The JJA Jazz Awards 2012 Nominations have been announced and among the nominees are: Gregory Porter for Male Singer of The Year, Rene Marie for Female Singer of the Year, Joe Locke for Mallets Instrumentalist of the Year, and Willard Jenkins (co-author of African Rhythms: The Autobiography of Randy Weston) for Lifetime Achievement in Jazz Journalism!

See the full list of nominees [ Read More ]

Join Geri Allen and Randy Weston with Quincy Jones and 40 other legends
for an unforgettable night that will help save the music...

Jazz Foundation of America presents its 11th Annual

"A GREAT NIGHT IN HARLEM" at the APOLLO THEATER on MAY 17th

PERFORMANCES BY
Over 40 legends of jazz, R&B, blues, and Rock ‘n’ Roll including

Macy Gray, Randy Weston, Dr. John,
Rebirth Brass Band, Treme Brass Band,
David Johan [ Read More ]

"On My Way To Harlem," another stand out track from Grammy®-nominated vocalist Gregory Porter's CD, Be Good, has been selected as the Pick of the Week on the Starbucks Digital Network for the week beginning March 27. Visitors who sign on to use the free WiFi at any Starbucks store are automatically directed to the Starbucks Digital Network, where they can listen to and download the t [ Read More ]

Rufus Reid and the Out Front Trio will be performing two consecutive nights at the Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill in Montreal, Quebec. To get more information about the shows, please visit Jazz en Rafale.

Venue: Jazz en Rafale - Upstairs Bar & Grill
Montreal, QC
Time: 7:30 & 10:00 PM

Musicians: Rufus Reid (contrebasse), [ Read More ]

Motéma Music is proud to be assisting Len Morris and Media Voices for Children with musical collaborations in relation to his very important activist film work.  Read about his recepit of the 2012 Iqbal Masih Awad below. Please visit Media Voices for Children to learn more about this important organization.

Press Release from Media Voices For Children:

Len Morris selected for 2012 Iq [ Read More ]

"Be Good (Lion's Song)" is the first video from jazz singer Gregory Porter's critically acclaimed sophomore album Be Good.

Watch the video here!

Monty Alexander, Randy Weston, Malika Zarra, Rene Marie, and JC Stylles Are  Nominees Of The 11th Independent Music Awards

Artists Among More Than 300 Self-Released & Independent Label Artists Nominated

Recordings by Motéma artists M [ Read More ]

NEA Jazz Masters and 2011 Guggenheim Fellow, Randy Weston Premieres: "An African Nubian Suite" on April 8th at NYU's Skirball Center for Performing Arts. Composed and performed by Randy Weston & his African Rhythms Orchestra.

An African Nubian Suite salutes the Nubians who were the first human race on earth
and the oldest of the great civilizations in Africa. The suite was conceiv [ Read More ]

Experience this unique presentation of music and art! Elizabeth Catlett and Rufus Reid!

Composed and Conducted by Rufus Reid:

Quiet Pride
I. Recognition        
II. Glory        
III. Mother and Child        
IV. Singing Head        
V. Tapestry In [ Read More ]

World Music Institute presents

Acoustic Wednesdays series continues with fascinating program of music – both old and new – for the ancient kugo harp

LOST HARP OF THE SILK ROAD
TOMOKO SUGAWARA
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 2012  7:30 PM

Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Peter Norton Symphony Space: Broadway at 95th Street, NYC

$30; students $20 Box office (212) 864-5400
Info/tickets (212) 545-7536  [ Read More ]

Soulful Track from Grammy Nominated Vocalist’s Second CD on Motema Music, Released February 14, Available for Free Download

“Real Good Hands,” a track from Be Good, internationally acclaimed vocalist Gregory Porter’s sophomore release on Motema Music, has been selected by iTun [ Read More ]

Elio Villafranca and Arturo Stable, two Cuban-born maestros of jazz and world music, unveil Dos y Mas, the debut recording of their exquisite new piano and percussion collaboration, with an album release show at the Brooklyn Public Library, February 15th. Villafranca's virtuosic and multifaceted pianis [ Read More ]

PIANIST MONTY ALEXANDER CELEBRATES 50 YEARS IN MUSIC WITH AMBITIOUS TWO-WEEK ENGAGEMENT AT BLUE NOTE, FEBRUARY 20 - MARCH 4

TWO-PART ENGAGEMENT TO FEATURE:
RUSSELL MALONE, CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE, DR. LONNIE SMITH,
PAT MARTINO, FREDDIE COLE, DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER,
ERNEST RANGLIN, JOHN CLAYTON & JEFF HAMILTON,
AND ROBBIE SHAKESPEARE & SLY DUNBAR, AMONG OTHERS

& [ Read More ]

Gregory Porter soars to new heights on Be Good, the follow up to his Grammy-nominated 2010 debut, Water (Jazzwise Jazz Album of The Year, Best Jazz Vocal Album - L'Académie Du Jazz). Porter recorded once again with the core of his powerhouse working band, who have performed with him for over three years now: Chip Crawford on piano, Aaron James on bass, Emanuel Harrold on drums, and Yosuk [ Read More ]

Motéma is proud and excited to announce that two of our albums have received nominations for the 54th Annual Grammy® Awards, and two artists are on compilation albums that are also nominated! A big congratulations to Roseanna Vitro: Best Jazz Vocal Album nominee for The Music Of Randy Newman and Monty Alexander: Best Reggae Album nominee for Harlem-Kingston Express Live!

Geri Allen coll [ Read More ]

Media Voices For Children is an Internet agency for children's rights and an organization Motema proudly supports. This summer, Kathy Cronkite presented Media Voices President Len Morris with The Walter Cronkite Award, "For using the power of the media to awaken the world to the causes and best practice solutions to child labor, children on the streets and chronic poverty"

Motéma is work [ Read More ]

NPR's First Listen is featuirng David Murray Cuban Ensemble's Plays Nat King Cole en Español this week. Inspired by the recordings Cole Español and More Cole Español, Murray delivers a fresh take on Cole's spanish recordings. The album is available October 11th.

Preview the album in full on [ Read More ]

Check out the Politcally charged, "1960 What?" video by clicking here!

Jazzwise Magazine, the UK's biggest selling jazz magazine, writes "In a year marked by the debut releases of some fine new jazz singers... Gregory Porter's superlative Water clearly l [ Read More ]

 Monty Alexander has been making headway, holding the #4th spot on the JazzWeek Jazz chart, and #1 on the World chart! 

antiMusic reviews Alexander's latest and writes, "the band goes completely dub-happy for album highlight "King Tubby Meets the Rockers Uptown"

 Tour Dates:
10/2 Jazz at N [ Read More ]

"The Grammy-nominated jazz singer had been called in at the last minute to replace Winehouse's father, Mitch, a crooner in his own right whose performance was cancelled in the wake of his daughter's death. Porter was his replacement.

The tribute came during the third song of Porter's second set. "I am here tonight in place of Mitch Winehouse, whose daughter passed away," Porter told the audience. "So I feel it's fitting to give a tribute to a very [ Read More ]

Rene's show at Catalina's was one of Don Heckman's "Picks of the Week" for The International Review of Music

The Downbeat Critics Poll lists Rene Marie in the Rising Star Female Vocalist category.

Monty Alexander's Harlem-Kingston Express Live! was recorded at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, NYC, and in Jamica, Germany, France and Holland. The release marks the legendary pianists 50th year anniversary in music. 

The eponymous album presents Alexander's most 'reggaefied' touring group yet, which for past few years has defined a bold new chapter in his life-long journey of uniting jazz [ Read More ]

The workshop provides female jazz artists ages 18 to 35 with an opportunity to explore and develop their artistry under the guidance of leading jazz artis [ Read More ]

Stay up to date with what's happening with Motema and it's artists by signing up for our monthly newsletter, The Muse! See the May issue here for news on our latest releases, artist award nominations, free downloads and more!

http://bit.ly/mAeR25

Brian Pace interviews Lynne Arriale on The Pace Report.

"If I must say, pianist Lynne Arriale is a talent that is larger than life, but remains one of industries hidden gems. Since the 1990’s Lynne has been a leader and lead her trio for almost ten years featuring Steve Davis on drums and Jay Anderson on bass. But after a long and successful run, she decided it was time to move in another direction musically. Her l [ Read More ]

Rene Marie's revolutionary yet deeply personal patriotism soars on her crossover album drops this month! Sample songs from her new CD here: Rene Marie E-card.

René is featured on A Blog Supreme/NPR Jazz in the article "How One Jazz Singer Imagines Her 'Beautiful Country'" Patrick Jarenwattananon writes "Having a rich imagination, while [ Read More ]

T.K. Blue's release features Latin jazz arrangements of the music of Charlie Bird Parker.

As a budding 20-year-old saxophonist, T.K. Blue was enamored of John Coltrane’s music, but he’d never heard of Charlie Parker until Jimmy Heath, one of his instructors at the Jazzmobile in New York City, invited Blue to his house to hear some records by Bird, as the late saxophone great was lovingly known.

Before he played any Bir [ Read More ]

Martin Johnson publishes a beautiful write up of Tessa Souter in the Wall Street Journal. Read the article.

See Gregory being interviewed at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards Nominees Reception: Click here!

Gregory Porter is having a special Grammy celebration performance at Drom on Monday night.  Come join in the festivities as the singer pays tribute to all the musicians, fans and family who have supported him in his career thus far.

Tickets

Gregory gives his first interview since his Grammy nomination tomorrow! Tune in to Nikki's Blues in the Groove show this Wednesday, at 2:15 PM, to listen in.

www.makinmusicny.com

We are proud to announce that Gregory Porter's "Water" is GRAMMY-nominated in the Best Vocal Jazz Album category! Congratulations to Gregory, producer Kamau Kenyatta,  James Spaulding and all the wonderful musicians on the album.

Congrats are also in order for Oran Etkin. He contributed a track, "Unique Monique,"& [ Read More ]

Congratulations are in order for Geri Allen. Her album Flying Toward The Sound is included in the Top 10 Jazz Albums of 2010 by NPR's jazz blog, A Blog Supreme! As one of the leading jazz blogs on the internet, this is a wonderful coup. In addition to Geri, we'd like to congratulate her prod [ Read More ]

Oran Etkin's Wake Up Clarinet! is now the proud recipient of three prestigious awards: The Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Seal Award for Best Audio, the Parents Choice Silver Award in Music and the [ Read More ]

Gregory Porter has been nominated for two Soul Tracks Readers Choice Awards: Album of the Year for Water and Male Vocalist of the Year!  Gregory continues his Thursday night residency at Smoke Jazz in New York--don't pass up the chance to see him at this wonderful, intimate venue!

Congratulations Gregory!

KJ has a new residency playing at the new and exciting venue Tom and Toon.  See her live every Tuesday, starting at 10:00 p.m!

Tom and Toon
241 west 51st street
(between broadway & 8th ave)
new york, ny 10019

Call (212) 226-4565 for reservations.

Motéma is thrilled to announce that we have signed legendary pianist Randy Weston, whose new CD titled Storyteller will be released in the fall.

Read more about Randy Weston's The Storyteller on the Motema blog.

"A Special Kind of Rich" is the title of the cover feature interview with Bassist Rufus Reid in the August issue of Jazz Inside NY Magazine, August 2010 edition. This is the annual Basses Loaded edition where you'll discover the insights of an array of string players, in addition to many other articles and reviews.

Geri Allen has been receiving outstanding press coverage these days.

The Wall Street Journal boldly proclaims, "Not even Steve Jobs could devise a doo-dad that could predict what Geri Allen is going to do next."

The New York Times calls Allen "a wise and dynamic pianist" and praises "her sharp young working band."

[ Read More ]

Two Cuban-born maestros unveil the debut of their piano/percussion collaboration.