If you’re looking for some great new music to discover this weekend, look no further than our weekly New Release Cheat Sheet.
New Music and Videos
Geoff Muldaur, “Lady of the Lavander Mist” [Song Premiere]
Singer/arranger/composer/guitarist Geoff Muldaur shares the premiere of his cinematic take on Duke Ellington’s “Lady of the Lavander Mist.” The track is included in his forthcoming tour-de-force, His Last Letter, one of his most ambitious projects to date, on which he presents stylish renderings of tunes from the American folk and jazz-blues “song-bag” and newly-penned compositions. The two-LP set, out July 15 on Moon River Music, also comes with a 40-page booklet with exclusive photos and extensive track-by-track notes and personal stories by Geoff Muldaur.
Ella Fitzgerald, “Puttin’ on the Ritz”
Verve/UMe has shared an animated video for an Ella Fitzgerald live performance of “Puttin’ on the Ritz.” This is one of the tracks from the previously-unissued Ella at the Hollywood Bowl: The Irving Berlin Songbook, available on all formats, including a limited-edition yellow splatter vinyl, on June 24. The 15-song performance was captured on August 16, 1958, at the Hollywood Bowl just a few months after the recording of the First Lady of Song’s seminal album, Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook.
Paris Combo, “Maudit Money” [Video Premiere]
“Maudit Money” is a song from renowned French group Paris Combo’s Quesaco?, released on May 6. This is their seventh full-length and their last studio recording with late singer/songwriter Belle du Berry. Pianist David Lewis says the song is “a collective composition that grew out of Potzi’s typically Django-like guitar movement, which we then played around with, applying a back-beat and brass riffs featuring Didier Havet on bass trombone. Belle’s humorous, half-spoken verses read like a bucket list of vain desires, some trivial, others grandiose, but all of which ‘will cost you.'”
New Albums
Gilad Hekselman, Far Star (Edition)
Responding to the constricting times of the pandemic, guitarist Gilad Hekselman uses new approaches and methods to explore new sonic worlds on his self-produced album, Far Star. The result is among his most adventurous full-lengths to date, defined by a sound that is both timeless and progressive and enriched by the presence of special guests on selected tracks.
Najee, Savoir Faire (Shanachie)
Saxophonist/flautist Najee celebrates the art of elegance on his anticipated new recording, Savoir Faire. Released today via Shanachie, the album is also a pan-American journey sonically traversing the U.S. and Brazil, and featuring an all-star lineup with Alyson Williams, Frank McComb, Barry Eastmond and more.
Tank and the Bangas, Red Balloon (Verve Forecast)
Emerging from a pandemic-imposed break, Red Balloon is Tank and the Bangas’ latest genre-defying full-length and a companion piece to their 2019 LP Green Balloon. A 16-track tour-de-force with tons of guest appearances, the ensemble also describes Red Balloon via a joint statement as “one of the best attempts thus far at capturing what happens when we’re all playing at the same time.”
Featured image courtesy of Verve/UMe.
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