Toure Kunda - Lambi Golo (May 25, 2018)

NEW ALBUM RELEASED 25TH MAY VIA SHELLSHOCK

The elephants of African Music return after a ten year hiatus with new album ‘Lambi Golo’, released 25th May via Shellshock. A musical thiéboudienne that is both energetic and tender, ‘Lambi Golo’ (monkey battle) is a vibrant mix of m’balax, casamancais rhythms, funk, pop rock and reggae and an open invitation to dance, to dream and to hope.

With a musical career lasting forty years, Toure Kunda needed to renew their energy and what better place to do this than in the heart of Casamance, where the incredible saga of the elephant family (Touré Kunda in soninké) took root. It's from this region in southern Senegal in 1975 that one of the brothers left for France, just like his pedlar-shoemaker ancestor who left Mali for Casamance in search of crocodile skins for riches. 

Moving to Paris, Ismaël trod the classic immigrant pathway of odd jobs and solitude and became part of West African Cosmos, a combo experimenting with rock and afro sounds. Then, in 1977, he was joined by his brother Sixu and the duo became known as the ‘Frères Griots’ (Griots Brothers), before becoming a stage performing band with a group of local musicians.

In this period, there was a new public eagerness to discover this African continent which was full of promising sounds so when Amadou, the elder brother joined the duo, Toure Kunda became the ambassadors of a new wave of African music which would also boast Salif Keita, Mory Kante, Youssou N’Dour and older musicians such as Manu Dibango, Francis Bebey and Pierre Akendengue.

From there, Toure Kunda became pioneers and forerunners of the World Music phenomenon. They would be the first group to perform in the immense Pantin Hippodrome. The first band to organise a mega tour in Africa. The first to experiment with new technologies in their sound such as using western instruments and the first to have an impact in Japan, not to mention performing to Heads of State during the Francophonie Summit in Vittel in 1983, performing with Santana and meeting Nelson Mandela.

With each event, it proved to the sceptics at the beginning of their career that they could reach audiences beyond their own community. The sons of Ziguinchor, fed on James Brown, Led Zepplin, Georges Brassens and Credence Clearwater Revival, always wanted to travel so as to meet other brothers, with the earth of their country clinging to the soles of their shoes and sabars close at hand. Hence the need, after forty years of performing, to return to this matrix which had nourished their imagination and provided their initial dreamlike fuel. 

And so to the new songs on ‘Lambi Golo’, which have been cultivated over many years and recorded in “village studio” conditions to preserve the essence of life and evoke the loss of values for confused generations; these collective values that Toure Kunda have always defended and which are symbolised by the “djambaadong” (dance of the leaves), whose pulsating rhythms mark the passage from childhood to adulthood. 

"Lambi Golo", the monkey wrestling in Wolof is both a nod to an African culture where animals play a central role in education, and a look at an African sport, traditional wrestling. It is also a look at the evolution of African society. Lamb is a struggle where two individuals clash, but it is also a time when social groups express themselves through cultural practices. Wrestling is a moment of artistic production, so it invites us to understand sport as a symbolic activity. In other words, the traditional African struggle, more specifically the "Lambi Golo", gives us food for thought about the meaning of physical activities and symbolic activities.”

Toure Kunda have always been aware of the changes and issues of the present. Surrounded by brilliant likeminded musicians such as Paco Sery, Romain Ghezal and Alune Wade along with famous friends Carlos Santana, Manu Dibango, Nelson Palacio, Chelk Tidiane, Seck and Lokua Kanza, Toure Kunda unite humanity in their own way.

Esbjörn Svensson Trio e.s.t. - e.s.t. live in London (ACT Music May 11, 2018)

The release of this album marks a poignant moment: the tenth anniversary of the tragic and premature death of Esbjorn Svensson on 14 June 2008.

During the last ten years after the end of e.s.t. there have been constant reminders of the indelible mark which the band has left on the international jazz scene. Indeed it is hard to imagine a whole generation of currently highly successful young bands all over the world, often attracting an audience of same age, without the deep and lasting influence of the sound and the aesthetic of e.s.t. It might sound like a cliché but it is evident that through his music, Esbjörn Svensson will stay with us forever.

The trio really was a phenomenon. Its scale, recognition and impact grew progressively and internationally during the seventeen years of its existence. British audiences, for example, took e.s.t to their hearts, and in a special way. Things began quietly when they first performed one night in the tiny Pizza Express Jazz Club in Dean Street in the late 1990’s, and their footprint in the UK just kept growing steadily from there, until they were packing out concert halls. It is part of a similar story in many European countries. They were not just met with massive success in Germany and France, they truly went Europe-wide. And they also reached out further: they were the first European band ever to appear on the cover of Downbeat in May 2006, the magazine’s seventy-third year. In 2006, one year after „Live in London“ was recorded, they played over 100 concerts in 24 countries and were heard by 200,000 people.

That unforgettable experience of e.s.t. playing live has been caught before on CD, notably in "Live in Hamburg", which was named the “Jazz album of the decade 2000–2010” by The Times, whose critic wrote: “In a decade when Scandinavia staked a claim as the home of progressive jazz, no one had more success than this piano trio.” Jamie Cullum described the appeal of their live concerts: „e.s.t. are a jazz trio, only I can take my non-jazz friends along to see them.”

This new release was recorded at a completely sold-out Barbican Centre in 2005, during a hugely successful and highly popular UK tour. It is e.s.t. at the peak of their creativity touring after the release of their to-date best selling album “Viaticum”. The organic and natural way in which the set evolves is remarkable, and there is plentiful evidence of what Canadian critic John Kelman has called their “unique simpatico.” For people who know and remember the band well, the absolute gem here is a serene, deliciously poised account of “Believe, Beleft, Below.”

The Independent’s critic Stuart Nicholson was clearly moved by the concert. Here we reproduce his thoughtful and vivid review:

The Esbjorn Svensson Trio, or EST as they like to be known these days, do to the jazz piano trio what James Joyce did to coming-of-age tales by cutting up the form and starting afresh. This acclaimed Swedish group have been a hit on the European scene for a while now. In 2000, the German news weekly Der Spiegel hailed Svensson as "the future of the jazz piano", and since then his trio have consolidated their position as one of the top bands on the circuit. They are currently more popular than most big American jazz names.

Attracting the kind of following EST enjoy prompts accusations - often well founded - of dumbing down. But Svensson is one of those rare musicians who dispenses the common touch without compromising his art. He avoids the usual jazz musician's stock-in-trade of cramming as many notes as he can into the square inch, instead favouring innovative silences and a darkly intense lyricism that allows his emotional honesty to show through.

Although he once dabbled among the magical spells of the pianist Keith Jarrett's Belonging period, the new spirit Svensson has come up with is shorn of Jarrett's angst and the feeling that a good thing has been taken to wearying extremes. Featured were several tunes from EST's current album, Viaticum (which went gold in France and platinum in Germany), including "Tide of Trepidation", "Eighty-eight Days In My Veins" and the title track.

The suave use of lighting underlined the shifting moods of EST's music while their careful use of dynamics, unusual in jazz, which usually opts for fast-equals-loud, slow-equals-soft, made Svensson's lyrical intensity stand out in sharp relief. Yet the non-conformist Dan Berglund likes Jimi Hendrix and Richie Blackmore (of Deep Purple) and is not afraid to use a wah-wah pedal or feedback with his acoustic bass ("Mingle In the Mincing Machine"), while the drummer Magnus Östrom dances around formal regularity with a variety of techniques, such as using his fingers on his snare to emulate pop's rhythm samples.

EST renew the notion that the cutting edge of jazz need not involve volatile experimentation. At the head of a sense-sharpening breeze of change currently blowing through European jazz, Svensson [..] gave further evidence that the best European jazz is no longer a pale imitation of what is happening in the United States. Indeed, here was evidence that Europe is now moving ahead in creativity and originality.

Tonbruket - Live Salvation (ACT Music 2018)

Tonbruket live on stage is an experience you will never forget: The superb concert recording „Live Salvation" captures the band’s fluidity as it moves from lulling and sensitive folk through playful and hip jazz, and onwards and outwards to ferocious full-on rock, casting the Swedish quartet in a different light from its award-winning studio recordings.

The dovetailing and the interaction between the musicians are immaculate. If no single band member appears to stand out as a soloist, it is because they have a way of all soloing together at the same time. "The team is the star," wrote the Esslinger Zeitung's critic in a highly enthusiastic review of the Tonbruket concert at Jazzclub Bix in Stuttgart which is now presented on this CD.

After nearly a full decade together, it is now apposite to look back and consider all that Tonbruket have achieved. They have made four highly acclaimed studio albums on ACT, each of which received a Swedish Grammy. They have also performed countless tours, and always with the same line-up, which is never something that should be taken for granted. It means that Dan Berglund, Johan Lindström, Martin Hederos and Andreas Werliin have grown together into a unit that can groove like a perfectly-oiled machine (Tonbruket in English means ‘sound factory’) and yet can also defy expectations with their poetic lightness.

“Salvation”. The album title evokes spiritual healing. These four Swedes don't just play because they always have, not just because they lived it large as teenagers in punk bands, nor because they studied music. They perform because it is their be-all and end-all, because their physical and mental health depends on it. The formation of the band in 2009 by Dan Berglund and Johan Lindström was preceded by a traumatic experience: the sudden death of the man who had been Berglund's closest musical colleague, pianist Esbjörn Svensson. That tragic event on June 14, 2008 brought his trio e.s.t.’s spectacular success story to an abrupt halt.

Anyone who has ever experienced a Tonbruket concert will have an idea of what this album has in store. The songs tend to be much longer than the precisely worked studio versions. There is time for solos – but they serve the tune in a way that they never feel like solos. The listener at a Tonbruket concert can relax, close their eyes, surrender completely to wondrously dreamy sounds...only to be subjected to a merciless onslaught. Is it “progressive?” It’s more than that: avant-garde folk meeting psychedelic jazz and progressive rock.

"The way the musicians interweave acoustic and electrical instruments is a particularly fine craft," wrote the German magazine Stern. Tonbruket played music from their last three albums in Stuttgart, and all eight songs on the album have a special, added, live dimension about them. "Dig It To The End" has a deep, earthy groove, to which Martin Hederos’ swinging honky-tonk piano lends an unexpected lightness. "Nightmusic", at twelve minutes, is almost twice as long as before. In its long keyboard passages Tonbruket show a Pink Floyd-like playfulness, which then in turn leads to bass solos by band founder Dan Berglund, shadowed by the ghostly rustling percussion of Andreas Werliins.

To end the album, the 14-minute “Vinegar Heart” offers a fabulous trip, leading from the abyss up into the light and the heights – and back down again. What begins with dub noise moments, turns into a gentle journey through the Appalachians with the howling pedal steel guitar of Johan Lindström. The Kölnischer Rundschau’s reviewer once summed it all up rather neatly :"An adventure trip through the past, present and future. It fits in no category – and it’s fun."

1 The Missing ( Andreas Werliin, Martin Hederos & Tonbruket*) 09:31

2 Dig It To The End ( Dan Berglund***) 04:06

3 Nightmusic ( Johan Lindström**) 11:41

4 Sinkadus ( Dan Berglund, Johan Lindström & Tonbruket*) 07:04

5 Gripe ( Martin Hederos***) 07:09

6 Balloons ( Martin Hederos***) 06:02

7 Polka Oblivion ( Johan Lindström & Tonbruket*) 06:56

8 Vinegar Heart ( Johan Lindström***) 13:44

Dan Berglund / double bass

Johan Lindström / guitar, pedal steel

Martin Hederos / piano, synthesizers, violin

Andreas Werliin / drums

Recorded live in concert by Åke Linton

at Bix Jazzclub Stuttgart, November 17, 2016

Mixed by Tonbruket and Anton Sundell at Studio Bruket

Mastered by Henrik Jonsson at Masters of audio

* from the album Forevergreens, ACT 9811-2

** from the album Nubium Swimtrip, ACT 9558-2

*** from the album Dig it to the end, ACT 9026-2

Produced by Tonbruket

Cover art by Jesper Waldersten: Salvation, 2017

with the kind permission of the artist

Iiro Rantala - Mozart, Bernstein, Lennon (ACT Music 2018)

Long before he had heard the whole of Mozart’s C Major Piano Concerto, Finnish jazz pianist Iiro Rantala had known the andante. “The second movement,” he explains, “is on the soundtrack to the James Bond Film ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’. It’s the scene where they show you the underwater city – and it’s my absolute favourite Bond film.”

It was not until several years later that Rantala heard the whole concerto, KV 467, at a concert. When he did, he instantly fell in love with the piece. “The opening movement has something magical about it, it’s just a fantastic melody – and the music evolves as naturally as breathing.” His enthusiasm is evident: “All the themes, harmonies and rhythms of the work are composed with such perfection, it is almost preternatural.”

The pianist, who is also classically trained, had always dreamed of performing this concerto, so it was no surprise that when the opportunity came, he seized it with enthusiasm. It happened in 2017 at jazzahead! in Bremen in Germany. As a prominent representative of jazzahead!’s partner country Finland, Rantala was invited to devise the programme for the gala concert. And that much-lauded event is now available as a live recording.

His choice of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (DKPB) had less to do with the ensemble's local roots in Bremen than the fact that Rantala has been aware of the orchestra for 35 years. Various DKPB recordings adorn his CD collection at home. He makes no secret of the esteem in which he holds them: “The Bremen Orchestra is the top chamber ensemble in Germany.” And it doesn't matter in the slightest to him that “the musicians didn't know me at all before...”

Orchestra and soloist worked in a spirit of curiosity and openness, and the result is a luminous and remarkably clear performance of the Mozart. Rantala and the Bremen musicians are well aware of the contrasts and tensions in their dialogue, such as when the pianist takes up the theme in the march-like allegro maestoso, and then progressively shapes and hones it, and takes it through to the broad sweep of the development section and the cadenza.

Both of the protagonists do justice to the profundity and concentrated energy of the finale, they ensure that the friction and harmonic adventures come to the fore – and yet at the same time find the calmness and lyricism of his beloved “Bond Andante”. It is a balance which is difficult to strike; but they do.

As a jazz pianist Rantala provided his own spontaneous improvisation for the cadenza. The decision not to use one of the existing classical versions of the cadenza came as no surprise to DKPB orchestra leader Florian Donderer. According to Donderer, the way it turned out demonstrated that “Iiro Rantala improvises in his own style, but there are also classical elements in his cadenza.” Rantala was pleased to received this compliment for his performance at this concert and on this recording, but the Finn points to something of more long-term significance going on:

“I would really like to rip down the barriers which continue to keep jazz and classical music apart - and I am convinced that we are on the right track with a common project like this.” Rantala predicts that any separation of the genres will have ceased to exist in a few decades' time - and the other pieces on this recording apart from the Mozart piano concerto follow that principle: there are, for example, solo interpretations of Leonard Bernstein's “Candide Overture” and John Lennon's “Imagine”, as well as arrangements of Rantala's own compositions with orchestral accompaniment. So... what is it? Some kind of smörgåsbord? The pianist, who is known for his quick wit and his playful sense of irony, smiles: “This is the kind of mixture I like to present in my concerts – and it certainly works well in those.”

And not only there, as this bridge established between the two worlds of music clearly demonstrates. In pieces such as “Freedom” or “Tears For Esbjörn”, Rantala maintains a melody-oriented jazz style that is his and his alone. As Donderer observes: “classical music always shines through in his compositions.” Rantala’s musical travels take in the whole world, and he knows the kind of companions he likes to be with: artists who also have his level of open-mindedness. And the inevitable result is that new and unexpected musical horizons come into view.

Various Artists: Fahrt ins Blaue II - groovin' in the spirit of jazz (ACT Music 2018)

Bruno Angelini - Open Land (LA BUISSONNE 2018)

Bruno Angelini © Jeff Humbert

Bruno Angelini is an atypical pianist, endowed with a very personal world as composer and pianist. He is searching his notes as "others sieve the water, looking for gold."

With the Open Land Quartet, he released a first album "Instant Sharings",  a serene and gentle music of great intensity, which takes the time to blossom and grow in tension.

The depth of Claude Tchamitchian's double bass, Regis Huby's lyricism (at both acoustic and electric violins) and the freedom and creativity of percussionist Edward Perraud all participate in a quest of intense beauty that was both plebiscited by the public and well greeted by the press.

« It's a music that only jazz musicians can manage to create. Enchanting.» Franck Bergerot for Jazzmag

« A very nice concert that makes up hope for many others» Xavier Prévost for Jazzmag Live

Bruno Angelini's latest compositions were tailor-made for this chamber group in order to explore new ways of communicating through Music. This new album will surely constitute an intense continuation for "Instant Sharings".

Open Land © Clément Puig

1. Tree song (for John Taylor) 05:39

2. Perfumes of quietness 09:18

3. Indian imaginary song 06:21

4. Jardin perdu 09:04

5. Inner blue 06:17

6. Both sides of a dream You left and you stay (for Max Suffrin) 06:34

7. Part 1 06:31

8. Part 2 02:16

9. Part 3 04:46

Bruno Angelini : piano, compositions

Régis Huby : violin, Tenor violin, electronic

Claude Tchamitchian : double bass

Edward Perraud : drums, percussions

Recording, mixing and mastering, Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-les-fontaines, France. 

Recorded June 19, 20, 21 and mixed october 5 & 6, 2017 by Gérard de Haro, assisted by Annaëlle Marsollier. 

Mastered by Nicolas Baillard. 

Steinway Grand Piano tuned and prepared by Alain Massonneau. 

Produced by Gérard de Haro and RJAL for La Buissonne Label, and by Solange association. 

Cover Photos by Jeff Humbert, Band photo by Clément Puig. 

Graphics by Philippe Ghielmetti.

www.brunoangelini.com

David Sevestre Séisme - Jishin (MUSIQUE et ÉQUILIBRE 2018)

Le titre est bien choisi. Nom de groupe Séisme pour un premier disque Jishin, signifiant aussi séisme en japonais. Un quartet de jazz orléanais pour le moins remuant, comprenant David Sevestre au saxophone (il est à l’origine des compositions et des arrangements), Jérôme Damien au piano, Nicolas Le Moullec à la basse et Adrien Chennebault à la batterie. Tous quatre y travaillent depuis bientôt 3 ans pour un résultat déconcertant comme un vent inattendu qui viendrait vous secouer et vous réveiller. En effet, le saxophoniste connu à travers le Road Quartet et Meloblast, affectionne par-dessus tout le free jazz qui est sa principale source d’inspiration pour ce projet mêlant improvisation, sonorités électroniques et ambiances venues de la musique classique également. Agitation de sons, bouillonnement de rythmes, éruption de notes sont au rendez-vous, impossible de rester indifférent.

Après une courte Onde de Volume décoiffante qui fait se dresser les cheveux sur la tête (surtout ne pas sortir le disque du lecteur), le titre éponyme ramène un calme très relatif et presque inquiétant sur sa ritournelle électronique malmenée à l’extrême se poursuivant avec Sumatra sur le même mode encore plus implacable et inexorable. Une composition où la montée en tension des quatre instrumentistes est volcanique ! Un vrai séisme pour le coup ! Moment très fort de ce disque !

Belle ouverture à la batterie sur Andaman qui se poursuit dans un exercice de free jazz très réussi, tandis que les notes d’une jolie ballade apaisée débutée avec le piano dans Shaanxi, puis celles qui entament Nankai sont des moments appréciés, avant de repartir dans les notes tempétueuses du saxophone et de la batterie. Un Nankai en deux volets où se révèlent toutes les subtilités de chacun, en particulier de la basse pour une nouvelle montée de lave incandescente tendue par le piano totalement non maîtrisé, un saxophone devenu fou et une batterie en roue libre. On en sort tremblant et tout secoué… avant de sombrer à nouveau dans la folie d’un petit refrain obsessionnel piano saxophone amenant de nouvelles escalades.

Encore de beaux moments sur les rythmes de Kanto avant que le cercle ne se boucle sur une Onde de Love et nous voilà tout pantelants et étonnés d’avoir vécu une expérience hors du commun. Explorateurs de nouveaux territoires, ne passez pas votre chemin et allez gravir les pentes de Jishin ! Vous en redescendrez les yeux brillants d’une étrange lueur…

Florence Ducommun

01. Onde de volume

02. Jishin

03. Sumatra

04. Andaman

05. Shaanxi

06. Nankai part 1

07. Nankai part 2

08. Kanto

09. Onde de love

David Sevestre : saxophone, compositions, arrangements

Jérôme Damien : piano

Nicolas Le Moullec : basse

Adrien Chennebault : batterie

The Bill O'Connell Jazz Latin Quartet CD Release Tuesday, July 24 7:30 & 9:30 PM The Jazz Standard

The Bill O'Connell Jazz Latin Quartet

CD Release 

Tuesday, July 24th

7:30 & 9:30 pm

The Jazz Standard

116 E. 27th St.

New York, NY, 10016

Tickets & Info

Bill O'Connell-piano, Craig Handy-Sax,Lincoln Goines-bass and Cliff Almond-drums with special guests Andrea Brachfeld-flute and Dan Carillo-guitar

Bill O'Connell's pianism has always been known for it's razor-sharp rhythmic sense, clean articulation and phrasing which is as affectionate as it is unfussy. And although the idiom often demands fire and verve one must never lose sight of O'Connell's graceful dynamics which give his lines interesting twists and turns that dart and swerve with spontaneous freedom. With friends like Randy Brecker, Craig Handy, Conrad Herwig, Andrea Brachfeld and Dan Carillo on hand, Jazz Latin is more than a release, it is an event.

1. Obama Samba

2. Just One of Those Things

3. It's Ok

4. Footprints

5. Goodbye My Friend

6. Quicksand

7. Tip Toes

8. Puttin' on the Ritz

9. Mom's Song

10. Zingaro

11. What Is This

Bill O’Connell – piano and Fender Rhodes (tracks 3 & 6)

Lincoln Goines – electric bass

Robby Ameen – drums

Randy Brecker – flugelhorn (track 5)

Craig Handy – tenor saxophone (track 3)

Conrad Herwig – trombone (track 8)

Dan Carillo – guitar (tracks 5 & 9)

Andrea Brachfeld – flute (track 6)

Media Contact

Jim Eigo

Jazz Promo Services

272 State Route 94 South #1

Warwick, NY 10990-3363

Ph: 845-986-1677 

Cell / text: 917-755-8960

Skype: jazzpromo

jim@jazzpromoservices.com

www.jazzpromoservices.com

"Specializing in Media Campaigns for the music community, artists, labels, venues and events.”

2018 JJA Jazz Awards Nominees Announced

2018 JJA Jazz Awards Nominees Announced

23rdAnnual Honors for Singers, Instrumentalists, Journalists

Benny Golson, Ahmad Jamal, Charles Lloyd

Vie for Lifetime Achievement

Nominees for the 2018 Jazz Awards the 23rdannual honors produced by the Jazz Journalists Association were announced, posted on the website www.JJAJazzAwards.org. Excellence in music and music journalism is celebrated in the 39 Awards categories, topped by Benny Golson, Charles Lloyd and Ahmad Jamal for Lifetime Achievement in Jazz, Will Friedwald, Ben Ratliff and Patricia Willard for Lifetime Achievement in Jazz Journalism.

All nominees are posted here

Saxophonists Golson and Lloyd and pianist Jamal are revered for their compositions, improvisations and ensemble leadership as well as their instrumental works. Friedwald, an author and widely published journalist, is best known as an expert in American popular song; Ratliff, also an author, was jazz and pop critic for the New York Times for 20 years and continues freelancing articles; Willard, Duke Ellington's editorial hand for 25 years, started publishing articles and liner notes in 1950 and has consulted with government agencies as well as serving as an oral historian.

Other notable details about the JJA's 2018 finalists ballot:

Women continue to be more acknowledged for their contributions to jazz, as all three nominees for "Up and Coming Musician of the Year" are female, and Patricia Willard is the first ever female nominee for Lifetime Achievement in Jazz Journalism

Three of four nominees for Historical Record of the Year were issued by Resonance Records

The two dominant American jazz magazines, DownBeat and JazzTimes, face-off as the sole nominees for the JJA Award for Print Periodical/Website of the Year

Jazz Awards for journalism also include blogs, books, photos, original album art, writing of the year and career achievements in broadcasting and photography. Awards for music include Record of the Year, Record Label of the Year, and honors for composers, vocalists and instrumentalists.

 

The Jazz Journalists Association is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit association with an international membership of professional writers, broadcasters photographers, videographers and online content creators, plus their supporters. Sponsors of the JJA's 23rd annual Jazz Awards include the Jazz= Foundation of America, Berklee College of Music, the New School Jazz Program, the Joyce and George Wein Foundation, Verve and Resonance Records as well as Concord Jazz, ECM Records, Motéma Music, Sunnyside Records, Blue Note Records, High Note-Savant Records and Thirsty Ear Records; the Jazz Education Network, ASCAP, BMI, Century Media Partners, the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation and North Coast Brewing Company; the Tucson Jazz Festival, San Jose Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival and Monterey Jazz Festival; WDCB-FM; SFJazz, Jazz St. Louis, Jazz Bridge (Philadelphia), the Jazz Institute of Chicago, MCGJazz (PIttsburgh), Collective Eye Productions (Minneapolis-St. Paul); Braithwaite & Katz Communications, Scott Thompson Public Relations and Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services. These sponsors also support the JJA's 2018 Jazz Heroes campaign heralding jazz "activists, altruists, advocates, aiders and abettors" in 20 U.S. cities.

2018 Jazz Awards winners will be announced online at www.JJAJazzAwards on May 7; most will receive their engraved statuettes publicly at their summer performances across the U.S. A Jazz Awards party has been schedule for June 12, 2018, to be held at Arnold Hall of the Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, 55 W. 13thStreet, NYC. Details TBA.

For further information about the JJA Jazz Awards, Jazz Heroes or the Jazz Journalists Association, please contact President@JazzJournalists.org or Jim Eigo, Jim@JazzPromoServices.com

Snarky Puppy Announces Summer '18 Tour

The Puppies are hitting the road in a big way this Summer! 

Catch 'em where you can!

TICKETS