The Week in Jazz is your roundup of new and noteworthy stories from the jazz world. It’s a one-stop destination for the music news you need to know. Let’s take it from the top.
Noteworthy
New Jazz Dispensary Compilation out on RSD Black Friday: Jazz Dispensary will release a new compilation, Haunted High, on pink splatter vinyl via Craft Recordings on Record Store Day's 2022 Black Friday, November 25. Limited to 5000 copies worldwide, Haunted High is described as "a surreal compilation exploring the furthest depths of outer space and one's mind," and includes music by Flora Purim, Mongo Santamaría, Barbara Lewis and more.
Strut Releases First Ever Detroit Artists Workshop Retrospective: Strut released the first ever retrospective of the influential Detroit Artists Workshop, spanning 1965 to 1978. Available now on 2-LP, CD and digitally, John Sinclair Presents Detroit Artists Workshop features previously unreleased recordings by Donald Byrd, Ron English, Bennie Maupin and Teddy Harris. All tracks are remastered from original tapes by Technology Works.
The Peabody Conservatory Expands Jazz Studies Program This Fall: This fall, the Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University looks towards further growth in its Jazz Studies program. Peabody has announced the creation of a new Master of Music in Jazz program, as well as a graduate fellowship, covering full tuition and a stipend for up to three students per year. Other new programs in fall 2022 include a talent development partnership with HBCUs led by Denyce Graves, a supported doctoral pathways program, and Peabody’s first-ever open education resource, making arts career guidance accessible to all.
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Photo courtesy of Johns Hopkins University.[/caption]
Pharoah Sanders Karma Vinyl Reissue: Verve will reissue Pharoah Sanders' Karma as part of its audiophile vinyl series, Acoustic Sounds, on December 16. The album was originally released in 1969 and featured "The Creator Has a Master Plan," regarded by many as the anthem of the Spiritual Jazz movement. Karma's reissue honors the late jazz legend, who passed away in September at the age of 81, and concludes the Acoustic Sounds series for 2022.
Julius Rodriguez Major Label Debut Album Deluxe Edition: On November 4, Julius Rodriguez will release a newly-sequenced and expanded version of his major label debut album, Let Sound Tell All. Released earlier this year on Verve Records, Let Sound Tell All finds Rodriguez expanding on jazz conventions while infusing a blend of genres and personal influences into a new signature textured sound. The three new tracks on the record are "Dora's Lullaby," "Chemical X" and "Starmaker."
New and Upcoming Albums
Jamile and Tony Davis, Daring Two Be (La Reserve): Brazilian vocalist Jamile and guitarist Tony Davis, who met while working in and around the New York jazz club scene, have released a collaborative duo album. Daring Two Be is a ten-track recording that offers invigorating readings of a varied selection of standards, classic jazz and soul compositions.
https://open.spotify.com/album/4n7Txdn0HNpQNJED0f7PeV?si=F77yZq5qTX6mc7F-9ElTxg
John Lee, The Artist (Cellar Music): John Lee, a first-call player on the Vancouver jazz scene, showcases his prowess on the bass and as a composer on his new record, The Artist. The album, released on June 3, also captures the great interplay of this project's quartet, with drummer Carl Allen, pianist Miles Black and tenor saxophonist Cory Weeds.
https://open.spotify.com/album/4RlmJEPHL2p0QMaSsvJqVn?si=-SDZufrXT_qbZ_z5vSVP3g
Tord Gustavsen Trio, Opening (ECM): Pianist Tord Gustavsen returns with a new trio album, Opening, featuring bassist Steinar Raknes and drummer Jarle Vespestad. Together, they use innovative approaches to sound and technique in this fresh investigation into Scandinavian folk hymns and jazz. Recorded at Lugano's Auditorium Stelio Moro in Switzerland, Opening was released on April 8 via ECM.
https://open.spotify.com/album/5i1LH4nSX9Vwm3C037k4Q7?si=rdYmtyJVTLawWzxPYjEJBw
Grant Stewart, The Lighting of the Lamps (Cellar Music): The Lightning of the Lamps is acclaimed tenor saxophonist Grant Stewart's latest searching, straight-ahead quintet date. Released on June 17, the session was inspired by a T.S. Eliot poem titled "Preludes" that for Stewart "really captures the feeling of life in the city, and the sense of something beginning."
https://open.spotify.com/album/25N75k4ZBP1NwwUd3K6NbX?si=uFqO5H8rQmyl9g8BK1Ogxw
Live Music and Festival News
Kenny Garrett and Takuya Kuroda Fuse Jazz and Gaming: Kenny Garrett and Takuya Kuroda will fuse jazz and gaming via a special live music concert titled "Elden Ring: A Night in the Lands Between," streamed from the Bourbon Room in Hollywood, California, on December 3. Garrett and Kuroda will lead a group of musicians, as they perform recognizable melodies from the popular Elden Ring game live in the key of jazz with improvisation. Tickets here.
Tank and the Bangas Blue Note New York Residency: Tank and the Bangas will be playing a six-night residency at Blue Note New York from November 11-20. The New Orleans-based ban will be joined by special guests Big Freedia, Keyon Harrold, Isaiah Sharkey, Kat Edmonson and Brandee Younger. More here. Tank and the Bangas released their newest album, Red Balloon, earlier this year.
Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice and MassArt to Premiere New Work By Student Composers: The Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice has announced the premiere of a new work by student composers, taking place at the MassArt Art Museum. The work was commissioned by the Museum, and pays tribute to Elizabeth "Mumbet" Freeman, an enslaved woman whose 1781 court battle for freedom helped make slavery illegal in Massachusetts, and was inspired by artist Joana Vasconcelos’ installation Valkyrie Mumbet. The program includes works by Katie Webster, Brian Urra, Devon Gates, Arina Bagaryakova, Nika Ko and Anabel Gil Diaz. More here.
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