THE JAZZ CHILL CORNER Saxophonist JIMMY GREENE Releases Beautiful Life - Featuring Special Guests Including Kenny Barron, Javier Colon, Kurt Elling, and Pat Metheny, Among Others

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1. Saxophonist JIMMY GREENE Releases Beautiful Life - Featuring Special Guests Including Kenny Barron, Javier Colon, Kurt Elling, and Pat Metheny, Among Others
2. Blue Note Records’ 75th Anniversary Celebrations Continue With Commemorative ‘Blue Note: Uncompromising Expression’ 5-CD Singles Box Set & Hardbound Book to Be Released November 4
3. NEW RELEASES: JUNGLE FIRE - TROPICOSO; DAVE & ANSEL COLLINS - DOUBLE UP!; ELIZABETH SHEPHERD - SIGNAL
4. NEW RELEASES: PRINCE & 3RDEYEGIRL - PLECTRUMELECTRUM; FELA KUTI 7-LP BOX SET; VADOU GAME - APIAFO
5. JAMES BROWN REISSUES: HOT PANTS, THERE IT IS, IT'S A BRAND NEW DAY - LET A MAN COME ON, BODYHEAT, SLAUGHTER'S BIG RIP-OFF

Saxophonist JIMMY GREENE Releases Beautiful Life - Featuring Special Guests Including Kenny Barron, Javier Colon, Kurt Elling, and Pat Metheny, Among Others Posted: 01 Oct 2014 01:32 PM PDT Jimmy Greene's new release, Beautiful Life on Mack Avenue Records, is a celebration of the life of his 6-year-old daughter, Ana Márquez-Greene, whose life was tragically taken, along with 19 other children and 6 educators, on December 14, 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. "I want the music to reflect the way that Ana lived," Greene says. He fulfills that mandate with an intense, cohesive, genre-spanning program-juxtaposing the hardcore instrumental jazz for which he is best known with traditional spirituals, contemporary Christian music, standard ballads and three original songs framing his own lyrics. Animating the repertoire is a gold-standard rhythm section (Renee Rosnes, piano; Christian McBride, bass; Lewis Nash, drums), augmented at various points by guitarists Pat Metheny and Jonathan DuBose, Jr.; pianists Kenny Barron and Cyrus Chestnut; vocalists Kurt Elling, Javier Colon and Latanya Farrell; spoken word from Tony® Award-winning actress Anika Noni Rose; a 13-piece string ensemble from the Hartford Symphony Orchestra; as well as an accomplished children's choir.

THE JAZZ CHILL CORNER LEDISI - THE TRUTH

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1. LEDISI - THE TRUTH
2. NICK VAYENAS - SOME OTHER TIME
3. BLUE NOTE RECORDS CELEBRATES 75TH ANNIVERSARY
4. THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND LIVE AT THE BEACON THEATRE 1992: PLAY ALL NIGHT

LEDISI - THE TRUTH Posted: 08 Jan 2014 08:02 AM PST You can tell when a woman has finally come into her own. It's in the swivel of her hips, the growl in her voice and the joy that brightens her face when she smiles. A woman filled with confidence is a force to be reckoned with. For singer songwriter Ledisi, that exuberance rings through on every track of her new album The Truth. "I changed my life!" Ledisi says with a laugh. "With every album I grow, and with The Truth I am really starting to accept myself fully. I mean, I've always felt great about myself, but this time I've gone to a new level." The result is an album filled not only with Ledisi's trademark soaring ballads but also something unexpected: a generous collection of up-tempo, beat-driven celebrations of love and lust. Ledisi describes the effort as "vibrant, sensual and fun. Of all of my recordings, this is definitely my favorite album ever." Her first single, I Blame You, is a joyful reflection on that new-found love. "This other person made me feel beautiful," she says. "And that made me look at myself and see myself in a different light." Her friend and collaborator, Claude Kelly (Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera) came up with title. "I came into the studio and Claude asked me how I was feeling and I said, 'I feel excited about myself,'" she recalls. "I told him someone was making me smile and he thought of the idea of blaming the other person for building me up. But of course, that only works if you are open to it." "That song was the beginning of me letting go," she continues. "I realized, it's okay for you to leave something that's not working. Of course, it's scary to realize the truth and then go ahead and make a move. But that's what you have to do. Basically it comes down to, are you going to stay here and be miserable or are you going to leap and go for what you want?"