Category: releases

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Donald Lawrence gospel music releases United States

Grammy Award Winner Donald Lawrence releases new CD YRM: Your Righteous Mind on Aug. 9, 2011

Grammy Award winning producer, composer and recording artist Donald Lawrence and his dynamic support ensemble, Co., return to retail shelves with a new CD entitled, YRM: Your Righteous Mind (Verity Gospel Music Group/ Quiet Water), on August 9, 2011. Over the past two decades, Lawrence has dazzled audiences as the front man for the now retired Tri-City Singers, while carrying on a solo career that has produced radio hits such as the #1 smash “Back II Eden” and “Healed.”
On YRM, Lawrence blends the classicism of traditional gospel music and retro soul grooves with uplifting, messages of self-affirmation and practical exercises of faith. “Spiritual,” a bass heavy old school soul-styled groove is currently #17 on Billboard’s Hot Gospel Songs chart. Among the collection’s highlights are the upbeat mantra “YRM (Your Righteous Mind)” featuring Dorinda Clark Cole; the smooth “We Agree” with Israel Houghton; The “I Am” Factor sermonette by Zimbabwe’s charismatic Bishop Tudor Bismark; siblings Tobbi White Darks and Tommi White’s rousing makeover of Chaka Khan’s 1984 hit “Through the Fire”; and a spirited update of Lawrence’s mentor – the late Bishop Walter Hawkins’ 1984 gem “When the Battle is Over.”
YRM is a continuum of what he’s been preaching for years.  “This project really doesn’t differ from my past ones,” he says in a news release. “I want to continue to teach, through song, spiritual principles and laws based on scriptures.”
Lawrence and Co. are doing in-store appearances such as J&R in New York City on Friday, Aug. 12 and a Dallas performance at Bishop T.D. Jakes’ Manpower conference on the Aug. 13.  They will be joined by special guest artists for a full concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 14 on the main stage during Central Park’s Summer Stage concert series. Lawrence will also appear on BET’s flagship gospel television program, “Bobby Jones Gospel” and a special episode of TV One’s “One on One with Cathy Hughes.” There’s also a Sirius XM Satellite Radio in-studio concert in the works for the Praise Channel 64.The Chicago-based Lawrence began his career as a music director for R&B legend Stephanie Mills and vocal coach for En Vogue. In the mid 1990s, he made headlines as the leader of the Grammy-nominated Tri-City Singers choir that enjoyed a dozen radio hits such as “The Blessing of Abraham,” “The Best is Yet to Come” and “Encourage Yourself.” In 2004, Lawrence launched a solo career that has included signature songs such as “Back II Eden” and “Healed.” Since 2007, Lawrence has served as spokesman for Verizon Wireless’ “How Sweet The Sound” national gospel choir talent competition.

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Bishop T.D. Jakes gospel releases rhythm and blues Shirley Murdock The Journey Tyscot Records United States

Singer Shirley Murdock collaborates with Bishop T.D. Jakes on radio single “Dream”

Veteran soul and gospel vocalist Shirley Murdock is on a journey just as the title of her forthcoming release The Journey (Tyscot Records) suggests.  
Back in the ’80s, Murdock set out to become a gospel singer, but her path led to becoming a back-up singer for the funk band, Zapp. 
Bandleader Roger Troutman eventually snagged Murdock a record deal with Elektra Records, where she recorded Top 10 R&B hits such as “As We Lay,” “Go on Without You,” “Husband” and “In Your Eyes.” In 2002, renowned evangelist Bishop T.D. Jakes made Murdock’s lifelong dream of recording a gospel CD come true when he released her first gospel album, Home.

Jakes has now made another dream come true for Murdock. A while back, he launched a “Back to the Bible” conference. When Murdock’s husband and songwriting partner, Dale DeGroat, heard about it, he wondered if there was a theme song for it. 
“Dale e-mailed Bishop one evening and shared some ideas with him about a song,” said Murdock, in a recent news release. (Murdock first collaborated with Jakes on his 1999 Sacred Love Songs set.) 
“By 8 a.m. the next morning, Bishop had e-mailed Dale some incredible lyrics. If you’ve ever sat down and talked to Bishop … OMG, then, you know his words are so full of wisdom, knowledge and revelation.” 
So DeGroat and Murdock took those lyrics, added music and crafted a new radio single, “Dream.”
“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.”
The song is one of 12 musical chestnuts that Murdock either wrote or co-wrote for The Journey, produced by Kevin Bond (who’s produced Yolanda Adams and Marvin Sapp) and recorded live at The Broadcast Group Complex in Charlotte, NC. R&B singers Kelly Price, Regina Belle and gospel powerhouse Beverly Crawford performed with Murdock on various tracks.
The Journey will be released Oct. 8, 2011, and is Murdock’s second gospel project with Tyscot Records. For more information on Murdock, go to www.tyscot.com or http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shirley-Murdock/138053567564.

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benefit Black Academy of Arts and Letters gospel performances releases Texas United States

“Medicine – Live at The Black Academy of Arts and Letters Star-Studded Project” hits stores July 26, 2011, and will benefit The Black Academy

Black Academy of Arts and Letters

Dallas, TX – In October 2010, several renowned stars came to celebrate and help raise operating revenue for the Black Academy of Arts and Letters that was founded by Curtis King 34 years ago.
“In a bad economy the first thing that gets cut is arts funding,” says King, whose 250,000 square foot complex is adjacent to the Dallas City Hall, in a news release. “However, it’s the plays, concerts, poetry readings and other inspiring programming we offer that helps people get through rough times like these. So, we’re thrilled that these artists came together to make a CD that will raise money to help keep these programs going.”
The majority of the songs on the 13-track, Medicine – Live At The Black Academy of Arts and Letters (MCG Records/ $13.99 SRLP), were written or co-written by Sam “Shake” Anderson, a veteran bassist who has toured with the likes of Ray Charles, Curtis Mayfield and Bruce Hornsby. It was recorded live at The Black Academy.  Backed by the 80-voice Black Academy Choir, American Idol champion Ruben Studdard performed two of the album’s highlights. “Medicine For Someone Else” has a bluesy feel and shows off a raspier tone for Studdard, while the ballad “Teach Me to Love” boasts an unplugged groove.
The album is not a typical gospel set. On it, the songs range from a brash critique of parasite preachers on “PTYHOMP (Please Take Your Hands Out My Pocket)” to the bloody waters of the Atlantic Slave Trade on Jasmine Guy’s spoken-word recitation of Curtis King’s “My Language” poem.  Ann Nesby (former lead singer for The Sounds of Blackness) wraps her big voice around the poignant anthem, “What Would You Have Me Do?” Yarbrough & Peoples, best known for their 1981 #1 R&B smash “Don’t Stop the Music,” deliver the funk on the percolating street jam, “Jump Til’ You Feel Something.” Tommie Young West, who recorded classic R&B sides for Louisiana’s Soul Power label in the early ’70s, rocks the house on the pulsating “Won’t Have to Worry” while Brenda Ellis’ full alto pulverizes the paean, “Bask (In the Presence of the Lord).”
“I look back on my days of the handling of such mega superstars as Phillip Bailey of Earth Wind & Fire, Leon Patillo of Santana, Helen Baylor, Shirley Caesar, The Mighty Clouds of Joy, Denise Williams, and the incredible Al Green,” says James Bullard, president and CEO of Majestic Communications Group (MCG). “This project, in my opinion, is comparable to those superstars. My blood is pumping like never before. This is going to be a big project and is destine to go all the way to the top.  I am excited beyond words about this project.”
Although, The Black Academy has been a fixture on Dallas’ local arts scene for over three decades, the organization also has a national standing. Its 1987 fundraising CD by Eartha Kitt entitled, My Way: Musical Tribute to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. (Caravan of Dreams) sold over 250,000 copies. The Academy later funded national touring productions of “Black Music and the Civil Rights Movement,” “Symphony with the Divas,” and the musical, “Blues Bar.” For more information, go to www.tbaal.org.

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Baltimore jazz Mack Avenue Records perfomances releases United States Warren Wolf

Multi-instrumentalist Warren Wolf to release self-titled project on Mack Avenue Records on Aug. 16

The release of Warren Wolf, the eponymous debut album for Mack Avenue Records by Warren Wolf on August 16, will make it as apparent to jazz fans as it already is to jazz insiders that the 31-year-old vibraphonist is the next major voice on his instrument. 

Joined by a unit of authoritative swingers (bassist Christian McBride, pianist Peter Martin, drummer Greg Hutchinson, alto and soprano saxophonist Tim Green, and, on two tracks, trumpeter Jeremy Pelt), vibraphonist Warren Wolf, 31, offers a ten-piece program that admirably represents his singular blend of efflorescent chops, muscular attack, lyric sensibility, harmonic acumen, encyclopedic knowledge of hardcore jazz vocabulary, tireless groove and downright musicality.

“I’m trying to bring forth what most cats did back in the day, coming out right at you swinging, nice and hard, not a lot of hard melodies or weird time signatures,” Wolf said in a recent news release. “I like to play really hard, fast and kind of flashy. I like to take it to a whole other level.”
“What he does on vibes is pretty incredible,” said McBride, Wolf’s employer since 2007 in the Inside Straight band and co-producer of this album along with Mack Avenue EVP of A&R, Al Pryor. “You can’t hear Warren and not be highly impressed. Give him some music to learn, he pretty much has it committed to memory in a matter of minutes. In a couple of days, he has it on the piano. Then suddenly, he’s internalizing every part of the music-the melody, the chord changes, the song’s overall personality.” You’re listening to him, thinking, ‘Yeah, that’s what I had in mind.'”
Born and raised in Baltimore, where he currently resides, Wolf is less widely known to “civilians” than his bona fides would merit. Still, he’s anything but a newcomer on the scene. In addition to two self-released recordings and two dates for the Japanese market on which he tears through producer-selected repertoire with panache and an informed point of view, his CV includes gigs with such eminent veterans as McBride, Bobby Watson, Mulgrew Miller and Tim Warfield, and recent encounters with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, the George Coleman-Joey DeFrancesco Quartet and a Music of the Modern Jazz Quartet project led by pianist Aaron Diehl, the 2011 American Pianists Association Cole Porter Fellowship winner. He also leads a strong working unit with Green, pianist Lawrence Fields, bassist Kris Funn and drummer John Lamkin.

“I don’t think there’s anything Warren can’t handle,” McBride said. “My dream for him is that he eventually gets to collaborate with the super-duper heavyweights. I can’t wait to see where he’ll go next.”


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Emtro Gospel Records gospel performances releases Tony Sneed United States

Tony Sneed’s single “My Heart Says Yes” climbs to #2 on Billboard’s Hot Gospel Songs chart

According to a recent news release, Grammy Award nominated recording artist and producer Troy Sneed’s latest radio smash, “My Heart Says Yes” is continuing to hold steady at #2 on Billboard’s Hot Gospel Songs chart for the second consecutive week. This summer, Sneed makes his first TV appearances in years on BET’s “Bobby Jones Gospel” and TCT’s “Dorinda Clark Cole Show.”

The public probably first noticed Sneed as a choir member in the film “The Preacher’s Wife.” He also coached the Georgia Mass Choir for the Whitney Houston soundtrack. He later recorded solo albums for Savoy Records before launching his own Emtro Gospel Records label in 2005. Ever since, the label has placed 18 songs by various artists on the Billboard Hot Gospel Songs chart, including a half dozen by Sneed such as “Work It Out,” “The Struggle is Over” (#1 for 12 weeks) and ”Hallelujah.”  His new Top 10 CD “My Heart Says Yes” is in stores now. For more info on Sneed, visit www.troysneed.net, www.Facebook.com/emtrogospel or www.Twitter.com/TroySneed.


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classic jazz jazz Mitch Winehouse performances releases swing United Kingdom world

United Kingdom jazz vocalist Mitch Winehouse releases debut “Rush of Love”

At age 60, United Kingdom jazz vocalist Mitch Winehouse is turning a life-long ambition into reality, showcasing his in-depth knowledge and sheer passion for jazz and swing music with a 11-track debut called “Rush of Love,” featuring a host of rarely uncovered classics as well as four brand-new tracks.


“We love singing in our family” Winehouse said in a recent news release, “I was always singing at home. But this is a dream come true and musically, it’s a great album.” Despite his own undeniable music talent, Mitch is also realistic about the assumptions that will be made about his newfound career choice: “If Amy wasn’t my daughter I wouldn’t be given this opportunity. I’m not stupid, I know that. But if I couldn’t sing I wouldn’t have been given the opportunity either.”

Teaming up with old family friend Tony Hiller, writer of ‘Save Your Kisses For Me’ and hundreds of other jazz and pop standards, was another logical step for Mitch who has, quite obviously, had the time of his life researching and compiling his music debut. “I had such a good time making this album,” Winehouse said. “We tried 40 songs we loved and worked through them with a pianist. If it didn’t work for us, we moved on, but just reliving them was enough.”

The album features the 1931 Bing Crosby classic ‘I Apologize’, and ‘Day by Day’, also later recorded by Crosby in 1946 as well as by Doris Day in the same year. ‘You Go To My Head’ has been re-worked by such fans ranging from Billie Holiday to Rod Stewart. Finally, the popular ‘April In Paris,’ taken from the 1932 Broadway musical ‘Walk A Little Faster’ and later performed by the likes of Louis Armstrong, is given the Mitch makeover.


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Gary Burton Gary Burton Quartet jazz Mack Avenue Records releases United States

Vibraphonist Gary Burton debuts new quartet, new project “Common Ground” on Mack Avenue Records

With Common Ground, Gary Burton, the Grammy-winning pioneer of the four-mallet technique of playing the vibes, is not only delivering his first studio album since 2005, but is also introducing his latest band. Known as the New Gary Burton Quartet, the group is comprised of guitarist Julian Lage, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Antonio Sanchez. 
Common Ground features 10 tunes, including six remarkable originals by quartet members as well as two impressive numbers by pianist Vadim Neselovskyi (a former Burton band member), a gem from the Keith Jarrett songbook and an intriguing arrangement of the standard “My Funny Valentine,” spotlighting Lage.
Well-known throughout his five-decade career for his quartets (beginning with his 1967 group featuring Larry Coryell, Roy Haynes and Steve Swallow), Burton is returning to the configuration for the first time since the mid-’90s.
The quartet served as a reunion of Lage with Burton, who has known the guitarist since he was a teen wunderkind and has featured him in his bands up until three years ago. (During the hiatus from working together, Burton was focusing on revisiting the 1973 chamber jazz classic Crystal Silence duo with Chick Corea, while Lage finished college and worked on his long-awaited debut album, Sounding Point.)
 “Julian has matured so much since I first met him 10 years ago when he was 12 years old,” Burton said in a recent news release. “Julian has kept on growing and developing a sound of his own. He’s a knock out.” Lage fills the quartet guitar chair that was once held by such rising-star six-stringers as Pat Metheny, John Scofield and Kurt Rosenwinkel, among others.
“I’ve always liked the vibraphone-guitar sound,” says Burton, whose masterful vibes glisten throughout Common Ground. “It’s something that I discovered when Nashville country guitarist Hank Garland invited me in the ’60s to record with him. The sound of the two instruments together has an ideal timbre and coolness.” For the quartet’s rhythm section, Burton called Sanchez, who has played with the vibraphonist on and off in recent years. But Colley is new to Burton’s employ. “Once I decided to have Antonio be a part of the group, I asked him what bass player he’d suggest, and he said Scott is the one,” says Burton. “They are a terrific rhythm team.”
While Burton has crossed multiple stylistic borders since he broke into the jazz ranks in the ’60s, he finds that he often returns to the straight-ahead jazz quartet setting. That’s why Common Ground by the New Gary Burton Quartet is so special to him. 
“Since my very first group in 1967, I can count maybe three times that one of my groups over the years clicked so perfectly,” Burton said. “Whenever I start a new group, I often wonder how things will work, to see if the musicians will enjoy playing together and are ready to take the music to a higher level. With the new band, I’m thrilled. It’s proving to be one of the standout bands of my career and has already quickly developed its own identity.”


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1933 Alex Pangman Canada classic jazz jazz Justin Time Records releases traditional jazz United States vocal jazz

Canadian jazz vocalist Alex Pangman makes U.S. debut with “33” on July 12

Canadian jazz vocalist Alex Pangman will make her Justin Time Records debut in the United States with a new disc, appropriately titled, 33, on July 12, 2011. 
The vocalist explains the meaning behind the title in a recent news release: “as a longtime devotee of music from the classic genre, I find something of a kinship with the music that buoyed nations through the ‘dirty thirties.’ The initial concept of this record was to honor that kind of spirit with songs popular in 1933; indeed the bulk of the material (save for one self-penned number) are songs that were popular in the year 1933 – recorded while I was 33.”
 Along with her longtime band the Alleycats and featuring guest vocalists Ron Sexsmith and Denzal Sinclaire – the music is presented with all the love, fun and respect it deserves.  
A compelling talent in her own right, Pangman’s voice can be regarded as even more impressive, knowing she received a double lung transplant just a few years ago. The smoke-filled venues where Pangman often frequented finally caught up to the singer, who was battling lung disease at the time. She reluctantly took a break to recoup; her interest in singing and playing music never waning. 
A bit of background: After discovering a songbook of classics at an early age, Pangman quickly began delving deeper into the sophisticated shellac of the 20s and 30s, which eventually led to a fortuitous connection with the late guitar great Jeff Healey, who knew a rare talent when he heard it. In very short order, Healey produced her impressive 1999 debut ‘They Say’ (Sensation Records) as well as the 2001 follow-up, ‘You Can’t Stop Me From Dreaming.’  While facets of Ella Fitzgerald, Connie Boswell and Ruth Etting could be discerned in Pangman’s zesty delivery, that crisp clear voice was unequivocally her own.
After receiving a Songwriter of the Year nod from the National Jazz Awards in 2001 and a slew of other nominations shortly after, Pangman quickly became busy scheduling collaborations with everyone from Grammy-nominated trumpeter Kevin Clark and the dashing Denzal Sinclaire to pianist Tyler Yarema and even Jim Galloway’s All-Stars. 


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contemporary jazz jazz releases Sean Jones trumpet United States

Trumpeter Sean Jones to release sixth album “No Need for Words” on May 24, 2011

After five previous albums, Sean Jones is particularly adept at plumbing complex emotional depths through his trumpet playing and composing.
“I didn’t want to do your typical love songs record that just deals with one aspect of love,” Jones said in a news release. “Not just the love from a man to a woman or the positive emotional side of falling in love. I wanted to do an album that really dealt with a few different shades of love.”
2010 was certainly a year of change for the trumpeter. In the spring, he stepped down from his position as lead trumpeter of Wynton Marsalis’ Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, a position that Jones held for over half a decade. Additionally, he formed a new relationship with Marcus Miller, joining the bassist this past summer for a European tour.
This year, the title of Jones’ sixth CD for Mack Avenue, No Need For Words, sums up his overall approach. This is music that cuts straight to the emotional heart, whether dealing with passion, sensuality, parental nurturing, or spiritual forgiveness. Regardless of the particular feeling involved, Jones and his band communicate directly and movingly.
“It’s definitely an emotional statement,” Jones said. “I tried to make sure that the melodies I created and the vibe that I put on each particular tune really carried the message rather than having it expressed verbatim.”
Joining Jones on the project is Philadelphia-based pianist Orrin Evans, whose recent projects include his raucous Captain Black Big Band and the collective group “Tarbaby”; bassist Luques Curtis, who co-leads a Latin-oriented quartet with his pianist brother Zaccai; and Miami-born drummer Obed Calvaire, who has also performed with Wynton Marsalis, Bobby Watson, Lizz Wright and Steve Turre. 


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jazz Joe Fiedler music releases United States

Trombonist Joe Fiedler releases “Sacred Chrome Orb” on March 29 on Yellow Sound Records

Trombonist Joe Fiedler’s Sacred Chrome Orb (to be released on Yellow Sound Records) represents a delight in the incongruous, a refreshingly skewed perspective, and an off-kilter sense of humor, all qualities that pervade the music of his unique, intensely expressive trio.
Sacred Chrome Orb is the Joe Fiedler Trio’s third project. Playing with Fiedler is bassist John Hebert and drummer Michael Sarin – two highly individual voices who meld into a chameleonic unit, able to morph from the airy to the explosive with supple, surprising grace. Fiedler is an inventive trombonist whose talents have found him founding the eccentric brass band Big Sackbut, working with visionary leaders Andrew Hill, Lee Konitz and Maria Schneider and avant-garde giants Anthony Braxton and Cecil Taylor; in big bands led by Satoko Fujii and Charles Tolliver; a member of the Captain Beefheart tribute band Fast and Bulbous; or accompanying pop stars like Jennifer Lopez and Wyclef Jean.
Fiedler announces his bold take on multiphonics from the outset, entering the opening track, “Occult”, with a sound like a train whistle. The atmosphere that this striking sound creates is sustained throughout the ensuing six minutes, with both the leader and Hebert stretching out over Sarin’s simmering intensity.
As its title implies, the groove-heavy “Two Kooks” is an opportunity for the trio to embark on a more light-hearted excursion. “I felt like we needed to just swing and get funky on something,” Fiedler says in a news release, “to do something fun and not as serious.”
On a more personal note, “Chicken” was named for the composer’s six-year-old daughter, though, as Fiedler says, “it’s not really a kid tune. When I played it for her, she ran out of the room and buried her head in the sofa. I’m not sure what that means.”
Whatever it means for Fiedler’s young daughter, Sacred Chrome Orb is likely to provoke strong reactions in any listener, even if it doesn’t send them scrambling for the couch cushions.