Brooklyn Bizzare 2015

Fans of Umphrey’s McGee can rejoice, as the band’s upcoming Hall of Fame: Class of 2014 live album will be released digitally and on CD. The progressive improvisation jam band from Indiana has compiled more than four-and-a-half hours of music from their 2014 tour to put together two sets to be included on the live album. Class of 2014 features 22 tracks from 15 live shows last year, including a 17-minute rendition of “Hurt Bird Bath” from their date in Binghamton last October.

Riva Nyri Precil is half Haitian and half Irish/Russian. She was born in Brooklyn, New York and moved to Haiti at the age of 5, where she resided for 10 years. While in Haiti, Riva was exposed to traditional Haitian music and culture, which greatly influenced her eclectic music and fashion palette. She studied acting, Haitian folkloric and modern dance, and art and sculpture. She began performing at cultural events, clubs and Haiti’s National Palace, dancing, singing, and acting. At the age of 9 she began teaching art classes to the other children in her neighborhood.

Sure-footed swing, sweet-toned harmony and ever-insouciant charm are embodied in the new jazz vocal trio Duchess, featuring notable New York singers Amy Cervini, Hilary Gardner and Melissa Stylianou. The group’s debut album – Duchess, channels the 1930s inspiration of the virtuosic Boswell Sisters into a wonderfully entertaining and contemporary package. Produced and arranged by Oded Lev-Ari, who helmed previous acclaimed Anzic releases by Cervini and Stylianou, Duchess pairs the vocal trio with an ace New York band: pianist Michael Cabe, bassist Paul Sikivie and drummer Matt Wilson, plus saxophonist Jeff Lederer and guitarist Jessie Lewis.

L’arrivée de Shai Maestro sur la scène jazz eut l’effet d’une véritable bombe musicale. Devenu le pianiste d’Avishai Cohen à 19 ans, ce génie du piano n’a cessé depuis de sillonner la planète. En 2010, il réunit deux amis musiciens, Jorge Roeder à la contrebasse et Ziv Ravitz à la batterie : le Shai Maestro trio est né. Le pianiste et compositeur, au style très personnel teinté de pop et de musique classique, revient nous présenter son troisième et nouvel album enregistré en conditions « live » en studio à Paris ou à New york et lors de concerts en France fin 2014.

"Brothers" est le fruit du tandem Portal-Déconfin, 2 amis d'enfance originaires de Bourges, qui se sont retrouvés à New-York et qui livrent aujourd'hui une partition commune logiquement intitulée "Brothers". Cet album a été conçu quelques semaines seulement après la sortie du premier album de Géraud Portal, Rappelons les faits. En 2013, Géraud part à la conquête des Etats-Unis avec sa contrebasse. Il atterrit à New-York, dans la maison du légendaire contrebassiste Bill Lee, père du réalisateur Spike Lee.

Celebration of Soul is the tenth and final album in a series of recordings made in just three years by guitarist/composer Josh Maxey. Such a uniquely prolific output did not happen by accident. Maxey says "The key to the series has been having a goal beyond what I would have considered reasonable." The series is a creative declaration from a musician who considers himself an improviser, composer and bandleader in equal parts. It documents 50 original compositions with 20 musicians.

Bill Brewster turns his attention to seminal New York imprint of the 1980s - Arthur Russell, William Socolov and Juggy Gales' eccentric Sleeping Bag Records! An excellent comp. featuring essential tracks from the likes of Class Action, Konk, Dinosaur L, Mantronix and many, many more!

Gondolier abounds with inventive, unexpected melodies, lyrics, and arrangements, which contrast the pastoral with the urban. Largely written on Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire but with her Brooklyn home in mind, Gondolier finds Andreassen lyrically contemplating the differences of expectation and reality and juxtaposing her modern Brooklyn indie influences with deep-rooted traditional sensibilities.