Catalyst Quartet

Over the course of time there have been many overlooked artists in classical music, because of their race and/or gender. It is important to acknowledge that we have not yet heard the whole story due to this sidelining of voices. Composers Joseph Boulogne Chevalier de Saint-Georges, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, William Grant Still, Florence B. Price, Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, and George Walker, have all contributed beautifully crafted works to the repertoire, but are not widely celebrated. Another contributing factor to this unfortunate reality is access to their manuscripts and recordings of their work which we believe would lead to greater awareness and programming of their incredible music.

Pianist/composer and 2021 Guggenheim Fellow Helen Sung celebrates the work of influential women composers on her latest album Quartet+, crafting new arrangements of tunes by Geri Allen, Carla Bley, Mary Lou Williams, Marian McPartland and Toshiko Akiyoshi while carrying the tradition forward with her own stunning new works. Co-produced by violin master Regina Carter, the album pairs Sung’s quartet with the strings of the GRAMMY® Award-winning Harlem Quartet in an inventive meld of jazz and classical influences.

Pianist/composer and 2021 Guggenheim Fellow Helen Sung celebrates the work of influential women composers on her latest album Quartet+, crafting new arrangements of tunes by Geri Allen, Carla Bley, Mary Lou Williams, Marian McPartland and Toshiko Akiyoshi while carrying the tradition forward with her own stunning new works. Co-produced by violin master Regina Carter, the album pairs Sung’s quartet with the strings of the GRAMMY® Award-winning Harlem Quartet in an inventive meld of jazz and classical influences.

Cecile McLorin Salvant - Dreams and Daggers (2017) {2CD Set Mack Avenue MAC1120} (Complete Artwork)
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© 2017 Mack Avenue Records | MAC1120
Jazz / Vocal Jazz

That's quite an unusual cover for a jazz vocal album – but then again, Cecile McLorin Salvant is quite an unusual singer – and one who may well be out to change the future of her genre with records like this! The songs are this fantastic blend of original compositions, jazz standards, and other classics – but woven together in this tapestry by Cecile and the group, almost as if they're part of this larger patchwork commentary on the history of vocal jazz – all updated and taken to very personal territory.

Mihály Borbély Quartet - Hungarian Jazz Rhapsody (2014) {BMC CD 187 rec 2011}
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© 2014 Budapest Music Center Records | BMC CD 187
Jazz / Post Bop / Progressive Jazz / Saxophone

Hungarian jazz doesn't receive same the level of attention as Western Europe and Scandinavia. Other than acclaimed jazz guitar legends, Gabor Szabo and Attila Zoller, there haven't been many household names within this idiom. Yet the BMC Records label has been a catalyst by producing gifted progressive jazz artists, such as the Dresch Quartet, and here, saxophonist Mihaly Borbely who titles his album and performs Zoller's composition, Hungarian Rhapsody.