New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The nominations for the Edison Klassiek and Jazz Awards in the Netherlands have been announced, including four Nonesuch recordings: Julia Bullock's Walking in the Dark for Solo Vocal in the Klassiek awards; Mary Halvorson's Belladonna and Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride, and Brian Blade's LongGone for Jazz International Instrumental; and Cécile McLorin Salvant's Mélusine for Jazz International Vocal - the award she won last year for her Nonesuch debut album,
Ghost Song.
Julia Bullock, who won Breakout Artist of the Year in Germany's Opus Klassik Awards for her album Walking in the Dark, last week, made her Nonesuch and solo debut recording with that album. On Walking in the Dark, Julia Bullock and London's Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Christian Reif, perform Samuel Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and a song from John Adams's El Niño. She is joined by Reif, on piano, for a traditional spiritual and songs by Oscar Brown, Jr., Billy Taylor,
Sandy Denny, and Connie Converse. Bullock is "one of the singular artists of her generation," says the New York Times, "a singer of enveloping tone, startlingly mature presence and unusually sophisticated insight into culture, society and history."
Brooklyn-based guitarist, composer, and MacArthur fellow Mary Halvorson made her Nonesuch debut with Belladonna and its companion album, Amaryllis, last year. The two suites, which Halvorson describes as "modular and interlocking," come in a two-LP vinyl set or as two separate CDs and digital albums, produced and mixed by John Dieterich, that Jazziz calls "some of the most accomplished writing of Halvorson's meteoric career." Belladonna is a set of five compositions written for Halvorson on guitar plus the Mivos Quartet, whose parts are through-composed and augmented by Halvorson's guitar improvisations. Amaryllis is a six-song suite performed by a newly formed sextet of master improvisers; the Mivos string quartet joins for three of the songs, making this the largest ensemble for which Halvorson has written to date.
In 1994, the original Joshua
Redman Quartet -
Redman (saxophone), Brad Mehldau (piano), Christian McBride (bass), and Brian Blade (drums) - released MoodSwing, an instant classic that helped launch each member's career as a leader. The members of the quartet reunited for the critically acclaimed album RoundAgain in 2020 and in 2022 for a new album, LongGone, featuring original
Redman compositions from the RoundAgain recording sessions, plus a live performance of the MoodSwing track "Rejoice," captured by SFJAZZ at the San Francisco Jazz Festival. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Album.
Cécile McLorin Salvant's album Mélusine is a mix of originals and interpretations of songs dating as far back as the 12th century, mostly sung in French along with Occitan, English, and Haitian Kreyòl. They tell the folk tale of Mélusine, a woman who turns into a half-snake each Saturday after a childhood curse by her mother. "Anyone who thinks they already know the full extent of Cécile McLorin Salvant's artistry should listen to Mélusine without further delay," exclaims Jazzwise. "It's a remarkable recording in several respects. Beautifully recorded, Salvant continues to confound and delight at every turn." The ceremony for both classical and jazz awards will take place on October 9 at the AFAS Theater in Leusden, Netherlands. For details on all the nominations, visit edisons.nl.
