Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
Throughout his storied career, iconic keyboardist and composer Chick Corea has explored a wealth of music from across borders both geographical and stylistic. Time and again over the decades he’s returned to what he calls his “Spanish heart”—the Spanish, Latin and flamenco traditions that have indelibly shaped his unmistakable sound. Now with his new album, “Antidote,” recorded with his brand new Spanish Heart Band, Corea once again delves deeply into the Latin side of his musical heritage with a stunning collection of musicians from Spain, Cuba, Venezuela and the U.S. The disc revisits classic pieces from two of the bandleader’s most beloved albums, “My Spanish Heart” and “Touchstone,” along with new compositions and favorites by revered composers like Jobim, de Lucia and Stravinsky.
Bassist, composer and bandleader Marcus Shelby brings together three of his greatest passions—African-American history, baseball and big-band jazz—on “Transitions,” the latest work by his 15-piece Marcus Shelby Orchestra. Shelby’s work to date has established his penchant for deep musical dives into black history and culture, including works inspired by Harriet Tubman and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. While the new disc offers Shelby’s lush arrangements of classic tunes by Ellington, Mingus and Cole Porter, its centerpiece, “Black Ball: the Negro Leagues and the Blues,” is an original four-part suite inspired by the history of Negro League baseball. Specifically, the four-part suite was inspired by four cities–Pittsburgh, New York, Chicago and Kansas City—that were central to the Negro Leagues and also definitive cities during the birth and evolution of the Blues and Swing.
Also this week, drummer Al Foster pays tribute his family and colleagues with “Inspirations & Dedications,” a set of songs written or interpreted in their honor;
pianist and composer Fred Hersch’s “Begin Again” features nine of his original compositions arranged and conducted by six-time Grammy winner Vince Mendoza for the WDR Big Band;
and saxophonist Bob Sheppard, whose resume includes work with Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock, Michael Brecker and others, presents his fifth effort as a leader, “The Fine Line.”