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Album Review: Dziesmu Kamoliņš/Garland of Songs from Arta Arta Jēkabsone

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  Album:  Dziesmu Kamoliņš/Garland of Songs Artist:   Arta Jēkabsone Label:   Self-Released Website:   https://artajekabsone.com https://artajekabsone.com/soundspictures   Vocalist, arranger, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Arta Jēkabsone's newest endeavor, Dziesmu Kamoliņš/Garland of Songs , is a collection of 11 original arrangements of traditional Latvian folk songs interspersed with original compositions inspired by them.   For the recording, she embraces the past while ensconced steep in the present.   F olkloric melodies are intertwined with modern imagery and balmy aesthetics, rooted in blissful soul, uplifting blues, and pensive psalms.   Reflections of Celtic, Baroque, Alpine, and Baltic folk cultures vibrate throughout the tracks, wrapping the listener in a montage of sprightly cantors and soothing ballads.   Her vocals soar elegantly across “Dievin, Tavu Gaisuminu!,” supported by a bopping groove that interweaves a rhythm ...

Album Review: In the Wonder of the Night from Angela Verbrugge

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    Album: In the Wonder of the Night Artist:  Angela Verbrugge Label:  G2 Records & Publishing Website:  www.angelasjazz.com Animated, flirtatious, seductive, and soothing, Vancouver-based vocalist Angela Verbrugge can coax a smile out of the grumpiest audience member, impressing a positive effect on the most impervious listener.   Her voice is gently persuasive, penetrating the listener with an effortless touch.  Her latest release In the Wonder of the Night is a collection of Great American Songbook standards interspersed with original tunes by Verbrugge.  She is accompanied by New York City-based pianist Ray Gallon.  Their duets display a simple elegance, highlighting Verbrugge's vocal melodies and lively vocal hooks. Verbrugge projects confidence in her delivery and sharp instincts to communicate the story behind the lyrics she sings.  She is theatrical without being flamboyant, buoyant without being pretentious, authentic...

Album Review: Tis Autumn from Naama

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    Album:  Tis Autumn Artist:  Naama Label:  La Reserve Records Website:  https://www.naamasings.com Dreamy and ambient, vocalist Naama possesses a spellbinding vocalese reminiscent of vintage Connie Francis, demonstrating a smooth vocal stride reflective of classic jazz artists like Lainie Kazan and Peggy Lee.  Her timbres shine like a flawless diamond with a clarity and luster on par with the iconic Petula Clark.  Her 2025 release Tis Autumn showcases her charismatic style and sultry feline purr. Track after track is sheath in a romantic glaze as her accompaniment plays in time to her rhythmic stride.  Sleek and shimmery, her voice glides harmoniously along "Autumn Nocturne" and pulsates with a beguiling sensuality across "Autumn Serenade."   Endowed with the alluring sonorous of a siren, Naama's style recalls of Hollywood's Golden Age, evidenced in her bopping rendition of "Sweet Pumpkin."  Her lyricism pervades a Carlisle...

New Release: Songs and Quartets from Owen Underhill and Quator Bozzini

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  New Release:   Songs and Quartets from Owen Underhill and Quator Bozzini Label:  Collection QB Release Date:  June 27, 2025 Websites:  https://quatuorbozzini.ca/fr/discographie?filtre=collectionqb https://collectionqb.bandcamp.com/album/owen-underhill-songs-and-quartets From Collection QB, Quatuor Bozzini's in-house label, comes a body of work from their longtime collaborator, the Vancouver based composer Owen Underhill, entitled Songs and Quartets .  The recording pairs two separate string quartets, String Quartet No. 2 and String Quartet No. 5.  Sometimes performing pure instrumentals and sometimes supporting vocals performed by countertenor Daniel Cabena, alongside Jeremy Berkman on tenor sacqueboute/trombone and Quatuor Bozzini on violin cello.   The lyrics are taken from the poetry of seventeenth century authors Henry Vaughan and Sir Walter Raleigh.  On the recording, chamber music strings are fastened to operatic vocals and ...

New Release: Elle a son Mot à Dire from Joane Hétu

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  New Release:  Elle a son Mot à Dire from Joane Hétu Label:  Ambiances Magnetiques Release Date:  June 27, 2025 Websites:  https://joanehetu.bandcamp.com/album/elle-a-son-mot-dire https://actuellecd.com/en/album/6703-elle-a-son-mot-dire https://ambiances-magnetiques.bandcamp.com Elle a son Mot à Dire from vocalist, saxophonist, innovator, and composer Joane Hétu presents so much more than merely a listening experience but more precisely she brings together a vast exhibition of life-size art set to sound passages.  Her theatrical performance integrates a mixed cacophony of elements including operatic vocals, eclectic effects, molten wails, fiery histrionics, free-style jazz of an otherworldly dimension, and both chamber music and extraterrestrial sounds.  Her project is reminiscent of avant garde artists, who illustrate the point where art meets music, where chaos meets melody exhibited by the likes of Laurie Anderson and David Byrne of Talking Heads....

Zero Point from Hadar Noiberg and Katia Toobool

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  New Release:  Zero Point from Hadar Noiberg and Katia Toobool Release Date:  August 29, 2025 Websites:  https://hadarnoiberg.com https://www.katiatoobool.com Award-winning flutist, composer, arranger, and producer Hadar Noiberg and pianist/composer Katia Toobool announce the release of their first collaborative outing, Zero Point.   Performed live, the album showcases a mixture of intimate duo pieces, in addition to full ensemble works with the Finale String Quartet, blending original compositions by Hadar and Katia with a wide range of influences, including classical music, Brazilian rhythms, improvised excursions, and ambient jazz.  Toobool's keys emote a sense of serenity throughout the title track as sprigs of luminous tweets from Noiberg's flute dot the melody, soaring with an elegance that incites meandering reflections.  The melodic musings of the pair engage the listener, producing an inviting harmony that people welcome into their homes....

New Release: Cursed Month from Lingyuan Yang

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  New Release:  Cursed Month from Lingyuan Yang Label:  Chaospace Records Release Date:  August 15, 2025 Websites: https://www.lingyuanyang.com  https://lingyuanyang.bandcamp.com Dramatic, emotive, and inflamed, Cursed Month , the debut recording from guitarist-composer Lingyuan Yang, enshrouds the listener in a raging delirium.  The oblique signatures, jarring shrills and fierce dissonance produce a tension and polarization that touches the listener's psyche, vibrating at the frequency of the subconscious.  Segments of "Moondial" create an agitated spinning that mirrors feral currents and uncontrollable anxiety, while intervals of pounding and raging keys, performed by Shinya Lin across "Song of the Mist," whip up a maelstrom that sweeps over the resonating drum strikes of Asher Herzog.  Reflected in the recording's title, Cursed Month refers to Chinese astrology, according to the press release, "whereby each of the Zodiac's constituent animal si...