Jim James, Conductor/Composer Teddy Abrams & The Louisville Orchestra Announce The Release Of Their Collaborative Project The Order Of Nature

Jim James, acclaimed genre-bending solo artist, passionate social activist and leader of legendary rock band My Morning Jacket, and conductor/composer Teddy Abrams & The Louisville Orchestra announce the release of their collaborative project, The Order of Nature. As two of the world's most vibrant and versatile musicians, neither James nor Abrams shies away from a challenge, and with The Order of Nature they've crafted a large-scale symphonic suite that has James' evocative songs as its foundation. Abrams built a grand orchestral house on that foundation, and the result is an explosion of music that boldly synthesizes rock and classical while taking advantage of orchestral music's inherently cinematic nature. Featuring unreleased new songs from James as well as re-imaginings from his solo catalog, the album will be released October 18 via Decca Gold. 

Lyrically, James takes a deep dive into issues vitally important to him in recent years, including equality and intolerance, human connection and acceptance. Abrams uses repeating motifs to weave the songs into a seamless whole, with the goal of capturing the idea of nature in a cinematic way and turning James' quiet demos into a majestic tapestry that conveys the album's themes of politics, the natural order and the hopelessness of hatred. They all spin off of the suite's central theme, which is James' fascination with the absence of hate in nature. Animals kill each other, but only out of hunger, while humans daily choose hate —we ignore the order of nature and that choice is wreaking havoc.

"The core idea to me is trying to reflect on the fact that nature doesn't know how to hate," says James.  "Humans are part of nature obviously, but why do we have this thing called hatred and how do we get rid of it? We're fighting nature and thinking we can prevail over nature, but we're killing each other and killing the planet."

Abrams spent months building a complex symphonic work in which the songs could breathe, writing music that captures both the quiet drama of walking alone through a snowy landscape and the urgency of trying to steer a disrupted society toward kindness.

"We're really looking at addressing things head on," says Abrams. "That was an interest of mine in working with Jim because he has a way of taking on challenging and divisive issues and presenting them in ways that everybody can relate to, even if you're from different political backgrounds."

"For me it was very inspiring, and it was also inspiring to hear what Teddy wrote," James added, "and I really enjoyed just giving him this seed of a song and just watching it flower."

The Order of Nature debuted April 6-7, 2018 as part of the Louisville Orchestra's annual Festival of American Music. The second night's performance is what you hear on this album, recorded in one take, no overdubs.

James and Abrams also today announce a three-part mini-documentary on the making of The Order of Nature. The first chapter, "Collaboration," is available now.

New Music Releases: James Carter, Bill Frisell, Society Hill Orchestra

James Carter – Organic Trio

On Aug. 30, saxophonist James Carter will release James Carter Organ Trio: Live From Newport Jazz, a thrilling live recording of his imaginative soul jazz reinvention of Django Reinhardt featuring organist Gerard Gibbs & drummer Alexander White from the Newport Jazz Festival. Hear the track “Melodie Au Crepuscule” now. “It’s compact and soulful,” Carter says of the organ trio. Growing up in Detroit meant plenty of Blue Note B-3 grooves, he recalls that sound was “always in the background. You’d hear Jimmy Smith while somebody’s passing the baked beans and the ribs and all that other good stuff.”

Bill Frisell - Harmony

Guitarist Bill Frisell has signed with Blue Note & will release his label debut Oct. 4 with the arrival of his newest project HARMONY featuring Petra Haden (voice), Hank Roberts (cello, voice) & Luke Bergman (guitar, bass, voice). Hear the lead track “Everywhere” & watch the album trailer now. Frisell’s association with Blue Note stretches back nearly 3 decades to John Scofield’s 1992 album Grace Under Pressure—and has included appearances on albums by Don Byron, Ron Carter, Norah Jones, Charles Lloyd & The Marvels, and Floratone.

Butch Ingram Presents The Society Hill Orchestra - Philly Classics Vol. 1

The Society Hill Orchestra delivers the classic Sound of Philadelphia on this special 15-track homage to the City of Brotherly Love with Iconic hits like "Back Stabbers", "I'll Be Around", "Me And Mrs. Jones" and more... all Produced & arranged by Butch Ingram & featured performances by the Ingram Brothers, TRU, The Bluenotes & more available 8/23/2019.

John Yao debuts his new album How We Do

Trombonist and composer John Yao debuts his vigorous, thrilling three-horn quintet Triceratops on adventurous new album How We Do, out October 18, 2019 on See Tao Recordings, features Yao with master saxophonists Billy Drewes and Jon Irabagon, along with bassist Peter Brendler and drummer Mark Ferber 

With its dual saxophone and trombone frontline, John Yao's Triceratops is a force as formidable as the majestic three-horned dinosaur it's named after - especially with the thundering voices of Yao's trombone and saxophonists Billy Drewes and Jon Irabagon front and center. 

Triceratops’ debut album, How We Do (set for release on October 18, 2019 via See Tao Recordings), is the latest showcase for Yao’s composing and arranging gifts, previously evidenced in his work with his own quintet and his adventurous big band, the 17-Piece Instrument. Yao’s writing for Triceratops corrals the audacious virtuosity of the three horn masters, propelled by the vigorous rhythm tandem of bassist Peter Brendler and drummer Mark Ferber. 

Like the 17-Piece Instrument before it, Triceratops’ name suggests multifarious parts coalescing into a harmonious, organic whole. In his orchestral thinking Yao echoes Duke Ellington, who famously thought of his renowned band as his instrument. “The idea is to have different parts coming together into one,” Yao says. “That was the concept that was in play as I was thinking about these amazing players and how to bring them together into an organic combination.” 

That task is easier described than accomplished, as Yao discovered as he set out to craft new music for the ensemble. The Wilmette, Illinois native had previously led a three-horn band during his five-year stint as a freelancer in Chicago. But that group included a guitarist, providing the chordal element that Yao intentionally omitted this time around. That decision provided unique challenges that the composer embraced, leading to inventive music that walks a daunting tightrope between robust swing, soaring improvisational flights, and unexpected melodic twists. 

“In any arranging class you’ll learn that three horns is the hardest combination to work with in achieving a full sound,” Yao explains. “If you just had one more voice you can fill out the harmony more clearly, but with three you’re constantly boxed into corners, so that was a huge challenge orchestrationally, especially with this group because there’s no piano or guitar. But I like to set up boundaries for myself to cross. Maybe I just like to make my life miserable, but the idea is to try to grow as a musician and push my limits.” 

Yao had an unrivaled opportunity to workshop this tricky new music thanks to a monthly residency at Terraza 7, a club near his home in Queens. Convening the band every month to experiment with new pieces and revise the music from month to month, Yao honed the music to the keen, focused form in which it appears on How We Do. 

Another benefit was his familiarity with the individual voices that he brought together in Triceratops. Irabagon has been a close collaborator throughout Yao’s career, appearing on each of the trombonist’s albums to date. Through that relationship Yao has gained an inspirational familiarity with Irabagon’s vast arsenal of extended techniques and offbeat instruments as well as his singular approach. “Jon’s like a Swiss army knife,” Yao jokes. “He can play in any situation you put him in and thrive; he’s so creative and versatile.”

  

Yao got to know Drewes on the bandstand through their work with the legendary Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, and originally approached the veteran saxophonist to play with the 17-Piece Instrument. The thought of pairing two such extraordinary saxophonists provided a major impetus for forming Triceratops. “Drewes plays alto with a tenor mouthpiece, which is really rare and gives him this unique fluffy, airy sound,” he says. “I wanted to contrast that with Irabagon, whose tenor sound can be edgy, crisp and fiery.

Brendler is another frequent partner, both in Yao’s bands – he’s recorded on several of the trombonist’s albums – and at Terraza 7, where the two co-host a monthly jam session. The bandleader has worked with Ferber in a variety of contexts, though always under other musicians’ leadership, so wanted to invite the stellar drummer into his own ensemble. The pair’s bracing hook-up comes to the fore on the album’s second track, “Triceratops Blues,” which moves with the implacable power of the titular beast. 

The album opens with “Three Parts as One,” reinforcing the group’s central idea with its deft weave of the tripartite frontline. The title track, “How We Do,” shines the spotlight on Brendler’s agile virtuosity before the horns are set free for a triangular juggling act later in the piece. Defying the harmonic challenges of the instrumentation, “The Golden Hour” evokes the warm, rich hues of that spectacular sunset moment so ideal for photographers. The jolting stroll of “Doin’ the Thing” takes its name from a favorite jazz-cat description of a working musician’s life that, Yao says, “in a weird way means nothing but totally makes sense.”

  

The tender “Circular Path” is a tribute to a friend and fellow trombonist that recently returned home to his native Japan after 20 years in the States, while “Two Sides” generates thrilling friction from two contrasting time feels. The album concludes with Jon Irabagon’s composition “Tea for T,” which reveals the joy that the band finds in playing together as it ends on a tongue-in-cheek race at a blistering tempo. 

On How We Do, John Yao’s Triceratops one-ups its prehistoric namesake, not only wielding its three horns with staggering power and monumental beauty, but speaking in one eloquent voice as well. 

For over a decade, John Yao has been honing his talents as a trombonist, composer and arranger, and cementing his place on the New York City jazz scene. Yao’s lyrical soloing and expressive, round tone, combined with his relentless drive to push the boundaries of harmony and rhythm, have established him as a unique and forward-thinking jazz talent.  All About Jazz calls him “an evolving artist who continues to grow at a rapid pace.” Yao has released two albums with his Quintet – his 2012 debut, In the Now, and 2017’s Presence – as well as Flip-Flop, with his big band John Yao and His 17-Piece Instrument. As a trombonist, Yao has worked extensively as a sideman for Grammy-award winning New York City ensembles, such as the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra and Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra. He has also performed with such esteemed and acclaimed musicians as Paquito D’Rivera, Eddie Palmieri, Danilo Perez, Chris Potter and Kurt Elling, among many others.  Yao is a staff arranger for the JMI Jazz World Orchestra and has been commissioned by the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra among many other ensembles.  He is currently an Adjunct Faculty at Molloy College and Queens College.

johnyao.com

Anniversary Re-Issues Of The Roots' Iconic 'Things Fall Apart,' 'Do You Want More?!!??!' and 'Illadelph Halflife'

Going back to the vault, each re-mastered album will draw from original master recordings

To celebrate the continuing cultural impact of The Roots, Geffen and UMe/Urban Legends will re-issue the bands' iconic Things Fall Apart, Do You Want More ?!!??! and Illadelph Halflife to commemorate the anniversary of each album's release.

  

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Things Fall Apart, with Do You Want More?!!!??! celebrating its 25th anniversary next year and Illadelph Halflife turning 25 in 2021. Each remastered re-issue will be drawn from the original master recordings, and Things Fall Apart will include bonus selections, rare photos, essays by Black Thought and Questlove and liner notes from Questlove.

"We're looking forward to going back to the vault to revisit our original recordings from the studio and we're excited to celebrate these albums by really delivering something special for our fans," said The Roots.

Harry Weinger, Vice President of Product Development at UMe, said, "By every metric, The Roots continue to have an outsized global impact on music and culture. We're thrilled to work with the band to re-issue these seminal albums in a way that will provide a new experience and perspective on the times when they were released and how they continue to speak to the times today."

Andre Torres, Vice President of Urban Catalog at Urban Legends, said, "As these Roots' classics reach milestone anniversaries, we're revisiting these important albums with fresh ears. By going back to the vaults, we're giving these albums the deluxe edition treatment and pulling archival material that's only been heard by very few people. These remastered music packages provide an unprecedented look at the evolution of hip-hop's greatest live band and satisfy lifelong Roots fans to casual listeners, and everyone in between."

Starting off the celebration will be The Roots' breakthrough fourth album Things Fall Apart, available on September 27, 2019. This melancholy gem of 2000s alternative hip-hop, originally released on MCA Records in 1999, has been freshly remastered and re-pressed in two lavish triple vinyl configurations. The standard configuration features the original album, remastered on double vinyl with a third LP of bonus tracks curated by Questlove, including a 24-page booklet featuring rare images, retrospective essays by Black Thought and Questlove, track-by-track liner notes from Questlove. The Collector's Edition features all of the above, but with clear vinyl and a die-cut slipcase with all 5 alternate covers as interchangeable lithos with foil stamp numbering.

Do You Want More?!!!??!, The Roots' second studio album, is the band's major label-debut, coming two years after their independent debut album, Organix in 1993. The album is critically acclaimed as a classic of hip-hop jazz. Chicago Tribune music critic Greg Kot celebrated the group's ability to "mate hip-hop wordplay, funk rhythms and jazzy textures" and calls the album "an impressive display of skills, intelligently arranged and performed." In 1998, the album was selected as one of The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums. The re-issue will be available in 2020.

Illadelph Halflife's is the third studio album from The Roots. With contributions from artists across jazz and R&B including Amel Larrieux, D'Angelo, Steve Coleman, Graham Haynes, David Murray, and Cassandra Wilson, the album shows the immense growth of the band from their first two titles. Upon release, The New York Times music critic Neil Strauss recognized the album as "one of the year's best rap offerings" and celebrated its "politically conscious lyrics." Illadelph Halflife offered a fresh perspective on hip-hop. The album, which will be re-issued in 2021, has been recognized by The Source, The Village Voice, and Hip-Hop Connections as one of the 100 Best Rap Albums.

 

First Time Release Of Album By John Coltrane And His All-Star classic Quartet Mastered From Original Analog Tapes

'Blue World' Debuts September 27 in CD, Vinyl LP and Digital Editions

In 1964, John Coltrane and his Classic Quartet went into Van Gelder Studios and, in an unprecedented move for Coltrane, recorded new versions of some of his most famous works. This never-before-heard recording, Blue World, will be released on September 27 in CD, vinyl LP and digital editions via Impulse!/UMe.

Watch accompanying visuals to the title track "Blue World": https://Verve.lnk.to/BlueWorldVideo

Early in 1964, the year he recorded A Love Supreme, Coltrane was approached by a Quebecois filmmaker, Gilles Groulx. Groulx was planning his film Le chat dans le sac, a love story set in Montreal with political undertones. A die-hard Coltrane fan, Groulx was fixated on having Coltrane record a soundtrack for his film. Groulx approached Coltrane via a personal connection with bassist Jimmy Garrison, and amazingly, Coltrane agreed.

So right between the recording sessions for Crescent and A Love Supreme in June of '64, John Coltrane brought Jimmy Garrison, Elvin Jones and McCoy Tyner into Van Gelder Studios to do something virtually unprecedented in Coltrane world: revisit and record earlier works.

Gilles Groulx was at Van Gelder, watching the session, listening.  It's unclear how much creative input the filmmaker had, and how much conversation happened between him and Coltrane, that yielded this rare kind of session. Recorded on 1/4" analog mono tape, the session was mixed by Rudy Van Gelder at Van Gelder Studios on June 24, 1964. Groulx took the master to Canada to use in his film, although he only included ten minutes of the 37-minute recording.

Blue World has been mastered from its original analog tape by Kevin Reeves at Universal Music Mastering in New York. The new vinyl edition's lacquers were cut by Ron McMaster at Capitol Studios.

Blue World reveals Coltrane's personal progress, as well as the interactive consistency and sonic details the Classic Quartet had firmly established as their collective signature by 1964. This signature was so assured and dramatic, so buoyant and different from the sound Coltrane had delivered before. And it is significant that this recording session – whatever the ultimate driving force was – happened in between two of Coltrane's most expansive, spiritually transcendent records that would set the tone for the rest of his musical career. 

Blue World follows on the heels of last year's global success Both Directions At Once: The Lost Album, a studio album recorded in 1963 that revealed new compositions from Coltrane and the Classic Quartet at their peak. Both Directions landed Coltrane at #21 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, his highest debut ever. The record easily topped jazz charts around the world and put Coltrane in the Top 20 on Overall Charts in the UK, France, Germany, Japan, Austria, Italy and more. Global sales to date for Both Directions has exceeded a quarter of a million albums sold worldwide.

Bixler, Boccato, Cowherd and Sturm: In The Face of Chaos

The Debut Recording From Bixler, Boccato, Cowherd and Sturm: In The Face of Chaos

In the Face of Chaos represents an artistic reemergence for alto saxophonist and composer David Bixler. A traumatic brain injury suffered by his youngest son necessitated a shift in Bixler's priorities for much of the last decade-a period in which his family devoted much of its energy to the circumstances of its youngest member. However, this past year Bixler made a conscious decision to re-enter the realm of creative music, but with a perspective gracefully changed and informed by his family's circumstances. In the Face of Chaos is his first recording in five years, and the debut from his newly formed band, Bixler, Boccato, Cowherd and Sturm.

On In the Face of Chaos Bixler presents six new compositions and an arrangement of the spiritual "Give Me Jesus." For this recording Bixler has assembled a band that understands the nuance and power of the message this music was intended to convey. Pianist Jon Cowherd, bassist Ike Sturm and percussionist Rogerio Boccato, sensitively interpret Bixler's compositions, creating music that is both challenging and subtle, and perhaps most importantly, has no fear of embracing beauty.

The recording begins with the title track, In the Face of Chaos, whose melody embodies a calm as it makes it way above, under, and through a constantly shifting harmonic infrastructure. The rhythm section creates a diaphanous texture that allows Bixler to demonstrate to the listener his response to the chaos that surrounds him. Nofomomofo, whose title that takes a playful jab at the overused acronym, is a call to arms, moving forward purposefully without a question of veering from intended purpose. The alto solo beings patiently, and builds until yielding the floor to Cowherd, whose solo demonstrates his exceptional rhythmic creativity. Bassist Ike Sturm solos next, before extending an invitation Boccato to join him in conversation. Return speaks of a return to purpose as well as a physical move back to NYC. It first presents itself as a bolero, before becoming more rhythmically malleable with each of the subsequent iterations of the melody. It ends with a 7/4 vamp, which at first listen appears to be a non-sequitur until it is realized that its purpose is to serve as a bridge to the next selection, Hope. An inspired tune with a singing melody, Hope is the antidote to the chaos that attacks, but doesn't conquer. Cowherd's three choruses on this selection bear a listen. 

The next composition, Deep Trust, is a through-composed chamber piece that takes the listener on a journey of thought and soul. The composition makes use of a subtle silence that is an integral part of a melody. A 12/8 Afro-Cuban groove begins a long, slow burn that climaxes with Bixler giving the listener an aperture into his soul. Following this emotional intensity, the waltz Leap cleanses the palette with its playful melody and energetic solos. The event ends with Bixler's' take on the spiritual Give me Jesus. This version moves a little quicker than usual and its beautiful melody is set in three different harmonic settings. Well-constructed and soulful solos are contributed by all.

In the Face of Chaos is the first of two recently completed recordings; another recording, Blended Lineage, which features a nonet, including among others, pianist Cowherd, and trumpet player, Mike Rodriguez, is awaiting release.These two recordings along with LINER NOTES with David Bixler, a new podcast available on iTunes and Google Play, collectively represent the declaration of a repurposed take on his life as a musician.

DavidBixler.com

Sebastian Greschuk - Paisaje

Sebastian Greschuk’s sound is often reminiscent of Clifford Brown’s smooth funkiness and Chet Baker’s coolness throughout. 

He recalls some of his more important influencers as Ambrose Akinmusire, Aaron Parks, Phillip Dizack and Walter Smith III as a few nods to giants. His overall composition takes influence from the cool era mixed with slightly dark ostinato-based grooves, highly popular in Buenos Aires jazz.

Greschuk’s sound is often reminiscent of Clifford Brown’s funkiness and Chet Baker’s coolness throughout. He recalls some of his more important influencers as Ambrose Akinmusire, Aaron Parks, Phillip Dizack and Walter Smith III as a few nods to the giants. His overall composition takes influence from the cool era mixed with slightly dark ostinato-based grooves.

Never disappointing is the dexterity of bassist Urquiza’s upper register playing. His playing on the record lends us the “wow” factor of facility in playing jazz music.

A danceable darkness takes over the opening track as Boccanera begins is adventuresome solo. ‘La Espera’ immediately lifts off in a bouncy shared melody before “settling down” into a cool ostinato and now gently accompanied what was piano and is now Fender Rhodes. The evidence of Brad Meldhau’s influence can be recalled during the return to piano during Boccanera’s solo.

The laid backness of ‘Moñongo-Cherry’ gives us a view into ohowur connected these four musicians are listening in heavily during the ballad-esque, open textured tune, with  trading solos every few phrases and ending in a frenzy melody shared by trumpet and Rhodes.

During the 2018 Buenos Aires International Jazz Festival, they were able to present this music ahead of hitting the studio.

About the tracks:

Lluvia Eterna:

The first track of the album begins with a collective improvisation as an introduction in which the instruments interact with sonic textures that oscillate like those of a storm, this introduction is not only the theme but also the disc and in this way immerses us in the Landscape. The collective improvisation gradually disappears giving place to a piano ostinato on which later it is constructed with a "feel" quite "rocker" and an angular melody of trumpet with influences of Ambrose Akinmusire that decant into a single harmonically simple but that alternates measures of 6/4 and 4/4. At the end of the trumpet solo there is a brief melodic interlude that gives rise to a metric modulation that accelerates the tempo and from which emerges a piano solo by Nicolás Boccanera on 7/8 with an aggressive character due to the intensity of the rhythm section until it ends abruptly to resume the initial ostinato and repeat the melody that this time uses the interlude in a repetitive way to end the song.

La Espera:

After a brief energetic introduction a vamp starts on a key in 11/4 influenced by the drummer Eric Harland of which a trumpet melody appears, at this moment Nicolás Boccanera leaves the pineapple and starts using a Fender Rhodes creating a new timbral proposal and immersing ourselves in a minimalist atmosphere from the melodic and harmonic aspect, but with a pronounced rhythmic intensity that gives rise to a trumpet solo on this ground on which synthesizers are added product of a post production. The trumpet solo is preceded by a single of Rhodes on this same environment that gradually disarms until Nicolás returns to the piano to star in a rubato cadence that is connected with the harmony of the introduction, this section is used for the development of the only piano and later after the reappearance of the melodic line of the introduction of the trompeta the subject begins to vanish in the initial vamp of the subject with brief commentaries and a somewhat "free" interaction.

Desafectados:

It is a theme with a format similar to a standard Jazz with an "afro" feel that oscillates between ¾ and 6/8 with a "turnaround" equal to the traditional song "Lady Bird". The melodic protagonist in this case is the flugelhorn bringing warmth to the melodic line that later becomes a dramatic interlude with a present line of double bass by Sebastián de Urquiza influenced by the theme "The Water's Edge" by Tom Harrell, who again opts for the initial form to lead to solos flugelhorn and piano. After the solos the subject resumes, but this time to give place to a vamp on which there is a solo of battery of Matías Crouzeilles like final episode.

Invierno:

It is one of the first songs composed especially for the group. It begins with an ostinato of piano in 5/4 that is sustained during all the first section of the subject to which the battery is added and a line of contrabass with a melodic lattice that soon is fused with the melody of the trumpet, this episode connects with the next section of the song that is in 7/4 with a descending harmonic cadence that in turn is an interlude prior to the trumpet solo that is developed on the first section of the song. The intention during the development of the solo is of an ascending dynamics that in its highest point decant again in the interlude, where in turn the solo continues to then give place to a single contrabass on the initial section without returning to the interlude gives foot to the ostinato and to the melody of the subject. As a final episode the theme is bouncing in the interlude this time for a short piano solo that will lead to some "trades" between the trumpet and the piano with character of ascending intensity until finishing.

Tabula Rasa:

It is the oldest compound song on the album and making it part of this album had a significant meaning. It is based harmonically on a constant structure influenced by the theme "Scene" by Tom Harrell and although it is built in ¾ in a part of the form it has a 2/4 time signature. The theme has a melodic character interpreted by the flugelhorn of long notes that are connected with the chords generating a new sense with each chord that appears. It could be said that it is the ballad of the record that has a flugelhorn solo and a double bass virtuoso of Sebastián de Urquiza.

Boomerang:

The theme begins with an introduction of Double Bass by Sebastián de Urquiza that is building the groove of this theme that is an "Up Tempo" harmonically influenced by compositions by Woody Shaw and Horace Silver and with a great rhythmic complexity that varies between bars of 4 / 4 and 7/4 while in section B of the theme in 3/4 alternates with a 4/4 time signature. In this labyrinthine but at the same time fluid context, only Rhodes, Trumpet and Double bass are developed.

Moñongo - Cherry:

This is the youngest songs on the album, it starts with a trumpet introduction until at one point the melody of the song is mentioned and the double bass is added to start with the head in the whole band. It is a slow subject and has an extensive form that leads us through different situations and that later has solos of Rhodes, Trumpet and Contrabass that alternate as if they were "trades" to quote a part of the theme to continue with a completely different section and much faster but that has to do harmonically with something that happens previously in the subject. This new section begins only with the rhodes and then the double bass and drums are added floating on this new form until it consolidates a groove in ⅝ on which the trumpet will then make a melody. The theme clearly has two very different moods and in part this is why the title of the theme is two names.

Greschuk was born in Santa Fe, Argentina, about 300 miles northwest of Buenos Aires where he started playing trumpet at the age of 9, studying classical music at the School of Music No. 9901 and with “The Children and Youth Orchestra” of Santa Fe. He was turning to jazz as a major influence and after a masterclass with USA trombonist Conrad Herwig, he was hooked!

Links:

BandCamp: http://sebastiangreschuk.bandcamp.com/

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/SebastianGreschuk

Harlem Stage Announces 2019 Fall Season Presenting Visionary Artists of Color

Celebrating the Centennial of the Harlem Renaissance and the Inspirational Legacy of Jazz Luminary, Sun Ra and Afrofuturism 

Featuring the First Annual Harlem Doc Festival,  Nona Hendryx, Maimouna Youssef aka MuMu Fresh and Much More

Harlem Stage, the legendary uptown venue that for over 35 years has promoted the creative legacy of Harlem and artists of color from around the corner and across the globe, is proud to present its Fall 2019 seasons of performances. The season is curated by Monique Martin, Director of Programming for Harlem Stage, and will celebrate the centennial legacy of the Harlem Renaissance. The season also welcomes legendary rock goddess, Nona Hendryx, as the Artistic Director for Harlem Stage's new yearlong initiative focusing on Sun Ra and Afrofuturism. The initiative will present performances that interweave music, technology, talks/conversations/humanities,  literature and dance to celebrate the legacy of visionary and pioneer of Afrofuturism, Sun Ra, along with the contributions of the countless artists he has inspired. Through these two powerful themes, which will carry into the 2020 season, Harlem Stage will reflect on and celebrate the past, present and artistic future of Harlem and explore how the Harlem Renaissance continues to be a rich source of inspiration across the globe while Afrofuturism continues to push the boundaries of our artistic imagination. 

Harlem Stage’s 2019 fall season will feature a variety of performances, across a range of artistic genres, offering audiences the chance to experience legendary performers, as well as rising stars. 

Two powerful discussions will be presented as part of Harlem Stage’s discussion series, Dive Deeper. On August 15th, in advance of the fall season and ahead of the 50thAnniversary of the Harlem Cultural Festival (aka Black Woodstock) concert by SummerStage in Marcus Garvey Park, Harlem Stage brings together notable social activist and MC, Talib Kweli, acclaimed musician, Igmar Thomas (Leader of the Revive Big Band,Lauryn Hill), GRAMMY Award Winning Trumpeter and Vocalist Keyon Harrold (Common, Jay-Z), legendary percussionist Juma Sultan (Jimi Hendrix’s former percussionist), Toni Blackman (Actress, Writer, Hip-Hop Ambassador to the U.S. State Department) and others for a unique dialogue about art and activism. On October 17th, artists MuMu Freshand Jason ‘Timbuktu’ Diakité will discuss the impact of Hip-Hop culture and music around the world.

NEW PROGRAMMING:

New this season is The Cosmic Synthesis of Sun Ra and Afrofuturism Series, a yearlong celebration of the spiritual, sonic and social impact of the Sun Ra’s work curated by Artistic Director of the series, Nona Hendryx with Craig Harris as Musical Director and Composer. The series is commissioned and presented through Harlem Stage’s WaterWorks commissioning program.The first event in the series, Order of Chaos, will kick off the 2019 fall season on September 20thwith a night of Afrofuturistic films and music. Film screenings are curated by filmmakers Craig T. Williams and Celia C. Peters, who will lead a post screening conversation that will examine and celebrate the genre that is flipping the script on Black narratives. Audiences can enjoy screenings of "Prototype," where a programmer conducts a painful empathy test on lifelike androids in an attempt to win her mother's approval, and “ROXË15,” which focuses on Roxë Jones, a virtual reality programmer in a stark, near-future New York City. Hell-bent on a getting to a better life, she bets her future on technology. The evening culminates with a performance featuring rock goddess and futurist, Nona Hendryx, and Darian Dauchan of The Brobot Johnson Experience. For the next performance in the series, in partnership with the Park Avenue Armory, Nona Hendryx joins Theaster Gates, and other special guests fora special tribute to Grace Jones. For the final event in the series this season, Nona Hendryx, Moor Mother and Black Quantum Futurist, will offer Afrofuturistic musical performances.

Also new this season, Harlem Stage presents the first annual Harlem Doc Fest, in partnership with The Documentary Forum at The City College of New York, Maysles Documentary Center, New York Latino Film Festival and Third World Newsreel. Harlem Stage is proud to host the opening of this dynamic new documentary film festival with a screening, conversation and reception on November 15th. The Harlem Doc Fest will explore the cultural richness and history of Harlem along with critical issues impacting the community. This weekend-long curated festival of feature and short documentary films will present screenings throughout Harlem and include conversations with filmmakers, actors and scholars. The film selection is forthcoming.

Harlem Stage will also present two nights of live radio plays on November 21stand 22nd. The Renaissance EP: A Theatrical Mixtape, created by Harlem Stage’s Director of Programming Monique Martin and curated by playwright/actor NSangou Njikam (author of  Synching Ink), explores the impact and resonance of the Harlem Renaissance after 100 years. Combining music, theatre and imaginative Foley i.e. beat boxer, The Renaissance EP takes you on an anthropological excavation through time and space to explore the power and legacyof a neighborhood that has been described as the epicenter of Black Culture and the Radical Black Imagination.

MUSIC PROGRAMMING:

Musical highlights include two evenings of performances from GRAMMY nominee Maimouna Youssef aka MuMu Fresh. For the first evening, MuMu Fresh offers a healing concert that pays tribute to her rich heritage and ancestors by using tones that correspond to chakras and a range of soothing instruments. For the second evening,this powerhouse lyricist and MC performs material from her recently recorded album, produced by DJ Jazzy Jeff and The PLAYlist titled, "The Healing." 

Carnegie Hall Citywide and Harlem Stage present The Baylor Project, which consists of two-time GRAMMY nominated husband-and-wife vocalist team Jean Baylor and drummer Marcus Baylor. Deeply rooted in jazz, Jean has performed with such stars as Marcus Miller and Buster Williams, while Marcus is a former member of the legendary Yellowjackets—their eclectic musical style is also steeped in gospel, blues, and soul.

 

In a special evening celebrating the Harlem Renaissance, with  Check your Invite! A Renaissance Rent Party Remix, Actor/Playwright/Storyteller Daniel Carlton will examine the hundreds of colorful parties that beloved Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes was invited to. Carlton will create a world from archival historical invitations to dramatize Harlem history from the 1920's - 1960’s using the settings of the various parties, and the audience will be invited to wait for Langston Hughes to arrive, as they meet the party hosts and other guests. The evening culminates in a party with Harlem’s DJ NessDigital spinning classic jazz and soul from bebop to hip hop, soul and funk.

Closing out the season, catch rising jazz vocalist Brianna Thomas and her band Fa-La-La-La Funk! as they bring the funk to classic holiday tunes we know and love with a blend of jazz, R&B, and gospel. The concert will be peppered with songs from Brianna’s eagerly anticipated sophomore album ‘Everybody Knows.”

“Sun Ra, Afrofuturism, and the Harlem Renaissance can be seen as points along a temporal spectrum. Those points can be located in space through the programs of Harlem Stage. These seemingly disparate artistic movements are connected as manifestations of intense and impactful creative energy by artists of color. In exploring both of these movements and the artists who galvanized them, we learn about their achievements, their failures and their intentions,” said Patricia Cruz, Executive Director of Harlem Stage.

Monique Martin, Director of Programming,said “This season at Harlem Stage, we are reflecting on the past while looking towards the future. Our performances celebrate the legacy of the Harlem Renaissance, while discovering pathways to create a better future. Afrofuturism is the ticket to reimagining Black identity, and performances this season will examine what exactly that looks, sounds and feels like.”

Nona Hendryx, Artistic Director for Afrofuturism, said “Afrofuturism is Afropresent and Afropast, it is not only fiction, it is not only science, it is a future created in the mind, projected and seen through the lens of the African diaspora, it is part Science Fiction and Fact.  In my role as the Artistic Director of The Harlem Stage 2019 to 2020 exploration of Afrofuturism, I will lead the curation of a year long program.  The programs will include Music, Technology, Literature, Film and Dance events celebrating the magical and fantastical world of Sun Ra ‘Space Is The Place” and his long line of disciples; from George Clinton to Janelle Monae; collapsing time; past, present and future, space and place, inner and outer worlds, traveling to Stars, Quasars, Suns, Moons and delving into Black Holes.

For more information on Harlem Stage, visit: www.harlemstage.org.

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Rebekah Victoria - Songs of the Decades

Jazz vocalist Rebekah Victoria mines 20th century songs for 21st century sounds and meaning on Songs of the Decades, her new recording

Victoria collaborates with acclaimed trombonist, composer-arranger and bandleader Wayne Wallace and an assemblage of two-dozen musicians (including guest vocalist Kenny Washington) for a panorama of songs from each decade of the 20th century

As a jazz singer, Rebekah Victoria's performance repertoire tends to come overwhelmingly from the era of the Great American Songbook: the 1920s, '30s and '40s. As she was preparing to record her second album, however, Victoria was inspired to widen her musical perspective in terms of both time periods and popular styles. Songs of the Decades, her investigation of the music from each decade of the twentieth century, was released through Patois Records.

If the album is retrospective, though, it is the furthest thing from nostalgic. "I wanted to make these songs different- I wanted them to sound very new and fresh," says Victoria, who is based in the San Francisco Bay Area. "The idea was to make them as much fun to listen to now as they were in their day, when they were big hits. For the people that really know these songs, they'll get a kick out of the differences."

She also had another, more serious priority for assembling Songs of the Decades. "There's a theme running through the songs," she says. "In one way or another, most of them connect to the #MeToo movement that's happening today. I wanted the album to speak to that." In other words, Victoria combed through the music of the past and found that it was not only still fun, but still relevant.

Wayne Wallace, the Grammy-nominated trombonist, composer-arranger, and bandleader who is also the head of Patois Records, acted as Victoria's partner for the album. He co-produced it, wrote all of its arrangements-often incorporating elements of Latin jazz, his specialty-and assembled its superlative cast of 24 musicians, including improvising vocalist Kenny Washington, Wallace's bandmates from his own various projects, and a string quintet that features members of the San Francisco Symphony.

"I was so happy with how it all turned out," Victoria says. "Wayne's arrangements really captured the freshness I wanted, and the musicians he chose were just fantastic. It was a great experience overall."

Songs of the Decades does not present its selections in chronological order; Victoria and Wallace sought to create a flow that would emphasize the variety of the material and the versatility of the singer. That said, the album opens with its oldest tune. "Some of These Days," written in 1910, has a cavalier quality that Victoria injects with sultriness. But its solo section also suggests a subtle, sobering edge, a warning of the consequences of disrespect.

The consequences of disrespect are front-and-center of "These Boots Are Made for Walking," and there's no subtlety about it. The album's '60s episode gets a down-and-dirty treatment, with earthy Hammond organ and guitar (courtesy of Frank Martin and Rick Vandivier, respectively) and soulful horn charts that drive home Victoria's taunting vocal.

"After You've Gone" is perhaps the recording's most recognizable jazz standard, and the musicians tackle it as such. The 1918 Layton-Creamer classic here becomes a breezy swinger and affirmation of the singer's self-worth, augmented by Mary Fettig's jaunty clarinet solo and Victoria's supremely confident phrasing and time feel.

Though it's probably best known through Joni Mitchell's version two decades later, "Twisted" began life in 1952 as an Annie Ross vocalese riff on a Wardell Gray blues solo. Its (title-appropriate) twists and turns give Wallace a place to put his finest and most elaborate Latin-jazz flourishes, including a double-barreled solo chorus from the trombonist. (Wallace and Kenny Washington also provide the spoken-word responses to Victoria's sung lines.)

There's also a trace of a Latin accent on "The Song Is You," written by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II for a 1932 musical. More than that, however, it takes on a bebop sensibility in Victoria and Wallace's hands. The singer drops a delivery with echoes of Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughan, with solos by Fettig (now on alto sax) and pianist Joe Gilman that are steeped in delectable modern jazz language.

Victoria singles out "Un-Break My Heart" as a particularly challenging tune for the purposes of this album. It's not because of any technical hurdles, but because the 1996 Toni Braxton hit (written by Diane Warren) is Songs of the Decades' most recent selection, and therefore its most familiar. "That's a pop song that everyone knows," she says. "Finding a way to refresh that one was difficult, but that's part of the fun of this album." Ultimately, the song receives a subtle reharmonization and bossa nova beat, with a guitar solo from Vandivier that's also inspired by Brazilian music-and a sly interpolation of Neil Young's "Only Love Can Break Your Heart."

"Whispering" was an iconic hit song of the 1920s. But here it gets thoroughly lifted out of that time with a sexy mambo setting, a vocalese verse from Victoria (decidedly divergent from the album's feminist theme), and an expansive scat solo from Kenny Washington-not to mention a modulation (also in vocalese) to "Groovin' High," Dizzy Gillespie's revolutionary bebop contrafact of the tune.

A gentle Afro-Caribbean percussion treatment greets Carole King's "It's Too Late," representing the 1970s. While it's drummer Colin Douglas and percussionist Michael Spiro who shape the performance, they're assisted by beautiful solos from Vandivier and pianist Murray Low, as well as a delivery from Victoria that takes Billie Holiday-like liberties with its contours.

Like "Whispering," Sy Oliver and Sid Garris's "Opus One" (from 1943) declines to engage with Victoria's theme of women's independence and empowerment. "This one's just for fun," she says. True to her word, it concerns itself with timeless, danceable swing, heightening the effect by becoming a cleverly plotted medley with Charlie Shavers's 1938 jazz standard "Undecided."

Songs of the Decades closes with its 1980s installment: "I Hope I Never," a tune by the New Zealand new wave band Split Enz (the only non-American song on the album). Here Wallace deploys the string quintet, which adds piquant emotional release (and a surprising solo from violinist Eugene Chuklov) to Victoria's remarkably restrained soprano.

Rebekah Victoria grew up in her family-owned nightclub in Los Altos, California, singing with her father's Greek band. While she chose to get her college degree in business, she also took formal singing lessons and theater classes, learning both classical and Broadway singing techniques. She took a job as a real estate broker but supplemented her income with musical theater and even jobs as a singing waitress.

After raising her daughter to adulthood, Victoria began to engage her after-hours singing career more seriously. Deciding that her heart-and vocal range-really belonged to jazz, she formed a band called Jazzkwest and began performing regularly in clubs and other venues in the San Francisco Bay Area, attracting a following that eventually enabled her to record her debut album, #OldFashionedTwitterTwit, in 2016. While the retirement of her key collaborator in Jazzkwest presented a challenge, Victoria soon had a tete-a-tete with San Francisco jazz maven Sheryl Lynn Thomas-who connected her with Wayne Wallace, beginning the two-year task of creating Songs of the Decades.

"It's been a really great process," Victoria says. "I hope it continues on to the next one."

Lafayette Gilchrist's album Dark Matter

Pianist Lafayette Gilchrist Brings Together a Universe of Sound on Dark Matter,

His Second Solo Album

On his second solo recording, Dark Matter, Baltimore-based pianist Lafayette Gilchrist muses on the elusive and mysterious matter that ties the universe together. It's not hard to imagine why the subject might hold such fascination for Gilchrist, whose work thrives on making surprising connections between styles and influences, boldly veering from piledriver funk to piquant stride, vigorous swing to hip-hop swagger, contemplative abstraction to deep-bottom grooves drawn from the boisterous go-go scene in nearby Washington D.C.

Released on July 19, 2019 via Creative Differences/Lafayette Gilchrist Music, Dark Matter was recorded live in front of a rapt, intimate crowd at the University of Baltimore's Wright Theater by acclaimed hip-hop producer Wendel Patrick (also known as classical and jazz pianist Kevin Gift). Over the course of the set's eleven original tunes, Gilchrist cycles through a wide range of moods and ideas, from deeply personal meditations to socially conscious outcries. Like dark matter itself, the connective tissue is sensed more than seen, tied together by the pianist's singular voice and restless imagination.

"Dark matter is the thing that keeps everything from drifting apart," says Gilchrist, whose intellectual curiosity seems as far-reaching and unquenchable as his musical tastes. "Dark matter permeates everything. It's difficult to get one's head around, but the aspect of it that fascinated me was it being this invisible force that holds the universe together. That came to mind because the tunes on the album are so different one from the other that I felt the title suggested a binding of a kind - a desire for the listener to hear it all as one sound."

That fusion of inspirations is something that Gilchrist has done throughout his career. Perhaps it was the fact that he'd grown up listening to music long before he ever touched an instrument. It wasn't until the summer before college, when he wandered into an empty recital hall and sat down at the keys on a whim, that he ever touched a piano. "It sounds like a fairy tale," he recalls, "but it's the truth: I wandered into the recital hall and saw this 9-foot Steinway grand piano on the stage. Nobody was around and it wasn't locked up, so I stepped on the sustain pedal and started playing sounds. When I came off the pedal the sounds disappeared, and that's how it started."

Much has been made of the hip-hop influences in Gilchrist's music, especially in the broad-shouldered swing of his horn-heavy ensemble New Volcanoes, but the references are far from intentional. Again calling to mind the pervasiveness of dark matter, the music's sound was simply something he absorbed during his formative years in Baltimore. More crucial to his characteristic approach is the vibrant sound of go-go, the distinctive blend of funk, R&B, jazz and old school hip-hop that is unique to Baltimore-D.C. area stages, though Gilchrist didn't realize how uncommon that experience was until he'd left home.

"I never remember having a conversation with anybody about go-go being our hometown music," he says. "That music was so omnipresent in our upbringing, that I almost took it for granted. It was always just, 'Did you check out Trouble Funk or Rare Essence or Little Benny and the Masters at the Coliseum or the Kaywood?' It didn't occur to me until later that we were one of the last places in the country where you'd dance to popular contemporary music played by live instruments."

While he didn't realize it at the time, jazz crept into Gilchrist's consciousness via the go-go scene, albeit combined with go-go's distinctive rhythmic feel. Chuck Brown, one of the genre's founding fathers, would reimagine jazz standards like "Harlem Nocturne" or "It Don't Mean a Thing" with the muscular go-go beat. "That go-go thing was so ingrained in me that when I heard the original Earl Bostic version of 'Harlem Nocturne,' it discombobulated me. I came to understand it later, but that internal pocket never left me. It informed me before I learned music and it still informs me."

It's there from the outset of Dark Matter, whose opening tune, "For the Go-Go," pays explicit homage to the music. But it's also there underlying the tender nostalgia of "Child's Play," a wistful remembrance of growing up surrounded by towering adults and nothing but time on your hands to have fun and most likely get into some sort of trouble. The pianist's sense of wonder at the universe is evident in the title track, which gleefully plays on evolving variations of its main theme. Scientific curiosity also lies at the heart of "Old Whale Bones," a vivid pastoral inspired by archaeological digs.

While most of the pieces on Dark Matter are newly composed for the date, "Spontaneous Combustion" reprises an older tune that remains unfortunately, stubbornly relevant. It ponders the small incidents that can set off social change, bearing echoes of protest music past. "The thing that always fascinates me about history is that you never know what will set it off," Gilchrist says. "The issue may be big, but the spark for an uprising, a revolt, or a revolution could be something small and petty." Hope for just such an instigating incident rings out in "Blues for Our Marches to End," which was written following the 2014 protests in Ferguson, Missouri in reaction to the police shooting of Michael Brown.

Between the two comes "And You Know This," a song that merges the ska sound of bands like The Skatalites with the funky New Orleans blues of piano men like Professor Longhair and Allen Toussaint. Gilchrist fell in love with the Crescent City's musical soul during a fundraiser at the legendary Tipitina's produced by The Wire writer David Simon, an outspoken Baltimorean who has used Gilchrist's music in his shows, including Treme and The Deuce. Another life-changing experience came via Gilchrist's mother, a now-retired employee of the Federal Aviation Administration. Through her, he had the opportunity to perform for veteran members of the Tuskegee Airmen, the heroic African-American WWII fighter pilots. The profound experience inspired Gilchrist to compose "Black Flight."

Turning from the vast outward to the deep inward, "The Love Bind" spins a tale of heartbreak that feels soaked in tears but also a caustic humor. That same sardonic wit runs through "Happy Birthday Sucker," a sly, self-deprecatory celebration written after a brief plunge into self-pity. "Greetings" ironically closes the album with an elliptical send-off.

2018 Baker Artist Award winner Lafayette Gilchrist leads the genre-defying ensembles the New Volcanoes and the Sonic Trip Masters All Stars. Along with bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Eric Kennedy, he's a member of the adventurous collective trio Inside Out. In 2017, Gilchrist was named a  Local Legend by Baltimore Magazine, while Baltimore City Paper named Lafayette Gilchrist and the New Volcanoes as "Best Band." While steadily leading his Baltimore-based ensembles with a progressive stream of new music, Gilchrist toured with David Murray in his octet and quartets for 13 years. He has performed with such notable artists as Cassandra Wilson, Macy Gray, Oliver Lake, Andrew Cyrille, Orrin Evans, Paul Dunmall, Hamid Drake, William Parker, and many more. His compositions have graced the soundtracks of David Simon's acclaimed series The Wire, The Deuce, and Treme.

lafayettegilchristmusic.com

Pianist Ahmad Jamal Releases Ballades

Legendary Pianist Ahmad Jamal Releases Gorgeous, Ruminative Solo Album Alongside a Stunning Showcase for his Protégé, Azerbaijani Pianist Shahin Novrasli

  

At the age of 89, Ahmad Jamal is one of the most iconic names in jazz, renowned the world over for the peerless elegance and profound expression of his playing. It may be hard to imagine his stellar seven-decade career ever being replicated, though Jamal himself has done his part to nurture and encourage a new generation of artists. His latest protégé is the incredibly gifted Azerbaijani pianist Shahin Novrasli, whose dazzling music promises to carry forth the torch long maintained by Jamal’s genius.

On September 13, 2019, Jazz Village [PIAS] will proudly release two new albums that represent the inheritance passed on from masters like Ahmad Jamal to rising stars like Shahin Novrasli (shah-heen no-vrah-slee). The stunning Ballades is a rare solo outing for Jamal, an intimate set of career-spanning interpretations supplemented by three dialogues with longtime bassist James Cammack. At the same time, Novrasli’s From Baku to New York City traces the younger pianist’s remarkable journey from the former Soviet republic to the jazz mecca he now calls home, pairing, Novrasli with Jamal’s trio mates, Cammack and drummer Herlin Riley.

“I have known and listened to all the great pianists, known and unknown,” Jamal says. “Shahin is no exception to the rules governing great players. In my opinion, he will be making an indelible impression on the music world with his touch, technique, and composition skills… He joins the list of extraordinary pianists that I have admired and followed over the many years of being a part of the music world.”

For his part, Novrasli sings the praises of his mentor, and credits him as lending his impeccable taste to every aspect of From Baku to New York City. “Mr. Jamal suggested a number of things for me to listen to and absorb, he listened to my pieces and suggested sounds and interpretations. He was personally present at the recordings. He was the heart and the life of the outcome, the mastermind behind it all.”

Novrasli recalls the experience of hearing Jamal play unaccompanied in his own house, sitting down at the piano for an impromptu rendition of the classic “It Could Happen To You.” As the younger pianist recalls, “I [realized] how something simple you have heard a million times over can sound so different and alive when you hear it from the hands of a legend.”

With Ballades, listeners across the globe can now share in that breathtaking experience as Jamal essays seven compositions alone at the keyboard. The album opens with the title track from the pianist’s 2017 album Marseille, a love letter to the spectacular city in southern France. Jamal is joined by the understated but emotionally resonant bass accompaniment of Cammack, who he praises as “part of the historic and elite group of bassists I have had the good fortune of performing with for decades. [James] is an extension of my left hand and his hearing is quite amazing.”

  

The present moment is captured in “Because I Love You,” an achingly gorgeous piece composed at the very moment of its recording, a testament to Jamal’s continued ability to spontaneously conjure enduring melodies.

The album also reaches back into Jamal’s past, most notably for a new version of “Poinciana,” the tune most indelibly linked to his name. As he did on the beloved trio version from 1958’s At the Pershing: But Not For Me, Jamal reimagines the timeless song once again, unfolding delicate layers of sublime lyricism. His meditation on “I Should Care” is playfully tender, while the original “Land of Dreams” is a gossamer lullaby with the shifts in mood of a nocturnal fantasia. Not a word needs to be sung in order for Jamal to express the wistful yearning of the standard “What’s New?”

Cammack makes his return to dance a graceful duet with Jamal on the Jimmy Dorsey hit “So Rare,” before Jamal resumes the spotlight for an artful rumination on the oft-recorded “Whispering.” The bassist makes his final appearance on a medley pairing the Rodgers and Hart classic “Spring Is Here” with Bill Evans’ “Your Story.” Jamal ends the album with a shimmering take on Johnny Mandel and Johnny Mercer’s “Emily.”

Jamal’s eclectic but unerring taste for material also graces Novrasli’s album. From the opening take on Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” through the Michael Jackson ballad “She’s Out of My Life” and a blistering race through Dizzy Gillespie’s raucous “Salt Peanuts,” each piece showcases another facet of the Azerbaijani pianist’s prolific talent. Novrasli’s own compositions prove an ideal complement to these wide-ranging classics.

Novrasli selected the material in partnership with Jamal, leading to a fleet, thrillingly swinging take on Thelonious Monk’s perennial “52nd Street Theme” and the heartrending ballad “Night Song,” written for Sammy Davis Jr. as part of the Broadway musical “Golden Boy.” Victor Young’s “Stella by Starlight” is another proving ground for jazz pianists, here rendered with a jaunty electricity.

Though no life can be entirely captured in nine songs, the title From Baku to New York City nonetheless suggests a kind of musical autobiography for Novrasli. As he explains, “This particular album is my most cherished work to date, and the journey of these particular themes and compositions coming together reflects my journey as a jazz musician and artist so far. This is not just my best work to date; these songs capture my favorite flavors of Azerbaijan along with my first impressions of New York's night life and the inspiration I’ve always felt from American jazz. All of those influences traveled with me to my beloved Paris, where this album was born and recorded.”

Two of Novrasli’s originals harken back to his roots: the intricate “Memories,” which he performs solo, and the elegiac “Cry of Bulchura,” are variations on themes by Azerbaijani composers Uzeir Hajibayov (known as the father of Azerbaijani classical music and opera) and Vagif Mustafazadeh (a pianist who fused jazz with the Azerbaijani folk music mugham). The up-tempo “Shahin’s Day” captures the pianist’s elation at his life in jazz.

  

Ahmad Jamal · Ballades

Shahin Novrasli · From Baku to New York City

Jazz Village [PIAS] · Release Date: September 13, 2019