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GIACOMO GATES – YOU

GIACOMO GATES – YOU
“The context of many songs written and recorded, are composed by people with ‘I’ problems…but not these songs. All of these songs are about you.” – Giacomo Gates Jazz vocalist Giacomo Gates is blessed with a smooth and supremely expressive baritone voice and an all-inclusive musicality which encompasses a hipster-like coolness, a smattering of vocalese, an Eckstine-like seductiveness, the story telling ability of a griot, a firm footing in the blues and a sense of swing which is second-to-none.… Read...

MELISSA ERRICO – THE FILM NOIR PROJECT...

MELISSA ERRICO – THE FILM NOIR PROJECT
At the height of the pandemic in 2020, with all the world locked away in lonely rooms and only old movies to watch at midnight, singer and author Melissa Errico suddenly returned to one of her life-long obsessions – noir! That dark, disturbing sensibility of intractable fatalism that Paris existentialists discovered in American film in the nineteen forties, and that runs as a mesmerizing, mysterious current through modern movies and modern music alike.… Read...

VIVIAN BUCZEK – ROOTS

VIVIAN BUCZEK – ROOTS
Vivian Buczek writes: “This is the most personal album I´ve made so far, where the music sums up my musical upbringing as well as the essence of me as a woman, singer and musician. I was raised in a musical home in Sweden by my parents; both being Polish jazz musicians. Having both feet in two different cultures has made me realize how important my roots are, what they mean and what they have contributed to in my life.… Read...

Rebecca Martin & Larry Grenadier – After Midnight...

Rebecca Martin & Larry Grenadier – After Midnight
Considering that throughout her career, Rebecca Martin has teamed up with everyone from Paul Motian, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Jeff Ballard, and Brian Blade to the likes of Guillermo Klein and her partner Larry Grenadier—not forgetting her fairly recent collaboration called “Tillery” with singers Gretchen Parlato and Becca Stevens, one should think that the vocalist/singer-songwriter would be more widely known.… Read...
Brazilian Music Spotlight ANTONIO ADOLFO – JOBIM FOREVER
ANTONIO ADOLFO – JOBIM FOREVER Pianist, arranger, composer, and bandleader Antonio Adolfo has performed songs by Antonio Carlos Jobim (1927-1994) many times before, both in concert and in the recording studio, and why not? Those songs, particularly the epochal bossa-nova hits composed in the 1950s and ’60s, made Jobim one of the brightest and most influential stars in the jazz firmament. They also helped make Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—the city in which both Adolfo and Jobim were born—an important capital of world culture.… Read...
Recent Jazz Vocal Discovery LIZ TERRELL – IT’S ALRIGHT WITH ME
LIZ TERRELL – IT’S ALRIGHT WITH ME For those not in the know, the room is illuminated with misty candlelight. You sip something cool in a frosted glass. A rich, sultry voice begins to fill the room: Liz Terrell has taken the stage. Known for her powerhouse vocals and captivating yet subtle stage presence, Terrell swings intuitively and sings with incredible vocal dexterity. Over the past decade, Terrell’s musical career has navigated through the performance spectrum, ranging from musical theater and cabaret to touring Europe in a gospel ensemble.… Read...
Classic Jazz Vocal Album Spotlight Irene Kral – Kral Space
Irene Kral – Kral Space One of the three classic albums that singer Irene Kral recorded near the end of her shortened life. Kral is heard throughout at the peak of her powers on this haunting session featuring pianist Alan Broadbent, bassist Fred Atwood, drummer Nick Ceroli and Emil Richards on percussion and vibes. Her renditions of a slower-than-usual “Star Eyes,” “Once Upon Another Time,” “Small Day Tomorrow,” “Sometime Ago” (the definitive version), “Everytime We Say Goodbye” and a pair of Tommy Wolf/Fran Landesman songs (“It’s Nice Weather for Ducks” and “It Isn’t So Good It Couldn’t Get Better”) are all quite memorable.… Read...
Other Releases of Interest Nu Deco Ensemble
Nu Deco Ensemble Since its inception in 2015, Nu Deco Ensemble has exploded onto Miami’s eclectic musical scene captivating audiences, holistically engaging with its community and fusing innovative, genre-bending orchestral performances and collaborations with the highest levels of musical artistry. Nu Deco is reimagining a fresh vision of what an orchestra can achieve in the 21st century. Created by two of classical music’s most in demand artists, Jacomo Bairos and Sam Hyken, Nu Deco Ensemble is a flexible and innovative hybrid orchestra that celebrates living composers, reimagines all genres of music, and collaborates with a wide range of diverse musical guests, composers, choreographers, dancers, and mixed media artists.… Read...