Sekou

When trumpeter Tom Browne hit the Billboard charts in 1980, one would have thought that he was an overnight sensation. However, the licensed pilot had several years under his belt working with Weldon Irvine, Sonny Fortune, and others. His debut smash single, "Funkin' for Jamaica (N.Y.)," took the music industry by storm. Between Browne's piercing horn intro and his chilling riffs in the vamp, the New York native and his cohorts lay down one jammin' groove. From the thunderous bass of Marcus Miller and Browne's trumpeting trips to the salacious vocals of Toni Smith and the colorful conversation referencing Browne, this single was slick and exhilarating.

ABUC is the 8th album by Roberto Fonseca hes released under his own name and the first to appear on the Impulse! label. Teeming with rascally rhythms and burly brass and woven from allusions, souvenirs and contrasts, ABUC is a kaleidoscope of dancing colors with which Roberto tells a story: the great and rich story of Cuban music, from yesterday to today.

A while ago, the Afro-Cuban die was cast when certain musicians from Cuba and northern Africa felt as if they grooved to a similar drummer. The traditions of that subgenre thrive today as more and more musicians like Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca and Malian guitarist/vocalist Fatoumata Diawara feel inclined to bridge the Altantic through the power of music. Their chance meeting led to a 45 day tour of Europe as a seven-piece band and At Home: Live in Marciac is the resulting album. Right from its opening bars, this album crackles. Fonseca’s clavinet lays down a funky foundation, the crowd begins to clap along on the second and fourth beats, and the entire band are off and running. “Sowa” quickly becomes an Afro-Cuban call to worship. And for her part, Diawara is just getting warmed up.

Hama Sankare, legend of Mali's desert blues, releases Niafunke, his second brilliant album recorded March 2018 in Bamako. Sankare brought into the studio dynamic young headliners, Oumar Konate, Dramane Toure, and Makan Camara along with long time colleagues Afel Bocoum, Yoro Cisse, and Kande Sissoko to forge a set of blazing tracks that breath new energy into the genre, breaking old formulas all the while honoring traditional roots. Niafunke, a city in Mali along the Niger River near Timbuktu is where Sankare continues to live with his family. He, Bocoum, and Cisse were contemporary collaborators with Ali Farka Toure whose home was also there; they can be heard on many of Farka's albums. Sankare's spirit engages everyone he meets. He has absorbed musical influences from around the world which he brings to these ten tracks.

GRP release "When Summer Comes" is one of the most successful albums of George,confirming his place among the most popular contemporary jazz performers of the '90s.

His third studio album provides confirmation that the 36-year-old Cuban pianist is one of the most gifted, adventurous spirits of his generation. A lyrical approach recalling Herbie Hancock and Abdullah Ibrahim persists, but Yo also explores Cuban-African connections with guests such as kora player Sekou Kouyaté, percussionist Baba Sissoko and Mali singer Fatou Diawara. Elegant melodies such as "Bibisa" and "JMF" develop into intense instrumental sparring, while Fonseca touches on funk and electronica ("80's"), and laces compositions with poetry (an overexcited Mike Ladd on "Mi Negra Ave Maria"). By turns playful and passionate, Yo boasts poise and experimentation in equal measure.

Like Roy Ayers, Patrice Rushen, George Benson, and George Duke, Tom Browne is a perfect example of a jazz musician who switched to R&B and was lambasted by jazz snobs for it. As jazz's hardcore saw it, the trumpeter was a sellout – a gifted Clifford Brown disciple who was shamelessly wasting his chops playing commercial music. But commercial music isn't necessarily inferior to jazz, and the fact is that much of Browne's soul/funk output was excellent.

After the success of the Yellow Cube and the Black Box, the 3rd box will once again travel the musical planet Nova in all directions and at all times since the 50s.