If you’re looking for some great new music to discover this weekend, look no further than our weekly New Release Cheat Sheet.
New Songs and Videos
Sasha Dobson, “Girl Talk” [Video Premiere]
Singer/songwriter Sasha Dobson has shared a video for the title track of her new album, Girl Talk, which is also out today. This version of the Neal Hefti classic showcases her effervescent sense of humor and features her longtime friend and collaborator Norah Jones on backing vocals. Aside from new renditions of enduring favorites, Girl Talk includes ten new original compositions. You can order the album HERE.
Stacey Kent, “I Wish I Could Go Travelling Again” [Song Premiere]
Stacey Kent reflects the sentiments of countless listeners cooped up by COVID with her wistful performance of “I Wish I Could Go Travelling Again,” co-written by her husband, saxophonist/composer Jim Tomlinson with the author Kazuo Ishiguro. This is the opening track from Kent’s most recent release, Songs from Other Places, due out September 17 on Candid, and you can pre-order it HERE. Kent is ready to hit the road again and you can catch her in person at New York’s Birdland on September 28-October 2.
The Count Basie Orchestra, “April in Paris” [Song Premiere]
In January 2020, the Count Basie Orchestra, under the direction of Scotty Barnhardt, returned to Birdland in New York City to record a live album in the same place where the big band recorded their seminal Basie at Birdland! record in 1961. The new double album, Live at Birdland, will be released on September 17 via Candid Records and features a repertoire of Basie gems and new songs. You can listen to the premiere of their take on the classic “April in Paris” via the player below and pre-order Live at Birdland HERE.
säje, “Dusk Baby” feat. Gerald Clayton [Song Premiere]
The new genre-defying, all-female compositional/vocal collective säje is made up of Sara Gazarek, Amanda Taylor, Johnaye Kendrick, and Erin Bentlage. They share today their new single, “Dusk Baby,” a lush collaboration with master pianist Gerald Clayton. The track is also a sneak peek into their highly-anticipated debut album, which is set to be released in Spring 2022.
New Albums
Eliane Elias, Mirror Mirror (Candid)
On Mirror Mirror, pianist/singer/songwriter Eliane Elias returns to the two-piano setting for the first time in many years. The record features piano duets with the late legendary jazz great Chick Corea and famed Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés and marks Elias’ first piano-only recording since 1995’s Solos and Duets. Order Mirror Mirror here.
Jazzmeia Horn and Her Noble Force, Dear Love (Empress Legacy)
Dear Love is vanguard vocalist Jazzmeia Horn’s first big band effort, for which she put together a 15-piece ensemble called Noble Force. The album is released today on the artist’s own record label and, according to a press release, “brims with the combination of her assured delivery and spoken word segments, deft arrangements and fiery musical ideas.” Order it here.
Pat Metheny, Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV) (Modern/BMG)
Recorded just before the pandemic, Side-Eye NYC (V1-IV) is a new Pat Metheny live album featuring the guitar great at his most rocking, performing new originals and inventive reworkings of some of his most beloved original compositions, accompanied by a handpicked rotating cast of players. This is Metheny’s second full-length of 2021, following his classical guitar multi-movement Road to the Sun. Order it here.
Featured photo by Lauren Desberg.
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