jazz2love

  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:  Laguna Road from Haerts Release Date:  October 3, 2025 Websites:  haertsmusic.com music.apple.com/us/album/laguna-road/1819112843 Laguna Road , the fourth recording from Haerts, a sonic pop duo that gels ambient jazz, blues, folk, and acoustic rock, emerge with a poignant compilation that resonates with audiences far and wide.  Founded by vocalist Nini Fabi and keyboardist/guitarist Ben Gebert, Haerts give listeners music that evokes deep contemplation and introspection about life choices, experiences met along the journey and the outcomes that unfold.  The ethereal textures and soothing atmospherics produce fantastical dreamscapes, moving with the fluid tranquility of a free-flowing stream.  Gebert's breezy guitar riffs piping through "Brighter Day" contour Fabi's meditative vocals with a tenderness that vibrates of chimerical warmth, as the dirge-like sonorous of his keys boost Fabi's soul-examining, introspective musings driving "Wom...

Album:  Hope Artist:  Defne Şahin Label:  Berthold Records Website:  www.defnesahin.com www.instagram.com/defne.sahin www.facebook.com/defnesahingroup www.youtube.com/defnesahin Bridging the melodic influences of world pop, jazz, and ambient, vocalist Defne Şahin merges the poetry of British author Emily Dickinson with original music and lyrics on Şahin's 2023 release Hope.  Her lyrics externalize thoughts about life and death, moving between introspection and melancholy, wrestling between embracing life and longing for loss and letting these feelings go.  Culminating into an enchanting cauldron of hypnotic soundscapes as each track moves into the next. The Berlin-born vocalist of Turkish origin draws from her experiences living between New York, Berlin, and Istanbul.  Inspired by the poems of Dickinson, the music intimates the highs and lows of life, offering insight into human existence and all its complexities. Şahin's glistening timbres produce an...

Album:  Forever Stories of: Moving Parties Artists:  Peggy Lee and Cole Schmidt Label:  Earshift Music Website: https://peggyleecoleschmidt.bandcamp.com/album/forever-stories-of-moving-parties Coming together in 2019, the duo of cellist Peggy Lee and guitarist Cole Schmidt are artisans of ambient jazz.  Their recording Forever Stories of: Moving Parties is a vision of fluid soundscapes accented by stimulating effects.  Hailing from Vancouver, British Columbia, the pair write improvised phrases that open up the listener's cerebral senses, tantalizing the imagination and offering insight into otherworldy emanations. The chord schemes move like ghostly apparitions, embodying phantom-like figments, free floating abstractions rising and withdrawing at random.  The notes posture glides upright in luminous hues.  Schmidt remarks in a press notice, "The initial concept for the record had to do with hosting a party that included all kinds of people and charact...

Album:  Wintersongs Artist:  Laila Biali Label:  Self-Released Websites:  www.lailabiali.com www.facebook.com/LAILABIALIMUSIC www.instagram.com/lailabiali www.x.com/lailabiali www.tiktok.com/@lailabiali www.youtube.com/lailabiali https://lailabiali.bigcartel.com/product/wintersongs Wintersongs is vocalist and pianist Laila Biali’s 10th recording as a bandleader.  Her first release in almost 2 years.  It is perceived as a proverbial love letter to winter.  The offering projects sonic images for the listener.  A sonic gala where the listener is caught in the midst of a breeze blowing across snow-capped mountains, floats above a field of whistling trees as they are jostled by nature's wind, cradled by the warmth of the sun's rays draping across rolling pastures.  Such images are pictured in the symphonic passages of Biali's music. Starting the listening experience with "Drifting Down Ice," the soft and plush soundscape moves sleekly, knitting h...

Album:  The World and Its People Artist:  Yosef Gutman Levitt Label:  Soul Song Label Website:  https://yosefgutman.com Bassist and composer Yosef Gutman Levitt of Jerusalem releases his latest offering, The World and Its People , available from Levitt’s recently formed Soul Song imprint.  Leading a drum-less, chamber-jazz-newgrass foursome influenced in part by The Goat Rodeo Sessions with Chris Thile, Yo-Yo Ma, Edgar Meyer and Stuart Duncan, Levitt delivers a collection of atmospheric melodies and spiritual renderings that have a soothing effect on the listener. The tracks are Levitt's original works cowritten and arranged by producer Gilad Ronen, with meaningful contributions from Levitt’s close musical associates Tal Yahalom on nylon and steel string acoustic guitars, Omri Mor on piano and Yoed Nir on cello.  Pairing elements of orchestral spirituals, country dance, Indian-Asian folkloric, ambient jazz, and improvisation, the quartet dazzles the listen...

Album:  Douce France Sweet France Artist:  Margot Sergent Label:  Zoho Music Website:  https://margotsergent.com/ A bilingual French-born jazz singer who doubles on harp, Margot Sergent has a magnetic quality belies her age, spinning mature stories that beckon the listener's undivided attention.  Her 2023 outing Douce France Sweet France moves through an array of tunes from the reflective mood of "Keep the Moon in Mind" to the daydreamy ambience of "The Apartment Next Door," and the joyful buoyancy of "Douce France," embracing the pleasures of life. Each tune depicts another phase of life, a different experience along the journey, and always being intimate with the audience about the encounters.  Sergent's voice is expressive, mirroring the images projected in the lyrics so audiences can follow her narration, always from a viewpoint suspended above the scenes.  "La Boheme" offers the listener a seat in the balcony as Sergent's charis...

Album:  Subduing the Silence Artist:  Ruiqi Wang (王睿琪) Label:  Orchard of Pomegranates Website:  https://www.ruiqiwangsings.com/ The debut recording Subduing the Silence from vocalist Ruiqi Wang (王睿琪) fuses ruminating vocals with stride piano, chamber music serenades, and traditional Chinese spirituals.  Wang's delivery is expressive, articulate and introspective as she channels a calm current among the sparse instrumental layers.  Her songs are interspersed with short instrumental interludes, indulging in freeform extemporization while Wang steers the recording into dream-like ambiences, helmed by thought-evoking lyrics and her sensual voicing. Accompanied by Stephanie Urquhart on piano, Summer Kodama on bass, Mili Hong on drums, and members of the Craft Ensemble including Colleen Brannen on violin, Amy Sims on violin, Amelia Hollander Ames on viola, and Velleda Miragias on cello, Wang bridges the ethereal plane with the human soul.  The chanting voi...

Album:  Where We Are Gathered Artist:  Opium Moon Label:  Downtown Artists Website:  https://www.opiummoon.com Traditional Middle Eastern soundscapes fused with contemporary ambient textures, Opium Moon take audiences along a serene sojourn on their latest release Where We Are Gathered from Downtown Artists.  Integrating the hypnotic beating of MB Gordy's percussion with the pulsating tremors of Itai Disraeli bass, their rhythmic swells are layered by the pensive ruminations of Hamid Saeidi's santoor and the eloquent phrasing of Lili Haydn's wistful violin strings.  The recording flows in a fluid stream of soothing soundscapes that put listeners at ease aurally, cerebrally, and internally. Track after track is a winding trail of silky silhouettes, breezy caresses, and trance-like quivers.  The soothing sonic sensations massage the senses and have a tranquilizing effect on the mind.  The vocalizations on "Scorpion Moon" and "Of Kiss and Wing" reso...

Album:  Σymposium For Peace Artist:  George Nazos Website:  https://www.georgenazos.com An agreeable mixture of folkloric jazz, ambient acoustics, and improvised phrasing, Σymposium For Peace from guitarist, composer and bandleader George Nazos is an enterprising venture.  Accompanied by Harvie S on bass, Joe Abba on drums and guest vocalist Tamuz Nissim, Nazos flexes his instinct for theatrical flourishes, threading chords that sow together into searing stories. Nazos's strumming tenderly treads across "I See You" brandishing an ambient texture that's bolstered by the light strokes of Abba's drums and soft throbbing of Harvie S's bass.   Nazos changes course on "Santie" displaying a nimble flutter that wields a folkoric twinkle, which transitions into the gentle glittering effects strewn across "Lonely Moon."  His guitar strings weave searing messages as though groping in the darkness, grasping for something in the distance and wandering ...

Album:  Tiptoes Artist:  Max Highstein Website:  www.MaxHighsteinMusic.com Audiences will recognize there is a familiarity about Max Highstein's music.  Like these are tunes that have come into their lives before while they are standing on line in a store, sitting in a doctor's waiting room, eating dinner at an upscale restaurant, or watching a TV show or commercial.  His latest outing Tiptoes is clad with music that generates a casual feel with its warm temperament and blissful aesthetics palatable for the general public's consumption.  Highstein has been perceived as a New Age artist, and Tiptoes 's attributes fit the genre's criteria.  But the music is more overarching, owning traits emblematic of ambient jazz, sonic pop, soft rock, and R&B/soul.  Simply put, Highstein's music is a melting pot of influences that appeals to all types of societies.  The swirling notes of Highstein's sax are nestled alongside Ed Willett's furling cello c...

Album:  Americana Artists:  Grégoire Maret, Romain Collin, and Bill Frisell Label:  ACT Music Websites: https://www.billfrisell.com https://www.romaincollin.com https://www.gregoiremaret.com A blend of country folk, ambient jazz, indie rock, and acoustic pop, the trio of Grégoire Maret on harmonica, Romain Collin on piano, and Bill Frisell on guitar and banjo come together on Americana from ACT Music label.  The trio's collection of cover tunes permeates healing attributes as the music feels like a soothing balm on the listener's senses.  Track after track shepherds soulful passages from the trio, arranging them into a cavalcade of blissful soundscapes.  The natural flow of the music keeps the chord progressions advancing, producing fluxing movements that harvest elegant sprigs along the coasting swells. The trio's rendition of Bon Iver's serenely lilting "Stacks" features the soothing verses of Maret's harmonica trussed in Frisell's comfy guitar ...

Album:  Bangalore Blues Artists:  Radha Thomas and Aman Mahajan Label:  Subcontinental Records Website:  www.radhathomas.com Based in Bangalore, India, vocalist Radha Thomas and keyboardist Aman Mahajan intertwine musical elements inherent in their native culture, offering their own brand of smooth ambient jazz.  Intrinsically comparable to the charismatic vocalese of Nina Simone, Mahajan's delicate musings on the piano keys radiate a classical orchestral luster as the duo interlock blues, rap, and cool jazz on their latest effort Bangalore Blues . The pair administer a personalized touch on their tracks, fusing Thomas's alto-bass register with Mahajan's sparsely kindled doodles. Melodies like "Load Shedding" and "Only Illusion" are led by Thomas's stark vocals, reflecting about life's circumstances and contemplating a course to take.  The provocative lilt in Thomas's narrative vocals evoke the listener to join her in considering her quan...