AMERIKAANSE ZANGERES RUTH POINTER (THE POINTER SISTERS) OVERLEDEN
De Amerikaanse singer-songwriter Anita Pointer is gisteren in haar woning in Los Angeles op 74-jarige leeftijd overleden. Zij werd wereldberoemd als lid van The Pointer Sisters. Anita Marie Pointer werd geboren in Oakland, Californië als de vierde van zes kinderen van Sarah Elizabeth Silas en dominee Elton Pointer. Beide ouders groeiden op in Arkansas en daarom reed het gezin Pointer jaarlijks van Californië naar Arkansas om Anita’s grootouders in Prescott te bezoeken. In die tijd mocht Anita langere tijd bij haar grootouders verblijven om daar naar school te gaan. Anita leerde saxofoon spelen in de McRae High School Band. In 1969 gaf Anita haar baan als secretaresse op om samen met haar jongere zussen Bonnie en June het trio The Pointer Sisters op te richten. Later voegde ook zus Ruth zich bij het trio, dat tijdelijk een kwartet werd. In 1973 braken de zussen internationaal door met de single ‘Yes We Can Can’, waarop Anita de leadzangeres was. De single bereikte de eerste plaats van de Amerikaanse Billboard Hot 100. In 1974 zorgde Anita’s schrijverstalenten ervoor dat de zussen een flinke hit scoorden met de single ‘Fairytale’. De zussen schreven muziekgeschiedenis, want The Pointer Sisters werd de eerste zwarte damesgroep die in de Grand Ole Opry mocht optreden. ‘Fairytale’ was goed voor een Grammy Award in de categorie ‘Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group’. Bonnie Pointer stapte in 1977 uit The Pointer Sisters voor een solocarrière. In de tweede helft van de jaren zeventig en de jaren tachtig veroverden The Pointer Sisters de internationale hitlijsten met de singles ‘Fire’, ‘Happiness’, ‘He's So Shy’, ‘Slow Hand’, ‘I'm So Excited’, ‘Automatic’, ‘Jump (For My Love)’ en ‘Neutron Dance’. In 1983 was het album ‘Break Out’ goed voor de tweevoudige platina status en won het trio twee Grammy Awards. In 1986, scoorde Anita Pointer een hit in een duet met countryzanger Earl Thomas Conley (‘Too Many Times’). Een jaar later kwam Anita’s soloalbum ‘Love For What It Is’ uit. De singles ‘Overnight Success’ en ‘More Than A Memory’ werden bescheiden hits. In 1994. In februari 2020 kwam Anita’s spraakmakende boek ‘Fairytale: The Pointer Sisters' Family Story’ uit, dat de zangeres samen met haar broer Fritz Pointer had geschreven. Anita Pointer ruste in vrede!
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.
NEDERLANDSE ZANGERES MARGRIET ESHUIJS (LUCIFER) OVERLEDEN
Zangeres Margriet Eshuijs is op 70-jarige leeftijd overleden. Dat heeft haar levenspartner Maarten Peters bekendgemaakt. Margriet was al enige tijd ziek. De muzikale carrière van Margriet begint al in 1963 in de band Marileens. Naast Margriet maken Ria Dekker, Henny Huisman en Leen Schoen deel uit van die band. Het oudste bandlid is twaalf jaar. Margriet heeft dan al enige ervaring als gitariste van The Bright Stars. Marileens richt zich op tieners die van hun ouders nog niet op eigen gelegenheid danslokalen mogen bezoeken. De band treedt daarom op in dansscholen in Zaandam, waar het normale stijldansen wordt verruild voor 'los dansen op beatmuziek'. Henny Huisman wordt in 1966 vervangen door Nico Fontijn (later The Surfers) en de naam van de band wordt veranderd in Equipe Z. In 1968 houdt de band het voor gezien. Huisman vormt in 1972 samen met Dick Buysmans en Pinky (Brenda Barthelemy, ex-Names & Faces) Lucifer. De groep speelt naast eigen werk ook covers van The Beatles, The Peddlers en Helen Reddy. De band pakt alle kansen aan om op te treden: op schepen van de Holland-Amerika lijn en in alle uithoeken van Nederland. Lucifer maakt zijn TV-debuut in het Engelse TV-programma ‘Opportunity Knocks’. Kort daarop verschijnen de eerste singles ‘Morning Sun’ en ‘Open Book’, die weinig doen. Pinky verlaat Lucifer. Haar plaats wordt ingenomen door Margriet Eshuijs. De doorbraak naar het grote publiek komt in april 1975 met de single ‘House For Sale’, een nummer geschreven door Gloria Sklerov en Harry Lloyd en geproduceerd en gearrangeerd door Hans Vermeulen. In augustus scoort de band opnieuw met ‘Scarlet Lady’ en in november met de single ‘I Can See The Sun In Late December’, alle producties van Vermeulen. Het debuutalbum ‘As We Are’ verschijnt en bereikt de gouden status. Lucifer doet in februari 1976 mee aan het Nationaal Songfestival met het liedje ‘Someone Is Waiting For You’. De strijkersarrangementen zijn van Dick Bakker. Hans Vermeulen beëindigt de succesvolle samenwerking met Lucifer na een conflict met platenmaatschappij Bovema-Negram. Aan het eind van het jaar besluit de band tot een vrij forse bezettingswisseling. Henny Huisman, Julio Wilson en Job Netten vormen hun eigen band Match (‘Maggie’s Ambitious Mother’). Ze worden vervangen door gitarist Ferd Berger en drummer Jan Pijnenburg (beiden ex-The Otger Dice Band). Daarna verschijnt de door Margriet geschreven single ‘Self Pity’, die in juli 1977 een hit wordt. Het album ‘Margriet’ verschijnt, maar gooit in commercieel en artistiek opzicht geen hoge ogen. Bassist Dick Buysman verlaat de groep en de band ondergaat een derde gedaanteverwisseling. Omdat de kosten om de band Lucifer in stand te houden te hoog worden, kiest Margriet voor een solocarrière en ontbindt ze de band. Met producer Tom Salisbury en enkele Amerikaanse studiomuzikanten neemt Margriet het album ‘On The Move Again’ op. Voor de plaat ontvangt de zangeres een Edison en de Pall Mal Exportprijs maar omdat het album geen hitsingle bevat, vallen de verkoopresultaten nogal tegen. Daarnaast profileert Margriet zich steeds meer als een rockzangeres en helaas wordt dit door haar publiek niet erg gewaardeerd. In 1981 wordt onder de naam Margriet Eshuijs Band de elpee ‘Right On Time’ uitgebracht, waarbij Margriet bijgestaan wordt door Peter Schön, Lex Bolderdijk, Jan Hollestelle en Ton op 't Hof. De ballad ‘Black Pearl’ wordt een hit. Deelname aan het Knokke Festival levert haar de Personality Prijs op. Ook de TROS Productieprijs valt haar ten deel. In 1982 ontvangt Margriet een Edison voor Beste Popalbum (‘Right On Time’) en Beste Popsingle (‘Black Pearl’). Een jaar later verschijnt het album ‘Eye To Eye’ met prima nummers als ‘Joe & Jerry’, ‘I’ll Be Waiting For You’ en ‘Go On Back To Barbados’. Op het album is vooral door toetsenist Peter Schön geschreven en geproduceerd materiaal te vinden. Als enkele leden van de Margriet Eshuijs Band gaan spelen in de band van de Dolly Dots vormt de zangeres een nieuwe band met voormalige leden van Solution (Willem Ennes en Harry Hardholt), Evert Woud en drummer Arno van Nieuwenhuizen (ex-Daniel Sahuleka). De jaren daarna stagneert de platenproductie, maar is de stem van Margriet regelmatig te horen in reclamespots. Ook treedt ze veel op. Daarnaast geeft ze les aan het Conservatorium in Alkmaar en presenteert ze de Teleac cursus ‘Rock School’. Met Maarten Peeters neemt Margriet in 1991 het album ‘ Sometimes’ op, dat haar een Gouden Harp oplevert. Na ‘Sometimes’ volgen nog albums als ‘The Wee Small Hours’, ‘Shadow Dancing’, ‘Step Into The Light’ en ‘Time’. Margriet Eshuijs ruste in vrede!
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.
THE FROST DUO COVERS ‘MY FUNNY VALENTINE’
The Frost Duo is comprised of vocalist LeahBeth Evans and multi-instrumentalist Christian Gratz. The group resides in the suburbs of Scranton Pennsylvania and perform all throughout central and northeast PA, NY,NJ and TN. The group has opened for artists such as Louis Prima Jr. and the witnesses and Jill Sobule, and this past year debuted with their EP "Play Nice" at #51 on the itunes jazz charts next to Tony Bennet and Lady Gaga's Cheek to Cheek album.
The group wanted to recreate a version of a favorite class "My Funny Valentine" and turn it into an upbeat, sexy and smooth sound.
CASTELLA FT. MARQUEAL JORDAN IN ‘I SAW YOU’
Castella starts 2023 with an original tune written by Castella with music produced by David P. Stevens. Hearing something special in Castella’s voice and spirit, Stevens approached Castella with an amazing track which instantly resonated with the singer-songwriter.
“It was just one of those tracks… you hear it and the melody comes instantly, a story develops and before you know it, we have a song!” said Castella. Inspired by Castella’s favorite subject, love – “I Saw You” is a tale of being down in life and finding friendship and love in a person with a pure heart and pure intentions.
Adding to the tune is the talent of top 5 Billboard charting saxophonist Marqueal Jordan. Marqueal’s tone and styling envelope this classic soulful song reminiscent of beloved artists like Oleta Adams, Dianne Reeves, Rachelle Farrell and certainly Debra and Ronnie Laws! The blend of Castella and Marqueal with sparks of David’s guitar make for a very special record.
“I Saw You” fills that void and gives the listener that instant “good -good feeling” with an unforgettable melody that will certainly have everyone singing the hook – “I Saw You”
"I Saw You" featuring Marqueal Jordan
Written By Castella (Cathy Thompson)
Produced and Mixed by David P. Stevens
Mastered by Darryl Swann
Castella - Lead and Background Vocals
Marqueal Jordan - Saxophone
David P. Stevens – Guitar & Keys
Joel Tate – Drums
Jethaniel Nixon – Bass
BRANDON MARCEAL GOES ‘WAAY UP’
When Brandon Marceal plays the flute, he creates a connection to the soul. Not your typical symphonic flute, but jazz flute, improvised flute and flute that fuses jazz with hip-hop, or jazz with R&B. Marceal has been a flutist for more than 25 years.
After moving to Atlanta in 2001 and playing open-mic nights at coffee shops, his music began to take off. He started playing professionally working with director Bryan Barber (Idlewild 2006) and artists like Patti LaBelle and Andre 3000 of OutKast. He’s graced the stage with violinist Ken Ford, saxophonist Mike Phillips, and Stellar Award winner, Dorinda Clark-Cole to name a few. Rapper Nicki Minaj has even taken notice of Marceal's awesome improvisational/freestyle skillz, having named him winner of the "Best of the Bass" competition after singling him out of thousands of submitted videos. Recently, casting producers from NBC’s hit show “America’s Got Talent” reached out to Marceal after viewing YouTube videos of him on the web.
“People ‘feel’ my music. ... My peers or people who listen to popular music from Kanye West to Wynton Marsalis,” Marceal said. “I like to cover radio hits. Introducing my skill set with these more recognizable songs helps to draw in my listeners.”
When Brandon Marceal plays flute, he creates a connection to the soul. Reminiscent of flutist, Bobbi Humphrey, the tone heard with every fluttering breath is enchanting and mesmerizing. Whether playing a cover tune or an original composition, each song is infused with a spirit and passion all its own. This freelance flautist is a force to be reckoned with on his flute.
His business, Soul Rockin’ Ent., distributes promotional CDs, books shows and offers performance, ear theory and improvisation lessons.
DARREN RAHN’S NEW SINGLE ‘EVERLASTING’
Rahn’s tireless commitment to musical authenticity over the past 18 years has resulted in multiple Grammy nominations and 26 #1 Billboard singles as a solo artist/saxophonist, producer and mix engineer. The multi-talented, Canadian born, Denver based artist’s multi-faceted journey reaches yet another key milestone with the release of Rock The World, a hallmark album that taps perfectly into the Zeitgeist of these anxious times while revealing an ever-evolving artist at the pinnacle of his creative, melodic, spiritual and sonic expressions.
While many artists in his genre have created inspiring recordings during the pandemic era, none have so intuitively and artfully used instrumental music to reflect not only just how the world has been rocked, but offer a meaningful path forward on how we can rock back, get through the dark, daunting obstacles and move ahead with hope. True to the empowering and provocative album title, Rahn embraces the stark reality of the moment with optimism, forging and illuminating the road ahead by rocking the world with the gifts he, his core band (including bassist Mel Brown, drummer Tarell Martin and twin brother Jason Rahn on trumpet), guitarists Randy Jacobs, Allen Hinds, Adam Hawley and Paul Jackson, Jr., vocalist Biff Gore, his flutist wife Priscilla Rahn and dynamic all-star guests (Brian Bromberg, Dave Koz, Najee, Everette Harp, Brian Culbertson) have been blessed with.
Rahn sees "Everlasting" as whimsical, uplifting and eminently danceable. “It’s not just about the light at the end of the tunnel, but the reality that God’s love is true love, and it endures forever,” he says. “It’s the ultimate dot dot dot, the promise of love everlasting.”
"Everlasting"
Written, Produced, and Mixed by Darren Rahn (Odipantz Music/ASCAP)
Mastered by Joe Yannece at Park Street Mastering
Darren Rahn - Tenor Saxophone, Synthesizers, Drum Programming
Adam Hawley - Guitars
VLAAMSE COMEDY-ICONEN URBANUS & JACQUES VERMEIRE VOOR HET EERST SAMEN OP DE PLANKEN
Het klinkt comedy-liefhebbers als muziek in de oren: Urbanus (73) & Jacques Vermeire (71), de twee peetvaders van de Vlaamse stand-up comedy, slaan de handen in elkaar en gaan voor het eerst ooit het podium delen. De exclusieve voorstelling vindt plaats op 25 & 26 januari in Vooruit Gent en kadert in de wereldreis die het duo ondernam voor een nieuw VTM-programma van producent Erik Goens.
De voorbije maanden trok het duo naar de uithoeken van de wereld om te zoeken of hun humor al dan niet universeel is. Waar Urbanus en Jacques Vermeire de afgelopen 50 jaar gans Vlaanderen aan het lachen bracht met shows van De Panne tot Maaseik gingen ze nu van onder meer New York naar Kathmandu, van Benidorm naar Kaapstad en van Kinshasa naar Lapland. Op 25 en 26 januari eindigt de wereldtournee, op één uniek podium én met een rugzak vol knotsgekke verhalen en anekdotes die ze graag delen met hun fans. Geheel in hun eigen gekende komische stijl.
Brengt Urbanus een hiphop uit de Bronx? Krijgen de typetjes van Jacques Vermeire internationale allures? Gaan Urbain en Jacky een meertalige comedy-battle aan?
Maak het mee, once in a lifetime: Jacques Vermeire en Urbanus. Een afspraak met de Vlaamse comedy geschiedenis die je niet wil missen. 25 of 26 januari in de Vooruit in Gent.
Tickets kunnen vanaf nu gereserveerd worden via www.comedyshows.be.
De tv-reeks zal in 2023 op VTM worden uitgezonden.
BEKENDE PRODUCER, ARRANGEUR EN SONGWRITER THOM BELL OVERLEDEN
De in Jamaica geboren Amerikaanse platenproducent, arrangeur en songwriter Thom Bell is gisteren op 78-jarige leeftijd overleden. Thomas Randolph Bell werd wereldberoemd als een van de creatieve mensen achter het geluid van de zogenaamde Philadelphia Soul in de jaren zeventig. Bell was de grote man achter de successen van The Delfonics, The Stylistics en The Spinners. Bell volgde in zijn jeugd een opleiding als muzikant en verhuisde naar Philadelphia. Als tiener zong hij met Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff en Daryl Hall. Zijn eerste grote doorbraak in de wereld van de soulmuziek was voor Cameo Records in Philadelphia waar hij werkte als sessiemuzikant en arrangeur. In 1967 ontdekte hij de plaatselijke groep The Delfonics en produceerde twee van hun singles voor het sublabel Moonglow. Bell’s talenten als producer leverden The Delfonics hits op als ‘La-La (Means I Love You)’ en ‘Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)’. Bell trad in 1970 toe tot het snel groeiende productiebedrijf van Kenny Gamble en Leon Huff in Philadelphia en werkte als arrangeur voor Jerry Butler, Archie Bell & The Drells, Jerry Bell, The O'Jays en Dusty Springfield. Hij arrangeerde voor The O’Jays de grote hit ‘Back Stabbers’ voor Gamble & Huff’s eigen platenlabel Philadelphia International Records. Bell vormde ook met Gamble een Huff een driemanschap in de muziekuitgeverij Mighty Three Music. In 1971 ontdekte hij een andere plaatselijke groep, The Stylistics. Hij produceerde platen voor deze groep voor Avco Records. In die tijd werkte hij veel samen met songwriter Linda Creed en Russell Thompkins, Jr., de leadzanger van The Stylistics. Bell en Creed schreven hits als ‘Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)’, ‘You Are Everything’, ‘Betcha by Golly, Wow’, ‘Break Up to Make Up’, ‘You Make Me Feel Brand New’ en ‘I'm Stone in Love with You’ voor The Stylistics. In 1972 werd Bell producer van platen van The Spinners voor Atlantic Records. Die samenwerking duurde zeven jaar en resulteerde in vijf gouden albums en hits als ‘I'll Be Around’, ‘Could It Be I'm Falling in Love’, ‘Games People Play’ en ‘The Rubberband Man’. In 1974 werd Thom Bell gekozen tot beste producer van dat jaar. In de jaren daarna werkte hij intensief samen met artiesten en acts als Dionne Warwick, Johnny Mathis, Billy Paul, Ronnie Dyson, Anthony & The Imperials, New York City, Deniece Williams, James Ingram en Elton John. Thom Bell ruste in vrede!
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.
VLAANDEREN SMULT VAN ‘CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY’
Extra show op 5 januari 2023 om 14u. in Stadsschouwburg Antwerpen.
Vanaf 12 januari in Capitole Gent
Vanaf 26 januari in Trixxo Theater Hasselt
bekijk HIER de aftermovie van de première
incl. reacties van o.a Stijn Coninx, Kim Van Oncen, Sander Gillis en Evi Hanssen
Op 10 december 2022 ging dé familiemusical van deze eindejaarsperiode, de eerste Vlaamse versie van ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, in première in Stadsschouwburg Antwerpen. Naast o.a. een verbluffende (musicaldebutante) Astrid Stockman, die zich als Mrs. Teavea met sappig Gents accent zowaar zelfs ontpopt als comedyqueen van de voorstelling, een knisperende en ontwapenende Koen Van Impe als Bompa Jos, een swingende 'Queen of Pop' Sali Haidari a.k.a. Violet Beauregarde en Nordin de Moor die een heerlijke Willy Wonka neerzet, is het ook echt wel vol bewondering kijken en luisteren naar wat de 3 jonge ‘Charlies’, Senn Dauwe (14 jaar), Mauro Degroote (12 jaar) en Viktor Kryeziu (9 jaar), afwisselend per voorstelling op het podium brengen.
De recensies en reacties van het publiek, dat met gulzige teugen smult van deze 'smakuleuze' familiemusical, liegen er dan ook niet om. De positieve echo's van de mond-tot-mond tamtam missen duidelijk hun effect niet, want alle matineevoorstellingen in de kerstvakantie zijn ondertussen volledig uitverkocht. Om aan de stijgende vraag naar Gouden Tickets te kunnen voldoen, kondigt producent Deep Bridge dan ook met trots een extra show van 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' aan op donderdag 5 januari 2023 om 14u in Stadsschouwburg Antwerpen.
‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ speelt nog tot en met 8 januari 2023 in Antwerpen en zal vanaf 12 januari ook te zien zijn in Capitole Gent (laatste tickets!!) en vanaf 26 januari in Trixxo Theater Hasselt. Op zondag 29 januari sluiten de poorten van Willy Wonka's wondere chocoladefabriek definitief, dus wees niet de Loempe Oempa die deze fantastische productie gemist heeft en bestel nu je tickets via: www.deepbridge.be !
ENGELSE MUZIKANT & LEADZANGER TERRY HALL (THE SPECIALS & FUN BOY THREE) OVERLEDEN
De Engelse muzikant en leadzanger Terry Hall is gisteren na een kortstondig ziekbed op slechts 63-jarige leeftijd overleden. De in Coventry opgegroeide Terence Edward Hall werd vooral bekend als leadzanger van The Specials en Fun Boy Three, maar maakte ook deel van The Colourfield, Terry, Blair & Anouchka en Vegas. Hij bracht twee soloalbums uit en werkte daarnaast samen met artiesten als David Stewart, Bananarama, The Lightning Seeds, Sinéad O'Connor, Stephen Duffy, Dub Pistols, Gorillaz, Damon Albarn, D12, Tricky, Lily Allen en Shakespears Sister. De band The Specials schrijft op sociale media dat "een van de briljantste zangers, songwriters en tekstschrijvers die Groot-Brittannië ooit heeft voortgebracht" na een kort ziekbed is gestorven. The Specials zijn de grondleggers van de Britse ska, een stroming die eind jaren zeventig en begin jaren tachtig enorm populair was. De groep rond Hall was daarmee een inspiratie voor meerdere bekende Britse skabands uit die tijd zoals Madness, The Selecter en The Beat. In 1979 braken The Specials door met de single ‘Gangsters’, ook in Nederland. Daarna werden hits gescoord met de cover ‘A Message to You Rudy’ (1979) en ‘Ghost Town’ (1981). Dat laatste nummer werd gezien als de soundtrack voor de rellen die dat jaar in tientallen steden uitbraken vanwege raciale spanningen, Hall kwam kort na de formatie bij de groep en was in de hoogtijdagen voorman. In 1981 verliet hij samen met zanger Neville Staple en slaggitarist Lynval Golding de band na een conflict. De drie richtten de groep Fun Boy Three op en scoorden een wereldhit met de single ‘It Ain’t What You Do (It’s The Way That You Do It)’. Jarenlang wilde Hall niets weten van een reünie, maar in 2007 begon het toch te kriebelen en ging hij samen met Golding weer nummers van The Specials spelen op festivals. Later werd een echte reünie aangekondigd, al stond de band nooit meer in de originele bezetting op het podium. The Specials kwamen ook regelmatig optreden in Nederland en speelden in juni dit jaar nog twee concerten in Utrecht en Amsterdam. Hall zei ooit dat het succes van The Specials een toevallig bijproduct was van de punkbeweging. "Toen ik The Sex Pistols en The Clash zag, leek het me allemaal niet al te moeilijk", zei hij vorig jaar. "Het zag er niet naar uit dat ze zulke goede muzikanten waren, dus we moesten eigenlijk gewoon een band formeren en alles daarna verder uitwerken." "We wisten zelfs niet wie welke rol zou krijgen binnen de band. We gaven de instrumenten aan elkaar door totdat iedereen tevreden was. Ik voelde me met geen enkel instrument op mijn gemak, dus ik werd de zanger." In de verklaring van de band wordt Hall een geweldige echtgenoot en vader genoemd. "Hij was aardig, grappig en oprecht. Zijn muziek en optredens bevatten de essentie van het leven: vreugde, pijn, humor, de strijd voor rechtvaardigheid, maar vooral liefde. Hij zal enorm gemist worden." Terry Hall ruste in vrede!
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.
NYTE SKYE - 'VANISHING' – NEW WAVE & DREAM POP DEBUT ALBUM BY US FATHER & SON DUO
NYTE SKYE photography by Seth Affoumado
NYTE SKYE
VANISHING
debut album
out 10.01.23
[Sonic Ritual]
pre-order/save
includes the new single
TAKE ME UP AGAIN
out now
digital services
"I wrote this when things were quite bleak and everyone was isolating. It felt like all we had was our family and we needed to keep each other going," states Nyles Lannon of Nyte Skye when discussing ‘Take Me Up Again’, the second single to be lifted from a forthcoming debut album of new wave/dream pop influenced songs by the San Francisco-based outfit built around vocalist/guitarist Nyles (also of celebrated shoegazers Film School) and his teenage son Skye on drums (who was only 12 when recording the album).
The bouncy 'Take Me Up Again’ follows its moody, synth driven predecessor ‘Dream State’ (Iisten HERE) which harboured similar feelings about the strange effects brought about by the pandemic. "I wanted it to operate like a time capsule of sorts,” explains Nyles. “How strange it was to go on a road trip when everyone we encountered was distant, masked and a little fearful. I knew this time would eventually pass and how strange it would all seem in the rear-view mirror. As life gets back to our new normal, I actually find myself missing those times together.”
Of ‘Vanishing’ as a whole, Nyles says that “the songs on the album capture the little ways Skye and I were coping with those early days of the pandemic; some reflective and poignant, some escapist, some playful. Music was our bond and in some ways our guiding light. It gave us a focused goal while we processed what was happening in our little world."
Formed from both the frustration of quarantine and the boundless creativity that arose from having nowhere to go and nothing else to do has resulted in songs such as ‘Doing Time’ (a meditation on holding onto a child’s sanguine outlook in the face of adversity) and ‘Faded’ (in which a bittersweet melody and gentle rhythm bely themes of physical and emotional frailty).
The emotional toll of lockdown, collective grief, plus the literal darkness that engulfed the sky thanks to the devastating wildfires that ravaged the landscape close to the Lannon’s home are heavy subject matter, but the resulting songs convey how they managed to keep each other sane - and inspired - through it all. Expanding on Nyles' previous work, they also incorporate elements of other bands that the duo both love, including Spiritualized, Elliott Smith and The Police (one of Skye’s main influences is Stewart Copeland). “I am so grateful for this connection we have,” beams Nyles. "Sometimes I have to remind myself that Skye is still a kid and hasn’t been in bands for thirty years like me. Yet, when he plays, he is just a damn good drummer.”
Ultimately, Nyte Skye has helped the duo cope with a uniquely challenging situation, while being stuck at home stoked their creativity. “Music was the only thing I did during the pandemic, besides online school,” says Skye. “It gave us all this time we didn't have before to make the album.” For Nyles, to be able to put out a record with his son is simply “a dream come true.”
ABOUT NYTE SKYE
Nyte Skye is Nyles Lannon (vocals, guitars) and Skye Lannon (drums), with additional contributions from Zach Rogue (Rogue Wave), Nichole Kreglow (backing vocals), lyricist Neil Rodenmeyer (Lupa Rosa) and Ian McDonald (FUTRVST). A
composer for commercials, Nyles has released several solo records that have earned accolades such as Album of the Year in the San Francisco Bay Guardian and Best Folktronica Artist in SF Weekly. He is also a member of shoegaze band Film School. Skye Lannon has been a drummer since the age of 6 after learning a basic beat from his dad. Within a few days, he was hooked and lost interest in all his other hobbies. He finished Year 9 in June 2022 (8th grade in the US).
NEW TRACK ‘DEEPER LOVE’ FROM ALEX FANJUL FT. TONI BOURGON
Deeper Love is the most recent song composed, produced by Alex Fanjul.
A thumping beat, an inspiring bass line, a really powerful and warm voice, and a really nice sax solo.
On this occasion the participating musicians have been, the bass line has been created and played by Baltasar Bassbarcelona, the voices are by Sanna Hartfield, and the saxophone by my dear friend (who recently passed away) Toni Bourgon, and finally myself playing the guitars and the keyboards.
STEVE VAI PRESENTEERT NIEUWE TRACK ‘BUSTED’
CD en Digitaal uit op 27 januari 2023
LP uit op 24 februari 2023
Via Favored Nations / Mascot Label Group
Pre-Order/Stream Hier: https://lnk.to/VaiGash
Steve Vai en Favored Nations/ Mascot Label Group brengen VAI / GASH uit op CD en digitaal op 27 januari 2023. Vinyl volgt op 24 februari. Vandaag presenteert Vai “Busted”, dat hier kan worden beluisterd: https://youtu.be/O2U5pSbFSIg. Vai vertelt, “This song, “Busted” is basically about the incessant and nefarious activities of a corrupt and skanky mistress against her biker boyfriend. But she got ‘Busted’. The entire track was recorded in one day and Gash slammed the vocal out in 2 takes.” De eerste track die werd gepresenteerd, "In The Wind", is wereldwijd zeer positief ontvangen en kan hier worden beluisterd: https://youtu.be/AkbnEj2yDw0 . Op het moment van onthulling deelde Vai, “’In The Wind’ was the first track that was recorded for this record. It captures the spirit of the open road freedom we felt while riding our Harley’s on bike rallies and interstate road trips. The track has the exhilaration of having that kind of power under you while kissing the wind.” In drie weken tijd is de track over een kwart miljoen streams, waarvan de video 130.000 keer is bekeken op YouTube video.
Vai deelt, “This record was written and recorded in somewhat of a stream of consciousness in 1991 within perhaps a 2-week period as an answer to my desire to have a particular kind of music to listen to when I was riding my Harley Davison Motorcycle with my friends. It’s reminiscent of a certain type of rock music I enjoyed as a teenager in the 1970’s. These recordings sat on the shelf for over 30 years and are being released now in 2023. Here’s the story…”
Een verkorte samenvatting van de anekdotische geschiedenis en dierbare herinneringen zoals verwoord door Vai in de liner notes, bieden details over zanger Gash en zijn diepe band met Vai. Vanaf zijn tienerjaren op Long Island tot vandaag heeft hij openlijk zijn liefde voor motorfietsen gedeeld. Gash deelde die passie.
Vai blikt terug, “Around 1990, I was overcome with a desire to rip out what I thought would be a straight-ahead type of rock record that contained the kind of music I wish I had to listen to when I was that teenager ensconced in the biker culture. And then I met Johnny “Gash” Sombrotto.”
John werd geboren in Queens, New York en was in zijn jeugd een fervent motorliefhebber. In 1977 kreeg hij op 21-jarige leeftijd een ernstig ongeluk waarbij zijn lichaam vlam vatte en hij vanaf 10 meter in een hek van prikkeldraad stortte. Vai schreef in de liner notes, “The doctors told his family that he had third degree burns over 60% of his body, and that if he even survived, there was a strong possibility that he would lose his right arm and left leg. While in the Burn Unit, he endured excruciating pain, especially when given the intense daily cycle of hot baths for his burns. He soldiered on, and after a month he was finally discharged from the hospital. Luckily, no limbs were amputated. He was, however, left with a partial left ear and layers of skin grafts over his neck, arms, legs, and entire chest. The stories he told about his recovery and the excruciating pain involved were crushingly gut wrenching. But he survived, and eventually thrived again. He made his way out to Los Angeles in 1982 and got right back up on his motorcycle.”
Vai ontmoette John via een wederzijdse vriend, Mark Cimino. Ze hadden een band met de motorcultuur en hij koos de naam "Gash" als bijnaam. Vai schreef, “…I’ve observed many people interacting with him on our numerous motorcycle road trips and other adventures. At first sight, many people could be taken by his bald head, scarred neck and burnt-off ear. Looking as he did and riding a Harley it was easy to assume he was perhaps a tough, menacing biker with a nefarious attitude, but after engaging with him for even a minute, his charm and magnetic charisma had them laughing in their shoes and completely enjoying his uplifting presence. He endeared people with his wit, warmth, and sparkle. John hit it off instantly with the most unlikely of people of every age, color, size, political or sexual persuasions. He was non superficial and never judged people. This allowed his engaging personality and intoxicating charm to draw you in. Under all those scars was a bold and fearlessly warm heart that can be seen in his disarming and big soft blue eyes.”
Hij vervolgt, “…something in me wanted to get him in the studio and see how he would belt over these biker type songs I had demoed, but nothing could have prepared me for the voice that came out of his mouth. I had to think, off course he sounds like that because that’s him, confident, authentic, fearless but with a lighthearted intention. This was the voice I wanted to hear wailing over these slamming rock tracks. I was stunned. Around that timeframe I was also starting to launch work on ‘Sex and Religion’ and was hoping to eventually record more than the 8 songs I had laid down with John for an alternative project, but that was proven impossible. On September 7th, 1998, two days after my father had passed away, the phone rang, and it was John’s beloved girlfriend Nancy. Her voice was quaking, and I somehow knew what she was going to tell me. ‘John was in a bike accident and was killed’.”
Na drie decennia heeft Steve Vai eindelijk de stem van Gash gedeeld met de wereld. Naar zijn mening, “He would have absolutely been the greatest rock lead singer you would ever want to know. All the elements were in place, but he was gone. Disheartened, I put the entire project on the shelf, and would listen to it at least once a year for the past 30 years, especially around the anniversary of his passing. Then recently something compelled me to want to put it out now. I wish you would have had a chance to get to know John. I believe you would have loved him just as we all did. For now, he is ‘In the Wind’.”
Tracklist
In The Wind
Busted
Let’s Jam
Woman Fever
She Saved My Life Tonight
Danger Zone
New Generation
Flowers Of Life
Available Formats:
Black 180gr LP
Blue Marble LP (webshop exclusive)
CD
Digital
Steve Vai Online:
https://www.vai.com/
facebook.com/stevevai
instagram.com/stevevaihimself
twitter.com/stevevai
youtube.com/user/SteveVaiHimself
KELELA DEBUTS VIDEO FOR LATEST SINGLE ‘ON THE RUN’
NEW ALBUM RAVEN
DUE FEBRUARY 10 ON WARP
Kelela shares a brand new video for her latest offering “On the Run". Kelela’s long-awaited sequel to her debut album is slated for release February 10th, 2023. The album is preceded by singles “Washed Away,” “Happy Ending” and “On The Run”.
Since its release on November 15th, “On the Run” has been regaled for its “quiet brilliance” and “new flavor.” Collaborating with director Lee Wei Swee for the visual, the song’s sultry sonics are brought to life in a joyride video with her co-star and one of the song’s producers, Bambii.
Skillfully straddling the frequencies of R&B and dance/club music, American singer, songwriter and producer Kelela has established herself as an artistic interpolator of music, art and fashion. In 2017, Kelela’s debut album, Take Me Apart, accelerated her inevitable rise to mainstream acclaim in both pop and underground culture. In the years prior, Cut 4 Me (2013) and Hallucinogen (2015) – among her other remix projects and features – cemented her artistry as a leading force in the alternative, underground R&B world. With a personal style as visually kaleidoscopic as her genre-wielding music, Kelela has established herself as a vanguard of sonic and aesthetic innovation. Thoughtfully intermixing elegance, futurism, divinity and sensuality, Kelela’s unique perspective has carved a lane that demonstrates style as both a component of art, and art in and of itself.
Recent Praise for Kelela’s “On the Run”
“…Kelela’s ‘On the Run’ gives a new flavor of her hyper-manicured sound. Maintaining the ethereal quality of her past few releases, the new single sees Kelela embracing a darker, brooding sound…” - Billboard First Out
“…a gorgeously wobbly piece of house-R&B, like a classic disco track given too many bumps of ketamine. It’s spare, luxuriant and far-reaching, anchored by Kelela’s iconic voice.” - PAPER
“…’On The Run’ seems to be her best yet. It’s so deeply soulful, quietly brilliant in its genius.” - V Magazine
“Allow another new, languid Kelela song to give you mental deliverance.” – NYLON
Alongside the video Kelela announces her RAVE:N tour beginning March 16, 2023 in support of her highly anticipated sophomore album. Tickets are available for pre-sale at kelela.co and general on-sale will begin tomorrow, Friday, December 9th at 10 am local time.
Kelela’s RAVE:N Tour 2023
Mar 16 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West
Mar 17 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
Mar 18 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall
Mar 23 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
Mar 24 - Toronto, ON - The Opera House
Apr 01 - Los Angeles, CA - The Fonda
April 07 - London, UK - Outernet
NOT A ‘MIRAGE’ – JAZZ SINGER-SONGWRITER SAMANTHA FIERKE IS AN ARTIST TO WATCH
The compelling and complex debut album about self-discovery is winning deserved attention.
BOSTON (8 December 2022): Most twenty-year-old college students are exploring their identity and Samantha Fierke is doing their searching, questioning and experimenting via song. Despite their youth, the jazz singer-songwriter recently released their debut album, “Mirage,” which is a mature, transcendent and intriguing collection of captivating confessionals, emotional explorations, and intimate journal entries documenting the last couple years of their experience spanning an autism diagnosis, finding their place in the world through a queer identity, and leaving the safety of their Columbia, Missouri home post-pandemic to begin studies in Boston at Berklee College of Music.
Since the album’s street date, Fierke’s self-released jazz vocal album produced by drummer Loyd Warden is steadily collecting accolades from reviewers, radio spins and more than 20,000 Spotify plays. In conjunction with the album’s arrival, Fierke played shows in both Boston and Columbia, confidently sharing their songs from “Mirage” at club gigs.
Live performance videos for album tracks “Color Me” (https://youtu.be/IzGT1DfTWW4) and “I Remember Butterflies” (https://youtu.be/posW0CjsKRE) hit YouTube, inviting listeners to delve into the engaging talent’s songbook. On “Color Me,” which previewed the album when issued as a single last summer, a heartbroken Fierke sings about their autism diagnosis made last year, one that brought liberation and confirmation as well as pain and confusion stemming from an abusive relationship. On the surface, “I Remember Butterflies” recalls halcyon times yet it’s more of a song that mourns lost innocence.
Fierke’s “Mirage” conveys hope and despair amidst the chaos and turmoil of recent times – from the pandemic, political tensions, civil unrest and economic uncertainty. Backed by a trio comprised of Warden (drums and percussion), bassist Mickey Jamieson and keyboardist Samuel Luetkemeyer, Fierke’s vocal prowess is astute, sophisticated and poised while authentic, expressive and heartfelt. Whether singing their stories on tracks that form a mélange of jazz, fusion, global folk, funk and adult pop, or scatting amidst swinging rhythms and grooves, Fierke’s project provides a jolt of youthful creativity, ambition and adventure into vocal jazz, introducing a new voice to watch.
Fierke & Company spent a couple of years working on “Mirage.” During the writing and recording process, Grammy nominated jazz vocalists Gretchen Parlato, Jane Monheit and Oleta Adams as well as Grammy winner Taylor Eigsti served as Fierke’s mentors and role models. After hearing the finished album, another Grammy winner, Brother Paul Brown (The Waterboys), submitted “Mirage” for Grammy consideration in five categories.
Below is a sampling of what the press has said about “Mirage”:
“An invigorating and lovely listening experience…Sam takes you on a rich journey…This multi-layered vocalist swings, sways and swaggers…‘Mirage’ is a promising first full album from a fine new young artist to watch.” – Audiophile Review
“Elegantly-crafted, just stunningly-orchestrated, vibrant new jazz album.” – Exclusive Magazine
“‘Mirage’ is a concise 8 tracker and the songs deal with all sorts of issues…the singer, though a relative newcomer, shows her mastery of the art of scat vocals…‘Mirage’ can be seen as (a) journey (of) self-discovery – a journey that ultimately ends with a mature jazz album which has already received Grammy consideration in 5 categories.” – Soul & Jazz & Funk
“Closing out our playlist, jazz singer/songwriter Samantha Fierke and the opening track from her new album, Mirage; an astutely rhythmic tribute to Chick Corea titled ‘Kick It Loose.’” - Jazziz
For more information, please visit https://samdoesjazz.com.
NIEUWE SINGLE VAN SOFIE – THIS CHRISTMAS
De Belgische zangeres Sofie (Verbruggen) wijdt al zo goed als haar volledige leven aan haar grote passie, muziek. Vandaag breng ze met trots haar nieuwe single 'This Christmas' uit. De single gaat over de gezellige en traditionele kerstsfeer en is een cover van Donny Hathaway.
"De kerstperiode is voor mij al jaren één van de hoogtepunten van het jaar, voornamelijk dankzij de uitverkochte kerstconcerten in de Sint-Carolus Borromeuskerk in Antwerpen. Die gaan dit jaar door op 14 en 15 december en zijn ook nu weer volledig uitverkocht. De single zal daar voor het eerst live te horen zijn. Ik ben echt heel erg benieuwd naar de reacties!", zegt de fiere Sofie.
Sofie werd geboren in een Antwerpse, muzikale familie met grootmoeder en operazangeres Mina Bollotine dicht aan haar zijde. Op 17-jarige leeftijd werd Sofie ontdekt in de wedstrijd 'Ontdek de ster' die werd uitgezonden op de toenmalige BRT. Nadien was ze te horen bij discoformatie 'Trinity', tot de groep in 1978 uit elkaar ging. Een eerste grote solosucces kwam er in 1982 met 'I Love You'. In België werd de single een bescheiden hit, maar in Azië haalde de song later miljoenen views op YouTube.
"Mijn volledige familie is muzikaal aangelegd, dus ik krijg heel veel steun van ieder van hen. Ik ben nooit een hitwonder geweest, maar ik ben mijn liefde voor muziek altijd blijven volgen, ben ook altijd blijven optreden en doe dat nog steeds met evenveel passie als tijdens mijn eerste optreden. Het winnen van zo'n TV-show als 'Ontdek de ster' opent natuurlijk heel wat deuren. Het mooiste moment was toen ik in 1981 België mocht vertegenwoordigen op het Koreaans songfestival en daar de prijs voor beste uitvoering won met het nummer 'He Loves Me'. Toen ik in 1983 met het liedje 'Nummer één' nipt de voorselecties verloor tegen de cultgroep Pas de Deux, deden de reacties van het publiek erg veel deugd. Ze vonden mijn tweede plaats onterecht", zegt Sofie.
De muzikale richting waar Sofie zich steeds in begeeft is naar eigen zeggen vrij niche: "Ik weet dat ik niet de meest toegankelijke, commerciële muziek maak die radio's makkelijk kunnen programmeren, maar elke vogel zingt zoals ie gebekt is". Dat hield Sofie echter nooit tegen een mooie carrière uit te bouwen, want zo werkte ze op haar albums o.a. samen met muzikale grootmeesters als Toots Thielemans, Bobby Wommack en Paul Carrack.
'This Christmas', de nieuwe single van Sofie, kan u beluisteren op alle grote streamingplatformen.
SALVATORE ADAMO VIERT '60 JAAR CARRIERE' IN ANTWERPEN EN GENT
27 mei 2023 - Koningin Elisabethzaal Antwerpen
12 november 2023 - Capitole Gent
Salvatore Adamo, de best verkopende Belgische artiest aller tijden, viert in 2023 niet alleen zijn 80ste verjaardag, maar ook zijn indrukwekkende 60-jarige carrière. Naar aanleiding van dit bijzondere dubbele jubileum, trakteert deze levende legende zijn trouwe fans op zaterdag 27 mei 2023 in de Koningin Elisabethzaal in Antwerpen en op zondag 12 november 2023 in Capitole Gent, op concertavonden om nooit te vergeten.
Op het podium laat de Belgisch-Italiaanse wereldster zich omringen door zijn eigen geweldige liveband. Naast recenter werk, mogen Adamo-klassiekers als 'Tombe la neige', 'Sans toi ma mie' (waar het in 1963 allemaal mee begon), 'Vous permettez, monsieur', 'Les Filles du Bord de Mer', 'Insch'Allah' en 'Dolce Paola' natuurlijk niet ontbreken.
Mis deze memorabele, dubbele jubileumconcerten van Salvatore Adamo op 27 mei 2023 in de Koningin Elisabethzaal en op 12 november 2023 in Capitole Gent niet, en bestel nu je tickets via www.ticketkopen.eu.
CELEBRATE A COOL YULE WITH LOUIS ARMSTRONG HOLIDAY GIFTS AND HIS FIRST-EVER CHRISTMAS ALBUM
Celebrate the Holiday Season with Louis Armstrong Holiday Gifts and the Release of Louis Wishes You Cool Yule, His First-ever Christmas Recording, which debuted in the Top 10 Across Billboard Charts
The Recording Features a Previously Unreleased Armstrong Reading of The Night Before Christmas with New Orleans Pianist Sullivan Fortner
NEW YORK, NY – When the world-renowned jazz icon Louis Armstrong (1901-1971) was on tour, he would always put up a small Christmas tree in the hotel he and his wife Lucille were staying. When they were home for the holidays, they would lavishly display their Corona Queens home with decorations, sing carols, recite The Night Before Christmas, and Armstrong sent friends his homemade holiday cards, made in his genius, down home style.
Now, Armstrong’s holiday cheer is available to everyone with several Armstrong-themed gift items from The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, Inc. (LAEF), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 1969 to perpetuate the legacies of Louis and Lucille Armstrong throughout the world by supporting musicians, jazz education, performances and programming.
You can put Satchmo on your tree with the purchase of four custom-curated glass ornaments in blue, green, red and white; they are 3.25” in diameter, featuring 2” printed text, “What a Wonderful World” on the front, and the iconic Armstrong trademark on the back for $29.98.
Other gift items include a selection of Armstrong apparel, featuring white and navy blue short and long sleeve t-shirts, ranging from $30 to $60, a $30.00 fleece, zip up hoodie, white mugs for $15.00 and a $30.00, tote bag. All items feature an image of Armstrong with a trumpet, in Santa clothes with the words, “Louis Wishes You a Cool Yule.”
That phrase, Louis Wishes You A Cool Yule, is also the title of a new compilation of Armstrong’s timeless holiday-associated selections, mostly from Decca Records in the 1950’s. This compendium showcases Armstrong’s towering trumpet and gravelly voice on 11 selections with orchestral and big band arrangements. More than 50 years after his passing, the legendary entertainer is back on the charts with the release of his first-ever Christmas album, Louis Wishes You A Cool Yule (Verve/UMe). The collection debuted in the Top 10 across multiple Billboard charts (dated Nov. 26), including Top Holiday Albums where it bowed at No. 9 and launches in the top 10 on Jazz Albums (No. 4), Traditional Jazz Albums (No. 4), Top Album Sales (No. 7), Top Current Album Sales (No. 6) and Vinyl Albums (No. 7). It debuted at No. 122 on the Billboard 200, becoming Armstrong’s highest charting album since Hello Dolly spent six weeks at No. 1 in 1964.
Armstrong and the studio group, known as The Commanders, swing on the Gordon Jenkins-arranged, “Cool Yule,” with lyrics by comedian Steve Allen, “Winter Wonderland,” “’Zat You Santa Claus?” and Irving Berlin’s evergreen ballad “White Christmas.” Another arranger, the legendary Benny Carter, provides a moving, musical magic carpet for Armstrong’s artistry on “Christmas in New Orleans,” “Christmas Night in Harlem,” and the ballad “Moments to Remember.”
Armstrong sings some zesty duets with Ella Fitzgerald on “I’ve Got My Love to Keep You Warm,” and Velma Middleton on “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” Although Armstrong’s signature song, “What a Wonderful World” is not technically a holiday song, it has been adopted as one by Armstrong fans worldwide.
The most special selection on this recording is a never-before released reading by Armstrong of Samuel Clement Moore’s poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas," AKA "The Night Before Christmas." The track is Armstrong’s last recording before he died, and through the magic of technology, New Orleans pianist Sullivan Fortner accompanies Armstrong with his brilliant and ebullient piano flourishes.
The recording is available in CD, Red Vinyl, Picture Disc and Digital formats, from $9.98 to $29.98. The album also features new liner notes from GRAMMY®-Award winning historian, Ricky Riccardi, author of two Armstrong biographies Heart Full of Rhythm and What a Wonderful World, and Director of Research Collections for the Louis Armstrong House Museum.
Fans can also order a specially-priced bundle, consisting of a Navy Blue T-shirt, the What a Wonderful World Ornaments and the Red Vinyl version of Louis Wishes You A Cool Yule for $80. Also featured is a special video of Armstrong and Fitzgerald’s “I’ve Got My Love to Keep You Warm,” produced by director and animator, JonJon.
Louis Armstrong said that he was here, “in the cause of happiness,” and these yuletide offerings are excellent extensions of his noble mission.
Founded by Louis and Lucille Armstrong in 1969, the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation funds organizations supporting jazz musicians, educators, and students. In the last 10 years alone, the organization has given over $8 million to these various groups. Those wishing to join LAEF in this effort in a more substantive way as a collaborator should email director@louisarmstrongfoundation.org.
About Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong, iconic trumpeter and singer, is the foundation of jazz and of American musical virtuosity in the 20th Century. His earliest recordings taught musicians how to improvise and sing jazz, blues, the American Popular Song and all styles of American vernacular music. His discoveries gave listeners around the world a new way to experience music, and his way of “being natural” in public created another understanding of what it meant to be human. Pops, his nickname which was also the name he called everyone, was a man of the people and all walks of life were given a seat of welcome at his and Lucille’s table. In addition to his legendary artistry, he established this foundation to ensure that future generations would be taught to play and appreciate the art of jazz. From 1943 to the end of his life, Mr. Armstrong was a resident of Corona, Queens, where he enjoyed traveling across the New York boroughs performing and listening to music.
To donate to LAEF or for more information, visit louisarmstrongfoundation.org.
BArTc – ‘GHOSTS’ – LONDON BASED DARK ELECTRONIC ARTIST ISSUES MINI-ALBUM COMPANION PIECE TO 2021 DEBUT RELEASE
BArTc photography by Michaela Olexova
BArTc
GHOSTS
mini album
digital release
out 02.12.22
(ICR)
available from
bandcamp
A year on from the release of his debut album, ‘Insubstantial As Ghosts’, the London based experimental electronic artist BArTc has today issued a seven track companion piece entitled ‘Ghosts’.
‘Ghosts’ features two reworked tracks from that debut (‘Energy Field’ [long] and ‘Malleus Incuss Tapes’ [inner ear mix]), plus five further pieces recorded around the same period.
‘Ghosts’ continues to explore the electronic realm, with layers of analogue synth, dark ambient drones and experimental work combined with field recordings resulting in a series of highly atmospheric soundscapes.
Mastered by ICR owner and Nurse With Wound member Colin Potter, ‘Ghosts’ is available digitally via bandcamp and in a very limited Bartefact edition with handmade and numbered artwork.
GHOSTS
TRACKLISTING
1 Energy Field [long]
2 Wind
3 Ganymede
4 Frozen Minarets [ii]
5 Papillae Circumvallate
6 Malleus Incuss Tapes [inner ear mix]
7 Let An Angel Pass
BArTc is London based experimental electronic audio visual artist Jason Barton, with his nom de plume comprising the symbols for three chemical elements - Boron (B), Argon (Ar) and Technetium (Tc) - while also giving nods to both Hungarian composer Béla Bartók and his own surname.
Initially inspired by instrumental electronic records in his father’s record collection by titans such as Tangerine Dream, Vangelis and Jean-Michel Jarre, Barton gravitated towards underground ‘industrial’ icons such as Coil, Einstürzende Neubauten, Chris & Cosey and Skinny Puppy while in his teens, before digging deeper into the work of early German electronicists such as Cluster, Musique concrète pioneers Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry, plus the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. He cites sound recordist (and Cabaret Voltaire co-founder) Chris Watson as a key influence.
Having collected synthesisers and made music (both alone and with friends) for several years, Barton subsequently started the project Less Than One to create accompanying videos that he began posting on Instagram. Initially solely for his own work, he soon earned plaudits from a worldwide community of electronic artists that in turn has led to commissions from the likes of Daniel Avery and Alessandro Cortini.
His debut album, ‘Insubstantial As Ghosts’, plus much of his brand new companion piece ‘Ghosts' were recorded in early 2021 while the UK was in lockdown. ICR label owner Colin Potter, himself a well known figure in the experimental genre as a member of Nurse With Wound and sound engineer, heard some of Barton’s work and offered to release it, handpicking several of the tracks that subsequently appeared on the debut and mastering both that album and ‘Ghosts’
DAVID MARGAM’S NEW SINGLE ‘ROAD TO WESTCOAST’
David Margam wants to end the year as it began by working hard to continue sharing new songs with his followers.
If there is a perfect Smooth Jazz song, it would be this one: for its structure, arrangements, production and elegance.
A Spanish Co-production at the height of the best productions of this genre. "Road to West Coast" is an elegant composition co-produced with the talented Spanish producer and musician Nacho Valenciaga and with the invaluable collaboration of Miami saxophonist Jorge Pinelo, one of today's best Latin saxophonists without forgetting the collaboration of the singer from Spanish Jazz María Romero who brings truly magical backing vocals to this elegant production. "Road to West Coast" represents the opportunity to be better every day and to evolve until you achieve freedom on a path of joy and torment that will take you through beautiful soundscapes influenced by the "West Coast" sound until you reach such a long-awaited destination.
Title: Road to West Coast
Co-written and co-produced: Nacho Valenciaga & David Margam
Mixed and Mastered: Nacho Valenciaga & David Margam
Programming and Bass: Nacho Valenciaga
Guitar: David Margam
Soprano Saxophone: Jorge Pinelo
Backing vocals: Maria Romero
Record Label: Dr.Funk Producciones
Communication Agency: Smooth Jazz Universe
Recorded between Granada, Valladolid (Spain) and Miami (Florida) US
SINGER-SONGWRITER CHRISTINE MCVIE (FLEETWOOD MAC) OVERLEDEN
Veel triester kan een dag wat mij betreft niet beginnen, want Fleetwood Mac-zangeres en songwriter Christine McVie is gisteren op 79-jarige leeftijd overleden. Dat meldt de band op Twitter. De Britse artieste was het brein achter bekende nummers als ‘You Make Loving Fun’, ‘Little Lies’, ‘Everywhere’ en ‘Songbird’. Christine McVie, die geboren werd als Christine Anne Perfect, is in het bijzijn van haar familie in het ziekenhuis "rustig" overleden. McVies familieleden spreken van een "muzikante die universeel werd geliefd" en hopen dat fans haar zich zo zullen herinneren. "Een paar uur geleden heb ik gehoord dat mijn beste vriend in de hele wereld is overleden", schreef 'Fleetwood-collega' Stevie Nicks gisterenavond op Instagram. In een handgeschreven briefje laat ze weten dat ze zaterdagavond laat pas hoorde dat McVie ziek was en daarop niet direct naar Londen kon. "Ik dacht dat ik misschien nog voor haar kon zingen." In de band vervulde McVie meerdere rollen. Zo componeerde ze diverse nummers en was ze toetsenist. Samen met Nicks nam zij de vocalen grotendeels voor haar rekening. McVie was lange tijd getrouwd met bassist van de band, John McVie. In 1971 voegde Christine zich na een tijdje actief te zijn geweest bij Chicken Shack (‘I’d Rather Go Blind’) bij Fleetwood Mac, dat toen al enkele jaren bestond. Drie jaar later kwamen ook Lindsey Buckingham en Stevie Nicks bij de band. In die samenstelling behaalde de groep in de jaren zeventig de grootste successen. Het in 1977 uitgebrachte album ‘Rumours’ werd direct een hit: van het album werden in de eerste maand miljoenen exemplaren verkocht. Inspiratie voor het album vonden vier bandleden, onder wie Christine McVie, in hun onderlinge relatiebreuken. Naast Christine en John McVie vormden ook Lindsey Buckingham en Stevie Nicks een stel. Bij recensenten oogstten vooral de harmonieën van Nicks en McVie - soms samen met Buckingham - lof. Nog altijd is ‘Rumours’ wereldwijd een van de bestverkochte albums ooit. In 1998 stapte McVie uit de band door persoonlijke omstandigheden en om aan haar solocarrière te kunnen werken. In 2013 haakte ze eenmalig aan bij de band voor een optreden in Londen. "Het was geweldig, alsof ik nooit weg was geweest. Ik beklom het podium en daar waren ze weer, dezelfde bekende gezichten", aldus McVie tegen de Britse pers. Daarop voegde zij zich weer permanent bij de band. De laatste tournee was in 2019, McVie en Nicks deden beiden mee. De band deed onder meer Pinkpop in het Limburgse Landgraaf aan. "We hebben het geluk gehad een leven met haar te mogen delen", liet de groep in een online verklaring gisterenavond weten. Een groot muzikante is heengegaan. Zij ruste in vrede!
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.
MET ‘VAN GOED NAAR BETER’ EN HET SUCCESVOLLE VERZAMELALBUM ‘NU OF NOOIT’ NEMEN NICK & SIMON AFSCHEID VAN VLAANDEREN!
Met de heerlijke nieuwe single ‘Van Goed Naar Beter’ en het succesvolle verzamelalbum ‘Nu Of Nooit’, verschenen deze maand de laatste releases van het populaire muziekduo Nick & Simon. Naast hun grootste hits, zoals o.a. ‘Rosanne’, ‘Pak Maar m’n Hand’ en ‘De Soldaat’, vind je op hun nieuwste verzamelaar ook hun versie van de Gorki-klassieker ‘Mia’, die ze een paar jaar geleden voor een muziekshow op Eén in een nieuw jasje staken. In Nederland was ‘Nu Of Nooit’ goed voor hun 11de nummer #1-album, maar ook bij ons vond hij moeiteloos de hogere regionen van de Ultratop Album 100. In Vlaanderen zijn er heel wat Nick & Simon-fans die de voorbije jaren vlotjes de weg vonden naar de Lotto Arena of de grote theaterzalen in Gent(Capitole), Antwerpen (Stadsschouwburg) en Hasselt (Trixxo Arena en Theater).
Volgend jaar nemen Nick & Simon definitief afscheid met inmiddels zes show in Rotterdam Ahoy. Enkel voor 5 april 2023 zijn er voor snelle beslissers nog tickets. Alle andere voorstellingen, inclusief de allerlaatste op 10 april 2023, zijn helemaal uitverkocht. Ook de Vlaamse fans moeten naar Rotterdam om hen uit te zwaaien, maar kunnen in afwachting voluit geniet van hun allerlaatste, nieuwe muziek.
Met ‘Van Goed Naar Beter’ is de allerlaatste Nick & Simon-single weer een heerlijk uptempo nummer geworden, voorzien van een videoclip waarin heel wat hoogtepunten uit hun 16-jarige carrière vlotjes voorbijkomen. ‘Van Goed Naar Beter’ past perfect in de muzikale lijn die het duo jarenlang bewandelde, waardoor je het automatisch toevoegt aan jouw favoriete streamlijstjes. Het nummer ligt lekker in het gehoor en werd door hun vaste producer Gordon Groothedde opnieuw voorzien van een leuke productie. De tekst en het onderwerp zijn universeel, met vooral de positieve gedachte en de overtuiging: “Misschien weet ik het zeker, ga ik van goed naar beter”, waarmee het duo doelt op betere tijden die we als mensen allemaal verdienen.
Nog even meegeven dat je op het driedelige verzamelalbum ‘Nu Of Nooit’ in totaal 50 nummers terugvindt die de hoogtepunten van 16 jaar Nick & Simon nog eens extra in de verf zetten, met voor de Vlaamse fans ook hun ‘Mia’-versie van de Gorki-klassieker. Daarnaast zijn er in de tracklist ook nummers terug te vinden die nog nooit eerder op CD verschenen zijn, zoals 'Won't Back Away' met John Dahlback en de nieuwe single 'Van Goed Naar Beter’, die het duo schreef met Lars Koehoorn. Naast archiefbeelden zie je in de clip van hun laatste single ‘Van Goed Naar Beter’ ook foto’s van hun fans, die op die manier het duo bedanken en feestelijk uitzwaaien. Zowel het album als de nieuwe, laatste single verschenen bij Warner Music.
BIJNA 100.000 TICKETS LATER IS KERSTKONING CHRISTOFF KLAAR VOOR ZIJN 10DE KERSTTOURNEE DOOR VLAANDEREN!
Met bijna 100.000 bezoekers, verspreid over 118 kerstconcerten, groeide Christoff de voorbije jaren uit tot de ‘kerstkoning van Vlaanderen’. Samen met zijn muzikanten en het jeugdkoor Scaletta start hij op zondag 11 december 2022 in de Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk van Tielt met zijn 10de ‘Kerst met Christoff’-tournee door Vlaanderen, goed voor 13 kerstconcerten, die hij op 29 december 2022 afsluit in de Sint-Martinusbasiliek van Halle. “Net als voor mij, zijn deze kerstconcerten ook bij het publiek uitgegroeid tot een vaste afspraak. Wat ik na afloop vaak hoor is dat de mensen genieten van de muzikale mix van kerstklassiekers en liedjes waarin een mooie boodschap zit. ‘Glorie Hallelujah’, ‘Witte Kerstmis’, het ‘Onze Vader’ en ‘Kleine trommelaar’ zijn dé absolute smaakmakers die ook dit jaar niet ontbreken op het lijstje dat we jaarlijks aanvullen met enkele muzikale verrassingen die perfect passen”, zegt Christoff enthousiast.
Van 11 tot 29 december 2022 kan je op 13 unieke plekken in Vlaanderen weer voluit meegenieten van ‘Kerst met Christoff’, de populaire reeks van kerstconcerten waar kerstkoning Christoff dit jaar al voor de 10de keer mee op tournee gaat. "Voor mij is Kerstmis een belangrijke feestdag”, begint de populaire zanger het gesprek: “Ik spaar kosten noch moeite om het elk jaar uitgebreid te vieren, samen met de mensen die ik graag zie.”
Diezelfde magische, warme sfeer van de kerstdagen trekt Christoff door in zijn populaire kerstconcerten. Samen met het 8-koppige kinderkoor Scaletta, 4 bandleden en techniekers die hem laten schitteren in een prachtig decor, met het beste licht en geluid, is hij klaar voor zijn nieuwe reeks ‘Kerst met Christoff’: “Het laatste concert gaven we in 2019. Toen kwam de pandemie en werden we verplicht om de pauzeknop in te duwen. Die tijd is nu gelukkig voorbij, waardoor we zonder maatregelen of beperkingen weer voluit kunnen spelen voor ons publiek. Ja, we hebben dit allemaal ontzettend hard gemist. Als ik terugblik op de voorbije kersttournees, spreken we over bijna 3000 liedjes die we hebben gezongen, 20.000 kilometer die we in Vlaanderen hebben afgelegd en bijna 100.000 mensen die zijn komen kijken. Dat zijn inderdaad duizelingwekkende cijfers, waar je als artiest alleen maar trots op kan zijn, maar vooral ontzettend dankbaar voor de vele momenten die we samen met het publiek mochten delen. Als ik afga op de reacties, dan is het succes een combinatie van de muziek, de kerstsfeer en de unieke locaties. We treden op in de mooiste kerken en basilieken, maar ook de mix van de herkenbare kerstklassiekers die we afwisselen met nummers waar er een mooie boodschap in zit. Ik vind het zelf ook zalig om mensen even te laten stilstaan bij het afgelopen jaar: welk verdriet hebben ze moeten meedragen? Welke vreugde hebben ze gedeeld en hoe kijken ze uit naar de toekomst? Wat dat laatste betreft, probeer ik hen altijd de nodige moed mee te geven voor de moeilijkere momenten die er nog gaan komen. Het zijn die warme boodschappen die het allemaal bijzonder maken. Ik vind het zelf ook ontzettend fijn om die te kunnen delen met mijn publiek. Voor de 10de ‘Kerst met Christoff’ hebben we weer een schitterende setlijst opgebouwd, met uiteraard enkele verrassende songs die passen in het thema”, zegt Christoff met fonkelende ogen.
Tickets en info: www.kerstmetchristoff.be
In West-Vlaanderen kan je naar ‘Kerst met Christoff’ op zondag 11 december 2022 (20u00) in de Onze-Lieve-Vrouwe Kerk van Tielt, vrijdag 16 december (20u00) in de Sint-Maartenskerk van Ieper, zaterdag 17 december (20u00) in de Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Ter Duinenkerk van Koksijde en op dinsdag 27 december (20u00) in de Sint-Jozefskerk van Harelbeke. Christoff komt ook naar Oost-Vlaanderen: op woensdag 14 december (20u00) in de Sint-Gertrudiskerk van Wetteren, dinsdag 20 december (20u00) in de Onze-Lieve-Vrouw Hemelvaartkerk in Ninove, donderdag 22 december (20u00) in de Sint-Ghislenuskerk van Waarschoot, maandag 26 december (15u00) in de Sint-Paluskerk van Deinze en woensdag 28 december (20u00) in de Sint-Niklaaskerk van Liedekerke. Op zondag 18 december (20u00) geeft Christoff een concert in Limburg, in de Heilig Hartkerk van Hasselt. Op maandag 19 december (20u00) speelt hij in de Antwerpse Sint-Pieterskerk van Berlaar. Christoff komt ook naar Vlaams-Brabant: op woensdag 21 december (20u00) speelt hij in de Heilig Hart Kerk van Tienen en op donderdag 29 december (20u00) is er het slotconcert van deze tournee in de Sint-Martinusbasiliek van Halle.
DAVE FOSTER BAND - 'GLIMMER' - ROCK/POP ACT SIGN TO ENGLISH ELECTRIC RECORDINGS FOR NEW ALBUM OUT 21.04.23
DAVE FOSTER BAND
GLIMMER
new album
CD | LP
out 21.04.23
digital
out 19.05.23
(English Electric Recordings)
pre-order
UK/Europe | North America
LP available on black or limited edition yellow vinyl
The rock/pop act Dave Foster Band (DFB) was founded in 2017, but actually has its origins in earlier collaborations between acclaimed guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Dave Foster and vocalist Dinet Poortman after they were introduced by a mutual friend, guitarist Steve Rothery of Marillion. Both had been members of previous groups that separately supported the prog behemoths, while Foster plays guitar in the Steve Rothery Band. He has also been a member of another leading UK prog act, Big Big Train, since 2020.
Given that Foster is based in the UK and Poortman the Netherlands, their first tentative steps were an experiment to see if they could work together effectively, but a number of co-written songs that appeared on Foster’s solo albums ‘Gravity’ (2011) and ‘Dreamless’ (2016) were solid proof that they had musical chemistry. Having formed DFB, they supported both Rothery and Marillion on European/UK tours while working on their debut album, ‘Nocebo’, which was released in 2019 and promoted with headlining dates throughout western Europe.
Its follow-up, ‘Glimmer’, is set for release on 21st April 2023 and is a cornucopia of musical delights that will appeal not only to fans of guitar-based rock on several songs that balance dazzling technique with great restraint, but also fans of crossover acts as varied as Air and The Anchoress on other piano-led tracks.
Produced by Foster, the album features guest musicians that include bassist Neil Fairclough (Queen + Adam Lambert), drummer Leon Parr (Steve Rothery Band), pianist Anthony Hindley and string arranger Stephen Boyce Buckley.
A first single from ‘Glimmer’ will be made available in January.
Discussing the making of ‘Glimmer’, Foster explains that “the pandemic stopped any further touring of ‘Nocebo’, but instead allowed us to embark on a really inspiring run of writing songs. We actually recorded the drums between lockdowns, which was frustrating but at least meant that we could let the songs mature. By the time we got round to recording again the songs had grown and developed into their final shape.”
The beginning of 2020 had certainly provided Poortman with plenty of lyrical inspiration. “Britain was leaving the European Union, the Covid pandemic was just around the corner and I was all at sea in my private life,” she notes. “Dave was sending me his pieces of music and I would play around with them and see what happened melodically and lyrically. Due to the lockdowns we literally had nothing else to do, but for me personally it was also great therapy as I was coming to terms with a marriage that had just ended. On the one hand it provided a lot of inspiration, but on the other made me realise that life is fragile and that people and relationships deserve to be cherished.”
The cover artwork for the LP and CD/digital formats of ‘Glimmer’ is a differently coloured image by photographer Neal Moran that Foster says “works perfectly with the idea of when things are hard and complicated there’s always a glimmer of light,” with Poortman adding that “this is the essence of the album title, the fact that there is always a little peek of 'Glimmer' in the corner of your eye waiting for you to acknowledge it and let it into your life. That's what I did.”
‘Glimmer’ will be released via the English Electric Recordings label run by Big Big Train, with Gregory Spawton of BBT stating: “Since coming on board in 2020, Dave has proved a great addition to Big Big Train and we are delighted to be releasing ‘Glimmer’ through our label. The songwriting by Dave and Dinet throughout the album is impressive and we believe that it will appeal to rock music fans with a diverse array of tastes. We were therefore keen to sign them.”
GLIMMER
TRACKLISTING
1 Every Waking Moment
2 Run
3 Stigma
4 Chasing An Echo
5 Dive In
6 Memory Box
7 …Or You Steal Some
8 The Rules Have Changed
'FAME' AND ‘FLASHDANCE’ SINGER IRENE CARA DIED
Irene Cara, the singer-actress best known for starring in and belting the title tracks from the 1980s movies ‘Fame’ and ‘Flashdance’, has died. She was 63.
Cara died at her home in Florida, said her publicist, Judith Moose, who announced the news on Cara's social media account on Saturday. She said a cause of death was "currently unknown."
"Irene's family has requested privacy as they process their grief," Moose wrote. "She was a beautifully gifted soul whose legacy will live forever through her music and films."
Cara was born into a working-class Puerto Rican and Cuban family in the Bronx neighborhood of New York City. As a child actor, her credits included a regular stint on the 1970s children's show The Electric Company.
But it was Fame, the 1980 movie about a group of talented young hopefuls in New York trying to launch their careers in the cutthroat performing arts world, that launched Cara to stardom. She sang on the title track that was nominated for an Academy Award for best original song.
Fame co-star Laura Dean Koch remembered Cara as "a dynamo who could sing, dance, and act, the definition of a triple threat. Irene was a role model and someone I aspired to be like."
Three years later, Cara accepted the Oscar for best original song for "Flashdance ... What a Feeling," along with the songwriting team of Flashdance (1983) — music by Giorgio Moroder, lyrics by Keith Forsey and Cara — for which she sang the jubilant title song. She also won two Grammys for her work on Flashdance.
Cara influenced a future generation of artists. Broadway conductor and radio host Seth Rudetsky says watching Cara on screen as a kid helped shape his career ambitions.
"Irene Cara represented making it in the arts and gave us so much excitement and hope and enthusiasm to pursue the arts," he said.
NIEUWE SINGLE - TWIGGII QUINN – LOVE IT
Twiggii Quinn (Ukkel), het muzikale alter ego van Isabella Maria Rafaela Gabriella Micaela Benita De Wardin, is een Belgisch-Braziliaanse singer-songwriter. De Ukkelse schone bracht begin dit jaar haar debuutsingle 'Closer' uit. Haar nieuwe, catchy single 'Love It' gaat over donkere fantasieën, opnieuw met de knipoog.
"Mijn debuutsingle 'Closer' ging over een vorm van obsessie voor iemand. In het nummer uit ik mijn girlpower op een sensuele manier om iemands interesse te wekken en zo te verleiden. Vrouwen omarmen soms te weinig hun natuurlijke charmes. Met een goede portie charisma kan men al een heel eind komen. In de Latin wereld zie je dit ook vaak terugkomen".
De nieuwe single 'Love It' is een speels en energiek nummer, dat gaat over het tarten van autoriteit en het nemen van controle in een situatie die overweldigend lijkt.
Het gaat ook over toegeven aan je donkerste fantasieën, maar alles op een vrolijke en opgewekte toon. "Het leven is een spel en moet niet te serieus worden genomen. Als halve Latina breng ik die boodschap graag over in mijn muziek.", zegt Twiggii Quinn.
Love It, de nieuwe single van Twiggii Quinn, kan u beluisteren op alle grote streamingplatformen.
URBANUS STELT NIEUWE PLAAT VOOR IN TOT DE NOK GEVULDE (VOORMALIGE) KERK
Urbanus stelde gisterenavond zijn nieuwste album voor in Brugge. Hij bracht er een akoestische set met zijn nieuwe nummers in een zaal vol enthousiaste fans.
Urbanus zette de Brugse concertzaal OWLA in rep en roer. Hij stelde er zijn nieuwste album "In roer en rep" (u leest het goed) voor. De nieuwe plaat bevat negen nummers, waarvan zeven nieuwe en twee herwerkingen van de oude klassiekers: Fillemong en Fillomeen, en De wereld is om zeep. De godfather van de Vlaamse comedy koos voor een akoestische set, een recept waar het publiek duidelijk van smulde. Nieuwe nummers werden afgewisseld door klassiekers voor de eeuwigheid zoals "Madammen met een bontjas" dat luidkeels werd meegezongen. Afsluiten deed Urbanus met de meezinger "Gladde iolen".
In het publiek konden we onder meer Manu Huylebroeck en Jan Van Eyken terug zien. Ze speelden beiden gitaar op de plaat en en stonden bovendien in voor de productie. Ook Mathieu Vanherpe, die de plaat van keys voorzag. Verder vinden we ook Ben Brunin (bas), David Thomaere (toetsen) en Dirk Jans (drums) terug op de plaat. Backing vocals werden verzorgd door de dochters van Urbanus zelf. De plaat is vanaf vandaag verkrijgbaar in de handel of via Urbanus' website.
Wie Urbanus live aan het werk wil zien kan terecht op www.comedyshows.be voor info en tickets. Hij is momenteel op tour met zijn voorstelling Bis Bis Bis. Enkele nummers uit de nieuwe plaat zijn ook opgenomen in de voorstelling.
NYTE SKYE - 'TAKE ME UP AGAIN' – NEW WAVE-DREAM POP SINGLE BY US FATHER & SON DUO
NYTE SKYE photography by Seth Affoumado
NYTE SKYE
TAKE ME UP AGAIN
new single
out now
[Sonic Ritual]
digital services
included on
VANISHING
debut album
out 10.01.23
"I wrote this when things were quite bleak and everyone was isolating. It felt like all we had was our family and we needed to keep each other going," states Nyles Lannon of Nyte Skye when discussing ‘Take Me Up Again’, the second single to be lifted from a forthcoming debut album of new wave/dream pop influenced songs by the San Francisco-based outfit built around vocalist/guitarist Nyles (also of celebrated shoegazers Film School) and his teenage son Skye on drums (who was only 12 when recording the album).
The bouncy 'Take Me Up Again’ follows its moody, synth driven predecessor ‘Dream State’ (Iisten HERE) which harboured similar feelings about the strange effects brought about by the pandemic. "I wanted it to operate like a time capsule of sorts,” explains Nyles. “How strange it was to go on a road trip when everyone we encountered was distant, masked and a little fearful. I knew this time would eventually pass and how strange it would all seem in the rear-view mirror. As life gets back to our new normal, I actually find myself missing those times together.”
Writing ‘Take Me Up Again’ was a process of trial and error. "It started as a very simple electronic track, kind of like a stripped-down old Cure song,” he continues. “We experimented with a lot of different sounds. Skye found a vintage marching drum at a thrift store that turned out to be a 1930’s Ludwig. We found some missing parts and hardware online and were able to refurbish it. It had a deep, long decay and tons of overtones. We also used a broken China cymbal on the chorus, with the loud trashy banging giving it a signature sound that just seemed to work.”
Nyles says that “the songs on ‘Vanishing’ capture the little ways Skye and I were coping with those early days of the pandemic; some reflective and poignant, some escapist, some playful. Music was our bond and in some ways our guiding light. It gave us a focused goal while we processed what was happening in our little world."
Formed from both the frustration of quarantine and the boundless creativity that arose from having nowhere to go and nothing else to do has resulted in other album songs such as ‘Doing Time’ (a meditation on holding onto a child’s sanguine outlook in the face of adversity) and ‘Faded’ (in which a bittersweet melody and gentle rhythm bely themes of physical and emotional frailty).
The emotional toll of lockdown, collective grief, plus the literal darkness that engulfed the sky thanks to the devastating wildfires that ravaged the landscape close to the Lannon’s home are heavy subject matter, but the resulting songs convey how they managed to keep each other sane - and inspired - through it all. Expanding on Nyles' previous work, they also incorporate elements of other bands that the duo both love, including Spiritualized, Elliott Smith and The Police (one of Skye’s main influences is Stewart Copeland). “I am so grateful for this connection we have,” beams Nyles. "Sometimes I have to remind myself that Skye is still a kid and hasn’t been in bands for 30 years like me. Yet, when he plays, he is just a damn good drummer.”
Ultimately, Nyte Skye has helped the duo cope with a uniquely challenging situation, while being stuck at home stoked their creativity. “Music was the only thing I did during the pandemic, besides online school,” says Skye. “It gave us all this time we didn't have before to make the album.” For Nyles, to be able to put out a record with his son is simply “a dream come true.”
ABOUT NYTE SKYE
Nyte Skye is Nyles Lannon (vocals, guitars) and Skye Lannon (drums), with additional contributions from Zach Rogue (Rogue Wave), Nichole Kreglow (backing vocals), lyricist Neil Rodenmeyer (Lupa Rosa) and Ian McDonald (FUTRVST). A
composer for commercials, Nyles has released several solo records that have earned accolades such as Album of the Year in the San Francisco Bay Guardian and Best Folktronica Artist in SF Weekly. He is also a member of shoegaze band Film School. Skye Lannon has been a drummer since the age of 6 after learning a basic beat from his dad. Within a few days, he was hooked and lost interest in all his other hobbies. He finished Year 9 in June 2022 (8th grade in the US).
JOMMEKE KRIJGT EEN OFFICIËLE EDITIE VAN MONOPOLY
In het najaar van 2023 komt er een nieuwe en exclusieve Monopoly-uitgave onder officieel erkende licentie van Hasbro: Monopoly Jommeke. Deze gelimiteerde uitgave biedt de uitgelezen kans om de mooiste albums en tekeningen van de reeks te leren kennen.
Vandaag, 23/11/2022 werd deze officiële Monopoly-versie voorgesteld door Groep 24 en Standaard Uitgeverij. De editie blijft trouw aan het originele spelconcept maar wordt in de wereld Jommeke gestoken. Voor de doos werden door de Standaard Uitgeverij nieuwe tekeningen gemaakt, speciaal voor dit spel. Ook de middenplaat van het spelbord zal nieuwe tekeningen bevatten. In totaal werden negen nieuwe ontwerpen gemaakt door Jommeke tekenaar Dieter Steenhaut. De tekeningen werden, zoals steeds voor Jommeke, eerst in inkt op papier gemaakt. Nadien werden de tekeningen gescand en digitaal ingekleurd. Alle locaties van het klassieke Monopoly-spelbord worden aangepast locaties uit de strip maar ook iconische voer-, vaar-, en vliegtuigen zullen een plaatsje krijgen in het spel.
Bovendien worden ook de kans- en algemeen fondskaartjes ingevuld met verwijzingen naar de immer populaire stripreeks. Zo zal je bijvoorbeeld Monopoly geld moeten betalen omdat je de grasmobiel om zeep hielp samen met Filiberke. Voor de overige invulling van het spel is het nog wachten tot de lancering eind 2023.
De fan kan het bord eveneens mee invullen. Er is één vakje op het spelbord nog niet bepaald. Iedereen die dat wil kan stemmen op haar of zijn favoriete album – gelinkt aan een locatie. Het album, en de bijbehorende locatie, met de meeste stemmen krijgt met zekerheid een vakje op het spelbord. Het wordt dus spannend om te vernemen welk album de meeste stemmen kan verzamelen.
Stemmen kan via www.MONOPOLYSTORE.be/JOMMEKE vanaf vandaag tot 1 december.
“Ik probeer toch iedereen warm te maken om te stemmen op De Stad in de vulkaan, mijn persoonlijke favoriet” lacht zaakvoerder Pieter De Wulf. "Dat we het spel hier in Wilrijk voorstellen is natuurlijk geen toeval. Bedenker en oorspronkelijke tekenaar Jef Nys werkte en woonde er geruime tijd. Ook het beeld van de Plastieken Walvis (het legendarische album) en de Jommeke-stripmuur in Wilrijk droegen bij tot onze keuze."
Het zal gaan om een gelimiteerde oplage. Hoeveel spellen er exact zullen gedrukt worden is nog niet duidelijk maar het zal gaan om een eenmalige productie. Bovendien is er voor de grootste fans een exclusiefje: er komt een limited edition op 100 stuks met een set zeven kwalitatieve prints van de nieuwe tekeningen, steeds genummerd. Voor zij die zich willen verzekeren van een exemplaar: het spel kan nu al besteld worden als pre-order via www.MONOPOLYSTORE.be/JOMMEKE
CHRIS “BIG DOG” DAVIS FORECASTS A ‘WHITE CHRISTMAS’
Grab your winter coats and make your way to Connecticut and join Chris 'Big Dog' Davis's rendition of "White Christmas". Smooth, Jazzy, Funky Collaboration with some great artists from CT.
The song features Marty Q on sax and vocals and the lovely voice of Barbara Fowler and Singer Timmy Maia also on vocals.
'Big Dog' takes this classic "I'm Dreaming Of A White Christmas" to another musical level. Sit back and enjoy "White Christmas" - Big Dog Style
Happy Holidays! All Love.
OLIVIA ROX HEARS ‘JINGLE BELLS’
You may have seen her name on Times Square billboards, or heard her songs on the radio, You’ve probably seen her becoming a household name on TV with her pink hair, fashion-forward look and dynamic performances and lovable persona which caused a stir. To break it down, Olivia Rox is on the precipice of being the next big thing. She will not be the one to tell you that, because she is down to earth, humble and kind. But, her talent says otherwise. She can belt out a song that rivals the divas, yes - whistle tone included. She writes all of her own music, even being asked constantly to write for other artists, and has been likened to Carole King in her writing sensibilities.
She plays multiple instruments and has traveled all over the world doing music since she was a child. At 23 years old, she’s an old soul, with a lot to say. No, this is not a typical bio that you would normally read, but Olivia is not a typical girl. This is a girl who, when she heard that her peers were not voting in the last presidential election, stood up to this cause in a non-partisan way. She began this plight by writing a rocking bad-ass song called “Go Vote” which made her peers actually listen, resulting in one of the highest youth voter turnouts in 30 years - which incidentally, helped to sign up over 400,000 young voters to get to the polls and use their voices. Making huge waves in the 2020 presidential election, Olivia was also an ambassador for HeadCount / Global Citizen, and worked alongside Spread The Vote, and The Grammy Foundation. She’s definitely a role model with her positive spin on life, in the times when it’s not always hip to be one. She also defy’s the current state of music by using real players. Remember the days of real live musicians? Well, Olivia embraces the pure musicality that is often lost in today’s programmed, auto-tuned world. Olivia was obviously honing her “ears” while growing up in the discerning world of jazz, and then for all the world to see by landing as a finalist on Season 15 of American Idol, which garnered her much attention and earned her fans internationally.
Her wildly popular, original Christmas single “It’s Christmastime” has topped the pop charts the past two years and is becoming a holiday staple song. With so many requests to make a full-length album, voila she delivers “An Olivia Rox Christmas” which melds her original songs with a very unique twist on some of the classics - A must have for every Christmas household this year.
And, be sure not to miss “An Olivia Rox Christmas Special” airing on Comcast/ XFinity watch in the comfort of your own home On Demand, a true taste of Christmas, with many special guests for the family, this holiday season 2022.
JONATHAN FRITZEN – ‘DECK THE HALLS’
It was in 2008 that Billboard chart-topping pianist Jonathan Fritzén burst onto the scene with his debut recording ‘Love Birds’ which at the time was described as reaching the very core of what great smooth jazz is all about. Now, six hit albums later Fritzén is back with the highly anticipated ‘Piano Tales’. Released on his own label, Nordic Night Records, it is a collection that is very much all his own work.
Indeed, as well as producing, recording and mixing throughout he also writes all ten choice tunes. The title of each track is linked in some way to the piano, a fact born out by the first single to be serviced to radio, ‘Keys To Paradise’, which peaked at #1 on the Billboard Smooth Jazz Chart and the second single, ‘Hammers Of Love’ that also found its way into the top ten.
The entire collection bears testimony to Fritzén’s renowned musical innovation and this is a quality that was also on show in 2020 when, under the name of the Jonathan Fritzén Jazz Trio, he released the album ‘Bach and Jazz’. Arranged by the trio for piano bass and drums the compositions on it were all written by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Known for his high-octane live performances, Fritzén has toured coast to coast across the USA on numerous occasions. He has appeared at some of the biggest jazz festivals in both the USA and around the world while along the way has collaborated with contemporary jazz heavy hitters such as Dave Koz, Gerald Albright, Boney James and Nils Landgren to name just a few.
Jonathan grew up in Stockholm Sweden to a Swedish mother, and an American father. After majoring in drums in high school he studied piano for six years at the Royal College Of Music in Stockholm where he became one of the first students to take a masters degrees in jazz. As well as giving him an outstanding musical education this experience proved to be pivotal in that he completed ‘Love Birds’ shortly before his graduation.
Quite simply Fritzén remains one of the hottest composers, producers and pianists around and, in what is already a storied career, it seems likely that there are still many tales to tell.
JESSY J ASKS ‘WHAT CHILD IS THIS’?
In 2016, top contemporary jazz and Latin saxophonist Jessy J released her first ever holiday collection-- California Christmas. In 2022, due to popular demand and her love for everything about the holidays, especially the classic songs of the season, Jessy has recorded her second album of holiday favorites - with a twist – California Christmas Volume 2.
For California Christmas Volume 2, Jessy, who serves again as executive producer for the Changi Records release enlisted some longtime collaborators (Paul Brown, Jeff Lorber and Euge Groove) and some exciting new additions. Mark Lettieri (Snarky Puppy) adds his guitar chops to “Angels We Have Heard On High” and Jason Goldman (best known for his work with Michael Bublé) provides two of the arrangements with “Jolly Old St. Nicolas” and “Up on the Housetop.” Long time band members joining in the holiday cheer are: Jay Rowe on piano, Dave Anderson on bass, Trevor Somerville on drums, Andy Abel on guitar and Richie Gajate Garcia on percussion. Other members include Norman Jackson on keyboards, Frank Abraham on bass, Iajhi Hampden on drums, Kayta Matsuno and Ash Jenga on guitars. Guest vocalists include Mississippi soul singer Maurice Smith and the smooth vocals of Brandon Wattz.
To quote Jessy from her first California Christmas album release: “For me, California Christmas (now Volume 2) is a special album for many reasons. It gives listeners the feeling of being in a warmer, sunnier climate during the holiday season. But most importantly, as an artist I get to share the holidays musically with all my fans. Christmas is my favorite time of year and I am so grateful for all of my blessings. Feliz Navidad!”
ALL HERB ALPERT WANTS FOR CHRISTMAS
Creator and innovator, musician and producer, artist, and philanthropist, Herb Alpert is a man with a profound passion.
A legendary trumpet player, Alpert’s extraordinary musicianship has earned him five #1 hits, nine GRAMMY® Awards, the latest from his 2014 album, “Steppin’ Out,” fifteen Gold albums, fourteen Platinum albums and has sold over 72 million records. Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass propelled his sound into the pop music limelight, at one point outselling the Beatles two to one. In 1966, they achieved the since-unmatched feat of simultaneously having four albums in the Top 10– and five in the Top 20. Herb Alpert also has the distinction of being the only artist who has had a #1 instrumental and a #1 vocal single.
In 2006, Alpert and Moss were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in recognition of their accomplishments and are a part of the Grammy Museum’s ”Icons of the Music Industry” series. In 2013 Herb Alpert was awarded The National Medal of Arts Award by President Barack Obama for his musical, philanthropic and artistic contributions.
In addition to his on-going creative outlets in music, philanthropy and the arts, Alpert owns the noted Vibrato restaurant/jazz club in Bel-Air, California. He also continues to perform and tour across the country with his wife, Grammy-winning vocalist, Lani Hall and their band.
Herb’s priorities derive from the same sense of generosity and humility that has guided him through a long, illustrious career. In all of these ventures, there is a harmony not unlike Alpert’s music. A flowing of energy and sound, a dedication to quality, which sustains everything Alpert does. With more than 40 years of continuous philanthropic, musical and artistic activity, Alpert has established a legacy that reflects his firm belief that the arts can make a difference in the world and in the lives of each of us.
CHRISTMAS MUSIC FROM DAVE KOZ WITH ‘HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER)/IMAGINE’ FT. REBECCA JADE
Dave Koz & Friends released Christmas Ballads (25th Anniversary Collection) on September 23. The chart-topping, GRAMMY®-nominated saxophonist is joined on the album by pianist David Benoit, trumpeter Rick Braun and guitarist Peter White – the friends who accompanied him on the road in the earliest years of the Dave Koz & Friends Christmas Tour, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2022 and holds the record as the longest-running, jazz-based Christmas tour. Rebecca Jade is the featured vocalist on the album’s gorgeous medley of John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas (War Is Over) / Imagine.”
In creating a beautiful companion piece for the 25th anniversary, Koz’s vision was very different than any of his previous seven holiday sets. Unlike his earlier, rhythmically eclectic mixes of buoyant funk and soulful slow-jams, Christmas Ballads is designed as an exploration
of the romantic side of the season, setting a gentle, laid back mood for a quiet night by the fireside with a glass of wine.
“As much fun as I have creating a party atmosphere live, if you ask me my favorite part of the holidays, it’s taking the time to relax and enjoy the quiet moments, reflecting and feeling gratitude,” explains Dave Koz. “These ballads are the kind of music I want to be listening to after the big festivities are over and the sleigh bells fade into the night.”
To keep a flow of fresh magic, Koz’s main criteria for Christmas Ballads was putting new spins on songs he had never recorded before. There’s also one original – “Wrapped Up In Your Smile,” a classic-styled Koz power ballad co-written with the album’s producer and arranger, Philippe Saisse.
“He’s so French and brings a different, worldly approach, sensitivity and beauty to these tunes,” says Koz, who recently topped Billboard’s Smooth Jazz Airplay chart with “Summertime in NYC” – the fourth consecutive No. 1 single from his 2020 album, A New Day.
MOVIE ‘I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY’
I Wanna Dance with Somebody is a powerful and triumphant celebration of the incomparable Whitney Houston. Directed by Kasi Lemmons, written by Academy Award® nominee Anthony McCarten, produced by legendary music executive Clive Davis and starring BAFTA Award® winner Naomi Ackie, the film is a no-holds-barred portrait of the complex and multifaceted woman behind The Voice. From New Jersey choir girl to one of the best-selling and most awarded recording artists of all time, audiences are taken on an inspirational, poignant—and so emotional—journey through Houston’s trailblazing life and career, with show-stopping performances and a soundtrack of the icon’s most beloved hits as you’ve never heard them before. Don’t you wanna dance?
Site:
AND ALSO THE TREES - 'THE BONE CARVER' – JUST RELEASED NEW ALBUM BY UK ALTERNATIVE ROCK ACT
and also the trees
THE BONE CARVER
new album
out now
[AATT / Cargo]
buy from bandcamp
includes
IN A BED IN YUGOSLAVIA
live in London
The Lexington
19.11.22
tickets
limited media guest list available on request
and also the trees (AATT) formed in 1980 in rural Worcestershire, an environment that has provided a constant source of inspiration to a group whose music has frequently explored the dark underbelly of the British countryside. They are renowned for their captivating live performances, a unique style of mandolin-like electric guitar, poetic lyrics and dark jazz rhythms, not to mention a creative independence fiercely preserved for over four decades.
In their early years AATT caught the attention of Robert Smith of The Cure, who invited them to tour with his group on several occasions. Smith also produced their early recordings (alongside his bandmate Lol Tolhurst), while their long-term friendship was further solidified when he invited AATT to perform at the 2018 edition of the Meltdown festival in London, an event that he curated.
A continuous presence on the post-punk, alternative rock and gothic scenes in numerous territories ever since being founded in their mid-teens by singer Simon Jones and his guitarist brother Justin, AATT have gone on to release fourteen studio albums, toured frequently throughout mainland Europe, and have also visited America and Japan where they have sizeable followings.
The panoramic and filmic landscapes heard on AATT’s just released new album, ‘The Bone Carver’, sees (fragments of) stories told about people, the spaces they occupy, their closeness and the distance that lies between them. Written and recorded over a period of three years in London, Switzerland and in an ancient barn not far from their Midlands roots, the Jones’ and maverick drummer Paul Hill are joined for the first time by Grant Gordon on bass and Colin Ozanne on clarinet. Their inclusion brings a fresh twist to the group’s subtle yet intriguing evolution.
‘The Bone Carver’ follows AATT’s acclaimed 2016 album ‘Born Into The Waves’, a record considered by aficionados to be their most accomplished and a rare accolade for an act with such longevity.
THE BONE CARVER
TRACKLISTING
1 In a bed In Yugoslavia
2 Beyond action and reaction
3 The seven skies
4 The girl who walks the city
5 The book burners
6 Across the divide
7 Another town another fac
8 Last of the larkspurs
9 The bone carver
10 Sun of Kashiva
and also the trees
Simon Huw Jones - vocals and words
Justin Jones - guitars, zither, autoharp, backing vocals
Paul Hill - drums, percussion, harmonica
Grant Gordon - bass
Colin Ozanne - clarinet, bass clarinet
andalsothetrees.co.uk
VON STUPART STATES ‘IT FEELS SO GOOD’
"I am a Contemporary Jazz saxophonist and an independent artist. When the world shut down due to the pandemic, I was able to start working on my solo project which is something I have always wanted to do. I was able to connect with some awesome musicians and with the use of modern technology things really came together.
Music has always been a huge part of my life. My father played trumpet and I started formal music lessons at an early age. I have been developing and honing my craft ever since.
I am a very proud husband, father and grandfather. After 40 years of working and prioritizing providing for my family, I am now enjoying the fruits of my labor in this new season of my life. I am thrilled to be able to pour all of my passion and experience into creating music to share with the world! My primary instrument is the tenor saxophone but I also play alto, soprano and EWI.
I hope you can feel the joy, passion, and love! Spread joy! Spread love! Spread hope!" - Von Stupart
PAUL TAYLOR’S NEW SINGLE ‘AND NOW THIS’
Over 25 years into a stellar, multi-faceted career that’s found him continually pushing the sonic boundaries of what’s possible in contemporary urban jazz, saxophonist Paul Taylor brings us his highly-anticipated new recording AND NOW THIS on Peak Records.
AND NOW THIS, fully created via the exchange of digital files between the Las Vegas based Taylor and his longtime musical compadre, collaborator, co-writer and producer Dino Esposito, features the saxman’s ongoing exploration of an expansive range of dynamic danceable grooves and intricate pop/electronica vibes. The ten tracks fully reflect the way Taylor began moving forward in his personal and creative life, as if to say, in his words, “we’re coming out of the pandemic, this is what I’ve been creating, we’re kicking it back into high gear and we are more open-minded in our approach to music than ever.”
From the atmospheric soul and fast paced funk of the title track (featuring the guitar of Brian Monroney) through the sultry flow of the closing track “Good Night,” AND NOW THIS also celebrates the decades long friendship and intuitive, forward thinking musical chemistry between Taylor and Esposito. Their dynamic history dates back to when they played in the same band as students at the University of Nevada Las Vegas – and includes Taylor touring in Esposito’s band when he was a pop star in the late 80s touring with New Kids on the Block.
Esposito has been Taylor’s chief sonic co-architect since the saxophonist’s 1995 debut On The Horn and subsequently collaborated on Pleasure Seeker (1997), Undercover (2000), his Peak Records debut Hypnotic (2001), Nightlife (2005), Prime Time (2011), Tenacity (2014) and Countdown (2016).
Among Taylor’s chief musical influences in recent years have been globally popular, cutting edge DJ/producer/artists like the late Avicii, Tiesto and Regard. Complementing the new album’s nine inspiring originals, Taylor and Esposito have a blast bringing a vibrant, freewheeling new energy to a re-imagining of “Ride It,” Regard’s global 2019 hit remix of Jay Sean’s 2008 #1 UK R&B hit that started as a viral sensation on TikTok. Taylor’s infectious twist features the smooth, soulful vocals and fast paced phrasing of Jamie Jones of the GRAMMY winning group All-4-One.
The remarkable thing about those Taylor-Esposito collabs is that even the earliest albums they did together in the late 90s and early 2000s sound as sonically and rhythmically innovative as they did a few decades ago. A popular presence in contemporary urban jazz since the early 90s when he toured and later recorded with Keiko Matsui, Taylor scored #1 Billboard hits in the 2010s with “Burnin’,” “Push To Start” and “Supernova” and had his first #1 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Albums chart with Ladies’ Choice (2007), which was produced by Barry J. Eastmond and Rex Rideout.
During the course of his storied career, the Denver native has headlined hundreds of shows and has been part of numerous all-star tours – including dates with Peter White and Euge Groove in a lineup affectionately dubbed “Peter, Paul and Euge;” Gentleman of the Night (with Marion Meadows and Warren Hill). He has also performed with The Rippingtons and the acclaimed “Groovin’ For Grover” tour. Some of his first post-pandemic lockdown shows have been with labelmate Michael Lington and Sax to the Max with Michael and Vincent Ingala.
Officially entering his second quarter century of recording, with AND NOW THIS, Taylor is as excited as ever to continue casting his creative aim higher and grateful for every opportunity to bring his best to his loyal legion of longtime and newer fans. “What I like most about the new album is its freshness, and the fact that after 25 years, Dino and I still have so many unique avenues to explore,” he says. “It’s a special album created in unusual, highly stressful times. There’s something to be said for all of us artists persevering through the shutdown of 2020 and finding a way to get it done. And we did — AND NOW THIS!”
WILL DOWNING - ‘KINDA GUY’
Sophisticated Soul Records
Will contacted me a few nights ago saying he wanted to see if I would assist him with sending out a "gift" to all of you, which in this case is a song from an upcoming new album he'll be releasing in Q1 of 2023. "Kinda Guy" is another smooth tune from this warm baritone voiced master of lights down low romantic soul music. If this song fits what you do with the vocals you play, he would be grateful for your airplay.
HELFT VAN ITALIAANS DUO LA BIONDA OVERLEDEN
De Italiaanse muzikant en songwriter Carmelo La Bionda is gisteren op 73-jarige leeftijd overleden. Carmelo werd op 2 februari 1949 geboren in Ramacca, Sicilië. Zijn broer Michelangelo werd geboren op 25 augustus 1952. Het gezin La Bionda verhuisde in 1954 naar Milaan. De broers besloten samen te werken en debuteerden als songwriters met het nummer ‘Primo Sole, Primo Fiore’, dat door Ricchi e Poveri werd gepresenteerd op het songfestival van Venitië in 1970. Carmelo en Michelangelo schreven ook ‘Neve Bianca, Amica, Gentile Se Vuoi’ voor de Italiaanse zangeres Mia Martini en ‘Piccolo Uomo’, samen met tekstschrijver Bruno Lauzi. De broers brachten in die periode zelf de albums ‘Fratelli La Bionda’ en ‘Tutto Va Bene’ uit. Michelangelo La Bionda deed ook sessiewerk. In 1975 speelde hij akoestisch gitaar op het album ‘Volume VIII’ van Fabrizio De André. Twee jaar later haakten de broers in op de opkomende discorage met Engelstalige nummers als ‘Disco Bass’ en ‘Burning Love’. Als uitvoerende artiesten werden de broers La Bionda in 1978 wereldberoemd met de discohit ‘One For You, One For Me’, een nummer met een zeer eenvoudige tekst en een aanstekelijke discobeat. De single werd ook in Nederland een grote hit, met de zesde plaats als hoogste notering in de Top 40. In België bereikte de single zelfs de eerste plaats in zowel de Vlaamse Ultratop 50 als de Vlaamse Radio 2 Top 30. Een ander bekend nummer van La Bionda was ‘Baby Make love’. In 1983 verleenden Carmelo en Michelango hun medewerking aan het eveneens Italiaanse duo Righeira, bestaande uit Stefano Righi en Stefano Rota, met de nummers ‘Vamos A La Playa’ en ‘No Tengo Dinero’. In 1999 haalden de broers opnieuw de Nederlandse hitlijst met de single ‘Eeah Dada!’. Hierna bleef het lange tijd stil, maar in 2010 lieten de broers opnieuw van zich horen met de nummers ‘I Love You’ en You're So Fine The Blonde’. Daarnaast was het duo vooral op de achtergrond actief met het produceren van nummers van andere artiesten. Carmelo La Bionda ruste in vrede!
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.
GRAMMY WINNER CHANCE HOWARD IS GRATEFUL TO BE RELEASING NEW MUSIC AFTER SURVIVING A DEVASTATING CAR CRASH
The R&B/funk/jazz vocalist and multi-instrumentalist drops “Buy Me Love” featuring saxophonist Candy Dulfer.
MINNEAPOLIS (4 November 2022): With Halloween in the rearview, our attention shifts to giving thanks. After surviving a horrific car wreck three years ago, Grammy-winning singer, multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter Chance Howard is not only grateful to be alive, but thankful to be releasing new music despite still being confined to living in a rehab facility where he is learning how to walk again. Teaming with his longtime collaborator and dear friend, saxophone star Candy Dulfer, Howard just dropped a smooth and soulful R&B reimagination of The Beatles’ “Can’t Buy Me Love” that he retitled “Buy Me Love.”
Exhausted from playing shows in the same week with Brian Culbertson in Chicago, Marcus Miller in Los Angeles and Dulfer in Minneapolis where Howard is based, the musician known for performing and/or recording with Prince, Morris Day and The Time, Nikka Costa, Karyn White, Alexander O’Neal, Chaka Khan, LL Cool J, Notorious B.I.G., George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Gladys Knight and Michael Bolton fell asleep at the wheel, crashing into the median. His injuries included spinal cord damage, a severed aorta and breaking twelve ribs. The doctors expect Howard to walk again but they didn’t tell him how arduous the recovery process would be nor how long it would take. Howard is expected to remain an inpatient rehab resident for another year.
Unable to tour and work producing, writing and performing, Howard has been without an income amidst skyrocketing medical and rehabilitation costs and canceled health insurance policies. Some of his high-profile friends have come to his aid as well as The Smooth Jazz Cruise community. Dulfer and fellow sax sensation Dave Koz led the charge through GoFundMe. All proceeds from the sale of “Buy Me Love” will go directly to Howard’s medical bills.
“This has been the biggest struggle I’ve ever had to undertake. But I know that with my faith in God, and a lot of love from my friends, I’ll be able to get back up on that stage again, doing what I love to do,” said Howard who is still confined to a wheelchair.
“Since the accident, I’ve been doing more and more strength building, but there’s also a lot of other bumps along this road that I’m going to have to get over. I’m definitely sure I’m going to make it through this because I believe in the power of God, and I also believe in myself,” said Howard, a Grammy winner for his work on Prince’s “Musicology” album.
Howard recorded “Buy Me Love” prior to the accident. While on tour with Dulfer in Amsterdam, Howard and Dulfer performed an impromptu version of “Buy Me Love” during an informal nightclub jam session. After the gig, a married couple approached Howard. While they were unable to speak English, they clearly loved the rendition. Days after the show, the husband unexpectedly passed away. His wife tracked down Howard and asked if he could record the song to be played at her husband’s memorial service. Howard sings and plays all the instruments on the track except for Dulfer’s sax. That recording is now widely available as a digital single from Apple Music and other streaming services.
The thought of making new music and launching new ventures sustains Howard as he grinds away each day at physical therapy. He envisions recording an album featuring an all-star cast performing songs that he writes and produces; producing an entire album by Dulfer; and launching his own podcast called Chance’s Boom Boom Room (fans of The Smooth Jazz Cruise will understand the reference).
“A big dream of mine is to have a concert hall named Chance’s Boom Boom Room. I want it to be a part of the community that gives back by having two shows a night by a different artist almost every night as well as a venue that provides music lessons for kids, food and clothing drives for those in need, and other efforts that benefit the community,” said Howard, who considers himself to be a giver, which make his circumstances that rendered him dependent upon the assistance and generosity of others so humbling.
“With the holidays coming around, I’m most thankful for being alive. I’m still a work in progress but that’s okay. Progress is just another word for ‘getting better.’ And that’s exactly what I’m doing. I may not have walked in here (the rehab facility), but I’ll be damned if I don’t walk out this MF!”
To make a donation to Howard’s GoFundMe this holiday season, please visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/in-support-of-chance-howard.
Additional information about Howard is available at https://www.chancehoward.com.
THE BODYGUARD 30TH ANNIVERSARY CINEMA EVENT
In celebration of 30 years of ‘The Bodyguard’, the timeless classic returns to the big screen for a special two-day fan event on Sunday, November 6 & Wednesday, November 9.
In addition to viewing the beloved movie, fans in attendance will enjoy the music videos for “Queen of the Night”, “I Will Always Love You” and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody", celebrating the legacy of Whitney Houston following the film.
30 years ago today, “I Will Always Love You” was released in the lead up to the groundbreaking film, The Bodyguard. 10 x Platinum sales and 1 billion video views later, the song is still a favorite around the world.
CINEMATIC ROCKBAND EARTHSIDE DELEN NIEUWE TRACK ‘WE WHO LAMENT’
Cinematic rockband Earthside onthullen gloednieuwe track “We Who Lament” ft. Keturah
Via Music Theories Recordings/Mascot Label Group
Stream HIER
Earthside keren terug met hun majestueuze nieuwe nummer, "We Who Lament", ft. Keturah, dat nu beschikbaar is via Music Theories Recordings/Mascot Label Group. Ze vergezellen ook het Deens-Zweedse kwartet VOLA op hun aankomende negendaagse tour door de VS en Canada van 12 tot 22 november. Kaarten haal je HIER.
Met een lengte van iets minder dan 9 minuten heeft het New England Cinematic rockcollectief wederom een prachtige track voortgebracht. Van meeslepende grandeur tot razende intensiteit, het nummer reist meedogenloos voort met gastvocalist Keturah in het midden. Haar verbluffende levering vanaf het openingssalvo, "to be free or fearful? To believe in a past controlled, deciding what remembers," zet de toon voor het nummer; onschuld en woede, kwetsbaarheid en meedogenloze vastberadenheid.
Muzikaal en tekstueel is het nummer een openbaring voor de band. "We're still the idealistic and emotionally candid individuals from A Dream In Static, but no longer being able to see the world and humankind through a more hopeful lens—no longer being able to overlook the cracks and broken promises in the narratives we've been fed from an early age."
Keturah was cruciaal voor het soort nummer en de indruk die de band wilde maken. "We immediately fell in love with the inimitable character of Keturah's voice upon a progressive music fan messaging Jamie recommending her. We composed the "We Who Lament" vocal part for a very specific mode of expression, and we turned over innumerable stones before being gifted a link to her live show and having a visceral emotional reaction that she was the vocalist we'd been holding out for on this song if we could somehow connect with her."
"We adore the performance and heart Keturah put into this song and cannot wait for you to hear her breathe fire over this track. 'Here We Lie—Our Souls in Cinders.'"
Waar hun debuut een introspectief album was, gaat "We Who Lament" verder in de trant van "All We Knew And Ever Loved" door verder te kijken dan het individu. In confrontatie met de tragische staat van de mensheid en de planeet die we bewonen. "Growing up in a world where cold practicality and stubborn resistance to change rule the day. At every turn, it can feel that people like us, with emotional and idealistic wiring, are treated with disdain and pushed to accept things the way they are. Comply, be complacent—"be realistic," they say. "We're taught to live our lives with certain core values and that doing the right thing will be rewarded, only to see the most exploitative and coercive figures become the titans of modern society."
"These attitudes and this status quo have gotten us to this point and kicked the can far enough. In the face of this inertia and the dire problems before us, we need to resist hardening ourselves and use our hearts and minds to expand our connections and bring about the change we yearn for, no matter how much time it takes or how much resistance we face. In a sense, it's a call to arms—albeit in the most peaceful but urgent of senses."
Na de release van de verbluffende video voor "All We Knew And Ever Loved" vorig jaar zomer, is dit het tweede nummer van hun aanstaande album. "We Who Lament" werd gemasterd door Ted Jensen (Mastodon, Gojira, Bring Me The Horizon) en gemixt door Forrester Savell (Karnivool, Animals As Leaders).
Earthside is:
Jamie Van Dyck
Ben Shanbrom
Frank Sacramone
Ryan Griffin
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REBECCA ANGEL SINGS ABOUT ‘MAUREEN’
If one were to hear Rebecca Angel’s Love Life Choices without knowing the singer’s backstory, it’s doubtful that the listener would ever guess it’s a debut album. Here, within these 10 songs, are maturity and poise, well-honed craftsmanship and a steely confidence, smart musical choices and an innate sense of self. Rebecca Angel’s individuality shines through on each diverse track, whether it’s one in which she had a compositional hand or a well-chosen interpretation. Sophisticated performances like these are more commonly the mark of an artist who’s been at it much longer than Rebecca.
On these 10 stellar tunes, Rebecca Angel threads together elements of several musical genres, including jazz, soul, pop and Brazilian music, fashioning an instantly embraceable hybrid sound. For the sessions, Rebecca assembled a world-class team of collaborators, including veteran jazz/R&B producer/arranger Jason Miles (Miles Davis, Luther Vandross, Grover Washington Jr.), who also provides keyboards, and an impressive cast of virtuosic top-shelf musicians, among them guitarist Romero Lubambo, bassist Reggie Washington, drummer Gene Lake, and trumpeter/flugelhornist Dennis Angel, who also happens to be Rebecca’s father.
Each of Rebecca’s performances is richly textured, finely nuanced and sophisticated, reminiscent of artists who’ve been at it much longer than she has. Throughout the album, even as she glides easily from style to style, Rebecca Angel puts her own distinctive stamp on each track. “I never try to be someone I’m not.” She says, “the most important thing is believing in what you sing or play, because if you don’t believe it nobody else will.”
WAYNE GUTSHALL FT. STEVE OLIVER HAVE A ‘SPANISH LOVE’
After playing on the Grammy award winning album "Mamblue" Watbe Gutshall released his debut album "Spicy", which produced five number one singles on SmoothJazz.com's world listener chart, appeared twice on Billboard's most added chart, and placed him on many of the top 100 contemporary jazz charts.
After much success with the release of the first single "Going Up" from his upcoming second album, Wayne is poised to release his next single "Spanish Love" which features Billboard #1 hit guitarist Steve Oliver. "Spanish Love is a stunningly beautiful ballad written by Wayne for his wife who is of Spanish descent.
In addition to performing with Oliver, Wayne has performed with such artists as Paul Brown, Nathan East, Nestor Torres, Arturo Sandoval, Dave Valentin, and Brendan Rothwell and has appeared in jazz festivals in California and Florida.
Allen Kepler of The Smooth Jazz Network says, "Wayne Gutshall is one of the rising stars in smooth jazz" and Sandy Shore, founder and CEO of SmoothJazz.com, calls Wayne "A modern master of saxophone".
"Spanish Love"
Wayne Gutshall - Alto Saxophone & Keyboard
Steve Oliver - Guitar
Ray Lyon - Piano & Keyboard
Julio Hernandez - Bass
Orlando Hernandez - Drums
Hector Gomez - Bongos
NEW SINGLE ‘SIR DEE’ FROM DEE LUCAS
National recording artist & saxophonist Dee Lucas is back with another stunning hit! This time, he musically says ‘Thank You’ to the legendary Stevie Wonder with the feel-good original tune ‘Sir Dee’.
"Sir Dee"
Produced by David P. Stevens
Mastered by Steve Hall at Future Disc Systems
Dee Lucas – Soprano Saxophone
Carl Cox – Tenor Saxophone
Frank McComb – Rhodes
Eric Valentine – Drums
David P. Stevens – Guitar, Bass, & Keys
KENNY NIGHTINGALE DOES A ‘KING DAVID DANCE’
With an eye and ear for perfection when it comes to the saxophone, the gifted artist Kenny Nightingale is the protagonist of his own craft.
Nightingale has for quite some time confirmed his ingenuity through his angelic sounds with a unique blend from all parts of the world. His performances are a brand unmatched that have helped him rise to the epitome of the versatile instrument and turned him into an inspiration for many upcoming saxophonists. His brand extends deeper into his character which has sharpened him for this lucrative music industry and commissioned him to do this every day.
A smooth jazz and R&B recording artist based in the US, Kenny was originally born on the west side of the Motherland in Lagos, Nigeria. His musical prowess draws back to earlier times when he was only eight years. Growing up in a musically inclined family, the prodigy grew up watching his father perform to the sound of different instruments. His father usually took him along for a couple of shows when he noticed his interest in the craft. He later taught him how to play the saxophone and percussion. While growing up, Nightingale had affluent interests in artists such as; Grover Washington Jr., Jonathan Butler, Slash, John Coltrane, Kenny G, Jimmy Hendricks, Sadao Watanabe and Dave Koz just to name a few among others. Ever since he made his debut in the art of the saxophone, he has carried on with intention and a longing to do music with some of his influences. This has influenced his creativity greatly, creating music that has elevated him to a position where he is now admired by many for his agility.
Nightingale has cemented his brilliance and originality with his sound that includes a fusion of gospel and contemporary beats. As a songwriter, he makes music that originates from deep within and bears the taste of a star. His production is unique in such a way that he tries to make his music a replication of his own self and how he feels. Much of his musical ideas stem across continents as far as the motherland (Africa) to the western world just to create a groove with a sound so different from many performers in the same niche. This originality has helped Nightingale to create a vast discography comprising music in the genres of jazz, smooth jazz, world beats, rhythm, and blues.
"King David Dance drew an influence from jazz greats such as Jonathan Butler, Dave Grusin, Hugh Masekela, Richard Bona, Sadao Watanabe. I just can't help but keep on dancing to my groove." - Kenny Nightingale
BRYAN ANDERSON IS ‘SMOKIN’’
Bryan Anderson is a bassist, songwriter, and producer with 11 solo projects to his credit. His unique sound of what he calls “groove music” blends smooth jazz, old school funk, Latin rhythms and a taste of island vibes. A natural entertainer, Bryan pulls you into his live performances. He takes you on a musical journey from high energy funk to laidback grooves and soothing ballads. Bryan surrounds himself with first rate, established musicians. His shows leave you wanting more. Bryan performs at various music venues, private event, local benefits, and festivals. If you gravitate towards the music of Grover Washington, Jr., Spyro Gyra, Boney James, and Jeff Lorber, you are sure to appreciate Bryan Anderson.
"Smokin'"
Bryan Anderson - Bass, synth pads
Allan Phillips - Piano, keys, synth, pads
Nicholas Mead - trumpet
Jacob Shaw - sax
Patric Hays - trombone
Martin Verdonk - percussion
Derico Watson - drums
Written, arranged and produced by Bryan Anderson
NOTORIOUS ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STAR JERRY LEE LEWIS DIED
Jerry Lee Lewis received an outpouring of praise from other rockers on social media when his death at the age of 87 was announced on Oct. 28.
The rock 'n' roll pioneer, nicknamed the Killer, led a topsy-turvy, multidecade career that was befitting of his wild live performances. Lewis made his recording debut in December 1956 with a cover of Ray Price's country hit "Crazy Arms," released on Sun Records. But it was his 1957 rendition of "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," written by Dave "Curlee" Williams and first recorded by Big Maybelle, that catapulted Lewis to stardom. The song peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the country and R&B charts, adding fuel to the fire of the emergent rock 'n' roll genre.
Lewis scored another smash in 1957 with "Great Balls of Fire," which reached No. 2 on the Hot 100 and became one of his signature songs. "Breathless," released in early 1958, also reached the Top 10. But the singer's career floundered following his May 1958 British tour, where reporters discovered that Lewis had married his 13-year old first cousin, Myra Gale Brown.
Following the revelation, Lewis wouldn't score another hit for a decade, though his 1964 live album Live at the Star Club, Hamburg earned rave reviews and became an all-time classic live LP. The singer experienced a career resurgence in 1968 with his cover of Del Reeves' "Another Place, Another Time." It reached No. 4 on the country chart and kicked off an incredible run of Top 10 country hits that lasted for the next decade.
SOUL SINGER GERALDINE HUNT DIED
Soul singer Geraldine Hunt, best known for her dance hit, ‘Can’t Fake The Feeling’, died on Thursday 27th October. The news was announced by her son Freddie (also a singer). Few details were made available save that Ms. Hunt was aged 77.
Though she was born in St Louis, Geraldine (real name, Geraldine Milligan) was brought up in Chicago. At school she was a classmate of Minnie Riperton. She made her recording debut in the early 60s working with labels like Katron, Bombay and USA. In the 70s she was pacted to Roulette. Her Roulette singles, ‘Never, Never Leave Me’ b/w ‘Push, Sweep’ (in 1970), ‘Now That There’s You’ b/w ‘Shades Of Blue’ (in 1971), ‘Baby, I Need Your Loving’ b/w ‘Cry, Cry, Cry’ (in 1972) attracted some attention on the Northern soul scene.
In the late 70s she was signed to Prism and released a couple of albums, the second of which, 1980’s ‘No Way’ yielded her biggest hit, Can’t Fake The Feeling’.
JESSE MALIN - UK / EUROPEAN TOUR 2023 TO CELEBRATE 20TH ANNIVERSARY DELUXE REISSUE OF DEBUT ALBUM 'THE FINE ART OF SELF DESTRUCTION'
JESSE MALIN
UK / EUROPEAN TOUR 2023
celebrating
THE FINE ART OF SELF DESTRUCTION
(20th Anniversary deluxe reissue)
New York based Jesse Malin is marking twenty years as a solo artist with a UK and European tour to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of his acclaimed 2003 debut album ‘The Fine Art Of Self Destruction’. Malin and his band will perform the album in its entirety, as well as songs from his current album ‘Sad and Beautiful World’ (2021) and more. Special guest Tommy Stinson of The Replacements will provide support.
The tour follows Malin's 2022 performance at Glastonbury, a run of shows with Brian Fallon and sold-out headlining dates. Tickets are on sale now (see itinerary below).
‘The Fine Art Of Self Destruction’ will be reissued in early 2023 with a bonus disc of the entire album re-recorded and reimagined. Full release details will follow shortly.
After spending his teenage years in the pioneering hardcore band Heart Attack and his 20s fronting the wild and beloved D Generation, Malin took a cue from his songwriting heroes and was ready for a chance to stand alone. ‘The Fine Art Of Self Destruction’ was recorded live and raw over six days in New York City. “It wasn’t named for drug or alcohol abuse,” explains Malin. “It was more about personal wreckage when I looked back on my life, from my parents' divorce to failed relationships, broken up bands, dropping out of school, crashing cars, breaking things. It was more of a spiritual journey in some sense.”
He continues: “I was still learning how to sing and tell stories. I had started out stripped down, just me and a piano player, but when Ryan Adams came in to produce, he added some instrumentation that really lent itself to a more open, wider feel. These songs were written in a little apartment downtown, without a record deal, a manager, or any expectation of anything coming of it - just a need to write them.”
The original album was released to rave reviews, with The Times stating that “Malin writes vivid songs with killer tunes and sings them with scary conviction. There is simply nothing more you can demand from a great rock record.”
JESSE MALIN
UK / EUROPEAN TOUR 2023
15.02.23 GLASGOW Stereo tickets
16.02.23 MANCHESTER YES (The Pink Room) tickets
17.02.23 LONDON The Garage tickets
18.02.23 PARIS (FR) La Boule Noire tickets
19.02.23 UTRECHT (NL) dB's tickets
23.02.23 BERGAMO (IT) Druso tickets
24.02.23 RAVENNA (IT) Bronson tickets
25.02.23 MARENO DI PIAVE, TV (IT) Corner Live ticket info to follow
27.02.23 HAMBURG (DE) Nochtspeicher tickets
28.02.23 COPENHAGEN (DK) Hotel Cecil tickets
01.03.23 LUND (SE) Mejeriet tickets
02.03.23 STOCKHOLM (SE) Bar Brooklyn tickets
03.03.23 OSLO (NO) John Dee tickets
MERLON DEVINE HAS THINGS ‘STIRRED’
Gifts. Talents. Blessings. All to serve a specific purpose that serves others. And they are to be utilized fully to fulfill that function. That’s how soul-jazz saxophonist Merlon Devine sees it, using his to write and record contemporary jazz that is church derived. His new upbeat instrumental R&B single “Stirred” goes for playlist adds on October 24.
“I believe everyone has a gift. Every person on earth has something they were given - from God - to help them fulfill their purpose while on earth. There’s a scripture in the Bible that talks about each person ‘stirring’ their gift. In other words, your gift should not collect dust, but each person should make sure they keep their gift sharp and in use. I feel we are most effective and happy when we use the gift we’ve been given,” said Devine about the feel-good song he wrote with producer Matt Godina (Darren Rahn, Julian Vaughn, Nicholas Cole, Lin Rountree).
“Stirred” is the ne single from Devine’s eighth album, Soul Jazz which dropped last year. Emoting passion, inspiration and grace, Devine plays saxes and flute on the track. Godina adds keyboards, guitar and programming to the ebullient harmonies. The midtempo groove is anchored by bassist Kevin “Mr. Kevin Jerome” Stancil and drummer Lester Estelle, Jr.
It’s natural for Devine to turn to his faith when it comes to composing music. Born in Little Rock, AR to parents who pastored a church, the household was always filled with music, primarily gospel. While Devine’s nine siblings could all sing, he found his voice via saxophone. Church informed his spirituality, but discovering contemporary jazz informed his music. From Jesus and the Apostles to Groover Washington, Jr., Najee, George Howard, Kirk Whalum and other saxophone greats, Devine found a creative path for his artistic expression to incorporate both pillars in his life.
“My love for contemporary jazz grew as I grew as a player. Listening to these saxophonists, mixed with the soulful and heartfelt riffs I was hearing at church, shaped me into what I am today. When I started writing songs, it was contemporary jazz. It evolved into a wonderful opportunity for me to provide churches with instrumental music in the style of contemporary jazz during sacred worship gatherings. I consider myself a contemporary jazz ambassador to the church,” said Devine who lives with his family just outside of Washington, DC.
MICHAEL FIELDS JR. FEAT. FRED SMITH SAY ‘I LIKE THAT’
National/International Recording Artist/Bassist/Producer Michael Fields Jr. is impacting the world with his musical gift.
Michael burst on the scene in 2016 with his debut Album Mr.Fields then in 2018 with "On The Move" with his two hit songs "Lovette Road" & "Let's Ride". His music can be heard on smooth jazz stations worldwide with significant recognition on SiriusXM Watercolors, The Smooth Jazz Network & America's Music Charts (Mediabase).
Michael's last single "Get Up On It" peaked at #28 on the Smooth Jazz Top 100 charts. Michael is the founder of Water From Rock Productions and Jazz On Green. In 2021 he started a nonprofit "Keep Music Alive Foundation" which is doing extensive work in the Tulsa and surrounding areas. Michael's greatest joy is being a father to his three beautiful children Zion, Michael & Madison.
Michael Fields Jr. will definitely be a name you won't forget!
NEW SINGLE ‘COLD DUCK TIME’ FROM LEO P
The high-energy dancing, theatrics and sound effects of a Leo P performance are irresistible but none of that can be delivered on a studio recording; the music itself must carry the day. On Leo P’s debut solo recording on Shanachie, the aptly titled “Coming Up Aces,” the music—a joyous amalgam of funk and jazz—does exactly that. “Don't let his over-the-top performances fool you,” says Shanachie’s VP of A & R Danny Weiss. “Leo P plays with the depth and passion of the jazz greats. Oh, and he's also revolutionized the baritone sax!”
Comin’ Up Aces is a compelling showcase for Leo P’s exceptional blowing as well as a fulfillment of his goal to deliver high-quality musicianship in an earthy, accessible package that is very different from his work with his band Too Many Zooz. “Too Many Zooz is very aggressive and high energy,” Leo notes. "As I got older I wanted to play a little more melodically and build my solos more deliberately and not play everything I know in a solo but take my time and be more emotional. For this album I wanted a few different types of grooves: funky, bluesy, salsa…different feels.”
Produced by Leo’s good friend, Brooklyn-based producer Tom Wilson, Comin’ Up Aces makes good on Leo’s intention with seven tasty originals and compelling versions of such classics as Charles Mingus’ “Goodbye Porkpie Hat,” Les McCann and Eddie Harris’ “Cold Duck Time” and Earth Wind & Fire’s “Serpentine Fire.” Galactic drummer Stanton Moore delivers the New Orleans funk on “Issa's Blues,” hit-making saxophonist Richard Elliot, formerly of Tower of Power and The Yellowjackets, graces “Cold Duck Time," along with trumpeter Eric "Benny" Bloom of jamband faves Lettuce. The title track is inspired by Maceo Parker, another inspiration.
Throughout the new album, Leo’s playing on baritone saxophone is a revelation and not simply because it is rare to hear so much soloing on the instrument. He plays notes that are not normally a part of the instrument’s range and with a fluidity and dexterity that is stunning. All in all, Comin’ Up Aces is a great marriage of chops, feeling and groove.
Leo’s interest in edgy fashion is obvious and it is likewise unsurprising that his high energy performing style has evolved into a serious work-out regimen. He even posted a couple of workout videos on the Too Many Zoos channel. “Often musicians don’t care how they look,” Leo says. “But I think the visual is just as important in a performance as the music because when you go to a show you don’t say you go to hear a show you say you’re going to SEE a show. There are bands I don’t necessarily like who I love the way they look. Even Kiss for instance; they had a fantastic look that you remember. I always wanted attention. I used to be skinny but now I want more defined muscles now that I’m in my early 30’s. When I was playing in the subway I wasn’t working out because I was playing and dancing for hours. Now I’m touring so I work out every day. I like the natural high and the energy.”
It’s no surprise then that Leo wants his music to reach the widest possible audience, something many jazz musicians don’t aspire to. “I want to bring the party back to jazz. I want to make people dance. I want to wear badass suits and look cool as hell and present something special to people that they will always remember!”
ERIC VALENTINE FEAT. RICHARD ELLIOT WITH ‘LET’S MOVE’
Hit producer and drummer, Eric Valentine continues his quest to provide music you can feel with his latest single, Let’s Move featuring Richard Elliot. Eric Valentine is Richard Elliot’s long-time drummer. They’ve collaborated and performed together on hit recordings, including Eric’s 2018 single “Velvet Groove” that was Billboard’s #2 Song of the Year.
Eric went on to produce songs that leave music-lovers grooving to his singable melodies, rich harmonies, and impeccable grooves. His most recent single, "Q’s Vibe" ft. Everette Harp & Greg Manning peaked at #1 on Billboard, Mediabase, and The Smooth Jazz Network charts.
"Let’s Move" features a memorable soulful melody over pulsing, four-on-the-floor grooves. Crisp horn-lines dance with the rhythmic percussion, revisiting the sounds native to Eric’s hometown of Washington, D.C.
Eric calls "Let’s Move" a 'musical gumbo' where 'all the flavorings of soul, gospel, and jazz work together to create a rich listening experience.' "Let’s Move" will be served to listeners via radio airwaves on October 24 and digital media stores on October 28.
"Let's Move" ft. Richard Elliot
Written & produced by Eric Valentine
Co-written by Carnell Harrell
Executive Producers - Eric Valentine & LaTisha B. Valentine
Mixed by Ken Freeman and Eric Valentine
Mastered by Euge Groove, House of Groove Mastering
Eric Valentine - Drums, Keyboards, Programming
Richard Elliot - Saxophone
Keith McKelley - Horn Section
Carnell Harrell - Rhodes, Piano
David Dyson - Bass
Jairus “JMO” Mozee - Guitar
Tim Carmon - Organ
Arthur Thompson - Percussion
Ramon Yslas - Percussion
CONQUERDIVIDE DEELT MUZIEKVIDEO VOOR NIEUWE SINGLE ‘PARALYZED’
CONQUER DIVIDE - de vijfkoppige band afkomstig uit de VS, het VK en Canada die lof heeft ontvangen van o.a. Revolver, Alternative Press, Modern Drummer, Loudwire en meer - heeft zojuist hun nieuwe single "Paralyzed" gedeeld.
Gitarist Kristen Sturgis deelt "This song is about battling with mental illness and depression —especially during the pandemic — and feeling like you are too mentally paralyzed to move forward."
Kristen onthult haar eigen ervaring als verpleegster tijdens COVID, "I was in a dark place because, as some people may or may not know, I am a critical care nurse when I am not touring. I was traveling around the country to all these hot spots to help-out with COVID, and I saw dozens of people lose their lives. And I still really have not fully processed it."
Sturgis legt verder uit, "But if you do not disconnect, you can't do your job effectively. So, it is the kind of depression where you don't feel anything at all, and you turn your emotions off. There was a point where they had psychologists visiting us on the unit to talk about our feelings. But it was like, 'I don't have time for this right now. I need to hang the next bag of x/y/z medication and keep this person alive. Get back to me in a year after this is all over.' I think a lot of health care workers are also going to have PTSD or depression from what we went through. I hit a bit of writer's block as a result of my mental state, and this song was a bit cathartic for me."
Wat betreft de toekomstplannen van Conquer Divide, biedt Sturgis de volgende update: "We've all grown so much since our first record. We did a lot of introspection and soul-searching about which creative direction to take the band in next, and we can't wait to share what we've been working on. There will be something for everyone on our sophomore album."
De band blijft hard aan het werk met de 2x Grammy-genomineerde producer Tyler Smyth (Falling in Reverse, I Prevail) en de 4x RIAA-gecertificeerde Gold producer Joey Sturgis (Asking Alexandria, The Devil Wears Prada, Of Mice & Men).
Conquer Divide werkte onlangs ook samen met Electric Callboy aan de single 'Fckboi'. Bekijk de video hier. Het nummer staat al op meer dan 10 miljoen streams wereldwijd, terwijl hun stand-alone nummer "Atonement" op 2,5 miljoen streams wereldwijd staat.
CONQUER DIVIDE ARE:
Kiarely Castillo — Clean Vocals
Janel Duarte — Vocals + Bass
Kristen Sturgis — Guitar
Izzy Johnson — Guitar
Samantha Landa — Drums
Conquer Divide Online:
https://conquerdivideofficial.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ConquerDivideUSA
https://twitter.com/conquerdivide
https://www.instagram.com/conquerdivide/
NEW SINGLE ‘ON MY WAY’ FROM CARLOS CAMILO FEAT. DAVID MARGAN
«On My Way» is a composition by pianist Carlos Camilo that was presented on February 14, 2021 on his self-titled album «On My Way» and now the Miami composer, one of the most important Latin artists of Contemporary Jazz, returns with this elegant new production with the collaboration of Spanish guitarist David Margam who gives this sound journey a special sensitivity with elegant and subtle guitar arrangements.
«On My Way» represents and describes the sensations of embarking on a path towards a correct destination. The album itself describes a musical journey where feelings of life are expressed when we face new challenges and dreams to achieve. Carlos Camilo proposes in this composition a melody of faith and motivation to move forward without fear of failure with a positive look towards a path of hope and optimism.
SOUL-JAZZ SAXOPHONIST MERLON DEVINE EAGER TO STIR THINGS UP
“Stirred,” the latest single from his “Soul Jazz” album, goes for playlist adds on October 24.
WASHINGTON (19 October 2022): Gifts. Talents. Blessings. All to serve a specific purpose that serves others. And they are to be utilized fully to fulfill that function. That’s how soul-jazz saxophonist Merlon Devine sees it, using his to write and record contemporary jazz that is church derived. His new upbeat instrumental R&B single “Stirred” goes for playlist adds on October 24.
“I believe everyone has a gift. Every person on earth has something they were given - from God - to help them fulfill their purpose while on earth. There’s a scripture in the Bible that talks about each person ‘stirring’ their gift. In other words, your gift should not collect dust, but each person should make sure they keep their gift sharp and in use. I feel we are most effective and happy when we use the gift we’ve been given,” said Devine about the feel-good song he wrote with producer Matt Godina (Darren Rahn, Julian Vaughn, Nicholas Cole, Lin Rountree).
“Stirred” is the third single from Devine’s eighth album, “Soul Jazz,” which dropped last year. Emoting passion, inspiration and grace, Devine plays saxes and flute on the track. Godina adds keyboards, guitar and programming to the ebullient harmonies. The midtempo groove is anchored by bassist Kevin “Mr. Kevin Jerome” Stancil and drummer Lester Estelle, Jr.
It’s natural for Devine to turn to his faith when it comes to composing music. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas to parents who pastored a church, the household was always filled with music, primarily gospel. While Devine’s nine siblings could all sing, he found his voice via saxophone. Church informed his spirituality, but discovering contemporary jazz informed his music. From Jesus and the Apostles to Groover Washington, Jr., Najee, George Howard, Kirk Whalum and other saxophone greats, Devine found a creative path for his artistic expression to incorporate both pillars in his life.
“My love for contemporary jazz grew as I grew as a player. Listening to these saxophonists, mixed with the soulful and heartfelt riffs I was hearing at church, shaped me into what I am today. When I started writing songs, it was contemporary jazz. It evolved into a wonderful opportunity for me to provide churches with instrumental music in the style of contemporary jazz during sacred worship gatherings. I consider myself a contemporary jazz ambassador to the church,” said Devine who lives with his family just outside of Washington, DC.
As “Stirred” arrives, hopefully motivating listeners to put their gift to work, Devine continues his musical ministry this month at the following concert dates:
October 22 Grand Opening Event Waldorf, MD
October 23 Crossover Church Hyattsville, MD
October 30 First Baptist Church N. Brentwood, MD
For more information, please visit https://merlondevine.com.
DARRYL ANDERS AGAPE SOUL – ‘BREATHLESS’
Agape Soul Records
Bass player/composer/producer Darryl Anders is back with "Breathless", a follow up to his excellent single "Nobody But You" which featured Maysa on vocals. This time around the ultra-talented San Francisco Bay Area singer/songwriter Zoe Ellis handles the lead vocals (adding b.g vocals and co-writer credits too), on what I think is a very fresh format-friendly song, which I loved from the first time I heard it.
PAMELA WILLIAMS – ‘STONE COLD’
Saxtress Entertainment
The Saxtress is back with another compelling song with a great vibe. Pamela produced the song, and co-wrote it. She already got two early adds this week, and looks to have a real winner here, following up her previous single which hit #1 Billboard ("Serendipity").
URBAN-JAZZ HARPIST MARIEA ANTOINETTE IS “SO AMAZING”
Her exquisite interpretation of the Luther Vandross classic is collecting playlist adds and airplay.
SAN DIEGO (18 October 2022): It was a million-dollar wedding and the bride-to-be commissioned urban-jazz harpist Mariea Antoinette to play her down the aisle. As she pondered what to perform, Antoinette came upon the Luther Vandross classic “So Amazing” and the bride loved it. Antoinette teamed with longtime producer Allan Phillips to craft a beautiful and soulful arrangement for the occasion. When the bride arrived at the altar, spontaneous applause broke out. Encouraged by the reaction, Antoinette decided to record the rendition as a single. Her sublime “So Amazing” just dropped and is presently receiving more than one hundred spins per week from dozens of radio outlets, including SiriusXM’s Watercolors.
“So Amazing” continues Antoinette’s mission of placing the harp in unexpected settings, proving that the ancient stringed instrument has soul and can groove. With Antoinette dexterously playing delicate notes and strumming mellifluous harmonies, the single is illumined by lush orchestration provided by string and horn sections, including violins, violas, cello, trumpet, saxophone, flute, trombone and celestial background vocals. Phillips’s keyboards and percussion anchors the track flanked by guitarist Evan Marks, bassist Nathan Brown and drummer Tiki Pasillas.
“This wedding was for a bride who has everything. In speaking with her about song selection for the ceremony, she wanted an R&B song that was powerful. She indicated that she loved Luther Vandross, Kem and a host of other R&B singers so I started looking through their catalogs. When I heard Luther's ‘So Amazing,’ I knew that was the one. The song lends itself to the harp,” said Antoinette who remains a fan of Vandross and was inspired after seeing him perform.
“I've been to three of Luther’s concerts. He was/is ‘so amazing.’ I loved his style, professionalism and stage presence. Seeing Luther’s shows was a master class in performance.”
“So Amazing” will serve as the title track of Antoinette’s fourth album, which she anticipates releasing next spring, perfectly timed for wedding season. In December, she’ll shoot her first PBS special with her band and a string section at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, which will be titled “An Intimate Evening with Mariea Antoinette.”
Antoinette is an award-winning artist who performed for President Barack and Michelle Obama, shared the stage with Ne-Yo at the BET Awards, toured extensively with Jazz in Pink, and has served as principal harpist for the Los Angeles Southeast Symphony Orchestra. She’s had records that hit Billboard’s top five, paving the way to performances at major jazz festivals and events, including Catalina Island JazzTrax Festival, Capital Jazz Fest and the Women Songwriters Hall of Fame Awards. Antoinette has won honors from the Black Women in Jazz and the Arts, a Black Music Award, and a San Diego Prestige Award for best instrumentalist. Her activism includes partnering with Daughters Lives Matter, a nonprofit organization stressing the importance of healthy father-daughter relationships and positive imagery.
For more information, please visit https://marieaantoinette.com.
SUNKING - 'SMUG' – NEW ALBUM BY INDIE JAZZ ALCHEMISTS AND MEMBERS OF SEATTLE COLLECTIVE HIGH PULP
sunking : photo by Will Matsuda
sunking
SMUG
new album
out 18.11.22
(ANTI-)
pre-order/save
sunking.ffm.to/smug
includes the single
BAD HABITS
audio/visualiser
youtu.be/Dq1vNp93IkM
GLITCH/SPY
audio/visualiser
youtu.be/ymlsIUTn8xQ
Featuring two members of the Seattle-based collective High Pulp, sunking are indie jazz alchemists who incorporate indie-rock, electronic and hip-hop elements into a jazz framework. For fans of BADBADNOTGOOD and Flying Lotus.
“There are elements of jazz, indie-rock, hip-hop and electronic music, but ultimately sunking is all about exploring the nooks and crannies between those genres, about throwing out all of the rules and expectations in search of something completely fresh and original,” says drummer Bobby Granfelt.
A duo comprised of Granfelt and keyboardist Antoine Martel, sunking have today announced an 18th November release date for ‘Smug’, their second album but first with ANTI- Records. The groundwork for the album is drawn from a series of freewheeling, lo-fi drum sessions while the horn and keyboard-fuelled arrangements on top are part of a vision for the band’s sound that has been evolving ever since the release of their self-titled debut in 2019.
The band have also made the album tracks ‘Bad Habits’ and ‘Glitch/Spy’ available as a single today to coincide with the album announcement. This follows the September release of ‘My Mind Is An Oven’ and ‘Uncle Kane’.
Commitment is the name of the game for Granfelt and Martel, who first bonded over a shared love of progressive jazz, punk, shoegaze and underground electronic music while still in high school. Over the years, the powerhouse drummer and keyboard wizard would collaborate in a variety of configurations, most notably as members of the sprawling Seattle collective High Pulp, who have gained a cult worldwide following.
High Pulp earned rave reviews in several UK publications for their recent ‘Pursuit Of Ends’ album, with The Times comparing them to Snarky Puppy in showing that “disparate influences can combine if a unifying spirit is behind it. Here it’s the brilliant drummer Bobby Granfelt.” Elsewhere, Jazzwise praised its “melding of Miles’ 1970s fusion experiments with rich Ellingtonian orchestrated majesty and non-jazz elements taken from the likes of Aphex Twin and My Bloody Valentine,” while Prog summarised it as “the epitome of cool modern jazz with depth and complexity,” and Record Collector described it as “organic, marinating fusion, new wave and R&B with spiritual jazz into a quixotic brew.”
However, sunking has always remained distinct from any of the pair’s other projects, in large part because it has always remained just the two of them. “There is a bit more of a loose, shoot-from-the-hip approach that we are comfortable taking as a duo,” explains Granfelt. “I’ve always loved music that was rough around the edges - Alex G, Guided by Voices, Modest Mouse - and we don’t shy away from that kind of grit. We’ll just throw up a couple of microphones and start recording anywhere: a studio, a bedroom, a moving vehicle, it doesn’t matter.”
“We have a bit of a telepathic thing going on where we don’t even need to speak to communicate at this point, either” adds Martel. “With sunking, there are fewer filters between us and the music.”
BANDCAMP | INSTAGRAM
JAZZ SINGER-SONGWRITER SAMANTHA FIERKE’S MESMERIZING ‘MIRAGE’ IS A JOURNEY TO SELF-DISCOVERY
The debut album that gains national release on November 18 is receiving Grammy consideration in five categories.
BOSTON (17 October 2022): So much of jazz singer-songwriter Samantha Fierke’s world was not as it appeared as they worked on their debut album in the midst of the pandemic. Still a teenager at the time, Fierke had not yet been diagnosed as autistic and was “finding their place in the world through their queer identity,” all while fear, economic uncertainty and civil unrest gripped the US. Writing poignantly about the contrasting feelings of hope and despair amidst chaos and turmoil, Fierke composed the resonant lyrics to the arresting “Mirage,” the title track to the acoustic jazz vocal album produced by Loyd Warden receiving its national release on November 18.
When they began crafting “Mirage” in 2020, Fierke had deferred their first year at Berklee College of Music and also had to push back recording the album due to pandemic restrictions. The delay afforded Fierke’s music time to mature, songs that explore the pain they endured while masking their autism in an abusive relationship; fantasizing romantically about a woman; express the rage and power of their generation in response to the politics of our times; the pain and anger of betrayal; and emerging from darkness with hopeful anticipation.
As restrictions eased last year, Fierke entered bassist Mickey Jamieson’s home studio in Columbia, Missouri where they recorded live accompanied by a trio comprised of Jamieson, keyboardist Samuel Luetkemeyer, and Warden on drums and percussion.
Taking stunning command of the mic to sing and scat like a seasoned and skilled veteran, the eight songs on “Mirage” pour from the twenty-year-old singer’s being rife with raw emotion, intimacy, intensity and brazen authenticity. Despite difficult and deeply personal subject matters, Fierke shares their poetic narratives while peeling back the protective layers. Their voice never waivers, exhibiting astonishing beauty, poise, strength and grace amidst the embers of heartache and glimmering rays of optimism. Working with melodies and rhythms constructed from jazz, fusion, global folk, funk and sophisticated pop, sonically the tracks on “Mirage” are artfully assembled, sparsely rendered tapestries that provide dramatic shading, sensual grooves and moody melodic enhancements illuminating Fierke’s tales.
“Mirage” opens with a tribute to Chick Corea on the astutely rhythmic “Kick It Loose.”
“Chick died as I was still writing it and immediately, I knew it was for him. It is a song for the musician’s soul, to remind us that we are not simply a commodity to be bought and sold. Music is not between audience and performer, but among a communal group,” said Fierke who released a five-song EP of standards in 2018 titled “Sam.”
While there’s a touch of whimsy on the swinging “I Remember Butterflies,” the lyric reveals lost innocence.
“My childhood was outdoorsy and playful, thanks to my mom and her garden. I recently noticed that the swarms of butterflies that used to greet me every summer are now down to one or two pairs of wings at a time. It is a mourning.”
Jamieson literally got down on his hands and knees to record the sound of water droplets to provide interesting percussive texturization on “Shower Song.”
Fierke explains, “Sometimes life - or some sour soul - hits you like a brick with so much force that all you can do is let the water wash it away until you are well again. I wrote this to process the pain and anger handed to me by someone I called a friend.”
The journey of self-discovery became very real for Fierke a little over a year ago when they finally received their autism diagnosis. Five years earlier, they began writing the lyrics to “Color Me,” even without knowing what they were fully about.
“They were the heartbroken words from a young me drowning to change myself, mask myself, in desperation that the abuse I was receiving in a relationship would stop. The song is not as cheery as it seems and that is precisely the point,” Fierke said about the track that was issued last spring as a “teaser single.”
“My autism was harder to identify at first due to my ADHD, which can sometimes make the behaviors look different via opposite extremes competing for exposure. When I received my diagnosis, all the sudden my life and all my experiences made sense. Putting the pieces together was extremely liberating in some ways, but it also revealed a lot of deep pain and heartache that I’ve experienced due to being autistic. And it hurt to realize that if I had supports in place all along, I may have lived a very different life and avoided a lot of trauma.”
The haunting and unsettling “Mirage” is the session’s centerpiece. The track varies in tone and tempo, propelling the experience along.
“When I began writing ‘Mirage,’ it became clear how heavy it was. This song wrote itself and I simply uncovered it. I cannot explain it properly other than to describe it as desperation and perseverance. In the process, I saw my songwriting solidify into something that felt more authentic and sacred to me than anything I had ever written. Though the words were simply revealing themselves to me without much literal understanding on my part, I knew what it was about. I knew the feeling of the mirage. It is a reflection on the desperation to hold onto hope. It is a timeless feeling but writing it during this momentary ‘falling apart of our world’ felt so heavy. The song speaks of a journey through a desert that seems to never end even as the lyrics beg to keep going. It is simultaneous hope and despair. Once I felt how this song lingered in my stomach, I began to build an album around it — some old and some new tunes, but all my own songs. Even still, I’m connecting the dots that my intuition already put together, linking all the songs together back to the center of ‘Mirage.’”
The amorous “Sweet Girl” finds Fierke daydreaming about a queer romance.
“It was a peaceful image in my mind come to life through song written with a heart full of love by a young queer soul. It is a fantasy of peaceful feminine domesticity. Nothing close to what I was told of domesticity. It is a painting of queer love with no distinct names or faces,” said Fierke who identifies as bisexual and gender queer.
“When People Speak” has roots dating back to 2016, which Fierke wrote in response to the emerging political climate of the time that continues to this day.
“This song grew and festered in me, built out of rage and power with hope for what could be. It is the overwhelm our generation is far too used to. It wasn’t intrinsically political, but it was definitely a reflection on what it felt like in the world at the time. Still feels similar. It’s just four chords, but it’s an immensely complex and intimate song. It takes so much trust to play it the way it’s meant to be,” said Fierke.
The set closes with “Smile Again,” a lilting groove anchored by Luetkemeyer’s nimble keys. Conceived while vacationing on a goat farm with her lover, Fierke wrote as he slept.
“My partner deals with a lot of really intense mental health issues and sometimes my role is to see the hope that he’s struggling to find. The song is more about celebrating the inevitability of happiness. It’s not explicitly for or about him, but he’s the biggest influence, especially in the later verses,” Fierke shared.
During the “Mirage” recording and arranging process, Fierke received guidance from Grammy nominated jazz vocalists Gretchen Parlato, Jane Monheit and Oleta Adams as well as Grammy winner Taylor Eigsti, mentors and role models who have taken an interest in the promising singer-songwriter. Last June, Fierke finally shared the album in two cities: their hometown (Columbia, MO) and Boston where they’re now a college sophomore. Another Grammy winner, Brother Paul Brown (The Waterboys), got hold of the collection and submitted the album for Grammy consideration in five categories (Jazz Vocal Album, Producer of the Year, Non-Classical, Album of the Year; Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals; and Best New Artist). Encouraged by the buzz and critical acclaim in Fierke’s two homebases that was growing organically, a plan came together to take “Mirage” national.
Two days after “Mirage” drops, Fierke will perform at The Jungle near Boston on November 20.
“Mirage” contains the following songs:
“Kick It Loose”
“I Remember Butterflies”
“Shower Song”
“Color Me”
“Mirage” (Mickey music with)
“Sweet Girl” (Loyd music with)
“When People Speak”
“Smile Again”
For more information, please visit https://samdoesjazz.com.
NEW SINGLE BY KARLOS EDWARDS - 'WITH YOU'
“A true masterpiece performed, produced, and sung by the multi-instrumentalist Karlos Edwards entitled ‘With You’. The song includes a spectacular special guest vocal performance by the beautiful Elle Cato. Not forgetting the talented Bryan Corbett on the trumpet/flugelhorn, all of whom can be seen in the music video which will be released simultaneously with the song in all stores and media platforms. All three deliver an exceptional display of pure skill which appears to be on a warm, smooth summer Soul-Jazz vibe that was filmed on hot Sunday evening in a recording studio near the central city of Birmingham, UK. Make way for another carefully selected superior release on the prestigious forever growing Digital Jukebox Records label and enjoy the wonderful sounds of the talented artist, Mr Karlos Edwards.”
Catalogue ID : DJ0116 - UPC : 829282000887
Release Format: Album - Territory : Worldwide
P-Line / C-Line : 2022 Digital Jukebox Records
Availability : ITunes, Amazon, EMusic, Worldwide
Publishing : Digital Jukebox Recordings/ASCAP
Distributed by Sony Music/The Orchard USA
Facebook - www.facebook.com/KarlosEdwardsOfficial/
YouTube - www.youtube.com/user/KarlosEdwardsVEVO/
Twitter - www.twitter.com/KarlosEdwardsUK/
Instagram - www.instagram.com/KarlosEdwardsOfficial/
Official Website - www.KarlosEdwards.com
Song, Written, Performed, Produced & Arranged by Karlos Edwards
Guest Performance includes Elle Cato (Vocals), Bryan Corbett (Trumpet/Flugelhorn)
Executive Producer : M.Duffus (Digital Jukebox Records)
Video Directed & Edited by M.Duffus
Camera Man : P.Ward & M.Duffus
Video Recording Location : Birmingham, United Kingdom, Hollick & Taylor / Grosvenor Road Studios (Home of the creators of Thunderbirds, Slade, Jasper Carrott and more)
(C) 2022 Digital Jukebox Records.
NEO SOUL SINGER-SONGWRITER REBECCA JADE SHOWS A “TOTAL GODDESS VIBE” ON “A SHADE OF JADE”
The album released 10/14/22 as “Show Me” hits Billboard’s New and Active singles chart.
SAN DIEGO (14 October 2022): For years, she’s been performing with the likes of Sheila E., Sir Elton John and at jazz festivals throughout the world, but never before has neo soul vocalist Rebecca Jade recorded a collection of her own songs until now. The ten-track “A Shade of Jade” dropped Friday, which Jade coproduced with keyboardist and frequent songwriting partner Carnell Harrell (Boney James, Andra Day). The LadyJade Music release arrived as Jade’s “Show Me,” a vintage R&B cut driven by a hard-hitting hip hop beat, layers of sophisticated vocal tracks and modern jazz nuances, is among Billboard’s New and Active singles.
Always a singer, Jade didn’t consider herself a songwriter although she had written lyrics and poetry in an ever-present notebook that she carried for years. But she didn’t have the confidence to share or fully explore that side of her artistry. Teaming with Harrell changed that. Finally opening up the pages containing intimate thoughts, feelings, reflections and experiences, Jade turned those journaled writings into resonant lyrics, often composing vibrant melodies for songs that deftly incorporate R&B, jazz, hip hop and pop. Anchoring the aural alchemy illumined by lush harmonies and soul-powered grooves is Jade’s richly expressive voice, commandingly delivering substantive stories of hope, inspiration and romantic ardor. Her lyrics empower strength, courage and fortitude; get vulnerable and fantasize about unabashed love; and relish life with a full and grateful heart.
As Jade worked on “A Shade of Jade,” with Harrell on keyboards, Kyle Bolden on guitar, Raymond McKinley on bass, Charles Streeter Sr. on drums, and saxophonist Eric Darius making a guest appearance to solo on “Bottle Up Magic,” she teased the album by releasing a video for the motivational “What’s It Gonna Be,” which won two statues at this year’s San Diego Music Awards. The former division one college basketball player who earned a full athletic scholarship to UC Berkeley appears in the hoop-themed video that has amassed 127,000 views to date (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8MrEOyjXQA).
The San Diego-based artist has sold out concerts previewing “A Shade of Jade” in her hometown and near Los Angeles and performed last week at the Barbados Jazz Excursion. This holiday season, Jade will be trekking across the U.S. with saxophone star Dave Koz (who is featured soloing on “My Reason”), performing at his 25th annual Christmas tour that also features genre luminaries Rick Braun, Peter White and Keiko Matsui.
Although Jade’s album just arrived, early reviews are singing the singer’s praises.
“Rebecca Jade is the most powerful and versatile vocalist I have heard in years…Jade’s voice is an intoxicating instrument and an addictive one at that…Jade is the complete package: power, soul, and finesse.” – San Diego Troubadour
“Listen up real close, and you’ll hear an ingénue aspiring to true, original greatness, wrapped up in faultless, luxe vocals, dripping with and dropping casual, causal, in-depth bombs, all while cushioned in a total goddess vibe.” – Carol Banks Weber/Coggie Ink
“An extremely tight, hugely soulful collection that has the potential to take Jade anywhere she wants to go.” – Smooth Jazz Therapy
For more information, please visit www.rebeccajade.com.
NEW SINGLE ‘NEW BOSSA’ FROM LES SABLER
New Vista Records
Mr. Sabler is back with a really smooth and flowing song which features his tasty guitar work. Produced by Paul Brown, this song feels like another winner to follow up his Top 10 Billboard single last year ("Esselle's Dance").
JOSEPHINE ONIYAMA - 'KINDRED' – NEW ALBUM BY SOULFUL BRITISH SINGER-SONGWRITER OUT 04.11.22
JOSEPHINE ONIYAMA
KINDRED
new album
out 04.11.22
(Sound Of Solar Records)
pre-order/save
orcd.co/jokindred
includes the singles
TEARS WILL NEVER BE MINE / HUMAN / BURN & KINDRED
Manchester raised but now Liverpool based soulful singer-songwriter Josephine Oniyama has released the singles ‘Tears Will Never Be Mine’, ‘Human’ and ‘Burn’ in recent months. These have reintroduced her to fans after a period out of the spotlight and have received airplay on Radio 2, 6 Music, Absolute Radio, BBC Merseyside, BBC Manchester and BBC Ulster.
A fourth song entitled ‘Kindred’ is available now, with this latest being the title track of Oniyama's long-awaited new album, which is set for release on 4th November. She describes the focus of the record as being about "human connections, friendship, family, love and being strong through adversity. It’s about going on a journey together, sharing life with others and each of us striving to be the best we can be along the way.”
With its combination of electronic and acoustic elements, ‘Kindred’ also reflects Oniyama's exploration of diverse sounds in recent years; a period in which she has not only listened to powerful female artists such as Grace Jones, Lana Del Rey, Joanna Newsome and Alison Krauss, but has also rediscovered earlier influences like Ali Farka Touré, Bob Marley, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, all of whom had been inspirations when learning guitar in her teens.
KINDRED
TRACKLISTING
1 Act Like You’re In Love
2 Tears Will Never Be Mine AUDIO
3 Kindred AUDIO
4 ’Til You
5 Superheroes
6 Sanctuary
7 Human AUDIO
8 Every Second
9 Break Free
10 Burn AUDIO
‘Kindred’ appears a full decade after ‘Portrait’, Oniyama’s second album and a record that was issued to stunning reviews. Praised for its fusion of folk, soul and jazz, songs from it were A-listed at BBC Radio 2 and playlisted on 6 Music, XFM and Jazz FM. Oniyama also performed on Later With Jools Holland HERE, The Andrew Marr Show, Saturday Night Live (Ireland) and a number of mainland European TV shows. Two headlining tours were further backed up with sets at major festivals (Glastonbury, Latitude, T In The Park, Electric Picnic) and support slots with Paloma Faith, Madeleine Peyroux, Michael Kiwanuka and Paolo Nutini.
Oniyama’s talent was recognised by a diverse selection of her peers, leading to collaborations in the mid-2010’s with Travis (with whom she recorded the song ‘Idlewild’) and jazz producer/trumpeter Matthew Halsall (she co-wrote three songs for his acclaimed ‘Into Forever’ album). More recently, she was commissioned to create two live scores for the launch of HOME, the Manchester international contemporary arts centre; 'Celluloid History Songs’ was a set of new songs written to accompany silent footage from the North West Film Archive, while the centenary of the classic occult documentary ‘Haxan: Witchcraft Through The Ages’ was given an ambitious new score by Oniyama and students from the University of Salford. Fusing song-based and electro-acoustic sounds, these projects further expanded her creative ideas and skills as a songwriter, arranger and sound artist.
Oniyama has also spent time earning an MA degree in English and became a mother while writing and recording ‘Kindred'.
PORTRAIT
REVIEWS
"A versatile and substantial new talent“ MOJO
“An original, unfolding talent“ UNCUT
“Wonderful, uplifting, euphoric soulful gems“ SUNDAY TIMES
“Her voice is fabulous and different“ EVENING STANDARD
“Stunning newcomer“ SUN
“Striking talent“ MIRROR
“A timeless, distinctive and soulful voice” MUSIC WEEK
josephineoniyama.com
Josephine Oniyama - further info & social media
MEL HOLDER BRINGS ‘WAKE UP’
"Wake Up" is the new single from the Mel Holder album, Phenomenal – Music Book Volume IV. Mel Holder's last album Magnificent - Music Book Volume III was a top entry for both Billboard Gospel and Contemporary Jazz 2020 charts.
The illustrious multi-talented Grammy, Stellar, and Dove Award-nominated artist, composer, arranger, saxophonist, author and pastor Mel Holder has recorded 6 albums thus far in a meritorious 25-year musical career. His unparalleled perseverance and dedication to his craft are attributed to his Christ-centered lifestyle.
Even in the mist of the current pandemic, there has been no slow down, Mel has authored a new book The New Normal which is a must read as it chronicles the current Covid-19 era with positive and informative life lessons to navigate in the new normal. The studio has never been a stranger to Mel as he used his time of social distancing to pen his upcoming album "PHENOMENAL"
Melodies of Christmas and Melodies of Resurrection are Mel Holder's recent television productions which were aired on several major networks internationally such as Word Network and The Now Network.
MAGNIFICENT, Mel's trailblazing album release hit number one on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz Chart twice in 2019 and closed out the Billboard's Year End Chart at number 2. While simultaneously closing out the year at 54 on the Top Gospel Album Chart while maintaining spots in the top twenty throughout the year.
Born in Brooklyn NY of Panamanian decent, Mel's life became a testimony in the making from an early age. At the tender age of eight years old, Mel was hindered from being able to fully participate in all of life's youthful activities due to asthma. To many, this impediment might have been a stumbling block; however, Mel used this as a stepping stone to ignite his interest in music. Beyond all odds to utilize his respiratory system to play a wind instrument, Mel became a focused, relentless warrior through that challenge and used his newfound musical ability to defeat any notions of limitation. Mel’s commitment to answering this call on his life gave birth to his ministry.
"Wake Up"
Written Mel Holder (Mel Holder Music, SESAC)
Produced by Mel Holder
Mixed by John Palmer
Soprano, Alto, Tenor & Baritone Saxophones, Keyboards: Mel Holder
Guitar: JJ Sanservino
Keyboards: Joel Deroches
Trumpet: & Trombone: Kirk Brown
Trumpet: Vitaly Golovenev
JASON JACKSON FEAT. GINO ROSARIA IS ‘WORKIN’ IT OUT’
Saxophonist and Billboard top 20 artist Jason Jackson is All In with the release of his newest project. This 8 track album is packed with ear catching melodies, grooves that won't quit, and collaborations with veteran contemporary jazz greats as well as the genre's newest rising stars. All In, produced by 14 time #1 artist/producer Adam Hawley is the follow up to Jason's debut offering, hit EP Movin' On (also produced by Hawley) and features appearances by Jason'sold friend, teacher, and mentor Eric Merienthal as well. assome new friends: Gino Roasria, Jonathan Fritzen, Chieli Minucci, and Mr. Talkbox. After just one listen, you'll agree that All In is the person combination of "Groove and Smooth".
The first radio single from the record is "Workin It Out": a feel good, high energy anthem that's sure to lift your spirits every time you hear it. This track is elevated even further by the addition of Gino Rosaria's piano, which when paired with the sax, creates unforgettable melodies and a groove impossible not to nod your head to.
Jason, a native. of Wilmington, NC proudly served 10 years in the U.S. navy as musician where he was able to not only perform for audiences all around the world, but meet and make friends with people from many different cultures and backgrounds. It was from these experiences that he truly realized that music was the universal language and where he adopted his musical mantra of "Groove Supersedes All".
CANDY DULFER FEAT. NILE RODGERS WITH ‘CONVERGENCY’
Give the people an invigorating beat, some swanky sax uplift, and watch the pain melt away. That’s the funky stuff Prince’s former top-choice sax player Candy Dulfer and her band specialize in. The groovin’ Dutch singer-songwriter and saxophonist’s latest album, the aptly titled We Never Stop, is a party platter of stanky jams, silken R&B, jazz, and pop-funk. The good times kick off with the single “Jammin’ Tonight” and the very radio friendly “Convergency,” both featuring special guest, Chic guitarist, producer, songwriter, and three-time Grammy Award-winner Nile Rodgers. We Never Stop is a triumph in the wake of the global pandemic and worldwide racial unrest.
“This is a personal album—it’s personal for everyone because we are struggling with many of the same things,” Candy shares. “The main spirit of this music is to elevate. It feels like it’s never been more important to not wallow in the hurt and the pain in the world, and let that defeat us. That’s why I called this album, We Never Stop.”
Candy is a solo artist, a songwriter, an in-demand instrumentalist, and a co-writer and collaborator who has worked with some of the biggest names in modern music, including Van Morrison, Maceo Parker, Sheila E., Mavis Staples, Lionel Richie, Beyoncé, Pink Floyd, Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin, and Prince, among many others. She first rose to fame with her high-profile collaboration with Dave Stewart on the worldwide number 1 smash “Lily Was Here.”
Her tenure with Prince may be best remembered by his tongue-in-cheek recommendation in the “Partyman” video: “When I want sax, I call Candy.” Their collaboration continued over the years with many studio sessions, TV show appearances, award show performances, including the Grammy Awards, and concert tours around the globe, including Candy joining Prince’s NPG band as a permanent member for his record-shattering Musicology tour and album.
In addition to her superstar collaborations, Candy is a serious lifelong musician with a robust history as a solo artist releasing albums and touring the world for over 35 years. Since her Grammy-nominated debut, 1990’s Saxuality, Candy has issued 12 studio albums. The combined world-wide sales of her solo albums top 2.5 million copies, and she has had several number 1 hits in the USA. In between her solo albums and her high-profile collaborations, Candy still manages to join Dutch female supergroup the Ladies of Soul for their annual sold-out concerts at the massive Amsterdam Ziggo Dome; she is a headline performer on Smooth Jazz Cruises in the USA and Europe; she is an ambassador for the Dutch ALS Foundation; and Candy was a judge on the Dutch version of X Factor.
Candy soaked up music and life lessons from her father, and the iconic musicians he worked with, but Candy also boldly discovered her own voice as a songwriter and an instrumentalist, finding a home in contemporary jazz and pop-funk. She has worked hard to become an artist on her own terms, inspired by the likes of David Sanborn, Steps Ahead, Marcus Miller, Michael Brecker, Maceo Parker, Cannonball Adderley, writer, producer and percussionist Sheila E., and Janet Jackson. “I want to be Janet Jackson with a saxophone entertaining and musically giving,” Candy says.
Legendary Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers (Madonna, David Bowie, Daft Punk, Lady Gaga) appears on the singles “Jammin' Tonight” and “Convergency.” “Jammin' Tonight,” is a bold injection of party pop-funk with a slick jazz overlay that recalls Niles’ 1970s “Good Times” finery. Here, Candy blows some euphoric jazz-tinged solos, and you can hear pain and struggle melt away in her lyrical virtuosity. The album’s title track funks in the face of adversity. It’s Candy’s salute to all the musicians who have had their livelihoods leveled in the wake of the pandemic—this is a funky as hell anthem of resilience. “Convergency” is a dizzyingly romantic R&B instrumental ballad with jeweled melodic sax work.
After three decades of superstar collaborations and world tours, and chart-topping and high-selling solo career releases, Candy is living proof of the title of her latest album, We Never Stop. Nothing gets in the way of her making funky stuff. Today, her determination and passion remain, but her motivations are different. “These days, I play music to, hopefully, inspire younger people. When I was 12, I didn’t have many female saxophonists to look up to, and I want to be that person for the next generation of musicians,” she says.
R&B SINGER-SONGWRITER JOYCE SIMS OVERLEDEN
Gezien mij recente vakantie, meld ik jullie met enige vertraging dat R&B-singer-songwriter Joyce Sims op 15 oktober jl. op 63-jarige leeftijd is overleden.
Sims was vooral bekend van haar hit 'Come Into My Life', die zowel in het VK als in de VS de top 10 van hitlijsten bereikte. Haar eerste hit, 'All And All', bereikte nummer zes in de Amerikaanse dance-hitlijst en kwam in de top 20 van de Britse singles-hitlijst.
De dood van Sim werd op sociale media bevestigd door familieleden, hoewel er geen doodsoorzaak werd gegeven.
Een van de zussen van Sims, Annette Ramsey, schreef op sociale media: "mijn hart is gebroken" en schreef op Facebook: "Ik zal altijd de gelukkige tijden herinneren die we hebben gedeeld, de liefde en steun die je me hebt gegeven zal niet tevergeefs zijn . Ik hou van je grote zus RIP.”
Een andere van haar zussen, Debbie Sims Hall, beschreef de overleden zangeres als "een prachtige ziel van binnen en van buiten" die "echt zal worden gemist".
Evenementenorganisator CJ Carlos schreef op Facebook: “Na vanavond met haar directe familie te hebben gesproken, plaats ik met pijn in het hart dit nieuws dat Joyce Sims is overleden. Joyce was een geweldige singer-songwriter die zoveel hits had in de jaren 80.
“Zoals de meesten van jullie weten, zou ze in mei een van onze Amerikaanse artiesten in Portugal zijn. Mijn hart gaat uit naar haar partner Errol en hun kinderen en naaste familie.”
SARO COSENTINO - 'YOU ARE THE STORY (FEAT. TIM BOWNESS)' - VIDEO FOR SONG BY ITALIAN COMPOSER & PRODUCER
SARO COSENTINO
YOU ARE THE STORY
feat. TIM BOWNESS
from the album
THE ROAD TO NOW
LP / CD / digital
out 07.10.22
[Cat Sounds]
available HERE
The third solo album by Italian composer and producer Saro Cosentino, 'The Road To Now' features singers Peter Hammill (on four songs), Tim Bowness (of No-Man) and Karen Eden, plus instrumental contributions from the likes of Gavin Harrison, David Rhodes, John Giblin and Trey Gunn. Available on heavyweight colour vinyl, CD and digital formats, it is the long-awaited follow-up to 1997’s acclaimed ‘Ones And Zeros’.
Having issued a video in September for ‘The Joke’ (featuring Peter Hammill), Cosentino has made another available today for the album’s opening song, ‘You Are The Story’, which sees the soothing voice of Tim Bowness matched with a suitably sumptuous yet melancholic backdrop. Bowness, who has also recently issued his latest solo album, states that "'You Are The Story' was my second collaboration with Saro and it was written and recorded over twenty years since we’d first worked together in the late 1990s. As before, the writing luckily came very naturally.”
The new video was made by Maria Boutylina, an artist and photographer currently based in Prague, with the footage being shot mostly at night in various locations around the city. Cosentino himself also lives in Prague.
Born in Rome, Cosentino formed a blues outfit in his late teens but soon became more interested in experimental and electronic music, beginning a lengthy association with the popular Italian singer-songwriter Franco Battiato, who had been juggling his own love of the avant-garde with record company pressure to produce ‘hits’. The duo co-wrote Italy’s entry to the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest (which Battiato also performed) and collaborated on two operas later in the decade.
Cosentino released a self-titled debut solo album on EMI in 1988 prior to successfully dividing his time between composing film/TV soundtracks and writing for/producing numerous international artists that have included Peter Hammill, David Rhodes, Tim Bowness, Pandit Dinesh, Tony Levin, Natasha Atlas, Jakko Jakszyk and Gavin Harrison, as well as further work with Battiato plus other compatriots such as Milva and Alice.
'The Road To Now' was recorded in the UK and US as well as at Cosentino’s own studio in Prague, with final mixing taking place at Real World in Bath. The opening 'You’re The Story’ is followed by 'The Joke', the first of four songs featuring the unmistakable tones of legendary prog singer Peter Hammill. ‘November’ (on which Bowness provides a backing vocal) is a tale of long lost love, the outstanding 'Time To Go' contemplates the very end of the road (hopefully a long time from now), while the closing 'When Your Parents Danced' considers the first central figures in one’s life in their younger days, ‘before life’s stories made them what they’ve become’.
Having contributed to 'Ones and Zeros', as well as records by the likes of William Orbit and Chris Rea, the versatile Australian singer Karen Eden returns to perform on two contrasting tracks; the portentous sounding ‘Pray' and (by way of contrast to everything else on the record), the pop song 'Us (Scars on Skin)'. The album also contains the instrumental ‘Howl', which switches from strident to atmospheric midway through and showcases the skills of the musicians involved.
THE ROAD TO NOW
TRACKLISTING
1 You’re The Story (feat Tim Bowness)
2 The Joke (feat Peter Hammill)
3 Pray (feat Karen Eden)
4 November (feat Peter Hammill & Tim Bowness)
5 US (Scars on Skin) (feat Karen Eden)
6 Time To Go (feat Peter Hammill)
7 Howl
8 When Your Parents Danced (feat Peter Hammill)
MUSICIANS
Peter Hammill - vocals, guitar
Tim Bowness - vocals, backing vocals
Karen Eden - vocals
Dorota Barova - cello, vocals
Gavin Harrison - drums
John Giblin - bass
David Rhodes - guitar
Trey Gunn - waar guitar
Nicola Alesini - saxophone
Radim Knapp - trumpet
Saro Cosentino - guitars, keyboards, bass, strings, piano, arrangements, programming, sound design
URBANUS KOMT MET NIEUWE PLAAT EN WERKT SAMEN MET KRUIM VAN DE BELPOP
Gisteren werd het nieuwste album van Urbanus, “In roer en rep”, aangekondigd in het legendarische Antwerpse comedycafé The Joker. Op het full-length studioalbum werkte Urbanus samen met het kruim van de Belpop.
Urbanus staat dit jaar 50 jaar op de planken en dat is lang geen reden om het rustig aan te doen, in tegendeel. Vorig jaar nog kwam er een biografie, in april startte zijn nieuwe theatertournee “Bis Bis Bis” en dit najaar komt er dus een nieuw volwaardig studio album uit: “In roer en rep”. Het is een studio album geworden en dus geen opname van een liveoptreden zoals Urbanus in verleden wel eens deed. Voor deze langspeler rekende Urbanus op verschillende topmuzikanten om zich muzikaal te laten begeleiden. Zo werkten onder andere Dirk Jans (De Mens) op drum en Jan Van Eyken (De Kreuners) op gitaar mee aan het album. Urbanus’ dochters Liesa en Marieke stonden in voor de backingvocals. Het ensemble nam in totaal negen nummers op, waarvan zeven nieuwe en twee herwerkingen van ouder werk. “Fillemon en Fillomeen” en “De wereld is om zeep” werden in een nieuw jasje gestoken. Dat laatste nummer kreeg zelf een Engelse vertaling met zich mee: “The world is after soap”. “Urbanusbroekgitaar” is de afsluiter van het album, verwijzend naar de gitaar die Urbanus cadeau kreeg van een fan. Die bouwde de typische Urbanus-broek uit de strips na en maakte er een elektrische gitaar van.
Ook de hoes is opnieuw vintage Urbanus, vol met eigen tekeningen die verwijzen naar de nummers op de plaat. Het album verschijnt begin december maar is nu al te vooruit te bestellen via comedyshows.be. De nieuwe langspeler komt er op zwarte vinyl en op gelimiteerde roze vinyl (slechts 500 stuks), alsook op CD.
Info: www.comedyshows.be of www.urbanus.be
“Ik sta 50 jaar op de planken en om dat te vieren, maakte ik nog eens een gaatje voor een nieuw plaatje.
URBANUS: IN ROER EN REP
Plezier, protest en ontroering, het zit er allemaal in.
Urbanus”
JEFF RYAN – ‘WE CAN WORK IT OUT’
Woodward Avenue Records
Now acknowledged as a prominent core artist in the format, Jeff jumps into this musical joyride of the Beatles favorite with abandon. Featuring a bold and energetic track (produced by Greg Manning), and with some quality vocals by Rebecca Jade, Jeff plays with a powerful force, showing his considerable talents in the process. This well-known song's energy is sure to get your listener's attention.
TIFFANY BYNOE – ‘NEVER SAY NEVER’
CMORE5 Music Groupa
Tiffany is back with a silky smooth and very format-friendly vocal performance of this bossa nova flavored song. With none other than Andy Snitzer adding some superb sax colors to the track, this has the feel of a song that could play well on a wide variety of stations.
INDIANA BLUES-ROCK BAND THE COLD STARES KONDIGEN NIEUW ALBUM ‘VOICES’ AAN!
Uit op 10 maart via Mascot Records / Mascot Label Group.
Pre-order/save ‘Voices’ HIER
Vandaag heeft Indiana blues-rock band The Cold Stares hun nieuwe studio album 'Voices' aangekondigd, dat op 10 maart 2023 uitkomt via Mascot Records/Mascot Label Group. Het album is de meest volwassen, eclectische collectie van de band tot nu toe en is bijna volledig opgenomen in slechts twee dagen met producer/engineer/mixer Mark Needham (Taj Mahal, The Killers, Imagine Dragons, Walk the Moon, Fleetwood Mac). Deze aankondiging wordt gevierd met een officiële muziekvideo voor de lead single van het album, "The Joy”. De track behandelt het geluk dat gepaard gaat met het vinden van je ware soulmate.
“This song takes a step outside of our normal catalog and tackles the topic of finding happiness after heartache,” legt guitarist/vocalist Chris Tapp uit. “I think it will connect with those people that have overcome trials, and those who have survived toxic relationships and finally found happiness.”
De afgelopen tien jaar hebben The Cold Stares als duo onophoudelijk de wereld rond getoerd. Nu omarmt de band een heel nieuw soort chemie met de toevoeging van een derde bandlid, en vertolken zij op hun nieuwste album de ‘classic power trio sound’ waar ze mee zijn opgegroeid. “The chains were off when we made this record,” zegt Tapp. “Suddenly, all the parameters that had dictated what we could and couldn’t do just disappeared and we were free to create whatever sound we wanted.”
Dat gevoel van totale artistieke bevrijding staat centraal op Voices, dat de kenmerkende mix van blues, Southern en hardrock van The Cold Stares naar nieuwe hoogten stuwt. Het zou gemakkelijk zijn geweest voor Tapp en drummer Brian Mullins om het volume hier gewoon aan te zwengelen. Echter, in plaats daarvan halen ze het beste uit de komst van bassist Bryce Klueh, door genuanceerder en avontuurlijker te worden in hun aanpak, en op zoek te gaan naar een rauw, ongepoetst geluid dat zowel vintage als modern aanvoelt. Tel het allemaal bij elkaar op en je hebt een gedurfde, filmische plaat die tegelijk eerlijk en opwindend is.
“A lot of these tunes deal with really personal things that have been on my mind for a while,” zegt Tapp. “I just had to live enough life and get enough experience under my belt to know how to talk about them, to know how to feel comfortable opening up those veins and sharing whatever came out.”
Eerder bracht de band al de twee nieuwe tracks “The Ghost” en “Nothing But The Blues” uit, waarin personages worden gevoed door even wanhopige verlangens naar hoop, een doel en naar troost. Thema’s die in het hele album naar voren komen.
“Nothing But The Blues is kind of a continuation of the theme of our song ‘Hard Times,’” voegt Tapp toe. “I was thinking about what it takes to play ‘authentic blues,’ which traditionally meant suffering through the horrors of the old south. In my mind, there are so many things that can definitely set you down in the blues in the current world we live in.”
The Cold Stares werd opgericht in 2012 toen de vrienden Tapp en Mullins besloten samen te werken voor een inval-optreden. Ze brachten een reeks veelgeprezen albums uit die ze op tournee bracht met artiesten als Larkin Poe, Rival Sons, Reignwolf, Spoon, Grand Funk Railroad, Thievery Corp, en vele anderen. American Songwriter prees de groep als “hard-won commitment, honesty, and intensity,” terwijl No Depression hun geluid omschreef als een “roots rocking firestorm,”. De nummers van hun albums doken overal op, van ESPN en TNT tot het populaire videospel Cyberpunk 2077.
Na het beëindigen van hun tournee voor 'Heavy Shoes' in 2021 (hun vijfde studioalbum en debuutrelease voor Mascot Records), keerden Tapp en Mullins terug naar hun thuisstad Evansville, Indiana. Het was tijd een beslissing te maken, want in de studio was de sound van de band steeds voller geworden. Tenzij ze op het podium wilden gaan meespelen met vooraf opgenomen backing tracks, bereikte ze het punt waarop ze niet meer in staat zouden zijn om hun nummers getrouw na te spelen als duo.
“We’d been a two-piece for a decade, so it wasn’t something we took lightly,” zegt Tapp. “But we’d also known Bryce for a long time and knew he’d fit right in.”
Tracklist
1. Nothing But The Blues
2. Come For Me
3. The Joy
4. Lights Out
5. Got No Right
6. Sorry I Was Late
7. Voices
8. Waiting On The Rain
9. Sinnerman
10. Throw That Stone
11. It’s Heavy
12. Thinking About Leaving Again
13. The Ghost
Available Formats:
LP, CD and Digital
The Cold Stares Online:
www.thecoldstares.com/
facebook.com/thecoldstares
instagram.com/thecoldstares/
music.youtube.com/channel/UC3qnQAH-365p1QqVA8y-0_A
twitter.com/thecoldstares
JUSTIN KLUNK FT. DAVID BENOIT ON ‘THUNDER’
Saxophone recording artist Justin Klunk is one of the newer, rising faces of Smooth Jazz in Los Angeles, CA. Justin is both a recording and performing artist that has toured with many acts including Ariana Grande, The Midnight, Saint Motel, and Lindsey Stirling. Justin has also released two solo EP's and two singles of his own; “Justin Klunk - EP”, “Clarity - EP”, “Dive”, and “Make It Real” which received charting positions at Smooth Jazz radio since his first EP’s debut in 2013.
With many of the artists he tours with, Justin has performed on various TV shows such as Jimmy Kimmel Live (Ariana Grande), The Today Show (Saint Motel), The Ellen DeGeneres Show (Leon Bridges), and the American Music Awards. His saxophone and flute work can be heard on various TV shows like “WandaVision”, “Uncoupled”, “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series”, “iCarly” (reboot), "Modern Family", "Dr. Ken", and many others. He’s also recorded on albums for David Benoit, Saint Motel, Mastodon, and many others. As a musical director, Justin has programmed and arranged performances for LA-based RAINNE at iconic venues like the Hollywood Bowl, opening for Taylor Swift, Lizzo, the Jonas Brothers, and Billie Eilish at We Can Survive, 2019.
Additionally, Justin has also performed with an array of artists including David Foster, Leon Bridges, David Benoit, Earth Wind and Fire, Shelea, Pia Toscano, Rozzi, Melissa Manchester, David Pack, and The Steve Miller Band.
Justin strives to take the saxophone in new directions by experimenting with electronics in his compositions including “Dive”, “Make It Real”, and his new single “Thunder” featuring Smooth Jazz icon, David Benoit.
MO LOUIS COVERS ‘GEORGY PORGY’
"Music has played a monumental role in my life. I can remember my earliest years when the sounds of David Sanborn and Grover Washington Jr. filled the air of my childhood home. My parents were, and continue to be very avid fans of smooth jazz. It was from them, where my love for r&b & smooth jazz firmly took shape in my heart. It was a voice that I could relate to and that’s how I developed my unique, soulful sound.
At the age of 10 I began playing the saxophone. Initially, I was enamored by its beauty but that was only the beginning of the lifelong love affair that I have for this instrument. At the age of 14, after my first year of high school marching band, I knew that playing the sax was more than a hobby and it would be my lifelong aspiration. Here's a funny story from high school. I almost got expelled from my high school marching band because I started playing a sax solo over a trombone solo while we were performing Nat King Cole’s “Unforgettable". It was then I realized that I had a voice that needed to be heard as a solo artist!
After high school, I attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, Ma, where I majored in performance and music business. As life sometimes alters our paths, Mine was no different. I returned to California, began to raise a family, and put my dreams on hold. I’ve been playing professionally since my early 20’s and come from humble beginnings. No illustrious tours or side acts, just a local player from Southern California where I’ve worked steadfastly at my craft. I like to say that I’ve played with about everyone who’s played with “The” guy. Over the last 15 years I’ve played, recorded and toured throughout the western states with bands including The Chris Thayer Band & the TCB and The Brandon Ummel Band “Bub”. I’ve been able to establish a reputation as an artist and soloist amongst the finest Los Angeles Blues musicians. I’ve reached a place in my life where it’s time to share with the world the music that’s been in my heart for so long!
A little over a year ago I met Euge Groove while buying one of his saxophones and we became good friends. I’ll never forget standing in his studio and him putting on one of his own tracks for me to play along with. Talk about a humbling moment! I expressed my interest to release my own music and after some consideration, he decided to help me make my dreams a reality. I owe a lot to him… this wouldn’t be happening without him! Soon after I began working with the amazing smooth jazz producer, Jeff Carruthers and here we are today!
My debut single, TURN IT UP, was released on April 11th, 2022. My soulful and melodic voice gives me a unique identity that will hopefully find a place in the hearts of jazz lovers for years to come. This is just the beginning and I'm honored to share my heart and music with my amazing fans! Enjoy!" - Mo Louis
"Georgy Porgy"
Produced by Euge Groove
Arranged by Jeff Carruthers
Mixed and Mastered by Euge Groove
Saxophone: Mo Louis
Drums: Dan Needham
Bass: Cornelius Mims
Percussion: Lenny Castro
Rhodes: Carnell Harrel
NEW SINGLE ‘TICKLE TIME’ FROM HERB ALPERT
Few artists in the history of American music have been able to stay relevant decade after decade like Tijuana Brass titan Herb Alpert. The music icon, philanthropist and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee returns with the release of his latest studio effort, Sunny Side Of The Street.
Alpert, the prolific Tijuana Brass titan, returns with the new single "Tickle Time", a new original composition from Herb Alpert and keyboardist Jeff Lorber.
The prolific musician’s new set of 11 songs features six original compositions and was recorded with longtime collaborators Lani Hall, Jeff Lorber, Bill Cantos and more. Prior to the full album, Alpert released his cover of Miriam Makeba’s “Pata Pata” and the single “Here She Comes.” In addition to those tracks, the album contains gentle ballads like “Childhood” and “Time After Time,” covers of classic songs like “I’ll Remember You” (of Kui Lee/Don Ho/Andy Williams/Elvis Presley fame), and his version of Louis Armstrong’s “On the Sunny Side Of The Street.”
“I don’t try to make music for other people,” says Alpert. "If I can record something that makes me feel good and in the moment, then that’s a sign I’m doing something right. This recording gives me that feeling.”
KAYA STEWART - 'IF THINGS GO SOUTH' – NEW ALBUM BY US-BASED SINGER-SONGWRITER OUT TODAY
KAYA STEWART photography by Tyler Lee Aubrey
KAYA STEWART
IF THINGS GO SOUTH
new album
out 30.09.22
(Bay Street Records)
digital services
orcd.co/ifthingsgosouth
Alt-pop songstress Kaya Stewart has today released ‘If Things Go South’, her second full-length album, via Bay Street Records. The ten song set chronicles her self-actualisation as an artist along with the aches and pains of growing up, doubt, heartbreak and mental health. Influenced by the likes of Alanis Morissette and Debbie Harry, she has uncorked a hypnotic and hard-hitting sound of her own with full creative control and complete independence. “This record is 100% who I am now,” she declares. “This is the Kaya I was working towards all along.”
American Songwriter have raved about the album’s lead single, ‘Honey’, stating that “it unleashes desires, vulnerabilities…and the palpable realities of finding yourself while with another,” while Teen Vogue declared “the in-your-face thumping anthem should be done justice by being blasted at full volume — that way, you're able to simultaneously headbang and take in all of Kaya's full-bodied vocals.”
Born in London but raised in Los Angeles, Kaya’s musical career began in her mid-teens with a self-titled debut album on Warners. Now 22, she arrives fully formed with a scorching signature style. ‘If Things Go South' is tied together with powerful vocals utilising pop-punk attitude, intimate Americana-tinged storytelling and infectious danceable grooves. Co-written and co-produced with her father, Dave Stewart, it is Kaya at her most authentic and expressive self. The album is also set to have a candid and self-narrated companion performance film detailing her most personal thoughts, further details of which will be announced shortly.
Prior to making the record, and in the middle of the 2020 pandemic, Kaya was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder, which turned out to be the catalyst to write this collection of songs. “It was the weirdest time of my life, because I had this life-changing diagnosis that explained so much for me,” she admits. “I wasn’t planning on making a record and was actually thinking of taking a break for a little while. I called my dad, and he said, ‘Why don’t you just come to Nashville and write a couple of songs?’ By the time I left, we had ‘If Things Go South’. I was able to be myself in the studio. The album is the most honest thing I’ve ever done.”
‘If Things Go South’ arrives following the rapid fire release of the singles ‘Honey’, ’Til I Fixed It’ and ‘Hope You’re Happy’.
IF THINGS GO SOUTH
TRACKLISTING
1 Getting Closer
2 If Things Go South
3 Young In New York
4 Til I Fixed It
5 Jealous
6 Honey
7 Independence
8 This Tattoo
9 3 Is Company
10 Hope You’re Happy
GEOFF MULDAUR 'HIS LAST LETTER' – SUMPTUOUSLY PACKAGED AND GENRE-SPANNING NEW DOUBLE ALBUM BY AMERICANA LEGEND OUT NOW
GEOFF MULDAUR photographs by Sacha de Boer
GEOFF MULDAUR
HIS LAST LETTER
new album
2xLP box set / 2xCD book
out 30.09.22
[Moon River Music]
“A wonderful album crammed full of brilliantly arranged songs"
BLUES MATTERS
“Builds on the orchestration style of his Bix Beiderbecke tribute album and features sumptuous music, sound and packaging”
AMERICANA UK
“The arrangements are imaginative and subtly textured, the playing is impeccable and the music has a lovely, refreshing quality ****”
RNR
“A tour de force of musicianship and a superb eclectic snapshot of American culture. The book is worth the money alone, but the music it houses is priceless”
FOLKING
includes the AA sided single
LADY OF THE LAVENDER MIST
GEE BABY, AIN’T I GOOD TO YOU
SPOTIFY | APPLE MUSIC
‘His Last Letter’ is the most ambitious project ever undertaken by the Americana legend Geoff Muldaur; an 18 song tour de force in a long line of highly-acclaimed recordings by this venerable and highly respected musician. Recorded in the Netherlands, Muldaur takes us on a wide-ranging musical journey, collaborating with some of the finest classical and jazz musicians in that country to present stylish renderings of tunes from the American folk and jazz ‘songbag’, musical settings for the poems of Tennessee Williams, tributes to heroes such as Jelly Roll Morton and Duke Ellington, plus original compositions.
These recordings are available in high-end packages that include a 2xCD with book and a 2xLP box set with a 12”x12” book that includes photos, a foreword by composer David Amram, plus extensive track-by-track notes and personal stories by Muldaur. A true collector’s item, ‘His Last Letter’ will appeal in particular to listeners with an interest in American culture of the 1960s/70s, while its musical mix of classical, jazz, blues and Americana is the very epitome of ‘eclectic’. It also serves as an impressive retrospective of what has been a fulfilling career; a refreshing and vibrant modern classical/crossover mix that profiles Muldaur as an ever-creative artist who remains committed to developing his favourite music into the future.
Muldaur first had the idea of recording some chamber works he had been working on - pieces for violin, cello, clarinet, bassoon and French horn - in the late ‘00s, and for the next ten years found himself crossing the pond 2-3 times a year to rehearse and record in Amsterdam.
Producer Gert-Jan Blom soon came on board and utilized his address book to find the most skilled musicians, studios and engineers in the country, with Muldaur recalling that “as my arrangements and compositions evolved and different ensembles were needed, we found key players from the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Residence Orchestra of the Hague, the Asko | Schönberg Ensemble and Metropole Orkest. We also engaged freelancers on a variety of instruments, including our fine mezzo-soprano Claron McFadden.” McFadden shines on ‘My Little One’ (a musical setting for a Tennessee Williams poem) and especially on the album title track, which appears as the second movement of Muldaur’s own ‘Octet in Three Movements’ for soprano, string quartet and wind instruments.
The genesis of ‘The Last Letter’ dates back to 1977 when Muldaur found a box at his family home that contained a newspaper article from almost a century before about the sinking of the USS Oneida in Yokohama harbour. The ship’s Lieutenant Commander was his great-grandfather. Years later, in 2012, Muldaur received another box of historical records, “this time from the estate of my cousin. In it were letters sent from Japan by my great-grandfather to his wife in New Jersey. Among them was a love letter written the day before the USS Oneida left Tokyo for home.” As the ship left Tokyo Bay in heavy fog, it was rammed, sunk and abandoned by a British steamer out of its lane. Letters from survivors and military officers, newspaper articles and a US Senate report described the event. ‘His Last Letter’ was conceived from these sources.
RILEY RICHARD – ‘SUPERSTAR’
Riley Richard Music
What do you get when you combine the talents of a songwriter/producer whose work has appeared on over 60 gold/platinum/multi-platinum artist's projects, and a contemporary jazz core artist with recent back to back #1 SJ Billboard singles to his credit? You get Barry Eastmond and Riley Richard. Riley is back with a passionate sax performance produced by Mr. Eastmond of the hit single "Superstar", which was is originally a classic hit by The Carpenters, and later covered by Luther Vandross. I know slower songs can be a challenge at times to program, but I think this song offers a nice contrast to the up-tempo and high dynamic songs you often receive.
JOE LYNN TURNER BRENGT LYRIC VIDEO UIT VOOR TWEEDE NIEUWE TRACK ‘BLACK SUN’ VAN ZIJN NIEUWE AANKOMENDE STUDIOALBUM ‘BELLY OF THE BEAST’
Uit op 28 oktober 2022
Via Music Theories Recordings/ Mascot Label Group
Pre-order/beluister hier: https://lnk.to/JoeLynnTurner
Joe Lynn Turner en Music Theories Recordings/ Mascot Label Group hebben een tweede nummer uitgebracht van het aankomende nieuwe studioalbum getiteld “Belly Of The Beast”.
Turner heeft opnieuw samengewerkt met Wayne Joyner, die de begeleidende visual heeft gemaakt voor de titeltrack "Belly Of The Beast" (https://youtu.be/VTW37kr67kM). Joe over “Black Sun”:, “Confucius shared, ‘Signs and symbols rule The World, not words nor laws.’ The Black Sun is an esoteric, occult symbol used by the secret Elite Brotherhood called the Illuminati. It is a symbol of power, energy, and dominance. Those of us who are familiar with the concept can better understand how the Beast System operates. The agenda is to create a system of global government imposed on the world population known as the New World Order or recently named The Great Reset. The agenda is once again activated to complete this imposed ideology. The Black Sun is on the rise…”
Na miljoenen platen te hebben verkocht, voor talloze fans te hebben gespeeld en als frontman te hebben opgetreden van enkele van de meest invloedrijke rockbands in de geschiedenis, spreekt de bekroonde songwriter en power vocalist Joe Lynn Turner zijn mening zo luid mogelijk uit op zijn elfde album “Belly Of The Beast”. Door de krachten te bundelen met de bekende producer Peter Tägtgren [Hypocrisie, PAIN, Lindemann], roept de in New Jersey geboren krachtpatser het soort heavy metal op dat niet alleen je vuist in de lucht pompt, maar je ook aan het denken zet.
In 2017 ontmoette hij Peter Tägtgren voor het eerst, na een optreden op het verjaardagsfeest van diens broer. Kort daarna werkten Joe en Peter samen aan hun eerste nummer "Don't Fear The Dark", waarmee ze hun creatieve partnerschap versterkten en wat later het album “Belly Of The Beast“ zou worden.
In dit hoofdstuk van zijn leven nam hij ook een cruciale persoonlijke beslissing. Op driejarige leeftijd werd bij Joe alopecia vastgesteld, Toen hij 14 was, begon hij een pruik te dragen, waarbij hij te maken kreeg met emotionele en psychologische schade door het vele pesten op school. Dus droeg hij het haarstukje gedurende zijn hele carrière, totdat hij uiteindelijk besloot het zonder te doen. “In a way, it’s a blessing and a curse,” geeft hij toe. “I have nothing to prove, and I can wear a wig—or not. I am free to do what I want. I’m a grown man, and I’m getting to be an older man. Many men in this business eventually come to the decision to continue to ‘’wear hair’’ or shave their head which is very fashionable today. Either way, it takes a lot of personal courage. Assholes in high school trying to kick me around made me stronger and gave me the necessary motivation and strength to rise above the rest. Anger and pain are a great tool. If applied correctly, it could develop you to become the best version of yourself. Instead of running away, I was ‘’hiding in plain sight”.
Uiteindelijk heeft Joe een boodschap te brengen met Belly Of The Beast.
“Rock‘n’Roll is about entertainment of course, but I hope you hear the message as well, It seems like everyone has sold their souls to major corporations. Once people are rich and popular, they become a part of the establishment. Where are the rebels? Who’s going to say, ‘Fuck you! We aren’t going to take this shit?’ I am.”
BELLY OF THE BEAST
Tracklist
Belly Of The Beast
Black Sun
Tortured Soul
Rise Up
Dark Night Of The Soul
Tears Of Blood
Desire
Don’t Fear The Dark
Fallen World
Living The Dream
Requiem
Available Formats:
Pearl White LP, CD and Digital
Joe Lynn Turner Online:
instagram.com/joelynnturnerofficial/
facebook.com/joelynnturnerofficial/
twitter.com/joelynnturner
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN7L8352vbsLUH4dteClNzA
https://joelynnturner.com/
ALLEN CARMAN PROJECT WITH ‘BABY MAYBE’
The Allen Carman Project is back in the studio putting the final touches on their second CD to be released in the next few months. Much like their successful debut CD titled Carmanology which produced several Top 30 Billboard hits, their second CD also features some of the best musicians from the "Smooth Jazz" arena. On October 3rd, the Allen Carman Project is releasing a new single from the upcoming CD titled "Baby Maybe" with original band members Philippe Saisse on keyboards, Gumbi Ortiz on percussion, and Allen Carman on guitar. It features Freddie Fox on guitar, Rick Braun on trumpet, Brandon Fields on sax and flute, Wayne Bergeron on trumpet, Nick Lane on trombone, and Jay Williams on drums. "Baby Maybe" continues with the same jazz funk/smooth jazz flavors of Carmanology. The single, "Baby Maybe", (and the CD) are being produced by Gumbi Ortiz and Philippe Saisse.
Last month, Gumbi Ortiz and Allen Carman (East Coasters) flew out to Los Angeles to join Philippe Saisse and the other "West Coasters" listed above to join in the comradery of all playing together to produce a live feel for "Baby Maybe". While it did produce a bit of friendly competition between the East Coasters and West Coasters (like which coast has the best players), the result was fantastic. We hope you enjoy "Baby Maybe" and the CD to follow shortly thereafter.
ROBIN BRAMLETT NEEDS YOU ‘INSIDE MY LOVE’
Robin Bramlett, born and raised in Bakersfield, CA, is a bassist, recording artist, producer, musical director, arranger, and songwriter who is primarily self-taught; however, she took music theory classes at Bakersfield College to further hone her musicianship skills. Her early musical experiences included the piano that was a staple in the family home to taking up the electric bass guitar and then eventually keyboard and upright bass. For 10 years she served as musical director for the all-female jazz ensemble, Jazz In Pink, under founder and keyboardist Gail Jhonson which led to performing with notable artists such as Althea Rene, Karen Briggs, Jeanette Harris, Kim Scott, Mariea Antoinette, and many others.
She has also performed with their notable artists such as Nona Hendryx, Kandice Springs, Miki Howard, Chrystal Rucker, JJ airston, and many others as well. In 2013 she released her debut project, This Is My Life, and he is currently working on a new project which is due to be released on all platforms mid to late 2023. "Inside My Love", a Minnie Riperton cover, is the first single from that project.
"Inside My Love"
Produced and Arranged by Robin Bramlett
Written by Minnie Riperton, Richard Rudolph, and Leon Ware (Dickiebird Music and Jobete Music Co. Inc.)
Mixed by Lew Laing
Lead Bass, Electric Bass, Vocoder, Synths, Guitar, and Drum Programming: Robin Bramlett
Strings and String Arrangement: Karen Briggs
B. VALENTINE FEAT. DAVE KOZ ‘LOVIN’ YOU’
B. Valentine's "Lovin' You" featuring Dave Koz is a re-imagination of legendary Minnie Ripertson's 70's classic. It features the dynamic voice of B. Valentine, the smooth sax tones of nine-time GRAMMY nominee Dave Koz, and the rich production of chart-topping producer Eric Valentine. The song will be released in October during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, in honor of Minnie Riperton, who passed away after a long battle with Breast Cancer.
"Lovin' You" ft. Dave Koz
Executive Producers - Eric Valentine & LaTisha B. Valentine
Written by Minnie Riperton & Richard Rudolph
Produced and Arranged by Eric Valentine
Mixed by Ken Freeman & Eric Valentine
Mastered by Euge Groove, House of Groove Mastering
Lead Vocals, Background Vocals: B. Valentine
Saxophone: Dave Koz
Drums, Additional Keyboards: Eric Valentine
Rhodes, Piano: Carnell Harrell
Strings: John Stoddart
Acoustic Guitar: Nomad
Bass: Cornelius "Corney" Mims
RICHARD SMITH’S ‘GROOVE ASSETS’
Contemporary jazz guitarist Richard Smith continues the legacy of groove with the new single, “Groove Assets,” produced by his former student, hitmaker Adam Hawley.
Whether he’s teaching at USC’s Thornton School of Music or abroad in such diverse locations as Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Manila, London, Oslo, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Palermo, Rome or Bueno Aires, contemporary jazz guitarist Richard Smith gets asked about playing in the groove. So much so that the globetrotter thinks that playing in the pocket may be America’s greatest cultural export musically. Recorded in London, Amsterdam and Los Angeles, Smith’s new single, “Groove Assets,” captures that soulful sound with the aid of one of his former students, multi-time Billboard chart-topping guitarist Adam Hawley, who produced and cowrote the song with his former professor.
"I've found that no matter where I go in the world, I hear American popular music - R&B, hip hop, soul and jazz - coming out of restaurants, bars, cars and classrooms as much or more as the indigenous music. The minute I come back to the States and fire up my Los Angeles band, it hits me: the groove, lock, pocket, and soulfulness that is embedded so deeply in our American music culture. When I teach or give masterclasses abroad, they want to know about what ‘playing in the pocket’ is, as if it is a mysterious, elusive phenomenon. And it IS a cultural phenomenon that comes out of our deep and diverse musical heritage. So, I have developed a lot of classes around that, sort of a how to lock-it-up and groove. I say that one of the best musical ‘assets’ that they can have is groove assets,” said Smith about his inspiration for the single.
“Groove Assets” has a certain laid back, chill quality to the midtempo groove fronted by Smith’s cool electric jazz guitar licks, which are embellished by Hawley’s rhythm guitar harmonies. Bolted to a taut rhythmic pocket crafted by drummer Eric Valentine and bassist Mel Brown, the song’s cowriter Tico Pierhagen adds keyboard melodies. Trumpeter Michael Stever architects the lush horn arrangements that form a proscenium around the R&B groove.
Smith has been traveling internationally since he was seven and for most of the last twenty years, he’s taught and performed each year in Europe. The guitarist has served as a visiting professor of contemporary jazz and popular music at major music conservatories and academies all over the world, which he’s been doing since he was in his twenties. He was one of the youngest tenured professors at USC’s Thornton School of Music where he created the world’s first doctorate program in contemporary guitar. That’s where he first connected with Hawley, whom he calls a “success story.”
Shortly after the pandemic hit in 2020, Smith was diagnosed with stage four throat cancer. To divert his mind, he reached out to Hawley to help him write and produce a few singles. “Groove Asset” is their third collaboration. “The first two songs (“Let’s Roll” and “Soul Share”) we did together were hits, and it feels like we are onto another one with 'Groove Assets'. There is no greater pleasure or prouder moment in a jazz professor's life than the act of hiring a former student for the incredibly important job of producing a single. I am a very lucky, proud soul indeed,” beamed Smith, whose cancer is in complete remission.
"We train jazz and rock stars. I am super proud of all our students who have gone on to play with Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, John Legend, Gwen Stefani, Marc Anthony, Thundercat, Justin Bieber, Michael Bublé, Jason Mraz, Elton John, Madonna, Bono, Maroon 5, Jennifer Lopez, John Mayer, and on hit television programs ‘American Idol’ and ‘Glee’ to name a few."
Smith was a student at USC when he attended the last masterclass given by Spanish classical guitar great Andre Segovia, which had a lasting impact. “The Maestro said many profound things, but the one that really stuck with me and guided my life was ‘When you teach, you learn twice.’ That, and the fact that my mother, father, cousins, aunts and uncles were all professors at schools like Oxford, MIT, Oberlin, Tufts, Hong Kong, UCLA, Michigan and Liverpool guided me toward university life as my recording and performing career grew. It has all been something of a mission,” said Smith who plans to perform next summer in England, Holland, Greece and Italy.“Our (America’s) jazz and popular music are our greatest cultural export, and I am proud to be an ambassador for that.”
Closer to home, Smith will be a featured performer alongside Greg Adams and East Bay Soul at the Catalina Island JazzTrax Festival on October 22.
VERNIEUWDE JAZZ IN BELGIUM – SITE BESCHIKBAAR
"Jazz in Belgium": hoofdvitrine van de jazz community in België.
Op 28 september werd de vernieuwde website Jazz in Belgium gelanceerd. De site is beschikbaar in drie talen, nu ook collaboratief en participatief en zonder voorwaarden toegankelijk voor iedereen. Deze tool ter promotie en verspreiding van Belgische jazz werd 25 jaar geleden gelanceerd en is gewijd aan de jazz community in België. De site werd helemaal vernieuwd om te voldoen aan de behoeften van zowel professionals als het grote publiek. Het nieuwe Jazz in Belgium werd ontwikkeld door de vereniging Les Lundis d'Hortense en wil het eerste uithangbord worden van de jazzgemeenschap in België.
Het nieuwe Jazz in Belgium vergemakkelijkt de toegang tot informatie voor alle domeinen van de jazz, van mainstream tot modern jazz, van post bop tot free jazz, van swing tot manouche, van crossover tot Nu-jazz... Onder de content die rechtstreeks gecreëerd en gepubliceerd wordt door de verschillende operatoren van de Brusselse, Vlaamse en Waalse jazz scene, vinden we volgende elementen: een agenda die openstaat voor alle jazzactiviteiten (concerten, jamsessies, festivals, conferenties of masterclasses...), een repertoire van jazzlocaties met geolokalisatie, up-to-date artiestenpagina's, platenreleases, professionele contactinformatie en opleidingsplaatsen.
Voor het grote jazzliefhebberspubliek biedt de site een duik in de geschiedenis van Belgische jazz en is het mogelijk om dagelijks nieuwe artiesten te ontdekken. Via een eenvoudige identificatie kan je via de site ook je favoriete content volgen - artiesten, zalen, festivals... Zo geniet je van een gepersonaliseerde surfervaring en moet je niets (meer) missen van de huidige jazz scene.
Voor jazzprofessionals - artiesten, concertzalen, jazz clubs, managers/bookers, labels, instellingen, studio's of journalisten - biedt de site een gebruiksvriendelijke ondersteuning voor dynamische promotie en communicatie. Alle leden van de community Jazz in Belgium kunnen in enkele clicks hun foto, biografie en medialinks aanpassen of concertdata toevoegen voor België.
Met dit initiatief, dat wordt opgevat als een uitnodiging om lid te worden van de grote jazzfamilie in België, wil de vzw Les Lundis d'Hortense een unieke, dynamische ruimte die voor iedereen toegankelijk is, bieden voor de verspreiding en om informatie te delen. Tegelijk willen ze ook een waardevolle hefboom bieden om uitwisselingen tussen de verschillende gemeenschappen van het land te faciliteren.
Ontdek nu de vernieuwde website op jazzinbelgium.be.
BIG SCIENCE: ARS MUSICA VERKENT DE WETENSCHAP VAN 18 NOV TEM 2 DEC
Muziek als experiment... Met ‘wetenschap’ als thematische rode draad vindt van 18 november tot 2 december de nieuwe editie plaats van Ars Musica, al jaren hét brandpunt voor nieuw en hedendaags muzikaal werk. De veelzeggende titel voor deze editie luidt BIG SCIENCE, met een programma dat gaat van computergestuurd klankonderzoek tot bespiegelingen over de kosmos. De wetenschap bewijst telkens weer een dankbare inspiratiebron te zijn voor tal van nieuwe muzikale creaties. Tijdens de concerten die dit jaar gepland zijn droom je met open ogen en daal je af in de verbluffende diepte van onze verbeeldingskracht, met Laurie Anderson, Georges Aperghis, Brian Eno, David Krakauer, Martin Matalon, Jean-Luc Fafchamps of Philip Glass... Dit unieke festival heeft van ongedwongen muzikale ontdekkingen een handelsmerk gemaakt en laat jou daar graag aan deelnemen!
De titel BIG SCIENCE is in de eerste plaats een hommage aan het cult-album van Laurie Anderson dat in 1982, inmiddels 40 jaar geleden, werd uitgebracht. “Het avantgardistische experiment van BIG SCIENCE is ook vandaag nog even visionair,” vindt Bruno Letort, artistiek directeur van Ars Musica. Laurie Anderson is dit jaar dan ook ‘eregast’ van het festival. Ze is niet alleen componiste en beeldend kunstenares maar ook dichteres en zit nooit om een artistiek experiment verlegen. Anderson tekent voor twee concerten (waaronder één met Brussels Philharmonic op 1 december), een installatie met Hsin-Chien Huang: To the Moon, en de vertoning van twee films in Bozar (Heart of a Dog en Home of the Brave).
Laurie Anderson © Ebru Yildiz
Wetenschappelijk bewezen muzikaliteit
Het 2022 programma van Ars Musica bekijkt wetenschap dus als een dynamisch, experimenteel en transdisciplinair element dat een rol speelt binnen het creatieproces van nieuwe muziek. Dat geldt zeker en vast voor de festivalopener Metropolis Rebooted: het filmconcert in Bozar waar één van de eerste cyborg/kunst cross-overs onder de loep wordt genomen (18/11, Metropolis van Fritz Lang met muziek van Martin Matalon).
Verwijzingen naar de wetenschap duiken in het programma ook op in de muzikale figuur van Albert Einstein (Einstein on the Beach van Philipp Glass door Ictus en Suzanne Vega op 30/11 in Bozar), in de futuristische verwondering voor de kosmos (On Mars van Brian Eno gekoppeld aan het grafische universum van François Schuiten op 19/11 in het Planetarium) en in de improvisaties met video en technologie tijdens het concert van David Krakauer en Kathleen Tagg (op 22/11 in de Hallen van Schaarbeek). Een ander highlight van het rijke en veelzijdige festival zijn de geschriften van Galileo Galilei zoals ze opduiken in de muziek van John Cage of Meredith Monk (Et pourtant elle tourne, 20/11 in les Brigittines).
Filmkunst neemt deze editie een prominente plaats in op het festival met de wereldpremière van de symfonie Ombres célestes van Jean-Luc Fafchamps, tijdens Fiction Science; een avond gewijd aan de muziek van sciencefictionfilms op 25/11 in Bozar. Hier geniet je van grote klassiekers van het genre met Planet of the Apes, Encounter of the Third Kind en de niet te missen ouverture van 2001. A Space Odyssey. Componist Frédéric Verrières tapt van deze filmische inspiratiebron voor zijn nieuwe creatie Screening, die op 22 november in La Raffinerie wordt voorgesteld en waarin de woorden van Alfred Hitchcock worden omgezet in een gelaagde partituur van gebaren en geluid.
Maar ook literatuur maakt haar opwachting op het festival. In het werk Migrants van Georges Aperghis duikt de roman Heart of Darkness van Joseph Conrad op en illustreert perfect het rijke creatieve potentieel van artistieke mengvormen.
Tot slot is er de tweede editie van het Bal contemporain dat een vrolijke en speelse vraag stelt: "hoe kan men hedendaagse muziek dansen?” Het bal, dat in 2019 reeds een groot succes was, zal doorgaan in het Maison du Peuple in Sint-Gillis. Dit keer neemt het Ensemble Spectra de muzikale omkadering voor zijn rekening.
Het is een tijd waarin wetenschap niet alleen een bron van hoop is, maar ook al te vaak een reden tot bezorgdheid vormt. Uitgerust met een grote dosis muzikale transdisciplinariteit en pop, nodigt de BIG SCIENCE editie uit om met nieuwsgierigheid naar wetenschap te kijken en in te schepen voor een experimentele muzikale reis.
Meer info:
STRAIGHT-AHEAD JAZZ SAXOPHONIST SAM TAYLOR’S DEFIANT ACT OF GIVING
His “Let Go” album, featuring trumpeter Terell Stafford, drops October 21.
NEW YORK CITY (26 September 2022): One bright morning last January, saxophonist Sam Taylor started his day by writing down his intentions. It was an important day, the day that he would lead a quintet featuring trumpeter Terell Stafford in the same historic recording studio where John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Freddie Hubbard and Stanley Turrentine recorded, to track his third album for Cellar Live. Locking in his focus, Taylor’s message to himself was to be grateful, mindful and fully present for the recording experience, and most importantly, to give and let go. The resultant ten-track swinging jazz set “Let Go,” produced by Taylor and Cory Weeds, drops October 21 on CD and October 28 digitally.
Taylor’s set list consists of selections from the Great American Songbook, including songs written by Barry Harris, Hank Jones, Benny Golson, and Jule Styne. However, one can argue that the centerpiece is Taylor’s own composition. The Harlem-based artist wrote the title track, marking the first time he ever recorded one of his own songs. “Let Go” embodies Taylor’s ethos as a musician.
“It was written during a year full of the unexpected, with invaluable new experiences and lessons. More than that was the validation of a virtue I have long held true in my heart as I live this life of music: music is an act of giving. Living a life of music is also a journey of generosity and letting go. The musician surrenders to the music, interprets the song and shares that with others. To surrender, to be tender and giving is a show of strength, an act of defiance. This is an empowering idea. Our world faces such heartache, fear and profound grief. How do we meet that every day as individuals and as a society? Tenderness and loving kindness could be the most powerful tools we have. In my own way, this recording is an act of defiance,” said Taylor.
Recorded at Van Gelder Studios, Taylor and Stafford are flanked on the album by a trio comprised of pianist Jeb Patton, bassist Neal Miner and drummer Willie Jones III. Taylor grew up in Philadelphia listening to Stafford, a renown and respected talent who teaches in the City of Brotherly Love at Temple University.
“Terell Stafford is an international jazz star, a fixture on the Philadelphia jazz scene and one of the city’s artistic leaders. To have the opportunity to know him and play with him now as a professional musician is truly special. I remember attending a workshop while I was a young student at The Performing Arts High School in Philadelphia. We took a bus up Broad Street to Temple University where students across the city sat and listened to Terell’s group play and speak about jazz. I remember his emphasis on rhythm, the triplet, how to feel the beat. He was giving and patient. I can honestly say he is just as genuine and giving now. It is an overwhelming honor to play this music with him,” said Taylor, who will perform at Rite of Swing Jazz Café at Temple University on November 10.
Released as a single last week, the album opens with the bebop anthem “Luminescence,” which was penned by Harris, a seminal figure on the New York City jazz scene who passed away a few weeks prior to the “Let Go” recording date.
Taylor first discovered the melancholy “Angel Face” from a 1940s recording by tenor saxman Coleman Hawkins but decided to record his own version after falling in love with a take he heard featuring one of his favorite singers, Abbey Lincoln.
“The melody is gorgeous, operatic in style and goes straight to the heart. Ms. Lincoln’s interpretation, including her own lyric, is perfection. She is a constant source of inspiration for me. Her honesty and fearlessness are undeniable,” said Taylor.
In choosing to interpret Golson’s “Out of the Past,” Taylor pays homage to his hometown.
“The song has the classic Golson sound: lyrical melody, beautiful lead (sax) voice paired with the blues and deep swing. Benny Golson is a Philadelphian like me. As with my previous record, ‘Along The Way,’ it was important for me to honor and embrace my hometown while embracing my experience of over fifteen years living a life of music in New York,” said Taylor who will be running his first marathon in Philadelphia in November.
One of the more impromptu and magical moments that occurred during the “Let Go” recording date came at the end of the session. As the musicians were packing up their gear, Taylor asked the engineer to keep the tape rolling. With just his tenor horn and sparse accompaniment from Miner and Jones, Taylor emoted an impassioned “Prisoner of Love” with the woman he calls the love of his life sitting beside him.
“I first heard this old American Songbook standard on the ‘Coleman Hawkins Encounters Ben Webster’ two tenor record. It was one of the first records I really tried to understand. I would constantly play along with it without any real understanding of harmony or what I was doing. It just moved me, and I wanted to be a part of it somehow. This song has now taken on new meaning for me as I dedicate it to Maia. Recording it was a moment I’ll never forget, filled with such joy and love,” said Taylor.
Taylor underscores the Philly and New York City theme on “Philly New York Junction.” He grew up listening to trumpeters John Swana and Joe Magnarelli playing it, regularly seeing Swana perform in Philadelphia jazz clubs.
“Swana’s playing, along with that of Larry McKenna, Bootsie Barnes and Sid Simmons really informed and inspired my choice to live a life of music. They showed me - and continue to do so - that being a musician is to be part of a community. The music is bigger than you, and living it means honoring those that came before, that lived and transitioned in its name,” said Taylor.
The album concludes with a pair of unlikely tunes. Taken from the musical “Annie,” “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile” is an earnest attempt to do something Taylor’s “all-time hero” had a flair for doing.
“It became my theme song over the year, one that I would always play in a tenor trio format - saxophone, bass and drums - on my weekly gigs in New York City. This is my favorite format if I’m honest, thanks to my love of Sonny Rollins. The song always makes people smile and tap their feet. Recording it is also a subtle way to honor Rollins, who is known as an indisputable musical genius who often picks the most unlikely of tunes and makes them incredibly hip and swinging. I hope we achieved that with this one,” said Taylor.
Closing the set is “Bye Bye Baby,” which Marilyn Monroe sang in “Gentleman Prefer Blondes.” Taylor’s rendition was influenced by a version he heard played at dazzling speed by pianist Harold Mabern.
Taylor studied and was mentored at Purchase College, State University of New York. Among his noteworthy performances was playing with saxophone greats James Moody, Jimmy Heath, Frank Wess, Joe Lovano, Steve Wilson, Mark Turner and Ralph Lalama. He released his critically lauded solo debut, “My Future Just Passed,” in 2015 followed two years later by “Along the Way,” which was the first time he teamed up with Patton and Miner. Twice Taylor has toured in Canada, and he’ll be supporting “Let Go” at concert dates there next month around the album release date. Closer to home, Taylor serves as artistic director for the West Harlem Jazz Festival.
In the “Let Go” liner notes, Taylor writes about music giving voice to an experience, both personal and collective. He believes music is an expression of love and respect, inspiring hope and a reason to overcome challenges and triumphs. Understanding the role music can and does play is why before stepping foot inside the recording studio earlier this year, Taylor put pen to paper to state his intentions.
“I invited my musical heroes to come together, to bring their powerful voices into a space, surrender and let go. Terell, Jeb, Neal and Willie were masterful. The space, a studio that echoes with jazz history, made the day that much more meaningful. I haven’t the words to express my gratitude. My hope is the music communicates that clearly and fully.”
“Let Go” contains the following songs:
“Luminescence”
“Let Go”
“Angel Face”
“Getting’ Together”
“Out of the Past”
“Prisoner of Love”
“Here’s That Rainy Day”
“Philly New York Junction”
“You’re Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile”
“Bye Bye Baby”
For more information, please visit www.samtaylormusic.com.
SINGER & GUITARIST VERNON BURCH DIED
Soul man and guitarist VERBON BURCH died on Friday 23rd September. Different sources offer different ages for Vernon – but the general consensus is that he was 67. Few details of his passing are available.
As a guitar player, Vernon worked with the Delfonics and the Bar Kays and for a while he was a member of the Stax studio band. As a solo artist he worked for a number of labels in the late 70s/early 80s. His biggest hits were ‘Do It To Me’, ‘Changes’ and his dance hit “Get Up’ which Deee-Lite used as the chassis for their Groove Is In The Heart smash.
In later life Vernon worked as a minister and in 2011 released a gospel album, ‘The Inside Out Project’ on which he was billed as the Reverend Vernon Burch.
DRUMMER JOHN HARTMAN OF THE DOOBIE BROTHERS DIED
John Hartman, drummer for the Doobie Brothers during the band’s hit-making 1970s heyday, has died, the band announced. He was 72.
No cause or date of death was given.
“Today we are thinking of John Hartman, or Little John to us,” the band wrote on Instagram and Twitter. “John was a wild spirit, great drummer, and showman during his time in the Doobies. He was also a close friend for many years and an intricate part of the band personality! We send our condolences to all his loved ones at this difficult time. Rest In Peace John.”
Formed in San Jose, California, in 1970, the Doobie Brothers began with the meeting of Hartman and singer-guitarist-songwriter Tom Johnston. Soon joined by singer-guitarist-songwriter Patrick Simmons and bassist Dave Shogren. The group would welcome an ever-shifting aggregation of members over the decades – the Doobies still tour today – most notably singer-keyboardist Michael McDonald in 1975.
In 1971, the group added a second drummer – Michael Hossack – to its line-up, inaugurating the band’s unusual double-drum sound.
Hartman performed with the band from 1970 to 1979, and returned for another stint from 1987 to 1992. During his initial run with the group, the Doobies released a string of hits that would become staples of classic rock, including “China Grove,” “Listen To The Music,” “Jesus Is Just Alright,” “Black Water,” and “Takin’ It To The Streets,” among many others.
In 2020, Hartman and other surviving members of the original group, including Johnston, Simmons and McDonald, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
JAZZ LEGEND PHARAOH SANDERS DIED
Pharoah Sanders, the revered American jazz saxophonist, has died aged 81. The news was confirmed by Sanders’ label, Luaka Bop, on Twitter.
“We are devastated to share that Pharoah Sanders has passed away,” the label’s statement read. “He died peacefully surrounded by loving family and friends in Los Angeles earlier this morning. Always and forever the most beautiful human being, may he rest in peace.”
Born Farrell Sanders in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1940, Sanders’ career began in Oakland, California. After moving to New York in the 1960s, he started collaborating with Sun Ra, who gave him the name Pharoah, before becoming a member of John Coltrane’s band; Sanders played with Coltrane until the latter’s death in 1967.
Along with Coltrane, Sanders was a key figure in the spiritual jazz scene. His 1969 album Karma, which incorporated influences from traditional African and south Asian music, is considered one of the major early documents of the form. Throughout the early 1970s, Sanders continued to release records as a bandleader, largely on the Impulse! label. In 1971, he performed on Alice Coltrane’s Journey in Satchidananda, another milestone in modal and avant garde jazz.
After leaving Impulse! in 1973, Sanders released albums on Arista and the avant garde jazz label India Navigation, before releasing a run of records on the Theresa label in the 1980s.
Although his output began to slow in the 90s, Sanders continued to tour and collaborate throughout the 2000s. In the mid-2010s, Sanders heard a composition by the British electronic producer Sam Shepherd, AKA Floating Points, and asked to collaborate with him. The resulting album, 2021’s Promises, recorded in 2019 with the London Symphony Orchestra, was Sanders’ first new album in more than a decade, and was widely acclaimed.
Paying tribute to Sanders on Instagram, Shepherd wrote: “My beautiful friend passed away this morning. I am so lucky to have known this man, and we are all blessed to have his art stay with us forever. Thank you Pharoah.”
JD SIMO - 'MORTGAGE ON MY SOUL' – NEW SINGLE BY ESTEEMED US GUITARIST AND SINGER-SONGWRITER
JD SIMO
MORTGAGE ON MY SOUL
new single
out 23.09.22
digital services
orcd.co/moms
from the album
SONGS FROM THE HOUSE OF GREASE
out 13.01.23
[Crows Feet Records]
pre-order/save
orcd.co/greasepre
Nashville-based guitarist, singer and songwriter JD Simo has today released a new single entitled ‘Mortgage On My Soul’. A creative and incendiary cover of the classic song by hill country blues pioneer Mississippi Fred McDowell, JD explains: “I just really dug the words and I also love the hypnotic vibe of his style. Over the course of a few months we started doing it during soundchecks and Adam [Abrashoff, drummer] came up with this killer Afrobeat style groove. It’s also a really good showcase for my slide playing and is such a blast to play. I could play it for an hour.
Paying homage to the original while adding a modern twist, JD’s typically expert yet passionate guitar work and powerful, soulful vocals are on full display, while his guitar solo kicks the intensity level up a gear, aided by the backing of longtime collaborator Abrashoff and bassist Todd Bolden.
‘Mortgage On My Soul’ is included on a forthcoming new album entitled ‘Songs From The House Of Grease’. Recorded with his trio, it is set for release on 13th January 2023, with pre-orders/saves available from today HERE .
JD states that "this album is a live snapshot of me and the fellas playing some favourite tracks that hadn't been captured yet on record. I hadn't planned on releasing something so fast but couldn't be prouder of this snapshot in time. It's honestly my best playing ever captured!”
Containing five songs with a total running time of 40 minutes, it includes covers of John Coltrane's 'Afro Blue’ and Blind Alfred Reed's 'How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live’ alongside the current single, plus a free jazz take on Simo’s own 'Higher Plane' (from his self-titled 2020 solo record) and a brand new Meters inspired cut entitled ‘Missy’s Strut’.
JD’s love and respect for the roots of blues and rock ’n roll led him to be chosen by music supervisor David Cobb to record all the guitar parts for the recent blockbuster biopic ‘Elvis’. In an interview with Guitar World magazine about his role in creating its soundtrack, JD said, "I’m such a fan of Elvis’ music, but also the music of that period and the other stuff we recorded for the film. Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Arthur ‘Big Boy’ Crudup, Muddy Waters, B.B. King – all of that is a big part of my musical DNA.”
Splitting his band SIMO in 2017 and going solo, JD issued a well received 2019 solo debut, ‘Off At 11’, followed by a self-titled 2020 effort that connected the missing link between Woodstock and Motown. His current studio album, ‘Mind Control’, was released in late 2021 and also earned plaudits on both sides of the pond.
Collaborations with the likes of Jack White, Tommy Emmanuel, Luther Dickinson, Dave Cobb and Blackberry Smoke, as well as time spent as part of Grateful Dead founder Phil Lesh’s ‘Phil & Friends’, have cemented his reputation among guitar music aficionados.
MIND CONTROL
UK REVIEWS
“JD knows how to blend genres within a guitar trio format. Blues-rock with a late '60s/early '70s edge, ‘Mind Control' is highly recommended 9/10”
GUITAR TECHNIQUES
"Unafraid to take the focus away from his undoubtedly formidable fretwork in search of a more atmospheric, immersive soundscape 8/10”
CLASSIC ROCK
“Mixes things up while keeping the humility and honesty of the blues genre at the forefront of his music”
BLUES MATTERS
“All over the place, which is OK when the places he’s going to are great 9/10”
POWERPLAY
jdsimo.net
facebook.com/jdsimomusic
twitter.com/jdsimomusic
instagram.com/jdsimomusic
FLIGHT ATTENDANT - 'HONEYSWEET' – NEW SINGLE BY NASHVILLE INDIE OUTFIT OUT NOW
FLIGHT ATTENDANT
HONEYSWEET
new single
out 23.09.22
[Moraine Music Group / Membran]
digital services
FLIGHT ATTENDANT - Honeysweet
included on
FLIGHT ATTENDANT
debut album
out 30.09.22
“A fine testament to the development of an exciting new band, 'Flight Attendant’ sees them ready to step out worldwide and spread their heady mix of alternative and heavy rock, glam, grunge and pop. You are strongly advised to check them out”
LOUDER THAN WAR
The Nashville-based indie outfit Flight Attendant have released a brand new single today entitled ‘Honeysweet’, an anthemic song with a dreamy introduction that opens out into a euphoric and memorable chorus. Lead singer and keyboardist Karalyne Winegarner explains that its lyric “is about taking the bitter taste out of life, by being there for your friends to get them past the tough moments and see the good life around them.”
An accompanying performance video is intercut with footage of her and viola player Nikki Christie larking around, Thelma & Louise style, to which Winegarner adds: “As two women starting their journey as professional musicians, we get feedback about our body image, how well we play together, our dancing abilities on stage....you name it. It's enough to send the most confident human being running for retreat. We are determined to not just get past the negativity, but to build from it, take it all in and improve so that we can be the best versions of ourselves. However, you can't do that alone. You gotta have friends.”
‘Honeysweet’ is the latest single to be lifted from the long-awaited and self-titled debut album by Flight Attendant, which is out on 30th September and contains thirteen songs that add viola, piano and synth to the standard guitars/bass/drums mix, with electrifying results. It includes songs that range from the shimmering ‘Paradise’ and exuberant ‘Crybaby’ to the thought-provoking ‘Comedy Show’ and ethereal slow-burner ‘Phosphorescent (Fine Line)', and from the post-punk earworm ‘dogs’ to a solemn rendition of the Americana/blues classic ‘In The Pines’.
Two other album songs, the pulsatingly hypnotic ‘Man Of Chaos’ and hauntingly reflective ‘Golden Gun’, appear in the noir mystery thriller ‘Find Her’, which will be available from 1st October on multiple platforms including Amazon. A trailer for it can be seen HERE .
Karalyne Winegarner (lead vocals, keyboards, from Kansas City) met Vinny Maniscalco (guitar, vocals, from Boston) while working together at a restaurant in Nashville, with Nikki Christie (viola, vocals, from LA) starting to work there soon after. It didn’t take too many nights of working/drinking together before they decided to form a band. Adding long-time buddy Derek Sprague (drums, also from Boston), the line-up was complete and they soon began playing live and recording.
TurnUpTheVolume have described Flight Attendant as “Warpaint having a dance with Best Coast”, while they have also been compared to iconic artists such as Lana Del Rey, No Doubt and even Fleetwood Mac. The group have been ready for take-off globally since before the pandemic and have a first European tour booked to promote their album, which has been produced by Grammy Award-winning engineer and producer Charles Yingling, who states that “Flight Attendant are at their best when we just roll the tape using our 1978 Trident console."
FLIGHT ATTENDANT
TRACKLISTING
1 Man Of Chaos (3:36)
2 dogs (2:51)
3 Cotton Candy (3:47)
4 Fresh Gasoline (2:57)
5 Teach Me How To Lie (3:24)
6 Paradise (2:45)
7 Honeysweet (3:53)
8 Phosphorescent (Fine Line) (3:35)
9 Crybaby (3:07)
10 Comedy Show (3:07)
11 I Like You (2:37)
12 Golden Gun (2:58)
13 In The Pines (3:47)
FLIGHT ATTENDANT
EUROPEAN TOUR 2022
02.11.22 LEIPZIG (DE) Ilses Erika
03.11.22 BERLIN (DE) Roadrunners Paradise
04.11.22 COTTBUS (DE) Galerie Fango
05.11.22 SLAVONICE (CZ) Inst. Sklep
06.11.22 ŽATEC (CZ) Theatre
07.11.22 MOST (CZ) Benedikt
08.11.22 KLADNO (CZ) Library
11.11.22 ZNOJMO (CZ ) Na Vecn
12.11.22 REGAN (DE) Obserstübchen
16.11.22 KLAGENFURT (AT) Hafenstadt
17.11.22 VIENNA (AT) B72
18.11.22 MÜNCHEN (DE) Lost Weekend
19.11.22 NEU ULM (DE) Das Gold
20.11.22 OFFENBACH (DE) Hafen 2
21.11.22 BAMBERG (DE) Live Club
24.11.22 OLDENBURG (DE) Polyester Klub
25.11.22 EINBECK (DE) Backpackers Inn
26.11.22 SAARBRÜCKEN (DE) Terminus
28.11.22 AACHEN (DE) Domkeller
01.12.22 HAMBURG (DE) Deichdiele
02.12.22 HAMBURG (DE) BelaMi
FLIGHT ATTENDANT
Karalyne Winegarner - vocals, piano, guitar
Vinny Maniscalco - lead guitar, backing vocals
Nikki Christie - viola, backing vocals
Derek Sprague - drums
+
Michael Cottrell - bass
flightattendantband.com
youtube.com/flightattendantband
BENJAMIN HERMAN KONDIGT NIEUW ALBUM AAN
Amsterdam, 23 september 2022. Vandaag brengt Benjamin Herman de single 'Knife in the Water' uit. Met deze release kondigt de saxofonist ook zijn nieuwe album 'True Love's Flame' aan, waarop hij samenwerkt met zangeres Anna Serierse. Het album verschijnt op 4 november.
Benjamin Herman is een van de meest bekende en gerespecteerde saxofonisten van Nederland. Als gast artiest is hij te horen op meer dan 150 albums en als solo artiest en bandleider van New Cool Collective bracht hij meer dan 50 albums uit. Hij heeft samen gewerkt met een breed palet aan artiesten van straight ahead jazz tot hiphop en avant garde. Van Dr. John tot Paul Weller en van Han Bennink tot Rein de Graaff.
Voor zijn nieuwe album werkt Benjamin Herman samen met zangeres Anna Serierse. Serierse komt uit een familie van jazzmuzikanten (Benjamin deelde eerder het podium met haar vader en grootvader) en is een van de meest veelbelovende talenten in de Nederlandse jazzscene. Het samenwerken met Nederlands zangtalent is een rode draad door de carrière van Benjamin Herman, eerder in zijn carrière nam hij al vocalisten als Ruben Hein, Wouter Hamel en Daniel von Piekartz onder zijn vleugels. Met die laatste maakte hij het bejubelde album 'Trouble' dat in 2016 verscheen.
Na zijn zonovergoten ode aan de Citroën SM op 'Project S' (2018) en zijn punk-jazz uitspattingen op Bughouse (2018) kiest Benjamin Herman op zijn nieuwe album 'True Love's Flame' opnieuw voor een sterk thematische aanpak. Tijdens de opnames liet de saxofonist zich inspireren door films van iconische regisseurs als David Lynch en hun bijbehorende soundtracks. Het album varieert van meeslepende interpretaties van soundtracks tot experimentele instrumentale passages en vertolkingen van een aantal van Benjamins favoriete nummers.
Eerder verscheen al een eerste single 'Time I Moved On' een nieuwe versie van een klassieker van Georgie Fame en Alan Price, een optimistisch en melancholisch nummer over ontsnappen aan het drukke stadsleven.
Het volledige album 'True Love's Flame' verschijnt op 4 november, de tweede single 'Knife in the Water' is nu te beluisteren.
Titel: True Love's Flame
Releasedatum: 4 november 2022
Label: Roach Records / Dox Records
Configuratie: Digitaal/CD
WINSTON BELL – ‘THE ZONE’
Bell Music Group
One of the "young lions" making their way into the format, 19 year old sax player Winston Bell returns with a scintillating tune co-produced by Poogie Bell and Jeff Lorber. With Jeff's trademark vibe and sound supporting Winston's strong tenor sax, this is a fine follow-up to his Phillipe Saisse produced debut single earlier this year ("First Step").
JOHNNY BRITT FEAT. PETER WHITE ‘AFTER WE PLAY’
J-Jams Records is releasing the new single “After We Play” featuring Peter White from the forthcoming 5th studio album by trumpeter/singer Johnny Britt. Britt is thrilled to be joined by smooth jazz icon Peter White on guitar.
“After We Play” was written, arranged and produced by Johnny Britt mixed by Nils, and mastered by Ron Boustead at Resolution Mastering. This smooth groove with the lush flugelhorn tone and melodies of Johnny Britt combined the acoustic guitar genius of Peter White makes this an incredible collaboration that will make the listener hit rewind over and over again.
Britt will perform “After We Play” at music festivals nationwide including THE OXNARD JAZZ FESTIVAL 2022, LOMPAC JAZZ FESTIVAL 2022 and the CAPITAL JAZZ SUPER CRUISE 2023 amongst other upcoming scheduled events.
“After We Play” ft. Peter White
Johnny Britt – Flugelhorn, trumpet and keyboards
Peter White – Acoustic Guitar
Marcus Williams – Drums
Dean Mark – Bass
Sean J Lawson – Percussion
NEW SINGLE FROM BYRON MILLER ‘SAY IT AIN’T GOOD TO YA’
“And, lo, in times of incessant challenge, and strife, there is always a groove to soothe in a drop top `neath the Motor City moonlight.” Thus, arrives electric bass master Byron Miller, a.k.a. PsychoBass, with his fully test-driven first single, “Say it Ain’t Good to Ya,” from the forthcoming fourth CD in his PsychoBass series: Motor City Love. The song is going for adds at radio on September 19.
Cruise groove at its most funkadiciously relaxed, “Say it Ain’t Good to Ya” creeps up on the listener like the Batmobile in stealth mode with zip zero aural waste – just great taste. The jam was sent expressly to Byron by longtime collaborator Chris “Big Dog’ Davis with only him in mind. “Big Dog Facetimed me talkin’ `bout how hard he had studied my work with George Duke,” Byron shares. “Then he sent me this track. And as soon as I started playing on it…I knew. I played it for a few of my inside crew then for some trusted folks at radio. They all strongly suggested that it should be the first single from my new album.”
What makes this highly unusual and praiseworthy by PsychoBass standards is that Byron Miller usually produces and at least co-writes all of his music. But he’s also been around long enough to know that when its right, its right. Davis’ judicious use of piano, guitars, keyboards and rhythm set the table for Miller to grace with bass in layers of wonder in conversation with himself as well as the listener. Why tamper with perfection? The song embodies the feeling of piling into the whip with the homies as the night breeze cools your head and the sounds of WJZZ blow cool in your ears.
“Say it Ain’t Good to Ya” is the perfect lead-in to PsychoBass 4: Motor City Love, an album that celebrates Byron Miller’s roots in and love for Detroit, Michigan – its power, its soul and its resilience. The album will feature cats such as keyboardist Herman Jackson, guitarist Paul Jackson Jr. and saxophonist Walter Beasley for whom Miller recently produced his album, Meet Me at My Place.
So lay back deep and get all the way into “Say it Ain’ Good to Ya” – a song so coldblooded, you won’t even be able to say the song title while the record is on.
KIM WATERS DOES A ‘JOY DANCE’
Smooth Urban Jazz superstar Kim Waters has sold over two million albums in his more than 20 years of touring and recording. Loved by R&B and Jazz fans alike, his crossover appeal, Smooth Jazz #1 radio hits, and dynamic performances have placed him among the elite in his field. His new album That Special Touch has special significance to the artist because the album features the young smooth jazz hit maker, Kim's daughter Kayla! The energy and joy of this occasion have inspired and elevated Kim's writing and playing to new heights! Highlights include Kim and Kayla's dream-like remake of Adele's smash hit "Go Easy On Me," the ebullient first radio single "Joy Dance," the intensely pulsating "House Call," and more Kim Waters originals!
Heralded as “Simply one of the planet’s best saxophonists” by JazzTimes Magazine and the “Pied piper of Smooth Jazz” by Upscale Magazine, the prolific chart-topping saxophonist, composer and producer has enjoyed a career longevity that is rare in the music business. For three decades, Waters has reigned as one of the premier architects of Urban Smooth Jazz and a beacon of light in Contemporary Jazz. He‘s garnered praise from critics and fans alike, ranking among the top five best-selling instrumentalists in jazz.
Waters has sold over two million albums in his more than 20 years of touring and recording. Loved by R&B and Jazz fans alike, his crossover appeal, Smooth Jazz #1 radio hits, and dynamic performances have placed him among the elite in his field.
CONTEMPORARY JAZZ GUITARIST RICHARD SMITH CONTINUES THE LEGACY OF GROOVE
The new single, “Groove Assets,” which goes for playlist adds on October 3, was produced by his former student, hitmaker Adam Hawley.
LOS ANGELES (21 September 2022): Whether he’s teaching at USC’s Thornton School of Music or abroad in such diverse locations as Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Manila, London, Oslo, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Palermo, Rome or Bueno Aires, contemporary jazz guitarist Richard Smith gets asked about playing in the groove. So much so that the globetrotter thinks that playing in the pocket may be America’s greatest cultural export musically. Recorded in London, Amsterdam and Los Angeles, Smith’s new single, “Groove Assets,” captures that soulful sound with the aid of one of his former students, multi-time Billboard chart-topping guitarist Adam Hawley, who produced and cowrote the song with his former professor.
"I've found that no matter where I go in the world, I hear American popular music - R&B, hip hop, soul and jazz - coming out of restaurants, bars, cars and classrooms as much or more as the indigenous music. The minute I come back to the States and fire up my Los Angeles band, it hits me: the groove, lock, pocket, and soulfulness that is embedded so deeply in our American music culture. When I teach or give masterclasses abroad, they want to know about what ‘playing in the pocket’ is, as if it is a mysterious, elusive phenomenon. And it IS a cultural phenomenon that comes out of our deep and diverse musical heritage. So, I have developed a lot of classes around that, sort of a how to lock-it-up and groove. I say that one of the best musical ‘assets’ that they can have is groove assets,” said Smith about his inspiration for the single.
“Groove Assets” has a certain laid back, chill quality to the midtempo groove fronted by Smith’s cool electric jazz guitar licks, which are embellished by Hawley’s rhythm guitar harmonies. Bolted to a taut rhythmic pocket crafted by drummer Eric Valentine and bassist Mel Brown, the song’s cowriter Tico Pierhagen adds keyboard melodies. Trumpeter Michael Stever architects the lush horn arrangements that form a proscenium around the R&B groove.
Smith has been traveling internationally since he was seven and for most of the last twenty years, he’s taught and performed each year in Europe. The guitarist has served as a visiting professor of contemporary jazz and popular music at major music conservatories and academies all over the world, which he’s been doing since he was in his twenties. He was one of the youngest tenured professors at USC’s Thornton School of Music where he created the world’s first doctorate program in contemporary guitar. That’s where he first connected with Hawley, whom he calls a “success story.”
Shortly after the pandemic hit in 2020, Smith was diagnosed with stage four throat cancer. To divert his mind, he reached out to Hawley to help him write and produce a few singles. “Groove Asset” is their third collaboration.
“The first two songs (“Let’s Roll” and “Soul Share”) we did together were hits, and it feels like we are onto another one with 'Groove Assets'. There is no greater pleasure or prouder moment in a jazz professor's life than the act of hiring a former student for the incredibly important job of producing a single. I am a very lucky, proud soul indeed,” beamed Smith, whose cancer is in complete remission.
"We train jazz and rock stars. I am super proud of all our students who have gone on to play with Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, John Legend, Gwen Stefani, Marc Anthony, Thundercat, Justin Bieber, Michael Bublé, Jason Mraz, Elton John, Madonna, Bono, Maroon 5, Jennifer Lopez, John Mayer, and on hit television programs ‘American Idol’ and ‘Glee’ to name a few."
Smith was a student at USC when he attended the last masterclass given by Spanish classical guitar great Andre Segovia, which had a lasting impact.
“The Maestro said many profound things, but the one that really stuck with me and guided my life was ‘When you teach, you learn twice.’ That, and the fact that my mother, father, cousins, aunts and uncles were all professors at schools like Oxford, MIT, Oberlin, Tufts, Hong Kong, UCLA, Michigan and Liverpool guided me toward university life as my recording and performing career grew. It has all been something of a mission,” said Smith who plans to perform next summer in England, Holland, Greece and Italy.
“Our (America’s) jazz and popular music are our greatest cultural export, and I am proud to be an ambassador for that.”
Closer to home, Smith will be a featured performer alongside Greg Adams and East Bay Soul at the Catalina Island JazzTrax Festival on October 22.
For more information, please visit www.richardsmithguitar.com.
SARO COSENTINO - 'THE JOKE FEAT. PETER HAMMILL' – VIDEO FOR SONG BY ITALIAN COMPOSER-PRODUCER FEATURING PROG LEGEND
SARO COSENTINO - 2022 photo
SARO COSENTINO
THE JOKE
feat PETER HAMMILL
from the album
THE ROAD TO NOW
LP / CD / digital
out 07.10.22
[Cat Sounds]
pre-order / pre-save
HERE
‘The Joke’ was recently made available as a teaser song from the new album by the Italian composer and producer Saro Cosentino. Co-written with prog legend Peter Hammill and featuring his distinctive lead vocal, it is full of portent with a lyric about the corporate greed and consumer habits that directly affect climate change. A video for it has been issued today that Cosentino says “is pretty self-explanatory. Only a fool would set fire to his own home, but that is what we are doing. We are on a path of self destruction and need to change our priorities and reconsider our values as a society without having ‘produce/consume/die’ as a motto.”
The third solo album by Cosentino, 'The Road To Now' features singers Peter Hammill (on four songs), Tim Bowness (of No Man) and Karen Eden, plus instrumental contributions from the likes of Gavin Harrison, David Rhodes, John Giblin and Trey Gunn. Available on heavyweight colour vinyl, CD and digital formats, it is the long-awaited follow-up to 1997’s acclaimed ‘Ones And Zeros’.
Born in Rome but currently based in Prague, Cosentino formed a blues outfit in his late teens but soon became more interested in experimental and electronic music, beginning a lengthy association with the popular Italian singer-songwriter Franco Battiato, who had been juggling his own love of the avant-garde with record company pressure to produce ‘hits’. The duo co-wrote Italy’s entry to the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest (which Battiato performed in the competition) and collaborated on two operas later in the decade.
Cosentino released a self-titled debut solo album on EMI in 1988 prior to successfully dividing his time between composing film/TV soundtracks and writing for/producing numerous international artists that have included Peter Hammill, David Rhodes, Tim Bowness, Pandit Dinesh, Tony Levin, Natasha Atlas, Jakko Jakszyk and Gavin Harrison, as well as further work with Battiato plus other compatriots such as Milva and Alice.
'The Road To Now' was recorded in the UK and US as well as at Cosentino’s own studio in Prague, with final mixing taking place at Real World in Bath. The opening 'You’re The Story' sees the soothing voice of Tim Bowness matched with a suitably sumptuous yet melancholic backdrop, followed immediately by 'The Joke', the first of four superb songs featuring the unmistakable tones of legendary prog singer Peter Hammill. ‘November’ (on which Bowness provides a backing vocal) is a tale of long lost love, the outstanding 'Time To Go' contemplates the very end of the road (hopefully a long time from now), while the closing 'When Your Parents Danced' considers the first central figures in one’s life in their younger days, ‘before life’s stories made them what they’ve become’.
Having contributed to 'Ones and Zeros', as well as records by the likes of William Orbit and Chris Rea, the versatile Australian singer Karen Eden returns to perform on two contrasting tracks; the portentous sounding ‘Pray' and (by way of contrast to everything else on the record), the pop song 'Us (Scars on Skin)'. The album also contains the instrumental ‘Howl', which switches from strident to atmospheric midway through and showcases the skills of the musicians involved.
THE ROAD TO NOW
TRACKLISTING
1 You’re The Story (feat Tim Bowness)
2 The Joke (feat Peter Hammill)
3 Pray (feat Karen Eden)
4 November (feat Peter Hammill & Tim Bowness)
5 US (Scars on Skin) (feat Karen Eden)
6 Time To Go (feat Peter Hammill)
7 Howl
8 When Your Parents Danced (feat Peter Hammill)
MUSICIANS
Peter Hammill - vocals, guitar
Tim Bowness - vocals, backing vocals
Karen Eden - vocals
Dorota Barova - cello, vocals
Gavin Harrison - drums
John Giblin - bass
David Rhodes - guitar
Trey Gunn - waar guitar
Nicola Alesini - saxophone
Radim Knapp - trumpet
Saro Cosentino - guitars, keyboards, bass, strings, piano, arrangements, programming, sound design
CROBOT BRENGEN EEN NIEUWE MUZIEKVIDEO UIT VOOR ‘GOLDEN’!
Via Mascot Records/Mascot Label Group
IN NOV/DEC GAAN CROBOT OP TOUR IN EUROPA TER SUPPORT VAN AIRBOURNE
16 dec – Cirque Royal, Brussel, BE
19 dec – 013, Tilburg, NL
Vandaag hebben Crobot en Mascot Records/ Mascot Label Group de officiële muziekvideo voor "Golden" uitgebracht. Zanger Brandon Yeagley deelt, “’Golden’ is a soaring homage to a God-gone-too soon. When it came to the lyrics, we collectively wanted it to be a tribute to Chris Cornell. We are so influenced by everything he and Soundgarden have done. We ran with the song in honor of his legacy."
Na de release van hun nieuwste album Feel This, heeft Crobot een reeks Britse en Europese tourdata aangekondigd ter support van Airbourne en Blues Pills. Tickets zijn hier verkrijgbaar: https://crobotband.com/#tour
Onze favoriete groove-rockers stappen op de feestbus met Airbourne en Blues Pills en rijden door Frankrijk, Spanje, Italië, Zwitserland, Duitsland, Oostenrijk, België, Nederland en de UK - met een headline stop off onderweg in Tsjechië.
Over deze aankomende tour zegt zanger Brandon Yeagley, “It’s been a long time coming but we’re so excited to set fire to foreign stages with the power of the riff. Our pals in Airbourne have put together one ace line-up alongside Blues Pills to ensure we can turn off all of our cares and riff until the sun comes up! Well, at least until the venues kick us out!”
Tour Dates
28 Nov – Zenith, Paris, FRANCE w/Airbourne & Blues Pills
01 Dec - Vistalegre Arean, Madrid, SPAIN w/Airbourne & Blues Pills
02 Dec – Sant Jordi, Barcelona, SPAIN w/Airbourne & Blues Pills
03 Dec – Cubec, Bilbao, SPAIN w/Airbourne & Blues Pills
05 Dec – Alcatrazz, Milan, ITALY w/Airbourne & Blues Pills
06 Dec – Halle 622, Zurich, SWITZERLAND w/Airbourne & Blues Pills
07 Dec – Zenith, Munich, GERMANY w/Airbourne & Blues Pills
09 Dec – Gasometer, Berlin, GERMANY w/Airbourne & Blues Pills
10 Dec – Columbiahalle, Berlin, GERMANY w/Airbourne & Blues Pills
11 Dec – Strahov 007, Prague, CZECH REPUBLIC
12 Dec – Porche Arena, Stuggart, GERMANY w/Airbourne & Blues Pills
14 Dec – Palladium, Cologne, GERMANY w/Airbourne & Blues Pills
15 Dec – Stadthalle, Hamburg, GERMANY w/Airbourne & Blues Pills
16 Dec – Cirque Royal, Brussels, BELGIUM w/Airbourne & Blues Pills
19 Dec – 013, Tilburg, NETHERLANDS w/Airbourne & Blues Pills
21 Dec – Victoria Warehouse, Manchester, UK w/Airbourne & Blues Pills
22 Dec – Brixton Academy, London, UK w/Airbourne & Blues Pills
Crobot Online:
https://crobotband.com/
facebook.com/Crobotband
instagram.com/crobotband/
twitter.com/Crobotband
STEVEN DAYVID McKELLAR - 'NAMA' – NEW ALBUM OF ATMOSPHERIC ELECTRONICA BY FORMER FRONTMAN OF CIVIL TWILIGHT
STEVEN DAYVID McKELLAR photo by Lauren Stocker
STEVEN DAYVID McKELLAR
NAMA
new album
out 20.09.22
[Sonic Ritual]
digital services
lnk.to/NAMA
includes the singles
ONE AND ZERO
digital services
lnk.to/OneAndZero
+
STOP RUNNING
digital services
lnk.to/StopRunning
“Startling….falls somewhere between Four Tet and Thom Yorke’s work with Atoms For Peace”
UNDER THE RADAR
“Its structure and rich instrumentation recalls ‘Amnesiac’/
'Kid A' era Radiohead”
MXDWN
“If you like your electronic pop dark and mysterious, you can’t go wrong with Steven Dayvid McKellar”
RELEASE
The former Civil Twilight vocalist and songwriter Steven Dayvid McKellar has just returned with ‘NAMA’, the follow up to his 2020 debut solo album ‘ETHIO’. Having left Nashville just prior to its recording, it was made in his new apartment in Los Angeles while the pandemic raged outside; a fitting backdrop for a record implicitly concerned with staring our deepest emotions in the face.
Deftly self-produced, ‘NAMA’ is a musical self-psychoanalysis; coaxed and arranged into song form, it is a meditative coming-to-terms with the deep recesses of humanity. A short and sweet seven song recording, it was made with a Juno synth, vocals and drum machine, occasionally accompanied by bass, classical guitar and the interwoven percussion of ordinary household items. Additional instrumentation was provided by friend and occasional bandmate Bucky Shorts. However, despite its seemingly restrictive minimalism, ‘NAMA’ is nevertheless teeming with dense atmosphere, layers of crunchy trance beats and haunting melodies.
From the minimal electronic heartbreak of its opener ‘One and Zero’ to the haunted claustrophobia of ‘Stop Running’ and the fractured beauty of the closing ‘Edge Of The Garden’, ‘NAMA’ balances introspection with an outward push into the unknown.
With Civil Twilight, McKellar had seen life on the big screen, leading the South African rock band through a successful run that saw them share stages with the likes of Smashing Pumpkins, Florence + the Machine, Jimmy Eat World and Silversun Pickups, while their songs were placed in TV shows such as One Tree Hill, House and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Now releasing music on his own terms, McKellar remains as creative as ever.
NAMA
TRACKLISTING
1 One and Zero
2 Nama Wind
3 Slow Fade
4 Stop Running
5 Pull Away
6 Trillion Tiny Waves
7 Edge Of The Garden
BELLE SCAR - 'WHERE DO WE BEGIN' – NEW SINGLE BY DISTINCTIVE SINGER-SONGWRITER
BELLE SCAR
WHERE DO WE BEGIN
new single
out 23.09.22
digital services [pre-save]
lnk.to/9n5Lt2
FOR FANS OF
NICK CAVE / DANNY ELFMAN / ZOLA JESUS
LIVE IN LONDON
23.09.22
SADLER’S WELLS THEATRE
tickets
Captivating, glamorous and bold, Belle Scar is a distinctive singer-songwriter, producer and artistic director from Montreal who has been based in London for the last decade. Described by the New York Times as “a creature from another dimension, she’s phenomenal,” her dramatic, cinematic music is at times redolent of a Tim Burton film score and at others of a mash-up between Nick Cave, David Bowie and Portishead. Recent live dates in the capital have seen her perform sold out shows at St Pancras Old Church and artsdepot with a full band including strings and choir, with her latest show taking place at Sadler’s Wells Theatre on 23rd September. A limited number of tickets are still available HERE .
Scar’s songs are often melancholic yet joyously beautiful, but all are imbued with a passion and depth that take listeners on an emotional journey with her uniquely powerful voice at its centre. Her new single, ‘Where Do We Begin’, which is about maintaining one’s sanity in the fearful uncertainty of the present day, comes across like Marianne Faithfull and Sinead O’Connor performing at a Weimar cabaret accompanied by an orchestra and choir. An international affair, it was recorded at Plastic Sound Studios in London and produced/mixed by French musician Marc O, with guest appearances from renowned Finnish rock bassist Sami Yaffa, French drummer Christophe Deschamps and Italian opera soprano Francesca Matta.
‘Where Do We Begin’ is the first single to be issued from a new album due out in early 2023. Having previously released an album of dark electronic pop entitled ‘Light Bulbs’ (2015), Scar was keen to explore a different direction. Loving the inherent magic in film scores by composers such as Ennio Morricone, Danny Elfman and John Williams, she decided to write songs containing a wider range of instrumentation and more complex arrangements. This became a collaboration with her husband, the rock musician and producer Marc O (Olivier), whose roots were as a classically trained musician in Paris prior to his own relocation to London.
With Scar writing the music, lyrics and choir arrangements and Olivier orchestrating and producing, the duo strove to create a unique atmosphere for each individual song. The result is a mesmerising album about beginnings and endings, change, and finding meaning in both the beauty and darkness that is life's journey.
IBRAHIM MAALOUF MAKES TRUMPET MUSIC FOR THE CLUB ON 'CAPACITY TO LOVE'
IBRAHIM MAALOUF
New Album "Capacity To Love"
RELEASE 4 NOVEMBER 2022
Featuring D Smoke, De La Soul, Erick The Architect, Gregory Porter, Tank and the Bangas, JP Cooper, Sharon Stone & more
Ibrahim Maalouf’s new album Capacity To Love, out November 4th, opens with Charlie Chaplin’s famous speech from The Dictator and ends with a poem that actress Sharon Stone wrote and recited for this project. Packed with special guests and surprises at every turn, it’s an album unlike any other that the trumpeter/composer/producer/songwriter has ever made in a tremendous two decade career. Maalouf has released 17 albums, has sold out the biggest arena in his home country of France and was recently a musical guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He’s known for his dazzling mastery of the four-valve trumpet, designed by his father, which enables him to play the melodies and tones of the Middle East and his Lebanese roots.
Maalouf has collaborated with everyone from Sting to Wynton Marsalis, but he’s never worked with this many guests on one album. Capacity To Love boasts an eclectic and truly global array: rapper D Smoke, hip hop legends De La Soul, Flatbush Zombies’ rapper/producer Erick the Architect, jazz singer Gregory Porter, New Orleans’ Tank and the Bangas, Platinum UK singer-songwriter JP Cooper, the aforementioned Sharon Stone, Rio’s Flavia Coehlo, Ethiopian-American R&B upstart Alemeda, Stevie Wonder protege Sheléa Frazier, Cuban funk-rapper Cimafunk, tenor a capella singer Austin Brown and more.
A hopeful album that confronts some of life’s ugliness, Capacity To Love was created by Maalouf over the past year, with a deep exploration of r&b and hip hop production for the first time in his career. The result is a fusion of sounds and genres, all shot through with Maalouf’s distinctive flurry of trumpet playing. In another break from his past work, he worked closely with two young producers to bring his cinematic vision of trumpet music for the club to life: Henry Was and NuTone. The album features 14 tracks and pushes musical boundaries at every turn, often exploding with high doses of energy and riffs from Maalouf that shoot into the stratosphere. “The Pope” featuring D Smoke basks in a dark intensity, “Quiet Culture” featuring De La Soul is buoyed by a chorus of kids, and the title track featuring Gregory Porter is a centerpiece of the album’s remarkable production, blending gospel, jazz, trap beats and the sounds of the Middle East into something both joyful and haunting.
"Making Capacity To Love was like nothing I've ever done before in my career - working with producers and so many different artists on a single project - and I hope it makes you want to jump out of your seat and move. I was really inspired by my love for film as these songs came together, the goal was to make it feel cinematic like a classic drama movie that we all share in watching together," says Maalouf.
Maalouf has taken a surprising path to Capacity To Love: he started learning traditional Arabic music when he was very young, shifted into classical music for nearly two decades and more recently to jazz and pop, which has catapulted him to stardom. Just watch this video of the crowd at a recent Maalouf show in France for evidence.
Ever-prolific, in June Maalouf released Queen of Sheba, an album he created with another star of international music, Angelique Kidjo. An ambitious 7-part suite which was composed for a full orchestra by Maalouf, featuring lyrics by Kidjo, and sung by Kidjo in Yoruba, it was inspired by the ancient myth of the Queen of Sheba. It prompted SPIN to say it “may be the most interesting album of the year.” Maalouf will also bring Capacity To Love on tour this fall, for his biggest venues yet in North America including a sold-out Le Poisson Rouge in NYC, see below for the full itinerary.
Hailed as a “virtuoso” by The New York Times, Maalouf has spent his career crossing borders and blurring genres, mixing jazz, pop, classical, electronic, Middle Eastern, and African influences into an explosive, cross-cultural swirl. Born in the midst of a deadly civil war, Maalouf escaped Beirut with his family as a child and spent his formative years in France, where he first fell in love with music’s power to transcend geography and language. Over the past decade alone, he’s performed in 40 countries, sold out arenas from Paris to Istanbul, has been scouted by Quincy Jones and raised millions for charity. In the fall of 2021 he performed on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, introduced by Jon Batiste as “a living legend of jazz” and performed in front of the Eiffel Tower on Bastille Day for an audience of six million.
MICHEL BISCEGLIA TRIO NIEUW ALBUM "SILENCE LOUD"
Het Michel Bisceglia Trio, met Werner Lauscher op bas en Marc Lehan op drums, viert dit jaar zijn 25-jarig bestaan met de release van hun langverwachte nieuw album SILENCE LOUD.
Met respect voor de traditionele jazz, creëren ze filmische passages met veel ruimte voor meerstemmige melodieën en contrasterende harmonieën. Geen noot teveel en een onberispelijke timing voeren je als luisteraar mee naar hogere muzikale sferen. Michel Bisceglia besloot tijdens de productie nog op laatste nippertje enkele strijkers arrangementen neer te pennen. De voortreffelijke bijdrage van The Hongarian Studio Orchestra maakt van dit nieuw album een uniek pareltje.
"Net zoals je van Mozart, Chopin, Miles Davis of George Gershwin kan houden, kan je ook verliefd worden op de muziek van de pianist Michel Bisceglia, met het belangrijke verschil dat hij wel nog leeft en dat je zijn concerten in real time kan bijwonen en live van zijn piano-oeuvre kan genieten” - rootstime.be
Dat Bisceglia's composities filmisch zijn en een grote emotionele zeggingskracht bevatten, is ook Hollywood niet ontgaan. Zo mocht hij recent de muziek voor de Brits-Canadese animatiefilm ‘Charlotte’, met niemand minder dan Keira Knightley in de hoofdrol, componeren. Hiervoor werd Michel Bisceglia recent opnieuw genomineerd voor een World Soundtrack Award. Eerder mocht hij ook al de C-mine expositie rond Tim Burton feestelijk muzikaal openen in het bijzijn van the director himself.
“Silence Loud” in concert
13/10/2022 in C-Mine Genk (Grote Zaal)
www.michelbiscegliatrio.com
Prova Records
www.provarecords.be
NEW SINGLE ‘HERE’S WHAT I’D DO FOR YOU’ BY FELTON PILATE
Felton Pilate is best known as the lead singer of Confunkshun, an R&B Old School band created in 1974 while in Memphis,Tn. Pilate was born in Jackson Mississippi to Felton Pilate Sr., a naval physician, and Benita Akines Pilate, a music major and social worker. After many military assignments, The Pilate family’s last move would be a move to Vallejo, Ca., where Felton Jr. would spend his formative years. Pilate knew from a very young age that music would be an important part of his life. He took trumpet and piano lessons very early and self-taught himself to play guitar and trombone. In high school he created a band and performed locally while honing his craft.
Michael Cooper, who had another local band, asked him to join his group during their final high school years and with no hesitation, Felton said yes. That was the beginning of his career as a member of Project Soul who went on the road with Stax recording artists, “The Soul Children” and moved to Memphis, Tn. Project Soul got a record deal and were asked to change their name. The band chose ConFunkShun and the rest, as they say, is history. The band went on to record hit after hit in the 70’s & 80’s where Pilate served as co-producer and songwriter. He still performs with ConFunkShun to date and proudly proclaims that the music business has been his only income since 1972. Pilate’s accolades include Record Producer, Songwriter & Recording Artist with (USA) Diamond Platinum Sales Status and numerous Gold, Platinum, Multi-Platinum, and Mega-Platinum selling albums; participated in and contributed to numerous Grammy winning and nominated recording projects; Recording Engineer, Mixer, and Mastering Engineer. Pilate has 45+ years touring history as an internationally recognized R&B artist principal, recording studio owner and manager having trained numerous other eventual Grammy winning record producers. Pilate gained his greatest world-wide acclaim for production/writing with rap phenom “M.C. Hammer”. The Hammer-Pilate joint effort staggers the imagination with sales from ‘89 to ‘92 alone of 30 million, including ”Please Hammer Don’t Hurt Em” the #2 all-time selling R&B LP. Other landmarks in Pilate’s Capital records days include his film and TV soundtrack work, such as his Oscar-nominated “Addams Groove” (Addams Family Movie theme) and Hammerman (Hammerman cartoon show). Pilate has many other accolades to his credit including his 2010 contribution of “I Wanna Play For You” to the Grammy award winning “The Stanley Clarke Band” album. Pilate has produced artists in other genres, such as Country, Rock, and Gospel. When Pilate began touring, his soulful falsetto voice, sexy, romantic lyrics and his guitar, keyboards and trombone skills immediately gathered a loyal fan base that has remained with him for almost 50 years. His style of music is not just limited to R&B but is also influenced by many other music genres. His melodic mix creates a distinctive sound that intrigues and transports his listeners, and his larger-than-life persona on stage penetrates his fans hearts and souls. In 2004, Pilate released a fantastic solo LP entitled, “Nothing But Love Spoken Here”. He provided all of the production, vocals and instrumental tracks and most of the songwriting. A Taste of Honey’s Janice Marie[1]Johnson duets with him on “Only For You” about that elusive quality: Devotion. Pilate exquisitely demonstrates his many talents in the recording booth and at the mixing console too. During Covid, he released two singles, “We’re Still Here” and “Waiting Just to Dance”, and is currently in the studio working on finishing the album. Both songs are doing extremely well on the charts worldwide. As for ConFunkShun, Felton and Michael Cooper are fine tuning ConFunkShun’s new Christmas Album, set for release in the fall of 2022, and a new R&B album set for release in early summer 2022. Pilate has a gift of perfecting and creating multiple projects at one time and is extremely busy with his music as well as writing, editing, and creating a soundtrack for a new TV pilot. Over the last two years, he has also developed several stage shows including; “Everybody Dance! ”, a tribute to Nile Rodgers and Chic, “I Love Music! ”, a tribute to the Philly Sound, and “Rock Steady! ” a tribute to Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds. In Pilate’s spare time he loves to show off his magician skills to friends and family. He also enjoys taking photos, recording videos and editing them, cooking, watching movies, and traveling! Pilate resides in the Atlanta area with his wife Jennifer and loves spending time with their children, family and friends.
KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD KONDIGT ‘TROUBLE IS…25’ AAN
De volledige heropname van Kenny's meest succesvolle album, vergezeld door een documentaire over de originele 'Trouble Is...' en een live-dvd opgenomen in The Strand Theatre in Shepherd's geboorteplaats Shreveport, Louisiana
Trouble Is… 25 wordt verwacht op 2 december op Provogue Records/Mascot Label Group
Pre-order het album HIER
Vandaag kondigt de vijfvoudig Grammy-genomineerde gitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd 'Trouble Is...25' aan, een top-to-bottom herinterpretatie van zijn doorbaak-album 'Trouble Is...', het album dat 25 jaar geleden de moderne blues nieuw leven inblies. Het album, dat verwacht wordt op 2 december via Provogue Records/Mascot Label Group (inclusief een bonustrack van een niet-uitgebrachte versie van Ballad of a Thin Man), zal vergezeld worden door een live-dvd, gefilmd in The Strand Theatre in Shepherds geboorteplaats Shreveport, Louisiana, welke is opgenomen bij de kick-off van zijn 'Trouble Is…25 Anniverary tour,' waar het album integraal gespeeld wordt. Met de aankonidging van deze release brengt Shepherd een lyric video uit voor 'True Lies', dat hij omschrijft als “the classic infidelity song.”
Geweldige nummers zijn niet in steen gebeiteld. Sinds hij van de bluesclubs in Louisiana naar de wereldwijde muziekscene schoot met het doorbraakalbum 'Ledbetter Heights' in 1995, gevolgd door zijn carrièrebepalende tweede album 'Trouble Is...' in 1997, heeft Shepherd die klassiekers elke avond op het podium in gewaagde nieuwe vormen gegoten. Geleid door de puls van het publiek, elke laatste noot levend in zijn handen, zijn de 'Trouble Is...'-tracks altijd in beweging gebleven en nooit museumstukken geworden. Maar om een kwart eeuw oud album een tweede geboorte te geven is andere koek. Maar de multi-platina verkopende artiest keek vooruit en zag het 25-jarig jubileum van 'Trouble Is...' aan de horizon, en hij smeedde een gedurfd plan.
Om de connectie te maken tussen de hongerige 18-jarige gitarist die in 1997 bliksem ving en de nog steeds verkennende meestermuzikant, met een overdaad aan (levens)ervaring. Om de oude crew van de originele ‘Trouble Is…’-sessies in de Record Plant in Sausalito, Californië, bijeen te brengen en de tracklist opnieuw te lijf te gaan. En om zowel doorgewinterde fans als nieuwe luisteraars eraan te herinneren hoe dit album de moderne blues nieuw leven inblies.
"Een van de coolste dingen van het opnieuw opnemen van 'Trouble Is...' is om erachter te komen - of te verifiëren - hoe tijdloos dit album werkelijk is", zegt Shepherd, die ook een triomfantelijke jubileumtour door de Verenigde Staten doet in 2022 en 2023 en Trouble Is… integraal speelt. “Ik ben zo trots op wat we hebben bereikt, en ook op het feit dat ik pas 18 jaar oud was toen ik het deed. Ik bedoel, ik had een ervaring met dit album waar de meeste muzikanten alleen maar van kunnen dromen. Van ‘Trouble Is…’ werden miljoenen exemplaren verkocht. Daar zit voor mij validatie in.”
Nadat de oren en ogen op Shepherd gericht waren na het sprankelende debuut 'Ledbetter Heights' uit 1995, bracht 'Trouble Is...' Shepherd halsoverkop in grote stappen voorwaarts. Dit waren nummers en opnames die niet uit een tiener hadden moeten komen, maar de bandleider stond schouder aan schouder met een ervaren studioband. De iconische Double Trouble-line-up (drummer Chris Layton, bassist Tommy Shannon en sleutelman Reese Wynans).
Vandaag kondigt de vijfvoudig Grammy-genomineerde gitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd 'Trouble Is...25' aan, een top-to-bottom herinterpretatie van zijn doorbaak-album 'Trouble Is...', het album dat 25 jaar geleden de moderne blues nieuw leven inblies. Het album, dat verwacht wordt op 2 december via Provogue Records/Mascot Label Group (inclusief een bonustrack van een niet-uitgebrachte versie van Ballad of a Thin Man), zal vergezeld worden door een live-dvd, gefilmd in The Strand Theatre in Shepherds geboorteplaats Shreveport, Louisiana, welke is opgenomen bij de kick-off van zijn 'Trouble Is…25 Anniverary tour,' waar het album integraal gespeeld wordt. Met de aankonidging van deze release brengt Shepherd een lyric video uit voor 'True Lies', dat hij omschrijft als “the classic infidelity song.” Bekijk de video hier.
Geweldige nummers zijn niet in steen gebeiteld. Sinds hij van de bluesclubs in Louisiana naar de wereldwijde muziekscene schoot met het doorbraakalbum 'Ledbetter Heights' in 1995, gevolgd door zijn carrièrebepalende tweede album 'Trouble Is...' in 1997, heeft Shepherd die klassiekers elke avond op het podium in gewaagde nieuwe vormen gegoten. Geleid door de puls van het publiek, elke laatste noot levend in zijn handen, zijn de 'Trouble Is...'-tracks altijd in beweging gebleven en nooit museumstukken geworden. Maar om een kwart eeuw oud album een tweede geboorte te geven is andere koek. Maar de multi-platina verkopende artiest keek vooruit en zag het 25-jarig jubileum van 'Trouble Is...' aan de horizon, en hij smeedde een gedurfd plan.
Om de connectie te maken tussen de hongerige 18-jarige gitarist die in 1997 bliksem ving en de nog steeds verkennende meestermuzikant, met een overdaad aan (levens)ervaring. Om de oude crew van de originele ‘Trouble Is…’-sessies in de Record Plant in Sausalito, Californië, bijeen te brengen en de tracklist opnieuw te lijf te gaan. En om zowel doorgewinterde fans als nieuwe luisteraars eraan te herinneren hoe dit album de moderne blues nieuw leven inblies.
"Een van de coolste dingen van het opnieuw opnemen van 'Trouble Is...' is om erachter te komen - of te verifiëren - hoe tijdloos dit album werkelijk is", zegt Shepherd, die ook een triomfantelijke jubileumtour door de Verenigde Staten doet in 2022 en 2023 en Trouble Is… integraal speelt. “Ik ben zo trots op wat we hebben bereikt, en ook op het feit dat ik pas 18 jaar oud was toen ik het deed. Ik bedoel, ik had een ervaring met dit album waar de meeste muzikanten alleen maar van kunnen dromen. Van ‘Trouble Is…’ werden miljoenen exemplaren verkocht. Daar zit voor mij validatie in.”
Nadat de oren en ogen op Shepherd gericht waren na het sprankelende debuut 'Ledbetter Heights' uit 1995, bracht 'Trouble Is...' Shepherd halsoverkop in grote stappen voorwaarts. Dit waren nummers en opnames die niet uit een tiener hadden moeten komen, maar de bandleider stond schouder aan schouder met een ervaren studioband. De iconische Double Trouble-line-up (drummer Chris Layton, bassist Tommy Shannon en sleutelman Reese Wynans).
En hoewel hij zijn eigen zangstem nog moest vinden (toen, net als nu, verzorgt Noah Hunt de krachtige leadzang op 'Trouble Is...) Shepherd's vroegrijpe gitaarwerk was van een andere klasse dan de vervagende grunge-scene, het ene moment witgloeiend op originelen zoals Slow Ride of de instrumentale titelsong, het volgende moment in de voetstappen van Jimi Hendrix zelf op een puntige cover van 'I Don't Live Today'.
In de daaropvolgende 25 jaar – een periode waarin Shepherd nog eens zeven veelgeprezen solo-albums heeft uitgebracht, om nog maar te zwijgen over zijn all-star side-project The Rides, met Stephen Stills en Barry Goldberg – zijn er enkele aspecten van het herboren 'Trouble Is …' album onvermijdelijk gewijzigd. The Record Plant sloot zijn deuren in 2008 (de nieuwe sessies vonden plaats in The Village in Los Angeles en Nashville's Ocean Way), terwijl Shannon zich terugtrok uit de muziekscene (hij is vakkundig vervangen door Shepherd's vaste low-ender, Kevin McCormick).
"Afgezien van Tommy hebben we de hele crew weer bij elkaar gekregen, met Jerry Harrison die opnieuw co-produceert", blikt de bandleider terug. “En in de studio voelde het alsof er geen tijd was verstreken. Als je goed samen speelt, speel je altijd goed samen. Het werkte toen en het werkte net zo goed deze keer. We leefde allemaal in één kamer. Dat is gewoon hoe ik het doe. Ik ben ouderwets. Mensen moeten in dezelfde ruimte zijn om samen muziek te kunnen spelen.”
Andere elementen van de heropname waren griezelig identiek, waarbij Shepherd exact dezelfde Fender ‘61 Stratocaster-en backline gebruikte uit eind jaren '90. “Voor de versterkers had ik een van de allereerste Fender Blackface Twin-heruitgaven die ooit werd gemaakt. En toen had ik een Vibro-King - en die is niet echt meer gebruikt sinds ik die plaat voor het eerst opnam. Dus we hadden die twee versterkers en een Blackface '64 Vibroverb. Ik had nog steeds alle originele pedalen die ik in '97 gebruikte - een Uni-Vibe, een TS808 Ibanez Tube Screamer, een Klon overdrive, de Roger Mayer Octavia. Ik heb nog nooit iets weggedaan. Ik heb nog nooit iets verkocht. Dus als er iets rondzweeft dat ooit van mij was, is dat omdat iemand plakkerige vingers moet hebben gekregen?'
Uiteindelijk, zegt Shepherd, waren de details van zijn gear minder belangrijk dan de spirit. “Ik wilde niet dat ‘Trouble Is…25’ een chirurgisch proces zou zijn. Ik hou er niet van om over dingen na te denken. Ik wilde gewoon naar binnen gaan en de sfeer vastleggen. Er waren een aantal manieren waarop we deze nieuwe opname hadden kunnen benaderen. We hadden een honderd procent getrouwe reproductie kunnen doen. Of we hadden een volledige herinterpretatie kunnen doen.
De tijden veranderen. Artiesten evolueren. Muziekscènes komen en gaan. In 1997 werd het originele 'Trouble Is...' omarmd door een rock-'n-roll-generatie die schreeuwde om iets substantieels, toen gefabriceerde pop zijn onverbiddelijke opkomst begon. “Een volledige kwart eeuw later – met gefabriceerde pop die de scepter zwaait en de mensheid zich een weg terugkrabbelt van een wereldwijde pandemie – staat de verwachting rond het herboren 'Trouble Is...'-album en liveshows als een bewijs van een verzameling nummers die nog nooit zo opwindend, krachtig, onverschrokken eerlijk en onbeschaamd menselijk hebben geklonken.
"Tijdens de 'Trouble Is...'-jubileumtour", zegt Shepherd, "vertelde iedereen hoe dit album vandaag nog kon worden uitgebracht en nog steeds net zo relevant kon zijn als 25 jaar geleden. Het maken van dit album in 1997 was een monumentale prestatie. De nieuwe opname was voor mij een serieuze trip down memory lane. En ik ben nog steeds ontzettend trots op deze nummers…”
Shepherd zal dit najaar blijven touren ter ondersteuning van 'Trouble Is...25'. Ga voor meer informatie en naar https://www.kennywayneshepherd.net/
Track listing
1. Slow Ride
2. True Lies
3. Blue on Black
4. Everything Is Broken
5. I Don't Live Today
6. (Long) Gone
7. Somehow, Somewhere, Someway
8. I Found Love (When I Found You)
9. King's Highway
10. Nothing To Do With Love
11. Chase the Rainbow
12. Trouble Is...
13. Ballad of A Thin Man
CAMILLE WORDT STRIPHELDIN
16/09/2022 – Op de radio, op televisie en op zowat elk Vlaams podium: Camille is overal. En vanaf dit najaar verovert ze ook de boekenwinkel. Standaard Uitgeverij brengt een hele reeks boeken en strips uit rond de populaire zangeres.
Camille Dhont (21) is niet meer weg te denken uit de media: jouw kroost kende haar al door haar rol in #LikeMe, maar sinds haar deelname aan The Masked Singer en Liefde voor muziek én door haar monsterhit Vuurwerk lijkt ze plots overal te zijn. De voorbije zomer stond ze op zowat elk festivalpodium, nam ze een nieuwe plaat op én zong ze de generiek in van Familie. Dit najaar staat ze vijf keer in de Lotto Arena en doet ze een theatertour langs alle Vlaamse steden.
En nu wordt Camille dus ook een stripheldin: in mei moet haar eerste stripavontuur in de winkel liggen. Standaard Uitgeverij vroeg aan scenarist Danny De Vos (For Girls Only! en 3HZ) en striptekenares Renée Rienties (Snelle Sam en Nina) om het stripuniversum rond de zangeres uit te werken. “Dat doen we in nauwe samenspraak met het management en met Camille zelf”, vertelt uitgever Kim Sanders. “Thema’s als pesten en bodyshaming liggen Camille na aan het hart. En ook haar teergeliefde kat, Moustache, krijgt een centrale rol in de strip.
Big smile
Zelf is Camille heel blij met haar stripevenbeeld. “Toen ik Moustache en mezelf voor de eerste keer getekend zag, heb ik de rest van die dag lopen ‘smilen’ … ik voel me echt enorm vereerd dat ik nu een stripfiguurtje word en hoop dat mijn fans veel plezier beleven aan alle avonturen die ik ga meemaken.”
Standaard Uitgeverij is er van overtuigd dat Camille ook op papier gaat scoren. “Vlaanderen is het land van Camille en het land waar geweldige strips en kinderboeken gemaakt worden. We vonden het dus een uitstekend idee om ze samen te brengen”, vertelt CEO Jeroen Overstijns. “Jeugdboeken en strips hebben zich de voorbije jaren levendiger dan ooit getoond. We zijn vereerd boeken en strips met en over Camille te kunnen maken omdat ze zo tot de verbeelding spreekt. En verbeelding, daarvoor doen we het. Welkom, Camille, bij Standaard Uitgeverij.”
Midden oktober verschijnen ook nog een vriendenboek en een posterboek van Camille. En ook voor 2023 staan er nog verschillende boekprojecten op stapel. “We willen Camille in de breedte positioneren op de boekenmarkt”, zegt uitgever Veerle Moureau. “We spelen niet in op de hype, maar willen echt mee op lange termijn denken.”
"SOUND ALCHEMIST” MYRON MCKINLEY MIXES UP AN AUDACIOUS JAZZ AND NEO SOUL COLLECTION
The keyboardist will drop the album on October 28 accompanied by a series of imaginative videos.
LOS ANGELES (15 September 2022): Keyboardist Myron McKinley has a clear vision for his own creative expression, but perhaps more importantly, he has a clear vision for providing a necessary impetus to shatter the boundaries and stimulate the evolution of jazz. Dropping October 28 on the Dark Elf Music label, the ten-song “Sound Alchemist” is a learned thesis of sonic exploration and experimentation written and produced by McKinley as a mélange of contemporary, straight-ahead and fusion jazz; hip hop, R&B and soul; and multicultural nuance.
While the music industry continues to shift towards singles as singular musical statements, McKinley prefers taking listeners on a complete journey via an album. “Sound Alchemist” does just that. Deftly, he offers enough of the familiar allure, such as recording The Carpenter’s “Close to You,” Sting’s “La Belle Dame San Regrets,” Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Imagination,” and Drake and Jhene Aiko’s “From Time,” but he reinvents each one - sometimes radically - making you forget the source material.
McKinley’s own compositions are just as far-reaching and ambitious, challenging jazz to grow and listeners to open their minds. He offers “Will You” as a tribute to Nat King Cole, who long before he was known for seducing and charming with his elegant and silky voice, he was a remarkably dexterous pianist. Another track on which McKinley performs all the instruments is “Matrix,” a wildly adventurous instrumental rooted in elements that are seemingly polar opposites: bebop and European electronic club music. In the company of guitarist Morris O’Connor and trombonist Reggie Young, the keyboardist stretches out even further on “Crowded Club,” referencing early 1970s funk and jazz fusion hybrids created by The Headhunters and Herbie Hancock. McKinley fuses straight-ahead jazz, hip hop beats and electronic dance music on “Let’s Just See,” the result of which is a vividly ingenious recording. Sensual and somber elements spawn “Remembering You.”
An all-star lineup illumines the centerpiece selection “Tunisian Morning.” Grammy-winning saxophonist Gerald Albright solos amidst fellow saxman Gary Bias, bassist Reggie Hamilton and percussionist Munyungo Jackson.
“I got the chance to play at Nelson Mandela’s birthday party and while we were there celebrating, I heard all these different types of rhythms. I thought it was amazing. So, I kind of took a Bob James approach to the melody but using the rhythm that I heard over there and then had everybody play on it. I was blessed to have all those musicians play on it. They had so much fun doing it. I literally had to stop Munyungo from adding more tracks. He wanted to do more, but he had filled it up so much that you don’t even notice that there’s no drums on the track,” said McKinley.
Visuals are an important aspect to McKinley’s approach for “Sound Alchemist” thus three videos were created with a fourth in the planning stages. On the auspicious date of September 21, McKinley’s tribute to Earth, Wind & Fire drops and his “Imagination” video is quite personal. For the past twenty years, McKinley has toured with the legendary band, serving as their musical director for the last dozen years. The group’s energizing bass player Verdine White plays on the track featuring falsetto singer Danny McClain. The video consists of McKinley’s photos from two decades of touring the globe with EWF.
The “Let’s Just See” video arrives October 5. The clip depicts the real-life story behind the song.
McKinley explains, “I was in New York City, and it is just so loud. I was trying to practice and then kept getting distracted by the noise. Finally, I decided to go hang out at the club and I brought a melodica. I went in there and the DJ was playing. He gave me a mic and I started playing melodica there with him. It turned out really cool. Everybody was enjoying it and I had a lot of fun. The DJ played a bunch of different stuff and we just fooled around, and it became a thing for about a good hour. For the video, I had to write a script and time everything. It was the first I’ve ever done anything like it. I had to write the timeline and tell the animator what is supposed to happen in each cartoon. We had a lot of fun creating that.”
The animated video for “From Time” is slated to hit October 21. What drew McKinley to the song was the lyric “I love me enough for the both of us,” which is sung in dreamlike voice by Denaine Jones.
“I think that statement is going to resonate with any man because that means you’re not going to have to supplement for her what she’s supposed to have already. When I heard the song, I fell in love with what she’s saying. For the video, I was thinking how a lot of people play music and do other things while they’re messaging people. I thought it would be nice to have her texting a guy about how she feels. ‘I love me enough for the both of us.’ You see her sitting up against the wall in New York, texting during the solo and at the end. I thought it was an interesting journey to add a lot of feeling to it,” explained McKinley, who will perform music from “Sound Alchemist” at Denver’s Soiled Dove Underground on October 22.
Los Angeles native McKinley studied classical and jazz piano, including under the tutelage of Grammy-winning trumpeter Wynton Marsalis. But hip hop’s influence in his works is just as prevalent as jazz and classical.
“I grew up in the hip hop era. I was listening to A Tribe Called Quest and Oscar Peterson on the same radio station. I loved all of those. When you come up like that, it’s still a part of you, even though you have classical and jazz. It still becomes a part of your DNA musically. I think ‘Sound Alchemist’ shows a lot of that. You can hear church aspects, classical aspects, jazz aspects and it also shows hip hop aspects.”
In addition to his long-time duties with Earth, Wind & Fire, McKinley has toured with Whitney Houston, Kenny Lattimore, Stanley Clarke, En Vogue and Shai. He has written, cowrote or produced songs for EWF, Clarke, Doc Powell, Silk, Vesta, Cherokee and Howard Hewett. He’s also composed music for film and television scores, contributing to “Soul Food,” “Romeo Must Die,” “The Best Man,” “Think Like A Man,” “Shaft,” and “The Godfather of Harlem” among many others. But jazz is home, so McKinley makes time to perform with his own straight-ahead jazz trio.
McKinley’s bold spirit and intrepid scope heard throughout “Sound Alchemist” are purposely sprawling, purposely edgy, purposely youthful and vibrant, and purposely inclusive. That’s where he believes jazz needs to go in order to thrive again in relevancy.
“I don’t think musically right now the boundaries are being pushed. I could have easily done (recorded) something else and directed it towards a certain genre and left it there without pushing, but musically, to really make things grow, it takes adventurers to push the genre.”
“Sound Alchemist” contains the following songs:
“Close To You”
“Will You”
“Matrix”
“Crowded Club”
“Let’s Just See”
“Imagination”
“La Belle Dame Sans Regrets”
“Remembering You”
“Tunisian Morning”
“From Time”
For more information, please visit https://myronmckinley.com.
CLAY BENJAMIN – ‘ JUST IN TIME FOR LOVE’ (CARSON LAKE RECORDS)
Known in contemporary jazz and gospel music circles as a virtuoso on guitar, Clay Benjamin returns to smooth jazz radio with a new single which has an upbeat and bright feel to it. With his dynamic and skillful playing leading the way, this new piece has all the elements that made his last tune many of you played ("Forever & Always") successful. Great playing, along with stellar production and arrangements give this song the sheen that we all look for in hit songs.
His website link follows: https://claywbenjamin.com/about-us/clay-bio/
NEW MOVIE ‘I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY’, THE STORY OF WHITNEY HOUSTON
The greatest voice of our time has an even greater story. 🌟🎤 Discover the Whitney Houston you never knew in ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody’, exclusively in movie theaters this December. #IWannaDanceMovie @WannaDanceMovie
I Wanna Dance with Somebody is a powerful and triumphant celebration of the incomparable Whitney Houston. Directed by Kasi Lemmons, written by Academy Award® nominee Anthony McCarten, produced by legendary music executive Clive Davis and starring BAFTA Award® winner Naomi Ackie, the film is a no-holds-barred portrait of the complex and multifaceted woman behind The Voice. From New Jersey choir girl to one of the best-selling and most awarded recording artists of all time, audiences are taken on an inspirational, poignant—and so emotional—journey through Houston’s trailblazing life and career, with show-stopping performances and a soundtrack of the icon’s most beloved hits as you’ve never heard them before. Don’t you wanna dance?
I Wanna Dance with Somebody Film Now Has a Companion Book
The official behind-the-scenes guide to the making of the movie about the life and music of Whitney Houston, one of the greatest female R&B pop vocalists of the 20th century.
The film I Wanna Dance with Somebody tells the joyous, emotional, and heartbreaking story of Whitney Houston's journey from obscurity to musical superstardom. This stunning accompanying volume tells the story of bringing Whitney's life to the big screen, with behind-the-scenes photography and interviews with key cast members including star Naomi Ackie (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker), Tamara Tunie (Flight, The Devil's Advocate), and Nafessa Williams (Black Lightning), as well as key members of the production crew. Learn how the pivotal moments and places in Whitney's history, as well as her spectacular wardrobe and her look, were recreated for the film, with additional insight about the film from director Kasi Lemmons and about Whitney herself from producer Pat Houston. It is the ultimate book for the Whitney Houston fan.
'LATE AT NITE’ NEW FROM D’SAL
Just over a decade ago... Damon and Sally Bartlett, two musicians from the west coast, met each other in a show they both landed in Las Vegas, the PRINCE tribute show, Purple Reign. From there, a true love story for Damon and Sally was created from a common musical ground for their duo recording project, titled D'Sal.
Son of legendary singer-songwriter Wayne Bartlett, Damon Bartlett was brought up in the world of music since birth. He’s co-produced many talented artists throughout his musical career and in recent years, he and his wife, Sally have composed and produced their own Smooth Jazz music out of their recording studio in Las Vegas, nomaD studiO vegaS.
In addition to having extensive professional knowledge for the technical side of music, Damon has an ear at an orchestral level, melding instruments together whether by tracking, mixing or mastering, and bringing in accompanists to give the live “feel” and performance a given song needs. With decades of experience recording and mixing, he has an ear for detail, and quality. Damon plays bass guitar, keyboards, and some drums, although he says he can program drums better. He’s been involved around music with midi and computers since digital audio was introduced into the music scene.
Bass guitar is her forte, but Sally Bartlett didn’t start there. With a musical mother playing the organ for her, she developed a love for music at a very young age. She played the clarinet for over a decade in her early childhood, tinkered with sax and switched to the bass, starting with R&B and then set herself free to learn many other genres. Like Damon, she too had developed an ear for components in an orchestra growing up. Creating and producing music fell into the picture after she and Damon decided to fully focus on their own album. Dreaming up a song, laying down its foundation, and assisting Damon with the bells and whistles is now a part of her musical creativeness.
Sally comments “We compliment each other and seem to read each others minds. We feed off each other.”
"Late At Nite" is the debut radio single from their new album, Seaside. We think you and your listeners will dig it!
NEW SINGLE ‘COUNT ME IN’ FROM BILL COLLETTI
Bill Colletti is a professional multi-instrumentalist/recording artist and has been performing since 1978. His primary instruments are the flugelhorn, trumpet, valve trombone, piano, guitar and vocals. Bill's horn style is influenced by the likes of Chet Baker, Doc Severinsen, Herb Alpert and Chuck Mangione while his versatility is demonstrated throughout many musical genres such as Jazz, Latin, Big Band, Pop, Orchestral and Broadway musicals.
Bill has performed with Grammy-Award winning and top Contemporary/Smooth Jazz artists including Dave Koz, Peter White, Marc Antoine and Oli Silk. His first all original music CD Be On The Light was released in January 2019 and can be heard on Spotify, Pandora, Amazon, YouTube as well as streaming radio stations worldwide. In addition, Bill was awarded 1st place in the So You Think You Can Jam contest aboard the Dave Koz 2013 Mediterranean Jazz Cruise.
Bill is a full time Musician with a BS Degree in Computer Science, owns and operates Kay L. A.
ERIC DARIUS IS ‘ROLLIN’ OUT’
For Eric Darius there are no limitations when it comes to breaking new ground. Internationally known as an elite R&B/Pop/Jazz Saxophonist, Songwriter, Producer, and Performer, Darius has cemented his status as one of the most exciting and entertaining instrumentalists to enter the Contemporary Jazz world with the release of his highly anticipated album, Unleashed, his second album release on his SagiDarius Music label.
Darius’ signature saxophone tones can be heard loud, cool, and clear throughout Unleashed, alongside a smorgasbord of traditional and unconventional jazz instruments. Produced by GRAMMY-award winning musician,Philip Lassiter (Prince, Kirk Franklin,Ariana Grande), this album features collaborations withEric Roberson, Paul Jackson,Jr.,Justin Lee Schultz, Mononeon, Metropole Orkest and many others as the album seamlessly blurs the lines between Jazz, R&B,Hip-Hop, Afro, Funk & Pop.
For the first time in his career, Darius recorded the album live in studio with a full band, simultaneously capturing an organic, authentic sound while bottling up the magic and synergy the musicians shared recording Unleashed in real time.
“I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone on this project and truly unleash my full musical potential. This album is an honest reflection of myself and my growth both musically and personally over the past several years, and it really takes the listeners on a musical journey from start to finish!” Darius shares.
Raised in a musical household in Tampa, Florida, Eric Darius has been making music for as long as he can remember. His Haitian father (a bass player) and Jamaican mother (a singer and piano player) instilled Caribbean influences and a passion for music on Eric and his siblings.
“At the end of the day I just want to uplift people with my music, and I want people to feel where I come from–feel my heart and soul from my music. My story is simple−hard work, passion, persistence, patience, perseverance and prayer,” Darius says.
In every aspect of this album, Eric Darius is breaking the mold. Unleashed is authentic, fresh, and energetic, and Darius invites the world to join in his unbridled, unfiltered musical celebration.
LETTUCE – UNIFY WORLD TOUR | EUROPEAN DATES BY US FUNK MASTERS COMMENCE IN LONDON WITH SHOW AT SCALA ON 20-09-22
LETTUCE
UNIFY WORLD TOUR
LIVE IN LONDON
SCALA
20.09.22
US funk masters Lettuce hit London next week to commence a set of European shows as they continue to promote their well-received ‘Unify’ album that was released in early June. They play at the Scala on 20th September, while the full list of dates can be seen below.
They group have issued a live studio performance video today of the track ‘Shine’ from the album. It was shot at Colorado Sound, the same studio where they recorded ‘Unify’ and its predecessors ‘Elevate’ and ‘Resonate’. Within its first few seconds, listeners are met with what could be described as aural sunshine, hence the track title.
LETTUCE - Shine (live studio performance video)
The clip sees the Grammy-nominated sextet - Adam Deitch (drums), Ryan Zoidis (saxophone), Adam ‘Shmeeans’ Smirnoff (guitar), Erick ‘Jesus’ Coomes (bass), Nigel Hall (keyboards/vocals), Eric ‘Benny’ Bloom (trumpet) - present a snapshot of what a day in the studio might look like.
Shmeeans sums up ’Shine', stating: “Lett's go for a ride in the whip and turn it up! ‘Shine' has both that bumpin’ and relaxing feel all at once. Golden era hip hop feels with a heavy nod to A Tribe Called Quest. Boom bap, a bassline to make you move, Rhodes, melodic horns and Wes guitar octaves keep this one feeling like the warm sun on your face.”
As for their current album, Jesus adds: “Music is the great unifier and we produced ‘Unify' with the intention of bringing people together in truth, respect and love.”
LETTUCE
UNIFY
new album
out now
(Round Hill Records)
“Fine funky flavours, Lettuce are still running with a finely tuned engine and there isn’t a duff track here”
THE ARTS DESK
“These guys can groove, and they funk just like Earth, Wind & Fire. Good album”
ECHOES
“Their sound has become funkier and funkier and you can enjoy it at its toughest and tightest here. There’s plenty to keep the funk fuels fired!”
SOULANDJAZZANDFUNK
digital services + shop
orcd.co/lettuceunify
includes the singles
KEEP THAT FUNK ALIVE
feat BOOTSY COLLINS
GRAVY TRAIN
EVERYTHING’S GONNA BE ALRIGHT
LETTUCE
EUROPEAN TOUR 2022
20.09.22 LONDON (UK) Scala
21.09.22 TOURCOING (FR) Le Grand Mix
23.09.22 PARIS (FR) Billard L’Alhambra
24.09.22 ROUEN (FR) - Le 106 Club
26.09.22 FRANKFURT (DE) Batschkapp
27.09.22 ROTTERDAM (NL) Bird
28.09.22 AMSTERDAM (NL) Paradiso Noord
29.09.22 LEUVEN (BE) Het Depot
30.09.22 BERLIN (DE) Gretchen
02.10.22 COPENHAGEN (DK) Pumpehuset
03.10.22 OSLO (NO) Cosmopolite Scene
04.10.22 JAHANNESHOV (SE) Slaktkyrkan
05.10.22 GOTHENBURG (SE) Jazzklubben Nefertiti
07.10.22 HAMBURG (DE) Mojo Club
08.10.22 BRNO (CZ) Groove Brno
09.10.22 VIENNA (AT) Club Porgy & Bess
11.10.22 BERN (CH) Bierhübeli
12.10.22 PISA (IT) Lumiere
13.10.22 ROME (IT) Monk Club
14.10.22 MILAN (IT) Santeria Toscana 31
15.10.22 ROVERETO (IT) Auditorium Melotti
LETTUCE
Adam Deitch - drums
Ryan Zoidis - saxophone
Adam ‘Shmeeans’ Smirnoff - guitar
Erick ‘Jesus’ Coomes - bass
Nigel Hall - keyboards, vocals
Eric ‘Benny’ Bloom - trumpet
lettucefunk.com
FAMED JAZZ AND POP SAXOPHONIST CANDY DULFER ANNOUNCES ‘WE NEVER STOP’, HER NEW FULL-LENGTH ALBUM, OUT 10/28
Credit: Carin Verbruggen
Pre-order ‘We Never Stop’ HERE
Today, Dutch jazz and pop saxophonist Candy Dulfer has announced ‘We Never Stop,’ her new full-length album, out 10/28 via The Funk Garage/Mascot Label Group. A party platter of stanky jams, silken R&B, jazz, and pop-funk, ‘We Never Stop’ features several guest appearances by Chic guitarist, producer, songwriter, and three-time GRAMMY Award-winner Nile Rodgers. Take a listen to the first single “Jammin’ Tonight (feat. Nile Rodgers),’ a bold injection of party pop-funk with a slick jazz overlay that recalls Rodgers’ 1970s “Good Times” finery.
Give the people an invigorating beat, some swanky sax uplift, and watch the pain melt away. That’s the funky stuff Prince’s former top-choice sax player Candy Dulfer and her band specialize in. A solo artist, a songwriter, and in-demand instrumentalist, Dulfer has worked with some of the biggest names in modern music, including Van Morrison, Maceo Parker, Sheila E., Mavis Staples, Lionel Richie, Beyoncé, Pink Floyd, Chaka Khan, and Aretha Franklin, among many others.
Now, after three decades of superstar collaborations and world tours, and chart-topping and high-selling solo career releases, Candy is living proof of the title of her latest album, ‘We Never Stop.’ Nothing gets in the way of her making funky stuff. ‘We Never Stop’ features vocals from Candy’s rainbow family of a band with lyrics informed by band dialogues and the culture and health crises of the past two years. These include the toll of the pandemic on the music communities and the race horrors that have galvanized a global Black Lives Matter movement.
“This is a personal album—I struggle with the fact that so many people in this world are hurting on so many levels,” Candy shares. “The main spirit of this music is to elevate. It feels like it’s never been more important to take a stand and not let the hurt and the pain defeat us. That’s why I called this album, ‘We Never Stop.’”
Dulfer first rose to fame with her high-profile collaboration with Dave Stewart on the worldwide number 1 smash “Lily Was Here.” Her tenure with Prince may be best remembered by his tongue-in-cheek recommendation in the “Partyman” video: “When I want sax, I call Candy.” Their collaboration continued over the years with many studio sessions, TV show appearances, award show performances, including the Grammy Awards, and concert tours around the globe, including Candy joining Prince’s NPG band as a permanent member for his record-shattering Musicology tour and album.
In addition to her superstar collaborations, Candy is a serious lifelong musician with a robust history as a solo artist releasing albums and touring the world for over 35 years. Since her Grammy-nominated debut, 1990’s Saxuality, Candy has issued 12 albums. The combined world-wide sales of her solo albums top 2.5 million copies, and she has had several number 1 hits in the USA. In between her solo albums and her high-profile collaborations, Candy still manages to join Dutch female supergroup the Ladies of Soul for their annual sold-out concerts at the massive Amsterdam Ziggo Dome; she is a headline performer on Smooth Jazz Cruises in the USA and Europe; she is an ambassador for the Dutch ALS Foundation; and Candy was a judge on the Dutch version of X Factor.
At the age of 4, Candy’s destiny unfolded before her eyes, watching jazz heavyweight saxophonist Sonny Rollins. Her father, Hans Dulfer, brought her to the show. Hans is a well-known Dutch jazz saxophonist who, when Candy was growing up, surrounded himself with legends such as Archie Shepp, Dexter Gordon, and guitarist John McLaughlin. Candy began playing sax at the age of 6, and started her own band Funky Stuff at the age of 13.
Candy soaked up music and life lessons from her father, and the iconic musicians he worked with, but Candy also boldly discovered her own voice as a songwriter and an instrumentalist, finding a home in contemporary jazz and pop-funk. She has worked hard to become an artist on her own terms, inspired by the likes of David Sanborn, Marcus Miller, Michael Brecker, Maceo Parker, Miles Davis, Cannonball Adderley, percussionist Sheila E., and even Janet Jackson. “I wanted to be like her but then with a saxophone; strong melodies, vision and entertaining to a mixed young crowd,” Candy says.
Today, her determination and passion remain, but her motivations are different. “These days, I play music to, hopefully, inspire younger people. When I was 12, I didn’t have many female saxophonists to look up to, and I want to be that person for the next generation of musicians,” she says.
Track list:
YeahYeahYeah
Mo' Seats At The Table
Jammin' Tonight (feat. Nile Rodgers)
Deeper
Say Something
Raindrops
We Never Stop
The Walls (feat. Marcus Miller)
Perspective (feat. Durand Bernarr, Aron Hodek, Philip Lassiter)
Since I Found U
Afraid For More
No Time For This
The Climb
Convergency (feat. Nile Rodgers)
Release Date
28 October
Available formats
CD and Digital, LP out in December
Online
https://www.instagram.com/realcandydulfer/
https://www.facebook.com/candydulferofficial/
https://twitter.com/candydulfer
Listen to the lead single ‘Jammin’ Tonight’, featuring special guest Nile Rodgers
SUNKING - 'MY MIND IS AN OVEN' / 'UNCLE KANE' – NEW SINGLE BY HIGH PULP DUO INCORPORATES ELECTRONICA AND HIP-HOP INTO A JAZZ FRAMEWORK
sunking : photo by Will Matsuda
sunking
MY MIND IS AN OVEN /
UNCLE KANE
new single
out 13.09.22
(ANTI-)
digital services
sunking.ffm.to/mmiao
Featuring two members of the Seattle-based jazz outfit High Pulp, sunking incorporates electronic and hip-hop elements into a jazz framework. For fans of BADBADNOTGOOD and Flying Lotus.
Founded by Seattle natives Bobby Granfelt and Antoine Martel, sunking was originally intended as an outlet for the duo to explore the crossover between hip-hop, jazz and experimental music, but has since morphed into a fully-fledged project of its own. Their music has been described by local newspaper The Stranger as “steeped in funk, fusion and the dreamier end of the rock spectrum, flitting among genres such as hip-hop, jazz and shoegaze rock while messing with the DNAs of each style they address.”
sunking have released a new single today that features the tracks ‘My Mind Is An Oven’ and ‘Uncle Kane’. The former is “an attempt to simulate the emotional experience of being bursting at the seams with inspiration, but not knowing how to articulate it or capture it,” states Granfelt, while the latter is a frenetic piece with bright horns featured throughout its 80 second duration.
sunking released a self-titled debut album in 2019 that was praised by Earshot Jazz for “exuding an abundance of uncaged creative accomplishment." As for the group members, Martel believes that “since sunking is just a duo, it invites us to take even greater leaps into the unknown, further from established genre and deeper into sonic dreamscapes, believing in our two-person mind meld to show us the way.”
Both Granfelt and Martel are members of High Pulp, a jazz collective that draws on influences from punk rock, shoegaze, hip-hop and electronic music. Also signed to ANTI-, their second album ‘Pursuit of Ends’ was released in April 2022 and received a four star review from The Times that compared them to Snarky Puppy in showing that “disparate influences can combine if a unifying spirit is behind it. Here it’s the brilliant drummer Bobby Granfelt.” Elsewhere, Jazzwise praised its “melding of Miles’ 1970s fusion experiments with rich Ellingtonian orchestrated majesty and non-jazz elements taken from the likes of Aphex Twin and My Bloody Valentine,” while Prog summarised it as “the epitome of cool modern jazz with depth and complexity.”
“I think of High Pulp as driving a big huge bus with a lot of momentum and a lot of people going to a specific place, whereas sunking is like getting lost in the woods with your best friend,” explains Granfelt. “There’s a certain amount of experimentation that we are able to explore because our group is so much smaller, and within that I think we’re able to find the nooks and crannies of composition, sonics, aesthetic and whatever else.”
NIELS BOUTSEN TOURT MET ’10 JAAR STOOMBOOT’ EN EEN LIVE PLAAT
Foto: DRIES PASTEELS
Niels ‘Stoomboot’ Boutsen is 30 geworden en inmiddels 10 jaar bezig. Dat mag gevierd worden met een theatertournee door Vlaanderen in najaar 2022 en voorjaar 2023. Zijn vuurdoop start al op zaterdag 24 september in het Wagehuys van 30CC te Leuven.
Na 4 platen, een MIA-nominatie, samenwerkingen met Kommil Foo en Raymond Van Het Groenewoud, uitstapjes naar de wondere wereld van de jazz, podcasts en het Franse chanson, keert Stoomboot terug naar de essentie: een stem, een gitaar, een hoop verhalen, én een live plaat onder de arm.
Het publiek mag zich alvast verwachten aan een 15-tal nummers waarin Niels ‘Stoomboot’ Boutsen met narratieve bindteksten een chronologisch en autobiografisch verhaal opbouwt van zijn voorbije 10 jaar.
Autobiografische ronde
In een muzikale monoloog en als een kruising tussen Kuifje, de kleine prins en een doe-het-zelfzaak, neemt Stoomboot je dus mee door een autobiografische ronde van zijn bestaan. Van de ‘coming of age’, als introspectieve adolescent op zoek naar het onbereikbare lief met de onvermijdelijke weltschmerz, de kotjaren als student, tot het vinden van liefde en geluk bij de vrouw van zijn leven en het prille gezinsgeluk bij de geboorte van zijn zoon. Eens voorbij de existentiële crisis, kruipt hij in de rol van observator, met ruimte voor andere verhalen dan de zijne: van ’s geliefdes burn-out, generatieverschillen, uitstelgedrag, de breekbaarheid van het leven en de angst om te verliezen wat en wie je hebt. De korte video van de Toots Sessie uit eind 2021 is nog het best representatief voor wat het publiek mag verwachten op zijn tournee.
Kleinkunst 2.0
‘Het einde van de wereld’, ‘Als God bestaat’, ‘Werelden’, ‘Windstil’, ‘Broekzak’: het zijn allemaal nummers van Stoomboot die regelmatig op de radio te horen zijn. Stoomboot is van het beste dat het luisterlied te bieden heeft, ergens tussen een zachte Bram Vermeulen, een jonge Zjef Vanuytsel en een muzikale Martine Tanghe (wat wordt ze gemist!).
Maar heeft ‘Kleinkunst’ nog toekomst? Als het van Stoomboot afhangt, zeker. De liefde voor het Franse chanson (Brassens, Brel, Bruni) kreeg hij via de platenkast van zijn Franstalige vader mee. Maar denken en schrijven, doet hij in het Nederlands want dat is zijn moeder(s)taal. “Zie me dus maar als de koppige trekker van een nieuwe generatie kleinkunstenaars, maar dan als een beeldend woordkunstenaar die als troubadour en/of als hofnar Vlaanderen rondtrekt om zijn verhalen te vertellen”. Raymond van het Groenewoud ziet in Stoomboot alvast een zielsverwant. “Omdat ik gecatalogeerd word onder de rare kwasten, heb ik zelf een boontje voor rare kwasten en dan denk ik aan Stoomboot”, aldus Raymond.
Verwacht u op de concertreeks ‘10 jaar Stoomboot’ aan een avondvullende 75 minuten, met ook enkele nieuwe nummers en enkele verrassende iconische covers van o.m. zijn culthelden Zjef Vanuytsel en Bram Vermeulen.
Vertelkunstenaar
Niet toevallig studeerde Niels Geschiedenis aan de KU Leuven. Omdat Niels graag verhalen leest en graag verhalen vertelt. Daarom gaf hij zelfs enkele jaren les maar beoefende ook de meest uiteenlopende jobs om uiteindelijk te beseffen dat hij toch het liefst muzikant is die graag met taal speelt.
In een wereld waar alles snel en liefst flitsend moet zijn, nodigt Niels ‘Stoomboot’ Boutsen zijn publiek uit om even achterover te leunen om te luisteren en stil te staan, zonder belerend vingertje of opdringerig gedoe. Daarom treedt Stoomboot graag op in clubs en culturele centra voor een luistergraag publiek. Maar net zo goed voelt hij zich thuis in de intimiteit van een huisconcert, of desgevraagd voor een luisterend oor in de gevangenis.
Foto: DRIES PASTEELS
Live plaat & podcast
Stoomboot trekt dus op tournee, solo met zijn gitaar en voor een live publiek. Maar ook met een nieuwe vinylplaat onder de arm. Die werd al in december 2021 opgenomen in de AB in Brussel voor een live publiek. Een AB die symbolisch is voor Stoomboot. Hier was het dat hij de finale van de Nekkawedstrijd 2011 won, voor hem de start van een avontuur dat nu al 10 jaar duurt.
Op zijn vorige 4 platen omringde hij zich voor het eindresultaat steeds met andere muzikanten. Deze live plaat is een uitgeklede versie van zichzelf, de eerste waarop hij compleet solo te horen is, inclusief bindteksten. Ze is vrij exclusief: ze komt enkel uit op vinyl, in een beperkte oplage, enkel verkrijgbaar op de concerten en via de webshop van Stoomboot. En dus niet via de streamingplatformen.
In de aanloop van zijn tournee en sinds begin september laat Niels elke week een nieuwe podcast los op de wereld. Daarin vist hij (andere) verhalen, anekdotes en nummers op uit 10 jaar liedjesmakerij.
Info: Theatertour 2022-2023, https://www.stoomboot.be, https://linktr.ee/nielsstoombootboutsen (voor podcasts), Toots Sessie (Canvas, 21.12.21).
Leuven 24.09.22
Tongeren 01.10.22
Sint-Laureins 15.10.22
Stasegem 29.10.22
Gent 03.11.22
Merksem 16.11.22
Brugge 01.12.22
Sart Risbart 04.12.22
Geel 16.12.22
Heusden-Zolder 13.01.23
Rotselaar 08.02.23
Heist 11.02.23
Antwerpen 27.2.23
Stoomboot (2014): cd + vinyl
Storm (2015): cd + vinyl
Zwarte Doos (2017): cd
Omdat we naar de Zee Stromen (2020): cd
10 jaar Stoomboot (2022): vinyl (beperkte oplage)
CHICAGO JAZZ LEGEND RAMSEY LEWIS DIED
CHICAGO (CBS) --Jazz was in Ramsey Lewis' DNA – he played it, composed it, taught it – and for more than six decades, he shared his love affair with jazz with his hometown Chicago and with the world.
Lewis passed away peacefully in his sleep on Monday at the age of 87, his manager said. As CBS 2's Steven Graves reported, Lewis worked right up until his death.
Lewis was a three-time Grammy winner, and NEA Jazz Master. His 1965 hit ‘The In Crowd’ was an international pop crossover hit.
His manager added that Lewis became very reflective over the past few days on his life well-lived.
Lewis was born in Chicago on May 27, 1935 and grew up in the Cabrini Green housing project. He started taking piano lessons at a young age and played at church, where his father was choir director. His father, Lewis Sr., was a big jazz fan, always playing Duke Ellington and Art Tatum at home and took Ramsey to jazz shows.
With more than 80 albums recorded - and performances with other music legends like Aretha Franklin, Tony Bennett, and Al Jarreau, Lewis worked hard.
Lewis went to Wells High School and it's where saxophonist Wallace Burton asked him to join his band, the Clefs, a band that performed jazz and R&B. The draft for the Korean War claimed several band members, but three who didn't get drafted: Lewis, bassist Eldee Young, and drummer Redd Holt, formed the Ramsey Lewis Trio in 1953.
Lewis is survived by his wife Janet Lewis; daughters Denise Jeffries and Dawn Allain (Michael); sons Kendall Kelly Lewis, Frayne Lewis (Julletta), and Bobby Lewis (Crystal); grandchildren Apryl Daniels (Dennis), Regan Lewis, Kris Jeffries (Nailah), Joshua Allain, Junell Lewis, Malachi Lewis, Aja Alain, Jordan Lewis, Ramsey Lewis IV, Dorien Olson-Lewis, Miyoshie Lewis, Meshach Lewis, Taylor Lewis, Kevai Lewis, Frayne Lewis Jr., Niya Lewis, and Asia Lewis; great-grandchildren Jalen Simmons, Dennis Daniels III, Omari Jackson; nieces Paula Jackson and Kimberly Johnson; and nephew James Johnson. He was predeceased by his sons Ramsey Lewis III and Kevyn Lewis.
NEW SINGLE ’THROW IT AWAY’ FROM MIKI HOWARD
Former major label and Grammy nominated recording artist Miki Howard offers some sophisticated vocal styling on her cover of the Abbey Lincoln hit "Throw It Away". With an arrangement and production that will certainly stand out in a good way on the air, Miki's vocal work is unique and compelling, as always. You can read more about this accomplished singer via her website: https://www.mikihowardmedia.com/about
KAYA STEWART - 'HONEY' – NEW SINGLE BY US-BASED SINGER-SONGWRITER
KAYA STEWART photography by Tyler Lee Aubrey
KAYA STEWART
HONEY
new single
out 09.09.22
(Bay Street Records)
digital services
orcd.co/kayastewarthoney
included on the album
IF THINGS GO SOUTH
out 30.09.22
With the heart of your favourite ’90s alt songstress, the guts of a tried-and-true punk, and a whole lot of sass all her own, Kaya Stewart is ready to formally introduce herself on her forthcoming second album, ‘If Things Go South’. A first single from the record has been released today entitled ‘Honey’, which hinges on a snappy guitar riff as her smoky and sultry vocal intonation simmer on the chantable chorus.
“I needed to have a straight up rock ‘n’ roll song on the new record,” states Stewart. “At the end of the day, I’m a live performer. The reason I started making music is my love for playing live. I wanted something to rock out to on stage. I knew I wanted to be a part of rock’s resurgence.”
‘If Things Go South’, which chronicles her self-actualisation as an artist along with the turbulence of growing up, doubt, heartbreak and mental health, is set for release on 30th September via Bay Street Records.
Launching her career in her mid-teens with a self-titled 2016 album on Warners that attracted millions of streams for songs such as ‘In Love With A Boy’, Stewart then went independent to cut an acclaimed EP entitled ‘Miss Kaya’ EP with producer Jamie Lidell. Now 22, she arrives fully formed on ‘If Things Go South' with a scorching signature style. The new album is tied together with her powerful, unique vocals that utilise pop-punk attitude, intimate Americana-tinged storytelling and infectious danceable grooves. Co-written and produced with her father, Dave Stewart, it is Kaya at her most authentic, expressive self. The album is set to arrive along with a candid and self-narrated performance film that details her most personal thoughts.
With influences that include Alanis Morissette and Debbie Harry, ‘If Things Go South’ also uncorks a hypnotic and hard-hitting sound of Stewart's own with full creative control and complete independence. “This record is one-hundred percent who I am now,” she declares. “This is the Kaya I was working towards all along.”
In the midst of the pandemic, she was diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder, which became the catalyst to write this new collection of songs. “It was the weirdest time of my life, because I had this life-changing diagnosis that explained so much for me,” she admits. “I wasn’t planning on making an album; I was actually thinking of taking a break for a little while. I called my dad, and he said, ‘Why don’t you just come to Nashville and record a couple of songs?’ By the time I left, we had ‘If Things Go South’. I was able to be myself in the studio. This album is the most honest thing I’ve ever done.”
IF THINGS GO SOUTH
TRACKLISTING
1 Getting Closer
2 If Things Go South
3 Young In New York
4 Til I Fixed It
5 Jealous
6 Honey
7 Independence
8 This Tattoo
9 3 Is Company
10 Hope You’re Happy
JOSEPHINE ONIYAMA - 'BURN' – NEW SINGLE BY SOULFUL BRITISH SINGER-SONGWRITER
JOSEPHINE ONIYAMA
BURN
new single
out 09.09.22
(Sound Of Solar Records)
digital services
orcd.co/joburn
included on the album
KINDRED
out 04.11.22
album also includes the singles
TEARS WILL NEVER BE MINE / HUMAN
‘Burn’ is the third single to be released in 2022 by the soulful singer-songwriter Josephine Oniyama, who was born in Manchester but is now based in Liverpool. It follows ‘Tears Will Never Be Mine’ and ‘Human’, songs that reintroduced her to fans after a period out of the spotlight and that have received airplay on Radio 2, 6 Music, BBC Merseyside and BBC Manchester. Both previous singles formed part of the recent ‘Human’ EP, while all three are included on Oniyama's long-awaited new album, ‘Kindred’, which is set for release on 4th November.
Stating that ‘Burn’ is about “letting go of people who are unkind or have treated you badly, feeling no regret in doing so,” Oniyama describes ‘Kindred’ as an album that “focuses on human connections, friendship, family, love and being strong through adversity. It’s about going on a journey together, sharing life with others and each of us striving to be the best we can be along the way.”
With its combination of electronic and acoustic elements, ‘Kindred’ also reflects Oniyama's exploration of diverse sounds in recent years; a period in which she has not only listened to powerful female artists such as Grace Jones, Lana Del Rey, Joanna Newsome and Alison Krauss, but has also rediscovered earlier influences like Ali Farka Touré, Bob Marley, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, all of whom had been inspirations when learning guitar in her teens.
KINDRED
TRACKLISTING
1 Act Like You’re In Love
2 Tears Will Never Be Mine AUDIO
3 Kindred
4 ’Til You
5 Superheroes
6 Sanctuary
7 Human AUDIO
8 Every Second
9 Break Free
10 Burn
‘Kindred’ appears a full decade after ‘Portrait’, Oniyama’s second album and a record that was issued to stunning reviews. Praised for its fusion of folk, soul and jazz, songs from it were A-listed at BBC Radio 2 and playlisted on 6 Music, XFM and Jazz FM. Oniyama also performed on Later With Jools Holland HERE, The Andrew Marr Show, Saturday Night Live (Ireland) and a number of mainland European TV shows. Two headlining tours were further backed up with sets at major festivals (Glastonbury, Latitude, T In The Park, Electric Picnic) and support slots with Paloma Faith, Madeleine Peyroux, Michael Kiwanuka and Paolo Nutini.
Oniyama’s talent was recognised by a diverse selection of her peers, leading to collaborations in the mid-2010’s with Travis (with whom she recorded the song ‘Idlewild’) and jazz producer/trumpeter Matthew Halsall (she co-wrote three songs for his acclaimed ‘Into Forever’ album). More recently, she was commissioned to create two live scores for the launch of HOME, the Manchester international contemporary arts centre; 'Celluloid History Songs’ was a set of new songs written to accompany silent footage from the North West Film Archive, while the centenary of the classic occult documentary ‘Haxan: Witchcraft Through The Ages’ was given an ambitious new score by Oniyama and students from the University of Salford. Fusing song-based and electro-acoustic sounds, these projects further expanded her creative ideas and skills as a songwriter, arranger and sound artist.
Oniyama has also spent time earning an MA degree in English and became a mother while writing and recording ‘Kindred'.
PORTRAIT
REVIEWS
"A versatile and substantial new talent“ MOJO
“An original, unfolding talent“ UNCUT
“Wonderful, uplifting, euphoric soulful gems“ SUNDAY TIMES
“Her voice is fabulous and different“ EVENING STANDARD
“Stunning newcomer“ SUN
“Striking talent“ MIRROR
“A timeless, distinctive and soulful voice” MUSIC WEEK
josephineoniyama.com
Josephine Oniyama - further info & social media
KEITH EATMON SINGS ‘MY LOVE IS ON FIRE’
Jazz/R&B vocalist Keith Eatmon gets down to business putting pop, soul, funk, and romantic sensibilities into “My Love Is On Fire.”
This long awaited, instantly infectious debut single dynamically re-imagines one of Stevie Wonder’s lesser -known tunes (from the 2006 album A Time For Love) as a spirited, soaring contemporary urban jazz rhapsody. Eatmon’s version of “My Love Is On Fire” was produced and features keyboards by Trammell Starks, who has performed with the likes of Peabo Bryson, Roberta Flack, Patti Labelle and Jennifer Holliday, among others. Starks has mixed the new track in both stereo and the cutting edge Dolby Atmos immersive technology, which allows the music to be experienced in a stunning three dimensional soundfield.
"My Love Is On Fire” features a stellar cast of musicians including saxophonist Sam Skelton (Elton John, Match-box 20, The Gap Band, and The Ohio Players); bassist Sam Sims (Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake, Whitney Houston and many others); drummer Louis “Styx” Newsome who has performed with virtually every Smooth Jazz star active today; guitar virtuoso Chris Blackwell; and legendary vocalist/producer Cheryl Rogers, who performs the captivating backing vocals.
Eatmon was delighted to hear that Stevie Wonder had Luther Vandross in mind as the singer when he wrote “My Love Is On Fire.” For Eatmon, recording it was a dream come true that find him walking in the footsteps of two legends and laying the foundation for what promises to be a successful and impactful solo career.
ELAN TROTMAN GETS A ‘PASSPORT TO PARADISE’
Barbadian-Born Sax-Man Elan Trotman returns to the airwaves with yet another tropical treat to listeners with "Passport To Paradise", the new single from the upcoming album Brighter Days Ahead.
"Passport to Paradise” is a reggae-infused groove with a taste of steel-drum and flute, which all help to take the listener on a Caribbean escape to warm island breezes and frozen cocktails on white sands. The single is just one of 10 tracks composed by Elan, and features the smooth lead guitars of JJ Sanseverino (Maxi Priest Band), and the steel drums of Kareem Thompson (Trinidadian pannist & Berklee College of Music faculty member).
This late-summer hit also features the groovy bass playing of Mr. Alex Bailey (Marcus Miller band), and was mixed by legendary Grammy-Winning producer Paul Brown. The upcoming album is set for a September worldwide release with CPI Distribution/The Orchard and features guest performances by Adam Hawley (“Brighter Days Ahead”), Marcus Anderson (“Twice as Nice”) and Julian Vaughn (“Tatianna Nale”) amongst many others.
ARMY OF LOVERS – AN OPERA BY MARK SPRINGER AND DAVID FLUSFEDER | THE PLAYGROUND THEATRE, LONDON W10 29.09.22-01.10.22
ARMY OF LOVERS
an opera in two acts for male voices
music by Mark Springer
libretto by David Flusfeder
conducted by David Crown
directed by Anthony Biggs
29.09.22 - 01.10.22
THE PLAYGROUND THEATRE
LATIMER ROAD, LONDON W10
TICKETS
“A band which is united by the ties of love is truly indissoluble and unbreakable”
PLUTARCH
338BC. Thebes is part of the Greek alliance (Thebes, Athens, Sparta) against Macedonia. Plutarch reported that its greatest soldiers are the Army of Lovers, the Sacred Band of Thebes. The Army is comprised of 150 pairs of male lovers and derives its strength from the bond between each lover, as well as the prospect of shame if a soldier should show cowardice in front of his beloved.
Plutarch does not state what happens when a soldier dies, with ‘Army of Lovers’ taking as its starting point the refusal by its chief protagonist, out of love and grief, to replace his fallen lover and make the army complete once more.
Following the success of a one-act opera written by composer Mark Springer and librettist David Flusfeder that premiered at The Playground Theatre in 2019, Anthony Biggs directs this new and greatly expanded two-act version. Conducted by David Crown, it features a fabulous cast of male singers and performers that include the acclaimed Tana Quartet from France, top UK jazz trumpeter Steve Fishwick and pianist Mark Springer.
ARMY OF LOVERS - 2019 production : photo by Richard Hubert-Smith
Singers : Andreas Bigom (tenor), Hugo Herman-Wilson (baritone), Bruno Rivera (counter tenor), Will Frost (bass baritone), Andrew Woodmansey (tenor)
Mark Springer is a pianist and composer who first recorded in the early 1980s as a founding member of post-punk band Rip, Rig and Panic. He has subsequently written music for piano, string quartets and much more, while his recently released ‘Matter’ album includes a collaboration with the Tana Quartet INFO
David Flusfeder has written seven novels that include ‘The Gift’ and ‘John The Pupil’. His first work of narrative non-fiction, ‘LUCK: A Personal Account of Fortune, Chance & Risk in Thirteen Investigations’, was published in early 2022 INFO
Tana Quartet are among the most prominent interpreters of contemporary music in the world today. They recently issued a premiere recording of ‘King Lear’, a new string quartet by Philip Glass, as well as their work with Mark Springer INFO
Steve Fishwick is widely considered to be one of the best jazz trumpet players ever to come from the UK and has performed with many legendary names in the genre. He is also a teacher and principal lecturer of his instrument INFO
David Crown is a choral conductor, singer and viola player. He is Musical Director of Cheltenham Bach Choir, Opus 48 and vOx Chamber Choir INFO
Anthony Biggs has been the co-Artistic Director of the Playground Theatre since it opened in 2017. He has directed on the fringe, in regional theatre, the West End and off-Broadway INFO
ROB EN SEBASTIAAN VAN BAVEL KONDIGEN NIEUW ALBUM AAN
Amsterdam, 2 september 2022. Vandaag brengen Sebastiaan en Rob van Bavel de single Dolly Suite: Kitty-valse uit. Het nummer is afkomstig van het nieuwe album van het duo getiteld 'Quatre Mains' dat op 21 oktober verschijnt.
Vader en zoon Rob en Sebastiaan van Bavel behoren al jaren tot twee van de meest gerespecteerde jazz pianisten van Nederland. In 2016 brengen ze het album The Edison Duo - Like Father, Like Son uit. Op het duo-album combineren de pianisten eigen muziek met interpretaties van bestaande klassieke composities, en experimenteren ze op virtuoze wijze met het gebruik van improvisatie en swing in klassieke muziek.
Naast dat het feit dat de twee thuis ontelbaar veel uren samen achter de piano hebben doorgebracht, is Rob van Bavel ook nog twee periodes Sebastiaans docent geweest op de Conservatoria van Amsterdam en Rotterdam. Deze unieke omstandigheid heeft ervoor gezorgd dat zij een zeldzaam groot aantal uren gezamenlijk musicerend hebben doorgebracht. Na het gezamenlijke album 'Like Father, Like Son' uit 2016 gooit het duo het met 'Quatre Mains over een andere boeg. Twee vleugels worden ingeruild voor slechts één, waar de twee gezamenlijk achter plaats nemen.
"Vier handen achter een vleugel komt in jazz zelden voor aangezien we als jazz pianisten vooral improviseren aan het ‘rechterdeel van het klavier; oftewel: we soleren niet in het basgebied, niet in het harmonische gebied in het mid-laag (..) Dit ten opzichte van klassieke muziek waarbij de ‘stemmen’ mooi verdeeld zijn over die ene vleugel. Dit is de grote uitdaging die wij hebben geprobeerd te kraken. Het is niet voor niks dat de eerste plaat (2016) opgenomen is met 2 vleugels. Na vele jaren samen spelen hebben van Bavel senior en mijzelf besloten dat het tijd is om quatre-mains jazz te ‘kraken’" legt Sebastiaan van Bavel uit.
Het album bestaat uit drie suites, twee daarvan zijn van de Franse componisten Gabriel Fauré en Maurice Ravel, de derde suite is van de hand van Sebastiaan van Bavel. De suites van de Franse componisten zijn gekozen vanwege hun harmonisch nauwe relatie met jazz. Veel van de grote jazz-helden van het duo (Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett) zijn allen zeer sterk beïnvloed door deze septiem harmonie, uitgevonden door Russische en uitgewerkt door Franse componisten.
De arrangementen zijn in twee duidelijke stappen ontwikkeld: voor de compositie van Ravel is dicht bij het origineel gebleven met improvisatie vooral over de originele partituur. Bij de compositie van Fauré is verder van het origineel gegaan door tempo/groove te veranderen, secties bij te schrijven en de originele partituur radicaal anders te spelen. Het laatste deel 'van Bavel Suite' is de samensmelting van al deze invloeden waarbij improvisatie en het vocabulaire van jazz (blues) centraal staan maar dan gemodelleerd naar een klassiek model.
Het volledige album 'Quatre Mains' verschijnt op 21 oktober, de eerste single is nu te beluisteren.
LASHAWN D. GARY BRINGS ‘TRANSITIONS’
Emmy-Award Winning producer, composer, Smooth Jazz artist, arranger, and pianist LaShawn D. Gary is the Executive Director for the Michigan Fine Arts Institute. He is a native of Detroit, Michigan, and received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Instrumental Music Education from Southern University A&M College, where he also served as Band Captain for the world-renowned “Human Jukebox” Marching Band. LaShawn also earned a Master’s of Music Education Degree from the University of Louisville.
LaShawn has previously released five Smooth Jazz singles: “Now is the Time (2019) '', “Love, Peace & Praise (2020)”, “Inception, featuring Mark Whitfield (2021)”, “Line Brothers (2021)” and “On The Yard” (2022). The newest single "Transitions" is scheduled for release on September 5, 2022. He is also the featured artist on “For Your Love” with Smooth Jazz Recording Artist, Willie Bradley (album, “It’s My Time”). He is a sought-after studio musician and has performed on several recordings.
LaShawn worked with Grammy Award-winning singer Patti Austin, Greg Phillinganes, and Sanchez Harley as the Assistant Choir Director for the Charles H. Wright Museum 50th Anniversary Celebration “Oh Freedom." He was the Choir Director for the McDonald’s 365 Black Awards directing the Southern University Gospel Choir with Erica Campbell and the Louisiana Leadership Institute drumline performance with American Idol winner, singer, and actress Jordin Sparks. He has toured professionally as a pianist with jazz guitarist, Mark Whitfield and the late jazz clarinetist, Alvin Batiste.
LaShawn has also worked as a composer/arranger in commercial advertisement with Burrell Communications, Global Hue, and Yessian Music. His musical talents were displayed on television in the production of the Toyota Avalon “Son-in-Law” commercial, the introductory advertisement of the Ford Fiesta, Xfinity “Unplug” Commercial, and the Happy’s Pizza Jingle featuring the Four Tops. The decade ended as the Emmy Award-winning producer and fellow producing partners, Bill Bowen and Mike Ellison released “Detroit: One Nation Under A Groove”, a YouTube video featuring the Detroit Academy of Arts and Sciences Choir which received over a million views in the first month. The team was also awarded two Detroit Music Awards for “Outstanding Music Video” and “Outstanding Urban Recording”. He most recently was the film score composer for the Detroit Public Schools documentary "We Went To Work." He is currently on staff as a composer for the new television mini-series “Terror Lake Drive.”
LaShawn is a music educator with Southfield Public Schools and serves as the Director of Music at Oak Grove AME Church. He is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated, Phi Mu Alpha Professional Music Fraternity, The American Federation of Musicians (AFM), and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP).
MATT LEE SCORES A ‘PANAMA CITY GROOVE’
Saxman Matt Lee uncovered his passion for music when his grandmother bought his 1st alto saxophone in 1997. From that point, he knew he found my calling and followed his dream from California to Nevada. Lee is a a self taught saxophonist and have developed his ear by listening to some of the greatest musicians of all time. In the early 2000's, Matt opened up for Starship and played a cool show for Arnold Schwarzenegger. From 2000 until now, he's played corporate events, weddings, wineries, fine dining restaurants, hotels etc. He's always been around music since he was a young kid. What's strange is, Matt had no idea what jazz was and actually listened to heavy metal bands in high school. In 1996 or so, Matt heard Kenny G. and Grover Washington for the 1st time on a pop radio station and really enjoyed the music. From that point, he became mesmerized by Traditional Jazz, Blues, R&B, Soul, Motown, Contemporary Jazz, and the rest was history.
Matt would consider his style of play melodic and soulful. He really loves melodies that bring out emotion while he's playing in front of an audience. Lee writes most of his own music and produce from his home studio. Music unites our hearts and is healing. He finds inspiration all around him. His musical influences stem from Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, The Isley Brothers, Al Jarreau, Gato Barbieri, Grover Washington Jr and Kenny G.
Matt recently relocated from Las Vegas to Panama City, FL, which inspired the title of his new single, "Panama City Groove". It's the follow up to the first single "One More Kiss", which spent 8 weeks at #1 on the Groove Jazz Music chart
'BUSTA MOVE’ NEW SINGLE FROM JULIAN VAUGHN
Born and raised in Kansas City, KS, Julian Vaughn was primarily a drummer when he picked up the bass guitar. Vaughn developed his playing style while growing up in the church where his grandfather pastored until turning over the reins to Vaughn's father. A few years later, he became good enough to start playing at concerts and live gospel recordings.
Vaughn launched his solo career in 2010 with his album The Purpose Project, which spring boarded him into his jazz career. In 2012 he put out the album Breakthrough (2012), featuring the single "On Your Feet," which peaked at #1 on the Billboard chart. He later would release albums Limitless (2015), Bona Fide (2017), Supreme (2019), and Chapters of Love (2021). Vaughn racked up four Billboard #1 hits between his albums and 8 #1s overall as a feature on various artists' songs. Vaughn has toured across the U.S., playing at some of the largest jazz festivals. In addition, he has performed abroad in places like Dubai, South Africa, Nigeria, Nairobi, Italy, Spain, and Germany. Vaughn takes pride in writing and producing almost all his music, saying, "I want to be known as a great writer and producer just as much as an artist."
In 2020 Vaughn was the #2 Artist of the year and had the #2 and #17 Billboard songs of the year, “Afro Calypso” and “Afternoon Delight.” His latest independent release, titled SOLO is slated to be his best work to date. As Vaughn's recording catalog continues to grow, he hopes to continue to redefine the lead bassist role in the Smooth Jazz genre.
NEO SOUL SINGER-SONGWRITER REBECCA JADE SHARES HER SONGBOOK ON ‘A SHADE OF JADE’
Dropping October 14, the album is previewed by the first radio single currently garnering airplay as well as an award-winning video that has received over 126,000 views.
SAN DIEGO (31 August 2022): Vocalist Rebecca Jade has carried a journal in her backpack ever since she was a college athlete at UC Berkeley. She journaled her thoughts, feelings, reflections and experiences in the form of poetry and song lyrics. However, although she sang and came up with the album title “A Shade of Jade,” she didn’t consider herself to be a songwriter and didn’t have the confidence to put out original material, so she just toted the notebook around thinking “one day.” That day has arrived. Jade opened the pages of her journal to create ten R&B, jazz and pop songs that she wrote and co-produced with Carnell Harrell for “A Shade of Jade,” which drops October 14 from LadyJade Music.
“The bare bones of a couple of the songs on this album have been sitting and waiting patiently to come to life in a lyric book from many years ago. I knew in my heart that I had something to say that might resonate with others,” said Jade who recently previewed the album at sold-out concerts in San Diego and just south of Los Angeles.
“I have had the title for this album since college, and I wasn't even doing music at the time. With this being my first album that I wrote and co-produced, I feel like it represents who I am because I have so many different styles of music that have influenced me and make their way into my music. This album is one of, hopefully, many ‘shades’ of me.”
Jade’s songs on “A Shade of Jade” are personal, visceral, emotional and motivational. Melody-rich harmonies emoted skillfully with warmth, passion, urgency and ardor, her voice reflects the authentic heart and soul of a confident and courageous woman, an artist desiring to connect with listeners via intimate stories, resonant themes, and messages of hope and inspiration. Jade dares to make herself vulnerable; loves, desires and fantasizes freely; confronts brazenly, celebrates with gratitude in the face of loss, and empowers strength and resilience.
“I wanted the songs on the album to touch on what so many people experience in real life - from love to heartbreak, to loss and overcoming difficult situations. Sometimes a song can help put feelings into words or encourage someone to push through when they want to quit. I've had songs do that for me, so I wanted to create music that might do that for someone else,” said Jade.
Jade has been working on “A Shade of Jade” for a while. Last December, she gave listeners a glimpse of what’s to come when she put out a video for the uplifting hip-hop/funk tune “What’s It Gonna Be,” which won two statues at this year’s San Diego Music Awards. The basketball-themed clip – Jade played division one hoop at UC Berkeley and was invited to try out for the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks twice – has received more than 126,000 YouTube views.
“We all go through tough times in life, but I truly believe that we can get through those tough times a little easier if we accept that they will happen and face them head on, knowing that we will get on the other side of it,” said Jade who produced the life-affirming song with Timothy "Twizz" Bailey, Jr.
Earlier this month, radio was serviced the jazzy, atmospheric, hard-hitting neo soul groove “Show Me,” a multilayered cut showcasing Jade’s intricate vocals and deft arranging skills on a song asking for action over words in the context of a romantic relationship.
"Like so many others, I've experienced love, heartbreak and had my share of potential relationships where I thought I had feelings for someone but wasn't sure if they felt the same way and vice versa. I know that anticipation is a part of the story when it comes to relationships and I wanted to write a song about that very specific moment, that moment right before a decision is made to either go forward with a new love adventure or stop it in its tracks. ‘Show Me’ is my version of putting those feelings into words, the idea of either the possibility of what that relationship could be or the reality of what it never becomes,” Jade said about the single swiftly garnering airplay across the nation.
“A Shade of Jade” finds Jade typically in the company of Harrell on keyboards, guitarist Kyle Bolden, bassist Raymond McKinley, and drummer Charles Streeter Sr. The dreamy “Drift Away” is augmented by real strings – violin, viola and cello, adding opulence to the celestial tapestry. Saxophonists Dave Koz and Eric Darius are featured soloists on the ballad “My Reason” and the sweet and whimsical “Bottle Up Magic” (with lyrics cowritten by Veronica May) respectively. Jade’s history with Koz dates back to performing on his all-star cruise in 2016 and will continue this holiday season when she heads out on the superstar’s 25th anniversary Christmas tour, a monthlong trek at which she’ll share the stage with luminaries Rick Braun, Peter White and Keiko Matsui. Jade and Darius are frequent touring partners as well with five concert dates on the itinerary before the end of the year, including festivals and performing arts venues.
Jade has toured extensively with Sheila E. and performed with the “Queen of Percussion” on the Emmy-nominated Grammy salute to Prince a couple of years ago. Also in 2020, Jade accompanied Sir Elton John at the Academy Awards. She has opened for Musiq Soulchild, Will Downing, Boney James, Jeffrey Osborne and El DeBarge, and on record, Jade has shared the spotlight on songs by Darius, DW3 and Aubrey Logan. But now her attention is focused on occupying the spotlight on her own, building her brand and elevating her recording career to new heights. Part of Jade’s evolution involves learning to play bass and keyboards, which she now does on stage.
There’s a lot of substance and depth to explore on “A Shade of Jade” – from the seamless alchemy of musical styles to the intoxicating melodies that cascade throughout the set, to Jade’s proficient ability to use her voice to seduce, swoon and sway while providing nuanced color and texture. While essentially being a new singer-songwriter on the scene, she exudes the poise, power and purpose of a seasoned veteran in her prime, making “A Shade of Jade” a calling card harbingering the arrival of a rare and special artist.
“This album is very special to me because I have learned so much about what it takes to make a record. I challenged myself to write all the lyrics for this album and to be the person to produce this record. I wanted to experience the process from start to finish and there is no better way for me to learn than to do it. And I'm so grateful for the people along the way in this journey, especially my primary writing and producing partner Carnell Harrell, people who have helped guide me and shared their knowledge to help me along.”
“A Shade of Jade” contains the following songs:
“Show Me”
“Please Come Home”
“My Reason”
“What’s It Gonna Be”
“Drift Away”
“Thankful”
“Beautiful Lies”
“Bottle Up Magic”
“Other Side of the Moon”
“Insane”
Catch Rebecca Jade on tour through the end of the year at (dates may be added):
September 9 Hyatt Regency Summer Concert Series Newport Beach, CA
September 10 Bishop Arts Center (ft. w/ Eric Darius) Dallas, TX
September 11 Oxnard Jazz Festival (w/ Eric Darius) Oxnard, CA
September 18 Smooth Jazz Cruise on Land at The Factory (ft. w/ Eric Darius) St. Louis, MO
October 8 & 9 Barbados Jazz Excursion Barbados
October 22 Catalina JazzTrax Festival (w/ Eric Darius) Catalina Island, CA
November 3-6 Florida Smooth Jazz Weekend (w/ Eric Darius) Daytona Beach, FL
November 25-December 23 Dave Koz & Friends 25th Anniversary Christmas Tour
December 30 & 31 Rick Braun’s New Year’s Eve Getaway Tucson, AZ
For more information, please visit www.rebeccajade.com.
NEW SINGLE BY ROBERTO TOLA
On next 31st of August, will see the light the new single by the award-winning Italian guitarist and composer Roberto Tola, titled SAYS.
Inspired by a song of the legendary Al Jarreau and Philippe Saisse, the artist himself promises a really crackling and groovy song, boasting an international stellar band.
SAYS is the new Jazz Funk single of the Sardinian guitarist and composer Roberto Tola, a new production that will also be included in his next album, provisionally titled PRESAGE, which is scheduled to be released next winter 2023.
For this new instrumental song, Roberto was inspired by a composition of the famous American singer Al Jarreau, and Philippe Saisse entitled Says, in fact.
From the original song Roberto has extrapolated only the part of the refrain (ritornello) using it instead as the main theme in his arrangement, which he himself plays with his own electric guitar, with a slightly distorted and crunch sound.
All the rest of the new single arrangement is new and originally composed and conceived by Roberto, so as the guitar solos throughout the track.
A roster of very talented and professional musicians forms the Roberto Tola's Band:
Roberto Tola - Guitars, Additional Keyboards, Composition, Arrangements, Graphics, Designer, Producer;
Andrea Tofanelli - Trumpet;
Ismael Dorado - Alto & Tenor Sax;
Michele Fortunato - Trombone;
Marco Rasa - Eletric Piano & Pad;
Maciek Szczyciński - Bass;
Esteban Rotunno - Drums;
Mixing e Mastering: Roberto Tola - EBM Studio (Eden Beach Music), Sassari, Sardinia (Italy)
LEE ROGERS - 'UNEASY LOVE' – NEW SINGLE BY NORTHERN IRISH SINGER-SONGWRITER OUT 26.08.22
LEE ROGERS
UNEASY LOVE
new single
out 26.08.22
(Zenith Café/Membran)
included on the album
GAMEBLOOD
out now
digital services
LEE ROGERS - Gameblood
“A sensitive, honest collection of songs that cover a range of themes from love to loss”
AMERICANA UK
“Spills all on a well crafted, multi-layered album of songs by a skilled vocalist and band”
BLUESDOODLES
“Songs that stay with you long after listening to them 9/10” MAXIMUM VOLUME MUSIC
“His sky-reaching voice is the star. Springsteen-esque”
TURN UP THE VOLUME
FOR FANS OF
JOHN MARTYN / KEB’ MO / TOM WAITS
EUROPEAN TOUR
WITH FOY VANCE
SEPTEMBER 2022
Displaying master craftsmanship while showing off open-hearted, lyrical storytelling, ‘Uneasy Love’ is the latest single to be lifted from ‘Gameblood’, the recently released second album by Northern Irish singer-songwriter Lee Rogers.
“I once travelled around Australia with a beautiful woman who set me on lots of the better paths I have taken in life,” he explains, “but she left the planet for her next journey a while back. I later had a dream that I was in an old car we had out there, driving in the middle of nowhere, listening to the only tape we had in the car, which was the album ‘Mule Variations’ by Tom Waits. I got excited when I looked round and saw her in the passenger seat, sun-bleached hair, tanned skin, bare feet on the dashboard. She then started glitching in and out of vision, like she was going to disappear completely. I woke up gutted, went to my studio with tears in my eyes and wrote this song.”
Describing its video, he states: “it wasn’t easy and seemed to give my director Jamie Neish and I the run around! However, when he came up with the idea of projectors and leaning a little into film noir style visuals, I knew we were onto something.”
With strong Americana influences and baring its soul on its sleeve, Rogers’ music is both authentic and timeless. ‘Gameblood’ was recorded at Sycamore Studios just outside Belfast and produced by close friend Gareth Dunlop. A thought-provoking and earthy masterwork, it is reminiscent of artists such as John Martyn, Keb Mo and the aforementioned Tom Waits, while Rogers himself describes it as “a visit to those hard places that most people put to the back of their psyche and build a wall around. This album is a true reflection of myself, my stories, where I’ve been and where I hope I am now. It’s music for the travelled soul, those folk who have seen a lot of life and can relate to the sentiments of the songs.”
As his 2006 debut album ‘Drawing Clocks’ started receiving attention worldwide and songs from it were placed in films and TV shows, the unassuming Rogers had already begun a successful separate career as an award winning tattoo artist. Fifteen years on, ‘Gameblood’ is worthy of similar recognition.
Rogers and Dunlop will perform a special one-off show together in London on 20th October at St. Pancras Old Church. Tickets are available HERE .
leerogers.co.uk
facebook.com/lrogersmusic
instagram.com/leerogersmusic
NEW R&B HALL OF FAME IN MISSISSIPPI TO HONOR JAMES BROWN, ARETHA FRANKLIN AND MORE
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A small town in the Mississippi Delta that has ties to the civil rights movement will soon be home to the National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame.
Project planners hope to finish building the facility in the town of Marks in two or three years, Velma Wilson, director of economic tourism and development for Quitman County, told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Marks is the county seat of Quitman County and has a population of fewer than 2,000 people.
The project is the culmination of a 50-year effort to build a hall of fame for R&B musicians such as James Brown, Aretha Franklin and B.B. King.
“There is no other hall of fame in the world that is primarily focused and dedicated to the history of R&B music on a national scale,” LaMont Robinson, CEO of the NRBHF, said in a news release. “My vision to build a hall of fame to honor R&B and its contributions to civil rights, America, and the entire world is something that I don’t take lightly.”
Robinson founded the hall of fame in 2010. Since 2013, it has inducted more than 200 artists.
Marks appealed to Robinson due to its civil rights history. Martin Luther King Jr. chose the town in 1968 as the starting point for his Poor People’s Campaign, which demanded economic justice for poor Americans of all backgrounds. On March 31, 1968, in what would be his final Sunday sermon before his assassination, King described the poverty-stricken families he encountered in Marks.
“I was in Marks, Mississippi, the other day, which is in Quitman County, the poorest county in the United States. And I tell you I saw hundreds of Black boys and Black girls walking the streets with no shoes to wear,” King said at the National Cathedral in Washington. “I saw their mothers and fathers ... They raised a little money here and there; trying to get a little food to feed the children; trying to teach them a little something.”
The conditions in the cotton fields of Quitman County and other parts of the Mississippi Delta were the environment in which early civil rights activists and field workers produced music that’s now identified as blues, gospel and R&B, project planners said.
“It was this cultural and musical phenomenon that provided the basis for the prodigious economic success and profits of the U.S. music industry worldwide,” planners wrote in a document outlining the project.
As of 2020, Quitman County had one of the 20 lowest median income levels of all counties in the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“The Hall of Fame will be the catalyst to Delta tourism growth and opportunities, and a means to attract business and industry,” said Democratic U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, who represents Quitman County.
The city of Marks donated 5 acres (2 hectares) of land for the project.
According to an agreement reviewed by the AP, the Quitman County Economic Tourism and Development agency secured a $500,000 appropriation from the Mississippi Legislature for infrastructure related to the project. The agency also hopes to secure an $11 million federal grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation to beef up development around the hall of fame.
“While there is significant energy and excitement in the project, it is also daunting for the QTED staff and will require multiple partnerships to succeed,” the agency wrote in the agreement.
GROOVE FREQUENCIES (FEAT. JIMMY REID) – ‘KINETIC’
New on B2j Music
This San Antonio based ensemble founded by John Stewart is back with a fine new song, that has stellar guest appearances by sax player Jimmy Reid, as well as Florida based recording artist Clay Benjamin on guitar. With its commercial sound and format-friendly melody and hook, driven by high level musicianship, "Kinetic" continues this group's run of very competitive songs released in the format.
BRIEN ANDREWS LIVES ‘IN THE MOMENT’
Brien Andrews is a billboard-charting drummer, artist, producer and composer based in Atlanta, Georgia. Originally from St Louis, Missouri, his mother, a choir director and music major, from an early age, nurtured Brien’s love for music. After moving to Atlanta in the early 90s, Brien began pursuing a career in music that would take him to South Africa, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Gotland, Visby, Japan and Germany. Brien has performed with acclaimed artists such as Mandisa, Kim Waters, Willie Bradley, Carol Albert, Ragan Whiteside, Marqueal Jordan, Phil Denny, Marcus Anderson, Jennifer Holliday, Kelly Price, Monica, Donnie McClurkin, LaShun Pace, Ted & Sherie and PJ Morton to name a few.
Brien has also performed live on Good Morning America as well as several other national televised shows. He has enjoyed success as a solo artist with his most recent release, ‘Don’t Dance Just Groove’, charting on Billboard for eight weeks and reaching #40 on the Smooth Jazz Network chart.
As well as his career as a musician, Brien is also a skilled producer and entrepreneur, working on a variety of releases for other artists and founding his own company, Bri’Entertainment LLC, that offers production, studio and live band services.
We think you and your listeners will dig Brien's new single, “In The Moment”.
PEET PROJECT BRINGS ‘DONUT JAM’
Budapest, Hungary's Peet Project's new single "Donut Jam" is an irresistibly pleasant, groovy track with a sweet chorus, an even sweeter bridge and fun musical interactions between bass, violin and sax all the way through.
The track’s main composer is Martin, the band’s bass player. He recalled how the song was born: “Once the harmonies of the chorus popped up in my head, I got goosebumps. From that moment on, I virtually could not sleep until we recorded the demo in the studio. Donut Jam is one of my favorite songs from the upcoming Peet Project album. I have listened to it over a hundred times already, and it has not even been released yet. I am totally thrilled!”
Now. the finished track is presented to you for airplay consideration.
“...The Peet Project...it’s pure fun, pure musical genius” -Dave Koz
"Donut Jam"
Written by Martin Gudics, Peter Ferencz, Attila Zavodi, Oliver Magan and Marcell Gudics
Produced, mixed and mastered by Péter “Peet” Ferencz
Violin: Peter Ferencz
Alto Sax: Attila Zavodi
Keys: Oliver Magan
Bass: Martin Gudics
Drums: Marcell Gudics
ALTHEA RENE’S NEW PROJECT ‘PASTEL LEATHER’
Althea René is releasing her new project titled Pastel Leather in the third quarter (“Pastel Leather” is the title track). The theme of the project is a particular duality of human behavior. Sometimes we are forced to exhibit a soft, polite, and forgiving demeanor while quietly maintaining a hard mentality and physical toughness. The project features a powerful lineup of guest artists like vibe master Warren Wolf, trumpeter Lin Rountree, producer/writer Demetrius “Krayon” Nabors, and jazz fusion icon Jeff Lorber.
"Pastel Leather"
Produced by Demetrius “Krayon” Nabors (DKN) for Kolorful Ent LLC
Written by Althea Rene for Althea Rene Productions LLC and Demetrius “Krayon” Nabors (DKN) for Kolorful Ent LLC
Mixed & Mastered by Greg Manning
Executive Producer Althea René
Flute: Althea René
Keyboard & Programming: Demetrius “Krayon” Nabors
Bass: Robert “Rob Bass” Skinner
Guitar: Gary Johnson
Drums: Nate Winn
Horns & Horn Arrangement: Vinnie Ciesielski
WILLIE BRADLEY WANTS ‘REJUVENATION’
Willie Bradley is a native of Orangeburg, SC and a graduate of South Carolina State University, Orangeburg, SC where he earned his BS Degree in Music Education and Performance. Over the course of his career he has become a go –to musician for many of soul music’s greats over the years. Willie’s stage presence includes performances with jazz greats including Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Frank Foster, Max Roach, Betty Carter, Gerald Albright, Walter Beasley, Alex Bugnon, Ronnie Laws, Hiroshima and Marion Meadows.
Bold, yet simultaneously charming; Edgy, yet at the same time beautiful; these seemingly opposing adjectives might well-describe the music of artist/trumpeter Willie Bradley, but also fittingly tell about the man! Willie Bradley’s music brings together many varied styles, but takes smooth jazz to a whole new level. On his new CD project “Going With The Flow”, Willie is definitely not just going with the average flow of things. Together with multi-award winning producer Preston Glass, (Kenny G., George Benson, Earth Wind & Fire and many more) they have brought together a fantastic group of songs as well as a cast of stellar musicians with varied styles (Greg Manning, Gerald Alston from The Manhattans, Bob Baldwin, Club Nouveau, and Jerry Martini of Sly & The Family Stone).
This musical adventure promises to be an appetizer of sweet things to come for Willie; savor it with open ears; and heart!
"Rejuvenation"
Written By Jacob Webb (ASCAP)
Willie Bradley - Flugel Horn
Jacob Webb - Bass, Keys, Production, Mixing,
Sonny Dumarsais - Guitar
Kevin Bowden - Drums
Recorded at Uppa Room South, Marietta GA (Dennis Johnson)
Mastering - Ron Boustead of Resolution Mastering
FAMOUS PRODUCER CREED TAYLOR (CTI) DIED
Born in Lynchburg, Virginia, Creed Taylor (May 13, 1929 – August 23, 2022) was an American record producer, best known for his work with CTI (Creed Taylor Inc.) Records, which he founded in 1967. His career also included periods at Bethlehem Records, ABC-Paramount Records (including its jazz label, Impulse!), Verve, and A&M Records. In the 1960s, Creed signed bossa nova artists from Brazil to record in the US including the late Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim aka "Tom Jobim", Eumir Deodato de Almeida, the late João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira, Astrud Weinert-Gilberto, and Airto Moreira. Over a 50-year career that yielded almost 300 albums at 93 Creed died.
Creed spent his childhood in Pearisburg, Virginia, where he played trumpet in the high school marching band and symphony orchestra. Although Creed grew up surrounded by country music and bluegrass, he gravitated more toward the sounds of jazz, citing the late John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie as a source of inspiration during his high school years. Creed recalls spending many evenings beside a small radio, listening to Symphony Sid's live broadcasts from Birdland in New York City. After high school, Creed completed an undergraduate degree in psychology from Duke University in 1951 while actively performing with the student jazz ensembles the Duke Ambassadors and the Five Dukes. Taylor credits Duke's strong tradition of student-led jazz ensembles, and the late Lester "Les" Brown's association with Duke in particular, as initially drawing him to the university. As he recalls, "The reason I went to Duke was from hearing Les and all the history of the bands who went through Duke. This was really a great jazz band, and the book was handed down from one class to the next, you had to audition and all the best players who came to Duke got in the band. I had a ball when I was there."
After graduating from Duke, Creed spent two years in the Marines before returning to Duke for a year of graduate study. Shortly thereafter, Creed relocated to New York City in order to pursue his dream of becoming a record producer. Although Creed had no formal training in record production, he recalls that his "mix of naivete and positive thinking" convinced him that he could succeed. After arriving in NYC, Creed approached another Duke University alum who was running Bethlehem Records. Creed persuaded the label to allow him to record the vocalist of the late Mary Jean Loutsenhizer aka "Chris Connor" with the trio of pianist the late Ellis Larkins. Due in part to the album's success, Taylor became head of artists and repertoire for Bethlehem, where he remained during its two most significant years, recording such artists as the late Oscar Pettiford, the late Reuben "Ruby" Braff, the late Carmen McRae, the late Charles Mingus, the late Herbert Jay Solomon aka "Herbie Mann", the late Charlie Shavers, and the late James Louis "J.J./Jay Jay" Johnson and the late Kai Winding Quintet.
In 1956 Creed left Bethlehem to join ABC-Paramount, where, four years later, he founded the subsidiary label Impulse!. Although he signed the late John Coltrane for Impulse! in 1960, Creed left the following year to accept a job with Verve Records. Creed began working at A&M Records in 1967 and formed his own label, CTI, in that same year. In 1974, Creed faced financial problems caused by setting up his own network to distribute CTI labels; he made a new distribution deal with Motown. This, however, ended in litigation in 1977 with Creed losing Grover Washington Jr., and the artist's Kudu recordings as part of the settlement to quit Motown. In separate litigation, Creed lost the rights to Bob James's solo recordings for CTI. The label went into Chapter XI bankruptcy in late 1978 before Creed reached a distribution deal with Columbia Records the following year, in return for the rights to the remaining master recordings.
Columbia oversaw various reissue programs of CTI's catalog material, including CD releases for the first time. Creed attempted to buy back the rights to the master tapes in 1989, but the recordings remain with Columbia/Sony BMG with sporadic re-releases coordinated by Didier Deutsch and Arnaldo DeSouteiro. Creed returned to record production in 1990 with new album releases on CTI, initially distributed through Polygram, and later by Mesa/Bluemoon. Among the artists, Creed signed for CTI in the 90s were the late Lorenz Albert Van DeLinder III aka "Larry Coryell", Jim Beard, Charles Fambrough, Ted Rosenthal, the late James "Jim" Hall, Bill O'Connell, and Jurgen Friedrich.
ALEX FANJUL’S NEW EP
Alex Fanjul is Spanish guitarist, composer and producer of jazz, soul, neo soul, funk and house music. Over the years of producing music with his talented skill, his tracks are so amazing. This is the first time that he has released an EP directly on the English market and although it has subsequently been released in the rest of the world, Alex Fanjul has managed to be in the UK Soul Charts two weeks in a row at number 21 on the list.
First up there's 'Superfly' (not the Curtis song!). This one's busy and brash with some nifty horn solos and a vocal from Ivan Vaf. Second up is 'The Cheater' – not the Bob Kuban fave, rather a smooth jazz instrumental which showcases Fanjul's guitar mastery alongside busy percussion and full-on brass. 'Dance Into My Song' is the third simultaneous single – a mix of smooth jazz with sweet soul and femme vocals from Abia Garcia and Lia Marcos.
DUSTBOWL REVIVAL - 'BE (FOR JULY)' – POINANT NEW SINGLE BY AMERICAN ROOTS ROCKERS OUT NOW (ANTIFRAGILE MUSIC)
DUSTBOWL REVIVAL - 2022 photo by Ulf Bjorlin
DUSTBOWL REVIVAL
BE (FOR JULY)
new single
out 19.08.22
(AntiFragile Music)
digital services
DUSTBOWL REVIVAL - Be (For July)
Imagine the most beautiful day of your life becoming the beginning of your deepest trauma. That is what happened when Dustbowl Revival leader Z. Lupetin took his wife Taylor to hospital to give birth to their daughter July in early 2022. That experience, and the subsequent events, are what inspired Lupetin to complete ‘Be (For July)’, the most intimate and personal song by his group to date.
Lupetin explains that “one minute I was tearfully texting the grandparents across the country, "IT’S A GIRL!”, but the next thing I knew, our lives became a horror film wrapped up in an episode of House inside an outtake of The Twilight Zone.”
Immediately following the delivery of their healthy baby, Taylor began experiencing severe, undiagnosable symptoms and was rushed into emergency surgery. “At first, the doctors had no idea what was happening, and in the process her kidneys completely shut down and blood began clotting everywhere,” Lupetin recalls. “They couldn’t transfuse her fast enough. Even in Cedars Sinai, one of the best hospitals on earth, I saw the fear and confusion on their faces. The situation was dire until they were able to stabilise her.”
On a ventilator at times over the following month and often unable to move or speak, an infection filled her lungs, with Lupetin told that he may need to start thinking about his wife not coming home. “When I sing the line ‘Didn’t I bury your body, and write your epitaph’, it’s hard for me not to picture that exact moment,” he says.
Taylor was eventually diagnosed with the extremely rare condition atypical hemolytic uremic disorder (aHUS), which affects about 400 people in the entire USA. The odds of childbirth activating the condition were a million-to-one. A life-saving medication was administered – and she responded. After an intense battle, she is winning.
“This song is important to me,” continues Lupetin. “It tries to tell the story of how we got here. I would go home after spending gruelling days at the hospital watching Taylor battle this sinister sickness, and when July fell asleep I would play this song over and over on our piano. It got me through. The chords comforted me. It is about the fear I was experiencing but more about all the hopes I had for my daughter and the time we could spend together as a family – if my wife came home to us.”
The verses eventually unfurling, Lupetin dreamed of his daughter becoming a great pianist, singing along to Billie Holiday. “I also thought about the place that is most special for Taylor and I, Yosemite National Park, and the last time we went, when we were still trying to bring our baby into being.” The recovering family returned there earlier this summer to shoot footage for the song’s VIDEO .
Dustbowl Revival are all about pushing the boundaries of American roots music, specialising in uplifting folk-rock ballads that often tilt into joyful soul songs. Lupetin (who is also a playwright) has recently been taking the group in new directions, mixing in elements of theatre and creating songs that are lushly orchestrated and cinematic in feel.
Having emerged from an enforced touring hiatus, the always evolving group led by its founder members Lupetin, Josh Heffernan and Ulf Bjorlin recently welcomed a new wave of talent that includes co-lead singer Lashon Halley. The new line-up was introduced to UK fans last month on a tour that included two well received sets at the Cambridge Folk Festival.
“The ebullient roots rockers are full of big, chunky brass and an exceptional singer in Lashon Halley”
THE GUARDIAN
A first single release entitled ‘Lying To Myself’ featuring the new members was released to coincide with the UK dates and can be heard HERE .
Dustbowl Revival began in 2009 when Chicagoan Lupetin arrived in L.A. as an aspiring screenwriter. Swiftly disillusioned with his job in advertising, he placed an online ad seeking musicians who shared his love of Louis Armstrong, Old Crow Medicine Show, Paul Simon, Aretha Franklin and the brass bands of New Orleans, but who also wanted to write songs like Americana pioneers Wilco, Lucinda Williams and Bruce Springsteen.
The group’s most recent album, ‘Is It You, Is It Me’, was released in 2020 and saw them expanding beyond their already genre-defying style to incorporate everything from folk to funk to New Orleans swing and more. Infused with subtle pop sensibilities that enhanced their infectious sound, it earned plaudits from numerous UK publications and airplay on several BBC stations.
IS IT YOU, IS IT ME
digital services
UK REVIEWS
“There’s just so much to admire. The group don’t shy from key topics and that should be applauded. It has also led to them creating an album of a very high standard ****”
MAVERICK
“A wonderful collection of soulful, melodic songs. Astonishing on so many levels ****”
RNR MAGAZINE
“Classy lyrics and beautiful harmonies. There are so many layers that it keeps the listener awestruck”
BLUES MATTERS
“The lyrics are so good, and I loved the fact that 10 of the songs are four minutes or longer so they can stretch out instrumentally ****”
COUNTRY MUSIC PEOPLE
“Feels both vital and vicarious and definitely has the potential for crossover success”
AMERICANA UK
DAVID MARGAM PRESENTS ★THE LAST TIME★ FEAT. ROSA LAZAR & FERNANDO ARAUJO
David Margam producer, composer and international guitarist returns with "The Last Time", a new single preview of his imminent album that will be presented in the coming months.
After his successful and recent releases, David Margam is positioned among the best and most sought-after guitarists in the recording studio of Smooth Jazz and R&B in the World.
Internationally recognized artist has reached important positions in the 'Top International' lists with his recent singles in the most important radio stations, among which 'Hunch' stands out with his Spanish project MARHID and 'I'll Treat you Right' with the New York producer J.Michaels among other compositions along with international producers Jimmy Østbygaard, Lee Jones and Sergio Hidalgo.
*𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄* Composed, produced and mixed by David Margam, a new single with a special flavor full of nuances and sonorities in which the masterful Spanish Jazz singer Rosa Lazar has collaborated together with the great Brazilian teacher and trumpeter Fernando Araujo, one of the most recognized artists in Brazil, a perfect combination with David Margam's soft guitars that has raised the production to a higher state.
Rosa Lazar's voice has transformed this new single into a magical composition, providing an elegant voice and truly hopeful lyrics, a melody that will leave no one unmoved.
Rosa Lazar, singer and composer, usually moves in the world of jazz, although her eclecticism has led her to merge jazz with other music. In addition, her creative curiosity has led her to collaborate with artists of different styles, even entering electronic music (under the artistic name of Sylaia), working side by side with Randy García and DGN, among other artists.
BEN TANKARD – ‘SHUDDA-SED-SOMPIN-DIN’
New on BEN-jammin Universal Music
Format favorite, keys player Ben Tankard is back at it with a song that has a "unique" title. Featuring his trademark organic playing, and with some very tasty flute colors highlighted on the track as well, this will appeal to Ben's fans across the country and afar.
WENDY MOTEN – ‘AS’
New on Woodward Avenue Records
With an impressive career body of work and a resume a mile long, Wendy Moten has a well-deserved reputation as being one of the finest singers around. A runner-up on the recent season 21 of THE VOICE, this former Capitol Records artist now brings her amazing talents to the beloved Stevie Wonder classic "As". Co-produced by Wendy, Lew Laing Jr., and Brandon Brown, this cool new arrangement which has some tasty horn parts, brings new life to one of many people's favorite tunes from Stevie's legendary album, "Songs In The Key Of Life". With great song recognition, superior singing, arrangements and production, this one has all the elements of a format winner.
KEVIN CROCKETT IS ‘CRUISIN’ IN THE WIND’
Hailing from Washington D.C. and currently residing in Franklinton, North Carolina,
Kevin has performed/recorded with the following smooth jazz artists: Marcel Anderson, Marcus Anderson, Collective Groove Band, Willie Bradley, Reggie Codrington, Eric Darius, George Freeman, Jazmin Ghent, and Marqueal Jordan.
"Cruisin' In The Wind"
Composed by Kevin Crockett & Jeff Canady
Produced by Jeff Canady
Recording Engineer: Carlos Gunn
Mixing Engineer: Derrick Holmes
Mastering Engineer: Steve Hall
ANTOINE KNIGHT’S ‘INFATUATION’
Saxman Antoine Knight is back with another hot new single, following the success of his first single "Something About You," which was picked up by 9 Billboard stations.
His newest sophomore campaign "Infatuation" is composed by Detroit's two-time #1 Smooth Jazz Producer and drummer, Jeff Canady.
"Infatuation" is a highly anticipated release filled with passion & admiration for that special someone in your life.
BROOKE ALFORD IS ‘ON THE MOVE’
Violinist Brooke Alford is releasing her new single "On the Move", which will be included on her highly anticipated 5th CD release.
Brooke’s inspiration behind the creation of On the Move is simple: focused and determined forward motion to achieve ultimate goals at hand! When a mission is set out to be accomplished, there can be no negativity, distraction, procrastination, or doubt. There are exciting places to experience, amazing people to meet, and greatness ahead. Trust the process and have some fun along the way!
“The daily moves we make in our lives dictate our outcome. Strategy is definitely needed (much like playing a game of chess) in order to win! In this season of my life, I literally stay ‘On the Move’ and in motion because it’s time to make the dream a full reality.” says the Atlanta-based artist.
Featuring and produced by Fayetteville, NC’s finest, George Freeman (pianist), Brooke and George came together once again to create an upbeat, “make you want to dance” track full of high energy, pocket, and groove. The all-star musicians that brought this track to life are Sean Michael Ray (bass), Kevin Crockett (guitar), and Anthony Roberts (drums).
STEVEN DAYVID McKELLAR - 'STOP RUNNING' – NEW SINGLE FROM UPCOMING ALBUM OF ATMOSPHERIC ELECTRONICA BY FORMER CIVIL TWILIGHT FRONTMAN
STEVEN DAYVID MCKELLAR - NAMA artwork
STEVEN DAYVID McKELLAR
STOP RUNNING
title track of new EP
out now
[Sonic Ritual]
digital services
lnk.to/StopRunning
included on
NAMA
new album
out 20.09.22
album also includes
ONE AND ZERO
digital services
lnk.to/OneAndZero
“Startling….falls somewhere between Four Tet and Thom Yorke’s work with Atoms For Peace”
UNDER THE RADAR
“Its structure and rich instrumentation recalls ‘Amnesiac’/
'Kid A' era Radiohead”
MXDWN
The former Civil Twilight vocalist and songwriter Steven Dayvid McKellar has returned with ‘NAMA’, the follow up to his 2020 debut solo album ‘ETHIO’, and it finds the artist at play in his Los Angeles apartment as the pandemic raged. McKellar had left Nashville and arrived with the expressed intention of experiencing La La Land in peak, post-apocalyptic distress - a fitting metaphor for a record implicitly concerned with staring our deepest emotions in the face.
Deftly self-produced, ‘NAMA’ is a musical self-psychoanalysis of McKellar’s id, where the primitive utterances of the subconscious are quite literally coaxed and arranged into fully realised expressions of song. It is a disciplined process that McKellar has been honing for several years in his painting as well as his solo music. Unconcerned with a predetermined theme, ‘NAMA’ is a meditative and patient coming-to-terms with the deep recesses of humanity.
The emotions and impulses McKellar draws on for this short and sweet seven song recording are manifested primarily via a Juno synth, vocals and drum machine, accompanied intermittently by bass, classical guitar and the interwoven percussion of ordinary household items. Additional instrumentation was provided by friend and occasional bandmate Bucky Shorts.
Despite the seemingly restrictive minimalism of its construction, ‘NAMA’ is teeming with dense atmosphere, layers of crunchy, trancing beats, haunting melodies and back-road, windows-down introspection. At its heart, however, is an odd, paradoxical sense of joy - that particular sort of quiet pleasure that can only be found in the unsatisfied desires of life that, by their mere existence, point us hopefully toward the unknown and the numinous.
From the minimal electronic heartbreak of its opener (and previous single) ‘One and Zero’ to the haunted claustrophobia of ‘Stop Running’ and the fractured beauty of the closing ‘Edge Of The Garden’, ‘NAMA’ somehow balances introspection with an outward push into the unknown.
With Civil Twilight, McKellar had seen life on the big screen, leading the South African rock band through a successful run that saw them share stages with the likes of Smashing Pumpkins, Florence + the Machine, Jimmy Eat World and Silversun Pickups, while their songs were placed in TV shows such as One Tree Hill, House and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Now releasing music on his own terms, McKellar remains ever creative. Ahead of ‘NAMA’, a three song EP is headed up by 'Stop Running' and also includes the trippy non-album track ‘Middle’ and a live version of ‘Don’t Ask Me Why’ from ‘ETHIO’, a record that was issued at the onset of the pandemic and suffered from the upheaval of that time. Pensive and soulful throughout, ‘Stop Running’ explores both the isolation and the curiosity in navigating oneself through dark times, with McKellar diving deep into the subconscious and unearthing melodies that strike the gut, eliciting deep-seated emotions of lingering questions in his textured electronic style.
“’Stop Running’ is a tune that was originally entitled ‘Stop Trying’,” explains McKellar. “It's a conversation with myself as well as with the culture around me, and is inspired by the idea behind Charles Bukowksi's quote ‘Don’t Try’ on his tombstone. To me, it goes hand in hand with another great quote by [self-styled English 'philosophical entertainer'] Alan Watts from an interview in the early ‘70s when responding to a question about the scattered trajectory of modern American society: ‘Stop this perpetual agitation to go somewhere, get the future. The future is nothing but an abstraction. There IS no future.' To me, it’s a call to let live what I've already put out into the world, to let that grow and collaborate, to stop chasing, and to be in the present. The new EP as a whole reflects this idea.”
NAMA
TRACKLISTING
1 One and Zero
2 Nama Wind
3 Slow Fade
4 Stop Running
5 Pull Away
6 Trillion Tiny Waves
7 Edge Of The Garden
SARO COSENTINO - 'THE JOKE FEAT PETER HAMMILL' – NEW SINGLE BY ITALIAN COMPOSER/PRODUCER FEATURES UK PROG LEGEND
SARO COSENTINO
THE JOKE
feat PETER HAMMILL
from the album
THE ROAD TO NOW
LP / CD / digital
out 07.10.22
[Cat Sounds]
pre-order / pre-save
HERE
The third solo album by Italian composer and producer Saro Cosentino, 'The Road To Now' features singers Peter Hammill (on four songs), Tim Bowness (of No Man) and Karen Eden, plus instrumental contributions from the likes of Gavin Harrison, David Rhodes, John Giblin and Trey Gunn. Available on heavyweight colour vinyl, CD and digital formats, it is the long-awaited follow-up to 1997’s acclaimed ‘Ones And Zeros’.
Born in Rome but currently based in Prague, Cosentino formed a blues outfit in his late teens but soon became more interested in experimental and electronic music, beginning a lengthy association with the popular Italian singer-songwriter Franco Battiato, who had been juggling his own love of the avant-garde with record company pressure to produce ‘hits’. The duo co-wrote Italy’s entry to the 1984 Eurovision Song Contest (which Battiato performed in the competition) and collaborated on two operas later in the decade.
Cosentino released a self-titled debut solo album on EMI in 1988 prior to successfully dividing his time between composing film/TV soundtracks and writing for/producing numerous international artists that have included Peter Hammill, David Rhodes, Tim Bowness, Pandit Dinesh, Tony Levin, Natasha Atlas, Jakko Jakszyk and Gavin Harrison, as well as further work with Battiato plus other compatriots such as Milva and Alice.
'The Road To Now' was recorded in the UK and US as well as at Cosentino’s own studio in Prague, with final mixing taking place at Real World in Bath. The opening 'You’re The Story' sees the soothing voice of Tim Bowness matched with a suitably sumptuous yet melancholic backdrop, followed immediately by 'The Joke', the first of four superb songs featuring the unmistakable tones of legendary prog singer Peter Hammill. Its line ‘you were joking about the rain’ seems especially prescient in the summer of 2022. ‘November’ (on which Bowness provides a backing vocal) is a tale of long lost love, the outstanding 'Time To Go' contemplates the very end of the road (hopefully a long time from now), while the closing 'When Your Parents Danced' considers the first central figures in one’s life in their younger days, ‘before life’s stories made them what they’ve become’.
Having contributed to 'Ones and Zeros', as well as records by the likes of William Orbit and Chris Rea, the versatile Australian singer Karen Eden returns to perform on two contrasting tracks; the portentous sounding ‘Pray' and (by way of contrast to everything else on the record), the pop song 'Us (Scars on Skin)'. The album also contains the instrumental ‘Howl', which switches from strident to atmospheric midway through and showcases the skills of the musicians involved.
THE ROAD TO NOW
TRACKLISTING
1 You’re The Story (feat Tim Bowness)
2 The Joke (feat Peter Hammill)
3 Pray (feat Karen Eden)
4 November (feat Peter Hammill & Tim Bowness)
5 US (Scars on Skin) (feat Karen Eden)
6 Time To Go (feat Peter Hammill)
7 Howl
8 When Your Parents Danced (feat Peter Hammill)
MUSICIANS
Peter Hammill - vocals, guitar
Tim Bowness - vocals, backing vocals
Karen Eden - vocals
Dorota Barova - cello, vocals
Gavin Harrison - drums
John Giblin - bass
David Rhodes - guitar
Trey Gunn - waar guitar
Nicola Alesini - saxophone
Radim Knapp - trumpet
Saro Cosentino - guitars, keyboards, bass, strings, piano, arrangements, programming, sound design
GARETH DUNLOP - 'RIGHT ABOUT READY' – SINGLE FROM NEW ALBUM - UK & IRELAND TOUR WITH FOY VANCE FROM 30.08.22
GARETH DUNLOP photo by Laura Maria
GARETH DUNLOP
RIGHT ABOUT READY
new single
out 12.08.22
(Zenith Café/Membran)
included on
ANIMAL
album
out now
“Sophisticated pop with a modern feel and appeal. It’s classy music and you can see why he is in demand from other artists“
GET READY TO ROCK!
“A surprising album, more than the blend of its influences and casting a few new out there for the future. Is this where Roxy Music were heading, had they ever got beyond ‘Avalon’?”
AT THE BARRIER
“An immersive, synth textured set that blends ambient pop with soul, a touch of Celtic and a splash of cinematic”
FABRICATIONS HQ
“‘Animal’ is a beast of an album. Just put it on and bathe in its glow”
MAXIMUM VOLUME MUSIC
ON TOUR WITH FOY VANCE
30.08.22 YORK Barbican
31.08.22 MANCHESTER Albert Hall
01.09.22 EDINBURGH Queen’s Hall
03.09.22 LONDON Eventim Apollo
04.09.22 BIRMINGHAM Alexandra Theatre
05.09.22 DUBLIN Olympia Theatre
07.09.22 CORK Cyprus Avenue
09.09.22 BELFAST SSE Arena
Northern Irish singer-songwriter and producer Gareth Dunlop has just released a single entitled ‘Right About Ready’, a soulful and anthemic song lifted from his recently released new album, ‘Animal’. A nifty looking karaoke-themed video is also available.
Dunlop explains that “the further I got into putting my new album together the more I realised how retro-synth the whole thing was going, with ‘Right About Ready’ really leaning into that style. I started discussing visuals with my regular director Jamie Niesh, who has that rare ability to take the smallest of ideas and blow them up into something much bigger and better. He took what I thought would be a basic lyric video and turned it on its head into a concept with scenes, setting and visual candy.”
“There is a style and a self-assuredness with ‘Right About Ready’,” adds Niesh. “As a group, we have a love for bringing in things that we have known over the years into the visuals, and this song just sat right for us to have some fun with, lean back into our ’90s childhoods and not take it too seriously. It is a really simple concept that relies on Gareth giving it all he's got, which thankfully he always does.”
'Right About Ready' is among a diverse set of songs on ‘Animal’, which also contains the similarly evocative yet timeless 'Look Back Smiling', the atmospheric ‘Sorrow' and 'Prisoner Of My Past', the laid-back ‘60s dream-pop vibe of ‘Humans', plus a title song that adds an electronic bounce to its subtle groove.
‘Animal' was recorded and produced in Dunlop’s own Sycamore Studios in Belfast during lockdown, a period that also saw him produce new records by his friends and compatriots Foy Vance and Lee Rogers. All three toured the US together in May 2022, with Dunlop doing double duty as part of Vance’s band, while he is set for an identical stint on a UK and Ireland tour that commences in late August. Dunlop and Rogers will also play a special one-off London show on 20th October, with tickets available HERE .
Gareth Dunlop has been recognized as an accomplished talent ever since the BBC tipped him as ‘one to watch’ in 2010 when he was not long out of his teens. In the ensuing decade he released several singles, a handful of EPs and an album that were musically eclectic yet all showcased his highly soulful voice, with several of his songs going on to be used in the hit TV series ‘Nashville’, commercials for Disney and Subaru, and more. He also had songwriting credits for recordings by stars such as T.I., Tim McGraw & Faith Hill and John Oates.
However, prior to the initial lockdown, Dunlop was just as likely to be heard by live audiences as he forged a reputation as a magnetic and charismatic performer on frequent headlining tours and support slots to the likes of Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Snow Patrol and James Morrison. Reviewing one of his shows, Gigslutz stated that “Dunlop has the kind of voice that can still a room with its vulnerability, the meaning behind the words heartfelt, the emotion real”, while Maximum Volume Music succinctly described it as “instantly memorable".
In his home territory, the Irish News praised Dunlop for his “distinctive croon and ear for sharp melodic/lyrical hooks”, while local website ChordBlossom declared him to be “one of the greatest talents to come out of Northern Ireland”, a sentiment only slightly qualified by National Rock Review who stated that he is “arguably one of Northern Ireland’s greatest singer/songwriters from the past decade”.
Inspired by icons such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and Tom Waits, plus a soupçon of Pink Floyd, Dunlop picked up a guitar aged 14 and soon began performing covers and original songs in live venues around Northern Ireland, RoI and the rest of the UK. In 2011 he won a Young Songwriter of the Year award in Belfast that not only earned him an invite to collaborate with seasoned writers in Nashville, an experience he has repeated many times since, but it also enabled him to tour the US extensively.
Having spent so long away from Belfast following his initial breakthrough, Dunlop decided to record and co-produce his 2017 debut album, ‘No. 79’, in stripped-back fashion at home - literally - with Nashville based writer Bobby Hamrick and compatriot Alastair McMillan, who had also recorded Dunlop’s first studio sessions at Dublin’s esteemed Windmill Lane and has engineered for U2, The Rolling Stones and Van Morrison. A winning fusion of folk and soul, the album earned critical acclaim and was playlisted on several Irish and UK radio stations, while in RoI it earned an Album of the Week slot on the prestigious RTE1.
2UNES FT. JOEY SOMMERVILLE – ‘STILL HANGING’
Primarily a self-taught musician, it was at the age of eleven that his mom introduced him to the guitar and a love affair with music that has stood the test of time. In his teens, North “2unes” Woodall studied the playing styles of Ernie Isley, Santana, and Joe Walsh, among other R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles. Hard work, determination, and a natural gift paid off and as a result of his exceptional proficiency with the guitar, he was quickly established with popular groups in and around Dayton, Ohio, such as The Delvones and Round Trip Ticket. North has since relocated to Atlanta, Georgia and was sought to share the stage with funk masters Lakeside, The Ohio Players, Roger Troutman and Zapp, Roy Aires, Millie Jackson, Tom Brown and Will Downing. He regularly sells out venues as the audiences know that they will be highly entertained and satisfied by tight arrangements and banging guitar solos with great licks. And the blessings continued to flow. 2unes has become a staple on the Atlanta music scene appearing in venues from the Ritz Carlton to Wind-Down Wednesdays at Centennial Park, bridging the generation gap with his unique music blend of jazz, R&B, and hip-hop.
“I work for the listener and my music is designed for them. It is important to me that I give them what they want.” Woodall went on to say that he defines his musical style as being like a gumbo. “I can’t be put into a box musically. I’m not one thing, but many things bringing people together from all sides of the music spectrum.”
BOB BALDWIN FT. KATHY KOSINS – ‘LET’S REWIND’
Bob Baldwin features Detroit native, vocalist Kathy Kosins on his latest single with "Let's Rewind", a ballad that reflects on the stay at home era.
Baldwin comments "We wanted to come up with a cool track that musically reflects on the soulful sounds of Phily and Motown, with a Smooth Jazz spin. It's a pleasure to work with her!”
Bob's new 34th album, B Positive! is set for release August 19, 2022.
Catch Bob on tour at City Winery (8/11), and Middle C Note in Charlotte (8/19-20), Atlanta (9/9) and Toledo (9/10).
"Let's Rewind" ft. Kathy Kosins
Written by Bob Baldwin and Kathy Kosins
Produced by Bob Baldwin
ADAM HAWLEY FT. VINCENT INGALA – LET’S GET DOWN TONIGHT
Nine #1 hits. 50+ dates per year. Adam Hawley has burst on to the scene as a celebrated and innovative artist, composer and band leader. Originally signed to Maurice White’s (founder of Earth, Wind, & Fire) label Kalimba Music, Adam’s first two albums “Double Vision” and “Just the Beginning” spawned an incredible six #1 Hits, an unprecedented feat for a new artist. He followed that up with “Escape” which included the 2020 Billboard Song Of The Year “To The Top.” Now totaling 9 # 1’s, Adam sets out with this exciting fourth album “Risin’ Up” which features Steve Cole, Vincent Ingala, Julian Vaughn, Riley Richard & Kat Hawley anchored by the thrilling first single “Risin’ Up.”
Tour Highlights Include: Seabreeze Jazz Fest, Catalina Jazz Fest, Berks Jazz Fest, Rehoboth Jazz Festival, Jazz Fest West, Java Jazz, Cancun Jazz Fest, Newport Beach Jazz Fest, Dave Koz Cruise, Mallorca Jazz Fest, Napa Valley Jazz Getaway, Jazz on the Vine & Many More…
Adam has also been a guitarist to the stars, appearing with a who’s who list of artists in a wide variety of genres. Credits include Dave Koz, Jennifer Lopez, Brian Culbertson, Natalie Cole, Brian McKnight, and American Idol to name just a few.
Hawley's new single "Let's Get Down Tonight" features Vincent Ingala on saxophone. We think you and your listeners will love it!
JUDAH SEALY – NEW SINGLE ‘FORCE’
Judah Sealy Music
Following up on his recent impressive #1 single "Stylish", Judah is back with another great sounding tune and track, featuring his warm and full sax sound. Widely considered one of the elite young sax players in the format, Judah continues a knack for creating his unique brand of radio-friendly songs, with his signature sound.
OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN OVERLEDEN
Het zal niemand ontgaan zijn. De Brits-Australische zangeres en actrice Olivia Newton-John is gisteren op 73-jarige leeftijd overleden. Dat heeft haar echtgenoot John Easterling bekendgemaakt op het Instagram-account van de zangeres. Olivia was al enige tijd ziek. Fans van Olivia herdenken hun idool door bloemen en foto’s achter te laten bij haar ster op de beroemde Walk of Fame. Olivia Newton-John is vredig ingeslapen op haar Ranch in Zuid-Californië, omringd door familie en vrienden. Olivia werd geboren in het Verenigd Koninkrijk, maar groeide op in Australië. In de jaren zestig keerde ze terug en haar muzikale carrière begon in de groep Toomorrow. Niet veel later verhuisde ze naar de Verenigde Staten om verder te werken aan haar zangcarrière. In 1971 scoorde Olivia haar eerste Top 10 hit (in Australië, Canada en het Verenigd Koninkrijk) met de single ‘If Not For You’, gevolgd door de Australische nummer 1 hit ‘Banks Of The Ohio’. Twee jaar later volgde de eerste Amerikaanse Top 10 hit met de single ‘Let Me Be There’. In 1974 deed ze voor het Verenigd Koninkrijk mee aan het Eurovisie Songfestival en werd vierde met het liedje ‘Long Live Love’. Van het album ‘If You Love Me, Let Me Know’ kwam Olivia’s eerste Amerikaanse nummer 1 hit ‘I Honestly Love You’. De opvolger ‘Have You Ever Been Mellow’ bereikte ook de eerste plaats van de Billboard Hot 100. Naast haar muzikale carrière zal Olivia Newton-John altijd worden herinnerd door haar rol als Sandy in de filmmusical ‘Grease’ uit 1978. Daarin vervulde ze de hoofdrol naast John Travolta. ‘Grease’ werd een enorme bioscoophit en leverde onvergetelijke hits op als het titelnummer ‘Grease’, ‘Hopelessly Devoted To You’, ‘Summer Nights’, ‘You’re The One That I Want’, ‘Sandy’ en ‘Greased Lightning’. Het scheelde maar weinig of Olivia had niet in die film gespeeld, want ze vond zichzelf veel te oud voor die rol. Travolta reageert via Instagram op het overlijden van zijn collega. “Mijn liefste Olivia, je hebt ons hele leven zo veel beter gemaakt”, schrijft hij. “Je impact was ongelooflijk. Ik houd zo veel van je. We zien je aan het einde van de weg en we zullen allemaal weer samen zijn. De jouwe vanaf het eerste moment dat ik je zag en voor altijd!” Verwijzend naar zijn ‘Grease’-personage sluit de acteur af met: “Jouw Danny, jouw John!” Na het kassucces ‘Grease’ ging Olivia rustig verder met het scoren van grote hits, die ook in Nederland veel succes hadden. ‘A Little More Love’ (1978), ‘Magic’ (1980), ‘Xanadu’ (1980, samen met ELO) en ‘Physical’ (1981) zijn de bekendste voorbeelden. Buiten haar werk als zangeres en actrice om werd Olivia Newton-John de afgelopen dertig jaar door haar strijd tegen de ziekte kanker een symbool van hoop, zo schrijft haar echtgenoot op Instagram. Ze werd ook door Queen Elizabeth in 2019 geridderd voor haar bijdrage aan kankeronderzoek. Olivia Newton-John ruste in vrede!
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.
LEGENDARY MOTOWN SONGWRITER LAMONT DOZIER DIED
Lamont Dozier, legendary Motown songwriter, has died at the age of 81. The news was confirmed by his son, Lamont Dozier Jr, on Instagram.
As one third of the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting and production team, Dozier helped to create what became known as the ‘Motown sound’, crafting hits for the likes of Martha and The Vandellas, The Supremes, The Four Tops and the Isley Brothers.
Indeed, the trio’s discography reads like a Motown greatest hits tracklist: Where Did Our Love Go, Baby Love, This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You), You Can’t Hurry Love, Reach Out I’ll Be There, Nowhere To Run and many more.
Working with Brian Holland, Dozier’s main focus was on musical arrangements and production, with Eddie Holland primarily concerned with lyrics and vocal production.
Dozier also released several solo albums, and hit the top of the charts again when he co-wrote the Motown-inspired Two Hearts with Phil Collins in 1988.
FLIGHT ATTENDANT - 'CRYBABY' – NEW SINGLE FROM FORTHCOMING DEBUT ALBUM BY US INDIE OUTFIT
CRYBABY
new single
out now
[Moraine Music Group / Membran]
digital services
FLIGHT ATTENDANT - Crybaby
included on
FLIGHT ATTENDANT
debut album
out 30.09.22
+
EUROPEAN TOUR NOV-DEC 2022
Flight Attendant is an eclectic indie-pop/rock group from Nashville. Blending guitar pop with viola, piano, synth and electrifying vocals, they were described by Louder Than War in a recent review as "a blend of alternative and heavy rock, glam, grunge and pop, often with anthemic overtones, together with a mix of both sensuous and uplifting vocals and provocative lyrics. They have emerged as a very exciting and eclectic indie rock band.” They have issued several singles to date that have ranged from the pulsating and hypnotic ‘Man Of Chaos’ to the darkly sensuous ‘Comedy Show’, and from the post-punk earworm ‘dogs’ to a recent solemn rendition of the Americana classic ‘In The Pines’.
A new single entitled ‘Crybaby’ has just been issued to coincide with the announcement of their forthcoming self-titled debut album, plus a European tour to promote it. An exuberant anthem, the band’s lead vocalist Karalyne Winegarner explains the lyric of ‘Crybaby' by stating “I'm personally so over being sad and complaining about life. The constant, endless scrolling through the hell of social media and comparing my life to others.... F*** that. This song is about kicking and screaming my way out of depression until I feel like the badass that I know I am."
A literally smashing video for ‘Crybaby’ has been made by director Casey Pierce, who adds that “I had to make a video for this song. Karalyne's charisma and the level of energy the band brings really spoke to my deep punk roots.”
Karalyne Winegarner (lead vocals, keyboards, certified Sommelier, from Kansas City) met Vinny Maniscalco (guitar, vocals, award-winning bartender, from Boston) while working together at a restaurant in Nashville, where Nikki Christie (viola, vocals, great at drinking wine, from LA) soon went to work too. It didn’t take too many nights of cocktail-making and wine-tasting before they decided to form a band. With the addition of drummer and long-time drinking buddy Derek Sprague (drums, lager lover, also from Boston), the line-up of Flight Attendant was complete and they soon began playing local shows and recording songs.
TurnUpTheVolume have compared the group to “Warpaint having a dance with Best Coast”, while there have also been references in other reviews to iconic artists such as Lana Del Rey, No Doubt and even Fleetwood Mac.
Flight Attendant have been ready for take-off globally since before the pandemic - not to mention a TV drama with the same name that subsequently hit our screens - and have a first European tour booked throughout November to promote their debut album, which is set for release on 30th September and has been produced by Grammy Award-winning engineer and producer Charles Yingling with the assistance of his cabin crew.
FLIGHT ATTENDANT
TRACKLISTING
1 Man Of Chaos (3:36)
2 dogs (2:51)
3 Cotton Candy (3:47)
4 Fresh Gasoline (2:57)
5 Teach Me How To Lie (3:24)
6 Paradise (2:45)
7 Honeysweet (2:57)
8 Phosphorescent (Fine Line) (3:35)
9 Crybaby (3:07)
10 Comedy Show (3:07)
11 I Like You (2:37)
12 Golden Gun (2:58)
13 In The Pines (3:47)
EUROPEAN TOUR 2022
CONFIRMED DATES
02.11.22 LEIPZIG (DE) Ilses Erika
03.11.22 BERLIN (DE) Roadrunners Paradise
04.11.22 COTTBUS (DE) Galerie Fango
05.11.22 SLAVONICE (CZ) Inst. Sklep
06.11.22 ŽATEC (CZ) Theatre
07.11.22 MOST (CZ) Benedikt
08.11.22 KLADNO (CZ) Library
09.11.22 HAVIROV (CZ) Jazzclub
11.11.22 ZNOJMO (CZ ) Na Vecn
12.11.22 REGAN (DE) Obserstübchen
16.11.22 KLAGENFURT (AT) Hafenstadt
17.11.22 VIENNA (AT) B72
18.11.22 MÜNCHEN (DE) Lost Weekend
19.11.22 NEU ULM (DE) Das Gold
20.11.22 OFFENBACH (DE) Hafen 2
21.11.22 BAMBERG (DE) Live Club
24.11.22 OLDENBURG (DE) Polyester Klub
25.11.22 EINBECK (DE) Backpackers Inn
26.11.22 SAARBRÜCKEN (DE) Terminus
28.11.22 AACHEN (DE) Domkeller
01.12.22 HAMBURG (DE) Deichdiele
02.12.22 HAMBURG (DE) BelaMi
FLIGHT ATTENDANT
Karalyne Winegarner - vocals, piano, guitar
Vinny Maniscalco - lead guitar, backing vocals
Nikki Christie - viola, backing vocals
Derek Sprague - drums
flightattendantband.com
youtube.com/flightattendantband
AUSTRALISCHE ZANGERES JUDITH DURHAM (THE SEEKERS) OVERLEDEN
De Australische zangeres Judith Durham is vrijdagavond in The Alfred Hospital in Melbourne op 79-jarige leeftijd overleden. Judith was de zangeres van de folkgroep The Seekers, die met name in de jaren zestig de ene na de andere hit scoorde over de hele wereld. Australië verliest een van zijn meest geliefde zangeressen. Judith werd in 1963 de leadzangeres van The Seekers. De band verkocht wereldwijd meer dan 50 miljoen platen. In een reactie op sociale media drukken de andere Seekers-bandleden Bruce Woodley, Keith Potger en Athol Guy hun medeleven uit. "Ons leven is voor altijd veranderd door het verlies van onze dierbare levenslange vriendin en stralende ster. Haar strijd was intens en heroïsch. Ze klaagde nooit over haar lot en accepteerde de afloop ervan volledig." The Seekers vergaarden internationale roem met singles als ‘I'll Never Find Another You’, ‘The Carnival Is Over’, ‘A World Of Our Own’, ‘Someday, One Day’, ‘Morningtown Ride’ en ‘Georgy Girl’. Judith Durham verliet de groep in 1968 om haar solocarrière uit te bouwen, maar keerde in de jaren negentig weer terug naar The Seekers. Er volgde een reeks comebackconcerten en de band nam zelfs nog drie nieuwe albums op, waaronder ‘Back To Our Roots’, met Judith als zangeres. In 2013 kreeg Judith een beroerte waardoor ze minder goed kon lezen en schrijven. Haar zangkunsten werden er echter niet minder op. De prachtige stem van onze ‘Georgy Girl’ zal altijd in onze herinnering blijven voortleven. Judith Durham ruste in vrede!
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.
CELEBRATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF WATTSTAX
August 20, 2022, marks the 50th anniversary of the historic Wattstax concert. The event was a partnership between Tommy Jacquette, the Watts Summer Festival, Watts Labor Community Action Committee, Al Bell, the President of Stax Records based in Memphis, TN, and Forrest Hamilton, the Stax Record’s West Coast director in the Los Angeles office, laid the foundation of an event that would showcase Watts and African American talent in remembrance of the August 11 – 16, 1965 uprising. Wattstax, held at the famous Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum featured a line up comprising of 26 Stax artists and bands including some of the label’s biggest stars, including Isaac Hayes, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, The Rance Allen Group, William Bell, Eddie Floyd, The Staple Singers, Albert King, Billy Eckstine, and the Bar-Kays.
Wattstax attracted over 100,000 African American attendees and the price for admission to the 7-hour concert was one dollar. Truly a historic day. Join Stax Records as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Wattstax and its historic place in Los Angeles and music history.
CLOUD NYYNE – ‘LIVIN’ IT UP’
Rocky Padilla has been in the music business for over 45 years, has been around The U.S. touring, making people happy and making them dance. CEO Rocky Padilla is a veteran in the Music Department. Selling over 500,000 C.D's with On The Spot, then Thump Records. RP has built a steady fan base all over the United States. While playing 6 different instruments and taking over any size show, RP has a one of a kind stage presence, along with mesmerizing vocal talents, RP is a professional from start to finish.
Since 2003, Billy Mondragon of DW3 & Steve Carias have set the high energy mood on cruises (Smooth Jazz Cruise, Dave Koz Cruise, Soul Train Cruise & 80’s), at jazz festivals, showrooms and clubs, including hundreds of performances at their longtime home base of Spaghettini in Seal Beach, CA. They also played a key role on Dave Koz and Friends’ Grammy nominated Summer Horns project.
Cloud Nyyne
"Livin' It Up" (4:16) - featuring Billy Mondragon of DW3
Written by F. Padilla & S. Carias
RP (Fidel Padilla) - Song Production, Horn Arrangements, Mix & Mastering
Steve Carias - Music Production, Drums, Bass Guitar, Piano, Synths
Billy Mondragon of DW3 - Creative Production
Walle Larsson - Sax, Flute
Michael Bautista - Guitar, Trumpet
REBECCA JADE – ‘SHOW ME’
Rebecca Jade is an accomplished singer/songwriter, and has been singing as long as she can remember. She has been described by many to have a chameleon-like quality to her voice, where she is able to deliver each song in a unique way, yet she has been blessed with a sound unlike anyone else. Many music lovers have stated that she has the ability to transfer the emotion of each song to her listeners.
Jade has performed with some of the most sought-after musicians all over the world, and her versatility has allowed her many unique opportunities to perform: Rebecca has been touring with the Queen of percussion, Sheila E. since 2017 and most recently appeared in the Emmy-nominated show, “Let’s Go Crazy: The GRAMMY Salute to Prince” that aired on CBS in April of 2020; She also sang background vocals for Sir Elton John at the 2020 Academy Awards; Rebecca opened for Will Downing and Boney James at a sold-out Valentine’s Day concert last year in Long Beach, as well as opened for Jeffrey Osborne for the 2019 Thornton Winery Summer Concert series; Rebecca has appeared as a repeat guest artist on the Dave Koz Cruises since 2016 and recently made her debut as a guest artist on the Smooth Jazz Cruise; Rebecca has done multiple concerts at Spaghettini in Seal Beach and was the singer in the house band at Anthology in San Diego for 5 ½ years.
“Rebecca has tirelessly assisted other artists in realizing their dreams in the studio and on the road for years. Myself included! Well, it’s now time for her to take her rightful place center-stage to share her insanely musical gifts with the world as an artist herself. Rebecca’s timing is impeccable, as she brings such a cool-sounding world to our ears with this collection of songs showing her artistry as a singer, songwriter and producer. I couldn’t be more proud, nor excited to witness what happens now for this extremely talented artist.” -Dave Koz
CAROL ALBERT ‘PARADIGM SHIFT’
While many smooth jazz artists create their music as a means of pure escapism, Carol Albert has scored numerous Billboard chart hits over the past five years with songs that powerfully chronicle her evolving personal emotions and thoughtfully reflect upon the world around her. The multi-talented pianist and composer’s latest single, the infectious, deeply soulful mid-tempo ballad “Paradigm Shift,” artfully captures the profound shift of consciousness that’s taken hold of all of us in the wake of the darkest days of the pandemic.
Co-written by Carol, Paul Brown and Shane Theriot and produced by and featuring Brown on guitar, “Paradigm Shift” is one of the lead singles from Carol’s upcoming full length album, whose title Magic Mirror literally reflects the theme of self-reflection in this era of new awakenings. The collection will also include the artist’s most recent singles “Fire & Water” (which reached #4 on the Billboard Smooth Jazz Songs chart) and “Crashing,” intended as a digital release for fans only.
While representing a dynamic new phase of Carol’s recording career, “Paradigm Shift” and Magic Mirror follow on the high charting heels of four hit radio singles from Carol’s 2020 album Stronger Now, including three Top 5’s - “Stronger Now,” “Perfect Sunday” and “Femme Flight,” the latter of which featured flutist Ragan Whiteside and saxophonist Magdalena Chovancova and earned Carol a new legion of fans via extensive airplay on SiriusXM’s Watercolors. In addition to their success at radio, “Perfect Sunday” and “Stronger Now” have achieved unprecedented streaming numbers for the Smooth Jazz genre, with “Perfect Sunday” currently at over 6.4M streams on Spotify and “Stronger Now” at over 2.1M.
Reflecting on the connected themes of “Paradigm Shift” and Magic Mirror, Carol says, “To me, there has been a profound shift of consciousness as we emerge from the pandemic. It’s like we’re stepping through a mirror, looking more closely at ourselves and experiencing a journey where so many of us are taking stock of our lives like never before. We’re asking ourselves, ‘What’s it all about? Who have I become? And do I like where I am?’ These are the questions that have come naturally to me, and the melody, rhythm and overall flow of the song is a musical expression of the fresh perspective I have on the direction of my life and career.”
With the release of “Paradigm Shift,” the Atlanta based artist continues to build on the career momentum she’s experienced since breaking through on the smooth jazz charts in 2016 with “Mas Que Nada” and her first Billboard charting single “One Way.” Carol’s other recent radio hits include the Top 10 “Sun’s Out,” the Top 5 “Fly Away Butterfly", “Chasing Waterfalls” and “One Way.”
STEVE OLIVER - NEW HEIGHTS
New on Wide Sky Records.
Format veteran Steve Oliver is back with "New Heights", a fine new piece which features his trademark guitar. Joining Steve on the track is the inimitable Hall of Fame drummer Vinnie Colaiuta (Sting, Paul McCartney, Chris Botti, and a ton of other big name artists on his resume), as well as Michael Broening on additional keys/programming. Steve always brings an upbeat flavor to his music, and this song is no exception. By no means "more of the same" contemporary jazz you folks get constantly, this song sounds like a potentially reactive song for your listeners.
DW3 – SWEET BABY
New on Woodward Avenue Records.
Many of you have enjoyed success with this talented vocal trio based in So. California over the years they have been releasing songs to the format. This time out finds them covering the George Duke/Stanley Clarke favorite: "Sweet Baby". Their warm vocal blends sell this hit song all over again in a 2022 musical setting.
JOHN CALE PRESENTS NEW SINGLE ‘NIGHT CRAWLING’
Photo credit: Marlene Marino
Today, John Cale presents “Night Crawling,” his first new music since 2020 when he released the single, “Lazy Day,” and collaborated with Kelly Lee Owens on “Corner of My Sky.” “Night Crawling” is a taste of much more to come from Cale, and precedes his upcoming UK tour, which includes his first performances since pre-pandemic. Cale wrote “Night Crawling” with a nod to 70's NYC pre-disco, recalling times when he and David Bowie would traverse the city at night. Throughout the track, Cale layers his inimitable vocals with a skipping beat and hovering bass. As it expands, it becomes nearly danceable with jockeying percussion and whirs of synth. Cale played nearly every instrument on the track, aside from additional drums by Deantoni Parks and backing vocals by Dustin Boyer, and it was mixed by Seven Davis, Jr.. The accompanying video, animated by Mickey Miles, visualizes the song’s vibrant sounds with colorful, retro animation.
Cale further explains: “It’s been a helluva past 2 years and I’m glad to finally share a glimpse of what’s coming ahead. There was this period around mid-late 70s when David and I would run into each other in NY. There was plenty of talk about getting some work done but of course we’d end up running the streets, sometimes until we couldn’t keep a thought in our heads, let alone actually get a song together! One night we managed to meet up for a benefit concert where I taught him a viola part so we could perform together. When I wrote ‘Night Crawling,’ it was a reflective moment of particular times. That kind of NYC that held art in its grip, strong enough to keep it safe and dangerous enough to keep it interesting. I always figured we’d have another go at the two of us recording together, this time without the interference of being perpetually off our heads! The thing about creating music is the ability to divine a thought or feeling even when reality says it’s a logical impossibility.”
JOE ROZUM IS IN ‘OVERDRIVE’
Joe Rozum originates from Wyomissing, PA….located 15 minutes outside of Reading, PA. Rozum is a graduate of Boston’s world renowned Berklee College of Music. The thrill of going to Berklee and living in Boston was certainly a fantastic four-year journey. At Berklee, Rozum was surrounded by music day and night in one of the most beautiful & historical cities in the country, not to mention all of the great Colleges, Universities and professional sports teams located there too.
Seamless fusion of smooth jazz and pop — this is what best reveals Joe Rozum as an artist and composer. His signature sound may be soothing piano ballads, but Rozum is well known for violin duets and performances with a full band. His music has inflections of cool blues, soundtrack themes, gospel, and a hint of classical, which come from many musical influences ranging all over the map … Billy Joel, Elton John, David Foster, Diane Warren, Yanni, Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Jim Brickman, Quincy Jones, Phil Vassar, Yolanda Adams, Oleta Adams Andre Crouch, Michael Jackson, James Taylor, Carole King, Earth, Wind and Fire, Gino Vanelli, Jamie Cullum, Lionel Ritchie, John Williams, Hans Zimmer & David Arnold. The list can probably go on and on with such great musicians… and of course the great music of Elvis and the Beatles.
Rozum's extensive background of songwriting in all genres includes composing for commercials and film. One current commercial that repeats in southern California throughout the year is for the Valley View Casino in San Diego, which uses a :30 spot from his song “Boogie Cookin”. Other songwriting projects include the Bruce Lee Jeet June Do video, the Hanna-Barbera cartoon titled Phish and Chip, a commercial for the local based Los Angeles / Santa Barbara Gift Store Jay’s Luggage, and music for the short film winner in the 1999 NY International Film Festival entitled Have A Perwinkle Day.
SHARON RAE NORTH – ‘HEART OF MINE’
The 6-year wait was well worth it as Sharon Rae North prepares to release her first full album, Silhouette, produced by mega-producers Chris “Big Dog” Davis and Paul Brown. The project’s new single, produced by Brown, is a beautiful, but more modern cover of "Heart of Mine", penned by Bobby Caldwell, Dennis Matkosky and Jason Scheff.
North said, “I remember Boz Scaggs singing 'Heart of Mine' in the late 1980s and thinking I would love to cover it one day because it’s such a poignant and beautiful song. That day has finally come.”
The day also has finally come for North to release a 10-song album. Silhouette is a beautiful mixture of originals and covers, with North and Davis collaborating on several with the writing and music. North masterfully manipulates her voice; at times she’s strong and powerful, then soft, sensual and even vulnerable. She understands the songs and makes sure listeners will too.
Silhouette is nearly 42 minutes of pure enjoyment. The first single, "Moments" (feat. Marion Meadows) dropped in 2019, pre-pandemic. After a hiatus, North worked virtually with Big Dog and Brown throughout 2021 and 2022 to complete the project.
"Sharon is unassuming and her smooth silky voice spins a musical web that captures you and makes you listen. Pure bliss!"
— "The Genie" Bola Sonola, Smooth 98.1 FM Lagos, Nigeria
ROBBEN FORD AND BILL EVANS ANNOUNCE 'COMMON GROUND'
MPS (EDEL) is proud to announce the release of the newest project by Robben Ford and Bill Evans, called ‘Common Ground’ on September 30th, 2022. The multiple times Grammy nominees Ford and Evans have shared the stage in Europe, North America and even Japan and already released a collaborative album called The Sun Room together in 2019 (earMUSIC). With the jazz rock album Common Ground they continue their creative relationship as Evans explains.
“Every now and then, like-minded musicians are able to get together in the studio or on the same stage and create interesting music together. It’s the blending of each other’s influences and styles, and the will to create something new and fresh that can turn this ‘creative meeting’ into something special. I believe myself and Robben share that same ideology. We both love all kinds of music whether it’s classic blues, soul, rock and roll, you name it. This openness to combine different kinds of music and create something musical and special is what brought me and Robben together in the first place. Robben composed some of the most inspiring music I’ve played in a long time. Our writing styles blend seamlessly.”
German singer Max Mutzke, who finds the kindest words for this collaboration. “When I was a little boy, I went to Bill Evans concerts with my father. I listened to his music over and over. Bill has always been a musical inspiration for me. Now he is my friend and that is an incredible joy for me. What a great person. At his request, I am singing a song on his and Robben’s album. It's a dream come true.”
Recorded in Nashville, the jazz rock album features a first-class rhythm section with bassist Darryl Jones (recording and touring with the Rolling Stones since 1993 and former sideman of Miles David and Sting) and drummer Keith Carlock (currently a touring member of Steely Dan). It was produced by Bill Evans and Clifford Carter, who also took over the piano and organ on the title track.
Robben Ford about the recording: “It’s always a great and sought-after pleasure to work with some of the best musicians in contemporary music, and making this record was for me one of those occasions. We have, each of us, worked with one another in different configurations in the past, so, there is a comfort level in that. But more importantly, everyone involved is a dedicated musician who’s first thought is to make the best music possible in any situation. Such a joy for me, personally, to play with these gents! Bill and I have worked quite a lot together over the past several years. But, the opportunity given to us by Edel to finally document the music has happily resulted in two recordings that we are very proud of the first being ‘Sun Room’ released on earMUSIC and now ‘Common Ground’ on MPS. I feel the music presented here is ‘fresh’ in both composition and performance with all of the musicians being versatile, true improvisers and having a strong sense of groove, as well. These are the qualities that make you want to play! I’m so happy to have been a part of what lead to this record.”
Robben Ford is an American rock, blues and jazz guitarist. Ex-member of fusion pioneers Yellowjackets, he is admired for his solo works but also known for his collaborations withgiants of music like Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, George Harrison and many others. He comes from a generation of Californian musicians who contributed to eliminate boundaries between different genres, often writing and performing timeless music that will stand the test of time.
Bill Evans is an American saxophonist, pianist and producer who has recorded 26 solo albums to date. He has played, toured and recorded with artists such as Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and John McLaughlin to name a few before spending the last 30 years touring with his own groups worldwide and receiving wide recognition as a true renaissance man.
Robben Ford – Guitar
Bill Evans – Saxophone, Keys
Darryl Jones – Bass
Keith Carlock – Drums
Produced by Bill Evans & Clifford Carter
BONEY JAMES ASKS US TO ‘BRING IT BACK’
Chart-topping jazz/R&B sax player Boney James released his new single “Bring It Back” featuring critically acclaimed composer, conductor, orchestrator, arranger, and trumpeter, Dontae Winslow. The track is now available via all streaming services and marks the first release from James’ forthcoming 18th studio album, Detour, out September 23rd on Concord Records. The new 10-song collection is a subtle stylistic turn that builds on the commercial success of 2020’s Solid, James’ highest charting release ever on the pop charts, peaking in the Top 10 on the Billboard 200.
Also featuring vocals from 5-time Grammy winner Lalah Hathway, Detour was recorded largely at Boney’s L.A. home studio (live drums and percussion were tracked at venerable Sunset Sound). The album was produced by Boney with co-production from in-demand writer/producer, Jairus “J-Mo” Mozee (Anderson.Paak, Nicki Minaj, Anthony Hamilton) among others. Additional musicians on the album are keyboardist Tim Carmon (Eric Clapton), longtime drummer Omari Williams and bassist Alex Al, renowned percussionist Lenny Castro and guitarists Big Mike Hart and Paul Jackson Jr.
“We’ve all been on a detour these last few years,” says Boney. “This album reflects how my music and I have been affected by the times we’re in.”
James is currently on the road for select dates across the U.S. which will take him well into 2023. Promising to bring James’ iconic 30-year career to the live stage, including selections from Detour, the multi-city trek will hit a number of major markets including Detroit, Hartford, Dallas, Nashville, and Los Angeles, where he is scheduled to headline the legendary Hollywood Bowl on August 28th. For further information on the tour, dates, and on-sale info please visit https://boneyjames.com/.
During his 30-year career, Boney James has released a staggering 18 studio albums – including a pair of Christmas records -with 1995’s Seduction, 1997’s Sweet Thing and 1999’s Body Language all RIAA certified gold. In 2015, Boney’s futuresoul spent 11 weeks atop the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart and was the best-selling Contemporary Jazz Record of 2015. Boney has earned four Grammy nominations (“I’m not gonna lie... I’d still love a statue,” he says), two NAACP Image Award nominations and a Soul Train Award, while a dozen of his albums have landed at #1 on Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Album chart. His collaborators in the past include a Who’s Who of R&B and soul: Raheem DeVaughn, Faith Evans, George Benson, George Duke, Dwele, Al Jarreau, Philip Bailey, Anthony Hamilton, Jaheim, Eric Benét, Dave Hollister, Stokley Williams, Kenny Lattimore and Angie Stone.
PURE DESMOND - 'PURE DESMOND PLAYS JAMES BOND SONGS' – NEW ALBUM BY GERMAN JAZZ QUARTET
PURE DESMOND
PURE DESMOND PLAYS JAMES BOND SONGS
new album
UK release date
24.02.23 (CD)
out now (digital)
(Major Music)
summer single
LA MER
out 25.07.22
“Pure Desmond create music that concentrates on the essentials, which, despite its cool mood, is of the highest intensity and dynamic and radiates far more than pure aesthetics. The timeless elegance of Paul Desmond's cool jazz experiences a new musical dimension with this brilliant quartet”
JAZZPODIUM
The German jazz quartet Pure Desmond formed in 2002 with the aim of bringing the original sound of ‘60s cool jazz (as exemplified by the legendary Paul Desmond) into the modern era through their own original compositions as well as adaptations of well-known songs. With a belief that ‘less is more’ leading them to focus on the melodies of whatever classic they might choose to tackle, the interaction between the four musicians is natural and never feels forced, helping to create an imaginative dynamic which is inherent in every single one of their performances.
The group have just interpreted the classic ‘La Mer’ by Charles Trenet for their fans as a soundtrack for the warm - or indeed, baking hot - summer holiday evenings by the sea that many of us have recently been enjoying. It can be heard HERE
Meanwhile, their new album, ‘Pure Desmond Plays James Bond Songs’, sees them take on one of the world’s most iconic oeuvres with a style and panache befitting of 007 himself. The zest for life of the sophisticated secret agent films with their scenes in glamorous casinos fits perfectly with the elegant classical jazz treatments offered by the quartet, with the range of compositions spanning the classic themes and songs of the 1960’s right through to 2020’s ‘No Time To Die’.
The likes of ‘From Russia With Love’ becomes an airy samba with a pinch of subtle humour as the sax player of the Dave Brubeck Quartet might have interpreted it, while ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ turns into a jazz ballad. The original 1962 James Bond theme is an instrumental big band arrangement with a clear jazz framework, of course, but that is not to denigrate songs such as ‘Die Another Day’ by Madonna or ‘You Know My Name’ by Chris Cornell, both of which are also classics of their time and genre and are treated as such by Pure Desmond.
Indeed, the quartet manage the balancing act between these many different musical worlds and combine them into something thoroughly new via their modern, cool, instrumental jazz arrangements. With these interpretations, Pure Desmond take the listener on a journey through the world of James Bond.
PURE DESMOND
Lorenz Hargassner – alto saxophone
Johann Weiss – guitar
Christian Flohr – double-bass
Sebastian Deufel – drums
JOSEPHINE ONIYAMA - 'HUMAN' – TITLE TRACK OF NEW EP BY SOULFUL BRITISH SINGER-SONGWRITER ALSO RELEASED AS A SINGLE
JOSEPHINE ONIYAMA
HUMAN
new single
out 22.07.22
(Sound Of Solar Records)
digital services
orcd.co/jhuman
‘Human’ is the title track of a new four song EP that has also been released today by the soulful singer-songwriter Josephine Oniyama, who was born and raised in Manchester but is now based in Liverpool. It follows the recent ‘Tears Will Never Be Mine’, which reintroduced her to fans after a period out of the solo spotlight and received airplay on Radio 2, BBC Merseyside and BBC Manchester.
Oniyama states that ‘Human’ is “literally about having someone else there with you, physically. Another human being in the room, talking to another face. Someone that can be touched and touch you back. A no phones and no screens reality.”
As for the subject matter of the EP as a whole, she adds that it is “about finding the things that link us together, rather than what divides us. Being kind and accepting, positive and brave. There seem to be more barriers than ever going up between each of us, so it's great to have put together something that celebrates bonds.”
Combining electronic and acoustic elements, ‘Human' reflects Oniyama's exploration in recent years of varied and diverse sounds; a period in which she has not only listened to powerful female artists such as Grace Jones, Lana Del Rey, Joanna Newsome and Alison Krauss, but has also rediscovered earlier influences like Ali Farka Touré, Bob Marley, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, all of whom had been inspirations when learning how to play guitar in her teens.
HUMAN EP
TRACKLISTING
1 Tears Will Never Be Mine
2 Human
3 Electrically You
4 Numbers
‘Human' will be followed in the autumn by Oniyama's third album, her long-awaited follow-up to 2012’s ‘Portrait’, which was issued to stunning reviews across the UK media. Praised for its fusion of folk, soul and jazz, songs from it were A-listed at BBC Radio 2, while there was further playlist support from 6 Music, XFM and Jazz FM. Oniyama also performed on Later With Jools Holland, The Andrew Marr Show, Saturday Night Live (Ireland) and a number of mainland European TV shows, while two extensive headlining tours were further backed up with appearances at major festivals (Glastonbury, Latitude, T In The Park, Electric Picnic) and high profile slots with Paloma Faith, Madeleine Peyroux, Michael Kiwanuka and Paolo Nutini.
The praise for ‘Portrait’ also saw Oniyama recognised by a diverse selection of her peers, leading to collaborations in the mid-2010’s with Travis (with whom she recorded the song ‘Idlewild’) and jazz producer/trumpeter Matthew Halsall (she co-wrote three songs for his acclaimed ‘Into Forever’ album). More recently, she was commissioned to create two live scores for the launch of HOME, the Manchester international contemporary arts centre: 'Celluloid History Songs’ was a set of new songs written to accompany silent footage from the North West Film Archive, and the centenary of the classic occult documentary ‘Haxan: Witchcraft Through The Ages’ was given an ambitious new score by Oniyama and students from the University of Salford. Fusing song-based and electro-acoustic sounds, it has further expanded her creative ideas and skills as a songwriter, arranger and sound artist.
Oniyama has also spent time earning an MA degree in English and became a mother while writing and recording her new EP and album.
PORTRAIT
UK REVIEWS
"A versatile and substantial new talent“ MOJO
“An original, unfolding talent“ UNCUT
“Wonderful, uplifting, euphoric soulful gems“ SUNDAY TIMES
“Her voice is fabulous and different“ EVENING STANDARD
“Stunning newcomer“ SUN
“Striking talent“ MIRROR
“A timeless, distinctive and soulful voice” MUSIC WEEK
josephineoniyama.com
facebook.com/thisisjosephine
twitter.com/thisisjosephine
instagram.com/josephineoniyama
DAN ALAN LEVINE FT. KIM SCOTT ON ‘OUR KIND OF LOVE’
Dan Alan Levine was born and raised in the suburbs of New York and graduated from The Manhattan School of Music in NYC. Early in his career, Dan composed and arranged freelance big band charts for The Dick Cavett Show, and arranged, orchestrated, and/or composed background music for TV game shows including I’ve Got A Secret, and the theme song for What's My Line. Dan received numerous awards for his many commercials, and music for radio/TV stations through the years. His 80’s hit, "Big Band Meledy", reached #19 on the Billboard charts and was the most requested new record in NYC for three weeks. An album followed.
Dan received a Tony Award nomination (best original score) for composing the score of the Broadway Musical, Anna Karenina (aka Daniel Levine). The show received four Tony Award nominations, and was performed in Chicago, and to sold-out audiences in nine Japanese cities….3 separate times. Dan orchestrated and produced the Broadway Cast Album staring Melissa Errico, Kerry Butler, Gregg Edelman, Marc Kudish, Brian D’arcy James, and Jeff McCarthy. A Japanese cast recording and DVD were also produced. Dan orchestrated the music for the Japanese production of Anna Karenina.
Dan arranged/orchestrated/produced and played keyboards on the Leslie Uggams album, On My Way To You. He worked on that album in conjunction with some of the music industry’s leading legends including Marilyn and Alan Bergman, Jon Lucien, and Michel Legrand who sang on the album. Dan produced the Off-Broadway cast recording of Thunder Knocking On The Door, and original blues musical written by acclaimed writer Keb’Mo, along with Anderson Edwards, and Keith Glover.
Presently, Dan is creating an exciting array of new music for various artists in collaboration with among others, lyricists Jack DePietro and Ann Hampton Callaway. Dan is also about to release his first smooth jazz album, OVER THE MOON on which he is both composer and keyboard artist, with the first single entitled “OUR KIND OF LOVE” featuring flautist Kim Scott.
TERRELL EDWARDS IS ‘100%’
Referred to as “the perfect blend between Sinatra and Motown”, crooning sensation Terrell Edwards style of music is that organic blend which becomes the soundtrack to moments in your life that evokes the fondest of memories.
Terrell took to the stage as an adult contemporary artist. The smooth, but explosive tunes is what got the attention of legendary Tonight Show host Jay Leno. Within days of being introduced to Jay Leno, Edwards was invited to Las Vegas to work alongside the legend. Terrell and the Tri City Rat Pack spent the next few years opening for the icon at the Mirage Hotel.
Terrell’s long-awaited solo project “Unchained” was released in 2018, showing his resurgence as a soul singer and in the same year he was nominated for the “Live Entertainer of the Year”.
Beyond music, Terrell is a true philanthropist in many charitable organizations. One of his passions lie with The Reach Mission Foundation, which was founded by Edwards and brings aid and awareness to International poverty relief, and also provides financial support to local youth initiatives.
The other organization that receives a lot of attention and financial support from Terrell is the Alzheimer’s Society. Terrell hopes to inspire people in everything that he is blessed to be a part of. He’s having the time of his life! Everybody deserves that opportunity!
JESSY J DOES THE ‘DANCE BEAT’
What do you do after celebrating over a decade as one of contemporary jazz’s top saxophonists, known for your trademark blend of sensual Latin tinged powerful horn playing which garnered 12 top singles and 6 chart topping albums? You tap into your longtime love for the vibrant soul and blues energies of the 60s and 70’s to release your first studio album in six years BLUE, an album of original songs totally stylistically different from your previous recordings as evidenced by the cover art reminiscent of some of the great albums of that era.
Born in Oregon and raised in southern California of Hispanic heritage, Jessy J is grateful that her Hispanic fans have been inspired by her love of these musical roots. A jazz studies graduate from USC, Jessy paved the way for her success recording with Michael Buble and touring with Jessica Simpson, The Temptations and Michael Bolton.
Starting with the immediate #1 Billboard chart success with the title track from her debut album Tequila Moon, the powerhouse saxophonist cemented her rising stardom touring with contemporary jazz greats like Lorber, Gerald Albright, Euge Groove and Peter White, She is seen regularly performing on the hit television competition shows “American Idol,’ “The Voice” and “Dancing with the Stars,’ and in more recent years has toured with Anita Baker, recorded with Robin Thicke and contributed as composer/performer to the albums of two members of Chance the Rapper’s band - the GRAMMY® nominated Intellexual album and The Juju Exchange’s Exchange.
In conjunction with the release of BLUE Jessy embarks on a U.S. tour throughout the spring and summer. She will also be releasing California Christmas Vol. 2 for the 2022 holiday season.
“Writing and recording BLUE was an extraordinary experience,” says Jessy. “I have missed the connection with my fans so much these past two years. On every level--physical, emotional, spiritual – music plays such an important role in healing us. It’s like therapy, making everything in life so much better and healthier.”
Multi-instrumentalist Thiago Pinheiro contributed his keyboards, strings, drums and percussion programming on the new single “Dance Beat” from Brazil.
INFLUENTIAL JAZZ FUSION BASSIST AND R&B SINGER MICHAEL HENDERSON DIED
Jazz fusion bassist and R&B singer Michael Henderson has died. He was 71. The news was confirmed on the performer’s official Facebook page. Henderson was known for his work with Miles Davis in the 1970s and played on his early fusion albums Jack Johnson (1971), Live-Evil (1971), and Agharta (1975).
Henderson’s Facebook page was updated tonight with a confirmation of the singer’s passing.
Singer, Songwriter, Bass Innovator, Music Producer, Father and Son Michael Henderson has peacefully made his transition surrounded by family and loved ones today at his home, Atlanta Georgia… Bless his heart and soul… He touched the lives of many and returned that love through his many live concerts, music recordings, social media, interviews and incessant touring which he loved… Please stay posted for details pertaining to The Michael Henderson “Celebration of Life”..
Henderson was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi. In the early ’60s, he moved to Detroit to play as a session musician. Over the course of his career, he played with Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, the Dramatics, and many others. He also released a number of solo albums, beginning with 1976’s Gold. His final solo album was 1986’s Bedtime Stories.
SOUL-JAZZ VOCALIST RICKY ALAN DRAUGHN DELIVERS A TIMELY TRIBUTE TO WOMEN
His reimagined “When You Love A Woman” is currently collecting playlist adds.
NEW HAVEN (19 July 2022): Advocating systemic change when civil unrest erupted in the midst of a pandemic and economic uncertainty two years ago, R&B-jazz balladeer Ricky Alan Draughn teamed with two-time Grammy nominated produced Chris “Big Dog” Davis (Norman Brown, Will Downing, Najee) and urban-jazz saxophonist Kim Waters to record a timely version of Sam Cooke’s poignant “A Change Is Gonna Come.” On the heels of the recent Supreme Court decision that impedes women’s rights, Draughn dropped another aptly timed musical statement, this one celebrating women in the form of the new single “When You Love A Woman,” produced by Billboard hitmaker Adam Hawley.
The 1988 power pop ballad written and recorded by Journey serves as Draughn’s source material. Anchored by the crooner’s emotive tenor vocals, Draughn belts out an impassioned salute amidst a throwback adult contemporary track featuring a grandiose gospel choir (Kevin Monroe & Devotion), sweeping strings and Hawley’s piercing electric guitar solo. The cinematic single illumined by cascading melodies and Draughn’s emotional fervor was one of the most added new singles last week on the Billboard BDS chart.
“I wanted the song to celebrate women and to be played as a backdrop to honor that special female. I wanted to bring back a memory of simpler days with a refreshing reboot of a classic tune. I’ve always loved that 1980’s soft rock era, when a song had a lyrical composition that was just as impactful as the melody. ‘When You Love a Woman’ was such a song. We arranged the background vocals specifically to allow for general interpretation and not just for a romantic relationship. My hope is that the single becomes an anthem in the wake of women’s rights currently being threatened,” said Draughn, who released an accompanying video for the single directed by Edwin Escobar.
While the single is brand new, Draughn has been performing the song in concert with his twelve-piece band for years. He usually closes his sets with it, bringing down the house with his captivating performance, making it one of his most requested songs.
Tapping Hawley to bring his vision for “When You Love A Woman” to life proved to be a perfect match for Draughn.
“Adam and I got together, and he was almost completing my thoughts. It was like we’ve known each other forever. He is an incredible musician and a pleasure to work with. As a result, the song came together very quickly. He understood the assignment, maintained the song's integrity and left the song intact, ready for my signature vocal arrangements. Adam brought in Carnell Harrell on synths and Dan Needham on drums, and it was magical - that timeless 80's sound was successfully captured,” said Draughn about the first single from his forthcoming debut album, “Genesis 8:5,” which he aims to release first quarter next year.
Hawley is producing the majority of “Genesis 8:5,” including what Draughn expects will be his next single, “Relentless,” an upbeat original written by the singer that he describes as having “sort of a neo soul vibe, very danceable.” The album will be eclectic in terms of variety, reflecting Draughn’s stylistic range and sphere of influence. He’s composing most of the music although he anticipates there will also be several collaborations.
Mixing jazz, R&B, pop and gospel, Draughn emerged from singing with prominent gospel groups such as Mighty Clouds of Joy and Mississippi Mass Choir. He’s performed at marquee venues, from the Blue Note to the Apollo Theater, and has shared the stage with R&B, funk and jazz stars, including George Clinton, Chaka Khan, Shirley Murdock, Jodeci, The Whispers, Macy Gray, War, Nancy Wilson, Lou Rawls, Wilson Pickett, Marion Meadows and Alex Bugnon, among others.
For more information, please visit https://rickyalandraughn.com.
'I WENT FROM LIVING ON THE STREETS TO BROKERING A $100 MILLION DEAL WITH DISNEY-PIXAR AND SGI’ WITHOUT A HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION – MICHAEL TINHOLME
Meet Michael Tinholme, Your Favourite Musician’s Favourite Singer-Songwriter
(CAMBRIDGE, CAMBRIDGESHIRE, 21 JUNE 2022) Working alongside David Bowie and Michael Jackson’s collaborators. Being an artist with worldwide airplay. Brokering a hundred-million-dollar deal with Disney-Pixar and SGI without any formal education. Any one of these things would be almost impossible for anyone, but singer-songwriter Michael Tinholme overcame the most impossible odds to make all of these a reality…
As a child Michael was adopted into a turbulent household. With his father often away as a Lieutenant in the army, and his mother suffering from serious mental health issues, Michael had to battle through abuse and care for his younger siblings. Michael found sanctuary and the freedom to pursue his dreams of making music in the club The Four Muses, who brought him on as an opening act for legendary artists such as Bill Medley, Melody and Jennifer Warren. Michael Tinholme found a friendship and mentor under the wing of Scatman Carruthers (Chico and the Man, The Shining).
Unfortunately, things reached a breaking point when Michael had to leave home days before his 16th birthday, starting his 6-year stretch of self-exile and homelessness. He hitchhiked up and down the 5 Freeway in California and the Pacific Coast Highway, panhandling, dishwashing, and doing day labour. Eventually he had to steal to feed himself and became self-destructive. Aged 20, he met a former pimp by the name of Fast Eddie Valentine who saw potential in Michael and who got him accommodations and helped him back on his feet.
With no high school diploma, and having faked graduating, Michael worked for free as a computer salesman, quickly working his way up and within a few years he became part of America’s technology revolution. Despite his rough background, Michael went on to be one of the first to sell industrial robots in California, and was one of the first to consult with General Dynamics following the Challenger disaster. He eventually graduated to selling ‘Silicone Graphic’ workstations and CGI software to Pixar, and Industrial Light and Magic, the tools needed for their major motion picture Toy Story and many others, contributing to the change of the media landscape. A $100M deal for Disney Burbank, one of the largest orders of its kind.
Armed with success, Michael returned to his true passion – music. Despite playing his first professional show aged 12, Michael released his first CD decades later with – ‘The House of Jazz’. Conducting the orchestra on Michael’s first album was legendary Bruce Fowler, conductor of the largest movie symphony orchestra to date for, ‘The Dark Knight’.
Since then, Michael has released 15 singles and 4 albums. Throughout he has become close friends and collaborated with the likes of Mike Garson (pianist – Davie Bowie, Trent Reznor), Steve Lukather (guitarist – Toto, Michael Jackson, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney), Bill Cunliffe (pianist – Bette Midler, Quincy Jones), and a whole host more.
Michael Tinholme’s catalogue has enjoyed airplay across UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Caribbean, China, and more, and has seen him featured across USA Today, The BBC, and TalkTV.
Michael’s story is a true testament to the strength of the human spirit and one man’s love for music. It is hard to believe that given Michael’s turbulent upbringing and years on the streets, that he has been able to impact the modern pop culture landscape so significantly. With a listen to his music, we think you will see what makes him your favourite musician’s favourite singer-songwriter.
“Michael Tinholme’s Story is the stuff dreams are made of or Legends. It’s the stuff that happens in Movies”
Tom Berg - USA Today
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michael.tinholme
Website: https://www.michaeltinholme.com/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7rAPp8eMSm3GztVxhrqaiY?si=TCxOZ1aGRaeIxRSBLdnYIw
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/search?q=michael%20tinholme
Youtube: : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMLJstQr34hXbtBsJmVeHAA
HEATHER NOVA’S FIRST COVERS ALBUM ‘OTHER SHORES’
HEATHER NOVA
New Album "Other Shores"
RELEASE 26 AUGUST 2022
Following 2019's critically acclaimed Pearl, which saw her return to her rockier roots and Oyster producer Youth, Heather Nova is releasing her first covers album, Other Shores, out August 26th.
The charming singer/songwriter has always liked to sprinkle a cover version or two into her live sets, from artists like Neil Young, Chris Isaak or Nick Cave. The singles released so far, such as "Waiting For A Girl Like You" (Foreigner), "Don't Stop Believing" (Journey) ,”Never Gonna Give You Up" (Rick Astley) "Here Comes Your Man" (Pixies) and “Fireproof” (The National) already indicate the musical journey of this album; Heather is distilling these songs; removing unnecessary ballast and using only the framework and the soul of the lyrics, to give them new life with the sparsest instrumentation and her unique and ethereal voice.
“I’m first and foremost a songwriter, but I’ve discovered I also enjoy being an interpreter sometimes: For me, recording a cover is all about stripping away the original production, to find the bare bones of the song. I love the process of getting right inside the emotion of the song, feeling it as my own, and presenting it in a new, more raw and intimate form. I’m fascinated by how songs written by men feel very different when sung by a woman.” says Heather Nova.
It's exciting to hear what the likeable artist has made of other well-known hits like "Jealous Guy" (Roxy Music) and Neil Young's "Like A Hurricane". You know the songs, but you discover them in a completely new way at the same time. Very intimately arranged, and with the melancholy typical of Heather Nova and her emotional sensitivity, these versions have an almost palpable fragility. "Other Shores" includes 13 reinterpretations and ends - fittingly for Heather Nova - with "Sailing" (Rod Stewart).
Tracklist
01 - Waiting For A Girl Like You
02 - Jealous Guy
03 - Stayin' Alive
04 - Fireproof
05 - Never Gonna Give You Up
06 - Don't Stop Believing
07 - Here Comes Your Man
08 - Fragile
09 - Like A Hurricane
10 - Cold Little Heart
11 - Ever Fallen In Love
12 - Message Personnel
13 - Sailing
Belgian concerts
10/10/22 Het Depot, Leuven
12/10/22 Stadsschouwburg, Kortrijk
13/10/22 Den Amer, Diest
14/10/22 CC, Evergem
15/10/22 De Velinx, Tongeren
16/10/22 De Singer, Rijkevorsel
Heather Nova online
Website | Instagram | Facebook
DEXTER WANSEL FEAT. DAMON WILLIAMS – THIS IS MY STORY
‘This Is My Story’ is the brand-new song from the critically acclaimed smooth Jazz album, which was released last year called ‘The Story of the Flight Crew to Mars’. It brings a powerful emotionally charged composition produced and arranged by Jazz legend Dexter Wansel. It also features one of Philly’s most respected top vocalist, Mr Damon Williams who contributes an outstanding performance on the music video. The song shall be released this coming August in conjunction with the Sound of Philadelphia 50th anniversary tour which begins in the UK.
Artist Name : Dexter Wansel feat Damon Williams - https://g.co/kgs/U2x8Si
Song Title : This is My Story
Website : https://www.dexterwansel.com
Genre : Jazz/Soul/RNB
Location : United Kingdom
Release Date: 04-Aug-2022
Catalogue ID: DJ0108
UPC: 829282000801
Release Format: Single
Territory: Worldwide
P-Line: 2022 Digital Jukebox Records
C-Line: 2022 Digital Jukebox Records
Recording Location : United Kingdom
ITunes, EMusic, Inc All Major music outlets worldwide
Publishing Company : Digital Jukebox Recordings, UK - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Jukebox_Records
Distributed by Sony/The Orchard, New York USA
GEOFF MULDAUR - 'HIS LAST LETTER' – GENRE SPANNING NEW DOUBLE ALBUM BY AMERICANA LEGEND
GEOFF MULDAUR photographs by Sacha de Boer
GEOFF MULDAUR
HIS LAST LETTER
new album
2xLP box set / 2xCD book
UK release date
30.09.22
(Moon River Music)
includes the singles
BLACK HORSE BLUES audio
THE WHALE HAS SWALLOWED ME audio
&
OCTET IN THREE MOVEMENTS (EP)
pt II HIS LAST LETTER audio
out 15.07.22
“Geoff has always been one of my favourite singers”
Bonnie Raitt
“Someone I’ve always admired from afar”
John Cale
“There are only three white blues singers - Geoff Muldaur is at least two of them”
Richard Thompson
"Bob Dylan didn't want to be Woody Guthrie. He wanted to be Geoff Muldaur. Geoff was the Big Man on Campus. He still is"
Van Dyke Parks
‘His Last Letter’ is the most ambitious project ever undertaken by the Americana legend Geoff Muldaur; an 18 song tour de force in a long line of highly-acclaimed recordings by this venerable and highly respected musician. Recorded in the Netherlands, Muldaur takes us on a wide-ranging musical journey, collaborating with some of the finest classical and jazz musicians in that country to present stylish renderings of tunes from the American folk and jazz ‘songbag’, musical settings for the poems of Tennessee Williams, tributes to heroes such as Jelly Roll Morton and Duke Ellington, plus original compositions.
These recordings are available in high-end packages that include a 2xCD with book and a 2xLP box set with a 12”x12” book that includes photos, a foreword by composer David Amram, plus extensive track-by-track notes and personal stories by Muldaur. A true collector’s item, ‘His Last Letter’ will appeal in particular to listeners with an interest in American culture of the 1960s/70s, while its musical mix of classical, jazz, blues and Americana is the very epitome of ‘eclectic’. It also serves as an impressive retrospective of what has been a fulfilling career, a refreshing and vibrant modern classical/crossover mix that profiles Muldaur as an ever-creative artist who remains committed to developing his favourite music into the future.
Muldaur first had the idea of recording some chamber works he had been working on - pieces for violin, cello, clarinet, bassoon and French horn - in the late ‘00s, and for the next ten years found himself crossing the pond 2-3 times a year to rehearse and record in Amsterdam.
Producer Gert-Jan Blom soon came on board and utilised his address book to find the most skilled musicians, studios and engineers in the country, with Muldaur recalling that “as my arrangements and compositions evolved and different ensembles were needed, we found key players from the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Residence Orchestra of the Hague, the Asko | Schönberg Ensemble and Metropole Orkest. We also engaged freelancers on a variety of instruments, including our fine mezzo-soprano Claron McFadden.” McFadden shines on ‘My Little One’ (a musical setting for a Tennessee Williams poem) and especially on the album title track, which appears as the second movement of Muldaur’s own ‘Octet in Three Movements’ for soprano, string quartet and wind instruments.
The genesis of ‘The Last Letter’ dates back to 1977 when Muldaur found a box at his family home that contained a newspaper article from almost a century before about the sinking of the USS Oneida in Yokohama harbour. The ship’s Lieutenant Commander was his great-grandfather. Years later, in 2012, Muldaur received another box of historical records, “this time from the estate of my cousin. In it were letters sent from Japan by my great-grandfather to his wife in New Jersey. Among them was a love letter written the day before the USS Oneida left Tokyo for home.” As the ship left Tokyo Bay in heavy fog, it was rammed, sunk and abandoned by a British steamer out of its lane. Letters from survivors and military officers, newspaper articles and a US Senate report described the event. ‘His Last Letter’ was conceived from these sources.
"'The white man cannot vocal the blues', said the blues singer Muddy Waters with grave finality, and his maxim has only rarely been disproved. One of the few white vocalists to tackle effectively black folk-music idioms - country blues, gospel, early rhythm-and-blues - Geoff Muldaur succeeds not because he copies the timbre and inflections of a down-home African-American but because his voice - reedy, quavering, otherworldly - is so unusual that the 1920's and '30s blues he sings become little more than a context, a jumping-off point. As steeped as he is in the music of Skip James, Sleepy John Estes and Lead Belly, Muldaur has never sounded anything other than utterly individual”
NEW YORK TIMES
GEOFF MULDAUR - brief biography
Geoff Muldaur is not only one of the great voices and musical forces to emerge from the folk, blues and folk-rock scenes that emanated from the US East Coast over half a century ago, but he also lived in the legendary Woodstock for many years and played at the Newport Folk Festival several times when the original Americana/folk genre was at its height.
During the 1960s and '70s, he made a series of highly influential recordings as a founder member of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band and later with Paul Butterfield's Better Days group, as well as collaborations with then-wife Maria Muldaur and notables such as Bonnie Raitt, Eric Von Schmidt, Dr. John, Phil Everly and Jerry Garcia.
During the ’80s, he composed scores for film/TV and produced off-beat albums for the likes of Lenny Pickett and the Borneo Horns and the Richard Greene String Quartet. Muldaur’s definitive recording of ‘Brazil’ provided the seed for - and was featured in - Terry Gilliam's film of the same title. Composing has been his path ever since, with ensuing releases featuring uniquely crafted interpretations of classic (and often obscure) American material as well as his own unique compositions.
geoffmuldaur.com
facebook.com/geoffmuldaur
twitter.com/geoffmuldaur
moonrivermusic.com
REGGIE C. – ‘JOURNEY BACK HOME’
While Reggie C, the Fayetteville, NC native may be new on some people’s radars, he is actually no stranger to music. Reggie has been performing and recording for over a decade, with nine previous albums to his credit. The towering company he keeps powerfully confirms Reggie’s emergence in smooth jazz circles. His latest album titled, Always in Motion, features #1 recording artist NILS’ (who produced the project, composed some of these wildly infectious pieces, and lends his slick guitar, bass, keyboards and drum programming), to keyboard master Jeff Lorber, and the late, great R&B/jazz drummer icon, Ricky Lawson. Even more impressive is the glorious father/son horns of Reggie and his trumpeter dad Ray, whose tandem magic drives the emotion of most of the tracks.
Throughout his career, the soprano saxophone player has also opened for numerous music legends, including Ramsey Lewis, keyboardist Kevin Toney, and Frankie Beverly & Maze and Charlie Wilson. Perhaps the most notable of these for the North Carolina native was receiving an invitation to perform at the Inaugural Ball in Washington, DC, January 2012. Codrington also played at the star studded Black Caucus Ball in Washington, DC, and was later invited to perform jazz, gospel, and Christian rock music at eight concerts in villages in Guatemala, followed by another performance in Antigua. Always on the go and in demand, Reggie has since performed at various jazz concerts, festivals, and venues. Like many veteran recording artists who have taken many recordings to break through, Reggie has survived his share of disappointments in the music industry, even as he has made a living performing for many years. That commitment to overcoming obstacles stems from the difficulties in his childhood of dealing with Ataxic Cerebral Palsy (ACP), a chronic condition that affects muscle coordination and depth perception. Receiving a curved soprano sax on his 18th birthday led to a major transformation, offering Reggie a comfortable way to play that he had not previously experienced. “Something magical happened, and I knew I had found my niche,” he says. “I fell in love.”
Throughout the journey of writing and recording Always in Motion, NILS’ – whose crackling lead and rhythm guitar lines complement Codrington’s trademark soprano and occasional alto/soprano lead melodic lines - was able to grant Codrington’s “wish list” of collaborators. The groove-packed 10 track set includes keyboardist Jeff Lorber, some of the last sessions ever by the late drum legend Ricky Lawson, trumpeter Johnny Britt, bassist Reggie McBride and drummer Joey Heredia. “I always loved NILS’ music and thought this would be the perfect time to do something different from the past,” says Reggie. He goes on to say, “NILS’ really pushed me beyond what I thought I could do emotionally. In the past, I might run through a solo once and be satisfied, but NILS' would say, I think you have another one in you! Along with his sonic expertise, this kind of work ethic gave this album something fresh, a new vibe that is helping me evolve as an artist in ways I never expected.”
Reggie Codrington’s masterful blend of smooth jazz, old school soul, and elements of contemporary funk is nothing short of brilliant. To experience his musical flavor is to understand his popularity, and know why he is one of the most requested jazz artists on the scene today.
MARK ETHEREDGE – LOVE PLANET
With its swanky, sassy four-on-the-floor groove, “Love Planet” was composed by Etheredge and features the artist on piano and synthesizers, supported by guitarists Paul Brown and Jay Gore, bassist Roberto Vally, drummer Joel Taylor, and percussionist Lenny Castro. The horn section is comprised of Ron King (trumpet, flugelhorn, horn arrangement) and saxophonist Greg Vail.
“‘Love Planet’ is about love for each other, as well as self-love. I was taught growing up that everyone is born with a sense of goodness, and I still believe it’s true. And that goodness is totally inclusive. With all the craziness on this planet, it’s easy to lose sight of that. These days, I wake up asking, ‘What can I do to be more loving today?’” said Etheredge.
Etheredge’s most notable radio single, “Connected,” ranked No. 6 on Billboard's Smooth Jazz Chart. Subsequent singles include “Roger That,” “Resonance,” and “You&Me&We.”
"Love Planet"
Produced by Paul Brown
Session engineer: Carmen Grillo
Mark Etheredge - piano, synthesizers
Paul Brown - electric guitar
Jay Gore - electric guitar
Roberto Vally - electric bass
Joel Taylor - drums
Lenny Castro - percussion
Ron King - trumpet, flugel horn, horn arrangements
Greg Vail - tenor & baritone saxophones
JAZZ-R&B GUITARIST BLAKE AARON “DREAMS” HIS WAY TO No. 1
The sizzling summer single that he wrote with hitmaker Adam Hawley topped five charts simultaneously.
ALISO VIEJO (13 July 2022): Guitarist Blake Aaron is living the dream. Writing, producing, recording and performing music all over the world at the highest level, he just notched his fifth Billboard number one single as a solo artist. The scintillating summer smash that he wrote with chart-topper Adam Hawley, “Dreamland” went number one on five national charts simultaneously: Billboard, Groove Jazz Music, Mediabase, Radiowave and Smooth Jazz Network. The Innervision Records single is the second consecutive release to go number one from Aaron’s forthcoming seventh album, “Love and Rhythm.”
“I set out to create a song that captures the imagination, excitement, fun and unbridled curiosity of a dream come true," said Aaron whose dexterous electric jazz guitar was accompanied on the energizing track by Hawley (rhythm guitar and keyboards), drummer Eric Valentine (who recently topped the Billboard chart with his own single), bassist Mel Brown, saxophonist and horn arranger David Mann, and trumpeter Trevor Neumann.
Together, Aaron and Hawley scored a number one last year with Aaron’s single “Sunday Strut,” which topped four charts, including Billboard. Although Aaron has produced number one singles for himself as well as for other artists, he realizes the benefits of teaming with Hawley, a consistent chart-topper both as a solo artist and as a producer.
“Working with another Billboard number one producer inspired ideas and concepts that I may not have thought of on my own. Having a writing and production partner whom I respect but has a different style than mine opens up new musical and creative doors through different approaches and compromises. Utilizing a producer to challenge an artist to go to another level with an idea they may have thought was already ‘making the cut’ or conversely, encouraging the artist to run with an idea they were ready to throw out, can take the song in a whole new direction,” said Aaron.
Aaron hopes to continue the success that he and Hawley share by collaborating. In May, they locked themselves away in Hawley’s studio and didn’t emerge until they recorded rough mixes for two more singles.
“In the internet age when most artists are collaborating online, Adam and I have found a certain magic of writing ‘old school’ by actually meeting in the studio, locking the door and not leaving until we have a fully recorded rough mix of a hit single,” said Aaron who plans to drop the next single crafted during their recent session on September 19.
Aaron has a proven track record of recording more than a handful of hit singles before bundling them as an album. Initially, it was an approach that came out of necessity for the time crunched artist – he’s also a first-call studio musician who has composed and produced music for television and film – but as the music industry has changed and evolved, now it’s a chosen path that helps him reach more listeners via Spotify. The coronavirus quarantine allowed him time to finish and release his last album, “Color and Passion,” in 2020, which spawned three Billboard number one singles.
“We’ll probably have enough music ready to release ‘Love and Rhythm’ next year.”
Catch Blake Aaron on tour in the following cities (additional dates may be added):
August 20 Tyron, NC Mountain Brook Vineyards Wine & Jazz Fest
August 21 San Diego, CA Humphrey’s Backstage Live
August 27 Melbourne, FL The Maxwell C. King Center
August 28 Largo, FL Central Park Performing Arts Center
September 5 Atlanta, GA City Winery Atlanta
September 10 Oxnard, CA Oxnard Jazz Festival
September 11 Temecula, CA Rhythm on the Vine Concert Series
October 20 Avalon, CA Catalina Island JazzTrax Festival
October 23 Galveston, TX BillyRay Sheppard’s Smooth Jazz Cruise
October 31 Sa Coma, Spain Mallorca Smooth Jazz Festival
For more information, please visit https://www.blakeaaron.com.
TOMMY DAVIDSON (FEAT. RICHARD ELLIOT) - ‘I KNOW’ (One Song Entertainment)
Back with a follow-up to his recent well-received single "Sweet Reunion", Tommy brings a well produced treat featuring some pretty impressive singers and instrumentalists to the table, on "I Know". Co-produced by Tommy and Chris Davis, and with stellar guest appearances by Selena Albright (singing some exquisite background vocals), and none other than Richard Elliot on an inspired sax ride, this one has a lot going for it. Add to that a tremendous horn arrangement by Andrew Neu, and you have an exciting platform for Tommy to continue his artistic development as a vocalist.
PAULA ATHERTON - ‘READY OR NOT’ (Dream On Records)
One of the reigning queens of smooth jazz sax, Paula is back again with a very radio-friendly tune, produced and co-written by Adam Hawley. With its upbeat and dare I say happy melody, punctuated by a memorable hook, Paula shines again on what sounds like another winner for her.
ROHAN REID – ‘RAZZLE DUB’
Widely recognized as one of the premier bass players in the reggae and international music worlds, Rohan has also found a home on contemporary jazz stations for the last several years.
His new single "Razzle Dub", with its cool island feel, is an authentic representation of Rohan's natural artistic voice.
His bio offers some more info on this tremendous player: https://www.rohanreidmusic.com/bio
DUSTBOWL REVIVAL – ON TOUR IN THE UK FROM LATE JULY - 'LYING TO MYSELF’ – BRAND NEW SINGLE
DUSTBOWL REVIVAL - 2022 photo by Ulf Bjorlin
DUSTBOWL REVIVAL
UK TOUR 2022
28.07.22 LONDON Nell’s tickets
29.07.22 CAMBRIDGE Folk Festival (stage 1) tickets
30.07.22 CAMBRIDGE Folk Festival (stage 2)
31.07.22 BARNSLEY Underneath The Stars Festival tickets
01.08.22 BRISTOL Redgrave Theatre tickets
02.08.22 SHOREHAM-BY-SEA Ropetackle Arts Centre tickets
03.08.22 SNAPE Maltings tickets
brand new single
LYING TO MYSELF
out 15.07.22
(AntiFragile Music)
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Los Angeles-based Dustbowl Revival are all about pushing the boundaries of American roots music, specialising in uplifting folk-rock ballads that often tilt into joyful soul songs. Lead singer and songwriter Z. Lupetin (who is also a playwright) has recently been taking the band in additional new directions, mixing in elements of theatre and creating songs that are lushly orchestrated and cinematic in feel.
The group’s most recent album, ‘Is It You, Is It Me’, was released in early 2020 and saw them expanding beyond their already genre-defying style to incorporate everything from folk to funk to New Orleans swing and more. Infused with subtle pop sensibilities that enhanced their infectious sound, it earned plaudits from numerous UK publications and airplay on several BBC stations.
Having now emerged from an enforced touring hiatus, founding members Lupetin, Josh Heffernan and Ulf Bjorlin are excited to welcome a new wave of talent to their ever-evolving group who will be introduced to UK fans on a set of dates either side of a highly anticipated appearance at the Cambridge Folk Festival in late July.
A first single featuring the reconfigured line-up entitled ‘Lying To Myself’ will also be released in the middle of the month, which Lupetin describes as “a dark love-song led by dreamy harmony vocals, an aching pedal steel guitar and a galloping beat. In many ways it was inspired by Chris Isaak’s haunting classic ‘Wicked Game’ and Milky Chance’s moody dance hit ‘Stolen Dance’. Based on the end of a romantic entanglement, it focuses on the stories we tell ourselves when one person can’t accept that the other is leaving. Love, obsession, infidelity, sharing a dog - it all gets complicated. Fall in and out of love in your twisty twenties? This one is for you.”
Dustbowl Revival began in 2009 when Chicagoan Lupetin arrived in L.A. as an aspiring screenwriter, swiftly grew disillusioned with his job in advertising, and placed an online ad seeking musicians who not only shared his love of Louis Armstrong, Old Crow Medicine Show, Paul Simon, Aretha Franklin and the brass bands of New Orleans, but who also wanted to craft songs like Americana pioneers Wilco, Lucinda Williams and Bruce Springsteen.
current album
IS IT YOU, IS IT ME
digital services
orcd.co/isityouisitme
UK REVIEWS
“There’s just so much to admire. The group don’t shy from key topics and that should be applauded. It has also led to them creating an album of a very high standard ****”
MAVERICK
“A wonderful collection of soulful, melodic songs. Astonishing on so many levels ****”
RNR MAGAZINE
“Classy lyrics and beautiful harmonies. There are so many layers that it keeps the listener awestruck”
BLUES MATTERS
“The lyrics are so good, and I loved the fact that 10 of the songs are four minutes or longer so they can stretch out instrumentally ****”
COUNTRY MUSIC PEOPLE
“Feels both vital and vicarious and definitely has the potential for crossover success”
AMERICANA UK
RICKY ALAN DRAUGHN – ‘WHEN YOU LOVE A WOMAN’
We are pleased to announce the release of vocalist Ricky Alan Draughn' new single, "When You Love A Woman". The new single, produced by Adam Hawley, is a stunning interpretation of Journey's 1996 mega-hit, which was the lead single from their 1996 album, Trial By Fire.
"When You Love A Woman" reached #1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group.
"When You Love A Woman"
Lead Vocals: Ricky Alan Draughn
Background Vocals: Kevin Monroe & Devotion
Vocal Production: Vic Steffens (Horizon Music Group)
Synths: Carnell Harrell
Drums: Dan Needham
All other instruments: Adam Hawley
Produced and Mixed by Adam Hawley
Mastering: Steve Hall
VON STUPART ASK US ‘COME PARTY WITH ME’
Music has always been a huge part of Von Stupart's life. Von started formal music lessons at the age of 12. He started on the trumpet, but picked up the saxophone in high school. He has been developing and honing his craft ever since. Von is a very proud husband, father and grandfather. After working for 40 years and now retired, he is now enjoying the fruits of his labor in this new season of his life. He is thrilled to be able to pour all of his passion and experience into creating music to share with the world!
Von hopes you can feel the joy, passion, and love in his music.
"Come Party With Me"
Written by Von Stupart & Adam Hawley
Von Stupart - Saxophones
Eric Valentine - Drums
Mel Brown - Bass Guitar
Adam Hawley - All other instruments and programming
SAX MAN ANDREW NEU PROPOSES US ‘TAKE IT HOME’
"Greg Manning and I have come to know each other over the years while working with other artists. In that time he's been recognized as a gifted solo artist and a brilliant producer.
We always had great chemistry when we played together so it was long overdue for us to collaborate on a project. I love a great melody and real horns and Greg is the master at all things that groove and vibe. We were each able to contribute our individual strengths to create a track that showcases our mutual passion for creating music that appeals to musicians and fans alike.
"Take It Home" is your perfect summertime jam! Thanks for listening." - Andrew Neu
"Take It Home"
Andrew Neu - Sax & Flute
Greg Manning - Keys & Programming
Morris O'Connor - Guitar
Mel Brown - Bass
Eric Valentine - Drums
Peter Neu - Trumpet
Nick Lane - Trombone
Written by Greg Manning & Andrew Neu
Produced by Greg Manning
Horns arranged by Andrew Neu
Mixed by Greg Manning
Mastered by Steve Hall
PAUL BROWN MAKES A ‘SECRET SAUCE’
Two time Grammy Award winner Paul Brown, both as an artist and producer, is responsible for more than 60 #1 jazz radio hits! Paul has produced and shared the stage with a who’s-who of jazz greats such as George Benson, Patti Austin, Boney James, Norman Brown, and Peter White, just to name a few.
With his new album Promised Land (Shanachie), Brown reaches the peak of his prodigious creativity. The album kicks off with the spirited first single “Secret Sauce,” a sure fire contemporary jazz radio #1, and delivers with “Don’t Stop,” Paul’s sexy collaboration with Marion Meadows, and the Bluesy, in-the-pocket, “7 and 7,” featuring Euge Groove.
Paul Brown
"Secret Sauce"
Written by Paul Brown & Jeff Carruthers
Paul Brown - Guitar
Roberto Vally - Bass
Jeff Carruthers - Keys, Drums and Percussion
Ron King - Trumpet and Horn Arrangement
Greg Vail - Saxes
COYLE GIRELLI - 'FAMOUS BLUE RAINCOAT' – COVER OF LEONARD COHEN CLASSIC OUT 06.07.22
COYLE GIRELLI : photography by Shervin Lainez
COYLE GIRELLI
FAMOUS BLUE RAINCOAT
new single
out 06.07.22
(Honey Lemon Records)
digital services
asdistro.ffm.to/famous-blue-raincoat
included on
STRIPPED
mini-album
out 22.07.22
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New York-based English singer-songwriter Coyle Girelli will release a seven song collection in late July entitled ‘Stripped’. As implied by its title, it contains stripped-down, acoustic performances of songs from his two solo albums to date, as well as cover versions of ‘Famous Blue Raincoat’ by Leonard Cohen and ‘Fireworks’ by First Aid Kit, both of which have been made available today as a AA-sided single.
Discussing the inspiration behind ‘Stripped’, Girelli explains: "In addition to versions of songs from my ‘Love Kills’ [2018] and 'Funland' albums, I also wanted to throw a little something else in there and decided to record one of my favourite songs by the late, great Leonard Cohen. I subtly pulled on the melody and the words to add accents to areas of the song that maybe weren’t there in previous versions. I adore singing it: ‘Thanks for the trouble you took from her eyes, I thought it was there for good so I never tried’ is one of my favourite ever lines. I also recorded a cover of the First Aid Kit song ‘Fireworks,’ which is a great song from more recent times. A stunning melody, it glides, rises and falls like it’s on a wave.”
Girelli’s own songs ‘Modern Noir’, ‘Flake’ and ‘Funland’ were all written acoustically as he was exploring the sound for what became his current album, while ‘Here Comes My Baby’ evokes the more woozy moments of Radiohead between moody guitar motifs as it finds comfort in a lover’s arms.
‘Stripped’ follows the album ‘Funland’, released in February 2022 and described by Louder Than War as “a wonderful collection of rich and atmospheric soundscapes with Girelli emerging as the ultimate balladeer. He has a vocal style which absorbs all that is great about the likes of Roy Orbison and Richard Hawley.” A single from the album, ‘Do You Wanna Dance’, is attracting increasing attention at US radio, where Girelli has just completed a tour with The Psychedelic Furs.
‘Funland’ is available HERE
As a songwriter, Girelli has also collaborated with celebrated songsmiths that include Mac Davis and Linda Perry, and written for several world renowned pop acts. He has worked in theatre (co-composing the award-winning French musicals ‘Robin des Bois’ and ‘Les Trois Mousquetaires’) and previously fronted the alternative rock bands Your Vegas and The Chevin, with a performance on ‘Late Show with David Letterman’ leading its host to state: “If I had a voice like that, I’d run for President.”
STRIPPED
1 Famous Blue Raincoat
2 Modern Noir
3 Funland
4 Here Comes My Baby
5 Naked Soul
6 Flake
7 Fireworks
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NEW SINGLE ‘SOUL TIES’ FROM MARCUS ANDERSON
MARCUS ANDERSON (‘Soul Ties’) - Marcus soared up from 11>4 Billboard with a massive +24 spins nationally, and is still going strong. He has 15 of the 16 BB reporters on the song.
NEW SINGLE ‘CATALINA NIGHTS’ FOR THE BRAXTON BROTHERS
THE BRAXTON BROTHERS (‘Catalina Nights’) - Wayne & Nelson stayed at #2 BB with an impressive +16 spins nationally. They missed a move to #1 by five spins. Will the new chart that comes out on Tuesday be their big day? Fingers crossed! They did move up to #1 this week on the Smooth Jazz Network chart.
ELJURI – ‘ESPEJO’ – 1STE SINGLE & VIDECLIP VAN HAAR NIEUWE ALBUM ‘REFLEXION’
Cecilia Villar Eljuri werd geboren in Guayaquil (Ecuador), maar woont al sinds haar kinderjaren in New York. Als dochter van Libanese en Spaanse ouders mengt ze onder de artiestennaam Eljuri al deze verschillende culturen in een spannende, top-geproduceerde en vrolijke Mex-mix van rock, Latin en funk. Op haar vijfde soloalbum ‘Reflexion’ laat de songwriter/zangeres/gitariste 11 nieuwe nummers met een sociale boodschap horen; “As a Latinx artivist, I try to break musical and social boundaries”.
“Espejo” is de eerste single/videoclip van Eljuri’s nieuwe album ‘Reflexion’!
Op 30 september verschijnt het album: ‘Reflexion’.
TRACKLISTING:
1 Espejo
2 Salva La Tierra
3 La Voz
4 Home
5 Shelter
6 Llevame
7 Por Ti
8 El Dia
9 No Puedo Cruzar
10 Feeds You
11 El Camino
12 Keep It Up (bonus-track)
Music inspires us all. The vibrations ripple through the space between us. Eljuri is constantly exploring new sounds. They intersect somewhere between the cultures that she was raised in and the places that she has called home: Spain, Lebanon, Ecuador and New York City. Born in Guayaquil, Ecuador to Lebanese and Spanish parents, she moved in her childhood to New York. Steeped in her greatest passion of songwriting, she welcomes you to drink from her new cup of “Reflexion”. Her antidote to the inconceivable isolation we have all recently experienced. Her highly anticipated fifth solo-album is another feelgood gem!
Eljuri lays down an optimistic sonic guitar palette that boasts a blend of classic funk guitar rhytms with modern filter effects. She plays several guitars, including her favorite Gibson Les Paul. She is accompanied by her rhythm section with Alex Alexander on drums and percussion and bass-player Winston Roye. The songs were recorded and mixed by Paul Antonell and Shubham Mondal at The Clubhouse and mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound Studios.
“My greatest passion is songwriting. I feel empowered to testify about life in 2022. I consider myself a conduit to the voices of those I encounter when I travel and tour internationally. My music mirrors the things that resonate in my soul. I break musical and social boundaries and take risks that stretch my sound beyond where it’s been before. From my unique perspective as a New Yorker, immigrant, Latina, woman, singer and guitarist I am exploring deeply within my creative self and emerging to reflect the world around me”.
As a revered songwriter and guitarist, with over 20 years of experience as a professional musician, Eljuri developed hypnotic and undeniable melodies that are familiar and foreign all at once. With heavy guitar-driven grooves, her mix of rock, Latin, middle-eastern music, reggae, funk and dance wrap around stories of resilience, shelter, our borders and the planet. She empowers the Latinx community, champions for human rights and is considered as one of the leading Latina artivists!
Touted as one of the top Latina electric guitar players in the world, Eljuri celebrates her ‘free life’ again with “Reflexion”. Eljuri’s stature, musicianship and social engagement have allowed her to create new and deeply relevant connections virtually with new audiences in the time of Covid, but there is no substitute for the thrill of being on stage and creating a unique symbiotic musical bubble with a live crowd. Audiences engage with her memorable bilingual message of protest and universal truths.
Eljuri has released four critically acclaimed solo albums: “En Paz” (2008), “Fuerte” (2012), “La Lucha” (2016) and “Resiste” (2019). She has been honored with over 20 songwriting and video awards, has often reached the Top 10 of the World Music Charts, appeared on over 50 television shows across the Americas and has been touring internationally for more than 15 years, mainly in Mexico, US, Canada and Columbia.
Eljuri proudly endorses Gibson Guitars (since 2008!), D’Angelico Guitars, JH Audio Custom In-Ear Monitors, Mono Cases and Moody Guitar Straps.
“Cecilia Villar Eljuri is a triple threat: she's an accomplished songwriter, a great vocalist, and one hell of a guitar player”.
“Songs which are as infectious as they are poignant, music which is as effortlessly contagious as it is deftly wrought”.
“Eljuri bounces confidently between fiery Santana-esque rock, reggae, Motown pop and vintage Cuban dance rhythms”.
“Built around her guitar mastery and hypnotic voice she is simply spectacular”.
“Eljuri is the best guitar player in the Latin rock scene”.
“The sound of Eljuri’s songs is a contagious amalgamation of danceable rhythms with lyrics that address social issues”.
“A sunny Mex-mix of Carlos Santana, Michael Franti and Manu Chao with uplifting female vocals”.
LARS TAYLOR’S ‘BLUE SPHERE’
While equally remarkable and melodically and rhythmically infectious as his earlier tunes, Swiss guitarist Lars Taylor's latest jam "Blue Sphere" showcases some different exciting elements of his artistry, starting with his graceful and fluid flow on the electric guitar, bright sizzling high register tones on the main melody and a seductive, transportive, sense of ambience he creates as a producer of the track.
Then, just as we're grooving along with the playful summery energy, Taylor romps into full world fusion territory, switching axes and plucking out a powerfully exotic solo on an oriental gypsy guitar and heavier percussion (including the darbuka) heats up. Just as quickly, he returns to the buoyant, melodic electric fusion vibe for the rest of the track.
In these compelling and dynamic 3:48, Taylor takes us on a journey full of memories of the few weeks he spent at the Black Sea in Romania with his wife, a native of that country. Here's hoping for more travels and great guitar adventures in the future!
GOLD COAST HORNS ASKS US TO ‘BOUNCE TO THIS’
Chuck Dennis Productions along with J-Jams Records is proud to announce the World Premier of the “Gold Coast Horns”. Comprised of 4 of the hottest stars in Smooth Jazz this 4 member unit consists of trumpeter/vocalist Johnny Britt, saxophonist Jeff Ryan, trumpeter
Lin Rountree and saxophonist Jackiem Joyner. These stars are ready to set the Smooth Jazz World on fire. Along with their hit-making songwriter/ producer Chris “Big Dog” Davis and horn arranger Johnny Britt this debut single “Bounce To This” is sure to be a hit on Smooth Jazz radio.
With this infectious groove and the mastery of Britt, Ryan, Joyner and Rountree on the horns is a combination of Gold at radio and jazz festivals nationwide. Along with a hot touring schedule which will debut at the 2022 “Oxnard Jazz Festival” September 10th. The Jazz Festival produced by concert promoter Chuck Dennis is also the executive producer and brainchild behind the making of the “Gold Coast Horns”. The target marketing audience for the “Gold Coast Horns” will be adult contemporary/ smooth jazz listeners 35 – 70 of age.
"Bounce To This"
Lin Rountree - Trumpet
Jeff Ryan - Tenor Sax
Johnny Britt - Flugelhorn
Jackiem Joyner - Alto Sax
Written and Produced by "Big Dog" Davis
Horn Production by Johnny Britt
Mastering by Ron Boustead at Resolution Studios
Mixed by Josh Britt at Intuitive Music
Executive Producer Chuck Dennis
NEW SINGLE ‘PLAY’ BY SAXOPHONIST MICHAEL LINGTON
Powering full steam ahead into the next phase of his dynamic 25 year solo career, saxophonist Michael Lington captures all the freewheeling magic, energy and optimism we’re feeling post-pandemic with his latest perfectly titled single “Play” – a funked out, fun-spirited, perfect for summertime jam that marks his first time co-writing and co-producing with longtime friend and fellow horn master and hit maker, Darren Rahn.
The groove-intensive track also features Paul Jackson Jr.’s blistering guitar fire and the non-stop grooves of bassist Mel Brown and drummer Tarell Martin. While creating a forward minded way to keep joy and hope flowing in turbulent times, “Play” – from Lington’s upcoming EP and first set of original tunes since 2018’s Silver Lining – also reflects the multi-talented artist’s ever-bustling role as a new dad and the passion he’s bringing to his latest endeavor, hosting his own Friday radio show on Smoothjazz247.com
"Play"
Michael Lington - Alto Sax
Darren Rahn - Wurli, Rhodes, Hammond Organ, Synths, Programming
Paul Jackson Jr - Guitar
Mel Brown - Bass
Tarell Martin - Drums
Written by Michael Lington & Darren Rahn
Produced and Mixed by Darren Rahn
Co-Produced by Michael Lington
NEW ROB ZINN SINGLE ‘CRAZY’ OUT NOW
Hello friends,
The new single titled 'Crazy' is available on all digital music platforms. It’s a cover of the popular Seal song.
The track is from my forthcoming album "Anything Can Happen", due out later this year.
John Cassidy, who is a multi-instrumentalist, producer and engineer cooked up this version. He pretty much played everything because, well, he can. I am a huge Seal fan and really wanted to do a cover of one of his songs. I picked this one and really love John's vision of the remake.
Hoping radio and the rest of the world love it as much as I do
Thanks!
Rob
ALICE COOPER - LIVE FROM THE ASTROTURF
THE ORIGINAL ALICE COOPER 2015 REUNION SHOW FINALLY AVAILABLE ON CD, LP AND IN DIGITAL SHOPS WORLDWIDE.
Wednesday, June 22, 2022 - Formed in 1968, the original Alice Cooper band forged a theatrical brand of hard rock that was destined to shock and had never been seen before. Within five years they would release no fewer than seven studio albums, amongst them their international breakthrough School's Out (including the Top 10 hit of the same name) and the US #1 Billion Dollar Babies (1973).
By 1974, the band had risen to the upper echelon of rock stardom... and then, it dissolved.
In October 2015, over 40 years later, record store owner and superfan Chris Penn convinced the original line-up to reunite for a very special performance at Good Records, his record store in Dallas, Texas, USA.
Alice Cooper (vocals), Michael Bruce (guitar), Dennis Dunaway (bass) and Neal Smith (drums) were joined on stage by Alice’s current guitarist Ryan Roxie (standing in for the late Glen Buxton). A packed audience was expecting to attend Dennis Dunaway’s Snakes! Guillotines! Electric Chairs!’ book signing… but they ended up witnessing a full-blown happening.
The legendary reunion show including all-time classics such as “No More Mr. Nice Guy”, “I’m Eighteen” and “School’s Out”, is now becoming available for the very first time worldwide on September 30, 2022.
Luckily, the event was also filmed. The documentary movie “Live From The Astroturf, Alice Cooper” (edited and directed by Steven Gaddis) was very warmly welcomed at Film Festivals all over the world by music fans as well as rock journalists. The documentary won multiple awards for its coverage
of the historic event.
The movie is included in the live album’s first print CD and Vinyl LP editions.
Alice Cooper
Live From The Astroturf
Album Release:
September 30, 2022
Formats:
Ltd. CD+Blu-ray Digipak / Ltd. Apricot 1LP+DVD Gatefold / Ltd. Curacao 1LP+DVD
Tracklist:
CD
1. CAUGHT IN A DREAM (Vinyl Side A)
2. BE MY LOVER
3. I’M EIGHTEEN
4. IS IT MY BODY
5. NO MORE MR. NICE GUY
6. UNDER MY WHEELS (Vinyl Side B)
7. SCHOOL’S OUT
8. ELECTED
9. DESPERADO (Intr. Bonus-Track)
DVD/Blu-ray
(Running time: over 100 minutes)
DOCUMENTARY WITH ALL LIVE PERFORMANCES
+EXTRAS:
-Music Video “I’m Eighteen
(Live From The Astroturf)”
-Music Video “Under My Wheels (Live From The Astroturf)”
-Extensive Interview with Dennis, Michael and Neal
More details and pre-order options can be found here:
https://www.ear-music.net/alice-cooper-live-from-the-astroturf/
SINGER-SONGWRITER ALAN WILLIAMS SET TO EMERGE FROM THE “CURRENTS” ON AUGUST 19
The insightful rock album exploring issues of our times will be preceded by two singles.
LOWELL (27 June 2022): Dr. Alan Williams is an ivy league scholar, a professor of music at the University of Massachusetts Lowell with a doctorate in ethnomusicology. His role requires that he mask and refrain from expressing his own personal music likes and dislikes, which is why he relishes his platform as a singer-songwriter, allowing him to craft expressive music that flows like a current from the core of his being. Williams wrote, produced, arranged, sang and played on “Currents,” a rock album dropping August 19 on Blue Gentian Records.
"I’m an academic with a PhD and all that that entails. I’ve written a few words and read quite a few more. So, I make music to try to get at what I feel, to express something beyond words alone. It’s in the feel of strings under fingers, in the vibration in my throat, in the emotion that can sneak up and hit you from behind. Hard,” said Williams, who began writing material for the album prior to the pandemic, recording much of it during quarantine in his Boston-area studio and at his Hawaiian retreat.
Williams’s occupational perch allows him to be more of a societal observer. He saw things that concerned him, shifting and reshaping the U.S. in the four years prior to the pandemic. Once COVID-19 hit, things at the fore shifted again. We got stuck in the current, with fear and uncertainty dragging many people under. As health and financial worry escalated, the current’s grip tightened its hold on America’s throat when civil unrest erupted. Williams wrote many of the songs for “Currents” in response to our times.
“‘Currents’ was formed during a time of tremendous social upheaval when serious forces were shaping our lives dramatically. Some of the songs address power as both systemic and as random disturbance. But at the core of them all lie the very real impact of those forces on individual lives, the external shaping the internal, the weariness that slowly erodes joy. Yet, after all the chaos attributed to difference, it is emotion that best illustrates our commonality: 'to see the me in you and the you in me,'" said Williams.
One of the more pointed and searing songs on the album is “Season of the Lottery,” a tense cauldron featuring a blazing fusion-y, progressive rock electric guitar solo from Chris Biesterfeldt that bursts through the staccato beat constructed by drummer Ben Wittman (Sting, Paula Cole, Laurie Anderson).
Williams explains, “This song began to coalesce early in the pandemic, but its inspiration began the summer before and really has roots in hundreds of years of American history. What struck me so often in those days was the seemingly random victims of violence and loss, though, with even a short step back, it’s easy to see these as inevitable consequences of systems not only indifferent to suffering but predicated upon it. The summer of 2020, the United States seemed to be on fire, whether in protest over the institutionalized murder that had given rise to Black Lives Matter, or the vast swaths of land ignited in the drought conditions and shifting wind patterns brought on by climate change.”
According to Williams, “Currents” is not a pandemic album although restrictions and precautions played a significant role in how the album was made during the pandemic. Williams has been playing with the Toronto-based Wittman for nearly thirty years, but they couldn’t get into the studio together for fear that the drummer wouldn’t be permitted to cross back into Canada after the sessions. Thus, they were forced to rely upon their decades of musical chemistry, recording tracks countries apart and sending files by email. The situation also impacted the third member of their “thirty-year trio,” bassist Greg Porter (Aimee Mann, Patty Griffin), who was bandmates and roommates with Williams and Wittman in college.
“It was such a letdown to not get to spend time with my friends and to miss that feeling of energy that happens when making music in real time. Yet we found it quite easy to get the tracks recorded. And because of our long history, my ideas were communicated in a familiar shorthand,” Williams shared.
With Wittman and Porter forming a taut - and intuitive - rhythm section, Williams plays acoustic and electric guitars, piano, percussion, synth keyboards and cowbell on the set. He added depth and lushness with The Cast of Characters ten-piece string section and a horn section consisting of UMass Lowell faculty and students. Organist Nathan Sharples, percussionist Jeff Fischer, electric guitarist Eric Giribaldi and electric guitarist-electric slide guitarist Thomas Juliano complete the lineup on “Currents.”
Three singles are scheduled for release, each with an accompanying video directed by Williams. Up first is the album opener “Think of the Night,” a song written from the perspective of someone with extreme delusions of grandeur, which releases July 15. The whimsical “Giving You A Warning” hits August 5, a song that Williams describes as “a little slice of pop pastiche, and maybe a welcome bit of brightly colored lightness from someone more inclined to ruminate in the dark corners of a rainy night.”
For a complete change of pace, the amorous heart tugger “Before I Wake Up,” a resplendent melodic beauty with the kind of emotionally wrought drama that Williams says conjures a Celine Dion power ballad, will street as the third single on September 16.
While not a single, Williams’s reimagination of The Beatles’ “Love You To,” the collection’s lone cover, merits a closer listen.
“The basic idea was to transplant the Indian exotica of the original so, the opening sitar alap becomes slack-key guitar. I tried to reference the original while gradually moving into more folk guitar kind of lines; hopefully, you can hear the shape of George Harrison’s impressive melody work even in this new guise. And with the harmonic language now more Ry Cooder than Ravi Shankar, I thought I’d push a little harder into the darkness of the lyric,” said Williams.
An Asheville, NC native, Williams has been writing, performing and recording for over forty years. He was trained at the New England Conservatory of Music and earned his PhD at Brown University. His musical palette spans classical and jazz piano as well as rock, country, folk, bluegrass, world music and mainstream pop. He’s recorded solo records as well as three albums with Porter and Darleen Wilson as Birdsong At Morning.
In the extensive liner notes that Williams wrote for “Currents,” he references a myriad of influences in a wide array of musical genres, citing Pink Floyd, Joni Mitchell, Roxy Music, King Sunny Ade, Brian Wilson, Paul Jackson Jr., Led Zeppelin, The Cars, Neil Finn, Allan Holdsworth, Steely Dan and Jimmy Johnson. The record is accurately categorized as a rock project, but jazz, R&B, blues, soul and pop are also in evidence. Could the ethnomusicologist be seeping into the mix?
“My musical conception of fluid meter changes, unanticipated modulations, and general soundscape ideas reflects my familiarity with a fairly broad range of musical practices in ways that are less intellectually conceived, more naturalized as simply music. I don’t think anyone hearing the album would say, ‘this was clearly made by an ethnomusicologist,’ but I doubt it would surprise any listeners that global traditions and pop musics are somewhere in the soup. Like many post-internet musicians…”
For more information, please visit https://www.alanwilliamsevidence.com.
“Currents” contains the following songs:
“Think of the Night”
“For My Heaven”
“Giving You A Warning”
“Love You To”
“Fall From the Sky”
“Season of the Lottery”
“Before I Wake Up”
“Current”
“Keeping Time”
CONTEMPORARY JAZZ PIANIST MARK ETHEREDGE MAKES A SOBER “LOVE” OFFERING
Two-time Grammy winner Paul Brown produced the album dropping August 12; the title track arrives first as a single.
LOS ANGELES (23 June 2022): That pianist Mark Etheredge appears smiling on the cover of his new contemporary jazz album, “Love Planet,” offering roses – his songs – to the world is a triumphant story of resilience. Since the title track of his last album, 2016’s “Connected,” landed him at No. 6 on the Billboard singles chart, the keyboardist slipped into the abyss of alcoholism, going bankrupt and losing his West Hollywood home, which forced a move back to the Bay Area where he slept on a friend’s couch and watched his mother slowly slip away before she finally succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease last year.
As “Love Planet” readies for its August 12 release on Vipaka Records, the now clear-eyed Etheredge is back living in his own West Hollywood place, clean and sober for fourteen months, living one day at a time with hope restored. During the tumultuous years, Etheredge found strength and creative expression by retreating to his keyboard to compose music. Reteaming with “Connected” producer and two-time Grammy winner Paul Brown, Etheredge recorded and released two singles, “Resonance” (2019) and “You&Me&We” (2020), both of which appear on “Love Planet” alongside eight new songs.
Last month, Etheredge finished recording the inspired new set consisting of spirited jazz instrumentals, soulful R&B grooves, iridescent pop melodies and festive Latin rhythms, with Brown at the controls. A vibrant homerun hook powers the title track, which will begin collecting playlist adds on July 18.
“‘Love Planet’ is about love for each other, as well as self-love. I was taught growing up that everyone is born with a sense of goodness, and I still believe it’s true. And that goodness is totally inclusive. With all the craziness on this planet, it’s easy to lose sight of that. These days, I wake up asking, ‘What can I do to be more loving today?’” said Etheredge.
On “Untethered,” he celebrates his newfound sobriety, with his pliable piano passages getting a boost from chart-topper Steve Oliver, who issues placid nylon-stinged guitar licks.
“I literally drank my money away. During the pandemic, I finally accepted that I had a problem with alcohol. I got help. This song expresses my gratitude and joy to be free, one day at a time,” said Etheredge, who later on the album echoes the sentiment with “Elated.”
Tenor saxophonist Greg Vail adds fullness to “Groove City,” a cut inspired by the diversity, energy and the rhythms of urban life. The Latin-singed “Saucy” is spiced by full-throated horn section tracks performed by Vail (tenor and baritone saxes) and Ron King (trumpet, flugelhorn, horn arrangement), and scorching electric guitar riffs played by Brown and Shane Theriot. Etheredge ruminates on trust and the role love plays in the face of adversity on “We’ll Make It Through.”
“This one is about trust, hanging on. Sometimes, life brings along a bumpy ride. Trust that together with love, we’ll make it through,” said the keyboardist who is accompanied on the album by guitarist Jay Gore, bassist Roberto Vally, drummers Joel Taylor and Gorden Campbell, and percussionists Lenny Castro and Richie Gajate Garcia.
The penetrating piano melodies on “Resonance” explore human connection and attunement. “I think as humans, we all have opportunities to resonate with each other - to be in tune and find peace with each other - if we want it enough,” said Etheredge who amiably shares the spotlight with Brown’s bluesy guitar statements.
Watching the war, unnecessary death and destruction in Ukraine on television stirred Etheredge to pen the contemplative and compassionate plea for “Peace.” Brown is called upon to help illumine “You&Me&We,” a lush piano and guitar romp pondering unity.
“How can we coexist peacefully with one another? Perhaps if ‘you and me’ think not just about one or the other’s wants or needs, but consider a third way, “us,” focusing on our shared interests that benefit us both. Can we be kind? Can we practice compassion and justice? Can we be loving? Can we be respectful of one another?” Etheredge poses.
Etheredge offers “Golden Hour” in fond remembrance of his mother, who used the term for the times she took a nap when he was a child. Like “Saucy” and “Elated,” the album closer benefits from Theriot’s skilled rhythm guitar textures.
Etheredge grew up near San Francisco in Sunnyvale and although his mother was a music school teacher and choir director, he’s primarily a self-taught pianist. His groups have opened for David Benoit, Bobby McFerrin, Sergio Mendes, Tuck & Patti, Betty Carter and Sheila Jordan, among others. This year, Etheredge was the featured soloist on singles released by Vally (“On The Down Low”) and guitarist Mark Carter’s “Swingtown.” For more information, please visit https://marketheredge.com
“Love Planet” contains the following songs:
“Love Planet”
“Untethered” featuring Steve Oliver
“Groove City” featuring Greg Vail
“Saucy” featuring Paul Brown
“We’ll Make It Through”
“Elated”
“Resonance”
“Peace”
“You&Me&We” featuring Paul Brown
“Golden Hour”
KYLE SCHROEDER’S NEW SINGLE ‘LET’S GET UP’
Another significant new young sax player hits the scene next week in the name of Kyle Schroeder. This Florida resident has played on releases by format favorites Ben Tankard and Nathan Mitchell, to name just a few. This song has a great upbeat bounce to it, with some serious energy.
REVERED GRAMMY-NOMINATED JAZZ VOCALIST MARILYN SCOTT RELEASES “THE LANDSCAPE”
Marilyn Scott is best known for her Grammy-nominated work as a contemporary jazz musician, having performed with some of the best musicians in the world over the last few decades.
A native of southern California, vocalist Marilyn Scott counts among her earliest influences, artists Aretha Franklin, Donny Hathaway, Etta James, Jean Carn and Andy Bey. She began performing in local clubs and fronted soul-jazz bands around the San Francisco Bay area. Among the many friends she made were the guys of Tower of Power, who gave her the opportunity to do backing session vocals with the Oakland-based band. Those recording sessions steered her to making her way back to Los Angeles as a studio session singer, where she performed with musicians and groups including Spyro Gyra, Yellowjackets, Hiroshima, John Mayall, Etta James, Bobby Caldwell and Bobby Womack. Scott’s first recording in 1977, as a solo artist, was a single version of Brian Wilson’s “God Only Knows”, which led to her first album, Dreams of Tomorrow, on Atco/Atlantic. Her discography continued with, 1983 Without Warning, Polygram, 1991 and 1992 Sin-Drome recordings, Smile and Sky Dancing. 1996 and 1998 Warner Bros. releases of Take Me with You and Avenues of Love. The Japanese Venus Records recording, Every Time We Say Goodbye, in 2008.
Marilyn moved to Prana Entertainment and released from 2001 to 2017, Walking With Strangers, Nightcap, Handpicked, Innocent of Nothing, Get Christmas Started and Standard Blue in 2017. Her 2022 release on Blue Canoe Records marks her most recent release, The Landscape.
She has combined her interest in neo-soul, jazz and Brazilian music. She has collaborated with Dori Caymmi, George Duke, Russell Ferrante, Bob James, Jimmy Haslip, Brenda Russell, Bob Mintzer, Perri Sisters, Terri Lyne Carrington, Patrice Rushen and Scott Kinsey.
Marilyn is best known for her Grammy-nominated work as a contemporary jazz vocalist and singer songwriter. As the years have progressed, she has dived deeper into jazz writing and interpretations. Collaborations with many acclaimed artists and musicians have opened and widened her range in a music that’s rich in texture and complexity.
More Info: MarilynScott.com
“The landscape is more than trees and views, it’s what we say it’s what we do, it’s what we are today. Never Forsaking this Frontier, so this beautiful view won’t disappear” - Marilyn Scott
CRAIG “THUMPER” SAMUELS’ NEW SINGLE ‘FEEL LIKE MAKIN’ LOVE’
Craig 'Thumper' Samuels is a musician, singer, songwriter, actor, model, composer, producer, and much more. He has created and developed his own website, www.Thumpinhard.com, (were you can see and hear more of him), an independent record label Thumpin' Hard Records, Inc., 2 recording studios, and United 4 Love Entertainment, his own entertainment company, and two non-profit organizations that he has a deep passion for. "JADA" (Jazz Against Domestic Abuse) a non-profit organization that helps victims of domestic abuse by raising awareness and funds for educational material and shelters and a second non-profit organization "Our Stars of 2morrow" a scholarship program that he raises money for through his music. He writes one song each year and donates the proceeds of that song to high school seniors to help for college tuition. This monster musical genius blends Rock, Gospel, Funk, Jazz, Pop, R&B, and many other styles together, and adds a little spice of his own to produce his sound...the O-ZONE sound.
There are many many Recording artist that have influenced Thumper. Prince, John Legend, Janet Jackson, Richard Marx, Earth, Wind and Fire, and Michael Jackson, just to name a few and has been touched by a lot of today's up and coming artists as well. He has exchanged both music notes and stages with such national recording artists as Prince, The Time, Keith Sweat, The System, The Bar-Kays, and many more, along with such smooth jazz artists like Jonathan Butler, Steve Oliver, Steve Cole, Peter White, Joseph Vincelli, Euge Groove, Richard Elliott, and many more. Thumper currently has 13 CD's to his credit and is currently on tour working on his first live CD "Thumper & Generation One LIVE !!! Thumper has just released his 13th studio album "The Midas Touch".
TERRY WOLLMAN FT. ANDY SNITZER ASK US ‘WHAT IS HIP?’
Terry Wollman’s new album, “Surface”, was composed and recorded virtually during the unprecedented global pandemic. Terry collaborated remotely with a world class myriad of musician friends from around the globe to create a deeply personal, inspired expression of his art. With over 30 years in the music business, Terry has produced and performed with an array of artists including Melissa Manchester, Keb’Mo, Al Jarreau, Joan Baez, Billy Preston, Michael McDonald, Alan Bergman with Dave Grusin, Tony Bennett, Dick Van Dyke and many more.
From his critically acclaimed debut album,“Bimini” to his 25 year retrospective “Silver Collection”, and the recent “Cassini’s Last Dance”, Wollman's songs, arrangements and production continue to reach straight into the heart of each listener. His latest offering features artists Bob James, Najee, Andy Snitzer, Greg Manning, Ricky Kej, Wayne Bergeron and special guest vocalists Melanie Taylor, Connie Jackson and Ellis Hall. Terry is proud to present “Surface”, a unique global musical collaboration, and a true journey of songs and stories infused with gratitude and attitude.
“In many ways, making this album has been an awakening for me. You have to dive deep before you surface.” - Terry Wollman
"What Is Hip?" ft. Andy Snitzer
Terry Wollman: Acoustic & Electric Guitars
Andy Snitzer: Alto Sax
Greg Manning: Keyboards
Will Lee: Bass
John "Jr" Johnson: Drums
Luis Conte: Percussion
Wayne Bergerton: Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Dan Higgins: Alto, Tenor, Bari, Alto Flute
Produced and Arranged by Terry Wollman
Mixed by Peter R. Kelsey
RYAN MONTANO IS ‘HONEST’
Ryan Montano is a nationally recognized trumpeter, songwriter, bandleader and recording artist. His beautiful tone, sophisticated and memorable compositions, impactful live performances and precise technique have garnered him national radio airplay and festival performances across the nation.
In addition to his musical artistry, Montano is a talented and truthful actor having appeared in several commercials and Hollywood films with speaking roles in GoodKill starring Ethan Hawke, Disney's Lemonade Mouth and Love N' Dancing starring Amy Smart, Rachel Dratch and Betty White. He has been a featured performer on CSI Miami and Wildfire and has several runway modeling shows and print campaigns to his modeling credits.
Montano has also appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! playing the trumpet for pop stars Hanson as part of the Cleto & The Cletones horn section. Montano is also a professional filmmaker, director, videographer, photographer, editor and graphic artist. His work has been featured on several national networks including ESPN, CBS, NBC and FOX.
Specializing in music-based visual media, Montano has filmed and directed award-winning music videos for Dustin Lynch, Kane Brown, Runaway June, Ozomatli, Nosotros & Citizens Of Tape City. He has created films for major universities, marketing agencies, and companies across the nation.
While his talents encapsulate many different passions, it is music and the trumpet that truly define Montano as an artist. With a truthful artistic vision and emotive songwriting, delivered through a graceful and soft tone, Ryan Montano is an artist with a path and sound all his own...
DOCUMENTAIRE ‘WHO YOU GONNA CALL?’ OVER RAY PARKER JR. IS UIT
Natuurlijk weet je wie je moet bellen als er iets vreemds in je buurt is, maar hoeveel weet je over de man achter het iconische ‘Ghostbusters’ themalied? Filmmaker Fran Strine en Sony Pictures hebben vandaag de officiële trailer onthuld van ‘Who You Gonna Call?’, de aanstaande documentaire over Ray Parker Jr., de legendarische ritmegitarist die zeker niet bang is voor spoken.
"Als je hem alleen kent als 'de Ghostbusters-man', dan ken je hem helemaal niet", schreef de ‘Who You Gonna Call?’ trailer als waarschuwing. Gelukkig brengt de documentaire een aantal collega-legendes uit de muziekindustrie, zoals Clive Davis, samen om zijn lof te zingen. Parker zelf verschijnt prominent in de documentaire om zijn verhaal te helpen vertellen, van opgroeien in het gesegregeerde Detroit tot het winnen van een Grammy, met details over hoogte- en dieptepunten en veel grappige anekdotes tussendoor - zoals de keer dat hij ophing met Stevie Wonder in de veronderstelling dat het een grapje.
Hoewel velen het hebben geprobeerd, heeft niemand de levendige energie en het ingenieuze talent van Parker geëvenaard. Wie ga je bellen? landt op digitale platforms 7 juni, en je kunt de trailer hieronder bekijken.
GUITARIST LES SABLER FT. PAUL BROWN BRINGS US ‘OLD FRIENDS’
Mr. Sabler is back with a follow up to his recent Top 5 single ("Esselle's Dance"). Produced by Paul Brown, this new tasty tune shows Les in fine form again on guitar.
JACOB WEBB RELEASES NEW SINGLE ‘CHANCES’
Following up his last single which hit #1 Billboard, Jacob returns with another upbeat and fresh track, featuring some great sounding sax by Carl Cox. This talented artist/composer/producer keeps cranking his winning formula out.
NEW SINGLE BY LORI WILLIAMS – ‘TOO LATE (IT’S MY TIME)’
On 6/13 singer Lori Williams releases the new single ‘Too Late (It's My Time)’. David Kunert mentioned: “I am pleased to now be working Lori's music. This new single features her special vocals, and fine production by Chris Davis. This song is very format friendly, and has a great flow and melody.”
DIM GRAY - 'AVALON | THE TIDE' – SECOND SINGLE FROM NEW ALBUM BY NORWEGIAN ART ROCK TRIO
DIM GRAY - 2022 photo by Emil Vestre
DIM GRAY
AVALON | THE TIDE
new single
out 14.06.22
(English Electric Recordings)
digital services
dimgray.hearnow.com/avalon-the-tide
from the album
FIRMAMENT
out 02.09.22
CD / LP pre-order
burningshed.com/store/english-electric-recordings
ON TOUR WITH BIG BIG TRAIN
SEPTEMBER 2022
02.09.22 AYLESBURY (UK) Waterside Theatre
05.09.22 ZOETERMEER (NL) Cultuurpodium Boerderij
06.09.22 BONN (DE) Harmonie
07.09.22 MAINZ (DE) Kuz
08.09.22 BERLIN (DE) Frannz Club
10.09.22 BASEL (CH) Z7, Pratteln
11.09.22 PARIS (FR) Café de la Danse
‘Avalon | The Tide’ is the second single to be released from ‘Firmament’, the recently announced new album by Norwegian art rock trio Dim Gray set for release in early September. The group themselves state that writing it was “where the album really started, as it became a blueprint for the entire record. The expansiveness in its lydian harmonies and modulations, the prevalence of piano and strings, as well as the lyrical themes, all came to influence the rest of the songs.”
As with several other tracks on ‘Firmament’, the music was written by guitarist Håkon Høiberg on piano rather than his main instrument, with singer/keyboardist Oskar Holldorff then adding words. Holldorff explains that “the music felt like it was constructed as a story, so I thought the lyric should depict some sort of journey. Avalon, the mythical island from Arthurian legend, felt like an appropriate metaphor for reaching an impossible goal or destination; like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, or, as these particular words mean to me, peace of mind. They are about trauma, wanting to forget, and the futility of fighting against the overwhelming forces and inherent dynamics of the world, hence the reference to King Canute and the tide in the second verse. I couldn’t decide whether the song should be called Avalon or The Tide, but when we later wrote ‘Meridian’, which ends the album and suggests a split globe, the joint title was suddenly justified.”
Consisting of twelve vivid and melody-driven songs, ‘Firmament' is an ambitious artistic statement bursting with life and colour, making for an engaging and constantly surprising journey as it weaves a route from strings-infused chamber pop, through evocative indie-folk and lush electronics and into grandiose art rock. It will appeal musically to fans of artists such as Radiohead, Agnes Obel, Owen Pallett, Susanne Sundfør, Keane and Tears For Fears.
Thematically, the new record explores further the landscape of melancholy and longing that was introduced on the group’s well received 2020 debut, ‘Flown’, a concept record structured like one continuous story with intimate and spatial moments offset with massive colourful soundscapes. Those sensations are now contextualised in the depressions of the modern world, juxtaposed against romanticised ideas of simpler times through childhood memories interspersed with myths and superstition.
‘Firmament’ will be issued via English Electric Recordings, the label run by UK prog titans Big Big Train, and is the first record on the label that is not either by that band or at least one of its permanent members. Holldorff will however be touring as part of the Big Big Train line-up (deputising for BBT keyboardist Carly Bryant) for a set of European dates in September, while Dim Gray have just been announced as the support act for them. The first show is in Aylesbury on 2nd September, the same day that ‘Firmament' is released.
“We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to play these shows supporting Big Big Train,” enthuses Dim Gray drummer Tom Ian Klungland. “We supported Marillion at a show in Stockholm in May and were delighted by the wonderfully warm reaction we received from their fans. We’re going to try our best to make plenty of new friends amongst the Big Big Train audience and it’s fantastic that the Aylesbury show coincides with the release date of ‘Firmament'. Roll on September!”
‘Firmament' will be available on CD, LP (via Plane Groovy) and all digital services, with the physical formats available to pre-order now via Burning Shed.
The trio who comprise Dim Gray come from different places, both musically and geographically, with each member moving from different parts of Norway to Oslo a decade ago to study. All three have contrasting backgrounds in genres as diverse as black metal, progressive rock, blues, folk and film music, but in fusing these together they have developed their own distinctive sound.
DIM GRAY : ‘Firmament’ artwork by Linnea Vestre
FLOWN
UK REVIEWS
"Elegiac and beautifully dense post-prog from Norway”
PROG
“An intriguing blend of well-written and superbly performed material, this debut album grabs you from the first listen”
GUITARIST
“Unique and vitally intense. Dim Gray should be lauded for producing such a wondrous work of art so early in their career. A truly magical experience"
VELVET THUNDER
“Beautifully intertwining Nordic folk textures with serene experimentation, ‘Flown’ makes for a fascinating, intriguing and truly affecting journey. 10/10”
MUSIPEDIA OF METAL
DIM GRAY
(left to right above)
Oskar Holldorff - vocals, keyboards
Håkon Høiberg - guitars, vocals
Tom Ian Klungland - drums, vocals
FRED DINKINS FT. PAUL JACKSON JR. REMEMBERS ‘R.L. (RICKY LAWSON)’
Fred Dinkins is a world-renowned Grammy-nominated musician, producer, drummer, educator, author and motivator.
With over three decades of influencing drumming styles, Fred has performed amongst world renown artists such as Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Paul Jackson Jr., Verdine White, Norman Brown, Andre Crouch, The O’Neal Twins, The Emotions (Musical Director also Producer of the Emotions Live CD), John Barnes, Heat Wave, Peaches & Herb, Gene Chandler, GQ, Taste of Honey, Tremaine Hawkins (Grammy nominated and Stella and Dove Award Winner), Hugh Masekela, Deniece Williams (Musical Director) and many more.
From Mexico to Japan, Fred has toured worldwide and has appeared on numerous television shows such as ABC’s Good Morning America, (HBO) Sinbad’s Funkfest and more.
In Fred Dinkins’ 32 years of privately mentoring drummers at Musicians Institute in Hollywood, California, Fred has taught and mentored students spanning from the United States to Asia. Dinkins’ personal alumni include many recording and touring drummers like Anderson.Paak, David Myers (Frank Ocean), Erik Gutmanis (studio tech, author), Walter Rodriguez (percussionist playing on soundtracks, The Incredibles, etc.), Bennie Rodgers II (Mariah Carey), Manny Dominick (Ghost Town DJs), Vince Fossett Jr. (Steve Bardwill Band), and many more.
Author of the best seller “It’s About Time”, an Alfred Publication and producer of his own debut album Favor, Fred has provided musicians the key to understanding timekeeping and major dynamism. Inspiring musicians to never give up and pursue their highest achievements, Fred continues to serve as a pioneer in leading musicians to their greatest potential.
Today, Dinkins is still influencing drummers around the world with his remarkable teachings, private master classes, studio sessions and musical director for Deniece Williams, the Emotions and Barbara Morrison.
"The history behind the title is that it's a tribute to my late friend, Ricky Lawson. I tried to mimic his groove and feel". - Fred Dinkins
DARYL BEEBE BRINGS ‘A NEW DAY’
Smooth jazz saxophonist Daryl Beebe seeks to brighten your day with his single release, “New Day.” This composition is innovative, invigorating, and refreshing. You will tap your feet to the beat and dance to this energetic rendition. Daryl takes listeners on a journey of hope, inspiration, and joy. He demonstrates his instrumental diversity by performing on alto, tenor, and soprano sax. New Day is a must-have for your smooth jazz library. Each day is a gift. What are you going to do with it? Get inspired every day with "New Day".
Born and raised in Detroit Michigan, Daryl Beebe is a phenomenal and innovative saxophonist, producer, songwriter, composer, preacher, teacher, motivational speaker, counselor and Central Officer Administrator for the Southfield Public School District, in Southfield, MI. Daryl received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Kentucky State University where he majored in criminal justice and minored in music. He was a member of the university jazz, concert, and marching bands.
During his undergraduate studies, Beebe began to focus on songwriting, production, improvisation, and poetry. Later, he received his Master of Arts and Master of Education degrees from the University of Cincinnati. He has performed and recorded with artists such as Kurt Carr, Karen Clark, Teddy Harris, James Carter, Donnie McClurkin, Marvin Winans, Vicki Winans, Tim Bowman, Martha Reeves, Doc Powell and recently opened for Norman Brown.
GREG MANNING FT. KIRK WHALUM BRINGS ‘A SONG OF PEACE’
Greg Manning is a Berklee College of Music alum and an amalgam of cultures. He was born in Nigeria and raised in Switzerland. Greg moved to Los Angeles in 2002 and has had an incredible career. Greg is the former keyboardist and music director for GRAMMY Award-nominated artist Jonathan Butler, and keyboardist for Mindi Abair, Gerald Albright, Will Downing, Richard Elliot, Brian McKnight, Chante Moore, and Kirk Whalum, just to mention a few.
"'A Song For Peace' is my most personal composition to date. I was feeling helpless in the face of war abroad and the senseless killing of children in our homeland. What can I do as a human to bring about lasting change and peace in the world? It is a daunting question, but pressing at this time. My answer lies in music, and it's not just a shallow cliché to me. I deeply believe in the healing power of music. It changes people and it opens hearts.
"I'm thrilling that Grammy winning saxophonist Kirk Whalum is featured on this song, along with veteran guitarist Ray Fuller. Both musicians played on Whitney Houston's single of the century "I Will Always Love You".
"Thank you for listening to my new music, and I hope you feel the love we poured into this project"- Greg Manning
Greg Manning
"A Song For Peace" ft. Kirk Whalum
Kirk Whalum: Saxophone
Ray Fuller: Guitars
Greg Manning: Piano, vocals, and all other instruments
Written, mixed and produced by Greg Manning
Mastered by Steve Hall
STILL CATCHING THE GROOVE?
AFTER YEARS OF SUCCESS WITH HIS FLORIDA BASED ENSEMBLE, GUITARIST ELLIS WHITE BOLDLY LAUNCHES THE NEXT PHASE OF HIS CAREER WITH “KEEPING IT REAL”, HIS DEBUT SINGLE AS A SOLO ARTIST. THE NEW SINGLE IS SCHEDULED TO BE RELEASED ON JULY 15, 2022.
In Addition to Hundreds of Gigs Throughout The
Years, CTG Scored Three Top Ten UK Smooth
Jazz Hits, Including the #1 single “When I See You Smile”
Grooving optimistically into the post-pandemic era with fresh bursts of musical creativity, guitarist Ellis White’s highly anticipated debut single “Keeping It Real” – due to drop July 15 – marks the launch of his career as a solo artist after a dynamic decade of success with the Jacksonville, FL ensemble Catch The Groove.
A perfect summer soundtrack tune, the infectious, high octane track is his first release under a deal he recently signed with Polyphemus Records in the UK. It was produced by Trammell Starks, whose decades-long resume includes legendary R&B vocalists Jennifer Holliday and Patti Labelle, as well as popular smooth jazz saxophonist Michael J. Thomas.
While “Keeping It Real” is a powerful showcase for White’s adventurous rhythmic, melodic and improvisational guitar playing, “Keeping It Real” also borrows a bit from the uniquely democratic aesthetic he created as leader of CTG. White creates a fascinating musical conversation throughout with saxophonist Sam Skelton and there are exciting sections later in the song for Starks’ tropical-tinged keyboard solo and a snappy bass solo by Sam Sims. The White-composed song also features drummer Louis Newsom, percussionist Barbara Martin, with programming by Starks and White.
“Keeping It Real” is a testament to White’s coming back after Covid and re-entering the arena as a solo artist while engaging members of his longtime band that have stuck with the project through thick and thin. The song depicts making things happen with limited resources and against the odds in a field of high caliber talent. Driven by a spirit of great positivity, White is determined to settle for nothing less than excellence while at the same time “Keeping It Real.”
“It has the kind of energy and guitar centric sound I had always wanted to instill in the music of Catch The Groove, reflecting exactly where I am today as an artist,” he says. “It’s basically me expressing the reality that I’m doing my solo thing and keeping it as real and honest as possible. When I wrote the track, I envisioned incorporating the sax and also the underlying percussion throughout. Trammell helped me formalize those ideas and put a flow to them. He brought great ideas for the arrangement and how best to use the horn element. My goal in working with a producer was not just having a yes man but someone who had great ideas who could take my music to the next level – and Trammell truly delivered.”
Formed by the Portland, ME native in 2010, Catch The Groove played hundreds of packed shows at popular jazz venues, jazz and arts festivals, corporate functions and public and private events throughout the Southeast. Three singles from their 2017 EP Smilin’ in Paradise were major genre airplay hits on the UK Smooth Jazz chart, with “When I See You Smile hitting #1, “Shaken Not Stirred” reaching #4 (and #17 on the Billboard Smooth Jazz Top 30) and “Paradise” climbing to #10. “Shaken Not Stirred” was written and produced by #1 smooth jazz guitarist Nils and featured Nils, Darryl Williams and Oliver C. Brown.
Though the pandemic brought the hard working band’s non-stop schedule to an abrupt halt, as early as 2019, White was contemplating an eventual breakout as a solo artist. “I’m excited about launching this phase of my career with ‘Keeping It Real’ and my association with Polyphemus Records. I’m currently collaborating and lining up shows with other artists, and it’s great to know there’s a buzz around the music I’m creating. I’m feeling a great sense of momentum and truly believe I will be catching those groove for a long, long time.”
J. WALKER JR. OFFERS A ‘VELVET ROSE’
A native Westside of Chicago musician, Jerome Walker Jr. started playing for his Dad’s gospel group. The Late LD Stalling of Soul Productions gave Jerome his first recording opportunity at PS Recording studio. After high school Jerome attended the American Conservatory of Music for two years. Jerome’s passion for music drove him to continue pursuing music opportunities.
Heavily Influenced by Marcus Miller, Stanley Clarke, Gospel Funk and R&B, Jerome took a little bit of all these genres and influences to develop his own style and musical voice. He continued to develop his musical skill by working with many local and National artist. Experience includes Song writing and recording with Sweetymotion, recording and video project with Brandy Amber, national television “Saturday NightSing” with Love Salvation and Devotion, professional recording with Love Salvation and Devotion; national tour with gospel recording artist Keith Pringles, professional recording with Marie Herz "Silent Night Lonely Night", CD project. Corporate and private parties with Deja Vu Production, Ron Star, Guerrini Music Production of Chicago and many more.
"Velvet Rose" is a Smooth Jazz song that is filled with passion & love.
"This is a single project release that I wrote & I had dreamed of completing for years. By the Grace of God, and with the help of song writer and music producer Sylvester Harper, my dream manifested into a reality. A special thanks also goes to LeRoy Edwards Guitar, Sam Dulany Drums, & Sylvester Harper Piano." - Jerome Walker Jr
MARK MIXX FT. THE STREET JAZZ CARTEL & DON WHYTE PRESENT ‘ZIGGY’S GROOVE’
Mark Mixx is a native Detroiter that grew up listening to music and because of his infatuation with music, he knew at an early age that one day he would embark on a musical career.
Tha Street Jazz Cartel: In 2009 Mark Mixx decided to produce a Jazz CD on his independent record label(Isis Style Music). He assembled some talented Detroit musician to collaborate and play on the “Street Jazz Project, Johnny Barnes (trumpet), Steve Cooley (trumpet),Eddie Taylor (trumpet), Ike Pippen (keys), Shane Mckeever (keys), Jeff Canady (drums), Antonio Johnson(drums), Deblone Jackson (flute), Marty Montgomery (sax), Don Whyte (sax), Charles Jones (trombone), Stephen "Stevo" Current(bass), Tony Parker (bass), Derrick Bartel (guitar), Randal Wilson (guitar), Athony Booker (guitar) and Mark Mixx (percussion and keys). “Tha Street Jazz Cartel. The Street Jazz Cartel has (4) album release out Now on All digital platforms. In 2021 Mark Mixx feat. Tha Street Jazz Cartel release their new singles from their (5th) album entitled "V" with a collaboration with James Gibbs III (trumpet) "Rydn & Chillaxn" along with "Ziggy's Groove". These releases will Put you in the mind of Riding on a "Hot Sunny Day"!
Mark Mixx and Tha Street Jazz Cartel has performed with the world renowned Michael Franks, Alex Bugnon, Marion Meadows, Mindi Abair, Dave Koz, Gearld Albright, Richard Elliott, Nelson Rangell, and Will Downing. Also Tha Street Jazz Cartel Has performed for the Rev. Jesse Jackson for The Rainbow Push Coalition for charity and many more also with a few live television appearances.
SAXOPHONIST NICK STEFANACCI BRINGS ‘DANCE UNTIL DAWN’
After having released seven solo albums constructed of sophisticated pop, funk and jazz fusion featuring guest vocalists, saxophonist Nick Stefanacci decided to throw a change up by crafting a buoyant smooth/contemporary jazz instrumental, “Dance Until Dawn,” which drops May 24 on the Sweet Lion Music Group label. Stefanacci wrote the single with Billboard hitmaker Adam Hawley, who produced the vibrant, melody-rich sax-led tune.
As a saxophonist, Stefanacci is driven by timbre and rhythm. "Dance Until Dawn" illumines his soulful alto horn harmonies and deep connection to groove. Multi-instrumentalist Hawley adds guitar, keyboards, strings and programming while Carnell Harrell makes the track more robust by adding synths to the rhythms created by drummer Eric Valentine and bassist Mel Brown.
“As a young saxophonist, I was enamored with David Sanborn so releasing a contemporary jazz single has been a long time coming. I wanted to give my fans something different than what they are accustomed to hearing from me. My albums are kind of a Steely Dan meets Maceo Parker mashup, a more funk fusion groove with vocals, horns and jazz harmony,” said Stefanacci, who is also a philanthropist that founded and curated The Promise Music Festival to benefit local children’s hospitals.
Stefanacci met Hawley while the saxman was touring with trumpeter/flugelhornist Cindy Bradley. He’s been performing with the Billboard chart-topper for a few years. As a sideman, his wide-ranging resume also lists hip hop superstars Ja Rule and DMC (of Run-DMC), blues rocker Derek Trucks, seminal R&B, funk and soul drummer Bernard “Pretty” Purdie; and hardcore punk/rap pioneers Dog Eat Dog.
Stefanacci stepped into the solo spotlight in 2010 with the release of his debut album, “26 Years.” His latest collection is the self-titled set that dropped two years ago as the pandemic raged. The album highlights Stefanacci’s imaginative arrangements of songs originally recorded by some of the eclectic artists whom he cites as having influenced his craft: Stevie Wonder, Nirvana, Michael Jackson, Metallica, Nina Simone and Bill Withers, among others.
“Dance Until Dawn” previews Stefanacci’s eighth album, "Nú FNK," which will be a return to his funk roots along with instrumental grooves and pop-fusion vocal tunes. The disc is slated for release later this year.
"Dance Until Dawn"
Produced and Mixed by Adam Hawley
Written by Nick Stefanacci and Adam Hawley
Mastered by Steve Hall at Future Disc Systems
Saxophone: Nick Stefanacci
Guitars, Rhodes, Strings, Programming: Adam Hawley
Additional Synths: Carnell Harrell
Bass: Mel Brown
Drums: Eric Valentine
"THE TIME IS NOW” FOR “LITTLE BIG BAND” THE JONES FACTOR
The jazz group will drop their third album on July 15.
WESTCHESTER COUNTY (9 JUNE 2022): Uncertainty brought on by the pandemic has inspired major life changes as well as creating a sense of urgency when it comes to completing long-gestating projects. Five years in the making and fifteen years since their last release, jazz ensemble The Jones Factor committed to finishing their third album, “The Time is Now,” as soon as pandemic restrictions eased and the ten-piece horn-powered band could gather safely in the studio. The contemporary jazz collection comprised of original compositions and inventively arranged covers, produced by the group’s Dave Anderson and John Fumasoli, drops July 15.
Trombonist Fumasoli formed The Jones Factor (originally called The Jazz Collective) in 1986 with bassist Anderson joining shortly thereafter. Horn heavy, they described themselves as “a little big band” and together, they crafted over one hundred charts spanning various shades of jazz, including contemporary, bop and hard bop as well as Latin, blues, funk and even hip-hop grooves. The unique instrumentation allows for a wide variety of textures, colors and sounds while the diversity of the unit’s players makes for exciting performances and imaginative improvisation.
The challenge inherent for a band comprised of busy first-call musicians who have played with jazz, pop and R&B legends (from Frank Sinatra to Tony Bennett, from Lady Gaga to Diana Ross, from Elton John to Steely Dan) as well as prominent orchestras, symphonies and ballets is being able to gather all the members. Thus, work on their albums takes a while and they were about three years into recording “The Time is Now” when the pandemic slowed the process to a halt. As soon as the band got the greenlight to get back to work, The Jones Factor returned to the studio with a renewed impetus to finish and release the project.
“The album title comes from the fact that we were moving along great with our recording and then COVID hit. Like so many others in the music world, our lives were deeply disrupted and so we got to the point of saying that this album has to come out now. We cannot wait any longer, no matter what! Honestly, it was as much about getting off our butts and getting this music out as it was about the pandemic. The album is too good to sit on,” said Fumasoli who will lead the band at an album release concert on July 13 at La Zingara in Bethel, Connecticut.
“The Time is Now” features sixteen musicians, including ten horn players and guest guitarists Chieli Minucci (Special EFX) and John Tropea. Anderson’s elastic basslines anchor the rhythm section fortified by drummers Joel Rosenblatt (Spyro Gyra) and Thierry Arpino. Pianist Rob Aries adds to the melodies, but the focal point of The Jones Factor is the layers of mighty horns, astutely deployed and meticulously arranged. Fumasoli teams with Bill Harris (tenor saxophonist, flute), Ken Gioffre (soprano and alto sax, flute), Jason Polise (tenor sax, bass clarinet), Don Hayward (bass trombone), Janet Lantz (French horn), Tony Kadleck (trumpet, flugelhorn), Scott Wendholt (trumpet, flugelhorn), Don Harris (trumpet, flugelhorn) and Ben Kibbey (trumpet, flugelhorn). Each player in this democratic union is granted the freedom to solo with each one taking an equitable turn in the spotlight.
From a production standpoint, Anderson opted to utilize a different tact than one typically associated with jazz ensembles.
“Recording this album was in one sense a straightforward application of everyone’s high-level professional skills, and in another sense an interesting experiment in trying new ways of doing things – not without risk – that ended up exceeding our expectations. My idea was to approach it the way non-jazz records have been recorded since the late sixties: building the sound in layers and creating the finished ensemble in the production environment. Doing this allowed John and I the freedom to finesse balances, phrasing and tone colors in a way that can’t be done as easily when everyone is in the studio at the same time. In other words, we produced this album like a pop or rock record. There’s plenty of seat-of-the-pants, fire-breathing improvising, but the sonic picture has the polish of a more structured pop production. It’s a best-of-both-worlds approach, and I feel we succeeded beautifully.”
“The Time is Now” opens with a pair of tunes by jazz fusion groups that have influenced The Jones Factor, the Yellowjackets’ “Past Ports” and Steps Ahead’s “Pools,” both arranged by the late Dick Burlant, who had been part of The Jones Factor’s orbit since the 1980s. “When He Calls” is an original composition by Patti Preiss-Harris, Bill Harris’s late wife, and has a wealth of personal meaning.
“The very first time we played it, we dedicated it to Patti’s father, who was going through heart surgery at the time. When he passed away six months later, we played it at his memorial service. It was always his song to me after that and usually brought tears to my eyes when I introduce it. Now that cancer has claimed Patti, the song feels very prophetic. She got the call. The song continues to bring a tear to my eye, now for different reasons,” said Bill Harris.
One of Fumasoli’s students suggested that The Jones Factor record Bela Fleck’s “Hall of Mirrors.” Multiple Grammy nominee and three-time Emmy winner Minucci lends his agile and intricate fret work to the track, captured in this studio performance video: https://bit.ly/3th8Aif.
Seven soloists shine on “Those City Ways.” Anderson said, “‘Those City Ways’ is a live performance arrangement – essentially a framework for blues solos by most of the band. To keep the long-form, extended nature of the piece interesting, I did hip-hop cut-and-paste arranging, bringing the piano in and out to make the contrast between ensemble writing and soloing more dramatic.”
The Jones Factor released their debut recording, “Collective Jazz,” in 1991 and issued their sophomore disc in 2007, “Blast From the Past.” While eager for “The Time is Now” to finally drop this summer, they’ve already synchronized their schedules to return to the studio this fall to record new material written by Fumasoli.
“The Time is Now” contains the following songs:
“Past Ports”
“Pools”
“When He Calls”
“Hall of Mirrors”
“Better Left a Memory”
“All That I Need”
“Summertime”
“Those City Ways”
“Chorale”
For more information, please visit https://johnfumasoliandthejonesfactor.com.
JAZZ VOCALIST ANNE WALSH PAYS HOMAGE TO AN ICON ON “THE ASTRUD PROJECT”
The collection of Brazilian jazz songs made famous by Astrud Gilberto drops July 8.
LONG BEACH (6 JUNE 2022): The seeds for “The Astrud Project” were sewn on jazz vocalist Anne Walsh’s previous album, “Brand New.” On that 2016 set, Walsh penned biographical lyrics to Brazilian jazz singer Astrud Gilberto’s lyric-less scat on “Nao Bate O Coracao,” retitling the song “The Writing’s on the Wall.” Walsh did a similar thing with Gilberto’s scatted “Beach Samba,” which led to recording an entire album that pays tribute to Gilberto’s seminal bossa nova catalogue. Produced and orchestrated by Grammy nominated arranger Tom Zink, “The Astrud Project” drops July 8 on the A to Zink Music label.
“Looking over Astrud’s life and career in researching that song (“Nao Bate O Coracao”) was the beginning of a deeper dive into the songs that inspired this collection. I’ve always found a kindred spirit in the vocal approach that Astrud took. Her light, straight tone is what really makes the music she sang shine. There is little doubt that Astrud’s approach set the stylistic vibe for the bossa nova movement of the 1960s,” said Walsh who will preview the new album at a concert performance at Herb Alpert’s Vibrato in Los Angeles on June 22 that will feature Zink and an orchestral ensemble.
Walsh and Zink say that Gilberto served as “sort of a poster child for innocence and the unaffected musical beauty that summed up the early bossa nova movement.” To honor the indelible mark she made on the music for which they hold immense ardor, the spouses recorded some of Gilberto’s best-known songs as well as lesser-known selections, adding their own fresh twist to the arrangements and approach. “The Astrud Project” is comprised of eleven tunes and encompasses a mix of songs sung in English and Gilberto’s native Portuguese, including the iconic “The Girl From Ipanema.”
“Learning the Portuguese lyrics is so important to understanding how the music should swing. In Brazil, you can find yourself listening to a conversation and faintly hear the cadences of the various percussion instruments. That is such a huge part of getting the music under your skin as a singer; really internalizing the percussive feel of the language. I sing most of ‘The Girl From Ipanema’ in Portuguese because it’s impossible to get that same rhythmic feel from the English lyrics,” said Walsh.
Gilberto’s sultry and sensual voice meshed perfectly with Brazilian jazz rhythms and the rich melodies written by Antonio Carlos Jobim (“Dindi,” “The Girl From Ipanema” and “Fotographia”) and other emerging Brazilian composers of the era such as Baden Powell and Vincius de Moraes (“Canto de Ossanha”) and Marcos Valle (“Crickets Sing For Anamaria”). She uniquely illumined pop songs like “Call Me” and selections from the great American songbook (Legrand and Mercer’s “Once Upon a Summertime”) by applying her trademark bossa nova varnish. On “The Astrud Project,” Walsh skillfully plies her exquisite voice and passion for Brazilian jazz to the lavishly produced and orchestrated tracks meticulously crafted by Zink.
“Our hope was to keep that sunny innocence of the original, while updating the sound and playing to reflect our own perspective on the era. One of my favorite elements as an orchestrator is how the original recordings could go from simple two-person performances to huge orchestral arrangements and yet still retain the fun and light sound that characterizes bossa nova. This recording moves from guitar/voice duos to very large ensembles with full string, woodwind and brass sections. All of the arrangements are original, but I focused on retaining the sense of innocent beauty that was so characteristic of Astrud’s recordings,” said Zink, who earned a Grammy nod for his arrangements on Walsh’s “Pretty World” (2009), nominated alongside some of his biggest influences, Gil Evans and Claus Ogerman.
Zink plays piano throughout “The Astrud Project” and was joined by Mitchell Long (guitar, cavaquinho), Kevin Winard (drums, percussion), Chris Wabich (drums), Mike Vacarro (flutes, clarinet, bass clarinet), Gary Meek (flute solos), Tony Guerrero (trumpets, flugelhorns), Andy Martin (trombone), Charlie Bisharat (violin), Tom Lea (viola) and Irina Chirkova (cello).
Boston born and now based in Long Beach, California, Walsh is a classically trained vocalist, lyricist, composer and educator. She recorded amalgams of Brazilian and contemporary jazz for “Pretty World” followed by the “Go” (2011) and “Brand New” albums. Walsh earned praise from Grammy-winning guitarist Pat Metheny for writing lyrics to his “So May It Secretly Begin” for “Pretty World.” That set included another instrumental song for which she wrote lyrics, Keith Jarrett’s “My Song.” Walsh and Zink are very much at home in the Brazilian jazz space, which has proved to be a fount of creative inspiration for their recordings, spawning “The Astrud Project.”
“Our previous jazz albums are a mix of bossa nova and smooth jazz, but we wanted to go all in on this project paying tribute to Astrud and the bossa nova era,” said Zink.
“The Astrud Project” contains the following songs:
“On My Mind”
“Call Me”
“Crickets Sing for Anamaria”
“Aruanda”
“Dindi”
“The Girl From Ipanema”
“Beach Samba”
“Canto de Ossanha”
“Fotographia”
“Voce É Eu”
“Once Upon a Summertime”
Additional information is available at https://www.annewalsh.com.
JOSEPHINE ONIYAMA - 'TEARS WILL NEVER BE MINE' – FIRST SINGLE FROM SUMMER EP BY SOULFUL BRITISH SINGER-SONGWRITER
JOSEPHINE ONIYAMA
TEARS WILL NEVER BE MINE
new single
out 03.06.22
(Sound Of Solar Records)
digital services
orcd.co/jotwnbm
pre-save ‘Human’ EP
orcd.co/jhuman
‘Tears Will Never Be Mine’ is the first single to be taken from a forthcoming EP entitled ‘Human' to be released in late July by the soulful singer-songwriter Josephine Oniyama, who was born in Manchester but is now based in Liverpool.
The song adds a strident electronic bounce to Oniyama's previous output, reflecting her exploration in recent years of varied and diverse sounds; a period in which she has not only listened to powerful female artists such as Grace Jones, Lana Del Rey, Joanna Newsome and Alison Krauss, but has also rediscovered earlier influences like Ali Farka Touré, Bob Marley, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, all of whom had been inspirations when learning how to play guitar in her teens.
She describes ‘Tears Will Never Be Mine' as “a call to self-forgiveness and self-healing, as a way to be better to ourselves and others. Moving on from mistakes and being kind to our hearts. The ethereal electro feel is new territory and when the chorus kicks in the beat and the strings give foundation to the elevation possible when healing happens and you've worked out of trauma and pain to a place of freedom and hope.“
Other songs included on the EP are “about finding the things that link us together, rather than what divides us. Being kind and accepting, positive and brave. There seem to be more barriers than ever going up between each of us, so it's great to have put together something that celebrates bonds.”
The EP will be followed in the autumn by Oniyama's third album, her long-awaited follow-up to 2012’s ‘Portrait’, which was issued to stunning reviews across the UK media. Praised for its fusion of folk, soul and jazz, songs from it were A-listed at BBC Radio 2, while there was further playlist support from 6 Music, XFM and Jazz FM. Oniyama also performed on Later With Jools Holland, The Andrew Marr Show, Saturday Night Live (Ireland) and a number of mainland European TV shows, while two extensive headlining tours were further backed up with appearances at major festivals (Glastonbury, Latitude, T In The Park, Electric Picnic) and high profile slots with Paloma Faith, Madeleine Peyroux, Michael Kiwanuka and Paolo Nutini.
The praise for ‘Portrait’ also saw Oniyama recognised by a diverse selection of her peers, leading to collaborations in the mid-2010’s with Travis (with whom she recorded the song ‘Idlewild’) and jazz producer/trumpeter Matthew Halsall (she co-wrote three songs for his acclaimed ‘Into Forever’ album). More recently, she was commissioned to create two live scores for the launch of HOME, the Manchester international contemporary arts centre: 'Celluloid History Songs’ was a set of new songs written to accompany silent footage from the North West Film Archive, and the centenary of the classic occult documentary ‘Haxan: Witchcraft Through The Ages’ was given an ambitious new score by Oniyama and students from the University of Salford. Fusing song-based and electro-acoustic sounds, it has further expanded her creative ideas and skills as a songwriter, arranger and sound artist.
Oniyama has also spent time earning an MA degree in English and became a mother while writing and recording her new EP and album.
PORTRAIT
UK REVIEWS
"A versatile and substantial new talent“ MOJO
“An original, unfolding talent“ UNCUT
“Wonderful, uplifting, euphoric soulful gems“ SUNDAY TIMES
“Her voice is fabulous and different“ EVENING STANDARD
“Stunning newcomer“ SUN
“Striking talent“ MIRROR
“A timeless, distinctive and soulful voice” MUSIC WEEK
josephineoniyama.com
facebook.com/thisisjosephine
twitter.com/thisisjosephine
instagram.com/josephineoniyama
KEITH WILSON - ‘MUST BE LOVE’
Keith (Kool-K) Wilson born and raised in Norfolk Va. attending Norview High School where he was an accomplished Tuba player. Graduating from High School in 1978, went on to college attending Elizabeth City State University on a Band Scholarship. Performing with the Elizabeth City State University Viking Marching Band.
As a Self-Taught Saxophonist, Mr. Wilson has developed a Unique sound around performing the voice of a tune. , Improvising over and around the melody, creating wonderful solos his audience loves. Performing in the Washington DC area Mr. Wilson has displayed his talent at well known venues such as Blues Alley, The Bethesda Blues and Jazz Supper Club , Port Towns Day Festival in Bladensburg MD where his band "Kool-K and Change" has been the headling act for the last seven years. Currently Mr. Wilson is a regular at Bobby Vans Grill at 1201 New York Ave. NW in the heart of downtown Washington DC.
MARK CARTER FT. MARK ETHEREDGE – ‘SWINGTOWN’
The year 2021 brought together a new winning team of Paul Brown, Larry Carlton, and Mark Carter for the smash hit "Miles And To Go". Mark Carter breaks out his jazz guitar and joins once again with Paul Brown as producer and Mark Etheredge on piano for "Swingtown".
Mark Carter is a veteran guitarist/composer in the Southern California area and has performed with some of the biggest names in the business including: Al Jarreau, Dave Koz, Tom Scott, David Foster, Glen Campbell, Englebert Humperdink, Roger Williams, The Crystal Catherdral, and Disneyland.
"Swingtown" brings Mark Carter to a team of great players and production. The boys of summer are here... Batter up... Swingtown.
DAVE KOZ FT. BRIAN MCKNIGHT –‘SUMMERTIME IN NY’
In a recording career that spans three decades, saxophonist Dave Koz has racked up an astoundingly impressive array of honors and achievements: nine GRAMMY nominations, 12 No. 1 albums on Billboard’s Current Contemporary Jazz Albums chart, numerous world tours, performances for multiple U.S. presidents, a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and more. A Platinum-selling artist, the California native is also known as a humanitarian, entrepreneur, radio host and instrumental music advocate.
Legendary vocalist Brian McKnight links up with Koz for the new single “Summertime in New York City, a buoyant and bright, playfully grooving anthem. With the help of EWF percussion legend Ralph Johnson setting the tone, and the genius vocals of McKnight, it’s a happy, 'feel good' summer song that exemplifies the unbreakable spirit of New Yorkers. A perfect tribute to the city and the resilience of its people!
“ALWAYS FRONT AND CENTER IS THE MUSIC. IT’S HUMBLING, THIS MANY YEARS IN SUCH A FICKLE BUSINESS, TO STILL HAVE A CAREER, STILL BE ABLE TO GO OUT AND TOUR AND MAKE RECORDS. MUSIC HAS BEEN SUCH A BLESSING TO ME, AND WE NEED IT MORE THAN EVER TODAY.” - Dave Koz
THE HIT SINGLE BY FUNK DIVISION - 'SYMPTOMS OF LOVE'
Artist Name : Funk Division
Produced by M.Duffus (Blak Prophetz)
Song Title : Symptoms Of Love
Website : https://www.FunkDivision.com - TAKE PREVIEW LISTEN HERE!
Genre : RnB/Soul
Location : United Kingdom
Release Date: 21-JUN-2022
Catalogue ID: DJ0105
UPC: 829282000771
Release Format: Single
Territory: Worldwide
P-Line: 2022 Digital Jukebox Records
C-Line: 2022 Digital Jukebox Records
Recording Location : United Kingdom
ITunes, EMusic, Inc All Major music outlets worldwide
Publishing Company : Digital Jukebox Recordings, UK
Distributed by Sony/The Orchard, New York USA
MATT BIANCO - 'THE ESSENTIAL MATT BIANCO: RE-IMAGINED, RE-LOVED' - NEW 40TH ANNIVERSARY RETROSPECTIVE BY JAZZ-POP ACT LED BY MARK REILLY
MATT BIANCO
THE ESSENTIAL MATT BIANCO:
RE-IMAGINED, RE-LOVED
new 2xCD & digital collection
out 03.06.22
[Matt Entertainment / Membran]
includes the single
MORE THAN I CAN BEAR (2022 Version)
digital services
orcd.co/mticb2022
To celebrate the 40th anniversary year of their original inception, the international jazz-pop phenomenon Matt Bianco have remixed and/or re-recorded thirty songs from their catalogue and included them on this brand new collection of re-imagined, re-loved essential classics.
Matt Bianco is a UK group that was formed in 1982 by Mark Reilly (vocals), Danny White (keyboards) and the late Kito Poncioni (bass), all of whom had originally been members of Blue Rondo A La Turk. Their chosen moniker was a fictitious character they had invented that conjured images of spies and secret agents and laid the basic concept for their music and imagery. "We loved spy TV themes and film scores from the 50s/60s/70s,” says Reilly.
Signing to Warners, they hired the unknown Polish singer Basia Trzetrzelewska to contribute to their debut album, ‘Whose Side Are You On?’. Her vocals gave the record a jazzy dimension that Reilly and White had not fully anticipated, resulting in hits such as ‘Get Out of Your Lazy Bed’ and ‘Half a Minute’ that helped turn them into one of the biggest acts of the 1980s.
A reshuffle saw Reilly team up with erstwhile session keyboardist Mark Fisher to record its eponymous follow-up. ‘Matt Bianco’ included the hit 'Yeh Yeh', with a subsequent European tour seeing them perform to over 250,000 fans.
With the group now a household name in the UK and mainland Europe, their label thought it was time to introduce them to US audiences and hired Emilio Estefan (producer and husband of Gloria) to record their third album, ‘Indigo’, which included the singles ‘Don’t Blame It On That Girl’ and ‘Good Times’, plus a much-loved B side in ‘Wap Bam Boogie’ that became a huge dance single in 1988.
Ending their association with Warners following 1991’s ‘Samba In Your Casa’, Reilly and Fisher decided to record independently moving forward and license their album projects out, thus retaining total artistic freedom. They went on to build a loyal fanbase in Japan and wider Asia with the albums ‘Another Time Another Place’, ‘Gran Via’, ‘World-Go-Round’, ‘A/ Collection’, ‘Rico’ and ‘Echoes’.
Basia and White rejoined Reilly in 2003 to reform the original Matt Bianco, which led to the album ‘Matt's Mood’ (Universal) and a huge world tour. Five years later, Reilly and Fisher combined forces to release ‘Hifi Bossanova’ (Edel), their first studio record together for seven years. They went on to perform concerts and play jazz festivals worldwide before issuing ‘Hideaway’ in 2012.
Looking to expand his creative outlook, Reilly subsequently teamed up with the Dutch jazz outfit New Cool Collective to collaborate on ‘The Things You Love’, which was released in late 2015 to wide acclaim and was toured the following year. Sadly, 2016 also saw the death of Fisher.
2017 saw a new Matt Bianco album entitled ‘Gravity’ featuring a new group of musicians and was recorded in London and Stockholm with contributions from jazz saxophonists Dave O'Higgins and Magnus Lindgren, while 2020 saw a reunion with New Cool Collective for ‘High Anxiety’, which was recorded in London and Amsterdam. Both releases were produced and mixed by Reilly in his studio in Brixton, south London.
On to the present, ‘The Essential Matt Bianco: Re-imagined, Re-loved’ sees 30 songs from the Matt Bianco catalogue either re-recorded or remixed and re-interpreted for 2022. It will be toured with an extensive set of dates worldwide.
THE ESSENTIAL MATT BIANCO: RE-IMAGINED, RE-LOVED
TRACKLISTING
CD 1
1 More Than I Can Bear (2022 Version)
2 Half A Minute (2022 Version)
3 Hifi Bossanova
4 Joyride
5 Whose Side Are You On (2022 Version)
6 Ordinary Day (2022 Version)
7 Always On My Mind
8 Could You Be
9 Say It's Not Too Late
10 Heart in Chains
11 Give Me Your Love
12 Flamenco Nights (2022 Version)
13 Golden Days (2022 Version)
14 Sneaking Out The Back Door (2022 Version)
15 What A Fool Believes (2022 Version)
CD 2
1 Get Out Of Your Lazy Bed (2022 Version)
2 Yeh Yeh (2022 Version)
3 Don't Blame It On That Girl
4 Lost In You (2022 Version)
5 Wap Bam Boogie (2022 Version)
6 Sunshine Day
7 Half A Minute (Joey Negro Remix)
8 River Of Dreams
9 The Things You Love
10 Natural (2022 Version)
11 We Should Be Dancing
12 Our Love (2022 Version)
13 Dancing In The Street
14 Good Times
15 Matt's Mood (2022 Version)
GABRIELE PRIBETTI - 'REEDED EDGE VOL 2' - NEW EP BY LONDON-BASED ITALIAN SAXOPHONIST AND COMPOSER
GABRIELE PRIBETTI
REEDED EDGE VOL 2
new EP
out 20.05.22
[Gabriele Virgilio Pribetti/Membran]
“A very engaging listen….this accomplished sax player knows how to stretch out”
MARLBANK
digital services
orcd.co/reedededgevol2
buy
gabrielepribetti.bandcamp.com/album/reeded-edge-vol-2
includes the singles
SWIMMING POOL
audio
orcd.co/swimmingpool
“warm yet fierce, with alternating delicate piano melodies, relentlessly grooving drum beats, heavy keys and trumpet, while Pribetti’s broodingly beautiful and soaring saxophone sets the mood”
TWISTEDSOUL
IN OR OUT
audio
orcd.co/inorout
“Pairs strong compositional chops with free improvising flare”
MUSIC IS MY SANCTUARY
Gabriele Pribetti is a London-based Italian saxophonist and composer whose 2020 debut EP, ‘Reeded Edge Vol 1’ and this brand new companion set have garnered praise from UK radio stations such as Jazz FM, Worldwide FM and Balaami, plus sites like Musicamacondo, Twistedsoul and Jazz Revelations. Several singles have also been included on Spotify playlists such as State Of Jazz and All New Jazz.
‘Reeded Edge’ is a conceptual work of which Pribetti explains: “I see the music like a coin: the beauty and perfection of tonality on one side,with the chaos and roughness of atonality on the other. I like to exist on the reeded edge.” Pribetti places himself on the grooved line that runs around the coin, balanced between these disparate worlds in order to harness their equal power.
‘Reeded Edge’ sees modern jazz harmony, polyrhythmic grooves and emotional classical melodies contrast with free jazz and post-tonal contemporary soundscapes, the two realms crashing and mingling like waves. The rounded sound of the double bass is juxtaposed with the thunder of the synth bass while the clean, soothing timbre of the flugelhorn converses with the dark and distorted tenor saxophone.
Performing alongside Pribetti on the EP are a quartet of renowned musicians comprised of trumpeter/flugelhorn player Graeme Flowers, drummer Joshua ‘MckNasty’ McKenzie, Tomasz Bura on piano and keyboards and Michele Montolli on double bass.
Positioned firmly within the current and ever-evolving London jazz scene, Pribetti launched the new EP with a well received set at Spicejazz Soho in central London on 18th May. “The energy in the room was something else, and the creativity and interplay with my musicians was off the charts!” he recalls. "I was also pleased to hear from non-musicians in the audience that they could easily connect with the music because of the variety in dynamics, styles and sounds. It was a special night!”
With a distinctly percussive approach to his instrument and compositions, Pribetti’s music combines his love of jazz and improvisation with an early classical upbringing, while leaving space for interplay and free spontaneous composition. He is a highly experienced international session musician and has collaborated frequently with a wide range of artists that include Stormzy, Wizkid, Stefflon Don, Jordan Rakei, Burna Boy, Skepta, General Levy, Zion Train, Kamaal Williams, Congo Natty and U-Roy.
REEDED EDGE VOL 2
TRACKLISTING
1 Rain Project
2 Duende
3 Swimming Pool
4 Vaporizing Horror
5 In Or Out
All music composed, arranged and produced by Gabriele Pribetti
Mixed by Kassa Alexander aka PRGRSHN
Mastered at Whitfield Mastering by Naweed Ahmed
MUSICIANS
Gabriele Pribetti - saxophones
Graeme Flowers - trumpet, flugelhorn
Joshua ‘McKnasty’ McKenzie - drums
Tomasz Bura - piano, keyboards
Michele Montolli - double bass
Facebook HERE
Twitter HERE
Instagram HERE
YouTube HERE
LETTUCE - 'KEEP THAT FUNK ALIVE’ (FEAT BOOTSY COLLINS) – NEW SINGLE FROM JUNE ALBUM
LETTUCE
KEEP THAT FUNK ALIVE
feat BOOTSY COLLINS
new single
out 20.05.22
digital services
orcd.co/lettucektfa
included on
UNIFY
new album
out 03.06.22
(Round Hill Records)
pre-order/save
orcd.co/lettuceunify
LIVE IN LONDON
20.09.22
SCALA
In this day and age, a singular, definitive stamp of approval is a hard thing to come by. Unless, of course, you’re the modern funk band Lettuce and the Bootsy Collins steps into the studio to put his timeless spin on your new record….which is exactly what happened when the band were recording the song ‘Keep That Funk Alive’ while making their new album. Within its first few seconds, fans are met with one of the dirtiest envelope-filtered bass runs since ‘Mothership Connection’, a glowing sign that this group is more than capable in its role of funk preservation.
Not so much a passing of the torch as it is a welcoming with open arms, Bootsy and the Boston-based sextet of Lettuce all join hands in honour of, you guessed it, keeping the Funk alive; an idea which drummer Adam Deitch gleaned from a pre-vax Covid-era Instagram post of Bootsy’s before the two had even met. “Linking up with Bootsy, one of the inventors of funk, still feels like a dream,” states Deitch. “Bootsy wants to keep funk alive and we wholeheartedly agree with that statement. This is one of our greatest accomplishments as a band! Major props to BOOTZILLA for believing in us!”
Sax player Ryan Zoidis concurs, adding that “KTFA is a dream come true and a collaboration we have imagined since we were teenage funksters. It came together beautifully with Bootsy's far-out and groovy vocals and multiple space-bass layers.”
A timeless anthem by what is surely the funkiest band around, ‘Keep That Funk Alive’ is the third single to be taken from ‘Unify’, the new album by Lettuce. Their eighth studio record in total, it is the third in a row to be made at Colorado Sound Studios in Denver and completes a loose trilogy that began with 2019’s GRAMMY-nominated ‘Elevate’, and continued with 2020’s ‘Resonate’.
Fans can still expect plenty of the ultra-funky, largely instrumental tracks that Lettuce have always been known for, but in the tightest form they have ever taken. An introductory single from the album entitled ’Gravy Train’ was released in March that highlighted a tightly evolved rhythm section, pin-point accurate horns and guitar-bass interplay not executed this well since The Meters did it down in New Orleans all those years ago. Its follow-up, ‘Everything’s Gonna Be Alright’ featured a whirlwind of electric piano and unison horn lines and was band keyboardist Nigel Hall’s reinterpretation of a classic late ‘70s Clark Sisters tune.
Approaching thirty years since its humble Boston beginnings, the relentlessly soulful funk outfit has essentially lived on the road, embodying, night after night, the sly wink of its moniker: Let us play!
MORE ABOUT UNIFY
“Dealing with the pandemic, being in separate places, trying to survive without our best friends, without touring, not to mention the political divide in this country….we really needed to unify,” says drummer Adam Deitch by way of explaining the album title, while Zoidis recalls that “the album somehow came together at a time when we were away from each other longer than we had been in years.” Although the group members were able to write in their respective home studios, they had not actually been in the same room or on stage together since a European tour in the early spring of 2020 was cut short by lockdown.
The very first track on ‘Unify’ captures the raw energy of the eventual Lettuce studio reunion in Denver, but is not where the story of 'Unify' begins. Its roots actually date back to 2018 when they assembled to begin work on ‘Elevate’. Armed with dozens of songs, they tracked enough material for that record, its successor ‘Resonate’ and more (including the vinyl-only live in the studio improv ‘Vibe’). With some stellar pre-existing tracks held over from those records and restrictions finally eased, the group was primed and decamped to Colorado Sound where they reunited with engineer Jesse O’Brien and self-produced the new record. Not having the opportunity of extensively road-testing the material and fleshing it out on tour prior to recording it, this time around the feeling was that they actually ‘discovered' the music as much as made it, essentially debuting it live in the studio.
A totally collaborative effort, ‘Unify’ is full of exciting cuts with brilliant lyrics and arrangements by vocalist/keyboardist Nigel Hall and fiery horn parts from trumpeter Eric ‘Benny’ Bloom, while bassist Erick ‘Jesus' Coomes observes that “we’re just getting tighter and tighter. These have been the first records made with the six of us as a team, and it’s the best the band has ever been: live and in the studio; the funkiest and the most fun.”
There is also the tantalising prospect of hearing it all unveiled on an extensive tour, which commenced in late March for a mammoth trek around the US and eventually crosses the pond for a show at London Scala on 20th September that kicks off a set of European dates. “It’s exciting,” adds Smirnoff. “Our audiences are going to hear how we end up interpreting these songs for the first time, in the live form, and then for the 300th time; they’ll get to hear right along with us how the songs will morph and evolve.”
‘Unify' is an expression that is pure Lettuce. It will teleport you to a funky galaxy far, far away, where all life co-exists as one in peace, love, harmony…and music!
LETTUCE
Adam Deitch - drums
Ryan Zoidis - saxophone
Adam ‘Shmeeans’ Smirnoff - guitar
Erick ‘Jesus’ Coomes - bass
Nigel Hall - keyboards, vocals
Eric ‘Benny’ Bloom - trumpet
lettucefunk.com
J. STATON FT. JEFF LORBER – ‘KICKIN’ IT’
Professional Saxophonist, Writer, National Recording Artist, and Producer, J Staton is taking the world by storm. His unique sound has left audiences all over the United States awe-struck. J’s Jazz sound is captivating and provides a listening pleasure that is hard to escape. He creates tasteful, masterful, powerful, smooth, and rhythmic sounds that resonate with the soul.
He has been on several stages including The Apollo Theater and has performed alongside the true greats of the industry – Gerald Albright, Norman Connors, Jennette Harris, and Peter White, to mention but a few. His single project “IT’S ALL GOOD” made Billboard and The Smooth Jazz National Charts and remained on there for 17 weeks.
His latest single, “KICKIN IT” produced by Grammy Award-winning Jeff Lorber and Featuring Jeff Lorber and bassist Jimmy Haslip from the Yellowjackets, is set to release by May 31st. Entirely devoted to his craft, J has been focusing his time on his songwriting and unique sound, whilst developing relationships to network effectively. He remains humble always as he continues to create grounded and honest works of art in a bid to share his gift with the world.
CHRIS ‘BIG DOG’ DAVIS FT. NAJEE – ‘QUIET STORM’
47 years ago, Smokey Robinson filled the air waves with his hit "Quiet Storm". In 2022 Chris 'Big Dog' Davis, with the help of dear friends Najee And Lamone, has captured the essence of this song with smooth, soft, and warm melodies flowing throughout this track.
This song is dedicated to Melvin Lindsey who started the term Quiet Storm Radio format in 1976 at WHUR-FM, and to all radio DJ's And Quiet Storms formats around the globe.
"Quiet Storm"
Produced by Chris Big Dog Davis
Written By Smokey Robinson and Rose Ella Jones Publishing Sony/Atv Music
Keys - Chris Big Dog Davis
Flute - Najee
Lead/backgrounds - Lamone
Mixed By Chris Big Dog Davis
Mastered Dave Darlington
ELDON T. JONES – CAPTURED BY LOVE
Side 2 Music is proud to present the brand new single "Captured By Love" from sax phenom Eldon T. Jones. Eldon presents this fresh new offering with a tenor saxophone that is one of the most robust and mature found in the genre. With Jazz roots and urban R&B/Soul inspiration, Jones' voice soars on this soulful exploration surrounded by some mix of the industry's top session players.
Produced and mixed by industry veteran Darren Rahn, "Captured By Love" is sure to lift and elevate the listener, and provide a feel-good atmosphere of groove and romance.
BEKENDE MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST VANGELIS OVERLEDEN
Op 19 mei jongstleden is bekendgemaakt dat de Griekse componist en multi-instrumentalist Vangelis afgelopen dinsdag op 79-jarige leeftijd is overleden. Vangelis werd op 29 maart 1943 als Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou geboren in Volos, Griekenland. Hij was een muzikaal wonderkind. Al op vierjarige leeftijd begon hij met het componeren van muziek en hij gaf zijn eerste concert op zesjarige leeftijd. Midden jaren zestig bracht hij als lid van de band The Forminx een handvol singles uit voor platenmaatschappij Decca. Vervolgens formeerde hij met landgenoten Demis Roussos en Loukas Sideras de psychedelische groep Aphrodite’s Child. De doorbraak kwam in 1968 met de single ‘Rain And Tears’, die de tweede plaats van de Veronica Top 40 bereikte achter ‘Hey Jude’ van The Beatles. Een jaar later bereikte de single ‘I Want To Live’ wel de eerste plaats van de Top 40. Aphrodite’s Child scoorde ook nog flinke hits met de singles ‘Marie Jolie’, ‘It’s Five O’Clock’, ‘Spring, Summer, Winter And Fall’ en ‘Such A Funny Night’. Na drie albums ging de band in 1972 uit elkaar. Zowel Demis Roussos als Vangelis hadden daarna zeer succesvolle solocarrières. Al in 1970, terwijl Vangelis nog deel uitmaakte van Aphrodite’s Child, componeerde hij zijn eerste filmmuziek. Dat deed hij voor de romantische Franse dramafilm ‘Sex Power’. De muzikant was bijzonder productief en bracht tussen 1973 en 1996 jaarlijks meerdere albums uit, veelal soundtracks. Zijn eerste samenwerking met Jon Anderson van Yes resulteerde in 1980 in de Top 10-hit ‘I Hear You Now’. Het Jon & Vangelis-album ‘Short Stories’ bereikte dat jaar de eerste plaats van de albumlijst. De single ‘I’ll Find My Way Home’ van het album ‘The Friends Of Mr. Cairo’ van Jon & Vangelis stond in februari 1982 op de tweede plaats van de Top 40. Nog datzelfde jaar maakte Vangelis de muziek voor de film ‘Blade Runner’. Zijn filmmuziek voor ‘Chariots Of Fire’ was eveneens zeer geliefd. Vangelis bleef door de jaren heen druk bezig als componist en uitvoerend muzikant. Zo maakte hij de muziek voor de Ridley Scott-film ‘1492 - Conquest Of Paradise’, die in 1992 verscheen. Aanvankelijk was de soundtrack geen groot verkoopsucces, maar toen bokser Henry Maske het in 1994 gebruikte als begeleidingsnummer bij zijn titelgevecht tegen Ian Barkley werd het titelnummer alsnog een nummer 1-hit in Duitsland. De platenmaatschappij begon ‘Conquest Of Paradise’ in 1995 ook in Nederland te promoten en met succes: de single stond maar liefst negen weken op de eerste plaats van de Top 40 en de soundtrack stond drie weken aan de top van de Album Top 100. Na 2015 stopte Vangelis met het componeren van filmmuziek, al bracht hij nog wel eigen platen uit. Het klassieke album ‘Juno To Jupiter’ verscheen nog zeer recent, in september 2021. Vangelis ruste in vrede!
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.
In het begin van de jaren tachtig zat ik samen met 2 vrienden en hun echtgenotes in de multi-mediagroep ‘The Dunwich Experience’. Ik deed de soundtrack en mixing, wijlen Eddy Bertin schreef het verhaal, en Jacky Vanderhaeghen stond op de scène. In die mix wilden wij de song ‘Heaven and Hell’ van Vangelis gebruiken. Daarvoor vroeg Eddy toen via zijn platenfirma in Londen de toestemming. En die kregen wij ook!
Patrick Van de Wiele
IGOR GERZINA RELEASES NEW SINGLE ‘ROAD STORY’
"Road Story" is the new single by Croatian award-winning saxophonist and producer Igor Gerzina.
This is a smooth jazz driven tune with a dominant melody on the saxophone accompanied by excellent musicians: Gerzina's long-time collaborators Jurica Leikauff on the keyboard and Elvis Penava on guitar.
Available now on all digital platforms:
Igor Gerzina is a Croatian award-winning saxophonist, composer and Croatian Radiotelevision Jazz Orchestra producer. He won several Porin awards (Croatian most prestigious discography award), as well as several Status awards for the best instrumentalist of the year, awarded by the Croatian Musicians Union.
Igor performed his song 'Dream For The Future' on the Croatian presidential inauguration.
The last three albums garnered airplay in more than 15 countries on 4 continents, including Billboard and America's Music Chart.
He took part in more than a hundred and thirty discography editions, composed for film, pop artists and opening songs for TV and radio. He has graduated in saxophone from Zagreb Academy of Music and has studied at Berklee College of Music (Boston, USA).
▶︎ Official Website: www.igorgerzina.com
▶︎ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/igorgerzinasax
▶︎ Instagram: http://instagram.com/igorgerzinasax
▶︎ Official YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/zgspecial
SAXOPHONIST NICK STEFANACCI INTRODUCES A NEW DIMENSION TO HIS REPERTOIRE
The smooth jazz single that he wrote with Billboard hitmaker Adam Hawley, “Dance Until Dawn,” drops on May 24.
NEW YORK CITY (19 May 2022): After having released seven solo albums constructed of sophisticated pop, funk and jazz fusion featuring guest vocalists, saxophonist Nick Stefanacci decided to throw a changeup by crafting a buoyant smooth/contemporary jazz instrumental, “Dance Until Dawn,” which drops May 24 on the Sweet Lion Music Group label. Stefanacci wrote the single with Billboard hitmaker Adam Hawley, who produced the vibrant, melody-rich sax-led tune.
As a saxophonist, Stefanacci is driven by timbre and rhythm. "Dance Until Dawn" illumines his soulful alto horn harmonies and deep connection to groove. Multi-instrumentalist Hawley adds guitar, keyboards, strings and programming while Carnell Harrell makes the track more robust by adding synths to the rhythms created by drummer Eric Valentine and bassist Mel Brown.
“As a young saxophonist, I was enamored with David Sanborn so releasing a contemporary jazz single has been a long time coming. I wanted to give my fans something different than what they are accustomed to hearing from me. My albums are kind of a Steely Dan meets Maceo Parker mashup, a more funk fusion groove with vocals, horns and jazz harmony,” said Stefanacci, who is also a philanthropist that founded and curated The Promise Music Festival to benefit local children’s hospitals.
Stefanacci met Hawley while the saxman was touring with trumpeter/flugelhornist Cindy Bradley. He’s been performing with the Billboard chart-topper for a few years. As a sideman, his wide-ranging resume also lists hip hop superstars Ja Rule and DMC (of Run-DMC), blues rocker Derek Trucks, seminal R&B, funk and soul drummer Bernard “Pretty” Purdie; and hardcore punk/rap pioneers Dog Eat Dog. Stefanacci stepped into the solo spotlight in 2010 with the release of his debut album, “26 Years.” His latest collection is the self-titled set that dropped two years ago as the pandemic raged. The album highlights Stefanacci’s imaginative arrangements of songs originally recorded by some of the eclectic artists whom he cites as having influenced his craft: Stevie Wonder, Nirvana, Michael Jackson, Metallica, Nina Simone and Bill Withers, among others.
“Dance Until Dawn” previews Stefanacci’s eighth album, "Nú FNK," which will be a return to his funk roots along with instrumental grooves and pop-fusion vocal tunes. The disc is slated for release later this year.
For more information, please visit http://sweetlionmusicgroup.com.
Follow Stefanacci on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/sweetlionmusicgroup/) and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/nickstefanacci_SweetLionMusic).
XAVIER GORDON’S NEW SINGLE ‘SUNSHINE AND RAIN’
Xavier Gordon began his journey as a pianist at the age of seven and has become a composer and producer of jazz, gospel, rnb, hip hop, pop and many more genres of music. He became formally trained in jazz while obtaining a Bachelor’s Degree in Jazz Studies from Georgia State University.
After playing for acts like Jamie Foxx ,Jennifer Hudson, John Legend and producing for artists including Angie Stone and Puff Daddy, he earned his first 2018 Grammy nomination for production with Musiq Soulchild. And in 2019, he recorded a single where he plays alongside jazz greats Norman Brown and Kirk Whalum.
Xavier is currently promoting his new EP entitled Excellence. Excellence is an innovative and feel-good jazz EP released July 2, 2021 and debuted #2 on the iTunes Charts.
KENNY NIGHTINGALE – ‘MY SAXOPHONE’
Motivated in his music career by so many legends before him, just to name a few, Jimmy Hendrix, Grover Washington Jr, Slash, and Jonathan Butler. Kenny Nightingale is an American based smooth jazz recording artist who includes a fusion of gospel and contemporary beats. Mr. Nightingale writes songs and creates sounds that come from the deep. He plays with angelical tunes and a unique blend of jazz from all parts of the world.
Nightingale's new single "My Saxophone" was created from his passion for the instrument that he plays.
VASSAL BENFORD IS A ‘MELODY MAN’
Vassal Benford III is an American music mogul and film producer. Benford has stamped his indelible imprint on the music scene as one of the worlds top producers.
In 2017, Benford landed a platinum EDM pop hit with 2x Grammy Award winner DJ Diplo (Justin Bieber, Skrillex) song titled "Be Right There, also performed by superstar DJ's Marshmellow and Major Lazer generating over 1 billion internet streams. Benford's productions has generated over $400 million in sales revenue for such companies as Universal, Sony, BMG, and Warner Bros. Davis also founded label imprints with superstar producers Sean 'P Diddy" Combs, L.A. Reid and Kenneth "Babyface" Edmounds. The La-face duo released Toni Braxton's debut selling over 15x platinum. Benford's production with Toni Braxton received a Grammy nomination for Best Vocal Performance.
Benford has garnered several awards including the ASCAP Top Pop songwriter of the year award, 13 film scores, 4 television syndication's, and 57 platinum records awarded by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA Certified) Benford's introduction to the "fast track" of success started with music icons, Quincy Jones, Don Davis, Clarence Avant, and Universal Music Group record executive, Louil Silas Jr.
Benford's production has helped create platinum hits for superstar talents DJ Diplo, Major Lazer, Toni Braxton, NAS, Marshmellow, Flo Rida, Fat Joe & Remy Ma,Queen Latifah, Mariah Carey, Rick Ross, Deborah Cox, Sheryl Crow, U2, Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi) Kool G-Rap, Bell Biv Devo, Jade, Bobby Brown, New Edition, The Baha Men , Lil Kim, Tisha Campbell, Erika Jayne, Patti Labelle, Faith Evans, Chanté Moore, Aaron Hall, Oleta Adams, London Beat, Surface, Lisa Stansfield, Trimaine Halkins, and The Fine Young Cannibals.
Benford has also scored and/or produced the soundtrack for a host of television and film titles including "Arnold Schwarzenegger "The Running Man", "New Jack City," Kid and Play "Class Act," Woppi Goldberg "The Associate," "Melrose Place," "Beverly Hills, 90210," "Fame LA", and the "Keenan Wynn Show, Billy Bob Thornton "The Smell of Success", Hillary Duff, and Winona Ryder "Stay Cool".
During Benford's two year tenure as CEO of Vaz/Arista a label Imprint formed by Clive Davis. Benford was integral in launching the careers of two multi platinum recording acts, Deborah Cox performed the hit singles "Nobody's Supposed To Be Here." and "Who Do You Love". Benford dominated the Billboard Hot 100 pop charts making music history with the hit single, "Don't Walk Away," performed by the female trio Jade, "Don't Walk Away" went on to become one of the hottest singles ever performed by a group or duo for the longest period of 39 weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart.
Benford formed his second imprint distributed label, Vaz/Mercury with Danny Goldberg Chairman of Mercury Records. Benford was then appointed as Senior Vice President of Motown Records West Coast Division. After a two year tenure as VP, Benford was promoted and given yet another distributed label imprint, Vaz/Motown Records. Behind the success of Vaz/Motown Benford then teamed up with Danny Goldberg, formed a new distribution partnership with Artemis Records at Sony Music distribution. Artemis became the #1 independent label in the world with the mega hit, "Who Let The Dogs Out," performed by the band The Baha Men.
Vassal Benford III is ranked one of the most prolific producers in the entertainment industry today. His new instrumental single "Melody Man" is written and produced by Vassal, and is mixed by Smooth Jazz chart topper, Greg Manning.
AND THE BAND PLAYED ON – CANELITA SABROSA TO DROP HER MULTICULTURAL DEBUT ALBUM
ATLANTA (16 May 2022): Serial entrepreneur Chris Nettuno isn’t merely a music patron; he’s a member of the band. And when the COVID-19 lockdown threatened the livelihood of his group of full-time studio musicians and sidemen, the conga player found a way to keep the music playing. Those weekly porch concerts not only kept the musicians afloat but became the lifeblood of the debut album from the multicultural band Canelita Sabrosa. The Atlanta-based unit’s self-titled set, produced by five-time Grammy winner Dru Castro (India.Aire, Usher, Childish Gambino) along with the band’s two-time Grammy-winning guitarist Julio Miranda and drummer Chunky Sounds, drops May 20 on the band’s Canelita Sabrosa Records label.
During the first few months of the pandemic, Nettuno invited the band over to play in his family room. After a few songs, they heard applause coming from outside the house. Neighbors had gathered and asked the group to perform outside. The eight-piece outfit that blends Latin, jazz, R&B, funk and rock was happy to oblige the following week. Word spread quickly and soon hundreds of people began flocking to the weekly Friday night shows. A local television reporter was in the audience, which led to a segment on Atlanta’s CBS affiliate. The grassroots buzz inspired Canelita Sabrosa to record an album featuring a mix of the popular cover tunes that populate their live setlist along with five original songs composed by Miranda and a pair of songs written by vocalist-rhythm guitarist Kenny Nettuno and his son, KJ Nettuno.
Canelita Sabrosa, which means tasty cinnamon in Spanish, is a name selected to reflect the group’s multiethnic makeup as well as the multicultural stylings they incorporate into their world music amalgam. Colorful Puerto Rican, Afro Cuban, Brazilian and Caribbean nuances intermingle with improvised jazz explorations and rock god guitar pyrotechnics. Anchored by thick percussive salsa, samba and bossa nova beats constructed by Sounds, Chris Nettuno and percussionist Frankie Quinones, Miranda issues piercing lead guitar riffs and scorching solos seasoned by Kenny Nettuno’s spicy rhythms and sweet melodies. As bassist Matt Stallard carves deep-pocketed grooves, the dynamic three-man horn section - trumpeter Justin Powell, saxophonist EJ Hughes and sax/flutist Mac Isseks - douses the tracks with fire and fervor. Adding to the project’s pedigree is four-time Grammy-winning engineer Ralph Cacciurri (Coldplay, OutKast, P!nk).
“Canelita Sabrosa is a culmination of diverse cultures and musical backgrounds. We all have one thing in common and that is passion: passion for life, love and music. That passion is what drives every part of our music - the grooves, the tones, the words!” enthused Chris Nettuno.
The music on “Canelita Sabrosa” is primarily instrumental with a handful of selections appearing on the album in both instrumental and vocal versions. The eclectic track list confirms the band’s multigenerational appeal with the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and present day represented by fresh versions of The Beatles’ “Come Together,” Bill Withers’ “Use Me,” The Cure’s “Lovesong” and Camila Cabello’s “Señorita” and “Havana.”
“The covers are all about the grooves, the feeling. We try to play music that people can identify with and feel while letting each musician fly freely to let loose and show their musical soul and unique voice in each song,” said Chris Nettuno.
Of the originals, “Te Espere” moves to a sultry and sensual Latin jazz groove. “Si Se Puede” sashays and shimmies along a percussion and horn powered conga line. Miranda’s impassioned electric guitar ignites “Morning” as invigorating harmonies cascade over layers of percussion. The exotic “Breath of Rio” captivates and entrances while the anthemic “Vamos” is a celebratory fiesta. Elation propels the rousing “Clouded Vision.” Kenny Nettuno’s smooth and inviting voice provides cozy comfort on “Late Winter.”
“Canelita Sabrosa” has been serviced to radio and is already collecting airplay and playlist adds at world music outlets. It’s music to dance to, it’s music to party to, and the exuberant energy and vibrant spirit that proliferate the album are infectious and intoxicating.
“As a band, we really enjoy playing together and Covid couldn’t slow us down. We started recording in the summer of Covid, which was The Summer of Love for Canelita Sabrosa. We wrote and recorded because we never stopped when everyone else had to. We found a way. Chris Nettuno had other plans. Because of this one man, us musicians where saved. He kept us playing to feed the beast in our soul to perform for people and to help them forget that we were in a pandemic. As the world steadily emerges from the grip of the pandemic, the timing is perfect to release our first album,” said Miranda.
“Canelita Sabrosa” contains the following songs:
“Señorita”
“Te Espere”
“Si Se Puede”
“Morning”
“Breath of Rio”
“Havana”
“Vamos”
“Use Me”
“Lovesong”
“Come Together”
“Clouded Vision”
“Late Winter”
“Use Me” (vocal version)
“Lovesong” (vocal version)
“Come Together” (vocal version)
“Clouded Vision” (vocal version)
For more information, please visit https://canelitasabrosa.com.
LEE ROGERS - 'GAMEBLOOD' – NEW ALBUM BY NORTHERN IRISH SINGER-SONGWRITER
LEE ROGERS
GAMEBLOOD
new album
out 13.05.22
(Zenith Café/Membran)
digital services
LEE ROGERS - Gameblood
“A sensitive, honest collection of songs that cover a range of themes from love to loss”
AMERICANA UK
“Songs that stay with you long after listening to them 9/10” MAXIMUM VOLUME MUSIC
“His sky-reaching voice is the star. Springsteen-esque”
TURN UP THE VOLUME
includes
SILENT SONG
FOR FANS OF
JOHN MARTYN / KEB’ MO / TOM WAITS
live in London
22.06.22
St. Pancras Old Church
Based in Carrickfergus, just north of Belfast, Lee Rogers produces sounds as emotive, inspiring and mysterious as his home turf feels. The contemporary songs with strong Americana influences contained on ‘Gameblood’, his long-awaited second album, display a masterful musical craftsmanship while showing off open-hearted, lyrical storytelling. Rogers is an experienced singer-songwriter with his soul on his sleeve; a rare and authentic artist whose music is as timeless as he is.
With ‘Life And Lies’ and ‘Everytime’ already issued as singles ahead of the album, a third song has been teased to celebrate its release date. The reflective ‘Silent Song’ sports an animated video by Bob Price, who came on board during the pandemic and worked remotely with Rogers on his concept; a 1930’s influenced black and white film that fitted well with the singer's love of Vintage Walt Disney cartoons.
Explaining the album title, Rogers states that “my dad was as hard as the road he walked on but had the softest heart for us and my mother, who he loved unconditionally. He had a fighting spirit, and that’s what I believe ‘Gameblood’ means and is where the album title comes from.”
Recorded at Sycamore Studios with his regular band and produced by Gareth Dunlop, Rogers describes ‘Gameblood' as “a visit to those hard places that most people put to the back of their psyche and build a wall around. This album is a truer reflection of myself, my stories, where I’ve been and where I hope I am now. It’s music for the travelled soul, those folk who have seen a lot of life and can relate to the sentiments of the songs.”
Drawing on many experiences from his own life, Rogers was able to harness every emotion during the recording process. The result is a thought-provoking and earthy masterpiece, reminiscent of classic folk albums such as John Martyn’s ‘Solid Air’, the soulful craft of Keb Mo’s ‘Blues Americana’ and the glistening baroque balladry of Tom Waits' ‘Mule Variations’.
As his 2006 debut album ‘Drawing Clocks’ started receiving attention at radio in territories such as Canada and songs from it were placed in films and TV shows worldwide, the unassuming Rogers was already beginning a successful separate career as an award-winning tattoo artist and developing another level to his creativity. Fifteen years on, his experience and the talent displayed on ‘Gameblood’ make him worthy of recognition alongside other leading singer-songwriters.
GAMEBLOOD
TRACKLISTING
1 Everytime
2 Silent Song
3 Uneasy Love
4 The House
5 Life And Lies
6 Haunted
7 Homeward Bound
8 Won’t Find Me
9 Fools Gold
10 Barefoot In The Basement (feat Foy Vance)
leerogers.co.uk
facebook.com/lrogersmusic
instagram.com/leerogersmusic
ZENITH CAFÉ & LEE ROGERS
In 2004, after hearing a recording sent to their label Zenith Café, Paul and Nikki Turner flew to Belfast to see Lee Rogers perform at a bar venue called The John Hewitt, and have never looked back. Eventually basing the label HQ in Northern Ireland, they have developed a forward-thinking imprint with artist development at the forefront of all it does, bridging the gap between music creation and those who need to hear it. Their relationship with Rogers has now spanned almost two decades and is as strong as it has ever been.
WAKANA FT. JONATHAN FRITZEN ON ‘FIKA TALK’
WaKaNa as born in Futtsu City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan and graduated from Shobi Music College. She plays Smooth Jazz, Soul and R&B.
WaKaNa debuted in the United States with her 1st solo album Saxcess Story, produced by Greg Manning in 2018. She released “Go for the Sound" feat. Darren Rahn & Koh Mr. Saxman, produced by Darren Rahn in 2020. "Go for the Sound" got airplay throughout the United States, and was also ranked in the Smooth Jazz chart. Additionally, “SilK” was produced by Greg Manning in 2021.
She also actively performs in various countries around the world, including a performance at a festival hosted by Michael Paulo, and held her own live show in San Diego. WaKaNa is one of the most authentic Smooth Jazz sax players in Japan and the one of the most notable artists in her native country right now.
Her new album A Sunny Day was released on May 4th 2022. The first single "Fika Talk" is co-written by WaKaNa and Swedish-American keyboardist/producer, Jonathan Fritzen.
Fika: Slang for coffee, often enjoyed with pastries.
NEW SINGLE ‘HYDRA’ FROM WALTER BEASLEY
Over the past three decades, saxophonist, Walter Beasley, has artfully and dynamically redefined the phrase “musical Renaissance Man” for the modern generation. Considered by fans and critics alike as the “heir to Grover Washington, Jr.’s throne,” Beasley is the acclaimed saxophonist, vocalist, educator, and entrepreneur of the decade. As the highest selling full-time Professor / Recording Artist in history, the Boston-based musician has long mastered an exhilarating high wire act of balancing a successful career as a contemporary jazz recording artist and performer with an equally thriving presence in the field of music education.
A leading alto and soprano saxophonist and prominent vocalist all the same, Beasley is hailed by fans for his thrilling performances along the East Coast and throughout the U.S. and Caribbean. Notable performances include the all-star tour To Grover, With Love, performing alongside Chuck Loeb, Buddy Williams and Andy Snitzer and performing as the headlining act for the Playboy Jazz Festival.
A native of El Centro, CA, Beasley found his calling in the 1970’s after his Aunt gave him his first Grover Washington, Jr. record at the age of nine. During his early teens, Beasley played sax and sang in various bands throughout Southern California. In the following years, Beasley attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music and graduated alongside such prominent classmates as saxophonist, Branford Marsalis, and vocalist, Rachelle Ferrell.
"My new single "Hydra" is a song by Grover Washington Jr. that I have always loved. To my knowledge, it has not been done before now as the song is extremely difficult. If you play too much, you destroy it , if you play too little, you destroy it. The sweet spot is somewhere in the middle. My love for Grover Washington Jr and his expression is limitless. I have done my best to add my personality to an extremely beautiful track. Please enjoy." -Walter Beasley
THE EXTRAORDINARY JOURNEY OF JASON MILES – A MUSICAL BIOGRAPHY
In sharing his stories, Jason Miles invites us to be a fly on the wall at sessions he participated in for the likes of Miles Davis, Luther Vandross, Chaka Khan, Marcus Miller, Michael Brecker, Gato Barbieri, Al Jarreau, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, George Benson, Ivan Lins and many more. A prolific composer and bandleader in his own right, Miles has recorded 18 albums as a leader, but its his memories of Miles Davis’ Tutu and Amandla, David Sanborn’s A Change of Heart and Close-Up, Grover Washington Jr.’s Strawberry Moon, Luther Vandross’ Power of Love and others that captivate here.
We follow Miles on the arc of his career, from egg creams and piano lessons while growing up in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn to the studios of Manhattan and Monserrat, the endless stream of hotels and after-hour hangs on the road, the constant fixes in the studio, the numerous visits to Miles Davis’ Upper West Side pad, all recounted with uncanny detail.
An early convert to synthesizer technology, Jason was the guy who was frequently called upon by jazz heavyweights to unlock the mysterious of this new hardware. And his expertise paid off mightily. Along the way, he provides behind-the-scenes insights into his session work, including how a particular track was meticulously built up in the studio, along with an intricate breakdown of his tools of the trade.
The book also traces Miles’ emergence as a producer, beginning with the 1995 all-star Emmy-nominated People: A Musical Celebration of Diversity, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the United Nations, and culminating in his own potent projects like his three recent Kind of New albums. He also gives his take on smooth jazz, provides detailed descriptions of recording studios and nightclubs all across Europe and the U.S., and runs down tiffs that he’s had with other musicians (yes, he names names).
A fascinating account of an Extraordinary Journey by a man with a keen eye for detail and an obvious love for the music. — Bill Milkowski
Published by Book Writing Cube Printed in the United States
Copyright (c) 2022 by Jason Miles
ISBN: 978-1-955901-13-0
www.jasonmilesmusic.com
JAZZ SINGER MASHA BARTENETTI PONDERS WHAT WENT WRONG ON “ONE DAY AT A TIME”
The introspective song written in the aftermath of love dropped Friday as a single from the Marsha Bartenetti sings McNealy & Kuhns” album.
LOS ANGELES (9 May 2022): The dramatic strings that open vocal interpreter Marsha Bartenetti’s “One Day At A Time” set the stage for the single’s contemplative reflection post-breakup. Released last Friday (May 6) from the Lo-Flo Records album “Marsha Bartenetti sings McNealy & Kuhns,” the ardent song composed by Jane McNealy is a mélange of jazz, Latin and Afro Cuban music elegantly voiced by Bartenetti. Vocal and instrumental versions of the track were released, and a video will soon follow.
Bartenetti was drawn to the album project that was recorded with a full orchestra in Studio A at Capitol Records by McNealy and songwriting partner Alice Kuhns’s authentic storytelling lyrics and intrinsic melodies beautifully wrapped in a package of Mike Watts’ eloquent orchestrations and arrangements. The critically praised collection offers a refreshing sound that reminds listeners in this time of distraction that matters of the heart are still the pulse of life itself.
“One Day At A Time” initially shuffles along a breezy cadence imbued with Watts’ nimble piano flourishes, Jeff Bunnell’s majestic trumpet forays and Rusty Higgins’s plush saxophone embellishments. Mid-tune, the tempo kicks into high gear as Brazilian jazz rhythms churn feverishly, adding to the anxious emotions of the protagonist reflected in Bartenetti’s impassioned queries, “What went wrong?”
“‘One Day At A Time’ is a song that catches us right in the midst of disorientation and confusion when a love suddenly ends, before we have a chance to process what has happened and regain some kind of perspective. It is like wandering in some kind of bizarre dream. Life goes on - the sounds, the bustling life on the streets - but you are utterly in shock and can't make sense of it all yet. Unrequited love may be the deepest cut of all when you have given your heart and it is not returned or, in fact, if it is spurned. Jane’s song captures that devastating moment immediately after a breakup and is a call to take it one day at a time while the shock and disorientation of losing your lover swirls around you,” said Bartenetti.
Legendary jazz singer Sarah Vaughan sang “One Day At A Time” along with three of the other songs that appear on “Marsha Bartenetti sing McNealy & Kuhns.” According to McNealy, the original concert performance was much more of a straight-ahead jazz cut, and Watts’s inventive orchestration and arrangement took the song in an entirely new and fresh direction.
“Although Mike is a jazz pianist, his concepts for a 50-piece orchestra are more nuanced and layered. We went over his score many times and I liked the idea of enhancing the bossa nova feel, picking up rhythm in the middle of the song and then keeping it going to the end. The core idea was that my chord structure would always be the backbone of the arrangement. At the time I wrote ‘One Day At A Time,’ I had just begun composing and working on esoteric and dissonant chord changes with melodies almost incongruous to the accompanying arrangements,” explained McNealy.
Love, romance and relationships are the subject of many of the pages in the McNealy and Kuhns songbook, which consists of jazz, pop, soul, funk and folk music written for records, theater and film. McNealy finds the subject matter a constant source of inspiration.
“When you’re young, you’re either in love or falling out of love, a universal theme that interests everyone. As a writer though, one of the reasons I started writing musicals was to get more variety in the stories and lyrics that I was putting to music. The entire process is a great challenge and a great source of inspiration. You never run out of ideas You can’t be in love forever; it’s too exhausting.”
“Marsha Bartenetti sings McNealy & Kuhns” is available now on CD and digitally at iTunes, Amazon and all major retail outlets. It will be available on vinyl this summer.
For more information, please visit https://marshabartenetti.com and https://linktr.ee/loflorecords.
BRIAN CULBERTSON COMPLETES "THE TRILOGY" WITH HOPE
The R&B-jazz multi-instrumentalist drops “The Trilogy, Part 3: White” this Friday, his 25th album that was prefaced by the single “Step Into Love.”
CHICAGO (6 May 2022): The three-phase arc of a longtime relationship serves as the muse of R&B-jazz hitmaker Brian Culbertson’s trilogy of instrumental albums that he wrote, produced and performed with creative input from the 800-plus members of his Hang Club. On Friday (May 6), the third disc in the series, a collection of hopeful songs titled “The Trilogy, Part 3: White,” drops on the BCM Entertainment label. It’s Culbertson’s 25th album that to date has launched nearly forty singles to shoot to number one on the Billboard chart.
Culbertson composed the thirty songs that populate the three albums thematically along what he describes as the three-part arc of a long-term relationship: the hot and steamy “falling in love” phase, the rocky middle when perhaps they even break up for a bit, and the couple reunites to live “happily ever after” phase. The first album in the series, the sensual and romantic “Part 1: Red” was released last October and the second set, the melancholy “Part 2: Blue” streeted in January. “Part 3: White” is slightly more diverse stylistically with the uplifting urban grooves, nuanced contemporary jazz and shimmering pop songs fostering feelings of hope as the relationship thrives and endures.
All three albums in “The Trilogy” were crafted with input from the Hang Club, a tiered membership program via Patreon that Culbertson formed in 2020 tied to the weekly Friday night show that he streams live on YouTube. Hang Club members were granted exclusive behind-the-scenes access into every aspect of Culbertson’s creative process: from songwriting, arranging, recording, producing and mixing.
The first single released from “Part 3: White” for airplay is “Step Into Love,” a sultry mid-tempo call-and-response track featuring Culbertson’s signature piano melodies engaged with Patches Stewart’s soulful muted trumpet explorations, a song that has already been added into Culbertson’s live repertoire.
“I knew it would translate live because the song has real guitar, real bass, a lot of percussion. I had (drummer) Chris Miskel lay a simple groove down and it really turned out nice on stage,” said Culbertson, who has concert dates booked through November to support the album series.
As he has throughout “The Trilogy,” Culbertson performed the majority of the instruments on “Part 3: White” himself, playing piano, vocals, keyboards, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Hammond B3 Organ, Clavinet, Moogs, guitar, bass, drums, percussion, cello, trumpet and trombone amongst other instruments. Guitarists Paul Jackson Jr., Michael Thompson, Isaiah Sharkey and Gerey Johnson, bassist Maurice Fitzgerald, trumpeter-flugelhornist Michael Stever and vocalist Micaela Haley also appear on the album.
Something different for Culbertson on “Part 3: White” is “Dance With Me Tonight,” which opens with a clubby pulsating beat before breaking into a festive salsa rhythm lavishly decorated with layers of percussion, horns and breathy flute accents by Althea Rene.
“I kept hearing more and more stuff in my head on ‘Dance With Me Tonight’ so I just kept adding it. The last piece of the puzzle that I added was Althea on that rhythmic flute-vocal thing that she did. As a producer, I go where the song takes me. I’ve never had a song that was asking for all that (instrumentation) before. This one asked for it. I’m not going to say no so I just did it. It’s a fun song. I threw the kitchen sink in on that one,” laughs Culbertson, who will be hosting the ninth annual Napa Valley Jazz Getaway in California Wine Country from June 8-11, the sold-out festival that he founded, curates and headlines.
Culbertson voraciously explores and incorporates innovate sounds and technology into his recordings, which is heard in the lush sonic design he architected for “Part 3: White.”
“One of the new palettes that I tapped into on this particular album is analog synthesis where there’s a whole slew of new instruments that have recently been put on the market that are in essence a nod to the late 1970s/early eighties analogue synthesizers with modern technology implemented. What that means is I use a lot of these new sounds that add serious warmth and this human feel to a synthesizer that modern digital synthesis don’t have. For instance, there is a song on the album called ‘Sandcastles.’ There is a part after the first verse, this big swell of a pad like a big ocean current. If you really listen to it, it’s this massive, huge sound and there’s weird little inconsistencies in each note. That only happens with really analog circuitry. With digital, it’s too perfect. These synthesized sounds become like a real instrument, like a piano, like a saxophone. These were some new sounds that I was exploring on the whole album,” said Culbertson, who has begun work on a bonus fourth disc comprised of alternate versions, different mixes and several live tracks from “The Trilogy” for his first box set that is slated for release later this year.
As “White” arrives, Culbertson hopes people will listen to all three parts of “The Trilogy” as a whole, one project as opposed to three individual albums.
“Hearing the three albums in a row provides the context. All the songs on ‘Red’ were clearly about passion and love. ‘Blue’ is melancholy and sad songs, breakup songs and ‘losing people’ songs. Once you get to part three, ‘White’ is all about songs that have an uplifting feel to them. Emotionally, they all feel similar even though they are stylistically broad,” said Culbertson’s whose own long-term relationship, his marriage, will celebrate a milestone 25th anniversary in October.
For more information about “The Trilogy” and Culbertson’s concert dates, please visit http://www.brianculbertson.com.
“The Trilogy, Part 3: White” contains the following songs:
“Prelude”
“Stars”
“Step Into Love”
“Dance With Me Tonight”
“Just You & Me”
“Sandcastles”
“My Promise To You”
“Conversations”
“Summer Hideaway”
“Love Everlasting”
“You Are My Everything”
ERIC ESSIX COVERS ‘AIN’T NO SUNSHINE’ FT. RUBEN STUDDARD
In 1995, after playing a concert for students at Huffman High School in Birmingham, AL, Eric Essix met a young Ruben Studdard. Ruben’s fellow students persuaded him to sing and Eric listened in amazement and said “young man that voice will take you wherever you want to go in the music industry.” Eight years later, Ruben became the second winner of the hit television show, American Idol!
Eric and Ruben have, over the years, discussed one day working in the studio together and, when considering possible collaborations for his new album “Stride”, Eric knew he would be the perfect person to sing his arrangement of the Bill Withers classic, “Ain’t No Sunshine”.
“My goal when covering an iconic piece of music like this, is to try and preserve the character and soul of the song while creating instrumental moments that will compliment rather than distract from it,” Eric says. “This song is so elegant in its simplicity. It’s a study in songwriting where the lyrics tell a complete story with very few words and Bill Withers delivers a vocal performance that is both understated and stunning. I believe Ruben’s interpretation is one that Mr. Withers would have approved and it was an absolute joy and honor to work with him on it.
The single is the first from Eric’s new album, “Stride” the follow up to his “Songs From The Deep” album which was released in 2020 and produced the radio hits “Late Night Drive” and “The Deep”. It is Eric’s 28th album as a solo artist since his debut, “First Impressions” in 1989.
"Ain't No Sunshine"
String Arrangement by Kelvin Wooten
Orchestra Contractor - Robin Antunes
Acoustic and Electric Guitars - Eric Essix
Vocals - Ruben Studdard
Harmonica - Pat Levett
Organ, Wurlitzer Electric Piano and Bass - Kelvin Wooten
Drums and Percussion - Marcus Finnie
PATRICK BRADLEY FT. DARREN RAHN – ‘SONG OF MAY’
Setting the tone for Exhale is the album’s title track which rolls out on a celestial sequencer groove with majestic chordal progressions and bubbly synth bass. “‘Exhale’ was clearly the lead single since 2020 has been a tough year for us all,” Bradley shares. “The original title was ‘Soffrito,’ inspired by me cooking Bolognese with my grandson and explaining that it takes all day. He shouted, ‘All day Bolognese!!’ Looking up the recipe, I saw that soffrito is the key ingredient and thought, ‘What a beautiful word.’ When Darren and I worked on the song together, it grew into something more. Then when we entered the COVID world, my wife suggested I call it ‘Exhale.’
Patrick and Darren’s shared Christian faith buoyed beautiful, heartfelt numbers such as “Completely Yours,” “Song of May” and “Lighthouse” (featuring some signature tasty guitar by Allen Hinds). More forthright in terms of inspiration is “In the Heart of the Seas” which shifts between piano-centric verses and guitar driven choruses.
“The term comes from The Book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament which I am referencing in a specific context,” Bradley states. “When you’re flailing in the heart of the seas and you need someone to pull you out, only Jesus – for me – can save you. I had the title first which gave me that vibe – a mental picture of what it should sound and feel like. You can be in the worst situation yet rest in the knowing that it’s all going to work out fine.”
This song was created for Patrick's daughter Heather, who was born in May..
"Song of May"
Written by Patrick Bradley & Darren Rahn
Patrick Bradley – Piano, Organ
Darren Rahn – Tenor Sax, Wurli, Rhodes, Synths, Programming
Allen Hinds – Guitar
Mel Brown – Bass
Tarell Martin – Drums
RAGAN WHITESIDE IS ON A ‘THRILL RIDE’
Billboard #1 flautist, vocalist, and composer Ragan Whiteside is back with an exciting new single, "Thrill Ride" - the title track to her upcoming 6th album release. Teaming up with veteran hit producers Dennis Johnson and Bob Baldwin, Ragan delivers a performance that is sure to get your summer started right. Joining Ragan on the track is Rich Harrison a.k.a the artist RAH on drums and Phil Hamilton on guitar.
"Thrill Ride" (the single) will be available May 9, 2022 at all digital download and streaming platforms. The full album will be available August 2022.
"The energy of this song allowed me to live out my race car fantasy," says Whiteside. "The photoshoot with the Slingshot autocycle brought out my inner wild-child and driving it was definitely a thrill ride!" - Ragan Whiteside
"Thrill Ride"
Written by Dennis Johnson, Bob Baldwin, and Ragan Whiteside
Produced by Dennis Johnson and Bob Baldwin
Ragan Whiteside - Flute
Phil Hamilton - Guitar
Rich Harrison - Drums
Dennis Johnson - Keyboards, Drum Programming
Bob Baldwin - Keyboard Bass, Piano
DIM GRAY - 'MARE' – FIRST SINGLE FROM NEW ALBUM BY NORWEGIAN ART ROCK TRIO
DIM GRAY
(left to right above)
Oskar Holldorff - vocals, keyboards
Håkon Høiberg - guitars, vocals
Tom Ian Klungland - drums, vocals
DIM GRAY - 2022 photo by Emil Vestre
DIM GRAY : ‘Mare’ artwork by Linnea Vestre
DIM GRAY
MARE
new single
out 05.05.22
(English Electric Recordings)
digital services
dimgray.hearnow.com/mare
from the album
FIRMAMENT
out 02.09.22
CD / LP pre-order
burningshed.com/store/english-electric-recordings
Following in the wake of ‘Flown’, their critically acclaimed 2020 debut album, Norwegian art rockers Dim Gray return with its follow-up, ‘Firmament’. Consisting of twelve direct, vivid and melody-driven songs, it is a record bursting with life and colour, making for an engaging and constantly surprising journey as it weaves a route from strings-infused chamber pop, through evocative indie-folk and lush electronics and into grandiose art rock.
An ambitious artistic statement, ‘Firmament’ will appeal musically to fans of artists such as Radiohead, Agnes Obel, Owen Pallett, Susanne Sundfør, Keane and Tears For Fears. Thematically, it explores further the landscape of melancholy and longing that was introduced on ‘Flown’; however, those sensations are now contextualised in the depressions of the modern world, juxtaposed against romanticised ideas of simpler times through childhood memories interspersed with myths and superstition.
‘Firmament’ will be released on English Electric Recordings, the label run by UK prog titans Big Big Train. Gregory Spawton of BBT states: “We are delighted to announce that we have signed Dim Gray. Until now, the label has just been a vehicle for Big Big Train and outside projects of BBT band members. We have been interested in expanding the label’s activities for some time but only wanted to do so when we came across a truly exciting band that we felt had something new to offer musically. When we were introduced to Dim Gray, we saw that the band has enormous potential and were very keen to sign them.”
The album will be available on CD, LP (via Plane Groovy) and all digital services, with the physical formats available to pre-order now via Burning Shed.
The first single from the record is ‘Mare’, which was originally written by guitarist Håkon Høiberg in 2016. Singer/keyboardist Oskar Holldorff explains that “we decided not to include it on ‘Flown’, but when Håkon attempted to rearrange it in the style of Brian Wilson circa ‘Pet Sounds’ we thought the result sounded inspired. The lyric was reworked right up until the recording and is about trying to break free of invisible shackles and the yearning for something more. We tried to balance the earnest expression of emotions with more obscure imagery, but achieving the right blend took a lot of time and effort.”
The trio who comprise Dim Gray come from different places, both musically and geographically, with all three - Høiberg, Holldorff and drummer Tom Ian Klungland - moving from different parts of Norway to Oslo a decade ago to study. Having found each other, they soon began playing together. The three members have contrasting musical backgrounds in genres as diverse as black metal, progressive rock, blues, folk and film music, but in fusing these together they began to develop their own distinctive sound.
The outset of the global pandemic saw the band issue several singles prior to the digital release of ‘Flown’. A concept record with intertwining songs structured like one continuous story, it related a vivid tale of loss and loneliness that constantly twists and turns, with intimate and spatial moments offset with massive and colourful soundscapes. It was issued on 2xLP and CD formats in 2021 to rave reviews.
Oskar Holldorff of Dim Gray will be touring as part of Big Big Train for a set of already announced dates in September 2022, deputising for BBT keyboard player Carly Bryant.
FIRMAMENT
TRACKLISTING
1 Mare
2 Ashes
3 Undertow
4 Avalon | The Tide
5 52~
6 Abalus | In Time
7 Long Ago
8 My Barren Road
9 Cannons
10 Iron Henry
11 Firmament
12 Meridian
FLOWN
UK REVIEWS
"Elegiac and beautifully dense post-prog from Norway”
PROG
“An intriguing blend of well-written and superbly performed material, this debut album grabs you from the first listen”
GUITARIST
“Unique and vitally intense. Dim Gray should be lauded for producing such a wondrous work of art so early in their career. A truly magical experience"
VELVET THUNDER
“Beautifully intertwining Nordic folk textures with serene experimentation, ‘Flown’ makes for a fascinating, intriguing and truly affecting journey. 10/10”
MUSIPEDIA OF METAL
NEW DOCUMENTARY SERIES ON STAX RECORDS IN THE MAKING
HBO Documentary Films is currently in production on STAX, a multiple-part documentary series exploring the legendary Memphis-based record label, Stax Records, responsible for some of the greatest soul hits of the 1960s and 1970s. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Jamila Wignot (“Ailey”), STAX is executive produced by Academy Award® winners Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow (“OJ: Made In America”) of Laylow Pictures and Emmy® winners Nigel Sinclair and Nicholas Ferrall of White Horse Pictures.
Presented in association with Concord Originals, Polygram Entertainment and Warner Music Entertainment, the series revisits the history of Stax Records and its meteoric rise and fall. Founded in 1957 by Jim Stewart and co-owned with sibling Estelle Axton and later led by Al Bell, the label rose to fame over the course of several years with artists such as Otis Redding, Booker T. & the M.G.’s, Isaac Hayes, the Staple Singers, and Sam & Dave.
STAX is the story of the audacious group of outsiders who dared to make their own music on their own terms. The series will feature rare and never-before-seen archive material and will explore how a confluence of forces – race, geography, musical traditions, and the challenging world of the recording industry – helped shape a Stax spirit that continues to shape our culture.
“In both the sound that fueled its rise and the events that triggered its demise, Stax Records manifested the soul of America,“ commented Ezra Edelman. “There is no better person to bring this quintessential American story to HBO’s viewers than Jamila Wignot, whose work I’ve long admired.”
“As a lifelong fan of Stax Records, what has most inspired me about the label is its defiance,” commented Jamila Wignot. “The individuals who built Stax knew their worth and had a willingness to risk everything to make something on their own terms.”
Executive producers are Scott Pascucci, Sophia Dilley and Michele Smith for Concord Originals; Jody Gerson and David Blackman for Universal Music Group’s Polygram Entertainment; and Charlie Cohen and Ron Broitman for Warner Music Entertainment. David Peck, Jeanne Elfant Festa and Cassidy Hartmann will act as co-executive producers. Wignot will also serve as a producer on the project, alongside series producer Kara Elverson. Rob Bowman, author of Soulsville U.S.A.: The Story of Stax Records is serving as a consultant on the series.
GARETH DUNLOP - 'MY KIND OF PARADISE' – SINGLE FROM NEW ALBUM ‘ANIMAL’
GARETH DUNLOP - photography by Daniel Morton
GARETH DUNLOP
MY KIND OF PARADISE
new single
out 04.05.22
(Zenith Café/Membran)
included on
ANIMAL
album
out now
“Sophisticated pop with a modern feel and appeal. It’s classy music and you can see why he is in demand from other artists“
GET READY TO ROCK!
“A surprising album, more than the blend of its influences and casting a few new out there for the future. Is this where Roxy Music were heading, had they ever got beyond ‘Avalon’?”
AT THE BARRIER
“An immersive, synth textured set that blends ambient pop with soul, a touch of Celtic and a splash of cinematic”
FABRICATIONS HQ
“‘Animal’ is a beast of an album. Just put it on and bathe in its glow”
MAXIMUM VOLUME MUSIC
US TOUR WITH FOY VANCE - MAY 2022
+
UK & IRELAND TOUR
30.08.22 YORK Barbican
31.08.22 MANCHESTER Albert Hall
01.09.22 EDINBURGH Queen’s Hall
03.09.22 LONDON Eventim Apollo
04.09.22 BIRMINGHAM Alexandra Theatre
05.09.22 DUBLIN Olympia Theatre
07.09.22 CORK Cyprus Avenue
09.09.22 BELFAST SSE Arena
As the video for his new single, ‘My Kind of Paradise’, commences, Northern Irish singer, songwriter and producer Gareth Dunlop is sitting in darkness, far away from anything resembling a heavenly oasis – and that’s fine with him. “Don’t need sun on my skin / Or salt on the breeze / To calm the storms within / Or set my soul at ease,” he sings. “‘Cause I’ve found heaven / In your eyes / My kind of paradise.” A perfect love song to signal the onset of summer, albeit without an appropriate sunny locale, ‘paradise’ is at least subsequently built around him.
“How this video started out and ended up are two very different tales,” Dunlop laughs. “My original idea was to shoot a lyric video on the north coast of Ireland using lots of clever props my wife had made. We drove up to the location, but all hell broke loose when a storm began as soon as we arrived. Cars got stuck in the sand, props got soaked and ruined, signs blew away…in the end, we were beaten by the good old Irish weather.”
Thankfully, his director and videographer Jamie Neish had a Plan B. “His idea was to shoot a one-take and have a fake beach scene built around me,” he continues. “Jamie is one of those people in life who exudes positivity! When he’s excited about an idea, it’s infectious. We called two buddies to act as the builders on the set, re-used what was left of the props, bought some bags of sand and just went for it.”
‘My Kind Of Paradise’ is the latest single from Dunlop’s just released new album, ‘Animal’, which consists of a diverse set of songs including the soulful and anthemic ‘Right About Ready’ and ‘Look Back Smiling’ (which evoke the ‘80s yet exude a timeless quality), the atmospheric ‘Sorrow’ and ‘Prisoner Of My Past’, the laid-back ‘60s dream pop vibe of ‘Humans’, plus a memorable title song that adds an electronic bounce to its subtle groove.
‘Animal’ was recorded in Dunlop's own Sycamore Studios as lockdown engulfed the globe, a period that also saw him produce records by his friends and compatriots Foy Vance and Lee Rogers. All three are about to hit the road for a US tour, with Dunlop on double duty as part of Vance’s band. A previously announced UK and Ireland tour is scheduled for the late summer.
Gareth Dunlop has been recognised as an accomplished talent ever since the BBC tipped him as ‘one to watch’ in 2010 when he was not long out of his teens. In the ensuing decade he released several singles, a handful of EPs and an album that were musically eclectic yet all showcased his highly soulful voice, with several of his songs going on to be used in the hit TV series ‘Nashville’, commercials for Disney and Subaru, and more. He also had songwriting credits for recordings by stars such as T.I., Tim McGraw & Faith Hill and John Oates.
However, prior to the 2020 lockdown, Dunlop was just as likely to be heard by live audiences as he forged a reputation as a magnetic and charismatic performer on frequent headlining tours and support slots to the likes of Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Snow Patrol and James Morrison. Reviewing one of his shows, Gigslutz stated that “Dunlop has the kind of voice that can still a room with its vulnerability, the meaning behind the words heartfelt, the emotion real”, while Maximum Volume Music succinctly described it as “instantly memorable".
In his home territory, the Irish News praised Dunlop for his “distinctive croon and ear for sharp melodic/lyrical hooks”, while local website ChordBlossom declared him to be “one of the greatest talents to come out of Northern Ireland”, a sentiment only slightly qualified by National Rock Review who stated that he is “arguably one of Northern Ireland’s greatest singer/songwriters from the past decade”.
Inspired by icons such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and Tom Waits, plus a soupçon of Pink Floyd, Dunlop picked up a guitar aged 14 and soon began performing covers and original songs in live venues around Northern Ireland, RoI and the rest of the UK. In 2011 he won a Young Songwriter of the Year award in Belfast that not only earned him an invite to collaborate with seasoned writers in Nashville, an experience he has repeated many times since, but it also enabled him to tour the US extensively.
Having spent so long away from Belfast following his initial breakthrough, Dunlop decided to record and co-produce his 2017 debut album, ‘No. 79’, in stripped-back fashion at home - literally - with Nashville based writer Bobby Hamrick and compatriot Alastair McMillan, who had also recorded Dunlop’s first studio sessions at Dublin’s esteemed Windmill Lane and has engineered for U2, The Rolling Stones and Van Morrison. A winning fusion of folk and soul, the album earned critical acclaim and was playlisted on several Irish and UK radio stations, while in RoI it earned an Album of the Week slot on the prestigious RTE1.
NEW SINGLE ‘BARCELONA’ FROM MIKE MURRAY
With the pandemic behind us, people are ready to travel again. I thought it would be a great idea to create a storyboard of sorts using music as the vessel to experience various destinations across the globe through song. This was the inspiration for my new CD entitled “Destinations” landing this summer (July 2022). To that end, the first single from this CD, "Barcelona," is scheduled for arrival on May 5th. My wish for this single (and 26th commercial release) is to bring feel-good energy and provide an upbeat soundtrack to accompany the warmer temperatures and exciting new adventures we are all looking to experience after being grounded for so long.
NEW SINGLE ‘SUNNY MORNING (SUMMER PARTY)’ BY ROBERTO TOLA
SUNNY MORNING (Summer Party) is a new special edition of this multi awarded song already released in May 2017 and included in the Roberto Tola’s debut album BEIN’ GREEN (2017).
In this re-arranged, remixed and remastered new version, Roberto has gave a more danceable and rhythmic pulse to the song. An fresher and brighter mood that takes You into the warmer and estive.
<<...five years from its debut, now I wished to watching ahead for a better time, after the pandemic... wishing to enjoy the freedom of being again with the people and among people, in joyful and serene mood...>> Roberto declared.
This new version of SUNNY MORNING sees the participation of the Grenadine talented singer Zorina Andal (Lead Voice and Choir), so as Bill Sharpe (Piano & Keys) and Jill Saward (Choir), both members of the English jazz funk band SHAKATAK.
The track is originally inspired by the Roberto’s native Sardinia, an amazing and almost untouched Island laid in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and Spain.
Land of centenarians, the Island indeed offers an enviable and unparalleled quality of life, a land almost always kissed by the sun throughout the year, boasts a breath-taking nature and environment, a turquoise and emerald sea, light breeze and a balmy air.
AMERIKAANSE COUNTRYZANGERES NAOMI JUDD (THE JUDDS) OVERLEDEN
De Amerikaanse country-zangeres Naomi Judd is eergisteren op 76-jarige leeftijd overleden. Haar dochters, zangeres Wynonna en Hollywood-actrice Ashley, maakten haar overlijden bekend. "We zijn gebroken. We hebben onze moeder verloren als gevolg van geestelijke gezondheidsproblemen", klinkt het. Naomi Judd vormde eind jaren zeventig met dochter Wynonna het country-duo The Judds. De twee brachten zes studio-albums uit en scoorden een flink aantal hits. The Judds wonnen vijf Grammy Awards, stonden veertien keer op de eerste plaats van de Amerikaanse country-hitlijsten en verkochten ruim 20 miljoen albums. De albums ‘Why Not Me’, ‘Rockin’ With The Rain’, ‘Heartland’. ‘River Of Time’ en ‘Love Can Build A Bridge’ waren in de periode 1984 – 1990 zeer succesvol. De singles ’Mama He’s Crazy’, ‘Why Not Me’, ‘Girls Night Out’, ‘Love Is Alive’, ‘Have Mercy’, 'Grandpa (Tell Me ‘Bout The Good Old Days)’, ‘Rockin’ With The Rhythm Of The Rain’, ‘Cry Myself To Sleep’, ‘I Know Where I’m Going’, ‘Maybe Your Baby’s Got The Blues’, ‘Turn It Loose’, ‘Change Of Heart’, ‘Young Love (Strong Love)’ en ‘Let Me Tell You About Love’ werden nummer 1 hits in de Amerikaanse country-lijsten en Top 5 hits in de Canadese country-lijsten. De single ‘Why Not Me’ werd in 1989 ook in Nederland een flinke hit met de elfde plaats als hoogste notering in de Top 40. In 1991 stopte Naomi Judd vanwege gezondheidsredenen met toeren en ging haar dochter solo verder. Haar album ‘Wynonna’ werd een groot internationaal succes en haar carrière duurde voort. In 2010 kwam er toch nog een single van The Judds uit, die de titel ‘I Will Stand By You’ droeg. Naomi Judd ruste in vrede!
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.
COLLECTIVE GROOVE BAND GIVES A ‘DEFINITION OF FUNK’
For the last decade, the Durham NC based Collective Groove Band has been giving invigorating spins to Jazz, R&B, Neo-Soul, Pop, classic Soul and Gospel music.
With a new look and an ever-evolving sound, CGB is comprised of Kensby Blount, Cameron Morgan, Antwon Timmons and Kevin Crockett. This group of stage and studio professionals are not only musicians, but creatives who have the ability to write, arrange, produce and engineer their own imaginations and release them to the world.
CBG will bring the energy to any experience and setting, from Intimate events at the Governor’s Club, to some of the biggest stages on the East Coast; CGB makes the crowd groove!
PAUL TAYLOR’S NEW SINGLE ‘FRIDAY@5’
Over 25 years into a stellar, multi-faceted career that’s found him continually pushing the sonic boundaries of what’s possible in contemporary urban jazz, saxophonist Paul Taylor brings us his highly-anticipated new recording And Now This on Peak Records.
And Now This, fully created via the exchange of digital files between the Las Vegas based Taylor and his longtime musical compadre, collaborator, co-writer and producer Dino Esposito, features the saxman’s ongoing exploration of an expansive range of dynamic danceable grooves and intricate pop/electronica vibes. The ten tracks fully reflect the way Taylor began moving forward in his personal and creative life, as if to say, in his words, “we’re coming out of the pandemic, this is what I’ve been creating, we’re kicking it back into high gear and we are more open-minded in our approach to music than ever.”
From the atmospheric soul and fast paced funk of the title track (featuring the guitar of Brian Monroney) through the sultry flow of the closing track “Good Night,” And Now This also celebrates the decades long friendship and intuitive, forward thinking musical chemistry between Taylor and Esposito. Their dynamic history dates back to when they played in the same band as students at the University of Nevada Las Vegas – and includes Taylor touring in Esposito’s band when he was a pop star in the late 80s touring with New Kids on the Block. Esposito has been Taylor’s chief sonic co-architect since the saxophonist’s 1995 debut On The Horn and subsequently collaborated on Pleasure Seeker (1997), Undercover (2000), his Peak Records debut Hypnotic (2001), Nightlife (2005), Prime Time (2011), Tenacity (2014) and Countdown (2016).
During the course of his storied career, the Denver native has headlined hundreds of shows and has been part of numerous all-star tours – including dates with Peter White and Euge Groove in a lineup affectionately dubbed “Peter, Paul and Euge;” Gentleman of the Night (with Marion Meadows and Warren Hill). He has also performed with The Rippingtons and the acclaimed “Groovin’ For Grover” tour. Some of his first post-pandemic lockdown shows have been with labelmate Michael Lington and Sax to the Max with Michael and Vincent Ingala.
Officially entering his second quarter century of recording, with And Now This, Taylor is as excited as ever to continue casting his creative aim higher and grateful for every opportunity to bring his best to his loyal legion of longtime and newer fans. “What I like most about the new album is its freshness, and the fact that after 25 years, Dino and I still have so many unique avenues to explore,” he says. “It’s a special album created in unusual, highly stressful times. There’s something to be said for all of us artists persevering through the shutdown of 2020 and finding a way to get it done. And we did — And Now This!”
"Friday@5" is the follow-up to Taylor's #1 Billboard hit, "Straight To the Point".
KLAUS SCHULZE, PIONIER VAN DE ELEKTRONISCHE MUZIEK, OVERLEDEN
Klaus Schulze, een boegbeeld van de zogenaamde krautrock, elektronische muziek uit Duitsland, is eergisteren op 74-jarige leeftijd overleden. Dat heeft zijn familie op Facebook bekendgemaakt. De exacte doodsoorzaak is niet meegedeeld. “Met diep verdriet moeten wij jullie mededelen dat Klaus gisteren op 26 april 2022 op 74-jarige leeftijd na een lang ziekbed maar toch plotseling en onverwacht van ons is heengegaan. Hij liet niet alleen een geweldige muzikale nalatenschap na, maar ook een vrouw, twee zonen en vier kleinkinderen.” De multi-instrumentalist, maar vooral synthesizervirtuoos, Klaus Schulze was een van de oprichters van de elektronische rockband Ash Ra Tempel en speelde een tijdje bij Tangerine Dream, waarna hij een solocarrière opstartte. Die leverde meer dan veertig albums op. In 1976 kocht ik zijn album 'Timewind'. Andere visitekaartjes van Klaus zijn onder andere 'Irrlicht' (1972), 'Moondawn' (1976), 'Dune' (1979), 'Dreams' (1986), 'Miditerranean Pads' (1990) en het dubbelalbum 'In Blue' (1995). Klaus Schulze ruste in vrede!
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.
Ik zag Klaus decennia geleden in Aalst aan het werk tijdens een live optreden. Hij droeg toen een zilveren glitterpak, waarop een soort laserstralen weerkaatsten. En ik heb tevens verscheidene albums van hem gerecenseerd.
Patrick Van de Wiele
NEW ‘ELVIS’ FOOOTAGE SHOWS SINGER BECOME A “GOD”
Photo: Warner Bros.
“Elvis” director Baz Luhrmann and star Austin Butler were both on hand at CinemaCon during Warner Bros.’ presentation on Tuesday, and they presented an extended new look at the film in which Elvis becomes a “god.”
The footage that debuted was an entirely new trailer along with an extended sequence from the film, in which Butler’s Elvis performs at Russwood Park in Memphis, Tennesse, on July 4, 1956. The concert was formative in his career as once he was warned not to even lift a finger, only for him to famously disobey it. The concert made such a stir that it also broke the color barrier that was established to attempt to segregate the crowd, and he was escorted out in a frenzy.
“In that moment, Elvis the man was sacrificed, and Elvis the God was born. He had no idea what he had done,” Tom Hanks says as Colonel Tom Parker in the clip.
Luhrmann also described the film in more detail and said it’s not truly a “biopic” but a film about America in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, all of it seen through the lens of Hanks’ character, Tom Parker, who served as Presley’s manager.
“You will hear the classics, you will still see the story of Elvis…but we’ve also translated the story for a younger audience,” Luhrmann told the CinemaCon crowd. “If it feels a little like a superhero film, it is… He comes from dirt, and in a few blinding moments, he flies so high, finds his kryptonite…”
“Elvis” hits theaters June 24 from Warner Bros after it first premieres at the Cannes Film Festival.
AMERIKAANSE SINGER-SONGWRITER SUSAN JACKS (THE POPPY FAMILY) OVERLEDEN
De Amerikaanse singer-songwriter en platenproducent Susan Jacks is gisteren op 73-jarige leeftijd overleden. Jacks werd bekend als lid van The Poppy Family en was enige tijd getrouwd met Terry Jacks, die we kennen van megahits als ‘Seasons In The Sun’ en ‘If You Go Away.’ Susan Pesklevits – zoals zij eigenlijk heet – begon haar muzikale carrière op vijftienjarige leeftijd, toen zij werd gevraagd om met enige regelmaat op te treden in de Canadese televisieshow ‘Music Hop’. Tijdens een van die shows ontmoette Susan Terry Jacks. Susan vroeg Terry om haar op de gitaar te begeleiden tijdens liveoptredens. Het muzikale duo werd een trio toen leadgitarist Craig McCaw erbij kwam en zo ontstond The Poppy Family, een naam die overigens uit het telefoonboek werd gehaald. Susan en Terry trouwden in 1967. Craig McCaw introduceerde iets later de uit India afkomstige percussionist Satwant Singh en het unieke geluid van The Poppy Family was compleet. Het debuutalbum heette ‘Which Way You Goin’ Billy’ en bevatte de gelijknamige wereldhit, die de eerste plaats van de Canadese hitlijst en de tweede plaats van de Amerikaanse Billboard Hot 100 bereikte. De single ‘That's Where I Went Wrong ‘ werd ook een grote hit in Canada en de VS. Het tweede en laatste album ‘Poppy Seeds’ werd opgenomen met studiomuzikanten, nadat Satwant en Craig de band hadden verlaten. Op het hoogtepunt van hun carrière traden Susan en Terry op in Bobby Darin's succesvolle televisie-variété special ‘The Darin Invasion’, die werd gefilmd in Canada. The Poppy Family werd in 1972 ontbonden en een jaar later werd ook het huwelijk van Susan en Terry ontbonden.. Terry werd als zanger een wereldster en Susan pakte de muzikale draad op als producer. Susan Jacks ruste in vrede!
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.
SAXOFONIST ANDREW WOOLFOLK II (EARTH, WIND & FIRE) OVERLEDEN
Slecht nieuws komt nooit alleen! De Amerikaanse saxofonist Andrew Paul Woolfolk II is gisteren overleden op 71-jarige leeftijd. Andrew werd wereldberoemd als zeer gewaardeerd lid van de band Earth, Wind & Fire. Hij speelde ook samen met artiesten als Deniece Williams, Stanley Turrentine, Phil Collins, Twennynine, Philip Bailey en Level 42. Woolfolk volgde onderwijs aan East High School in Denver, in de Amerikaanse staat Colorado. In 1972 trad hij toe tot Earth, Wind & Fire als saxofonist, waar hij meespeelde op succesalbums als ‘That’s The Way Of The World’, ‘Spirit’, ‘All ’N All’, ‘I Am’, ‘Faces’, ‘Raise’, ‘Powerlight’, ‘Electric Universe’, ‘Touch The World’, ‘Heritage’ en hitsingles als ‘Shining Star’, ‘’That’s The Way Of The World’, ‘Sing A Song’, ‘Getaway’, ‘Fantasy’,’Got To Get You Into My Life’, ‘September’, ‘Boogie Wonderland’, ‘After The Love Has Gone’, ‘Star’, ‘And Love Goes On’, ‘Let’s Groove’, ‘Fall In Love With You’, en ‘Magnetic’. In 2017 werd Woolfolk opgenomen in de Colorado Music Hall of Fame. Naast zijn werk voor EW&F, speelde Woolfolk saxofoon op Valerie Carter's album ‘Just A Stone's Throw Away’ en Deniece Williams' album ‘Song Bird’. Hij was in 1983 ook te horen op Level 42's album ‘Standing In The Light’, op twee albums van Philip Bailey en op het album ‘Dance Into The Light’ van Phil Collins (1986). Andrew Woolfolk ruste in vrede!
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.
ZANGER & COMPONIST HENNY VRIENTEN (DOE MAAR) OVERLEDEN
Zanger en componist Henny Vrienten is op 73-jarige leeftijd overleden. Dat heeft zijn familie vandaag via concertorganisator MOJO laten weten. Vrienten was al langere tijd ziek. Henny Vrienten was veelzijdig als componist, gitarist en pianist, maar bovenal was hij bekend als voorman van Doe Maar. De legendarische band werd in 1978 opgericht. Vrienten sloot zich pas twee jaar later aan, als opvolger van Piet Dekker. De band ontketende met hun typische Doe Maar-geluid – een mix van onder andere ska, punk en reggae – een ware rage in Nederland. Singles als ’32 Jaar (Sinds 1 Dag Of 2)’, ‘Doris Day’, ‘Is Dit Alles’, ‘De Bom’, ‘1 Nacht Alleen’, ‘Macho’, ‘Watje’ en Pa’ werden grote hits. Albums als ‘Skunk’, ‘Doris Day En Andere Stukken’ en ‘4Us’ kregen een voor Nederlandse begrippen legendarische status. Daarnaast zij nummers als ‘Smoorverliefd’, ‘Nederwiet’ en ‘Belle Hélène’ een speciale vermelding waard. De overmatige populariteit deed de groep, de langste tijd in de bezetting van Vrienten, Ernst Jansz, Jan Hendriks en Jan Pijnenburg, besluiten in 1984 te stoppen. Hysterische tienerfans reageerden verslagen. In 2000 kwamen de mannen weer bij elkaar en maakten ze een comeback met zestien concerten in Ahoy. Daarna volgden meer concertreeksen en toerden ze langs festivals en theaters. Vrienten was dan wel het gezicht van Doe Maar, solo bracht hij ook verschillende platen uit. In 1977 verscheen de eerste, onder het pseudoniem Paul Santos. Na Paul Santos volgden onder andere de albums ‘Geen Ballade’, ‘Aardige Jongens’, ‘Vreemde Kostgangers’ en ‘Nachtwerk’, die laatste twee samen met George Kooymans en Boudewijn de Groot. Hennie’s laatste album verscheen in 2019, ‘Tussen De Regels’. Het was het derde en laatste deel van zijn muzikale autobiografie. De drie titels van de albums vormen samen de zin ‘En toch.. alles is anders tussen de regels’. ‘Ik geloof dat je altijd beter moet kijken dan je keek en dat je beter moet lezen dan je leest. Ik verstop graag wat, dat moet je zoeken’, zei hij daarover. Hennie schreef ook muziek voor diverse films en televisieprogramma’s, waaronder ‘Left Luggage’, ‘Abeltje’, ‘De Ontdekking Van De Hemel’, ‘Het Klokhuis’ en ‘Sesamstraat’. Ook werkte hij mee aan de musical ‘Petticoat’, waarvoor hij maar liefst 24 nummers schreef. Voor de musicalversie van ‘Ciske de Rat’ maakte hij de muziek van alle nummers, op één na: ‘Ik Voel Me Zo Verdomd Alleen’. Eind september 2021 maakte Doe Maar bekend de afscheidstournee af te gelasten vanwege de ziekte van Vrienten. De toer was eerder een aantal keren uitgesteld vanwege de corona-lockdown. De laatste keer dat de band door het land optrad, was in 2018. Hun 40-jarig jubileum vierden ze met de clubtournee ‘Er verandert NIX’. Hennie Vrienten ruste in vrede!
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.
GABRIELE PRIBETTI – ‘SWIMMING POOL’ – NEW SINGLE FROM FORTCOMING EP BY LONDON-BASED ITALIAN SAXOPHONIST AND COMPOSER
GABRIELE PRIBETTI
SWIMMING POOL
new single
out 22.04.22
digital services link
orcd.co/swimmingpool
from the EP
REEDED EDGE VOL 2
out 20.05.22
[Gabriele Virgilio Pribetti/Membran]
pre-order/save link
gabrielepribetti.bandcamp.com/album/reeded-edge-vol-2
EP LAUNCH EVENT
18.05.22
LONDON
SPICE OF LIFE (SOHO)
tickets
bit.ly/3v3pp1G
Gabriele Pribetti is a London-based Italian saxophonist and composer whose 2020 debut EP, ‘Reeded Edge Vol 1’, garnered praise from UK radio stations such as Jazz FM, Worldwide FM and Balaami, we well as sites like Musicamacondo, Twistedsoul and Jazz Revelations. Two singles lifted from it were added to State Of Jazz, the biggest jazz editorial playlist on Spotify.
‘Swimming Pool’ is the second single to be issued from ‘Reeded Edge Vol 2’, a follow-up companion EP that is set for release on 20th May. Premiering the track, Twistedsoul describe it as “warm yet fierce, with alternating delicate piano melodies, relentlessly grooving drum beats and an undertone of heavy keys, all interlocking with trumpet, while Pribetti’s broodingly beautiful and soaring saxophone notes set the mood for the rest of the production.”
Twistedsoul interview with Gabriele Pribetti published 20.04.22
bit.ly/3rGaBUn
In regard to the single’s title, Pribetti explains that “there is something about being underwater, a unique feeling of peace and quiet that makes me feel like I’d like to stay there forever. And then another feeling creeps in: survival, which is raging and violent, totally opposite but coexisting perfectly with the original thought. For a few moments these two opposites live in balance with each other. It’s interesting how being on stage can sometimes make you feel similar. ‘Swimming Pool’ is an underwater trip, with this duality expressed sonically by an acid bass synth and a soothing piano melody.”
As for the new EP and its predecessor, ‘Reeded Edge’ is a conceptual work of which Pribetti states: “I see the music like a coin: the beauty and perfection of tonality on one side,with the chaos and roughness of atonality on the other. I like to exist on the reeded edge.” Pribetti places himself on the grooved line that runs around the coin, balanced between these disparate worlds in order to harness their equal power.
‘Reeded Edge’ sees modern jazz harmony, polyrhythmic grooves and emotional classical melodies contrast with free jazz and post-tonal contemporary soundscapes, the two realms crashing and mingling like waves (to continue the water theme). The rounded sound of the double bass is juxtaposed with the thunder of the synth bass while the clean, soothing timbre of the flugelhorn converses with the dark and distorted tenor saxophone.
Performing alongside Pribetti are a quartet of renowned musicians consisting of trumpet/flugelhorn player Graeme Flowers, drummer Joshua ‘MckNasty’ McKenzie, Tomasz Bura on piano/keyboards and Michele Montolli on double bass.
The sound of his new record and the musical chops of the other musicians involved with its recording place Pribetti firmly within the current and ever-evolving London jazz scene.
With a distinctly percussive approach to his instrument and compositions, Pribetti’s music combines his love of jazz and improvisation with an early classical upbringing, while leaving space for interplay and free spontaneous composition. At the age of 30, he is already a highly experienced international session musician and has collaborated frequently with a wide range of artists that include Stormzy, Wizkid, Stefflon Don, Jordan Rakei, Burna Boy, Skepta, General Levy, Zion Train, Kamaal Williams, Congo Natty and U-Roy.
REEDED EDGE VOL 1
REVIEWS
“The innovative Gabriele Pribetti has found his own voice and language. Groovy, psychedelic, flavoursome and super fresh”
JAZZ FM
“Ebbs and flows wonderfully throughout and is an absolute blast”
TWISTEDSOUL
“Staggeringly intelligent and amazing”
JAZZ REVELATIONS
REEDED EDGE VOL 2
TRACKLISTING
1 Rain Project
2 Duende
3 Swimming Pool
4 Vaporizing Horror
5 In Or Out
All music composed, arranged and produced by Gabriele Pribetti
Mixed by Kassa Alexander aka PRGRSHN
Mastered at Whitfield Mastering by Naweed Ahmed
MUSICIANS
Gabriele Pribetti - saxophones
Graeme Flowers - trumpet, flugelhorn
Joshua ‘McKnasty’ McKenzie - drums
Tomasz Bura - piano, keyboards
Michele Montolli - double bass
Facebook HERE
Twitter HERE
Instagram HERE
YouTube HERE
WALTER CHANCELLOR JR. HAS ‘TIME 2 CHILL’
Professional saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, educator, arranger, mentor and music producer. Walter Chancellor Jr. has been a mainstay in the Twin Cities contemporary Jazz and R&B music scene for the past 25 years. After constant touring during his formative years he decided to relocate to musically successful Minneapolis from Des Moines, Iowa and lessen the necessity of so much traveling to perform.
Not long after his arrival in Minneapolis, Walter performed and recorded with Prince, earning him a Double Platinum Record for his participation on Prince’s “Emancipation” CD in 1996.
Additionally, Walter has performed, recorded and has shared the stage with such artists as Chaka Khan, Willie Nelson Maceo Parker, Candy Dulfer, Chance Howard (Prince, Candy Dulfer & Brian Culbertson), Brown Mark Mazarati, Musiq Soulchild, Larry Graham, the late Louis Johnson, Cameo, The Pointer Sisters, Bobby Lyle, The Platters and Producer greats as Chris “Big Dog ”Davis, Andre Fischer and Jack Douglas just to name a few.
"Time 2 Chill"
Written by Walter Chancellor Jr and Chris 'Big Dog' Davis
Walter Chancellor Jr - Saxophones and Production
Chris 'Big Dog' Davis - Keyboards and song arrangements
PHILIPPE SAISSE ‘LOST WORDS’ FT. MARC ANTOINE
In 2021, Philippe Saisse took a dynamic stylistic detour into the world of lo fi hip hop jazz on “Shift,” a contemporary throwback to his days working with Arif Mardin and Chaka Khan which is still receiving major airplay on SiriusXM’s Watercolors and is included on Spotify’s influential playlists State of Jazz and 21st Century Jazz.
The ever innovative and adventurous keyboardist/ composer returns to his trademark global fusion vibe on his new single “Lost Words,” a vibrant and infectious, multi-genre track that taps into his passion for lush orchestration (drawing particular inspiration from the beautiful string arrangements Johnny Mandel created for Brazilian legend Joao Gilberto in the 70s), Caribbean-African flavors, romantic Brazilian rhythms and harmonies and snappy flamenco magic courtesy of guest guitarist Marc Antoine.
Driven by a powerful synergy with some of his most trusted go-to collaborators – acoustic bassist David Finck, drummer Maurizio Zottarelli and percussion master Gumbi Ortiz (whom the keyboardist has worked with for years in Al Di Meola’s band) – Philippe creates a uniquely soulful journey from an initial feeling of dreamy melancholy to a later sense of bright and hopeful joy that perfectly parallels our collective experiences during the pandemic era.
The intriguing title “Lost Words” speaks to its origins as one of several demos that he was working on as collaborations with Al Jarreau in the years before the legendary singer’s passing in 2017.
Jarreau was excited about the tune, loved the Brazilian style of the track and felt the melody had an Italian quality, so he came up with the working title “Trevi Fountain.” He had scatted some ideas, with every intention of putting lyrics to Saisse’s music. When Jarreau entered the hospital, he took with him a CD with four tracks, intent on writing despite being gravely ill. He also had a black book with lyrics – possibly including the words he wanted for “Trevi Fountain” – but Saisse later learned that the book had been stolen.
So any lyrics he may have written are lost to history – hence the keyboardist’s eventual title “Lost Words,” which is also a subtle homage to author Dan Brown’s 2009 thriller The Lost Symbol. Because of his profound sadness over his friends’ departure, Saisse took five years to begin working again on the track again. The version Saisse is now releasing is very much like the original demo, only now with live drums and a high energy piano solo in the middle.
"Lost Words"
Composed, Arranged & Produced by Phillipe Saisse
Mixed by Goh Hotoda
Mastered by Colon Leonard at SING Mastering
Steinway acoustic piano, Marimba, Vibraphone, Keyboards, Vocals - Phillipe Saisse
Acoustic Guitar - Marc Antoine
Drums - Mauricio Zottarelli
Percussion - Gumbi Ortiz
Acoustic Bass - David Finck
Soprano, Alto & Bass Flutes - David Mann
LEE ROGERS - 'EVERYTIME' – SECOND SINGLE FROM 'GAMEBLOOD' | LONG AWAITED NEW ALBUM BY NORTHERN IRISH SINGER-SONGWRITER
new single
out now
(Zenith Café/Membran)
digital services link
leerogers.co.uk/everytime
from the album
GAMEBLOOD
out 13.05.22
FOR FANS OF JOHN MARTYN / KEB’ MO / TOM WAITS
The second single from his upcoming new album, the romantic anthem ‘Everytime’ is about the love that Northern Irish singer-songwriter Lee Rogers has for his wife, Nikita, “She is the person who helps fix my mistakes, never judges and soothes me back to the human I am supposed to be,” he explains. “I can’t count how many times she has painstakingly put me back together, held me when I was falling apart and reasoned with me when I wasn’t seeing reason in anything. I know that if you find that person in your life, who calms your storms and puts out the fires, who helps you be what you are meant to be, then you’ll get every word of this song.”
Based in Carrickfergus, just north of Belfast, the music made by Rogers sounds as resilient, gorgeous and scarred as his home turf looks. The sensual, resplendent songs contained on ‘Gameblood’, his long-awaited second album (his debut was in 2006), display an elegiac musical craftsmanship while showing off open-hearted, lyrical storytelling.
“My dad was a second generation settled Gypsy with black hair, swarthy skin and green eyes, like me,” he states. “He had gold hoop earrings and old Indian-inked tattoos. He was as hard as the road he walked on but had the softest heart for us and my mother, who he loved unconditionally. He had a fighting spirit, and that’s what I believe ‘Gameblood’ means and is where the album title comes from.”
On this third official release (he also issued an EP entitled ‘Dark Notions’ in late 2021), Rogers comes across as a manly yet tender outcast with an honest musical solidarity to fellow wounded exile-pioneers who have experienced similar rocky relationships and existential pain.
Recorded at Sycamore Studios with his regular band and produced by Gareth Dunlop (who also produced the recent EP), 'Gameblood’ will be released on Zenith Café, a label based in Northern Ireland that is dedicated to promoting artists from that country. Rogers describes the album as “a visit to those hard places that most people put to the back of their psyche and build a wall around. Love, lust, life, death, addiction and lots of spirits and ghosts moving around holding it all together. This album is a truer reflection of myself, my stories, where I’ve been and where I hope I am now. It’s music for the grown-up mind, those folk who have seen a bit of life, and can relate to the songs. Though I am hoping some of the kids love the vibe too!”
Rogers admits that he wasn’t in the greatest of places when he started writing the album, while the subjects of its songs have themes hard to visit that he was at least able to harness and heal in the recording process. The result is a tender, raw yet sophisticated record reminiscent of classic folk albums such as John Martyn’s ‘Solid Air’, the soulful craft of Keb Mo’s ‘Blues Americana’ and the glistening baroque balladry of Tom Waits' ‘Mule Variations’. Having worked as a tattoo artist for over a decade following the release of his debut album, the additional attention to human vulnerability and creative detail he has brought across from the skill set required in that industry has helped to set Rogers apart from most of his contemporaries.
GAMEBLOOD
TRACKLISTING
1 Everytime
2 Silent Song
3 Uneasy Love
4 The House
5 Life And Lies
6 Haunted
7 Homeward Bound
8 Won’t Find Me
9 Fools Gold
10 Barefoot In The Basement (feat Foy Vance)
leerogers.co.uk
facebook.com/lrogersmusic
instagram.com/leerogersmusic
GEORGE MICHAEL’S FREEDOM UNCUT ON THE BIG SCREEN
See George Michael's final work on the big screen. We're excited to announce that George Michael Freedom Uncut will be coming to cinemas worldwide on Wednesday June 22nd.
Tickets will be available from next week, Wednesday April 27th at 2PM BST. Sign up for more information: georgemichaelfreedomuncut.com
The documentary, co-directed and narrated by George Michael, is the definitive statement on his life and features contributions from some of his closest friends and collaborators.
CHART-TOPPING JAMAICAN RECORDING ARTIST/SONGWRITER/PRODUCER ROBERT MINOTT’S CLASSIC REMAKE OF “I WANT TO KNOW WHAT LOVE IS”
I Want To Know What Love Is” , by Robert Minott
This classic remake by Foreigner still propels one to think about the journey that love will take us on, how we are still all figuring out that all though it is a simple four-letter word, it is still yet a big mystery that is worth finding out all about, the beautiful complexities of love. One of Roberts favorite verses of the song is “ I can’t stop now, I’ve traveled so far’.
Robert Minott is a Jamaican recording artist/songwriter/producer. His songs “Yuk Mek Me Feel good”, “Can’t Hold Back featuring Mr. lexx” and “You Are” were successful Euro Indie and the World Indie Charts. “You Are”, was number one for two weeks on both the Euro and Indie Charts, Top Ten US, and various charts In the US. “I Want To Know What Love Is” is off his fourth coming album BIG Things”.
As an artist Robert has performed alongside the likes of Maxie Priest, Ziggy Marley Damian, Jr Marley, Jefferey Osbourne, Peabo Bryson, Regina Bell, Howard Hewitt, Yellow man, Chaka Khan, Toots and the Maytals, Steven Marley, Dorian Paul and Ziggy Marly.
An imaginative singer, he is always in pursuit of excellence in his music. Among his releases are “ We don’t want no troubles”, “Makes ends meet”, an exceptional recording that brings nostalgic flashes …….
Nephew of the late Sugar Minott born and raised in St. Andrew, Jamaica, Robert migrated to the US in 1974 and released his first album titled “Love Struck” in 1991. As a recording artist, he has performed alongside the likes of some of reggae’s biggest names including Burning Spear, Shaggy, Maxi Priest, and Ziggy Marley, to name a few. An imaginative singer, he is always in pursuit of excellence in his music. Among his releases are “We Don’t Want No Troubles”, “Make Ends Meet”, an exceptional recording that brings nostalgic flashes of Dennis Brown of whom Robert is often compared to especially whenever he performs.
He released his debut album in 1991 which featured the single, “Irie”, featuring legendary artiste, Bunny Rugs from Third World, and Marlon “Ultimate” Greenwood (Jamaican born professional NFL football player – formerly Miami Dolphins; now playing for the Texans), received substantial radio play in Canada and Jamaica.
In 2007 he collaborated with dancehall artiste Elephant Man on the track Roll It. It was accompanied by a video which was directed by Nordia Rose. A former concert promoter, Robert topped the charts in Jamaica in 2011 with the reggae single “Right Man Fi Yuh”. The single also made strides on the New York and South Florida Reggae charts. He later followed up with a cover of “Silver Words” which featured rapper Kirkie KBZ. “Silver Words” hit the charts in Jamaica and opened up new doors for the singer.
VEL LEWIS & MICHAEL GARVIN – PLAYTYME
Vel Lewis and Michael Garvin joined forces in 2020 and Garvel Music was born. Their new single "PlayTyme" is destined to burn radio waves worldwide!
Vel Lewis is an award-winning Hammond Organ Company artist whose music can be found listed on many popular recordings and well-known TV shows: The Sopranos, Mad About You, Friends, Wife Swap USA, and many more. He has performed numerous shows around the world with soul legends Dionne Warwick, The Delfonics, The Futures, and has shared the same stages with the Stylistics, the late Phyllis Hyman, and Earth, Wind & Fire and many mire.
Michael Garvin has made his career as a world-class songwriter of 33 Top Ten hits to date, of which 23 hit Number One on the charts. He is a guitarist and trumpeter, who is widely known for penning the Global Number One hit "Waiting For Tonight" recorded by Jennifer Lopez, and the worldwide, multi-platinum hit "Never Give Up On A Good Thing," recorded for George Benson. Michael has also created musical hits worldwide for artists from many different genres.
REBECCA ANGEL IS ‘WAITING IN VAIN’
Rebecca Angel’s cover of the Bob Marley reggae hit “Waiting in Vain” is her new single to be released from her widely acclaimed Love Life Choices. According to Bistro Awards of Jun 28, 2021 by Gerry Geddy “Angel’s beautifully rhythmic phrasing takes the story of Bob Marley’s “Waiting in Vain” away from its reggae roots and gives the lyrics a new life with rare clarity and emotion.”
Samy Stein writes in the 2021 issue of “Something Else”, “'Waiting in Vain' is... delivered with creative vocal arrangements which do the original justice.... With a wonderful guitar solo... Angel shows her adaptability as she makes this work her way.”
Rebecca’s first single from the album “For What it’s Worth” garnered the 2020 Independent Music Network Award for New Artists Breakout Single and her original composition “Thoughts and Prayers” garnered the 2021 Independent Music Network Award for “Mainstream Breakout Single”.
Her album Love Life Choices has received rave reviews from around the world.
"Waiting In Vain"
Music & Lyrics by Bob Marley
Vocals, Background Vocals - Rebecca Angel
Background Vocals - Maya Azucena
Keyboards - Jason Miles
Guitar - Romero Lubambo & Nir Felder
Bass - Reggie Washington
Percussion - Jimmy Bralower
Congas - Mark Rivera
PAUL JACKSON JR. – LOVE LIKE THIS
Grammy nominated and owner of six #1 smooth jazz radio singles himself, Paul Jackson Jr. has been featured on recordings with top superstars such as Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Elton John, Luther Vandross, Barbra Streisand, and childhood friend Patrice Rushen. He's also recorded with some of today's biggest stars including The Weeknd, Zendaya, and Daft Punk.
Paul has scored music for many successful television shows and movies and has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, American Idol, The Academy Awards, The Emmys, The Kennedy Center Honors and on multiple Grammy appearances with Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Ne-Yo, Lionel Richie, and Chance The Rapper. Paul has also performed on the soundtracks for major motion pictures such as "La La Land", "Get On Up", "Zootopia", and "The Color Purple".
Regarding his new single "Love Like This", Jackson comments "Jeff Lorber, Everette Harp and I were playing at the Atlantic City Jazz Festival about a year ago. During sound check I started playing the guitar part of "Love Like This" by Faith Evans. Jeff stopped what he was doing and said "Hey, Paul, you need to record that song. Everybody likes it."
"He didn't have to tell me twice. And, since it was his idea, I wanted to feature him on my version. Also featured is my daughter Lindsey Jackson on vocals. Where are my roller skaters at!"
"Love Like This"
Guitars, Production - Paul Jackson Jr
Keyboards - Jeff Lorber & Dave Delhomme
Bass - Cornelius Mims
Drums - Dion Causey
DOUGLAS JACKSON DOES IT ‘IN STYLE’
Douglas A. Jackson earned his Bachelors and Masters degrees from California State University, Los Angeles. His principal instrument is the trumpet and he also attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston and Xavier University of Louisiana. He holds a Certificate of Completion from the Smithsonian Institute’s Summer Studies World Music Program at West Virginia University and has performed in the Latin Jazz Band of the legendary Cuban conguero Francisco Aquabella, among others.
Douglas is an Associate Professor of Music at Elizabeth City State University in Elizabeth City, NC, where he teaches Trumpet, African American Music History, Music Business and directs the Elizabeth City State University Jazz Ensemble. In 2012 Douglas founded the annual Elizabeth City State University Jazz Festival where the list of guest artists includes: Jae Sinnett, Lesa Terry, Sean Jones, Michael Dease, Marcus Anderson, The Rhythm Project, Ron Carter and Shana Tucker. From 2012 to 2020, Douglas participated in the North Carolina Humanities Council Raod Scholars Speakers Program. His lecture topics were on “North Carolina Jazz legend Max Roach” and the “Influences of Jazz Styles and the Trumpet.”
Douglas entered teaching after two decades of progressive responsibilities in Music and Film accounting, including 11 years with MGM Studios, Inc., mosts recently 3 years as Royalty Administrator for the BMG Production Music Group.
FRANK PIOMBO BEGS FOR ‘MERCY, MERCY, MERCY’
Frank Piombo, Multi Award Winning Contemporary Jazz Guitarist/Composer and International Recording Artist. Member of the Recording Academy. Sound Exchange. BMI, and the International Singer-Songwriters Association. Inducted into the 2020 Indie Music Hall of Fame. Nominated in 2019 and 2020 by the “East Coast Music Hall of Fame.”
Frank Piombo’s portfolio is an impressive one. Appearing as lead guitarist and vocalist alongside Sidewalk Symphony, The Fantasy Band, Stepping Out, The New Prince Band, US & Co, the Original Infernos; and sharing the stage with the likes of The Duprees, The Mello Kings, Vito and the Salutations, and Vito and the Elegants, Frank has proved to be much more than a jazz guitarist.
In addition to touring the East and West Coast, where he has built a solid fan base, Frank has also shared the stage with various European artists, such as “I Nuovi Angeli” and the “Formula Tre.” His music is now heard throughout North America, and several other continents, including: Africa, Australia, Europe, and South America.
Frank Piombo was accepted on the popular digital radio station Pandora, iHeart Radio, and YouTube where he now boasts his own stations. He had two of his original compositions “Rush Hour Funk,” and “Keep It Movin’” placed on the 2018, 60th FYC, Grammy Voting Ballot.
MO LOUIS PLAYS ‘TURN IT UP’
A little over a year ago, saxman Mo Louis met Euge Groove while buying one of his saxophones and they became good friends. Mo expressed his interest to release his own music and after some consideration, Euge decided to help him make his dreams a reality. "I’ll never forget standing in his studio and him putting on one of his own tracks for me to play along with." Mo said, "Talk about a humbling moment! I owe a lot to him… this wouldn’t be happening without him."
Soon after, Mo began working with the amazing Smooth Jazz producer Jeff Carruthers. His debut single "TURN IT UP" will be released on April 11th, 2022. His soulful and melodic voice gives him a unique identity that will hopefully find a place in the hearts of jazz lovers for years to come.
"Over the last 15 years I’ve worked steadfastly at my craft. He's played, recorded and toured throughout the United States. I’ve been able to establish a reputation as an artist and soloist amongst the finest Los Angeles musicians. I’ve reached a place in my life where it’s time to share with the world the music that’s been in my heart for so long!"
"This is just the beginning and I'm honored to share my heart and music with my amazing fans! Enjoy!" - Mo Louis
"Turn It Up"
Written by Mo Louis & Jeff Carruthers
Mixed and Mastered by Steve "Euge" Groove
Guitars, Keys, Programming - Jeff Carruthers
Drums - Eric Valentine
Bass - Darryl Williams
Hammond Organ - Ricky Peterson
BELGISCHE DISCOTHEKEN VEREEUWIGD IN NIEUUWE MONOPOLY EDITIE
Vandaag werd een wel heel bijzonder bordspel voorgesteld in Carré in Willebroek. Ontwikkelaar en uitgever Groep 24 stelde er samen met DJ 4T4 Monopoly Discotheken voor. In totaal zitten er 22 Belgische discotheken verweven in het spelbord. Het is in alle facetten een kabinetsstukje geworden.
Klassiek recept, nieuwe invulling
Deze officiële Monopoly-versie, onder erkende licentie van Hasbro, blijft trouw aan het originele spelconcept. In deze editie worden er geen winkelstraten maar Belgische discotheken verhandeld. Het gaat in totaal om 22 discotheken: oud en nieuw, bestaand of reeds dicht. De selectie is een mix van legendarische discotheken uit het rijke verleden maar ook hedendaagse zaken hebben er hun plaats. Bovendien werden alle discotheken geïllustreerd door Antwerpenaar Sam De Buysscher. Maar niet enkel het bord zal aangepast worden, ook de algemene fonds – en kanskaartjes zullen doorspekt zijn met verwijzingen naar de discotheek scene. Meer info via www.monopolydiscotheken.be
Docu-reeks DJ 4T4 als basis voor bordspel
Eind 2020 wordt een driedelige docu-reeks op muziekminnend Vlaanderen losgelaten: “Platendraaiers”. De reeks van DJ 4T4 (Kristof Michiels, die we o.a. kennen van ’t Hof van Commerce) gaat op zoek naar het begin van de weelderige Belgische discotheek scene en brengt de geschiedenis in kaart. De hoogdagen van de jaren ’90 en ’00 worden er uit de doeken gedaan. Bij wijze van gimmick wordt in de reeks ook een zelf in elkaar geknutseld spelletje “Discopoly” gespeeld. Presentator DJ 4T4 werd nadien overstelpt met vragen over het hoe en waar van het spel uit de reeks. Terwijl het eigenlijk gewoon een grapje was uit de documentaire blijkt er heel veel vraag naar een dergelijk item. Na wat omzwervingen kwam 4T4 dan uit bij de ontwikkelaar van Belgische Monopoly versies: Groep 24. Twee jaar later schrijven we 12 april in Carré Willebroek de bevindingen neer over de officiële Monopoly Discotheken die vanaf vandaag in de winkelrekken ligt, een onwaarschijnlijk verhaal!
Voor en door fans
De initiële vraag voor zo’n gezelschapsspel kwam dus vanuit de kijkers van “Platendraaiers”. Dat is de uitgever, Groep 24, en DJ 4T4 niet ontgaan. Zij lieten de fans stemmen op hun favoriete discotheken uit het verleden en daar kwamen dan 11 namen uit. In totaal werden er maar liefst meer dan 28.000 stemmen uitgebracht in een week tijd.
Getouwtrek met juridische diensten en bonzen zorgen voor vertraging
Gezien de wereldwijde omvang van een merk zoals Monopoly moet het spel heel wat bureaus passeren alvorens in productie te gaan. Bij één van de laatste controle en inspectierondes ging het mis. Op de Amerikaanse hoofdzetel van Hasbro, wereldwijde eigenaar van het merk Monopoly, gingen alarmbellen af bij de term discotheken. Terwijl het spel vertrok vanuit een muzikale scene zag Hasbro het als een thema waarmee ze zich niet wilden associëren. Na lang lobbywerk, pagina’s lange dossiers over de docu-reeks, een ondertiteling van de reeks en maanden geduld werd er dan toch groen licht gegeven voor de productie van het spel. Dit zorgde er echter voor dat het spel pas nu uitkomt en niet in november 2021, zoals initieel gedacht.
Speel op de tonen van je favoriete DJ
Als toemaatje krijgt iedereen die het spel koopt een QR-code die verwijst naar een pagina die een vijftiental verschillende mixen bevat van DJ’s die ook terugkomen in de docu-reeks "Platendraaiers". Het gaat om grote namen zoals DJ Coone, Dave Lambert, TLP, Pat Krimson enz… Het spel is verkrijgbaar online via www.monopolydiscotheken.be, via Colruyt en verschillende speciaalzaken. Alle winkelpunten zijn terug te vinden via de website www.monopolydiscotheken.be.
"REMEMBER ME: THE MAHALIA JACKSON STORY” WILL OPEN THE 2022 PAN AFRICAN FILM & ARTS FESTIVAL ON APRIL 19Th, 2022
Los Angeles, CA – “Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story” starring Grammy winner Ledisi, and an all-star cast including Columbus Short, Wendy Raquel Robinson, Janet Hubert, Vanessa A. Williams, Corbin Bleu and Keith David, has been chosen as the opening night film for the 2022 Pan African Film & Arts Festival. The film, executive produced by Ericka Nicole Malone and Vince Allen, and directed by Denise Dowse will make its debut at PAFF, on April 19, 7:00 pm at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) located at, 7920 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90046.
Mahalia was not only regarded as an iconic gospel singer who broke racial and gender barriers, she was also recognized as a Civil rights activist who understood the power of her position within the movement. “Remember Me” highlights Mahalia’s unbreakable relationship with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Columbus Short), and her integral role in the Civil rights movement by bringing Mahalia’s fight for freedom and her own personal search for love into the spotlight.
“I am from the South where Mahalia was considered a national treasure, so when I began writing “Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story” in 2017 I wanted to carefully consider every word to honor this amazing woman. In creating these words for this film, I never imagined it would star the phenomenal musical icon Ledisi and renowned actor Columbus Short, “said executive producer, Ericka Nicole Malone. “To now have the honor of opening PAFF on its 30th anniversary, I am beyond blessed and excited. Premiering my film at a festival that was built on presenting the power of Black cinema is more than an honor, it is a blessing, and I don’t take it lightly,” she continued.
JACK BROADBENT - 'RIDE' – NEW ALBUM BY UK SINGER-SONGWRITER & GUITARIST OUT TODAY
JACK BROADBENT photography by Jeff Fasano
JACK BROADBENT
RIDE
new album
out 08.04.22
(Crows Feet Records)
available from
orcd.co/rideoutnow
“Every album by Broadbent stirs more into the palette, and ‘Ride’ moves with the momentum implied 8/10”
CLASSIC ROCK
"Eight songs of pure quality by a true bluesman who feels every note he sings and plays. Eclectic and masterful tunes….stunning"
BLUES MATTERS
“Eloquent down-home blues that has its roots in the Mississippi mud. A cut above the current crop of beardy young men with big, bluesy guitars ****”
RNR
“A genre-defying collection of finely-crafted songs with real heart and depth and a whole load of rhythm”
LOUDER THAN WAR
“His most rugged and powerful performance to date, an impressive achievement for a guy whose earlier work remains some of the finest blues to emerge in years”
HOLLER
“A classic blues sound, with slide guitar providing colours and textures that don’t scream for the spotlight, but instead enhance the larger sonic picture”
NO DEPRESSION
Includes GRACE also includes the singles
MIDNIGHT RADIO / RIDE / I LOVE YOUR ROCK ’N' ROLL
LIVE IN THE UK
18.06.22
BLACK DEER FESTIVAL
(Eridge Park, Kent)
FURTHER UK DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON
+
EUROPEAN SHOWS WITH RICHARD THOMPSON
01.07.22 HAMBURG (DE) Elbphilharmonie
02.07.22 GRONINGEN (NL) Spot
03.07.22 AMSTERDAM (NL) De Waalse Kerk
05.07.22 ANTWERP (BE) Open Air Amphitheatre
06.07.22 EINDHOVEN (NL) Paterskerk
Acclaimed UK singer, songwriter and guitarist Jack Broadbent has released his new album, ‘Ride’, today. The latest track to promote it is ‘Grace’, with Broadbent stating that the song “is about finding your comfort place, about harmony with your surroundings.” The album as a whole echoes that contentment, with him deeming it “the rock 'n' roll record I've been wanting to make for a long time."
Broadbent grew up in Lincolnshire but has spent the last few years living in Canada. His earliest influence was his father Mick, who is also a musician (including a tenure with late ‘70s power-poppers Bram Tchaikovsky) and plays bass on ‘Ride’. Jack began accompanying Mick to open mic nights, and by his early teens was playing drums in his dad's bands, gravitating to guitar when he became interested in songwriting. His renowned slide guitar playing evolved from busking in his early 20s.
Finding an audience after the Montreux Jazz Festival hailed him as “the new master of the slide guitar” and Bootsy Collins famously proclaimed him “the real thang!”, Broadbent subsequently won over more fans after touring with the likes of Ronnie Wood, Peter Frampton and, most recently, Little Feat. Meanwhile, his penchant for writing on the road ensured that there was usually an abundance of material whenever he was ready to return to the studio. This holds true with ‘Ride’, although the album took a turn from what he had originally intended.
"I had to come off the road because of the Covid pandemic and was going to work on a solo project of acoustic material," he explains. Instead, with Quebec-based drummer and co-producer Mark Gibson, "...we started playing some of the more rock 'n' roll stuff I had, and we couldn't deny that there was a kind of vibe happening. So, I just went full steam ahead in that direction which brought the sound of this album into focus. We built on those grooves and ended up with ‘Ride'."
‘Ride’ does indeed rock, with Broadbent’s natural grit, voice and guitar riding atop every song with a driving force. However, there is also stylistic diversity on offer, from the moody ambience of ‘Who Are You?’ and the title track, to the blues roots of ‘New Orleans’, a love letter to one of his favourite cities. ‘Grace’ soars with a kind of front-porch spirituality, while ‘I Love Your Rock 'n' Roll’ gallops along with an energetic Americana vibe.
The next step is to take ‘Ride’ on the road, which Broadbent is doing throughout 2022, including an appearance at the Black Deer Festival in Kent in mid-June. He knows that its songs will only grow as he presents them on stage, but they will nevertheless continue to speak to the experiences from which they were born. "I really like the energy of this record," he says. "There seems to be an interesting dichotomy between what I write while I'm touring and what I write when I'm able to sit and think. What the album speaks to is that juxtaposition between the ride and the time spent parked up. It all ties into the journey of the artist."
No matter what lies on the road ahead, Broadbent’s fans can rely on his dedication to his music and evolving craft.
RIDE
TRACKLISTING
1 Ride
2 I Love Your Rock ’n’ Roll
3 New Orleans
4 Hard Livin’
5 Midnight Radio
6 Baby Blue
7 Grace
8 Who Are You?
jackbroadbent.co.uk
facebook.com/jackbroadbentmusic
twitter.com/jackbmusician
instagram.com/jackbroadbentofficial
EDDIE MURPHY TO PLAY FUNKATEER GEORGE CLINTON IN BIOPIC
Eddie Murphy is in early talks to play Parliament-Funkadelic leader George Clinton in an upcoming biopic.
Murphy also will serve as producer with Davis Entertainment’s John Davis, Catherine Davis and John Fox. They are tying down rights with the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winner, and then they will set writers and shop the project.
Murphy has a three-picture deal with Amazon that came after the success of Coming 2 America, and this is a passion project for him.
Clinton is widely considered to be the Godfather of Funk, rivaling James Brown and Sly Stone as the foremost innovators in that musical genre. The film will tell the story of the iconic musician’s humble beginnings in North Carolina in the 1940s to the formation of his groundbreaking bands Parliament and Funkadelic and ultimately to becoming a major influence on artists of the hip-hop generation including Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Outkast and Wu-Tang Clan, among many others.
Murphy teamed with Davis on the Netflix film Dolemite Is My Name, which got him a lot of accolades playing the unlikely Blaxploitation film star Rudy Ray Moore. He then followed with Coming 2 America, the sequel to his 1988 comedy classic. Murphy next begins production on the Kenya Barris-directed Netflix comedy You People, in which he co-stars with Jonah Hill. That will be followed with Beverly Hills Cop 4 this summer, as he reprises his Axel Foley role. Murphy separately was Emmy-nominated for his long-awaited return to Saturday Night Live, the show that launched him in the early 1980s.
Clinton was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, alongside 15 other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. In 2019, he and those members were given their Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards.
ROCKMUZIKANT FRANCISCO “FRANK” GONZALEZ (LOS LOBOS) & TIENERIDOOL BOOBY RYDELL OVERLEDEN
Triest nieuws om te beginnen, want de afgelopen dagen zijn opnieuw twee muzikanten overleden. Eergisteren (4 april) overleed de Amerikaanse rockmuzikant Francisco ‘Frank’ Gonzalez op 68-jarige leeftijd. Gonzalez maakte van 1973 tot 1976 deel uit van de Amerikaanse rockband Los Lobos, die in 1987 een wereldhit scoorde met een remake van ‘La Bamba’. Hij ruste in vrede!
Gisteren (5 april) overleed het voormalige tieneridool Bobby Rydell op 79-jarige leeftijd in Abington Jefferson Hospital in Montgomery County in de Amerikaanse staat Pennsylvania. Bobby Rydell, die geboren werd als Robert Ridarelli, speelde al op tienjarige leeftijd in de televisieshow van Paul Whiteman als drummer. In 1956 werd hij drummer bij Rocco & The Saints (met Frankie Avalon als trompettist). Rydells eerste soloplaat verscheen in 1957 bij Veko Records. Een jaar later tekende hij een platencontract als solist bij Cameo Records. Singles als ‘Please Don't Be Mad’ en ‘All I Want Is You’ flopten, maar in 1959 volgde Bobby’s eerste grote hit ‘Kissin' Time’, die de elfde plaats van de Amerikaanse Billboard Hot 100 bereikte. De opvolger ‘We Got Love/I Dig Girls’ werd de eerste van Bobby’s in totaal zes Amerikaanse Top 10 hits. Rydell groeide uit tot een tieneridool. Zijn hoogtijdagen lagen in de jaren 1960 t/m 1962 met hits als ‘Wild One/Little Bitty Girl’ (1960), ‘Swinging School/Dig-A-Ling’ (1960), ‘Volare’ (1960), ‘Sway/Groovy Tonight’ (1960), ‘Good Time Baby/Cherie’ (1961), ‘I’ll Never Dance Again/Gee, It’s Wonderful’ (1962) en ‘The Cha-Cha-Cha’ (1962). Van al deze singles werden in de Verenigde Staten 300.000 tot 600.000 exemplaren verkocht. In 1964 keerde Bobby Rydell nog een keer terug in de Top 10 van de Billboard Hot 100 met de single ‘Forget Him/Love, Love Go Away’, maar hierna nam zijn populariteit af. Rydell bleef tot na de eeuwwisseling optreden in het ‘gouwe ouwe’ circuit, vaak samen met Frankie Avalon en Fabian onder de naam The Golden Boys. Zijn autobiografie werd in 2016 gepubliceerd. Bobby Rydell ruste in vrede!
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.
GITARIST JOSEPH MESSINA OVERLEDEN
De Amerikaanse gitarist Joseph Messina is gisteren op 93-jarige leeftijd in zijn woning in Northville in de Amerikaanse staat Michigan overleden. Messina werd ook wel "white brother with soul" genoemd en was een van de meest getalenteerde gitaristen van het Motown Records huisorkest The Funk Brothers. Joseph Messina begon als puber met gitaar spelen. Op 25-jarige leeftijd speelde hij in het huisorkest van ABC Television en begeleidde hij artiesten als Sonny Stitt, Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, Jack Teagarden, Lee Konitz, Jimmy Giuffre, Pepper Adams, Donald Byrd, Frank Rosolin en Dizzy Gillespie. Daarnaast speelde hij in ‘The Soupy Sales Show’, waarin hij onder andere Miles Davis en Charlie Parker begeleidde. In 1958 contracteerde Motown Records oprichter Berry Gordy Joseph Messina voor zijn Hitsville U.S.A. huisorkest, dat al snel de naam The Funk Brothers kreeg. In de jaren zestig en de beginjaren zeventig speelden The Funk Brothers mee op honderden Motown hits. Gedurende deze tijd werkte Messina met wereldsterren als Diana Ross & The Supremes, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, Stevie Wonder en Smokey Robinson & The Miracles. Onder de talrijke Motown hits waarop Messina te horen was, bevonden zich ‘Dancing In The Street’ van Martha & The Vandellas (1964), ‘I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)’ van The Four Tops (1965) en ‘Your Precious Love’ van Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell (1967). Messina stopte na dertig jaar met gitaar spelen voor Motown, toen Berry Gordy zijn Motown-imperium in 1972 naar Los Angeles verplaatste. Messina was de bedenker van een alternatieve muziektechniek, die ‘The Interval Study Method’ werd genoemd. Op 21 maart 2013 werden The Funk Brothers onderscheiden met een ster op de prestigieuze Hollywood Walk Of Fame. Joseph Messina ruste in vrede!
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.
NEW SINGLE ‘SUMMER SOFT’ BY KARLOS EDWARDS
“Karlos Edwards is releasing this smash hit remake of the classic Stevie Wonder’s hit song ‘Summer Soft’. This song version has been officially given the direct node and approval from the official Stevie Wonder’s camp. It features Everett Peters who delivers an outstanding vocal performance on both the song and video + there's an additional up-tempo track mix by Dafunk Snatcha. this track is going to be a hit!”.
Artist Name : Karlos Edwards feat Everett Peters
Song Title : Summer Soft
Website : https://www.KarlosEdwards.com
Genre : Jazz/Percussion
Song Producer : Karlos Edwards
Location : United Kingdom
Release Date: 25-APR-2022
Catalogue ID: DJ0101
UPC: 829282000733
Release Format: Single
Territory: Worldwide
P-Line: 2022 Digital Jukebox Records
C-Line: 2022 Digital Jukebox Records
Recording Location : United Kingdom
ITunes, EMusic, Inc All Major music outlets worldwide
Publishing Company : Digital Jukebox Recordings, UK
Distributed by Sony/The Orchard, New York USA
Sponsored by Latin Percussion - https://www.lpmusic.com/artists/artist-roster?artist_name=karlos+edwards#Karlos-Edwards
FERGE X FISHERMAN - 'DUALITY' – NEW ALBUM BY GERMAN JAZZ RAP DUO
FERGE X FISHERMAN photo by Gregor Seifert
FERGE X FISHERMAN
DUALITY
new album
out now - digital
out 22.04.22 - LP & CD
(Initiative Musik/Membran)
includes the single
REALITY
feat Black Milk & Takuya Kuroda
Sits perfectly in between jazz and hip hop, combining the best of both worlds. Smooth trumpet licks and a virtuoso solo on a buttery warm production meet clever, introspective lyrics.
FOR FANS OF MAC MILLER / BLACK MILK / DAMU THE FUDGEMUNK
Jazz rap duo Ferge X Fisherman are comprised of German/American vocalist Fritz Fisherman and German producer Ferge. Having issued a debut album entitled ‘Blinded By The Neon’ in early 2020 (just as lockdown began), they subsequently occupied themselves writing and recording its excellent follow-up, ‘Duality’, which was released digitally on 1st April. LP and CD formats will follow later in the month.
Duality is a dual state or quality, and within mathematical systems a symmetry whereby a theorem remains valid if certain objects, relations or operations are interchanged. It also runs as both a feeling and realisation throughout the fourteen tracks included on ‘Duality’. Equal parts rap and jazz, it contains electronically produced beats and live instrumentation, and is lyrically reflective yet totally unreserved.
In regard to its lyrical content, ‘Duality’ is ostensibly a self-portrait of a musician raised in an affluent society and taking his first small steps onto the giant stages of the music industry. From 'Pace’ to ‘Trust’ to ‘Growth’, the words of the album's songs address the everyday realities he faces; emotional turmoil, his relationships, the contradictions in his own thoughts and actions and his quest for self-worth. By way of contrast, the security and comfort that his privileges bring are reflected musically throughout the record.
As relaxed, warm and comforting as this sounds, ‘Duality’ is also deliberately broken up with complex, jazzy interludes.
Having made the decision to continue releasing their brand of jazz rap independently, FXF have retained the freedom to create a well-rounded work of art in ‘Duality’ that breaks with typical conventions. Free of genre clichés, the duo have simply recorded what they wanted to and remained true to their musical vision. Multi-layered lyricism combined with complex compositions have resulted in an album that can be listened to attentively, discovering something new from it with each spin, but that can also run as ambient background.
The balancing act between electronically produced hip hop and live instrumentation is also wholly successful; the LakeSideBoyz have provided exciting instrumental parts, while the record also features high-profile international guest stars such as Detroit rapper Black Milk (‘Reality’), Japanese jazz trumpeter and Blue Note artist Takuya Kuroda (‘Reality’), New Zealand soul singer Noah Slee (‘Business’) and South African singer Hunter Rose (‘Home’).
With its unconventional sound, ‘Duality’ is a unique statement of intent for the German hip hop scene and sets a standard for others to follow.
fergexfisherman.com
facebook.com/fergefisherman
instagram.com/fergexfisherman
DA PHATFUNK CLIQUE BRINGS ‘WAIT’ FEAT. RAGAN WHITESIDE
Da Phatfunk Clique is a collaborative musical/creative concept, under the direction of violinist Darrell “D-Funk” Looney. The group continues developing their vibe as various musicians add their creative influence and experience to the compositional flow.
The current single entitled “Wait!” continues their tradition of funky jazz to elevate the mood of your everyday groove. Having previously collaborated with several fine musicians in the past including jazz piano luminary Bob Baldwin, this time he is undertaking a duet with chart-topping flautist Ragan Whiteside. They have generated a funky/jazzy vibe that audiences can’t “Wait!” to experience!
Darrell “D-Funk” Looney has created a purely eclectic vibe with the upcoming release of new all original tracks in genres ranging from Funk, to Latin/Reggaeton, Jazz and even Reggae for Da Phatfunk Clique’s new collection of compositions entitled “Da Smoovness”. The project is planned for full album release in late 2022.
JESSY J FEAT. JEFF LORBER ON SINGLE ‘DIG IT’
What do you do after celebrating over a decade as one of contemporary jazz’s top saxophonists, known for your trademark blend of sensual Latin tinged powerful horn playing which garnered 12 top singles and 6 chart topping albums? You tap into your longtime love for the vibrant soul and blues energies of the 60s and 70’s to release your first studio album in six years BLUE, an album of original songs totally stylistically different from your previous recordings as evidenced by the cover art reminiscent of some of the great albums of that era.
Driven by a fresh spark of creativity due to the isolation she felt during lockdown, Jessy set out to create an album full of James Brownesque drums and tasty/bluesy Ray Charles organ licks showcasing some of her most passionate and robust tenor playing ever. “The tone for BLUE was set when I wrote the track “Spinnin’,” whose high energy old school vibe was about me pouring out my frustration over cancelled gigs and sudden lifestyle adjustments due to lockdown,” states Jessy. “Overall my playing on the album reflects fourteen years of growth as a musician and songwriter, which feels normal considering how young I was when my first album came out. I always want to be evolving as an artist and producer. BLUE is very different from my earlier albums because it’s a snapshot of where I am now in my life and how I was feeling during these difficult times.”
The result is anything but sorrowful. If anything, from the raw, sizzling horn-fired Crusaders-esque jam “Dig It” (a co-write with Jeff Lorber and BLUE’S first single) through her fast paced, discofied and thumping “Dance Beat,” it finds the artist letting loose, setting her musical spirit free and celebrating the start of a time of exciting new possibilities, while retaining some of her trademark Latin influences and traditional jazz and swing elements on later tracks.
One of the unique aspects of recording during this time was the ability to record remotely via digital file transfer and sometimes FaceTiming with the other musicians in different locations – resulting in a truly international affair. In addition to “Dig It,” Jessy co-wrote and co-produced the wildly funky Cannonball Adderley influenced “Malt Shop” with Jeff Lorber, sending tracks back and forth from across L.A. County and having her friend Ludovic Louis create his improvisational trumpet blasts from Paris.
Starting with the immediate #1 Billboard chart success with the title track from her debut album Tequila Moon, the powerhouse saxophonist cemented her rising stardom touring with contemporary jazz greats like Lorber, Gerald Albright, Euge Groove and Peter White, She is seen regularly performing on the hit television competition shows “American Idol,’ “The Voice” and “Dancing with the Stars,’ and in more recent years has toured with Anita Baker, recorded with Robin Thicke and contributed as composer/performer to the albums of two members of Chance the Rapper’s band - the GRAMMY® nominated Intellexual album and The Juju Exchange’s Exchange.
In conjunction with the release of BLUE Jessy embarks on a U.S. tour throughout the spring and summer. She will also be releasing California Christmas Vol. 2 for the 2022 holiday season.
“Writing and recording BLUE was an extraordinary experience,” says Jessy. “I have missed the connection with my fans so much these past two years. On every level--physical, emotional, spiritual – music plays such an important role in healing us. It’s like therapy, making everything in life so much better and healthier.”
"Dig It"
Recorded and Mixed by Jeff Lorber at JHL Sound Pacific Palisades, CA
and Changi Records Anaheim, CA
Tenor Saxophone - Jessy J
Keyboards, Bass, Guitar - Jeff Lorber
Drums - Gary Novak
SPECIAL EFX FEATURING CHIELI MINUCCI TO DROP 40TH ANNIVERSARY ALBUM
40th Anniversary Album: Contemporary jazz band Special EFX featuring Chieli Minucci will drop “Twenty Twenty 2” on April 22.
NEW YORK CITY (30 March 2022): Celebrating a fortieth anniversary is a big deal, especially when it comes to the longevity of a band so, when the novel coronavirus forced contemporary jazz group Special EFX featuring Chieli Minucci to abandon their concert tour midflight in March 2020, Minucci retreated to his New York City home studio and began work writing, producing and recording an album to commemorate the outfit’s milestone occasion. “Twenty Twenty 2” arrives on April 22.
Minucci, a three-time Emmy-winning and Grammy nominated guitarist-composer-producer-arranger, teamed with Hungarian percussionist George Jinda to form Special EFX in 1982, a bountiful partnership that ushered the band to the top of the charts, saw them embark on extensive concert tours with stops at some of the most prestigious jazz festivals in the world, and crafted a distinctive brand of music that incorporates jazz, rock, fusion, blues, pop and world music. Although Jinda died in 2001, the release of “Twenty Twenty 2” celebrates the enduring legacy of what he and Minucci built together that continues to thrive today via the guitarist’s fervent vision and creative force.
“Twenty Twenty 2” consists of eleven new Minucci compositions, most of which were written during the first year of the pandemic. The album includes two reimagined songs from Minucci’s catalogue that were expanded and given new twists. “Everything & Anything,” a refresh of “Anything & Everything” penned thirty years ago, now features a sweet and soulful saxophone solo by Grammy winner Eric Marienthal. Over seven minutes long and recorded live at the SiriusXM studio prior to the lockdown, “Ballerina Dreams” is a sprawling 1989 piece that frees Minucci’s guitar to plier and pirouette with passion and grace. A nearly nine-minute remake of The Allman Brothers Band’s “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” is given the Special EFX gloss and serves as the album’s surprise opener.
Minucci and his extended band - seventeen musicians perform on “Twenty Twenty 2” in addition to the guitarist – broke from standard Special EFX recording practices.
“Special EFX has traditionally been a live-in-the-studio band for most of its years. But because of the world health crisis, that option wasn’t available. So, as many artists also experienced recently, the music was sometimes recorded one part, one musician at a time. This was a new experience for me,” said Minucci who acknowledged that “Ballerina Dreams” and the playful, handclapping Irish romp “Ceili Music” are exceptions that were recorded live.
“Twenty Twenty 2” showcases Minucci on acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, synths, beats, shaker and vocals. Making appearances on the album are keyboardists Lao Tizer, Jay Rowe and Oli Silk; saxophonists Marienthal, Nelson Rangell and Richie Cannata; violinist Antoine Silverman; trumpeter Lin Rountree; bassists Jerry Brooks, Ric Fierabracci, Dave Anderson and Gianluca Minucci; drummers Joel Rosenblatt, Lionel Cordew and John Favicchia; and percussionist Mino Cinélu.
In writing music for the album, Minucci found inspiration everywhere: on meditative beach walks (“Words Left Unsaid”); in mellow moments of reflection (“Slow Hands”); sifting through his record collection to listen to some of his favorite big-band sounding fusion groups (“Showboat”); solitude and seclusion (“Folks Like Us”); admiring the productions and arrangements of global pop artists like Zedd and Max Martin (“Novembers Child”); and from watching espionage and terrorism playout on a television series (“Homeland”).
“I once read that composing is like an energy wave passing through one’s body: first from above, through the mind, then through the body, and finally out the hand, off into the world for all to share. I still feel that same excitement about music that I experienced as a child, more than ever perhaps,” said Minucci who has written music for television (“The Guiding Light,” “Dancing With The Stars,” “American Idol” and the “Good Morning America” theme), movies (“Bowfinger,” “Legally Blonde,” “Snake Eyes” and “Panic”), radio (Bloomberg Radio theme), and theater (live productions of “Peter Pan,” “Dora the Explorer” and “Thomas the Tank Engine”).
Special EFX featuring Minucci recently launched their 2022 concert itinerary with shows in Minneapolis and Denver to set the stage for “Twenty Twenty 2.” The band has dates booked through October and includes Boscov’s Berks Jazz Festival (April 2, 3 and 10), Winter Park Jazz Festival (July 16) and the Vail Jazz Festival (July 17). Special EFX will be in Houston, TX (Sugar’s Cajun Cuisine) the day “Twenty Twenty 2” streets and at Southern California hotspot Spaghettini the following night.
“My hope is that music lovers will listen to ‘Twenty Twenty 2’ from top to bottom, as is, in the order I chose to sequence it in - kind of like how we all did back in the day, before streaming and websites,” said Minucci who earlier this year released the solo acoustic guitar album, “Someone’s Singing.”
“Twenty Twenty 2” contains the following songs:
“In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”
“Gonna Be Alright”
“Slow Hands”
“Showboat”
“Folks Like Us”
“Ceili Music”
“Everything & Anything”
“Novembers Child”
“December”
“Ballerina Dreams”
“I’m Leaving You”
“Kampalino”
“Homeland”
“Words Left Unsaid”
Catch Special EFX featuring Chieli Minucci on tour in 2022.
March 31 Annapolis, MD Ramshead Tavern
April 1 Richmond, VA The Tin Pan
April 2 Reading, PA Berks Jazz Festival Midnight Jam
April 3 Reading, PA Berks Jazz Festival
April 10 Reading, PA Berks Jazz Festival/Friends of Nick Colionne
April 22 Houston, TX Sugar’s Cajun Cuisine
April 23 Los Angeles, CA Spaghettini
April 29 & 30 Tarrytown, NY Jazz Forum Arts
May 6 Baltimore, MD Montpelier Arts Center
June 5 Saratoga Springs, NY Caffe Lena
June 12 San Diego, CA San Diego Smooth Jazz Festival
June 17 Birmingham, AL Steel City Jazz Festival
June 18 & 19 Atlanta, GA Velvet Note
July 16 Denver, CO Winter Park Jazz Festival
July 22 Pittsburgh, PA Allegheny County Sound Park Bandshell
July 23 Augusta, GA Capture the Rhythm Art and Jazz Series
August 6 Portland, OR Vanport Jazz Festival
August 25 Branford, CT Branford Town Green
October 28 Miami, FL Miami Smooth Jazz Festival
October 29 Charlotte, NC Middle C Jazz
For more information, please visit https://chielimusic.com.
THE EVER-EVOLVING REBECCA DGD RELEASES ‘RAYBANS IN THE RAIN’, A FRESH COLLECTION OF HER LAST 11 SMASH HITS
Initially branding herself as DawgGoneDavis, Kansas City area songwriter, rapper and Indie recording artist Rebecca L. Davis came out of nowhere in early 2018 and hit the global Indie music charts with her hilarious autobiographical breakthrough smash “Middle Age Woman – Hip Hop Style,” which reached #1 on the influential Euro Indie Music chart and the top spot in Asia and South America.
Considering the hipster novelty of the track, DGD could easily have become a one hit wonder. Yet with an ever-expanding base of global and US fans from 16 to 80+ hinging on her every rhyme, clever twist of phrase and namechecking of classic rockers (from Neil Diamond and Tom Petty to Motley Crew and Burton Cummings), Rebecca DGD has been an enduring phenomenon, with 20 hit international singles and counting. Her breakthrough success over the past four years has proven one thing – rap and hip-hop ain’t just for kids and hipsters anymore.
Three years after she gathered her first nine singles on the debut compilation Hot Dawgest Night (whose title was a wink to the classic Diamond live album), the adventurous, ever-evolving artist is releasing Raybans in the Rain, a fresh collection of her last 11 smash hits. While giving longtime fans a chance to revisit her fascinating growth as a poetic storyteller and rapper, it’s also an incredible opportunity for newcomers to enjoy a feast for their ears.
Five of the tracks on Raybans in the Rain celebrate her dynamic collaborations with longtime Snoop Dogg producer Chago G. Williams, whom she calls “one of the great hook masters of the world” whose rousing, rocking, provocative and intensely intuitive choruses have helped take Rebecca’s creative game to fresh, transcendent levels. Their latest, “Appreciation,” recently hit #7 on the World Indie Music Chart, and just as importantly, is a terrestrial radio smash in Canada, whose listeners are dazzled by Rebecca’s tribute to their homies, legendary rocker Burton Cummings and The Guess Who. She also fondly name checks The Who on this song. This success is the latest in a DGD-Chago hitmaking streak that includes the hard-hitting, pandemic era cuts “Darkest Hour” (#5 on the Euro Indie Chart), “No More” (#11) and “Clean Slate” (#7) as well as “Raybans in the Rain,” the title cut of the new compilation and a festive celebration of summer, Rebecca’s favorite season.
Beyond the Chago cuts, the new album boasts another key DGD collaboration, her emotional mid-2021 tune “Boulders Weeping – Cry No More,” which hit #6 on the World Indie Music Chartand featured a powerful vocal hook by former Gap Band member and gospel/R&B artist Dorian P. Williams.
The collection also includes her lighthearted yet poignant perennial Christmas hit “Here Comes Santa Dawg” (which hit the Top 5 on the World Indie Music Chart three holiday seasons in a row!) and a sublime revisit of “Butt On Fiya”, her 2018 single (#3 on the Euro Indie Music Chart), which, true to the autobiographical whimsy she brings to so many of her songs, found her mocking the breast cancer she beat and compensating for her removed mammaries with a genetically blessed rear end. The other tracks on Raybans in the Rain are her socially conscious, prayer like “Weight of the World,” a call to “Judge Not, Rap Yes” and one of her most playful, rockin’ songs ever, “Checkered Future.”
From the very beginning, the foundation of the DGD sound has been her ongoing creative relationship with the dynamic Euro connection she considers her massive music weapons – German Producer, saxophonist, flutist Hellmut Wolf and explosive electric guitarist Romain Duchein. On some of her early hits, their overall sound design included the intense grooves of drummer Jack T. Perry. While Wolf has always showcased his formidable sax skills on previous Rebecca DGD tracks, “Appreciation” allows him to shine on his Ian Anderson influenced flute playing with fills and a powerhouse solo that reflects Burton Cummings’ prowess on the instrument.
“I feel so happy and blessed to have connected and worked with such talented musicians whom I never would have crossed paths with had I never taken a big leap to become an artist,” Rebecca says. “Working with Hellmut, Chago and Dorian, among others has completely changed my mindset as to the kind of tracks I want to create moving forward. No soft love songs for me, but a big, bold sound driven by “rap and roll” and “rock & roll.” I still write and rap the way I have always done, telling the stories in my life – and in fact, my upcoming song, which will feature Earth, Wind & Fire keyboardist Billy B. Young, is about my growing up in a small town and getting into very mild trouble. I love the way working with artists on this level has helped me develop my writing and performing, and my vision of what I can be as an artist. People look at me and say, “how did she get to work with such huge talents? How did you make that happen?” “For me, it’s more that they hear and understand what I’m trying to do (and give to the planet) while we are all singing &dancing.” 😊
NEW SINGLE 'TIRED (DO YOU HEAR ME) - KIM TAVARES
“Tired (Do You Hear Me) was originally a demo track put out there by Kim Tavares in 2021 whilst she was unsigned. The song caused a storm and was a massive underground hit which charted without an official release throughout Europe. The demand for her live performances in Europe grew and upon her successful signing to Digital Jukebox Records/Sony Music Distribution the song was returned to the recording studio where the production team at Digital Jukebox re-worked the entire demo track to a polished high-performance standard. This is the official release of the much-anticipated song of the year bringing you back to the true sounds of the classic 90’s R&B elements and flavours.”
- Official Website - https://www.kimtavares.net/
- Official YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/KimTavaresVEVO - (Coming Soon)
- Official Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/KimTavaresOfficial
- Official Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/KimTavaresOfficial/
- Official Twitter - https://twitter.com/KimTavaresMusic
- Label/Distribution - https://www.digitaljukeboxrecords.com (Digital Jukebox Records/Sony Music)
"NOTHIN' BUT LOVE" FEATURING TONY WHITE BY PAT CAREY (PAT CAREY PROJECT)
Producer l Writer l Bassist Pat Carey (Pat Carey Project). Pat has put together a smooth chilled tune that will truly make you fall in love, and put you in a special place in someone's heart. Pat has brought in jazz saxophonist Tony White to add the jazzy flavor to this wonderful track.
Amazon - https://amazon.com/music/player/albums/B09S8YYQLR...
Deezer - https://deezer.page.link/DZsAL6d3tWZ5zB7H7
Spotify - https://amazon.com/music/player/albums/B09S8YYQLR...
Apple Music - https://music.apple.com/.../nothin-but-love.../1609592563...
Pandora - https://www.pandora.com/.../nothin-but.../ALvz2fpZ7mxkvh9...
iTunes - https://music.apple.com/.../nothin-but-love.../1609592563...
BASGITARIST & PRODUCER BERT RUITER OVERLEDEN
Helaas heel triest nieuws. Zojuist is bekend geworden dat oud-(bas)gitarist Bert Ruiter op 75-jarige leeftijd in Blaricum is overleden. Bert is sinds 1973 de levenspartner van zangeres Jerney Kaagman. Bert Ruiter wordt geboren op in 1946 in Hilversum. Op zijn twaalfde begint hij gitaar te spelen en vanaf zijn zestiende speelt hij in verschillende bands, waaronder The Caps, Angelflight Railways, Punky's Dilemma, Long Tall Shorty & The Spectacles, The Jay Jays (met Willem Duyn) en Full House. In 1970 begeleidt Bert kleinkunstenaar Herman van Veen voor wie hij het nummer ‘Morgen Ben Ik Op De Maan’ schrijft. In 1971 vervangt hij basgitarist Cyril Havermans bij Focus, de wereldberoemde symfonische rockband rond Thijs van Leer en Jan Akkerman. De singles ‘Sylvia’ en ‘Hocus Pocus’ van Focus worden grote hits in het Verenigd Koninkrijk en de Verenigde Staten. Het betekent de internationale doorbraak van Focus. In 1978 wordt Focus ontbonden en treedt Bert toe tot Earth & Fire. Hij heeft dan al bijna vijf jaar een relatie met zangeres Jerney Kaagman. In 1979 scoort de band een grote internationale hit met de single ‘Weekend’. Earth & Fire ontvangt in 1980 een Gouden Harp. De groep brengt in 1982 de elpee ‘In A State Of Flux’ uit, maar dat wordt geen groot succes. Het album levert wel de hitsingles ‘Twenty Four Hours’, ‘Jack Is Back’ en ‘The Two Of Us’ op. De single ‘Jack Is Back’ wordt geschreven door Bert Ruiter en Jerney Kaagman. Kort daarna valt de band uiteen. Jerney Kaagman gaat soloplaten maken waar Bert Ruiter nauw bij betrokken is. Eind jaren tachtig komt Earth & Fire in een andere bezetting weer bij elkaar. De doorstart is echter geen artistiek succes. Bert Ruiter verlaat de groep in 1995. Na Earth & Fire gaat Bert zich nadrukkelijker toeleggen op het produceren, componeren en arrangeren voor diverse artiesten. Daarnaast is hij bestuurslid bij Sena (Stichting ter Exploitatie van Naburige Rechten). Bert Ruiter ruste in vrede!
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.
NEW SINGLE ‘CASCADE’ FROM RON KING
Ron King is one of the finest trumpet / composer / arranger artists, in the world today. A Grammy nominated soloist, he is also one of L.A.’s top studio lead / jazz / improvisational trumpet players. He has attained Gold records for working with such artists as George Benson, Ricki Lee Jones, and Marvin Gaye.
In addition to these artists, he has also performed and recorded with The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and Jay Leno, The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Frank Sinatra and Keely Smith, The Jimmy Kimmel Live television show, ABC-TV’s, The Next Best Thing, Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, and featured on The Grammy Awards!!
King has been involved with numerous music projects and CDs that include such artists as David Foster, Jeff Lorber, Michael Bolton, Queen Latifah, and Brian Simpson, to name but a few.
He's now released his own CDs, starting with Triumph in 2016, then Downtown Mama produced by Paul Brown (2019). His forthcoming new CD is also produced by Paul Brown, and features the new single "Cascade".
GREG CHAMBERS IS IN ‘DOUBLE TROUBLE’ FT. MICHAEL FIELDS JR.
Saxman Greg Chambers new single "Double Trouble" is funk-forward, sassy and sweet, and hard-hitting from start to finish. Featuring bassist extraordinaire Michael Fields Jr. and an array of A-list players (Dwayne "Smitty" Smith, Eric Valentine, Matt Godina), "Double Trouble" boasts an infectious hook, whimsical interplay between sax and bass, and a rock steady, driving funk to bind it all together.
Greg's expressive delivery, shimmery saxophone tone, and melodic writing help to make this one bad tune.
DEE LUCAS SITS ON ‘HOT ICE’ FEAT. GINO ROSARIO
National recording artist and saxophonist Dee Lucas is back just in time to heat up things in 2022 with "Hot Ice"!
Coming off the heels from his Billboard smash hit "Full Tilt", Lucas is joined again with 9-time Billboard #1 artist & hitmaker Adam Hawley. "Hot Ice" features piano virtuoso and Smooth Jazz charting artist Gino Rosaria. The two together are the perfect combination of blending a sizzling hot hook with an ever so-cool melody!
As a runner-up in the 2007 Capital Jazz Festival Competition, Dee Lucas has opened for or co-billed for several such as Norman Brown, Ronnie Laws, Nnenna Freelon, Hugh Masekela, Gregg Karukas, Peter White, Nick Colionne, Michael Franks, Peabo Bryson, Miki Howard, Howard Hewett, & The Manhattans just to name a few. He has performed at several jazz festivals such as The Arizona Jazz Festival, The Jacksonville Jazz Festival, The Savannah Jazz Festival, The Atlanta Jazz Festival, & The Myrtle Beach Jazz Festival .
"Hot Ice"
Produced by Adam Hawley
Written by Adam Omar Hawley, Orlando (Dee) Lucas & Carnell L Harrell
Mixed by Adam Hawley
Mastered by Steve Hall/Future Disc Systems
Dee Lucas - Soprano Saxophone
Gino Rosaria - Keys
Adam Hawley - Guitar, Rhodes, Organ, & Strings
Mel Brown - Bass
Eric Valentine - Drums
Carnell Harrell - Additional Synth
NIEUWE SINGLE VAN DE ITALIAANSE SAXOFONIST ROCCO VENTRELLA
Vandaag brengt de Italiaanse saxofonist Rocco Ventrella zijn nieuwe single ‘My Entirety’ uit. Het is mooie smooth jazz track, met zang van Kellie Allen, terwijl Jay Gore gitaar speelt, en Iacopo Carlini te horen is op piano en synthesizer. Rocco nam de rest voor zijn rekening. Nerio “Papik” Poggi zorgde voor de mixing, en Steve Hall masterde de track.
ALEX AGNEW DUIKT VROEGER DAN VOORZIEN DE THEATERS IN
Dit najaar, vanaf september, zal Alex Agnew weer de intimiteit van het theater opzoeken. Scherp als altijd en dicht bij zijn publiek zal hij met zijn nieuwe voorstelling “Wake me up when it’s over” het hele land doorkruisen.
Alex Agnew staat meer dan 20 jaar op het podium en is inmiddels aan zaalshow nummer zeven aanbeland. Na een hele reeks try-outs (zo'n 80 stuks!) en een jaar gerodeerd te hebben zit de show gebeiteld en zal de grapdichtheid weer ongekend hoog zijn, zoals we van Alex Agnew kunnen verwachten. De king of comedy zal in première gaan in zijn Antwerpen. De Stadsschouwburg zal op 20 september 2022 plaats bieden voor de kick-off van de tournee die in heel Vlaanderen halt houdt. In de centrumsteden zullen opnieuw de grote bakken het speelterrein vormen van Agnew. Het publiek mag zich dus weer opmaken voor een stevige avond comedy in zalen zoals Capitole Gent, Trixxo Theater Hasselt, Kursaal Oostende, Concertgebouw Brugge, enz. Alex aan het woord:
“People of the universe!
Mensen die mijn carrière al langer volgen, weten dat ik graag met de deur in huis val, dus bij deze: mijn optreden op 18 juni op de wei van Werchter gaat niet door.
Ligt het aan de uitwassen van de pandemie, deze woelige tijden, het steeds duurder wordende leven of was het idee om op een festivalweide in openlucht voor rechtstaand publiek een comedyshow te spelen gewoon een brug te ver? Wie zal het zeggen?
Het is waarschijnlijk een samenloop van wrong time, wrong place en misschien ook wrong idea.
Ik zou in ieder geval iedereen die een ticket heeft gekocht enorm willen bedanken. Jullie hebben geen idee wat dat voor mij betekent.
Jullie tickets worden uiteraard volledig terugbetaald door Ticketmaster.
Ik ga uiteraard ook niet zomaar iets afkondigen zonder iets aan te kondigen:
Vanaf september speel ik mijn gloednieuwe comedyshow “Wake me up when it’s over” in alle theaterzalen en Culturele Centra in Vlaanderen en ook enkele exclusieve shows in Nederland.
Tickets zijn verkrijgbaar via www.alexagnew.be
Van elk verkocht ticket gaat, zoals beloofd, nog steeds 1 Euro naar het VUB Yamina Krossafonds om de strijd tegen borstkanker een handje toe te steken.
Live long, live strong en tot in de theaters!”
Het publiek wil dus vooral Alex Agnew zien in het comfort van een theaterzaal. En als het publiek een rode pluche zetel wil voor een avond comedy dan is comedy organisator Comedyshows.be er als de kippen bij om dat te faciliteren als toonaangevende organisatie in België. Tickets en info via www.COMEDYSHOWS.be en www.ALEXAGNEW.be. De ticketverkoop start vanaf vandaag.
Uiteraard kon deze nieuwe tournee en annulatie van de Werchter-show niet zomaar passeren. Hij werd stevig op de korrel genomen door dichte vrienden en collega's (you only roast the ones you love) zoals: Philippe Geubels, Erik Van Looy, Xander De Rycke, Fokke van der Meulen en recente Humo's Comedy Cup winnaar Vincent Voeten. Bekijk hier de integrale roast: https://youtu.be/8AOWgvxYpyM. Vanaf september is Alex Agnew dus terug te zien in zijn vertrouwde habitat: theater! Tickets vanaf nu verkrijgbaar via www.COMEDYSHOWS.be en www.ALEXAGNEW.be.
JAZZROCK CAFE SPECIAL – JONATHAN FRITZEN KOMT NAAR ENSCHEDE
Zaterdag 14 komt Jonathan Fritzen (Sweden) weer naar Nederland exclusief voor het JazzRock Café voor de release van zijn nieuwste album Piano Tales!
Het eerste JazzRock café weer sinds de Corona tijd met een internationale artiest! Hij zal worden begeleid door de band van Sietse Huisman en die bestaat dit keer uit:
Sietse Huisman – drums
Ronald Jonker – bas
Jeff Sopacua – gitaar
Sommigen hebben kunnen genieten van zijn muziek op het Jazz Festival Delft een aantal jaren geleden met Gianni Vancini:
YouTube: https://youtu.be/TgYI9dC7Wro
En zijn optreden enkele jaren geleden in het JazzRock Café Hengelo. Nu komt hij naar Metropool Enschede!
Naar verwacht wordt het weer een Funky Smoothjazz avond!
Wees er weer bij! Ticket sale is begonnen:
HIGH PULP - 'KAMISHINJO' (FEAT. JACOB MANN) – NEW SINGLE BY US JAZZ COLLECTIVE
HIGH PULP - 2022 photo by Will Matsuda
HIGH PULP
KAMISHINJO
(feat Jacob Mann)
new single
out 22.03.22
from the album
PURSUIT OF ENDS
out 15.04.22
(ANTI- Records)
pre-order link
highpulp.ffm.to/pursuitofends
Seattle-based Jazz collective High Pulp have released a new single entitled ‘Kamishinjo’ today. Featuring keyboard wizard Jacob Mann, the cosmic sounding track is the third song to be issued from their new album, ‘Pursuit Of Ends’, which is out on 15th April.
“Kamishinjo is a neighborhood in Osaka, Japan where Antoine [Martel, keyboardist] and myself spent a good amount of time in 2019,” explains drummer Bobby Granfelt. “The song began with a drum groove based around a left-foot clave pattern. Those patterns have a natural tension and release to them and we used the song as a way to explore that push/pull relationship as a whole. When we were writing it, Antoine started messing around with his pitch wheel as a method of creating movement and I was immediately reminded of the frenetic energy of Kamishinjo Station.”
As for teaming up with Mann, Granfelt continues: “Working with Jacob was a dream. He sent over a handful of solo takes on his Juno 106 and I was genuinely inspired by their lyricism and originality. The horn writing at the end of the tune is also a nod to David Axelrod, who is one of our biggest influences.”
‘Pursuit of Ends’ is the second album by High Pulp but their first for ANTI- Records. Drawing on punk rock, shoegaze, hip-hop and electronic music, the band’s brand of jazz is both vintage and futuristic, hinting at times to everything from Miles Davis and Duke Ellington to Aphex Twin and My Bloody Valentine. Its contents balance meticulous composition with visceral spontaneity, while the performances of the group members are nothing short of virtuosic, fuelled by raw, ecstatic horn runs ducking and weaving their way around thick bass lines and dizzying percussion.
also available now
ALL ROADS LEAD TO LOS ANGELES
video
youtu.be/tuyQk1t1R-I
BLAMING MERCURY
audio
youtu.be/-bkm7xJsW3k
While High Pulp is centred around a crew of six core members, the group also make judicious use of a broad network of collaborators - including guest turns from the likes of sax star Jaleel Shaw (Roy Haynes, Mingus Big Band), harpist Brandee Younger (Ravi Coltrane, The Roots), GRAMMY-nominated trumpeter Theo Coker and keyboardist Jacob Mann (Rufus Wainwright, Louis Cole) - to help stretch the boundaries of their already expansive sonic universe. The result is a lush, cinematic collection as unpredictable as it is engrossing, an urgent, exhilarating instrumental album that manages to speak to the moment without uttering a single word.
“When you put us all together, our sound isn’t so much a fusion as it is a synthesis,” adds Granfelt. “There are a lot of different personalities coming from a lot of different places, and we use it all as fuel to create something that’s totally our own.”
HIGH PULP - 2022 biography
bit.ly/3Hw2bVu
PURSUIT OF ENDS
TRACKLISTING
1 Ceremony
2 All Roads Lead To Los Angeles (feat Jaleel Shaw)
3 Blaming Mercury
4 Window To A Shimmering World
5 Chemical X
6 A Ring On Each Finger
7 Kamishinjo (feat Jacob Mann)
8 Inner Crooner
9 Wax Hands (feat Brandee Younger)
10 You’ve Got To Pull It Up From The Ground (feat Theo Croker)
HIGH PULP
(left to right above)
Antoine Martel - keyboards
Victory Nguyen - saxophone, flute & trumpet
Andrew Morrill - saxophone
Bobby Granfelt - drums & percussion
Rob Homan - keyboards
Kaeli Earle - bass
Trevor Eulau - guitar
MATT LEE ASKS FOR ‘ONE MORE KISS’
Smooth Jazz saxophonist Matt Lee, debuts his single "One More Kiss". Matt Lee features his signature style with a haunting and sexy soprano sax performance bringing a new vibe to the smooth jazz world. As the song moves thru the intro, it leaves you in suspense for what's to come. "One More Kiss" builds thru the chorus making you think of that special person sitting next to a fireplace with your favorite glass of wine. "One More Kiss" will definitely get you in the right mood for a memorable evening.
Producer Jeffrey Carruthers, puts together an amazing arrangement that screams "I Love Ya Baby"! Let's not forget the incredible performances by Darryl Williamson Bass, Eric Valentine on drums, Ricky Petersonon Hammond B3, Jeffrey Carruthers on piano, keys and guitar. Matt Lee on the soprano and tenor saxophones. "One More Kiss" is the perfect vibe for 2022.
"Music soothes the soul and unites our hearts". -Matt Lee
ERIC DARIUS PLAYS ‘THAT’S MY JAM’ FT. JUSTIN LEE SCHULTZ
For Eric Darius there are no limitations when it comes to breaking new ground. Internationally known as an elite Jazz/R&B Saxophonist, Songwriter, Producer, and Performer, Darius most recently dropped, Summer Feelin’ Featuring Paul Jackson, Jr., the first single from his upcoming album which became a rallying anthem of hope during the pandemic, capturing the feeling of togetherness. He is now slated to release his second single, That’s My Jam Featuring Justin Lee Schultz on March 25th.
This upbeat, feel good song captures the exhilarating grooves and high energy of his legendary live show and is sure to be his next Billboard chart-topping hit! That’s My Jam is a song that Darius wrote that pays homage to one of his closest friends who recently passed, Willie Payne. “He always lived life to the fullest and was the life of the party everywhere that he went! Any time he heard one of his favorite songs, he’d yell out: ‘That’s My Jam!’ and hit the dance floor. This is one of those jams that captures his infectious energy that I know he would’ve loved, so it felt right to name the song after one of his favorite past times…living it up and dancing like no one is watching! With so much going on in the world around us today, this song is about inspiring others to live their best life and just dancing to the rhythm of life.”
As for Eric’s upcoming album, this project will be his second release via his own independent label, SagiDarius Music. His most recent album Breakin’ Thru released in 2018 was a huge commercial success, yielding four #1 hits on the Contemporary Jazz charts, however, this upcoming project due this Summer promises to be his best to date!
Produced by GRAMMY award-winning musician, Philip Lassiter (Prince, Kirk Franklin, Ariana Grande), this album features collaborations with Paul Jackson, Jr., Justin Lee Schultz, Mononeon, and many others, musically blurring the lines between Jazz, R&B, Hip-Hop, Funk & Pop! A worldwide tour is also in the works to promote the new album.
About his foray into independence, Darius says, “I’m really excited to release another album on my own record label. As a recording artist, it is truly the most rewarding yet challenging thing I’ve ever done. To go independent and take complete control of my music from start to finish took a huge leap of faith, but there is really no better feeling than having true creative freedom and being able to make music directly for my fans with no restrictions or boundaries. I feel like I’ve learned so much on the entrepreneurial side of things in this process and it will only benefit me down the line in all facets of the music industry.”
LEE ROGERS - 'LIFE AND LIES' SINGLE OUT NOW – INCLUDED ON ‘GAMEBLOOD’ – LONG AWAITED NEW ALBUM BY NORTHERN IRISH SINGER-SONGWRITER
LEE ROGERS
LIFE AND LIES
new single
out now
(Zenith Café/Membran)
digital services link
orcd.co/lifeandlies
from the album
GAMEBLOOD
out 13.05.22
FOR FANS OF JOHN MARTYN / KEB’ MO / TOM WAITS
Based in Carrickfergus, just north of Belfast, the music created by Lee Rogers sounds as resilient, gorgeous and scarred as his home turf looks. The sensual, resplendent songs contained on ‘Gameblood’, his long-awaited second album (his debut was in 2006), display an elegiac musical craftsmanship while showing off open-hearted, lyrical storytelling.
“My dad was a second generation settled Gypsy with black hair, swarthy skin and green eyes, like me,” states Rogers. “He had gold hoop earrings and old Indian-inked tattoos. He was as hard as the road he walked on but had the softest heart for us and my mother, who he loved unconditionally. He had a fighting spirit, and that’s what I believe ‘Gameblood’ means and is where the album title comes from.”
On this third official release (he also issued an EP entitled ‘Dark Notions’ in late 2021), Rogers comes across as a manly yet tender outcast with an honest musical solidarity to fellow wounded exile-pioneers who have experienced similar rocky relationships and existential pain.
The album’s first single, ‘Life and Lies’, is explained by Rogers as “a slightly cheeky, heartfelt ballad that everyone can relate to, about finding love and just a little light in the darkest places. Sometimes we just need to get ourselves to a place where we aren’t afraid to look.” Its excellent video was shot in a Belfast bar, which he adds was “the perfect setting. The fun part is I was genuinely drunk during the shooting, so there was little acting needed.”
A stripped-back, acoustic version of the video will be available from 18th March, of which Americana UK states: "Over delicate but insistent guitar-work, Rogers delivers an outstanding vocal performance. Full of engaging melody and character, with controlled changes in volume, and just the right amount of grit, his voice gives the song authenticity and emotional resonance.”
Recorded at Sycamore Studios with his regular band and produced by Gareth Dunlop (who also produced the recent EP), Rogers describes ‘Gameblood' as “a visit to those hard places that most people put to the back of their psyche and build a wall around. Love, lust, life, death, addiction and lots of spirits and ghosts moving around holding it all together. This album is a truer reflection of myself, my stories, where I’ve been and where I hope I am now. It’s music for the grown-up mind, those folk who have seen a bit of life, and can relate to the songs. Though I am hoping some of the kids love the vibe too!”
Rogers admits that he wasn’t in the greatest of places when he started writing the album, while its songs have themes of things hard to visit that he was at least able to harness and heal in the recording process. As an aching example, ‘Uneasy Love’ was written “about travelling all over Australia with this beautiful woman who set me on lots of the better paths I took in life. She left the planet for her next journey a while back. I had a dream that I was in this old car I had out there, driving in the middle of nowhere and got excited when I looked round and saw her in the passenger seat, sun-bleached hair, tanned skin, bare feet on the dashboard. Then, she started glitching in and out of vision, like she was gonna disappear completely. I woke up, gutted, went to my studio with tears in my eyes and wrote the song.”
Just as deeply felt, the romantic anthem ‘Everytime’ is about the love Rogers has for his wife Nikita, “the person who helps fix my mistakes, never judges and soothes me back to the human I am supposed to be. I can’t count how many times she has painstakingly put me back together, held me when I was falling apart and reasoned with me when I wasn’t seeing reason in anything. I know that if you find that person in your life, who calms your storms and puts out the fires, who helps you be what you are meant to be, then you’ll get every word of this song.”
The tender, raw yet cinematically sophisticated instrumentation on ‘Gameblood’ is reminiscent of classic folk albums such as John Martyn’s ‘Solid Air’, the soulful craft of Keb Mo’s ‘Blues Americana’ and the glistening if lacerating baroque balladry of Tom Waits' ‘Mule Variations’. Having worked as a tattoo artist for over a decade following the release of his debut album, the additional attention to human vulnerability and creative detail he has brought across from the skill set required in that industry has helped to set Rogers apart from most of his contemporaries.
GAMEBLOOD
TRACKLISTING
1 Everytime
2 Silent Song
3 Uneasy Love
4 The House
5 Life And Lies
6 Haunted
7 Homeward Bound
8 Won’t Find Me
9 Fools Gold
10 Barefoot In The Basement (feat Foy Vance)
leerogers.co.uk
facebook.com/lrogersmusic
instagram.com/leerogersmusic
URBAN-JAZZ GUITARIST AARON BROWN PAYS AN INSPIRED TRIBUTE TO HIS MENTOR
The single, “Mr. Jones,” goes for playlist adds on March 21, offering a preview of the forthcoming “Resurgence” album.
WESTCHESTER COUNTY (15 March 2022): Inspired by his mother’s death and his mentor’s massive stroke, R&B/jazz guitarist-bassist Aaron Brown felt a sense of urgency to create new music. As he works on his fourth album that he anticipates releasing in the fall, his BBP Records label will offer a preview when the single, “Mr. Jones,” goes for radio adds on March 21.
Brown wrote, produced and arranged the single named after his longtime friend and mentor, Gordon “G-man” Jones. Brown’s sinewy bass leaps to the fore over drummer Gene Faffley’s beats on the cut that features a prominent saxophone lead by guest star Pete Belasco, who admirably carries the melody with impassioned horn play. Dennis Johnson adds keyboard harmonies, embellishing Brown’s nuanced electric guitar.
Brown’s mother was an amazing 101-years-old when she passed away. Thankfully, his mentor survived the stroke and subsequent brain surgery. Jones always encouraged Brown to go from gigging studio session player and on-stage sideman to band leader. With the two real-life incidents serving as reminders of life’s fragility, Brown got hungry and began to compose new music with fervor. The album will aptly be titled “Resurgence,” which will be issued under the moniker Aaron Brown’s FuBop Collective.
Working on new music provides both a productive and healthy creative outlet for Brown as well as a fortress of solace. As Jones recovers and rehabilitates, working on “Resurgence” serves as a vital connection point for both mentor and mentee.
“Thankfully, G-man survived the ordeal (stroke) with most of his faculties and we continue to spend time together. Working on music keeps him connected to music and keeps us connected at this pivotal moment in both of our lives,” said the New York City-born Brown who resides outside the city in Westchester County.
Brown was a music major who studied performance, composition, arranging and music theory. While attending The City College of New York in Harlem, he learned to play the bass to add to his versatility. Brown dropped his debut album, “Eclectic Sessions,” in 2009. He has recorded and/or performed with a wide array of decorated jazz and R&B artists, including Roy Ayers, Marcus Miller, Omar Hakim, Freddie Jackson, Glenn Jones, Carmen Lundy, Larry Elgart Big Band, Charlie Palmieri and the Harlem Boys Choir. Brown was a member of the Columbia Records group Karavan, and fronted his own band, Aaron Brown & Moment’s Notice. Today, he runs Bop Brown Productions where he writes, records, edits, arranges and produces music.
Just as working on “Resurgence” offers Brown a welcome escape, he hopes “Mr. Jones” will serve a similar purpose for listeners.
“I hope ‘Mr. Jones’ brings listeners peace, tranquility and a few moments of relief from the woes of this crazy world and the crazy times in which we live.”
For more information, please visit https://www.fbcmusic.org.
ZANDSCULPTURENFESTIVAL MIDDELKERKE WORDT GIGANTISCH
De editie 2022 van Zandsculpturenfestival Middelkerke wordt gigantisch!
MIDDELKERKE – 1 juli tot en met 11 september 2022
Strand ter hoogte van De Greefplein
In 2021 bezochten meer dan 100.000 mensen de eerste Middelkerkse editie van het Zandsculpturenfestival. De lat ligt dus hoog voor de nieuwe editie. In de herfst werd het evenement al geëvalueerd. Middelkerke is de perfecte gaststad gebleken. Nu zijn Groep 24, MB Presents en de Gemeente Middelkerke trots om de nieuwe editie aan te kondigen.
Beter bereikbaar
Om het evenement nog beter bereikbaar te maken, zijn we op zoek gegaan naar een nieuwe locatie. Dat wordt het strand ter hoogte van het De Greefplein. Hier komt het gloednieuwe festivalterrein van meer dan 5.000 m2. Deze locatie ligt aan de tramhalte (De Greefplein) en is dus ideaal bereikbaar, ook voor wie gebruik maakt van het NMBS Discovery Ticket, waarmee je 50% korting krijgt op je treinrit.
Internationaal thema
Om nog beter tegemoet te komen aan de wensen van kustbezoekers uit alle windstreken werd er dit jaar een thema gekozen dat voor Belgen, van gelijk welke taalkundige achtergrond dan ook, én buitenlandse gasten toegankelijk is.
FC De Kampioenen was een heel dankbaar thema voor de vele Vlamingen die 2021 kozen voor een vakantie in eigen land. Dit jaar gaan we dus voor een thema dat iedereen zal bekoren: DINOSAURUSSEN!
Gigantisch veel zand
In 2021 werd zo’n 4.000 ton zand gebruikt voor de sculpturen. Dinosaurussen waren gigantisch, dus gaan we daar zo’n 2.000 ton bovenop doen om te zorgen voor meer en nog grotere sculpturen. Verwacht je naast de gekende soorten zoals de velociraptor, de stegosaurus en natuurlijk de T-Rex ook aan tal van spannende scènes. Indrukwekkend wordt het in elk geval!
Nog meer fun!
Nu het weer kan, wordt ook het aanbod aan animatie uitgebreid. We zitten uiteindelijk in de grootste zandbak van het land. Er komen onder meer workshops, een opgravingszone en speciale dino-events.
Samen met de dinofans
Er zijn heel veel dinofans, dat weten we. We willen de jongste fans betrekken bij de creatie van het evenement en daarvoor gaan we samenwerken met een aantal scholen. En net zoals vorig jaar, vragen we aan het publiek om de laatste sculptuur te ontwerpen. Zo vinden we de perfecte opvolger voor Jefke!!
Een ‘must see’ – ook voor de inwoners van Middelkerke
“Het Zandsculpturenfestival was vorige zomer een denderend succes. Na een positieve evaluatie verwachten we nu nog meer van dit topevenement. Ook het thema doet het beste verhopen. Dino’s zijn een algemeen en aantrekkelijk thema voor jong en oud. We stuurden alvast de locatie bij, zodat het event nog toegankelijker wordt en de organisatie nog meer kan inzetten op een topbeleving. En dan weet je dat duizenden potentiële bezoekers een topdag in Middelkerke-Westende gaan beleven. Ook voor onze eigen inwoners is het Zandsculpturenfestival een ‘must see’. Daarom verkopen we opnieuw voordeeltickets voor onze eigen inwoners en tweedeverblijver. Die zullen enkel te koop zijn aan onze toeristische balies,” vertelt Tom Dedecker, eerste schepen van Middelkerke.
Het grootste kustevenement
Een uitstap naar of een vakantie aan zee is altijd een voltreffer. De combinatie met een topevenement voor jong en oud, zoals het Zandsculpturenfestival Middelkerke, maakt er het perfecte dagje uit van. In 2021 waren we al het grootste kustevenement, nu wordt Zandsculpturenfestival Middelkerke gigantisch!
Zandsculpturenfestival Middelkerke vindt plaats van 1 juli tot en met 11 september. Tickets zijn vanaf nu te koop via www.zandsculpturenfestival.com. Net zoals vorig jaar krijgen inwoners van Middelkerke en mensen met een tweede verblijf in Middelkerke 2 euro korting.
LETTUCE - 'GRAVY TRAIN' – NEW SINGLE BY PRE-EMINENT FUNK OUTFIT
LETTUCE
GRAVY TRAIN
new single
out 11.03.22
audio
orcd.co/lettucegravytrain
included on
UNIFY
new album
out 03.06.22
(Round Hill Records)
pre-order/save link
orcd.co/lettuceunify
Pre-eminent funk outfit Lettuce have announced that their brand new album, ‘Unify’, will be released on 3rd June. The eighth studio record in total by the Boston, US-based sextet, it is their third in a row to be made at Colorado Sound Studios in Denver and completes a loose trilogy that began with the GRAMMY-nominated ‘Elevate’ (2019) and was continued with ‘Resonate’ (2020).
Fans can still expect plenty of the ultra-funky, soulful and largely instrumental tracks that Lettuce have always been known for, but in the tightest form they have ever taken. This time around, they have also received the stamp of approval from one of the genre’s legendary icons, Bootsy Collins, who can be heard singing on the song ‘Keep That Funk Alive’.
An introductory single from the album entitled ’Gravy Train’ is available from today. It features a tightly evolved rhythm section, pin-point accurate horns and guitar-bass interplay not executed this well since The Meters half a century ago. “It just has that classic Lettuce vibe,” states guitarist Adam ‘Shmeeans’ Smirnoff. “It's one of those songs that's timeless and could have shown up on any of our first albums. This one is for the OG Lettuce Heads.”
Approaching three decades since their humble beginnings, Lettuce essentially lived on the road until being forced off it in 2020, embodying the sly wink of their moniker: Let us play! They start touring again imminently. “We dreamed this up when we were teenagers, and here we are. We’re still doing it,” says saxophonist Ryan Zoidis.
MORE ABOUT UNIFY
“Dealing with the pandemic, being in separate places, trying to survive without our best friends, without touring, not to mention the political divide in this country….we really needed to unify,” says drummer Adam Deitch by way of explaining the album title, while Zoidis recalls that “the album somehow came together at a time when we were away from each other longer than we had been in years.” Although the group members were able to write in their respective home studios, they had not actually been in the same room or on stage together since a European tour in the early spring of 2020 was cut short by lockdown.
The very first track on ‘Unify’ captures the raw energy of the eventual Lettuce studio reunion in Denver, but is not where the story of 'Unify' begins. Its roots actually date back to 2018 when they assembled to begin work on ‘Elevate’. Armed with dozens of songs, they tracked enough material for that record, its successor ‘Resonate’ and more (including the vinyl-only live in the studio improv ‘Vibe’). With some stellar pre-existing tracks held over from those records and restrictions finally eased, the group was primed and decamped to Colorado Sound where they reunited with engineer Jesse O’Brien and self-produced the new record. Not having the opportunity of extensively road-testing the material and fleshing it out on tour prior to recording it, this time around the feeling was that they actually ‘discovered' the music as much as made it, essentially debuting it live in the studio.
A totally collaborative effort, ‘Unify’ is full of exciting cuts with brilliant lyrics and arrangements by vocalist/keyboardist Nigel Hall and fiery horn parts from trumpeter Eric ‘Benny’ Bloom, while bassist Erick ‘Jesus' Coomes observes that “we’re just getting tighter and tighter. These have been the first records made with the six of us as a team, and it’s the best the band has ever been: live and in the studio; the funkiest and the most fun.”
There is also the tantalising prospect of hearing it all unveiled on an extensive tour, which commences with a mammoth trek around the US in late March and eventually crosses the pond for a show at London Scala on 20th September that kicks off a set of European dates. “It’s exciting,” adds Smirnoff. “Our audiences are going to hear how we end up interpreting these songs for the first time, in the live form, and then for the 300th time; they’ll get to hear right along with us how the songs will morph and evolve.”
‘Unify' is an expression that is pure Lettuce. It will teleport you to a funky galaxy far, far away, where all life co-exists as one in peace, love, harmony…and music!
LETTUCE
Adam Deitch - drums
Ryan Zoidis - saxophone
Adam ‘Shmeeans’ Smirnoff - guitar
Erick ‘Jesus’ Coomes - bass
Nigel Hall - keyboards, vocals
Eric ‘Benny’ Bloom - trumpet
lettucefunk.com
SOULICOON TIMMY THOMAS OVERLEDEN
Eergisteren (11 maart) is de Amerikaanse soulzanger en toetsenist Timmy Thomas op 77-jarige leeftijd overleden. Thomas wordt geboren als één van de twaalf kinderen van een methodistische dominee. Vader Thomas leert al zijn kinderen pianospelen en laat ze ’s zondags spelen in de kerk. Als tiener krijgt Timmy jazzlessen van Stan Kenton en gaat hij studeren aan Lane College in Jackson. In die tijd begeleidt hij Donald Byrd en Cannonball Adderley en werkt hij als sessiemuzikant in Memphis. In 1967 studeert Thomas af en tekent hij een contract bij Goldwax Records. Dat jaar neemt hij twee singles op: ‘Have Some Boogaloo’ en ‘It’s My Life’. Deze blijven in Nederland onopgemerkt. Niet lang daarna verhuist hij naar Miami. Na daar een paar jaar op een hogeschool te hebben gewerkt, opent hij in 1972 zijn eigen café: Timmy’s Lounge Bar. In datzelfde jaar schrijft hij het nummer, waarmee hij in Nederland een flinke hit scoort: ‘Why Can’t We Live Together’. De inspiratie voor dit nummer haalt Thomas uit alle haat en leed in de wereld, zoals racisme en de Vietnam-oorlog. Hij neemt het nummer in één take op. ‘Why Can’t We Live Together’ kenmerkt zich door de uitgeklede productie. Thomas speelt zelf hammondorgel (en hammond bas) en wordt begeleid door een drumcomputer. Nadat Henry Stone van TK Records ‘Why Can’t We Live Together’ op de radio heeft gehoord, biedt hij Thomas een contract aan, koopt hij de rechten van het nummer en brengt hij het landelijk uit. ‘Why Can’t We Live Together’ bereikt in het begin van 1973 de derde plaats van de Amerikaanse Billboard Hot 100. In de Veronica Top 40 haalt de single de 25ste plaats. In 1995 besluit Timmy Thomas te stoppen met zijn muzikale carrière. Hij gaat muzieklessen geven op een basisschool. De in België woonachtige muzikant Mike Anthony probeert een eigen cover van ‘Why Can’t We Live Together’ te maken, maar gebruikt delen van de originele muziek. De rechter fluit Anthony terug, nadat Thomas een rechtszaak heeft aangespannen. Mike Anthony most alles terugtrekken en de single opnieuw opnemen. Met zijn versie van ‘Why Can’t We Live Together’ scoort Anthony een Top 10 hit in de Nederlandse en Belgische hitlijsten. Andere covers van ‘Why Can’t We Live Together’ komen van Sade (album ‘Diamond Life’), Steve Winwood en Carlos Santana. In 2015 gebruikt Drake in zijn hitsingle ‘Hotline Bling’ ook samples uit Timmy Thomas’ hit ‘Why Can’t We Live Together’, waarvan het thema anno 2022 weer actueel is. Timmy Thomas ruste in vrede!
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.
SAXOPHONIST JOHNNY JAMES HAS A ‘FOOLISH HEART’
Smooth Jazz saxophonist Johnny James aka 'Dr. J' is back! James will release his new single "Foolish Heart" on March 14, 2022. The single, produced by Andre Brissette, is the first from James’ forthcoming album Breathing, scheduled for release this summer. "Foolish Heart" includes the all-star musical talents of Paul Brown, Norman Brown, and Greg Phillinganes.
James is super excited Paul Brown mixed the single to perfection. “Paul is definitely one of the heavy weights in smooth jazz,” said James. “I love how he mixed the single to give the recording an exhilarating feel and sound that vastly bring out the best in this beautiful ballad.”
Paul Brown has over 100 Top 5 radio hits in the smooth jazz genre. Norman Brown, the Grammy award-winning guitarist who lives at the top of Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Charts, adds his electrifying and tasteful guitar licks to "Foolish Heart". “It is an honor to have someone of Norman’s musical caliber on this single,” James said. “He is one of the greatest jazz and R&B guitarists, who embellished 'Foolish Heart' beyond my expectations.”
Greg Phillinganes has toured or recorded with several dozen great R&B/pop artists, including Stevie Wonder, George Benson, Michael Jackson, Brenda Russell, Toto, Eric Clapton, and Dionne Warwick. “Greg Phillinganes is one of the most in-demand pianists on the planet,” said James. “His keyboard magic and mastery on 'Foolish Heart' is beyond incredible.”
James adds, “I’ve loved 'Foolish Heart' since hearing Steve Perry’s original release in 1984. The pure beauty of the song and Steve’s incredible vocals made this a ballad that I always wanted to record.”
James is an accomplished vocalist, saxophonist, and flutist who has performed nationally and internationally for 40-plus years. The music major from Florida A&M University was a member of the pop-dance band Will To Power.
ERIC VALENTINE’S ‘Q’S VIBE’ FT. EVERETTE HARP & GREG MANNING
Following Eric Valentine’s Velvet Groove Album, Eric rallies more of the best musicians to move us again in his new single Q’s Vibe. His fresh collaborative sounds leave music-lovers grooving to his singable melodies, rich harmonies, and impeccable grooves.
His song "Velvet Groove" marched its way to Billboard’s #2 Smooth Jazz song of the year and remained on various charts for over 21 weeks. And, now Q’s Vibe is set to hit the airwaves internationally on March 14.
For Q’s Vibe, Eric called on Saxophonist Everette Harp and keyboardist Greg Manning to play his infectious melodies along with him. Eric lays the groove and serenades us with his smooth layered scatting vocals. And his voice is a delightful, unexpected complement to the sass of Everette’s sax and the enchanting sound of Greg’s keys. Together, they take you on a captivating musical journey, inspired by legendary composer and producer Quincy Jones.
"Q's Vibe"
Written & Produced by Eric Valentine
Co-written by Devin A. Smith
Eric Valentine - Drums, Drum Programing, Vocals, Keyboards
Everette Harp - Saxophone
Greg Manning - Piano, Synth Solo
Devin A. Smith - Keyboards
David Dyson - Bass
Rick Watford - Guitar
Tim Carmon - Organ
Mixed by Ken Freeman and Eric Valentine
Mastered by Euge Groove at House of Groove Mastering
Executive Producers - Eric Valentine & B. Valentine
JD SIMO - BAZ LUHRMANN’S ‘ELVIS’ – GUITARIST AND SINGER-SONGWRITER LANDS HIS BIGGEST GIG YET AS SOLE GUITARIST INVOLVED ON FILM SOUNDTRACK
Nashville-based musician JD Simo has revealed that he was chosen to be the sole guitarist featured on the soundtrack to ‘Elvis’, the highly anticipated Baz Luhrmann directed Elvis Presley biopic, which hits cinema screens in late June 2022.
JD has also remained active recording material of his own, releasing the acclaimed album ‘Mind Control’ in November 2021 and following that with his take on the John Lee Hooker classic ‘Never Get Out Of These Blues Alive’ in early 2022. This will be followed on 25th March by a cover of ‘Old Black Mattie’ by the late R. L. Burnside, which JD states “is a standard of R.L. Burnside and all of the Hill Country Guys. It's a favourite of mine and my band members so we put it down on a stop at Sweetwater Studios last August.”
Another single entitled ‘Barbara’s Lair’ will follow in late April, JD explaining that “it is probably my favourite instrumental that Adam Abrashoff [drummer] and I came up with during lockdown. We must have written and recorded 50 plus funk/r&b instrumentals during that time, but settled on this track to represent that period.” The simple fact is that Simo did not stop making music over the last two years, adding that “there's so much material that it's only right that some of it comes out.”
JD’s version of 'Never Get Out Of These Blues Alive’ can be heard here:
spoti.fi/3vQGNHw
The announcement of these new singles and his work on ‘Elvis’ - its trailer has been viewed almost 14 million times in under three weeks - are sure to provide further momentum to a year that has already seen an upward trajectory in JD’s profile.
For the film, its music supervisor Dave Cobb, who is also a renowned producer (Rival Sons, Brandi Carlile, John Prine, Jason Isbell), personally handpicked JD to provide his guitar mastery to the film, the pair then working closely together alongside director Lurhmann.
A lifelong fan of Elvis Presley, JD was thrilled to play a part in the making of the film. “When Dave Cobb called me to participate, I couldn't believe it!” he recalls. “I literally learned to play guitar listening to Elvis records so playing on this soundtrack is a full circle moment for me. I am so proud to be a part of it.”
He was especially excited about re-recording the classic ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, adding that “it was the first song I learned and when we re-recorded it for the film, it was one of those times where you just get all the feels. Baz, Dave and his unbelievable crew really wanted this to be as authentic and exact as possible and I was happy to just be in the room to do that.”
He continues: “Whether recreating Scotty Moore, Hank Garland, Tommy Tedescho, Reggie Young or James Burton's original parts for the Elvis content or recreating Sister Rosetta Tharpe's signature guitar sounds for the awesome Yola to sing and portray, it is a dream project. Who can say that they got to step into the shoes of so many guitar heroes and invoke their essence? I'm incredibly grateful to Dave for having me on the team! All I could think about during the whole process was Long Live the King!”
Garnering tastemaker praise and fan fervour on both sides of the Atlantic ever since splitting his band SIMO in 2017 and going solo, JD's well received 2019 solo debut, ‘Off At 11’, and self-titled 2020 follow-up connected the missing link between Woodstock and Motown in their fusion of fluid and fiery fretwork with vital and vulnerable vocals. Collaborations with the likes of Jack White, Tommy Emmanuel, Luther Dickinson, Dave Cobb and Blackberry Smoke, as well as time spent as part of Grateful Dead founder Phil Lesh’s ‘Phil & Friends’, also cemented his reputation among guitar music aficionados.
JD’s 2021 album, ‘Mind Control’, was recorded in his home studio while the pandemic raged. Demonstrating his growth as both a songwriter and musician, it showcased complex guitar work and an insightful lyrical ability to create an emotional and thought-provoking experience. JD and his outstanding trio - longtime collaborator Adam Abrashoff on drums and bassist Adam Bednarik - recently promoted the album on a 60+ date North American tour, co-headlining with GA-20.
MIND CONTROL
out now
(Crows Feet Records)
digital services link
orcd.co/mcoutnow
“JD knows how to blend genres within a guitar trio format. Blues-rock with a late '60s/early '70s edge, ‘Mind Control' is highly recommended 9/10”
GUITAR TECHNIQUES
"Unafraid to take the focus away from his undoubtedly formidable fretwork in search of a more atmospheric, immersive soundscape 8/10”
CLASSIC ROCK
“Mixes things up while keeping the humility and honesty of the blues genre at the forefront of his music”
BLUES MATTERS
“It’s all over the place, which is OK when the places he’s going to are great 9/10”
POWERPLAY
includes the singles
KNOW IT ALL
video
youtu.be/c-KwozVGsno
+
THAT’S WHEN YOU KNOW THAT YOU’RE DOWN
video
youtu.be/H_wJeipYQGw
jdsimo.net
facebook.com/jdsimomusic
twitter.com/jdsimomusic
instagram.com/jdsimomusic
DAVE PEN - 'THE WEEK ENDING FOREVER' - NEW EP BY ARCHIVE AND BIRDPEN FRONTMAN
new EP
out 04.03.22
(JAR Records)
buy link
davepen.bandcamp.com/album/the-week-ending-forever
includes single
MOTORISE
FOR FANS OF WIRE / RADIOHEAD / STEVEN WILSON / ARCHIVE
Musician Dave Pen is best known for his role as co-frontman and co-songwriter in the successful prog/alt rock collective Archive. He also fronts the alt rock/electronic duo BirdPen, who released their well-received sixth studio album ‘All Function One’ exactly a year ago, following that with his debut solo album ‘Abran Wish & The Light Party’ in autumn 2021. Other projects have included collaborations with film/TV composer Robin Foster as We Are Bodies.
Today sees the release of a very personal solo EP by Pen entitled 'The Week Ending Forever' that encapsulates the experience of so many in recent times. Recorded on the spur of the moment, he explains his thinking behind it as follows:
“With everything that has happened in the last few years it has sometimes been a challenge to keep my mental health together, as it has been for so many others. In the last seven days it has been a real struggle. I hadn’t written anything for over six months so thought I would try and channel my feelings into creating some songs. This EP is exactly that. I had no ideas or lyrics before starting them and literally went with what came out. I spent two days writing and recording at home, made some rough mixes, took a photo of the flowers and a note from my youngest daughter, which are on my desk for the artwork….and now here they are. Everything you hear was more or less off the cuff and channels my fears, anxieties and hopes. I didn’t want to overthink things, so just went with what felt right as it poured out. I hope you can find something here that works for you in some way. Thanks for your support. Dave Pen
THE WEEK ENDING FOREVER
TRACKLISTING
1 10mg
2 Motorise
3 Song For The Birds
4 F.R.H.G
5 Life Is But A Screen
6 All Of The Time
NEW SINGLE ‘REAL CLOSE’ FROM RODNEY GREEN FT. JACKIEM JOYNER
Let us introduce you to the up and coming smooth Jazz keyboardist, Rodney Greene. Although Rodney has been around for awhile, he is finally coming into his own and getting some well deserved recognition in the music industry. Rodney has released two Smooth Jazz studio album projects to date, “Nice n Slow” and “Meditation of My Heart”.
Rodney is currently working on his third album scheduled for release in April 2022. Rodney has released a single off the album which features Billboard's Smooth Jazz chart topping Saxophonist Jackiem Joyner, who is a musical icon in his own right.
"Real Close"
Alto Saxophone: Jackiem Joyner
Lead/Rhythm Guitar: Darrell Crooks
Keyboards/Synths/Horns/Strings: Rodney Greene
Bass Guitar: Rodney Greene
Drum Programming: Rodney Greene
Vocals: Rodney Greene
BILL COLETTI ‘PLAY IT AGAIN’
Bill Colletti is a professional multi-instrumentalist/recording artist who has been performing since 1978. His primary instruments are the Flugelhorn, Trumpet, Valve Trombone, Piano, Guitar and Vocals. Bill's horn style is influenced by the likes of Chet Baker, Doc Severinsen, Herb Alpert and Chuck Mangione while his versatility is demonstrated throughout many musical genres such as Jazz, Latin, Big Band, Pop, Orchestral and Broadway musicals.
Bill has performed with Grammy award winning and top Contemporary/Smooth Jazz artists including Dave Koz, Peter White, Marc Antoine and Oli Silk. His first all original music CD "Be on the Light" was released January 29, 2019 and can be heard on Spotify, Pandora, Amazon, YouTube as well as streaming radio stations world wide. In addition, Bill is a composer, producer and recording engineer.
Bill was awarded 1st place in the "So You Think You Can Jam" contest aboard the Dave Koz 2013 Mediterranean Jazz Cruise as well as 1st place aboard Dave's 2014 Alaskan Jazz Cruise.
The Dave Koz Lounge (SiriusXM ch. 66) has featured two of Bill's singles "Treble Maker" and "Be On The Light."
JASON JACKSON FT. TIM BOWMAN ON ‘GROOVE ALL NIGHT’
Billboard top 20 artist Jason Jackson burst onto the scene in 2021 with the release of his debut EP, Movin' On and hasn't looked back.
Jason will be releasing his second single from the Movin' On EP to radio stations all over the country. The track, "Groove All Night" is a smooth ride featuring guitarist extraordinaire Tim Bowman that is sure to have your foot tapping from start to finish.
Jason grew up in Wilmington, NC and at a young age, started to study music with long time James Brown saxophonist - Leroy Harper Jr. While still in high school, Jason landed a gig working as a member of the house band at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach, SC where he performed as the opening act for artists such as: Brian McKnight, Morris Day and the Time, KC and the Sunshine Band, and Michael McDonald.
In 2011, Jason enlisted in the Navy as a musician where he was able to play for audiences all over the world including: China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Australia. During his first tour, he was awarded the Colonel Finley R. Hamilton Outstanding Military Musician Award and a few moths later, he was relocated to the Seventh Fleet Band in Yokosuka, Japan where he lived for over 3 years. During this time, Jason was able to play at some of the most prestigious venues in the area as well as volunteer in several local community bands where he was able to interact one on one with young local musicians. It was during this time that Jason learned that music was truly "the universal language".
After his military service ended in 2021, Jason teamed up with contemporary jazz star Adam Hawley to create his first offering as a solo artist. Movin' On is not only produced by Hawley, but includes him as a featured artist along with Julian Vaughn and Tim Bowman.
“Jason has a natural knack for coming up with super catchy melodies and playing them on his sax with amazing dexterity and a whole lot of soul. He’s got a bright future in the world of instrumental music as this new track featuring guitar great Tim Bowman certainly shows!”
-Dave Koz
NEW SINGLE ‘DRIVING ALL NIGHT’ FROM IGOR GERZINA
"Driving All Night" is the new single by Croatian award-winning saxophonist and producer Igor Gerzina.
This is a smooth jazz driven tune with a dominant melody on the saxophone accompanied by excellent musicians: Gerzina's long-time collaborators Jurica Leikauff on the keyboard and Elvis Penava on guitar.
Igor Gerzina is a Croatian award-winning saxophonist, composer and Croatian Radiotelevision Jazz Orchestra producer. He won several Porin awards (Croatian most prestigious discography award), as well as several Status awards for the best instrumentalist of the year, awarded by the Croatian Musicians Union.
Igor performed his song 'Dream For The Future' on the Croatian presidential inauguration.
The last three albums garnered airplay in more than 15 countries on 4 continents, including Billboard and America's Music Chart.
He took part in more than a hundred and thirty discography editions, composed for film, pop artists and opening songs for TV and radio. He has graduated in saxophone from Zagreb Academy of Music and has studied at Berklee College of Music (Boston, USA).
Igor Gerzina: sax, comp, arr & production
Jurica Leikauff: keys
Elvis Penava: guitars
Status Production 2022
SONG LINKS:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/46D1DkTFAG8l1LDQgoeKDz?si=842f09c3a1ad4ed0
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/ie/album/driving-all-night-single/1606975432
IGOR LINKS:
Web: https://www.igorgerzina.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/igorgerzinasax
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/igorgerzinamusic/
MICHAEL MASSARO – NEW WORLD
"Some artists fail to understand what Smooth Jazz is all about, but that certainly isn't the case here. Lovely track that deserves to become a future classic." - Paul Miller BBC Radio: UK
5/5 - "Amazing guitar and sax work that would ruffle the egos of Joyce Cooling and Kenny G, respectively.” – Ken Hawk WSNQ – Saxonburg, PA: USA
“Fresh work along with the beautifully harmonized guitar.” – Larry Vidal Hayes FM 91,8 FM – Hayes, UK
Michael Massaro is no stranger to the Canadian air waves as he is one of Canada’s premier musicians. His distinctive saxophone recordings have been heard internationally since the eighties with major instrumentals such as ‘Flying Easy’, ‘L.A. Days New York Nights’, and ‘Wings of Glory’. His talents were heard on a Redmond Broadcasting compilation recording with some of Canada’s foremost instrumental performers including David Foster, Liona Boyd, Moe Koffman, Andre Gagnon, and Frank Mills to name only a few. Michael Massaro was thrilled to be included with such a stellar lineup and was humbled when the album was titled after the Massaro hit ‘Flyin’ Easy’.
He has appeared at Sky Dome in Toronto performing the National Anthems of Canada and the United States before various sports events. His multiple appearances in Toronto have included performing as well as being the musical director for several years for the Italian Song Festival held at Ontario Place. The International airplay he has received has allowed him to travel and perform in such locales as Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, Hong Kong, and Bangkok. Michael also headlined a National tour with four other recording artists playing concerts in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax. Michael is a multi-instrumentalist and has had several Singles “Flying Easy”, Smooth Sailing” and Wings of Glory” that reached top ten in Canada and 4 Albums under his belt to date : ‘Awakening’, ‘It Takes Two’, ‘Waves Of Change’ and ‘L.A. Days, New York Nights’a compilation of his best works. He is currently releasing his 5th Album Cd "Love In Motion" which features him on 8 Original tracks and 2 covers “My One And Only Love” and “Stella By Starlight”. Love In Motion – The title and concept is clear “Love” is ultimately the driving force in all that is good. Michael’s music will touch and inspire the soul of the listener regardless of their age or background.
JAMES BROWN IN A NEW DOCUSERIES
Photo: A&E
Mick Jagger and Questlove are exec producing a four-part docuseries about “I Got You (I Feel Good)” star James Brown for A&E.
The cable network has ordered James Brown: Say It Loud (w/t), directed by The Legacy of Black Wall Street Helmer Deborah Riley Draper.
It is the latest doc on the Godfather of Soul after Alex Gibney directed Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown for HBO in 2014. Jagger was a producer on that project.
James Brown: Say It Loud is set for a 2023 release, marking what would have been Brown’s 90th birthday. It will explore Brown’s legacy with interviews with friends, family, collaborators and proteges as well as his beloved music catalog and includes never-been-seen-before archival footage.
It will trace his life from a seventh-grade dropout arrested for armed robbery in the Jim Crow-era South to an entertainment legend.
It is produced by Inaudible Films, which produced Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown and is working on docs about Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Lee Lewis, in association with Polygram Entertainment.
Draper directs, Peter Afterman serves as executive producer for Inaudible Films along with producer Sarah Haber, Jagger and Victoria Pearman exec produce for Jagged Films, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson — who directed Oscar-nominated doc Summer of Soul — Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, Shawn Gee and Zarah Zohlman exec produce for Two One Five Entertainment and David Blackman exec produces for Polygram Entertainment.
Charlie Cohen and A&E Network’s Elaine Frontain Bryant and Brad Abramson also exec produce, while Madeline Post and Robert Komadina co-exec produce.
“I am thrilled to be producing the four-part documentary series with A&E delving into the fascinating life of James Brown,” said Jagger. “He was a brilliant performer who inspired me from the beginning and was deeply committed to the Civil Rights movement. I have always admired James and learned so much from him. I look forward to bringing the series to life.”
Said Thompson and Trotter: “The life of James Brown is significant not only to understand his immense musical impact, which inspires us and other artists to this day, but also for the deep and lasting impression he has had on American culture. Brown’s life is a crucial and timely story of struggle, redemption, and self-identity and we are honored to have the chance to share it.”
Added Elaine Frontain Bryant, EVP and Head of Programming for A&E: “A&E has a long legacy as a home for bold, insightful, and engaging storytelling that pushes boundaries and bring viewers deeper into the lives and worlds they thought they knew. We are honored… to continue this tradition with James Brown: Say It Loud to provide audiences with an in-depth look, not only into the extraordinary life of the Godfather of Soul, but also his immeasurable influence as a cultural force in American society.”
EMIRESMIATION KONDIGT DEBUUTALBUM AAN
Amsterdam, 18 februari 2022. Vandaag kondigt de band Emiresmiaton zijn debuutalbum aan met de single Amelie (Excerpt) / Lunar. De band bestaat uit Jesse Schilderink (saxofoon), Olivier van Niekerk (gitaar), Jens Meijer (drums) en Stefan Lievestro (bas) en focust zich op verhalende improvisaties. Het debuutalbum van de band verschijnt op 8 april.
Emiresmiaton streeft naar een vorm van creëren en improviseren die wordt geleid door ongebruikelijke parameters. Waar melodie, harmonie en ritme volledig van het moment afhangen en naar believen in te vullen zijn, maakt Emiresmiaton gebruik van verhaallijnen, spanningsbogen en dichtheid als leidraad binnen hun improvisaties. Op die manier wordt een nieuwe dimensie toegevoegd aan de muziek die het uitgangspunt vormt van de improvisaties. Het resultaat is een indrukwekkend debuutalbum waarop de synergie tussen de vier bandleden duidelijk te horen is.
Jesse Schilderink:
Jesse Schilderink (1995) is een in Rotterdam gevestigde saxofonist en componist, voornamelijk actief in de scene van instrumentale en geïmproviseerde muziek. Dankzij formaties zoals Willem Romers | In Contrast, Ezthetic en vele anderen, toont Jesse een groeiende aanwezigheid in het Nederlandse muzieklandschap. Zijn brede muzikale interesse zorgt voor een steeds evoluerende manier van spelen, schrijven en creëren. Niet bang voor experiment en constant proberend zijn persoonlijke grenzen te verleggen, denkt Jesse altijd vooruit. In 2019 behaalde Jesse zijn Bachelor Jazz aan het Codarts conservatorium te Rotterdam met als eindcijfer een 9,5. Gedurende zijn studie volgde hij lessen bij o.a. Ben van den Dungen en volgde masterclasses bij o.a. Bob Reynolds en David Binney. In het najaar van 2017 was Jesse enkele maanden gevestigd in Trondheim (Noorwegen). Daar studeerde hij aan het NTNU Conservatorium en volgde lessen bij o.a. Eirik Hegdal en Mette Rasmussen. Geïnspireerd door zijn ervaringen en ontmoetingen in Trondheim richtte hij bij terugkomst in Rotterdam het Rotterdam/Trondheim Collective op.
Jens Meijer:
Jens Meijer (1996) woont en werkt in Rotterdam. Een bruisende stad naar zijn hart. Overrompelende architectuur, culturen uit alle windstreken en een gezonde arbeidsesthetiek. Tijdens en na zijn studie aan Codarts Rotterdam pakte Meijer meteen door. Veel spelen en nog meer luisteren. Meijer ging aan de slag bij Nationaal Jeugd Jazz Orkest, het Codarts International Ensemble, het Rotterdam/Trondheim Collective en hij speelde onder anderen met Benjamin Herman, Amsterdam Sinfonietta en Reinier Baas. Lessen volgde Meijer bij Mark Schilders, Joost Patocka en Hans van Oosterhout. Zijn vele vlieguren als veelzijdig drummer betalen zich uit. Samen met jazzcollega’s Stefan Lievestro (contrabas), Jesse Schilderink (saxofoon) en Olivier van Niekerk (gitaar) brengt Meijer een plaat uit met verhalende improvisaties. Daarnaast verdeelt Meijer de stuwende grooves in de Peter Somuah Group. Deze prijswinnende, Rotterdamse band rondom de Ghanese trompettist Peter Somuah debuteert met het album Outer Space: daverende jazz vol Ghanese folkinvloeden, funk en afrobeat.
Olivier van Niekerk:
Olivier van Niekerk (Juni 2002) begon op zijn 7e begonnen met gitaar spelen. De eerste jaren speelde hij rock- en bluesmuziek, maar nadat hij de muziek van jazzgitaristen zoals Kenny Burrell en Wes Montgomery ontdekte en hier dusdanig door gegrepen werd, wist hij snel dat hij zich in dit genre wilde gaan verdiepen. Na een middelbare schoolperiode aan de School voor Jong Talent aan het Koninklijk Conservatorium van Den Haag, waar hij les kreeg van o.a. Martijn van Iterson, studeert Olivier momenteel aan het Conservatorium van Amsterdam waar hij les kreeg/krijgt van Maarten van de Grinten, Reinier Baas en Jesse van Ruller.
Olivier heeft mogen spelen op binnenlandse podia zoals het Bimhuis, Lantarenvenster en het North Sea Jazz Festival, en op verschillende plekken in 8 andere landen. Olivier won ondere het Prinses Christina Jazz Concours en een internationale jazz-contest, gehouden in Roemenië.
Stefan Lievestro:
Stefan Lievestro (Apeldoorn, 23 juni 1964) is een Nederlandse componist en musicus. Hij studeerde contrabas aan de Conservatoria van Arnhem (1984-1986) en Amsterdam (1986- 1989). Heeft deelgenomen aan talloze opnames van en met (voornamelijk) Nederlandse en Belgische jazz-artiesten en heeft door de jaren heen met internationale jazz-grootheden gespeeld, waaronder Freddy Hubbard, Nat Adderley, Bob Berg, Dee Dee Bridgewater. In 2006 richtte Stefan het label Mainland Records op, waarop hij tot 2015 cd’s van zijn eigen bands (Lievestro6, Mona Lisa Overdrive) en van andere Nederlandse musici en bands uitbracht. Tegenwoordig maakt Stefan deel uit van het Jasper van t Hof-trio (met Jamie Peet op drums), het experimentele elektro-duo The Celestial Turkey, REIO (Rotterdam Electronic Improv Orchestra), Emiresmiaton (Jens Meijer – drums, Jesse Schilderink – sax, Olivier van Niekerk – gitaar) en Peter Lenz’ Lithium (Peter Lenz – drums, Chris Speed – sax, Keisuke Matsuno – gitaar).
JACK BROADBENT : ‘MIDNIGHT RADIO' – NEW SINGLE BY SINGER-SONGWRITER/GUITARIST
JACK BROADBENT photography by Jeff Fasano
new single
out 25.02.22
(Crows Feet Records)
digital services link
orcd.co/midnightradio
“A fabulously grooving, bluesy song that displays his gift for terrific songwriting. Broadbent's playing is immediately engaging, but his vocal performance is equally impressive, full of storytelling character and grit. Its brilliantly produced video is stylish and cinematic with a black and white visual that feels perfectly in keeping with his music, while Broadbent looks effortlessly cool”
AMERICANA UK
from the album
RIDE
out 08.04.22
pre-order link
orcd.co/ridealbpre
LIVE IN THE UK
18.06.22
BLACK DEER FESTIVAL
(Eridge Park, Kent)
English singer-songwriter and acclaimed guitarist Jack Broadbent will release a new single on 25th February entitled ‘Midnight Radio’, the third to be lifted from his new album, ‘Ride' (out on 8th April). Describing ‘Midnight Radio’ as “a song for the night owls, for the people that love their music by moonlight and stars,” his voice is both smooth and gritty on a track that combines country-folk and restrained yet distinctly bluesy guitar with a swinging jazz groove. Its promo video is shot in black and white and features a white-suited Broadbent performing alone on stage in a club, adding an atmospheric and mysterious twist to the fun vibe of the music.
Broadbent is used to people saying, "Oh, this is a departure from your previous stuff." He has heard it soon after the appearance of each of his five albums to date and it will certainly follow the release of ‘Ride’, his first full-length record since ‘Moonshine Blue’ in 2019. As someone who is as connected to the quality of his relationships with people as he is to the quality of his music, rest assured that he considers it a compliment. "I think there's a lot of variety on my records and this is no different,” he states. "I'm really getting a sense now that this idea of genre and where you fit in is not as important as it used to be, which I think is a good thing.”
Broadbent grew up in Lincolnshire but has spent the last few years living in Canada. His earliest influence was his father Mick, who is also a musician (including a tenure with late ‘70s power-poppers Bram Tchaikovsky) and plays bass on ‘Ride’. Informed as a youngster by the steady diet of music played around the house, Jack began accompanying Mick to open mic nights, and by his early teens was playing drums in his dad's bands, gravitating to guitar when he became interested in songwriting. "Being a drummer, I tried to develop a very rhythmic approach to my guitar playing," he recalls. "What interested me was being able to hold down a groove and do some gymnastics to incorporate solos and subtle bass lines.”
Broadbent’s renowned slide guitar playing evolved from busking regularly in his early 20s. "It seemed to appeal to people as something that was both visually and musically exciting. This was interesting to me. I was already playing in altered and open tunings, so when it came to using a slide I was well-versed in how those patterns worked together." He took some cues from influences such as John Lee Hooker and Little Feat, but ultimately says that "I never really wanted to emulate anybody else's style, which is why I ended up going down a slightly more hard-hitting, brash kind of route in my playing.”
Finding an audience after the Montreux Jazz Festival hailed him as “the new master of the slide guitar” and Bootsy Collins famously proclaimed him “the real thang!”, Broadbent subsequently won over more fans after touring with the likes of Ronnie Wood, Peter Frampton and other legendary talents. Meanwhile, his penchant for writing on the road ensured that there was usually an abundance of material whenever he was ready to return to the studio. This holds true with ‘Ride’, although the album took a turn from what he had originally intended.
"I had to come off the road because of the Covid pandemic and was going to work on a solo project of acoustic material," he explains. Instead, with Quebec-based drummer and co-producer Mark Gibson, "...we started playing some of the more rock 'n' roll stuff I had, and we couldn't deny that there was a kind of vibe happening. So, I just went full steam ahead in that direction which brought the sound of this album into focus. We built on those grooves and ended up with the rock 'n' roll record I've been wanting to make for a long time."
‘Ride’ does indeed rock, with Broadbent’s natural grit, voice and guitar riding atop every song with a driving force. However, there is also stylistic diversity on offer, from the moody ambience of ‘Who Are You?’ and the title track, to the blues roots of ‘New Orleans’, a love letter to one of his favourite cities. ‘Grace’ soars with a kind of front-porch spirituality, while ‘I Love Your Rock 'n' Roll’ gallops along with an energetic Americana vibe. Overall, via several twists and turns, the album takes the listener on a trip, strung together by a vision developed during the recording process.
"Mark and I recorded the tracks live in a small home studio in Quebec, following which I sent them to the UK where my dad added the bass lines and then sent them back to us for mixing and mastering,” Broadbent discloses. Working around travel limitations and the uncertainty of the last two years, this international collaboration reflects what Broadbent calls "this underlying theme of trying to get a feel for where you're heading and recognising how much distance you've still got left to travel.”
The next step, of course, is to take ‘Ride’ on the road, which Broadbent will be doing throughout 2022, including an appearance at the Black Deer Festival in Kent in mid-June. He knows that its songs will only grow as he presents them on stage, but they will nevertheless continue to speak to the experiences from which they were born. "I really like the energy of this record," he says. "There seems to be an interesting dichotomy between what I write while I'm touring and what I write when I'm able to sit and think. What the album speaks to is that juxtaposition between the ride and the time spent parked up. It all ties into the journey of the artist."
No matter what lies on the road ahead, Broadbent’s fans can rely on his dedication to his music and evolving craft. Little Feat founding member and recent US tour mate Bill Payne perhaps says it best when he states: "I love his voice. His playing is superb, showing an almost reckless abandon when he gets revved up. He is performing on the edge, and if he falls, so be it. The pieces will not break.”
RIDE
TRACKLISTING
1 Ride
2 I Love Your Rock ’n’ Roll
3 New Orleans
4 Hard Livin’
5 Midnight Radio
6 Baby Blue
7 Grace
8 Who Are You?
MOONSHINE BLUE
UK REVIEWS
“His slide guitar playing is as phenomenal as they say, but the songs come first. Beautiful”
CLASSIC ROCK
“Shows off his true power as a singer-songwriter. A superb album”
BLUES MATTERS
“The strength of his songwriting sets him head and shoulders above most Brit-bluesmen”
HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW
“A masterclass in slide and blues guitar with a great vocal delivery”
LOUDER THAN WAR
jackbroadbent.co.uk
facebook.com/jackbroadbentmusic
twitter.com/jackbmusician
instagram.com/jackbroadbentofficial
NEW SINGLE 'GIVE ME YOUR LOVE’ BY MARK ALLEN FENTON
A Chicago native, saxophonist extraordinaire, Mark Allen Felton aka Panther drew upon a wealth of influences from Jazz to Gospel. At the tender age of 11 he began an artistic journey inspired by such musical greats as Grover Washington Jr., Earth Wind & Fire, Sonny Stitt and Kool & the Gang. By the time he graduated from high school, Felton had received numerous awards for his musical excellence including a scholarship to Texas Southern University in Houston, TX. The extraordinarily gifted artist has had the honor of playing on and sharing the stage with some of the most revered artists and musicians in the world of smooth jazz and R&B. His stage presence and music execution makes him a crowd favorite wherever he goes. Felton has played on stages throughout the world domestically and internationally (Japan, UK, China, Beirut, etc.).
A prolific composer, Mark Allen Fleton has written several hundred songs including the theme song for the nationally syndicated radio program "Radioscope" and the theme song for framed comedian Michael Colyar's comedy special. His compositions can be heard in independent films as well as on his five previously released CDs: On The Prowl, Gospel Stroll, A Blessing, I Do It For Love, & Soul Real. His 6th CD The Gem In I will be released in March of 2022. The first single from his CD Give Me Your Love will be released to radio in February 2022 followed by performance dates across the country.
Felton continues to release music that inspires, motivated, and engages the listener. On his latest effort, Felton collaborates with guitarist Adam Hawley on his new single, "Give Me Your Love".
'DON' T GIVE UP' SAYS KEITH McKELLEY FEAT. GREGG KARUKAS
Keith McKelley has had a wide and varied career as a saxophonist and Aerophone (Roland’s digital wind instrument) musician but also produces and writes his own material with the occasional collaboration with other writers and producers to create music that is at a high level, will last, and that is absolutely heartfelt.
Originally from Canton Ohio, Keith has been able to incorporate various forms of music to create his own signature sound and is quite evident when you take the time to hear his playing. Since his move to LA in August of 2013 he has been steadily working his way up the ladder while becoming an integral part of the LA scene. Due to hard work and perseverance he has been fortunate enough and had the honor to work with: Phillip Bailey, Rapper Logic, Jhené Aiko, John Lindahl, Gin Wigmore, Kenneth “babyface” Edmonds, David Foster, Usher, Tyrese, Larry Dunn of Earth, Wind, And Fire, Bob James, Harvey Mason, Raphael Saadiq, Mary J. Blige, Andrew Gouche, Solange Knowles, Bill ‘The Budda” Dickens, Angela Bofill, Micki Howard, Marcus Johnson, and Marc de Clive-Lowe.
Keith Plans to keep pushing his vision of new music, always setting the bar high. The operative word is “energy”. There always has to be 110% poured into every little bit of music no matter what the situation. This is more than just something he does. He lives it. The idea is to work with high quality artists and put out high quality, classic work that will surely contribute to the ever changing landscape of music in this world.
BOB BALDWIN’S ‘YOU GOT IT’
Bob Baldwin is an American Pianist/Composer/Arranger/Inventor. The Mt. Vernon, NY native has recorded on six of the seven inhabitable continents, and while Antarctica is not on his recording bucket list, his international list, including Dubai, Brazil, South Africa, Spain, UK, Canada, is quite impressive. "Whether it's a massive festival crowd of 30,000 or an intimate restaurant audience of 60, I refuse to rob my audience of great music and a good experience", says Baldwin.
“Being a musician, we obviously had to make adjustments to the way we all do music,” says the Native New Yorker. “Concerts were eliminated in 2020, but fortunately, owning your own music makes you halfway covid-proof.”
NEW SINGLE ‘SUN KISS’ FROM ROBERT TOLA
SUN KISS is the new single by the multi awarded Italian guitarist and composer Roberto Tola.
A Jazz Funk sun-kissed new song, cheerful and positive music, An excellent work of design and weaving of the parts, where everything is perfectly in its place.
Great space for improvisation by Roberto in this new track, which with its inseparable jazz guitar, offers two impeccable solos, in the center and at the end of the piece, the latter in the guise of an exciting and profound greeting to the listeners, that slowly fades until it disappears.
This song was born on the dunes of the Asinara Gulf, on the island of Sardinia (Italy), where I live in my house a few steps from the sea. I love living here, where the mistral wind sweeps the sea and the sand dunes in winter and the sun restores the soul in hot summers. And from here, on the top of the dunes heated by the sun, I often stop to observe the horizon, looking for the infinite beyond the immense blue of the sea. They are moments in which I travel in my soul, rediscovering myself, the serenity and joy of the most beautiful days. This benefits me, because on my return home I bring with me new renewed energy that enriches my spirit, my joy of living. It is the miracle of a "Kiss of the Sun". This new single is an excellent and inspired work of composition and arrangement by the Italian artist, followed by an impeccable performance by the band. The song is a moderate funk, with warm and decisive sounds, with the pleasantly syncopated touch of the rhythm, entrusted to Esteban Rotunno on drums and Maciek Szczyciński on bass, which act as a driving force thanks to a pulsating and incisive melodic line. The cheerful and positive theme, played by Roberto's acoustic guitar in unison with the piano (Marco Rasa), flows smoothly, becoming even more engaging in the chorus. An excellent work of design and weaving of the parts, where everything is perfectly in its place, with the wind section entrusted to Slavik Burda on the trumpet and Kiril Yazikov on the tenor sax, counterpointed by the deep and warm sound of the French horn by the young Isabel Menegasse. Great space for improvisation by Roberto in this new track, which with its inseparable jazz guitar, a Joe Pass JP 20 from 1984, offers two impeccable solos, in the center and at the end of the piece, the latter in the guise of an exciting and profound greeting that slowly fades until it disappears, just like a breath of wind heading towards the immense horizon. A confirmation of the compositional, solo and technical growth of the artist, from his first and award-winning debut album BEIN 'GREEN.
Roberto Tola - Acoustic and Jazz Guitar, additional programmed keyboards, Composer, Arranger, Artwork Graphic and Designer, Producer, Soloist; Slavik Burda - Trumpet; Kiril Yazikov - Tenor Sax; Isabelle Menegasse - French Horn; Marco Rasa - Piano; Maciek Szczyciński - Bass; Esteban Rotunno - Drums; Alberto Erre - Mixing & Mastering, Blu Studio, Sassari (Sardinia, Italy
TOPMAN PROCOL HARUM, GARY BROOKER, OVERLEDEN
Gary Brooker, zanger, pianist en componist van de Britse band Procol Harum, is afgelopen zaterdag op 76-jarige leeftijd overleden. Brooker leidde Procol Harum gedurende de 55-jarige geschiedenis van de Britse band. De grootste hit van de band was de klassieker ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ (1967), het favoriete nummer van de vorig jaar overleden misdaadverslaggever Peter R. de Vries. ‘A Whiter Shade Of Pale’ bereikte twee keer de eerste plaats van de Veronica Top 40. Hierna volgde opnieuw een nummer 1 hit: ‘Homburg’. Ook de singles ‘Quite Rightly So’ (1968), ‘A Salty Dog’ (1969), ‘Conquistador’ (1972), ‘Grand Hotel’ (1973) en ‘Pandora’s Box’ (1975) werden hits in Nederland. Albums als ‘Procol Harum’ (1967), ‘Shine On Brightly’ (1968), ‘A Salty Dog’ (1969), ‘Procol Harum Live With The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’ (1972), ‘Grand Hotel’ (1973) en ‘Something Magic’ (1977) spraken zeer tot de verbeelding. Gary Brooker werkte ook samen met onder anderen George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Kate Bush en de Amerikaans-Nederlandse zangeres Lori Spee, met wie hij in 1986 het duet ‘Two Fools In Love’ opnam. Ook was hij te horen op een album van AVRO’s Toppop presentator Ad Visser, getiteld ‘Hi-Tec Heroes’. Solo had Brooker een flinke hit met de single ‘No More Fear Of Flying’, afkomstig van het gelijknamige album. In 2003 werd Brooker geridderd voor zijn inzamelingswerk voor goede doelen. Gary Brooker was ernstig ziek en overleed zaterdag 19 februari vredig in zijn woning. Namens Procol Harum is het volgende bericht verschenen: "Hij viel op door zijn individualiteit, integriteit en soms koppige excentriciteit. Zijn bijtende humor en honger naar het belachelijke maakten hem tot een onschatbare verteller, en zijn surrealistische scherts vormde een fascinerend contrast met de zwaarte van de uitvoeringen van Procol Harum." Gary Brooker laat zijn vrouw Françoise (Franky) achter. De twee ontmoetten elkaar in 1965 en trouwden in 1968. Het stel had geen kinderen. In het programma 'Top 2000 A GoGo' vertelde Brooker ooit zelf het verhaal achter 'A Whiter Shade Of Pale'. Gary Brooker ruste in vrede!
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.
RICHARD ELLIOT NEW SINGLE ‘MOVE AHEAD’
“There are absolute parallels between Jazz and flying,” confesses Grammy-nominated tenor titan Richard Elliot ,who has been flying airplanes for the past three decades. The Renaissance man, who is currently engrossed in the colossal project of building his own airplane, adds “When you are performing and flying you are 100 percent consumed and focused on that experience from a technical perspective, emotional and aesthetic perspective, taking in everything around you.”
The chart-topping saxophonist and pioneering Contemporary Jazz musician’s instantly recognizable trademark tenor has afforded him the opportunity to work with everyone from Smokey Robinson, Bonnie Raitt and The Temptations to Dave Koz, Tower of Power and Gerald Albright, to name a few.
Some of the special guests joining Elliot on Authentic Life include trumpeter Rick Braun, keyboardists Jeff Lorber, Chris “Big Dog” Davis and Philippe Saisse, saxophonists Dave Koz and David Mann, and percussionist Lenny Castro, among others. “It was wonderful collaborating with these guys because each one of them pushes me in a different direction melodically.”
Authentic Life features the forward momentum of the new radio single "Move Ahead,” a refreshing and uplifting track that is bound to inspire joy. Co-written with Philippe Saisse and Rick Braun, it’s a swinger with a percussive backbeat with drummer Jay Williams and percussionist Lenny Castro and once again shows off the magnetic chemistry between Richard Elliot and Rick Braun.
Elliot adds, “This song is the musical embodiment of moving forward and beyond the challenges that we have all had to face this past year.”
“Move Ahead”
Written by Philippe Saisse, Rick Braun & Richard Elliot
Produced by Rick Braun
Record label - Shanachie
Richard Elliot – Tenor saxophone
Rick Braun – Trumpet
Philippe Saisse – Keyboards, arrangement
Nathaniel Phillips – Bass
Jay Williams – Drums
Lenny Castro – Percussion
Adam Hawley – Guitar
VERONICA FUSARO - 'BETTER WITH YOU' : NEW SINGLE BY SWISS SINGER-SONGWRITER
VERONICA FUSARO photo by Nils Sandmeier
new single
out 18.02.22
[deepdive records]
digital services link
bfan.link/better-with-you
FOR FANS OF
FREYA RIDINGS / BIRDY / ALICIA KEYS
Swiss singer-songwriter Veronica Fusaro has a small tattoo of a new moon on her wrist that is as subtle as her songs. “I’m a night person. It fascinates me,” she explains. “When you see the stars and the Milky Way - that’s when the space for thinking and dreaming opens up.” Having said this, it is surprising to discover that her bright and very sunny new single, the acoustic guitar-driven ‘Better With You’, is all about the joys of the morning. A very special morning, mind you. “Waking up gently, rays of sunshine pushing through the curtains, already nice and warm….and with the person who makes the moment perfect next to you….” she adds, coyly.
During the first phase of lockdown, Fusaro found it difficult to motivate herself to write, frustrated that her recording and touring plans had of necessity been put on hold following a breakout year in 2019 and early 2020 that had seen her release an EP and three singles that entered national charts around mainland Europe.
Finally, around Xmas 2020 she regained inspiration and her very next effort, ‘Better With You’, poured out in an instant, more or less fully formed. “It felt truly great to write it after several months of inactivity,” she states. “I love singing it so much. It’s very laidback and nothing is forced. It’s my first real love song with no rollercoaster complications and describes a beautiful moment. Pure joy, simple as that.”
‘Better With You’ also sees the 24 year old musician renew her successful association with London-based producer Jamie Ellis (The 1975, Jordan Mackampa), whose sympathetic production helps the song succeed as a slice of pure pop with a timeless sound that, although drawing inspiration from British and Euro-pop of the 1960s, is all about the here and now.
Fusaro has certainly travelled a long way. As a child in the idyllic central Swiss town of Thun she mainly listened to Italian music, but her world was turned upside down by the discovery of Aretha Franklin and Amy Winehouse just before she entered her teens. She was soon writing songs and built a studio in the basement of her family home, then at 16 entered one of her songs for a popular national talent competition. Mustering the courage to take a train to Zurich to attend the music business conference hosting the prize ceremony, she struggled to connect with the biz people surrounding her. Then the winner was announced: it was her. All of a sudden, she had grown wings. Up, up and away. She has never looked back since.
veronicafusaro.com
facebook.com/veronicafusaro
twitter.com/fusaroveronica
instagram.com/veronicafusaro
NEW SINGLE ‘MOVIN’ UP TO THE TOP’ BY JOHN E. LAWRENCE
John E. Lawrence, a lifelong resident of Ypsilanti is one of Michigan’s most talented and respected guitarists. He has published sixteen instructional guitar books, produced, and released four DVDs and recorded and produced 12 CDs. John is the former Head of the Music Performance Program and former Chair of the Performing Arts Department at Washtenaw Community College. He is also the author of a book entitled Business Management for the Working Musician: A Step-by-Step Guide for Making Money Making Music.
Three books from Mr. Lawrence’s catalog are published Mel Bay Publications Inc. and he was included in Mel Bay’s 2000 Anthology of Jazz Guitar which includes solos by some of the world’s finest guitarist. He has endorsement deals with Heritage Guitars and GHS Guitar Strings.
John’s latest CD is entitled “Masterpiece Vol. 1.” The first single released from the CD was “Photo Shoot”, a soulful smooth jazz ballad released June 2021. The second single, “Movin’ Up to The Top” is an upbeat party song released in February 2022.
In 2019, John dedicated himself to writing and recording music fifteen to twenty hours a day. To date, he has written, recorded, and produced over three hundred and fifty songs.
In the summer of 2021, Mr. Lawrence embarked on another venture in the music business as a concert producer and promoter. John E. Lawrence Presents the Frog Island Jazz Series is a
free jazz concert series from July 2nd through September 3rd held on Fridays from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. The series brought in national and international Smooth Jazz Recording Artists to perform each week. The ten-week total attendance of the John E. Lawrence Frog Island Jazz Series 50,000.
MICHAEL LEMMO – “BLUE COMET” FT. JEFF RYAN
In a genre and format that too often encourages even the most brilliant of artists to play it safe and sacrifice the full expanse of their chops for easy, friendly, infectious listenability, Michael Lemmo is that once in a decade cat who’s ready to blow all those niceties out of the water (while still being wildly melodic) on his genre-stretching, perfectly titled debut smooth jazz single “Blue Comet” – also the name of his upcoming debut.
Understanding his unique background, the first clue that you’re in for a more fiery adventure with this multi-faceted singer, songwriter and guitar virtuoso is a list of his chief influences. While Lee Ritenour is up there, the rest are rockers - Lindsey Buckingham, John Mayer and late greats Jeff Buckley and Eddie Van Halen. While Lemmo is clearly in a class all his own, for point of comparison, he’s what might happen if we merged the historical power of Eric Clapton’s blues/rock and George Benson’s inventive jazz sensibilities.
The genius of this relentlessly burning, constantly exploding “Blue Comet” is the decision to turn the powerhouse tune into a funky, jamming dance-duet with this generation’s premiere saxophonist, Jeff Ryan. It’s today’s genre equivalent of what might have happened if blues-rock inspired guitarist, the late Jeff Golub, joined forces with Richard Elliot. Once Ryan was added to the mix, the gale force of the track prompted an unprecedented reaction from its producer Paul Brown, who has helmed #1 hits for nearly every genre artist (including himself) for 30 years. Listening back with Lemmo, Brown was literally floored, like “that’s some serious crazy s*** right there.” It’s billed as “Michael Lemmo ft. Jeff Ryan,” but the camaraderie between artists is so much more than main artist/featured artist.
So, prepare yourselves for not just urban jazz business as usual. The jam starts out with some crisp trademark Lemmo licks before Ryan blasts in with his combustible yet cool flow and unlike most tracks like this where the guitar might be featured and the sax plays a harmony and takes a later solo, the two are engaged in buoyant, high-energy conversation from the get go – often allowing Lemmo to establish a melodic line solo, then repeat it in tandem with Ryan. The joyful thing for mainstream genre fans is that while their performances are generally higher octane and their individual solos a few minutes in more blistering and intense than traditional radio fare, there are still some incredibly hooky melodic lines to latch onto.
While Ryan’s solos these past few years on his own recordings and those of other artists have become the stuff of legend, the real payoff is hearing Lemmo, on his very first instrumental radio single, take his lengthy solo spotlight as an opportunity to fuse his aggressive, stratospheric rock and jazz sensibilities. It’s breathtaking stuff that will no doubt have listeners capping their astonishment with a moment to catch their breath. Brown’s usual studio crew of Roberto Vally (bass), Gorden Campbell (drums) and Marco Basci (keys) is on hand to make sure things are always poppin’ behind the two lead instruments.
"For folks who like their “smooth jazz” a little less smooth and a lot more adventurous, the success of this song will hopefully lead other artists to cut loose like this more often."
-Jonathan Widran
COYLE GIRELLI : 'DO YOU WANNA DANCE?' – RAPTUROUS NEW SINGLE FROM SECOND SOLO ALUM BY NEW YORK BASED ENGLISH SINGER-SONGWRITER
COYLE GIRELLI : photography by Shervin Lainez
COYLE GIRELLI
DO YOU WANNA DANCE?
new single
out 16.02.22
(Honey Lemon Records)
“Full of longing and heartache aptly conveyed through Girelli’s deep and velvety tones”
LOUDER THAN WAR
“A radiant indie rock anthem driven by the fires within, it is emotional release manifest in song; a moment of intimacy after endless isolation”
ATWOOD MAGAZINE
digital services link
asdistro.ffm.to/doyouwannadance
from the album
FUNLAND
out 25.02.22
“A wonderful collection of rich and atmospheric soundscapes with Girelli emerging as the ultimate balladeer. He has a vocal style which absorbs all that is great about the likes of Roy Orbison and Richard Hawley”
LOUDER THAN WAR
FOR FANS OF
RICHARD HAWLEY / LANA DEL REY /
CIGARETTES AFTER SEX
Soaring and cinematic, ‘Do You Wanna Dance?’ is the latest single to be issued from ‘Funland’, the forthcoming new album by New York-based English singer-songwriter Coyle Girelli. A radiant indie rock anthem driven by the fires within, it is emotional release manifest in song, a moment of intimacy after endless isolation and an exhilarating invitation to throw caution to the wind and dive into the unknown.
Three previous singles from ‘Funland’ - ‘Fun’, ‘From 7th Street With Love’ and ‘Here Comes My Baby’ - have showcased the album’s nuanced highs and its stirring lows, while Girelli’s talent at marrying potent, provocative emotions with catchy, timeless melodies seems at an all-time high, driven by an intense desire to capture something that is just out of reach.
That unattainable ecstasy and euphoria comes a little closer in ‘Do You Wanna Dance?’. Jangly and shimmering, and propelled by an insistent bass line, it is a taste of rapture in the midst of all the solitude and disconnect of the last two years. Girelli shines as bright as ever in an emotionally charged, beautifully intimate chorus, his golden voice reaching a high as he welcomes in a night of mystery and discovery. Is he courting a person, or is he courting his own state of reckless abandon – a feeling he has been steering clear of for so long?
“This one was one of the first songs I wrote for ‘Funland’,” states Girelli. “To me, it has the energy of a caged animal, as that is how I felt in the early days of lockdown, kind of bouncing off the walls! It felt good to write and live in this moment, and I’ve loved playing it live since I finished the album. I imagine this scene in a Studio 54-esque place, just escaping with somebody somewhere to get up to no good.”
As for ‘Funland' as a whole, he adds: “it doesn’t take itself too seriously and some of the lyrics are quite tongue-in-cheek. Sonically, it sits in the world I usually end up in, which is quite rich, wide and bold.”
In regard to the album title, he has previously explained that “‘Funland’ was a concept I had been kicking around before I started writing. A night-time place of escape, debauchery, vice and pleasure. I wrote the songs while holed up in the woods in Vermont as the pandemic raged and the concept took on a whole new meaning as the New York City I was missing got entwined with this other mythical place that I had created in my mind and it became ‘Funland.’
Coyle Girelli is an English singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist who has previously fronted the alternative rock bands Your Vegas and The Chevin. Based in Manhattan, New York for the last decade, he released a debut solo album entitled ‘Love Kills’ in late 2018. Packed with timeless and cinematic guitar-based songs and balladry, it demonstrated just why esteemed TV chat show host David Letterman had declared “if I had a voice like that I’d run for President” after hearing him sing.
Containing superb material such as the sumptuous sounding ‘Where’s My Girl’ (described by Clash Magazine as “a swooning knee trembler”), the glorious slow-burning 'Something Strange In The Night’, plus a grandiose orchestral title track that raised the bar even further, ‘Love Kills' was hailed Stateside as “a beautifully dark masterpiece” by Atwood Magazine and as “the most surprising musical diamond find of the year” by High Voltage. A hitherto undiscovered gem for most of its likely audience, in a perfect world the entire album would soundtrack the output of David Lynch and Quentin Tarantino.
As a songwriter, Girelli has collaborated with celebrated songsmiths such as Mac Davis and Linda Perry and written for several world renowned pop acts. He also works in theatre and co-composed the award winning French musicals ‘Robin des Bois’ and ‘Les Trois Mousquetaries’.
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twitter.com/coylegirelli
instagram.com/coylegirelli
JULIAN VAUGHN'S NEW SINGLE 'TAKE THAT'
Born and raised in Kansas City, KS, Julian Vaughn was primarily a drummer when he picked up the bass guitar. Vaughn developed his playing style while growing up in the church where his grandfather pastored until turning over the reins to Vaughn's father. A few years later, he became good enough to start playing at concerts and live gospel recordings.
Vaughn launched his solo career in 2010 with his album The Purpose Project, which spring boarded him into his jazz career. In 2012 he put out the album Breakthrough (2012), featuring the single "On Your Feet," which peaked at #1 on the Billboard chart. He later would release albums Limitless (2015), Bona Fide (2017), Supreme (2019), and Chapters of Love (2021). Vaughn racked up four Billboard #1 hits between his albums and 8 #1s overall as a feature on various artists' songs. Vaughn has toured across the U.S., playing at some of the largest jazz festivals. In addition, he has performed abroad in places like Dubai, South Africa, Nigeria, Nairobi, Italy, Spain, and Germany. Vaughn takes pride in writing and producing almost all his music, saying, "I want to be known as a great writer and producer just as much as an artist."
In 2020 Vaughn was the #2 Artist of the year and had the #2 and #17 Billboard songs of the year, “Afro Calypso” and “Afternoon Delight.” His latest independent release, titled SOLO is slated to be his best work to date. As Vaughn's recording catalog continues to grow, he hopes to continue to redefine the lead bassist role in the Smooth Jazz genre.
“Take That"
Written & Produced by Julian Vaughn
Lead Bass: Julian Vaughn
Bass: Darrell Freeman
Keys & Production: Greg Manning
Drums: RJ Kelly
Guitar: Adam Hawley
Saxophone: Marcus Anderson
Horn Section: Emmanuel Echem
LEGACY AND CHOCOLATE MOUSSE: SONGWRITER JANE McNEALY SERVES UP BOTH ON "MARSHA BARTENETTI SINGS McNEALY & KUHNS"
The lavish album featuring vocal interpreter Marsha Bartenetti releases April 1 preceded by three singles and a video dropping next month.
LOS ANGELES (14 February 2022): Advancing years and a stage four cancer diagnosis spurred songwriter, composer, arranger and librettist Jane McNealy to sift through the pages of her songbook of jazz, pop, soul, funk and folk tunes as well as theatrical material penned for stage and screen, selecting what she felt are some of the best songs, many of which she wrote with longtime collaborator Alice Kuhns. Set list in hand and with legacy on her mind, McNealy headed to the iconic Capitol Studios to record the material as she always envisioned the songs to sound. Giving voice to the opulent, exquisitely orchestrated collection is award-winning vocalist Marsha Bartenetti. The album, “Marsha Bartenetti sings McNealy & Kuhns,” drops April 1 on McNealy’s Lo-Flo Records.
One would imagine that assembling a “time capsule” of your life’s work, spanning more than fifty years of music, would be an emotional experience and the album is indeed an emotional listen.
“This album is extraordinarily rich, expressive, layered and complex. It’s a lot to take in in one listen. It is a combination of everything that I love that I’ve written over the years that shows in total what my artistic life has been about,” said McNealy, who was mentored by the late Harold Battiste Jr. and has collaborated with Dr. John, Joyce Dunn, Tami Lynn, Lydia Marcelle, Judy Karp, Henry Butler, Andy Simpkins and Roy McCurdy among others
Relying upon Mike Watts to masterfully orchestrate and arrange “Marsha Bartenetti sings McNealy & Kuhns,” McNealy knew that key to bringing to life a project that has such meaning and significance was finding the right voice to illuminate the songs. The tracks were already complete when Bartenetti entered the picture.
“Lyrics are everything to me. Whenever I choose songs to record, my first consideration is the lyric and how I resonate to the story…and then, of course, melody. Jane and Alice’s songs paint very evocative pictures – like you are walking into an impressionistic painting. And the lush arrangements of the songs create depth and texture, supporting each lyric. I was very drawn to the longing and hope in their lyrics as well,” said the elegant-voiced Bartenetti, who is also an actor and well-known voiceover artist.
McNealy knew what she found in Bartenetti, saying, “The subtlety and depth of Marsha’s interpretation, the haunting quality that she infuses into each song, her light touch, the fluidity of her vocal range - all this and more is interwoven into a fine tapestry of musical poetry on the album.”
“Marsha Bartenetti sings McNealy & Kuhns” can be categorized as a jazz vocal album although the project is diverse stylistically, offering a wealth of sophisticated sounds akin to a collection of contemporary classics and standards culled from the great American songbook.
The first of three singles that will preview the album, “Why Does The Sky Keep Changing” will drop March 4 along with a video. Dramatic and desirous, underscored by sweeping strings and Bartenetti’s yearning portrayal, the song was penned for the musical “Gauguin” written by McNealy and Kuhns about the French Post-Impressionist artist. A snapshot of a frayed relationship with a straying lover is depicted on “Running Around,” a jazzy single coming March 11 bolstered by Jeff Bunnell’s classy trumpet and Rusty Higgins’ soulful saxophone. Dropping March 18, Bartenetti’s voice beams wistfully and longingly like an amorous dreamer on “Love,” written for the musical “Primrose Hill.”
The variety show continues as “One Day At A Time” dances to Latin and Afro Cuban rhythms, a soaring jazz number propelled by trumpet, sax and Watt’s gleeful piano, buttressing Bartenetti’s impassioned voice. Vacillating between a gentle waltz and a brisk bebop cadence, “What Is Today Without You” is a showstopper composed for the fantastical musical “To Be Fred” that ruminates on isolation, imagination and ardent pining. Jazz singer and four-time Grammy winner Sarah Vaughan performed “I Never See That Rainbow Anymore,” a bluesy jazz joint featuring yet another knockout performance by Bartenetti about unrequited love. McNealy wrote “Kite In The Clouds” in fond remembrance of her father. The cut is a bright-eyed carnival ride that soft shoes to ragtime piano and whimsical percussion.
“Marsha Bartenetti sings McNealy & Kuhns” is the type of big-budget album the major labels used to make, and you can hear it in the finished product. McNealy is proud of the record and delighted to spotlight Bartenetti. Like uncovering a time capsule buried in the backyard, she hopes that new listeners for years to come will discover these songs for the first time and that people already familiar with her catalogue will fall in love with it as beautifully rendered by Bartenetti. And McNealy acknowledges that the album may present a challenge.
“I think it’s probably extremely difficult to describe this album because it’s almost like eating chocolate mousse seven times. Making it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be treasured forever.”
For more information, please visit https://linktr.ee/loflorecords and https://marshabartenetti.com.
“Marsha Bartenetti sings McNealy & Kuhns” contains the following songs:
“Why Does The Sky Keep Changing”
“Running Around”
“Love”
“One Day At A Time”
“What Is Today Without You”
“I Never See That Rainbow Anymore”
“Kite In The Clouds”
SOMI: 'LOVE TASTES LIKE STRAWBERRIES (FEAT. GREGORY PORTER)' – NEW SINGLE BY GRAMMY NOMINATED AFRICAN AMERICAN JAZZ SINGER
new single
out 11.02.22
(Salon Africana/Membran)
JAZZ FM - PLAYLIST
digital services link
orcd.co/lovetasteslikestrawberries
included on
ZENZILE
THE REIMAGINATION OF MIRIAM MAKEBA
new album
out 04.03.22
RELEASED ON WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN
90th BIRTHDAY OF MIRIAM MAKEBA
ALBUM GUESTS INCLUDE
ANGELIQUE KIDJO / GREGORY PORTER / LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO / SEUN KUTI
“Supple jazz singing and compassionate social consciousness that is both serious and seductive”
NEW YORK TIMES
“Somi moves naturally from languid, legato phrases into whelps, calls and shouts; tricky vocal interjections that speak as much of her sophisticated musical heritage as of magic”
DOWNBEAT
“The earthy gutsiness of Nina Simone blended with the fluid vocal beauty of Dianne Reeves”
JAZZ TIMES
Somi is a singer, songwriter, playwright and actor of Rwandan and Ugandan descent who is based in the US. She has released seven albums to date that have garnered critical acclaim and earned placings on leading international World Music and Jazz charts, some of which have featured guests including Common, Angelique Kidjo and the late Hugh Masekela (her longtime mentor). She was nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album at the most recent Grammy awards ceremony, making her the first African woman ever to be recognised in a Jazz category. She has performed at Carnegie Hall in celebration of South African democracy and was invited by the UN Secretary General to participate in the commemoration of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery. Having earned two university degrees and bestowed with a wide range of additional academic and artistic honours, Somi is also the founder of Salon Africana, a boutique arts agency and label for current African musicians and writers.
Her new album, ‘Zenzile - The Reimagination of Miriam Makeba’, is a celebration of the invaluable musical contributions and messages of social justice made by the ‘first lady of African song’ and features Somi’s interpretations of some of her best known recordings. “I have known Miriam Makeba’s voice for as long as I can remember, and as a result I feel like I know her personally,” explains Somi. “She is familiar and warm, a compass, the original African superstar. Her messages of social justice and the humanity of Black lives still encourage us today. This project is about honouring the vast and immeasurable contribution she made to popular, folk and jazz music on behalf of a people, a continent.”
Long before the making of this album, Hugh Masekela had advised Somi to listen to a song entitled ‘Love Tastes Like Strawberries’ as a possible cover version, as he thought it would suit her voice. Years on, she has honoured that request and makes the song entirely her own as a sultry minimal duet with US superstar Gregory Porter. Her decision to invite Porter to participate is a nod to a 1965 Grammy-winning album by Makeba that featured a series of duets with her own mentor, Harry Belafonte. ‘Love Tastes Like Strawberries’ is released as a single on 11th February 2022, three weeks ahead of the album.
Although Makeba (whose Christian name was Zenzile and who died in 2008) indeed elevated the spirit of a continent, including her native South Africa, her courage was met with decades of political exile from her homeland and her US visa revoked soon after her marriage to US civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael (a Black Panther Party leader). Somi’s respect for Makeba’s personal strength as well as a lifelong love of her music have led to ‘Zenzile’, an album that she hopes will inspire a rediscovery of her life and work. “It is my attempt to honour the unapologetic voice of a woman who made room for my own journey and countless other African artists,” she states. “In short, I owe her. We all do. She deserves her rightful place in the larger cultural archive of the US and the world in general.”
In recognition of Makeba’s resonance throughout Africa and its diaspora, Somi invited a number of guest musicians to perform on ‘Zenzile’. From South Africa, male vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, singer-songwriter Msaki, vocalist and activist Thandiswa Mazwai and jazz pianist-composer Nduduzo Makhathini all pay respects to their compatriot, while Nigerian singer-musician Seun Kuti (the youngest son of Fela Kuti), Beninese singer-songwriter/activist Angelique Kidjo and the aforementioned Gregory Porter also join Somi for this special tribute. “It has always been clear to me that to celebrate her is to celebrate ‘us’. It is also my hope that every listener to ‘Zenzile’ will revisit her original recordings and rediscover her story,” she concludes.
Somi has just taken the story of Makeba’s life to the stage with a musical entitled ‘Dreaming Zenzile’ that she has both written and stars in. With just a handful of cast members, it also features a live band that performs original music alongside reworks of Makeba’s repertoire. Having opened in St. Louis in September 2021 to rave reviews, it will transfer to Broadway in New York in 2022.
ATTILA ZAVODI MAKES ‘RIVER WAVES’
Peet Project saxman Attila Zavodi is not only a great instrumentalist but also an acclaimed composer, with his songwriting skills demonstrated on some of the band's hits, e.g. "Galaxies", "River Cruise" and "Drive Time". Besides serving as a full-time member of the Peet Project, Attila is also an in-demand session player in his native land of Hungary, lending his talent to local pop and jazz acts that feature names like Sting's former vocalist partner, Vinx.
His second solo single, "River Waves" is an instrumental track celebrating the classic stylistic elements of the smooth jazz genre through capturing the mood of a relaxed river cruise.
Hence the title, and the track is now presented to you for airplay consideration. A relaxed, instrumental smooth jazz ballad following the classic pathways of the genre. Rich in textures and emotions without turning overly sentimental.
"River Waves"
Written by Attila Zavodi & Marcell Toth
Soprano Saxophone - Attila Zavodi
Keyboards - Marcell Toth
Acousic and Electric Guitars - Miki Macko
Produced, Mixed and Mastered by Marcell Toth
FUNKATEER BETTY DAVIS DIED
Iconic funk singer Betty Davis has died. According to a press release, Davis died yesterday morning at 4:40 a.m. Eastern in Homestead, Pennsylvania. The press release also stated that Davis was born on July 26, 1944; the musician’s birth year was previously reported to have been 1945. Betty Davis was 77 years old.
“It is with great sadness that I share the news of the passing of Betty Davis, a multi-talented music influencer and pioneer rock star, singer, songwriter, and fashion icon,” Davis’ longtime friend Connie Portis said in a statement. “Most of all, Betty was a friend, aunt, niece, and beloved member of her community of Homestead, Pennsylvania, and of the worldwide community of friends and fans. At a time to be announced, we will pay tribute to her beautiful, bold, and brash persona. Today we cherish her memory as the sweet, thoughtful, and reflective person she was.… There is no other.”
Davis’ records were distinctive thanks to her wild and overtly sexual vocal performances. The first, her self-titled debut, arrived in 1973. She followed it with two more: 1974’s They Say I’m Different and 1975’s Nasty Gal. Before her own music career took off, Davis married Miles Davis in 1968. The couple remained together for only one year, but it proved to be an influential relationship for the jazz musician. She introduced him to the rock icons of the time, including guitarist Jimi Hendrix. And, not only did Miles go include Betty on the cover of his 1968 album Filles de Kilimanjaro, but also the album contained the song “Mademoiselle Mabry.”
Born in North Carolina, Betty Mabry ended up slightly farther north in Pittsburgh, where she spent her childhood. She eventually moved to New York in the 1960s, and flourished within the city’s artistic scene. For her debut album, Davis worked with bassist Larry Graham and drummer Greg Errico (of Sly and the Family Stone), keyboardist Merl Saunders, and guitarists Neal Schon and Douglas Rodriguez. Slow sales plagued the album, as well as her two follow-ups, and she slowly receded from view. All three albums were later reissued along with her early sessions with Miles Davis and a previously unreleased 1976 LP, Crashin’ from Passion.
A documentary about Davis’ life premiered in 2017. And, in 2019, Davis returned with the new song “A Little Bit Hot Tonight.” Davis wrote, arranged, and produced the track, which was sung by Danielle Maggio.
WILLIE BRADLEY "FALLING FOR YOU" FT. SELINA ALBRIGHT
Willie Bradley is a native of Orangeburg, SC and a graduate of South Carolina State University, Orangeburg, SC where he earned his BS Degree in Music Education and Performance. Over the course of his career he has become a go –to musician for many of soul music’s greats over the years. Willie’s stage presence includes performances with jazz greats including Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Frank Foster, Max Roach, Betty Carter, Gerald Albright, Walter Beasley, Alex Bugnon, Ronnie Laws, Hiroshima and Marion Meadows.
In 2014, Willie released his debut Contemporary Jazz CD Another Day & Time, produced and co-written by keyboardist/Recording Artist Nicholas Cole. Tracks from this CD made the Smooth Jazz Billboard Charts and have been added to Smooth Jazz radio stations worldwide to include Music Choice, Pandora, Spotify, and iHeart Radio.
Willie has performed at high profile shows around the country including Catalina Island Jazztrax, Denver's Premier Jazz Room, The Soiled Dove Underground, Magic City Smooth Jazz in Birmingham, Spaghettini Lounge, Ocean City Jazz Fest, Columbus Jazz & Rib Festival, Carson Jazz Festival, Newport Beach Jazz Festival, Lake Arbor Jazz Festival, Southern Maryland Wine, Jazz & R&B Festival, and the Jacksonville Jazz Coalition Jazz Festival. He is also known for being part of the brass section with RJ & The Original James Brown Band touring abroad in France, Osaka and Tokyo Japan's Billboard Live and Summer Sonic Music Festival.
Bold, yet simultaneously charming; Edgy, yet at the same time beautiful; these seemingly opposing adjectives might well-describe the music of artist/trumpeter Willie Bradley, but also fittingly tell about the man! Willie Bradley’s music brings together many varied styles, but takes smooth jazz to a whole new level.
Willie's new CD It’s My Time was produced and co-written by Jeff Canady that features several of his friends in the Smooth Jazz Genre, Ragan Whiteside, Greg Manning, Julian Vaughn, James Lloyd, LaShawn Gary, Selina Albright, Nathan Mitchell, Kay-ta Matsuno, Walter Beasley, Marion Meadows, Rob Zinn, Johnny Britt and George Clinton.
This musical adventure promises to be an appetizer of sweet things to come for Willie; savor it with open ears, and heart!
ADAM HAWLEY’S NEW SINGLE ‘GOTTA GET UP’
Nine #1 hits. 50+ dates per year. Adam Hawley has burst on to the scene as a celebrated and innovative artist, composer and band leader. Originally signed to Maurice White’s (founder of Earth, Wind, & Fire) label Kalimba Music, Adam’s first two albums Double Vision and Just the Beginning spawned an incredible six #1 hits, an unprecedented feat for a new artist. He followed that up with Escape which included the 2020 Billboard Song Of The Year, “To The Top.” Now totaling 9 # 1’s, Adam sets out with this exciting fourth album “Risin’ Up” which features Steve Cole, Vincent Ingala, Julian Vaughn, Riley Richard & Kat Hawley.
Adam has also been a guitarist to the stars, appearing with a who’s who list of artists in a wide variety of genres. Credits include Dave Koz, Jennifer Lopez, Brian Culbertson, Natalie Cole, Brian McKnight, and American Idol to name just a few.
He holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Southern California and currently teaches at Musician’s Institute, Chaffey College, and Saddleback College.
"Gotta Get Up" is the follow-up to Hawley's #1 Billboard hit, "Risin' Up".
FLIGHT ATTENDANT - 'IN THE PINES' : NASHVILLE INDIE OUTFIT COVER TRADITIONAL AMERICAN CLASSIC
new single
out now
[Moraine Music Group / Membran]
digital services link
orcd.co/inthepines
“With a blend of alternative and heavy rock, glam, grunge and pop, often with anthemic overtones, together with a mix of both sensuous and uplifting vocals and provocative lyrics, Flight Attendant have emerged as a very exciting and eclectic indie rock band”
LOUDER THAN WAR
Music fans young and old will recognise ‘In The Pines’, an American classic that began as a traditional folk song and later became well-known thanks to the version by blues musician Lead Belly. Those who don’t immediately hear the tune in their head upon reading its name probably will once they know that some bands call it ‘Where Did You Sleep Last Night?’, most notably Nirvana, who ended their renowned Unplugged performance in 1993 with the song.
Nashville-based indie outfit Flight Attendant have chosen to use the original title for their solemn rendition, which is out now as a single. Sung sorrowfully by lead vocalist/keyboard player Karalyne Winegarner and framed with piano and strings, it provided the right mix of dark and timeless inspiration for the group as they embarked upon creating the soundtrack for upcoming mystery-noir thriller ‘Find Her’, the forthcoming movie written, directed and starring Nick McCallum.
‘In The Pines’ will feature in the film's trailer, while its soundtrack has been created by viola player Nikki Christie, who states: “In preparation for the trailer, Nick wanted us to try covering ‘In The Pines', as it was a perfect moody match for the film’s tone. We had a great time working on such a classic piece!”
Winegarner adds: “The dark, cinematic vibes of the song inspired our guitarist Vinny [Maniscalco] with this idea of someone in the woods, just looking lost and kind of distraught. So we made him the main character and rented a huge zoom lens. On the day we were set to go shoot, it started pouring with rain, so we taped some trash bags around the camera and walked ankle-deep through a muddy state park outside of Nashville. It was super fun - and kinda freezing.”
Having had their runway forcibly closed in spring 2020, Flight Attendant have now begun playing live shows in and around Nashville and are finally ready for take-off.
FLIGHT ATTENDANT
Karalyne Winegarner - vocals, piano, guitar
Vinny Maniscalco - lead guitar, backing vocals
Nikki Christie - viola, backing vocals
Derek Sprague - drums
Erica Najera - bass
flightattendantband.com
youtube.com/flightattendantband
NEW DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE PHILADEPHIA SOUND ANNOUNCED
A new feature documentary will tell the story of Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell, the architects of Philadelphia International and the Philly Soul sound. With new interviews and unearthed footage, The Sound of Philadelphia will chronicle soul music in the late 1960s and the ’70s, with a focus on the legendary trio whose songwriting and production studio laid the foundations for disco and inspired pop, soul, and R&B for decades to come.
“After six decades, we are incredibly proud to finally share our life stories with the world and showcase all the hard work that has gone into creating this great music,” said Gamble, Huff and Bell in a statement quoted by Deadline. The trio went on to thank Imagine and Warner Music—who partnered with Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions on the doc—as well as executive producer Alex Gibney and director Sam Pollard. “Our longtime fans and new fans will get a unique look into the creation of the Sound of Philadelphia with the themes of empowerment and love, to ‘people all over the world’ as we’ve always had a ‘Message in our Music.’”
Gamble, Huff, and Bell, also known as the Mighty Three, churned out a stream of classic records in the proto-disco era, writing and producing tracks like Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes’ “I Love Music,” the O’Jays’ “Love Train,” and MFSB’s “Love Is the Message,” which became staples of New York discos like David Mancuso’s Loft. The documentary will also touch on the studio’s work with the Jacksons, Dusty Springfield, Patti LaBelle, Elton John, and The Supremes, Deadline reports. A release date has not yet been set.
HIGH PULP: 'ALL ROADS LEAD TO LOS ANGELES' – FIRST SINGLE FROM NEW ALBYM BY SEATTLE BASED EXPERIMENTAL JAZZ COLLECTIVE
HIGH PULP - photo by Will Matsuda
first single from new album
PURSUIT OF ENDS
out 15.04.22
(ANTI- Records)
pre-order link
highpulp.ffm.to/pursuitofends
Drawing on bebop, punk rock, shoegaze, hip-hop and electronic music, experimental jazz act High Pulp have announced the forthcoming release of ‘Pursuit Of Ends’, their first full-length album for ANTI- Records. The first song to be released from it is the frenetic 'All Roads Lead To Los Angeles’, which hints at the breakbeats of Louis Cole as it reflects the constant barrage of stimuli that define our modern lives. An equally compelling video directed by Sara Jade Alfaro and starring Zaahira Joseph is also available now.
The music of High Pulp music is simultaneously vintage and futuristic, hinting at everything from Miles Davis and Duke Ellington to Aphex Twin and My Bloody Valentine. The songs on ‘Pursuit Of Ends’ balance meticulous composition with visceral spontaneity, while the performances are nothing short of virtuosic, fuelled by raw, ecstatic horn runs ducking and weaving their way around thick bass lines and dizzying percussion.
While the Seattle-based collective is centred around a crew of six core members, the album also makes judicious use of a broad network of collaborators - including turns from special guests such as sax star Jaleel Shaw (Roy Haynes, Mingus Big Band), harpist Brandee Younger (Ravi Coltrane, The Roots), GRAMMY-nominated trumpeter Theo Coker and keyboardist Jacob Mann (Rufus Wainwright, Louis Cole) - to stretch the boundaries of their expansive sonic universe even further. The result is a lush, cinematic collection that is as unpredictable as it is engrossing and an urgent, exhilarating instrumental album that manages to speak to the moment without uttering a single word.
Music has been far more than just medicine for High Pulp in recent years; it has also been a source of community and meaning. Born out of a loose, weekly jam session hosted at Seattle’s historic Royal Room, the band came together the way a good heist crew might. There was keyboardist Antoine Martel, a mad scientist with a wall of modular synths and a passion for film scores and abstract soundscapes; fellow keyboard player Rob Homan, whose innate ability to process, deconstruct and reassemble material on the fly bordered on the scary; bassist Scott Rixon, a convert from the metal and hardcore world with impeccable pop sensibilities and a selfless ability to serve the song; tenor saxophonist Victory Ngyuen, a Pharoah Sanders acolyte with an ear for urgent, entrancing solos of the highest order; alto saxophonist Andrew Morrill, whose bold tones and fearless harmonic sensibilities earned him a reputation for pushing the old school into the 21st century; and last but not least, Bobby Granfelt, whose hip-hop and bebop-inspired drumming laid the foundation for the entire project.
“We’re a bunch of outsiders who refused to be kept out,” states Granfelt. “We’ve never had an academic approach to jazz as most of us grew up playing in DIY bands, so it was the rawness and the energy and the absolute freedom of the music that called to us in the first place.”
PURSUIT OF ENDS
TRACKLISTING
1 Ceremony
2 All Roads Lead To Los Angeles (feat Jaleel Shaw)
3 Blaming Mercury
4 Window To A Shimmering World
5 Chemical X
6 A Ring On Each Finger
7 Kamishinjo (feat Jacob Mann)
8 Inner Crooner
9 Wax Hands (feat Brandee Younger)
10 You’ve Got To Pull It Up From The Ground (feat Theo Croker)
HIGH PULP
(left to right above)
Antoine Martel - keyboards
Trevor Eulau - guitar
Kaeli Earle - bass
Andrew Morrill - saxophone
Bobby Granfelt - drums & percussion
Rob Homan - keyboards
Victory Nguyen - saxophone, flute & trumpet
highpulpmusic.com
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BLUES & SOULZANGER SYL JOHNSON OVERLEDEN
It is with extreme sadness that our family announces the passing of Soul & Blues Hall of Fame Legend, Grammy-Nominated Singer, Syl Johnson (born Sylvester Thompson in Holly Springs, MS). Dad, Brother, Grandfather, Great Grandfather, Uncle, Friend & Artist, he lived his life as a singer, musician, and entrepreneur who loved black music.
One of the most sampled artists of our time, his music served as the soundtrack for some of our most poignant moments in history.
A fiery, fierce, fighter, always standing for the pursuit of justice as it related to his music and sound, he will truly be missed by all who crossed his path. His catalog and legacy will be remembered as impeccable and a historical blueprint to all who experience it.
To his fans around the world, he loved you all. A lover of music and a Chicago icon, Syl Johnson lived his life unapologetically.
With the passing of his brother, Jimmy Johnson (Blues Hall of Famer) a few days ago, our Dad has gone on to heaven to be with him and many of his loved ones and fellow musicians who have passed as well. The world has lost two musical giants.
At this time, we ask for your prayers for our family, his friends, and fans, and we ask that you continue to play his music and share the remarkable legacy he’s made in music.
CANADESE ZANGER DONNY GERRARD OVERLEDEN
Opnieuw heel triest nieuws, want de Canadese zanger Donny Gerrard is eergisteren op 75-jarige leeftijd overleden. Gerrard maakte in de jaren zeventig deel uit van de band Skylark en was later actief als achtergrondzanger voor artiesten als Mavis Staples. We kennen Donny Gerrard met name als de leadzanger op de prachtige klassieker ‘Wildflower’. Gitarist Doug Edwards van de Canadese popband Skylark verklaarde op 2 juli 1974 in een interview dat hij vereerd was met het feit dat de single ‘Wildflower’ in de maand juni in de Veronica Top 40 had gestaan. Skylark was slechts tussen 1971 en 1973 actief en werd opgericht in Vancouver. Skylark ontstond uit één van rockabilly zanger Ronnie Hawkins’s begeleidingsgroepen en tekende een platencontract bij Capitol Records. Van het debuutalbum ‘Skylark’ kwamen drie singles. Grote man achter Skylark was componist en arrangeur David Foster. Skylark hield op met bestaan na het tweede album ‘2’. Hun grootste succes was de power ballad ‘Wildflower’. ‘Wildflower’ werd geschreven door gitarist Doug Edwards en Dave Richardson, die in die tijd politieagent was in Victoria. Richardson schreef de tekst in nog geen kwartier. Hij kreeg de inspiratie door een vriendin, die verpleegster was. Deze vriendin had, op de dag dat zij een romantisch afspraakje met Richardson had, twee patiënten “verloren”. Na haar hart gelucht te hebben, ging ze zich gereed maken voor het uitje, maar viel ze oververmoeid in slaap. Richardson dekte haar toe, ging bij haar op de bank zitten en schreef de tekst van ‘Wildflower’. De single bereikte al in 1972 de Top 10 in Canada en in de lente van 1973 de Top 10 van de Amerikaanse Billboard Hot 100. Er werden in Amerika meer dan 1 miljoen exemplaren van de plaat verkocht. ‘Wildflower’ bereikte in 1974 de 23ste plaats van de Veronica Top 40. Donny Gerrard ruste in vrede!
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.
ROTTERDAMSE TROMPETTIST PETER SOMUAH KONDIGT DEBUUTALBUM AAN
Amsterdam, 4 februari 2022. Vandaag brengt Peter Somuah de single 'Chief Palace' uit. Het nummer is afkomstig van zijn debuutalbum 'Outer Space' dat op 29 april verschijnt.
Peter Somuah is een getalenteerde jazztrompettist afkomstig uit Accra, Ghana. Somuah leerde zijn instrument te beheersen door eindeloos te luisteren naar trompetlegendes als Roy Hargrove en Miles Davis. Zijn spel kenmerkt zich door zijn warme en melancholische geluid, gecombineerd met zijn uitzonderlijke gevoel voor ritme, aangewakkerd door zijn opvoeding in Ghana omringd door West Afrikaanse muziek.
Na een aantal succesvolle jaren als muzikant in Ghana strijkt Somuah neer in Rotterdam. In Nederland werkt hij al snel samen met artiesten als Akwasi en Yung Nnelg. Ook zijn live reputatie blijft niet onopgemerkt, dit levert hem zelfs een Erasmus Jazz award op. Dit voorjaar brengt Peter Somuah zijn debuutalbum ‘Outer Space’ uit. Samen met zijn band zoekt hij op het album de grenzen van jazz, afro-funk en traditionele Ghanese muziek op.
Met de aankondiging van zijn debuutalbum brengt Peter Somuah ook de eerste single 'Chief Palace' uit. Op het nummer neemt de in Rotterdam woonachtige trompettist de luisteraar mee naar zijn geboorteland Ghana. "This song reflects what a ceremony at a Chief Palace feels like. Ceremonies at the Chief Palace areheld to thank and honour the gods and the ancestors, or to celebrate special occasions. The ceremonies usually begin and end with traditional drumming and dancing. The rhythms in this song reflect the drumming, while the melodies reflect the dancing" vertelt Peter.
Chief Palace is nu te beluisteren. Het volledige album 'Outer Space' verschijnt op 29 april.
CARTER FOX’S NEW SINGLE ‘SPRING WIND’ OUT
My new single 'Spring Wind' Is out now
It's the first Friday of February and I'm celebrating with a brand new song — Spring Wind! Winter hasn't quite left us yet, but I hope this fun, groovy tune can help warm your soul and keep away any winter blues lurking around. This is the third single from my upcoming EP 'Astronomical' (with plans for that to drop March 11th!) and I'm once again honored to have worked with my good friend and longtime collaborate Steve Honz to create this auditory adventure through space and time. Enjoy and thank you for listening, sharing, grooving, and being a wonderful person.
BENNY BRYDERN IS ‘RARELY SMILING’
Benny Brydern started as a musical protege on the violin giving his first public concerts at the age of 10. He lives in Los Angeles now and composes for film and the concert hall. He has won numerous awards and competitions.
Brydern studied violin and piano at the Richard-Strauss Academy of Music in Munich, Germany. He was invited to the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival to perform in the Festival Orchestra under the baton of Leonard Bernstein in 1988. The Jazz violinist and composers’ original melodies fuse Jazz with grooves and EDM elements.
"Rarely Smiling"
Composed and produced by Benny Brydern
Mastered by Becker Mastering
Benny Brydern - Violin & Keyboards
Mark Hollingsworth - Saxophone
Gabriel Vivas - Bass
Rayford Griffin - Drums
NEW DUET ‘NO MORE PAIN’ BY KIMBERLY BREWER FT. MAYSA
Kimberly Brewer is an American singer and background singer. She is best known for her longtime collaboration with Stevie Wonder. Kimberly Brewer was born on November 20th. Genres Soul, R&B, Pop Occupation(s) Musician Instruments Vocals Years active 1989 - present Associated acts Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind & Fire In 1989 she was featured as a backing vocalist on the hit single We Didn't Know, a duet by Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder. In 1991, she also contributed the song "If She Breaks Your Heart" (written by Wonder) to the motion picture Jungle Fever.
She was also featured on Elton John's twenty-fourth studio album Duets (1993). Along with Wonder, Jon Bon Jovi, Wyclef Jean, B.B. King, Stevie Nicks and others, she performed "I Love You More" (a duet with Wonder) on the TV special A Very Special Christmas from Washington, D.C. (2000). Brewer also appeared in the 2001 action movie Ticker (starring Tom Sizemore, Dennis Hopper and Steven Seagal). Along with Leland Sklar, Billy Preston and others, she was part of the blues band, who appeared in the movie.
During 2002 and 2004 she toured as a background vocalist for Earth, Wind & Fire. Over the years she contributed vocals to albums by Kristen Vigard, Teena Marie, Rick James, k.d. lang, Will Downing, Boney James, Vanessa Williams and several records by Stevie Wonder as well as his DVD release Live at Last: A Wonder Summer's Night (2009).
BASS PLAYER BYRON MILLER SAYS ‘BETTER DAYS ARE COMING’
The best instrumental music stems from players with penchants for uncut, straight to the point communication. With “Better Days Are Coming,” electric bass guitarist supreme Byron Miller emerges from lockdown with a Funk-fortified message of pressing urgency. Because “B” is a master at getting a point across within his signature bass plucking style that is clearly talking to you, he is delivering this missive for all the world to hear in two ways. The civilized expression says “Better Days Are Coming.” But the underlying urgency of this COVID-era plea is “KEEP YO’ ASS @ HOME!”
“Better Days Are Coming” is the hope-laden lead single of Psychobass 3: Real Love, Byron Miller’s third project of a series created to bring serenity, harmony and Funk-Jazz prophecy to a needy world, this one being a 7-song EP. This jam is soul stirring instrumental Funk of the highest order – with purpose, power and panache! Not only does it showcase Byron and his bass upfront tickling your earholes with a lead melody equal parts emphatic and sweet, it features Swedish keyboardist Mats Öberg, a protégé of immortal music legend George Duke.
In 2016, Mats and Byron Miller met each other for the first time when they were part of “A Tribute to George Duke.” Mats and George met four times during George's visits to Stockholm, encounters that were nothing short of pivotal for Mats as George had been a heavy-duty inspiration for him since childhood when he started playing at the tender age of two. George’s influence is undeniable and palpable in the solo Mats takes here on pitch-bending synthesizer – straight up down home Dukey Stick Blues Funk!
“Better Days Are Coming (Keep Yo’ Ass @ Home)” follows Miller’s most recent radio successes from his Psychobass 2: The Gift, including the Billboard Smooth Jazz chart-topper “The B Spot” (ahh, that’s #1, bobba) and the Top 20 hit “Soldier of the Groove.” Additional players on “Better Days” (co-written and co-produced by Byron Miller with Phil Davis and Rick Jordan) are Davis on keyboards, Jordan on drums, JUBU Smith & Darrell Crooks on guitar, and Munyungo on percussion.
Soon as this COVID fog breaks, Byron Miller a.k.a. Psychobass will be bringing his 4-string and 5-string custom MTD basses, and a band to venues near you. `Til then, our funky fearless leader can’t stress enough: “KEEP YO’ ASS @ HOME!”
MARC O - 'L'HOMME DE L’OMBRE' (MAN OF THE SHADOWS) – DEBUT SOLO ALBUM BY LONDON BASED FRENCH MUSICIAN & PRODUCER
debut solo album
LP / CD / USB key / deluxe / digital
out 25.02.22
(Plastic Sound Records)
“Ten well realised, vintage aesthetic fantasies ****”
MOJO
“Propelled by his core rhythm section and lyricist collaborator, they address some weighty subjects with passion ****”
SHINDIG!
includes
LE TEST DE LA FEMME À BARBE
album premiere event
includes live show + Q&A
Rough Trade East, London
14.03.22
industry guest list places available on request
further information below
FOR FANS OF
SERGE GAINSBOURG / IGGY POP / JARVIS COCKER
A unique blend of aggression, urgency, melancholia and surrealist beauty, ‘L’Homme De L’Ombre’ (Man Of The Shadows) is the debut solo offering by London-based French multi-instrumentalist and producer Marc Olivier. A blistering set of songs that combine Rock n’ Roll, Glam, Punk and Nouvelle Chanson with great panache, they are sung in his native tongue and feature an impressive supporting cast of musicians that includes bassist Sami Yaffa (New York Dolls, Joan Jett, Hanoi Rocks) and drummer Christophe Deschamps (Jacques Dutronc, France Gall). Further contributions come from Kath Gifford (Stereolab), Danny Ray (MC5, Bo Diddley), Will Crewdson (Adam & The Ants) and veteran bassist Dave Richmond, who played with Serge Gainsbourg over fifty years ago and performed on iconic recordings such as ‘Histoire De Melody Nelson’ and ‘Je T’aime…Moi Non Plus’.
Marc and his band will be premiering the album at Rough Trade East in London on 14th March, an event rescheduled from February due to Covid travel restrictions. This special occasion will not only see Marc perform his songs live with Sami Yaffa, Christophe Deschamps and Dave Richmond, but they will also be discussing the French relationship with Rock n’ Roll in conversation with award-winning music author Daniel Rachel. Tickets are available now from link.dice.fm/t1bc66c3af29.
Incidentally, Marc is the first French artist that Richmond has played with since his days with the legendary Serge Gainsbourg.
Recent decades have seen various indie-alternative minded Brit acts championing French artists, to the extent that the language barrier is no longer such an insurmountable challenge. Bill Pritchard recorded with singer-songwriters such as Françoise Hardy, Daniel Darc and Etienne Daho in the late ‘80s, Blur with the first and St Etienne the last of these a few years later, while Peter Doherty has recently been working with French producer Frédéric Lo (and Pritchard) for a forthcoming album of songs by Darc and Jarvis Cocker has just released an entire album in French. Meanwhile, compatriots of Marc’s such as Manu Chao, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Keren Ann and Camille have all enjoyed global recognition that has led to their records no longer being relegated to the ‘world music’ section in stores.
Having moved from France to London in the ‘90s, Marc made his name on the capital’s alternative rock scene as a guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and recording engineer, while he has also toured across Europe and North America in various groups. ‘L’Homme De L’Ombre’ has a back story that reflects a true dedication to his art, but was almost never completed. “Halfway through making the album, I was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and everything stopped,” he explains. “I was also just about to become a father. Thankfully, after swift and complex surgery, followed by many months of heavy treatment, I was saved.”
A long road to recovery followed, and with it the growing confidence to finish a record that had acquired a whole new depth of meaning. In early 2021, he finally returned to the studio, working on one song at a time, until they clicked into the sounds he had been hearing in his head since starting on them in 2016. “It has been a long time in the making and it feels that this record has already had many lives.”
The finished product is also a creative pact that fuses Marc’s glam-tinged rock attitude with the wise yet witty writing of his brother, the author and philosopher Bruno Pons Levy. Giving each other freedom from interference in their areas of expertise, the result is not so much a songwriting partnership but rather a powerful third creation, much like the equation described in the song ‘Le Triangle Au Carré’ (The Triangle Squared). Addressing the blurring between the real and virtual worlds, the subconscious, gender dynamics, inequality and the abuse of power, the nature of paradox, the ambivalence of human nature, nationalism and multiculturalism, the record is packed with memorable songs peopled with figures such as Hermann Rorschach, Erwin Schrödinger, Raymond Aron and Julian Assange.
The album begins with ‘L’Homme Du Monde’ (Man Of The World), which comments on globalised economic systems, while its closing title song is a dark and epic tale of narcissism and the notion of the death of the author. In between, listeners may learn something new about the world, human nature, and perhaps themselves, but they are guaranteed to be delighted by the musician and writer who have created this most personal of journeys.
L’HOMME DE L'OMBRE
TRACKLISTING
1 L’Homme Du Monde (Man Of The World)
2 Le Fondu Des Bas-Fonds D’Écran (Fading Into The Shallow Screen)
3 Le Dyssimètre (Dissymmetry Man)
4 Le Test De La Femme À Barbe (Test Of The Bearded Woman)
5 Les Démodes (The Old Fashioned)
6 Rendons Le Leurre (Give Them Back Their Lure)
7 Le Triangle Au Carré (The Triangle Squared)
8 Métalogue (Metalogue)
9 Le Casanovice
10 L’Homme De L’Ombre (Man Of The Shadows)
CC DE WERF LANCEERT TWEEDE EDITIE ‘TOP 053’ LIVE VANUIT DE FOYER
Een warme oproep vanuit cultuurcentrum De Werf om te stemmen voor je 3 favoriete Aalsterse popnummers. De lijst bestaat uit de gekende liedjes maar werd ook aangevuld met extra nummers. Ga dus gauw een kijkje nemen en breng je stem uit. Op zondag 6 februari kan je het eindresultaat bekijken en beluisteren. Dit doe je van thuis uit via online streaming of midden in de actie in de foyer van De Werf met een hapje en een drankje. Benieuwd of Technotronic zichzelf al dan niet mag opvolgen als nummer één. Jij bepaalt.
Tijdens de allereerste 'Top 053' vorig seizoen waren er maar liefst 2500 unieke stemmers. De Aalstenaars verkozen toen ‘Pump up the Jam’ tot de absolute nummer één. De wereldhit werd op de voet gevolgd door de kleinkunst van Jan De Wilde met ‘Eerste Sneeuw’. Het brons ging naar die andere Aalsterse dansformatie Natural Born Deejays met ‘A good day’. Of de podiumplaatsen opnieuw naar dezelfde artiesten gaan ligt dus volledig in de handen van de Aalstenaar.
Wie vorig jaar al moeite had met kiezen, krijgt deze editie een extra uitdaging. De geüpdatete keuzelijst bevat immers maar liefst 200 nummers aangevuld met recente nummers en verborgen parels uit het verleden. Je persoonlijke Top 3 kan je inzenden via www.top053.be en dit nog tot en met zaterdag 5 februari (17u). Exact 24 uur later maken we de finale ranglijst van 53 nummers bekend. De presentatie van De Top 053 is opnieuw in handen van Jonas Decleer. En natuurlijk zullen er ook verschillende gastsprekers en -muzikanten deelnemen. Wie wil kan alles ter plaatse live meevolgen in De Foyer met een drankje en een hapje. Of je volgt thuis mee via www.top053.be.
met o.a. OPROER / Natural Born Deejays / VVYNN / John Woolley / Luckas Vander Taelen (Lavvi Ebbel)
MJ: THE MUSICAL IS OFFICIALLY OPEN!
Michael Jackson’s unique and unparalleled artistry has finally arrived on Broadway in a brand-new musical. Centered around the making of his 1992 Dangerous World Tour, and created by Tony Award®-winning Director/Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, MJ goes beyond the singular moves and signature sound of the star, offering a rare look at the creative mind and collaborative spirit that catapulted Jackson into legendary status.
SHANE COOPER & MABUTA KONDIGEN NIEUW ALBUM AAN
Amsterdam, 28 januari 2022. Vandaag brengen Shane Cooper & MABUTA de single 'Where The Heart Is' uit. Het nummer is de eerste single van het nieuwe album van de band getiteld 'Finish The Sun'. De single is nu overal te beluisteren.
Dankzij hun aanstekelijke energie hebben Shane Cooper & MABUTA de gave om ieder publiek volledig aan zich te binden vanaf de eerste noten. Het is dan ook geen verrassing dat de groep aan het roer staat van de hedendaagse jazzscene van Zuid-Afrika. De band is een supergroep die bestaat uit een aantal van de meest vooruitstrevende Zuid Afrikaanse jazzmuzikanten. Gilles Peterson, Worldwide FM, BBC 1Xtra en vele anderen spraken eerder al hun waardering voor de groep uit.
Onder supervisie van bandleider en bassist Shane Cooper brengt de band in mei van dit jaar het vervolg op debuut album Welcome to this World uit, op die plaat was onder meer de Britse saxofonist Shabaka Hutchings te horen. Met het nieuwe album 'Finish The Sun' beweegt de zeskoppige band zich langs invloeden uit Mali, Nigeria, Marokko en de vele geluiden van hun thuisland Zuid Afrika. Het resultaat is een plaat waarop afrobeat, maskandi en hiphop worden gecombineerd met hedendaagse jazz.
Bassist en bandleider Shane Cooper vertelt: "A few years ago I was sitting outside with friends having coffee before a rehearsal. It was early spring and the sun was about to set. Someone suggested we go inside to start the session. I suggested we first “finish the sun”. Those words became like a mantra over the last two years while I was creating this album. I chose to take more time to enjoy and be present in the good moments, instead of always rushing to the next thing. I focused on what was important to me, like spending more time in nature.
This all influenced the sound and tempos of the music. I wrote these songs after walks and bike rides, and I was feeling good and balanced. Within the band, our original drummer had quit music to pursue a different career. So we featured a bunch of drummer friends from around Europe and Africa. It was a joy to bring their styles together with my South African brothers in the band. Even though the songs were not recorded with everyone together in the same studio, the energy was felt by all the musicians in a way that sounds as though we were in the same room, after finishing some sun together."
Het volledige album verschijnt op 13 mei.
Shane Cooper & MABUTA is:
Shane Cooper – bas
Bokani Dyer – piano, keyboards, synthesizer
Sisonke Xonti – tenor sax, synthesizer
Robin Fassie – trompet
Reza Khota – gitaar
Met gastbijdragen van
Buddy Wells - tenor sax
Jamie Peet, Arthur Hnatek, Christopher Cantillo, Mario Hanni, Julian Sartorius, Lungile Maduna, Andre Toungamani - drums
KEITH ANDREW IS RELEASING A NEW SINGLE CALLED "NOW’S THE TIME" FEATURING BOB JAMES!⠀
After the success of his Innervision Records debut album "Soul Expedition", guitarist Keith Andrew returns with a brand new composition called "Now's the Time". The title of which conveys what many in the contemporary jazz community are sensing - that this track could be a breakthrough for the bay area player whose playful, laid-back and funky style is amassing a dedicated fan base. Legendary keyboardist Bob James lends a hand to what is sure to be one of the new year's most anticipated releases - produced by hit maker label mate Blake Aaron.⠀
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Pre-save link:https://ffm.to/kanowsthetime
A&E NETWORK TO SHOWCASE R&B LEGEND BOBBY BROWN
Photo Credit: Nolwen Cifuentes
A&E NETWORK TO SHOWCASE R&B LEGEND BOBBY BROWN WITH TWO NEW PROJECTS FOR AN INTIMATE LOOK AT THE GRAMMY AWARD WINNER’S PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
THE DEFINITIVE 2-NIGHT EVENT “BIOGRAPHY: BOBBY BROWN” DETAILS THE MANY UPS AND DOWNS OF HIS JOURNEY TO POP CULTURE FAME PREMIERING MONDAY, MAY 30 & MAY 31 AT 8 PM ET/PT
FOLLOWING ON MAY 31 AT 10 PM ET/PT, BOBBY INTRODUCES THE WORLD TO THE BROWN FAMILY AS THEY EMBARK ON NEW ADVENTURES INCLUDING BOBBY’S TOUR WITH NEW EDITION IN THE ORIGINAL DOCUSERIES “BOBBY BROWN: EVERY LITTLE STEP”
New York, NY – January 26, 2022 – A&E Network gives viewers VIP access to music icon and Grammy Award-winner Bobby Brown and his family with a new definitive Biography event and docuseries launching this summer. With more than 20 million records sold worldwide with New Edition, a solo career selling in excess of 12 million records, five gold singles, three No. 1 R&B hits, a Top 100 No. 1 hit, the New York Times best-selling author and one of Billboard Magazine’s Top 60 Male Artists of All Time details his transformation from Bad Boy artist to a responsible husband and father. Through exclusive access and interviews, the definitive documentary “Biography: Bobby Brown” gives fans an up-close and personal look at the American Music Award winner’s journey to superstardom and the fallout from his personal struggles with sobriety and the tragic deaths of his two children and first wife, Whitney Houston.
The new 12-episode series “Bobby Brown: Every Little Step” takes us into the present day for an exclusive look at his life with wife Alicia Etheredge-Brown and their children as he focuses on new business ventures, new music as well as the 2022 reunion with New Edition on The Culture Tour.
“Biography: Bobby Brown” two-night event airs Monday, May 30 and Tuesday, May 31 at 8pm ET/PT. “Bobby Brown: Every Little Step” premieres Tuesday, May 31 at 10pm ET/PT with new episodes airing Tuesdays at 9pm ET/PT starting June 7.
PIANIST PEGGY DUQUESNEL READIES A “SOUL” INSIPIRED ALBUM
“Piano for My Soul” drops April 8 accompanied by the release of nature videos, piano tutorials and sheet music.
LONG BEACH (28 January 2022): When the volume of the chaotic world becomes too loud as it did at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Peggy Duquesnel escapes by sitting quietly at her piano. There, she sets her nimble fingers free to dance gracefully atop the keys, inevitably finding their way into her musical comfort zone. Soothed with soul bared, Duquesnel’s piano emotes a hybrid of classical music and inspirational hymns. These intimate, meditative sessions spawned “Piano for My Soul,” Duquesnel’s sixteenth album, releasing April 8 on her JoySpring Music imprint.
“I recorded a lot of the album during the lockdown and was happy to have the extra time to work in my studio. Many of the arrangements on ‘Piano for My Soul’ were inspired by my classical background. They also incorporate my gift of combining a hymn with a classical theme to create a new and moving piece of music. A light bulb or divine inspiration sometimes comes upon me when I’m practicing, and I get new ideas on bringing two different music pieces together,” said Duquesnel, who produced and arranged the music on the album.
“Piano for My Soul” is presented in two sections clocking in at a generous 71 minutes of music. The first section consists of piano orchestrations with Alan Broadbent, Billy Martin, Andre Mayeux and the late Steve Hall on works composed by Bach, Chopin and Tchaikovsky blended imaginatively with hymns and songs of faith, including several presented as duets between piano and organist Andre Mayeux (“Cristo Redentor,” “Were You There?” and “Precious Lord Take My Hand”), piano and cellist Melissa Hasin (Bach Prelude in C/“The Lord’s Prayer”), and piano duets featuring Hall (“Holy God We Praise Thy Name”/“Sous le dome epais – Delibes” and “You Are My Hiding Place”/“Swan Lake” – Tchaikovsky). The second section is comprised of solo piano numbers.
Duquesnel shares her artistic muse as multisensory experiences. Each selection on “Piano for My Soul” will be accompanied by the release of a nature video created in partnership between Duquesnel and Gary Hanson of CreationScapes. This is Duquesnel’s sixth consecutive album project that includes the release of nature videos crafted with Hanson.
Recording “Cristo Redentor” came from when Duquesnel watched the Disney-Pixar animated feature “Soul.”
“Since the movie highlighted the life of a jazz musician, I thought it would be fun to see if there was an appropriate song in the movie to add to my album. ‘Cristo Redentor’ was one of the songs the band played in the jazz club in the movie. I had played that standard by Duke Pearson many years ago on jazz club gigs. Being a jazz pianist, it was fun to play and record this standard. I also asked my graphic artist to use the movie’s vibrant look for the album cover artwork,” said Duquesnel.
Duquesnel is an educator, a role that she will carry out through “Piano for My Soul” by releasing piano tutorial videos for several of the album’s selections. She is making her sheet music arrangements from the album available through the JoySpring Music website.
To help launch “Piano for My Soul,” Duquesnel has issued singles monthly along with nature videos since last October when she dropped “Be Still My Soul”/“Finlandia.” She released “Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow”/Bach 2-part Invention #13 in November; “A Lullaby,” an original composition inspired by the birth of her grandson, in December; and “Take My Life, and Let it Be” last Friday.
Duquesnel will preview the album at a concert that will take place at her church, Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church in Los Alamitos, on March 16.
Based in Long Beach, Calif., Duquesnel’s diverse career spans serving as a pianist, vocalist, composer, arranger, producer, record label owner, and a professor of jazz studies at Concordia University. From recording jazz, pop, inspirational and classical collections to playing at NHL, MLB and Paralympics games, Duquesnel has performed and/or recorded with an array of luminaries such as Broadbent, Dionne Warwick, Henry Mancini, Pat Boone, Jeff Lorber, Jimmy Haslip, Rick Braun, Jeff Hamilton and John Patitucci. Duquesnel is a creative and devout musician who uses her musical ministry as an offering. For more information, please visit www.joyspringmusic.com.
“Piano for My Soul” contains the following songs:
Piano Orchestrations:
“Be Still My Soul/Finlandia”
“Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow”/Bach 2-part Invention #13
“A Lullaby”
“It Is Well With My Soul”/Bach 2-part Invention #14
“O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus”/Chopin Waltz Op. 34, No. 2
“Cristo Redentor” (with organist Andre Mayeux)
Chopin Prelude Op. 28, No. 4
“Were You There? (with organist Andre Mayeux)
“Holy God We Praise Thy Name”/“Sous le dome epais – Delibes” (with pianist Steve Hall)
Bach Prelude in C/ “The Lord’s Prayer” (with cellist Melissa Hasin)
“Precious Lord Take My Hand” (with organist Andre Mayeux)
“You Are My Hiding Place”/“Swan Lake” (Tchaikovsky) (with pianist Steve Hall)
“Take My Life, and Let it Be”
Solo Piano:
“Be Still My Soul/Finlandia”
“Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow”/Bach 2-part Invention #13
“A Lullaby”
“It Is Well With My Soul”/Bach 2-part Invention #14
“O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus”/Chopin Waltz Op. 34, No. 2
Chopin Prelude Op. 28, No. 4
Bach Prelude in C
“Take My Life, and Let It Be”
JOHNNY BRITT FT. JOSH BRITT PLAYS ‘IS IT COOL’
On January 31, legendary musician and songwriter, Johnny Britt is set to release "Is It Cool," feat. Josh Britt, the highly anticipated new single from the legendary trumpeter.
Talking about the new song, Britt says "Is It Cool" is a fresh and smooth track that I hope everyone enjoys." He adds, "The song includes my son, Josh on the piano. Now, how cool is that?"
"Is It Cool" was originally written while on tour by Britt with Maxwell and the song was first recorded by Boney James with the title “Deep Time."
With Britt’s 2022 version of the song, he chose to use the original title "Is It Cool". The 'feel-good' song written by Johnny Britt, Boney James and Freddie Washington with Boney James melody played by Britt on Flugelhorn and the stellar vocals and melody by Johnny Britt, is definitely the romantic song of the year!
Britt has also written 3 number One Billboard Contemporary Jazz hit singles for Boney James as well as countless others. The award winning urban-jazz singer and trumpet virtuoso sings lead and background vocals and plays flugelhorn on this track.
Johnny Britt is the founder of the celebrated Motown/MoJazz group, Impromp2. With 3 hit singles in 2021, MoJazzin' feat. Norman Brown (#1 Mediabase), The Way I Feel feat. Marion Meadows, and "Let's Get Down Tonight," which has acquired over 2 million radio listeners weekly, the hit-maker is unleashing new music in January, 2022. His Jazz release, Good Feelin' is 'Most Added' on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart and remains a popular favorite, along with his plethora of other signature songs.
With a global career that spans over 30 years, Johnny Britt is one of the most versatile and celebrated talents of our time.
NEW SINGLE ‘MY FUNNY VALENTINE’ FROM ILYA SEROV
Ilya Serov is an award-winning trumpeter, guitarist, vocalist and music producer. He began studying classical trumpet early-on, honing his skills at the prestigious St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music and performing with St. Petersburg’s symphony orchestras and the state opera theatre. His musical world was expanded dramatically when Serov discovered American jazz as a teen, and it quickly became his passion.
Serov’s album JUST FRIENDS is a departure from his 2013 successful debut album of jazz standards, September in the Rain, following which he was named Best New Artist at the Hollywood International Music Awards (2014). His second album, Back in Time, was released in 2018 as an homage to the Big Band era. It featured the artist’s smooth trumpet playing and unique vocal style, and included collaborations with GRAMMY®-winning percussionist Poncho Sanchez, renowned pianist Roger Kellaway, and acclaimed sax player Eric Marienthal.
For several years, Serov has participated in well-known and highly-respected music festivals including the Catalina Jazz Festival and the Newport Beach Jazz Festival. He has also traveled with the Dave Koz & Friends at Sea jazz cruise, sharing the stage with such greats as Peter White, Larry Graham, Jonathan Butler, and Michael Lington.
'ON THE YARD' FROM LASHAWN D. GARY
LaShawn D. Gary is an Emmy Award Winning Producer, Composer, Smooth Jazz Artist and Pianist. He is a native of Detroit, Michigan and received his Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Instrumental Music Education from Southern University A&M College, and earned a Master’s of Music Education Degree from the University of Louisville.
LaShawn has released four Smooth Jazz singles: “Now is the Time (2019) '', “Love, Peace & Praise (2020)”, “Inception, featuring Mark Whitfield (2021)” and “Line Brothers (2021).” “On The Yard” (2022) is his newest single from his upcoming album scheduled for release on April 17, 2022. He is also the featured artist on “For Your Love” on Smooth Jazz Network 2021 Artist of the Year Willie Bradley’s new album.
LaShawn is currently on staff as a composer for the television mini-series “Terror Lake Drive” featuring Malik Yoba, Shannon Kane and Lamman Rucker. He has worked as a composer/arranger in commercial advertisement with Burrell Communications, Global Hue and Yessian Music. His musical talents were displayed on television in the production of the Toyota Avalon “Son-in-Law” commercial, the introductory advertisement of the Ford Fiesta, Xfinity “Unplug” Commercial and the Happy’s Pizza Jingle featuring the Four Tops. LaShawn was the Choir Director for the McDonald’s 365 Black Awards directing the Southern University Gospel Choir with Erica Campbell and the Louisiana Leadership Institute Drum-line performance with American Idol winner, singer, and actress Jordan Sparks.
In March 2015, LaShawn worked with Grammy Award winning singer Patti Austin, Greg Phillinganes, and Sanchez Harley as the Assistant Choir Director for the Charles H. Wright Museum 50th Anniversary Celebration “Oh Freedom.” In 2015, LaShawn also released his debut album, “Love, Peace, and Praise.” The decade ended as the Emmy Award winning producer and fellow producing partners, Bill Bowen and Mike Ellison released “Detroit: One Nation Under A Groove”, a YouTube video featuring the Detroit Academy of Arts and Sciences Choir which received over a million views in the first month. The team was also awarded two Detroit Music Awards for “Outstanding Music Video” and “Outstanding Urban Recording”.
LaShawn is a music educator with Southfield Public Schools and serves as the Director of Music at Oak Grove AME Church. He is currently the Executive Director for the Michigan Fine Arts Institute, formerly known as the Beverly Thomas Fine Arts Institute. He is a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated, Phi Mu Alpha Professional Music Fraternity, The American Federation of Musicians (AFM) and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). He is married to Cherida D. Gary and together they have two children Nigel and Niyah.
"Students of Southern University A & M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana affectionately refer to the campus as “On The Yard”. This song is a reflection of my diligent pursuit to become an accomplished pianist, composer, arranger and music educator as an undergraduate student at the prestigious SU. As a member of the world renowned “Human Jukebox” Marching Band and the 1992 winner of the Tourgee Debose National Classical Piano Competition, I was recruited by the late, great Jazz Clarinetist, Alvin Batiste (recording artist), to join the jazz ensemble, and the rest is H-I-Story; my story." - LaShawn D. Gary
IN THESE TRYING TIMES, MICHAEL MESEY AND AMERICAN GREED RELEASE “TOGETHER”
As the go-to special show and traveling drummer for Chuck Berry for many years, Michael Mesey had a blast creating explosive moments on stage with the legendary musical pioneer all over the country. Yet one of his most cherished memories is a moment on a tour bus, when Berry was listening to a blues tune, turned to him and said, “This is how I want us to play the blues – because when it’s time to rock, you rock me. No, I mean, you REALLY rock me!”
While transcendent, pinch me moments like these have happened throughout the St. Louis native’s multi-faceted 40 years as a writing, recording and touring musician, Mesey also knows a little something about the darker side of the life he chose - spending long stretches on the road, spending weeks at a time and holidays apart from beloved family members (including his daughter as she was growing up) while blazing away in the service of rock and roll. A few years ago, when he wrote “Together” for his hard rockin’ band American Greed, he never dreamed that the poignant powerhouse of a song - reflecting the personal heartache and longing of the road warrior musician - would become a universal anthem perfectly meeting our anxious collective moment during the age of COVID-19.
Over a propulsive, mid-tempo groove created by Mesey, Matt Arana's sizzling electric guitar energy, lead vocalist Dave Farver’s searing, emotional vocals speak eloquently for all those apart from their loved ones due to the pandemic, from family and friends who must Zoom to communicate to relatives of those suffering in the hospital and front liner workers spending hours away from home: "Sorry for the tears you cried/I wasn’t by your side when you needed me. . .all I ever wanted was to be by your side/In this jaded heart of mine, you know I really tried/How can I find a way/To heal our soul of sorrows for the time I was away…I just wanna hear you say, we’ll be together, We will be together."
In addition to nearly 200,000 streams on Spotify, “Together” –featuring the searing emotional lead vocals of the four-piece band, American greed - is a hit on two influential international charts, reaching #9 on the World Indie Music Chart and hitting #14 on the DRT Global Top 50 Rock Airplay Chart during a week when AC/DC’s “Shot in the Dark” was #1. Its impactful video, which opens with the words “We Are In This Together,” has over 400,000 views on YouTube.
The clip, created by Mesey, intersperses hard-edged live performance clips of American Greed with compelling images of healthcare workers, military personnel reuniting with family members, eerily empty city streets, medical ships, a busy ICU and crowds of masked people – images which are now familiar to us but only a year ago would have seemed like a new sci-fi movie.
“Together” is the title track from American Greed’s 2020 full length debut album, which was produced and engineered by Malcolm Springer, who has worked with Matchbox 20, Collective Soul, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Isaac Hayes. The track has received an impressive array of critical accolades from prominent indie music outlets. Garth Thomas of Hollywood Digest writes, “Carried out with a thrilling rock ballad music bed, this understated track is one of exceptional musicianship. ‘Together’ ties the binds that glues the best of the best rock tracks together – a band that rocks together can also release heartfelt songs. The song is inspiring and hits close to home for many. , .American Greed captures the hurt and balances it out very well with the pining for forgiveness . . .a way to say thank you for the selflessness.”
Michael Rand of Mobangeles.com adds, “Packed tightly with a near symphonic rock guitar and a percolating percussion, American Greed spoils the listener with the right amount of heart, rock and power pop. ‘Together’ feels like the culmination of hard work, exceptional talent and wearing one’s heart on the sleeve.”
“The song had some promotional stops and starts in the past,” Mesey says, “but it turns out that this year was the perfect time to release it, because the message is that much more meaningful in light of everything that’s happening. Every line I wrote literally fits what we’re witnessing – people going into the hospital alone, the first responders spending hours away from loved ones. I originally wrote it because I was often on the road for Thanksgiving, and I regretted missing so many moments in my family’s life and wondered how I could make things right. I thought maybe the concept would touch the lives of military personnel who are away for months or years at a time, but now it’s an experience almost everyone is going through.
“The truth is, we all have someone that we miss, that is all alone, that is on the front lines working to keep us safe and healthy, and some loved ones we have lost,” the drummer adds. “Whether it’s the pandemic, the protests due to racial injustice or everyday life, the truth is that despite our differences, we are in this together. Everything in the world and in America is about being ‘Together.’ I truly believe that we need to come together, rise together, heal together and then we will be together. I hope the song and the video helps everyone in some way or another to feel like they’re not alone, that so many others are dealing with the same challenges and frustrations.”
Prior to their breakthrough with “Together,” American Greed scored some major indie success winning a total of six Los Angeles Music Awards – including Music Video of the Year and Live Video Producer of the Year – and nominated for such honors as Rock Single of the Year, Rock Artist of the Year and Hard Rock Band of the Year. In addition to performing extensively in and around their home base of St. Louis, they’ve opened the LA Music Awards and the Phoenix Music Awards in Arizona and played the legendary Whisky a Go Go on Sunset Blvd.
Mesey split his time for many years between high profile gigs with Chuck Berry and recording and touring with famed St. Louis based Classic Rock Band Head East, including performances with Sammy Hagar, Boston, ZZ Top, REO Speedwagon, Heart, Cheap Trick and many others. His time with Berry includes shows at legendary venues like The Fox Theatre in St. Louis, The Show Boat in Atlantic City, Bayside in Miami for the Super Bowl, in front of 66,000 at Busch Stadium and performing “Johnny B. Goode” for a live worldwide broadcast from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena CA for The Voyager project.
The drummer also produced and performed on an all-star version of “Johnny B. Goode” featuring one of the last studio performances by legendary pianist Johnnie Johnson, in addition to Michael McDonald (who sang lead vocals) and saxophone legend David Sanborn. Also interesting to note, Mesey owns the only Chopper drum set in the World and has been featured in many articles around the world including Drum Magazine, Music Connection, Motorcycle USA and Thunder Roads Magazine.
“All of these incredible experiences have led me and American Greed to this moment where we are sharing ‘Together’ with the world,” says Mesey. “In my heart, this is the rock song for the moment we’re living in. I hope that when people hear it, they forget about left and right and can relate to it no matter what they’re dealing with personally in their lives. It’s not a political statement, it’s a song about the current realities of what’s happening in families everywhere around the world, written straight from the heart. If they feel when they listen the way I felt when I wrote it, maybe they can let all the other things, the differences between us and the issues that divide us, drift out of their head. I would love for everyone to think about "Time can seem very long, remember me when you hear this song, and close your eyes with a little smile", because it’s truer than it’s ever been, we are all in this together.”
VETERAN PERFORMER ROBERT MINOTT RELEASES “RASTA FUNK?” A TRUE ANTHEM OF OUR TIME AND THE ULTRA-INFECTIOUS TITLE TRACK TO HIS ANTICIPATED EPIC NEW 14-TRACK ALBUM
“Robert Minott again? Hell yeah! Are you kidding me? Let’s go, let’s go/Rasta train is coming again…” And with those playful, inviting words, the veteran Jamaican born, Atlanta based singer and performer gets down to grooving, hopeful, free-flowing business, meeting our collective moment of release and joy after a year of fear tension and anxiety with “Rasta Funk,” a true anthem of our time and the ultra-infectious title track to his highly anticipated epic new 14-track album on Wolf Entertainment.
Featuring the emotionally resonant backing vocals and snazzy vocal arrangements of Minott’s longtime friend Dorian Paul – legendary for his work as a songwriter, producer, singer and arranger with The Gap Band – “Rasta Funk” sets the much needed uplifting mood of the collection with lines like “We must learn to love and care for each other/Let the music take you higher and higher/Everybody looking for the new best thing/Everybody wanna feel their body swinging. Addressing head on a time full of racial and political strife, Minott gets to the heart of the message later when he soulfully intones: “Music is love/Music is life. . .No matter your tribe or where you come from/We all one blood/Love is my religion…”
The singer, who this year marks an extraordinary 30 years since the release of his debut album Love Struck, laid the foundation for the release of Rasta Funk with two influential global hit singles. “Let’s Chill,” released in 2020, is a reggae version of a Teddy Riley penned track that was a Billboard Top 5 R&B/Hip-Hop hit in the early 90’s. Produced by Norman Owen – an influential New York based Jamaican artist in his own right – Minott’s recording hit #1 on Reggae Global Radio.
Minott’s subsequent single “Can’t Hold Back” hit #4 on the World Indie Music Chart and #6 on the DRT Reggae Pop chart. Produced by renowned fellow Jamaican artist Kirk “Kirkeldove/Drummy” Bennett, it’s a song of deep longing for an elusive lover, that fuses the singer’s reggae roots with exotic tastes of Afro Beat and R&B and featuring a dynamic rap by Jamaican rapper/DJ Mr. Lexx.
Next up for release is “Yuh Mek Me Feel Good,” a perfectly titled, dreamy light funk gem that captures the feel good spirit of romantic as well as universal love.
To Minott, a world renowned singer, songwriter and entertainer who has earned favorable comparisons to the late reggae legend Dennis Brown and British born Jamaican superstar Maxi Priest, the concept of Rasta Funk means the opportunity to blend and share the best vibes of his homeland of Jamaica and his adopted home of America – an expanse which covers his many musical loves, including reggae, R&B, funk, rock and even country for the simple reason that he loves them and all have made an impact on his ever-evolving artistry.
From “Rasta Funk” and “Reggae Party, “ and infectious, percussive jam featuring Hellmut Wolf aka The Wolfman on sax through the chillout coolness of “Lighter” (featuring Tremendous) and the tropical acoustic romance “Love Struck,” Rasta Funk – a labor of love six years in the making - harkens back to Minott’s earlier life, when he recalls kicking back on Sundays listening to what he calls “lover’s rock,” country and R&B and singing along with The Temptations, Freddie Jackson, Teddy Pendergrass, Kenny Rogers, Crystal Gayle, etc.
In addition to the producers already mentioned, Rasta Funk features tracks produced by Tampa based mixer/producer John Zych and the hit Jamaican production duo Sly & Robbie, whose credits include Maxi Priest, Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, Santana, No Doubt, Mr. Vegas and Grace Jones.
“My producers and I built Rasta Funk track by track, and as the sessions progressed and the name and concept took hold, it became more and more exciting to me,” says Minott. “The process of making this album has helped me to evolve into a better songwriter and artist, confident in my ability to take the music to a higher level. Rasta Funk is about having fun and people enjoying life as they should. It’s a response of feel good music to what’s going on in the world today, my way of contributing to kind of opening people’s eyes to the reality that there’s so much more to life than going at each other like cats and dogs. The story it’s telling is to spread love and communicate what some might call my impossible dream – uniting everyone to live love and laugh so that everything is perfect and happy. That’s my outlook on everything and music is my vehicle to express that.”
Minott considers Rasta Funk “the best album I have ever produced, one I can listen to from start to finish and never get tired of” - which is a powerful evaluation considering the international success he has achieved with various singles and albums over the years – beginning with his debut single “Irie” featuring legendary artist Bunny Ruggs from Third World. His popular releases have included his 2011 hit “Right Man Fi Yuh,” which topped the Jamaican charts and made strides on the South Florida and New York Reggae charts; the globally popular 2014 album Splendid Woman; and “Playa Playa,” a 2009 Top 10 Billboard R&B/Reggae/Dancehall track (from his self-titled Minott collection) that stayed on the chart for over eight weeks. In 2007, he collaborated with dancehall artist Elephant Man on the track “Roll It,” and a later cover of “Silver Words” featuring rapper Kirkie KBZ also hit the Jamaican charts.
Over the years, Minott has also been a popular global performer, headlining shows everywhere from London, Johannesburg and the Cayman Islands to Houston, San Antonio, Austin, South Carolina, Miami and of course Jamaica. He has performed alongside the likes of some of reggae’s biggest names, including Priest, Burning Spear, Shaggy and Bob Marley’s sons Ziggy Marley, Ky-Mani Marley and Damian aka “Jr. Gong” Marley. He also has the unique distinction of performing with another Jamaican musical great, singer-songwriter Gregory Isaacs, and later playing for several years at an all-star tribute concert, held every Valentine’s Day to celebrate Isaac’s legacy after his passing in 2010.
“Everything I do as an artist and performer is driven first by my lifelong love and passion for music and making people happy,” Minott says. “I’ve been making music for several decades, doing it my way and still doing it the right way. Rasta Funk makes me feel good, period, with incredible production by my team of greats, and very original melodies and lyrics. I’m in a great place in my life, so this is the perfect time to release an album that speaks so powerfully to the joy everyone can have despite the many challenges we all go through. Everything has fallen into place exactly as it was meant to be. I feel good about where I am both musically and personally, and I am looking forward to getting out there and performing these songs.”
Minott will be hosting a CD release party for Rasta Funk at the Ebony Club in Houston on August 10. Special guests include Dorian Paul and Dorian’s niece, singer Enjolee.
MUSIC INDUSTRY LEGEND STEPHEN WRENCH RELEASES “STORM IN MY HEART”
Stephen Wrench has again proven he is a living embodiment of the proverbial Renaissance Man. His new single, Storm, rolls like a sampler of his across-the-board genius as a singer/songwriter whose musical and melodic creativity and lyrical depth and insight know no bounds.
Country music doesn’t have to be loud, glamorous, nor feature an elaborate instrumental arrangement to be endearing. The laid-back, simplistic side is the most emotional and entrancing, and this is the side Stephen Wrench is playing off in his new single “Storm”.
Striking a balance between a John Denver-style folk/pop and the bucolic melodicism of traditional country music, Stephen Wrench channels some of the most spellbinding aesthetical attributes of both genres beautifully, “Storm” will serve more as a boon to the Nashville puritans among us than anyone else.
The vocals are cleanly presented to us in the mix. There’s never a moment in which the string melodies are clouded by a bassline or partly concealed behind a prominent showing of strength from the vocal – they’re always at the forefront of our attention, guiding us into the guts of the music.
The keys are quite the stunning instrumental counterpart to the lyrics in “Storm,” and to some degree, they’re the foundation for every cathartic vocal harmony in the song.
Stephen has worked with some of the most groundbreaking artists on the planet and performed all over the world on stages in front of thousands and at small-town honky tonks. This St. Augustine, FL based force of nature and creative free agent proudly proclaims he’s “played with everybody and every band but been a member of nothing.” Now, with a mindset fueled by the promise of a new decade, the man who’s proudly been standing on the shoulder of giants is diving headfirst into the next and perhaps most exciting phase of his multi-faceted career.
Having penned literally hundreds of songs in all genres for years – pop, rock, country, R&B, Americana, you name it – Wrench is shining a spotlight on board genius as a singer/songwriter whose musical and melodic creativity and lyrical depth and insight know no bounds.
Asked why he is still writing and producing new songs, Stephen said, ‘This is what I do.’ I feel the same way about my playing, singing and songwriting. I’m a musician and creator. And when I’m performing, I will close my eyes and essentially let my soul out of my body.
“When you can touch people and make people feel that…when their hair is standing up as they feel the transcendence…then you’ve accomplished your goal. After spending too many years on the sidelines, I’m really excited about people hearing my songs and experiencing me as an artist firsthand.
CHRIS ST JOHN
On a roll these past months with two international hit singles – “I Called Her Rose” and “A Box For Jewels” – rising high on the Euro Indie Music Chart and World Indie Music Chart, singer-songwriter Chris St. John’s latest track, the uber-infectious “Hey Siri,” perfectly captures the zeitgeist of our techno-crazy modern world, humorously yet pointedly addressing both our addiction to and frustration with Siri, Alexa, Facebook and Amazon while lamenting the loss of simpler times before the cell phone/social media age.
Over a lighthearted, playfully rolling, whistle-infused African styled groove reminiscent of Paul Simon’s classic Graceland vibe, the fast emerging multi-faceted Americana, folk, soft rock and country influenced artist shares insightful lyrics we can all relate to – and will no doubt be singing by the second chorus: “Siri’s unavailable, Alexa won’t stop talking, texts and emails coming, our children text for talking/I can’t remember my passwords/Days run like a river/My phone is like an organ./You’ll kill me if you take it away.”
Produced by industry legend Stephen Wrench, who has worked with everyone from Lynyrd Skynyrd and Tom Petty to Bob Seger, Bonnie Raitt and Ozzy Osbourne, the buoyant track was recorded at Omni Studios in Nashville with some of Music City’s most renowned session musicians. Wrench, also a powerhouse radio promoter whose company Musik Radio Promotions caters to a network of over 250,000 stations in 180 countries, worked with St. John’s earlier singles – and was so impressed by his latest batch of songs that he signed as his producer for the current project.
“Hey Siri,” a compelling video for which is still being shot, is the first lead single from St. John’s still in progress album Fly Away. Expected for release in early 2022, it’s the follow-up to the singer’s debut collection I’m Dreaming, which dropped earlier in 2021. “I Called Her Rose” from that collection reached #3 on the Euro Indie Music chart and #8 on the World Indie Music chart.
“Hey Siri’ is a song I wrote in less than a half an hour, early one morning at my office,” says the Long Island based St. John, who began writing songs at age seven but set his musical dreams aside for years as he pursued a successful career as a prosecutor, judge and, for many years, an attorney and owner of a large law practice. “I heard an upbeat melody in my head and added lyrics about the blessing and curse of modern technology. I knew I wanted airy dancing guitar and that it wouldn’t be a typical folk or rock song – and when I sent it to Stephen, he said don’t change a thing!
“I thought back to my childhood and how much things have changed,” he adds. “We are prisoners to our phones and devices. We are much more productive, but at the cost of our peace, privacy, and creativity. What gets lost is the enjoyment of personal conversations, time with our family and friends. We read less, we dream less, and we are being killed by a death cut of texts, emails, and calls. When technology fails us in any way, even for a brief moment, we lose our patience. We are at the world’s beck and call, and that is stealing our happiness. People need to decide for themselves whether the progress we see is better for our overall human condition.”
While there’s a certain thematic novelty aspect to “Hey Siri,” the upcoming collection’s second lead single, the album’s title track “Fly Away,” is a soulful, poignant ballad that all parents can relate to, a song that reflects the true emotional depth of his ever-evolving songwriting artistry. “Fly Away is about my son heading off to college,” St. John says. “When your child is born, everyone tells you that the years will fly by and before you know it, they’ll be on their own, but you think it’s just a cliché and don’t believe it. Until it really happens. The song touches on my feelings about him leaving the nest and my vow to be an emotional support system no matter the distance. It’s about the journey of life, but as a metaphor, the title is also what I hope will happen to my career.”
St. John’s recent chart breakthroughs and forward momentum should inspire anyone who has long set aside their musical dreams to realize that any time is the right time to start pursuing them anew. While most working musicians were sidelined from the road during the first stage of the pandemic, there were silver linings galore for budding artists like St. John. Several months after laying off the seven person staff at his law office, he told his wife he needed to get out of town for fresh air and a fresh perspective. He had fallen in love with horses on a previous trip to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and fell into an exciting opportunity to go on a real deal 650-strong, miles long cattle roundup, with a rancher and a few other riders.
Spending 12 hours a day in the saddle, St. John went through a few horses before falling in love with Reagan, whom he later purchased. He wrote a song about the experience titled “I Need a Horse,” which became the first song he ever had produced in a studio setting (two actually, with tracks done in California and the vocals produced locally on Long Island). Encouraged by the response he received from family and friends, the singer dusted off a bunch of songs he had written over the years for a hopeful project he had put on the back burner. With time to spare, St. John went on a creative tear, writing 15 new songs over the course of several months – many of which are being produced now by Wrench and will appear on the Fly Away. “Once I wrote that song about that life changing trip and my horse,” St. John says, “I knew it was time to take a leap to a professional music career and follow my dreams.”
St. John brings wealth of life experiences to his musical palette that could never have existed had he gone the proverbial starving artist route earlier on in his adult life. In addition to his many years practicing law, he studied and taught Chinese in Beijing. He worked in the State Department for then Secretary of State George Schultz, participating in the Reagan-Gorbachev Summit in 1986. He was later a trade delegate to a trade mission to China in 2007, in Xian, China. In addition, the singer is the co-founder of HALO Missions (Health and Learning for Orphans), which provides hands-on medical care and educational assistance to orphans in developing countries. He is also a volunteer professional firefighter.
Despite the adventurous eclecticism of his resume, music has always been St. John’s truest passion since day one, driven by a diverse playlist of artists and albums that continuously inform his development as a singer and songwriter. “I discovered the Beatles in 1970, at 5 years of age,” he says, “and got into the Grateful Dead in 1980, at 15. My musical catalogue includes the Eagles, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Paul Simon, Elton John, Cat Stevens, Steely Dan, The Who, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac and other artists that were on the charts during my formative years.
“I’ve also drawn from classic country artists like Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Hank Williams and others,” he adds. “And of course, I really got into what my parents were listening to when I was growing up, too – everything from big bands to Motown to standards from the Great American Songbook. To go from listening to all this great music as a young man fascinated by music to being in Nashville with all these top musicians, hearing how enthusiastic they were about each track we cut for the new album, is truly incredible. They told me it was a magical night for them, and it was for me as well.”
RELENTLESS MUSIC MAKER ANGELA PREDHOMME RELEASES “UNSTOPPABLE ME”
There’s something powerful and inspiring about an independent artist who pursues her passion and finds widespread success on her own terms, rather than following the generally accepted mainstream paths of others. Embracing her innermost creative truth, Angela Predhomme is a relentless music maker, adding a sixth full-length album to her repertoire with her new release “As Is.”
Signing recently with Symphonic Distribution, a top digital distribution company, Angela’s versatile artistry shines on focus track “Unstoppable Me.” An anthem of ambition and grit, “Unstoppable Me” declares boldly “Are you ready to see / What a woman can do when she believes? / I’m shattering glass / This ceiling is way beyond cracked / I am strong and I’m done with holding back.” The song delivers a fresh take on an unapologetic, confident embodiment of female empowerment, reminding listeners what we all can accomplish if we set our minds to it.
The “Unstoppable Me” official video, featuring notable women who’ve made important contributions, adds cultural relevance to the infectiously catchy pop track. From early women’s rights activists and abolitionists to modern heroes of the #MeToo movement, the video not only entertains and instills pride, but also offers a detail-packed lesson in women’s history in under three minutes.
The track seamlessly blends genres, beginning as a traditional march, and then morphing into a feel-good reggae-pop song. As unique in its execution as it is powerful, the skillful music production in “Unstoppable Me” augments its lyrical message of the irrepressible strength of all women.
As an artist, Angela is no stranger to widespread recognition and appreciation of her work. Since her self-titled 2008 debut album, the multi-talented singer songwriter has been unstoppable in her own right. Her creativity has garnered finalist placement in major songwriting and sync music competitions, and she has grown a strong global fanbase. Her songs have been streamed over five million times around the world via commercial business licensing alone, in addition to consumer streaming apps.
Beyond building her fan base via Spotify and YouTube, her voice has become familiar via placements in-store, in office, retail and corporate settings and through licensing to popular TV films and series. Impressively, she achieved all this not by following her dreams to industry hotspots like L.A., New York or Nashville, but simply by creating and sharing her musical heart, writing and recording from her longtime home in Michigan.
Angela made the decision to take the plunge when she realized “there is always a place for authentic, heartfelt music.” Her warm, inviting vocals have earned strong comparisons to those of Norah Jones. Yet she fashions herself more like a blues and soul inflected, Beatles-esque pop singer-songwriter whose influences range from The Rolling Stones and Ray Charles to Adele, Sarah McLachlan, and Motown artists. From ballads to adult contemporary to soul and jazzy pop,
Angela has made it clear that she will not be boxed in to a specific sound or format.
When asked what drives her songwriting, she comments, “I’ve built my career on making music for people to enjoy and connect with, and I always strive to move them, touch their lives, bring them up and contribute something positive in some way.” She adds, “I made a conscious decision early on to be a socially responsible artist, and I want my songs to offer a sense of hope while encouraging listeners to believe in themselves.” Angela’s new track, “Unstoppable Me,” is a testament to her authentic expression of optimism and determination.
GITARIST DON WILSON (THE VENTURES) OVERLEDEN
Don Wilson, medeoprichter en rhythm gitarist van de invloedrijke instrumentale rock band The Ventures, is gisteren op 88-jarige leeftijd overleden. Wilson’s familie heeft Don’s overlijden officieel bevestigd aan journalist Saint Bryan. Don Wilson is vredig ingeslapen in Tacoma, Washington. “Our dad was an amazing rhythm guitar player who touched people all over world with his band, The Ventures,” Aldus Don’s zoon Tim Wilson in een verklaring. “He will have his place in history forever and was much loved and appreciated. He will be missed.” Don Wilson en Bob Bogle stonden samen aan de wieg van The Ventures. Wilson en Bogle komen elkaar voor het eerst tegen in 1958, wanneer Bogle bij een tweedehandsdealer in Seattle op zoek is naar een auto. Die dealer is de vader van Wilson. Wilson en Bogle raken aan de praat en ontdekken dat zij een gezamenlijke passie hebben voor gitaren. De twee besluiten samen te gaan spelen en kopen twee gebruikte gitaren voor ongeveer tien dollar per stuk. Het duo noemt zich The Versatones en speelt voornamelijk in kleine clubs en bars. Wilson speelt rhythm gitaar en Bogle leadgitaar. Wilson ontdekt dat de bandnaam The Versatones al bestaat. Zijn moeder verzint de naam The Ventures. Nadat Bogle en Wilson Nokie Edwards zien spelen in een nachtclub, vragen zij de basgitarist om zich bij The Ventures te voegen. Spoedig is de band in de studio te vinden, waar met sessiedrummer Skip Moore de eerste single ‘Cookies And Coke/The Real McCoy’ wordt opgenomen. Hoewel Howie Johnson wordt ingehuurd als vaste drummer is Moore ook te horen op de tweede single ‘Walk, Don’t Run’. De single wordt uitgebracht op het label Dolton Records en snelt naar de tweede plaats van de Amerikaanse Billboard Hot 100. De eerste release heeft het nummer ‘Home’ als B-kant, de tweede release de al eerder uitgebrachte Wilson en Bogle compositie ‘The Real McCoy’. Nokie Edwards vindt de kwaliteiten van Bob Bogle als leadgitarist nogal beperkt en stelt voor dat Bogle basgitaar gaat spelen. Edwards zelf wordt de leadgitarist. Dit blijkt een gouden greep. ‘Walk, Don’t Run’ wordt in 1964 opnieuw opgenomen door The Ventures en onder de titel ‘Walk, Don’t Run ‘64’ wederom een Top 10 hit in de Verenigde Staten. De derde Top 10 hit met een zomers karakter volgt in 1968. ‘Hawaii Five-O’ is een politieserie op de televisie, geproduceerd door CBS Productions en Leonard Freeman. De serie speelt zich af in Hawaii en zou van 1968 tot 1980 op de buis te zien zijn. Het muzikale thema is een compositie van Morton Stevens en wordt voor de serie opgenomen door The CBS Orchestra. The Ventures nemen kort daarop hun eigen versie op. Andere grote hits voor The Ventures in de Verenigde Staten zijn ‘Perfidia’ en ‘Ram-Bunk-Shush’. De band zou tot in lengte der jaren – ver na de eeuwwisseling – in verschillende samenstellingen blijven bestaan. Don Wilson zou tot 2015 in The Ventures blijven spelen. Hij ruste in vrede!
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.
REBECCA DGD FT. CAHGO G. WILLIAMS
“Appreciation”
Through the freewheeling litany of legends (Tom Petty, Motley Crue, Steve Lukather, Grace Slick, Joe Walsh, Glenn Frey, and Don Henley) on her most recent international hit “Raybans in the Rain” (#16 on the Euro Indie Music Chart), one of the grandest and quirkiest pleasures of the Kansas City based rapper, rocker and songwriter’s array of smash singles is the playful namechecking that celebrates her lifelong love for rock and roll. DawgGoneDavis (DGD) has gone coo-coo for Cummings now.
Rebecca regales us with her passion once again on “Appreciation,” her latest infectious jam featuring a killer vocal hook by longtime Snoop Dogg producer Chago G. Williams, drawing on her customary wit, style and infectious rhyming to pay absolute, gratitude-filled homage to rock legend and Canadian Music Industry Hall of Famer Burton Cummings, best known as the lead singer/songwriter for The Guess Who from 1966-75 - a span that included their era-defining hits “American Woman,” “These Eyes,” “No Time,” “No Sugar Tonight,” “Share the Land” and “Clap for the Wolfman.”
“Appreciation” is Rebecca DGD’s incredible fifth collaboration with Williams, capping a hitmaking streak that includes the hard-hitting, pandemic era cuts “Darkest Hour” (#5 on the Euro Indie Chart), “No More” (#11) and “Clean Slate” (#7) as well as “Raybans in the Rain,” a festive celebration of summer, Rebecca’s favorite season.
Once again, she collaborates with the dynamic Euro Manager she considers her music master – German producer, saxophonist, flutist Hellmut Wolf and explosive electric guitarist Romain Duchein. On previous hits, their overall sound design included the intense grooves of drummer Jack T. Perry. While Wolf has showcased his formidable sax skills on previous DGD tracks, “Appreciation” allows him to shine on his Ian Anderson influenced flute playing with fills and a powerhouse solo that reflects Cummings’ prowess on the same instrument.
Part of the magic of being Rebecca is never knowing where inspiration will hit next, or where the initial spark will take her creatively. One day, her friend Roger Diamond (a Neil Diamond tribute performer) randomly shared with her via YouTube a concert performance of Cummings and The Guess Who performing “These Eyes.” Knocked out by the singer’s vocal delivery, piano performance and great looks, the rapper – who of course knew the song from her rock-loving existence but never heard it performed this passionately – was immediately whapped with the clever line, “Horton hears The Who” (referencing Dr. Seuss and the legendary British band) and was off to the races. She began freestyling: “Burton Guesses Who/And Rocks Out Me and You/I’m an American Woman. . .”
In the next line, “I missed the last sermon,” Rebecca refers to the fact that while she’s definitely a churcher, she artfully balances her spiritual side with her rocking-girl vibe. The rest of the first verse is all about Burton, referencing a Dylan classic and even getting a tad risqué: “Knock knock knockin’ on Cummings door/Beautiful form at the piano/No tight undies for that Soprano/Heavens me/Oh the days of concerts and squeals/Burton climbed up and almost passed “the Neil.” Anyone who knows about Rebecca’s appreciation for Neil Diamond’s songwriting and performing, knows this is “high praise indeed!”
“The song ‘These Eyes’ impacted me and his performance knocked me over, and once those lines came to me, I knew it would evolve into a full-on tribute to Burton,” Rebecca says. “He’s so multi-talented, playing the keys, flute, singing and writing, and once the song got rolling, I wanted to capture all of that. Since Hellmut is one of the top flute players in the world, I knew it would be great to have him come up with his own way of sharing that aspect of Burton’s artistry. He and I have collaborated on a lot of tracks covering a lot of thematic territory these past four years, but ‘Appreciation’ is truly one of my favorites.”
Another of the happy surprises listeners get when DGD drops a track these days is getting to the chorus and seeing where her collaborators take her original vision. While her emotional mid-2021 tune “Boulders Weeping – Cry No More” (which hit #6 on the World Indie Music Chart) featured a powerful vocal hook by former Gap Band member and gospel/R&B artist Dorian Paul, her other joints these past few years have been graced by Chago Williams, who never fails to meet our building expectations with a melody and lyrics that are spot on. DGD says, they are peas in a pod. The great drummer on “Appreciation” is John Bennetts, former drummer of Bill Board charting Australian band, Eurogliders.
On “Appreciation,” rather than reference Cummings or rock and roll, Chago gets to the heart of Rebecca’s mission as an artist and all she has to be appreciative of: “Life seems so unpredictable/But I just want to go for it ALL. . .I’m waking up to follow my dream.” The singer/producer also acknowledges the reality all unique artists with a different mindset face in light of their competition and naysayers: “Knowin the charters want me to fail. . .Nobody to stand by me/So why do I care/They don’t see my vision/The choices we make/Just to keep living.”
In the next verse, Rebecca has more nostalgic rock fun referencing, in addition to Cummings, The Who and Roger Daltrey’s amazing vocals and hair. In a whimsical nod to the Who’s reference to a “teenage wasteland” in “Baba O’Riley,” by referring to a teenage waistline growing from too much beer, pizza and wine. Somewhat wistfully, she acknowledges the passage of time by saying that these days, despite the nostalgic trip Cummings took her on via his performance, she has “more important things to buy than your rockin’ merchandise.” After Wolf’s flute solo, she gets back to appreciating Burton wholeheartedly: “Burton’s magic piano roared through the Canadian Mist in elation/We drank all the music…and burped in appreciation!” Cleverly, it’s the only spot in the song where the title is actually mentioned.
Keeping her wit and clever turns of phrase intact even throughout the pandemic era, Rebecca has evolved into a hard-hitting chronicler of the times we live in. Besides the Williams’ featured hits, her 2020 smashes included “Judge Not Rap Yes” (which hit #3 on the Euro Indie Music Chart), “Weight of the World” (which debuted at #4) and “Checkered Future.” The re-release of her poignant yet whimsical perennial holiday track “Here Comes Santa Dawg” has been a phenomenon as well, hitting the charts during three consecutive holiday seasons (and hanging on till summer) and at one point peaking at #2 (two years in a row).
ACCLAIMED SINGER-SONGWRITER KRISANTHI PAPPAS BRINGS US HER COVID RECOVERY ANTHEM - “HUG A MILLION TIMES” ...
Here’s the story behind “Hug A Million Times”.
As a full-time adult contemporary singer/songwriter, Krisanthi Pappas has toured the U.S., the Caribbean and parts of Europe, performing pre-shows for such acts as Sheryl Crow, Heart, Queen with Adam Lambert, The Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, Chicago and REO Speedwagon.
As an award-winning songwriter, you may have heard her voice or original songs on episodes of "Parenthood" (NBC), "The Mindy Project" (FOX), "Once Upon A Time" (ABC), "One Life To Live” (ABC), "Containment" (CW), "Passions" (NBC), "Californication" (Showtime), "Younger" (TVLand) and more. Krisanthi has been compared to Norah Jones and Diana Krall by JazzTimes Magazine and to Karen Carpenter and Carole King by All Music Guide.
When the pandemic first hit and she lost all of her gigs for the next year, she decided to do a live concert online to be able to connect with fans. It was so successful that it turned into a weekly show that she still performs on YouTube Live! Although she is performing both virtually and live on outdoor stages, it’s certainly not the same as that arm in arm contact. The anticipation of being able to be in person and actually hug people again was the inspiration behind the song.
“I had received my first vaccine and suddenly realized that after a year of only seeing people on a phone or computer screen, I would soon be able to be with my friends and family in person again! As I imagined what it would be like to be with the people I love, I sat down at my piano and the song just jumped into my head,” she recalls.
Krisanthi’s niece was born during the pandemic and although they had not been able to be together in person, they see each other on FaceTime every day at lunch time. “When I was finally able to hug her face to face, she recognized me from seeing me on a screen, and the connection of hugging her was magical,” Krisanthi says. As the song goes “It feels so good to be together, let’s hug a million times. It feels like it has been forever, let’s hug a million times. I just want you to know, that I’m not letting you go, until we get to hug a million times”…
BRAZILIAN SAMBA SINGER ELZA SOARES DIED
Brazilian music has lost one of its most representative voices. Singer and songwriter Elza Soares died on Thursday (Jan. 20), at her home in Rio de Janeiro, of natural causes. She was 91.
“The Brazilian music icon was considered one of the greatest singers in the world. She won the title of "Singer of the Millennium" in a BBC London competition. Elza had an apotheotic, intense life, which moved the world with her voice, her strength, and her determination. The beloved and eternal Elza has gone to rest but she will forever remain in musical history, and in our hearts and the thousands of fans around the world. Just like Elza Soares wanted, she sang until the end.”, family members said on the singer’s Facebook account.
Elza Gomes da Conceição was born on June 23, 1930, in a modest Rio de Janeiro household, in Moça Bonita slum, currently Vila Vintém.
Elza Soares began her artistic career in Rádio Tupi program Calouros em Desfile, by Ary Barroso. Later on, she was hired as a singer at Orquestra Garam de Bailes. In 1960 she released her first album “Se Acaso Você Chegasse”, and in 1962 her second one “A Bossa Negra”.
In 1962, Elza sang at the World Cup in Chile, where she met Louis Armstrong, who proposed her to carve out a career in the USA. That same year she met her future husband Garrincha, with whom she had a troubled relationship.
Elsa Soares became famous singing samba, before diversifying to other genres like jazz, hip hop, and MPB. She released 36 albums in her career. In 1999, she won the title of “Brazilian Singer of the Millennium” in a BBC London competition. She was also in the list of the 100 greatest Brazilian music voices released by Rolling Stone Brasil magazine.
The singer has also won several awards such as three Latin Grammy Awards and two WME Awards. In 2020, she was honored by Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel samba school.
NICOLE HENRY RELEASES NEW VIDEO
Award-winning vocalist Nicole Henry covers the timeless James Taylor classic ‘Your Smiling Face’ while also featuring the beautiful work on the non-profit, Miami Music Project, which holds a dear place in Nicole's heart. This organization has been giving free music lessons to students in lesser-served Miami-Date County schools for over 12 years. Be sure to follow Nicole Henry on social media (@nicolehenrymusic) and support music education...it changes lives! From the full CD, "TIME TO LOVE AGAIN".
Directed by Leesa Richards; Edited by Phil McArthur; Banister Records, Inc. Featuring leading man Winston Warrior and children from Miami Music Project. Performed by: Pete Wallace (piano/keys); Eric England (bass); David Chiverton (drums); Dan Warner (acoustic guitar); Camilo Velandia (elec guitar); Richard Bravo (perc.); John Michalak (sax). Produced by Nicole Henry & Pete Wallace.
MARTHA TILSTON: ON TOUR IN THE UK FEBRUARY-MARCH 2022 + DEBUT FEATURE FILM 'THE TAPE' AVAILABLE ON VIDEO PLATFORMS FROM 24.01.22
MARTHA TILSTON
UK TOUR
FEBRUARY-MARCH 2022
03.02.22 LONDON Half Moon buy tickets
05.02.22 ULPHA (Cumbria) Browfoot Room buy tickets
06.02.22 BIRMINGHAM Kitchen Garden Cafe buy tickets
09.02.22 LIVERPOOL Music Room buy tickets
11.02.22 BRISTOL Folk House sold out
12.02.22 LEWES Con Club buy tickets
13.02.22 EXETER Phoenix buy tickets
20.03.22 WHITSTABLE Sessions sold out
23.03.22 CANTERBURY Gulbenkian (The Tape screening+Q&A+songs)
ticket details to follow
27.03.22 FOLKESTONE Quarterhouse (festival)
ticket details to follow
THE TAPE
DEBUT FILM
ARRIVES ON VIDEO PLATFORMS
24.01.22
THE TAPE
soundtrack album
out now
(Squiggly)
“Her modern folk songs about love and payday loans are brilliant”
THE GUARDIAN
“A glowing testament to Tilston’s songwriting, musical and vocal brilliance”
FOLK RADIO UK
“A beautiful collection of songs which deserve to be heard as widely as possible”
AMERICANA UK
“Has a serene and entrancing beauty, both in sound and lyrical content. An album worthy of repeated plays”
LOUDER THAN WAR
album digital services link
https://linktr.ee/marthatilston
includes
SADNESS OF THE SEA
Following the autumn 2021 launch of ‘The Tape’, her debut feature film which she wrote, directed and starred in, singer-songwriter Martha Tilston has announced her first UK tour in almost five years with dates in February and March.
The stunning soundtrack album for ‘The Tape’ was recorded live on set, which is believed to be a UK first for a non-concert film, and indeed the only time this has been done since Robert Altman’s ‘Nashville’ in 1975. Tilston will be performing several of its piano-based songs in her live show, including the singles ‘Sadness Of The Sea’ and ‘In This Song’. The former is a pertinent commentary about climate change and other environmental issues and has received airplay across a number of BBC radio stations.
Born into a musical family (her father is singer-songwriter Steve Tilston, her stepmother the late Irish folk performer Maggie Boyle), Tilston grew up in the far west of Cornwall before basing herself in London when she became a professional musician. With a pure silken voice and lyrics that inspire and captivate, she has gone on to release nine critically acclaimed albums and played some of the world’s most prestigious festivals, helping her to build a loyal global following. Having moved back to Cornwall and made the award winning music documentary ‘The Cliff Top Sessions’, she has continued to experiment with her music and film making, with ‘The Tape’ being her latest venture to guide its audience through a magical and thought-provoking journey.
BEKENDE ZANGER MEAT LOAF OVERLEDEN
De Amerikaanse zanger Marvin Lee Aday, beter bekend als Meat Loaf, is gisteren op 74-jarige leeftijd overleden. De zanger overleed in het bijzijn van zijn vrouw Deborah, zo heeft zijn manager bekendgemaakt aan Deadline. De doodsoorzaak is niet bekend. “Onze harten zijn gebroken om aan te kondigen dat de onvergelijkbare Meat Loaf vanavond is overleden,’ zo valt te lezen in een officiële verklaring op Facebook. ‘We weten hoeveel hij voor zo velen van jullie betekende en we waarderen echt alle liefde en steun terwijl we door deze tijd van verdriet gaan bij het verlies van zo’n inspirerende kunstenaar en mooie man.” Meat Loaf scoorde eind 1978 in Nederland een megahit met de single ‘Paradise By The Dashboard Light’, een nummer dat hij zong met Ellen Foley. In de spraakmakende videoclip was de actrice Karla DeVito te zien, die ook met Meat Loaf op tournee ging. Ook de opvolger ‘You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)’ en later ‘I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)’ en ‘I’d Lie For You (And That’s The Truth)’ werden grote hits in Nederland. Meat Loafs album ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ werd een van de best verkochte albums ooit. In 2013 was de zwaarlijvige Amerikaanse zanger voor het laatst in Nederland op het podium te bewonderen. Meat Loaf trad toen op in de IJsselhallen in Zwolle. In die periode kwakkelde Meat Loaf al flink met zijn gezondheid. De belangrijkste songwriter van Meat Loaf, Jim Steinman, kwam vorig jaar op 73-jarige leeftijd te overlijden. “We waren met hart en ziel bij elkaar. We kenden elkaar niet, we waren elkaar,” zo vatte Meat Loaf hun lange vriendschap samen. “Sinds ik Jim ontmoette, was hij het middelpunt van mijn leven,” zei Meat Loaf over Steinman. “En ik was altijd zijn middelpunt. Bij alles wat hij deed, praatten ze over mij. En bij alles wat ik deed, praatten ze over Jim. Dat maakte mij niet uit. Dat is wat ik wilde.” Marvin Lee Aday – alias Meat Loaf – ruste in vrede!
Met dank aan Leo Weijers.
SUMMIT OF THE BIG LOW: ‘THIN AIR' – NEW SINGLE BY KENT-BASED SINGER-SONGWRITER OUT 21.01.22
SUMMIT OF THE BIG LOW
THIN AIR
new single
out 21.01.22
included on
THIN AIR
debut album
digital / CD
out 04.03.22
(Friendly Tribe)
LP
out 25.03.22
(Sugarbush Records/Friendly Tribe)
pre-order link
summitofthebiglow.bandcamp.com/album/thin-air
FOR FANS OF THE PAPER KITES / NOVO AMOR / HOLLOW COVES / BON IVER
Canada born but UK raised singer-songwriter Toby Uffindell-Phillips cut his teeth in the ‘00s with acoustic electronica group Sound Sanctuary and then as frontman of eclectic indie pop band Burning Shapes in the early 2010’s. The Kent-based musician subsequently began writing songs in his home studio that would form the backbone of a new solo project - Summit Of The Big Low.
Occasionally, he would post songs online for airplay or review, with positive feedback from the likes of BBC Introducing’s Abbie McCarthy and Tom Robinson’s Fresh On The Net offering an indication that they were resonating with listeners.
Toby began bringing new and familiar faces to his studio to add guitar and harmony parts, but it was a decision to offer production duties to previous Sound Sanctuary collaborators Bombay Monkey that had the biggest impact on his music. Toby’s intimate and by now mature acoustic songwriting style aligned perfectly with Bombay’s atmospheric electronic treatments, allowing all the constituent parts to fall naturally into place.
A selection of these songs were posted online during the 2020-21 lockdowns, while Summit Of The Big Low also found new ears via a series of online performances dubbed the ‘Cabin Fever Sessions’ as well as select appearances at local festivals.
The release of forthcoming debut album ‘Thin Air’ marks the start of a new chapter for Toby. “We’ve all been hunkered down for so long now and I think the time is right to come out of hiding,” he sighs. “I’m looking forward to getting out there and sharing the culmination of many years of creativity with everyone. An LP is the greatest excuse to venture out and play to real people in real spaces.”
The album is preceded by its title track, available from today as a single and for which an award winning 360° video has been created. Depicting an intimate glimpse into a relationship at a crucial turning point, it won three Remi awards at the WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival in Texas, in the New Artist, Performance Arts Film and Live Action Experimental Film categories. Having already been selected for the Aesthetica Short Film festival, it is also currently screening at the Plymouth Market Hall Dome, Europe's first planetarium style cinema space made specifically for viewing 360° shows. Tickets can be booked at: realideas.org/event/northern-lights-dome-experience-and-short-films
The video was created as a collaborative multi-discipline experiment between Summit Of The Big Low, production company Khaki Films and movement storytellers No-One's Watching, with the intention of utilising the languages of music and movement to explore the potential of storytelling in 360° and to embrace the immersive experience.
THIN AIR
TRACKLISTING
1 Kodak Sun
2 Tightrope
3 If Not Me
4 Clear
5 Slight Drop
6 Drawing Board
7 Cargo
8 Let Me Sleep
9 Parallel Dreaming
10 Thin Air
GARETH DUNLOP: ‘LOOK BACK SMILING' – NEW SINGLE BY NORTHERN IRISH SINGER-SONGWRITER AND PRODUCER OUT 21.01.22
photography by Jamie Neish
GARETH DUNLOP
LOOK BACK SMILING
new single
out 21.01.22
(Zenith Café/Membran)
digital services link
orcd.co/lookbacksmiling
included on
ANIMAL
new album
out 18.03.22
ON TOUR WITH FOY VANCE
22.03.22 CORK Cyprus Avenue
23.03.22 DUBLIN 3Olympia Theatre
25.03.22 YORK York Barbican
26.03.22 EDINBURGH Queen’s Hall
27.03.22 BIRMINGHAM Alexandra Theatre
29.03.22 MANCHESTER Bridgewater Hall
30.03.22 LONDON Eventim Apollo
02.04.22 BELFAST SSE Arena
Belfast born singer-songwriter and producer Gareth Dunlop was fortunate enough to remain a busy man during the global pandemic. Having established Sycamore Studios in the city just prior to lockdown, he was subsequently in a position to record not only his own long-awaited second album, ‘Animal’, but also produced new records by friends and fellow Northern Irish musicians Foy Vance (‘Signs Of Life’, 2021) and Lee Rogers (‘Gameblood’, out spring 2022). All three artists will soon be on tour together, with Dunlop on additional duty as a member of Vance’s live band.
‘Animal’ consists of a diverse set of songs that include the soulful and anthemic ‘Right About Ready’ and first single ‘Look Back Smiling’, which evoke the ‘80s yet exude a timeless quality, the atmospheric ‘Sorrow’ and ‘Prisoner Of My Past’, which both channel late period Roxy Music, the laid-back ‘60s dream pop vibe of ‘Humans’, plus a memorable title song that adds an electronic bounce to its subtle groove.
Of ‘Look Back Smiling', Dunlop states: “I wrote it as a message of sorts for my son. In these weird pandemic years I had noticed him retreating into himself. He’d missed out on most of his first year at school and bypassed an important year of making those first connections with would be friends. It set my head off in a direction of wanting him to grab life by the horns and be as much of a kid as possible before the real trials and tribulations of life seeped in. In a time when it was hard to be a normal kid, I was desperate for his young sense of wonder and childlike fearlessness to rule his heart. When I was young I couldn’t wait to grow up, and now I'm older I'd give anything to go back and be a kid again.”
The aforementioned tour with Foy Vance and Lee Rogers commences in late March with RoI and UK shows (itinerary above), followed by a set of US dates in May.
Gareth Dunlop has been recognised as an accomplished talent ever since the BBC tipped him as ‘one to watch’ in 2010 when he was not long out of his teens. In the decade since he has released several singles, a handful of EPs and one album that have been musically eclectic yet have all showcased his highly soulful voice, with several of his songs going on to be used in the hit TV series ‘Nashville’, other shows (‘Lucifer’, ‘This Is Us’, Bones’, ‘Suits’), movies (‘The Best Of Me’, ‘Safe Haven’) and commercials (Disney, Subaru). He also has songwriting credits for recordings by a diverse range of stars that include T.I., Tim McGraw & Faith Hill and John Oates.
However, prior to the 2020 lockdown, Dunlop was just as likely to be heard by live audiences as he forged a reputation as a magnetic and charismatic performer on frequent headlining tours and support slots to the likes of Van Morrison, Jeff Beck, Snow Patrol and James Morrison. Reviewing one of his shows, Gigslutz stated that “Dunlop has the kind of voice that can still a room with its vulnerability, the meaning behind the words heartfelt, the emotion real”, while Maximum Volume Music succinctly described it as “instantly memorable".
In his home territory, the Irish News praised Dunlop for his “distinctive croon and ear for sharp melodic/lyrical hooks”, while local website ChordBlossom declared him to be “one of the greatest talents to come out of Northern Ireland”, a sentiment only slightly qualified by National Rock Review who stated that he is “arguably one of Northern Ireland’s greatest singer/songwriters from the past decade”.
Inspired by icons such as The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and Tom Waits, plus a soupçon of Pink Floyd, Dunlop picked up a guitar aged 14 and soon began performing covers and original songs in live venues around Northern Ireland, RoI and the rest of the UK. In 2011 he won a Young Songwriter of the Year award in Belfast that not only earned him an invite to collaborate with seasoned writers in Nashville, an experience he has repeated many times since, but it also enabled him to tour the US extensively.
Having spent so long away from Belfast following his initial breakthrough, Dunlop decided to record and co-produce his 2017 debut album, ‘No. 79’, in stripped-back fashion at home - literally - with Nashville based writer Bobby Hamrick and compatriot Alastair McMillan, who had also recorded Dunlop’s first studio sessions at Dublin’s esteemed Windmill Lane and has engineered for U2, The Rolling Stones and Van Morrison. A winning fusion of folk and soul, the album earned critical acclaim and was playlisted on several Irish and UK radio stations, while in RoI it earned an Album of the Week slot on the prestigious RTE1.
JASON SHAND TO RELEASE “THE PETTY NARCISSIST” WORLDWIDE ON JANUARY 21, 2022
The Petty Narcissist, will be Jason Shand’s second full length album after 2015’s Because of Zeeva.
“My goal with this 14 song collection was to make a substantive personal pop album that not only catered to this new single driven era, but also catered to the old school of having a full length album where each song flows into the other taking the listener on a sonic journey. There are no fillers on this album. With all fourteen songs - from the 6:36 ‘Seeing You’ opener to the 2:49 ‘Oh Fábio’ closer - being substantive pop singles that flow from one song to the other, taking the listener on a sonic story telling ride, I’d like to think I succeeded.”
Five years in the making, The Petty Narcissist drops worldwide on January 21, 2022.
‘THE PETTY NARCISSIST’ - JASON SHAND
All music and lyrics by Jason Shand
Produced by Jason Shand
All songs (c) 2021, JAHSTORK MUSIC, BMI
facebook.com/jasonshandmusic
instagram.com/jasonshandmusic
Twitter: @jasonshandmusic
DARREL KELLEY- TAKE YOUR KNEES OFF OUR NECKS!!!
After the mainstream media marked the first anniversary of the murder of George Floyd (May 25, 2021) between the conviction and sentencing of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, it’s as if they decided to move on to other topics – the Delta variant, debates over vaccine and mask mandates, messy withdrawal from Afghanistan, etc. It’s as if every other unjustifiable cop homicide on an African America was swept under a rug, as minor or negligible news. But system racism hasn’t gone away - not even close. It’s still with us, ready to rear its ugliness and manifest any minute, on any street in America - and countless victims aren’t getting justice, or airtime.
That’s where Darrell Kelley continues to step in, making sure the world remembers the victims and the underlying causes of their suspicious senseless deaths. The prolific Atlanta based singer, songwriter and tireless advocate for racial justice – who broke out with three #1 international hit songs on the Euro Indie Music Chart - stays front and center, using his emotional, high impact songs as a voice for the voiceless – and those who are no longer with us and cannot speak up for themselves.
Putting his proverbial money where his vocals and lyrics are, he recently bought a coffin – yes, you read right – painted it black and decked it out with the names (in white) of all the victims. Open it up, and there’s a mannequin, lying silent showcasing ” those names – plus a state of the art sound system and a large screen running the artist’s many popular videos from the past few years. The eye-popping coffin – which he carries in the hearse he just bought, also covered with names - is front and center in Darrell’s latest compelling clip for “Take Your Knees Off Our Necks!!!”, the title track from his new compilation of 11 tracks – six previously released singles and five new songs – that powerfully and viscerally chronicle this ongoing American nightmare. In its first two weeks, the video has received nearly 140,000 views on YouTube and another 120,000 on the videoblog WorldStarHipHop. D
Inspired by a quote by Al Sharpton, Darrell on “Get Your Knees Off Our Necks!!!” offers a no holds barred view of the reality he and millions of others face today as Black men in the United States. As sirens wail, he opens with “This is dedicated to all the racist police officers in the world – do your job!” In the first verse he sings: “Every time I drive I get nervous about getting pulled over/I’ve been doing the speed limit/Still I’ve gotta look over my shoulder/If you’re black driving in America, you’ll be scared to drive down the street. . .When you’re black, this is what happens when you’re driving, walking, minding your own business/Police will hunt you out.” In the soaring, hypnotic chorus, the singer, echoing Sharpton and George Floyd, pleas over and over: “Take your knees off our necks/With all respect…”
The previously released singles on the new compilation include all of his “We Want Justice” songs, which featured the chant behind Darrell’s main narratives: “Black Lives Matter,” “Police Brutality,” “7 Times” (about Jacob Blake), “Release the Transcripts” (about Breonna Taylor), “Ahmaud” (about Ahmaud Arbery) and “Derrick Scott.” In addition to the title song, the new tracks include “Black Wall Street,” “Ronald Greene (I’m Your Brother),” “Systemic Racism” and “Wasn’t Justified” (about Andrew Brown).
Though Darrell had planned all along to release a compilation of new and previously released songs devoted to racial justice called Get Your Knees Off Our Necks!!!,” he originally planned to drop it without a song with that title. Feeling emotionally drained and burned out from writing and singing so many BLM-themed songs based on the ongoing torrent of events, he decided to go to the studio and start penning lighthearted romantic tunes about girls, like he did regularly just a few years ago. He even signed a deal with a major label and promised them he would deliver 15 new tunes. But as hard as he tried, the weight of the world – and the voices of the dead – were too heavy on his heart and he told his engineer he just wasn’t feeling it. He still had to record more for the cause. The words which became the title track of the collection just started coming out – and his mission continues.
“These songs reflect exactly what’s been said by Ben Crump, the prominent civil rights attorney who has worked with the families of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Jacob Blake and George Floyd,” says Darrell. “His words are, ‘I believe in justice for all, and especially for those without a voice who need our help most of all.’ Even after the settlement and conviction, George Floyd’s brothers have said, ‘Keep George’s name ringing’ and my way of doing that is recording songs, performing where I can and now, causing the kind of good trouble that John Lewis would no doubt approve of, going everywhere with this coffin that speaks for the victims who can’t. I’ve been kicked out of restaurants and hotels with it, but I bring it along to make a statement wherever I go.
“When I drive my coffin around in the hearse, I feel as though I hear the voices of the victims telling me, ‘Don’t stop fighting for us,’” he adds. “It’s been frightening and painful to witness what has been going on in my sacred America, and while music is my main platform to address these tragedies and underlying issues, the coffin and hearse also help bring attention to the issues at hand. It’s hard to understand people who hate people for no reason but their color and to get them to understand that color doesn’t matter. We shouldn’t be attacked just because of how we look and what we believe in. I don’t always have an overall vision in mind for my musical and cultural activities – I just go where the Spirit leads me and the words and actions flow out. I am a vessel speaking truth to power.”
Learn more at www.darrellkelleyofficial.com.
News and updates www.facebook.com/darrellkelleysmusic.
Watch his music, performance and commentary videos at www.youtube.com/user/latenightwithdarrell/featured
Listen at soundcloud.com/user-792034936, or reverbnation.com/darrellkelley, and/or darrellkelley.bandcamp.com. You can follow him on Instagram at darrellkellyofficial.
MUSIC SIGHT READER: CHANGES THE GAME FOR MUSICIANS • INTERACTIVE SHEET MUSIC COMES TO THE APPLE BOOKS PLATFORM
Changes the Game for Musicians
Interactive sheet music comes to the Apple Books platform
Music Sight Reader is the first of its kind. In a marketplace saturated with music education apps, hardcover sheet music, and sheet music for download, Music Sight Reader rises to the top as a new way for students, educators, and musicians to practice, teach, and enjoy sight reading. The platform is neither an app nor an e-book, but rather an app/e-book combo. Music Sight Reader is interactive sheet music for your virtual bookshelf.
Essentially launching both a library and a hybrid app all in one, the first release, “Classical Collection Vol 1”, is part of the Interactive Sight Reading Series. This runs on the platform, Music Sight Reader, available on Apple Books (formerly iBooks from 2010 to 2018) an e-book reading and store application by Apple Inc. for its iOS and macOS operating systems. Music Sight Reader runs natively within Apple Books on Apple devices such as iPads, iPhones and Mac computers.
The flagship “Classical Collection Vol.1”, includes classical duets, trios, and quartets (featuring Bach, Brahms, Mozart, and more), arranged for a given clef and instrument. The bass volume has been arranged for bass clef, while the guitar volume has been arranged for treble clef. This means that guitar players, for example, can now read both voices of a Mozart Sonata originally composed for piano, or a bass student can now read all parts of a Bach Chorale, originally composed for voice. Choose which part to play and Music Sight Reader will play the other parts, while the notes automatically scroll across the screen.
This cutting-edge format gives musicians around the globe fresh new access to some of the greatest music ever written, all without the trappings of standard sight reading apps (subscription plans and in-the-style-of arrangements). The pieces in ‘Classical Collection Vol 1” can also be purchased À la carte as individual works. À la carte pieces and collections arranged for piano are currently under development and will be released soon.
Bruce Gertz and Raleigh Green are onto something special with Music Sight Reader. Gertz, a Berklee alum/educator, and acclaimed jazz bass player and Green, a professional designer, developer, musician, and educator, built this music sight-reading program with the aim of carving out a completely unique and impactful educational space. Says Gertz, “We are really excited about the vast potential of what this product can provide to students and professionals all over the world.”
“This is a really wonderful idea for an interactive Apple Books/app. Of course, not only do you practice your reading but you play through classic melodies. And you can use Music Sight Reader for analyzing some of those great compositions. Congratulations!” — Mike Stern
A COVER OF 'A CHANGE IS GONNA COME' BY RICKY ALAN DRAUGHN FT. KIM WATERS
Emerging cutting edge R&B singer Ricky Alan Draughn offers a searingly emotional, horn-drenched version of Sam Cooke’s classic “A Change is Gonna Come” that’s perfect for these socially conscious times. Produced by Chris “Big Dog” Davis and featuring a blazing sax solo by Kim Waters, the simmering soul track captures our challenging moment with both poetic eloquence and sheer power.
FLUTIST BRANDON MARCEAL’S SINGLE 'KEEP MOVIN’'
"Keep Movin," the new single produced by guitarist Adam Hawley, is an upbeat and energetic song showcasing Mr. Soul-Rockin Flutist, Brandon Marceal.
Marceal is a progressive artist who is bringing a unique flavor to the jazz music scene and creating a connection with the souls of listeners across America. With every fluttering breath, he takes the notes on his flute and makes more than music. He makes conversation while crossing genres, transcending his listeners into a musical world full of melodies and frequencies. Brandon Marceal’s sound is a sultry and soothing sensation. He admires artists Hubert Laws and Bobbi Humphrey, and describes his music as therapeutic and refreshing.
His layering of soulful R&B and Latin rhythms along with hip hop influences has led to collaborations with composer Kevin Kendricks and legendary singer Patti LaBelle on the Universal Picture’s 2006 release, Idlewild, featuring Andre 3000 and Big Boi of Outkast. He was also hand picked by Nicki Minaj for her cover contest & honored as a grand prize winner. Most recently, Brandon was named Ben Tankard’s “Sunday’s Best Musician” 2020 grand prize winner, and can be heard on Tankard’s 2021 release, Shine! Marceal is creating quite a buzz by presenting a refreshing and soothing voice to Gospel, Contemporary Jazz and hip-hop/R&B. Having dedicated decades pursuing a pure passion for the flute, Brandon Marceal has mastered using intonation to make the flute a voice for his personality.
NEW SINGLE 'PUSH IT FORWARD' BY ROB ZINN FT. RAGAN WHITESIDE
Trumpet sensation Rob Zinn debuts on the Randis Music label with the brand new single titled "Push It Forward" featuring none other than contemporary soul-jazz flute phenomenon, Ragan Whiteside. The upbeat, danceable track showcases the melodic improvisational skills of both musicians and grooves to the close with a clever call-and-response segment between the two instruments.
"Push It Forward" is available January 24, 2022, at all digital download and streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Pandora, Deezer, and more.
"Push It Forward" represents the first release on Randis Music of an artist other than Whiteside.
In 2016, veteran trumpeter and flugelhornist Rob Zinn launched an exciting new phase of his distinguished, multi-faceted career, emerging as an internationally recognized smooth jazz artist and composer with his critically acclaimed albums Walk The Walk (2018) and Yesterday Again (2016).
EEN OFFICIËLE @WORK EDITIE VAN MONOPOLY MET AMBASSADEUR ARNOUT VAN DEN BOSSCHE
In het najaar van 2022 komt er een nieuwe en exclusieve Monopoly-uitgave onder officieel erkende licentie van Hasbro: Monopoly @Work. Deze gelimiteerde uitgave biedt de uitgelezen kans om het bedrijfsleven op een alternatieve, ludieke manier te ontdekken.
Vandaag werd deze officiële Monopoly-versie voorgesteld aan de pers. De editie blijft trouw aan het originele spelconcept maar wordt in een bedrijfsjasje gestoken. Alle locaties van het klassieke Monopoly-spelbord worden aangepast naar afdelingen en ruimtes die in een bedrijf voorkomen. Zo zal je bijvoorbeeld de HR- of de Marketingafdeling kunnen kopen, maar ook de vervoersmiddelen van en naar het werk komen aan bod. Bovendien worden ook de Kans- en Algemeen Fondskaartjes aangepast met komische werksituaties die voor iedereen herkenbaar zijn. Zo kan je Monopoly-geld verdienen als werknemer van de maand of dankzij de verkoop van aandelen. Voor de overige invulling van het spel is het nog wachten tot de lancering eind 2022.
Ambassadeur van deze editie is comedian Arnout Van den Bossche, gekend van zijn theatershow “Burn-out voor beginners” waarmee hij meer dan 100.000 bezoekers naar de zalen trok. Zo verkocht hij onder andere maar liefst 2 keer de Lotto Arena uit. Arnout is zelf ingenieur van opleiding en heeft heel wat ervaring opgedaan in de privésector alvorens hij van start ging met zijn professionele comedy carrière. Zijn show gaat over situaties die iedereen kent van op de werkvloer met de daarbij horende clichés.
Zijn vaste cartoonist, Bart Vantieghem, is de illustrator van Monopoly @Work. Bart is tevens zelf comedian en heeft reeds heel wat werk gerelateerde cartoons van Arnout getekend.
Er is één locatie op het spelbord die nog niet bepaald is. Iedereen kan stemmen op zijn favoriete bedrijfsafdeling en zo bepalen welke afdeling het duurste plaatsje krijgt op het spelbord. Het wordt dus spannend om te vernemen welke afdeling de meesten stemmen kan verzamelen en zo officieel benoemd kan worden tot meest belangrijke afdeling binnen het bedrijfsleven. Iedereen die zijn stem uitbrengt maakt kans op Royco soepjes voor zijn / haar firma ter waarde van 1.000 EUR. Stemmen kan via www.MONOPOLYATWORK.be vanaf vandaag tot en met donderdag 10 februari om middernacht.
Het zal gaan om een gelimiteerde oplage. Hoeveel spellen er exact zullen gedrukt worden is nog niet duidelijk maar het spel zal slechts eenmalig geproduceerd worden. Voor zij die zich willen verzekeren van een exemplaar: het spel kan nu al besteld worden als pre-order via www.MONOPOLYATWORK.be. Het spel wordt in het najaar dan automatisch geleverd.
JACK BROADBENT : ‘RIDE’ – NEW SINGLE BY ACCLAIMED SINGER-SONGWRITER AND GUITARIST
photography by Jeff Fasano
JACK BROADBENT
RIDE
new single
out 21.01.22
(Crows Feet Records)
from the album
RIDE
out 08.04.22
pre-order link
orcd.co/ridealbpre
LIVE IN THE UK
18.06.22
BLACK DEER FESTIVAL
(Eridge Park, Kent)
British singer-songwriter and acclaimed guitarist Jack Broadbent is used to people saying, "Oh, this is a departure from your previous stuff." He has heard it soon after the appearance of each of his five albums to date and it will certainly follow ‘Ride’, which is released in early April and is his first full-length record since ‘Moonshine Blue’ in 2019. As someone who is as connected to the quality of his relationships with people as he is to the quality of his music, rest assured that he considers it a compliment. "I think there's a lot of variety on my records and this is no different,” he states. "I'm really getting a sense now that this idea of genre and where you fit in is not as important as it used to be, which I think is a good thing.”
Broadbent grew up in Lincolnshire but has spent the last few years living in Canada. His earliest influence was his father Mick, who is also a musician (including a tenure with late ‘70s power-poppers Bram Tchaikovsky) and plays bass on ‘Ride’. Informed as a youngster by the steady diet of music played around the house, Jack began accompanying Mick to open mic nights, and by his early teens was playing drums in his dad's bands, gravitating to guitar when he became interested in songwriting. "Being a drummer, I tried to develop a very rhythmic approach to my guitar playing," he recalls. "What interested me was being able to hold down a groove and do some gymnastics to incorporate solos and subtle bass lines.”
Broadbent’s renowned slide guitar playing evolved from busking regularly in his early 20s. "It seemed to appeal to people as something that was both visually and musically exciting. This was interesting to me. I was already playing in altered and open tunings, so when it came to using a slide I was well-versed in how those patterns worked together." He took some cues from influences such as John Lee Hooker and Little Feat, but ultimately says that "I never really wanted to emulate anybody else's style, which is why I ended up going down a slightly more hard-hitting, brash kind of route in my playing.”
Finding an audience after the Montreux Jazz Festival hailed him as “the new master of the slide guitar” and Bootsy Collins famously proclaimed him “the real thang!”, Broadbent subsequently won over more fans after touring with the likes of Ronnie Wood, Peter Frampton and other legendary talents. Meanwhile, his penchant for writing on the road ensured that there was usually an abundance of material whenever he was ready to return to the studio. This holds true with ‘Ride’, although the album took a turn from what he had originally intended.
"I had to come off the road because of the Covid pandemic and was going to work on a solo project of acoustic material," he explains. Instead, with Quebec-based drummer and co-producer Mark Gibson, "...we started playing some of the more rock 'n' roll stuff I had, and we couldn't deny that there was a kind of vibe happening. So, I just went full steam ahead in that direction which brought the sound of this album into focus. We built on those grooves and ended up with the rock 'n' roll record I've been wanting to make for a long time."
‘Ride’ does indeed rock, with Broadbent’s natural grit, voice and guitar riding atop every song with a driving force. However, there is also stylistic diversity on offer, from the moody ambience of ‘Who Are You?’ and the title track (out now as a single), which he describes as "a tale of adventure", to the blues roots of ‘New Orleans’, a love letter to one of his favourite cities. Meanwhile, ‘Grace’ soars with a kind of front-porch spirituality, while previous single ‘I Love Your Rock 'n' Roll’ is "an homage to the bands that I like" and gallops along with an energetic Americana vibe. Overall, via several twists and turns, the album takes the listener on a trip, strung together by a vision that Broadbent developed during the recording process.
"Mark and I recorded the tracks live in a small home studio in Quebec, following which I sent them to the UK where my dad added the bass lines and then sent them back to us for mixing and mastering,” Broadbent discloses. Working around travel limitations and the uncertainty of the last two years, this international collaboration reflects what Broadbent calls "this underlying theme of trying to get a feel for where you're heading and recognising how much distance you've still got left to travel.”
The next step, of course, is to take ‘Ride’ on the road, which Broadbent will be doing throughout 2022, including an appearance at the Black Deer Festival in Kent in mid-June. He knows that its songs will only grow as he presents them on stage, but they will nevertheless continue to speak to the experiences from which they were born. "I really like the energy of this record," he says. "There seems to be an interesting dichotomy between what I write while I'm touring and what I write when I'm able to sit and think. What the album speaks to is that juxtaposition between the ride and the time spent parked up. It all ties into the journey of the artist."
No matter what lies on the road ahead, Broadbent’s fans can rely on his dedication to his music and evolving craft. Little Feat founding member and current US tour mate Bill Payne perhaps says it best when he states: "I love his voice. His playing is superb, showing an almost reckless abandon when he gets revved up. He is performing on the edge, and if he falls, so be it. The pieces will not break.”
RIDE
TRACKLISTING
1 Ride
2 I Love Your Rock ’n’ Roll
3 New Orleans
4 Hard Livin’
5 Midnight Radio
6 Baby Blue
7 Grace
8 Who Are You?
MOONSHINE BLUE
UK REVIEWS
“His slide guitar playing is as phenomenal as they say, but the songs come first. Beautiful”
CLASSIC ROCK
“Shows off his true power as a singer-songwriter. A superb album”
BLUES MATTERS
“The strength of his songwriting sets him head and shoulders above most Brit-bluesmen”
HI-FI NEWS & RECORD REVIEW
“A masterclass in slide and blues guitar with a great vocal delivery”
LOUDER THAN WAR
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GUITARIST CHIELI MINUCCI FINDS SOLACE IN “SOMEONE'S SINGING”
The award-winning musician-composer drops his first acoustic guitar album on Friday.
NEW YORK CITY (20 January 2022): When the COVID-19 lockdown began in March 2020, Chieli Minucci had his wings clipped, abruptly pulling the plug amidst the three-time Emmy-winning and GRAMMY nominated musician-composer’s concert tour in support of his band Special EFX’s newly released album “All Stars.” As stress and uncertainty mounted, Minucci, like the rest of us, yearned for escape, peace and tranquility. His mind drifted back to when he was a teenager watching local talent play folk and classical guitar-based music in Greenwich Village’s legendary Folk City nightclub. He found the music performed at those shows to be soothing and mesmerizing. Those cherished recollections inspired Minucci to write and record his first acoustic guitar-based album, “Someone’s Singing,” which receives its official release on Friday.
Recording most of the twelve-track set in his New York City home studio proved to be calming and healing for Minucci, who wrote or co-wrote ten songs for the collection, some culled from his songbook from decades ago. Minucci produced, arranged and performed using his collection of acoustic guitars in addition to playing percussion, including a kalimba (African thumb piano). His nimble fretwork throughout is heartfelt, meditative, communicative, somber and sublime.
“I’ve been eager to share some of my more-gentle, understated playing and writing for some time now. For me, this project has a ‘spiritual’ quality: quite peaceful and even a bit folky. The concept for ‘Someone’s Singing’ was simple: keep it pristine and placid. I've been a longtime fan of acoustic guitar music, particularly folk and classical pieces,” said Minucci who took the album title from the lyrics of the opening track, an instrumental variation of the traditional “Kumbaya.”
“Someone’s Singing” is an album consisting of acoustic guitar etchings, a sparsely produced set featuring minimal accompaniment on three selections. Jerry Brooks’ probing, elastic basslines instill “New Faith,” an intimate and intricate song originally recorded in 1996. Fretless bassist Fernando Saunders brings structure to “Your Spirit,” an ethereal interlude preceding “Memories of Mother,” an emotional passage memorializing Minucci’s mother, Catherine. To him, she represented family honor and love, inspiring his silent pledge made upon her passing to facilitate peace and harmony in his own family, a goal he continues to strive towards in all relationships. Minucci’s late Special EFX partner, George Jinda, added his distinctive percussion to “Free Again,” an exquisite piece adorned by Steve Skinner’s evocative strings.
“‘Free Again’ is the last composition I wrote with the great percussionist George Jinda. His unique approach to rhythm was always a perfect match to my acoustic guitar style. Although the first section of this piece was written separately, the percussive part was completely improvised as we recorded it. Music is amazing like that, and in so many other ways,” said Minucci.
The official release of “Someone’s Singing” begins a prolific year for Minucci who will release Special EFX’s 40th anniversary album, “Twenty Twenty 2,” an elaborate production recorded with an army of collaborating musicians, on April 15 with a supporting concert itinerary that kicks off in mid-March.
“‘Someone's Singing’ stands in striking contrast to what I've been doing with Special EFX for all these years,” said Minucci, a busy band leader, film and television composer who has been releasing solo albums since the mid-nineties.
Minucci is a ten-time Emmy nominee who has written music for the small screen (“The Guiding Light,” “Dancing With The Stars,” “American Idol” and the “Good Morning America” theme), silver screen (“Bowfinger”, “Legally Blonde” and “Panic”), radio (Bloomberg Radio theme), and stage (live productions of “Peter Pan,” “Dora the Explorer” and “Thomas the Tank Engine”).” Beyond his band and solo projects, Minucci’s gifted guitarwork has afforded him extraordinary opportunities to record or perform with iconic artists including Celine Dion, Lou Reed, Lionel Richie, Jennifer Lopez, Jewel, Mark Anthony, Michael Bolton and Eartha Kitt as well as his contemporary jazz colleagues Kirk Whalum, Jeff Lorber, Norman Brown, Mindi Abair, Rick Braun, Marion Meadows, Omar Hakim and many others. For more information, please visit https://chielimusic.com.
“Someone’s Singing” contains the following songs:
“Someone’s Singing (Kumbaya)”
“Bright Sky”
“Church”
“Dreaming Little Drummer Boy”
“Forks in the Road”
“Candlelight”
“Free Again”
“Liminality”
“New Faith”
“Cup of Love”
“Your Spirit”
“Memories of Mother”