Jun 17, 2025 11:12 AM
Kandace Springs Sings Billie Holiday
When it came time to pose for the cover of her new album, Lady In Satin — a tribute to Billie Holiday’s 1958…
Gregory Porter’s Still Rising
(Photo: Blue Note Records)Vocalist Gregory Porter has released a collection of hand-picked favorites on his 34-song retrospective Still Rising.
The collection features a combination of new songs, covers, duets and a handful of Porter’s favorites, too. The two-disc offering delivers a variety of views into Porter’s Grammy-winning career. The first disc includes five new tracks along with two new arrangements of classic tunes and nine of Porter’s favorite songs from his career. Disc two offers a variety of covers and duets with special guests such as Moby, Jamie Cullum, Jeff Goldblum, Renée Fleming, Dianne Reeves, Lalah hathaway, Laura Mvula and Lizz Wright.
“This is my music up until now, but it’s not a ‘Greatest Hits,’” Porter said in a press release. “They often come at the end of someone’s career, and I still feel new and young in mine. I have much more to say. There is always something in an artist’s career that people don’t know about; I wanted to bring it to their attention. The album title echoes my last one, All Rise, because I am reiterating something evident in my music and the new songs here — this upward-looking optimism about life and love. It’s an unfinished story for me, both musically and personally. And I’m still learning how to do this. Still rising.” DB
“There’s nothing quite like it,” Springs says of working with an orchestra. “It’s 60 people working in harmony in the moment. Singing with them is kind of empowering but also humbling at the same time.”
Jun 17, 2025 11:12 AM
When it came time to pose for the cover of her new album, Lady In Satin — a tribute to Billie Holiday’s 1958…
James Brandon Lewis earned honors for Artist of the Year and Tenor Saxophonist of the Year. Three of his recordings placed in the Albums of the Year category.
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“Hamiet was one of the most underrated musicians ever,” says Whitaker of baritone saxophonist Hamiet Bluiett.
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At 56, Rodney Whitaker, professor of jazz bass and director of jazz studies at Michigan State University, is equally…
