Urban-jazz harpist Mariea Antoinette is “So Amazing”

It was a million-dollar wedding and the bride-to-be commissioned urban-jazz harpist Mariea Antoinette to play her down the aisle. As she pondered what to perform, Antoinette came upon the Luther Vandross classic “So Amazing” and the bride loved it. Antoinette teamed with longtime producer Allan Phillips to craft a beautiful and soulful arrangement for the occasion. When the bride arrived at the altar, spontaneous applause broke out. Encouraged by the reaction, Antoinette decided to record the rendition as a single. Her sublime “So Amazing” just dropped and is presently receiving more than one hundred spins per week from dozens of radio outlets, including SiriusXM’s Watercolors.

“So Amazing” continues Antoinette’s mission of placing the harp in unexpected settings, proving that the ancient stringed instrument has soul and can groove. With Antoinette dexterously playing delicate notes and strumming mellifluous harmonies, the single is illumined by lush orchestration provided by string and horn sections, including violins, violas, cello, trumpet, saxophone, flute, trombone and celestial background vocals. Phillips’s keyboards and percussion anchors the track flanked by guitarist Evan Marks, bassist Nathan Brown and drummer Tiki Pasillas.

“This wedding was for a bride who has everything. In speaking with her about song selection for the ceremony, she wanted an R&B song that was powerful. She indicated that she loved Luther Vandross, Kem and a host of other R&B singers so I started looking through their catalogs. When I heard Luther's ‘So Amazing,’ I knew that was the one. The song lends itself to the harp,” said Antoinette who remains a fan of Vandross and was inspired after seeing him perform.

“I've been to three of Luther’s concerts. He was/is ‘so amazing.’ I loved his style, professionalism and stage presence. Seeing Luther’s shows was a master class in performance.”

“So Amazing” will serve as the title track of Antoinette’s fourth album, which she anticipates releasing next spring, perfectly timed for wedding season. In December, she’ll shoot her first PBS special with her band and a string section at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, which will be titled “An Intimate Evening with Mariea Antoinette.”

Antoinette is an award-winning artist who performed for President Barack and Michelle Obama, shared the stage with Ne-Yo at the BET Awards, toured extensively with Jazz in Pink, and has served as principal harpist for the Los Angeles Southeast Symphony Orchestra. She’s had records that hit Billboard’s top five, paving the way to performances at major jazz festivals and events, including Catalina Island JazzTrax Festival, Capital Jazz Fest and the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame Awards. Antoinette has won honors from the Black Women in Jazz and the Arts, a Black Music Award, and a San Diego Prestige Award for best instrumentalist. Her activism includes partnering with Daughters Lives Matter, a nonprofit organization stressing the importance of healthy father-daughter relationships and positive imagery.        

New Music Releases: Heather Ferguson, Lauren Falls, Avi Granite’s In Good Hands, Dan McCarthy’s Songs of the Doomed: Some Jaded Atavistic Freakout

Heather Ferguson – Lush Life

Called a “jazz sensation” by Monday Magazine, Heather Ferguson’s journey to music has been long and winding. The sultry-voiced singer, now based in Victoria, Canada after many years in Toronto, is fast becoming known for her interpretations of the great songs of the 20th century. Her debut album, Lush Life – to be released in November 2022 – is a showcase for her beautiful phrasing and remarkable gift for storytelling. With the help of many of Vancouver Island’s finest musicians, Ferguson pays homage to some of history’s finest songwriters, interpreting classic songs that still resonate with audiences decades after they hit the charts. A dynamic and consummate performer with a smouldering sound, Heather Ferguson is a wonderful addition to the vocal jazz scene.

Lauren Falls – A Little Louder Now

A Little Louder Now is the phenomenal new album from Toronto bassist and composer Lauren Falls. This album takes the listener on a musical journey through a beautifully curated collection of seven original compositions, plus a classic standard from Victor Youmans. Falls’ second album as a bandleader, A Little Louder Now demonstrates her growth as a musician and composer since the release of her  2013 debut album, The Quiet Fight. A Little Louder Now features several of Canada’s most sought-after musicians, including saxophonist David French, guitarist Trevor Giancola, pianist Todd Pentney, and Falls’ brother Trevor on the drums. Each musician brings something unique and enticing to the record’s sound. Falls had each musician’s specific musical voice in mind while writing the material for this album. The title A Little Louder Now speaks to Falls’ personal evolution, and her journey becoming more confident and courageous as both a musician and a person. These compositions are reflections of her life experiences, both good and bad, and the artistic growth that has accompanied them. The sonic textures created for the listener inspires feelings of hope and inspiration, bringing comfort to those who are also in the midst of their own personal journeys.

Avi Granite’s In Good Hands

Canadian composer and guitarist Avi Granite celebrates his musical roots by spotlighting some of Canada’s finest musicians in solo performance. Based in New York City, Granite returned to his native Toronto in the fall of 2021 to record Avi Granite’s In Good Hands. Granite is a seasoned improviser, but in this context we focus on his work as a composer. With the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Granite recruited the talents of several of his musical mentors and friends. A cross section of Juno Award winners and Toronto music scene mainstays, In Good Hands offers an intimate glimpse into the work of 11 incredible instrumentalists as they interpret and reimagine Granite’s distinctive compositions. The opening piece Like A Magazine features a gorgeous performance by jazz legend Pat LaBarbera in his only known solo recording. Each track offers a unique listening experience as a different instrumentalist takes the stage. Avi Granite’s In Good Hands is perhaps the most texturally dynamic recording you’ll hear this year. It’s an invitation into a musical space like no other, and an intimate portrait of a composer painted by some of the artists that shaped his work.

Dan McCarthy’s Songs of the Doomed: Some Jaded Atavistic Freakout

Dan McCarthy’s Songs of the Doomed: Some Jaded, Atavistic Freakout is an album of music inspired by the writing of political journalist and general dingbat Hunter S. Thompson. A lot of the jangled madness that makes up this band’s repertoire comes from a new compositional style created specifically for this band called the ‘Gonzo Cypher’. The cypher allows you to take a word, phrase, or even paragraph of Hunter’s writing, submit it to the cypher, and what you are left with is a weird and likely obnoxious ‘tone row’, which is then used to compose the music – serial music rules apply. The sound of the band is inspired by the Gary Burton Quintet from the 1970s on ECM Records, which was weird in its own right. It featured Burton on vibes, along with two guitarists (Metheny and Goodrick), bass (Steve Swallow), and drums (Bob Moses). This mess of chordal instruments allows for the creation of thick tapestries of sound, and also allows the band to get weird and intense, not unlike The Grateful Dead or Jimi Hendrix. Perhaps Songs of the Doomed will achieve fame equal to those artists… Or maybe not. But, the uniqueness of this project leads me to believe that audiences everywhere will clammer for more. T

Verve Records/UMe and Third Man Records have partnered to resurrect the popular reissue series, Verve By Request

Verve Records/UMe and Third Man Records have partnered to resurrect the popular reissue series, Verve By Request, with a vinyl twist. Focusing on rare gems and fan-requested jazz albums from the Verve Label Group's stable of iconic labels, the series will offer two titles per month – each hand-picked by Verve and Third Man Records. The records will include both long-out-of-print titles from the vault as well as the first-ever vinyl pressings for albums released in the '90s and aughts that were only originally released on CD.  

Verve Records/UMe and Third Man Records have partnered to resurrect the popular reissue series, Verve By Request, with a vinyl twist. The series launches on November 11 with a nod to Third Man’s birthplace with two of Detroit’s finest: Alice Coltrane’s "Ptah, the El Daoud" (1970) and Roy Brooks’ long out-of-print "Beat" (1964).

Albums will be newly remastered from original analog sources, when available, and pressed on audiophile-quality, 180-gram vinyl at Third Man Pressing in Detroit. Each month, a limited Third Man Edition yellow color variant of each LP will also be available exclusively via Third Man Records and uDiscoverMusic. Each of the Third Man Editions will come in a limited edition, two-color, screen-printed jacket on archival French cover stock, custom printed and assembled in Detroit. The series launches on November 11 with a nod to Third Man's birthplace with two of Detroit's finest: Alice Coltrane's Ptah, the El Daoud (1970) and Roy Brooks' long out-of-print Beat (1964).

Recorded at Motown's legendary Hitsville USA studio for Workshop Jazz – Berry Gordy's short-lived jazz imprint – Beat marks Roy Brooks' debut as a leader and finds the innovative drummer fusing his hard bop roots with a Motor City soul-jazz groove. Brooks, who served as a sideman for Horace Silver, Yusef Lateef, and Chet Baker, among others, is joined by fellow Detroit natives George Bohannon (trombone) and Hugh Lawson (piano), along with his Horace Silver Quintet bandmates: Blue Mitchell (trumpet), Junior Cook (tenor saxophone), and Eugene Taylor (bass). Together, they deliver a high-energy set that features tracks written by Brooks, Joe Henderson, and Duke Pearson. Notably, the track  "Soulsphere" was composed by Alice McLeod (erroneously credited as "McCloud" on the sleeve), who would blaze a new musical path a few years later as the incomparable Alice Coltrane. Hailed by All Music as "a record of uncommon scope and reach," Beat is the first official reissue of any Workshop Jazz album.

Following the death of her husband John Coltrane in 1967, Alice Coltrane continued to forward the musical and spiritual version they set out on together and started to release records on her own as  composer and bandleader. The hypnotic Ptah, the El Daoud, was the fourth album to bear the pianist and harpist's name released between 1968-70, which also included her joint album, Cosmic Music, partially recorded with John a year before his death. The transcendent Ptah, the El Daoud, recorded in the Coltrane home studio in 1970 and released later that year on Impulse! Records, features an all-star line-up on the four compositions, including Pharoah Sanders and Joe Henderson (both on tenor sax and alto flute). A masterpiece of spiritual jazz, the album's title track is an ode to the Egyptian God, Ptah (the El Daoud meaning "the beloved"), while many moments on the record can best be described by the Hindu word "Turiya," which Coltrane defines in the liner notes as "a state of consciousness – the high state of Nirvana, the goal of human life." 

The releases continue on December 9 with Chicken Fat, the 1967 Impulse! debut by blues guitarist Mel Brown. Brown's clean picking style – honed while playing alongside John Lee Hooker, Bobby Bland, and T-Bone Walker – marinates deliciously with the swinging soul-jazz organ of Gerald Wiggins. Featuring the simmering lament "I'm Goin' to Jackson," the electrifying "Greasy Spoon," and the standout title track, Chicken Fat is quite possibly the funkiest and most unique album ever released on the label. 

Also available in December is James Brown's Soul on Top. Originally released in 1970 via King Records,  the album was a dream project for the Godfather of Soul, a fan of big-band jazz who is provided the full treatment with an 18-piece band, led by drummer Louis Bellson and arranged by Impulse! star Oliver Nelson. Joined by his soul consigliere, saxophonist Maceo Parker, Brown offers up a swinging set of jazz and pop standards, while revisiting several of his classic hits, including "It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World" and "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag." This reissue features a new mix of the original album by legendary bassist and James Brown superfan Christian McBride and UMe A&R Vice President Harry Weinger.

Future Verve By Request titles, which are listed below through June 2023, will include vinyl debuts of Wayne Shorter's Footprints Live! (2002) and Herbie Hancock's The New Standard (1996), plus reissues from Pharoah Sanders, Ahmad Jamal, Archie Shepp, Sun Ra, and many more.

Verve By Request Releases (November 2022 – June 2023):

• November 11, 2022: Roy Brooks – Beat
• November 11, 2022: Alice Coltrane – Ptah, The El Daoud
• December 9, 2022: James Brown - Soul On Top
• December 9, 2022: Mel Brown – Chicken Fat
• January 13, 2023: Ahmad Jamal – The Awakening
• January 13, 2023: Archie Shepp – Kwanza
• February 10, 2023: Dorothy Ashby - The Rubáiyát Of Dorothy Ashby
• February 10, 2023: Gábor Szabó - The Sorcerer
• March 10, 2023: Blossom Dearie - Blossom Dearie
• March 10, 2023: Eartha Kitt - Bad But Beautiful
• April 28, 2023: Yusef Lateef – Psychicemotus
• April 28, 2023: Pharoah Sanders - Black Unity
• May 26, 2023: Wayne Shorter - Footprints Live!
• May 26, 2023: Herbie Hancock - The New Standard
• June 30, 2023: Albert Ayler - Love Cry
• June 30, 2023: Sun Ra - Space Is The Place

Benny Bock | "Vanishing Act"

Music flows through Benny Bock like the crisscrossing freeways of Los Angeles. On his debut album, Vanishing Act, the keyboardist conjures the contrasts of living in big city and small town environments, infusing ambient jazz and folkloric arrangements with bristling electronic urgency. During improvised recording sessions with producer/engineer Pete Min (The Strokes, Orvile Peck) at his studio, Lucy’s Meat Market, Bock and a group of acclaimed musicians created a spellbinding instrumental cycle, channeling the feelings of existing in spaces of chaos or calm.

“As a whole, the album speaks to the interaction of rural and urban landscapes,” Bock explains. “I was just coming back to LA from my studies at Oberlin Conservatory in the Midwest when I started making the record, so that transition was a big thing on my mind. I incorporated a lot of open, pastoral motifs that bump up against jagged, fast-paced sounds.”

This tension is apparent in the contrast between the album’s two opening songs. “Erwin’s Garden” – named for one of Bock’s first teachers, the jazz musician Erwin Helfer – is a sparse piano piece draped in sighing string arrangements by Daphne Chen. “Dynamo” adds the frenetic pulse of a drum machine, before integrating prepared piano, plucked pizzicato, and warm synth squelch. “I’m trying to join the synthetic and organic worlds as much as possible,” says Bock.

“Eight Below Zero” continues his electroacoustic juxtapositions. On this song, Bock’s melancholy synths are accompanied by Rich Hinman on pedal steel, Abe Rounds on drums, CJ Camerieri on trumpet and flugelhorn, and Logan Kane on upright bass. “That song was written about a certain day where I had to say goodbye to a friend when it was literally eight degrees below zero in Ohio,” Bock says. “It was freezing. The title is also a nod to the Sonny Boy Williamson song ‘Nine Below Zero.’ There are some blues themes in there.”

Vanishing Act is the young artist’s debut album, yet he has already worn many hats: jazz pianist, session musician, sound designer, producer, and composer for film and television. Shortly after graduating high school, Bock began working with Tom Oberheim, the synth innovator whose last name should be uttered alongside Moog and Buchla. More recently, Bock’s collaborations have included Blake Mills, The Beach Boys’ Bruce Johnston, and The Weeknd, for whom he co-wrote the Dawn FM song “Here We Go…Again” (featuring Tyler, The Creator). 

These experiences set the stage for his improvised recording sessions with producer Pete Min, which found Bock playing a laundry list of keyboard instruments such as Steinway grand piano, Oberheim Four Voice synthesizer, pump organ, and celeste. He cites influences including the orchestral studio albums of David Axelrod and Brazil’s Arthur Verocai, the bedroom productions of Juana Molina, and the playful jazz experiments of his LA contemporary Sam Gendel. The album will be released by Min’s new label, Colorfield Records, in which spontaneity and reaction are integral to the process of creation. Like the freeways of LA, Vanishing Act’s instrumental songs introduce a vast range of possibilities, where the destination is only part of the journey. ~ Jesse Locke 

35th-Anniversary Expanded Edition of Sting's stunning second solo album ...Nothing Like The Sun

A&M/UMe releases a digital-only 35th-Anniversary Expanded Edition of Sting's stunning second solo album, ...Nothing Like the Sun. The album title was lovingly adopted from Shakespeare's Sonnet No. 130 ("My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun").

The 26-track Expanded Edition features the original 12 songs on the album plus 14 bonus tracks that consist of B-sides, remixes, alternate versions, and instrumentals.

Building on the momentum of his 3x platinum debut solo album, The Dream of the Blue Turtles, ...Nothing Like the Sun tackled a litany of deeply rooted and profoundly personal subjects. As Sting reflected in the liner notes, "I look back on this album, and I realize that the record is about my mother, although I didn't see it at the time. It's about mothers and daughters, mistresses and wives, sisters... Every song has one of these themes. It surprised me." Sting's mother sadly passed away in late 1986, not long before four months' worth of intensive recording sessions for the next album got underway in earnest at AIR Studios in Montserrat in early 1987.

As a result, ...Nothing Like the Sun, which was Sting's first digital recording, is, for the most part, a subdued and reflective album with the exception being the up-tempo lead single, "We'll Be Together," an instant chart hit featuring Annie Lennox among its stellar background vocalists. Other key songs on the album showcased Sting's development as an acclaimed solo artist. The quirky, jazz-inflected "Englishman in New York" tipped its bowler to English ex-pat and expert storyteller Quentin Crisp, while "Fragile" paid homage to an American civil engineer killed in Nicaragua by the Contras. Some of the album's subject matter was born out of what Sting became aware of while participating in Amnesty International's Conspiracy of Hope Tour in 1986. Narrated in stirringly vivid detail, "They Dance Alone" recounts the actions Sting observed of wives and daughters of certain men in Chile who were tortured and murdered by the then-military dictatorship. These wives and daughters would dance the country's traditional dance known as the Cueca by themselves, with only photos of their missing loved ones pinned to their clothing.

Produced by Sting, Hugh Padgham, Bryan Loren, and Neil Dorfsman, ...Nothing Like the Sun featured a variety of A-list guitarists, including former Police-mate Andy Summers on the album's moving opening track "The Lazarus Heart," Hiram Bullock on the heartfelt cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing," and the triple threat of Mark Knopfler, Eric Clapton, and Fareed Haque on "They Dance Alone." Another notable topline ...Nothing Like the Sun collaborators include keyboardists Gil Evans and Kenny Kirkland, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, and drummer Manu Katché. In addition to handling arrangement duties and singing all of the album's lead vocals, Sting played bass and double bass, as well as Spanish guitar on "History Will Teach Us Nothing" and acoustic guitar on "Fragile."

...Nothing Like the Sun has been certified 2x platinum by the RIAA, topped the album charts in two countries, the UK and Japan, and also peaked at No. 9 on the US Billboard 200. The album's aforementioned lead single, "We'll Be Together," had a strong chart impact upon its release, ultimately reaching No. 7 on the US Hot 100. The album's second single, "Be Still My Beating Heart," was nominated for two Grammy Awards, including  Song of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1989, and climbed to No. 2 on Album Rock Tracks, No. 15 on the Hot 100, and No. 37 on Adult Contemporary. The album's other three singles were "Englishman in New York," "Fragile," and "They Dance Alone." In the US, ...Nothing Like the Sun garnered three Grammy nominations in 1989, including Album of the Year. In the UK, ...Nothing Like the Sun received the BPI's Brit Award for Best British Album of the Year in 1988.

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