February 8th, 2010 by Fresh

No long blog post here. Many of you know how big of a Sade, not just her, her being, but her band. I bring to you the making of the album. Very exciting about the CD dropping tomorrow. Enjoy!

SOLDIER OF LOVE – OUT NOW.
Sade’s new album Soldier of Love is out now on worldwide release (except the USA).

The tracklisting includes:

1. The Moon And The Sky
2. Soldier Of Love
3. Morning Bird
4. Babyfather
5. Long Hard Road
6. Be That Easy
7. Bring Me Home
8. In Another Time
9. Skin
10. The Safest Place

Available to buy from here:
itunes
HMV
Amazon
Play.com

January 24th, 2010 by Fresh

Kenneth Earl “Kenny” Burrell was born July 31, 1931 in Detroit, MI and by 12 years old, started playing guitar (similar to yours truly who started playing at the age of 14). Little did he know that he would be this year’s Grammy Jazz Honoree.

I don’t know who is more excited, Kenny or me. He has certainly been my favorite jazz guitarist for as long as I remember. Kenny’s choice as this years honoree is quite a substantial one, in my mind. His discography alone proves his ability (and history) of being a superb sideman and solo musician in his own right. Between the years of 1956 and 2006, Mr. Burrell has excelled as a leader, co-leader and sideman releasing recordings with stellar musicians in the world of jazz. His last release, Kenny Burrell: 75th Birthday Bash Live! released in 2007 on the prestigious Blue Note label, not only has a historic playlist of wonderful jazz standards, but showcases prominent musicians such as Joey DeFracesco, Hubert Laws, Snooky Young, and the like. During that same year, he began his tenure as Director of Jazz Studies at UCLA.
He has recorded on well respected jazz labels including Prestige, Verve, Fantasy, and Concord Jazz.

Kenny Burrell posesses a unique style (and grace) if you will, defines the essence of jazz guitar. His playing easily brings to life the stellar arrangements of his great predecessors, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn and, in addition, has away of conveying the cool that IS jazz. If there was to ever be a true definition of “smooth jazz”, Mr. Burrell would undoubtedly be a defining factor. His remake of Neal Hefti’s classic song “Girl Talk” is one of my favorite tunes.

Mr. Burrell, if you are reading this, I came VERY close to being there this week to fulfill my dream of meeting you on Tuesday evening. Keep being the inspiration to jazz musicians and jazz lovers alike. I salute you in your accomplishments and in receiving this auspicious honor. There are many of your tracks that leave me “Just a Sittin’ and Rockin’”
Jazz lives.

January 24th, 2010 by Fresh

Hey everyone…I’ll be on Blog Talk Radio with my boy EJ Flavors this weekend. We’ll be talking about the Grammy Nominees of Jazz and R&B with Val Oliver on The Creator’s Parrot. Tune in and check it out if you can!

peace,
F!

January 19th, 2010 by Fresh

Greetings listeners. As we are nearing the airing of the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, those nominated in the category of Jazz have provided the fans a wide and exciting array of great jazz music. There is a color of jazz on this wonderful palette for every jazz listener.

The young lion Stefon Harris, and his group Blackout bridge the gap in between classical jazz stylings and comtemporary jazz in a way that some may call unconventional, yet captivating. The tracks on Urbanus offer musical stylings that satisfy even the young, neophyte jazz listener and still capture the traditional offerings best liked by the most discerning long time listener.

Mike Stern is no stranger as a nominee in this category. Returning once again to the nominee circle with his release Big Neighborhood, he brings to us not only familiarity of his own jazz offerings, but nicely mixes blues, funk and shades of rock in his release. A cast of star musicians help create a catalyst that rightly places Mike as a nominee once again.

Jazz is not jazz without the most organic jazz instrument of all, the human voice. Randy Crawford has represented such an instrument superbly for many years, and has done stellar work is piano virtuouso, Joe Sample on various occasions. “No Regrets” is a release that combines, once again, the commanding and captivating voice of Randy Crawford along with the unmistakably recognizable style of Joe Sample.

With the “voice” in jazz, it’s yet still not complete without that crisp, cool class of a voice like that of Kurt Elling. His release “Dedicated To You: Kurt Elling Sings The Music Of Coltrane And Hartman” eloquently covers the great tunes of John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman in a way that automatically demands a Grammy nod. His depth of style and grace continues to further bring an aspect of style that jazz will be ever known for.

Strong returning contenders to this year’s nominee circle are once again, vibraphonist Gary Burton, guitar virtuouso Pat Metheny, bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Antonio Sanchez. “Quartet Live” is a must for any fan of instrumental jazz and it decidedly earns it’s rank as a premier nominee in the subcategory of Best Jazz Instrumental Album. Swift competition comes from piano and synthesizer legend Chick Corea and his longtime bandmate from Return To Forever, John McLaughlin. “Five Peace Band – Live” is a collection of songs that define the term “jazz virtuosity” to the utmost degree. Both releases are strong contenders in this category.

Jazz, THE American music art form must be defined, as well, by the Big Band…and as such, “Fun Time” – Sammy Nestico And The SWR Big Band provide and excellent definition of the big band aspect in every respect. Fun Time is an excellent release for any jazz lover’s collection.

When Latin Jazz is mentioned in a conversation, the discussion cannot go long without mention of the name Valdes! “Juntos Para Siempre” –
Bebo Valdés And Chucho Valdés define the state of Latin Jazz and wholeheartedly represent that in a Grammy nomination well chosen by The Academy.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t pay homage, at least in this post, to this year’s Grammy Jazz Honoree, the great jazz guitarist and legend, Mr Kenny Burrell. Suffice it to say, as a guitarist myself, he is my favorite and it is truly and honor to see him receive this auspicious award.

2009 was a great year for jazz and all the nominees in every subcategory represent America’s music with greatness!

January 1st, 2010 by Fresh

Crew…It’s coming. Stay tuned for a special Sunday Soundtrack, this Sunday, January 3rd!

Happy 2K10!!

Peace!
F!

December 21st, 2009 by Fresh

Greetings Readers…

Over the weekend, I got a chance (while putting together the last podcast) to listen to another one of the nominees for Best Jazz Vocal, Mr. Kurt Elling. I listened not only to the release for which he has been nominated, but some of his earlier material as well. What attracted me to this artist was first, his style. If you can follow me on this, his delivery is articulate, knowledgeable, smooth and confident. Note that I’ve spoke nothing about his vocal talent thus far but those few things aforementioned draw a direct correlation to his smooth vocal delivery as well. His delivery brings to mind a certain air of sophistication, the type of sophistication that is part of jazz. If I were to compare his vocal delivery to a jazz instrument, I’d say saxophone comes to mind. Couple that with the elegance the selections on this nominated CD, I’d say it makes for a winning combination. I definitely have been enjoying the renditions he’s done in tribute to Johnny Hartman and John Coltrane. I’d recommend it to any jazz lover’s collection.

Here’s the electronic press kit (EPK) for Kurt Elling’s new Concord Jazz album “Dedicated To You: Kurt Elling Sings the Music of Coltrane and Hartman. The CD was released on June 23rd, 2009.

Kurt Elling Online
Official Website

December 10th, 2009 by Fresh

December 8th, 2009 by Fresh

Greetings readers. A somewhat frigid night here in the DC Metro area. I hope those in similar weather conditions are keeping warm.

The other day I perused this category and took a listen to Julian Lage. I had never heard of this nominee until this the nominees list came out, and was pleasantly surprised to find him as a guitarist. Being a child prodigy, musically, is nothing new at all, but being prodigious in a number of different genres and combining them into one style is no so commonplace. Receiving accolades from various music luminaries at such a young age is also uncommon. Being a guitarist, I’m naturally biased to him as a nominee (this goes for Mike Stern as well). What I found myself thinking about his style of music was…it didn’t quite match what I thought a contemporary jazz album should sound like. Lage’s style, to me, has somewhat heavy folk influences across the board and my experience with contemporary jazz, listening to it for 30+ years, doesn’t quite jive what that (I lend the same mindset to Mike Stern’s “Big Neighborhood” with the rock influences, as well). As I listened to the tracks from his most excellent release, Soundpoint, I became increasingly impressed by each song, particularly his rendition of Miles Davis’ “All Blues”. Equally impressive is the height of musical stature that he’s grown into, by not only releasing a Grammy nominated album, but already (by age 21) being a sideman to jazz great Gary Burton. Here’s Julian discussing Soundpoint, released on Emarcy Records:

To me, Soundpoint is a collection of very well done, intricate arrangements and performances that encompasses the mastery of his instrument. I find it interesting that the selections themselves find themselves in this category, but I enjoy them nonetheless. I wonder if he will, in the future, perform his arrangements with a larger electric ensemble or continue bring his compositions in a group such as this. In any event, it will be a welcome addition to my collection

Julian Lage Online

Official Website
Facebook
Myspace
All About Jazz

peace,
Fresh.

December 5th, 2009 by Fresh

Greetings readers. I’ve been rolling around the net checking out all the Grammy happenings online from the official Grammy site to Facebook to Twitter and see that, as usual, there’s a lot of buzz. About a half hour ago, I finished a recording session with a talented keyboardist and friend. As I listened to him play the piano tracks, I thought about his love for the instrument he plays and the level of training he has, he delivers his playing, oftentimes, via jazz progressions. I began to think about how musical education in the schools greatly lessened in importance of over the years. There are many dynamics that keep a young musicians desire alive other than formal school training, but the facts are clear that the importance itself has diminished. Jazz has been no stranger to this dissipation. One could say that the advancements in music composing technology has added to the lack of importance AND possibly the desire to learn an instrument when many composing tools (digital audio workstations) come complete with samples and loops designed to compose entire songs with at least mouse clicks on a workspace. As a guitarist for 30 years AND an electronic musician, I can embrace both methods of composing music, and frankly, they marry well. It’s the experience and memory of taking guitar lessons, playing in the high school jazz ensembles and having the opportunity to take part in school music programs that I found to be most enriching as a musician.

I came across an interesting article by Wynton Marsalis: Jazz Is Life Music. If you are fan of jazz and especially a musician, give it a read. Here’s an excerpt:

“”How to make students want to learn…hmmm…. My father used to say, ʻYou can bring a horse to water but you can’t make him thirsty.’ The best way I’ve found to combat the haze of uninspired participation that engulfs some of our young is for the director to be aggressively Inspired. Yeah, that’s what we need to do out here: stay inspired no matter what.
” You can read the entire article, originally appearing in the Oct 2009 Downbeat Magazine, here.

::: oceans of rhythm :::

F!

December 5th, 2009 by Fresh

Good evening readers. It’s Friday night, a little after 10pm and I’m finally settled down in the studio after a LONG work week. Hope this blog post finds you well. Stefon Harris and Blackout is a group of young, very talented jazz musicians that have been nominated in Category 44 – Best Contemporary Jazz Album, for their release, Urbanus. As I listen to the CD in the background, I think of the category they’re nominated for, and the category keyword that remains most descriptive is the adjective contemporary. Take a listen to Stefon discuss the essence of Urbanus, the second CD as the group, Blackout

Stefon Harris, is what is known in the jazz genre as a “young lion”, due to, of course, his age in comparison to the age of legendary jazz musicians who have achieved what he is doing, but at a later age. I first discovered Stefon by his second CD, Black Action Figure, which was released in 1999 on Blue Note Records. I’ve always liked the vibes (Milt Jackson, Bobby Hutcherson, etc), and to hear a fresh new, and young vibraphonist on the scene was akin to cool water and I’ve been a fan ever since. Fast forward to the more recent recordings from the group, Blackout, He is associated with the subgenres hard bop, post bop and progressive jazz, but infuses comtemporary stylings into his music. He’s quoted in the December 2009 issue of Ebony Magazine as saying “There is a misunderstanding of what jazz is…jazz is incredibly pliable..our music is about the here and now; it is not about the past. People think we’re mixing jazz and hip-hop, but I think that this is what jazz is now. My music is indicative of my generation… and old school artists and fans should embrace all jazz forms”.

I, especially as a musician, agree full circle with that. I’m definitely liking this release, and see Stefon Harris as being on of the primary vibraphonists on the jazz scene for years to come.

Stefon Harris & Blackout

Stefon Harris – Vibes/Composer
Marc Cary – Keys
Ben Williams – Bass
Terreon Gully – Drums
Casey Benjamin – Alto sax

On the web:
Official Website
Myspace
Facebook Fan Page
Blogspot
Twitter
Ben Williams (bassist) – Twitter
Stefon Harris discusses Blackout
NPR Favorite Sessions: Stefon Harris and Blackout at WBGO-FM