Bass CDs
New Album: Bassist Santi Debriano, Flash of the Spirit
Renowned Bassist Santi Debriano to Release New Album, Flash of the Spirit on Truth Revolution Records…
The Truth Revolution Recording Collective is proud to announce the release of Flash of the Spirit, a new album from bassist, guitarist, and composer Santi Debriano. Flash of the Spirit will be available on January 22, 2021 in CD and digital format via Truth Revolution Records.
Much like his native Panama, which straddles the continental divide and facilitates the union of Pacific and Atlantic, Santi Debriano has become comfortable occupying several worlds at once. But, like the Panama Canal, it’s taken some work—extracurricular work, in Debriano’s case. As an ethnomusicology graduate student at Wesleyan University Debriano read Robert Farris Thompson’s Flash of the Spirit. For Debriano, a Black Panamanian American who’d grown up in New York City after his family emigrated from Panama when he was four, Thompson’s book proved revelatory, asking questions like: To what extent have African traditions and customs been retained by contemporary Black cultures throughout the Americas? “That book describes my ancestral struggle to stay present in the many worlds I live in,” says Debriano, “but also to never forget where I came from.”
It’s a tight rope that Debriano walks, but on his version of Flash of the Spirit, the always intellectually curious bandleader strikes the balance of a Wallenda in his prime. And he’s got plenty of help; his rhythm section’s rounded out by drummer Tommy Campbell, whom Debriano’s known since both were college students in Boston, playing in Stan Strickland’s band, Sundance, and pianist Bill O’Connell, who, like Debriano, performs with consummate fluency regardless of whether the gig’s led by Sonny Rollins or Mongo Santamaria. A small but powerful woodwind section includes alto saxophonist Justin Robinson and flutist Andrea Brachfeld. And complimenting the core quintet are Francisco Mela, a Cuban-born, raised and educated drummer known for collaborations with saxophonist Joe Lovano and pianist Chucho Valdés, Brazilian percussionistValtinho Anastacio, a veteran of the genre-defying, Debriano-led ensemble Circlechant, and Tim Porter, an indispensable scholar and practitioner of the contemporary jazz mandolin.
There’s a lot here. It’s easy to get distracted—and understandable, because everything that does glitter here is, indeed, gold, from a listening standpoint. Between the reimagined— and sometimes totally reinvented— takes on tunes from Kenny Barron, Kenny Dorham, and Ornette Coleman, as well Debriano’s solo bass take on a standard popularized by Billie Holiday, the temptation might be to overlook Flash of the Spirit’s original compositions; doing so would be a mistake.
It’s a danger easily avoided by starting at the beginning, where Debriano’s “Awesome Blues,” a percussive hip-shaker in seven, leads things off. Driven hard by Debriano’s indefatigable bottom and bookended by beautiful and precise unison playing on the tune’s theme by Robinson and Brachfeld—which calls for and, in turn, receives response from Debriano’s bass—it’s a blues that lives up to its lofty billing.
In the two-hole is another Debriano original, “Funky New Dorp.” A smart groover with a deliciously Eastern-flavored head, this one again features beautifully controlled, precise and pitch-perfect unison playing by Robinson and Brachfeld and is a shout-out to Debriano’s Staten Island community, a tribute to how that neighborhood came together and supported one another during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Brachfeld, a flutist mentored by giants like Jimmy Heath, Yusef Lateef and Eddie Daniels, lays down an expansive solo of a narrative quality; plot points and story arcs are exposed and resolved in under two minutes.
Debriano’s adventure in solo bass is next. On “For Heaven’s Sake,” he’s completely naked out there, so to speak, and with just his bass for cover channels, in turn, Lady Day and, on a sly little quote of “Round Midnight,” Monk.
For the next tune, Debriano increases the size of the band by 100%; O’Connell joins and together they combine for a duo’s take on O’Connell’s “Beneath the Surface.” As the song’s title suggests, there is a story to be told here, and Debriano’s bowed playing lends both pathos and pulpy suspense to the orchestration. Indeed, there’s a cinematic quality here, suggestive of a reckoning with something long-buried and suddenly revealed.
The mood then quickly lightens “Toujours Petits,” a joyous, soul-nourishing piece written by Debriano for his three children that will fire up your neurological nostalgia centers and remind you of your capacity for deep, all-consuming love. And if you listen closely, you might make out Debriano’s slight doff of the cap to Jobim’s “Waters of March.”
The final two Debriano compositions are “Ripty Boom” and “Natural Causes.” The former is a blues in six with a bit of a hard-boiled, noirish feel. Very cool. Brachfeld, once more, offers a soaring solo before ceding her time to Robinson, whose show of athleticism impressively manages to marvel without ever straying outside the tune’s melodic frame. The latter sees drummer Tommy Campbell deftly navigating subtle time changes, while Robinson lays down another solo, where, at times, his playing takes on distinct tenor-like qualities. Anastacio’s presence on berimbau and congas, as on “Toujours Petits,” adds seasoning in just the right measure, while gorgeous unison playing—this time between Brachfeld and Debriano, while Robinson plays a harmony line—continues to be a hallmark of this recording.
Robinson merges back into the melody line, joining O’Connell, Debriano, and Brachfeld in stating the theme of Ornette Coleman’s “Humpty Dumpty,” a composition Debriano considers Coleman’s “most tuneful.” Between collective statements of the theme is where the album’s free jazz moment occurs, mirroring the type of disorientation the song’s titular character must have felt while experiencing his great fall.
Flash of the Spirit closes with tunes composed by two Kennys: Dorham and Barron. Dorham’s “La Mesha,” originally a ballad written for Joe Henderson’s Page One (1963), is the album’s one true hard-bop ballad. And in the tradition of tunes like Coltrane’s “Naima” and Shorter’s “Infant Eyes,” Robinson, though in just a supporting role, delivers with facility and emotional depth. Meanwhile, Debriano overdubs on electric guitar here with playing that’s clean and soulful.
As the pièce de résistance, Brachfeld and Debriano introduce and reprise, in unison, the iconic theme of the album’s closer in a way you almost certainly haven’t heard before: It’s a piano-less version of piano legend Kenny Barron’s “Voyage,” with the drums kicking out an Afro-Cuban songo rhythm.
This tune, this record, is exactly how a musician like Debriano reconciles the dilemma of feeling tied to several worlds and artistic traditions at once. Because it shows everyone in all of those communities—from Brooklyn to Staten Island to the Black communities of Panama—Debriano’s essence; it is the flash of his spirit.
VIDEO: “Who Are the People?” – Composed by Brandon Kyle Miller, Performed by Golden Flower
Golden Flower is an improvising quintet from Orlando, Florida… violin, trumpet/flugelhorn, Rhodes/piano, upright and electric bass, and drums, whose debut studio album “Are You Even Awake?” releases June 12, 2026, on Romantic Poker Records.
Brandon Kyle Miller handles both upright and electric bass with effects throughout the record, navigating everything from deep funk grooves to Indian classical-inspired rhythmic structures to post-rock textures, often in the same song. The album was recorded live at Phat Planet Studios and mixed and mastered by Aaron Gandia, and represents five years of development from a band that has clearly found its voice.
Standout bass moments include the deeply grooving “Piecemeal” and “Distant Glow,” the slow-burn intensity of “Intrasomatic” (composed by Brandon) and “The Search Goes On,” and the album’s epic closing triptych “Perihelion I, Interlude, & Perihelion II,” which moves through funk, African 12/8, and metric modulation with purpose and power.
The band also cites Roy Hargrove, The Bad Plus, Kneebody, and Vijay Iyer among their touchstones, a lineage that should resonate with Bass Musician readers.
Pre-order: goldenflower.bandcamp.com/album/are-you-even-awake and visit online at goldenflowermusic.com
This 8-song collection by Linc Bloomfield (also known as Ambassador Lincoln Bloomfield Jr.), longtime bass player for Kelakos, showcases his songwriting, singing and overall musicianship, along with his studio engineering skills. After remixing and re-releasing the 1978 Kelakos album in 2015 as Kelakos Uncorked, Linc produced Kelakos’ second album, the 2023 Deko double LP release Hurtling Towards Extinction, in which the collection of accompanying videos have racked up over one million views.
Echoes of Dreamwold is a true solo project. With the skillful studio work of two great drummers, Carl Canedy and Andy Hamburger, a sweet country pedal steel track by Billy Cooper on ‘No Second Chances’, and a classic lead guitar track by George Haberstroh on ‘(Got to) Save the World’, Linc sang all the vocals, played all the guitar, bass, keyboard and percussion tracks, and mixed every song, before they were mastered by Blaine Misner.
Listen to Echoes of Dreamwold here: https://push.fm/fl/nhz0a3fg
This album is meant to be played over and over, in the tradition of the sixties’ and seventies’ legends who inspired and influenced LB JUNIOR’s own songwriting. No two songs are in the same genre. As he explains the origins of each of the songs
“Walk Away My Girl” is a soft-rock tale of heartbreak, originally written on his dad’s 1917 Steinway baby grand piano, on which he recorded this smooth, melodic track.
“Alive” explores the insecurity that holds many people back. Against a lively track derived from the reggae sounds heard on local radio on the island of Kauai, the lyrics are about coming to terms with self-doubts.
“Shot Down”, the first song Linc wrote after leaving Kelakos, in 1978, is a lively pop song featuring bright acoustic guitar harmonics and chords, and a story about how not to try and meet women.
“Greedy Child”, also written years ago, captures the sadness as the giants from the golden age of rock and pop music pass from the scene and along with it, a generation for whom their music was the soundtrack of their lives.
“(Got to) Save the World” reflects Linc’s life’s work promoting international security. This fast-paced rocker featuring George Haberstroh’s lead guitar and Andy Hamburger’s relentless backbeat, is a wake-up call to do something about armed conflict, mass shootings, and environmental destruction, and realize what is at stake.
“The (2nd) Fiddler’s Song” is a personal message set to a soft acoustic track, in which LB JUNIOR explains why contributing to something worthy and necessary is more satisfying than chasing personal glory.
“No Second Chances” is a country song, pure and simple, featuring Billy Cooper’s pedal steel licks and the distinctive rich tone of Linc’s 1955 Gretsch Country Club guitar.
“Sand in My Hourglass” completes the 8-song set with a blues song, inspired by the recent pandemic, and showing LB JUNIOR’s chops on his 60s Les Paul guitar – inspired long ago, in 1968, when teenage Linc saw a memorable performance by bluesman Mike Bloomfield accompanied by Al Kooper and his whipping Hammond organ sound. This one is a real ‘echo’ of late sixties’ Dreamwold, as Linc’s earlier band Emergency Exit used to perform Kooper’s classic tune with Blood, Sweat, and Tears, ‘I Love You More than You’ll Ever Know.’
Dreamwold was a grand estate built in 1901–1902 by financier Thomas W. Lawson in Scituate, Massachusetts. By the late 1960s, the ballroom had become a popular venue for live music. One of the regular performers was Emergency Exit, from nearby Cohasset, that included Linc, George Haberstroh, and Mark Sisson, who would later join Carl Canedy to form Kelakos. The band had a homemade light show, black lights, and a vintage Kustom P.A. system wrapped in sparkling Naugahyde. The Dreamwold estate was eventually redeveloped into condominium residences.
Order the vinyl of Echoes of Dreamwold: dekoentertainment.com/inthesquare/lb-junior
The double bassist Alon Near presents his first album of compositions, “Names, Places”, a musical travel journal, written over five years of touring, traveling, and hiking. Available
May 22nd, 2026. Each composition reflects a place and a meaningful encounter that left a melody behind. Alon Near’s debut album moves between city and village, complexity and simplicity, tracing a personal journey shaped by movement, memory and human connection.
“Names, Places” starts with Alon’s first composition from years ago, Breathe, which he carried through years and changing landscapes. The music unfolds with openness and release, followed by Missing, written on a small keyboard after hiking Mount St. Catherine in Egypt with his grandfather, which inspired a melody searching for steadiness between distance and memory. The Same Story reflects the awareness of an old pattern repeating itself and the quiet decision to turn away from it. Strength of Repetition is a solo bass reflection on repetition as a quiet virtue: The piece unfolds through gradual development, suggesting that consistency and patience can shape one’s voice more deeply than sudden inspiration. The fifth song, Shiguim, a playful yet intricate composition, moves through shifting phases and rhythmic turns. Lichi centers on clarity and warmth, as Yotam Silberstein’s classical guitar meets a string quartet, creating a lingering and intimate musical landscape. Tokyo carries a light and affectionate spirit while Coral is structured in the spirit of a Bach chorale, leading to the outro, a quiet gesture of closure.
About Alon:
Based between Europe and New York, he began playing at 14. After winning 1st Prize at the Rostov International Jazz Competition in 2013 and earning scholarships to Berklee College of Music and The New School in 2015, he moved to New York City, where he performed with Grammy Award-winning Billy Childs, saxophonist Eli Degibri, piano virtuoso Joey Alexander, and WDR Big Band alongside Chris Potter. Awarded 3rd Prize at the International Society of Bassists competition in 2021, Alon’s ensemble features pianist Tom Oren, winner of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz competition, alongside trumpeter Itamar Borochov and drummer Ofri Nehemya.
Visit online at alonnear.com/
The healing power of music is more than just a mantra for The Nth Power, it’s an energy that drummer Nikki Glaspie, guitarist Nick Cassarino and bassist Nate Edgar harness with intent in the recording studio. When preparing to bring their fourth studio album ‘Never Alone’ to life, the trio converged on a remote farmhouse studio in Colchester, Vermont at the personal invitation of Phish bassist Mike Gordon. Over the course of two weeklong sessions overlooking a quiet bay of Lake Champlain, they tapped into what Cassarino calls “The Great Spirit” – a creative, driving force behind their genre-defying, soulful music.
“Vermont has an energy, there’s something special in the air,” Cassarino explains. “We were there recording late into the early morning hours one night during a lunar eclipse, and it was like the whole atmosphere changed. The creative force and beauty of where we were was just ridiculous.” Each band member brought raw demos and ideas into the recording space and collectively tracked songs that would become the final eight tracks on ‘Never Alone’.
Glaspie shares, “We created this album with the intention of sharing love back into the world, with the understanding that all people deserve love. You don’t have to know someone to love them. It’s about inspiring others to have more compassion for your fellow man, and mankind as a whole. We’re only here for a speck of time, so be nice. Time is precious.”
Throughout their individual careers, The Nth Power have used their time wisely, creating and performing with some of music’s most recognizable names. Notably, Nikki Glaspie was hand-picked by Beyoncé to join her all-female touring ensemble the Suga Mamas for many years, before expanding her chops with legendary saxophonist Maceo Parker, New Orleans funk torchbearers Dumpstaphunk, and most recently with Grammy-winning jazz ensemble Snarky Puppy. A longtime member of John Brown’s Body, Nate Edgar’s signature reggae-forward bass stylings have been tapped by Sister Nancy, G. Love & Special Sauce and Rubblebucket. And Nick Cassarino has been called upon by Christian McBride, Big Daddy Kane and Babyface along the way. But no matter where individual ventures take them, they always find their way back to each other, and the higher vibrations discovered in the music they create together as The Nth Power.
The album’s lead track “Dream Alive” delivers a transcendent first taste of the new record, with driving rhythms and colorful musicianship that captures The Nth Power’s raw and unapologetic musical approach as a power trio. “It’s a song about rolling with your crew, the chosen family we get to spend our lives with,” shares Cassarino. “The chorus says it all. We’re just happy to be creating, learning and riding together.” The closeness of their bond as friends, musicians and leaders is reinforced in the accompanying video for “Dream Alive”. Recorded in San Francisco during the group’s 2025 fall tour, visuals capture scenes from a spirited performance at the historic Glide Memorial Church, where the band led a musical worship of love one Sunday morning in between tour dates on the West Coast.
Love has always been a central theme of The Nth Power, ever since the group first coalesced during a late night New Orleans Jazz Fest showcase in 2011. The new album dives into a spectrum of sexy songs – “Crave You” speaks to the deliciously addicting nuances of a relationship with its sweet, irreverent country-funk groove; while “Thirsty” calls out more carnal elements of desire with early 80s R&B undertones. “Could It Be ‘74 Remix” – a 70s-esque revamp of a song originally heard on their 2015 album ‘Abundance’ – calls upon the band’s deep roots in soulful R&B and their collective love of Leon Ware. Former bandmate Courtney Smith delivers a powerful vocal performance in the final verse to round out the song’s smooth, soulful presence.
The title track “Never Alone” ushers in a more experimental undertaking for the group. Glaspie brought a raw afro-beat demo to the Vermont farmhouse recording sessions. Inspired by musical stylings from multiple regions across the globe, the song embodies the group’s uncanny ability to transcend genres with depth, meaning and musicality. Edgar explains, “‘Never Alone’ really represents who we are as a band that can’t be defined by one musical genre,” while Glaspie adds of the lyrical inspiration, “We’re all out here doing the best we can, but we’re all in this together. You don’t have to feel alone because you aren’t.”
Embodying that same spirit of community, The Nth Power called upon a handful of special guests to lend their talents to the new album. One of the standout songs “Smile” is enriched with world-class horn arrangements provided by jazz trumpeter Nicholas Payton and master saxophonist Skerik. Recorded at Marigny Studios in the band’s spiritual hometown of New Orleans, “Smile” has been kicking around The Nth Power’s catalog ever since their initial recording session for their debut EP ‘Basic Minimum Skills Test’. A song about finding light in the darkness of drug addiction, its lyrics are pleading yet hopeful. “‘Smile’ has one of my favorite choruses we’ve ever created, and feeds my inner strengths with its message,” says Edgar. With building, layered instrumentation and exceptionally powerful horn solos, it’s a track that will give you chills.
‘Never Alone’ comes full circle with its final offering, “Simple Life” – a song about enjoying the simple pleasures and finding peace with what’s in front of you, whether that be solace in the woods or a Michelin-star meal. Edgar explains, “I came up with the groove and idea for the title when I was living in remote California during the pandemic and asking myself what it really was that I wanted from life.” The capstone song showcases duet-style vocals from Cassarino and Glaspie, while horn ensemble The Soul Rebels elevate the recording with a joyous, New Orleans-style celebration throughout.
To The Nth Power, ‘Never Alone’ continues a heartfelt mission now 13 years in the making. Glaspie explains. “We believe in the power of love, and exhibit that belief through our music. This album is a culmination of our calling as musicians and human beings on this planet. We want to take the message as far as it can go.”
Listen on all platforms HERE
Find Nate Edgar on Instagram @n8_bass
Find the Nth Power on Instagram @thenthpower
Bass CDs
New Album: Zev Feldman’s Time Traveler Recordings’ Buster Williams ‘Pinnacle’ Muse Catalog Reissue
A precious, but previously elusive gem by the brilliant bass player Buster Williams will re-enter the jazz firmament with Time Traveler Recordings’ April 18 reissue of Pinnacle, the NEA Jazz Master’s celebrated 1975 debut album as a leader.
The package, an exclusive RSD release on LP, is being reissued for the very first time since its original release. It is the latest installment in TTR’s Muse Master Edition Series, unearthing the long-lost masterworks from the catalog of the historic Muse Records. The series is a collaboration with Virgin Music Group and Craft Recordings, spearheaded by TTR co-founder, producer and “Jazz Detective” Zev Feldman.
Remastered AAA directly from the original analog tapes by Matthew Lutthans at the Mastering Lab in Salina, Kansas, Pinnacle is pressed on 180-gram vinyl by Optimal. It will be issued in a hand-numbered, high-gloss tip-on sleeve, featuring a new liner essay by journalist Mike Flynn and a rare period photograph of Williams by Raymond Ross. The package also includes the original 1975 notes by Elliot Meadow who produced the original session which was recorded at Blue Rock Studios in NYC.
Thirty-three years old at the time of these August 1975 sessions, Camden, New Jersey native Charles Anthony “Buster” Williams was already an acclaimed and in-demand jazz bassist. He’d spent most of the 1960s touring and recording with Nancy Wilson, also freelancing for the likes of the Jazz Crusaders, Harold Land, and the Miles Davis Quintet—substituting for Ron Carter for several months in 1967—where he met and worked with Herbie Hancock. Williams joined Hancock’s Mwandishi band in 1971, placing him on the cutting edge of the new jazz fusion movement.
Pinnacle, recorded after Mwandishi’s breakup, finds Williams still very much informed by that idiom of funky, experimental jazz. The band includes fellow Mwandishi alum Billy Hart on drums and fellow Miles veteran Sonny Fortune on soprano saxophone and flute, along with legendary trumpeter Woody Shaw and a venturesome crew including saxophonist Earl Turbinton, keyboardist Onaje Allan Gumbs and percussionist Guilherme Franco. (Vocalists Suzanne Klewan and Marcus also join on two tracks.)
Williams blazed new trails in the use of electric bass in jazz: “A pioneer among jazz doublers—musicians equally adept on upright and electric bass,” notes Flynn in his new essay. But, while he features his Fender electric bass on the thumping opener “The Hump,” on most of the album Williams plays the acoustic upright bass that had always been his first love. It anchors the darker, funkier journeys the band takes on “Pinnacle” and “Batuki” and sets the swinging tone for the acoustic numbers, the deep spiritual jazz “Noble Eagle” and the breezy, playful “Tayamisha.”
“What I love about the acoustic bass is what I have to do to get music out of it,” Williams muses. “The sound I get depends all on me, not the help of an amp. The instrument relates to my heart; it’s alive, it has emotion, it’s not just a piece of wood.”
“Bass players are often described—perhaps unfairly—as the anchor of the band,” writes Flynn. “But in the hands of a master like Buster Williams, the bass becomes something much more: the engine, the heartbeat, the mellifluous core driving the music forward.”
Williams composed four of the album’s five tracks, making Pinnacle a brilliant first showcase for his writing as well as his playing and bandleading. “Buster’s writing abilities have not gone unnoticed in the past,” observes Meadows in his original liner notes for the album. “The writing for this date is fresh and varied. ‘The Hump,’ which should make you get up and do something, contrasts with the haunting serenity of the title song. Then ‘Tayamisha’ (named for Buster’s daughter) is light and airy as opposed to the intensity of ‘Noble Ego.’”
A prophetic release, Pinnacle forecasts the subsequent 50 years that Williams has spent balancing forward-looking musical adventures with the bounty and rigor of the tradition. “The title says it all,” writes Flynn. “Pinnacle wasn’t just a debut. It was a statement of arrival—an artist stepping forward from a prolific past into a fearless, unbounded future.” And, under the curation of Time Traveler’s Muse Master Edition Series, it now sounds better than ever.