The 12th Street recordings are beloved by audiences and revered by tastemakers including The Guardian’s James Fenton, The New Yorker’s Sasha Frere-Jones, music biographer David Ritz and author-New York Times critic Ben Ratliff. The recordings have been featured on NPR, in Rolling Stone, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, CBS Sunday Morning and the Huffington Post. Remastered, the classic 12th Street recordings are once again available on all streaming platforms and in premium vinyl editions, complete with liner notes, and musician, composer and producer credits.
In addition to the reissues, 12th Street’s new releases include The Toronto Recital by Geri Allen; The Lost Sessions by Andy Bey; Believin’ It by Tawanda; Zodiac Remixed and Reimagined and A Walk on 12th Street, a compilation of label’s finest recordings.
A Walk on 12th Street brings together a compilation of the label’s finest recordings, curated and executive produced by KCRW’s Mathieu Schreyer. The album includes compositions by Geri Allen, Billy Strayhorn, George and Ira Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and Mary Lou Williams.
With this solo recording Geri Allen, again, lays claim to her place in that elite group of artists who matter most.
“She truly has had a great influence on my style and approach to music, thanks to her innate genius. I have always marveled at her talent as an innovator.” – Herbie Hancock
“Geri was and is a divine prism of pure heart and artistry. She conjured sonic rainbow, beaming new color spectrums out of plain black and white keys.” – Esperanza Spaulding
Winner of the 9th Annual Sarah Vaughn Vocal Competition, Tawanda steps forward with Believin’ It, a collection that establishes her as a major force opening new vistas in Jazz vocals. Among the gems, Tawanda reimagines Tuesday in Chinatown, a song James Fenton of The Guardian confessed he’d become obsessed with.
“There’s a new singer on the jazz scene, and she’s terrific.” Will Friedwald
“Tawanda can surprise and delight with a simmering sensuality.” Gary Geddes
In the Mary Lou tradition of the genre-smashing, 12th Street is in pre-production on a remix album that reimagines The Zodiac Suite through the eyes of contemporary DJs.
Andy Bey inspires praise from music royalty:
“Brilliant and precious.” Aretha Franklin
“Oh my god, the way Andy Bey sings over those chords is just so dope.” Pharrell Williams
And he inspires poetry from the critics:
“When he enters a song, he makes it deluxe, decking it out with cushions and tapestries, arranging the wall hangings; he isn’t just making a quick visit.” Ben Ratliff, New York Times
“He turns songs into prayer like reveries … built on sounds woven into hypnotic lines in which the rhythm feels suspended in air.” James Gavin, New York Times
“A territory of stark soul-searching irony that perhaps no other male jazz singer has ever entered.”Jeff Simon, Buffalo News
“Andy Bey conveys the same kind of otherworldly physical command as Michael Jordan. He was recorded four CDs showcasing his mixture of vitality, tenderness and spiritual heft” – Village
So Ain’t Necessarily So accomplished the rare feat of briefly landing the Amazon Pop Charts at #5, alongside artists such as Radiohead and Alicia Keys.
KCRW 10 Best Albums of 2009 Huffington Post’s Best Recordings of The 2000’s.
Grammy-nominated Best Jazz Male Vocal Album Huffington Post’s Best Recordings of the 2000s
“Grammy-nominated American Song is this year’s record to beat.” Sasha Frere-Jones, The New Yorker.
“Jordan has produced a series of quiet masterpieces.” David Ritz
“I’m obsessed with a song called “Tuesdays in Chinatown. Emotion, memory, and hard-won knowledge are bound up in it.” James Fenton, The Guardian of LondonNamed among the best recording of the year New York Times, The Guardian, Billboard.
“Ballads Blues and Bey is a remarkable record, one of the greatest in jazz history.” Ben Ratliff of The New York Times
New York Magazine’s 60 Great Albums of the Last Six Decades Named among the “Best Recordings of the Year” New York Times, Billboard, Entertainment Weekly, Boston Globe, Amazon, Jazz Times, Jazziz.
