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

Deirdre Cartwright: ORGANIK

Album release (CD & digital): Friday 10 July 2026

Wednesday 15 July – launch concert at PizzaExpress Live (Soho)

Pre order here

“Deirdre Cartwright is a deeply expressive guitarist who produces finely wrought, bluesy, soulful melodic lines.” Kevin Le Gendre, Jazzwise

Deirdre Cartwright returns with ORGANIK, her first album in 15 years – an uplifting recording that reflects on the guitarists who have shaped her musical journey while introducing new original material.

At the heart of the album is a dynamic organ trio featuring Pete Whittaker on Hammond organ and Gary Hammond on percussion. Whittaker draws on a rich hard-bop tradition, having worked with leading UK artists including Art Themen and John Etheridge, while Hammond adds colour and rhythmic depth, drawing on his experience performing with Nina Simone and The Beautiful South. Stripping the sound back to its essence, Cartwright plugs her Gibson guitar directly into a Fender amplifier, using no effects, resulting in is a warm, resonant tone, complemented by classic Hammond textures and inventive, atmospheric percussion.

ORGANIK opens with a fresh interpretation of ‘Eleanor Rigby’, inspired by Wes Montgomery, combining octave phrasing with a sensitive arrangement. Three new Cartwright compositions feature prominently: the lilting, 6/8 ‘One for Polly’, the Latin-tinged ‘Mango Bango’, inspired by her time at the Bequia Blues Festival and the funky, blues-infused ‘Espresso Martino’, a nod to Pat Martino.

A tribute to Emily Remler is heard in ‘Softly, as in a ‘Morning Sunrise’, while the trio explores a brooding take on ‘You Don’t Know Me’ in the spirit of Ray Charles. A dynamic ‘On Green Dolphin Street’ shifts between Latin and swing and a cinematic reimagining of Sultans of Swing evokes a desert-like landscape. The album closes with a haunting rendition of ‘The Gentle Rain’ by Luiz Bonfá.

“I made this album for me, wanting to move away from effects pedals and play without the distraction of technology,” reflects Cartwright. “Playing with Pete and Gary brought spontaneity, imagination and creativity to the whole process – I had a lot of fun making this record.”

Zoe Rahman: HULL SUITE LIVE

Released: 10th July 2026

Pre order here

A Unique Live Album Concept By One Of The UK’s Most Exciting Jazz Pianists The phenomenally talented pianist Zoe Rahman is proud to present her latest album entitled “Hull Suite Live”.

Commissioned by Hull Jazz Festival for World Piano Day in 2024, the suite is based on themes of voyage, migration and family, taking inspiration from two statues in Hull: One which commemorates the 2.2 million people who passed through Hull as a port city between 1836 and 1914, and the other which looks out across the Humber to the sea and has a twin sculpture looking back towards it from Iceland, commemorating fishermen, seafarers and trade shared between the two countries. The music is also about Zoe’s parents' story of migration, sea crossings and a piano – as Zoe explains: “When I was writing the music, the themes reminded me of my parents' story of migration….My mother emigrated from England to New Zealand when she was 10, travelling for 6 weeks by ship. She later met my father when they were both at Sydney University - he had travelled by ship from Bengal. I found out only recently that after going back to visit his family in Dhaka, my father needed proof that he had the financial means to support his return to Sydney, so my mother sold her piano so that they could be together. While composing, I was thinking about how my own existence is strongly linked to sea travel and to the story of a piano!”

Zoe Rahman’s instrumental interpretations of these topics are presented with poignancy and sensitivity, overarched with what Jazzwise Magazine have described as Zoe’s “full-blooded, chord splashing, orchestral approach to the acoustic piano.” The Hull Suite features Zoe’s worldclass trio, with drummer Gene Calderazzo (Pharoah Sanders, Randy Brecker) and bassist Alec Dankworth (Abdullah Ibrahim, Dave Brubeck). These longstanding collaborators display an electrifying synergy with Zoe on piano. The nature of the work encompasses a wide pallet, with earthy blues influences, soulful melodies and cinematic musical textures, The album was recorded live at The Vortex Jazz Club in London, capturing the true essence of Zoe and her band’s live performance – a special moment forever encapsulated on this recording.

Born in the UK, to a Bengali father and English mother, Zoe studied classical piano at the Royal Academy of Music, gained a music degree at Oxford University and then won a scholarship to study jazz performance at Berklee College of Music, Boston. A very well established and respected figure in international jazz, Zoe’s music has also reached far beyond specific scenes for decades, this year marks the 20th anniversary of Zoe receiving a nomination for the prestigious Mercury Music Prize. Zoe Rahman’s music has always been truly original. Hull Suite is a work that channels Zoe Rahman’s exuberant spirit, fortified by her exemplary band and ultimately creating an outstanding listening experience for anyone who appreciates true artistry in its purest form – an adventure not to be missed!

Zoe Rahman website

Tickets to Live Album Launch Show @ The Vortex

Thank you to Dynamic Agency for sharing with us

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

Rachel Ashley’s call to sisterhood effortlessly blends Middle Eastern grooves and jazz on new single ‘Dreams of Peace’

Released on the 29th June, Dreams of Peace is the latest single from experienced singer songwriter and voiceover artist Rachel Ashley. After spending many years on the road gigging and working as a studio session singer, Cheshire based Rachel has now returned to her first love - songwriting.

“Dreams of Peace is one of those songs that simply flowed out of me. It is an exploration of female power. Of cooperation and creativity and most of all love. It’s about reclaiming our light in a very dark world right now.”

Dreams of Peace showcases the rich, emotive quality of Rachel’s voice and her love of vocal harmonies. The driving female energy is augmented by Helena Summerfield’s soprano saxophone - at first answering the call of Rachel’s vocals and then taking flight to enhance the song’s mystical atmosphere. “The heavy heartbeat drum, slightly panned to the left, and the strings provide a solid foundation for the weaving vocals and melodic soprano sax.” Acclaimed composer and producer for television and radio Maurice Cheetham added additional percussion, produced the final mix and mastered the track.

Helena Summerfield: A graduate of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Helena Summerfield is an accomplished saxophonist known for her versatile tone and expressive phrasing. Helena’s contribution to music education has been recognised at the 2021‘Will Michael Jazz Education Awards’ and 2022 ‘Parliamentary Jazz Awards.’

Rachel's photo is courtesy of Tom Read

Helena photo by MiHi-Music Event Visuals

Rachel website click here

Helena links click here

Vivienne Aerts Presents Current. Release 26th June 2026

Pre Order here

The story of Current: In the summer of 2025, vocalist and composer Vivienne Aerts set sail across the Dutch waterways aboard her 1951 mahogany sailboat De Vouw. Over two weeks she transformed the tiny boat into a floating studio, recording new songs and soundscapes that blur the lines between jazz, improvisation, and environmental art. Current captures the sounds of creaking wood, rippling waves, passing locks, and birds in flight, weaving them with voice, electronics, and acoustic instruments. The project explores how humans and water coexist - reflecting both the Netherlands’ heritage of “living with water” and the fluidity of creative life itself.

What began as an experiment in site-specific recording soon became a collective voyage. Aerts invited fellow Dutch musicians: Hermine Deurloo (harmonica), Susanne Alt (saxophone), and Adinda Meertins (double bass) to join her on different lakes and canals, each session shaped by the elements. Ted Steinebach documented the journey for a short film that will accompany the album’s release with help of NYC based Producer Art Jones. The resulting work blends documentary realism and sonic poetry, balancing spontaneity with deep listening, a continuation of Aerts’s long-term dialogue between mindfulness, sound, and community.

Set for release on 26th June 2026, Current invites audiences to reflect on the movement of water as both metaphor and environment. The album will launch with floating concerts in the Netherlands and the United States, alongside workshops and talks on creativity and sustainability. Building on Aerts’s acclaimed collaborative album Typuhthâng, Current marks her most intimate project yet, one that flows between continents, generations, and disciplines, reminding us that music, like water, is always in motion.

Biography:

The staggeringly versatile skill-set of NYC-based Dutch Singer, Educator, Psychologist and Artist-preneur Vivienne Aerts busts myths around the ‘Jill of all trades’ paradigm with a nonchalance that leaves even the most skeptical purist taking a bow. A Fulbright scholar and Suma Cum Laude Berklee alumna, she’s collaborated with jazz icons like Lee Konitz, Kenny Werner, Dave Liebman, and Chris Potter. Her third award-winning album, Typhthâng (2023), features 100 female musicians and comes with a bar of chocolate supporting Congolese female cacao farmers through a partnership with Original Beans. Known for her eclectic "Vervool" experience events with her husband, renowned pastry chef Ted Steinebach, Aerts’ interdisciplinary approach bridges music, psychology, and social impact. Since 2015, she has worked at Berklee College of Music, where she teaches a new wave of artists focused on mental well-being, addressing core issues that affect the arts ecosystem. Her innovative work spans mental health, education, and entrepreneurial artistry, challenging the status quo for creators and audiences alike. Up next is a new album, 'Current' that she produced on a tinysailboat, blending jazz, electronics, and vocal loops with water-inspired soundscapes.

Vivienne Aerts - Sounds, Synths, Effects, Voices Susanne Alt - Saxophone Hermine Deurloo - Harmonica Adinda Meerins - Bass Jeremy Loucas - Mixing Maria Triana - Mastering Ted Steinebach - Documentary

NEW AMSTERDAM SOUNDS - JUNE 28th A floating concert presenting a floating project

This June, join us aboard a historic sailing vessel for a sunset performance unlike any other in the New York Harbor. On June 28, 7:30 to 9:30 PM, we present NEW AMSTERDAM SOUNDS. Cruise the harbor at golden hour while you enjoy sweeping skyline views and striking visuals projected onto the sails, all set to live music performed by Dutch-New York artist Vivienne Aerts. This floating concert features songs from Aerts’s new album Current, a project recorded aboard Aerts’s own 1951 Dutch mahogany sailboat, De Vouw, while traveling through the waterways of the Netherlands. Blending vocals, keys, electronics, and field recordings of creaking wood, rippling water, passing locks, wind, and birds, creating a sound world that is intimate, cinematic, and deeply alive. Moving between atmospheric song, improvisational texture, and subtle electronics, Vivienne’s music resonates with listeners of artists like Norah Jones and James Blake, while remaining unique on its own. For this special floating performance, these songs return to the water. As the sun sets over Manhattan, audiences will experience an immersive live performance featuring songs from her new album, atmospheric electronics, and projected visuals on the sails. Vivienne Aerts is known for creating interdisciplinary work that bridges music, mindfulness, community, and environment. Grammy member, a Fulbright scholar, Berklee faculty, and award-winning Dutch artist based in New York City, she brings together intimacy and imagination in performances that feel both personal and expansive. Whether you already know Vivienne’s work or are simply looking for an unforgettable New York summer night on the water, NEW AMSTERDAM SOUNDS offers a rare chance to hear a project born on Dutch waterways come to life against the skyline of Manhattan.

Vivienne Aerts website

Thank you to Dynamic Agency for sharing with us