Cyrus Chestnut | Spirit

Tags

African American, Gospel, Jazz, Piano

Cyrus Chestnut | Spirit

Cyrus Chestnut

A compilation of inspirational music from some of the world’s great composers is the perfect follow-up to Cyrus Chestnut’s immensely popular 1996 album, Blessed Quietness.

* This compilation includes Duke Ellington’s “Come Sunday,” Paul Simon’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” Bill Withers’ “Lean On Me,” Horace Silver’s “Peace,” and brilliant interpretations of many classic hymns, including Dr. William Smith’s “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also known as the Negro National Anthem and recognized as one of the most important musical offerings of the Civil Rights movement.

Helio Alves | It’s Clear

Tags

Brazilian, Jazz

Helio Alves | It’s Clear ..

Helio Alves

For his third recording on the Reservoir Music label, “It’s Clear” establishes Helio Alves as one of most dynamic pianists on the current jazz scene. In the company of the brilliant guitarist Romero Lubambo, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Ernesto Simpson, Alves has created an enduring work of art. He and his accompanists explore the richness and complexities of the Brazilian song book as well as his own compositions.

Alves’ prodigious career has included touring with Joe Henderson for more than two years, performing on Yo -Yo Ma’s CD of Brazilian music, “Obrigado Brazil,” and playing regularly in groups ranging from Airto and Flora Purim to Louis Hayes.

The studio recording of Jim Anderson and mastering of Allan Tucker capture the intricate interplay of Colley and Simpson, the warmth and clarity of Lubambo’s guitar, and the excitement and nuances of Alves’ piano excursions.

Source/Reservoir Music

Buy.com, Orbitz linked to controversial marketers

Tags

Technology

According to the article below it appears due to the recession [or prior to] businesses are delving into shady schemes to make a buck.

News.C|Net.com: Thousands of Web shoppers have complained that “mystery charges” are showing up on their credit card statements and have accused those who operate Web loyalty programs of duping them into signing up.

As a result, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee is investigating Vertrue, WebLoyalty, and Affinion, companies who make “cash-back” and coupon offers to consumers and charge those who enroll in their loyalty programs

If you think anyone who unwittingly signs up to one of these programs must be an e-commerce rookie and that it couldn’t happen to someone as savvy as you, take care that overconfidence doesn’t cost you. Josh Lowensohn, a CNET News reporter and longtime Web shopper, this week found that a credit card he rarely uses was billed $12 in each of the past eight months by WebLoyalty.

Last November, after almost completing a purchase at Buy.com, Lowensohn, 26, was presented with an advertisement that asked him for his e-mail address. (See top half of ad above and bottom half at the end of this story.) He couldn’t quickly find a way to get past the page and said he remembers thinking he would type in one of his rarely used e-mail addresses just so he could complete his transaction. Lowensohn was confident he couldn’t lose anything because the advertiser didn’t have his credit card information.

For more details please visit News.C|Net.com…

SourceNews.C|Net.com

Christian McBride and Inside Straight | Kind of Brown

Tags

African American, Bass, Jazz, Modern Jazz

Greeting’s music enthusiasts … after a brief hiatus it’s a pleasure to return to share with you a few fresh and engaging jazz recordings. Today I’m honored to post one of my favorite bassist on the jazz scene Christian McBride and his hot new project “Kind of Brown.” Jazz critics everywhere consider his latest gem the best jazz recording thus far [2009], its decided to his mentor and bass player the legendary Ray Brown.

Christian McBride and Inside Straight | Kind of Brown

Christian McBride

Christian’s debut album on Mack Avenue Records features a collection of hard swing-to-bluesy groove tunes. The quintet includes pianist Eric Reed, vibraphonist Warren Wolf, alto saxophonist Steve Wilson and drummer Carl Allen. The recording will not only be released on CD and digitally, but on vinyl and high-resolution 24-bit 96KHz digital downloads. ~ Source/Christian McBride.com

While you’re check out “A Day in the Life” with bassist Christian McBride.

Marcus Strickland Quartet | Of Song

Tags

African American, Jazz, Saxophone

Marcus Strickland Quartet | Of Song ...

Marcus Strickland

On his Criss Cross debut, tenor saxophonist Marcus Strickland offers a program of ballads, mixing original compositions and interpretations of classics – the songbook standard What’s New, Wayne Shorter’s Pinocchio, James Brown’s It’s a Man’s Man’s World. Not yet thirty at the time of the recording date, Strickland displays a ravishing tone and a lyric sensibility that belies his youth. His fellow musicians consist of pianist David Bryant, bassist Ben Williams and drummer E.J. Strickland, with harpist Brandee Q. Younger appearing on one title.

Source/ Amazon.com

BlackBerry Desktop coming to the Mac

Tags

Technology

At long last, Research In Motion is bringing its BlackBerry Desktop software to Mac OS X.

In a blog post on Monday, RIM announced that a version of its smartphones’ desktop software will be released this September for Apple computers.

According to the smartphone maker, users will be able to sync their iTunes playlists, calendars, contacts, notes, and tasks from their Mac. They will also have the option of adding applications, updating the BlackBerry when new software is made available, and managing multiple handsets on their Apple computers.

Visit, here for more details.

Source/C|Net.com

John Pondel | John Pondel

Tags

Contemporary Jazz, Guitar, Jazz, Jazz Fusion

John Pondel | John Pondel

John Pondel

Guitarist/composer John Pondel (www.johnpondel.com) began his professional music career when he became a member of the Grammy-award winning Gerald Wilson Orchestra. Playing alongside legendary musicians Harold Land, Snooky Young, Marshall Royal, Ndugu and others led to further work as a studio player, jazz performer and touring musician/sideman. George Benson, Bob James, Janet Jackson, Barry Manilow, Rick Braun are just a few artists that he has accompanied on albums/cd’s. He is a co-founder of chart topping 80’s fusion band Uncle Festive and the seminal acid-jazz group Jazzhole.

He has also performed with many of New York’s leading progressive jazz musicians including Dave Binney, Scott Colley and David Gilmore. John’s new self titled album features percussionist Marivaldo Dos Santos (Steve Coleman, Vinicius Cantuaria) and jazz bass great Scott Colley (solo artist, Jim Hall, Herbie Hancock, Chris Potter, Pat Metheny) and special guest David Binney (solo artist, Jim Hall, Medeski, Martin&Wood, Vinicius Cantuaria) on alto sax and flute.

Source/CDBaby.com

Kevin Hayden | Delegations & Assignments

Tags

African American, Drums, Jazz, Jazz Fusion

Kevin Hayden | Delegations & Assignments

Kevin Hayden

Kevin Hayden is a drummer who is known to articulately translate speech through musical notes on the drums. Born on May 25, 1980, in Fort Wayne IN, he began to take an interest in drums at the age of 2. Coming from a long line of family drummers to include his father, Tracey Hayden, it is no wonder that he loves his craft so much. Kevin was brought up in church where he had the opportunity to play the drums for various choirs. When he was 13, he was noticed at his church by a visiting community choir director, which led to his involvement in hundreds of local performances, a live recording and tours in Georgia and Texas.

Diverse | Diverse

Tags

Jazz, Modern Jazz

Diverse | Diverse

Diverse

In winning the 2008 Origin Records / Gene Harris Jazz Festival Competition, Diverse proved to be a creative and dynamic musical powerhouse. Beating out 10 other very original groups from across the country, the quintet opened for Roy Haynes’ ‘Birds of a Feather’ band at the Gene Harris Jazz Festival and were awarded a deal to record this album of original music. Mentored by the great Bobby Watson at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, trumpeter Hermon Mehari, saxophonist William Sanders, pianist John Brewer, bassist Ben Leifer, and drummer Ryan Lee possess a fearless approach to creating and performing and aspire to expand the jazz demographic, garnering increased appreciation from younger audiences for the music.

Source/Amazon.com

Roy Hargrove Big Band | Emergence

Tags

African American, Big Band, Jazz, Trumpet

Roy Hargrove Big Band | Emergence [Groovin’ High/Emarcy, 2009]

Roy Hargrove

You’ve got to wonder what kind of musician would even think to take a 19-piece band into the studio and out on the road, especially with the nation’s current economic condition, That kind of musician would be Roy Hargrove, the veteran jazz trumpeter and composer whose first big band album, Emergence (Groovin’ High/Emarcy), is released August 25th. “At this point this is probably the worst thing I could ever do, financially speaking,” admits Hargrove. “But it’s something that needs to be done, spiritually and musically speaking.”