Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
A staple of New York City’s jazz and Afro-Cuban scenes over the last five decades, acclaimed flutist Andrea Brachfeld celebrates the sounds of Brazil with a spirited tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim, “Brazilian Whispers.” Along with arrangements of Jobim classics, Brachfeld offers a look into her writing partnership with pianist and frequent collaborator Bill O’Connell through some of their Brazil-inspired compositions. With bandmates O’Connell, guitarist Ronnie Ben-Hur, bassists Harvie S and Lincoln Goines, and drummer/percussionists Jason Tiemann, T. Portinho, and Chembo Corniel, Andrea creates an inspired, deeply grooving collection of Brazilian gems.
Over a twenty-eight-year span, the high energy Canadian band Shuffle Demons have released eight CDs, two hit videos, won several music awards, done numerous TV and radio appearances and toured nationally and internationally. They broke onto the Canadian music scene in 1984 with an electrifying musical fusion that drew in equal measure from Sun Ra, Charles Mingus, Run DMC and the Beastie Boys. A hit at festivals all over the world, the Shuffle Demons are a crowd pleasing, full on musical group that backs up wild stage antics and eye-catching costumes with phenomenal playing by some of Canada’s most talented musicians. We’ll introduce their fun new album, “Crazy Time.”
London-based Wild Card features a blend of hard-bop, Afro/Samba and funk grooves on “Beast from the East”;
Also this week, pianist Bill Cunliffe is joined by a Hawaii-based rhythm section for “Sunrise Over Molokai”;
and Kurt Elling is joined by Australian trumpeter James Morrison “Live in New York” at Birdland.