Posts tagged as "jazz"

Kirtan: Turiya Sings – Lost Spiritual Music From Alice Coltrane

June 4, 2021

This July, the world will finally hear an intimate, spiritual recording made by the godmother of spiritual jazz, Alice Coltrane. Recorded in 1981 and never shared in this form with the world at large, Kirtan: Turiya Sings is a stunning collection of nine devotional songs, featuring the never-before-heard combination of Alice Coltrane’s voice and organ. The first single from […]

Shabaka Hutchings – Black To The Future

May 20, 2021

In a scene that’s been lauded as fostering the next wave of jazz, London’s Shabaka Hutchings stands apart, not just as an instrumentalist, but during the past 15 years as a peerless composer and bandleader. Black To The Future, the new album by Shabaka Hutchings and Sons of Kemet, is out now to stream, download, […]

James Francies Releases ‘713’ Animated Music Video

April 26, 2021

Pianist, producer, and composer James Francies has released the new single ‘713’, a vivid tribute to his Houston hometown. The track is the first single from his forthcoming album Purest Form, to be released 21 May on Blue Note Records. Stream ‘713’, the new single by James Francies ABOUT JAMES FRANCIES Since his debut album […]

Officium – Music Beyond The Scope Of Time

February 22, 2021

A jazz saxophonist, with what? A vocal group specialising in early music? Surely that was an elaborate joke. No, not if you were Manfred Eicher – and that, at a stroke, explains why Eicher’s ECM Records has been the world’s ultimate art-music label for over 50 years. To call Eicher a producer is like calling […]

Black, Contemporary – Black History Month Highlights

February 5, 2021

The contribution black artists have made to contemporary music is impossible to quantify. Whether it is the far reaching influence of the African diaspora on local musical practices, or the virtuosic innovations of American jazz artists, black creativity has influenced all people in all places. It has pushed the artform into bold and exciting new […]

Nels Cline Interview – Skronking at the Avant-garde of Space Jazz

December 14, 2020

“I’m kind of just a chameleon, or an amorphous blob,” Nels Cline once confessed to The Observer. A casual scan of Nels Cline’s dizzying discography echoes this – spanning lead guitar duties in iconic Chicago rock band Wilco, to over 200 recordings across alternative, punk and jazz. While accolades have been plenty (Rolling Stone once […]

Blue Note Re:imagined – Interview with A&R Rachel Holmberg

November 12, 2020

Blue Note Re:imagined is an album that brings together a diverse group of London musicians (16 acts in total) united by their love and respect for the heritage of jazz, and a desire to push the envelope. It is a smorgasbord of diverse and innovative sounds from the UK’s new wave of jazz. On Blue […]

Joel Ross Interview – On Black American Music, Politics and Good Vibes

October 22, 2020

Joel Ross plays the vibraphone. But that isn’t the most interesting thing about him. Joel is a 25-year-old musical prodigy. A young man born and raised in Chicago – the son of two police officers – who dares to move Black American Music into uncharted new territory. He does it with the gleeful joy of […]

Manfred Eicher – Founder of ECM – Selects Top 5 Blue Note Albums

October 15, 2020

In founding Edition of Contemporary Music (ECM) in 1969, producer Manfred Eicher sought records with the ambience of ideal concert venues; with crystalline clarity and extraordinarily three‑dimensional spatial sense. His commitment to excellence, idiom-crossing collaborations and artistic freedom swiftly attracted the world’s finest musicians. We asked Manfred Eicher to reflect on the work of another […]