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Given the significance of Afro-Latin rhythms in jazz’s development, there’s inherent value in a premier repertory ensemble like the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra collaborating with legendary Panamanian singer Rubén Blades. But the delight of this 2014 live performance is hearing the musicians stretch themselves beyond the safety of well-trodden Latin jazz territory. Along with reliably excellent performances of salsa tunes, Blades brings Rat Pack brashness to American standards like “Too Close for Comfort,” “Fever,” and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.” And in bassist Carlos Henriquez’s arrangements of Blades classics like “El Cantante,” the JALCO shifts between its always-convincing swing and bona fide clave, educating us in the rhythms’ historic connections along the way. After the full orchestra’s sheer sonic force, Blades’ “Patria” is an album highlight, with a scaled-down ensemble of percussionists, bass, and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis backing the singer in stark magnificence.

“He’s at the highest level of our music—you can’t get any higher than him.” So says Wynton Marsalis of the legendary saxophonist, composer, and band leader Wayne Shorter. With a legendary career spanning over 60 years, the 11-time GRAMMY award winner (including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy) has released countless classic records and amassed a canon of lyrical, introspective music that stands up to the greatest jazz composers. In 2015, the formidable 81-year-old joined the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis onstage for three unforgettable nights; the result is The Music of Wayne Shorter, out Jan. 31 on CD and digital formats.

Blue Engine Records proudly releases Freedom, Justice, and Hope, the live recording of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s multidisciplinary concert that contextualizes jazz within Black Americans’ pursuit of equality. Featuring the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis in creative collaboration with social justice activist and founder of The Equal Justice Initiative Bryan Stevenson, the recording features new arrangements of some of the most important protest songs in jazz history and new works by featured guest artists Endea Owens and Josh Evans.

Blue Engine Records proudly releases Freedom, Justice, and Hope, the live recording of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s multidisciplinary concert that contextualizes jazz within Black Americans’ pursuit of equality. Featuring the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis in creative collaboration with social justice activist and founder of The Equal Justice Initiative Bryan Stevenson, the recording features new arrangements of some of the most important protest songs in jazz history and new works by featured guest artists Endea Owens and Josh Evans.

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO), comprising 15 of the finest jazz soloists and ensemble players today, has been the Jazz at Lincoln Center resident orchestra since 1988 and spends over a third of the year on tour across the world. Featured in all aspects of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s programming, this remarkably versatile orchestra performs and leads educational events in New York, across the U.S. and around the globe; in concert halls; dance venues; jazz clubs; public parks; and with symphony orchestras; ballet troupes; local students; and an ever-expanding roster of guest artists.