KIRK WHALUM CHANNELS ETHOS OF CIVIL RIGHTS AN GLOBAL HARMONY ON NEW MUSIC Humanité AVAILABLE NOW!
Grammy® Award Winner and Global Recording Artist Kirk Whalum 8th Annual Gospel According To Jazz Christmas tour is in selected markets now. Whalumwill perform his biggest hits, holiday favorites, and songs from his latest album, Humanite’ The dates will feature John Stoddart and Kevin Whalum, along with this year’s special guests, vocalist Maysa andguitarist Adam Hawley.
Kirk’s new music, Humanite was produced by his longtime friend, producer, British jazz trumpeter and session musician, James McMillan. Over a period of three months in 2018, Kirk and James recorded the soul-drenched, emotional and highly melodic tracks in locations ranging from studios in Jakarta, Tokyo, Paris, Nairobi, Johannesburg and Hastings, to hotel rooms, office buildings and even Kirk’s living room in his hometown, Memphis, Tenn.
Kirk Whalum at Jazz Fest
Standout tracks that showcase the album’s harmonious mix of American jazz, blues, funk and pop, along with global indigenous musical forms, abound on Humanité and include the high velocity fusion track, “Korogocho,” featuring jazz master bass player Marcus Miller in a death-defying duel with young Indonesian bass sharp-shooter Barry Likumahuwa; a silky ballad about the power of education and enlightenment, “Wake Up Everybody,” featuring Indonesian superstar, Afgan; and the uplifting, gorgeous contemporary jazz/R&B track and debut single, “Get Your Wings Up,” featuring guitarist/vocalist Andréa Lisa.
“Music is the language that communicates across borders. Music can break and enter into a person’s soul. The difference is that she is not there to take, she’s there to give, to leave something when she goes.”
Kirk Whalum
A collage of contributing artists
Track List:
Move On Up, featuring Brendan Reilly (UK)
Everybody Oughta Be Free, featuring Robyn Troop (USA)
Don’t Get Me Wrong(I’m Grateful), featuring Mi Casa (South Africa)
Wake Up Everybody, featuring Afgan (Indonesia)
Wildflower, featuring Liane Carroll (UK)
Get Your Wings Up, featuring Andréa Lisa (South Africa)
Now I Know, featuring Zahara (South Africa)
SJL, featuring Keiko Matsui (Japan)
Korogocho, featuring Marcus Miller and Barry Likumahuwa (NewYork/Indonesia)
Blow 4U (USA)
Kwetu,featuring Ghetto Classics and Aaron Rimbui (Kenya)
Peace, featuring Grace Sahertian (Indonesia)
We Shall Overcome You, featuring Asa (France)
From The East To The West, featuring Heavenese (Japan)
See Kirk latest Tour Dates: Saturday, 12/14, The Monticello, Atlanta, GA Sunday, 12/15, Community of Faith, Houston, TX Friday 12/20, Crosstown Theater, Memphis, TN Sunday, 12/22, Spirit of New York, New York, NY Monday, 12/23, City Winery, Nashville, TN
Why We’ll ‘Always Love’ Kirk Whalum Forged from his Memphis, TN gospel roots and the thriving Houston, TX music scene in his early career, Kirk Whalum’s big, rich tenor saxophone sound is unmistakably his. It was in Houston where jazz pianist Bob James “discovered” Kirk and brought him on tour, which led to five successful albums with Columbia Records, including Cache, Kirk’s first No. 1 album. Kirk became an in-demand session player for top artists such as Barbra Streisand, Luther Vandross, Quincy Jones and most notably, Whitney Houston, amongst many others. It’s his sax heard on the mega-hit, “I Will Always Love You.” Kirk soon followed that career high point with his Warner Bros. Records album, For You, one of his most successful of over 25 solo recordings to date; others include his eclectic Gospel According to Jazz series, (Chapters I, II, III, IV).Kirk is the recipient of numerous awards and acknowledgements for his musical excellence, including three Dove Award nominations, an NAACP Image Award nomination, and Stellar Awards. A twelve-time Grammy® nominee, Kirk won his first Grammy® Award for Best Gospel Song (“It’s What I Do” featuring Lalah Hathaway) alongside life-long friend and gifted writer, Jerry Peters, who also penned the timeless “Goin’ In Circles” for the Friends of Distinction.
Features original, never-before-heard compositions, recorded by Coltrane’s Classic Quartet in 1963 at Van Gelder Studios
“Untitled Original 11383” available now https://Verve.lnk.to/BothDirectionsAtOnce
John Coltrane Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album available on June 29 on Impulse! (PRNewsfoto/Verve Label Group)
On March 6, 1963, John Coltrane and his Classic Quartet — McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones — recorded an entire studio album at the legendary Van Gelder Studios. This music, which features unheard originals, will finally be released 55 years later. This is, in short, the holy grail of jazz.
Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album was released on June 29 on Impulse! Records, Coltrane’s final and most creative label home.
The first week of March in 1963 was busy for John Coltrane. He was in the midst of a two-week run at Birdland and was gearing up to record the famed John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman album, which he did on March 7. But there was a session the day before that was the stuff of legend, until now.
Preview, download or stream Both Directions At Once: The Lost Album (Deluxe Version) by John Coltrane
On Wednesday, March 6, Coltrane and the quartet went to Van Gelder Studios in Englewood, NJ and cut a complete album’s worth of material, including several original compositions that were never recorded elsewhere. They spent the day committing these to tape, taking time with some, rehearsing them two, three times, playing them in different ways and in different configurations.
At the end of the day, Coltrane left Van Gelder Studios with a reference tape and brought it to the home in Queens that he shared with his wife, Naima. These tapes remained untouched for the next 54 years until Impulse! approached the family about finally releasing this lost album. Though the master tape was never found—Rudy Van Gelder wasn’t one for clutter—the reference tape was discovered to be in excellent condition.
As the legendary saxophonist Sonny Rollins so rightly put it, “This is like finding a new room in the Great Pyramid.” The musical implications of this album, the original compositions, the arrangements, the band, the year it was recorded, all amount to a rediscovery and re-contextualization of one of the most important musicians of our time.
Danny Bennett, President and CEO of the Verve Label Group and home of Impulse! records, says, “Jazz is more relevant today than ever. It’s becoming the alternative music of the 21st century, and no one embodies the boundary-breaking essence of jazz more than John Coltrane. He was a visionary who changed the course of music, and this lost album is a once-in-a-lifetime discovery. It gives us insight into his creative process and connects us to his artistry. This album is a cultural moment and the release coincides perfectly with our relaunch of the iconic Impulse! label.”
On this album, there are two completely unknown and never-before-heard originals. “Untitled Original 11383” and “Untitled Original 11386,” both played on soprano sax. “11383” features an arco bass solo by Jimmy Garrison, a relative rarity, and “11386” marks a significant structural change for the quartet, in that they keep returning to the theme between solos, not typical in the quartet’s repertoire.
In addition to the two unheard originals, “One Up, One Down” – released previously only on a bootleg recording from Birdland – is heard here as a studio recording for the first and only time. It contains a fascinating exchange between Elvin Jones and Coltrane.
“Impressions,” one of Coltrane’s most famous and oft-recorded compositions, is played here in a piano-less trio. In fact, McCoy Tyner lays out a number of times during this recording session. It’s one of the more interesting aspects of this session and reflects the harmonic possibilities that Coltrane was known to be discussing regularly with Ornette Coleman around this time.
This studio session also yielded Coltrane’s first recording of “Nature Boy,” which he would record again in 1965, and the two versions differ greatly. The one we know is exploratory, meandering. This version is tight, solo-less and clocking in at just over three minutes. The other non-original composition on the album is “Vilia,” from Franz Lehár’s operetta “The Merry Widow”. The soprano version on the Deluxe Edition is the only track from this session to have been previously released.
This incredible, once-in-a-lifetime discovery reveals a number of creative balances at work, like developing original melodies while rethinking familiar standards. Trying out some tunes first on tenor saxophone, then on soprano. Using older techniques like the arpeggio runs of his “sheets of sound” while experimenting with false fingerings and other newer sounds. This session was pivotal, though to call it such overlooks the fact Coltrane was ever on pivot, always pushing the pedal down while still calling on older, tested ideas and devices.
Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album is a major addition to the Coltrane catalogue and the most important jazz discovery in recent memory.
This historic session resulted in 14 tracks in total. On the standard edition, there are 7 takes, chosen by Ravi Coltrane. The rest of the takes exist on the second disc of the deluxe set. There will be a standard CD and LP and a deluxe CD and LP available on June 29 on Impulse! The deluxe edition will exist on all digital streaming platforms as well.
Impulse! Records Impulse! Records was founded in 1960 by Creed Taylor and was home to John Coltrane, one of the label’s earliest signings. Known sometimes as “the house that Trane built,” the legendary label signed jazz artists such as Pharoah Sanders, McCoy Tyner, Alice Coltrane, Charlie Haden and the Liberation Music Orchestra, among others. Today, Impulse! sits under the umbrella of Verve Label Group, a division of the Universal Music Group. Artists signed to Impulse! include saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings and his groups Sons of Kemet, The Comet Is Coming, and Shabaka & The Ancestors, and pianist Sullivan Fortner.
Verve Label Group The Verve Label Group (VLG), a division of Universal Music Group based in New York City, is home to many of the most acclaimed artists in jazz and classical music, while also strongly focused on championing emerging talent across all genres. Verve Label Group is home to Impulse! Records, Verve Records, Verve Forecast, Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, Mercury KX and more.
Universal Music Group Universal Music Group (UMG) is the world leader in music-based entertainment, with a broad array of businesses engaged in recorded music, music publishing, merchandising and audiovisual content in more than 60 countries. Featuring the most comprehensive catalog of recordings and songs across every musical genre, UMG identifies and develops artists and produces and distributes the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful music in the world. Committed to artistry, innovation and entrepreneurship, UMG fosters the development of services, platforms and business models in order to broaden artistic and commercial opportunities for our artists and create new experiences for fans. Universal Music Group is a Vivendi company. Find out more at: http://www.universalmusic.com.
Photo credit: Mark Seliger (PRNewsfoto/Verve Label Group)
Tony Bennett and Diana Krall celebrate their shared love of the music of George and Ira Gershwin on their new collaborative album, LOVE IS HERE TO STAY, set for a September 14th release on Verve Records/Columbia Records. Tony Bennett, who celebrates his 92nd birthday today, has been friends with Diana Krall for over 20 years. The two toured together in 2000 and recorded duets for two of Bennett’s albums (“Duets” and “Playin’ With My Friends”), but this marks their first full album project together. LOVE IS HERE TO STAY is out just in time for the 120th Anniversary of George Gershwin’s birthday which takes place on September 26th. Both multi-Grammy winning and platinum-selling artists, Bennett is the only artist at the ages of 85 and 88, respectively, to have an album debut at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 and Krall is the only jazz artist to have eight albums debut at #1 on Billboard’s Jazz Albums chart. Danny Bennett, President and CEO of Verve Label Group commented, “When Tony Bennett and Diana Krall sing the music of the Gershwins, it’s truly the consummate artistic pairing of singers and songwriting. It’s one of those recordings that when you listen to it, you recognize instantly that it had to happen – it was just a matter of getting these two extraordinary performers into a studio and putting the Gershwin songbook in front of them.”
“No one expected me to compose music. I just did. What I have done is what was in me; the combination of New York, where I was born, and the rising, exhilarating rhythm of it, with centuries of hereditary feeling back of me.” – George Gershwin, 1926
LOVE IS HERE TO STAY was recorded with the Grammy award winning Bill Charlap Trio and the stunning result is a subtle, sophisticated and beautifully rendered love letter to The Gershwins’ music and their status as one of the premiere songwriters of the American popular standard. It is a masterclass in vocal delivery and phrasing and the command that Bennett and Krall display of the material in both their duets and solo tracks makes it appear effortless, belying the honed skill of the vocalists. The duet tracks include “Love Is Here to Stay”, “S’Wonderful,” “They Can’t Take That Away from Me” and “Fascinating Rhythm,” among them. “Fascinating Rhythm” was Tony Bennett’s first physical recording, made under his then stage name, Joe Bari, which he revisits as a duet with Krall for this project. Two of the duet tracks were never recorded by either artist prior in their career: “My One and Only,” and “I’ve Got A Crush on You.”
Tony Bennett’s album, “Tony Bennett Celebrates 90: The Best Is Yet To Come” won a Grammy award this past February and Diana Krall recently won two Juno awards for her last recording, “Turn Up the Quiet,” including the prestigious Producer of The Year award. This Fall, the two will appear on several national television shows performing songs from LOVE IS HERE TO STAY including The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Good Morning America, and Live With Kelly and Ryan.
LOVE IS HERE TO STAY was produced by Grammy Award winner Dae Bennett and Bill Charlap with Danny Bennett as Executive Producer. It will be released on CD, vinyl, digital and streaming platforms. The Bill Charlap Trio features Bill Charlap on piano, Peter Washington on bass and Kenny Washingtonon drums.
Preview, download or stream Fascinating Rhythm by Tony Bennett
LOVE IS HERE TO STAY: TRACK LISTING
1. ‘S Wonderful
2. My One And Only
3. But Not For Me (Diana Krall solo)
4. Nice Work If You Can Get It
5. Love Is Here To Stay
6. I Got Rhythm
7. Somebody Loves Me
8. Do It Again
9. I’ve Got A Crush On You
10. Fascinating Rhythm
11. They Can’t Take That Away From Me
12. Who Cares? (Tony Bennett solo)
About Tony Bennett: No one in popular American music has recorded for so long and at such a high level of excellence than Tony Bennett. In the last ten years alone he has sold ten million records. The essence of his longevity and high artistic achievement was imbued in him in his loving childhood home in the Astoria section of Queens where he was born on August 3, 1926. As a teenager Tony sang while waiting on tables and then enlisted in the Army during World War II and while in Europe he performed with military bands. Bennett’s big break came in 1949 when comedian Bob Hope noticed him working with Pearl Bailey in Greenwich Village in New York City. Tony Bennett is one of a handful of artists to have new albums charting in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, and now in the first two decades of the 21st century. He has introduced a multitude of songs into the Great American Songbook that have since become standards for popular music. With millions of records sold world-wide and platinum and gold albums to his credit, Bennett has received nineteen Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Tony Bennett is also an Emmy Award Winner, a Kennedy Center Honoree NEA Jazz Master and the first interpretive singer to receive The Gershwin Prize from the Library of Congress. An accomplished painter, three of his works are in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institute and he has authored four books.
About Diana Krall: Diana Krall is the only jazz singer to have eight albums debut at the top of the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. To date, her albums have garnered five Grammy® Awards, ten Juno® Awards and have also earned nine gold, three platinum and seven multi-platinum albums. Krall’s unique artistry transcends any single musical style and has made her one of the most recognizable artists of our time. As The New York Times recently noted Krall possesses, “A voice at once cool and sultry, wielded with a rhythmic sophistication.” Born in Nanaimo, British Columbia which is outside of Vancouver, Krall grew up in the western part of Canada and began studying the piano when she was four years old. Krall was still a teenager when she was awarded a scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston. In 1994, she signed with GRP Records and recorded Only Trust Your Heart, which marked the beginning of her association with Tommy LiPuma, a collaboration that would continue until LiPuma’s untimely passing in 2017. Krall’s success continued with her subsequent releases All for You, and Love Scenes but her watershed moment came in 1999 with the release of When I Look in Your Eyes, her first release for the historic Verve record label. The recording spent an unprecedented 52 weeks in the #1 position on Billboard‘s Jazz chart, won two Grammy Awards and went platinum in the U.S. and Canada. Krall’s next album, The Look of Love, continued her international success and became a top ten seller on Billboard’s Top 200 Album charts. Since then she has released a string of recordings that have created an impressive body of work, including recordings featured in several film soundtracks. Krall has expanded upon her role as a performer to include songwriting, producing and arranging and has brought her talents to collaborate with many other artists including Paul McCartney, Barbra Streisand and Tony Bennett. She tours extensively around the globe to sold out audiences, appearing at premiere jazz festivals and concert halls throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.
About The Gershwins: The Gershwin Brothers, George (1898-1937) and his older brother, Ira (1896-1983), are often considered the greatest of the songwriting teams to make a permanent and indelible contribution to the art form known as “The Great and American Songbook” – and to world musical culture in general. The brothers were the children of Russian Jewish immigrants, both born in Brooklyn (and except for the occasional job in Hollywood, were lifelong New Yorkers) in 1898 and 1896, respectively. George was originally a piano prodigy and Ira showed an early gift for poetry, rhymes, and wordplay. Writing mostly for Broadway shows and Hollywood musicals (and for top stars like Fred Astaire and Ethel Merman) the two brothers created dozens and dozens of the most beloved songs ever written, like “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off,” “Embraceable You,” “The Man I Love,” and “But Not For Me.” The apogee of their working relationship was Porgy and Bess, the 1935 masterpiece that is virtually unchallenged as the greatest of all American operas (which features such iconic songs as “It Ain’t Necessarily So” and “Summertime). George wrote several important songs before he began working with Ira, and consequently, Ira kept on writing for decades after his younger brother’s tragically early death from a brain tumor at age 38, but the classic songs that they wrote together, from 1924 to 1937, are beloved by the world entire. For more information please visit: www.gershwin.com
About Verve Records Verve Records, founded in 1956, holds the world’s most respected jazz catalogue and features seminal recordings from legendary artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Stan Getz and Billie Holidayamong others. Verve also served as the original home of pioneering acts The Velvet Underground and Frank Zappa. The revitalized Verve Records falls under the Verve Label Group, which is home to historic imprints including Verve Forecast (Richie Havens, Laura Nyro, Captain Beefheart), Impulse! (John Coltrane, Charles Mingus), Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, and more.
About Columbia Records One of the most respected and successful record labels in the world, Columbia Records is home to established superstars and exciting new talent. Columbia Records is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment.
As an accomplished guitarist, producer, and songwriter, GRAMMY® winner Reggie Lucas was highly regarded as a versatile music creator. Having first achieved success playing guitar in Miles Davis’ band while still a teenager, Reggie went on to work with a wide range of impressive acts including the Four Tops, Lou Rawls, and Madonna. Along with James Mtume, he earned a GRAMMY Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Song for 1980 for Stephanie Mills’ “Never Knew Love Like This Before.” Reggie will be deeply missed, but his legacy will live on forever. Our sincerest condolences go out to his family, friends, and creative collaborators during this difficult time.
Special Edition 180-Gram LP on Opaque Blue with Black Swirls Vinyl Limited to 1000 Copies Worldwide
On March 9, John Coltranes transcendent ‘Blue Train’ album will be released in a limited 60th Anniversary color vinyl LP edition by Blue Note/UMe. Limited to 1000 copies worldwide and available exclusively from The Sound of Vinyl, the collectible special edition presents the classic albums stereo mix on a 180-gram LP pressed on opaque blue with black swirls vinyl. http://thesoundofvinyl.us (PRNewsfoto/Blue Note/UMe)
On March 9, John Coltrane’s transcendent Blue Train album will be released in a limited 60th Anniversary color vinyl LP edition by Blue Note/UMe. Limited to 1000 copies worldwide and available exclusively from The Sound of Vinyl, the collectible special edition presents the classic album’s stereo mix on a 180-gram LP pressed on opaque blue with black swirls vinyl.
This Thursday, March 8, members of The Sound of Vinyl Text Message service will receive early access to purchase the limited edition Blue Train color vinyl LP, one day before it is available for purchase on The Sound of Vinyl website. Sign up for The Sound of Vinyl Text Message service here: https://thesoundofvinyl.us/access/sov-signup-coltrane-blue-train.html
This Friday, March 9, the limited edition Blue Train color vinyl LP will be available for purchase on The Sound of Vinyl website: http://thesoundofvinyl.us
In 1957, while still discovering his own voice on the tenor saxophone in bands led by Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane enlisted a band of peers to record a new album at Rudy Van Gelder’s Hackensack, NJ studio. With a new spirit rising, Coltrane was joined by trumpeter Lee Morgan, trombonist Curtis Fuller, pianist Kenny Drew, and the rhythm section from Davis’s classic ’50s quintet — bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Philly Joe Jones — to create Blue Train, a 40-minute-plus masterwork that stands as one of the greatest jazz records of all time. Released in December 1957, Blue Train was Coltrane’s second album as leader and his sole recording under his own name for Blue Note Records.
Coltrane went on to launch new rockets of interstellar music, including 1959’s groundbreaking Giant Steps, 1964’s sublime jazz prayer A Love Supreme, and 1966’s large ensemble expedition Ascension, which sparked the burgeoning free jazz movement. But it all started for Coltrane with Blue Train, a pioneering five-song, blues-steeped, post-bop outing that exhilarates with pockets of brawn and poetry, excursions of ferocity and finesse, stretches of blazing velocity and soulful tenderness. By all measures it began as an organic session with four spirited Trane originals and a gorgeous rendition of the Jerome Kern-Johnny Mercer ballad, “I’m Old Fashioned.” Graced by the incantations of inspired improvisation, Blue Train yielded a transcendence that few recordings achieve. Coltrane himself recognized the consummate character of Blue Train, referring to it later in his career as one of his favorite recordings.
About The Sound of Vinyl The Sound of Vinyl (http://thesoundofvinyl.us) is a first-of-its-kind music service, providing a personalized and curated platform for discovering and buying vinyl records. Launched in the U.S. in October 2017, The Sound of Vinyl offers new and classic albums from a vast catalog of more than 20,000 titles from all major labels and dozens of indie labels, and is the exclusive retailer for a variety of special, limited edition vinyl releases for key titles spanning rock, jazz and classical to R&B, rap, and hip-hop. Previous Sound of Vinyl-exclusive releases include legendary titles by The Beach Boys, Marvin Gaye, Miles Davis, Interpol, and the Allman Brothers, among others.
In addition to a full-service online store, The Sound of Vinyl features exclusive editorial content and album suggestions from top music experts, and provides an innovative recommendation engine that suggests albums based on a user’s personal tastes. The Sound of Vinyl’s recommendation service uses cutting-edge technology to send personalized album picks by text message. When a user enters their mobile phone number and creates a taste profile, The Sound of Vinyl begins sending daily texts with album recommendations that feature album artwork, information and price. Users can reply LIKE or DISLIKE to improve future picks, or simply reply YES to instantly purchase an album, creating a seamless shopping experience.
Blue Engine Records Announces Star-Studded Album UNITED WE SWING: BEST OF THE JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER GALAS
Features Wynton Marsalis in once-in-a-lifetime collaborations with the Blind Boys of Alabama, Jimmy Buffett, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Lenny Kravitz, John Legend, Lyle Lovett, John Mayer, Audra McDonald, Natalie Merchant, Willie Nelson, Carrie Smith, James Taylor, Susan Tedeschi, and Derek Trucks
In a Time of National Division, This Album Celebrates the Red, White and Blues and Highlights Jazz as an Art Form That Can Unify Our Country – No Matter Your Background
Available March 23, 2018
Blue Engine Records makes the most memorable performances from Jazz at Lincoln Center’s historic gala concerts available for the first time with the release of United We Swing: Best of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Galas.The album—which features some of the 20th century’s biggest musical stars, including Blind Boys of Alabama, Jimmy Buffett, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Lenny Kravitz, John Legend, Lyle Lovett, John Mayer, Audra McDonald, Natalie Merchant, Willie Nelson, Carrie Smith,
James Taylor, and Susan Tedeschi, and Derek Trucks— will be available on vinyl, CD, and all download and streaming platforms on March 23, 2018. United We Swing: Best of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Galas is available for pre-order now on store.jazz.org and Amazon.com.
Recorded between 2003 and 2007, United We Swing finds an unparalleled array of music talent that collectively boasts 94 Grammy Awards joining Jazz at Lincoln Center Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis (a nine-time Grammy Award winner himself) and some of the world’s top jazz musicians to perform blues-inflected versions of iconic American repertoire. Their backgrounds and musical stylings are diverse, but together these artists raise their voices to highlight jazz’s importance to America’s cultural heritage and to remind us that, even in divided times, music can unite us all.
“On this recording and in these concerts, we came together to affirm common roots, to celebrate the diversity of our creativity, and to pass the reality of our best achievements on to our kids,” said Marsalis. “We were, and are, United in Swing.”
Those one-night-only, live performances have never been released before. They include Lenny Kravitz performing Wynton Marsalis’s hypnotizing, New Orleans-inflected arrangement of Kravitz’ own song, “Are You Gonna Go My Way”; Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks uniting for a stirring, infectious take on Civil Rights anthem “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free”; Bob Dylan adding harmonica licks to a deeply felt, in-the-pocket rendition of “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry”; and Ray Charles taking the stage for one of his final performances to play “I’m Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town.”
Marsalis and his group go head-to-head with some of music’s most legendary figures, like Willie Nelson and Carrie Smith, as well as modern standard-bearers like John Mayer and John Legend. Performances such as Natalie Merchant’s slow-burning “The Worst Thing” and Lyle Lovett’s jaunty “My Baby Don’t Tolerate” reveal how jazz and the blues unite all musicians regardless of their genre, age, or birthplace.
The concerts from which these performances are culled were produced by Jazz at Lincoln Center. These galas have become an annual tradition, and are the organization’s annual signature fundraiser for its education programs. In keeping with those concerts, United We Swing is dedicated to a great cause: 100% of the album’s proceeds will go toward introducing thousands of children from around the world to jazz, American’s greatest homegrown art form.
Along with revealing music’s power to unite us, no matter where we call home, these once-in-a-lifetime recordings offer an exhilarating snapshot of the creative process: the performances were only briefly rehearsed before being performed and captured in front of a live audience in the heart of New York City.
About Blue Engine Records
Blue Engine Records, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s platform that makes its vast archive of recorded concerts available to jazz audiences everywhere, launched on June 30, 2015. Blue Engine Records releases new studio and live recordings as well as archival recordings from Jazz at Lincoln Center’s performance history that date back to 1987 and are part of the R. Theodore Ammon Archives and Music Library. Since the institution’s founding in 1987, each year’s programming is conceived and developed by Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis with a vision toward building a comprehensive library of iconic and wide-ranging compositions that, taken together, make up a canon of music. These archives include accurate, complete charts for the compositions – both old and new – performed each season. Coupled with consistently well-executed and recorded music performed by Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, this archive has grown to include thousands of songs from hundreds of concert dates. The launch of Blue Engine is aligned with Jazz at Lincoln Center’s efforts to cultivate existing jazz fans worldwide and turn new audiences onto jazz. Blue Engine’s award-winning, best-selling records include Live in Cuba, which captures the historic trip taken by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis to Havana in 2010, and Handful of Keys, which pairs the JLCO with special guest pianists for a one-night romp through 100 years of jazz piano history.
James Taylor, and Susan Tedeschi, and Derek Trucks— will be available on vinyl, CD, and all download and streaming platforms on 