New Music Monday — Cécile McLorin Salvant, Bill Easley, & Kenneth Brown

Tune in to New Music Monday on March 14, at noon, when Arturo Gómez introduces these new additions to our music library.

Cécile McLorin Salvant: Ghost Song”
“Sometimes you have to gaze into a well to see the sky” is how this phenomenal vocalist, composer, and portraitist feel about coming out of the darkest days of the pandemic. Her long-time pianist and companion Sullivan Fortner co-produced this recording with Cécile penning most of the songs which have her expressing some very personal and profound perspectives from her innermost feelings. All of the illustrations and designs of this album are from McLorin Salvant, another gem in her discography.

Bill Easley: “Diversitonic”
According to the veteran saxophonist/composer Bill Easley, this session is not meant to be rocket science. Bill feels that music is often a tonic that brings people together. As the title implies this recording is a collection of the old, the new, the borrowed, and the blue. Mr. Easley comes out of the “big phat tenor school” of way back, at 76 years old he came up hearing the immortal playing of Bird, Hawk, Prez and his horn exudes their influence. Bill contributed 2 compositions of the 8, the others are covers of some lesser-known tunes for the most part. Variety is the spice of life and this album exemplifies this much to the delight of the listener.

Kenneth Brown: “Love People”
Hailing from Knoxville, TN drumming Kenneth was born into a prestigious musical family. His father Delmar played piano with the Miles Davis ensemble, his brother is an accomplished pianist as well. Kenneth is an alum of UNC-Greely and often played along the Front Range before returning home. Besides being a talent on drums, Brown is a fine composer, he was inspired by the events of 2020 to write 7 of the 11 tracks on his latest recording which includes 5 vocals. Guests include his brother Keith, Russell Gunn, Greg Tardy, and Will Boyd.

Every Monday starting at Noon, I debut the latest arrivals to the KUVO Jazz library, many of them are debuted ahead of their official release date. In addition to the music comments, I’ll provide a few tidbits about the artist in particular if it’s a new or up-and-coming artist.

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