Bruno Vansina - ANYR (a New York recording) December 8, 2021

This recording with Teun Verbruggen and Pascal Niggenkemper dates from 2015 and was done in New York during a tour through the USA with the Flat Earth Society Orchestra. I had met Pascal one year before at a rehearsal with Steve Nelson in preparation for my 'Stratocluster' album.

We had a day off in New York, contacted Pascal and reserved a little basement studio. I remember that after just a couple of hours we were back outside somewhere in a quiet neighborhood of Brooklyn, the sun was shining and I was chatting with Teun Verbruggen, waiting for a taxi to take us back 'downtown'. What better way to spend the afternoon? We where living the dream. I cherish that feeling with this modest album. - BV

1. Estelle 10:45

2. Guacamole 07:20

3. Triologic 08:12

4. Von Zacken 06:26

All songs by Bruno Vansina except ‘Estelle’ by Malik Mezzadri.

Bruno Vansina - alto saxophone

Pascal Niggenkemper - double bass

Teun Verbruggen - drums

Recorded by Jim Clouse at studio Park West, Brooklyn NY, 24th June 2014.

Mixed by Joseph Branciforte, New York, 16th March 2015.

Master by Pierre Vervloesem at studio Fiasco, Bruxelles, May 2015.

PRE ORDER

Pianist/Composer/Vocalist ADRIANNE DUNCAN Leads Top Ensemble on "GEMINI"

PIANIST, COMPOSER/ARRANGER, VOCALIST ADRIANNE DUNCAN LEADS A TOP ENSEMBLE ON HER NEW FULL-LENGTH ALBUM GEMINI

Three evocative vocal originals, an instrumental, and an imaginative reworking of The Police’s classic “Roxanne” take listeners on a rousing journey

“On her Gemini, the vocalist/pianist/composer proves herself an adept and compelling artist in the jazz genre, one who isn't afraid to take some chances. . . . ‘Roxanne’ is a particularly fine take on the tune, from a particularly promising jazz artist.”

— All About Jazz ★★★★

In honing her own creative voice as a rare quadruple-threat female jazz artist, pianist/composer/arranger/ vocalist ADRIANNE DUNCAN has also discovered the ideal way to present it: with the devoted group of musicians and friends heard on her inspired recording GEMINI. The versatile rhythm section features Duncan on piano with DAN LUTZ on acoustic and electric bass and JIMMY BRANLY, who mixed the album, on drums. Vibraphonist NICK MANCINI achieves a beautiful blend with Duncan’s instrument, serving the multifaceted songs with his fine touch and displaying high-level virtuosity in the bargain. A small but highly colorful contingent of woodwinds, with JOHN TEGMEYER on clarinet and KATISSE BUCKINGHAM on flute and saxophone, brings an added dimension and sparkling improvisatory flair.

Although Duncan, an Atlanta native now based in Los Angeles, followed a non-linear path to jazz, her earlier activities laid the groundwork for it in every way. She is the daughter of renowned classical guitarist and educator Charles Duncan. She grew up performing in — and winning — major competitions as a high-achieving classical pianist, also playing celeste, organ and other specialized keyboards as a member of the Atlanta Youth Symphony. Later she studied theater (earning a degree from Northwestern University), which in addition to full-time professional acting work, also led directly to singing.

Though Duncan chose not to pursue a classical piano career, she continued her deep study of music and later brought the piano back strongly into her performance, with a voice instructor’s encouragement. “These things were so separate in my mind, classical piano and singing/musical theater,” she recalls. “I was singing jazz in bands in Chicago, but I was the singer up front — I don’t think I even told anyone I played.” And yet play she does, on the level demanded of a competitive concert pianist, with a harmonic knowledge and fluid, lyrical touch of someone who’s closely studied the jazz piano legacy as well. As a self-accompanying singer, inhabiting her original story-oriented lyrics with a resonant tone and a fresh and expressive spirit, she’s furthering a tradition that spans from Nat Cole, Shirley Horn and Andy Bey to Diana Krall and Dena DeRose.

Duncan was also nurtured as a fiction writer and screenwriter starting in high school, so her approach as a lyricist tends toward the literary, and her compositions have a cinematic sense of scope. Both “Elijah” and “Home at Last” on Gemini have original short stories attached to them, readings of which Duncan hopes to include in performances down the road. The former has a relaxed tempo with enigmatic chords as the story unfolds, buoyed by riveting clarinet and tenor sax solos as the tune edges upward into double-time funk/fusion. The latter was inspired by an image Duncan saw in a dream, of an unloved trophy wife ascending in a glass elevator, somehow revealing every detail of her sorrowful life. Dark minor cadences and shifting tempos evoke an unsettled ambiance, made all the more dramatic by the imaginary French/English phone conversation Duncan overdubs in the song’s final abstract out-of-tempo moments.

“He’s Not Quite You,” which “predicts the end of a relationship” according to Duncan, stretches from a rueful ballad into a more exuberant, in-the-pocket samba feel for Mancini’s energized vibes solo over an extended coda. And the title track “Gemini,” the sole instrumental piece, reveals another facet of Duncan’s compositional gifts. The grooving, churning odd-meter structure gives ample space to all the soloists, beginning with a heated round of trading between flute and clarinet, followed by drums over an ostinato and finally vibes on the closing vamp.

“My starting to write was a direct result of studying jazz piano,” Duncan explains. “I didn’t think it would lead to composing; my intention was just to start accompanying myself. I studied with John Novello, who’s a fantastic B3 player, and I was learning all the Bill Evans voicings. I made flashcards, put them in a box and shook them up and I’d randomly get some chords next to each other, and that was how I started writing.”

But that wasn’t all: Duncan also began to reharmonize, transforming song after song, and one of these was the 1978 rock classic “Roxanne” by The Police. The characterological story-song theme suits the album and Duncan’s lyrical style, and the band digs in accordingly. “I love it when I’m listening to a song and I’m not aware what it’s going to be,” Duncan remarks. “That’s what I wanted with ‘Roxanne.’ I’m also drawn to songs that don’t necessarily have a basis in reality and also have that ‘Rashomon’ aspect of different people’s points of view. I also like songs that start one way and finish another way, and I think every one of the songs on Gemini does that. I love to be taken on a journey.”

In addition to her own project, Duncan has performed and recorded with some of Los Angeles’ most noted musicians, including Otmaro Ruiz and Catina DeLuna on the Grammy-nominated Lado B Brazilian Project, with whom she toured Brazil on keyboards and vocals. She has played and sung on numerous recordings, including The Jazz Chamber with legendary multireedist Bennie Maupin, and also performs regularly with her seven-person vocal improvisation collective Fish To Birds. She served as musical director of the show Twins for its premiere in Berlin, and founded and produced the LA Modern Jazz Series, which showcased world-class creative jazz musicians. As a producer and arranger, Duncan’s projects include albums for actor-singers Jacqueline Emerson (The Hunger Games) and Larry Wolf (Pound, Putney Swope). Her piano playing can be heard on film soundtracks including The Chameleon and The Young Kieslowski, as well as the short films Impact! The Musical and Na Na Na (Na).

1. HE’S NOT QUITE YOU 9:16

2. ELIJAH 9:55

3. GEMINI 6:56

4. HOME AT LAST 8:56

5. ROXANNE 6:00

Adrianne Duncan piano, vocals

Nick Mancini vibraphone

Dan Lutz bass

Jimmy Branly drums

Katisse Buckingham flute, saxophone

John Tegmeyer clarinet

All compositions by Adrianne Duncan except

“Roxanne” written by Sting

Arrangements by Adrianne Duncan

Produced by Adrianne Duncan

PRE ORDER

TATA VASQUEZ & HIS ORCHESTRA - ECSTASY (Jazz Room Records)

Super obscure New York Latin Jazz superbly produced by Eddie Drennon of the massive Disco hit of the early 1970's "Let's do the Latin Hustle".

Drennon was also a well known arranger and producer on the underground Latin Circuit and produced this way out, leftfield and very different to the typical "Salsa" style release current at that time. Some very jazz oriented playing on top of the "El Barrio" Vox Pop sounds of the streets and underlaid with some funky and fiery latin percussion.

"Suite Guaracha" was picked up on by the London Ibiza crew in the 90's and the Ursula 1000 & Gamm Nu-Jazz crew in the 2000's, played all over the alternative club circuit but has still managed to stay under the radar since then, but now a staple of the Worldwide Sound appearing on DJ Playlists in the hippest spots from Tokyo to Hamburg, New York to Barcelona.

Very different from the usual run of the mill late 70's Fania outings which might be a clue as to it's somewhat unique sound stylings. Funky, gritty, raw, fat jazzy and spooky backing vocals. It's Strictly Jazz Room!

1. LA BARBERIA 04:24

2. COOL BREEZE 03:41

3. MALDITO VICIO 03:53

4. EL LOCO 04:55

5. SUITE GUARACHO - PART 1 03:22

6. SUITE GUARACHO - PART 2 05:55

7. ORGULLO Y VANIDAD 07:01

PRE ORDER

Nublu Orchestra conducted by Butch Morris - Live at Joe's Pub NYC (December 2021 Nublu Records)

Once upon a time, for a few years at the dawn of the 21st century, Avenue C in New York City's East Village had its own Zubin Mehta, its own Herbert Von Karajan, its own Daniel Barenboim. He was a veteran of both the Vietnam War and, even more heroically, NYC's avant-garde jazz scene. His name was Lawrence "Butch" Morris and he was a well-established legend. The orchestra he conducted and the repertoire they played differed considerably from those employed by the above-named gentlemen in style, substance, tools and content. It was a motley crew of musicians from a wide array of backgrounds, styles, disciplines and genres, and the music he drew out of them, far from a set-in-stone catalog of well-established pieces from the European classical tradition, was informed by jazz improvisation, feeding off of the electricity of the streets around them and spontaneously creating the sound of NOW, on the fly and out of thin air, brought to life by each exacting stroke of Butch's baton. Each performance was a unique moment never to be repeated and there were no "hits" you were guaranteed to hear. But the recordings of these performances are revelatory and give a strong sense of something strange, new, mysterious and wonderful about to happen, or that's happening already, and these are the recordings, made all around the world, that Nublu Records is now presenting to you.

The history of Butch Morris and the Nublu Orchestra goes back to the late 90s and the friendship between Butch and Nublu's founder and owner, musician Ilhan Ersahin. Butch and Ilhan became great friends and Butch was present at the very inception of the club. Butch actually became, along with the legendary Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, a patron saint of sorts for Nublu, except that Butch stopped in for his customary nightcap every single night and regaled everybody with his hip, knowing, offbeat wisdom and humor. The kind you'd expect from a man who once released an album called "Current Trends In Racism In Modern America (A Work In Progress)." Several years into the club's existence after its official 2002 opening, with a core roster of musicians, bands and DJs having quickly begun to establish itself, the idea came up to form a supergroup of sorts, or more ambitiously, an orchestra, comprised of players who were at the club on a weekly and often daily basis, to be conducted by Butch. But instead of playing the cornet he was known for, Butch would conduct all these players in a very strict and demanding (but loving) way, not just waving a baton but getting what he wanted from a particular player by using nothing more than a glance. Players came to recognize these glances and fear them, not wanting to be singled out during the inevitable band meetings/pep speeches/dressing downs Butch would administer in the basement band room between sets. The Nublu Orchestra also distinguished itself via the use of beats and electronics that were brought in by different contributors, and which also served to distinguish the Nublu Orchestra from Butch's other Conduction work, which he had pioneered and was noted for.

It wasn't long before Butch had whipped the Nublu Orchestra into good enough shape to take on the road to the world beyond Avenue C and the dozen recordings being released now were taped all over: Bergamo, Paris, São Paulo, Lisbon, Rome, Skopje, Saalfaden, Pomigliano, Sant'Anna Arresi and good old NYC at Nublu where it all began, and also at Joe's Pub. The 12th title in the series is called "Encores" and consists of just that, brief encores performed at assorted shows around the world. Butch conducted the Orchestra for the final time in 2012 and sadly passed away in January 2013. His spirit (as well as a giant portrait of him) still permeates Nublu, both its original location and its newer location at 151 Avenue C, as well as on the fantastic recordings that Nublu Records is very proud to now present to you. 

1. Conduction No. Unknown 42:39

Recorded live at Joe's Pub New York City on an unknown date in 2004.

Line Up:

Lawrence D. ‘Butch’ Morris (Conduction)

Sabina Sciubba (Vocal)

Graham Haynes (Cornet)

Eddie Henderson (Trumpet)

Clark Gayton (Trombone)

Ilhan Ersahin (Tenor Saxophone)

Jonathon Haffner (Alto Saxophone)

Jana Andevska (Violin)

Thor Madsen (Guitar)

Jessie Murphy (Bass)

Didi Gutman (Keyboards)

Kenny Wollesen (Drums)

+

Project Coordinator: Velibor Pedevski

Mastered by Thor Madsen at Mazza Mansion, Copenhagen 2020

Cover Art by Ertac Uygun

℗ & © 2021, Nublu Records

PRE ORDER

Alister Spence / Joe Williamson / Christopher Cantillo - Curve (December 2021)

‘Brilliant musicianship, masterful playing and imaginative improvisational skills.’ Eyal Hareuveni, Salt Peanuts

‘Distinctive cohesiveness’ John Shand, Sydney Morning Herald

‘The hope is that this trio didn’t just “Begin” but will continue to make CDs like this for a long time.’ Ken Waxman, The Wholenote

Curve, is the second release by Australian pianist Spence, and Canadian born ex-pat Joe Williamson, and Christopher Cantillo from Sweden.

The trio first met in 2009 when Spence was invited to play at the Vilnius Jazz Festival. Since then, they have performed in 2011, 2013, and 2015, in Sweden, Norway, and the UK, as a trio, and with sax players Raymond MacDonald (Scotland), and Daniel Rourke (Australia).

1. Örnsberg Songbook 1 00:53

2. Deflect 04:59

3. Opening 08:42

4. Örnsberg Songbook 2 01:53

5. Slow Spin 07:55

6. Point of Rest 06:54

7. Örnsberg Songbook 3 00:43

8. Modulus 08:21

9. Generation 07:26

10. Örnsberg Songbook 4 01:01

11. Distribution 07:50

12. Örnsberg Songbook 5 01:31

Alister Spence – piano, prepared piano

Joe Williamson – double bass

Christopher Cantillo – drums, percussion

Recorded at Ton & Tråd, Örnsberg, Sweden on 24th February 2011

Mixed by Tim Whitten, November 2016

Mastered by Doug Henderson, September 2021

Producer: Alister Spence

Design: Cheryl Orsini

Cover and disc photographs: Alister Spence

Recording ©: 2021 Alister Spence

Artwork ©: 2021 Alister Spence

©All rights reserved

High quality audio files available for download: 24bit 48kHz

PRE ORDER

Jean​-​Charles Capon / Philippe Maté / Lawrence "Butch" Morris / Serge Rahoerson - Jean​-​Charles Capon / Philippe Maté / Lawrence "Butch" Morris / Serge Rahoerson (souffle continu records)

In November 1976, Jef Gilson’s phone rang. What a surprise! It was Serge Rahoerson, one of the musicians he had met in Madagascar at the end of the 60s and who had played on his first album “Malagasy”. Rahoerson announced that he was in Paris for a few days. Immediately, Jef wanted to organise a recording session, starting the next day. He thought of a trio including Serge, Eddy Louiss on organ and cellist Jean-Charles Capon, who had also been on one of the trips to Tananarive and so had also known Rahoerson there.

Unfortunately, Eddy Louiss –who had already played with Gilson and Capon on the album “Bill Coleman Sings And Plays 12 Negro Spirituals” in 1968- had to drop out at the last minute: he was delayed by a session with Claude Nougaro. Jean-Charles Capon had also become a sought-after studio musician since his trip to Madagascar in 1969. He appeared on several key albums on the Saravah label including the now famous “Comme À La Radio” by Brigitte Fontaine, “Un Beau Matin” by Areski and “Chorus” by Michel Roques, without mentioning the album by his own Baroque Jazz Trio. He was also to be found with Jef Gilson for his album on Vogue with the ex-drummer from Miles Davis’ first great quintet, Philly Joe Jones, or also in the orchestra led by Jean-Claude Vannier for the album “Nino Ferrer & Leggs”. He also played regularly on albums by Georges Moustaki.

Jean-Charles Capon and Serge Rahoerson found themselves thus in the studio, with Jef at the controls. He had decided to record the rhythmic structure right away. He would find the soloists later, that didn’t worry him. Serge Rahoerson was on drums. Though a saxophonist by training, Jef remembered that Serge was also capable of great things behind a drum kit: he was the improvised drummer on their cover of “The Creator Has A Master Plan” on the album “Malagasy”... The great memories came flooding back (the nod on the title “Orly - Ivato”), and the old magic worked again.

Brought in momentarily from Europamerica, Gilson’s new big band, in which JC Capon also played, the saxophonists Philippe Maté, from France (another Saravah stablemate) and the American Butch Morris (soon to be a key member of David Murray’s band) were invited to record their parts later and Gilson mixed it all as if it had been one single session (as he had already done on other albums, with the tracks by Christian Vander recorded before the creation and success of Magma).

The album would not appear until 1977, on Palm, Jef’s own label, and was dedicated to the memory of Georges Rahoerson, Serge’s father, who had also played on the album “Malagasy” and who had died prematurely at the age of 51 in 1974.

“I only received my own copy of the album in 1981 when I came to live in France definitively”, a still-moved Serge Rahoerson told us in 2013. “I was playing in a club one night and Jef turned up by surprise with a copy of the album for me, I was so pleased to see him again. When I arrived in France, I told everyone that I had played with Jef Gilson a few years previously, and I was surprised to learn that so few people knew of him. For us, he was of one of the great jazz visionaries.”

Jérôme “Kalcha” Simonneau

1. Spanish Cake Walk 04:59

2. Blues For Guy Labory 06:15

3. Orly - Ivato 06:44

4. Complainte 06:25

5. Mode De Fa - Salegy Drums Solo 11:10

PRE ORDER

Jacques Thollot - Watch Devil Go (souffle continu records)

 

To write these few lines, we spoke to saxophonist François Jeanneau, an old friend of Jacques Thollot who also played on several of his albums, including the “Watch Devil Go” which interests us here. He told us a story which, according to him, sums up the personality of Thollot. A noted studio had reserved three days for a Thollot recording session. The first morning was devoted to sound checks and putting some order in the score sheets which Jacques would hand out in a somewhat anarchic manner. Then everyone went for lunch. When the musicians returned to the studio, Thollot had disappeared. He wasn’t seen again for the three days. When he reappeared, he had already forgotten why he had left, The music of Jacques Thollot is in the image of its’ author: it takes you somewhere, suddenly escapes and disappears, returning in an unexpected place as if nothing had happened.

Four years after a first album on the Futura label in 1971, Jacques Thollot returned, this time on the Palm label of Jef Gilson, still with just as much surrealist poetry in his jazz. In thirty-five minutes and a few seconds, the French composer and drummer, who had been on the scene since he was thirteen, established himself as a link between Arnold Schoenberg and Don Cherry. Resistant to any imposed

framework and always excessive, Thollot allows himself to do anything and everything: suspended time of an extraordinary delicacy, a stealthy explosion of the brass section, hallucinatory improvisation of the synthesisers, tight writing, teetering on the classical, and in the middle of all that, a hit; the title-track - that Madlib would one day end up hearing and sampling.

“Watch Devil Go” was in the right place in the Palm catalogue, which welcomed the cream of the French avant-garde in the 70s. But it is also the story of a long friendship between two men. Jacques Thollot and Jef Gilson had known and respected one another for a long time. Though barely sixteen years old, Thollot was already on drums on the first albums by Gilson starting in 1963 and would play in his big band (alongside François Jeanneau once again), ‘Europamerica’, until the end of the 70s.

In a career lasting half a century and centred on freedom Jacques Thollot played with the most important experimental musicians (Don Cherry, Sonny Sharrock, Michel Roques, Barney Wilen, Steve Lacy, François Tusques, Michel Portal, Jac Berrocal, Noël Akchoté...) and they all heard in him a pulsation coming from another world.

Jérôme "Kalcha" Simonneau 

1. Kanêphoros 01:22

2. Up-Down 01:59

3. Watch Devil Go 03:16

4. In Extenso 07:05

5. Go Mind 01:44

6. Tryptique Pour La Foire Des Ténèbres De Ray Bradburry 02:32

7. Le Ciel Manque de Généalogie 00:43

8. Kamikaze's Nightmare 03:00

9. Entre Java et Tombok 02:08

10. Eddy G. Always Present 00:57

11. Before In 00:41

12. Eleven 01:04

13. La Dynastie des Wittelsbach 03:45

14. 1883-1975, Heavens 00:45

15. Au Stylo Feutre, Un Paysage 02:58

16. Canéphore 01:34

PRE ORDER

Alain Coyral / Akoy Kartet - Tous les Quatre

1. Cassandre 06:04

2. Nom de code 07:00

3. Daft Mood 04:49

4. Cool 04:30

5. To Troy 07:24

6. Tous les Quatre 04:32

7. Chérie Chérie 06:31

8. Joe 06:05

Alain Coyral (Soprano and tenor sax, composition)

Sebastien "Iep"Arruti (Trombone)

Serge Moulinier (Keys)

Christophe Jodet (Bass)

Didier Ottaviani (Drums)

PRE ORDER

Chris Morrissey - Impact Winter Formal (December 2021 Edition Records)

Described by Chicago Reader as “casually clearing the way for one potential path for jazz to progress into the future”, Chris Morrisey is a musician with an uncanny ability to blend styles and genres. Informed as much by alternative music of the 90s like Elliot Smith and Bjork as contemporary Jazz of that era, it was the presence of Happy Apple, the hyper original punk Jazz group from Minnesota (Dave King, Michael Lewis and Erik Fratzke) that installed his sense of what was possible in music.

This new set of work, his fifth record as a leader, represents his most authentic blend of all his influences in one melting pot. Here’s a musician as adept as a singer-songwriter as an improvising Jazz musician and composer.

With Impact Winter Formal, he gives up on straddling two genre worlds and instead has both feet firmly planted in a totally new one that is personal and looking-forward, complex but immediate, tuneful and inspiring. The result is brilliant, engaging and emotive featuring some of the most interesting and creative contemporary musicians in New York including Philip Dizack, Ryan Ferreira, Dan Rieser, Jon Cowherd, Josh Dion, Grey McMurray and Jason Rigby.

1. Don't Look so Serious 05:02

2. The Indigos 07:38

3. Ode to All Night 06:47

4. It's Cruel That It Ends 06:00

Chris Morrissey - Bass and Singing

Philip Dizack - Trumpet

Ryan Ferreira - Guitar

Dan Rieser - Drums

Jon Cowherd - Piano

except on THE INDIGOS, which is Chris Morrissey, Bass and Singing - Philip Dizack, Trumpet - Josh Dion, Drums - Grey McMurray, Guitar - Jason Rigby, Saxophone

All songs by Chris Morrissey (chris morrissey music, bmi)

Recorded at The Bunker Studio in Brooklyn, New York between February 2019 and April 2021

Recorded and co-produced by John Davis

Mixed by John Davis at The Bunker Studio in April 2021

PRE-ORDER

Harold Mabern - Mabern Plays Coltrane (December 2021 Smoke Sessions Records)

MABERN PLAYS COLTRANE, a vibrant live recording of Harold Mabern performing the music of John Coltrane with an all-star sextet including Eric Alexander, Vincent Herring, Steve Davis, John Webber, and Joe Farnsworth.

Mabern held a special reverence for John Coltrane. “He was very influential in my life and my playing, too,” Mabern once said. “After being around him and seeing what a great human being he was – man, I wish the whole world could have known John Coltrane.”

MABERN PLAYS COLTRANE is culled from the final three-nights of a three-week residency at Smoke’s annual year ending John Coltrane Festival that started in 2017 ended with these performances that Mabern and the band played in January 2018. The resulting recordings also produced two earlier albums: THE IRON MAN, which shined a spotlight on Mabern the performer and interpreter and offered a glimpse into a typical evening’s performance and MABERN PLAYS MABERN, which commemorated Mabern’s gifts as a composer and followed his untimely death at age 83 on September 17, 2019. Mabern Plays Coltrane is the album that was originally planned for those live recording sessions. Mabern had always played a key role in the festival since its inaugural edition in 2011. From the initial weeklong fest through its later three- and four-week incarnations, Mabern was the headliner for much of the annual run, an indication of both his appreciation for Coltrane as a forbear and mentor as well as his own vital role at Smoke.

“Playing John Coltrane's music with Harold was like tapping into the source,” says Farnsworth. “He was like the vortex, and it all flowed through him. It was intense. Having Harold on the stage, given how much he loved John Coltrane, it elevated the spirit of the music tenfold.” 

1. Dahomey Dance 07:13

2. Blue Train 10:42

3. Impressions 09:41

4. Dear Lord 05:36

5. My Favorite Things 11:47

6. Naima 09:09

7. Straight Street 10:51

Harold Mabern - piano

Vincent Herring - alto saxophone

Eric Alexander - tenor saxophone

Steve Davis - trombone

John Webber - bass

Joe Farnsworth - drums

Recorded Live January 5, 6 & 7, 2018 at SMOKE, NYC

Produced by Paul Stache & Damon Smith

Recorded by Paul Stache with Owen Mulholland & Jeff Citron

Mixed & Mastered by Chris Allen

Photography by Jimmy & Dena Katz

Design by Damon Smith & Paul Stache

All compositions by John Coltrane

except “My Favorite Things” by Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II

“Dear Lord” was previously included on The Iron Man: Live at Smoke

Eric Alexander appears courtesy of HighNote Records

Executive Producers: Paul Stache & Molly Johnson

PRE ORDER

Göran Strandberg Trio - Mevlana (December 8, 2021)

Göran Strandberg Trio, that is Göran Strandberg piano, Svante Söderqvist bass and Peter Danemo drums, began to take form after a few sporadic rehearsals in 2019.

- We noticed that we complemented each other, the sum of our different musical voices created something we liked. A repertoire grew slowly, which mostly consisted of my own compositions written for this particular trio, but also some well-chosen compositions written by others. After a successful tour in Västernorrland 2020, we continued to meet and the idea of documenting it all slowly emerged. During two days in June a year later, we recorded 12 tracks in my studio in Johanneshov.
 

Bildhuggarvägen 35.

A studio downstairs.

We find ourselves in a garden

different fragrances meet us -

it is a place just to be.

A soft rain falls gently

we unearth

sow and prune.

From time to time

unexpected winds sweep in,

an echo from a place unknown.

After two days, there’s a green light

and we leave the studio.

It’s 8 pm.

- Göran Strandberg dec 2021 

1. Indian Wake

2. Där det kan vara

3. Falling Grace

4. Sphere I

5. Mevlana

6. Letters

7. For A While

8. Kl. 8

9. Sweet Rain

10. Sphere II

11. Sweet Flower

12. Klartecken

Liner notes

Mevlana (Rumi) was a poet and mystic from 1200–1273

All Music Composed by G. S. Except No 3 by Steve Swallow & No 9 by Mike Gibbs.

Recorded at Bildhuggarvägen 35 in Stockholm, May 2021

Recording & Mixing Engineer Peter Danemo.

Recording Engineer Track No 9 Daniel Nygaard

Mastering by Stockholm Mastering.

Cover Photography by Sylvia Martens

Band Photography by Örjan Fahlström

Graphic Design by Pontus Dahlström.

Produced by Göran Strandberg.

Resonansium Records 2021

PRE ORDER

Aparticle - The Glamour Tapes (December 2021 Ritmo&Blu Records)

Ritmo & Blu Records is pleased to present “The Glamor Tapes,” a new work by Aparticle. Produced by Stefano Castagna, “The Glamor Tapes” is an entirely analog reinterpretation of “The Glamor Action,” the quartet’s latest record, recorded and mixed at Studio Ritmo & Blu and released in February 2020 via UR Records. The work is available in Tape Master, Compact Cassette and high resolution digital formats on the Ritmo & Blu website.

Aparticle is made up by Michele Bonifati, Giulio Stermieri, Cristiano Arcelli and Ermanno Baron, an eclectic quartet that offers a personal synthesis of Jazz, Rock and improvisation. Born in 2017, they debuted with Bulbs in 2018, followed by The Glamor Action in 2020: in concert the songs of the disc are interpreted as a launch for new compositions, testifying to a continuous collective research that is reflected in an increasingly evident identity of group. The re-reading of the 2020 album should therefore not be understood as a moment of fatigue or a break, but as a central stage in the path of dialogue between composition and impromptuness. Both in the writing and in the organization of the interactions, the present tense takes on considerable importance: this characterizes Aparticle as a peculiar and intriguing improvising band.

Revisiting your own record is an important operation, especially if – as happened for “The Glamor Tapes,” reinterpreted according to the “vintage” perspective dear to Ritmo & Blu – governed by a unique production and listening philosophy. As Aparticle points out about the invitation: “Stefano Castagna proposed us to make a new version of the album working completely in analog: we recorded on a tape multitrack and mixed on an analog desk. No computer was used in any production phase and the audio was not processed through any digital device. This was a time for us to rethink how technology can affect music production. In this perspective we have reworked our material, adapting it to this new recording process.”

The reworking of the album stimulated reflection and artistic exploration in the quartet, starting with the role of the production process up to questioning the support as such in an era of liquid music. The questions and ideas that arose in this phase were extended to colleagues, critics, record companies and friends, so much so as to generate a broad and shared reflection process that has become part of the booklet. Above all we quote the opinion of a historical and authoritative signature such as Aldo Gianolio: “A very modern and personal music, in which they have perfectly metabolized sounds and ideas that run in the air of contemporaneity, making them their own and adapting them to their styles, with beautiful architectures played on the juxtapositions of aerial and floating parts and others that are more earthy and solid.“

The publication of “The Glamor Tapes” follows that of “The Boy Next Door” (Gibellini/Corini/Maniscalco) and confirms the respectful approach to production times that Ritmo&Blu Records wants to preserve and enhance.

1. The Glamour Tapes Part 1 15:09

2. The Glamour Tapes Part 2 08:45

3. The Glamour Tapes Part 3 04:34

Aparticle:

Cristiano Arcelli / Alto Sax

Michele Bonifati / Guitar

Giulio Stermieri / Rhodes, Organ, Juno60

Ermanno Baron / Drums

PRE ORDER

Stephan Thelen - Fractal Guitar 2 Remixes (December 2021 MoonJune Records)

24bit DIGITAL FILES

CD + LIMITED EDITION LP

From STEPHAN THELEN

Fractal Guitar 2 remains one of my own favorite albums, not just for musical reasons, but also because it was such an enjoyable working experience in which many of my musician friends sent me file after file after file of amazing and spellbinding music. In the end, there were so many tracks that ultimately did not make it to the album, but were simply too good to just let go of. A good example ist Andi Pupato’s Middle Eastern percussion track for my remix of 'Point of Inflection’ which wasn’t quite right for the main album, but set the stage for the very different vibe of the remix.

Also, while preparing the mixes for Fractal Guitar 2, it became clear that the extensive material for this album had the potential to be remixed and remodeled in many different ways. Knowing that some of my friends were excellent and creative remixers, I reached out to see who would be compelled to re-imagine the pieces. A big thank you to Bill Laswell, Jah Wobble, David Torn and Barry Cleveland for their incredible remix skills and musical imagination. In an e-mail written after hearing Bill Laswell’s remix, Barry wrote to me: „This is fascinating on multiple levels. A sort of master class, really …Even King Tubby would raise his eyebrows at that schnizzle.“ Of course, he’s right.

01 POINT OF INFLECTION (Stephan Thelen Remix)

David Torn: electric guitar, live looping

Jon Durant: fretless guitar, cloud guitar

Barry Cleveland: 6 &12-string guitars, bowed guitar, chopped guitar, fuzz orchestration

Markus Reuter: soundscapes

Tim Motzer: electric guitar

Andi Pupato: percussion

Andy Brugger: drums

Stephan Thelen: electric guitar, fender bass, granular synth, mix translation

Original Version written by Stephan Thelen and Barry Cleveland.

02 LADDER TO THE STARS (Jah Wobble Remix)

Henry Kaiser: electric guitar

Chris Muir: electric guitar, live looping

Markus Reuter: touch guitar U8, soundscapes

Jon Durant: filtered and sliced cloud guitar

Fabio Anile: electric piano

Andy West: bass guitar

Andi Pupato: percussion

Manuel Pasquinelli: drums

Jah Wobble: mix translation

Stephan Thelen: electric guitar, keyboards

Mix translation by Jah Wobble at Airtight Productions, Manchester,

England, July 2020. Engineering by Seadna McPhail.

Original Version written by Stephan Thelen and Fabio Anile..

03 CELESTIAL NAVIGATION (Stephan Thelen Remix)

Markus Reuter: touch guitar U8, soundscapes

Bill Walker: electric guitar, lap steel

Andi Pupato: percussion

Manuel Pasquinelli: drums

Stephan Thelen: fractal guitar, fender bass, e-bow, keyboards, mix translation

Original Version written by Stephan Thelen.

04 POINT OF INFLECTION (David Torn Mix)

David Torn: electric guitar, live looping, mix

Jon Durant: cloud guitar

Barry Cleveland: 6 &12-string guitars, bowed guitar, chopped guitar, fuzz orchestration

Markus Reuter: soundscapes

Andi Pupato: percussion

Andy Brugger: drums

Stephan Thelen: electric guitar, fender bass, granular synth

Mixed and Mastered by David Torn.

Original Version written by Stephan Thelen and Barry Cleveland.

05 MERCURY TRANSIT (Barry Cleveland Remix)

Barry Cleveland: 6 & 12-string guitars, bowed guitar, revox loops, zither, singing bowls, bowed cymbal, electronics, mix translation

Jon Durant: VCS3 guitar

Markus Reuter: soundscapes

Michael Manring: bass guitar

Andi Pupato: percussion

Andy Brugger: drums

Stephan Thelen: electric guitar, e-bow, keyboards

Mix translation by Barry Cleveland.

Mastered by David Torn.

Original Version written by Stephan Thelen.

06 POINT OF INFLECTION (Bill Laswell Mix Translation)

Bill Laswell: bass, electronics, mix translation

David Torn: electric guitar, live looping

Jon Durant: fretless guitar, cloud guitar

Barry Cleveland: 6 &12-string guitars, bowed guitar, chopped guitar, fuzz orchestration

Markus Reuter: soundscapes

Andi Pupato: percussion

Andy Brugger: drums

Stephan Thelen: electric guitar, fender bass, granular synth

Mix translation by Bill Laswell, Orange Music, West Orange, New Jersey, June 2020. Engineering, editing and processing by James Dellatacoma.

Original Version written by Stephan Thelen and Barry Cleveland.

All tracks written by Stephan Thelen except Ladder to the Stars

written by Stephan Thelen & Fabio Anile and Point of Inflection

written by Stephan Thelen & Barry Cleveland.

Recorded at various locations across Europe and North America

between November 2019 and July 2020.

Recording engineer at MegaSonic, Oakland, California: Jeremy Goody.

Andy Brugger’s drums recorded by Reto Muggli at Powerplay Sudio B,

Zürich, Switzerland. Manuel Pasquinelli’s drums recorded by Benno

Kaiser at his studio in Aarau, Switzerland.

Jah Wobble’s remix performed at Airtight Productions,

Manchester, England, July 2020. Engineering by Seadna McPhail.

Bill Laswell’s mix translation performed at

Orange Music, West Orange, New Jersey, June 2020.

Engineering, editing and processing by

James Dellatacoma.

David Torn appears courtesy of ECM Records.

PRE ORDER

Anthony Wonsey - Lorraine’s Lullabies (2021 Cellar Live)

When I think of the phrase "it takes a village to raise a child," I often think of my music training and all of the great musicians and people I have come across throughout the years, starting with the great trumpeter Zilner Randolph, who was Louis Armstrong's musical director in the '40s. I was five years old when I met the master, and the piano lessons he gave me were really life lessons - I just did not realize it at the time. The village raising a child soon grew, and I entered high school, where Reginald Willis became my mentor. Because of this, I won a four-year scholarship to Berklee College of Music. Mulgrew Miller and James Williams as well as my peers and other members of the village became my teachers and mentors. Now, living in New York City since '95, I continue to be inspired in this great city by great musicians and great people. One of those great people is Lorraine Tiezzi, who is a real lover of this Black American art form. This album is about saying thank you to all the people in the village who continue to raise that child. Since the pandemic, it has really humbled me in many ways - this is my way of saying thank you. I bring you Lorraine's lullabies.

-Anthony Wonsey

New York City

Photo: Sergio Santillán

1. Sweet Lorraine 04:59

2. Giving Rise to Doubt 07:03

3. I Didn't Know What Time It Was 07:04

4. Little Mouse 07:33

5. Blues for Hiroshi 06:59

6. It Might As Well Be Spring 08:17

7. Blacker Black's Revenge 05:12

8. Avo's Blooze 04:13

9. Do You Remember Me 08:03

10. Melancholy Mind 06:44

Anthony Wonsey – piano

Dmitri Kolesnik – bass (2 – 7, 9)

Brandi Disterfheft – bass (8 & 10)

Chris Beck – drums (3 – 10)

Antoine Drye – trumpet (8, 9)

Zet Harris – tenor saxophone (8, 9), soprano saxophone (10)

Milton Suggs – voice (10)

Produced by Jeremy Pelt

Recorded at GB’s Juke Joint in Astoria, NY on January 24, 2021

Engineered by Glen Bluey

Mixed and mastered by Ian Hendrickson-Smith

Cover Art by Gerald Cannon (www.cannonmusicnart.com)

Photography by Carolin Rechberg

Design and layout by John Sellards

PRE-ORDER

Cory Weeds - With Strings: What Is There To Say? (2021 Cellar Live)

What a perfect time for Cory to give us this album, What is There To Say?, his 18th record as a leader. It's his most ambitious project to date and, in my opinion, his most impressive. Ever since Charlie Parker recorded his iconic Bird with Strings album, the saxophone-with-strings format has become a sort of Mount Everest for those saxophonists brave enough to take on the challenge. Cory has been climbing to increasingly greater heights for years now and he is clearly ready for this ''Everestine'' expedition. Listening to him interpret this carefully curated set of compositions, we really get to know him for the musician he has become: an expressive saxophonist with a unique and personal voice on his instrument. A visceral strength to his delivery on the tenor, while at times exposing a beautifully honest vulnerability as well.

Cory, as he is known to do, has surrounded himself with only the best company. Phil Dwyer's crafty lush string arrangements inspire Cory to search for new and ever more lyrical melodic lines while also giving him ample space to get lost exploring the nooks and crevasses of the music. Cory has compiled some real musical gems here including the somewhat obscure chestnut 1906 Ballad At Dawning (I Love You) while also contributing an eclectic trio of original compositions to round out an extremely enjoyable musical program.

1. At Dawning 05:44

2. Waltz For Someone Special 04:46

3. Alana Marie 06:33

4. I Wish You Love 06:35

5. The Phantom / The In Crowd 06:12

6. Love Is Wild 06:06

7. What Is There To Say? 05:58

8. There's A Boat Leavin' Soon For New York 06:54

Cory Weeds – tenor saxophone

Phil Dwyer – piano

John Lee – bass

Jesse Cahill – drums

Cam Wilson – violin (lead)

Llowyn Ball - violin

Elyse Jacobson - violin

Molly MacKinnon - violin

Jiten Beairsto- violin

Madeline Hocking- violin

Meredith Bates - violin

Andrea Siradze - violin

John Kastelic – viola

Genevieve MacKay - viola

Finn Manniche - cello

Doug Gorkoff – cello

Maggie Hasspacher - bass

All arrangements by Phil Dwyer

Executive Producer: Cory Weeds

Produced by Phil Dwyer and Cory Weeds

Recorded at The Armoury Studios in Vancouver, BC on Feburary 13, 20 and 21, 2021

Engineered by Sheldon Zaharko, assisted by Spencer Bleasdale and Ricardo Germain

Mixed by Sheldon Zaharko

Mastered by João Carvalho

Cover Art by Lori Popadiuk

Photography by Cory Weeds

Design and layout by Perry Chua

PRE-ORDER

Steven Feifke & Benny Benack III's SEASON’S SWINGIN’ GREETINGS is out via Cellar Music Group

Cellar Music Group Announces Release of Season’s Swingin’ Greetings – A Spirited Big Band Holiday Celebration Featuring Renowned Trumpeter and Vocalist Benny Benack III with Acclaimed Pianist, Arranger and Big Band Leader Steven Feifke

“There’s an attractive mixture of sincerity and humor to be found in the way this crew addresses the holidays, but don’t let the lightheartedness fool you: The musicianship is serious, and seriously on point.” 

—Dan Bilawksy, All About Jazz

Cellar Music Group is thrilled to announce the November 19, 2021 release of Season’s Swingin’ Greetings, a holiday album that celebrates the traditional big-band sound and hallmark compositions of yesteryear while also introducing brand-new pieces and arrangements to the holiday jazz pantheon. Acclaimed trumpeter and Vocalist Benny Benack III joins forces with heralded pianist and big-band leader Steven Feifke, marking the first release as co-leaders for these two close friends and long-time collaborators. This auspicious holiday recording sees the inimitable confluence of Feifke’s compositional/arranging prowess and Benack’s lyrical pen, yielding rousing arrangements of timeless holiday classics as well as original compositions written in the spirit of the season.

This Deluxe Edition package of Season’s Swingin’ Greetings is the culmination of a 3-year process, built on the vision of composing, recording and refining holiday jazz anthems for a new generation. With some tracks initially released as an EP for La Reserve back in 2019, Feifke and Benack utilized their time during the COVID-19 lockdown to continue to record additional tracks for the album, adding lush string arrangements and additional moments of levity and expert instrumental performance. Feifke recalls the exhilarating week leading up to the 2019 recording session, when Feifke and Benack were sharing a Manhattan apartment. “Benny would run down the hall, knock on my door and tell me that he finished the lead sheet for the next track right as I finished arranging and orchestrating the previous – it was a real tin-pan alley kind of atmosphere,” recalls Feifke. 

While Season’s Swingin’ Greetings marks Feifke and Benack’s first release as co-leaders, the two have a long and fruitful history of collaboration including on Feifke’s most recent critically-acclaimed release Kinetic, which featured Benack prominently alongside Feifke’s big-band. About that outing, Jack Bowers of All About Jazz notes, “for those who appreciate contemporary big bands whose guiding purpose is swing, Kinetic should furnish ample excitement and pleasure. If Herman, Basie and Buddy Rich were still around, it is reasonable to surmise that this is the path they would have followed.”

“Benny is such a brilliant lyricist. The stuff that he comes up with is nothing short of virtuosic – and so for me to be able to jump in and contribute my compositional and orchestrational voice is  fantastic. It’s  a really great match in terms of both of us complimenting each other’s artistic  skill-sets,” Feifke reflects.  

The co-leaders will release three singles including a October 29th release of “Sleighride”, the November 19th release of “Ma’oz Tzur” and the December 17th release of “When Christmas time Comes Around”. The classic “Sleighride” was co-arranged by Benack and Feifke. This sprightly arrangement demonstrates Benack’s lightning-fast facility on the trumpet, soaring over Feifke’s thoughtful harmonic refrains. Feifke displays his immense melodic acuity as well with a sublime solo. The triple-meter bridge and melodic playfulness from the duo sets the stage for a truly innovative release. “Ma’oz Tzur” is a modern arrangement of a traditional Jewish liturgical poem, the duo bring this Chanukah classic into present day with a 3/4 power-ballad feel within a marvelous big band and strings arrangement.

“When Christmas Time Comes Around” is a joint composition between Feifke (music) and Benack (lyrics), the two worked together to craft this holiday story and interpret it in song. “This album was filled with firsts”, Benack indicates, “this was the first time that I’d ever written lyrics for jointly-written piece”. “My Girlfriend is an Elf” is the album opener, a jubilant and comical vocal showcase for Benack. The vocalist notes “My Girlfriend is an Elf is a tune where the verse [setting up the premise that his girlfriend is an elf] came to me first.”

“My Wishlist is You” features a wonderful performance from vocalist Alita Moses alongside Benack. Benack composed and wrote the lyrics for this Christmas-themed waltz. Moses was also featured in a duet context on Benack’s recent critically-acclaimed album A lot of Livin’ to Do. The outfit returns to the Chanukah spirit for “The Dreidel Song”. Feifke’s arrangement harkens back to the spirit of the craps game in ‘Guys and Dolls’, fitting for a reimagining of a traditional song based on a gambling game.

“A Midnight Wish”, the album’s final track, is an original song co-written by Benack and several other fantastic new composers. The piece concludes the album on a lush, reflective note, showcasing Benack’s sultry vocals singing powerful and poignant lyrics underscored by the phenomenal Steven Feifke Big Band.

Aside from the two esteemed co-leaders, Season’s Swingin’ Greetings features an array of notable musicians throughout its tracks. Vibraphone great Warren Wolf takes a wonderful solo on the classic “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve”, Sasha Berliner is featured on “The Christmas Song”, acclaimed multireedist Alexa Tarantino is featured during a flute solo on “When Christmastime Comes Around”, saxophonist Sam Dillon is a featured soloist on “The Dreidel Song”, celebrated trombonist Javier Nero is a featured soloist on “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” and drummer TJ Reddick is featured on “Sleighride”.

Season’s Swingin’ Greetings captures the tremendous synergy and interplay between two close friends and collaborators dedicated to creating a perfect atmosphere in which to compliment one another. Benack notes “I consider the bond between a crooner and his arranger to be as sacred as it comes in the annals of Jazz music…Sinatra had Nelson Riddle, Mel Tormé had Marty Paich, and I’m grateful to have Steven Feifke’s pen providing the musical wind in my sails. I wouldn’t entrust my music and arrangements to just anyone, but with Steven we have complete trust in each other, and really share a similar vision for how we want to present this familiar format in a fresh, exciting way.” A modern-classic, Season’s Swingin’ Greetings celebrates the holiday music of multiple religions, and adorns each track with an infectiously jubilant energy fitting for the upcoming season.

1. My Girlfriend Is An Elf 03:55

2. I'll Be Home For Christmas 05:04

3. My Wishlist Is You 03:26

4. The Dreidel Song 04:04

5. What You Doing New Year's Eve 04:56

6. The Christmas Song 04:39

7. Sleigh Ride 03:40

8. When Christmas Time Comes Around 04:53

9. Ma'oz Tzur 04:49

10. A Midnight Wish 04:04

PRE-ORDER