May 15, 2008 (San Francisco Bay Area)--Sonoma County’s Harmony Festival, a three day "party with a purpose" that melds new ideas, community activism, eco-awareness, spiritual wisdom, visionary art, and conscious music, has invited a very special guest to its 30th anniversary celebration this year: jazz. New York-based label Motema Music and first time media sponsor Jazziz Magazine will offer festival attendees the chance to kick back at the Ambiotica Lounge at Harmony Hall, from

On May 6, 2008, 23 year old pianist, composer and bandleader Taylor Eigsti will release Let It Come To You, his sixth overall and second Concord Jazz release, marking yet another bold step forward for the Grammy-nominated musician. Let It Come To You is an impressive 11-song collection of imaginatively refreshed standards, creative interpretations of newer works from artists as diverse as Pat Metheny and the pop band Eels, as well as four original compositions. "I wanted this record to be a c

Pianist Sam Barsh, who until recently has been best known for his work as a sideman for such eclectic jazz artists as Avishai Cohen and Zach Brock and the Coffee Achievers, will release I Forgot What You Taught Me, on February 12 on Razdaz Recordz, the five year-old label founded by the internationally acclaimed bassist/composer and band leader Avishai Cohen and his manager Ray Jefford. To mark his Razdaz debut, Barsh penned one of his signature rhymes: After years of chiseling down my sou

Mandolin phenomenon Hamilton De Holanda, recently said to be "widely considered as the best Brazilian mandolin player," by Public Radio’s "The World," has just been nominated for his first Latin Grammy award. The nomination is for his critically acclaimed debut for Adventure Music, Brasilianos, which was released in the summer of 2006. "I am thrilled to be nominated," said De Holanda, speaking from Rio. "It is a personal honor and it also acknowledges the new generation of young virtuoso

On January 13, 2007, drummer/composer Sean Noonan and Brewed by Noon will premier the first set of twelve compositions commissioned by the American Composers Forum, at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space in Manhattan. Noonan was awarded the commission by the Jerome Foundation Commissioning Program in 2005, based on his goal of creating original compositions which fuse traditional wandering folk music with concepts from the New York progressive jazz scene. The Commis