Marc Cary - Life Lessons (September 14, 2021 The Harlem Sessions)

Making music for me has always been part of my healing process. Music has provided a place in this world for me to express myself in ways that words could not help me articulate. The journey to being the best person I can possibly be has always had this musical component. It has opened up countless opportunities for me to explore cultures and learn from many people around the world. Through music, I have made relationships that have been life changing in positive ways and have been documented by many recordings.

Life Lessons is a testament to these lessons and is a culmination of three years of developing a sound and concept with Dan and Diego through our weekly performances at The Harlem Sessions. We wanted to document our time together and the sound we had developed together by recording and releasing this collection of compositions. We recorded in January 2020, only weeks before life as we knew it changed, as we moved into a Pandemic and lockdown, making this document and it’s title even more relevant to me. The timeliness of this album and when we recorded becomes more profound, especially as we are nearing 1 year of not being able to play each week together, at the same time as taking on board how many people from our community who have departed from this earth because of the pandemic. It also really magnifies the love and joy that the 3 of us have for each other.

The songs that have come together on this album serve to describe how we feel about life, the lessons we have gained, and the types of emotions and situations we navigate through as we remain on our journey. It’s a road map of the different textures and complexities of living the life that we face.

The genesis of the album is the composition “It’s Not a Good Day to Die”, a composition which has been with me for a significant portion of my life. It is about cherishing life and respecting yourself, and it was originally conceived as a dedication to the great Amadou Diallo. Gina Breedlove and I were working together in my band and also performing together with Seckou Sundiata. On the first anniversary of 9/11 we performed this song with Seckou Sundiata at Brooklyn Academy of Music, as a celebration for the firefighters and other first responders who lost their lives on that tragic day.

There is evolution in any creative process, and different aspects of this composition have existed in different shapes and forms in my musical past. In recent years, like many, we experienced the loss of many loved ones; my friends Roy Hargrove, Ron Sutton, Wallace Roney and Joe Nix; my wife’s father and others, and this song has continued to bring comfort and hope throughout these tragic occasions.

I often give a preview of a conscious thought to come on every album. I have always found the live environment a potent place to manifest these ideas, especially with a working band. The song has become fused into various parts of my live sets and psyche, but has never fully formed into a recording until now.

This presentation of the song without the lyrics embodies the essence of what the lyric speaks about, and how they inspire the creative process. Completing it here has made me finally be able to express it in its fullest form.

This song is what led us to bring the rest of the songs in. It made sense to include other equally emotive compositions that had made a personal impact on me, and that said something about life and how we navigate through it.

And It's Supposed to be Love (a song about domestic violence) fitted perfectly in the same emotional space as “ It’s Not a Good Day to Die,” and I have always been inspired by the power of Abbey's lyrics in my interpretations.

I can also say something similar about Learning how to listen.

Outside of the musical directive that the song is suggesting, learning how to listen to the lessons in life has become a theme for me.

Around the time of my daughters birth, this song also came into the world. I was recording with Abbey at the time for her album "Wholly Earth." Since then, it is intrinsically imprinted in my soul as a mantra for navigating all the textures and components of life.

Another song that lived with me virtually my entire career is Trust. Roy Hargrove wrote this song at my house. At the time, we were working on pre-production for RH Factor. The lyric of the song is a prayer to God -Roy's personal mantra, and the first time I heard it come to life , I felt the weight and gravitas of the thoughts of a person who was not known to be verbally outspoken. Roy and I had an ability to activate each other's deepest musical emotions, which bore out in the way we could write for each other and perform each other's music.

One of the best ways I could celebrate the life of Roy Hargrove and our friendship was to take this song which I have performed for many years in my live sets, and create a recording that could even begin to express the love I feel for Roy, and the weight of the loss when he passed. I wanted to record the song as a solo piece, as it was so personal to me, but Dan and Diego were equally as motivated as I was to also commit their love and respect for Roy and everything he contributed to their lives that we also created the trio version featured here.

Trust was a staple at The Harlem Sessions, and Roy graced the session with his presence on several occasions. I will forever cherish those nights.

I wrote Dreamlike when I was 17. It was one the first compositions that I ever wrote. It came from a visceral dream in which I was performing this song in concert with a band of kindred souls. It was an incendiary performance. I woke up, and remembered the entirety of the song. This song symbolises for me how real music is, how it can be borne within a dream that is a conduit to its own manifestation. In life, this can be anything and we have to acknowledge that power.

It's Tricky is an observation of life. The song structure also reflects this - it’s a 14 bar form with 7 bar phrases, mimicking the complexities of life.

God is love is as stated, and is always the thing that cools me out- period. It is a personal state of being.

I also included compositions from the band members. Dan and I have always shared different rituals when it comes to getting acquainted with a new instrument. He brought a progression he’d use when getting to know his instruments, which instantly brought a feeling of balance, both musically for me and also representing the journey Dan and I have been together on, over the years. This balance is represented by what was borne when he brought it to the recording session that day. The track is Equilibrium.

Diego brings Incantation, a hypnotic track inspired by “The Teachings of Don Juan” by Carlos Castaneda. His use of repetition to evoke this state of being is masterful, and his composition highlights to me that quality that comes out when we play together on stage.

Phase 2 is an acknowledgment of the impact that the incredible art form of North Indian classical music has had on me, and is borne out of the raga Chundracones, a 5 note raga. For me, this concept symbolizes those turning points in life, when lessons have been received with grace to perpetuate forward movement and vision. The 5 note altered pentatonic symbolizes the limitations of life and through those limitations, how to maximize yourself. In Western music we can use all 12 notes, and sometimes never achieve that state of being.

Our lives are a perpetual state of learning, and we have to access the key to those lessons to grow and thrive. I think it's important for the human race to practise the arts - just like Abbey told me "that's what separates us from the other animals.”

How I have received my life lessons continues to live within me and my music. I'll keep sharing as I learn. 

1. And It's Supposed to Be Love

2. It's Tricky

3. It's Not a Good Day to Die

4. Equilibrium

5. Trust

6. Learning How to Listen

7. Dreamlike

8. Incantation

9. God Is Love

10. Without Walls

11. Phase 2

12. Listen Still

13. It's Not a Good Day to Die (Perspective)

14. Trust (solo)

Recorded at Eastside Sounds, NYC, January 2020.

Recorded by Lou Holtzman.

Mixed by Lou Holtzman and Marc Cary.

Mastered by Marc Cary

Produced by Marc Cary

Co-Produced by Tinku Bhattacharyya

Executive Producer - Tinku Bhattacharyya

Mastered by Marc Cary

Photography-Rebecca Meek

CD Design- Rebecca Meek

Personnel : Marc Cary, Diego Joaquin Ramirez, Dan Chmielinski

Marc Cary plays - Piano; Fender Rhodes; Dave Smith Prophet 12; Dave Smith Mopho; Octatrak; Genome Sequencer(IoS); Lemur Mapping (IOs); UAD processing

Diego Joaquin Ramirez plays Canopus Neo Vintage drums, Vic Firth sticks, Remo heads, Zildjan Cymbals. Endorsed by Canopus

Dan Chmielinski plays a 1920s Juzek Master Art Acoustic Bass; Fender American Deluxe Precision Bass, 60th Anniversary Edition; Moog Grandmother. Endorsed by Pirastro Eudoxa Strings

Tracks 1 and 6 written by Abbey Lincoln (BMI). Published by Moseka Music (BMI)

Tracks 2,3,7,9,10,11,12 written by Marc A Cary (BMI). Published by Caryout Productions (BMI)

Track 4 written by Daniel Thomas Chmielinski (BMI). Published by Chimy Publishing (BMI)

Track 5 written by Roy A Hargrove (BMI). Published by Roy Hargrove Music (BMI)

Track 8 written by Diego Joaquin Ramirez (copyright control)

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Harry Mitchell / Ben Vanderwal / Harry Winton - Quiet Country (September 2021)

This album is a collection of country, rock, jazz and pop songs that I wrote and arranged for a project with two of my favourite musicians, Harry Winton and Ben Vanderwal. Their incredible musicality is on full display in this recording and I'm incredibly grateful for their time and ideas put forth for the project. The (almost) bass-less trio project is a format I was keen to explore and am looking forward releasing more music with this group.

1. Lurleen

2. Heart of gold (Neil Young)

3. Blue eyes crying in the rain (Willie Nelson)

4. In Motian

5. Abide with me (William H. Monk)

6. Tumbleweeds

7. Someone to watch over me (George Gershwin)

8. Mother Nature's Son (John Lennon/Paul Mcartney)

9. Worried Mind (Ray Charles)

10. Vents

Harry Mitchell: Piano, electric bass on track 10 & toy piano on track 4

Harry Winton: Electric guitar, nylon string guitar on tracks 6, 8 & 10, and glockenspiel on track 4

Ben Vanderwal - Drums, percussion & production

Imogen Thomson - Vibraphone on track 1

Alex Millier - Bass clarinet on track 5

Recorded on March 27 2021 at Crank Studio, engineered and sponsored by Lee Buddle

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Abdullah Ibrahim - Solotude (November 26, 2021 Gearbox Records)

Each year on October 9th, Abdullah Ibrahim performs a solo piano concert at the Hirzinger Hall in South Germany in order to celebrate his birthday. Due to lockdown restrictions last year, this traditional birthday concert was replaced with the opportunity to record a solo piano performance. Hirzinger Hall, in Riedering, South East Germany, is famous for its incredible acoustics, and Ibrahim's solitary performance lends itself perfectly to the space, The recording crew was sparse, the audience non-existent, yet Ibrahim’s communion with the piano remains warm and timeless.

1. Mindiff

2. Trieste My Love

3. Nisa

4. Blue Bolero

5. In-Tempo

6. Dreamtime

7. Blue Bolero (First Reprise)

8. Peace

9. Blues For A Hip King

10. District 6

11. Tokai

12. District 6 (Reprise)

13. Pula

14. Sotho Blue

15. Blue Bolero (Second Reprise)

16. Did You Hear That Sound?

17. In The Evening

18. Once Upon A Midnight

19. The Wedding

20. Signal On The Hill

piano and composition by Abdullah Ibrahim

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Thomas Heberer - The Day That Is (October 22, 2021 Sunnyside Records)

The dramatic events of the past two years have altered the social and political landscape of the world. The pandemic had the world’s population reeling. Performing artists were particularly affected by COVID-19, as their livelihood was taken away from them in one fell swoop. Veteran trumpeter, improviser, and composer Thomas Heberer took the opportunity while sequestered in his New York City home to compose and coordinate the recording of his new album, The Day That Is.

Well known for his work in the improvisatory jazz world with the likes of the Instant Composers Pool and the Nu Band, Heberer has been focused on showcasing his artistic breadth. His knowledge of the jazz tradition is encyclopedic and his open approach to the music proves just as catholic. The past few years have seen Heberer look more and more to the music of bebop, post-bop, and the New Thing as much as the free music he has long been associated with.

Heberer knew that he wanted to write for a quartet composed of two horns and a rhythm section of bass and drums on his new project, returning to an ensemble size he had familiarized himself with in the 1990s with the group Tome XX. As a fifteen-year member of the New York creative music scene, Heberer was in a perfect place to select a group of musicians who he trusted to interpret his vision and to provide the special, spontaneity that the music requires.

The trumpeter had long been a fan of drummer Michael Sarin, whom Heberer had initially heard with the late, great woodwind master Thomas Chapin. A partnership began to flourish when Heberer joined Sarin in the faculty at Maine Jazz Camp, where they began performing together regularly. Heberer got to know bassist John Hébert as a member of Angelica Sanchez’s Nonet. Hébert’s brilliant musicianship and warm, Southern vibe made him a perfect collaborator. The trio came together for a handful of sessions and a number of live performances prior to the pandemic.

Heberer took some time to decide on the other horn voice, eventually deciding to call on fellow German expat and saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock. Heberer has known Laubrock for years and had long appreciated her strategic, compositional minded approach to music making.

The concept for The Day That Is was born just before the pandemic but was accelerated once Heberer’s touring schedule came to a halt. At home, Heberer fell back into his rigorous practicing and composing routines. By the summer of 2020, he realized that the social isolation might last for some time, so he decided to be proactive and have something to show for his time spent at home. The leader’s pieces focused on a number of compositional elements, including ambiguous sounding symmetrical scales. He was also cognizant of providing different parameters for each piece and the architecture of the album as he put the program together. Heberer began to contact the other musicians in the fall to align schedules.

December saw the quartet assemble for the first time to rehearse at the Michiko rehearsal studios in New York’s deserted Midtown. The situation felt particularly ominous as the musicians had to socially distance and cover their horns.

The quartet were joined by engineer David Stoller at the Samurai Hotel recording studio on January 6th, totally unaware of the events that were about to unfold in Washington, DC. As the recording proceeded, Hébert kept the participants abreast of what was happening at the Capitol Building. The group remained focused but alert as they went through the day, only realizing the full magnitude of the insurrection later.

The program begins with the title track, a compressed 6-bar composition that utilizes an ambiguous tonality to allow the improvisations to travel in any direction. Inspired by a sauntering camel ride he had on a visit to Morocco, Heberer’s “Erg Chebbi” echoes the atmosphere of Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington’s “Caravan.” The pseudo ballad “Seconds First” is inspired by the compositional ideas of Andrew Hill and allows the melody to move from trumpet to sax to bass, in a tense but beautiful harmony. The propulsive “Caro Pook” is named for Heberer’s friend, the German composer. It is a piece custom built for Sarin’s unique rockingly swinging drumming and group improvisation, keeping all ensemble members fully occupied.

Heberer’s “Then There Were Three” is an unusually structured piece that presents three independent parts coming together to build into a programmatic long form composition with an extended solo from Sarin. The beautiful melody of “The Sleeping Bag Unfolds” pairs the trumpet of Heberer alongside Laubrock’s soprano sax. The tune’s title refers to Heberer and his wife’s promise to isolate from each other in sleeping bags if necessary during the pandemic. “Closing the Gap” is a brief interlude inspired by the binary musical world of improv/jazz legend Steve Lacy. Dedicated to a departed friend who invited Heberer to East Germany as the Wall fell, “Jimi Metag” is slightly dark and mysterious, an allusion to the dark side of the pseudo- socialist experiment of East Germany.

Composed prior to the pandemic for the Nu Band, “One for Roy” was written for trumpeter Roy Campbell, whose chair Heberer took over when the Downtown legend passed away. The piece splits the ensemble into two, sax with trumpet and bass with drums, with two independent scores which allow the music to overlay at its own pace. “Mapping the Distance” is built over a symmetrical scale ostinato and is a vehicle for solos from Sarin and Laubrock. The program concludes with “The Sky Above,” a gorgeous coda written in a richly harmonious Bill Evans style.

The crazy years of the Trump presidency and the political challenges they amplified had the world on edge. The addition of the pandemic only heightened the tension. Thomas Heberer aimed to provide art that was the opposite of the “ideals” trumpeted during these times. The Day That Is presents music concerned with sharing and creating together, fighting the ideals of those who decided to attack the Capitol Building on that day in January 2021. 

1. The Day That Is

2. Erg Chebbi

3. Seconds First

4. Caro Pook

5. Then There Were Three

6. The Sleeping Bag Unfolds

7. Closing The Gap

8. Jimi Metag

9. One for Roy

10. Mapping The Distance

11. The Sky Above

Thomas Heberer - trumpet

Ingrid Laubrock - tenor & soprano saxophones

John Hébert - bass

Michael Sarin - drums

PREORDER

Amir ElSaffar - Rivers of Sound: The Other Shore (September 2021)

Amir ElSaffar – who leads five ensembles and has released seven albums over the past 16 years – has earned acclaim for being, in the words of All About Jazz, “a virtuoso on the horn, but also an imaginative bandleader, expanding the vocabulary of the trumpet and, at the same time, the modern jazz ensemble.” The Wire has described ElSaffar as “uniquely poised to reconcile jazz and Arabic music… with eloquence.” The Chicago Tribune hailed the way his “melismatic trumpet lines convey tremendous lyric beauty,” adding that his transcultural innovations place him “among the most promising figures in jazz today.” ElSaffar – a 43-year-old Chicago native of Iraqi-American heritage – now presents The Other Shore, his eighth album and the second by his 17-piece Rivers of Sound orchestra. This moving, sonically kaleidoscopic album features an all-star lineup of players on instruments from East and West, with the performers improvising on the leader’s piquant, serpentine compositions: from the evocative curtain-raiser “Dhuha” (Dawn) to the ravishing “Medmi” (Epilogue). Belgium’s Outnote Records/Outhere Music releases The Other Shore, digitally and on CD, on September 10, 2021.

In the liner notes to The Other Shore, ElSaffar explains the concept for his large ensemble: “I formed the Rivers of Sound orchestra in 2015 as a musical, cultural and social experiment. The idea was to discover new ways of organizing sound without the hierarchical notions found in Western European art music (composer > conductor > players) and without the burden of precedence found in non-Western folk or traditional forms (relying on the past), but still maintaining a sense of structure and cohesion. I was interested in blurring spaces between improvisation and composition, between composer and players. The process relies on spontaneous group interaction, where each musician has agency as part of the creative process… Rivers of Sound is one of the most joyful musical experiences I have ever been a part of.”

Along with his fluid trumpet playing, ElSaffar sings vocalese in the Arabic maqam idiom and plays the santur, the Iraqi hammered dulcimer (including a beautiful extended solo in “Concentric”). The other members of Rivers of Sound are “family and friends who are like family.” These include his sister, Dena ElSaffar, on violin, viola and joza (the Iraqi spike-fiddle), and her husband, Tim Moore, on Arabic percussion. JD Parran, who plays bass saxophone and clarinet, performed alongside ElSaffar in Cecil Taylor’s large ensemble. Mohamed Saleh, who plays oboe and English horn, worked with him in Daniel Barenboim’s East-West Divan Orchestra. ElSaffar played in high school and college with vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, and alto saxophonist Fabrizio Cassol took ElSaffar on his first tour of Europe. Then there are the top jazz improvisers whom ElSaffar met through “serendipitous connections” on the New York scene: guitarist Miles Okazaki, drummer Nasheet Waits, saxophonist Ole Mathisen, pianist John Escreet, bassist Carlo DeRosa. The ensemble also includes Naseem Alatrash on cello, Rajna Swaminathan on the Indian mridangam, George Ziadeh and Zafer Tawil on the Arabic oud, and Tareq Abboushi on buzuq.

“I’m less interested in the surface intermingling of cultures and more fascinated by the new sonic possibilities in this unique combination of instruments from around the world,” ElSaffar says. “What happens when you combine the vibraphone, the santur and the English horn? The rich overtones mix to create fresh textures and sonorities, a new sound whether it’s scintillating or deep and resonant. But it’s not just the instruments but also the way these particular musicians play those instruments. What makes all the musicians in Rivers of Sound special is their versatility and openness to listening to each other, not being bound to any one style but rather bending with the music. We made our first album, Not Two, amazingly quickly, but after that experience and tours of the Middle East, Europe and the U.S., Rivers of Sound has evolved. Our chemistry has deepened, something you can hear in the fluent polyphony and play of microtonal harmonies on the new album, which I think is more ambitious than the first. The eight pieces are partially scored and partially improvised – so I rely on the players to help shape the music in the moment, bringing their own sounds and sensibilities to the compositions. They are what truly makes the alchemy of this music.”

In the liner notes, ElSaffar expands on both the technical and philosophical basis for Rivers of Sound: “The tonal basis of The Other Shore is the maqam – a system of microtonal heptatonic modes found in the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern and Southern Europe, and Central Asia. By using microtonal intervals, as opposed to the fixed pitches of the 12-tone equal temperament, the rigidness of forms melts away, allowing something new to emerge. The ensemble includes musicians from a broad spectrum of musical backgrounds and from different parts of the world. My desire is to expand beyond ideas of culture, in the sense of one style of music ‘belonging’ to a particular group of people or a society. Rivers of Sound proposes an alternative musical model by embracing a multitude of musical expressions, by focusing on the interactions between individual musicians. When we begin with an inherent sense of unity and interconnectedness, and think of musicians as individuals, not as representatives of a culture, there is no longer a need to ‘build bridges’.” 

Amir ElSaffar, photo by Hannah Devereux

1. Dhuha 12:50

2. Transformations 09:54

3. Reaching Upward 16:29

4. Ashaa 15:24

5. Concentric 05:11

6. Lightning Flash 08:53

7. March 06:00

8. Medmi 04:15

Jason Adasiewicz vibraphone

Tareq Abboushi, buzuq

Naseem Alatrash, cello

Fabrizio Cassol, alto saxophone

Carlo De Rosa, acoustic bass

Amir ElSaffar, trumpet, santur, vocal

Dena El Saffar, violin/joza

John Escreet, piano

Ole Mathisen, tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone

Tim Moore, dumbek, naqqarat, frame drums

Miles Okazaki, guitar

JD Parran, bass saxophone, clarinet

Mohamed Saleh, oboe, English horn

Rajna Swaminathan, mridangam

Zafer Tawil, oud, nay

Nasheet Waits, drums

George Ziadeh, oud

All compositions by Amir ElSaffar, ElSaffar Music (BMI)

PREORDER

The Westerlies - Songbook Vol. 1 (September 2021)

Songbook Vol. 1 presents The Westerlies in their most intimate format to date. Following their widely acclaimed original chamber music recordings and high-profile collaborations with Fleet Foxes, Big Red Machine, Conrad Tao, and Theo Bleckmann, The Westerlies return to their folk roots for a set of acoustic covers of some of their favorite songs. Listeners are invited into The Westerlies’ living room to bask in the warmth and immediacy of the group’s interpretations of John Prine, Adrianne Lenker, Randy Newman, Aphex Twin, Ólafur Arnalds, and Jason Moran. Stripped down to their essence, the brilliance and feeling of these timeless songs are heard in a revelatory new light.

1. Way Back Then 03:38

2. Get Away Jordan 02:38

3. Saman 02:26

4. Arizona Landscape 04:07

5. Avril 14th 02:02

6. Blue and Red Horses 03:42

7. When She Loved Me 01:21

Riley Mulherkar - Trumpet

Chloe Rowlands - Trumpet

Andy Clausen - Trombone

Willem de Koch - Trombone

Recorded May 5-7, 2021 at

The International House of Long Tones

Brooklyn, NY

Produced, Mixed, and Mastered by Andy Clausen

PREORDER

Kraig Kilby - Satori (September 2021 Just Us Records)

In the Spring of 1977, Kraig Kilby began the thirty-year trip towards realizing his only solo album. By his early thirties, the trombonist and keyboard player had become firmly embedded in the national Soul music circuit, having recorded with artists such as Bennie Maupin and Dynasty as well as spending months each year on tour with The Whispers. At home in the San Francisco Bay Area, he was writing the compositions that would eventually become Satori.

When it came time for Kilby to record, he tapped longtime friends Michael Clark and Paul Jackson, the groundbreaking rhythm section behind Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters band, to help him realize the tunes he’d sketched out. Over a burst of sessions at Tres Virgos Studio in Marin County, the three-piece group (with Kilby on keys) solidified the arrangements and recorded the foundational tracks in the converted garage underneath the shadow of Mt. Tamalpais.

Kilby returned home to Marin when off the road between 1977 and 1981 to continue work on the album. Following a precise mental map, he painted a panoramic array of additional instruments, synthesizers, percussion, effects, and trombone onto the original takes. This painstaking process brushed up against the technical limitations of the then-humble studio and pushed the recordings in an experimental direction that, in retrospect, finds strong parallels in contemporaneous masterpieces from acts like The Mizell brothers, Norman Connors, and Detroit’s Tribe Records.

The white-hot rhythmic core of Clark, Jackson, and Kilby, alloyed with Kilby’s production flourishes and knack for aural texture make Satori play like a record collector’s fever dream of a psych-jazz grail. If it had been released at the time, it would have most likely become one– but the universe had other plans. Kilby’s busy schedule with The Whispers kept him out of the studio, and in 1989 he landed a steady gig touring with Etta James. Traveling the world for nearly two decades with his trombone and what became a tight-knit musical family, Satori would remain on the shelf until 2007. Rounding out the tracklist with two short improvisations recorded in the early 00’s, Kilby self-released the album on CD. Primarily given away to friends and family, it seems to have largely missed the prying eyes of jazz obsessives and crate diggers until now.

Equally meticulous and wild, lyrical and chaotic, nostalgic and trailblazing, it’s not an exaggeration to herald Satori as one of the most adventurous and prescient Jazz albums to have ever fallen through the cracks. The recordings feature musicians working at the height of their power at a critical moment in Jazz history, when the widening gap between the avant-garde and the dancefloor tended to draw musicians to one side and cast shady glances towards those on the other. Kilby somehow manages to capture both of these possibilities with an ease and expansiveness that is ascribed to the giants of the era.

As the Jazz-Funk milieux from which albums like Satori emerged increasingly solidifies in the collective consciousness as both a golden age of American music and a vital reference point for those immersing themselves in the prehistories of Hip-Hop and House, it feels critical for these compositions to have another chance at reaching an audience, and to mint Kilby his own much-deserved star. Upstart Detroit label Just Us is pleased to offer Satori on vinyl for the first time. 

1. Incantation 02:03

2. Lately 05:56

3. Sometime Soon 05:41

4. Musing 02:14

5. Lonebone 02:36

6. Satori 06:22

7. Ketchee 04:35

8. Strawberry Point 05:04

Kraig Kilby: Trombones, Keyboards, Kalimba, Small Percussion, Drum Programming (on Incantation)

Paul Jackson: Bass

Michael Clark: Drums

Lyn Haet: Acoustic Harp (on Strawberry Point)

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Per Anders Nilsson - Re​-​Cycling (September 10, 2021 Simlas Produksjoner)

Archipelago of Sounds: Re-cycling

This album consists of recordings that spans over almost forty years. What unifies however, is that the entire material consists of solo saxophone and live electronics. Its title Re-cycling entails re-use of existing material, which it is, as it contains surplus material from my solo record Random Rhapsody from 1993. The island pieces series are part of an on-going recording project called Archipelago of Sounds, which is about creating musical works that on the one hand display coherent sounding music, and on the other should individual pieces show a unique sonic identity.

The oldest part, the furious walking bass accompaniment in Re-cycling, was recorded in the early 80s on a Buchla modular synthesizer at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm. Whereas the rest of the electronic background was made in an Akai S1000 sampler and a Mac sequencer, whilst the saxophone overdub and mixing were made in 1988. Moreover, Autre Cap was originally a commission for the ICMC in Aarhus in 1994, based on a patch made with the Max software that featured score following techniques invented at IRCAM in Paris, which in turn triggered pre-recorded soprano saxophone samples.

The remaining pieces were recorded in 2020 and 2021, where the author plays alto saxophone together with different patches on a Bug Brand modular synthesizer, except Looper Islands that uses an old, and re-cycled Max/MSP patch, and Whereabouts which features an Octatrack sequencer/sampler.

1. Re-Cycling 07:39

2. Sounding Islands 2 02:29

3. Davis Islands 05:46

4. Autre Cap 07:36

5. Sounding Islands 3 05:08

6. Looper Islands 03:39

7. Sounding Islands 1 01:50

8. Whereabouts 04:32

Per Anders Nilsson

Alto, baryton, and soprano saxophones

Bug Brand modular synthesizer, Octatrack, and Max/MSP programming

All compositions by Per Anders Nilsson

Recording engineer and mixing: Per Anders Nilsson

Mastring: Per Anders Nilsson except Björn Asplind on track 2, 6, and 8.

PREORDER

Jim Marks - Touching Your Feelings (November 10, 2021)

After two years of preparation, we are thrilled to announce the reissue of the most precious hidden gems of Soul Jazz / Spoken Word albums from a key era. Originally released in 1974 as a private pressing of fewer that 100 copies, Touching Your Feelings by Jim Marks is a crucial missing piece of the proto-rap era lying firmly between Gil Scott Heron and Amiri Baraka, with whom he made a strong friendship. Jim Marks' mix of deep, expressive poetry and solid jazz sits on the edge of works by The Last Poets and fellow west coast rhyme smiths, the Watts Prophets. Upon hearing Jim Marks for the first time, it will remind you of those other great strangers of music who suddenly returned to the fore; you will experience the same emotions as when first listening to Terry Callier or Darondo.

Now 83, Jym (with y) has written 8 poetry books and recorded two albums. We found him, where he has always been, behind the windows of his barber shop in Palo Alto, where he worked for 50 years.

Touching Your Feelings will take you on a musical journey of 11 poems written by Jym between 1968 and 1974 that talk about social and political issues, the human condition, our relationship with ourselves and each other, the inner self. In a wide ranging interview, Jym Marks told Tony Higgins about his life, musical inspirations, artistic motivations and much more. This is an opportunity to hear a truly remarkable record that sells for thousands of dollars on the collector circuit, and is unknown even to the most attentive! 

A1. Music And Song

A2. I Ought To Watch That-Ego

A3. Gifted-For Cecilia

A4. Eulegy For Dewey

A5. It´s Time To Become

B1. Touchin Your Feelings

B2. Jazz Is Ourselves

B3. On Black

B4. Baaad News For Mr. Blues

B5. Rhythm Is Accenting Time

B6. Greater Than Pain

Drums – Scott Sprague

Electric Bass – John W. Smith

Percussion, Effects – Don Hendon

Piano, Electric Piano – Jim Marks

PREORDER

NEW SINGLE: GRAMMY nominees säje and Gerald Clayton to release "Dusk Baby" this Friday, September 10, 2021

GRAMMY® nominated vocal supergroup, säje, releases new single “Dusk Baby”, featuring pianist Gerald Clayton.

Available September 10th, 2021

säje is: Sara Gazarek, Amanda Taylor, Johnaye Kendrick, and Erin Bentlage. 

Featuring: Gerald Clayton, piano; Anna Butterss, bass; Christian Euman, drums.

“säje is blazing a new trail for female composers and performers in the jazz world”

-- Micah Hendler, Forbes  

“...[säje is] taking the vocal jazz ensemble into the 21st century.”

-- Abe Beeson, KNKX/NPR

“...transcendent music.” 

-- DownBeat Magazine

It might come as a surprise to hear that, while newly-formed vocal super-group, säje (rhymes with beige), received a GRAMMY® nomination for “Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals” for their first original composition “Desert Song”, a John Lennon Songwriting Contest Grand Prize Award for their second composition “Wisteria”, and a Jazz Journalists Association Award nomination for “Best Vocal Group”, the world continues to eagerly await the debut album from this transcendent and genre-defining group. 

It is through their three previously released singles and multiple self-produced music videos that this all-female compositional/vocal collective has demonstrated their devotion to thoughtful, sophisticated, and heartfelt covers and original compositions, understandably garnering critical acclaim and a wide-spread and ardent fanbase. 

from left to right: Amanda Taylor, Sara Gazarek, Johnaye Kendrick, Erin Bentlage

Photo by Lauren Desberg

However it is with their most recent, upcoming single “Dusk Baby” (due September 10th, 2021, independently released) in collaboration with six-time GRAMMY® nominated pianist Gerald Clayton, that listeners get a sneak peek into the sounds and energy that we can expect from their highly-anticipated debut album (Spring 2022). We can also clearly see that säje has positioned themselves as a genre-defining powerhouse ensemble, surpassing any expectations of what one might typically associate with a vocal group. 

On the group’s arrangement of “Dusk Baby”, we hear more than just lush harmonies, complex contrapuntal lines, or symbiosis with their all-star band. More than just a deep relationship with the emotional landscape of this piece, and mastery of their craft. We can hear, front and center, that säje is a group to be watched -- if their newest single is only a mouth-watering snapshot of what’s to come.

PREORDER

TOUR:

September 17th // Los Angeles, CA @ LACMA

October 5th // Los Angeles, CA @ Sam First

October 6th // Los Angeles, CA @ Sam First

December 2nd // Los Angeles, CA @ Bovard Auditorium w/ Terri Lyne Carrington 

January 6th // Dallas, TX @ Jazz Education Network Conference

Champian Fulton's LIVE FROM LOCKDOWN (f/ Stephen Fulton) September 10, 2021

Pianist & Vocalist Champian Fulton, with Father Stephen Fulton, Present LIVE FROM LOCKDOWN, New Album Due Out on September 10, 2021

The multifaceted pianist and vocalist Champian Fulton is pleased to announce the release of her new album Live from Lockdown, due out September 10, 2021. After her captivating Sunday-evening webcasts took audiences by storm throughout the COVID-19 lockdown, Fulton decided to offer a permanent recording of her series. To be released digitally and as a limited edition compact disc, Live from Lockdown features a representative selection of some of the most popular sessions from Fulton and her steadfast collaborator, her father Stephen Fulton on flugelhorn and trumpet. A profound display of cheerful composure during an uncertain time, Live from Lockdown showcases the musicians’ sophisticated synchronicity among a collection of re-imagined jazz classics and Fulton originals. 

When the COVID-19 lockdown swept Manhattan last spring, Champian Fulton saw her packed schedule full of concerts and tours vanish before her eyes. “I couldn’t believe it when all the cancellations started rolling in; it was really devastating to see an entire calendar year of touring vanish.” Fulton shares. With venues closed, and with social distancing in full effect, Champian and her father, noted trumpeter and flugelhornist, began performing at home for a virtual audience. The concerts were an instant success, bringing in over 20,000 viewers on a given week, and winning legions of new fans for the Fulton family duo. “Live streaming was a total lifesaver for me. It not only gave me a way to stay motivated about my music but it connected me to my fans in a way I never knew possible. I felt so much love and positivity each Sunday; it kept me going through a very tough time.”

The success of the live-stream (which is still going strong albeit on a less rigorous schedule) inspired Champian to record a full album devoted to the concept. The resulting work goes well beyond the novelty, and is certainly far too cohesive a work to be thought of as a mere souvenir. 

Stephen and Champian Fulton, photo courtesy of the Fultons

“For future listeners just hearing the music without knowing the context, it will be pleasure undiluted. For those of us who know the context, I think it will be one of those pleasures that deserves to be called sustaining, a gift that helped us in a rough time and, more importantly, told us it was worth getting through,” says critic Charles Taylor in his liner notes. 

Live From Lockdown opens with Ray Noble’s, “I Hadn’t Anyone Till You.” Champian’s rosy rendition maintains a hopeful charm, even with Stephen’s short blows and percussive notes resembling a heavy heart behind Champian in her effervescence. On an original composition from the duo, “Pass the Hat”, Stephen performs a buoyant lowdown and more stylistic offering that is mutually grasped by his daughter on the piano.

Champian’s diverse range across Live from Lockdown is a showcase of a newfound posture she revels in while in the company of her witty partner. Her vocal versatility is embodied on tracks like “What Will I Tell My Heart”, and as the liner notes point out, “she can go from a high whispery register, consistently present throughout the album, to sudden low swoops that bounce us back to earth.” Uniquely, the Fultons cover Harry Warren and Mack Gordon’s “I Had The Craziest Dream” nodding to the ambiguity of our present moment, while still directing our ears and eyes toward normality sometime soon.

Fulton considers her optimistic spirit a statement of purpose, as her musical repertoire has always tended toward the sunny. And radiant she is on this twelve-track selection in the company of her father. Live from Lockdown is a reminder of how in sync the pair are on their first ever duo recording together. 

“The Sunday series of ‘Live from Lockdown’ really reminded me of the importance of the Jazz community,” Fulton reflects. “I felt such friendship and kindness each week as people tuned in and chatted with me, checking out different records and sharing videos. It sustained me and gave me a hopeful perspective for the future of this music. I hope this recording gives the same feeling to the listener.”

 1. I Hadn’t Anyone Till You

2. You’ve Changed

3. Satin Doll

4. Blow Top Blues

5. Moonglow

6. What Is This Thing Called Love

7. What Will I Tell My Heart

8. Look for the Silver Lining

9. I Had the Craziest Dream

10. Pass the Hat

11. I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles

12. Midnight Stroll

13. A Message from Champian and Stephen

PREORDER

OUT FRIDAY: Sasha Dobson's 'GIRL TALK' (w/ Peter Bernstein + special guest Norah Jones)

Sasha Dobson presents her authentic self on Girl Talk featuring Peter Bernstein,

out September 10, 2021

“Dobson has the genes and a strong musical foundation to make powerful, uplifting music”

— NPR Music 

“An eminently listenable voice: sensuous but diffident, and devoid of showy pretense”

— The New York Times 

“[Sasha Dobson] has jazz in her genes”

— San Francisco Chronicle

Singer, composer, master lyricist and multi-instrumentalist Sasha Dobson has performed across the world as both a leader and first-call collaborator. The stylistic chameleon has released projects with such defining voices as Norah Jones, Chris Byars, Don Was, Jay Lane, Jesse Harris, Mikael Jorgensen and Charlie Burnham; she has composed with Bill Murray, opened for Willie Nelson and toured with Neil Young. Now, with the release of Girl Talk, Dobson issues her most personal recording to date. Ten tracks of original compositions and enduring favorites feature a core trio of Neal Miner on bass, Dred Scott and Kenny Wollesen on drums and album guest artist Peter Bernstein on guitar — and unveil Dobson’s intrinsic fascination with spontaneity and the resonant bebop tradition. Girl Talk will be available as a digital download, CD and vinyl LP on September 10, 2021. 

“Over the years, I developed into a guitarist and songwriter,” says the New Yorker, “But in my heart and soul, I am a jazz singer and improviser. And this album represents something essential that I needed to do.”

Dobson’s wit resonates across her phrasing. Raised inside the music by her father, pianist Smith Dobson who played for two decades with Bobby Hutcherson, as well as Art Pepper and Red Holloway, and her mother, highly sought vocalist Gail Dobson, a young Dobson internalized nuances of the music early in her artistic development. That active listening and sense of time has allowed her to craft a self-renewing career among countless diverse expressions, but she always returns to the music that’s a part of her. 

“I’ve loved playing in diverse projects as a guitarist, drummer and vocalist, but I am always listening to jazz when I am home. That’s my happy place,” she says. 

Sasha Dobson by John Fell

Now she’s released her own. A fiercely receptive interactivity emerges on Girl Talk at every turn, particularly between Dobson and Bernstein. “There’s something about working with Pete that just sparked a flame,” says Dobson. “I felt motivated to push forward through these ideas — kind of what I set out to do in New York as a jazz singer and as an artist.” 

Engineered by Colin Monacs and Andy Taub, and mastered to digital and vinyl by Vadim Camby and Bill Scibbe, respectively, Girl Talk came together in two sessions with Dobson at the production helm. Written between the band’s first studio date before the pandemic hit, and their second, scheduled during the lockdown, Dobson original “Better Days” features Wollesen on drums and spotlights her sophisticated concept of harmony, master-level song interpretation and deep connection to the blues no matter which feel she’s channeling in the moment. Throughout “You’re the Death of Me,” another of Dobson’s originals, she and Bernstein sit in a groove together, buoying each other from one phrase to the next. 

The album’s title track showcases Dobson’s effervescent, at times wry sense of humor as well as her sacred connection with longtime collaborator and close friend, singer-songwriter Norah Jones who recorded backing vocals to the Neal Hefti tune remotely during the lockdown. Despite the artists recording their parts at different locations and times, Dobson’s lock-in with Jones reflects their intuitive pacing and phrasing as well as Dobson’s expert storytelling. “The lyrics are a little quirky and subversive,” she says, “a little counter, counterculture [laughs].”   

“The Great City” crept into Dobson’s consciousness during the lockdown. At a time when she witnessed New York gutted from the inside, she meditated on its pain and resilience, electing to film a music video as a tribute to the city she loves so much. Bernstein proffers a swinging statement on the Curtis Lewis composition, while Dobson’s signature improvising follows the head out. Miner’s presence on Girl Talk extends beyond the low end. Apart from a strong pulse and melodic foundation, his contributions include arrangements for “Sweet and Lovely,” “Softly as in a Morning Sunrise” and “Autumn Nocturne.” 

“Neal is one of my best friends of all time,” says Dobson, who connected profoundly with the bassist-composer in Manhattan’s West Village when she was 18. The two have been playing together for more than 20 years. Their hookup during live performances radiates from the bandstand and pulses across Girl Talk whose title track Miner introduced to Dobson. “After years of collaboration,” says Dobson, “we are one and the same when it comes to feel, tempos, arrangements and repertoire.” 

Sasha Dobson by Megan Schlow

Dobson feels fortunate to have world-renowned Brazilian percussionist and good friend Mauro Refosco contribute nuances of mood on “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps” and “These Boots Were Made for Walking,” along with Steven Bernstein and Ian Hendrickson Smith. “Mauro is the cat,” says Dobson, who frequently plays off his choices and against elastic grooves he pulls and bends and integrates from countless regions across the world. 

Apart from two dates in the studio with her core trio, the pandemic compelled Dobson to lean heavily on tracking as she added personnel and prepared the album for mixing — a practice the sonic purist never thought she’d engage, but one that offered unexpected perks, including vital remote contributions from her brother, vibraphonist and multi-instrumentalist Smith Dobson, based in San Francisco. The sibling-artists were able to collaborate for the first time. “He’s an incredible musician and one of my favorite drummers,” says Dobson, “but he’s also a chameleon like me.” 

“All the records I’ve made in the past — under my name and as collaborations with other artists — have been an explosive new learning experience,” she says, “but the one thing I haven’t done in my 20-year career so far is record what I can do, and what I was raised to do.” For Dobson, it sure is good to be home. 

Sasha Dobson Website

Apple Music

Amazon Music

Spotify

ENCRES SONORES // New album // Pre-listening! (September 10, 2021 ZEi & Cie)

ENCRE(S) SONORE(S)

 

-  N E W   A L B U M  - 

 

CD & DIGITAL - OUT 10/09/2021 

VINYL - OUT 22/10/2021

 

ZEi / INOUÏE DISTRIBUTION

One year, a few months and two lockdowns later, here we are !

We are very excited to share with you, in preview, 

the new ENCRES SONORES album, fourth ZEi & Cie production

Concert drawn as a trio on stage, you will hear a duo on this record.

Very strongly influenced, inspired and linked by Christophe FORGET's drawing on the screen, Julien BEHAR and Stéphane DECOLLY have built and deconstructed the soundtrack of this imaginary journey through a maze of soundscapes, drones,

improvised music and compositions.

Lie down and dream !

Julien BEHAR alto saxophone, fx, electronics

Stéphane DECOLLY electric bass, fx

Christophe FORGET ink & paintbrushes, live projected drawing

Sound recording • Julien BEHAR

Mixing • Mathieu PION, Studio Csolfa

Mastering • Pierre-Emmanuel MERIAUD, Screening Room

Artwork / Graphic design • Christophe FORGET

Screen printing • Association Octopus

 

Recorded live, with and without an audience, on 6 and 7 March 2020 at 

Espace Henry de Messay, La Jaille-Yvon (Fr) and at Salle Champeau, Brissarthe (Fr)

With the support of the Centre de Ressources Artistiques de l'Anjou Bleu

 

Music • Julien Behar / Julien Behar & Stéphane Decolly

- CD - (OUT 10/09/2021)

 8-track CD**

Comes in a printed kraft sleeve, still based on an artwork by Christophe FORGET

Limited edition of 300 copies

- VINYL - (OUT 22/10/2021)

 7-track 33 rpm vinyl*

Comes in a screen-printed kraft sleeve, based on an artwork by Christophe FORGET

Limited edition of 100 copies

ALBUM PRE ORDER

Cahill / Costello - Offworld (September 10, 2021 Gearbox Records)

Cahill//Costello present their debut album, Offworld, out September 10th on Vinyl LP and digital.

Recorded during August 2020 on location in Sanna, Ardnamurchan, in the Scottish Highlands, the album captures the spontaneity and improvised nature of the immersive Scottish landscape. By fusing together minimalist music and improvisation in a "live session", Cahill Costello chronicle their own contemporary bardic and ethnographic interpretation of modern day Scotland.

1. The Visitant

2. Pavan I

3. Pavan II

4. We Rebuild Them

5. Offworld

6. And It Was Not Meant That We Should Voyage Far

7. Pylons I

8. Pylons II

9. Avhin Saune

Kevin Cahill: electric guitar, effects, tape loops

Graham Costello: drums

All tracks composed by Kevin Cahill and Graham Costello

Recorded and mixed by Luigi Pasquini

Mastered and cut by Caspar Sutton-Jones at Gearbox Records

Pre-order

Joachim Caffonnette - Bittersweet Times (September 10, 2021)

On his third album as a leader, Belgian pianist Joachim Caffonnette deepens and refines his textural approach, carefully balancing between the impressionist influences and the bebop legacy that are distinctive of his very personal signature. « Extended » is meant as a projection of his writing and his ideals through various instrumental ensembles that stimulate meetings and spontaneity between the musicians. On this opus, Caffonnette gathers some of the most promising cats of their generation: double bass player from New Orleans Jasen Weaver, New York-based Israeli drummer Noam Israeli and, as a special guest, Kansas City’s virtuous trumpet player Hermon Mehari.

On three tracks, the band is joined by Édouard Wallyn on trombone and Quentin Manfroy on alto and bass flutes, unveiling an almost orchestral sound. This album expresses itself through its intensity, constant interplay and shared joy. Caffonnette’s writing is as melodic as it is contrasted, oscillating between burning swing and aerial harmonies. 

1. Bittersweet Times

2. Nostalgie du futur

3. Presidential Blues

4. Any Where Out Of The World

5. Endless Dreams (intro)

6. Endless Dreams

7. Big Questions, Brief Answers

8. The 6 A.M Crosspath

9. On Green Dolphin Street

10. A Savvy Child

Joachim Caffonnette – piano and compositions 

Jasen Weaver – double bass 

Noam Israeli – drums 

Hermon Mehari – trumpet (on 1, 2, 4, 6)

Édouard Wallyn – trombone (on 1, 4, 6) 

Quentin Manfroy – alto and bass flutes (on 1, 4, 6)

Rec, mix and Mastering : Vincent DeBast

Pic : Anty D

Pre-order

Edward Blankman - Cape Cod Cottage (September 10, 2021)

Welcome to the world of Edward Blankman, a retired dentist who wrote elegant, minimalist jazz in obscurity circa 1970.

At least that’s the story. In truth, Edward Blankman’s Cape Cod Cottage is the 2021 concept album from Echo Park composer Brendan Eder.

A tender, wistful follow up to 2020’s To Mix With Time, the Cape Cod Cottage sound evokes the spirit of Erik Satie, Miles Davis with Gil Evans, and Stevie Wonder, balanced with the accessibility of 1960s lounge-exotica.

Eder created Blankman’s story to channel his own grief, with bittersweet tenderness. Read the liner notes (or watch the mini-doc), and you’ll be transported to the quiet shores of Cape Cod, where a lonely retiree mourns his late wife, Natalie, with walks in nature and evenings at his Wurlitzer.

The story is brought to life with a meticulously crafted package sporting classic liner notes, faux 1970s photographs documenting Edward with the musicians (taken during the actual session), a make-believe jazz label, and a commissioned oil painting of Edward’s cottage.

Eder brought together a dream line up with a ton of chemistry for the project; drummer Christian Euman (Jacob Collier), saxophonist Josh Johnson (Jeff Parker, Leon Bridges), and bassist Alex Boneham (Billy Childs), who all studied together at the Hancock Institute of Jazz. Rounding out the group is flutist Sarah Robinson, a recurring player in Eder’s ensemble, and Edward Blankman (Brendan) on the Wurlitzer.

The cast was booked for a single date with coveted engineer Michael Harris (Kamasi Washington, Angel Olsen) at famed Electro-Vox Recording Studios. To create realism for Edward’s story, the charts were purposefully withheld from the musicians until they arrived at the studio. The result is an authentic and natural performance delivered by players at the top of their game, captured on lauded vintage equipment including the legendary Neve-8028 console.

Cape Cod Cottage will be released on September 10th including a gatefold vinyl.

1. Tuesday at the Pond

2. Cape Cod Cottage

3. Sunlight Through the Leaves

4. Where Else

5. New Dreams

6. Up

7. Discovery at the Beach

8. Three

9. Theme

10. Snowing

11. Retirement

12. Your Bliss

13. Overgrown Garden

14. Heat

15. Natalie

16. Greeting Visual

17. Miss Her

18. Lullaby

19. West Coast

20. Memories

21. Waltz

22. Four

Edward Blankman - Wurlitzer, Percussion

Josh Johnson - Alto Sax

Sarah Robinson - Alto Flute

Alex Boneham - Upright Bass

Christian Euman - Drums

Written and Produced by Brendan Eder

Recorded at Electro-Vox Studios, Hollywood, CA

Engineered by Michael Harris

Mixed by Brendan Eder

Mastered by Mark Chalecki

Photography by Steven Poster

Album Art by Cody Lee Berry

Album Design by DAY Creative

Pre-order