Secret Night Gang | "Belongs On A Place Called Earth"

British street soul, Jazz, and P-Funk masters, Secret Night Gang release their highly anticipated second studio album ‘Belongs on a Place Called Earth’ alongside focus track ‘When Will The Sun Rise Again’ on June 23 via Brownswood Recordings.

A sonic evolution from their critically acclaimed self-titled debut album; ‘Belongs To A Place Called Earth’ continues to breathe new life into the classic British street Soul sound.  Featuring previously released singles, including upbeat summer jam 'Out Of My Head' and funk laden 'Don’t Know What Tomorrow Brings’; alongside new track ‘When Will The Sun Rise Again’; the album showcases Kemani Anderson’s soulful vocals and composer Callum Connell’s tightly arranged orchestrations, across the ten tracks with lyrics discussing the importance of kindness in the uncertainty of our existence.

“Whilst we’re on planet earth, it is important to be thoughtful and to be kind to one another, and to not take the days we have with each other for granted - because they could be halted at any moment.” says Kemani.

This powerful and positive message is one that is carried throughout the album which was inspired by the duo’s lives and the relatable, hard-hitting realities of life in 2023. By thinking of short phrases, talking to loved ones, and asking themselves questions about the world, Anderson and Connell found ways to process the rollercoaster of emotions they felt - jotting down their thoughts in the form of poetry, journalism, and note-taking. “Each name, in a way wrote itself” says Kemani – and the album, whilst addressing pressing themes such as equality, love, and heartbreak, is also a sonic beacon of light that spreads a powerful and uplifting message.

Led by Manchester natives and childhood friends, singer/song-writer Kemani Anderson and multi-instrumentalist Callum Connell, Secret Night Gang spread their uplifting sound through, dynamic melodies, striking brass accents and jazz inflected soul prowess. Handpicked by legendary broadcaster, DJ, producer and label head, Gilles Peterson from Manchester’s vibrant live music scene, the band have been championed by a wide range of tastemakers from Deb Grant (Jazz FM) to Craig Charles, The Guardian, Clash, Crack, Wonderland Magazine and The Vinyl Factory.

Having sold out shows at renowned venues such as the Jazz Café London as well as appearing at festivals like North Sea Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz, Primavera Sound, Mostly Jazz Funk and We Out Here festival, they’ve built a reputation as a must-see live act alongside a collection of today’s leading Jazz musicians.

The new jazz scene has officially hit its golden era filtering its way back into the mainstream with an abundance of talent and forward thinking musicians. Secret Night Gang are spearheading UK Jazz on a global scale alongside acts like the Ezra Collective. 

Fay Victor Announces Her First Solo Album Ever, Blackity Black Black Is Beautiful

Fay Victor has announced the release of Blackity Black Black Is Beautiful – her 2nd album for Northern Spy – along with the first single "Breezy Point Ain't Breezy,"  a first person story about accidentally getting lost in Breezy Point, a private enclave in Queens that is a bastion of Trump supporters in liberal New York City.

Blackity Black Black Is Beautiful is the very first solo record by Fay Victor, whose 30-year-long music career has covered everything from House, New Music, Jazz (Blues) and Free Improvisation. Her deep history with dance music, her genreless output, and her lived experience as a Black woman in the world shaped a brand new process she used to create this prismatic album which touches on all the decades of her life like diary snapshots. It’s a mesmerizing collection of composed work that could only be made by an extraordinary improviser. 

From hearing the raw, almost gospel vocal style over a heavy beat of Donna Summer and Sylvester, to obsessing over shows like Soul Train, Solid Gold, and Dance Fever on TV, to experiencing the sweat and groove, the freedom of bodies moving at NYC clubs like Danceteria, The Loft, and the Paradise Garage – her life changed forever. As she was developing as a jazz singer in Amsterdam in the 90s, she danced to trance music in clubs like Mazzo and The Soul Kitchen. She landed on the Billboard charts with a club hit “You Make Me Happy” in ’91. Stoned on the sacred dance floor, Fay found ecstasy in the moving body, the groove, the beat.

As she entered deeper into the world of jazz, she was attracted to the rhythmic qualities of Thelonious Monk, Eddie Harris, Eric Dolphy, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Betty Carter, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Nicole Mitchell, Milford Graves, Julius Hemphill, Charles Mingus, Herbie Nichols. Their confrontational rhythm sends her soul leaping, connecting her back to her clubheadheart.

With Mavin Gaye’s “Got To Give It Up” as a template, Fay started thinking about how her solo album might unfold. She sang, played keyboards, added textures and further dimensions with no other humans, without electronics. That was her process. Thoroughly creative, composed with music and words straight from her spirit.

Brooklyn, NY based sound artist/composer Fay Victor hones a unique vision for the vocal role in jazz and improvised music regarding repertoire, improvisation and composition. Victor has an ‘everything is everything’ aesthetic, using the freedom in the moment to inform the appropriate musical response, viewing the vocal instrument as full of possibilities for sound exploration, a throughline for direct messages in an improvising context. Victor embraces all of these ideas in real time and on Victor’s 11 critically acclaimed albums as a leader one can hear the evolution of this expansive expression. 

Stephanie Santiago returns with new single full of Bossa minimalism and Afro-Brazilian grooves

After 2022’s hit track “Alma Carnavalera” clocked over 300k streams on Spotify, London-raised Colombian Stephanie Santiago is back with new single “Campo de Minas”. A fusion of Bossa minimalism and Afro-Brazilian grooves, it marks a new chapter in her exploration of Latin American, revealing a sound refreshed by life in London and Latin American lineage.

Produced alongside her regular collaborator Andres Pascua, the musical inspiration came from their shared love for Brazilian music. While her previous two singles took their cue from the Colombian styles of cumbia and bullerengue and lent on a synth, electronics and programmed drums sound, this time they wanted something more acoustic and percussive. Surprisingly, the Colombian-based percussion ensemble La Legion were vital in this switch. Their contribution was directed and arranged by Jorge Arciniegas who thought of harnessing the Afro-Latin swing of samba reggae, as well as instruments like the clave, udu drum and guiro. With their percussion recorded live at the State of The Art recording studio Altar Audio in Bogotá, Colombia, they carry the listener on a gentle ride of eclectic sounds.

Throughout the song, Stephanie’s soft, sad vocals narrate her reflection on belonging and heritage. She was inspired by a conversation she overheard while working as a mobile hairstylist in a “yuppie Brit” household, “I was disregarded in conversational topics and experienced racial microaggressions” she said. “I was not exactly hurt by this, but it reinforced the idea that race and class discrimination prevails in modern society… just in a more subtle way.”

“Campo de Minas”, which translates as “Minefield”, chronicles the experience of othering, eagerly searching for happiness while dodging life’s everyday prejudices. Stephanie, whose Colombian parents are both musicians, was raised in a home where cumbia and salsa were played daily. Her early work explored genres that ranged from reggéaton to punk, but now Stephanie’s looking to her Latin American heritage to soundtrack her search for identity. As the harmonious poignancy of ‘Campo de Minas’ reveals, the journey of self-discovery is not always an easy one.

Born in South London to Colombian musician parents – her father an accordionist, her mother a singer – cumbia and salsa filled Stephanie’s childhood. But like anyone, she needed to find her own way, to discover London’s multifarious subcultures, to get lost in the energies of youth music. Her early work reflects this, with forays into soul, jazz, reggaeton, even punk, opportunities to experiment but also refine an inherent talent for songwriting and an ability to inhabit songs with her voice.

Glimpses of Latin music have emerged in her music before – it would be impossible for them not to – but her latest series of releases alongside Colombian producer Andres Pascua reveal a new chapter in her career in which her heritage and search for identity are brought to the fore.

Pete Josef - Sunny Side Up

Pete Josef is an artist who uses his soulful eloquence not just to entertain, but to open up conversations about his own social consciousness. He has an inherent need to create, build, share and protect as well as educate himself about issues regarding the environment, society, politics, race and gender. All of these have permeated into his musical output in recent years, but on the new single, entitled Sunny Side Up, it’s the often not talked about topic of depression that comes to the fore.

Despite the bleak subject matter, it’s actually a song about the importance of having people around you to support you when you’re not feeling at your best. Pete admits to suffering from anxiety for much of his life, and cherishes having his family present when he feels unable to step up as a partner or parent; when he experiences that ‘hazy funk’ in the day-to-day. In many ways it’s a love song, or at least one of appreciation for the people who carry you through those moments in your life.

“Took a little while and it might take longer, god only knows.. But darling I try. I’m invested all ways. I just hit bumps in the road that I cannot evade.”

Like much of Pete’s new material, the song has a retro and somewhat South American feel. For the first time in a long while, Pete chose to perform all the instrumental parts on this track himself.

A 1960s Harmony Sovereign (the ‘Stairway to Heaven’ guitar!) provides the core, whilst minimal drums (recorded with one single mic in Pete’s Orchard Cabin) and Hofner vintage bass provide a groove reminiscent of stripped back 1970s Al Green productions. The result is something delicate and spontaneous – perfectly reflecting the shaky ground felt in the moment of conception. The track ebbs and flows between some surprising harmonic twists, later on bringing the Hammond organ to the fore and swelling to a dramatic climax, permeated by backing vocal arrangements and glimmering electric guitar.

Sunny Side Up is taken from Pete Josef’s forthcoming third album, to be released next year in 2024, recorded in his self-built and self-sustainable studio cabin in his garden. The exchange between studio and live has become a unifying force since the resurrection of his live quartet in 2022. This year will bring choice live shows, featuring the mercurial Eli Jitsuto from Bristol based outfit Snazzback on guitar and longtime collaborators Jihad Darwish on bass and Miguel Andrews on drums.

Pete Josef exemplifies like no other singer-songwriter of his generation how to make music that gets under your skin and into your systems.

Toronto-based jazz vocalist, Fuat Tuaç releases second album, Immigrant

Toronto-based jazz vocalist, Fuat Tuaç releases his fittingly titled second album, Immigrant, out now, reflecting on his experiences as an immigrant living in Toronto. Fuat sings in three languages — English, French, and his native Turkish — while curating a potpourri of jazz styles that, like the artist, traverse the globe.

“Immigration is a very hot issue in the world now. People move around the world for one reason or another, even COVID could not stop them. I wanted to share my story in Canada as an immigrant,” says Fuat. “I wanted to talk about my journey in Canada. I wanted to talk about the people I’ve met along the way; my experience inside and outside the jazz world; what I anticipated from Canada and what I’ve found; how people see me and how I see them. I wanted to talk about all of this and inspire people.”

“I’d like the songs on Immigrant to speak to every person regardless of their country of origin,” Fuat says. “I think the eclectic nature of the album lends itself to that.”

I wanted to talk about my experiences as a single man dating online looking for love and intimacy in a humorous way. Online dating now has an international vernacular and its own ground rules, infraction of which will come with grave circumstances. In today’s world, post-COVID, meeting someone organically, outside internet, is almost impossible so this song speaks to most of us.

I also wanted to talk as well about how social media rules our lives in this era. We use it for so many different purposes. Apart from trying to give the impression that our lives are perfect, many people use it for purposes of spying on others. “Who’s That Man?” tells the story of a dumped lover who becomes the stalker of his ex on social media.

The English language songs also include the wistful, melancholic, but inspiring title song, “Immigrant,” and the groovy “Moss Park,” a reflection on the homelessness in a Toronto Park.

These songs were written in lockdown and recorded recently, so they are also reflective of that period. I›ve also included some songs in French and a traditional Turkish song that I revisit in the jazz style.” Fuat says.

Globetrotting and time travel through the history of jazz are fused with hip, up-to-the-minute Canadian urban poetry which is in turn inflected with Turkish street flavor in Fuat’s album. The international feel of the album, like Fuat, is expansive, taking flight and soaring, seemingly intent on visiting more destinations than an airport departure lounge.

Underpinning the entire endeavor is some rock-solid musicianship provided by Eric St-Laurent on guitar, Kevin Turcotte on trumpet, Eric West on drums, and Jordan O’Connor on double bass. Celebrated vocalist Kim Richardson duets with Fuat on “Chez Moi” and the renowned vocalist from Istanbul, Yesim Akin joins Fuat on the traditional Turkish song, echoing hymns from the Asia Minor across the ocean. The album was recorded at Kensington Studios in Toronto, but Fuat traveled to Montreal and Istanbul to record the duets.

My guitar player, Eric told me, when I first told him that I wanted to record the album with him: “You are such a natural singer, you improvise a lot on the stage and your album must be reflective of your live performances on stage. Nothing more than that. If you ever lose your voice when you are old and you can’t sing anymore, we will bring in a huge, big band to accompany you so that no one will understand that you can’t sing anymore”. Fuat says.

Fuat plays regularly around town with the same band that he has recorded the album with, so it only came naturally to him to record the album with them to capture the existing natural sound of live concerts.

Fuat has a unique pedigree, partly because the cosmopolitan singer/songwriter used to be a qualified lawyer, practicing law in Istanbul, France, and the UK before the calling to pursue jazz full time became too strong. He relocated to Montreal in 2011 to study jazz at Concordia University where he earned a degree, plying his craft in the local bars and clubs of the city. In 2017, he released his first critically acclaimed album, Late Bloomer.

 

Nanny Assis | "Rovanio: The Music of Nanny Assis"

Singer and multi-instrumentalist Nanny Assis proves his aptitude for many musical styles and concepts on Rovanio: The Music of Nanny Assis, set for release on June 23 on the German jazz label, In+Out Records. Assis’s second album as a leader, it showcases not just his versatility but his love for collaboration, with appearances by a full twenty guest artists—including such esteemed figures as Ron Carter, Randy Brecker, Chico Pinheiro, and Janis Siegel.

Simply put, Rovanio (ro-VAH-nee-oh) is Assis’s real first name. He has been known as Nanny since childhood; similarly, he’s been known as a samba guitarist, percussionist, and singer for most of his career. For Assis, however, both identities weren't enough: He had much more to offer than a nickname and a single genre. Rovanio: The Music of Nanny Assis presents the full spectrum of who he is as a musician.

“Coming from Brazil, I have so many different styles and roots for my music; it’s very rich,” he says. “There’s so much information in one place, and it’s really strong in the culture, the dance, and the music. And I figure I’m the glue for all that.”

Indeed, for all its rainbow of sounds, rhythms, textures, and musicians, the album retains an unshakably (and unmistakably) Brazilian core. It’s an ever-present reminder of the wide panoply that is Brazilian culture—and, in turn, that is Assis’s artistry.

There are, of course, traditional samba and bossa nova sounds on “Manhã de Carnaval” and “No Agora/Mr. Bowtie,” respectively. But Rovanio also offers the powerful West African flavor of “Amor Omisso,” the aching balladry of “Proponho,” and the jazz pedigree of “Human Kind” and “The Northern Sea.”

Assis’s collaborators each put their distinctive touches on the music in unique and surprising ways: The melody of “Proponho,” for example, is actually Fred Hersch’s composition “Mandevilla,” and it’s the pianist himself who renders the tune with newfound grace and sensitivity as a vocal accompaniment—with Siegel providing the harmony for that vocal. Carter appears at several points, perhaps most beautifully when he interlocks with drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. on the charming closer “Intimate Acquaintances.” Assis’s own daughter, Laura, works with her father in two very different roles: as lead vocalist on the beguiling Portuguese-language “Insensatez,” and as lyricist (in English—and of stunning sophistication, considering she was six years old at the time) on the moving “Back to Bahia.” (Assis also performs a duet with his son Dani on “Human Kind.”)

Ultimately, however, it is Assis’s stamp on the material that proves indelible. After Rovanio, no one will pigeonhole him as just Nanny Assis, samba musician.

Rovanio “Nanny” Assis was born August 25, 1969, in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. When he was 7, he began playing drums and singing in the choir at the church where his father was pastor. After he picked up the basics of the guitar, he turned to the secular musical world, playing fusion and samba with his friends and making his first excursions into jazz.

He continued pursuing music even as he earned degrees in linguistics and Portuguese literature at Catholic University of Salvador, and married and started a family. American music—and America itself—were his targets, achieved when in 1993 he joined the Austin, Texas–based Rolling Thunder as a percussionist. After six years of regular work in the U.S., he moved to New York with his family in 1999.

Nanny Assis continued working in multiple genres, but increasingly found himself in the company of jazz musicians. He worked with singer Lauren Henderson, trumpeter Mark Morganelli, and keyboardist Pete Levin; featured Eumir Deodato, Romero Lubambo, John Patitucci, Michael Leonhardt, and Erik Friedlander on his first album, 2006’s Double Rainbow; and formed the Requinte Trio with Janis Siegel and John Di Martino (making an eponymous album with them in 2010). Jazz players also dominate the ranks of his collaborators on Rovanio: The Music of Nanny Assis, his second album as a leader.

“Rovanio is my best musical work to date,” says Assis. “For many years I had the urgent desire to see this music materialize. It encompasses all of my life experiences—rhythmically, harmonically, and melodically—since I was young.”

Gordon Lee | "How Can It Be?"

Deep catharsis is the order of the day on How Can It Be?, the seventh album by pianist and composer Gordon Lee, set to drop June 16 on PJCE Records. Written during the COVID-19 pandemic, the album’s nine originals—performed by the Portland, Oregon-based Lee and his quartet with tenor saxophonist Renato Caranto, bassist Dennis Caiazza, and drummer Gary Hobbs—reflect the leader’s urgent need to express powerful emotions at a time when musical performance was limited at best.

In addition to inspiring this rich set of compositions, those challenging days were also the direct catalyst for the quartet’s formation. Lee had little to do but write and practice until his wife convinced him to turn that work into performances on the front porch of their home. Those homespun concerts for the neighbors became “my antidote, my personal way of fighting back against not just the virus but the fear,” he recalls. “It felt like something positive I could do.” They began as duos with Caranto, then evolved into quartets with Caiazza and the late drummer Carlton Jackson (to whom How Can It Be? is dedicated). Hobbs is newly recruited for the album.

The emotions Lee channeled into his music at that time naturally included some dark and somber tones, as can be heard on the opening title track and the harrowing “Angry Mother Nature.” Yet that’s only a thin slice of the pie. The album also features quirky and amiable burlesque (“Shaky Assets”), offbeat, sardonic humor (“A Robin Weeps,” “Bozo Sulks on the Golf Course”), and small moments of triumph (“’Deed I Did It”). It’s a rich collection of material that reminds us of the full range of humanity that underscores even our bleakest experiences.

At a tight 48 minutes, How Can It Be? is also a testimony to the discipline and mastery of Caranto, Caiazza, and Hobbs as well as Lee. Basing their performances here on those highly restricted days of COVID, they demonstrate their ability to hit the bandstand and speak their pieces with economy and precision, but no less emotional weight or expression. In that sense, the album is a distillation of what Lee describes as the musician’s mission “to play from the inside of your soul.”

Gordon Lee was born April 26, 1953 in New York City. At 12 years old, he found himself behind the drum kit of a junior high school garage-rock band. By 14 he had transferred over to the piano, on which he obtained his first paying gig at a school dance. The bug had well and truly bitten him, and Gordon matriculated a few years later at Indiana University to study with the legendary jazz educator David Baker.

It was also at IU that he crossed paths with trumpeter and Portlander Richard Burdell, who convinced Lee that the Pacific Northwest metropolis was a great place for a working musician. After earning his BM in 1976, Lee made the move to the West Coast and found that Burdell had been right. Though he would return for a few years to New York to live and work, Lee soon enough made his way back to Portland, where he’s remained for nearly 40 years since.

Lee established himself as an educator, teaching jazz studies at Western Oregon University and Reed College, among others, while also finding time to earn a master’s degree from Portland State University in 1999. In addition, he built a career as a bandleader, beginning in 1990 with his debut album Gordon Bleu. Five more albums followed, with ensembles ranging from the big band of 2004’s Flying Dream to the trio of 2010’s This Path, before the release of How Can It Be?

How Can It Be? isn’t his only takeaway from the pandemic. Hundreds of hours with his Baldwin Grand also resulted in his first solo piano album, The Remainder (PJCE Records), “which was a product of the same gestation.” With an unprecedented expanse of free time on his hands, Lee explains, “I ended up practicing a lot, and practicing always leads to composing for me.”

Gordon Lee will be performing CD release shows at The 1905, Portland, on Sunday, 7/2, and at Christo’s, Salem, OR, on Thursday, 7/13.

The Sofia Goodman Group | "Secrets of the Shore

Drummer Sofia Goodman pursues an increasingly sophisticated and multidimensional vision with the July 14 release of Secrets of the Shore on Joyous Records. The Nashville-based Goodman’s sophomore album with her eponymous Group (trumpeter Matt White, trombonist Roy Agee, saxophonists Joel Frahm and Dan Hitchcock, clarinetist Max Dvorin, keyboardist Alex Murphy, guitarist Rheal Janelle, bassist Leland Nelson and percussionist Carlos Duran) finds her changing direction from the jazz-funk fusion of her debut album—though still retaining aspects of that style—and exploring thoughtful and often tender post-bop.

That exploration encompasses a diversity of styles, grooves, emotions, and compositional and improvisational shapes across the album’s ten original tunes. But it also includes a remarkable, expansive new approach to colors and textural possibilities, not least on Goodman’s drum kit. It’s a tremendous leap forward from her 2018 debut, Myriad of Flowers.

“My first album was such a learning experience,” Goodman says. “This time I was much more prepared in terms of what I should do and how my music should be. As I worked on Secrets of the Shore, I cared about how I felt as it was happening.”

A concept album about water and its many guises, Secrets of the Shore suitably washes over the listener in waves that are alternately placid (“Siren Song”), enigmatic (“Alberto’s Dreamland”), foreboding (“Buried Treasures”), and tempestuous (“In Barbara’s Mist”)—sometimes in sudden and violent shifts (the complex closing track “Angel”). It also boasts watery sonic details, such the gentle ripples of piano and cymbal on “Shadows on the Sand” and the crystalline droplets of saxophone and Fender Rhodes on “Skipping Stones.”

Importantly, these offerings of detail and mood depend on heavy lifting from the entire Sofia Goodman Group. Each element, from Nelson’s slippery electric bass, to White and Agee’s declaratory brasses, to Frahm and Hitchcock’s sinewy (and sinuous) sax lines, has a vital contribution to realizing Goodman’s music. Still, it’s never hard to detect the leader’s hand, be it her smart writing or her versatile drumming, ultimately guiding Secrets of the Shore.

Sofia Goodman was born in 1987 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she was adopted as an infant. She began taking piano lessons in elementary school, but an encounter with a young friend’s drum kit reoriented her musical interests. Initially that meant blues, rock, and punk, reflecting a teenage defiance that she took with her to Berklee College of Music in Boston. While still in high school, Sofia attended a summer workshop at Berklee taught by Esperanza Spalding, then one of the youngest teachers ever to work at the school. Spalding’s encouragement inspired Sofia to take private lessons with Berklee faculty member Jackie Santos, and to return to Berklee for further studies.

After a somewhat turbulent period of relocation and readjustment, however, she found solace in exploring singing and composing at the piano. Time spent outside of the practice rooms at Berklee was typically spent at Wally’s Café, the beloved South Boston jazz club that is a proving ground for the city’s music students.

Not long after graduating from Berklee with a degree in Drum Set Performance, Goodman’s Boston apartment was decimated by fire. Fate, and some friends, drew her to Nashville, Tennessee, the country music mecca that also nourishes a rich jazz scene. What Goodman thought was a short-term summer residence developed into more than a decade of enthusiastic embrace of, and by, the community of artists that make up the aptly styled Music City.

Goodman plied her skills with musicians of all stripes, at the same time studying composition for a master’s degree from Belmont University. It was only a short time before she was ready to form her own band. Those early efforts would evolve into what is now The Sofia Goodman Group, building a following throughout the South and into the Midwest. Her first album, 2018’s Myriad of Flowers, received a nomination for Best Jazz Album from the Nashville Industry Music Awards. Secrets of the Shore is the Goodman Group’s follow-up to that acclaimed debut.

“Goodman’s work strives for lofty goals, takes big musical risks and aspires for the freedom to manifest itself fully,” wrote Sean L. Maloney last year in the Nashville Scene. “It is truly progressive and fundamentally jazz—and a reason to be excited about the continuing evolution of jazz in Music City."

Upcoming shows by The Sofia Goodman Group include: Fri 6/23 Taggart Amphitheater, Indianapolis (7:30-9pm); Sat 6/24 Elkhart (IN) Jazz Festival (3-4:15pm); Fri 7/14 Nashville Jazz Workshop (7:30-9pm); Thurs 7/20 Dogwood Amphitheater, Cookeville, TN (7:30-9pm); Wed 7/26 Rudy’s Jazz Room, Nashville (6-8:15pm); and Mon 8/7 Analog, Nashville. 

Mekiel Reuben | "Just Like The Radio"

Not that long ago, listening to music on the radio provided a carefree escape, sparked imagination, created excitement, adventure and discovery, and at times, was as comforting as an old friend. R&B-jazz saxophonist Mekiel Reuben came of age during that era and his new album, “Just Like The Radio,” preserves his memories of listening to the radio from childhood to adulthood, sharing his experiences via twelve new songs that he wrote with his coproducer David Vasquez. The saxman’s ninth album releases July 21 on MekMuse Records.

While growing up in Chicago, Reuben listened to a lot of funk, jazz and soul music on the radio, and the songs on “Just Like The Radio” recall and celebrate many of the artists who influence his sound – from his 1994 debut album, “Miles Away,” titled for Miles Davis, to his latest collection of rhythms, grooves and melodies that pays tribute to the artistry of Sly & The Family Stone, The Jazz Crusaders, Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind & Fire, Frankie Beverly & Maze, Grover Washington Jr., Archie Bell, and War. Reuben began writing the set during the Covid quarantine. Although he now lives in the U.S. Virgin Islands, he made frequent trips to Los Angeles in 2021 when he would play the tunes for Vasquez, who began crafting arrangements for the tracks. A year later, they had eighteen songs to choose from.

With Reuben playing tenor and alto sax as well as percussion and Vasquez adding keyboards, synth bass and percussion, they brought in drummer Phil Martin to anchor the beats. After the sessions, Reuben returned to St. Croix with the tracks, tweaking them to get the grooves dialed in. To add guitar, Reuben reached out to Mauricio Guerrero Jr., who had performed on two of the saxophonist’s previous projects.

“Mauricio has a flair with his style of playing the guitar. I admire how he uses his imagination to create riffs that take the music to its promise and gives it identity. He was able to deliver some incredible guitar tracks. As for Phil, who I first started working with for my sixth album (“If You Were Here Tonight”), his creative ability to add flavor to the music with his drum playing has always amazed me,” said Reuben.

Reuben selected ten new songs for the new album and decided to reinvent two – “Time Piece” and “Cool Livin’” – from his first album. “Just Like The Radio” opens with the Sly Stone funkster “Sly Jungle,” which swings from a foundation constructed of congas, heavy percussion and African drums. The warm and lushly melodic “FB Maze” tips its cap to Frankie Beverly and his iconic band. When he’s in the studio working on music, Reuben practices gratitude by frequently saying “What a life,” which became the title of the third cut.

“‘What A Life” is living and enjoying life as you live it, and cherishing your moments in time,” he explained.

The title track derived inspiration from Archie Bell & The Drell’s “Tighten Up.” “It was a tune that opened up with a guitar riff that got people jumping on the dance floor back in the day. I wanted to create the same effect on ‘Just Like The Radio.’”   

Introducing “Time Piece” to a new audience, Vasquez added a fresh twist to the hard-hitting funk groove: the sound of steel drums from Reuben’s adopted home. Vasquez’s role in Reuben’s recordings is acknowledged on “D Vaz.”  

“David Vasquez has been the backbone to my recordings over the past twenty years. His reservoir of ideas when it comes to arranging tunes and adding different sounds to add flavor to our recordings is priceless. I have often said he has been the best thing to happen to me as far as music production. He’s a humble human being who loves turning mediocre songs into something marvelous,” said Reuben.

Among the other standout selections is the reggae and Caribbean influenced “Groovin in V.I. Twin City.” Reuben moved to the Virgin Islands as a teenager. He immersed himself in the native music, learning calypso, reggae and other Latin and Caribbean styles, elements that are prevalent on his records. After spending thirty years in Los Angeles, he returned to live in St. Croix seven years ago.

“There are two towns on the islands and St. Croix is known locally as V.I. Twin City. On the east is Christiansted and Frederiksted is on the west side of the island. So, I dedicated this tune to the island of St. Croix - the only U.S. Virgin Islands that has two towns, which has always been special to me,” Reuben said.

Dusting off another song from his debut record, “Cool Livin” offers a slice of vibrant pop melodies that Reuben says are reminiscent of Kool & The Gang.

“Mellow Tuesday” is a sultry and exotic Latin samba. “My sax solo takes you on this free-flowing journey where you feel this soothing sensational warm breeze touching your heart from the expressive tones. The song has mystic flowing vibes that will touch your soul.”

Observing a young Caribbean girl jubilantly dancing inspired the album closer, “Girl Dancer.” “‘Girl Dancer’ has this feeling of joy when you listen to the Caribbean rhythms that take you on this journey of excitement. The song came from watching this girl dancing to the joyous rhythms that flowed from her feet to her hands, expressing the love of life,” said Reuben, who soft-launched a different version of the album earlier this year.

“We went back into the studio to remix the entire album to make it sound like I always intended it to sound. We also made a subtle change to the album cover.”

Reuben spent decades touring and performing internationally at major jazz, blues and reggae festivals, having shared the stage with Lenny Williams, Barbara Morrison, Phil Perry, Vesta Williams, Ronnie Laws, The Jazz Crusaders, Les McCann, The Itals, Bunny Wailer, Ziggy Marley, Maxi Priest, Third World, Steel Pulse, Burning Spear, UB40, Marcus Miller, Chaka Khan, Gino Vannelli, Dr. John, Etta James, George Clinton and P-Funk All Stars. For over twenty years, Reuben donated his time and talents to sharing the joys of music with disabled children at Los Angeles Unified School District’s Benjamin Banneker Special Education Center.

Easy Tempo Volume 11 – The Round Trip

Finally a long-overdue entry in this legendary series of compilations – one that has given us an awful lot about funky soundtrack music back in the day, finally back in action after a long hiatus. For this go-round, the groove has gotten even deeper – as the series has stretched to include some killer sound library material as well – really mixing together all the jazz, funk, and cinematic elements that were in the previous volumes – yet all with the hip Euro-styled groove that we loved in all of those releases too. There's a huge amount of funky nuggets here, but all with a vibe that's very different than 70s work from the US scene – and although we've missed the Easy Tempo series for many years, we're glad to have them back – as they're still one of the best. This new release contains 20 tracks.

Here's the full playlist:

• Roberto Pregadio "FIRST TIME THREE"
• oul's Soul 'ANGELUS'
• rchestra Mustang 'UNDERTOWN'
• Genius "BERMILYIA AVENUE "
• Gianni Marchetti 'DISPOSTA A TUTTO'
• Raffazzonati "MARIA SCHNEIDER"
• Brooklyn Bridge Group "TAKE ME TO NEW YORK"
• Hugh Bullen "SUNSHINE TRAIN"
• Carlo Cordara e i Waterloo "UN UOMO CHE LAVORA" Inst)
• Les Chakachas "SUPER CAT"
• Le Streghe "KAPUA PELE EA"
• Ninety "AFRICAN FLUTE"
• Lara Saint Paul "THE VOODOO LADY"
• Ivano Fossati / Oscar Prudente "TEMA DEL LUPO "
• Sandro Brugnolini / Luigi Malatesta "AFRO FREE" unreleased edit
• Doriano Saracino "JOSIE'S THEME"
• Enzo Scoppa "GUIDA SICURA"
• Gino Marinacci "MEETING"
• The Gypsy "GERSHWIN MEDLEY — SUMMERTIME"

Tanika Charles Releases the New EP "The Union Sessions"

Toronto’s soul songstress Tanika Charles is back with a new live in studio EP, "The Union Sessions", to be released on July 26th on digital platforms. Following the release of her third studio album "Papillon de Nuit" in 2022, Canadian soulstress Tanika Charles announces a new live in studio EP called "The Union Sessions", to be released next July 26th on digital platforms. Recorded live at Union Sound studio in Toronto, the EP comprises a total of five tracks: four of these appeared originally on Tanika’s first EP "What? What! What?!" from 2010, while “Since You Been Gone” was on her second album "The Gumption" from 2019. The artist also announced a summer tour in Canada, starting from Toronto on June 29th. See the upcoming performance  dates below. 

Tanika Charles has earned her stripes as a performing artist. Through nearly a decade of headlining she has revealed a knack for engaging her audiences, weaving storytelling, and building dynamism into every measure of her time on stage. As such, much of her catalogue of songs have evolved from their original studio recordings in a number of creative and interesting ways. This is especially true for some of her earliest works, originally constructed over instrumental beds more reminiscent of looped hip-hop beats. "The Union Sessions" is a freeze frame of evolution, bringing the tour-tested versions of these songs into a studio setting. 

Far from a dusting off of old material, these songs have remained staples of Tanika’s live show. The writing harkens to a moment of innocence from a nascent songstress, eager for expression, but yet to carve a particular path. But with these new recordings that journey and realization is laid bare, serving a gumbo of influence and experience. Having now been played hundreds of times, these songs are the product of constant iteration, unlikely to remain as is for very long. 

The assembled band for this project is a dream team of some of the best musicians Canada has to offer. Accompanying Tanika on vocals were frequent collaborators D/SHON Henderson and emerging solo artist Tafari Anthony. Jemuel “J3M” Roberts, another solo artist of note, joined on piano, EP and synths. Members of Toronto mainstay band re.verse formed the core band, with Damian Matthew on bass, Robb Cappelletto on guitar and Austin Gembora on drums. 

All songs were recorded off the floor in a single afternoon sitting at Union Sound without overdubs. Featured guest i.james.jones popped in for all of 20 minutes, laid his verse and exited like an absolute pro. Engineer Alex Gamble recorded and mixed the entire project with a particular aim towards producing evocative Dolby Atmos mixes.

Canada Tour Dates:

• 29 June - Toronto, ON - TD Toronto Jazz Festival
• 01 July - Grand Bend, ON - Grand Bend Canada Day Celebration
• 07 July - Orillia, ON - Mariposa Folk Festival
• 08 July - Orillia, ON - Mariposa Folk Festival
• 13 July - Halifax, NS - TD Halifax Jazz Festival
• 20 July - Vancouver, BC - Guilt & Co.
• 22 July - Mission, BC - Mission Folk Music Festival
• 23 July - Mission, BC - Mission Folk Music Festival
• 25 July - Kelowna, BC - Red Bird Brewing
• 27 July - Trail, BC - Gyro Park Music Series
• 01 August - Lethbridge, AB - Wide Skies Music & Art Festival
• 03 August - Fonthill, ON - Fonthill Bandshell
• 12 August - Fernie, BC - Wapiti Music Festival
• 15 August - Red Deer, AB - Bo’s Bar & Stage
• 16 August - Calgary, AB - Sweet Loretta
• 17 August - Edmonton, AB - SOHO YEG
• 19 August - Grande Prairie, AB - Bear Creek Folk Festival
• 20 August - Grande Prairie, AB - Bear Creek Folk Festival

Nina Simone's Live Performance of "Mississippi Goddam" from Newport 1966 Off Newly Discovered Album "You've Got to Learn"

As part of a year-long celebration of Nina Simone’s 90th birthday, Verve Records and UMe have announced the release of You’ve Got To Learn, a newly-discovered recording of Nina’s performance at the 1966 Newport Jazz Festival, set for release July 21 via Verve Records. Out today is the first single from the album, “Mississippi Goddam.” 

On July 2, 1966, the Newport Jazz Festival witnessed a legendary six-song set by Nina Simone that has remained etched in the memory of music aficionados for over half a century. Now, a previously-unknown and unreleased recording of the unforgettable concert is available for the world to hear.

The newly-released recording captures the essence of Simone’s performance at the festival, showcasing her incredible vocal range and her unparalleled ability to connect with her audience. Listening to this recording, it's easy to understand why hearing Nina Simone in concert was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Starting with a mesmerizing rendition of “You’ve Got To Learn,” Simone showcased the full range of her artistry, with an electrifying and uniquely-swinging performance of “Mississippi Goddam.” The audience, unwilling to let her leave the stage, gave her a passionate standing ovation and were rewarded with an unforgettable show-stopping encore – “Music For Lovers.”

Liner notes for the album are provided by Shana L. Redmond, a respected scholar and author who has written extensively on Simone’s life and legacy. Her notes provide a valuable context for the performance and help listeners understand the historical significance of Simone’s music.

The release of this recording is a momentous occasion for music lovers and fans of Nina Simone worldwide. It is a rare opportunity to experience the magic of one of the most exceptional performers of the 20th century.

Herbie Hancock and Gladys Knight Headline 37th Annual The National Grid Jazz Fest, June 21-25 in Syracuse, New York

Keyboardist and NEA Jazz Master and Grammy winner Herbie Hancock will join songstress and  Grammy winner and 2022 Kennedy Center Honoree, Gladys Knight to co-headline the 37th edition of the National Grid Jazz Fest in Syracuse, NY from Wednesday, June 21 to through, Sunday 25.

Produced by Jazz Fest founder Frank Malfitano, the event features forty bands performing on two outdoor stages and in 24 clubs throughout downtown Syracuse, New York. National and internationally touring and recording artists, including Spyro Gyra, Tower of Power, Postmodern Jukebox, Tuba Skinny, Joyce Di Camillo, Nancy Kelly and Marissa Mulder.

Opening Night, June 23, the festival will feature 24 indoor and outdoor club performances at two dozen downtown clubs, bars and restaurants featuring the Syracuse region’s top jazz artists from 4-11 p.m. The Late Night New York Band featuring bassist Tom Brigandi, trumpeter Joe Magnarelli and saxophonist Eric Alexander heads the list of the Syracuse area’s top jazz groups, along with Syracuse Area Music Award Hall of Fame vocalist Ronnie Leigh.

On Thursday, June 22 there are two performances at the Visit Syracuse Stage at Hanover Square, including Harri Stojka & Acoustic Drive from Vienna, Austria and the all-star soul jazz ensemble Something Else!, which features jazz legends Vincent Herring, James Carter, Randy Brecker, Paul Bollenback, Dave Kikoski, Jeff "Tain" Watts and Essiet Essiet.

The 2023 festival will close out on Sunday, June 25 at the Syracuse University Hendricks Chapel with a Jazz Fest-ending gospel concert and celebration. The Syracuse University Faculty Jazz Ensemble and The Syracuse University Student Jazz Ensemble will also be performing during this year’s Jazz Fest.

Admission to all 2023 National Grid Jazz Fest events, concerts and performances is free and open to the public. Support for the Syracuse Jazziest is provided by a Market New York grant from I LOVE NY/ New York State’s Division of Tourism through the Regional Economic Development Council initiative. According to festival organizers and NY State Assemblyman Al Stirpe, funding will be used to engage in the largest major statewide marketing campaign in Jazz Fest history, with the goal of boosting attendance and regional tourism.

SCHEDULE

Wednesday, June 21: 4-11 p.m., Downtown Syracuse clubs, bars, hotels, restaurants

Thursday, June 22: 4-9 p.m., Hanover Square Outdoor Stage - Harri Stojka & Acoustic Drive, Something Else! (feat. Vincent Herring, James Carter, Randy Brecker, Paul Bollenback, Dave Kikowski, Jeff "Tain" Watts and Essiet Essiet)

Friday, June 23: 5:30-10:30 p.m., Clinton Square Outdoor Stage - Postmodern Jukebox, Tower of Power, Herbie Hancock

Saturday, June 24: 5:30-10:30 p.m., Clinton Square Outdoor Stage - Tuba Skinny, Spyro Gyra, Gladys Knight

Sunday, June 25: 12:30-4:30 p.m., Hendricks Chapel Syracuse University Campus - Gospel closing ceremonies feat The Dillard University Gospel Choir of New Orleans

Sandra Booker & The New Trio - The Reunion Concert

Sometimes the best way to move forward is to go back. For jazz singer-songwriter Sandra Booker, she’s ready to pick up exactly where she left off eight years ago when she recorded a live album with her then band, The New Trio. Releasing the album, “The Reunion Concert Live from Pasadena Conservatory of Music: Barrett Hall,” this July 14 is a monumental step forward for Booker after enduring a traumatizing eight years that include sexual assault and a life-threatening cancer bout, which combined to put a halt on her once promising performing, recording and touring career. 

The 2015 concert showcasing Booker elegantly singing and astutely scatting a set of standards and a few of her original storytelling compositions took place several months after she was sexually assaulted by a musician she knew and trusted. Still numb and traumatized, Booker was determined that the show - and the recording - must go on.

“Producing that show was such a labor of love because I was still reeling from the assault in silence but determined not to let it take away my passion for music and the joy I knew it gave to others,” said Booker.

A year after the Pasadena concert, Booker was diagnosed with bladder cancer, a diagnosis she believes came as a direct result of the sexual trauma she endured. The assault awoke memories of past childhood abuse. The lengthy cancer battle that ensued became the primary focus of Booker’s existence for six years.

Having reported the rape to police, Booker found herself being gaslit and shunned by the music and cancer communities. In fact, one nonprofit organization for which she served as musical director for two major fundraising jazz concerts turned her away, refusing to provide services or care to her that her own efforts helped fund.

The gifted songbird to whom five-time Grammy winner, six-time Academy Awards nominee and four-time Emmy nominee Lalo Schifrin – the legend who wrote the liner notes for “The Reunion Concert Live from Pasadena Conservatory of Music: Barrett Hall” - calls one of his two favorite jazz vocalists was silenced over these years when all she wanted to do was sing and entertain.

Last fall, after no longer showing signs of disease, Booker didn’t know where or how to begin her comeback. But reading a timely post on social media about creating a comeback changed that. In those words, Booker saw a path towards getting back to doing what she loved. It meant going back to when life as she knew it came to a halt. It meant finally releasing the recording she intended to release eight years ago. She believes releasing the collection is pivotal to resuming her life, restoring her reputation and rebuilding her brand.        

“I feel it is time to release this project to the world and get it off of my heart and spirit. I’m proud of the work and due to health challenges that nearly took my life, time is now of the essence. I have had a rough life but I’m not a victim. I’ve built my life on speaking the truth and being genuine. I love the person I have chosen to be, and I search for the good in myself. I am determined not to become like the people who have harmed me. Facing my mortality gave me the resilience and motivation to do that and whatever is left of my life is dedicated to being the best I can be. Music is medicine to me, life is for living, and reclaiming that part of my life means everything to me,” said Booker defiantly.

The set list Booker curated for “The Reunion Concert Live from Pasadena Conservatory of Music: Barrett Hall” is, not surprisingly, deeply personal and emotional, exploring love, heartbreak and hope. 

“The album is a love letter to myself and chronicles my ups and downs of falling in love, being betrayed by it, and finding the hope to love again. It explores the perils of unrequited love, the dream of reunion and reconciliation, and the bitter disappointment of knowing that sometimes the love we wanted will never come to fruition. It touches on family and friendship, and the psychological and emotional challenges of losing those bonds. At its core, this album is about love in its various manifestations. I wanted to musically express the highs and lows of realizing the only love we can surely rely on is the love we create and nurture within ourselves,” said Booker, who was accompanied by Tamir Hendelman (piano), Robert Perkins (drums), Dave Robaire (upright bass) and Steve Cotter (guitar).

“The Reunion Concert Live” opens with a Booker original, penned while working on her 1995 debut album, “Very Early,” and designed to sound like it came from the Great American Songbook or a Broadway show.  

“I opened the album with this track because it demonstrates the feelings we hope will come by revealing our affection for someone and the desire they will return those feelings,” Booker shared.

Booker reimagines Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood" as an up-tempo Latin number and shines brightly on “My Ship.”

“I was drawn to the mysterious, ethereal elements of the song's (“My Ship”) melody, harmony, and words as a metaphoric love passage. It speaks to the uncertainty of life and love, and the journey it takes us on,” she said.

First recorded by Sarah Vaughan, Booker’s pained experiences around the recording date fueled her stunning performance on “Black Coffee.” 

“This song talks about failed love, what it does to those discarded by it, and the vices we adapt to soothe the suffering of that reality. The lyric and music resonated with me because of my personal experience with love gone awry when I was developing this show.”

The arrangement Handelman and Booker crafted for “It Could Happen To You” precedes the Pasadena concert by ten years. The vocalist wrote “What Made God?” after her grandmother’s passing.

“She was my inspiration and hero. It is a deeply personal song based on kitchen conversations held over Creole coffee and tea cakes about religion, life and death, and the mystery and magic of it all. As a child, I questioned everything the way kids do. In my grandmother, I found someone who didn't claim to know all the answers. Instead, she would say ‘I don't know.’ That was the most honest and gracious of responses. She encouraged me to seek the answers I would come to search for from my own experiences, finding truth according to my dreams and beliefs,” Booker recalled fondly.

Ira and George Gershwin’s "But Not for Me" appealed to Booker because it contradicts the narrative of love conquering all.

“It speaks to love lost and the debilitating state it leaves the brokenhearted and the despair of believing in romantic love only to realize love can deceive and betray us. The pain of it is epitomized in this song, and that's the story I wanted to tell. Written in 1930 for the musical ‘Crazy Girl,’ love makes us crazy when we take a chance with someone who doesn't want to or is incapable of returning those feelings, and the toxicity of it when that's the outcome,” said Booker.

Booker’s “Eddie” is a fond remembrance of the affections she received as a teenager and the subsequent disappointment she experienced from interracial relationships. The song is about the one boy who couldn’t be swayed by skin color or peer pressure when it came to his feelings for Booker.

The album closes with the hopeful “The Song Is You,” which Booker says reflects the ethos of the entire record.

“This song expresses the excitement and joy of learning to love again, finding the courage to follow one's heart, and how new love can bloom into a beautiful experience. The song became a metaphor for love being everywhere when we least expect it and how it heals and renews us,” concluded Booker.

“The Reunion Concert Live” is the first of a prolific slate of recording projects Booker has in the pipeline to make up for lost time. The release marks the rebirth of a career, but, more importantly, the resumption of a radiantly gifted life interrupted by unimagined darkness and sorrow. If everyone really does love a comeback story, just wait until Sandra Booker writes hers by the life she courageously lives beginning with the release of this inspired album.      

Ash Walker | "Astronaut"

Four years on from his explorative third full-length ‘Aquamarine,’ Londoner Ash Walker returns with an equally ambitious follow-up, set for release via Night Time Stories on 30th June. Alongside a plethora of award-winning collaborators and combining a dizzying array of sounds, ‘Astronaut’ hears Walker push his astral shower of rhythm and vibes to new heights. If 'Aquamarine’ was the take-off of his audial spaceship, ‘Astronaut’ is the cosmic voyage reaching terminal velocity; a rocket-powered masterclass spanning jazz, blues, soul, funk, and reggae.

‘Astronaut’ opens with ‘Only Love’ and features dreamy vocals from inimitable Mercury-nominee and Lamb member Lou Rhodes. “I’d always been such a fan of her work with Lamb and the West-Country scene growing up ,and I felt so privileged when she said yes,” explains Walker. After recording it in Somerset, the pair agreed it was in need of a choir, and Laville & Sheree Dubois were called up to elevate that Sunday service feeling. ‘Letting Go’ was developed from a sketch at Walker’s home studio, with some of the Ebi Soda crew cooking up some beats  and award-winning producer, engineer and songwriter Andrew Ashong providing the final magic touch. Having been a huge fan of Amp Fiddler and the Detroit scene from his teenage years, Walker was hungry to get him involved in the project.’ "When I first heard the vocals for ‘Afronaut,’ I was lost for words. Not only had he smashed the brief, but he clearly  understood my vision of the entire project," recalls Walker.

Another afternoon with the Ebi Soda gang saw 'Babylonian Triangle Of Captivity' come to light, its name inspired by Franco Rosso and Martin Stellman's 1980 classic film ‘Babylon.' Denitia blew Walker away with her vocal offering on 'Time Gets Wasted,’ and Grammy winner Sly5thAve (Prince, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight) went the extra mile on sax, clarinet, bass clarinet and flute. Next up Ezra Collective and Nubya Garcia band member Joe Armon-Jones and South London music-scene pioneer Oscar Jerome join forces on ‘Automaton,’ and  British-Bahraini horn player Yazz Ahmed lays down some flugelhorn magic on ‘Running Away.' After playing ‘Petrolhead’ live for years, Walker finally summoned a suitable cast to do it justice in the studio, before Ahmed’s muted trumpet breathes some extra life into penultimate groove ‘Detroit Velvet Smooth.” Intended to represent the slow rotation of Jupiter on its axis, label buddy Kennebec provides fitting flourishes to the albums final offering. A beautiful and thought-provoking finale to a cosmic masterpiece, it cements Walker’s place amongst jazz music’s elite. We have lift off.

An avid record collector, Walker has DJed far and wide... from the infamous Royal Mail squat party to the canals of Venice, spinning vinyl in Brixton with The Specials to scattering dub across San Francisco and LA. His own production output is similarly exploratory: his journeys have taken him far and wide, from tunnels under the river Thames to recording local percussionists in the Atlas mountains of Morocco. Inspired by a deep dive of sounds from artists including Duke Ellington, Quincy Jones, King Tubby, Bo Diddley, 4Hero, J Dilla, Pete Rock, Curtis Mayfield, Philip Glass, and Steve Reich; his first two albums, ‘Augmented 7th’ (2015) and ‘Echo Chamber’ (2016) gained attention from the likes of BBC 6 Music DJs Gilles Peterson, Don Letts and Gideon Coe.

Javon Jackson – “With Peter Bradley” Soundtrack and Original Score

Undersung in the art world despite a prolific 50-year career, abstract artist Peter Bradley has finally begun receiving his due acclaim. That continues with the release of the new documentary With Peter Bradley, which documents the artist’s dedicated daily practice. Bradley’s work is inextricably linked with his love of jazz, which provides the atmosphere and inspiration for all of his paintings. Saxophonist and composer Javon Jackson provides a score for the film that nods to some of Bradley’s favorite jazz icons – including Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Jackson’s former employer, Art Blakey – while vibrantly capturing the moods and personalities of the film and its subject.

“With Peter Bradley” Soundtrack and Original Score features Jackson’s quartet with pianist Jeremy Manasia, bassist David Williams and drummer Charles Goold along with guest trumpeter Greg Glassman. In addition to the film’s score, the album also includes four tracks recorded during the sessions for Jackson’s acclaimed 2022 release The Gospel According to Nikki Giovanni featuring the quartet, this time with drummer McClenty Hunter. 

Jackson was an ideal choice to compose the film’s score, not just for his direct ties to the jazz tradition that has fueled Bradley’s work and his gift for musical portraiture, but for his longtime friendship with the artist. “I’ve known Peter Bradley for many years,” Jackson recounts. “He was a friend of Art Blakey’s, so he would often come to see the band during my time with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Over the years we stayed in contact and I knew that he was an artist, but I didn't know to what degree.” 

Upon viewing the film and becoming acquainted with the magnitude of Bradley’s oeuvre, Jackson came to recognize not just a friend but also a kindred spirit. “He’s a jazz musician,” the saxophonist chuckled, “only his instrument is paint.”

Premiered at the 2023 Slamdance Film Festival, With Peter Bradley is an intimate portrait of the 79-year-old artist helmed by Bradley’s Saugerties, NY neighbor and filmmaker Alex  Rappoport. It traces the artist’s biography as the first Black art dealer on Madison Avenue, curator of the first integrated modern art show in America, and likely the first Black abstract artist represented by a major New York gallery. 

Despite those accolades, Bradley hadn’t been the subject of a major gallery show in decades, though he doggedly returned to his shipping container studio every day, working by the heat of a wood stove. Initial reviews since the film’s January premiere have been laudatory, with Film Threat calling it “documentary in its purest form… riveting.” 

Jackson’s soundtrack works thrillingly as an album of muscular hard bop and evocative ballads, as anyone familiar with the saxophonist’s storied career would expect. In conjunction with Rappoport’s images, the score reveals Jackson as a nuanced jazz portraitist, able to condense character or action into bold, swinging melody. The album opens with his melancholy theme for the painter himself, while “Edith Ramsey” is a tender depiction of Bradley’s adoptive mother. 

“I approached the film with an open mind,” Jackson explains succinctly. “I knew that Peter loves John Coltrane, Mingus, Clifford Brown and Max Roach – so there are hints of all of them. From there I just followed the mood of the piece and offered something based on my musical thoughts that would adhere to the scene.”

With Peter Bradley is Jackson’s first original score, fulfilling a longtime desire awakened when he composed a suite of music to accompany Alfred Hitchcock’s silent classic The Lodger, commissioned by the Syracuse International Film Festival in 2009. The remaining pieces were recorded at the spur of the moment during the sessions for The Gospel According to Nikki Giovanni, Jackson’s widely hailed collaboration with the renowned poet. Two originals – “Amy’s Theme,” dedicated to a close friend’s late wife, and “Brother G,” written for close friend Kenny Garrett – they include the classic standard “Never Let Me Go” and Dizzy Gillespie’s “That’s Earl Brother,” all of which fit the mood brilliantly and could yield future masterpieces as the soundtrack to Bradley’s ongoing creations.

Missouri-born tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson left his studies at Berklee College of Music in 1986 to join Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, where he later played alongside pianist Benny Green, trumpeter Philip Harper, trombonist Robin Eubanks and bassist Peter Washington. Jackson remained a fixture in the Jazz Messengers until Blakey’s passing in 1990. In 1991, Jackson made his recording debut with Me and Mr. Jones, featuring James Williams, Christian McBride, and master drummer Elvin Jones. He joined Jones’ group in 1992, appearing on the great drummer’s albums Youngblood and Going Home. Jackson’s 1994 Blue Note debut, When the Time Is Right, was a straight-ahead affair produced by iconic jazz vocalist and bandleader Betty Carter. His subsequent four Blue Note recordings featured wildly eclectic programs ranging from Caetano Veloso, Frank Zappa and Santana to Muddy Waters, Al Green and Serge Gainsbourg. For the Palmetto label he explored a blend of funk, jazz and soul with such stellar sidemen as organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, guitarists Mark Whitfield and David Gilmore, trombonist Fred Wesley and drummer Lenny White. In 2012, he launched his own Solid Jackson Records with Celebrating John Coltrane. His latest release for the label, The Gospel According to Nikki Giovanni, was a historic, gospel-tinged collaboration with the renowned African American poet, activist and educator.

 

Rising star pianist Noah Haidu’s newest is Standards, celebrates the 40th anniversary of the release that launched Keith Jarrett’s great Standards Trio and arrives on the heels of Haidu’s two recent acclaimed Sunnyside albums, most notably 2021’s SLOWLY: Song for Keith Jarrett. Featuring Haidu with bassists Buster Williams and Peter Washington, drummer Lewis Nash and guest saxophonist Steve Wilson, Standards is, in part, the soulmate to SLOWLY, which DownBeat called “a stunning and heartfelt tribute.” After Haidu, Buster Williams and Billy Hart recorded its last two songs – “But Beautiful” and “Georgia on My Mind” – Williams said, “Those two standards were beautiful, got any more?” 

The next step in the evolution of Standards happened not in the studio but on the road. After recording SLOWLY, Haidu felt drawn to the format used by Jarrett, DeJohnette, and Peacock for their Standards Trio. When Nash, a drummer who was already ubiquitous when Haidu was first falling in love with jazz in his teens, joined Haidu and Williams during their 2021 tour, the connection was electric. “When Buster, Lewis and I played for the first time we played a lot of standards and I could feel that there was something special happening that I wanted to document,” says Haidu. “It felt as though every song had emotional depth, every note we played mattered. The 40th anniversary of the most celebrated ensemble to play standards in my lifetime seemed like the perfect moment to make my own statement on this music.”

With Doctone, 2020’s tribute to the late, great Kenny Kirkland, and the subsequent SLOWLY, Haidu’s renown has grown rapidly: Larry Blumenfeld penned an in-depth feature about Haidu’s projects in the Wall Street Journal, and NPR cast its spotlight on the ascendant pianist with features on “Here and Now” and “All Songs Considered.” Three million streams in the last 18 months are testament to Haidu’s rapidly increasing fan base.

One of the benefits of Haidu’s growing international acclaim is his ever-expanding sense of artistic freedom which allowed him to take certain risks on Standards. “There’s something so vulnerable about playing in this context, where you’re completely exposed,” he says. “Of course, I love composing because you can create an entire world, your own language of sound. But with these old standards all you’ve got is your own musicality and the connection you have with the music and the players. That requires a willingness to let go and see where the song takes you, something that can’t be taught or practiced.”

Many of the tracks on Standards have been recorded by Jarrett’s trio with Peacock and DeJohnette. All are ‘standards’ except “Last Dance I” and “Last Dance II,” which Haidu named after a Jarrett recording and composed in tribute to the Standards Trio and their final concert at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, which he attended. Haidu remembers that at one point Jarrett joked with the audience: “Don’t try this at home.” Thinking back to that night in 2014 Haidu reflects, “I believe I subconsciously took that as a challenge. Not to follow in their footsteps, but to build on my own voice with the trio and these songs.”

For Haidu, that evolving endeavor has led to his own impassioned approach to the piano trio. “The theme of lost love is the emotional center of so many of these songs such as ‘Skylark,’ ‘All the Way’ and ‘I Thought About You.’ That’s something I’ve been dealing with in music and life,” says Haidu. “There’ve been a few painful breakups in recent years and I lost my father with whom I was very close. That universal feeling of lost love comes into play on so many standards, especially on ballads. As I started incorporating that music into my repertoire fans would come up to me after the show and say, ‘Those ballads…wow!’”

Standards begins with “Old Folks” and “Just in Time,” both part of Jarrett/Peacock/ DeJohnnette’s oeuvre. Haidu’s trademarks of soulful touch and melodic imagination are on full display buoyed by Williams’ supple bass lines and Nash’s crisp, fluid drumming.  A deeply swinging version of “A Beautiful Friendship” follows. On a moving slow motion version of “All the Way” that depends as much on group interaction as the original melody, the trio seems to breathe as one.

“Someday My Prince Will Come” features Peter Washington in the bass chair. The trio’s forward momentum and clarity of tone drive this tune forward, along with Haidu and Washington’s sublime improvisations. On “You and the Night and the Music,” saxophonist Steve Wilson joins the trio with a freewheeling, rich-toned alto. Haidu’s solo builds on the energy of Wilson’s until Nash’s unaccompanied drums take the song, which was played by Jarrett at his Deerhead Inn concert, to its climax. The quartet’s hauntingly beautiful rendition of “Ana Maria,” composed by the legendary saxophonist Wayne Shorter, reflects the theme of loss. The piece was written for Shorter’s wife, who later passed away tragically with their niece Dalila on TWA flight 800. “With the loss of Ana Maria, Dalila and of Wayne himself, this song now embodies the narrative of loss in so many ways,” says Haidu.

On “Skylark,” Haidu’s exquisite right-hand melodies are accompanied by the precise yet delicate rhythm of his left hand. “I Thought About You” finds Haidu at his most propulsive and harmonically imaginative best, with the trio reveling in the joy of playing together. Haidu’s ”Last Dance I” and “Last Dance II” bring back the quartet for a moody and expressive 3/4 piece featuring soaring solos by Wilson and Haidu. The album ends with cascades of rhythm from Nash over a repeated ensemble refrain. 

Like Jarrett, Haidu started playing classical piano at a young age. Moving frequently as a result of his parents’ divorce, music became the one constant in his life. He became fascinated with blues, R&B and eventually jazz. “I’ve worked hard on my playing since I was six years old,” he says. “Besides Jarrett and Kenny Kirkland I’m inspired by bop, modal players, classical and gospel music.”

Haidu has truly lived in music for his whole adult life. having dropped out of the jazz program at Rutgers after two years to move to New York City and begin performing with the likes of Walter Perkins, Duane Eubanks, Essiet Essiet, and more recently Billy Hart, Steve Wilson, Carl Allen, Willie Jones III, Jon Irabagon, and Gary Thomas. Of his exemplary trio Haidu says simply, “We are seeking the deepest level of expression. It’s not about technique, tricks or trends. It’s all heart.”

 

Roni Ben-Hur | "Love Letters"

Love Letters is the new recording from guitarist Roni Ben-Hur and is yet another testament to support the fact that the guitarist is widely respected by his peers, and the press, as one of the jazz-elite. Emigrating to the States in 1985, Ben-Hur was one of the first Israeli jazz musicians to make his mark in New York City, preceding the many waves of talented Israeli artists to move to the Big Apple. Upon arriving, Ben-Hur almost immediately began studies at the Jazz Cultural Theater under the legendary pianist Barry Harris. There, the guitarist played with such bop stalwarts as bassist Walter Booker, drummer Leroy Williams, the “musician’s musician,” pianist Chris Anderson, and became an integral member of Harris’s band from 1991 to 2007. Ben-Hur has since amassed an impressive catalogue of highly-successful and acclaimed albums under his own leadership, including Signature (2005), Keepin' It Open (2007), Fortuna (2009), Smile (with Gene Bertoncini, 2008), Mojave (2011), Our Thing (2012), Alegria De Vivre (with Leny Andrade, 2015), Manhattan Style – Our Thing (2016), Introspection (with Harvie S, 2019), Samba Do Arraial (with Percio Sapia, 2020), Stories (2021) and Something For Kenny (2021). Ben-Hur is also the founder and director of the popular jazz program at New York’s Kaufman Center, and has conducted annual jazz camps in the U.S. and abroad since 2002, exposing thousands of students, hobbyists and aspiring professionals to the challenges, rewards and camaraderie, inherent in this music. 

Guitarist Russell Malone comments that, "Everything Roni does is beautiful. He has the magic touch.” The late, esteemed journalist Nat Hentoff of The Wall Street Journal praised Ben-Hur’s duet release, Smile, with Gene Bertoncini, as “a lyrically meditative dialogue.” With Love Letters, the latest masterpiece in his forty-plus year career of performing, composing, recording and teaching jazz, Ben-Hur gives us a musical mosaic that invites us to reconnect with what matters most in life. For Ben-Hur, what matters most are the intimate moments he and his band members create and share with each other and with audiences around the world.

While many of the compositions on Love Letters were written by giants such as Leonard Bernstein (“Lonely Town”), Benny Golson (“Fair Weather”), and Ben-Hur’s long-time mentor, the late, great Barry Harris (“To Dizzy with Love”), Ben-Hur once again showcases his formidable composing chops with four original compositions. The Quartet on Love Letters, Ben-Hur with trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, bassist Ugonna Okegwo and drummer Jason Tiemann, creates an irresistible atmosphere of musical harmony and loving connection.

Each of Ben-Hur’s compositions reflect an aspect of the love that has propelled the guitarist to ever greater heights in the life and in jazz. With “To Dizzy with Love,” he shares a memory of his friend Barry Harris with a buoyant rendition of a song they once played together at Birdland. In this interpretation we are treated to a joyous dance of swing and Caribbean rhythms.

On “Seul `a Paris” (alone in Paris), Ben-Hur’s wistful strings and Jensen’s muted trumpet speak of what it is like to fly solo in the “City of Love.”

With the composition, “Waiting for JH”, co-written with the late American pianist Chris Anderson, Ben-Hur sends a “love letter” to the late Jim Harrison, one of the genre’s most indomitable advocates and promoters, who worked tirelessly for a “who’s who” in jazz. 

The voice of the unspeakable is heard in “The House that Yosef Built,” a love letter to Ben-Hur’s father. The tune evokes a rush of memories about the hardships his parents faced in their escape from Tunisia in the aftermath of World War II. Guitar, bass and drum deftly lay a rhythmic foundation, and Jensen’s triumphant trumpet celebrates the family’s resilience and the sturdy house and home that Yosef Ben-Hur was determined to build for his family. 

Love Letters concludes with Ben-Hur’s soulful instrumental interpretation of the Victor Young classic, “Love Letters.” Speaking from his heart, his eloquent guitar offer a final expression of love for jazz music, his extended jazz family, and for people everywhere. The song and this sensuous album remind us of a timeless truth. In the words of lyricist, Edward Heyman, “Love letters straight from the heart keep us so near while apart.”

Portions of this press release borrow from the album’s liner notes, written by Terry Edmonds, a New York based freelance writer and poet. He was formerly chief speechwriter for President Bill Clinton.

Tour Dates:

• May 22: The Roni Ben-Hur Trio at The Zinc Bar, NYC
• May 24: Guest with Frank Vignola's Guitar Night at Birdland Theater
• May 31: WGBO Interview & Performance with Melissa Stylianou
• June 5-12 & 13-20: RBH Jazz Camps in the South of France
• July 21: The Roni Ben-Hur Trio at Maureen’s Jazz Cellar, Nyack, NY
• July 26: Sheila Jordan, Roni Ben-Hur and Harvie S at Pangea, NYC
• July 30-August 6: RBH Jazz Camp at UVM, Burlington, VT
• Aug 10: The Roni Ben-Hur Trio at Ornithology, Brooklyn, NY
• Aug 18-20: Joyce Moreno w/Special Guest Roni Ben-Hur @ Dizzy’s Club, JALC, NYC
• Aug 25 & 26: The Roni Ben-Hur Quintet plays the music of Barry Harris at The Jazz Forum, Tarrytown, NY
• Sept 6: The Roni Ben-Hur Quartet at Birdland Theater, NYC
• Sept 9: The Roni Ben-Hur Quartet at Kindred Spirits Arts Program, Milford, PA
• Sept 23: The Roni Ben-Hur Trio at Room 31, NYC
• Oct 3: The Roni Ben-Hur Trio at Chapel of the Holy Spirit, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT
• Oct 6: The Roni Ben-Hur Trio at Scullers Jazz Club, Boston, MA