With their masterful first dual ambient-tribal trance album Activation , veteran instrumental artists, visionary sonic imagineers and innovators Byron Metcalf and Billy Denk invite us to experience something deeply personal and visceral yet transcendent and soul-transformative, creating expansive, richly immersive musical landscapes to facilitate foundational, enduring connections to our authentic inner selves, sparking dreams and imagination that help us explore our inner wo

It’s the best-case scenario every artist dreams of – the opportunity to dedicate themselves to a long-term creative project without a strict deadline, navigating melodic, rhythmic and harmonic challenges and emerging, as the Darren Litzie does with a transcendent album like On My Own Time . With a set of stylish, hipster originals and uniquely haunting, atmospheric, expansively arranged re-imaginings of “Moonlight in Vermont” and “Time of the Season,” the brilliant multi-tale

The opening line of Grammy nominated composer/arranger Dave Slonaker’s liner notes for Shifty Paradigms , his melodically and harmonically imaginative, rhythmically intense and stylistically diverse third album, says it all about his lifelong devotion to the realm: “Since my middle school days, the sound of big band has intrigued me." One of Hollywood’s most in demand arrangers and orchestrators for more than 30 years, his diversity is rooted in complementary passions for Jaz

Effervescent, ever-witty and stylish L.A. jazz blues and soul icon Betty Bryant is perhaps the only singer alive of which we can say, at age 96, it feels like she’s just getting warmed up. Quickly following up her critically acclaimed 2024 album Lotta Livin’, she joins forces with longtime collaborator and saxophonist/producer Robert Kyle for Nothin’ Better To Do , a lively, soulfully lived in, stylistically eclectic and beautifully loving set of engaging originals and offb

That elementary school teacher who taught Ricky Alexander the Original Dixieland Jazz Band’s “Tiger Rag” and other ragtime classics would fall in love quickly with the innovative, wildly versatile clarinet master’s third Turtle Bay Records recording Ragology. In addition to showcasing Alexander’s effervescent passion for seminal century-plus old romps like “Buffalo Rag,” “Ragtime Oriole,” “Nola” and the Jelly Roll Morton classics “Shreveport Stomp” and “Sweetheart O Mine,”

Fully embracing and embodying the title of his full-length debut Songs of My Dreams , James Judson reveals himself not only as a graceful, deeply soulful balladeer and charming crooner with an impeccable sense of swing, but also as an effortlessly talented vocalist who never gave up on his lifelong dream to sing - and literally gains inspiration from his subconscious dreams. After pursuing music into his 30s, he reached a crossroads to raise his large family (six kids) and bu

The title and overriding theme of The Dave Wilson Quartet’s When Even Goes East  gives his fans a glimpse of his life before he was an in-demand jazz cat to the tune of 120 annual dates with big bands and small ensembles and headlining festivals, jazz clubs and private engagements while also owning and operating a woodwind based musical instrument company. The buoyant, percussive and coolly strutting title track feels like an adventurous ride with him years ago during his bri

During his whirlwind 20+ year tenure as touring and recording keyboardist for contemporary jazz supergroup The Rippingtons, Bill Heller counts two enduring blessings above all others – the opportunity to vibe with some of the genre’s most creative and esteemed saxophonists (Eric Marienthal, Jeff Kashiwa, Paul Taylor) and learning from group founder and sonic architect Russ Freeman the value and excitement of creating instrumental albums around a specific theme that drives an

One of contemporary jazz and R&B’s most prolific and celebrated sidemen, bass virtuoso Roberto Vally has kept the grooves in both genre’s hoppin’ for the past few decades, serving as musical director for Diane Schuur, touring with David Benoit and recording and/or touring with everyone from George Benson and Boney James to Norman Brown, Boz Scaggs and Jeffrey Osborne. Since the early 2020s, he’s expanded the scope of his solo artistry with a flurry of popular, acclaimed singl

On Metanoia , Falling You’s sonically expansive, intricately textured and stylistically eclectic first album since 2017’s Shine, veteran composer/sound painter-sculptor John Michael Zorko joins forces with seven soulful, emotionally impactful vocalists to craft a mythology-rooted masterwork that journeys the listener from lamenting a ravaged world and a broken heart, through a proverbial dark night of the soul and on to discovering a certain solace in letting go of binding, u

A two-time Independent Music Award winner for Best New Age Song, veteran guitarist/composer Lynn Patrick is such a master at creating her “optimistic acoustic” fusion of folk, jazz, country and bluegrass that she has practically created her own genre over the past three decades. Beyond competitive accolades and prominent TV placements – including being a featured show songwriter for “The Young and the Restless” – she’s built an impressive catalog of albums over the last three

In an industry where many independent artists who have awesome, inspirational “day jobs” still prefer to hide their alter egos so as to keep the focus on their musical artistry, Stacy Robin stands out by putting it all out there. It’s right there in the first line of her bio. Beyond her years of accolades from L.A. Music Awards, Las Vegas FAME Awards and Producers Choice Awards – and countless songs appearing on commercials and TV/Film (Toyota, Nestle, The Young and the Restl