Contemporary jazz guitarist Blake Aaron believes the time is perfect for a GRAMMY® nomination #jazz #music

 

His collection of chart-topping hits, “Love and Rhythm,” is up for consideration as Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.

             

Ancient Greeks celebrated the number seven as representing perfection. Contemporary jazz guitarist Blake Aaron hopes that his timing is perfection for his first GRAMMY® nomination. He recently notched his seventh Billboard chart-topping single, a tune that appears on his seventh album, “Love and Rhythm,” which was released on Innervision Records last April. Could lucky number seven come up for Aaron next month when the GRAMMY® nominations are announced? 

 

“Love and Rhythm” is up for GRAMMY® consideration as Best Contemporary Instrumental Album. The project indulges Aaron’s love of a wide array of rhythms celebrated with a ten-song setlist incorporating contemporary jazz, R&B, funk, and pop along with excursions into fusion and Brazilian jazz. Aaron’s passion for composition, performance, and production comes to the fore on the album that he wrote and produced with Billboard hitmakers Adam Hawley and Greg Manning.

 

Two-time GRAMMY winners Bob Mintzer (saxophone) and Mel Brown (bass), GRAMMY® winners Hussain Jiffry (bass) and Will Kennedy (drums), and GRAMMY® nominated musicians Andrew Neu (saxophone), Tateng Katindig (keyboards), and Tyries Rolfe (strings and string arrangements) are among The Recording Academy recognized musicians who perform on “Love and Rhythm.” Other first-call players on the album include bassist Alex Al (Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Sting), percussionist Ramon Yslas (Chicago, David Sanborn, Jennifer Lopez), drummers Eric Valentine (Gerald Albright, Erykah Badu, Jonathan Butler) and Tony Moore (George Benson, Jeff Lorber, The Isley Brothers), keyboardist Carnell Harrell (Boney James, Andra Day, Rick Braun), and an arsenal of horns powered by David Mann, Trevor Neumann, Donald Hayes, Michael Stever, Jimmy Reid, Andrew Neu and Nick Lane.

 

To date, three singles from “Love and Rhythm” took command of the top spot on the Billboard chart and by the time the GRAMMY® nominations are announced on November 8, Aaron may have scored his…well…lucky eighth chart topper. The latest single from the album, “The Way You Sway,” a vintage 70s instrumental R&B groove anchored by Aaron’s lyrical and dexterous electric jazz guitar and empowered by a mighty and crisp horn section, is charging up the chart destined for the top spot.

 

In addition to the seven times Aaron summited the Billboard chart as a solo artist, he has architected four chart toppers as a producer. He has been a featured soloist on two chart-topping singles, including 2022’s Billboard Song of the Year by flutist Kim Scott (“Shine”).

 

A GRAMMY® nomination would be a first for Aaron in a lengthy and accomplished career that is a model of consistency. As an in-demand guitarist, he’s recorded and/or performed with such diverse R&B, jazz, and rock headliners as Philip Bailey (EWF), Sheila E., The Alan Parson Project, The Gap Band, Lakeside, Najee, Ronnie Laws, Keiko Matsui, Warren Hill, and Bobby Womack and Carlos Santana. In other media, Aaron has film and television music credits for his work on “MAD TV,” “Super Dave Osborne,” and “The Ben Stiller Show.”

 

"A GRAMMY® nomination would be a huge honor for me. I have been so grateful for the hits that I’ve created and been a part of, but a GRAMMY® nomination would be the first award from my fellow artists and colleagues in the industry. That acknowledgement from my peers would be the icing on the cake of an amazing and blessed career," said Aaron. 

 

Aaron is also a popular performer at festivals, theaters, and nightclubs. He’ll next take the stage on October 11 at the Catalina JazzTrax Festival, teaming up with smooth soul songstress Erin Stevenson. US and European concert tours are being booked now for next year.  

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Jazz Vocalist Al Jarreau’s Rare Live Recording “WOW! Live at The Childe Harold” (2-LP Set) Coming Nov. 29th | CD & Digital Dec. 6th, 2024 | LISTEN! #jazz #music

The Spirit of Jazz Vocal Gymnast Al Jarreau Revived in Rare Lost Live Recording from 1976 in Washington, D.C., Newly Titled “WOW!” For Record Store Day Black Friday Event on November 29, 2024 and CD & Digital on December 6, 2024

Includes 5 Songs Never Before on a Live Jarreau Recording including James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain” and Count Basie’s “Shiny Stockings,” and Early Takes on “Take Five” and “You Don’t See Me”

Deluxe Set Includes Overview by Acclaimed Music Writer A. Scott Galloway,
New Interviews with Longtime Jarreau Keyboardist Tom Canning;
Plus Nile Rodgers, Dionne Warwick, Will Downing, Dee Dee Bridgewater and more!

(Los Angeles, October 7, 2024) In the pantheon of Jazz singers, Al Jarreau stood as a beaming giant of talent, inspiration, and crossover capability. The beloved platinum seller, known the world over for his hits “We’re in This Love Together,” “Mornin’,” and theme from the TV series “Moonlighting,” started along his path of music crafting an inebriating blend of Jazz standards with Pop hits of the day.

WOW! a recently unearthed live radio recording discovered by Grammy®-nominated producer Zev Feldman – “The Jazz Detective” – is a 10-song treasure. Releasing as a limited-edition 2- LP set on November 29 as part of Record Store Day’s Black Friday Event, and as a deluxe CD and Digital Download on December 6, 2024, on Resonance Records, it captures a still developing Jarreau captivating an audience on a hot August Saturday night in Washington, D.C. at the city’s intimate, historic, and cherished Childe Harold Club. Backed by a trio led by longtime collaborator Tom Canning on keyboards, Jarreau fervently and purposefully proves in this pristine recording why it was only going to be two more years before he catapulted to international superstardom.

In August of 1976, Jarreau had just released his second studio album, Glow, for Reprise Records. Brought into D.C. that album release week to play for a swiftly developing fan base he had from the local freeform FM radio station, the almighty WHFS, Al gave his all in a set consisting of “Letter Perfect,” “Rainbow in Your Eyes,” “Fire and Rain,” “Take Five,” “Lock All The Gates,” an interlude of “Gimme That Wine,” “Shiny Stockings,” “Aladdin’s Lamp,” “You Don’t See Me” and “We Got By.”

Al Jarreau – the only singer to win Grammy® Awards in the Jazz, R&B and Pop categories – passed in 2017. In his lifetime, he recorded 6 live albums: Look to the Rainbow: Live in Europe (1977), In London (1985), Tenderness (1994), Live at The Half/Note 1965 with George Duke, Vol. 1 (2011), Al Jarreau and The Metropole Orkest Live (2012), and Live at Montreux 1993 (2016). The inclusion now of the scintillatingly intimate and loose WOW! – featuring every note of the music plus much of the master’s onstage repartee, reveals further excellence fans and connoisseurs will instantly clamor to add to their record collection.

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BPM | The JAZZIZ Podcast #jazz #music

Welcome to the JAZZIZ Podcast. This is our new series of podcast conversations, hosted by JAZZIZ Online Editor Matt Micucci and featuring some of the best artists of today’s jazz and creative music scene. Many of these artists are part of JAZZIZ Vinyl Club, our series of limited-edition color vinyl albums curated by the JAZZIZ Editors, featuring some of the most exciting jazz artists from yesterday and today that we cover in the print version of JAZZIZ, our website and these podcasts.

On our latest episode of the JAZZIZ Podcast, we’re thrilled to introduce you to BPM, a new trio featuring contemporary jazz heavyweights, bassist Brian Bromberg, guitarist Paul Brown and saxophonist Michael Paulo. They’re joining for the first time as a unit on their captivating new album, Seriously, available through Shanachie Entertainment. The vision behind this trio is both ingenious and straightforward, leveraging individual strengths and collective chemistry while maintaining a creative process that balances professional musicianship with a light, drama-free atmosphere. In this podcast conversation, we’ll dive into their process and discover the joy of BPM and what makes this collaboration so special.

Listen to our conversation with BPM via the player below. Their new album, Seriously, is available now on Shanachie Entertainment. Order it here. And if you love jazz and vinyl, check out our carefully curated series of vinyl compilations, JAZZIZ Vinyl Club!

Featured photo courtesy of Shanachie Entertainment.

by Matt Micucci - Article provided by jazziz.com

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Legendary Bassist Ron Carter is Back at Birdland Jazz Club All Month Long #jazz #music

The Return of Ron-tober: Legendary Bassist Ron Carter is Back at Birdland Jazz Club All Month Long
Ron Carter brings The New Jazz Trio, Foursight Quartet, Great Big Band, and Duo with Bill Charlap to Birdland for his annual October residency

NEA Jazz Master and bass virtuoso Ron Carter returns to Birdland Jazz Club, the Jazz Corner of the World, this October for his annual residency. This month-long residency will kick off on Tuesday, October 1 and run through October 26, and will comprise 40 performances over four weeks. 

Renowned for his unmatched talent, Ron Carter stands as one of jazz’s most inventive and prolific bassists. With a staggering discography boasting over 2,000 albums, Carter is certified as the most recorded bass player in the history of recorded music. Honored with the prestigious 1998 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship, Carter’s collaborative footprint spans an astonishing spectrum of musical genres, with performances and recordings alongside an eclectic array of artists. 

The first week, October 1-5, spotlights Ron Carter’s New Jazz Trio. Following the untimely passing of the great Russell Malone this summer, Carter has assembled a new ensemble, which will be making its debut at Birdland. Featuring Carter alongside pianist Donald Vega, the New Jazz Trio features NEA Jazz Master saxophonist Donald Harrison. Harrison and Carter have played and recorded together many times over the past decades and the bandleader is happy to welcome Harrison to the bandstand in this new format. “We’ll be finding the notes there with Russell Malone in our hearts,” Carter shared in a statement. 

The second week, October 8-12, will feature Carter’s Foursight Quartet, featuring an outstanding lineup of contemporary jazz luminaries including Jimmy Greene on saxophone, Renee Rosnes on piano, and Payton Crossley on drums. Based in Connecticut, Jimmy Greene stands as one of his generation’s most admired saxophonists, with an extensive catalog of recordings and a rich history as a sideman for luminaries such as Horace Silver and Freddie Hubbard. Similarly, Vancouver-born pianist Renee Rosnes has forged an illustrious career marked by her collaborations with jazz legends like Joe Henderson and Wayne Shorter. Her tenure with the Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra, the SFJAZZ Collective and her groundbreaking group Artemis have solidified her place in the jazz pantheon. Drummer Payton Crossley, who entered the jazz scene as a young prodigy, trained under drum great Alan Dawson, before joining the revered pianist Ahmad Jamal. This great quartet has drawn universal praise. “For all its tastefulness, the Foursight Quartet are not risk averse players, and in their collegiality they can thrillingly mix up fast playing on the slows and slow playing on the fasts, and dive between tempos between walking bops and luminous and lovely ballad playing with complete assurance,” said UK Jazz News of the group’s performance in London last year. 

Carter’s Great Big Band takes the stage during week three, October 15-19. The large ensemble, which The New Yorker said “swings mightily”,  is always a major highlight of the Birdland residency. Like previous years, the program will likely pull from Carter’s previously released big band albums including Ron Carter’s Big Band (Sunnyside, 2011), Ron Carter and the WDR Big Band’s My Personal Songbook (In+Out Records, 2014), and the GRAMMY nominated Remembering Bob Freedman (2021) by Ron Carter & The Jazzaar Festival Big Band.

To close out the week, October 22-26, Carter will join forces with piano phenom Bill Charlap for a series of duo performances. Charlap, who graced the most recent issue of DownBeat Magazine and has just released a highly praised new album on Blue Note, And Then Again, joins the maestro for a series of intimate and inventive performances, ending the week on a particularly touching note. 

Every Thursday performance at 7pm will be streamed exclusively at veeps.com/birdland.

There is no better place to be than Birdland Jazz Club this October. Join this living legend for four incredible weeks of music that are not to be missed. 

Ron Carter is at Birdland Jazz Club October 1-5, 8-12, 15-19, and 22-26. On Tuesday through Thursday, sets begin at 7:00 and 9:30 PM, and on Friday and Saturday, at 8:30 and 10:30. Tickets start at $30, and there is a $20 minimum. 

See below for Ron Carter’s full Birdland schedule for October 2024, or visit https://birdlandjazz.com/calendar/.

Ron Carter Birdland Schedule:

October 1-5: Ron Carter’s New Jazz Trio with Donald Harrison and Donald Vega

October 8-12: Ron Carter’s Foursight Quartet 

October 15-19: Ron Carter’s Great Big Band

October 22-26: Ron Carter and Bill Charlap

Photo of Ron Carter by Henry Adebonojo. 

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