JOVM’s William Ruben Helms belatedly celebrates Roy Ayers 84th birthday.
Category: jazz
Throwback: John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme”
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms shares John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme.”
New Audio: Ezra Collective Shares Swaggering “Streets is Calling” feat. M.anifest and Moonchild Sanelly
Acclaimed London-based jazz/hip-hop outfit Ezra Collective — Femi Koleoso (drums), TJ Koleoso (bass), Joe Armon-Jones (keys), Ife Ogunjobi (trumpet) and James Mollison (tenor saxophone) — can trace their origins back to when they met at Gary Crosby’s Tomorrow’s Warriors, a jazz music education and artist development program committed to championing diversity, inclusion and equality across the arts through jazz with a special focus on Black musicians, female musicians and those whose financial or other circumstances might lock them out of opportunities to pursue a career in the music industry.
The band’s full-length debut, 2019’s You Can’t Stay My Joy, featured guest spots from Jorja Smith and Loyle Carner. Instrumental album track “Quest for Coin” was premiered as the “Hottest Record in The World” on BBC Radio 1’s Annie Mac Show. 2022’s sophomore album Where I’m Meant To Be, which featured a mix of instrumental tracks and lyrical contributions was released to widespread critical applause across the UK.
Last year was a breakthrough year for the British jazz outfit. Their critically applauded sophomore album led to the band being named the first jazz act to ever win the Mercury Prize. The entire UK, European Union and US tour to support the album was sold-out, including 10,000 capacity Eventim Apollo and Royal Albert Hall headlining shows. They played Glastonbury Festival and Quincy Jones‘ star-studded birthday party and the final guests of the year on The Graham Norton Show and Top of The Pops Review of 2023. Adding to a busy year, they won Best Jazz Act at last year’s MOBO Awards and were named Time Out London‘s Londoners of 2023.
Continuing upon last year’s momentum, they were tapped by Daniel Lee to perform at this Burberry x Harrods takeover. They launched the British Library’s Beyond the Bassline: 500 Years of Black British Music exhibition. And they were profiled in ES Magazine, British Vogue, Music Week and Mixmag.
Ezra Collective’s highly-anticipated third album Dance, No One’s Watching is slated for a September 27, 2024 release through Partisan Records. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, where the band was surprised by group of close friends and family, the Dance, No One’s Watching sessions were turned into a live, communal celebration of love, music and dancing. Written throughout the course of last year as the band toured across the world, the album not only documents the dance floors they encountered in their travels. Musically and thematically, the album guides the listener through a night out in the city, from the endless possibilities as a night out is about to start, to when you’re getting back home, with the sun rising.
The album’s third and latest single “Street Is Calling” feat. M.anifest and Moonchild Sanelly is a swaggering and strutting tune that sees the acclaimed British act effortlessly bridging the African Diaspora with a synthesis of Highlife, Amapiano, Afrobeats and hip-hop that nods at Soul II Soul — but while being a high energy call out to get your ass up on that dance floor.
“‘Streets Is Calling’ is about the feeling when people call you up and message you and say, yo, there’s this party happening tonight and that’s all you need,” the band’s Femi Koleoso explains. “The Streets have called. We’re gonna go straight to this dance floor to make it our own.”
Throwback: Happy 104th Birthday, Charlie Parker!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 104th anniversary of Charlie “Bird” Parker’s birth.
New Audio: Dave Guy Returns with Swaggering “Still Standing”
Raised in the East Village, acclaimed and highly sought-after trumpeter Dave Guy was surrounded by hip-hop and the hustle that seemed to define the city in the 90s. During those formative days, he and his playing style were influenced by the likes of Donald Byrd and Hugh Masekela, but also by A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul.
His time at LaGuardia Performing Arts High School furthered this path. Guy remembers sharing playing time with Big Crown Records co-founder Leon Michels and highly sought-after drummer Homer Steinweiss. “Being in the All-City Jazz Big Band, I would see them rehearsing all the time,” the New York-born and-based musician recalls. “They were already doing things with The Dap-Kings back then—which was crazy.”
His voice as a player began to take shape and continued to be refined through his studies at The Manhattan School of Music and The New School — and then playing with Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Charles Bradley and Menahan Street Band, The Sugarman 3 and more. He has played on albums from the likes of Amy Winehouse, Mark Ronson, Pharrell Williams, Lee Fields, the legendary Al Green — er, correction, the Rev. Al Green — and a lengthy list of others. And adding to a growing profile, Guy currently plays with The Roots live and on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
The acclaimed musician, native New York and JOVM mainstay finally steps out into the much-deserved spotlight as a solo artist, with his full-length debut, Ruby. Slated for a September 20, 2024 release through Big Crown Records, the 12-song album sees the highly sought-after NYC scene mainstay exploring New York jazz and pushing the boundaries of the style by incorporating elements of hip-hop and soul in a way that’s both unique and modern.
As fate would have it, a classic case of “when one door shuts, another opens” was really what got the ball rolling on the album. “I never wanted to force my own project,” Guy explains. “There was always a lot going on between things—the timing was never right.” But when The Tonight Show went on hiatus during last year’s Writers’ Strike, there was an unexpected free moment.
Within days, Guy started recording sessions with Steinweiss and Nick Movshon (bass). What initially started out as a just an opportunity to create music, quickly took shape and direction when they ended up laying down something that felt wildly special and authentic. The result is an album that captures different moods and serves as an invitation to the world as Dave Guys sees it and feels it.
So far I’ve written about three of the album’s singles:
- “7th Heaven,” a composition anchored around a bed of twinkling and dancing keys, a strutting Movshown bass line, swaggering boom bap drums from Steinweiss and ethereal backing coos from Clairo/Claire Cottrill serving as a funky and anthemic bed for Guy’s regal and soulful horn melody. The result is a composition that’s swaggering yet cinematic, while capturing the energy and vibe of a day — or night — in and around New York. “It has a groove and is more in line with what the guys and I are known for with Menahan Street Band, but it is also in-your-face and catchy,” Guy says. “It’s a bit of an ode to Tijuana Brass too, a Herb Alpert-esque track with a tight horn line and has that energy that pops.”
- “I’ll Follow You,” a gorgeously serene bit of counterbalance anchored around a driving rhythm section and juxtaposed by Guy’s soulful and meditative horn melody with a subtle call and response. Sonically, “I’ll Follow You” — to my ears, at least — is a bit of a synthesis of Kind of Blue-era modal compositions with J. Dilla and Stones Throw Records-like beat tapes. It feels thoughtful and warmly familiar yet new — and much like its predecessors evokes the energy and feel of Guy’s hometown.
- “Pinky Ring,” a style and genre-defying tune that features two distinct sections: a dreamy synth-driven introduction that quickly morphs into a swaggering boom bap-driven composition with twinkling, gently reverb-soaked bursts of keys as a lush bed for Guy’s effortlessly soulful and meditative melody. The result is a composition that sounds a bit like a vibey synthesis of Bob James, Miles Davis and CL Smooth-era Pete Rock.
“Still Standing” is an in-your-face, swaggering tune featuring stomping four-on-the-floor and buzzing guitar serving as a steady and forceful march while Guy plays a melodic trumpet line that sees him be soft and meditative to bold, powerful and punchy with panache. Much like the previous singles “Still Standing” pulls from several different periods of jazz from bop to jazz funk and soul jazz with a seemingly easy-going, effortless nature.
Throwback: Happy 87th Birthday, Alice Coltrane!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 87th anniversary of the birth of Alice Coltrane.
Throwback: Happy 64th birthday, Branford Marsalis!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Branford Marsalis’ 64th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 91st Birthday, Wayne Shorter!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 91st anniversary of the birth of Wayne Shorter.
Throwback: Happy 120th Birthday, Count Basie!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 120th anniversary of the birth of Count Basie.
New Audio: John Finbury and Bruna Black Share Swooning Ballad “Uma Noite Com Voce”
Andover, MA-based Grammy and Latin Grammy-nominated drummer, composer and JOVM mainstay John Finbury collaborated with rising São Paulo-based singer/songwriter Bruna Black on his latest album Vã Revelação, which was released earlier this year.
Vã Revelação presents a broad array of subgenres under the large umbrella of Brazilian jazz. So there are the beloved and classic bossa nova and samba tunes. But there are also Baião, Partido, Alto, Forró and Afoxê among other styles.
Over the past handful of months, I’ve written about four album singles:
- “Chão De Nuvem,” a soulful year breezy tune featuring an arrangement of fluttering accordion, a supple bass line, shuffling percussion. The song gorgeously — and effortlessly — meshes elements of samba, jazz fusion and pop while being a perfect vehicle for Bruna Black’s languorous yet soulful delivery.
- “Será,” a song built around a gorgeous arrangement of shimmering acoustic guitar by Chico Pinheiro, a supple and sinuous bass line from John Pattiucci that’s roomy enough for Black’s expressive vocal. Fittingly released at the end of last year, the song is a meditation on the passing of time, the choices and plans we make that work out and the ones that fail — with the understanding that all of it influences who we are, and who we will become.
- Album title track “Vã Revelação,” a breathtakingly gorgeous yet bittersweet tune, anchored around the classic shuffle and sway of bossa nova featuring shimmering, strummed guitar, a supple bass line, twinkling and expressive bursts of piano serving as a lush bed for Black’s stunning vocal turn. Much like its predecessors, “Vã Revelação” is meditative yet breezy, a blast of summer — but full of the recognition of the passing of time, and of regrets, hopes dashed and hopes to be had again.
- “Para Me Entender,” a much jazzier take on Bossa nova than its predecessor, anchored around a loose, swinging arrangement that displays each musician’s chops with a self-assured swagger. But the true star of the affair is Bruna Black, who reveals herself as a stylistic chameleon, whose voice can shift in colors, registers and expression within the turn of a phrase.
Vã Revelação‘s fifth and latest single, “Uma Noite Com Voce” features a gently swaying, jazz standard-tinged, Bossa nova ballad composition written by Finbury performed by Vitor Gonçalves (guitar), John Patitucci (piano, Rhodes), Daduka Da Fonseca (bass), Rogério Boccato (percussion) paired with gorgeous lyrics written by Vitor Ramil Chico Pinheiro. And much like its predecessors, “Uma Noite Com Voce,” continues to showcase Bruna Black as a remarkably talented vocalist, who can effortlessly tackle any style with a self-assured yet earnest, lived-in take.
New Audio: The Offline Shares Summery and Cinematic “Fumée”
Felix Müller is a Hamburg-born and-based photographer, composer and creative mastermind behind the cinematic soul project The Offline. Müller can trace the origins of The Offline to his travels along the the Atlantic coastline of southern France with an analog camera, capturing beach life. Upon his return to Hamburg, he started writing compositions as the sonic counterpart to his visuals.
The German-born artist’s full-length debut, last year’s Timor Litzenberg co-produced La couleur de la mer was inspired by the work of Francois de Roubaix — and saw him creating a soundtrack to an imaginary film. The album’s material evoked images of manorial, fog-swept villas at the ocean’s edge, silhouetted sailing boats and cigar-chomping villains attempting to thwart the mission of the imaginary film’s hero. The album experimented with themes and atypical song structures, moving from dramatic cues to fragile romanticism while incorporating psychedelia, retro soul and hip-hop, inspired by and informed by his extensive record collection.
Müller’s forthcoming Les Cigales EP reportedly builds upon the head-nodding blend of hip-hop and 70s soul jazz that he developed on his full-length debut. The EP takes it sonic tunes from the structure of film and TV music from the 1960s and 1970s, channeling the influences of film composers like Francois de Rouabix and David Axelrod while also seemingly sitting between the chilled out, summery grooves of Surprise Chef and Robohands. As the EP unwinds, its narrative reflects a love story full of longing, melancholy and drama, connecting with the story of Cyptis and Protis — the founding myth of Marseilles — whose love broke convention and welcomed the arrival of foreigners on French soil.
“Fumée,” introduces the first part of Les Cigales‘ narrative, an effort that reflects upon life on the Mediterranean during the summer months. Anchored around an arrangement featuring a gorgeous and expressive Rhodes-driven melodic theme, a brooding horn line and squiggling wah wah pedaled funk guitar paired with a subtly reggae-like drum groove, “Fumée” features alternating light and dark sections.
The new single continues a run of material that seems to recall Bob James while setting up the EP’s narrative, introducing the soon-to-be star-crossed protagonists, as they hungrily search for one another, while situating the listener in and around Marseille.
“As some may know, Hamburg is not known for the best weather, especially the winters, with little daylight, cold winds and rain lashing down on your face,” Müller says. “Maybe that’s why this longing for light, warmth and the sea is always a big part of my music – by composing the songs, I can be in these places.”
Throwback: Happy Belated 123rd Birthday, Louis Armstrong!
JOVM’s WIlliam Ruben Helms celebrates the 123rd anniversary of Louis Armstrong’s birth.
New Audio: Dave Guy Shares VIbey and Meditative “Pinky Ring”
Raised in the East Village, acclaimed and highly sought-after trumpeter Dave Guy was surrounded by hip-hop and the hustle that seemed to define the city in the 90s. During those formative days, he and his playing style were influenced by the likes of Donald Byrd and Hugh Masekela, but also by A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul.
His time at LaGuardia Performing Arts High School furthered this path. Guy remembers sharing playing time with Big Crown Records co-founder Leon Michels and highly sought-after drummer Homer Steinweiss. “Being in the All-City Jazz Big Band, I would see them rehearsing all the time,” the New York-born and-based musician recalls. “They were already doing things with The Dap-Kings back then—which was crazy.”
His voice as a player began to take shape and continued to be refined through his studies at The Manhattan School of Music and The New School — and then playing with Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Charles Bradley and Menahan Street Band, The Sugarman 3 and more. He has played on albums from the likes of Amy Winehouse, Mark Ronson, Pharrell Williams, Lee Fields, the legendary Al Green — er, correction, the Rev. Al Green — and a lengthy list of others. And adding to a growing profile, Guy currently plays with The Roots live and on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Now, if you’ve been frequenting this site over the past couple of months, you’d recall that the acclaimed musician finally steps out into the much-deserved spotlight with his full-length debut, Ruby. Slated for a September 20, 2024 release through Big Crown Records, the 12-song album sees the highly sought-after NYC scene mainstay exploring New York jazz and pushing the boundaries of the style by incorporating elements of hip-hop and soul in a way that’s both unique and modern.
As fate would have it, a classic case of “when one door shuts, another opens” was really what got the ball rolling on the album. “I never wanted to force my own project,” Guy explains. “There was always a lot going on between things—the timing was never right.” But when The Tonight Show went on hiatus during last year’s Writers’ Strike, there was an unexpected free moment.
Within days, Guy started recording sessions with Steinweiss and Nick Movshon (bass). What initially started out as a just an opportunity to create music, quickly took shape and direction when they ended up laying down something that felt wildly special and authentic. The result is an album that captures different moods and serves as an invitation to the world as Dave Guys sees it and feels it.
So far I’ve written about two of the album’s singles:
- “7th Heaven,” a composition anchored around a bed of twinkling and dancing keys, a strutting Movshown bass line, swaggering boom bap drums from Steinweiss and ethereal backing coos from Clairo/Claire Cottrill serving as a funky and anthemic bed for Guy’s regal and soulful horn melody. The result is a composition that’s swaggering yet cinematic, while capturing the energy and vibe of a day — or night — in and around New York. “It has a groove and is more in line with what the guys and I are known for with Menahan Street Band, but it is also in-your-face and catchy,” Guy says. “It’s a bit of an ode to Tijuana Brass too, a Herb Alpert-esque track with a tight horn line and has that energy that pops.”
- “I’ll Follow You,” a gorgeously serene bit of counterbalance anchored around a driving rhythm section and juxtaposed by Guy’s soulful and meditative horn melody with a subtle call and response. Sonically, “I’ll Follow You” — to my ears, at least — is a bit of a synthesis of Kind of Blue-era modal compositions with J. Dilla and Stones Throw Records-like beat tapes. It feels thoughtful and warmly familiar yet new — and much like its predecessors evokes the energy and feel of Guy’s hometown.
Ruby‘s latest single “Pinky Ring” is a genre-smashing, genre-defying tune that features two distinct sections: a dreamy synth-driven introduction that quickly morphs into a swaggering boom-bap fueled jazz composition with twinkling and gently reverb-soaked bursts of keys serving as a lush, meditative bed for Guy’s effortlessly soulful and mediative melody. The result is a composition that sounds a bit like a vibey synthesis of Bob James, Miles Davis and CL Smooth-era Pete Rock.
Throwback: Happy 79th Birthday, David Sanborn!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 79th anniversary of the birth of David Sanborn.