Music You May Have Missed: Lucas De Mulder, The Three Deuces, Hot Mustard & The New Mastersounds

Lucas De Mulder - Feel The Spirit

‘Feel the Spirit’ finds Lucas De Mulder as the newest bearer of the torch of deep funk and boogaloo guitar work. Produced by Eddie Roberts, bandleader and guitarist of the international funk group, The New Mastersounds, the album is a direct eulogium to Grant Green’s iconic 1962 record ‘Feelin’ the Spirit.’ De Mulder and Roberts connected while Roberts’ all-star soul project Matador! Soul Sounds was touring through Spain and the two found themselves at a jam session at The Intruso Bar where Roberts immediately recognized their simpatico style of playing and acute influence from Grant Green. A few weeks later, De Mulder sent Roberts a demo and was immediately invited to record a record at Roberts’ Color Red Studios in Denver, Colorado. The sessions featured fellow members of The New Mastersounds Joe Tatton (keyboards) and Simon Allen (drums) as well as Nate Edgar (bass) of The Nth Power. The joyful, imaginative spirit of Grant Green’s playing is kept alive in a new generation through De Mulder’s beyond-his-years wisdom and thoughtful navigation on his instrument.

The Three Deuces - Keep On It

Eddie Roberts has long been a purveyor of the mighty organ trio in the jazz, funk and soul circles, and The Three Deuces is the first trio put together by Roberts to explore the unique power of the configuration. The group’s debut album “Keep On It (Live At The Yardbird Suite)” finds the trio cruising through a lean set of hard-charging boogaloo funk at the club fit for a rambunctious night out. This record captures The Three Deuces, Eddie Roberts and the Funk-Soul Revival at large at a very young, energetic and notable moment in history.

Hot Mustard - Mother Sauce

Hot Mustard executes an unpretentious yet decadent tasting menu in their debut offering, Mother Sauce. Featuring dry-aged drums chopped and blended into buttery bass lines, tangy guitar flavors mellowed by smoky, smooth 70s strings, and kickin’ brass trimmings by Antibalas’ Jordan McLean, the resulting beats are fat enough to clog your arteries. These rogue sauciers have been sonically schooled in the Stax and Atlantic tradition, and spent years studying the techniques of such contemporary masters as Chefs Raekwon and Rakim. This is the first course, foodies and musical gourmands. Service begins 9/3/21. Bring your appetites.

The New Mastersounds - Shake It 

Celebrating two decades as a band, new album "Shake It" sees The New Mastersounds, shake it up, with a departure from the jazz-funk-fusion meanderings of their recent releases and a new entry in the form of singer Lamar Williams Jr. (son of late Allman Brothers bassist Lamar Williams). Add to the mix Mike Olmos on trumpet (a NMS regular who has already appeared on albums such as "Renewable Energy" and "Made For Pleasure"), and Jason Mingledorff on sax and flute (previously on tour with St. Paul and the Broken Bones), and you have yourself a very tasty cocktail indeed (shake it, don't stir).

Guitarist Todd Mosby Releases Land of Enchantment: A Gorgeous Breakout Album Focusing on New Mexico

Instrumental composer, songwriter, and Imrat guitar innovator Todd Mosby is a storyteller and a landscape artist. He uses the guitar to whisk listeners away to a borderless realm where jazz, jazz fusion, North Indian classical, classical composition, bluegrass, bossa-nova, and folk-rock create transporting and transformative experiences. His latest album, Land Of Enchantment, is a gorgeous scrapbook of the visual, emotive, spiritual and cultural interactions Todd has personally experienced within the New Mexico region of the United States.

“I am a seeker who believes in the power of music to change lives,” the St. Louis, Missouri-based guitarist shares. “I had a troubled childhood that led me to some dark places. Music was an emotional release from those demons, and it has helped me create a world of light and sound which I love to share with others.”

Todd is an acclaimed Indian and jazz guitarist influenced by St. Louis’s vibrantly varied cultural blend of Indian, African-American, and Americana traditions. He is one of the few musicians in America who has mastered three mountains of music; western composition, jazz improvisation, and Indian raga music, incorporating them freely as a part of his musical language. He attended Berklee College of Music as an undergrad, Webster University as a graduate student, and, for 13 years, studied classical North Indian music with Ustadt Imrat Khan in the most disciplined way.

He has the distinction of being the only guitarist to become a member of the famed Imdhad Khani Gharana of musicians, India’s most prestigious family of sitar musicians dating back 500 to Tansen in the court of Mughal Emperor Akbar. From his years studying this rarified and sacred music, Imrat worked with Mosby to develop a unique guitar technique. This led to an innovative bridge instrument, the Imrat guitar, which has been undergoing design upgrades since 1997. Built by luthier Kim Schwartz to the performance specs of Mosby and the overall sonic palette of Imrat Kahn, the resulting hybrid 18-stringed sitar-guitar instrument allows for a cross-cultural East-West musical dialogue right at your fingertips and integrated into his musical vocabulary.

Todd’s compositions feature strong melodies, sometimes sung by female vocalists recalling the aesthetic of Brazilian musician Sérgio Mendes; virtuosic but lyrical instrumental prowess; deep-pocket grooves informed by a variety of jazz, world, and rock-based traditions; and a deep sense of spiritual intent. To date, Todd has released 5 albums and one single. Along the way, he has earned raves from Windham Hill Records founder Will Ackerman; ZZAJ’s Dick Metcalf; India’s Music Ambassador Ustadt Imrat Khan; 17-time Grammy Nominee and jazz guitar legend Mike Stern; and Berklee College of Music President, 7-time Grammy Award Winner, and jazz legend, Gary Burton.

His journey in spirit and song is beautifully winding. Todd spent, or rather misspent, his formative teen years listening to James Taylor, Joni Mitchel and Jimmy Spheris while smoking pot and perfecting his drawing skills. Around the age of 14 he worked cutting firewood to buy his first guitar, and Alvarez acoustic auditorium. From there he began sitting in with friends at parties learning the folk rock tunes of the day. Later on he was turned on to the music of Billy Holiday, Lester Young, Errol Gardner and the Norman Grants series Live At The Philharmonic.

Guitar was always a means to an emotive outlet in high school but it did not really click as a career path until his freshman year of college where he had the opportunity to study with pro players and play in jazz ensembles. During this time, Todd began to devour the music of Chick Corea, Wayne Shorter, Hermeto and Brazilian singer Milton Nascimento. When many of the ace student musicians who taught him did a mass exit to Los Angeles the following year, he decided to follow a friends advice and sharpen his skills at Berklee College of Music.

Parallel to his music discovery, Todd absorbed the multi-cultural mecca of St. Louis which was brimming with Indian and African-American traditions, and an eclectic array of music subcultures, spanning world-music, jazz, blues, punk, ska, and new wave. For Todd, these all became pathways to deeper musical expression. 

His latest release, Land of Enchantment, explores his fascination with the mystique the Southwest held for him as a child, and his experiences and impressions the region made on him as an adult, including his passion for iconic American Southwest artists and writers such as Georgia O’Keefe and Ansel Adams. Select album highlights include “Place In The Sun,” “Moonrise Samba,” and “Georgia’s World.” The playfully-titled “Place In The Sun”, exudes the transcendent feeling of being in such beautiful natural environs—exudes a sense of spirituality and joyous mystery. The song features many musical keepsakes from Todd’s musical journey, including dreamy Sérgio Mendes-style female vocals, a funk and Motown-like grooving rhythm section, and 1970s jazz-fusion musicality with Todd’s lyrical but dexterous guitar playing. On “Moonrise Samba,” Todd showcases his strong lead melody writing, his penchant for intriguing Steely Dan-esque chord sequences, and his imaginative arrangement skills by including a samba-flavored bridge. The picturesque “Georgia’s World” is a tribute to Georgia O’ Keefe’s home in Abuqui, New Mexico and Ghost Ranch, and boasts satiny Wes Montgomery octave licks, a slinky bossa-nova groove, and sultry female melody vocals. Todd also turns in a stunning reading of the Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood” replete with virtuosic micro-tonal soloing done on his Imrat guitar, and a dreamy version of Glen Campbell’s “By The Time I Get To Phoenix.”

Coming along for the ride are A-list musicians such as longtime Prince bassist Rhonda Smith; Todd’s childhood musical hero, jazz-fusion icon saxophonist-composer, Tom Scott (Joni Mitchell, Quincy Jones, Frank Sinatra); drummer Vinnie Colaiuta (Herbie Hancock, Jeff Beck, Frank Zappa); Grammy-winning violinist Charlie Bisharat (Elton John, the Rolling Stones, Shadowfax); pianist Dapo Torimiro (Frank Ocean, Lauryn Hill); vocalist Laura Vall (Stevie Wonder); bassist Timothy Bailey (Ariana Grande, Julia Michaels, Jill Scott); award winning Los Angeles cellist Adrienne Woods (Ariana Grande, Josh Groban, Christina Aguilera); two-time Grammy winning producer Jeff Weber (Diane Reeves, Luther Vandross, David Crosby); and Emmy and Grammy-winning engineer Clark Germain (Michael Jackson, Wayne Shorter, Tina Turner).

After decades as a professional musician with countless gigs under his belt, and rarely-achieved mastery of 3 challenging musical idioms, Todd still has a beginner’s passion for music. He says: “There is never a dull moment as I am always learning and growing. I research music like a scientist and researcher, always discovering new things with new ears. Each discovery opens a world of exciting possibilities which is filled with fun and intrigue.”

Multi-Instrumentalist & Composer Vinny Golia To Release Massive 110 Track Second Movement of Even to This Day - Music For Orchestra and Soloists

Volume two was recorded almost entirely by Golia and his collaborator/engineer Wayne Peet, with the help of some excellent guest soloists, and beyond the shocking length, the music itself is thrilling: constantly inventive, full of twists and turns and restless energy. Golia began his art career as a painter, and his use of texture in these pieces is so remarkable - "Follow the Tracks," for instance, is composed of overtone-laden breathy winds, scratchy percussive sounds, and something that could be bowed cymbals, multiphonic winds, twitching electronics, or a combination of all three.

Initially intended to be a short interlude between the equally large volumes one and three, volume two began with the suite for guitarist Alkis Nicolaides that you'll find scattered throughout. However, when Golia felt there was much more to explore in those ideas, it organically grew into the 110 track piece you now have before you.

Golia has been a fixture of LA's experimental music scene for decades, and he's the type of artist I admire greatly, resolutely pushing forward with the work that he believes in regardless of trends. But, notable for someone who has had to blaze their own path so extensively, he retains his faith in the positive power of music, and this work is his tribute "to our sanity, endurance, and patience." You can read more in his note below. It's no coincidence that his large ensemble work has always had a collectivist spirit, intended to unite the disparate music scenes of LA. 

Please note that due to the length of the project it is stretched over two PJB "albums" - tracks 1-55 here, and 56-110 attached as "part two". That separation is not a part of the piece itself, and just reflects a technological limitation, the full second movement is all 110 tracks. 

Even to this day... is an observation of the present and hopefully a gift for the future. I started this three-movement project before Covid and released Movement One in 2021. I was trying to get out of, and get my friends out of the Covid malaise and do something that would positively affect us all. Since 2021, we have been bombarded with a litany of negativity: a lack of government leadership, rampant homelessness, constant threats of annihilation, climate change, economic hardships, continued social inequities, and the passing of so many of our friends—legends of the music we play. Through the compositions and improvisations in this movement, I hope to contribute to the positive vibrations in our universe.

~

Movement Two Syncretism: for the draw... is about 13.5 hours long and as mentioned features electronic improvisers. Why the length? The original idea was to have this movement be a short section between Movement One and Three. Now, this music has become a larger environment for listening; the duration seems to be for reflection and function. Why electronic musicians? Movement Two started with 5 compositions written for guitarist Alkis Nicholaides; once these compositions were completed, I wanted to explore these compositional areas more deeply. Things expanded rapidly from there as the sonic inspirations were sculpted into what became Even to this day...Movement Two Syncretism: for the draw....

When I was in high school, I read a startling statistic that there were always at least 200 wars simultaneously on the planet; now in 2023, there seems to be so much more bloodshed. We are close to 90 seconds before midnight on the Doomsday Clock, and everyone is being pushed to their edge. Can music relieve this constant stress? I do not know. It’s not for me to determine. Our job as artists is to create a positive force within ourselves and transmit that force outward. On Movement Two Syncretism: for the draw.... an amazing amalgam of soloists breathes life into sonic structures to realize these goals. With its superimposition of composition and improvisation Movement Two Syncretism: for the draw....is my tribute to our sanity, endurance, and patience.

- Vinny Golia

--

Hays Street Hart (Kevin Hays/Ben Street/Billy Hart) | "Bridges"

Hays Street Hart, the trio of pianist Kevin Hays, bassist Ben Street, and legendary drummer Billy Hart, recorded their acclaimed 2021 debut, All Things Are, under less than optimal conditions. The album began its life as a performance in honor of Hart’s 80th birthday in December 2020, live streamed from an empty Smoke Jazz Club in the final weeks of that grueling pandemic year. Despite those adversities, the music they created that night was spectacular enough to convince all involved that it should be released.

Two years later, the trio has reconvened, this time fully cognizant that they were going to record an album at Sear Sound Studios in NYC. Due out October 20, 2023, via Smoke Sessions Records, the captivating Bridges brilliantly spotlights the unique chemistry and shared spirit of exploration that emerged fully formed on that initial impromptu session. The title succinctly hints at some of the reasons why Hays, Street, and Hart work so well together: this is a trio that bridges generations, certainly, as well as a wealth of diverse experience and inspiration. But it also sums up a mutual desire to bring people together through music.

“We have so many concurrent and urgent issues now on this planet,” Hays explains, “We need to start making allies where we’ve only seen adversaries. Whether that’s on a global, interpersonal, or intrapsychic level, we need to set out to repair any number of misunderstandings and seemingly intractable polarizations if we are to survive and thrive here as a community.”

Not that there was any antagonism to overcome within the trio itself. More than anything, Hays Street Hart is a mutual admiration society of the highest order. The esteem in which the pianist and bassist hold Billy Hart likely goes without saying. The drummer was ordained in 2022 as an NEA Jazz Master, just one of the many honors he has chalked up over a breathtaking career. He began his career with an apprenticeship under the revered vocalist Shirley Horn and went on to make notable music with such luminaries as Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Wes Montgomery, Jimmy Smith, Stan Getz, and as part of the quartet Quest featuring David Liebman and Richie Beirach.

But Hart is, if anything, even more laudatory toward his younger bandmates. Street has been a member of the drummer’s stellar quartet for two decades, alongside pianist Ethan Iverson and saxophonist Mark Turner, a tenure that speaks for itself. As for Hays, Hart is quick to place the pianist in the exalted company of some of his iconic former collaborators.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have the chance to perform with Herbie Hancock and McCoy Tyner,” says Hart modestly. “Each generation presents their own equivalent, and Kevin is an example of the latest innovations. There was Herbie and McCoy, then it was Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett, and then you have what's coming next. I think Kevin is definitely part of that continuum.”

Though Hays sticks strictly to the piano on Bridges, he is also an accomplished singer whose vocal instincts fuel his inventive and lyrical melodicism. Street points to those facets as key to the connection between the pianist and Hart, who has enjoyed several meaningful collaborations with vocalists.

“It always seems to me that Kevin has the capacity to sing in his mind and then accompany himself on the piano,” Street describes. “That makes for such a nice connection with Billy, who has played with and learned from so many singers. I don't even feel like we're playing as a piano trio most of the time; it feels more like a quartet.”

Those qualities are especially clear on Hays’ “Butterfly,” which opens the album. Though it’s performed here as an instrumental, the pianist has composed lyrics for the piece, and its gorgeous, song-like quality shines through. Hays also contributed the breathtaking ballad “Song for Peace,” highlighted by Hart’s gentle, embracing brushwork and Street’s sturdy, stentorian tone. The pianist’s third original, “Row Row Row,” is constructed on a twelve-tone row, but as the playful title suggests, it has none of the more stringent qualities of the serialist composers.

Hart’s stunning “Irah,” originally recorded on his quartet’s self-titled 2006 debut, is dedicated to the composer’s mother, and was recorded at Street’s suggestion. The bassist also brought guitarist Bill Frisell’s reflective “Throughout” to the date, imagining Frisell’s Americana influences would resonate with the similarly inclined Hays, who approaches the tune with a harp-like beauty. Hays’ love of pop and rock music is also reflected by the inclusion of The Beatles classic “With a Little Help from My Friends.”

The trio pays tribute to the late, great Wayne Shorter with “Capricorn,” originally released on the composer’s 1969 Blue Note album Super Nova and later included on the Miles Davis Quintet set Water Babies. Hart called Shorter “one of a kind. I think of the many times I heard him excel – with the Maynard Ferguson Big Band, with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, with Weather Report. And in each case, he was innovative.”

Bridges closes with the title track, a dazzling piece by the great Brazilian singer and songwriter Milton Nascimento, which Hays calls “one of my favorite compositions ever, by anybody.”

Bridges was recorded under ideal studio conditions by a now-established trio with a weeks-long European tour under their belts. Perhaps what’s most remarkable about the album is not that Hays, Street, and Hart play so masterfully together – with three artists of their caliber, who could expect any less? – but that this second outing maintains the bold spirit of inquisitiveness and spontaneity that its predecessor naturally possessed. Credit that to a trio perpetually determined to discover new bridges worth building.

Nate Mercereau - 'plays two versions of a melody by Tiziji Muñoz' (How So)

You might have heard of jazz guitarist Tiziji Muñoz from his work on Pharoah Sanders legendary 1977 LP Pharoah, which is currently getting the deluxe reissue treatment courtesy of Luaka Bop. Nate Mercereau wanted to pay tribute to Muñoz in his own way.

Mercereau explains:

Tisziji Muñoz is a very special musician and person that I find continually inspirational. Among many other things, he represents and embodies freedom. I first heard Tisziji's music around 2015, at a point in my life when it was incredibly meaningful to come into contact with his energy. There is rare information and intention in his playing and in his albums that I’m still discovering and learning from. Listening to his music, I am reminded of all infinite possibilities.  In the spirit of celebration and appreciation of Heart-Fire Sound, I’m sharing these two versions of an excerpt of his song Thank You All Great Spirits (Thank You For Your Love).

In my continual search for radical sound, I found myself looking for what felt like under represented intention in music. This search coincided with writing my own music from this place, the music that I wanted to exist, that I wanted to hear, with the intention of sharing the process of exploration and discovery. This led me to Tisziji Muñoz. His music hit this place I was searching for, and also was something completely different and unexpected with how far out (and in) he takes it. 

I first heard Tisziji's guitar on Pharoah Sanders's album, Pharoah. Like many others, I connected with that album, specifically the piece Harvest Time, where Tisziji is well featured. I did a search of his name and found several live videos of him leading his own groups with legendary exploratory musicians like Pharoah and Rasheid Ali, and I immediately connected to his sound.  Tisziji’s willingness to share the moments of searching on the way to discovery is what I really resonate with.  It feels very true to what it’s like to be alive.  

The live version, track 1, came from a concert at The World Stage in Leimert Park, where I was part of a quartet with Carlos Niño and Will Logan led by Surya Botofasina. At one point in the middle of an immersive exploration, Surya played a chord progression that opened up space for a part of the melody of Thank You All Great Spirits (Thank You For Your Love) to happen, which I had been listening to in the car on the drive over. We make music together in such a way that anything can happen, and this is a wonderful example of the freedom available when making music with this group....I played the first part of Tisziji's melody over the chords, and it sparked the next wave of group creation. The second version, solo, is an extension or epilogue to the live version, using my guitar as a sampler controller, with sounds I created from samples of my guitar synthesizer. 

-Nate

New Music Releases: Alexander O'Neal, Speakers Corner Quartet, Manual Valera Quintet & Jakal (Keefe Jackson/Julian Kirshner/Fred Lonberg-Holm)

Alexander O'Neal - Love Finds A Way

Here's a brand new, never before heard new single from the Soul Legend that is Alexander O'Neal. 'Love Finds A Way' is Soul down to the bone, with a 70s feel production and a touch of Gospel too, it's a real stunner! Alexander O’Neal really doesn't need any introduction other than 'Soul Legend' and we are proud to present his stunning new single ‘Love Finds A Way'. Written along with long time collaborators, Alexander and JV Johnston of Manchester's 'Mamma Freedom' and featuring the band themselves, the track is a nod to the feel of classic 70’s Soul and the uplifting light and emotional power of Gospel which fuses O'Neal's now wonderfully weathered, velvet toned voice with producer Alexander Johnston’s ‘Retro-Sonic’ production. The track is taken from his forthcoming, long awaited new album 'Testament' coming in 2024. Written by Johnston / Johnston / O’Neal Produced by Alexander Johnston at The Grand Northern Recording Studio, Manchester. Alexander O’Neal - Lead Vocals; Alexander Johnston - Keys, BVs, Production, Mixer; JV Johnston - Keys Backing Vocals; Christopher J Calcott - Guitars / Lead; Robert Marsh - Flugel Horn; Dan Hudson - Drums; Chris Rogers - Bass; Seren Devismes - Backing Vocals; and Kristin Hoesin - Backing Vocals. Release Date: 15th September 2023

Speakers Corner Quartet - Further Out Than The Edge

A very hip group from the London scene, and one who've got a slightly different origin than most – in that they initially started out as a house band for a spoken word event – then grew into a really great group on their own! In the best contemporary London fashion, there's a real openness to genres and styles here – jazz at the core, but plenty of contemporary soul – especially considering the range of guests on the record – a lineup that includes Joe Armon Jones, Shabaka Hutchings, Sampha, Kae Tempest, and others. The core lineup features Biscuit on flute, Raven Bush on violin, Peter Bennie on bass, and Kwake Bass on drums and percussion – but the record flows with so many other contributions, sounds, and styles as well. Titles include "Acute Truth", "Fix", "On Grounds", "Can We Do This", "Soapbox Soliloquy", "Hither Green", "Dreaded", "Wavelet", and "Round Again". ~ Dusty Groove

Manuel Valera Quintet - Vessel

An album that reminds us that Manuel Valera's as great a writer as he is a pianist – as the set's overflowing with original material that really helps give the group a fresh direction – all sorts of rich colors, bold tones, and sensitive movements – delivered by a combo that also features John Ellis on tenor, Alex Norris on trumpet, Hamish Smith on bass, and Mark Whitfield Jr on drums! The leader's got a way of arcing in with his energy – leading the tunes in a great way, but letting the soloists unfold – especially Ellis, who's got a wonderful tone throughout. Titles include "Garzonian", "First Day", "Blues For Kenny K", "Alma", "Crisis", "Remembrance", and "Pablo". ~ Dusty Groove

Jakal (Keefe Jackson/Julian Kirshner/Fred Lonberg-Holm) - Peroration

An improvising trio in the best Chicago tradition – a nicely tangled-up blend of the drums of Julian Kirshner, reeds of Keefe Jackson, and cello, tenor guitar, and electronics of Fred Lonberg-Holm! The set echoes with the kind of sonic exploration that Fred's been bringing to his music for many years – especially that relationship between the use of electronics and the acoustic tonal properties of the cello – qualities that Kirshner seems to resonate with on the drums from time to time. Jackson blues tenor and sopranino saxes, sometimes with a bolder, more forward-driven direction – and the set features one long improvisation, titled "Peroration", and the shorter "Grand Finale".  ~ Dusty Groove

New Music Releases: Joan Torres's All Is Fused, Bandler Ching, WAAN and Willie Morris

Joan Torres's All Is Fused 

Over the years All Is Fused has explored new musical territories in order to expand their skills and find new forms of expression. Throughout this journey they have gone against standard, expected musical forms and explored outside their comfort zones, discovering new ways to write music that might lead to fresh sounds. However, the All Is Fused philosophy is not one to reject ideas, but of integrating them. Therefore, for this record, the ensemble decided to embrace these forms as a grounding device from which to innovate. Embrace Form is an album that explores the relationship between experimental instrumental music and popular music by leveraging familiar forms and enhancing or appropriating them to fit the ensemble’s expressive style. Tracks featuring common musical forms or compositional techniques such as verse-chorus (Explode), vamps (Friends, Memories, Loops), canon (Crystalline) are present as much as improvisational forms that are open (Cotati Reset) or that follow call-and-response patterns (Caribbean Mountains). These familiar forms are then modified to bring listeners something familiar with a twist. Take for example, Crystalline, where a common form such as a canon, which usually includes repeated motifs with added layers, in this case grows not just vertically (additional layers), but also horizontally (additional bars that add to the initial motifs). All Is Fused leverages conventional forms to keep moving beyond the constraints of current fusion, eschewing conventions and showcasing virtuoso playing without becoming self-indulgent. Embrace Form adds to the sextet’s body of work and continues to expand their sonic horizons creating enjoyable textures that can appeal to fans of progressive Jazz and non-fans alike.

Bandler Ching – Coaxial

Hailing from Brussels, Bandler Ching is a creation of musical ideas from composer and saxophonist Ambroos De Schepper (Kosmo Sound, Azmari and Mos Ensemble). Flawlessly blending contemporary jazz, electronics, trap, hip-hop and global beats, the sound is based around the freedom of expression and improvisation and performed with astounding conviction. With the help of Alan Van Rompuy (Azertyklavierwerke), Federico Pecoraro (ECHT!) and Olivier Penu (Kel Assouf), the four idiosyncratic artists come together to express their musical identity to dazzling effect. A hypnotic trip through each band members’ musical fantasies, the band have their roots in jazz. “We start from Jazz and we give it our own attitude with improvisation and a lot of freedom and eventually mix it with influences such as electronics, beats, hip-hop etc,” says De Schepper. From the free-spirited beauty of ‘You Call It’ and pulsating, loose beats of ‘Awpril’ to the luminous ‘Dag na Naamdag’ inspired by warm winter memories and wild summer dreams, De Schepper gives the sax a new place in its musical sphere. The album title refers to the band members' various musical influences that coalesce around one artistic centre. That centre is ‘Coaxial’ – a distinct sound with a clear identity, yet versatile and difficult to catergorise. Elsewhere, the bass-heavy ‘RoodGroen’ features Vieze Meisje (performer Maya Mertens) while the sonoric mayhem of ‘Smooch’ mutates without border – mischievous, dynamic and unpredictable at the same time. ‘Rave Fever’ is rich cataclysm of sound and rhythm while the intriguing ‘You Have Got Me’ and album closer ‘Kitsune’ showcase the magnetic soundings of Bandler Ching.

WAAN - Kink

WAAN represents the musical marriage of seasoned saxophonist Bart Wirtz and keyboard wiz Emiel van Rijthoven. As a pair of self-confessed tech nerds hailing from The Netherlands, their bromance was a slow burning one, but nevertheless their eventual collaboration fulfilled a dream that they’d both held close since first working together back in 2010. KinK is the first single to be taken from the duo’s forthcoming debut album Echo Echo. The piece sprung to life during one of Bart and Emiel’s final recording sessions for the album, whilst working with session musicians Kasper Kalf (double bass), Jimmi Hueting (drums) as well as Oscar de Jong and Lucas Meijers who contributed to percussion. The recording started with a simple line on a Maestro Effect, using a tape echo, and what you hear is a very natural and easy Dr John voodoo style groove that came from the first two takes. The pair then took what they had of this very instinctive performance to Emiel’s studio and added harmonics, synth sounds, samples and a very percussive distorted clavinet to the groove. The key to this evocative and wondrous piece of music was to create percussive sounds from harmonic instruments and conjure up something otherworldly. With influences as disparate as Floating Points, BadBadNotGood and Eddie Harris, Echo Echo is far more complex than just being a dance music influenced jazz record. Co-producer Oscar de Jong, of Kraak & Smaak fame, encouraged the pair to play freely as part of a jazz group and then add the electronic elements. As a result the album owes as much to Duke Ellington and Lalo Schiffrin as it does NERD and The Eurythmics!

Willie Morris - Conversation Starter

A definite conversation starter from tenorist Willie Morris – a rich-voiced player who steps out here in a set of mostly original material that really knocks things out of the park! Willie's got this way of wrapping his horn next to the alto of Patrick Cornelius – as the pair move things past conventional hardbop, maybe in the way that Hank Mobley or Lee Morgan were doing at Blue Note near the end of the 60s, but with a more conventional vibe as well – one that picks up plenty of energy from the rest of the group – Jon Davis on piano, Adi Meyerson on bass, and Ej Strickland on drums! There's a soaring, soulful quality to the whole thing that's wonderful – a shining moment from a leader we'll be watching in years to come – served up on titles that include "Keep Talking", "Azar", "Tina's Dream", "St Upton Hin", and "Cries", and "The Strength Of Those Who Bear The Burden". ~ Dusty Groove

“Sensual” guitar 2unes, new jazz-R&B single written and produced by two-time Grammy nominee Chris “Big Dog” Davis

The newly released single from jazz-R&B guitarist 2unes aka North Woodall, “Sensual,” is intended to provide an exotic and enchanting caress to a troubled world. Written and produced by two-time Grammy nominee, Chris “Big Dog” Davis (Will Downing, Dave Koz, Rick Braun, Gerald Albright), the gorgeous instrumental track released by 2uneswave Records features 2unes’s delicate acoustic guitar sketching a hauntingly gorgeous and alluring melody.   

Aside from 2unes’s hypnotic riff and expressive fretwork, which is the focal point of the single, Davis handled the rest of the instrumentation on “Sensual,” crafting the soothing rhythm track, lush keyboard embellishments and nuanced programming. The acoustic guitar is a bit of a departure for 2unes, who primarily wields an electric guitar. 

“When I first heard the song, I knew in my heart that I had to perform it on acoustic guitar. And the first time I played it, sheer happiness fell over me when I played the very first note. The song embodies everything I stand for, and it gave me a glimpse of the world I would like to live in,” said the Atlanta-based Woodall, who released an accompanying video for “Sensual,” which can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmOagxC4QBE.

2unes released “Sensual” as an offering with a greater purpose.

“Sensual to me means gratification of the senses. With all the negative things going on in the world today, from homelessness to wars, I felt that a positive vibe is needed now more than ever. If I can bring some fun and happiness to even one person, then this song will achieve its intended goal. It’s about creating more smiles than tears,” said Woodall, who hopes the single will cross over into other markets. 

Woodall discovered the guitar when he was eleven years old. Growing up in Dayton, Ohio, mesmerized by guitarists Ernie Isley, Carlos Santana and Joe Walsh, he was an ardent fan of R&B, funk, rock and pop music. Woodall played in a couple of local bands before relocating to Atlanta. He has been recording as 2unes since 2005, uniquely blending jazz, R&B, hip-hop and soul music on his debut disc, “Hot & Cool.” Three more albums followed, spawning an array of singles, including the title track from 2022’s “Still Hanging.” In concert, he has shared the stage with Brian McKnight, Lakeside, Ohio Players, Roger Troutman and Zapp, Roy Ayers, Millie Jackson, Tom Browne and Will Downing.

2unes is working on his fifth full-length album that he aims to release in the first quarter of 2024. Before then will be another single that he created with Davis. His gift is taking compositions and using his guitar to illuminate them, instilling positive feelings of hope and joy.

“I propelled it from the paper it was written on, to the stings of my guitar, and then onto the world for all to enjoy.”

Saxophonist Marike van Dijk Presents STRANDED

Dutch saxophonist, composer, and arranger Marike van Dijk has divided her time between New York, the Netherlands and Australia in recent years. Her previous album, The Stereography Project Featuring Jeff Taylor and Katell Keineg, and was released in 2018, her large ensemble recording, The Stereography Project, was released in 2015, and her debut was a quintet recording titled Patches Of Blue, released in 2010. Stranded marks van Dijk’s fourth recording to feature her compositions and her second album for Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records; to be released worldwide on September 22, 2023.

An important part of the concept for Stranded was van Dijk’s exploration of open structures. She explains, “I needed a group of open-minded musicians that would be into collaborating and improvising quite freely. There’s a lot of space for the musicians to play around with and I needed musicians who would be comfortable with that, because I really wanted to create an environment for these artists to freely reveal themselves. I tried to write a balance of open structures and also a few compositions with more defined forms and information. In my work I always draw from different musical genres, as I think many from my generation of musicians do, and I utilize collaboration and improvisation as a way to connect players and ideas.”

Van Dijk also needed an open mind, and as the album title, Stranded, hints at, the artist originally planned to spend a year to start her PhD in composition in Australia followed by travels to New York and Europe, and found herself marooned in subtropical Brisbane, the third city of Australia, during the Covid-19 Global Pandemic. Much of this music was composed and conceptualized during this time as part of her PhD, focused on collaborative practices and abstract composition techniques.

Commissioned by the North Sea Jazz Festival in 2020 as the Festival’s annual commission, van Dijk’s concept for Stranded developed over the following two years until its delayed premiere at the Festival in 2022. During this time van Dijk had to use her imagination to remember and feel some semblance of the joy of performing with her friends and collaborators, and connecting with each other and the audience. Van Dijk elaborated, “with this music I tried to stay as close as possible to what it feels like to be part of a live performance: the album was recorded in a live setting and produced to give listeners the sensation of sitting on stage, right there, with us.”

In terms of concept for the music and compositions, composing for this specific ensemble came to be central to Stranded. The musicians were chosen specifically for their musical personalities. Van Dijk said of this factor, “their personalities were a big influence on the whole process, not only during the performances, but during the composing process I was already imagining how the musicians would play the pieces and what that would sound like.”

A versatile musician, van Dijk has performed and toured with many ensembles; European Jazz Orchestra, Jazzmania Big Band, Konrad Koselleck Big Band, New Rotterdam Jazz Orchestra, as well as numerous smaller groups. Prior to moving to Australia in 2019, van Dijk worked as a research assistant at the Antwerp Royal Conservatoire (Belgium) and was part of the saxophone faculty at the Institut fur Music in Osnabrück, Germany for several years. Additionally, she taught workshops and classes at Codarts Rotterdam, Groningen Conservatory, Royal conservatory the Hague and Amsterdam Conservatory.

Perhaps pianist/arranger Gil Goldstein puts it best when describing van Dijk’s music (specifically The Stereography Project), “van Dijk’s writing has an organic quality; balanced and seems to find ratios and combinations that are based in nature. I find her music very intuitive and feel that she has great honesty. This record will be just another step in a long career of composing.”

Long-Running Canadian Jazz, Blues & Gospel Label Justin Time Records Celebrates 40th Anniversary

The long-running Canadian jazz, blues and gospel label Justin Time Records celebrates its 40th Anniversary and releases 40 Years of Justin Time Records, a compilation of 40-songs from quintessential releases past and present.

Founded in Montreal in 1983 by Jim West, Justin Time began its renowned history by releasing the first recording from jazz pianist and 2023 Canadian Music Hall of Fame Inductee Oliver Jones. Now 40 years later with over 600 recordings released by some of the finest musicians in the world, Canada’s premiere jazz, blues and gospel label celebrates this milestone as an homage to the passion and diversity that are the cornerstones of the label. The Anniversary Collection features selections from the label’s roster past and present, including Oliver Jones, Ranee Lee, the Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir, Diana Krall, David Murray, Oscar Peterson, Susie Arioli, Frank Marino, Christine Jensen, David Clayton-Thomas, Hank Jones, Halie Loren, Paul Bley and many more.

Label founder Jim West reflects, “It’s hard to believe over 40 years have passed since the birth of Justin Time Records and the launch of its first recording, the Oliver Jones Trio ‘Live at Biddles Jazz & Ribs.’ Over the label’s history we are looking at more than 600 album releases with some of the best musicians in the business. It is so important for me to note, and very proudly so, that our first three signings, Oliver Jones, Ranee Lee and Trevor W. Payne and the Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir are still with us today and great friends with whom we talk daily. Other musical talents such as the late great Oscar Peterson, Kenny Wheeler, Paul Bley, Kenny Werner, Diana Krall, World Saxophone Quartet, Fontella Bass, David Murray, Billy Bang, Susie Arioli, Bryan Lee, Matt Herskowitz, Carol Welsman, Dave Van Ronk, Rob McConnell, David Clayton-Thomas, Frank Marino and Hank Jones amongst many others have blessed the label with their talents. Added to this list are a new generation of artists such Emma Frank, Katherine Penfold, Halie Loren and Laura Anglade to name a few. How lucky we have been.”

In 2016, the Montreal International Jazz Festival presented Jim West with the Bruce Lundvall Award, named after the late American Blue Note executive and presented to a person from the media or music industry who has made a significant contribution to the development of jazz. In 2018, he received the Builder Award from the Canadian Independent Music Association’s CIMA Award, and in 2022 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada for his contributions to the Canadian recording industry, and for supporting and championing our country’s talent.

Saxophonist Ron Blake Releases His First New Album in 15 Years with "Mistaken Identity"

Ron Blake marks his return to the recording studio after 15 years’ absence by reuniting with an old friend for the October 13 release of Mistaken Identity on his own label 7tēn33 Productions. The tenor and baritone saxophonist partners for the record with esteemed guitarist Bobby Broom (who also serves as producer), enlisting as well a superb rhythm section with bassists Nat Reeves or Reuben Rogers and drummer Kobie Watkins on a smart, heartfelt collection of nine tracks that include band member originals, a standard or two, and compositions by jazz greats that have personal meaning for Blake.

Recorded in two sessions—in 2018 and 2021, pre- and post-pandemic—Mistaken Identity is something of a sampler platter that reintroduces Blake to the jazz-listening public. Best known for his nearly 20-year membership in the Saturday Night Live Band and his work in the Grammy-winning Christian McBride Big Band, Blake nevertheless “suffers from a case of mistaken identity because he is underrepresented as the leading tenor saxophone stylist that he is,” writes Broom in the liner notes. “This album makes for an almost undeniable suggestion that all this should finally change.”

The music on the album bears out Broom’s strong words. Blake offers a stunning slow burn on the opener, Duke Pearson’s “Is That So?”; suffuses Broom’s “No Hype Blues” with soulful flavor; puts elegant tenderness into Johnny Griffin’s “When We Were One” and his own “Grace Ann” (the latter with a beautiful open tone on baritone sax); and delivers the Benny Golson standard “Stablemates” with seasoned wisdom. He also pays tribute to his Caribbean roots with the calypso title track, a tune by his fellow Virgin Islander Victor Provost, and tips his hat to his idol Sonny Rollins with the saxophone colossus’s “Allison.”

Key to the album is the profound chemistry between Blake and Broom. The saxophonist and guitarist have collaborated for more than a quarter century, and here they show their hand-in-glove understanding of each other’s ideas and techniques. Add in the support of a superlative rhythm section, and Mistaken Identity truly brings Blake’s gifts as a bandleader into sharp and unmistakable relief.

Ron Blake was born September 7, 1965 in Santurce, a district of San Juan, Puerto Rico. He grew up in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, with a father who loved jazz, and passed that passion down to the youngest of his four children. First trying his hand at guitar as an 8-year-old, Blake by 10 had settled on the saxophone, playing alto at school. By 14 he’d come far enough on the instrument to attend Michigan’s famous Interlochen Arts Camp for three straight summers.

His success in the Arts Camp led Blake to enroll at Interlochen’s Arts Academy, where he completed his last two years of high school before attending Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. It was in nearby Chicago where Blake encountered and began working with Bobby Broom, who after initial success in New York had established himself on the Windy City’s fabled jazz scene.

Aside from a brief return to St. Thomas, Blake remained in Chicago until 1990, when he took a position at the University of South Florida; two years after that, he made his way to New York and found himself in the quintet of the young trumpet prodigy Roy Hargrove. He also worked with Art Farmer, Me’shell Ndegeocello, and the multicultural ensemble Yerba Buena, as well as releasing his debut album as a leader, Up Front & Personal, in 2000. (He made three more albums in the 2000s for the Mack Avenue label.) In 2005, an audition with the Saturday Night Live Band led to Blake’s landing his own seat in NBC Studio 8H; he’s been at SNL ever since, taking home multiple Emmys in the process.

In addition, Blake has earned three Grammys as a member of the Christian McBride Big Band; been a regular member of the Mingus Big Band and Love Rocks NYC House Band; taught for over 15 years at the Juilliard School; completed a master’s degree in jazz studies at NYU; and founded the Caribbean Jazz Institute at the Snow Pond Center for the Arts in Sidney, Maine.

“Mistaken Identity is the culmination of my efforts to be true to myself in the creative process,” says Blake. “I have always maintained that paying homage to those I admire and who have supported me on my journey is a great point of reference in my recordings. This by no means limits my viewpoint and output to what is traditional or considered past tense, but more so an effort to celebrate the timelessness of so many great artists who made it possible for me to explore and create this great and varied form of music in the present.”

Ron Blake will be performing a CD release show at Dizzy’s, New York City, on Wednesday 11/1 with Bobby Broom, guitar; Reuben Rogers, bass; and Kobie Watkins, drums. 

Matt Cooper recording again as Outside releases new EP ‘A New Beginning’

Matt Cooper, recording again as Outside, makes a surprise return following a 20-year creative hiatus to release stunningly beautiful four-track EP ‘A New Beginning’, which comes out today on Dorado Records.

Studio mastermind and prodigiously gifted multi-instrumentalist, writer and arranger Matt Cooper, aka Outside, has been a creative powerhouse from the time he founded Outside in 1993, to now where he has been Musical Director of Incognito and collaborated on the STR4TA project with Incognito’s Bluey and Gilles Peterson as co-writer/producer/performer on four new tracks from the forthcoming album, including current STR4TA track ‘Lazy Days’ featuring Emma-Jean Thackray.

Outside releases this four-track EP of cinematic, jazz electronica, ahead of forthcoming sixth studio album ‘Almost Out’ which will be released in Spring 2023. ‘A New Beginning’ sees Cooper playing his first instrument, drums, as well as keyboards and most of the instruments. The music was recorded and completed between the 2020 lockdown and creatively assisted and co-produced with Valentina Pahor, in London and Portugal.

The new EP juxtaposes the percussive and the melancholy to hauntingly beautiful effect, drawing on 20 years in the company of soul and jazz legends, and adding a dash of Philip Glass and Steve Reich minimalism. Writing and playing solo, as he first did in 1993, Cooper has come full circle to showcase his unique musical sensibility once again as Outside.

The result is a work of clean lines and pared-down elegance across four tracks. Opening track ‘A New Beginning’ sees slick downtempo beats and keys meet Lo-Fi vibes and basslines with seamless touches of jazz instrumentation. ‘Searching, Finding’ is a minimalist glitchy, electronic soundscape that acts as a backdrop to the hauntingly emotive slide guitar of Francesco Sales and Cooper’s lush keys. ‘Navigating’ is a cinematic feast for the ears, with a deeply yearning, searching groove, and ‘Flying High’ closes the EP and is a soaring, exhilarating, yet minimal sonic spectacle that sees Cooper play his finest syncopated and off-beat drums to take the listener home.

‘I’ve evolved the mixture of modern and retro,’ Cooper says. ‘That’s the Outside sound.’

Matt Cooper was a key figure in the music revolution that rebooted jazz with digital beats in 1990s London. Recorded under the name Outside, his 1993 debut album ‘Almost In’ marked him out when it was released on experimental label Dorado — a contemporary of Talkin’ Loud, Acid Jazz, Mo’Wax and Ninja Tune that was founded by Ollie Buckwell and celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. ‘I wanted to make quality records that would stand the test of time,’ says Buckwell. ‘and I was blown away by Matt’s talent.’         

Mixmag pronounced its second album ‘The Rough & the Smooth’ "the best record of the last two years", Outside released three further albums: ‘Discoveries’ (1997), ‘Suspicious’ (1998) and ‘Out of the Dark’ (2001). Cooper joined cult UK soul act Incognito as musical director and went onto work as MD and instrumentalist for legendary artists including: Chaka Khan; Jocelyn Brown; Whitney Houston; David Sylvian; Paul Weller; Terry Callier; Leon Ware; Marlene Shaw; Freddie Hubbard, and Ronnie Laws.

Eri Yamamoto Trio - ¨A Woman With A Purple Wig¨

Yamamoto, who began writing music at the age of 8, describes composition as a daily habit, “like a diary, very related to what I experience or feel.” Keep that in mind as you listen to the seven pieces that comprise A Woman With A Purple Wig, her second recording for Mahakala Music, on which the veteran pianist, a melody-maker par excellence, presents her response to the dislocations and traumas of life in locked-down New York City following the onset of COVID-19 in March 2020.

“After the former President’s remarks on the ‘China virus,’ many Asians, especially women, were targeted,” recalls Yamamoto, born in Osaka, raised in Kyoto, now a midtown Manhattan resident. One day, a month or two after lockdown, she rode her electric bicycle to an outdoor session downtown, then waited for the other musicians. “Suddenly a huge guy snatched my helmet out of the air and said, ‘You fucking Chinese messed up my life and the world’ – then he stepped on my backpack with my small keyboard inside. I’m a strong New Yorker – fortunately, my instrument was okay and I did the session. I’d never had that kind of experience. To me, New York welcomes people from all over the world. Of course, I’m Japanese, but I never thought of myself as an Asian – and all of a sudden, that’s how some people see me. I got very scared. For two years, I went out only once a month, and I bought a purple wig to hide myself when I had to go outside, along with big sunglasses, a mask, and a hat.”

As always in her life, Yamamoto expressed her feelings through the medium of notes and tones. In a concentrated burst of creative activity, she penned five instrumental compositions and, for the first time, two songs with lyrics – “A Woman With A Purple Wig” and “Colors Are Beautiful.” Then she made a demo on her iPhone. At a rehearsal for an imminent recording session with bass giant William Parker, a dear friend who has availed himself of her talents on nine recordings since 2002, she asked Parker to listen. She had a singer in mind, but Parker immediately suggested that Yamamoto sing it herself.

“He told me, ‘Your voice is more connected to the lyrics you wrote; this is your experience and your voice has the honesty of a child singing,’” she says. “I wasn’t sure – but then I decided, yeah, why not? I want to speak out to the world what I felt. And I did it with my trio.”

A Woman With A Purple Wig is Yamamoto’s eleventh trio album, and her seventh with bassist David Ambrosio and drummer Ikuo Takeuchi, who’ve developed their breathe-as-one simpatico over close to two decades of a three-nights-a-week sinecure at the Greenwich Village boite Arthur’s Tavern. She recalls meeting Takeuchi – her drummer-of-choice on gigs and albums since 1998 – when both attended the New School in the late 1990s. A trained classical pianist during her years in Japan, Yamamoto had “almost zero exposure to jazz” until undergoing a “conversion experience” after hearing Tommy Flanagan’s trio at Tavern on the Green on a visit to New York in 1995.

“I knew Mal Waldron’s song ‘Left Alone,’ and he was playing at Sweet Basil the week I got to New York,” Yamamoto says. “After the first set, I asked Mal Waldron to help me to find a school or teacher to teach me jazz. He introduced me to Reggie Workman, who was playing bass; Reggie wrote on a paper napkin the address of the New School, ‘tomorrow, 1 o’clock’ and ‘you’ll be okay.’” For her audition, Yamamoto played a blues and “Autumn Leaves,” which “I’d transcribed, mixed up, and memorized.” She was accepted.

During Yamamoto’s three years at the New School, Workman consistently offered encouragement and sage advice. “Reggie told me trio was perfect for my style, and to find a bass player and drummer in school,” she says. “While I was walking around, I heard Ikuo playing a session and loved what I heard, so I asked him. It was fortuitous, because that was his last day at the New School. I got a restaurant gig every Friday. Reggie told me, ‘Just play. Make mistakes. Jazz is music to play for real people, not a practice room music.’ I didn’t have experience, but I have perfect pitch. If I hear it, I can re-play. So I was imitating people. People thought, ‘Ah, Eri has zero experience in jazz, but she is not fooling around.’ At first everything was written and messy, but after a few years, I felt pretty comfortable. 

“I thought it was important to learn bebop vocabulary and the blues to have a good foundation to express my music – so I focused on that. But I was thinking that, as a Japanese in New York, trying to play like a musician who grew up in America is not the real me. I was wondering what I can do. Then I went to a festival at the old Knitting Factory, where everyone from Cecil Taylor and William Parker to Wynton Marsalis was playing. I heard a trio with Paul Motian, Gary Peacock and Paul Bley, who I was not familiar with. I felt so relieved. I didn’t know this is also called jazz. Bley’s improvisation was sometimes folky, sometimes bluesy – such a mixture. I found the similarities what I really hear in music and really want to pursue.”

You can hear snippets and murmurs of the vocabularies and syntaxes of the aforementioned refracted in Yamamoto’s playing – elegant and primal, nuanced and urgent, endlessly melodic and rhythmically piquant, always oriented to collective imperatives – throughout the proceedings. But the sound, as throughout Yamamoto’s 20-years as a recording artist, is uniquely her own, bearing out yet again Herbie Hancock’s encomium, “She’s found her own voice.”

COOKIN’ WITH JAWS AND THE QUEEN: THE LEGENDARY PRESTIGE COOKBOOK ALBUMS

Craft Recordings celebrates the centennial of Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis with a brand-new, four-album collection, featuring the tenor saxophonist’s incendiary 1958 Cookbook albums with organist Shirley Scott. Set for release on February 3rd in 180-gram vinyl 4-LP, 4-CD, and digital configurations, Cookin’ with Jaws and the Queen: The Legendary Prestige Cookbook Albums compiles four classic soul-jazz albums: Cookbook, Vol. 1, Cookbook, Vol. 2, Cookbook, Vol. 3, and Smokin’, all of which were recorded in stereo by the celebrated engineer, Rudy Van Gelder.

Cookin’ with Jaws and the Queen has been newly remastered from the original analog tapes by the GRAMMY®-winning engineer, Bernie Grundman. Produced by Nick Phillips, the all-analog 4-LP edition (limited to 5,000 copies worldwide) is pressed on 180-gram vinyl at RTI, while each LP is individually housed in a tip-on jacket, featuring the original Prestige Records album artwork. The 4-CD and digital editions feature three bonus tracks that were recorded in the 1958 sessions but didn’t appear on the original LP releases: “Avalon,” “Willow Weep For Me,” and an alternate take of “But Beautiful.” Rounding out the vinyl and CD packages is a deluxe booklet featuring recording session photos and offering new, in-depth liner notes by jazz journalist Willard Jenkins, who serves as the artistic director for the DC Jazzfest.

When tenor saxophonist Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and Hammond B-3 organist Shirley Scott entered Rudy Van Gelder’s hallowed Hackensack, NJ studio in 1958, it was clear that something special was about to take place. For roughly three years, Scott and Davis had been at the forefront of the soul-jazz sound, setting the gold standard for the tenor sax/organ combo. At 36, “Lockjaw” (also known as “Jaws”), was already a veteran of the New York City jazz scene, having spent much of the 1940s playing in the bands of Lucky Millinder, Andy Kirk, and Cootie Williams. But the horn player was also a stylistic chameleon, who straddled the line between the classic big band era and the emerging sounds of hard bop.

24-year-old Shirley Scott, meanwhile, was a rising talent from Philadelphia, who stood out as one of the few female musicians in the male-dominated world of jazz. Scott, who would soon become known as the “Queen of the Organ,” formed a creative partnership with Davis in 1955, and made her earliest recordings alongside the horn player. By 1958, they were a well-oiled duo. In his liner notes, Jenkins underscores this magical pairing with a quote from saxophonist James Carter: “Every successful artistic partnership has members that truly work together in simpatico towards a common goal, which in this case is groovin’ and swingin’ their listening audience beyond good health! [Scott] never fails…to provide the perfect underpinning for Lockjaw to either soar above or to dig into to achieve the ultimate goal of a great musical encounter every time. Lockjaw really listens to Shirley and takes his cues particularly on ballads, but she’ll put some gentle, intense fire under him on up tempos and inspire the best out of Lockjaw.” Jenkins adds, “This is classic Black vernacular jazz.”

Accompanying Davis and Scott in the studio was multi-reedist Jerome Richardson, who played the flute, baritone sax, and tenor sax. Bassist George Duvivier and drummer Arthur Edgehill rounded out the talented lineup. The sessions, which took place on June 20th, September 12th, and December 5th, 1958, were captured by a 34-year-old Rudy Van Gelder at his Hackensack studio, while Prestige Records’ Bob Weinstock and Esmond Edwards served as producers.

The repertoire that comprises four albums’ worth of material is a delicious combination of Davis-Scott originals and jazz standards. The Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis Cookbook, Vol. 1, originally released in June 1958, features several highlights, including the bluesy radio hit, “In the Kitchen.” Clocking in at just under 13 minutes, the mid-tempo, Johnny Hodges-penned track offers plenty of time for each musician to showcase their talents. Ballad “But Beautiful,” is another standout track which, Jenkins notes, is bolstered by “Lockjaw’s opulently expressive tone…[and] his beautifully legato, conversational solo.” Scott’s solo, he adds, is “soul personified in the keys.”

The momentum continues with The Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis Cookbook, Vol. 2, released in December 1958, which features interpretations of the Hoagy Carmichael-Mitchell Parish standard, “Stardust,” as well as originals like “Skillet” and opener “The Rev.” The latter piece, as the title conveys, features an expressive, conversational delivery between the musicians, as if between a preacher and his parishioners.

Cookbook, Vol. 3, which dropped in 1960, features such highlights as the George and Ira Gershwin classic, “Strike Up the Band,” the Shirley Scott original “The Goose Hangs High,” and the reflective “My Old Flame,” which Jenkins remarks, “elicits the kind of wistful posture from Jaws that one might expect from the lament of a love lost, befitting its title. Ms. Scott enters as if embodying that lost love’s farewell—‘See ya later, baby.’”

The collection concludes with Smokin’, an album that is also culled from the 1958 sessions but was originally released in 1964. The confident set finds the group jamming on originals like “Smoke This,” “High Fry,” and the self-titled “Jaws,” as well as such classics as Johnny Burke-Arthur Johnston’s “Pennies from Heaven,” Edgar Sampson’s “Blue Lou,” and the George Forrest-Robert Wight tune, “It’s a Blue World.” The latter two tracks, Jenkins notes, exemplify Davis’ unorthodox approach to balladry. “Jaws consistently displays a slightly vigorous attitude towards ballads, rarely actually luxuriating in the moment. His balladic immersion is more that of someone who’s got places to go, people to see, food to cook; nonetheless his reverence for a good ballad is no less than his peers, it’s just that he constantly sounds ready for a more purposeful stroll rather than a casual linger.”

Davis and Scott certainly did have plenty to accomplish, following these phenomenal sessions. The two musicians would continue to collaborate through the end of the decade, recording such albums as Jaws in Orbit and Bacalao (both released in 1959), as well as Misty (1963). Yet, despite the popularity of their work together, the artists went their separate ways, with Davis moving away entirely from the organ/tenor sound that he and Scott made famous. Scott soon joined forces with her husband, tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, and recorded dozens of sessions as a leader during her lengthy career. Davis, meanwhile, would continue to toe the line between small group soul-jazz and the classic sounds of big bands, working with the likes of Count Basie, Kenny Clarke, Gene Ammons, and Johnny Griffin—with whom he’d record multiple “Tough Tenors” albums. But those five years that Davis and Scott worked together were instrumental in shaping the sound of soul-jazz—and these four delectable albums endure as some of their best work.

Eli Wallace's pieces & interludes

Eli Wallace's first studio solo piano album –– pieces & interludes –– is a collection of four pieces (compositions) and three interludes in juxtaposition with each other. The pieces developed through intensive practice with various piano preparations that began before the pandemic. As recording studios shut their doors, the project stalled until it was safe to record again. The pieces were re-developed, reworked, and re-conceptualized until they were ready to be recorded in May 2021 by sound engineer Michael Coleman.

Each piece materialized through a process-based compositional approach, where specific preparations informed the musical material. In turn, the content influenced the further development and refining of the preparations. This back-and-forth method continued up until the recording session. These pieces came into being over time; therefore, they are unequivocally compositions due to the elements that became concretized and established through the process. However, this music is still wholly improvised (there are no scores); the pre-planned musical architecture provides a basic structure for the type of preparations and morphology of the works, but certain elements are still indeterminate. Each performance of these pieces would have a particular shape and arc that are exceedingly similar, but note and sound choices, specific rhythmic placement, dynamic gestures, and even song length would be slightly different each iteration.

The specific preparations congenital in each piece stand out due to targeted recording and mixing techniques and decisions, using different mics and sound designs for each one. Generally, for the pieces, the mix highlighted an intimate sound using close mics, putting the listener in direct contact with the piano strings:

piece 1 focuses on the low frequencies of the instrument, and the mix highlights this deep reverberation.

piece 2 is tactile, and therefore it was recorded and mixed as though the listener were literally inside the piano, adjacent to the action transpiring above the strings.

piece 3 centers around horrific screeching sounds and these high frequencies are emphasized, grating the cochlear organs.

piece 4 is essentially a percussion ensemble within the piano, and the sound design separates and highlights each of these variegated noises.

The interludes are spliced sections of music selected contiguously from a much longer work (28 minutes) centered on pure improvisation. These shorter sections are used as transitional material throughout the album, guiding the listener between the pieces. The preparations for the interludes include one preparational component from each of the four pieces, thus unifying the album's content in a macro sensibility. The approach is also different, relying more on playing notes on the keyboard with the entire piano interior prepared with objects that alter the instrument's sound when one plays a pitch. The sound engineer and producer Michael Coleman mixed the interludes with a "far-off" feeling using different room mics, thus taking the listener out of the piano for a few minutes before dropping them back into the intensity and close sonic intimacy of the next piece. The pieces and the interludes were connected seamlessly without track breaks, stitched together through cross-fading or layering to keep the momentum and energy churning. This decision leads the listener to hear the work in one sitting, maintaining the performative energy. It's not until the end of piece 4 that we finally find a conclusion. However, piece 3 is an outlier, separated from the album's surrounding material through silence before and after. It is necessary due to its abrasive sonic quality and to provide differentiation from the other transitions.

All technicalities aside, the work is about Wallace's relationship to the piano, as he invites the audience to share and revel in the experience. A tremendous amount of movement is involved in actuating the amalgam of sounds inherent to playing piano in this manner. Wallace beckons listeners to share this journey with him, to put people's ears inside the piano to hear what he hears while he's playing, and to imagine the physicality of the movements needed to make these sounds. In so doing, Wallace shares his relationship with the instrument in the most honest and intimate way possible. Through meditative passages, joyfully driving rhythmic and melodic tunes, and jarring sounds expressing the horror and depravity that it is to be human, he is offering an honest and vulnerable version of himself as an artist and human being. Consequently, this recording is a reified artifact about Wallace's life up to this point, expressed through his love of the piano. 

Trombonist/Composer Marshall Gilkes Presents: Cyclic Journey

Grammy nominated trombonist and composer Marshall Gilkes has a singular and distinct voice on the trombone, one that simultaneously expresses beauty, virtuosity, the raw spontaneity of improvisation fused with the elegant, stately architecture of classical music. From playing lead trombone with The Vanguard Orchestra, to performing with The Maria Schneider Orchestra, the Slide Monsters Trombone Quartet, and leading his own projects, producing six critically-acclaimed albums thus far. Gilkes is also a prolific composer, most recently contributing a stunning set of compositions to the WDR Big Band, titled “Always Forward.” In short, the man is a musician’s musician who can do it all. 

Following up his essential album with the WDR Big Band, Köln, and his 2020 release, Waiting To Continue, Marshall Gilkes latest coup de maître is a stunningly beautiful and captivating suite of music, titled Cyclic Journey, available on September 30. On Cyclic Journey Gilkes uncovers and explores the elements of his own journey. “I wrote the music for this album in March and April of 2022, but I’ve had this idea – to bring these two worlds together – for quite some time,” Gilkes explains. “And in terms of the theme, it really came to light through reflection on what’s most familiar to me. That’s how I arrived at the idea to write a soundtrack to my daily external and internal existence.” Gilkes’ daily existence means being able to deliver on a very high level in a multitude of musical situations and partnerships, which he does with a quite uncommon flexibility, and command of his instrument; and taking care of his family as a dedicated father and husband.

The ensemble on Cyclic Journey is an accomplished and unique band, and they bring Gilkes’ vision to life in remarkable ways. Pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Johnathan Blake could be thought of as a modern day version of “the rhythm section,” so cohesive and powerful is their union (as many know, the original “rhythm section” being Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums). Integrated with this dream quartet, is a brass octet comprised of a who’s who of classical heavyweights, including trumpeters Brandon Ridenour (of Canadian Brass fame), Ethan Bensdorf (from the New York Philharmonic), and the omnipresent Tony Kadleck (a much in demand lead player in the Big Apple), horn player Adam Unsworth (Professor of Horn at the University of Michigan and a former member of the Philadelphia Orchestra), the legendary Joseph Alessi (longstanding Principal Trombone in the New York Philharmonic), bass trombonist Nick Schwartz (from the New York City Ballet), euphonium ace Demondrae Thurman (Chair of the Brass Department at Indiana University), and king of the tuba, Marcus Rojas, who has held down the low end for everybody from Henry Threadgill to the Metropolitan Opera. “I feel like with this project it’s not just about the combination of two groups or ideas, but the musicians themselves. Linda’s sound on the bass is just so incredibly pure. Aaron’s touch on the piano, evident, for example, in the way he takes over after that fanfare on ‘Go, Get It!,’ is beautiful. The way Johnathan plays and orchestrates everything just elevates the music. And I have the ultimate cast of characters with these brass players. I feel like I’m very lucky that I was able to bring together the perfect group of people,” says Gilkes. 

The nine movements on Cyclic Journey reflect the elements of Gilkes personal and professional life. “First Light” opens with a gentle chorale (Gilkes composes the hippest, emotive Chorales, which are featured throughout the album), capturing the optimistic mood of a quite house, very early in the morning, while the rest of the world is seemingly still sleeping. “That’s really a piece about the gears of life starting to turn at the beginning of each day,” explains Gilkes. “Up and Down” is about moving out into the world, putting things in play with a hip, understated groove. “The Calm” is an aural depiction of one being able to catch their breath, and on this movement we hear the perfect integration of jazz quartet with classical brass octet in all its glory. Contrasting “The Calm,” is “Go Get It!,” a call to action, the fanfare an announcement of great things to come. After the lovely serenity of “Respite” our hearts are racing again with “Beat The Clock,” which is about having too much to do, and not enough time to do it! Check out “Genre Battles,” which offers contrasting brass octet sections against the jazz quartet absolutely burning over Rhythm Changes, demonstrating, to great effect, Gilkes’ impartial love for these idioms. “I’m honestly someone who adores classical brass playing, but also loves jazz,” says Gilkes. “Musings,” and “Cyclic Journey,” are the resolution and the afterglow, expressing joy and satisfaction, and two examples of Gilkes’ gorgeous sound, his gift as a composer, and his melodicism. The bonus track, worth the price of admission alone!, is one final bow to brass grandeur, as Gilkes and his fellow horn men bring down the house with “Sin Filtro,” (Unfiltered) which boasts some of the leader’s signatures – extreme register jumps, strong melodies, sophisticated harmonies, rhythmic intensity – it’s a Spanish-tinged stunner that spotlights this unbelievable collection of slide and valve virtuosos. – Dan Bilawsky