"Gaea is quite a multi-talented pianist/flautist/vocalist/composer/arranger/bandleader, with a wonderfully compelling gift for jazz, ballads, and Brazilian-flavored music. She's written a beautiful program of new music, which she’s arranged along with a couple of choice standards for a brilliantly integrated ensemble of musicians, in a refreshingly personal set for the album "In Your Own Sweet Way." As music for the soul, heart, and mind, this album is highly recommended!" - Benny Green

While most of us stayed home during the pandemic and looked for projects to fill our time, GAEA SCHELLflew to central Mexico to play gigs with a Cuban son group, where she also swam in waterfalls in San Luis Potosi, began learning Spanish, and released sea turtles. She also went to Florence, Italy, to study opera, completed a master's degree in composition in Vermont, won a Chamber Music America grant to work with Benny Green, and played with a group on an island in western Cuba, where she helped release more sea turtles. She also recorded a new album.

Schell, a multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, and vocalist, plays piano and flute on IN YOUR OWN SWEET WAY, and she also sings on a couple of tunes. The album consists of seven Latin-tinged original compositions, one straight-ahead original, and three fresh takes on songs from the Great American Songbook.

IN YOUR OWN SWEET WAY follows For All We Know (2007) and After the Rain (2011). Jazzpolice.com says, “Schell pulls in the listener with a minimalist approach that shines with interpretative sensibility rather than pure musicality. But unlike other pianist/vocalists who are competent at the keyboard but clearly in their element in song (Diana Krall, Karrin Allyson), Gaea Schell is competent vocally and brilliant as composer/instrumentalist.”

Schell currently lives in San Francisco and is joined on this project by some top Northern California musicians. The core of the Gaea Schell Quartet includes JORDAN SAMUELS (guitar), JOHN WIITALA (bass), and GREG WYSER-PRATTE (drums). CARLOS CARO (percussion) and MARCO DIAZ (trumpet and piano) also appear on a few tracks.

Schell grew up in Alberta, Canada. Her father was initially a drummer who spent a lot of time on the road, and her great-grandmother composed music for silent films. Her family was rather poor. Her mother made many of her clothes. Schell became interested in music when she was just five years old, when a family friend gave them a piano with a few damaged keys. Unprompted, she took to it immediately, and thereafter her parents made sure she could indulge her artistic disposition with music, dance, and acting lessons.

Schell enjoyed playing just about any instrument she could get her hands on, like the guitar and recorder, among others. When she was 11 years old, she began studying the harp, and by the time she was in high school, she was playing piano and harp in local malls and for holiday celebrations. But after hearing Charlie Parker, she fell in love with jazz. Although she got a scholarship to the University of Victoria as a classical harp major, she did not stay long because jazz had become her first love. So, she headed east to study piano in the jazz program at McGill University in Montreal.

After graduating with distinction, she began her peripatetic lifestyle. She lived for a while in Portland, Oregon, but moved to New York City to study with the internationally known pianist/composer Richie Beirach after she received a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. The high cost of living and her desire to live in a more temperate climate prompted her to move to Southern California shortly after 9/11, first to San Diego and then Los Angeles, where she became a regular on the local jazz scene. She moved to San Francisco after several years to pursue other opportunities.

It has taken several years for Schell to get back into the studio for her own recording, but that is because she has been so busy backing the likes of Nancy King, John Stowell, Albert 'Tootie' Heath, Clare Fischer Big Band, Tony Dumas, Marcus Shelby, Bobby Watson, Richie Cole, and Earl Palmer, among others.

Influenced by the likes of Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson and Eliane Elias, Schell’s piano playing is subtle and swinging, and her flute playing is influenced by traditional Cuban flutists, while her soft voice has been compared to a Brazilian white-sand beach at sunrise.

Her compositions on IN YOUR OWN SWEET WAY are inspired by her appreciation of nature and reflect her love of Latin music as well as her training in classical music and bebop. The album opens with “Cava Dell Cava dell'Isola,” a Latin tune named for a beach on an island near Naples, Italy. “Forio Rain” invokes her experience of the gentle rain that fell on the island of Ischia, Italy, while “Summer Sea” is a bossa about swimming in waters around San Francisco. “Luna Plateada,” “Danza Nocturna de Flores,” “Un Sueño de la Noche,” and are all Latin inspired compositions, while “Perplexity” is a straight-ahead number. She rounds out the set list with her arrangement of some of her favorite standards, “Sweet & Lovely,” “It Had to Be You,” and Dave Brubeck’s “In Your Own Sweet Way,” for which Schell wrote lyrics about her boyfriend.

Inspired by nature and shaded with gentle Brazilian rhythms and classical hues, Gaea Schell’s music is redolent with moonlight and romance. With her steadfast grooves and elegant expressiveness, IN YOUR OWN SWEET WAY is a highly engaging album.

IN YOUR OWN SWEET WAY will be released on June 23, 2023 on Saphu Records and will be available at Saphurecords.com and on all platforms.

Website: gaeaschell.com

It is a set of 8 songs: five original songs and arrangements for another three: a modal jazz standard, a Scottish folk ballad and a Spanish copla. I have composed and arranged all the songs inspired by the jazz that has developed mainly in New York during the last 20 years. The intention of this proposal is not to literally copy elements from foreign cultures, but to apply the parameters of composition and musical assimilation of jazz from this era to my own works. My instrument is the voice. I’ve written the music for quartet :guitar, double bass, drums and voice. Flugelhorn, keyboard and electric bass are occasionally included.

The objective of this project is to balance the weight in the word-music relationship. For each song, lyrics hide a concept that can be summarized with a few key words. Thus, the common thread is made up of this set of words that have served as a starting point to develop the composition or arrangement. The text  speaks through the instruments that sound. Ultimately, the content of these words could be understood even if the song was not sung with words. The words have lightened their weight, since their meaning also falls on musical elements. Sounds speak.

CREDITS

Recorded in Camaleón Music Studio, Madrid, ES (2022)

Mix & Master by Mariano Míguez en Ideo Music, Buenos Aires, AR 

Produced by MÓNICA MATABUENA

Record Label ERRABAL JAZZ (hotsak.com)

Photos: Mara Saiz

Graphic Design: LaVita.es

Mónica Matabuena - Voice, Marco Martínez - Guitar, Ander García Bass and Double bass

Miguel Benito - Drums, Guests: Jorge Castañeda - Fender Rhodes and Chris Kase - Flugelhorn

BIO
After years performing traditional jazz repertoire and just graduated from Musica Creativa School, the most contemporary jazz-oriented Conservatory in Madrid, I’ve just found  my own voice expressed through my compositions. I am releasing my debut album “MATABUENAPURA”, a set of original songs and arrangements, sung mostly in Spanish with an aesthetic inspired by contemporary jazz .

I am a jazz singer and vocal coach, I’ve been studying music and voice technique for more than a decade. I am one of these women who got overwhelmed by 2008’s financial crisis linked to a familiar situation (mother with babies ;)). Being working as a meteorologist for over a decade I adapted myself to the circumstances and started studying music in a consistent way. I’ve studied a lot from scratch and been involved in several projects as a traditional jazz singer. Finally, more than a decade after, at my 50 birthday ;) I got my Official Master Degree in Modern Music at Escuela de Música Creativa, (Madrid Conservatory) as well as getting Level III as a Certified Teacher from the Institute for the Vocal Advancement, Now I split my working day between my artistic project and my business: I own a voice studio who teaches music and singing technique and at the same time I am preparing my debut álbum.

Further info here

Acclaimed GRAMMY-winning multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello makes her Blue Note Records debut with the June 16 release of The Omnichord Real Book, a visionary and deeply jazz-influenced album that marks the start of a new chapter in her trailblazing career. Following her 2018 covers album Ventriloquism, Meshell returns with an album of new original material that taps into a broad spectrum of her musical roots. The Omnichord Real Book was produced by Josh Johnson and features a wide range of guest artists including Jason Moran, Ambrose Akinmusire, Joel Ross, Jeff Parker, Brandee Younger, Julius Rodriguez, Mark Guiliana, Cory Henry, Joan As Police Woman, Thandiswa, and others.

The Omnichord Real Book is introduced today by the expansive lead single “Virgo,” the mind-altering 8-minute centerpiece of the album which features Meshell on vocals, key bass, and keyboards, Younger on harp, Rodriguez on Farfisa organ, Chris Bruce on guitar, Jebin Bruni on keyboards, drums by Abe Rounds, Deantoni Parks, and Andrya Ambro, and additional vocals by Kenita Miller and Marsha DeBoe. The Omnichord Real Book is available for pre-order now on Blue Note Store exclusive color vinyl, black vinyl, CD, and digital.

“It’s a little bit of all of me, my travels, my life,” says Meshell. “My first record I made at 22, and it’s over 30 years from then, so I have a lot of stored information to share.” Reflecting on the impact that the forced stillness of the pandemic lockdown had on her, she says “I must admit it was a beautiful time for me. I got to really sit and reacquaint myself with music. Music is a gift.”

“This album is about the way we see old things in new ways,” Meshell explains. “Everything moved so quickly when my parents died. Changed my view of everything and myself in the blink of an eye. As I sifted through the remains of their life together, I found my first Real Book, the one my father gave me. I took their records, the ones I grew up hearing, learning, remembering. My mother gifted me with her ache, I carry the melancholy that defined her experience and, in turn, my experience of this thing called life calls me to disappear into my imagination and to hear the music.”

Meshell first appeared on a Blue Note record a decade ago with her stunning feature on “The Consequences of Jealousy” from Robert Glasper’s GRAMMY-winning 2012 album Black Radio. Two years later she collaborated with Jason Moran on ALL RISE, a vibrant reimagination of Fats Waller’s music where Meshell was both featured vocalist and producer. Reflecting upon time spent with her parents’ record collection during her childhood, Meshell recalls “I loved going through the records and seeing the Blue Note insignia. I stay away from the word ‘Jazz,’ it’s a really heavy word, but I am so moved to be on a label that is about self-expression.”

 Pre order here

VOCALIST AND SONGWRITER NICKY SCHRIRE LEADS CANADIAN QUARTET ON “NOWHERE GIRL”, FIRST ALBUM IN TEN YEARS

Blurring the lines between jazz, singer-songwriter and folk traditions, ‘Nowhere Girl’ is the shimmering new quartet album from British/South African/Canadian vocalist and songwriter Nicky Schrire.

RELEASED 9 JUNE 2023 ON ANZIC RECORDS

Vocalist and composer Nicky Schrire was born in London and grew up in Cape Town, South Africa. She moved to New York City to attend the Manhattan School of Music and, after nearly five years in the city, returned to Cape Town via London. She relocated to Toronto, Canada in 2020, armed with experience and the desire to forge meaningful musical relationships with like-minded musicians. Nowhere Girl is the result of that wish.

While Schrire has grappled with identity at times, she does see the upside to having moved around so much, explaining, “The album is called Nowhere Girl because I have lived in so many different places. It is something for which I’m immensely grateful, but it increases a sense of belonging anywhere...and therefore nowhere.”

Schrire’s appreciation for the international nature of the jazz community means she understands how identity weaves itself into music-a vocal inflection, a specific harmonic progression, certain melodic intervals. “I identify as British and South African, while my love for both jazz and the singer-songwriter genres is a huge part of my musical aesthetic. It’s been challenging to figure out exactly what my sound is, given my heritage is a mixed bag,” Schrire contemplates. Her multi-nationality is reflected in her style of jazz singing, which is clearly shaped by contemporary jazz vocalists from all sides of the pond-Norma Winstone, Gretchen Parlato, Maria Pia De Vito.

Ten years after her previous release, Schrire teams up with pianist Chris Donnelly, bassist Dan Fortin, and drummer Ernesto Cervini (collectively known as the JUNO-nominated trio Myriad3*).* Guest musicians include saxophonist Tara Davidson, JUNO Award-winning vocalist Laila Biali, and Mozambican guitarist Julio Sigauque. The album is produced by Grammy-nominated producer Oded Lev-Ari (Anat Cohen Tentet), mixed by Brian Montgomery (Maria Schneider), and mastered by Jeff “Fedge” Elliott (The Weather Station). Nowhere Girl is a stellar example of “less is more”, with Schrire’s crystalline voice and signature unaffected delivery at the fore of deftly crafted songs brought to life by a gathering of Canada’s finest jazz musicians.

This album also serves as something of a travelogue, with songs about the places that have shaped Schrire and her music. Her British heritage is audible in the folk influences of “A Morning” and “Father”. Her South African upbringing is present in “Closer To The Source” (music by the late South African pianist Bheki Mseleku and lyrics by Schrire) and “My Love” (featuring Mozambican guitarist Julio Sigauque). The five years she lived in New York are summarised by “This Train”, and the one month she spent in Paris (successfully sampling croissants instead of attending French language classes) is captured by “In Paris”. There is, fittingly, also a tip of the hat to Canada with Anna McGarrigle’s “Heart Like A Wheel”, which sees Schrire duet with Canadian vocalist and friend, Laila Biali.

With her previous albums, Schrire garnered comparisons to songwriters and lyricists like Joni Mitchell, Tori Amos, and Mary Chapin Carpenter. Taking this high praise to heart and, in her words, “trying not to buckle under the pressure”, she offers up nine original songs that skillfully balance a reverence for songwriting and storytelling with the spontaneity of improvisation. Schrire elaborates, “I find that a lot of original music composed by jazz vocalists is either light on well-crafted lyrics and thoughtfully constructed melodies, or scant on jazz in the form of improvisation and a spirit of collaboration” She cites songwriters Randy Newman, James Taylor and Shawn Colvin as firm favourites. In fact, she describes the lone duo tune on the record, “Keep It Simple”, as “the musical lovechild of Randy Newman and Mary Poppins’ the Sherman Brothers.”

Nowhere Girl arrives a decade after Schrire’s last album. “I’ve had ample time to write, reflect, edit, and strive to capture these songs as lean but vibrant vessels,” she says. The result is a collection of 11 songs, expertly crafted and then beautifully performed by a like-minded collective. While she may have wandered in her travels, Nowhere Girl puts Nicky Schrire firmly on course as a songwriter and vocalist with a singular voice.

Upcoming Performances

26 June 2023 - 2023 TD Toronto Jazz Festival, Toronto, Canada

1 August 2023 - Pizza Express Jazz Club, Dean Street, London, United Kingdom

1.  Nowhere Girl 3.15 (Schrire)

2.  Traveler 3.52 (Schrire)

3.  A Morning 4.31 (Schrire)

4.  Closer To The Source 4.19 (Mseleku, Schrire)

5.  This Train 4.09 (Schrire)

6.  Father 5.18 (Schrire)

7.  In Paris 4.05 (Schrire)

8.  Heart Like A Wheel 5.26 (McGarrigle)

9. Love Is For The Birds 3.38 (Schrire)

10. Keep It Simple 3.58 (Schrire)

11.  My Love 3.55 (Schrire)

Nicky Schrire, Voice Chris Donnelly, Piano Dan Fortin, Double Bass Ernesto Cervini, Drums

Tara Davidson, Alto and Soprano Saxophones (1, 4, 7, 11) Laila Biali, Voice (8)

Julio Sigauque, Guitar (11)

Recorded by David Travers-Smith at The Canterbury Music Company, Toronto, Canada Mixed by Brian Montgomery, New York

Mastered by Jeff “Fedge” Elliott, Toronto, Canada Design by Tim Thornton

Photos by Matt Griffiths Produced by Oded Lev-Ari

Nicky acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

Nicky Schrire website

Tania Giannouli’s music has global appeal. Variously described as complex, lyrical, intoxicating and highly original, she is inspired by many different traditions and influences, resulting in compositions and interdisciplinary projects that span an impressive range of styles.

A pianist, composer, improviser, bandleader and multi-media artist, Giannouli’s imaginative, eclectic collaborations with international musicians have been heard in the most prestigious venues and festivals in Europe (Jazzfest Berlin, Madrid International Jazz Festival, Enjoy Jazz, Brussels Jazz Festival, Skopje Jazz Festival, Bimhuis, Flagey, November Music, Ars Musica and more).

In addition to appearing solo, or in trio with her Greek compatriots Andreas Polyzogopoulos (trumpet) and Kyriakos Tapakis (oud), Giannouli is currently collaborating with several highly regarded musicians who defy categorisation: Norwegian trumpeter and vocalist Arve Henriksen (in duo), Italian vocalist Maria Pia De Vito (Book of Lost Songs), Italian percussionist Michele Rabbia, Italian double bass player Daniele Roccato (HEMERA), American trumpeter Amir ElSaffar (guest artist), Swiss pianist Nik Bärtsch (duo) and Korean drummer Sun-Mi Hong (duo).

Her imagination and explorative musical nature, has led to four unique recording collaborations, all released on New Zealand’s foremost art-music label, Rattle Records: Forest Stories (2012, with Portuguese wind player, Paulo Chagas), Transcendence (2015, featur- ing works composed for her Tania Giannouli Ensemble), Rewa (2018, a critically acclaimed, entirely improvised collaboration with traditional Maori instrumentalist, Rob Thorne) and In Fading Light (2020, a trio with trumpet player Andreas Polyzogopoulos and oud player Kyriakos Tapakis). All four albums received wide international acclaim and were included in numerous ‘Best of’ lists, with *Transcendence *cited as one of the decade’s most important Greek albums.

Giannouli's next step is the release of an album of solo material, capturing the essence of her solo recitals which invite listeners into her passionate sonic universe – a world which is characterised by extended gestures and an imaginative and seamless blend of improv- isation, classical, and global music. Each concert explores the possibilities of a subtly prepared piano, and she has impressed audiences in Copenhagen (Piano Days), Brussels (Ars Musica Festival & Flagey Piano Days), Ghent (Handelsbeurs), Mannheim (Enjoy Jazz Festival), Wrocław (National Forum of Music), Bergamo (Bergamo Jazz Festival), Trondheim Jazzfest, Prague (Rudolfinum) as well as her hometown, Athens.

‘‘…magnificent canvas woven by the compositions of Tania Giannouli… feels like a sea wind which carries off the miasma of a deleterious time…” Le Soir (Belgium)

The filmic nature of Giannouli’s music means that she is in demand as a collaborator for video, documentaries and film. Synched to moving image, her music has travelled to festivals, museums, galleries and Biennales worldwide. And her concert music has been performed by the Camerata/Armonia Atenea String Orchestra, Dissonart Ensemble, the Athens Youth Orchestra and the Galaxy String Quartet.

Giannouli is the recipient of many accolades and prizes (including a nomination Deutscher Jazzpreis alongside pianists Tigran Hamasyan and Shai Maestro), and is often invited to speak about her work, educate the next generation and participate as an artist-in- residence in various contexts.

Available here

CHLOÉ JEAN has held many titles in her lifetime, including All American track star at UC Berkeley, Ford NY model, wife, and mother, but the one element that has been a constant in her life is music. She was singing before she could talk, and her mother encouraged her participation in musical theater and school choirs. While pursuing a life track that conceivably could have included Olympic gold as a runner, she joined the gospel choir at UC Berkeley. She became one of the group’s lead vocalists and became “addicted to the feeling of singing onstage.” After graduation, she discovered more opportunities to sing than to run, so she shifted her attention back to music. Drawing on a wide range of influences, including jazz icons Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Nina Simone, as well as pop divas Roberta Flack, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Lauryn Hill and Jill Scott, Chloé Jean has performed and composed in many musical genres. Her song “What Could Be Better” won an award from the West Coast Songwriters Association….in the Bluegrass category!

Her present album FAIRY TALE FAIL combines original lyrics drawn from Chloé’s personal life with songs originally written as assignments for private studies with noted songwriting instructor Jai Josephs.

Around this time, she joined forces with Bay Area guitarist Derrick Kudrow to form a jazz duo. Through her participation at an open mic event, Chloé was introduced to promoter Jeffrey Trager, who in turn introduced Chloé to jazz guitarist/producer RAY OBIEDO. In preparation for this album, Chloé gave Ray copies of her demos and Obiedo arranged them for a small rhythm section and horns. The sidemen included Santana keyboardist DAVID K. MATHEWS, Tower of Power bassist MARC VAN WAGENINGEN and percussionist PETER MICHAEL ESCOVEDO. Also on rhythm section duties were pianist PETER HORVATH, Hamilton bassist DAN FEISZLI and drummers BILLY JOHNSON and JASON LEWIS. Featured horn soloists are trumpeter MIKE OLMOS and tenor saxophonists NORBERT STACHEL and CHARLES McNEAL.

In addition to Chloé Jean’s five originals, the album also includes covers of Julie London’s “Cry Me a River,” Tony Bennett’s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” the Irving Berlin standard, “Blue Skies,” and a Latin-tinged version of Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy.” The main tracks were recorded over two days at Opus Recording in Berkeley, California. Instrumental overdubs, editing and final mixes were completed by Obiedo at his Werewolf Studios in Oakland, California. Chloé’s composition “Crazy” was recorded in front of a live audience at Oakland’s 25th Street Recording. Also recorded and filmed at that session were live versions of the title track “Fairy Tale Fail” and Lizzo‘s “About Damn Time.” A video of Chloé performing Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” was filmed at Bridgeway Studios (where decades earlier, Fleetwood Mac recorded their classic album, Rumours). The videos will be premiered close to the album’s release date.

The originals explore significant periods in Chloé’s development. The opening track, “Black Sheep,” discusses the struggles of being an artistic person in less than sympathetic surroundings. She encourages others to “sing proud when you finally find your voice” and “be proud to be a black sheep.” “Fairy Tale Fail” warns that life does not always have Disney endings. Prince Charming may “pick you up, but eventually lets you down.” “Free” recalls a youthful journey with a treasured friend. “We were unaware that we had it all; we were kings who didn't know that the freedom we took for granted was a treasure trove.” “Where Love Began” also looks backward to a simpler time “when love was all we had.” Finally, “Crazy” speaks to the insane behavior that one exhibits when in love: “I walked into a tree today cuz in every cloud I was seeing your face and I laughed through the pain.…”

For the past few years, Chloé Jean's life has been complicated with several health issues, most notably Stage 4 Breast Cancer. She was diagnosed in 2016, but reports that she feels very good right now, and that she is the first participant in a clinical study at the University of California San Francisco, a school considered to be at the cutting edge of cancer research. She says that she likes to talk about her illness “because it connects with so many people. After all, everyone knows someone who has been affected by this disease.” However, she doesn't want her life story to shade a listener's appreciation of her music. She calls this album, “a triumph of will and dedication. I’ve been singing all my life, and this music tells why you can never give up on yourself.” She is extremely proud of this work, and she was "thrilled to work with such incredible musicians.” At low times in her career, like many others, she questioned her motives in pursuing music as a career. But this collaboration with producer Ray Obiedo shows that she was on the right track all along.

To follow and support, please visit Chloe's website here