Cellar Music Group is proud to announce the September 12, 2025 release of Pursuit of a Pulse, the third album by New York-based, Brazilian-born vocalist and composer Jamile. Featuring acclaimed pianist Miki Yamanaka and her trio, plus Jamile’s long-time mentor and regular collaborator Steve Wilson, Pursuit of a Pulse is a deeply personal and rhythmically charged journey through jazz, Brazilian heritage, and modern improvisational storytelling.

Purchase here

Pursuit of a Pulse encapsulates the endless quest for music that makes one’s heart race—the ceaseless life-affirming pulse that emerges when music seeps deep into one’s pores. Reverencing composers that are still alive and/or have been pivotal innovators of their times, Jamile invokes both the heartbeat of those still with us, and the ancestral pulse that provides guidance, making a clear statement that the jazz art form lives on through the footsteps of those who choose to walk along its path and carve new trails.

Born and raised in Brazil, but thriving in New York, Jamile's artistry includes a love of language, a closeness with genre, a deep feeling for style—and a demand to throw all of these aside for the pleasures of transcendence. A vocalist with a clear identity who thrives on the plurality of her upbringing and abilities, Jamile’s voice is one of a kind. Her versatility and virtuosity often lead her on obsessive quests—particularly for songs that resonate with her on a spiritual level, resulting in an extensive collection of pieces rarely performed. The selections on this album reflect that lifelong chase, and the band, consisting of brilliant figures from the New York City jazz scene, executes each song with an ear for its inner meaning.

Over the years, Jamile and pianist Miki Yamanaka have developed a steady musical partnership that resulted in telepathic chemistry and the development of an idiosyncratic sound. Yamanaka’s powerful trio enhances this synergy and adds important textural layers to an already dynamic soundscape. Saxophonist Steve Wilson, Jamile’s long-time mentor—also featured on her two previous LPs—anoints this album with forward-thinking imagery.

The group came together for two live performances followed by a studio recording in Vancouver, Canada. The album begins with a boldly reimagined version of Messiaen’s “O sacrum convivium!”, originally a four-voice offertory set to Latin prose of the same name. Jamile wrote her own lyrics and title, conjuring the sacredness of the natural world and the breathing forces it harbors. Subtly inviting the listener to immerse themselves in this forest and commune with nature, the kenari seeds and bird-like flute add a sensory component to the soundscape. Through collective breath and movement, “Prayer to the Invisible Forces of the Forest (O sacrum convivium!)” invokes the spirits of the living creatures and elements that compose our world.

“Come Running To Me" (Herbie Hancock, Alee Willis) and “Moon” (DOMi, JD BECK, Herbie Hancock, Anderson.Paak) reflect Jamile’s deep adoration for Herbie Hancock’s music and his generous, innovative spirit. These two heavily electric-sounding songs were stripped down and adapted for acoustic instruments, a decision that redefines their auras. One can clearly hear the anchoring bass lines and drum subdivisions supporting the vocals and the blazing piano solos. The band’s pristine sound and cohesion make those intricate rhythmic passages sound uncomplicated.

“Jogral” (Filó Machado, José Neto, Djavan) and “Vale o Escrito” (Filó Machado, Aldir Blanc) are odes to Filó Machado, a veteran of the São Paulo music scene who has influenced generations with his synergistic singing and guitar playing styles and his singular writing. The feverish tempo of this version of “Jogral” may sound extreme for a song that already has its own built-in rhythmic complexities, but Jamile’s heightened sense of time makes it sound effortless. Both songs are centered on conversations between her and Wilson, a symbiotic duo that walks together in dialogue and harmonious phrasing. The saxophonist’s climactic propulsion during the final vamp of “Vale o Escrito” is one of the highlights of this recording. Jamile’s tenderness and far-reaching emotional range come forth on the stripped-down versions of “Céu de Brasília” (Toninho Horta, Fernando Brant), “Timeless Portraits and Dreams” (Geri Allen), “Come With Me to the River” (Jamile Staevie Ayres), “Passarinhadeira” (Guinga, Paulo César Pinheiro), and “Bodas de Prata / Quatro Cantos” (Egberto Gismonti, Geraldo Carneiro). Her choice to play guitar on most of them adds a captivating and engaging unforeseen fifth texture to the overall landscape. As a result, this album has an intrinsic ebb and flow that guides the listener through the density and depth of each song—these intimate interludes offer a moment of breath and contemplation between the powerful full-band statements.

Extending beyond her creative and innovative approach to song interpretation, Jamile’s distinct compositional voice comes to full disclosure in her original works. “Another Day in the Mind”, a stream of consciousness of everyday thoughts that inhabit a brain full of peculiarities, opens a window into Jamile’s eccentricity. This idiosyncrasy broadens past the content of the lyrics, reflecting also on how the uneven metric and complex chord progressions envelop this formation of mental objects and obstacles. “Hoping things will rhyme”, the song’s final line, suggests some perspective amidst the mental chaos. This rhyme goes beyond paper; it also represents a true hope to find alignment in life—and perhaps the powerful saxophone statement that follows represents this very quest.

Jamile’s writing also finds its impact in the strength of vulnerability. The ethereal and metaphorical “Come With Me to the River”, a lullaby-like incantation, presents an invitation to its addressee to dive deep into a love story. But in casting this spell, she exposes her own readiness, her willingness, to surrender to whatever narrative may unfold. It is an invitation that extends to the listener. Pursuit of a Pulse, a persuasive and alluring collection of songs, is masterfully delivered by this collective of world-class musicians, and it takes anyone who hears it on a thrilling excursion full of poetic surprise and raw emotion.

DARA STARR TUCKER EXPLORES A CINEMATIC JOURNEY THROUGH MEMORY & MEANING ON TIME WOULDN’T WAIT - NEW ALBUM OUT AUGUST 15, 2025 (GREEN HILL)

Vocalist, songwriter, and cultural commentator Dara Starr Tucker returns with her most emotionally resonant album to date: Time Wouldn’t Wait, a soul-stirring collection of original compositions and cinematic reimagining’s that reflect on the passage of time, the beauty of impermanence, and the power of presence, to be released on August 15, 2025 via Green Hill.

Purchase here

With a voice described as “commanding and clear” (NPR), Tucker weaves a rich tapestry of sound and story. Time Wouldn’t Wait features a dynamic blend of seven of Tucker’s original songs alongside deeply personal renditions of songs from classic and contemporary films. She reimagines “Pure Imagination” (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory), the hauntingly beautiful “Twilight and Mist” (Legends of the Fall), Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “I Have Dreamed” (The King and I), and showcases a stunning cover of Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For” from Barbie.

Among Tucker's seven original compositions are the title track “Time Wouldn’t Wait,” a poignant meditation on impermanence, the radiant “Shining,” the gospel-tinged “Tall Georgia Pines,” and a song of heartbreak and forgetting “Brick Wall.” Each track is a carefully crafted emotional vignette, driven by Tucker’s singular ability to fuse jazz, soul, folk, and filmic songwriting into something wholly her own.

“Time Wouldn’t Wait is about making peace with the moment,” Tucker said. “At the heart of this album is an urgent invitation: to be fully present and to acknowledge that nothing—no joy, no sorrow, no season—lasts forever. It’s about honoring the fleeting nature of life, and choosing to be awake to the beauty, grief, and truth of right now."

Produced by Greg Bryant, and mixed and mastered by Grammy-winning engineer Mike Marciano at Samurai Hotel Studios for Systems Two Recording, the album includes an exceptional lineup of musicians: organist/pianist Gary Versace, pianist Larry Goldings, trumpeter Rod McGaha, drummers Marcus Finnie and Christian Euman, bassist Vicente Archer, and vibraphonist Simon Moullier. Together, they create a spacious, deeply expressive soundscape that allows Tucker’s voice and message to take center stage.

"This is not just an album to hear—it’s an album to feel." Tucker said. “While we are certain that time is fleeting, it is also full of infinite possibilities."

Tucker’s artistry extends far beyond the studio. A Woodshed Network Fellow, selected for the prestigious program founded by jazz legend Dee Dee Bridgewater, she has toured and recorded with guitarist Charlie Hunter and co-wrote the title track for Keb’ Mo’s 2020 Grammy-winning album, Oklahoma. Tucker was the silver medalist at the American Traditions Vocal Competition where she additionally won the Johnny Mercer Award and the Ben Tucker Jazz Award prizes. Her 2021 release, Dreams of Waking, reached #7 on JazzWeek’s national radio charts, while songs from her previous album, Dara Starr Tucker, were included on Apple Music's Jazz Vocal Essentials,  Spotify's Best Jazz Vocals 2023 and Amazon Music's Vocal Jazz playlists, further cementing her status as a rising voice in modern jazz.

Tucker’s thought-provoking commentary and musical storytelling have garnered her national attention. She has been featured on NPR’s Jazz Night in America, NPR’s Jazz Inspired, and is currently the host of "The Front Page" on Radio Free 102.3FM in Los Angeles, a station owned by Stevie Wonder.

A powerful presence on social media, Tucker uses her platform to explore race, culture, faith, film, and music—garnering a combined following of over 1.3 million across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Her videos, commentary, and songs have been featured on HBO, FX/Hulu, The OWN Network, BET.com, Revolt.com, Shondaland.com, Ebony, and Jet.

Green Hill Productions is thrilled to continue its relationship with Dara Starr Tucker. “We’re proud to release our third album with Dara, an artist whose cross-genre appeal and artistic integrity continue to set her apart in a crowded landscape. Dara’s ability to blend authenticity with commercial resonance — supported by compelling vocals and emotionally driven songwriting — positions this project for strong impact across multiple markets,” reflected Blake Davis, General Manager of Green Hill.

With Time Wouldn’t Wait, Dara Starr Tucker offers not only an album, but an experience—a deeply introspective examination of the fragility and fullness of time, and a call to embrace every breath we still have.

ABOUT GREEN HILL PRODUCTIONS

Green Hill Productions, a subsidiary of Primary Wave Music, is a boutique record label currently celebrating over 25 years of creating top-quality lifestyle music for every mood. With over 1000 titles in its diverse catalog, Green Hill covers an amazing variety of genres and targeted themes including jazz, New Age, neoclassical, pop, rock, Celtic, Christmas, chillout, bluegrass, Cajun, easy listening, nature, piano, romance, relaxation, oldies, beach, western, world, patriotic, big band, and classic crooners, to name a few. In addition, Green Hill produces recordings on such performers as Olivia Newton-John, Paul Anka, Frankie Valli, Melissa Manchester, David Arkenstone, Beegie Adair, Jim Brickman, Jack Jezzro, Brenna Whitaker, Dara Tucker, Luke McMaster, Eric Hilton, Deborah Silver with The Count Basie Orchestra, Deep Wave and more. 

Tour Dates:

September 13 - Nashville Jazz Workshop, Nashville, TN

October 19 - Catalina Jazz Club, Los Angeles, CA

January 21 - Blues Alley, Washington DC

January 23-24 - SOUTH, Philadelphia PA

January 25 - City Winery - New York, NY

March 7 - Rudy’s Jazz Room, Nashvillle, TN

March 8 - Sandy Springs PAC, Sandy Springs, GA (Atlanta Area)

Website: darastarrtucker.com

Thank you to Lydia Liebman Promotions for sharing with us

British-Nigerian singer-songwriter 2x BBC Jazz Awards innovation panel judge, EyiTemi, releases her self-funded single “Fighter” that charts her journey from early childhood trauma in Nigeria to creative empowerment as a recording artist.

“Fighter” has already received high praise from national radio stations including selection by China Moses’s Late Night Track of the Week on JazzFM. Fighter is a celebration of the full journey and the tenacity needed to beat the odds. The track incorporates both Yoruba and English blending EyiTemi's honest and raw storytelling style with soul, afro, jazz, spoken word and gospel with production by Mobo nominated Femi Temowo. 

Purchase here

A story of universal resilience

Based in London but raised in Nigeria, EyiTemi’s story reveals how breaking through early trauma and self-doubt becomes the catalyst for creative growth. A core message that’s resonant for many communities: 

"Every day is day one. I want people to know they can always start again." 

She channels her struggle into a superpower, unlocking creativity and inspiring others through authentic storytelling and vulnerability. "This isn't just about my journey" says EyiTemi "I’m showing how our deepest struggles can become our greatest sources of creative power. Everyone has a story to tell and everyone deserves the chance to start again."

The single launch coincides with the announcement of three immersive performances: World Heart Beat (Vauxhall, September), London Jazz Festival (Ealing, November - a rare third appearance at the festival) and Colne Road Studios (Twickenham, December).  Each show explores a different chapter of EyiTemi’s growth from self-doubt to creative power and the first performance doubles as a live recording session for her limited edition EP.

EyiTemi’s website

For upcoming gigs click here

Acclaimed composer and trumpeter Sarah Wilson draws inspiration from visual art, brass bands and the joy of music on her spirited new album Incandescence

Out July 18, 2025 via Brass Tonic Records, the album features Wilson’s brass focused sextet Brass Tonic on an exuberant set sparked by the work of Austrian painter Thomas Reinhold

“Wilson swings naturally between genres and styles, blurring any stylistic boundaries with confidence and charm.” – Eyal Hareuveni, All About Jazz

“…a singular jazz artist with a tremendously evocative book of original material.” – Andrew Gilbert, Contra Costa Times

Community spirit has been a constant in the work of composer and trumpet player Sarah Wilson, whose experiences and inspirations have ranged from socially conscious puppet theater to brass band and New Orleans traditions to her own illuminating style of jazz. When musicians are truly inspired and connected with one another, Wilson describes, time seems to stand still for artist and listener alike.

“Time just evaporates,” Wilson says, “and you’re completely immersed in feeling the euphoria and joy of being in this creative moment. You forget everything else that is happening in space and time, while paradoxically the music is moving through time.”

During a 2023 artist residency in Krems, Austria, the Bay Area-based Wilson experienced a similar epiphany when she encountered the paintings of Viennese artist Thomas Reinhold. One of the founding figures of German “New Painting” or “Junge Wilde,” Reinhold’s large-scale work combines architectural planning with the chance effects of time. Wilson’s reaction to the paintings inspired the music on Incandescence, the joy-fueled new album by her sextet Brass Tonic.

Out July 18, 2025 via Wilson’s own Brass Tonic Records and co-produced by Wilson and Grammy Award-winning producer Hans Wendl, Incandescence was commissioned by InterMusic SF’s Musical Grant Program. It draws equal inspiration from Reinhold’s bold, multi-hued abstracts and from the street-level, community-spirited traditions of brass band, marching and New Orleans parade music. In Brass Tonic, Wilson combines an all-woman horn frontline – herself, alto saxophonist Kasey Knudsen, and trombonist Mara Fox – with the buoyant rhythm section of guitarist John Schott, bassist Lisa Mezzacappa, and, for this recording, drummers Jon Arkin and Tim Bulkley.

Brass Tonic played its first gig in 2022, but the seeds for the band were planted more than 20 years before, when Wilson performed with and composed for NYC drummer Kenny Wollesen’s protest-minded marching jazz band, Himalayas. Or perhaps even earlier, when she toured the world playing music with Vermont’s politically radical and community-oriented Bread & Puppet Theater during the 1990s. “Coming from that background of street theater and traditional New Orleans music, my music is always something that you can dance to,” Wilson explains. “Marching band music has to be simple, but I wanted to hone it into more developed music with a similar vibe.”

Stemming in part from the socially conscious aspects of those earlier projects as well as her experience in ensembles like the Montclair Women’s Big Band, Wilson was determined to forefront women in her new sextet. “I wanted to be intentional about that,” she insists. “It feels empowering to have a majority of women in the band, and in particular to have all women horn players. That's one area in classical and jazz music, where there's a bit of a lag in terms of equity.”

Earlier music for the band was written in 2022 during Wilson’s time at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program in Woodside, California. Through that connection, she traveled to Austria for the AIR-Artist in Residence Niederösterreich, through which she was given free rein to explore the arts-rich town of Krems, 50 miles outside of Vienna. There she found Reinhold’s work in the State Gallery of Lower Austria. “These incredible paintings just looked like music to me,” Wilson says.

Wilson has a history of composing music in response to visual art. In 2011-12 she was an artist fellow at San Francisco’s de Young Museum, where she collaborated on a music and aerial dance performance inspired by the Harlem Renaissance painter Aaron Douglas. “She Stands in a Room,” one of the pieces on Wilson’s 2010 album Trapeze Project, drew from a sculpture by Nicolas Africano in the de Young’s collection.

At the State Gallery of Lower Austria, Wilson was given the unique opportunity to set up a mobile studio in the gallery, allowing her to write music in real time while interacting directly with the paintings. The residency also connected her with the artist himself, facilitating a trip to Reinhold’s studio to discuss his artistic methodology – including his love of John Coltrane’s music. “His process is based on a space time modality,” Wilson relates. “He imagines everything he's going to paint and sketches it out, which is very architectural. Then he layers coats of paint, goes off and lets it dry, and returns later to paint more layers – meaning that he's dealing with elements created in a different space and time.”

Three of the compositions on Incandescence – “Architecture in Space,” “Music Appears to Stand Still,” and “Echoes Refrain” – resulted from Wilson’s Austrian residency. But they share with the remainder of the album’s songs a bright, iridescent sense of joy and ebullience encapsulated in the album’s title.

“When you have visceral, powerful experience with art or music, that is the essence of joy for me,” Wilson concludes. “I really respond to that ability for music to evoke strong feelings. That’s what I really wanted to happen with this project. I want people to feel good and to have that experience of joy.”

Sarah Wilson has emerged as "one of the most intriguing and promising composers and trumpeters on the contemporary music scene,” (San Francisco Chronicle). While deeply shaped by jazz, Wilson’s music stylistically owes as much to avant pop, Afro-Latin grooves and indie rock as the post-bop continuum. Wilson’s artistic work reflects a dynamic interplay of theater, jazz, dance, and film, which frame her unique, fresh compositional style. Wilson has earned wide critical acclaim for her recordings on Brass Tonic Records, including Kaleidoscope (2021) and Trapeze Project (2010), on which she’s joined by a nonpareil cast of improvisers including pianist Myra Melford, drummer Matt Wilson, violinist Charles Burnham, bassist Jerome Harris, guitarist John Schott, clarinetist Ben Goldberg and drummer Scott Amendola. Her music is fueled by large-scale community-based arts projects including a 2022-23 vocal music production, Tenderloin Voices, in collaboration with the Tenderloin Museum and Larkin Street Youth Services working with formerly shelterless youth. She was a 2011-2012 Artist Fellow at the de Young Museum with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and The James Irvine Foundation and created Off the Walls, a music and aerial dance production in collaboration with LA-based dance company Catch Me Bird. Wilson has received numerous commissions from the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Center for Cultural Innovation, SF Arts Commission, Fleishhacker Foundation, Zellerbach Foundation, East Bay Community Foundation, New Music USA, and Intermusic SF as well as residencies at the AIR-Artist in Residence Niederösterreich in Krems, Austria, Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Z Space, and Stags’ Leap Winery.

Sarah Wilson – Incandescence Brass Tonic Records – BTR 003 – Recorded April 13-14, 2024 Release date July 18, 2025

sarahwilsonmusic.com sarahwilson.bandcamp.com

Thank you to Ann Braithwaite for sharing with us

Betty Accorsi Presents: Nature Prints

Released 18th July 2025

“Simply elegant, superbly crafted, sumptuously melodic jazz” All About Jazz

Award-winning Italian-born saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist and composer Betty Accorsi is proud to present Nature Prints, her new album set to be released in July 2025. Blending elegant and melodic soprano sax lines with an intensely dynamic rhythm section, Betty Accorsi’s compositions take inspiration from European and ECM jazz from John Surman to Pat Metheny, with echoes of Dvorak, Bartok, Debussy and Western European folk music. Joined by pianist Dan Hewson (Incognito, Groove Armada), bassist Andy Hamill (Van Morrison, Martin Taylor, Ibrahim Maalouf) and young virtuoso drummer Joe Edwards, Nature Prints is dedicated to Betty’s consistent discoveries of art in nature.

Betty explains further: “Who is The Queen? is inspired by the Queen of the Lewis chess set. She looks bored, looking for something to entertain her. Something that I, with my album, hope to provide. The queen inspiring my music is Mary Oliver, the American poetess homaged in Mary. She believed that nature spoke to her, and rocks could be alive. Life beyond what we see is the theme for Illusions, like those that stained-glass windows project in English churches. Is there shame or danger in believing in God, if it helps us to overcome difficulties? The nature of human feelings is the subject of Song for A, a love song dedicated both to my husband Andrea and Wayne Shorter, one of the first jazz musicians to be thoroughly inspired by nature, fairytales, and poetry.”

“Garden Trip is about the art of gardening. My friend Giulia, a passionate gardener, says that even if flowers are different from each other, it is important to put them together so that they can live in harmony. And that harmony gets transmitted back to the people who are willing to listen, as I show in Carillion, a song about the healing power of nature. While travelling, I was reminded of the traditional song Molly Malone, another Queen of my album; you can hear a jazz arrangement of that beautiful, tragic song. Another trip brought me to Venice two years ago, and in particular to the island of Burano; I saw the making of ornaments with glass. Glass Horse is inspired by a little horse made with glass by a talented Italian artisan. One can also travel by reading books: Into The Forest is inspired by “A midsummer’s night dream” by Shakespeare. Here, the forest has again a healing power for the characters of the play, as it changes their perspectives of things. I hope that this album will have the same effect on you.”

Having studied classical saxophone, piano and composition at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatoire in Milan, later gaining a MMus in Jazz Saxophone at Trinity Laban Conservatoire and subsequently a Master's degree in Performance at Goldsmiths, Betty Accorsi burst on to the scene in December 2020 with “The Cutty Sark Suite”: an album of compositions blending Wayne Shorter, folk and punk, premiered live at The Brighton Fringe Festival in 2021. Frequently inspired by geographical locations and a sense of place, Betty’s critically acclaimed 2022 album “Growing Roots” is influenced by her move to Brighton, a city which Betty has learned to love. While her previous work is excellent in its own right, Betty’s Accorsi’s development as an artist is undoubtedly evident on Nature Prints – a body of work that showcases the young saxophonist and composer’s flourishing talent like spring in bloom or a sunny summer’s day!

Betty Accorsi - soprano sax, vocals, composition/arrangement
Dan Hewson - piano, trombone
Andy Hamill - electric bass, double bass
Joe Edwards - drums

All compositions by Betty Accorsi, except Molly Malone (Irish traditional, arr. Betty Accorsi).

Recorded 8-10 December 2024 at Perry Vale Studios, London
Engineer: Jessica Corcoran
Produced by Betty Accorsi and Andrea Martelloni
Mix and master: Chris Lewis
Cover art: Gabriella Szucz
Photography: Justyna Neryng

Betty Accorsi website here

Purchase here

Album launch event on July 24th at Toulouse Lautrec. Tickets here

Singer and storyteller Germana Stella La Sorsa and guitarist Tom Ollendorff present “After Hours” - out 11th July 2025

'Raw and striking vocals’ Jazz in Europe

‘The rising star of the six-string’ Music Paper Italy

Critically acclaimed Italian singer and storyteller Germana Stella La Sorsa is set to release a small but stunning collection of inspired arrangements of legendary songs and original compositions, collaborating with ‘rising star of the six-string’ Tom Ollendorff.

Recorded in February 2025, “After Hours” will be released on 33 Jazz Records and distributed by The Orchard on the 11th of July 2025. The record will be launched on Thursday 10th of July at The Vortex Jazz Club, London and the release will be anticipated by two singles: “Because” (Lennon-McCartney) on the 23 rd of May and “Procida” (Ollendorff-La Sorsa) on the 20th of June.

“After Hours” - consisting of 6 tunes - pays homage to well-known composers and songwriters from a wide spectrum including tunes by Brazilian composer Pixinguinha and The Beatles, along with originals from La Sorsa and Ollendorff.

Working together since 2022, the duo's artistic chemistry was beautifully showcased in their acoustic version of one of La Sorsa's compositions - “In Time and (S)Pace” released in July of the same year. Ollendorff's highly distinctive sound and virtuosic technique elegantly blends with La Sorsa’s ‘poetically interpretive singing’ and sophisticated vocal skills, and the result is breathtaking. This meeting of intertwined sonic minds, naturally led to the creation of new material inspired by their diverse infuences and musical palette.

La Sorsa says: “After the release of my latest work “Primary Colours”, I felt the need to return to the origins of my voice, focusing even more on my instrument rather than on new original compositions. Tom and I had already worked as a duo on one of the songs composed for my frst album “Vapour” and I knew he would be the ideal partner to give vent to my artistic need of returning to the essential. Thinking about “After Hours” - and even before working on the music with Tom - I could hear a simple sound and I knew I wanted to create something completely different from my previous albums.”

This new collaboration, envisioned as a celebration of the beauty of simplicity, is set to inspire audiences once again across the world.

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'Her voice is powerful when required, but also capable of great variety and soulful subtlety’ - Jazz Journal

'La Sorsa’s raw and striking vocals are prominent in the musical mix, with her impressive scat moments driving the compositions forward.’ - Jazz in Europe

'Ambitiously conceived and perfectly realised. Tom Ollendorff is making his quiet way towards ubiquity’ - Jazzwise

'Young and sophisticated, he is the rising star of the six-string made in England. Ollendorff looks at the aesthetic between post bop, cool and modernism that makes harmonisations rather than virtuosity its strong point.’ - Music Paper Italy

Germana Stella La Sorsa

Italian singer Germana Stella La Sorsa moved to the UK from Puglia (Italy) in 2017 and quickly established herself on the London jazz scene. 'Nudging boundaries as she goes' (The Slow Music Movement) and exploring 'the crossroads of many musical components, including story, composition, genre and style as well as instrumentation and effect' (London Jazz News), La Sorsa released her debut album “Vapour” in 2021 on 33 Jazz Records. The singer melds her disparate infuences in her second studio album, “Primary Colours”, released in January 2024 - once again on 33 Jazz Records - with the support of Help Musicians. Following the success of “Vapour”, “Primary Colours” continues to ride the contemporary/avant-garde jazz wave, further exploring the boundaries of improvisation and sound experimentation, drawing upon modern sounds and grooves, from drum’n’bass to Latin music. The album features long-time collaborators Sam Leak on Hammond Organ, Jay Davis on drums, as well as Tom Ollendorff on guitar and special guest Tara Minton on harp.

Both eclectic and versatile, La Sorsa has performed in the most iconic London jazz venues and International Jazz Festivals including Ronnie Scott's, Cadogan Hall, The Spice of Life, Vortex Jazz Club, Toulouse Lautrec Jazz Club, EFG London Jazz Festival, Al Bustan International Festival (Lebanon), Taranto Jazz Festival and Ceglie Jazz Open Festival (Italy).

La Sorsa started performing in Italy at an early age, working her way up through the Italian Jazz scene to ultimately perform at the side of one of the most infuential European jazz musicians: Franco Cerri (Chet Baker, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday, Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan, Django Reinhardt and many more).

Tom Ollendoff

Tom Ollendorff is fast becoming one of the best-known young guitarists to emerge on the international jazz scene. A graduate from the Royal Welsh College of Music in Cardiff, he was awarded the Yamaha Parliamentary Jazz Scholarship in 2016.

Tom's debut album “A Song For You” was released on Fresh Sound Records in May 2021 and received international acclaim and helped to launch an international touring career that has seen Tom perform at many of Europe’s best known Jazz clubs including Ronnie Scott’s, Sunset-Sunside, Jamboree, Jimmy Glass, Jazz-Hus Montmartre, Nardis, Budapest Jazz Club, Jazz in Bess, Jazz Club Ferrara as well as performances at notable venues and festivals including London Jazz Festival, Koa Jazz Festival, Brecon Jazz Festival and the One Day Jazz Festival.

His latest album “Open House” was released in May 2023 and sees a continuation of his work with his trio with long-term trio featuring Marc Michel on drums and Conor Chaplin on bass, with the addition of the critically acclaimed saxophonist Ben Wendel on four tracks. The recent release has received global recognition and has seen Tom continue to build his international reputation and following.

Alongside his work as a bandleader, Tom has been fortunate to work extensively as a sideman with a wide range of artists including Ari Hoenig, Bill McHenry, Geoff Simkins, Huw Warren, Tim Garland, Nitai Hershkovits and The Fresh Sound Ensemble.

Links www.germanalasorsa.com/

www.tomollendorff.com/

www.instagram.com/germanastellals/

www.instagram.com/tomollendorff/

www.youtube.com/@GermanaStellaLaSorsa

www.youtube.com/@TomOllendorff