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 Charles Mingus Boxed Set: Rhino has released a new boxed set highlighting the final phase of Charles Mingus’ career as a 7-CD set, as an 8-LP set and on streaming platforms. Changes: The Complete 1970s Atlantic Studio Recordings includes the last seven studio albums that Mingus recorded for Atlantic Records between 1973 and his death in 1979, including Mingus Moves (1973), Changes One (1974), Changes Two (1974), Three or Four Shades of Blues (1977), Cumbia & Jazz Fusion (1977), Me, Myself an Eye (1979), and Something Like a Bird (1979). The collection also features previously unreleased session outtakes.
New Yussef Dayes Animated Video: Yussef Dayes has shared the official animated video for “Rust,” a single from his new album, Black Classical Music, released on June 20. The track features the multi-instrumentalist/producer/composer’s longstanding collaborator and friend Tom Misch and its animated video was directed by Jack Brown. Watch it via the player below.
BMI Announces Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize Winner: Joseph Herbst’s “Where My Dreams Go To Die” was chosen as the winner for the Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize at the 34th Annual BMI Jazz Composers Summer Showcase, which took place in New York City on June 20. Additionally, the BMI Foundation also awarded Herbst the Manny Albam commission to compose a new piece that will premiere at next year’s showcase. More here.
Madlib Blue Note Album Reissue: Acclaimed DJ/producer/rapper Madlib’s 2003 album, Shades of Blue, was reissued as part of Blue Note’s ongoing Classic Vinyl Edition. The album features remixes, reimaginations and reinterpretations of classics by Donald Byrd, Ronnie Foster, Bobby Hutcherson, Wayne Shorter, Andrew Hill and more. The new edition was mastered by Kevin Gray and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal. Listen to a conversation between Madlib and Blue Note President Don Was via the player below.
New Albums
Keith Jarrett, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Württemberg Sonatas (ECM): On June 30, ECM issued a previously unreleased Keith Jarrett recording of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach’s Württemberg Sonatas. Made in 1994, the recording followed a period in which the celebrated pianist had been focusing on the music of Carl Philipp Emanuel’s father, Johann Sebastian Bach.
Pat Metheny, Dream Box (Modern): Dream Box is a new album compiling never-before-heard wide-ranging solo tracks recorded across a few years by legendary musician/composer Pat Metheny. Stored in a drive on his personal computer, these nine tracks showcase Metheny’s more personal side with a strong focus on quiet electric guitar playing and were rediscovered by the artist himself during his period of extensive touring in 2022.
Ambrose Akinmusire, Beauty Is Enough (Origami Harvest): Ambrose Akinmusire has released Beauty Is Enough, a solo trumpet recording with no overdubs or effects. Released on his newly-established Origami Harvest as an intentional surprise drop, the album was recorded solo at the Église Saint-Eustache, a cathedral in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, with the assistance of one engineer.
Steven Feifke, Catalyst (La Reserve/Bandstand): Catalyst is a new album by Steven Feifke, the pianist/bandleader who recently became the youngest-ever winner of Best Large Ensemble Album at the GRAMMY Awards. Released in the midst of an intensely prolific time for the artist, the new album debuts nearly a half-dozen new compositions and offers idiosyncratic takes on classic repertoire.
Live Music and Festival News
Jazz in the Valley, August 19-20: Jazz in the Valley expands to a weekend-long jazz festival this year, returning to New York’s Hudson Valley on August 19-20. The live music lineup includes performances by NEA Jazz Master Louis Hayes, Jazz Messenger Javon Jackson and renowned Afro-Cuban ensemble Sonido Solar, among others. The festival will kick off on August 19 with the first annual Poughkeepsie Jazz Crawl, a stroll through Poughkeepsie’s downtown district featuring exciting performances and themed cocktails at three local eateries. More here.
Aaron Diehl Named Jazz in July Festival Artistic Director: The 92nd Street Y, New York, has announced pianist/composer Aaron Diehl as the new artistic director of the Jazz in July festival, beginning in the summer of 2024. The American Pianist Association’s 2011 Cole Porter Fellow will succeed Bill Charlap, who has been the festival’s artistic director since 2005. Commenting on his appointment, Diehl says in a press release that he intends to “continue to expand the colaborative possibilities of this series with an intimate, reflective and nuanced experience around each concert.”
Bajaja Music Fest in Baja California Sur, November 30-December 2: Bajaja Music Fest has announced its inaugural three-day event will take place from November 30-December 2 on the Pacific beachside of Baja California Sur. The boutique festival will feature headliners The New Mastersonds, performing their first North American gig since the pandemic and their only North American date of 2023, and John Medeski, DJ Logic, & Friends featuring Eddie Roberts, Reed Mathis, Datrian Johnson + Special Guests. More here.
Berlin’s A L’ARME! Festival Wins EJN Award for Adventurous Programming: A L’ARME! Festival in Berlin, Germany, has been announced as the winner of this year’s EJN Award for Adventurous Programming and will be celebrated this year during the 9th European Jazz Conference in Marseille, France from September 14-17. The award is bestowed each year by the Europe Jazz Network to a European promoter who succeeds in creating visionary and musical programs for its audience. This year’s edition of A L’ARME! will take place from August 10-12. More here.
Featured photo courtesy of Rhino.
Like this article? Get more when you subscribe.