Monthly Archives: December 2015

FEATURE: Charles Lloyd & The Marvels To Release New Album Jan. 15 Featuring Willie Nelson & Norah Jones

On January 15, 2016, Blue Note will release I Long To See You, the profound new album from Charles Lloyd & The Marvels. The album finds the iconic saxophonist and recent NEA Jazz Master in the company of a new band featuring guitarist Bill Frisell and pedal steel guitarist Greg Leisz, along with his longtime quartet members bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Eric Harland. The album also includes two remarkable guest vocal appearances by Willie Nelson and Norah Jones. All together they have created a sumptuous collection of 10 songs that range from traditional hymns to anti-war folk protests to re-envisioned Lloyd originals from his earlier recordings.

The album’s lead single “Of Course, Of Course,” a fresh reworking of the title track of his 1965 Columbia album, was released today and is available from digital retailers and on streaming services. Fans who pre-order a download of the album will receive the track right away. I Long To See You will also be released on CD and vinyl. Lloyd will also begin a run of winter tour dates with the Marvels on January 24 which will include performances in New York (Jazz at Lincoln Center, Jan. 29-30), Boston (Berklee Performance Center, Jan. 31), and Austin (Paramount Theatre, Feb. 10). Visit charleslloyd.com for more info.

(12/18/15)

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<<Charles Lloyd on TKA>>

REVIEW: Catherine Russell at Birdland

Stephen Holden for THE NEW YORK TIMES

At a moment when the world can seem dangerously out of balance, it is still possible for a musician to convey a groundedness and a joy that don’t seem smiley-faced and goody-goody. A fine place to find it is Birdland, where the jazz singer Catherine Russell began a short run with her sextet on Tuesday evening, projecting a strength, good humor and intelligence that engulfed the room in a mood of bonhomie. She reminded you that even in the most chaotic times, there are oases of calm.The daughter of Louis Armstrong’s longtime musical director Luis Russell and the singer Carline Ray, Ms. Russell is steeped in early jazz — from Dixieland to ’40s and ’50s R&B. Ms. Russell is not a nostalgist examining the past for curiosity’s sake. The vintage songs she chose were treated as standards whose sentiments apply as much today as ever.

Read more REVIEW: Catherine Russell at Birdland ›

FEATURE: Chargaux Is Making Orchestra (So Very) Cool Again

THE HUFFINGTON POST — Meet Charly and Margaux, also known as Chargaux. They play violin and viola, respectively, but not the kind you tuned out at your high school orchestra concert. The two Brooklyn-based artists rework the traditionally classical instruments’ vibes, releasing bubbling, boiling liquid sounds, somewhere between the brashness of jazz and the mellowness of R&B.The musicians met by chance three years ago and have been playing together ever since. Their EP “Broke and Baroque” comes out next week — you can hear their single “I’m So Pretty” here — but they’ve already captured the attention of New York’s art and fashion set with their infectious and unexpected covers of songs like Beyonce’s “Partition” and Kanye’s “Flashing Lights,” which they played at last week’s Opening Ceremony fashion show. Oh yes, they also did the “cute little solo” at the end of Kendrick Lamar’s “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe.” The fact that the ladies have flawless style themselves certainly doesn’t hurt.

Read the full feature on The Huffington Post

Chargaux on TKA