Gypsy Swing Allstars
Les Nouveaux Bohemiens
18th & Vine

Tyrone Smith
Playing It By Ear
18th & Vine

Produced by Grammy Award winning producer Jack Kreisberg. Tyrone Smith is a melodically aware saxophonist who combines melody with rhythmic complexities that appeal to both jazz & R&B demographics, including fans of Maceo Parker, David “Fathead” Newman, Fred Wesley, Grover Washington, Jr., Kirk Whalum, and Marcus Miller. Has performed live with Charlie Persip, Al Jarreau, Bernard Purdie, Joss Stone, Benny Powell, Junior Mance, Lonnie Plaxico, and The Roots, and has opened for comedian Sinbad. Recognized & awarded by both DownBeat and NAACP Act-So for both saxophone performance and composing.

The Godfathers Of Groove
3
18th & Vine

Produced by Grammy Award winning producer Jack Kreisberg. Bernard “Pretty” Purdie has played on over 4,000 records and is currently playing nightly on the Broadway performance of Hair, which has racked up eight Tony Award nominations to date. Features Bill Easley on saxophone. Easley is a renowned session player who has worked with Isaac Hayes, done sessions at Stax, and performed with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Benny Carter, George Benson, Jimmy Smith, Ruth Brown, Bill Mobley, Victor Gaskin, Mulgrew Miller, Ron Carter, and Grady Tate. Reuben Wilson invented soul-jazz, a style of flowing B-3 organ playing over smoking drums that inspired players like George Clinton and Sly Stone. As the son of legendary jazz guitarist Grant Green, Grant Green, Jr. was exposed to exceptional musicianship right out of the womb. Today, his style blends technical mastery with heartfelt soul, and it is this combination that sets him apart.

Rodney Jones
A Thousand Small Things
18th & Vine

Produced by Grammy Award winning producer Jack Kreisberg. Rodney Jones is an incredibly versatile guitarist whose playing appeals to fans of George Benson, Barney Kessel, Wes Montgomery, Larry Carlton, and Herb Eillis. Has recorded and performed live with Maceo Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Pete Seeger, Lena Horne, James Brown, Chico Hamilton, Michael Jackson, and Jaki Byard. Produced Lena Horne’s Seasons of a Life for Blue Note Records. Instructor of jazz guitar at the Manhattan School of Music. Recorded best selling DVD Live at Smoke for Mel Bay Publications, Inc. Former guitarist for NBC on the Rosie O’Donnell Show.

Reuben Wilson
Azure Te
18th & Vine

Back in the late ’60s while his peers were playing straight-ahead jazz, Reuben Wilson began experimenting with bringing pop and jazz together. The result was what is now universally recognized as early Jazz Fusion or Funk. This style of flowing B-3 organ playing over smoking drums inspired people like George Clinton and Sly Stone and a new sub-genre, Soul-Jazz, was born. Performs as a key member of the Godfathers of Groove with Bernard “Pretty” Purdie and Grant Green Jr. Released five albums on Blue Note Records. Collaborated and played with many influential musicians including Dr. Lonnie Smith, Grant Green, Jerome Richardson, Brad Baker, Nat Dixon, Lee Morgan, Kenny Garrett, Zachary Breaux, Donald Byrd, John Manning, Melvin Sparks, and Tommy Derrick..

Bill Easley
Hearing Voices
18th & Vine

Easley is a renowned session player who has worked with Isaac Hayes and done sessions at Stax. He has performed with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Benny Carter, George Benson, Jimmy Smith, Ruth Brown, Bill Mobley, Victor Gaskin, Mulgrew Miller, Ron Carter, and Grady Tate, among others. Bassist Hassan Shakurr JJ Wiggins is the son of the late, great pianist Gerald Wiggins. He can swing a sick man into good health. He has worked with the Duke Ellington Orchestra since 1974. Pianist Danny Mixon has performed with Jack McDuff and Larry Young. He played with saxophonists Yusef Lateef, Jackie McLean, Pharaoh Saunders, and Gary Bartz; and with singers Betty Carter and Vanessa Rubin. Drummer Greg Bandy was discovered by Charles Mingus at age 20. He has played with many prominent jazz artists over the last 30+ years, securing his status as a living legend.

Louis Hayes
The Time Keeper
18th & Vine

Louis Hayes’ debut release for 18th & Vine finds him charting new territories in rhythm & groove and swinging harder than ever. There is no introduction required for Louis Hayes, a legendary jazz drummer who for over 50 years has been putting his unique stamp on the world of jazz drumming, one post-bop polyrhythmic beat at a time. Hayes lives in the present and continues to write new and exciting chapters in the pages of modern jazz drumming Legendary and massively infl uential jazz drummer and architect of hard-bop and post-bop swing styles. Founder and leader of the Cannonball Adderley Legacy Band.For the last 20+ years, Hayes has led/co-led some of the most uncompromisingly swinging groups in all of jazz. He has performed with Cannonball & Nat Adderley, John Coltrane, Kenny Burrell, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Timmons, Hank Mobley, Booker Little, Tommy Flanagan, Cecil Taylor, McCoy Tyner, Ray Brown, Joe Henderson, Gary Bartz, Tony Williams, and Dexter Gordon.

Akiko Tsuruga
Oriental Express
18th & Vine

Akiko Tsuruga’s second release on 18th & Vine couldn’t be more perfectly named. Oriental Express transports the listener on an exciting journey through soul-jazz, R&B, jazz standards and originals. Masterful B3 style that appeals to fans of Shirley Scott, Jack McDuff, Big John Patton, Dr. Lonnie Smith & Brother Jack McDuff and Jimmy Smith. Regularly performs as a key member of the Lou Donaldson Quartet. Also performs with the Jackson Brothers, Jerry Weldon Trio, and Madam Pat Tandy Group. Featured in DownBeat’s 56th Annual Critics poll as “Rising Star Organ.” Author of jazz instructional book Hammond Organ Complete (Berklee Press). First jazz organist to receive the “New Star Award” by Swing Journal. Previous 18th & Vine release named Best CD of 2007 by DownBeat, and reached # 13 on the jazz radio charts.

Gene Ludwig Trio
Duff's Blues
18th & Vine

Produced by Grammy Award winner Jack Kreisberg and established big band leader and arranger Bill Warfield. Gene Ludwig has been called the country’s most passionate exponent of the jazz organ. In a career that has lasted over forty years, he has cemented a place for himself in the first rank of Hammond organ masters. A dynamic and innovative composer, clinician, and educator, Bill Warfield has energized audiences, performers, and writers for more than two decades. He has performed with many well-known artists including Ornette Coleman, Mel Lewis, Paul Anka, Mel Torme, and more.

Bill Easley
Business Man's Bounce
18th & Vine

A brilliant and versatile reed player, Bill Easley performs equally forcefully on alto, tenor, and baritone saxes as well as flute, piccolo, and clarinet. Easley is a renowned session player who has worked with Isaac Hayes and done sessions at Stax. He has performed with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Benny Carter, George Benson, Jimmy Smith, Ruth Brown, Bill Mobley, Victor Gaskin, Mulgrew Miller, Ron Carter, and Grady Tate, among others. Bill Easley has also recorded highly acclaimed sessions as a leader on the Sunnyside, Milestone, and Evidence labels. Business Man’s Bounce is a term Easley first heard as a teenager when playing in his father’s band. It refers to a two-beat feel intended to get even reluctant listeners out onto a club’s dance floor. Pianist Larry Ham, based in New York since 1985, has played with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra and the Illinois Jacquet Big Band. Bassist Hassan JJ Shakur, formerly known as JJ Wiggins, can swing a sick man into good health. He has worked with the Duke Ellington Orchestra since 1974, when he was seventeen. Drummer Michael Carvin is an amazingly prolific drummer who has contributed greatly to the jazz scene. He has played with B.B. King, Freddie Hubbard, Pharoah Sanders, Lonnie Liston Smith, McCoy Tyner, and others, and led his own sessions for Muse and Steeplechase over the past three decades.

Sonny Fortune
You And The Night And The Music
18th & Vine

A truly legendary jazz saxophonist, Sonny Fortune has played with the biggest names in jazz, including Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, Nat Adderley, Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Rich, and Miles Davis. Fortune has had an acclaimed recording career as a leader, including several celebrated sessions with Blue Note in the 1990s. Since Fortune first heard the record My Favorite Things in 1959, John Coltrane has been his biggest influence and primary inspiration. He, more than any saxophonist, has carried Coltrane’s torch after his death. You and the Night and the Music is Fortune’s first recording as a leader since 2003, and captures the spontaneity and thrilling energy of his recent acclaimed live dates. Pianist George Cables gained recognition during stints with Joe Henderson, Sonny Rollins, Freddie Hubbard, Dexter Gordon, and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. He was Art Pepper’s favorite pianist. One of New York’s top drummers, Steve Johns has played with such luminaries as Donald Byrd, Nat Adderley, the Count Basie Orchestra, the Gil Evans Orchestra, Lou Donaldson, and many others. He was the drummer for NPR’s Billy Taylor’s Jazz at the Kennedy Center, in which he recorded seventy-fi ve shows with guests including Wynton Marsalis, Nancy Wilson, and Arturo Sandoval. Bassist Chip Jackson, based in New York, is a longtime member of the Billy Taylor Trio and performs at the Time Café with the Mingus Big Band. His style was shaped during his long association in the eighties with drummer Elvin Jones.

Diane Hubka
Diane Hubka Goes To The Movies
18th & Vine

Diane Hubka, a vital part of the Los Angeles jazz scene, is joined by the West Coast’s finest musicians in a tribute to Hollywood, featuring both standards and delightful obscurities heard in movies from 1937 through 1979. She won international acclaim when her debut CD, with alto sax legend Lee Konitz, was nominated for a 1999 Jazz Award for Best Recording Debut. Critic Scott Yanow heralded her second CD, Look No Further, as “one of the best in recent times.” She has performed with jazz luminaries including Lee Konitz, Bucky Pizzarelli, Gene Bertoncini, Frank Kimbrough, Bruce Barth, John Hart and Trio da Paz.

Akiko Tsuruga
Sweet And Funky
18th & Vine

Hailing from Osaka, Hammond B3 organist Akiko Tsuruga played with jazz superstars such as Roy Hargrove and Grady Tate while still in Japan. Tate convinced Tsuruga to emigrate from Osaka to New York City in 2001 and took her under his wing. Very quickly, she established herself as an in-demand player in the hot NYC jazz scene. Tsuruga’s debut CD Harlem Dreams, which featured Grady Tate, was released in 2004 and quickly became a best-seller in Japan. Tsuruga’s free yet cohesive organ grooves have been further seasoned under a long tutelage from organ legend Dr. Lonnie Smith. Sweet and Funky is Tsuruga’s US CD debut, and was produced by Grammy-winning producer Jack Kreisburg.

A master of the music of both the voice and the human body, Cameroon-born Gino Sitson is perhaps the most versatile vocalist in jazz today. Sitson brings a unique African rhythm and melody to this album of original compositions, with a strikingly broad range from Afro-jazz to post-bop. Guest bassist Ron Carter is nothing short of a legend, and one of the great bass players of our time. A genius with rhythm and melody, Carter has made numerous recordings for Blue Note, Elektra, Concord, and Atlantic, among others. Drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts is a percussion virtuoso who rose to prominence with the early Wynton Marsalis band. He has played and recorded with jazz icons such as Geri Allen and McCoy Tyner, and is a member of Branford Marsalis’s Tonight Show Band. Brazilian pianist helio Alves studied at the Berklee College of Music and has recorded over forty albums as a sideman, including three Grammy-winners.

Pianist, songwriter, producer, and arranger Onaje Allan Gumbs has had a storied career, collaborating across three decades with some of the biggest names in jazz and R&B. In the 1970s, Gumbs had major collaborations with Woody Shaw and Nat Adderley. In 1985 his arrangement of “Lady in My Life” on Stanley Jordan’s album Magic Touch stayed at #1 on Billboard’s jazz charts for thirty-seven weeks! He has also worked with Woody Shaw, Betty Carter, Cassandra Wilson, Phyllis Hyman, Norman Connors, Angela Bofi ll, Sadao Watanabe, Denise Williams, Vanessa Rubin, Jeffrey Osborne, Eddie Murphy, and Gerald Albright. A native of Harlem, Gumbs has recorded critically acclaimed solo albums for MCA, Steeplechase, and Half Note. Sack Full of Dreams, recorded live in the studio, crackles with electricity. A mix of classic tunes and brilliant compositions by Onaje, the album features its title cut “Sack Full of Dreams,” first recorded by Grady Tate in 1968, and here carried by a wonderful and rich baritone vocal performance by stage star Obba Babatunde.

Green, Purdie & Wilson is an all-star group of jazz, soul, and funk veterans coming together to make waves! Led by legendary organist Reuben Wilson and jazz guitar legacy Grant Green Jr., the group presents infectious tracks with a fresh sound that appeals to both longtime fans and new listeners alike! In the late sixties, Hammond B-3 organist Reuben Wilson began the ascension to his current status as a godfather of acid jazz by demonstrating a command of funk that helped redefine the movement. As the son of legendary jazz guitarist Grant Green, Grant Green, Jr. was exposed to exceptional musicianship right out of the womb. Today, his style blends technical mastery with heartfelt soul, and it is this combination that sets him apart. The “world’s most recorded drummer,” Bernard “Pretty” Purdie has worked with Aretha Franklin, Steely Dan, Isaac Hayes, Donny Hathaway, B.B.King, “Sweet” Lou Donaldson, Joe Cocker, Hank Crawford, and more, laying down the beat on over 3,000 albums to date!