Suraya Mohamed for NPR  –  Standing behind the Tiny Desk with only pianist Sullivan Fortner by her side, jazz singer Cécile McLorin Salvant remarked that she hadn’t been this nervous in a while. But it was hard to tell: She embraced the discomfort with ease, taking command of the space with a calm demeanor and spiritual presence that felt both humble and persuasive.

From listening to McLorin Salvant’s exquisite performance here, I also couldn’t tell that when she was 15, she was listening to Alice in Chains, sported a Mohawk and was into what she calls “radical feminist punk stuff,” as she told NPR after the performance. “Sometimes I still really like Bikini Kill, and I still have my little Pearl Jam grunge moments.”

What can be heard in each song is a seasoned jazz singer with a vast vocal range, meticulous technical execution and a superb classical vocal foundation, which actually began when she was just 8. Her background in classical piano is evident in the inventive harmonic and melodic construction of the first three songs heard here; all are romantically themed McLorin Salvant compositions from her third album, For One to Love, recorded in 2015. The record won her a 2016 Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album.

McLorin Salvant closes with “Omie Wise,” an American folk song that tells the tragic story of murder victim Naomi Wise and her husband and killer, John Lewis:

Then pushed her in deep waters where he knew that she would drown

He jumped on his pony and away he did ride

The screams of little Omie went down by his side.

Feminist themes are common in McLorin Salvant’s music, and while “Omie Wise” addresses gender-based violence, she says she sings difficult songs like this to address an important historical legacy. “We don’t sing to our kids and we don’t know any of our folk music anymore,” McLorin Salvant says. “But like all of the history of race songs, coon songs, minstrel music, music from Vaudeville, all of that is like, ‘No, we’re not going to address that — that’s too ugly.'”

While the words in “Omie Wise” hit hard, the ballad’s melody — like all of the other music played here — is nothing but beautiful. McLorin Salvant’s fifth album, a duo record with Fortner, comes out Sept. 28.

Watch full performance on NPR 

Cécile McLorin Salvant on TKA 

J.D. Considine for DOWNBEAT Magazine- El Viaje, Harold Lopez-Nussa’s previous album, was all about reaching out. It wasn’t just the title, which translates to “The Voyage,” or the fact that it was the Cuban pianist’s U.S. debut. There also was a sense of exploration to the music, as López-Nussa, his trio and various guests sought to invoke not only America, but also Africa and Europe within their very Cuban sound.

Un Día Cualquiera (“A Typical Day”), by contrast, seems less about reaching out than looking inward. López-Nussa’s trio is almost a family affair—his brother Ruy is on drums, while bassist Gaston Joya also plays in their uncle Ernan’s trio—and the interplay often sizzles with the sort of immediacy that comes from knowing exactly how the other guys think. “Una Tarde Cualquiera En Paris,” for example, conjures its Parisian afternoon with drums and bass supporting the piano’s elegant extrapolations. Suddenly, the tune shifts into 3, and a solo by Joya becomes a conversation between bass and piano that somehow explodes into a drum solo. It’s a wonderfully bravura bit of playing, yet it never feels like they’re showing off, because each flourish seems related to something one of the others played.

The tunes are mostly originals here, and the writing frequently reflects the pianist’s conservatory background. While that might lead to the occasional Debussian echo in the solo piano “Ma Petite Dans La Boulangerie,” it doesn’t prevent the intricately cinematic head to “Cimarrén” from moving into some of the album’s funkiest improvisation.

If this is a typical day for these guys, expect to hear a lot more from López-Nussa.

Nate Chinen for NPR – Precocity has long been a defining feature in the career of Christian Sands. Growing up around New Haven, Conn., he was a boy wonder on piano; by his early teens he was a protégé of the eminent jazz educator Dr. Billy Taylor. Most jazz observers today know him as a dazzling presence in bands led by bassist Christian McBride, who had a similar trajectory as a rising talent around the time Sands was busy being born.

Listen to full album and read more here on NPR  

Christian Sands on TKA

“The Claudettes begin a whole new era with Dance Scandal at The Gymnasium! The 12-song set showcases a different lineup of the band…but that’s only made the Claudettes’ distinct and idiosyncratic blend—punk, blues, R&B, rockabilly, some jazz—more potent.” – BILLBOARD

“Hits listeners upside the head with a mash-up of Otis Spann blues, Albert Ammons boogie-woogie, Ray Charles soul and “Fess” Longhair New Orleans R&B. Catch them in a chaotic ballroom!” – DOWNBEAT

“Soul, rhythm & blues and heavily fuzzy, sometimes psychedelic, sound walls. Garagesoul!….The Claudettes have succeeded in mixing this catchy ’60s pop and soul sounds with their quirky bluespunk sound!”- BLUES MAGAZINE (The Netherlands)

The Claudettes fuse Chicago piano blues with the full-throttle energy of rockabilly and punk and the sultriness of ’60s soul to write a thrilling new chapter in American roots music. Johnny Iguana pounds the piano alongside seductive singer Berit Ulseth, bassist/guitarist/singer Zach Verdoorn and drummer Michael Caskey. Johnny, who toured for years with his cult-favorite rock band oh my god, is also in the Grammy-nominated groups Chicago Blues: A Living History and the Muddy Waters 100 Band. He has toured/recorded with Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush and more and played piano on the new “Chicago Plays the Stones” album featuring Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Buddy Guy. The Claudettes recorded their 2018 album “DANCE SCANDAL AT THE GYMNNASIUM!” with Grammy-winning producer Mark Neill (Black Keys, Old 97’s, J. Roddy Walston, J.D. McPherson). It was released in March 2018 on Yellow Dog Records (Memphis, TN) and in April 2018 in Europe/UK via Continental Records Services. The Claudettes are recording a new album with Grammy-winning producer Ted Hutt (Old Crow Medicine Show, Gaslight Anthem, The Devil Makes Three) this fall.

The Claudettes Official Website

The Claudettes on TKA

Robert Crawford for ROLLING STONE – “Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn met at a square dance in Nashville. She was dancing. He was playing. Fifteen years later, they’ve built entwining careers — as well as a family — upon that initial encounter, touring the world together as a Grammy-winning, husband-and-wife folk duo.

The new video for “Take Me to Harlan” finds Fleck and Washburn revisiting the dynamic of their first evening spent in one another’s company. In the clip above, Fleck’s banjo provides the soundtrack for his wife’s clogging. She stomps, jumps and drags her feet against the ground, underscoring her vocal melody with an old-world Appalachian rhythm. Joining her are members of the dance troupe Pilobolus, whose headlamps cast stark, startling spotlights upon Washburn’s face during the video’s intro — a cover of the Depression-era union song “Come All You Coal Miners” — and whose legs work up a sweat during the song’s dance-heavy final stretch. Meanwhile, Fleck kicks up plenty of dust on his own, throwing claw-hammered riffs and jazz-influenced passing tones into his banjo playing. The result is a modern-day spin on age-old traditions, merging original roots music with classic choreography.”

Read the full article and watch the video on Rolling Stone

 Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn on TKA 

The Kurland Agency is proud to welcome 21-year old bluesman Jontavious Willis! Jontavious has been sharing the stage and opening for his mentor Taj Mahal for the past three years. He’s now touring behind his latest release Blue Metamorphosis. 

Watch a video of Jontavious here

Jontavious Willis on TKA 

TKA special project group Artemis, featuring Cécile McLorin Salvant, Renee Rosnes, Anat Cohen, Melissa Aldana, Ingrid Jensen, Noriko Ueda and Allison Miller, deliver an unforgettable performance at Newport Jazz Festival 2018.

Natalie Weiner for Billboard –  Artemis, “If It’s Magic” (1976)  The seven-piece, all-woman super-group performed songs from the Beatles to Wayne Shorter—but it was their duo take on the Stevie Wonder classic, which itself has jazz ties thanks to original harpist Dorothy Ashby, that proved irresistible. Cecile McLorin Salvant, accompanied by Renee Rosnes, performed the song simply and beautifully, creating a perfect pairing with the inimitable Fort Adams park vista.

Read the full article on Billboard 

Artemis on TKA 

Hank Shteamer for Rolling Stone – For this writer, the quintessential moment of the 2018 Newport Jazz Festival came in transit. A quick stroll on Saturday afternoon took me from the main stage, where Laurie Anderson was wrapping up a set of luminous, exploratory string-trio free improv, to one of the smaller tents, where octogenarian Memphis piano master Harold Mabern, saxophonist Eric Alexander & Co. were busy muscling through a set of exquisite old-school hardbop. The transition was disorienting in the best way possible — an illustration of just how broad this legendary fest’s concept of jazz still is.

Like the great Thelonious Monk, Charles Lloyd loves to dance onstage. His moves aren’t choreographed; they’re simply a bodily response to the music in the moment. (“I come from a tradition of wild yogis,” he said in 2015, explaining the concept behind his 2015 Blue Note LP Wild Man Dance.) And he had plenty to respond to during a Saturday main-stage performance by his New Quartet, the second of three magical sets he played at Newport 2018 in celebration of his 80th birthday earlier this year. In between his solos, as pianist Jason Moran and drummer Eric Harland played, the tall, lithe saxophonist-flutist boogied over to each musician in turn, throwing out his elbows in time with the music and grimacing with relish. What he was responding to, clearly, was the ability of Moran, Harland and bassist Reuben Rogers to flow seamlessly from lyrical swing to turbulent expressionism. (On Sunday’s “and Friends” set, which added guest guitarists Marvin Sewell and Stuart Mathis to the ensemble, Lloyd picked up where he left off, shimmying in encouragement as Sewell peeled off searing, slide-abetted blues runs.) Lloyd has nearly four decades on each of his collaborators, but at Newport, he was still every bit their match, playing passionate, gorgeously sculpted lines in a tone that harks back to two of his primary influences: John Coltrane and Lester Young.

Find the full article on Rolling Stone

Find Charles Lloyd on TKA

Find Pat Metheny on TKA

Find Cécile McLorin Salvant on TKA

PRNewsWire – Tony Bennett and Diana Krall celebrate their shared love of the music of George and Ira Gershwin on their new collaborative album, LOVE IS HERE TO STAY, set for a September 14^th release on Verve Records/Columbia Records.  Tony Bennett, who celebrates his 92^nd birthday today, has been friends with Diana Krall for over 20 years. The two toured together in 2000 and recorded duets for two of Bennett’s albums (“Duets” and “Playin’ With My Friends”), but this marks their first full album project together.

LOVE IS HERE TO STAY is out just in time for the 120^th Anniversary of George Gershwin’s birthday which takes place on September 26^th.  Both multi-Grammy winning and platinum-selling artists, Bennett is the only artist at the ages of 85 and 88, respectively, to have an album debut at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 and Krall is the only jazz artist to have eight albums debut at #1 on Billboard’s Jazz Albums chart.  Danny Bennett, President and CEO of Verve Label Group commented, “When Tony Bennett and Diana Krall sing the music of the Gershwins, it’s truly the consummate artistic pairing of singers and songwriting.  It’s one of those recordings that when you listen to it, you recognize instantly that it had to happen – it was just a matter of getting these two extraordinary performers into a studio and putting the Gershwin songbook in front of them.”

Find the full article on PRNewsWire

Find Bill Charlap on TKA

Bill Daughtry for WBGO – Pianist Harold López-Nussa opens a busy week in the Northeast tonight and Wednesday at Jazz Standard in New York City. His trio is out and about to promote their new album, Un Día Cualquiera (Just Another Day).