New Single from Boney James & Ledisi "I Belong To You" on Concord Records / Concord #jazz #music

FOUR-TIME GRAMMY NOMINEE + MULTI-PLATINUM SAXOPHONE ICON BONEY JAMES ANNOUNCES MILESTONE 20TH STUDIO ALBUM  A SIMPLE MAN OUT OCTOBER 2 VIA CONCORD RECORDS BONEY JAMES SHARES NEW SINGLE “I BELONG TO YOU” FEAT. LEDISI IMPACTING NOW

Twenty albums into a career built on deep groove and a saxophone voice all his own, Boney James is still finding new ground. Today, the four-time GRAMMY nominee and multi-platinum saxophonist, composer and producer announces new album A Simple Man, arriving October 2 via Concord Records, alongside the new single and official music video “I Belong To You” featuring Ledisi. Vinyl editions of the album will be available November 6.

Boney James - I Belong To You feat. Ledisi (Official Music Video)   A warm, contemporary R&B duet, “I Belong To You” reunites James and Ledisi more than two decades after they first appeared together on the Luther Vandross tribute album Forever, For Always, For Luther. Co-written by James and Ledisi with BeatsMadeByFresh and Rex Rideout, the song pairs her commanding vocal with the expressive tenor playing that has made James one of instrumental music’s most recognizable voices. Its intimate video keeps the focus on that exchange, moving between the two artists against a dark, minimalist backdrop.

Produced by James, A Simple Man is a soulful collection shaped by his growing desire for clarity. The title began with a song, then became a reflection of how he now approaches both his work and his life: removing distraction so that the essential elements can come through more clearly. “I don’t need a lot of things to make me happy,” says James. “As I’ve gotten older, I’ve wanted to drop the extraneous things. The simple life is something I crave, and that spirit found its way into this album. A Simple Man is about getting closer to what feels essential, both in the music and in my life.”   That focus does not make the record restrained. Instead, it gives James room to move freely across the musical language he has spent decades developing, with R&B feeling at its center and jazz tradition always within reach. The album opens with “Dreams,” featuring a rare flute performance from James. “Morocco” brings him together with acclaimed trumpeter Marquis Hill for a layered meeting of live instrumentation and electronic texture. “The Midnight Sun” grew from a spontaneous soundcheck jam that James captured on his phone before rebuilding it in the studio.   Elsewhere, “The Wire” draws from the mood of 1970s soul soundtracks. Legendary guitarist Larry Carlton joins James on the Steely Dan-influenced “Storybook,” while Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood” is reimagined over a supple, D’Angelo-inspired groove. The hopeful “Things Are Looking Up” and the nature-minded closing track “Birdsong” give the album a sense of forward motion.   James’ path to this point began on the road. After turning professional at 19, he spent years as a sideman, first touring with Morris Day before working with The Isley Brothers, Teena Marie, Randy Crawford, Ray Parker Jr., Sheena Easton and Bobby Caldwell. Between gigs, he made demos and developed a musical identity of his own, eventually stepping forward with his 1992 debut, Trust. The decades since have brought constant touring and an expansive run of collaborations, with James recording alongside artists including George Benson, Al Jarreau, George Duke, Faith Evans, Bilal, Lalah Hathaway, Raheem DeVaughn and October London. Those relationships reflect the breadth of his sound, as well as the deep foundation in R&B that has shaped his approach from the beginning.   That long road has produced a level of longevity few artists reach. James’ catalog now spans 20 studio albums and has generated more than two billion on-demand streams in the United States, along with four million U.S. album equivalents. His honors include four GRAMMY nominations, three NAACP Image Award nominations, four RIAA Gold-certified records and a Soul Train Award. In 2024, he became the first artist to score 20 No. 1 singles on the Billboard Smooth Jazz chart. Recent vocal collaborations have also extended his reach at Adult R&B radio, where he has earned two Top 10 hits.   James is currently performing across the country. Upcoming appearances include the Hollywood Bowl and Sony Hall, followed by dates at The Fillmore New Orleans, House of Blues Houston and Yoshi’s. Full routing is below.

Tour Dates: 8/7 – Louisville, KY – Louisville Jazz Festival 8/8 – Cincinnati, OH – Ludlow Garage 8/9 – Cleveland Heights, OH – Cain Park, Evans Amphitheater 8/30 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl 9/11–9/18 – Fort Lauderdale, FL – The Smooth Jazz Cruise 9/20 – Pensacola, FL – Pensacola Community Maritime Park 10/4 – Temecula, CA – Thornton Winery 10/16 – Rehoboth Beach, DE – Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival 10/17 – Annapolis, MD – Rams Head On Stage 10/18 – Red Bank, NJ – Vogel Theatre at the Count Basie Center 10/23 – Newport Beach, CA – Hyatt Regency Resort 10/24 – Napa, CA – Blue Note Napa Summer Sessions at Meritage Resort 10/25 – Lancaster, CA – Lancaster Performing Arts Center 10/29 – Alexandria, VA – The Birchmere 10/30 – Lansdowne, PA – Lansdowne Theater 10/31 – Boston, MA – City Winery Boston 11/1 – New York, NY – Sony Hall 11/3 – Pittsburgh, PA – City Winery Pittsburgh 11/4 – Pittsburgh, PA – City Winery Pittsburgh 11/6 – Carmel, IN – The Palladium 11/7 – Fort Wayne, IN – The Clyde Theatre 11/8 – Chesterfield, MO – The Factory 11/12 – Hampton, VA – Hampton Roads Convention Center 11/14 – Charlotte, NC – Knight Theater 11/19 – Columbus, OH – Southern Theatre 11/20 – Detroit, MI – Sound Board at MotorCity Casino Hotel 11/21 – Chicago, IL – City Winery Chicago 11/22 – Chicago, IL – City Winery Chicago 11/24 – Minneapolis, MN – Dakota 12/4 – New Orleans, LA – The Fillmore New Orleans 12/6 – Houston, TX – House of Blues 12/11 – Seattle, WA – Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley 12/12 – Seattle, WA – Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley 12/13 – Seattle, WA – Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley 12/29 – Oakland, CA – Yoshi’s 12/30 – Oakland, CA – Yoshi’s 12/31 – Oakland, CA – Yoshi’s   BONEY JAMES ONLINE Official Website: https://boneyjames.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boneyjames01/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boneyjames YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRealBoneyJames Twitter: https://x.com/boneyjames

Get It Now!

# Artist and Track Title Time 1. Boney James - I Belong To You [Feat. Ledisi] 03:59

Saxophonist Matt Otto releases recording "Ephemeral" #jazz #music

 

Saxophonist/Composer Matt Otto releases new recording "Ephemeral" Release Date: OUT NOW!

About "Ephemeral" A blink of an eye. The sour from a lemon drop. A flash of lightning or the sudden glow before sunset. An echo through the canyon, or the gong of a church bell or meditation bowl, resounding until it isn’t anymore. Names of people you once were close to. A hug from someone you love. The anger you felt during the argument just before. The best summer of your life. The cold bitterness of the worst winter. Some of these last longer than others, but none last forever. They are ephemeral. Of all the arts, music is most like this. Sound waves dissipate the instant they are produced. Melodies once had to be remembered to endure; the advent of written notation and audio recording only helps to keep the notes from fleeing as fast. Perhaps a simpler song can be retained more easily. Matt Otto has come to this conclusion. “At this point in my life I mostly try to write songs I hear in my mind and that I personally like the sound of,” he says. “I’ve mostly stopped writing complex, long form difficult music and instead focused on short, heartfelt pieces that have a vibe and are easy for good musicians to work with right away. I don’t think this is a conscious decision, it’s just what tends to happen when I sit down to write – I feel like I’m a simple person and my music is beginning to reflect that more as I age.” By human standards, Otto has been on a decidedly long musical journey, approaching forty years; twice as long as Coltrane’s incandescent but ephemeral career. Otto’s steady burn has also spanned distance – from Laguna Beach to Bloomington, Boston, New York, Tokyo, Los Angeles, and ultimately Kansas City, where he has found a lasting home. Over those stretches of time and space, he has written hundreds of compositions, yet he rarely revisits most of them, preferring to write new songs. “I’ve always thought of an album as a diary of recent personal and emotional events expressed through music,” he explains. It follows then that all the tunes on this latest album save one are new expressions of Otto’s current life moments. He’s decided to title it Ephemeral, aptly describing both the nature of those moments and his compositional vignettes. Start with the title track, essentially a 5-bar tune that divvies up a prime number of beats: 7-7-7-4-4. “Scroll” is another short piece, a repeated 10-bar form with a vamp. Otto says he wrote that “in reference to phone obsession,” with the relentless images that project from our screens into and out of our minds keeping with the album’s theme. And then there is “Twilight,” an unadorned but beautifully affective melody. “At the time I wrote it, I was contemplating my old age which is quickly approaching…it felt like the song was a glimpse into the emotional state of my late life,” Otto muses. Even a long life lived into its latter stages can indeed seem ephemeral. It is perhaps why Otto (and all of us) would counter the inevitable by encapsulating that which we cherish. These songs do that. “Dune Town” is the lone tune from years ago, a Coltrane contrafact, an homage to the arid hills of Los Angeles. “Elliot” is for the composer Elliot Carter, one of Otto’s musical inspirations who passed away in 2012. “Sobule” memoralizes singer/songwriter Jill Sobule, who tragically died in a fire earlier this year. “Wadada” honors trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, one of Otto’s mentors who gave him some sage advice: “When you solo, play one thing you know followed by one thing you don’t know.” And “Rachel” is for Otto’s sister-in-law, bestowing on her this beautiful tone-poem as a lovely birthday present. The lives of the people we know and the moments we share are poignantly ephemeral. Otto also recognizes this in his fellow artists. “I can say that all the musicians on the album are my friends,” he states. “I try to get strong players for sure, but the friendship comes first. That feeling of trust which allows you to be yourself when you play really grows on and off the bandstand. When you are friends, that trust is there even when you’re not at your best.” Writing melodies for those you love and admire and playing them with those you trust helps to place all of them in something that helps us to remember, to endure in us past their ephemeral existence. Otto’s musical snapshots help us do the same for him. About Matt Otto Matt Otto is currently the Associate Professor of Jazz Studies at Kansas University (KU) teaching Jazz Theory and Performance, Jazz Combo, Mindful Musicianship (meditation for musicians) and private lessons. Matt was also an Adjunct Professor at the Rutgers New Brunswick teaching online courses in jazz improvisation, theory and performance. Matt Otto pursued his education in music performance and composition at Indiana University, Berklee School of Music, New School Jazz (BFA) and California Institute of the Arts (MFA) during which time he studied under Lee Konitz, George Garzone, Billy Pierce, Charlie Haden, Andy McGhee, Don Hawkins, Paul Carman and many others. Having lived in Japan for 6 years, New York City for 7 years and Los Angels for 6 years, he has performed with a variety of artists including Anthony Wilson, Larry Koonse, Rashid Bakr, Ben Monder, Willie Jones III, Albert "Tootie" Heath, Gregory Hutchinson, Jonathan Kreisberg, Joe La Barbera, Leroy Vinegar, Dick Berk, Bob Bowman, Jimmy Smith (drums), Paul Jackson, Ari Honig, Josh Roseman, Ben Street, Mike Moreno, Sara Gazarek, Josh Nelson, Peter Schlamb, Danny Weiss, Roger Wilder, William Parker, Matt Wilson, Ed Neumeister, Steve Cardenas, Bobby Watson, Bob Weir, Deborah Brown, Larry Goldings, Eric Harland, Sheryl Bailey, Darek Oles, Erik McPherson, John Stowell, Danny Embrey, Alan Pasqua, Alan Ferber, Mark Ferber, and many others. While in Los Angeles, Matt co-founded of the Los Angeles Jazz Collective (lajazzcollective.org). The mission of the collective (LAJC) is to help create opportunities for creative jazz composers and performers to showcase original artistic work and to set up an ongoing Jazz outreach program for young jazz musicians in and around Los Angeles. Matt currently performs his original compositions and jazz standards with his Kansas City based quartet as well as traveling several times per year to NYC and LA for performances and recordings. Matt has recorded and performed with the Grammy nominated Anthony Wilson Nonet (The Power of Nine, Groove Note 1035, 2006), The Rashid Bakr Quintet (Earth Native Majic Records 2001), has performed in Los Angeles with the Grammy Nominated Alan Ferber Big Band as well as having recorded on over 50 CD's as both a leader and a side man. See below for a discography of noteworthy recordings. Matt Otto's Website

Jazz Trumpeter and Juno Winner Gabriel Mark Hasselbach Surges Into Summer with New Album, Single, and Book #jazz #music

                                        

                          

Juno Award winner Gabriel Mark Hasselbach’s new straight‑ahead jazz album and contemporary jazz single, both released during Jazz Appreciation Month, are tracking toward the top 50 on the JazzWeek and Billboard charts. Simultaneously, the trumpeter-flugelhornist-flutist’s new instructional book continues to educate and inspire new and veteran trumpeters.

 

Hasselbach is a rare jazz artist who works fluently in two distinct genres. His Windtunnel Records released MidCentury Modern Vol. 4 in April, a wide-ranging 20-song collection composed of jazz standards and two Hasselbach compositions. Seven-time GRAMMY®-winning trumpeter Randy Brecker said the album features “a first rate cast of characters…Very artfully executed and enjoyable from start to finish!”

 

“Randy and I met backstage at a show decades ago, and he’s offered me encouragement and support ever since. He’s a legendary trumpeter so I’m particularly proud of his review of MidCentury Modern Vol. 4,” said Hasselbach. “His support means a lot, especially on a project that reflects my deepest roots in straight‑ahead jazz.” 

MidCentury Modern Vol. 4 is the latest chapter in the series Hasselbach conceived years ago as an outlet for his love of jazz without compromising the classic jazz essence. He refers to this fourth volume as his “legacy project” on which he is featured playing trumpet, flugelhorn, flute, and valve trombone as well as vocals. He produced the album, which features standards by icons such as Freddie Hubbard, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, and Thelonious Monk along with two originals, including “Coming Home for Mardi Gras,” inspired by Hasselbach’s formative years living and playing in New Orleans.

On the contemporary jazz front, Hasselbach’s collaboration with Billboard chart-topping guitarist Chris Standring, “Swizzle Stick,” is building momentum on the charts through airplay. It’s a feel-good, groove-laden track co-written and co-produced by the duet partners, who released the single on Standring’s Ultimate Vibe Recordings.

 

Hasselbach, who hit the Billboard charts eleven times in the contemporary jazz format, said, “Chris’s style is the perfect pairing with mine - succinct and accessible yet informed by the deep and thoughtful history of jazz. He reached out a year ago and suggested I get on his record label, and so we created something that expressed our mutual tastes.”

 

Inkwell Publishing recently published Hasselbach’s compact guide Top Tip Masterclass Jazz Trumpet in which he shares his wealth of knowledge, teaches technique, offers tips, and provides education to longtime players and newbies. The book’s release is perfectly timed, arriving as Hasselbach showcases his versatility across both straight‑ahead and contemporary jazz.

 

“I had a strong calling to help up-and-comers bypass the trials and challenges of the trumpet. I wanted to help fast track the rewards and increase the fun quotient while keeping attrition low. So, I created a distilled handbook that is not about what to play, but how to play,” said Hasselbach. “If you start properly and stick with it, the joy will bloom.”

 

While all three build momentum, Hasselbach is working on his next album, a bluesy, contemporary jazz project titled Le Trompette Bleu. Half the album will be composed of Hasselbach originals. The other half will feature an eclectic array of reimagined covers such as “End Credits” (John Lee Hooker and Miles Davis), “Inner City Blues” (Marvin Gaye), “Pop’s Cool Groove” (Norman Brown), and “Slippin’ Into Darkness” (War).

 

The Denver-born, Vancouver-based Hasselbach has won several Juno Awards (Canada’s GRAMMY® equivalent). Among the many GRAMMY® winners and Billboard hitmakers he’s played with are Michael Bublé, Bob James, Jeff Lorber, Paul Brown, Greg Manning, and Darren Rahn. He also has performed on festival stages in Australia, Canada, Europe, Mexico, South Africa, and Japan.

 

Hasselbach is equally adept in straight‑ahead and contemporary jazz, refusing to limit his artistic expression to a single lane.

 

Stream or purchase MidCentury Modern Vol. 4 at https://lnk.to/KUeVK2.

 

Play or download “Swizzle Stick” at https://lnk.to/5oPZHTjw.

 

To get Top Tip Masterclass Jazz Trumpet, visit https://tinyurl.com/2wxm4eck.

 

For more information, go to www.gabrieljazz.com.

Toronto's Noah Kosta Brings Classic Jazz Pop Into a New Generation With Debut Album 'Right Here' #jazz #music

Spotify I YouTube I Website I Bandcamp I Facebook I Instagram

At just 22, Noah Kosta has already spent seven years building the kind of stage command that usually takes decades to earn, and his debut album 'Right Here,' out now, marks the arrival of a jazz pop vocalist with the tone, phrasing, and instincts to carry that tradition forward. Raised on the classic sound of Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack in his grandfather's home, Kosta channels that Big Band lineage through a voice that is entirely his own, drawing inevitable comparisons to fellow Canadian vocalists Michael Bublé and Matt Dusk for a new generation of listeners discovering that sound for the first time.

'Right Here' was recorded at Mark Camilleri's Imagine Sound Studios in Toronto, with arrangements by Charles T. Cozens that Kosta credits with pushing the songs to another level entirely. The seven track collection blends three original compositions co-written with longtime family friend Aaron Dean alongside four carefully chosen covers, and Kosta has assembled four separate ensembles, a big band, quintet, quartet, and trio, to bring the material to audiences across formats. "I want to respectfully bring what the legends of the past created into the present," Kosta says of the project, "and I think, and I hope, that we've succeeded."

The album's title track and Kosta's favourite song on the record began as an unreleased collaboration with Dean back in 2021, revived when Cozens's new arrangement convinced him the moment had finally arrived. "Pull me closer, let's put love into practice, don't get emotional yet, and wonder what we have right here," Kosta sings on the track, a lyric that captures the same warm, direct intimacy that defines his stage presence. "Someone Else," the first song he ever recorded with Dean at seventeen, remains just as personal, with Kosta noting it captures exactly how he felt navigating high school and early heartbreak, singing "should've seen it comin' from the start, told myself it's over, that there's no place left to fall down."

Kosta's rise has been shaped by an unusually accomplished list of mentors and collaborators for an artist his age. At seventeen, he won the Grand Prize at the LIVECITY Music Awards, and at eighteen, he won the Long & McQuade Singing Contest with John Santos, earning the chance to record eight songs with producer Anthony Wright, whose credits include Bryan Adams, Christina Aguilera, B.o.B, Jadakiss, and Flo Rida. Before turning twenty, he had trained with vocal coaches Elaine Overholt, whose past students include John Travolta, Zac Efron, and Shawn Mendes, and Stanislas Vitort, a finalist on The Voice in Russia, while also working alongside respected artists Alma Deutscher and Bill King. More recently, Kosta has been closely mentored and managed by music industry veteran Laura van Leest, CEO of Bellefair Artists, who brought several key pieces of 'Right Here' to his attention, including its arrangement direction and repertoire choices.

That combination of instinct and mentorship has already carried Kosta to some of Toronto's most recognizable stages, including Koerner Hall, Casino Rama, Mel Lastman's Square, and the International Beaches Jazz Festival, performing both with his own band, The Experience, and with The Metro Big Band. A recent appearance on Canada's Got Talent further introduced his voice to national audiences, building momentum ahead of the 'Right Here' release.

What separates Kosta from a simple nostalgia act is the specificity he brings to his song selection and phrasing, treating each cover as a piece of his own story rather than a museum piece. His take on "Way Back When" reshapes an earlier synth leaning demo into what Kosta describes as a wistful, last song at the prom feeling, while his rendition of a ballad chosen specifically for the album's closing moment was recorded with just Cozens on piano, a deliberately intimate counterpoint to the record's fuller arrangements. It is that instinct, choosing restraint exactly when a lesser vocalist might reach for spectacle, that makes the Bublé and Dusk comparisons feel earned rather than assigned.

With 'Right Here' now arriving and four live configurations ready to tour the material, Noah Kosta is positioned as one of the most credible young voices in Canadian jazz pop, an artist building his sound the old-fashioned way: through mentorship, repetition, and an unmistakable respect for the songbook he is now adding to.