BASSIST OMER AVITAL– QANTAR RELEASES NEW YORK PARADOX

Bassist and composer Omer Avital, one of the most celebrated and revered musicians on the global jazz scene, offers his latest creative tour-de-force, New York Paradox, to be released on Avital’s label, Zamzama Records (in partnership with jazz&people), on March 20, 2020. New York Paradox is the second album from Avital’s dream Quintet, Qantar (following up their self-titled debut), featuring Eden Ladin (piano & keyboards), Ofri Nehemya (drums), Alexander Levin (tenor sax), Asaf Yuria (soprano & tenor sax).

Qantar is more than just another group, it is for all intents and purposes a family and a community with its own customs, growing traditions, and even language (both musical and verbal). These five artists have formed a special friendship that projects a singular energy on the bandstand and on their recordings. Indeed, all are Israeli expatriates, all living in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, all regularly hanging out at their leader’s home, sharing dinner, Turkish coffee, stories, ideas, joys and sorrows. This shared history, even though years apart, imbibes this quintet with the key to Avital’s music: the ability to bring the various rhythmic and harmonic vocabularies underpinning 20th and 21st century hardcore jazz expression to flow with a polyphonic attitude and musical multilingualism.

The recording of New York Paradox came together after three years of the guys playing together regularly. It was recorded in Avital’s NEW studio/club/lounge - Wilson Live! in Bushwick, Brooklyn, on April 21 & 22, 2019, in a very comfortable, homey environment, captured by the band’s good friend, engineer Roy Boukris. Avital added, “we know the room as we have been playing here a lot in the past year and a half, and we recorded in the same room with no separation, no edits, no fixes; we just played the room as if we were on a gig.” 

More on New York Paradox with Omer Avital:

“Qantar has been working together for the past several years, traveling the world, rehearsing, and just as importantly, hanging hard. For this band, we don’t use charts but rather learn the music by heart and create the arrangements on the spot, organically. For me as composer/arranger this is the best way to work since you get the best results when the musicians can tailor their parts to the music . . . also, the music becomes highly personal as everybody feels invested. Plus, learning music this way, you never forget it, which means less rehearsing and a much more natural feeling on the bandstand.”

Shabazi – Rabbi Shalom Shabazi was a great and beloved Jewish Yemenite poet who lived in Yemen during the 17th century. I grew up on his poems and songs. It is also a name of a nice street/area in the south part of Tel-Aviv.

Zohar Smiles – One of my favorites - and a big favorite at gigs - written for my son when he was still little, around 2010/11. It is, of course, a very special melody that reminds me of the feelings I had during his early years, and his amazing smile. To me this is the best proof of godliness and true spirituality in life.

NY Paradox – I composed this one when we moved back to NYC in the later summer of 2005 after 4 years in Israel. The complexity of the city was very evident to me at the time . . . the beauty and energy I missed but also the harshness and the reality of the financial situation of living here. NYC presents an imperfect balance, a certain energy that can be exhilarating and taxing, that I have learned to deal with, and sometimes even beat, to an certain extent. I still have strong feelings towards this place that I love so much and have called home for almost 27 years, on and off!

C’est Clair – I started composing this in summer of 2017 first in Marciac before our concert and completed that summer in Israel. First titled “Waltz in F Minor,” then another title, “Au Clair Du Lune,” emerged. When I first recorded the composition with The Yes! Trio in Paris, Ali Jackson suggested changing the name to C’est Clair (named after a great couscous restaurant in Paris that the band loves.)

Today’s Blues – Written sometime around 2010 this is a blues with a bridge. It moves between the Spanish modes and some pretty basic harmonies that are more African in nature, but still essentially a swinging blues.

Just Like the River Flows – When I first moved back to NYC I first played this tune with my band at Smalls. It is a Suite of sorts as it has different sections towards the end. It has a Middle eastern vibe and for me represents the way traditions keep flowing.

It’s All Good – A composition from the late ‘90s, which was a complex period for me as my first band of four saxes, drums and bass was ending, a major record deal had been canceled on me, and things in general were changing. Musically, there was a lot of hip hop and groove orientated music going on, and less straight-ahead, so opportunities were dwindling. I often like to write tunes that represent a moment in life, what we were feeling, etc., this is definitely late 90’s! 

Bushwick After Dark – A minor blues that became the theme song and the unofficial title for our late night sessions at my club, Wilson Live. It’s also a play on “Bohemia After Dark”g. It was on February 12 2016...... I have a voice memo from February 12, 2016, the day I heard that my mother, who was very sick at that time, was not doing well, and basically dying. We bought tickets to fly to Israel the next day and as I was packing and going down to the basement I started humming this blues riff . . . it’s so strange how music comes about and goes in circles.

New York Paradox was recorded on April 21 & 22, 2019, at Wilson Live , Brooklyn, NY by Roy Boukris.

Assistant Engineer: Ron Warburg

Mixed and mastered by Roy Boukris

The band was recorded live in one room, no headphones, no separation, no edits!

Upon Avital's arrival in New York City in 1992, the rapid growth of Israeli jazz was set in motion in a profound way. Avital quickly forged an indelible mark on the scene, mainly through his legendary performances at Smalls, where he lead one of the most celebrated groups of the time, a sextet with a front line onslaught of four saxophones (an early gem from this time in Avital's early days is the tune "Kentucky Girl", featured on the compilation, Jazz Underground: Live at Smalls, on Impulse!). “Years from now, when folks are remembering the early days of the West Village jazz haunt Smalls, bassist Omer Avital’s name will be as synonymous with the club as Bill Evan’s is with the Village Vanguard, and Thelonious Monk’s is with the original Five Spot Café." - Time Out New York. 

The prolific Avital has released sixteen albums as a leader and co-leader since the late 90s. Through his recorded output and live appearances he has become a river of creativity, leadership, composition and as a conceptualist. Now, with his new label, Zamzama Records (in partnership with jazz&people) and his venue, performance space and recording studio in Bushwick, Brooklyn, Wilson Live, you can add entrepreneur to the list as well. “I started Zamzama to have a home for my old masters that I now own, as well as new recordings. Eventually, I’d like to have other artists on the label, and have a more seamless connection between the creative process and the production/distribution. Ultimately, it’s a way to be free to create and release new music in the long run, and I am very happy to be in this partnership with Vincent Bessieres and his wonderful label, jazz&people. With Wilson Live I aimed to establish a creative home for musicians in Brooklyn and all of NYC; a club, a studio, a lounge with a super intimate atmosphere which allows music to grow and prosper,” said Avital. Keep an eye out for upcoming events at Wilson Live, including their Monday night series, Bushwick After Dark.

New Music Releases: Casey Abrams; Claudio Scolari Project; Dennis Kwok Jazz Orchestra

Casey Abrams - Uncovered

Jazz bassist and vocalist Casey Abrams is a modern musical chameleon, seamlessly blending traditional Jazz musicianship with contemporary Pop sensibilities and uniquely distinct voice. Largely known for his time spent on American Idol and with Postmodern Jukebox, Abrams has also released several successful solo projects, including 2019's Jazz and 2018's Put a Spell On You which peaked at #2 and #5 respectively on the Billboard Jazz Albums charts. So productive were the recording sessions for these albums that not all of the material could fit on the albums. Not to simply be left on the cutting room floor, these songs are now being made available on Uncovered, the new EP from Casey Abrams, set for release on February 21st, 2020. Abrams will also be going on tour to promote the new project. You owe it to yourself to experience the frenetic musical force that is Casey Abrams. Includes: Smooth; What A Wonderful World;I Don't Need No Doctor; and In The Wee Small Hours of the Morning.

Claudio Scolari Project – Upside Down

Upside Down is the fourth album by the project that continues its journey where experimentation find no limits in a unique blend of acoustic and electronic sounds. The album features Claudio Scolari on drums and synth programming, Daniele Cavalca on drums, live synths, Rhodes and piano, Simone Scolari on trumpet, and finally Michele Cavalca on electric bass (the new entry of the project who turned the trio into a quartet). The project released so far 4 albums. "Colors of red Island" could be considered instinctive and fresh where we felt real "improvisers". "Syhtesis" consolidated the project giving it a more defined direction where ideas were created with a more compositional approach. "Natural Impulse" was a mix of pure improvisation and compositional parts with a bit more of fire,  while "Upside Down" has become our revolutionary album, since for the first time everything has been recorded live, in one shot, all together.

Dennis Kwok Jazz Orchestra - Windward Bound

Windward Bound is the ambitious debut album from the Dennis Kwok Jazz Orchestra, a 19-piece contemporary big band involving some of the finest performers, composers and arrangers under 35 in the Greater Toronto Area. Evoking the sounds of Kenny Wheeler, Maria Schneider, and symphonic works, Windward Bound consists of an original 6-movement suite inspired by memories of sailing on Lake Ontario as well as the folklore of life on the seas. At the centre of this album is the Dennis Kwok as the multiple woodwind soloist. As the journey unfolds, 10 different woodwinds are matched to the themes of each track. With plenty of room to showcase the ensemble, this is a fine example of the next generation of the big band tradition. The Dennis Kwok Jazz Orchestra has been making waves in the Toronto music community in the last 3 years with appearances at the T.U. Jazz Festival, collaborations with JUNO-award winning artists, Allison Au and Alex Dean, as well as being selected as a TD Toronto Jazz Festival Discovery Series Special Project. Lead by 22-year old Dennis Kwok, what began as a passion project is now an ensemble dedicated to the performance, creation and showcase of original works from new generation artists. By constantly pushing new boundaries and creating music at the highest level this group is showcasing the creativity, ambition and musicianship of upcoming artists.The CD will be officially released on March 13th and will be celebrated with a performance at 918 Bathurst (www.918bathurst.com) in Toronto on Sunday, March 29th at 8pm.

BRAM DE LOOZE links jazz + baroque to the most complex avant-garde structures on new single

Belgian artist BRAM DE LOOZE is pleased to share new single 'Dream Box’, taken from his forthcoming solo album 'Colour Talk', released 21st February via Sdban Ultra. Exquisitely linking baroque, avant garde and highly-refined jazz improvisation, Bram uses a Werckmeister III, which is a 17th century non-equal tuning system, and it brings a different sensation and an additional emotional layer to the sound of the music. It makes it possible to explore different colours of intervals and harmonies beyond the usual equal tuning system. “After my ears have been adapting to it for a couple of years now, and I can feel the impact it has on my music. Dream Box is an example of how it makes me take different directions in writing and improvising,” says Bram. STREAM HERE 

Plunging into the depths of sinuous musical structures, Bram De Looze is a talented young jazz musician who evokes contrasting moods that harmoniously follow on from one another. The Belgian pianist and composer’s distinct musical vision has found its way through both solo projects and collaborations. His unique technical skill and musical maturity have earned him considerable critical acclaim back home as his work spotlights his far-ranging interests – from traditional classical piano music to jazz and solo improvisations that have often been compared to Keith Jarrett and Jason Moran.

On ‘Colour Talk’, what you hear is a musician who has freed himself from stylistic constraints and limitations. While still rooted in jazz, classical music and free improvisation have found a new balance, a coexistence that enables the pianist to express himself with a new vigour. Switching between shorter pieces that feel like curious, unresolved puzzles and more extended explorations, ​‘Colour Talk’ ​is once again an ode to (re)invention in the grey zone were the classical idiom and improvisatory urges meet, with the 13-minute ​tour-de-force ​of ‘Hypnosis’ as one of several undisputed highlights.

Singer Shayna Steele Releases "Watch Me Fly"

One of the greatest singing sensations of our time, known from recordings with Snarky Puppy and Moby and a host of other stars, Shayna Steele takes flight on her third album, Watch Me Fly. Offering six self-penned originals and four select classics ranging from soul via blues and gospel and easily crossing over to retro R&B and jazz, showcasing Steele’s supremely soulful energy, as well as her mind blowing vocal artistry and songwriting skills.

“I am outrageous, larger than life” are the first words on Steele’s new album. The few notes she sings to voice them in the aptly named song “Be” already make it clear that this is not braggadocio, but a fact. The singer, born in California and raised in Mississippi, who as a self-proclaimed “American Air Force brat” grew up all over the world, but lives and thrives in New York, not only has a charismatic, charming and truly unique voice, but also plenty of technique and the vocal strength of a volcano. She has performed with the likes of Rihanna, Kelly Clarkson, Bette Midler and Steely Dan as a sought after background vocalist. Steele made the decision that being in the background was not an option anymore and has been touring regularly as a featured vocalist with GRAMMY® Award-winning trumpeter, Chris Botti, was a featured vocalist on Snarky Puppy’s Family Dinner and reached #1 on the Dance Billboard charts as a featured vocalist on Moby’s Disco Lies. Saying Steele is ready to step out on her own would be a major understatement.

Watch Me Fly, produced by David Cook, Steele’s co-writer/partner/producer/MD, was recorded as a concerted effort with her tried and trusted band at Dreamland Studios, a converted church near Woodstock, in September 2018. The ten songs range from dynamite, gospel drenched soul and R&B as in “Be,” “Shadow” or the title track, via the super sensual hymn “Treat me Good” or the uplifting and upbeat gospel emotion of “Wash Me Over” on to a sensationally emotional version of the blues ballad “Life Goes On” by Big Mama Thornton or jazzy/funky readings of Michael Jackson’s “Baby Be Mine," and “Secret Love," once a hit for Doris Day. The final song and the icing on this musical cake is “Home," as beautiful and emotional as it is autobiographic. “I grew up all over the world,” Steele explains in her liner notes. “It was hard to call any place home for most of my life, but it was my time in Biloxi that really shaped me into the person I am. I struggled with the lack of access to different cultures, but I found the silver lining through music and performance. I was a bit of an outcast, coming from a bi-racial family, living in Mississippi, where the races pretty much segregated themselves… I didn’t belong. But when I go home to visit, the community is so welcoming and proud of my accomplishments. I get that 'Mississippi hospitality' and I wanted to write them an anthem to let them know how important they were to me.”

Watch Me Fly in all its soulful diversity is as much a showcase for Shayna Steele’s overwhelming musical powers, as it is a statement. “I hope you’ll listen to it in its entirety like we all did as kids,” she says. “I remember those times I memorized an album, track for track like Purple Rain, Thriller and Whitney Houston’s self-titled debut album. Everybody is so hung up on singles and hits and I’m hung up on the musical journey to really know what an artist is going through during the making of an album. I hope you will go on this journey with me.”

Schooled in jazz by her godfather, self-taught and guided by her musician father and educated in gospel by her choir director, the GRAMMY® Award-nominated Michael McElroy, Steele dove headfirst into music in her teens, entering (and winning) several pageants and talent shows, including an appearance on Ed McMahon's Star Search at the tender age of 15 (she came in 2nd by a 1/2 star). "I never really felt 'grounded' until I moved to NYC,” she says. “It was then that I really opened up to different genres of music." Steele began to develop her sound, blending new influences, from Ledisi to Rachelle Farrell, with her childhood icons Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan and the Temptations.

Having released an EP and two full length albums by now, she continues to tour extensively with her band, as well as appearing as a special guest vocalist with jazz big bands throughout Europe and the U.S. In 2017, Steele took on another title of “symphony soloist” performing with Symphony Pops Orchestras throughout North America such as the Dallas Symphony, Detroit Symphony and the Long Beach Symphony and several others.

Shayna Steele · Watch Me Fly

Membran Records · Release Date: April 26, 2019

 

JAZZ DISPENSARY PRESENTS AZAR LAWRENCE’S SUMMER SOLSTICE

Jazz Dispensary has released the first ever vinyl reissue of Azar Lawrence’s groundbreaking free-jazz album Summer Solstice, as part of the Jazz Dispensary Top Shelf Series which focuses on audiophile quality pressings of rare and out of print titles. Originally issued in 1975, this spiritual free-jazz album remains one of the highlights of the illustrious career of Azar Lawrence, one of the only remaining artists from the legendary Prestige Records era who is still touring and putting out new music. The album was remastered All-Analog from the original tapes and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Quality Record Pressing. 

Highly regarded as one of Lawrence’s finest solo albums, Summer Solstice is a transcendent journey into his Brazilian influenced free-jazz fusion musings. Having started his journey in the jazz realm as a very young man, Lawrence honed his skills among luminary giants such as Miles Davis and John Coltrane, followed by a five-year stint of work with the great McCoy Tyner where he found his voice as a performer and composer. According to an article on Lawrence by Chuck Koton for All About Jazz, “…his ascent to the peak of the jazz world at times lead Lawrence to wonder how he could be playing with these giants and it was Tyner who reassured Azar that as a young man that he belonged in such company because he could not only play the hell out of the horn, but because he felt the same way about the music as John (Coltrane) did.”

Recorded during a prime period of exploration and adventure for modern American jazz music, Summer Solstice finds Lawrence leading a team of international virtuosos consisting of Amaury Tristão on guitar, Dom Salvador and Albert Daily on piano, Ron Carter on bass, Billy Hart on drums, Guilherme Franco on percussion, Gerald Hayes on flute, and the one and only Raul de Souza, who is known for his work with artists like Sérgio Mendes and Sonny Rollins, on trombone. In the producer’s chair is Orrin Keepnews, famous for his golden ears that led him to discover artists such as Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley and Jimmy Heath. The result is an album that operates in the sonic space halfway between the influence of the American jazz standards of the 50s and 60s and the free spirit of the Brazilian jazz made popular by artists like Hermeto Pascoal and Egberto Gismonti. Lawrence’s bold and fearless exploration of new sounds influenced many generations to come, and can be heard in the playing of his younger colleagues, like the great Kamasi Washington who cites him as a big influence.

CELEBRATING THE CENTENNIAL OF CHARLIE “BIRD” PARKER WITH THE SAVOY 10-INCH LP COLLECTION

Craft Recordings is proud to announce the release of The Savoy 10-Inch LP Collection, which spotlights Charlie Parker’s groundbreaking bebop sessions for the legendary jazz label, spanning 1944 to 1948. The deluxe, four-LP box set—also available digitally—features newly restored and remastered audio, faithfully reproduced artwork from the original 10-inch albums, plus a booklet containing vintage photos, rare ephemera and new liner notes from GRAMMY® Award-winning journalist and author Neil Tesser. These historic recordings, reissued as the world celebrates the 100th anniversary of Parker’s birth, feature such jazz greats as Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, John Lewis, Bud Powelland Max Roach. Set for a February 28th release date, The Savoy 10-Inch LP Collection is available for pre-order today, while the instant grat single, “Ko-Ko,” can now be streamed or downloaded on all major digital outlets. “Ko-Ko” was one of Bird’s early masterpieces, and his first recording as a leader. In 2003, it was added to the National Recording Registry, categorized as a recording that is, “Culturally, historically or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States.”

When saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker and his contemporaries introduced bebop in the ’40s, they were ushering in a bold new style that would influence modern music for decades to come. Nowadays, as Neil Tesser argues in the box set’s liner notes, it’s easy to forget that bebop was considered avant-garde. “Bebop undergirds such a vast swath of American music that its revolutionary nature recedes into the background. It is now so familiar and comfortable, such an ever-present part of the family history, that non-historians can hardly envision it ever being ‘revolutionary.’” However, when listeners heard this new sound for the first time, it was unlike anything they had experienced before. Up until this point, the general public enjoyed swing-era big bands performing standards from the Great American Songbook, led by the likes of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman. It’s also worth noting that—to those who were not entrenched in the jazz scene—this new style of music seemingly came out of nowhere. Though bebop evolved in the early part of the decade—cultivated in New York’s late-night jazz clubs—it didn’t appear on record until the mid ’40s, following a two-year strike by the Musicians’ Union, which banned commercial recordings for labels, due to royalty disputes.

The 28 tracks that make up The Savoy 10-Inch LP Collectionare some of the world’s earliest bebop recordings, including takes from a November 1945 date that is often referred to as “The Greatest Jazz Session Ever,” featuring Davis, Roach and Curley Russell appearing as “Charlie Parker’s Reboppers.” The tracks were compiled by Savoy and released over the next several years as the four LPs reissued in this box set: New Sounds In Modern Music, Volume 1 (1950), New Sounds In Modern Music, Volume 2 (1951), as well as Volumes 3 and 4, both released in 1952. Nearly all of the compositions heard in this collection are originals by Parker, with a few contributions by Miles Davis, and an original tune from guitarist Lloyd “Tiny” Grimes—who led Parker in the session for “Tiny’s Tempo.” Highlights include the upbeat “Now’s the Time,” the bluesy “Parker’s Mood” and “Constellation,” which Tessler notes “seems to anticipate the free-jazz energy solos of the 1960s.” Also notable is “Ko-Ko,” featuring an impressive improvisation from the saxophonist, as well as one of Bird’s most recognizable tunes, “Billie’s Bounce,” which was inducted into the GRAMMY® Hall of Fame in 2002. Though multiple styles of bop would become mainstream by the end of the ’50s, these recordings mark the beginning of a new era and a radical shift in musical trends. It was a sound that, Tesser declares, was “at once liberating but also threatening. Charlie Parker and his fellow instigators…sparked a cultural earthquake that upended the music landscape for decades.” 

Though his life and career were all too brief, Charlie “Bird” Parker (1920–1955) was ahead of his time, altering the course of music in his wake, and paving the way for hard bop, free jazz, fusion and beyond. Like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and John Coltrane, Parker was a pioneering composer and improviser who ushered in a new era of jazz and influenced subsequent generations of musicians, writers and artists. 2020 marks the 100thanniversary of the saxophonist’s birth, and to celebrate his legacy, a variety of special events, performances, as well as music and art releases—collectively celebrated as “Bird 100”—will take place throughout 2020.

New Music Releases: Pat Metheny, Olivier Le Goas & Reciprocity, Avishai Cohen

Pat Metheny - From This Place

'From This Place' is one of the records I have been waiting to make my whole life', Metheny says. 'It is a kind of musical culmination, reflecting a wide range of expressions that have interested me over the years, scaled across a large canvas, presented in a way that offers the kind of opportunities for communication that can only be earned with a group of musicians who have spent hundreds of nights together on the bandstand'. The record features ten compositions by Metheny, who is joined by his long-time drummer, Antonio Sanchez, Malaysian/Australian bassist Linda May Han and British pianist Gwilym Simcock as well as the Hollywood Studio Symphony conducted by Joel McNeely.

Olivier Le Goas & Reciprocity - On Ramp Of Heaven Dreams

A skilled drummer with a strong command of polyrhythms and complex meters, Olivier Le Goas is also an accomplished composer with a gift for pleasing harmonies and memorable melodies. The veteran French bandleader showcased his abundant gifts on 2016's acclaimed album Reciprocity, which was hailed in a 4-1/2 star Downbeat review for its "appealing sound that has one foot in chamber-like formalism while also exploring heightened realms of improvisation". Le Goas' follow-up, his sixth as a leader, stakes out similarly agreeable and dynamic musical territory; the kind that was favourably compared to the Pat Metheny Unity Group on his last outing. Returning from Reciprocity is rising star American guitarist Nir Felder, whose warm tone and fluid lines are a key component here alongside John Escreet's cascading piano work, Larry Grenadier's resounding bass lines and Le Goas' irrepressible presence behind the kit.

Avishai Cohen - Big Vicious

Charismatic trumpeter Avishai Cohen launched his homegrown band Big Vicious six years ago, after relocating from the US to his native Israel, rounding up friends to shape the music from the ground up. Guitarist Uzi Ramirez, bassist Jonathan Albalak and drummer Aviv Cohen write much of the material together with Avishai. Ziv Ravitz, from Avishai's acoustic quartet, was recruited as second drummer a year ago. We're all coming from jazz, but some of us left it earlier, Avishai says, summing up the stylistic reach of his cohorts. Everyone's bringing in their backgrounds, and that becomes part of the sound of the band. Textures from electronica, ambient music and psychedelia are part of the blend, so too grooves and beats from rock, pop, trip-hop and more. A wide-open approach to cover versions from Massive Attack to Beethoven - is also integral to the Vicious vision. Recorded in Studios La Buissonne in the South of France in August 2019 and produced by Manfred Eicher, Big Vicious’s debut album is issued as the band gears up for extensive international touring, including Love Supreme in July. Personnel: Avishai Cohen (trumpet, electronics), Uzi Ramirez Feinerman (guitar), Jonathan Albalak (bass), Aviv Cohen (drums), Ziv Ravitz (drums, electronics).

New Music Releases: The Staple Singers, Connie Han, Julia Biel

The Staple Singers - Come Go With Me – The Stax Collection (Soul Folk In Action / We'll Get Over / Staple Swingers / Be Altitude / Be What You Are / City In The Sky / rarities) (7LP set)

Legendary sounds from the Staple Singers – a set of albums for Stax Records that really helped push the group from the gospel folk underground into the soul music mainstream – and which also helped transform the rest of the scene in the process! The Staple Singers had recorded previously for Vee Jay, Epic, and other labels – but when the group hit Stax, at a time when the label was newly set free in the late 60s, the mix of forces really turned out to create something special – message-oriented soul music that drew on the strength of the group's gospel experience, but delivered themes that were every bit as righteous from a secular perspective too – all set to music from the great studio forces who were making Stax so wonderful at the time! This set features six full albums, all from the original tapes – Soul Folk In Action, We'll Get Over, Staple Swingers, Be Altitude Respect Yourself, Be What You Are, and City In The Sky – plus a special Singles Live & More album of bonus tracks! Bonus tracks include "Stay With Us", "Brand New Day", "Walking In Water Over Your Head", "I Got To Be Myself", "Oh La De Da", and "Trippin On Your Love" – plus Live At Wattstax recordings of "I'll Take You There", "Respect Yourself", "Heavy Makes You Happy", "Are You Sure", and "I Like The Things About Me". Comes in a heavy box, with all original album sleeves, and 180 gram vinyl! ~ Dusty Groove

Connie Han - Iron Starlet

With the release of her 2018 Mack Avenue Music Group debut, Crime Zone, pianist/keyboardist Connie Han seized the attention of the jazz world and firmly established herself as a fast-rising star on the scene. That stratospheric ascent continues on her captivating follow-up, Iron Starlet, due out April 10, 2020. As the title makes vividly clear, Han's career may be in the early stages of what promises to be a vertiginous climb, but the 23-year old is no wide-eyed aspirant, timidly searching for her place in the crowded jazz landscape. One listen to Iron Starlet is ample evidence that she's every bit an armor-clad talent as the name implies. Her powerful vision takes in the full evolution of her forebearers, from iconic innovators like McCoy Tyner and Hank Jones through the Young Lion revolution spearheaded by the Marsalis Brothers, Kenny Kirkland and Jeff "Tain" Watts, among others. "The intention of this music is to continue a legacy of tough, primal, raw but still intellectually engaging straight-ahead jazz," Han declares. "I am an aspiring star in this music, but I am not a naïve, uncertain girl that people wrongly associate with that term."

Julia Biel - Black And White Vol. 1

An award-winning original artist - singer, songwriter, piano player, producer, guitarist - whose neo mellow sound combines an indie jazz approach with art-pop sensibilities, it's Julia Biel's voice and piano playing that feature on her 4th album. 'Black and White, Volume 1' is a solo recording that comments on the binary concepts of 'black' and 'white' in what she feels should by now be a post-'racial' world. Using just the black and white keys of the piano and her mixed 'black' and 'white' heritage, the British-born dual British/German national with South African roots seeks to reach beyond the polarising concept of division along skin colour lines, to remind the listener of and to confront them with their own emotions - to take these two colours and transform them into a landscape of sonic colour in the process. "Because on the level of shared emotion is where everyone connects," says Julia. "Skin colour, background, political persuasion or any other societal construct should have no bearing on our ability to empathise with each other nor should these things be allowed to deny someone their right to expressing anything less than the full spectrum of human emotion." Recorded in her own studio, produced by long-term partner Idris Rahman and mixed by Emre Ramazanoglu, the result is a set of intimate and raw solo recordings rendered spell-binding in large part due to hers being a voice like no other. Unhurried and unmistakeable, her unique tones wrap around deceptively simple songs dealing with confusion, pain, insecurity, joy and the power of words and love to uplift us but also to constrain us. All are imbued with her trademark poetic storytelling, revealing an ever-sharper perspective on life and love with repeated listens.

MICHEL PETRUCCIANI’S COLORS, MARKS 20 YEARS SINCE LEGENDARY PIANIST’S DEATH

French pianist Michel Petrucciani is regarded by many as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time. To mark the 20th anniversary of his death in 1999, BMG will release a 2-LP, 2-CD, and Digital compilation album featuring a selection of his emblematic compositions, including the track “Montelimar,” which is released here on an album for the very first time. The set is slated for February 14, 2020 release.

The album artwork is overseen by Pascal Anquetil, with liner notes from Charles Lloyd, Ahmad Jamal, Marcus Miller, Lenny White and Steve Gadd, a roll-call of jazz stars that highlights the influence Petrucciani had at the very highest level.

The album’s title Colors, named for one of Petrucciani’s compositions, is a nod to the pianist’s affinity for synaesthesia. “I put color into every note,” he once said to Libération magazine. “So, for me the A is green, the C is red, the G is blue, the E is brown, the F is yellow, and so on.” Over time, the colors that resolutely illuminated his music became increasingly clearer. His purpose was fewer notes, more music. “Nowadays, my music revolves less around the notes themselves and more around their colors. The important thing is to play the right color at the right moment.”

Across the course of a relatively short career, Michel Petrucciani overcame the effects of the bone disease osteogenesis imperfecta to become a major force in the jazz world. The first non-American artist to sign to Blue Note Records, with whom he recorded for seven years, Petrucciani went on to work with Francis Dreyfus and released a total of 16 studio albums. Revered as a consummate interpreter of the American Songbook, Petrucciani was also a formidable composer and it’s his varied catalog of original music that is showcased with this 18-track compilation (15 for the double LP).

Jamal testifies, “I have just finished listening to one of the most brilliant pianists the Creator has placed on this earth. I will continue to research as much of his performances, and music, as possible and recommend young aspiring artists to listen to his amazing talent. He leaves a rich legacy that the world can enjoy. Michel Petrucciani, a Miracle.”

New Orleans Native Derrick Shezbie Releases "The Ghost of Buddy Bolden"

The origin story of jazz has been debated and mythologized. The first jazz players interviewed often attributed their knowledge and sound to one man: Buddy Bolden. New Orleans native musician, Derrick Shezbie, has teamed up with a group of musicians to recreate the circumstances and imitate the sound of the iconic Buddy Bolden. The product of their whirlwind recording experience is the new album, Derrick Shezbie and the Ghost of Buddy Bolden, available from Clubhouse Records on February 28.

As a society, we have been previously limited in the comprehension of what Bolden’s band sounded like. There have been many attempts in the past century to reenact concerts of Bolden’s heyday, yet most often attempts to bring the sound of Buddy Bolden to life have been doomed from a lack of available information regarding that specific period in music history and the lack of information we have regarding the life of Buddy Bolden himself.

GRAMMY® Award-winning trumpeter Derrick (Kabuki) Shezbie partnered with historian Charles Tolman in an effort to capture the spirit of Buddy Bolden and his revolutionary music within Derrick Shezbie and The Ghost of Buddy Bolden. The album is the culmination of heavy research and a reincarnation of the circumstances that Bolden would have created music in. Together, Shezbie and Tolman began the project by assembling a band in the manner similar to that of Bolden and released an album featuring an array of accomplished African American New Orleans musicians.

“It was important for us to get people who grew up playing in New Orleans and knew what is was like to play for a meal. That’s something Buddy and his people would have lived with every day. You don’t play, you don’t eat,” says Shezbie. “Only New Orleans musicians know what it’s like and we wanted to do his legacy proud.”

Tolman and Shezbie studied the performance venues where Bolden played and rehearsed in his footsteps. The band was assembled in one day followed by two days of rehearsals before recording the album in one day at Esplanade Studios in New Orleans.

“We wanted the process to closely mirror the experience that Buddy Bolden would have had in the recording process,” said Tolman. “We literally walked around the city looking for musicians at their hangouts and told them that we had a recording gig in three days. Bolden would have put a band together in this manner and they might have practiced a few times before a gig. It was important for the integrity of the project to keep the structure loose and as close to spontaneous as we could.”

The band for Derrick Shezbie and The Ghost of Buddy Bolden, consists of Louis Ford on clarinet, Carl Leblanc on guitar, Chris Severin on bass, Revert Andrews on trombone and Jerry Anderson (from the Barbarin family) on drums. The structure of the album reflects the tone and feelings of a Buddy Bolden concert from the 18th century. The fastest songs start the album before slowing down the tempo progressively as the album unfolds. Tunes such as “Careless Love,” “Make Me a Pallet,” “Hot Time in the Old Town” and “Ride on King Jesus” are all highlighted in the tribute.

“Ride on King Jesus” was interpreted from choir performances, as the song was originally a gospel number that Bolden adapted into the style of jazz. “We wanted to put this song on there because someone made mention of the fact that Buddy played this song so loud his tuning slide would shoot out of his cornet. After listening to the original piece, we instinctively caught the spirit of the music,” said Shezbie.

Max Light Trio - Herplusme

Brooklyn-based Red Piano Records has announced the release of Herplusme, the debut album from New York City-based guitarist Max Light and his trio, comprised of Simón Willson on contrabass and Matt Honor on drums and cymbals. The album features eight original compositions, written and performed with a great emphasis on ensemble interplay and communication. The compositions are short, playful, and concentrated, each of them designed to tell a simple and personal story. The stories are romantic, tragic, humourous, and evocative of childhood memories.

The album opens with Boy, a challenging and raucous piece on childhood exploration. It starts with a deconstructed germ of the groove that pervades the piece and slowly comes to fruition through an additive process, and before long, becoming clear. The disjointed nature of learning and growing and searching is reflected through the shifting subdivisions and meters, as well as the emotional melody. The form plays out, and a guitar solo grows through the form again, with no shortage of interplay with the bass and drums. The piece ends with a metric modulation that slows the groove to a crawl, an homage to the band Meshuggah. 

Overcrooked follows and embraces the same playful spirit of growing up. The piece is about skateboarding and subdivision. An “overcrooked” is a trick in skateboarding where the board is at a 45 degree relative to the front axle on the rail it is grinding on. It is askew and unstable and can fall apart at any moment. This piece reflects that instability by constantly shifting between subdivisions of 4, 5, 6, and 7 sixteenth notes per quarter note. The result is a groove that is both unstable and rhythmically fulfilling for the listener. The high density of the guitar part is broken by a more spacious and lyrical solo. The metal influence is clear in this piece as well, with great virtuosity and plenty of breakdowns.

Pumpkin Pie is about home, and the things that evoke home. It is a slowly moving ballad that draws you in and pulls at your heartstrings. It is the feeling of a mother’s desert the night before leaving home. The song is presented clearly at first in just two voices, the bass and the melody. It moves through a beautiful and compositional bass solo into a guitar solo that starts small, and ends in the euphoria of homecoming.

Dog is a companion piece to the first track on this album. While radically different compositionally, they both reflect the search and exploration of youth, and animality in this case. Dog is a weaving and winding melody that gets constantly distracted by the next passing car. Rhythmic and melodic germs are set upon and explored quickly and with fervor. Sections will come around and around again, like the chase of a tail. The piece breaks apart into an atonal time-no-changes solo section, a la Ornette Coleman, before disintegrating completely, restating the melody and stopping short.

Baby’s Hard Times is a love song built in major-sevenths, major-thirds away from each other. It is in 13/8 - a deeply challenging meter. It is the most involved composition of the bunch, and holds a great amount of musical and emotional meaning. It reflects the melancholy of struggling with life outside of a relationship, with support from within it. The piece starts incredibly small and grows until it is an explosion of bombast and emotion. It reflects both the battlefield and the motivation of a warrior. The cliff-face and the rope that tethers you to it. Matt Honor’s enormous ability and sensitivity is clearly on display here.

The Things You is a radical recomposition of the popular jazz standard, All the Things You Are, by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein. It is a sort of procedural recomposition that involves removing many bars from the piece, hence the removal of words from the title. The trio’s interaction is center-stage here. The melody is complicated intervallically and metrically, and reflects the notion of plurality within oneself. All the things one is.

Bagel is a circuitous number that is a companion piece to the one desert on this album. If Pumpkin Pie is the night before leaving, Bagel is breakfast the day of departure. It utilizes a six beat cycle in the guitar part, and a ten beat cycle in the bass, causing a slow harmonic phasing effect, inspired in part by Philip Glass. The bittersweet dissonance of this song pervades the whole performance. The melody ends, the guitar solos methodically, and the piece disintegrates into a free and explorative drum solo vamp, before ending in a simple manner.

The final piece, Dennisport, is a complex chord piece with a large amount of influence from the great guitarist Ben Monder. It is about a tiny cottage in a tiny town on Cape Cod during a downpour in November. It is a slowly developing and slowly shifting piece that gradually extends the harmony beyond what one usually thinks of as beautiful, but is nonetheless. It draws again on the influence of metal in its central and crushing breakdown. It eventually drops one sixteenth note from the time signature, and the return to the main chordal theme is skewed and recontextualized in an asymmetrical beauty because of it.

Max Light is a guitarist from the Washington DC area, now living in New York City. He won 2nd place in the 2019 Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Guitar Competition. He has performed with Donny McCaslin, Jason Palmer, Noah Preminger, Walter Smith III, Rudy Royston and John Ellis among many others. He was a member of the Creative Ensemble Collective with Donny McCaslin from 2015-2016 and in the summer of 2017 he was a featured artist at the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival at National Sawdust. Light has recorded a two volume live album at Wally’s Jazz Club in Boston with Jason Palmer’s band that was released on Steeplechase in 2018. He was also featured on Noah Preminger’s newest album, After Life, for Criss Cross, released in April 2019.

www.MaxLightGuitar.com

Dijf Sanders blends exotica-tinged, psych-induced jazztronica on new single taken from forthcoming album 'Puja'

Following the success of the critically acclaimed 2018 album ‘Java’, Brugge-born musical visionary Dijf Sanders is pleased to share new single ‘Ravana’ (3rd January), taken from his forthcoming album ‘Puja’, released 14th February via Unday Records. A multi-instrumentalist and composer, David ‘Dijf’ Sanders combines a broad mix of styles including exotica, psychedelia, jazz and electronica, approached with a boundless enthusiasm for multicultural blends and influences.

On ‘Puja’, Sanders embarked on another musical adventure of mystic and wonder, travelling to Nepal to record ‘Puja’, using his field recordings and impressions to create a deeply enriched sound with the help of drummer Simon Segers (Black Flower, De Beren Gieren), saxophone player Mattias De Craene and sitar player Nicolas Mortelmans. Tracks like new single ‘Ravana’ suggest a world infused by Nepalese, Tibetan, Chinese and Indian culture as broken beats and organic exotica combine to create a trance-like rhythmic flow while ‘Santoshi Mata’ sprouts through a hypnotic soundscape of sacred monk chants and eclectic vibrations.

  

The Ghent based musician was a one-time member of synth pop bands Teddiedrum and The Violent Husbands and he regularly collaborates on various projects and productions in Belgium at the same time, recently working with Warhaus, Sylvie Kreusch, Mattias De Craene’s MDC III and Wim Vandekeybus (Die Bakchen – Lasst uns tanzen), to name a few. 

His 2016 album ‘Moonlit Planetarium’, was a welcoming insight into the unique world of Sanders and resulted in an experimental clash of percussive persuasion, ethnic sounds and western beats. The follow-up album ‘Java’, released in 2018, was commissioned by Europalia and saw Sanders travel to Java in search of the sound of the Indonesian island. He gathered an impressive collection of field recordings and samples, took them to his studio and created a record bursting with sultry beats, psychedelic trance and ethio-jazz, proving Sanders a special Flemish talent. On release, the album received high praise from numerous leading tastemaker media across the UK and Europe including Q magazine who concluded that the album was “a resonant and rewarding trip”, while Electronic Sound proclaimed the album an “ecstatic, trance-inducing psych-infused wonder.” Welcome to the wonderful world of Dijf Sanders.

Collocutor - Lost & Found | New single for On The Corner Records

Collocutor shares new single 'Lost & Found' taken from their upcoming third LP 'Continuation'. ‘Continuation’ is a remarkable work in which the interplay of emotional experience and life motion experienced by band leader Tamar Osborn (also known as Tamar Collocutor) is channelled and explored by Collocutor. The band’s third LP assuredly strides forward following the critical acclaim awarded to ‘The Search’ from 2016 (a work that gained the enthusiastic praise of Mulatu Astake and Gilles Peterson among others).

Whereas ‘The Search’ invoked a journey ending in hope and new beginnings, ‘Continuation’ looks at the aftermath of the unexpected. This is an album about coping with grief, loss and bereavement: The music charts the many (and sometimes surprising) emotional states encountered, moving from acknowledgement, trying to keep ‘normal’ life going, the need to sometimes put a pause button on and let the waves of feelings crash and roll, sudden anger and confusion, finally to moving (perhaps with uncertainty) forward.

Tamar Osborn has led Collocutor through a line-up shift from septet to quintet for ‘Continuation’. The modified line-up creates space for the musicians to express themselves through the shades of ‘Continuation’'s movement. The quintet brings in more group improvisation, based on just a few motifs and so giving the musicians more space to converse.

Tracks like  ‘Lost & Found’ and in particular the album’s title track, ‘Continuation’ (the only piece with 3 horns) hark back to the intricate arrangements of ‘The Search’.

It’s a deeply personal album, the writing of which acted as Tamar's way of processing and understanding experience and the need to channel her feelings.

In listening truly ‘Continuation’ bares that rare and precious gift of a morsel of the human experience being illuminated by artistic genius.

New Music Releases: The Dining Rooms, Jeremy Pelt, Sinne Eeg & The Danish Radio Big Band

The Dining Rooms - Art Is A Cat

Maybe the best album we've ever heard from Dining Rooms – a set that has the group moving way past just makers of seductive grooves, into wider, fuller territory that definitely puts them at the top shelf level we love from the best at Schema Records! The album balances some of their earlier modes with really strong songs that feature a variety of different singers – including Sean Martin, Beatrice Velasco Moreno, and Georgeanne Kalweit – who each give the record a lot more lyrical power than before, and a strong presence on the vocal tracks that makes instrumental moments feel like well-placed interludes. Titles include "When You Died", "Little Girl", "Art Is A Cat", "Carpet Of Green", "Nella Sua Loca Realta", "Ghosts", "Two Thousand Parts", "No Frame", "Teach Me To Dance", and "Astratto". ~ Dusty Groove

Jeremy Pelt - Art Of Intimacy

The title's no lie, as the set's one of the most intimate albums we've ever heard from trumpeter Jeremy Pelt – a set that features his well-shaped lines in a trio with George Cables on piano and Peter Washington on bass! The drum-less format is really wonderful, and Pelt really takes advantage of the open space to open up his gentler, more introspective side – blowing notes both muted and full, with a sense of balance and grace that takes us back to old school trumpet ballad albums – although none of them ever had the more open, relaxed approach that makes this one so nice! Titles include "Then I'll Be Tired Of You", "Always On My Mind", "Ebony Moonbeams", and "Love Is Simple". ~ Dusty Groove

Sinne Eeg & The Danish Radio Big Band – We’ve Just Begun

Already a bona fide star in her native Denmark, jazz singer Sinne Eeg has in recent years been weaving her spell in performances throughout Europe and the United States, where audiences and critics alike have responded enthusiastically to her dark, alluring voice, rich timbre, impeccable intonation, inherent sense of swing and remarkably natural scatting ability that recalls her own vocal jazz heroes, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Anita O’Day. On We’ve Just Begun, her winning collaboration with the 19-piece Danish Radio Big Band and 9th album overall, Eeg sings with signature soulfulness, sassy spirit and jazzy abandon on a program of three well-chosen standards, a swinging adaptation of a tune from a vintage Danish film, and five affecting originals with Eeg as composer and/or lyricist. Eeg released her self-titled debut in 2003 and gained international attention with her critically acclaimed 2007 album, Waiting for Dawn, and Remembering You in 2008. Her latest, We’ve Just Begun, is her most impressive outing to date.

Step into a Magical World of Big Band Jazz, Cabaret Seductiveness and Hard-boiled Noir Archetypes on Club Rendezvous

Welcome to Club Rendezvous, a place both inviting and mysterious, lost in time but pulsing with the thrill of the moment. Step inside and be greeted by the hard-boiled and the heartbroken, as sultry femmes fatale brood at the bar and the elite meet near the bandstand.

This is the utterly fantastically yet vividly imagined speakeasy noir conjured by Moscow-born bassist and bandleader Alexander Gershman with his collaborator, multi-GRAMMY® Award-winning writer/producer Charlie Midnight. Performed by Gershman’s brainchild, the Los Angeles ensemble Sasha’s Bloc, Club Rendezvous is the band’s most ambitious creation to date, a concept album co-produced and co-written by Gershman and Midnight, that features dazzling vocals by the band’s multi-talented 23-year-old singer Nikki Lorenzo.

The album is tailor-made to expand into a multi-media extravaganza incorporating period visuals, swing dancing, raucous cabaret and the vintage jazz thrills in which the band excels. Club Rendezvous spins the spellbinding story of a Chanteuse (enchantingly embodied by Lorenzo) who has graced the stage of this mystical nightclub since 1929 (save for a brief but ill-fated fling with Chet Baker somewhere in the distant past), remaining eternally ageless as audiences come and go but always transporting them back in time to a more elegant yet dangerous era. Lorenzo describes the chanteuse as “the most confident, self-aware, romantic powerhouse, and that bleeds through with every lyric.”

The lyrics were crafted by Midnight in close collaboration with Gershman. Midnight, a multi-GRAMMY® award winning and GOLDEN GLOBE® nominated writer/producer whose career highlights include co-writing the GRAMMY® nominated James Brown classic “Living in America,” writing for more than 40 films as well as writing/producing for a diverse range of superstars including Barbra Streisand, Cher, Billy Joel, Joni Mitchell, Britney Spears, Andrea Bocelli, Christina Aguilera, Joe Cocker and Chaka Khan.

“We became more and more immersed into this speakeasy environment. Charlie came up with the idea of this singer out of time, who stays in the club through the years as the world changes around her,” Gershman describes. “It fit my music perfectly, because as I was writing this album, I found my tunes taking shape in a similar style but with a more modern twist. I really want these songs to appeal to a younger audience, to introduce them to the beauty of classic jazz, and I think Charlie’s experience in pop music is perfect for that. It’s been a great collaboration.”

Once they fleshed out the concept, it became clear that they’d need a singer who would capture a demanding set of requirements – someone able to connect with the jazz sound of a bygone era while maintaining a modern sensibility, able to create a living, breathing character from her voice alone, and able to capture the audience’s attention to carry them through the narrative with a range of sensations, from haunting to wistful, sassy to seductive.

A series of auditions brought them to Lorenzo, a brilliantly talented young singer, songwriter and actress whose own music is a far cry from the nostalgic style of Sasha’s Bloc but carries in it the traces of jazz and pop music past. “I moved to Los Angeles to pursue music and acting,” says the Miami native, “and through Club Rendezvous I feel like I get the best of both worlds. I get to be theatrical and step into a character, to play around with different looks and vocal styles. Yet she’s still an extension of who I am as an artist.”

Gershman is enthusiastic about his discovery and her ability to breathe life into his multifarious Chanteuse. “Nikki is young, intelligent, talented, has a very good command of the voice, she’s mysterious, she understands cabaret, she has that energy and confidence, and she works really hard,” he says. “For a 23-year-old she has remarkable depth and can find the darkness this project needs as well. Jazz is about storytelling; the quality of the voice is important, but it’s the delivery, the ability to tell the story a get people emotionally involved in what you’re singing, that’s so rare.”

“Every song I sing,” Lorenzo entices on the opening track, “honey, I sing for you.” From the ragtime barroom feel of “Rendezvous” she coaxes the listener forward in time for the intoxicating, string-swathed ballad “Kiss for a Kiss.” Harmonies (courtesy of the Sashettes) enliven a feminist rejection of jilted-lover clichés on the raucous “Swing and Swagger,” while “Cigarettes, Coffee and Champagne” basks in bittersweet morning-after solitude.

A blast of drums and horns opens the upbeat “Going to Extremes,” featuring a guest vocal by former Glee star Matthew Morrison. Kye Palmer’s elegiac trumpet sets the mood for the aching “Memory in Black and White,” contrasted by the lively rhythms of “Boogie Side of Town.” Andy Langham’s last-call piano captures the “sex and mystery” promised (or regretted?) by “Written with the Blues,” while “Land of Noir” puts a pop spin on the shadow shrouded genre of gin joints and double-crosses.

Lorenzo’s feline slink pairs with Gershman’s stealthy bass on “Alley Cat,” before “I Choose Happiness” lets the sun back in to a jaunty rhythm. “Crazy Love” luxuriates in the madness of passion before Lorenzo concludes the story with the vintage feel of “Time Out of Time.”

The music of Club Rendezvous bristles with the excitement and virtuosity of some of the finest musicians in L.A., many of whom have been part of Sasha’s Bloc since its beginning. “These are the most talented people I’ve ever worked with,” Lorenzo says. “I love that because it makes you want to rise to the occasion. For audiences, it’s like nothing they’ve ever seen before. You can go watch a regular concert and be moved, but this is special – a big band experience with timeless songs that still very much hold a place in your world.”

Bela Fleck To Release Throw Down Your Heart: The Complete Africa Sessions

Béla Fleck and Craft Recordings are pleased to announce Throw Down Your Heart: The Complete Africa Sessions, available everywhere March 27. Throw Down Your Heart, a document of  Béla’s remarkable journey across Africa to explore the banjo’s roots, is available for the first time as a complete film and music set, with the addition of a brand new duo album with kora master Toumani Diabaté, The Ripple Effect (also available separately on 180-gram 2-LP gatefold vinyl). The Complete Africa Sessions also includes a DVD of the acclaimed documentary film Throw Down Your Heart, with commentary from Fleck and his brother, director Sascha Paladino, along with 14 bonus performances and the 3x GRAMMY®-winning albums Tales from the Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3—Africa Sessions and Africa Sessions Part 2: Unreleased Tracks. 

Simply put, the project was a sensation when it was released in 2009. There were, of course, raves from the press — “traditional African music turns out to suit him beautifully” pronounced The New York Times — but fellow musicians were equally awed. “Béla Fleck's amazing film Throw Down Your Heart makes me want to go to Africa,” said acclaimed jazz pianist Chick Corea. “The genuine warmth, affinity, respect and love between Béla and the amazing African musicians he met are beautifully captured.” Banjo player and actor Steve Martin added, “With Throw Down Your Heart, Béla Fleck has contributed significantly to the history of the banjo, as well as inventing a style of music never before played on this great instrument.”

A virtuoso on his instrument, he has over the last four decades taken the banjo far afield from its traditional roles in bluegrass and old-timey music, embracing an extraordinarily broad range of musical styles. Not only has he won 15 GRAMMY®s, but he did so across nine different categories, earning honors in the Country, Pop, Jazz, Instrumental, Classical, and World Music fields through his work with the fusion group Béla Fleck and the Flecktones; double bassist and composer Edgar Meyer; his wife, Abigail Washburn, and others. 

The original “Dueling Banjos,” recorded by Eric Weissberg and popularized by the film Deliverance, was one of the things that first attracted Fleck to the banjo, so there’s a sense of coming full circle with that performance. But then, the whole Throw Down Your Heart project was, in a sense, about scratching an itch Fleck had long felt regarding the African roots of his instrument. “I knew that my beloved instrument had originally come from West Africa,” he writes. “And from time to time I found tantalizing tidbits of African acoustic music that gave me the confidence to know that there was a phenomenal amount of incredible stuff going on under the radar.” 

What brought that general interest into focus was when Flecktone saxophonist Jeff Coffin played Fleck a recording by the great Malian singer Oumou Sangare. “I was literally stunned,” Fleck recalled. “I’d had this reaction only a few times — when music was so compelling that everything had to stop while I listened. Earl Scruggs’ banjo did it to me. Chick Corea’s music did it to me. And so did this.” 

In a bit of kismet, it turned out that Sangare was managed by an old friend from Fleck’s early bluegrass days. A meeting was arranged, some jamming was done, and Sangare invited Fleck to visit Bamako, Mali, and play with her and some of her friends. The seed was planted. Within months, Fleck and Paladino had worked out a three-nation itinerary, one that would rely on friendship and happenstance to experience the music and culture of Africa. It was, Fleck writes, “a nonstop set of intense, powerful and joyful musical interactions. Every day for five weeks, I was meeting musicians, and filming pieces with them in their homes, other unconventional locations, and even on rare occasions — recording studios. We recorded/filmed over 30 pieces so it came out to something like a tune per day while we were there.”

Originally issued as individual titles, beginning with Rounder Records’ 2009 release of Tales From the Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3—Africa Sessions, Throw Down Your Heart: The Complete Africa Sessions will be one of several special reissues commemorating the legendary roots label’s 50th anniversary. Throughout 2020 Rounder will be celebrated with box sets, live events, an original podcast series, curated playlists, exclusive merchandise and much more. Stay tuned for forthcoming announcements regarding Rounder’s 50th anniversary.