Pianist/composer Yvonne Rogers draws inspiration from her magical childhood in rural Maine for her mesmerizing new solo album. The Button Jar, due out May 8, 2026 via Pyroclastic Records, features 14 miniatures conjuring the beauty and mystery of the natural world through the interplay of whimsy and rigor.

Pre order here

Growing up in rural Maine without the distraction of even a television, Yvonne Rogers often found herself alone with nothing but her imagination and the natural world around her for inspiration. Now based in the very different environs of Brooklyn, where she is rapidly emerging as a vibrant new voice on the progressive jazz scene, the pianist and composer often finds herself drawing on those early years to guide her distinctive musical approach.

One image that often returns to Rogers’ mind’s eye is the button jar that her artist mother kept for craft projects – a stockpile of mundane but multi-hued items that could be reimagined into endless creative permutations. “It felt like a jar of possibilities,” Rogers says. “You could use it for any number of projects, but you had to know how to properly sew the button on, so it became a balance of whimsical fun and meticulous craftsmanship.”

That notion became a guiding principle for The Button Jar, Rogers’ captivating new solo piano album. Scheduled for release on May 8, 2026 via Pyroclastic Records, the album provides an entrancing introduction to Rogers’ singular sound, a deeply personal weave of play and rigor that marshals childlike wonder in service of a complex and intricate use of rhythm and harmony.

The sense of play that thrives in the music of The Button Jar can be traced to the music’s origins – a series of short explorations that Rogers posted to social media, never intending them to have a life beyond that disposable medium. It was only at the urging of Pyroclastic founder Kris Davis that Rogers considered revisiting and developing these brief ideas into full-fledged solo compositions.

Davis had become a mentor to Rogers after the two met through Focusyear Basel in Switzerland, where Davis served as one of the instructors for the yearlong international ensemble program. Davis not only encouraged Rogers to record for her label, but produced the album and suggested a solo outing, which came as a surprise, as Rogers’ work to date had been wholly focused on ensemble playing. Her 2023 debut Seeds featured a quartet of peers, and she is a member of saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock’s next-generation band Lilith and trumpeter Adam O’Farrill’s quartet Elephant. Rogers also leads her own quartet, which recently received a commission from the venerable NYC performance space Roulette.

“I was immediately struck by Yvonne’s playing,” Davis recalls. “Since the program, I’ve continued to follow her work and have been especially impressed by the solo piano videos she regularly shares on Instagram. She has a unique and personal harmonic and melodic language. I wanted to give her the opportunity to dive deeper into her solo piano approach, so I invited her to record an album for Pyroclastic Records. This is my first time producing an album for another artist on Pyroclastic, and I felt she would be the perfect young artist to uplift and collaborate with.”

The Button Jar casts a spell from the outset, as the gradually evolving rhythms of “Luster” resonate as both pristine and mysterious, contrasted immediately by the evasive angularity of the title track. The chordal density of “Monkey’s Fist” is worlds away from the lilting joy of “Little Dance,” itself distinct from the gentle swing feel of “Puzzle Building.” The pendulum swings from the aching, delicate slowness of “Thread the Needle” to the lively, buoyant dance of “Linear Gel,” its title an anagram for one of Rogers’ formative influences, the great Geri Allen. In addition to Rogers’ compositions, there are three freely improvised pieces: “Avid Risks,” a dedication to (and anagram of) Kris Davis; “The Craft Room” and album closer “Exhale,” a stark release captured at the end of the recording session reflecting on the day’s range of expression.

In a sense, Rogers’ music is a vehicle to recreate the vast imaginative possibilities that her unique upbringing provided. “I grew up in the woods in the middle of nowhere, so I had a very special relationship to nature,” she recalls. “You sense that the world goes on without you, so the problems in your head don't really matter in the grand scheme of things. I want my music to do that for other people – to create a space for them to experience this feeling of wonder so that they can get out of their head for a few minutes.”

Yvonne Rogers is a pianist, composer, and multimedia artist from Maine, now based in Brooklyn, New York. Described as a “Fresh, new voice on piano,” (Paul Acquaro, The Free Jazz Collective), she is in demand as both a sideperson and bandleader, having performed with artists including Ralph Alessi, Linda May Han Oh, Ingrid Laubrock, Harish Raghavan, Sara Serpa, and more. Rogers is a 2024 Next Jazz Legacy Awardee, a grant recognizing outstanding women in jazz founded by Terri Lyne Carrington and facilitated by New Music USA. She was a member of the 2021/2022 Focusyear Band in Basel, Switzerland, where she performed with jazz masters including Kris Davis, Sullivan Fortner, Tineke Postma, Jorge Rossy, Larry Grenadier, Lionel Loueke, Chris Cheek, Elena Pinderhughes, Miguel Zenón, and more. Currently Yvonne performs with Ingrid Laubrock’s Lilith and Adam O'Farrill’s Elephant, as well as leading her own quartet. Her debut album Seeds was released in 2023 on Relative Pitch Records.

Thank you to Braithwaite & Katz for sharing with us

Yvonne Rogers website click here

Myra Melford and Satoko Fujii release Katarahi on May 8, 2026 via RogueArt

A deep and beautiful musical conversation, their second duo album was recorded live at the 2024 JazzFestival Lebnitz

Pre order here

“When I play with Myra, I always feel like I am having a conversation with my close friend,” says pianist Satoko Fujii

The album title is the Japanese word for a heart-to-heart conversation between intimate friends and the album reveals just that. As Ed Hazell writes in the liner notes, “It’s rare to hear music in which both participants are so present in the moment and where the deepest truths of the heart are revealed so openly.” Fujii and Melford first met through Paul Bley in 1994 but it wasn’t until 2007 that they first performed together and released their first album Under the Water which was completely improvised They took a different approach on Katarahi, their second duo album.

“I think we found over the years that having some predetermined material was valuable in helping us to shape the different vocabulary and approaches we each have to improvise into a common vision,” says Melford. “We have a great affinity with, and for, each other’s playing, and choosing compositions that allow for a lot of freedom in how we play them seemed to be a great solution for providing a common focus over the course of the concert.”

The title of this album was suggested by Satoko Fujii. It’s a Japanese word meaning a heart-to-heart conversation between intimate friends (what a lovely thing to have a word for!). She chose it, “because when I play with Myra, I always feel like I am having a conversation with my close friend.” Clearly Melford feels the same way. It’s rare to hear music in which both participants are so present in the moment and where the deepest truths of the heart are revealed so openly.

Melford and Fujii share a history together that is longer than their recordings might indicate. Katarahi is just their second album as a duo, after their 2007 debut, Under the Water (Libra). Two albums in nearly twenty years might make it seem like this is a rare event, but such is not the case. Fujii was a student at New England Conservatory studying with Paul Bley in 1994 when he introduced her to Melford at a Melford solo concert in Boston. They have maintained a friendship over the years since then. Their desire to play together finally became a reality in January 2007 when Fujii arranged a duo concert while Melford was visiting a friend in Tokyo. A second concert at Maybeck recital hall in Berkeley, Calif., followed in September of that year. Since then, despite the comparatively few concert venues with two pianos available, Fujii says, “I think we played together twice or three times in Japan, twice in America, twice in Italy, Belgium, Poland, and Austria. I guess we have a history!” Their first album was entirely improvised, but for Katarahi they each contribute compositions. “I think we found over the years that having some predetermined!material was valuable in helping us to shape the different vocabulary!and approaches we each have to improvise into a common vision,” Melford says. “We have a great affinity with, and for, each other’s playing, and choosing compositions that allow for a lot of freedom in how we play them seemed to be a great solution for providing a common focus over the course of the concert. For my compositions, I wanted to! suggest simple structures that provide multiple approaches for development, a balance between having a common focus and plenty of freedom of expression.”

Fujii took a similar compositional approach to the duo. “I brought both old pieces and new ones that I composed for this duo to set a mood and direction,” Fujii says. “We both write a lot of music, and I enjoy playing her compositions. It’s a great way to get a musical direction and ideas.” So, the compositions provide structure, but improvisation – the intimate dialogue– forms the heart of their music. “Satoko has such a strong sense of narrative in how she develops her improvisations –I’m always so impressed by this when I listen to her solo playing,” Melford says. “And she brings that same intensity of focus to our duo.! She’s a great listener and her response time is immediate. She’s so present in the moment that it’s easy to connect and build the music together.” “Myra is amazing,” Fujii says. “She listens carefully to my playing and always plays the right thing at the right moment. We share similar music values, but we are very different performers.” The entire album, recorded live at the 2024 Jazz Festival Leibnitz, could be described as a deep, and especially beautiful, musical conversation. It is also something more. It’s customary on duet recordings to mention who is playing on the right channel and who on the left in order to help identify who plays what. However, Fujii and Melford don’t want that mentioned. First of all, they switched pianos (that is sides) during the concert, so it would be cumbersome to note. More importantly, the responsibility for creating the music is so mutual that noting individual contributions is almost beside the point—the sum is so much greater than the parts. For instance, “Interlude” develops as a thoughtful exchange of ideas, deliberately stated and with mutual respect. But as the piece develops, the pianists interlace their lines, maintaining a perfect balance between them, and generating an organic whole larger than the single contribution of either.

Call and response also open “Signpost” but soon evolves into simultaneous improvisations. Melford and Fujii perform as two equal voices, neither one predominates. If there is any leader, it is the music itself, which carries them into unfettered interactions that grow more elaborate and unconstrained. “Pairs” is perhaps the widest ranging of the duets, starting on the edge of audibility and wandering through digressions until climaxing with high energy outbursts. Again, the equality of the partnership is notable. Neither pianist imitates or follows the other, but the music each makes could not exist without the other. Trust and openness are hallmarks of their work together. Melford’s “Chalk” is an excellent example of how well the duo uses the composition to guide a performance. It’s a mediumtempo lyrical melody whose mood is not entirely lost even when they speed things up. Each in their own way pushes the material in new directions, but they stay connected by using the written line as a reference point throughout.

Val Wilmer famously described pianist Cecil Taylor’s style as “88 tuned drums.” On “Kaiwa” we have twice that many. A barrage of rapid lines chasing each other around starts things out. Dampened strings change the timbre or shorten the decay of individual notes, highlighting their percussive attack. But for all its urgency and cathartic, explosive sounds, the music is buoyant, emerging not from darkness or anger, but from compassion and an overabundance of life. The climactic efflorescence of thundering note clusters and waves of rapid lines explode on the listener as a concatenation of empathy and joy. There are an infinite number of ways to touch a piano key to shape and color the resulting notes. Fujii and Melford explore many of the possibilities on “IV”. There’s a multiplicity of shapes and colors in the opening minutes –notes that are delicate and rock hard, opaque and translucent, notes and tones of different timbre and weights. There’s also an awareness of how respectfully and intentionally one must break silence. Every note is played with purpose and humility and reminds us of our need to communicate with one another on a sincere and honest level. Fujii’s “From Sometime” concludes the disc with a spritely dance of leaping and skipping notes and sounds. It doesn’t exactly convey happiness, but something more spiritual. It expresses the presence of a lifeforce stronger than death, and conjures joy deeper than sorrow –the mysterious force that triumphs by means of fearless self-knowledge and love. Ed Hazell, February 2026

Rogue Art website click here

Thank you to Ann Braithwaite for sharing with us

Myra Melford website click here

Satoko Fujii website click here

Jazz vocalist Douyé returns with her new single, “It’s a Lovely Day Today,” the first release from her upcoming album Stay With Me. Known for her rich tone and timeless delivery, Douyé brings a fresh emotional depth to this classic-inspired piece, blending elegance with modern jazz sensitivity.

The single reflects the warmth and optimism at the heart of Douyé’s artistry, offering listeners a refined interpretation that highlights her signature vocal control and expressive phrasing. With a sound rooted in tradition yet shaped by contemporary influence, she continues to carve out a distinct space in today’s jazz landscape.

Stay With Me further showcases Douyé’s artistic range, uniting intimate storytelling with lush arrangements and a cohesive emotional narrative. The project reinforces her reputation as a vocalist committed to authenticity, sophistication, and musical depth.

“It’s a Lovely Day Today” is now available on all major streaming platforms.

Douyé has a distinctive and warm voice along with her own attractive jazz phrasing. She uplifts every song that she sings (even the most familiar standards), making them sound brand new and part of her life story.

Her most recent recording, The Golden Sékéré, is her most rewarding to date. Douyé transforms 14 classic songs, bringing out their inner beauty without losing their essence. The album is filled with many welcome surprises including a slower-than-usual rendition of “Cherokee,” a waltz version of “Speak Low,” the rollicking Latin big band on “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” a romantic and haunting “I’m Confessin’,” and a version of Duke Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean A Thing” that has both swing and funk sections. Douyé utilized the best musicians including pianist Benito Gonzalez, trumpeters Freddie Hendrix and Sean Jones, guitarist Lionel Loueke, bassist Buster Williams and top musicians from Africa such as Dapo Torimiro, Najite Agindotan, Dokun Oke, and Babá Ken Okulolo. The result is a wide-ranging and very enjoyable set of stirring and heartfelt music.

Douyé was born and raised in Nigeria. “At a very early age, my Dad introduced me to jazz, including Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and the beboppers, plus the greats of Gospel music,” she remembers. “I always sang, and it seemed very natural to me. As a young child, whenever I heard a tune with a beautiful melody, I would hum along, eventually learning the words. I was encouraged by my Godmother and my parents to join the church choir, which gave me my first opportunity to sing in front of people.”

Douyé had a very close relationship with her father, who passed away when she was 11. “My Dad always played jazz around the house and told me that jazz was life. The last time I saw him, he wanted me to promise him that someday, when I was a woman, I would sing jazz. I always remembered that.”

She gained experience singing in school in Nigeria, but her goal was to be in the U.S. “Music was the reason that I moved to the United States. I attended the Musicians Institute, where my beliefs about the importance of being oneself, developing my own sound, and not comparing myself to anyone else were validated.” While at the school, she met songwriter Terry Shaddick, who had composed Olivia-Newton John’s big hit “Physical.” They soon formed a musical partnership, writing the music together for her first two albums, Journey and So Much Love. “Journey was about coming from Africa and becoming a musician in the Western world. My second album, So Much Love, was dedicated to the great African Afrobeat musician Fela Kuti.” Both of the records were inspired by classic R&B (including Anita Baker, Sam Cooke and Sade, among others) along with Douyé’s African musical heritage, displaying her as a powerful and soulful singer in addition to being a skilled composer.

But after So Much Love was completed, Douyé felt that something was missing, and that was the promise she had made to her father. “Earlier, I was hesitant to sing jazz because I felt that I needed to do more work. But after So Much Love, I decided that it was finally time to go all the way into jazz.” Douyé started attending jazz jams at the World Stage in Los Angeles and found that the audience and her fellow musicians were very encouraging. She began working with pianist Howlett Smith, built up her repertoire, and worked very hard at finding her own place in the jazz world. “I’ve never looked at another singer and thought that I wanted to be like them. While I admire many singers, I know what I hold, and so I always wanted to sound like myself and hone my artistic qualities.” For her first jazz album Daddy Said So, she was joined by such masterful musicians as pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Ron Carter (for a duet version of “Nature Boy”), trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, saxophonist Bob Sheppard, guitarist Russell Malone, and pianists Otmaro Ruiz, John Beasley and Joel Scott, along with the Kim Richmond big band on two numbers. Douyé’s warmth, swinging phrasing, and deep understanding of the lyrics that she interpreted and pure joy at performing creative jazz are very much in evidence throughout the memorable Douyé set.

Douyé followed Daddy Said So with Quartro – Bossa Nova Deluxe, a set of Brazilian jazz that includes many attractive songs, including several by Antonio Carlos Jobim, and bossa-nova versions of “Lover Man,” “Watch What Happens,” “Song For My Father,” and “Nica’s Dream.” Her supporting cast included pianists John Di Martino and Otmaro Ruiz, saxophonist Justo Almario, and guitarists Romero Lubambo, Angelo Metz and Paul Meyers.

Now with the release of 'The Golden Sékéré', Douyé is consolidating her place as a major jazz singer. “Jazz fits very well with my spirit and it speaks to life. It inspires me to put a lot of work and depth into what I do, and there is always so much more to learn. I relate each song to my own life, my story, and my journey. For the future, I hope to perform as often as possible and bring this music not only to Los Angeles and nationally but to Europe, Africa and worldwide, reaching out to the international world of jazz.”

Douye website click here

Angélique Kidjo Announces New Album HOPE!!

 Angélique’s first solo release in five years features star guests including Pharrell Williams, Nile Rodgers, PJ Morton, Quavo, Ayra Starr, Davido, The Cavemen, Charlie Wilson and more.

 Available here

Angélique Kidjo has announced HOPE!!, her new album to be released April 24 (Warner Music France).  The full-length follow-up to 2021’s GRAMMY-winning Mother Nature, HOPE!! positions Kidjo once again as one of Africa’s most influential and inspiring artists.  Kidjo offers up a revelatory body of work across 16 new recordings, transmitting an unbridled joy that also serves as a unifying force, a conduit for healing, and a much-needed antidote to despair in troubled times.  Hope!! also finds Kidjo collaborating with a wide range of artists and reflects a new partnership with Pharrell — who is not only featured, but produced three songs on the album — and recently outfitted her in custom Louis Vuitton for the GRAMMY Awards last month.  Guests including Quavo, Ayra Starr, Davido, Nile Rodgers, Charlie Wilson and PJ Morton appear on the album, which Kidjo has dedicated to her late mother.  

Kidjo, the 5-time GRAMMY winner, has had a tremendous past few years, including being named to TIME’s 100 Most Influential People list, and winning the Polar Music Prize in 2023.  She also performed “Jerusalema,” a song featured on HOPE!! that earned Kidjo her 16th GRAMMY nomination, at the reopening ceremony of Notre Dame in Paris in 2024. 

“I started singing when I was six years old, and I’m grateful every day that I still get to live my passion and do what I love with my life,” says Kidjo, who hails from the West African nation of Benin. “At the same time I know that many people struggle to find joy, especially when there’s so much to worry about in our world today. With this album I wanted to put some fire back in people’s hearts, and show how much we need that joy and hope to keep our humanity going.”

In September 2025, Pharrell Williams invited Kidjo to his Grace For The World concert in St Peter Square of Vatican City. From that encounter were born three original songs produced and written by Pharrell in his Parisian studio and tailored to Kidjo’s personality and voice. “For Me” is an anthem to self-celebration of one's accomplishment in the face of challenge featuring Charlie Wilson from The Gap Band. “No Stopping Us” was born out of a conversation between Kidjo and Pharrell on the future of social change. “Bando,” a slang word for an abandoned house, is a celebration of the true roots of popular trends born out of street life, and features Quavo. 

HOPE!! is dedicated to Kidjo’s late mother Yvonne, an homage to her resilience and optimism. Kidjo says that her mother’s favorite song was “Malaika,” and the album concludes with an emotional, philharmonic rendition of the song arranged by Derrick Hodge and featuring French singer Florent Pagny.  Recorded in Paris and Los Angeles over the past three years, HOPE!! was crafted alongside many of Africa’s most electrifying musical voices, including Lagos-based neo-High Life duo The Cavemen (“I’m On Fire”), Congolese legend Fally Ipupa on “Nadi Balance,” along with horns from Kokoroko’s Sheila Maurice-Grey, Franco-Congolese artist Dadju (“Superwoman”), Tanzanian musician Diamond Platnumz (“Kakua”) and more.  Made with producers like Shizzi (a Nigerian musician who’s worked with Fireboy DML, DaBaby, and Meek Mill), French jazz musician/composer Philippe Saisse, fast-rising Nigerian producer Louddaaa, and more, the result is a groove-heavy and galvanizing album that boldly transcends genre while endlessly showcasing Kidjo’s larger-than-life presence and captivating voice.

Written by Diane Warren (a 17-time Oscar nominee who’s penned songs for Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Rihanna), the Grammy-nominated “Sunlight To My Soul” brings Kidjo’s force-of-nature voice to a full-hearted expression of gratitude and love—an element echoed by the exuberant harmonies of the Soweto Gospel Choir, a world-renowned South African group who contributed to several songs on HOPE!! and first performed with Kidjo at a 2003 benefit concert hosted by Nelson Mandela.

As the latest offering in a catalog that’s continually shown the transformative power of music, HOPE!! solidifies Kidjo’s legacy as a visionary artist whose sense of purpose has only grown stronger over time. “Sometimes it feels as though the world is losing hope at such a rapid pace that it’s endangering our humanity,” says Kidjo. “With all the music that I create, I want to show that anything and everything is possible—and that despite what the political rhetoric might have us believe, we are all deeply connected. My hope is that these songs bring happiness to everyone, but also remind them that we were all put here to help and love each other.”

With that sentiment in mind, it’s important to highlight that Kidjo has passionately devoted herself to humanitarian work all throughout her career—an undertaking that’s included launching her own charitable foundation, Batonga (an organization dedicated to fostering the education of adolescent girls on the African continent), as well as advocating on behalf of children all over the world through her work as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador. She has earned recognition as one of the 100 most inspiring women in the world (The Guardian) and the most influential woman in Africa (Forbes), in addition to winning the admiration of such prominent cultural figures as musician/actor/civil-rights activist Harry Belafonte, who commended for Kidjo “using her work and growing fame to change the way the world perceives Africa.”

Wednesday 22nd April - London future soul artist MADELEINE returns with another taste of her intergalactic, dystopian sound world, sharing her new single ‘Donʼt Lose Yourselfʼ. Known for her work as keyboard player for the likes of Olivia Dean, Jorja Smith and Rachel Chinouriri, this is the second single taken from her forthcoming EP ‘Earth Cryʼ, which will release on Tuesday 16th June via Bridge The Gap.

Listen/buy on bandcamp hereListen/buy on Bandcamp here

Following lead single ‘Give Back to Herʼ, which landed on the Jazz FM playlist and found support from the likes of DJ Spoony on BBC Radio 2 and Neun Magazine, ‘Donʼt Lose Yourselfʼ moves away from the naturalistic themes of the first single, instead centring on a message of hope, self-belief and communal sensitivity. Recorded as an instrumental before the lyrics were written, the intuitive relationship between MADELEINEʼs trusted trio unit shines through, with Jack Robsonʼs frenetic drums combining beautifully with her ethereal synth tones and John Jonesʼ driving basslines.

On the track, MADELEINE shares: “The energy of the track really lends itself to a feeling of warmth and power, which originally came from the chords. At the time of recording, I was still in the process of writing the vocal, so we really were just focusing on the instrumental tracking. The energy of the recording really pushed the song into the world of love, energy, and positivity.ˮ

Thematically, the forthcoming ‘Earth Cryʼ EP picks up from where 2023's ‘Sun Daughterʼ left off - acting as a cry for consciousness and care in relation to the planet, and our fellow human beings. Self-produced, written, and arranged, with some additional production and mixing work by Lewis Moody (Allysha Joy, 30/70, CHERISE) and Will Heaton (Ebi Soda), the project is an exploration of future soul through the lens of Londonʼs electronic-infused sound waves, balancing organic textures with an intergalactic interpretation of the sound of the cityscape.

On the EP and her creative practice, MADELEINE shares: “I find the parallel between my own personal life, and the relevance of the world around me (nature, politics, the natural world, the dream world), extremely important. Sometimes the two are so interlinked within my lyrics - they can almost blur into one. With this project I feel more confident in my directness with some of my themes. After the absolute horrors of the last couple years, it feels important to be talking about something that really matters.ˮ

An emerging player in the nu-jazz and UK soul scene, MADELEINE takes influence from the progressive electronics of Flying Lotus, James Blake and Salami Rose Joe Louis, as well as the soulful hues of Ego Ella May and Sampha. With support already from The Line of Best Fit, BBC Radio 1, BBC Introducing, Jazz re:freshed and Jazz FM, and an appearance at 2025's SXSW under her belt, summer 2026 will see her appear at Brick Lane Jazz Festival, We Out Here and Shambala Festival.

Thank you to Bridge The Gap for sharing

April Records proudly presents the new album from Danish trombonist and composer Lis Wessberg. Her most personal album to date, In The Wake of Blue is a song-driven work exploring transience, love, and transformation. Expanding her writing while remaining rooted in her distinctive instrumental voice, Wessberg creates an intimate musical landscape where lyric, melody, and texture carry equal weight.

In The Wake of Blue is set for release on April 17th, 2026 via April Records.

Order Here

Wessberg has established herself as a leading voice on the European jazz scene through her band Yellow Map and a series of acclaimed releases on April Records. Her previous album, Twain Walking (2024), marked her first step into English-language songwriting and earned a Danish Music Award nomination in 2025 for the track Behind the Walls. In The Wake of Blue develops this direction further. The album draws on images from nature - sea, tides, clouds, mist, and birds - used as emotional anchors rather than abstractions. These elements frame songs that move from uncertainty and loss toward openness, connection, and renewal. The title reflects this arc: “blue” as melancholy, depth, and memory, and what emerges in its wake.

Vocalist Veronika Rud is central to the album’s sound, bringing vulnerability and clarity to the songs. Rather than a traditional singer-led project, the music unfolds as a dialogue between voice and trombone, with Wessberg’s warm, airy tone mirroring and extending each song’s emotional core. At times the two move in close unison; elsewhere, they diverge and reconnect. The core ensemble - Steen Rasmussen (piano and keys), Lennart Ginman (bass), and Jeppe Gram (drums) - provides a responsive, understated foundation, while string quartet Live Strings appear on two tracks, expanding the ensemble’s depth and resonance. In The Wake of Blue offers a quietly assured statement from an artist continuing to refine a voice that speaks as clearly through brass as it does through words.

All Compositions and Arrangements by Lis Wessberg Published by April Publishing ApS

The first thing that comes to mind is a soundtrack to someone riding through the dunes on a beach at night, somewhere in Denmark. Or the feeling of being at the circus, marveling at all the magical things happening in the ring. Swaying above the clouds, light as a feather. Warm, friendly skies everywhere you look. Liquid sounds all over. Lis Wessberg’s trombone caresses your ears smoothly, but there is always a hot temper waiting to get out of the cage. The music takes you to a dreamy landscape filled with poetry and love – both in words and music. Veronika Rud delivers the very emotion of every song, and Lis says the exact same thing, but through her trombone.

We all long for a life filled with love and devotion. Veronika not only delivers the meaning of each song. She is the song, with Lis embracing every mood with her airy trombone. It feels like floating on air, letting us float along. Or like wandering through a mystical landscape, maybe a walk on a beach in the middle of a warm summer night. The waves slowly move us to sleep. Or like two birds in free flight, the voices of Lis and Veronika in perfect synchronization until Veronika takes a detour, letting her voice speak freely until Lis takes over with her airy voice – the trombone. The ending is like two lovebirds landing on a wire. Long live love. Long live music. Nils Landgren,Fellow musician and friend

Lis Wessberg website click here

Thank you to Jazz Fuel for sharing with us