Jane Ira Bloom and Brian Shankar Adler: once like a spark
21st November 2025
First Single "Drums Like Dancing" Available Now.
Full Album Release on November 21st
Legendary Jazz Master Jane Ira Bloom Teams With Experimental Drum Virtuoso Brian Shankar Adler on New Album: once like a spark
Adhyâropa Records is thrilled to announce once like a spark, the new collaboration between legendary saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom and forward-thinking drum sensation Brian Shankar Adler.
once like a spark brings together NASA soprano saxophonist/composer Jane Ira Bloom and percussionist/composer Brian Shankar Adler for a series of acoustic duets that traverse the globe and showcase their unique improvisational magic. After years rehearsing and performing together they decided to go into Acadia Studios in Portland, ME in July 2025 to record their collaboration. The result is 14 tracks that document the spark of their extraordinary connection. Many of the tracks are first takes of pieces whose inspirations range from the gamelan of Southeast Asia (‘Shan Dara,’ ‘Together We’) and rhythms of North India (‘Psalm,’ ‘Song for Khan’), to literary icons Jorge Luis Borges (‘A Boa a Quq Aoaba’) and e.e. cummings (‘once like a spark’), to the galaxy & beyond (‘Old Orchard Intergalactic Launchpad,’ ‘Air’). The music is alive with rhythm, melodic soul, and turn-on-a-dime improvisation.
These duets are intimate acoustic snapshots of two master improvisers at play in celebration of music that explores the planet and beyond. Their sound is both warm and dynamic, and fired with rhythm. It’s almost hard to believe that there are only two musicians playing as each of the tunes unfold improvisations that tell a unique tale of sonic adventure. once like a spark ignites a special one-of-a-kind rapport between two seasoned improvisers at the height of their powers.
“A future classic, a young lady on the verge of a huge breakthrough.” – Simon Philips, Jazz FM
Rising UK jazz / soul artist Aria will launch her brand new single 'It’s All Your Fault' at the EFG London Jazz Festival 2025 on Thursday 20th November at Soho’s Crazy Coqs
‘It’s All Your Fault’ was co-written with acclaimed artist and producer Sarah Gillespie and Ian Barter (Amy Winehouse, Paloma Faith), and co-produced by James Pearson (Van Morrison, Jeff Beck) and renowned vocalist Polly Gibbons. The track marks the next chapter for Aria as she builds towards her highly anticipated debut album, set for release in 2026.
Aria’s debut single ‘Rectify Your Soul’ (August 2024), received airplay on BBC Radio 6, BBC Introducing, and remained on the Jazz FM playlist for five consecutive weeks, including a week as ‘Track of the Week’. Jazz FM’s Simon Phillips described her as “a future classic, a young lady on the verge of a huge breakthrough.”
Since then, Aria has performed at some of London’s most prestigious venues, including Pizza Express Jazz Club, Soho, The 606 Club, and Crazy Coqs. She was also given a slot to play the Free Stage at Cheltenham Jazz Festival 2025, where UK Jazz News named her “an enticing talent” and “one to watch.”
In May 2025, she appeared at the launch of the non-profit organisation ‘She Writes Songs’ at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, performing alongside Sarah Gillespie, Rumer, Sarah Jane Morris, Polly Gibbons, Jo Harrop and Shaznay Lewis (All Saints). With her soulful voice and genre-blending songwriting, Aria is quickly emerging as one of the UK’s most exciting new artists.
Johanna Linnea Jakobsson is a Danish-Swedish vocalist, saxophonist and songwriter. Born and raised in Copenhagen and currently residing in Southern Sweden, she first made a name for herself on the Scandinavian jazz scene with the release of the debut album “Alone Together” in 2022. With a mix of traditional jazz and the singer-songwriter-genre, the debut included both original compositions and new arrangements of well known classics by Duke Ellington, Lennon / McCartney and others, switching between vocals and saxophone as the lead instrument. “Alone Together” garnered praise from several jazz critics around Europe and was also named one of the best vocal albums of 2022 by the prestigious Japanese magazine Jazz Hihyo.
In 2023 she followed up with an EP featuring some of her personal favorites from the jazz standard repertoire. Furthermore she wrote and recorded the soundtrack for the Emmy Award winning series “One of The Boys” and released the songs as an EP in connection with the series premiere. The latter was made in collaboration with drummer and producer John Fernold (Sweden) who is also the producer of her sophomore album “Don’t Overthink It”.
On Don’t overthink it – set for release on 31 October – Johanna Linnea Jakobsson has taken a new course, diving further into the act of songwriting and focusing purely on original compositions. The songs are all centered around her distinctive vocals. Genrewise the lines between jazz, folk and pop are both blurred and kind of irrelevant. The songs are written from the perspective of suddenly finding yourself in adulthood, navigating both dreams, worries and the unknown. It may sound a bit dark, but it actually isn’t. The musical landscape lies somewhere in between influences such as Norah Jonas and Ella Fitzgerald with drips of Jeff Buckley and The Beatles.
Johanna explains:
“There’s a certain irony to the title considering almost every track on the album revolves around either feeling lost, indecisive or inadequate. “Don’t Overthink It” is what I wish I could tell myself whenever I get overwhelmed by worry and anxiety but for me that is certainly easier said than done. I’m trying to turn it into some sort of new mantra that I’ll bring with me from the process of writing the music.
I also really like that there’s a certain aloofness to the expression. The song lyrics are often very heartfelt and honest but at the same time I also just had so much fun making the music. In that way this album is everything at once to me. Sometimes the songs feel deep and vulnerable and at other times I look at them in another and way more simple light, where they’re just songs I love and that I made with my friends - and now I want to share them with everyone else who cares to listen.”
‘In jazz, there’s always more to learn,’ says saxophonist Emma Rawicz. Since the release of her ACT debut album Chroma in August 2023, she has emerged as one of the most acclaimed and in-demand European jazz musicians of her generation. For Emma Rawicz, jazz is above all a never-ending source of creative inspiration. ‘There's always something new to discover,’ she says. ‘While you practise, there are so many new things which can be developed.’ Emma Rawicz sets herself a gruelling work schedule. During the coronavirus pandemic, she started documenting her practice routines on Instagram, which has led to tens of thousands of people keeping track of her development ever since. She tours throughout Europe, playing in major concert halls, headlining at important festivals, while also constantly writing new music. She leads her own Emma Rawicz Jazz Orchestra, and recently became a BBC New Generation Artist – joining the uniquely prestigious scheme through which the BBC supports ‘some of the world’s most promising new talent’, across several genres of music. As The Guardian has written: ‘Emma Rawicz hit the ground running – and the warp speed of her evolution is showing no sign of slowing.’
Emma Rawicz is never one to seek out the easy paths, and her desire to challenge audiences is also something fundamental. And yet...she always does it with a smile. Confrontation doesn’t interest her, but rather the discovery and the experience of new music which has never previously been heard, and which can transcend everyday clichés. The album Inkyra recorded with the sextet Gareth Lockrane (flute), David Preston (guitar), Scottie Thompson (keys), Kevin Glasgow (electric bass) and Jamie Murray (drums), breaks boundaries in many ways. It is completely alive with energy, ideas, colours and rhythmic and harmonic complexity. Rawicz herself impresses here, with a tone that is as weighty as it is agile, deep musical intellect paired with great sensuality and a feel for subtle nuances, and gradations of textures. Rawicz and her band tried out the new music for the first time in a small, standing-only London venue – and in front of a very diverse audience. There is something of a statement here: the first trial of new music is not about seeing how it will fit under the players’ fingers, but rather whether an audience can “get it” and be carried along by it, about whether the people in the room are going to be moved emotionally by the music – and are also going to move physically with it.
‘This album means a lot to me. It's something special,’ says Rawicz about Inkyra. ‘I've been playing with this band for more than three years. We've worked very intensively on this music. After the first concert last summer, we all invested a lot of time, practised and developed the programme further in workshops. So everyone has left their mark on it.‘ The influences on the music come from many sources – including some you might not immediately expect: ‘Some of the inspiration for the music comes from Joni Mitchell. That might sound strange at first, because the pieces don't sound like singer/songwriter music. Nevertheless, I immersed myself in her music before composing the programme. I am fascinated by her way of structuring melodies, her use of harmony, unusual tunings and unfamiliar chords that you don't hear in jazz. That influenced me on the piano and in turn shaped my work as a composer. The result is a unique identity. I also took inspiration from the lyrics, which appear in the titles of the pieces and have also inspired the fantasy name of the album.’
“The music of Inkyra sounds at least as colorful as Rawicz’s ACT debut Chroma (from the Greek for colour and a nod to Emma Rawicz’s unique perception of sound and color as a synesthete). ”The anthemic intro, for example, has its roots in the spiritual sound of the sixties. There are dense, towering textures that reach into prog rock, as in Moondrawn (dreaming), or references to Brazilian rhythmic roots, as in Marshmallow Tree. Some tracks - Anima Rising for example sound like, as if not just a sextet but an entire jazz orchestra is playing; other parts – such as Time, And Other Thieves – sound like a mixture of heavy indie beat and shimmering psychedelia, especially thanks to Gareth Lockrane's expansive and authoritative flute playing.
The album somehow brings to mind the image of a spaceship, one in which Emma Rawicz – who currently lives in Berlin having spent several years in London – is definitely heading in new directions: ‘Sometimes it felt like we were leaving orbit, boundless in our improvisations. Like we could just take off and leave the rest behind. For me, it's like a cosmic journey. We don't know where we're going to land – only that when we do, it will be together.’
No sooner had pianist Ramona Horvath wrapped up the recording of her interpretation of Carmen than the urge to return to the studio struck again. It was time to reunite with her longtime musical companions — a trio that feels as natural and intuitive as the fingers on her pianist’s hand: André Villeger on tenor saxophone, Nicolas Rageau on double bass, and Antoine Paganotti on drums.
The chemistry between them is rare — a true musical fusion, built on deep listening and instinct. Their communication is so seamless it feels like the music flows freely, wordlessly, from one to the other. So: back to the studio. But with what vision?
Ramona has never been one to follow predictable paths. For her, being an artist means embracing risk, challenging boundaries, and seeking the unexpected. She’s always on a quest to uncover what has yet to be heard — to breathe new life into forgotten gems or familiar songs seen from new angles.
Just like absinthe — the so-called “green fairy” — Ramona gently intoxicates listeners with refined, elusive musical fragrances. Her project Absinthe is a celebration of rarity and reinvention: whether it’s rediscovering obscure compositions or transforming well-known pop melodies into something entirely fresh.
Originally, the project focused on unearthed, rarely played works by Billy Strayhorn — pieces Ramona literally went searching for on the other side of the world. But the idea grew into something more expansive.
In acoustic trio, Ramona reimagines pop songs from the 70s and 80s through a jazz lens, bringing out their emotional and harmonic richness. In quartet, she delves into little-known works by Billy Strayhorn and other overlooked composers, reshaping them with both reverence and freedom. What ties it all together is Ramona’s deep musical memory and her love for melody — whether drawn from Broadway, jazz standards, or the pop songs of her youth.
Now, under the spell of Absinthe, imagine for a moment what might have happened if Erroll Garner, Red Garland, or Tommy Flanagan had met Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, or Billy Joel. Ramona makes these imagined encounters come alive — with arrangements that are both unexpected and irresistible.
Track Highlights – Between Fantasy, Elegance and Rediscovery
With her signature mix of boldness and finesse, Ramona Horvath takes us on a journey where pop melodies and jazz rarities coexist — transformed by her touch and by the subtle interplay of her trio and quartet.
You Are the Sunshine of My Life
A lively, grooving take that feels like Erroll Garner inviting Stevie Wonder to a joyful jam session. And as a playful encore, a wink to Isn’t She Lovely—like a smile slipped into the final bars.
Heal the World
Recast as a 6/8 piece with the feel of an African round dance. The subtle, hypnotic pulse from Antoine Paganotti and Nicolas Rageau adds warmth and depth, while Ramona’s phrasing brings unexpected grace.
Just the Way You Are
Inspired by Billy Joel’s tender lyrics, this version embraces a velvet swing. Ramona’s soft touch enhances the intimacy of the tune without ever losing its groove.
How Deep Is Your Love
Transformed into a jazz waltz, the Bee Gees’ melody remains intact but gains harmonic depth. The trio breathes with one voice here — special mention to Nicolas Rageau’s lyrical solo, all warmth and elegance. You might find yourself singing along.
Saving All My Love for You
The ghost of Whitney Houston hovers gently over this version. Ramona’s piano sings, note by note, infused with the emotion of the lyrics. Paganotti and Rageau provide a heartbeat that’s both tender and steady. A timeless standard is born anew.
The Rarities: Strayhorn and Beyond
The second half of Absinthe explores lesser-known repertoire with equal artistry.
Absinthe (aka “Lament for an Orchid”)
A dark, nocturnal piece by Billy Strayhorn, rarely performed. Ramona gives it new harmonic textures, highlighting its melancholic beauty. A spellbinding tribute.
Your Love Has Faded
Another Strayhorn gem, elegantly revived. André Villeger soars here in a Dexter Gordon-esque solo, while Ramona subtly nods to The Surrey with the Fringe on Top — a musical wink for attentive ears.
Ballad for Very Tired and Very Sad Lotus Eaters
A rare, poetic ballad that seems suspended in time. Gentle and introspective, it’s a meditation on silence and slowness. Music that breathes and listens.
The Heather on the Hill
A solo piano moment of pure color and nuance. This Frederick Loewe piece becomes a palette of shimmering tones under Ramona’s fingers — an unexpected treasure.
Here I’ll Stay
Kurt Weill’s haunting melody is elevated by Villeger’s rich sax tone and Ramona’s buoyant piano lines — like wings lifting the theme skyward.
I Know Why
Known only to a few through Sun Valley Serenade or Red Garland’s version, this Glenn Miller-era gem is given new life by the quartet. A rediscovered beauty that touches the heart.
JFK
A powerful tribute to Ramona’s mentor, Jancy (Francis) Korossy, the Hungarian-American pianist. With a burning hard bop energy, this original composition showcases Villeger at his fiery best and evokes the spirit of Blue Note’s golden age. Sonny Clark would have approved.
Ignasi Terraza: The first time I heard Ramona Horvath, I was struck by her style and sound. Because of academic influences, almost all young pianists today end up sounding like Evans, Hancock, Corea, or Jarrett—as if jazz piano history could be summed up by those names alone. But when you listen to Ramona, you quickly realize her influences are quite different.
She knows the jazz piano tradition extremely well. With a masterful command of the instrument and a solid background in impressionistic romantic piano, she offers a unique cocktail of references upon which she builds her own musical language.
In her playing, you can also feel the legacy of her teacher Jancy Korossy, a jazzman of great stature who deserved much broader recognition during his lifetime. On this recording, Ramona is accompanied by a tightly knit trio, with Nicolas Rageau on bass and Antoine Paganotti on drums—both perfectly attuned to the various musical moods she explores.
The album presents a bold repertoire, combining two sessions: one revisits pop melodies that marked Ramona’s childhood, reimagined through her own jazz language; in the second session, the trio is joined by the lyrical and tasteful saxophone of the great André Villeger. Together, they present lesser-known melodies by composers such as Billy Strayhorn, Kurt Weill, and Harry Warren.
Without a doubt, this is a jazz album through and through—one you’ll want to listen to more than once.
Using the power of music as a bridge to foster a sense of community among people from different cultures and backgrounds, jazz vocalist, composer, producer and global peace ambassador with an international following, SACHA BOUTROS, has the unique distinction of speaking seven languages and singing in 14. On SACHA: PARIS AFTER DARK, a celebration of 100 Years of French and American composers in the City of Light and Love, she taps into her deep stylistic reservoir of jazz, blues, pop and swing, and her dual love for the Great American Songbook and classic French pop. She sings in French and English (with a little Italian), featuring stylish and deeply soulful re-imaginings of pop and jazz standards written and/or popularized by, among others, Gilbert Becaud, Jacques Brel, Sidney Bechet, Sacha Distel, Joe Dassin, Cole Porter, Dalida and Serge Gainsbourg.
The 10-track collection, Boutros’ fifth full-length album, is the second in a series of After Dark recordings from the singer that began with Sacha: NY After Dark (2013) and will soon include Sacha: Las Vegas After Dark introducing Patrick Hogan, and Sacha: Mexico After Dark, the latter being an ode to her heritage on her mother’s side.
“For me, this album is a love letter to Paris, to music, to my childhood and family, and to the powerful bond between cultures,” says Boutros. “The After Dark aesthetic captures the sound and spirit of a city at night -- the music you hear in cafés, clubs, taxis, and on the streets. I’ve never been more found than when I’m lost in Paris.” Rooted in jazz yet spanning multiple genres, the project blends beloved French pop songs of the 1960s and ’70s with classic American standards, creating a soundscape that reflects the city’s vibrant energy after dark.
SACHA: PARIS AFTER DARK features a core ensemble of renowned veteran French and French/American musicians, including trumpeter STÉPHANE BELMONDO (Michel Legrand/Stéphane Grappelli, Gil Evans, Yusef Lateef), pianist FRANCK AMSALLEM (Joshua Redman, Gerry Mulligan, Ravi Coltrane), guitarist HUGO LIPPI (Samara Joy, Melody Gardot, Christian McBride), bassist THOMAS BRAMERIE (Chet Baker, Toots Thielemans, Dee Dee Bridgewater) and Madagascar-born drummer TONY RABESON (Toots Thielemans, Joe Lovano, Lee Konitz).
Boutros opens the album with a sensual, delightfully breezy and hypnotically percussive twist on Gilbert Becaud’s “Je Reviens Te Chercher,” a charming romantic tune about coming back to a lover many years after breaking up, which the singer calls “symbolic of the soundtrack of my childhood.” Typifying the mystique of an American in Paris, Sidney Bechet brought New Orleans to France in 1950 and two years later wrote the beautiful jazz-blues standard “Si tu Vois Ma Mère” (If You See My Mother),” which was popularized decades later on the soundtrack to Woody Allen’s film, Midnight in Paris. Boutros follows her sultry rendition of this tune with a clever French-English “love dance” medley of Jacques Brel’s 1959 song “Ne Me Quitte Pas” and the Frank Sinatra co-write “I’m a Fool To Want You,” featuring a graceful musical dialogue and arrangement between the singer and Belmondo’s trumpet in homage to Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner written by Sacha.
After breathing fresh, spritely new life into the winsome Songbook standard “April in Paris,” Boutros pops into the mid-70s for the smoky, intimate seduction of NYC born American-French pop singer Joe Dassin’s “Et si tu n’existais,” then heads back a decade for a moody take on Serge Gainsbourg’s 1963 hit “La Javanaise,” one of the most famous examples of a French chanson. It features dynamic solos by Amsellem and Lippi.
Boutros included a passionate arrangement of Charlie Chaplin’s bittersweet “Smile” – which includes an extra line, “share your joy wherever you go” – simply because it’s a ubiquitous part of life in Paris. She chose to cover Dalida’s sexy trilingual (English, French, Italian) 1959 classic “Love in Portofino” to show admiration for and solidarity with the multi-cultural roots of the Egyptian-born, Italian-naturalized French singer and actress.
Boutros closes the set with a haunting, heartbreaking version of Cole Porter’s “In the Still of the Night” (featuring Bramerie’s dark upright bass tones) and a spirited, soulfully swinging English-French romp through “La Belle Vie” (“The Good Life”) with solos by Belmondo and Amsellem.
Of Mexican and French Lebanese heritage, Boutros was raised in a European home in San Diego. A former semi-professional soccer and tennis player, she attended one of the top business schools in the U.S., graduating with honors in Marketing and International Business. She later founded a record label, production, and publishing company, establishing herself as one of the few female producers in jazz. Her production company, Hear Me Roar, curates entertainment across all genres for Fortune 500 companies and major festivals. Her recordings have topped the charts and hit #1 on iTunes, #5 on Billboard in the United States, Europe and Asia, reaching #2 on the Jazz charts in Japan and rising to #3 on the Francophile and Canadian Charts.
In 2014, Boutros founded Sacha’s Supper Club 501(c)3, the first vintage pop-up experience blending fine dining, American big band and dancing, reminiscent of the elegant New York café societies of the 1940s. In 2017, Sacha joined the Border Public Art Committee to lead a project with a team of local artists and architects as well as the consulate of Mexico and the San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce. She designed a mural called “The Place Where Soles Meet” at the border of San Ysidro and Tijuana at the main pick up and drop off point where 26,000 people crossed each day. Sacha uses music as a tool to heal, connect and build community. In France Sacha is known as “La Reine du Jazz” The Jazz Queen.
SACHA: PARIS AFTER DARK is releasing on October 17, 2025 on Hear Me Roar Records and is available on CD and all streaming platforms.
