In a musical career that has spanned seven decades, Quincy Jones has earned his reputation as a renaissance man of American music. Jones has distinguished himself as a bandleader, a solo artist, a sideman, a songwriter, a producer, an arranger, a film composer, and a record label executive, and outside of music, he's also written books, produced major motion pictures, and helped create television series. And a quick look at a few of the artists Jones has worked with suggests the remarkable diversity of his career – Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, Lesley Gore, Michael Jackson, Peggy Lee, Ray Charles, Paul Simon, and Aretha Franklin. Quincy Jones was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as the winner, alongside Lou Adler, of the Ahmet Ertegun Award. Among his awards, Jones was named by Time Magazine as one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century.
Fresh off their appearance at the 2020 international Blues Challenge semifinals, where they proudly represented their hometown of Santa Clarita, California, Jim Gustin and Truth Jones (Jeri Goldenhar) are set to release their third album, “Lessons Learned.” The eleven new tracks reflect the group’s diversity, talent and experience growing up in the melting pot of Southern California. The new album is a collection of driving blues, funky soul, sultry jazz and American rock ‘n’ roll that speaks to the tales of wild nights in bar rooms, Sunday mornings in church, times of heartbreak, and years of struggle and the wisdom received that fill the songs delivered by two powerful and emotive vocalists. Gustin and Jones are backed by the muscular rhythm section of bassist Scott Duncan and drummer Chuck Strong, along with versatile keyboardist Steve Alterman, and the dynamic saxophonist Lawrence Tamez.
One doesn't automatically think of big bands when remembering late-'60s jazz, though big bands like the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra continued to make stimulating recordings. Central Park North, recorded and released in 1969, testifies that one could be a big band and progressive at the same time. Flügelhornist Jones and percussionist Lewis are joined by a large cast of players, including tenor Joe Farrell, trombonist Jimmy Knepper, and pianist Roland Hanna. The music runs the gauntlet from funky soul-jazz to more gentle traditional work, sometimes within the same piece. Jones' "Tow Away Zone" begins like a rather typical late-'60s composition (horns and organ with a soulful groove), but as the individual players cut loose with excellent solo work – built within a multi-layered arrangement – the piece takes on a character of its own.
Cherry Red Records is both delighted and proud to announce the newly remastered and expanded release of Howard Jones’ debut album Human's Lib.
Super deluxe edition include the three disc (two CDs + DVD) edition plus vinyl picture disc LP pressing, the white tape replica pre-contract demo cassette containing remastered versions of four original demo tracks, an extra bonus CD containing further previously unreleased studio, live and BBC session and remastered tracks.
Human's Lib is an unintentionally revealing title for Howard Jones' debut album. What first seems like a play on words reveals itself as something of an empowering manifesto, a shift that mirrors his music. Upon first glance, Human's Lib appears to be state-of-the-art synth pop circa 1984: a record where every element outside of the human voices appears to be electronic…
In this instance, "deluxe collection" denotes six songs that blues guitarist Peter Malick recorded with vocalist Norah Jones before she hit it big, a (previously released) EP's worth of material padded here into a two-disc, 31-cut set of radio edits, club mixes, dub mixes, and DJ remixes, with only eight of them previously unreleased. (There are nine versions of the set-opening "New York City" alone.) The material stretches itself pretty thin, as the equal billing given Jones with Malick (the only two members of the "Peter Malick Group" who appear throughout) aims to attract Norah Jones completists or tempt those who might confuse this with one of her own releases.