From PRI
Cuba’s Daymé Arocena found her religion through music
By: Maria Murriel
Daymé Arocena strolls onstage barefoot, beaming as her band primes an audience in Boston for 90 minutes of Cuban jazz.
Her head is wrapped in a white turban and she wears a white dress — the color of Santería, the Afro-Cuban religion born out of European Catholicism and West African Yoruba rituals brought to Cuba by slaves.
Arocena says all of Cuban music is shaped by the rhythms of Santería.
“Santería is the base of Cuban music, basically,” she says. “Every single rhythm comes from the batá drum. So even if you are not singing a chant of Santería, if you are playing Cuban music there is a link with Santería.”
On “Eleggua,” a haunting track off her new album, “Cubafonía,” the Santería link is evident.
At 23, Arocena is a new voice in a growing chorus... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 23rd, 2017 in News
From Edmonton Journal
Dianne Reeves packs more than jazz tunes into her eclectic concert adventures
By: Roger Levesque
Few jazz singers alive have the power, the vocal range, the assured delivery or the wide-ranging taste in repertoire that Dianne Reeves... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 23rd, 2017 in News
From Richmond Magazine
Q&A: Sidewalk Chalk
By: Briana Thorton
The members of Chicago band Sidewalk Chalk are passionate, energetic and soulful, and, presenting a wide variety of sounds through their live instrumentation (take a listen on their YouTube channel), the... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 23rd, 2017 in News
From Huffington Post
An Impressive New voice: Jazzmeia Horn’s “A Social Call”
By: Ralph A. Miriello
It should be no surprise that twenty-six-year old jazz vocalist Jazzmeia Horn is one of the most impressive new voices on the music scene... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 23rd, 2017 in News
From The Guardian
Lila Downs: Salón, Lágrimas y Deseo review – songs of female power
By: Robin Denselow
After bravely but cheerfully examining the problems of contemporary Mexico on Balas y Chocolate, two years ago, and then attacking Trump with... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 22nd, 2017 in News
From WBGO
Jazz Night In America: Still Dreaming – Joshua Redman’s Tribute To A Tribute
By:Nate Chinen
When Joshua Redman blew onto the scene in the early 1990s — a saxophonist brimming with intellect and energy, but refreshingly unhurried with... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 22nd, 2017 in News
From South Bend Tribune
Trumpeter Terence Blanchard uses his music to speak for the voiceless
By: Howard Dukes
Taylor Hackford knew who to call when looking for a musician to do the original soundtrack for his film “The Comedian.”
He... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 22nd, 2017 in News
From Bandcamp Daily
Album of the Day: Jack DeJohnette, Larry Grenadier, John Medeski & John Scofield, ‘Hudson’
By: Patrick Jarenwattananon
The members of the jazz supergroup Hudson share a language created in cities: by dense hive-minds of musicians, the spaces... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 22nd, 2017 in News
From AOL Entertainment BUILD Series
LILA DOWNS DISCUSSES HER ALBUM, “SALÓN LÁGRIMAS Y DESEO,” & THE “CELEBRATE BROOKLYN!” FESTIVAL
The BRIC “Celebrate Brooklyn!” Festival is a free, summer-long experience allowing New Yorkers to come with their friends and family to... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 21st, 2017 in News
From POPMATTERS
DeJohnette, Grenadier, Medeski, and Scofield – Hudson Review
By: Will Layman
Now DeJohnette, Medeski, bassist Larry Grenadier, and guitarist John Scofield have made a record that captures this kind of a band and aims to bottle the Hudson... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 21st, 2017 in News
From Premio da Musica Brasileira
Those Nominated For The 28th Brazilian Music Awards Were Released
Anat Cohen and Marcello Goncalves have been nominated for best Intrumental Album for their album, Outra Coisa.
To read more click here Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 20th, 2017 in News
From The Daily Nebraskan
Seasoned jazz musician Terence Blanchard headlines Jazz in June on June 20, music expresses social justice theme
By: Gayle Rocz
The list of Blanchard’s experience is extensive. From composing the score of every Spike Lee film... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 20th, 2017 in News
From Times Union
Hudson will keep tunes flowing freely at Jazz Fest
By: R.J. Deluke
Casual music fans may look at the lineup for the Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival and not think much when they see that a band called... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 20th, 2017 in News
From Vibe
Meet Daymé Arocena: Cuba’s Jazz Phenomenon Fusing Salsa, Hip-Hop And Neo-Soul
By: Marjua Estevez
Daymé Arocena is a singing drum. Her mouth blooms a litany of ethereal chants, a sacred devotion as impeccable as her white assembles against... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 19th, 2017 in News
From Tshwane Capital
VMMDF teaches ancient music to restore African pride
By: Dimpho Temane
The Vusi Mahlasela Music Development Foundation (VMMDF) is helping young individuals learn and preserve indigenous music. The foundation is providing quality musical training to historically disadvantaged... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 19th, 2017 in News
From DownBeat Magazine, July 2017
Anat Cohen – Perfect Accent
By: Allen Morrison
The “great room” of clarinetist Anat Cohen’s ultra-modern Brooklyn loft apartment has many luxurious attributes—high ceilings, open kitchen, a gleaming black Steinway grand piano and a treasured... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 15th, 2017 in News
From Pittsburgh TribLive
Hudson headlines final night Pittsburgh JazzLive International Festival
By: Bob Karlovits
Guitarist John Scofield thinks there could be a simple reason why he takes his music so many different directions.
“Maybe I’m just restless,” he says.
That... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 15th, 2017 in News
From Boston Globe
Cuban Millennial Daymé Arocena Bend Musical Traditions
By: Siddhartha Mitter
Daymé Arocena, the 25-year-old singer, composer, and bandleader who is the newest international sensation in Cuba’s rich history of musical brilliance, always had a tendency to do... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 14th, 2017 in News
From 89.3 KPCC
Tuesday Reviewsday: Shakira and Lila Downs
By: Take Two
Lila Downs
Album: Salón, Lágrimas y Deseo
Lila Downs continues to make the kind of music that goes deep, makes you think and it’s the kind of work... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 14th, 2017 in News
From Downbeat Magazine, July 2017
JAZZMEIA HORN: Addressing ‘Social’ Issues
By: John Murph
When Jazzmeia Horn, 26, takes the stage, she owns it. She exudes a fervid yet regal presence that commands respect, which augments her graceful singing.
“It comes... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 14th, 2017 in News
From Lincoln Journal Star
Terence Blanchard to bring groove-oriented, bitingly political music to Jazz in June
By: L. Kent Wolgamott
Terence Blanchard is a top-tier jazz trumpeter, with five Grammy Awards from 13 nominations and more than 30 albums.
He... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 14th, 2017 in News
From New York Times
National Endowment For The Arts Names 2018 Jazz Masters
By: Giovanni Russonello
The National Endowment for the Arts on Monday announced its class of 2018 Jazz Masters, awarding the annual fellowship to a broad range of... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 13th, 2017 in News
From Impose
WEEK IN POP: BLUE of NOON, COTILLON, GOSH!, SIDEWALK CHALK
By: Sjimon Gompers
Available today from the deep groove house of Ropeadope Records, Chicago institution Sidewalk Chalk released their fourth album that embraces the bloom & inspiration to... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 12th, 2017 in News
From WBUR (90.9): The ARTery
Daymé Arocena Wants The World To Know That Cuban Music Is More Than ‘Cha-Cha-Chá’
By: Amelia Mason
The Cuban singer and bandleader Daymé Arocena is best known for her massive voice, a throaty bellow that... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 12th, 2017 in News
From Westword
Jazz Supergroup Hudson Releases Debut Album
By: Jon Solomon
By the time Jack DeJohnette and his family moved from Manhattan to the Hudson River Valley in the early ‘70s, the masterful jazz drummer had worked with Bill Evans... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 9th, 2017 in News
From Latina
EXCLUSIVE: Lila Downs on New Album & How the 2016 Election Impacted Her
By: Daniela Galvez
Lila Downs has blessed us with another album: Salón, Lágrimas y Deseo.
We spoke to the Mexican singer about the inspiration behind... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 8th, 2017 in News
The Dominion Post
Concert Review: Dianne Reeves – Wellington Jazz Festival
By: Colin Morris
When Dianne Reeves last visited Wellington in 2010, critic/reviewer Simon Sweetman described Reeves that night as “captivating, astonishing and amazing” and Friday night was no different.... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 8th, 2017 in News
From JAZZIZ
Daymé Arocena, ‘Cubafonía’
By: Lissettee Corsa
Cuban soul singer Daymé Arcoena’s booming alto is boundless. From her days as a choir student and conductor at Havana’s prestigious Roldan Conservatory to collaborations with Canadian flutist/bandleader Jane Bunnet and British... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 8th, 2017 in News
From In Daily
Review: Dianne Reeves
By: Greg Elliot
Dianne Reeves is a beautiful singer with a smile that lights up the stage. A professional at the top of her game, she entertains effortlessly and enthusiastically.
One of the joys... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 8th, 2017 in News
From The Daily Telegraph
Jazz diva Dianne Reeves changes the energy in her own Vivid light show
By: Steve Moffatt
AMERICAN jazz diva Dianne Reeves reckons the energy needs to be changed in the world at the moment so for... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 7th, 2017 in News
From Okayplayer
New Music: Stream Sidewalk Chalk’s Wonderful ‘An Orchid Is Born’ Album
By: Kevito
Sidewalk Chalk’s latest-and-greatest is totally worth the listen.
The band, which we’ve been covering extensively the past month or so, has made their fourth full-length... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 7th, 2017 in News
From Chicago Tribune
Kenwood’s jazz band makes a record with Jason Moran
By: Howard Reich
The students hardly could believe it was happening.
But, as promised, one of the most admired pianists in jazz – MacArthur Fellow Jason Moran —... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 6th, 2017 in News
From The Post and Courier
Terence Blanchard brings New Orleans vibe to the Holy City
By: Christian Medina Beltz
When trumpeter Terence Blanchard blows his horn, the notes articulate a feeling about life and how it’s lived.
“The beautiful thing... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 6th, 2017 in News
From LA Times
Our pick of five acts not to miss at this weekend’s Playboy Jazz Festival
By: Chris Barton
Hudson, Saturday
Forged in part by shared love of an area each of its members calls home — the Hudson... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 6th, 2017 in News
From NPR Music
Downs’ Album Mixes Traditional Mexican Genres With A Strong Feminist Pulse
By: Carrie Kahn
Grammy-winning Mexican-American recording star Lila Downs has a new album: Salón, Lágrimas y Deseo. Through her blend of genres, she looks for common... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 5th, 2017 in News
From Black Grooves
Jazzmeia Horn – A Social Call
By: Brenda Nelson-Strauss
After winning the Theonious Monk Institute International Jazz Competition in 2015, vocalist Jazzmeia Horn certainly validated the name assigned by her prescient jazz-loving, church musician grandmother. On her... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 5th, 2017 in News
From Paste
Jazz Notes From New York: Bill Frisell, John Scofield and More
By: Bill Milkowski
SCO’S WAY-BACK MACHINE
In a retrospective concert held in the Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center on May 5 and 6, recent Grammy-winner... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 5th, 2017 in News
From 2DOPEBOYZ
STREAM SIDEWALK CHALK’S ‘AN ORCHID IS BORN’ ALBUM
By: JES7
Chicago-based Hip-Hop-funk-jazz assembly Sidewalk Chalk came back strong this year, following an absence which lasted nearly five years, and their remarkable return couldn’t have come at a better... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 4th, 2017 in News
From SOULBOWL
New album: Sidewalk Chalk An Orchid Is Born
By: efdote
I have to admit that it has long since no new album did not do me such a big impression as the latest album Sidewalk Chalk. He went... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 4th, 2017 in IMN / Industry News
From Something Else!
Jack DeJohnette, Larry Grenadier, John Medeski, John Scofield – Hudson (2017)
By: S. Victor Aaron
So this is what happens when a group of old jazz hands get into a Levon Helm kind of way. Hudson is... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 3rd, 2017 in News
From The Chicago Tribune
Chris Potter Sets Off A Storm In Evening Of New Music
By: Howard Reich
It’s difficult to fathom how saxophonist Chris Potter could play a second set after the first one he offered Thursday night at... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 2nd, 2017 in News
From Okay Africa
Daymé Arocena’s ‘Eleggua’ Is A Beautiful Afro-Cuban Ode to Santería’s God of Crossroads
By: KILLAKAM
Daymé Arocena‘s new album, Cubafonía, is a wonder of handcrafted Afro-Cuban music, bringing the rhythms of today’s Cuba—not just the ’50s Cuban... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 1st, 2017 in News
From NPR Music
First Listen: DeJohnette, Grenadier, Medeski & Scofield, ‘Hudson’
By: Nate Chinen
There’s a memorable stretch in Hudson, the debut album by a new jazz supergroup of the same name, when a megaton of subtext finds expression in... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 1st, 2017 in News
From The New York Times
Kennedy Center’s New Jazz Season Includes Q-Tip and Local Artists
By: Giovanni Russonello
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announces the renewal of Jason Moran’s contract as the organization’s Artistic Director for... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 1st, 2017 in News
From Charleston City Paper
Trumpeter Terence Blanchard’s new E-Collective band takes him into uncharted territory
By: Vincent Harris
In a career that’s spanned almost 40 years, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Terence Blanchard has done just about all one can do... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 1st, 2017 in News
From Public Radio International
Musician Lila Downs fights back
By: Monica Campbell
Musician Lila Downs is hitting back. After the election of Donald Trump, Downs, who has lived in both the United States and Mexico, says she was put “in... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 1st, 2017 in News
From Southern California Public Radio
Lila Downs adds a political touch to the traditional bolero
By: Betto Acros
Mexican-American singer Lila Downs became well-known after she appeared in Julie Taymor’s “Frida” in 2002, and her performance of a song from... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 1st, 2017 in News
From The Root
An African in New York: Jazz Singer Somi’s Petite Afrique
By: Maiysha Kai
My tea leaves steep as I wait for Somi in Silvana, a café and live-music venue on 116th Street in Harlem, just off Frederick... Read The Full Article
Posted Jun 1st, 2017 in News
From LA Times
‘Buena Vista Social Club: Adios’ returns Cuban musicians to spotlight
By: Katie Walsh
he 1997 “Buena Vista Social Club” album and Wim Wenders’ accompanying 1999 tour documentary re-introduced the world to the long-forgotten yet infectious Cuban sound... Read The Full Article
Posted May 31st, 2017 in News
From Billboard
Six New Albums (and One Reissue) of Ageless Cuban Music
By: Judy Cantor
Dayme Arocena, Cubafonia
The infinite power of Afro-Cuban ritual drives the remarkable young Cuban singer Dayme Arocena’s latest, Cubafonia. On this luscious Gilles Peterson-produced recording,... Read The Full Article
Posted May 31st, 2017 in News