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
Dynamic 1973 Donald Byrd Live Set Gets First-Ever Official Release: Blue Note has released Live: Cookin’ with Blue Note at Montreux, in celebration of the trumpeter’s 90th birthday. This is the first-ever release of a Donald Byrd live recording from his dynamic 1973 concert at the Montreux Jazz Festival. We included Live: Cookin’ with Blue Note at Montreux in our list of ten new albums released this month (December 2022) that you need to know about.
Samara Joy on Colbert: Samara Joy recently performed “Nostalgia (The Day I Knew)” on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. Watch the performance via the player below. This is one of the songs from Linger Awhile, which was released earlier this year and recently received a GRAMMY nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album. Joy has also been nominated for Best New Artist.
https://youtu.be/zjTTWYrHb3s
New Terri Lyne Carrington Nonfiction Children’s Book: The Carr Center has released Three of a Kind, the first-ever nonfiction children’s book by its Artistic Director, Terri Lyne Carrington, designed to inspire young women globally to play instruments. The book takes the form of an illustrated poem centering around the musical partnership between members of The Allen Carrington Spalding Trio (Carrington, Geri Allen and esperanza spalding), and also features a glossary and a learning guide.
New Snarky Puppy Video: Snarky Puppy has debuted a new live in studio video for the single “Pineapple” off their GRAMMY-nominated album, Empire Central. Watch it via the player below. Recorded over a week of performance sessions at Dallas’ Deep Ellum Art Company, Empire Central serves as the group’s love letter to the city that nurtured them after they formed while in the Jazz Studies program at the University of North Texas.
New and Upcoming Album
Dan Berkson, Reworks (Freestyle): Dan Berkson uses overdubs, edits, and sampling, and employs North Oakland’s Vintage Synth Museum’s collection of modules and effects to rework material from his 2021 album Dialogues. The resulting Reworks was inspired by his recent relocation to California and bridges the gap between his earlier work within London’s deep house scene with his current focus as a jazz musician and composer.
Roberta Donnay, BLOSSOM-ing! (Village Jazz Cafe): Vocalist Roberta Donnay celebrates Blossom Dearie, one of the most iconic jazz voices of the second half of the 20th century. BLOSSOM-ing! finds Donnay reimagining 16 songs closely associated with Dearie, adding her own sassy, bluesy interpretations, alongside some of Northern California’s finest musicians.
3D Jazz Trio, 9 To 5 (Diva Jazz):9 to 5 is a new album by the 3D Jazz Trio with pianist Jackie Warren, bassist Amy Shook and drummer Sherrie Maricle. The album marks a continuation of their mission to “fiercely swing on purpose, with purpose,” on a wide-ranging program of creative arrangements, some of which have been part of the group’s repertoire for years, while others were created especially for this recording.
Benjamin Lackner, Last Decade (ECM): Benjamin Lackner’s Last Decade is described via a press release as “a concentrated investigation into patient quartet interplay” with “a keen sense of restraint.” On his ECM debut, the pianist leads an exceptional cast of instrumentalists, including Mathis Eick, Manu Katché and Jérome Regard. The album was released on October 14.
Live Music and Festival News
Chucho Valdés and Paquito D’Rivera Announced for Blue Note’s Annual Jazz Festival: Cuban music legends Chucho Valdés and Paquito D’Rivera will be performing together at New York City’s Town Hall on June 10, 2023. The show has been announced as part of the lineup for the 2023 Blue Note Jazz Festival. Valdés and D’Rivera released their collaborative album, I Missed You Too!, earlier this year. Tickets here.
First Names Announced for Jazzaldia 2023: Norah Jones, Pat Metheny, Joss Stone and Abdullah Ibrahim are among the first names to have been announced for the next edition of Spain’s San Sebastian Jazz Festival, also known as Jazzaldia. The 2023 edition of the world-renowned jazz festival is set to run on July 21-25 and you can find out more about its star-studded lineup HERE.
Dave Koz Celebrates the 25th Anniversary of the Longest-Running Jazz-Based Christmas Tour: Dave Koz reunites with the original cast of the longest-running jazz-based Christmas tour on his latest album, Christmas Ballads, out now. The album marks the 25th Anniversary of the Dave Koz & Friends Tour and is the companion piece to the live shows of this year’s 23-city tour, which kicked off this past Thanksgiving weekend. Check out all upcoming tour dates here.
Pyroclastic Records Festival at Jazz Gallery: Pyroclastic Records, the non-profit label founded by Kris Davis, will celebrate its artists with a Pyroclastic Records Festival at New York City’s The Jazz Gallery on January 13-14. The festival will feature seven Pyroclastic artists and their projects, including Chris Lightcap, the Halvorson/Courvoisier Duo, Craig Taborn, the Eric Revis Quintet and Patricia Brennan. More here.
Arts for Art to Present Marshall Allen in Concert: Marshall Allen, the legendary 98-year-old leader of the Sun Ra Arkestra, will be leading a special group of New York City All-Stars at a concert performance at SHIFT in Brooklyn, New York, on February 3, 2023. The concert is presented by Arts for Art and it will be the closing event for its Artists & Friends Campaign. More here.
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