Jawanza Kobie’s Weekly Wednesday Jazz Playlist March 29, 2023
Matthew V
Mathew V is the stage name of Matthew van Vooght, a Canadian pop singer from Delta, British Columbia. He is most noted for his 2021 EP The Outer Circle, which was a Juno Award nominee for Adult Contemporary Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2022. In 2017 he released the single "Tell Me Smooth", a preview of his 2018 full-length album The Fifth. The song spent 14 weeks on the Canadian hot adult contemporary radio charts in Billboard; after he unexpectedly saw drag queen Ilona Verley perform "Tell Me Smooth" as a lipsync number at a Vancouver drag show, he cast Verley in the video for his 2018 single "Broken". He followed up with the album Two Faced in 2020, and The Outer Circle followed in 2021. He is a frequent collaborator with Luca Fogale, a fellow Juno nominee in 2022. This is his rendition of the Peggy Lee iconic track ‘Big Spender’
Mette Heniette
Mette Henriette Martedatter Rølvåg is a performing artist, saxophonist and composer from Norway. Mette Henriette grew up in Trondheim surrounded by a vibrant music scene and she got involved with performing arts at a young age, establishing her own ensembles and touring with musicians from jazz conservatories in Norway and New York, before she left her hometown to work on commissions and projects Internationally. Since then Mette Henriette has been living and working in New York, London, Paris, Svalbard and Oslo. n 2016 Mette Henriette became the first artist to release a double debut album on the renowned jazz record label ECM Records. The album includes 90 minutes of music which she composed over a period of 10 years for her trio and large ensemble, consisting of jazz, classical and tango musicians. ‘Drifting’ from her new release Indrifting You is the track heard here.
Isaiah Thompson
Isaiah J. Thompson is a jazz pianist, bandleader and composer from West Orange, New Jersey. He began studying at The Calderone School of Music at an early age, and soon after continued his studies with Jazz House Kids and NJPAC Jazz For Teens. He was later admitted to The Juilliard School at the age of 18, and graduated with his B.M. in 2019 and his M.M. in 2020. Isaiah has performed with major artists, including Ron Carter, John Pizzarelli, Christian McBride, Steve Turre and Buster Williams. His recording debut was featured on Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Blue Engine Records’Handful of Keys album with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. As a performer, he tries to emit a feeling of joy and convey his personal experiences through the music, and through his everlasting love of jazz. ‘Tales of The Elephant and The Butterfly’ is a track from his newest release The Power of The Spirit.
BrandeeYounger
Brandee Younger is an American harpist. Younger infuses classical, jazz, soul, and funk influences to the harp tradition pioneered by her predecessors and idols Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane. Younger leads her own ensemble, performs as a soloist and has worked as a sideman for such musicians as Pharoah Sanders, Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Haden, Bill Lee and Reggie Workman, and other popular artists including Lauryn Hill, John Legend (Love in the Future), Common (Finding Forever), Ryan Leslie, Drake, Maxwell, The Roots, Moses Sumney and Salaam Remi. Younger was nominated for a 2022 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition for her original composition "Beautiful is Black". In 2020, Younger was awarded "Player of the Year in Instruments Rare in Jazz" by the Jazz Journalists Association. The same year she was named winner of the DownBeat Critics Poll in the category of "Rising Star" harpist. Listen to ‘You’re a Girl for One Man Only’ from her Brand New Life release.
Ari Joshua
Ari Joshua is an American guitarist, songwriter, founding member of the bands Big High. Acidophilus Cuture, The Fort Project, Cadillac Arrest, Slow Bunny, Space Owl, & RAaR. He attended Roosevelt High School, and played 4 years in the jazz program (The RHS Jazz Band). His hard work and raw talent were quickly recognized, and Ari was awarded a scholarship to study music on the East Coast after high school. Ari Joshua is the founding member of the rock band Big High, which was founded with singer Mesa (Robert Owen), and Bassist Sandy Dickerson (Sandy Rowe). In January of 2022 Ari participated in 3 recording sessons on the east coast; one with John Medeski, Billy Martin, and Jason Fraticelli, one with Russ Lawton,& Ray Paczkowski, and one with Eden Ladin, John Morgan Kimock, & Andy Hess. New Music will begin to be release schedule on Music Factory Records in 2023. His latest single from his quartet is ‘Fresh’
GoGo Penguin
GoGo Penguin are an English band from Manchester, England, featuring pianist Chris Illingworth, bassist Nick Blacka, and drummer Jon Scott. he band's music features break-beats, minimalist piano melodies, powerful basslines, drums inspired from electronica and anthemic riffs. They compose and perform as a unit. Their music incorporates elements of electronica, trip-hop, jazz, rock and classical music. In 2015, GoGo Penguin signed to Blue Note Records (France). Their album Man Made Object was released in 2016; the following album, A Humdrum Star, was released on 9 February 2018. An eponymously named album was released on 5 June 2020. ‘Friday Film Special’ is from their new release Everything Is Going To Be OK.
Moonchild
Moonchild is an American alternative R&B band based in Los Angeles, California (and one of my daughters favorite bands). The band consists of Amber Navran, Max Bryk, and Andris Mattson. All three are alumni of USC Thornton School of Music's Jazz Studies program. The band formed in the summer of 2011 after touring the west coast with Navran's previous solo project. The trio bonded in the car over similar music tastes and spent the summer and subsequent fall writing the music for what became their debut album Be Free, which would be released the following year. The debut album was well received by critics, garnering praise from many musical greats including Jill Scott, DJ Jazzy Jeff, and Stevie Wonder. After hearing the group's music in December 2012, Wonder invited the group to open for him at his annual House Full of Toys benefit concert. Since the release of Be Free in 2012, the band has released three more albums through British record label True Thoughts and toured internationally. This track is ‘The List’.
I hope you enjoy
JK