Amoeba Music

Living legend saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center for three nights in 2015, a concert series that featured some of his lesser known works and highlighted his multicultural compositions, not to mention selections from Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers and the Miles Davis Quintet, and his solo Blue Note albums. That makes it a 2-disc delight chock full of sweeping, thrilling numbers, each arranged by a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. The sauntering, satisfying “Hammerhead” is a key track as well as the funky “Endangered Species” with its intricate rhythms. Read more

2015's Big Band Holidays was such a success that Mr. Marsalis serves up another batch of holiday chestnuts for a sequel. Recorded between 2015-2018 at the annual Big Band Holiday concerts in New York City, the star attraction here is a recording of Aretha Franklin performing "O Tannenbaum" accompanying herself on piano. Also featuring appearances by vocalists Catherine Russell, Veronica Swift, Denzal Sinclaire, and Audrey Shakir, this latest collection of swinging standards is sure make your holidays merry and bright.

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The sixth release in a year long reissue series dedicated to jazz pianist Erroll Garner, Campus Concert was recorded primarily at Perdue University in 1962. The recording not only functions as a historical document of when jazz music held a desirable sway over college students, but as a prime example of the joy that Garner instilled in his playing and performing, be it a popular standard or an original composition. This reissue (as well as others in the series) not only presents the performances in pristine remastered sound, but also includes unedited takes (including Garner's trademark guttural vocal sounds) as well as previously unreleased tracks.

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Woven from the words, stories, and original melodies of an incredibly diverse cast, Humanité channels the ethos of civil rights in a raw and compassionate bid for global harmony. Jazz artist Kirk Whalum was nine years old when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated fourteen blocks from Kirk’s home in Memphis, Tennessee. In a narrative spanning from his own segregated childhood to the global music scene, Kirk collaborates with artists from around the world on a musical journey that is self-aware, determined, and inextricably connected with Martin King’s vision of the beloved community.

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Roberto Fonseca adds several guests to his trio for his ninth studio album, including saxophonist Joe Lovano, Ibrahim Maalouf, Mercedes Cortés, and even rapper/singer Danay Suarez. Yesun weaves Fonseca's accomplished Afro-Cuban jazz in and out of other genres like reggaeton and hiphop, keeping everything in dynamic rhythm. “AGGUA” is upbeat and lively while “Cadenas” adds some retro-funk and autotuned vocals before pausing for Suarez's interlude. “Mambo Pa la Niña” is a sunny highlight with its bright vocals by Gema 4.

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Confessions is Veronica Swift’s first effort for Mack Avenue Records and her proper breakout debut. On the album, alternately accompanied by Benny Green and Emmet Cohen, two of the finest jazz pianists of their respective generations, Swift showcases the powerfully expressive, deliciously evocative voice that’s garnered her so many distinguished opportunities. But there’s more – some X-factors that, in their stealthy way, make Confessions smarter, riskier and altogether deeper than even the most stellar Songbook record.

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South African guitarist and vocalist Jonathan Butler collaborates with artists Sheléa, Dave Koz, Keiko Matsui, Kirk Whalum and more on this Christmas album recorded and mixed in the studio he built in his home in Southern California. Read more

A tour-de-force performance, complete with Garner’s trademark improvisational fireworks. This new presentation includes extended introductions as well as an unreleased version of “Other Voices,” which has never been issued in a trio arrangement. Read more

Recorded in 1959, the Dreamstreet tapes sat unreleased until 1961 as the first product of Garner’s new Octave Records. A new Garner original, “By Chance,” has been added to this remastered release, restored from the original session reels.

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A dozen of Garner’s favorite deep cuts from the movies he loved, recorded during some of the last studio sessions of his longest running trio, with Calhoun (bass) and Martin (drums). Read more