If you’re looking for some great new music to discover this weekend, look no further than our weekly New Release Cheat Sheet. This week, we bring you the first official music video for Nina Simone’s classic “Feeling Good,” a rediscovered Lee Morgan live recording, new music from Patricia Barber’s forthcoming record and more.
New Songs and Videos
Nina Simone, “Feeling Good”
Dove, Verve Records, UMe and the Nina Simone Charitable Trust have joined forces to create the first official music video for “Feeling Good.” The iconic song was originally released by legendary musician/activist Nina Simone on her 1965 album, I Put a Spell on You. The video depicts generations of Black joy and boundless self-expression through beauty and hair. Its aim is to elevate black stories and raise awareness for the CROWN Act, a law that prohibits race-based hair discrimination, spearheaded by Dove and the CROWN Coalition.
Lee Morgan, “The Beehive”
Blue Note’s forthcoming expansive collection of recordings from Lee Morgan’s 1970 engagement at The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, California, with his stellar quintet, is set for a July 30 release. Pre-order it here. This expanded edition of the 1971 original Live at the Lighthouse release includes more than four hours of previously unreleased music, including this previously unreleased version of pianist Harold Mabern’s composition, “The Beehive” from the engagement’s second set on July 11, 1970. Morgan’s quintet on The Complete Live at the Lighthouse features Mabern, saxophonist Bennie Maupin, bassist Jymie Merritt and drummer Mickey Roker.
Patricia Barber, “This Town”
Pianist/vocalist Patricia Barber is set to return with a brand new album, Clique, on August 6 via Impex. The collection features a new set of quartet renditions of standards and well-known songs that Barber has frequently performed as encore tunes throughout her career. It is also a follow-up to Nightclub, her acclaimed first all-standards album from 2000. The first single from Clique is a take on “This Town,” written by Lee Hazlewood and popularized by Frank Sinatra. Pre-order Clique here.
Cochemea, “Burning Plain”
Cochemea leads a seven-piece ensemble of top New York percussionists and members of Daptone’s rhythm section on his forthcoming expressive and transcendental album, Vol. II: Baca Sewa. The record finds the multi-instrumentalist drawing on his indigenous roots and takes its name from his original family name prior to Spanish colonization. Vol. II: Baca Sewa is due out July 16 on Daptone records. You can listen to its first single, “Burning Plain,” via the player below and pre-order the album here.
New Albums
Brad Mehldau and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Variations on a Melancholy Theme (Nonesuch)
Brad Mehldau combines the classical form with jazz harmonies to represent melancholy on his new major work, commissioned by and performed with the GRAMMY-winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Variations on a Melancholy Theme includes the theme and its eleven variations, plus a cadenza and a postlude. “I imagine it as if Brahms woke up one day and had the blues,” explains the acclaimed pianist/composer via a statement. Order it here.
Julian Lage, Squint (Blue Note)
On his latest album, Squint, Julian Lage weds incisive, expressive songwriting with the profound interplay he has honed over the years with his trio featuring bassist Jorge Roeder and drummer Dave King. Squint also marks the guitar virtuoso’s Blue Note debut. “I felt like this was an opportunity to present new music born out of the Blue Note traditions as I’ve interpreted it,” Lage explains via a statement. Order it here.
Lauren Henderson, Musa (Brontosaurus)
Award-winning singer/songwriter Lauren Henderson honors her cultural and musical heritages on her new record, Musa. This is her eighth release as a leader and her most personal gesture to date, featuring a mix of original compositions and vibrant interpretations of standards. “I wanted my next record to blend jazz, flamenco and Afro-Latin music, says Henderson via a press release, “kind of melding all that makes me me, culturally and musical identity-wise.” Order Musa here.
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