“Jimmy Webb is the most important pop music figure to emerge since Bob Dylan.” -Peter Reilly, Stereo Review, 1972

Born in Oklahoma, Webb moved to California with his family and stayed there to study music. After some music transcription work, 19-year old Webb met Johnny Rivers, who signed him to a publishing deal and recorded “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” on his 1966 album Changes. This started a string of successes for Webb, and he saw his songs recorded by The 5th Dimension, Glen Campbell, Isaac Hayes and Waylon Jennings, garnering several Grammy Awards between 1967 and 1969.

As a performer, Webb also met with critical acclaim. His debut, Words and Music, was released in late 1970, with Rolling Stone calling his song “P.F. Sloan a “masterpiece [that] could not be improved upon.” Webb released six albums between 1970 and 1982, each uniformly praised for their creative music and forthright lyrics.

While his songs continued to be performed by the likes of Tanya Tucker and Art Garfunkel, Webb was focusing on larger scale projects, like film scores, Broadway musicals, and classical music. He returned to recording in the 1990s, and in 1998 published Tunesmith: Inside the Art of Songwriting.

• Jimmy’s version of “Phoenix”

• Webb talks about his influences with Jools Holland

Masekela started on trumpet at an early age, and with some friends he started the Huddleston Jazz Band, South Africa’s first youth orchestra. Hugh worked regularly in South African bands until 1960, when the increased brutality of the Apartheid state forced him to move. With the help of friends like violinist Yehudi Menuhin and conductor John Dankworth, Masekela earned a scholarship to London’s Guildhall School of Music, and South African singer Miriam Makeba helped him get to the Manhattan School of Music in New York. Once in the U.S., his recording schedule became very full: his contributions to Makeba’s records make them the best in her catalog, and his solo records from this period are an amazing conflation of 1960s pop and African influences. His 1968 hit “Grazing In the Grass” is a staple of this period.

The 1970s and 80s saw a number of high-profile events: a meeting with Fela Kuti spurred Masekela to explore his Afrobeat roots; his 1980 reunion concert with Miriam Makeba in Lesotho was attended by 75,000 people. His two records with Herb Alpert are revered, and his contributions to Paul Simon’s Graceland make the record the landmark it is.

Today very little has changed for Masekela, as he continues to spread his musical message of peace, harmony and unity throughout the world.

• Hugh plays his hit, “Grazing in the Grass” at the 2010 World Cup Kickoff Concert

• Masekela’s legendary “Coal Train”

His evocative voice and percussive guitar strumming still intact, he has maintained a busy schedule in the 40 years since, even finding time to make an appearance in the film “I’m Not There,” Todd Haynes’ Bob Dylan movie. Since the mid 1970s has spent time on the Northwind Undersea Institute, an oceanographic children’s museum in the Bronx that he founded.

• the last 10 minutes of his Woodstock set

• “Going Back to My Roots,” from a 2008 TV appearance

“On its self-titled debut, jazz trio the New Standards takes pop and rock tunes, such “All the Young Dudes,” “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” and “The New Pollution,” then strips them down and juices them back up with vocals, piano, bass and totally cool vibes. It’s a bit quirky, but it works.”  - THE NEW YORK POST

“…give these guys an award for being so super cool in their awesome versions of Lou Reed’s “Rock and roll”, The Yeah Yeah Yeah’s “Maps” and Outkast’s “Hey ya”.
- Melodic.net (SWEDEN)

“the trio’s rock chops fuel unplugged and jazzy covers of songs by Elvis Costello, Britney Spears and the Clash.” - WNCY.org

“To call The New Standards a covers band is to do a disservice to the trio’s ambition and imagination. They add so much to the songs in their repertoire that you immediately forget these are songs made famous by other bands. … What impressed me most about the band’s performance was that they took ownership of each number.

The New Standards at Hotel Cafe was an exceedingly entertaining show and one of the more memorable I’ve seen all year. At night’s end the band literally had the audience asking for more. If nothing else, The New Standards should be commended for making a Britney Spears tune tolerable and breathing fresh life into songs I only thought I knew so well. Spending a night with these boys is wholly recommended.” - The Red Alert • Review of show at Hotel Cafe, Los Angeles

www.thenewstandards.com

Check them out in this clip on You Tube, then catch them in person at the Dakota

“Muldaur has got the blues… once you zero in on the emotional nuances of her finely weathered drawl, you’ll hear an inspired change of heart – her voice becomes an oasis for troubled souls.” -People magazine

Born and raised in New York City’s Greenwich Village, Muldaur grew up in a very fertile musical climate. While still in her teens, Maria joined John Sebastian and David Grisman to form the Even Dozen Jug Band, and soon moved to Boston to join the influential Jim Kweskin Jug Band. This group attracted national attention and a recording contract, and when they disbanded in 1968, Maria had her pick of musical directions to take. After making a couple of blues records with husband Geoff Muldaur, she was asked to record a pop song called “Midnight at the Oasis.” It was her first solo recording, and it went platinum.

Since the early 1970s Maria has been involved in a dizzying number of projects: jazz, gospel, swing tunes, roots music, New Orleans anthems, protest songs, and more. Her latest records, Yes We Can! and Garden of Joy, are returns to her roots: the first is a collection of protest songs, replete with choir, and some Muldaur originals, and the Garden of Joy is her first jug band recording in over 40 years.

• “Cajun Moon,” a great J.J. Cale tune

• singing the blues with Leon Russell, Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson

“Cohen has emerged as one of the brightest, most original young instrumentalists in jazz… [she] has expanded the vocabulary of jazz with a distinctive accent of her own.” -Washington Post

There is perhaps no reed player on the New York scene being talked about as much as Anat Cohen these days. As a saxophonist and clarinetist she is well versed in a dizzying number of musical styles, including modern and traditional jazz, classical music, Brazilian choro, Argentine tango, and an expansive array of Afro-Cuban styles. This is evident in her original music as well as in the projects she has worked with: The Choro Ensemble, which specializes in playing the difficult Brazilian choro genre; The Gully Low Jazz Band, an exploration of Louis Armstrong’s music; The Waverly Seven, an all-star swing band tribute to Bobby Darin.

Cohen’s original music wraps all these disparate influences into one arresting package, embodying all that the clarinet can be to 21st Century music. But Cohen has a deep respect for the clarinet’s past, especially the long shadow cast by Swing Band-era master Goodman.

• Anat shreds with Paquito D’Rivera

• A lovely duet with John Pizzarelli

• “What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love & Understanding” with Benmont Tench on keyboard

• “Cruel To Be Kind” with Daryl Hall, T-Bone Wolk

Ascendant folk blues star Ruthie Foster is an artist to watch: on the strength of her latest record The Truth According to Ruthie Foster, she won a 2010 Blues Music Award and was nominated for a Grammy. One of Austin, TX’s finest musical exports in recent years, Foster blends gospel revival, blues and soul with lyrics that bleed and a voice that rings with joy.

“She sounds long-suffering, forthright, resilient and thoroughly at home” -New York Times

This is a colossal talent with a huge voice and a joyful message.

More about Ruthie’s story atruthiefoster.com/

“Ruthie’s drawn comparisons to Ella and Aretha, but musically neither is really close. What she does have in common with Fitzgerald and Franklin is the irresistible blaze—it’s impossible to look away, even close the eyes, for one second.” — Philadelphia City Paper

“Ruthie Foster’s voice is so full of hallelujah, you sometimes have to listen to her songs two or three times before you realize she’s singing the blues.” — Texas Music magazine

• “Woke Up This Mornin” from 2007

• Ruthie sings one with Robben Ford on guitar
More videos HERE

“A magic formula for an intense musical encounter.” -Telerama Paris

One of the giants of jazz saxophone, Charles Lloyd’s appearances have been rare and special since the late 1960s. Lloyd’s commanding presence and mercurial ideas have changed the face of jazz, and his influence and experimental nature are still growing.

“I know the winds of grace are always blowing. I must raise my sails high enough to catch the breeze.” - Charles Lloyd

Those “sails” rise from Lloyd’s horn until they fill and are filled by the air, at times becoming a gale force that sweeps all within hearing into a swirling, rapturous ride.  The intensity of Lloyd’s music doesn’t derive from volume or speed, but from spiritual depth and passion.

Lloyd made his recording debut in 1961 as a member of the Chico Hamilton Quintet, and gained a strong reputation for his lighter-toned tenor playing, as well as his unique flute phrasing. He played briefly with the Cannonball Adderley Sextet before forming his own quartet in 1965. This group, featuring Keith Jarrett on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums, quickly became a favorite of the West Coast scene and toured internationally for three years. Lloyd’s searching solos, influenced by sitar players and Indian druhpad singers as well as being melodic and blues-based, led to inevitable John Coltrane comparisons. Upon this group’s split in 1968, Lloyd went into semi-retirement, focusing on meditation and living in California.

Pianist Michel Petrucciani coaxed Lloyd out of retirement in 1982, and his style and sound seemed unchanged from his 60s recordings. This led to a renaissance in Lloyd’s career, and a number of new musical relationships to explore: Lloyd spent several years collaborating with pianist Bobo Stenson, and captured legendary drummer Billy Higgins’ last years wonderfully on two recordings (The Water is Wide and Hyperion with Higgins). His 2004 Higgins tribute tour, featuring Indian tabla legend Zakir Hussein and drummer Eric Harland was met with high praise wherever they appeared.

This new quartet (appropriately titled New Quartet) marks a new chapter in this visionary artist’s journey, and promises to be a very special evening.

“A commanding presence, Charles Lloyd has matured to emerge as a messenger of the music. Paralleling Trane [John Coltrane], the company Lloyd has kept (i.e. Billy Higgins) ultimately validates his spirituality.”
- Fred Jung, AllAboutJazz.com

• a closer look at “Mirror,” Lloyd’s newest recording

• “Catch the Breeze,” from 2008

• a great clip of the New Quartet at work

• “Migration of Spirit” and an interview with Lloyd, for the upcoming “Mirror”

Todd Clouser, guitar
Bryan Nichols, keyboards
Chris Bates, bass
Greg Schutte, drums
Special Guest Adam Meckler, trumpet

A young, genre-defying guitarist, composer, and writer, Todd Clouser is an accomplished musician across the modern jazz and rock spectrum, leading a unique path to recognition as an up and coming act. Clouser has found his own voice performing with musicians from Keb Mo to “downtown” NYC jazz legend Steven Bernstein. Clouser’s impassioned performances run from piano balladry to dense jazz and groove, exciting audiences with an approach meant to bend the rules of artistic labeling. “A Love Electric” documents Todd’s most aggressive ensemble yet, an energetic quintet based in the stylings of 70’s era electric jazz.

More information at toddclouser.com