Friday, October 11, 2019

Jazz chanteuse Kinga Heming aiming for a GRAMMY® nomination


A GRAMMY® nomination would remain forever in the heart of jazz chanteuse Kinga Heming

Tucked away in the dimly lit vocal booth of producer Gabriel Mark Hasselbach’s recording studio in Vancouver, jazz vocalist Kinga Heming tapped into the powerful emotions that fill her newly released third album, “Forever in My Heart.” While tracking “The Very Thought of You” from the Great American Songbook, something clicked as she crooned the lyrics “Forever in my heart, the very thought of you.” Hasselbach knew instantly that he had uncovered the soul of the singer, the magic ingredient that makes her record special. 

“That is the title of your album,” Hasselbach said to Heming about the first-round GRAMMY ballot contender for Jazz Vocal Album, “Forever in My Heart.”

Heming identifies herself as a singer and a storyteller. While the eight tunes she recorded for “Forever in My Heart” are standards, she selected each song because of her personal connection to each one. 

“These were songs that were introduced to me at a very young age. Gabriel suggested that I choose songs that I feel reflect on my life. So, I chose the ones that I felt really connected to because, to be honest, when I sing a song, it’s not just singing a song. It’s not just reciting the lyrics to make it sound pretty. It’s me telling a story. And every single song on the record is me telling a story,” said the Polish-born Heming, who moved to Ottawa, Ontario in Canada when she was five and now resides in the small British Columbian town of Kelowna.

“When I sing songs, I never make myself emotional to the point of getting moved by a song. However, one of the songs on the album that does hold a soft spot in my heart is ‘Here’s to Life.’ When I sing it, I kind of felt like Johnny Mandel wrote that song for me. Lyrically, every single part of that song, it’s just me.”

Garnering airplay on Canadian radio from coast to coast, “Forever in My Heart” is an acoustic jazz vocal album. Heming’s elegant and graceful voice is embellished by Miles Black’s dramatic piano melodies and supple basslines, Joel Fountain’s genteel drumming and Hasselbach’s astute trumpet expositions. On “Nature Boy,” Heming’s exquisite voice rides the rhythmic groove etched by guitarist Loni Moger and upright bassist Bernie Addington with evocative shadowing emoted from Hasselbach’s muted trumpet.     

Heming celebrated the album release last week by performing the material live at the Rotary Center for the Arts at the Mary Irwin Theatre in Kelowna where she shared the stage with Hasselbach, Black, Moger, Addington and drummer Tony Ferrero. Bonding with her audience as she tells her intimate stories through song is important to the singer.

“It’s me telling a story to everybody in the audience and for me to move an audience with my songs is even better,” Heming said before returning the focus to “Forever in My Heart.” 

“At the end of the day, I know for myself, and from my own perspective, that I recorded this (album) from the bottom of my heart. That’s why I came up with ‘Forever in My Heart’; because every single part of that story is held forever in my heart.”

Soul-Jazz flutist Kim Scott emerges in the GRAMMY® race


It was a hot July for soul-jazz flutist Kim Scott, who rocketed like fireworks to the top of the Billboard chart with her first No. 1 single, which has inserted the emerging artist into the GRAMMY conversation. Scott’s solo on “Emerge” made the first-round ballot for Best Improvised Jazz Solo while the album on which the track appears, “Free to Be,” is garnering consideration in the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album category.  

Scott wrote “Emerge” with keyboardist Jonathan Fritzen, a hitmaker who is featured delivering his own shimmering solo. However, it is the flautist’s fanciful flourishes that are meriting consideration from the voting members of The Recording Academy for the 62nd GRAMMY Awards that take place on January 26, 2020. 

After setting the stage to perfection with a Billboard chart-topping single that also went No. 1 on the Groove Jazz Music chart, Innervision Records dropped “Free to Be,” Scott’s fourth album, in mid-July. She had a hand in writing five of the album’s nine songs, which offer an alluring blend of instrumental pop appeal, jazz spontaneity and funky R&B grooves. Scott’s classically trained flute melodies share the spotlight equitably on a few numbers with prominent guest soloists Fritzen, saxophonist Jazmin Ghent and Pieces of A Dream keyboardist James Lloyd. Guitarist Eric Essix, drummer/percussionist James “PJ” Spraggins and bassist Sean Michael Ray anchor the rhythm section with compelling textures and vibrant harmonies crafted by keyboardist/programmer/producer Kelvin Wooten, keyboardists West Byrd and Jaden Scott, alto saxophonist Cameron Ross and instrument programmer Dimitri Turner. The disc’s second single, the bumping “Take It To The Rink,” is presently skating laps around playlists after earning Most Added honors in its debut week at radio.    

In addition to her recording career, Scott hosts the nationally syndicated “Block Party Radio Show,” which added to its growing list of stations with the recent pickup on Alabama Public Radio, an NPR affiliate. The artist infuses her energy and enthusiasm into the weekly broadcast featuring the latest  contemporary jazz, urban and Latin jazz releases. 

The Birmingham, Alabama-based Scott debuted in 2011 with “Crossing Over.” Her records have consistently produced Billboard Top 20 singles. On the concert stage, she’s performed at clubs and marquee festivals, including Catalina Island JazzTrax Festival and Seabreeze Jazz Festival. Scott is also a member of the all-female supergroup Jazz in Pink with whom she has played shows across the US. 

Bassist Brian Bromberg goes viral unapologetically with over 1.2 million video views


Bassist Brian Bromberg goes viral unapologetically with over 1.2 million video views sparks the release of the furiously funky “Minneapolis, 1987”

Every recording artist dreams of having a video go viral, but jazz bassist Brian Bromberg never imagined that one of his clips would receive over one million views. The Grammy-nominated musician who thrives in both electric and acoustic bass settings unassumingly posted a live performance video with his Unapologetically Funky Big Bombastic Band on his Facebook pages featuring a monster bass solo on the funk throwdown “Minneapolis, 1987.” Something magical happened. Amassing over 1.2 million views to date across multiple social media platforms, the voracious response to the video spurred Bromberg to drop the track as a single, the fourth from his “Thicker Than Water” album. The single goes for playlist adds on October 14.

Filmed during last spring’s Berks Jazz Festival, Bromberg’s “Minneapolis, 1987” blows the roof off the building as the bassman unleashes a torrid, bass-in-your-face solo. Bromberg thumps away feverishly accompanied by saxophonist Everette Harp, guitarist Ray Fuller, keyboardist Tom Zink, drummer Tony Moore and the fire power of the five-piece Berks Horns.

“I knew this project (“Thicker Than Water”) was special and the band was special, so I wanted to have some videos from some of the festivals we played. I recorded in front of a live audience at three different venues. This is the first time in my career that I have done that,” said Bromberg, a musician, producer and songwriter who has crafted a diverse 25-album catalogue, resulting in five No. 1 hits and more than a dozen Top 5 and Top 10 singles.

Bromberg posted the “Minneapolis, 1987” video on his Facebook pages where it struck a chord instantaneously, long before he added it to his YouTube page (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86aHMo3hds0). Conceiving the song happened just as organically as the video’s popularity.  

“I was doing something in the house while the TV was on and there was a commercial that came on that got my attention because the music was slammin’! I have no idea what the commercial was for, but the vibe was great and got me in a funky mood. The next thing I know, I have my bass on, and I am playing and grooving. Poof! The song just came out and wrote itself. The first thing I thought of and came to mind was the music that came out of Minneapolis in the mid-80s. The sound, the feel, the vibe, the energy, etc. So, the song wrote and named itself. What else could I call it? You hear it and you instantly know the city and the era that inspired it,” Bromberg recalled. 

The jazz-funk-R&B jam session that is “Thicker Than Water” has thrived ever since Artistry Music dropped the collection last year. The first single, “Coupe Deville,” drove into the No. 1 spot on the Billboard chart. The title track followed, going Top 10 at Billboard and No. 2 on the iTunes jazz chart. “Thicker Than Water,” which topped the Billboard albums chart, showcases Bromberg collaborating with Harp, Randy Brecker, Paul Jackson Jr., Najee, Marion Meadows, Brian Simpson and the late George Duke. The unexpected reaction to the live video has given the album new life and may be the inspiration for Bromberg’s next project.       

“We actually might release a live CD, which would be cool as I have never done a live CD of my own music,” said Bromberg, who may opt to do another studio project first. “I have a ton of ideas and snippets of parts of songs and vibes. I’m not sure if I am going to do some special reissues, remixed-remastered CDs of previous recordings, a live CD or a new album of all original music. I would imagine it will be on the funky side if it is a new CD.”


Frank Zappa's Legendary 1969 First Solo Album, "Hot Rats"


Fifty years ago today, Frank Zappa's inimitable, groundbreaking first solo album, Hot Rats, was released, putting the songwriter and musician on the map as a virtuosic guitarist and changing the course of music forever with its conceptual, compositional and technological innovations. Self-described as a "movie for your ears," the mostly instrumental 1969 album was a new musical avenue for Zappa following the dissolution of his band The Mothers Of Invention as he melded the sophistication of jazz with the attitude of rock and roll to create a highly influential masterpiece widely hailed today as a pioneering album of jazz-rock fusion.

On December 20, just one day before what would have been Frank Zappa's 79th birthday, Zappa Records and UMe will celebrate Hot Rats and the legendary composer's highly prolific 1969 period with a mammoth six-disc boxed set titled, The Hot Rats Sessions. This expansive new collection documents and compiles every composition recorded during several days in July 1969 when Zappa recorded Hot Rats and a wealth of other material that ended up being used throughout multiple releases during his lifetime. Filled with an abundance of rare and unedited mixes, work mixes, relevant Vault nuggets and complete basic tracks mixed from the original multi-track master tapes by Craig Parker Adams and mastered by Bob Ludwig in 2019, the collection provides a fascinating look into the making of this classic album, and includes essentially every musical entity that was recorded during these iconic sessions.

Overseen by the Zappa Trust and produced by Ahmet Zappa and Zappa Vaultmeister, Joe Travers, The Hot Rats Sessions will be available in a 6CD boxed set and digitally, including Apple Digital Master. This creatively fertile time in Zappa's career is visually brought to life through a beautiful 28-page booklet featuring striking never-before-seen images of the recording sessions by Bill Gubbins, photographs of the master tapes and tape boxes, and stunning outtakes from original Hot Rats cover photographer, Andee Nathanson's shoot with Miss Christine. Nathanson provides the collection's new cover image and several unreleased photos, all from the same photo shoot, captured on Infrared film which gave the original album its otherworldly look. The photographer vividly details the shoot in the liner notes which also includes essays by Zappa collaborator Ian Underwood and Vaultmeister Travers and an appreciation from "The Simpsons" creator and lifelong Zappa fan, Matt Groening, who recounts his first time listening to Hot Rats as a teenager: "From the opening moments of that unforgettable drum fill, I was transported. The kaleidoscopic, calliopean, dare-I-say-callipygian, mini-masterpiece 'Peaches En Regalia' elevated my scrawny body into the air, spun me around like a propeller beanie, and melted my brain."

The Hot Rats Sessions also includes a one-of-a-kind "Zappa Land" board game where fans are tasked with helping Frank get back to the studio to finish Hot Rats. All boxes preordered via Zappa.com will come with an instant grat download of the unreleased outtake, "It Must Be A Camel" (1969 Mix Outtake). Listen to the track and preorder The Hot Rats Sessions now: https://UMe.lnk.to/HotRats50thPR

Two exciting new vinyl releases will also be issued to celebrate the 50th anniversary: the original Hot Rats album will be pressed on limited edition translucent hot pink 180-gram vinyl featuring the 1969 mix mastered from the original analog master tapes by Bernie Grundman in 2008 and pressed at Pallas in Germany, and a limited edition 10" picture disc Peaches En Regalia EP will be released in conjunction with Record Store Day's Black Friday on November 29. The EP has rare mono mixes on Side A of "Peaches En Regalia" and "Little Umbrellas," intended in 1969 as a promotional single, and the 1969 unreleased rhythm track mixes from the forthcoming boxed set on the flipside.

Hot Rats was composed, arranged, and produced by Zappa who played guitar on all tracks and delivered extraordinary solos throughout. One of the best-selling albums of his career, the six-song record is made up of five instrumentals, including one of his most beloved works, "Peaches En Regalia." Frequent Zappa collaborator Don Van Vliet aka Captain Beefheart provides his unmistakable vocals to lone non-instrumental, the skronky blues-rock number, "Willie The Pimp." Star musicians on these sessions include multi-instrumentalist Ian Underwood, violinists Don "Sugarcane" Harris and Jean Luc Ponty, bassist Max Bennett, drummers Jon Guerin (Max and Jon played together in the famed fusion outfit L.A. Express), Paul Humphrey and Ron Selico, R&B pioneer Johnny Otis and his 15-year-old son, Shuggie Otis who lays down some astounding, ahead of his time bass lines on "Peaches En Regalia" and several other tracks.

The Hot Rats Sessions offers a riveting and revealing fly-on-the-wall experience by showcasing the genesis and evolution of the Hot Rats songs as well as tracks that would be featured on Zappa's acclaimed albums, Burnt Weeny Sandwich, Weasels Ripped My Flesh, Studio Tan and Chunga's Revenge. Hot Rats was the first record to be recorded on a prototype 16-track tape machine and this new technology, along with Zappa's overdub techniques, further inspired him to create and innovate. The first three and a half discs of the set are dedicated to the basic track recording sessions recorded at T.T.G. Studios in Hollywood, California on July 18, 28, 29 and 30th, and allows listeners the opportunity to experience what it would be like to be in the studio as Zappa perfected these compositions. His intense work ethic is on full display and a newfound respect is gained for the choices he made when creating the final masterwork.

The fifth and sixth discs of the set presents the original Hot Rats album with Zappa's 1987 digital re-mix along with an assortment of extras such as vintage promotional audio ads for the album, the mono singles of "Peaches En Regalia" and "Little Umbrellas" and rare mixes of more than a dozen tracks. The Hot Rats Sessions is rife with unreleased session material and also includes the first-ever official release of "Bognor Regis," and several unedited masters of songs like "Peaches En Regalia," "Twenty Small Cigars," "Toads Of The Short Forest," "Lil' Clanton Shuffle" and "Directly From My Heart To You."

The Hot Rats Sessions provides an awe-inspiring snapshot of an especially productive time for Zappa, who in the year 1969 alone, outside of his own projects, produced Captain Beefheart's outsider classic, Trout Mask Replica and the one and only album for The GTO's, toured and had his second child. With this new, exciting deep dive, fans can explore one of Zappa's most revered records like never before and experience how it coalesced to become one of the greatest albums of all time.

This month, just in time for Halloween, Zappa's two complete Halloween shows recorded on October 31, 1973 in Chicago will be released on October 25 via Zappa Records/UMe. These completely unreleased live recordings total more than four and a half hours and feature songs from across his prolific catalog. Continuing the Halloween series that the Zappa Trust began in 2017 with the acclaimed Halloween 77 releases, Halloween 73 will be released as a specially designed, limited run four-disc costume box complete with a FRANKenZAPPA mask and gloves, housed in a display worthy box.

 

Chucho Valdés Receives A 2019 Latin Grammy® Award Nomination in Best Latin Jazz Album for Latest Album JAZZ BATÁ 2


Congratulations to acclaimed pianist, composer and bandleader Chucho Valdés on his 2019 Latin Grammy® Award nomination for Best Latin Jazz Album with his latest release, Jazz Batá 2. This is Valdes’ eleventh nomination, having previously won three Latin Grammy® Awards, one each for the albums New Conceptions and Canciones Ineditas as well as the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Latin Grammy® Awards Association.

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.”
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.



Thursday, October 10, 2019

Barney Wilen Quartet Live in Tokyo '91


Unreleased Live Album Featuring French Cinema Composer and Saxophonist Barney Wilen

 For most American jazz aficionados, Elemental Music’s new 2-disc set, Barney Wilen Quartet Live in Tokyo ’91 will be a revelation. In the U.S. the remarkable saxophonist is best known as Miles Davis’ choice to participate in his groundbreaking soundtrack to Louis Malle’s 1958 film Ascenseur Pour L'échafaud (Elevator to the Gallows). Wilen is also known for playing on the soundtrack for Roger Vadim's 1960 film Les Liaisons Dangereuses, alongside Thelonious Monk and Art Blakey. 


As a presence on the Parisian scene, he performed with major figures, including Benny Golson, J.J Johnson and Bud Powell, and recorded as a sideman with such heavyweights as Blakey, Monk, Powell and John Lewis. A man of many interests and artistic depth, he composed for French filmmakers during the ‘80s & ‘90s–and experimented over the years in forms ranging from rock and punk to musique concrete, African music and the sounds of Grand Prix auto racing–but in the 1990s his own artistic vision primarily returned to the hard bop domain of his earlier years. Live in Tokyo ‘91 was recorded at the famed Keystone Korner on his second trip to Japan, where he achieved a deep adulation among its audiences during his various trips there during the ‘90s. What better way could there be to understand a musician’s essence than with a live performance in front of a deeply appreciative audience accompanied by totally sympathetic musicians? 

For this tour, Wilen assembled an outstanding rhythm section of Olivier Hutman on acoustic and electric piano; Gilles Naturel on bass and drummer Peter Gritz – Hutman facile, at ease in all styles, sensitive in support and creative in soloing; Naturel with a solid rhythmic thrust, whether swinging or freer, always maintaining a solid pulse; and Gritz very creative without ever losing the rhythmic body of the piece, deftly fitting into the context of each piece. The synergy they create with Wilen is splendid, providing a fertile setting for his delightfully exploratory and exciting solos. His playing is clean, precise and fully in control, calling to mind the fluid lyricism of Stan Getz and the richly visceral muscularity of Sonny Rollins. 

His free jazz experience is evidenced often in his solos as he blends free blowing elements into his hard-driving swing without any disruption of the flow and not even a wisp of affectation–reminiscent of the straight-ahead players in the ‘60s and ‘70s like Joe Henderson who adopted various elements of free jazz into their vernaculars. From the first few seconds of the opening piece, the tone of the recording is fully apparent–no nonsense, straightforward jazz featuring the swaggering and authoritative sound of a musician in full command of his consummate musical abilities. The live setting allows for extended pieces that give Wilen plenty of room to stretch out on the adventurously intriguing tales that he weaves through his imaginative and colorful expressiveness. The repertoire itself conjures a vivid portrait of Wilen as well, and although he was a fine composer, he bypassed his own compositions and instead selected a delightfully varied set of music that ideally encapsulates his artistic persona. 

Contained here are compositions by personally relevant jazz composers and past collaborators, timeless standards and a couple of pieces by the internationally renowned and iconic French singer/songwriter Charles Trénet–the gently swinging “L’âme Des Poètes” and “Que reste-t-il de nos amours?,” an evocative and atmospheric balled with a certain edge that features Wilen’s sinuous soprano playing and Hutman on electric piano. The soprano/electric piano combination is also employed to great effect on the buoyant groove of “Latin Alley” by pianist Alain Jean-Marie, with whom Wilen frequently collaborated since the 1980s. Another frequent collaborator–vocalist Marie Möör–contributed “Mon Blouson ~ C’est Ma Maison,” a straight ahead driving swinger with free jazz colorings in the tenor solo and an adventurously free rhythm section. 

A staple of Wilen’s live performances was the Mexican standard “Bésame Mucho,” here a hard driving scorcher propelled by deftly punctuated rhythms and subtly effective changes in tempo. Four more classics are included as well–all from the Great American Songbook of the 1930s. “Beautiful Love,” which opens the album, and Irving Berlin’s “How Deep Is the Ocean” are both offered in a comfortable mid-tempo groove. “Old Folks,” mentioned in Wilen’s introduction as often performed by Charlie Parker and making the gentle ballad that moves into double time an homage to Bird; and Gordon Jenkins’ “Goodbye” with a highly original approach to the exquisite ballad, without in any way losing the essence of its beauty. 

From the jazz canon, Duke Jordan’s score for Les Liaisons Dangereuses offers “No Problem,” a daring interpretation with interesting time shifts and Wilen tearing it up over the sizzling trio. Appropriately, three pieces from titanic tenormen round out the set. John Coltrane’s basic but captivating “Bass Blues” shows Wilen in a deeply blues-drenched mode. Sonny Rollins’ “Little Lu” is a jaunty up-tempo calypso with sparkling drums and an infectious ostinato piano and a remarkably fluid and exciting tenor solo. As an encore, Rollins’ “Doxy” receives an unusually funky treatment. Wilen’s spoken introductions on every piece are an added bonus and offer further insight to the man. The set boasts carefully curated packaging, with a 20-page booklet peppered with photos taken during the date and with plenty of information about Wilen. 

Elemental Music reached out to three jazz giants of the French jazz scene–Laurent de Wilde, René Urtreger and Daniel Humair–about both their reminiscences and angles of perspective about the unique persona that was Barney Wilen. Their comments, plus the recollections of Hutman and Naturel, paint a fascinating study of this very special saxophonist and composer; But no better portrait can be displayed than the extraordinary music contained in this set of Barney Wilen at his best: live and spontaneous in front of a deeply appreciative audience. It is both a fitting tribute and a marvelous introduction to a great saxophonist.

 



AZYMUTH EUROPEAN TOUR AUTUMN 2019

































  Azymuth return! Bringing their two-volume archive of Demos (1973-75), the trio will play a series of shows transporting you back to those hallowed early years, alongside classics from across their phenomenal five-decade career. Book now to avoid disappointment.

October 30 - New Morning, Paris 
October 31 - Jazznojazz Festival, Zürich 
November 1 - Hideaway, London
November 2 - Hideaway, London 
November 3 - Band On The Wall, Manchester 
November 4 - The Spot, Liverpool 
November 5 - Apollo, Milan 
November 7 - Monk, Rome 
November 8 - Teatro Forma, Bari 


Wednesday, October 09, 2019

New Music Releases: Jacky Terrasson; Ash Walker; GoGo Penguin

Jacky Terrasson - 53

With the Sept. 27 release of 53, the 15th album in a recording career that has now spanned 25 years since his stunning self-titled debut on Blue Note in 1994, pianist Jacky Terrasson presents a magnificent collection of original pieces in the form of an intimate confession brought to life by a varied cast of trio mates. Hear the new tracks “The Call,” dedicated to Ahmad Jamal, and “Palindrome” on our playlist Jacky Terrasson: The Finest which looks back across his fantastic Blue Note catalog with highlights from albums including Reach, A Paris, Smile, & Rendezvous featuring Cassandra Wilson.


Ash Walker - Aquamarie

We really loved Ash Walker the last time around – but here, he really blows us away by stepping forth into a style that's even stronger than before – more focused, more soul-based, and with a depth that should really put him on the map! As before, there's lots of funky jazz in the mix – but often abstracted and produced in ways that open up the core elemental sounds – and singer Laville is upfront in the mix on most tracks, really helping give the music a message that matches its sound – while Ash works in the background on a range of other instruments alongside the band, including the studio as a whole – which he really seems to have mastered. Titles include "Brave New World", "Finishing Touch", "Under The Sun", "Time", "Come With Us", "Ain't Got You", "Dagon's Cashmere Jumper", "Fat King Smoke", and "I Need Money".

GoGo Penguin - Ocean in a Drop: Music for Film

UK trio GoGo Penguin will release a new EP Ocean in a Drop: Music for Film on Oct. 4, with 10” vinyl to follow on Oct. 18. The 5-track EP draws inspiration from the band’s celebrated live soundtrack for Godfrey Reggio’s 1982 cult doc Koyaanisqatsi, which the band will perform live with the film next month in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berlin, Paris, London & Manchester, in addition to an appearance at the ACL Music Festival in Austin.


Urban-Jazz pianist Kayla Waters is in “Full Bloom”


After launching her recording career with back-to-back No. 1 Billboard singles, urban-jazz pianist Kayla Waters is truly a blooming artist on the rise. The third single from her “Coevolve” album is the aptly titled “Full Bloom,” which goes for playlist adds on Monday. The single drops during the period that voters are considering Waters’ music and video for nominations in four categories in first-round voting for the 62nd GRAMMY® Awards.

Under consideration in first-round GRAMMY voting for Jazz Instrumental Album and Engineered Album, Non-Classical, Waters composed the material for “Coevolve” conceptually. To tell the story of a seedling’s evolution into a blossoming plant on “Full Bloom,” she collaborated with Michael Broening. The Washington, DC-based musician-songwriter-producer jetted to Broening’s Phoenix, Arizona studio for the session. The night before meeting with Broening, Waters doodled on a baby grand piano into the wee hours of the night eager to come up with something fresh. The next day, she presented her ideas, which became the essence of the song.    

“During that late-night session, I created the chords to what are now the piano verses of ‘Full Bloom.’ I wanted to come up with a unique concept for the song and with Broening’s help, it naturally came to life. When composing, I wanted the musical construct of the song to literally sound like the blossoming of a flower or in the case of ‘Coevolve,’ the evolution of a seed into a beautiful plant. In the song’s intro, you’ll hear me play a glissando upward on the piano to emulate the sound of blossoming,” said Waters, an inspired 28-year-old artist of substance, style and divine depth.

“Full Bloom” is the only song that Waters wrote with a collaborator for “Coevolve” thus the process was different than that of the rest of the record’s creation. With Broening programming the invigorating track, Waters’ ebullient piano is bolstered by guest soloist Nick Colionne’s crisp electric jazz guitar licks. Freddie Fox adds rhythm guitar to the melody and Mel Brown’s bass enhances the brisk groove.

“The embryonic stage of the song was conceived in Phoenix during our first studio session together. From that point, we worked over cyberspace to get the song done. It was actually the longest song to complete for ‘Coevolve,’ likely due to the collaborative efforts, but it’s also significant and symbolic as a plant takes time to grow, to be nurtured and to bloom,” said Waters, who is signed to Trippin ‘N’ Rhythm Records.

When Waters’ sophomore album, “Coevolve,” was released last fall, she scored her second consecutive No. 1 hit when the collection’s premiere single, “Zephyr,” topped the Billboard chart. The accompanying video for “Zephyr” (http://bit.ly/2mzMhp6) is on the first-round GRAMMY ballot in the Music Video category. Also appearing on the first-round GRAMMY ballot for Instrumental Composition is the second single from “Coevolve,” “Obsidian Rain,” on which Waters passionately pours her classically trained piano prowess throughout the ethereal jazz-rock-fusion amalgam that she artfully crafted.      

Waters debuted on 2017’s “Apogee,” powered by the defining No. 1 Billboard single, “I Am.” She won the Rising Star in Jazz award from the Black Women in Jazz and the Arts Foundation and was named Best Jazz Artist at DC’s Wammies. For more information, please visit http://www.iamkaylawaters.com.



Erik Truffaz New Single - Reflections - Feat. José James, New Album, Lune Rouge, Out on October 11


The soul-crushing single, "Reflections," has entered  Spotify's State of Jazz Playlist (380,000 subscribers), directly to #3! After selling over 500,000 records in the world , the ever-surprising trumpet player Erik Truffaz  - and Quartet featuring Marcello Giuliani (bass), Arthur Hnatek (drums) and Benoit Corboz (keys), teams with NYC-based soul vocalist Jose  James for unprecedented collaboration, "Reflections," the first single from the upcoming new Erik Truffaz album Lune Rouge, out on October 11th. On "Reflections," Truffaz's trumpet and José James vocals echo together seamlessly for a nostalgic and moving song that drifts effortlessly between soul and jazz. 

In in the bowels of a city buried deep in Switzerland, Erik Truffaz donned his musical scientist's attire to concoct his upcoming album. With his immense experience in music and the perspective that comes with age, Truffaz handles the trumpet with the hands of a master; drawing his inspiration from the uninhabited, the unknown, and everything that escapes the collective psyche.

Along with his handful of associates (Arthur Hnatek, Benoit Corboz, Marcello Giuliani), Truffaz has shaped his sound. Inspired by the stars and the night sky, they created Lune Rouge (Red Moon) together, with the aim of raising their music to a level worthy of such profound beauty and intrigue.

Their best record perhaps, and certainly their most pure, bathed in an ochre light, instilled with a telluric force, an unknown place that we know we've long been searching for.  



Tuesday, October 08, 2019

JUDITH OWEN – UK TOUR


Judith has just finished touring the US and Europe in support of her 12th studio, critically acclaimed ‘redisCOVERed’ (5* The Times), and performed one special sold out show at the infamous Ronnie Scotts. The album was also named as one of 2018s best albums by Sunday Times Culture.

She’s absolutely fantastic live, her artistry and balance of storytelling, humour and music has been described as “a masterclass on how a show should be done”. 

You can watch her perform Donna Summer’s ‘Hot Stuff’ live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i0PKNYiejg&feature=youtu.be.

Judith Owen – Tour Dates October 2019
Wednesday 9th – Black Box, Belfast
Thursday 10th – CCA, Glasgow
Friday 18th – Henry Tudor House, Shrewsbury
Saturday 19th – Pizza Express, Birmingham
Sunday 20th – Acapela, Cardiff
Monday 21st – Greystones, Sheffield
Tuesday 22nd – The Stables, Milton Keynes
Wednesday 23rd – The Electric Theatre, Guildford

Following from her critically acclaimed 2018 album ‘redisCOVERed’, firebrand singer-songwriter and pianist Judith Owen has announced a run of UK dates in October 2019, where she will be showcasing her unique interpretations of classic hits as part of her ‘Ego Non Karaoke – I don’t do karaoke’ shows. Audiences can also look forward to a preview of songs from her forthcoming album – due for release in 2020.

"I can’t believe it’s been over two years since I last toured the UK,” says Judith. “I’ve travelled the world in support of ‘redisCOVERed’, (and even learnt to swear in multiple languages), but nothing compares to coming home and sharing the new songs and stories with my British fans and friends…"

On redisCOVERed, Judith garnered critical praise for her reimagining’s of a diverse catalogue of tracks (Soundgarden’s breakthrough hit ‘Black Hole Sun’, Grease’s ‘Summer Nights’ and Deep Purples’ ‘Smoke on the Water’ to name a few) with the Daily Express saying she “has the ability to make a song her own,” in their four star review of her album. Judith’s talent stretches beyond the musical, her ability to empathise with a song and its writer allows her to place herself within its story, turning its narrative on its head and completely changing the meaning behind the lyrics.

Her biggest test was seeing herself within the very modern hip-hop of Drake’s ‘Hotline Bling’. “I said to Harry [Shearer, her husband], ‘choose the most extreme thing; something contemporary that you would think I could not relate to,’” she says. “But, of course, I can because I’ve been in that place where I was constantly waiting for the phone call that would come from the guy who would call me only when there was no one better to be around. That song became more of a torch song. That’s absolutely a woman’s song if ever there was one.”

Judith’s live performances, whether as a headliner or as the handpicked opening act for Bryan Ferry’s recent tours of Europe and North America, have been wowing listeners and gaining fans like fellow artist Jackson Browne, who said of Owen’s onstage prowess: “It’s a masterclass on how a show should be done.” Joining Judith on these shows will be master percussionist Pedro Segundo, who the Sunday Times’ describes as “the master of ‘less is more’.”


Abdullah Ibrahim - Dream Time


This solo concert from the legendary South African pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, was recorded in March, 2019 in his new homeland of Bavaria. The resultant album 'Dream Time' choreographs this subtly stirring recital and acts as a timelessly beautiful self portrait of the artist.

The performance is calm yet exuding a gripping power. In prelude, soft tones gently reveal the initial melodic content. Motifs emerge in echo, making way for a complete melodic statement refined through minute, unexpected details. The gathering stream flows directly into a single, liberating chord. A second melody follows suit, at once melancholic, morphing to bright lyricism, also settling on an open chord. Yet not an end, but a transition...Abdullah Ibrahim is a master of transition.

Born October 9th, 1934 in Cape Town, South Africa, the iconic pianist soon celebrates 85 years on the planet. A pianist, whom at 85 continues to exhibit an impressive perseverance in performance. In the course of an hour's time, an uninterrupted flow of melody-tonal beauty of a strong spiritual nature. This music towers far above the mere sum of its notes.

Listening to the man in concert is like eavesdropping on his life story. Threads are laid out, some to be revisited, others not...as quietly, almost unconsciously, the lattice entwines the audience, revealing fascinating moments of a life well lived. Moments unhurried, flowing slow and steady sometimes stopping time itself. Such a modus operandi allows for an uncommon intimacy and a veritable archaic freedom from the hecticness of our times. Those who might immerse themselves in Abdullah Ibrahim's music, will encounter an unfiltered tenderness of immense rarity.


Rodney Whitaker Releases All Too Soon: The Music Of Duke Ellington


For emminent bassist, Distinguished Professor of Jazz Bass and Director of Jazz Studies at Michigan State Rodney Whitaker, the release of his latest record All Too Soon is both an essential artistic undertaking and a lavish fiftieth birthday gift to himself.  The record is the second installment of an extensive five-CD homage to Duke Ellington that takes its title from the maestro’s romantic blue ballad from 1940 on which the iconic tenor saxophonist Ben Webster uncorked a solo that still stands as a masterpiece of boudoir tenor saxophone. 

“To some people, 50 is not old,” says the Detroit native, who performs on some 200 recordings. He’s led nine of them, most recently When We Find Ourselves Alone (Mack Avenue), from 2014. “But I grew up in a community where a lot of people died very young, from diabetes, cancer, violence — and I started thinking more and more about my time on the planet. It was therapeutic for me to think about all the things I’ve done up to this point, and having surpassed a lot of the dreams I had as a young musician.”

 Whitaker continues: “I think about recordings as a diary, and I wanted to document what I’ve been thinking about since I made my last recording five years ago. In jazz, you’re often asked questions about innovation, about things that are new. But to me, the music is just honest, and in order for me to go on, I needed to get all this out of my system.”

 The first installment, released in June, is a Whitaker collaboration with composer Gregg Hill titled Common Ground (Origin Records). Scheduled for subsequent release are a solo bass recital titled Me, Myself and I that includes tributes to such early heroes as Paul Chambers, Milt Hinton, and Ron Carter, and a trio encounter with trumpeter Etienne Charles and guitarist Mark Whitfield comprising original compositions dedicated to his wife and seven children, titled Love Letter. Whitaker will soon assemble an ensemble to record two suites titled When Love Beckons and Light and Shadows.

As for All Too Soon, Whitaker convened an exceptional instrumental sextet and vocalist Rockelle Fortin to animate the iconic Ellington repertoire contained herein.

Trumpet maestro Brian Lynch functioned as a co-equal sideman with Phil Woods and Eddie Palmieri after serving consequential 1980s apprenticeships with Horace Silver and Art Blakey. Among his 20+ albums as a leader are the 2006 Grammy-winning Simpatico, and, more recently, the 2017 Grammy-nominated Madera Latino: A Latin Jazz Interpretation on the Music of Woody Shaw.

Two of Whitaker’s colleagues from Michigan State University fill out the front line. Tenor and soprano saxophonist Diego Rivera, a Johnny Griffin devotee who Whitaker describes as “my first call saxophonist,” is the Associate Director of MSU’s world class jazz studies program. Trombonist Michael Dease, a one-time student of Whitaker’s LCJO colleague Wycliffe Gordon, has established an international reputation by dint of ten leader recordings that showcase his efflorescent instrumental and compositional skills and endless will to swing.

Ann Arbor-based pianist Rick Roe is a long-standing colleague who made the 1994 “cult classic,” Monk’s Modern Music, in trio with Whitaker and drummer Greg Hutchinson (partners in Roy Hargrove’s quintet from 1991 to 1994), and, in 1996, recorded Changeover in trio with Whitaker and Detroiter Karriem Riggins on drums

Now 43, Riggins — best known for his bona fides as a hip-hop producer and beatmaker —  played on Whitaker’s first two albums, Hidden Kingdom and Children of the Light, from 1994 and 1996, respectively. At that time, Riggins was lighting fires with Hargrove in preparation for consequential tenures with Ray Brown and Mulgrew Miller, while Whitaker had recently joined the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, where he began the process of expanding his scope from bebop, hardbop and free jazz to an embrace of what used to be called “mainstream swing”.

“When I was younger, I didn’t like Ray Brown or Oscar Peterson or any of what I called ‘happy jazz,’” Whitaker recalls. “I thought it was corny. But when I was 16, I got an album called Soulmates by Joe Zawinul and Ben Webster. I bought it because I was listening to Weather Report a lot; I wasn’t even hip to what Joe had done with Cannonball Adderley’s sextet until I was 18. Anyway, I fell in love with Ben Webster’s sound, and checking him out sent me to Ellington and all the others.”

Initially a dedicated violinist, Whitaker switched to bass in junior high school. His band director Ed Quick and artist in residence Herbie Williams taught him harmony, and he evolved conceptually in a teenage group called Bird/Trane/Sco/Now!, led by Donald Washington, Whitaker’s string instructor in sixth and seventh grade and Hosea Taylor had him switch to the bass violin in eighth grade. Following Charles Mingus’ philosophy that jazz is the art of the moment, the ensemble spanned bebop to free jazz. During these years, Whitaker also participated in trumpeter Marcus Belgrave’s jazz group, performed European classical music with the Detroit Civic Orchestra, studied privately with members of the Detroit Symphony, and worked with such Motor City luminaries as pianist Kenn Cox and drummers Leonard King and Francesco Mora Catlett. A devotee of Paul Chambers and Ron Carter from the jump, Whitaker also credits Ray Brown, Oscar Pettiford, James Jamerson, Charles Mingus, Charlie Haden and Dave Holland as crucial influences on his style.

After leaving Detroit in 1988 with the Donald Harrison-Terence Blanchard Quintet, Whitaker joined Hargrove in 1991 for a four-year run. “That’s the gig where I really got myself together,” he recalls. “We toured eight months a year, and we got to play and interface with everybody, and with all the press we had as the new young guys on the scene, we had to step up our game and deliver. It was more than you could ever get in a school”

During 1995 and 1996, when he freelanced with Bob James, Kenny Garrett and Diana Krall, Whitaker recorded his first two CDs, Children of the Light and Hidden Kingdom, both comprised primarily of original music.  In 1996, Wynton Marsalis brought him into the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.

“During my eight years with LCJO, I played every major work by Ellington, studied all the scores, and read every book about him that I could find,” Whitaker says. “I had my mind blown by Duke’s and Strayhorn’s brilliance by playing works like ‘The Afro-Eurasian Eclipse’ or ‘Such Sweet Thunder’ or ‘The Far East Suite.’  I looked at it as graduate school, getting my Ph.D in performance. I picked Wynton’s brain, and we had conversations where sometimes my opinions were polar opposite to his on, let’s say, whether Ellington or Strayhorn had written parts of a particular tune. To be able to debate him, I had to learn more about music.

“The sound of their chord voicings, the style of the song forces you to play in the style of a particular person, almost like an actor going into character, to bring out the life from that music. But you have to force yourself not to do that.  Duke wouldn’t want you to play in the style of him — his ‘A Train’ sounds totally different in 1948 than in 1960. Once we played a “Blanton-Webster Years” concert with John Lewis, who told us: ‘Quote the solo, but then do your own thing.’ If you don’t do that, you’re not playing jazz. Any music has to be allowed to live.”

Whitaker wanted this date to be “like a cutting session where a lot of the music is not arranged,” a dictum that he and his partners uphold throughout the proceedings. Fortin finds fresh ways to articulate the lyrics of “All Too Soon,” “Take The A Train,” “Mood Indigo,” “Do Nothin’ Til You Hear From Me,” “Azure,” and “Come Sunday.” Each soloist tells stories with the tropes of blues expression, melodic change playing, and the will to swing. Whitaker displays his gifts as a nonpareil melodic soloist (“A Train,” “Just Squeeze Me,” and “Perdido”) and locks in for the duration with Riggins, whose kinetic swing feel, unfailing taste, and ability to sustain timbral interest is downright preternatural.

There’s a lot of music, but it leaves the listener wanting more. ““I could release another volume,” Whitaker says. “There are 12 tunes — including some more obscure ones — that we didn’t use.”



Monday, October 07, 2019

Pianist Jason Yeage Releases New Songs of Resistance


New Songs of Resistance, a recording born of its time and for its time, is an artful musical response to today’s undeniable political and social tensions. As interpreted through the penetrating vision of Jason Yeager, a pianist, composer and arranger of uncommon skill and inventiveness, the album makes stunning use of three distinctive vocalists and a host of agile instrumentalists to assert its positive message of defiance and unity. Yeager blends his own compositions–instrumentals, and others with original lyrics–with songs by the celebrated Latin American composers Chico Buarque, Violeta Parra, Victor Jara, and León Gieco. Maintaining the original Spanish and Portuguese lyrics for these works as a token of respect and solidarity, Yeager aligns the anger and confusion felt by the peoples of both the United States and Latin America. (Significantly, Yeager’s composition “Somos Cinco Mil” adapts excerpts from Jara’s poem of the same name, the last work the activist artist completed before his 1973 execution at the hands of Chile’s repressive military government.)  Suffused with rage yet also infused with courage, New Songs of Resistance attempts to speak truth through the power of music. 

The album was released on October 4, 2019 via Outside in Music, with earlier releases of two tracks as singles: “Gracias a La Vida” (on September 6) and “Apesar de Você” (on September 20), both arranged by Yeager and performed by his evocative and virtuosic ensemble. Yeager and his group will perform an album release concert at the Regattabar in Cambridge, MA on October 23 at 7:30 PM (www.regattabarjazz.com).

Utilizing the expressive vocals of Erini, Farayi Malek, and Mirella Costa, the clarinets of Matthew Stubbs, the trumpet of Cosimo Boni, the flugelhorn of Milena Casado and the cello of Naseem Alatrash alongside the electric bass of Fernando Huergo, the drums and percussion of Grammy winner Mark Walker, and his own adroit piano work, Yeager constructs an atypical and alluring musical palette. Although he speaks of Danilo Pérez, Edward Simon, Miguel Zenón and Guillermo Klein as models of composers who have integrated jazz, Latin, and chamber music, Yeager’s work as a composer-arranger has a style of its own, one that honors the overall shape of a piece rather than spotlighting any particular soloist. Even his own skill as a pianist is thoroughly and intentionally assimilated into the fabric of the music.

“I have a deep connection with Latin folk music,” Yeager states. “Eleven years ago, I spent five months in Argentina as an International Relations exchange student while also studying traditional folk songs and instruments. I developed a love for the nueva canción movement of songwriters like Violeta Parra and León Gieco, the folk music that galvanized the people of Latin America against the region’s oppressive governments. This music was joined with a social movement that addressed political themes. This made a huge impact on me. I can connect this music to my work because for me, the term ‘jazz’ as a genre is just a label, a construct. While jazz is certainly rooted in African American traditions and culture, I also think of it as a process of engaging with all categories of music--to deeply absorb sounds in an authentic manner and creatively express them in new ways. And we see jazz as a form of resistance in the work of many of my musical heroes, like John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach.” 

Make no mistake, Yeager is unhappy with the current situation in our country and is straightforward in his criticism. As Farayi Malek declares in Yeager’s composition “In Search of Truth,” “Do you deny the past?…do you deny the truth?…do you deny the warming planet?…We must be better than this.” Yet, for Yeager, hopelessness is not an option. Indeed, Chico Buarque’s “Apesar de Você” (“In Spite of You”), a buoyant samba sung by the exuberant Brazilian singer Mirella Costa, is a form of hopeful resistance that points to better days ahead. And in an effort to connect this politically charged and socially relevant music with real-world action Yeager is donating a portion of the proceeds from all album sales (CD hardcopies and digital downloads) to RAICES (Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services), a leading organization that serves immigrants and refugees from Latin America and beyond at the U.S.-Mexico border. “People are hurting and I’m trying to make sense of all this through music. This is my way of pushing back against oppression, exclusion, and violence, my way of standing up for inclusion and truth. I always intended to have the music express an uplifting and inspiring message. In spite of all that is happening, we will persevere. Let’s move forward and fight for what is right—this situation is only temporary.”
  
Originally from Boston and now based in New York City, award-winning pianist, composer, and educatorJason Yeagercreates music that is deeply expressive and multi-faceted, defying convention while reveling in the traditions of jazz, blues, 20th century classical music, and Latin American folk songs. Yeager has recorded five albums under his own leadership, including the critically acclaimed United(with Jason Anick), which was awarded 4.5 stars and rated one of the best albums of 2017 in DownBeatMagazine. He has performed with such noteworthy artists as Luciana Souza, Steve Wilson, Ran Blake, Noah Preminger, Sara Serpa, Ayn Inserto, Matt Wilson, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Sean Jones, and George Garzone. As both a bandleader and sideman, Yeager has played in such venues as Carnegie Hall, the Blue Note, Birdland, Smalls, and in clubs, concert halls, and festivals across the US and internationally. A committed educator, Yeager currently serves as Assistant Professor of Piano at Berklee College of Music, where he has taught since 2012.




Damien Sneed Releases New CD, ‘Jazz In Manhattan’


Damien Sneed, composer, pianist, and vocalist released his new digital CD, Jazz In Manhattan on Friday, September 20 on his boutique label, LeChateau Earl Records. Jazz In Manhattan focuses on Sneed’s considerable chops as a jazz interpreter and includes such classics as “Over The Rainbow,” “Nature Boy,” and “Pure Imagination,” as well as other standards and gospel favorites, “Moanin’,” “Come Sunday,” “God Bless The Child,” and “Wade in the Water.” The album features Grammy Award winner Ben Williams (bass), Jonathan Barber (drums), and Julius Rodriguez (piano). Jazz in Manhattan is available on Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, and all digital platforms everywhere.

 “‘Jazz In Manhattan’” is an exciting release because not only is it my first release as a bandleader in the jazz genre but recording each tune has been on my wish list for some time now. Many members of my audience base are only familiar with me in other genres of music, but this gives people an opportunity to experience a different side of me artistically.”
                                                                                
The multi-genre recording and arts educator recently joined the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music, where he teaches graduate-level courses in conducting, African American Music History, a singer/songwriter ensemble, a gospel music ensemble, and private lessons in piano, voice, and composition. Sneed studied at some of the finest conservatories and universities, including Howard University, where he earned a Bachelor of Music – Piano Performance; the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University; New York University, where he earned a Master of Music in Music Technology: Scoring for Film and Multimedia; and the Manhattan School of Music. Sneed will also graduate with his doctorate in Orchestral Conducting from USC in 2020.

Sneed was a member of the faculty at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and Nyack College. His other professional affiliations have included The Juilliard School as a staff accompanist, Jazz at Lincoln Center as an artistic consultant, and the City University of New York (CUNY) as a professor of music. In 2015, Sneed established the Damien Sneed Performing Arts Institute, a division of the Damien Sneed Foundation.

The multi-genre recording artist has worked with jazz, classical, pop, and R&B with legends including the late Aretha Franklin, Wynton Marsalis, Jessye Norman, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Ashford & Simpson, and many others. He established his label, LeChateau Earl Records in 2009, which reflects his varied musical interests and features critically-acclaimed artists from classical, jazz, gospel and other musical genres. He has released several CD projects, Damien Sneed: We Shall Overcome (January 2019), The Three Sides of Damien Sneed: Classical, Jazz and Sanctified Soul (July 2018), Broken To Minister: The Deluxe Edition (March 2015), Spiritual Sketches (June 2013), and Introspections LIVE (January 2010).


LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...