Recording News

Freedonia Music Releases Exiles "KalimbaMania" CD

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
February 11, 2009

Multi-instrumentalist and Freedonia Music proprietor Jay Zelenka emails with word of the St. Louis-based label's first release of 2009: KalimbaMania, a CD reissue of a 1989 session by Exiles, Zelenka's long-running duo with keyboardist Greg Mills.KalimbaMania was issued originally on LP by Esfoma Music; this new version is digitally remastered from the original studio tapes and includes 21 minutes of additional recording from the same time period. In all, the session features 10 duet improvisations, with both Zelenka ...

Continue Reading...

The Blue and the Great Miles Davis

Source: All About Jazz
February 11, 2009

Fifty years ago, Miles Davis recorded Kind of Blue. If you own one jazz album, this is probably the one.

At 2:30 on March 2, 1959, the 32-year-old trumpet player and bandleader Miles Davis took six sidemen into a New York City studio, where they spent the afternoon and early evening recording three songs.

On April 22, the same cohort, minus one of the two piano players who worked on the first date, returned to the same studio and recorded ...

Continue Reading...

George Kahn Music Review in Jazztimes, Riveting Riffs

Source: Imaginary Friends
February 11, 2009

Continue Reading...

Nas Recording Album with Damian Marley

Source: Billboard Magazine
February 11, 2009

Nas told Billboard last week he was cooking up a few surprises, and now we know one of them: an as-yet-untitled collaboration with reggae star Damian Marley. The pair has been recording quietly in Los Angeles for the last several weeks. Nas' manager, Anthony Saleh, tells Billboard the project will most likely be released in the spring. It's not clear which label will release it; Nas is signed to Def Jam, while Marley records for Universal. “We've been recording in ...

Continue Reading...

Willie Nile's New Studio Album, 'House of a Thousand Guitars,' Awaits April 14 Release

Source: conqueroo
February 10, 2009

New album is slated for April 14 release on River House Records/GB Music

NEW YORK, N,Y. — Nearly 30 years after his much-heralded debut and two years after his astonishing re-emergence on Streets of New York, Willie Nile is ready to push his career into high gear with the release of House of a Thousand Guitars. The new album, his first for River House Records, is due out on April 14. The album was produced variously by the team of ...

Continue Reading...

Ray Charles Definitive Anthology Coming On Concord Records on April 7

Source: conqueroo
February 10, 2009

Set due in stores April 7. Most songs available digitally for the first time.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Commencing an extensive Ray Charles reissue program for 2009, Concord Records will release a 21-song anthology of hits titled Ray Charles — Genius: The Ultimate Ray Charles Collection. The volume, slated for a street date of April 7, 2009, presents Charles’ most influential recordings for the Atlantic and ABC-Paramount labels including 1955’s “I Got a Woman” plus “Busted,” “Georgia on My Mind,” ...

Continue Reading...

Notes from the Net: Analyzing Miles Davis' "So What" Solo, Clark Terry on Riverwalk Jazz, David Sanborn on DVD, CD Reviews, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
February 9, 2009

Here's this week's compilation of St. Louis-related short news bits and other items of potential interest from the jazz world...* Let's start, as is our custom, with two Miles Davis-related items, neither one brand new, but both interesting - specifically, a transcription and analysis of Miles' famous solo on “So What" by guitarist Steve Khan, and an essay offering an overview of Davis' electric music of the 1960s and 70s, with some short audio clips.* Another ...

Continue Reading...

Ghostlight Nabs 1st Grammy for 'In the Heights' OCR

Source: Seth Cohen PR
February 9, 2009

GRAMMY WIN! Ghostlight Celebrates First-Ever Grammy, as IN THE HEIGHTS OCR Nabs Best Musical Show Album

Ghostlight Records is proud to announce their first-ever Grammy Award, as their acclaimed double-CD OCR for IN THE HEIGHTS took home the 2009 GRAMMY for Best Musical Show Album. The win capped a dominant year for Ghostlight Records, as well as for In The Heights (already a Tony Award Winner for Best Musical and Best Score).

Ghostlight Records released the OCR on June 3rd, ...

Continue Reading...