New Music Monday

New Music on KUVO! Join host Arturo Gómez on Lunchtime! on Monday, September as he debuts new music from Benny Golson, Nikara Presents…Black Wall Street, and Kurt Elling & Sullivan Fortner.

Benny Golson: Golden Standards Volume 1
NEA Jazz Master, saxophonist, and composer Benny Golson turned ninety-five earlier this year. Besides all the accolades and awards he has received throughout his illustrious career, Mr. Golson holds the distinction of being one of only two survivors of the legendary “Great Day in Harlem” photograph of 1958, the other is fellow saxophonist Sonny Rollins. In addition to his outstanding sound on the saxophone reminiscent of the “Father of the jazz saxophone,” Coleman Hawkins, Golson is a composer of the highest caliber having contributed a dozen or so songs to the jazz canon of modern standards, many of which are on this compilation album.

Benny has also written music for many movies and TV shows. He has doctorates from William Patterson College and Berklee School of Music, his list of schools where he has lectured or conducted clinics around the world is far too numerous to list. Some of the accompanists of note on this collection of Golson classics include Ron Carter, Geoffrey Keezer, Monty Alexander, Nat Adderley just to name a few.

Nikara Presents: “Black Wall Street”
Nikara Warren is an up-and-coming vibraphone player; she is the granddaughter of the brilliant pianist Kenny Barron. Born and raised in Brooklyn, raised by her multi-cultural parents absorbing all the music played in her household as well as the expanse of sounds surrounding her on the streets of Brooklyn. Despite being a student of the history of vibraphone and jazz, Nikara prefers to bypass the scholarly approach to her playing and opts to spread musical love the Brooklyn way by blending many music styles into a danceable collage.

Tutored by her grandfather and vibraphone giant, Stefon Harris, Nikara earned her a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music. She named her group “Black Wall Street” after the wealthy neighborhood of Tulsa, OK that had over 600 Black-owned businesses burned to the ground in 1921. Due to her love for the NYC borough of Brooklyn and always espousing its virtues, she has been crowned the Queen of Kings County!

Kurt Elling & Sullivan Fortner: “Wildflowers Volume 1”
Raised in a strict Lutheran home and singing in the choir at his minister father’s church, Kurt went on to enroll in the University of Chicago Divinity School, however with one credit to go to graduate, Elling dropped out to pursue a career as a jazz singer. He launched his new profession singing at weddings, and clubs and worked as a bartender until he had the opportunity to record a demo tape sent to Blue Note Records President Bruce Lundvall who after hearing it signed Kurt to a contract. The 1995 auspices debut “Close Your Eyes” won him a Grammy® nomination. Since then, he has become an influencer as a vocalist and lyricist.

For his latest recording, he asked the highly touted pianist Sullivan Fortner to accompany him in several impromptu sessions with little rehearsal. One track, “A Wish (Valentine)” features the remarkable Cécile McLorin Salvant. I expect this album to earn Kurt another Grammy® nomination if not an award!

Now in its 21st year of debuting the latest arrivals to the KUVO Jazz library, many of them are played ahead of their official release date. In addition to the music comments, I’ll provide a few tidbits about the artist, if it’s a new or an up-and-coming artist. It all begins at Noon every Monday.

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