New Releases [Jazz] for the Week of 6/1/2010

Tags

Brazilian Music, Jazz, Jeff Lorber, New Releases, Sergio Mendes

Greetings’ jazz aficionados, the month of June has finally arrived with another palette of distinctive, and insinuating sounds, immaculate melodies, relentless rhythms attached to the opulent flavors embedded & exalted freely from the vibrant voice of jazz is here to quench our ongoing thirst for quality music.

In the meantime, we’re here to celebrate “Black Music Month!” We’re delighted to jump start the summer with a defining moment embracing a hypnotic groove that reflects the mood of the season in a redemptive spirit with the fusion classic “Chinese Medicinal Herbs” anchored to the spicy “Sugar Free” tastefully served up by Portland, OR native and keyboardist Jeff Lorber and his latest offering “Now is The Time” on Telarc is a smooth blend of refined fusion and signature vocals will satisfy his current fanbase. We also have the engaging rhythms of “Bom Tempo” by the legendary Brazilian maestro Sergio Mendes. The combustible flavorings of new music continues to soar with the bluesy ramp of the Steve Howe Trio and his tasty and organic vibes of “Travelling” melodically stirred with a savoring old school twist! While you’re here, there’s more new stuff including the fascinating sounds by the WDR Big Band featuring brilliant arrangements of Vince Mendoza along with a host of other top shelve players on “Caribbean Night.”

Featured Album of the Week

J. Lorber Fusion - Now is The Time

Jeff Lorber Fusion -|- Now is The Time – [Telarc, 2010]

By the late 1970s, keyboardist and composer Jeff Lorber had become a prominent figure in the new movement known as jazz fusion – a marriage of traditional jazz with elements of rock, R&B, funk and other electrified sounds. Lorber and his band, the Jeff Lorber Fusion, first honed their craft in the Portland, Oregon, club scene and rapidly expanded their reach to a national and international audience via a combination of complex harmonies, unconventional time signatures and compelling rhythms.

Introducing Milton Bowens – “The Sound of Music” on Canvas

Tags

African American, Art, Milton Bowens, Mixed Media

Welcome and greeting’s art aficionados, as always it’s an honor to share with some of the finest African American art available.

Today, I’m enthralled to introduce to you mixed-media artist Milton Bowens. Besides, I chose this marvelous piece by Bowen to celebrate Black Music Month!

Milton Bowens -|- The Sound of Music, 2008 [Mixed Media on Canvas with Rope and Blocks]

Milton Bowens - The Sound of Music

Born and raised in Oakland, California, Bowens is the fifth boy of ten children. He began his formal art training at the Renaissance Art School in Oakland, CA during his junior and senior high school years. On completion of High School, he was awarded a scholarship to attend the California College of Arts and Crafts, but enlisted in the United States Armed Forces and became an Illustrator. He received his Associates Degree in Commercial Art under the Army’s College Education Assistance Program. Bowens continued his education in the Arts, attending both Austin Peay State University, TN and Fayettevile State University, NC while serving his tour of duty in the military. During this time, Bowens’ work was collected by two of the military’s most prestigious museums: the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Museum, Fort Bragg, NC, and the Don F. Pratt Memorial Museum, Fort Campbell, KY. —Biography of Milton Bowens at Aviscafineart.com

..:: Source: Aviscafineart.com ::..

Flux Music Essentials … [Azymuth, Eigsti, Matorin, Walden & Wilson]

Tags

Andrei Matorin, Azymuth, Cassandra Wilson, Jazz, Myron Walden, Taylor Eigsti

Flux Music Essentials

Hello jazz enthusiasts, welcome back for another tasty brew of some of the absolute finest jazz available from the shelves of “Flux Music Essentials.” In the mix this week, I’ve conjured up another diverse palette of music featuring vocalist Cassandra Wilson, Brazil’s finest Azymuth, saxophonists Myron Walden, pianist Taylor Eigsti and violinist Andrei Matorin. Hopefully, during your travels you’ve met these excellent recordings along the way.

Cassandra Wilson - New Moon Daughter

Cassandra Wilson -|- New Moon Daughter – [Blue Note, 1996]

Without a doubt New Moon Daughter is my favorite Cassandra Wilson album. Not to say that the others weren’t also excellent. They definitely were. I still listen to Blue Night til Dawn and Traveling Miles regularly. But New Moon Daughter is something else entirely. It’s not that New Moon is totally different than any other Cassandra Wilson album. It contains no less than five cover songs which are all excellent. Especially the quietly powerful strange fruit. She really adds another dimension to that song. Her version of love is blindness is just as spellbinding as u2 original. I’m so lonesome I could cry is as heartbreaking as any other version that I’ve heard. And her rendition of The Last Train to Clarksville makes you forget that a group called the Monkees ever made such as song. And her version of harvest moon blew me away. But the true strength in New Moon Daughter are the original songs. Of those my favorites are Solomons song and until, both songs are sung with an almost lovers intimacy. It feels as if she singing to you. Overall an excellent album that will please most if not all fans of Cassandra’s Wilson’s music. –-Amazon.com

BROOKLYN JAZZ UNDERGROUND RECORDS To Release ‘TABOO,’ From SUNNY JAIN

Tags

Drum, Jazz, SUNNY JAIN

Sunny Jain - Taboo

“this release is equally thought provoking, riveting, and engaging.”- Mark F. Turner, All About Jazz

* CD Release Celebration/Concert for Taboo June 10th @ Joe’s Pub 425 Lafayette Street, NYC, 10-11 PM, TKTS are $15 *

Featuring:
Drummer/Composer – Sunny Jain
Pianist –Marc Cary
Guitarist –Nir Felder
Bassist –Gary Wang
and – Vocalists Achyut Joshi, Sheetal Karhade & Shayna Steele

TABOO Features Sunny Jain – (drums, dhol), Marc Cary (piano), Nir Felder (guitar), Gary Wang (acoustic bass), Achyut Joshi (vocals, tracks 1, 4), Sheetal Karhade (vocals, tracks 2, 4), Samita Sinha (vocals, track 6), Shayna Steele (vocals, track 3), Sachal Vasandani (vocals, track 5), YaliniDream (spoken word, track 1)

Sunny Jain is a leading voice in an emerging movement of South Asian-American jazz musicians who bring together America’s greatest original art form and the ancient and modern sounds of their cultural heritage. Touted as an Indian-American trailblazer in establishing the contemporary music of Indo-Jazz, Jain has released five CD’s since 2002 that have received international acclaim for their “groundbreaking synthesis” (Coda Magazine). With his new recording on Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records, Taboo, Jain “stakes out singular turf in this 21st Century world of cross-pollinating musical traditions” (Signal to Noise).