Pedrito Martinez

Pianist Bill O'Connell keeps it nice and lean here – working in a core quartet that moves its instrumentation around, but always in ways that maybe bring more of an edge to the record than some of O'Connell's previous records – yet all without losing the soulful charms that make him so great! Bill himself plays acoustic piano, but switches to Fender Rhodes on two cuts – a theme that's followed as Craig Handy plays soprano sax on three, and tenor on two more – while bassist Lincoln Goines shifts between acoustic and electric basses. Steve Jordan handles drums, and Pedrito Martinez adds percussion on a few tracks – exploring some of the Latin currents that Bill sometimes adds to his records.

Grammy nominated artists Alfredo Rodríguez and Pedrito Martinez first worked together on Alfredo’s 2012 release The Invasion Parade. Since that initial recording session, they have had the rare occasion to perform together as a duo, leaving audiences completely mesmerized by their fearless and virtuosic playing. Each artist brings a different approach to the collaboration. A protégé of Quincy Jones, who took him under his wing when he defected to the US in 2009, Alfredo was schooled in the rigorous classical conservatories of Havana. His riveting artistry is informed as much by Bach and Stravinsky as it is by his Afro Cuban and jazz roots.

LaVette! hits all the marks. Together with Jay-Vee Records, Bettye has the freedom to explore new territory. Produced by Steve Jordan, LaVette! features 11 songs written by Georgia-born musician Randall Bramblett, who has been releasing solo albums since 1975. “Randall is the best writer that I have heard in the last 30 years,” says Bettye. “He writes songs that are little soliloquies, they’re like little stories about a moment, or a thing.” Bettye is backed by Jordan on drums, Pino Palladino on bass, Larry Campbell on guitar, Leon Pendarvis on keyboards, and Chris Bruce on guitar. Guest artists include: John Mayer, Jon Batiste, Anthony Hamilton, Steve Winwood, Ray Parker Jr., Rev. Charles Hodges, James Carter and Pedrito Martinez, to name a few. Even if you didn’t know the sharp twists and turns of Bettye LaVette’s story, or for that matter, her wide-ranging influences—you can hear the traces of all of it in her voice.

Buika is a critically acclaimed jazz-influenced flamenco fusion singer from Spain who broke through to mainstream success in 2006 with her second solo album, Mi Niña Lola. Born Concha Buika in 1972 in Palma, a city on the Balearic Island of Majorca, Spain, she is the daughter of a political exile from the former Spanish colony Equatorial Guinea, a small country in Africa. Influenced by her mother's love of jazz, she began her singing career in the clubs of Majorca and the neighboring Balearic Island of Ibiza. She also performed in Las Vegas for a while.