Whether you’re a student honing your craft or an established professional, this is a wonderful platform to celebrate the energy, culture, and improvisational spirit of jazz through visual art.

Important Dates

• Submission Deadline: August 21
• Festival Dates: September 17–20

The Prizes & Perks

• Grand Prize Winner: $1,500 cash prize, plus a limited-edition run of 100 prints produced and sold at the festival (artists retain their copyright).
• Professional Artist Winner: $500
• Student Artist Winner: $350
• Finalist Recognition: 15 selected finalists will have their artwork showcased directly on the PIJF website.

Who Can Enter?

• Student Artists: Any creative currently enrolled in school (proof of enrollment required).
• Professional Artists: Anyone pursuing active income through their artistic capabilities.
• Note: Group submissions and collaborations are also welcome!

Key Guidelines & Submission Details

• Medium: All visual mediums are accepted (illustration, painting, digital art, mixed media). Non-digital artwork must be scanned at high resolution.
• Format: Must be in a 2:3 aspect ratio tailored for a 24×36-inch print, at 300 DPI, reproduction-ready.
• Originality: Submissions must be 100% original. AI-generated art is strictly ineligible.
• Content: Designs should reflect the vibrant legacy of jazz and Black American music. Avoid brand logos, celebrity likenesses, or political/religious emblems.

Submit your art, learn more, and view the fantastic previous posters!

Spread the word to fellow creators, illustrators, and student artists in your network!

The post Call for Artists! Pittsburgh Jazz Festival Poster appeared first on ContemporaryJazz.com.

The original press release and album credits spell keyboardist Mark Portmann’s surname “Portman.” The correct spelling is Portmann.

For his fifth Rippingtons project, Russ Freeman decided to dispense with drum machines entirely and return to a more organic approach to the music. . “I wanted to have some of the excitement of the live band on this album,” says Russ. “I really tried to stay away from the technology thing and let the players stretch just a little bit more.”

So what you get on Curves Ahead is basically what you see when you catch the band on tour. Tony Morales slamming the backbeats, Jeff Kashiwa adding urgent sax lines, Mark Portman filling out the form on keyboards, Kim Stone laying down solid electric bass lines, Steve Reid coloring the groove with exotic percussion and Freeman leading the way on acoustic and electric guitars. And on two tracks, the buoyant title cut and the Latin romp, “Santa Fe Trail,” Freeman augments the core group with a four-piece horn section for a fuller, livelier sound.

“Arranging live horns was something new,” says the Rippingtons head man, “although in the past I have approximated horn arrangements on the synthesizer. And sometimes the synth horns will suffice. But I really felt on those tunes, particularly ‘Santa Fe Trail, we really needed some live guys playing horns. You get a whole different vibe in the studio that way and I think it comes across to the listener.”

That’s real acoustic piano you hear Mark Portman playing on his solos on “Aspen,” “Take Me With You” and “Morning Song.” And Dave Grusin‘s solo on “North Star” is performed on a beautiful Steinway Grand. No digital keyboards on these warm tracks. Says Freeman of Grusin’s guest appearance, “He’s a fabulous player. Not only is he a prolific composer, but when he sits down at the piano to play, it’s an absolutely killer performance.”

Stretching is the key to Curves Ahead. Guest Kirk Whalum gets to stretch on tenor sax alongside Grusin on “North Star” and on the upbeat vehicle “Miles Away.” And GRP artist Nelson Rangell is highlighted on three cuts, adding a touch of alto madness to the funky “Nature of The Beast,” serving up spicy flute licks on the salsafied “Santa Fe Trail,” and pulling out all the stops on piccolo on the album’s rousing closer, “Morning Song.” Says Freeman, “With each album I strive to write better music that’s more challenging. I try to develop harmonically as well as give the players a little more space on each album. And at this point, I’m feeling pretty confident about my composing. I work very hard at it. I try to think conceptually and thematically about each project.”

For Curves Ahead, Freeman was thinking specifically about Colorado. Because Russ fell in love with the place after several performances in the area, he has decided to make it his second home and is currently building a residence and recording studio there. As he says, “A lot of the songs on this album were inspired by the beauty of Colorado, particularly the title cut, ‘Snowbound’ and, obviously, ‘Aspen.’ There’s a definite vibe to Colorado, which is one thing those songs really evoke.” Also, Rippingtons bassist Kim Stone and guest artist reedman Nelson Rangell are both residents of the Rocky Mountain state.

The Rippingtons also venture beyond Colorado on Curves Ahead. “Santa Fe Trail” is a festive detour with a south of the border rhythm, and “Nature of The Beast” is a safari to Africa. “Miles Away” is a trip Eastward, influenced by the Philly soul sound. “That’s just another one of those groove tunes,” Russ says. “At least it started out that way, but it ended up being one of my favorite pieces on the record, maybe because of the great tenor solo that Kirk Whalum plays here.”

Freeman gets to stretch himself on acoustic guitar on “Snowbound,” which was a first-take solo. On the other end of the dynamic spectrum, he cranks out an aggressive electric guitar solo on the energetic “Nature Of The Beast,” which also showcases Steve Reid’s vast array of Afro-Cuban percussion instruments. Both tunes capture the spirit of a Rippingtons live gig. As Russ mentioned, “People seem to like the fact that we really dig in a little more on our instruments in concert, and I wanted that side of the band represented on this record.”

Curves Ahead is a long way away from the early days of The Rippingtons, when Freeman programmed the drum machine, played keyboard bass, put together synth sequences and basically ran a one-man MIDI operation. This latest project is the sound of a real band interacting in real time. As the multi-talented Rippingtons ringleader put it, “I find that at this point in my career I’m moving away from the high-tech machine-oriented sound. technology increases, I find myself going back to time-proven instruments like acoustic guitar and acoustic piano. And maybe that’s in retaliation for having used so many machines in the past. But there really is no sampler or digital keyboard that can truly capture the purity of those acoustic instruments. Because you can’t really get nuance out of a machine.” 

Freeman continues to compose on keyboard but seems to be phasing the guitar synthesizer out of his act. “I’m moving away from guitar synth, especially for the live show,” he says. “It’s a complex instrument to play. It’s so technical that it really demands your attention just to play it properly. But I want to concentrate more on my performance as a musician without having to worry about the technological side of things. So now I’m limiting the guitar synth to maybe two or three songs per set and focusing more on playing electric and acoustic guitar, which is really my forte.” 

Born on February 11, 1960, Russ Freeman grew up in Nashville, where he was exposed to the studio scene of Music City at an early age. “My Dad was good friends with John Pell, an excellent studio guitarist in Nashville. I remember John would come over to the house and bring other prominent studio musicians along, and they would set up and play right there in the house while my Dad would make recordings in a little studio he had set up.”

Russ took lessons with Pell and began playing in cover bands as a teenager. In 1978, at age 18, he left Nashville and relocated to Valencia, California, where he studied music at the California Institute of the Arts. He later studied film scoring at L.A. Valley College and at U.C.L.A. document his compositional ideas at the time. In 1985, he went into the studio to Nocturnal Playground, a virtual one-man band which had Freeman delving deeply into the MIDI process. under his name on the small, independent label, Brainchild. 

The following year Russ was approached by a Japanese label, Alfa, to cut a record, which became the Rippingtons’ debut effort. Moonlighting featured Freeman colleagues like David Benoit on keyboards and Kenny G and Brandon Fields on saxes. that project was just an exercise in production skills and writing “Basically, for me,” says Russ. “It was really a collection of songs I had written very quickly.”

Nevertheless, it was the birth of a band. Moonlighting was licensed in the States by Passport Jazz and rocketed to the top of Billboard’s jazz charts in the summer of 1987. Suddenly there was a big demand for this new fusion act, whose visual motif was a grinning “jazz cat” pictured on every album cover. (Artist Bill Mayer’s funky jazz cat is back on Curves Ahead, this time on skis.) 

The Rippingtons saw further success with 1988’s Kilimanjaro, 1989’s Tourist In Paradise and last year’s Welcome To The St. James’ Club. Their audience has been growing steadily since Moonlighting and now fans of the Ripps can savor the group’s most satisfying album yet, the live-sounding Curves Ahead. “This album definitely marks a new direction for the band,” says Freeman, “and right now it feels real good.” 

The post Rippingtons featuring Russ Freeman – Curves Ahead Press Release appeared first on ContemporaryJazz.com.

“Folks always come up to me and say, ‘I’ve got the perfect title for your next album… You should call it “Sample This.” Well, I finally have an album that I feel suits that title. It’s the perfect blend of material. It’s definitely not a compilation. It’s more likely a first in modern recording. Classical composers always took a second or third look at their favorite compositions and revised them. You can say that ‘Sample This’ is a collection of my favorite compositions that lend themselves to a current updating.” –  Joe Sample on Sample This 

After spending the better part of a year gracing the upper regions of the jazz charts with his Old Places, Old Faces, and having his single “Hippies On A Corner” reach No. 2 (No. 6 for the year) on R&R’s NAC charts, Joe Sample is back with his sixth Warner Bros. Records Jazz solo release, Sample This. 

Produced by George Duke and co-produced by the artist himself, Sample This is a completely new take on some of the timeless compositions of Joe Sample. Freshly revisited are seven songs from his solo work (“Rainbow Seeker II,” “I’m Coming Back Again,” “Carmel,” “Night Flight,” “In All My Wildest Dreams,” “Fly With Wings Of Love,” “Melodies Of Love”) and seven from his Crusaders recordings (“Chain Reaction,” “Soul Shadows,” “Free As The Wind,” “Snowflake,” “It Happens Everyday,” “Street Life,” and “Put It Where You Want It”), plus a tribute piece featuring Sample on Jelly Roll Morton’s “Shreveport Stomp.” 

This material spans the period between 1970 and 1982. Songs culled from Sample’s solo excursions largely feature Jay Anderson on bass and Lenny Castro on percussion and drums, while what were originally Crusaders cuts are re-created with Marcus Miller on bass, Steve Gadd on drums and Castro on percussion, Dean Parks‘ impeccable guitar work provides a foundation of harmonic rhythm throughout. Other special appearances include the album’s producer George Duke on synthesizers, mini Moog and Efx, Hubert Laws on flute, Everette Harp on alto sax with lead vocals by Dianne Reeves and Dennis Rowland and backing vocals by Lynn Davis, Lori Perry, and Jim Gilstrap. All told, Sample This is comprised of 74 minutes of matchless music performed by Joe Sample and an ensemble of exceptional artists who routinely deliver the kind of instrumental and vocal perfection that Sample devotees have come to anticipate and expect. 

Texas born, Joe Sample possesses musical sensibilities firmly rooted in gospel, soul, bebop, blues, Latin and classical music. He began playing piano at age five, and by 14 was certain of his life’s destiny as a professional musician. After graduating from Wheatly High School and spending three years at Texas Southern University in Houston, Sample, along with bassist and saxophonist Wilton Felder, trombonist Wayne Henderson and drummer Stix Hooper, headed for L.A. to carve out a niche in the musical landscape and a place in jazz history. They called themselves the Jazz Crusaders, and later, merely the Crusaders. 

The Crusaders reached far beyond jazz over the years, collecting gold and platinum records along the way.

Joe Sample had concurrently embarked on a solo career in ’78, and has accrued a number of chart-topping jazz hits, including: Carmel, Rainbow Seeker, Voices In The Rain, his ’89 Warner Bros. debut recording Spellbound, 1990’s Ashes To Ashes, and Invitation in ’93. 

With a nod to the Northridge earthquake and to “music that moves you,” Sample and the Soul Committee released Did You Feel That? in late ’94. The following year he shook things up with a hit record: Tupac Shakur‘s “Dear Mama,” which prominently featured multiple samples of his song “In All My Wildest Dreams,” from Rainbow Seeker only one of many of the artist’s works being accessed by rappers these days. He is currently one of the most-sampled artists around.

In ’96 he took a trip to visit Old Places, Old Faces, revealing personal memories and experiences, as well as paying tribute to those who had influenced and shaped his outlook and music. He spent the remainder of the year touring in support of the album and working on two musical theater projects which are still in process. He also took time out to go through his impressive catalog of music, looking for just the right songs for Sample This. 

“Every song needed to turn me on,” declares Sample. “The concept was to go back and come up with brand new versions. I was looking for songs that would be good with the acoustic trio (Jay Anderson and Lenny Castro) and other songs that would work with the electric trio (Marcus Miller & Steve Gadd).” Some songs that were originally recorded acoustic became electric and vice versa. 

“I initially came up with 26 pieces and ultimately got it down to 14. I wanted music that left listeners as enriched by emotion as when they originally heard the music…that is to say, ‘classic’ music. 

“I knew each of these songs had a basic character that we could lose or destroy. What I was happy and excited about is that we captured the character of the original music and yet performed it in some cases in a radically different way. “Street Life” was originally a vocal piece I did with the Crusaders featuring Randy Crawford.” This time around, the pop/r&b/jazz hit features Rhodes, synthesizers, electric bass and electric guitar with background vocals. Sample asserts, “It’s as exciting to me as the original version. All the songs were, in fact, just waiting. . . willing to be reshaped.” 

Acclaimed producer/composer/artist and arranger George Duke joined in that reshaping process. His stamp as a producer – one that can’t be pinned down to any one genre and who constantly surprises and entertains – is a perfect match for Sample’s innovative and eclectic approach. Sample remarks, “The great thing about working with George Duke is that we have known each other for so many years and are good friends. When he was underage, he would come into jazz clubs and hang out with the Crusaders. He has always been familiar with me and my music, and the fact that he was so close to the music made this a very unique and rewarding experience.”

Joe Sample looks at the album as “the perfectly put together sequence.” The album begins with the compelling energy of “Rainbow Seeker,” and is highlighted by some of Sample’s most celebrated compositions, including the mysterious and powerful “Carmel,” the sophisticated “Soul Shadows,” and the very funky “Put It Where You Want It.” Each one, replete with playful time changes, inventive harmonics, and above all, enduring melodies. 

On the album’s closer, “Shreveport Stomp,” Sample continues the album’s theme of revisiting classic recordings–this time one of Jelly Roll Morton’s. “It’s a tribute to the musicians and the style. Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton’s music filled my house when I was a child. It was my first inspiration and I love it so much. Morton’s piano style was one of the most natural; the feeling and excitement created, touches me so deeply. My Creole roots run deep!” 

And Joe Sample follows in that tradition of creating music that is emotionally rich and stands the test of time. He was inspired by legendary artists and has become one himself. Along with the release of this album, he is touring with a new band aptly called “Legends,” with a lineup that includes David Sanborn, Marcus Miller and Steve Gadd. The guest guitarist slated for Europe is Eric Clapton. “The group is dedicated to the prospect that the rule-of-thumb should be to create recordings that will endure, that will one day be known as classic. That concept of music was the thing that inspired me to become a musician in the first place.” 

It’s also the concept that inspired and characterizes Joe Sample’s current release, Sample This. With his new recordings of classic Sample, he proves that good music, like good wine, does indeed gain depth, flavor and subtlety with time and the right atmosphere. So pull up a chair, pour yourself a glass of vintage Chateau Margaux… and Sample This!

The post Joe Sample – Sample This! appeared first on ContemporaryJazz.com.

“This project is about classic songs that are known and loved,” Ndegeocello says. “The songs have diverse tones, representing various genres and intentional grooves. But the album is also about joy, selfhood, individual representation, and universal experience.”

A bassist, multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, producer and conceptualist, Ndegeocello has never shown much interest in musical boundaries. On Synonym, she explores desire, care, heartbreak, friendship, disappointment and love in all their forms. The source material stretches from 1960s folk and ’70s soul, country and pop to ’80s R&B and electro-boogie, early-’90s alternative rock and early-2000s hip-hop.

One of the album’s defining ideas is that its songs are performed as duets by artists who identify as the same gender—or, as Ndegeocello puts it, “hover around the same continuum of feeling.”

“Hopefully, that’s what stands out—that everyone is well matched musically and complement each other,” she says. “That said: I’m not defining anything, because the absence of definition is where I feel most free.”

The first single is an arresting reinvention of “I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me),” the 1987 Aretha Franklin and George Michael duet. This time, Ndegeocello shares the song with Cynthia Erivo.

Synonym arrives October 2, 2026, on Blue Note Records.

1. I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) with Cynthia Erivo
2. Don’t You Want Me with Cat Power
3. Don’t Stop The Music with Nick Hakim, Robert Glasper
4. Islands In The Stream with Chaka Khan
5. It Ain’t Me Babe with Madison Cunningham
6. Always on Time with Laura Lee
7. Be Real Black For Me with Emily King, Lizz Wright
8. Don’t Look Any Further with Lianne La Havas
9. The Closer I Get To You with Destin Conrad, Moses Sumney
10. Golden Ring with Brandi Carlile
11. I Got You Babe with ANOHNI
12. Here We Come (Here He Comes) with Evann McIntosh
13. Guilty with Ink
14. Hunger Strike with WILLOW
15. With God On Our Side with Bill Callahan, Chris Thile

The post Meshell Ndegeocello Announces New Album Synonym appeared first on ContemporaryJazz.com.

Cooling and Wagner’s creative partnership stretches back to her 1997 debut album, Playing It Cool. Together, they have recorded nine albums while developing a distinctive sound shaped by contemporary jazz, funk, Latin, Brazilian and pop influences.

That partnership remains at the heart of Let’s Get Away, with all four tracks written by Cooling and Wagner. “Songwriting is as much, if not more, a part of who I am as a musician,” Cooling says.

The project features Cooling on guitar and vocals alongside Wagner on keyboards, with contributions from Bill Ortiz on flugelhorn, Danny Montgomery on drums and Peter Michael Escovedo on percussion.

Let’s Get Away will be available on all digital platforms July 24.

The post Joyce Cooling Announces Four-Song EP Let’s Get Away appeared first on ContemporaryJazz.com.