With a New Jazz Works Grant from Chamber Music America in his pocket (Torres holding the distinction of being a three-time recipient of the award), Latin Grammy-Award winning percussionist and composer from Bogota, Colombia, Samuel Torres has brought a long-time musical vision to life with his latest tour-de-force, A Dance For Birds.  A Dance for Birds, to be released on May 24, is a nine movement suite composed by Samuel Torres, and expertly interpreted by his Latin Chamber Ensemble, featuring the Bergamot String Quartet. The suite of music tells a story of migration with the conga ..read more

Rosa Brunello's new album, ‘Senseless Acts Of Love’ on Domanda Music, is a beautiful testament to the power of music. The album brings together an incredible fusion of talent from jazz and experimental music; collaborating with brilliant artists such as Yazz Ahmed, Tamar Osborn, Maurice Louca, Marco Frattini, Enrico Terragnoli, and Luca Tapino, Brunello takes us on a journey through love and exploration. ‘Senseless Acts Of Love’ encourages listeners to embrace a more conscious and sustainable approach to exploration. It inspires us to connect deeply with the world we inhabit and appreciate th ..read more

JANE SCHECKTER is a mainstay on the New York City music scene. A Bistro Award winner and a five-time MAC award nominee, she has been wowing audiences with her velvet voice at major New York venues, including Birdland, Birdland Theater, the Metropolitan Room, the Iridium and Lincoln Center Jazz at Rose Hall. Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote of her “bright, clear voice with a brassy edge and a luscious, rounded vibrato, meticulous phrasing, a sultry lower register...and she swings!” Scheckter is now releasing her fifth album, I’LL TAKE ROMANCE, a collection of 17 tunes from the Great ..read more

Resonance Records, the award-winning home of archival jazz treasures, will proudly present a new, fully authorized live collection by tenor master Sonny Rollins, Freedom Weaver: The 1959 European Tour Recordings, as a limited edition four-LP set released for on Record Store Day, April 20.  Never before issued as a legitimate release, these much-bootlegged sides—which feature Rollins, at the height of his early powers, with bassist Henry Grimes and drummers Pete La Roca, Kenny Clarke, and Joe Harris—will subsequently reach stores as a three-CD set and digital download edition on April 26 ..read more

Singer and songwriter Madeleine Peyroux has released a touching video for her new track “Showman Dan,” which appears on her forthcoming album Let’s Walk (out June 28th on Thirty Tigers). Peyroux wrote the song in honor of her longtime friend and mentor Daniel William Fitzgerald, aka Showman Dan, who passed away in 2017. The video features performance footage, joyful home movies and personal photos honoring the charismatic and giving entertainer. The moving tribute shows Showman Dan through years performing all over and collaborating with up-and-coming musicians, including a young, yet-to-be ..read more

Emiliano Lasansky’s melodies have the potential to simultaneously serve as vehicles to memories and past experiences, and to evoke optimistic anticipation for the future. Lasansky elaborates, “my work attempts to unify elements of the past and present in exciting and unexpected new ways. I also strive for my work to be accessible to a wide audience with hidden layers of subtlety for those that desire to take a closer look.”   The title track, “The Optimist,” mirrors life, presenting the soloist with trials and tribulations challenges, and rewards, with sections of challenging chords, cr ..read more

The storied musical city of Memphis, Tennessee presents its delegation to the rising generation of cutting-edge jazz artists with Playing in the Yard, the debut recording by the Jazz Ensemble of Memphis, hitting April 5 on Memphis International Records. An answer record to the revelatory 1959 album Down Home Reunion: Young Men from Memphis, the new album comprises a summit of five of the city’s freshest jazz talents, here playing together for the first time. (Playing in the Yard is available on CD as well as blue vinyl.)  The original album was a milestone for the Bluff City. It introduc ..read more

Russell Thompkins, Jr. - Riding Solo SoulMusic Records-Digital in association with Platinum Garage Recordings is very excited to present “Riding Solo,” a brand new album by the iconic Russell Thompkins, Jr.  whose distinctive vocal style graced such classic hits as” You Are Everything”, “Betcha By Golly Wow”and “People Make The World Go ‘Round” as the original lead singer of The Stylistics.  With primary production by Preston Glass and three tracks produced by The Steals Brothers & McKinley Jackson, “Riding Solo” is a powerful addition to Russell’s musical legacy. Songs include ..read more

There would be no music career for soprano saxophonist Reggie Codrington had it not been for his father, trumpeter Ray Codrington. Born with Ataxic Cerebral Palsy that required nine major surgeries even before the saxman was a teenager, Ray found a small, curved saxophone that made it physically possible for Reggie to play the instrument. After Ray succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease last May, Reggie decided to pay tribute by recording one of his father’s favorite compositions, “Three Shades of Blue,” a song that Ray wrote and performed in his live sets, but never recorded. The urban-jazz s ..read more

Kamasi Washington calls Fearless Movement his dance album. “It’s not literal,” Washington says. “Dance is movement and expression, and in a way it’s the same thing as music—expressing your spirit through your body. That’s what this album is pushing.” Dance as an embodied form of expression signals a shift in focus for Washington. Where previous albums dealt with cosmic ideas and existential concepts, Fearless Movement focuses in on the everyday, an exploration of life on earth. This change in scope is due in large part to the birth of Washington’s first child a few years ago. “Being a fa ..read more