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 Candid Records Reissues: Candid Records has announced a new round of reissues of classic titles from its fabled archives for December 1. The following titles will be available on this date in new, remastered editions on CD, digital download and vinyl: Toots Thielemans, Captured Alive (1974); Lee Konitz, Tenorlee (1978); Jimmy Giuffre, Music for People, Birds, Butterflies and Mosquitoes (1973); Stacey Kent, Let Yourself Go (1998).
New Ella Fitzgerald Video and Vinyl Reissue: Verve Records has shared a new lyric video for Ella Fitzgerald's "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" Watch it via the player below. This coincides with Verve's collectable reissue of the First Lady of Song's iconic holiday album, Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas, available on ruby red vinyl with a collectable cover.
https://youtu.be/p597VDvsekc
Aretha Franklin Boxed Set: BMG has announced the release of the Aretha Franklin boxed set, A Portrait of the Queen, featuring five classic albums from the early 1970s, plus bonus material of session alternates, outtakes, B-sides and demos. The limited edition 6-LP/5-CD collection will include This Girl’s In Love With You, Spirit In The Dark, Young, Gifted And Black, Hey Now Hey (The Other Side Of The Sky) and Let Me In Your Life, and will be released on December 1.
Dave Koz Animated Video: Dave Koz has unveiled a new animated video for his modern take on the classic Disney song, "When You Wish Upon a Star." Watch it via the player below. The song will be included on the saxophonist's upcoming EP, Dave Koz Does Disney, which will feature modern renditions of Disney songs from various eras. Koz will also soon be launching the 26th-anniversary edition of his Christmas tour, Dave Koz and Friends. Dates here.
https://youtu.be/65dWbRy6Xqk
Unreleased Oscar Peterson Live Album: Two Lions/Mack Avenue has announced the forthcoming release of Con Alma: The Oscar Peterson Trio - Live in Lugano, 1964, on November 24. Recorded on May 26 at Teatro Apollo, Lugano, Switzerland, this was the final performance by the Peterson's trio with bassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen before their departure for Japan for another lengthy string of concerts. The previously unheard and unreleased album will be available on CD and digital platforms, as well as an exclusive translucent blue vinyl for Record Store Day Black Friday.
2024 GRAMMY Awards Nominees Announced: The 2024 GRAMMY Awards nominations have been announced.
Click here to find out more about the nominations from the jazz and jazz-related categories. This year will also mark the debut of the brand new Best Alternative Jazz Album category. The awards ceremony will take place in February 4 at the Crypto.com arena in Los Angeles, California.
New Albums
Ohad Talmor, Back to the Land (Intakt): Tenor saxophonist Ohad Talmor has released a double album of unreleased Ornette Coleman pieces transcribed from a discovered rehearsal tape. Back to the Land was released via Intakt Records and is performed with his trio and various augmentations, including special guest appearances by Joel Ross, David Virelles, Leo Genovese and many others.
JD Allen, This (Savant): Saxophonist/composer JD Allen embarks on a new sonic journey, introducing electronic elements to his idiosyncratic trio sound for the first time on his new album. This presents a stimulating program of wide-ranging originals, exploring intersections of electronics and jazz, crafted within the creative confines of South London’s Lightship 95 studio with Allen’s U.K. band with Alex Bonney on electronics and Gwilym Jones on drums.
https://open.spotify.com/album/64M3TxQcWOTsbX7hEMS7st
Antonio Adolfo, Bossa 65: Celebrating Carlos Lyra & Roberto Menescal (AAM): Pianist/composer Antonio Adolfo celebrates Carlos Lyra and Roberto Menescal's contribution to the Bossa Nova movement on his new album, available now. With deep roots in the Bossa tradition, Bossa 65 showcases Adolfo's elegant pianism and harmonically complex arrangements, influenced by bebop, soul and West Coast jazz. Click here to listen to our recent JAZZIZ Podcast conversation with Adolfo.
Chick Corea & Orchestra da Camera della Sardegna, Sardinia (Candid): Sardinia is a previously-unreleased live Chick Corea album, recorded with the Orchestra da Camera della Sardegna, under the direction of conductor Simone Pittau, in 2018. The recording offers Corea's unique vision of a classical performance, featuring Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24 and George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue."
https://open.spotify.com/album/3g1VASnUSNiWeRJ5FDmuzg?si=NyotZ6ceSa-IQ_dKr31drA
Live Music and Festival News
A Musical Celebration of the Life of Rafael Viñoly, Carnegie Hall, November 28: The Viñoly Foundation will present A Musical Celebration of the Life of Rafael Viñoly, a special memorial concert at New York's Carnegie Hall on November 28. The concert will honor the late distinguished Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly and feature The Philadelphia Orchestra, plus guest appearances by Jonathan Biss, Isaiah J. Thompson and Itzhak Perlman. More here.
Dezron Douglas to Open Miller Theatre 2023-24 Jazz Series: New York City’s Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts will open its 2023-24 jazz series with the premiere of a new holiday-themed commissioned work by Dezron Douglas. The New York-based bassist will be performing the piece with his quartet, featuring Emilio Modeste on saxophones, George Burton on piano and Joe Dyson on drums. The concert will take place on December 2.
Tickets here.
[caption id="attachment_56787" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
Photo by Rob Davidson for Miller Theatre[/caption]
Arts for Art’s Family Gathering 2023: Arts for Art’s annual fundraiser and celebration, the Family Gathering, will take place on November 17 at The Clemente in New York City. The event signifies the kickoff for Arts for Art’s Artist and Friends Campaign and will feature several performances, including William Parker’s Huey’s Pocket Watch 20-piece band, a bake-off and performances by Arts for Art’s Music is Mine Youth Band.
More here.
John Coltrane Festival "Countdown 2024 at Smoke Jazz Club: Smoke Jazz Club in New York is closing out the year in style with its 11th annual John Coltrane Festival "Countdown 2024." The festival features tenor virtuoso George Coleman and his Quintet (Dec 20-24), accompanied by Emmet Cohen and Peter Bernstein, followed by the dynamic saxophonist Vincent Herring and pianist Eric Reed (Dec 26-31), performing with different sextets that include jazz luminaries like Al Foster, Buster Williams, and others.
More here.
Featured photo courtesy of BMG.
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