The Laurence Hobgood Trio with string quartet ETHEL "Two impressive things stand out: how enormous his arrangements make the string quartet sound, and how fluidly these seven musicians blend together." - Giovanni Russonello, New York Times  "Hobgood's orchestration definitely brings a classical element to the project, while the trio's shining interactions represent the very idea that jazz improvisation is less about what's being played and more about how it's being played."  - Matt Micucci, Jazziz Magazine    "✩✩✩✩✩" - BBC Music Magazine (May 24, 2019) "Hobgood has produced here an exceptional debut album for the ever-burgeoning Ubuntu Music label, which augurs very well indeed both for the pianist and the record company." - Roger Farby, All About Jazz    "Laurence Hobgood's new album is grounded in a deep and rich musicality that rewards frequent and multiple listenings like nothing I've heard in decades. It is at different times surprising, thought-provoking, nuanced, and always exquisite . . . tesseterra should be on every station and streaming services playlists for years to come."  - Daniel J. Levitin, Author, "This Is Your Brain On Music" "Laurence Hobgood's new album is grounded in a deep and rich musicality that rewards frequent and multiple listenings like nothing I've heard in decades. It is at different times surprising, thought-provoking, nuanced, and always exquisite. What do Debussy, Ravel, Miles Davis and Johnny Cash have in common' They were all superb crafters of melody, harmony and rhythm who decided, as Hobgood does here, to explore texture-driven music, elevating timbre and orchestration to equal standing with their better known musical accomplices. Hobgood is continually pulling rabbits out of hats, getting me to rethink and re-feel songs I've heard thousands of times, shining a light on hidden structure and interplays I had never noticed before. Anyone who can sneak in a few bars of  "I've Found a New Baby" has got me hooked. From meter shifts to harmonic innovation and textural elegance, tesseterra should be on every station and streaming services playlists for years to come." 

In February 1987, Keith Jarrett recorded, on piano, the first book of The Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach. It was the first in a series of lauded Bach discs that Jarrett would make for ECM. On March 7, 1987, prior to the release of the studio set, he performed the complete WTC Book I for an audience in upstate New York at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, a venue renowned for its beautiful acoustics. With this release, ECM is presenting an archival live recording of this concert for the first time. When his studio album of the WTC Book I was released, Jarrett's manner in these iconic preludes and fugues surprised many listeners with its poetic restraint, given his renown as a jazz improvisor. But the pianist was deeply attuned to what he called "the process of thought" in Bach; by not imposing his personality unduly on the music, Jarrett allowed the score to shine via the natural lyricism of the contrapuntal melodic lines, the dance-like pulse of the rhythmic flow. These qualities are strikingly apparent in the live recording, with its added electricity of a concert performance.

After sending shockwaves through the socialsphere following her electrifying performance alongside Cardi B at the 2019 Grammy Awards, high-energy performance pianist Chloe Flower releases her first-ever original single on Sony Music Masterworks. With an original arrangement by Flower, the single "Get What U Get" is co-produced with Tommy Brown (Ariana Grande's "7 Rings", "Thank U, Next"), Anthony "Tone" Jones (Post Malone, Juice WRLD) and her longtime collaborator Babyface. Rooted in classical instrumentation, the song has all of the style and flare of a pop record. Flower recently debuted the song on the Today Show in her first ever solo TV performance. "Get What U Get" is available everywhere now. 

On April 19, Angélique Kidjo will release Celia (Verve/Universal Music France), an album that honors Celia Cruz, widely known as "the Queen of Salsa" and the most popular Latin artist of the 20thcentury.  On Celia, Angélique explores the African roots of the Cuban-born Cruz and reimagines selections from Cruz's extraordinary career in surprising new ways, infused with an explosion of sounds and rhythms from Cuba, Africa, the Middle East, America and beyond.  The album includes performances by Tony Allen (Fela Kuti) on drums, Meshell Ndegeocello on bass, and British saxophonist Shabaka Hutchins plus his band Sons of Kemet.   

Today, multitalented vocalist, songwriter and instrumentalist Camila Meza releases her debut album on Sony Music Masterworks, Ámbar. Available now, Ámbar, the fifth studio album from Meza, showcases the Chilean-born talent's ever-evolving artistic sensibility, and finds her reaching new virtuosic and expressive heights as a singer, a stirring guitar soloist, an ambitious songwriter and a producer. Featuring the Nectar Orchestra, a hybrid ensemble with string quartet, with arrangements by bassist Noam Wiesenberg, and pianist/keyboardist Eden Ladin, drummer/percussionist Keita Ogawa, violinists Tomoko Omura and Fung Chern Hwei, violist Benjamin von Gutzeit and cellist Brian Sanders, Ámbar is distinguished by its extraordinarily close attention to sonic detail. Steeped in metaphor, romance and complex emotion, Ámbar is Meza's boldest artistic statement to date, a breakthrough, rooted in the incredible agility and interplay of Meza's state-of-the-art jazz group.

Seth MacFarlane will release his fifth album Once In A While (Verve and Republic) digitally, and the physical CD will be available on April 26th. The reflective album, which MacFarlane calls "a collection of wistful, pensive songs," features songs by Irving Berlin, Rogers and Hart, and Johnny Mercer. The tracks for Once In A While were recorded alongside the songs for his last album, 2017's In Full Swing- and material for another, future record- in a marathon 2016 session at London's legendary Abbey Road Studio 2, the room in which the Beatles cut the majority of their catalogue. Unlike the hard-charging big band swing of his previous project, the thirteen songs on this album are all ballads that MacFarlane says "deal with longing, lost love, and sadness, infused with fond recollection and a hint of hope." "They're not necessarily sad break-up songs," says arranger Andrew Cottee. "They're more reflective, thoughtful, even philosophical, but they're not all torch songs."

From the filmmaking team behind the highly-acclaimed documentary The Beatles: Eight Days A Week - The Touring Years, PAVAROTTI is a riveting film that lifts the curtain on the icon who brought opera to the people. Academy Award winner Ron Howard puts audiences front row center for an exploration of The Voice...The Man...The Legend. Luciano Pavarotti gave his life to the music and a voice to the world. This cinematic event features history-making performances and intimate interviews, including never-before-seen footage and cutting-edge Dolby Atmos technology.  A CBS Films Polygram Entertainment Brian Grazer presentation, PAVAROTTI is an Imagine Entertainment and White Horse Pictures production.  DIRECTED BY: Ron Howard  WRITTEN BY: Mark Monroe  PRODUCED BY: Nigel Sinclair, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Michael Rosenberg, Jeanne Elfant Festa  OPENING IN THEATERS LIMITED ON JUNE 7, 2019 

"Hello, Hope, it's been a while," go the opening lines of "Dead Ends", the centerpiece of Ben Cooper's latest EP as Radical Face. After giving eight years of his life, creatively and emotionally, to his three-part The Family Tree series -- The Roots (2011), The Branches (2013), and The Leaves (2016) -- Cooper had indeed lost touch with hope. He'd too long grasped ideas and perceptions that held him back from peace. Speaking with a professional finally enabled him to let go, something he's honored by naming his new effort Therapy.  On Therapy, Radical Face has let go of all his past narratives. Instead of an intricate saga, he's kept his parameters simple. Instead of acoustic folk, he's written lush compositions. Instead of his troubled past, he's focused on his scarred present. Unsure yet confident, battered yet resilient, Cooper is taking Radical Face in a poignant new direction. And there's hope there.

For over 50 years, Earth Wind and Fire provided the soundtrack to the lives of many.  With award winning albums and chart-topping hits such as "September", "Devotion", "Reasons" and "Keep Your Head to the Sky" EWF have stood the test of time and continue to be a force in music. Philp Bailey, one of the lead singers, also experienced solo success with "Easy Lover" and "Walking on the Chinese Wall." This new album, Love Will Find A Way, has Philip teamed up with some of today's hottest, progressive Jazz artists such as Robert Glasper, Christian McBride, Kamasi Washington, Casey Benjamin, Chick Corea, Steve Gadd and more. The single, "Billy Jack", was written by the legendary Curtis Mayfield and produced by both Robert Glasper and Philip Bailey.

On November 26, 1961, saxophonist Stan Getz and his relatively new quartet of Steve Kuhn, John Neves, and Roy Haynes performed at New York's Village Gate. The show was professionally recorded, possibly for eventual release, but was soon forgotten and the tape languished in the vaults for almost 58 years. On June 14th, Verve Records/UMe will release the 2-CD, 3-LP Getz at The Gate, which includes every note recorded that night.  This recording and this quartet both serve as a sort of "road not taken" for Stan Getz. Having just returned from living in Europe, Getz assembled a new quartet and was exploring a slightly more modern and aggressive sound with this group. Steve Kuhn had only recently finished playing with John Coltrane's quartet and a more modern music and sound - personified by Coltrane - was gaining popularity.