The Revivalist
The Art of Progressive Music
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Dee Dee Bridgewater: An Alchemist of Sound
Tiombe Lockhart: Channeling Her Voice
In Tribute to Dilla
nia andrews: from roadie to artistry
Nancy Wilson: Poised with Elegance
Win Tickets to MdCL at DROM
José James: Unlocking the Code
Bobby Womack: Left Handed, Upside Down
Tillery: A Quiet Intensity
Hypnotic Brass Ensemble: The Baddest Brass on the Planet
Esperanza Spalding - Black Gold (feat. Algebra Blessett) from Concrete Loop on Vimeo.
Tiombe Lockhart is more stylistically than just influences and lyrics, she gives listeners moments in time, experiences, characters, and genuine feelings. Tiombe allows us to glimpse into a world of compassion, insanity, realism, musicality, and life. Her world. The Revivalist shared a few moments with Tiombe to gain some insight into the life of one of our favorite multi-talented artists on the grind today. From straying away from music to finding her voice and more, Tiombe guides us through her journey to channel a path of her very own.
The Revivalist caught up with the enchanting nia andrews during this month’s installment of CHURCH NYC where she was collaborating with Mark de Clive-Lowe on material from his latest release, Renegades. From being a roadie for the the Roots to becoming Common’s assistant and collaborator, andrews has led a long and unconventional road to becoming the vocalist she is today. Check out our interview for insight into her journey, the never-ending process that is vocal artistry, and more!
Bobby Womack is the type of person that when you sit down to interview him, you get both a lesson on the history of the music business and a unique insider’s view from someone who has been to the top and back. Questions weren’t prompted during the interview. Memories became stories, stories became lessons, and lessons became new stories. Womack promised one thing only during the interview and that was his perception of the Truth.
After defining themselves as a living-breathing genre unto themselves and redefining performance and production in hip-hop, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble is working to reinvent themselves again as a band with a bigger, more brash sound. Never totally devoid of nuance or subtlety, the band looks toward a limitless future of independent musicianship after having traveled the world, armed with the blueprint handed to them by their father, Kelan Phil Cohran – an almost divine order for life, they move forward as men, musicians, and builders of a movement much greater than themselves; a true brotherhood in brass.
Somi is truly the example of a polyculturalist. Born to parents from Rwanda and Uganda, the enchanting vocalist writes and performs her songs in multiple languages. Her songs articulate the experiences spanning generations, and they illuminate the colorful cultures and sounds of communities throughout the African diaspora.
Saxophonist, bandleader, educator, and creator Tia Fuller sat down with The Revivalist to discuss where the music has been taking her this past year as well as where she sees it going in the new year. Check out below as she discusses her role in teaching the younger generations, her tenure as part of Beyonce’s band, and some projects in the works for 2012.
Acoustic is Greg Spero’s first major release on the BlueJazz label. It features Makaya McCraven on drums, and Matt Ulery on bass. When asked about the choice to not only make an entirely acoustic album, but to title the project as such, Spero says that he knew this aesthetic choice would be a surprise to people who know his music.
After the night was over, I was looking for more stuff to get into. It was so late, there was nothing else happening, but the show was so great that I didn’t want to stop listening to music. I wanted to keep going. So I went home and literally put on my headphones and kept rocking.
Exactly one month ago today the acclaimed young trumpeter Christian Scott held two performances at Harlem Stage, showcasing some of his new music off of his politically driven album Yesterday You Said Tomorrow. Legendary jazz recording engineer, Rudy Van Gelder, contacted Christian Scott personally in order to work with him on this album, and that alone shows the depth of musicianship Christian Scott has attained before he has reached thirty.
The Revivalist followed Soul Cycle’s Jesse Fischer on a journey as he released their explosively organic fifth album aptly entitled Homebrew. Between rehearsing, performing, and even recording a live session in the studio with us, Fischer gave us the inside scoop on what the process of releasing a record looks like. Check out below for an interview with the man himself as well as footage taken along the way.
Stephen Bruner is Thundercat and Thundercat is the dominant bassist rising within the ranks of R&B, hip-hop, jazz, electronic, and beyond. The mystique behind the man named for his favorite cartoon seemingly hides an introspective, ambitious, and fearless young artist whose solo debut album is finally emerging in front of the vast catalog of experience he has amassed in collaboration with the likes of Erykah Badu, Shafiq Husayn, Stanley Clarke, and Flying Lotus, his closest partner and head of the Brainfeeder movement. The Golden Age of Apocalypse represents something fully in the image of Thundercat with the help from some friends and as such has been heavily anticipated by his community of supporters.
As lifelong musician and producer Taylor McFerrin prepared for his upcoming gig opening for the Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Ensemble on July 9th in Harlem, The Revivalist caught up with him for a quick schooling on how he processes music, samples himself, some insight into the Brainfeeder community, a look into his upcoming album, and even a sample set. Check out the interview and some photos from Taylor’s shoot with Rehes Creative.
Ben Williams’s heavily anticipated debut solo album State of Art drops tomorrow Tuesday, 6/28, but we wanted to give you a little preview and insight on the project to get your ears perked first. Ben spent an afternoon with The Revivalist on a sunny afternoon in Brooklyn, and talked to us about the years of [...]
Earlier this month, the trio Troika (Rohme Giuliano – piano, Derek Lucci – drums, Jonathan Stein – bass) led us to what felt like a secret hideaway in the city, an old church quietly tucked into the corner of Gramercy Park in Manhattan. There, nearing midnight and with the church completely empty, Troika played us in entirety their latest release Two Worlds. Full of moody swashes of cinematic delight and rich layering of chords, their music stands at a unique intersection of jazz and classical. We are now especially excited to share this recording with all of our readers and introduce you to Troika.
Normally when an artist releases their first album you can hear where they may need to grow however, alternative to what’s out, “re:Visions” by Ben Tyree proves that the guitar player is far from a rookie with this first solo project. He has consistently covered and played along side many artist’s over the last decade.
What do you do when Chick Corea asks you to memorize an entire concerto? If you are Marcus Gilmore, NY-based drummer extraordinaire, you roll with the punches, memorize the music and use the experience to evolve as a musician. GIlmore, who has played with everyone from Nicholas Payton to Wynton Marsalis, and quickly make a [...]
NY-based bass player Evan Marien, who has played with David Fiuczynski, Jack DeJohnette, Ari Hoenig, Joe Lovano and more, recently gave us a few moments of his time to tell us why he makes music and where he finds his sources of creative inspiration. Marien’s experiences as a graduate of Berklee School of Music and [...]
Pianist Romain Collin has been on a mystic voyage of his own, since leaving France at the age of 16 to study the world and the music spewing forth from it’s many springs, hollows, subterranean spaces, and expansive outer reaches. Creating auditory landscapes that sound like much more accurate interpretations of the galaxies that space programs spend billions to glimpse from satellite feeds than those in aeronautical accounts, Collin hopes to eventually split his time between trio performance and movie scoring.
Tuffus Zimbabwe. It’s a name you may not have heard of before, but one you won’t soon forget. Tuffus has been described as “a true tour-de-force of music: composer, performer, arranger and producer, with the credentials to back up these claims.” Tuffus, who recently became a member of the Saturday Night Live house band, as the resident keyboard player, may be humble in many respects but his talent speaks volumes. Tuffus shares his thoughts about everything from Justin Bieber, Apple commercial jingles and of course jazz.
A native New Yorker, Lakecia Benjamin has evolved from her beginnings as a saxophonist at Fiorello Laguardia High School for the Performing Arts, to working as a touring musician with Clark Terry’s Big Band, and in her current incarnation as horn section femme-fatale leading the Hot Spot Horns; playing for the likes of Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, and Keyshia Cole. She has simultaneously transitioned into producing her own original works with SoulSquad, a group comprised of musical peers from her days at The New School University, which she hopes will showcase her writing talents as effectively as her musicianship, while establishing the sound she has lent to so many other artist’s recordings as something uniquely her own.