According to the bellereport.com
Grammy® Award-Winning Recording Artist Kirk Whalum Presents
The Gospel According To Jazz Chapter IV
Album Available For Pre-Order at Digital Retailers Now,
In Stores March 24
Whalum Embarks on Promotional Tour Screening His The Gospel According To Jazz Chapter IV Docu-Musical Film
PR — DETROIT — Grammy® Award-Winning Recording Artist Kirk Whalum presents the highly-anticipated new The Gospel According To Jazz Chapter IV, in partnership with Mack Avenue Records and Rendezvous Music. The two-disc, 19-song album (and feature-length docu-musical film) sets a benchmark for live recording, nuanced performance and deep improvisation at the most profoundly felt, thoughtfully conceived and personal level. The double album is distributed by Sony Red Distribution and Provident Distribution and available in stores and online March 24, 2015. It is available for pre-order now on iTunes and Amazon. The Gospel According To Jazz Chapter IV docu-musical, which chronicles the album recording process and offers candid access to the artist as he reflects on his career and the music on this project will be presented at screenings and film festivals around the country as he embarks on The Gospel According To Jazz Chapter IV promotional tour later this month.
Recorded and filmed live at the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., saxophonist Whalum elevates his award-winning Gospel According To Jazz series to a new level with the live-recorded double CD set featuring the best in Gospel music, Contemporary Jazz, and Urban music. The Gospel According To Jazz Chapter IV eloquently demonstrates the deep connections between Gospel and Jazz.
The spectacular The Gospel According To Jazz Chapter IV project is an invitation to pause, hear, and “see” in a fresh, prescient way, but above all, it is a tribute album in a uniquely gospel-centric way. Honored here are heads of state (Nelson Mandela and Barrack Obama), departed and greatly respected and loved artists (George Duke, Wayman Tisdale, and John Coltrane), alongside mothers (Kirk’s… the Virgin Mary, and yours if you like) and a homeless woman Whalum came to call friend (“Nannette”). Beyond that, the Father who made them and Christ who saved them are honored as well.
“We always try to reach out to the cadre beyond gospel artists, to a Norman Brown, a Rick Braun, or Doc Gibbs; that is a very crucial part of this,” said Whalum. “By their willingness to be part of it and by honoring them and their spiritual quest, what we are able to do is create a safe space. The Gospel According to Jazz embraces the talent God dishes out.”
The double-disc album and docu-musical features Braun, Brown, Gibbs, Sheléa, John Stoddart, Gerald Veasley, Kevin Whalum, and Kenneth Whalum III. Special guests include Marcus Finnie, Braylon Lacy, Ralph T. Lofton, Kevin Turner, and Kortland Whalum.
Kicking off in New York City on March 16, Whalum embarks on a multi-city tour promoting the release of The Gospel According To Jazz Chapter IV and screening his companion docu-musical at churches, theaters and film festivals. Additional stops are planned for Atlanta, Los Angeles, Memphis, Tenn., Dallas, and more.
