EMP Project Releases Best of EMP Project — A Remastered Collection of Modern Jazz Trio Recordings5/2/2026  Blue Canoe Records proudly announces the release of Best of EMP Project, a newly remastered compilation album from the Southern-based jazz trio EMP Project, available worldwide on May 1, 2026. Bringing together a powerful blend of modern jazz, fusion, groove, and improvisational interplay, Best of EMP Project revisits standout recordings originally captured between 2002 and 2005. These selections, drawn from the group’s debut EMP Project and sophomore release Wherever We Go, have been carefully remastered to introduce the trio’s music to a new generation of listeners. At the core of EMP Project is a deeply rooted musical connection between three longtime collaborators:
The trio’s origins trace back to their time studying at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (1989–1994), where they developed a shared musical language under the guidance of renowned educators including Jerry Coker, Donald Brown, Rusty Holloway, Keith Brown, Mark Boling and others. After years pursuing individual careers across the country, the musicians reunited—capturing lightning in a bottle during a series of live studio recordings in Atlanta, Georgia. Recorded on August 6–7, 2002, with no rehearsals, the sessions document the trio’s raw chemistry, spontaneity, and collective musical intuition. Each member contributed original compositions, resulting in a truly collaborative artistic statement. Track highlights include: Warrior, Wherever We Go, Elise, Just Visiting, Ba Dump, Birdy, Quickly and Quietly, Night, and Synergy. The original recordings were produced by EMP Project alongside Vic Stafford and Anita Walls, who also handled mixing and mastering. For this release, the material has been newly remastered by Joseph Patrick Moore at Abstract Truth Recording Studio (Henderson, NV), offering enhanced clarity while preserving the organic energy of the original performances. Artist Quote “This music captures a moment before life pulled us in different directions—three musicians reconnecting with no expectations, just trust and instinct. Remastering these recordings gave me the chance to hear that honesty again, and I’m excited to share it with listeners who may be discovering EMP Project for the first time.” — Joseph Patrick Moore About the Release Best of EMP Project serves as both a retrospective and a reintroduction—highlighting a trio whose musical roots run deep, and whose sound remains timeless, exploratory, and deeply connected. Availability Best of EMP Project is available on all major streaming platforms beginning May 1, 2026. 🔗 More info: Blue Canoe Records 🔗 Streaming: https://orcd.co/60y0e5b   Blue Canoe Records proudly announces the highly anticipated return of the Dave Pope Trio with their new album “Skyline,” available July 18, 2025. This release reunites drummer Dave Pope, pianist and bassist Mike Pope, and world-renowned bassist John Patitucci in a soulful, spontaneous, and deeply expressive collection of originals and jazz standards.
After a 14-year hiatus following their acclaimed debut You and The Night and The Music (2012), the trio reconnected in August 2024 at Vatican City Sound in Marriottsville, MD. Despite having no live performances together in the interim—and with minimal rehearsal—what emerged was a session overflowing with chemistry, creativity, and courage. “Skyline” features two original compositions—Dave Pope’s title track “Skyline” and “Country Nocturne” by Mike Pope—alongside a curated selection of jazz classics including:
Of special note is the unique interpretation of “Falling Grace,” which features both Mike and John on 6-string electric bass, transforming the trio into a piano/guitar-style ensemble for this track. The recording nearly faced a setback when Mike Pope suffered a detached retina just one week prior to the session—his second eye surgery in recent months. Despite limited vision, he pressed forward with determination and humor, even jokingly suggesting the album be titled Flying Blind. Thankfully, Mike has since fully recovered, and his performances on this recording are nothing short of remarkable. Reflecting on the experience, Dave Pope shares: “We covered a lot of musical ground in just two days. Although we hadn’t played live as a group, the session flowed naturally. I’m proud of what we captured and grateful to have had this opportunity with Mike and John.” About Dave Pope: An Atlanta-based multi-instrumentalist (drums, guitar, bass), Dave Pope has spent decades cultivating a diverse musical career spanning the Midwest, East Tennessee, and the Southeast. From garage bands at 14 to sessions with jazz luminaries like Randy Brecker, Joe Gransden, and Louis Heriveaux, Dave brings a deep well of experience and artistic sensitivity to every project. About Mike Pope: An acclaimed bassist, pianist, composer, and educator, Mike Pope is a faculty member at Berklee College of Music. He’s known for his extensive solo work and collaborations with artists like Chick Corea, Al Di Meola, and David Sanborn. About John Patitucci: A multiple Grammy Award-winning bassist, John Patitucci has played with legends including Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Esperanza Spalding. His unmistakable sound and virtuosity are on full display throughout Skyline. “Skyline” by the Dave Pope Trio is a testament to resilience, chemistry, and timeless artistry. Available on all major digital platforms July 18, 2025, via Blue Canoe Records.  “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.   Keyboardist Scott Kinsey is known for many things — being a close friend and protege of the late Joe Zawinul, an integral member of the iconic fusion band Tribal Tech and pushing subsequent boundaries with his adventurous groups Human Element, the Zawinul Legacy Band and ARC Trio. In a continually evolving career, Scott’s operational motif is embodied by the word “exploratory.” Enter vocalist, songwriter and electric bassist Mer Sal (Meridith Salimbeni), a Coloradan with a fresh presence on the LA scene who spent years honing her songwriting, vocal and performance craft while fronting bands around the West to rave reviews. Through a series of recent (and fortuitous) introductions to top players and producers, Mer was invited to participate in The Native Dancer Series: A Tribute to Wayne Shorter and Karl Sterling’s Dream: Parkinson's Global Project. Both of these projects saw her performing along with many other top-shelf musicians, including Jimmy Haslip, Peter Erskine, Nir Felder, Gary Novak and Jeff Richman. Mer and Scott first crossed paths on one of these sessions and there was something of an instant connection between the two. After their initial meeting they kept in touch, exchanging lyrical and musical ideas. Mer continues, “I sent Scott the beginnings of a song, which he arranged and reharmonized. When I returned to LA to live, he played it for me. It blew my mind, it was so incredible — and incredibly thoughtful.” It’s that uncommon connection and synergy that fires the collaborative and creative union between the two, the fruits of which come through on Adjustments.  Part of the mojo transmitted on the album owes to the individual musical path each has taken and the different processes they have developed to achieve their respective musical ends. They also seem equally taken by the other’s abilities. “It’s interesting,” Kinsey says, “because she writes all this poetry — pages upon pages of text. I look at it and say, ‘There’s no song there.’ But when I ask what she has in mind, she starts singing and I can’t believe it, it’s totally there... a melody, a direction, a concept... everything.” Sal concurs: “I’m a poet, but I’m equally a singer, so the melody comes out hand in hand with the lyrics. I usually hear some sort of harmonic background to the melodies while I’m writing but now that I know what Scott does with them, I try to come up with melodies that lend themselves to Scott’s process. I love hearing him ‘Scottify’ them.” Kinsey adds, “She has a full song there — melody, lyrics and chords — but I actually don’t want to hear the chords; I don’t want them to influence what I might do. I want to keep my freshness, with the melody and the lyric and that’s it. This gives us individual roles to play. She comes up with the lyrics and the melody, then I can put my thing to it.” One might think that Kinsey, with a background steeped in instrumental, soloing-oriented music, would have altered his approach for the album’s song-based collaborations. “To me it’s not really that different.” Kinsey explains. “I still say, what is the melody, what is the story — just as I would with a saxophone player or guitarist — and write around that.” But Scott readily admits that having Sal in the mix sparks different inspirations. “It’s because of her voice. I love orchestrating around that and end up writing more harmony. With busier instrumental records, the music is already dense. But with Mer’s voice I can hear all this lush stuff going on around it.”  The fact that Adjustments displays some of Kinsey’s most innovative writing, playing and arranging to date may indeed owe to having Sal as talented muse, but it’s also the singer’s authenticity that effectively grounds Kinsey’s work like never before. Her original songs, such as the opening “Tiny Circles,” display a certain valiant fearlessness for a songwriter whose emotions run so palpably close to the surface. “I recorded that in my studio in Colorado and it was the first one I sent to Scott. I felt that in my life, I was walking in tiny circles instead of the bigger ones where I wanted to be. It’s kind of admitting my shame — so I could get through it.” But even when the pen presses hard lyrically, it’s not only taken aloft by Sal’s engaging vocals but by Kinsey’s (sometimes counterintuitive) treatments: “I had a general concept that if it’s a very, very dark lyric, I won’t enhance it with more darkness. I don’t want it to sink deeper into that pit but keep it afloat by lightening it up. Just like I might put slightly darker things around a really happy lyric or melody — enhance it by pulling it the other way a bit.” This symbiosis also carries over into the duo’s wonderfully creative takes on some classic (if not surprising) cover material on the album. Steely Dan, The Beach Boys, even Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” — (Kinsey’s an unapologetic Blondie fan) — all are freshly reimagined by the pair. Perhaps none of these are more emblematic of the Kinsey/Sal union than the wonderful joining of Joni Mitchell’s “Down to You” with Weather Report’s “Jungle Book” — something of a talisman and surely among the album's high points. The icing on the cake for Adjustments is undoubtedly how the proceedings are further raised by having so many of the sought-after, A-list musicians of Kinsey’s world (e.g., Scott Henderson, Oz Noy, Tim Lefebvre, Hadrien Feraud, Gergö Borlai and others) uncommonly colliding with Sal’s. This propels the music beyond today’s retrograde “jazz vocalist” albums that seek to rekindle nostalgia for the singer-fronted jazz band. Nor is it another in the recent stream of barely distinguishable, vocal-forward, jazz/neo-soul hybrids that proliferate in the modern soundscape. In their own way, what Scott Kinsey and Mer Sal exhibit on Adjustments speaks to an intersection as uniquely compelling as when Jaco met Joni. A modern entity, to be heard on its own terms. Says Mer, “We want to change what’s considered the norm a little.” And in light of the music that she and Scott have brought forth here, listeners will happily make their own “adjustments.” Biography written by Mike Jacobs Blue Canoe Records welcomes to the family of artists, Yellowjackets founder and current member - Russell Ferrante and the Russell Ferrante Trio with their album titled, "Inflexion". Russell Ferrante will release his trio album titled, "Inflexion" on January 8th, 2021 and you may Pre-Order it now at this link. Additionally, if you order the Album Download in the Blue Canoe Store, you will receive an additional 2 song exclusive bonus tracks. "Inflexion or inflection comes from the Latin root inflexionem meaning to bend in, to change direction. This music is indeed very personal and intimate and one could say it bends in. It is rooted in friendship, mutual respect, and the numerous points of connection we’ve shared over decades. I met Steve Schaeffer shortly after moving to Los Angeles in 1977 through our mutual friend, guitarist, Robben Ford. I met Michael Valerio years later when we began collaborating and recording with vocalist, Lorraine Feather. We all met Aaron ten years ago after Steve built a home recording studio and was searching for an audio engineer and some musicians to kick the tires. I didn’t have a home studio but I did have a few tunes that needed their tires kicked. As we worked on the music it became clear that Steve, Michael, and Aaron were perfect collaborators. Their generosity, sensitivity, commitment, and talent is what made this recording possible. It has been an exhilarating, sometimes humbling, but always rewarding experience to shape this music together. Thank you for bending in with us." - Russell Ferrante  More Info on Russell Ferrante - Click Here Photo credit Anna Webber  We are excited to announce the launch of Blue Canoe Records Radio - streaming live 24 . x 7 x 365 days a year. Click to listen to the live stream. Blue Canoe Radio currently has 29 programs and shows - click here to see the weekly schedule and speciality programs.
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