Ember features saxophonist/trumpeter Caleb Wheeler Curtis, bassist Noah Garabedian and drummer Vincent Sperrazza

The meaning of August in March, the title of the third album from the Brooklyn-based collective trio Ember, doesn’t allow for easy interpretation. Is it a lament over the accelerating pace of modern life? A protest against climate change? Simply a bit of lyrical wordplay, or an intentionally obscure puzzle? It could be any of those things, or all at once – Ember isn’t telling. But the mere fact that the phrase is so evocative and open-ended, an invitation to creative examination, may be more to the point. Those are, after all, among the guiding principles of this adventurous and exploratory trio.

“I think that August in March is sort of confusing but at the same time oddly poetic,” ventures saxophonist and trumpeter player Caleb Wheeler Curtis. “It connects in multiple ways to things that we care about.”

Released August 11, 2023, via Orrin Evans’ Imani Records imprint, August in March itself is a vivid representation of the musical, interpersonal and community-oriented ideas that the three forward-thinking musicians that make up Ember – Curtis, bassist Noah Garabedian and drummer Vincent Sperrazza – care deeply about. As Garabedian says, “This record is the most honest representation of who we are. We've always been heading in the direction of this kind of simplicity and exploration, but compositionally this is the clearest expression of who we want to be as a band.”

Sperrazza continues, “What energizes us is the sense that we're part of a much wider moment, connected to a lot of our peers while standing on the shoulders of our mentors and inspirations.” Curtis picks up the idea, saying, “If you can call three people a community, we're trying to create this open environment where the music is shared between us and then shared with whoever's hearing it. August in March is a continuation of that journey.” 

Ember’s journey began directly through the members’ participation in that wider community of creative musicians. Sperrazza and Garabedian met at a session hosted by trombonist Jacob Garchik and bonded over a shared love of a wide spectrum of jazz styles, from the traditional to the avant-garde. The drummer recalls his first encounter with Curtis, when the saxophonist called Duke Ellington’s “In a Mellotone” at a jam session. All three became fast friends and eager collaborators, leading to the recording of New Year in 2018, released under their individual names. They’d become the collective Ember by 2021, when they invited Orrin Evans to join them for their follow-up, No One Is Any One.

In regards to Ember, “collective” has a far deeper meaning than just a co-led band where all three members contribute tunes. The music on August in March in particular seems like an object that can be looked at from any angle, any perspective, and still feel complete. The album’s eleven concise but intricate pieces defy attempts to pinpoint a leader or a soloist, instead feeling at all times like a vibrantly cooperative effort.

“Most of the process of playing together is listening to each other, allowing each other to do what we do and finding a way to fit into that,” Curtis explains. “Most of our rehearsals are spent talking and catching up and getting to know each other personally. The playing is just a continuation of that.”

That communal spirit yields an environment where all three feel comfortable taking risks. Always known as an alto saxophonist, on August in March Curtis plays the stritch (straight alto), trumpet and reed trumpet for the first time. While Garabedian and Sperrazza stick with bass and drums on the album, they’ve both been known to venture into percussion or vocals in live settings, which have also proved amenable to a number of guests open to diving into the deep end with them. Garabedian also experimented with new compositional forms on the album, including the arco-focused title track and the deceptively complex, through-composed “Easy Win,” along with the slithering, stealthy “Snake Tune.”

 “This band is a space that allows and encourages me to move forward in different directions and try new things,” Garabedian says. “In terms of vulnerability and growth, I'm certainly exploring new ways to play the bass and interact musically.”

The trio’s empathetic bonds shine through on “No Signal,” a delicate free improvisation that leads into “Easy Win,” maintaining a balance between the spontaneous and the composed that can also be found within their individual pieces. Curtis contributes four: the airy, slowly unfurling opener, “Suspense;” the bop fragment “Sink and Swim;” “Flotation Device and the Shivers,” which sustains its taut tension through on a relentless bass pulse; and the jabbing blues “Break Tune.” 

Sperrazza’s trio of pieces include the backbeat groove of “Frank in the Morning,” the labyrinthine “Angular Saxon” (the pun borrowed from Errol Garner, the serrated feel from Tim Berne), and the soulful, aptly-named “Sam Cooke.” Beyond simply being a tribute to one of the greatest R&B singers, the latter is also another mission statement for the trio.

“Sam Cooke is someone that hardcore music fanatics get really excited about,” Sperrazza explains, “but you'll also hear one of his songs at a wedding in suburban New Jersey. Not a lot of people so naturally occupy both those zones, and that's important to us. If it's good, it's for everybody.”

The Brooklyn-based collaborative trio Ember finds itself at the crossroads of musical and personal exploration, resulting in true band-hood and non-hierarchical playing. Each of the members - Caleb Wheeler Curtis (alto saxophone, trumpet), Noah Garabedian (bass), and Vincent Sperrazza (drums) - is an integral part of the NY creative music community as leader, collaborator and instigator. The trio’s music is organized but open and expressive, opening up the true freedom of improvisation, exploration, and creativity. Their 2018 debut New Year (released as Curtis+Garabedian+Sperrazza) was followed in 2021 by No One Is Any One, which also featured pianist Orrin Evans.

Richard Sears | "Appear to Fade"

Pianist and composer Richard Sears announces "Appear to Fade," unveiling a realm where the boundaries between jazz, ambient music, and tape music blur together.

Sears collaborated with Ari Chersky, who intervened in the project by editing and developing Sears’ improvisations and compositions, using magnetic tape loops and analog production tools, giving "Appear to Fade" its unique identity. While Richard played live, they built an archive of raw material: short compositions by Sears and improvisations directed by Chersky, which would later become "Appear to Fade." Over several months, the two edited down the archive, which Chersky then transformed into tape-loop samples. With a rich array of analog production tools and a penchant for unconventional tape-looping techniques, Chersky began collaging material together, in conversation with Sears, building out multi-layered soundscapes from Richard’s compositions and improvisations. Sears's performances flicker through the glistening textures and dark atmospheres of their shared musical imagination. The sounds of tape distortion, disintegration, and tape mechanics seamlessly integrate into these mosaic-compositions, intertwined with the raw acoustic piano.

The track titles offer glimpses into the influences and memories that shape Sears' musical landscape. "Manresa" echoes Richard's upbringing near the Northern California Santa Cruz coastline, evoking a sense of nostalgia and a deep connection to the natural world. The track "Tulev" pays homage to Estonian composer Toivo Tulev, with whom Richard studied choral composition, and whose music motivated some of the aesthetic aspirations driving this album. "Dolorous Interlude" alludes to Richard's previous album, "Disquiet," where Sears' use of musical space plays a prominent role. "Appear to Fade" also uniquely features the presence of the Una Corda, a one-of-a-kind keyboard instrument developed by David Klavins, known for its characteristically glassy and muted tone. "What I Meant to Say Was," the final track, is an unedited improvisation by Richard Sears on the Una Corda. This raw performance stands as a testament to Sears' spontaneous creative energy, offering a moment of pure expression amidst the mosaic assembly of the other tracks. In the final moments of a long recording day, Chersky said to Richard, "... now, just improvise a jazz standard!", to which Sears gave this performance.

The recordings for "Appear to Fade" took place weeks before Sears began transitioning from living in New York to moving to Paris. Richard attributes the turbulence and nostalgia felt in the album to the unsaid uncertainties he carried through this transitional moment. Since landing in Paris, Sears can often be heard performing electronically-rigged pianos and sample synthesizers, primarily in art galleries and non-traditional venues. In April of 2023, Sears presented a tape-loop sculptural work and two concerts at the Hatch Paris Gallery, where he continued to develop and refine the use of sampling and tape loops within his live set. The Poush art center in Paris will be presenting the first live preview of "Appear to Fade" on July 25th, 2023.

Figureight Records, under the curation of Shahzad Ismaily, will release "Appear to Fade" September 29. The album is Sears' first for the label and his fifth as a leader. Shahzad and Sears met in 2017 while performing with songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sam Amidon and the legendary avant-garde jazz drummer Andrew Cyrille. Under Ismaily's direction, the label has cultivated a history of presenting artists who skillfully carve out a space that defies traditional genre classifications. "Appear to Fade" resides on the periphery of genres while remaining rooted in Sears' musical core, which he developed through years of playing with esteemed jazz musicians such as "Tootie" Heath, Billy Hart, Ravi Coltrane, and his contemporary collaborators, including Sam Gendel, Martin Nevin, and RJ Miller. Sears' first venture into acoustic-electric piano performance came through a collaboration with composer Ethan Braun, another artist on Figureight, who composed a concerto featuring electronic and sampled scores with improvised piano for Sears. The concerto premiered at The Shed (NYC) in the summer of 2019.

Mendoza Hoff Revels (Ava Mendoza, Devin Hoff) Announce Debut Album "Echolocation" & Share Single "Diablada"

Echolocation Is the astonishing debut album from Mendoza Hoff Revels – an electric and formidable new unit led by Ava Mendoza (Unnatural Ways, Bill Orcutt, William Parker's Mayan Space Station) on guitar and Devin Hoff (Sharon Van Etten, Julia Holter, Cibo Matto) on bass. As non-characterizable as it is sharply focused, Echolocation highlights the multi-faceted nature of both Hoff and Mendoza’s playing, where moments of full-blown jazz-rock freak-outs, intricately woven riffs, and unbelievably catchy melodies, expand and meld together exceptionally.

While Mendoza and Hoff have floated around each other's musical orbits as individuals for decades, the original impetus of this group was Mendoza’s, based on the love she and Hoff shared for aggressive and polyglot electric avant-garde ensembles – artists like mid-80's Black Flag and Ornette Coleman's Prime Time bands revolutionized the way they heard music. Mendoza and Hoff split the writing of these pieces, with the sizable stamps of James Brandon Lewis on tenor sax and the John Zorn-collaborator Ches Smith on drums. The result is remarkable – 21st Century progressive rock played by punk rockers with serious improv skills and a deep jazz feel.

The inspirations for these eight tracks are just as wide-ranged as the musicians’ backgrounds in jazz, rock, and avant-garde. A carnival folk dance performed in Bolivia, in which a devil deity fights arc-angel Michael, inspired the lead single, “Diablada.” Then there’s “Babel-17,” a namesake of Samuel Delany’s novel which addresses the consciousness-altering powers of language. And of course, the recreation lounge found on deck 10 of a Galaxy-class starship, otherwise known as “Ten Forward.” However, it’s the album’s title, Echolocation, that truly gives us a glimpse of how this slew of diverse influences fit together: “Certain animals use sound to find their way through space and time by decoding sonic refractions,” Mendoza and Hoff state in the album’s liner notes. “This seems like a fitting metaphor for how music helps humans collectively decode our own experiences of our world and our lives, through the alchemy of transfigured sound.”

Echolocation was recorded by Jim Clouse at Park West Studios, Brooklyn (as was Mayan Space Station) and then masterfully mixed by John Dieterich (of Deerhoof) at his brand new studio setup. The album will be released on October 13th, 2023 via AUM Fidelity.

Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On Re-released with Brand-New 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition

In celebration of the Golden Anniversary of the iconic Marvin Gaye album Let’s Get It On, Motown/UMe is releasws digitally a revised and expanded Let’s Get It On: Deluxe Edition on August 25, 2023, three days before the album’s original release date in 1973 fifty years prior. Featuring a fascinating trove of 33 bonus tracks, 18 of them previously unreleased, the Prince of Soul’s creative explorations continued to unfold with the production of this pivotal release. Collectively, the bonus material leans into the story of Gaye’s multi-layered personal struggles during the album’s creation.

Comprised of tracks recorded during an intense six months of sessions in Los Angeles in ’73, this newly enriched Let’s Get It On: Deluxe Edition presents the album’s original eight songs alongside unheard mixes and material from all the sessions along the way, in addition to a trove of funky and fascinating instrumental tracks – and unreleased versions of the ballad recordings Marvin returned to time and again.

To further commemorate the record’s golden anniversary, the original album will be available in Dolby ATMOS. In the coming weeks, Motown/UMe will premiere new video content for select tracks, and an e-commerce-only colored vinyl edition of the original album.

After the success of What’s Going On and the following album, the proto-acid-jazz soundtrack to Trouble Man, Gaye had won Motown’s trust. The freedom was liberating but also fueled a heightened uncertainty about where to take his career. At a personal crossroads involving relocation to Los Angeles, a fraying marriage, a budding romance with Janis Hunter, who attended the initial sessions, and a driving need to experiment, Gaye found a steam valve in creating a suite of erotically charged yet emotionally vulnerable songs. But the final album lineup was drawn from a series of different sessions, resulting in a wealth of vaulted material.

Marvin’s first step in early ’73 was to seek out Ed Townsend, the artist, songwriter and producer best known for his 1950s ballad hit, “For Your Love.” He initially had Townsend guide him through ballad arrangements created especially for Marvin by arranger/pianist Bobby Scott in 1966, tracks he obsessed over for years. But these versions of the ballads, like ones Marvin recorded earlier, were left behind; the revealing, previously unreleased ’73 versions are included on the new Let’s Get It On: Deluxe Edition. (Later vocals were included on the posthumous release, Vulnerable.)

Simultaneously, sharing their mutual vulnerability, Marvin and Ed wrote new material that eventually became Side 1 of the Let’s Get It On album. 

“I’d just come out of rehab, where I’d beaten a monstrous addiction to alcohol,” the late Townsend said. “I was looking to move ahead with my life – to ‘get it on.’ Marvin grasped this completely. But he didn’t stop learning the lyrics. He bypassed superficiality, questioning where you were coming from when you composed the song. He couldn’t just sing it; he had to connect with it as deeply as he’d written it himself. 

“I witnessed the pain he was going through in his life; I was also blessed to witness the joy of an artist fully engaging with his work.”

With Townsend and veteran arranger Rene Hall, and a slew of stellar session musicians, including veteran saxophonist Plas Johnson, guitarist Melvin “Wah Wah” Ragin, jazz drummer Paul Humphrey and the Crusaders’ Wilton Felder on bass, Gaye recorded six songs, completing three, transforming the hopeful theme of what became the album’s title song into a call for spiritual sex. Again, he moved on.

Marvin reunited with David Van DePitte — the Detroit arranger who unified What’s Going On into a cohesive suite — and they delivered blazing cuts with a few of the same musicians, plus Herbie Hancock on piano, who met “Wah Wah” for the first time during these sessions and would go on to collaborate with him on several albums; guitarists John Morell, then with Shelly Manne’s band and soon a veteran of countless hits, and Richard Bennett, who became a key member of Neil Diamond’s band for nearly two decades and later produced Emmylou Harris. James Jamerson, the original Motown Funk Brother who was also new to LA, switched off on bass with Felder. Yet Marvin left those tracks behind, too. 

Nothing hung together until Motown, watching months fly by without a new Marvin Gaye record, pulled “Let’s Get It On” from the tapes and rush-released it as a single before an album was finished. Alongside new hits from Motown’s own Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson (in his solo debut), Eddie Kendricks, and Diana Ross, “Let’s Get It On” shot to No. 1 Pop (2 weeks) and R&B (6 weeks). The company’s first full year on the West Coast was proving a resounding success.

During the song’s climb to the top, Let’s Get It On the album began taking shape. Gaye built upon tracks that originated in Detroit in the fall of 1970 – the Side 2 gems “Come Get To This,” “Distant Lover” (the album’s second single) and “Just To Keep You Satisfied” – while also finalizing additional selections from the Townsend sessions and his own, provocative “You Sure Love To Ball,” which was eventually the third single from the album. Let’s Get It On stayed No. 1 on the Soul Albums chart for 11 weeks in the fall of 1973 while peaking at No. 2 Pop. 

Inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame in 2004, Let’s Get It On represents a pivotal moment not only in the career of Marvin Gaye but in the evolution of soul music. Gaye gave voice to intimate desire in a way that was lightning charged. At the time, he claimed it was spiritually guided. Fifty years on, it’s never been more apparent that he was telling the truth.   

In the acclaimed biography, Divided Soul: The Life of Marvin Gaye, author David Ritz put the project into perspective with the following summation: “The paradox is this: The sexiest of Marvin Gaye’s work is also his most spiritual. That’s the paradox of Marvin himself. In his struggle to wed body and soul, in his exploration of sexual passion, he expresses the most human of hunger—the hunger for God. In those songs of loss and lament—the sense of separation is heartbreaking. On one level, the separation is between man and woman. On a deeper level, the separation is between man and God.”

TRACK LIST

Original Album*

1. Let’s Get It On

2. Please Stay (Once You Go Away)

3. If I Should Die Tonight

4. Keep Gettin’ It On

5. Come Get To This

6. Distant Lover

7. You Sure Love To Ball

8. Just To Keep You Satisfied

Single Edits

9. Let’s Get It On (single version) *

10. You Sure Love To Ball (single version) *

11. If I Should Die Tonight (original LP edit) *

Album Bonus Tracks

12. Let’s Get It On – demo **

13. Let’s Get It On – Pt. II (a.k.a. Keep Gettin’ It On) **

14. I Knew One Day My Day Would Come (instrumental)

15. Interlude #1

16. Please Stay (Once You Go Away) – alternate mix 1 **

17. Lovely Lady (instrumental)

18. If I Should Die Tonight – demo **

19. I Don’t Have To Get High To Do It (instrumental)

20. Come Get To This – alternate mix 1 **

21. Distant Lover – alternate mix 1 **

22. You Sure Love To Ball – alternate mix 1 w/alternate vocal **

23. Just To Keep You Satisfied – alternate mix w/alternate vocal **

24. Interlude #2

25. If I Should Die Tonight – SaLaAM ReMi’s Piano Mix 

26. Just To Keep You Satisfied – John Morales’s Stripped Mix

The David Van DePitte Sessions

27. Song #1 (instrumental)

28. Song #2 (instrumental)

29. Song #3 (instrumental) **

30. Song #4 (partial vocal)

31. Shake Well (instrumental)

32. Perfection (instrumental)

33. Cakes (instrumental) **

34. My Love Is Growing (Super Polished) **

Vulnerable: The 1973 vocals

35. She Needs Me 

36. Why Did I Choose You

37. Funny, Not Much 

38. This Will Make You Laugh 

39. The Shadow Of Your Smile 

40. I Wish I Didn’t Love You So

41. I Won’t Cry Anymore

*Previously released

**Previously released bonus songs with fresh mixes

All other tracks are previously unreleased. 

The newly revised Deluxe Edition replaces a deluxe edition first released in 2001, as most of its bonus tracks are now available in the previously vaulted album of 1972 recordings, You’re the Man, issued by Motown/UMe in 2019. 

Pianist Dave Meder Presents New American Hymnal

New American Hymnal, pianist and composer Dave Meder’s third album as a leader, his first full album with this new quartet configuration featuring the great Philip Dizack on trumpet, first call bassist Marty Jaffe, versatile and in-demand drummer Michael Piolet & vocalist Isabel Crespo Pardo (on track 7), is a collection of worship songs, not in a religious sense, but rather for the American civic and cultural experiment. Available everywhere, September 8, 2023, on Outside In Music.

The enduring power of religion, faith, and hymns is that they bind us to a unifying creed: a set of principles that form the value system for even the most secular of cultures. Perhaps in no other country does religion remain such a curious force than in the United States. Despite our theoretically secular founding, several recent judicial rulings have been driven by Judeo-Christian tenets. Meder elaborates, “it's not a new phenomenon: political-cultural issues have been a steady unifying force for fundamentalists since the rise of the Moral Majority in the 1980s, and the broader idea of mobilizing religion for political ends is a centuries-old strategy. Yet, on issues of existential and once-in-a-generation importance, such as the threat of climate change, this same American religious establishment is unable, or unwilling, to mount the same kind of organized political effort as it does on polarizing social issues. Why? Who decides which issues make it onto the battle lines of a religious or political creed, and which do not? Who has the privilege of setting the dominant interpretation of a religious text?”

Rather than attempt to sort out theological nuances or attempt to advocate for “who is right,” New American Hymnal instead tries to establish a foil: a secular creed based on the idea that certain American values are simply infallible - regardless of how they are interpreted or taught by any given religious group. Meder explains, “there are injustices in modern American society that are intrinsically real, and no faith should be able to convince us otherwise based on their chosen religious text. We have real and existential problems ahead of us…problems that affect all of us…problems that exist outside of any religious worldview…problems that will require us to put dogmatic ideals aside and deal with each other in an intelligent manner…”

“Ultimately, New American Hymnal is a chance, in my small corner, to join others who are taking a fresh look at what constitutes the creed of American culture, independent of any religion. Nevertheless, I use the metaphor of a hymnal to guide the structure of this work: a nod to the names of existing church worship collections like the New English Hymnal or New Harmonia Sacra. I think of each work as a figurative meditation on an aspect of American civil life. Some works worship the good, some lament the bad, and others act as calls to action. But much like in a literal hymnal, these songs combine their various affects and messages into a unifying set of ideals,” states Meder.

The idea of the hymnal resonates with Meder’s background as a child who grew up playing piano in a Southern Baptist church. He was often brought to tears by the hymns, and they remain one of the most foundational aspects of his musical language. He says, “when doctrine failed to convince me, the music would sustain me in the faith for some portion of my life. In college, as a political science major, I became interested in the curious relationships between American religion and politics. My professional musical life, which moved me from the South to New York City and now back to Texas, has allowed me to be a part of diverse congregations that interpret the same text in strikingly different political and social directions.”

In response, Meder’s “hymns” tackle a variety of modern American themes. The folksy overture “modern gothic” is an fresh take on classic Americana (referencing the similarly named Grant Wood painting). Other works use the language of the church but deal in secular subjects. In “chant (our collective inaction)”, Meder conveys his generation’s anger at the lack of political mobilization on mitigating climate change. In contrast, “adoration (of all that is good)” is an ode to multiracial democracy and the progress made in racial reconciliation since the Civil Rights Era. Along the way, Meder uplifts and celebrates American figures, with a stunning setting of an Emily Dickinson poem (sung by up-and-coming avant-garde vocalist Isabel Crespo Pardo), and a reflective chorale incorporating audio from Robert F. Kennedy’s famous 1968 speech following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

More on pianist/composer Dave Meder: Pianist, composer, and educator Dave Meder is one of the prominent artists of his generation, known for a broad musical palette and interdisciplinary approach recognized in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition, the American Pianists Awards, and the Chamber Music America New Jazz Works commissioning program. Beyond the accolades, his defining aesthetic is a strikingly postmodern sense of stylistic adventure, incorporating what All About Jazz describes as “a vibrant hybrid of the whole American spectrum.” His first album Passage was counted among the top five jazz debuts in the Ottawa Citizen and was included in the annual “Favorite Jazz Albums” list from All Music Guide, noted for its skillful balancing of “post-bop harmonies with soulful gospel warmth and contemporary classical sophistication.” His recent release Unamuno Songs and Stories uses the works of Spanish Civil War-era philosopher Miguel de Unamuno to respond to sociopolitical turmoil in the United States. Meder has headlined stages or conducted educational residencies at Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, as well as internationally in Beijing, Tokyo, Sao Paulo, and most recently Egypt as a US Fulbright Scholar. Dave is a Yamaha Artist and a professor at University of North Texas. 

New Music Releases: Tyshawn Sorey Trio, Chief Xian Atunde Adjuah (Christian Scott), Allen Lowe & The Constant Sorrow Orchestra, and The End

Tyshawn Sorey Trio - Mesmerism

Warmly soulful work from Tyshawn Sorey – a set that marks a different sound from some of his more serious avant material, and which represents this great organic chapter in his career! The group's a really well-matched trio – Aaron Diehl on piano and Matt Brewer on bass – players who clearly know themselves, and their path forward as a unit – so that they can take the music in all these really inventive directions that push the record past any sort of easy expectations you might have! Even familiar tunes are given some very fresh structures and readings – and titles include "Two Over One", "From Time To Time", "Detour Ahead", "Autumn Leaves", and "REM Blues".  ~ Dusty Groove

Chief Xian Atunde Adjuah (Christian Scott) - Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lightning

With a record like this, it's hard to believe that Christian Scott started out in more standard jazz – as Chief Xian Atunde Adjuah is a very different artist altogether, one who wraps together worlds and eras of musical heritage – working here in a set that's very heavy on percussion, vocal refrains, and other elements you never would have heard in his earlier music! The leader works a whole host of percussion along with other members of the group, but also adds in some larger production elements too – always in a way that's nicely subtle, and preserves the acoustic energy at the core – yet which really enriches the proceedings too! The album's overflowing with righteous power – and titles include "On To New Orleans", "Bark Out Thunder Roar Out Lighting", "Xodokan Iko Hu Na Ney", "Trouble That Mornin", "Blood Calls Blood", "Ashe Chief Donald", "Golden Crown", and "Shallow Water". ~ Dusty Groove

Allen Lowe & The Constant Sorrow Orchestra - In The Dark

A surprisingly redemptive set of work – given that it's inspired by a time in the life of tenorist Allen Lowe when he was hardly able to sleep at all! The massive 3CD package works as this beautiful suite of tracks united by unexpected twists and turns along the way – very much woven together through complicated reed lines by players who include Lowe on tenor, Aaron Johnson on alto and clarinet, Ken Peplowski on clarinet, and Lisa Parrott on baritone – balanced by work from Kellin Hannas on trumpet and Brian Simontacchi on trombone. The horns engage in a way that stretches back to late 50s modern, but with more avant soloing throughout. Titles include "Poem For Eric Dolphy", "In The Jungles", "Junkie Rumble", "Hiding From A Riff", "Out To Brunch", "What Are We Doing", and "Blues For Old Jews". ~ Dusty Groove

The End - Why Do You Mourn

A really fierce blend of avant jazz and post-punk energy – served up here by a group that effortlessly mix complicated reed lines with more driving drums and electric bass – all peppered with vocal contributions from singer Sofia Jernberg! Mats Gustafsson is one of the key forces here – playing flutes, baritone, and live electronics – and really reminding us that his ear for sonic activity is boundless, and open to interactions in just about any sphere – no surprise, given his other records – but still emphasized very strongly with the freshness of this album! Other group members include Borge Fjordheim on drums, Anders Hana on baritone and bass guitars, and Kjetil Moster on clarinet, tenor, and electronics. Titles include "Snow", "Wasted Blame", "Smokey Black", "Whose Face", "Winter Doesn't End", and "Black Vivaldi Sonata".  ~ Dusty Groove

Vince Guaraldi's Soundtrack for "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" Available for the First Time Ever in 50 Years

Lee Mendelson Film Productions (LMFP) is thrilled to announce the release - for the first time ever – the complete Vince Guaraldi soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, the timeless 10th animated Peanuts® special, from writer and creator Charles Schulz, director Bill Melendez and Phil Roman and producers Melendez and Lee Mendelson. Originally airing on November 20, 1973 on CBS-TV, the special has been broadcast or streamed every year for the last 50 years, and is currently available for streaming on Apple TV+.

The album includes the original recordings that comprise the thirteen song cues of the Special, plus another nine bonus or alternative tracks that have never been released or heard before.

Guaraldi lovingly created the soundtrack for the eclectic, big meal and family gathering, while also bolstering the hijinks of Snoopy and his new friend Woodstock as they “helped” Charlie Brown get ready for the party. The album also includes one of the few songs where composer Guaraldi also sang the lyrics he wrote to Little Birdie.

The recording features Guaraldi (piano, keyboards, guitar, vocals), Seward McCain (electric bass), Mike Clark (drums), Tom Harrell (trumpet and brass arrangements), and Chuck Bennett (trombone). The soundtrack was produced by Sean and Jason Mendelson, re-mixed by Terry Carleton at Bones and Knives, and restored and mastered/re-mastered by Vinson Hudson.

The album will available on CD, vinyl and digital. The CD has a 6-page insert. Both the LP and CD will have liner notes that give a track-by-track analysis by Sean Mendelson, musician, record producer and son of Peanuts® producer Lee Mendelson. Both versions have stills from the special and some images of the original track assignments for each instrument.

“Avid Guaraldi fans have long selected this Emmy® Award-winning TV special as their favorite, which is no surprise; the show is wall-to-wall music, bouncing between acoustic and electric keyboards, going silent only during Linus’ gentle sermon about the first Thanksgiving (a speech almost as eloquent as the one he delivers in A Charlie Brown Christmas). That sequence aside, Guaraldi was allowed to stretch and supply longer cues, each one starting as the previous one fades. The show boasts three new tunes, starting with a lyrical title theme constructed from acoustic piano filigrees that evoke the keyboard cascades in 'Skating.' An impudent cue titled 'Is It James or Charlie?' adds a bit of James Brown sass to the mix, and the standout newcomer is Guaraldi’s vocal on 'Little Birdie,' played at length when Snoopy — tasked with setting up the outdoor dining arrangements — wrestles with a basketball net, a garage door, a ping-pong table and an impressively sentient folding chair. Returning cues include one of Guaraldi’s best arrangements of 'Linus and Lucy,' with brass adding a spirited counterpoint to the primary theme, and also shading a new four-chord climb at the end of each verse's fourth measure: heard while Snoopy orchestrates the Thanksgiving 'dinner' of buttered toast, popcorn, pretzels, jellybeans and ice cream parfaits. The finger-snapping track pops up, here called 'Charlie Brown Blues.' The final returning tune, 'Peppermint Patty,' gets a quiet, leisurely arrangement on electric keyboard: perfectly echoing the girl’s coquettish side, notably when she flirts with Charlie Brown over the phone, while inviting herself — and Marcie and Franklin — to a party that doesn’t yet exist. The show’s final reprise of the title theme introduces a sparkling brass counterpoint: a terrific conclusion to a half-hour of solid combo jazz. What’s not to love?” — Derrick Bang, Peanuts® historian and author of Vince Guaraldi at the Piano.

"These great new, remastered recordings feature outtakes of Vince Guaraldi working out the piano voicings right on the spot in the studio. It is fascinating to me to be a fly on the wall for these historic sessions featuring drummer Mike Clark (who played on Herbie Hancock’s Thrust) and bassist Seward McCain on bass. It’s especially notable that Vince on this recording is making heavy use of The Fender Rhodes electric piano thereby keeping up with the times. These tracks are also much funkier and groove oriented than their predecessors which were more straight ahead. This is a very enjoyable and historic recording that is for anyone that likes jazz and Charlie Brown.” — David Benoit, Grammy-nominated jazz composer and recording artist (and Guaraldi torchbearer).

Rachel Eckroth | "Humanoid"

“Humanoid is a departure for me,” Rachel Eckroth said (in the album liner notes written by Sharonne Cohen) about her new piano quartet album, recorded at Sam First jazz club in Los Angeles. “I've done so many records or projects where I'm playing keyboards, synths, weird sounds, electronics, even singing,” she says. “This record is a departure. It's back to jazz, back to acoustic. And so it's more human.... just piano. And for the most part, acoustic instruments.”

Eckroth’s first live recording, Humanoid, features bassist Billy Mohler and drummer Tina Raymond, both artists she has enjoyed playing with in the past, and guitarist Andrew Renfroe, who she, as a pianist, finds “the perfect guitarist to play with.” Eckroth found her collaborators “willing to be very open, on the spot, willing to try new things on the fly, and making it sound good at the same time.” Clearly a group of like-minded musicians, “nobody is too caught up in the music, or in their ways.” And the expansive tracks, all hovering around the 8-minute mark, offer much room for extended creative exploration.

The title track, written specifically for this album, reflects Eckroth’s desire to slow down and streamline. “I started off as a pianist, and I just put out a solo piano record. I'm in this world right now. I studied piano for a long time before I really got into keyboards and writing songs, and all the other stuff that happened in the last 15 years. I think this project is just a way to simplify my life a little bit, simplify the projects that I'm doing and the way I'm thinking about music, and maybe going a little slower.”

The album’s eight pieces – both originals and compositions by jazz luminaries – were chosen because they would do just that: lend themselves to a sense of openness, to the freedom and space to change up the groove, the feel and the sound. Not wanting to “over-arrange or over-compose or over- anything,” Eckroth aspired “to collaborate live, and there's something that happens when you're in a group like this, where everybody's open to any direction, especially if it's a live performance and people are really listening and in tune with each other. The club is a great environment, and they get a great sound and people are there to hear you. There's something that happens in those moments that is just magic.”

All this is evident from the cinematic, mysterious and whimsical title track opening the album: the intimacy of the club, the attentiveness of the audience, and the openness and synergy of the band. An original composition, “Humanoid” also highlights Eckroth’s strong chemistry with Renfroe, illustrating her experience “matching up on different tones and places and spaces.” Eckroth’s other originals – the moody, angular “Under A Fig Tree,” the adventurous “Vines” (both originally appearing on The Garden) and the propulsive “Mind” further reveal her compositional strengths. 

Another captivating chapter in Eckroth’s ever-evolving sound, this album comes on the heels of her Grammy-nominated, synth-forward The Garden (Rainy Day Records, 2021) and stunning solo piano improvisation album One, released earlier this year. It is a showcase not only of her skill and singularity as a player and improvisor, but her strengths as a bandleader and composer.

Taking her first piano lesson at the age of five, this accomplished, multifaceted musician has honed her craft over the four decades since, becoming not only a gifted and versatile pianist and keyboardist, but a vocalist and songwriter. Engaged in creative projects spanning jazz, indie and pop, she has played with artists ranging from Chris Botti to St. Vincent, Rufus Wainwright and KT Tunstall. Her collaborators have included Donny McCaslin, Tia Fuller, Tim Lefebvre and David Garza.

“Humanoid is more simply focused on the songs and what we could pull from them, rather than what we could add to them,” Eckroth says. “In a way I’m going back to my roots but taking everything that I've learned along the way and putting it in there. Now it's this new thing. . . I think it's definitely a great performance, and I think it's some of the best straight-ahead playing I've done.”

New Music Releases: Som Imaginário, Matteo Mancuso, Jaimie Branch & Oiro Pena

Som Imaginário - Banda Da Capital

Som Imaginário's previously unreleased 1976 album Banda Da Capital is out now. The Brazilian prog maestros are most well known as backing band to the great Milton Nascimento and played with the MPB titan on many of his greatest albums, including Clube Da Esquina, Milton Nascimento (1970), Milagre Dos Peixes and Maria Maria/Ultimo Trem. They also recorded 3 groundbreaking studio albums of their own. But one piece of their history has remained obscured for the past almost half-century. Until today... Banda Da Capital features Wagner Tiso, Fredera, Nivaldo Ornelas, Paulinho Braga and Jamil Joanes and was recorded direct from the sound desk at Som Imaginario's show celebrating Nature Day in Brasilia in 1976. The CD and digital release of Banda Da Capital feature two bonus tracks from a separate concert at Museu de Arte Moderna, in Rio de Janeiro, on October 6th 1975. These are another arrangement of “Armina” and Toninho Horta’s stunning performance of his composition “Manuel o Audaz”, which he would later record with Pat Metheny and Lo Borges.

Matteo Mancuso - The Journey

Guitar virtuoso Matteo Mancuso will released his debut album, 'The Journey', on July 21st via The Players Club/Mascot Label Group. Mancuso hails from Sicily, nestled in the Mediterranean Sea to the South of Italy. The island has always had a rich cultural heritage, from poets, writers, philosophers, and architects to painters and musicians. Born in 1996 and raised just outside the capital Palermo, the pedigree runs deep in the veins of those from the region.At 12, Matteo took his first steps onto the stage at a local jazz festival. Since then, his acquaintance with live performances has seen him blossom and develop through various line-ups and collaborations with the finest local musicians, including a duo with his father, where they explore the complexities of Django Reinhart's repertoire and contemporary jazz classics. As a multi-faceted player, either classical or electric, what is astounding is his one-of-a-kind technique and use of his fingers instead of regular picking.

Jaimie Branch - Fly Or Die Fly Or Die Fly Or Die (World War)

One of the last recordings ever made by the genius trumpeter Jaimie Branch – and a set that shows the bold new direction she was going in, right before she left our planet all too soon! The music here leaps forward from any of Branch's earlier recordings – with harder rhythms, more focus in the driving quality of the music, and even some lyrical passages that are quite stunning – vocals that add a lot to the music, and which could have had Jaimie finding an audience in a world far past just jazz! The core group is incredible – the drums of Chad Taylor have never been so powerful, urged on by the bass work of Jason Ajemian – and folded beautifully with the cello, voice, marimba, and keyboards of Lester St Louis. Branch herself also plays keyboards and percussion – and Daniel Villareal guests on some additional percussion too – and the whole thing comes together with an incredible sense of energy and vision, at a level that has us missing Jaimie's presence on the planet even more than before. Titles include "Aurora Rising", "Take Over The World", "Baba Louie", "Burning Grey", "The Mountain", and "Borealis Dancing". ~ Dusty Groove

Oiro Pena - Puna

The coolest record so far from this hip Finnish combo – one who seem to get deeper and more spiritual with each new release, and really knocking it out of the park with the combination of elements on this set! All the instrumentation is standard from the outside – but the way they come together is really magical, very personal, and completely inspirational – a blend of the drums of leader Antti Vauhkonen with the flute and saxes of Johannes Sarjasto, bass of Philip Holm, piano of Staffan Wolf Sodergard, and occasional vocals of female singer Marikukka Kiviharju. Titles include "Joo Tai", "Kunika Kukaan", "Calamity Caravan", "Kaiju Kaiju", and "Joona's Abs". ~ Dusty Groove

Trombonist, JEFF BRADSHAW Releases His 5th Studio Album, "JEFF BRADSHAW:20"

Jeff Bradshaw continues to indulge in the celebration of the 20th Anniversary since the release of his first studio album. He recently gave fans a taste of "Jeff Bradshaw:20", with the release of two official singles from the project. The first offering was the smooth jazz-infused, "Carrie's Bread Puddin',". “Carrie’s Bread Puddin”, is what Bradshaw calls a “southern church, hip-hop, D’Angelo swag” style song, honoring his mother’s life and her famous bread pudding. “This song is dedicated to the most amazing person in the world! A church going, South Carolina raised, wife and mother of 3, who picked cotton, and beat all the odds because of her Love for God and family! Her famous Bread Pudding that I was raised on, that she still makes weekly for her church, is still as amazing as it was when I was A child!,” he shares.

Bradshaw is confident that listeners will still experience his music with the same unique sense of wonder as when they first heard him. “20 years man. It means to me, blessed, relevant, excited, young, and hungry. All those things I still am. excited about the music and excited for people to hear it. I’m still going to create these beautiful songs and the trombone is going to play a different role in every song,” he says. Jeff is currently gracing the cover of the summer issue of GROOV Magazine.

“I started in church. My father was a musician and a preacher in the church. My first taste of what music was started in the church where I was born and raised. That’s where I learned that music would be my first love,” Jeff Bradshaw says. The United House of Prayer for All people is where Jeff developed his craft and first learned that he wanted to be the unconventional artist with a vast musical repertoire that is your favorite artist’s go-to whenever they need a trombone player, producer, or writer. “I’m not the traditional jazz or solo jazz artist. My father taught me how to play the trombone. There is no music school, college, or institution that can take credit for anything that I’ve accomplished with this instrument,” he says.

His first experience in mainstream music came in 1994. Bradshaw began to meet musicians, singers, and producers on the Philly scene that went on to become the architect of the neo-soul revolution: Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson, Tariq ‘Black Thought’ Trotter of the Roots, James Poyser, Andre Harris, Vidal Davis, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and many others.

A few years later, Bradshaw was invited by his dear friend, Jill Scott, to take part in the recording of her first album and to tour with her after its breakthrough release. This connection led opportunity to meet with Hidden Beach Recordings CEO Steve McKeever, who afforded Jeff the opportunity to record his first album as a solo artist in 2003,“Bone Deep.”

“Jill was with Hidden Beach Records at the time and told Steve McKeever about me and to check out the music I was working on. I didn’t want to seem too anxious, so a week later I sent him 3 or 4 songs. He really liked them and asked for more, so I sent him two more songs, the last of which was a song he asked me about that was an instrumental and I had told him that Jill was going to sing on that song. After a month or so, he hit me back, and I met him at Jill’s video shoot in Long Island, New York. He wanted to tell me in person that he thinks I have something groundbreaking and that he’s not afraid to sign a trombone player. He shook my hand and told me welcome to Hidden Beach,” he says.

Since the release of Jeff Bradshaw’s debut album, he has had 20 years of valuable experiences that have shaped him into the veteran multi-instrumentalist, producer, and writer that listeners know and love today. Jeff’s raw talent and ability to connect with other artists have led him to work with the likes of Michael Jackson, Jay Z, Mary J Blige, Erykah Badu, Kirk Franklin, Earth Wind & Fire, Musiq Soulchild, and more. These opportunities Jeff has had have been the reward of 20+ plus years of hard work. His devotion to his craft and constant ready-to-go attitude has worked out for him over the years.

“I was prepared and ready for those opportunities. Preparation is key in this business. The longer I’ve been in this business the more I’ve still seen that is what it is. You know, when we need to call in somebody because our main guy’s wife is sick or something like that and we got three shows out on the road this week and we need them to come in with no rehearsal and play the show. We’re going to send this player the chart and a couple of MP3s and he’s got to read this shit down. Be always ready to go.” This mindset coupled with his desire to think outside of the box and try new things led to his highly successful album, “Home.”

As a boy in Philadelphia, Bradshaw performed with brass bands on Broad Street, just a stone’s throw from the spot where Philadelphia’s most prestigious performing arts center, The Kimmel Center, stands today. Fast forward to 2014 and Jeff asked himself: “Why not bring the crème-de-la-crème of singers and players to The Kimmel for a genre-crossing one-night-only musical event that would replicate the excitement of the classic R&B revues for this generation of fans?”

“It was a dream come true. That album was something that movies are made of. Robert Glasper was my co-executive producer and we sat down at BBQs for hours. I told him all the artists I wanted and what songs they should sing. Robert helped me put the whole thing together. He knew what I wanted and the way I wanted to do it. He was a great help in formulating my vision,” he says.

As Jeff gears up for the release of his next album, affectionately titled “Jeff Bradshaw: 20”, he is confident listeners will still experience his music with the same unique sense of wonder as when they first heard him. “20 years man. It means to me, blessed, relevant, excited, young, and hungry. All those things I still am. excited about the music and excited for people to hear it. I’m still going to create these beautiful songs and the trombone is going to play a different role in every song,” he says.

Each song from his album has a unique story behind it, listeners will feel the movie soundtrack of Jeff Bradshaw’s life from his early days playing in church to the 20 years of releasing music, his present-day life touring with artists such as Patti Labelle, and everything in between.

The first single, “Carrie’s Bread Puddin” is what Bradshaw calls a “southern church, hip-hop D’Angelo swag” style song honoring his mother’s life and her famous bread pudding. “The song is about celebrating the love and life of my mother, Carrie Bradshaw, my hero. The most amazing person I know walking the earth and her famous bread pudding, when you taste it you’ll never be the same,” he says.

But that’s not the only interesting story, another song from “Jeff Bradshaw: 20”, titled “Dubai Voices” has been serving as the opening number on the legendary radio show, “The Quiet Storm” in Philadelphia for over a year and a half.

“Philadelphians have heard that song on the radio. Now people will be able to download it, own it, and be able to have it for themselves which is awesome,” he says.

As he looks back proudly on his legacy and the journey ahead, Bradshaw’s career has set the foundation for trombone players to do their own thing just like him. "When I’m gone, I know there will be a whole group of young trombone players that believe that they don’t have to be section horn players. Trombone players can be solo artists.

They can be mainstream soul, jazz, and hip-hop artists like Jeff Bradshaw.” ~ Jeff Bradshaw

Jazz Virtuoso Fuat Tuac Enchants with New Single 'Uzun Ince Bir Yoldayim' from Acclaimed Album Immigrant

Toronto-based, multilingual jazz vocalist, Fuat Tuac, has unveiled his new single "Uzun Ince Bir Yoldayim," the latest addition to his recently released and highly praised album "Immigrant" – available now.

Tuac’s "Immigrant” has been making waves on the Roots Music Report’s Canadian Chart for the 13th consecutive week, garnering praise from fans and critics alike. A true testament to his artistic prowess, the album showcases his multi-dimensional talents as he navigates between three different languages - English, French, and his native, Turkish – displaying diverse jazz styles that resonate with audiences across the globe.

“Uzun Ince Bir Yoldayim,” the most famous traditional Turkish masterpiece originally penned by renowned 20th-century poet Asik Veysel, embraces the profound concept of life being a long and winding road, offering a poignant reflection on the journey we all embark on.

“The song is about life which is a long and winding road, and the poet says he walks the path day and night”, says Tuac. “He uses the metaphor of a hotel with two doors for life, from one door you enter (birth) and from the other one you exit (death), and you are only a guest in this life. I sing it with the renowned Istanbul singer, Yesim Akin, and we recorded the vocals in Istanbul.”

Deeply personal and profoundly touching, "Immigrant" delves into Tuac's own experiences as an immigrant living in Toronto. The album provides an intimate glimpse into the challenges, triumphs, and lessons he has encountered throughout his journey.

Speaking about the inspiration behind the album, Tuac expressed, "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. And I wanted to share my story in Canada as an immigrant. I wanted to talk about my journey in Canada, 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."

Fuat Tuac's musical journey is a testament to his unique pedigree. Prior to his remarkable career in jazz, he worked as a lawyer, practicing law in Istanbul, France, and the UK. However, his passion for jazz eventually took precedence, leading him to pursue a full-time musical career. Relocating to Montreal in 2011 to study jazz at Concordia University, he honed his craft in local bars and clubs before releasing his first critically acclaimed album, "Late Bloomer," in 2017.

 

Canadian Soul-Funk collective, The Commotions, Release Feel the Commotion from New Album

Canadian Soul-Funk collective, The Commotions, are an all original 12-piece Motown-to-Disco era band that has brought the exquisite grooves from the famed Motor City all the way across the border. Celebrating their first decade as a band, founder Brian Asselin created the collective after spending six years with legendary musical group, The Funk Brothers; the exceptional session musicians who performed on the vast majority of Motown recordings. Known at the time as Delbert & The Commotions, the group's lead vocalist, Delbert Nelson, was also a Motown collaborator, leading The Funk Brothers on vocals in "Standing in the Shadows of Motown", a multi-award-winning documentary film about the world’s most recognizable record label. Today, the band features all professionally trained Jazz musicians, including three lead vocalists and a five-piece horn section.

Featuring Asselin on saxophone, Rebecca Noelle (The Jacksons, runner up on La Voix), Ed Lister (Jann Arden, The Temptations), and Jeff Rogers (Horojo Trio) to name a few, the soon to be released third album from The Commotions features collaborations with some of the most brilliant names in Funk and Soul, including Dave Eskridge (Tower of Power), Philip Lassiter (Prince, Jill Scott, Kirk Franklin), and Mark Ferguson (Ella Fitzgerald, Holly Cole). The band is gearing up to release their first single of 2023 titled "Feel The Commotion", a celebratory call to dance, have fun, and live in the moment on Friday, August 25 2023.

"Feel The Commotion" was written by Brian Asselin, Alex Mastronardi, and Rebecca Noelle, with the exceptional string arrangement by Mark Ferguson. The track was recorded at Alex Mastronardi's studio in Ottawa, ON.

Funky, vibrant, and dripping with soul, "Feel The Commotion" is a feel-good groove that serves as an invitation to live in the moment and have fun. With its retro-rhythm, full bodied funk from the five artist strong horn section, and soulful vocals, the song glistens like the rooms it's designed to be played in. Created with the dance floor in mind, the track comes with a nearly preset, imaginative vision of clubs and events in the 70's and early 80's, filled with people putting their worries aside and dancing to the music. "Feel The Commotion" offers stunning interplay between instruments, where the professionally trained, seasoned musicians who make up The Commotions showcase their exceptional talents. The fun-loving tune was initially inspired by British Funk-star Jamiroquai, and incorporates the band's love for Earth, Wind, and Fire, Prince, and the Motown to Disco era that inspires The Commotions expertly crafted sound.

"Feel The Commotion" is The Commotions first single off of their forthcoming album, Volume III, set for release in October 2023.

“Feel the Commotion” is a lesson on letting the rhythm move you, an essential track for anyone looking to get all funked up." - The Commotions

They’re hot, sizzling, fun and funky. In the great tradition of Motown, show stopping Ottawa 12-piece The Commotions, consisting of three lead vocalists and five horn players, create original 70s-inspired soul songs with a nod to Tower of Power, Chicago and the Supremes, all the way up to current pop chart-toppers Bruno Mars and Michael Bublé. Assembled and conceived by musical director and tenor saxophonist Brian Asselin, a one-time member of Detroit legends The Funk Brothers, the Commotion’s third album, appropriately titled Volume 3 (out Oct. 20), is the one destined to expand their career across Canada and beyond.

Brian started The Commotions in 2013 after touring on and off with the legendary Funk Brothers for six years. “Every time I came off those tours, and I was like, “I can take a stab at this because I used to write pop music,’” says Brian, who composes on piano and sings the melodies, before taking them to “real vocalists.” The group was originally called Delbert & The Commotions, fronted by Delbert Nelson, vocalist with The Funk Brothers, known for his inclusion in the award- winning 2002 documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown. “Recording with him was definitely the highlight,” says Brian of their 2013 album Let Me See Ya Dance. With the 2017 follow-up, Volume II, Rebecca was brought in to front the group, and The Commotions landed gigs at Ontario music festivals, including Summerfolk, Ottawa Blues Festival and Orangeville Jazz and Blues Festival, along with coverage and airplay on CBC radio.

The lineup — comprised entirely of jazz musicians — still includes original members Rebecca, David, Brian and his twin brother Jeff on drums, and bassist Ken Seeley, but it’s not easy keeping a 12-piece group together. “It's really difficult even to get a rehearsal in.,” he laughs. “I book them a month and a half in advance.” Rounding out the lineup are trumpet players Ed Lister and Eric Littlewood; tenor saxophonist Mike Lett, baritone saxophonist Caelan Roberge-Toll and keyboardist Deniz Lim-Sersan.

“My goal for this record is to put The Commotions on the map in terms of soul music in Canada and the States,” says Brian. “This is definitely our strongest record to date. I think it shows what we are capable of. We shine on a live stage, and I'm really hoping that this record can help secure some more festival spots next summer. I'd love for the band to be on the road a little bit across Canada. And maybe even if I can make it happen in the States.”

Teri Parker – Shaping the Invisible

Shaping The Invisible – Toronto-based pianist Teri Parker’s sophomore album as a bandleader – is the culmination of years of playing, composing, and artistic growth. It’s a fusion of musical heritage and innovation that places Parker squarely in the lineage of ground-breaking musicians such as Aaron Parks, Joshua Redman, Aaron Goldberg, and Fred Hersch.

The album first started to coalesce during a period of writing that Parker undertook as part of a Toronto Arts Council grant, which allowed her to lock herself up in a room for hours a day, listening to music from a wide range of artists, studying compositional methods, and writing. During this months-long process, Parker would typically start a composition at the piano, letting ideas develop organically before committing them to the page. Eventually she assembled a body of work that would become Shaping The Invisible. Following a string of performances with her band at The Rex Hotel, one of Canada’s premier jazz clubs, she decided that it was time to hit the studio.

The album begins with Becoming, a through-composed piece named for Michelle Obama’s memoir, which features a dreamy opening that gives way to an insistent straight-eighths groove. Humph, inspired in part by saxophonist Dewey Redman, sees the band playing joyfully and openly, with exceptional brushwork from Cervini. K.T.T features soaring solos from McAnsh and Deniz, before Desolate Places, a tender duet between Parker’s piano and Deniz’s soprano saxophone. Segment sees Parker boldly rearranging a classic bebop tune, with masterful solos from Deniz and Parker, and Paw Prints showcases Parker’s skills for imaginative rhythmic comping and for highly communicative soloing. Retrograde, a cover of the British producer/singer James Blake’s well-known song, is given a thoughtful, backbeat-driven treatment, before the album’s final track, the original Monk-style blues Strolling, in which the band stretches out with inspired, electric synergy.

Virtuosic violinist Aline Homzy introduces us to her dazzling musical world on her debut album Éclipse

The virtuosic violinist Aline Homzy introduces us to her dazzling musical world on her debut album Éclipse with her group Aline’s étoile magique. The album will be released August 25, 2023 via Elastic Recordings. Joining her on the album are vibraphonist Michael Davidson (Joe Chambers), guitarist Thom Gill (Knower), Dan Fortin (Bernice) on bass, and Marito Marques (Ivan Lins) on drums, with special guests João Frade on accordion and vocalist Felicity Williams. The 11-track recording was ten years in the making and is a debut that showcases Homzy’s brilliant musicianship and compositional point of view with impressive clarity and maturity.

Homzy grew up in Montréal, Québec before moving to Toronto to study jazz. Private studies in New York with violinist Sara Caswell, arranger Sy Johnson (Charles Mingus’ arranger) and Berlin-based pianist/composer Aki Takasi had a profound impact on her musical trajectory. Homzy’s father, Andrew Homzy, is a musicologist and an Ellington, Mingus and Monk scholar. These three figures, who occupied much of her father’s interest, greatly influenced her compositions and playing. Intervallic melodies à la Monk, an Ellington-approach to writing for specific musicians, and Mingus-like shifts in tempi and moods are all present in this music. Above all else, Homzy shares the same musical goal that Monk, Mingus and Ellington championed: creating serious music - executed with a sense of playfulness, wit and humor.

As a jazz violinist, Homzy is wary of assumptions people often make before they’ve even heard her play a single note. “I’ve certainly learnt from the great violinists of the genre, like Stéphane Grappelli,” Homzy says. “But it’s important to me to use the tradition as a foundation while shining a more contemporary light on the instrument and its capabilities.” Homzy achieves this modernity by improvising with a fearlessness that highlights the fullness of the violin sound. She doesn’t shy away from bold choices when improvising and takes inspiration from the virtuosity of violinists like Jean-Luc Ponty and Regina Carter.

The album’s opening track “Caraway” highlights Homzy’s boldness in this regard, both as a player and a composer. She describes the tune as “Hermeto Pascoal meets the Mahavishnu Orchestra” with seamlessly blended sections that create a musical world through which the listener is transported. “Éclipse is a universe where I can explore the idea of the unknown,” Homzy says. “I’m fascinated by how we capture otherworldliness in music and sounds. When the sun and moon align during an eclipse, the light changes. How do we translate this visual shift into an aural one?”

Homzy finds the answer to this question by fully utilising the studio as the sixth band member on the album. Effects shape the compositions and alter the textures for variety. The musicians in étoile magique ventured to Kingston, Ontario where they spent a week recording at rock band The Tragically Hip’s studio. Homzy made use of post-production tools to help paint the picture of a vivid universe. On “Mesarthim,” the theremin and synth are manipulated manually to achieve the sensation that the listener is wrapped in the sound. The only cover on the album is Charlie Parker’s “Segment,” which receives a reverberant, “spacey” treatment so that it fits in perfectly with the rest of the tracks.

Homzy takes advantage of the ability to add layers in post-production but she also exercises restraint, aiming to whittle something down to its musical essence. “I always think of that Coco Chanel quote, ‘Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.’ The same can be said for post-production. Add in all the overdubs, take a step back, and remove one thing you added to restore sonic balance.” While Homzy certainly used the studio as a way to explore every possible nook and cranny of the music to maximum effect, the result is never heavy-handed. The lush effect of a well-chosen pad here, the faintest shimmer of a delay there. There is a thoughtfulness that runs throughout, from the structure of the music to the way in which it was arranged and brought to life.

Homzy waited ten years to record her debut album. “I needed that time to mature as a composer and improviser. I also needed to learn how to be concise with my musical statement,” she explains. Éclipse is a testament to taking time and then creating with a laser-sharp focus and intention. Homzy and étoile magique create a richly nuanced musical world where theremins, vibraphones and violins combine to bring the great unknown to life.

Aline Homzy is an award-winning violinist and composer. Praised as one of Canada’s finest jazz violinists, she has performed and/or recorded with Danilo Perez, Munir Hossn and The Weather Station. Her music has been performed by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Swedish guitarist Mikko Hilden, and South-Korean bassist Yongwon Cho. Homzy is also a community builder, with a focus on highlighting women instrumentalists and improvisers. She was the recipient of a 2018 TD Discovery Projects Award that saw her curate a sold-out concert featuring female improvisers at the Canadian Music Centre. During the pandemic, she produced the documentary “Sounds of Davenport,” which aimed to showcase musicians in her community through a beautifully captured video-concert, supported by her political representatives. Homzy has performed at the TD International Toronto Jazz Festival, Festival international de Jazz de Montréal, Stockholm International Jazz Festival, and Daigu - South Korea- International Jazz Festival. She was a finalist for the 2022 Toronto Emerging Jazz Artist Award, and was awarded a distinguished fellowship to attend the prestigious Hambidge Artist Residency in Georgia, USA also in 2022. Her debut album Éclipse features her group “Aline’s étoile magique” and will be released in August 2023, preceded by a 2023 Canadian jazz festival tour.

Multi-Instrumentalist Joel Styzens Releases First Single "Opening" From New Album Resonance

Resonance, the upcoming album by composer and multi-instrumentalist Joel Styzens, features a full hour of hammered dulcimer, acoustic guitar, cello, piano, and string quartet compositions designed to take readers on an instrumental journey about the transformative power of connection. “In an age of singles and ping-pong streaming, Resonance offers listeners an opportunity to deeply listen, to reflect, to interact with the music by being musically guided or by imaginatively choosing their own adventure,” Styzens says.

Transformation is also a theme in Joel Styzens’ life. Severe tinnitus and hyperacusis sidetracked his career as a percussionist causing him to temporarily lose his identity as a musician while he focused on dealing with symptoms and finding therapies. Styzens founded a Chicago-based support group and he found a new way to create music that his ears could tolerate by writing it himself for stringed instruments, performed at a lower volume. The result was Relax Your Ears (2010), Styzens’ first album, which earned international notice for its acoustic soundscapes.

Resonance connects to Relax Your Ears, which was primarily composed for guitar and cello. The foundation of rhythmic attention is key in any piece he composes—the regard to silence, pauses, a carefully placed vibrato or tempo change. However, the last decade of musical growth has helped Styzens understand more about how he composes by using the grandeur and complexities of classical works and visualizing them as more traditional songs, thereby making them more accessible to a wider audience. He is heavily influenced by his love of 90s grunge and alternative rock, jazz, world music, and his childhood exposure (through his parents) to folk, bluegrass, and old-time string bands. Styzens teaches at Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago and reconnected with the hammered dulcimer there, building upon its percussive qualities. He has practiced yoga and meditation for many years and understands the ability of music to take listeners on a journey or keep them acutely present.

Joining Styzens on Resonance are the British cellist Sophie Webber and jazz pianist Rob Clearfield. Webber and Styzens have worked together creatively for years, even living in a shared artists’ house. Through his jazz drumming gigs, Styzens met Clearfield, a pianist with incredible improvisational technique. Styzens brought in the ATLYS Quartet, comprised of Jinty McTavish, Sabrina Tabby, Genevieve Tabby, and Rita Andrade, to deepen the compositional textures. Brought together, Resonance maintains the intimacy of Relax Your Ears while expanding the record dynamically and texturally.

From the first track, “Opening,” Resonance captures the relationship between our connections with others, nature, and the unknown, illustrated through the ensemble’s push-and-pull between quiet, propulsive moments and swaths of expansive string textures. Styzens describes the piece as exploring “the cosmos colliding as a metaphor for the evolution of intimate relationships.” Another bond highlighted on the album is the one between Styzens and his grandmother, who found immense comfort in his music, her final musical request being his piece, “Ascendance.” The composition maintains a consistent sense of motion, while melodies float tranquilly above, literally ascending. “The Garden Suite,” inspired by the Chicago Botanic Gardens, immerses the listener in the natural world. Styzens says “The Garden Suite” examines how “music without words can also narrate and capture specific moments in time,” providing freedom to “choose your own adventure in the moment.” He adds, “But if you want to listen for specific imagery, you might hear dragonflies joyfully darting in the shadow and light of ‘Walled Garden,’ and graceful, falling cascades in ‘Waterfall Garden.’”

In each second of Resonance, the musical gentleness and majesty blend seamlessly through the warmth amongst the musicians involved and the care for the stories behind the compositions. “Resonance is based on connection,” says Styzens, “and how we resonate with each other, with nature, with the great beyond. It’s a celebration of the challenges and triumphs of life and the potential for transformation.”

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).