Andy James | Rhythm in New York | Available April 15 via Le Coq Records

Vocalist Andy James Celebrates One Of The

Greatest Cities In The World, And The Mecca of Jazz,

On Her Wide-Ranging New Album

 

Rhythm in New York, Due Out April 15 On Le Coq Records, Features An All-Star Band Including John Patitucci, Jon Cowherd, Chris Potter, Marcus Strickland, Terell Stafford, Nate Smith, Marcus Gilmore, Adam Rogers, Chico Pinheiro and Others

While she grew up in Australia, traveled the world as a renowned Flamenco dancer, and now makes her home in Las Vegas, vocalist Andy James has always loved New York City – whether dreaming of the Big Apple from afar or exploring the always thriving jazz scene of the city as both listener and performer.

“New York City – what a town!” James exults. “It has always held a special place in my heart. Even as a child growing up in Australia, I would see the great singers performing on the television from this special place and think, ‘If only that could be me!’”

On her latest album for Le Coq Records, James captures the vibrant tempo and exhilarating thrills always unfolding in the thoroughfares of the city that never sleeps. Due out April 15, Rhythm in New York features a stunning mix of classic standards and original music inspired by life in Manhattan. As has become standard for Le Coq releases, the album boasts an unparalleled line-up of in-demand musicians, all of who have captivated audiences on the bandstands of New York and beyond.

James’ key collaborator on Rhythm in New York is John Patitucci, who not only graces every track with his virtuosic bass playing but co-wrote several tunes with James and his daughter, singer-songwriter Greisun. They’re joined by pianist Jon Cowherd, drummers Nate Smith and Marcus Gilmore, saxophonists Chris Potter and Marcus Strickland, trumpeter Terell Stafford, flutist David Mann, guitarists Adam Rogers and Chico Pinheiro, and percussionists Alex Acuña and Rogerio Boccato. Additionally, Cowherd and Patitucci collectively arranged all 15 songs on the album.

While Patitucci has been a key member of the Le Coq family since its launch, he and James furthered their collaboration last year with the collaborative outing An Evening with John Patitucci & Andy James, which inaugurated the singer’s venture into original compositions.

“Although I’ve always loved the songs of the past – who wouldn't? – I thought it was time to express myself more as a writer of music on this album,” James explains. “I feel it's necessary to convey my sentiments in music so I can grow further as a singer and musician. My collaboration with John Patitucci and his daughter Greisun has been an enormous pleasure for me. They are so talented and always know what I'm looking for; which I’m sure is helped by their family bond.”

Speaking of family bonds, James’ other co-writer on Rhythm in New York is her husband and dance partner, Le Coq founder Piero Pata, who contributed to two new pieces on the album, “Time To Think” and “Just In Time.” As James explains, “Working with Piero has really been easy. Wherever I am, he seems to catch and remember the melodies that I've been casually humming around the house and later brings them to me with lyrics already attached. It makes a great start for a song. Of course, then I sink my teeth into them and change just enough to make it me.”

In writing as well as selecting songs for the album, James thought back over the many memorable visits she’s enjoyed to New York City, stretching back to childhood trips with her parents, who would occasionally travel to the States on business and bring their artistic daughter along. As an adult she would return often to soak in the nightlife and take in the influences that helped forge her own singing style.

“My first walk in Central Park in the snow will always be a highlight,” James recalls. “I will never forget the colors of Times Square at night, the people swarming all over the place with excitement, the magnitude of the shows on offer on every street. I would wander for hours finding one exciting nook and cranny after another to enjoy musicians. Whether at Birdland Jazz Club or the Village Vanguard, there was always someone special to admire.”

Rhythm in New York spotlights a wide variety of moods and styles, while showcasing the jaw-dropping musicianship of the assembled artists. James so admires her collaborators that in at least one instance – her and Pata’s own “Just In Time” – she decided to remove her vocals altogether and let the band shine on their own. But throughout, from the enticing, Bossa-inflected opener “There Will Never Be Another You,” through the lush original ballad “Day Dream” and the Flamenco-inspired “El Ritmo,” to the wistful farewell of “I’ll Be Seeing You,” James finds endless inspiration in her adoration for the city.

“I tried to capture my feelings when I was younger, to convey my impressions traveling to this great city,” she explains. “New York is a city of love in many ways, and its people have proved this on countless occasions. The beauty of the seasons always leaves me breathless. It has so many musical tastes for anybody to enjoy: R&B, pop, opera, musical comedy, and of course my favorite, jazz. It is one of my favorite places on Earth.”

Andy James · Rhythm in New York

Le Coq Records · Release Date: April 15, 2022

For more information on Le Coq Records, please visit:

lecoqrecords.com | Facebook | Instagram

Marcus Strickland - People of the Sun (BLUE NOTE November 9, 2018)

On his thrilling new LP, People of the Sun, saxophonist Marcus Strickland blazes a trail fully at the helm of his music—performing, writing, and producing with his Twi-Life band on deck and special guests including Bilal and Pharoahe Monch along for the ride—as he sonically and socially traces the African diaspora from present to past in an effort to unpack his identity. It’s an album that's busy and beautiful, inventive and contemplative, an amalgam of influences from West Africa (griot culture, Afrobeat, percussion) and America (post-bop, funk-soul, beat music) performed in the key of revelation.

Please note: digital downloads are not available to customers outside of the United States.

01. Lullaby (feat. Weedie Braimah)

02. Timing

03. People Of The Sun (feat. Mitch Henry)

04. On My Mind (feat. Bilal, Pharoahe Monch + Greg Tate)

05. Relentlessness

06. Marvelous (feat. Akie Bermiss)

07. Black Love

08. Build

09. Cloaked In Controversy

10. Aim High (Feat. Jermaine Holmes)

11. Spirt Of The Music

Christian Sands - Facing Dragons (MACK AVENUE RECORDS September 21, 2018)

Christian Sands Returns with

New Studio Album Facing Dragons,

Available September 21 on Mack Avenue Records

Album Features Marcus Strickland,

Keyon Harrold, Yasushi Nakamura, Jerome Jennings,

Caio Afiune, Cristian Rivera, & Roberto Quintero

Not yet 30, Christian Sands is currently one of the most in-demand pianists working in jazz. In the last few years he has toured around the world as a bandleader and recently appeared as a sideman on records by Christian McBride and Gregory Porter. After the one-two punch of Reach and Reach Further – EP, Sands’ dynamic 2017 Mack Avenue debut and his live/unreleased studio tracks EP follow-up released earlier this year, Facing Dragons is Sands’ return to the recording studio with an indestructible band and an unwavering allegiance to the groove.

“I like the freedom of the trio format,” says Sands. “It’s more dramatic to me. It’s a smaller entity but with a big personality. I can fit it into different situations dynamically, compositionally.” Opening track “Rebel Music” features Sands’ wide-ranging scope at its most elegant, nimbly jetting through single unison lines and bright block chords. Here and throughout the record he is joined by bassist Yasushi Nakamura and drummer Jerome Jennings, the band that Sands has been relentlessly touring with. The two sensitive accompanists are locked in sync, joined occasionally by a powerhouse pair of horns, a sinewy guitarist and a fiery pair of percussionists.

Saxophonist Marcus Strickland strikes first on the hard swinging “Fight for Freedom,” unleashing a throaty cry over the churning band. “Marcus Strickland brings a certain fire to the band,” says Sands. “Especially on this track. He’s got a rich and deep tone, so it was perfect for the earthy theme of the song.” Trumpeter Keyon Harrold shares the frontline with Strickland, playing in effortless harmony on the melody before getting a little solo space near the tune’s close.

Harrold takes centerstage later on “Frankenstein,” a churning meditation reminiscent of Herbie Hancock’s seafaring journeys of the 1960s. Sands is spacious in support and patient on his solo, the tune an energetic workout for all involved.

Earlier this year Sands was named creative ambassador to The Erroll Garner Jazz Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to the legacy of the late great pianist Erroll Garner. After inheriting the position from the late Geri Allen – one of Sands’ mentors – he is a natural fit for the role. Sands has that same affable understanding of the audience as he recognizes their innate desire to be entertained as well as enlightened. He tackles the Beatles’ “Yesterday” with a soulful saunter. “Pop music is essential in jazz. It’s new melodies, it’s new stories, or same stories told in different ways. Jazz is about storytelling and pop music has a unique story to tell.”

Sands has yet to bring his band to Venezuela but when he gets there, he’ll be more than ready for the infectious polyrhythms found on the shores of Choroni Beach. On “Sangueo Soul,” Sands bounces above the churning South American rhythms, with Caio Afiune doubling the piano lines on guitar. It alternates between the two sounds, blending them at will, a sprightly dash of octaves on the piano cross paths with intergalactic vibrations. The tune is impossible to resist as a battery of rhythm pushes Sands’ piano into a righteous jaunt; clear the dancefloor. Percussionist Cristian Rivera appeared on Sands’ Mack Avenue Records debut, and the two formed a tight bond over a decade ago in Bobby Sanabria’s Afro Cuban Big Band. Percussionist Roberto Quintero, a native Venezuelan, brings the fire and authenticity to the party.

“Samba da Vela” appears later, continuing the South American travelogue with a trip to Brazil. Guitarist Caio Afiune first played with Sands’ brother Ryan, a drummer who studied at the New England Conservatory. Afiune has been playing with the pianist for over a year now, finding his voice in the tight-knit ensemble. His solo is an energetic but controlled centerpiece of the performance but becomes even more effervescent when he heads to church. 

“Church music is key in not just my sound but most jazz musicians I look up to. It’s a culture that most of us have gone through so it’s embedded in what we do,” says Sands. “Jazz can be a religious experience and for me my playing is my gift to God.” Sands began formal lessons at the age of four but picked up his sense of swing and soul at church well before that. “Sunday Mornings” is Sands tribute to the beginning of the week. He employs soulful clusters of chords and a lackadaisical slide off the beat, aided and embedded by an oscillating organ. The transition to a backyard reggae groove is hip, propelled by Afiune’s scratchy accents.

The lilting “Her Song” features bassist Nakamura. “Yasushi has a great bass sound, great facility and is always easy to work with, which is why he’s still in so many other bands today besides mine,” says Sands. Regardless of Nakamura’s schedule, he is fully committed to Sands’ vision of a rhythm section, a noble accent to the sound, unobtrusive but always present. Jennings is equally sensitive. “What I love about Romey” says Sands, “is the soulful intellect he brings to the instrument. There are layers to what he does and that comes from study and practice and also just being him – a true soul brother.”

The album closes with “Rhodes to Meditation” featuring an electrified Sands drifting into the ether. “The Fender Rhodes adds a different tone to my imagination. It makes me hear and play different.” Sands evokes a spectral world without borders, drifting off like a satellite towards the next adventure. “Like all of my albums, I want people to feel connected through a story that I’m telling. On this record, I want to remind people to always push forward and move in positivity.”

Christian Sands - Reach (MACK AVENUE RECORDS 2017)

With his debut Mack Avenue Records recording, REACH, singularly talented pianist and five-time Grammy® Award nominee Christian Sands is stretching into exciting progressive territory as he breaks new ground traversing from the straight-ahead zone into fresh-sounding music influenced by a range of styles, from Afro-Cuban rhythms to hip-hop beats to dirty blues with an edge. That's impressive for a youngster who is just 27. "The collection here is about reaching new ideas and reaching new music," he says. "I'm reaching from past recordings to bring in the future, which is really all about finding myself. It's a chance to express my experience."

REACH becomes one more milestone in Sands' auspicious career that stretches back to his New Haven, Connecticut upbringing. Beginning music classes and composing his first piece at age five, he quickly became a professional by ten. Sands was well-prepared to attend such prestigious schools as the Neighborhood Music School and the Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven (he later received bachelor's and master's degrees from the Manhattan School of Music).

1) Armando's Song  

2) Song Of The Rainbow People  

3) Pointing West  

4) Freefall  

5) Oyeme!

6) Bud's Tune  

7) Reaching For The Sun  

8) Use Me  

9) Gangstalude 

10) Somewhere Out There

Christian Sands - piano

Marcus Strickland - saxophone, bass clarinet

Gilad Hekelsman - guitar

Marcus Baylor - drums

Christian McBride - bass

Yasushi Nakamura - bass

MARCUS STRICKLAND'S TWI-LIFE - NIHIL NOVI (2016)

Source & Label: Blue Note

MARCUS STRICKLAND TEAMS WITH PRODUCER MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO ON "NIHIL NOVI"

Nihil Novi, the remarkable Blue Note/Revive Music debut by Marcus Strickland’s Twi-Life, is set for an April 15 release. The album is available for pre-order now on CD or digital download. Fans who pre-order the download will immediately receive the lead track “Drive,” which is also available today as a single on streaming services. Strickland has also announced tour dates including an NYC album release show presented by Revive Music at (le) poisson rouge on April 12.

“People have to be careful when they call something new,” says Strickland. “I think about what’s around me instead of trying to create something new. Everything is inspired by something else. Ecclesiastes says: ‘There’s nothing new under the sun.’”

The saxophonist may wax philosophical when he gets talking about Nihil Novi (a Latin phrase that translates to “nothing new”) but make no mistake, this is music for your heart and your feet as well your mind. Along with producer Meshell Ndegeocello, he draws upon a world of music from J Dilla’s beat making to Bartók’s Hungarian folk music. From Fela’s propulsive Afrobeat to Mingus’ freewheeling jazz truths. This is music of the people and for the people. The diversity of influences and progressive approach to production are reflective of Revive Music’s mission to elevate music by breaking with purist ideals and discussions of genre to create transcendent sonic experiences.

Since the turn of the century, the Miami-native has made indelible imprints on the modern jazz scene playing with such titans as Roy Haynes, Dave Douglas and Jeff “Tain” Waits and reinvigorating the genre with his own band Twi-Life. Beginning with his 2001 debut, At Last (Fresh Sounds/New Talent), he’s also been steadily building an impressive body of work. Last year Marcus appeared on Blue Note/Revive Music’s acclaimed statement of purpose, Supreme Sonacy Vol. 1, on which he and singer Christie Dashiell delivered a spellbinding makeover of Janet Jackson’s 1986 quiet-storm classic, “Let’s Wait Awhile.” The New York Times review singled out the track, writing that it “approaches the high bar for simmering R&B covers set by the Robert Glasper Experiment.”

Nihil Novi picks up some of the sonic cues from Supreme Sonacy, but with production help from Ndegeocello, Strickland paints an even more expansive musical canvas. The latest incarnation of Twi-Life is the centerpiece: trumpeter Keyon Harrold (known for his work with such R&B and hip-hop artists as D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Jay-Z and Common), bassist Kyle Miles, drummer Charles Haynes, organist Mitch Henry, and keyboardist Masayuki Hirano. Nihil Novi also includes appearances from singer Jean Baylor, bassists Pino Palladino and Ndegeocello, keyboardist James Francies, drummer Chris Dave, guitarist Chris Bruce, and pianist and fellow Blue Note artist Robert Glasper.

Consisting entirely of original songs, Nihil Novi was born of Strickland’s passion for beat making, which has shaped both the way he composes and how he improvises. It also inspired him to recruit Ndegeocello as the album’s producer. “Because of all the layers and textures involved, I wanted someone who was very experienced at producing and creating this kind of music,” Marcus explains. “Meshell is genre-less; she doesn’t go by genres. She goes by who she is as a person. And that’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m not interested in affixing myself to a particular genre; I want to express who I am musically as a person.”

 

 

 

 

 BUY IT @