Jawanza Kobie’s Weekly Wednesday Jazz Playlist March 15, 2023
John Daversa
John Daversa is an American jazz trumpeter, electronic valve instrument player, composer, arranger, conductor, bandleader, producer and educator. Daversa has degrees from UCLA, California Institute of the Arts, and a doctorate from USC. He is Chair of Studio Music and Jazz at University of Miami, Frost School of Music and directs the Frost Concert Jazz Band] Daversa has worked with Moonchild, Fiona Apple, Burt Bacharach, Joe Cocker, Andraé Crouch, Gin, Herbie Hancock, Holiday on Ice, Bob Mintzer Big Band, Renee Olstead, Regina Spektor, Andy Williams, and The Yellowjackets. Tal Cohen is a Grammy award winning jazz pianist currently located in Miami. "The Tal Cohen Trio manages to combine complex, modern jazz concepts with graceful phrasing, thoughtful development and honest expression. The original ideas, high level of communication and spontaneity of the group is a breath of fresh air and proof that jazz has a bright future”. This is their collaboration ‘Little Black Spider’ from their new 2023 release The Art Of The Duo Vol. 1
Murray A. Lightburn
Murray A. Lightburn is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist and principal songwriter for The Dears. Lightburn has been called "the black Morrissey" due to his vocal similarity to the former The Smiths lead singer. Once Upon A Time I Montreal is latest full release in March 2023 and this is the track ‘Dumpster Gold’.
Rusian Sirota
Ruslan Sirota is a Grammy Award winning pianist, composer, and producer. Ruslan was born in Uman, Ukraine to a Jewish family on November 4, 1980. His father, Yefim, who was an active local guitarist, introduced him to music at an early age. At 18, Ruslan auditioned for the Berklee College of Music, where he received full tuition scholarship, and moved to Boston in January 2000. Circa 2004, Ruslan joined the Stanley Clarke band and moved to Los Angeles, thus marking the beginning of his professional career. Since then, Ruslan has been touring, performing and recording with major artists (in addition to Clarke), such as Black Eyed Peas, Kamasi Washington, Seal, Josh Groban, Ne-Yo, Thundercat, Chick Corea, George Duke, Marcus Miller, Al Jarreau, Victor Wooten, Eric Benét, Rachelle Ferrell, Larry Carlton, Los Angeles Philharmonic and countless others. ‘Nightengale (For Ukrane)’ is her latest 2023 release from her full release Fruits Of The Midi.
Shayna Steele
Shayna Steele (born September 23, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter and a Broadway stage actress. Steele's Broadway credits include Rent at the Nederlander Theatre, the revival of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Foxwoods Theatre and the original Broadway cast of Hairspray, in which she played a member of the girl group The Dynamites. She went on to appear in Hairspray Live!, broadcast on December 7, 2016. Steele was hired to sing background vocals for Rihanna on her Australian tour of Last Girl on Earth. She toured again with Rihanna on her North American and European "LOUD" tour starting on June 4, 2014, in Baltimore, Maryland, as a background vocalist. Steele released her first self-titled EP and in 2009 released her first album, I'll Be Anything. In 2011. ‘The Bloodline’ is from her latest single from her full 2023 release Gold Dust.
Scree
“Questions for the Moon” is the lead single from Brooklyn instrumental trio Scree‘s new full-length, Jasmine on a Night in July, presenting a mellow but staggeringly inventive take on American music. Not much info found on this artist.
Julian Lage
Julian Lage born December 25, 1987) is an American guitarist and composer. A child prodigy, Lage was the subject of the 1996 short documentary film Jules at Eight. At 12, he performed at the 2000 Grammy Awards. Three years later, he became a faculty member of the Stanford Jazz Workshop at Stanford University. Classically trained at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, he has studied at Sonoma State University and the Ali Akbar College of Music. He graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 2008. He is currently a faculty member at the New England Conservatory of Music. ‘The Layers’ is the title track to Julian Lage‘s six-track companion piece to his acclaimed 2022 album View With a Room, on which he discovered new orchestrational possibilities by augmenting his trio of Jorge Roeder and Dave King with fellow guitar icon Bill Frisell.
I hope you enjoy
JK