shipp along with material by the great masters Antonio Carlos Jobim, Egberto Gismonti and more. 

The result is boundlessly melodic and lyrical, with a wide array of timbres and subtle details of orchestration. In most cases all four players created arrangements together as a group, and each brings to the encounter their respective gifts on multiple instruments. Cohen, full of “liquid dexterity and authentic feeling” [Ira Gitler], plays clarinet and also layers bass clarinet lines and doubles melodies, lending a rich and earthy low-register tone to the mix. Gonçalves, on acoustic piano as well as Rhodes, is equally fluent on accordion for Mashiach’s melancholy “The Old Guitar” and Cohen’s soulful bass clarinet-centered arrangement of “Going Home,” an excerpt from Dvořák’s New World Symphony that has become a folk song of its own (and a fitting one here, given the Czech composer’s prescient, broadminded view of music from the Americas). Mashiach steps away from bass to play acoustic guitar on his introspective closing piece “Vivi & Zaco” (with touches of Gonçalves’ accordion as well). And Shipp, whose “Baroquen Spirit” opens the album in a rubato chamber-like vein with glimmers of fleeting dissonance, contributes varied percussion as well as harmonically expansive vibraphone.

 

Cohen’s originals run the gamut from the dark Rhodes-infused 6/4 of “Birdie” to the joyous second-line blues of “Louisiana,” with the moody dreamscape “Canon” serving as a kind of interlude. The group collaborated on arrangements of Jobim’s “O Boto” and two by Gismonti, the blazingly fast showstopper “Frevo” and the soaring “Palhaço,” with vibrant solos from Cohen, Gonçalves on piano and Shipp on vibes. Shipp brought in a delightfully unusual item, “Boa Tarde Povo,” which he first heard performed by the singer Maria do Carmo Barbosa de Melo and associates on a compilation called Música Do Brasil. The funky rhythm, according to Shipp, bears a resemblance to baião beats common to the forró and cocó genres, although the specific pattern is elusive, suggestive of a style with many variations between Bahia and Pernambuco.

The first Quartetinho live gig took place on March 7, 2020 at the Miller Theatre of Columbia University; on March 8 the Miller shut down, quickly followed by much of the US and the world. “A year and a half later we finally got into the studio to record,” Cohen says. “It took a minute, but this is just a beginning. I always encourage the band members to write. My next idea is to go somewhere and spend two weeks writing music together for our next project, bringing all our influences to bear in a non-genre-specific way. Our mix of influences and the enthusiasm and will to collaborate and rehearse is not so often found. It’s exciting to find people who really want to get together and play. No matter what we’re working on we always come up with ideas, try things, and we’re all multi-instrumentalists so there’s always a lot of choices we get to make. This kind of ‘writing camp’ would be a great experience and something I haven’t done before.” 

Quartetinho is the latest in a series of Brazilian music outings that have come to constitute a major element in Cohen’s body of work. She has made two duo albums with seven-string guitarist Marcello Gonçalves (no relation to Vitor), Outra Coisa: The Music of Moacir Santos (2017) and Reconvexo (2021). She also joined Trio Brasileiro (percussionist Alexandre Lora, guitarist Douglas Lora, mandolinist Dudu Maia) on the 2017 Anzic release Rosa Dos Ventos. These projects were recorded in Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia and received GRAMMY nominations for Best World Music Album (Outra Coisa) and Best Latin Jazz Album (Rosa Dos Ventos). Cohen has also worked in the Choro Ensemble, Duduka Da Fonseca’s Samba Jazz Quintet and Cyro Batista’s Beat the Donkey.

Incognito 2022-23 Tour Dates

• Fri, October 28 - Jazzy & Jazzpiknik @MOMKULT, Budapest, Hungary 
• Sat, November 12 - 20 Years of MSF Closing Party, Margate UK 
• Sat, December 3 - Banco Mediolanum Festival Mil·lenni, Barcelona, Spain 
• Thu, December 8 - Blue Note Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
• Fri, December 9 - Blue Note Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
• Sat, December 10 - Blue Note Tokyo All-Star Jazz Orchestra directed by ERIC MIYASHIRO plays Music of INCOGNITO with special guest Bluey - Blue Note Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
• Sun, December 11 - Blue Note Tokyo All-Star Jazz Orchestra directed by ERIC MIYASHIRO plays Music of INCOGNITO with special guest Bluey - Takasaki City Theatre, Japan
• Mon, December 12 - Cotton Club, Tokyo, Japan
• Tue, December 13 - Cotton Club, Tokyo, Japan
• Wed, December 14 - "Return of The Groove" - Yebisu Garden Hall, Tokyo, Japan
• Thu, January 26, 2023 - Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London, UK
• Fri, January 27, 2023 - Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London, UK
• Sat, January 28, 2023 - Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London, UK
• Sun, January 29, 2023 - Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, Londoon, UK
• Mon, January 30, 2023 - Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London, UK
• Tue, January 31, 2023 - Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London, UK
• Fri, June 2, 2023 – Smooth Nights @Koko Booth Amphitheatre, Cary, NC
• Fri, June 9, 2023 – Knight Theatre, Charlotte, NC

New Music Releases: Opaz 30, Bobby Oroza, Collettivo Immaginario, Sharon Benson

Opaz – 30 – Various Artists 

Opaz celebrates 30 years in urban music with a compilation featuring some of their most sought after tracks. Featuring Martine Girault, Mica Paris, Maysa Leak, Cartier Fraser, Imaani, Natasha Campbel, Patrick Jean-Paul-Denis, George Howard, Mary Jane and Ray Hayden. The compilation will be supported with a month advertising on Solar radio, as well as a two hour show featuring Ray’s Productions, remixes and songwriting for the likes of Will Smith, Marvin Gaye, Omar, Mary J Blige, Incognito, Tyrese, Sade, Swing Out Sister, Guru and artists from the label. We expect some support from online magazines and soul music sites. Opaz has a FB promo page with 294 DJ’s and taste makers from around the world who support the label and have contributed to the 1.2 million streams on average a year.

Bobby Oroza - Get On The Otherside Instrumentals

Bobby Oroza and Cold Diamond & Mink treat us to the instrumental version of their latest album Get On The Otherside. Bobby Oroza put his desire for the profound on wax with his sophomore album Get On The Otherside. Musically, he updated the formula we were introduced to on the first record. But lyrically, songs are bravely rooted in the more complicated, ubiquitous inner tangles of life like self-examination and coming to terms with the vastness of the human experience. This limited edition pressing is a chance to enjoy the musicianship and production prowess of the crew without the lyrics giving it a whole other level if vibe to take in.

Collettivo Immaginario - Trasforma

Collettivo Immaginario invites listeners on a glittering journey of cosmic escapism with the release of Trasforma, their debut album out September 23 on LA-based label, Domanda Music. The instrumental collective was founded in Northern Italy by drummer Tommaso Cappellato, bass player Nicolò Masetto and pianist Alberto Lincetto as a creative laboratory in which to explore the worldly musical influences that inspired them. Through experimentation that draw on the traditions of eclectic jazz, funk and electronica, Trasforma distills the ebullient energy of the trio’s acclaimed live performances into a lush and cinematic studio album, subtly paying homage to genre-bending giants such as Azymuth, Lonnie Liston Smith, Herbie Hancock and Italian film composers Piero Piccioni and Piero Umiliani.

Sharon Benson - Sunshine

Sharon Benson’s lost album Sunshine was originally unearthed by P-vine in 2015 having gathered dust on Polydor shelves since the early 90s. In 1992, following in the footsteps of the lead single release of which the album shares its name, plans to release the original ten track album grew increasingly unlikely, and eventually the project was abandoned. The London-based singer would later return in 1995 for a fresh set of songs on a self-titled album before returning to acting and signing in the West End, but the mystery of Sunshine would linger. Uncovered and unwrapped, it’s easy to see why. Upon playing, it’s an album that immediately brushes aside its neglected state, and launches into some of the most slick and sweet sounding R&B and new jack swing at the turn of the decade. P-vine is excited to be reissuing the album on LP for the first time.

Cosmic Renaissance | "Universal Language"

Gianluca Petrella is one of the most internationally renowned Italian musician, composer and producer, winner of the Down Beat Critics Poll in the “Rising Stars” category for two years in a row.

Cosmic Renaissance is a music collective led by Gianluca with Mirco Rubegni (trumpet), Riccardo Di Vinci (electric bass, double bass), Simone Padovani (percussion) and Federico Scettri (drums, samplers), with Soweto Kinch (vocals and tenor sax) as special guest among others. Cosmic Renaissance’s aim is to write and play music that actually starts from jazz and reaches new heights and music genres, in the name of unity, discovery, connection, understanding and other beautiful things that make us human. Try to imagine all this into music, and you’ll have an idea of how “Universal Language” really sounds!

“Mermaids really do exist. A few days ago, I came across the fantastic story of the Ama, literally the women of the sea. They live in Toba Bay, Japan, and have a long-established tradition that has been passed on from one generation to another for more than two thousand years. What do they do? They jump into the sea to fish for seaweed, octopus and, above all, for pearls. They are the real pearl fisherwomen. Counting solely on the strength of their lungs, they can reach depths of up to 20 meters.

When they ascend, their hyperventilating lungs emit a kind of whistle that resembles the cry of dolphins. Or more precisely, the singing of mermaids. When they are not diving, they train and help each other, passing on practices and secrets, confiding in one another to stay united. And they are cohesive, never envious of one another, just a great sense of belonging.

With his new work,  Gianluca Petrella seems to have drawn from this ancient tradition, made up of memories and traces. He went deep and searched the remotest memories and ancestral sounds of streets, eras and styles. With his curiosity and appreciation he has connected times and places afar, joining the dots with his contemporary gaze.  And like the Ama divers Gianluca is also surrounded by a community of musicians, fellow explorers with whom he can share a unique dimension.

‘Anyone who doesn't get along with musicians has an unresolved problem,' he tells me.  And that's why he’s particularly vocal about each of the five well-known members of his Cosmic Band and the many valuable guests who contributed to ‘Universal Language’. With their instruments, they generated a language that connects past and present, threading a continuous dialogue between generations.

A truly collective effort, all have striven in bringing ‘Universal Language’ to life, all deserve full praise, none excluded.

If you think you are just listening to jazz, you are sadly mistaken. There are dreamlike appearances, escapism; a celebration of life. A deep dive into the heart of music and its many languages. A real conversation about words, memory, and staying true to oneself. But it is also a work on how complicated it is to come to terms with identity, and Gianluca rewrites this identity in his own way. A work made of whispers, murmurs, in which music and language try to meet in new ways. A journey that takes us down into the abyss of the sea and up to the sky".

(from Federico Scoppio's liner notes)

The Headhunters - Speakers In The House

The Headhunters To Release New Album 'Speakers In The House' - First Single "Rocking At The Mole House" Out Now

The Headhunters have released "Rocking At The Mole House", the first single from the legendary jazz-funk quintet's forthcoming album, Speakers In The House, out November 4 on Ropeadope Records. Opening with a New Orleans press roll beat, which nods to the home of four of the five current band members, it quickly transitions to the signature funk synths and alto sax lines that the band has been revered for going on nearly 50 years.

"Rocking At The Mole House" takes its title from the nickname for the childhood home of Mike Clark, drummer and co-leader of The Headhunters, as it rapidly rotates between his tight kit work and co-leader Bill Summers' assortment of African, Cuban and Haitian percussion. Adding to the dizzying layers of arabesque melodies is NEA Jazz Master Donald Harrison on alto saxophone and digital programming added by producer One Drop Scott aka Scott Roberts, a collaborator of Summers since the late-70s, as well as Wayne Shorter and Charlie Hunter. Beyond the infectiously complex and funky arrangement, Clark’s drum solo around the three minute mark is hypnotic and bullseye precise.

The Headhunters forthcoming full-length studio album, Speakers In The House, is the first new music from the band in eleven years. The eight track collection features the core quintet comprised by percussionist Bill Summers, drummer Mike Clark, saxophonist Donald Harrison, keyboardist Stephen Gordon and bassist Reggie Washington along with special guests Jerry Z on organ, Scott Roberts on drums, Fode Sissoko on Kora and Ashlin Parker on trumpet. The Headhunters spirit is alive and well as the band approaches its 50th anniversary since forming around Herbie Hancock's classic album, Head Hunters, released in 1973.

"What Bill and I and The Headhunters do is experience the moment and explore," explains Mike Clark. "We're not in a gym, this isn't a competition. This is art. We’re in that moment and there is no other. The Headhunters is an act of passion, of love for humanity, and for our planet."

"We live this every day. We have some secrets to give to the youth of the world. We’re not musicians, we are physicians. We heal people," adds Bill Summers. "We've always made a statement as The Headhunters. Every time we've dropped notes on wax, it's had value and the ability to positively influence people and change lives."