Saxophonist, flutist, composer, and jazz mystic Charles Lloyd‘s latest Blue Note offering Passin’ Thru is a passionate live recording that marks the 10th anniversary of his acclaimed and enduring New Quartet featuring pianist Jason Moran, bassist Reuben Rogers, and drummer Eric Harland, a simpatico unit that teems with intuition, contemplation and…
Drum legend Tony Allen has seen a childhood dream come true. He even says that when he made The Source (his debut album for Blue Note Records), it was the best recording in his whole life. Coming from Allen, that’s not a casual statement: he is 76 years old…
2-time GRAMMY-winning vocalist Gregory Porter‘s 3rd Blue Note album, Nat King Cole & Me, is a heartfelt tribute to his idol, the legendary singer, pianist and Capitol recording artist Nat King Cole. With the help of 6-time GRAMMY-winning arranger Vince Mendoza, the London Studio Orchestra, a core band featuring…
It certainly has been a long time coming, but 35 years after his last album vocalist Sweet Pea Atkinson will finally release Get What You Deserve, a mesmerizing new solo album that’s jovial blend of Blues, R&B, Soul, Funk and more. Time flies when you’re becoming one of the most…
Jazz as an art form is a lifelong work in progress. While in some camps the music of past masters represents the genre’s heralded Golden Age, others disagree, noting that there are artists in the present day with fresh original voices and their own point of view who are…
Blue Note Records has released Popular, the previously unreleased 3rd album from singer-songwriter Van Hunt, which was shelved a decade ago. Popular was originally intended for release in January 2008, but was pulled from Blue Note’s release schedule in late 2007 during a tumultuous time for the label’s prior parent…
Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band marks its 20th anniversary in 2017 with the release of their sublime fifth album, Body and Shadow, a succinct nine-track meditation on lightness/darkness that arrives like a balm for the soul, ebbing and flowing with grace, subtlety and no shortness of beauty. Formed…
The marvelous Dr. Lonnie Smith stands tall as the foremost maestro of the Hammond B-3 organ and at the age of 75 still reigns as a master of innovation and experimentation. The 2017 NEA Jazz Master may say that all he does is simply old school, but Smith paints…
Different worlds have always collided, vividly, in the sound of GoGo Penguin. The Manchester-based trio conjure richly atmospheric music that draws from their shared love of electronica, their grounding in classical conservatoires and jazz ensembles alongside indie bands, and a merging of acoustic and electronic techniques. Over the past few years, it…
You already know the Drumhedz. You just don’t know that you know the Drumhedz. They’ve been playing on your favorite albums for years, setting the tone or keeping time at the best shows you’ve ever seen, making the young stars sound like legends and the legends sound like gods,…