KICKIN’ IT: Chicago Vocal Powerhouse Josie Falbo Delivers a Dazzling, Genre-Spanning New Album

For more than 35 years, Josie Falbo has been one of Chicago’s most in-demand and instantly recognizable studio vocalists. With KICKIN’ IT — her latest and most eclectic project to date — Falbo steps confidently into the spotlight, showcasing her three-octave range, impeccable control, and deep fluency across jazz, pop, swing, and Brazilian styles.

Released October 17, 2025, KICKIN’ IT marks Falbo’s third full-length album as a leader, following Taylor Street (2010) and You Must Believe in Spring (2020), as well as her holiday EP A Jazzy Interlude with Josie Falbo (2021). Praised by Paris Move for her balance of technical mastery and emotional nuance, Falbo again demonstrates timeless artistry and versatility on this new release.

Falbo’s entrée into the Chicago jazz scene began with a chance sit-in with local legend Bobby Centano. Word spread quickly, and soon she was performing regularly around the city before forming her own band with Gary Loizzo — lead singer of the American Breed. Loizzo recognized her extraordinary vocal adaptability and encouraged her to pursue jingle work. A four-song demo opened the floodgates, launching a prolific commercial singing career. Her voice went on to represent major brands including McDonald’s, Oscar Mayer, Green Giant, Coca-Cola, United Airlines, Nationwide, and Budweiser, and she later sang backup for stars such as Celine Dion, Michael Bolton, Mavis Staples, Nancy Wilson, Vic Damone, Della Reese, and Ben Vereen.

Despite decades of success, Falbo didn’t initially feel compelled to record as a solo artist. “I never really needed to be a big star,” she says. “I loved singing jingles. I didn’t have to travel, and I could be with my family.” But persistent encouragement from a producer eventually led to Taylor Street, which earned glowing praise for its technical brilliance and stylistic range. A decade later she returned with You Must Believe in Spring, collaborating with producer and arranger Carey Deadman, whose credits span Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Sting, and Seal.

Deadman returns for KICKIN’ IT, arranging eight of the album’s eleven tracks. The remaining three — all Brazilian selections — were arranged by MARSHALL VENTE, host of Jazz Tropicale on WDCB. The album features an all-star Chicago rhythm section with JEREMY KAHN (piano), FAREED HAQUE (guitar), LAWRENCE KOHUT (bass), and BOB RUMMAGE (drums), supported by lush horn and string ensembles. Yet it is Falbo’s radiant voice — expressive, nimble, and deeply musical — that shines at the center.

KICKIN’ IT moves fluidly through styles and moods:

• A big band blast of “I Get a Kick Out of You” opens the album with classic swing swagger.

• “Autumn Nocturne” reveals Falbo’s sensitivity and emotional depth.

• “Flor de Lis” features a glowing introduction by Haque and a graceful bilingual performance from Falbo.

• On “Love Dance,” she leans into sensuality, honoring the Ivan Lins classic with warm phrasing and lush tone.

• “I Just Found Out About Love” showcases her effortless swing, while “Yellow Days” becomes an intimate ballad, opening with a tender duet with Kahn.

• Vente’s arrangement of “Brigas Nunca Mais” concludes with Falbo’s playful, cuíca-inspired scat.

• “Social Call” pares down to quartet, highlighting Falbo’s self-penned vocalese.

• “Lazy Afternoon” glows with satiny languor, while “Estamos Oi” displays her scat and melodic invention — “gorgeous, lyrical new lines,” as Neil Tesser notes in the album’s liner notes.

• The record closes with a haunting interpretation of Billy Strayhorn’s “Chelsea Bridge,” demonstrating her remarkable command of tone and atmosphere.

A lifelong singer who began vocalizing in both Italian and English before the age of two, Josie Falbo earned early acclaim through scholarships, operatic performances, and work in both classical and pop idioms. One of the final artists signed to the storied Vee-Jay label, she went on to become a fixture in Chicago’s recording studios, concert halls, and commercial music world. Her voice has appeared in television ads, film restorations — including the reconstructed sequences of Orson Welles’ Othello — theme songs, and internationally heard performances with the Lakeside Singers.

KICKIN’ IT is now available on CD and all streaming platforms.

Flamenco Drums: Emaginario’s Avant-Jazz Odyssey Blending Andalusia, Rhythm, and Cosmic Imagination

Ethan Margolis — known artistically as Emaginario — returns with Flamenco Drums, a galactically charged avant-garde jazz single arriving December 5, 2025 on Unifying Sounds. Following his recent collaboration with legendary pianist Chano Domínguez, Margolis now ventures into a daring new space, crafting a piece that fuses flamenco spirit, post-bop fire, and adventurous rhythmic architecture.

The track features a powerhouse ensemble: Margolis on vocals, Larry Grenadier on bass, Gary Novak on drums, Nick Mancini on vibraphone, and Roma percussionist Manuel Valencia contributing dynamic palmas and jaleos. As the label’s second release — and a striking contrast to Domínguez’s more traditional debut offering — Flamenco Drums signals Unifying Sounds’ intent to explore a wide expanse of musical expression.

Built around a meticulously composed drum part, the piece pays homage to the lineage of jazz drumming greats: Elvin Jones, Kenny Clarke, Tony Williams, and Art Blakey. Margolis wrote the entire percussion blueprint bar-by-bar, entrusting its interpretation to the formidable Gary Novak, whose career has included collaborations with Chick Corea, George Benson, and Allan Holdsworth.

For Margolis, the single has been a long time coming. “This is something I’ve wanted to write and record for more than a decade,” he says, citing the deep influence of Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Lenny Breau, and John Coltrane’s own journeys through Spanish themes. After 25 years immersed in Andalusian culture and friendships with Roma families, Margolis sought to articulate his personal bridge between jazz and flamenco. “In this composition, the drums lead the charge. Everything else supports what the drums are saying,” he explains — mirroring rhythmic traditions in flamenco, Indian, and African music where percussion lays the foundation for improvisation.

The result is bold, boundary-smashing, and confidently situated in the realm of “beyond-genre modern jazz.” Grenadier’s resonant bass, Mancini’s shimmering vibraphone, Novak’s explosive rhythmic drive, and Valencia’s spirited palmas create a vivid, pulsing world around Margolis’s vocal narrative.

The accompanying official music video amplifies the piece’s tension between tradition and modernity. Filmed in an Andalusian wine bodega at Bodegas González-Palacios in Lebrija — with additional footage at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao — the visuals juxtapose rough-hewn wood and historic ambiance against sleek futurist architecture. Margolis appears among his Roma-Gitano collaborators — Manuel Vargas (dance), Fernanda Peña (rhythm), and Gonzalo Peña (rhythm) — creating a cinematic tableau with shades of Tarantino’s flamboyant intensity. Shot by Nané S. Moreno in Lebrija and by Margolis in Bilbao, and edited by LA filmmaker Jeff Katz, the video stands as a work of art in its own right, underscoring the idea that powerful creativity transcends category.

Flamenco Drums is both a tribute and a leap forward — a rhythmic manifesto linking jazz’s rebellious heart to the spirit of flamenco and the wider global imagination.

Black Hole Blues: Quadrature’s Raga-Driven, Genre-Bending Debut

Born from the legendary Brooklyn Raga Massive (BRM) jam sessions, Quadrature steps boldly into the spotlight with Black Hole Blues, their debut album on Deko Entertainment (ADA/Warner Music Group). The quartet — sitarist/effects wizard Neel Murgai, Firebird trumpeter/effects innovator Indofunk Satish, drummer Tripp Dudley, and bassist Damon Banks — forges an electrifying musical language that fuses raga, rock, jazz, and psychedelia into something entirely its own.

Quadrature began as a fully improvised experiment, channeling Indian classical ragas through amplified, high-energy ensemble interplay. They first turned heads in Brooklyn’s open-air BRM sessions, where their spontaneous street-side sets felt like cosmic explorations unfolding in real time. In 2023, the group deepened its sound as artists-in-residence at the David Rockefeller Creative Arts Center, refining arrangements without losing the raw spark that defines their identity.

Their path since has been unmistakably upward, with performances at Globalfest at Lincoln Center, the Ragas Live Festival at Pioneer Works, Joe’s Pub, Barclays Center Plaza, and more. True to their mathematically inspired name — quadrature being the area under a curve — the band inhabits the space between raga form and contemporary expression, where right angles twist into odd meters and gravity bends into black hole blues.

Reflecting on the album, Murgai notes, “My sound on sitar has evolved a lot the last few years as I electrified and got together with the like minded musicians in Quadrature. This recording documents our take on raga inspired prog rock, jazz and more.” Satish echoes the spirit of the project: “We just wanted to capture the feeling of playing together… the deep musical conversations that were happening on our live shows. And we totally captured that! We had a blast making it, and ended up creating exactly the kind of music we’d want to listen to ourselves. We hope that energy and joy translates to our listening audience.”

Black Hole Blues marks the arrival of a band that thrives on fearless creativity, rooted tradition, and a shared hunger to explore sonic extremes.

Watch “Black Hole Blues” video: https://www.quadraturemusic.com/bhbmusicvideo

Burning Wick: Satoko Fujii Quartet Reignites Their Ferocious Avant Jazz-Rock Spirit

On Burning Wick, pianist-composer Satoko Fujii leads her revitalized avant jazz-rock fusion quartet into exhilarating new territory. Originally formed in 2001, the all-star group — Fujii, trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, bassist Hayakawa Takeharu, and drummer Tatsuya Yoshida — was one of her earliest working bands, known for its explosive energy and fearless improvisation. After a nearly 20-year hiatus, the quartet reunited last year with its mischievous spark fully intact. “We are not young anymore — our average age is 68 — but we have so much fun making music together that we feel like teenagers,” Fujii says.

This time around, Fujii’s compositions take center stage. Unlike their previous album, Dog Days of Summer, where she reworked arrangements at the last minute to preserve the group’s wildness, Burning Wick finds the quartet thriving within the structures exactly as written. The band sounded so strong in rehearsals, Fujii says, she barely changed a thing.

The album opens with “Solar Orbit,” a piece that both honors and bridges the members’ differing musical personalities. Fujii’s delicate, atmospheric introduction and Yoshida’s muted drum textures soon erupt into full-throttle turbulence. After a maze of sharp turns and sudden shifts — hallmark traits of Fujii’s writing — Tamura delivers one of the album’s standout moments, unfurling a slow-burn, voodoo-tinged solo over a simmering jazz-rock pulse.

Hayakawa’s imposing, effects-laced bass solo sets the tone for “Rain in the Wee Small Hours,” a striking contrast to one of the quartet’s most relaxed, jazz-forward compositions. The band’s unruly signature returns on “Walking Through the Border Town,” where eerie vocalizations and sound effects intersect with a swaggering rock theme before devolving into a glorious freak-out courtesy of Hayakawa and Yoshida.

“Neverending Summer” pivots from meditative piano reverie to pounding, rock-heavy force, cycling through passages at breakneck speed. Hayakawa unleashes a fuzz-toned bass solo, while Tamura shines in a fiery, jazz-rooted improvisation. “Mountain Gnome” creeps in with fragmented sound snippets — a collage of warped textures — before exploding into the quartet’s most urgent, unhinged playing on the record, complete with vocal shrieks and blistering instrumental volleys.

“Three Days Later,” first introduced on Fujii’s 2019 duet album Confluence, becomes a showcase for individual expression: unaccompanied solos, rotating duets, and a final collective surge. The title track brings the album to a kaleidoscopic close, with Fujii at the center of its churning, colorful motion.

The Satoko Fujii Quartet remains an ensemble of remarkably distinctive voices. Yoshida — legendary co-founder of The Ruins — brings his boundary-pushing rock intensity. Tamura melds lyricism and extended techniques into a singular trumpet language. Hayakawa continues to defy genre expectations with his commanding presence, whether leaning avant-rock or jazz-improv. Fujii herself, hailed by The New York Times for her “rumbling intensity and generous restraint,” continues to stand as one of the most original and prolific forces in creative music.

With over 100 albums as a leader, groundbreaking ensembles from trios to large-scale orchestras, and a global reputation as a composer and improviser, Fujii’s return to this high-voltage quartet feels both historic and vibrantly alive. Burning Wick captures a band reborn — older, wiser, and more joyfully explosive than ever.

Satoko Fujii Quartet — Burning Wick
Libra Records · Catalog 204-082
Recorded September 2, 2025
Release Date: November 21, 2025

Vibrations in the Village: A Newly Unearthed Rahsaan Roland Kirk Treasure

Resonance Records is set to unveil a rare, previously unheard live performance by Rahsaan Roland Kirk — Vibrations in the Village: Live at the Village Gate — as a two-LP RSD Black Friday exclusive on November 28, 2025. Captured in 1963 at New York’s iconic Village Gate, the recording showcases Kirk in ferocious, imaginative form, supported by bassist Henry Grimes, drummer Sonny Brown, and an unusual rotation of pianists: Horace Parlan, Melvin Rhyne, and a young Jane Getz. A deluxe CD edition follows on December 5.

Released with the blessing of Dorthaan Kirk, the musician’s widow, the set presents Kirk wielding his signature arsenal of reeds and flute with explosive creativity. The package includes extensive liner notes by biographer John Kruth, heartfelt remembrances from Getz and Dorthaan Kirk, and tributes from James Carter, Steve Turre, Chico Freeman, Adam Dorn, and novelist May Cobb. Restored and mastered by Matthew Lutthans, the LP edition arrives on 180-gram vinyl pressed by Le Vinylist in Quebec.

The tapes themselves have a miraculous backstory. In 1963, a now-unknown filmmaker began work on a documentary about Kirk and hired engineer Ivan Berger to capture performances at the Village Gate. The filmmaker died before the project could be completed, and the recordings remained untouched for decades. Sixty years later, Berger resurfaced the tapes, sparking the release. “Yet another story of how important recordings were made, lost and through some miracle eventually came to light,” says Resonance co-president and producer Zev Feldman.

Dorthaan Kirk expresses both pride and joy at the release: “I am elated that this music will be out for the world to hear… his name is probably right up there with Coltrane or Dizzy.” Kruth highlights the historic venue itself, recalling how the Gate consistently inspired artists — from Nina Simone and Bill Evans to Monk and Albert Ayler — to bring their best. Now, this recording captures Kirk (still pre-“Rahsaan”) doing the same.

Getz remembers the night vividly: visiting Grimes at the club, being invited to sit in, and feeling immediately at ease with Kirk’s warmth and intuition. James Carter calls Kirk “a walking miracle,” marveling at how his visual impairment seemed only to intensify his creative energy. Chico Freeman recounts a life-changing lesson Kirk taught him onstage — calling Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” when Freeman least expected it — a challenge that became a formative push. Turre emphasizes Kirk’s unifying spirit, while Adam Dorn notes how proudly his late father, producer Joel Dorn, would have embraced this release. Cobb frames the album as fueling a “Rahsaainasance,” nurturing the legacy Dorthaan has long protected.

Alongside this major discovery, Resonance will issue another Kirk rarity for RSD Black Friday: Seek and Listen: Live at the Penthouse (1967), also as a 2-LP exclusive. Together, the releases illuminate an artist whose boundless imagination and humanity continue to resonate across generations.

Memories of Home: Scofield & Holland’s First Duo Album

Guitarist John Scofield and bassist Dave Holland — two of modern jazz’s most expressive and distinctive voices — have crossed paths for decades, sharing bandstands with legends like Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, and Miles Davis. They even co-led the spirited ScoLoHoFo quartet with Joe Lovano and Al Foster. But Memories of Home marks a first: their debut album as a duo.

Scofield recalls that the idea had been simmering for years. A planned tour was canceled in 2020, but when they finally hit the road in late 2021, the chemistry was undeniable. A second tour in 2024 sealed the deal. The album, like the shows, blends new and older compositions from both musicians — a reflection of the decades of shared musical references that make their interplay so rich. “The similarities and differences in our approaches make for a more interesting collaboration,” Scofield says.

It’s hard to talk about either artist without invoking Miles Davis, and fittingly, Miles’ influence threads through Memories of Home. The album opens with Scofield’s “Icons at the Fair,” inspired partly by Herbie Hancock’s arrangement of “Scarborough Fair” (on The New Standard, where both Scofield and Holland played) and partly by a subtle nod to a Miles-style trumpet line. Holland’s “Mr B,” a blues-infused tribute to his bass hero Ray Brown, swings with joy and ease, while “Not for Nothin’” and “You I Love” revisit gems from Holland’s early ECM days.

The title track, “Memories of Home,” resurrects a Holland tune from a 1980s session with progressive bluegrass greats Vassar Clements and John Hartford — a perfect canvas for Scofield to lean into the folky, country-inflected side of his playing. Elsewhere, Scofield classics like “Meant to Be” and the tender “Easy for You” showcase both musicians’ gift for nuance and emotional depth.

Scofield’s recent ECM work has ranged from the expansive, improvisation-rich Uncle John’s Band to his autobiographical 2021 solo album and the trio exploration Swallow Tales. Holland’s ECM legacy is even broader, spanning collaborations with Anouar Brahem, Chick Corea, Barry Altschul, Barre Phillips, and his own groundbreaking ensembles that introduced players like Steve Coleman and Chris Potter to wider audiences. His What Goes Around with the Dave Holland Big Band earned a Grammy in 2003.

Recorded at NRS Studios in Catskill, New York, in August 2024, Memories of Home distills two lifetimes of musical exploration into a warm, intimate, and deeply conversational set.

John Scofield / Dave Holland – Memories of Home
ECM · Release Date: November 21, 2025

Sam First Launches “Big Acts in a Small Space” to Bring Major Touring Artists Into an Intimate LA Setting

Sam First, Los Angeles’ nonprofit 501(c)(3) jazz club, announces its new Big Acts in a Small Space series—an ambitious initiative that brings six internationally acclaimed touring artists, along with their full touring bands, into the club’s 50-seat room. Across the series, 23 musicians will travel to LA to perform four sets over two nights each, offering audiences the rare chance to hear major artists up close in one of the city’s most intimate listening environments.

The series is funded by a “Music in Action” grant from the Live Music Society, an organization dedicated to preserving and empowering small venues across the United States so that live music remains accessible and sustainable.

Executive & Artistic Director David Robaire explains the program’s purpose: “Sam First is a small venue near the LAX airport. We’ve built a strong, passionate, and loyal following, and we’re excited to continue to grow our reach and visibility with audiences. This series is designed to help us do that while also supporting musicians through a unique opportunity to engage with LA audiences. The musicians want to play here, we’d love to have them, and local audiences deserve the opportunity to see them live in such an intimate setting.”

Robaire adds that many of these artists haven’t played Los Angeles in years due to the scarcity of venues with the right size, acoustics, and atmosphere. “Sam First remains one of the few remaining clubs in LA supporting the local and international jazz scene on a nightly basis. As a small venue, we simply cannot afford to book these wonderful traveling musicians without additional funding. This is why we’re deeply grateful to the Live Music Society for their generous support.”

As a nonprofit, Sam First is committed to expanding jazz as both a tradition and an evolving art form. Designed without an elevated stage, the room dissolves the typical boundary between performers and audiences, encouraging collaboration, connection, and new musical creation rooted in risk and exploration.

Big Acts in a Small Space – Series Schedule
November 21–22, 2025 — Marcus Gilmore Sextet with Morgan Guerin, David Virelles, Emmanuel Michael, Tim Watson & Rashaan Carter
January 20–21, 2026 — Melissa Aldana Quartet with Glenn Zaleski, Pablo Menares & Kush Abadey
January 30–31, 2026 — Aaron Parks Trio with Ben Street & Billy Hart
February 6–7, 2026 — Trio Grande with Gilad Hekselman, Will Vinson & Nate Wood
April 24–25, 2026 — Becca Stevens Trio with Chris Tordini & Jordan Perlson
May 29–30, 2026 — TBA

Convergence sets the room on fire with Reckless Meter

Acclaimed modern jazz ensemble Convergence returns with Reckless Meter, a powerful new live album out December 5, 2025 on Capri Records. The release captures the group’s trademark blend of artistry, virtuosity, and fearless spontaneity—a vivid snapshot of one of Colorado’s most enduring and inventive jazz bands.

Contagious energy and deep musical chemistry have defined Convergence for more than three decades, and Reckless Meter bottles that spirit with striking clarity. Recorded live with an audience fully in the mix, the album delivers the heat, nuance, and quicksilver interplay that make the ensemble a cornerstone of the region’s jazz scene. “We wanted to make a record that felt alive, and what better way than with an audience right there in the room with us?” says drummer Paul Romaine. “You can feel that energy in every track.”

Featuring Eric Gunnison (piano), Greg Gisbert (trumpet/flugelhorn), John Gunther (saxophones), Mark Patterson (trombone), Mark Simon (bass), and Paul Romaine (drums), the album highlights original compositions performed with the boldness and trust earned from years of shared exploration. Engineered and mixed by the celebrated team at Mighty Fine Productions, the recording balances pristine audio quality with the raw immediacy of a club set unfolding in real time.

The album’s title speaks to Convergence’s fearless relationship with time, form, and improvisation. The opening track “Big Boot” bursts with sassy horns, driving momentum, and showstopping solos. “Springaling” channels a contagious urgency, while “Margaret Clara” brings breezy warmth and lyrical horn writing. Across “One or Not One,” “Master Jake,” “Cauldron,” and “Coyote Moon,” the band’s command is unmistakable—soaring horns, scintillating piano, and a rhythm section as grounded as it is adventurous. The title track closes the album with a tour-de-force display of ensemble precision and sheer joy.

“This band has always been about connection—with each other, with the audience, and with the music itself,” says Gunnison. “Convergence is more than a name; it’s how we approach everything we do.” With tightly woven grooves, expansive harmonic exploration, and a sound both rooted and forward-leaning, Reckless Meter stands as a vibrant testament to the band’s ongoing evolution.

Convergence – Reckless Meter
Capri Records – Catalog Number 74174-2
Recorded April 7, 2019

A First Encounter That Rewires Jazz: Amir ElSaffar’s New Quartet Live at Pierre Boulez Saal

"First Encounter" captures the rare electricity of a brand-new ensemble discovering itself in real time. The album documents the meeting of trumpeter Amir ElSaffar’s longtime trio—Tomas Fujiwara on drums and Ole Mathisen on tenor saxophone—with Greek pianist Tania Giannouli, whose microtonal and prepared-piano brilliance has made her one of Europe’s most sought-after improvisers. Recorded live at Berlin’s Pierre Boulez Saal and shaped by the hall’s extraordinary acoustics, the music unfolds between near-silence and ecstatic release, driven by ElSaffar’s Chicago-rooted tone, his mastery of Arab Maqam microtonality, and the quartet’s shared intuition.

Across rehearsals, a live concert, and an all-day session, the ensemble explored material ElSaffar wrote only days before—twelve pages of music born from a night of jet-lagged inspiration after hours of improvising and listening with Giannouli at the piano. That immediacy is felt throughout the record. The live concert, performed for a sold-out room, carries the unmistakable magnetism of music being discovered as it’s played; gestures appear almost of their own volition, as if emerging from a shared subconscious. The studio day that followed offered cleaner alternate takes, but the essence—the risk, vulnerability, and shimmering connection—lives in the live performance.

The quartet’s configuration may look traditional at first glance, but its bass-less design opens a wide sonic field. Giannouli’s microtonal resonances, combined with ElSaffar and Mathisen’s blended front line, free the ensemble from fixed harmonic centers, allowing Fujiwara and Giannouli to cultivate intricate rhythmic cycles and polyrhythms. The result is a kind of jazz that feels spacious and ancient, rooted deeply in Maqam while carrying the exploratory charge of the contemporary avant-garde.

The album’s story is also one of persistence. It took three attempts—derailed first by Covid in 2022, then by a sudden pneumonia—for the project to reach the stage. Each postponement stretched the creative tension further until, in 2023, the music landed with a sense of inevitability. What began as a commission from the Pierre Boulez Saal also traces back to ElSaffar’s own history: his time as principal trumpeter under Pierre Boulez with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, his work with Daniel Barenboim, and his connection to the Barenboim-Said initiatives that ultimately led him toward his Iraqi heritage and the world of Maqam.

“First Encounter” becomes more than a performance—it’s the sound of confluence, of musicians meeting at the crossroads of lived histories, shared listening, and the exquisite acoustics of a hall built for precision and possibility. It is a testament to ElSaffar’s ongoing work bridging jazz, classical rigor, and the ancient modal worlds of the Middle East, and to the deeply individual voices of Fujiwara, Mathisen, and Giannouli. What they discover together feels both newly born and centuries old.

Verve Remixed Holiday Returns: Iconic Jazz Voices Get a Dazzling Electronic Glow-Up for the Season

The stockings are hung, the fire’s crackling, and Verve Records just dropped the ultimate holiday playlist upgrade. Verve Remixed Holiday revives the spirit of its beloved 2008 predecessor with ten brand-new remixes that sling timeless jazz and soul classics into the future. A dream team of cutting-edge producers—Ginton, Bolden., Tourist, Two Another, and DARGZ—lace Nina Simone’s grit, Ella Fitzgerald’s velvet, Louis Armstrong’s gravel, and Billie Holiday’s smoke with pulsing electronic textures, genre-blurring grooves, and dance-floor heat. This isn’t your grandma’s Christmas record (unless grandma’s into late-night raves).

From fireside chill to rooftop-party energy, these tracks bridge eras with effortless swagger. Nina’s “Chilly Winds” gets a Bolden. bass thump that turns winter blues into a late-night strut. Ella’s New Year’s Eve flirtation floats on Two Another’s dreamy synths, transforming a 1947 standard into a midnight confetti shower. Satchmo’s Santa showdown swings with The Heavy’s funk swagger, making “’Zat You, Santa Claus?” the most mischievous holiday anthem in decades. Count Basie’s “Good Morning Blues” wakes up in Clerkenwell courtesy of The Real Tuesday Weld, blending swing horns with glitchy nostalgia. Mel Tormé’s chestnuts roast over DARGZ’s crackling breakbeats, while Billie’s “I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm” simmers in Yesking’s dubwise glow. Tourist reimagines Ella’s “We Three Kings” as a cosmic caravan under neon stars, and Ginton lifts Nina’s “I Am Blessed” into Afro-house euphoria. Shirley Horn’s “Winter Wonderland” glides through Christian Prommer’s deep-house snowdrifts, and Dinah Washington’s “Silent Night” closes the set with Brazilian Girls’ psychedelic lullaby—holy night, indeed.

This collection isn’t just a remix project; it’s a time machine. Verve’s golden-era catalog—recorded in pristine analog warmth—collides with 2025’s digital edge, proving that jazz’s emotional core thrives in any era. Whether you’re trimming the tree, hosting a holiday brunch, or sneaking one last dance before the ball drops, Verve Remixed Holiday is the all-year essential you didn’t know you needed. Stream it, spin it, gift it—let the season swing.

Full Tracklist:

1. Nina Simone – Chilly Winds Don’t Blow (Bolden. Remix)
2. Ella Fitzgerald – What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve? (Two Another Remix)
3. Louis Armstrong, The Commanders – ’Zat You, Santa Claus? (The Heavy Remix)
4. Count Basie – Good Morning Blues (The Real Tuesday Weld Clerkenwell Remix)
5. Mel Tormé – The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) (DARGZ Remix)
6. Billie Holiday – I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm (Yesking Remix)
7. Ella Fitzgerald – We Three Kings (Tourist Remix)
8. Nina Simone – I Am Blessed (Ginton Remix)
9. Shirley Horn – Winter Wonderland (Christian Prommer Remix)
10. Dinah Washington – Silent Night (Brazilian Girls Remix)

Don Cherry & Latif Khan’s Lost Masterpiece Resurfaces: The Rarest Trumpet-Percussion Summit Ever Pressed to Vinyl

Deep in the crates of the “happy few” lies one of jazz’s most elusive treasures: Don Cherry’s untitled 1982 encounter with Indian tabla virtuoso Latif Khan, produced by Martin Meissonnier and Pierre Lattès. Never reissued, scarcely documented, this one-off session fuses Cherry’s global hunger with Khan’s syncopated lightning in a blaze of cross-cultural fire that still crackles forty-three years later.

Cherry—already a free-jazz prophet beside Ornette Coleman—had long abandoned borders. By the early ’80s, his trumpet and pocket cornet conversed fluently with gamelans, berimbaus, and doussn’gouni. Here, he meets Delhi gharana rebel Latif Khan, a percussionist who turned accompaniment into architecture, stacking polyrhythms like mosaics. They had never shared a stage, yet the tape rolls and kinship ignites: laughter, tuning forks, a Hammond B3 retuned to just intonation, orchestral timpani coaxed into raga-like drones. Khan’s fingers blur across tablas; Cherry answers with melodies that arc from Mississippi to Mumbai.

No rehearsals. No safety net. Just two open spirits sculpting air into eternity. The result isn’t “world music” novelty—it’s prophecy: melody over harmony, humanity over genre, improvisation as diplomacy. Every original copy is a relic; every listen, a revelation. Hunt the vinyl, guard it fiercely, and let the summer of ’82 live again.

Don Cherry (1936–1995) was born in Oklahoma City to a Choctaw-African American family steeped in music—his father owned the legendary Cherry Blossom Club, where young Don absorbed swing, blues, and bebop. By 1956 he was in Los Angeles, forging free jazz with Ornette Coleman on seminal albums like Something Else!!!! (1958) and The Shape of Jazz to Come (1959). His pocket trumpet became a voice of melodic liberation, unmoored from chord changes. After settling in New York, Cherry co-founded the avant-garde vanguard, collaborating with Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, and Albert Ayler. But borders bored him. By the late ’60s he was studying in Morocco, jamming in Sweden with Turkish musicians, and releasing Organic Music Society (1972)—a blueprint for world fusion. Instruments multiplied: doussn’gouni, berimbau, gamelan, Tibetan bells. His 1970s loft scene birthed the “world music” wave, though Cherry’s version was never trendy—it was spiritual, political, rooted in community and curiosity. Father to Neneh and Eagle-Eye, he raised artists as open as he was. At his death in 1995, he left a discography of over 100 albums and a legacy as jazz’s first true citizen of the world.

Ustad Ahmed Latif Khan (1950–1990) hailed from the Delhi gharana, a centuries-old lineage of classical percussionists. Trained from age five by his uncle Ustad Ahmedjan Thirakwa—legendary tabla maestro to Ravi Shankar and Vilayat Khan—Latif modernized tradition without betraying it. Where accompanists once stayed in shadows, he stepped into light, wielding irregular talas, lightning-fast kaidas, and syncopations that danced on the edge of chaos. By the 1970s he was touring Europe, recording with jazz and fusion artists, and teaching at the Sangeet Research Academy in Kolkata. His ear was photographic; his hands, a storm. Colleagues recall him tuning entire ensembles by ear—pianos, organs, even timpani—to microtonal precision. In Paris for the 1982 session, he arrived jet-lagged, warmed his fingers in minutes, and matched Cherry’s every leap with tabla thunder that felt both ancient and futuristic. Tragically, Khan died young in 1990, leaving a slim but incandescent recorded legacy.

Martin Meissonnier, the session’s co-producer, was a French visionary bridging punk, funk, and global grooves. He engineered Fela Kuti’s Army Arrangement, produced King Sunny Adé’s international breakthrough, and later helmed soundtracks for Wim Wenders. Pierre Lattès, his partner, ran the influential Celluloid Records, home to avant-garde icons like Bill Laswell and Material. Together they gave Cherry and Khan a blank canvas—and a studio full of toys.

Trumpeter Peter Evans' Being & Becoming Evolves into Sonic Explorers on Expansive New Album 'Ars Ludicra'

What happens when a band tours relentlessly across continents, honing their craft in sold-out spots like Zebulon in LA, Jazz em Agosto in Lisbon, and NYC's Winter Jazz Fest? For Peter Evans' Being & Becoming, the result is 'Ars Ludicra'—their third studio outing, captured raw and radiant at New Jersey's iconic Van Gelder Studios in 2024. Out now on Evans' More is More Records, this 2025 release pulses with the quartet's hard-won synergy: Evans unleashing trumpet wizardry, piano flourishes, and electronics; Joel Ross shimmering on vibraphone and synth; Nick Jozwiak anchoring with bass and synth depth; and Michael Shekwoaga Ode driving the drums with unyielding fire. Guest flutist Alice Teyssier weaves ethereal lines into the orchestral swirl of "Images."

From the stadium-shaking blasts of "Malibu" to the eerie musique concrète drifts of "Pulsar" and Brazilian-tinged symphonics in "Images," the album explodes stylistic boundaries far beyond the symphonic introspection of their 2022 predecessor 'Ars Memoria.' Meticulous post-production by engineer Mike Pride polishes these labyrinthine charts into a tapestry of explosive dynamics and intimate revelations. A standout surprise: a symphonic reimagining of Russian folk-punk icon Yanka Dyagileva's "My Sorrow is Luminous," ballooned from raw lament to transcendent roar.

Each player shines with fierce individuality—Evans' pinpoint precision trading blows with Ross' vibraphone glow, Jozwiak's elastic grooves locking in with Ode's propulsive swing—yet they navigate the twists with elegant unity. It's a radical leap that honors the group's DNA: a 2017 Evans brainchild blending vast influences, from jazz fusion to experimental frontiers, across their self-titled 2020 debut and beyond.

Fresh off 2023-2024 jaunts through Europe and the West Coast, Being & Becoming charged forward into 2025 by welcoming Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey on drums. This augmented lineup has already stormed major U.S. and European festivals, with ambitious tours locked for 2026 and further. 'Ars Ludicra' isn't just documentation—it's a manifesto for perpetual becoming. Dive in and let the evolution wash over you.

Flute Firebrand Alexander Zonjic Blazes Back with High-Octane “Playing It Forward” After a Decade Away

The pandemic silenced concert stages, but it couldn’t mute Detroit’s flute phenom Alexander Zonjic. With festivals on ice, the Windsor-born virtuoso finally carved out space to finish his 13th album—his first in over ten years. Dropping October 9 on Hi-Falutin Music, Playing It Forward surges with jazz-funk-soul fusion, propelled by GRAMMY-winning keyboard titan Jeff Lorber on production for all but the lead single, the retro-R&B earworm “Motor City Sway.” Penned and produced by Pieces of a Dream’s James Lloyd, the track has topped Billboard’s Most Added chart two weeks running.

The title nods to Zonjic’s lifelong ethos of giving back—fueling fundraisers for a dozen Detroit nonprofits alongside his son, hosting WVMV’s morning drive since ’98, and helming his TV showcase Alexander Zonjic: From A to Z. “This record is forward momentum,” he says. “Pure energy.” That promise detonates across six originals (five co-penned by Lorber) and five reimagined covers, featuring guitar aces Chuck Loeb, Paul Jackson Jr., and Michael Thompson; drummer Gary Novak; horn arranger David Mann; and 14-year-old South African keyboard comet Justin-Lee Schultz.

Loeb’s final co-write, the lush downtempo “Musaic,” lets Zonjic’s flute converse tenderly with the late master’s guitar—a poignant farewell. Elsewhere, Zonjic salutes his roots: a slinky “Night Crawler” tribute to mentor Bob James (who discovered him at Baker’s Keyboard Lounge in ’81); a haunting “Nature Boy” that treats the flute like the human voice it mimics; and a long-overdue Jethro Tull nod with a 5/4-time “Living In The Past” laced with grunts, groans, and classical flair. The roof-raiser? A gospel-charged “Rolling In The Deep” ignited by the Selected of God Choir—sparked not by Adele but by Aretha Franklin’s blistering Letterman performance.

A teenage rock guitarist turned flute messenger, Zonjic has collected three Canadian Smooth Jazz Awards, 15 Detroit Music Awards, and a reputation for trading solos with giants. He’s ready to do it again—faster, louder, and with zero plans to wait another decade. Stream Playing It Forward and feel the Motor City sway.