Listen to this week’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify.
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s 2016-2017 season opened with a program entitled “Handful of Keys: A Century of Jazz Piano,” kicking off a year-long celebration of the many artists, styles, and movements encompassed in the century-long jazz continuum. The concert was an “encapsulated history” exploring the many rich traditions and styles that define jazz piano today, featuring the combined forces of the stellar Orchestra with six guest pianists. These guests, along with the Orchestra’s own wonderfully versatile Dan Nimmer, covered a wide age span, from 13-year-old Joey Alexander to 89-year-old Dick Hyman, with Helen Sung, Larry Willis, Myra Melford, and Isaiah J. Thompson filling in the decades. The repertoire included music by some of the 20th century’s outstanding pianist/composers, with new arrangements by some of the evening’s performers.
“The Sky Remains” is native Angeleno Josh Nelson’s love letter to Los Angeles. Each of the ten story-driven tunes on the thematic album tells a tale of hidden gems and little-known stories about the city. Throughout this ambitious outing, Nelson and his talented band of fellow Angelenos musically explore the city’s treasures while uncovering lost history and acknowledging a few L.A. icons along the way. With his Discovery Project, Nelson collaborates with visual artists in live shows to create a multi-disciplinary, immersive experience for audiences. He’s explored a different theme with each project, including early science fiction and the planet Mars, and now with the history of Los Angeles.
Also this week, lauded American singer Lizz Wright reveals the web of deep-running roots of story and song that bind together the diverse traditions that are the soul of the American South with “Grace,” including tunes by Allen Toussaint, Nina Simone, Ray Charles, Mitchell Parish and Bob Dylan.
Indianapolis-based trumpeter, composer and educator Jen Siukola debuts a collection of original pieces on “Lighthouse Reverie”.
Saxophonist Ralph Bowen unveils his P
hylogeny Suite on his new, self-titled CD.