Tag Archives: Brenda Nelson-Strauss

Tony Allen – There Is No End

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Title: There Is No End
Artist: Tony Allen
Label: Blue Note
Formats: CD, LP, Digital
Release date: April 30, 2021

 

One could not ask for a more powerful posthumous album than Tony Allen’s There Is No End. The legendary Nigerian-born Afrobeat drummer and former musical director of Fela Kuti’s Africa ’70 group died last April at the age of 79. In the past two decades, Allen had become known for his eclectic collaborations, seamlessly moving from jazz to highlife, and funk to hip hop and electronica. Such is the case with this new release, featuring the Afrobeat elder engaging with younger singers and rappers who represent the full spectrum of the African diaspora including Sampa the Great, Danny Brown, Lava La Rue, and more.

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Nnenna Freelon – Time Traveler

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Title: Time Traveler
Artist: Nnenna Freelon
Label: Origin
Formats: CD, Digital
Release date: May 21, 2021

 

Like many over the past couple of years, jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon has been confronting grief. The singer’s beloved husband and partner of 40 years, Philip Freelon, passed after a long battle with ALS, shortly before the pandemic caused millions of untimely deaths and left bereaved families across the globe in mourning. Freelon’s new album, Time Traveler, was created through this lens of suffering, grief and loss. Recorded both before and after her husband’s transition, the singer hopes the album “offers compassion and hope for the places in life that feel hard” and calls the project “my soul’s gift to myself, my husband and the universe.”

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Vincent Herring – Preaching to the Choir

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Title: Preaching to the Choir
Artist: Vincent Herring
Label: Smoke Sessions
Formats: CD, Digital
Release date: April 30, 2021

 

After a bout with coronavirus left lingering side effects as well as a dearth of paying gigs, saxophonist Vincent Herring was no longer certain about his long range prospects as a musician. Thankfully, as both his health and performance opportunities began to rebound, Herring was inspired to undertake a new project, Preaching to the Choir, that “delivers a sermon of optimism and hope to the jazz faithful, aided by as fervent a congregation as a swing disciple could pray for: pianist Cyrus Chestnut, bassist Yasushi Nakamura, and drummer Johnathan Blake.”

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Noah Haidu, Buster Williams, and Billy Hart – Slowly: Song for Keith Jarrett

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Title: Slowly: Song for Keith Jarrett
Artist: Noah Haidu, Buster Williams and Billy Hart
Label: Sunnyside
Formats: CD, Digital
Release date: May 7, 2021

 

An emotional concert by Keith Jarrett at Carnegie Hall on February 15, 2017, became a pivotal moment in pianist-composer Noah Haidu’s trajectory. No one in the audience could have predicted that they were witnessing the final performance of the legendary jazz pianist, who later suffered a pair of debilitating strokes that forced his retirement. Haidu decided to change the focus of his planned trio album with jazz elders Buster Williams (bass) and Billy Hart (drums), resulting in Slowly: Song for Keith Jarrett. Set to release the day before Jarrett’s 76th birthday, the tribute album focuses on original compositions by Haidu, Williams and Hart that give a nod to the musical interactions of the famed Jarrett/DeJohnette/Peacock trio without trying to recreate or interpret performances of the past.

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Introducing Kendall Carter

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Title: Introducing Kendall Carter
Artist: Kendall Carter
Label: Lladnek Music
Formats: CD, Digital
Release date: March 30, 2021

 

Kendall Carter is making a name for himself throughout the Midwest as a jazz organist, recognized for his mastery of the Hammond B3 as well as the SK-2 and A100 models. A recent graduate of the Jamey Aebersold Jazz Studies Program at the University of Louisville in Kentucky, Carter earned a master’s degree in jazz composition and arranging, which he puts to good use on his solo debut release, Introducing Kendall Carter. Accompanying him on this trio project is guitarist Dave Stryker and Indianapolis drummer Kenny Phelps, two musicians who have performed with the organist at local clubs and jazz festivals.

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George Porter Jr. & Runnin’ Pardners – Crying for Hope

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Title: Crying for Hope
Artist: George Porter Jr. & Runnin’ Pardners
Label: Controlled Substance Sounds Labs/Color Red.
Formats: CD, LP, Digital
Release date: March 26, 2021

 

Bassist George Porter Jr. is best known as one of the founding members of The Meters, the seminal funk band that combined New Orleans street rhythms with a second line vibe and fatback drums to create their own unique, laidback style. After several decades performing with The Meters (later renamed The Funky Meters) and working as a session musician, Porter decided to form his own band in 1990.  Now, 30 years later, George Porter Jr. & The Runnin’ Pardners offer their latest release, Crying for Hope, that lays down 12 tracks of heavy funk amidst themes of social justice.

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Reggie Harris – On Solid Ground

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Title: On Solid Ground
Artist: Reggie Harris
Label: Dist. CD Baby
Formats: CD, Digital
Release date: April 16, 2021

 

Veteran folk musician Reggie Harris reflects on the current political and social climate in his new release, On Solid Ground. A descendant of a Confederate general and one of his slaves, Harris says his story also “includes aspects of my journey as a Black male growing up in Philadelphia during the ‘50s and ‘60s; pushed into integrating schools and neighborhoods which forced me to learn to live between two worlds using music as a foil to become a bridge-builder.”   He draws upon these experiences across the album’s 13 tracks, many of which harken back to the freedom songs of the Civil Rights Movement.  

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Jon Batiste – We Are

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Title: We Are
Artist: Jon Batiste
Label: Verve
Formats: CD, LP, Digital
Release date: March 19, 2021  

 

Fresh off of winning a Golden Globe and Critic’s Choice Awards for his score to the animated film Soul, pianist/composer Jon Batiste has released a new album with similar sensibilities. We Are is a masterful synthesis of musical styles, most notably those reflecting Batiste’s upbringing in New Orleans amidst a family dynasty of notable jazz, blues, and R&B musicians. Add to this mix Batiste’s classical training at Juilliard and his roots in the church, and you get a musician who is fluent in every major musical genre, all of which are seamlessly integrated in this album.

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Logan Richardson – AfroFuturism

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Title: AfroFuturism
Artist: Logan Richardson
Label: Whirlwind
Formats: CD, LP, Digital
Release date: March 12, 2021

 

Kansas City-born saxophonist Logan Richardson made his debut as a bandleader in 2007 with Cerebral Flow, an album that reflects his time performing with jazz musicians such as Pat Metheny, Joe Chambers, Billy Hart, Butch Morris, Stefon Harris and Jason Moran. Since then, Richardson’s work has become increasingly eclectic, ranging from performances with the urban jazz supergroup NEXT Collective to his 2018 release Blues People, which busted through any boundaries limiting what jazz fusion could aspire to. Now back in Kansas City and sheltering from the pandemic in an apartment once inhabited by Charlie Parker, Richardson imagines an even broader universe of sound on his latest project, AfroFuturism.

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Dr. Lonnie Smith – Breathe

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Title: Breathe
Artist: Dr. Lonnie Smith
Label: Blue Note
Formats: CD, Digital
Release date: March 26, 2021

 

The reigning master of the Hammond B-3 organ, Dr. Lonnie Smith has ruled the soul jazz scene from his keyboard for over five decades. Still a prolific recording artist, the musical icon has just released Breathe, his third album for Blue Note in the last five years, all produced by the label’s president, Don Was. The majority of the tracks were recorded live at the Jazz Standard in New York City in 2017 during Smith’s 75th birthday celebration, in the seemingly long-ago days when one could hang out at a crowded club on the weekends. Fans weary of social distancing can now vicariously join the celebration through album’s eight tracks.

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Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble – NOW

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Title: NOW
Artist: Damon Locks & Black Monument Ensemble
Label: International Anthem
Formats: Digital (CD, LP available July 9, 2021)
Release date: April 9, 2021

 

Following his auspicious 2019 debut, Where Future Unfolds, Chicago-based multi-media artist/activist Damon Locks and his jazz-based Black Monument Ensemble return with their latest release, NOW. Featuring six new tracks, this multi-generational collective of Chicago artists continues their mission of presenting vibrant, uplifting music and dance that draws “from all facets of the diverse wellspring of Black artistic excellence.” The new project is also a response to the group’s previous release: “the future has unfolded and taken a new and dangerous shape… what happens NOW?’” 

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Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi – They’re Calling Me Home

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Title: They’re Calling Me Home
Artist: Rhiannon Giddens with Francesco Turrisi
Label: Nonesuch
Formats: CD, LP, Digital
Release date: April 9, 2021

 

Acclaimed African American folk musician Rhiannon Giddens and Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi offer their second collaboration, They’re Calling Me Home. Sheltering in Ireland during the pandemic, the two artists decided to draw from traditional folk music of three countries for this project. The album’s title not only speaks to those who are sheltering in place during the pandemic, but also to the metaphorical “call home” or “homegoing” of death, in tribute to those who have lost their lives due to COVID-19. 

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String Noise – Alien Stories

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Title: Alien Stories
Artist: String Noise
Label: Infrequent Seams (Dist. Bandcamp)
Formats: CD, Cassette, Digital
Release date: April 2, 2021

 

The New York-based classical avant-punk duo String Noise, featuring violinists Conrad Harris and Pauline Kim Harris, is celebrated for their wide-ranging performances of contemporary music. Since the duo’s founding in 2011, they have added more than 50 new works to their repertoire. Their latest release, Alien Stories, was influenced by the Black Lives Matter movement, which also increased attention on issues of racial equality with the musical realm. In support of Black artists, the duo decided to co-commission, with Carnegie Hill Concerts, new works from five young Black composer-performers based in New York City. These five works are featured on Alien Stories.

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Judith Hill – Baby I’m Hollywood

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Title: Baby I’m Hollywood
Artist: Judith Hill
Label: Regime Music Group
Formats: CD, Digital
Release date: March 5, 2021

 

Many may be familiar with Grammy-winning artist Judith Hill through her work with Michael Jackson, or any number of other artists ranging from Josh Groban, Stevie Wonder and John Legend to the late Andraé Crouch. Hill was also one of the featured backup singers in the Academy Award winning documentary 20 Feet From Stardom (2013), and that same year she made it to the finals on The Voice. Yet despite these successes and a debut album co-produced by Prince, the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is still struggling in her pursuit of a career in music. Hill’s new project, Baby I’m Hollywood, speaks to the highs and lows of life in the spotlight, and so much more.

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Skylar Rogers – Firebreather

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Title: Firebreather
Artist: Skylar Rogers
Label: CD Baby (distrib.)
Formats: CD, Digital
Release date: January 29, 2021

 

With a sound that draws comparisons to Etta James and Koko Taylor, Chicago-born vocalist Skylar Rogers is a relatively new force on the blues scene. After the success of her debut EP, she began touring nationally in 2019 and dropped her first single last year. Now Rogers tears into her first full-length album, Firebreather, with a powerful blast of energy that fuels her unique blend of “soul rockin’ blues.”

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Cameron Graves – Seven

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Title: Seven
Artist: Cameron Graves
Label: Artistry Music/Mack Avenue
Formats: CD, LP, Digital
Release date: February 19, 2021

 

Pianist-composer Cameron Graves initially achieved acclaim as a member of the West Coast Get Down, a collective of L.A. jazz musicians that includes Kamasi Washington and Stephen “Thundercat” Bruner. More recently he has performed and recorded with fusion pioneer Stanley Clarke, who has served as a mentor to the younger musician. Releasing his widely acclaimed debut album Planetary Prince in 2017,Graves now returns with his own brand of progressive jazz on Seven. Referring to his new style as thrash-jazz, Graves draws upon his jazz and classical studies as well as his love of Living Colour, Meshuggah, and other heavy metal bands to create a stunningly inventive jazz-rock fusion that will blast you into another galaxy.

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Archie Shepp & Jason Moran – Let My People Go

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Title: Let My People Go
Artist: Archie Shepp & Jason Moran
Label: Archieball
Formats: Digital
Release date: February 5, 2021

 

A living legend in jazz, saxophonist Archie Shepp’s six decade career is notable not only for expanding the cannon towards avant-garde and free jazz, but also for the socially conscious and Afrocentric themes of his albums. Five years ago, he met pianist-composer Jason Moran backstage at Belgium’s JazzMiddelheim Festival, and the two have performed together on many stages since that auspicious occasion. In addition to Moran’s many albums and soundtracks, the 2010 MacArthur “Genius” Grant awardee is also known for groundbreaking productions with his wife, Alicia Hall Moran, including Two Wings: The Music of Black America in Migration. Shepp and Moran’s new album, Let My People Go, seems like a natural progression for these two musicians who both actively promote an appreciation for Black history through music.

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Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet – Social Distancing

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Title: Social Distancing
Artist: Gabriel Alegría Afro-Peruvian Sextet
Label: Saponegro/Tiger Turn
Formats: CD, Digital
Release date: January 29, 2021

 

Like most artists, trumpeter and composer Gabriel Alegría and members of his Afro-Peruvian Sextet have been profoundly affected by the pandemic. But thanks to their “determined fans and a poem-gone-viral,” the group has been able to persevere in the face of adversity. The result is their new concept album, Social Distancing, a “musical memoir (& protest)” based on artistic collaborations inspired by the 2020 pandemic as well as issues of social justice that have surfaced over that past year. “Every sound and rhythm,” says Alegría, “is an attempt to guide you safely away from the confusion” into the band’s safe space: Afro-Peruvian jazz music.

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Sounds of A&R – Questions Left Unanswered…

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Title: Questions Left Unanswered…
Artist: Sounds of A&R
Label: Soaring
Format: CD, Digital
Release date: January 22, 2021

 

Jazz ensembles fronted by a vocalist and trumpeter in equal roles are far and few between, and that’s a major part of the charm of Sounds of A&R. Led by April May Webb (vocals) and Randall Haywood (trumpet and flugelhorn), who are musical partners as well as partners in life, the duo calls to mind the classic pairing of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. Rounding out this family affair are two of Webb’s siblings—Jacob Webb on bass and Nathan Webb on drums—plus guitarist Charlie Sigler, pianist James Austin, and harpist Riza Printup. On their impressive third studio album, Questions Left Unanswered, S.O.A.R. offers a mix of new arrangements of romantic classics and bold, fresh originals that speak to contemporary issues.

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