SARAH JANE MORRIS RETURNS WITH NEW ALBUM: ‘THE SISTERHOOD 2’

OUT 6TH MARCH ON CD & DOWNLOAD

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Acclaimed UK vocalist Sarah Jane Morris and guitarist Tony Rémy unveil ‘The Sisterhood 2’, arriving on 6 March ahead of International Women’s Day with nine new tracks celebrating the most influential female singer-songwriters of our time.

Many will be aware of The Sisterhood, the project Sarah Jane Morris and Tony Rémy unveiled in 2024, in which ten of the most notable female singer-songwriters of the Twentieth Century were the subjects of a unique song cycle. Morris and Rémy were already aware that ten was insufficient – others had to be included.

The momentum of writing and creating did not falter, and by the time of its earliest performance The Sisterhood had become twelve, with ink-undried songs for Patti Smith and the then so recently and so tragically departed Sinéad O’Connor being added to the ten originals. Since then, another nine have been written. Peggy Seeger, Etta James, Joan Baez, Dolly Parton, Bonnie Raitt, Joan Armatrading, Janis Ian, Tracy Chapman and Amy Winehouse have become part of the project, brought together in a second volume of unsurpassed quality.

Morris says that there are three qualifying factors for a singer to be included in the sisterhood. First, all must be artists of excellence and originality. Next, they must be writers as well as interpreters. Lastly, almost all have understood that talent and success give them voices to communicate on subjects of conscience. They have accepted the responsibility which goes with opportunity, to act as witnesses, spokeswomen and champions for those whose voices are unheard. All possess courage and lead by example.

Longing To Be Free (for Peggy Seeger) is a powerful feminist anthem and biographical narrative of the events, relationships and causes of a legendary life in musical activism. For Sinéad O’Connor, Oh Mother My Mother is both Celtic elegy and Ovidian dream, in which Sinéad and her mother are reunited as birds beside an imaginary lake and attempt non-temporal reconciliation. For Tracy Chapman, I Can Hear Jesus Weeping, melodically enchanting, expresses a bitter reproach for the abandonment of those most in need of protection: ‘Pity us and pity those who cannot hear the children cry’. For Amy Winehouse, The Edge is Where the Magic is Found is a jazz ballad in which Amy herself would have delighted, and which focuses on the young singer’s artistry touching lightly on the tragedy of her fall. Love Wit & Stardust (for Dolly Parton) pays tribute to the woman who, perhaps more effectively than any other, communicates universal human values of inclusion, generosity and moral clarity to everyone, ‘from Heaven to the Grand Old Opry’. Joan Baez’s song, Always Both and Never, describes the paradox that militant non-violence risks deadly reprisal; this song recalls the heroism and sacrifice that co-existed with the hedonism of the Sixties. Sweet Mama Raitt (for Bonnie Raitt) is adorned with a perfectly fashioned vocal tribute: ‘Your songs make me feel like I’ve been talking with you’ – and pays special regard to Raitt’s extraordinary song about organ donation. The song for Joan Armatrading, Let Only Love Remain is a musical tour-de-force which displays subtle understanding of Armatrading’s art, while wrapping the enigma of her fiercely guarded privacy. The song for Patti Smith, Crazy Angel, is a beautifully sustained piece of performance poetry which owes quite a lot to Patti herself, but which is sharply expressive of intention. Patti’s art, in Morris’s hand, becomes a mirror of Smith’s own magnificence Also Known as Etta James (for Etta James) is a dark, pulsing number full of the atmosphere of danger which characterised the life of an uncompromising black artist in the America of her time.  Janis Ian’s story, The Dignity of Love, artfully proclaiming human love in all its diversity, plays the album out with a gloriously sustained finale lasting over nine minutes, leaving the listener aching for more.

Sarah Jane Morris is aware of the power and quality of her vocal instrument, undiminished as she commands the stage through her fifth decade as an internationally acclaimed singer. Her intelligence, range and command of narrative structure and emotional truth are at their height. Her dramatic training enables her to deliver extended, super-demanding lyrics with flawless intelligibility. ‘The Sisterhood 2’ provides startling new material such gifts demand. With Tony Rémy (a friend and colleague since the nineteen eighties) she has  found the ideal creative partner. They know each other so well, a mutual recognition of superlative standards and world-class practice, that their work proceeds with smooth understanding and absolute trust. Tony has long been regarded as one of the leading and most versatile guitarists anywhere in the world; he once replaced Clapton in Jack Bruce’s band, is a master of Soul, Jazz, Funk and African Blues and a composer of invention and originality. His role in The Sisterhood as co-writer and co-producer is the other half of a magical equation – the voice, the words, the guitar, the shared expertise, the endless knowledge of what is needed, and where to go for the answer to that need – Morris and Rémy have it all, and ‘The Sisterhood 2’ is their latest masterwork.

According to Sarah Jane, The Sisterhood is all about the passing of the torch from sister to sister. As we listen to these wonderful songs, we are quickly convinced of Sarah Jane as a bearer of that torch, and that this project is the definitive evidence of her rightful place among the very best.

Sarah Jane Website here

Thank you to Measure PR for sharing with us

Ingrid Jensen Takes Flight on Landings — A Thrilling Quartet Release from Newvelle Records 10th Anniversary Collection

Newvelle Records proudly presents Landings, the brilliant new album from acclaimed trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, available February 27, 2026 as part of the Newvelle Ten Collection. Jensen’s career has been defined by her luminous tone, fearless improvisation, and broad acclaim. With Landings, she opens a new chapter with music of astounding color, intimacy, and swing.

Joining Jensen are three masterful collaborators: Gary Versace (organ), Marvin Sewell (guitar), and Jon Wikan (drums). Together, they form a quartet that can go from 0 to 60 at the drop of a hat, delivering music that is at once composed and free, intricate yet never rigid, swinging as hell and always searching.

The album includes a thrilling moment of living history: at 89 years old, tenor titan George Coleman joined the band to revisit his classic “Amsterdam After Dark.” His appearance is electric — a burst of energy and soul from one of jazz’s great elders, whose sound brings both authority and joy to the session. Recorded February 7–8, 2025, at EastSide Sound in New York, Landings balances originals by Jensen (“New Body,” “Handmaidens Tale,” “Landings”) with contributions from Sewell (“The Workers Dance”), Versace (“Many Homes, Many Places”), and a classic by Carla Bley (“Ida Lupino”). Each track reveals new shades of the ensemble: fiery grooves, luminous ballads, and expansive improvisations that embody the band’s unique chemistry.

With Landings, Ingrid Jensen affirms her place among today’s most vital trumpet voices, leading a band that transforms composed material into something fluid, surprising, and deeply alive — and welcoming a living legend into the fold for a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration. There’s an openness and generosity in the way this group plays together. Every track feels like a new discovery, every second alive in the moment. Landings was recorded and mixed by Marc Urselli, mastered by Matthew Lutthans, and pressed at QRP, ensuring the record’s sonic brilliance translates beautifully to vinyl.

As part of the Newvelle Ten Collection, Landings is one of five albums celebrating the label’s tenth anniversary. Each release in the series features new artwork by internationally celebrated artist Ragnar Kjartansson, highlighting Newvelle’s dedication to pairing music of depth and daring with striking visual art.

The full Collection includes:

• Stars — Martin Wind with Kenny Barron, Anat Cohen, Matt Wilson (Jan 30) • Landings — Ingrid Jensen with Gary Versace, Marvin Sewell, Jon Wikan + guest George Coleman (Feb 27) Catalog# NV037 • Renee Said — Elan Mehler with Loren Stillman, Scott Robinson, Ben Monder, Tony Scherr, Francisco Mela, Matt Wilson (Mar 17) • Seer — Loren Stillman with Craig Taborn, Thomas Morgan (Apr 24) • For All Your Flowers — Skúli Sverrisson with Bill Frisell (Aug 1)

Newvelle-Records.com

Ingrid Jensen website click here

Thank you to Ann Braithwaite for sharing with us

Sara Colman and Rebecca Nash, the compelling vocalist-songwriter and pianist-composer duo, are to release their absorbing new collaboration Ribbons in February 2026 with Stoney Lane Records – an album of poignant original writing, improvisations and new artistic directions.

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“… Colman’s exquisite vocals and Nash’s own penchant for blindingly beautiful chord structures ... the resulting music is simply stunning.” - UK Vibe

Featuring a host of notable guest artists, the album is built around a jazz sensibility, with Colman and Nash's evocative ‘story-songs’ forging threads from the folk, classical, improvised and songwriter worlds, with influences as diverse as Rickie Lee Jones, Quercus, Joni Mitchell and Debussy.

Drawing inspiration from the creative partnership of Ellington and Strayhorn, the harmonic language of John Taylor, and the artistry of lyricist/vocalist Norma Winstone, the long-term collaborators’ strong bond as both friends and artists was central to the album’s creation.  During the summer of 2020, when the world was turned upside down, Sara and Rebecca took up residence in a house in a forest with only each other and some chickens for company, and set about writing. Founded on a song they wrote together - Ribbons - the resulting collection of new works celebrates the joy of musical partnership, friendship and collaboration.

The opening track, Noble Heart, featuring acclaimed saxophonist Iain Ballamy, is at the centre of the album’s spirit for Colman.  “I was working on melody and lyrics for Palladium, one of Rebecca’s compositions, whilst at the same time, helping a close friend clear out and say goodbye to her partner’s house in southern Spain for the last time. The prevailing sense of loss reminded me of a feeling of searching for something that you know is already lost or that you’ve not yet found: a deep yearning.  I discovered that the precious noble metal Palladium has an ash-like quality, and needs to be deeply mined. This track represents the inner light that exists at the heart of all of us - a light that can sometimes feel hidden or difficult to access.”

Pianist Rebecca, cited by Downbeat Magazine as being “at the vanguard of innovative and compelling new music”, has released two albums under her own name - Redefining Element 78 (2022), and Peaceful King (2019) - from which the instrumental track Little Light is now reimagined for Ribbons Vol. 1.  Featuring Trish Clowes on tenor saxophone, Sara’s lyrics for the track are inspired by revival and awakening from a darker place, opening with a moody dissonant multilayered harmony passing between the trio.

A more playful moment is felt in Sophie’s Song, a reworking of Night Dreamer by Wayne Shorter, and the only ‘borrowed’ idea on the recording.  Inspired by multiple late-night dashes here and there to try and catch the Northern Lights with their Aurora-hunting friend Sophie Bancroft, this image is virtuosically perceived in Rebecca’s extraordinary piano solo which plays out to the end of the track.

Bristol-born Colman has worked with some of the leading lights in British music, including Laura Mvula, Liane Carroll and Mahalia, performing at the BBC Proms and Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage in recent years, with her two previous albums on Stoney Lane - What We’re Made Of (2018) and Ink On A Pin: A Celebration of Joni Mitchell (2021) - receiving a series of glowing reviews.  “…unfailingly beautiful, richly expressive voice.” - Jazzwise 

In 2019, she was commissioned by the American Canales Project Hear Her Song to write a piece celebrating the life of Sakena Yacoobi, an Afghan activist who has spent her life fighting for the rights of children and women to education in Afghanistan.  This gave rise to The Gardener (also featuring Iain Ballamy) - the voice of the narrator is that of a student from one of the many of the schools Sakeena set up, speaking of their own desire for their lives along with huge love for their teacher.

Nash, too, is a prolific performer, featuring at Jazzahead! 2025; the Lotus Code tour - a UK-Japan collaboration at the Southbank; BBC Radio 3’s J to Z studio session and live broadcasts from the Manchester and Marsden Jazz Festivals, alongside appearances at Jazz In The Round, and leading jazz festivals in London, Cheltenham, Love Supreme, Cambridge and Bristol.

The album’s title track, with trumpeter Percy Pursglove, represents the search for that ‘elusive ‘something’, says Nash.  “It’s symbolic of human existence - focused on the strands that bind us together.  We were trying to find inspiration to write about something that would represent an artists’ quest to create. Ribbons was our first collaborative song and has become symbolic of our working relationship.”

The album artwork, too, followed a similar path.  Created by Swiss-born, UK-based artist Vivienne Schadinsky, it was discovered by Rebecca - spotted on a friend's wall by chance.  Symbiocene 1 (from a series of six) became the striking visual identity for Ribbons Vol. 1, with its themes of interconnectedness and renewal, resonating deeply with the spirit of the album.

Ribbons is released on 20th February 2026 on CD and all digital platforms with Stoney Lane Records.

Thank you to Rupert Burley for sharing with us

On Feb. 13, Melissa Aldana will release Filin, a stunning ballads album that presents a collection of songs drawn from Cuba’s filin music tradition performed by a remarkable quartet featuring pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, bassist Peter Washington, and drummer Kush Abadey, as well as special guest vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant. The third Blue Note album by the GRAMMY-nominated tenor saxophonist, Filin is introduced today with the music video for the gorgeous lead single “La Sentencia.”

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For as long as she’s been a recording artist, the Chilean-born saxophonist has wanted to make a ballads record. With archetypes like John Coltrane’s classic 1963 LP Ballads as her North Star, Aldana saw a slow-tempo project as a way to advance her lifelong quest for sound.

“I transcribe Sonny Rollins, Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane, Joe Henderson, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, and Don Byas, among many others. For them the sound itself is a tool to express an emotion,” she explains. “Every single note is a whole world. So there is a technical side to playing, but then there is this mystical side of sound that… I still don’t know exactly what it is.” A ballads record, she believed, would help her burrow deeper into the essence of her sound.

To start, she reached out to Rubalcaba, a revered pianist and one of her “biggest heroes” who she has longed to work with at project-length. His suggestion proved a revelation: Aldana should interpret the filin music of his native Cuba, a gorgeous yet still-unheralded tradition of richly arranged romantic song that thrived between the late 1940s and early 1960s. Filin — the word derives from “feeling” — “created a dialogue between traditional Cuban trova, the bolero and jazz, redefining Cuban musical identity,” Rubalcaba explains. “Filin elevated lyrics to a level of greater poetic and colloquial intimacy, and gave rise to instrumentalists and singers of great virtuosity and creative elegance.”

To Aldana, filin songs presented a deeply meaningful new ideal: They reminded her of the lovelorn standards she’d internalized as a jazz saxophonist, but with lyrics sung in her native tongue. “They felt like the ballads that I love from the Great American Songbook,” she says, “but because the lyrics are in Spanish, I was able to connect to these songs in a way that I never thought I could.”

With Rubalcaba as her guide, she began exploring the history of filin music and working with him to pare down the songs that spoke to her. A plan coalesced: Rubalcaba would craft the arrangements and play piano alongside the rhythm tandem of Washington and Abadey. Aldana’s dear friend McLorin Salvant, would sing on two numbers, and Blue Note Records President Don Was would produce, offering his trademark oversight, at once discerning, empathic and open.

The end product is, in a word, stunning. It’s also unlike anything else in Aldana’s catalog — or in 21st-century jazz on the whole. Throughout these eight tracks, the ensemble enacts a kind of stirring and emotional minimalism — a quiet intensity that places paramount importance on Aldana’s radiant delivery of the melody. This music moves slowly, simmering forward with great deliberation and restraint, which is all the more impressive once you consider the runaway virtuosity these players are capable of.

Perhaps most remarkable, however, is the fact that this incredibly patient program is never less than compelling; like great cinema, it holds its audience rapt without bells and whistles. When Aldana solos, she plays in a way that contrasts the longform harmonic probings she’s best known for. Her improvising here is mellifluous and moves like gossamer, with a newfound focus on accenting the core tunefulness. “I wasn’t trying to play the perfect jazz solo,” she says. “I was just trying to play inside the band — to leave space and be as present as I could, let the songs breathe. I’m older too, so I might be feeling less like I have something to prove. I also just felt in my gut that I wanted to do a ballads record,” she adds, “that I have something to say.”

Melissa Aldana website click here

Thank you to Blue Note for sharing with us

Tomeka Reid Quartet - dance! skip! hop! To be released February 13, 2026 on Out Of Your Head Records

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“She has quickly become a definitive figure on the 21st century jazz scene. As a composer, arranger, improviser, bandleader, and impresario she embodies jazz’s progressive ethos.” –JazzIz

The Tomeka Reid Quartet - dance! skip! hop! (OOYH 041) releases February 13 2026 (LP/CD/limited streaming) on Out Of Your Head Records, featuring the steady quartet of Tomeka Reid (cello) with Mary Halvorson (guitar), Jason Roebke (bass), and Tomas Fujiwara (drums). Soon after finishing these compositions in June 2025, Reid realized that much of the music made her want to dance. Inspired by the title of Josh Berman’s stellar A Dance and a Hop, as well as her tendency to skip in public, the title dance! skip! hop! was born. Reid has a deep connection to her family, and her album art and song titles often pay tribute to them, with the art for dance! skip! hop! featuring her great grandmother Francis Elizabeth Bean, her grandmother Estelle, and her great Aunt Cece throughout. Having visited the paternal side of her family in Wyoming for the first time in 2008, Reid was immediately struck by the house of her great grandparents, which her Aunt Cece and siblings fashioned into a kind of family museum full of photos of family gatherings from generations before. Because she didn’t have much connection to her biological father’s side of the family previously, she used this as a chance to connect as an adult, and strengthen her understanding of the family’s history. Using these photos is a way for Tomeka to show the importance of family in her work, and for the images to live on for future generations.

Both the compositions and improvising on dance! skip! hop! are as exceptional as you would expect from one of finest regular working bands in jazz and creative music. The quartet sounds more refined than ever, but also takes chances that only a band that has logged countless hours touring together can, with a playful spirit that the title suggests. They seem to one-up themselves with each successive album, and the release of dance! skip! hop! goes a long way to help Nate Chinen’s prediction that 2026 is “the year of Tomeka Reid” become a reality.

a (ways) for CC and Cece is a dedication to two very important people in Reid’s life. CC aka Clarence James, a regular at Fred Anderson’s Velvet Lounge and huge supporter of the Chicago scene, passed away in 2018. Reid says “Although he was not a practicing musician I learned so much from him…whenever I would leave his apartment he would say, “play loud, kid!” I miss him dearly.” Reid’s Great Aunt Cece, who just turned 90 this past summer, has also been a huge source of inspiration, especially in the past 5 years. Reid continues “I did not grow up knowing my family on my biological father’s side and really only got to know them over the past 20 years or so. During the pandemic, I took care of my grandmother, Estelle Crouch (Cece’s sister), and while it was one of the hardest experiences in my life thus far, it was also really beautiful and I now realize what a blessing and gift it was to look after her. Aunt Cece was by my side every step of the way. She really loved her big sister, who would have turned 100 this year.” Oo long! is named for a restaurant in Düsseldorf called Soba-An, which Reid visited when she was an artist-in-residence in Moers. “I was lucky to eat there maybe 3 times. It’s a very small space and if you didn’t get there right when they opened for lunch or dinner you wouldn’t get a table. Besides the handmade soba they had the most delicious oolong tea! I still crave it sometimes, so this song is named after that.” Reid continues “I like involving my husband when I can in my projects, so David named track #4 Under the Aurora Sky.” And the final track, Silver Spring Fig Tree, is a nod to Steve Feigenbaum of Cuneiform Records, the city where Reid first started playing cello, and where Feigenbaum lived and worked for many years.

Photo by Jasmine Kwong

Described as a “New Jazz Power Source” by the New York Times, cellist and composer Tomeka Reid has emerged as one of the most original, versatile, and curious musicians in Chicago’s bustling jazz and improvised music community over the last decade. Her distinctive melodic sensibility, always rooted in a strong sense of groove, has been featured in many distinguished ensembles over the years. Reid released her debut recording as a bandleader, Tomeka Reid Quartet, in 2015, a vibrant showcase for the cellist’s improvisational acumen as well as her dynamic arrangements and compositional ability. The quartet’s second album, Old New, released in Oct 2019 on Cuneiform Records, has been described as “fresh and transformative—its songs striking out in bold, lyrical directions with plenty of Reid’s singularly elegant yet energetic and sharp-edged bow work.” In Spring 2024, Reid released the quartet’s 3rd album, 3+3, which All About Jazz called “as transportingly good as jazz gets."

Reid has been a key member of ensembles led by legendary reedists like Anthony Braxton and Roscoe Mitchell, as well as a younger generation of visionaries including flutist Nicole Mitchell, and drummer Mike Reed. She is also a member of Tomas Fujiwara’s 7 Poets Trio, Myra Melford’s Fire and Water, Dave Douglas’s Gifts Quintet, Craig Taborn Trio and Angelika Niescier’s Beyond Dragons. Reid has two other main compositional outlets, the Tomeka Reid Stringtet and a septet that began as a tribute to Duke Ellington’s 125th birthday in 2024. In 2013, Reid launched the first Chicago Jazz String Summit, a three-day international festival of cutting edge string players held in Chicago. From 2019 to 2021 Tomeka Reid received a teaching appointment at Mills College as the Darius Milhaud chair in composition. In 2022, she was the Artist in Residence for the Moers Jazz Festival, a Visiting Roth Scholar and visiting professor at Dartmouth College from 2023-25 and she received her doctorate in music from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2017. Tomeka is also a 2022 MacArthur Fellow and Herb Alpert awardee, a 2021 USA Fellow, and has received awards from the Foundation of the Contemporary Arts in 2019 and 3Arts in 2016.

The Tomeka Reid Quartet - dance! skip! hop!

Tomeka Reid - cello Jason Roebke - bass, cassette, Mary Halvorson - guitar, Tomas Fujiwara - drums

German/French flutist and composer Isabelle Bodenseh returns with Dignity - her most personal and ambitious statement to date, marking ten years of her Isabelle Bodenseh Quartet. Known for her radiant tone and fluid movement across jazz, classical, world and improvised traditions, Bodenseh now channels her full artistic range into a suite exploring the meaning of human dignity through deeply lived experience.

Dignity is set for release on February 6th, 2026 via GLM Music.

Following the success of Flowing Mind (GLM), Dignity takes Bodenseh into new territory. Inspired by the life of her severely disabled daughter Juliette, she transforms moments of vulnerability, resilience and connection into a musical journey that is anything but heavy. Instead, Bodenseh presents dignity as something vibrant - joyful, tender, humorous and full of breath. The suite format gives her the space to link distinct emotional chapters into a larger narrative.

At the heart of the album is Juliette, a striking text-sound collage merging bass flute improvisation with fragments of family interviews. Juliette’s breath, a moment of laughter, and the voices of Bodenseh’s husband and son bring an intimate human presence into the music, forming the epilogue toward which the suite gently leads.

Formed in 2016, the Isabelle Bodenseh Quartet - Johannes Maikranz (guitar), Thomas Bauser (Hammond organ) and Lars Binder (drums) - has long been a fertile playground for Bodenseh’s expanding sonic palette. Dignity captures the group at a new creative peak, strengthened by years of touring and energised by the fresh colour Maikranz adds to the lineup. Binder contributes the composition Masha, while Bodenseh’s Fly High adds rhythmic lift. Together, the ensemble brings intensity, sensitivity and joy to a suite that began as Bodenseh’s story and has become their collective expression. Dignity poses an urgent question: What undermines human dignity - and how can we uphold it? Through lyrical openness, rhythmic drive, quiet contemplation and spirited interplay, Bodenseh suggests that human connection can transcend the rigidity of systems and structures. The result is an album that resonates far beyond its personal origins, extending an invitation to listen with openness and compassion. “This music grew out of lived moments — some uplifting, some challenging — but always full of movement,” Bodenseh says. “It is not tragic. It is alive.”

Isabelle Bodenseh | Flutes

Thomas Bauser | Hammond Organ Johannes Maikranz | Guitar Lars Binder | Drums Production: Isabelle Bodenseh Composition & Arrangements: Isabelle Bodenseh, Johannes Maikranz, Lars Binder Recording, Mix & Mastering Recording: 2.-6. February 2025 Klaus Genuit, Hansahausstudios, Bonn

Artwork: Diana Balser-Steck Art Photography: Carola Schmitt Concert Photography: René van der Voorden Studio Photography: Isabelle Bodenseh

Isabelle website click here