Arts For Life - My Life Is Bold - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

2017 . Sometimes it is just a matter of timing and proximity that makes attractive collaborations possible. For years, singer/songwriter Rebecca Martin knew that she wanted to work with pianist/vocalist/composer Guillermo Klein. Klein's recent relocation to upstate New York, where Martin had made her home, made the opportunity of making music together possible. The beautiful results of their work can be heard on The Upstate Project. Martin is well known for her elegant songwriting and performance, commingling jazz and folk music. Aside from her solo work, she has regularly collaborated with a coterie of celebrated musicians, including Kurt Rosenwinkel, Paul Motian and Tillery, the celebrated vocal trio featuring Becca Stevens and Gretchen Parlato. Always community minded, Martin has become an advocate of sorts for collaboration in her musical and social endeavors, most notably in her adopted home of Kingston, New York. For his part, Klein has become a celebrated songwriter and composer, utilizing elements of jazz, modern classical, rock and Argentinean folkloric music. He had spent more than a decade living outside of the United States, both in Spain and Argentina, before returning and settling in Beacon, New York, a short distance from Martin.

Japanese vocalist May Okita recently departed Los Angeles where she spent several years developing her musical voice with some of the finest mentors and musical partners in jazz. Before moving back to Tokyo, she recorded this deeply personal album with two particularly inspirational and empathetic musicians pianist Josh Nelson and guitarist Larry Koonse. Together, they explore many of the subtleties of the human heart - pleasure, sorrow, passion, calmness - her sonorous and poignant voice floating effortlessly over the Bernstein/Comden gem InchSome Other Time,Inch the Joni Mitchell classic InchBoth Sides Now,Inch the Lou Carter, Herb Ellis, Johnny Frigo beauty InchDetour Ahead,Inch or May and Josh's own title song. InchArt of LifeInch is a heartfelt debut for a promising new voice.InchMay's delivery is at times so genuine and kind, it is really a pleasure to listen to her...Inch - Michele Weir.

Trumpeter Malachi Thompson used the unconventional spelling, Jaz, to distinguish real jazz from Inchsmooth jazzInch. This 1991 recording was one of Thompson's most exciting CDs and features Carter Jefferson, tenor sax; Joe Ford, alto and soprano sax; Kirk Brown, piano; Harrison Bankhead, bass; Nasar Abadey, drums; Richad Lawrence, congas. Perhaps the excitement was a result of Malachi's at the time recent victory over a rare lymphoma cancer? (Previously deleted 7/1/07. Original date 6/16/92) InchThe Jaz Life forwards a thoughtful, yet passionate take on the stylistic confluence that makes the '60s such a rich chapter in jazz's trumpet legacy. Hard-bop, soul-jazz, r&b, and modal meditations convivially coexist on this album.Inch - 4 stars Down Beat.