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
ECM Artists “Dream of the Masters” in New Playlist: ECM Records has shared a new curated playlist on media streaming platforms featuring music by artists associated with the label paying tributes to jazz’s great creators, including Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, John Coltrane and more. The playlist is titled “Dreaming of the Masters” and features 70 tracks in total. You can listen to it via the player below.
Turntable Lab Announces Peanuts Collaboration: Turntable Lab has announced an officially licensed collaboration with Peanuts that will see the release of a new collection. The collection will include a special edition pressing of the Vince Guaraldi Trio’s 1964 A Boy Named Charlie Brown in partnership with Craft Recordings, plus record mats, tote bags and T-shirts. The collection will be released on December 8 and is available now for pre-order HERE.
Adele Samples Erroll Garner on New Album: Pop superstar Adele released her jazz-flavored new album, 30, on November 19 via Columbia/Melted Stone to great critical and audience acclaim. The record includes an interlude titled “All Night Parking” that samples Erroll Garner’s standard composition, “No More Shadows,” from 1964. You can listen to it via the player below. You can also find out more about Garner’s original track HERE.
Jazzy Ash Shares Santa Songs: Singer/songwriter Ashli St. Armant, a.k.a. Jazzy Ash, has shared two Santa-themed holiday songs. The first is a take on the playful classic “Zat You, Santa Claus?” popularized by the legendary Louis Armstrong. The second is her own original, “Fly Through the Sky,” which is inspired by the music of Ella Fitzgerald and the magic of vintage Disney movies. You can listen to them via the players below.
Bill Charlap Discusses New Album: Pianist Bill Charlap discussed his new trio album, Street of Dreams, with Blue Note president Don Was on the latest episode of “First Look,” which you can watch via the player below. Street of Dreams is out now and features Charlap’s longstanding trio with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington. We included it in our list of ten albums out this month (November 2021) that you need to know about.
Album Announcements
Sara Serpa and Emmanuel Iduma, Intimate Strangers (Biophilia): Intimate Strangers documents a multi-media collaboration between vocalist/composer Sara Serpa and Nigerian author Emmanuel Iduma. The record is due out on December 3 via Biophilia and offers musical insight into the journeys and experiences collected by Emmanuel Iduma, reflecting on such themes of migration and displacement, and included on Iduma’s book, A Stranger’s Pose. Pre-order it here.
Michael Eckroth Group, Plena (Truth Revolution): Pianist/composer Michael Eckroth draws on the Afro-Latin jazz tradition on his forward-thinking new album, Plena, featuring bassist Alex “Apolo” Ayala, drummer Joel Mateo and ubiquitous percussionist Mauricio Herrera. This eight-track collection marks Eckroth’s first full-length as a leader since 2015. “I was looking to create music that was lyrical, modern and tro its Afro-Latin roots, but never purist in its approach,” he shares via a press release. Plena was released on October 15. Order it here.
Brian Lynch, Brian Lynch Songbook Vol. 1: Bus Stop Serenade (Hollistic MusicWorks): GRAMMY-winning trumpeter Brian Lynch released his first record in a “Songbooks” series intended to reclaim the many original compositions that Lynch has recorded for other labels throughout his distinguished career. Bryan Lynch Songbook Vol. 1: Bus Stop Serenade, released on October 15, particularly focuses on the music he composed between the mid-’90s and mid-2000s, performed here in a classic quintet formation with Jim Snidero, Orrin Evans, Boris Kozlov and Donald Edwards. Order it here.
Adam O’Farrill, Visions of Your Other (Biophilia): Trumpeter Adam O’Farrill continues to evolve the musical language of his Stranger Days quartet with bassist Walter Stinson, drummer Zack O’Farrill and tenorist Xavier Del Castillo filling the formidable shoes of Chad Lefkowitz-Brown. Their third album, Visions of Your Other highlights their growth via four O’Farrill compositions, an abstractly funky reading of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “stakra,” and a piece by Stinson. The album was released on November 12. Order it here.
Live Music and Festival News
Big Ears Festival Announces More Names: The Big Ears Festival has announced more artists performing at its forthcoming edition, which will take place on March 24-27, 2022, in Knoxville, Tennessee. Patti Smith, John Medeski, Julian Lage and Yasmin William join a star-studded lineup of previously announced performers, including John Zorn, Sons of Kemet and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, among many others. The four-day weekend will feature over 100 concerts, creating a kaleidoscopic musical experience of jazz, pop, rock, experimental, contemporary and electronic music. More here.
Jeff Parker U.S. Tour Begins December 2: Jeff Parker will release Forfolks, a new album of solo guitar works, on December 10 via International Anthem. Pre-order it here. Parker will also begin his U.S. tour in support of the record at Thalia Hall in Chicago, Illinois, on December 2. The tour, which he will co-headline with Steve Gunn, will run through the end of the year. Click here to check out the full schedule.
The Klezmatics’ Happy Joyous Hanukkah Concert @ Manhattan’s Peter Norton Symphony Space, December 5: The World Music Institute will present a concert by The Klezmatics on December 5 at Manhattan’s Peter Norton Symphony Space. The concert will feature celebratory seasonal performances of Hanukkah-themed songs with lyrics to most of them written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie. Tickets here.
Upcoming Christian McBride & Inside Straight Tour Dates: Bass great Christian McBride has announced a number of tour dates with his Inside Straight group, featuring saxophonist Steve Wilson, vibraphonist Warren Wolf, pianist Peter Martin and drummer Carl Allen. Click here for the full schedule. The tour will include performances at New York’s revered Village Vanguard on November 30-December 5, where their upcoming live LP was recorded. Live at Village Vanguard is due out November 26 via Mack Avenue and you can pre-order it HERE.
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