Brazilian Singer-Songwriter Manu Lafer Celebrates Two Decades of Composing with the Rhythmic Brazilian Sounds of Gimme 5 Album Melds Afro-Carribean, Brazilian Bossa Nova & Baião, Jazz, Pop & Rock Fusion Influences

With Gimme 5, prolific Brazilian singer-songwriter Manu Lafer offers listeners a joyful slap of the hand, an enthusiastic greeting to audiences around the world as well, perhaps, as a well-earned celebration for two decades of music-making. Over those 20 years Lafer has penned more than 300 songs, 100 of which have been recorded by some of the most renowned artists in Brazilian music and American jazz – all while maintaining a busy career as a pediatrician.

Lafer has collaborated with such stellar artists as Dori Caymmi, John and Bucky Pizzarelli, Toninho Horta, Chuck Redd, Howard Alden, Maude Maggart, Ná Ozzetti, Ken Peplowski, Warren Vaché, and countless others. On Gimme 5, due out October 12 (being distributed through Megaforce Records), Lafer interprets his own deeply personal songs as only a composer can. “When we sing the songs we wrote, we sing them in a special way because we mean what we sing,” Lafer says. “Each song is a different journey, a different musical landscape.”

For Lafer, those landscapes are painted with the vivid colors of his own unique influences. His songwriting follows in the breezy, sun-dappled tradition of pioneering songwriters like Dorival Caymmi, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Gilberto Gil and Lafer’s major influence, João Gilberto. Like each of them, he has created a unique sound drawn from his own particular blend of styles: a wealth of Brazilian rhythms from bossa nova to baião, melded with early Brazilian innovators from the days of radio, American songbook classics, contemporary jazz, and pop music of the 60s and 70s.

The compositions of Gimme 5 are further enriched by the production and arranging gifts of Sandro Albert, Lafer’s partner in the duo Run N’ Fly, who also plays guitar throughout the album. Albert frames Lafer’s tune with influences from Afro-Caribbean music as well as sleek jazz and rock fusion touches. “Sandro is very different from me, and brings things to my music that nobody can,” Lafer says. “He never wants to stay on the same page and do the same thing. That’s what we have in common.”

The music is brought to vibrant life by an international all-star band, including drummers Lionel Cordew (Spyro Gyra) and Cliff Almond (Michel Camilo), bassist Mark Egan (Weather Report), pianist Helio Alves (Claudio Roditi), percussionists Bashiri Johnson (Michael Jackson) and Mino Cinélu (Miles Davis), and vocalists Cindy Mizelle (Steely Dan) and Sachal Vasandani (Wynton Marsalis).

Lafer’s diverse range of influences can be heard out of the gate on opener “Era Pra Ser,” which combines the lyricism of Caetano Veloso with the compelling groove of Gilberto Gil. The song, which translates as “it was meant to be,” is the portrait of an idealized romance, the ecstatic thrill of which shines through brilliantly.

“A Jura,” previously recorded by Maude Maggart, is another positive view of love, albeit a more complicated (some might say realistic) one. The song meditates on the way that two people telling each other “I love you” may use the same words but mean entirely different things. While many songwriters may take that as hinting at friction to come, Lafer sees it as a necessary delusion. “The mystery of love is that people love each other for reasons unknown to their partner,” he explains. “Since they say the same thing they stay together, but they never understand what’s really going on. A relationship can be good, even if we never know why.”

“Passos” offers Lafer’s take on the characteristic Brazilian sensation of “saudade” – a unique feeling of nostalgic melancholy that is untranslatable in words but can be felt somewhere deeper through the singer’s moving performance. “Even if you don't understand Portuguese, I think you can guess what the lyrics are saying,” he says.

While Americans rarely use their middle names, Brazilians tend to invest them with more meaning, giving Lafer the premise for the delectably confused love story of “Clara Maria.” The song’s narrator isn’t torn between two women but between the warring personalities of his one love, represented by her two names. “It’s a man who really loves this woman, but he can’t decide which part of her he likes best,” the songwriter laughs. “So he’s suffering -- but in a good way."

The sensual “Amor Primeiro” takes an alluring turn into bolero, drawing inspiration from the songs of Chico Buarque, while “Faz Anos” casts a glance back at Lafer’s own teenage years, when he wrote the song. A young man’s conflicted but starry-eyed view of São Paulo, the tune’s infectious grooves are touched by a hint of Steely Dan cool left over from Run N’ Fly’s more R&B-oriented approach. “Ou Sou Eu” also has personal meaning from Lafer’s past: it was originally recorded by Dori Caymmi for the songwriter’s wedding (and later as a duo on one of Lafer’s earlier albums). It’s a nostalgic view of a bygone Brazil inspired by Lafer’s friendship with the Caymmi musical dynasty.

Another revered Brazilian artist, singer and guitarist Toninho Horta, co-wrote and sings with Cindy Mazelle on the English-language “WWI,” an unusual song inspired by the literary works of William Faulkner and Thomas Wolfe. As those authors looked at the faceless soldiers killed in war and saw their individual humanity, so “WWI” uses the nicknames given to nationalities in the First World War – proper names like Jerry and Sammy standing in for Germans or Americans, respectively – to explore the human beings behind the tragic statistics.

Two other songs are performed in English as well, translations of favorites from Lafer’s songbook: “Come,” which provided the slang phrase for the album’s title in its simple come-on; and “Did I Need To Repeat,” a more complicated tale of a father and son and the words – never spoken in the lyrics – that have passed between them.

The playful “Minha Senhora” is Lafer’s twist on a nursery rhyme, empowering a sleepy child to scare off the phantoms that swarm around their bed. The shifting harmonies of “Pra Voce Viajar” echo the intricacy of bossa nova with more gently propulsive Latin rhythms. The album draws to a close with the gleeful “Um Par,” a love song that toys with the titular idea of “a pair.”

Having lived in the U.S. and his native Brazil, and formed deep partnerships with incredible artists in both countries, Lafer is excited to bring his unique blend of the two musical countries to the world via his stellar songwriting. “By saying Gimme 5, I wanted to invite people to come close to the music and listen,” he says. “It’s not a problem if they don't understand the lyrics. People naturally gather around music, so I want to help make that happen.”

Manu Lafer is a composer, singer, and pediatrician from São Paulo, Brazil. He has composed more than 300 songs, more than 100 of which have been recorded. He has developed a unique, signature sound, by drawing upon a vast range of Brazilian and American rhythms and harmonies for his compositions.

Manu has had the honor of working with some of Brazil’s most revered composers, arrangers and singers, along with celebrated names abroad. In Brazil he has worked closely with Danilo Caymmi, Dori Caymmi, Nana Caymmi, Luiz Tatit, Ná Ozzetti, Germano Mathias, Cris Aflalo, Lincoln Olivetti, Luiz Brasil, Jacques Morelembaum, Mario Manga, Jetter Garroti Jr., and Fabio Tagliaferri, among others. Outside of Brazil he has collaborated with the tap-dancer Steve Zee, and recorded with guitarists Bucky Pizzarelli, John Pizzarelli and Howard Alden; Ken Peplowski, Warren Vaché, Jeanne Gies and Maude Maggart.

Manu Lafer · Gimme 5

Release Date: October 12, 2018

Grammy Winner Will Downing's New Album 'The Promise" Offers Hope + Testimony In the Face of Incredible Odds

Sometimes life gets in the way. For Will Downing, The Prince of Sophisticated Soul, more than two decades of critical and commercial success as a singer was suddenly at risk-along with his life. There's a long, rich tradition in the Black church of testifying, sharing "testimony" about a point of great adversity in life, when the power of God and prayer turn everything around against all odds-that "low point" marking a test, God's test of faith. In late 2007, in the very prime of his life, Will Downing faced an almost unimaginable test. A sudden onset of the auto-immune disease polymyositis threatened everything he held dear: his health, his ability to provide for his family, his musical gifts, and life itself. Weak, frail and nearly paralyzed, he did not curse God, but instead said a prayer: "Lord you see me through this and I promise I will give you all the honor, all the praise...wherever I go." He didn't turn away from God and God didn't turn away from him. Twelve years later, Will Downing is a walking, singing testimony of the power of faith and prayer. And he delivers on his promise with his new CD, THE PROMISE, an inspirational album-actually his first gospel album -- to be released November 9, 2018 by Shanachie Entertainment.

Though THE PROMISE will likely be categorized as a gospel album or a "praise-and-worship" album and while those elements are there, such categorization misses the larger intent. The album is Downing's heartfelt 10-song thank you letter to God for bringing him back from the edge of darkness into His marvelous light. A close listen reveals his pain, gratitude and, yes, his "testimony" to all who find themselves losing hope against incredible odds. As such, on THE PROMISE, Will Downing taps previously unrevealed aspects of his talent to step boldly outside of his "Prince of Sophisticated Soul" persona to pour raw unblinking emotion into a musical re-creation of his journey from hospital bed to wheelchair and ultimately back to the stage. In short, this is a Will Downing no one has heard before in his now 30-plus year career, as one who stared down his own mortality and emerged, through faith, on the other side, blessed to continue to do what he does best.

"In 2007, I got sick," Will recalls. "I mean really sick!!! I was losing weight at a rapid pace and my overall strength was diminishing. Some of the basic things in life had become difficult-standing up, walking, shaving, putting on a belt, driving...being a hard-headed man I didn't go to the doctor; I blamed my condition on stress or general wear-and-tear or fatigue. The last straw was when I was driving with my wife and daughter in the car and I couldn't turn the steering wheel. I decided then to go to the doctor where they drew blood and sent me home. By the time I got home they'd left a message for me to go to the hospital. The next day I was pretty much paralyzed, with no use of my legs. After a few weeks of testing they diagnosed me with a rare auto-immune disease called polymyositis. As I lay in the hospital bed, all hope seemingly gone, I started to pray like never before, begging for help and promising God that if he got me out of this I'd do whatever he needed and wanted me to do. It took a year plus of being in and out of hospitals before I saw any progress. And, yes, I was still in a wheelchair. God sent me angels; people would come over from the rehab center on their own time to my home to help in my recovery. Along with my friends and family, they seriously helped in getting me slowly back on my feet. Producers and writers would come and work by my bedside and wheelchair, making new music."

Will was finally able to resume recording and performing, making several new albums of the sophisticated soul style that brought him success. But then it came time to fulfill his vow to God and so he began work on THE PROMISE.

From the first notes of THE PROMISE, Will takes us to church with the initial piano and organ chords of the opening track "Take It To The Cross." This toe-tappin', hand-clappin' kick-off sets the perfect tone with the message to take your burdens to the Lord. The opener is followed by the album's first single, "Look At Yourself (In The Mirror)," a thumping horn-driven reminder that while God is omni-present, He allows each of us to find him in our own way. The message is clear: you are the total sum of the choices you make in this life. To that end, be the change you want to see in your self, so that you can look at yourself in the mirror and be pleased. "I Hear A Voice" delivers the spiritual impact of the moment when Downing knew his prayers had been heard and his fight was not his own-that moment when God speaks to your heart and lets you know He's with you and will see you through, the turning point of Downing's "test."

A striking thing about THE PROMISE is that musically even as Downing ventures into the gospel realm, he does so on his own terms, forging a music distinct from typical gospel sounds but maintaining the essence of his unique style. Perhaps the most deeply personal song on the album is "You Blessed My Life," a kind of gospel ballad. It's a slowed down and stripped down, full-blown love song with Will singing directly to God in humble gratitude for his entire life's journey-the ups as well as the downs. He delivers the song with unashamed, tearful sincerity that grows with every measure, a sincerity that is all-too-rare in popular music these days. "God Is So Amazing" truly embodies the miracle of Downing's recovery. This song originally appeared on the AFTER TONIGHT release which was begun just before and continued just after the polymyositis diagnosis. A close listen to that release reveals a variety of colors in the strength and tone of Downing's signature baritone from one song to the next, especially on the original version of "God Is So Amazing," which was recorded in determined fashion from a hospital bed. The re-recording of this song for THE PROMISE is sterling testament to the faith of a man who could praise God as much at the height of his illness as he did in full recovery. THE PROMISE concludes in a nod to the classic Will Downing sound as he duets with Regina Belle, an R&B diva of great faith. And thus, with this moving new album, Will Downing fulfills his promise to God.

"Timing is everything, "Will notes. This is what God wanted me to do. My Mom had been on me for years to do a Gospel/Inspirational record and I said I'd get to it one day It just felt like now was the time. God has blessed me abundantly and now I'm keeping my word to Mom and to my God."

Born in Brooklyn, NY  in 1963,  after attending college in Virginia, Downing moved back to New York City finding work as a session singer. Signed to Island Records he broke through in 1988 with the album WILL DOWNING on Island's 4th & Broadway label; his distinctive version of John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" hit #4 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs chart. There followed a string of best-selling albums that established Downing as one of those rare artists who could blend R&B with a jazz sensibility, all delivered with a gorgeous, rich baritone that stood out from amongst the popular singers of the day. The sheer quality and uniqueness of Downing's artistry meant that his albums sold hundreds of thousands of copies even if there was no radio hit. Indeed in 2000 he won a Grammy award in the Best Traditional R&B category for his album ALL THE MAN YOU NEED.

"I believe God spared me for a reason, "Will says. Indeed he has made it his mission to lend his time, name and presence to the awareness and fund-raising efforts of the Muscular Dystrophy Association, donating a portion of recording proceeds to the organization which he credits with helping him through his own battle. He also makes a priority of mentoring aspiring singers and musicians. It is all about keeping that "promise."

Chucho Valdés Revisits Seminal 1972 Recording Jazz Batá with a Sequel 46 Years Later

Jazz Batá 2, composer, pianist and bandleader Chucho Valdés’ first album for Mack Avenue Records, marks a new peak of creativity for the artist, even as it revisits the small-group concept of his 1972 Cuban album Jazz Batá. That album upon release was originally considered experimental at the time, but the trio project – featuring no drum set and two virtuosi who would subsequently be charter members of Irakere: Carlos del Puerto (bass) and Oscar Valdés (batâ: the sacred, hourglass shaped drums of the Yoruba religion in Cuba) – would now be considered contemporary.

Recorded in two and a half days at John Lee’s studio in New Jersey, Jazz Batá 2 is both rhythmic and lyrical at once. The six-hand complexity of the batá repertoire – the deep classical music of West Africa – permeates Valdés’ piano solos throughout the album. “I applied to my solos the different rhythms of the batá,” he says. “The piano is of course a harmonic instrument, but it’s percussive too, and you can play percussion with it.”

Valdés set the batá-driven small-group format aside in the wake of Irakere’s explosive popularity in 1973, but he’s always wanted to get back to it. Now he’s done it with Jazz Batá 2, “with more resources, in every sense,” he says, “with a wider panorama.”

It’s an exceptionally tight band. All of the three supporting musicians – Yaroldy Abreu Robles, Dreiser Durruthy Bombalé, and Yelsy Heredia – are from the Guantánamo region and have deep roots in Cuban musical culture as well as being conservatory-trained. Yelsy and Dreiser grew up together, went through music school together, graduated together, and have been playing music side-by-side literally all their lives. Yaroldy, who plays a wide variety of drums – congas, batá, bongó, orchestral percussion – has been working with Valdés for 20 years. “He always knows what I’m going to want to do,” says Valdés.

Jazz Batá 2 also marks the centenary of Valdés’ late father and teacher, Ramón “Bebo” Valdés (b. 1918). These two giants of Cuban music shared a birthday – October 9 – so Bebo’s 100th will be Chucho’s 77th. Between the two of them, they’ve exercised a massive musical influence since the 1940s. Bebo’s 1952 creation of the commercially failed but artistically successful batanga – which combined batá drums with a state-of-the-art jazz band – was a direct inspiration for the batá-driven jazz of Irakere, as well as for Jazz Batá and its sequel being released 46 years later. This stretch of time reinforces the enduring and magnificent career Valdés has cultivated over the 77 years of his life, with no signs of slowing down and never one to conform or expand the boundaries of his musical inventions.

Track Listing:

Obatalá

Son XXI

Luces

Ochún

Chucho's Mood

100 Años de Bebo

El Güije

The Clown

Personnel:

Chucho Valdés / piano

Yelsy Heredia / double bass

Dreiser Durruthy Bombalé / batás and vocals

Yaroldy Abreu Robles / percussion

Guest Artist:

Regina Carter / violin (“Ochún” and “100 Años de Bebo” only)

Track-by-Track for Jazz Batá 2:

Obatalá: A mini-suite evoking Valdés’s santo in the Yoruba religion of Cuba (santería), with a liturgical rhythm that belongs to Obatalá, the god of wisdom and justice. “Yelsy Heredia’s bowed-bass solo has a spiritual dimension,” says Valdés, “played as if calling the ancestors. It finishes with all of us singing one of the most beautiful of Obatalá’s melodies.”

Son XXI: Beginning with a section that Valdés calls “half Cecil Taylor style, half Muhal Richard Abrams style,” it transforms into a catchy composition by the late Cuban composer Enrique Ubieta that plays with rhythmic clusters. It’s a new framing of a number that reaches back to the first Jazz Batá and beyond; Valdés first performed it in 1963 in the Teatro Musical de La Habana.

Luces: Composed only two weeks before the recording session and featuring one of Valdés’ most interesting solos ever, this is perhaps the first-ever bolero (romantic ballad) with congas and batá. “It gives the bolero rhythm a different sabor,” says Valdés of the batá, as do the tune’s augmented-chord harmonies.

Ochún: Syncretized with the Catholic saint La Caridad del Cobre, protector of Cuba, the Yoruba orisha Ochún represents feminine beauty. She loves sweet music, so she’s saluted with a violin. Regina Carter was the obvious call; the two musicians have been friends for years. The rhythm is a merengue haitiano – another nod to Bebo, who spent quality time working in Haiti.

Chucho’s Mood: Another of Bebo’s innovations was the descarga, or Cuban jam session (1952’s immortal “Con Poco Coco”). This is a descarga, built on a rhythmic three-note tumbao (G, B, C). “It’s like a tornado,” says Valdés, “it gathers, gathers, builds, and builds.”

100 Años de Bebo (100 years of Bebo): A tune by Bebo, rescued from oblivion by Valdés, played by Regina Carter, and set as a danzón-mambo. “No one’s heard this tune,” he says, “I’m the only person who knows it. When I was a child, Bebo played it on the piano at home. Just a tune, very beautiful, and as many times as he played it, it always captured my attention. I don’t believe he ever recorded it. Since it’s his centenary, I added an introduction, I put a tumbao at the end, and recorded it.”

El Güije: A güije is a mythical Cuban creature that lives in the river. This tune, which Valdés refers to as a bembé (sacred party), is based on a rhythm created by percussionist Dreiser Durruthy, and features him speaking in the Kikongo-derived sacred language of the Afro-Cuban religion known as palo.

The Clown: A piano solo, dedicated to Maurice Ravel, that Valdés composed when he was with the Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna (of which he was a founder, in 1967). It’s a theme-and-variations: “I go impressionist, I go a little avant-garde, I play batá on the piano…”

  

The October Revolution of Jazz & Contemporary Music October 4-7 in Philadelphia, PA

The October Revolution of Jazz & Contemporary Music, a four-day international music festival presented by Ars Nova Workshop, in partnership with FringeArts, has finalized its 2018 lineup. Taking place October 4-7, 2018, the second annual festival spans the worlds of avant-garde jazz, contemporary classical, electronic, and spiritual music, covering a vast landscape of innovative sound.

The 2018 October Revolution builds on the foundation of last year’s hugely successful inaugural edition, which The New York Times called a festival that “makes history” and DownBeat hailed for its “curatorial brilliance.” Selling out three of its four days, the festival immediately established itself as a vital destination for adventurous listeners, with WBGO stating, “Experimental music fans have a new festival to look forward to.” The second year expands on the mission of the first, with rare performances, legendary artists, and unique collaborations.

“OctRev is already promising to become a huge international draw to Philadelphia,” says Ars Nova Workshop founder and Artistic Director Mark Christman. “The eclectic and expansive mix of pioneering music helps us open our minds, and our arms, to the world—in a spirit of welcome and inclusivity that is sorely needed these days.”

THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION 2018 FESTIVAL LINEUP:

The Music of Legendary Hasaan – Though his playing is captured on only one released recording, the Philadelphia pianist Hasaan Ibn Ali has had an extraordinary influence on everyone from John Coltrane to Jason Moran. Now, three Philadelphia jazz notables – Brian Marsella, Christian McBride, and Anwar Marshall – revisit Hasaan’s work to pay homage to this mysterious and legendary figure.

John Zorn – In dual celebration of his 65th birthday as well as the arrival of the new Christ Church C.B. Fisk 3,000-pipe organ, John Zorn will be closing the October Revolution of Jazz & Contemporary Music with a solo “Hermetic Organ” performance.

Tomeka Reid Quartet – Carving a new and original path for cello in jazz , Reid’s combination of timbral finesse and fleet instincts has been featured in many distinguished ensembles over the years. Featuring the remarkable guitarist Mary Halvorson!

David Lang’s World to Come – “World To Come” is a David Lang composition written specifically for Francesco Dillon in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Muhal Richard Abrams’ SoundPath – The world lost a true pioneer when the world-renowned AACM pianist and composer and NEA Jazz Master Muhal Richard Abrams passed away on October 29, 2017, at the age of 87. His piece SoundPath for 16 musicians gets only its 2nd ever performance.

Kuzu – An exciting new trio featuring saxophonist Dave Rempis, a stalwart of the Chicago improvised music scene, worked with both Tashi Dorji (guitar) and Tyler Damon (drums)

The Humanity Quartet - Deeply rooted in tradition, with an indelible emphasis on swing and infectious melody, the message of the Humanity Quartet represents a sharing of ideas and feelings that bring people together in an increasingly divided world. Featuring drummer Leon Parker!

Hear in Now - With Mazz Swift (New York City) on violin/vocals, Silvia Bolognesi (Italy) on double bass, and Tomeka Reid (Chicago) on cello, Hear in Now creates a unique sound experience blurring the borders between free improvisation and through-composed compositions.

Wolf Eyes + Marshall Allen – “Trip Metal” band meets the Sun Ra Arkestra maestro for the first time!

Amirtha Kidambi’s Elder Ones - “In a recent conversation about where she came from and where she’s going, she discussed the Carnatic singer Sudha Ragunathan; the free jazz of John Coltrane and Albert Ayler; Alice Coltrane’s bhajan recordings from the 1980s and ’90s; Sarah Vaughan; Black Sabbath; the 20th-century classical vanguardists Varèse and Xenakis; the experimental composer Robert Ashley, with whom she worked toward the end of his life; and Renaissance motets. The common theme through them is a sense of immediacy, or what she called intensity.” -The New York Times

Dirigo Rataplan – The Philadelphia premiere of this all-star quartet featuring Ellery Eskelin, Dave Ballou, Michael Formanek, and Devin Gray

Annette Peacock - A true original who rarely performs in public, Peacock’s compositions are among the most enduring in modern jazz.

Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids - A Philadelphia premiere nearly 50 years in the making! The Pyramids’ new recording, “An Angel Fell,” is The Quietus’s #2 Album Of The Year So Far.

Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda: The Ashram Experience - Largely unheard by the general public during Coltrane’s lifetime, the Sai Anantam Singers are now sharing her astounding devotional music in live performance.

Tiger Trio - The inspired union of pianist and Guggenheim fellow Myra Melford, French bassist Joëlle Léandre (who has worked with Merce Cunningham, John Cage, and Anthony Braxton), and AACM flutist Nicole Mitchell, Tiger Trio brings an uncommon lucidity to the art of spontaneous composition.

OGJB Quartet - Four boundary-pushing innovators converge in this collective quartet: saxophonist Oliver Lake, cornetist Graham Haynes, bassist Joe Fonda, and drummer Barry Altschul. All four are ground-breaking musicians in their own rights and can boast collaborations with many of the most acclaimed voices in the history of jazz.

Dave Burrell Full-Blown Trio with Darius Jones & Chad Taylor - The lifetime achievement honoree at this year’s Vision Festival, Philadelphia piano great Dave Burrell returns home at the helm of his explosive, era-spanning trio.

 

Pharoah Sanders' Eclectic, Multifarious 1971 Album 'Thembi' Reissued On Vinyl Via Impulse!/UMe

Jazz legend Pharoah Sanders' one-of-a-kind, mosaical free jazz classic Thembi – not pressed on vinyl since 1987 – is available once again via Impulse!/UMe. Originally released in 1971, the Ed Michel and Bill Szymczyk-produced album is pressed on black vinyl and housed in a high-quality wrapped jacket. 

Thembi, named after Sanders' son and compiled from two sets of sessions, captures the tenor saxophonist at his hyper-eclectic peak. And that MO was captured literally as the musicians unloaded their instruments to record the music. As organist Lonnie Liston Smith related in 2007, "We got to the studio in California — Cecil McBee had to unpack his bass, the drummer had to set up his drums, Pharoah had to unpack all of his horns. Everybody had something to do, but the piano was just sitting there waiting." That was the first time Smith touched an electric keyboard — and Sanders followed suit.

Not only did the tenor player pick up alto and soprano horns, but other oddities like cow horns, fifes and a small African thumb piano called the bailophone. Not only this, co-producers Michel and Szymczyk revolutionarily made something more indebted to Sgt. Pepper than "So What?". Their mixes teem with psychedelic, trippy effects — echo, reverb and phasing. It all reflected Sanders' legendarily "outer limits" state of mind.

While its experimental sound naturally divided critics and fans, time has been good to this unusual LP. In a retrospective review in 2011, All About Jazz called it "unalloyed bliss from start to finish, a sweet and lyrical evocation of Eastern mysticism." Revive Music noted its "use of dozens of instruments, including the sounds of birds and the yelping voices of humans," concluding "Thembi is a testament to the fact that timeless classics are never attributed singularly to technique, but are instead conceived of strong directional intent, a will, and love."

Thembi is both East and West Coast jazz — Side A and Side B were recorded by two different ensembles in LA and New York, yet it isn't a disjointed compilatory album. Instead, the love and light of Thembi creates a complete feeling, from the percolating "Astral Travelling" to the clattering "Bailophone Dance." For jazz fans looking for a little more of a rough ride than polite dinner music, Thembi is a must-have in your record collection.

Thembi Track Listing

Side A

1. Astral Traveling

2. Red, Black & Green

3. Thembi

SIDE B

1. Love

2. Morning Prayer

3. Bailophone Dance

The New York Standards Quartet To Release Heaven Steps To Seven

By the numbers the New York Standards Quartet (NYSQ) is downright impressive, touring and recording together for thirteen years, with six critically acclaimed recordings in its oeuvre. The band's seventh album, their first to be available on vinyl, and featuring bassist Ugonna Okegwo (a regular member for many of the band's U.S. tours), Heaven Steps To Seven, builds on the great success of their catalog (most recently, Sleight of Hand, The New Straight Ahead and Power of 10). Saxophonist Tim Armacost, pianist David Berkman, drummer Gene Jackson & double bassist Ugonna Okegwo once again offer the listener reimagined standards from the vast canon of jazz and the Great American Songbook that reflect the band's spontaneous, transformational approach. The band is a rarity; one that honors the tradition of this music, representing it authentically, but also creating environments which feel and sound new.

The NYSQ have come a long way in their thirteen years. Tim Armacost warmly acknowledges the closeness of the collaboration: "We all contribute suggestions for classic songs to reinterpret, and the music we conceive taps into the important values of the band - our longevity, our deep friendship. Sometimes we bring pretty much completed arrangements, others just evolve on the bandstand as we play."

  

Such a musical affinity, reaped from the vastness of their respective experiences in many different projects as leaders and sidemen, is distilled into a recording of remarkable finesse, once again refracting kaleidoscopic colors across old favorites and less familiar treasures from the jazz heritage. Having played together for so long, Armacost highlights two key facets: "One is to discover a beautiful standard you haven't heard before; the other is finding something well known, then portraying it differently. So we honor the tradition of this music, representing it authentically, but also creating environments which feel new."

Heaven Steps To Seven opens with the warm, inviting intro to "Tonight" (Leonard Bernstein, from "West Side Story"), before the band launches into the main theme at a medium-up tempo that drips of propulsion while being right in the pocket. "Cheryl" (by Charlie Parker, 1947) is given a magnificent facelift, almost disguising its blues form, as it becomes a vessel for group expeditions. Horace Silver's "Peace" (originally released on Silver's recording "Blowing The Blues Away" from 1959) is up next. This type of meditative ballad was an anomaly for the legendary pianist/composer/bandleader, and it is a fitting tribute to Silver that the NYSQ selected this gem from his repertoire, and rendered it with such love and care. It was "Charlie Parker With Strings" that brought "If I Should Lose You" (from the 1935 film "Rose of the Rancho") to the awareness of the jazz world (later recorded by Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Roy Haynes Mulgrew Miller, Hank Mobley and many others). In the hands of the NYSQ it becomes reborn as a tour-de-force, featuring Armacost's brilliant sound on soprano sax on top of the rhythm section that has the afterburners on. Following Armacost's solo, the band brings it down to earth for Berkman's harmonically sophisticated trip through the changes.

Side two of the album opens with Cole Porter's "Every Time We Say Goodbye" which debuted in 1944 in Porter's "Seven Lively Arts," so it's a nice choice for the NYSQ's seventh album. The band eschews the song's typical bouncy feel, instead opting to play it with a straight eighth note feel, instantly bringing the frequently recorded tune into the 21st century, and into the band's repertoire. Indeed, as they do with many tunes, this sounds as if they composed it. The guys stay on the Cole Porter track with "I Love You" (a hit song for Bing Crosby in 1944), featuring an attention-grabbing intro from bassist Ugonna Okegwo, and completely modernized by the band, in part because they play the "A" sections in nine! For the second ballad on Heaven Steps To Seven the band chose the lovely, "I'll Keep Loving You." It is played with such crystalline virtuosity that NYSQ's rendition stands tall when compared to versions by such legends as Bud Powell, Chick Corea and Tommy Flanagan. Heaven Steps To Seven closes with "Eye Of The Hurricane" which originally appeared on Herbie Hancock's fifth album, "Maiden Voyage" (recorded in 1965 for Blue Note Records). Drummer Gene Jackson toured with Hancock for many years beginning in the Fall of 1991, so is it any wonder that he "owns" this tune, as does the rest of the band in turn?           

  

NYSQ - Heaven Steps To Seven:

1 - Tonight (L. Bernstein)

2 - Cheryl (C. Parker)

3 - Peace (H. Silver)

4 - If I Should Lose You (R. Rainger/L. Robin)

5 - Every Time We Say Goodbye (C. Porter)

6 - I love You (C. Porter)

7 - I'll Keep Loving You (B. Powell)

Resilience Music Alliance Announces Signing of Vocalist Alicia Olatuja

New Album,  Intuition: Songs From the Minds of Women,  Coming in February 1, 2019

Resilience Music Alliance has announced the addition of critically acclaimed and versatile vocalist Alicia Olatuja to the label’s growing eclectic roster. Praised by The New York Times as a “singer with a strong and luscious tone and an amiably regal presence on stage,” Olatuja has conceived a truly unique project that only a visionary artist like herself can execute: an album dedicated to and featuring music all created by inspiring female composers.

“Alicia is an incredibly talented singer, songwriter and musical interpreter who breaks down traditional genre boundaries,” says Label Co-Founder and President Steve Ruchefsky. “She has focused her attention for this project to interpret compositions by a wide range of female composers – all of whom, almost by definition, have shown incredible courage and resilience. We are excited to begin this creative partnership with Alicia and realize her vision!”

The album, titled Intuition: From the Minds of Women and to be released February 1, 2019, celebrates the achievements of a long list of esteemed female composers while offering a musical perspective unique to Olatuja. Olatuja is joined by Kamau Kenyatta and Ulysses Owens Jr. as producers and features Sullivan Fortner, Billy Childs, David Rosenthal, Ben Williams, Ulysses Owens Jr., Etienne Charles, Jeremy Pelt, and Dayna Stephens.

The signing of Alicia Olatuja reinforces the mission of Resilience Music Alliance, a label that transcends genre and focuses on empowering artists exploring our collective elemental condition of resilience while conceptualizing projects that resonate with the human spirit.

"Now could not be a better time to deliver a project that celebrates and champions women and their work," says Olatuja. "The future is female and moving forward as a society is dependent upon everyone being able to create and contribute with courage and conviction, being heard and validated. I truly appreciate that Resilience has given me the platform with which to express this very meaningful project."

  

THREE-TIME GRAMMY® NOMINEE JOEY ALEXANDER RELEASES NEW SPIRITUALLY & SOCIALLY FOCUSED RECORDINGS

Following the release of his critically acclaimed Spring album Eclipse, three-time GRAMMY® nominee Joey Alexander embarks on an exciting fall that includes the release of new music, some high-profile U.S. performances and the unveiling of three compelling in-studio videos from his Eclipse sessions. Alexander shares his musical voice via two unique new jazz releases evoking themes of Faith, Goodwill and Peace. All showcase different facets the 15-year-old’s expanding artistic depth and versatility.

Despite universally familiar traditions, Christmas has always been a holiday celebrated by each family and individual in their own personal style. On October 19, Alexander will unveil his own distinctive way to celebrate the holidays with his soulful and uplifting interpretations of the Christmas carol “O Come All Ye Faithful” and the beloved Gospel hymn “What A Friend We Have In Jesus.”

Alexander refers to the Christmas season as “simply the best time of year,” and as an artist who has routinely cited his faith as a central source of inspiration, the opportunity to record and release this music holds deep meaning for him. “My faith in Christ has helped keep me grounded,” says Alexander. “I chose ‘What A Friend We Have In Jesus,’ because Christmas is really about our relationship with Jesus, above all the usual Christmas season traditions.” As Alexander first experienced this Gospel song on Aretha Franklin’s iconic 1972 recording, he comments that his new recording of the classic also doubles as a tribute to the Queen of Soul, who he has loved since childhood and considers a key influence.

Also in the spirit of creating music with deeper meaning, Alexander chose this year to participate in Legion of Peace, a jazz-based Children’s music album with musical profiles of eight of our the world’s greatest peacemakers, namely the Nobel Peace Laureates Desmond Tutu, Malala Yousafzai, Leymah Gbowee, Jimmy Carter, Jody Williams, Ralph Bunch, Wangari Maathai and Muhammad Yunus (who provides the spoken word introduction to Legion of Peace.) Written and sung by GRAMMY®-nominated children’s music artist Lori Henriques, Legion of Peace comes out on Motema on September 21 (to celebrate the U.N. International Day Of Peace) and also features fellow Motéma artists Pedrito Martinez and Oran Etkin.

Read the Legion of Peace Press Release By Clicking the Cover Above

“I became interested participating in Legion of Peace band after hearing the project’s goals to promote peace, hope, and justice,” reflects Alexander, who also included his own songs with similar inspiration titled “Peace” and “Faithful” on his Spring release, Eclipse. “I think musicians have to be a force for good in the world. I hope my music brings people together and touches them in many ways: encouraging them, bringing them joy and peace, and reaches them spiritually.” Alexander, who anchors Henriques’ quintet from the piano chair, also improvises four almost Ravelian solo-piano preludes on the project which reveal yet another side to his creativity.

June 2018, when Alexander turned 15, also marked the fourth year since he burst onto the New York jazz scene by performing at the Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2014 Gala at the Rose Theater in New York City. At the gala, then ten-year-old Joey Alexander performed his astonishing rendition of Monk’s ‘Round Midnight which inspired a spontaneous ovation from the astute audience, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the host Billy Crystal. After that momentous occasion, word spread quickly about the young family who had brought their extraordinary son to New York, so he would be able to progress further as an artist by ‘playing with the best musicians.’ What transpired next was one of the most rapidly ascendant careers ever seen in jazz. Now, four years, four releases and three GRAMMY® nominations later, the question of whether Alexander is the real deal, is no longer raised; the only question is, what will he do next? This year he returns to Rose Theater to perform with strings for the first time on October 19-20. “Joey Alexander with Strings” will showcase Alexander’s original compositions from Countdown and Eclipse, as well as perhaps some Monk and some spiritual offerings (collaborating with acclaimed composer/arranger Richard DeRosa on string arrangements).

Alexander also looks forward this fall to unveiling three never before seen in-studio videos from his Eclipse sessions this fall: a five camera shoot of the recording of his composition “Faithful,” featuring saxophonist Joshua Redman just released; a fascinating single camera video that witnesses the ‘birthing’ of the title-track “Eclipse” – a nine-minute opus of fiery creative improvisation recorded in reaction to the trio’s experience of the August 21, 2017 solar eclipse which took place on the first day of the sessions; and on Thanksgiving day, the in-studio video of Alexander’s soulful solo rendition of the Beatles’ “Blackbird,” in honor of the 50th Anniversary that day of that beloved classic.

Alexander will close out his fall schedule with a return to SFJAZZ’s Miner Auditorium, December 13-16, where his trio will premiere new original compositions, Christmas songs and other surprises.

All in all it’s been a highly productive year for the young artist, who in addition to a packed U.S. performing schedule has been honored internationally with invitations to perform at special events for the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, The Asian Games in Jakarta, and for the 60th anniversary of relations between Indonesia and Japan taking place in Tokyo on September 25. The recording and release of Alexander’s video “Bali” - filmed in his homeland and set to his composition of the same name - was also a highlight of the year for the young artist, who has emerged not only as an astonishing young player, but as a developing composer of note and a particular favorite at Jazz Radio. (Eclipse, which included six original compositions, spent a nearly unprecedented nine weeks at #1 on JazzWeek Radio Chart). When asked what’s next, Alexander humbly responds: “As I play more of my original music, I enjoy and feel inspired to write even more.” It’s clear that the world can look forward more pleasing surprises from this dedicated young man.

Since coming to the United States in 2014, the response to Joey has been astonishing. The Bali-born 15-year old has experienced one of the most rapidly ascendant careers in jazz history. Since releasing his chart-topping albums, My Favorite Things (2015), Countdown (2016), Eclipse (2018), Joey has earned a combined three GRAMMY® Award nominations, making him the youngest jazz artist ever nominated for a GRAMMY® Award. His musical adroitness earned him appearances on the GRAMMY® Awards, The Today Show, CNN, as well as CBS 60 Minutes profile by Anderson Cooper, fueling a rare level of public notoriety for Joey as a jazz musician, both within the jazz community and among the public at large.

  

Tour Dates:

October 11: Dakota Jazz Club, Minneapolis, MN

October 12-13: Jazz Bistro, St Louis, MO

October 19-20: Rose Theater @ Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York, NY

November 4: Sonesta Resort, Hilton Head Island, SC

November 11: Cabot Theatre, Beverly, MA

December 13-16: Miner Auditorium, SFJAZZ Center, San Francisco, CA

New single "Cortando Bajito" by Spanish musician and singer/songwriter Gecko Turner (afro/latin/funk)

Gecko Turner (born Fernando Gabriel Echave Pelaez in 1966) is a Spanish musician and singer-songwriter whose sound throughout the years has embraced bossa nova, soul, funk, afro, reggae, jazz, samba, hip hop and electronica. Based near the border between Spain and Portugal, he has fronted several bands in his native country.

Turner grew up in Spain’s Extremadura region, learning English from the blues artists he loved. Having taught himself to play the guitar in his teens, Gecko Turner discovered jazz, finding a special affinity for the Afro-Cuban sounds of Dizzy Gillespie. He hitched all over Spain to follow Gillespie on tour, listening to bebop and reading Jack Kerouac. But he also soaked up London’s jazz scene and incorporated numerous styles such as Afro-beat, Cuban and Brazilian rhythms during his decades-long musical journey, creating a hybrid that was all his own and that journalists in Spain dubbed ‘Afromeño’.

During the last few years, Gecko Turner‘s songs have been included in over 70 compilations released all over the world, and have been used in several TV commercials and films. Also, his work as a producer led him to collaborate with such artists as Californian jazz and blues singer Brenda Boykin, and (recently deceased) flamenco singer Fernando Terremoto, recording for both of their albums; “Chocolate and Chili”, and “Terremoto”.

All of Gecko Turner‘s work has been published by Lovemonk Records, in cd or vinyl, from his 2003 breakthrough debut “Guadapasea!”, to his follow-up “Chandalismo Ilustrado” in 2006, “Manipulado” in 2008, “Gone Down South” in 2010 and highly acclaimed “That Place, By The Thing With The Cool Name” in 2015. In 2018 Turner and Lovemonk prepare to launch the artist’s latest album “Soniquete”, a collection of his greatest hits, previously unreleased gems and new songs, slated for release in the Fall, and anticipated by a radio-friendly edit of single “Un Limon En La Cabeza“.

The Balance Imbalance of Afinque: Dancing Through the Tensions and Intricate Realities that Unite Us with Zemog El Gallo Bueno on YoYouMeTú Volume 3

Zemog El Gallo Bueno is the philosopher’s psychedelic Latinotronic band. With multiple, branching roots and a lifetime of grappling with identity, the driving force behind the group Abraham Gomez-Delgado-Delgado has gathered musical kindred spirits back into a band for a raw, rhythmically stunning, dancefloor-ready, thinking person’s album.
 Nothing is as straightforward as you want to make it, Gomez-Delgado insists. But it can be a hell of a beautiful ride, as mapped out on YoYouMeTúTrilogy: Volume 3 (release November 9, 2018).
 “It can feel awkward to use the term Latinx or Latin or Latino, because you’re being grouped together with so many people. But you can’t say no to it, or things get taken away from communities. I wanted to walk close to the line of tradition and then do something that’s not necessarily predicted. To say, hey, we are individuals and have intricate realities like other humans,” Gomez-Delgado says. “We’re not all just like, ‘hey salsa, let’s party!’ I’m not your entertainment, nor am I here to be a jerk and not entertain you.” Gomez-Delgado and Zemog are here to get you to dance to your own humanity, as they grapple musically with theirs.
 Volume 3 presents a closing rally to a deep-going, wide-ranging trio of albums. The previous, Volume 2, was sparked by Gomez-Delgado’s struggle to rebuild his life while grappling with intense experiences of alienation and migration, Volume 3 revels in the joys of healing love and friendship and the three-chord song--a formula just as potent in Cuba and Puerto Rico as in garage rock (“Sexy Carnitas,” “Pianola”)--and in life’s moments, great (“Wedding Song,” “Delgados Feliz”) and small (“Quiero Correr,” about a really good jog in the park).
 Gomez-Delgado’s musings on “Balance Imbalance Dance” speak to the spirit of the whole album: “Without balance there is no imbalance. You need tension. You need to throw a wrench into things,” Gomez-Delgado reflects. “It’s not an opposite; it’s in balance. You zoom out to wanting utopia, and as hard as hard times can be, we need them to remind us of what is and what is important.”
 The texture and timbre of complex experience has always been important to Gomez-Delgado. His work strives to embrace all the contradictions and riches of his Puerto Rican-Peruvian heritage, his life as a young immigrant in a sometimes less-than-friendly environment, and his yearnings as a remarkably deft and sensitive musician. He longs to create the connection between people, onstage and off, that’s often called afinque in salsa music: that moment of meld when everyone sways as one.
 After a successful string of albums with his band--and many of his favorite bandmates continue to play with him--Gomez-Delgado found himself in a period of deep introspection that made it challenging to play music with others. Eventually, Gomez-Delgado found his way forward, moving all his favorite salsa elements to a single instrument that could be played by a single musician. “It coaxed me toward remembering how to play with others,” Gomez-Delgado recalls.
 That energy, once coupled with the excellent New York-based musicians in Zemog, burst into new intensity at a regular gig at Brooklyn music hub Barbès, where the band had a long-standing residency. Gomez-Delgado worked to keep the intensity present on Volume 3, keeping the live vibe on tracks like “Agua a Peso” and “Pianola.”
 This new-found sense of vibrant community lets Gomez-Delgado’s wonderfully vivid imagination run wild, vibrating with cha cha cha, salsa, guaracha, punk, funk, and pure idiosyncrasy. “I wanted this album to have a wide spectrum. That asks a lot of people. That’s not always fair or right, but sometimes you are reacting to what life is,” notes Gomez-Delgado. “I’m going to bring these things up in my music. I wanted to lay some heavy stuff down and if you can get through that, then we’ll have fun and a good conversation.”
 The heavy stuff springs from the political, no surprise for an artist like Gomez-Delgado in this day and age. “Americae,” with its Latin lyrics and its fantastic, all-over-the-place polyrhythms, cuts to the heart of the American dilemma of its cries for freedom and its basis in genocide and slavery. “This original and ‘invisible’ sin keeps coming up. Until we deal with it, it will keep coming back,” comments Gomez-Delgado.
 Yet Zemog never lets gloom dominate the conversation. “Motivate,” written with conga virtuoso Reinaldo DeJesus, urges movements and motions, with coils of low brass, inspiring percussion, and a dreamy guitar line that dares you to sit still. The lyrics ask us all to get the guts to up on the dancefloor, literally and figuratively, to step up and wake up, in an anthem that feels like Frank Zappa and Antibalas colliding with cumbia.
 With a similar floating sense of rhythm but a more stately sway, “YoYouMeTú” addresses identity dilemmas of a more intimate nature. The crisis of connection that we all face--that promises greater happiness if we learn to deal with it--can be resolved only by losing some of what we cling to and having faith in this vulnerability. “The lyrics use the words ‘afinque’ and ‘afincado,’ used in salsa starting in the 60-70s. They basically describe when the band is tight and becomes one, with the dancers in the room. You lose time, fully present but not in a stressful, ego-filled way. The band is swinging. That to me is the main thing of all of this,” explains Gomez-Delgado. “It’s hard to accept because anything that’s new is contradicting what you knew before. That tension takes an inner faith to move through.”

What happens on the dancefloor or in our tangled inner worlds blurs for Zemog, but that is where the pleasures of committed relationship (a moment celebrated with his wife Olia in “Wedding Song,” which they crafted for their big day) and family (“Delgados” includes a recording of Gomez-Delgado’s extended family singing together in Puerto Rico.) This is the place Gomez-Delgado fought so hard to reach, what he lays out in polychrome, shifting, quirky detail on the album. “I don’t care how cliche it is. It’s really about us and how we affirm each other’s existence. It’s the most basic thing, but I don’t care. The message still isn’t getting through, judging by our current climate. So it’s vital to say it and play it.”

 

Arturo O’Farrill - Fandango At The Wall: A Soundtrack For The United States, Mexico, And Beyond

From the barrage of “breaking news” alerts on the 24-hour news cycle to the incessant buzz and chirp of social media, there’s no shortage of reminders of the things that divide us: walls being built, lines being drawn, the notion of “difference” being wielded as a political weapon.

That’s what makes an artist like Arturo O’Farrill such an important voice for these times. As a pianist, composer, bandleader, educator, activist, and founder of the Afro Latin Jazz Alliance, O’Farrill has dedicated his life to not only crossing artificial borders but to erasing them in his wake. With his latest project, Fandango at the Wall, O’Farrill has created a stunningly ambitious and profoundly moving work that showcases the rich fruits that can grow from common ground.

Fandango at the Wall, due out September 28 via Resilience Music Alliance, is the brainchild of O’Farrill and his longtime collaborator and GRAMMY® Award-winning producer, Kabir Sehgal. The project brings together brilliant voices from a variety of cultural and musical traditions to tear down a variety of walls that isolate us – physical, musical, or cultural. The piece was inspired by Jorge Francisco Castillo, a musician and retired librarian who has organized the Fandango Fronterizo Festival for the past decade. The annual event gathers son jarocho musicians on both sides of the border wall between Tijuana and San Diego for a celebratory jam session.

“I found that idea so touching and elegant in its activism,” O’Farrill recalls. “I held it inside my soul and spoke to everyone I could about my hope to join the Fandango Fronterizo and record at the border, bringing special guests and making it a true collaboration.”

O’Farrill’s esteemed Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra and Castillo’s son jarocho musicians came together at the border, joined by a more than 60 gifted musicians representing both sides of that divide as well as several of the countries targeted by President Trump’s travel ban: Broadway singer-actress Mandy Gonzalez (Hamilton, In the Heights); jazz greats Regina Carter (violin), Akua Dixon (cello), and Antonio Sanchez (drums); multi-talented Mexican violin trio The Villalobos Brothers; son jarocho greats Patricio Hidalgo, Ramón Gutiérrez Hernández, and Tacho Utréra; French-Chilean rapper-singer Ana Tijoux; Iraqi-American oud master Rahim AlHaj and his trio; Iranian sitar virtuoso Sahba Motallebi; and many others.

“Thinking about this awful, awful moment in history – not just American history but world history – I wanted to confront the darkness that has overcome all our lives,” O’Farrill says. “Faced with such stupidity and mediocrity, why not at least try to do something valuable? My first thought was to bring not just great artists but also people from marginalized nations. We understand that humanity and community are so much stronger than cultural constructs, physical walls, or geo-political borders. We saw this in action: we saw our people fall in love with their people and become one people.”

A bestselling author, investment banker, and military veteran, Sehgal helped transform O’Farrill’s long-held dream into a reality despite the logistical and political hurdles. Ultimately the project took on three forms: this astoundingly gorgeous album of music; a book on the history of the troubled U.S.-Mexico relationship with a foreword by renowned historian Douglas Brinkley and an afterword by former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young; and an in-production documentary focusing on the lives of the son jarocho musicians.

“It falls upon private citizens and individuals to promote cross-border friendship and rapprochement," Sehgal writes in his liner notes. “And that is ultimately the goal of Fandango at the Wall: to bring the people of the United States and Mexico together through music. After all, we don’t just share a border but families and friends, histories and futures. Our countries are interconnected, and our fates are interlinked.”

What is most striking about the music of Fandango at the Wall is that for all of the anger, frustration and strife that fueled its creation, it is an intensely joyous celebration that exults in the universal language of music. That notion has become a cliché, but it’s one that O’Farrill has always thrived on making vividly and unpredictably real. Hence the surprising hybrid of approaches on display: not just a mélange of world musics, but virtuosic jazz and striking contemporary classical approaches.

“It’s not just geopolitical borders that offend me,” O’Farrill explains. “It’s also cultural construct borders – the idea that there’s a high music and a low music, a high culture and a low culture. The belief that folk music isn’t as impressive or as important as jazz, or that Middle Eastern music isn’t valid because it’s not born in America. I wanted to destroy these walls, and in fact I found out that the presence of borders and walls and constructs serves an incredible purpose – it unites us in opposition even more than it divides us.”

Another border torn down by Sehgal and O’Farrill was the one between the pristine conditions of the recording studio and the thrilling festivities of the Fandango Fronterizo. Fandango at the Wall flows seamlessly between both settings, with five sessions undertaken in recording studios and outdoors at a live session straddling the border with music freely crossing back and forth.

“The most terrifying thing about being human is the fear of other people,” O’Farrill concludes. “Very few people have the freedom of spirit to embrace things they don't understand. So I really love the idea that Mexican families who enjoy jarocho music will be introduced to the virtuosity of Regina Carter, or that hardcore jazzheads will discover Patricio Hidalgo. I’m hoping that people will listen to this album and whether or not they understand the words or enjoy the music, they’ll take a moment to think about human beings that are not like them.”

“Fandango at the Wall is ultimately a project of convergence,” Sehgal writes. “I hope that as you listen to this music, you’ll hear the possibilities of what the relationship between the United States and Mexico can become. And that we as artists and activists continue to create the world in which we want to live.”

JOE LOCKE Discovers His Lingua Franca On SUBTLE DISGUISE

For several years now vibraphonist, composer and bandleader Joe Locke has had two musical purposes: one, to speak in a vernacular which reaches people, and two, to continue challenging himself as a player, writer and arranger. In 2013 Locke released Lay Down My Heart (Blues & Ballads, Vol. 1), which dealt with the first directive. Then in 2015 he completed the astounding Love Is a Pendulum, a suite in 5 movements, which addressed the second. Now, on his newest release, Subtle Disguise (available on Origin Records, November 16, 2018), both of these impulses have been integrated into one recording. "For me, this album is the fruition of a long journey of self discovery as an artist, where I no longer see the different aspects of my musical personality as separate or at odds with one another. I have discovered my own lingua franca, connecting the seemingly disparate styles I enjoy playing," says Locke.

Subtle Disguise would not have come to actualization were it not for Locke's collaborators: Locke states that, "Raul Midón's contribution was essential to the project. His vast musical knowledge combined with his deep understanding of the Blues make him a unique artist. The same can be said of guitarist Adam Rogers; he dips into a lot of different stylistic territory on this album, and he's always brilliant, honest and deeply communicative. David Binney brings the fire, pure and simple. His contributions raise the bar on the tracks he graces. All three of these musicians are people I've been looking to work with for a long time. Having them together here made this project even more special for me," explained Locke. "Jim Ridl, Lorin Cohen and Samvel Sarkisyan, who form the core of this band, have been hugely important to the development of this project since its inception. Each a formidable musician in his own right, together they function as a tight-knit unit of kindred spirits. This is the quartet I have wanted for a long time. I'm grateful to them for their unflagging commitment to this music."

While some of the music on Subtle Disguise is personal in nature, there is a political thread that runs through much of the album. From Red Cloud, a paean to the great Oglala Sioux leader, to Blind Willie Johnson's spotlight on our youngest embattled citizens, Motherless Children, "It's obvious that on this recording I felt the need to address some wrongs, both historic and present", says Locke. Although Who Killed Davey Moore?, Bob Dylan's song about passing the buck, was written in 1963, Locke's composition Rogues of America speaks to a more current manifestation of callous indifference. Locke explains that the title song, "is about the masks we all wear, for various reasons. Many good souls feel the need to disguise their vulnerabilities, while others wear a smiling mask to hide a malevolent agenda. Whatever the reason, these disguises are hard to shed. The song is also so named because it's based on a disguised version of a Miles Davis song from the 1950s. Make Me Feel Like It's Raining is Locke's tribute to Bobby Hutcherson, who passed away in August, 2016. Locke elaborates, "Bobby was the bellwether of contemporary vibraphone. He was also my personal touchstone. Bobby was once asked in an interview what he wanted as a listener. He responded, 'Jerk me around! Jerk my soul around! Make me smile and laugh. Make me sad. Make me feel like it's raining.' His musical impact and the light of his humanity will be felt for a long time to come. Blondie Roundabout is a dedication to Locke's manager, Nadja von Massow, around whom there is a constant flow of creative traffic. Safe and Sound (At The Edge of the Milky Way) was inspired by a line spoken by Albert Finney in the film adaptation of Lyle Kessler's play, Orphans. "I like the paradox of all of us being safe and sound in such a precarious place in the universe", says Locke. A Little More Each Day, the vocal version of this song, serves as the album's closer, with Locke on piano, David Binney on alto and Alina Engibaryan interpreting the lyric beautifully.

More on Joe Locke: It bears repeating - Joe Locke is a musician's musician, an artist for the ages whose immense talent and uplifting spirit enhances every musical situation he graces. Locke is a man who has gathered no moss as he has evolved into a communicator, a conceptualist, a composer, and a modern virtuoso who defies categorization. He has worked in numerous formats, from small group to symphony orchestra, and with artists as diverse as Cecil Taylor and The Beastie Boys.

  

Derk Richardson said of Locke in The San Francisco Bay Guardian that, "not only has he mastered an instrument that has catapulted only a handful of players to the forefront of modern jazz - but he has done so in a way that transcends mere technique and establishes him as a unique and adventurous musical voice." With more than thirty acclaimed recordings to his credit, it is no wonder The Times (London) proclaimed that, "there seems little doubt that Locke, with his ability to play cool and funky, heady and relaxed, is set to become the pre-eminent vibraphonist in jazz." In a four and a half star review in DownBeat Magazine, journalist Ken Micallef called Love Is a Pendulum, "a thematic work that embraces a cerebral vision and empowers it song after song," and elaborated that, "Love Is A Pendulum honors the listener's intelligence in artfully realized song-craft." And, Mike Hobart stated in The Financial Times that, "Joe Locke's clean lines, crystalline tone and shimmering vibrato recall the great US vibraphonists Milt Jackson and Bobby Hutcherson, but their fellow American boosts his technically assured modernism with emotional commitment and compositional flair." 

This sampling of praise is in no small part due to his recent solo projects, notably the three distinct albums he has released since 2011, which display his immense stylistic versatility and ability to create artistic depth in a variety of contexts: Signing (2012, the long awaited follow-up studio album of Live In Seattle), Wish Upon A Star (2012, Locke's first ever symphonic project, featuring Locke's Quartet with the Symphony Orchestra of Lincoln, Nebraska), and Lay Down My Heart (2013, jazz radio chart's #1 Blues & Ballads album). Locke's previous release, Love Is A Pendulum, was hailed as the most important work of his career. Other notable recordings in Locke's extensive discography (more than thirty albums as a leader) include, Four Walls of Freedom, a six movement suite featuring the late tenor saxophonist Bob Berg; Live in Seattle by The Joe Locke/Geoffrey Keezer Group, which won the 2006 Ear Shot award for Concert of the Year, and his eloquent and vibrant quartet recording, Force Of Four. Not to mention his newest crowning achievement, Subtle Disguise (out on Origin, November 16, 2018).

Locke is a five-time recipient of the Jazz Journalists Association's "Mallet Instrumentalist of the Year" Award, has received the 2013 Hot House NYC Jazz Awards for Best Vibes Player and keeps topping critics and readers polls. In 2016 he was honoured with the induction into the Music Hall of Fame of his hometown Rochester, NY. He is an active clinician and educator in the United States and in Europe and has been the International Vibraphone Consultant at the Royal Academy Of Music, London, on a visiting basis since 2008, holding the title of Honorary Associate of the Royal Academy Of Music (Hon ARAM) since 2013. Joe is also on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music in NYC.

Joe Locke endorses Malletech instruments, and Love Is A Pendulum was the first recording to feature the innovative OmegaVibe (also endorsed by Stefon Harris, Tony Miceli and Warren Wolf).

Joe Locke - Subtle Disguise

All compositions by Joe Locke, except "Who Killed Davey Moore?"-Bob Dylan, and "Motherless Children"-Blind Willie Johnson

1. Red Cloud 

2. Who Killed Davey Moore? 

3. Subtle Disguise 

4. Make Me Feel Like It's Raining 

5. Rogues of America 

6. Motherless Children 

7. Safe and Sound (At the Edge of the Milky Way) 

8. Blondie Roundabout 

9. A Little More Each Day

 

Amaro Freitas announces new album Rasif with single 'Mantra'

In the sweltering North-Eastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco lies the coastal city of Recife, where Amaro Freitas is pioneering the new sound of Brazilian jazz. For the prodigious young pianist, the spirit of his hometown runs deep. From the Afro-Brazilian maracatu born on the sugar plantations of slavery, to the high intensity carnival rhythms of frevo and baião, Amaro’s heavily percussive approach to jazz is as indebted to these Pernambuco traditions as it is to Coltrane, Parker and Monk.

As with many of the greats before him, Amaro began playing piano in church aged 12, under the instruction of his father, leader of the church band. As his natural talents became obvious, the young prodigy quickly outgrew his father’s instruction. He won a place at the prestigious Conservatório Pernambucano de Música but had to drop out as his family could not spare the money for the bus fare. Undeterred, Amaro gigged in bands at weddings and worked in a call centre to fund his tuition. The transformative moment came at age 15 when Amaro stumbled across a DVD of Chick Corea concert, “he completely blew my mind, I’d never seen anything like it but I knew that’s what I wanted to do with a piano”.

Despite not actually owning a piano, Amaro devoted himself to studying day and night – he would practice on imaginary keys in his bedroom until eventually striking a deal with a local restaurant to practice before opening hours. By the age of 22 Amaro was one of the most sought-after musicians in Recife and resident pianist at the legendary jazz bar Mingus. It was during this time he met and begun collaborating with bassist Jean Elton and the pair went in search of a drummer. “We kept hearing about this crazy kid who was playing in 7/8 or 6/4, we knew we had to meet him”. Hugo Medeiros joined, and the Amaro Freitas Trio was born.

Following his critically acclaimed debut album Sangue Negro (black blood), the title of his sophomore release Rasif is a colloquial spelling of Amaro’s home town. A love letter to his native northeast, Amaro explores its traditional rhythms through the jazz idiom, employing complex mathematical patterns reminiscent of some of the most challenging works by fellow Brazilian masters Hermeto Pascoal, Egberto Gismonti and Moacir Santos.

Preferring to see the piano as a though it were a drum with 88 unique tones, Amaro’s intelligence and emotion intertwine on every track.