Sony Music Masterworks announces the release of Got Soul, the label debut of Robert Randolph & the Family Band. Often called the “Jimi Hendrix of the pedal steel guitar,” and named one of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time by Rolling Stone’s David Fricke, Randolph has, since the turn of the century, revolutionized the role of his chosen instrument. One listen to Got Soul—the fifth studio album overall by this virtuosic player and the genre-busting Family Band and first since 2013—reaffirms that they have truly evolved into one of the most exciting, innovative outfits in contemporary music.

Trombonist Michael Dease is never short on ideas, but this one might be his best yet: With All These Hands, Dease traces the early migratory patterns of jazz through his own well-crafted originals. He starts in NOLA and moves along to many a music mecca, including the Mississippi Delta, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and New York. All the while he addresses regional dialects that developed as jazz permeated different regions while remaining cognizant of the need to avoid the quicksand of the past. This is Dease's take on jazz's journey, not his attempt at making a period piece.

Unlike many other American expatriates living in Europe, tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon always managed to play and record with the top musicians while overseas. This excellent sextet session (with trombonist Slide Hampton, trumpeter Dizzy Reece, pianist Kenny Drew, bassist Niels Pedersen and drummer Art Taylor) finds him exploring three Slide Hampton compositions and a trio of standard ballads. The other soloists are fine but Gordon easily dominates the set, playing his brand of hard-driving bop.

A cool collection of work from one of our favorite artists ever – literally one of the guys whose music was so great. The package brings together a really hip assortment of Roy Ayers’ best work for Polydor in the 70s – really incredible tracks that merge together jazz, soul, and funk at a level that nobody else can touch – not just the sum of the parts, but a sublime fusion that’s completely Ayers-like, and which has gone onto inspire countless other folks over the years – even though nobody else can ever do it this well!

This is a well-thought out jam-packed compilation of saxophonist/arranger Tom Scott's heaviest funk jams from his GRP years in the 80s-90s. Scott's cohorts on these tracks are some of the biggest jazz/studio cats ever assembled under one roof! The GRP 'sound' is an ultra shiny/brash full digital assault with a powerful low end that fully exploits Scott's super-edgey horn sound and the bombastic bass and drums.

Here is a singer of the new century for whom the voice is instrument before being vector of ego. His vocal references are feminine, perhaps because his medium voice can take him to heights inaccessible to some of his colleagues. He confesses, however, his attachment to Chet Baker for the celestial emotion aroused by his timbre and phrasing, and for David Linx with whom he worked five years at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels. But it is the elegance and poetic vertigo in which he draws us from the first breath of his voice that quickly marks this disc with the seal of talent. In the middle of an original repertory for music and lyrics, Robert Wyatt's only Alifib refers to a known field, where this young man invites the listener to a great leap into the unknown and a journey into His musical intimacy. It must be said that Loïs Le Van is well helped in his quest for grace by a trio without a battery where each musician is wonderfully in his place. Sylvain Rifflet (saxophone and clarinet), Bruno Ruder (piano) and Chris Jennings (double bass) escort the singer in divine fashion until the fascination of the listener, if the latter is as audacious as the artist. This is probably why Patricia Barber says of him: "This is the one missing in the world of male vocalists, it can break your heart."

New studio album from the Jazz diva. Laura selected a number of popular pop songs and had arrangements written in her own unique style. Bossa, swing, soft jazz, songs from Sade, the Beatles, Alicia Keys and Don McLean gain a whole new dimension! Universal.

Frances Madden is a piano player and songwriter – and an emerging Sydney-based ‘popular jazz’ artist. Her style is original and natural but reflects the influences of Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Krall, Nora Jones and Eva Cassidy, whom she grew up listening to.