Contemporary Jazz Guitarist-Vocalist Steve Oliver Ignites His Inner Fire Featuring Gerald Albright and Peter White #jazz #music

Multi-time Billboard charting guitarist Steve Oliver released Inner Fire on June 12, an uplifting new album celebrating resilience, transformation, and hope.

 

The first single, “Dancing in the Sand,” is poised to enter Billboard’s top 20. It’s a summery and scintillating Latin-infused collaboration with guitar star Peter White. 

 

Oliver produced his 14^th album, Inner Fire, bringing together elite contemporary jazz talent, including 9-time GRAMMY® nominee Gerald Albright, GRAMMY®-winning hitmaker Michael Broening, saxophonist Will Donato, Rippingtons’ keyboardist Dave Kochanski, and Pablo Cruise’s rhythm section made up of bassist Larry Antonino and drummer Sergio Gonzalez.

 

Oliver wrote ten new songs for Inner Fire after emerging from a year of growth and transformation. Featuring electric, nylon, and acoustic guitars, the collection blends his signature hooks, funk, soul, and jazz improvisation with an unmistakably positive attitude.

 

An innovative guitarist, Oliver’s lyrical melodies are animated by his astute technique. Adding vocalese to the harmonies creates an additional layer of harmonics that make his music rich, grand, and distinctive while being inviting and accessible.      

 

Throughout Inner Fire, Oliver blends uplifting instrumentals with inspiring vocal messages. One of the album’s standout tracks, “Bounce Back,” has become his most-streamed song on Apple Music, delivering a powerful message that perfectly captures the album’s uplifting spirit.

 

Another album highlight is Oliver’s tribute to R&B/jazz guitarist-vocalist George Benson. He refreshes the 10-time GRAMMY®-winning legend’s hit “Give Me The Night.” After attending an Oliver concert, Benson leaned in and whispered, “You remind me of me,” a moment Oliver treasures.

 

“Inner Fire emerged from a year of challenge and growth,” says Oliver. “It reflects the strength that carried me through and my belief in music’s power to heal. We all have an inner fire—the key is finding the courage to let it shine, regardless of the circumstances we face.”

 

Oliver has concerts scheduled into November to support the release of Inner Fire. Catch him on the following dates (more shows will be added):

 

June 26                             Shadow Mountain Golf Club                              Palm Desert, CA

July 26                               Rams Head On Stage                                            Annapolis, MD

July 29                               Yoshi’s                                                                           Oakland, CA

August 26                        Tin Pan                                                                           Richmond, VA

September 13               Yosemite Jazz Train                                                 Fish Camp, CA

October 11                     Jazz Live at Marine View Church                       Tacoma, WA

October 23                     Blue Frog Studios                                                     White Rock, BC, Canada

October 25                     Summerlin Library Theater                                 Las Vegas, NV

November 7                   Horseshoe Bay Resort’s Festival                      Horseshoe Bay, TX

 

 

 

“A must for anyone who loves contemporary jazz and guitar music.” - Cultuurmania

 

“With his signature ‘musical therapy’ approach, Oliver delivers an album radiating warmth, optimism, and unmistakable soul.” – SmoothJazz.com

 

 

To get Inner Fire, go to https://ffm.to/steveoinnerfire.

 

For more information, visit www.steveolivermusic.com.

Kellylee Evans Receives Honorary Doctor of Music Degree From Ottawa's Carleton University #jazz #music

The Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter delivered the convocation address to Carleton's graduating class and was recognized for a distinguished career and a remarkable journey of resilience

Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter Kellylee Evans has received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Carleton University, awarded at the convocation ceremony on Wednesday, June 10, where she delivered the address to this year's graduating class. The university recognized Evans for her distinguished career as a Canadian singer-songwriter and for the resilience she has shown in overcoming great personal adversity along the way.

A distinguished Carleton alum, Evans is a high-octane, chameleon-like performer whose natural charm and improvisational vocal style move fluidly through jazz, soul, pop, and hip-hop. She has released nine albums, toured extensively around the world, and opened for artists as varied as John Legend, Tony Bennett, Willie Nelson, and Erykah Badu. A four-time Juno nominee, she won the award for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year for 'Nina,' her tribute to the life and music of Nina Simone. Once signed to Universal Music, she now releases her work on her own label, Enliven Media.

The honour carries a deeply personal resonance for Evans, who has spoken about how her path to music ran against the expectations she grew up with. Encouraged toward a career in law, medicine, or engineering, she was not permitted to take the arts for credit as a student, and she pursued singing, painting, and creating on her own time. While working toward a master's in legal philosophy at Carleton, she lost her mother to cancer, a loss that reshaped her sense of what mattered and how short life can be. She made the difficult decision to leave her studies and follow her dream of making music, a choice that returns full circle in the university's recognition of who she chose to become.

That choice gives this moment its weight, and it offers an arc that resonates well beyond the convocation hall. For Carleton to grant this honour for, in her words, simply being the person she always dreamed of being is a recognition not only of her artistry but of the courage it took to claim it. Evans has described the announcement as mind-blowing, arriving after years of kind messages and quiet support from a community that has watched her journey unfold.

Evans built her international reputation after turning heads at the 2004 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition, going on to earn acclaim for a smooth, genre-crossing blend of jazz, soul, and hip-hop. In 2013, a lightning strike at her Ashton, Ontario home sent a surge of electricity through her body and altered her health profoundly, and a concussion in the years that followed compounded the challenge, forcing the mother of three to step back from a demanding touring schedule. She has since devoted her energy to recovery and to making music again, work that speaks to the same determination Carleton celebrated on its stage.

Today, alongside her music, Evans travels as a speaker, sharing her recovery journey and a message of self-care and resilience that has connected with audiences across the country. Her honorary degree recognizes a career that has spanned continents and genres, and a life that has turned hard-won experience into something generous and forward-looking. Her new EP 'Show Love' is out now, a fitting marker of an artist who continues to create on her own terms.

Grammy Nominated Jazz Artist Danny Keane Releases 'Time To Go' From Upcoming Album, Kinesis #jazz #music

Kinesis album releases August 14^th, 2026 via MVKA

 

Listen to ‘Time To Go’ HERE

 

www.dannykeanemusic.com

 

 

Award-winning multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer Danny Keane today releases ‘Time To Go’, the third single from the Grammy nominee’s upcoming sophomore album Kinesis, released on August 14^th 2026. The album is available to pre-order now HERE.

 

Delivered by the trio of Danny Keane (piano), Jon Thorne (double bass) and Sarathy Korwar (drums), ‘Time To Go’ strips matters back to a somewhat traditional, acoustic jazz sound. It sits as gentle closing statement on an album that glides between contemporary subgenres such as nu jazz, and fusion, and is an emotional declaration of Danny’s versatility as a performer and songwriter.

 

It’s a deeply personal composition for Keane that embodies the bittersweet sorrow that the passing of time forces us to confront, “I lived in a ‘music house’ for twenty years with a lot of my best mates”, says Keane. “It was crazy—endless parties. We all played together, toured together, and wrote together. It was an amazing time in my life, but eventually, it became dysfunctional. I realised I had to leave that place”.

 

The Anglo-Irish artist is regularly called on to collaborate with some of the most highly renowned artists of our time including Mulatu Astatke, Anoushka Shankar, Nitin Sawhney, Damon Albarn, Penguin Café and The Heliocentrics to name just a few. Danny will be performing with Mulatu Astatke at the Royal Festival Hall on June 17^th, as part of Harry Styles Meltdown.

 

Now, following a heavy touring schedule and six years after his debut Roamin’, it’s Keane’s turn to call on the musicians around him to bring his vision into being. Kinesis is a truly-genre defying body of work that will appeal to fans of Mammal Hands, Shabaka Hutchings, Anoushka Shankar and Nik Bärtsch.

 

Kinesis boasts six tracks, each starkly distinctive but with a thread that effortlessly connects them all. The album investigates the role of movement in our lives through multiple narratives; the extensive travel he’s undertaken since his debut album with the father of Ethio-jazz, Mulatu Astatke, the creative use of metre that’s found throughout Kinesis and, on a personal level, knowing when to say goodbye to a good thing. It’s also a statement of intent, having reflected on the pressures he once felt when he was younger to specialise in a particular area of music, and the increasing urge of late to rechannel his abundant creativity into his own projects. ‘Cathartic Chaos’ is no doubt a fresh wild card for the most eclectic of DJs. It sees Keane lay down an exhilarating foundation with his Moog arpeggiator for Palestinian oud player Adnan Joubran (Le Trio Joubran) to dance upon. “We both come from classical training. His isn't Western classical, but those traditional trainings are similar. You can just tell with him that he just wants to let rip and I do as well… he’s jaw-droppingly amazing”, says Keane.

 

Kinesis is the second album from the musician’s musician; Danny Keane, a misfit who—to our benefit—sees no boundaries in his musical excursions. Kinesis will draw in like-minded listeners who thrive on the spirit of musical discovery, story-telling and curiosity.

 

Kinesis tracklisting

1. Running

2. Passing Time

3. Cathartic Chaos

4. Somnolent Stomp

5. A Major Minor Waltz

6. Time To Go

 

All tracks written by Danny Keane

 

Musicians:

Danny Keane - Piano, Fender Rhodes, Analogue Synths, Cello, Organ, Arrangements, String Arrangement, Programming

Sarathy Korwar - Drums

Jon Thorne - Double Bass

Ruth Goller - Electric Bass Guitar

Byron Wallen - Trumpet

James Arben - Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Bass Clarinet

Aref Durvesh - Tabla

Pirashanna Thejaravah - Mridangam, Ghatam, Morsing

Richard Olatunde Baker - Percussion

Adnan Joubran - Oud

Ed Ashby - Tuba

Tom Pigott-Smith - Violin

Oli Langford - Violin

Max Baillie - Viola

Ian Burdge – Cello

 

For more information contact info@republicmedia.net

Molly Johnson Announces New Album 'Talk to Me' Out June 26 #jazz #music

Featuring collaborations with Haviah Mighty and Jim Cuddy, alongside four new recordings including lead single “Holiday”

LISTEN TO “HOLIDAY” HERE | PRE-SAVE TALK TO ME HERE

Recognized as one of Canada’s greatest voices, Molly Johnson announces her new album Talk To Me, arriving June 26 via Universal Music Canada. The 10-track project combines music from Johnson’s recent All I See and Long Time Running EPs with four new recordings, including lead single “Holiday,” out now, further showcasing her unmistakable voice and continued artistic evolution.

Across the album, Johnson collaborates with artists from across generations of Canadian music, including JUNO Award-winning rapper Haviah Mighty, rising producer and artist CUBE, and Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo. The result is a deeply collaborative body of work that blends soul, jazz, R&B, and rock through Johnson’s singular artistic lens.

At the heart of the album is “Talk To Me,” a call-and-response collaboration with Haviah Mighty centred around listening, dialogue, and connection across generations. Pairing Molly’s signature vocal style with Haviah’s sharp lyricism, the track reflects a meaningful exchange between two distinct voices and perspectives.

“What does a 67-year-old woman and a 21-year-old kid have in common? A real love of great music,” says Johnson about working with producer and artist CUBE. “I really believe we need to listen to younger voices, and I feel so excited that I get to be part of this new generation of music. The future looks bright to me.”

The album also features Johnson’s stirring interpretation of The Tragically Hip’s “Long Time Running,” recorded with Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo. First released in 1991, the song remains a defining piece of the Canadian musical canon, here reimagined with a sense of intimacy and reverence that honours its enduring legacy.

“This has been a long time coming,” says Johnson. “I’ve always wanted to record a duet with Jim. We’ve been friends for years, so to finally collaborate on a song by our beloved The Tragically Hip feels like real magic.”

Across the album, Johnson is joined by her long-time collaborators, including Davide Di Renzo, Mike Downes and Robi Botos, whose enduring musical partnership remains central to her sound. New recordings including “Holiday,” “Happy,” “Sunday Morning,” and “Just As Bad As You” further expand the album’s rich and deeply collaborative musical world.

Talk To Me will be available June 26 via Universal Music Canada.

UPCOMING LIVE DATES:

June 17, 2026 – Winnipeg, MB – Desautels Concert Hall

June 26, 2026 – Montréal, QC – Gesù

July 1, 2026 – Vienne, FR – Théâtre Antique

FOLLOW MOLLY JOHNSON:

Website | Instagram | YouTube | Facebook

ABOUT MOLLY JOHNSON:

Recognized as one of Canada’s greatest voices, jazz vocalist Molly Johnson is a mother, singer-songwriter, artist, and philanthropist. Throughout her life-spanning career, she has captivated audiences in Canada and Europe with her original pieces and interpretations of jazz standards. Unsurprisingly, Molly is a laureate of multiple notable awards, including two JUNO Awards, the Governor General’s Award, the Order of Canada, and the Chevalier Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Outside her musical endeavors, Molly is also an avid supporter and patron of the arts. She launched the Kumbaya Festival in 1993 benefitting AIDS hospices and Canadians living with AIDS, contributing directly to the birth of Toronto’s Casey House. Kumbaya remains the largest music fundraiser in Canadian history. As the founding artistic director of Toronto’s Kensington Market Jazz Festival, Molly has introduced hundreds of performers and, in her own words, built a “local jazz festiv al that reflects the cultural depth” of the immediate music community.

Stay up to date with Molly Johnson by signing up to her mailing list HERE

Peabo Bryson, known for duets from Disney’s ‘Aladdin’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ has died at 75 #jazz #music

Peabo Bryson, the two-time Grammy Award-winning R&B singer best known as the voice behind the Oscar-winning Disney film duets “Beauty and the Beast” with Regina Belle and “A Whole New World” with Celine Dion from “Aladin,” has died. He was 75.

His family said in a statement that Bryson died Tuesday, days after having a stroke.

“While our hearts are broken, we find comfort in knowing how deeply Peabo was loved and how many lives were touched by his voice and his generous spirit,” the family’s statement said. “His legacy and music will live on for generations to come.”

Born and raised in South Carolina, the singer, songwriter and balladeer launched his career with the group Moses Dillard and the Tex-Town Display in the 1970s. Shortly afterward, Atlanta label Bang Records signed him as a solo artist.

Bryson had a stroke in late May and was placed under medical care.

“At this time, the family requests privacy as they navigate this deeply personal moment together,” a statement from his representative read at the time. “The thoughts, prayers and love of friends and fans are welcomed and deeply appreciated.”

In 2019, Bryson made a full recovery after having a heart attack.

Nicholas Payton and Butcher Brown A SUPREME BLUE Two of the Greatest Albums Ever Made, as You've Never Heard Them #jazz #music

 

Out digitally July 24 and on vinyl August 14 via Concord Jazz
 
New single "Pursuance" available now: Listen / Watch
 
Album pre-order/save
 
See previously released performance video “All Blues” here

GRAMMY Award-winning multi-instrumentalist, producer, and arranger Nicholas Payton teams up with Virginia-bred collective Butcher Brown for A Supreme Blue, a bold and deeply considered reimagining of two of the most revered albums in recorded music, Miles Davis's Kind of Blue (1959) and John Coltrane's A Love Supreme (1965). Created in honor of the centennial year of both Davis and Coltrane, the album arrives digitally July 24 on Concord Jazz with vinyl release to follow on August 14. The second track, "Pursuance," is available now.

The project was born from a single unplanned moment at a Butcher Brown show, when Payton sat in over the band's House-inflected groove and began quoting the opening theme of Coltrane's "Acknowledgement." Something locked in. By that night's end, the text had gone out from Payton to drummer Corey Fonville: "Yo man, we gotta do a record." The Instagram clip from the evening was hashtagged #AHouseSupreme. The concept followed.

Payton and Fonville go back to 2010, when Fonville was a student at the Brubeck Institute and Payton was Artist-in-Residence. The New Orleans music master immediately recognized Fonville's rare dual fluency, swinging and groove-playing with equal authority. Their creative relationship deepened across years of collaboration, Payton serving as mentor, co-conspirator, and champion as Butcher Brown came into their own, making A Supreme Blue the natural culmination of that long arc. The Richmond-formed collective comprises Corey Fonville (drums, percussion) DJ Harrison (keyboards, piano, percussion), Marcus "Tennishu" Tenney (tenor saxophone, vocals), Morgan Burrs (guitar, MPC), and Andrew Randazzo a/k/a R4ND4ZZO (bass guitar, synth bass).

The centennial frame gave the project its purpose; the rhythmic argument gave it its architecture. Payton heard the connection immediately: both albums share a modal approach, a spiritual component, and a foundational African rhythmic conception, the percussive Mozambique groove threading through "Acknowledgement," Elvin Jones's drumming rooted in an African musical sensibility. Those elements, refracted through House music's pulse, became the album's engine.

Sessions at Spacebomb Studios in Richmond proceeded with minimal preparation and no rehearsal, by design. Tracks emerged organically from the room itself. 'Pursuance,' the single out today, is characteristic: R4ND4ZZO arrived at a bass line, the group fell in, and Payton, who arranged the track, called for tape. Tennishu took the tenor, and with no keyboards present, the track assumed a darker quality no one had anticipated thirty minutes before. The whole album unfolded this way.

Recording and mix engineer Alex de Jong proved integral to the album's identity, adding dub-influenced effects in real time during tracking, a process that shaped how the musicians played, not just how the record sounds. Listening back to the mixes, Fonville said simply: “King Tubby would be proud.”

Liner notes for A Supreme Blue are written by Ashley Kahn, author of both Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece and A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane's Signature Album, making him a rare voice capable of fully contextualizing what Payton and Butcher Brown have achieved here. The album was mastered by Michael Fossenkemper at Turtletone Studios, with photography by Ryan Gary of The Sunroom and package design by Jamie Breiwick. The album will be available digitally and as a 2-LP limited edition of 1,500 worldwide in standard black vinyl.

A Supreme Blue is not a tribute record. It is an act of creative faith in the source material, in the musicians, and in the music's capacity to go where it wants to go. "This is fresh," Fonville says. "I think they would have appreciated hearing their music in this way, and not hearing it still being played the way they did it in 1959 or 1963. It's 2026."

 
TRACKLIST
1. So What (Miles Davis) 
2. Freddie Freeloader (Miles Davis) 
3. Blue in Green (Miles Davis) 
4. All Blues (Miles Davis) 
5. Flamenco Sketches (Miles Davis) 
6. Acknowledgement (John Coltrane) 
7. Resolution (John Coltrane)
8. Pursuance (John Coltrane) 
9. Psalm (John Coltrane) 
 
 
TOUR DATES
June 29 — Montreal, QC | Le Festival International de Jazz de Montreal 
August 14 — Sardinia, Italy | Time In Jazz
 
 
PERSONNEL
Nicholas Payton: Trumpet, Rhodes, Piano, Vocoder, Vocals, Thumb Piano
Tennishu: Tenor Saxophone
Morgan Burrs: Guitar
DJ Harrison: Keyboards, Melodica, Guitar
R4ND4ZZO: Bass Guitar, Synth Bass
Corey Fonville: Drums, Percussion
 
Conceptualized by Nicholas Payton
Produced by Nicholas Payton and Butcher Brown
 
About Nicholas Payton
Nicholas Payton is a New Orleans-born GRAMMY Award-winning trumpet virtuoso, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and arranger whose career spans more than three decades across swing, funk, R&B, and the avant-garde. A singular force in Black American music, Payton has consistently repositioned himself at the intersection of tradition and innovation across a catalog of acclaimed recordings and performances.
nicholaspayton.com
 
About Butcher Brown
Butcher Brown is a Richmond, Virginia-based collective formed in 2009 whose music draws on jazz, hip-hop, funk, and electronic music in equal measure. Comprising DJ Harrison, Marcus "Tennishu" Tenney, Morgan Burrs, R4ND4ZZO, and Corey Fonville, the band has built a devoted following through relentless touring and a series of critically lauded recordings, earning a reputation as one of the most creatively restless ensembles in contemporary music.
 

 
 
Butcher Brown Online
Website
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Nicholas Payton Online
Website
Spotify
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YouTube
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Chart Room Media
brendan@chartroommedia.com  |  chartroommedia.com | 347-450-3048