London-based vocalist and songwriter ISQ (Irene Serra) announces her fifth studio album 'The Silence is Deafening', arriving on 23rd October and previewed by single 'Animal', out 22nd May.

Animal available here

 "Sublime vocals" - Jazz FM

"Serra occupies terrain Billie Holiday would find familiar, Sade too" - Jazzwise

"A melting pot of genres - jazz, pop, acoustic and experimental - which all blend together to entrancing effect" - TimeOut

"Honing the soulful possibilities of improvisatory music" – Clash

The befitting lead single is a rhythmic alt-pop tune that draws on the tension between different generations. Warm and determined, it sits with the complexity of a mother-daughter relationship. The clashes and the closeness, the misunderstandings that only years and perspective can untangle.

ISQ: "Animal is about the mother/daughter relationship in all its complexity; how it shifts, clashes, softens and deepens across time,” Irene explains. “What I once experienced as difference, I now see as bravery and resilience. It's a very personal track, but I think it taps into something universal about mothers, daughters, and the sometimes messy way love evolves over time."

After eight years away, ISQ returns with the meticulously created 'The Silence is Deafening' (out 23rd October) marking a significant shift in her sound - darker, guitar-driven and cinematic - sitting somewhere between alternative and Massive Attack. It is a record preoccupied with women's lives; the ones lived loudly and the ones lived in careful silence: "The songs on this album were a long time in the making,” Irene explains. “This is my attempt to make sense of a shifting world and of the elusive human condition - its unexpected beauty and moments of light, alongside the sadness, the quiet and the everyday violence it contains. It is a tribute to my mother’s resilience and to the countless women whose stories echo her own.”

Vocalist and songwriter Irene Serra has spent over two decades building something quietly singular within the UK's contemporary music scene. Known more by word of mouth than by headline, ISQ is her original compositional project - music that reveals its full weight only in the rooms it was made for: intimate clubs, jazz venues and concert halls where Irene’s presence and the band's collective intensity can truly breathe.

ISQ draws together a sophisticated jazz musicianship, alternative pop sensibilities and rich electronic textures. The current line-up of Richard Sadler (bass), Chris Nickolls (drums/electronics) and Luca Boscagin (guitar) counts credits across Neil Cowley Trio, Andy Sheppard and Cinematic Orchestra among its members, bringing both improvisational fluency and contemporary edge to the project.

Critically praised across her catalogue - from the TimeOut London Critics' Choice 'Too' to the Clash Magazine-lauded 'Requiem For The Faithful' - Irene has built a devoted following over two decades of uncompromising work. This fifth studio album is the work of an artist who has always known exactly what she wanted to say, and is finally ready for everyone else to hear it.

Thank you to Measure PR for sharing with us

ISQ website here

Latin Grammy nominee Claudia Acuña returns with Ave de Luz, out July 10, 2026 via Delfin Records, a love letter to her Chilean roots and a bold declaration of identity from the acclaimed vocalist, composer, and bandleader who has spent three decades weaving South American music into the fabric of New York jazz.

Where her previous albums drew from the broader Latin American tradition, Ave de Luz goes deeper and more specific: this is Chilean jazz, with Chilean musicians, built around the rhythms, instruments, and songs that shaped Acuña from childhood. The title captures the spirit at the heart of the record, to be a bird of light, carrying one's origins forward through music and across borders.

Her New York ensemble includes Manu Koch on piano and keys, Pablo Vergara on piano, Carlos Henderson on bass, and Yayo Serka on drums and percussion — musicians whose deep knowledge of both jazz and Latin American music gives the band its distinctive footing. Andrés Pollak, who also co-produced the record with Acuña, contributes piano and organ. The Chilean thread runs through the album with Pablo Zárate on Chilean accordion and pandero, and Fredy Torralba on charango, trutruca, and zampoña, traditional and native instruments that root the record in a specific cultural landscape. Paulina García, a celebrated Chilean actress, contributes spoken word, and Daniel Kelley-Acuña adds vocals to one track.

The arrangements are sparse yet full, leaving generous space for Acuña's resonant voice to carry the stories at the center of each song. The band renders South American rhythms with authenticity and nuance, and the production reflects a modern sensibility without losing sight of the music's folk and traditional foundations. Across the track listing, the instrumentation shifts in density, the lyrics move between Spanish and English, and the mood travels from traditional folk themes to contemporary compositions, keeping the listening experience dynamic from start to finish.

Several songs hold particular weight. "Chingalacachingal" is among the most direct pieces Acuña has written, a song that speaks to exhausted hearts and the collective longing for peace and basic human dignity. "Viento del Sur" ("Wind from the South") reflects on belonging and displacement, the feeling of carrying one's homeland wherever life leads. "Piecesitos de Niño" is drawn from a poem by Gabriela Mistral, Chile's Nobel Prize-winning poet, and features a spoken word performance by Paulina García alongside a daring arrangement that Acuña calls one of her favorite risks on the record. A duet with charango stands as a quiet prayer to Pachamama, mother nature.

The album arrives as the culmination of a journey that began the moment Acuña left Chile for New York, carrying her roots into a new musical world, and spending years learning how those two things could speak to each other. Rather than a declaration of ownership, the album is an act of embrace: Acuña bringing her singular background, her specific corner of Chile, and her life as an immigrant musician to bear on the music she loves. What she describes as an ongoing love letter to Chile, Ave de Luz is the sound of an artist fully inhabiting who she is and where she comes from.

Ave de Luz is out July 10, 2026 via Delfin Records.

Musicians

Claudia Acuña - Vocals, Claps & Tormento Manu Koch - Piano & Keys (Tracks 1, 2, 3, 5) Pablo Vergara - Piano (Tracks 6 & 8) Andrés Pollak - Piano (Track 7) | Organ (Track 1) Carlos Henderson - Bass Yayo Serka - Drums, Tormento, Hand Percussion Pablo Zárate - Accordion & Chilean Pandero (Tracks 2) Paulina García - Spoken Word (Track 6) Daniel Kelley-Acuña - Vocals (Track 6) Fredy Torralba - Charango, Trutruca & Zampoña

Claudia Acuña

Latin Grammy Nominee and NPR Tiny Desk Concert artist (2023), Claudia Acuña was born in Santiago and raised in Concepción, Chile. She established herself on the Chilean jazz scene in her early 20s before arriving in New York City in 1995, where she quickly became a leading voice on a scene being transformed by a wave of brilliant Latin American musicians. Acuña is celebrated for her vision of blending South American folk music with jazz and world music, and has collaborated with Harry Whitaker, Arturo O'Farrill, Guillermo Klein, Branford Marsalis, George Benson, Kenny Barron, Louie Vega, Tom Harrell, Herbie Hancock, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and the San Carlo di Napoli Symphony Orchestra, among others.

Her albums as a bandleader — beginning with her debut Wind from the South on Verve Records, which made her the first Latin American vocalist signed to a major label — established her as a creative force. Other releases include Rhythm of Life (Verve), Luna (MaxJazz), In These Shoes (Zoho Music), En Este Momento (Marsalis Music), and Turning Pages, which earned a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Album in 2019. Recent work includes performances at the Newport Jazz Festival, Carnegie Hall's Musical Explorers program, and International Jazz Day with the Herbie Hancock Institute. She has received the Keys to the City of Concepción, a 2024 Award of Recognition from the Chilean Chamber of Commerce in New York City, and a nomination for Person of the Year in Chile for her contributions to music and humanitarian work.

Thank you to Lydia Liebman for sharing with us

Claudia Acuña

Juno Award-winning Vocalist and Trumpet Master Bria Skonberg Issues Indigo via Cellar, Her Vocal-driven Sequel to Brass on July 3, 2026

 Pre order here

Juno Award-winning artist Bria Skonberg shares the breadth of her vocal expression with the release of Indigo on July 3, 2026 via Cellar Music Group. The anticipated partner to Brass, her 2026 trumpet-centered meditation, Indigo is a celebration of song, singing, and orchestrating for all the colors of her vocal artistry. Co-produced by Skonberg and her longtime collaborator Matt Pierson, these albums excavate both wholes of her creative identity. “After decades of figuring out where the trumpet and the voice come together,” she says, “I thought it would be interesting and challenging to explore them both, and that was it.” Asked frequently whether she’s a singer who plays trumpet or a trumpet player who sings, in recording Indigo and Brass, Skonberg realized she’s partly neither, and both entirely — a revelation to the artist whom The New York Times calls “the shining hope of hot jazz.”

“I had to work on them both, individually,” says Skonberg. “It’s always good to come back and sharpen the saw.” Indigo features the foundation of her Brass quartet, Eric Wheeler on bass and Darrian Douglas on drums, plus orchestration from her 2017 With a Twist collaborator, multi-Grammy Award winner Gil Goldstein, who also serves as the album’s pianist, complementing Skonberg’s intimate vocal — and its emotional resonances — with subtleties of tone and color. “What I love about Gil is he has such a huge imagination,” she says. “There was never any doubt he would be the person to arrange the album.”

The artists assemble a small but mighty orchestra, including Antoine Silverman and Entcho Todorov on violin, Yuko Naito-Gotay on viola, and Emily Brausa on cello, adding a distinct textural warmth from Kathleen Nester on alto flute and Charles Pillow on bass clarinet. “Gil and I settled on some really amazing sound combinations,” says Skonberg, “but once you pull together cello, alto flute, bass clarinet and where my voice sits, it’s just gorgeous.”

Where Brass captures Skonberg’s range as a technician and a style master, Indigo presents a level of vulnerability Skonberg is able to access vocally because she’s lived through the complexities and absurdities of life. “Indigo is an exploration in nuances: conversations, chemistry, fragility, and sense of self,” she says. “Many of these songs require a certain amount of life experience to be able to understand and interpret them, and at this point I feel like I’ve lived them all.”

Engineered, mixed and mastered by Christopher Allen, Indigo opens on Michel Legrand’s “Watch What Happens.” Adding a pedal to a partido alto feel, Skonberg bonds sophisticated with steadfast while Douglas’ brushwork creates a buoyancy around the hushed intensity of her vocal. “This song is my current love letter to humanity,” says Skonberg. “I’m hoping that we will see into each other’s hearts and make authentic connections.”

In back-to-back homage, “I’m Glad There is You” and “Mood Indigo” pay tribute to Sarah Vaughan & Clifford Brown and Miles Davis, respectively. The former transmits a plush, symphonic verse before Skonberg brings the tune into time, spotlighting a mastery over her vocal range: “It’s a beast, vocally, but it’s just a song about gratitude and being grateful for the people we love whether or not they’re with us.” The latter enters the iconic groove from “All Blues,” maintaining that reverence across the tune, including through Skonberg’s muted trumpet. “I like to put little Easter eggs in my albums,” says Skonberg, “for myself and the other jazz listeners.”

One of two songs appearing on both Brass and Indigo, “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” serves as something of a metaphor for the dual-album project. “It’s the feeling I have when I’m asked if I’m a singer who plays trumpet or a trumpet player who sings,” says Skonberg. “It sums it up: you’re stuck between two equally difficult decisions [laughs]. Also, the trumpet is the fiery part and the vocal is more the deep blue sea.” Alongside her nimble vocal, she delivers a swinging trumpet solo before joining Goldstein for a drum interlude that spotlights Douglas’ relaxed spontaneity.

Featuring Goldstein’s accordion and a beautiful solo gesture from Brausa, “If You Go Away” signals an emotional shift on Indigo. Through a lyrical whisper at once conversational and resonant, Skonberg sings directly into the listener’s ear. “It’s a little bit of a manouche French vibe,” she says. Originally recorded in French by the legendary singer Jacques Brel, the song has “just two parts, but it’s such a moment. There’s hope and despair — the fragility, the vulnerability — but there’s also strength in that, too.”

Indigo continues with a gripping arrangement of Sting’s “Fragile,” showcasing Skonberg’s muted trumpet. “Welcome to my party,” she says. “There’s always something old, there’s always something new, and then there’s always something in the middle that’s been kind of manipulated.” Her original song “So It Goes” emerged as an instrumental, which appears on Brass. Written in the style of a standard from the American Songbook, which Skonberg admits is “deceptively hard” to do, she soon realized the tune wasn’t finished. “I thought, ‘There’s a lyric here.” So she called her friend, the cabaret legend Ann Hampton Callaway to help her articulate the story. “It’s a love story that fell apart and then got put back together and then fell apart again [laughs].”

One of the record’s more complicated stories, “Tell Him I Said Hello” presents music & lyrics primed for Goldstein’s sensitive orchestration and Skonberg’s interpretive subtleties. “It’s a conversation with a friend who may or may not take what you’re saying to the person that you were in love with,” she says. “It’s so specific. And I’m realizing that great songwriting is taking a specific moment and making it universal. Gil wrote a beautiful arrangement that embodies the melancholy of lingering hope turning into reluctant acceptance.”

Indigo ends on a note of undying optimism, a hallmark of Skonberg’s expression as an artist and as a person navigating a troubled world. “We’ll Be Together Again” features cat-paw clarinet lines and blossoming orchestration. Skonberg approaches the song’s interval leaps with both technical poise and wonderment. But the meaning behind the tune informs her treatment of its components. “The sentiment of togetherness is important to me,” she says. “The way the album’s book-ended, ‘Watch What Happens’ is like, ’Let someone speak to your heart, stay open,’ and then the end thought is, ‘Remain in this space together.’”

Across Brass and Indigo, Skonberg’s message is clear: “I try to bring people together as much as possible. If I can get people having a shared experience, in live concerts, whatever their opinions or views are, to me that’s meaningful.”

 Bria Skonberg. Courtesy of Cellar Music Group

Thank you to Lydia Liebman Promotions for sharing with us

We Dream is the new studio album by New York–based alto saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Lakecia Benjamin. Conceived as a deeply band-driven project, her sixth album and Artwork Records debut, out June 5, centers on Benjamin’s frequent collaborators in pianists Oscar Pérez and Miki Hayama and bassist Elias Bailey — along with new associates in trumpeter Sean Jones, and drummer Jonathan Barber — alongside an expansive cast of guest collaborators drawn from across jazz, R&B, hip-hop, and experimental music.

Pre save here

“It does, as usual, have some of my guest flair,” Benjamin explains. “But this time, it’s for a different purpose.” Following the arc of 2023’s Phoenix and 2025’s Grammy-nominated, standalone single “Noble Rise,” We Dream reflects what Benjamin describes as a shift in perspective — a response to the present moment and the world around her. “It felt like that story couldn’t go all the way, given the state of the world,” she says. “So I started thinking about the idea of being a bright light in a dark space. Things feel really dark right now — everywhere — and we’re trying to be that light.”

Rather than assembling guests for ornamentation, Benjamin approached the project as a collective statement, bringing together artists she admires for their capacity to evolve, innovate, and reshape musical language. Her self-described team of “Avengers” includes trumpeters Terence Blanchard and Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah; saxophonist Chris Potter; drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts; pianist Hiromi; the Roots’ Black Thought; vocalists Bilal and Tiaranna “Tank” Ball of Tank and the Bangas; and drummer and producer Kassa Overall.

When describing her collaborators, Benjamin emphasizes that they are not bound by genre, pointing instead to artists who have reshaped music through sound, presentation, and the spaces in which it can exist.

We Dream arrives after a period of heightened visibility for Benjamin. After years working with artists including Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, Prince, Missy Elliott, Anita Baker, Gregory Porter, Kool & the Gang, and The Roots, she redefined her artistic direction with 2020’s Pursuance: The Coltranes, a guest-driven project honoring John and Alice Coltrane as parallel creative forces. Released during the pandemic, the album marked a turning point — reconnecting Benjamin’s work to lineage, spirituality, and personal responsibility during a moment of global pause.

She followed Pursuance with Phoenix, recorded after surviving a near-fatal car accident. The album proved a breakthrough, earning multiple Grammy nominations — including Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Best Instrumental Composition (“Amerikkan Skin”), and Best Jazz Performance (“Basquiat”) — and expanding both the scale and audience for her work.

Phoenix’s sister album, Phoenix Reimagined (Live) — announced on national TV by Stephen Colbert while she sat in with the Late Show Band — was nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental Album and Best Jazz Performance. At the forthcoming 2026 ceremony, Benjamin is nominated for Best Jazz Performance for the standalone single “Noble Rise,” featuring fellow alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins.

Musically, We Dream unfolds as a cinematic, poem-driven journey. The album opens with the mesmerizing, tenacious spoken word piece “First Light.” This segues into  “Beyond the Dawn,” featuring Terence Blanchard alongside Sean Jones, Barber’s mallet work, and a spoken-word invocation by Benjamin that sets the album’s tone — part meditation, part reckoning. The music then surges forward, channeling intensity, propulsion, and forward motion.

Throughout the record, Benjamin blends spoken word, groove-based writing, and high-energy improvisation. “My Only,” featuring Jones, explores isolation and endurance. “Mi Gente,” with Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, centers community and cultural exchange, grounded in rhythm and collective movement.

“Dream Breaker,” featuring Watts, Potter, and Jones, pushes the music into a more combustible space, while “Flamekeeper,” with Hiromi and Potter, accelerates through force, volume, and extended exchange — reflecting Benjamin’s admiration for artists “who are not standing still, who are pushing forward, who are innovating.”

The album’s title track, “We Dream,” features spoken word and vocals by Tiaranna “Tank” Ball, whose narrative presence shapes the composition’s emotional arc. Later, “Right Now” brings together Bilal and Kassa Overall in what Benjamin describes as the record’s dramatic peak, where lyric, rhythm, and improvisation converge. The closing track, “New World,” offers a quieter resolution — a glimpse of the light Benjamin set out to find.

Across We Dream, Benjamin situates jazz within a broader cultural landscape, reflecting her growing presence at festivals where jazz shares the stage with DJs, reggae acts, and genre-defying artists. But genre aside, it stands as a bold, intentional artistic statement — one that insists on forward motion, collective imagination, and the power of sound to illuminate even the darkest spaces.

 Lakecia Benjamin website

Thank you to Lydia Liebman for sharing with us

Singer-trumpeter Christine Fawson performs 11 of her favorite jazz standards in fresh and lively versions on It Could Happen To You, released on June 1st. Available here

Her fifth album teams the skilled artist with a top-notch rhythm section for consistently infectious performances. A delightful entertainer who is equally skilled as a jazz singer and trumpeter, Christine Fawson is heard in spirited form throughout her fifth album as a leader, It Could Happen To You.

She is joined by a top-notch rhythm section from New England consisting of pianist Tim Ray, bassist Dave Zinno, and drummer Casey Scheuerell. With Ms. Fawson, Ray, and producer Brad Hatfield supplying the arrangements, the quartet’s versions of standards are filled with subtle surprises, a few unexpected twists and turns, and creative playing.

The first selection on this set, “It Could Happen To You,” has an opening statement by Christine Fawson on trumpet, a bit of her warm singing, and piano, trumpet and bass solos that help to introduce the impressive group. “It’s Alright With Me” features fetching vocalizing and some particularly soulful trumpet playing while Christine sounds quite assertive on “Lazybones.” Irving Berlin’s heartbreaking ballad “What’ll I Do” is a duet with pianist Ray whose atmospheric patterns provide a perfect accompaniment to her quietly emotional singing.

Other selections include a joyful rendition of “My Heart Stood Still,” “Like Someone In Love” which benefits from an unexpected rhythm and an extended trumpet/piano tradeoff, and an inventive arrangement by Tim Ray on “You Don’t Know What Love Is” that will keep listeners guessing. The latter is quite a tour-de-force for Christine. It Could Happen To You concludes with “You’ve Changed” (which has Christine singing the rarely-heard verse), a swinging “I Was Doing Alright,” an uptempo “Oh, Lady Be Good” that at one point has the leader trading off with herself on trumpet and scat-filled singing, and a heartfelt rendition of Cole Porter’s classic “Every Time We Say Goodbye.”

Christine Fawson, who is originally from Ukiah, California, early in life sang with her family in church where she had opportunities to perform solos. In middle school she took up the trumpet and developed very quickly, soon playing first chair with her school band. She studied trumpet at BYU-Hawaii and the Berklee College of Music. Christine taught at Berklee for 14 years until 2017 as a professor of Brass, Ear Training, Harmony, Voice, Performance Studies, and Ensemble. At the same time, she was a member of the vocal jazz ensemble Syncopation during 2002–12 (including making three recordings with the group) and was with Sherrie Maricle’s DIVA Orchestra during 2004-09. While she continues to teach privately, Christine has worked as a side person with many bands. She was a finalist in the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition Finalist in 2017 and 2019 and regularly leads her own quartet. Prior to the new project, she had recorded four albums as a leader: Happy Talk, My Side (which features her originals), Here Now, and Christine Fawson Sings Jazz.

The release of It Could Happen To You features Christine Fawson in prime form as a jazz singer and trumpeter and is a major accomplishment in her career.

Christine Fawson website click here

Thank you to Jazz Promo Services for sharing with us

Heidi Martin is proud to present Attunement: Her latest album due to be released 26th May 2026.

Having completed two years of research at Rutgers University (2023-2024) on the Estate of American jazz vocalist, songwriter, actress and civil rights activist Abbey Lincoln, Heidi Martin was subsequently awarded the 2024 Berger-Carter Berger Fellowship from Rutgers Dana Library Jazz Studies Department. During this time, Heidi reached out to bassist Michael Bowie and pianist Mark Cary, who both played with Abbey Lincoln for over a decade.

Originally Heidi reached out to Michael and Marc to see if they could share stories while she was studying Abbey’s journals in chronological order. Inspired by their recollections, the in depth research of Abbey’s personal journals, and her own alignment with Abbey’s philosophy and spirit, Heidi began composing a poetic tribute beyond the traditional tributes to monuments in the music. She wondered, could compositions be channelled through this energy as a tribute to Abbey Lincoln (Aminata Moseka), but not in the traditional sense of “tribute album”? As songs were emerging, Heidi brought them to Michael Bowie who became her MD, both working on them for several months, eventually resulting in the studio recording that is Attunement. With Marc Cary on piano, Michael Bowie on bass Eric Kennedy on drums and features from Elijah Easton on tenor saxophone and Ethan Bailey Gould on guitar, the group became the perfect ensemble to enhance Heidi’s work and to reflect the true nature of Heidi’s inspiration and ‘attunement’ from her studies.

Having performed at a whole range of legendary venues and festivals throughout the USA. Her previous album ‘Gifts & Sacrifices’ gaining widespread positive attention, Heidi brings her unique singer-songwriter perspective to Attunement, combining folk influence with jazz sensibility to produce her very best work to date.

Heidi Martin is an award-winning vocalist and composer. She is the recipient of
Chamber Music America "Jazz Works" commission 2023, South Arts Touring Grant 2022, Rutgers University Fellowship (2024) to research the Abbey Lincoln Estate in the Dana Library of Jazz Studies and MOCO Arts and Humanities Grant to record the music she composed during extensive 2 year research. ATTUNEMENT is her lastest recording (2026) with Marc Cary, Michael Bowie and Eric Kennedy. She brings to DC Jazz Festival Education; her commitment to creativity and success nurturing young learners. Martin develops quality music education programs and experiences for schools and organizations across the DC area. Deeply rooted in the District’s creative community, she exudes patience, warmth and enthusiasm in her work to continue the rich legacy of jazz, especially our earliest Prek3-4 learners.

Martin was a vocal music major in the University of District of Columbia’s jazz studies program. A finalist in the London International Vocalist Competition, is a sought-after teaching artist who has written, directed and produced music programs for DC Public Schools and Montgomery County Public Schools. Martin is certified by the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education to teach pre-K-12th grade music, and is certified by the State of Maryland. Heidi was a contributing composer for the PBS documentary “Revolution ’67.” She has performed nationally at the Winter JazzFest, Black ArtsFest, NOMA Fest, Mad JazzFest, Pori JazzFest, Tatmine Cultural Arts Concert (Morocco) and DC JazzFest!

“A breezy stroll through the Civil Rights movement at a level deeper than the mere political. Martin has a vision—oneness with all—and she promotes it with her lyrics. She cuts to the chase with little conversation, more Hemingway than Faulkner. But there's stlll a distinct Southern vernacular in her words.” All About Jazz

"Heidi brings a singer-songwriter perspective, applies that folk influence from the 60’s, to a whole different genre of music…” ~ George Burton

“Soaring soulful riffs…a wonderful experience for the listener!” Vanessa Rubin

Thank you to Dynamic Agency for sharing with us

Heidi Martin website click here