Guitar virtuoso Julian Lage returns with his fifth Blue Note release, Scenes From Above, the follow-up to the GRAMMY-nominated Speak To Me, which was once again produced by Joe Henry. The album features Lage in a new band with John Medeski on organ and piano, Jorge Roeder on bass, and Kenny Wollesen on drums for a set of striking new original compositions.180g black vinyl.
During the course of Sean Jones' burgeoning career beginning with his Mack Avenue Records debut in 2004, Eternal Journey, the trumpeter/bandleader has embarked on a series of quests, passionately plumbing the depths of different wellsprings of his life as a musician.
Vibes legend Terry Gibbs rings up a newly recorded and spirited tribute to the bebop era, complete with full strings and jazz musicians James Moody (sax) and Nicholas Payton (trumpet) at his side. Performing 12 quintessential songs of the era, Gibbs revisits a time when bebop reigned and Broadway and 52nd - the original site of Birdland and the epicenter of the bebop scene - was a Mecca to those seeking musical enlightenment.
Macroscope, the fifth album and Mack Avenue debut by his adventurous trio The Nels Cline Singers, provides a measure of the long-running group's staggering range. Captivating and continually surprising, the album finds the instrumental trio with the slyly deceptive name veering in one off-kilter direction only to suddenly be overwhelmed by another drastic stylistic shift, often within the space of a single tune. Serrated psychedelia becomes consumed by soulful Brasiliana, blissed-out electronica overwhelmed by garage-rock skronk. Then there's the wholly unexpected "Red Before Orange," where a howling Hendrix-inspired solo suddenly erupts in the middle of a slick lounge-jazz number, Cline unleashing the inner George Benson that few of us expected he even had.
For nearly two decades, the world at large knew precisely where to find the acclaimed guitarist Kevin Eubanks. For five nights a week, Eubanks was cranking up the band and issuing steamy solos as music director on NBC's "Tonight Show with Jay Leno." In spring of 2010, after 18 years on the job, Eubanks decided to move on, although retirement was the last thing on his mind. That much is clearly stated in potent musical terms on Zen Food, his first recording for the Mack Avenue label.
The feel and sound of MONK’estra captures the spirit of Thelonious Monk’s singular style with its off-beat melodies, humor, strange beauty and unbounded swing in fresh arrangements flavored with hints of New Orleans, hip-hop, Afro-Cuban, contemporary and atmospheric rhythms and colors.
Room is an album by guitarists Nels Cline and Julian Lage which was originally released in November 2014. Writing for All About Jazz, Matt Marshall stated "the musicianship of the two guitarists allows them to take every tune to a number of unexpected and exciting places... Each track has it's own character, but the entire album is permeated by the two guitarists' inventiveness and sensitive accompanying ability".
Trumpeter Sean Jones has won numerous awards including the Downbeat 2000 Jazz on Campus Award and Downbeat Noteable Performance Award 2001. Performing with Mulgrew Miller, Ralph Peterson, and Charles Fambrough on his debut "Eternal Journey", Jones embarks on a musical voyage demonstrating his virtuosity, robust tone, and soulful delivery on his debut, a collection of original works and standards. While paying his respects to the storied tradition of jazz, with influences including Clifford Brown, Willie Shaw, and Freddie Hubbard, he has performed with the Gerald Wilson Orchestra, Illinois Jacquet Big Band, the Louis Armstrong Legacy Band, Harry Connick Jr., Joe Lovano, Tom Harrell, Jon Faddis, and Frank Foster.
Keeping in line with its namesake’s unpredictable nature, the MONK’estra veers off in new directions on its stunning third album, MONK’estra Plays John Beasley, due out August 21, 2020 via Mack Avenue Records. As the title implies, this time out the band shifts focus to its fearless leader’s own estimable compositions and piano playing, alongside a quartet of Monk classics and a tune apiece by Duke Ellington and Charlie Parker. MONK’estra Plays John Beasley brings the keyboardist full circle in more ways than one. While the two preceding albums focused more on Beasley’s arranging talent, he’s featured playing the piano on every track. Additionally, besides casting the lens of his brilliant ensemble on his own music for the first time, the album also reunites Beasley with several now-formidable artists with whom he performed with in his formative years nearly three decades ago.
REVIEW:
It is within the compositions heard here, penned by John Beasley, that you hear just how much he is invested in the music of Thelonious Monk. Or perhaps just how much Monk has marinated Beasley's musical toolbox. They all sound as if they could have been written by Monk as his improvisational style and melodic turns are appropriately in place. k.
Long known in the industry as a premier arranger, Beasley is second to no one when it comes to writing charts. As mentioned earlier, Beasley album pushes the envelope further. That is accomplished in a big way with charts and arrangements that are brilliantly conceived and executed. A modern jazz feel encompasses what at its core is still very much Monk inspired music. If you perceive jazz in colors, then get set for a full kaleidoscope.
You are treated to fourteen songs on the album, all of which have a unique character and are performed with impeccable precision.
Beasley assembled a large group of top shelf musicians, and knew precisely what to do with them. His writing and arrangement skills are beyond reproach. All the pieces fit snugly inside his artistically creative musical puzzle. He pays homage to Monk in grand style. Despite several nominations over the past years, Beasley has not yet been awarded a Grammy. With this monumental effort, the time has come for the genre's preeminent chart master.
Saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Tia Fuller uses the process of diamonds forming under four levels of extreme pressure and heat as a metaphor for the time she spent honing her artistic craft. When looking up the term 'diamond cut,' you'll learn that it was not necessarily pertaining to the shape but to the proportioning and the balance as to which the highest amount of light is reflected through the diamond. The process serves as a direct correlation to her teaching and playing. Produced by GRAMMY® Award-winner Terri Lyne Carrington, the album finds Fuller leading two superb rhythm sections, both of which contain some of jazz's brightest luminaries - bassist Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette, then bassist James Genus and drummer Bill Stewart. Adding texture and harmonic support of several compositions are guitarist Adam Rogers and organist Sam Yahel. Produced by GRAMMY® Award-winner Terri Lyne Carrington, the album finds Fuller leading two superb rhythm sections, both of which contain some of jazz's brightest luminaries - bassist Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette, then bassist James Genus and drummer Bill Stewart. Adding texture and harmonic support of several compositions are guitarist Adam Rogers and organist Sam Yahel.
For his third Mack Avenue Records release, 5-time Grammy Award-winner Billy Childs assembles an all-star quartet with trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Brian Blade. On The Winds of Change, the critically acclaimed pianist/composer offers 5 brand new original compositions alongside exhilarating arrangements of Chick Corea's "Crystal Silence" (originally on Corea's 1972 ECM recording of the same name with vibraphonist Gary Burton) and Kenny Barron's "The Black Angel" (originally on trumpeter Freddie Hubbard's 1970 Atlantic recording of the same name) to push the creative boundaries of the group and inspire a collective new sound to pay homage to jazz legends and the artistry.
In a timely and nicely varied program, Joey DeFrancesco and his quartet pay homage to peaceful protest and social activism. It’s a soulful sequence of songs that taken together may even convince listeners to consider questions of freedom—in jazz, in society, in personal action—or just induce them to sit back and enjoy the ride. – DownBeat Magazine
Live from Jazz at the Bistro - The young jazz veteran trumpeter Sean Jones believes passionately in championing the creative arc of artists who are committed to their life journey. I think the progression of the art form [jazz] comes with people being allowed to be themselves in their rawest form with no compromise, he has noted and added, My body of work is going to show a progression of who Sean Jones is in the most honest form. While he spoke these words a few years ago, they serve as a vivid manifesto for his new Mack Avenue Records album, Live from Jazz at the Bistro, his eighth for the label and arguably the most dynamic, playful and loose-limbed excursion of his career. Indeed, the 38-year-old Jones brings to the sessions a stalwart poise, the fire of ecstasy and a whimsy in motion. In a nutshell, I've been wanting to do a live album for a while, he says. I wanted to capture the band's energy live and record what it's like to go to one of my gigs. Granted, recording in a studio creates a polished sound where the music is all tied up. But this album, it's real raw.
With the release of her 2018 Mack Avenue Music Group debut, Crime Zone, pianist/keyboardist Connie Han seized the attention of the jazz world and firmly established herself as a fast-rising star on the scene. That stratospheric ascent continues on her captivating follow-up, Iron Starlet. As the title makes vividly clear, Han’s career may be in the early stages of what promises to be a vertiginous climb, but the 23-year old is no wide-eyed aspirant, timidly searching for her place in the crowded jazz landscape. One listen to Iron Starlet is ample evidence that she’s every bit an armor-clad talent as the name implies. Her powerful vision takes in the full evolution of her forebearers, from iconic innovators like McCoy Tyner and Hank Jones through the Young Lion revolution spearheaded by the Marsalis Brothers, Kenny Kirkland and Jeff “Tain” Watts, among others.
“The intention of this music is to continue a legacy of tough, primal, raw but still intellectually engaging straight-ahead jazz,” Han declares. “I am an aspiring star in this music, but I am not a naïve, uncertain girl that people wrongly associate with that term.” The toughness at the core of Iron Starlet is rooted in its rhythmic drive, anchored by the trio of Han, bassist Ivan Taylor and drummer/producer Bill Wysaske. They’re joined by the stellar frontline of saxophonist Walter Smith III (returning from Crime Zone) and trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, an ideal pairing to realize the compelling blend of sophistication and grit that Han imbues into every piece.
Check out our exclusive interview with Connie Han on this album!
Pianist Billy Childs hasn't always put all of his talent cards on the table at once, suppressing one aspect of his artistry in deference to others at times, so it's nice to see that change with Rebirth. He's showing his full hand here – chops, nuance, composing, arranging, and all – and it's a musical royal flush if ever there was one. – All About Jazz
Arclight, Julian Lage's Mack Avenue debut, marks his first recorded outing on electric guitar and in a trio format, backed by double bassist Scott Colley and drummer Kenny Wollesen. Like that titular intense white light, Lage is a performer who burns brightly.
Sean Jones is renowned as a leader, educator, composer and lead trumpet with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, but with his fourth Mack Avenue release KALEIDOSCOPE, Jones spotlights vocals for the first time. Special guests include world-renowned gospel vocalist, Kim Burrell, label mate Sachal Vasandani, and rising star vocalists Gretchen Parlato, Carolyn Perteete and JD Walter. KALEIDOSCOPE also features Jones' newly expanded touring band: Orrin Evans (Piano), Brian Hogans (alto sax, flute, fender rhodes), Obed Calvaire (drums, percussion), Luques Curtis (acoustic bass) and Walter Smith III (tenor sax).
There have been two hallmarks—standards, if you will—that have been a part of every Billy Childs album. The first is the journey he’s traveled as a composer. He has always written music and to great acclaim: he has received five GRAMMY® Awards and 16 nominations, many for composition and arrangement. Presently in continual demand for symphonic and chamber commissions, he has also innovated a collection of compositions for jazz instrumentation and strings that is unique in the American music lexicon: a genre he refers to as jazz/chamber music. But for the second hallmark, Childs has always been a player, too—having cultivated his jazz voice in the working bands of trombonist J.J. Johnson and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard.
“On my first Mack Avenue recording, Rebirth (Childs’ 2017 album on Mack Avenue Records which won a GRAMMY® Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Album), I wanted to return to a focus on my jazz piano playing,” Childs states. “Acceptance is an extension of that, and the musicians make it very comfortable for me.” Childs thrives on group improvisation and has recruited fellow master musicians—saxophonist Steve Wilson, bassist Hans Glawischnig and drummer Eric Harland—as the core ensemble for this collection: Acceptance. Elena Pinderhughes on flute; vocalists Alicia Olatuja, Aubrey Johnson and Sara Gazarek; and percussionists Rogerio Boccato and Munyungo Jackson complete the stellar lineup on this recording.
REVIEW:
Acceptance, Billy Childs follow up to 2017's Rebirth, his Grammy-winning Mack Avenue outing, doesn't follow the path of its predecessor. It is more exotic in exploring chamber jazz, post-bop, fusion, and samba, with dramatic ballads, passionate vocals, and sophisticated pop woven in. The title cut commences as a poignant ballad erected from folk melodies. After resonant bass and keyboard solos from Glawischnig and Childs, saxophonist Steve Wilson enters, seamlessly shifting the band toward a soulful blues. The biggest surprise is "Leimert Park." Co-composed by Childs, bassist Paul Jackson, and drummer Mike Clark (the rhythm section of Herbie Hancock & Headhunters), it's a fusion jam that weaves trancelike synth and Rhodes vamps and rhythmic cadences, crisscrossing much musical terrain.
As a next chapter, Acceptance is as much a band showcase as it is one for Childs' tunes. Their intimate, almost instinctive communication is at once a calling card and an invitation to adventure.
Beautiful Life celebrated the life of Ana Marquez-Greene, his 6-year-old daughter who was murdered along with 19 other children and six educators on December 14, 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Now, Jimmy Greene continues to honor and memorialize her spirit with Flowers - Beautiful Life, Volume 2, his second release for Mack Avenue Records. Greene again fulfills his stated imperative of "reflecting the way that Ana lived." Here, Greene hones in on Ana's love of dance with a kinetic, groove-filled program comprising ten original compositions-including two Greene-penned lyrics-and his arrangement of the "new standard, " "Something About You."
Terrible Animals is perhaps the most compositionally ambitious and daringly performed of Lage Lund's five albums on Criss Cross. Joined by a never-before-convened, top-of-the-pyramid rhythm section (Sullivan Fortner, piano; Larry Grenadier, bass; Tyshawn Sorey, drums) the 39-year-old presents ten far-flung originals that elicit the full measure of their creativity over the 68-minute program, spurring Lund, who makes ingenious use of effects within his flow, to some of his most dynamic and varied playing on record.
Escaping from the noise and distractions of daily life provided the creative environment for Kenny's work on this project, an exercise that could benefit US all in an attempt to obtain a clearer view of the world. Kenny's last recording, SEEDS FROM THE UNDERGROUND, paid homage to those who inspired him and although PUSHING THE WORLD AWAYs primary focus US not on Kenny's tutelage of young musicians, the number of you young musicians who participated in this recording emphasizes his mentorship.
The album that shook up both the jazz and rock worlds - and made Herbie Hancock a superstar! In it's original release, this LP proved to be a very important recording that bridged jazz, funk and rock, and was a precursor to techno. Reissue producer Bob Belden has made this new CD sound better than ever and this definitive version also boasts great new liner notes by Herbie Hancock himself.
The first time I listened to this album in my car, I nearly missed my exit on the expressway. There is so much hep stuff happening in these new big band arrangements of tunes by Thelonious Monk that I was transported to another realm, one where the car seems capable of driving itself. Then it struck me: That’s precisely what’s happening with these charts and this ensemble of L.A.’s finest musicians and special guests, all under the direction of pianist/conductor/arranger John Beasley. Everything on Presents MONK’estra Vol. 1 feels so natural and inevitable, it’s almost as if the material plays itself. And if you enjoy Monk—whether for his undeniable logic, quirky song architecture or innate sense of swing—Beasley’s band will leave you rapt. Beasley has been writing big band charts since he was a teenager, and he has long been fascinated by Monk’s music (this debut recording by the MONK’estra is actually Beasley’s third album of material by the High Priest of Bebop). Beasley’s MONK’estra has performed live since 2013, and he has served as musical director for the Monk Institute’s Jazz Day gala concerts since 2011 and for International Jazz Day events since 2012. (He has done plenty of commercial work as well, most notably as the lead arranger for TV’s American Idol from 2005 to 2016.) Beasley knows his Monk inside and out, and he knows his way around a chart. But, most importantly, this onetime member of groups led by Freddie Hubbard and Miles Davis knows how to give his bandmembers—including guest stars Gary Burton on vibes (“Epistrophy”) and Grégoire Maret on harmonica (“Ask Me Now”)—sufficient freedom to stylize the written passages and improvise with abandon. In applying all of his acquired skills and personal passions to Presents MONK’estra Vol. 1, Beasley brings Monk to life once again for modern-minded listeners. - DownBeat Magazine Editors' Pick
