Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
Imbued with immense talent and a genuine love for music and people, Tierney Sutton has a voice that transcends stylistic boundaries, touching the hearts of all who hear it. “The Sting Variations” is a logical follow-up to the seven-time Grammy nominee’s recent solo album, in which she re-imagined Joni Mitchell’s iconic album “Blue.” This time, with her full band, she returns with unique interpretations of the best of Sting’s diverse repertoire. Embracing both massive hits and more obscure, deep album tracks from his catalog, the disc is the latest studio triumph from a group that has toured the world and, in recent years, has headlined at the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and Jazz at Lincoln Center. The band also recently collaborated with Clint Eastwood, a long-time fan of Sutton’s work, on the score for his new film, “Sully.”
With her sixth album, “Harlem on My Mind,” Grammy-winning vocalist Catherine Russell journeys to the blue heart of the great African American songbook. Swinging forth with soulful interpretations, Russell taps the golden age of Harlem, as befits this vibrant daughter of jazz. Vocalists Ethel Waters, Billie Holiday, Etta James, and Dinah Washington provide inspiration where tunesmiths like Benny Carter, Irving Berlin, Andy Razaf and Fats Waller once ruled the roost of a renaissance which continues to reverberate. The disc showcases her honey rich voice in a variety of settings, including a tentet on a handful of pieces, arranged by saxophonist Andy Farber.
Also this week, on the cusp of twenty five years together, bassist Mark Saltman and pianist William Knowles return with “Almost,” a program of melodic, bluesy, swinging originals.
13-year-old two-time G
rammy nominee and Downbeat Critic’s Poll “Rising Star” winner Joey Alexander releases is second full-length album, “Countdown”.
Veteran alto saxophonist and composer Jim Snidero tackles open modal forms and uses his unfettered imagination as a portal into free territory on “MD66.”