Tag: Alfa Mist

Music Festivals by William Ruben Helms
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Summer Festival season is coming, y’all! And that means festival announcements. So let’s get to it, right? 

Newport Jazz Festival will be returning to Rhode Island’s Fort Adams State Park for its 69th edition. This year’s edition will continue the festival’s long-held tradition of hosting once in a lifetime performances that can only come as a result of Newport’s unique alchemy of intimacy and artistic community. 

The 69th Edition will take place August 4, 2023 – August 6, 2023 and will feature an eclectic and acclaimed lineup of artists including the legendary Herbie Hancock, Diana Krall, Charles Lloyd, Vijay Iyer, Jon Batiste, and Kamasi Washington, as well as a collection of Grammy-nominated and-winning artists including Samara Joy, DOMi and JD Beck. The lineup also includes Big Freedia, Thundercat, DJ Pee .Wee (a.k.a. Anderson .Paak), Big Gigantic, Alfa Mist, Cautious Clay, Durand Jones, and The War and Treaty. 

It’s an annual tradition for the festival to host special ensembles. And this year’s festival will include Newport Jazz artistic director Christian McBride’s annual Jam Dawn, MoodSwing, Scary Goldings featuring John Scofield, Superblue, Orrin Evans Quintet and the Bill Charlap Trio. 

With Memorial Day Weekend right around the corner, Newport Jazz Festival organizers announced some exciting new additions to the lineup that include JOVM mainstays The Soul Rebels featuring Rakim and Talib Kweli, Adi Oasis, Angel Bat Dawid & Tha Brothahood, Claudia Acuña, and more. A full list of the complete lineup is below.

3-day, 2-day and single-day tickets, as well as 3-day, 2-day and single-day parking passes are currently available through DICE. Full pricing is listed below. Children under 10 are free with a maximum of 2 children attending per ticketed adult. Children 10 and over will need to purchase a full priced admission ticket. For more information go to https://dice.fm/promoters/3gng

TICKET PRICING

3-Day Full Price General Admission: $281.19 (includes fees)

2-Day Saturday & Sunday General Admission: $193.64 (includes fees)

Single-Day General Admission: $100.94 (includes fees)

3-Day Parking: $69.01 (includes fees)

2-Day Parking: $46.35 (includes fees)

Single-Day Parking: $25.75 (includes fees)

NEWPORT JAZZ 2023 LINEUP

Friday

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead with Kamasi Washington

Kamasi Washington 

DJ Pee .Wee (Anderson .Paak)

Soulive  

DOMi & JD Beck

Immanuel Wilkins Quartet 

Big Freedia 

Alfa Mist 

Butcher Brown 

Endea Owens & The Cookout 

Lakecia Benjamin and Phoenix 

Julius Rodriguez 

Saturday 

Jon Batiste 

Thundercat 

Big Gigantic Does Jazz 

Christian McBride’s Jam Jawn 

Charles Lloyd New Quartet 

Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily 

Julian Lage

Superblue: Kurt Elling & Charlie Hunter with Nate Smith & Huntertones Horns 

Orrin Evans Quintet

The War and Treaty 

Keyon Harrold 

James Brandon Lewis 

Sunday 

Herbie Hancock 

Diana Krall 

Samara Joy 

Redman, Mehldau, McBride, Blade: A Moodswing Reunion 

Scary Goldings featuring John Scofield 

Cimafunk

Cautious Clay 

Somi 

Pedrito Martinez 

Bill Charlap Trio

Charles McPherson Quintet

NEW ADDITIONS

The Soul Rebels featuring Rakim & Talib Kweli

Marcus Miller

Dave Holland New Quartet

Adi Oasis

Derrick Hodge

Armstrong Now: Louis at Newport

Angel Bat Dawid & Tha Brothahood

Bobby Watson All-Star Quintet

Jennifer Hartswick & Nick Cassarino Duo

Claudia Acuna

Melvis Santa & Jazz Orishas

Lauren Sevian’s LSQ

Camille Thurman with The Darrell Green Quartet

Matthew Whitaker

Ticket information is available here.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Alfa Mist Shares Sublime “Foreword”

Throughout the London-based producer, composer, musician and Sekito Records head Alfa Mist’s career, he has steadfastly refused to be boxed into a specific genre or style: his work has spanned everything from hip-hop beatmaking to producing for rappers like Loyle Carner, composing neo-classical works for the London Contemporary Orchestra and reworking tracks for Ólafur Arnalds and legendary jazz label Blue Note. He also hosts the Are We Live podcast with Barney Artist and Jordan Rakei. 

Since the release of his full-length debut, 2015’s Nocturne, the London-based artist and producer has also quickly established himself as one of the UK’s most focused and distinct contemporary musical voices while also working with Jordan Rakei, Tom Misch, Richard Spaven, Lester Duval and Emmavie among others.

The recently released full-length Variables finds Alfa Mist moving forward with a renewed intensity and purpose. “The whole album is more uptempo and influenced by the freedom of returning to gigs,” Alfa Mist explains. “It feels like I’m coming back to my early days of making grime beats and creating tracks that make me want to bop my head fast.” 

Last month, I wrote about “Angel Eyes” featuring longtime collaborator Kaya Thomas-Dyke. “Angel Eyes” is a gorgeous bit of trip-hop-inspired neo-soul built around a finger-plucked guitar melody by Jamie Leeming, a swelling string-driven, cinematic chorus from Peggy Nolan (cello), twinkling keys from Alfa Mist paired with Thomas Dyke’s expressive, gossamer vocal. The arrangement and Thomas Dyke’s vocal express a yearning sense of hope. 

“Foreword” Variables latest single is a sleek and stunning synthesis of bop era jazz and jazz fusion: cascading and twinkling Rhodes is paired with intricate drum patterns, a supple bass line, an enormous Dizzy Gillespie-meets-Birth of the Cool-era Miles Davis horn arrangement and gliding and guitar lines that showcases the buzz-worthy artist’s ability to craft arrangements that are challenging yet remarkably accessible — and are rooted in dexterous and sublime musicianship.

The accompanying visualizer by SPOD features some gorgeously animated watercolor paintings reminiscent of Van Gogh and the Dutch masters while being mindbending.

Music Festivals by William Ruben Helms
Image

Summer Festival season is coming, y’all! And that means festival announcements.

So let’s get to it, right?

Newport Jazz Festival will be returning to Rhode Island’s Fort Adams State Park for its 69th edition. This year’s edition will continue the festival’s long-held tradition of hosting once in a lifetime performances that can only come as a result of Newport’s unique alchemy of intimacy and artistic community.

The 69th Edition will take place August 4, 2023 – August 6, 2023 and will feature an eclectic and acclaimed lineup of artists including the legendary Herbie Hancock, Diana Krall, Charles Lloyd, Vijay Iyer, Jon Batiste, and Kamasi Washington, as well as a collection of Grammy-nominated and-winning artists including Samara Joy, DOMi and JD Beck. The lineup also includes Big Freedia, Thundercat, DJ Pee .Wee (a.k.a. Anderson .Paak), Big Gigantic, Alfa Mist, Cautious Clay, Durand Jones, and The War and Treaty.

It’s an annual tradition for the festival to host special ensembles. And this year’s festival will include Newport Jazz artistic director Christian McBride’s annual Jam Dawn, MoodSwing, Scary Goldings featuring John Scofield, Superblue, Orrin Evans Quintet and the Bill Charlap Trio.

Specially priced 3-day tickets went on yesterday through DICE. Special pricing will be available for 24 hours ending today at 1:00pm EST. All full-prince 3-day, 2-day and single-day tickets will go on sale today at 1:00pm

Full pricing is listed below. Children under 10 are free with a maximum of 2 children attending per ticketed adult. Children 10 and over will need to purchase a full priced admission ticket. Current students aged 10-25 are eligible for student tickets. College students are required to show a student photo ID. Middle and high school students are not required to show ID. All students must enter through the student gate only. For more information go to https://dice.fm/promoters/3gng

TICKET PRICING

3-Day Limited Special Priced General Admission: $239.99 (includes fees)

3-Day Full Price General Admission: $281.19 (includes fees)

3-Day Student Admission – $142.14 (includes fees)

2-Day Saturday & Sunday General Admission: $193.64 (includes fees)

2-Day Saturday & Sunday Student Admission: $91.67 (includes fees)

Single-Day General Admission: $100.94 (includes fees)

Single-Day Student Admission: $47.38 (includes fees)

3-Day Parking: $69.01 (includes fees)

2-Day Parking: $46.35 (includes fees)

Single-Day Parking: $25.75 (includes fees)

NEWPORT JAZZ 2023 LINEUP

Friday

Joe Russo’s Almost Dead with Kamasi Washington

Kamasi Washington 

DJ Pee .Wee (Anderson .Paak)

Soulive  

DOMi & JD Beck

Immanuel Wilkins Quartet 

Big Freedia 

Alfa Mist 

Butcher Brown 

Endea Owens & The Cookout 

Lakecia Benjamin and Phoenix 

Julius Rodriguez 

Saturday 

Jon Batiste 

Thundercat 

Big Gigantic Does Jazz 

Christian McBride’s Jam Jawn 

Charles Lloyd New Quartet 

Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer, Shahzad Ismaily 

Julian Lage

Superblue: Kurt Elling & Charlie Hunter with Nate Smith & Huntertones Horns 

Orrin Evans Quintet

The War and Treaty 

Keyon Harrold 

James Brandon Lewis 

Sunday 

Herbie Hancock 

Diana Krall 

Samara Joy 

Redman, Mehldau, McBride, Blade: A Moodswing Reunion 

Scary Goldings featuring John Scofield 

Cimafunk

Cautious Clay 

Somi 

Pedrito Martinez 

Bill Charlap Trio

Charles McPherson Quintet

More artists will be announced in the future. But in the meantime, ticket information is available here.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Alfa Mist Teams Up with Kaya Thomas-Dyke on Soulful and CInematic “Aged Eyes”

Throughout the London-based producer, composer, musician and Sekito Records head Alfa Mist’s career, he has steadfastly refused to be boxed into a specific genre or style: his work has spanned everything from hip-hop beatmaking to producing for rappers like Loyle Carner, composing neo-classical works for the London Contemporary Orchestra and reworking tracks for Ólafur Arnalds and legendary jazz label Blue Note. He also hosts the Are We Live podcast with Barney Artist and Jordan Rakei. 

Since the release of his full-length debut, 2015’s the London-based multi-hyphenate has also quickly established himself as one of the UK’s most focused and distinct contemporary musical voices while also working with Jordan Rakei, Tom Misch, Richard Spaven, Lester Duval and Emmavie.

Building upon the success of 2017’s Antiphon, which has amassed over 10 million streams of YouTube, 2019’s Structuralism and 2021’s ANTI- Records debut, Bring Backs, the forthcoming Variables finds Alfa Mist moving forward with a renewed intensity and purpose. “The whole album is more uptempo and influenced by the freedom of returning to gigs,” Alfa Mist explains. “It feels like I’m coming back to my early days of making grime beats and creating tracks that make me want to bop my head fast.” 

Variables‘ latest single “Aged Eyes” featuring longtime collaborator Kaya Thomas-Dyke is a gorgeous bit of trip hop-inspired neo-soul built around a finger-plucked guitar melody by Jamie Leeming, a swelling string-driven, cinematic chorus from Peggy Nolan (cello), twinkling keys from Alfa Mist paired with Thomas Dyke’s expressive, gossamer vocal. The arrangement and Thomas Dyke’s vocal express a yearning sense of hope.

The accompanying video by SPOD features some gorgeously animated watercolor paintings reminiscent of Van Gogh and the Dutch masters.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Her Songs · Lost a Little (feat. Dani Murcia, Emily C. Browning, Emmavie, Marie Dahlstrom & The Naked Eye)

During the course of this year, I’ve written a bit about Her Songs, a multi-national collective of women artists that features:

  • Dani Murcia (vocals, piano, guitar, production), a Colombian-American, Miami-born, New York-based R&B/pop/soul singer/songwriter, whose lush harmonies and haunting melodies has been influenced by the likes of JOVM mainstay Nick Hakim, Kimbra and Matt Corby. Her latest EP Breaking Light consists of stories focusing on grieving her father’s suicide and searching for beauty in pain.
  • Emily C. Browning (vocals, guitar), a Christchurch, New Zealand-based indie soul artist influenced by the likes of Emily King, Lianne La Havas and Nai Palm. Her work features conversational-style lyrics, that offer a deep perspective and insight into the human experience.
  • Francesca Hole, a French-born, London-based singer/songwriter and guitarist, known as The Naked Eye (vocals, guitar). Influenced by Nai Palm, Lianne La Havas, Maya Angelou, Joni Mitchell, D’Angelo, Bruno Major and others, Hole’s work as she describes it, are autobiographical songs about life experiences, relationships and overcoming hardships that meshes elements of jazz, soul, folk and R&B. Her latest EP Love’s Grave was released last April.
  • JOVM mainstay, Marie Dahlstrom (vocals, piano, percussion and production), a Rosklide, Denmark-born, London-based singer/songwriter, who has been largely influenced by the R&B and soul she heard in her home as a child — in particular Edwyn Collins, Womack & Womack and Gloria Gaynor were on regular rotation. Dahlstrom discovered Dwele, Dire Straits, Erykah Badu, Kirk Franklin and Fleetwood Mac in her teenage years.Dahlstrom first gained attention as a solo artist in her native Denmark, eventually becoming a three-time Scandinavian Soul Award winner. Since relocating to London, the Danish-born singer/songwriter she has become an internationally recognized sensation, best known for crafting a warm and ethereal synthesis of jazz, classic soul and R&B. Interestingly, after successful collaborations with Tom Misch and Alfa Mist, the Roskilde-born, London-based singer/songwriter has been busy writing the material, which would eventually comprised her long-awaited full-length debut. Slated for release latest this year, the album was recorded in Los Angeles, Copenhagen, and London and features collaborations with James Vickery, Jeremy Passion, Elijah Fox, Beau Diako and a list of others.
  • Emmavie (vocals production), a London-based singer/songwriter and producer, whose work is an amalgamation of 90s R&B and her love for digital audio experimentation. She has built up a reputation for being a highly sought-after collaborator, working with IAMNOBODI, Buddy, ROMderful, Jarreau Vandal, Alfa Mist, Nick Grant and Jay Prince. Emmavie has had her work featured on the Oprah Winfrey Network-produced series Queen Sugar. And adding to a growing profile, the London-based singer/songwriter and producer was scouted by  DJ Jazzy Jeff, who flew her out to his house in Delaware to write and record music with Mac Ayres, Robert Glasper and Redman as part of the Playlist Retreat.

The collective can trace their origins to a conversation the five women shared on social media. Their debut 2018’s Los Angeles EP found the quintet crafting material that meshed elements of 90s R&B with contemporary electronic production. The collective’s highly-anticipated sophomore EP Toronto, Vol 1. is slated for an August 14, 2020 release. And if you’ve been frequenting this site throughout this year, you may recall that I’ve written about Toronto Vol. 1‘s first two singles: the Emmavie and Marie Dahlstrom co-written “If We Try,”  a sultry 90s neo-soul-like track that manages to sound like a synthesis of Teddy Riley-like New Jack Swing, SWV, and Erykah Badu-like neo soul — and “I Wonder,” an atmospheric and contemplative song in which the collective’s five women envision worrying about what the world would look for their future grandchildren.

“Lost A Little” the EP’s third and latest track is a soulful and uplifting R&B influenced bit of pop that is simultaneously nostalgic and hopeful for the future, as the song’s narrators reflect on their individual pasts while excitedly traveling around the world to reunite with their dear friends — in this case, the collective’s overall excitement to head to Toronto to write and record music together.  The end result is an ode to wanderlust and the excitement of what you’ll learn about yourself in a new place, and of being able to experience that new place with your best pals. “After finally reuniting together in Toronto, we felt so reflective on the entire year since the previous Her Songs retreat in LA and ‘Lost A Little’ turned into a summery, feel-good wanderlust tune about traveling the world just to meet up again,” the collective’s Emily C. Browning says in press notes. The Naked Eye adds, “‘Lost A Little’ was the 1st song written on day 1 of the Toronto week. Exploring themes of creativity and travel, the lyrics describe how we meet once a year, in a new city to create with new eyes and fresh perspectives.”

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Earlier this year, I wrote about Her Songs. And as you may recall, the act is a multi-national collective featuring:

  • Dani Murcia (vocals, piano, guitar, production), a Colombian-American, Miami-born, New York-based R&B/pop/soul singer/songwriter, whose lush harmonies and haunting melodies has been influenced by the likes of JOVM mainstay Nick Hakim, Kimbra and Matt Corby. Her latest EP Breaking Light consists of stories focusing on grieving her father’s suicide and searching for beauty in pain.
  • Emily C. Browning (vocals, guitar), a Christchurch, New Zealand-based indie soul artist influenced by the likes of Emily King, Lianne La Havas and Nai Palm. Her work features conversational-style lyrics, that offer a deep perspective and insight into the human experience.
  • Francesca Hole, a French-born, London-based singer/songwriter and guitarist, known as The Naked Eye (vocals, guitar). Influenced by Nai Palm, Lianne La Havas, Maya Angelou, Joni Mitchell, D’Angelo, Bruno Major and others, Hole’s work as she describes it, are autobiographical songs about life experiences, relationships and overcoming hardships that meshes elements of jazz, soul, folk and R&B. Her latest EP Love’s Grave was released last April.
  • JOVM mainstay, Marie Dahlstrom (vocals, piano, percussion and production), a Rosklide, Denmark-born, London-based singer/songwriter, who has been largely influenced by the R&B and soul she heard in her home as a child — in particular Edwyn Collins, Womack & Womack and Gloria Gaynor were on regular rotation. Dahlstrom discovered Dwele, Dire Straits, Erykah Badu, Kirk Franklin and Fleetwood Mac in her teenage years.Dahlstrom first gained attention as a solo artist in her native Denmark, eventually becoming a three-time Scandinavian Soul Award winner. Since relocating to London, the Danish-born singer/songwriter she has become an internationally recognized sensation, best known for crafting a warm and ethereal synthesis of jazz, classic soul and R&B. Interestingly, after successful collaborations with Tom Misch and Alfa Mist, the Roskilde-born, London-based singer/songwriter has been busy writing the material, which would eventually comprised her long-awaited full-length debut. Slated for release latest this year, the album was recorded in Los Angeles, Copenhagen, and London and features collaborations with James Vickery, Jeremy Passion, Elijah Fox, Beau Diako and a list of others.
  • Emmavie (vocals production), a London-based singer/songwriter and producer, whose work is an amalgamation of 90s R&B and her love for digital audio experimentation. She has built up a reputation for being a highly sought-after collaborator, working with IAMNOBODI, Buddy, ROMderful, Jarreau Vandal, Alfa Mist, Nick Grant and Jay Prince. Emmavie has had her work featured on the Oprah Winfrey Network-produced series Queen Sugar. And adding to a growing profile, the London-based singer/songwriter and producer was scouted by  DJ Jazzy Jeff, who flew her out to his house in Delaware to write and record music with Mac Ayres, Robert Glasper and Redman as part of the Playlist Retreat.

The collective can trace their origins to a conversation the five women shared on social media. Their debut 2018’s Los Angeles EP found the quintet crafting material that meshed elements of 90s R&B with contemporary electronic production. Building upon a growing profile, the collective’s forthcoming sophomore EP Toronto, Vol 1. is slated for release later this year — and the EP’s first single, the Emmavie and Marie Dahlstrom co-written “If We Try” is a sultry 90s neo-soul-like track centered around the quintet’s lush harmonies, shimmering keys, a sinuous bass line and a soaring hook. And in some way, the track will bring Teddy Riley-like New Jack Swing, Erykah Badu, SWV, Timbaland and others to mind.

”I Wonder,” Toronto, Vol. 1‘s second and latest single is an atmospheric and contemplative song centered around shimmering and strummed guitar, twinkling keys, soulful vocals, lush harmonies, and a soaring and infectious hook. While being the most straightforward R&B song the collective has released off the forthcoming EP, it’s a sobering contemplation of the act’s five women, thinking of their future grandchildren looking back at our current moment and wondering how the five women were like when they were young — and how their world was. “‘I Wonder,” the group says, “came about after a dinner table conversation on climate change, sharing our worries about what the future looks like for generations to come. It’s difficult to write political lyrics without preaching, so instead we focused on the perspective of youth and curiosity in 50 years’ time, looking back and wondering what it was like to fly in an aeroplane and see the ocean from the sky.”

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Her Songs is a multi-national collective featuring:

  • Dani Murcia (vocals, piano, guitar, production), a Colombian-American, Miami-born, New York-based R&B/pop/soul singer/songwriter, whose lush harmonies and haunting melodies has been influenced by the likes of JOVM mainstay Nick Hakim, Kimbra and Matt Corby. Her latest EP Breaking Light consists of stories focusing on grieving her father’s suicide and searching for beauty in pain.
  • Emily C. Browning (vocals, guitar), a Christchurch, New Zealand-based indie soul artist influenced by the likes of Emily King, Lianne La Havas and Nai Palm. Her work features conversational-style lyrics, that offer a deep perspective and insight into the human experience.
  • Francesa Hole, a French-born, London-based singer/songwriter and guitarist, known as The Naked Eye (vocals, guitar). Influenced by Nai Palm, Lianne La Havas, Maya Angelou, Joni Mitchell, D’Angelo, Bruno Major and others, Hole’s work as she describes it, are autobiographical songs about life experiences, relationships and overcoming hardships that meshes elements of jazz, soul, folk and R&B. Her latest EP Love’s Grave was released last April.
  • JOVM mainstay, Marie Dahlstrom (vocals, piano, percussion and production), a Rosklide, Denmark-born, London-based singer/songwriter, who has been largely influenced by the R&B and soul she heard in her home as a child — in particular Edwyn Collins, Womack & Womack and Gloria Gaynor were on regular rotation. Dahlstrom discovered Dwele, Dire Straits, Erykah Badu, Kirk Franklin and Fleetwood Mac in her teenage years.

    Dahlstrom first gained attention as a solo artist in her native Denmark, eventually becoming a three-time Scandinavian Soul Award winner. Since relocating to London, the Danish-born singer/songwriter she has become an internationally recognized sensation, best known for crafting a warm and ethereal synthesis of jazz, classic soul and R&B. Interestingly, after successful collaborations with Tom Misch and Alfa Mist,the Roskilde-born, London-based singer/songwriter has been busy writing the material, which would eventually comprised her long-awaited full-length debut. Slated for release latest this year, the album was recorded in Los Angeles, Copenhagen, and London and features collaborations with James Vickery, Jeremy Passion, Elijah Fox, Beau Diako and a list of others.

  • Emmavie (vocals production), a London-based singer/songwriter and producer, whose work is an amalgamation of 90s R&B and her love for digital audio experimentation. She has built up a reputation for being a highly sought-after collaborator, working with IAMNOBODI, Buddy, ROMderful, Jarreau Vandal, Alfa Mist, Nick Grant and Jay Prince. Emmavie has had her work featured on the Oprah Winfrey Network-produced series Queen Sugar. And adding to a growing profile, the London-based singer/songwriter and producer was scouted by  DJ Jazzy Jeff, who flew her out to his house in Delaware to write and record music with Mac Ayres, Robert Glasper and Redman as part of the Playlist Retreat.

Interestingly, the collective can trace their origins to a conversation that the five women shared on social media. The collective’s debut EP 2018’s Los Angeles found the quintet crafting material that meshed elements of 90s R&B with contemporary electronic production. The collective begins 2020 with “If We Try,” the first single off their forthcoming, sophomore EP Toronto, Vol. 1. Co-written by  Emmavie and Marie Dahlstrom, who share a mutual love of soul and R&B, the sultry and decidedly 90s neo-soul inspired track is centered around the quintet’s lush harmonizing, shimmering keys, a sinuous bass line and a soaring hook manages to recall Teddy Riley-like New Jack Swing, Erykah Badu, SWV, Timbaland and others. 

“‘If We Try’ is about asking the person you love for a second chance,” Her Songs’ Marie Dahlstrom explains in press notes. “Sometimes people are quick to break relationships off when things get off rough, but this son his about finding strength in vulnerability. we live in a world of instant gratification and relationships can often feel replaceable. We wanted to chance the narrative: you get so much more when you try.”