Detroit based independent Jazz label Mack Avenue Records can do no wrong these days. Not that this is really new for them… Historically Mack Avenue has brought on nothing but the best and brightest of today’s jazz musicians, from Grammy winning bassist Christian McBride (2012 Best Large Jazz Ensemble) to saxophonist Kirk Whalum, (who in 2010 was nominated for four Grammy awards, winning Best Gospel Song). In 2009, Mack Avenue announced the addition of Grammy Award winning pianist, Danilo Pérez, who in 2010 released the Grammy-nominated Providencia. But the recent streak of awesome coming out of Michigan is even more impressive.
First you have Johnnie Basset. The Florida-born, though now Detroit-local, blues guitarist has just released his fifth studio project I Can Make That Happen. Bassett has been a vital part of the Detroit music scene since the early ’50s, sharing stages with everyone from Tina Turner to Big Joe Turner. But only rarely does he release his own albums, one of the many reasons that makes I Can Make That Happen so special. Happily, Bassett and company show no interest in churning up the same old chord progressions on threadbare songs, as do hordes of blues recording artists year in and year out. Instead, the Motowners freshen up the blues using elements of Jazz, R&B and Soul on a program of superior songs mostly written by Chris Codish and his father, Bob. Bassett even refurbished Rock and Soul classics.
Meanwhile, Brian Bromberg (“The Man of a Thousand Basses”) continues his dual Jazz and Contemporary success with his newest album Compared To That which was released a couple of weeks ago. Last week, it reached #1 on Jazz Week, and this week it’s staying strong at #2. Compared To That will be followed up with the dual release of his two tribute albums; the first to Jimi Hendrix, and the second to Brazilian legend Antônio Carlos Jobim. Bromberg translating two giants of guitar in two diverse styles alone should make the listener sit up and take notice. His ability to play music at a scholarly level and make it accessible to the casual Jazz fan as well as appeal to the mainstream is unique, to state the obvious. And with these three releases, Bromberg promises to make it an interesting summer.
And last but not least is the free – yep, you heard me — free live performance by Jazz pianist and new-comer Alfredo Rodriguez. If you’re in Santa Monica this Friday 22nd at 7pm and on 3rd Street anywhere near the Apple Store, think about a quick excursion to catch a rare in-store with Quincy Jones and Alfredo Rodriguez. Quincy Jones, you exclaim? Indeed. Quincy Jones is not only Alfredo’s mentor, but the music giant produced his debut album Sounds Of Space, which came out earlier this year. Rodriguez also had the distinguished honor of playing at The 34th Annual Playboy Jazz Festival (for the second time) last weekend.
So, impressed?
Everyone’s favorite anonymous DJ duo, Flight Facilities, is back with a brand new single “With You” and a sick video to match. And like their previous two singles, it is burning up the charts all over the place: It’s currently #4 (but made it all the way to #2) on the Beatport Indie Dance Chart and reached #1 on Hype Machine‘s blog a couple of weeks ago. “With You” also got 9/10 and Track of the Month in Mixmag.
The story behind the song is the doomed love between a robot and a married woman fueled by a strong beat and a hook that doesn’t let go. To top it off, the video is an animated (anime-ated) mini-film by Ben Drake, who spent four months crafting this masterpiece that reminds me more than a little of all those Daft Punk videos.
Best of all, it features vocals by Hot Chip crooner Grovesnor. Flight Facilities explains that “…this was our first track in which we’ve done the vocals by correspondence. Grovesnor was unreal to work with. So easy and he has a writing ability like we’ve never seen before.”
You may know the Sydney, Australia based pair from their wildy popular 2010 hit “Crave You ft. Giselle“ which at last count had clocked almost 5 million plays on YouTube. Their first single was also featured on the show How To Make It In America and hit the top 20 in Triple J’s Hottest 100. They followed up their success with a second single, “Foreign Language,” in 2011. Where “Crave You” was poignant and aching, “Foreign Language” was a sultry summer groove reminiscent of the golden era of disco, complete with a seriously retro video (no, seriously, watch it). “Foreign Language” again cracked Triple J’s Hottest 100, topped Australia’s Independent Music Charts and was loved by The Cool Hunter.
It certainly looks like “With You” is going to make a similar splash. The guys place their latest opus in between its two previous hits: “’Crave You’ [is] the stepping stone between this song and ‘Foreign Language.’ It’s more electronic and down the other end of whatever scale we seem to have created.”
Flight Facilities has also gone on to remix Cut Copy, Holy Ghost! and Foals, and play sell out shows and festivals all across the U.S., Europe, South America and Japan.
Scope the video for “With You” right here!
A little over a month ago we brought you the first video from Scandinavian chanteuse Theresa Andersson off her recent release, Street Parade. Yesterday, BlackBook.com premiered her latest video for the title track from Street Parade.
The song, as well as the whole album, is inspired by the festivities and music of New Orleans, with each of the twelve songs evoking a different mood of the celebration. “Street Parade” opens the record with resounding vocals rising over a regimental drum-line, testifying to the catharsis and impermanence of the carnival, and is truly a “last waltz” of a song. It’s a haunting and vaguely maudlin ode to the inevitable end of the party. There is also a pervading sense of melancholy; that feeling that one can be surrounded by people and still feel alone.
The video is a perfectly fantastical match to the song. The highlight of Andersson’s experience shooting it? The Music Box, based in her current hometown of New Orleans. “I was so honored to shoot my new video at The Music Box and be a part of the historic art installation before it is dismantled after the final performances this weekend. [...C]reated by non-profit organization New Orleans Airlift, The Music Box is a collection of purpose-built shacks and miniature houses, each containing an instrument or having instruments built into its structure.”
Andersson’s heartbeat drives the musicians in the video — just as music is the heartbeat of Mardi Gras, and the driving force behind all street parades great and small:
Listening to Positive Force, the latest release from Delicate Steve, is like getting lost in a delicious late summer afternoon full of warm, golden sunshine and giant leafy trees. The release, which is Delicate Steve‘s a.k.a. New Jersey songwriter Steve Marion’s second full length album, is set to hit stores on July 10.
Like the 2011 debut Wondervisions, Delicate Steve‘s sophomore album will be released on David Byrne’s Luaka Bop Records. And where Wondervisions came on like a whisper; Positive Force is more like a bang! I’m not kidding when I say I want this album to be not only the soundtrack of my summer (its ideal season) but possibly of my life. It is a musical interpretation of the beauty and immortality of youth. It makes you smile from the first note to the last, and oh yeah, maybe do some epic air guitar.
In the spirit of seizing every exciting moment of life, Delicate Steve and Luaka Bop have partnered with the WWMTH Creative Lab to scatter “public listening installations” across Brooklyn and Manhattan. At each of the 10 stations, you can plug in a pair of headphones and hear a track from Delicate Steve’s upcoming album. All you need is this map of New York, complete with the hours and locations of each of the tracks, and a lot of time to kill (it’s totally worth it). But you better hurry and plan your audio scavenger hunt because the installations will only be in place from May 31-June 3! If you snooze, you don’t lose, but you will have to wait until July 10th for the album’s regularly scheduled release.
Delicate Steve is also out on a massive North American tour all this summer, so make sure to head over to his website for a full list of dates.
I remember way back when I was first getting in touch with the indie music scene (about 8 months ago, don’t judge) the very first band I “discovered” was Poliça. It was maybe a week or two before their debut Give You The Ghost came out and I fell in love with their sound: the excessively manipulated vocals, the killer double down on the drums, every single thing about every single song I loved…
After all these months and watching them get bigger and bigger, I still love them. I would even go so far as to say I feel a certain parental sense of pride in their success. As if somehow my being slightly (really) obsessed with them contributed to the fact that they premiered a video on Jay-Z‘s website Life+Times, or that Grammy winning Justin Vernon of Bon Iver called them “the best band I’ve ever heard.”
I saw them perform back in February at Bottom Of The Hill here in San Francisco, and what a killer live show! Front-woman Channy Leaneagh was energetic and electric on stage, but the dueling drums on “Leading to Death” was, hands down, my favorite moment of the show. And they’ve been out touring ever since, hitting up South by Southwest in Austin, as well as a good portion of the East Coast, even scoring a last minute spot on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.
They don’t show any signs of stopping, either. With a full slate of shows scheduled well into November, including a two-month stint in Europe, I can’t wait until they come back to play in August, this time at a much bigger venue, the famed Independent. For full list of tour dates head over to Poliça’s website.
And if you just can’t wait and need a little Poliça right now, check out their video for “Amongster”:
