If you’re looking for some great new music to discover this weekend, look no further than our weekly New Release Cheat Sheet. This week’s roundup features the premiere of a new song from supergroup The Cookers, new music by Pat Metheny, Kurt Elling and more.
New Songs and Videos
The Cookers, “Somalia” [Song Premiere]
The Cookers are a veritable supergroup of jazz heavyweights, including Billy Harper, Billy Hart, Eddie Henderson, Cecil McBee, George Cables, David Weiss and Donald Harrison. They will be celebrating their 10th-anniversary later this year with a new album of new compositions by Harper, McBee and Cables. Look Out! will be released on October 1 via Gearbox Records and you can get a sneak preview of its post-bop goodness by listening to its lead single “Somalia,” premiering via the player below. The track was composed by Billy Harper. The Cookers will also be performing two sets at New York’s Blue Note on August 3. Tickets for the early set and late set are available now.
Kiefer, “When There’s Love Around” (Live)
Pianist/producer Kiefer has shared a live performance video of “When There’s Love Around.” This is a take on the Crusaders’ 1974 tune that titles his forthcoming album, out August 27 via Stones Throw. The track offers a sweet reminder to live in the moment and appreciate the love around us, and it is performed here by Kiefer and his bandmates in front of friends and family. Pre-order When There’s Love Around here.
Pat Metheny, “It Starts When We Disappear”
Pat Metheny has shared the uplifting and harmonically dense “It Starts When We Disappear,” the lead single from his rocking forthcoming live album SIDE-EYE NYC, recorded just before the pandemic and due out September 10 via BMG Modern Recordings. The LP features him alongside a rotating ensemble, performing new originals and inventive reworkings of some of his most beloved compositions. SIDE-EYE NYC is Metheny’s second full-length, following his multi-movement acoustic guitar LP Road to the Sun, released earlier this year. You can pre-order it here.
Kurt Elling, “Manic Panic Epiphanic”
Kurt Elling has released “Manic Panic Epiphanic,” the groove-laden, funky new single from his forthcoming album, SuperBlue. Pre-order it here. The record is due out October 8 and features him alongside guitarist Charlie Hunter and the Butcher Brown rhythm section with drummer Corey Fonville and bassist/keyboardist DJ Harrison. The band will make its live debut, performing songs from the new album, at Chicago’s Ravinia Festival on July 13. Check out Elling’s upcoming live dates here.
New Albums
Alice Coltrane, Kirtan: Turiya Sings (Impulse!/UMe)
Kirtan: Turiya Sings is an album of rare and never-before-heard solo-and-organ ashram recordings by spiritual jazz legend Alice Coltrane from the early ’80s, originally recorded for the students of her ashram. The record is released as part of Impulse! Records’ 60th-anniversary celebrations and was produced by Alice’s son Ravi Coltrane. Order it here.
Dave McMurray, Grateful Dedication (Blue Note)
Saxophonist Dave McMurray’s sophomore release for Blue Note, Grateful Dedication, finds him taking his gritty, soulful Detroit sound and reimagining the “flower empowered” songs of San Francisco icons, the Grateful Dead. “The more I listened, the more I knew these songs would eventually become a vehicle for my jazz expression,” says McMurray via a statement. Order Grateful Dedication here.
John McLaughlin, Liberation Time (Abstract Logix)
John McLaughlin offers his personal response to the world coming to a standstill during the COVID-19 pandemic via his new album, which he defines as “an explosion of music in my mind.” Liberation Time is a multi-lineup affair characterized by both joy and reflection that even finds the visionary guitarist/composer occasionally returning to the piano for the first time since the early ’70s. Order it here.
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