Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
Justly famous for his gorgeous compositions and arrangements for a long list of singers including Natalie Cole, Diana Krall and Paul McCartney, Alan Broadbent is also a pianist’s pianist: possessed of fierce technique; exquisitely emotional, when the moment calls for it; and as hard-swinging as they come. Throughout the performances on his new CD “New York Notes,” there is a remarkable polish and sense of order while maintaining the unmistakable sound of the classic piano trios, live and off-the-cuff. With his long-time associates Harvie S and Billy Mintz on hand it is little surprise that their almost telepathic communication gives the session an extremely wide emotional range.
Once you have listened to acclaimed vocalist, composer and arranger Alicia Olatuja, you won’t soon forget her. Praised in the New York Times as “a singer with a strong and luscious tone,” Olatuja combines the earthy with the sublime, bringing a grounded relatability to genres as lofty as classical, as venerated as jazz, and as gritty as R&B. For her new project, “Intuition: Songs from the Minds of Women,” Olatuja celebrates the musical contributions of women composers by reinterpreting their songs through her own lens of classic, jazzy soul. She features songs by Sade, Angela Bofill, Brenda Russell, Tracy Chapman, Kate Bush, and others.
Also this week, celebrated Canadian vocalist Holly Cole explores the classic American songbook on her 17th recording as a leader, “Holly”;
guitarist Dave Stryker offers up another batch of his favorite melodies from the ‘70s on “Eight Track III,” featuring Stefon Harris and Jared Gold;
and composer and arranger Peter Drew presents a second batch of his big band charts with “And What’s More.”