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Crossover Media


Founded in 1994, Crossover Media's client list includes: Sony Masterworks, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, BMG, and Concord, along with many Independent Labels and Artists. Projects include collaborations with the following artists: 2CELLOS, Alexandre Desplat, Andras Schiff, Andrea Bocelli, Andris Nelsons, Anna Netrebko, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Angele Dubeau, Angelique Kidjo, Anoushka Shankar, Antonio Sanchez, Arcade Fire, Arturo Sandoval, Bebel Gilberto, Becca Stevens, Bela Fleck, Bettye LaVette, Bill Frisell, Bill Charlap, Bill Murray, Billy Childs, Billy Joel, Bob James, Bobby McFerrin, Brandee Younger, Branford Marsalis, Brian Eno, Burkard Schliessmann, Cassandra Wilson, Cecilia Bartoli, Charlie Haden, Chick Corea, Chilly Gonzales, Daniel Barenboim, Daniel Hope, Daniil Trifonov, David Crosby, David Foster, David Sanborn, Devonte Hynes, Diana Krall, Don Sebesky, Ella Fitzgerald, Emanuel Ax, Ennio Morricone, Evgeny Kissin, Frank Sinatra, Gabriel Kahane, George Benson, George Winston, Gustavo Dudamel, Gustavo Santaolalla, Hans Zimmer, Helene Grimaud, Hilary Hahn, Hildur Guonadottir, Hubert Laws, Hubert Sumlin, Huey Lewis & The News, Igor Levit, Itzhak Perlman, Jake Shimabukuro, Jan Garbarek, Jarvis Cocker, Jeff Goldblum, Jessye Norman, Jethro Tull, Jimmy Webb, Joan Baez, Joe Lovano, Joey Alexander, Johann Johannsson, John Coltrane, John Scofield, John Williams, Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell, Jonny Greeenwood, Joshua Bell, Joy Harjo, Joyce DiDonato, Keith Jarrett, Kenny Barron, Krzysztof Penderecki, Kurt Masur, Lee Konitz, Leif Ove Andsnes, Lena Horne, London Symphony Orchestra, Luciano Pavarotti, Madison Cunningham, Mark O'Connor, Martha Argerich, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Max Richter, Medeski Martin & Wood, Melody Gardot, Michel Camilo, Paul McCartney, Paul Winter, Pete Townshend, Phil Woods, Rachel Portman, Randall Goosby, Ray Charles, Regina Carter, Renee Fleming, Richard Reed Parry, Rick Wakeman, Rodney Dangerfield, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Rufus Wainwright, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Samara Joy, Seiji Ozawa, Sergio Mendes, Seth MacFarlane, Shabaka Hutchings, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Sinead O'Connor, Snarky Puppy, Sonny Rollins, Sons of Kemet, Soweto Gospel Choir, Stanley Turrentine, SYML, Terence Blanchard, Terry Riley, The Bad Plus, The Choir Of King's College Cambridge, The Comet Is Coming, The Cranberries, The Derek Trucks Band, The Hilliard Ensemble, The Hot Sardines, The Piano Guys, The Stan Getz Quartet, The Manhattan Transfer, The New York Philharmonic, Thelonious Monk, Theo Bleckmann, Theo Croker, Third Coast Percussion, Time for Three, Tony Bennett, Tuck and Patti, Vangelis, Vienna Philharmonic, Vijay Iyer, Vikingur Olafsson, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Vladimir Horowitz, VOCES8, Willie Nelson, Wynton Marsalis, Yannick Nezet-Sequin, Yo-Yo Ma, Yuja Wang, and many others. 
 

"Music is a science. Music is mathematical. Music is a foreign language. Music is History. Music is physical education. Music develops Insight and demands research. Music is all these things, but most of all, MUSIC IS ART. That is why we teach music. Not because we expect you to play or sing all your life...But so you will be human...So you will recognize beauty...So you will be closer to an infinite beyond this world...So you will have something to cling to...So you will have more love, more compassion, more gentleness, more good- in short, more LIFE."   - Ludwig van Beethoven

For more information contact Max Horowitz    maxcrossover@gmail.com

Top 10 Albums For June 21, 2025

  • Jon Fadem

    Thankful

    ‘Thankful’ is the solo debut from Jon Fadem, a talented guitarist who has spent years honing his craft. It consists of all-original, guitar-oriented instrumental songs, telling a collected personal life story through music. The songs cross over many genres, creating a blend of rock, jazz, and soul with echoes of Jeff Beck, Stevie Wonder, George Benson, Jerry Garcia, Jimi Hendrix, and Steely Dan. It is an album of organic melodies and grooves that will find a welcome place in the minds and bodies of its listeners.

    Jon Fadem - Guitars, bass, keyboards, mandolin, and dulcimer
    John Kimock - Drums and percussion

    All songs written by Jon Fadem. Published by Fade Music (ASCAP)
    Produced by Jon Fadem 
    Recorded and engineered by Jon Fadem 
    Drums and percussion recorded and engineered by Bob Stander at Parcheesi Studio, Huntington, NY 
    Mixed by Phil Joly and Jon Fadem at Gatsby House, Allentown, PA
    Mastered by Heba Kadry
    Photos by Ashli Truchon Novak at VillaNovak Creative 
    Packaging design and layout by Jon Krop


    Jon Fadem on the making of ‘Thankful.’     “This album is a collection of original, guitar-oriented, instrumental songs taken from different periods in my life. After many years of playing and touring nationally with different cover bands, I decided to make an album of my own music, and it is a very personal project to me. It took countless hours over two years to complete this album, and to make sure it sounded exactly how I wanted it to sound. I played all of the instruments myself, with the exception of drums and percussion, which were played by John Kimock, who plays with Mike Gordon of Phish, and Oteil Burbridge of Dead and Company. The template for the overall sound of the album was my favorite music from the seventies, specifically these three albums: Jeff Beck's 'Blow by Blow', Stevie Wonder's 'Talking Book', and Joni Mitchell's 'The Hissing of Summer Lawns.' I wanted it to be an album that people would enjoy listening to. Theoretically, they would be able to either sit down and listen to it carefully and enjoy it, or just put it on and go about their day, allowing the music to become part of the fabric of their life. Either way, I sincerely hope that people like it, and that it finds a welcome home in people's lives.” 

  • Apollo Chamber Players

    BAN - Stories of Censorship

    Through Apollo commissions from a kaleidoscopic array of today’s composers, Apollo reflects on the threat of censorship, drawing from multiple cultures and historical episodes in this musically vibrant call to cherish and defend our freedom of expression. Legendary actor, author, and activist George Takei performs as narrator in composer Marty Regan’s The Book of Names, delivering a powerful account of his personal journey and life of activism following his family’s experience in an internment camp for Japanese-Americans during World War II. Through his inspired, timely plea for the preservation of American democracy, Takei’s story offers a stark reminder that even our most basic rights must never be taken for granted. The album also features works by Emmy Award–winning composer Jasmine Barnes in collaboration with Houston Poet Laureate Emeritus Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, Houston-based composer Mark Buller, Turkish-American composer Erberk

    Eryilmaz, Afrofuturist flutist/composer Allison Loggins-Hull, electronic and experimental hip-hop artist Paul Miller (AKA DJ Spooky), and Afghan-born composer and rubab performer Homayoun Sakhi.

    “BAN: Stories of Censorship is Apollo Chamber Players’ bold musical response to rising global threats against freedom of expression,” said Apollo founder and Director Matthew J. Detrick. “Featuring new commissions by composers from politically embattled regions—including Afghanistan, Turkey, and the U.S.—the album amplifies voices often silenced. In connective harmony, these works form a musical call to conscience, reminding us that in dark times, art is both resistance and refuge.”

  • Fred Hersch

    The Surrounding Green w/Drew Gress, Joey Baron

    Masterful trio interplay reliant on deeply honed three-way communication and a refined sense of understatement make Fred Hersch’s third recording for ECM an essential entry into the piano trio canon. Hersch tackles a handful of 20th century compositions – spanning from standards to less frequented jazz tunes – as well as three originals, with Drew Gress on bass and Joey Baron on drums.

    Drew and Joey are longstanding companions of Fred’s who have played with him on and off since the early and late 80s respectively – in various combinations Fred was joined by the one or the other on over a dozen recordings. This however marks their first studio recording as a trio, and their exceptional collective approach, shaped by decades of experience, can be heard (and felt) in every song.

    “Joey is such a genius with dynamics that it was no problem at all for us to hear each other in the Auditorio,” notes Hersch. “And the way that Drew plays, for example on ‘Plainsong’ and ‘The Surrounding Green’, there’s so much trust in how we get through the harmony, where we pause and where we move on. I feel that on this record you really hear the history! I hope that people can feel the maturity of the interaction, the sonic world and the sensitivity at play.”

    Fred’s own pieces are striking in their lyrical intensity, beaming with elaborate harmonies and interwoven counterpoint on “Plainsong”, timeless melodic invention on the title track “The Surrounding Green” and irresistible Brazilian groove on “Anticipation”. While previous solo renditions of “Plainsong” already introduced the melody’s intimate quality, the trio formula heard here proves quietly revelatory, with bass and drums adding a fresh pulse and expanded harmonic dimensions to the tune. The title track and “Anticipation” are new entries into the Hersch songbook.

  • Kevin Olusola

    Dawn Of A Misfit

    Kevin Olusola, the dynamic singer, cellist, and beatboxer best known for his work with the 3x-GRAMMY® Award-winning a cappella group Pentatonix, releases his debut solo album, DAWN OF A MISFIT, via Sony Music Masterworks, available everywhere now. To mark the album’s release, Olusola has also unveiled the music video for standout track “Hallelujah (I Don’t Think About You).” The song masterfully showcases Olusola’s blend of classical, pop, and hip-hop genres. It starts a bit unassuming: wrapped around a sample of George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah” oratorio, beginning with a worship-worthy melody before exploding into a percussion-heavy beat as Olusola unleashes a massive kiss-off to those who have done him wrong. “You used to be my sweetest song / Turns out the autotune was on,” he sings with a wink.

    “’Hallelujah (I Don’t Think About You)’ is my absolute favorite song on this project,” shares Olusola. “I remember driving home from the songwriting session, blasting the demo I produced in the car, and thinking, ‘This is exactly the sound I’ve been chasing all my life!’ This song sums me up artistically and personally - it’s about embracing your true self and letting go of the past (toxic people, habits, etc.). I hope you feel the energy and joy that pours into this song, helping you step into the freedom you’ve been dreaming of.”

    The multi-faceted artist first previewed his new LP with the electrifying lead single “DARK WINTER," blending Vivaldi's Four Seasons and symphonic strings with Olusola's potent beatbox percussion, 808s & elastic R&B hooks. He followed with the spoken word and deeply personal “I Feel Misunderstood” and “Crazy,” an instrumental reimagining of Gnarls Barkley’s 2006 mega-hit that showcases Olusola’s powerful talents as a cellist. Most recently, Olusola released “Smile,” an uplifting number that showcases the purity of Olusola’s vocals and his signature beatboxing, along with the soothing sample of Bach’s “Cello Suites.”

  • Signum Quartett

    A Dark Flaring - Works for String Quartet from SA

    A Dark Flaring marks the Signum Quartett’s return to ECM’s New Series after debuting for the label with striking performances on Erkki-Sven Tüür’s acclaimed chamber music recording Lost Prayers (2020). Here, the quartet has put together a unique programme dedicated to South African composers, born in the 20th century, whose works for string quartet are united by the way they blend respect for the past with an instinct for the future in a wide-flung idiomatic scope. The grid of references unravelled between the six composers here – their dates of birth span from 1903 to 1983 – is as geographically wide as it is idiomatically deep, with large musical bridges connecting inspirations ranging from South African Xhosa and Zulu traditions through the late Renaissance to 19th century Romanticism as well as 20th century impressionists and minimalists. There’s even a nod to popular culture, as Matthijs van Dijk’s (rage) rage against the borrows inspiration for its title from the rock group Rage Against The Machine.

    The complicated historical and in the same breath cultural backdrop that goes hand in hand with musical repertory composed over this specific period, in the South African context, is not only impossible to ignore but moreover serves as catalyst, canvas and disrupter – sometimes all at once – for most of the music presented here. The country after all didn’t become united until 1910, when South Africa was declared a self-governed country under the Commonwealth in the aftermath of the Anglo-Boer Wars. Apartheid ensued following the World Wars – racist segregational policies that lasted until 1990 and continue to be worked through, digested and dealt with today. 

  • Raphael Feuillatre

    Spanish Serenades

    When Raphaël Feuillâtre was given the opportunity to play guitars owned by three of Spain’s finest composers, he jumped at the chance. For his second Deutsche Grammophon album, Spanish Serenades, he has created a programme built around works by Albéniz, Llobet and Tárrega, adding others by their compatriots Granados and Rodrigo. A talented and prolific arranger, Feuillâtre plays five of his own inventive transcriptions of works for solo piano. These include Granados’s Andaluza, which he performs with violinist and fellow DG artist María Dueñas. Spanish Serenades also features the French guitarist’s first recordings with orchestra – he is joined by the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Gábor Takács-Nagy, in Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez.

    Through the generosity of several different collectors, Feuillâtre was lent guitars owned by Albéniz, Llobet and Tárrega for this recording, and began planning a tracklist by selecting works by these three influential figures of the Spanish classical world.
    Known as the “Sarasate of the guitar”, Francisco Tárrega was a composer, arranger and teacher as well as virtuoso performer. Feuillâtre captures his legacy in the colourful Recuerdos de la Alhambra and Capricho árabe, together with eight of his ingenious preludes for guitar. 

    Miguel Llobet, who studied with Tárrega, made history as the first classical guitarist to create an electric recording. As a composer, he is perhaps best-known for his harmonisations of Catalan folk songs, four of which feature on Spanish Serenades, as does his transcription of Danza triste. Melancólica from Granados’s Danzas españolas. 

  • Klaus Makela

    berlioz ravel wOrchestre de Paris

    Klaus Mäkelä’s forthcoming album with the Orchestre de Paris is out today, June 6, 2025 on Decca Classics. This is the third album in Mäkelä’s series with the orchestra and features two famous French works: Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique and Ravel’s La Valse.

    The centrepiece of the album is Symphonie fantastique, recorded live at the Philharmonie de Paris in December 2024.  “Berlioz’s masterpiece has a very special meaning for the Orchestre de Paris” says Klaus Mäkelä. “It was one of the works that Charles Munch performed and recorded as the orchestra’s first Music Director in 1967, and it has remained core to their repertoire ever since. I have had the privilege of performing Symphonie Fantastique with these wonderful musicians on numerous occasions, both at home and on tour, and it amazes me how fresh the music still feels today, nearly 200 years after it was composed.”

  • Terry Riley

    The Columbia Recordings

    One of the most consequential musicians of the 20th century – the visionary American composer Terry Riley – is celebrated with the Sony Classical release of Terry Riley – The Columbia Recordings.  Set for release on August 22 and available for preorder now, the four-disc box set includes Terry Riley’s unique recordings for Columbia Masterworks between 1968 and 1980 that changed the direction and expanded the range of late 20th-century music.

    Terry Riley – The Columbia Recordings box set includes the albums In C (1968); A Rainbow in Curved Air (1969); Church of Anthrax (1971, in collaboration with John Cale of the Velvet Underground); and Shri Camel (1980), all made for Columbia Masterworks at a time when the label was boldly embracing new directions in American music. This collection offers an essential document of Riley’s most transformative period when the pulse of innovation met the possibilities of high-fidelity sound.

    In addition to all four complete recordings and rarely seen archival photographs from recording sessions in Columbia’s fabled 30th Street Studios in Manhattan, Terry Riley – The Columbia Recordings includes a 50-page booklet featuring first-hand reflections from David Behrman, the original producer of In C and A Rainbow in Curved Air; and an essay by Thomas M. Welsh, Terry Riley’s longtime manager and archivist; and reprints of all essays and notes from the original vinyl releases.

    “The magic of Terry Riley’s music derives from many worlds, among them the minimalist world, the indeterminate world, and the music of the world,” Grammy-nominated producer and former Sony Masterworks executive Tom Laskey wrote in his essay for Terry Riley – The Columbia Recordings. “And the way it all fuses together creates its own world. And like going to a new world, maybe it’s awkward at first. And then, maybe, it’s like you’ve lived there all your life. Or maybe your experience of listening to Terry’s music is like mine: it’s not the world I live in, but when I visit, I don’t want to leave.”

  • Avi Avital

    ITALY w/Between Worlds Ensemble

    In a new series of recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, virtuoso mandolinist Avi Avital paints captivating musical portraits of three distinct geographical regions. Together with the nine versatile musicians of his Between Worlds ensemble, Avital has already delighted audiences around Europe with genre-defying programmes that celebrate folk traditions and their influence on classical composers past and present. Now they are set to release three digital EPs – ITALY, IBERIA and BLACK SEA – and an album, Song of the Birds, which features a colourful sequence of music from all three regions. Guest artists Marina Heredia, Alessia Tondo and the Georgian choir Ensemble Rustavi join the musicians in a rich selection of vocal and instrumental arrangements (most of which were created by David Bruce or Jonathan Keren). These are woven together by the magical sound of Avital’s mandolin, the heart of the ensemble, to form a vibrant tapestry of musical traditions. 

    ITALY comes out on 30 May 2025, with IBERIA following on 27 June and BLACK SEA on 11 July.  Song of the Birds will be released digitally and on CD on 8 August. Nine of the album’s 20 tracks do not appear on any of the EPs. Filmed versions of the Between Worlds concerts at Berlin’s Pierre Boulez Saal will be made available to stream on STAGE+, beginning with the premiere of the IBERIA concert on 5 July, and continuing with VoD releases of the BLACK SEA concert on 18 July and the ITALY concert on 15 August.

    Italy is close to Avi Avital’s heart – not just as the birthplace of the mandolin, but as the country he called home for eight years, during which time he discovered the huge variety of musical traditions still flourishing throughout the peninsula. ITALY focuses on the south of the country, with vocalist Alessia Tondo, a leading exponent of that region’s folk music, joining the ensemble in songs such as Tarantella di Sannicandro. Song of the Birds also acknowledges the historical influence of Greece on Italy with the inclusion of Raiko, a traditional Macedonian dance arranged for the ensemble by violinist-composer Antonis Sousamoglou.
    Avital’s journey continues with an exploration of the varied musical history of the Iberian Peninsula. The IBERIA EP features two works by Andalusian composer Falla, both rooted in the folk music of his native region: Andaluza from 4 Piezas españolas and an excerpt from El amor brujo, with vocals from legendary flamenco singer Marina Heredia. She also sings a contemporary arrangement of an Andalusian folk song harmonised by poet and musician Federico García Lorca. The album expands this repertoire with a selection of Ladino songs (Ladino being the language of the Sephardi Jews who established new communities outside the Iberian peninsula after being expelled from Spain in 1492). Heredia sings La Petenera, while the remaining arrangements are purely instrumental.

  • Angela Hewitt

    Mozart Piano Sonatas K457, 533, 545, 570, 576

    Out June 6, 2025: Angela Hewitt’s 50th album for Hyperion Records concludes her Complete Mozart Piano Sonatas project
    Final album features the “Sonata Facile”, loved by millions of piano students worldwide, and the composer’s final piano sonatas
    Hewitt’s 31 years on Hyperion have so far included Scarlatti, Couperin, and the complete solo keyboard works of J.S. Bach and Beethoven - Out Now on Hyperion

    The 50th album from Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt, out today on Hyperion Records, completes her latest major project for the label; Hyperion has been her lifelong recording partner for 31 years. This double album ranges from the simplest and easiest of Mozart’s piano sonatas – the K545 “Sonata facile” played by a million students of piano every year – to the composer’s last and most profound piano sonatas. In between come the charming Variations on “Ah vous dirai-je, maman”, better known in the Anglosphere as the tune to the nursery rhyme “Twinkle, twinkle, little star”.

Stories For June 21, 2025

  • Guitarist Jon Fadem releases debut album: Thankful
    Posted At : June 21, 2025 12:00 AM
    ‘Thankful’ is the solo debut from Jon Fadem, a talented guitarist who has spent years honing his craft. It consists of all-original, guitar-oriented instrumental songs, telling a collected personal life story through music. The songs cross over many genres, creating a blend of rock, jazz, and soul with echoes of Jeff Beck, Stevie Wonder, George Benson, Jerry Garcia, Jimi Hendrix, and Steely Dan. It is an album of organic melodies and grooves that will find a welcome place in the minds and bodies of its listeners.Jon Fadem - Guitars, bass, keyboards, mandolin, and dulcimer
    John Kimock - Drums and percussionAll songs written by Jon Fadem. Published by Fade Music (ASCAP)
    Produced by Jon Fadem 
    Recorded and engineered by Jon Fadem 
    Drums and percussion recorded and engineered by Bob Stander at Parcheesi Studio, Huntington, NY 
    Mixed by Phil Joly and Jon Fadem at Gatsby House, Allentown, PA
    Mastered by Heba Kadry
    Photos by Ashli Truchon Novak at VillaNovak Creative 
    Packaging design and layout by Jon Krop
    Jon Fadem on the making of ‘Thankful.’     “This album is a collection of original, guitar-oriented, instrumental songs taken from different periods in my life. After many years of playing and touring nationally with different cover bands, I decided to make an album of my own music, and it is a very personal project to me. It took countless hours over two years to complete this album, and to make sure it sounded exactly how I wanted it to sound. I played all of the instruments myself, with the exception of drums and percussion, which were played by John Kimock, who plays with Mike Gordon of Phish, and Oteil Burbridge of Dead and Company. The template for the overall sound of the album was my favorite music from the seventies, specifically these three albums: Jeff Beck's 'Blow by Blow', Stevie Wonder's 'Talking Book', and Joni Mitchell's 'The Hissing of Summer Lawns.' I wanted it to be an album that people would enjoy listening to. Theoretically, they would be able to either sit down and listen to it carefully and enjoy it, or just put it on and go about their day, allowing the music to become part of the fabric of their life. Either way, I sincerely hope that people like it, and that it finds a welcome home in people's lives.”Here are track description of the singles1. “Thankful”“I wrote this song the day after Thanksgiving in 2021, after a really nice day spent with my Dad visiting my family for the holiday. I was feeling very thankful for having my family in my life, and I think the optimistic feel of the song really reflects that.”Mood: happy, energeticGenre: funk, retro soul, smooth jazzSimilar artists: George Benson, Stevie Wonder, D’Angelo, George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic-----2. “Postcard”“I wrote this song not long after Jerry Garcia passed away. Jerry was the main reason I started playing guitar when I was a kid, and I initially taught myself by ear while playing along with Grateful Dead music. I saw Jerry play in concert many times over the years, and those experiences really encouraged me to be a musician. The effect on the lead melody guitar on this song is a Uni-Vibe, a pedal that was pioneered by Jimi Hendrix, my other favorite guitarist. So this song reflects my affection for my two favorite guitarists: Jerry Garcia and Jimi Hendrix.”Mood: energetic, psychedelicGenre: jam band, psychedelic rock, soul funkSimilar artists: Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, The Allman Brothers Band-----3. “Sunshine”“I wrote this song when I first started dating my wife, Terri. She is the woman I had been waiting my whole life to meet, and it is most definitely a love song. I wrote lyrics to it as well, and the title came from the line "Drifting in your embrace - feels like sunshine upon my face". During the outro of the song on this recording, I used a vocoder with my guitar to say the words "Feels like sunshine", so you can hear the lyrics mixed in with the music. Incidentally, for our wedding, I secretly arranged for two friends of mine, who are both great guitarists, to play the instrumental version of this song while my wife walked down the aisle. She was very surprised to hear it, and it worked out really well!”Mood: happy, romantic, blissfulGenre: jazz funk, neo soul, hip hop beatsSimilar artists: Miles Davis, A Tribe Called Quest, Thundercat, George Benson-----4. “Lady Flies Tonight”“I had driven all the way across the country, from New Jersey to Tacoma, Washington, something I had always wanted to do. I was thinking about moving out there, but a phone call with my brother back in NJ reinforced something I was feeling myself anyway, a desire to go back home. There are lyrics to this song, and the chorus says “Go home, go home, you’ve had enough time to roam. Go home, go home, you know that is where you belong.” I got off of the phone, sat down in the park where I was with my guitar, and the whole song came out.”Mood: chill, happyGenre: jazz fusion, alternative R&B, soul funk, jazz, alternative instrumentalSimilar artists: Pat Metheny, Miles Davis, Sade, Steely Dan, John Coltrane
     Jon Fadem is very proud to endorse PRS Guitars, Mesa/Boogie amplifiers, and Dean Markley strings.Special thanks to Terri Fadem, Miles Fadem, Barbara Fadem, Tom Chenal, Sarah Fadem, Faye Fadem, Andy Zicklin at Flatiron Recordings, Rich Hannon at PRS Guitars, Kris Dilbeck at Mesa/Boogie, John Kimock, Phil Joly, Bob Stander, Heba Kadry, Markus Reuter, Jason Perl, David Perl, Max Horowitz at Crossover Media, Roger Jones, Erik Santana, Jon Braun, Vernon Mobley, Linda Berliner, Stefan Grossman, Napoleon Murphy Brock, and all past and present members of my bands Life After Dead: Grateful Dead Tribute, Start Making Sense: Talking Heads Tribute, and Post Junction.This album is dedicated to my amazing wife, Terri, and my precious son, Miles.In loving memory of Igal, Jennie, and Danny Fadem. 
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  • Through now's incessant numbness, Flickers a glint, A startling glimmer, A dark flaring...The Signum Quartett returns to ECM
    Posted At : June 11, 2025 12:00 AM
    A Dark Flaring marks the Signum Quartett’s return to ECM’s New Series after debuting for the label with striking performances on Erkki-Sven Tüür’s acclaimed chamber music recording Lost Prayers (2020). Here, the quartet has put together a unique programme dedicated to South African composers, born in the 20th century, whose works for string quartet are united by the way they blend respect for the past with an instinct for the future in a wide-flung idiomatic scope. The grid of references unravelled between the six composers here – their dates of birth span from 1903 to 1983 – is as geographically wide as it is idiomatically deep, with large musical bridges connecting inspirations ranging from South African Xhosa and Zulu traditions through the late Renaissance to 19th century Romanticism as well as 20th century impressionists and minimalists. There’s even a nod to popular culture, as Matthijs van Dijk’s (rage) rage against the borrows inspiration for its title from the rock group Rage Against The Machine.The complicated historical and in the same breath cultural backdrop that goes hand in hand with musical repertory composed over this specific period, in the South African context, is not only impossible to ignore but moreover serves as catalyst, canvas and disrupter – sometimes all at once – for most of the music presented here. The country after all didn’t become united until 1910, when South Africa was declared a self-governed country under the Commonwealth in the aftermath of the Anglo-Boer Wars. Apartheid ensued following the World Wars – racist segregational policies that lasted until 1990 and continue to be worked through, digested and dealt with today.  

    Whether writing at home or abroad, all six composers reflect their country’s complex and troubled history through music which is strikingly original. As Shirley Apthorp notes in the CD’s liner note, Mokale Koapeng’s Komeng, which opens the disc, “owes what is perhaps this recording’s most overt debt to the ancestors, drawing for its inspiration on ‘Umyeyezelo’, a celebratory song by Nofinishi Dywili.” Dywili was particularly accomplished in her use of complex polyrhythms, which Koapeng acknowledges by setting triple against duple metre. As Apthorp writes. “’Umyeyezelo’ is a song for the completion of Ulwaluko, the Xhosa initiation ritual which marks the transition from boyhood to manhood. ‘Komeng’ treats Dywili’s melody gently, using rocking rhythmic figures and col legno, a technique of striking the string with the wood of the bow, a direct invocation of the Uhadi.”The programme continues with Matthijs van Dijk’s aforementioned rage, a piece that reflects the composer’s multi-disciplinary background by its use of a variety of techniques and sounds, densely packed into this explosive one-movement work. Similar in its dynamic scope, yet far more Romantic in its formal fabric, Arnold van Wyk’s Five Elegies For String Quartet (1940-1941) represent some of the earliest repertory here, only surpassed by Priaulx Rainier’s Quartet For Strings, which she completed in 1939. A student of Nadia Boulanger, among others, Rainier, as some of the other composers included here, moved to England for her studies. She lived there for most of her life, creating music that always remained, in one way or another, tied to the earliest music she heard growing up in Zululand, South Africa. As with many of the other works in this programme, the South African roots of the music can be found most prominently in its rhythmic components, bound to ostinatos and repetition.  Great variety in form and texture invigorate the Signum Quartett in its performances here, seemingly inciting a whirlwind of emotions as they travel across these broad musical streams. Gramophone magazine has described the quartet’s sound as “passionate, often brilliant, but also clear and lean” and their sensitive approach to these dynamically contrasting works is further evidence of the quartet’s accomplished craft. They excel with precision also in “iinyembezi”, a composition by Péter Louis van Dijk, which owes its heritage to John Dowland’s “Flow My Tears” on the one hand, and Xhosa tradition on the other. Downland’s theme is extrapolated through a series of variations, while an extended pizzicato section evokes the sound of the Mbira – the African thumb piano. What seems couldn’t be further musically apart, here unites coherently on the brink of tonality.  And like the works of his fellow compatriots, Robert Fokkens’s Glimpses of a half-forgotten future can’t evade a certain dichotomy in its musical inspirations either, with debt owed to Western classical composers John Cage, Morton Feldman and French spectralists, while at the same time drawing inspiration from the Xhosa Uhadi – the South African musical bow whose build and percussive qualities are reminiscent of the Brazilian Berimbau. Fokkens contextualises his string quartet – a stark reflection on the inevitability of our own demise – with the poem that gives this album its name:Through now's incessant numbness, Flickers a glint,, A startling glimmer, A dark flaring...

    The album was recorded at Sendesaal Bremen in March 2022. The CD includes liner notes by South African journalist and music critic Shirley Apthorp.
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  • Raul Midon chats with leo sidran's 'the third story'
    Posted At : April 10, 2025 12:00 AM
    Raul Midón is a man who sees with sound. Blind since infancy, he has made a life — and a formidable body of work — guided by his ears, his intuition, and his insistence on carving his own path.To speak with Raul is to be reminded that perception is far more than a function of the eyes. It's a matter of attention, of attunement, of willingness to feel and listen. And for Raul, music has always been the most natural language for that kind of expression.Born prematurely in New Mexico, Raul and his twin brother both suffered eye damage as infants due to the overuse of oxygen in incubators — a condition that left Raul blind. But rather than shrinking his world, the loss of sight seemed to expand it in other ways. As a child, he became obsessed with radio — not just the voices and music, but the very technology of it. He earned his amateur radio license at age 12 and began to build a sense of global connection through shortwave frequencies. He listened — not passively, but as a form of deep engagement.

    Music came early too. His father, an Argentinian dancer and artist, filled the house with records. Raul and his brother would broadcast music around their neighborhood using a hacked Mr. Microphone and a homemade antenna setup. One day, they stumbled onto a Charlie Parker and Miles Davis record, and Raul’s mind was blown open.That moment of sonic awakening would become a kind of template for his life: discovery through listening, mastery through obsession, expression through art.After attending the University of Miami, where he studied jazz and honed his skills as both a singer and guitarist, Raul began working as a session vocalist. His voice appeared on records, commercials, and tours — including a stint backing Shakira. But he knew he wanted more than just side work. He moved to New York with a clear purpose: to become an artist in his own right.The legendary producer Arif Mardin saw something in Raul — a spark, a clarity, a singular sound. Mardin, who had produced classics for Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, and Norah Jones, made Raul the only artist he ever personally signed. That partnership led to State of Mind (2005), an album that introduced the world to Raul’s one-man-band approach: intricate fingerstyle guitar, soaring vocals, and his now-famous “mouth trumpet,” a vocal emulation that started as a Miles Davis impression and became an integral part of his sound.Over the past two decades, Raul has released over a dozen records, earned Grammy nominations, toured globally, and become an emblem of creative self-reliance. He records and engineers his own albums — including 2017’s Badass and Blind — in his Maryland home studio, using adaptive software and custom setups. He’s produced an album of duets with legendary guitarists, including Dean Parks, Mike Stern, and Romero Lubambo.And he’s remained fiercely committed to writing music that reflects his worldview: grounded in soul, jazz, and Latin traditions, but always personal, philosophical, and direct.LISTEN
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  • Olafur Arnalds & Talos - Bedrock (feat. Sandrayati) makes NAILLER9: 5 best songs of the week
    Posted At : June 18, 2025 12:00 AM
    NAILLER9 writes…..The collaborative album between Talos and Ólafur Arnalds, A Dawning was written by the pair before Talos’ Eoin French passed away, and finished by Arnalds after his passing.We’ve heard ‘Signs’, the group-offering of ‘‘We Didn’t Know We Were Ready’ prior to this, and ‘Bedrock’ is a fine release of ambient pop piano songwriting, with the essence of Talos’ core intimate epicness, augmented with Arnalds’ touch and the closing vocal of Sandrayati.A Dawning is released on July 11th via OPIA / Mercury KX.A Remembering Talos show happens at Cork Opera House in September as part of Sounds From A Safe Harbour.The song was written in west Cork, while Arnalds was staying with French: “We would drive around a little bit – he showed me the ruins of a ceremonial circle,” he recalls. Arnalds felt an instant connection with his friend’s home, knowing the history of Irish monks who came to Ireland and of the Vikings who established the town that would later become known as Dublin.“There’s a defiance in both countries, an island mentality, which I think is often a result of us fighting to keep what is uniquely ours – there’s a certain energy that comes from that,” he says.“It’s incredible how music has the ability to transcend time and physical laws.. singing with Eoin always felt like that, and now even more so. This song is carved into me now.” Sandrayati says.


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  • Hooray for Brandee Younger's 'Gadabout Season' / jazzwise
    Posted At : June 19, 2025 12:00 AM
    It all started with a word-of-the-day email. Harpist Brandee Younger, bassist-producer Rashaan Carter and drummer Allan Mednard were on the road when they learned about the gadabout — a carefree pleasure-seeker who is always in motion, seeking out fun no matter the circumstances. The word of the day turned into the word of the tour, and seemed to describe their mission. These three simpatico travelers, whose shared history as trusted collaborators reaches back two decades, were always chasing and finding joy both onstage and off — through music, art, food and new experiences.For Younger especially that joy was a healing force. Over the past year she’s faced personal challenges, so the gadabout concept acted as a helpful reminder that life happens to everyone — and that pursuing radiance in the midst of struggle is essential. “When it came time to write a piece to represent happiness, ‘Gadabout Season’ felt like the perfect title,” says the harpist, a Grammy nominee and NAACP Image Award winner who has garnered widespread acclaim for her soulful, spiritual meld of jazz, R&B and hip-hop’s essence.Gadabout Season, Younger’s third for the legendary Impulse! label, releasing June 13, 2025, is her most personal and exploratory album to date – a reflective, imaginative body of work on which she has written or co-written nearly every composition. “The album reflects the journey — the search for meaning and beauty amid life’s most complex moments, ultimately emerging with a deeper sense of self,” says Younger. “Musically Gadabout Season is more creative and slightly more cerebral than my other works.” Listen to the title track, “Gadabout Season”, out now.Known for her revelatory interpretations of harp legends Alice Coltrane and Dorothy Ashby, Younger now steps boldly into her own compositional voice, crafting music that carries her forebears’ language forward without paying direct tribute. “This writing process forced me to be completely honest,” she says. “I’m not hiding behind someone else’s work.” Self-taught as a composer, Younger draws instinctively from a hybrid of influences — jazz, classical, old-school R&B, and hip-hop.


    jazzwise - Jane Cornwell writes….. I wanted to love Brandee Younger’s previous album, 2023’s Brand New Life. The composer, bandleader and classically trained harpist has long been celebrated as an Alice Coltrane/Dorothy Ashby devotee with an eclectic, experimental bent.But on Brand New Life her anything-goes aesthetic, however admirable, felt a bit too busy, too overproduced, too unsure of what it wanted to be.Hooray, then, for Gadabout Season, in which Younger, having overcome some recent personal hardship, wields Coltrane’s actual (restored) harp, of which she is now the custodian. It’s not exactly osmosis, of course, but Gadabout Season resonates with a similar sense of transcendence, the same calm core, while showcasing Younger’s evolving use of electronic textures and innovative harp techniques and folding in impressions from hip-hop, vintage soul, R&B.Buoyed by the quicksilver likes of beat scientist Makaya McCraven, Blue Note vibraphonist Joel Ross and Shabaka on flute and clarinet, Younger delivers tunes that soothe, stir and linger.Featuring pianist/composer Courtney Bryan, taking its cue from Benjamin Britten’s ‘A Ceremony of Carols’, ‘Surrender’ is a paean to both vulnerability and spiritual succour; the dubby harmonies of saxophonist Josh Johnson add further colour to the soulful psychedelics of ‘Discernment’; the title track is Younger at her most playful. A career landmark. I love this one.
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  • Janet Axelrod's 'Act One' is a quite engaging album of new music / STEVEN KENNEDY
    Posted At : June 19, 2025 12:00 AM
    Acclaimed flutist Janet Axelrod has released a new album, Act One for fute and piano (Freedom Road Records FRR 003), featuring the world premiere recording of six works commissioned by Axelrod from Broadway’s most celebrated composers, arrangers and music directors. Act One is available at Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, all major streaming platforms, and www.janetaxelrod.com.Hailed as one of America’s finest flutists, Axelrod is in demand as a Broadway musician, orchestral flutist, chamber musician and contemporary and world flutist. She is a leading recording artist in studios with some of the world’s top entertainers. Composer George Crumb said of Axelrod, “it is always a great pleasure for a composer to hear his music played with such great musical sensitivity and technical excellence.” Says Axelrod, “I was inspired to commission the works on this recording from the brilliant composers of Broadway shows, music directors and conductors of Radio City Music Hall in New York City who I have had the honor of collaborating with my entire career. As a performer and educator, I recognize the need for fresh music that is exciting to perform, and that audiences will want to hear again and again. This recording showcases the gift that these celebrated Grammy, Emmy, Drama Desk and Olivier winning and nominated composers, orchestrators and arrangers of musicals have for memorable tune craft, colorful harmonies and rhythmic grooves.”The six new works on the album include Touch and Go by Joshua Rosenblum, Jump Scher(z) by David Chase, feuille dans un ruisseau by Mary-Mitchell Campbell, For Harvey… (A Theatrical Fantasy for flute and piano) by Gary Adler, Duet for Flute and Piano No. 1 by Georgia Stitt, and Oasis by Joseph Church. On each track, the composers perform on piano with Ms. Axelrod. Elizabeth DiFelice appears as guest pianist on Oasis.
    STEVEN KENNEDY writes…..Act One is a collection of six new solo works for flute and piano.  The composers represented are all connected to Broadway (as arrangers, conductors, music directors) and each accompanies soloist Janet Axelrod on this new release.  She has performed for over 30 Broadway productions and a host of New York orchestras. The pieces here were all commissioned by her as well.The album opens with a fun little number, Touch and Go (2020) from Joshua Rosenblum.  Both it and the following Jump Scher(z) (2024), by David Chase, combine a bit of post-romantic style with touches of jazz rhythms and swing elements.  They are close cousins to the Claude Bolling jazz suites.  Mary-Mitchell Campbell’s fueille dans un ruisseau (2023) incorporates a few slight pentatonic references in a gorgeous, fluid line that has a slight Debussy/Ravel feel.  For Harvey (2024) has a bit more musical theater feel in its flourishes and especially poignant harmonic ideas.  Gary Adler’s work is an homage to his mentor, Harvey Schmidt (Altar Boyz).  Georgia Stitt’s Duet for Flute and Piano (2024) conceptually explores the number “5” in terms of rhythm, metrical organization, and intervallic relationships with some beautiful lyric lines.  The album concludes with Oasis by Joseph Church.  The three-movement work is the more substantial piece on the release and bookends a scherzando with two laid back movements.  It evokes a walk through the natural world of Eastern Long Island.  More experimental than the rest, it invites more advanced sound expressions and a bit more diffuse style that works to imitate bird and insects.    
    The pieces here are all quite accessible and fall more into a lighter category of “classical” music.  It is not quite direct crossover music, but certainly is an album that will appeal to fans of that more popular side of contemporary music.  Axelrod’s playing is simply gorgeous throughout with committed performances that have an inner sense of joy that shines through as well.  The piano here has some slight issues of sound quality within the instrument itself (not an engineering issue), but it sort of adds to the casual salon-like feel of the music here.   The result is a quite engaging album of new music that should have wide appeal for even casual listening.  The release is available through most streaming platforms.


    Act One: New Works for Flute & Piano
    Susan Axelrod, flute.
    Joshua Rosenblum; David Chase; Mary-Mitchell Campbell; Gary Adler; Georgia Stitt; Joseph Church—Piano.
    Freedom Road Records 003
    Total Time:  46:46
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****
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  • Husband-wife duo Bob McChesney and Calabria Foti bring 'Bebop to Broadway' to St. Bonaventure / The Bona Venture
    Posted At : April 23, 2025 12:00 AM
    The Bona Venture's Joseph DeBell writes……The Rigas Family Theater at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts came alive as the husband-and-wife duo of Bob McChesney and Calabria Foti took the stage with their program “From Bebop to Broadway.”The duo was supported by a group of musicians: Nick Weiser on piano, Jeff Campbell on bass and Ryan Barski on drums.Presented in association with Friends of Good Music, the concert featured a mix of jazz standards and Broadway favorites.In an interview with TAPinto Greater Olean, Foti spoke about growing up near St. Bonaventure.“I have lots of family here, and I grew up nearby in Fredonia,” Foti said.McChesney, a world-renowned trombonist, also reflected on the importance of performing live, especially after years of limited performances because of the pandemic.“There’s just an energy you get from live music that recordings can’t capture,” McChesney said. “When you’re in a room, interacting with the audience, there’s a level of excitement that’s unique to live performances. It’s like going to a musical theater or watching a movie — it’s a whole different energy for both us and the audience.”The evening opened with a dynamic rendition of Antônio Carlos Jobim’s “One Note Samba,” which McChesney and Foti both named as a highlight.The concert also featured songs like “How Deep Is the Ocean,” composed by Irving Berlin, and “Our Love Is Here to Stay,” composed by George Gershwin.Les Sabina, a professor of music at St. Bonaventure and a concertgoer that night, praised the musicians’ chemistry.“Even though they hadn’t played together much before, the interplay among the group was incredible,” Sabina said. “I especially enjoyed the reharmonizations on tunes like ‘One Note Samba.’”Sabina also noted the balance between the more introspective pieces and the upbeat numbers.“There was excellent pacing,” Sabina said. “You had the high-energy moments, but they knew when to dial it back without losing the audience. The moodier songs still kept everyone engaged.”Foti, who started her musical career as a violinist before transitioning to vocal jazz, demonstrated her range throughout the evening, from Broadway hits like “On the Street Where You Live” from the musical “My Fair Lady,” to jazz staples like “Lasso the Moon.”Beyond the artistry, the evening also had a charitable component, with $5 from each ticket going to the Endowment for Warming House Sustainability.The couple’s connection to Western New York is longstanding, and their visit to St. Bonaventure was part of a two-week tour that included performances and teaching workshops.“We just finished a stint at Eastman School of Music,” Foti said. “It was a nostalgic experience for me. I hadn’t been there since I was a teenager, and my dad played in the Ray Wright Orchestra.”
     Photo and writing by Joseph DeBellSEE THE PAGE
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Max Horowitz

maxcrossover@gmail.com

A graduate of the Aaron Copland School of Music, Max Horowitz is principle of Crossover Media Music Promotion. Founded in 1994, Crossover Media's client list includes: Sony Masterworks, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group along with Independent Labels and Artists. Prior to establishing Crossover Media, Mr. Horowitz served as ‘Producer for SiriusXM,’ ‘Music Choice,’ ‘Classical-104WNCN - New York,’ and the ‘DayNET Talk Network.' A recipient of The George Foster Peabody Award, the ‘International Radio Festival of New York Award, and the ’New York State Broadcaster Awards, as a producer, Max has collaborated with Yo-Yo Ma, Chick Corea, Jonny Greeenwood, Richard Reed Parry, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Leonard Slatkin, Yannick Nezet-Sequin, Vladimir Horowitz, Emanuel Ax, JoAnn Falletta, Daniel Hope, Nico Muhly, John Scofield, Steve Swallow, The Bad Plus, Marcus Roberts, Rachel Portman, Alexandre Desplat, Ilan Eshkeri, Jeff Beal, Jung Jaeil, and many others. Mr. Horowitz is also a contributor to ‘Understanding The Music Business’ published by Simon & Schuster.

Amanda Bloom

amandacrossover@gmail.com

Amanda Bloom is the publicity and communications manager at Crossover Media. A Brooklyn resident, Amanda is also an active NYC jazz vocalist who draws musical inspiration from a wide range of influences. Crossover Media's projects which encompass multiple genres has been a great fit for her both personally and professionally. Amanda earned a BM in jazz vocal performance from the Peabody Institute of Music at Johns Hopkins University under the guidance of Jay Clayton & Gary Thomas.

Zachary Swanson

zacharycrossover@gmail.com

Zachary Swanson began studying the double bass at the age of 6 in his home state of Massachusetts. Using gut strings and a personalized technique, Zachary has developed a conception of the double bass that heightens the integrity of various musical environments. He can be found playing around New York City and beyond in a variety of styles, ranging from adventurous improvised music to backing singer-songwriters. Zachary is a graduate of the Peabody Institute of Music at Johns Hopkins University and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY where he has made his home since 2012.