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Cuban pianist and composer Alfredo Rodríguez to release “Sounds of Space” on March 27

Sounds of Space (Mack Avenue Records), the title of Cuban pianist and composer Alfredo Rodríguez‘ debut recording, evokes images of science fiction. In truth, it’s about a far more personal adventure. The project will be released on March 27.

“It’s about the space that surrounds us,” he says in a news release. “In this record I wanted to introduce myself: Here are the people, the places and the sounds that have surrounded me, and made me who I am.”
A key player in Rodríguez’ extraordinary story is producer Quincy Jones, who co-produced Sounds of Space with Rodríguez.
“He is very special, and I do not say that easily because I have been surrounded by the best musicians in the world my entire life,” said Jones in a news release. “And he is one of the best.” 

In turn, for Rodríguez, 26, Jones has not only become a mentor and a teacher but “like a new father.” Still, such priceless endorsement can also create impossibly high expectations. But in Sounds of Space, Rodríguez proves up to the challenge.
The album comprises 11 tracks composed and arranged by Rodríguez. It includes nods to Cuban masters such as Ernesto Lecuona, but also pianistic models such as Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk; it draws on the tradition, but it has a personal imprint. And now and then, Sounds of Space is also shaped by nostalgia for a country left behind, so near yet so far.
Born in Havana, Cuba, the son of a popular singer, television presenter and entertainer of the same name, Rodríguez began his formal music education at seven. Percussion, not piano, was his first choice. 

“But…to choose what I wanted I had to wait until I was 10,” he explains. “So I picked piano. By the time I could actually switch to percussion, I knew the piano was my path.”
He graduated to the Conservatorio Amadeo Roldán, and then to the Instituto Superior de Arte. But while his formal musical education was strictly classical, he also learned music “on the street,” or more precisely, on stage. 

“I didn’t play with many dance groups, but I played in my dad’s band since I was 14,” he says. “And my dad presented a daily TV show and many famous Cuban musicians came through it and we had every type of music. I was still a kid but had a chance to perform every day, and write arrangements for all kinds of music: boleros, rock ‘n roll, dance music-you name it. It is where I learned the discipline of being a professional musician. That was another great school for me. I was very lucky.”

The momentous discovery during that formative period, however, came packed on a CD. 

“When I was 15, my uncle gave me Keith Jarrett’s The Köln Concert,”  Rodríguez says. “That’s when I began to explore the idea of improvisation. Up to then it had been all Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, and I’m thankful to my teachers for it because without that I wouldn’t be the same pianist. But up to that point I didn’t know anything about improvisation. The Köln Concert changed my life. I realized that was what I wanted to do: just sit and play. And not only musical ideas; music doesn’t come only from music. It can reflect and speak to what surrounds us.”

Alfredo Rodriguez Trio perform Cu-bop from Blue Green on Vimeo.

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Jazz vocalist Kathy Kosins debuts “To the Ladies of Cool” on Resonance Records in March

Jazz vocalist Kathy Kosins doesn’t take anything for granted.  Since 2010, Kosins has adapted to the changing needs of the music industry, and specifically her fans, by releasing a regular series of digital singles.

The new album, her fifth, is titled To the Ladies of Cool, and the songs all derive from the repertoires of four canonical female singers of the 1950s: Anita O’Day, June Christy, Chris Connor, and Julie London. This is her first album for Resonance Records (which will release CD on March 13), owned and operated by George Klabin, whom she describes as, “this generation’s Bob Thiele, Norman Granz, and Creed Taylor.”    

From this vast pool of hundreds of titles, she says in a recent news release, “I selected 20 songs that were of interest to me.  On some occasions, I was intrigued by the title of a song I had never heard of.  A few of my choices were rather obscure – others were quite famous at one time, although I might not have known them.”  


In one instance, Kosins took Johnny Mandel’s famous instrumental “Hershey Bar,” a melody that had been scatted wordlessly by O’Day, and, with the composer’s express permission, added her own lyric to it and created “Hershey’s Kisses.”  Thus, she made “Hershey Bar” into something else entirely.  


Kosins stresses that To the Ladies of Cool shouldn’t be mistaken for a tribute album, in which a contemporary artist will simply “cover” the works of a canonical performer; it is even less a set of imitations. 
          
She also made a point to record the sessions in Los Angeles – then, as always, ground zero for the “Cool School” associated with these ladies.  Even more importantly, this gave Kosins the chance to work with such outstanding members of the L.A. local scene as the superlative pianist and musical director Tamir Hendelman (who was responsible for all of the album’s arrangements), guitarist Graham Dechter, multiple reed player Steve Wilkerson, and percussionist Bob Leatherbarrow.

Kosins is a singer, composer, songwriter (words and music), arranger, educator, and painter.  Born in Highland Park, Mich. (a city surrounded by the larger city of Detroit), she grew up in Detroit’s internationally known jazz and R&B scene.  Kosins was initially known as a singer of soul, rock, and funk, having worked extensively with the celebrated band Was (Not Was) as well as Michael Henderson. For the last 15 years or so, however, she has become famous as one of the most successful jazz singers of the contemporary era. As an instructor in this field, she has conducted master classes at over 100 colleges and universities. She also continues to work as part of a project called Detroit Memphis Experience.

Kosins has also maintained a second career as a visual artist, primarily as a painter of abstract original canvases – and has enjoyed gallery showings of her works throughout North and South America. 
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Stellar Award winner Stephen Hurd to release “O That Men Would Worship” in February

Over the last decade, Stephen Hurd has distinguished himself as one of the leading voices in urban praise and worship music. His songs “Undignified” and “Lead Me to the Rock” are sung at faith gatherings around the globe. Now, he’s preparing to release his most ambitious project yet – O That Men Would Worship, his sixth CD and the first on his own Hurd The Word recording label. He’s designed the new CD as a tool to inspire men to take on a greater leadership role in church worship services. Recorded live at The First Baptist Church of Glenarden in Upper Marlboro, Md., where Hurd is the minister of music, the collection is scheduled to hit retail stores on February 21, 2012, via a distribution deal with Central South Distribution Inc.


“My goal is to get men and especially men of color to realize that worship is not a feminine sport,” Hurd says in a news release. “In this season, I feel we should come together and lift up a sound that has the power to change families and strengthen communities and help brothers to get a glimpse of what real worship is. I think when men see other men worship it gives them freedom to worship without feeling emasculated.”


Joining Hurd are Verity Gospel Music Group recording artist Jason Nelson, Christian pop artist Anthony Evans and Min. Deonte Gray who is a member of the 7 Sons of Soul vocal group. Hurd created an all-male sextet of singers to back certain songs and a coed group called Extol to back the CD as a whole. Aside from co-writing most of the songs, Hurd produced the 15-track set alongside up-and-coming producers Kenny Shelton and Anthony Brown. Celebrated producer Steve Ford, who’s worked with acts ranging from Phyllis Hyman to Richard Smallwood, created the lush string arrangements while the in-demand Phil Lassiter (John P. Kee, Marvin Sapp) delivered the hearty horn arrangements.

Although Hurd began recording albums in the late 1990s, his first national CD release was 2004’s A Call to Worship (Integrity Music) that featured the Caribbean-styled radio smash, “Undignified.”  The 2006 My Destiny (Integrity Music) CD featured the hit singles “Great Praise (The War Cry)” and “Destiny” while his 2008 Top 10 Stellar Award winning CD Times of Refreshing (Integrity Music), featured the radio single, “Amazing.” For more information, visit www.hurdthewordmusic.com.
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Jazz vocalist Theo Bleckmann takes on Kate Bush in project “Hello Earth!”

After tackling American maverick composer Charles Ives and receiving a Grammy nomination for it, jazz vocalist Theo Bleckmann now takes on the mysterious songbook of British pop recluse Kate Bush in the project “Hello Earth!.”  The CD will be released in the U.S. on March 13.


This project goes beyond merely re-creating Kate’s Bush music, taking it into other realms of sound and interpretation. Her use of British and Irish myths, her references to psychology, literature and film, her meticulously multi-layered productions and her unusually high voice make her idiosyncratic body of work challenging for other artists to interpret.


Joining Bleckmann in this venture are long-time collaborators percussionist John Hollenbeck and electric bassist Skúli Sverrisson, and keyboardist Henry Hey and violinist/guitarist/vocalist Caleb Burhans, who can also be heard on Bleckmann’s “Berlin” CD. 


“When I set out to do this, I knew right away that these were the perfect musicians for this kind of project,” said Bleckmann in a recent news release. 


Hollenbeck, a brilliant composer and arranger of his own, contributed his vast orchestrational palette and ideas to the music, including the use of crotales which greatly shaped the sound of this record. Sverrisson and Bleckmann also go back many years and have worked together in various configurations (including Laurie Anderson’s band). Sverrisson’s profound sense of sound and layering and his compositional instincts became essential to the music. Keyboard wizard (and newly appointed musical director for George Michael) 


Henry Hey, whom Bleckmann worken with here for the first time, contributed a vast array of sounds and possibilities, transforming and bringing to life Bleckmann’s initial ideas. Caleb Burhans is perhaps one of the most sought after young musician/composers on the New York downtown scene today.


 “I wanted someone who could play many different instruments, loop, improvise and sing, which pretty much eliminated everyone but Caleb,” Bleckmann said. “For the recording, I chose to overdub myself and add more harmonies, but in performance Henry Hey and Caleb Burhans play AND sing.”


A Grammy nominated and ECHO award recipient, Bleckmann has additionally collaborated with musicians and composers, including Laurie Anderson, Philip Glass, John Hollenbeck, Sheila Jordan, Phil Kline, David Lang, Kirk Nurock, Ben Monder, Michael Tilson Thomas, Julia Wolfe, Kenny Wheeler, John Zorn, the Bang on a Can All-stars, and, most prominently, Meredith Monk, with whom Bleckmann worked as a core ensemble member for fifteen years. He has been interview by Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air and recently performed with Laurie Anderson on The David Letterman show.


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Black Smoke Music Worldwide/EPM gospel James Fortune music releases United States

“The James Fortune & FIYA Story: Songs & Videos – Greatest Hits” now available in stores

According to a recent news release, in a brief time, James Fortune has amassed more hits than some artists earn in a lifetime and 15 of those timeless tunes comprise the new CD, “The James Fortune & FIYA Story: Songs & Videos – Greatest Hits” (Blacksmoke Music Worldwide) that is in stores now.

The set boasts Fortune’s gospel and R&B crossover radio hits “The Blood,” “Encore,” “I Wouldn’t Know You,” “You Survived,” and his personal testimony of becoming homeless, “I Trust You” which spent 29 weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Gospel Songs chart. 


Fortune’s most recent No. 1 smash, “I Believe” (featuring Shawn McLemore and Zacardi Cortez), is also featured. The latter is was recently nominated for a Soul Train Award as Best Gospel Performance of the year. “The James Fortune & FIYA Story: Songs & Videos – Greatest Hits” also features over two hours of music video footage. Among the clips are Fortune’s concept videos “I Believe” and “I Trust You.” There is also live concert footage highlighting cameos by Zacardi Cortez, William Murphy and others. Now that Fortune is established and moving into new career directions, Douglas is focused on making Earnest Pugh (No. 1 for five weeks with his smash “I Need Your Glory”), Zacardi Cortez (No. 14 with “One More Time” duet with John P. Kee), Bryan Wilson and Preashea Hilliard his next big gospel stars.

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Artistry Music contemporary jazz jazz music releases rhythm and blues Richard Elliot smooth jazz United States

Smooth jazz saxophonist Richard Elliot remains “In the Zone”

Richard Elliot invites loyal fans and newcomers alike to celebrate 25 years since the release of his debut album Initial Approach. Where’s the party? Where else – In the Zone, a grooving, funked up, horn splashed collection that finds the energized-as-ever tenor saxophonist paying homage to the pioneering instrumental artists of his formative years (’70s-early ’80s) whose brilliance and musical innovations inspired his own. 


“My original motivation for doing an album like In The Zone was the opportunity to reconnect with my earlier self, the musician I was when I first started out,” says Elliot in a new release. “The songs remind me of listening to my heroes in those days and seeing them perform live, feeling incredible joy and enthusiasm about the possibility of following in their footsteps. The wonderful thing is, so many years after I began performing professionally, I still feel that excitement. I love to play live more than anything. Under certain circumstances, the recording process can be arduous, but when you can tap into the kind on inspiration I draw from here, it’s a whole different, joyous experience. It’s all about feeling the same way I did back when I was 18 and dreaming that this could someday be my life.”


 Drawing on the influences of legends like Grover Washington, Jr., Bob James and David Sanborn, Elliot fashions the perfect contemporary jazz complement to Rock Steady, his 2009 recording that was inspired by the great R&B artists he grew up listening to; that collection debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard Jazz Album chart and remained on the list for over 40 weeks. In The Zone includes a simmering, hypnotic retro-soul cover of “Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler),” a Marvin Gaye staple whose original instrumental version marked Washington’s first session as a leader. Beyond that, the collection is driven by nine powerful retro-flavored original songs penned by Elliot and co-producer Jeff Lorber, who share a colorful collaborative history over the past 10 years. 


Lorber, who began recording as leader of The Jeff Lorber Fusion in the late ’70s, brings his unique dual history as a Jazz Fusion pioneer and R&B producer/re-mixer to the session. In addition to his array of keyboards, including the Fender Rhodes, In The Zone features the input of longtime Elliot associates Nate Phillips (bass), Tony Moore and Lil’ John Roberts (drums), Dwight Sills and Michael Thompson (guitar), and percussionist Lenny Castro. 


“The interesting thing about my desire to pay homage to the wonderful array of R&B and jazz I grew up with on these last two recordings is that I actually wanted to do it as far back as Metro Blue,” says Elliot. “The music of the ’70s carved out a lot of where I wanted to go musically, and I felt this need to express some musical gratitude, not by doing a cover record but by incorporating a few familiar songs among originals that had references to my influences. Compared to Rock Steady, the vibe is definitely subtler on In The Zone, especially with David’s wonderfully sophisticated low-key horn arrangements, but the same love of that time is there. The vibe is the ’70s forerunner to the contemporary instrumental music that became popular in my own era as an artist.” 


Elliot is currently headlining on tour with Grammy award-winning guitarist Norman Brown. 


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Guitarist Rez Abbasi embraces Pakistani musical influences on new album “Suno Suno”

In guitarist Rez Abbasi‘s Suno Suno (“Listen Listen” in Urdu) the music has a heaven-and-earth quality. It’s built on melodies with an elusive, indefinable vocal quality, and solid grooves. It has an almost indescribable center and a hard edge. There is nothing standard about the songs or the soloing. 
Much of the inspiration for this music came from Pakistani Qawwali, a devotional Sufi music (popularized in the west by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan) which, not unlike gospel, is meant to elevate the spirit and bring the listener and participants closer to a higher power. However, in Suno Suno there are no obvious references — not for most Western ears anyway. In fact, Abbasi reaches beyond a simple ‘translation into jazz’ for something more essential. 

“I’ve been listening to Qawwali most of my life,” says Abbasi in a news release, “and making a conscious effort to bring that element into my compositions, was a natural and powerful step. Something I was intent on notdoingwas imitating for example, Qawwali melodies. Rather, I wanted to utilize my history with the music as an intuitive tool for composing.”
He continues, “People are used to hearing overt influences in what is called a jazz hybrid, but I think the new paradigm that gets the best results is to write from the raw elements and feelings that lie just under the musical radar. This way the result remains organic and not simply a juxtaposition of genres.”
Performed by a group of singers, two harmoniums, and a percussionist, and paced by the clapping of the ensemble, Qawwali is an expression of praise whereby melodies are often repeated without variation in order to create a trance-like euphoria.
In Suno Suno, his eighth recording as a leader, Abbasi says in the album notes, “The challenge was to capture some of the power, passion and joy of Qawwali with an instrumental jazz group, without direct imitation.” His group, “Invocation” comprises Rudresh Mahanthappa, alto saxophone; Vijay Iyer, piano; Johannes Weidenmueller, bass, and Dan Weiss, drums. 

Born in Karachi, Pakistan, Abbasi has lived in the United States since he was four. He began his studies at the University of Southern California and soon moved to New York City to attend the Manhattan School of Music. His influences in guitar evolved quickly from George Benson, to Pat Martino, Wes Montgomery, and, most decisively, Jim Hall. Other notable influences were John Coltrane, Keith Jarrett, Bela Bartok and Claude Debussy.
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Vince Mendoza presents all-star cast for new project “Nights on Earth”

After a remarkably productive decade which saw him writing stellar orchestral arrangements for recordings by such popular singers as Bjork, Melody Gardot, Sting and Joni Mitchell (he won two of his six Grammy Awards and 25 nominations for his contributions to her Both Sides Now in 2000 and Travelogue in 2003), Vince Mendoza has shifted focus back to his own compositions for the first time in 13 years. His most personal and compelling project to date, Nights on Earth is yet another crowning achievement in the career of the acclaimed composer-arranger-conductor.
On this eagerly-awaited follow-up to Epiphany (which he recorded in 1997 with the London Symphony Orchestra), Mendoza recruited an all-star cast of longtime collaborators like guitarists John Abercrombie, John Scofield and Nguyen Le, drummer Peter Erskine, percussionist Luis Conte, organist Larry Goldings, steel drummer Andy Narell, pianists Kenny Werner and Alan Pasqua, saxophonists Bob Mintzer and Joe Lovano. He is also joined by such new friends as Brazilian vocalist Luciana Souza, Malian kora player and singer Tom Diakite, Argentinian bandoneon master Hector del Curto, Algerian drummer Karim Ziad, French saxophonist Stéphane Guillaume and young American jazz stars in bassist Christian McBride, drummer Greg Hutchinson and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, a winner of recent awards from the Jazz Journalists Association and DownBeat. Along with members of the Metropole Orkest, the Dutch ensemble that Mendoza has presided over as chief conductor for the past six years, they bring to life these evocative pieces that flow directly from the composer’s heart to his pen.
“I always thought that being a musician is about having a community of artists that inspires you,” says Mendoza in a recent news release, “and I think part of the process of the creation of this recording has to do with the people that I have met and learned from along the way. A lot of what this music has to do with is celebrating that community of the musicians from the many traditions that they represent.”

While names such as Abercrombie, Scofield, Lovano, Werner, Mintzer and Erskine represent the jazzier side of Mendoza’s community of artists (they appeared on his 1990 Blue Note album Start Here and his 1991 follow-up for the label, Instructions Inside), musicians like Souza, del Curto, Diakite and Ziad represent his adventurous explorations into world music (as on 1992’s Jazzpana and more recently on 2009’s Viento: The Garcia Lorca Project).


“I have an affinity with these musicians and their music, as they also have with my writing,” says Mendoza. “I wanted to incorporate them into my compositions, to frame their voice in an interesting way. And I thought they would have a connection to my writing style in their improvisations.”




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Shirley Murdock interview with Tavis Smiley airs this weekend

According to a recent news release, vocalist Shirley Murdock recently sat down for an interview and talked about her journey through life and music with media personality Tavis Smiley on Public Radio International’s “The Tavis Smiley Show.” The interview airs on Public Radio International (PRI) from Friday, Oct. 28 through Friday, Nov. 4. Local stations can be found at  www.tavissmileyradio.com/where.html.


The Dayton, Ohio-based singer is best known for her top 10 ’80s era R&B hits “As We Lay,” “Go on Without You,” “Husband” and “In Your Eyes.” However, in recent years, she’s become equally known for her gospel and inspirational tunes such as 2007’s “I Love Me Better than That.”

Murdock talked with Smiley about her transition from R&B to gospel and all the twists and turns in between. She also discussed her new, first live CD “Live: The Journey” and its companion music DVD.
The 17-track collection was produced by Grammy Award winner Cedric Thompson (who’s produced Yolanda Adams and Marvin Sapp) and recorded live at The Broadcast Group Complex in Charlotte, NC. R&B singers Kelly Price and Regina Belle as well as gospel singer Beverly Crawford each performed a song with Murdock and did one song as a foursome. The “Live: The Journey” (Tyscot Records) CD has debuted at #24 on Billboard’s top Gospel Albums chart while the “Live: The Journey” (Tyscot Records) music DVD debuted at #40 on Billboard’s top Music Videos chart where it shares rank alongside projects such as Taylor Swift’s “Journey to Fearless” and the band Journey’s “Live in Manila.”

Meanwhile, Murdock’s current inspirational/gospel radio single “Dream” is moving up the gospel radio playlists around the country. It’s receiving heavy substantive rotation on Sirius XM satellite’s Praise Channel 64 and Murdock was also recently a guest in the VIP Lounge with DJ Cayman Kelly on Sirius’s XM’s Heart & Soul Channel 48. Murdock also recently sang the song on The National Mall during the recent Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Unveiling ceremony where President Barack Obama spoke about Dr. King’s legacy.

“The song is anointed because it’s full of the word,” Murdock says of the inspiring ballad of hope and perseverance. “It’s like the voice of God speaking directly to your spirit, reminding you, that He’s not a man that He should lie … if He spoke it, will He not do it? This song will stir up and rekindle that word, that’s been spoken into your spirit and remind you that your dream can not…will not die.” For more information on Shirley Murdock, go to www.tyscot.com or http://twitter.com/#!/ShirleyMurdock

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Curtis Brothers team with musical mentors on sophomore release “Completion of Proof”

Brothers Luques (bass) and Zaccai Curtis (piano) follow in the rich family tradition of jazz. Jazz music has frequently been the family tie that binds. And as with the Curtis Brothers, those are also siblings that recorded and performed together. Based on the brilliance of Completion of Proof, clearly Luques and Zaccai Curtis have joined that auspicious tradition.
Significant clues to the Curtis Brothers desire for self-determination can be found in not only the declarative title of this date – Completion of Proof, but also in the bold moniker they’ve chosen for their record label, Truth Revolution. There is an obvious sense of the Curtis Brothers on a quest for artistic truth, and in the case of their label they’re just as obviously seeking freewill in the business side of their recorded life as well. In this time of artists eschewing the tired, old pie-in-the-sky sense of waiting for a mythical record “deal,” Luques and Zaccai have clearly set out on a path of autonomy on the recorded side of their respective and collective careers.
For Completion of Proof, the Curtis Brothers have enlisted a powerhouse crew of musicians – many of whom serve as mentors to the Curtis Brothers – including drummer Ralph Peterson, Jr., Brian Lynch on trumpet, and their Artist Collective mentor, Jimmy Greene on saxophones. The date also includes alto saxophonist “Big Chief” Donald Harrison. It was Harrison who gave the Brothers their first touring band experience. 

“He really showed us how to act, play, and what not to do on the road,” says Zaccai. The underrated fire-breathing saxophonist Joe Ford “has always been an influence from a very early age.” The brothers play in Lynch’s band and alongside Ford with Jerry González Fort Apache Band as occasional subs for Andy González and Larry Willis. Percussionists Rogerio Boccato, Pedro Martinez, and Reinaldo De Jesus help bring further folkloric Pan African flavor to the date.
In developing this venture the brothers had this group of mentors in mind. “We wrote all the music to fit this band,” says Zaccai in a news release. “We thought of the sound of each band member and tried to feature each one in the music. We set a date and nailed the music at the studio; no rehearsals and all within 1 or 2 takes! These guys are really the best jazz musicians alive, and we are honored to be blessed with their presence on this recording.”

Asked how their background and upbringing influenced the sundry aspects of Completion of Proof, Zaccai referred to the date as “American Classical Music in every way. Jazz is an interesting study to me. It is a science in all respects, but “soul” is the base. We named the CD Completion of Proof or in Latin Q.E.D. – quod erat demonstrandum – because this is how scientists indicated that they have proved their theory correct.”
For the Curtis Brothers, Completion of Proof is an affirmation of the basic root sources of jazz. Their music is rife with the blues, swing rhythms in recognition of the Africa-Caribbean-New Orleans lineage, and the basic core elements that make the music such a spicy, hard bop melting pot. In many ways, the music on Completion of Proof is for the Curtis Brothers a refutation of what they view from some of their peers as a denial or dismissal of those root sources. 

“Fast forward to today’s modern jazz, and you are lucky to hear just one of those elements come from a performance or recording,” Zaccai said. “Blues harmonies seem to be replaced with simplified classical harmonies. Drums and rhythms have been mixed down in the modern recording so you can barely hear them! Swing has been ripped from the music. In most cases there are no elements of the jazz language… never mind bebop!
“This CD is a response to this modern, swing-less, no-language – ‘jazz’ – that the labels are pushing, just like the Hard Bop response to Cool Jazz in the ’50s and ’60s.”