Upcoming Jazz Releases | 4/25/06

Mon 24-Apr-2006

Lizz Wright - Hit the Ground (CD Single) (Universal)


Tue 25-Apr-2006

Afro-Latin Soultet - Wild! (Harkit)
Al Di Meola - Electric Rendzevous (Sony Music) - Reissue
Albert King - Stax Profiles (Fantasy) - Reissue
Armen Donelian - All or Nothing at All (Sunnyside)
Atmosfear - En Trance (Discotheque)
Badi Assad - Ondas (GHA)
Ben E. King - I've Been Around (True Life Jazz)
Benny Lackner - Sign of the Times (Nagel-Heyer)
Bill Bruford / Tim Garland - Earthworks Underground Orchestra (Summerfold) - 2+ CDs
Bob Belden - Three Days of Rain (Sunnyside)
Bobby Short - Collectables Classics (Collectables) - Reissue - 2+ CDs
Booker T. & The MG's - Stax Profiles (Fantasy) - Reissue
Buckshot LeFonque - Buckshot LeFonque (Sony) - Reissue
Calvin Keys - Vertical Clearance (Wide Hive)
Carla Thomas - Stax Profiles (Fantasy) - Reissue
Carmen McRae - Collectables Classics (Collectables) - Reissue - 2+ CDs
Chris Botti - Live with Orchestra and Special Guests (Sony) - DVD-Video
Citrinti - Between the Music and Latitude (Tone Center)
Conference Call - Live at the Outpost Performance Space (482 Music)
David "Fathead" Newman - Collectables Classics (Collectables) - Reissue - 2+ CDs
David "Fathead" Newman - Collectables Classics (Collectables) - Reissue - 2+ CDs
Diesler - Keepie Uppies (Tru Thoughts)
Donelian - Mommaa - All or Nothing at All (Sunnyside)
Eddie Floyd - Stax Profiles (Fantasy) - Reissue
Fabrizio Leo - Cutaway (Tone Center)
Fireball Steven - Rockabilly Done Right (Fireball)
George Baker - Mojo Lady (UMVD)
George Benson - Cookbook (Sony) - Reissue
George Duke - Brazilian Love Affair (Sony Masterworks Edition) - Reissue
Gerry Mulligan - California High School (Back Up) - Reissue
Groove Collective - People People Music Music (Savoy Jazz)
Hal Blaine - Drums! Drums! A Go Go (Harkit) - Reissue
Jay McShann - Hootie Blues (Stony Plain)
Joe Zawinul - Dialects (Sony) - Reissue
John McLaughlin / Mahavishnu Orchestra - Inner Mounting Flame (SME) - Reissue
Johnny Taylor - Stax Profiles (Fantasy) - Reissue
Little Milton - Stax Profiles (Fantasy) - Reissue
Lorez Alexandria - This is Lorez / Lorez Sings Pres (Beat Goes) - Reissue
Marc Copland / Randy Brecker - Both (Nagel-Heyer)
Marc Mommas - Balance (Sunnyside)
Maxi Priest / SteppinMuzak - Steppin to Jazz 2 (B.C.D.)
Maxine Brown - From the Heart (True Life)
Maynard Ferguson - Conquistador (Sony) - Reissue
Mike Brecker/Dave Carpenter/Peter Erskine/Mike Stern - Jazz Academy (C&B Media)
Mike Westbrook - Citadel-Room (Beat Goes On) - Reissue
Modern Jazz Quartet - La Ronde (A Proper Introduction) - Reissue
Nachito Herrera - Live at the Dakota II (Dakota Live)
Nestor Torres - Dances, Prayers and Meditations for Peace (Heads Up)
Nina Simone - Empress Live! (Lightyear) - Reissue
Ornette Coleman - Rock the Clock (Fruit Tree) - Reissue
Oscar Peterson - Historic Carnegie Hall Concerts - Birth of a Legend (Giant Steps) - Reissue
Otis Redding - Stax Profiles (Fantasy) - Reissue
Paul Desmond - First Place Again (Gotham) - Reissue
Quintetto Lo Creco - Snap Count (Schema)
Rance Allen - Stax Profiles (Fantasy) - Reissue
Raphael Fays - Ballade Manouche (GHA)
Ray Bush's BBC Jazz - Tippling at Taps (Rollercoaster) - Reissue
Return to Forever - Musicmagic (SME) - Reissue
Rosa Passos - TBA (Telarc)
Rosemary Clooney - Great Ladies of Jazz - Rosemary Clooney (Kultur Films) - DVD-Video
Rufus Thomas - Stax Profiles (Fantasy) - Reissue
Rufus Thomas - Stax Profiles (Fantasy) - Reissue
Sarah Jane Morris - After All These Years (Musicrama)
Soulphiction - State of Euphoria (Sonar Kollective)
Spencer Wiggins - Goldwax Years (Hep Cat)
Stanley Clarke - School Days (SMJ) - Reissue
Staple Singers - Stax Profiles (Fantasy) - Reissue
Svend Asmussen - Danish Imports: Intimate Jazz by Two (Gotham)
Tab Benoit - Brother in the Blues (Telarc)
Tom Scott - Apple Juice (Sony) - Reissue
Trilok Gurtu / The Frikyiwa Family - Farakala (Frikyiwa)
Valerie Joyce - New York Blue (Chesky)
Various Artists - Legends of Jazz with Ramsey Lewis (Weasel Disc Records) - DVD-Video
Windsleepers - Fiancee du Pirate (United One)
World Drummers Ensemble - Coat of Many Colors (Summerfold)



Fri 28-Apr-2006

Souldstance - Lead the Way (Schema)



Information provided by allaboutjazz.com

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Peter White Releases Details Of New Cover-Song CD

Guitarist Peter White will cover the Isley Brothers, Grover Washington Jr., Van Morrison, Burt Bacharach and many more on his new CD. Along for the ride are the biggest names in smooth jazz.

Smooth jazz guitarist Peter White has just finished his 10th CD, tentatively titled Deja Vu and a sequel of sorts to a full CD of cover songs he first explored in 1994 with Reflections. The album is once again produced by Paul Brown, who helmed Reflections and also co-produced White’s most recent album, 2004’s Confidential.

White's upcoming project has an all-star cast of guest musicians, including trumpeter Rick Braun, guitarist Jonathan Butler, saxophonists Richard Elliot and Boney James, pianist Bob James and vocalists Jeffrey Osborne and Kiki Ebsen. Butler sings lead vocals on “Lovely Day,” while Osborne does the same on “You Are Everything.”

The upcoming CD has 11 songs, including “What Does It Take (To Win Your Love),” “The Look of Love,” “Mister Magic"and “One on One.”

Look for the CD, to be released by Columbia Records, to be available this summer.

Deja Vu track listing

1. What Does It Take (To Win Your Love) (Bristol/Bullock)
2. The Look Of Love (Bacharach/David)
3. Deja Vu (Anderson/Hayes)
4. Mister Magic (McDonald/Salter)
5. Lovely Day (Scarborough)
6. Crazy Love (Morrison)
7. Sunny (Hebb)
8. For The Love Of You (Isley/Isley/Isley/Isley/Jasper)
9. Hit The Road Jack (Mayfield)
10. You Are Everything (Bell/Epstein)
11. One On One (Hall)

Originally posted by Brian Soergel at smoothvibes.com

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Vocalist Sophie Milman Debuts on Billboard Jazz Chart

Vocalist Sophie Milman's self-titled debut album made its first appearance on the Billboard jazz chart this week at number 14.

Born in Russia, Milman grew up in Israel and Canada; her first album was released in Canada two years ago and was one of the top-selling jazz releases of 2004 there. It includes renditions of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Agua de Beber," Cole Porter's "My Heart Belongs to Daddy," the Gershwins' "The Man I Love," and other standards.

The top of the chart was unchanged, with Michael Bublé's It's Time continuing its long reign at number one and Cassandra Wilson's Thunderbird again at number two in its second week.

On the contemporary-jazz chart, Herbie Hancock's Possibilities remained at number one. The sole new entry was guitarist Venon Neilly's G-Fire II, at number 24.

By Ben Mattison - playbillarts.com

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Smooth Jazz Top Ten | Week Ended 4/21/06

LW TW Artist Title (Label)
1 - 1 - Paul Brown - "Winelight" (GRP/VMG)
2 - 2 - Najee - "2nd 2 None" - (Heads Up International)
4 - 3 - Nils - "Summer Nights" (Baja/TSR)
3 - 4 - Brian Culbertson - "Let's Get Started" - (GRP/VMG)
5 - 5 - Richard Elliot - "Mystique" (Artizen)
6 - 6 - Kim Waters - "Steppin' Out" (Shanachie)
7 - 7 - Michael Lington - "Pacifica" (Rendezvous)
9 - 8 - Philippe Saisse - "Trio Do It Again" (Rendezvous)
9 - 9 - Brian Simpson - "It's All Good" (Rendezvous)
10 - 10 - Marion Meadows - "Suede" - (Heads Up)

Visit radioandrecords.com to view the latest complete Smooth Jazz ® National Airplay© listings.

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JVC Jazz Festival Announces New York Lineup

This summer's JVC Jazz Festival New York will include performances by saxophonist Ornette Coleman, keyboardist Herbie Hancock, and trumpeter Chris Botti, and an 85th-birthday tribute to pianist Dave Brubeck, Festival Productions announced.

The festival runs June 12-24 at Carnegie Hall, the Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College, and clubs and other venues around New York. (There are no events at Lincoln Center, which has shared the mainstage concerts in previous years.)

The centerpiece concerts at Carnegie Hall include a performance by Coleman and his quartet on June 16; a double bill of Botti and vocalist Lizz Wright on June 17; a tribute to the venerable club the Village Vanguard with trumpeter Roy Hargrove, drummer Paul Motion, and saxophonist Joe Lovano on June 19; a performance by blues vocalist Etta James on June 20; and the Brubeck tribute, with his quartet and big band and featuring an appearance by comedian Bill Cosby.

On June 22, soul singer Smokey Robinson appears in concerts at Carnegie, and on June 23, Hancock appears with a series of star-studded ensembles; his sidemen include saxophonist Wayne Shorter, bassist Dave Holland, drummer Jack DeJohnnette, and bassist Ron Carter.

The lineup at Carnegie's smaller Zankel Hall includes pianist Brad Mehldau, guitarist Ralph Towner, and saxophonist Charles Lloyd's trio Sangam. The Kaye Playhouse series includes performances by pianist Hank Jones, saxophonist Houston Person, and pianist Toshiko Akioshi, and an 80th-birthday celebration for guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli.

For more information, visit www.festivalproductions.net.

By Ben Mattison - playbillarts.com

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Marsalis helps bring music back to N.O.

Jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis kicked off a weeklong fete Monday that signals the return of high-profile jazz to New Orleans, which is still reeling from Hurricane Katrina.

"We're going to kill ourselves this week to bring the spirit of jazz (back to New Orleans)," Marsalis said.

The city hopes to lure musicians with a "Musicians' Village" being built by Habitat for Humanity and the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity.

"Musicians are hurting right now. They're spread out all over the country," Mayor Ray Nagin said at a news conference.

Marsalis said he's been deeply affected by what's happened to his native city.

"It's like somebody violated your mamma. You can't really explain that," he said.

He said Katrina has revealed deep national flaws such as racism, burdensome bureaucracy, poor leadership and class problems.

"I think it's a gut check for our country," Marsalis said. But, he added, the outpouring of help showed "how beautiful of a soul the nation can be."

The week will culminate with the first public performance of a new composition celebrating Congo Square, the city's revered public square where African slaves were free to play music.

Marsalis, a New Orleans native, and other members of the New York-based Jazz at Lincoln Center, of which he's the artistic director, will host music workshops and concerts for students and New Orleans musicians during the week.

On Sunday, Marsalis and Ghanian drummer Yacub Addy will lead a performance called "Congo Square." The composition, which has not been heard publicly, will combine jazz and African drumming styles.

"I think it's different from anything that's been heard before," Marsalis said.

The composition will be uplifting, Marsalis said, as traditional jazz melodies and rhythms interact with traditional African beats and chants "to come up with a form that reflects what happened in Congo Square."

Starting in the 1700s, African slaves gathered in an area that became known as Congo Square just outside the French Quarter to dance and play music. Many music historians trace the origins of American jazz and blues to the square, which today is enshrined as the Louis Armstrong Park. Marsalis and Addy will perform their composition in the park.

AP-

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Upcoming Jazz Releases | April 18, 2006

Anita O'Day - Indestructible (Kayo Stereophonics)
Anthony Braxton - 2004: Live at the Royal Festival Hall (Leo)
Ben Allison - Cowboy Justice (Palmetto)
Bob Dorough - Small Day Tomorrow (Candid)
Brad Goode - Hypnotic Suggestions (Delmark)
Caine/O'Leary/Perowsky - Closure (Leo)
Cal Tjader - Plays Burt Bacharach (Passport Audio) - Reissue
Carli Munoz - Both Sides Now (Pelosene;)
Chick Corea / Orion String Quartet - Adventures of Hippocrates (Koch)
Chris Connor - Collecttables Classics (Collectables) - Reissue - 2+ CDs
Chris Connor - Collectables Classics (Collectables) - Reissue - 2+ CDs
Cornell Dupree - Night Fever: The Versatile Sessions (Empire) - Reissue
Dimitrios Vassilakis - Parallel Lines (Candid)
Ed McCurdy - Traditional Years: A Ballad Singer's Choice (Empire) - Reissue
Eddie Fisher - Collectables Classics (Collectables) - Reissue - 2+ CDs
Eddie Fisher - Collectables Classics (Collectables) - Reissue - 2+ CDs
Elmore James - Rollin' & Tumblin' (Passport Audio)
Everything for Some - Identity (Casket) - Reissue
Four King Cousins - Introducing (E!)
Fred Anderson - Timeless: Live at the Velvet Lounge (Delmark)
Gail Johnson - Keep the Music Playing (Philly The Kid)
Geoff Gascoyne - Keep It To Yourself (andid)
Gerry Mulligan - Soft Lights and Sweet Music (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab) - Reissue - SACD
Herbie Hancock - Possibilities (Magnolia) - DVD-Video
Jazz O'Maniacs - Sunset Cafe Stomp (Delmark) - Reissue
Jimmy McGriff - Collectables Classics (Collectables) - Reissue - 2+ CDs
Jimmy McGriff - Collectables Classics (Collectables) - Reissue - 2+ CDs
Joe Diorio - Joe Diorio Trio Live (Mel Bay)
John Coltrane - Reflections (Passport Audio)
John Zorn - Moonchild (Tzadik)
Johnny Smith - Guitar Genius (Five Four) - Reissue
Karrin Allyson - Footprints (Concord)
Kim Nalley - She Put a Spell on Me (C.E. Jazz and Blues)
Lauren Newton - Face It (Leo)
Les Baxter - Unchained Melodies (Asy Living Era) - Reissue
London 2004: At the Festival Hall - Anthony Braxton (City Hall)
Marian McPartland - With You in My Mind (DRG) - Reissue
Marion Harris - Look for the Silver Lining (Living Era) - Reissue
Mark O'Leary - Closure (Leo)
Marla Gibbs - It's Never Too Late (Forever 30)
Memphis Slim - I Am the Blues (Passport Audio) - Reissue
Mindi Abair - Life Less Ordinary (Verve)
Missy Elliott - Take Away (Wea)
Peter Madsen - Prevue of Tomorrow (Playscape Recordings)
Philippe Saisse Trio - Body & Soul Sessions (Rendezvous)
Randy Johnston - Live at the Smithsonian Jazz Cafe (Mel Bay) - DVD-Video
Rita Lee - Bossa N Beatles (Ghordo Music)
Robert Jospe - Heart Beat (Random Chance)
Rosemary Clooney - Collectables Classics (Collectables) - Reissue - 2+ CDs
Sergio Mendes - Collectables Classics (Collectables) - Reissue - 2+ CDs
Sergio Mendes - Collectables Classics (Collectables) - Reissue - 2+ CDs
Sherman Irby - Black Warrior (Black Warrior)
Shorty Rogers - Sweetheart of Sigmund Freud (Giant Steps) - Reissue
Sterling - Sterling (File Thirteen) - Reissue
Tommy Dorsey - Stage Show (Sounds of Yesteryear) - Reissue
Valerie King - Only Time Will Tell (Kangu)
Vic Damone - Collectables Classics (Collectables) - 2+ CDs
Vic Damone - Collectables Classics (Collectables) - Reissue - 2+ CDs
Yes - 9012 Live (Image) - DVD-Video


Information provided by allaboutjazz.com

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Mindi Abair | Life Less Ordinary

April 18, 2006 GRP Records releases Life Less Ordinary, Mindi Abair's New Album. The personnel of this CD is: Mindi Abair - Alto Saxophone, Vocal, Keyboards; Matthew Hager -Programming, Guitar, Bass, Producer, Percussion, Keyboards; Mike Landau - Guitar; Ricky Petersen - Piano, Organ and others. Life Less Ordinary launches its seduction of the listener's senses with the cool, clubby/soulful chill of "Do You Miss Me, " a track that, for Abair, captures the mood of the whole project."The reason it's first is that if you like it, you'll like the rest of the album, " she says. "It's got a little of everything, it always makes me want to dance, and the title is a perfect sentiment about me being on the road all the time."

With its swirling mix of nouveau-old school percussion, trippy atmospheres and energetic horns, the next song chronicles her "Long Ride Home" perfectly. "It's a great driving song, a Euro-inspired tune we had a lot of fun with, " she says.

"The Joint" is a down and dirty, rock/soul jam that's both retro and raucous; Robinson keeps it swinging, while Abair's alto takes a sexy low road over Peterson's Wurlitzer and organ harmonies. "I've come up the ranks playing in so many little dives. There's an energy to being in a broken down vibey club and feeling like you're one with the audience. I wanted to capture that feeling of a smoky dark room filled with people shaking their bodies to the beat."

Abair takes a 180-degree turn emotionally for the next track, the darkly ambient and emotionally wrenching ballad "Rain, " which was inspired in part by the victims of Hurricane Katrina. "It starts out with a melancholy air, but as it emerges, it becomes more optimistic, " she says. "It captures the way we respond to a tragedy of that magnitude, with sadness that gives way to determination and strength to survive." Songs like the peppy and playful "True Blue" (which features some of Abair's most catchy and mouthwatering wordless harmony vocals ever) and the boldly produced, jangly pop-rocker "Bloom" have the joyful feel of Abair's most familiar pop hits, while the percussive, crunch-funk hip-hop grooves of "Slinky" propel her further into a new sound that will no doubt become the standard for the ever evolving fusion of instrumental jazz, chill and pop.

Perhaps more than any other track, the sweetly-rendered Brazilian-tinged vocal track "Ordinary Love" sums up Abair's attitude towards love. Where most love songs address the intense passion at the beginning or the heartbreak at the end, Mindi pens a playful and endearing song which celebrates the sustaining beauty and freedom of every day, or ordinary, love. In what is now a Mindi Abair signature, she ends the CD with a lonely heartfelt ballad "Far Away". "It started out with me singing the melody and playing it on piano to demo the song. I always envisioned it with soprano saxophone as the main instrument, but when we recorded the saxophone track, we forgot to mute the "guide" vocal that I had put down. The two were so haunting together. We kept it!"

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Gerald Albright | New Beginnings

The best songs on New Beginnings come before the midway point. Even so, the rest isn’t bad. With a variable lineup of sidemen, including Walter and Wallace Scott of the Whispers, Jeff Lorber and Paul Jackson Jr., Gerald Albright delivers a nice mix of smooth jazz and instrumental soul grooves on his Peak Records debut.

Albright began professionally by touring with keyboardist Patrice Rushen, who appears on the title song, and becoming a first-call fixture by other recording and touring acts, including Barry White, the Temptations, Stanley Clarke and Teena Marie. He backed Anita Baker in the mid-1980s and was later signed to Atlantic Records, just as the style of music known as smooth jazz became popular—although several years passed before radio began calling it that. He’s also toured with Phil Collins, who discusses their relationship in the liner notes.

Nine of the twelve tracks are Albright originals, mostly in collaboration with his bandmates. Ironically, the title reflects Albright’s family's recent move and his new relationship with Peak Records, a change which he says has given him more creative freedom. The irony is that more than half the songs are cut by formula, similar to the hordes of sax-led pop instrumentals already on the market. One has to wonder what freedom was required to employ drum programming on so many tracks when Albright’s touring drummer, Tony Moore, appears on only three—two of them covers of “Georgia on My Mind.”

Still, New Beginnings is a nice package. It opens with the high-energy “We Got the Groove,” which features a tour de force by Albright on alto, tenor and baritone saxophones, flute, and bass guitar. He’s joined by Jeff Lorber on keyboards and guitar, Paul Jackson, Jr. on guitar and Teddy Campbell on drums. The title song, appropriately, is one of the most freely expressive tracks on the album. Rushen’s acoustic piano adds a touch of elegance. The Scott brothers appear for a fresh arrangement of the Whispers’ “And the Beat Goes On” that, while listenable, doesn’t draw attention from the original. Perhaps the best track on the album is the Hoagy Carmichael/Stuart Gorrell classic, “Georgia on My Mind.” With Tracy Carter on keys, Melvin Davis on bass, John “Jubu” Smith and Moore on drums, Albright is in the zone. Playing alto and tenor saxophones, he delivers a powerful lead on this soul/blues offering. The song is reprised at the end of the album.

Extensive programming and play-it-safe melodies dominate this mostly formulaic recording, but that’s not necessarily bad. Ultimately, what matters is whether the music is any good. How it’s made shouldn’t matter, but it often does, taking a lot away from excellent performances by the lead artists. That isn’t the case with New Beginnings. It helps that Albright does much of the programming. Add the soulful elements and you have an album that, while formulaic on the surface, is all-around pleasant.

Visit Gerald Albright on the web.

By Woodrow Wilkins Jr.- allaboutjazz.com

Larry Carlton | Fire Wire

If veteran session guitarist Larry Carlton’s Sapphire Blue (Bluebird, 2004) was a first shot at the bow of those who’d written him off as too smooth, Fire Wire is a veritable volley. Sapphire Blue found Carlton in a more energetic, blues-based context, but his trademark singing tone still spoke the language of jazz. Leaving all such references behind, Fire Wire is more rock instrumental than jazz fusion—and the rawest album he’s made in his forty-year career.

The laid-back minor blues of “The Prince” is a respite from the energy of the rest of the record. Carlton restricts himself to acoustic guitar and demonstrates, once again, his debt to legendary bluesman B.B. King. “Inkblot 11,” on the other hand, is a flat-out, pedal-to-the-metal rocker. Even the inclusion of the Sapphire Blue Horn Section does little to soften the wide-legged rock stance of Carlton’s gritty tone and searing lines.

Carlton’s writing on Fire Wire is his most direct, least complicated to date. Complex harmonies are nowhere to be found, nor are there any odd bars to break up the pulsing rock groove of songs like the four-to-the-floor “Double Cross.” His language may be simpler, but his ability to squeeze the most out of every bend, and phrase in ways that maximize every note, keeps Fire Wire in context with the rest of his nearly two dozen solo records. If Blow by Blow (Epic, 1975) proved Jeff Beck’s ability to transfer his visceral rock style into a jazz fusion setting, Fire Wire shows Carlton’s ability to move in an opposite direction. The changes are simpler, but Carlton remains ever an inventive player, even when speaking in those terms.

The head-banging “Big Trouble” is a blues-based track that might fit into fellow session player Robben Ford’s repertoire, but Carlton’s rough power chords and the Sapphire Blue Horn Section’s forceful lines make it harder-edged than even Ford’s work with the collaborative Jing Chi.

Still, despite the potency of the majority of these ten tracks, Carlton also knows how to pace things, as with “Goodbye,” his gentle take on Americana—in many ways similar to Bill Frisell’s approach to the traditional “Shenandoah” on Good Dog, Happy Man (Nonesuch, 1999). But while Frisell is never anything less than completely and equally honest, Carlton possesses none of his idiosyncratic quirkiness, making “Goodbye” more direct and to the point.

The core quartet's other members, drummer Matt Chamberlain, bassist Michael Rhodes and keyboardist Jeff Babko, get little solo space. Still, they’re the perfect rhythm section—loose and responsive when required, tight and completely in synch behind Carlton elsewhere.

One could argue that by moving away from the smooth leanings of his more recent work, Carlton runs the risk of alienating a core fan group. But anyone who’s followed Carlton’s forty-year career knows that his tastes run wide. On first glance Fire Wire may appear to be an anomaly, but given Carlton’s ever-present less-is-more approach, its raw lyricism and avoidance of excess place it completely in context.

Visit Larry Carlton on the web

By John Kelman - allaboutjazz.com

Dave Koz Cancels Summer Show, Delays New CD

The ever-busy saxophonist will be focusing on his record label, his new CD and the Rendezvous All Stars tour.

Saxophonist Dave Koz, who every year has been a familiar face on smooth jazz stages, has announced that he will be taking some time off from touring but will return in 2007 with a full schedule of shows. His last show was earlier this month when he performed in Japan for the first time.

Koz’s hiatus means there will be no Dave Koz & Friends: A Smooth Summer Night tour this year, which has been held four years in a row, and it is uncertain if the Dave Koz & Friends holiday show will return for the 10th straight year. At this point, Koz is scheduled to make his return to the stage in November during the second annual Dave Koz & Friends at Sea cruise.

For much of 2006 Koz will be focusing more on Rendezvous Entertainment, the record label he founded and now serves as its Senior VP of Development. He’ll also be more involved in producing projects for the label, which includes smooth jazz artists such as Marc Antoine, Wayman Tisdale, Michael Lington, Kirk Whalum, Brian Simpson and Jonathan Butler. In addtion, Koz is behind the scenes creatively with the brand-new Rendezvous All Stars tour, which will be traveling the country with Tisdale, Whalum, Butler and Simpson.

Koz will continue to produce his weekday radio show on KTWV in Los Angeles and his popular weekly syndicated program, The Dave Koz Radio Show. He'll also remain focuses on his next album with producer Phil Ramone, which features movie theme songs.

The follow-up to Koz’s Saxophonic CD from 2003 was originally to be released this year but has been pushed back to 2007.

An original post by Brian Soergel at smoothvibes.com

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Jazz at Lincoln Center Opens New Orleans Residency Featuring World Premiere

The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and music director Wynton Marsalis will open a weeklong residency in New Orleans tomorrow.

The visit, part of Jazz at Lincoln Center's efforts to help New Orleans recover after Hurricane Katrina, will include master classes, clinics, workshops, and performances. On April 23, the LCJO and Ghana's Odadaa! will present the world premiere of Congo Square, a new work by Marsalis and Yacub Addy, the leader of Odadaa!

The 80-minute cross-cultural work was inspired by the public square in New Orleans where Africans gathered to play the music of their homeland in the 18th and 19th centuries. According to Jazz at Lincoln Center, the site was the only place in the United States where the regular performance of African music was permitted during the slavery era.

After its premiere in Louis Armstrong Park, Congo Square will be heard on tour in Florida, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C. It will get its New York City debut on May 4 at JALC's Rose Hall as part of a series focusing on New Orleans jazz.

Marsalis, a native of New Orleans, helped organize a benefit for New Orleans at JALC last September. He is currently a chair of Louisiana's National Advisory Board of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism and a member of the Bring Back New Orleans Commission.

By Ben Mattison - playbillarts.com

MSN Video Bands Together With Music Legends for Video Webcast of the 2006 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

MSN is celebrating the return of the legendary New Orleans Jazz&Heritage musical event by bringing select performances into homes around the globe April 28-30 and May 5-7. MSN has entered into an agreement with the 2006 New Orleans Jazz&Heritage Festival to be the exclusive webcast provider of the first Jazz Fest following the catastrophic events of Hurricane Katrina and will donate all the advertising proceeds to benefit New Orleans Katrina Relief efforts. The webcast is scheduled to include concert performances by globally popular artists such as Jimmy Buffett, Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and the Dave Matthews Band, as well New Orleans music legends including Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas and Buckwheat Zydeco. Viewers can tune in to the festival coverage at http://msnvideo.com/jazzfest .

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Cassandra Wilson Album Debuts at Number Two on Jazz Chart

Vocalist Cassandra Wilson's Thunderbird made its first appearance on the Billboard jazz chart this week at number two.

The album, her sixth on the Blue Note label, features blues songs by Blind Lemon Jefferson and Willie Dixon, Jakob Dylan's "Closer to You," and songs by producer T-Bone Burnett and members of her band, who include keyboardist Keith Ciancia, drummer Jim Keltner, bassist Reginald Veal, guitarists Colin Linden and Marc Ribot, and producer Mike Elizondo.

Michael Bublé's It's Time remained at number one, while Chris Botti's To Love Again fell to number three and Bublé's Caught in the Act dropped to number four.

Also new to the chart was guitarist Pat Martino's Remember: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery at number 11; singer Erin Boheme's What Love Is at number 17; Sangam, from saxophonist Charles Lloyd, tabla player Zakir Hussain, and drummer Eric Harland, at number 20; and guitarist Mimi Fox's Perpetually Hip at number 23.

On the contemporary-jazz chart, Herbie Hancock's Possibilities remained at number one. Medeski Martin and Wood's Note Bleu: Best of the Blue Note Years, 1998-2005 debuted at number six. New entries also included an "urban jazz" compilation called Sweet & Sexy at number 13 and saxophonist Nelson Rangell's Souls to Souls at number 15.

By Ben Mattison - playbillarts.com

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At the Blue Note, Chick Corea Returns to a Familiar Sound

When Chick Corea formed Return to Forever in 1971, it was a bright and airy proposition. His Fender Rhodes piano chimed and chirruped over Latin American rhythms; female vocals commingled with the soothing flutter of a flute. Then the ensemble muscled up and morphed into a hyperactive fusion band, establishing pop-chart presence and a fan base to match. To the extent that there is a Return to Forever legacy, it encompasses both these dynamic extremes, each a facet of Mr. Corea's personality.

The band that Mr. Corea is leading this week at the Blue Note signals a return to Return to Forever, though not in the strictest sense. It features Airto Moreira, the percussionist on those springy early albums, and Eddie Gomez, an acoustic bassist whose bond with Mr. Corea began just after the band's demise. Mr. Gomez fills the role that originally belonged to Stanley Clarke, the only musician besides Mr. Corea to last through every Return to Forever permutation. That central involvement explains one consequence of Mr. Clarke's nonparticipation here: the Blue Note is billing the trio, coyly, as Forever Returns.

Another consequence plays out in the music, which bypasses fusion altogether. Tuesday night's late set had a Brazilian thrust, something that typifies Mr. Corea's history with both Mr. Gomez and Mr. Moreira. Less expectedly, the set included as many standards as original compositions: one by Antonio Carlos Jobim and a consecutive pair by Richard Rodgers. Of course, the Jobim tune, "Desafinado," was a bossa nova; one of the Rodgers songs, "With a Song In My Heart," was recast as a samba.

Mr. Corea has always been a percussionist at heart, and he indulged that affinity with a cowbell, some shakers and a Brazilian hand drum. At the piano, his articulation was flinty, almost metallic, conveying a palpable sense of hammers striking strings. On the Fender Rhodes, which he used for most of the set, his playing was softer-edged but still fundamentally rhythmic, even when he tweaked a knob on a console to wobble the pitch of a phrase.

There was naturally just as much rhythm in the twitchy virtuosity of Mr. Gomez, whose strongest solo was on "But Beautiful," the second Rodgers tune; and in the drumming of Mr. Moreira, which embodied the sort of earthy imprecision that rarely has occasion to flourish in Mr. Corea's working bands.

Mr. Moreira occasionally grabbed a microphone to issue guttural chants and straining cries, an effect as often grating as it was involving. But his connection with Mr. Corea is still a joyous mystery; wheeling through the vintage Corea compositions "La Fiesta" and "500 Miles High," they offered a hint of what made Return to Forever feel special in the first place.

Chick Corea continues through Sunday at the Blue Note, 131 West Third Street, Greenwich Village; (212) 475-8592.

By NATE CHINEN - nytimes.com

Technorati Tags: Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Music