BEN WENDEL "HIGH HEART"

Nominato ai Grammy e pluripremiato sassofonista jazz, Ben Wendel è noto per il suo stile di improvvisazione armonicamente sofisticato e motivato e per l'ampio stile compositivo che tocca influenze post-bop, classiche e post-rock. Co-fondatore del gruppo Kneebody, ha suonato con Tigran Hamasyan, Gerald Clayton, Louis Cole, Snoop Dogg, Prince, Moonchild, Daedelus, Ambrose Akinmusire e altri.High Heart è il quinto album del sassofonista e compositore statunitense Ben Wendel. Cavalcando un aumento di interesse per il suo modo di suonare negli ultimi anni, Ben torna con un album che definisce dove si trova e il suo posto nel mondo.High Heart è una dichiarazione personale e un riflesso del viaggio di Ben in una società di crescente complessità, sovrasaturazione e squilibrio sociale. È un album che apre la discussione e solleva domande su come gli artisti "creano un'arte che è personale e significativa in un tempo sempre più impersonale".I titoli delle canzoni in questo progetto si riferiscono a diverse sfide che ho vissuto mentre mi interfacciavo con un pubblico globale. Ad esempio, "Drawn Away" si riferisce ai pericoli dell'uso eccessivo della tecnologia e della perdita di prospettiva, mentre "High Heart" parla del desiderio umano di connettersi ed esprimersi attraverso questi nuovi mezzi con il rischio di sentirsi isolati e tagliati fuori.In definitiva, High Heart è un progetto di speranza e, per me, un messaggio mirato e personale in un momento in cui è diventato più difficile per tutti gli artisti trovare la propria strada attraverso il rumore ".BEN WENDEL 

THE BRANDEE YOUNGER QUARTET "LIVE AT THE BREEDING GROUND"

Harpist Brandee Younger, is known for sharing the stage with Jazz Royalty Jack Dejohnette & Ravi Coltrane, laying down tracks with Grammy-Winning Rapper Common and Artist and Producer Ryan Leslie, as well as bringing to life the Classic Impressionistic work of Maurice Ravel. Her ability to feature the Harp in genres of music where the instrument is often absent is a testament of her love for the instrument, and her cross-reaching ability as a musician.The Brandee Younger Quartet makes you rethink the traditional jazz combo. No piano...instead, a concert harp, upright bass, drumset & tenor sax/vocalist, the sound is reminiscent of vintage Dorothy Ashby and ethereal Alice Coltrane, with a whole new identity. THE BRANDEE YOUNGER QUARTET

RYAN KEBERLE & CATHARSIS "INTO THE ZONE"

Few musicians have managed to navigate the richly varied avenues of New York City’s abundant music scene with the same passion and adaptability as trombonist and composer Ryan Keberle. Since his arrival in 1999, Keberle’s diverse talents have earned him a place alongside a staggering array of legends, superstars, and up-and-coming innovators.Leading his pianoless quartet Catharsis or arranging for the little big band setting of his Double Quartet, Keberle draws upon lessons learned playing alongside masters of a multitude of forms, from jazz legends to indie rock ground-breakers, R&B superstars to classical virtuosos. That includes playing with jazz greats including Maria Schneider and Wynton Marsalis; hip-hop and R&B superstars like Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, and Alicia Keys; Latin jazz leaders like Pedro Giraudo and Ivan Lins; indie rock ground-breakers such as Sufjan Stevens; or playing in the house band at Saturday Night Live, on the soundtrack of a Woody Allen film, or in the pit for a Tony-winning Broadway musical. RYAN KEBERLE & CATHARSIS
 

DAVE DOUGLAS & URI CAINE "PRESENT JOYS"

Dave Douglas is a prolific trumpeter, composer and educator from New York City.His unique contributions to improvised music have garnered distinguished recognition, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, an Aaron Copland award and two Grammy nominations. Douglas has developed his work for several unique ensembles with whom he’s currently active, including his new quintet, an electric sextet (Keystone), duo with Uri Caine, Brass Ecstasy, Riverside, and the Soundprints Quintet (co-led with saxophonist Joe Lovano). His new quintet released its debut recording, Be Still, in September 2012 with singer Aoife O’Donovan, the first time Douglas has featured a vocalist on a recording. The follow-up to that critically-acclaimed recording, Time Travel, released April 2013.Since 2005, Douglas has operated his own record label, Greenleaf Music, releasing his own recordings as well as albums by other artists in the jazz idiom. Douglas has produced over 50 records, including all titles at Greenleaf. Through his artist-friendly approach and innovative practices, he continues to prove himself a pioneer in new music marketing and delivery methods for the jazz world and among artist-run labels.Douglas has held several posts as an educator and impresario. From 2002 to 2012, he served as artistic director of the Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music at The Banff Centre in Canada. He is a co-founder and director of the Festival of New Trumpet Music, which celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2012. In 2013, he begins his second year as International Jazz Artist in Residence at the Royal Academy of Music in London and launches his own Jazz Workshop, dedicated to enriching the musical experiences of younger players. DAVE DOUGLAS
 

MONTY ALEXANDER "HARLEM KINGSTON EXPRESS" VOL.2 THE RIVER ROLLS ON

In a career spanning five decades, pianist Monty Alexander has built a reputation exploring and bridging the worlds of American jazz, popular song, and the music of his native Jamaica, finding in each a sincere spirit of musical expression. In the process, he has performed and recorded with artists from every corner of the musical universe and entertainment world: Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Ray Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Clark Terry, Quincy Jones, Ernest Ranglin, Barbara Hendricks, Bill Cosby, Bobby McFerrin, Sly Dunbar, and Robbie Shakespeare, among others. Born on D-Day (June 6, 1944) and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, he took his first piano lessons at age six, although he is largely self-taught. As a teenager, he witnessed concerts by Louis Armstrong and Nat “King” Cole at Kingston’s Carib Theater. These artists had a profound effect on Alexander’s aspirations. He formed Monty and the Cyclones in the late 1950s and also recorded on sessions with the musicians who would catapult Jamaican music to international recognition as The Skatalites (Bob Marley’s first backing band). Alexander and his family came to the United States at the end of 1961. Less than two years later, while playing in Las Vegas with Art Mooney’s orchestra, he caught the eye of New York City club owner Jilly Rizzo and his friend, Frank Sinatra. Rizzo hired the young pianist to work in his club, Jilly’s, where he accompanied Sinatra and others. There he met Modern Jazz Quartet vibraphonist Milt Jackson, who hired him and eventually introduced him to former Charlie Parker collaborator and legendary bassist Ray Brown. Alexander recorded and performed with the two jazz giants on many occasions. Jazz’s greatest luminaries welcomed Alexander to their “musical fraternity” in the mid-1960s. Among these earliest enthusiasts for his playing were none other than Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Miles Davis. MONTY ALEXANDER
 

AVISHAI COHEN "TRIVENI II"

Ad un anno esatto dall'uscita di questo meraviglioso album, sento la tentazione di riproporlo. Avishai Cohen grande trombettista, votato da Rising Star in Down Beat Critics Poll, ha realizzato questo suo audace secondo album con la band di Triveni, intitolandolo appunto "Triveni II". Realizzato con un elettrizzante trio composto da: Omer Avital bassista, Nasheet Waits batterista, e  per l'appunto Avishai Cohen alla tromba. Triveni II è il seguito di introduzione dell'altro album Triveni, che il New York City Jazz Record denominò con grande facilità, una delle migliori registrazioni jazz del 2010. Entrambi gli album sono stati registrati nella stessa sessione di due giorni a Brooklyn. Con Triveni II, ascoltiamo non solo gli emozionanti composizioni originali di Cohen, ma anche le ispirate interpretazioni di brani di Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Don Cherry e Ornette Coleman. Cosi si vola su ciascuna delle dieci tracce registrate visceralmente da Avital, come una flotta che sà di muscoloso, progressivo è pieno di anima.  AVISHAI COHEN

 

SHOSHANA BUSH & FRIENDS "LIVE AT CATALINA JAZZ CLUB"

Shoshana Bush, cresciuta a Los Angeles, cantante di jazz e blues con la sua sensibilità verso la West coast. Vive a New York al fine di esplorare il rapporto del jazz in città. Influenzata dalla grande vocalist Nina Simone, Blossom Dearie e Ahmad Jamal, Shoshana sceglie canzoni basati sul suo istinto come un narratrice e il suo amore multi-genere della musica. Dopo la laurea alla Columbia University, con una laurea in studi  jazz, ha lavorata con George Lewis, Barry Harris e Christine Correa. Negli anni scorsi ha dato concerti in molte sale, tra cui spicca quello al Catalina Jazz Club, una performance jazz live, lo scorso 3 gennaio 2013, che adesso possiamo cosi ascoltare sul disco in uscita. Molto sensibile, è in grado di trasmettere il testo delle canzoni su ballate, molto colloquiale in tono e ritmo, rende le canzoni un'esperienza di narrazione, come scene di Cabaret. L'uscita dell'album è una nuova pietra miliare, per una giovane cantante in ascesa nel mondo Jazz e Blues. Shoshana Bush è un artista in via di sviluppo, con un brillante futuro come cantante jazz.  SHOSHANA BUSH