The Saint of the Pit, Diamanda Galás’ fifth studio album and the second in her trilogy, The Masque of the Red Death, is an urgent record. Its theme is essentially passion, in the sense of suffering, although here, and unlike the passion of Christianity, there is little to offer solace. Re-released on Galás’ own Intravenal Sound Operations (ISO) after its initial release on Mute in November 1986, The Saint and the Pit is a masterpiece of witnessing, forged from grief and fury during the HIV-AIDS epidemic. While its precursor, The Divine Punishment (originally Mute, now ISO), released only five months before in June 1986, invoked Old Testament laws around the clean and the unclean, as a way of raging against the inhumanity of systemic neglect of people with HIV-AIDS, this album is focussed on a more interior response.

Collaborating once again with Black Acid Soul producer Chris Seefried, the pair produce a second album that not only embodies the freewheeling, emotive Lady Blackbird sound, but that also taps into deeply vulnerable lyrics that recount the singer’s challenging ascent to musical stardom. In taking charge of her own life and her own sound, Lady Blackbird walks a new path, making each note on Slang Spirituals a step in a radically different direction. Across 11 tracks Lady Blackbird puts her sweeping, cinematic vocal power to use on everything from the soulful orchestral fanfares of ‘Let Not (Your Heart Be Troubled)’ to the finger-picking folk storytelling of ‘Man On A Boat’, euphoric gospel empowerment of ‘Like A Woman’ and the seven-minute psychedelic soul instrumental of ‘When The Game Is Played On You’.

Vocalist and violinist Alice Zawadzki, pianist Fred Thomas (who also plays the vielle and drums here) and bassist Misha Mullov-Abbado present a rare alchemy on their trio debut, fusing folk idioms from a multitude of sources with free flowing interplay and fluid structures. Inhabiting their own stylistic realm, the trio encompasses folk song, chamber music, improvisation and acoustic jazz, and on Za Górami they present the full span of their reach in a mesmerizing whole. Ladino traditionals are heard alongside striking renditions of Gustavo Santaolalla’s “Suéltate Las Cintas” and Simón Díaz’s “Tonada De Luna Llena”. The title-lending Polish traditional “Za Górami” is performed in a poignant interpretation by Zawadzki and the Renaissance piece “Je Suis Trop Jeunette” finds a kindred spirit in Fred Thomas’s monody-inspired setting of James Joyce’s in “Gentle Lady”. The album was recorded at the Auditorio Stelio Molo in Lugano and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Karin Krog is one of Europe's leading jazz singers with a career stretching back to the 1950s. She is a unique song artist with a great international reputation possessing her own recognizable style and voice. Her constant creative approach towards contemporary jazz has never been bound by tradition, even though her music bears a deep respect for its forms. Karin is equally at home with jazz standards, blues or electronic experimental techniques. Originally released by Sonet Records this reissue of a 1966 session features an all-star line-up. A young Jan Garbarek is featured on two tracks and the stellar rhytm section is made up of Kenny Drew on piano, Niels Henning-Orsted Pedersen on bass and Jon Christensen on drums.

A tribute to her musical hero, Nina Simone, Black Orchid is the fourth studio album from British-Malawi jazz vocalist and protégée of Nouvelle Star judge André Manoukian, Malia. The self-produced follow-up to 2007's Young Bones includes 13 interpretations of the legendary singer's biggest hits, including "My Baby Just Cares for Me," "Feeling Good," and "I Put a Spell on You."

The Exclusive Edition includes two bonus tracks in addition to the major release. George Benson's place as one of the greatest and most successful guitarists in the history of jazz is secure, but what's easy to forget sometimes is that he began his career as a vocalist, and if this release, a tribute to Nat King Cole, comes as any kind of surprise, it shouldn't. Benson's and Cole's careers are remarkably similar, both becoming known first as instrumentalists, Cole as a pianist, and Benson, of course, as a guitarist, with both eventually easing into the pop mainstream because of their voices. Cole was a one of a kind vocalist, of course, and even Benson wouldn't claim to equal him as a singer, but Benson has a similarly soothing and lush tenor voice that more than holds its own on these familiar songs.

Spanish jazz sensation Andrea Motis (voice & trumpet) presents "Febrero" together with the classical Chilean ensemble Camerata Papageno, both as an album and in concert.

Sarah McKenzie is an Australian jazz pianist, composer, vocalist, and bandleader whose breezy technical style, songwriting acumen, and pronounced lyrical sense of swing have drawn comparisons to Blossom Dearie and Diana Krall.
This album speaks of the nostalgic and romanticised idea of Paris in the Rain, but is never cheesy. This combination of jazz standards and her original songs shows Sarah at her finest. There’s a great sense of ensemble playing and the band is cohesive and energetic at all times. Sarah is an artist who knows exactly where she comes from, where she is, and where she is going.

The aptly titled The Warm Sound reunites Frances Wayne with husband and arranger Neal Hefti, adding to the equation a wonderful support unit including tenorist Al Cohn, guitarist Billy Mure, pianist Hank Jones, and flautist Jerome Richardson to yield one of the singer's most delightful and consistent sessions. Hefti keeps his more extravagant impulses in check here, creating a series of sophisticated but appealingly simple arrangements that underscore the breathy appeal of Wayne's vocals. Likewise, warhorses including "'Round Midnight" and "Prelude to a Kiss" prove particularly well-matched to her sexy but sweet persona.

This two-CD set (a reissue of an earlier two-LP set plus six previously unreleased numbers) brings back a memorable Carnegie Hall concert that both features and pays tribute to Ella Fitzgerald. The great singer is joined on a few numbers by a Chick Webb reunion band that has a few of the original members (plus an uncredited Panama Francis on drums). Although the musicians do not get much solo space (why wasn't trumpeter Taft Jordan featured?), the music is pleasing. Fitzgerald performs three exquisite duets with pianist Ellis Larkins and then sits out while the Jazz at the Philharmonic All-Stars romp on a few jams and a ballad medley. Trumpeter Roy Eldridge's emotional flights take honors, although tenorman Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and trombonist Al Grey are also in good form. Fitzgerald comes out for the second half of the show and sings 14 numbers with guitarist Joe Pass (including a pair of tender duets) and the Tommy Flanagan trio.

Milton + esperanza – a new album by Brazilian legend Milton Nascimento and decorated musician/composer esperanza spalding – will be released August 9 on Concord Records. Recorded in Brazil over the course of 2023, Milton + esperanza is a dream-come-true collaboration and musical representation of a friendship that was first kindled nearly 15 years ago. The album features 16 tracks that celebrate and reimagine five of Nascimento’s beloved classics, newly written originals by spalding, and fascinating interpretations of The Beatles’ “A Day In The Life” and Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song” among other works that lovingly explore the music of Brazil and far beyond. Special guest appearances include Paul Simon, Dianne Reeves, Lianne La Havas, Maria Gadú, Tim Bernardes, Carolina Shorter, Shabaka Hutchings and more. Milton + esperanza sparkles with duets between these two iconic voices, exquisite musicianship and what spalding identifies as a central theme of the album: the importance of younger generations creating with, learning from, and building new worlds with elders.