Snarky Puppy, Daniel Rotem, Gerald Clayton & More: New Release Cheat Sheet

If you’re looking for some great new music to discover this weekend, look no further than our weekly New Release Cheat Sheet.

Special Announcement

Snarky Puppy, one of the world’s top bands in genre-defying and mindblowing instrumental music, will perform an intimate and extremely rare acoustic set on May 7, as part of their recurring three-day extravaganza, GroundUp Music Festival. The concert will be open to a limited audience of Saturday Brunch ticket holders (only 75 tickets available) and to All-In-Pass ticket holders. Get your tickets here.

The GroundUp Music Festival will return to Miami Beach, Florida, on May 6-8, 2022. In addition to epic performances at the Bandshell and Park stages, the festival will bring more intimate concerts from GroundUp Artists at Friday’s cocktail and Saturday and Sunday’s brunch events. Stay tuned for more announcements. Meanwhile, you can get a taste of this year’s GroundUp Music Festival’s eclectic lineup by listening to a specially-curated playlist below.

New Tracks and Videos

The Daniel Rotem Quartet, “Moment’s Notice” [Video Premiere]

Saxophonist Daniel Rotem celebrates the legacy of John Coltrane, approaching the jazz legend’s immortal music from the spiritual side, inspired by some of the thoughts he expressed in the book Coltrane on Coltrane. Wise One: Celebrating the Music of John Coltrane features his quartet with pianist Billy Childs, bassist Derek Oles and drummer Christian Euman. The LP was recorded in 2020 at Los Angeles’ bluewhale, which sadly closed its doors during the pandemic. You can watch the quartet perform “Moment’s Notice” from Coltrane’s seminal 1958 album Blue Train via the player below and pre-order Wise One HERE.

Gerald Clayton, “Damunt de tu Només les Flors”

Pianist/composer Gerald Clayton has shared “Damunt de tu Només les Flors,” the second single to be revealed from his forthcoming album, Bells on Sand. The piece was written by the Catalan composer Federico Mompou. “Mompou’s music is laid out so masterfully, so economical in the spread of his voicings, that it feels a bit unnecessary to add anything original to it,” says Clayton. His version is performed with his father John Clayton on bass, Justin Brown on drums. It also includes a stunning vocal performance by MARO. Bells on Sand will be released on April 1 via Blue Note and you can pre-order it HERE.

Alternative Guitar Summit, “Willow” [Song Premiere]

Highnote is set to release Alternative Guitar Summit Honoring Pat Martino, Volume 1. The record captures a string of performances from an Alternative Guitar Summit celebration held at a Brooklyn recording studio on March 20, 2021. Honoring Pat Martino and paying tribute to his contribution to the jazz canon on this record, a star-studded lineup featuring some of the world’s most unique voices on jazz guitar. You can listen to the premiere of one of its tracks, “Willow,” performed with Sheryl Bailey and Ed Cherry on guitar, via the player below. The album will be released on March 25 and you can pre-order it HERE.

New Albums

Jameszoo, Blind (Brainfeeder)

Visionary Dutch producer Jameszoo embarks on further adventures on the fringes of jazz and electronica, re-examining our understanding of music composition and consumption on his new album. Blind, which marks his return to Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder label, also features a wide cast of instrumentalists and collaborators, including Petter Eldh, Evan Parker, Niels Broos and many others. Order Blind here.

Walter Smith III & Matthew Stevens, In Common III (Whirlwind)

Having wowed listeners with their previous two collaborations, saxophonist Walter Smith III and guitarist Matthew Stevens return with a new full-length of their In Common project, which finds them interacting with different improvisational musicians from all corners of the scene. Their comrades in music this time are none other than NEA Jazz Masters Dave Holland and Terri Lyne Carrington, plus acclaimed pianist Kris Davis. Order In Common III here.