Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
Legendary Grammy Award winning guitarist and composer Al Di Meola is a pioneer of blending world music and jazz. Over the past four decades, he’s explored the rich influence of flamenco, tango, Middle Eastern, Brazilian and African music. And he has won more guitar awards from Guitar Player magazine than any other guitarist in history. His new CD, “Opus,” explores the 40-plus years of his celebrated career and makes a positive statement about his new-found outlook on life. “For the first time in my life, I have written music being happy, I’m in a wonderful relationship with my wife, I have a baby girl and a beautifarul family that inspires me every day,” Di Meola explains. “I believe it shows in the music.”
The worth of a thing is not only to be found in its bottom-line value. That’s the idea at the heart of Canadian artist Emily Carr’s painting, “Scorned as Timber, Beloved of the Sky,” which depicts a solitary tree, rejected by loggers who have clear-cut its neighbors, stretching improbably but majestically into the heavens. It’s a sentiment that resonates deeply with pianist/composer Renee Rosnes. On her new disc, “Beloved of the Sky”—which borrows its title and cover art from Carr’s painting—Renee explores the beauty and wonder to be found in life’s more elusive, intangible joys. The disc also celebrates the chemistry made possible by a band of truly remarkable musicians, each one a master of their instrument: saxophonist Chris Potter, vibraphonist Steve Nelson, bassist Peter Washington, and drummer Lenny White.
Also this week, guitar virtuoso Adreas Varady, a discovery by legendary producer Quincy Jones, unveils his sophomore release, “The Quest”.
Saxophonist Sharel C
assity presents “Evolve,” her fourth album as a leader and first with her new band Elektra.
Pianist Roger Kellaway and his trio continue the
series of discs featuring the music of Carl Saunders with “New Jazz Standards Vol. 3.”