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Najee - "The Smooth Side Of Soul" - Shanachie 1/31/12 #jazz

2012-01-24T20:44:00.000-05:00

Najee is a master storyteller. Whether the debonair multi-instrumentalist is engaged in a verbal or musical conversation, his alluring charisma has a way of seducing you into his world. A quadruple threat who is equally adept on soprano, tenor and alto saxophones and flute, Najee’s technical agility, grace, compositional prowess, unbridled passion, fearless genre bending and superior musicianship have made him one of the most sought after musicians of his generation. In a business where trends and artists come and go, Najee’s name is synonymous with innovation, consistency and the best in contemporary jazz. With two Platinum and four Gold albums under his belt, he is an icon whose musical vision spawned an entire new genre by fusing the music close to his heart (R&B and jazz). Three decades later he is showing that he is not done yet! An alum of the New England Conservatory of Music, Najee was mentored by jazz giants Frank Foster and Jimmy Heath as well as classical maven and flutist Harold Jones of the New York Philharmonic. He has collaborated with everyone from Prince and Quincy Jones to Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan and Herbie Hancock. He has also had the distinction to perform for Presidents Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela and made appearances on The Tonight Show and Good Morning America. “I have always tried to maintain consistency when it comes to music I’ve recorded throughout the years,” confides Najee. “As an artist I have been fortunate to attract an audience very early in my career that has followed and grown with me. My challenge has always been to record music that I enjoy playing while at the same time meeting the requirements that I believe my audience would like to hear. I am always looking for something to help me continue to grow as a musician.” On January 31, 2012, Shanachie Entertainment will release Najee’s highly anticipated label debut, The Smooth Side Of Soul, a sublime offering from the peerless instrumentalist and composer, that is a testament as to why he has long reigned as the King of contemporary jazz.

“Recording The Smooth Side Of Soul was truly a labor of love. Jeff Lorber, Chris "Big Dog" Davis, Darren Rahn, Phil Perry and James Lloyd are not only great artists but they are all friends,” exclaims Najee. “Any time I work with any of these gentlemen it is always easy and fun. I think this comes across in the music.” The camaraderie that Najee feels permeates every track on The Smooth Side Of Soul, which opens with the ultra funky “Dis ‘N Dat,” which Najee co-wrote with Chris ‘Big Dog’ Davis (George Clinton, Will Downing, Kim Burrell, Maysa). The song sets the mood for The Smooth Side Of Soul, with its fat bass lines, buttery keys and Najee’s robust and soulfully expressive tenor. Chris ‘Big Dog’ Davis contributes several songs to the CD including the catchy “You Tube,” and the captivating “Perfect Nites.” Najee explains of the latter, “This song is just something you can listen to while cruising down the highway in your favorite car on your way to your favorite destination.” Shifting moods, Najee invites Phil Perry into the mix on the dance inspiring and disco flavored “Just To Fall In Love,” penned by Will Downing, Phil Perry and Chris ‘Big Dog’ Davis. The song highlights Najee’s impeccable chops as he cuts it up and doubles on tenor and flute. Phil Perry’s vocals are at top notch and his gorgeous falsetto is unrivaled. The duo craft an inviting mix of R&B, soul and disco that leaves you wanting more. “It reminds me of the very first record I ever played on for a label called TK Disco and featured me playing flute,” reminisces Najee. “Phil Perry has done a masterful job performing on the record and video.” The charming and fun-loving video features guest appearances by the lovely and talented Vanessa Bell Calloway and R&B songbird N’Dambi.

A master at creating mesmerizing melodies that stay in your head and tapestries of sound that envelop you in the richness of their texture and composition, Najee summons inspiration for his work from every facet of his life. “As a composer I draw from everything that interests me. I enjoy collaborating with other composers and producers. Like most artists there are life experiences that are in your spirit when you write music.” Some of the kindred spirits

Najee joins forces with on The Smooth Side Of Soul are keyboardist and producer Jeff Lorber (Dave Koz, Michael Franks, Chris Botti, Rick Braun) and saxophonist and producer Darren Rahn (Wayman Tisdale, Eric Darius, Bob James, Jonathan Butler).

On “In The Clouds” Najee and Jeff Lorber concoct a free flowing, ethereal and trippy number that features Najee on alto and flute. Najee is also highlighted on alto on the track “Perfect Nites.” Najee’s alto elicits a warmth, lyricism and muscularity that is enviable. “I can recall the first time I heard Charlie Parker on record. I couldn't believe that the saxophone could do what he did with it. I also recall the first time I heard Grover Washington Jr. perform “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life". I couldn't believe that this saxophonist with a traditional jazz sound could play a popular song of the time with such melodic precision and gravity,” states Najee. “These two artists made me look at the alto saxophone in a different light.”

When Najee burst onto the scene with his soulful R&B, soul and jazz drenched sound and songs like “Najee’s Theme,” “Sweet Love” and “Betcha Don’t Know,” it was not long before his trademark soprano found a home at the top of the charts and he carved out his own unique niche in the musical landscape. “My first love was the tenor saxophone and flute,” confides Najee. “It was my brother Fareed who got me to play soprano saxophone. We would argue over me not wanting to play soprano. Then one day someone gave me a soprano saxophone and I played on his songs. That began my soprano saxophone career and little did I know then, that would be the instrument to make me popular. On The Smooth Side Of Soul the one track that features Najee’s soprano is the beautiful “First Kiss” which Najee wrote with Jeff Lorber and Dawn Morales. Najee’s lyrical and tender playing is complimented by Lorber’s acoustic piano. “Of course we all remember our ‘First Kiss,’” reminisces Najee.

The Smooth Side Of Soul also showcases “One Night In Soho,” a gorgeous and spirited waltz Najee co-wrote with Darren Rahn, highlighting his supple tenor and that pays homage to two of his favorite destinations – Soho in NY and Soho in London. Najee and Chris ‘Big Dog’ Davis cut loose and have some fun with their song “Fu Fu She She.” Najee says of the latter, “This song is about those people we have encountered at some time or another. We all know those Starbucks, Gucci, Rolex, and Calvin Klein type personalities. For me I find these people to be a lot of fun and a study in itself. Hell, I might just be one of those people!” Najee and Davis also co-wrote the swinger “Mari,” which features Najee’s impeccable flute work. Najee did not always plan on playing the flute. “One Christmas Eve my tenor and alto saxophones were stolen,” he explains. “For an entire year I did not play saxophones at all. My brother Fareed and I were in a band together and I was the lead sax player. One can only imagine how heartbreaking it was to lose my instruments. That experience ended up being a major blessing in disguise. I was forced to study the flute more seriously. For a year I dedicated my life to advancing on the flute. This was the only way I was going to be able to continue playing in our band.”

Few musicians can dip in and out of genres and styles as effortlessly as Najee. His decision to close The Smooth Side Of Soul with a Jimmy Heath classic is brilliant. His take on the Philly tenor titan’s “is His Sound For Sore Ears” is a solid straight ahead burner that smokes from beginning to end. It features another Philly musician, pianist James Lloyd from Pieces of a Dream. “In 2011, I performed a concert for the James Moody foundation at the Blue Note in New York City. David Sanborn, Roy Hargrove, Paquito D'Rivera and Jimmy Heath were on the gig. I had not seen Jimmy in many years and I was extremely excited to be on the same stage with him,” recalls Najee. “I told him that I always loved his song ‘Sound For Sore Ears’ and that I would like to record it. He said to me that he would be honored if I did. Words cannot describe what Jimmy Heath and others have meant to my brother and I as a musician, mentor, and educator. This is my way to say thank you to such a great man.

Born in the Greenwich Village in New York City and raised in Jamaica, Queens, Najee’s musical pursuits began in grade school. “As a kid I was into the R&B and Jazz music of my time,” he shares. “I familiarized myself with different kinds of music all the time.

As I began to develop on my instrument, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Yusef Lateef and Hubert Laws on flute were some of the artists that inspired me. As an industrious and hungry young musician, Najee had the good fortune of coming through Dr. Billy Taylor’s now legendary Jazzmobile program. While a student at the New England Conservatory (where both Najee and his brother attended) he studied jazz with George Russell and Jaki Byard. When he finished school Najee returned to New York in the early 80s and was lucky to land a gig with Chaka Khan along with his brother and guitarist Fareed (who is now his manager). In 1987 Najee's Theme, was released and the saxophonist earned a slot on tour with singer Freddie Jackson. The following year, Day By Day was released, and in 1991, Tokyo Blue, which is one of Najee’s most successful and enduring recordings. Tokyo Blue (which was produced by Najee’s brother Fareed) and Day By Day both went Gold and led to two Soul Train Awards for Najee (Best Jazz Artist in 1991 and 1993). Just An Illusion came in 1992 and around this time he collaborated with such iconic figures as Quincy Jones and a collaboration with jazz greats Stanley Clarke, Billy Cobham and Larry Carlton resulted in the album Live At The Greek. Share My World came in 1994 and was followed in 1995 by a critically acclaimed tribute to Stevie Wonder's 1976 classic, Songs In The Key Of Life. The CD was produced by George Duke and features Herbie Hancock and Sheila E. among others. His CD Morning Tenderness was released in 1998 went to #1 on the contemporary jazz charts. For Najee, the late ‘90s were marked by extraordinary international experiences, from performing at Nelson Mandela’s birthday celebration in South Africa to playing as a special guest of President Clinton at the White House at an event honoring President Jerry Rawlings of the Republic of Ghana. Najee also spent two years of touring (2001-2003) with Prince and appears on Prince’s albums Rainbow Children and One Night Alone. In 2003 Najee released Embrace featuring special guests Roy Ayers and BeBe Winans. My Point Of View was his follow up in 2005 featuring his good friend and vocalist Will Downing. 2007’s Rising Sun joined Najee with Phil Perry and Mind Over Matter from 2009 paired Najee with singer Eric Benét.
“When my fans hear The Smooth Side Of Soul,” concludes Najee, “I am hoping it will be a fun and uplifting experience for them and they will want to join me at one of my upcoming live shows to support this music. I had a lot of fun recording this project and I hope the audience will have just as much fun listening.

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Smooth Jazz Chart - Weekly Top 20 - January 23, 2012 #jazz

2012-01-24T20:32:00.000-05:00

LW - TW - Artist - Album - (Label)
1 - 1 - Boney James - "Contact" - (Verve)
2 - 2 - Acoustic Alchemy - "Roseland" - (Onside/Heads Up)
6 - 3 - Richard Elliot - "In The Zone" - (Artistry/Mack Ave.)
10 - 4 - George Benson - "Guitar Man" - (Concord)
3 - 5 - Paul Hardcastle - "Hardcastle VI" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
4 - 6 - Euge Groove - "S7ven Large" - (Shanachie)
5 - 7 - Wayman Tisdale - "The Wayman Tisdale Story" - (Rendezvous Music)
12 - 8 - Paul Taylor - "Prime Time" - (Peak)
9 - 9 - Tim Bowman - "The Tim Bowman Collection" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
7 - 10 - Jessy J - "Hot Sauce" - (Heads Up)
11 - 11 - Kim Waters - "This Heart Of Mine" - (Shanachie)
8 - 12 - Andy Snitzer - "Traveler" - (Native Language)
14 - 13 - Larry Carlton - "Plays The Sound of Philadelphia" - (335)
16 - 14 - Maysa - "Motions Of Love" - (Shanachie)
13 - 15 - Chuck Loeb - "Plain 'n' Simple" - (Tweety)
19 - 16 - Brian Lenair - "Eye Of The Storm" - (Grits & Gravy)
25 - 17 - Michael Lington - "Pure" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
15 - 18 - Bob Baldwin - "NewUrbanJazz.com 2/Revibe (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
17 - 19 - Rob Tardik - "Balance.Energy.Laughter.Love" - (Guitardik)
43 - 20 - Najee - "Smooth Side Of Soul - (Shanachie)

Our thanks to smoothjazz.comVisit smoothjazz.com to view the latest complete top 50 chart.
Visit smoothjazz.com to view the latest weekly chart recap.

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Legendary blues singer Etta James dies in Calif. #jazz

2012-01-20T11:48:00.000-05:00

Etta James' performance of the enduring classic "At Last" was the embodiment of refined soul: Angelic-sounding strings harkened the arrival of her passionate yet measured vocals as she sang tenderly about a love finally realized after a long and patient wait.

In real life, little about James was as genteel as that song. The platinum blonde's first hit was a saucy R&B number about sex, and she was known as a hell-raiser who had tempestuous relationships with her family, her men and the music industry. Then she spent years battling a drug addiction that she admitted sapped away at her great talents.

In other words, she was one of music's original bad girls.

"The bad girls ... had the look that I liked," she wrote in her 1995 autobiography, "Rage to Survive." "I wanted to be rare, I wanted to be noticed, I wanted to be exotic as a Cotton Club chorus girl, and I wanted to be obvious as the most flamboyant hooker on the street. I just wanted to be."

James' spirit could not be contained - perhaps that's what made her so magnetic in music; it is surely what made her so dynamic as one of R&B, blues and rock `n' roll's underrated legends. The 83-year-old died at Riverside Community Hospital, with her husband and sons at her side, De Leon said.

"It's a tremendous loss for her fans around the world," he said. "She'll be missed. A great American singer. Her music defied category."

Despite the reputation she cultivated, she would always be remembered best for "At Last." The jazz-inflected rendition wasn't the original, but it would become the most famous and the song that would define her as a legendary singer. Over the decades, brides used it as their song down the aisle and car companies to hawk their wares, and it filtered from one generation to the next through its inclusion in movies like "American Pie." Perhaps most famously, President Obama and the first lady danced to a version at his inauguration ball.

The tender, sweet song belied the turmoil in her personal life. James - born Jamesette Hawkins - was born in Los Angeles to a mother whom she described as a scam artist, a substance abuser and a fleeting presence during her youth. She never knew her father, although she was told and had believed, that he was the famous billiards player Minnesota Fats. He neither confirmed nor denied it: when they met, he simply told her: "I don't remember everything. I wish I did, but I don't."

She was raised by Lula and Jesse Rogers, who owned the rooming house where her mother once lived in. The pair brought up James in the Christian faith, and as a young girl, her voice stood out in the church choir. James landed the solos in the choir and became so well known, she said that Hollywood stars would come to see her perform.

But she wouldn't stay a gospel singer for long. Rhythm and blues lured her away from the church, and she found herself drawn to the grittiness of the music.

"My mother always wanted me to be a jazz singer, but I always wanted to be raunchy," she recalled in her book.

She was doing just that when bandleader Johnny Otis found her singing on San Francisco street corners with some girlfriends in the early 1950s.

"At the time, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters had a hit with `Work With Me, Annie,' and we decided to do an answer. We didn't think we would get in show business, we were just running around making up answers to songs," James told The Associated Press in 1987.

And so they replied with the song, "Roll With Me, Henry."

When Otis heard it, he told James to get her mother's permission to accompany him to Los Angeles to make a recording. Instead, the 15-year-old singer forged her mother's name on a note claiming she was 18.

"At that time, you weren't allowed to say `roll' because it was considered vulgar. So when Georgia Gibbs did her version, she renamed it `Dance With Me, Henry' and it went to No. 1 on the pop charts," the singer recalled. The Gibbs song was one of several in the early rock era when white singers got hits by covering songs by black artists, often with sanitized lyrics.

After her 1955 debut, James toured with Otis' revue, sometimes earning only $10 a night. In 1959, she signed with Chicago's legendary Chess label, began cranking out the hits and going on tours with performers such as Bobby Vinton, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis and the Everly Brothers.

"We would travel on four buses to all the big auditoriums. And we had a lot of fun," she recalled in 1987.

James recorded a string of hits in the late 1950s and `60s including "Trust In Me," "Something's Got a Hold On Me," "Sunday Kind of Love," "All I Could Do Was Cry," and of course, "At Last."

"(Chess Records founder) Leonard Chess was the most aware of anyone. He went up and down the halls of Chess announcing, `Etta's crossed over! Etta's crossed over!' I still didn't know exactly what that meant, except that maybe more white people were listening to me. The Chess brothers kept saying how I was their first soul singer, that I was taking their label out of the old Delta blues, out of rock and into the modern era. Soul was the new direction," she wrote in her autobiography. "But in my mind, I was singing old style, not new."

In 1967, she cut one of the most highly regarded soul albums of all time, "Tell Mama," an earthy fusion of rock and gospel music featuring blistering horn arrangements, funky rhythms and a churchy chorus. A song from the album, "Security," was a top 40 single in 1968.

Her professional success, however, was balanced against personal demons, namely a drug addiction.

"I was trying to be cool," she told the AP in 1995, explaining what had led her to try heroin.

"I hung out in Harlem and saw Miles Davis and all the jazz cats," she continued. "At one time, my heavy role models were all druggies. Billie Holiday sang so groovy. Is that because she's on drugs? It was in my mind as a young person. I probably thought I was a young Billie Holiday, doing whatever came with that."

She was addicted to the drug for years, beginning in 1960, and it led to a harrowing existence that included time behind bars. It sapped her singing abilities and her money, eventually, almost destroying her career.

It would take her at least two decades to beat her drug problem. Her husband, Artis Mills, even went to prison for years, taking full responsibility for drugs during an arrest even though James was culpable.

"My management was suffering. My career was in the toilet. People tried to help, but I was hell-bent on getting high," she wrote of her drug habit in 1980.

She finally quit the habit and managed herself for a while, calling up small clubs and asking them, "Have you ever heard of Etta James?" in order to get gigs. Eventually, she got regular bookings - even drawing Elizabeth Taylor as an audience member. In 1984, she was tapped to sing the national anthem at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and her career got the resurgent boost it needed, though she fought addiction again when she got hooked on painkillers in the late 1980s.

Drug addiction wasn't her only problem. She struggled with her weight, and often performed from a wheelchair as she got older and heavier. In the early 2000s, she had weight-loss surgery and shed some 200 pounds.

James performed well into her senior years, and it was "At Last" that kept bringing her the biggest ovations. The song was a perennial that never aged, and on Jan. 20, 2009, as crowds celebrated that - at last - an African-American had become president of the United States, the song played as the first couple danced.

But it was superstar Beyonce who serenaded the Obamas, not the legendary singer. Beyonce had portrayed James in "Cadillac Records," a big-screen retelling of Chess Records' heyday, and had started to claim "At Last" as her own.

An audio clip surfaced of James at a concert shortly after the inauguration, saying she couldn't stand the younger singer and that Beyonce had "no business singing my song." But she told the New York Daily News later that she was joking, even though she had been hurt that she did not get the chance to participate in the inauguration.

James did get her accolades over the years. She was inducted into the Rock Hall in 1993, captured a Grammy in 2003 for best contemporary blues album for "Let's Roll," one in 2004 for best traditional blues album for "Blues to the Bone" and one for best jazz vocal performance for 1994's "Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday." She was also awarded a special Grammy in 2003 for lifetime achievement and got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Her health went into decline, however, and by 2011, she was being cared for at home by a personal doctor.

She suffered from dementia, kidney problems and leukemia. Her husband and her two sons fought over control of her $1 million estate, though a deal was later struck keeping Mills as the conservator and capping the singer's expenses at $350,000. In December 2011, her physician announced that her leukemia was terminal, and asked for prayers for the singer.

In October 2011, it was announced that James was retiring from recording, and a final studio recording, "The Dreamer," was released, featuring the singer taking on classic songs, from Bobby "Blue" Bland's "Dreamer" to Guns N' Roses "Welcome To the Jungle" - still rocking, and a fitting end to her storied career.

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"Here We Go" - Peter White teams up with David Sanborn & Kirk Whalum - Release 3/13/12 #jazz

2012-01-18T16:32:00.000-05:00

After nearly four decades of writing, recording and touring – either as a sideman or a solo artist – Peter White still seeks out the road not yet traveled. Whether it’s new songs, new ideas, new styles or new collaborators, this virtuoso of contemporary jazz, classical, pop and Spanish guitar is at his best when standing on the edge of creative territory waiting to be explored. For White, it’s always about the journey and where it will take him, and he’s always ready to go.

This sense of adventure is at the heart of Here We Go, his new recording set for release on March 13, 2012, on Heads Up International, a division of Concord Music Group. The 11-song set, co-produced by White and long time collaborator DC (George Benson, Al Jarreau, Bob James, Jeffrey Osborne) includes a range of original material written in the recent and distant past and features guest spots from saxophonists David Sanborn and Kirk Whalum.

Like his previous album, Good Day (2009), Here We Go is a collection of songs written and recorded to move people on a level that’s beyond any preconceived concepts. “When I start recording, I don’t have a vision,” White freely admits. “I just go with the moment – what feels good, what sounds good. The vision comes out of the music. The music doesn’t come out of the vision.”

Some of the energy fueling this record is the realization of White’s longtime dream to collaborate with Sanborn, whom he’d met while playing in a live jam session with several other musicians just a couple years ago. In truth, White has been a fan of the saxophonist for decades. “David is someone whom I’ve wanted to play with for the longest time,” he says. “This is someone who played at Woodstock and recorded with David Bowie. His sound has become the inspiration for many of my contemporaries. He’s a legend to me and to just about every musician I know.”

The infectious title track was written with Sanborn in mind, “It came to me one day while I was driving,” White explains. “I kept thinking, ‘this has to be something outstanding. I can’t go to David Sanborn with anything less!’ The excitement about having him play on my record inspired an uptempo rhythm, so I took it in that direction.”

The album fires on all cylinders from the very first notes of “Night After Night,” the effervescent opening track that was culled from some of White’s older, unfinished material. “DC helped me finish this song,” he says. “He added a lot to the rough idea that I had put together years ago. This song and some of the other older ones were ideas that I’d been living with for so long that I could only think about them one way. It was really helpful to have someone like DC hear it for the first time and bring about a fresh approach.”

The powerful ballad “Time Never Sleeps” was written with friend and keyboardist Philippe Saisse, and was originally intended for Saisse’s next CD. “Philippe called me one day and suggested that it should go on my CD, so we reversed the order of the verses so that instead of him playing the first verse on piano, it was now me and my guitar. After many other changes in the arrangement it felt right to go on my CD and subsequently became the second track.”

The wistful “If Ever…” includes White’s 10-year-old daughter, Charlotte White, on violin. “The first time she brought the violin home and played a simple major scale for me, I was almost in tears. I thought it was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard. So I wrote this part for her, I set up the microphone at home and she played it. It’s a song about looking into the future. It’s about possibilities, about what one could do with one’s life if things were slightly different.”

“Our Dance” features the ever-soulful Kirk Whalum on saxophone. White has performed and recorded with Grammy Award winner Whalum many times since the mid-1990s and has often cited him as a major influence. “When Kirk plays, he can connect directly to your emotions”, White explains. The song plays out as a waltz, depicting a couple's relationship and its many intricacies before ending in beautiful harmony.

“Joyride” started with an electric guitar melody created by DC on top of a disco beat, and later embellished by White’s acoustic. “I added a classical guitar arpeggio on top of this slamming disco groove in an effort to create something that people would want to dance to – a sort of latter day ‘Classical Gas’” says White, laughing.

“Costa Rica” is built on an energetic Latin rhythm featuring the congas and timbales of longtime associate Ramon Yslas (Patti Labelle, Christina Aguilera) and pays tribute to a place that White has visited and enjoyed a number of times. “Whenever I go there, I’m struck by the happiness of the people and the beautiful countryside,” he says. “Those are the things that I tried to capture in this song.”

The carefree “My Lucky Day” is White’s nod to Bob Marley and reggae in general. “I’ve always been a fan of reggae,” he says. “Of course, you have to listen to Marley to get the authentic sound. On this song I just tried to convey the passion of reggae in my own way.”

“Requiem for a Princess” is a piece that was written shortly after the death of Lady Diana in 1997. “That was an event that hit everybody hard, especially if you were English. I remember watching the funeral car on live TV moving through the countryside. At every village, people threw flowers on the car until it was just completely covered. I poured all of my sadness into this song and haven’t been able to record it until now, as the memory was too fresh. It’s all minor chords and descending lines- maybe the saddest song I have ever written.”

Here We Go is, in many ways, a study in diversity – a collection of the joyous and the poignant, the newly crafted and the vintage. “I wanted variety,” says White. “I wanted songs that moved me, in the hopes that they’ll move the listener as well. I’m on a journey, and I want to bring with me anyone who’s willing to follow. That’s what the title of the album – and indeed, the spirit of the album – is all about.”

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Kirk Whalum - "Romance Language" - on Rendezvous 2/14/12 #jazz

2012-01-13T07:59:00.000-05:00

It’s been almost 50 years since legendary jazz saxophonist John Coltrane collaborated with the then unheralded vocalist Johnny Hartman to create what many critics have called a classic, a masterpiece duets album comprised of six romantic standards composed by the likes of Irving Berlin, Sammy Cahn, Billy Strayhorn, and Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart. An ardent admirer of the recording and equally purposed with putting the spotlight on an underappreciated vocalist who happens to be his younger brother, Grammy winning saxman Kirk Whalum (www.kirkwhalum.com) has re-recorded the entire album offering his modern day take on the time-tested collection that will be released appropriately on Valentine’s Day as “Romance Language.” We recently sent you the advance CD, which was produced and arranged by Whalum and John Stoddart.

For years, Whalum has mused recreating the Coltrane/Hartman record in its entirety with Kevin Whalum, thus its completion is a dream realized. Since the original recording was a modest thirty minutes in length, four contemporary R&B romancers were recorded to complete the collection, candlelight ballads that seamlessly fit the album’s motif. Favoring a live sound with virtually no overdubs, the tracks were laid by Whalum’s touring band comprised of Stoddart (piano, keyboards, organ), Marcus Finnie (drums), Braylon Lacy (bass), Kevin Turner (electric guitar), Michael “Nomad” Ripoll (acoustic guitar), and Ralph Lofton (organ) along with robust accompaniment courtesy of George Tidwell (flugelhorn, trumpet) and percussionists Bashiri Johnson and Javier Solis.

Opening “Romance Language” with an unabashedly romantic trip back in time, Berlin’s “They Say It’s Wonderful” is a mood-setter on which Kirk’s soulful sax soloing embraces and accentuates the notes emoted by Kevin’s velvety voice. Playing both tenor sax as well as flute on Cahn’s pledge of enduring love, “Dedicated To You,” Whalum’s commanding presence is heartfelt and intimate, embracing while avoiding overwrought emotion. “My One And Only Love” is a sweet serenade exquisitely rendered with the added ambience of acoustic guitar flourishes sprinkled like a dusting of glitter. Kevin takes center stage on “Lush Life” and delivers an arresting showstopper. Throughout the entire album, his debonair tone and sophisticated phrasing adds elegance and class. The musicians stretch out on “You Are Too Beautiful,” taking their time - 8:32 to be exact - to allow the gorgeous melody to gently permeate a seductive mid-tempo R&B groove. Flamenco-like acoustic guitar riffing and Whalum’s sultry soprano sax color “Autumn Serenade” with amour, which concludes the Coltrane/Hartman portion of the album. On “Almost Doesn’t Count,” it is Kirk and Kevin’s 83-year-old uncle, Hugh “Peanuts” Whalum, who steals the spotlight with his warm, sandpapery lead vocals. The first of three instrumentals, “I Wish I Wasn’t” was penned by hit-makers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. In the astute hands of Whalum, his lyrical sax gracefully romances eloquently, replacing lyrics about a pained heart. With a flute intro that pays tribute to Minnie Riperton’s classic “Loving You,” “I Wanna Know” assumes a breezy, reggae-light cadence. Closing with a version of Eric Benet’s “Spend My Life With You,” Whalum loosens his grip on the reins to unleash the fire and intensity of his unadulterated passion.

“Romance Language” is Whalum’s 19^th album as a front man throughout an accomplished career that has garnered success in both secular and non-secular music worlds. He’s scored a pair of #1 Billboard contemporary jazz albums along with 11 Grammy nominations. The Grammy win came last year for a duet with Lalah Hathaway that appeared on his “The Gospel According to Jazz: Chapter III” album. Also last year, the ordained minister earned a Master’s degree in the Art of Religion. Kirk will be busy touring this year with Kevin in support of “Romance Language,” in addition to co-headlining The Apostles of Gospel Tour with Jonathan Butler and CeCe Winans.
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Smooth Jazz Chart - Weekly Top 20 - January 9, 2012 #jazz

2012-01-09T19:16:00.000-05:00

LW - TW - Artist - Album - (Label)
1 - 1 - Richard Elliot - "In The Zone" - (Artistry/Mack Ave.)
2 - 2 - Acoustic Alchemy - "Roseland" - (Onside/Heads Up)
4 - 3 - Boney James - "Contact" - (Verve)
3 - 4 - Paul Hardcastle - "Hardcastle VI" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
7 - 5 - Wayman Tisdale - "The Wayman Tisdale Story" - (Rendezvous Music)
11 - 6 - Euge Groove - "S7ven Large" - (Shanachie)
6 - 7 - Andy Snitzer - "Traveler" - (Native Language)
5 - 8 - Jessy J - "Hot Sauce" - (Heads Up)
9 - 9 - Tim Bowman - "The Tim Bowman Collection" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
8 - 10 - George Benson - "Guitar Man" - (Concord)
14 - 11 - Kim Waters - "This Heart Of Mine" - (Shanachie)
10 - 12 - Chuck Loeb - "Plain 'n' Simple" - (Tweety)
12 - 13 - Paul Taylor - "Prime Time" - (Peak)
22 - 14 - Maysa - "Motions Of Love" - (Shanachie)
13 - 15 - Larry Carlton - "Plays The Sound of Philadelphia" - (335)
19 - 16 - Bob Baldwin - "NewUrbanJazz.com 2/Revibe (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
18 - 17 - Brian Lenair - "Eye Of The Storm" - (Grits & Gravy)
46 - 18 - Rob Tardik - "Balance.Energy.Laughter.Love" - (Guitardik)
17 - 19 - Cindy Bradley - "Unscripted" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
34 - 20 - Terry Wollman - "Buddha's Ear" - (Mango Eater)

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Kat Edmonson - "Way Down Low" - April 10 #jazz

2012-01-06T07:43:00.000-05:00

Kat Edmonson releases second album 'Way Down Low' on Spinnerette Records April 10th, 2012

“I think she’s great. She’s got such an authentic, almost old-time jazz quality about her.”—Lyle Lovett

“Kat is a tremendous talent…with a style and charm that reaches fans in the worlds of blues, rock pop and beyond.”—Al Schmitt, nineteen time Grammy winning producer and engineer

“memorable and contagious”—NPR Music

“a voice that at times exudes raspy confidence of a veteran soul singer, and at other times recalls the coquettish quality of a silver screen starlet.”—AOL Spinner

“Equal parts Billie Holiday and Bjork.” —All About Jazz

Kat Edmonson will self release her sophomore album Way Down Low on Spinnerette Records April 10. The native Texan makes not only her songwriting debut on the record but also co-produces the album. The album was recorded at the historic Avatar Studio and Capitol Studios with Grammy-winning producer/engineer Al Schmitt (Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Sam Cooke) and producer/bassist Danton Boller. The sessions also included input from producer Phil Ramone (Paul Simon “Still Crazy After All These Years,” Billy Joel “The Stranger”). She will play select dates in 2012 including Joe’s Pub on Feb. 17 in New York and The Paramount Theater in Austin on April 13.

Edmondson’s first album Take to the Sky (2009) was self-released by her previous label Convivium Records. The album debuted at #21 on Billboard’s Jazz Charts and reached the Top 10 at jazz radio. The New York Times called Edmonson “a promising young jazz singer with a kittenish voice and an amiably relaxed style” while The Boston Globe said, “Edmonson might be the most promising American jazz singer to come along since Cassandra Wilson”.

Growing up in Houston, Edmonson credits her mother for getting her acquainted with music from the Great American Songbook. She began singing at age four, writing songs at age nine and at 19 she decided to try out for the second season of “American Idol” where she made it to the final 48 in Hollywood. She’s gone on to perform with fellow Texan Willie Nelson, open for Smoky Robinson, tour with Boz Scaggs, perform at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival and headline the Taichung Jazz Festival in Taiwan. In 2010 she developed a friendship with Lyle Lovett, spending a large portion of that summer opening for him. She also recorded two duets with Lovett for his three-song holiday EP “Songs for the Season” and performed the winter classic “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” with him on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”.

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Esperanza Spalding - "Radio Music Society [Deluxe Edition CD/DVD]" Release 3/20/12 #jazz

2012-01-05T12:00:00.000-05:00

It has not taken Esperanza Spalding long to emerge as one of the brightest lights in the musical world. Listeners familiar with her stunning 2008 Heads Up International debut, Esperanza, and her best-selling 2010 release Chamber Music Society, were well aware that the young bassist, vocalist and composer from Portland, Oregon was the real deal, with a unique and style-spanning presence, deeply rooted in jazz yet destined to make her mark far beyond the jazz realm. That judgment was confirmed on February 13, 2011, when Spalding became the first jazz musician to receive the GRAMMY^® Award for Best New Artist. On March 20^th, 2012, Heads Up International, a division of Concord Music Group, gives us Spalding's latest release, Radio Music Society, her most diverse, ambitious and masterful recital yet. Each of the 12 songs are accompanied by conceptual music videos, which further express Esperanza’s inspiration and story behind each track. Shot in various locations including New York City; Barcelona, Spain; and Portland, Oregon; all videos will be available to purchasers of Radio Music Society as a digital download or a DVD on the deluxe version.

Radio Music Society is a companion, rather than a sequel, to Spalding’s previous disc, which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart. “Originally I thought it would be fun to release a double album,” she explains, “One disc with an intimate, subtle exploration of chamber works and a second one in which jazz musicians explore song forms and melodies that are formatted more along the lines of what we would categorize as “pop songs.” Those are the two things that really interest me, and it intrigues me to think about different presentation approaches while writing each kind of song. On the pop song side, I think about listeners who aren’t into jazz, but I also think about the people within my musical community who can interpret each idea best.”

“Radio Song,” the new disc’s opening track, both sets the tone and confirms the aptness of Spalding’s “radio music” metaphor. “Everyone has the experience of turning on a car radio,” she explains,” mindlessly flipping through the dial and suddenly a fragment grabs you and you’re totally digging it. I wanted to capture that moment when the music just sinks in. It’s about the power of song, and how at the least it can save the day.”

Fleshing out the concept with original music was second nature to Spalding. “I have this book of music that I’ve written, and so much of it fit either the Chamber Music or Radio Music concept. Songs develop for me in fragments, so for these projects, I took my notes and organized them into coherent works of music.”

In the process, Spalding added her original, affirmative perspective to classic radio music themes. Songs about love run a full gamut. “Hold On Me” is a narrative of unrequited love, inspired by people who cling to dreams of relationships that can never be realized. “Let Her,” one of Spalding’s older compositions, was inspired by “different people I’ve known who are in miserable situations, then complain when they end.” “Cinnamon Tree,” written to cheer up a friend, celebrates platonic love, and Spalding’s belief that “the love between friends is just as important as romantic love.”

“Crowned and Kissed,” with references to King Arthur and Midas, is about “the unsung royalty in your life, men and women who quietly, every day do the most honorable things, and who deserve to be honored even if they don’t end up with castles and thrones.” The edgy “Smile Like That” marks the moment a person realizes that his or her partner has developed other interests. “I’m saying, `Okay, I get it, let’s not beat around the bush,’” Spalding explains.

Her takes on the state of our country and our culture are equally fresh and insightful. “Vague Suspicions” confronts society’s short attention span and our habit of absorbing horrific events and celebrity gossip as part of the same media overload. The brief “Land Of The Free” speaks to the sinister system of false imprisonment by outlining the case of one innocent victim who spent 30 years in jail for a crime he did not commit.

“Black Gold” is specifically addressed to young boys of color. “So much of our strength is drawn from resistance and endurance,” she explains, “but black pride didn’t just start with the slave trade. I wanted to address our nobility, going back to our incredible ancestors in pre-colonial Africa. I remember meetings when I was in elementary school about being strong as young black women, and I don’t think the boys had those meetings. This song is meant to speak to those young men, and I imagined it might one day be something that a parent could sing to his or her son.”

Radio Music Society also features “City of Roses,” a celebration of her native Portland, Oregon that Spalding was commissioned to write by Banana Republic, and two cover tunes. Taking the advice of one of her mentors, tenor saxophone giant Joe Lovano: “When you do a classic, you have to find your own reason for doing it.” Spalding charges Stevie Wonder’s “I Can’t Help It” with the energy of apprehensive new love and adds original lyrics to Wayne Shorter’s “Endangered Species.”

The music is realized by many of the brilliant musicians who are part of Spalding’s ever-expanding universe. In addition to longtime partners Lovano, keyboard player Leo Genovese and drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, the ranks contain jazz legends Jack DeJohnette and Billy Hart; guitar heroes Jef Lee Johnson and Lionel Loueke; an array of master vocalists including Algebra Blessett, Lalah Hathaway, Gretchen Parlato, Leni Stern and Becca Stevens; hip-hop giant Q-Tip (who performs on and co-produced two tracks); and two Portland-based musicians, Janice Scroggins and Dr. Thara Memory, who provided essential mentorship in Spalding’s youth.

Four tracks feature the horn section of the American Music Program, a youth big band of musicians age 12 to 18 directed by her longtime mentor and teacher Dr. Memory, who conducts and provides horn arrangements; while the soulful pianist on “Hold on Me” is Ms. Scroggins, who Spalding studied with as a child. “Both of them are phenomenal artists who aren’t well known outside of the Northwest,” Spalding emphasizes. “Janice Scroggins was, quite honestly, too deep for me when I was eight years old. She unifies completely the sounds of gospel, blues and jazz, our American roots music. And Dr. Thara Memory, the teacher I came up through, has dedicated his life to spreading the message of this music. I had to have his youth band on the record, because they’re part of my Music Society, too.”

Among its many strengths, Radio Music Society is a celebration of the men and women who have helped cultivate Spalding’s talent, as well as those who have nurtured her vision and inspired her along the way. “I’ve had the honor and blessing of working with so many phenomenal jazz musicians over the years,” she says. “As I’ve gotten to know them and their music, I’ve grown to love them as family and colleagues. I wished for an opportunity for us all to interpret songs together, so that they can be heard and received by a larger audience. All my personal heroes who are revered in the jazz world – like Joe Lovano and Terri Lyne Carrington – should be heard by a mainstream audience, because what they manifest in their music is so beautiful, sincere and uplifting. I think they literally bring good into the lives of the people who hear them. So I’ve tried to put together a program of music that speaks to the non-jazz listener, but can still provide a viable foundation for my jazz heroes to express themselves. Hopefully, people can enjoy all the elements of my music without being told which genres it is ‘supposedly’ a blend of. Everyone is invited to listen with no pre-conceived notions. It’s a journey. Think and feel for yourself. But, most importantly, ENJOY!”

“Art doesn’t thrive with too much analyzing and explaining,” Esperanza Spalding notes, “The idea of `radio music’ is very broad.” Radio Music Society is destined to expand the concept even further, not to mention the horizons of the music world’s most exceptional young artist.

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Najee - "Smooth Side of Soul" on Shanachie 1/31/12 #jazz

2012-01-05T09:49:00.000-05:00

Najee is set to release his latest album, Smooth Side of Soul,on Shanachie Records on January 31. The New York based multi-instrumentalist has enjoyed a long and successful solo career in addition to his work with artists like Chaka Khan, George Duke, Herbie Hancock and Prince. For this project, he enlisted the help of Phil Perry, Jeff Lorber, Darren Rahn, Chris "Big Dog" Davis and James Floyd of Pieces Of A Dream. He says, "It is my hope that my audience will enjoy listening and experiencing this record as much as I enjoyed recording it. I had a lot of fun recording this project and I hope the audience will have just as much fun listening." You can check out his video for "Just To Fall In Love" featuring Phil Perry on vocals here:www.youtube.com/watch.

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Smooth Jazz Chart - Weekly Top 20 - January 2, 2012 #jazz

2012-01-02T20:30:00.000-05:00

LW - TW - Artist - Album - (Label)
1 - 1 - Richard Elliot - "In The Zone" - (Artistry/Mack Ave.)
2 - 2 - Acoustic Alchemy - "Roseland" - (Onside/Heads Up)
3 - 3 - Paul Hardcastle - "Hardcastle VI" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
4 - 4 - Boney James - "Contact" - (Verve)
5 - 5 - Jessy J - "Hot Sauce" - (Heads Up)
6 - 6 - Andy Snitzer - "Traveler" - (Native Language)
7 - 7 - Wayman Tisdale - "The Wayman Tisdale Story" - (Rendezvous Music)
8 - 8 - George Benson - "Guitar Man" - (Concord)
9 - 9 - Tim Bowman - "The Tim Bowman Collection" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
10 - 10 - Chuck Loeb - "Plain 'n' Simple" - (Tweety)
11 - 11 - Euge Groove - "S7ven Large" - (Shanachie)
12 - 12 - Paul Taylor - "Prime Time" - (Peak)
13 - 13 - Larry Carlton - "Plays The Sound of Philadelphia" - (335)
14 - 14 - Kim Waters - "This Heart Of Mine" - (Shanachie)
15 - 15 - Jonathan Fritzen - "Friday Night"[single] - (Woodward Avenue)
16 - 16 - David Wells - "Light" - (Independent)
17 - 17 - Cindy Bradley - "Unscripted" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
18 - 18 - Brian Lenair - "Eye Of The Storm" - (Grits & Gravy)
19 - 19 - Bob Baldwin - "NewUrbanJazz.com 2/Revibe (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
20 - 20 - Nils - "What The Funk?" - (Baja/TSR)

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Happy New Year 2012 [Video] #jazz

2011-12-31T10:00:00.001-05:00

Our best wishes to you all for a healthy and happy new year, filled with peace and love. Again, our thanks to you for your support of JazzHQ, on Facebook, and Twitter.

A JibJab send off to 2011

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Smooth Jazz Chart - Weekly Top 20 - December 26, 2011 #jazz

2011-12-27T18:13:00.000-05:00

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Happy Holidays 2011 [Video] #jazz

2011-12-24T09:00:00.009-05:00

Our very best wishes to all of you who took the time to visit JazzHQ during the year.

A Merry Christmas to you all, my friends and followers at JC, Facebook http://facebook.com/jazzhq and Twitter, http://twitter.com/jazzhq. Thank you for your support.

Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)"
David Letterman appearance 12/23/11

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Smooth Jazz Chart - Weekly Top 20 - December 19, 2011 #jazz

2011-12-21T22:27:00.000-05:00

LW - TW - Artist - Album - (Label)
1 - 1 - Richard Elliot - "In The Zone" - (Artistry/Mack Ave.)
2 - 2 - Acoustic Alchemy - "Roseland" - (Onside/Heads Up)
3 - 3 - Paul Hardcastle - "Hardcastle VI" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
4 - 4 - Boney James - "Contact" - (Verve)
5 - 5 - Jessy J - "Hot Sauce" - (Heads Up)
7 - 6 - Andy Snitzer - "Traveler" - (Native Language)
6 - 7 - Wayman Tisdale - "The Wayman Tisdale Story" - (Rendezvous Music)
9 - 8 - George Benson - "Guitar Man" - (Concord)
8 - 9 - Tim Bowman - "The Tim Bowman Collection" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
10 - 10 - Chuck Loeb - "Plain 'n' Simple" - (Tweety)
12 - 11 - Euge Groove - "S7ven Large" - (Shanachie)
13 - 12 - Paul Taylor - "Prime Time" - (Peak)
11 - 13 - Larry Carlton - "Plays The Sound of Philadelphia" - (335)
17 - 14 - Kim Waters - "This Heart Of Mine" - (Shanachie)
14 - 15 - Jonathan Fritzen - "Friday Night"[single] - (Woodward Avenue)
16 - 16 - David Wells - "Light" - (Independent)
18 - 17 - Cindy Bradley - "Unscripted" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
21 - 18 - Brian Lenair - "Eye Of The Storm" - (Grits & Gravy)
15 - 19 - Bob Baldwin - "NewUrbanJazz.com 2/Revibe (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
20 - 20 - Nils - "What The Funk?" - (Baja/TSR)

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Paul McCartney to Release Standards Album with Diana Krall & Band

2011-12-19T10:57:00.000-05:00

The former Beatle says he’s long wanted to record this repertoire

By Jeff Tamarkin
http://jazztimes.com/

Paul McCartney has announced that his next solo album, as yet untitled, will be a collection of romantic ballads and standards, with jazz pianist Diana Krall and her band accompanying the ex-Beatle. The album will be released by Concord/Hear Music on February 7. In addition to the cover material, the album will include two new McCartney originals, “My Valentine” and “Only Our Hearts.”

The album was produced by Tommy LiPuma and, in addition to Krall and band, features an orchestra on some tracks, as well as guest appearances by Eric Clapton and Stevie Wonder. Bassist John Clayton also reportedly plays on the album.

According to a press release from McCartney’s publicist, “This is the album Paul has been thinking about making for more than 20 years, and probably the last thing his fans are expecting. ‘In the end it was “Look, if I don’t do it now, I’ll never do it,’” the release quotes McCartney as saying.
“When I kind of got into songwriting, I realized how well structured these songs were and I think I took a lot of my lessons from them,” McCartney further says in the press release. “I always thought artists like Fred Astaire were very cool. Writers like Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, all of those guys—I just thought the songs were magical. And then, as I got to be a songwriter I thought it’s beautiful, the way they made those songs.’”

McCartney also says that he and John Lennon based several early Beatles compositions on standards from the early part of the 20th century.

The press release says that during the recording McCartney, for the first time in his career, “performed exclusively in the vocal booth without no instrument—no guitar, no bass, no piano.”

He added, “It was important for me to keep away from the more obvious song choices, so many of the classic standards will be unfamiliar to some people.”

The album was recorded at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, New York and London throughout 2011.
Last spring, McCartney told Rolling Stone, “I've wanted to do that kind of thing forever, since the Beatle days. But then Rod [Stewart] went mad on it. I thought, ‘I have to wait so it doesn't look like I’m trying to do a Rod.’”

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Upcoming New Jazz Releases - December 13, 2011 #jazz

2011-12-13T19:40:00.000-05:00

Adam Rudolph: Can You Imagine... The Sound Of A Dream
Alexey Kruglov: Identification
Anita O'Day: Trav'Lin Light
Anthony Braxton: Tillium E
Archie Shepp: First Take
Archie Shepp: Gemini
Arrigo Cappelletti: Mysterious
Arrigo Cappelletti / Giulio Martino: Mysterious
Benjamin Sanz Quintet: Mutation Majeure
Benny Carter: Further Definitions
Bill Dixon: Complete Remastered Recordings On Black Saint And Soul Note
Bill Evans (Trio): Sunday At The Village Vanguard
Bill Evans (Trio): Waltz For Debby
Cal Tjader: Agua Dulce
Carl Perkins: Dance Album
Coleman Hawkins: Hawk Relaxes
Dave Brubeck: Countdown: Time In Outer Space
Complete Remastered Recordings On Black Saint & Soul Note
David Murray: Complete Remastered Recordings On Black Saint & Soul Note
Don Ellis: New Ideas: Don Ellis
Eric Dolphy / Booker Little: At The Five Spot Complete Edition
Fats Waller: Live At The Yacht Club
Fourth Page: Blind Horizons
Freddie Hubbard: Splash
Fredrik Kronkvist: Altitude
Helen Forrest: Them There Eyes
Ibrahim Maalouf: Diagnostic
Influences Behind The Beatles: Influences Behind The Beatles
John Coltrane: Africa / Brass
Jonathan Kreisberg: Trioing
Joseph Patrick Moore: XYZ Factor - Download
Julie London: London By Night
Katja Cruz: Light And Shade
Katja Cruz / Carolyn Hume: Light & Shade
Lisa Mezzacappa & Nightshade: Cosmic Rift
Louis Armstrong / Duke Ellington: Great Summit
Luis Gasca: Collage
Miles Davis: At Carnegie Hall
Miles Davis: Dark Magus
Oscar Peterson Trio: Trio: Live From Chicago
Oscar Peterson Trio: Sound Of The Trio
Oscar Peterson Trio: Put On A Happy Face / Something Warm
Paul Motian: Complete Remastered Recordings On Black Saint And Soul Note
Phineas Newborn Jr.: World Of Piano
Pleasure: Accept No Substitutes
Ray Barretto: Selecciones Fania
Romane Quintet: Integrale, Vol. 2
Integrale Quintet: Complete Romane, Vol. 2
Romane Quintet: Integrale Quintet: Complete Romane, Vol. 2
Ron Thompson: Just Pickin'
Roy Orbison: Lonely & Blue
Second Approach: Pandora's Pitcher
Second Approach Trio: Pandora's Pitcher
Shelly Manne: Complete Live At The Manne-Hole
Spontaneous River: Symphony Of Souls
Stan Getz: Stan Getz & Oscar Peterson Trio
Time Exposure/Find Out!/Hideaway
Stanley Clarke: Time Exposure/Find Out!/Hideaway
Steve Lacy: Evidence With Don Cherry
Taylor Ho Bynum: Apparent Distance
Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet: Apparent Distance
Teddy Edwards / Howard McGhee: Together Again
Theo Jorgensmann: Melencolia
Tim Trevor-Briscoe: Underflow
Wes Montgomery: Groove Yard
Woody Allen: Swing In The Films Of Woody Allen

Reissues
Chet Baker: Sings
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool
Miles Davis: Milestones
Miles Davis: Porgy & Bess
Miles Davis: Someday My Prince Will Come - SACD
Miles Davis: Workin With The Miles Davis Quintet

Our thanks to:New release information provided by allaboutjazz.com
The Upcoming Release Center at allaboutjazz.com is the most comprehensive new release listing for jazz music on the internet.
The information is updated biweekly by John Kelman

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Smooth Jazz Chart - Weekly Top 20 - December 12, 2011 #jazz

2011-12-12T19:27:00.000-05:00

LW - TW - Artist - Album - (Label)
2 - 1 - Richard Elliot - "In The Zone" - (Artistry/Mack Ave.)
1 - 2 - Acoustic Alchemy - "Roseland" - (Onside/Heads Up)
3 - 3 - Paul Hardcastle - "Hardcastle VI" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
4 - 4 - Boney James - "Contact" - (Verve)
5 - 5 - Jessy J - "Hot Sauce" - (Heads Up)
6 - 6 - Wayman Tisdale - "The Wayman Tisdale Story" - (Rendezvous Music)
8 - 7 - Andy Snitzer - "Traveler" - (Native Language)
9 - 8 - Tim Bowman - "The Tim Bowman Collection" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
7 - 9 - George Benson - "Guitar Man" - (Concord)
15 - 10 - Chuck Loeb - "Plain 'n' Simple" - (Tweety)
12 - 11 - Larry Carlton - "Plays The Sound of Philadelphia" - (335)
10 - 12 - Euge Groove - "S7ven Large" - (Shanachie)
18 - 13 - Paul Taylor - "Prime Time" - (Peak)
13 - 14 - Jonathan Fritzen - "Friday Night"[single] - (Woodward Avenue)
11 - 15 - Bob Baldwin - "NewUrbanJazz.com 2/Revibe (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
16 - 16 - David Wells - "Light" - (Independent)
14 - 17 - Kim Waters - "This Heart Of Mine" - (Shanachie)
20 - 18 - Cindy Bradley - "Unscripted" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
23 - 19 - Jonathan Butlet - "So Strong" - (Rendezvous/Mack Avenue)
17 - 20 - Nils - "What The Funk?" - (Baja/TSR)

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“Boom Town” takes soul-jazz saxophonist Richard Elliot to #1 #jazz

2011-12-08T17:58:00.000-05:00

The first single from In The Zone explodes at radio as the album garners acclaim

Soul-jazz saxman Richard Elliot has been blowing up radio with the funky single “Boom Town,” which has taken command of Billboard’s BDSradio.com smooth jazz national airplay chart for the past four weeks. The track, produced by Elliot and fusion pioneer Jeff Lorber, is the debut single from Elliot’s October release, In The Zone, and the latest of more than a dozen #1 singles registered by the genre-defining Artistry Music recording artist.

Elliot’s 16^th solo collection, In The Zone salutes the seminal instrumentalists that most influenced the saxophonist in his formative years of the 1970s and ‘80s including Grover Washington Jr., Bob James and David Sanborn. Elliot and Lorber penned the nine original songs that comprise the disc as well as dishing up a sweltering version of the gritty Marvin Gaye classic, “Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler).”

Concert dates are presently being booked for next spring and summer for Elliot to reteam with trumpeter Rick Braun to tour as RnR, a dynamic duo that held the #1 spot captive on the radio airplay charts for an astonishing 15 weeks with the self-titled, title track from their 2007 album collaboration.

In addition to sweeping the nation’s radio waves, In The Zone has been receiving critical praise. Smooth Jazz Magazine selected it as the #1 album of 2011. Below are highlights from some reviews.

All Music Guide: “Elliot's sense of time when soloing is deadly. The melody is as infectious and celebratory as it is sexy…”

Digital Jazz News: “Richard Elliot lives his passion. A uniquely personal release and a natural progression and follow up to Rock Steady (Artistry, 2009), Richard Elliot shares his own soulful musical statement with In The Zone…Elliot is an incredibly lyrical instrumentalist with improvisational chops to work on the fly while having that nice fat tenor sound of a Hank Mobley throw-back player…Contemporary jazz has taken some hits over the past year for lacking originality, spontaneity and passion. A perfect ebb and flow on this release provides all three from an artist with a sincere desire to be known as someone that can play from the heart not just the head. Musical honesty and integrity is rare commodity these days but it is clear that it is Richard Elliot's passion that has him ‘In The Zone’ and with one of the finest contemporary releases of the year!”

The Smooth Jazz Ride: “…the iconic saxophonist with the distinctly soulful touch turns it on with jazzy runs, soulful rhythms, memorable melodies, and tight, catchy hooks…Full of sweet grooves, spunk, and

slick but not frenzied drive.”

Sounds of Timeless Jazz: “Elliot brings his informed knowledge of such great musicians as Grover Washington, Jr., David Sanborn and Bob James and his own great saxophonics to this inspired project…innovative music that will just blow you away.”

The Urban Music Scene: “It’s a Winner!!...In The Zone is a 10 song horn oriented delight… In The Zone again proves why Richard Elliot is such a joy to listen and see in concert...”

Smooth Jazz Daily: “With In The Zone Richard Elliot garners anew the Triple A of smooth jazz. Eclectic music with a well-crafted musicianship on every track that attracts all music lovers.”

Additional information is available at www.richardelliot.com.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/RichardElliotSax

Twitter: http://twitter.com/RichElliotSax

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Kirk & Kevin Whalum - "Romance Language" Rendezvous Music release on Valentines Day #jazz

2011-12-06T17:57:00.000-05:00

Kirk Whalum duets with his brother, Kevin, to remake a classic album in a Romance Language of their own

Grammy winning saxophonist’s reimaged take on the Coltrane/Hartman collaboration will be released on Valentine’s Day

Most artists would be daunted at the thought of remaking a classic work of art made by legends, but not Grammy winner Kirk Whalum. The multidimensional saxophonist adeptly steps into the role of John Coltrane and tapped his brother, vocalist Kevin Whalum, to fill the shoes of Johnny Hartman on an unabashedly romantic collection of duets originally recorded in 1963 by the seminal artists. Romance Language, due to be released on Valentine’s Day by Rendezvous Music, consists of all six songs that comprise the Coltrane/Hartman recording along with a handful of modern ballads to complete the disc produced by Kirk Whalum and John Stoddart.

In addition to the traditional CD and digital version, an extended and enhanced digital version of Romance Language will be released as the world’s first complete LiveAudio optimized album for JAMBOX by JAWBONE, a leader in personal mobile technology devices. LiveAudio allows music to be enjoyed in a 3D-like, surround sound experience from a single, small Bluetooth wireless speaker. This one-of-a-kind version of Romance Language will be available exclusively at www.kirkwhalum.com/JAMBOX.

In conjunction with the album release, Kirk & Kevin Whalum will perform a Valentine’s Day concert at the Hilton Portland Downtown in Oregon that will stream live to a global audience through Kirk Whalum’s website, www.kirkwhalum.com.

The Whalum brothers approached the half-dozen standards from the original recording with admiration and veneration. Kirk Whalum and Stoddart crafted fresh arrangements that place the time-tested songs such as Irving Berlin’s “They Say It’s Wonderful,” Sammy Cahn’s “Dedicated To You,” Billy Strayhorn’s “Lush Life” and Richard Rodgers’ “You Are Too Beautiful” in present day R&B-adult pop and jazz settings. The newer songs – including renderings of contemporary hits written by Terry Lewis & James “Jimmy Jam” Harris, Eric Benet, and Joe (Thomas) - maintain the mood, feel and ambience of the storied set. Throughout Romance Language, Kevin Whalum’s suave, velvety voice is cool and in command while Kirk Whalum’s sax solos and fills are inspired, warm and nuanced etchings. The amorous album unfolds with the grace of an intimate hand-penned love letter - seductively sweet, genuinely heartfelt, and poetically passionate. Recorded “live” at Dark Horse recording studios in Nashville with very little overdubbing, the musicians accompanying the Whalum’s were Stoddart (piano, keyboards, organ, backing vocals), Marcus Finnie (drums), Braylon Lacy (bass), Kevin Turner (electric guitar), Michael “Nomad” Ripoll (acoustic guitar), Ralph Lofton (organ), George Tidwell (flugelhorn, trumpet), and percussionists Bashiri Johnson and Javier Solis. Kirk & Kevin Whalum’s 83 years-young uncle, Hugh “Peanuts” Whalum, poured his distinctive, emotion-charged voice into the broken-hearted “Almost Doesn’t Count” and the poignant bonus track, “You Are So Beautiful.”

“Romance Language, now so elegantly completed, absolutely qualifies for my bucket list. Having been a fan of Kevin's luscious voice for over 30 years and a fan of the Coltrane/Hartman recording for at least that long, this project is more of a consummation than just serendipity. Every time I listened to the Coltrane/Hartman recording, I thought of Kevin and mused at the idea of redoing the whole album with my little brother. Kevin caressed each and every note. My other ‘brother,’ John Stoddart ‘dined’ with me on these arrangements. My touring band embraced each performance as we recorded ‘live’ in the studio––virtually no overdubs, over-takes or over-production. Just sheer joy and love, respect and reverence for the original recording as well as these amazing compositions,” said Memphis native Kirk Whalum, who will tour with Kevin in the spring to support Romance Language. “Oh... and boy is this album romantic. I invite you to take it on a test drive. Drive slow.”

Romance Language is Kirk Whalum’s 19^th album as a front man since his 1985 solo debut, Floppy Disk. He topped the Billboard contemporary jazz album charts twice (And You Know That! and Cache) and amassed 11 Grammy nominations. Whalum took home a coveted Grammy earlier this year for a duet with Lalah Hathaway that appeared on his The Gospel According to Jazz: Chapter III. An ordained minister who earned a Master’s degree in the Art of Religion, Kirk Whalum has forged an unparalleled career path in both the secular and the non-secular music words, garnering hits, awards and accolades for his jazz, R&B and gospel recordings. His soulfully expressive tenor sax voice is unique and has appeared on literally hundreds of recordings by Barbara Streisand, Quincy Jones, Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross, George Benson, Al Jarreau, Michael McDonald, Stanley Clarke, George Duke, and Larry Carlton as well as on collaborative albums with Bob James, Rick Braun and Norman Brown. When not recording or performing, he educates and mentors the next generation of musicians in his role as president/CEO of the STAX Music Academy and the STAX Museum of American Soul Music. Additional information is available at www.kirkwhalum.com.

The songs contained on Kirk Whalum’s Romance Language are:

“They Say It’s Wonderful”

“Dedicated To You”

“My One and Only Love”

“Lush Life”

“You Are Too Beautiful”

“Autumn Serenade”

“Almost Doesn’t Count”

“I Wish I Wasn’t”

“I Wanna Know”

“Spend My Life With You”

“You Are So Beautiful” (bonus track)

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Smooth Jazz Chart - Weekly Top 20 - December 5, 2011 #jazz

2011-12-05T20:33:00.000-05:00

LW - TW - Artist - Album - (Label)
1 - 1 - Acoustic Alchemy - "Roseland" - (Onside/Heads Up)
2 - 2 - Richard Elliot - "In The Zone" - (Artistry/Mack Ave.)
3 - 3 - Paul Hardcastle - "Hardcastle VI" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
5 - 4 - Boney James - "Contact" - (Verve)
4 - 5 - Jessy J - "Hot Sauce" - (Heads Up)
8 - 6 - Wayman Tisdale - "The Wayman Tisdale Story" - (Rendezvous Music)
7 - 7 - George Benson - "Guitar Man" - (Concord)
6 - 8 - Andy Snitzer - "Traveler" - (Native Language)
10 - 9 - Tim Bowman - "The Tim Bowman Collection" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
9 - 10 - Euge Groove - "S7ven Large" - (Shanachie)
11 - 11 - Bob Baldwin - "NewUrbanJazz.com 2/Revibe (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
12 - 12 - Larry Carlton - "Plays The Sound of Philadelphia" - (335)
14 - 13 - Jonathan Fritzen - "Friday Night"[single] - (Woodward Avenue)
15 - 14 - Kim Waters - "This Heart Of Mine" - (Shanachie)
15 - 15 - Chuck Loeb - "Plain 'n' Simple" - (Tweety)
13 - 16 - David Wells - "Light" - (Independent)
21 - 17 - Nils - "What The Funk?" - (Baja/TSR)
38 - 18 - Paul Taylor - "Prime Time" - (Peak)
20 - 19 - Randy Scott - "90 Degrees At Midnight" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
18 - 20 - Cindy Bradley - "Unscripted" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)

Our thanks to smoothjazz.comVisit smoothjazz.com to view the latest complete top 50 chart.
Visit smoothjazz.com to view the latest weekly chart recap.

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Smooth Jazz Chart - Weekly Top 20 - November 28, 2011 #jazz

2011-11-30T19:38:00.000-05:00

LW - TW - Artist - Album - (Label)
1 - 1 - Acoustic Alchemy - "Roseland" - (Onside/Heads Up)
2 - 2 - Richard Elliot - "In The Zone" - (Artistry/Mack Ave.)
3 - 3 - Paul Hardcastle - "Hardcastle VI" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
5 - 4 - Jessy J - "Hot Sauce" - (Heads Up)
8 - 5 - Boney James - "Contact" - (Verve)
7 - 6 - Andy Snitzer - "Traveler" - (Native Language)
4 - 7 - George Benson - "Guitar Man" - (Concord)
6 - 8 - Wayman Tisdale - "The Wayman Tisdale Story" - (Rendezvous Music)
14 - 9 - Euge Groove - "S7ven Large" - (Shanachie)
12 - 10 - Tim Bowman - "The Tim Bowman Collection" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
20 - 11 - Bob Baldwin - "NewUrbanJazz.com 2/Revibe (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
10 - 12 - Larry Carlton - "Plays The Sound of Philadelphia" - (335)
9 - 13 - David Wells - "Light" - (Independent)
11 - 14 - Jonathan Fritzen - "Friday Night"[single] - (Woodward Avenue)
15 - 15 - Chuck Loeb - "Plain 'n' Simple" - (Tweety)
13 - 16 - Kim Waters - "This Heart Of Mine" - (Shanachie)
29 - 17 - Down To The Bone - "The Main Ingredients" - (Trippin "N' Rhythm)
16 - 18 - Cindy Bradley - "Unscripted" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)
19 - 19 - Brian Lenair - "Eye Of The Storm" - (Grits & Gravy)
24 - 20 - Randy Scott - "90 Degrees At Midnight" - (Trippin 'N' Rhythm)

Our thanks to smoothjazz.comVisit smoothjazz.com to view the latest complete top 50 chart.
Visit smoothjazz.com to view the latest weekly chart recap.

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Upcoming New Jazz Releases - December 6, 2011 #jazz

2011-11-28T10:52:00.000-05:00

Al Di Meola: Tour De Force: Live/Scenario
Albatrosh: Yonkers
Brad Mehldau: Art Of The Trio Recordings: 1996-20
Art Of The Trio: Live At The Vanguard
Brad Mehldau: Art Of The Trio: Live At The Vanguard
Buddy Cole: Swingin At The Hammond Organ: 4 Stereo Albums
Dark Chocolate: Caper
Dark Chocolate: Box Of Dark Chocolate
Django Reinhardt: Swing Guitars
Complete Masters 1935-55
Ella Fitzgerald: Complete Masters 1935-55
Fred Van Hove: Tschus
Fred Wesley: Lost Album
Full Blast: Sketches And Ballads
Full Blast & Friends: Sketches & Ballads
Ein Halber Hund Kann Nicht Pinkeln
Han Bennink: Ein Halber Hund Kann Nicht Pinkeln
Han Bennink / Peter Brotzmann / Fred Van Hove: Balls
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 80 - 1945 (Track 1749 - 1771)
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 90 - 1948 - 1949 (Track 1979 - 2001)
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 91 - 1949 (Track 2002 - 2022)
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 92 - 1949 - 1950 (Track 2023 - 2045)
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 93 - 1950 - 1951 (Track 2046 - 2067)
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 94 - 1951 (Track 2068 - 2088)
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 95 - 1951 - 1952 (Track 2089 - 2107)
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 96 - 1952 (Track 2108 - 2126)
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 97 - 1952 - 1953 (Track 2127 - 2147)
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 98 - 1953 (Track 2148 - 2168)
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 99 - 1953 - 1954 (Track 2169 - 2191)
Jazz In The Charts: Vol. 100 - 1954 (Track 2192 - 2211)
Kenneth Nash: Heartcore Praise
Othin Spake: Nethack Dictionary
Roy Ayers: Step Into Our Life/Prime Time
Stanley Clarke: Time Exposure/Find Out!/Hideaway
Wayne Shorter: Complete Albums Collection

Reissues
Milt Jackson: Bags Meets Wes!

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Saxophonist Candy Dulfer Goes "Crazy" On New CD #jazz

2011-11-27T08:23:00.000-05:00

When saxophonist Candy Dulfer steps onto the stage or into the studio, everything is immediately up for grabs and anything can happen. This sexy, high-energy vibe – seemingly out-of-control, yet always carefully calculated – is a direct result of her consistently hot and sweet confection of jazz, funk, R&B, soul, pop, techno and more. It’s a no-holds-barred recipe that has served her and her worldwide fan base well since her earliest recordings at the start of the 1990s.

Candy pushes the whole musical experience to the edge once again on her new recording, Crazy, set for release on, Tuesday, January 31, 2011, on Listen 2 Entertainment Group/Razor & Tie. The 13-song set includes numerous tracks co-written and produced by multi-instrumentalist Printz Board – whose mile-long list of credits includes musical director for the Black Eyed Peas for more than a decade, as well as work with a broad range of artists: Macy Gray, Mariah Carey, Sergio Mendes Gomez, Katy Perry, Burt Bacharach and dozens more.

“I wanted to return to working with Ulco Bed, a great guitarist and my songwriter partner since we were both very young,” says Candy, a native of the Netherlands and the daughter of jazz saxophonist Hans Dulfer. “We hadn’t recorded together for a long time, so I was looking forward to connecting with him again. But I also wanted to work with someone who could show me something new, something I’d never done before. When I met Printz, I knew right away that we could do something great together. I was surprised at how easy it was. I would put a beat down and just play a few licks, and it would be enough to inspire him to put together a whole chord sequence and write a song.”

It’s the kind of versatility and adaptability that comes from working with such a diverse spectrum of talent over the years. “I just go with the energy that’s in the room,” says Printz. “I try not to work with anybody whom I haven’t at least hung out with for a little while. I need a chance to get to know their energy and their personality. When Candy and I got started on this project, we knew the goal. We knew what we were going for. It just grew organically. I don’t think either of us knew what the end result would be, but we’re very excited with what it turned into.”

Like just about every other recording in Candy’s body of work, Crazy kicks off like a party. Literally! The opening track is a churning saxophone riff, supported by a swell of voices in full party mode. It all comes to a halt when a neighbor puts a damper on things by demanding some quiet.

Fat chance. The title track picks up where the noisy room leaves off, and keeps the intensity level well beyond the acceptable range of peace and quiet. Built on a call-and-response between Printz’s lyrics and Candy’s punchy alto riffs, the song is inspired by Printz’s recent heady experiences with a new romance. “You don’t know what to do with yourself,” he says. “You just want to see this person, and talk to this person, and hang out with them. The title is no mystery. I was just crazy about this woman.”

“Hey Now” starts in a midtempo groove, with generous doses of low-end electronic dance beats holding it together. “But there’s a moment when it really kicks into high gear and gets wild,” says Candy. “It’s that moment when I want people to say, ‘Wow, this is really something I didn’t expect. This is something amazing.’”

“Complic8ted Lives” is less about specific solos and parts, says Candy, and more about generating an overall mood. “It was just a really spontaneous track,” she says. “We made it in five minutes, but it was a beautiful song. It’s really about a specific feeling. You can take the vocals off and you can still hear what the song is about in the chord progression and in my saxophone work.”

Midway through the party, the neighbors are apparently getting increasingly frustrated. One tries to make a call, but there’s no hearing the phone amid the revelry.

The inspiration for “Electric Blue” originally came from the neon blue lights of Tokyo, says Printz. Candy adds quirky sax lines on top, while Printz inserts some slide instructions that culminate with the simply stated “Get your ass on the floor.” The throbbing backbeat dares the listener to defy the command.

Printz indulges his fascination with the vocorder on “Rocket, Rocket,” a track that morphs his voice into an electronic layer that merges seamlessly with his keys and Candy’s fresh alto licks. “We just recently started playing this live,” says Candy. “We didn’t know how it would go live, but we had people of every age dancing to this one.”

The riffs are still coming when the police arrive at the door, accompanied by the same irritated neighbor. Their efforts are apparently ineffective, because the music keeps coming for just a bit longer.

In the home stretch, it’s the sultry and suggestive “Please Don’t Stop,” followed by the “Too Close,” a quiet instrumental ballad that shifts the festivities into a more laid back vibe. Powered by a distinctly Euro groove,

“I’m very happy with this record,” says Candy. “It’s been a super-positive experience. In the last ten years, I was always in a safe environment with my own friends, and it was beautiful. This was a big leap for me, so it’s nice to see that the rewards for that risk were so great. It’s nice to be rewarded for taking risks. And on the other hand, reconnecting with Ulco has been great. It brought back a lot of beautiful memories. We realized that we can still make great music together.”

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The Wayman Tisdale Story - DVD/CD #jazz

2011-11-23T11:00:00.000-05:00

The Wayman Tisdale Story (CD/DVD) Rendezvous Music/Mack Avenue released The Wayman Tisdale Story on DVD and CD yesterday (November 22). The documentary celebrates the life of Wayman, a three-time All-American, Gold Medal Olympian, former NBA star and world renowned jazz musician, who lost his battle with cancer on May 15, 2009. The DVD features interviews with Wayman and his family, Michael Jordan, Toby Keith, Marcus Miller and Dave Koz, among others. The CD includes the previously unreleased track "Slam Dunk", produced by Jeff Lorber and "Cryin' For Me", a song written and performed as a tribute to Wayman by Toby Keith.

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Paul Motian, Jazz Drummer, Is Dead at 80 #jazz

2011-11-22T14:21:00.000-05:00

By BEN RATLIFF NY Times

Paul Motian, a drummer, bandleader, and composer of grace and abstraction, and one of the most influential jazz musicians of the last 50 years, died early Tuesday morning at Mount Sinai Hospital in NewYork. He was 80 and lived in Manhattan.

The cause was complications of myelodisplastic syndrome, a bone-marrow disorder, said his friend, Carole d’Inverno Frisell.

Mr. Motian was a living connection to some of the groups of the past that informed what jazz sounds like today: he had been in Bill Evans’s great trio in the late 1950s and early 1960s, playing on the albums “Waltz for Debby” and “Sunday at the Village Vanguard,” and in Keith Jarrett’s American quartet during the 1970s. But it was in the second half of his life that Mr. Motian found himself as a composer and a bandleader, and his own work took off.

He worked steadily, and for the last six years or so almost entirely in Manhattan, with the support of the record producers Stefan Winter and Manfred Eicher, who streamed out his albums, and Lorraine Gordon of the Village Vanguard, who eventually booked his groups for up to four or five weeks per year.

Then there were the many musicians he played with regularly, including the saxophonist Joe Lovano and the guitarist Bill Frisell, with whom he kept a working trio; the pianist Masabumi Kikuchi and the saxophonists Greg Osby and Chris Potter, with whom he played in trios and quartets; the members of the Electric Bebop Band, with multiple electric guitars, which in 2006 became the Paul Motian Band; and dozens of other musicians, from young unknowns to old masters.

For almost all of his bands, his repertory was a combination of terse and mysterious originals he composed at the piano, American songbook standards, and music from the bebop tradition: Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus.

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