PAOLO DI SABATINO TRIO WITH HORNS - LUNA DEL SUD

A great balance between piano trio energy and larger group musings – a set that features the core combo of pianist Paolo DiSabatino on all tracks, but also adds in some great reeds and trumpet on others, too! DiSabatino's work on the keys would be more than enough to draw us in – warm, lyrical, and plenty darn soulful – gliding with this graceful approach to the music that's really wonderful – filled with life and joy, and always with a fresh, personal quality that set's the record apart from others of its nature. But throw in the horns, and things really start to take off – tenor from Gianni DiBenedetto, trumpet from Andrea Sabatino, and soprano and baritone from Javier Girotto – working together in tight formation on the heads, then stretching out with their own inflections to really broaden the sound of the record. Trio members include Glauco DiSabatino on drums, Marco Siniscalo on bass, and a horn section consisting of Javier Girotto. Among the best songs songs here are breezy "Shadows" , a convincing "The Nearness of You", the beautiful orchestration of "Giant Steps" from Coltrane, and the delicate melody of "Wendy" by Paul Desmond.

Tracklisting:

1. Calypso (P. Di Sabatino)
2. Piccolino / Lullaby for Louis (P. Di Sabatino)
3. Night And Day (C. Porter)
4. Shadows (P. Di Sabatino)
5. The Nearness Of You (H. Carmichael-N. Washington)
6. Floating (P. Di Sabatino)

7. Giant Steps (J. Coltrane)

8. Wendy (P. Desmond)

9. South of the Moon (P. Di Sabatino)

10. Pick yourself up (J. Kern-D. Fields)

Musicians:

Paolo Di Sabatino - piano

Marco Siniscalco - bass

Glauco Di Sabatino - drums

Javier Girotto - soprano sax and baritone

Andrew Sabatino - trumpet and flugelhorn

Gianni Di Benedetto - tenor sax

PILC MOUTIN HOENIG - THREEDOM

Jean-Michel Pilc, François Moutin, and Ari Hoenig, reunited this year under the collective name, Pilc Moutin Hoenig to record a much anticipated comeback project and to re-launch their touring career as a trio. Recorded in a completely improvised stream of single studio takes,Threedom documents the unique trio’s singular and completely unpredictable synchronicity. An enhanced CD, the disc also includes an exclusive video - shot live in the studio - which vividly reveals the method to their improvisational madness.

“Albert Einstein once said, 'Behind anything that can be experienced, there is something that our minds cannot grasp whose beauty and sublimity reaches us only indirectly.' This is exactly the way I feel about this trio,” explains pianist Jean-Michel Pilc, “François, Ari, and I have no choice but to surrender to that 'something' and let it create a brand new piece of music every time we play together.”

“We approached this record much like a family reunion,” reveals Hoenig, in his artist notes for the project. “Threedom incorporates new ideas as if to say, ‘this is what I’ve been up to since the last time we hung out.”

Moutin summarizes the 'PMH effect' this way: “Each time Ari, Jean-Michel, and I play together, I experience the feeling of being one cell of some utterly unpredictable, although beautifully coherent, living musical creature. This beast' s psyche escapes any of our individual control. It boosts our group's creativity by immersing all of us into a common landscape of emotions.”

Since their explosive touring days as The Jean-Michel Pilc Trio, each group member has grown considerably in stature both as leaders and sidemen. Pilc permanently moved to New York City in 1994, continuing his steady rise as a major pianist on the European and Canadian circuits, while also gaining a reputation in America as one of the most exciting and unpredictable pianist/composers in jazz. This is the second Motéma release for the pianist, who's March solo release, Essential has been hailed by the Washington Post as a “musical genius at work” and by the New York City Jazz Record as “…easily one of the pianist’s best recordings.”

Bassist François Moutin has since applied his lush tone, astonishing virtuosity, and intelligent musicality in a host of settings, most notably as co-leader of The Moutin Reunion Quartet, a group which has successfully toured Europe and the United States to much acclaim in recent years. A popular artist on the scene, Moutin was voted onto both the Bassist and Rising Star Bassist shortlists in this year's Downbeat Critics Poll.

The skilled and iconoclastic Ari Hoenig, self-defined as a ‘punk-jazz’ artist’, has made several solo records in the ensuing years, and is often in the press for his intense musical antics both as a leader and sideman. The importance of his artistic presence in New York City was recently profiled in Time Out New York's cover feature: The 25 Essential New York City Jazz Icons of 2011.

Throughout the years, Pilc, Moutin, and Hoenig have continued to play together as a live act now and then, but Threedom is their first new recording together since 2003's Welcome Home, and represents the official regrouping of the trio as a touring act. Armed with intense virtuosity, a highly unconventional musical sensibility, and their signature fearless commitment to creating in the moment, the trio is thrilled to be back together and well primed to hit the road.

Of the 18 tracks on Threedom, half are standards and the rest are improvisations ‘composed’ by the group in one take in the studio. The standards take on myriad new forms as the group reinterprets these familiar melodies through their seemingly impossible musical intimacy. Their music simultaneously radiates the confidence of three men who have played together for almost 13 years, while also retaining an unpredictable freshness that one might expect more from a first time meeting of masters in the studio.

Pilc Moutin Hoenig bring a welcome dose of magic to their jazz interpretations and typically elicit standing ovations at their concerts. Of their recent 2011 Montreal Jazzfest date, the Ottawa Citizen confirms, “the trio kept the audience and each other riveted with intense, uninhibited, continually surprising music."

THE COLLECTION SERIES - SPECIAL DIGITAL BOX SET OFFERING COMPLETE ALBUM CATALOGS - NOW AVAILABLE!

Legacy Recordings, the catalog division of Sony Music Entertainment, is bringing the box set experience to music lovers of all ages and tastes this holiday season with the release of incredible value-packed career-spanning collections available in both the physical and digital realms at special holiday-only prices. SME/Legacy, the world's foremost catalog music label, has long pioneered and championed the box set concept with Grammy Award-winning releases and ongoing popular and critical successes. Whether a simple collection of career-encompassing album titles or a specifically curated selection of tracks, the box set offers listeners a chance to evaluate the depth and complexity of an artist's output, presenting an experience which amplifies and extends the thrill and immediacy of the latest single. For artists who've created a lasting body of work, a well-designed box set is an invaluable experience, for old and new fans alike.

This holiday season, SME/Legacy is bringing the box set to the digital realm with THE COLLECTION available on the iTunes Store, a "multi-disc" one-click digital bundle of albums presenting an artist's album catalog at an incredible holiday-only price. Artists in THE COLLECTION include Alicia Keys (5 titles), Billy Joel (15 titles), Brad Paisley (9 titles), Britney Spears (7 titles), Chevelle (4 titles), Christina Aguilera (6 titles) , Foo Fighters (7 titles), Incubus (6 titles), John Mayer (5 titles), Kings Of Leon (5 titles), Leonard Cohen (11 titles), Sarah McLachlan (8 titles) and Three Days Grace (3 titles).

THE COLLECTION series will include iTunes LPs containing the original artwork and liner notes for each album. Offering new value and convenience to the box set experience, THE COLLECTION will be available online on iTunes beginning Tuesday, December 13. In addition to THE COLLECTION digital offerings, Legacy Recordings and Sony Music Entertainment is offering great holiday music values in the physical realm with box sets from the world's most iconic and enduring artists. As digital technology helps restore and archive larger portions of the catalogs of Sony Music's artists, it becomes possible to release rare and previously unreleased material from long-established artists.

Here's a listing of this season's most luxurious must-have box sets from SME/Legacy:

Tony Bennett - The Complete Collection chronicles the entire career of the great American pop vocalist as documented in the albums and singles he's made for Columbia Records (beginning in 1952 through the present), as well as his recordings for Roulette (an historic encounter with Count Basie and Orchestra in 1959), MGM (1972-73), Improv (Bennett's own label from 1973-76) and Fantasy (a pair of sublime titles with pianist Bill Evans, released in 1975-76) on 73 CDs and 3 DVDs.

Elvis Presley - Young Man with the Big Beat - The Complete '56 Elvis Presley Recordings is a super deluxe 5-CD, 12-inch square box set (with an amazing 80-page book with timeline) focusing on Elvis's studio recordings, from hits to outtakes, alongside live performances and interviews from 1956, the year Elvis (and Rock itself) broke into the pop mainstream. The collection was recently nominated for the year's Best Historical Album Grammy Award.

Jimi Hendrix - Live at Winterland, a four-disc set drawn from six stellar shows recorded over three days (October 10, 11 and 12, 1968) at San Francisco's historic Winterland Ballroom. "Hendrix was a casual slash-and-burn bluesman, a shredder, a gunner, a riffer, a slinger of elevated sustained lines, a feedback screamer and a rhythm guitarist whose chords sang on their own," wrote Jon Pareles in The New York Times 2011 holiday box set round-up. "These are prime performances, spontaneous and searing."

Miles Davis Quintet - Live In Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 1, a 3 CD + DVD set culled from original state-owned television and radio sources in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, and Sweden, spanning five northern European festival performances over the course of nine days in October-November 1967. The audio shows consist entirely of previously unreleased or previously only bootlegged material.

Phil Spector Presents The Philles Album Collection, a 7 CD box set representing the most expansive collection ever to celebrate Phil Spector's Wall Of Sound productions, "Tomorrow's Sound Today." Released in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Philles Records label (1961-2011), this new box set eclipses all previous collections in its scope, gathering in mini-replica LP sleeves the first six original Philles albums from 1962-1964 (five by the Crystals, the Ronettes, and Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans, plus the timeless Today's Hits), and a brand-new CD of Spector's never-before-collected instrumental B-sides. Legacy Recordings has also released The Essential Phil Spector, a brand-new 35-song, double-CD collection gathering Spector's game-changing recordings from his peak hit-making years from the Teddy Bears' "To Know Him Is to Love Him" through the litany of 23 hits on the Philles label.

Other SME/Legacy Recordings Box Sets for 2011 include:
WYNTON MARSALIS - Swinging Into The 21st - 11-Disc set / Price: $ 79.99
Available at Popmarket.com and WyntonMarsalis.org

LEONARD COHEN - The Complete Columbia Albums Collection
17-Disc set / Price: $ 139.99
Available Exclusively at Popmarket.com

ALICIA KEYS - Songs In A Minor: 10th Anniversary Edition
2-CD, 1-DVD set / Price: $29.99

ROBERT JOHNSON - The Complete Original Masters: Centennial Edition
12-Vinyl, 4-CD, 1-DVD + book / Price: $349.00

ARETHA FRANKLIN - Take A Look: Aretha Franklin Complete on Columbia
11-CD, 1-DVD set / Price: $129.99

GEORGE MICHAEL - Faith: Deluxe Edition
2-CD, 1-LP, 1-DVD set / Price: $173.92 (Amazon)

SMOKEY ROBINSON - THE SOLO ALBUMS VOL. 6: WARM THOUGHTS / BEING WITH YOU

A pair of overlooked gems from Smokey Robinson – the 6th chapter in his great solo career for Motown! Warm Thoughts is first, and has equally warm vocals – thanks to the legendary Smokey Robinson, who's still sounding great here at the start of the 80s! The record's surprisingly charming – and has the laidback, mellow-going sort of sound that Robinson first crafted on Quiet Storm – but delivered here with a style that's even more personal and intimate, too. Things are quite stripped-down, especially given the overblown styles other singers were reaching for at the time – and titles include "Let Me Be The Clock", "Into Each Rain Some Life Must Fall", 'Wine, Women & Song", 'What's In Your Life For Me", and "I Want To Be Your Love". Being With You is a great vehicle for the Smokey Robinson sound in the 80s – and a record that helped Smokey kick off the decade with a really massive hit! "Being With You" still let Smokey stay in an older style of soul-based vocals, without slipping into the adult contemporary sound that would hurt so many other artists of the time – and most of the record has Smokey still stepping around some mellow grooves arranged by Sonny Burke, of the sort that let his sweetly cracking voice come to the forefront. Titles include "Being With You", "You Are Forever", "Can't Fight Love", "As You Do", "If You Wanna Make Love", "Food For Thought", and "Who's Sad".  Source: Dusty Groove America

DAVE McMURRAY – I KNOW ABOUT LOVE

Dave McMurray is an amazing musician who is known by his previous diverse albums - Piece If Mind,  Soul Searching, Area Reservada 2, and The David McMurray Show. Others will remember his collaboration with the group Mirror-Mirror (Sax, Beats and Meditations") or in an earlier time with the group Was (Not Was). He also played with such great artists as for example Gerald Alston ("First Class Only"), Mark Isham, The B-52's ("Good Stuff"), Tim Bowman ("Smile"), Herbie Hancock or Bob James ("Joyride"). Dave has now just released his first CD in 3 years, entitled I Know About Love. It's a collection of dark, hypnotic grooves, that pull you in and never lets you go. The first song is an exotic original named “Time #4”. Next is a song called “The First Night In Africa” featuring master bassist Marcus Miller. Dave also did a cover of KEM’s first hit “Love Calls” that features KEM. Next is “I’m Coming Up, a stepper that features George Duke. The CD also features Bob James, Sweet Pea Atkinson, Herschel Boone, Eminem’s keyboardist Luis Resto, and stunning vocalist Jessica Wagner-Cowan.

Tracklist:
01. Time #4 [5:38]
02. I Luv You Like Jazz [2:57]
03. First Night In Africa [5:04]
04. Precious Memories [4:27]

05. I'm Coming Up [4:04]

06. Love Calls [4:38]

07. Waba Doo Bop [4:06]

08. One Night In Paris [4:04]

09. I Know About Love [4:30]

10. Radio Days [4:04]

11. Inherit The Wind [4:04]

12. Beautiful You [4:58]

13. Naked [4:33]

14. Break It Down [4:18]

15. Ma's Song [1:39]

16. I Luv You Like Jazz / Rollin [2:53]

RICHARD ELLIOT - IN THE ZONE

Soul-jazz saxman Richard Elliot has been blowing up radio with the funky single “Boom Town,” which has taken command of Billboard’s BDSradio.com smooth jazz national airplay chart for the past four weeks. The track, produced by Elliot and fusion pioneer Jeff Lorber, is the debut single from Elliot’s October release, In The Zone, and the latest of more than a dozen #1 singles registered by the genre-defining Artistry Music recording artist. Elliot’s 16th solo collection, In The Zone salutes the seminal instrumentalists that most influenced the saxophonist in his formative years of the 1970s and ‘80s including Grover Washington Jr., Bob James and David Sanborn. Elliot and Lorber penned the nine original songs that comprise the disc as well as dishing up a sweltering version of the gritty Marvin Gaye classic, “Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler).”

Concert dates are presently being booked for next spring and summer for Elliot to reteam with trumpeter Rick Braun to tour as RnR, a dynamic duo that held the #1 spot captive on the radio airplay charts for an astonishing 15 weeks with the self-titled, title track from their 2007 album collaboration. In addition to sweeping the nation’s radio waves, In The Zone has been receiving critical praise. Smooth Jazz Magazine selected it as the #1 album of 2011. Below are highlights from some reviews.

All Music Guide: “Elliot's sense of time when soloing is deadly. The melody is as infectious and celebratory as it is sexy…”

Digital Jazz News: “Richard Elliot lives his passion. A uniquely personal release and a natural progression and follow up to Rock Steady (Artistry, 2009), Richard Elliot shares his own soulful musical statement with In The Zone…Elliot is an incredibly lyrical instrumentalist with improvisational chops to work on the fly while having that nice fat tenor sound of a Hank Mobley throw-back player…Contemporary jazz has taken some hits over the past year for lacking originality, spontaneity and passion. A perfect ebb and flow on this release provides all three from an artist with a sincere desire to be known as someone that can play from the heart not just the head. Musical honesty and integrity is rare commodity these days but it is clear that it is Richard Elliot's passion that has him ‘In The Zone’ and with one of the finest contemporary releases of the year!”

The Smooth Jazz Ride: “…the iconic saxophonist with the distinctly soulful touch turns it on with jazzy runs, soulful rhythms, memorable melodies, and tight, catchy hooks…Full of sweet grooves, spunk, and slick but not frenzied drive.”

Sounds of Timeless Jazz: “Elliot brings his informed knowledge of such great musicians as Grover Washington, Jr., David Sanborn and Bob James and his own great saxophonics to this inspired project…innovative music that will just blow you away.”

The Urban Music Scene: “It’s a Winner!!...In The Zone is a 10 song horn oriented delight… In The Zone again proves why Richard Elliot is such a joy to listen and see in concert...”

Smooth Jazz Daily: “With In The Zone Richard Elliot garners anew the Triple A of smooth jazz. Eclectic music with a well-crafted musicianship on every track that attracts all music lovers.”

KIRK WHALUM & KEVIN WHALUM - ROMANCE LANGUAGE

Most artists would be daunted at the thought of remaking a classic work of art made by legends, but not Grammy winner Kirk Whalum. The multidimensional saxophonist adeptly steps into the role of John Coltrane and tapped his brother, vocalist Kevin Whalum, to fill the shoes of Johnny Hartman on an unabashedly romantic collection of duets originally recorded in 1963 by the seminal artists. Romance Language, due to be released on Valentine’s Day by Rendezvous Music, consists of all six songs that comprise the Coltrane/Hartman recording along with a handful of modern ballads to complete the disc produced by Kirk Whalum and John Stoddart.

In addition to the traditional CD and digital version, an extended and enhanced digital version of Romance Language will be released as the world’s first complete LiveAudio optimized album for JAMBOX by JAWBONE, a leader in personal mobile technology devices. LiveAudio allows music to be enjoyed in a 3D-like, surround sound experience from a single, small Bluetooth wireless speaker. This one-of-a-kind version of Romance Language will be available exclusively at www.kirkwhalum.com/JAMBOX.

In conjunction with the album release, Kirk & Kevin Whalum will perform a Valentine’s Day concert at the Hilton Portland Downtown in Oregon that will stream live to a global audience through Kirk Whalum’s website, http://www.kirkwhalum.com/.

The Whalum brothers approached the half-dozen standards from the original recording with admiration and veneration. Kirk Whalum and Stoddart crafted fresh arrangements that place the time-tested songs such as Irving Berlin’s “They Say It’s Wonderful,” Sammy Cahn’s “Dedicated To You,” Billy Strayhorn’s “Lush Life” and Richard Rodgers’ “You Are Too Beautiful” in present day R&B-adult pop and jazz settings. The newer songs – including renderings of contemporary hits written by Terry Lewis & James “Jimmy Jam” Harris, Eric Benet, and Joe (Thomas) - maintain the mood, feel and ambience of the storied set. Throughout Romance Language, Kevin Whalum’s suave, velvety voice is cool and in command while Kirk Whalum’s sax solos and fills are inspired, warm and nuanced etchings. The amorous album unfolds with the grace of an intimate hand-penned love letter - seductively sweet, genuinely heartfelt, and poetically passionate. Recorded “live” at Dark Horse recording studios in Nashville with very little overdubbing, the musicians accompanying the Whalum’s were John Stoddart (piano, keyboards, organ, backing vocals), Marcus Finnie (drums), Braylon Lacy (bass), Kevin Turner (electric guitar), Michael “Nomad” Ripoll (acoustic guitar), Ralph Lofton (organ), George Tidwell (flugelhorn, trumpet), and percussionists Bashiri Johnson and Javier Solis. Kirk & Kevin Whalum’s 83 years-young uncle, Hugh “Peanuts” Whalum, poured his distinctive, emotion-charged voice into the broken-hearted “Almost Doesn’t Count” and the poignant bonus track, “You Are So Beautiful.”

“Romance Language, now so elegantly completed, absolutely qualifies for my bucket list. Having been a fan of Kevin's luscious voice for over 30 years and a fan of the Coltrane/Hartman recording for at least that long, this project is more of a consummation than just serendipity. Every time I listened to the Coltrane/Hartman recording, I thought of Kevin and mused at the idea of redoing the whole album with my little brother. Kevin caressed each and every note. My other ‘brother,’ John Stoddart ‘dined’ with me on these arrangements. My touring band embraced each performance as we recorded ‘live’ in the studio––virtually no overdubs, over-takes or over-production. Just sheer joy and love, respect and reverence for the original recording as well as these amazing compositions,” said Memphis native Kirk Whalum, who will tour with Kevin in the spring to support Romance Language. “Oh... and boy is this album romantic. I invite you to take it on a test drive. Drive slow.”

Romance Language is Kirk Whalum’s 19th album as a front man since his 1985 solo debut, Floppy Disk. He topped the Billboard contemporary jazz album charts twice (And You Know That! and Cache) and amassed 11 Grammy nominations. Whalum took home a coveted Grammy earlier this year for a duet with Lalah Hathaway that appeared on his The Gospel According to Jazz: Chapter III. An ordained minister who earned a Master’s degree in the Art of Religion, Kirk Whalum has forged an unparalleled career path in both the secular and the non-secular music words, garnering hits, awards and accolades for his jazz, R&B and gospel recordings. His soulfully expressive tenor sax voice is unique and has appeared on literally hundreds of recordings by Barbara Streisand, Quincy Jones, Whitney Houston, Luther Vandross, George Benson, Al Jarreau, Michael McDonald, Stanley Clarke, George Duke, and Larry Carlton as well as on collaborative albums with Bob James, Rick Braun and Norman Brown. When not recording or performing, he educates and mentors the next generation of musicians in his role as president/CEO of the STAX Music Academy and the STAX Museum of American Soul Music. Additional information is available at http://www.kirkwhalum.com/.

The songs contained on Kirk Whalum’s Romance Language are:

“They Say It’s Wonderful”

“Dedicated To You”

“My One and Only Love”

“Lush Life”

“You Are Too Beautiful”

“Autumn Serenade”

“Almost Doesn’t Count”

“I Wish I Wasn’t”

“I Wanna Know”

“Spend My Life With You”

“You Are So Beautiful” (bonus track)