The classic is one of the 13 Memphis-associated songs that Bridgewater covers on the new album, set for release Sept. 15 via DDB Records/Okeh/Sony Masterworks. Recorded last fall in Memphis at Willie Mitchell’s (Al Green) renowned Royal Studios, the set was produced by Bridgewater in tandem with Grammy-winning musician Kirk Whalum, Mitchell’s Grammy-winning son Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell and Bridgewater’s daughter/manager Tulani Bridgewater. Its playlist also includes such gems as B.B. King’s “The Thrills Is Gone,” Green’s “I Can’t Get Next to You,” and Otis Redding’s “Try a Little Tenderness.”

Originally released in 1966, “Why?” was written by the Staple Singers’ frontman/patriarch Roebuck “Pops” Staples. He penned the song in response to the mistreatment of the Little Rock Nine (nine black teenaged students) during their integration of the city’s all-white Central High School in 1957.

“I chose ‘Why? (Am I Treated So Bad)’ because of the reference it makes to the social and civil unrest of the ‘50s and ‘60s and the similar unrest we’re experiencing today,” Bridgewater tells Billboard. “The ‘60s were a time of protest, so it was only logical to include a song of protest from that period for inclusion on the album. I love the close harmony of the Staple Singers, and Mavis Staples’ voice was and is a beacon of light.”

Read the full article and listen to the single at Billboard

Dee Dee Bridgewater on TKA

First and foremost, Dustbowl Revival brings enough energy to the stage to power a small marching band; then they mix instruments that few groups would combine: acoustic guitar and mandolin (so far, so good), then throw in ukulele and violin with a wah-wah pedal (OK…), then a trumpet and trombone (Are you nuts?), and what have you got? Swing, New Orleans jazz, soul, blues and bluegrass…pretty much what defines American music. The thing is, they do it all so well.

Lead vocalists Liz Beebe and Zach Lupetin lead the pack like a Second Line, all energy and exuberance. Beebe pilots with heartstopping high-kicks and a kickass voice to match. Whether on close harmony on the hard-hitting funk of the opener, “Hey Baby” or the tender “Got Over” or on Beebe’s solo “Good Egg” (Whoo whoo!) and Lupetin’s heartland classic “Debtor’s Prison,” the entire band consistently delivers the goods.

Having just been to a major festival where high-profile artists spent half their set desperately trying to engage their audience (“Get up! Sing!”), how refreshing to find an audience chiming in spontaneously on choruses. The band mashed up their pounding “Busted” with a bit of the equally percussion-heavy “Summer in the City” and the well-behaved crowd paused eating and drinking for the whole song—after all, Mom told us not to sing with food in our mouth.

The pumped-up audience, unable to sit quietly, again joined in on “Cupid’s Chokehold.” If you’ve never experienced this band live, they’re a must-see. Fair warning: if you mind your manners, don’t go really hungry.

Read the article at Elmore Magazine

The Dustbowl Revival on TKA

Bridgewater, 67, has been revisiting Memphis in recent years, embarked on what you might call an exploration of her root system. One byproduct of this search is her new album, Memphis. Due out Sept. 15 on DDB/OKeh/Sony Masterworks, it was recorded in that city’s historic Royal Studios with a pair of pedigreed co-producers: Kirk Whalum, the Memphis-born saxophonist, and engineer Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell, grandson of the great Willie Mitchell.

As Bridgewater puts it, the album consists of songs she first heard on WDIA, the influential Memphis radio station where her father, trumpeter Matthew Garrett, had an on-air persona as “Matt the Platter Cat.” Among the familiar tunes in her track list are Otis Redding’s “Try A Little Tenderness,” B.B. King’s “The Thrill Is Gone” and Al Green’s “I Can’t Get Next to You.”

The lead single, “Hound Dog,” captures this spirit well: Bridgewater delivers its melody with a yelp and a growl, skipping past Elvis Presley to commune with Big Mama Thornton circa 1952. “Oh baby, you ain’t getting no more food when you come ’round my house, that’s for sure,” she ad-libs near the end of the tune, before singing a note that sounds more than a little like an answering howl.

Stream ‘Hound Dog’ at NPR

Dee Dee Bridgewater on TKA

Now in its second year, the “GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends™” event will be produced in partnership with THIRTEEN as part of the “Great Performances” series on PBS, set to air later this year.

At the start of 2017, Catherine joined former David Bowie band mates and surprise guests for concerts Celebrating David Bowie, on January 8 in London and January 10  in New York City. As a member of David Bowie’s last touring band, from 2002 through 2004, Catherine contributed on keyboards, guitar, percussion, mandolin, and vocals. Following those shows, Catherine returned to leading her band, with sold out concerts in New York City, Paris, Munich, and Bern. The Minneapolis Star Tribune says, “There are no lines between blues, soul and jazz when Catherine Russell sings, as she evokes the era when all those genres were swirled together in popular song…touring behind her slyly personal sixth album, “Harlem On My Mind”.

Read more at Grammy.org

Catherine Russell on TKA

This new “Passin’ Thru” begins with a dramatic open-form bass solo by Rogers, before kicking into its revved-up Caribbean beat. Lloyd plays the melody on tenor, in sync with Moran’s piano, and each artist takes a rangy, live-wire solo, punctuated by drum fills. (You’ll hear Moran calling out exhortations as he jabbers at the keys.)

Lloyd, who recently turned 79, is a spiritual seeker who tends to frame his musical output as part of a larger calling. He’s a 2015 NEA Jazz Master who can still give the impression of a restless soul: The New Quartet isn’t the sort of ensemble that a jazz elder would convene for the purpose of coasting. Passin’ Thru presents glowing evidence of the band’s flashpoint agility and rubbery cohesion, both natural extensions of Lloyd’s aesthetic instinct.

Read the full article at WBGO

Charles Lloyd on TKA

Not only did Coltrane and his band offer new interpretations from his repertoire, but varied the rhythmic presentations of the numbers, too. The first song in the set, “Cobbs Hill,” was written by Coltrane’s good friend and colleague Ralph Alessi. Beginning with Yunior Terry’s funky and deliberate bass line, further enhanced by intentional drum rolls the 2/4 time signature, two beats per measure, captures a march-like proclamation.

The second song is Coltrane’s own composition, “Three For Thee”, a fan favorite from the 1998 Moving Pictures album; the original recording included Ralph Alessi on trumpet. Only 32 years old when that record was released, it could be taken as a sign of things to come: Ravi Coltrane, an old soul in a young body, mature and capable of creating work so robust and important. Almost 20 years later, hearing that music again here, even better, is affirming and a testament to Coltrane’s ever-evolving artistic journey. And E.J. Strickland’s opening drum intro couldn’t be more spunky; he teases the audience into the groove with effortless, intentional punctuations.

This performance is likely to be a historical footnote in the book of great jazz moments. The quartet demonstrates its marvelous technical capabilities and keen musicianship, and their imaginative interpretations suggest strength and resolve, a fluid embodiment of question and answer, push and pull, and rising action followed by hypnagogic culmination.

In Movement is available now. (iTunes) (Amazon)

Set List

• “Cobbs Hill”
• “In Three For Thee”
• “Phrygia”

Watch the performance at NPR Music

Ravi Coltrane on TKA