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Keyboard Wizard, Producer, Composer, and former Curtis Mayfield alumnus Buzz Amato releases a carefully crafted eleven song album titled Muse Café. This eleven song collection features music inspired by each of the Greek Muses and showcases his writing, arranging, production as well as his keyboard skills.  We are honored to release a recording from the late great Allan Holdsworth with Alan Pasqua, Chad Wackerman, and Jimmy Haslip. More Info can be found here.   Guitar phenom Dan Baraszu and bassist Joseph Patrick Moore team up to record the Metallica classic "Seek & Destroy" from their 1983 debut album titled, "Kill 'Em All". This jazz duo interprets this song in a fashion unimagined nearly 40 years ago by writers James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. Jazz is about moving music forward and Dan and Joseph's rendition of this classic heavy rock tune, performed in a jazz setting, demonstrates this unique dynamic duo by pushing the boundaries of what jazz is in 2022.   For the past several years, former Yellowjackets bassist and prolific producer Jimmy Haslip has enjoyed an ongoing working relationship with the Bremen, Germany-based jazz fusion keyboardist and composer Michael Schmidt (aka MSM Schmidt). While Haslip played on Schmidt’s 2007 album Transit and 2009’s Destination, he ended up co-producing 2012’s Evolution, 2015’s Utopia and 2017’s Life. They take their chemistry to new heights on ARCeology: The Music of MSM Schmidt. This dynamic offering finds Haslip and members of his ARC Trio (keyboardist Scott Kinsey and Hungarian drummer Gergö Borlai) joining forces with the GRAMMY® Award-winning John Daversa Big Band on greatly expanded versions of previously recorded Schmidt material, along with two brand new pieces composed by Kinsey and Schmidt. The result is a powerhouse collection of polished, swaggering big band fusion along the lines of the Jaco Pastorius Big Band or The Brecker Brothers’ 2003 collaboration with the WDR Big Band Köln on Some Skunk Funk. “I wanted to see if I could make this a big band record but somehow make it different,” said Haslip. “I didn’t think it should sound like a vintage big band recording. I wanted it to sound modern and have more of an edge, which is what led me to include guest soloists like Nguyên Lê, Mike Miller, Steve Khan, Oz Noy and others. They bring progressive elements into the big band setting and add compelling ideas to each song.”  Out of the eight songs that appear on ARCeology, six were previously recorded on other Michael Schmidt records. The two brand new compositions here are Schmidt’s “Mirrors” and Kinsey’s “Quartet.” And as Haslip noted, “In approaching this project, there was the thought that if you’re going to redo songs that have already been recorded, what can be done to make them sound like new compositions? And I think with Scott’s rhythm arrangements and John’s input on the horn parts, we came up with some creative solutions.” Haslip also credited Kinsey, who became de facto co-producer of ARCeology. “Originally, I was the point producer on this whole thing, but as time went on I just knew that Scott needed to be a part of the production team,” he recalled. “We weren’t far into the project when I approached Scott and said, ‘I want you to be my co-producer on this because you’re contributing so much great work and it’s only fair that we do this together.’ He was up for that, so I am happy to say that Scott and I co-produced the record. I can’t take full credit for what’s happened here, as Scott was the real workhorse. He played most of the keyboard and synth parts and did all the keyboard solos, of course. Also, Scott’s rhythm arrangements had a big hand in influencing John’s horn arrangements. There was a lot of cool stuff already in place for John to just embellish. But then again, John has his own unique voice for orchestration. Everything he wrote after the fact was fantastic."   “The landscape is more than trees and views, it’s what we say it’s what we do, it’s what we are today. Never Forsaking this Frontier, so this beautiful view won’t disappear” - Marilyn Scott Marilyn Scott is best known for her Grammy-nominated work as a contemporary jazz musician, having performed with some of the best musicians in the world over the last few decades. The Landscape, Marilyn’s forthcoming album is no exception. Produced by Jimmy Haslip, featuring the sultry dynamic voice of vocalist/lyricist Marilyn Scott with an all-star band as a supporting cast.  When two legendary artists decide to collaborate on a very special one-song project, the results are expected to be magical. So the pairing of vocalist Mark Kibble, the 15 time Grammy award winning singer known for his brilliant work as the lead arranger of Take 6, along with guitarist Steve Khan gave good reason for such excitement. That they chose to reinterpret singer/songwriter Shuggie Otis’ Island Letter from his 1973 album “INSPIRATION INFORMATION” conjured up thoughts that anything might be possible on this musical journey. In a business where categories become essential, music writers classified Shuggie’s music as “Psychedelic Soul.” Here the Kibble-Khan tandem creates a musical impression that will also stretch the boundaries of labels. Steve Khan set about the task of creating an arrangement that would feature his identifiable style on acoustic guitar, supported by his signature Strat orchestrations, and would become a part of the musical foundation with the sense of a wondrous satin pillow of harmony and rhythm that finds Mark Kibble’s voice and sensuous harmonies as the jewel resting on top. Even after all these years, it becomes hard to imagine that one person, one vocalist, Mark Kibble could actually create every single voice that is heard within this performance, but that is what you are now listening to. The realization of this musical adventure was completed by the spectacular keyboard playing and orchestral sonorities of Rob Mounsey, an artist who has been working with Steve since 1979. The pulsing 5-String Electric Bass was supplied by the incomparable Rubén Rodríguez. The final percussive touches were added by the remarkable talents of Marc Quiñones on conga, timbal, bongó, güiro and maracas. All of these great, great players are longtime collaborators with Khan. Recently, after a string of ground-breaking albums in the Latin Jazz vein, Steve Khan was labeled as “the voice of the guitar in Latin Jazz!” An honor that he wears proudly, and now, in its way, the spell weaved by “Island Letter” only adds to that legacy. In these times, it is rare that artists might be able to release one song, a single, but this is the case, and Blue Canoe Records is proud to be the label to bring this extraordinary song performance to the public. We welcome to the Blue Canoe family of Artists - Rafael Greco  Rafael Greco's CD titled, "Dice Que Vive (Signs Of Life)" features guest appearances from Steve Khan, Randy Brecker and a host of talented musicians. Learn more about the personnel and CD by clicking this link.  |
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