Acclaimed singer-songwriter, cellist, composer and MOBO-nominee Ayanna Witter-Johnson is excited to share her first solo music in three years. Out on her Hill and Gully Records imprint on Wednesday 6th May, ‘You Can Have Everythingʼ kickstarts a new era of her sound, sitting somewhere between the unique intimacy and alternative tendencies of British soul acts like Anaïs and Laura Mvula, but with nods to the instrument-rooted jazz & vocal crossover pioneered by Esperanza Spalding and Meshell Ndegeocello.
Ayannaʼs compositional approach is centred around her relationship with the cello, and the instrument functions as both rhythmic anchor and emotional compass on ‘You Can Have Everythingʼ - a bass-like, percussive force that grounds the song in the body as much as the spirit. The song began when Ayanna lived in Paris in 2020, just before the pandemic hit, taking shape whilst grappling with the growing sense of restriction, loss of freedom, and uncertainty. It became an act of rebellion - a fantasy of hope and expansiveness, asserting that even when physical movement is limited, the imagination and spirit remain boundless.
Ayanna shares: “The beauty of music and all art is the chance to inhabitant your imagination and create a dreamworld of limitless abundance. An antidote to the often relentless nature of day to day life and all the challenges it brings. This song is one of those moments where for a few minutes you can imagine having whatever it is that you want!ˮ
A second-generation Jamaican born in Britain, Ayannaʼs work celebrates her heritage, culture and identity through music that is both deeply rooted and boundlessly inventive. Credited as a one-woman orchestra — a singer, songwriter, pianist, cellist and composer whose sound lives between worlds - she seamlessly blends classical, jazz, reggae, soul and R&B, tapping, struming and bowing her cello with a singing voice thatʼs rich, grounded and transcendent.
In a star-studded career so far, her music has been championed by icons from Gilles Peterson to Jools Holland, and she has collaborated and toured with musical legends including Andrea Bocelli, Peter Gabriel, Nitin Sawhney and Anoushka Shankar. Her televised performances include Later… with Jools Holland, the BBC Proms and Sing It Loud: Black and Proud. A graduate of Trinity Laban Conservatoire and the Manhattan School of Music, she has composed for the London Symphony Orchestra, and made history as the only non-American to win Amateur Night Live at Harlemʼs legendary Apollo Theater — the prize money from which funded her first EP.
‘You Can Have Everythingʼ will release on Wednesday 6th May via Hill and Gully Records.
Jazz vocalist Douyé returns with her new single, “It’s a Lovely Day Today,” the first release from her upcoming album Stay With Me. Known for her rich tone and timeless delivery, Douyé brings a fresh emotional depth to this classic-inspired piece, blending elegance with modern jazz sensitivity.
The single reflects the warmth and optimism at the heart of Douyé’s artistry, offering listeners a refined interpretation that highlights her signature vocal control and expressive phrasing. With a sound rooted in tradition yet shaped by contemporary influence, she continues to carve out a distinct space in today’s jazz landscape.
Stay With Me further showcases Douyé’s artistic range, uniting intimate storytelling with lush arrangements and a cohesive emotional narrative. The project reinforces her reputation as a vocalist committed to authenticity, sophistication, and musical depth.
Douyé has a distinctive and warm voice along with her own attractive jazz phrasing. She uplifts every song that she sings (even the most familiar standards), making them sound brand new and part of her life story.
Her most recent recording, The Golden Sékéré, is her most rewarding to date. Douyé transforms 14 classic songs, bringing out their inner beauty without losing their essence. The album is filled with many welcome surprises including a slower-than-usual rendition of “Cherokee,” a waltz version of “Speak Low,” the rollicking Latin big band on “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” a romantic and haunting “I’m Confessin’,” and a version of Duke Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean A Thing” that has both swing and funk sections. Douyé utilized the best musicians including pianist Benito Gonzalez, trumpeters Freddie Hendrix and Sean Jones, guitarist Lionel Loueke, bassist Buster Williams and top musicians from Africa such as Dapo Torimiro, Najite Agindotan, Dokun Oke, and Babá Ken Okulolo. The result is a wide-ranging and very enjoyable set of stirring and heartfelt music.
Douyé was born and raised in Nigeria. “At a very early age, my Dad introduced me to jazz, including Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and the beboppers, plus the greats of Gospel music,” she remembers. “I always sang, and it seemed very natural to me. As a young child, whenever I heard a tune with a beautiful melody, I would hum along, eventually learning the words. I was encouraged by my Godmother and my parents to join the church choir, which gave me my first opportunity to sing in front of people.”
Douyé had a very close relationship with her father, who passed away when she was 11. “My Dad always played jazz around the house and told me that jazz was life. The last time I saw him, he wanted me to promise him that someday, when I was a woman, I would sing jazz. I always remembered that.”
She gained experience singing in school in Nigeria, but her goal was to be in the U.S. “Music was the reason that I moved to the United States. I attended the Musicians Institute, where my beliefs about the importance of being oneself, developing my own sound, and not comparing myself to anyone else were validated.” While at the school, she met songwriter Terry Shaddick, who had composed Olivia-Newton John’s big hit “Physical.” They soon formed a musical partnership, writing the music together for her first two albums, Journey and So Much Love. “Journey was about coming from Africa and becoming a musician in the Western world. My second album, So Much Love, was dedicated to the great African Afrobeat musician Fela Kuti.” Both of the records were inspired by classic R&B (including Anita Baker, Sam Cooke and Sade, among others) along with Douyé’s African musical heritage, displaying her as a powerful and soulful singer in addition to being a skilled composer.
But after So Much Love was completed, Douyé felt that something was missing, and that was the promise she had made to her father. “Earlier, I was hesitant to sing jazz because I felt that I needed to do more work. But after So Much Love, I decided that it was finally time to go all the way into jazz.” Douyé started attending jazz jams at the World Stage in Los Angeles and found that the audience and her fellow musicians were very encouraging. She began working with pianist Howlett Smith, built up her repertoire, and worked very hard at finding her own place in the jazz world. “I’ve never looked at another singer and thought that I wanted to be like them. While I admire many singers, I know what I hold, and so I always wanted to sound like myself and hone my artistic qualities.” For her first jazz album Daddy Said So, she was joined by such masterful musicians as pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Ron Carter (for a duet version of “Nature Boy”), trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, saxophonist Bob Sheppard, guitarist Russell Malone, and pianists Otmaro Ruiz, John Beasley and Joel Scott, along with the Kim Richmond big band on two numbers. Douyé’s warmth, swinging phrasing, and deep understanding of the lyrics that she interpreted and pure joy at performing creative jazz are very much in evidence throughout the memorable Douyé set.
Douyé followed Daddy Said So with Quartro – Bossa Nova Deluxe, a set of Brazilian jazz that includes many attractive songs, including several by Antonio Carlos Jobim, and bossa-nova versions of “Lover Man,” “Watch What Happens,” “Song For My Father,” and “Nica’s Dream.” Her supporting cast included pianists John Di Martino and Otmaro Ruiz, saxophonist Justo Almario, and guitarists Romero Lubambo, Angelo Metz and Paul Meyers.
Now with the release of 'The Golden Sékéré', Douyé is consolidating her place as a major jazz singer. “Jazz fits very well with my spirit and it speaks to life. It inspires me to put a lot of work and depth into what I do, and there is always so much more to learn. I relate each song to my own life, my story, and my journey. For the future, I hope to perform as often as possible and bring this music not only to Los Angeles and nationally but to Europe, Africa and worldwide, reaching out to the international world of jazz.”
Storytelling lies at the very heart of Nishla Smith’s music making, and since the release of her critically lauded Whirlwind debut, Friends with Monsters, the evolving circumstances of her own life have provided the materials for the stories that lie at the heart of this new collection. it’s getting late, you’d better go home was written during a period of emotional turmoil, as Nishla confronted a series of crossroads in her life, not least whether to stay in her adopted UK home or return to her native Australia. From these deeply personal concerns, the stories expand outwards to address universal themes of belonging and of absence, of closeness and separation, of yearning ambition and the simple joys of the quotidian.
These extra resonances inspired Nishla to expand her sonic palette, deepening the timbral possibilities with layers of vocals and subtle electronica, and surrounding herself with a hand-picked group of some of the UK’s most empathetic and adventurous musicians. The songs are expanded and supported by Tom Harris’ subtle, sensitive piano, embellished by the saxophones of Xhosa Cole and Harben Kay and the trumpets of Aaron Wood and Charlotte Keeffe and grounded by the superlative rhythm team of Misha Mullov-Abaddo and drummers Sarah Heneghan & Kai Chareunsy. At the centre of everything is Nishla’s remarkable voice, always poised and in control, but equally capable of revealing intimacy and powerful emotional charge.
Nishla’s music is adventurous and deeply personal, “I wanted to frighten myself and I wanted the songs to expose that fear,” but always prioritises melody and accessibility and an emotional directness that reaches out to the listener. ‘jewel thief’ addresses themes of time and change with a gospel-inflected poignant warmth, and ambient sound effects that pull us directly into Nishla’s own life. On ‘bluebird’, Elly and Lucy Hanson’s backing vocals add a paean to the beauty and fragility of youth, perfectly captured by Kay’s flute. By contrast ‘the beast’ employs a vaudevillian bluesy swagger to deliver a mordant account of the critical inner voice, adding dramatic sound effects to pull us right into the story. Relief comes in the form of ‘imagination’ with its feather-light bossa beat and layers of vocals filling out a rich Bacharach-style harmony.
For ‘hold on to me’ Nishla explores her love of 70s troubadours like Elton John and Billy Joel and reveals the full power of her voice to deliver the final climatic chorus. The insouciant shuffle backbeat of ‘time’ contrasts with the torch-song intensity of ‘the lark’ spiced with subtle dissonances from Harris’ piano. “Tom and I have such a deep musical relationship, there’s no- one else’s voice I could have imagined being threaded though the music so intimately.” The ticking of clocks underscores the intense intimacy of ‘perfect’, and clocks also feature in the yearning ‘same stars’ which evokes the pain of separation and builds into a gigantic chorus “I wanted it to sound like we were lifting off into space.” The sound effects, poised ambience and stunning vocal of ‘you and i’ place us with Nishla in a night-time garden under gentle rain, while the closing title track is a simple voice-note recording of Nishla at her piano that feels like a direct message to the listener.
Working closely with producer Chris Hyson, Nishla has created an immersive sound-world that showcases but never distracts from the strength of the compositions and the hypnotic charisma of her voice. There’s a real sense of place that unifies these tales of yearning and dislocation. “The spiritual location for the whole album is a saloon at three o’ clock in the morning, just me and the musicians and a handful of listeners.”
Thank you to Whirlwind Recordings for sharing with us
Angélique’s first solo release in five years features star guests including Pharrell Williams, Nile Rodgers, PJ Morton, Quavo, Ayra Starr, Davido, The Cavemen, Charlie Wilson and more.
Angélique Kidjo has announced HOPE!!, her new album to be released April 24 (Warner Music France). The full-length follow-up to 2021’s GRAMMY-winning Mother Nature, HOPE!! positions Kidjo once again as one of Africa’s most influential and inspiring artists. Kidjo offers up a revelatory body of work across 16 new recordings, transmitting an unbridled joy that also serves as a unifying force, a conduit for healing, and a much-needed antidote to despair in troubled times. Hope!! also finds Kidjo collaborating with a wide range of artists and reflects a new partnership with Pharrell — who is not only featured, but produced three songs on the album — and recently outfitted her in custom Louis Vuitton for the GRAMMY Awards last month. Guests including Quavo, Ayra Starr, Davido, Nile Rodgers, Charlie Wilson and PJ Morton appear on the album, which Kidjo has dedicated to her late mother.
Kidjo, the 5-time GRAMMY winner, has had a tremendous past few years, including being named to TIME’s 100 Most Influential People list, and winning the Polar Music Prize in 2023. She also performed “Jerusalema,” a song featured on HOPE!! that earned Kidjo her 16th GRAMMY nomination, at the reopening ceremony of Notre Dame in Paris in 2024.
“I started singing when I was six years old, and I’m grateful every day that I still get to live my passion and do what I love with my life,” says Kidjo, who hails from the West African nation of Benin. “At the same time I know that many people struggle to find joy, especially when there’s so much to worry about in our world today. With this album I wanted to put some fire back in people’s hearts, and show how much we need that joy and hope to keep our humanity going.”
In September 2025, Pharrell Williams invited Kidjo to his Grace For The World concert in St Peter Square of Vatican City. From that encounter were born three original songs produced and written by Pharrell in his Parisian studio and tailored to Kidjo’s personality and voice. “For Me” is an anthem to self-celebration of one's accomplishment in the face of challenge featuring Charlie Wilson from The Gap Band. “No Stopping Us” was born out of a conversation between Kidjo and Pharrell on the future of social change. “Bando,” a slang word for an abandoned house, is a celebration of the true roots of popular trends born out of street life, and features Quavo.
HOPE!! is dedicated to Kidjo’s late mother Yvonne, an homage to her resilience and optimism. Kidjo says that her mother’s favorite song was “Malaika,” and the album concludes with an emotional, philharmonic rendition of the song arranged by Derrick Hodge and featuring French singer Florent Pagny. Recorded in Paris and Los Angeles over the past three years, HOPE!! was crafted alongside many of Africa’s most electrifying musical voices, including Lagos-based neo-High Life duo The Cavemen (“I’m On Fire”), Congolese legend Fally Ipupa on “Nadi Balance,” along with horns from Kokoroko’s Sheila Maurice-Grey, Franco-Congolese artist Dadju (“Superwoman”), Tanzanian musician Diamond Platnumz (“Kakua”) and more. Made with producers like Shizzi (a Nigerian musician who’s worked with Fireboy DML, DaBaby, and Meek Mill), French jazz musician/composer Philippe Saisse, fast-rising Nigerian producer Louddaaa, and more, the result is a groove-heavy and galvanizing album that boldly transcends genre while endlessly showcasing Kidjo’s larger-than-life presence and captivating voice.
Written by Diane Warren (a 17-time Oscar nominee who’s penned songs for Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Rihanna), the Grammy-nominated “Sunlight To My Soul” brings Kidjo’s force-of-nature voice to a full-hearted expression of gratitude and love—an element echoed by the exuberant harmonies of the Soweto Gospel Choir, a world-renowned South African group who contributed to several songs on HOPE!! and first performed with Kidjo at a 2003 benefit concert hosted by Nelson Mandela.
As the latest offering in a catalog that’s continually shown the transformative power of music, HOPE!! solidifies Kidjo’s legacy as a visionary artist whose sense of purpose has only grown stronger over time. “Sometimes it feels as though the world is losing hope at such a rapid pace that it’s endangering our humanity,” says Kidjo. “With all the music that I create, I want to show that anything and everything is possible—and that despite what the political rhetoric might have us believe, we are all deeply connected. My hope is that these songs bring happiness to everyone, but also remind them that we were all put here to help and love each other.”
With that sentiment in mind, it’s important to highlight that Kidjo has passionately devoted herself to humanitarian work all throughout her career—an undertaking that’s included launching her own charitable foundation, Batonga (an organization dedicated to fostering the education of adolescent girls on the African continent), as well as advocating on behalf of children all over the world through her work as a UNICEF goodwill ambassador. She has earned recognition as one of the 100 most inspiring women in the world (The Guardian) and the most influential woman in Africa (Forbes), in addition to winning the admiration of such prominent cultural figures as musician/actor/civil-rights activist Harry Belafonte, who commended for Kidjo “using her work and growing fame to change the way the world perceives Africa.”
Wednesday 22nd April - London future soul artist MADELEINE returns with another taste of her intergalactic, dystopian sound world, sharing her new single ‘Donʼt Lose Yourselfʼ. Known for her work as keyboard player for the likes of Olivia Dean, Jorja Smith and Rachel Chinouriri, this is the second single taken from her forthcoming EP ‘Earth Cryʼ, which will release on Tuesday 16th June via Bridge The Gap.
Following lead single ‘Give Back to Herʼ, which landed on the Jazz FM playlist and found support from the likes of DJ Spoony on BBC Radio 2 and Neun Magazine, ‘Donʼt Lose Yourselfʼ moves away from the naturalistic themes of the first single, instead centring on a message of hope, self-belief and communal sensitivity. Recorded as an instrumental before the lyrics were written, the intuitive relationship between MADELEINEʼs trusted trio unit shines through, with Jack Robsonʼs frenetic drums combining beautifully with her ethereal synth tones and John Jonesʼ driving basslines.
On the track, MADELEINE shares: “The energy of the track really lends itself to a feeling of warmth and power, which originally came from the chords. At the time of recording, I was still in the process of writing the vocal, so we really were just focusing on the instrumental tracking. The energy of the recording really pushed the song into the world of love, energy, and positivity.ˮ
Thematically, the forthcoming ‘Earth Cryʼ EP picks up from where 2023's ‘Sun Daughterʼ left off - acting as a cry for consciousness and care in relation to the planet, and our fellow human beings. Self-produced, written, and arranged, with some additional production and mixing work by Lewis Moody (Allysha Joy, 30/70, CHERISE) and Will Heaton (Ebi Soda), the project is an exploration of future soul through the lens of Londonʼs electronic-infused sound waves, balancing organic textures with an intergalactic interpretation of the sound of the cityscape.
On the EP and her creative practice, MADELEINE shares: “I find the parallel between my own personal life, and the relevance of the world around me (nature, politics, the natural world, the dream world), extremely important. Sometimes the two are so interlinked within my lyrics - they can almost blur into one. With this project I feel more confident in my directness with some of my themes. After the absolute horrors of the last couple years, it feels important to be talking about something that really matters.ˮ
An emerging player in the nu-jazz and UK soul scene, MADELEINE takes influence from the progressive electronics of Flying Lotus, James Blake and Salami Rose Joe Louis, as well as the soulful hues of Ego Ella May and Sampha. With support already from The Line of Best Fit, BBC Radio 1, BBC Introducing, Jazz re:freshed and Jazz FM, and an appearance at 2025's SXSW under her belt, summer 2026 will see her appear at Brick Lane Jazz Festival, We Out Here and Shambala Festival.
April Records proudly presents the new album from Danish trombonist and composer Lis Wessberg. Her most personal album to date, In The Wake of Blue is a song-driven work exploring transience, love, and transformation. Expanding her writing while remaining rooted in her distinctive instrumental voice, Wessberg creates an intimate musical landscape where lyric, melody, and texture carry equal weight.
In The Wake of Blue is set for release on April 17th, 2026 via April Records.
Wessberg has established herself as a leading voice on the European jazz scene through her band Yellow Map and a series of acclaimed releases on April Records. Her previous album, Twain Walking (2024), marked her first step into English-language songwriting and earned a Danish Music Award nomination in 2025 for the track Behind the Walls. In The Wake of Blue develops this direction further. The album draws on images from nature - sea, tides, clouds, mist, and birds - used as emotional anchors rather than abstractions. These elements frame songs that move from uncertainty and loss toward openness, connection, and renewal. The title reflects this arc: “blue” as melancholy, depth, and memory, and what emerges in its wake.
Vocalist Veronika Rud is central to the album’s sound, bringing vulnerability and clarity to the songs. Rather than a traditional singer-led project, the music unfolds as a dialogue between voice and trombone, with Wessberg’s warm, airy tone mirroring and extending each song’s emotional core. At times the two move in close unison; elsewhere, they diverge and reconnect. The core ensemble - Steen Rasmussen (piano and keys), Lennart Ginman (bass), and Jeppe Gram (drums) - provides a responsive, understated foundation, while string quartet Live Strings appear on two tracks, expanding the ensemble’s depth and resonance.
In The Wake of Blue offers a quietly assured statement from an artist continuing to refine a voice that speaks as clearly through brass as it does through words.
\[Lis Wessberg](https://www.liswessberg.dk/): Trombone, Veronika Rud: Vocals, Steen Rasmussen: Piano/Keys, Lennart Ginman: Double Bass, Jeppe Gram: Drums, Andrea Gyarfas Brahe: Violin, Karen Johanna Pedersen: Violin Naja Helmer: Viola, Live Johansson: Cello
All Compositions and Arrangements by Lis Wessberg
Published by April Publishing ApS
The first thing that comes to mind is a soundtrack to someone riding through the dunes on a beach at night, somewhere in Denmark. Or the feeling of being at the circus, marveling at all the magical things happening in the ring. Swaying above the clouds, light as a feather. Warm, friendly skies everywhere you look. Liquid sounds all over. Lis Wessberg’s trombone caresses your ears smoothly, but there is always a hot temper waiting to get out of the cage. The music takes you to a dreamy landscape filled with poetry and love – both in words and music. Veronika Rud delivers the very emotion of every song, and Lis says the exact same thing, but through her trombone.
We all long for a life filled with love and devotion. Veronika not only delivers the meaning of each song. She is the song, with Lis embracing every mood with her airy trombone. It feels like floating on air, letting us float along. Or like wandering through a mystical landscape, maybe a walk on a beach in the middle of a warm summer night. The waves slowly move us to sleep. Or like two birds in free flight, the voices of Lis and Veronika in perfect synchronization until Veronika takes a detour, letting her voice speak freely until Lis takes over with her airy voice – the trombone. The ending is like two lovebirds landing on a wire. Long live love. Long live music. Nils Landgren,Fellow musician and friend
