"It's an album that is tightly constructed, like movie editing in the sense that the clarity of musical ideas are presented to maximum effect, be it a simple melody, a curious rhythm, or an electronic touch here and there. It remains rich, too, in the way that a favorite record is what you keep returning to, an important objective of ours. It tells a story about Omar's relation to jazz, Afro-Cuban rhythms and spirituality, the piano, and a freely expressive mind".

With every passing year, pianist Omar Sosa continues to define what contemporary world music can be. Each effort is quite different than the previous one, while the bright colors, timbres, and elements of his Cuban-based music are elevated higher and higher. In his restlessness to find further truth and beauty, there's a calm serenity and unabashed confidence in his vision and personal musicianship.

The three members of Niacin each have high profile reputations. Bassist Billy Sheehan worked with Mr. Big, Talas, & David Lee Roth. Keyboardist John Novello worked with Chick Corea & Andy Summers, & drummer Dennis Chambers worked with Santana, George Clinton, & Stanley Clarke. As Niacin, they write songs that allow them to show off their musical gifts & powerful, soulful style. The sum of the parts makes the band a unique & identifiable force. The album features 2 unreleased studio tracks 'Front & Center' & 'Gelatin'.

Spanish pianist Chano Dominguez has made a jazz career in exploring its connections with the flamenco of his native Cadiz. On previous offerings, Dominguez has carved out a place where the various dance rhythms and sung cadences of flamenco find equal voice with jazz lyricism, exploration, and harmonic adventure. Flamenco Sketches began as a commission from the Barcelona Jazz Festival to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue. The album is a re-visioned reading of the compositions on the iconic Davis album – in different order – as well as two other Davis compositions, "Nardis" (which he never recorded) and "Serpent's Tooth," from the trumpeter's Prestige years.

Drab Zeen represents one of the finest examples of this important emerging new sub-genre, Arab-jazz. The genius of this disc is how Farroukh has effortlessly melded such disparate elements as jazz trombone and saxophone, chill-beats, French vocals, acoustic piano, oud, ney, and accordion into a singly tapestry of unique sounds, all the while retaining the essential elements of each instrumental voice even as he transforms the whole into something entirely new and heretofore unheard. Farroukh has grown in every facet of his music-making: tighter and more evocative compositions, a richer and more varied sound palette, cleaner production, superior sax blowing, and a deeper groove.

The music on From Now On is modern jazz marinated in the seductive flavors of Spain and South America. Guitarist Oscar Peñas' path lead him from Barcelona to Brooklyn, NY, and this geographic duality is ever-present in the intriguing blend of music that's presented on this, his debut for BJU records.

Diego Figueiredo, 29 year old only, is considetated one of the most guitar talents of the world. He is winner of several importants competitions like Montreux Jazz Competition, VISA Prize and some others. Diego has an unique interpretation, with a lot of technique, much emotion, and his show has been a great sucsses about to the audience.

Veteran jazz pianist Amina Figarova embarks on a bold new step with her genre-bending Persistence, creating a new sound for the pianist with music that produces an electric-influenced groove mixing funk-jazz, jazz fusion, hip-hop, classical and R&B rhythms found on this new exploratory album. After two decades leading an acoustic sextet, her new quintet ensemble, Edition 113 (named after the block where she and her and husband, flautist Bart Platteau make their home) was assembled specifically to perform the eclectic new music experienced here.

Jarringly highfalutin name aside, Chameleons Of The White Shadow deserves better than the reception it will inevitably receive. The latest album by Egyptian-Australian musician Joseph Tawadros, Chameleons… will almost certainly be embraced by jazz and world music listeners alike as a masterful piece of work. Unfortunately, it will almost as certainly be ignored by everyone not immediately concerned with those genres. Which is unfortunate. Not because jazz and world music are deserving of a broader audience, either. Simply because Chameleons Of The White Shadow is a truly excellent album, regardless of genre.

We've got a fresh new project here! A cooperation between two major league instrumentalists and visionaries. Sol Monk has been in Raw Tapes for years now, featured in dozens of releases as a solo artist/producer as well as band member of LayerZ & GESHEM. Sol Monk's drums are a heavenly mixture of tightness, soul and technique. Officially joining the family is the legendary guitar & bass player Yonatan Levy. Mostly known for his mega-hit psychedelic-pop Sony BMG and 100% Records signee band - IZABO - Yonatan has been playing and exploring sound, residing in the last years in New York and recently (lucky for us) back to Tel Aviv.

Virtuoso drummer and vocalist Cindy Blackman Santana will release a 17-song tour de force album on September 18, 2020. The album highlights Cindy's incredible versatility both behind the drum kit and in front of the microphone and features the creme de la creme of guitarists, including eight songs with Carlos Santana, two songs with John McLaughlin, three songs with Vernon Reid, and one song with Kirk Hammett. With multiple tracks produced by Grammy Award-winning Narada Michael Walden, the album is an eclectic mixture of old school funk and radio-friendly rock/pop combined with rock and jazz instrumentals.

Algeria-born bassist Michel Benita, long a mainstay of the French jazz scene, introduces his revised quartet. Swiss flugelhornist Matthieu Michel and French drummer Philippe Garcia are retained from Benita’s Ethics band, and the quartet is completed by Belgian keyboardist Jozef Dumoulin. Dumoulin’s swirling, floating sounds and colours - he sounds like no other Fender Rhodes player - have inspired Benita to write evocative new music for the group. The repertoire also includes a bewitching cover version of Antônio Carlos Jobim’s “Inutil Paisagem”, the freely improvised "Cloud To Cloud", and a touching solo bass interpretation of Jule Styne’s “Never Never Land”. Looking At Sounds was recorded at Studios La Buissonne in the South of France in March 2019.

One of the more underrated guitarists in rock is Steve Lukather. Best known for his work with Toto, Lukather is a highly sought-after session player, having played on countless albums by other artists, and has no problem adapting his playing to a wide variety of different styles. Lukather also finds the time to sporadically issue his own solo albums, and in 2001, he issued a live collaboration with fellow session guitarist Larry Carlton, No Substitutions: Live in Osaka. As expected, plenty of guitar showcases for each player are provided, especially on a pair of over-14-minute tracks – "The Pump" and "All Blues" – as well as an album-closing rendition of the Carlton classic "Room 335." Not exactly a groundbreaking jazz-rock guitar release, but fans of each guitarist should enjoy hearing each show their stuff on-stage.

European Jazz at its finest blending Spanish roots, Nordic space and sound with one of the brightest and most talented British bands around.

Golden-era, 1977, Brazilian jazz-funk-fusion album from the legendary, Azymuth. Lush Rhodes, soaring synths and fusion guitars from Malheiros and Bertrami combine with the inimitable drum grooves from Ivan “Mamao” Conti that create the signature Azymuth sound. The album moves from mellow soulful moods, into screaming disco-jazz-fusion, samba funk, synth boogie and ends with a tough 160bpm Batucada workout.