Greetings! Every Friday I’ll be bringing you some highlights of new music we are featuring here on Jazz88. This is all connected to This Just In, our weekly show that celebrates new jazz releases. You can catch This Just In, hosted by moi, Fridays at noon on 88.5, or catch it on your own schedule from our on-demand page.
If you have input about the music we’re playing, or ideas about what else we should be playing, let me know please! I can be reached at sean@jazz88.fm.
Lucia Sarmiento – “Porcelain” her new single Listen Here
Lucia Sarmiento hails from Peru but she’s been carving a path with the Twin Cities as her homebase for ten years. In that time she has toured internationally with some of the biggest names in music include Karol G and Pitbull. But when Sarmiento is in town she can fit in in almost any musical situation with her masterful command of the alto sax. For her latest release she tapped some of her prime collaborators like David Feily (guitar), Ry Dill (bass), Will Kjeer (piano) and Austin Lee (drums) to lay down a sonic landscape built off of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ tune “Porcelain”. In this instance, Sarmiento also adds in her voice. Now she’s a double threat! After she delivers the lyric she provides a sublime sax solo that speaks as clearly to me as her voice does. Glad to see more music from Lucia Sarmiento!
Nicole Glover – “The Fox” from her album Nicole Glover Plays Listen Here
I had the joy of seeing Nicole Glover live last summer when she played with Christian McBride. She was compelling that night but obviously had to share the spotlight with Christian and the other great players that came with him. On this album I’ve been able to hone in all that Nicole Glover has to offer. Her dexterous playing is thankfully in service of the song and the spirit. So though she can get through a tremendous amount of notes in seconds flat, none of them seem like practice room head cutting, just intense passion to communicate the spirit of the music. I was immediately drawn to Glover’s rendition of Kenny Dorham’s “The Fox”. The ensemble sounds sprightly and energetic throughout and the beautiful solo from Steve Nelson on vibraphone is an added bonus. I will certainly be in attendance when Glover is back in town this October at the Dakota with McBride.
Remy Le Bouef’s Assembly of Shadows – “Barbara feat. Julia Easterlin” from his new album Heartland Radio Listen Here
My colleague Peter Solomon has me on the hunt for modern big band music and let me tell you . . .the hunting is good! We’ve been supportive of the work of saxophonist, writer and bandleader Remy Le Bouef and his latest outing “Heartland Radio” might be his best yet. The album is a love letter to the great American road trip and throughout the effort Le Bouef weaves in sounds from outside of the jazz world that would sound welcome in any fast moving vehicle I’ve ever been in. We honed in on the tune “Barbara” thanks largely to the crystalline voice of Julia Easterlin. The song has a haunting power and energy that stays in your brain, and the horn writing continues to evolve and conjure up new images throughout the chart. This one is definitely coming on my family annual road trip to Bayfield this summer.
Thanks for checking out This Just In, and be sure to shoot an email over to sean@jazz88.fm if you have any input about our music programming!
-Sean McPherson
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