The ways in which passion is expressed in song vary from nation to nation, Kurt Elling maintains. Melody, language and style of expression are intimately connected and that’s why he sings these 12 songs from around the world in their original languages, with his jazz style subtly adjusted, and joined by an international cast of guests. It’s hard to imagine anyone else bringing this difficult feat off with such panache. The songs range from Bonita Cuba, featuring Cuban trumpet virtuoso Arturo Sandoval to Loch Tay Boat Song, with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. The highspot for me is The Tangled Road: Elling’s lyric, Richard Galliano’s melody and a heart-stopping flugelhorn solo by Till Bronner.

Paul Hardcastle's Jazzmasters series reaches its sixth installment with this cool, rhythmic, jazzy collection, which is similar to its five predecessors. The album cover shows a sun setting over water, and that's a good indication that the music is intended to serve as the background to a tropic vacation, Beki Biggins occasionally contributes romantic or philosophical lyrics and sings them in a calm, emotionally disconnected voice reminiscent of Sade. Sometimes a flute or saxophone, courtesy of Chris "Snake" Davis or Rock Hendrix, plays a flowing lead line.

Jazzmasters V is the newest installment in the Jazzmasters series. The Jazzmasters albums are the work of Paul Hardcastle, and are among the most anticipated and popular contemporary jazz titles available.

The fourth installment of Paul Hardcastle's Jazzmasters series takes more of the same elements featured in the previous three but takes things in a different direction than the last release. Jazzmasters 4 songs There's more of an emphasis on instrumentation and arrangments here than in Jazzmasters III, and much to Hardcastle's credit there's the resistance to cash in on the "chillout" movement that broadswept acid jazz, smooth jazz, and various other factions of electronic music into one convienent marketing category.

Three of contemporary jazz’s most popular artists—keyboardist Jeff Lorber, guitarist Chuck Loeb and saxophonist Everette Harp-offer a fresh take on fusion on Jazz Funk Soul, an album that grew out of a successful tour. The title is certainly truth in advertising: The set delivers a hefty, and very tasty, helping of jazz, funk and soul tunes that spotlight the three artists’ distinctive sounds as well as their ability to blend their styles seamlessly.

Cassandra Wilson, coming off a three-year recording break, returns to our ears with a tribute of sorts to one of the most alluring voices of the 20th Century in Billie Holiday. The current performer wisely avoids challenging her icon's renditions of jazz and blues standards, opting instead to take the singles best known by Holiday fans and reprocess them for her own vocal style. It would be difficult to label Coming Forth By Day as a Holiday tribute if Wilson herself hadn't told us that it was.

As smooth singers go, Philadelphia’s Melody Gardot is more versatile than most. On her last album she explored world music; on Currency of Man, she’s gone “conscious”. It’s not quite Erykah Badu, but when you’re a Grammy-winning easy-listening artist, it’s an admirable direction. There are songs inspired by the American civil rights movement (Preacherman, with its twangy, Dusty Springfield vibe), and others that speak out about war, famine and poverty. Moreover, she experiments with new rhythms – elements of 70s funk on She Don’t Know and rushes of gospel on Same to You, teamed with widescreen strings and flashes of horns. Some of her older-style material jars – when playing the cabaret siren on Bad News, or the musical theatre dame on overblown jazz ballad If Ever I Recall Your Face – but for the most part, these heavy-lidded protest jams are a sophisticated twist on her continually evolving sound.

Scott Bradlee is an American musician, pianist, composer, and arranger. He is known for his viral videos on YouTube, including his work under the moniker Postmodern Jukebox. Clearly, so does everyone else, as evidenced by PMJ’s presence on concert stages (stateside and abroad) and Billboard’s Jazz Albums chart, where its self-released 2014 opus “Historical Misappropriation” landed in the Top 10 alongside John Coltrane’s “Offering: Live at Temple University” and “All Rise: A Joyful Elegy for Fats Waller.”

Скотт Бредли и его проект Postmodern Jukebox - коллектив, который сразу получил известность благодаря своим потрясающим кавер-версиям популярных хитов в стиле Vintage Jazz и Swing.

The fourth installation in the ‘Those Were The Days’ compilation series celebrates The Good Life. Evoking the bygone days, this brand new double album, features tracks from the biggest name artists from the 40s, 50s and 60s.

Ella Fitzgerald - одна из величайших джазовых певиц всех времен. Диск "Forever Ella" был выпущен специально к 90-летию со дня рождения первой леди джаза.