New Music Releases: Mammal Hands, The Royal Bopsters, Etuk Ubong

Mammal Hands | "Captured Spirits"

Maybe the strongest record so far from Mammal Hands – a set that really has the group growing in their sense of tone and color, and in the unique timing they bring to their tunes! The group is a trio, but not in a mode that you might be guessing – because next to the piano of Nick Smart, and drums of Jesse Barrett, there's also a range of instruments from Jordan Smart – tenor, soprano sax, bass clarinet, and electronics – all used in these shifting ways with the really fresh rhythms from Barrett, and these flowing chains of acoustic piano soul from Smart – cresting, dipping, turning, and soaring with a really majestic sensibility! Titles include "Floating World", "Spiral Stair", "Ithaca", "Chaser", "Late Bloomer", "Riddle", "Rhizome", "Shoreless", and "Versus Shapes". ~ Dusty Groove

The Royal Bopsters | "Party Of Four"

Party of Four, the sophomore release from renowned vocal jazz quartet The Royal Bopsters is a twelve-track cornucopia of delightful and sophisticated harmonic treasures that celebrate both the proud history and the bright future of vocal jazz. A master class in the art of vocal jazz and vocalese, Party of Four demonstrates the dazzling possibilities of four voices coming together as one. Bopsters Amy London, Dylan Pramuk, Pete McGuinness, and the late Holli Ross (to whom the album is dedicated) are joined by guest lead vocalists, NEA Jazz Master Sheila Jordan (91 years young) who delivers a delightful rendition of "Lucky to Be Me" and NEA Jazz Master Bob Dorough, whose humorous recording of his classic "Baby, You Should Know It" became one of his final recordings when he sadly passed in 2018. Six-time GRAMMY®-winning bassist Christian McBride also guests on two strong tracks.

Etuk Ubong | "Night Dreamer Direct To Disc Sessions"

Trumpeter Etuk Ubong leads a mighty heavy combo here – a righteous group that mixes together Nigerian roots and spiritual jazz – a blend that's very different than anything we've ever heard before – and which maybe puts Ubong's music in the same territory as some of the South African jazz greats from decades past! Ubong's not afraid to sing with the group, too – and alternates between his instrument and occasional vocals in a lineup that has lots of percussion and drums at the core – with added horns, bass, and a bit of keyboards – plus guest vocals from Bahghi Yemane – whose style is a nice contrast to Ubong's. The main focus is on righteous grooves and soaring solos – bold trumpet lines over some fast modal rhythms, on titles that include "Mass Corruption", "Spiritual Change", "Purpose Of Creation", "African Struggle", and "Africa Today". ~ Dusty Groove

John Finbury | "Quatro"

John Finbury's new album "Quatro" premieres new music with broad Latin American and Spanish influences, mixed and matched in an unorthodox fashion.

Alternating vocal and instrumental tracks, the album was produced by Latin Grammy winner Emilio D. Miler, and features Magos Herrera on vocals, Chano Domínguez on piano, John Patitucci on bass, and Antonio Sánchez on drums.

Recorded over two sessions in New York in 2019, "Quatro" is both a celebration of cultural diversity and immigration, and a condemnation of those who seek restriction based upon prejudice.

The album opener, "Llegará El Día" ("The Day Will Come"), is a "Freedom Song" and a fierce assertion of the album's concept, with influences of Peruvian Festejo and Mexican Huapango. The lyrics, penned by producer D. Miler, knit a poetic landscape with references to Mexican iconography and to someone, unnamed, who will soon disappear.

The pianist offers a solo cadenza to present the first instrumental, "Independence Day", Finbury's take on Spanish Flamenco, specifically Bulería. With John Patitucci on electric bass, the trio flies high, with Chano taking more solo spots throughout the song.

"La Madre De Todos Los Errores" ("The Mother Of All Mistakes") features an intricate melody delivered with passion by Magos, which develops over a driving bass ostinato. The lyrics, written by Roxana Amed, are directed at someone whose assumptions and narcissism overlook the beauty that lies in the details which shape identity.

"All The Way To The End", featuring lyrics by Patty Brayden, is a sultry Son-Bolero dance around the pledge of eternal love, sung in English with Spanish Flamenco ornaments. Chano Dominguez's solo enters, piercing and playful, becoming the other ‘tease' in this conversation. When the song appears to be over, a final section emerges featuring a melancholic vocalise in exquisite interplay with the band.

A solo acoustic bass cadenza resolves into an a capella vocal, and so "Comenzar" ("To Begin (again)" ) is born. With lyrics penned by Magos Herrera herself, the song is a homage to our capacity to reinvent ourselves and find new beginnings within the same story. The music displays influences of Argentine Zamba, and other folkloric music from the Andes that share similar rhythms.

Reminiscent of old school dance halls "Salón Jardín" ("Garden Ballroom"), is the trios's take on a slow Bolero, fertile territory for an outstanding acoustic bass solo by John Patitucci. Chano Domínguez's reprise of the melody is so personal that it feels like a solo in its own right.

Antonio Sánchez's solo cadenza at the beginning of "Romp" feels like a disruption of the smooth tone set by the previous track… and it isn't the last one!

A clave-based, New Orleans Second Line groove takes shape, a musical reminder that the South of the United States was once part of the same melting pot as the Spanish Antilles. "Romp" is the jam after the party, when musicians and a few lucky guests blend together in a celebration of togetherness.

John Finbury redefines his being American, not just as a native of the United States, but as a citizen of the Americas. His music on QUATRO often defies strict stylistic classifications, and finds unity in organic, intense renditions by a world-class band.

Make no mistake: "Quatro" is a political statement; a musical and poetic expression of freedom and the power of collaboration to contradict the fiction that those who are different should remain apart.

Though written and recorded before the world was stunned by a pandemic that has hindered our ability to gather and celebrate, "Quatro" presents a musical meeting place that strives to bridge that distance, and convey the certainty that we are better together.

Junk Magic | "Compass Confusion"

For more than a decade, Junk Magic has been honing a collective sound that relies on individual ex- pressions, imagination and subversion. Appearing first as a 2004 album title under pianist-composer Craig Taborn’s name, Junk Magic has transitioned into a sonic identity comprising electronic sound design, production techniques and elements of improvised music.

Compass Confusion – issued October 30 on Pyroclastic Records – presents a holographic snapshot of the Junk Magic sound. “Everything is warped by something else,” says Taborn, who serves as album com- poser and producer. “You’re still trying to capture things ‘in a moment,’ in a certain sense. But then also, because of how the process works, you’re not. There’s a lot of time to craft things after the fact.”

Compass Confusion features Chris Speed on saxophone, Erik Fratzke on bass, Mat Maneri on viola, Da- vid King on drums and Taborn on piano, keyboards and synthesizer. Together, they disarticulate boundaries that imply separation of live music and digital production. “I don’t really view using creative methods in ambient techniques as a ‘different side’ of musical expression,” says Taborn. “It’s all the same expression. But this album is definitely leaning in to the production process as opposed to relying more heavily on the live playing.”

Compositional and textural layers, as well as pacing and extended ebb and flow, emerge intentionally throughout the recording. The artists honor space. They harness movement through time. Using methods that challenge perception and embrace subversion, they develop sound narratives unique to each track that create a story arc across the entire album. The interplay’s the thing. “Laser Beaming Hearts” introduces a cast of characters, layering and mingling their identities, not only through sound design but melody.

“Whenever I hear a melody, it really does set up an identity, a character,” says Taborn, who seeks, at times, to subvert a character’s initial impact by elevating a textural element or an ambience. Often, that relationship inverts. First conjuring an ocean inside a seashell alongside echoing heartbeats, “Dream and Guess” soon moves into a new melody — beautiful, mysterious and primed for sonic disruption.

Rather than disorient — despite its title — the album constantly reorients the listener. Many tracks, including “The Science of Why Devils Smell Like Sulfur,” feature sound chambers, through which the artists freely move. Within these chambers, textures layer, flicker, persist, and stories develop; sound collage may enhance as melody recedes. “There are different methods of attending compositionally,” says Taborn. “If I were writing a traditional tune, it would be melody and some chord changes; if I were writing a hip hop track, I would focus more on beats, loops and sound design; ifI were writing strictly ambient music, I would focus on the sound relationships, how the shapes are evolving with certain sonic elements. On a lot of these pieces, I’m really playing with the foreground and background of all those things.”

While Taborn’s process serves a fixed vision, his approach preserves spontaneity. He populates each chamber by listening and responding to what he hears. “Each tune kind of has a radically different process,” he says. “I do think about narrative, because it moves through time, but it’s the narrative of these sound worlds, moving between them.”

The artists entered sessions in Minneapolis and Brooklyn knowing each studio hit would be one step of the process. Most of the album’s construction would come together away from mics and amps. Still, Taborn asserts an aesthetic throughout Compass Confusion that reflects his expansive foundation in live, improvised music. Deep admiration for hip hop and EDM production techniques notwithstanding, Taborn seeks to preserve solo performances artists throw down in the studio. “To a large extent, what you hear is what people played in the order that they played it,” he says. “I don’t cut up performances. And that’s not an ethos, it’s just an aesthetic. I’m not cutting up a drum solo and making loops, but I’m doing other things that might trick you into thinking it’s looped.”

Mixed and mastered in Taborn’s native Minneapolis by Brett Bullion (The Bad Plus) and Huntley Miller (Bon Iver, Kassa Overall), respectively, Compass Confusion presents a confluence of expressions within a collective sound. “We’re improvisers,” says Taborn. “While a lot of this material is written, there’s so much improvising in the playing. Even in my approach to making tracks, making beats in the studio, it’s still improvisational. You’re working on things in the moment.”

Junk Magic, over the years, has featured countless acclaimed artist-composers, including Craig Taborn, Chris Speed, Erik Fratzke, Mat Maneri, Aaron Stewart, Mark Turner and David King (The Bad Plus). Bonding improvisational aesthetic with digital production and electronic music tech- niques, the project ethos challenges existing perceptions of sound design. A 2004 self-titled release gar- nered praise from Pitchfork, PopMatters and All About Jazz, which acknowledged the sound’s “stagger- ing futuristic potential.” Anticipated followup Compass Confusion, released on Pyroclastic Records, positions Junk Magic on the rolling crest of acoustic wave expansion.

Pianist-composer Kris Davis founded Pyroclastic Records in 2016 to serve the release of her acclaimed recordings Duopoly and Octopus with the goal of growing the label into a thriving platform that would serve like-minded, cutting-edge artists. In 2019, Davis launched a nonprofit to support those artists whose expression flourishes beyond the commercial sphere. By supporting their creative efforts and ensuring distribution of their work, Pyroclastic empowers emerging and established artists — including Cory Smythe, Ben Goldberg, Chris Lightcap, Angelica Sanchez and Marilyn Crispell, Nate Wooley, Eric Revis and Craig Taborn — to continue challenging conventional genre-labeling within their fields. Pyroclastic also seeks to galvanize and grow a creative community, offering young artists new opportunities, supporting diversity and expanding the audience for noncommercial art. 

Pianist Emmet Cohen To Release "Future Stride"

The sound of stride piano vividly evokes scenes from the past: the roaring nightclubs of 1920s Harlem, the raucous birth pangs of jazz’s nascent years, the gymnastic burlesques of risk-taking silent movie madcaps. But in the music of pianist/composer Emmet Cohen, the past is always present, if not venturing with sly turns into an open-eared future as we enter into a new iteration of the roaring 20s.

On his latest album, Cohen revisits one of the music’s earliest forms without a trace of quaintness or throwback pastiche by meticulously covering the genre’s lexicon spanning the past century and melding its context with “modern” music. With Future Stride, due out January 29, 2021 via Mack Avenue Records, he instead finds the immediacy in a stylistic approach that can speak volumes to modern listeners open to recognizing its thrilling vitality.

The new album comes following Cohen's win at the 2019 American Pianists Awards. He received a cash prize and two years of career advancement and support valued at over $100,000, making this one of the most coveted prizes in the music world and the largest for American jazz pianists. Cohen's recording contract with Mack Avenue Music Group was a part of the prize from the American Pianists Association as well. Cohen joins illustrious past winners including Sullivan Fortner, Aaron Diehl, Dan Tepfer, Aaron Parks and Adam Birnbaum, among esteemed others.

Though he’s made a point of connecting with masters from the past throughout his still-young career, Cohen pointedly invites a group of his peers to realize this project, including his longtime rhythm section partners, bassist Russell Hall and drummer Kyle Poole, along with two of modern jazz’s most progressive voices, trumpeter Marquis Hill and saxophonist Melissa Aldana.

“I find that all great art can be considered modern,” Cohen explains. “Whenever you listen to Stravinsky or watch Stanley Kubrick, when you read Shakespeare or look at Picasso, it remains the most modern, genius art that you can find. It allows people in every time period to feel and experience the same emotions relevant to the period that they live in. For me, stride piano belongs in that category; the music of Art Tatum and Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines and Willie ‘The Lion’ Smith has implications that can affect people today in a very deep manner.”

In that sense, the music of Future Stride viscerally connects our century’s second decade with the last, dissipating the mists of time that shroud the era of early jazz. For anyone who might relegate the music’s pioneers to some antiquated past, Cohen makes a bracing argument from the outset with “Symphonic Raps,” a piece that Louis Armstrong recorded with the Carroll Dickerson Orchestra in the late 1920s and has been rarely, if ever, revived since. The trio’s breakneck rendition ensures there’s no dust left on the tune, which Cohen likens to “a hip-hop groove. That tune sums up how our trio communicates joy.”

The mood shifts drastically with the album’s second track, Cohen’s haunting original “Reflections at Dusk,” with the pianist’s shimmering keys underlying the aching melody essayed by Hill and Aldana. Cohen wrote the piece while contemplating a series of personal changes that had affected his own life in the months leading up to a global pandemic altering everyone’s lives. “I had started to take a lot of time for reflection even before the world stopped,” he says. “I think everyone is going through some version of that now, finally taking advantage of the chance to stop and listen to their own voices and thoughts. This piece is about taking time for yourself, which can be very difficult sometimes.”

The beloved drummer Lawrence “Lo” Leathers, who died tragically in June 2019, is given a deeply felt farewell on “Toast to Lo.” Leathers had been an influential figure in the lives of all the members of the quintet, Cohen recalls. “We miss him very dearly. He became like the mayor anywhere he went; he knew everyone. He reminded me of a jazz musician from the past. Russell and I played our first gig ever in Paris with him, and we watched as he even became the jazz mayor of Paris. We saw him cultivate his outlook on the world, which was one of power, beauty, and equality.”

The title track – written by Cohen and Poole – provides Cohen’s own contribution to the stride tradition, with the pianist engaging in a time-warping dialogue with his triomates, embodying the concept of the album in daring and spirited fashion. The classic Sammy Cahn/Jimmy Van Heusen ballad “Second Time Around” makes a similar point from a very different perspective, tapping into a timeless emotion with a profound tenderness. “Dardanella” is something of a rite of passage for stride pianists; with a wide breadth of pianists throughout history having put their own twist on the oft-recorded tune. Cohen foregoes the usual solo approach to take it for a lilting spin with the trio all contributing to its sparkling vivacity.

Cohen wrote “You Already Know,” a tune quickly achieving newfound standard status, shortly after moving to New York City, and the quintet’s version captures his wide-eyed response to the city’s hectic pace. Duke Ellington wrote “Pitter Panther Patter” as a showcase for his Orchestra’s mighty bassist, Jimmy Blanton, and Cohen uses it to similar ends, shining a well-deserved spotlight on Russell Hall’s agile talents. The Rodgers and Hart standard “My Heart Stood Still” was a last-minute call as the session neared its end, allowing the trio to show off its breezy but scintillating camaraderie. The album ends with another Cohen original, “Little Angel,” a tale of heartbreak brilliantly illustrated by Hill’s gorgeous, hushed melodicism.

Where Future Stride began with a piece revived from nearly a century ago, it ends with a tune that explicitly points to the future, with a supple R&B influence that colors much of Cohen’s original music but has become one bold path for modern jazz to explore. The fact that a listener would be hard-pressed to point to one or the other of those poles as more “old-fashioned” or more “forward-looking” makes Cohen’s point more eloquently than words ever could: if emotion is conveyed from musician to listener, that emotion lives in the eternal now and the sound is always past, present and future.

New Music Releases: Nicole Mitchell & Moor Mother, Spontaneous Groovin’ Combustion, The Society Hill Orchestra

Nicole Mitchell & Moor Mother | "Offering: Live At Le Guess Who"

Nicole Mitchell is an artist who made us sit up and say "wow" when we first saw her perform on the south side of Chicago 25 years ago – and she continues to make us express the same sort of surprise as the years go on – ever shifting her music, changing her focus, and continuing to get involved with really creative projects like this! The record is part of Mitchell's new sense of cosmic exploration – and features Nicole on flute and electronics, working alongside a lot more electronics from Moor Mother, who also delivers spoken passages on the album's all long tracks – which maybe make the whole thing come across like some Afro-Futurist blend of jazz, spoken word, and science fiction music – something that must have been amazing to see when it was performed live for this recording. Titles include "Up Out Of The Ugly", "Vultures Laughing", and "Prototype Eve". ~ Dusty Groove

Spontaneous Groovin’ Combustion | "Spontaneous Groovin’ Combustion"

While fans of Spontaneous Groovin’ Combustion chomp at the bit for the perfectly named urban jazz fusion ensemble’s debut album – due in February 2021 – group leader and saxophonist Warren Keller (a one-time NYC rocker) whips up a hypnotic, freewheeling blast of cool melodic funk on “Double Deuces,” their gem of a fourth single. The track builds slowly from a soulful atmospheric simmer, alternating Keller’s punchy sax lines and improvisations with Luigi Pistillo’s crisp, crackling electric guitar and incorporating colorful flute and vibes harmonies as the tune shines brightly and inspires excitement!

The Society Hill Orchestra | "Revisit Philly Classics"

There has been a long running tradition in soul music regarding the area of Philadelphia and its surrounding towns. The "Philly Soul" sound has never really gone away – certain vocalists or bands may come and go, but it seems like someone is always there to take their place and carry on the tradition. One of the organizations still carrying the torch has been one that has seemingly never faded away - the best way to describe it is not as an organization, but rather an institution, and that tireless entity is known as Society Hill Records - named after the historic neighborhood in Center City Philadelphia. Today, after all the years of great music that has emanated from the label, artists old and new carry on the great tradition with music that has never strayed far from the source. On the new compilation, The Society Hill Orchestra Revisit Philly Classics, that promise is glaringly evident. Led by the first family of Philly Soul, the Ingram Family band - that has played on so many Philly soul hits for decades, is once again at the helm of this new project. Together with the Society Hill Orchestra are artists/friends that are faithfully carrying on the tradition such as Benny Barksdale, Donnie Tatum, Mary Harris, Sugarbear, TRU, Baxter and Jimmy Lee, and the music sounds as fresh today as it did over 40 years ago. Producer Butch Ingram has picked some of the biggest hits of Philly soul music over the decades and once again proves the vitality of this genre of music will live on for decades to come.

New Music Releases: Cosmic Vibrations featuring Dwight Trible, Ilya Serov, Peven Everett

Cosmic Vibrations featuring Dwight Trible | "Pathways & Passages"

A great spiritual jazz group – one put together at the suggestion of Dwight Trible, and which features his amazing vocals as the cornerstone! The group have some sonic roots in the past, but also embrace some of the newer freedoms of the current spiritual jazz scene – modes that would be right at home in both the world of London's Brownswood Records, or Chicago's International Anthem – really moving past the obvious, and in ways that have Trible's vocals maybe sounding more righteous and important than ever before! Dwight's as much a poet as he is a singer – and gets superb accompaniment here from Derf Reklaw on congas and flute, Pablo Calogero on tenor and flutes, Christopher Garcia on indigenous percussion, and Breeze Smith on percussion, drums, and loops. There's a very deep sonic texture to the whole album – one that's echoed by the cover image – a dark tapestry of sound from which the voice, flute, and tenor especially soar out – on titles that include "Nature's Vision", "Blue Skies", "How Long", "Motherless Child", "Water Flow", "Movin On", "Olbap", and "Tragedy Escapes". CD features bonus tracks – including "Passages", "Some Other Time", and "May The Weak Become Strong". ~ Dusty Groove

Ilya Serov | "Chillin'"

Shifting into Smooth Jazz from his classical roots and career establishing standards and big band recordings, trumpeter Ilya Serov’s new single “Chillin’” offers a sensual, laid back escape from the harsh COVID-19 era realities via a breezy, breathy muted horn melody, easy flowing groove and chillaxed keyboards courtesy of Greg Manning. While showcasing his melodic jazz, R&B and neo-soul flow and modeling the way great tracks and videos can be created under social distancing protocols, Serov’s deeper vision is to create music that offers hope, joy and a fresh mindset embracing a whole new way of living. ~ smoothjazz.com

Peven Everett | "Kaleidoscope"

The title's a great one, as the rich talents of Peven Everett always present us with such a strong range of shifting shapes and sounds in soul music – grooves that draw from his work in jazz and house, but which always come across with so much more overall! The tunes are simple, but so effective – sometimes stripped down to their core, but reshaped by the presence of Peven – a singer who, if the world had any sense of justices, would have been one of the biggest soul stars of the 21st Century! Yet it's also pretty nice that a record like this can be a secret between a select few – those of us who've always seen Everett's genius, and have supported him over the years – with a record like this as a reward. Titles include "Man Like Me", "The Easy Life", "World Love II", "The Sexy 1", "Never Give It Up", and "Back In II It". ~ Dusty Groove

New Music Releases: Ron King, Studio One 007, Herb Partlow

Ron King | "Downtown Mama"

If you dig Rick Braun, you’ll welcome veteran trumpeter Ron King’s picture-perfect Smooth Jazz debut album Downtown Mama with open arms ready to sway and groove. Drawing on a decades-long resume filled with everyone from Frank Sinatra and Marvin Gaye to David Benoit and Jeff Lorber, King and producer Paul Brown fire up the old school, soul-jazz cool and the stylish horn textures while keeping the silk and funk (and a touch of fiery big band energy) flowing. King complements his bright infectious originals with colorful twists on classics by David Sanborn and The Rolling Stones! ~ smoothjazz.com

Studio One 007 | "Licensed To Ska – James Bond & Other Film Soundtracks & TV Themes" 

A very cool take on the sound of Studio One – a package of late 60s themes from James Bond films and other soundtrack sources! The mix is maybe not that surprising, given the use of Jamaican music early on in the series – as part of the Dr No soundtrack – and maybe that global moment of understanding helped the groups back home in Kingston to reach for the skies with material like this! The whole thing is a fascinating document of two strands of Brit culture in these post-colonial years – with titles that include "James Bond Danger Man" by The Soul Brothers, "Pussy Galore" by Lee Perry & The Wailers, "Mr Flint" by The Soul Brothers, "Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" by The Soul Brothers, "Hang Em High" by Jackie Mittoo, "From Russia With Love" by Roland Alphonso & The Studio One Orchestra, "Ball Of Fire" by The Skatalites, and "James Bond Girl" by The Soul Brothers. ~ Dusty Groove

Herb Partlow | "Next Level"

Five years after promising us a sultry and funky Digital Future, multi-instrumentalist (piano, keys, bass, drums) and all-around music industry veteran Herb Partlow takes his game to the Next Level with the release of this innovative collection of deep grooves and smooth flows. Partlow generates jazz for a new generation with a proprietary blend of funk, hip hop and contemporary jazz. This creative artist knows how to harness today's hottest vibes to compose and produce attention-grabbing music that he releases on his own Superb Muzic label. Take your evening chill session and weekend soundtrack to the Next Level with this atmospheric, Smooth Jazz gem. Music for our modern times! ~ smoothjazz.com

New Music Releases: Carlos Nino & Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Anders Holst, Jeff Parker

Carlos Nino & Miguel Atwood-Ferguson | "Chicago Waves"

A record that's a bit of a dream come true for us at Dusty Groove – a set that features two of our favorite contemporary musicians, recording at a unique venue in our fair city – with a vibe that makes the record one of the best we've ever heard from the pair! Carlos Nino was one of the first of the new generation of spiritual jazz musicians – playing in such modes when it seemed like most others had forgotten them – and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson was a frequent partner in those days, and has risen to have a great legacy of his own, both as a performer and arranger for larger projects! The setting here is spare, but has all the majesty of the best work from either musician – as Miguel plays a five string violin, expanded with lots of live effects – and Nino plays a variety of percussion, while also triggering larger soundscapes too – all with a very organic vibe, as the whole thing was recorded live at Chicago's Co-Prosperity Sphere. The album features one long suite, divided into eight sections – the last of which is the beautiful "Chicago Waves". ~ Dusty Groove

Anders Holt | "Endlessly"

After a way too long nine-year recording hiatus, Swedish born, NYC based singer/songwriter Anders Holst brings his sensually romantic vibes and poetic juice back to Smooth Jazz with his inspiring new album Endlessley. While elegantly produced by Grammy Award winner Gordon Chambers, with beguiling string arrangements and soaring backing vocals, the pop/soul/jazz oriented collection is grounded by a live ensemble featuring keyboardist Shedrick Mitchell, guitarist Sherrod Barnes, and saxophonists Peck Almond and Andreas “Pastorn” Andersson. Holst muses on various aspects of love via inviting originals and spirited re-imaginings of Kem’s “Heaven,” a delicious duet with Sy Smith on George Michael's "Cowboys and Angels," as well as paying homage to Stevie Wonder in an intimate, string-laden rendition of "All I Do." ~ smoothjazz.com

Jeff Parker | "Suite For Max Brown"

Mindblowing music from Jeff Parker – sounds that we always knew were part of his core, but which have maybe taken most of his career to emerge! This album follows beautifully from Jeff's previous album for International Anthem – and like that one, it's an explosion of new and old ideas at once – jazz elements with soul currents, all put together with a complexity that lives up to Parker's long legacy in music, but which also has an organic appeal that makes the whole thing come together with effortless ease! There's plenty of sophistication in the sound, but it also sneaks in with lots of grooves that Jeff never had before – including some funky currents that come from Parker's work on keyboards, drums, and samples in addition to his usual guitar – and added drums from Jamire Williams and Makaya McCraven. Titles include "Lydian Etc", "Build A Nest", "Del Rio", "3 For L", "Fusion Swirl", "After The Rain", and "Max Brown". ~ Dusty Groove

New Music Releases: Michael O’Neil Quartet, Alex Churchill , The San Gabriel 7 / Femi Knight

Michael O’Neil Quartet |"And Then It Rained"

And The It Rained, the fifth and newest release by reed master Michael O’Neill, is a beautiful compilation of original compositions brought to life by some of the best musical talent around. O’Neill, who is a mainstay on the San Francisco Bay Area jazz scene, is a creative improviser with a warm, robust sound. He has been composing for many years, but this is the first recording featuring his original compositions. O’Neill’s music has an expressive quality, as if each note were a song lyric that told a story. His compositions have that same quality. O’Neill’s considerable technical prowess helps deliver the strong emotional impressions evoked in this unique musical montage. Personnel: Michael O’Neill, tenor, alto, soprano saxes, clarinet / Michael Bluestein, piano / Dan Feiszli, bass / Jason Lewis, drummer.

Alex Churchill |"Best Of Me"

Smooth Jazz Kiwi alert! Eleven years and countless international performances after winning “Most Outstanding Young Musician” at the New Zealand Youth Jazz Competition, Auckland born saxophonist Alex Churchill breaks ground in the genre with a hypnotic, silky and simmering funky twist on Anthony Hamilton’s 2013 hit “Best of Me.” Vibing dynamically with and improvising off the cool, crisp guitar of New Zealand sensation and longtime collaborator Andrea Lisa, Churchill underscores his vibrant up-tempo take with a reminder to always give our best to each other (especially to strangers) and truly embrace each moment. ~ smoothjazz.com

The San Gabriel 7 / Femi Knight | "Red Dress"

The San Gabriel 7 is a group that has been flying under the radar for far too long. The band has been gigging around Southern California since its inception in 2006 and is now releasing Red Dress, their tenth album. Chris Gordon, the album’s producer, says, “The group has grown and changed over the years, and we felt it was time to bring our music to a larger audience outside of the region.” The musicians on Red Dress each have a long list of professional credits playing with some of the biggest names in the music business. Their newest album features singer, songwriter, keyboardist, and voiceover actor Femi Knight, AKA Dawn Bishop. Knight is perhaps best known for her long association with Sergio Mendes. Red Dress features seven songs composed by Knight and two live performances of Knight and the SG7 recorded at the Cal Tech Jazz Festival. There is real synergy between Dave Cushman’s fun and engaging arrangements and The San Gabriel 7, a high energy band of top-notch players. Knight has a smooth, flexible, and warm voice, and the music on Red Dress is swinging and suffused with toe-tapping funkiness, aided and abetted by Knight’s intelligent, sensitive lyrics.

New Music Releases: Alan Braufman, Anteloper (Jaimie Branch & Jason Nazary), The Smooth Jazz Alley

Alan Braufman | "Fire Still Burns"

A long-overdue second album from Alan Braufman – maybe not the most familiar name in jazz, but a reed player who gave the world one fantastic album on India Navigation back in the 70s – and who now finally returns as a leader for this equally great second set! Braufman plays alto and flute – and the whole thing has this bold, soaring sort of energy – maybe even more spiritually forceful than Alan's classic album, thanks in part to an excellent group who bristle with dynamic vibes throughout – always on the edge of going farther out, but also nicely together too. Other players include Cooper Moore on piano, James Brandon Lewis on tenor, Ken Filiano on bass, and Andrew Drury on drums – with a bit of percussion at times from Michael Wimberly. Titles include "Creation", "Alone Again", "The Fire Still Burns", "Home", and "No Floor No Ceiling". ~ Dusty Groove

Anteloper (Jaimie Branch & Jason Nazary) | "Tour Beats Vol 1"

Mindblowing sounds from Anteloper – a great side project from trumpeter Jaimie Branch, and one that lets her open up with lots of the more electronic sides of her spirit! The set's a collaboration with Jason Nazary – who adds in acoustic drums plus a host of electronics and effects – echoed by Branch, who blows her usual strong lead on trumpet upfront, but also works electronic magic too – so that the duo are creating in the best mix of live instrumentation, processing, and editing that have made the International Anthem label such a powerhouse in new waves of jazz in recent years. The work's not unlike some of the recent projects of trumpeter Rob Mazurek – who, not surprisingly, provides notes on the record – which includes the tracks "Bubble Under", "Isotope 420", "Soledad Sabateur", and "Radar Radio". ~ Dusty Groove

The Smooth Jazz Alley | "Let's Ride"

As Bay Area groovemeisters keyboardist Marco Montoya and founding guitarist Stan Evans imagined their infectious, soul-piercing vibe back in 2016, you never know what you’re going to find grooving down The Smooth Jazz Alley! With drummer/producer Kevin Lewis taking over for Evans as co-leader, the ensemble’s second album Let’s Ride is chock full of tasty R&B cool, sultry light funk and dynamic, soaring key and sax duality created by Montoya and guest Smooth Jazz sax stars Greg Vail, Eric Marienthal and Andy Snitzer. Complementing Evans’ still formidable electric guitar are feisty licks by Carlyle Barriteau, Matt Godina and Joel Del Rosario. ~ smoothjazz.com

Benjamin Koppel with Jazz Masters | "The Art of the Quartet & "Ultimate Soul & Jazz Revue"

Acclaimed Danish saxophonist Benjamin Koppel showcases his versatility and virtuosity on two distinctly different releases for the Unit Records label. While the 2CD set The Art of the Quartet finds the alto sax star engaging in freewheeling musical dialogues and executing thoroughly composed pieces with top American jazz luminaries Kenny Werner on piano, Scott Colley on bass and the great Jack DeJohnette on drums, Ultimate Soul & Jazz Revue (also a 2CD set) has him throwing down with authority on familiar funk and R&B anthems alongside two American music icons in trumpeter Randy Brecker and legendary drummer Bernard Purdie. Whether searching in uninhibited fashion and navigating heady compositional waters with his fellow intrepid improvisers on The Art of the Quartet or testifying to the power of groove on Ultimate Soul & Jazz Revue, Koppel handles both worlds with equal aplomb. 

The extraordinary lineup featured on The Art of the Quartet came about through some longstanding musical hookups that Koppel had fostered through his celebrated career. He and Werner met in 2007 at an all-star event that Koppel put together to celebrate Danish drummer Alex Riel's 50 years in music. They further explored their chemistry together on 2008's At Ease, which featured Koppel playing alongside fellow alto saxophonist Bobby Watson, and in 2009 they recorded their duo album Walden, with music inspired by Henry David Thoreau. Since then they have toured extensively in both US and Europe and have recorded a dozen albums together. Scott Colley, known from his work with Carmen McRae, Herbie Hancock, Jim Hall and the supergroup Hudson (consisting of guitar great John Scofield, Medeski, Martin & Wood keyboardist John Medeski and drummer extraordinaire DeJohnette), is also a member of the Koppel-Colley-Blade Collective formed in 2012 with Benjamin and top drummer Brian Blade. "Scott and I met in 2009 at my annual Summer Jazz festival when I put together a quintet with him, Kenny Werner, John Abercrombie and Al Foster," said Benjamin. "Scott and I instantly became very good friends and have worked frequently on many different projects since then, including a duo album we made. Scott is a great spirit, an amazing player and composer." 

It was Werner who recruited DeJohnette for The Art of the Quartet. As Koppel recalled, "After hearing some of the music, Jack wanted to join as an equal partner in the project. He even recommended the studio, Clubhouse in Rhinebeck, which is very close to where he lives near Woodstock. We all had a very good feeling about recording at the Clubhouse. Everybody brought music and we had a ball working together over three or four days." 

CD 1 is bookended by the daring collective improvisations, "Free I" and "Free II," each of which travels from searching, rubato introspection to turbulent freebop paced by DeJohnette's whirlwind drumming and Colley's insistent pulse. Koppel's exchanges with Werner here are both provocative and highly conversational. "Since we had all worked together before in different configurations, we felt that we really knew each other well, so it felt really natural for us to go into the studio without any directives at all and just invent together, create from a mutual understanding. And since we are all composers, everybody was simply composing right there on the spot. We didn't have to talk about anything up front." 

Koppel's sparse and gently introspective "Bells of Beliefs" was inspired by an orchestral piece by György Ligeti. "A very little spot in this piece had a certain bell-vibe to it and the sound stuck with me," he explained. "I went home and composed 'Bells of Beliefs' in a minute. "At the session, Jack heard my demo of this tune and he was super excited and wanted to postpone the recording of this particular song in order to drive back to his house and pick up a very special set of bells that he had just been given prior to our session. And his playing on those bells is amazing!" With DeJohnette's bells, Colley's bowed bass and Werner's sparse tinkling setting a peaceful tone, Koppel summons up a depthful Trane-like vibe on this pensive piece.

Koppel addresses his own near-sightedness on the gently droning "Night Seeing," which unfolds gracefully and gradually before segueing to an exploratory drums-alto breakdown at the 6-minute mark. Regarding the title, the composer said, "It's inspired by the thought of us as human beings too often not comprehending, not seeing what is going on right around us. Too often we don't see climate change at night, we don't see racism unless it is recorded on film. But at the same time I didn't want this music to be a lecture in any way. No raised index fingers, but hopefully just inspiration." 

They revive a buoyant DeJohnette Special Edition piece from the '80s, "Ahmad the Terrible" (from 1984's Album Album) and deliver Werner's delicate through-composed piece "Follow" with conviction. "It's a typical Kenny piece in that it really demands of the musicians that they explore a certain vibe in both themselves and in their collaboration. And that certain vibe is set with Kenny's quite simple but nonetheless really deep composition."  

Werner's "Iago," a moving number in honor of Brazilian composer Weber Iago, is a brilliant showcase for Koppel's spirited virtuosity while the pianist's "Ballad for Trane" carries a loping swing feel and has Benjamin blowing over the top in ecstatic fashion. As Koppel explained, "Kenny wrote this tune many years ago after listening to some bootleg Coltrane recordings through a whole night. This tune really sets off a great path of exploring and tributing Trane, without having to try to play or sound like him at all. But just the feeling, the changes, the melody are very connected to Trane's huge musical wisdom." 

They deliver a faithful reading of the standard "If I Should Lose You," which has Colley and DeJohnette each stepping out for show-stopping solos. "When playing standards, it feels natural to me to approach them freely, maybe a bit in the tradition of Lee Konitz," said Koppel, "although I also love to just dive into a good melody and more or less stay with it." Then they revel in Colley's striking rubato number "Americana," which Koppel said, "pointed the group in an obvious wide-open-spaces direction where there is room for everyone, both musically and spiritually." 

The gestalt quartet next jumps on DeJohnette's hard driving, energetic "One on One" with abandon. "Jack is obviously both a great drummer and pianist, but also a great composer," said Koppel. "This piece immediately set the four of us in a creative and powerful mode, where we take turns leading, pushing or commenting on grounds of the theme. One thing that really struck us all when recording this track was the power of omission. What we leave out, don't play, choose not to react to all makes a conceptual and open-minded piece like this really come to life. Everyone keeps challenging and surprising the others while taking responsibility for both the theme and the composition and track as a whole." 

They settle into Werner's peaceful hymn-like closer, "Sada," with uncommon delicacy. "This is one of Kenny most beautiful and long-lasting compositions, based on a chant from his ashram. It contains so much love, hope and yearning, while at the same time confronting each one of us with the sorrows of our lives. But it is a piece of light and thoughtfulness, almost meditational at times. It is one of Kenny's pieces that we have played live the most." 

On the Ultimate Soul & Jazz Revue, the saxophonist returns to his roots. "A great part of the record collection in my childhood was American gospel music (Golden Gate Quartet, Mahalia Jackson, Staple Singers) and soul music (Aretha, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye), which is what I listened to the most when I was a kid, besides the Beatles," he recalled. "My sister Marie and I began playing concerts at various cafés in Copenhagen when I was 14 and she was 17 and our repertoire was mainly soul standards. So soul music in various forms is a great part of my musical DNA and something I always return to." 

Recorded live at Betty Nansen Theatre in Copenhagen during the 2019 edition of Koppel's Summer Jazz Festival, Ultimate Soul & Jazz Revue features Benjamin, Brecker, Colley and Purdie backed by top Danish musicians in keyboardist Jacob Christoffersen, Hammond organist Dan Hemmer, percussionist Jacob Andersen and guitarist Søren Heller, an impressive newcomer on the Scandinavian music scene. Together they come out of the gate with intensity on a ferocious version of Buddy Miles' 1970 tune "Them Changes" (famous recorded by Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys at their historic 1970 Fillmore East show in New York City). From there they expertly blend jazz and funk on a Fender Rhodes-fueled rendition of Dizzy Gillespie's Afro-Cuban classic "Manteca" before moving on to the slyly funky "Hammond Street," one of three Koppel originals of the set. Brecker and Koppel play tight unisons on the head here, rekindling some of the Brecker Brothers vibe, before Benjamin breaks loose for some virtuosic double-timing over Purdie's chugging groove. "I love to play with Randy," said Koppel. "The first time we shared a mic was on a session with a Danish piano player, which I co-produced in New York in 1999. And since then we fortunately have had the opportunity to work quite a few times together in different settings, among them in Kenny Werner's Quintet (with Scott and Antonio Sanchez). Randy is so easy to play with. His sound, time and inventiveness are beyond virtuoso and his generosity and curiosity as a musician ever-inspiring.                                                   

They capture the perfect '70s vibe on a rendition of Curtis Mayfield's anthemic 1970 hit song, "Move on Up," then conjure up an appealing Crusaders-type crossover vibe on Koppel's "Feel the Burn" (which he dedicates to Bernard Purdie). Benjamin's sister, singer Marie Carmen Koppel, next tackles Aretha Franklin's "Respect" with all the gusto and earthy intent of a real-deal soul diva. "We went to New York City together in January 1994 (I was 19, she was 23) to experience the city, to hear music, to study, to explore. I eventually went home but she stayed for two years, becoming the first European (maybe even the first white girl) to become a part of the Brooklyn Fountain Church of Christ, where she sang in the choir and as a soloist with a bunch of amazing gospel singers and musicians." Marie's gospel influence definitely comes out on her interpretation of "Respect."

Koppel's noirish "Con Alma and Sax" is a haunting ballad with some expressive playing by the leader while their instrumental rendition of King Floyd's 1970 soul staple, "Groove Me," is perfectly anchored by Purdie's signature backbeat and Colley's deeply resonant, funky upright basslines. Koppel delivers some alto testifying on a funky version of Stevie Wonder's "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing," which has Purdie unleashing on his kit over a mesmerizing ostinato near the end of that epic 10-minute rendition. Koppel also wails with impunity over a soul-jazz take on The Carpenter's 1970 hit, "Close to You."  

Their Summer Jazz set closes on a funky note with a organ-fueled rendition of Sly & The Family Stone's 1968 classic, "Sing a Simple Song," that has Koppel channeling his inner David Sanborn, Hemmer offering a greasy B-3 solo and Randy reverting to his Brecker Brothers swagger on his trumpet solo. Said the elder Brecker brother of this Soul & Jazz Revue gig, "I had just come from a week of Billy Cobham gigs which were just great, but his music is very involved with odd tempos and a lot of metric modulation and many, many notes (!), so this gig with Benjamin and Purdie at the heart of it was a lot of fun. I hadn't played with Bernard in years. He was on my first record, Score, back in 1969 and back in the day we did a million sessions together, where he would set up 'Pretty Purdie' signs around his drums with his phone number on it - the technology of the day. So it was like a homecoming to play with him at this festival and he sounded great with Scott Colley on bass. They really locked it up. And Benjamin, who arranged all of the tunes and wrote some, was, as always, outstanding." 

The grandson of famous Danish classic composer Herman D. Koppel and the son of musician and composer Anders Koppel, co-founder of the '60s rock group Savage Rose, Benjamin Koppel is one of the most outstanding musicians of his generation. Originally a drummer, inspired by Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, he switched to saxophone at age 13. "My first inspirations when I began playing saxophone were Johnny Hodges, Benny Carter and Earl Bostic," he explained. "Then came Charlie Parker and Sonny Rollins, Ben Webster (whom I am named after - my father used to play with him in the early 1970s) and Coleman Hawkins. And then Cannonball and Trane." Koppel made his recording debut as a leader in 1993 with The Benjamin Koppel Quartet at age 18. The following year he came to New York and studied with Paquito D'Rivera. Koppel has been the most productive, in-demand and far-reaching Scandinavian musician of his generation, appearing on more than 50 recordings with such noteworthy players as Phil Woods, Jim Hall, Joe Lovano, Daniel Humair, Palle Danielsson, Alex Riel, Paul Bley, Miroslav Vitous, Inger Dam Jensen, Michala Petri, Chano Dominguez, Charlie Mariano, Portinho, David Sanchez and Sheryl Crow.  

In 2000, Koppel formed his own independent record label, Cowbell Music, and since 2009 has been the organizer of Summer Jazz and Winter Jazz, two popular independent music festivals that take place in the Danish capital of Copenhagen. Koppel has received numerous awards and honors, including the Palæ Bars Jazz Prize, the Jacob Gade Prize and the Holstebro Music Prize. In 2011, he was named Knight of France, Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres for his musical work. He was also a jazz radio host, producing more than 200 programs for National Danish Radio.

Gregory Tardy | "If Time Could Stand Still"

Gregory Tardy was born in New Orleans and is endowed with a sound burnished in the bands of Elvin Jones, Andrew Hill, Tom Harrell, Dave Douglas, Nicholas Payton, Bill Frisell, Rashied Ali, Elio Villafranca, Todd Marcus, Omer Avital, Brian Lynch and many others. On his new album If Time Could Stand Still, Tardy convened Willie Jones III (drums, producer), Alex Norris (trumpet), Keith Brown & Alex Claffy for an impassioned recording that reflects on the changing seasons of life, and surges with his love of swing and the tradition. Tardy explains that, “the title track is an emotional ballad written as a reflection on some changing seasons in my life. My kids are older teens now, my oldest leaving for college this fall, and my parents are in their 80s. As a musician you spend a lot of time on the road, so some precious moments are spent away from loved ones. I have moments now where I wish time could stand still, to savor these moments. For others it might be a situation they are enjoying, a job, gig or something that they want to last, but I keep reminding myself it’s never too late. I know our best hope is to have gratitude and fully appreciate the time we have, before they become memories.”

Tardy’s recorded output as a leader stretches all the way back to 1992 and the release of his first album, Crazy Love (1992 also being the year that he joined the Elvin Jones Jazz Machine; a relationship that lasted several years). Tardy moved to NYC in 1994 towards the end of the “young lion” movement in jazz, quickly becoming a highly sought after New York sideman, and landing a major label contract with Impulse!/GRP Records (releasing Serendipity). Tardy has been featured prominently on several DownBeat Magazine “Albums of the Year,” and also several Grammy nominated recordings; including a Grammy winning CD with Brian Lynch in 2006. The artist has also been voted a “Rising Star” in DownBeat Magazine’s Annual Critics and Readers Polls multiple times. After fifteen albums as a leader, with each project building upon the excellence and merit of its predecessor (including Serendipity, Hidden Light on J-Curve Records, Abundance on Palmetto, followed by no less than nine recordings for the SteepleChase label), Tardy is, “on track to help write the next chapter in jazz history” (Jim Santella, AllAboutJazz. With If Time Could Stand Still (produced by Willie Jones III for WJ3 Records), Tardy’s prestige and eminence as a leader catches up to, and even surpasses, his storied career as a first-call sideman.

Tardy often composes utilizing recent influences or concepts, but much of the music for this project was written with his love of swing and the tradition in mind. Having experienced being a member of many amazing bands over the years, people often associate his recorded work with his “voice”, but that is not necessarily true. “In my writing, I try to explore new things. I really respect the tradition, and it’s always in the back of my mind, but I try to not let it prevent me from exploring new ideas that I hear,” explains Tardy. He has seven original compositions on If Time Could Stand Still, many focused on the joy in swinging, all with an abundance of profundity and humanity. “Music is an expression of the soul and I always try to speak through my horn. I once heard an older musician say ‘it is better to be felt than to be heard’. I never forgot that. That is my approach to writing and playing any style of music,” says Tardy.

Luba Mason | "Triangle"

With her last album, Mixtura, vocalist Luba Mason established her own musical genre, a “blend of different musical currents” that draws upon a staggeringly eclectic palette of influences and approaches. Her breathtaking new release, Triangle, carries the concept forward with a wholly unique, spare yet vibrant new line-up. Captured before an intimate gathering of invited friends, family and fans at Manhattan’s renowned Power Station studio, the album features an unprecedented trio of vocals, vibraphone and bass featuring master musicians Joe Locke and James Genus and produced by longtime Prince collaborator Renato Neto. 

Due out October 23, 2020 via Blue Canoe Records, Triangle exemplifies the passion for fresh perspectives and unexpected choices that led Mason to trademark the “Mixtura” name. The material is jaw-droppingly diverse: from pop classics by the Beatles and Paul Simon to a Monk standard, a Slovak folk song and a recent Broadway hit, and surely the first time that Brazilian legend Antonio Carlos Jobim and heavy metal band System of a Down have been represented in the same repertoire. Add to that the surprising instrumentation and you have a collection that is absolutely gorgeous in its unfamiliarity while remaining vividly engaging. 

JazzTimes has the track premiere for Thelonious Monk’s “In Walked Bud” here:https://jazztimes.com/audio-video/premieres/jt-track-premiere-in-walked-bud-by-luba-mason/

“My tastes span the musical spectrum,” says Mason. “I like to represent that in my performances. By trademarking ‘Mixtura,’ I wanted to challenge the accepted musical formats that tells one that you need to record or perform in one specific genre, and to give the artists complete freedom from labels or limits.” 

While Mixtura was realized by a six-piece ensemble, Mason wanted to pare down the line-up for her follow-up, eager for more space to explore and greater opportunity for focused dialogue with her collaborators. But true to form, the idea of a traditional piano, bass and drums band felt too familiar. It was Neto’s left-field suggestion to experiment with vibes and bass, a format that has never been attempted before in the annals of jazz. 

Despite its seeming limitations, the unique trio proves to be as thrilling as it is diverse. The joyful opener, composer Sxip Shirey’s “Bach, Stevie Wonder and Janelle Monae,” is both a love letter to the music of one’s mind and something of a “Mixtura” anthem. The yearning “Haled’s Song About Love” comes from David Yazbeck’s Tony-sweeping 2017 Broadway musical The Band’s Visit. Colombian percussionist Samuel Torres makes the first of three appearances on the Lennon/McCartney classic “Ticket To Ride,” remaining for the Jobim favorite “Waters of March.” 

The coming-of-age folk song “Ceresne,” performed in duo with Locke, is Mason’s tribute to the Slovak community in which she was raised. Its wrenching emotion stands in stark contrast to the buoyant swing of the trio’s take on Thelonious Monk’s “In Walked Bud.” The oft-recorded bolero “Inolvidable” is the vocalist’s nod to her Latinx fanbase, while “Toxicity,” which retains the tension if not the brutal volume of the System of a Down original, is the album’s most shocking piece. The Frank Loesser/Jimmy McHugh standard “Say It” is rendered with a lush tenderness before Paul Simon’s “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover,” with Torres, concludes in high spirits with an audience clap-along. 

The challenge of venturing into unexplored territory comes naturally to Mason, in part a natural outgrowth of her unique background. A first generation American of Slovak descent, she grew up in Astoria, Queens and studied classical piano and voice. She went on to realize her dream of starring on Broadway, with performances in Jekyll & Hyde and Paul Simon’s The Capeman, starring as Velma in Chicago opposite Brooke Shields and in How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying with Matthew Broderick, among others.  At the same time she’s enjoyed a rich life in jazz, dueting with Al Jarreau on the legendary singer’s final recording and collaborating with such esteemed musicians as Hubert Laws, Randy Brecker, Jimmy Haslip and Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. 

Most recently Mason learned to play the drums for her role in Conor McPherson’s Girl From the North Country, a Broadway musical based on the songs of Bob Dylan that achieved critical acclaim before going on hiatus due to the Coronavirus pandemic. She’s also made the transition from stage to screen, guest starring in episodes of shows like Law & Order and Person of Interest and co-starring with her husband, the Panamanian musician, actor and activist Rubén Blades, in Tonya Pinkins’ upcoming political horror film Red Pill. 

Mason’s acting talents come to bear in her musical life as well, allowing her to fluidly segue between genres and emotions as if taking on a new role with each song. Triangle is her fourth solo album, following her 2004 debut Collage, the Brazilian-inspired Krazy Love, and the genre-defying Mixtura. It was on Krazy Love that she first worked and co-wrote original songs with Neto, a native of Brazil who played keyboards in Prince’s New Power Generation band off and on for nearly a decade. 

“I respect Renato tremendously as a musician,” Mason says. “He has impeccable taste. But the most important aspect of our relationship is trust. When you work with a producer, you’re putting your baby into their hands. I really trusted that Renato would take care of it and bring it to its best potential.” 

As soon as she determined to act on Neto’s offbeat suggestion, Mason knew that she had to find just the right musicians to realize such an improbable sound. In Locke she enlisted one of the leading voices on the instrument, a versatile and virtuosic vibraphonist whose wide range of collaborators has included Grover Washington Jr., Cecil Taylor, Dianne Reeves, The Beastie Boys and Ron Carter. A familiar figure from his long tenure as bassist for the Saturday Night Live band, James Genus is also an acclaimed jazz bassist whose three-decade career includes work with Herbie Hancock, Dave Douglas, Branford Marsalis, Chick Corea and Michael Brecker, among countless others.

Matt Moran Trio | "Return Trip"

Matt Moran’s Return Trip and Peter Hess’ Present Company are comprised of music that is absorbing and dripping with originality. It is music masterfully played by musicians with immense ears, razor-edge musical instincts, utterly at one with themselves and their respective instruments, displaying rousing creativity, and an extraordinary freedom that is a joy to behold.     

Return Trip marks a happy recurrence for the Matt Moran Trio after their first recording, Play Ball. This trio’s harmonic and rhythmic elasticity, and ability to expand (sound like a much larger group) and compress (play intimately) their sound is remarkable. So for bandleader Moran, this new album brought up many new questions: what will be different now? Why is it important to make this music? For Moran, this was an exciting prospect, because, “frankly I had made the first record from a place of uncertainty, and through making, releasing, and performing it with two of my favorite improvisers in the world – Gary Versace and Tom Rainey – and feeling the depth of their support, I arrived at a new place of confidence and joy. It’s been many years since I released a jazz-based album as a vibraphonist, but I’ve been increasingly returning to jazz in my listening over the past decade, after decades of being uncertain of my place in that tradition. I feel more confidence now in bringing myself fully and respectfully to what I hear in this music, and that’s what this return trip is about. In a way there’s no such thing as return, whether you’re talking about the same river twice, or physicists’ spacetime. So a return is never the same as the first time; this is much deeper and subtler music than I would have made years ago with the same trio,” explains Moran.

It’s an unusual trio, but the members, Moran on vibes, Gary Versace on Hammond B3 and Tom Rainey on drums, relish in the blend that they posses. Moran elaborates, “when I formed the trio, I really wanted a small group (I also lead a nine-piece band by the name of Slavic Soul Party! and this trio is a much-needed complement to that energy). Organ is an amazing instrument that can cover melody, bass, texture, and orchestrational effects, especially in the hands of Gary Versace, one of the most amazing musicians I’ve worked with. He’s also a kind and supportive person who I knew I’d feel comfortable being vulnerable with as I tried to make this real. A call to another musical hero, Tom Rainey, cinched the deal. Tom told me that one of the very first gigs he played was as a teenager on the west coast was drums, organ and vibes, and he always wondered why that instrumentation didn’t get explored more. Our first album was more open and explorative, and I feel that we’re able to use what we unearthed to serve the arc of the music on Return Trip.”

The music on Return Trip explores subtle polytonality, in terms of superimposition, but also in ambiguity. Moran explains, “Gary and I found that we have both separately been pushing ourselves into how to organically integrate being in different places simultaneously in our harmonic context. It was a wonderfully confirming moment of arrival for me, since Gary is one of my musical heroes. I have been looking for ways to express the richness and ambiguity of polytonality without the ‘this on that’ sound; I’m looking for more of a gently revealing coexistence. That search is underpinning most of the compositions. I also have a rule for this trio, so that our music-making can focus on the joy of improvising: no composition can be more than one page long!” 

Ripples was written after the Trio's CD release performance for Play Ball, full of excitement for a new era of this trio and a re-examination of what jazz forms mean to Moran. The piece started from the harmonic progressions, which are of unusual lengths and subvert typical harmonic motion; the melody came after, imagining how to radiate out from typical jazz phrasing (and on subverting the hardness of the minor 9th interval, which can almost make your mouth water). The title wasn’t obvious, but Moran asked his 9-year-old daughter to name it, and she nailed it. Spring is a short meditation on polytonality, and those elements got reverse-engineered into a polyrhythmic intro for Tom Rainey to expound on. Chord Conversation considers different ways to structure a song, and, “I can’t hear it without a thinking of John Hollenbeck and our years spent reflecting on composition – he has so much to say,” states Moran. Lush is a meditation on being wrong, dissonance, and polytonality, and embraces the sweet joy in the depth of the African-American tradition that is jazz. Moran elaborates, “it is amazing to me how Gary and I can make ‘wrong’ sounds – major melodies over minor chords – sound good, but that’s the beauty of this instrumentation and these musicians.” 

Sometimes That’s Ok is a composition that was written as part of a lesson for incarcerated adults learning music. “I was asked to share something about my roots, and I thought of the first time I ever played a vibraphone; I couldn’t believe how beautiful the instrument sounded, no matter what notes I rang out. In this piece I tried to show that a simple gesture can be beautiful and deep and easy, and that the act of composition is simply making choices, something we all do all the time,” says Moran. Effish is a romp through two keys at once (Db and E) that somehow comes out sounding, well, F-ish. Rainey suggested a solo section based on part of the melody, leading to a short, polytonal bluesy solo in seven. Peace and Integration ends the record gently and is an appreciation for Horace Silver and his beautiful ballad Peace. Moran explains, “my melody is built on his chord progression, but this piece is written so that you hear different parts of the form simultaneously, which brings a beautiful calm richness that I find inspiring. It’s a fitting way to end an album in the summer of 2020, in hopes that soon African-Americans, who have created so much of the greatness of this music and this country, will be able to integrate peace and justice into the fullness of their lives.”

Alexander Zonjic | "Motor City Sway"

It’s been eleven years since contemporary jazz flutist Alexander Zonjic dropped a new album, making Friday’s release of his 13th collection, “Playing It Forward,” an event album. A genuine multi-hyphenate, Zonjic is a longtime multimedia personality (he hosts television and radio shows) and artistic director for nearly a dozen music festivals and concert series throughout Detroit and the Michigan region in addition to being a recording artist, explaining the lengthy gap between albums. Finishing the new Hi-Falutin Music release produced by GRAMMY-winning keyboardist Jeff Lorber was made possible because COVID-19 forced the cancellation of most of the calendar of live music events that Zonjic produces.  

Whetting the appetite of both radio programmers and fans alike is the disc’s first single, “Motor City Sway,” a tune written and produced by Pieces of a Dream’s James Lloyd. A fun video shot on stage and on the streets of Detroit (the Canadian-born Zonjic’s adopted home), including at the Motown Museum, reveals a “Motor City Sway” dance to go along with the funky R&B instrumental track currently climbing the Billboard Top 25 (https://youtu.be/Cba0NStZM_M).

“Playing It Forward” is an energetic blend of jazz, funk, fusion and soul comprised of five Lorber originals along with a handful of reimagined classics. The outing showcases the work of top shelf musicians, including guitarists Chuck Loeb (one of his final recordings before his passing), Paul Jackson Jr. and Michael Thompson, drummer Gary Novak, horn player and arranger David Mann, and 14-year-old South African keyboard phenom Justin-Lee Schultz, who can be seen performing a talk box solo in the “Motor City Sway” video.   

The album title intentionally riffs on “paying it forward,” which is something the benevolent Zonjic does generously throughout metropolitan Detroit and the Michigan region. The award-winning musician is organizing and headlining a November 13 fundraiser for Mariners Inn, a shelter and treatment center for the homeless.