Two of the most popular jazz musicians in the Venus Records' roster got together for a superb duo album! Australian singer and bassist Nicki Parrott, now based in New York, and clarinetist/tenor saxophonist Ken Peplowski are two of my favorite jazz musicians today. They are firmly based on the tradition of straight ahead jazz, are both leading voices of their repsective instruments, and bring something fresh to the music by their ingenuity.

Following her smash hit Venus debut album Moon River, her eagerly awaited second album, Fly Me To The Moon, finally arrived. Her bass playing is more powerful and emotive, and her singing gained on the sultry quotient. Just listen to the very sexy "Do It Again." Nicki surrounded herself with wonderful musicians again. John di Martino, Billy Drummond and Harry Allen - familiar faces from the previous album -- are joined by Nicki's sister Lisa, who plays baritone and soprano saxophones, and guitarist Mark Sganga. The audiophile recording enhances the value of this wonderful release.

Nicki Parrott's eagerly awaited third album is a sultry and attractive tribute to Peggy Lee and Julie London. She is again surrounded by a hugely talented cast that includes pianist John Di Martino, tenor saxophonist Harry Allen and guitarist Paul Myers as well as her sister Lisa Parrott who plays baritone and soprano sax and bass clarinet. In 2010, the album received Swing Journal's Gold Disc award.

Nicki Parrott всемирно известная австралийская вокалистка и контрабасистка. Начала свое музыкальное обучение на фортепиано в возрасте четырех лет. Сотрудничает со многими музыкантами. Новый диск - это совместная работа с John Di Martino (фортепиано).

Produced by Real Gone Music in collaboration with the Peggy Lee estate, At Last: The Lost Radio Recordings presents 45 solo performances from Peggy’s own radio series, nearly all of them unavailable since they originally aired in the early 1950s on CBS Radio and the Armed Forces Radio Service.

A jazz piano tribute to Tony Bennett featuring Beegie Adair with The Jeff Steinberg Orchestra.

Новый альбом итальянского певца, композитора и гитариста Sergio Caputo.

Brilliant in spite of its ragged texture, Cassandra Wilson's Silver Pony justly illuminates the important influence Wilson has had on all jazz vocals, since her artistic breakthrough with 1993's Blue Light 'Til Dawn (Blue Note). A sharp solution of live and studio performances, Silver Pony reveals the depth and breadth of both Wilson's enigmatic singing and instrumentation, that rich Delta organic approach disseminating throughout all of jazz vocals of the past 20 years. Always close to the blues, Wilson puts forth an extended live "Saddle Up My Pony," originally recorded by Charlie Patton in 1929, that succinctly frames her earthy method.

Cassandra Wilson has explored a lot of experiences, a lot of music, and that is testament to her curiosity, imagination, and intellect; and her album Another Country, created in collaboration with Fabrizio Sotti, has an elegance that is thoughtful and timeless. Cassandra Wilson’s song “Red Guitar” is painterly, poetic, its instrumentation classical and bluesy, with drumming that is precise and lively, whereas “No More Blues,” a song of determination in which misery is shown the door, is itself a light blues tune with finger-snap rhythm, a slowed-down beat with jangling assets, mellow, verging on strange. (“Just like Frank, I’m gonna do it my way,” Wilson says, an aside acknowledging Sinatra.) “O Sole Mio,” mellow, a little melancholy, has a Latin flavor; and, the Italian-language composition, a popular Neapolitan tune sung by Enrico Caruso and Mario Lanza, is here given a casually propulsive syncopation, and is pretty, possibly beautiful, followed by the meditative instrumental “Deep Blue.”

Returning to her Mississippi blues roots, singer Cassandra Wilson interprets the stories like no one else can. Her warm, contralto voice hypnotizes. Surrounded by the natural sound of her 6-piece touring band, Wilson settles in for a refreshing look at Americana. Plaintive guitar cries and hands-down percussion provide a natural landscape. Steel pans, dobro, hand drums, and gentle, foot-stompin' rhythms give her traditional session credibility.

The last album from internationally acclaimed vocalist/songwriter/keyboardist Elizabeth Shepherd was 2012's album of standards, Rewind. It was a sweet treat, but it's pleasing that she returns, with real success, to original composition on The Signal, her fifth album. Shepherd possesses a beautifully relaxed and unaffected vocal style, one a little suggestive of Sade. She's also a fluent keyboardist, concentrating on Rhodes here, and she has made real strides as a producer. Subtle musical touches from instruments as diverse as steel pan (on "B.T. Cotton"), flute, ngoni, kalimba and horns are incorporated tastefully, while vocal samples range from the sublime (Leadbelly, Mother Teresa) to the head-scratching (Laurie Brown).

An impressive collaboration between two saxophone players: Holland's leading female saxophonist Tineke Postma and USA jazz star Greg Osby. On 'Sonic Halo' Osby's energetic modern sound combines beautifully with the melodic European influences of Tineke, and they are backed by a superb rhythm section.

As a left handed youngster Brazilian Igor Prado taught himself the guitar. In 2007 (after recording three albums under the name The Prado Blues Band) Igor released his first album as The Igor Prado Band and called it “Upside Down”. He had developed a reputation as a guitarist by backing up American harpists and vocalists when they toured Brazil. Igor would first take them to Restaurante Don Mariano in Sao Paulo and feed them food and Cachaca, the alcoholic beverage of Brazil, before visiting the recording studio. This newest album recorded in Brazil features Igor in the studio with various Delta Groove artists. The sessions were recorded between 2011 and 2014. The Igor Prado Band includes Igor, guitar; his brother Yuri, drums; Rodrigo Mantovani, bass; Ari Borger, piano and Denilson Martins, saxophones. Special guests help provide many nice surprises throughout the recording.