Upcoming European jazz festivals

New Orleans Meets Zofingen +

Date: July 1, 2013
Location: Zofingen, Switzerland

Mostra de Jazz de Tortosa +
Dates: July 1–6, 2013
Location: Tortosa, Spain

Ljubljana Jazz Festival +
Dates: July 2–6, 2013
Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia

Festival de la Côte d'Opale +
Dates: July 2–10, 2013
Location: Boulogne sur Mer, France

Strasbourg Jazz Festival +
Dates: July 2–10, 2013
Location: Strasbourg, France

Istanbul International Jazz Festival +
Dates: July 2–18, 2013
Location: Istanbul, Turkey

Summer Village Festival +
Dates: July 2 – August 31, 2013
Location: Brussels, Belgium

Jazz à Couches +
Dates: July 3–6, 2013
Location: Couches, France

Kongsberg Jazz Festival +
Dates: July 3–6, 2013
Location: Kongsberg, Norway

Rigas Ritmi +
Dates: July 3–6, 2013
Location: Riga, Latvia

Getxo International Jazz Festival +
Dates: July 3–7, 2013
Location: Getxo, Spain

Festival des Hauts de Garonne +
Dates: July 3–12, 2013
Location: Bassens, Cenon, Lormont and Floirac, France

Jazz under stjärnorna +
Dates: July 3–31, 2013
Location: Brantevik, Sweden

Jazz by the Stour +
Part of Bures Music Festival
Date: July 4, 2013
Location: Bures, United Kingdom

Funchal Jazz Festival +
Dates: July 4–6, 2013
Location: Funchal, Portugal

Jazz en Sol Mineur +
Dates: July 4–6, 2013
Location: Gréasque, France

Liburnia Jazz Festival +
Dates: July 4–7, 2013
Location: Opatija, Croatia

Brianza Open Jazz Festival +
Dates: July 4–10, 2013
Location: Brianza, Italy

Jazzopen Stuttgart +
Dates: July 4–11, 2013
Location: Stuttgart, Germany

Jazz Parade +
Dates: July 4–13, 2013
Location: Fribourg, Switzerland

Cool Jazz Fest +
Dates: July 4–27, 2013
Location: Oeiras, Portugal

Mike Wofford: It's Personal

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

Pianist Mike Wofford doesn't waste notes. Each one has purpose, as if his improvisations were worked out in advance. Of course, that's not the case. But his taste and beautiful choices say a great deal about his craftsmanship and the many moods he's able to create with engaging chord voicings. Wofford is a pianist you'd want to play all of your favorite songs, because you know he will take them to new, exciting places. 

Wofford's remarkable talents can be heard on his new solo piano CD It's Personal (Capri). Here, Wofford not only shows he can pick great standards but also give them fresh perspective and drama. He covers Johnny Carisi's Springsville, Jackie McLean's Little Melonae and Gigi Gryce's Nica's Tempo. And then there's Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse's Once in a Lifetime—followed by David Byrne and Brian Eno's song of the same name recorded by the Talking Heads in 1980.

What's more, Wofford's originals are just as exciting as his approach on standards. Songs like his Cole Porter and Spin are daring works that show off his songcraft and flying-hands technique. Wofford interpretations have a way of scooping you up like a runaway tumbleweed. You're instantly part of what's happening with Wofford and completely engaged.

When you read Wofford's biography at his site, it all makes sense. Born in Texas, Wofford grew up in San Diego. He started studying piano at age seven, and at 19 he moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s, catching the end of the West Coast jazz scene. His first gigs were with the Lighthouse All-Stars and the bands of Teddy Edwards, Art Pepper, Red Norvo, Chet Baker, Bud Shank, Zoot Sims, Shorty Rogers and Maynard Ferguson. He also was singer June Christy’s accompanist for a time.

And then there were recordings with Mel Tormé, Gary Burton and Joe Pass as well as sessions under his own name for Epic and Discovery. By the late '60s, Wofford was working as a session player in Los Angeles on recording dates, films and TV. He was staff pianist on The Bill Cosby Show and worked with Oliver Nelson at Universal Pictures. He also became an arranger at Capitol Records and composed and arranged for artists such as Sergio Mendes and the Mike Barone Big Band. 

If that wasn't enough, Wofford worked extensively with drummer Shelly Manne from 1967 to 1982. He also was music director for Sarah Vaughan and played on tours with Harry “Sweets” Edison, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Zoot Sims, and the Benny Carter Orchestra. And he toured with the Benny Carter Quartet.

At any rate, you get the picture. For me, this is the piano album to beat this year.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Mike Wofford's It's Personal (Capri) here.

JazzWax note: More on Mike Wofford here.

JazzWax clip: Here's Mike Wofford playing Springsville...

Springsville

- See more at: http://www.jazzwax.com/2013/06/mike-wofford-its-personal.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Jazzwax+%28JazzWax%29#sthash.EuNoZxrF.dpuf

Used with permission by Marc Myers

COTA CampJazz

Faculty:

Phil Woods - Director

Rick Chamberlain - Director

Dr. Matthew Vashlishan - Education Coordinator

Evan Gregor - Ensemble Coordinator

Mentors:

Bobby Avey, Piano

Sue Terry, Saxophone

Sherrie Maricle, Drums

Jay Rattman, Saxophone

Spencer Reed, Guitar

Caris Visentin, Ear Training

Vicki Doney, Vocals

Michael Stephans, Drums, Listening

Kent Heckman - Red Rock Recording

Master Classes:

Bob Dorough

Dave Liebman

Bob Leive ..... and more!

Staff:

Lauren Chamberlain - Administrator

Kathryn Rudolph - COTA Executive Director

Erica Golaszewski, Bass - Administrative Assistant

Diane Pallitto - Volunteer Coordinator

Housing:

Housing is available at East Stroudsburg University for CampJazz students. The cost for room and board (breakfast and dinner included) is $415.00. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

Campus:

Delaware Water Gap, PA Historic Sites

Castle Inn (site of the COTA Festival)

Presbyterian Church of the Mountain

Deer Head Inn

From: http://www.campjazz.org

Music Review: Bill Cunliffe Trio - 'River Edge, New Jersey'

By Jack Goodstein, BLOGCRITICS.ORG, Published 10:00 pm, Monday, June 24, 2013
Bill Cunliffe is one of those musicians who does it all. Not only is he an award-winning pianist and composer and the author of books on jazz, but he is also a professor at California State University Fullerton. Here are some of the details. In 1989 he won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Award. His arrangement of Oscar Peterson's "West Side Story Medley" won a Grammy in 2010 for Best Instrumental Arrangement. His musical compositions include works for small combos, big bands and symphony orchestras. His books on jazz, Jazz Keyboard Toolbox and Jazz Inventions for Keyboard, have become standard texts on the subject. Over the years he has worked with the elite of the jazz world.

River Edge, New Jersey, the album his trio released in April, and you can't help but understand why. Not only will the six original pieces give you some idea of the range of his musical interests as a composer, but all 10 of the tunes make it clear that this is a jazz pianist who knows his way around a keyboard. Working with bassist Martin Wind and drummer Tim Horner, musicians he had collaborated with in other projects over the years, he has put together an album of straight-ahead modern jazz filled with music that only needs one work to describe it: beautiful. There are a couple of Latin pieces, a little classic rock, and even a song culled from the Great American Songbook to round out the set. New song, old song-it doesn't matter. The Bill Cunliffe Trio can play.

Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/Music-Review-Bill-Cunliffe-Trio-River-Edge-4620731.php

RVJ - Last Week Top 10

Last week radio.video.jazz has posted on its Facebook page 25 handpicked videos.
Here are the 10 most watched & liked videos. Please enjoy.

1		Anne Akiko Meyers & Anton Nel - Somewhere Over the Rainbow   Watch now >
2		Leonard Cohen - A Thousand Kisses Deep   Watch now >
3		Jazz Jamaica All Stars, Urban Soul Orchestra & Brinsley Forde - Catch a Fire   Watch now >
4		Ute Lemper - Lola (Live 2012)   Watch now >
5		Chucho Valded en Piuerto-Rico   Watch now >
6		Gregory Porter - Liquid Spirit   Watch now >
7		John Zorn's Moonchild - Valparaíso 2013   Watch now >
8		Paolo Fresu & Youssef Aarset Trio   Watch now >
9		Marianne Faithfull and Bill Frisell - At Queen Elizabeth Hall   Watch now >
10		Raul Midón - New-York 2013   Watch now >

Interview: Phil Everly

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

The Everly Brothers were among the most influential vocal groups of the late 1950s and early '60s. Starting with Bye Bye Love in '57, the duo's string of country-pop crossover hits transformed the way rock and folk sounded. What's especially remarkable about their widespread impact is that rock's primary influence at the time was R&B—expressive, big-beat music that helped white rock acts add energy and freedom to performances and recordings. [Photo of Phil Everly above by David Walter Banks for The Wall Street Journal]

Phil and Don Everly—with their close harmony and tight, rhythmic guitar-strumming—set the pace for many major groups that followed, including the Beach Boys, the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, the Byrds, the Hollies and Crosby, Stills and Nash. In today's Mansion section of The Wall Street Journal, I interview Phil Everly for "House Call" about his historic antebellum home in Tennessee (go here or please pick up the paper). [Pictured above, from left: Phil and Don Everly]

As you might imagine from the Everly Brothers' music, Phil is a gentle, fun-loving guy who relishes jamming with friends in his music room. Speaking with him at length was a joy, especially since Phil and his brother Don are music legends and were among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's first inductees in 1986. When I asked if Phil if he and Don might get back together any time soon, Phil brushed it off, saying, "No, we're not. We're retired, and there's plenty of our music people can buy if they want it." [Pictured above: Phil and Don Everly]

But let me illustrate with video clips. Perhaps the most influential of all of their songs was Cathy's Clown (1960). Phil is on the left, Don on the right...

- See more at: http://www.jazzwax.com/2013/06/interview-phil-everly.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Jazzwax+%28JazzWax%29#sthash.LvFUgi6K.dpuf

Used with permission by Marc Myers

Oui Et Oui: Montreal Jazz's French Connection

by SIMON RENTNER, June 27, 2013 4:14 PM

Montreal is a city of two cultures: French and English, usually commingling, sometimes colliding. In their fight for cultural relevance, they are often at odds. In literature, they call this "two solitudes": part English, part French, but not quite either.

Yet as Montreal modernizes and these divisions become less noticeable, one thing remains clear: Music, art and food still belong to the French. From chanson to Monet to foie gras, let's face it, France wins.

So, naturally, the Montreal International Jazz Festival — Canada's grandest music event of the year — props up the city's elite Francophones. (See: the new Grévin museum.) Some are formed at home and others come from abroad, yet Americans have no clue about the majority of these artists. Most French musicians, and let's throw the Quebecois in that category, can't find gigs in the U.S.

For American first-timers to the festival, this can be a revelation. Here are five French or Quebecois artists featured this year. Follow WBGO for more annual coverage from Montreal.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2013/06/26/195982990/Oui-et-Oui-Montreals-French-Connection?ft=1&f=1039

Steve Lindeman: Day After Yesterday

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

The finest new orchestral jazz album I've heard this year is Steve Lindeman's The Day After Yesterday (Jazz Hang). The intelligence of the compositions and arrangements can only be described as breathtaking. The melodies and harmonies are tender and braided beautifully, and the one vocal track is splendidly executed, with overdubbing that rivals the Singers Unlimited—without the sticky commercial aftertaste.

This album's genesis has quite a story. In 2008, Steve Lindeman applied to attend the prestigious BMI Jazz Composers Workshop in New York. Though Lindeman lives in Utah and is a professor of music theory at Brigham Young University, his daughter lives in Brooklyn, which enabled him to meet the Workshop's stringent attendance rules—up to three meetings a month for nine months over the course of three years.

During that period, Lindeman wrote the music on this CD. When it was completed, he put the arrangement in front of BYU Synthesis [pictured above]—an 18-piece band directed BYU's Ray Smith. There also are two special guests—vocalist Kelly Eisenhour and tuba player Steve Call—as well as a micro unit of four instrumental specialists known as Q'd Up. Lindeman plays the Hammond organ.

Lindeman's music and arrangements are gentle and cinematic—setting scenes and creating moods with soft, dramatic flare. Best of all, Lindeman [pictured above] knows how to bring sections in and out or let them linger and overlap for suspense or complexity. I also adore the overall smoothness and conversational quality of the instrumental textures. It's like having a mink glove brushed across your ear. There's a summery feel about the entire album—the slow sunrise, the scents, the broiling intensity and cool evenings.

This is a perfectly envisioned and executed album—without a single note of disappointment. Every song provides maximum delight to the ear, giving the sophisticated listener plenty to latch onto. Lindeman's taste is remarkable. It's impossible to sample any track from this album and not be disappointed when the 30-second clip ends. [Pictured: Kelly Eisenhour]

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Steve Lindeman's The Day After Yesterday (Jazz Hang) here.

JazzWax clip: Here's BYU Synthesis playing Long Gone...

Long Gone

- See more at: http://www.jazzwax.com/2013/06/steve-lindeman-day-after-yesterday.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Jazzwax+%28JazzWax%29#sthash.9iTLeJ6S.dpuf

Used with permission by Marc Myers

Kida for Coltrane

Hello and thank you for visiting Kids for Coltrane.com. This site is dedicated to all the children and teachers of the world. My mission is to encourage children to follow their bliss, and my vision is to help create environments in which their multiple intelligences are truly respected.

I decided to call my work in education The Kids for Coltrane Project because of who John Coltrane was when he graced this earth and the gifts he left to us. I was blessed one day to be introduced to the music and life of John Coltrane. I am grateful and honored to share his name in this way. John dedicated his life to his music. He exemplified a man who followed his bliss. Trane as he is affectionately called insisted on creating what lived inside of him. He was a man of courage even in the face of hardships. He was powerful and graceful. Coltrane’s friend and gifted writer Nat Hentoff told me that John wanted his music to give, and people all over the world will tell you that it certainly does..

As a child growing up in Brooklyn in the 60’s, I was in a nuclear family that didn’t view females as equal to males. In addition, I was in an educational system that didn’t seem to value the individuality of ALL children. I developed the strength to move forward with determination to create my own path. Even if the world around “Little Christine” told a story of injustice, I would strive to create a world where I was valued. In each day, I found joy and hardships…and I never gave up.

One bright June day, I found myself to be  the first grandchild of Joseph Termini to graduate from college.  With tears welled up in my eyes, I thought about the journey my exquisite grandfather took from Sciacca Italy to this moment. His granddaughter was now a college graduate, I knew he would have felt pride. I received a bachelor’s  degree in economics from Brooklyn College.  Grandpa was an artist, a musician and an entrepreneur. I felt a connection to him at that moment like no other.

Read more: http://kidsforcoltrane.com/about/

Meet Utsav Lal, India's youngest raaga pianist

Sean Sequeira, YouthIncMag, June 11, 2013 11:28 IST

From giving his first stage performance at the age of nine to being featured in the Limca Book of Records at 14, Indian pianist Utsav Lal has come a long way. This is his story.

Utsav Lal has been performing Indian classical music on the piano for 13 years now.

He deftly incorporates jazz and western classical elements into his music which often leaves the listener spellbound.

At the age of 14, Lal featured in the Limca Book of Records as the youngest painist from India. Since then there has been no looking back for him.

The 20-year-old raga pianist from India has released three solo albums so far and has won critical acclaim world over for his music.

In this interview, Utsav Lal talks about the challenges he faced while chasing his passion and his plans for the future.

You started playing when you were just six or seven years old and have performed numerous concerts, how do you feel about being called a child prodigy?

I have always wanted appreciation of my work and my music to be on an absolute scale and not in consideration of my age.

Courtesy:YouthIncMag.com
Image: Utsav Lal
Photographs: Courtesy Utsav Lal

Read more: http://www.rediff.com/getahead/slide-show/slide-show-1-achievers-meet-utsav-lal-indias-youngest-raga-pianist/20130611.htm

Jazz funeral held for Savannah musician Ben Tucker

By DASH COLEMANMORRIS NEWS SERVICE – updated Monday, June 10, 2013 - 10:40pm

Hundreds of friends and family remembered Ben Tucker on Monday for his kindness, talents, leadership, sense of humor and contributions to the Savannah community. The jazz music legend, recognizable across Savannah by his trademark “Hey partner” greeting and his skills with the bass, died a week earlier at age 82.

“It didn’t matter where you were from or how old you were, Ben was your friend,” said Tucker family friend Pete Chaison. “He’d find the best of each of us and every one of us and treat us all like family.”

Monday’s memorial service reflected the them of “Going Home Baby.” The ceremony featured music, personal reflections and one last standing ovation for a man showered with much applause in six decades as a professional musician. Tucker’s bass stood like a sentry near his casket at the front of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Ascension sanctuary.

“The bass section in heaven just got a little more vibrant,” Ascension’s pastor, the Rev. Carl Yost, said. “Ben is going home.”

A day earlier, Savannahians paid their respects to the late jazz musician at a viewing Sunday.

Throughout the afternoon, people filed in to the upstairs chapel at Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Ascension on Wright Square, where Tucker lay in an American flag-draped casket.

The 82-year-old musician, community leader and businessman died Tuesday after the golf cart he was driving was struck by a speeding car on Hutchinson Island.

Read more: http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2013-06-10/jazz-funeral-held-savannah-musician-ben-tucker

Billy Taylor and Tommy Flanagan - Our Delight

Jazz musician Murray McNabb dies

A jazz musician who was behind the music for the gritty movie Once Were Warriors has died.

Murray McNabb of Auckland was 66 when he died on Sunday.

The music website Dubdotdash says McNabb has been at the forefront of jazz for over four decades.

He was described as a "master of the cinematic soundscape" and scored for television and film and was a member of seminal jazz-fusion groups Dr. Tree, Space Case, Modern Times and Band R.

For Once Were Warriors in 1994 he teamed up with Murray Grindlay.

Read more: http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/music/8780779/Jazz-musician-Murray-McNabb-dies

The Joyful Jams and Flute-Driven Diversity of Grupo Cha Cha

Sometimes, the Latin music scene can feel like a man’s world. This hasn’t stymied Grupo Cha Cha, led by classically trained, jazz-loving flute and sax player Lise Gilly. Uniting a diverse crew from all different musical backgrounds, Gilly and her group have defined their own sound by celebrating their own, wide-ranging approach to Latin roots and jazz.

“Our sound is a bit different from your typical Latin band. There’s definitely a female touch, as half the band are female musicians and four out of ten songs on the album are written by women” Gilly reflects. “The scene that gave birth to the New York sound, say, is almost all men, with the exception being a handful of truly inspirational female flutists who’ve played with bandleaders like Eddie Palmieri.”

With Grupo Cha Cha, Gilly has carried on the great tradition of Latin flute, bringing together a wonderfully diverse, elegantly tight band and proving that, indeed, This is the Life (release date: June 21, 2013). Numbers move from flute-driven forms like Cuban charanga to Brazilian samba (“This is the Life”) and choro (“Minorian”) to hot salsa (“Vamos a la playa”), with thoughtfully chosen standards (“Haresah,” “Peruchin”) and lively originals (“Danzon para Pedro,” inspired by Tchaikovs-ky), all ending with an energetic merengue (“Elegua”). Regardless of the form, Grupo Cha Cha knows how to sink their teeth into Latin music’s pensive and hip-swaying sides with equal energy.

A French dual citizen, Gilly has made a name for herself as a classical player, founding her own chamber ensembles and playing with regional symphonies. She has also dedicated herself to musical education as the Performing Arts Department Chair of one of the most highly ranked music programs in Illinois at Lincoln Park High School.

Read more: http://laprensa-sandiego.org/etc-etc-etc/entertainment/the-joyful-jams-and-flute-driven-diversity-of-grupo-cha-cha/

Greater Madison Jazz Consortium takes pulse of city's scene

Jessica Steinhoff on Thursday 06/13/2013

After launching last October, the Greater Madison Jazz Consortium began collecting data about the health of the local jazz community. Local nonprofit guru Boris Frank was recruited to survey nearly 300 local fans, performers and music educators, and the results arrived in early June.

Though the findings aren't scientific, they suggest that late show times and scant musician payments weaken Madison's jazz scene. More than 44% of the fans surveyed said concert start times discouraged them from attending, and 82% of the musicians surveyed said it was difficult or very difficult to get paying gigs. Many musicians said they were paid significantly more in the '70s and '80s.

Madison Music Collective member Howard Landsman, who serves as the consortium's facilitator, recalls this time well.

"Charles Mingus, Dexter Gordon, Eddie Jefferson, Art Blakey, they all played here," he says. "That was probably the last time you could count on players of that caliber coming through town on a regular basis."

Landsman notes that quite a few State Street venues booked jazz, including Merlyn's and Good Karma on the 300 block. Many baby boomers he knows got into jazz as they grew into adult roles.

Read more: http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=40158

Biréli Lagrène et Sylvain Luc- "Isn't she lovely"

Jazz in Marciac....Le Jazz est américain. Marciac est français. La musique est de Stevie Wonder. L'interprétation extraordinaire est réalisée par deux guitaristes français...A voir et écouter....

Karen Oberlin On Piano Jazz

by GRANT JACKSON, June 21, 2013 5:08 PM

Award-winning vocalist Karen Oberlin is one of the premier interpreters of the Great American Songbook. She's also a theater veteran whose credits include the first stage production of Rent, as well as more than 100 Off Broadway performances of the hit show Our Sinatra. On this episode of Piano Jazz, Oberlin presents an intimate set of timeless music with host Jon Weber.

Originally recorded on March 5, 2013.
Read more: http://www.npr.org/2013/06/21/194299164/karen-oberlin-on-piano-jazz?ft=1&f=1039

Trombonist Darren Sterud fills the Fountain with bold jazz shows

Steve Moore on Thursday 06/20/2013

When Branford Marsalis performed at Overture Center in February, he got wind of the Fountain, a live-music venue across the street that's reinvigorating the city's jazz scene. After rehearsal, he stopped in to check it out, pronouncing the back bar a "cool little space."

Darren Sterud, a 27-year-old professional trombonist, was bartending that day.

"I shook his hand, and I said, 'I've met both of your brothers,'" he says. Sterud frequently plays in New Orleans, where he's hobnobbed with Marsalis' siblings, trombonist Delfeayo and trumpeter Wynton. When he went to Branford's show that night, he got to meet the celebrated saxophonist's band.

Marsalis didn't know it, but Sterud is responsible for much of the recent buzz about the Fountain. He's a jazz musician with talent to spare, and apparently energy as well. When he's not onstage with Mama Digdown's Brass Band or the Jimmys, or teaching jazz and drumline at his alma mater, La Follette High School, he books shows at the Fountain and even mixes drinks.

Every Wednesday, he joins organist Mike Cammilleri and drummer Scott Beardsley at the Fountain for Hammond Organ Night. Organ jazz with a dose of funk and fusion, it's a perfect match for Sterud's trombone pyrotechnics. Many a night, after lulling the crowd with velvety-soft tones and fluid phrasing in the lower registers, Sterud kicks into gear. Lightning-fast runs and crisp percussive highs turn heads and rivet attention. It's the kind of stuff that makes a casual listener wonder, "Whoa, who is this guy?"

Sterud credits owner Harold Langhammer and bar manager Craig Spaulding with helping to bring attention to jazz in Madison by bringing good music into the Fountain, including UW professor Johannes Wallmann's showcase on Saturday nights.

Read more: http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=40222

Roswitha has had an esteemed career....

"Her dedication to achieving success in a difficult field has been inspiring… She is also a gifted composer” - Kenny Werner

”A fine talent who is expected to touch the world with a profoundly deep soul which she uniquely possesses.” - Cecil McBee

"Interesting use of voice and violin together, a very fresh sound” - Christian Howes

“I’m very vulnerable on this album,” says violinist, producer, and singer-songwriter Roswitha. “I want to create a shift from negative to empowering messages and inspire people to live their dreams because I know how much strength it takes.” On her latest album, Destiny, the renowned jazz and classical artist lives her own dreams, making the bold move to step out as a singer-songwriter.

Here, she embraces her total musicality and tastefully integrates her instrumental virtuosity within a musical style Roswitha started to describe as Jazz Rock Pop. It’s an elegantly eclectic blend of jazz, classical, R&B, hip-hop, rock and pop that showcases her gorgeous compositions and soulfully angelic vocals.

Previously, Roswitha has had an esteemed career as “Queen Rose,” a topflight violinist. She has appeared on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, in the movie August Rush, at the Latin Grammy’s, and was featured on MTV’s Unplugged with Trey Songz. As a member of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, she has performed with the likes of John Legend, Santana, Gloria Estefan and Patti LaBelle.

Under the name “Rose Bartu,” she’s also built a highly respected jazz profile sharing stages with such icons as Abbey Lincoln, Billy Hart, Joanne Brackeen and Butch Morris and issued the delightfully exotic Cherchez la Verité, a silky jazz album with violin, sensual vocals, and limber Afro Cuban grooves. She lead her own bands performing at celebrated venues like The Blue Note, Knitting Factory and touring Europe. She has notched over 50 production, arrangement, composition and performance credits on over 19 released albums, videos and film soundtracks.

“This change in my career represents coming into my own, presenting myself authentically. I’m embracing all my musical influences and aspects of my creativity, my singing, songwriting, violin playing, and producing,” Roswitha says of her creative breakthrough, her Jazz Rock Pop - album Destiny. “I had no style in mind, I just wanted to create an album you can listen through from beginning to end.

My focus was on creating the best songs and delivering them in a way that the message gets heard. It was all about what each song needed, that’s why my violin playing is not so featured. I am surprised of what people hear in it,” Roswitha continues: “In recent years I mostly listened to Soul music. But Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Phil Collins, Eric Clapton, Sting and Prince have been my first popular music influences, maybe it should not surprise me that people hear.